In
the letters to the seven churches,[3] the way Jesus introduces himself to each church is of huge
significance. This week it is Jesus’ announcement to the Pergamum church that
calls us to consider how we need to know,
“The words of him who has the
sharp two-edged sword.”[4]Jesus
chose this as his focus out of the description of him in Revelation 1. There we
are told that, “from his
mouth came a sharp two-edged sword...”[5]
What’s the
point? That Jesus speaks the word of God, and the word of God slices through
everything in both conviction to repentance, and conviction to judgment. In
other words, his words cut both ways, to save those who repent and trust in his
words, and to judge those who stand in pride against his words.
Combining
these revelations of the word of God coming out of the mouth of the Word of
God, here are some deeper thoughts on Hebrews 4:12.
“…the word of God”: this is what
we are dealing with. We cannot find a better word, or a higher word. Contradictory
words, and competing words, are powerless to withstand the word of God. Every
word of man is like the squeaking of a baby’s toy. The words of God are
powerful beyond imagining because they are the words of God.
“…is living”: we must not think
of the Scriptures as nothing more than words made of ink printed on paper. They
are that, but they are not only that. The Scriptures give us the words in
print-form, but that is not all they are. We speak them to one another. We hear
them in our inner beings. We read them one day and they work the life of God
into our hearts in one way. On another day, we read the same Scriptures as
before and their living reality speaks something different into our souls. They
are living, and must be treated as living. As Jesus breathed his life into dust
and created a living being, so he breathes out living words that remain alive
even though captured on paper.
“…and
active”: The words of God are actively doing things. This is what God
declared some twenty-seven centuries ago:
“For as the rain and the snow come down from
heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from
my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I
purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.[6]
God’s
word goes out from God’s mouth and “accomplishes” whatever God purposed for it
to do. This is why the book of Revelation is so important to us. It tells us
what God has purposed to do. We are NOT to put our faith in how well we have
interpreted these words. Instead, we put our faith in this: that what God has
written will accomplish exactly what God purposed for it to do, and this word
will succeed in each and every thing God sent it out to do.
“…sharper
than any two-edged sword”: In
any way we can imagine the sharpness of a two-edged sword honed to its finest
edge, the word of God is sharper than that. No two-edged sword of man is living
in itself, or active in itself. Every manmade sword is dead, is lifeless, is
powerless. The two-edged swords of man are nothing unless a man lifts them up
and uses them.
However,
the word of God is living and active in itself, and it is sharper than anything
we could imagine of a manmade two-edged sword. In every way we can think of a
two-edged sword giving an adequate defense to a Roman soldier, the word of God
is alive and active to give a more-than-adequate defense to the children of
God. In every way we can imagine the Roman soldiers using their two-edged
swords to put their enemies to death, so we must see that the word of God is
alive and active in confronting the nations. The word of God cannot be
resisted, but will go out and accomplish exactly what God intends for it to do,
and so we must welcome whatever God has intended to do with us through his word.
“…piercing
to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning
the thoughts and intentions of the heart”: Why are we surprised when God’s
word pierces us? It is living and active. No surgeon’s hand is required. God’s
word pierces us. It cuts through pretense. It seeks to pierce us through with
the living truth that gives life, and to free us from the cancer of sin, and
error, and death. It comes actively, working to accomplish God-sized things in
our hearts.
After
we are given this pointed description of God’s word that comes from Jesus’
mouth, we are given this clarification: “And
no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes
of him to whom we must give account.”[7] The vision of Jesus in Revelation 1 tells us that, “His eyes were like a flame of fire,”[8] and then that, “from his
mouth came a sharp two-edged sword.”[9] The writer to the Hebrews combined these same thoughts by telling
us that the word of God is the living and active two-edged sword, and that this
sword comes from the one who sees everything.
Nothing
is hidden from Jesus, and no one can hide from his word. Although he graciously
holds off his words of condemnation until the judgment, his apparent silence is
not approval of the sins of man. He sees what every person is doing, and he has
already spoken living words that will actively bring about either our
deliverance or our condemnation.
In
this there is both comfort and conviction. The comfort is that it doesn’t
matter what words people speak against us if the Lord our God has spoken words
of peace and grace and goodness to us. Many will give their opinion of the
church and our ministries. Jesus was called a blasphemer[10], a
demonized man[11],
a glutton and a drunkard.[12]
Paul was accused of things he knew he was not doing[13].
The words of man have no hold on us if the words of Jesus Christ have already
pierced our hearts with life. At the same time, if the words of man have
wounded us, it is the words of Jesus Christ that are the healing ointment to
those wounds.
The conviction
is that it doesn’t matter what we, or anyone else thinks of ourselves, or our
works; it is only what Jesus himself says about them that matters. It doesn’t
matter what is in season in the world, what they like to hear from the church,
or how they like to have their ears tickled with the fine words of man. It only
matters what the Lord Jesus Christ says with the word of his mouth. The world
around us could approve of every one of our sins, but the double-edged sword of
the word of God will treat our sins exactly as God has spoken. When Jesus told
five of the seven churches “I have this
against you…” it did not matter who approved of those things.
As I age, it
becomes more apparent that I must take diet and exercise far more seriously in
order to maintain good health until the end of my days. Since the word of God is
living and active, we must feed on the life of this word, and exercise in the
activity of this word. As Jesus himself spoke from the double-edged sword that
comes from his mouth: “It is written, ‘Man
shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of
God.’”[14]
From my heart,
Monte
© 2013 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517,
Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted,
Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English
Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good
News Publishers.)
[1]
II Timothy 3:16-17
[2]
Hebrews 4:12
[3]
Revelation 2-3
[4]
Revelation 2:12
[5]
Revelation 1:16
[6]
Isaiah 55:10-11
[7]
Hebrews 4:13
[8]
Revelation 1:14
[9]
Revelation 1:16
[10]
Matthew 26:65
[11]
Matthew 9:34
[12]
Luke 7:34
[13]
Acts 26, much of II Corinthians is Paul’s defense against false accusations
[14]
Matthew 4:4
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