GARMENTS FOR SWORDS

On the sober night before His betrayal and crucifixion, Jesus said to His disciples, “…he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one” (Luke 22:36).  In other words, if anyone had to choose, in those last days of spiritual contentions, like ours, between weapons and outer clothes, one should choose weapons, even if that meant foregoing clothes.

Unfortunately, the reverse is the case in these last days.  Men are “lovers of their own selves” and “lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God” (2 Timothy 3:2,4).  They would rather sell their sword to buy an additional garment than sell their garment for a sword.  The implication is that men are more carnal than spiritual; more comfort-loving than battle-ready.  The market for garments thrives, even Babylonish garments that bring a curse upon families and upon the entire army of the Lord, such that those who yesterday had celebrated a victory over mighty Jericho are today routed by little Ai (Joshua 7:21).  Meanwhile, the foundries for swords have diminished out of the land.  Some have closed shop and fled, others are adapting to beating swords into spindles and needles.

There is a mighty contention in our days, these last days, between ‘swords’ and ‘garments.’ Even in the church, we see more garments than we see swords, with worshippers who are more experienced with clothes than with the sword.  They can give you the name and address of every designer in the world; they can tell the ‘good’ product and the ‘designer,’ to the very thread and shoe latchet; yet if you should ask them to open to Hebrews, they would fumble through the Old Testament where the Hebrews are.  Alas, the day you send them to Philemon or Habakkuk, they could spend the rest of the service ‘researching,’ or close their Bibles altogether in pretended concentration.

I was told that, a few days ago, while Sunday service was on, a visitor outside spotted a woman he knew, arriving late, conspicuously and gorgeously decked out for church.  He greeted her but could not restrain himself from asking, “Are you coming to church to worship God or to show your clothes?” “Both,” she said curtly, and strode on stiffly into the church.

There is another group of young soldiers in our ranks.  They have no Bibles.  They hop from one General to the other Captain, begging a Bible, a free Bible, or else money for one.  Yet many of them have garments and gadgets, one of which they could sell for many swords. Besides, many a ‘free’ Bible that we get was the precious sacrifice of someone else’s garment.

Suppose you had only a little money on you, and had a strict choice between buying a new dress and getting an only Bible, which would you choose?  I hear the arguments.  Priorities.  My mind goes to the brothers and sisters who suffered under the ungodly Soviet Communist system while it lasted.  Denied of Bibles, some of them copied the entire Scriptures by hand, or memorized whole books of the Bible.  Some who had only one page of the Bible, treasured it with all their life.

“We wrestle not against flesh and blood” (Ephesians 6:12), and “the weapons of our warfare are not carnal…” (2 Corinthians 10:4), so Jesus might not have been speaking entirely about physical swords, else He might not have chided Peter for cutting off Marcus’ ear with a sword after He had preached the message about selling garments to buy swords (Luke 22:50; John 18:10).  It was essentially about spiritual weapons, about “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17), about the imperatives of battle-consciousness over the distractions of modern fashion-mindedness.  He spoke no less about armed preparedness for battle.

If you had a strict choice between an additional beautiful garment and a very needful sword, what would you do?  “…he that hath no sword, let him sell his [own] garment, and buy one.”  Amen.

                               From The Preacher’s diary,

                                    August 9, 1996.