A sword hangs over this world: God's sword of judgment. The apostle John saw this sword in a vision and it so struck him with its awesome power that he fell down as though dead (Rev. 1:17). We should pay attention to this, for the time is rapidly approaching when we will see this same sword, not in a vision but in reality, as it falls upon this world and we see people fall in reality, not as though dead but dead in actuality.
The vision that John saw which caused him such terror was a vision of Jesus in his terrible majesty as judge of this world and "out of his mouth came a double-edged sword" (Rev. 1:16). This vision of Jesus holds particular significance for us who are beginning to experience the terrible catastrophes that are foretold in Scripture to fall upon this earth in its last days. Revelation is the last book of the Bible and the vision of a two-edged sword is but one of many sobering and frightening pictures of last things in that book.
But why show Jesus with sword at all? Because a sword is a symbol of judgment. When Jesus returns to this earth, it will be for judgment. He came the first time to save it, arriving as a little baby, helpless, it seemed, before the sword of Herod's soldiers who were sent to kill this infant (Mt. 2:16). But God would not allow the sword of man and the judgment of man to usurp the authority, judgment and sword of God. Therefore, that child, by the eternal plan and power of God, escaped the sword of man time after time, until the predestined moment arrived in the Garden of Gethsemane, when that sword would be allowed to strike him, the time when that child, now a man, would say to those who came to strike him with the sword:
"You have come with swords. . . . Everyday I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on me. But this is your hour, when darkness reigns" (Lk. 22:52,53).
The natural human reaction to the threat of a sword is to rise up against it, to fight back, to protect one's self. One of Jesus' followers did indeed react in this instinctive manner in the Garden, striking back with the sword (Mt. 26:51). But Jesus reprimanded him, Why? Because, unlike his well-meaning friend, Jesus did not govern his life and actions by what happened to him at the moment, but by his full surrender to God's eternal plan for him, which included death at the hands of evil men. Jesus sought to fulfill his destiny by surrender, not the sword. For taking up the sword in his hand would mean rebellion against God's plan, his word. Jesus was that word made real, made flesh (Jn. 1:14). If that word of God said that he must suffer at the hands of evil men in order to fulfill his destiny and save the world (and it did; Acts 3:18, Is. 50:6), then how could that word be fulfilled if he rejected it and fought against it with the sword? Or, in Jesus' own words:
"How then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen this way?" (Mt. 26:54).
For Jesus, the word of God was supreme, because it came from God who is supreme. Jesus elevated the word of God to this supreme position in his life because it came from him who was supreme in his life, the Father. For thus the Spirit declared of God: "You have exalted above all things your name and your word" (Ps. 138:2).
Jesus is that name, that word, He is the word of God made flesh, the word that is sharper than any two-edged sword, able to pierce and expose the very depths of the human heart (Heb. 4:12). That is why, in his life here on this earth, Jesus was able to confront the religious enemies of God with the evil and darkness in their hearts (Jn. 5:42), for which they hated him (Jn. 15:24) and sought to kill him (Mt. 26:59). Their hearts were pierced by the sword of truth which he who is the truth had spoken concerning their hearts. God speaks and the sword strikes.
"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" (Heb. 14:12).
The matter of judgment is associated once more in the above passage with the sword of God. That judgment is active in our lives here on this earth, judging the thoughts and attitudes of our hearts, and that judgment reaches its supreme climax in the final judgment of all the peoples of the whole world. Scripture says that Jesus is the Judge who has but to speak the word of judgment and the whole world will be judged. That is why John saw a two-edged sword come out of the mouth of the Lord. Jesus himself said as much while still here on this earth.
"There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day" (Jn. 8:48).
The tongue has the power of life and death (Prov. 18:21) because the tongue reveals what is in the heart.
"For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned" (Mt. 12:34-37).
As it is with men, so it is with the One in whose image they are made. With words men condemn themselves as not having honored God with their lives and so they are condemned by the sword of their words. And with a single word of judgment, God condemns those who rejected his Word made flesh, Jesus Christ:
"Then he will say to those on his left, `Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels'" (Mt. 25:41).
Such is the power of the Word of God. We must let it slay us now, that is, put to death all the self-centered nature that we have and turn us to Jesus as Lord; or we will hear that same Word of God condemn us and put us to death eternally at the last judgment. Either way, we must let the Word of God slay us:
"I have slain them by the words of my mouth" (Hos. 6:5).
"Then the King will say to those on his right, `Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world" (Mt. 25:34).
Which will it be? You have the choice now to let the sword of the Word of God pierce your heart and reveal its depths to you so that you can repent and be saved. Or you can refuse and suffer the sword of the final word of God to a condemned world, the sword and word of judgment.
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