BIBLICAL FATHERHOOD--THE GREAT NEED OF THE WORLD 4. f) HE HAS A VISION FOR A GODLY DYNASTY THE BIBLICAL FATHER SEES HIS CHILDREN AS ARROWS

6b) SHARP ARROWS continued.

In 1 Samuel 17:45 David spoke to the giant, Goliath, "Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied."

Men, unless we have a sharp spiritual edge, we are of little threat to the enemy. As Christian men we must, at all costs, increase the sharpness of our spiritual edge. There are two ways to fight evil.

The first is physical, using natural weapons (guns etc) or human intellect or argument (the courts of our land). The current problem is that even our justice system is increasingly being taken over by corrupt people. Even the physical force of high powered weapons has limited value to crush evil, for the enemy soon arms himself with equally high powered weapons. This is why Iran and North Korea are such a threat to the free world.

The second way to overcome evil is through spiritual weapons. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 says, "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds;) casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and brining into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ."

The world and much of our leadership, e.g. the Pentagon, have virtually no understanding of this second realm of weapons and warfare. Without the exercise of spiritual weapons, all natural weapons have limited use for righteousness.

Yet, at the same time, they may have dangerous use for the spread of evil. The truth is that spiritual weapons can enhance the use of inferior natural weapons, We see this in David's simple sling and stones versus Goliath's height, strength, and armor. But, David also used spiritual weapons as well as the sling and thus won the victory.

Be encouraged. Colin Campbell