57
The
Weaponry We Use (6)
The Sword
of the Spirit
Eph. 6:17b
And take . . . the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.
As we shall mention a little later, we come now to the only offensive weapon God has provided for the Christian in his spiritual battles. As if “the helmet of salvation” were not profound enough, here is a piece of God’s armor that is all the more astounding. I am convinced, in fact, that Paul has now reached the climax of the armor, that each piece has continued to progressively add to the power of this spiritual armor and that Paul now reaches the focal point, namely, the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.
VI. The Sword of the Spirit
The Physical Piece Of Armor
It is absolutely essential to understand what type of sword Paul was referring to here. First, he was not referring to the large broadsword (rhomphaia) that was carried by some ancient warriors. This large sword was one that had to be swung with both hands and was one that could be used only by a very strong soldier. Indeed, it was powerful and could kill anyone in its path, sometimes more than one person at a time, in fact. Its disadvantage, however, was that it also slow and awkward, and it demanded very little skill, just brute force.
The sword Paul refers to here was the machaira, the short sword
of the well-trained, highly disciplined warrior. This short sword was only
about eighteen inches in length, but because it was small, it was fast and
lethal. A well-trained soldier could cut and thrust from any position, even
while lying on the ground. An enemy who wielded the larger sword had to get
into a certain position to swing it, so the Roman soldier would merely duck or
side-step the weapon, catch his enemy off balance, and finish him off before he
could prepare for another swing.
Additionally, as we mentioned in a previous study, the sword was
carried in a sheath that was attached to the girdle. Right at the foundation of
the Christian warrior’s armor is Truth, and attached to the Truth is the Word
of God. That leads us to our second emphasis.
The Spiritual Application
As our text clearly says, the sword is likened to the Word of God. The Greek construction of the words of the Spirit (the Genitive of Origin [or Source]) indicates that the Holy Spirit is the origin of the sword.[1] The Holy Spirit is not the sword itself as some past commentators have conjectured, for nowhere do we find this thought in Scripture. Rather the Holy Spirit is the origin of the Word of God. Moreover, He is the energy behind the Word of God and is the One Who teaches the Word to the believer (Jn. 14:26). The lessons here are abundant.
First, the machaira demanded careful training. Anyone brute could swing a broadsword, but not just anyone could use the machaira. Likewise, men who preach the Word need to be carefully trained in its use, carefully trained in Its intricacies and fine points.
To illustrate, the Roman soldier was one of the best trained soldiers the world has ever seen. He was trained to protect six feet of ground. A Roman guard unit, often consisting of 16 men with four on each side, was expected to hold 36 yards against an entire battalion. The spiritual parallel is unmistakable. One of the gravest problems in the Church today is that in most circles anyone is allowed to teach. We have totally lost sight of the biblical training that is required before anyone is qualified to “go to war.” How many preachers today are as well trained in the Word of God as the Roman soldier was his sword?
Second, the machaira was a precise weapon. It wasn’t simply swung around to hit whatever got in the way, rather it was used against precise points on the enemy. I once heard a preacher say, “Today I’m not going to use a rifle but a shotgun; I’ll just give you both barrels and let the shot hit where it may.” But this is the broadsword approach and is bad preaching. Good preaching is precise; it is exact because we are dealing with the individual words of Scripture.
This fact is clearly emphasized by the Greek behind word. As mentioned back in 5:26, the usual typical word for word in the New Testament is logos (“Intelligence, word as the expression of that intelligence, discourse, saying”[2]). The word there and here, however, is rhēma, which refers to that which is spoken, a statement, a discourse. One Greek authority makes the distinction between these words by writing that while logos often refers to a “Christian proclamation as a whole in the New Testament, rhēma usually relates to individual words and utterances.”[3] In our analogy, then, we are not to use the Bible as a broadsword, rather we are to use it as the precise weapon that it is. Personally speaking, that is the passion of my ministry, dealing with the words of Scripture, because that is what makes the difference.
Among its some seventy occurrences,[4] in fact, rhēma appears in John 3:34 to refer to Jesus coming to “[speak] the words of God,” that is, individual utterances. In 8:47 Jesus again declares to the religious leaders, “He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.” Oh yes, the religious leaders knew much about the Word of God, that is, the OT, but knew nothing of the words of God. Paul likewise uses rhēma in Romans 10:17, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God,” that is, the individual statements.
In all those verses, then, and many more, the emphasis is not to the entire body of Scripture per se, not just general knowledge of Scripture, rather individual utterances that proclaim various truths. It is, indeed, the WORDS of God that comprise the Sword of the Spirit! What do we use to combat Satan? The WORDS of God. That is why preachers and every other Christian needs to know the words of God, so they can combat error and stand for the Truth of God without compromise. We must know the individual words of Scripture, its principles, doctrines, and precepts. As Spurgeon preached on April 19, 1891:
The Word, we say, is the only sword which the Spirit uses. I know the Holy Ghost uses gracious sermons; but it is only in proportion as they have the Word of God in them. I know the Holy Ghost uses religious books; but only so far as they are the Word of God told out in other language. Conviction, conversion, and consolation still are wrought, and only by the Word of God. . . . In contending against the powers of darkness, “The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God.” “It is written” is his master-stroke. Words which God has spoken by holy men of old, and has caused to be recorded on the sacred page—these are the battle-axe and weapons of war of his Spirit.[5]
The flowery sermonetts that are so popular today are worthless in the spiritual war. God’s power is to be found only the words of the living God.
Oh, how vital it is that we recognize that words mean things. Evangelicals say, “Oh, yes, we believe in the Word of God,” but the real question is, do we believe the words of God, every one them, every jot and tittle? I lovingly submit that if the words of God really mattered to us, we wouldn’t have near as many problems as we do today, such as, the diluted Gospel, the seeker-sensitive movement, and various methods of ministry.
I
would also dare to interject that an emphasis on the words of Scripture
makes the whole concept of “Dynamic Equivalence” very troubling. This approach
to Bible translation replaces the concept of a word-for-word
translation with a thought-for-thought
translation. In other words, as long as we get across the thought of the
author, then the exact words aren’t really important. While that
approach is popular, it should deeply trouble those who cherish the words
of Scripture. Think about it! How on earth can we know what the thought
of the author is without translating the exact words that he uses?
Regardless of how many people today defend “Dynamic Equivalence,” it is an appalling approach to Bible
translation if we truly value the words of Gods.[6]
Third, the machaira was a double-edged sword and could cut both ways without the soldier having to change the position of his hand and could even pierce armor. This image is in view in Hebrews 4:12, which we’ll examine later. While a soldier of the cross must be trained in the use of the Sword of the Spirit, it is the Sword itself that has the power; it is alive and powerful.
Many preachers today try to make the Bible cute, clever, and entertaining. I met one preacher who prided himself in clever sermon titles and spent much of his study time coming up with them. That is not what God wants. Can we honestly imagine for a moment that the Roman soldier tried cute and clever tricks in battle or that he tried to make his sword more appealing or less offensive to the enemy? No, he used the sword the way it was designed to be used, namely, the direct approach that would kill the enemy as quickly as possible. Today’s preacher should do likewise. The Roman soldier didn’t need to adjust the sword to a given situation, and neither do we need to change the Bible today to “fit the situation.” Many think they have to change the Bible or change the way it should be presented. No, just preach the Word. Use the Sword the way God designed It.
But will that be effective? As that text also says, so sharp is the Word of God that it pierces any kind of “armor” a person might use. Today’s “Christian comedian” is not going to pierce anyone’s armor with his flippant references to the Bible. The syrupy, pop-psychology that is spewing from many pulpits will not make even the smallest dent in the enemy’s armor. It’s only the words of God that will pierce that armor.
Fourth, the machaira was the only offensive weapon the soldier had, as virtually all commentators recognize. All the other pieces of God’s armor listed in 6:14-17 are defensive; they are there simply to “keep us alive,” so to speak, in our spiritual warfare.
We should interject that the Sword is also defensive. It blocks and parries thrusts from the enemy. While the shield is broad and gives general protection, it demands little skill to use. The Sword, however, can parry only attacks that are made in a precise direction. One slip and the attack would get through. Jesus again illustrates this in His temptation (Matt. 4:1-11). Each attack from Satan was a very precise thrust, each aimed at an exact point of entry—“the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (I Jn. 2:16). But our Lord easily parried each thrust with the Sword of the Spirit, the words of God.
Why, then, is the Sword the only offensive weapon Paul mentions?
While ancient warriors possessed other weapons, such as the spear and the bow
and arrow, why is the Sword Paul’s only emphasis? Obviously because it’s
the only one that’s needed! Many Christian leaders today think we need
other weapons, such as psychology, marketing, entertainment, and truckload of
other stuff, but the Sword of the Spirit is sufficient. Again, as Paul
said to Timothy in the midst of apostasy and wickedness, “Preach the Word” (II
Tim. 4:2; see 3:1-17 for the context). In our spiritual battles this Sword equals the rifle of
a modern day infantryman. As a soldier’s rifle is everything to him, his very
life in fact, the Sword of Spirit should be the Christians’ most
precious possession. He must know it, love it, and apply it.
Dr. R. Kent Hughes makes this comment on this verse:
It is a mystery to me that many evangelical ministers say they believe in the inerrancy of the Scriptures, but when they preach there is no serious attempt to open them, but rather a chain of illustrations lengthened to support a life-situation story with an allegedly Scriptural moral. Sometimes I suspect this is from sloth, because preaching the Word takes work. But I also think it is often because they do not truly believe in the power of the Word. They really do not believe it is a sword.[7]
Indeed, if we really believe God’s Word is a Sword, we will
wield it as such. To do anything less proves that we have a low view of
Scripture, and there is, indeed, a lot of that today.
The Nature and Place of God’s Word
One of the key texts of Scripture concerning Scripture itself is
Hebrews 4:12, a verse every Believer would do well to memorize:
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
We find in this wondrous verse seven principles concerning the nature of Scripture and the place it should have in the Believer’s life.
Scripture Is of God
What makes the Bible unique? Its authorship. It’s not of men, but “of God.” While it was penned over a 1600 year time span by some forty authors from every walk of life, and while it was written in different languages and locations, it is the very words of God that contain the perfect unity of thought and is not without error but without the possibility of error. Second Timothy 3:16–17 declares: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”
While “revelation” refers to the act of God of making known His truth and to the content of that truth, “inspiration” refers to the way God makes His truth known. Technically, the term “inspired” actually comes from the inferior Latin Vulgate (divinitus inspirata), which speaks of a “breathing in.” The Greek theopneustos, however, which appears only here in the New Testament, literally means “God-breathed,” that is, breathed out. It is a compound comprised of theos, “God,” and pneō, “to breath hard, or blow.”
The best way to understand these words is to contrast them with two others. One is psuchō, “to breath naturally.” In contrast, pneō speaks of a forceful expiration of air. In the New Testament, in fact, it’s “used only of the ‘blowing’ of a dangerous wind or of the south wind which brings heat (Matt. 7:25, 27; Jn. 6:18; Lk. 12:55) or the destructive winds in Rev. 7:1.”[8] Another word is aēr (109), “to breathe unconsciously,” while pneō speaks of a conscious breathing.
All this provides a clear definition of Inspiration: Inspiration is the forceful and conscious exhaling of God into the Scripture writers. The Bible didn’t come by the pithy sayings of ancient sages, or from the ramblings of philosophical thinkers; it came by the forceful exhaling of God. With His omnipotent energy, God consciously “blew” His very words into the writers of Scripture, while still allowing for the writer’s personality and style. That is the miracle of inspiration.
It’s
inspiration, therefore, that makes Scripture accurate, authoritative, and
admonitory. Why? Because it’s what God has said. In fact, the Bible
declares hundreds of times that God Himself is speaking, using such phrases as:
“saith the Lord” (854) “the Lord said” (219), “Jesus said” (65), “Jesus saith”
(43), and “God said” (46).[9]
Further, we see the words “my word” some fifteen times in Scripture. In Isaiah 66:2, for example, God declares through the prophet: “To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.” Who is God looking for? God is looking for a heart that takes His Word seriously, that trembles at His Word. Sadly, many Christians are not trembling at God’s Word because they’re too busy laughing at the jokes being told from the pulpit. Many preachers are not trembling because they’re too busy looking for clever sermon titles and preparing little talks that boost the listener’s self-esteem.
But God is looking for people who will take His Word seriously, those who believe without doubt that it says what it means and means what it says, those whose hearts are broken and contrite before the Almighty God of the universe, and those whose hearts are tender to His Words, who stand in absolute awe of His Word and are just waiting for what He has to say so that we can do it without delay.
Through Jeremiah, God also declared: “Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?” (23:29). Jesus Himself said, “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (Jn. 8:31-32). And to the faithful Church at Philadelphia, He wrote: “I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name” (Rev. 3:8).
Even more significant, we find the words “my words” (plural) some sixty times in Scripture. In Deuteronomy 4:10, God declares: “Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.” To Jeremiah He said, “behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them” (5:14) and that God’s people “are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, which refused to hear my words; and they went after other gods to serve them” (11:10). How true it still is today; we refuse to hear His words. The Lord Jesus declared, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away” (Matt. 24:35) and that “Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels” (Mk. 8:38). And once again He reminds us, “If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him” (Jn. 14:23). John Calvin wrote these great words concerning Scripture:
Now this power which is peculiar to Scripture is clear from the fact that of human writings, however artfully polished, there is none capable of affecting us at all comparably. Read Demosthenes or Cicero; read Plato, Aristotle, and others of that tribe. They will, I admit, allure you, delight you, move you, enrapture you in wonderful measure. But betake yourself from them to this sacred reading. Then, in spite of yourself, so deeply will it affect you, so penetrate your heart, so fix itself in your very marrow, that, compared with its deep impression, such vigor as the orators and philosophers have will nearly vanish. Consequently, it is easy to see that the Sacred Scriptures, which so far surpass all gifts and graces of human endeavor, breathe something divine.[10]
Indeed, Scripture is of God.
Scripture is Living
Here is one of those profound truths of Scripture that should awe and captivate us—Scripture is not dead literature; rather it is alive, a living entity. The word “quick” in our Authorized Version is an Old English word that translates (zaō), from which (along with zōē) is derived such English words such as “zoology” and “protozoa.” The idea is to have life or existence in contrast to death and nonexistence. In the thinking of the ancient Greeks, life was not a thing but vitality. For that reason, zaō and zoē can’t be used in the plural. In other words, we don’t possess several “lifes” like we could possess several books or shoes; rather life is a singular, vital, and active reality.
That is what Scripture is. It’s not like any other book. It’s alive,
active, and absolute. To the always unflinching A. W. Tozer, the Word of
God was timeless and practical, meeting every need and answering every
question. In his book I Call It Heresy
he writes:
There isn’t anything dated in the Book of God. When I go to my Bible, I find dates but no dating. I mean that I find the sense and the feeling that everything here belongs to me . . .
. . . when the Holy Spirit wrote the epistles, through Peter and Paul and the rest, He wrote them and addressed them so universally applicable that every Christian who reads them today in any part of the world, in any language or dialect, forgets that they were written to someone else and says, “This was addressed to me. The Holy Spirit had me in mind. This is not antiquated and dated. This is the living Truth for me, now! It is just as though God had just heard of my trouble and is speaking to me to help me and encourage me in the time of my distress.”
Brethren, this is why the Bible stays young always. This is why the Word of the Lord God is as fresh as every new sunrise, as sweet and graciously fresh as the dew on the grass the morning after the clear night, because it is God’s Word to man![11]
Scripture is Powerful
“Powerful” is the Greek energēs, from which is derived English words such as “energy” and “energize” It, and other words in this group (energeia and energeō) picture work that effects something, that accomplishes something. Additionally, the predominant idea is that it’s God Who is the One at work accomplishing His ends. Here, then, we see God’s Word working and accomplishing something.
How pivotal that principle is! Sadly, many in the church simply do not recognize that God accomplishes His purposes primarily through His Word. Many Christian leaders are trying to accomplish “God’s work” through their own self-designed programs, so-called “ministries,” and other means. None of those have any power. What has power and accomplishes God’s work is His Word.
Borrowing again from William Gurnall’s The Christian in Complete
Armour, we adapt four principles concerning the power of God’s Word and
also add a fifth.[12]
First, there is the Scripture’s core-searching
power. By “core” we mean the very heart of the believer. In Gurnall’s words,
this core-searching power “ransacks and rifles the consciences of men.” Indeed,
God’s Word shakes us to the very core of our being. We find an illustration in
II Kings 6:8-13. While the King of Syria suspected one of his men to be a spy
because the king of Israel repeatedly found out secret military plans, the men
assured the king that they weren’t guilty, rather that “the prophet [Elisha] that is in Israel,
telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber” (v.
12).
Likewise, as Jeremiah declares, “I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings” (17:10). In His Gospel, the Apostle John wrote of his Lord, “He knew what was in man” (Jn. 2:25). He then added in his First Epistle, “God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things” (3:20). And our Lord Himself declares, “All the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works” (Rev. 2:23).
Second, there is the Scripture’s conscience-touching
power. Not only does God search the heart, but He makes that heart aware of its
guilt. Just as He confronted Cain with His sin (Gen. 4:4-15, 25), God peals
away all pretense and exposes our sin. We recall when Paul preached to Felix
concerning “righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled,
and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will
call for thee” (Acts 24:25). Yes, there are many who don’t flinch at their sin,
whose “conscience [has been] seared with a hot iron” (I Tim. 4:2), but one day,
as our Lord declared, “Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give
account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified,
and by thy words thou shalt be condemned” (Matt. 12:36-37).
Third, there is the Scripture’s comforting power. The
Psalmist tells us of this comfort. He declares that when we “cry unto the LORD
in [our] trouble,” God saves us “out of [our] distresses.” And how does He do
that? “He [sends] his word, and [heals us].” Again the Psalmist assures us,
“This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me” (119:50).
Likewise did Paul assure the Thessalonians:
Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work (II Thes. 2:16-17).
Nothing can comfort as does God’s words.
Fourth, there is the Scripture’s converting power.
James’ admonition is clear: “Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity
of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to
save your souls” (4:12). And what is the result of such conversion? As Paul has
already told us in Ephesians, we were once dead, now alive (2:1-5), once far
from God, now near (2:13), once the old man, now the new man (4:22-32), once
darkness, now light (5:8).
To the Thessalonians, Paul also wrote: “For they themselves show of us
what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols
to serve the living and true God” (I Thes. 1:10). The power of true
conversion is seen in its life-changing character. No one who comes to
Christ remains the same. He is, indeed, “a new creature” (II Cor. 5:17).
The story is told of a very unusual incident that happened in a Moscow
theatre many years ago. Matinee idol Alexander Rostovzev was converted while
playing the role of Jesus in a sacrilegious play entitled “Christ in a Tuxedo.”
He was supposed to read two verses from the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:3-4),
remove his gown, and cry out, “Give me my tuxedo and top hat!” But as he read
the words, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven. Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted,” he began to
tremble. Instead of following the script, he kept reading from Matthew 5,
ignoring the coughs, calls, and foot-stamping of his fellow actors. Finally,
recalling a verse he had learned in his childhood in a Russian Orthodox church,
he cried, “Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom!” (Luke 23:42).
Before the curtain could be lowered, Rostovzev had trusted Jesus Christ as
Savior.[13]
The “feel-good gospel” of our day converts no one. The “seeker sensitive movement” transforms
nothing. It is the power of the Word of God that converts the soul and
transforms the life.
Fifth, there is the Scripture’s conquering power. We would add this one to Gurnall’s list, because it is partly God’s Word that makes us “more than conquerors through him that loved us” (Rom. 8:37). By recalling Martin Luther, Martyn Lloyd–Jones masterfully illustrates this principle:
Luther was held in darkness by the devil, though he was a monk.
He was trying to save himself by works. He was fasting, sweating, and praying;
and yet he was miserable and unhappy, and in bondage. Superstitious Roman
Catholic teaching held him captive. But he was delivered by the word of
Scripture—“the just shall live by faith.” From that moment he began to
understand this Word as he had never understood it before, and the better he
understood it the more he saw the errors taught by Rome. He saw the error of
her practice, and so became more intent on the reformation of the church. He
proceeded to do all in terms of exposition of the Scriptures. The great doctors
in the Roman church stood against him. He sometimes had to stand alone and meet
them in close combat, and invariably he took his stand upon the Scripture. He
maintained that the church is not above the Scriptures. The standard by which
you judge even the church, he said, is the Scripture. And though he was one
man, at first standing alone, he was able to fight the papal system and twelve
centuries of tradition. He did so by taking up “the sword of the Spirit, which
is the word of God.”[14]
Dear Christian, if you want real power in your life, know and proclaim the Word of God. There is no power in Christian clichés, no power in pop-psychology, no power in the shallow fluff that spews from some pulpits. Only Scripture has power to conquer.
Scripture is Sharp
“Sharper” translates the Greek tomōteros (5114), a compound comprised of tomos (not in NT), “sharp,” and temnō (not in NT), “to cut or divide.” The picture here is the sharp, very fine edge of a sword. I have always had a fascination with knives and swords. While I own only a replica, I have held and used an authentic Samurai sword, which was so sharp I could have shaved with it. I was also fascinated as I read a biography of General George Patton, who in his early days in the Army as a lowly second-lieutenant, designed and patented a saber for the cavalry, which then became standard issue in 1913 and for years to come.[15]
While a physical sword can become dull, however, God’s Word is forever sharp and is sharper than any other cutting weapon. After Peter and his fellow preachers were arrested for a second time and preached to the religious leaders that they had killed the very Savior that Israel had been expecting for generations, the leaders “were cut to the heart, and took counsel to slay them” (Acts 5:33). Likewise, when Stephen preached to the Sanhedrin, telling them that they had always persecuted the prophets and now had murdered the Just One, Jesus Christ the Promised Messiah, “they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth” (7:54). No, the flowery words of today’s “gospel,” such as, “Just believe in Jesus” and “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life,” don’t cut anything. It’s only the Gospel of sin, salvation, and surrender that cuts to the heart. This leads right to a fifth principle.
Scripture is Piercing
Not only does a sword cut and slice, but it also stabs and pierces. The
Greek behind “piercing” (diikneomai) literally means “to pass through.”
There is nothing the Word of God can’t pass through with no effort whatsoever.
Just as a hot knife will easily pass through butter with no more than its own
weight behind it, the Word of God alone, with no help from us, will pierce any
pretense, prevarication, or perversion. This again leads to another principle.
Scripture is Divisive and Offensive
During the Korean War, while President Harry Truman gave General
Douglas MacArthur permission to bomb the bridges over the Yalu river, which
separated China and Korea, because of politics Truman added the provision that
MacArthur could only bomb the Korean side of the bridges. MacArthur’s
response was that in all his years of military service, he’d never learned how
to bomb half a bridge.
Another incident in more recent history was Senator John Kerry’s bid
for the presidency in 2004. His attitude to the “War on Terror” that resulted
from the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on America, was that as president
he would wage “a kinder war.”
We find exactly the same attitudes even among professing Christians
(even pastors), who don’t think there should be either strong preaching,
because it might offend some people, or authoritative preaching,
because it might ostracize others. Yes, we are always to speak the truth
in love (Eph. 4:15), but love must never compromise the Truth.
The fact simply must be faced that because it is an offensive
weapon the Sword does, indeed, offend. “Dividing” is the Greek noun merismos,
which comes from the verb merizō, “to divide into parts,” and therefore refers to the
act of separating or distributing; in other words, to be brutally graphic, it
pictures chopping something into pieces. Did not the Roman soldier greatly
offended the enemy with his sword, as does the modern warrior with his primary
weapon? Likewise, if we use the Sword of the Spirit, that is, the
specific words of God, there will be times when people will be offended.
We must face the fact that that’s the reason we have gone to battle! As noted
earlier, both Peter and Stephen offended the religious leaders. Further, Paul
and our Lord Himself offended religious hypocrites wherever they traveled.
I am convinced that this issue comes down to a simple question. We must
each ask ourselves: “Who would I rather offend? Would I rather offend the
ungodly by proclaiming the Truth or offend my Lord with my silence in the face
of lies?” This once again leads to one last principle.
Scripture is Discerning
As noted in our in-depth study of discernment back in Ephesians 4:14, the Greek behind “discerner” here in Hebrews 4:12 is kritikos. It appears only here in the New Testament and from Plato’s day onward referred to “a competent, experienced judge.” It comes from the root krinō, to scrutinize and sift.[16] That is, indeed, a perfect description of the Word of God. It’s The Discerner, The Sifter, The Judge of men’s thoughts and even their “intents,” that is, intentions, ideas, notions, and purposes (Greek, ennoia).
In a day when discernment is virtually non-existent, this verse needs more emphasis than ever before in the history of the Church. I do not make that statement lightly or say it just for dramatic effect. In the days of the Reformation, for example, there were no gray areas. You either stood on the Roman Catholic side or were under the wrath of that system because you were a reformer. Today, however, we have gray areas everywhere, all shades of gray. There is subtle error everywhere, and sifting through it all has never been more crucial. Instead of wielding the sword against the enemy, we are embracing him.
As we close, let us each ask ourselves, “What is my attitude to the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God? Do I love the Word? Do I apply and obey it? Does it guide and dictate everything? Do I earnestly contend for it (Jude 3)?” H. P. Barker offers a graphic illustration of what it means both to know and apply the Word of God:
As I looked out into the garden one day, I saw three things. First, I saw a butterfly. The butterfly was beautiful, and it would alight on a flower and then it would flutter to another flower and then to another, and only for a second or two it would sit and it would move on. It would touch as many lovely blossoms as it could, but derived absolutely no benefit from it. Then I watched a little longer out my window and there came a botanist. And the botanist had a big notebook under his arm and a great big magnifying glass. The botanist would lean over a certain flower and he would look for a long time and then he would write notes in his notebook. He was there for hours writing notes, closed them, stuck them under his arm, tucked his magnifying glass in his pocket and walked away. The third thing I noticed was a bee, just a little bee. But the bee would light on a flower and it would sink down deep into the flower and it would extract all the nectar and pollen that it could carry. It went in empty every time and came out full.[17]
Countless Christians today are just like a butterfly, fluttering almost aimlessly from one Bible study to another, one sermon to another, one commentary to another. The result, however, is they get almost nothing, and what they do get does no more than make them feel good. Other believers are like the botanist. They take notes on those studies, sermons, and commentaries, and amass great knowledge. But in the end, it means nothing because it’s not applied; it’s not real and life-altering; it never changes their behavior or alters their attitudes. Thankfully, there are the few who are like the bee. They go to the Word of God to learn Truth and go away filled with its life-empowering sustenance.
We close with these words by that great theologian Charles Hodge:
Our Lord promised to give to his disciples a word and wisdom which all their adversaries would not be able to gainsay or resist. In opposition to all error, to all false philosophy, to all false principles of morals, to all the sophistries of vice, to all the suggestions of the devil, the sole, simple, and sufficient answer is the Word of God. This puts to flight all the powers of darkness.[18]
Oh, Dear Christian Friend, the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God is the only
weapon you need.