Title: A Instrument of Unimaginable Depth and Precision
Intro:
“For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, even penetrating as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
A sword is a weapon (but more accurately, it is an instrument)
This sword is both different and superior to any man made weapon.
“Penetrating as far as the division of soul and spirit” indicates this is a spiritual weapon, it is not merely physical.
“both joints and marrow” indicates this weapon goes DEEPER than anything known to man. (A sword that not only cuts TO the bone, but THROUGH the bone)
The result: it doesn’t just judge the ACTIONS (results), it judges the intentions (motivations). YIKES. (More on this when we cover the next verse, Hebrews 4:13, the scariest verse in the Bible)
What is the distinction between soul and Spirit?
Chuck Smith:
Man is a threefold being, body (physical), soul (emotional) and spirit (relation to God).
Yet we are so integrated that it is almost impossible to divide the parts.
Whatever affects you physically, will also affect you emotionally, and ultimately spiritually.
A person with a prolonged painful illness often becomes depressed. They sometimes begin to question if God loves them.
Whatever affects you emotionally will affect you physically. Research shows how attitudes can create chemicals in your body that can be beneficial or harmful.
Whatever affects you spiritually will also affect you emotionally and physically.
I have seen the countenance of people so changed after coming to Jesus Christ that I did not recognize them. The lines made by sin were erased, and God gave them a new countenance.
I see also the great emotional changes when a person comes to Jesus Christ and their spirit is made alive.
There is such an integration of the soul and spirit of man that many deny the existence of the spirit, but declare that the soul and spirit are synonymous.
Many people have great emotional experiences that they think are spiritual experiences.
They are not able to discern the difference between the soul and the spirit.
It takes the word of God to make the distinction, the word of God feeds the spirit of man.
PB note: In this sense, the Sword may be also thought of as a surgical tool, like a razor-sharp scalpel a surgeon would use…it is a diagnostic tool, used for probing, separating, and dissecting, for the purpose of discernment and wisdom.
The Power to Cut With Absolute Precision
Guzik:
God’s word reaches us with surprising precision, and the Holy Spirit empowers the ministry of the word to work deeply in our hearts.
Often people wonder how a preacher’s message can be so relevant to their life. They sometimes honestly wonder if the preacher has secret information about their life. But it isn’t necessarily the preacher at all. It is the sharpness of the Word of God, delivering the message in just the right place.
Q: How many of you have had this experience?
PB note: Countless times in my ministry I’ll deliver a “meh” message only to have multiple people tell me, “That was EXACTLY what I needed to hear.” Is that me? Heck no! It is the sword, penetrating, dissecting, revealing.
Two Final Thoughts from Spurgeon:
“A sword with two edges has no blunt side: it cuts both this way and that. The revelation of God given us in Holy Scripture is edge all over. It is alive in every part, and in every part keen to cut the conscience, and wound the heart. Depend upon it, there is not a superfluous verse in the Bible, nor a chapter which is useless.”
Application: Study the WHOLE of Scripture. For ALL of it is both:
1. Living and Active
2. A Instrument of Unimaginable Depth and Precision
3. No other weapon, no other instrument can do to a human what the Word of God can do to them. (see this next Spurgeon Quote)
“While it has an edge like a sword, it has also a point like a rapier, ‘Piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit.’ The difficulty with some men’s hearts is to get at them. In fact, there is no spiritually penetrating the heart of any natural man except by this piercing instrument, the Word of God. But the rapier of revelation will go through anything.”