The Sword of the Spirit: Eph 6:10-18

17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

It is often said that the best offense is a good defense

All of the armor of God that we have looked at over the past several weeks has been defensive armor

It is given to ward off the attacks that come from the evil one

But the Lord has also given us an offensive weapon and that is His word the Bible

In our text it is called the “sword of the Spirit” which is the Word of God

What is the sword of the Spirit?

How does it differ from the belt of truth we talked about a few weeks ago?

The belt of truth is the word of God and the sword of the Spirit is the word of God

You are aware that the NT was written in Greek originally:

If you will allow me, the difference between the belt of truth and the sword of the Spirit being the word of God is 2 different Greek words that are translated “word” in the Bible

The first is the Greek word “logos” which is most common; used when we talked about the belt of truth a few weeks ago

In John 1, Jesus is called the word or logos of God

In other words Jesus is truth; he is God’s word, the truth of God

Then there is the Greek word “rhema” that is translated “word” in our text today describing the Sword of the Spirit: Eph 6:17

Rhema means “the sayings of God”, particular verses in the Bible that can be used to address your particular situation at the moment

V17 said to take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word or rhema of God or “sayings” of God

 

Have you ever been struggling over something and you reached for your Bible and read a verse that just came alive and spoke to your need of the moment?

Many times I just need to hear from God; and I will read the Bible and come across a verse that speaks directly to my situation

When that happens to me, I call that a “wow” moment

I am struggling over a problem, I get a hold on a particular verse of Scripture…and it just speaks directly to me

It becomes mine like never before

That rhema or word or saying of God spoke to my situation

Now if that has not happened to you, then you are not reading your Bible

The Bible is like an armory in the spiritual battle

It is full of swords or God’s words that you can pull out when you need to counter attack the enemy

The Bible as a whole is logos, it is the embodiment of God’s truth

The Bible contains God’s rhema, or particular swords of truth that helps me at a particular moment

Make sense?

The Effects of the Sword of the Spirit

Hebrews 4:12;  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.

This verse very clearly compares the word of God to a sword…

Only the sword of God’s word does things a regular sword cannot do

For instance:

• A metal sword may pierce the body, but the sword of the word of God pierces the heart and soul of a man
• A metal sword gets dull as you use it, but the sword of the Spirit gets sharper with use
• A metal sword depends on the skills of the man who has it in his hand; but the sword of the Spirit is able to function alone

Scripture is alive and powerful; it can pierce the soul of a man and cause an enemy to retreat

If you have your Bible in your hand this morning, you have a very powerful weapon of offense against the devil!

 

Thinking about the power of this sword: consider this: Peter in Acts 2, stood and preached Jesus on the day of Pentecost

At the end of the sermon, the people said to Peter and the rest of the apostles: “Men and brethren what shall we do?”

The sword of God’s word pierced them down deep in their souls and they had to act on it

The sword of the Spirit is powerful!

 

Consider also how Jesus used the word against Satan in the wilderness:

Jesus, at the beginning of his ministry, after he asked John to baptize him in the Jordan, was led by the Spirit out into the wilderness

3 times Satan tempted him with the same 3 temptations that he uses today: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 John 2:16)

In the wilderness, Jesus had been fasting for 40 days and was hungry

Satan appeared to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones be turned into bread”

Jesus could have done that, but that’s not what he was here for

If he had performed a miracle at this point, he would have aborted his mission of coming in the form of a man so that he could feel all the things we feel and suffer all the things we suffer

Satan was trying to get Jesus to act independently of God…if he had satisfied his hunger with super-human ability he would have left the mission of God

Jesus mission is found in Matthew 20:28: “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many”

It was not Jesus’ mission to serve his own needs, he came to be a servant and to give his life as a ransom for our sins

He responded to Satan’s temptation with Scripture: It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God

The Bible tells you and I not to live our lives independently from the will of God and that is what Jesus intended to demonstrate for us

Jesus demonstrated that we need God to help us make it through life and eternity

 

Temptation number 2 was the lust of the eyes

The Bible said the devil took Jesus up high on the pinnacle of the temple and said, “If you are God, throw yourself down.  For it is written that He shall give his angels charge over you and in their hands they shall bear you up lest you dash your foot against a stone”

If Jesus had thrown himself down, that would have been about a 450 foot drop

Problem with the devil’s quotation of Scripture from Psalms 91: he left out the part that God is in control

In other words we don’t control God, we don’t manipulate God to get him to do what we want him to do

God is not a servant that we should order him around

Again Jesus pulled out the sword of the Spirit and responded “You shall not tempt the Lord your God” Deut 6:16

 

Temptation 3: the pride of life

Then Satan took Jesus up high on a mountain and showed him the kingdoms of the world. 

“Look out, all this can be yours if you will bow down and worship me”

Satan tried to appeal to Jesus’ pride; that his human side would have

He knew Jesus had come to set up a kingdom and so he was offering Jesus an immediate physical kingdom instead of the spiritual kingdom that Jesus came for

Jesus if you bow down to me, you won’t have to wait, you can have it all now

Doesn’t that tempt a lot of people today?  Instant gratification…

You don’t have to wait for it…you can have it now…just charge it and pay for it with money you don’t have

Jesus you don’t have to go through all that suffering and death on a cross and all that stuff…you can have it the easy way and you can have it now

Jesus, you can have your kingdom without the cross

Not true.  And you can’t either.  You can’t enter the kingdom of God without going through the cross…through Jesus’ sacrifice for your sins

 

Jesus pulled out another sword and said to Satan: “It is written, you shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve”

The only one that is to be worshipped is God

Jesus used the sayings of God to ward off the devil

The sayings of God or the sword of Spirit, is what you and I must have to be effective against Satan’s temptations

Your sword is the Bible.  Are you reading it?  Did you bring it to church with you today?

The word of God is your sword, your weapon of offense when dealing with Satan…