Words are important. When we speak, we want our words to mean something, and hopefully something that is good. When we do have something important to say, we want the other person to listen. We hope that our words will get through to the other person, that they cut through any stubbornness, lack of attention, or foggy minds. This holds not just for us, but even more importantly for the words that the Lord God has to say to us through the Bible.
There are times when we want our words to be soft and gentle. When we want to comfort someone, whether a baby, a child, or even an adult, we want our words to be gentle and kind. However, there are times when we need our words to be stronger. If we have something important to say where it is crucial that the other people are listening, and we need to be taken seriously, then soft and gentle words aren’t what’s needed. We need our words to get through to the listener. They need to hear, to pay attention, and to understand.
As most of us have at one time or another encountered, there are times when it seems the people we are talking to have a thick blanket wrapped around their brains. Our words just don’t seem to be penetrating, and they aren’t hearing us. Or their minds seem to be enveloped in a thick fog. How can we reach the person? We need to find something to cut through to their mind.
God has had an even greater problem with mankind since the days of the Garden of Eden. We have consistently closed our ears to what He has tried to say to us. He, too, has needed something to cut through what is wrapped around our minds, keeping us from hearing and understanding what He is saying.
The usual way that God speaks to us is through His Word, the Bible. In our Scripture, the prophet Isaiah speaks of the Messiah, that He was called as God’s Servant from birth, and that God is glorified by Him. Isaiah also says that His mouth, with which He speaks, is like a sharp sword (vs 2). Several times in the Bible, God’s Word is compared to a sharp sword. In the first chapter of the Book of Revelation, the Apostle John sees the ascended and glorified Lord Jesus, and John describes something similar to what we read in Isaiah. John describes a sharp, two-edged sword coming forth out of the mouth of Jesus (Revelation 1:16). When talking about something that comes out of our mouth, most generally we are speaking of words. In both Isaiah and Revelation God speaks of a sword coming forth. God’s Word is sharp and cutting like a sword.
In Hebrews 4:12 God’s Word is described as being sharper than a two-edged sword. A sword that is only sharp on one side, one edge, can only cut in that one direction. Most knives that people generally use, for cooking, camping, or at the dinner table, are single-edged. A double-edged sword can cut and slice in every direction it is swung. In that respect it is more dangerous. If someone wanted to cut through something quickly that was blocking their way, a double-edged sword would work best. God’s Word is described as that type of sword, cutting through our soul and spirit, to get to our thoughts and heart. It cuts through all the lies that the world and the devil have wrapped around our minds and heart, penetrating with God’s truth.
In the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians he describes the armor that a Christian is to put on everyday. One thing we are to take is the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God (Ephesians 6:17). Here, again, God’s Word is described as a sword. When the enemy attacks us we are to use God’s Word as our weapon. His Word can counter any attack that the devil throws at us if we have studied and know how to use it. When people try to trap us with their philosophical arguments or false religious teachings, if we have God’s Word in our hearts and minds, we can come against those arguments with His sword.
God’s Word, properly used, can cut through all of the lies and deception that is wrapped around someone’s mind and heart when we are trying to reach them for Jesus. Our own words will have little effect, but the Words from God, the Holy Scriptures, are a sharp, two-edged sword, and can cut through anything the devil may bring. Let’s pick up our sword!
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