Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, "and having on the breast-plate of righteousness....Ephes. vi. 14. How? Here is a girdle for What is truth? Christ answers, Christ and the truth as it is SOLDIERS of Christ, hear and obey the word of command.... STAND. Against every enemy, stand to your arms; against all op. position from within and without maintain your ground; face all, fight all, conquer all. Does sin attack, satan assault, the world threaten? Do corruptions rage, temptations beset, and carnal nature rebel? Are thine enemies many and potent? Is their fury great? Is the battle strong? STAND therefore. Why? Because you have put on the whole armour of God. Jesus is with you, upon you, over you, and engaged for you: therefore, "stand fast in the Lord." ....1 Thess. iii. 8. And in the power of his might, HAVING YOUR LOINS GIRT. Long standing makes the loins faint and weak: "Is there much pain in the loins?" Here is thy Lord's command; gird up the loins of thy mind; make thy loins strong; "fortify thy power mightily."....Nahum ii. 1. thee: GIRT ABOUT WITH TRUTH. "I AM THE TRUTH."....John xiv. 6. in him, is like a girdle to the loins to brace up and strengthen the mind. Hast thou not often found it so, O soldier of Christ? When weary and faint in thy mind, under long and sharp conflicts with the enemy, hath not thy soul been revived and thy mind animated with fresh strength and vigor, by again girding thy loins with the love, the grace, the truth, and the salvation of Jesus? This wasDavid's experience; "thou hast girded me with gladness."....Psalm XXX. 11. "Thou hast girded me with strength to battle.".... 2 Sam. xxii. 40. . O, think not of standing without the girdle of truth: let Christ and his truths be the strength of thy loins and the glory of thy soul; HAVING ON THE BREAST-PLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS; not our own, that is defective; as well have on a spider's web; it will not defend the heart; the enemy will wound the breast through it; no other righteousness than that in which we stand perfectly justified in the sight of God can effectually defend our breast against the enemy; this is the one perfect, everlasting righteousness of him, who is "THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.".... Jer. xxiii. 6. Christ by his obedience unto death wrought it out. The Spirit convinces us of our want of it; God the Father imputes it; the sinner accepts it by faith, glories of it, and rejoices in it; no enemy can stand against it; it is a guard against, and repels the accusations of satan, and is security against all condemnation. If I could keep God's holy law, And every jot fulfil, My righteousness I would not know, But since I sin in all I do, M. 2 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace....Ephes. vi. 15. to follow the captain of your Here you must expect the SOLDIERS of Christ, you are not only commanded to STAND against every enemy, but to march on salvation in the way to eternal glory. enemy will strive to retard your march; he will strew the road with difficulties and entanglements, with briers and thorns; make it rugged and almost impassable, as though every step was upon sharp stones and goading spikes. Your feet must be shod, or you will halt when you should march, turn back when you should go forward. “No one can make a shoe to the creature's foot, so as he shall go on easy, in a hard way, but Christ; he can do it to the soldier's full content. How doth he it? Truly, no other way than underlaying it: or if you will, lining it with the peace of the gospel. What though the way be set with sharp stones? If this shoe go between the christian's foot and them, they cannot be much felt."....Gurnal's Christian Armour. Shod with the PREPARATION: Dr. Gill observes, this word signifies a base or foundation. Says Paul, "other foundation can no man lay, than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ."..... 1 Cor. iii. 11. Christ was laid as the only foundation of a sinner's peace, in the everlasting council and covenant by Jehovah in trinity: peace is preached by him in the gospel of peace. When the heart has a solid, scriptural, experimental knowledge of this by faith, it cries out with joy, "Christ is our peace."....Eph. ii. 14. "We have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ."....Rom. v. 1. This peace in the heart becomes as it were shoes to the feet, to enable the christian soldier to trample upon every difficulty and danger, and to run the way of God's commands with love and delight; for, saith the Lord, "thy shoes shall be iron and brass: proof against every obstacle, and preservation from every hindrance in the way: and as thy days so shall thy strength be."....Deut. xxxiii. 25. Thy days are all in Christ; thy strength to walk on is from him; thy captain, O soldier, sees thy every conflict, eyes thee in every difficulty and danger, and according to his rich love and marvellous grace has given thee exceeding great and precious promises, that by these you might be partaker of the divine nature....2 Pet. i. 4. Therefore, March on, nor fear to win the day, Tho' death and hell obstruct the way. "As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him, rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving."....Col. ii.6, 7. The gospel brings the joyful news, When peace of God prevails within, R M. Above all taking the shield of faith....Ephes. vi. 16. WHEN Christ has the heart, it will say, if I can see nothing of Christ in the text, that text is nothing to me. Here is a shield of defence. What is it? a mere assent of the mind? a cold consent of the tongue to some certain propositions? Is this the shield of faith which will cover my head and defend my heart in the day of battle! Is it believing a system of doctrines, without having the heart warmed with love, or the life influenced by the power of them, that the apostle exhorts me above all to take? O no: nothing less is this 'shield of faith than Christ, precious Christ; never, never have any idea of faith without including its author and object; otherwise it is a mere non-entity; a notion which has no real existence but in fancy. When one hears people insist that FAITH is our righteousness, that faith is imputed to us for righteousness, one is lead to think they take up, and are in love with some fancied excellence in themselves instead of the excellence and glory of THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS: it is him the grace of faith ever exalts. Have you faith? Is Christ the glory and excellence of your faith and of your heart? Then above all, or over all things else, take this shield of faith. Fiery darts, shot from the burning malice of hell, are flying thick around us; such as strong temptations exciting burning Justs, blasphemous injections, horrid thoughts of God, debasing thoughts of Christ, distressing and despairing ones of the hope of salvation by him. O, how do these fiery darts of the enemy tend to burn up the peace, hope, consolation, and joy of the soul. Ah, says satan, you a child of God; you a believer in Christ; you an heir of glory; your faith is fancy, your hope delusion; you are a cursed sinner in all you do; you had better give over your profession, give up your hope, and enjoy yourself in the world, for all your expectations are only vain. What can the poor sinner say? How repel, how quench such fiery darts? Only by taking the shield of faith; holding up the work of Jesus for him against them all. My Saviour's blood atoned for all my sins; his blood cleanseth from ALL sin; all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven; in his righteousness I am justified from ALL things; there is Now! No condemnation to me, for I am IN Christ Jesus: all this I believe. Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? Not faith, but Christ, he is my shield, I stand unconquer'd in the field, Father, I bless thee for thy Son, And thou, O Spirit, for faith, [done, And Christ, for all which thou hast For victory over death. M. And take the helmet of salvation....Ephes. vi. 17. arms. It is excellently said, "Resolve for hardships, or lay down thine Few come at the beat of Christ's drum to his standard. Many that list by external profession under him, after a while drop away and leave his colours. It is suffering work they are sick of Many men are more tender of their skin than of their conscience; they had rather the gospel had provided armour to defend their bodies from death and danger than their souls from sin and satan."....Gurnal's Christian Armour. All this is because they have not on the helmet of salvation. What is this? For an helmet, "The hope of salvation."....1 Thess. v. 8. Do not all naturally hope to be saved? Yes, some in one way and some in another: but all natural hopes are false hopes; therefore they die and perish: but this helmet is a super-natural and divine hope. All men have not faith; therefore they have not Christ who is the helmet of hope, "The Lord Jesus is our hope."....1 Tim. i. 1. We have received him into our hearts by faith; he is the ONLY hope of our souls. Now, soldier, you are daily, and every day, to take and put on this precious helmet of salvation, that you may lift up your head in every day of battle. Ever lay this down as a fixed maxim in your heart, wHATEVER grace the Spirit works in you, as faith, hope, love, &c.. it is, that you should exalt Christ the Lord of all grace, out of whose fulness you receive grace for grace. Mind this: you are not to live upon hope as a grace within you; but to take Christ, all that he is to you and has done for you, as the object of your hope and the helmet of your salvation. Many are apt to look more to, and trust more in graces in themselves, than Christ giving himself for them. The Spirit does nothing in us to glorify us, but to glorify Jesus, to endear him to us, and that we should glory more and more of him and in him. TAKE this helmet, for this keeps hope alive in the heart: it is of continual use to us; we are in perpetual danger: it defends the head: it makes the heart happy: inspires with courage: fortifies the mind and purifies the life: no wonder then the enemy strives to rob us of the comfort of hope: no marvel, the Spirit, the comforter, commands us to take, put on, and keep. on, this blessed helmet of salvation, the work of Christ, which is our finished salvation. In that we stand perfect and complete in the will of God: this will guard our heads against corrupt doctrines, and give courage to our hearts in the heat of battle against affliction and distress: "Hope thou in God."....Psalm xlii. 5. In thy salvation, O my Lord, May I ever stand complete: 'Tis this doth peace and joy afford, This is my only helmet. This helmet doth my head defend, M. And take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.. Ephes. vi. 17. : SOLDIERS of Christ, all hail! Happy ye: Christ is your whole armour, 1st. Christ, who is THE TRUTH, is the strength of your loins his righteousness is your breast-plate of defence. 2d. He is the sum and substance of the gospel of peace, whereby our feet are shod to march against the enemy. 3d. The author and object of faith: our shield, to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 4th. Our helmet of hope. Thus, by the grace of the Spirit, put him on as your armour. Then, what dangers may you not face? What enemies have you to fear? But forget not your swORD: though but just entered the field, you must know the use of it and necessity for it: it is offensive to your enemy, defensive of yourself. What a poor figure would a soldier cut in the field of battle without his sword? Just so would you without THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT, called THE WORD OF GOD. For, 1st. By it he conquers the pride of our hearts, the self-righteousness of our spirits, and the rebellion of our nature against Christ and his salvation. 2d. He furnishes us with it, and enables us to get victory by it over our corrupt reason, the injections of satan, and the objections of carnal men against the mystery of Christ, hope in him, and salvation by him. TAKE this sword: hold fast the faithful word, abide by it; stand to it as a centinel, with this sword in thine hand, guard thy heart against every intruding, insulting foe, all the lying accusations, soul-dejecting, Christ-dishonoring suggestions of satan. only so, but like Esau, "by thy sword thou shalt live;" live upon what thy sword brings in from day to day, out of the precious word of God, out of the fulness of the grace of Jesus, and the precious promises in him. Having such an armour, the Lord forbid that we should be like the children of Ephraim, who turned back in the day of battle!....Psalm lxxviii. 9. Lord strengthen us that we may never be ashamed to confess the faith of Christ crucified, but manfully to fight under his banner against sin, the world and the devil, and so continue Christ's faithful soldiers and servants unto our lives' end. Is this the one desire of your soul? O, bless the Spirit for it: hold fast the sword which he hath put into your hand: hold up, thus saith Neither men nor the Lord, thus it is written, against every foe. devils can stand against the word of the Lord, "It is sharper than any two-edged sword."....Heb. iv. 12. O, may thy word, thy precious word, Spirit divine, teach me the art Thy blessed sword to wield, M. |