“THE PREACHER’S WEAPON OF TRUTH”
W.Max Alderman
Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
The preaching of the Word is a manly work of faith. The God called man, who is also the preacher, must believe the Book that he preaches and then he must have such a Book that is worthy of being believed by those to whom he preaches. This Book is the King James Bible. Our entire faith system rests upon having the Truth. Too much cannot be said about the value of the Word of God relative to faith. Christian faith does not just happen apart from the Word of God. The Bible has inspirational qualities much greater than those which are found in the works of a mere human author. Sometimes we say that a particular writer was inspired as he wrote. Such is the case with William Shakespeare. When we speak, describing him this way, we are only describing that ability that can be attributed to human genius. It does not at all describe biblical inspiration. Biblical inspiration means that God has breathed the very Words. The Bible is the only place where the very Words of God may be found.
The Word of God has qualities that produce change; this is so because the Word of God is alive. “For the word of God is quick…” The quick Word of God is lively. It is the lively, living Word because God is alive. The word quick means: active, energizing and manifesting itself actively in the world and in men’s hearts. The reaching hand of God’s Word has the ability to reach way down in grace from the place of grace. How many derelicts have been picked up by God’s Word? Not to mention the drunkards, the harlots, the liars and all others who are the victims of the sin curse. The Word of God could not be alive it were not just that… the Word of God. It would be incapable of reaching into the very heart of man if it were only humanly inspired and not God breathed.
The term inspiration means, the divine influence which renders a speaker or writer of Scripture infallible in the communication of the Scriptures from God to man. “The theological use of the term inspiration is a reference to that controlling influence which God exerted over the human authors by whom the Old and New Testaments were written. It has to do with the reception of the divine message and accuracy with which it is transcribed”. (Chafer, Lewis Sperry; “Systematic Theology, Dallas, TX: Dallas Seminary Press, 1947, Vol. 1, p. 61).
The term inspiration means “God breathed”. The Greek word for inspiration is theopneustos: “Theo; God, pneus; breath, tos; the “tos” ending indicates the end results of what precedes it. The very living, breathing Spirit of God gave us His Words. Speech cannot be spoken apart from ones breath flowing past the vocal cords. My own words are breathed from me. God’s Words are His very own Words breathed out. This fact is documented in 2 Timothy 3:16,17. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”
God initiated Truth by speaking His living Word to and through men. These men were Holy men of God who “spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2Peter 1:21) Moved is a word, which means to “bear” or “uphold”. It is used in Acts 27:17, “Which when they had taken up, they used helps, undergirding the ship; and, fearing lest they should fall into the quicksands, strake sail, and so were driven.”
In this verse the term driven is used of a ship driven by the wind. The tense of the term in Acts is passive showing that it was the wind that was driving the ship. The wind was sovereign in respect to the ship; no one could tell the wind when and how to blow. Likewise, God alone blows His breath… Just as the ship was driven by the wind, the authors of the Scriptures were carried along and the Holy Ghost determined their course. Just as the wind will push along a ship with respect to its own style and design, so by the Holy Spirit were the authors chosen to use their own style and language. We refer to this as confluent inspiration. It is the breath of God that makes the words come alive. This is another argument against dynamic equivalency. Dynamic equivalency as it applies to translations says that you take the dynamic equivalent expression from one language or cultural group while moving it to another. No one has the right to tamper with the Words of God by filtering them through his own polluted mind and then restating what he supposes to be the equivalent expression of Truth.
Not only is the Word of God quick, it is powerful. The word power means, active, operative or effectual and powerful. The word powerful is a very expressive word. To illustrate this, for if a man’s word is to be respected and given a worthy consideration, it should only be on the basis of that man’s own strength. If the man is weak and vacillating in character and disposition; then such are his words. God’s Words are strong and powerful words for so is God. While recognizing that the Word of God is powerful, it should also be understood that its power lies also in its truthfulness. His Word is absolutely true and Truth never changes. The immutability of God is passed on to His Word. God does not change, nor does His Word change. Barnes said in his notes on Hebrews, when he described the word powerful, “And powerful Mighty, its power is seen in awakening the conscience; alarming the fears; laying bare the secret feelings of the heart, and causing the sinner to tremble with the apprehension of the coming judgment. All the great changes in the moral world for the better have been caused by the power of truth. They are such as the truth in its own nature is suited to effect, and if we may judge of its power by the greatness of the revolutions produced, no words can over-estimate the might of the truth which God has revealed” (Barnes).
If this summary statement by Barnes were not true regarding the awesome power of the Word, then we would not have a lasting foundation upon which to build our faith. Nor would there be a force, which drives our conscience to recognition of purity and truth. There is nothing and there is no one that is beyond the reach of its magnificent energy. The energy and the strength of God’s Word has a cutting power showing why It is described as being sharper than any twoedged sword. When the Word of God is described as being “sharper than any twoedged sword” it is describing it as having maximum efficiency. By a swords design, it can have one edge, but it can also have two edges. Having two edges speaks of its efficiency, only to be furthermore complemented by the fact that it is a sharp twoedged sword. What a wonderful metaphor by using the sword to describe the powerful cutting Word of God!
Lest we be lost to the true meaning of our verse under consideration, we must remind ourselves that warring words are used to describe the true Word of God. When thinking of the Word of God as being like a sword, just what then is the primary function of a sword? Ask the skilled, brave warrior and he will tell you that with his sword, he either defends himself or pursues the enemy. We are in a Spiritual warfare and the brave man of God who welds the Sword when he enters the pulpit should do so with the realization that he is there to do battle. With Satan being the enemy, the preacher very courageously should remind himself that he has a Weapon that has two edges and that he can powerfully deliver with full force the necessary blow to bring about Spiritual victory. Satan is no match to the man of God who stands with courage and faces Satan knowing as did David that his battle is of the Lord. May we fight faithfully until the battle is over or until we have been called home… Even as we do, we must employ the Weapon of Truth—the Sword.
