The Christian in Complete Armour - Gurnall - LVII - Direction Ten continued

Required readingThe Christian in Complete Armour by William Gurnall (Available from Amazon or free here) - Continue Direction Tenth by reading the Second General Head of the First General Part.

My summary

This week we continue the tenth direction: 'And the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God' (Ephesians vi. 17).

Last week Gurnall began his First Part by demonstrating the proof of the divinity of the Scriptures from their subject matter.  

This week Gurnall shows us proof of the divinity of the Scriptures from their supernatural effects.  

He does this by discussing four powerful and strange effects which the word puts forth upon the hearts of men:

(i) It hath a heart-searching power, whereby it ransacks and rifles the consciences of men;

(ii) It exercises a power on the conscience to convince and terrify it;

(iii) It has power to comfort and raise a dejected spirit;

(iv) It hath the power of conversion, which none but God can effect.

What grabbed me

I enjoyed this description of the power of the Word: 'That therefore which doth thus new-mould the heart, and make the creature as unlike to his former self as the lamb is to the wolf, and the ox to the lion —the one meek and harmless, the other fierce and ravenous—that must needs be from God. And such changes are the daily product of 'the word.' How many have you known—once under the power of their lusts, throwing like madmen their firebrands about, possessed with so many devils as sins, and hurried hither and thither by these furies—yet at the hearing of one gospel sermon, have you not seen them quite metamorphosed, and, with him in the gospel, out of whom the devil was cast, sitting at Jesus' feet in their right mind, bitterly bewailing their former course, and hating their once beloved lusts, more than ever they were fond of them?'

The Word is divine because it changes men radically!

Next week's reading

Continue Direction Tenth by commencing the Second General Part and reading up to the heading 'Use or Application'.

Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.