The S-Word

UV 1097/10,000 The Spiritual Sword

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 v 12

Why is the Bible, the Word of God described in terms of being a deadly weapon, a sharp double-edged sword? It does the opposite of a sword for a sword kills, harms, maims, cuts, injures, severes limbs and heads. But the Word gives eternal life, heals, delivers, strengthens, unites, blesses, uplifts, builds hope and character, releases power and sets in motion events and miracles in our lives. In short, the Word does everything a sword cannot do. It is a s-word or spiritual word since it creates a communication between the Spirit of God and the spirit of man. It is a sword as it penetrates deep into our the core of our being, to the point where bone meets marrow, the point where soul meets spirit. The point where soul meets spirit is the zone of maximum impact. Even twenty years of education does not impact this zone as it ignores and is ignorant of the spiritual need of man. Education focusses only on the mind of man. It is therefore a blunt-edged weapon. But even an hour of studying the Word with the active assistance of the Holy Spirit, the interpreter of the Word can sufficiently impact this zone of learning to create swift, effective and lasting change.
The Word cuts deep but the cuts bring life , hope, healing, strength and blessing. The Word cuts out our egos which seek to glorify our own selves. The Word splits our tongues so that they become spiritual swords. It transforms our communication and makes it more wholesome, truthful and helpful. The Word does a deep work in our hearts and transforms our attitudes. The Word creates change in our minds and alters our priorities. The Word breaks down walls and barriers. It extends the boundaries of our wisdom and understanding. The Word washes and cleanses our conscience. The Word trains and equips us for spiritual warfare. The Word fills us with passion and commitment to the Lord. A sword brings pain but the s-word brings us gain. A sword leaves weeping wounds on the human body but the s-word causes our spirits to weep in repentance. Like with a physical sword, our grip on the Word counts. Like David used Goliath’s sword to slay him, we can use the s-word to slay the invisible giants of our lives that challenge us, mock us, intimidate us.

The Word enables us to discern the thoughts and intent of our own hearts. It helps us to discover the motive behind our thoughts and desires. As it is double-edged, it affects equally both the one speaking the Word and the one hearing or receiving it. It helps us discern the motives, intentions, attitudes of the people we are dealing with. It makes us sharper, smarter and wiser. It is double-edged as it creates internal change in us and external change in the world around. It is double-edged as we will be impacted in our understanding and the world will be impacted with our expression. The s-word gives us access not just to one weapon but to the whole armoury of God. The Word transforms our thought process. After the fall of man, our thought process became ANT or automatic negative thought process. Saturating our minds with the Word will change it back to automatic positive thought process or APT. The Word is a spiritual sword as it liberates us from fears and turns our fears into faith. Jesus is described as “Logos” or the Word by John. In the Book of Revelation, Jesus wear a robe on which is written the title, “The Word of God.” When Jesus comes again as a righteous Judge, He will judge in accordance with the Word. During His ministry on earth, His words were full of grace and truth. We too need to share the Word with grace and truth. The Word is a powerful weapon forged by God that is non violent but powerful, effective, impactful and offers solutions for every human predicament. It is the primary means by which the Lord gives us hope and a future. When we pray, act and live without using the Word, we are leaving the sword unsheathed and idle in the scabbard of our minds. When we pray, recalling, claiming and meditating on the Word in every situation and every day, we are continually swinging the sword skillfully in every direction, in 360 degrees. The range of the reach of our s-word is our circle of faith or the area of impact of our faith. The s-word is the key piece in the armour of God to maximise this impact or contribution we make to the Kingdom of God. Anyone handling a weapon is keen on maximising its lethal impact. In contrast, anyone handling the s-word would focus on maximising its life-giving and life-changing impact.

Prateep V Philip