This is Going to Hurt
Matthew 18:15-16 And if your brother errors, you bring you expose him between only you and him. If he listens to you, you gain your brother. But if he doesn’t listen, take with you yet one or two, so that witnesses on the mouth of two or three might endure all the accusation.
Will the accused please rise? Courtroom fodder or a sword fight. The double-edged knife of Scripture wields a power that Paul penned, the sword of the spirit, part of the Ephesians Armor of God, mostly misunderstood.
Ephesians 6:17 “Take the helmet of salvation (take/receive/accept – an imperative command) and the sword of the spirit, which are the things spoken of God.”
Take the sword, fall on the sword, the double-edged, large knife; the active, living word of God - living, because they aren’t just words spoken; it’s the ‘O logos. Remember John 1:1? In the beginning was the ‘O logos (the word, namely Jesus). That’s why the ‘word’ is living.
Jesus, ‘O logos, the word, is the large, double-edged knife that will cut through the soul and spirit like a machete to get to the heart, to accuse or judge the heart, and will circumcise the heart of all its dirt and deceit. If the accused stands, willing to take it, the helmet of salvation will protect the patient during this painful surgery. If there is no protection of salvation, spiritual insurance, the sword of the spirit won’t circumcise the heart but will judge the heart with a purging force:
Matthew 3:12 “His winnowing fork in in His Hand, and He will thoroughly cleanse His threshing floor and will gather His wheat into the barn, but the chaff, He will burn with unquenchable fire.”
Paul takes the words of John the Baptist and applies more practicality:
Philippians 2:12 “Work out your salvation (the protective helmet) with fear and trembling.”
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, so says Solomon. Why? Because the wise know that something painful is coming: the crucifixion of pride and ego or the accusation of the sword. The former comes with a cross, the latter comes with a knife. Only those with the helmet will be able to stand it.
