6f. The Sword of the Spirit

Sword of the Spirit

“God’s Word”

We are told right away that the Sword of the Spirit is the Word of God; the Bible!  Now I don’t know if it is just my imagination running wild, or it could be just my male blood getting the better of me, but I have often picked up anything that half resembled a sword; an umbrella, a ruler, a pool noodle, a stick; and started swinging and pretending to fight.  There is a sense of power that comes when we hold this weapon of a sword.

My friends, we have a sword in our procession, and it is the Word of God.  We are told in this very book that the “word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”[1]  How silly would it be for a soldier to go into battle without their weapon? It would be just as foolish for the Christian prayer warrior to enter into the battleground without God’s Word written on their hearts.

You don’t know how pumped I am right now to talk about God’s Word; I love God’s Word; I
wish I could memorize and know all of it.  Often while praying, I just carry God’s Word in my hands just to remind myself of the simple fact that whenever I pray according to God’s Word I am swinging a mighty sword in the spiritual realm.  It is the very truth of God revealed to us.  Without writing a whole book on God’s Word which I would love to do one day; here are a few points we need to remember about the Sword of the Spirit that the Holy Spirit has given so that we might be equipped.

The first thing we need to understand is that God’s Word is living.

We do not gather around God’s Word to do an autopsy and dissect it to try and get some more revelation.  God’s Word is not dead; it is alive!  The Word became flesh and dwelt among us[2]… this should be the cry of our hearts every time we come around the Bible; Father, let your Word become flesh and abide in me and let me abide in Your Word.  In fact Jesus said that this would be one of the characteristics of His disciple.  He said, “If you are my disciples, you will abide in My Word and My Word will abide in you, and then you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.”[3]  We must allow God’s Word to examine our lives daily and live in us.

God’s Word to us is about the impartation of life into our spiritual man not knowledge.  Too many times we fall into the very trap that Adam and Eve fell into.  We give them a hard time for going after the tree of knowledge of good and evil and not going to eat solely from the tree of life.  We must guard ourselves from going into the Garden of God’s Word with the motive of purely seeking after knowledge.  We desire to abide in God’s Word and God’s Word to abide in us because it is life.  Jesus Christ is the incarnate Word of God; the bread of life.  To live we must not just study what bread looks like or the benefits of it; its texture, complexion and softness.  No!  We must consume and eat it and allow the bread of life to sustain us.

Jesus stated to the devil that a person doesn’t just live of physical bread alone, but infact on every Word that comes from the mouth of God.[4]  God’s very Word is what gave us life and is what sustains us day by day.  Our each and every breath is a gift from God.   Let us be sure to approach God’s Word in an attitude of awe and reverence ready to submit our lives in humble obedience – God’s Word is alive!

Second, God’s Word is powerful.

Beloved, if it was good enough for Jesus to use when He came across the path of the devil in the desert and was tempted, it is good enough for us.  “It is written…”, what absolute power there was when Jesus said these words, not only because He knew the words and had memorized the Scripture, but also because it had the backing of all Heaven behind them.
The Bible says that it is as strengthen ourselves in God’s Word and as we abide in God’s Word that we will overcome the wicked one.[5]

God spoke and the very universe came into existence!   How amazing and crazy awesome is our God that He can just speak the Words and they go out and come into existence.  What’s more is that He has given us a Book in which contains the very Words of God.  Whoever will have the faith to read what God has said and believe it will see His power and glory displayed.  Infact the Bible let’s us know that faith comes through hearing the Word of God![6]  As we allow God’s Word to infiltrate the way in which we think and live, faith will continue to increase.

I love the story told in the Gospel of Matthew of the centurion who just simply believed that if Jesus would just give the word and say His servant would be healed then it would be done.[7]  Jesus actually was amazed at this bloke’s faith and understanding of the power of God to go forth and do and heal the servant.  God’s Word is powerful and as we believe what He says we will truly see how amazing and mind blowing His Word is.

The Word of God will go out and it will return with results.[8]  That is there is such power in the Word of God that when you speak it out with faith it is going to have an effect.  I have never read in any Gospel passage Jesus speaking healing over someone and it not having results.  We need to have that same belief and trust in the words of Christ given to us in the Bible; that when we come into a situation speaking something in His name it is going to happen!  God’s Word is living and eternal.[9]  It gives life and will go on forever.  Praise God!

If you are filled with the Holy Spirit and unwavering belief in the Word of God, friend you have all you need to go out and see the Kingdom of God extend!  This only comes as we meditate, abide and allow the Word to infiltrate our very beings.   I love the story of a chaplain who went into a hospital and told a man that was extremely sick that if he just stood on the Word of God he would be healed.  Well as soon as the chaplain left the sick man got his Bible placed it on the floor and stood on it and he was miraculously healed!  Child like faith encountering the Word of God brings power.

Thirdly, from God’s Word we can know God’s Will and how we are meant to pray.

Jesus told His disciples how they were meant to pray; where do we find this out? In God’s Word, the Bible.  Where do we find out about God’s heart and what we need in order to live and have an effect in our generation? God’s Word.  “If you abide in Me, and My Words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.”[10]  It is only as we are in God’s Word that first of all our will becomes aligned to God’s will; then we will have the desire and the heart cry of Christ within us, and only then will our prayers and requests be answered.  Agnes Sanford put it this way, “Prayer is not a matter of getting what we want the most.  Prayer is a matter of giving ourselves to God and learning His laws, so that He can do through us what He wants the most.”

A well-known verse says “Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path”.[11]  Not only is it a case of finding out God’s will in a general sense; but also as we delve into God’s Word, the Holy Spirit leads us into the specific plans and purposes that He has for us.  As Jeremiah tells us, “the plans and purposes I have for you are good, to give you a future and a hope”.[12]  He continues, “Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.”[13]  As we align ourselves to God’s Word and know that His plans are good it will inturn push us to call out to Him and pray in accordance with His will.

Fourthly, God’s Word is Truth! 

Take God at His Word!  A passage asks the question; because we see people speak and say things and they turn out to be false, misleading and have no power does this mean that God’s Words is not true?  “Does man’s unfaithfulness nullify God’s faithfulness”?  I love the answer Paul gives, “Not at all!  Let God be true and every human being be a liar.”[14]  Ha!
Let God be true and let every other voice be a liar.  Beloved, get into the book.

It’s power is not limited to just a ka-bang factor; it is sharp enough to divide and discern what is truth, what is the motive or intent behind what is being said, and what is spirit or flesh.  How vital it is for us to always to live in a place under submission to God’s Word.  If it is not in the Book throw it out!  Whether it come from the guy next door, world leaders, the pope, a pastor or even an angel and it is different from the Word of God get rid of it!  Don’t entertain it for a second.

The Apostle Paul wrote, “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!”[15]  This was so important to the Apostle Paul that he actually repeated it and used such strong language as to actually say that a person that gives a different gospel to the one given in God’s Word that a curse would be brought upon them.  Heavy stuff; but it goes to show how much importantance God places on His Word.  One of the last Scriptures in Revelations states that if anyone adds or subtracts from the words of prophecy found in it that the plagues mentioned in the book would be added to them.[16]

Friends, while this is a very stern and serious warning, do not fear to enter into God’s Word if you are a sincere believer and have the desire in your heart to truly follow Christ.  He will lead and direct you; He will guide you into all truth.  My dad, decades ago as a new believer in Christ read about how the anti-Christ would come and that no one would be able to buy or sell without the mark of the beast.  Now the thing about my father is that he is a fantastic provider and takes the commands of Christ seriously to love his wife as Christ loves the church and to lay down his life for his family.  So my father determined as a new believer, yes naively, that he would take the mark of the beast so that his family wouldn’t have to and so that he could provide for us.  What’s more he told no one of his plans.  Wow! When I first heard this I was amazed at how sacrificial an action he would do to protect us; however misguided it was at the time.

Well it so happened that God came to my mother in a dream and told her of what dad’s plan was.  He further told her to tell my dad, number one, obviously not to do it, but then further reassured him that if the time came that He would take care of my father and provide for him and his family.  Now my dad was sincere in his following of Christ and even though he got it wrong for a time God’s mercy and grace guided him back to truth.  How gracious is our
God!  Delve into the Word of God with sincerity and the honest desire to follow Christ and trusting that He is the Good Shepherd and will lead His sheep into pastures that a green and full of truth.

I pray these few points about God’s Word stir you to take up your sword of the Spirit and grasp it more firmly then you ever have.  Training yourself in the Word of God is one of the most profitable thing you could ever do.  Mediate, learn, read, study, memorize.  Do whatever you can to allow the life of the Word of God to saturate you and spread life.  It is one of the greatest oxymoron’s I can think of… one of the most powerful weapons in the world that actually spreads and gives life!

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[1] Hebrews 4:12

[2] John 1:14

[3] John 8:31-32

[4] Matthew 4:4; Luke 4:4

[5] 1 John 2:14

[6] Romans 10:17

[7] Matthew 8:5-13

[8] Isaiah 55:11

[9] 1 Peter 1:23

[10] John 15:7

[11] Psalms 119:105

[12] Jeremiah 29:11

[13] Jeremiah 29:12

[14] Romans 3:3-4

[15] Galatians 1:8-9

[16] Revelation 22:18

 

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