THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT

“And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17).

This final piece of the armor of God is different from all the others—it is the only piece that is an offensive weapon. All the other pieces are designed to protect us and assist us in standing firm when the enemy is attacking. But God not only wants us to be able to stand firm but also to be able to fight and advance.

What Paul seems to have in mind when he speaks of the sword of the Spirit is not the long, thin rapier that the Three Musketeers or Zorro carried but the short, two-edged fighting sword of the Roman soldier. The Roman military sword was called a gladius and was about 18 inches long, with a two-edged blade and a very sharp point. The gladius was typically used for hand-to-hand combat and was extremely lethal for fighting in close quarters.

When Paul tells us to take up the sword of the Spirit, he is saying to us that there are times in our spiritual battle when we are going to have to fight the enemy in very close quarters. In addition, Paul tells that we will not be using our sword, or the sword of a denomination or some well-known preacher. The sword that we are to take up is “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

When Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness, how did He fight back? He countered the attack of the enemy with the Word of God. Check for yourself in Matthew 4:1-11 and Luke 4:1-13. In each case, Jesus struck back with, “It is written.” He then quoted a scripture and in each of the temptations Satan was defeated.

Jesus gives us the model that we are to follow in defeating the attacks of the enemy. Jesus is showing us how to wield the “sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God ”

I believe that in order for us to effectively deal with the onslaught of the enemy, at least two things are required in regard to the Word of God:

1.    We need to be people of the Word.

If we truly value the Bible as God’s Word, then we need to be reading and studying the Word on a frequent basis. I’m not being legalistic here, but truthful. If you love someone or something, then you make time to be with that person or to engage in that activity. So it is with the Word of God! If we truly believe that it is God’s Word and that it has value for us, then we need to become “people of the Word” so that we are really familiar with what is in God’s Book. We need to get into the Word and to get the Word into us.

When you start taking in the Word on a regular basis, you will be surprised how the Holy Spirit will bring the right Scripture back to your mind just when you need it. After all, the Word of God is the sword of the Spirit!

2.    We need to do just as Jesus did when the enemy threw a specific temptation at Him. He didn’t respond with, “I’m the Son of God and you can’t say that to Me.” As right as that statement is, Jesus did something far more devastating and that was to confront the devil with what the Word of God says.

Remember that 2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All scripture is breathed out by God.” When you quote a Scripture about fear, peace or healing, it is filled with the power and presence of the Holy Spirit and you are literally using the “sword of the Spirit” to attack the enemy and his attempts to hurt or influence you.

If we are going to defeat the enemy and render his attacks as nothing, it will not be on our own gifting but by the power of God manifest through His Word.

I suggest that you memorize or have available a list of scriptures on issues such as fear, anxiety, sickness, lust, unbelief. They should be readily available for you to use when an attack comes. Why? Because the Word is alive and active. It is powerful. It is the truth, and the truth will set us free and keep us free.

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).

Psalm 149:6: “Let the high praises of God be in their throats and two-edged swords in their hands.”

Paul couples the offensive weapon of “the sword of the Spirit” with prayer and we’ll talk more about that in the next blog.

“For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds” (2 Corinthians 10:4).