How is your swordsmanship?

I love this quote from Puritan minister William Gurnall. Though he is discussing the the way in which "sin shuns the light," I find his statements about the Sword of the Spirit particularly piercing.

"To a sinner, the light of truth is more blistering than a desert sun at mid-day (John 3:19). He shuns to walk where it is shining, and when exposed to it, will spare no expense to get relief. Satan is always at his elbow, ready to help him find a way to hide from its penetrating rays.
Does he hear the truth in a powerful sermon? Satan will sit alongside him in the pew and whisper nonsense to distract him. He may ask his plans for dinner, or what is on the docket for tomorrow. And if the sermon gets too hot, the devil will dull his senses and get him to doze until the service is over. Suppose a man's conscience strains toward the truth. Satan may then send him to hear a cool preacher, whose senseless prattle will tickle his fancy rather than prick his conscience. Oh, he may preach from the Word of God, but he does it gingerly. He is too cowardly to use the Sword of the Spirit in all its might and power, lest he 'offend' some members of his congregation. Many who dare to handle the truth and even admire it when encased in a scabbard would faint on the spot to see it drawn and bared."

William Gurnall, The Christian in Complete Armour, Volume I, Abridged, Banner of Truth, 167.