A Living Sword

Bulletin

Dan Peters
02/13/22 - Justice

A Living Sword?
If I take away the qualifiers about how sharp it is, it reads, “For the word of God is …sharper than any two-edged sword, … able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12). Words can cut, revealing hearts and intentions.
The following story is terrible and true. The son of David comes to the throne and the kingdom wants to know what kind of king he will be. Two prostitutes come forward with a deadly dispute. They both had babies, but one of them rolled over on the baby and it died. No witnesses, except the two ladies. They both now are claiming the live baby is their’s before the king. As each of them argue to the king that their baby is the live one. So how is the king going to decide? He says, “The one says, ‘This is my son who is living, and your son is the dead one’; and the other says, ‘No! For your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.’” The king said, “Get me a sword.” So they brought a sword before the king. The king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.” Then the woman whose child was the living one spoke to the king, for she was deeply stirred over her son and said, “Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means kill him.” But the other said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours; divide him!” Then the king said, “Give the first woman the living child, and by no means kill him. She is his mother.” (1Kings 3:23-27).
As the sword revealed their “thoughts and intentions” (Hebrews 4:12), so also Jesus’ words are living and active. Jesus never met a secret. The woman at the well had 5 husbands, she thought no-one knew it. The secret was revealed with an active, living sword. The word of God is the living sword, and reveals all of our thoughts. We must learn to come into the light, being honest and fully transparent before God (Heb. 4:13).
We must believe in his words (Matt. 7:24-27), confess his name before men (Rom. 10:9-10), we must put to death the deeds of the body/repent (Rom. 8:13), and be baptized for the forgiveness of our sins (Rom. 6:1-4, Acts 2:38), and continue to walk in the steps of faith like Abraham did (Rom. 4:12). May God be glorified through faith in Christ. Dan Peters