“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents
of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12
The only offensive weapon in the Christian armor is the sword of the Spirit, the word of God. This is an unbelievably powerful weapon. Hebrews 4 tells us “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” This tells us God’s focus – the heart of men – and the power of the word of God to transform it – it can split a man open spiritually.
There are many swords that have been wielded in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. We think first of Peter in the Garden of Gethsemane who, while acting in the flesh, immediately grabbed his
knife and, swinging wildly, cut off the ear of Malchus, the High Priest’s servant. The Lord responded “Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. Do you think that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall immediately
give me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?”
The Lord then clearly shows us the weapons of our spiritual warfare are not physical. The Lord then responds to his attackers by speaking the Word of God. We see its power for when He states, “I Am” (the name of God) the entire attacking party (estimated to be in the hundreds) falls backwards at the power of the spoken Word of God. Thus we see the hurtful damage Peter did acting in the flesh compared to the power of the living Word of God spoken in God’s strength.
The error of picking the wrong weapon to battle the world with has occurred throughout history when man has used physical force to compel people to worship Christ. One example of this evil is the Crusades of Constantinople. Estimates of the numbers killed range from 1 to 8 million between 1095 and 1291 A.D. Like Peter, the word of God was ignored and armies battled in their human strength with human weapons.
So what can we learn about this one powerful offensive weapon God has provided us to wage spiritual warfare? In this life we have the written word of God to guide and instruct us. This will be true for all of eternity as well. When we are in eternity and God speaks to us directly we will experience the impact of His word straight into our souls. “His word abides forever.”
We read how important God’s word is to him by reading Psalm 138:2. “You have magnified Your word above all Your name.” In other words, when God gives us His written word, it is not to be taken lightly. To God, every promise is sure, every command is meant. God’s word is not to be doubted. God’s word is equivalent to His character. Psalm 145:13 says “The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does”. We can tell how serious God takes His word by the
warnings he gives in Revelation 22 that if anyone adds or takes away from His word, the plagues in the book of Revelation will be added to him and his share in the tree of life will be taken away. It is this awesome gift of His word that God gives us to fight against both the demonic forces and the world system who attack Him
(and us). Hebrews 4 tells us four characteristics of this amazing weapon, the word of God. Treat this great gift with honor and by paying attention to it.