go ahead and read from Ephesians chapter 6. We're
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.
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
chapter 4. In Acts chapter 4 verse 8. We read
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.
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.
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.