after all, 'I am in the right.' That shield of faith, though it
might not save him from wounds, torturing wounds, perhaps crippling
wounds, would at least save his life,--at least protect his vitals;
and, when he seemed stricken to the very earth, he could still
shelter himself under that shield of faith, and cry, 'Rejoice not
against me, O mine enemy; when I fall, I shall arise.'

And they were to take a sword. They were to use only one weapon, as
the Roman soldier used but one. For, though he went into battle
armed with a short heavy pike, he hurled it at once against the
enemy; then he closed in with his sword, and fought the real battle
with that alone, hand to hand, and knee to knee. The short Roman
sword, used by brave men in close fight, had defeated all the weapons
of all the nations. St. Paul knew that fact, as well as we; and I
cannot but suppose that he had it in his mind when he wrote these
great words, and that he meant to bid Christians, when they fought
God's battle, to fight, like the Romans, hand to hand: not to
indulge in cowardly stratagems, intrigues, and lawyers' quibbles,
fighting like the barbarians, cowardly and afar off, hurling stones,
and shooting clouds of arrows, but to grapple with their enemies,
looking them boldly in the face, as honest men should do, trying
their strength against them fairly, and striking them to the heart.
But with what? With that sword which, if it wound, heals likewise,--
if it kills, also makes alive; the sword which slays the sins of a
man, that he may die to sin, but rise again to righteousness; the
sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, the message of God,
the speech of God, the commandment of God. They were to conquer the
world simply by saying, 'Thus saith the Lord.' They were to preach
God, and God alone, revealed in his Son, Jesus Christ, a God of love,
who willed that none should perish, but that all should come to the