| Sword of the Spirit, which is the WORD OF
GOD The Sword of the Spirit Notice that each piece of the armor of God we have learned of to this point is defensive armor. Now, we come to a weapon which is at once defensive and offensive. A sword, together with a spear, is known as the most ancient weapon fashioned by man. Dozens of massive battles mentioned in the Bible are described as fought with swords and spears. During the time of Jesus Christ, the Roman "short sword" was worn by the hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the Roman legions. It was thick, powerful, and for battle close up and personal. As you know, a sword is a cutting weapon. Many swords were designed to cut through body armor, or to slice through shields of leather or thin metal. The famous Claymore of the Scots was a two-handed sword. The sword of Goliath was huge. It was wielded by David after he took it from the dead body of the giant (I Samuel 21:9; 22: 10). The famous samurai swords of Japan were noted for their incredible strength, temper, and razor sharpness. God tells us, "And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit which IS the word of God." The sword of the soldiers of Christ is not a sword of metal. It is neither a rapier, or a Claymore, or a samurai, or a Roman short sword. It is the Word of God. The Word of God is the whole Bible, the revelation from God, the divine Sovereign, to His creation. His Word begins at the beginning, "Genesis," which is what the word means, and ends with the "Revelation" into the future beyond the end of the writing of the Bible. Jesus Christ said to Satan, "It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4). What is that Word? It is all of the Holy Scriptures. Paul wrote to Timothy, "But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them. And that from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus" (II Timothy 3:13-15). The only "Holy Scriptures" which were extant from Timothy's childhood (Paul wrote these words only about thirty to forty years after Christ's resurrection) were the Scriptures we know as the Old Testament. Yet, millions of professing Christians have been totally deceived into thinking the Old Testament is done away. Millions go to churches each week, hearing only a few flowery platitudes, but are not taken through detailed studies of God's Word, including the Old Testament. Notice that the Old Testament Scriptures are able to make us "wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." Paul continued, "All scripture [the Old Testament—he did not presume to call his own letters "scripture"] is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished [equipped! wearing his armor!] unto all good works" (II Timothy 3:16,17). When Satan thrust his evil temptations at Christ, Christ parried his thrusts with the Word of God, then used the Word of God to defeat the devil. Satan would twist scripture. He would deliberately quote a portion of a passage, and then misapply it. He said to Jesus, after taking Him to the pinnacle of the Temple, "If Thou be the Son of God, cast Thyself down: for it is written, He shall give His angels charge concerning Thee: and in their hands they shall bear Thee up, lest at any time Thou dash Thy foot against a stone" (Matthew 4:5,16). Notice Satan said "IF Thou be the Son of God." He was attempting to appeal to vanity . He wanted Christ to bridle, to react angrily, and retort, "What do you mean, IF?" He wanted Christ to say, like so many carnal humans would have, "I'll show you whether I am the Son of God or not," and plunge down. There is a story I heard in the Navy which beautifully illustrates this vain quirk of human nature. It seems a raw recruit, called a "boot," with his close-cropped head and brand-new blue work clothes had been assigned to buff the floors of the administration building at the Navy Training Depot in San Diego. As he was working, the admiral, who was commandant of the whole base, came walking by. The boot looked up from his work, pulled out a pack of cigarettes, and said, "Hey, buddy! Gotta match?" Smiling, the admiral approached him. Just as this happened, a chief petty officer rushed up, commanded the boot, "Atten-HUT!" He grabbed the cigarette out of the trembling boot's hand, made him salute the admiral, who returned the salute. The chief said in a loud voice, "You stupid boot! Don't you know who this? This is the admiral! This is the commanding officer of this base!" He then apologized to the admiral. The admiral chuckled, then said to the boot, "That's alright son—but just never do something like that to an ensign! " An ensign is the lowest commissioned rank in the Navy, equivalent to a second lieutenant in the Army. The lower the level of authority some people have over others, the more vain, conceited, and jealous of the "rank" they possess. It was this vanity of human nature to which the devil appealed. But vanity, was wholly absent from Christ! He paid no attention to the barbs of Satan about whether He was the Son of God. Instead, He quoted Scripture correctly! He said, "It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God!" (Matthew 4:7) Paul wrote, "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of the joints and marrow [down into the bone, even splitting them!], and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12). Unless you know the Word of God, you cannot possibly wield it like a quick, flashing sword. Unless you study God's Word, you cannot know which concepts, which examples, which teachings of Christ, which writings of Paul, which doctrines, which prophecies to use as a weapon in your daily spiritual warfare! Have you ever sat down, and decided to read the Bible right straight through, just as you would any other book? Many have. Yet, many have found themselves bogged down in ancient genealogies, or ancient history. They grow bored, and fail to persevere. But with a couple of good Bible handbooks, like Halley's, or a Bible encyclopedia, or an exhaustive concordance, or a Bible commentary, one can learn a great deal about the Bible. Of course, these are books written by men, and are by no means infallible, but they can be a definite help to the discerning student of the Bible. Jesus said, "If ye continue in My Word, then are ye My disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:3 1). He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6). Jesus Christ is the "Word of God" personified! Don't misunderstand. This is metaphor, or an example. This is not to say that Jesus Christ is a vague "principle" or a "concept" of truth. But He was the divine SPOKESMAN, the Logos (the Greek word for Spokesman), Who did the commanding when the earth was created! Notice: "In the beginning was the Word [Jesus Christ, long, long prior to His human birth], 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 anything made that was made. In Him was life; and the life was the light of men .... He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own [the Jews], and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name. Which were born [Greek: gennao, which can mean either "begotten" or born"] not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us [the Greek means, literally, "tabernacled among us "] (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth" (John 1: 1-14). There is absolutely no question that this is speaking of Jesus Christ of Nazareth! It is telling us that Christ was a Member of the divine family of God; that He was very GOD long, long prior to His human, physical birth. Do you know what this means? It means it was the One the world calls "Jesus Christ," Who said, "Let there be light." He said, "Let the dry land appear." He was the One who dealt with Adam and Eve, with Noah, with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is the One who spoke to Moses from the burning bush, and said, "I AM THAT I AM." He is the One who wrote the Ten Commandments with His own finger! He is the One Who plagued Egypt, sent the death angel, spared the Israelites, brought them out of the land of Egypt, parted the Red Sea, and was with them for forty years in the wilderness. The Word of God is the whole Word of God, not just selected verses that appeal to rebellious, lawless, posturing pseudo Christians who will not OBEY God! If you are wielding the "sword of the spirit" as your only offensive weapon against Satan, then you are a "workman that needeth not be ashamed, rightly dividing [discerning, understanding] the word of truth." You are knowledgeable about the Bible. You are able to explain why you believe what you do, and you are able to take that sword of the Spirit, and slash to the marrow of the bone the false doctrines, lies, half-truths, and Satanic delusions that are believed by so many millions of people today! Christ is the Word. When you have Jesus Christ living His life over again with you (Galatians 2:20); when you have studied, pondered, meditated, prayed over, read, and then read again the life and teachings of Christ, as well as the whole Bible, you are better equipped to parry the wicked thrusts of Satan and his false ministers. The Word of God cuts. But sometimes, it is necessary to inflict a wound upon some people before they will wake up, come to themselves, realize they have been sinners, and deeply repent before God! The Word of God cuts into our consciences. It cuts into our memories. It cuts into our minds. It cuts into our past. It cuts into our personalities, our associations, our way of life, our very innermost thoughts. The more you study the Word of God, the more you are convicted by it! The more you give yourself in surrender to God, allowing His Holy Word to correct you, the more you are equipped to wield the "sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God." Study the beautiful fifty-first Psalm, and see how David, a man after God's own heart, prayed the prayer of heart-broken repentance! Let David's Psalms sink down into your innermost heart. Study the gospels, the epistles of Paul, the writings of James, Peter, and John. Read the Bible! By doing so, you are sharpening your sword. You are preparing yourself for a daily struggle against Satan, this evil world, and your own carnal nature. The fully-equipped soldier of Jesus Christ must know the Word of God to wield the "sword of the Spirit." The Word of God is "of the Spirit" because it comes from a divine spiritual source. It is not the wisdom or philosophy of man, but the divinely-revealed knowledge, wisdom, purpose, and plan of Almighty God. The Bible is the living witness from God to man, not mere words on paper, musty with age. Jude wrote that "Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee" (Jude 9). Obviously, if the devil had caused the location of the body of Moses to be known, it would have become a world-famous shrine, a place of worshipful idolatry to millions of people. God didn't want Moses' burial place known. Satan wanted to cause it to become an idolatrous shrine. In the dispute between Michael, a powerful archangel at the same rank in God's kingdom as was Lucifer, Michael did not have the responsibility to bring "railing accusation" against Satan. Rather, he deferred to the spiritual power of God by pronouncing the words, "The Lord rebuke thee!" Michael was using the "sword of the Spirit" by using the Word of God to actually rebuke the devil! So it is with us, on a daily basis. If we are continually pondering, studying, thinking on the Word of God, we are filling our minds with God's spiritual truth. The way to get the air out of a glass is to fill it with water. The way to force evil thoughts out of our minds is to fill them with God's Word. Read some inspiring Psalms! Study Ephesians 4, Colossians 3, Hebrews 1-5; read all four Gospels! In addition to selected reading or study, set yourself to read the whole Bible completely through! In this way, you will be equipped with your offensive weapon against the devil, this evil world, and even your own carnal nature, by wearing the "sword of the Spirit."
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