Take The Sword Of The Spirit
In an inspired specification of the weapon with which the Christian is to wage battle Paul said, "....And take ....the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God." (Ephesians 6:17) This is the weapon by which the Christian is to overcome Satan, destroy his bulwarks of evil and put to rout those that serve him. (6:10-12) It is also the weapon by which those who will turn from Satan to Christ are compelled to make that surrender. Paul said he relied on nothing while working among the Corinthians except the word of Christ (1 Corinthians 1:18; 2:1, 2), and said later that the design of this preaching was the "bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." (2 Corinthians 10:3-5)
By design a sword is made to pierce and cut, and in keeping with the figure so also is the design of the sword of the Spirit. When a man preaches the gospel as did the preachers of the New Testament it will cut to the very heart of the inner man. (Acts 2:37) The effect of this piercing force of the word of God will either convert the hearer to Christ or else confound him in the vulnerability of the sinfulness to which he clings.
It should be obvious that such a decisive effect requires the preacher not only to take the sword of the Spirit but to apply it as well. The soldier of old accomplished nothing by merely holding his sword; for it to do its work of piercing and cutting, the soldier had to apply it to the enemy. Many brethren are willing to display the sword of the Spirit for the enemies of Christ to see but are unwilling to do the unpleasant but necessary job of applying it to them. As they so often say themselves, they "preach the principles of truth but leave the application of them to specific situations and individuals up to the hearer." This is comparable to a soldier of old handing his sword to his opponent and asking him, courageously but courteously of course, to thrust himself through with it, Such preachers, and those who glory in them, seem proud that they can "preach the gospel" through an entire meeting where a sinful situation stares them in the face and do it without disturbing anyone. With them it is a thing to be boasted about when they leave such a place with the endorsement of all, including the impenitent guilty, and with a promise of a return engagement. How unfortunate it is for them that a preacher's success is not measured by his popularity with those who disobey Christ!
Such is the attitude and therefore the work of far too many preachers who may sincerely consider themselves sound in the faith, set for the defense of the gospel, and doing the work of an evangelist. Consequently many brethren who otherwise might have repented of sins were deprived of hearing the truth until liberalism that grows on love for human ways became firmly entrenched. When this happened the integrity required to repent was usually gone, hearts were hardened to the truth, and pulpits were therefore closed to the preaching of that truth. In these cases how empty now sounds the cry made by many "older, wiser" preachers and advocated by them to so many younger preachers, "Just preach the principles and ignore the Herald of Truth, etc., and such things will take care of themselves." Indeed, how empty! And how sad the result that many congregations that might have been pillars supporting the truth were swept down the road of liberalism to become pillars supporting the work of digression from the Lord.
Fortunately there is no reason for brethren to continue to make this same mistake in the future. In a very few areas of the country today's controversy over the authority of the Bible as manifest in digressions from the scriptural work and organization of the church has not yet come to the point where congregations have been committed to the course they will take. Further, other problems that threaten the churches have arisen and no doubt such will ever be the case. Let us hope that brethren will have learned by sad experience and by what the New Testament teaches, that the only thing that will strengthen and save the churches is the preaching of the word of Christ applied specifically to every situation with which it deals. Let no man, as so many have done, make himself a judge of what men should or should not hear, but let him determine to give his hearers the will of Christ in every situation that arises. Our job is not to decide what people should hear; God has already taken care of that in the revelation of his will. Our job is to preach his will so that every man who hears may exercise the right to decide whether or not he will accept it and thus determine how he will face God in judgment.
Let every person who attempts to teach the will of God in any capacity determine to take the sword of the Spirit and apply it so that his work will save souls; his own and those who hear him.
— 320 Minner, Antioch, California