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Keeping Our Sword Drawn and Sharpened

My first preaching work was in a small farming community in south central Oklahoma.  It was not uncommon to arrive at church services and find someone out front whittling on a stick with a pocketknife.   Most of the time there was no definite purpose for “whittling,” and the end result was a shortened stick with a sharp point at the end.   But every now and then a good brother would be whittling away at a stick for a specific purpose he had in mind.  It also seemed as if each of the men carried a knife that fit their personality and needs.  There were all sorts of knives, of varying size and sharpness.  Occasionally, at one of the fellowship meals, a brother would whip out his pocketknife and slice a tomato in no time flat (I sometimes wondered where that knife had been prior to slicing the tomatoes, but tried not to dwell on the possibilities).  On a number of occasions an attempt to slice the tomato would end up in tomato juice due to the dullness of the knife.  Then the brother would say, “One of these days I’m going to get this thing sharpened.”

Paul admonished us to “take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Eph. 6:17).  The word of God is a cutting instrument.  It is “living, active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joint and marrow” (Heb. 4:12).  Contrary to post-modern mentality, the word of God is not a dead letter, incapable of accomplishing the purpose for which it is sent forth.  Nor is the word some kind of  flexible, ever changing document that is to be adapted to the culture or thinking of each generation.   Everything I read in the Bible so far as its permanence is concerned leaves the distinct impression that it is sufficient, once for all delivered to the saints, and authoritative in its message.   It does NOT change with the passing of time, but calls upon men to change their lives to meet its demands.   There is a consensus among so-called “theologians” (false, I might add) that the Holy Spirit somehow “illuminates” the Bible, and provides it with power to convict the souls of men.   Unfortunately some of our brethren are teaching such sophisticated silliness.  Charles Ryrie, a well known sectarian preacher, described the work of the Holy Spirit as “making clear the truth of written revelation.”  That kind of mind set essentially robs the word of God of its inherent power, and places one at the mercy of whatever “subjective” feeling he might have on a matter while attributing it to the “work of the Holy Spirit.”

Peter used the sword on the day of Pentecost to prick the hearts of those who would listen to the word.  As soldiers in the army of God, our weapon for slaying the hosts of wickedness is powerful and adequate.  “For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12).  To be effective we must keep our sword drawn and sharpened at all times.  With that sword that has been forged by the Holy Spirit, we go forth conquering and to conquer.   “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh (for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the casting down of strongholds); casting down imaginations, and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:3-5).   In a sense the sword itself (i.e., the word of God) will always be sharp, for error has no advantage over truth and the weapons of Satan are no match for God’s spiritual arsenal.  A sharp sword in the hands of a courageous soldier of the cross will spell victory; but the “ignorant and unstedfast” will “wrest” the “scriptures unto their own destruction” and the destruction of others (2 Pet. 3:16).   Like that farmer who intended to get his knife sharpened someday, there are those soldiers in the Lord’s army who neglect the word, and when the time of battle comes, their “sword” is either sheathed or they lack the proper training to wield the sword of the Spirit.  They may have intended to “sharpen” their skills “someday.”  But that “someday” never comes, and so far as the outcome, they are no better than that farmer who never quite got around to sharpening his knife, and they have, for all practical purpose, dulled the blade that could otherwise pierce and convict.     A dull sword spells defeat at the hands of the enemy.  Like those country farmers, there are some Christians who keep their instrument sharp.  They can rightly divide the word and thus use it effectively against the forces of evil.  But there are also those in the body of Christ who have allowed their sword to become dull.  One of the most forceful admonitions given to the children of God is that from the pen of Peter:  “But sanctify in your hearts Christ as Lord:  being ready always to give answer to every man that asketh you a reason concerning the hope that is in you” (1 Pet. 3:15).  God’s army is a mighty fighting force.  To be effective we must keep our swords sharpened.  To do otherwise makes our fighting instrument dangerously dull and our souls unprepared and ineffective.

By Tom Wacaster