ENTER  THE  SWORD

In Psalms 17:13, David prayed to God; “Deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword.” He calls the wicked, “God’s sword.” When God needs to chastise His people, He uses the wicked as His sword to do so. God has regularly done this down through history, and He continues to do it in our present day.

In Old Testament times, we have record of God’s chosen nation, Israel, repeatedly forsaking God. When they did so, God used His sword, (wicked, enemy nations) to chastise them.

“And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and forgot the Lord their God, and served Baalim and the groves. Therefore the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Chushanrishathaim king of Mesopotamia.” (Judges 3:7&8)

“And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord: and the Lord strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the Lord.” (Judges 3:12)

“And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, when Ehud was dead. And the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king Canaan.” (Judges 4:1&2)

“And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord: and the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years.” (Judges 6:1)

“And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord…And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hands of the children of Ammon.” (Judges 10:6&7)

“And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.” (Judges 13:1)

When God’s people forsook Him, the Bible book of Judges here shows us clearly how that He turned them over to His sword, wicked nations, which would put them under harsh captivity, kill, and destroy them. We have many more records in the Old Testament of God doing this same thing.

During most of the 20th century, God used wicked communism as His sword, to bring many nations throughout the world, under cruel and harsh captivity. Some of those nations were called Christian nations, but had forsaken God to a large degree. Some that were not called Christian nations, had rulers that terribly oppressed the common people, or many of their citizens were boldly living for the pleasures of this world and the pleasures of sin. Therefore, that was likely a main reason that God allowed them to fall under communism.

 I suppose we could say in general that it was “Russian communism” that spread to a vast majority of the nations that fell to communism in the 20th century. And as we watched in awe from about 1945 to 1990, as this massive, wicked sword swallowed up so many “free” nations, I think that many of us tended to forget that Russia itself was also swallowed up by communism, back about 1917. And I have heard that back in the 1950’s and 1960’s, that one could ask most any old-timer inside Russia, “What went wrong? Why did Russia itself become enslaved?” And that elderly person would typically quickly answer with great wisdom, “Russia forgot God.” When any nation forgets God, sooner or later, we can expect God to bring them into captivity to His sword, the wicked.

I first wrote this sermon, “Enter The Sword,” back in 1984. In it, I stated that Russian communism was likely to swallow up the United States within a few years. That did not come about as I had predicted that it might. Anyway, the bulk of the sermon I wrote then, gave my description of what we could expect Russian communism to do to our nation, if it took control of it; bring our nation into harsh bondage because we have become so sinful. I want to go ahead now (July, 2,002) and quote that “outdated” scenario that I wrote back in 1984, as it has some valuable lessons and warnings that are relevant for us right now. So until I tell you that I am finished with that “quoting,” from now on, you will be reading exactly what I wrote in 1984. So in a sense, some of it can be said to be “outdated,” and mistaken predictions.

< Our country, the U.S., was founded as a Christian nation, but has steadily turned away from God down through the years. About 1900, we really started living it up, and all during this (20th) century, we have rapidly forsaken God and have gone deeper and deeper into sin. So, along about that time, God began to prepare a sword to deal with us. In 1917, there was the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, and modern day communism came to life. Few or none in our nation saw it as a threat to us at that time. We allied with Russia to fight World War II. But since the birth of Russian communism near the beginning of this century, it has increasingly become a threat to our existence. And the reason is because we have increasingly turned our back on God. We would do well to heed His warning before it is too late.

“God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day. If he turn not, he will whet his sword.” (Psalms 7:11&12) Remember that this sword He will whet is wicked people. It says here that He will use it against wicked people. But that is no conflicting statement. When we (one nation under God) become wicked, God will whet His sword against us, meaning that He will raise up other wicked nations against us to chastise us. And as we started out this end time century seeing just how fast we could run away from God into sin, we didn’t outsmart God one bit. Right away, He started whetting His sword, by raising up communism to punish us. And as we become more brazen and bold with our sin, God just keeps whetting at that sword till it is now razor sharp and capable of wiping us off the face of the earth. We think we can outsmart God, but we cannot. Soon, we are to fall under this great sword because of our greater sins.

“Because thou servedst not the Lord thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things; Therefore shalt thou serve thing enemies which the Lord shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee.” (Deuteronomy 28:47&48)

God gave this warning to the people of Israel, and it applies just as much to our Christian nation. After God brought the Israelites out of Egypt, through the wilderness, and into the Promised Land, they soon ceased to serve Him with joyfulness and gladness of heart for all the good things that He blessed them with. Instead, they went into sin and forsook the Lord their God. Because of that, God soon delivered them into the hand of enemy nations to whom they became slaves, in hunger, thirst, nakedness, and in want of all things. The enemy put a yoke of iron on their neck and destroyed them. The end result was that they cried out, “WOE UNTO US, THAT WE HAVE SINNED!” (Lamentations 5:10)

God is soon to use the sword of communism to bring us to the place where we will cry out the same thing. As a nation, we have long since turned from serving God to serving “Self.” We have become proud, haughty, and arrogant, and gladly display our selfish, greedy lifestyle of living for the pleasures of this life and of forgetting God. We now have little regret for, or repentance of our sin. Therefore, God has whetted a powerful monster of a sword which is soon to knock us to our knees crying out, “WOE UNTO US, THAT WE HAVE SINNED!”

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Now just exactly what will this sword do to us? We have a precise record of that in the Bible. Though the Bible is the oldest book, it is also the most current. The news in it is more current than that in today’s newspaper. The Bible not only records events that have already happened, but also those that are happening now and those that will occur in the future. It also gives the real reason for the occurrence of events, past, present, and future. The best newspaper you can read is the Bible, because it is totally accurate. If you want to know what the future holds for you, don’t read your horoscope. Read the Bible. In the Old Testament of the Bible, the book of Lamentations is a record of the people of Israel lamenting the destruction that the sword has brought upon them because they ceased to serve God and went into sin. The same destruction is soon to fall on us for the same reason. Let’s look to the Bible to see what it will be.

“Abroad the sword bereaveth, at home there is death.” (Lamentations 1:20) “The Lord…slew all that were pleasant to the eye…he poured out his fury like fire. The Lord was as an enemy.” (2:2&4) “The young and the old lie on the ground in the streets: my virgins and my young men are fallen by the sword; thou has slain them in the day of thine anger; thou has killed, and not pitied.” (2:21) “Princes are hanged up by their hand.” (5:12)

When the sword of communism falls on our nation, the first thing it will do is kill masses. A crimson river of blood will flow, your blood. Today, while you merrily go along your way, they are making detailed plans for your murder, and are anxiously waiting the day when they can celebrate it. You have an enemy who is going all out in his efforts to snuff out your life as soon as he possibly can. When this sword begins a massive slaughter in our nation, then we will cry out; “WOE UNTO US, THAT WE HAVE SINNED!”

Karl Marx, the father of communism, had two goals, to dethrone God and to destroy capitalism (in that order). When our nation falls, they will destroy any potential threat to communism. The two greatest threats to them are the middle class, and those who believe on Christ. Experts estimate that approximately 60 million people would be killed. No one knows how many have been killed in Russia. Some estimate 68 million. Mao may have killed up to 100 million in China. They have no concept of, or regard for, the value of a human life. Some experts say that more people have been killed by communists in “peace time” than in all the wars in history. And you cannot conceive of the horrible atrocities they commit against women and girls. They ravish them in unthinkable, cruel ways. Absolutely nothing is sacred to them.  

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Then after slaughtering millions of us, what will happen to those who are left alive? We can find that in the Bible also. “Lift up thy hands toward him for the life of thy young children, that faint for hunger in the top of every street…Shall the women eat their fruit, and children of a span long?” (Lam. 2:19&20) “The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for thirst: the young children ask bread, and no man breaketh it unto them. They that did feed delicately are desolate in the streets.” (4:4&5) “Their skin cleaveth to their bones; it is withered, it is become like a stick. They that be slain with the sword are better than they that be slain with hunger: for these pine away, stricken through for want of the fruits of the field. The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children: they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people.” (4:8-10)

Why did God allow the Israelites to become so hungry that mothers were cooking their own children and eating them, and many were starving to death? Because when God brought Israel out of Egypt, He gave them a warning about this in the wilderness. He was soon to bring them into the Promised Land, a land flowing with milk and honey, where they would have an abundance to eat. So three times, He warns them about a great danger they will fall into. (It is recorded in Deuteronomy Chapters 6, 8, & 11.) He warns them that when they are blessed with that abundance and eat to the full, that they must take heed and beware that they do not forget God and turn from serving Him. But it is so sad that they failed to heed that warning. And they soon learned to live to eat, drink, and be merry. And just as God had warned, that caused them to turn from God and go into sin, which invited the sword to fall on them. And one of the main things this sword did to them was to starve them.

The U.S. started out as a Christian nation. It was also a land flowing with milk and honey. We have always had an abundance to eat (more or less). We too, should have taken heed to God’s warning to be careful not to forget Him and turn to sin when we eat to the full. But we did not heed that warning. Down through the last two and a half centuries as God has increasingly blessed our nation abundantly, the banquet table has increasingly become larger and more heavily laden. We have come to live for eating for pleasure. Eating much more food than is necessary to nourish our bodies (gluttony). Eating and drinking junk “foods” simply for pleasure, “foods” which do not nourish our bodies but rather poison them, thereby destroying the temple of the Lord. We in Christian America have made our bellies into our god. Therefore, the sword is soon to fall on us and remedy that situation.

A prominent characteristic of communism is that it starves people. It is based on such ungodly economic principles that it cannot produce enough food for the people. Masses are constantly in hunger. In Russia, people start lining up in front of food stores as early as 4:00 A.M., hoping to get some bread, milk, meat, and such staple foods, when the store opens hours later. But many are often disappointed; as that day’s stock is taken by others before they reach the shelf. The typical Russian citizen spends hundreds of hours each year, waiting in line to buy food. Not just a few minutes waiting at the checkout counter with a cart stacked full of groceries, but long hours of waiting and hoping to get to buy a little food before the supply is exhausted.

In the Soviet Union, Christians and others who stand for right are usually arrested and sent off to a concentration camp for endless 14-hour days of hard labor. In those prisons, doctors usually set up a starvation diet for each prisoner, commonly two slices of black bread and a bowl of rotten cabbage soup, one time each day, to purposely torture him with hunger. Working 14 hours or so each day on such a small amount of food, that prisoner wastes away to skin and bones and is constantly tormented by hunger pains. Teeth become loose and fall out of his mouth. Doctors watch the prisoners and when one is close to death from starvation, they increase his food just a little to keep him alive and useful to them, but constantly in pain from hunger. “They that be slain with the sword are better than they that be slain with hunger: for these pine away, stricken through for want of the fruits of the field.”

A former prisoner in a Russian concentration camp tells how that one day as they were working in the field there, a baby rabbit came hopping through. One man caught it, and thinking that they could do it without being detected, a few of them pulled that rabbit apart and ate in its raw form, every part of it that was edible. But a guard saw them. And they were all beaten almost to death for eating food they did not have permission to eat. He also told of one prisoner who was so hungry that he secretly plucked one leaf or blade and ate it as he worked in the field. But a guard saw that also, and the prisoner was shot to death on the spot for that act.    

The story is told of a family in Russia who were extremely hungry, so a ten-year-old boy in that family stole one potato. He was caught. Authorities stretched him out and held him down while another brute swung an iron rod, striking his right leg below the knee, breaking the bone. Then his left leg was broken below the knee in the same manner. Then the right leg, above the knee. Another swing to the left leg above the knee, breaking it there too. Then with that little 10-year-old boy crying, screaming, and begging for mercy all that time; they broke each of his hips in the same way. Now we can hardly picture a human being who is capable of landing that first crippling blow, much less the second, third, or fourth, or fifth, or sixth. But this sword of communism, which is about to fall on us, can calmly do that to you without batting an eye.

Still, that isn’t the end of the story. They left him alone for the bones to heal without being reset, resulting in each leg healing curved out like that of a crab, with his pelvis close to the floor and his head turned down. Also he walked sideways like a crab. Then they sent him to Siberia to a hard labor camp, but he couldn’t work. He just sort of wandered around the area and they gave him bits of food to keep him alive. If he hasn’t died from such treatment, he is still there now, in that condition.

Now at the present time, you may not believe that there is anything wrong with one of your primary goals in life being that of going all out to bring pleasure to your belly by continuously stuffing it full of things that are so pleasing to the taste. You may see nothing wrong with being a glutton and spending more time, money, and effort on eating and drinking than you spend serving God. But when God allows this sword to fall on you and it shoots you dead for eating one leaf, or it shatters your legs and hips in a total of six places because you took one potato to keep from starving, then you will immediately come to the knowledge of how sinful it is for you to worship food. And then you will cry out, “WOE UNTO US, THAT WE HAVE SINNED!”

Almost all Christians have ceased to fast. Few ever go without food for one day or a few days to pray more and to cause their prayers to have more power with God. “They were not estranged from their lust.” (Psalms 78:30) That was spoken of the Israelites in the wilderness when they asked God for meat to eat. Therefore the wrath of God fell on them and slew them. “But while their meat was yet in their mouths, The wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel.” (Verses 30 & 31)

Modern America has arrived at the point where it is never estranged from the lust of eating. There is nothing wrong with regularly eating an appropriate amount of nourishing food. But we have come to constantly worship food and counterfeit junk food, simply for the pleasure it brings. Whether at home, work, or in the car, the coffee cup, or beverage glass or can, and various snacks always seem to be at our fingertips. There is some kind of fast food joint on most every block. Even Christians now rarely assemble to worship God without also worshipping food at the same time. So now the first duty of the Sunday School teacher upon arriving at church on Sunday morning is to perk the coffee and set out the doughnuts. If the lesson is stale, at least there will be something to enjoy. Teens and children file be the coke machine on the way to their classes and then sit in class, bending and “popping” beverage cans while their teacher tries to teach them about the water of life. Trying to lose weight is a major problem for many people.

But God is soon to give us all the help needed with that problem. “I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places.” (Amos 4:6) When this sword falls, it will remove the food we have worshipped. Then our skin will cleave to our bones. We will pine away for hunger. Mothers will cook and eat their own children. We will get our bread with the peril of our lives. Our bones will be crushed for taking one potato. Then we will wail, “WOE UNTO US, THAT WE HAVE SINNED!”

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What else is this sword soon to do to us? “How doeth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! How is she become as a widow!” (Lamentations 1:1) Jerusalem had been a beautiful city, bustling with activity, with children merrily playing in the streets. Now it is solitary, empty, and desolate. The people have suddenly been removed.

The sword of communism also empties out the city. Holding up all fingers and thumbs, Stalin once told Winston Churchill that the collectivization of the farms in Russia cost him 10 million lives. Tens of millions of city dwellers were packed onto box cars jammed full of people and shipped to farms all over Russia, 3,000 or 4,000 or 5,000 miles away. Those were 5 or 10 or 15-day train rides with no food and the people were not allowed to get off the trains for any reason. Ten million of them did not survive the trip.

You may recall the news of Cambodia falling to communism in 1975, and how that the majority of the residents of the capital city, Phnom Penh, were forcefully driven out of the city to farming areas. Patients were driven out of hospitals, and no mercy was shown to the sick, elderly, feeble, infants, or anyone as they were forcefully marched out of town. Those who fell by the wayside were slain by the soldiers, who often bayoneted them to spare the expense of a bullet. Tens of thousands of them either died or were massacred. So another prominent characteristic of this sword of communism is that it empties out the city. But what is the reason for it doing that? YOU in the city are the reason.

After Adam and Eve disobeyed God, God sent them out of the Garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence they were taken. (Genesis 3:23) God ordained an occupation for the human race He created, tilling the soil/ farming. That is the safest and best occupation for us. Therefore God ordained it for us. In that occupation, the family stays together, lives together, and works together all day, every day, day in and day out. That is the one thing that will keep the family from being destroyed, like the American family has now been destroyed by divorce and separation. Also, living on the farm prevents the germination of most of the gross sins found in the city. It also does away with the necessity of regularly going to school with, working with, and living close to, a large number of other people. If all people of all generations stayed on the farm, it would definitely confine the spread of sin and evil and result in more people glorifying God by what they did with their lives. Therefore, God ordained that we till the soil.

God ordained this with the first two humans He created, and since that time He has never changed our God-ordained occupation. Still, we feel that it is just as proper for us to move to the city and choose any one of the hundreds of occupations offered there by the kingdoms of the devil. City living is Sodom living and it is wrong living. We can see the wisdom of Abraham dwelling out on the plain and the foolishness of Lot moving into wicked, perverted Sodom. But we stubbornly refuse to face the fact that it is just as wrong for us to move into these modern “Sodoms” in our nation today. People now leave the farm and go live in the city for the fame, fortune, and worldly pleasure which is to be found in “Sodom.” And it is wrong in God’s Sight for anyone to go to the city for those reasons. Leaving God’s ordained lifestyle for those reasons is being disobedient to God’s commandments, “Labor not to be rich,” (Proverbs 23:4) and “Having food and raiment, let us be therewith content.” (I Timothy 6:8)

Therefore when this sword falls on us, it will overturn hospital beds, clear out homes for the elderly, and put the city dwellers on a forced march toward the farm. Millions will be eliminated, as those who fall by the wayside will be slaughtered. The thriving dens of iniquity in the cities will all suddenly be empty and the cities will sit solitary, because long, long ago, God ordained that we live on the farm instead of in the city.

“Now Richard, do you really believe people who read this are going to move out of the city back to the farm and take up the plow again?” No, No, NO! I do not believe that is going to happen at all. I believe all of them are going to stay in the city enjoying all the fun, fame, and fortune of “Sodom” to the hilt. That is, till God will no longer tolerate it and therefore lets the sword fall and those people are cruelly driven out of town on the edge of this razor sharp sword. THEN they will say, “WOE UNTO US, THAT WE HAVE SINNED!”

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Look at something else this sword will do to us. “How is the gold become dim! How is the most fine gold changed!” (Lamentations 4:1) That sword took away their gold. The sword of communism also takes away the gold and the money. As it consolidates its power in a country, the communist officials go from house to house, commanding the people. “Turn your money over to us. Give us your gold, your bank account, your safe deposit box. We will keep it safe for you.” Some people are able to hide theirs and not give it up. Those who do give up their gold and money, never see it again.

Why has God whetted this sword of communism to take away our money? Because last year (1984), “Christian” America spent 2 times more for chewing gum than for Christian mission outreach, 34 more times money for tobacco, 67 times more for alcoholic beverages, 2.5 times more for greeting cards, two-thirds as much for lipstick, and 2.25 times more for dog and cat food than we spent for missions. Therefore God is soon to send a sword to take our money because we spend many times more on pleasure for self, than we give to God. And there is only one reason why we do that, because we love self many times more than we love God. And the above items are only a few on a long list of personal pleasures that take precedent over God, when it comes to spending our money.

Two and one-fourth times more for dog and cat food than for missions. And by the time you add the cost of the pet, veterinarian bills, etc., it will be at least four times as much spent on pets. Why is communism running rampant throughout the world enslaving one country after another? Because “Christian” America loves Fido and Frisky four times as much as they love lost souls in other lands. I watch missionaries in heathen nations who at times, instead of buying food to eat, do without food and take that money and buy Bibles and give them to the local people, praying that they will read the Bible and follow God so they won’t fall captive to wicked communism. And I see Christians in the U.S. spending 10, or 20, even 30 times as much on their own pleasures as they give to help win the lost abroad, and I can understand why God is soon to send this sword to collect their money.

Why is communism steadily taking one country after another and is soon to take your home town and plunge a knife through your heart and put a sudden end to your existence here on the earth? Because last year, for every dollar that “Christian” America spent to spread the Gospel throughout the world, communism spent forty dollars to spread its evil throughout the world. No wonder it is gaining so much ground and we are losing so much; poverty-stricken communism puts forty times as much financial power into spreading its wicked influence as wealthy “Christian” America puts into spreading the Gospel. Instead, we use our money to eat, drink, and to play. Therefore a glittering sword is soon to arrive at your front door to collect all your money. And when it does, then you will lament, “WOE UNTO US, THAT WE HAVE SINNED!”

“Jerusalem remembered in the days of her affliction and of her miseries all her pleasant things that she had in the days of old.” (Lamentations 1:7) Soon, your days of enjoying so many pleasant things are going to be days of old, gone forever. “The adversary hath spread out his hand upon all her pleasant things.” (1:10) This sword of an enemy is soon to spread his hand over all your pleasant things and snatch them away from you. “I forgat prosperity.” (3:17) Soon, you are not even going to be able to remember the days of prosperity you are now enjoying. Communism takes away THINGS and leaves grinding poverty. WHY? Because we love “Things” and are disobedient to God’s command to “love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.” (I John 2:15)

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Now look at another vast change this sword is soon to make in your life. “She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks.” (Lamentations 1:2) “The joy of our heart is ceased; our dance is turned into mourning.” (5:15) When this sword falls, it will quickly extinguish the merrymaking. “If and when American civilization collapses, historians of a future date can look back and sneer, ‘they entertained themselves to death’.” (Jim Frankel) If we continue living as we are now, “They entertained themselves to death,” is soon to be chiseled on America’s tombstone.

God warned Israel that destruction was soon to come, in Isaiah, Chapter 22. Then God calls the people to weeping, to mourning, to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth. (Verse 12) But in the day of their prosperity, would the people spend their time weeping and praying? NO! Instead, what were they doing? “And behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we shall die.” (Isaiah 22:13) God is now calling on the Christians in our nation to weep and pray over the perverted, gross sins of our nation. Instead, Christians are living to eat, drink, and make merry. Therefore a fierce sword is soon to enter to put an end to all that. Then we will weep sore with a river of tears running down the cheek, far into the night when we should be sleeping. The joy of our heart will completely cease. Our joy will turn to sorrow. Then we will say, “WOE UNTO US, THAT WE HAVE SINNED!”

If at that time we are no longer living for pleasure, what will we be doing to pass the time? “We have drunken our water for money; our wood is sold unto us. Our necks are under persecution: we labour, and have no rest.” (Lam. 5:4&5) Endless hours sprawled out in an easy chair with all kinds of snacks and beverages at the fingertips, soaking in pleasure from the T.V., video, stereo, reading, etc., living the life of Riley; is soon to become ancient history and is to be replaced by fourteen hours a day of hard labor in a concentration camp, constantly hungry and tired, never to have any rest. You now refuse to serve the Lord with joyfulness and gladness of heart for the abundance of all things. Instead you worship the idol of self, living to give as much pleasure as possible to self, and doing little or nothing in the Lord’s work. Therefore He is soon to cause you to serve your enemies in hunger, thirst, nakedness, and in want of all things. This sword is to put a yoke of iron on your neck until it destroys you. Then you will say, “WOE UNTO US, THAT WE HAVE SINNED!”

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Another thing this harsh sword of communism is soon to do to us is restrict our movement. When our nation falls to communism, an internal passport will be issued which each person must carry at all times. If found without it, you will be thrown into prison. You will be required to obtain a travel permit to travel any distance, even inside your home state. A more complicated travel visa will have to be obtained to travel interstate. Why is this sword going to restrict our travel?

“Even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro.” (Daniel 12:4) In this end time age, soon after getting up each morning, we unlock the car’s ignition, and then our entire day (our entire live) is one of going to and fro. That automobile has done as much as anything else to destroy the home, family, and the church. It has turned our life into an insane rat race with the maddening pace daily increasing. Therefore this sword is skillfully designed by God to shift us into “PARK,” sit us down to be ever so still, and give us time for God. Then we will take time to lament, “WOE UNTO US, THAT WE HAVE SINNED!”

Years ago I looked at communism with disgust and said, “It is designed to take away every God-given liberty and freedom that God intended His human race to have.” And that is absolutely true. However, at that time, I did not understand the reason for it sweeping over the world and doing that to masses of people. But now I can see that the whole world is grossly abusing these rights and freedoms that God gave us with the intention that we be temperate in them. Because we have greatly abused them and have come to live for the pleasure they bring to self, instead of living for God, He has clearly designed and whetted a sword which is soon to cut all these pleasures away from you and then plunge through your heart, killing you and thereby ending your idolatrous life.

Do you want to see the real reason why communism is soon to swallow up our nation, cause a river of blood (your blood) to flow, and desecrate everything we hold to be sacred? Then just look in the mirror and you will see the reason. YOU are the true cause of it. It is your fault. You are why the sword is coming to destroy us. And unless you decide to change, you are going to have to live with the fate of that, for all eternity.

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Though you are now the cause of this sword being prepared for us, you can just as easily become the ultimate weapon against it. Communism has become the government of many nations. But basically, it is not political in nature. Basically, it is a religion of the devil. It is demonic, satanic power hatched out of the pits of Hell. Since it is not political in nature, a strong government policy and a mighty military are not the most appropriate ways to fight communism. That is because communism is essentially a spiritually evil force. Therefore, to combat it, spiritual warfare is the most appropriate.

If you have not yet trusted in Christ as your Saviour, then first of all, you should repent of your sins to God, trust in the Lord Jesus Christ to save you, and then follow God’s teachings in the Bible. You should cease living for self and start living for God. If you have already received Christ as your Saviour, you should put Him first in your life and love Him with all your heart. If you do not already fast from time to time, ask God to help you start doing that. Intercede much in prayer for lost souls who haven’t received Christ. Spread the Gospel to those around you who are not Christians. Diligently study the Bible and strive to obey it completely. Cease to live for the pleasures of this life and be ever so temperate in them. Change your life into of one of service to our Lord God. And when you do that, YOU will have become the ultimate weapon against communism. And if the people in the free world would do these things, communism would no longer be a threat to us. Likely it would soon shrink and maybe disappear.

As long as you keep on living a life that makes it necessary for God to bring on the sword of communism to deal with you, then it is impossible for government and military to fight it off of us. All the nuclear bombs and missiles that we can build, cannot possibly keep communism outside our border, as long as you remain the reason for God allowing it to come our way. Though I hate the evil of communism and desire to see it destroyed, we must be careful how we fight communism, lest haply we be found fighting against God Himself. God is in control. He is the One Who is allowing communism to so threaten us. And your selfish, sinful life is the reason. And as long as we leave that reason untouched, we are fighting against God when we fight against this sword He has prepared for us.

We have slept so far into this spiritual war that we are now on the brink of total defeat. Our only hope is for a good number of Christian believers to almost totally forget about the pleasures of this life and give their all in this spiritual warfare. In chapter one of the book of Job in the Bible, we read that Job’s ten children were living to eat, drink, and be merry. But Job was rising up early each morning and offering up sacrifices and praying for them, just in case they had gotten careless and cursed God in their hearts.

All down through the ages, that is probably a general ratio of the number of people inviting the sword as opposed to the number who are fighting to hold back the sword. For each Christian who is often interceding on his knees, and doing all he can to spread the Gospel, and thereby he is rescuing our country; there will be about ten Christians who are living to eat, drink, and be merry, and thereby are being the cause of the coming destruction. You are now making the decision for which of these your life will count. And when God soon judges you in His holiness and righteousness, He is either going to reward you for living to hold back this sword, or judge you in anger for being the reason for it slaughtering His creation.

And I just love living to hold back this sword. I just love to lay up my treasures in Heaven where no thief can ever touch them, and just laugh at the thieves running rampant here on the face of the earth. Once, I was 1600 miles away from home, preaching there for five weeks. And when I returned home, some thief had broken into my house. He had days to take anything and everything he wanted, because I was far away. But he left without taking a single thing. And do you know why? Because there was not a single thing in the house worth taking. I wish I could have seen the look on his face as he left my house, empty handed.

It would be better to NOW give your gold, silver, and the luxurious things that your money buys, to the cause of Christ and let it be used in fighting against this sword; than to keep using your money to bring all the pleasure possible to self, and thereby be the cause of communism soon taking all of our possessions. It would be much better to voluntarily fast now, than to soon pine away with hunger and get your bread with the peril of your life in a communist concentration camp. Better to often get in a closet alone now, and pour out your soul in long, lonely hours of intercessory prayer; than to wait till you are rotting away in a solitary prison cell because you sat by doing nothing while the devil was taking away your religious freedoms. Better to freely go to the house of weeping and mourning now to travail over lost souls, than to let demonic communism take us captive and cause us to weep and cry out over the pitiful state they would bring upon us. One of the greatest things you can do with your life is to spend it battling this evil, which is soon to swallow us up if someone doesn’t start fighting it.

Here in my house in Japan, there is nothing to play with, no games, no T.V., no secular reading (except a health magazine). There is a radio, but only because it came in the cassette player I bought to listen to Gospel sermons and Gospel music on. I seldom listen to the radio.

You may ask, “What do you do at home?”

I read my Bible and pray.

“What do you do for pastime?”

Read my Bible and pray.

“Don’t you have any hobbies?”

I’ve got two, reading my Bible and praying.

“But what do you do for fun?”

GLORY TO GOD! I READ MY BIBLE AND PRAY!

Because I believe that if enough of us would do such with most of our time, that we could stay this oncoming sword and instead of having our blood flow as a mighty river, we could go on living a peaceable life and continue pillowing our heads each night in the freedom and safety that we now know; and that’s the most FUN thing I can think of to do with my life. I can’t think of any life more exciting than that.

You may say, “No matter how bad the world situation gets, it’s just hard to believe that our nation could ever fall to communism, being the fortress of freedom that it is.”

Well that’s exactly what everyone thought about Jerusalem when it fell. “The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world, would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem.” (Lamentations 4:12)

When God allowed the sword to fall on Israel because of their sins; all of the world that heard about it just stood by shaking their heads saying, “I cannot believe it.” Many years later, we did the same thing when communism swallowed up Eastern Europe and then China. When Cuba fell, we shook our heads in amazement and said, “This can’t really happen so close to home.” When Viet Nam fell, we shook our heads and said, “How can this be, after so many American soldiers gave their lives there?” And as Africa, Central and South America go piece by piece, and as the enemy grows stronger in Mexico, we just keep wagging our heads and saying, “This just can’t be happening.” How long are you going to keep doing that? Till that sword marches down main street of your home town, runs that hammer and sickle up the flag pole, drags your screaming, pleading carcass out of your house, severs your head from your body, and your head lies there on the ground wagging in disbelief, “I just don’t believe that can really happen here”? WAKE UP! THE HANDWRITING IS ON THE WALL! Change your life and cease to be the reason for that sword coming toward us.

“Well, it’s just hard to believe that it could ever possibly come all way home to us.”

That line of thinking on your part will not slow it down one bit. Just as those who refuse to believe there is an eternal hell of torment in fire, will still split it wide open; if you ignore this warning and stick your head in the sand, this sword will still come along and plow it off. A Viet Namese friend of mine who lived in North Viet Nam many years ago, told of the communists there burying a man upright and neck deep in the ground. Then they came along with an ox and plow and plowed his head off, to instill their fear in the hearts of other citizens. As the U.S. military fought in South Viet Nam, on one occasion the Viet Cong marched into a rural hamlet and commanded the people there to give their allegiance to the communist cause. To cower the people into doing so, the communists took a teenage girl who lived there, and in the sight of everyone in the hamlet, they cut off both of her breasts. Then they smiled and said, “Worse will happen to you unless you obey us.” In another village, in the same type of demonstration of ruthless power, they skinned a young lady alive, in the sight of her family and fellow villagers. Now are you going to wait till they march into your town, assemble everyone in your community at the local ball field or park, and in a demonstration of cruel force to get everyone’s attention, forcing you and all your community to watch, they do such as that to your daughter, sister, wife, or mother? Are you going to wait till then to decide it would be a wise thing for you to cease to be the cause of communism swallowing up our nation?

God plainly gives us these warnings in the Bible, but few or none will read and heed them. God also sends His prophets to expound these warnings from the pulpit. Still, few people listen. Then as a last resort, when people cease to read and obey the Word, when they become accustomed to turning a deaf ear to the preacher in the pulpit, then God speaks through the sword. And when the sword speaks, everyone listens. YOU HAD BETTER WAKE UP! The last message you get from God will not come from the Bible. It will not come from the preacher. The last time God will speak to you will be via this sword. And when the sword speaks, you WILL listen. No one turns a deaf ear to the sword. When the sword speaks, everyone wails out. “WOE UNTO US, THAT WE HAVE SINNED!” So sad, that it is too late then.

As I watch our nation sinking deeper and deeper into sin, I beg sinners to repent and turn to Christ. I watch them laugh at me and I say, “Lord, won’t anything change them?” I stand in the pulpit and yell and scream at Christians, calling on them to sell out to the Lord. Some sleep through it. Few seem stirred at all. So I cry out, “Lord, isn’t there anything they will respond to? Haven’t You got a stronger message that will reach them? Surely You have some additional help!”

And the Lord quickly answers back, “Don’t despair. Help is on the way. I’m whetting My sword. I’m soon to preach them a real live message of their own destruction. And when this final message is preached, everyone will listen.” Down through the ages, giants of the faith have preached that it is necessary for all believers to put God first in their lives, to work and labour in the fields that are white unto harvest, and to even give up their physical lives for God, if necessary. And many of them have sacrificed their lives in this battle against evil, and have become a living and dying testimony to the importance of such a goal. But lately the scene has changed. Now, much of Christianity preaches a “prosperity only” gospel. Much emphasis is put on God wanting all believers to have great physical prosperity. Therefore one of the biggest favors we can do God is to work and scheme as hard as possible to get and enjoy all the things, pleasures, and comforts we can in this life. Therefore they are calling on the sword in the fastest manner possible. As I call on them to live a sacrificial life of service to God which will stay this sword and spare our lives and the lives of our descendants, they laugh and say; “You are a Pharisee.” “Christ condemned such religious people as you.”

Well, if that is your religious philosophy, I hope you are willing and ready to give your life for it. Because die for it, you are soon to do. I hope you love that religion enough to lay down your life for it. Because God is soon to send a sword to kill you and let you die a martyr’s death for YOUR religion.

“Why, that would be awful!”

Don’t argue with ME about it. Argue with God in Heaven about it. He is the One Who is soon to do it. I’m just a little messenger boy, delivering His warning of your soon-coming destruction by this sword.

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Rome was strong as long as she waged war. But when Rome ceased to go forth to battle, everyone sat down and began to play. Therefore that empire soon fell. The same principle applies to our spiritual life and to spiritual warfare. When we cease to battle evil, we will become weak and soon be destroyed by it. Because evil will always abound on this earth as long as God allows time to go on, the opportunity is always available for us to be warring against it. The safest, most secure, most peaceable life we can have, is for all believers to be constantly at war against evil, as long as we are in this life. The forces of evil just love to constantly war against that which is good. They NEVER cease to do battle. Therefore our destruction is guaranteed, unless we get into this spiritual battle and stay there.

When an enemy nation threatens our nation so gravely that we have to go to war against it, many of our men must give up the comforts, ease, and pleasures that life typically affords, to go fight as soldiers; to be cold, wet, muddy, tired, hungry, and lonely on the battle field, many of them to sacrifice their lives there. God is now calling on every Christian to forget about the comforts, pleasures, and so much of the business of this life; give it all up and become a soldier of the cross of Christ, putting all your being into this fight against the evil in this world. If you are not yet a Christian, God wants you to now become one by receiving Christ, and then becoming a soldier in His Army.

In some wars, like World War II, fellow citizens back home stood firmly behind the soldier boys on the battlefield. That made it easier for those in battle to fight with all their hearts and to give their lives in the battle. But in some wars like the Viet Nam war, most people back home were unconcerned, and many were even strongly opposed to us being involved in that war.

Any Christian who battles against evil will receive much of such criticism, even from other Christians. And in this present world which has gone pleasure mad (Christians included), the remarks will be as sharp and cutting as possible, against the believer who will sacrifice anything and everything to the battle. Lukewarm Christians will speak against your dedication. That will make it most easy for you to quit and most hard to stay on the firing line. Therefore, I challenge you to be strong. Be brave. Be of good courage. Never quit. Never give up. The cross of Christ is too glorious and the pathway of man too dark for us to sit idly by.

Our Land of the Free has no hope of any future for your descendants unless we plunge into this war with all we have. Never mind those who only eat, drink, and play. Never mind others who laugh at you and make fun of you. Give it your all and call on God to make you the best soldier ever. Every thing you give up in this life will be regained many fold over in the life to come. You will be laying up millions of dollars worth of treasures in Heaven where it will never rust and where thieves will never lay hand on it.

Very few people seem interested in making their lives a total sacrifice in this fight for our survival. And it is shocking to see the masses that appear to have no interest in giving up anything at all, for the cause of Christ. No one seems to be doing anything along this line; come January the fifth, the man of the house says to his wife and children, “We have really lived it up over the Christmas and New Years holidays, feasting and getting and giving presents. So for the next 30 days, our family is going to only eat a basic diet of nourishing food. No junk food for a month and no eating out. Also, we are not going to spend any money for any games, fun, recreation, and such for the next 30 days. And we are going to give God the money saved by doing such.” And then do the same thing again for a month or so, along about September, after all the pleasures of summer are ended. Or a family could do something similar for one week per month or so, or ever what would fit your situation the best. But whom can we find doing anything like that?

It is hard to find anyone doing anything along these lines. Instead, most everyone is living life to the hilt, running to and fro; in a mad, frantic search for all the pleasure they can get out of life. No kind of preaching seems to change or move them. No matter how strong the warning, they just plunge head long into pleasure. Along with that, I see our nation sinking deeper in gross immorality, perverted sin, violence, legal murder (abortion), etc. I shake my head and say, “Lord, no matter how strong I make the preaching, nothing seems to change them. Haven’t you got anything stronger? We need some help in this!”

And I hear the Lord calmly say, “Don’t worry. It will not always be like this. I’m preparing to send a stronger message that no one will ignore. Hold on just a little longer. Because THE SWORD IS ON THE WAY!”

You had better wake up, my friend. You ignore God’s warnings in the Bible. You still ignore them when the preacher screams them out from the pulpit. But God’s final message to you will not be from the written Word, the Bible. It will not be from the prophet in the pulpit. You ignore those messages, and God will prepare a final one for you. God’s last sermon comes riding in on the edge of the sword. And when the sword speaks, everyone listens. Everyone gives it his undivided attention. Everyone wails, “WOE UNTO US, THAT WE HAVE SINNED!”

So sad that it is too late then. If you have any doubt as to the magnitude of the sin problem in our nation, just looking at the magnitude and fierceness of the sword which God is whetting to remedy the problem, should make you aware of just how displeasing we are in God’s Sight. That great Russian bear knows no mercy in dealing with people. Sell out to God now, before he has to speak to you by the sword.

I have tried to accurately describe just how this sword of communism is skillfully designed by God to deal precisely with each area of our lives that has gotten away from what God intended it to be. God in his great wisdom has carefully whetted a sword totally capable of putting an end to each problem He has with us. In light of that, my fellow preachers, pastors, church elders and leaders, we would do well to take heed to what this sword does to the church, when it falls on the church.

Take a look at Christ’s church inside communist lands. There the true church almost never launches a building program. They have almost no social and recreational functions as a church. They do not build and set up extensive religious machinery. They often do not even have an auditorium or sanctuary for worship services, much less kitchens, fellowship halls, educational facilities, recreational facilities, and such. As they assemble together to worship, they are not busy chatting about sports, school, job, fun and games, and such. Rather, their attention is focused on God. There is little quarreling and dissention among believers. Splits in the body are almost unheard of. Almost everyone is dead serious about his Christian life. Such as that are the changes that this sword brings about in the body of Christ. Shall we not be wise and work toward such a church now, instead of waiting for the sword of communism to fall on us and bring about such changes in the church???

Remember, YOU are the real reason why communism is soon to swallow up our nation. For your sake and the sake of your descendants, I am calling on you to cease being that cause. Read the entire short book of Lamentations to see just how awful your fate is to be. That book foretells our soon coming fate, unless some drastic changes are made.

Read Jeremiah, Chapter 52, to see how the sword of destruction fell on God’s chosen people, Israel, because they ceased to live for Him. Nebuchadrezzar, the king of Babylon, besieged Jerusalem. The city was broken up. King Zedekiah of Israel, and all his men of war, fled. But the enemy overtook him and captured him, and all his army was scattered from him. Now look at what an awful fate he met.

“Then they took the king, and carried him up unto the king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath; where he gave judgment upon him. And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes: he slew also all the princes of Judah in Riblah. Then he put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him in chains, and carried him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death.” (Jeremiah 52: 9-11)

King Zedekiah was forced to watch each of his sons being slain. Then his eyes were put out and he was bound in chains and thrown into prison and kept there till he died. The last sight he saw on the face of this earth was that of his children being slaughtered. And pining away in that prison dungeon, wrapped in heavy chains, with those pierced, sightless eyeballs stinging and burning in their sockets, how the awful memory of that last tragic scene which he saw must have haunted and tormented his pitiful mind till the day his sightless life of bondage here on earth ended.

WAKE UP, MY FELLOW AMERICAN! Because this is prophetic of what is going to happen to the last generation in our nation whose sinful, selfish life becomes the last straw in God’s sight, causing Him to no longer tolerate such and therefore causing Him to pour out His wrath on that generation.

The sword of communism is going to mercilessly slaughter your descendants before your eyes, forcing you to watch. They are going to ravish your sacred wives and virgin daughters all the way down to infant girls, in grossly perverted ways that you cannot even conceive of, if you have a halfway clean mind. And such will be the last scene that you will see during your life on the face of this earth. Because they are then going to poke out your eyes, snuff out your life, and you are going to meet God Almighty in judgment. He is known for His judgment. He is a consuming fire. It is a fearful thing to fall into His Hands. And whatever you have made out of the life, which God has given you on this earth; when you stand before God in Judgment, you will not want to have been the cause of this sword falling on His wonderful creation and destroying it. >

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That ends my quoting from this sermon that I wrote in 1984. But thus far, the United States has not fallen under the rule of communism and therefore communism has not done those things to the U. S., as I predicted communism would do. However, it is well known that communism did those things to the peoples of many nations during the 20th century. I believe that in most, or possibly all of those instances, God was using wicked communism as His sword to judge those nations. Though presently there are numbers of people who vainly boast that communism is dead, that is not true. And it remains to be seen whether or not God will use it as His sword in the future, to judge and punish additional sinful nations, possibly including the U.S.

Even if communism were to cease to exist, or even if it had never come into existence, still God would not be handicapped anytime He chose to bring any sinful people or nation under bondage. That is because there are always wicked nations in existence that want to enslave more people. And God can easily deliver into the hands of such a nation, any other nation that needs punishing.

I still recall the glowing news reports in the early 1990’s of “peace breaking out everywhere,” as the iron shackles of communism fell off of several nations. But that Utopian outlook was so short-lived as several wars were fought during the l990’s. And then just nine short months after this new century began, the U.S. was attacked by the sharp sword of Islam, a wicked religion from the devil. And since then, the U.S. and several other nations have been at war against wicked terrorists. So, of course, it remains to be seen, how much more destruction this murderous sword will bring upon us in the future.

When a nation’s sins increase to the point that God’s mercy and grace will no longer tolerate them, Almighty God is most capable of continually raining down destruction upon them until they finally cry out from an honest heart, “WOE UNTO US, THAT WE HAVE SINNED!” Therefore, it behooves us Christian believers to always walk humbly before God and man, strive to love our Lord God with all our heart, and do all we can to turn other people from wrong to right, by proclaiming to them God’s instructions to the human race, which is The Holy Bible.

“Almighty God, I have no desire to be punished by Thy sword, the wicked. I have no desire for my family to be punished by this sword. And I have no desire for my nation to be punished by this sword. Therefore I ask Thee to help me to not be the cause of this terrible sword falling on me or on any one else. Help me to seriously consider everything in this sermon. Give me Thy Divine Wisdom to be able to distinguish   exactly what content is from Thee, as opposed to that which is from Brother Richard’s vain, human imagination. Show me ever so clearly, exactly what I should apply to my life from the content of this sermon. By Thy Unlimited Power, help me to live a zealous Christian life that will prevent me from being the cause of Thee bringing me, and others around me, under the harsh bondage of wicked people. Help me in these things, Lord God, I pray. I also pray that many other people will read this sermon and will open up their hearts to Thee, for Thee to freely speak to them through this sermon. I thank Thee, dear Lord, for hearing this prayer of mine. Amen.”

(This is the end of the sermon, ENTER THE SWORD. May it sound the warning that God desires for it to sound. And may that warning be heeded by all of us readers.)

 

 

 

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