“Draw Up Your Battle Lines against Babylon on every side, All you who bend the bow; Shoot at her, do not be sparing with your arrows …”
Jeremiah 50:14 speaks about the deadly arrows of God that are aimed at what is left of Babylon in each one of us. The Living Word of the Lord, like sharp arrows, deals with how we relate to His Word and to our brother and to the religious world about us. It teaches us how to function as His Kingdom and makes us see that our only oneness is in God.
In this message we will read two passages of Scripture. The first one deals with bitterness; and the second one deals with the sharp two-edged sword that lays everything bare before God and reaches down to the depth of the roots of bitterness within the heart of a person.
Hebrews 12:15: See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled.
Hebrews 4:12–13: For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.
Too often the Word of God can be lightly held and easily abandoned, as we see in the parable of the sower and the seed. The good seed not only fell upon good ground, but good seed also fell among thorns. Some good seed fell on the roadside, and some fell on shallow ground (Matthew 13:3–8). The Word may be lightly held and easily abandoned, and it often is. But sin can be the same way. Sin can be of such a passive, isolated nature and situation that it can be quickly remedied. An earnest, deep repentance and turning away from it may see all of the effects corrected which would come forth from that sin.
On the other hand, the Word that you hear can be more than just lightly held and easily abandoned; the Word can be so deeply rooted in your heart that you actually become that Word. In time, the Word becomes a part of your very being; it is like food which you eat and it becomes a part of you.
Sin can be that way, too—especially sins of unbelief, bitterness, and rebellion. They can become so deeply rooted in your life that you become that evil thing—you become sin! This is why II Corinthians 5:21 says that the Father made Christ to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
We are looking for God to do something deep in our lives; therefore we embrace the Word deeply. And like a sharp, two-edged sword, it pierces so deep that it reaches even the joints and marrow, the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Everything is open and laid bare before that beautiful, two-edged sword of the Word of God (Hebrews 4:12).
In some cases where bitterness is not deeply rooted, it can be dealt with by means which are not so drastic. However, I have seen the sin of bitterness become so deeply ingrained in people’s lives, that all I can remember of them is that year after year they were bitter; bitterness had become a part of their entire being. There was no way to get rid of it unless the sharp, two-edged sword would reach down to pierce and divide asunder soul and spirit. This may be why the Bible speaks about circumcision of heart (Deuteronomy 10:16; 30:6; Romans 2:28–29). Circumcision is not just cutting away a tumor; it is cutting away skin. It cuts away that which has been a part of your very being. This is the way bitterness must be dealt with—by a circumcision of heart. Bitterness may have become such a part of your being and your thinking that you cannot help it; you are bitterness itself.
The Scripture says, The word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. One thing can cope with bitterness: a Living Word from God that you take right to the depth of your being. Love it. Receive it. Take it into your heart, because bitterness is like a recurring epidemic. It may slumber for several years and then come to the surface, like the pestilences and locusts that do a devastating work and are not seen again for a number of years.
God has a way of correcting things, in time. You may have heard that running water can purify itself every few feet. If this is true, it is the reason why streams once were so pure and the water so clean and desirable for drinking. That is not true anymore, because most of the chemicals and wastes which are dumped into streams are not biodegradable; and often they destroy the fish population of rivers and lakes alike. But God has a way, like a running stream, of purifying you. If you keep taking the Word into your heart, it will reach down to the very depths of defilement within you; and the Word will be true experience to you, “Now you are clean through the Word which I spoke to your heart” (John 15:3).
The world has survived many catastrophes, and some say that every fourteen years nature has a way of rectifying things in the earth. If this is true, it is encouraging to think about. Perhaps God will provide some way of purifying even the nuclear waste sites which are capable of destroying life for thousands of years. We do know, however, that spiritually, God will find a way to “heal the hurt of the daughter of His people” (Jeremiah 8:21). Isaiah prophesied that in the end time there will be no soundness from head to foot—the whole human race will be like an open sore (Isaiah 1:6). That is humanity now, but there must be a healing! The prophet cried, Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered? Jeremiah 8:22. There must be some miraculous healing quality in the Word of God that can reach down to heal the bitterness of people’s hearts. God is allowing bitterness to become very obvious to people. He is causing it to surface like an epidemic coming forth in the world. What is He doing? He is probing and preparing to bring a deep release and a deliverance, a cleansing to the earth. O God, grant that it be!
Devastation has become very real to us. If you think it does not mean anything, then you have not been through the devastation. The world is facing devastation, and on a spiritual level we are facing it, too. We groan and travail as sons, but the whole creation is groaning and travailing also (Romans 8:22–23). It is similar to an artificial crisis which a patient sometimes must undergo. He may have a low-grade fever, something he can live with. But when an artificial crisis comes, that fever is brought to a crisis stage; and then recovery can begin.
Maybe you decide you can live with that low-grade fever, that little problem. But God is causing problems to surface in such a way that they must be dealt with. That is devastation! God is not allowing us to have a lifetime of half victories. He is insisting that there be a total, complete victory, in the name of the Lord.
I am thinking of how this applies to certain individuals. In years past, one man was such a good brother that I could lay my life in his hands. I trusted him that much. He went through problems with the right answers and a right spirit. Everything seemed to be just right. He seemed too good to be true, and so I prayed about it. It was not long until I saw why I was burdened for him. He went through a deep devastation—a devastation so great that it brought an apparent deep defeat in his life. It was very difficult for him, but out of it has come a man whose spirit is beautiful and true. Before he was too good to be true; now he is too true to be just good. Some of the perfection of the Lord is being worked in his spirit.
Devastation can be with a purpose. If there is a little seed or root, or maybe a deep root, of bitterness that has become a part of your being, do not be afraid to ask God to uproot it, whatever the cost, even if you go through a devastation. Ask Him for that sharp, two-edged sword to lay you open, for … all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. Hebrews 4:13. Let it be that way.
These days of devastation are very real to us, but do we realize the purpose that God has in mind when He devastates us? The contamination of bitterness in people’s spirits is as difficult to destroy as an epidemic that lies dormant for half of a century and then erupts. Let’s get rid of this contamination. Let’s get rid of the things that could destroy us, before they have another big eruption.
These are the days of the wheat and the tares. Matthew 13:24–30, 36–43: He presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares also among the wheat, and went away. But when the wheat sprang up and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. And the slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ And he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this!’ And the slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘No; lest while you are gathering up the tares, you may root up the wheat with them. Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ”
Then He left the multitudes, and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.” And He answered and said, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one; and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels. Therefore just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling-blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.”
The wheat and the tares were growing in our lives, side by side; but God did not interfere. If He had uprooted the tares, He would probably have uprooted the wheat also. Therefore, what He had planted and what the enemy also had planted continued to grow in our hearts. Sometimes this meant that we had a genuine love for the Lord, but we also had a root of bitterness. Now the angels of God are separating the good from the bad. The good fish are separated from the bad fish (Matthew 13:47–51). The wheat is separated from the darnel (usually called “tares”). The darnel is bound into bundles to burn, but the wheat is gathered into the garner (verse 30). Devastation must be a total uprooting of everything, or else God will not get at the basic bitterness of your heart.
“A walk with God” may sound sweet; but without fail, those who strive to walk with God must fight bitterness. Because they walk with God, bitterness is usually uprooted early—the hoe chops it down. But if bitterness is allowed to fester, and its roots go so deep into the heart that it becomes a part of the tissue of our heart, then only the sword of the Spirit can remove it—piercing down deep, dividing soul and spirit and joints and marrow, discerning the thoughts and intentions of our heart, and laying us bare before the Lord. This is true of us all. As far as the flesh is concerned, there may be no difference between the one who walks with God and the one who “follows afar off” (Mark 14:54). The only difference is that the man who walks with God is exposed to the sharp, two-edged sword. That sword of the Spirit has cut away from his very being what had become a part of him but was unacceptable to God.
Bitterness may become a vicious reaction to your lack of submission, to your rebellion against the difficulties of the way that God has chosen for you to walk. Get rid of it by turning to the Living Word, the sword of the Spirit. Let it cut deep.