Sermon Tone Analysis

Sword In – Dirt Out

New Hope Baptist Church

April 25, 2004

Judges 3:15-22

Hebrews 4:12

 

I have a vivid memory of my sister chasing me down our street with a spoon and a bottle in hand.

I must have been around 12 or so.

I had been coughing and I was full of cold.

She was always paranoid about my health since our mother had just died, and she was now looking after me.

Well, I would have rather been sick than to take what was in that bottle.

At my insistence she had tried all of the temporary fixes for my cold.

You know, cough syrup, Vicks, contact and what have you, but she knew in order to get that cold out of me, she needed to get that castor oil inside of me.

When she caught me she straddled my body, pinched my nose until I had to open my mouth, and just poured that nasty stuff down my throat.

It would have been much easier for both of us had I just taken it with the little orange juice like she had offered, but I just didn’t want what was good for me because it tasted so bad going down.

Some of you know what I’m talking about.

If you wanted to play around with a cold for a while, you’d take contact, cough syrup, cough drops and stuff like that; Band-aids that only paused or covered up the cold; Band-aids that treated the symptoms rather than deal directly with the cold.

But if you wanted to get that cold out of you, you had to endure some difficult tasting stuff like castor oil, black drought or cod liver oil.

You had to get it on the inside and the cold and unhealthy stuff would come on the outside.

The text that is before us today deals with such an episode.

In many instances in the Bible and in our everyday vernacular, the word “sword” is referred to as the Word of God.

So, we could restate the topic to “Word in – Dirt Out”.

Paul, in Ephesians, tells us that part of our armor in the army of God is the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

It is the only offensive part of our armor as Christians.

But all too often, Christians have learned how to wear other pieces of armor, but they fail to be able to use the offensive piece in battle with the enemy or with self.

It is the self that I want to speak to today.

I’m not talking about using God’s Word to get “things”.

I talking about using God’s Word to defeat the pitfalls of your humanness, your egos, your procrastinations and your insincerities that have kept you from knowing Him in the most personal way; that have kept you from experiencing the true victory and satisfaction of having your heart filled with His Word for your life; the sheer joy in knowing for yourself what He has planned just for you.

I’m talking about putting the Word of God so deep and secure into your very being that there is just no room for the dirt of the world, the dirt of old habits, the dirt of false beliefs, the dirt of playing with sin, the dirt of only being familiar with God, the dirt!

If you put the sword in, the dirt will come out!

My sister knew that the castor oil would help me because she had taken it herself before.

You cannot and will not be offensive in the right way towards dirt using the word of God until you have properly inflicted yourself.

So, with your prayers today, we will see from our text how to achieve *Preparation of the sword*, *Presentation of the sword*, and *Proclamation of the sword*.

Allow me to bring you up to speed on our text today.

At this time in Israel’s history Joshua had died and the people plunged into idolatry.

They owned the Promised Land but they didn’t possess it.

They had failed to dislodge the inhabitants; therefore, they couldn’t enjoy it.

They had begun to worship the idols and God would allow the kings of the foreign nations to gain rule over the people of Israel.

When Israel had enough, they would cry out to God, and He in His mercy, would send relief.

After Joshua’s death, there was no successor named, so God would call a man or a woman up from one of the tribes to lead the people.

The first judge, Othniel, had come from the tribe of Judah.

Now, we see Ehud, the second judge, from the tribe of Benjamin.

The Bible tells us that Ehud was a left-handed man and that he was successful in killing King Eglon through a masterful strategy.

Thus we see his masterful *Preparation* unfold.

Let’s look at the king, Eglon:  He was very fat and he represented the situation that Ehud needed to deal with.

Eglon’s name in Hebrew means “little Calf”, so he was the fatted calf ready for slaughter.

He gloated over the people of Israel and demanded their attention to his need to be kept fat, so they sent gifts to feed his ego and enhance his fatness.

You see, fat situations demand constant attention and feeding; that’s how they stay greasy and get so dirty.

They demand allegiance.

The thing to note about Ehud is that he was left-handed: (that is a statement of fact, but there is much more behind it)

o       He was a Benjamite – ambidextrous people

o       Term “left-handed” in original text means he was forced to use his left hand due to a physical defect in his right hand.

o       He was a little, physically challenged man called by a Big God to achieve a masterful plan

*In his preparation: he did three things:*

o       He made the sword – made two edges, 18 inches long, handled it himself, took time with it, made it personal, got to know it

o       He hid the sword – on his right side, (Most men carried their sword on the left side), he could easily reach it, it was his favorite thing, dear to his heart

o       He secured the sword -- tied it to his thigh, kept it protected, available and accessible.

It was tenable, sound and healthy, defensible and justifiable.

You see he didn’t want to lose it.

In like manner, to be proficient with the word of God today, you have to give it proper preparation.

You have to handle it for yourself.

You have to get to know it.

Get personal with it.

You can’t get to know it well enough if you don’t study and read it for yourself.

Sunday mornings just won’t do it.

The Bible laying on the coffee table won’t make it.

You have to open it, handle it, and make it yours.

Meditate upon it and memorize it.

I believe David said:  “Your Word have I hidden in my heart, that I may not sin against God.”

But Ehud needed to put his plan into action.

He needed an audience with the king, but he had to deal with some fat situations in order to make his *presentation*:

o       He faced the situation – he gained entry to the king by feeding his greed, he did not puff *himself* up but used his disability as strength.

o       He acknowledged the situation’s authority - by paying   tribute to the king (he acknowledged the problem), he didn’t act like it didn’t exist, he realized that the situation needed to be handle outside of his own strength and ability.

o       He inundated the situation with the sword – he swamped and flooded the situation with the sword, until the situation was void of all dirt.

He presented his weapon at the proper time, he loaded it into the situation and he made a strong statement.

Sometimes you have to get around some problems in order to make your presentation.

Sometimes you need to be quiet and not boast about who you think you are.

Sometimes, your quietness will speak volumes.

But when your opportunity comes, you need to be well prepared to present your sword soundly, defensibly, and directly.

You should flood the situation with the sword of the Spirit.

What situations in your life today need the presentation of the sword?

Are you running from them and hiding?

Do you not know and believe that the weapons of your warfare are not carnal, but that they are mighty to the pulling down of strongholds?

God has not left you defenseless, but well armed for any situation in life.

How fat is your situation today?

As long as you let it continue to sit in your life, eating at your expense and emptying its dirt into your life, you will remain owner of the land but your won’t possess it.

Or, God may be owner of your life, but He can’t fully possess it because you have given control of your life to a fat situation.

Whatever your fat situation is, you need to do a presentation of the sword:  is it lust or envy?

– Love not the world neither the things in the world.

Is it a need for food, shelter, clothes?

– Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Is it temptation by the enemy?

Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession.

Is it a monumental trial of life?

– Consider it all joy when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance, and let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Whatever may be your situation today, God says:  “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.”

“And my God shall supply all your need, according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

Finally, after Ehud had killed the “fatted calf”, after he had presented the sword into the situation at the proper time and in the proper manner, he made his *Proclamation*:

o       He blew the trumpet – he told others what had happened.

o       He gave credit where it belonged – to the Lord.

It was not his own strength that had brought victory, but the word and power of God.