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TOPIC: Gordon, Samuel Dickey - Quiet Talks About the Tempter (Other Topics in this Collection)
SUBJECT: 087. "The Sword of the Spirit"
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"The Sword of the Spirit"
There is a fourth bit in our fighting tactics that needs much emphasis, namely, saturate your mind with the Word of God. Let there be a quiet time daily alone with the Book, until you get full of it, and then fuller. Let the Book itself have first place in that quiet time. No book, however good, and no collection of verses, however choice, should be allowed to take this first place. Let the reading be wide, by the page; let it be daily, through the year, with sometimes a bit extra, but never a bit less; let it be prayerful with the heart held open to God's own touch. So will come the familiarity and clear vision so essential. This was our Lord's method in meeting the tempter in the Wilderness.
And this leads directly to the fifth thing I want to emphasize strongly. It is this, cultivate a sane judgment, and a quiet mind. One should pray daily for the blessing of a sound mind, one that does not go to extremes. Nothing cultivates the judgment like this Word of God, interpreted to us by the Holy Spirit. Avoid extremes, both the extreme of over-cautiousness, and the extreme of radicalism.
Faith Street is on a hill. It lies very close to two other streets, one at each end leading downward. The one is Queer Street; the other is Doubt Street. You want to avoid each extreme. Live on the top of the hill with clearness of vision, sanity of judgment, and quietness of mind. This will help greatly in actively fighting the enemy. Satan does not like poise, he prefers the pendulum swing.
A sixth point has been referred to repeatedly, but must be given the emphasis of a place in this grouping. I mean this, learn to recognize the enemy's approach, whether he comes himself or through one of his numerous messenger-spirits. Cultivate a keen ear for his voice and step, a quick eye for his hand, however gloved, and a sensitive spirit for his touch and presence. We are to take time a little later to talk together about the tempter's disguises, and how to detect them. That, I hope, will help us in this work of quick and sure recognition. Without doubt our Lord's keenness and quickness in recognizing both tempter and temptation in the Wilderness was an immense help in the victory won there. Yet that recognition came to him in the same way as it may come to us.