Ephesians 6:16-17 (NKJV) 16above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;
In our last post we looked at the Helmet of salvation. Salvation is all that Jesus did for us in redemption. He forgave every sin, past, present and future. He changed our nature, so that we are no longer “by nature children of wrath (Ephesians 2:3.)” Our inner man is no longer controlled by the sin of Adam. We are now by nature children of our heavenly Father and are joined to him in the spirit. This enables us to know him on a level that no one who has not experience the new birth can. He purchased the healing of our bodies, peace for our souls and provision for the needs of life. As we delight ourselves in him and his will, he promises to give us the desires of our hearts.
Salvation has delivered us from the kingdom of darkness and set us under the Kingdom of the Son of his love (Colossians 1:13.) This means that God has freed us from Satan’s authority, which humanity came under after the fall in the Garden of Eden, and placed us under the rightful authority of Jesus, the Son of His love and Lord of the church. Before salvation, Satan had a legal right to do to us whatever he wanted. Now, we are no longer subject to the curse, but we are heirs to the promise (Romans 8:16-17.) When we fill our minds with the truth of our salvation in Christ by reading the Word of God and meditating on it, we are free to choose this truth as our reality. It becomes a helmet to protect our thinking and determine our perspectives in every area of life. This is most important in times of battle.
Today I want to look at the Sword of the Spirit which Paul defines as the “word of God.” Although we most often think of a sword as an offensive weapon, and the Word of God is certainly that, it is also valuable for defense. In the Roman method of battle, they would take their large shields and hook them together to make a protective wall. When the enemy attacked this wall, they would use their short sword called a gladius to stab at the enemy. If they managed to wound them, that was a bonus but even if they never touched them, the sword became another level of defense. If the enemy wanted to get to them, they had to throw themselves against a very prickly wall.
I believe the Word of God in our hearts and in our minds is a formidable offensive weapon. When we meditate in the Word and receive the revelation it contains, we can speak to the enemy and to the circumstances we face, and they will be required to obey us (Mark 11:22-24.) This powerful sword can cut out the influence of the world and even change the natural circumstances. God used his Word to create the physical realm, and the physical realm will conform to its truth when we apply it by faith. This is powerful and important to remember as we face the battles of life. However, there is another function of the Word of God that will help protect us from the wiles of the devil.
Ephesians 6:11 (NKJV) 11Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
The Greek word wile means to lie in wait as for an ambush. It also can mean a cunning device. The English definition is a trick or stratagem intended to ensnare or deceive. Colossians 2:15 tells us that Jesus disarmed the principalities and powers. The one weapon they still have is deception. Paul says that our armor will enable us to stand against the deceptions the devil uses to ensnare and deceive. The sword of the spirit is part of that defense. It works in several ways.
First, when we have the Word of God active in our lives it enables us to receive revelation knowledge.
Matthew 16:17 (NKJV) 17Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
In this verse Jesus tells us that flesh and blood did not reveal the truth of the Messiah to Peter. He could have surmised from what he saw and heard that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. Many were looking for him. However, Peter did not say he was the Messiah. He said he was the Messiah the son of the living God. Jews of that time would not accept the idea that Jehovah could have a son. The term might have been used as a metaphor for a King or ruler. However, that is not what Peter was saying. He declared that Jesus was the Son of God. Even with all he had seen he probably would not have come up with that thought. Where did it come from?
Jesus answers that his Father in heaven “revealed” it to him. Revelation knowledge comes from God. The Word of God opens our mind to the voice of God. Revelation knowledge may be about something that we could know by our senses or our experience. However, when God enhances it and reveals what is underneath, it becomes something deeper. How is this protective? The Word of God becomes a conduit for God to show us things we could not know which will protect us from falling into the deceptions of the enemy.
Sometimes this comes directly from something we may read in the Bible. A certain section seems to “jump out” at us. We see something that we have never seen before, and it speaks directly to our circumstances. In addition, the more we read and meditate in the Word of God the more familiar we become with his voice in our heart. We are more likely to feel either warned against a particular path or encouraged to follow it when the Bible is a regular part of our lives rather than something we read only occasionally.
Finally, the Word of God is a defensive weapon because when the devil brings a deception against us, we can take the Word of God into our mouths and speak the truth. Truth always reveals the lies of the enemy. Not only does it reveal lies, but it also can push back against the lie. As we allow the Word to dwell in us by faith, we can speak to powers and principalities and put divine pressure against them. 2 Corinthians 10:4-6 gives us a picture of how this weapon works
2 Corinthians 10:4-6 (NKJV) 4For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 6and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.
The active Word of God in our hearts and in our mouths will cast down the arguments and high things that come against the knowledge of Christ. The wiles of the enemy cannot be effective in an atmosphere where the word of God is active. It brings our thoughts into captivity to the obedience of Christ. We will easily recognize the wiles of the devil for what they are, and we will be able to avoid all of them.
This sets up a very offensive function of the Word. By this process we will pull down strongholds that keep us from winning the battle. This is like what happened at Jericho in the Old Testament. At the Word of the Lord the people shouted and the walls fell. They were able to go directly into the city and take it captive. As the walls of doubt, fear and unbelief fall to the sword of the spirit, we will take every area of disobedience to the will of God whether it is our own or a product of the devil’s devices and we will bring them in line with the will and Word of God. What powerful weapons we have in order to resist the devil.
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