The Sword of the Spirit
Last week we looked at the beginning of Ephesians 6:17 when we were discussing the Helmet of Salvation. This week we have come to the last physical piece of the Armor of God which is the Sword of the Spirit. “17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Ephesians 6:17. When the Bible mentions the Spirit, it is describing the Third aspect of the Trinity and that is the Holy Spirit. So right away we can see that the Sword of the Spirit has the nature of the Holy Spirit, which we know is the truth since it is the Word of God. “17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.” John 17:17
Hebrews 4:12 describes the Word of God as a sword perfectly, “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.” The Word of God is alive, it works through us continually as we study it. But just as a Roman sword, it can pierce through anything in its path. The Holy Spirit and the Word of God can cut through the heart of even the most stubborn of people and change their lives. I recently had a chance to meet with a group of women where we all had the opportunity to share our testimonies. It was unbelievably powerful to hear these women who came from all different walks of life and were in different stages of life, and yet there was a commonality between all of us. We all had been broken down by the world but were made whole in Christ. To see how the Holy Spirit worked to bring all these women to know Him was something I wish for all of you to experience. After now experiencing this, I encourage all of you to share your testimonies. It is not only a way that can help encourage other believers when they are down but is also a great witnessing tool for nonbelievers to hear the difference that Christ made in your lives. Never feel that your testimony is something to be ashamed of! “13 And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.” 1 Thessalonians 2:13. The Word is at work in us and we need to be continually thankful to God because through His righteousness and His truth we have authority here on earth. Also, we at Mill House Ministry love to hear testimonies if you ever wish to share please reach out to us on our contact page!
When a solider was preparing for battle, if he did not bring his sword he was setting himself up for failure. Without their sword, a solider was not well-armed and ill prepared for battle. This holds true for us as we face spiritual warfare. If we do not have the Helmet of Salvation then we cannot wear the rest of the armor, this includes wielding the Sword of the Spirit since it is the Holy Spirit that guides us and teaches us. “26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” John 14:26
If we do not have an understanding of the Scriptures and why we believe what we do, i.e. God’s promises for us, then we cannot give an effective explanation to others. This lack of knowledge means that we open ourselves up to doubting what the Bible says in terms of salvation and God’s will. As we have seen before, when we have doubts and do not have ways to rid ourselves of them through studying the Word and being in community with other believers, then we are not wearing the Armor of God. We do not have the Shield of Faith or the Sword of the Spirit. If we have knowledge of the Word, our faith is strengthened and we can then push back against the “Did God really say” ideas as well as strengthen those around us and be used by God to share the gospel. Through an understanding of the Word, we can help spread the Gospel. And the best way to gain an understanding of the Word is to study it and allow the Helper, the Holy Spirit, to teach you. As you study the Word, you will find yourself in situations where you can call up Scripture to answer a question that you or someone else has. The Holy Spirit will bring Scripture up from you memory in order to help you with a situation.
Look back on Acts 8:26-40, “26 But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, “Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.) 27 So he got up and went; and there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he had come to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this chariot.” 30 Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this: “He was led as a sheep to slaughter; And as a lamb before its shearer is silent, So He does not open His mouth. 33 “In humiliation His judgment was taken away; Who will relate His generation? For His life is removed from the earth.” 34 The eunuch answered Philip and said, “Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of someone else?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him. 36 As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch said, “Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?” 37 [And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”] 38 And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, but went on his way rejoicing.”
What an astounding moment of seeing the Sword of the Spirit properly wielded by a believer. Phillip is able to explain the Scripture to the eunuch which caused him to believe in Christ and become baptized. Another example is in Acts 2, where Peter is able to explain to a crowd of thousands that the men are not drunk but rather filled with the Spirit. He testifies to the listeners that the man they crucified was the Messiah, but He was raised again. This caused many to believe in Christ. Through the knowledge of the Scripture and having the Holy Spirit teach and guide the people that caused this miracle. When we have knowledge of the Scripture, we are able to put it to use and help guide those around us.
The Sword of the Spirit is not only something that can draw the individual to Him, the Sword of the Spirit is both an offensive and defensive weapon. As an offensive weapon the Word gives us reassurance that God’s Word is true when we are confronted by the ideals of this world. As we saw in Hebrews 4:12, the Sword can divide soul from spirit, joints from marrow, and can judge the heart of the individual. However, the Word of God is not just a weapon that divides the individual from this world, it is also our greatest defense against the attacks from the enemy. Matthew 4:1-11 is a great example of how we can use the Word of God as a defensive weapon. “4 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” 4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” 10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.” Matthew 4:1-11
Without knowing the Word of God, we fall prey to Satan’s attacks on our mind, it opens the door for thoughts of “Has God really said?” We then begin to rely on our feelings, which can be swayed, rather than the solid and indisputable facts that are found in the Word of God. We need to make sure that we stand firm with what the Word of God says so that when we hear something that goes against what God desires, we can use the Word to defend against it.
However, it is important to make sure that you are using the Word correctly. This is done first by making sure we read the Word of God in context. Do not read your own biases into what the Word says. You must know the who, what, were, and why of what is being written. There are verses in the Bible that are designed for Jews and there are verses that are directed for the Church. Do not mistake promises that were made to the Jews as promises that are made to the Church, this is called Replacement Theology which is heresy. The Gentiles, myself included, were grafted into the promise of salvation. For more information on how Gentiles are the wild branch, please read Romans 11:11-31.
We must be very careful not to take scripture out of context. For example, there is one verse that I often see quoted and even on T-shirts. “13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:13. Too often people use this verse to try to make God fit into what they want and what they would will. They believe that if they desire something, then God will make it so because it is what they want. This is not the case for this verse, you can do all things through what His will for you is. We cannot put our own biases on the Word and even add to what the Word says, if we do this then we are moving farther away from actually knowing who God is. “16 as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.” 2 Peter 3:16 when we try to make the Word of God fit what we wish for it to say, then we are only adding to our own destruction.
Be careful not to assume that someone is quoting the Word correctly as well, you need to bring everything back to the Word of God. Be like the Bereans in Acts 17:11, “11 Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.” Whenever you hear anyone say or write anything and claims it comes from the Bible, take it back to Scripture. Read a few verses above and below the quoted verse to see if it holds to what the Bible says. Scripture will answer Scripture.
Second, we can use the Sword of the Spirit correctly by being in the Word daily. As mentioned above, the Holy Spirit is a helper who will teach us and help us to understand the Word of God. But in order for us to be able to listen, we must daily present ourselves to the Teacher. As we study more of God’s Word, we will see that God will reveal Himself to us through the scriptures. We won’t always understand a passage immediately, in fact I find this happens to me a lot. I will be reading a passage and it just doesn’t make sense. When that moment happens, we need to pray and ask God to reveal it to us and as we do, the Holy Spirit will reveal more of God’s character and His plan for us through His Word. “10 these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. 14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. 15 The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,” 1 Corinthians 2:10-15 The more we spend time in the Word, the more we see the characteristics of God and can grow closer to Him. The Bible is one big love letter written for every human being, and the only way can get to know Him is through studying His Word.
Seek the Truth and Encourage One Another,
Alex