#33.

God's Word is the Sword of the Spirit

Ephesians 6:17 And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. We are continuing to look at the ways in which the Word of God itself tells us that it is an important tool that God uses in our sanctification - the process in which we are made more and more like the Lord Jesus Christ and less and less prone to fall into sin. This week we want to focus on a particular role that the Word plays as we engage in the Spiritual warfare that God calls us to fight as His children. In this well-known passage from Ephesians, Paul tells us that we need to be strong to fight this fight, but not by working out at the gym, and not by our own effort. We are to be strong "in the Lord and in the strength of His might" if we want to prevail in this battle. We need to understand that Satan and his forces are way too powerful for us to face without God's strength. There were some characters in the New Testament who discovered this when they tried to drive out demons in the name of Jesus, but without knowing Jesus for themselves. They were quickly overpowered and badly beaten by the demons, using the body of their host for the purpose. Paul stresses that this is a spiritual war - not against flesh and blood but against spiritual forces of wickedness in heavenly places. So that we may be strong in the Lord and in His strength, Paul urges us to put on the armor that God has given us. It is "full armor", which means that it contains everything we need to stand up against the furious assaults of the Enemy. In our series on why we should pray, we saw that prayer was one component of this armor but as we read the list that Paul gives us, we find the Word of God is present - it is our sword. It has defensive and offensive applications. How can the Word of God be used as a defensive weapon in the spiritual warfare? Remember what we have already seen about what it is. It is Truth, it is pure and upright. Satan, on the other hand, is a liar and the father of lies. Most of his attacks on us depend to one degree or another on deception and lying. He lied to Adam and Eve in the garden about the consequences of eating the fruit, and about the motives of God in forbidding them to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Some of his lies are enormous, some are very subtle. How shall we expose them? How shall we disarm Satan as he whispers his lies to us and makes sin seem so attractive? We need the truth! We need a divinely powerful weapon that can show the lies for what they are and cut their power out of them, one that is sharp to expose sinful motives and separate even soul and spirit, joint and marrow. This is the Word of God! How can the Word of God be used as an offensive weapon? God tells us in another part of the Bible that he has given his children divinely powerful weapons that are able to demolish the strongholds of Satan (2 Corinthians 10:4). Again, as Jesus said, it is the truth that sets us free. This sword, through the message of the Gospel it contains, will cut through the chains that bind Satan's captives and release them into the liberty of the children of God. God has invested power in the Word to raise the spiritually dead to new life in Christ! This week, let's make sure that our sword is polished and slides easily out of the scabbard

when we need to use it. Let's train ourselves in its use, let's rejoice that God has given us such a weapon, and let's wield it for His glory!

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