The honor of Jesus’ Sword
Friends: today’s message is “difficult-to-hear” Jesus uses things of this world to teach us…but often we fail to think about them. Jesus said He divides people…can He be saying the truth!…
Of course, what Jesus said should be true…now when we hear the truth about Jesus in the Scriptures; by our human mind, we become divides; we are either for Him or against Him. The Bible makes it clear that we on own cannot pick and choose certain doctrines concerning Jesus.
Jesus did not come to offer us a new set of laws or a new philosophy of life from which we can select parts that we accept and reject others… No! Jesus confronts us with Himself as God in the flesh.
We must; by God’s grace either believe or reject that claim of His, and if we believe it, the line is forever drawn in our lives over and against everyone who doesn’t believe in Him completely and totally as God, Lord, and Savior.
You see, when we are confronted by the reality of the Word made flesh… Saved by His grace…once dead in our sins but now alive in Christ, we are forever changed. The unconditional sacrificial love of Jesus compels us in return to obey His command to take up our cross and follow Him.
Rev. Jesus reminds us that we must die to live, lose ourselves to find ourselves in Him…. your comments please!
Thank you Mr Kyei: Jesus divides, and continues to divide the rote religion from a right relationship; He separates the secular from the sacred, the temporal from the eternal, this world is separated from the next world, the saved is separated from the unsaved, the lost from the found, darkness from light.
In brief; Jesus is Himself the divide between heaven and hell… it is an undeniable fact that Jesus is the Prince of Peace, however, our Lord Jesus Christ also brings with Him a Spiritual Sword which divides people: Jesus’ Sword divide even people in our own households.
Rev. I read your comment somewhy… you stated that “the sword is a weapon of honour… Juxtaposing it with The honour of Jesus’ Sword… can you expand this for us!
I was comparing A Sword to A cruise missile…
To answer you: … though both are offensive weapons of destruction…The sword is a weapon of honour; though a cruise missile is very effective, it does not have the honour a sword does.
Let me give you a scenario: With a cruise missile, you push a button sitting in one corner, and hundreds of miles away somewhere, you blow up your target. You don’t see your victims, you don’t hear or feel their pain, and you really don’t experience what you’ve done at all. You don’t even know if you’ve actually accomplished your mission until you see the video later on News.
A sword, however, is different. There is honour to a sword because you stand toe-to-toe with your opponent. He is looking into your eyes as you look into his. You notice his fear as you yourself are afraid because you are both in danger.
You hear and feel the clash of the steel metals as he defends himself and then attacks and you, in turn, have to defend yourself. Should you have the upper hand and hurt your opponent; you experience the pain, the hurt with him and for him; because you are right there with him…
Rev. How is this combative weapon usage applicable to the Great Commission?
When it comes to living as loved ones of Jesus Christ, who are commissioned by Him to go and make disciples of all nations; most Christians seem to prefer the cruise missile approach.
They sit in their comfort Zone: Send some money, way over there for missions in foreign nations and relax to know in a newsletter how it all turns out later.
Rev. That is an effective and necessary way to win the world for Jesus.
Very well said, but it is not the only way we are called to share the Gospel. That is the cruise missile evangelism. You don’t feel it, hear it, or experience it at all; it’s very safe and easy when you send someone else to fight the good fight of faith.
Yet Jesus clearly states the difficult truth that sometimes a Christian’s enemies will be members of his own household.
Rev. What does He mean by that; please?
Jesus gets very personal at us here. He is saying that the love of God for the believer is unconditional. Yet our love of our family compels us under certain conditions to draw our sword and do spiritual battle within our own family. (Man against his father, daughter against her mother).
Rev. my understanding is that… From Jesus’ perspective; there can be no real true Godly peace within a family until all are His people, saved by grace through faith in Him alone.
Excellent! Though Jesus is the Prince of Peace, He knows that if we are truly following Him according to our new nature given to us in our baptism, then we will sometimes have to pay the price of conflict even with those we love the most, and that is not an easy struggle… my dear listeners!
Most of us seek peace at all costs in our home and relationships. So we have to compromise many things in order to live together in peace.
The sad part is…Some of us, I am no exemption seem to have peace yet sorry! Sorry that our family members and old friends remain lost; they and heading to an eternal life in hell, simply because we don’t want to upset whatever delicate relationships we live within.
Rev. Jesus is teaching against that kind of attitude in today’s Gospel.
Dear friends: It is much better that there should be conflict so that at least some people would be saved. Obviously it is not safe to live in peace with Satan or sin or indifference. We must not just sing in the comfort our safe-haven, “Lift High the Cross”: We must lift that wonderful old ragged cross high at all times in all places in the face of danger…in a real-world of thousand different opinions: Lift High The Cross on that subject-matter – in our businesses, schools, and social gatherings; most especially in our homes.
Rev. Jesus forcefully questions us – who do we love the most? Your comment!
How do we love the best? Jesus is reminding His disciples and by extension us, that we really can’t love anyone else in the right way until we love Him-Jesus first and most. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life for everyone, and if we truly love our family and friends, we will take the risk to direct them to Jesus because no one comes to the Father but through Jesus, no matter what that may cost.
The cost often involves pain. You stand toe-to-toe with people who are known to you and who know you, upside-down; inside out. Here you see fear in their eyes as you yourself are afraid because you are both so vulnerable to sin. If there is rejection or a challenge to the authority of God’s Word, you hear and feel the clash of the Sword of the Spirit as you and the one you are seeking to love into God’s Kingdom is advancing and defending. And even if you win the battle and the Good News of salvation in Christ is received, you may first have to experience the pain of your loved one slain by God’s Law, dying to self, revived by Christ.
Dear Listeners: We lose our life to find it. We take up our cross and follow Him. We die to sin and rise with Christ to newness of life.
Galatians 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
Mr Kyei: We draw the Sword of Jesus because He loved us and gave Himself up for us. It is the only honourable thing to do; Because He so first loved us, we are simply to love and direct others to Him.
Instead of hoping and wishing that something happens somehow, someway, to move the people we know needs salvation. We should be proactive and draw the sword.
Friends: Draw the Sword of Jesus in honour of His Gospel; not counting the lost in the change of our relationship… take note that: it is a sin to keep the Sword, Jesus speaks of in its sheath because we seek peace at all costs, even if that cost is our loved one’s damnation in eternity.
God forgive us, our lack of honour in this most important mission..to our loved ones
Friends: God always sends people into our own lives: into our families, our schools, our businesses, our churches. They are there right with us, please don’t be afraid; draw the Sword of Truth…by the power of the Holy Spirit; when repentance comes… you will see, that the pain is worth it. It’s like a surgery!
In a surgery, the surgeons first had to cut, open and pull apart before they could fix whatever is needed to be fixing. That should cause some pain to heal.
Rev. The Bible says about the Sword of God’s Word in Hebrews 4:12-13: “For the Word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and lay bare before God’s eyes. To God, we must give account.”
Friends: God loves us enough to cut us with the double-edged sword of His Word; open us up and pull us apart to reveals the truth about ourselves.
This may definitely cause us some pain, as we see how far we are from what God calls us to be. The good thing is, once everything is opened and laid bare before God, He takes our sin out from us, removes that guilt and shame which has made us so sick. He takes that fatal disease called sin upon Himself.
Then Jesus repairs our heart and soul with His blood transfusion of love through grace and mercy. We receive forgiveness and the promise of everlasting life in His name. He then sews us back with the Sword of the Gospel…
Mr Kyei and my dear Listeners: No matter how awful or helpless we may feel. The truth is Jesus, the Great Physician, has died to heal us of all our sins, Jesus has won the ultimate battle over sin and death on the cross on our behalf, and now the victory of the resurrection of Jesus is ours … Hallelujah
Hallelujah… dear listeners our theme is “the honor of Jesus’ Sword”
Rev. your final word on the theme: The honor of Jesus’ Sword
Dear listeners: As I demonstrated at the beginning; a sword is a weapon of honor. The Sword of Jesus is the most honorable Sword which has ever been. Jesus paid the price of His life to be our Savior. He now calls on all of us to give our lives as His disciples in the real world in real ways to those He sends our way.
It’s not always easy to take up the cross of Jesus, to lose ourselves in order to find yourself in Him. It is definitely not easy to draw the Sword of God’s Word. However it certainly brings honor to Jesus as His the Sword of His Word divides sin and death from the precious soul through our prayers, our words and actions of compassion for the lost and vulnerable in our society.
And the most amazing thing of all about this Sword of Jesus is that in the midst of all of the battles that we face in life, The honor of Jesus’ Sword brings with it daily blessings of peace that surpasses all human understanding… in Jesus name Amen.
Amen!
The Benediction
The Lord bless you and keep you
The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you everlasting peace..Amen!