Cut to the Heart by the Sword of the Spirit

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We continue today to ponder on the offensive weapons of the Spirit of God—weapons that will break down spiritual strongholds of our unseen enemies, Satan, and his dark angels and demons. Paul, the apostle, compared the Word of God to a sword, a sword of the Spirit. Martin Luther, the great reformer, had a similar experience with the Word of God stuck in him. He read the Scripture, “The just shall live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 1:17), but the church at the time believed that a person could enter into eternal life by his good works. While on a trip to Rome, as a religious work to earn peace and forgiveness, he was told that he would obtain peace by climbing the twenty-eight white marble steps of the Lateran Staircase on his knees. As he moved from step to step, the Spirit of God would not let him go, but at each step, the thought came to his mind, “The just shall live by faith.” 

 He saw that justification [God’s act of removing the guilt and penalty of sin] was by faith in Christ’s work on the cross alone and not by a man’s works. These truths flew in the face of everything taught at the time, and he was being called by God to raise the banner of God's Word over the traditions of men. This revelation was a turning point for him, and in turn, for those who would hear his words as he returned to Germany a changed man, ignited with a fresh revelation of the Word of God.

We have a further example of the power of the Word of God in Scripture. After the resurrection of Christ, on the Day of Pentecost, the disciples came out of the Upper Room where they were filled with the Spirit, the several thousand Jews gathered had the Apostle Peter speak the Word of God to them. “When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, 'Brothers, what shall we do?'" (Acts 2:37). The Word of God, spoken by Peter, was like a sword that cut to the inner core of their hearts.

Do not underestimate the power of the Word of God at work in and through the believer in Christ:

For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart (Hebrews 4:12 Emphasis mine).

In nineteenth-century America, God touched the life of Charles Finney. He was a man who gave himself to prayer and the ministry of the Word of God. The Lord used him much in preaching from church to church. The presence of the Spirit was on him to such a degree that people who heard him would come under great conviction of heart and feel cut to their very inner being. On one occasion, when Finney was preaching in a schoolhouse, "Suddenly an awful solemnity fell upon the assembly, and the congregation fell from their seats, crying for mercy." Finney said, "If I had had a sword in each hand, I could not have cut them off as fast as they fell. I think the whole congregation was on their knees or prostrated in two minutes." The crying and weeping of the people were so loud that Finney's appeal of Christ's mercy could not be heard. "Finney seemed so anointed with the Holy Spirit that people came under conviction of sin just by looking at him. When holding meetings at Utica, New York, he visited a large factory. At the sight of him, one of the workers, and then another, and then another broke down and wept under a sense of their sins, and finally so many were sobbing and weeping that the machinery had to be stopped while Finney pointed them to Christ.”[1]Let us pray and call upon the Lord to work in our cities in such a way. Keith Thomas
This meditation is a shortened version of the in-depth study: Offensive Weapons of the Believer
[1]Taken from: https://hopefaithprayer.com/prayernew/charles-finney-intercessors/


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