When You Are Struck by the Word of Truth

When You Are Struck by the Word of Truth

An animal does not scream when you shoot at it and miss, but when it is hit, it screams immediately. If a man has hidden himself in a haystack in the field, you can find him by sticking a pitchfork into the stack. You will soon discover where that man is.

This is also what happens when you use the two-edged sword, God’s Word, the word of truth. For example, if making old matters right is mentioned (Num. 5:6-8), and one has made old matters right, one is not struck; but if the person has a matter that has not been cleared up, he is struck in his heart. Then he has to do only one of two things: either he is God-fearing and decides to make the matter right, or he is unrepentant and hardens his heart, hating the truth and the man who proclaimed it.

We have often witnessed that people, under the preaching of the Word, were struck by the most diverse truths—one person by one truth, and others by another truth. It is clearly noticeable when the Word strikes, just as when an animal is shot or when the pitchfork strikes the man in the haystack. Some people’s faces turn white, others turn beet red, while others run out the door, and a few of them even slam the door shut as they leave. Thus their actions indicate unmistakably who they are. You can simply note what was said at that particular moment, and you will have received a personal message from them. At one meeting a woman stood up and spoke boastfully and unbecomingly. A little later a brother got up and said that some people speak so one could think that they were some great personality in Christ, but if you visited their spouse in their home, you would realize that the person was a nasty troll. When she heard this, the woman quickly made for the door. The brother had not said who this woman was, for he did not even know her. On the other hand, she proclaimed loud and clear by her action who she was, in full harmony with the Preacher’s word, “A fool . . . shows everyone that he is a fool.” Eccl. 10:3. Another time it was mentioned at the meeting that wives should obey their own husbands. Among others, there were two couples present who were very happy for the word of truth that they had now heard several evenings in a row. Shortly before, one of these men had testified and had been very blessed. But suddenly all four of them stayed away, and we saw them no more. When I missed them and asked for them, the friends in that place could tell me the connection: these two men were hen-pecked husbands. That evening put an end to everything. They had come to a point where they did not want to repent, and that was the end of it.

It is very important to pay attention to the larger assembly during a message that is serious and rich in content. Soon it strikes here, and soon there, and many people are so unrepentant that you can see from a long way off that they were struck. They virtually shout “Ouch!” with a loud voice. When hypocrisy is held up to the light, three to four hypocrites make for the door and slam it shut as they leave. And if the message is about factions being a work of the flesh (Gal. 5), some inveterate members of factions (Methodists, Salvation Army people, Pentecostals, or whoever they might be) leave, feeling insulted. As soon as generosity and love of money are sufficiently illuminated, the faces of some miserly or anxious souls turn white, their eyes grow dark, or the corners of their mouths begin to twitch, etc., etc.

On the other hand, if a person is saved from the sin on which light is being shed, he cannot suffer any loss by having it illuminated. On the contrary! It is almost an honor and a compliment. Then Proverbs 26:2 is applicable: “Like a flitting sparrow, like a flying swallow, so a curse without cause shall not alight.” Of course not!

However, when Jesus answered the Pharisees who wanted to stone the woman who was caught in adultery, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first,” it was an excellent hit. It was a bulls-eye, dead center for each and every one of them. They dropped the stones and all of them slunk away shamefully.