Christ's sword by Alexander Smiley
from the hour of silence 1899 I did not come to bring peace
but a sword Matthew chapter 10 verse 34 not peace, but a sword? Lord Jesus, this is a hard saying. Teach me to believe it and to
submit to the ordeal, sharp and piercing and painful though it
may be. Between me and my world, Christ's
sword may pierce with its remorseless edge. He separates me from old
sinful habits, from old sinful employments, from old sinful
pleasures, from old sinful friendships. He divides me from the society
in which I was accustomed to move. Your home is no longer
there, he says. I go out from the familiar surroundings
into an untrodden region and realm. Between me and my nearest
and dearest, Christ's sword may pierce pitilessly. Perhaps the
loved ones of my own house will have nothing to do with my Redeemer
and Lord. Perhaps they see no beauty in
Him that they should desire Him. Then, in the deepest and noblest
things, they and I will stand apart, a sundering tide rolling
between us, and how immeasurably sad that will be. Between me
and myself, Christ's sword is sure to pierce with a blade that
does not spare the I, the self, which used to be so vain, so
confident, so proud, must be slain outright. Its days of pride,
pleasure, and selfishness must end, until I can say, It is no
more I who live, but he, my prophet, my priest, my king, who lives
in me. What a change that is! What a
martyrdom! It is painful, this stroke of
Christ's sword. But the old confessor was right. The nearer the sword, the nearer
heaven. If I am victim, I am victor too. Smitten down by Jesus I am not
destroyed, but crowned.