The Sword Of The Spirit

go ahead and read from Ephesians chapter 6. We're

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

going to continue our series in spiritual warfare.

Tonight we're going to be considering the sword

of the spirit, which is the word of God. So I'll

start reading in verse 10 and I'll read through

verse 20. Finally, Be strong in the Lord and

in the strength of his might. Put on the full

armor of God so that you will be able to stand

firm against the schemes of the devil. For our

struggle is not against flesh and blood, but

against the rulers, against the powers, and against

the world forces of this darkness, against the

spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly

places. Therefore, take up the full armor of

God. so that you will be able to resist in the

evil day and, having done everything, to stand

firm. Stand firm, therefore, having girded your

loins with truth and having put on the breastplate

of righteousness and having shod your feet with

the preparation of the gospel of peace. In addition

to all, taking up the shield of faith with which

you will be able to extinguish all the flaming

arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of

salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which

is the word of God. With all prayer and petition,

pray at all times in the Spirit. And with this

in view, be on the alert with all perseverance

and petition for all the saints. And pray on

my behalf that utterance may be given to me and

the opening of my mouth to make known With boldness,

the mystery of the gospel. Let's go to the Lord

in prayer. Father, we come to you this Lord's

Day evening. Father, we ask tonight that you

would bless the ministry of your word. Lord,

we ask that your spirit would work through your

word in the hearts and minds of your people.

Father, sanctify us. Grow us in grace. Lord,

cause us to love you more. Lord, cause us to

love one another more. Lord, help us to stand

in this great fight throughout our life for your

glory. We ask these things in Christ's name.

Amen. We have a relentless enemy as believers

in Jesus Christ. One who is far beyond the scope

of our own power and ability. One who is far

wiser and has far greater knowledge than we do.

The devil. He is constantly waging war against

the saints, against the church. Against Jesus

Christ and his purposes in this world. There's

an ongoing present battle that every single believer

is caught up in the midst of. Every believer,

if they know Christ, they're in this battle.

Now, if we think about a... Physical battle between

nations or kingdoms or people groups. We know

how those are fought. We know how that battle

takes place. We know the methodology that is

used. Physical carnal means. Weapons to fight

other kingdoms or groups or individuals. If a

person had to defend themselves, generally speaking,

we know the means to use to do that. And they

are physical and they are carnal. But how do

you, as a believer, not just defend yourself,

but how do you actually fight the devil? In demonic

influence. The world, the flesh, and the devil

in your life so that ground is not gained by

the enemy in your heart. What is the weapon that

God has given to us as believers in Jesus Christ?

He's given us the Word of God. The sword of the

Spirit. Tonight we're going to consider the Christian's

weapon of warfare, the sword. We've considered

the other pieces of armor already, and now we

come to the only offensive piece, the Roman double

-edged sword. It wasn't a long sword. It wasn't

a broad sword. Most likely, it was very similar

to a dagger. It had double edges on it so you

could slice on either side. But it was also really

designed for close quarter combat. So that if

someone got near enough to you or got around

your shield or they got close enough, you could

take out your sword and defend yourself personally

when you're attacked as a Roman soldier. What

is the Christian's weapon of warfare? It is the

sword, the word of God. This is what Paul tells

us in verse 17. And take the helmet of salvation

and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word

of God. The word is the sword for the Christian.

The word is the weapon for the believer. All

throughout scripture we find the word of God

is likened to a weapon. We see throughout scripture

it's also likened to a hammer that crushes. It's

also likened to fire which burns and melts. But

the most prevalent way, that it is characterized

in a metaphorical fashion, is something that

pierces, something that cuts a sword. We find

this in Hebrews 4 .12. We all know that famous

passage, the double -edged sword that pierces

to our souls, between joints and marrow. We'll

read it a little bit later. We read in Hosea.

Hosea 6 · chapter mention

Chapter 6. Verse 5. Listen to what the prophet

says. Therefore I have hewn them. I have cut

them up. I have hewn them in pieces by the prophets.

I have slain them by the words of my mouth. He

is comparing and likening. The prophetic ministry

of the word. To slicing. To cutting people into

pieces. There is a sharp edge to it. We read

in Isaiah. Chapter 49. Verse 2. He has made my

Isaiah 49 · chapter mention

mouth like a sharp sword. Now how is it that

the prophet's mouth has been made like a sharp

sword? What was the prophetic ministry all about?

The proclamation of God's word. The ministry

of the word is likened all throughout scripture

to a sword. An instrument of warfare. An instrument

of battle. The prime example of this, and we

all know this example, is the Lord Jesus in Matthew

Matthew 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4. And we'll go ahead and turn there.

So when Paul refers to the word of God in...

Ephesians chapter 6, he's using a different word

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

than is normally used to speak of the word. He's

using another word that's more specific and has

to do with applying the word to particular situations

or particular scenarios. And we see the best

example of this in Matthew chapter 4. the most

Matthew 4 · chapter mention

intense moments of spiritual warfare that has

ever taken place. The Lord Jesus was tempted

in a way and beyond anything that you and I can

ever fathom. Because he never sinned, the pressure

and the weight and the... The temptation was

magnified to the umpteenth degree. Just think

about it. The weight kept getting added on. Put

on another plate. Put on another plate. Put on

another plate. Put on another plate. And guess

what? The Lord Jesus kept resisting. The Lord

Jesus continued to stand firm. And how did he

do this? Well, we find the first temptation in

Matthew chapter 4, verse 3, where the tempter

Matthew 4:3

came and said to him, If you are the Son of God,

command that these stones become bread. So the

devil is coming and attacking the Lord Jesus,

and here is how the Lord Jesus responds. But

he answered and said, It is written, man shall

not live on bread alone, but on every word that

proceeds out of the mouth of God. He responds

to the temptation with the scripture. He quotes

Deuteronomy chapter 8 verse 3. Then the devil

Deuteronomy 8:3

tempts him again. He comes. And it says that

he took him to the holy city and had him stand

on the pinnacle of the temple. He says, if you

are the son of God, throw yourself down and God's

angels will protect you. And how does the Lord

Jesus respond? Jesus said to him, on the other

hand, it is written, you shall not put the Lord

your God to the test. Deuteronomy chapter 6 verse

Deuteronomy 6:16

16. The devil twists. scripture and Christ rightly

applies it to that particular and unique situation

as he is being tempted by the foe by the enemy

the same thing again the devil took him to a

very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms

of the world and their glory and he said to him

all these things I will give to you If you fall

down and worship me. The blasphemy. That comes

out of the devil's mouth. The goal. Of the devil.

To invite the son of God to bow down to him.

Yet. How does Christ respond? Then Jesus said

to him. Go, Satan, for it is written, you shall

worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.

A quotation from Deuteronomy chapter 6, verse

Deuteronomy 6:13

13. He goes back to the Word of God. He picks

up the sword. And that is how he fights this

battle. He applies it particularly to each situation

as it is needed. The weapons of Christ's warfare

were not carnal. They were not worldly. What

did he do battle with? The word of the living

God. He spoke it, and he applied it to that situation,

and this is how he fought the devil. This is

our weapon, brothers and sisters. God has not

given us pragmatism. God has not handed over

worldly strategies and schemes. God has given

us His holy, infallible Word. That's what we

fight with. That's what we look to. That's why...

We find all throughout history, and I believe

it will stay this way, all throughout history,

you know what two of the most powerful forces

in the world have always been? The pulpit and

the pen. Why are those two things so powerful?

Because the word of God can go forth from both.

The word of God can be proclaimed in both. Because

they're both rooted and grounded in God's Word.

This is our weapon. Now, what is the Spirit's

role in relationship to this weapon? Because

it says, the sword of the Spirit. It's not just

the sword, which is the Word of God, but it is

the sword of the Spirit. Spirit, which is the

Word of God, is telling us that there is a unique

and distinct relationship between the Spirit

of God and the Word of God. The two work together

very closely in this fight. The two, in a sense

we could say, lock arms. in spiritual warfare,

in the Christian life, in the church, to work

effectively. But it's sort of a paradox if you

think about it. Because here Paul is exhorting

the Ephesian believers to pick up and wield the

sword. Yet, he's saying that actually it is the

Spirit's sword. There's a bit of a paradox. We're

to pick it up, yet it is the sword of the Spirit.

So what is the Spirit's role with regards to

this weapon in warfare? Well, we all know this.

The Spirit has actually given us this weapon.

The Spirit of God inspired the Scriptures. You

remember the boys and girls catechism? Who wrote

the Bible? And the answer, of course, is holy

men who were taught by the Holy Spirit. What

is that telling us? It's teaching and telling

us that the Spirit of God divinely inspired the

Word of God. Through the unique and distinct

personalities and intricacies and writings of

the apostles. That's what it's telling us. So

this sword is from the Spirit. We could read

1 Peter 1, 20 -21. Which says this. 2 Peter 1,

20 -21. I apologize. Which says this. But know

this, first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture

is a matter of one's own interpretation. For

no prophecy was ever made by an act of human

will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke

from God. So the Spirit of God has given us the

sword, the weapon. He has inspired the Scriptures

for the people of God. But we also see that the

Holy Spirit illuminates the Word of God in the

minds of God's people so that we can grasp and

comprehend spiritual truth in the Scriptures.

We read in 1 Corinthians 2, starting in verse

10, For to us God revealed them through the Spirit,

for the Spirit searches all things. even the

depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts

of man except the spirit of man which is in him?

Even so, the thoughts of God no one knows except

the spirit of God. Now, we have received not

the spirit of the world, but the spirit who is

from God, so that we may know the things freely

given to us by God. The gospel. That we have

in the scriptures. Then we go on and we keep

reading this. Which things we also speak. Not

in words taught by human wisdom. But in those

taught by the spirit. Combining spiritual thoughts

with spiritual words. But a natural man does

not accept the things of the spirit of God. For

they are foolish to him. And he cannot understand

them. Because they are spiritually. What is this

telling us? It's telling us that the Spirit of

God that dwells within us, brothers and sisters,

helps us know and understand the spiritual truth

in the Scriptures. Unbelievers cannot grasp the

truth of the Scriptures. Jonathan Edwards, he

speaks of this illumination in this text. And

what he says is this, that there's two kinds

of knowledge. There's speculative knowledge and

there is spiritual knowledge. Unregenerate, unbelieving

men can have speculative knowledge. So they can

know the facts and they can have the knowledge

of the Scriptures. But they will never taste

and see and sense the divine goodness within

the Scriptures where the glory of God is revealed.

Where you see and you love the... The word of

God. Because you see Christ. And you know that

you are saved by Christ. As you look into the

scriptures. By faith. The unbelieving man. Will

never have that sense. Within them. Of the goodness

and the glory. And the greatness of God. The

spirit of God alone. Does that. Only believers.

Who have the spirit of God. can understand things

of spiritual worth and value. Unbelievers will

never have that. If you don't know Christ, you

don't know how good Christ is. You may have a

head full of information. You may... Think that

you know Jesus Christ because you've always went

to church and you know the right things to say

and you've been around people. You know about

these things. But do you know these things? It's

a difference between knowing that honey is sweet

yet never having tasted of the sweetness of honey

and a person who actually knows that honey is

sweet because they have tasted. Honey, and they

know the sweetness. It's Psalm 34, 8, which says,

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. How

blessed are all those who take refuge in Him.

The Spirit of God alone illuminates the Word

of God in the people of God. It is His. It is

his sword. But we also see that the Holy Spirit

empowers believers to speak the word of God which

the Spirit of God has given to them. We could

say this. In a sense, the Holy Spirit helps us

lift up the sword with boldness, freedom, From

fear. We read in the book of Acts. Turn to Acts

Acts 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4. In Acts chapter 4 verse 8. We read

Acts 4:8

this. Then Peter. Filled. With the Holy Spirit.

Said to them. Rulers and elders of the people.

Then he goes on. And preaches to the Sanhedrin.

They say in verse 13. Now as they observe the.

Luke says in verse 13, Now as they observed the

confidence of Peter and John and understood that

they were uneducated and untrained men, they

were amazed and began to recognize them as having

been with Jesus. What was it about Peter in particular

that stood out to them? What was it in Peter's

demeanor, his speech, his communication, that

stood out to them that made him like Jesus in

a sense? They knew he was with Jesus. It was

his boldness. It was the authority with which

he spoke the truths that he was proclaiming.

To them. It was the confidence that he had in

the truth. It was because the spirit of God.

Had filled him. That he would speak. The word

of God. With boldness. Now we might think. Well

that's just something that happened once. That's

not something that's ever repeated. No. We read

at the very end. The very same day. The very

same day. We read this. In verse 31. And when

they had prayed, the place where they had gathered

together was shaken. And they were all filled

with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word

of God with boldness. So it wasn't just something

that was restricted or limited to the apostles.

Believers were filled. And what was the purpose?

To speak the word of God with boldness and power.

There is a filling of the Holy Spirit for usefulness

and power that is distinct from the normative

filling in the Christian life like Ephesians

talks about. The Spirit of God empowers the people

of God to speak the Word of God. We see it all

over the Scriptures. Now, very closely related

to this, we see that the Holy Spirit vitalizes

and makes the Word of God powerful and effective.

He vivifies God's word. He accompanies it in

such a way that he makes it lively and effective

in people's hearts, minds, and consciences. This

is where we have to turn to Hebrews chapter 4.

Hebrews 4 · chapter mention

Verse 12, which says this, For the word of God

is living. inactive 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. Now, brothers and sisters, is it

as though the Word of God has a life of its own?

Or is it vitalized by God? Is it made powerful

and effective by God? The Spirit of God must

accompany the ministry of the Word of God to

make it effective in the life of God's people.

The Spirit takes the truths of Scripture and

applies them to the conscience of... Why are

there days that you sit under the preaching of

the word and you experience conviction of sin?

Why is it there's days you sit under the preaching

of the word and you feel as though you've been

lifted up to heaven, you've been so edified and

built up and strengthened? Well, it's because

The Spirit of God is working through His Word

in your heart, in your mind to change you, to

sanctify you, to grow you. In a sense, brothers

and sisters, the Spirit of God uses one side

of the sword with the law of God to cut. And

then He uses the other side. to apply the balm

of the gospel. The law convicts and tears down.

The gospel strengthens and livens and builds

up and edifies and gives life. The Spirit of

God accompanies the ministry of the Word of God

to make it vital and vibrant and lively in God's

people. This is why we read also in 1 Corinthians

2, starting in verse 3, I was with you in weakness

and in fear and in much trembling. And listen

to what Paul says, And my message and my preaching

were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in

demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so

that your faith would not rest on the wisdom

of men. but on the power of God. The Spirit of

God accompanying the Word of God to strengthen

the faith of God's people. That's why you so

often hear the ministers at the church pray things

like, God bless and accompany the ministry of

your Word. Lord, work in and through your word.

Why do men and women pray like that, brothers

and sisters? Because the Spirit of God can work

in and through his word either in greater or

lesser degrees. He can extend his extraordinary

power through the normal means of his word with

extraordinary power to work in his life or in

lesser. We pray and seek to lay hold of the power

of God to work in and through the Word of God.

The Spirit of God works mightily through His

Word. To be effective in this battle, it necessarily

requires divine blessing. To be effective in

this fight. To be effective in our use of the

Word of God. To be effective in the communication

of the Word with our children or our wives or

our friends or our unbelieving neighbors or our

unbelieving friends. Any sphere. If we want to

be effective in this fight, it requires divine

aid from God. God's Spirit. So, we must pray

for it, brothers and sisters. We must seek out

God's help in this area. The Spirit works through

God's Word. Isn't it sad that it's so neglected

so often? When unhealthy, unbiblical things like

so many of the charismatics start saying certain

things about the Word of God and the Spirit of

God, there's such a tendency for the church to

not just go to the middle, but to go too far

the other way. To become imbalanced in our own

ways. Brothers and sisters, we need the Holy

Spirit to work mightily in our midst, in our

lives. And we should not be afraid or fearful

to talk about needing the Spirit's blessing and

His presence in greater measure, in greater ways,

in our midst. We desperately need it. Now, that's

the Spirit's role in this fight. What is our

duty as believers in this battle? I want to read

2 Timothy 3. We all know this passage. Actually,

I want to read 1 Thessalonians 2, verse 13 first.

1 Thessalonians 2:13

For this reason, we also constantly thank God

that when you receive the word of God, which

you heard from us, you accepted it not as the

word of men, but for what it really is, the word

of God, which also performs its work in you who

believe. And then we read in 2 Timothy. Famous

passage. I'm sure many of you have memorized.

We read this starting in verse 14. You, however,

continue in the things you have learned and become

convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned

them and that from childhood you have known the

sacred writings which are able to give you the

wisdom that leads to salvation through faith

which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired

by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof,

for correction, for training in righteousness,

so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped

for every good work. What is our role in this

fight with regards to this weapon? We are called

to take the sword of the Spirit, to wield it,

to pick it up. This means that we must know the

Scriptures. This means that we must study the

Scriptures to rightly understand them so that

we can know the principles and the doctrines

of God's Word so that we can apply them to the

various situations of our life. We need to have

a thorough enough understanding of the Word of

God so that we have it at our disposal in moments

of struggle and weakness. difficulty and hardship.

Brothers and sisters, don't try to fill up that

well at the last minute. Don't try to fill up

the bucket when you're in the midst of the rainstorm.

That doesn't work well. When you're in the middle

of a storm or a trial or in the middle of hardship,

don't wait that long. Study and know and seek

out the Scriptures. Have them at your disposal.

Whether that be physically, meaning have a Bible

with you. When you travel, take a Bible with

you. You will hear me ask my children and my

wife oftentimes, Do you know, is my little Bible

still in my trunk? Do you know, is my Bible still

in the trunk? Why? Because my memory is not great

anymore. That's just the reality of it. I can't

remember stuff like I used to, brothers and sisters.

But I still want the Word nearby. I still want

the Word close. The best is to have it hidden

in our heart and memorized with our mind so that

we can chew on it, so that we can meditate on

it. But brothers and sisters, have the Word of

God nearby. Have it. At your disposal. We must

also pray for the Spirit's blessing upon the

ministry of the Word. That's not just something

that pastors ought to do. What is your best interest

as God's people? That the Spirit of God would

work through the Word of God. in your heart as

the people of God. That you would be sanctified.

That you would grow in grace. That your inner

man, that your new man would be vivified and

strengthened and grown. And that the old man

would be mortified and torn down over and over.

And how does that happen? As the Spirit of God

works through His Word. So pray for God's blessing

upon the Word of God, brothers and sisters. As

it's preached, pray for God's blessing upon the

Word of God as you read it. Before you read your

Bible in the mornings, ask God, Lord, bless my

reading of the Word. Lord, be with me. Lord,

help me to focus. Lord, I ask that your Spirit

would illuminate my mind. Let me see your glory.

Meet with me this morning, Father. Brothers and

sisters, pray for the blessing of the Holy Spirit.

That's how we take hold of the sword. That's

how we lift it up. We know it. We study it. We

have it at our disposal. We pray for it and we

apply it to the various situations in our life.

But we also must speak it. We must use our mouths.

to communicate and talk about God's Word. There's

no better way to pick up the sword than to open

our mouths and to speak the Gospel. There's no

better way to take that sword and its cutting

power, its piercing power, than to open our mouths

wide and speak truth from the word of the living

God. We must speak it and proclaim it, but we

also must believe it, brothers and sisters. If

we pick up the word out of habit, or to check

off a box, or if we don't trust it, And brothers

and sisters, it's all in vain. Because the Spirit

of God applies the Word of God as we believe

God's Word. We must come to God's Word as a believing

people, trusting what it says. A closing illustration.

Has anyone ever seen a decorative weapon, maybe

above a fireplace? Or maybe there's young people

that like weapons hung on their walls. Or maybe

you just like weapon decorations. I imagine there's

a few of those people present. Brothers and sisters,

the Word of God. It is no decoration. It's not

meant to stay on a shelf. It's meant to be used

in your life to fight. The Word of God is not

a butter knife for snacks during peacetime. The

Word of God is literally A spiritual weapon of

bloodshed. That's what it is. It's a weapon for

fighting. It's a spiritual weapon of violence

because you have an enemy. Don't treat it like

a butter knife. We have been given this weapon.

We know what it is. We know the Spirit's role,

and we know ours, to take up the sword of the

Spirit, which is the Word of God.