Mr. Valiant-for-Truth — Ernest C. Reisinger

I want us to turn tonight to a passage of scripture. I want to make a few introductory remarks before I read it. And before we do that, before we look to the book of God, let's bow our heads in our heart and look to the God of the book in a word of prayer.

O gracious God and our Heavenly Father, again tonight we come to thee because we believe that thou art and that thou art a rewarder of those who diligently seek thee. Lord, we could not claim diligence but increase our diligence.

But we do seek thee. Our presence here is a witness to our own heart that we seek thee. And tonight we pray that as we seek thee, thou will come to us. Thank you for this conference. Thank you for all the men who labored behind the scenes to make it possible.

Thank you for Bob Stein who does the registrar work. Work unnoticed, but much work. For the men who plan, the men who send out the letters, the people who type them, and all the little things behind the scenes.

We thank you, Lord, for each one. And our Father, we thank you for those who give of their substance to make it possible. And we thank you for those who pray. And as we come now toward the end, we pray that this blessed experience would enrich our hearts and enrich our lives and help us to serve thee and bring glory to thy name and good to thy church as we pass through this veil of tears.

Loving and Defending the Truth

Hear us for Christ's sake. Amen. I suppose we all come to these conferences, as are most of us at least, as lovers of the truth. I suppose we desire to fellowship in the truth. We come because we desire to be taught the truth.

And of course, I trust that we want to be dispensers of God's truth, because love of the truth is imperative. In 2 Thessalonians 2, we learn that men perish because they receive not the love of the truth.

Not just because they receive not the truth, but it says because they receive not the love of the truth. We follow, we who are Christians, follow in the line of men, many who have sealed their testimony for the truth with their own blood.

And of course, it's the heart's desire and my heart's desire and the heart's desire of others who plan and pray for this conference to encourage every seeker after truth. And we hope this conference and all of us who took part, we pray that it will be encouragement to those who are seekers after the truth.

We learn from the Bible that God is the God of truth. And we know that faith cometh by hearing the truth. Jesus prayed for our sanctification, that we might be sanctified by the truth. In John 17, where he says, Father, sanctify them through thy truth.

Thy word is truth. David states how he hid the truth in his heart to keep him from sin. Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee. And then I pray that we would be defenders of the truth, that we would be valiant for the truth, dispensers of the truth by life, by lip, by good literature.

And I hope tonight to point out some of the dangers that accompany all those who are zealous for the truth and valiant for the truth. And if I have time, I want to consider some of the perplexing difficulties of applying the truth in love and compassion without compromise.

That is balancing being valiant for truth and Christian patience and a true Catholic spirit. It's a rare balance. And I have for a text, and I'd like you to turn now in your Bible. I was going to read this whole chapter and say a few words about it, but I think I'll maybe just give you a little sketch of it and let you do it on your own.

Jeremiah's Lament for a People Not Valiant for Truth

My text tonight is found in Jeremiah 9, verse 3. The prophet in this chapter goes on to faithfully reprove sin and threatens God's judgment for sin. And he bitterly laments the sin and points out God's judgment as one who neither rejoices in iniquity nor is glad at calamity.

You can see that in the first verse, how that he does it with tears. Oh, that my head were waters and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughters of my people.

Oh, that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men, that I might leave my people and go from them. And this is the reason for they all be adulterers and an assembly of treacherous men. And they bend their tongues like a bow for lies.

They are not valiant for the truth upon the earth, for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the Lord. And he goes on in these first 11 verses. The prophet expresses his grief for the miseries of both Judah and Jerusalem.

And then beginning at the ninth verse to the 16th verse, he justifies God and the greatness of the destruction that's brought upon this people. And in verse 17 to 22, he calls others, he calls these women to bewail the woeful cause of Judah and Jerusalem.

He calls the women, he calls on the mourning women and other women who had lost their husbands, verse 21. And then in the 23rd verse to the 26th, we see the great weeping prophet shows them the vanity and the folly of trusting in their own strength or their own wisdom or the privileges of their circumstances.

Some people trust in the privilege of their circumstances, or he shows them the folly of trusting anything but God. Let not the wise men glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty men glory in his might.

Let not a rich man glory in his riches, verse 23. But he that glorieth, let him glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth.

For in these things I delight, saith the Lord. Now, among other things that the prophet is grieved about is that what I called your attention to, among other things, is that they were not valiant for the truth.

They were not valiant for truth. They appeared not in the defense of God's truth, which was delivered to them by the prophet. They had no courage to stand by an honest cause that has truth on its side, even though it may have greatness and power on the other side.

They had no courage to stand for an honest cause. And those who will be valiant for truth, must be valiant, those who love the truth, I should say, must be valiant for it, not be daunted by opposition given by those who oppose the truth.

There's an interesting passage in Isaiah 59, and I think I'll read it to you. It talks about truth has fallen in the land. And I think some of these Old Testament passages, even this whole chapter of chapter nine, and some of these Old Testament passages are so apropos for the day in which we live, as far as truth and other things also.

Listen to Jeremiah 59, 14 and 15. And judgment is turned away backwards, and justice standeth afar off. For truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. And my dear people, I believe we live in a day when truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.

Yea, truth faileth, and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey. And the Lord saw it, and displeased him that there was no judgment. You see, men will answer not only for their enmity in opposing the truth, but men will answer for their cowardice in defending the truth.

Bunyan's Mr. Valiant-for-Truth and the Call to Pilgrimage

Now I want to try to cover the areas that I mentioned at the beginning, and I'll tell you how I plan to do it. Boys and girls, those of you who may not be familiar with Pilgrim's Progress, I'm going to introduce you to a wonderful character tonight in John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress.

And his name is Valiant for Truth. Valiant for Truth. And I want to turn Bunyan's metaphor over a little bit tonight for some heart lessons. Valiant for Truth was born in a place that Bunyan called Dark Land.

And he says, there my mother and father are still. They're in the dark, as far as the truth is concerned. And he found it unsuitable and unprofitable to stay there in Dark Land, that is, Valiant for Truth did, and he forsook Dark Land.

And in giving his testimony, Valiant for Truth said this, and I want you to notice what caused him to leave. Those of you who don't pass out Pilgrim's Progress, this is a plug for you, to use it as an evangelistic tool.

When Valiant for Truth is giving his testimony as to why he left Dark Land, this is what he said, and I quote, that which caused me to go on pilgrimage was this. We had one Mr. Tell-Truth come into our park, and he told it about what Christian had done, how he had left the City of Destruction and headed for the Celestial City.

And that was Pilgrim's Progress that told him that truth. That man so told the story of Christian and his travels that my heart fell into burning haste to go after him, nor could my father and mother keep me.

So I got from them and came thus far on my way. That's the story of Pilgrim's Progress. You know, my wife drove here, and I flew, and she brought three fine people with her. And when I left in the car, I gave them four volumes of Pilgrim's Progress, one for each one.

And I said, when you get back to Florida, you've got to have it all read. And they got halfway coming up, and they're going to do the other half going back. I really think that's a great book for evangelism.

And that's how, that's how, that's how this man told how he got out of Darkland and headed for the Celestial City. And one of the great lessons that Bunyan would have us learn from this impressive character, Valiant for Truth, is learned from the terrible fight that Valiant had with three ruffians.

Three ruffians attack him all at once, and they almost put an end to him. I want you to hear these lessons, because I have a specific reason for this message tonight. Some of you young preachers, I want you to hear what I have to say.

Some of you people who have come to this conference, and this is their first introduction to the doctrines of grace, and you're going to go back to churches and friends who don't believe this, and I want you to hear what I have to say tonight, because I have a specific purpose, and I hope I, by God's help, accomplish it.

You know, I appreciate, at 56, some of these lessons, which I wish I'd have learned at 24. And I also wish I could tell you I learned them all even now, because I find these characters, these three ruffians that I'm going to tell you about, I find they're still there.

And so I don't mean that I've learned all these lessons yet, but I have learned some, both by witnessing it others, and from my own heart. Valiant, his name tells us that he was a contender of the truth.

He was bound to defend the truth. He was thrown into a life of controversy, and the temptations that accompany a life of controversy are tremendous. One old saint said, temptations in the life of controversy are worse than the temptations of whoredom and wine.

Now when I tell you the name of these three ruffians, you'll see what I mean, because there's a great deal in their name. If I just quit after I give you the names of these three characters that fought value for truth, it would be probably sufficient.

Bunyan calls them wild head, inconsiderate, and pragmatic. That was their name. All the wisdom of John Bunyan. What is he saying in these three names? Well, I think he's warning every defender of the truth, the besetting temptation of those who are defenders of the truth, whether it be in religion or other matters.

The Ruffian of Wild-Headed Zeal

First, there's a temptation to be wild headed. There's a temptation to be inconsiderate of others who do not hold the truth. Self-conceited, intolerably arrogant. Now this bloody battle that Bunyan paints such a beautiful picture of, this bloody battle, and it was a bloody battle indeed, was not fought at the mouth of some dark alley somewhere in the midnight city.

This terrible battle was fought, you know where? In Valiant's own heart. You see, Valiant, you see Bunyan, Valiant was not one of these smooth, double-tongued, calculating, supposing friends of the truth.

He didn't wait until he saw truth walking in golden slippers before he identified himself with it. He was not one of these church politicians. No, no, not Valiant for truth. Let a man lay a finger or wag a tongue against the truth, and he would be sure to have to settle it with Valiant.

His love for the truth was a passion, and there was such fierceness in his love for the truth that frightened ordinary men, even when they were on his side. Valiant could have died for the truth without a murmur, but he had some hard lessons to learn, as most people who are valued for the truth, hard lessons.

And what are the lessons that he learned as he sought to be a friend of the truth? Well, one of the first lessons that he learned in reality, that though he was a friend of the truth, he thought he was a best friend of truth, in reality at times he was a great enemy of the truth.

And he had learned to defend the truth, but sometimes in defending it we can do harm to it. The truth is often heard to say, save me from my enemies and my friends. You know, there's an interesting verse in Zachariah, and I call your attention to this because I want to tell you some things that I wanted to add to this message and I didn't, but I'll tell you where you can find it, you preachers.

There's a very interesting passage in Zachariah chapter 13, verse 6, and the context of this chapter is about the truth. And the context of the chapter is where the prophet was ashamed of his vision, he was ashamed of his message, and he was ashamed to be identified with some of the people of the truth.

And he was so ashamed that he denied that he was a prophet. And you know, sometimes when I've gone places to preach and I hear what some of these young people do with the truth, some of these young preachers, and some of their people tell me what they've done, you know, I'm ashamed to be identified with them.

I really am. You know, I go some places and some of these young preachers that just come into the doctrines of grace, they've got a stream of blood that you couldn't swim through, and they've cut off everybody's ears that you can get near.

The only thing is, they don't have any power to put the ears back on again. And then somebody said to them, where did you get that sword that you're cutting off everybody's ears with? Oh, I got it from Ernie Reisinger or Al Martin or Reed and Ian Murray's invitation system or Walt Champion's Today's Gospel.

And they have a trail of blood, not because they don't love the truth. Well, in this chapter, in verse 6, you know, after he denied that he was a prophet, he says, I'm not a prophet. I'm a herdsman. I said, I don't know what he thought.

I don't know. Sorry about that. You know, that's not the way Mr. Murray would do it. That's not the way Al Martin would do it. That's not the way I'd do it. I don't know him. And so the prophet said, I'm not a prophet.

He said, I'm a herdsman. He denied that he was a prophet. And verse 6 says, and one shall say to him, the economist says, well, if you know, where, where are those wounds in my hands? What are the wounds in my hands?

And then shall he answer, those, those which I have, I was wounded in the house of my friends. So sometimes truth suffers at the house of its friends. And that's one of the things Valiant had to learn.

By the way, you preachers who have Jonathan Edwards' book on volume, those two volumes that are printed, Pastor Chantry some months ago pointed out some very interesting things about spiritual pride. And that's the danger.

That's one of the dangers. This is not part of my message, but I want to tell you about those. It's about page 397 to 404. Jonathan Edwards points out some of the things to be avoided in the promotion of true religion errors committed by those who are zealous for the truth.

And one of the, one of the areas, he points out three things to be careful of. Undiscerned spiritual pride. And I just passed that along. Well, these three ruffians, Wild Head, let me say a bit about Wild Head.

Wild Head in operation. I've seen him in operation many times. I've seen him with his pen in his hand in operation. I sometimes see him behind pulpits in operation. I've sometimes seen him in private conversation and debate.

And I've seen him rush at the character of some saint just because that saint was not enlightened, whose understanding was not as good as his experience. And let me tell you something tonight. It's possible for many of your Christian friends to have a genuine Christian experience, but not such a good understanding.

When I was a rank Arminian, I believe, if I'm not mistaken, I believe my relationship and my devotion to Christ was as good, if not better then, than it is now. My understanding has changed a bit. And you must remember that some of your Arminian friends and some of the friends that have not been privileged to sit under the preaching that you have, some of them, their Christian experience is just as genuine as yours.

But they have not been privileged to sit under a ministry like you have possibly, and therefore their understanding is not as good as their experience. Wild Head never learned the point, and Wild Head never learned that apart from the Spirit, there'll be no development of Christian character.

Truth by itself will not develop Christian character. There must be the Spirit. Mercy and truth must be together, as it was in Jesus, in this awful confused and divided church world in which we live. We need wisdom, wisdom, gracious wisdom in applying the truth in love.

I mean, applying it as to time. Where is the person that you want to bring the truth? You don't give him John Owen's Death of Death the first time you see him. It may not even be wise to give him Pastor Chantry's book the first shot out of the gun.

There's people I didn't give it to the first time. And be sure it may not be wise if you're going to get among Southern Baptists to give them Ian Murray's book on the invitation system right off the bat.

Because you know, most Protestants have two, they have two ordinances, baptism and the Lord's Supper. But the Southern Baptists have four. The baptism, the Lord's Supper, the cooperative program, and the altar call.

Now I don't mean you don't give it to them, but there is a time for things. There's a manner in which you do it. And there's a method. And all these are vitally important. And what's the one safeguard at this point?

Well, the one safeguard I believe is this, not putting asunder what God has put together. And certainly he has put mercy and truth together. He's put love and truth together. And above all, he personified this in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I was going to read you a dozen verses tonight where it's together, but let me give you the references quickly. Psalm 85, 10, Psalm 86, 15, Psalm 89, 14, Proverbs 14, 22, Proverbs 16, 6, Proverbs 20, 28.

And you've seen all these passages that God puts mercy and truth together, kindness and truth together, love and truth together. The apostle said in season four, speak the truth, but the period is not there.

Speak the truth in love. We have it in John 1, 14 and also verse 17. It says grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Yes, it says he was full of grace and truth. So much for wild heads. One of the great safeguards against wild heads is be sure to put truth and mercy together, truth and kindness together, truth and love together.

Inconsideration and the Need for Humility

But what's the second ruffian? It attacked and almost did away with poor young Zion for truth. The second ruffian or rogue that attacked Zion was inconsiderate. Now you must remember, these enemies are in his own heart.

These enemies are in his own heart. Inconsiderate never thinks and certainly doesn't pray before he speaks or after he's spoken. He never puts himself in the other man's place. He has neither head nor heart to put himself in another man's place.

When you're talking to people about the truths that we love, if you've listened to them for five years or two years or three years, or even at a conference like this, you must remember that your dear friend may have never heard one sermon within the framework of those things that we love and hold dear.

My wife and I read Matthew Henry each day. We were reading, we're in Job now. And the other week we were reading Job 19. It's been a little longer than that now. But we were reading Job 19. And Matthew Henry's comment on verses two and five said this, those who speak too much seldom think they have said enough.

And when the mouth is open in passion, the ear is shut to reason. Inconsiderate seems to forget that all truth must be revealed. One of the things that inconsiderate people seem to forget is that the truth of God must be revealed by the spirit of God.

And let me tell you a verse that's helped me and does help me and I pray that it'll help me in the future. And I think it ought to help you in this respect. And you ought to write it in your Bible if you have particular trouble along this line.

And that's first Corinthians 4 .7. And this is what it says, For who maketh thee to differ from another? And what hast thou gotten, but what thou didst not receive? And if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory as if thou hast not received it?

Who maketh thee to differ from another? Truth, my dear, must be revealed to the heart by the Holy Ghost in Christian growth, just as it must be revealed to the heart in Christian conversion. And we must remember that in the eyes of other Christians, we differ from them as much as they differ from us.

Remember that. In the eyes of other Christians, we differ from them as much as they differ from us. Oh, may the spirit help us to see with eyes and feel with our hearts and sympathize with their principles and with their prejudice.

I didn't say compromise with their principles or compromise with their prejudice, but sympathize with their prejudice. The spirit must teach their heart, and valiant for truth must beware of that ruffian in his own heart called inconsiderate.

Don't you think Bunyan was wise? Didn't he have a keen perception of things? Is it any wonder Spurgeon says, pluck old Bunyan anywhere, for out of his veins flowed Bibbuline? That's why, because he had this keen insight.

Pragmatic Argumentation and the Spirit of Truth

Well, the third ruffian that attacked valiance in his pursuit of propagating and defending and contending for the truth was pragmatic. And I'm not sure that I grasp Bunyan's mind on this picture. I'm inclined to believe that that word then has a different meaning than it does now, but I'm not sure.

I'm inclined to think so. But the picture, I think, is this. It's this fellow that's always setting everyone straight on every little point. I've had people come to me after meetings, and they've missed the whole message, and they call my attention to some little point.

And believe it or not, sometimes they're right. I was wrong in what I said. But they missed the whole thing, and they think it's a great joy to set you straight on some little point. There's people listen to messages, and they hear one little point off, and they're turned off of everything else, and they miss a great deal.

You see, truth does not stand on points alone, but principles. And the truth does not dwell in the latter only, but in the spirit. Truth is not only to set others straight. Truth is not only to set others straight, but it's like charity.

It must begin at home. All that I'm saying is that truth suffers many times at the hands of Mr. Wild Head. Truth suffers in the hands of Mr. Inconsiderate and Pragmatic Man, who's never satisfied. He's never pleased.

He's never thankful for ninety-nine percent of what you said right. Always setting his superiors straight. And this man, intending to be a friend of the truth, many times he's the enemy of the truth.

I think of that vivid picture when Luther comes out to preach this morning, and they're falling down, breaking the idols, and they're breaking the windows. Luther stood there that morning and says something like that passage I read to you in Zechariah, Lord deliver me from my enemies and my friends.

I want you to note well something, that Bunyan by showing and warning us of these enemies, within, and don't miss this point, and this is not my point tonight, Bunyan's purpose was not to discourage us from being valiant for the truth.

It is only to point out our enemies as we seek to be valiant for the truth. And the reason we know that he doesn't discourage us, but rather he's meant to encourage us, is clearly seen in the further part of the metaphor.

The fact that Bunyan, let me say it again, the fact that Bunyan is pointing out these enemies that we face in our battle for the truth, is not to discourage us, but to encourage us in our warfare that we might be good soldiers of Jesus Christ.

The first time that we see valiance in Pilgrim's progress, he's standing at the mouth of a place that Bunyan calls Dead Man's Lane. And he's standing there with his sword in his hand, and his face is all covered with blood.

And here are his words, I'll give you his words. He's speaking of wild head, inconsiderate, and ruffered. These people have attacked him. And here's the words of valiance. They have left upon me, as you see, said the bleeding man, some of the marks of their valor, and have also carried away with them some of mine.

And I believe, seriously, at least in part, in like manner St. Paul, with some of the blood of Barnabas still on his hands, certainly must have learned something by the time he wrote this. Though I speak with the tongue of men and of angels, Mr. Martin brought this to our attention this week, and have not charity, I am become as a sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and have all knowledge, and know I have all faith, so that I can remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

Charity suffereth long this kind. Charity vaunteth not, envieth not. Charity vaunteth not itself, is not tossed up, does not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, rejoice not in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth.

Charity rejoices in the truth, beareth all things, gleaneth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never fails, but where there be prophecies, they shall fail, where there be tongues, they shall seek, where there be knowledge, it shall be vanished away, and so on.

And certainly Paul must have thought of Barnabas, in part, when he gave us that. You see the same thing in the epistle of John, and I suppose that John could not very well write what he wrote in this epistle without thinking of the time when he wanted the Lord to call down fire from heaven, and devour some people who were not just in the way.

And surely when John wrote these words in the first epistle of John chapter 3, and this, in this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil, whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.

Some of these people who don't dot eyes with us are our brothers nevertheless. For this is the message that we heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, not as Cain, who was of the wicked one, and slew his brother, and wherefore slew he him, because his own work for evil, and his brother righteous.

Marvel not, my brother, and if the world hate you, we know that we've passed from death unto life, and one of the reasons we know is this, we know we've passed from death unto life, because we love the brother.

He that loveth not his brother abideth in death, and you read it on over to verse 19. Hereby we do know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. He's talking about love. And in the fourth chapter, verses 7 to 12, you see exactly the same thing.

You see, I think that's key to this metaphor. You say, well, where did I get the key to the metaphor? Well, basically from Alexander White, but other than that, there's another place I got it. You see, the key to this metaphor, why it bore witness with my spirit.

The key does not hang on the outside doorpost of my spirit, but rather it hangs on the inside wall of my place of repentance. And you can take that as a confession, or what you will, but my motive is not to give you a confession.

My motive is to speak to young men and young women about these three principles that I'm trying to hold up tonight, to spare you some of the mistakes some of us have made. How many times have you trespassed against humility?

How many times have you trespassed against love? In unadvised sermons, or conversations, or wild, whirling words, yes, and without even shame, or remorse, or self-condemnation? My dear, none of these passages that I've pointed out, either St. Paul or St. John or Bunyan, were ever written without remorse or self-contempt.

And may I add that they are never read or understood without a little of the same feeling. Now let me take you further in Bunyan's metaphor to encourage you. And I'm bringing you toward the end of the metaphor now.

The Sword of the Spirit and Self-Examination

And this is where we see Mr. Great Heart, and he's speaking to Valued-for-Truth, and I quote, Then said Mr. Great Heart to Valued-for-Truth, Thou hast worthily behaved thyself. Let me see thy sword.

And Valiant showed him his sword. And when he had taken it in his hand, he looked thereupon awhile, and the guide said, Ah, it is a right Jerusalem blade. It is so, said Valiant. Let a man have one of these blades in his hand, and with a hand to wield it, and skill to use it, that he may venture upon angels with it.

Its edge will never blunt. It will cut flesh and bones and soul and spirit and all. And what Bunyan is quoting, practically, is Hebrews 4 .12, where it says, The word of God is quick and sharper than any two-edged sword, dividing the soul, the spirit, the joy, to the marrow, the thoughts, and the intents of the heart, and so on.

Ah, my dear friend, it is a wonderful blade to have in our hands. The sword, this sword was not forged in earthly fire, or it was not whitted on an earthly which stone. The best of all, when soldiers of Jesus Christ have this sword girded about them, he is able to go against himself within, and against his worst enemy.

That's why it has two edges. We are to go against ourselves with it, as well as our enemies. And that's Bunyan's metaphor, as in Bunyan's metaphor, his old, wild head of him, pride of heart. This sword is meant to go against that pride that's in our own heart.

This sword is meant to cut that. It's to cut our own wild-headedness. And then great heart went on to God said, Thou hast done well. Thou hast resisted unto blood, striving against sin. That's why we know these men were within.

Bunyan's talking about him striving against sin, unto blood, and that's that picture of Bunyan fighting with these enemies. It's his own heart. Thou hast resisted unto blood, striving against sin. Thou shalt abide with us.

Come, go in and go out with us, for we are thy companions, said Mr. Great Heart. And my dear friends, this Jerusalem blade does have two edges. It's like, it should be like the Arabian warriors. You know, they shine their swords.

The Arabian warriors shine their swords to such a shiny point that that's what they use for a mirror to dress for battle. They use their sword as a mirror to dress for battle. And my friend, if you use the sword as a mirror for yourself, you will be dressed for the battle against all the enemies of the truth.

Kristiana's Farewell and the Charge to Guard the Children

Well, the last lesson from Bunyan's Mr. Valued for Truth, and this shows that Bunyan wants to encourage us, not to discourage us to point out these enemies, but to encourage us to be valiant for the truth.