The Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God!

The Powerful Sword of the Spirit

The Lord wants us to understand how to use His word through the help of the Holy Spirit to apply His word to our lives and live for Him.

Ephesians 6:17 tells us to take the helmet of salvation and the “sword of the Spirit” which is the Word of God.”  The Word of God is a sword in the Spirit’s hands.  As we all know, a sword is considered to be a weapon of war.   The people in the church at Ephesus understood this powerful concept of the sword because they had so often seen the battles between the Roman centurions who were ruling this region of the Roman Empire.  They understood that the sword is a symbol is power and authority – and in the same way, God’s Word is powerful and it does represent the authority and strength of the Almighty  God. It is the highest authority with which we can enter into spiritual battle.

The sword is an offensive weapon.  The Word of God is to be used as an offensive weapon against our spiritual enemy.  The Bible says in James 4:7 – “resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”  How do we resist him?  If we know the truth of who we are from God’s Word, we will not have to listen to or believe his constant attack and lies that he sends our way.  Jesus gave us an example in how He responded when the devil tempted Him by quoting scriptures.

·         The sword is a one-on-one weapon.  It was designed for close combat.  It was not a weapon of mass assault or destruction – but it was intended to be used in personal conflict.  The Word of God is the Holy Spirit’s weapon in our personal, daily battle of the flesh against the Spirit.  When we are confronted with conflicts in our relationships, if we listen to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, we will respond in a way that honors God rather than a way that satisfies the flesh.

·         The  sword is a piercing weapon.  It was designed to penetrate the enemy, to thrust towards him and to fend off attacks.  Hebrews 4:12 states, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”  An example of that is the woman who was caught in the act of adultery who was brought to Jesus by the Pharisees - where Jesus' words penetrated the circumstances and sent the self-righteous packing and revealed the true mercy of God when He spoke with the woman and ultimately challenged to "go and sin no more."

·         Using the sword requires practice.  It is a skilled to be learned.  The longer a soldier was in training and practiced, the better he became at handling his sword.  Winning with the sword requires knowledge, skill and practice. So as we are commanded to study God’s Word, to search out scriptures, we will become more skillful in spiritual battle.

       II Timothy 2:15 states, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” 

The Holy Spirit Uses Scriptures

II Timothy 3:16 states, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.”

The Word of God was inspired by the Spirit – II Peter 1:21 states, “For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

The Word of God is explained by the Spirit – He teaches us God’s Word and reveals God’s heart to us.  

I Corinthians 2:9-13:  “However, as it is written:

“What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard and what no human mind has conceived” the things God has prepared for those who love him—these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 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. 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. 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.” (NIV)

God’s Word and God’s Spirit work together to accomplish God’s will – both in us and through us.

The Power of the Sword

When it comes to winning the daily battle of the Christian life – those of us who are followers of Christ have been given two exceedingly powerful resources – The Holy Spirit of God and the inspired Word of God.  We all know the Christian life is impossible to live by human strength alone but God calls us to live beyond our capacity – and He places His Spirit within us and His Word before us.

Unfortunately, sometimes our Bibles are unread, unused and unstudied, and ultimately the Holy Spirit is ignored and unwelcome.  At our fingertips, we have the explosive power of the very Word of God and we do have the Spirit of God within us.  Yet, for the love of sin and our flesh, we sometimes hold them at bay, and do not allow the power of God to truly work in our lives.  We will lose our battles not because we cannot win, but because we often choose not to want to win.

What if David had not slung the stone towards Goliath, or if Joshua had not led the march around Jericho, or if Noah had not boarded the Arc or Gideon had not blown the trumpet, or if Peter had not thrown out the net.  We see throughout Scripture God’s people, by faith, using the power the Lord placed before them, and as a result, God brings victory.

Whether we believe it or not, whether we claim it or not – God’s Word is powerful just as His Spirit is – but too often we tend to believe the lies that Satan sends our way through negative statements, like “How can one book [the Bible] and an invisible Spirit help us against such strong temptations?” or “How does prayer or reading God’s Word help us against such powerful circumstances?”  This is the breaking point – our faith – or lack thereof.  Believing our flesh and not the Spirit that resides within us.

Ezekiel 33:31-32 – “My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to hear your words, but they do not put them into practice. Their mouths speak of love, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain. Indeed, to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice.” (NIV)

We need to be proactive and move forward in this knowledge and understanding of the power of the Spirit and the power of God’s Word.  Daily victory IS within our reach, but it does call for a response from us. 

Learning to Use the Sword

D.L. Moody once said, “A Bible that is falling apart usually belongs to someone who is not.”  In order for God’s  Word to make a difference in our lives, we must practice its use.  There are six simple ways to learn to use the Sword of the Spirit to live in victory in our daily life.

1.    Desire the Word.   A growing Christian will have a natural and growing hunger to know more of God’s truth – I Peter 2:2 – “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby.” (KJV)

2.    Study the Word.   We are commanded to personally dig into God’s Word and learn it. 

3.    Memorize the Word – choose a portion of scripture to memorize so it will remain in your heart, mind and soul – and you can be reminded of what the truth of His Word says, especially when you are being attacked by the Enemy.  Psalm 119:11-12 –  “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Praise be to you, Lord;  teach me your decrees.” (NIV)

4.    Hear the Word.  It is a wise decision to get involved in a good church that teaches God’s truth from His word, through both morning sermons and small group classes.   I Thessalonians 2:13 states, “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.” (ESV)

5.    Meditate upon the Word.  Think about God’s truth and let your heart contemplate it throughout the day.  Joshua 1:8 states, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”  Although God wants us to be prosperous as good stewards, He also wants us to be prosperous and have good success in spiritual warfare.

6.    Obey the Word.   Basic simple obedience.  Once we read it, we need to obey what it says.   Psalms 119:105 states, “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” This is true only as we put it to use in our daily lives.  For example, we can use scripture as a basis for prayer.  "Lord you have promised me in your Word that you will give me victory as I am obedient to you, and you have said your Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path, so I pray that the outcome of this circumstance will show me your will so that you might be honored and glorified.  Amen!"

As we allow the Holy Spirit to engrave His Word into our hearts and change our lives, we will become a living epistle, a “walking Bible.”  II Corinthians 3:2-3 states, “You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.”

We need to ask the Holy Spirit of God to stir within us a fresh and enduring love for God’s Word – the true Sword of the Spirit.  For in so doing, we will discover that no sin, no temptation, and no fleshly desire is a match for the power of God’s Spirit using God’s Word in our lives!

Free downloads for Bible Apps:

You can go to these websites and read the scriptures that are referred to, but there are also some great tools available to help you learn more about understanding the Bible.   You can learn about various plans or programs that can be used through these apps or just read about them online.  Some of these will help you read through the whole Bible in a year.   Some of these plans will help you develop a regular devotional time each day by providing you with topics you may be interested in learning more about.

You can also read these passages of scripture from your app on your phone or kindle or Ipad (or computer) and some may even offer the option to hear God’s word be read aloud so you can listen to it being read while you are also reading these verses.  Some people will even play these apps where the scripture is being read aloud while they are driving in their car.

YouVersion - https://www.youversion.com/

Bible Gateway - https://www.biblegateway.com/   App:  https://www.biblegateway.com/app/

Faith Life Study Bible – https://faithlifebible.com/  - App:  https://faithlifebible.com/app

Daily Audio Bible - https://dailyaudiobible.com/

Websites that show different verses to help us with various things in life:

·         25 Scriptures to Run to When You Feel Like Giving Up - http://theprayingwoman.com/2015/03/06/12-bible-verses-to-keep-close-when-you-feel-like-giving-up/   (P.S. these verses are not intended to be for women only – they are beneficial to anyone who needs them! J )

·         Bible Verses about not giving up - http://www.biblestudytools.com/topical-verses/bible-verses-about-giving-up/

·         Bible Verses by Topic - http://www.biblestudytools.com/topical-verses/

·         Bible Verses about a multiple of areas in our walk with God – (you can click on to select whatever translation you want to choose) http://www.christianity.com/bible/bible-topics.php

·         10 Things to Remember When Reading the Bible: https://www.crossway.org/blog/2016/03/10-things-to-remember-when-reading-the-bible/

How many of you like to work out?  At a gym?  Bike ride? Go on hikes?  Swim?  Play sports, etc.  When you work out regularly, you ultimately stay in great shape with your body and your health.  If you eat unhealthy and never do any kind of physical activity – you will definitely see the consequences as you end up gaining weight and become unhealthier physically and emotionally.

In the same way, reading the Bible regularly and studying its content consistently will help us maintain our spiritual health, help us to stay in “shape” and strengthen our relationship with the Lord on a day-to-day basis.   We will feel much better in every area in our life, and we will sense the Lord’s presence and understand more of His perspective as we continue to read and study God’s Word.  If we do not read or apply God’s word regularly and try and understand it better and how it so infinitely applies to every area of our life, then we will lose the ability and opportunity to see life as He wants us to see it, and we will not become strengthened in our walk with Him.

Whether you are involved in attending a local church on a weekly basis, you can still learn more about God’s Word on your own.  You can look up on the internet about topics you’re interested in learning more about and often various websites or YouTube videos will post people who speak on these topics and they’re filled with all kinds of awesome verses on those subjects.  Of course, you don’t have to always read God’s word online or on a phone app or on your computer – you can use the Bible that you may have had for years and use a yellow marker to highlight verses that are important to you. 

We as disciples of Jesus need to recognize that learning and applying these principles concerning the Sword of the Spirit are essential to our growth and development.  These are essentially a component of our spiritual disciplines.  If by example Jesus Himself prayed and mediated on the Word of God and then did the work of the Spirit, as disciples, we should emulate His example.

Study Questions

1. Who teaches us God’s Word and reveals God’s heart to us? 
2.  As we fight the daily battle to overcome the flesh and live a Spirit-filled life, what weapon has God provided for us?
3. What can we do to cause Satan to flee when he is tempting us? 
4. What are the six practical ways to more effectively use the Sword of the Spirit, in your quest for victorious Christian living? How many can you name?
5. What can you do to encourage daily meditation on the Word of God?
6. Is there someone you can enlist as your accountability partner for scripture memory so that you can hold each other accountable weekly for verses you are trying to memorize?
7. Is there a bible topic you would like to study more in-depth?\
8. Can you buy or borrow a book this week that can help you reach your goal?