GOD’S WORD IS AN ARROW THAT NEVER MISSES ITS MARK
“For the Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged 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” (Hebrews 4:12).
The Word of God is not simply a collection of words from God, a vehicle for communicating ideas; it is living, life-changing, and dynamic as it works in us. With the incisiveness of a surgeon’s knife, God’s word reveals who we are and what we are not. It penetrates the core of our moral and spiritual life. It discerns what is within us, both good and evil. The demands of God’s word require decisions. We must not only listen to the word; we must also let it shape our lives.
We are to be eager, diligent, to accomplish God’s tasks with enthusiasm so that we may stride confidently into His rest. The Hebrew’s writer makes an interesting turn of thought in verses 12 and 13. He appears to describe the word of God (logos tou theou) as being alive, filled with a diagnostic perception that picks up inconsistencies of motivation between things as close as soul and spirit, bone and marrow. No smoothing over with outward actions can hide from God the real purpose or intent of the heart. We may appear to be utterly sincere before other humans but God knows if there is an ulterior motive. God’s word is like a two-edged sword, sharp as a scalpel, discerning every twist and turn of the human mind. It is quick (alive) and powerful and contains every provision for ultimate victory.
What is meant by the word of God being “quick?” That it moves with swiftness and velocity? It is certainly said of God’s word (Psalm 147:15) that “it runs very swiftly;” but that is NOT the meaning of the word “quick” in the text. It there means “living,” and corresponds with the expression (Acts 7:38) “living oracles.” It is an old English word signifying “living;” as in the expression, “Who shall judge the quick and the dead” (2 Timothy 4:1), that is, the living and the dead. (J.C. Philpot)
No weapon in Satan’s arsenal can destroy the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. We all have to do with God—“Him with whom we have to do.” You cannot break the connection. Isn’t it wonderful and peaceful at the say time, to know that the word of God is living—the words he speaks are spirit and life? We need to allow the words of God to work in our consciences and stir our lives. The word of God is active—energetic—living! Beneath its spell the blind see, the deaf hear, the paralyzed are nerved with new energy, the dead stir in their graves and come forth. There are few things more energetic than life. When the word of God enters the heart, it asserts itself and strives for mastery, and compels men to give up sin—to strive to enter into the strait gate.
The word of God is also sharp—enough to pierce to the heart. It is also sharp enough to divide—to view even the marrow of the bones. God’s scrutiny is not satisfied with the external appearance only—it goes far deeper. It enters into those mysterious regions of the nature where soul and spirit, purpose, intention, motive, and impulse, hold their secret court, and carry on the hidden machinery of human life. Who can tread the mysterious confines where soul and spirit touch? God’s word is also sharp to criticize and judge—“quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Christ is eager about these. Because what a man thinks and intends in his heart, that he will be sooner or later in life. We must expect to have our must secret thoughts, relations, and purposes questioned, criticized, and measured by the word of God. God is the critic of all the secrets of the heart. As each thought or intention passes to and fro, he searches it.
The word of God penetrates our entire being—its two-edged sword goes for the heart where all the intentions are located. God means business with us—He doesn’t play games. When He wants our attention, He knows exactly how to get it. He can stop us in our tracks—turn us around—and head us in the right direction. His word is living—it will always do its work in our lives. Praise God!
The word of God is living and active—it is meant for the heart, the will, and the affections. It has quickening power. Nothing can out do the sharpness of God’s Word—it wounds, it cuts, and it divides. God’s word divides and separates—it awakens the spirit to a sense of destiny—it brings the soul to knowledge of itself as a captive to the power of sin. It cuts deep and sure, discovering the deep corruption of sin. Because it penetrates all—there is no part of the inner being to which it does not pass.
Do not be afraid when the word does its work in your life—allow the Lord to work and wake you out of your sleep. Be not afraid of discovering your sin and wretchedness. The knife of the physician wounds to heal. The light that shows you your sin and wrong will surely lead you out. The word is living and will give you life. The word ever points to the living God, who is present in it and makes it a living word in the heart that is seeking for life and for God.
