{"id":2207,"date":"2016-12-01T01:01:00","date_gmt":"2016-12-01T01:01:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2017-12-14T03:35:09","modified_gmt":"2017-12-14T03:35:09","slug":"the-cross-and-the-sword","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kinshipradio.org\/home\/the-cross-and-the-sword\/","title":{"rendered":"The Cross and The Sword"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n

One of the criticisms of Christianity is that, as it is currently practiced in our culture, it’s not really very masculine. In fact, there are those who say the Church in America has been “feminized.”<\/span>
\n
\n<\/span>They point to contemporary Christian music and charge that many of the songs could as easily be any sappy love song ever written with the name of Jesus substituted for the name of the girl next door.\u00a0<\/span>
\n
\n<\/span>They long for the days when we sang, “Onward Christian Soldiers” and we were ready to march into war.<\/span>
\n
\n<\/span>They’d like a little more sword in their faith, please.<\/span>
\n
\n<\/span>As it happens, while these thoughts were milling around in my head, this set of verses came up:<\/span>
\n
\n<\/span>\u201cDo not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>And a person\u2019s enemies will be those of his own household.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Matthew 10:34-38 ESV<\/span><\/i><\/span>
\n
\n<\/span>Now, there we have some verses with a sword in them!<\/span>
\n
\n<\/span>It sure sounds like it’s going to be an epic battle here. A man will be against his own father, conflict and battle will be within our own homes and families, and lives will be laid down for the cause of Christ.\u00a0<\/span>
\n
\n<\/span>But, let’s notice who<\/i> is swinging the sword in these verses.<\/span>
\n
\n<\/span>The speaker here is Jesus. So, it is Jesus<\/i> who is swinging the sword. He is the one setting homes and families against each other, not the disciples He is sending out.\u00a0<\/span>
\n
\n<\/span>And, while Jesus is swinging that big, macho sword, what are His disciples doing?<\/span>
\n
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n


\n<\/span>They’re lugging a cross and following Him<\/i>.\u00a0<\/span>
\n
\n<\/span>It’s important to note here that Jesus is giving the speech to His disciples as he sends them out to witness to the lost in Israel, before<\/i> He was crucified.<\/span>
\n
\n<\/span>He’s even saying this to them before He even hinted that He would die on a cross. He is sending them out with no equipment whatsoever–not even an extra shirt or an extra pair of sandals. He tells them not to take\u00a0<\/span>a walking stick or\u00a0<\/span>even a single penny with them. He sends them out with absolutely nothing, telling them that they will be flogged and beaten and dragged into court.<\/span>
\n
\n<\/span>But, even as He tells them how bad it’s going to get, He tells them not to be afraid–because they won’t need any of that stuff.<\/span>
\n
\n<\/span>Later He will ask them when they were sent out, if they had lacked anything and they will have to admit there was nothing they needed. This is in Luke 22:35 and, in the very next verse<\/i>, He tells them if they don’t have a sword, they should sell a cloak and go buy one.\u00a0<\/span>
\n
\n<\/span>They say they have two and Jesus says that is enough. (v. 38)<\/span>
\n
\n<\/span>This is immediately\u00a0before they go to Gethsemane\u00a0to pray, where Jesus is arrested, and where Peter hacks off the ear of Malchus. The disciples asked if they should fight with those swords,<\/span>
\n
\n<\/span>But Jesus said,\u00a0<\/span>\u201cNo more of this!\u201d<\/span>\u00a0And he touched his ear and healed him. (Luke 22:51 ESV)<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

But what about the sword we are told to carry as part of the armor of God from Ephesians 6?<\/span>
\n
\n<\/span>Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (v.17 NIV)<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The sword is the last item listed in the armor of God in these verses and it is specifically identified as the word of God, which then makes me think of this verse:<\/span>
\n
\n<\/span>For the word of God is alive 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. (Hebrews 4:12 NIV)<\/i><\/span><\/span>
\n
\n<\/span>So, as Christians, we wield a sword far more effective, far more powerful, far more awesome than anything made of iron or steel and wrought by human hands.<\/span>
\n
\n<\/span>And, that very sword will show up again in the greatest battle of all eternity:<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war.\u00a0His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself.\u00a0He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.\u00a0The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean.\u00a0Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. \u201cHe will rule them with an iron scepter.\u201d\u00a0He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.\u00a0On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n
KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n
(Revelation 19:11-16 NIV)<\/div>\n

Today’s Praise<\/span><\/p>\n

Onward Christian soldiers
\nMarching as to war
\nWith the cross of Jesus
\nGoing on before<\/i><\/div>\n
Onward then, ye people
\nJoin our happy throng
\nBlend with ours your voices
\nIn our triumph song<\/i><\/div>\n
Christ the royal master
\nLeads against the foe
\nForward into battle
\nSee His banners go<\/i><\/div>\n
Crowns and Thrones may perish
\nKingdoms rise and wane
\nBut the cross of Jesus
\nConstant will remain<\/i><\/div>\n
“Onward, Christian Soldiers” by Sabine Baring-Gould (Words, 1865) and Arthur Sullivan (music, 1872)<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  One of the criticisms of Christianity is that, as it is currently practiced in our culture, it’s not really very masculine. In fact, there are those who say the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-24 12:39:25","action":"delete","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kinshipradio.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2207"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kinshipradio.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kinshipradio.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kinshipradio.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kinshipradio.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2207"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kinshipradio.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2207\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kinshipradio.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kinshipradio.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kinshipradio.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}