The Sword of Power

January, 2005

by: Jeff Jones

When I preached in the Main Service several weeks ago, I made mention of an old cartoon I used to watch: He–Man. The cartoon takes its audience into a mythical world called Eternia. There the good Prince Adam battles Skeletor who wants to fill Eternia with evil. Thankfully, Prince Adam has a special sword that gives him access to extraordinary powers. Whenever he would hold up his sword and say, “By the power of Greyskull, I have the power!”, he would transform into He–Man, a powerful defender of the kingdom. With this power he could overcome Skeletor and keep Eternia from falling into ruin.

I may be the only one who notices this, but I find that He–Man is a good illustration of how God empowers us. Ephesians Chapter 4 indicates that Christ provides for the on–going strength of His Church by gifting her with men who communicate his Word (e.g., apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers; cf. 4:11). These men are given “for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ.” Therefore, without the teaching ministry of pastors, the church would not have the power it needs to grow and mature. Each week however, Pastor Jack, or whomever may be preaching, holds up “the sword of the Spirit,” which is the Word of God, that we might be given the empowerment necessary to live out our calling in Christ. It is through the teaching ministry that we are strengthened to overcome evil.

Without the teaching ministry the Church would have no power to fight against Satan’s schemes. I encourage you, therefore, to make the pulpit ministry of Calvary Bible Church a priority for yourself and your family. Failure to do so would be to turn yourself away from God’s provision for your strength. Take advantage of “the sword of power”!