Chapter 6: The Sword of the Spirit

Chapter Introduction
TAKE THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT The next piece of armour we are told to take is the Sword of the Spirit. This piece of armor is different than all of the rest of the armor God has provided us. The rest of the armor is designed to protect the soldier and even though it may be used in an offensive nature, its primary purpose is defensive. But the Sword of the Spirit is the only piece of the armor that has been provided by of God that is both offensive and defensive in nature. It is very important we as Christians realize and remember always the only offensive weapon we have is the Sword of the Spirit. When we get involved in the war against Satan through talking with friends, neighbors, or co-workers about Jesus Christ and God’s plan for them, we need to remember the only offensive weapon God has provided us to use is the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. When we begin showing people what God expects of them, we are to only use the Bible to show and persuade them to make the decision to enlist in the army of the Lord. It is important for us to remember our opponent, Satan, is not limited and does not limit his followers to the same weapons we must use, so if someone we are talking and studying with loses their temper and resorts to trying to intimidate us or curse us or belittle us, we must remember that for us to pick up the same weapons is not using the weapons of God, but rather we forget who we are and have lowered ourselves to the level of Satan and have chosen to use his weapons to fight. If we use Satan’s weapons, we have actually enlisted in the war on Satan’s side, so we need to be very careful and keep control of ourselves, in order we remain faithful to God.

WHAT IS THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT?
We want to take a few minutes and look at the scriptures and hopefully come to a better understanding of what this Sword of the Spirit is and how we may better use it. The first thing we want to notice is the Sword the readers of that time would understand is the short sword used by the Roman soldier. It was used in close-in fighting only. It was too heavy to throw, yet it was to short to use as a long range weapon. So we see the Christian soldier is equipped by God with a weapon that requires one to be up close and personal to be useful. We possess no long distance weapons such as a bow and arrows or a pike, which was a long spear with a sharp point which was used to kill the enemy at a distance or at least keep him from getting in close.

The short sword was designed to be most efficient at close combat. It was easy to use, fairly light and was short enough as to not become tangled so as to hinder the soldier. As one became more familiar with it, the short sword becomes a better weapon both offensively and defensively. As a soldier becomes very skillful in the use of the short sword, one can begin to use the enemies attack to parry and counter-attack and to wound or even overcome the enemy. So as we learn more about this weapon, let us remember we want to become skillful warriors in the army of the Lord.

Also another important difference we need to keep in mind is the main difference between the carnal warfare of the world and our spiritual fight is the main purpose in the spiritual warfare is not to kill the enemy, but rather to convert the enemy so as to make them into fellow soldiers for the Lord. Too many times, we seem to forget this fact. But rather we become so wrapped up in proving the people we study with are wrong, and then after we have shown and proved the enemy is wrong, we become amazed they do not switch sides and fight with us instead of against us. We need to remember it is possible to win the battle yet lose the war. We are in this fight for the long haul. We want to win the battle in such a way and with such an attitude that we win the war as well. The way to do this is to use the Bible to convince people they are wrong, not to belittle them and get them angry. We need to remember these are people we hope to convert and to hopefully have them love us as brethren should.

Ephesians 6:17 "And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:"

We see the Sword of the Spirit, the weapon we are talking about, is the word of God. Paul, in writing to the Ephesians, is telling them the only offensive weapon we as Christians are to use is the Bible. This does not mean God wants us, if we lose our temper, to hit someone with the Bible. The Bible is not and never was intended to be a physical weapon, but rather it is a spiritual weapon.

The way God intends for us to use the Word of God as a spiritual weapon is for us to open up the Bible, to read and study the words contained therein, become skillful at connecting verses together in order we understand what the Bible says, and then to show others from the word of God and to convince them what God wants them to do. Then hopefully they make a decision to obey God. This is how we are to use the Bible as an offensive weapon. The way we would use the Bible, the Sword of the Spirit, as a defensive weapon is when someone tells us that God wants us to do something, we are to be as those in Berea and study for ourselves, in order to see if those things are true.

Galatians 3:8-12 "And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them."

Paul, in writing to the Galatians, uses a number of terms which are interchangeable with the Sword of the Spirit. First of all we see the term “scripture” used, which is the Word of God. Also we see the term “the gospel” or “the good news” used interchangeably with the Word of God. So now we have seen the scripture is the Gospel, which is the Word of God, which is also the Sword of the Spirit.

James 2:8-10 "If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all."

In James we see the scripture is the same as the Royal Law, which here is called The Law and is shown to represent the Old Testament. So we know the Old Testament is part of the Sword of the Spirit, so it becomes important for us to study and understand the Old Testament in order we can skillfully use the Bible as God intends for each and every Christian to be able to do.

John 10:34-35 "Jesus answered them, 'Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;' "

Jesus speaking in the book of John, again refers to the Old Testament as scripture and says the scripture can not be broken or in other words, if the scripture says something, you can count on it, because the same God gave the Old Testament and the New Testament and he cannot and will not lie or say anything that isn’t true and won’t be true.

2 Peter 3:15-17 "And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness."

Here the Apostle Peter refers to the Epistles of Paul as scripture, showing Paul’s writings are scripture and have the full weight of God behind them. So for the same reason, The Epistles of Paul are scripture that can not be broken. If this is not true, then God is a liar and we know it is impossible for God to lie. Also we see the Bible says those that do not want to accept the simple truths of the scriptures are unlearned and or unstable and they are trying to twist the scriptures to say something they do not say, and they do so to their own destruction.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works."

Paul in writing to Timothy tells him all scripture, both Old and New Testament is inspired or as the Greek says “God breathed". The entire Bible is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. So if I want to know the things God wants for me to do, I need to study the Bible to find out what this is. If I think someone has done wrong spiritually and they need to be shown, that is the purpose of the Bible. Then I also need to realize after having shown someone they have sinned is not enough. If I am to use the Bible as God intends, I must also use the Holy Scriptures to show them how to correct their lives, so they can be at peace with God. Then lastly as a Christian, I have a responsibility to teach all the commands of God in order they can know everything God wants them to do so they can remain in the good favor of God.

HOW TO BECOME A SOLDIER OF GOD SO AS TO LEGALLY WIELD THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT
Next, what we would like to do is to use the Sword of the Spirit, the Bible, to better understand the things God expects from us in order for us to enlist in the Army of the Lord. If I want to join the United States Army, there are certain rules and regulations I need to follow if I wish to be paid. Now suppose I go down to the local Army-Navy store and buy a uniform and show up at the closest Army base and tell them I am reporting for duty. Do you suppose they will say, “Sure, here is your bunk, you are a soldier in the United States Army?” Of course not! Instead I would be arrested and charged with impersonating a soldier.

Let us look at this from another perspective. Can you imagine an athlete whose dream is to win the mile run in the Olympics? He trains and trains and when it comes time to begin the competition to determine who is going to represent his country in the Olympics, he decides it is unfair to have to go through all of that time and effort, so he skips the Olympic try-outs and instead just shows up for the Olympics. When they will not let him on the track because he is not an official entry, he goes ahead and lines up with the rest of the contestants, but outside the fence. When the starting gun goes off, he takes off and because he is outside the track he has to run twice as far as anyone else, but through a superior effort he manages to cross the finish line first. Do you think he will win the prize? No because he did not follow the rules and enter properly. In the same way, if one does not follow the rules as laid out in the Bible, they can be the nicest person on Earth, but at the finish line, the Judgment Day, they will not win the prize, a home in heaven, unless they have followed the rules as laid down by God.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works."

We see all scripture is God-breathed which means it is exactly the same as if God himself came and talked with us in person, and is profitable for doctrine, which means the guidelines or the rules we are to follow. So we need to study the Bible in order to find out what we need to do to enroll in the Army of the Lord. In the same way the Olympics does not accept anyone who does not follow the rules and does not accept the excuse they did not know, in the Judgment Day, God will not accept the excuse, “Well I never knew.”

2 Peter 1:19-21 "We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost."

Another important fact we need to know is the rules are not subject to private interpretation. They mean what God intended in them and nothing else. Therefore it becomes very important we study to see what the Bible says and means. There will be no second court of appeals in the Judgment Day. The verses in the Bible means exactly what the Holy Spirit intended in the words He gave to the writer.

John 5:39 "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of Me."

Jesus tells us if we want to find out what God wants us to do, we need to search the scriptures, the Sword of the Spirit, because they testify of Jesus, they give us the guidelines we must follow.

Romans 10:10-13 "For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

We see when one becomes convinced the Bible is God speaking to them and they believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God they are to be willing to let the world know what they believe. When we have become convinced we are going to do what God wants us to do, then we become ready to call upon the name of the Lord.

Acts 22:16 "And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord."

On this occasion, Saul, who had been on the road to Damascus to persecute the Church, when Jesus Christ himself appeared to him and spoken to Saul, when Saul had come to believe in Jesus had cried out, “What would you have me do?" and Jesus had told him to go into the city of Damascus and it would be told unto him what he should do. Saul being blinded was lead into the city and for three days, he sat blinded and prayed to God. Surely if anyone was saved, it was Saul! He had been called by Jesus Christ himself for a special mission. He had prayed for three days and nights. But whenever Ananias came and talked to him, Saul still had his sins. He was told to be baptized to wash away his sins, calling on the name of the Lord. So not only is baptism the point where we have our sins washed away, it is the only way a non-Christian has of calling on the name of the Lord.

Matthew 22:29 "Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God."

Jesus teaches the religious leaders of his day an important fact. If you do not understand the scriptures, it is possible to sin and fall away from God. Thus it is possible to sin and to fall away after we become Christians. We want to notice what God would have us to do after we become Christians.

A BABE IN CHRIST IS UNSKILLED USING THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT
The first thing a new convert needs to realize is as a babe in Christ, God does not expect them to be perfect, but rather He expects all of us as the local congregation to realize in the same way that a new-born physical baby takes a long time to grow, we need to have patience with ourselves and one with another. We as human beings are prone to make mistakes. We sin, we fall away from God. But with all of us working together, comforting one another, and strengthening one another, with the help and grace of God, we can make it together through this life and to heaven.

1 Peter 2:1-3 "Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious."

Even though we are new-born babes in Christ, God still expects something from us. He expects and demands we lay aside all malice (hatred), and all guile (craftiness or sneakiness), hypocrisies (judging ourselves different than we judge others), envies (jealousy), all evil speakings (speaking evil of someone).

But God not only expects us to quit doing certain things, He expects and demands we do certain things. He expects us to desire the sincere milk of the word, in order we will grow. In other words, God expects us to desire to attend the worship services of the church, He expects us to study and meditate upon his word, and he expects us to do the things that will cause us to grow. This means God also expects the leaders in the Church to encourage us and work with us, and ask us to do things that are good for us spiritually. And God expects us to submit to the leadership and to do the things we are asked, that we may grow thereby.

Hebrews 5:11-14 "Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."

The Hebrew brethren were scolded by the writer, because rather than listening, studying and growing as Christians they did not listen or study properly so they remained babes in Christ. God expects each and every Christian to study until they reach the point they can teach the first principles to others. If I have not grown to the point I can show others the things God expects from them, I am still a babe in Christ. If I am still self-centered, if I am more concerned about getting my way than doing what is right, then I am still a babe in Christ. If I have not studied and grown to where I can tell the difference between right and wrong, then I am still a spiritual baby. If I get upset every time my feelings have been hurt, then I am still a babe in Christ.

Do I as a Christian wish to grow stronger, in order I can handle strong meat? Then I need to learn to examine myself and be honest with myself and apply each lesson I learn from the Bible to myself that I may profit from the lesson.

James 4:5-8 "Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded."

James speaks very bluntly to us, when he warns us the spirit we have in us, many times causes us to desire things we should not have. Our spirit can cause us to be lifted up with pride, causing us to sin. The first thing we must do is submit to God, then we need to resist the devil and Satan will flee, not because he fears us, but he fears God.

Romans 15:3-6 "For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me. For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."

How many times have we as Christians been tempted to do something we wanted to do that we knew was contrary to the will of God? How many times have we done things to please ourselves instead of God? If we want to be Christ-like, we must set our goals to be more in-line with what Christ did. Jesus did not do as it pleased Him, His goal was to please the Father. If we wish to with one mind and one mouth glorify God, then we must strive to please God the Father. If we wish to grow as a Christian and become skillful with the Sword of the Spirit, we must put pleasing God first in our lives.

HOW TO BECOME A SKILLFUL SWORDSMAN IN THE ARMY OF THE LORD
We have seen what a babe in Christ is like, we want to see what the Bible says we must do in order to become a mature Christian. The Bible itself says it contains everything we need for us to become mature Christians. Therefore, let us look at some of the things the Word of God tells us we need to do in order to do to become a skilled swordsman in the army of the Lord.

Isaiah 28:9-13 "Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little: For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear. But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken."

In Isaiah we see a prophecy Peter taught was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost. The prophecy says God will teach knowledge and give to understand doctrine to those who are weaned from milk. Then it goes on to say God has given the New Testament in particular in the way He has so those who want to twist the scriptures around and misunderstand them can. In other words, God uses the scriptures to separate those who are lazy and do not want to put in the time to study that is needed to correctly understand the scriptures from those who love the truth and want to know what God wants them to do and are willing to study the Bible carefully and spend the time and effort it takes to come to the proper understanding of the Word of God. Another way this could be said is in the same way a swordsman practices for hours on end in order to become skillful in the use of his weapon, the man of God must study and meditate upon the scriptures in order to become skillful in the use of the Sword of the Spirit. Why does the swordsman practice for hours to become skillful with the sword, when he may never need it? It is because there may come a time when that skill is necessary in order to save his life. For the same reason, the man of God studies and that is because this skill or knowledge may be necessary at some time in order to lead someone to the Lord.

1 Peter 2:1-3 "Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious."

In the same way a new-born baby desires milk and knows he is hungry and finds a way of letting the mother know he is hungry, so a spiritual baby in Christ needs to desire the sincere milk of the word and needs to talk to the leaders in a congregation if he or she feels they need more than they are being given in order to grow spiritually. If a babe in Christ feasts on the milk of the word, God guarantees they will grow to the point they can handle the meat of the word.

Hebrews 5:11-14 "Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."

Here in Hebrews the writer tells us God expects Christians to grow until they can teach others the first principles of the doctrine of Christ. God also expects us to do it within a reasonable time frame, because he told the Hebrew brethren they should have already reached this point, but they hadn’t. The writer does not give a set time, so obviously it differs from person to person, from Christian to Christian. As a matter strictly of my opinion, I think a normal Christian, with guidance and help from the leadership should reach this point within a matter of about two years from the time they were baptized. But I believe it depends very much on the quality of the leadership that exists within the local congregation also. This is one of the reasons I think God warns those who would be teachers and leaders in a congregation, they will give an account for the souls of the Christians in the congregation

Hebrews 6:1-6 "Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this will we do, if God permit. For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame."

Here we see what God considers the difference between a babe in Christ and a growing mature Christian. The writer here says until you can teach others about Faith in God, about Repentance, about Baptism, about the laying on of hands, about the Resurrection of the Dead and about Eternal Judgment, you are a babe in Christ. God expects every Christian, whether they are man or woman, Jew or Gentile to grow until they can teach others about Jesus Christ and how to become a Christian. But God wants us to continue to study until we can teach everything God has commanded. In other words, God expects us to fulfill the Great Commission.

Luke 22:24-27 "And there was also a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest. And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve. For whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? is not he that sitteth at meat? but I am among you as he that serveth."

The last point I want to notice is that among carnally minded people, even in the Church, there are those who want to be in charge, they want to exercise Lordship over the Church. Jesus here tells us in order to become a leader in the Church they must give up that idea. They must realize they are but a servant to the congregation. In other words, if I think I should be able to give orders or be in charge in the Church, I am but a baby in Christ. One of the ironic things in the Church, is for one to become great in the Church, in order for them to become a leader in the Church, they must humble themselves and make themselves servants, the more one serves, the greater God considers them and the more mature a Christian one is.

Chapter Summary

1. The Sword of the Spirit is the only offensive weapon possessed by Christians.
2. The Sword of the Spirit is the Word of God, which is the Bible.
3. A babe is Christ should desire to study the Bible and feast on the milk of the Word.
4. The milk of the word is the basic principles of the Gospel of Christ.
5. The term a babe in Christ should be synonymous with the term a new convert.
6. When a Christian grows to the point they understand and can teach the Basic Principles of the Gospel, then they can be considered a mature Christian.
7. The New Testament is written the way it is because God uses the Bible to weed out those who are lazy, those do not want to believe what God wants, and those who would twist the scripture.
8. A mature Christian will continue to study the Bible and to teach others the things they learn.
9. A leader in the Church and any mature Christian must be servants to the congregation.