12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Hebrews 4:12 (N.I.V.)
How few in this current age of the Church are willing or able to wield this “double edged” sword?
The typical sword of the times of the Bible was an, if you will pardon the expression a “hacking and slashing” weapon wielded with a great deal of brute force.
This phraseology speaks to me more of a surgical blade cutting only in order to remove diseased tissue and probing for problems.
Yet there is no escaping the fact that a sword is a weapon used in warfare and throughout the history of Christianity it has been used to great effect as such.
This passage raises the question of how we are to use the Word of God today.
It can only be said that the tendency of many in the church and among Christians generally, is to “blunt” this blade of the scriptures and and make it less an offensive or defensive weapon and more a self help book.
As I said previously we are at the stage where those “seekers” who come into our modern services are not confronted by what the Bible says about their current lost and sinful state or their alienation from their Maker. Indeed apart from a few carefully selected and paraphrased verses they are not taught very much about what the Bible says about anything. If they do receive any teaching it is only at a later stage in their development and at their discretion
The situation is today that the rush to get people into church has meant streamlining the way of salvation to the stage that it is little more than upraised hand or a signed card followed by baptism that is all that is required to profess and be regarded Christian.
While this may be adequate for acceptance to church membership, much more is called for by the scriptures in order to be called a Christian.
We do not hear today much of repentance and being born again. We hear nothing of entering the narrow door that leads to the narrow way that leads to salvation. We hear nothing about the holy living without which no one will see the Lord. Yet this is scriptural and biblical, however little interest is shown by our modern preachers and teachers and church leaders.
Worst of all there is little thought given to these fundamental failings by the average person in the “pew”.
When we turn back to the actual teaching of scripture we are left with a powerful “weapon” which has fallen out of use and no desire on many people’s part to wield it.
Perhaps some might say that it is for the Spirit of God to wield this weapon and we are best to leave it to Him and therefore become less liable to cause offense among those we hope to win to Christ.
While it is true that the Blessed Spirit of God works in and through the Word and works mightily indeed, the fact is the Word is in our hands, is it to be a closed book opened only on certain occasions and only among certain audiences?
Again, many will say that the Scriptures as the Word of God and the preaching of it, no longer has any authority with the World at large and therefore we must find other means of spreading the message of Christianity.
Whether this line of argument is correct or not still leaves us with the dilemma of what to do with this “spiritual sword” which we were obviously expected to use frequently and vigorously.
I think it is true to say that for most non believers the Bible has never had more than a sentimental place in their lives.
The sad fact is that for many Christians today, the authority of the Bible as the word of God is waning, especially on issues where professing believers want to fall into line with Worldly thought and values and morals.
I say again. We all have the sinful tendency to seek to blunt the force of the Word of God when it goes against our fleshly desires and self will. The fact is that in this modern age we see this practice soaring to new heights in the church with the consequences that there is no moral and spiritual force behind anything we say and do in our Christian teaching and doctrine.
Better to be called “simplistic” and “old fashioned” and unashamedly preach the Word of God to all and sundry, without fear or favour, relying on the Spirit’s power working with the Word to open the hearts, minds and souls of men and women to God’s salvation in Christ.
This has always been the tried and true “power of salvation” and nothing; even in our modern relativistic age is needed more in our dealings with other believers and the whole World of unsaved sinners.
The “Bush Tuckerman”
Les Hiddins recounts the story of two German aviators who in 1932 crash landed in the “Kimberley’s” in North Western Australia.
In a hostile and unfamiliar environment they survived for some time but became so weak that they resigned themselves to death.
They were found sheltering in a cave by a group of Aborigines who brought them food but the men were too weak to chew it, so the Aborigines chewed it for them.
After being lost for 53 days they were taken overland to hospital in Wyndham.
Hiddins adds that if they had known what to look for in the edible plants and environment around them, they would have found sufficient food to keep them alive until rescued.
In a spiritual sense we to are surrounded by the food we need to grow as Christians. The problem is we do not have the appetite, understanding and faith to benefit from it.
Many of us are satisfied by the milk and water “baby food” on offer at many churches and never progress to the strong meat of the Word of God.
Some Christian leaders are calling for Christians to be “Self feeding” thus making Christian preaching and teaching unnecessary on a Sunday.
Rather we should seek to the faithful preaching of the Word wherever we can find it and reinforce it with our on prayerful study of the Scriptures.