The Powerful Ministry of Swordsmanship
What I'm about to share might seem a little radical or revolutionary, depending on your perspective, but I believe God wants us to understand who we are as His children, His disciples, and His army. You are called to a powerful ministry of swordsmanship. This revelation came, I believe, for such a time as this. God is teaching us and preparing us for the battles and victories ahead.
First, let's look at the picture given us of Jesus in the book of Revelation. Revelation 1:13-16 describes our Lord Jesus as He was seen by John the Beloved. Each aspect of John's description could merit a message or sermon, but we want to focus on just one aspect found in verse 16: "...out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword."
Chapter 2, verse 12, says the following: "And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write, 'These things says He who has the sharp two-edged sword.'"
Chapter 2, verse 16, says: "Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth."
Chapter 19, verse 21 says: "And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse..."
Now, let's look at two passages that deal with the two-edged sword that God puts in our mouths. Ephesians 6:17 declares: "And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;" Hebrews 4:12 also gives us some great insight: "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."
Let's see if we can connect the dots between these very interesting passages; but first, let me clearly state two things:
This Is Our Holy Calling and Mandate
1. As the Body of Christ on this earth, we have a high and holy calling to represent Jesus well; and as a team (each doing what we are gifted to do), we are to do what He did and even greater things (see John 14:12) because we can be filled with His Holy Spirit, just as He was when He called Himself the Son of Man.
2. The Bible is and always will be the clearly inspired and never-failing written Word of God. We do not add to Scripture or subtract from it. It is the gold standard of truth and theology. That being said, God has given us a mandate to speak His words as He reveals them to us, just as He gave to the prophets of old. He commanded us twice in 1 Corinthians 14 to desire, with passion, the gift of prophecy. That's speaking His words to people who need encouragement, etc. When we do so, we're not adding to Scripture – we're obeying Scripture and building up or edifying His Body (read 1 Corinthians 14:12 in the context of the whole chapter). (Photo via Unsplash)
How to Use Both Edges of the Sword
Now, let's look again at these verses. In Revelation, our Savior and Lord is extremely majestic and incredibly powerful, to the extent that out of His mouth comes a sharp double-edged sword. This undeniably refers to His speech – His words that pierce all those who resist Him. His words have always been powerful. Remember how He created all things by the word of His mouth?
And now, let's look again at the passage in Ephesians 6:17. After putting on all our armor to keep us protected, we put on the helmet of salvation and pick up "...the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God." This should always apply first to the written (the Logos) Word of God. But countless examples in Scripture itself point to the fact that God speaks through other human vessels besides those who wrote Scripture. And we are commanded to speak as oracles of God in 1 Peter 4:11. The previous verse commands us to use the gifts God has given each one of us in order to serve one another and be good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
So, here's what I'm saying, and what I firmly believe. The sword has two edges. One edge is the written Word (our Bible); the other edge is the more spontaneous or prophetic words, as in the ones Jesus promised to give His disciples when needed, through the Holy Spirit, like when they were hauled before judges and magistrates. We really need to employ both God's eternal written Word and the Holy-Spirit-inspired spontaneous words that He gives us for others.
Why Divide Soul and Spirit?
And now, let's look at what the author of Hebrews wrote in Hebrews 4:12. Let's read it again: "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."
From Ephesians 6:17, we have already established that the Word of God is the sword of the Spirit. When Hebrews 4:12 says that it's sharper than any two-edged sword, it is saying that the Word of God is sharper than any natural, two-edged sword. And next, the writer of Hebrews tells us why it's sharper than a natural sword. The Word of God, unlike a natural sword, can separate the soul and the spirit of man. No natural sword can do that. But what does that mean? God gave me a very practical answer to this question.
When we speak the Word of God to an individual through an anointed, personal prophecy, we are speaking by the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit connects with the spirit of the man, woman, or child. As human beings, we can be dominated by our souls, which we believe are our minds, our wills and our emotions. We naturally live and make decisions based on what we think, what we feel or what goals we have.
When we are reasoned with through intellectual logic or passionate emotions, this may or may not change our minds; but when the Holy Spirit speaks directly into our lives, He separates our spirits and our minds, pushing the mind, will and emotions into the background and engaging directly with our spirits. The result is not what we expect. Instead of interacting with our souls, our spirits respond to the Holy Spirit and transformation takes place. (Photo via Unsplash)
My wife Brenda and I have seen this scenario play out many thousands of times, but we were never aware of the process that took place. For example, in one night we saw two, tough, hardened bikers shed tears in response to a prophetic word and change their plans – the one from committing homicide, and the other from committing suicide.
We've also seen amazing, transforming results in hundreds or even thousands of Christians who had been taught the hellish doctrine of Cessationism. It's a doctrine which says that God no longer talks to or through people outside of the Bible, nor does miracles, signs, and wonders. But when people we ministered to were confronted by an anointed word from Heaven that discerned the thoughts and intents of their hearts, they suddenly became Believers in a living, powerful, supernatural God, who still talks to people and gives them supernatural, spiritual gifts.
From Joints to Marrow: How to Get Down to the Tender Parts
To get a better understanding of the separation of joints and marrow, I sought the help of some commentaries on the internet. The word used for joints can also mean the hard outside part of the bone, and the word used for sword, here, can also refer to a sharp butcher's or fisherman's knife, which can cut through the bone and into the marrow.
The application now is pretty apparent. The sharp knife can cut through the hard surface of the bone and penetrate the soft heart of the bone. People put on a hard front so many times, but the prophetic word gets right down into the tender part of them. In other words, like the separation of soul and spirit, where the spirit is isolated and addressed, it's the penetration of the Word of God through the hard shell into the soft part of their heart, or their own spirit.
You May ALL Prophesy
Let's now make it personal and practical. Have you obeyed 1 Corinthians 14, where you are commanded to desire earnestly to prophesy? If not, you're free to repent and go for it. Are you just as willing to pick up the sword of the Spirit – the Word of God – as you are to put on the helmet of salvation? It's kind of a packaged deal. God wants us to obey the whole verse, not just the first half. WHY? He wants to speak to people like never before.
People are open because of all the crises. He wants you to penetrate through the soul and get to the spirit, and also, cut through the hard shell and get to the soft marrow of their hearts. You can do it. Paul said, "You may all prophesy." Let's do it and help Jesus expand His Kingdom into many more hearts in these troubled times.
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Ben R. Peters
Kingdom Sending Center
Email:Â ohmint@gmail.com
Website:Â www.kingdomsendingcenter.org
Ben and Brenda Peters have said "YES" to the call of God to challenge, equip, and send dedicated lovers of Jesus into the harvest fields of the earth, including the seven mountains of society. Together they have ministered to tens of thousands of individuals in several countries of the world. After establishing and serving churches and Christian schools for almost thirty years, they began a traveling ministry under the name Open Heart Ministries. More recently, they also founded an Illinois-based ministry called Kingdom Sending Center. Ben has published over 23 books. Ben and Brenda now live near Sacramento, California, close to most of their children and grandchildren.
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