Jesus' Sword

Jesus’ Sword

11/20/14

Most of the people that have read about this title subject immediate think about how Jesus came to divide the good from the bad.  While this belief is accurate there are some other details about this area that need to be addressed.  It is easy to criticize the standards of the world and leave out the Church in this admission of guilt but we need to remember that God is a complete God and that the sword that Jesus was talking about also is meant for the Church as well.  For if God is only one sided then He could not be considered to be the highest authority on all areas of eternity.

It is quite well known that the world and its standards have decreased in the past few decades.  This decline has been very obvious and at the same time it has been widely accepted by the world in terms of equality.  Equality is a good thing and it serves its purpose justly, but what many people fail to understand is that unless we are willing to draw a line at some point with equality, the extensions of this concept can be limitless, thus actually destroying any morality that has ever been established.  As the Church it is easy for us to sit back and to point our fingers at these events and say things are going to hell in a hand-basket, but what we are ignoring is that these same efforts of equality are being promoted within our own personal walls, which pose an even greater danger to our future.  It is this side of the sword that needs to be addressed and just how Jesus will do this when it becomes necessary.

Over the past few days we have witnessed the bloodshed that has occurred in Jerusalem.  It pains me to think that anyone would have the audacity to try and make waves in this city and honestly believe that their actions will not have future consequences, both on their lives personally and within their communities as well.  It is most fascinating to me to remember that the people who do carry out these attacks really do not care what happens to them as long as they accomplish the mission that they have been tasked with.  The question remains of why these events occur on a regular basis with seemingly no lasting consequences coming down.  When all of the dust settles and the boiling points have been dimmed, it will become clear that the Church and those who believe in God have not been doing their duty in praying, really praying for Israel and her protection, which is a huge no-no in God’s eyes, and this lack of responsibility also serves as an open door for our own demise.

If a person reads the news about the Church it is very clear that she is currently focused upon social issues rather than completing the mission that she was commanded to do.  Every day the news sites and social media options are filled with reports and stories of how the Church is not accepting this cause or that clause within the laws.  So instead of the Church standing up for her beliefs on these issues and following what she has been taught for centuries, she is cowering to her enemy and placing her knees on the ground to the wrong king.  This action of the Church is not going unnoticed by God; while God will allow this activity to continue for a time it will not be long until we see the benefits of our sowing and it shall not be a pretty site in God’s eyes.  God shall allow this to continue up to a certain point and then He will have to say enough is enough and shall have to step in and remind us once again that He controls the sword of truth, not humanity.

It is also important that we understand that Jesus will use His sword in one of two ways.  The first way is that of involuntary action by those who refuse to understand, believe and follow God’s ways.  This is an example of Jesus pushing back the kingdom of Satan who rules the laws of the earth and is our sworn and immortal enemy.  The second way that Jesus uses His sword is to clean away the sins that we have offered up to Him for taking away.  While both processes are painful in many ways, it is the manner in which He uses His sword that determines the fate of billions on the earth.  Humanity’s problem is that we have failed to recognize the true enemy and at the same time rejected the only way possible for us to rid ourselves of all the hurt and disgust that lies before us.  It is both of these processes that place us in direct contact with Jesus’ sword for all the wrong reasons and our enemy absolutely loves it.

I am reminded of a book entitled “Four Blood Moons” by John Hagee which I am currently reading.  In one of the chapters in this book it deals with how God allowed the destruction of the Temple and how shocking it was to the Jewish people that event was allowed to occur.  Even more devastating was the fact that many of the Jewish people that were scattered abroad had no real definitive clue as to why God allowed this action to occur.  And through this blindness of the Jewish people it defined their state of heart as to why God allowed these horrific events to take place.  Today we the Church are in the exact same position that the Jewish people were in, not only once but twice immediately before the Temple was destroyed and it is time we take the blinders off and do according to what this year represents, Shemitah in order to avert a devastating slash of Jesus’ sword.

A sword was one of the major weapons in Jesus’ time and it was always a sign of battle and strength even when war was not imminent.  Soldiers always proudly displayed and carried their swords with honor when they were in uniform and they knew exactly where their sword was when they were out of uniform as well.  Without their swords soldiers had no immediate defense if attacked and they had to offensive weapon to lead them during a charge.  The sword defined the soldier in such a manner that any enemy understood exactly what they were getting into if they decided to attack.  This is exactly what Jesus meant when He was referring to Him being a sword and while some of the disciples, and today’s Christians, did not understand this, Satan fully understood it.

The passage in which Jesus talks about being a sword is located in Matthew 10:34 and is part of one of the more familiar passages within the New Testament.  We usually associate this passage with Jesus’ abilities to conquer a dying world with His presence and His teachings, but the most important part we deliberately leave out or we just flat have not understood it.  Either way this passage contains one of the more powerful implementations of Kingdom that can be given and the intimate details of the sword that Jesus is talking about here defines His abilities to cut away everything that is not from God, both from the Saint and the sinner.

What Jesus says in these few sentences proclaims that He has a specific mission here on earth and that we should be setting the same example as He did.  It is a common belief supported with numerous examples that Jesus was present in the public and was readily recognized within the crowds of the common folk.  One would expect these types of “sword” sermons to be portrayed to these people, especially since they were deemed common, unfit and unworthy of holding any specific title within their religious communities.

However, there are also examples of when Jesus taught of these same cutting principles to the elite of the community, the religious fathers of Jerusalem and other religious centers.  He did not leave these people out or consider them exempt from this message and it was these people who took great offense to this type of teaching, especially when it was purposefully directed towards their lives.  The message that Jesus spoke to the leaders of the Jewish communities was sharp, pointed and lethal to their ideologies and practices and it would have embarrassed them on a public level for it caught them unprepared for such a scathing report; or did it, for they knew their hearts and so did many of the people that had any dealings with them.

The sword that Jesus was referring to of course was symbolic and yet He used the perfect example to use in order to get the people’s attention in what He was saying.  It is common knowledge that the Scribes and Pharisees continually placed informants within the crowds that Jesus spoke to, and it was their job to pass along information about what Jesus was teaching.  The messages that Jesus spoke were taken to heart my many of the people that listened to His words, but for some, as the religious leaders who believed they knew everything about the Law, were infuriated by these “accusations” that He proclaimed.  While Jesus was no respecter of persons He tried His best to include every individual into the messages and to teach them about the Kingdom of God and what it meant to the world.

We have to keep some historical data in our minds when trying to wrap our minds around this concept.  Jesus understood the hierarchy of the Jewish sects and He also understood their differences as well.  When an enemy knows that you understand their ways and history they will still attack but shall do it with more venom since the truth is already present, this works in our lives as well when we are attacked by Satan.  While the Pharisees and the Sadducees shared a common belief they differed in their interpretations of who se laws were fundamentally correct and which ones spoke doctrinal truths through these laws.  Which laws, interpretations to obey and which ones to believe still haunt humans to this day, so I guess I can safely state that not much has changed since the ancient days of humanity. 

This type of cutting is so sharp that it actually divides this tight knit group of religious leaders.  It also refers to how this sword will divide the family household and when placed into the concept of God’s view on choice it becomes clear as to why this setting will occur.  It also provides us with a before, during and after scenario of what this concept means to humanity.

It was through this blindness that Jesus sought to shed light upon and while many accepted His teachings and ways the religious leaders scoffed at His words and began plotting His demise.  In other words they rejected Jesus’ sword of truth through the dealings with God so they had to physically reap those “benefits” just as few years later when Jerusalem was totally destroyed by the Romans.  In one way or another God will use Jesus’ sword to grab our attention.  In this example Jesus gave the religious leaders many opportunities to see their mistakes and faults before something came along to destroy their selfish ways.

It is well known that God gives His people plenty of opportunity to change their ways before He must say enough is enough. Jesus wants to use His sword in our hearts to cut away what hinders us from living in a complete relationship with Him.  He can do this if we allow this process to occur and even though it will be painful at times and probable that we will have to give up some things in our life that we believe are necessary for our “survival”, this pruning is necessary for our eternal survival.  This is a voluntary cutting by the master and while it may hurt for a while, it will not kill us but make us stronger and spiritually healthier so that we may understand that we have the same power to use this sword not only to defend ourselves from enemy attacks but to advance God’s Kingdom in the same manner as Jesus did with our lives.

Here is the Kingdom principle that is play here.  Whenever Jesus used His sword to cut away the dead and rotten things of the world, He did so by His Father’s Word and through the understanding of the spiritual kingdom that vies for your life.  Through His deeds of kingdom, He pushed back the kingdom of darkness so that those watching could understand what was transpiring. At that moment it was strictly their choice to see what was in play or not.  If they chose to see the darkness around them and accepted the new light that was given to them, then God’s Kingdom was in place and advanced.  If these people did not choose to accept the light that was presented to them, then the hold of Satan’s kingdom took back over and pushed God’s Kingdom back again.  This event explains why it is written that when a demon is cast out and allowed to return into that person, they are allowed to bring more “friends” with it.

Being a complete God comes into play here as well.  God understands that not everyone will see this principle or understand it in the beginning.  God also understands that it is our choice to accept Him at all.  God fortunately knows that we have a huge tendency to take up this sword and swing it without thought and mow down innocent lives in the name of God.  We as the Church have used this sword of Jesus to condemn millions of people, all in the name of the advancement of Christianity.  What we have failed to recognize is that while we were “advancing” our own personal beliefs of Christianity, we were actually advancing the kingdom of darkness.  Let this soak in for a while, because it is a sobering statement.  We have proudly advanced the kingdom of Satan while we were personally advancing our physical beliefs of Christianity.

A quick biblical, Kingdom and related historical example here to illustrate this point.  In the Bible there is a scene in the Garden of Gethsemane where Peter cuts off the ear of a man.  To accomplish this feat he uses a sword.  Jesus does not rebuke him for his action but quickly turns and heals the man in which Peter had attacked.  Some centuries later the Roman Catholic Church initiated a series of wars called The Crusades.  If one takes into account as to the reasons why both of these acts were committed, then they must come to the conclusion of my previous paragraph.  Clearly Peter was upset with the situation at hand and tried to take matters into his own hands.  It is obvious that the powerful Catholic Church did the same in order to advance their beliefs in their “Christianity”.  Yet while these intentions are of good nature, they set into motion the spiritual kingdom of Satan instead of God’s Kingdom.

The people who listened to these words of Jesus did not fully understand that He was trying to explain that it was the spirit world that controlled the things that humans do and it was His job and our job to fight through this realm and not through the physical world.  The writings within the New Testament make it very clear that we are not fighting against other humans but the spirit that controls them.  This concept is not understood by millions of Christians and it is now being used against us when trying to make sense of our current surroundings.  Today we have an example of this in the issue of gay marriage and even prominent people are now saying that “loving the person and hating the sin” will no longer work on them.  This is a Kingdom principle and battle at its utmost.

Jesus’ sword is an active process and it will complete its job when called upon.  It has been called upon and is doing its job as we speak.  The only option that we have is whether or not we accept His sword voluntarily and allow His truth and love cut away our decayed flesh or will we have to see its destructive cutting authority through our rebellious activities.  It is strictly up to us and it is strictly our choice as to which we shall witness.

Over the past few years I have written many things concerning the Church and her status within the world and in God.  I must say once again that I love the Church and I love everything that she stands for, but it is the things that she stands against or the lack of things that she stands again that concerns God.  It has become evident that she has accepted worldly ways within her heart and has taken these standards to heart as well.  God is trying to show us that what she is doing is not right and it will have dire consequences upon her vitality and life itself.  God wishes to restore her vitality and vigor once again but in order for Him to be allowed to complete this He must have her permission. 

His sword is sharp and effective in cutting away what is dead and allowing restoration to occur.  However, if she refuses to allow God to accomplish this pruning, He will at some point in the near future have to deal with these issues Himself.  It is far better to allow Him to address these now and under supervised conditions rather it being harsh enough to scatter His Church in multiple directions in order to draw her attention back to Him.  God asks that His Church heed His message and return back to Him so that we may become one in Him once again, before devastation occurs through our land.

DLB