“The Sword of the Spirit”
Eph. 6:17 March 7, 2010
OPEN: Ill – being invited to speak at a church. I had never been to the area before and arrived just a little early so that we might get a feel for the layout of the land and what the area was like. We decided to take a ride down through the middle of the city. The town was laid out very nicely with one way streets laying parallel to each other one block between them. One street ran north, the other ran south – and the rest of the city was laid out with the other roads leading to these main avenues. Just as we got to the middle of the downtown area, we were rather surprised to see several police cars converge around us rather quickly. At first we kind of thought they were converging on us (did I forget my seatbelt?) We soon realized they were after the occupants in the car directly in front of us. Several policemen jumped out of their cars with weapons drawn and started shouting at the occupants to get out of the car and put their hands on their head. Now this was all kind of interesting to us – kind of like watching live TV show going on around you. But what was even more interesting was watching the two guys get out of the car – fairly big guys – you know the kind that you find in the gym with all the tattoos lifting the heavy weights. What made it even more interesting was the fact that one of the policemen wasn’t a man. It was a woman – in fact a rather small framed female officer who normally wouldn’t stand a chance at taking on either one of these guys. It was rather interesting to watch her in operation as she gave orders and these two big burly guys obeyed everything she said. They got down on the ground – face down in the dirt and put their hands behind their backs and waited to be handcuffed. Why on earth would these two guys listen to a very small woman? In any other situation, that confrontation would have been disastrous. That little gal wouldn’t stand a chance against these guys. But this situation had nothing to do with size and strength. The police officer had authority - she had the backup of the other officers with her and besides all that she had a .45 caliber pistol in her hand. Which I had every reason to believe she knew how to use effectively. Having the right weapon in her hand at the right time and knowing how to use it correctly made all the difference in that situation. And that’s what we want to focus on as we come to the end of this series on the armor of God.
We want to look at the one piece of spiritual armor that gives you all the authority – all the power – all the protection you will ever need in the battles you are going to encounter in this life.
This morning we are going to examine the last piece of the Christian's armor. Verse 17, finally, as Paul expresses what is needed for the believer to overcome Satan and his hosts he says take the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. We’ve discussed the belt of truthfulness in verse 14 which is commitment to truth. And we’ve discussed the breastplate of righteousness which is holiness. And we've discussed the shoes of the gospel which is experiencing the peace of God. We’ve discussed the shield of faith which is believing God. We've discussed the helmet of salvation which is the rock solid hope we have in our future.. And now we come, finally, to the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. Now listen, the previous armor has been primarily defensive but now we come to a piece of armor which is both defensive and offensive. I've heard people say that this is offensive. It is more than that it is defensive as well.
The word sword here is a very interesting term. It is the word in the Greek makaira and it’s a very common word in Greek, a very common word even in the New Testament. The other word for sword, romphaia, refers to a large broad sword. It could be as long as forty inches plus, longer than a yardstick, a great, broad, two-edged sword that was wielded with two hands. That is not what’s being talked about here. This is the more normal sword carried by the soldiers, the makaira, anywhere from six inch long daggers to 18 inch swords or so. They were put into a sheath or a scabbard by the side of the soldier and were used in hand-to-hand combat. This sword was the only strategic weapon that could be used when the enemy was close, so warriors spent hours upon hours with it in their hands – working on their dexterity, getting used to the feel, and letting it become second nature, as familiar as their own limbs. Their lives depended on their diligence in keeping the skills honed and ready for battle at any moment.
On the screen here are artifacts of old ancient Roman swords that have been found in a number of archeological digs. In the lower right are reproductions of what has been dug up from different sites. All of them are very simple in design but of course very lethal in the hands of a person who is skilled in using it properly. The makaira is the word used to describe the swords in Matthew 26:47 that were in the hands of the Romans when they came to capture Jesus while He was in the garden. It was the normal Roman soldier’s sword. It is the same word used to speak of the sword which Peter cut off the ear of the servant of the high priest. It is the same word used. It had to be an instrument that was used with precision. Peter simply cut off an ear with it. If he had a broadsword he would have cut all the way from the ear to the tip of the guys toe. The makaira had to be used as a precise weapon. It was specifically designed for hand to hand combat. And if a soldier was going to survive in battle he’d better know how to use his sword properly. He better know how to use it effectively.
Now another interesting thing about this verse is the word Paul chooses to use when he talks about the
Word of God. There are two primary Greek words that describe Scripture which are translated word in the New Testament. The first, logos, refers principally to the total inspired Word of God and to Jesus, Who is the living Logos. The term word here is not logos, logos is a term meaning word that speaks of a broad or general reference. The word of God is the general idea. The word that Paul uses here is rhema. it means a specific statement. The sword of the Spirit involves applying specific Biblical principles to specific circumstances in my life. In other words, we don’t use the Bible like a broadsword, just swinging the whole thing around hoping to get lucky and ward off the evil one. Instead, we are to use it with surgical-like precision, finding specific portions of Scripture that apply to the specific temptation that we’re facing or the specific doubt that comes into our minds or the specific emotion that we’re dealing with. That’s rhema. It’s the sword of the Spirit - the word of the Spirit spoken to each one of us that addresses the proper application of the Word of God to the particular circumstances we are facing. It’s the Bible – alive – living and active and properly applied to the issues of life.
Think of a soldier or a gladiator in training, practicing sword thrusts and moves and positions. Now, he must practice them ahead of time, and if he is a superior fighter, and has a great fighting instinct, at the time of battle he will instantly recall which thrust, which position suits the precise moment. He will never be able to use the thrust in the fight if he has not first practiced it, but he still needs to make the move at the moment. Therefore, effectively using the sword takes practice. You see Paul is not talking about general knowledge – he is talking about the application of specific truths – that can only come about by a combination of knowing and yielding. Knowing the great arsenal that God has given us in his word and yielding to the Holy Spirit as he guides us in its proper application in our lives.
Romans 10:17 is often quoted this way,
“Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God”
What appears in Scripture is really this:
Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.
Faith comes through the word of Christ - the rhema of Christ. A specific statement about. It always amazes me when I can preach or share the gospel over and over and say the exact thing that the Bible says – and some speaker comes along and says basically the same thing and it just hits someone and they finally surrender to the Lord – that’s rhema. It’s happened to me when I speak other places – I’ll say something – someone will come to the Lord and the pastor will come up and say – “I’ve been saying that same thing for years and he never responded.” Rhema. The Spirit empowered application of the word of God to a specific situation in a person’s life.
Understand The Origin of Your Weapon.
“Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:20, 21)
The key word here is “carried along,” or borne along, it’s a word that is used in secular Greek sources to refer to something floating down stream like a leaf. They were literally carried along by the Holy Spirit. The writers of Scripture, the men who wrote the Scripture...and by the way, there are no female writers of Scripture, all 66 books are written by men...so the Spirit of God moved these men along so that they actually spoke from God borne along by the Holy Spirit. There are two immediate disclaimers and both of them say Scripture doesn’t come from any human source. It is a miraculous book authored by God through the Holy Spirit moving human writers to write exactly what God wanted said. No prophecy of Scripture, that refers to all of it, no place in Scripture...it’s not talking about prophecy in a predictive sense, prophecy means to speak forth. No message from God, no speaking forth of God contained in Scripture, nothing from God contained in Scripture is a matter of...look at that phrase...a matter of one’s own interpretation.
Now this needs a little bit of explanation. I really never have liked the translation “interpretation” here because the Greek term is epilusis. If you know anything about the Greek language, luo is the word to loose, and this is a compound of loose. It’s the idea of unleashing something. It’s the idea of unloosing something. No Scripture is of any human unleashing - it's speaking of origin. It’s speaking of source. Peter is actually saying, “Scripture does not come from any human source.” It isn’t a question of some men having intimacy with God and some people knowing God and watching God work and having historical acquaintance with the operation of God, having a high level of human genius and a high level of religious sensitivity writing down their best understandings of God. It is not that. No prophecy of Scripture, no message in Scripture comes from a human source.
And then in verse 21 he further strengthens the point by repeating it. “For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man” Nobody ever said no matter how noble they might have been, or how godly they might have been said “I think I'll write Scripture.” No one has ever said that and done that. Some may have said it but they didn’t do it because it’s impossible. No prophecy was ever made by an act of the human will. You can't produce Scripture from the human will. You can’t produce Scripture by any private origin. Rather “Men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” The same words are used in Acts 27:15 describing a sailing ship that was carried along by a strong wind. The apostles raised their sails, so to speak (meaning they were obedient and receptive) and the Holy Spirit filled them and carried their craft along in the direction He wanted. The Holy Spirit selected the author and the Holy Spirit gave the message to the author so that what he wrote down was exactly the Word of God inerrant and infallible. They spoke from God, writing exactly what God wanted said. That’s inspiration.
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
(2 Timothy 3:16)
“All Scripture” means all of the Bible, both Old and New Testaments. The Greek word Paul uses to describe the Scriptures as “God-breathed” is (Theopneustos) is a compounding of two other Greek words: Theos, meaning “God.” Theos is where we get our English word “theology” from. And the word pneuma, meaning “wind,” “breath,” or “spirit.” You men here who have used a pneumatic drill will know that a pneumatic drill is a drill driven by air. Literally translated, the Greek word theopneustos means “God-breathed.” All Scripture is literally “God-breathed.” The word is unique to Scripture and actually is also unique to classical Greek writings. There wasn’t a word in the Greek language that adequately conveyed the idea that the Holy Spirit wanted to express, so he took two common words in the Greek language and kind of crammed them together to say what he needed to say.
What the Apostle is communicating here, folks, is that your Bible - all of Holy Scripture - finds its source and origin in God. Almighty God is the ultimate author of the Bible in your hand (and the Bible collecting dust on your bookshelf, for that matter). All Scripture has been generated by God. It was He who caused it to be written. It is God-breathed; it came from His mind and mouth. Truly, the Bible is a divine book because its author is God. Those words written in its pages are God’s words, because All Scripture is God-breathed.
The result is transformation.
Being a student of the Bible is about being transformed, not about being informed. It’s about transformation not information., “it is useful for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting and training in righteousness” - that’s what it takes to bring about transformation in our lives. – Look at the end product. the end product “that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
We invest in the things that we think will bring a payoff.
Folks I want to tell you that studying the Bible has payoff – it will bring transformation to your life, to your family’s life, to your children’s lives.
When you begin to understand the nature of the book that you hold in your hands, you will find out
these things about it. It is inspired by God - meaning it is not the work of man – God superintended the writing of the Bible as he breathed his word into the men who wrote it down. It is inerrant – it does not contain any errors – It is infallible. Meaning that when rightly interpreted it will not lead you into doing anything wrong. It will not mislead us. Add that all up and what we have is a word from God that has total authority. God has given it to us a faithful guide but more than that – it is to be the authority over our lives. We are responsible to do what it says. – The authority the Bible has over us is really God’s authority.
Understand the Power of The Word.
God has designed his word to do more than increase our knowledge level. Let me just remind you of a very important promise with regard to this.
“As the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is My Word that goes out from My mouth. It will not return to Me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:10 -11)
In other words, God says when I send My Word it always does its work. It never comes back empty. Just like rain and snow produces what grows, My Word produces My will. That's a tremendous confidence that we have who teach the Word of God, who articulate the Word of God, to know that it always accomplishes what God wants it to do, - that it never comes back empty, always produces, like rain and snow and all the other things that God sends with production in mind. The Word is productive. It is prolific and it accomplishes its purpose. Every word out of God's mouth is bread. It feeds somebody. It nourishes somebody. It makes somebody grow. It accomplishes God’s purpose. It shall prosper in its purpose. It is based upon truth.
“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
(Hebrews 4:12)
God’s word has power. It isn’t just ink on a page;
it’s living and active. It produces something. It is interactive. We live in a world of technology where interactive games and television and phones are all the rage. God’s word has been interactive long before technicians thought the word up.
This book is life-changing. Countless people have set out to prove the Bible wrong and by interacting with it the bible actually persuades them to become Christians.
It penetrates - it penetrates deeply – no hiding anything in our lives. The Word cuts the heart of sinners and saints alike with conviction.
It judges (sifts out or separates - analyzes) the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. When a surgeon operates he doesn’t do it in the dark. Whether it is laparoscopic or wide open – there has got to be light when the scalpel is applied. That’s what the Bible does – it shines light on the dark areas and exposes things as they really are. The word “attitudes” there by the way is really the word “intentions” You know - what the road to hell is paved with. The Word of God then is like a sword that cuts. It cuts deeply. And most every one of us as Christians have been cut by the Word, haven't we? We’ve been ripped open by the Word. We came to church on a given Sunday feeling pretty good about ourselves and went away feeling terrible about ourselves. We were laid bare. We were cut open by the Word. We came thinking everything was in order and we heard a message that showed everything wasn't in order. And when we were confronted with the Word of God that morning we realized we came short of that and our sin was exposed and we were cut up.
And that by the way, that’s a good indicator in your life. Even if you’re a believer you find yourself wanting to stay away from the Lord’s people, wanting to stay away from the services of the church, wanting to stay away from the teaching of the Word. It may be because you don't want to get cut open. You’re harboring some sin in your heart.
Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the
eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4: 13)
He uses a most interesting term in the Greek which was also used among the soldiers. Let me give you a little idea of how it was used. It was used to describe a criminal who had to lift his face and face the crowd as he was marched to his punishment. And the way they did that was quite interesting. A soldier held a dagger right at the chin with it just barely piercing the skin. The point of that dagger was held to force the criminal to hold his head high and his face so that every one could see him as he was paraded to his punishment.
Now you see when you turn on the television set some criminal going like this...and holding his hands over his head and ducking under his coat because he doesn't want to be seen by the television cameras. There’s a certain amount of shame and guilt. They knew that, but they wanted the criminal to have to face the whole wide world and the whole community to see his face so they rammed a little dagger up under his chin and made him walk with his chin up and were he to lower his chin, he would have pierced himself right through. And in a very real sense he is saying that’s exactly what the Word of God does, it jams its pierced point right up under your chin and it makes you face the reality and it makes God able to see exactly what you look like. It reveals you to Him. You are open before Him. You can’t hide a thing. That’s what the Word will do
And my guess is that many of you have experienced that. As you sit down and read through God's Word and you read about something...you may be reading about love and saying to yourself, “I don't love enough, I have such a lack of love.” You may be reading about bitterness and say, “That’s me, I have such bitterness in my heart.” You may be reading about hatred and you realize your heart is filled with that. You may be reading about pride and you say to yourself that’s me, that’s me, that’s cutting me wide open and now it’s obvious before God and now even before my own eyes. That’s the Word, that’ the work of the Word.
Let me tell you something we ought to thank God just as much for the reproving work of the Word as for the doctrinal part of it, right? We ought to be just as eager to be reproved by the Word as you are to be instructed by the Word. You ought to be just as eager to have your sin exposed as you are to have some great truth and principle taught to you that you can apply. Why? Because if you’re truly God’s child, you hunger after what is right and you hunger after righteousness. An exposure of sin should be a welcome process, it’s a bitter sweet experience. We can rejoice then that in the perfecting of the man of God the Word will save, the Word will teach the principles of truth and then the Word will convict and reprove and confute the sinner.
Get Trained – Learn How To Swing Your Sword
“Do your best (Be diligent) to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, who correctly handles the Word of Truth.” (2 Tim. 2:15)
This is a statement made to a young pastor by the name of Timothy. He is told that he must do his best to present himself approved to God. How can he do that? By being a workman who doesn’t need to be ashamed. How can he accomplish that? By handling the Word of truth accurately. It is essential that he as a minister of God’s Word handles it carefully - proclaim it accurately. Paul is encouraging him to become a student of the Bible. – By the way – what’s the application of this verse? Is it for guys named Timothy only? No – it’s for all of us, isn’t it? We are all to be students of the Bible, because we all need to know how to swing the sword in the battles we face in life. Every single one of us needs to be able to correctly interpret and apply the Bible to our lives.
It’s always been the plan of our enemy from the beginning that we would exchange the truth of God for a lie. It’s always been his primary purpose that we would make the stupidest exchange imaginable – that we would walk away from the truth of our loving Heavenly Father and follow a lie and pursue something lesser than Him. Each one of us have an area of weakness in our lives (gambling, addiction, sex, finances, gossip, pride) and what Satan does is try to tempt us in those areas and exchange what God has prepared for us for what the momentary rush that indulgence in those weak areas brings our way. But at the end of the day when we make that exchange we ask ourselves – “what in the world did I just do?” I exchanged the truth – for what ? Guilt? Shame? Remorse? And Satan wants more than anything that at the very end when you stand before God and his majestic glory and all the riches and treasures of heaven for you to stand there and say “What did I exchange this for?”
Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen. (2 Peter 3:17-18)
He says make sure you don’t get carried away by the error of lawless people. People are going to come to you and say “Forget the commands of God – forget what the Bible says –forget that God is God and we are not –forget the Bible – Forget the commandments – Forget your future, your hope, your eternity, your forgiveness – Forget the promises, forget the Holy Spirit, Forget the mercy, forget the love, forget grace, forget the cross, forget Jesus, Forget God” That’s the cry of the lawless man. Get what you want – get what you desire. That’s the mantra of the lawless one. “Forget God – go for the gusto. Listen to the voice of the sssssserpant, don’t listen to the voice of God.” And the sad thing is that it works – it carries people away and they exchange the truth of God for a lie.
The Bible says you need to take care – you need to be on your guard – you need to be vigilant not to allow this to happen. I mean it really is a very real unrelenting battle. The moment you let your guard down – here comes the attack again. If you’re not prepared - if you’re not on guard – you will be carried away by the enemy – and you’ll be standing there saying – “What in the world just happened to me that I’m caught up in this horrid thing - again?” It’s because you’ve let your guard down. Scripture says – grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Keep your guard up! Keep your sword sharpened and ready for battle. What a tragedy it is to see Christians with a half-hearted attitude towards Bible study. Would it make sense to send untrained, unskilled unprepared soldiers out onto a battlefield against a deadly enemy is powerful, trained, and experienced and is doggedly determined to take you out? “hay go ahead out there and see what happens – don’t worry about the training and your weapon – you’ll figure out what to do when you’re out there.” Really? That’s the attitude the Christian is going to have in the world that we live in today? In a culture that is totally determined to remove the Bible from every facet of our society? Satan knows the word is effective so he tries to stop it. Satan will do anything to silence those who preach the word. He’ll do anything to try to undo what they do. You remember the parable Jesus told about the sower and, the seed? Satan will do anything to stop the sowing of the see and it taking root – he’ll snatch it up, he’ll fill a person’s life with competing issues, he bring heat to bear through persecution – anything to keep a person from knowing how to use the Word of God properly. He knows that if it finds good ground it will produce and listen - that’s what is exciting. If I didn't believe the word of God would produce I’d quit preaching and do something else. But it’s so fantastic that you can know that when you go out the word of God will never return void but will always accomplish what He intends it to do.
CLOSE: I wish I could convey to you how serious of an issue this I believe this is. Every crisis/victory your child will face in the future depends their ability to find counsel and guidance in the Word of God. The future of our church – our community – our region – our families – our nation – our very world hands in the balance of people knowing how to use the Sword of the Spirit.
