The Plastic Sword!

Imagine a soldier in olden days going to war with what you would nowadays give a child to play with - a plastic sword!  He would be laughed at, and worse, slaughtered. 

Today many preachers go into their pulpits with just such a ridiculous weapon.  They imagine they have the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God; but they have nothing of the sort.  When you listen to many of them - no all, thankfully, but these are in a decided minority - their preaching has no cut or thrust, no power, is ineffective, and does much more harm than good.  Their members leave the service not nothing much more than when they went in.  They fulfilled all righteousness by just being there, and no more.

But they did not feel the cut of God's sword in their hearts.  It is as if God was not there at all.  Had they been wielding God's sword, they would have known it; but alas, it was but a plastic sword that was in their hands. 

Satan has no reason to fear the "plastic sword brigade."  If what they have in their hands does not effect a change in their hearers, then Satan has nothing to fear, were they to have four services every Sunday, and one each week night.  No inroads will be made into his kingdom, the kingdom of darkness.  The devil's people will still be the devil's people, so his ire will not be raised by the wielding of the plastic sword.

Also, if perchance these good men have the sword of the Spirit in their hands, if it has become blunt, again Satan is not concerned.  Why should he be!  A blunt sword will not effect any change in a single sinner's life!  That is precisely what the devil wants - ministers wielding blunt swords.  Quite useless, when you think about it.

Want some advice?  Throw away your plastic sword and take in hand the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.  Sharpen your weapon by diligent and costly study and meditation in the Word of God, and pray over it.  Further, water the seed of the Word with your prayers.  Let that Word get inside you, into your mind and heart, into your very soul.  Submit yourself to what you know God is saying, for that is what God wants to say to your congregation.  Keep yourself  from interfering with the delivery of the message by projecting the Word forward to your hearers. 

Then stand back and see the salvation of God!