The Sword of the Spirit

SERMON: 2017-01-22--e0607--the-sword-of-the-spirit-part-1 SOURCE DURATION: 00:42:08.000 PROPOSED CUTS: 1 CONFIDENCE: 0.95 APPROVED: false REASON: The candidates represent a continuous flow of prayer and conclusion (a benediction/pastoral application). Candidate 24 ('Amen.') is the final spoken word in this sequence, marking the definitive end of the sermon content before any potential music or announcement. ACOUSTIC EVIDENCE: available ACOUSTIC MUSIC INTERVALS: none ACOUSTIC SPEECH OVERLAP: no ACOUSTIC BOUNDARIES APPLIED: none Inline CUT markers identify each proposed audio boundary after the relevant word. --- ORIGINAL TRANSCRIPT WITH PROPOSED CUTS MARKED --- Want to pick up where we left off last week? We're still doing a series of messages on Ephesians chapter 6, message this morning entitled "The Sword of the Spirit" and our text is Ephesians 6, the latter part of verse 17. Scripture there says, "Take the helmet of salvation." We looked at that last week and now the topic for this morning, "The Sword of the Spirit, the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God." Powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword, piercing to the separation of bone and marrow, laying bare the thoughts and the intentions of the heart. Before we get into that, let's pray together. Father, we're just so grateful that you're not a God who is silent, but that you are a God who throughout the course of history have spoken the prophetic word, that word being your intention to renew all things through faith in Jesus and to unite all things in heaven and on earth in him. We know, Lord, there is a battle that rages, often we're overcome in that battle, but you have promised us the full armor of God in the person of Jesus. And as now we look at the use of the sword and how you equip us to wage warfare, I pray that on the one hand you give me the liberty and the words to share what you've laid in my heart, and Lord, that all of us will have ears to hear and eyes to see and hearts to receive what it is that you say to us so that in all the ups and downs of life we may stand securely rooted and grounded in the Word of God as ultimately revealed in the living word, even the Lord Jesus. So bless us in these moments together, Father, and may you be honored in all that we are and in all that we do. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, I pointed out last week that there is a close relationship between the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. If the shield of faith is what protects us against the flaming arrows of the evil one, and if the helmet of salvation protects our heads against the lies of the devil, then the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, enables us to quench both those flaming arrows and those attacks of doubt and discouragement that come to us through our minds. And so I pointed out last week towards the end of the message that when the enemy comes along and he says, "You can't possibly be a Christian. God can't possibly like you, let alone love you because of who you are," then the antidote to that is not to argue with him, but rather to stand upon the promises and to quote him Scripture. And one Scripture that I have found very effective in my own life many years ago was 1 John 5, 12, and 13, where Scripture says, "He who has the Son has life. He who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life." This is God's Word to the lies of the enemy. Likewise, when the enemy comes at us and says, "You know, you're such a poor excuse as a Christian, there is no way that you're ever going to be able to overcome the limitations of your own flesh, and there is no way that you can remain faithful to the Lord Jesus, given all the opportunities to sin that come your way," the solution is not to try to argue with the devil or to argue with yourself, but rather to quote Scripture. And again, one verse that I have found over the years very helpful in my own life, Philippians 1 verse 6, "I'm sure that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." The Word of God is what we stand on against the lies of the enemy. In similar fashion, when the devil comes along and he says, "You know, it doesn't matter what you do. The world isn't going to change. Things aren't going to be better. You're just beating the air, wasting your life, serving the Lord Jesus," again, the solution is not to try to argue with that or try to talk ourselves into a positive frame of mind, rather we quote Scripture. 1 Corinthians 15, 58, "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain." That's what Paul means when he says, "Take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God." And what I want to try to do with you this morning is to expand on that a little bit, because there's more there, of course, than meets the eye. The sword that Paul is talking about here is what's known as the gladius, which is the Roman short sword or broad sword. You can see it there. It's about 24 inches give or take in length. It was usually in a scabbard on the side so that their soldier could pull it out, carry the shield in the other arm, and move forward as you can see in this particular image. If I were to expand that image, it's a whole row of soldiers, all of whom are holding their shield this way and their broad sword facing this way. They had other swords too. They had a short dagger. They often had a spear, but Paul is focusing on what's known as the gladius. Now, what's particularly significant about the sword of the Spirit that Paul is talking about here is that for the Roman soldier, the sword was not only defensive, it was also offensive. That is to say, of all the armor that the Roman soldier had, it was essentially the only piece of equipment that could not only hold off the attacks of the enemy, but that could instead be used to attack the enemy. Now, the shield did that also to some degree. If we can just put that slide back up for a moment, you'll notice that each of those shields had this little bulge on it here. Do you see that? The purpose of that was to use the shield as a battering ram and then to follow it with the sword. The sword was double edged. What's particularly noticeable in the sword is the sharp point, and the purpose of that sharp point was to be able to penetrate the armor of the opponent soldier. So the sword wasn't only defensive, it was particularly used to get into the space of the enemy, stab him because in stabbing him, particularly if you could stab him in the abdomen or some such place, the soldier was almost sure to die. Now, there's a principle here that's really important for us to understand. When it comes to spiritual warfare, God doesn't only want us to be in a defensive position where we just stand and have the enemy come at us from all sides. It's important to stand. It's better to stand than to be bowled over. But spiritual warfare is more than just standing firm. It is also engaging the enemy and driving him back. So listen to what James says in James chapter four, verse seven. Submit yourselves then to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. In other words, push back. And that's rooted and grounded in the ministry of Jesus and in the ministry of the disciples. You might recall in Luke chapter 10, we have the story where Jesus has sent out 72 of his disciples to go and to proclaim the kingdom, to cast out evil spirits, and to watch God heal and restore people. And if you know the story, the 72 of them come back and they are on one huge emotional and spiritual high. Why? Because they said even the demons are subject to us. Now remember then the response of Jesus when they come to him with such enthusiasm. Here's what he says. He says, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy. Nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. What are you saying? There is this, don't get carried away by the spiritual power and authority that I have given you. Remember the spiritual power and authority that I have given you comes out of your relationship with the father. Rejoice that your names are written in heaven because you are in relationship with God. God shares his authority with you. And I saw Satan fall like lightning out of heaven. Why? Because when God's people are exercising their God given authority in Christ, Satan's power is diminished. That's part of the offensive nature of spiritual warfare. God doesn't just want us to stand back and receive beating upon beating upon beating. There is also a time to put your foot down and say, no, in God's name, get out of here, leave me alone. I want to serve the Lord. I don't want you to have control and power over my life or the lives of people around me. That's rooted. That's rooted in the very nature and the heart of Jesus's ministry. Paul summarizes it beautifully in Colossians 2 verse 15, where it says concerning the Lord Jesus, having disarmed the powers and the authorities, these are the spiritual powers, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. Jesus by his death and resurrection, defeated Satan's power, led them in a victory procession, received the name that is above every name. And out of that authority, shares his authority with you and me. The sword of the spirit is not only defensive, it is also offensive. Not offensive in it being a bad thing, but offensive in stepping into the places where the enemy has a hold and driving them out so that God's kingdom can come and his purposes can be established. You with me? Now, what's very significant about that for our purposes this morning is that this authority, this offensive nature of the sword, is rooted in the authority of God's word. Because notice again how Paul puts it here in Ephesians, take he says the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. Now the word of God as you and I both know in our context is what we know of as the Bible. And the Bible is the most unusual book in all of the world because it professes not to have originated with human authors who were instrumental in writing it. The Bible, the scriptures are infused, inspired by God himself. And you've often heard me quote these verses from 2 Timothy 3, 16, and 17, verses that I think every Christian should memorize. All scripture is God. Breathe. And it's useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. God breathe. The picture is that of the creation of Adam made out of the clay of the earth. And what does God do? He breathes into his nostrils the breath of life. The authors who wrote scripture were infused with the breath of God and wrote as God gave them direction and instruction. Peter in another very familiar passage makes that even more plain when he says in 2 Peter 1, 20 and 21, he says, "Above all you must understand that no prophecy of scripture came about by a 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." And again what he is saying there is this, the writers of scripture didn't just sit down and say, "Well, you know, I've got some opinions of my own that I want to share with other people." Now the Holy Spirit came upon them, worked through their personality in the context of their culture, inspired them to write the word of God. Earlier on in 1 Peter he talks about the fact that the prophets themselves didn't know what they were prophesying because they were prophesying about the fulfillment of God's purpose through the person of Jesus. They longed to see the outcome of that, but they couldn't see it yet because all they knew is what the Holy Spirit was giving them. The purpose of prophecy is always to point us to Jesus in whom and through whom all the promises of God to make everything new are going to come to fulfill man. So because the word of God is inspired by God, it carries God's authority. And that authority has power to cut through all the lies of hell, all the confusion of humankind, and show the truth for what it really is. Earlier I referenced Hebrews 4, 12, and 13 in part, beautiful exposition of the authority and the power of God's word. "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword," there you have the gladius, double-edged sword, "penetrates even to the dividing of soul and spirit, joins in marrow. It judges the thoughts and intentions of the 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 all give account." Ever have it? You come to church or you read the Bible and it's like your name is all over it, and you say to yourself, "I wonder who told the preacher about what I went through this past week?" Well, to the degree to which we are collectively in tune with the Holy Spirit, use the word of God with authority and power. It cuts through all the lies. It cuts through all the confusion. It lays bare every thought and intention of the heart. That's why so many people are scared to death of God's authority. That's why there are people who don't want to read the Bible. That's why there are people who don't ever want to pause in the presence of God, lest what is hidden on the inside come to the outside. But remember, there's coming a day of judgment. And on the day of judgment, every secret thought, I don't know what that's going to look like, is going to be trumpeted from the housetops. I don't know about you, but I'd rather deal with it now privately in my closet before God than for the whole world to watch me stand there naked and have all my sins exposed, wouldn't you say? That's the purpose of the gospel. The word of God is sharper than a two-edged sword. It's got authority. And because it has authority, Satan recognizes it. And because it lays bare his lies, he cannot stand in the presence of the word of God, which is why Paul says the sword of the Spirit is the word of God. Now, there are many examples of how that works in scripture. I think one of the best and clearest examples, of course, is the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. That story is recorded for us both in Matthew and Mark and in Luke, called the Synoptic Gospels. Perhaps you will recall Jesus starts as public minister at the age of 30, meets up with John the Baptist at the Jordan River, asks to be baptized by John the Baptist. And as he has been baptized and is coming up out of the water in the Jordan River, the Holy Spirit descends upon him. God speaks words of affirmation. This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased. Who remembers what happens next? Not what you'd expect. He is driven by the Spirit into the wilderness. Why is he driven into the wilderness? By the Spirit. To be tempted by Satan for 40 days and 40 nights. And for 40 days and 40 nights, Jesus doesn't eat. And when he is most vulnerable and most weak, guess who shows up? The enemy of our souls. And he puts Jesus through a series of temptations that are parallel to the temptation that Adam and Eve experienced originally in the garden. You need to understand that because he is the second Adam. And what Adam lost, Christ regained. And so the devil comes to him and what's the first temptation? Do you remember what the first temptation is? Jesus is hungry. Devil comes to him and says what? Look at all these stones if you are the son of God. You have power to turn these stones into bread. Not a bad idea. But what's the appeal? The appeal is God has put you into this situation, you can't really trust that he's going to take care of you, so why not draw on your own resources to make it happen? Wouldn't be the first human being to fall for that line, would he? How many times in your life or my life don't we fall for that line? God's not good, not interested in you, not going to look after you, you can't trust him. So like Abraham of old, we take matters into our own hands and we begat an Ishmael. So what does Jesus do? Well, he doesn't argue with him, doesn't debate with him, but he quotes scripture. "It is written, 'Man does not live on bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" Devil is not about to be undone. So now what does he do? He takes him to the holy city, had him stand in the highest point of the temple, and he says, "If you are the son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written." And now the devil knows how to quote scripture. "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." What's the deal here? Why jump off the temple? Because the Old Testament had a prophecy that said when the Messiah appears, he will appear in the temple court. If Jesus jumps off the temple and he shows up, then the people will recognize him as the Messiah. So again, the temptation is take it into your own hands and make it happen. And now he's got to support his scripture because he knows the Bible better than you do, and he knows how to use it to get you to where he wants you to be. So what does Jesus do? Doesn't argue with him, doesn't tell him he's a terrible theologian and that he doesn't know his Bible. He just goes ahead and quotes more scripture. He says, "It is also written, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" Now the third temptation is the one that really fascinates me because now he takes him on a very high mountain and he showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their splendor. And he says, "All this I will give you if you will bow down and worship me." You know what intrigues me about this? Jesus does not argue the fact that Satan as the God of this world has the power and the authority to give all the kingdoms of the world and their riches. Do you realize that? Let me say that again. Satan is the God of this world and under the providential ordering of God, he can make you rich. He can make you famous. He can give you whatever it is that your little heart craves on the condition that you pledge him your loyalty and not God Almighty, the creator of heaven and earth. And how many people don't you know and how many times in your own life do you not find yourself in a situation where you will sell out your birthright like Esau did of old for a bowl of potage? A relationship that means more to you than Jesus. A friendship that is more important than the friendship of Jesus. Riches and wealth that is more important to you than integrity and honesty and walking fairly before the face of God. The world is full of people who make pacts with the devil and the devil promises to give them glory and riches. But remember, it's always to take advantage of you in the end because when he's done with you, he's going to wring you out, throw you in the pile and he'll go on to the next person. And how many people aren't there in the world who sell their souls for a moment of glory? I remember reading an article years ago about professional athletes who were asked the question if I could give you a drug that couldn't be detected in tests that would guarantee you an Olympic medal but would kill you in five years, how many of you would take it? And I remember being astonished by the number of people who were willing to sell their health out for that momentary glory of being in the limelight. Now, Jesus is smarter than that of course and what's his response? Away from me Satan, for it is written, worship the Lord your God and serve him only. When all has been said and done, God owns the whole world, God holds all the riches of the world and all of its glory in his hand and his promises to you and to me are if we will be faithful to him no matter what it looks like and no matter what the devil's lies are, God will give us our inheritance and he is worthy of all our worship. That's the whole theme of scripture. The whole theme of scripture is put God first, seek his kingdom and his righteousness and everything that you need and that the Gentiles are looking for, God will give it to you. But the devil knows their weaknesses, he knows their vulnerability, he knows how hard it is for us to trust God and so he loves to come along and dangle the temptation in front of us in order to wean us away from God and offer us what I call ill-gotten gain. He'll offer you the whole world but it will cost you your soul. So the sword of the spirit which is the word of God is the equipment that God gives us so that when Satan comes at us in this fashion, we can stand firm, we can see through his lies how does the story end here in Matthew and in the other gospels while Satan leaves. One of the gospels says until a more opportune time, what did James say? Resist the devil and he will flee from here. And one of the things you and I as God's people need to learn is our authority in Christ and the authority of God's word because while there are times the Lord wants us just simply to stand and to trust and to believe in him, there are also times to stamp our feet, believe you me. There are times to stamp our feet and to say, and you'll have to excuse my French, hell no, I'm not going to receive this because this is not what my inheritance is in Christ Jesus and the authority to do that lies in the power of God's word. You with me? Now that's got some implications. Let me start to spell those out for you. I don't think we'll be able to finish it this morning, but allow me this week and possibly next week to make three observations about the practical implications of this. Number one, we need to know scripture. I love what Paul says about Timothy, 2 Timothy 3 15. This is the verse that immediately precedes the verses about inspiration and he says concerning Timothy from infancy you have known the holy scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. Back in the old testament to Psalmist, Psalm 119 verse 11 verse 97 many other verses like it, I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Oh how I love your law, your self revelation, I meditate on it all day long. I believe one of the problems of much of the Christian church today and one of the reasons we so often do not have what it takes to stand against the lies of the devil is because we don't know the scriptures well enough. I mean we're fortunate if we sort of know the basic thrust of most of the Bible stories, but you know just as well as I do that when some particular issue comes up and somebody questions a particular position that you take, then our most common reaction is to say what? Well I think it's somewhere in the Bible, but I don't know where it is, isn't that true? And that robs us from the ability to use the word of God as a sword. If you look at the ministry of Jesus, not only here in the wilderness, the story that I just described, but in all of his encounters with the religious leaders of his day and if you look at the ministry of Paul and his encounter with the religious leaders of the day, they didn't just say well I think somewhere in the Bible it says this, because the response to that is to say well show me, well I don't know where it is. They knew exactly where it was, they knew exactly what to say, and they used it as a double edged sword to drive home the truth through the lies of hell. Now you don't come by that on the fly. It takes time and it takes effort and it takes a willingness to learn the scriptures in the course of living the Christian life. And that's why I encourage parents to help their children memorize scripture, that's why I encourage Sunday school type programs to make sure scripture memory is part of what you do because what you learn as a youngster stays with you in ways that it does not stay with you as you get older. If you haven't discovered that yet, join the club because you know if I think back to the scripture verses that I know today mostly by heart, most of those I learned before I was 25 years old. Now if I make a very concerted effort to memorize something today, but it takes me ten times longer and it leaks out ten times quicker. Young brains are what you need to impart the word of God. I have been so struck, and some of you have been here, one of our rentals is, Mike, you know who they are, the Alliance people have this program, I've mentioned this before, where they put these kids, these kids go through a whole program where they memorize scripture and they have contests to see who remembers what, I'm blown away by what they know and what they can recall, and more than a little jealous at the knowledge that these kids have at that kind of young age. And I know it can be used wrong and it can become competitive in all the wrong ways, but I'll tell you, what you learn as a youth stays with you and the advantage of that is that when you find yourself in spiritual warfare and the devil comes at you with his lies and with his promises and all his other stuff, then the Holy Spirit can bring that out like a sharp two-edged sword and you can pierce through the lies right into the devil's heart. Jesus, John 14 26, when the counselor of the Holy Spirit, whom the father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and will remind you of everything that I have said to you. The Holy Spirit will bring to mind all the things that you have learned when you need them. Lots more I want to talk about. I think we'll leave it at that today, but notice in your bulletins there is an insert that can double as a bookmark for you. I want you to take that out for just a moment. This comes from Valerie and has used it in, I believe, beta years ago, but it's got a whole list of Bible verses that are answers to very particular lies that you will face. Because of Jesus, I am significant and it tells you what the Bible has to say about that. Because of Jesus, I'm safe and secure because of Jesus, I belong. Great place to start. Put it in your Bible. Use it as a bookmark and then when the flaming arrows of the evil one come at you and makes you question the goodness of God, the blessings of God in your life, where God is taking you, then pull that out and find a verse that really speaks into your situation. I'd go a step further, write that verse out, stick it on your fridge, stick it on your mirror, memorize it, and every time the lie comes at you, don't just engage the lie by trying to argue with it. I'll tell you my own story about that next week, Lord willing, but I'll tell you he can out argue any time. He's a lot smarter than you are. He's been around for thousands of years. He knows exactly how your mind works. He knows what your fears are. He knows where your problems lie. Don't argue. Quote scripture. Use the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. And when you do, his power will break and he will leave you alone. Just leave you with these verses from 1 Peter chapter 5. "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him. Standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm, and steadfast to him be the power forever and ever. Amen." The Lord does not want us to live in fear or turn tail. He wants us to stand up, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might because the battle belongs to the Lord and he has granted the victory to his children. Amen. All right, stand with me as we close in prayer. Sounds so simple, Lord, when we talk about these things and yet so often in the middle of the battle, we don't even recognize who or what it is that we're fighting. And we lose sight of you, we lose sight of your promises, and we lose sight of the enemy of our souls and how desperately he wants to destroy our walk with you and our influence in the kingdom. Thank you for Jesus. Thank you that through faith in him, you provide us with the full armor of God. Thank you for the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. Thank you that it's not only defensive in that we can keep the attacks away from us, but that's also offensive so that we can step into situations where Satan's power reigns, where he has hold of people's lives, where he has darkened their minds, strangled their emotions and has them solidly in the grip of his hands. And Lord, we look at the ministry of Jesus and how with one word, he commands them to be gone. And now when the temptation comes his way, he wields the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, like a skilled sword fighter, how he grants that authority to his apostles and how everywhere they went, they proclaimed the living word of God. Help us to be like them. Help us to be empowered in the same way. And so we pray, Lord, that you'd help us to know the scriptures and that having taught us the scriptures, as we hope to see next time, you will also help us to trust the scriptures and you will teach us to use it wisely so that in the battle, your kingdom may come, your will will be done on earth, even as it is in heaven. So strengthen us, Lord, encourage us, open our eyes, equip us and we will be careful to give you the Lord glory through Jesus Christ, in whose name [PROPOSED CUT 1 START at 00:42:00.680; remove through 00:42:08.000] we pray. Amen. [CUT] [CUT] [PROPOSED CUT 1 END at 00:42:08.000; resume after this marked segment]