Friday, September 24, 2010

Weapons of the Holy War



The club of Cain may lay Abel level with the dust, but it does not silence him; from the ground the blood of Abel continues still to cry. Martyrs may be consigned to the prison, and dragged from the prison to the stake, so that to all appearance a full end is made of the good men, but “even in their ashes live their wonted fires.” At the stake they find a platform with a boundless auditory, and from the grave their teaching cries with louder voice than from the pulpit. Like seeds sown in the earth they spring up and multiply themselves. Others arise to bear the same witness, and if need be to seal it in the same fashion.

As Pharaoh’s mighty hosts could not combat with the hail and the lightnings which plagued the fields of Zoan, and as all their chivalry could not put to flight the darkness that might be felt, even so when God sends his truth with power upon a land, battleaxe and buckler are vain in the opposers’ hands. Our appointed weapons of attack are not carnal, neither can they be withstood by shield or armor; our bowstrings cannot be broken, or the edge of our sword blunted. Let but the Lord furnish his ministers, as he did at Pentecost, with wondrous words instead of shields, and spears, and swords, and these weapons of the holy war will prove themselves to be irresistible. Fight on, O preacher; tell forth the story of the cross; defy opposition and laugh persecution to scorn, for, like thy Master, thou shalt, as his servant, ascend above all thine enemies, lead thy captivity captive, and scatter good gifts among the sons of men.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Unrivalled Eloquence of Jesus," delivered September 18, 1870.

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