Use the Word!

^"And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God..."

Ephesians 6:17

As I read this scripture yesterday, a powerful realization come to mind.  If the Word of God is the sword of the Spirit, than it is the implement He uses to do His searching work.  When we remove the Word of God from preaching or evangelism, it renders Him without His weapon!  Think of this in terms of warfare:  take away the pilot's jet and he is grounded; remove the gun from the sniper's hands and he is neutralized.  If we desire the power of the Holy Spirit to impact the hearts, minds, and lives of others, we are fools to substitute clever sayings or logical postulates for the Word of God.  We unknowingly play the hypocrite when we ask God's Spirit to move and neglect the use of His Word.

Hebrews 4:12 reads, "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."  Another potential is that we would blunt the Word of God by softening the message.  To intentionally change a single word because we think it would be cause for offense is grave sin.  If God calls something sin, we too must call it sin.  If God says something is "abominable," then we cannot substitute the phrases "less than what God would have" or "not ideal" or "a bad idea" to describe that thing:  it is an abomination because God has said so.  The world may not agree, and even we might struggle to accept the truth because of personal inconvenience!  When we refuse to allow God's Word to retain the sharp, piercing power in the Holy Spirit's hands, we hinder God's work.

What a powerful testimony when a believer actually carries the Word of God with him for the purpose of illuminating God's truth to others.  God will bless this richly.  When I worked in construction, it was easy for me to carry a copy of God's word in my lunchbox.  I remember a conversation I had in the galley of a ship with a co-worker who had questions about God.  Even the way I looked up passages impressed him.  "You really do know that book, don't you?"  But it was nothing that I said, no carefully crafted argument, not a single word of mine that impacted that man who later made a confession of faith in Christ.  I was not around him when it happened!  He came up to me later and said that there was a verse he could not escape:  "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" (Mark 8:36)  The Holy Spirit used that single verse to break down his defenses, silence every argument, recognize his need for salvation, and change his eternal destiny.

God has graciously given us His Word:  it is up to us to use it faithfully!  To do so we must immerse ourselves in the Bible, allowing the Holy Spirit to teach us.  Would an infantryman be ashamed of his machine gun?  Or would a samurai feel awkward to carry his katana into battle?  God's Word is not to be like one of those swords made for "display only" that are shiny, blunt, and hang on hooks fastened to the wall.  Those who beat people with the Word are not using it led by the Holy Spirit!  The Holy Spirit will never use it to beat people, but to surgically slice right through every defense and expose every sinful thought and intention for the ultimate purpose of redemption, reconciliation, and God-glorification.  God's Word is living, sharp, and powerful, and when quickened by the Holy Spirit it is devastating to the forces of wickedness in this world.  It is the primary thing God uses against the sin-hardened hearts and consciences of men.  The is nothing as confrontational to the flesh as God's truth.  Let us seek mastery of it as we are taught, led, and empowered by the Holy Spirit!