Sermon Notes for October 15th
October 15, 2006
“Sharper than a Two-edged Sword”
Hebrews 4:12-161.
The idea of the word of God originated with the Hebrews. They believed that a word once it was spoken had an independent existence. It was not only a sound, it was actually a power which went forth and did things. Isaiah, for instance, heard God say to him that the word which went out of his mouth would never be ineffective… it would always do what he designed it to do.
And so, in Genesis we read how…in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
And so, Jesus, coming after Moses and the many prophets like Isaiah, came among the people speaking to them with unforgettable power…healing people…and changing peoples live as he proclaimed that the Kingdom of God was at hand.
And many believed and in time, the message, the WORD about God’s words -- which had been heard in Jesus -- came to the Greek world.
2. Now the Greeks also believed in the Divine word – which in Greek was called the logos …
For the Greeks, it had many meanings … including … the same as the English word -- "Word" -- but it can also mean thought, speech, meaning, reason, proportion, principle, standard, or logic, among other things. In fact, in Greek philosophy it has varied use in the fields of philosophy, analytical psychology, rhetoric and religion.
The Greeks were, in short, more abstract in their thinking than the Hebrews … for whom the mind, the soul, the body, the heart were all more or less one thing.
And so, the author of the Gospel of John attempted to convey to newly converted Christian Greeks … what Jesus really was all about in terms that they would understand … namely that Jesus was the Divine word … and John’s words are famously familiar to all of us … for he incorporates the essential meaning of the Genesis account of God who spoke in the Creation of the world with the incarnation of God’s world in Christ and the Greek idea of the Divine logos.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Jesus, then, is the “word of God,” according to the testimony of John and the other Christian disciples who wrote the New Testament.
3. And one of those writers was the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews (our scripture for today). And he says that the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from the marrow, for it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Is this all a little abstract for you? Is it hard to get our hands around what this means to today’s world?
Problem is that we all have Bibles in our homes and yet mostly they just sit there, unread and unused. Largely, I think because many of the concepts and ideas in the Bible belong to a different world than the one we live in today.
For instance, do any of you own a two-edged sword?
Do any of you know what a two-edged sword was used for and what its advantages and disadvantages actually are?
Well, chances are that you have at home a set of steak knives. Right? But, of course, only one edge of each knife is sharpened. So, when you cut a piece of meat with one of them, you not only wrap some fingers around the handle, you also place you index finger on the dull side of the blade to exert direct pressure. Now, of course, if your steak knife was sharp on both edges, you couldn't put your finger out like that, or you would get cut. On the other hand, if it was a two edged knife, you would have to hold on to the handle, and try to pull things apart without direction. So you probably wouldn't even want a two-edged knife to cut meat.
4. The truth is that in ancient times the development of the two edged sword was primarily to be a weapon in self-defense or in battle. This was particularly true in the Bible, once people had discovered how to forge iron and steel and make sharper blades for knives and swords.
How it works, of course, is that if I am swinging a sword in a military operation, and a whole host of enemies has come upon me, a one-edged sword is a liability. I can swing a one-edged sword at someone on my left, but have no sharp defense against someone on my right. But if I have a two edged sword, I have power to destroy in both directions. A two edged sword is more dangerous than a one edged sword. And, in addition, the two edged sword becomes a dagger, as well, as in LEFT, RIGHT, THRUST FORWARD.
PRETTY GRUESOME, ISN’T IT?
And yet, today, an automatic rifle or machine gun can cause much greater damage than a sword and at much greater distance. Hence, the use of swords is no longer practical or effective. Today, they are largely used for ceremonial purposes.
5. However, back in Jesus time, the two edged sword was an every day reality. The Romans certainly had them and were therefore to be greatly feared.
So when the writer of the letter to the Hebrews speaks of a” two edged sword," he is saying "danger". And when he applies this metaphor to the word of God he means that whereas the “word of God” can be very comforting on the one hand it can be very “dangerous” on the other.
How can this be? You ask. Well let us go back to the two edged sword for a moment.
For, while it is a very effective weapon in battle and is very dangerous to ones enemies, the truth is that in the hands of a poorly trained person … if I turn my sword in my hand and go to swing in two directions, I may clobber one enemy, but I also may end up killing myself. For if my sword rebounds from the helmet or shoulder of my enemy, it may cut my own head or shoulder, and that could be it for me.
Does this make sense?
So, what the writer to the Hebrews is saying is that: if you pick up the Bible to clobber somebody else over the head with it as sometimes people do. Beware. The Bible is a two edged sword. Your use of the Bible to hurt someone else may fly back and destroy you as well.
6. Unfortunately, we encounter this all too often, when people quote Bible passages to justify all kinds of things and to pass judgment on others they disagree with – while all the time they are blind to other passages which call their own behavior into question.
Sort of like what Jesus means when he asks, “Why do you notice the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not see the log in your own eye?”
You get the picture!
So, again, I ask, what does it mean when we say that Jesus was the “word of God” – or, more correctly, Jesus IS the “word of God.”
In Hebrews it goes on to say that in Jesus Christ we have the reassurance that while God’s word is like a two-edged sword, we are to understand that while God’s word is just and reproving with those who are self-seeking and hypocritical … God’s word is also merciful and reassuring to those who seek help.
In other words, God’s word indeed, cuts both ways, does it not?
7. How can this be? We ask.
The ancient people often feared God’s judgment more than they felt his mercy. In Jesus time, just as today, thousands had given up and all they could hope for was that God would come in a terrible “Day of the Lord,” and wipe out all the evil doers and after that his Kingdom would come upon the earth.
That’s what they believed. And the disciples argued about this and questioned Jesus about this … as we will see in next Sunday’s lesson and sermon.
Even today, many preachers preach judgment and damnation … and stir up fear … and while they seek to bring people to Christ on the one hand, they self-righteously condemn others and themselves at the same time. For God’s word, indeed, can be a two edged sword.
But, Hebrews reminds us that in Jesus we do not have someone who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but someone who has, himself, been tested … and therefore who understands our trials and temptations … and is merciful to those who seek mercy.
8. Jesus, in other words, was a two-edged sword, healing, teaching, preaching and reaching out to the poor, the lost, the least of God’s people … while, at the same time, he chastised and condemned the hypocrites, the self-righteous, the selfish … who, paraded around as God’s chosen people mouthing high sounding phrases.
For, as we know, Jesus could speak tenderly to the multitude in the Sermon on the Mount in saying…
Blessed are the humble for to you is given the kingdom of God.
And, then turn around and confront the high-minded Pharisee as we read in Luke:
37When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table. 38But the Pharisee, noticing that Jesus did not first wash before the meal, was surprised. 39Then the Lord said to him, "Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 40You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? 41But give what is inside the dish [b] to the poor, and everything will be clean for you. 42"Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.
Whoahh! … pretty strong words as the sword cuts both ways.
9. Now, as we know, there are not only churches which preach judgment and self-righteousness -- there are also those who preach “feel good” messages … which make no claim upon the listener at all. Some of them even proclaim that God wants everyone to be successful, well off, and popular.
This kind of religion has been around in America for years … the Gospel of success … and it two has something to be said for it … perhaps … as long as it doesn’t become a kind of one-edged sword which only cuts one way … or a two edged sword with bounces back to bite them.
Well, well, my goodness, what is a preacher to do these days?
How am I supposed to wield the edged sword of the word of God without hurting myself and others, as well?
How are we all supposed to understand Jesus message as recorded in the Bible as the word of God?
How are we supposed to live our lives in light of the Word of God?
10. Well, there's an old principle which is applicable for preachers and for all of us and that is that we are to "comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable." "
Now it may well be that among us here today, and among our friends and relatives and neighbors, many of us, who have been quite comfortable, and yet there are also those among us who have never really been all that comfortable in the 1st place, or were maybe at one time were more comfortable than we knew we were, and who have since been afflicted in many and various ways. Well, the truth is, without doubt, that we need look no further than the life of Jesus to understand that it was his way of life as well. And affliction isn’t always a bad thing, sometimes it can be a life changing good thing, too.
According to the scriptural story … about 2000 years ago, a teenage girl was afraid and perplexed. She had been going along her merry way, probably daydreaming about her boyfriend Joseph, one day as she helped her mother around the house, washing wineskins or urns or some such work, when suddenly her life was changed in a few words.
This girl was a virgin named Mary. She knew right away by this angelic greeting that something was amiss. "Greetings, Favored One." What could an angel want with her? What would you think? She was right to be afraid – God asked big things of her.
11. Maybe God thought Mary was too comfortable. Maybe God thought Mary was the right person for the job. Whatever the case, God asks big things of us sometimes. Not just 2000 years ago – but now – here. God calls us to do things we never meant to do, to live lives we never wanted to live, to do things that were never in our plan.
In fact, seminaries are full of people who never expected to find themselves there.
It happened to me! Recently, it happened to Brian Manly.
And it is not just ministers. It can happen to lay people.
This past April, we took our confirmation class to Minneapolis, on Saturday morning; they helped stuff packets of food for those who are hungry in third world country. The organization that runs this program is called Feed My Starving Children. It was founded as a nonprofit organization in 1987 through the efforts of a Christian Minnesota businessman who felt called by God to help feed the starving children of the world during a humanitarian visit to Honduras. After which, he returned to the Twin Cities to develop a method of large-scale relief.
His efforts, energy and resources resulted in the development of a food mixture that would be easy and safe to transport, simple to make with only boiling water, and culturally acceptable worldwide. This basic formula of rice, high protein soy nuggets, vegetables, vitamins and flavoring is still used by FMSC today.
12. Friday night I was watching the world acclaimed rock star Bono on Larry King Live. He, and others are launching a major campaign to help people in Africa.
Unlike many performers, Bono is not so enamored of himself that he can ignore the needs of the less fortunate. He meets with world leaders including President Bush. He travels to Africa again and again to find ways to improve conditions in that poverty stricken, war torn, country.
“Why?” Asked Larry King, “What got you involved with Africa?”
And Bono said, it was some twenty years ago, after the Live Aid concert, that he first went to Africa, and he saw things there that deeply troubled him (and his wife). Later he returned to his rock and roll career, but he could not forget the suffering which had seen. Eventually, his popularity and fame had become enormous. But, he could not forget. For, as a Christian and religious person, the sword cut both ways. He could not forget.
13. The word of God is like that. Jesus is like that. And we must understand that it is not just the scriptures which are the word of God.
Often, we speak of the Bible as God’s word … or God’s holy word. And this is true. But God’s word is more than the Bible. Jesus is more than the Bible. For, although the Bible tells the inspired story of Jesus life and actions … God and Jesus … God’s word is not limited to the Scripture.
God’s word may speak to us in many ways. The Holy Spirit may whisper in our ear.
Whether it is in the words of Jesus in the Bible or in the beauty of nature … or in the eyes of a starving child … God’s word is always out there … waiting to pierce our hearts and lives …
A powerful … two edged sword.
14. And so, I commend to you the word of God …at first, present in Jesus, and then recorded in the Scriptures.
Read it, listen to it, be open to it … but, be careful … for the living Word of God is truly a two-edged in your hands. Do not be mistaken, as the Scriptures today reveal, the Bible is so powerful it can "pierce until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart". Before the Bible "no creature is hidden...all are naked and laid bare".
Yes, God’s word can cut away the cancers, the boils, the tumors of our spiritual life. And, in the words of Eugene Peterson:
God means what he says. What he says goes. His powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon's scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defense, laying us open to listen and obey. Nothing and no one is impervious to God's Word. We can't get away from it—no matter what.
“Sharper than a Two-edged Sword”
Hebrews 4:12-161.
The idea of the word of God originated with the Hebrews. They believed that a word once it was spoken had an independent existence. It was not only a sound, it was actually a power which went forth and did things. Isaiah, for instance, heard God say to him that the word which went out of his mouth would never be ineffective… it would always do what he designed it to do.
And so, in Genesis we read how…in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
And so, Jesus, coming after Moses and the many prophets like Isaiah, came among the people speaking to them with unforgettable power…healing people…and changing peoples live as he proclaimed that the Kingdom of God was at hand.
And many believed and in time, the message, the WORD about God’s words -- which had been heard in Jesus -- came to the Greek world.
2. Now the Greeks also believed in the Divine word – which in Greek was called the logos …
For the Greeks, it had many meanings … including … the same as the English word -- "Word" -- but it can also mean thought, speech, meaning, reason, proportion, principle, standard, or logic, among other things. In fact, in Greek philosophy it has varied use in the fields of philosophy, analytical psychology, rhetoric and religion.
The Greeks were, in short, more abstract in their thinking than the Hebrews … for whom the mind, the soul, the body, the heart were all more or less one thing.
And so, the author of the Gospel of John attempted to convey to newly converted Christian Greeks … what Jesus really was all about in terms that they would understand … namely that Jesus was the Divine word … and John’s words are famously familiar to all of us … for he incorporates the essential meaning of the Genesis account of God who spoke in the Creation of the world with the incarnation of God’s world in Christ and the Greek idea of the Divine logos.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Jesus, then, is the “word of God,” according to the testimony of John and the other Christian disciples who wrote the New Testament.
3. And one of those writers was the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews (our scripture for today). And he says that the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from the marrow, for it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Is this all a little abstract for you? Is it hard to get our hands around what this means to today’s world?
Problem is that we all have Bibles in our homes and yet mostly they just sit there, unread and unused. Largely, I think because many of the concepts and ideas in the Bible belong to a different world than the one we live in today.
For instance, do any of you own a two-edged sword?
Do any of you know what a two-edged sword was used for and what its advantages and disadvantages actually are?
Well, chances are that you have at home a set of steak knives. Right? But, of course, only one edge of each knife is sharpened. So, when you cut a piece of meat with one of them, you not only wrap some fingers around the handle, you also place you index finger on the dull side of the blade to exert direct pressure. Now, of course, if your steak knife was sharp on both edges, you couldn't put your finger out like that, or you would get cut. On the other hand, if it was a two edged knife, you would have to hold on to the handle, and try to pull things apart without direction. So you probably wouldn't even want a two-edged knife to cut meat.
4. The truth is that in ancient times the development of the two edged sword was primarily to be a weapon in self-defense or in battle. This was particularly true in the Bible, once people had discovered how to forge iron and steel and make sharper blades for knives and swords.
How it works, of course, is that if I am swinging a sword in a military operation, and a whole host of enemies has come upon me, a one-edged sword is a liability. I can swing a one-edged sword at someone on my left, but have no sharp defense against someone on my right. But if I have a two edged sword, I have power to destroy in both directions. A two edged sword is more dangerous than a one edged sword. And, in addition, the two edged sword becomes a dagger, as well, as in LEFT, RIGHT, THRUST FORWARD.
PRETTY GRUESOME, ISN’T IT?
And yet, today, an automatic rifle or machine gun can cause much greater damage than a sword and at much greater distance. Hence, the use of swords is no longer practical or effective. Today, they are largely used for ceremonial purposes.
5. However, back in Jesus time, the two edged sword was an every day reality. The Romans certainly had them and were therefore to be greatly feared.
So when the writer of the letter to the Hebrews speaks of a” two edged sword," he is saying "danger". And when he applies this metaphor to the word of God he means that whereas the “word of God” can be very comforting on the one hand it can be very “dangerous” on the other.
How can this be? You ask. Well let us go back to the two edged sword for a moment.
For, while it is a very effective weapon in battle and is very dangerous to ones enemies, the truth is that in the hands of a poorly trained person … if I turn my sword in my hand and go to swing in two directions, I may clobber one enemy, but I also may end up killing myself. For if my sword rebounds from the helmet or shoulder of my enemy, it may cut my own head or shoulder, and that could be it for me.
Does this make sense?
So, what the writer to the Hebrews is saying is that: if you pick up the Bible to clobber somebody else over the head with it as sometimes people do. Beware. The Bible is a two edged sword. Your use of the Bible to hurt someone else may fly back and destroy you as well.
6. Unfortunately, we encounter this all too often, when people quote Bible passages to justify all kinds of things and to pass judgment on others they disagree with – while all the time they are blind to other passages which call their own behavior into question.
Sort of like what Jesus means when he asks, “Why do you notice the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not see the log in your own eye?”
You get the picture!
So, again, I ask, what does it mean when we say that Jesus was the “word of God” – or, more correctly, Jesus IS the “word of God.”
In Hebrews it goes on to say that in Jesus Christ we have the reassurance that while God’s word is like a two-edged sword, we are to understand that while God’s word is just and reproving with those who are self-seeking and hypocritical … God’s word is also merciful and reassuring to those who seek help.
In other words, God’s word indeed, cuts both ways, does it not?
7. How can this be? We ask.
The ancient people often feared God’s judgment more than they felt his mercy. In Jesus time, just as today, thousands had given up and all they could hope for was that God would come in a terrible “Day of the Lord,” and wipe out all the evil doers and after that his Kingdom would come upon the earth.
That’s what they believed. And the disciples argued about this and questioned Jesus about this … as we will see in next Sunday’s lesson and sermon.
Even today, many preachers preach judgment and damnation … and stir up fear … and while they seek to bring people to Christ on the one hand, they self-righteously condemn others and themselves at the same time. For God’s word, indeed, can be a two edged sword.
But, Hebrews reminds us that in Jesus we do not have someone who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but someone who has, himself, been tested … and therefore who understands our trials and temptations … and is merciful to those who seek mercy.
8. Jesus, in other words, was a two-edged sword, healing, teaching, preaching and reaching out to the poor, the lost, the least of God’s people … while, at the same time, he chastised and condemned the hypocrites, the self-righteous, the selfish … who, paraded around as God’s chosen people mouthing high sounding phrases.
For, as we know, Jesus could speak tenderly to the multitude in the Sermon on the Mount in saying…
Blessed are the humble for to you is given the kingdom of God.
And, then turn around and confront the high-minded Pharisee as we read in Luke:
37When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table. 38But the Pharisee, noticing that Jesus did not first wash before the meal, was surprised. 39Then the Lord said to him, "Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 40You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? 41But give what is inside the dish [b] to the poor, and everything will be clean for you. 42"Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.
Whoahh! … pretty strong words as the sword cuts both ways.
9. Now, as we know, there are not only churches which preach judgment and self-righteousness -- there are also those who preach “feel good” messages … which make no claim upon the listener at all. Some of them even proclaim that God wants everyone to be successful, well off, and popular.
This kind of religion has been around in America for years … the Gospel of success … and it two has something to be said for it … perhaps … as long as it doesn’t become a kind of one-edged sword which only cuts one way … or a two edged sword with bounces back to bite them.
Well, well, my goodness, what is a preacher to do these days?
How am I supposed to wield the edged sword of the word of God without hurting myself and others, as well?
How are we all supposed to understand Jesus message as recorded in the Bible as the word of God?
How are we supposed to live our lives in light of the Word of God?
10. Well, there's an old principle which is applicable for preachers and for all of us and that is that we are to "comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable." "
Now it may well be that among us here today, and among our friends and relatives and neighbors, many of us, who have been quite comfortable, and yet there are also those among us who have never really been all that comfortable in the 1st place, or were maybe at one time were more comfortable than we knew we were, and who have since been afflicted in many and various ways. Well, the truth is, without doubt, that we need look no further than the life of Jesus to understand that it was his way of life as well. And affliction isn’t always a bad thing, sometimes it can be a life changing good thing, too.
According to the scriptural story … about 2000 years ago, a teenage girl was afraid and perplexed. She had been going along her merry way, probably daydreaming about her boyfriend Joseph, one day as she helped her mother around the house, washing wineskins or urns or some such work, when suddenly her life was changed in a few words.
This girl was a virgin named Mary. She knew right away by this angelic greeting that something was amiss. "Greetings, Favored One." What could an angel want with her? What would you think? She was right to be afraid – God asked big things of her.
11. Maybe God thought Mary was too comfortable. Maybe God thought Mary was the right person for the job. Whatever the case, God asks big things of us sometimes. Not just 2000 years ago – but now – here. God calls us to do things we never meant to do, to live lives we never wanted to live, to do things that were never in our plan.
In fact, seminaries are full of people who never expected to find themselves there.
It happened to me! Recently, it happened to Brian Manly.
And it is not just ministers. It can happen to lay people.
This past April, we took our confirmation class to Minneapolis, on Saturday morning; they helped stuff packets of food for those who are hungry in third world country. The organization that runs this program is called Feed My Starving Children. It was founded as a nonprofit organization in 1987 through the efforts of a Christian Minnesota businessman who felt called by God to help feed the starving children of the world during a humanitarian visit to Honduras. After which, he returned to the Twin Cities to develop a method of large-scale relief.
His efforts, energy and resources resulted in the development of a food mixture that would be easy and safe to transport, simple to make with only boiling water, and culturally acceptable worldwide. This basic formula of rice, high protein soy nuggets, vegetables, vitamins and flavoring is still used by FMSC today.
12. Friday night I was watching the world acclaimed rock star Bono on Larry King Live. He, and others are launching a major campaign to help people in Africa.
Unlike many performers, Bono is not so enamored of himself that he can ignore the needs of the less fortunate. He meets with world leaders including President Bush. He travels to Africa again and again to find ways to improve conditions in that poverty stricken, war torn, country.
“Why?” Asked Larry King, “What got you involved with Africa?”
And Bono said, it was some twenty years ago, after the Live Aid concert, that he first went to Africa, and he saw things there that deeply troubled him (and his wife). Later he returned to his rock and roll career, but he could not forget the suffering which had seen. Eventually, his popularity and fame had become enormous. But, he could not forget. For, as a Christian and religious person, the sword cut both ways. He could not forget.
13. The word of God is like that. Jesus is like that. And we must understand that it is not just the scriptures which are the word of God.
Often, we speak of the Bible as God’s word … or God’s holy word. And this is true. But God’s word is more than the Bible. Jesus is more than the Bible. For, although the Bible tells the inspired story of Jesus life and actions … God and Jesus … God’s word is not limited to the Scripture.
God’s word may speak to us in many ways. The Holy Spirit may whisper in our ear.
Whether it is in the words of Jesus in the Bible or in the beauty of nature … or in the eyes of a starving child … God’s word is always out there … waiting to pierce our hearts and lives …
A powerful … two edged sword.
14. And so, I commend to you the word of God …at first, present in Jesus, and then recorded in the Scriptures.
Read it, listen to it, be open to it … but, be careful … for the living Word of God is truly a two-edged in your hands. Do not be mistaken, as the Scriptures today reveal, the Bible is so powerful it can "pierce until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart". Before the Bible "no creature is hidden...all are naked and laid bare".
Yes, God’s word can cut away the cancers, the boils, the tumors of our spiritual life. And, in the words of Eugene Peterson:
God means what he says. What he says goes. His powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon's scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defense, laying us open to listen and obey. Nothing and no one is impervious to God's Word. We can't get away from it—no matter what.
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