Sep | 01 | Wearing The Sheath

Dream Word – CONQUER


Ephesians 4:26-28 “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil.

Wearing The Sheath

But Jesus said to him, “Put your sword in its place….” Matthew 26:52. Topos! That’s the Greek word that is used in this verse from the Gospel according to Matthew, Topos! It is a very versatile word, which is translated in many places simply as PLACE! The context is quite obvious here in Matthew though and therefore, as it refers directly to the PLACE you would store your sword, the obvious inference is that of a ‘sheath.’

Over the centuries the body has been referred to by many writers as the ‘Sheath of the soul’ or the ‘Sheath of the spirit.’ The body is but the outward storage space of that which is the truly important. The sheath may be plain or it may be bejeweled, it may be leather, wood or brass or some other substance either of greater or lesser value, the point is that whatever it is made of and however it is outwardly adorned, it is simply irrelevant, because it is but the sheath, the protective house of that which is truly important.

Now beginning at our text for tonight, allow me to connect some dots that I think are there! You see, our text for tonight says ‘do not give PLACE to the devil,’ ‘do not give TOPOS to the devil,’ ‘do not give ‘your sheath to the devil,’ ‘do not give your body, no part of your body, to the devil!’ Now I would like to link this use of the word PLACE directly to mean specifically the sheath for the sword, or rather, the body as the sheath for the soul and spirit. I kind of think that this is a great way for us to view our bodies, as sheaths for our very own double-edged, eternal sword of soul and spirit! Are you with me so far? Good!

Now unfortunately we view our sheath as that much more important than our weapon! Yes indeed, in fact we wield the sheath as the weapon, no, more than that, we allow the sheath to wield the weapon! Are you getting this? We have it the wrong way around. We should be using the body as our protective servant of the soul and spirit. We should be in control of our sheaths. Indeed, I think the Scriptures as a whole clearly say, “Make sure it is only your sword that rests in your sheath. Do not give the devil a foothold, a short-term lease, access, uses, utilization of your sheath or any part of it in any way, for any period of time!”

Maybe if we began to view our bodies as simply sheaths for that which is most important, it might help us to take more control of the temporary and apply more honour to the permanent? Your body, your sheath and every and any manifestation of constituent parts, must not be inhabited or polluted by any part of the devil.

Tell me, what have you been doing with your sheath today? Who has been using it?

Listen:- Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness. Romans 6:16-19 NKJV

Pray:- Lord, I yield to You my all, O my God come and take full possession of your blood bought purchase. Lord I give you my all, every part of my being, every room and corner of my spiritual house and my sheath like abode. Amen!

Feb | 08 | Singing the Black, Death’s Head Blues!

Key Word:- CONQUER

Title:- Singing the Black, Death’s Head Blues!

Psalm 110:1 The LORD said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”

The Battle of the Bulge, which lasted from December 16th, 1944 to January 28th, 1945, was the largest land battle of World War II in which the United States participated. More than a million men fought in this battle, including some 600,000 Germans, 500,000 Americans, as well as 55,000 British. In the end, even the SS Panzer divisions sporting the ‘Death’s Head’ emblem of utter destruction could not stand against the allies. After this battle, the war was pretty much over.

The D-Day landings of God Almighty occurred in Bethlehem over 2000 years ago, when the Prince of Life arrived on earth’s beleaguered shores; 33 years later the 'Battle of the Bulge' occurred on Golgotha, 'the place of the Skull'. The enemy was utterly defeated here, routed, ruined, and run out of his crumbling Kingdom. In a victory shout, our Jesus cried, “It is finished!” He descended into hell, preached to the long dead, pre-flood world, vindicating both the righteousness and message of his servant Noah and then from Abraham’s bosom, gathered the elect who had been waiting for the righteousness to come and in victorious train, then led captivity captive, ascended into heaven and approached the gates of Zion. Listen…Listen…Listen to the cries that go up from a multitude of leaning angels, looking longingly for their Lord over the battlements of God….

“Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in.

Who is this King of glory?

The LORD strong and mighty, The LORD mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, O you gates! Lift up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in."

Hey Friends, death’s old head, sang the blues at Golgotha, 'the place of the skull', for there, right there across those red blood wooden beams, he handed over his keys to the Prince of life, who staring him in his defeated face, placed them around His lovely waist. Now, yes right now, bar all the shouting, the war is over, the war is won! Rejoice! For death shall die!

Listen: - The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory. Psalm 24:7-10

Pray: - Worthy are You O Lord, Great King, Conquering Saviour, King of Glory, to receive all glory, honour and power forever and ever, amen!

Feb | 03 | Wringing Pigeon’s Necks

Dream Word – CONQUER

Leviticus 5:1 'If a person sins in hearing the utterance of an oath, and is a witness, whether he has seen or known of the matter — if he does not tell it, he bears guilt. NKJV

Wringing Pigeon’s Necks

The local bus service in the city of Brighton & Hove has come a long way from the poorer service it used to be. Now you can stand at a bus stop and with the ‘miracle’ of Global Positioning Satellites, gaze at a digital read out which will tell you precisely where any of over 200 buses from their existing fleet are, and more especially, when your bus in particular will arrive at the place you are waiting for it! Amazing.

The rising cost of petrol/gas is not only causing increased ‘drive offs without paying’ statistics on thousands of garage forecourts, but fuel price rises are also affecting the local bus queue!

My wife told me just the other day how she saw a tough looking young woman at the front of the bus queue jump on the newly arrived bus, pay her ‘ticket to ride all day fare’ then whilst the other passengers were paying their fare, she ran to the back, opened the window and dropped her newly acquired ticket into the hands of her waiting friend, who quite calmly, got onto the bus, flashed her newly acquired ‘ride all day ticket’ and went and sat with her friend. Everyone but the bus driver saw the whole incident. No one said a word.

I have pondered the question as to why no one said anything regarding this act of thievery and have come to the following eight conclusions:

1. People don’t care, for dealing with this issue may delay their own journey.
2. People don’t care, for it is in the great scheme of things a minor offence and not worth the hassle of confrontation.
3. People are in collusion, for many of us have done the same thing, maybe in a different area, but it is the same sin and in confronting this illegality, we have to confront and condemn ourselves.
4. People are in collusion, for it’s a great idea and one they might use themselves at another time.
5. People are in collusion, for the service is over-priced anyway, the profits for the providers are too great, and it’s good to see some payback.
6. People do not take responsibility for their community, if the bus driver didn’t see it, then “it’s not my bag!”
7. People do not want to be seen as a ‘grass,’ as a ‘snitch’ as a ‘talebearer.’ This is very powerful peer pressure.
8. People are frightened, for confrontation often leads to violence being inflicted upon the accuser. The level of moral failure is not worth a broken nose.

Apathy, collusion, ignorance, lack of responsibility, peer pressure and fear. These are the six common causes of my own negligent sins.

The opening verse of Leviticus Chapter 5, deals with these sins of fearful apathy and ignorance. 'The Message' translates our verse for tonight as follows, "If you sin by not stepping up and offering yourself as a witness to something you've heard or seen in cases of wrongdoing, you'll be held responsible." Lev 5:1
Now obviously this has to do primarily with the sin of broken adjuration in the forms of avoidance or lying. In other words, its context stands completely in a court of law, such that if you are on oath and are asked a direct question, where you refuse to answer or in the answering deliberately, for whatever reason, give the wrong answer, then you have sinned. Jesus was keeping silent before His accusers until asked a direct question by someone in authority...Look:

But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest answered and said to Him, “I put You under oath (or I ADJURE you) by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!” Jesus said to him, “It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.” Matthew 26:63-64 NKJV

Jesus is the only person I know of, who has never sinned in terms of broken ‘adjurement.’ We break it all the time, in a way, we break it even when we are waiting for a bus. Fortunately, Leviticus Chapter 5 goes on to provide regulations for a bloody sin offering for these unpremeditated sins, for these unintentional sins, for these sins of forgetfulness, for these sins of negligence and for these sins of fear. The sin offering prescribed covers all social and financial levels of society, for at every level, this sin is most prevalent.

You see, not seeing these seeming slight sins as dangerous stuff, for not dealing with them at some level, leads to deeper levels of collusion and association and from this sticky gloop of these minor misdemeanours, rises the more haunting and condemning sins of cowardice and betrayal.

It’s all dangerous stuff and we all need to have the forgiveness that comes through the blood of Christ, the wisdom which comes through a maturity of walk and the courage which comes from the close companionship with Jesus Himself. Forgiveness, an active righteousness, wisdom, courage, maturity and the companionship of Christ. Now, there are six holy answers to the six common causes, of all our negligent sins.

Listen: - Let the rivers clap their hands; Let the hills be joyful together before the Lord, For He is coming to judge the earth. With righteousness He shall judge the world, And the peoples with equity. Psalms 98:8-9 NKJV

Pray:- Almighty and most merciful Father, we have erred, and strayed from Thy ways like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts. We have offended against Thy holy laws. We have left undone those things which we ought to have done; and we have done those things which we ought not to have done; and there is no health in us. But Thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us, miserable offenders. Spare Thou them, O God, which confess their faults. Restore Thou them that are penitent; according to Thy promises declared unto mankind in Christ Jesus our Lord. And grant, O most merciful Father, for his sake, that we may hereafter live a godly, righteous, and sober life, to the glory of Thy holy name. Amen.
(Evening Prayer from The Book of Common Prayer)