Is There Blood On Your Sword?
It meant one thing. The person had been in combat...and had won.
Rifling through a stack of old notes the other day, I came upon a scribbled quote I had picked up somewhere or been impressed with at some point along the way. It said, “You’ll nevermeet a warrior who hasn’t been in battle.”
Why? Because the very term, warrior, denotes that a man or woman has been in combat. It doesn’t mean they are simply suited up for battle.
Ephesians 6:12-19 states:”For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt aboutwith truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplicationin the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel.”
The Word of God lists the battle gear we should be adorned with; however, so many Christians today think something is terribly wrong any time they walk through a valley, endure a trial … quite simply, any time they are asked to battle.
While it is true that Isaiah 54:17 says that “no weapon formed against thee shall prosper,” we must realize that: Weapons Will Be Formed!
I am not asserting that Christians think they are ‘better than’ those who struggle or have to battle from time to time. Rather, I believe we too often become shaken when we encounter resistance.
We lose sight of who we are in God. The fact is, battles will continue to plague us because we are called to take up His cross and follow Him. He fought; we will be expected to fight.
How else could Paul have stated, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing” (2 Tim. 4:7-8).
How Do We Fight?
Does being a warrior necessarily mean being argumentative? I must say it does not.
The Bible asks us to adorn our feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. We are also to “follow peace with all men , and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14).
Our warfare is different from the gunslinger with the notches in his gun, the pilot ace, or even the knight in his shining, metal armor.
II Corinthians 10:4 tells us that “the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds.”
Here we see that our weapons are not of a physical nature but of a spiritual nature.
We battle through prayer. As a child, I always looked up to several women in our church who spent long hours in prayer. Everyone had a term for them: prayer warriors. It wasn’t until recently that I realized that there isn’t a specific office mentioned in scripture for prayer warriors. There are to be “apostles; and some prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers” (Eph. 4:11).
In 1 Corinthians 12:29, Paul asked rhetorically, “Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles?”
It seems that not all saints are teachers; not all are apostles; not all are prophets; not all have the gift of healing and so on. Never does scripture say, however, that being a prayer warrior is a specific office only for some.
Why?
Simple. Because we all are called to prayer. Those we have long held in high esteem as prayer warriors have simply mastered our craft!
While teaching Bible Studies, preaching, teaching, even handling the finances and business decisions for the church are all very important elements of the battle we wage, nothing can be truly successful in the spiritual realm without clear guidance from God.
Prayer is a powerful weapon that will
** Lead you to full truth so that you may gird your loins in the full knowledge of who He is! (John 16:13)
** Help you to take on His righteousness that your heart may be protected from wicked and vain imaginations! (Jer. 23:6) Put on the breastplate!
** Give you peace in the midst of any storm, no matter how rough! (Phil. 4:7) Your feet should sport peaceful shoes wherever you go; be ready to be a peacemaker for they shall see God! (Matt. 5:9)
** Instill faith in God as you pray the Word! (Rom. 10:17) Your faith will shield you from discouragement and disillusionment!
** Connect you to the savior, protecting your mind from false doctrine. (Ps. 1:1-3) Don’t forget your helmet!
** Enlighten you to understand the scriptures you read and apply them to your life. (Ps. 119:105) We are able to advance with the Sword of the Word because His Word gives us direction so we won’t run into an ambush!
If the Word of God is our sword, I must further ask the question, “Do you have blood on your sword?”
Many of our preachers today have stopped preaching about Calvary because they say it is too gory, too over-used, or too offensive.
How can we forget, however, that it was Jesus’ blood, shed on the cross, that brought our dispensation into being. It was His blood that gives us forgiveness and remittance of sins today. It is His blood that cleanses us from all unrighteousness! And it is His sacrifice that paved the way for the Gentiles to be saved!
Your Bible should have some blood on it….some worn pages where it talks about Calvary.
Truly, our weapons—His weapons—“are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds.”
Isn’t it time we were proud of our battle scars … and His?
But this isn’t just about pride or about being on the winning side.
II Corinthians 10:4 gives us the reason for our fight: to pull down strongholds. Before a body will be healed, before any family will be reunited, before any soul will be birthed into the Kingdom of God, before any revival can shake a city, there are strongholds that must be brought down—strongholds of fear, doubt, false doctrine, distraction, and a million more.
We must pray. We must resist returning to the stage of Israel in II Kings 19: “And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and blasphemy; for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth."
Isaiah 66:8 says that “as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.”
So…in the midst of all the distractions of life that tug at our attention, I ask you the really important question:
Is there blood on your sword? They are waiting.......
