The Sword of God

"WORLDLY-WISEMAN: How then did you come by your burden
in the first place?
CHRISTIAN: By reading this book in my hand.
WORLDLY-WISEMAN: I thought so. It has happened to you in
the same way that other weak men, in meddling with things that are
too high for them, have suddenly fallen into the same bewilderment
that you presently suffer. Now this confusion not only humiliates men,
even as I observe that you have suffered, but it also causes them to
pursue desperate causes, and so seek that which they know little
about." John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress


Christian informs Worldly-Wiseman that his burden came upon him while reading his book ( The Bible ). The Word administered by Holy Spirit is violent and gut wrenching! Holy Spirit takes the words on paper and yields it as a sword. It pierces deep within our hearts. No one stands before it's convicting power. I remember listening to men like Dudley and T.D. Hall, Manley Beasley, Jack Taylor and others preach. They preached the word in such a way, that not only encouraged me to be more like Christ, but broke my heart that I wasn't yet.


"For the Word of God is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing even to the point of dividing soul from spirit, and joints from marrow; it is able to judge the desires and thoughts of the heart." Hebrews 4:12


I am dismayed when the hearts of people carry them away from God. This only happens when the Word is distorted and manipulated. The Word is so powerful that men must either hide from it or disfigure it. The heart is deceitful and always looking for ways to obtain that which it craves. Men go looking often in churches for people that will help them feel good about their sinful state.


"For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear." 
II Timothy 4:3


We need to return to the Word. Too many do not read it on a daily basis and few that do, ask Holy Spirit to speak to them through it. 


"Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither..." Psalm 1:1-3