The Preacher's Sword

We are in Evangelism Awakening Revival Institutes, and today we will review session three, The Preacher's Sword. I'd like to begin, friends, with the tale of the legend of the king's sword, because it's apropos to our situation today. There was a legend about a magical sword used by old English king.

It seems that whenever the king used this particular sword, he experienced success and victory on the battlefield. His enemies learned to fear the king's sword. Eventually, the king grew old and feeble.

An adversary, the king, began to spread a rumor around the village that the king's sword no longer possessed supernatural powers, that it was now just an average ordinary sword of little use to its owner. But this story began to spread among the peasants until the entire village believed that the king's sword was now impotent. As the king's heir to the throne matured, he too grew up believing the story about the sword's uselessness and ordered the royal blacksmith to forge him a new sword, a handsome, shiny, engraved sword with jewels, much more beautiful to behold than his father's old sword.

This was done. But one day, an enemy force attacked the castle village and fell upon the inhabitants, killing and maiming many. The enemy then laid siege to the castle.

The young prince grabbed his new bejeweled sword and went forth to defend his kingdom, but to no avail. Rather than defeating his enemy, he was captured. In fact, the entire village of the royal family was now under bondage to this evil enemy.

Time passed and the villagers groaned beneath the oppressive bondage of the evil power, but there was nothing they could do about it but suffer. Eventually, the old king died and his son, the prince, could not assume the throne because he was still a captive of this evil entity. The entire village groaned and lamented as they served their oppressive and evil new ruler.

Well, during this time, a nephew of the king grew to maturity and one day this lad called on the prince of the castle. The guards allowed the fair-haired, harmless-looking youth entry since he was royalty. The prince was held captive in a chamber with a guard at the door.

When the lad was allowed to visit the prince, he asked him where the old sword was that once belonged to the king. The prince pointed to a large cedar chest by the barred window. The chest was opened and there, wrapped in an old blanket, was the leather scabbard which held the king's sword.

The lad asked if he could have the sword as memento of his uncle the king. The prince nodded yes, telling the lad that it was just an old worthless sword of little use today. The lad left the castle with the sword wrapped in the old blanket.

Upon arriving at his part of the village, he stopped by the barber shop to get a haircut. The barber was one of the ancient men of the town. As the old barber cut the lad's locks, he inquired about the bundle by the lad's feet.

The lad told the barber about the sword. When the old man heard this, his eyes lit up and his stooped shoulders straightened. He then proceeded to tell the lad about all the powers that the sword formerly possessed.

The lad was curious, and as he left the barber shop, he visited an old baker. He asked the elderly baker to verify the story of the magical sword. Oh yes, said the baker.

I was an eyewitness to the king's victories with that sword, for I used to be the royal baker, until the enemy captured the castle and placed us all in bondage. The baker turned away, his eyes were full of sadness. The lad left the baker and went home.

In his little hovel, he unwrapped the blanket and pulled the old sword from the worn leather scabbard. Though it was large and double-edged, the sword seemed just an ordinary sword. In fact, it was almost too heavy to wield properly.

The lad lay down on a mat on the straw floor and fell asleep next to the sword. The lad dreamed of being a king. He dreamed he was king and fighting a battle with this sword.

The enemy fled the lad in fear. Was it the magical sword? He awoke to sunlight pouring in from a hole in his thatched roof. The lad grabbed the sword.

Lifted it up with both hands, he exclaimed, it must be true. With a new faith, he rushed from his hovel, and the first enemy soldier he encountered, he brandished the sword and attacked. The enemy fell down dead.

Soon, another enemy was upon the lad, but brandishing the sword again, he experienced victory. Finally, a troop of enemies fell upon the lad, but the sword saved him once more. There were now eyewitnesses to these events, and soon word spread among the villagers that the king's old sword was once again magical.

Word got to the evil ruler at the castle, and he personally led his largest band of soldiers to attack the lad. All the lad had to do was to brandish the sword, and the enemy fell before him. The lad was a hero.

He and the sword set the captives free. The lad was made the new king. The prince was so bewildered and jealous that he killed himself by falling upon his bejeweled sword.

From that day on, there was peace in the valley of the king. The church has failed with its new swords and methodologies. It is time, friends, to seek the old paths once again.

In Jeremiah we read, Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. We need some young preacher boys today who will take God at his word and go forth to battle.

But listen, friends, getting back to the basis of preaching, the basics of preaching, and learning how to wield the sword of God's word should be our primary objective in this desperate day of uncertainty and doom in the land. In Hebrews 4.12 we read, For the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. I used to have an exact replica of a Claymore sword.

It was double-edged and heavy to hold. I don't know how the Scottish warriors managed to fight with it, but they did, and they hung the heads of their enemies on its handle. But our preaching should be piercing like a double-edged sword, where when we preach, the great doctrines of grace our hearers are felled by it.

And as we use the word of God to hew men down like Samuel did to Agag, we should preach for the disturbing presence of Christ. Our sermons should divide asunder all false refuges of men and strip them away so they can see only the righteousness of Christ. We need to preach a barbed-wire gospel that cuts both ways, cuts into the conscience of sinful man and disturbs him.

We need to give the Holy Spirit room to work in our day so God can confirm His word. Charles Finney used an illustration of a mill with its two millstones. He said the top stone is the preached word of God, and the bottom millstone is man's conscience.

When the two meet and grind one upon the other, then the Holy Spirit can go to work and bring conviction of sin. Well, I like that illustration, don't you, friends? We preachers need to get back to the old past and preach to bring conviction of sin so folks can get saved. This little stuff we call salvation today, where men merely make a decision for Christ through a mental flip, is nonsense and harmful.

We need to stop being afraid of our deacons and call men and women and boys and girls to repentance and warn them about the fires of hell and damnation there. The preacher's sword should be used wisely as it is thrust into the hardened sinner's heart. Well, this ends our series of messages on the hammer, the fire, and the sword.

I pray it makes us all better preachers and better witnesses for Him for the sake of souls and God's glory.