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 Word of God, or in the Lord himself, passages or properties which seem in opposition to each other, we may be sure that such opposites, or such properties, are but apparent, and written in accommodation to our low state of apprehension,

The life of man is, in Scripture, frequently compared with warfare, and he is not only represented with warlike weapons, but, in some instances, commanded to take them; and even if his poverty precludes their purchase by any other means, to sell his garment, that he may possess the ability to be able to buy a sword. The words before us, "Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning-hooks into spears," are evidence of this. But these weapons are spoken of figuratively; and the enemies of man are, in Scriptural language, those within, rather than those without: "A man's foes are they of his own household?" The state of our wills is often, nay, almost constantly, of so evil a character, that without some spiritual weapon to dislodge and destroy those evils, man's salvation would be hopeless. And to dislodge those evils, weapons of warfare, in accommodation to man's low perception and condition, are commanded to be exercised against them. But that these weapons were not intended by the Lord to be carnal, is obvious; for a carnal weapon cannot reach, and still less annihilate, a spiritual enemy. The sword and the spear, requisite for the spiritual warfare, must, of necessity, be spiritual; and the sword of the Spirit is the Word of God; the various truths contained therein constituting the panoply of the Christian; and the evil affections and false imaginations are nations opposed to his regeneration, the Canaanites, Am-