The Sword Cuts Deep
The Sword
Cuts Deep
It was the time of the Judges, and the people of Israel were in a downward spiral. They had turned away from the Lord and began worshiping foreign idols. The Lord was angry with them and sold them into the hands of Eglon, the Moabite king. In God’s steadfast love, he hears the cries of his people and raises up an unlikely hero to save them. Eh, who'd the Lord raise up? , you may ask. A left-handed, belly-stabbing sneakster named Ehud. Since he's not a classic Bible story character, you probably remember the awful details of how he saved the day. He went to King Eglon and told him he had a secret message from God meant for him alone. When they were alone, Ehu leaned in and stabbed his knife into King Eglon's huge belly, then took off for the hill country of Ephraim. The boys especially enjoy these details,
“And the hilt also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not pull the sword out of this bell; and the dung came out.”
Now you're asking, where are you going with this pastor Loren?
Last Sunday, we looked at Ephesians 4-5:21. Central to that text is the Truth spoken in Love. But it is Truth spoken to callous, dead hearts and minds that come from darkness into light (2:1, 4:19, 5:8). It is the Word of Truth spoken that brought us to life by God's grace. Life is found in the continual gospel piercing of the fat of our hearts and callousness of our minds. Like Ehud's sword, Truth must be swallowed up deep inside us so our nasty, sinful innards can be removed. Scripture compares itself to a sword that cuts the heart and penetrates deep into a person where nothing else can reach. This is the sword-fighting ministry we are called to. Beginning with our brothers and sisters, we want to speak the life-giving truth of the gospel out of Christ's love for them. And we need to be positioned and ready to receive gospel Truth so that our own callousness, sin, and darkness can be continually cut away and we into the likeness of Jesus.
When is the last time a brother or sister in Christ "cut" you with a timely gospel truth that convicted you of sin, encouraged you in Christ, or illuminated something about yourself or God?
Are the saints in your church effectively serving you in this way?
Are you striving to serve the saints by speaking the truth in love?
As we consider how we are making our home in Christ together. I will conclude by saying what and how we speak to one another in our home matters. Truth and love have been given to us by His Word and His Spirit. Let's practice speaking the truth in love.
Making home together,
Loren