[0:00] Take your Bibles, if you would, just for a moment and turn with me to Jeremiah chapter 48 and verse 10. Jeremiah chapter 48 and verse 10. We give out a sword, and I just want to give you a real quick rundown on the reason that we give a sword out.
[0:16] When I was on deputation and furlough and all those things, I'm sure it was a furlough message. I preached a message that I'm going to give you just a brief outline of called, Has Your Sword Tasted Blood?
[0:28] I was a little boy. I can remember very few things from my childhood, but probably when I was in the neighborhood of six or seven, I was out on a swing set on a Sunday afternoon, and my dad, we were all getting in the car, and he would holler to be off the swing, and I was running towards the car, and he said, Boy, I forgot my sword.
[0:49] Go get my sword. And I went in and brought out his big red Bible, and that was his sword. I guess if I'd have got his New Testament, that'd have been his dagger. Amen?
[1:00] And so ever since, and I have liked that. I've always liked swords just because I think the Bible's a sword, so I just brought one of my many tonight.
[1:12] I thought I'd use it on Mitch McCormick. Amen? Or Andrew Water. I'm going to help him get a haircut real quick. And look, if you would, at this Bible verse.
[1:24] Look at you would. Jeremiah 48 10. Cursed be he that doeth the work of the Lord deceitfully, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood.
[1:38] I read through my Bible years ago, and I came across this verse. It's pretty interesting. A man of God is not doing what he ought to do. He's actually, in verse 7, trusting in his works and treasures and not trusting in God.
[1:51] And there's a long message here. We don't have time to go into it because we've got a lot of testimonies from you, but I want you to notice he was doing the work of God deceitfully. In other words, he's faking doing God's work.
[2:02] And you guys are headed to the field. You ought not go that way. Mitch and Andrew and Lauren and Jackie, you ought to go to the field, and you ought to do from the heart what God has called you to do.
[2:13] You ought not play. You ought not deceive the churches that are supporting you. You ought not deceive the church people and family members that have given. And you ought to do the work of God honestly.
[2:25] You ought to give me an amen right there. At least you four. Amen. And it's a curse that be that keeps back his sword from blood. You know, swords are really nice and pretty. And I like swords because they don't really do anything when I have them.
[2:39] I just hang them on the wall or stick them in a closet, and I got bunches of people giving them to me and everything else. But, you know, this is real battle. You weren't shooting a guy from 100 yards away.
[2:51] You weren't a sniper hiding. I mean, his blood is going to gush on your hand. And so he said, hey, you kept back your sword. You didn't go into battle. The Bible says in Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 17, the Bible says the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.
[3:10] And so we give you a sword. It's a picture, but this is the real sword. And it calls for up-close bloody work. It calls, people always ask me about defending the Bible, and I say, I don't need to defend it.
[3:22] I just stab people with it. It works. It works. You can walk up to a person and show them. They say, I don't believe the Bible. Just say, well, did you know you've sinned? You ever done anything wrong?
[3:33] They say, yep. I say, well, that's what it says. And I just go right on through it. It's amazing. They can't argue with what the Word of God says. It is the sword of the Spirit. Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 12.
[3:44] It is quick or alive and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. The beautiful thing about this sword is it's not sharp at all. And it's just a look at. Somebody gave that to me as a replica of a sword.
[3:57] But this Bible can discern the thoughts and intents of the heart. Mitch and Andrew, as you stand and preach in Adikipa. Yeah, you're going to Adikipa.
[4:08] In Adikipa. Everybody's supposed to have to keep at least a start. As you stand there and preach, all you've got to do is own the Bible. Boy, it'll dig right in. All you've got to do is say what the Word of God says.
[4:19] It'll show them they're sinners. It'll show them they need Christ. And they'll come to a place where they accept the Lord Jesus as their Savior. God gave us a sword. We're responsible to use it.
[4:29] Get in a battle. Do what you're called to do. And don't take advantage of support in churches. I despise most missionaries. You know, if you're just going to hang out in your house and not start churches.
[4:42] And not win people to Christ and not do something. You're an embarrassment to the cause of Christ. I need you to know Exodus 32, 27. They'll throw it up on the wall for you here to look at it.
[4:54] But you know the sword separates you from your best friends. There's a craziest story you ever heard in the Bible. In Exodus 32, 7. He said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side.
[5:09] Go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp and slay your brother, your companion, and your neighbor. They had just worshipped demons.
[5:21] They just built a golden calf. And then he stands up and says, All right, who's on the Lord's side? Y'all come over here and stand and a bunch of Levites came over there. He said, You say on the Lord's side, Let's say, Take your sword and go find your neighbor who didn't worship God and kill him right here in front of us.
[5:37] Go kill your neighbor. Go kill your friend. Go kill your very brother. Do you know the second Christians are too worried about pleasing their brother and their sister and their friend and the people they work with, they're condemning their ministry to ruin.
[5:55] Jesus wants to be first. He didn't come to bring peace. He came to bring a sword. You must decide who you love.
[6:06] You must decide how much you love him. What price are you willing to pay? In Luke chapter 14 verse 26, he said, If you come to me and you do not hate your father, your mother, your wife, your children, your brothers and your sisters and yourself, you cannot be my disciple.
[6:27] It's a sword. It's a sword. It's separate from who you would be, what you would have. It's a sword that says, I choose Jesus over what my family thinks.
[6:38] I choose Jesus over everybody else. I do what he wants me to do. Verse 27, he said, Whosoever does not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.
[6:51] And then he ends that passage of scripture. He said, If you won't give up all you have, verse 33, forsake everything that you have, you cannot be my disciple.
[7:02] Three times. One passage of scripture says, Do this or you're not mine. Do this or you're not mine. That's not for missionaries, by the way. That's for anybody that's following and loving Jesus Christ.
[7:15] He is first. He's before your in-laws, before your outlaws, before the people you work with. He's number one in your life. What's the price you're willing to pay?
[7:27] In Matthew chapter 10 and verse 37, he said, He that loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. He that loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
[7:41] He that will not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Three times. Brief passage of scripture. Two verses. Not worthy.
[7:53] Jesus expects to be first. He didn't use the term sword. He used the term cross. You pick up your cross and you follow Jesus. Pick up your cross and you go to die.
[8:06] Usually I used to preach this in a 45 minute time, but let me show you the last thing I want to show you tonight. You know, you have to learn how to use a sword. You have to be trained how to use a sword.
[8:21] In Judges chapter eight and verse 20, the king says to Jethro, his firstborn up and slay him. So the kid was out there. Can't you see him? He's a, he's a king's kid.
[8:33] He's the preacher's kid. He's a church member. He's grown up in church all of his life. He's got on the breastplate. He's got the shield. He's got the helmet. He's got the shoes on. He's got the sword strapped on.
[8:44] He looks every part of a warrior, but he only looks the part. The Bible says he drew not his sword. He's a boy. It takes a real man.
[8:57] You guys are headed to the mission field. We're going to give you a sword. Tonight is a symbol of that. You're to step out and take the gospel message of Jesus Christ.
[9:10] But you got to learn how to use the sword. And I hate to say this. Don't want to hurt your feelings too bad, but deputation is not a real good place to use a sword. Because you hadn't, you hadn't, you hadn't even sharpened that thing, but one way, that one message you got.
[9:25] You got that one message that thank God for your video. Say amen. And you can just slap that on and you're done. And you're through. You must love it.
[9:37] Study it. Learn how to pray and win souls. Teach a Bible Sunday school class and everything. You know, you got to practice with it. Y'all are leaving right now. You'll be gone for a couple of years. While you're learning some things that a senior missionary will be teaching you and helping you.
[9:51] You see, when David stepped out to go to battle, the king said, Hey, take my sword, wear my clothes. And he said, I ain't never practiced with that. I've never practiced with that. It says in 17, first Samuel 17, 39, he had not proved it.
[10:06] I have not proved them. So he couldn't fight with those. He had to fight with something he practiced with. You get off that airplane. You learn a language. Get off that airplane. You learn culture.
[10:17] Get off that airplane. Win some people to Jesus. Get off that airplane and come back here. Experienced some scars on your face. Some, some cars, scars on your hand.
[10:28] Maybe where you got hurt. Cause you got up close and personal and shared the gospel. Those are not literal scars. Mom and dad. All the moms and dads like, I don't want my kid get a scar, but it's a spiritual scar.
[10:40] You know, it hurts when you do ministry. You'll find that out. And when the right moment comes, God gives you just exactly the swords you need. I love this part of the story. David didn't have a sword.
[10:51] He killed that giant. And he told him, I'm going to cut your head off. And when he killed him, he's laying on the ground there. He said, excuse me, sir, I got to borrow your swords. I can cut your head off. And then later on, he'll go to battle with that.
[11:03] So night when we give you a sword, it'll say on your sword, has your sword tasted blood, be engraved on your sword. I hope when you come back, you can say, yeah, here's people saved. Here's some people going to that church.
[11:15] God has used us to make a difference in that church. Your sword ought to taste blood. Now we'll have Mike Staley send off in a few days.
[11:27] I'm going to give you the last half of the message. You know, Mike's been there and he's had the fight. So his message is, his hand claved to the sword. He didn't quit swinging the sword.
[11:39] He didn't give up when he got tired. Or when he got as old as Mike. Because temptation, Mike's age is to retire. Amen, Mike. No, not really.
[11:50] Thank y'all so very much. Let's bow our heads for a word of prayer. Father, God, help us to fight and stay in the battle and do something that brings honor to your name. I pray, God, you'd use us, use our church.
[12:01] I pray your name would be glorified and magnified. God, I pray that you'd do something in Adi Kippa with these young people as they go. Pray you prepare them for the other places you have them serving. And I pray your name is glorified and magnified in Jesus name.
[12:13] Amen. Amen. Well, we're going to have a little bit of testimonies. I told Brother Holmes, I said, it was just a weird night. Not regular church because we're sending them off. And he says, they do this like, praise God, glad to get rid of you.
[12:25] Service at their church. And so tonight, praise God, we're getting rid of you. Amen. And so we're going to do that. We'll have some words. So if you have signed up or want to say a word to Jacqueline or Mitch or Andrew or Lauren, step up.
[12:40] Let's go move it. Those are going to share a word of testimony. Like say something, come on up and we will do that right quick before we pray for them. And David and Katie, as they prepare to leave for the field.