THE ARMOUR OF GOD THE SWORD.

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1 Ephesians 6: The Message And that about wraps it up. God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that we'll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels. Be prepared. You're up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it's all over but the shouting you'll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You'll need them throughout your life. God's Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other's spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out. We have been looking at the armour of God. So far we have covered The Belt of Truth. The Breastplate of Righteousness. The Sandals of peace. The Shield of Faith. The Helmet of Salvation. This morning I want to look at the sixth item of the armour The Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. The fact that the sword has to do with God s Word raises an immediate question if you have been listening to this series; You said that the Belt of Truth was the Word of God, and now you are saying that the Sword of the Spirit is the Word of God. How can this be? Aren t you just being repetitious? If not, how are the two different? I suggested at the beginning of this study that the Belt of Truth was a foundational item of the armour that God provides for us. It secures other portions of the armour. The other items are related to it and are dependent on it. I suggested that the Belt of Truth speaks primarily of the objective truth of the Scriptures. Having the belt of truth in place is the spiritual equivalent of having a Scriptural worldview. It is having our lives informed and shaped by the Scriptures. It is having every part of our lives, from our morals to our money under the tutelage of the Scriptures. Having the belt in place is having our lives built around the idea that the Bible, as God s Word, is entirely trustworthy and true. It means that I allow my life and viewpoints to be shaped by the Scriptures even when it offends modern cultural sensitivities and my own ideas of what might seem fair and just. Crucial issues that offend cultural sensitivities such as Sex outside of marriage. Same sex relationships. Don Barry 2010 Page 1

2 Pro choice or pro life questions. These are decided not by my preferences or by cultural popularity. But by God s Word. When it comes to being a follower of Christ we must come to terms with the brutal fact that God s Kingdom is not a democracy. We do not decide these contentious issues by seeking to discern the present state of cultural consensus. Vox populi does not equal Vox Deo. [The Voice of God does not equal the voice of God.] The Bible, in its entirety, is my foundational garment. I do not give my selective agreement with regard the Scriptures i.e. if I agree with it I am prepared to obey. Rather I offer my obedience. This is a military context. Selective agreement in a military context is treasonous. When it comes to the Sword of the Spirit being the Word of God I think Paul is speaking about another aspect of the Scriptures; another role they play in our lives. Let s examine this in a little more detail. There were basically two kinds of swords used at the time Paul wrote this epistle. 1. Rhomphaia -- [Hrom-fay-yah] this was the Thracian sword, which was a large broad sword. It could be three-four feet long [1.2 meters] this sword was used in what we would classically call a sword fight. 2. Machaira [makh-ahee-rah] which was a dagger or a knife that was used in hand to hand combat. It is the second word that Paul uses in this passage. He isn t talking about a sword fight, but when soldiers are locked in a grapple of hand to hand combat. This is as close as warfare gets. We aren t 100 meters away firing arrows. We aren t 20 meters throwing javelins. We aren t even 2 meters away in a sword fight. We are feeling the breath of an enemy as he seeks to strangle us or to thrust his dagger beneath the defense of our breastplate. Some people don t like to think of life in this kind of way. It freaks me out. I like to think that if I don t bother the devil, he won t bother me. This isn t realistic. There aren t any conscientious objectors in spiritual warfare. We win or we lose. We fight or we get trampled. Up until now in our study, all the items we have looked at have been defensive in nature. They enable us to stand against the assaults of the powers of darkness. This isn t enough to win the battle. This prevents us from losing, but that isn t the same as winning. Good tackling won t win you a rugby match it might prevent you from losing, but if you want to win you must attack and score tries. The sword is offensive as well as defensive. The sword can turn the tide of battle from defense to attack. I think we need to adjust our perspective. Don Barry 2010 Page 2

3 When we are fighting hand to hand it is the devil that is fighting for his life and not just vice versa. There is a point in every battle when the tide turns and the defensive forces become the aggressors. The initiative and the offensive changes hands. In WWII there were three crucial battles where the allies were initially the defenders but became the aggressors and the victors. 1. The Battle of Midway a sea battle that turned the Tide of war in the Pacific. 2. The Battle of Alemain where Montgomery and his forces halted and then defeated Rommel, turning the tide of war in North Africa. 3. The Battle of Stalingrad where the Russian forces halted the German advance and sent them in retreat and eventually to defeat. In each case a point was reached where defenders became aggressors. We are called to be the aggressors and not simply defenders. Matthew 16:18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. The picture here isn t the church behind fortified walls with the enemy unable to prevail against the defensive positions. It is the devil behind fortified walls which aren t able to hold out against a militant church. We have tragically reversed the roles. Look at Matthew 4:1. Then Jesus was led by the Spirit up into the wilderness, to be tempted by the Devil. We tend to view the wilderness temptations as an all out assault of the powers of darkness against Jesus. He holds out and survives. This season of conflict didn t happen accidentally. It wasn t arranged by the devil. Jesus was led/driven by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to find the devil. It is a popular fallacy that the devil cornered Jesus and tempted him. Rather Jesus compelled the adversary to stand out in the open, clear of secondary causes and enter into direct combat. That is not normally the devils way; he normally seeks to put something between himself and the man he tempts. Jesus removed that option from him and defeated him through the power of the Word of God. I m not talking about or seeking to encourage extreme foolhardiness and overconfidence in this realm of spiritual conflict. Some people stroll into it moved more by a spirit of jocularity rather than by the Holy Spirit. They are liable to the fate of Sceva s sons. Both 2 Peter and the Book of Jude suggest that foolish overconfidence isn t a good option in spiritual conflict. Don t speak evil of dignities [2 Peter 2:10] They rail at dignities and curse angels [Jude 1:8] At the other end of the spectrum, we mustn t yield to a cowering, craven spirit, fearful of the powers of darkness and hiding behind our armour hoping that they won t spot us. We have a powerful sword that is to be used to discomfort the enemy and send him fleeing. Don Barry 2010 Page 3

4 This sword is said to be The Word of God. The word for word is Rhema. There are two main Greek word used to translate our English word Word. 1. Logos. 2. Rhema. There is some degree of overlap between them, but there are differences that are significant. This is brief and broad, but generally, Logos is used to describe the Christian proclamation as a whole. It is the broad sweep of Christian truth; the Scriptures in total. One scholar notes, The logos refers to a whole body of teaching and to discourse in its entirety, as opposed to the separate statements contained therein. Rhema has a different feel to it. If Logos refers to the general, then Rhema refers to the particular. The Greek scholar, W. E. Vine says of Rhema, Rhema is not a reference to the whole Bible as such, but to individual Scriptures which the Spirit brings to our remembrance for use in times of need. Ironside in his Greek lexicon states, Logos is the said Word of God, while Rhema is the saying Word of God. Dr. Fount Shultz says, Rhema can and does refer to an event of revelation. When God shows up on the scene something happens and that thing that happens is called a Rhema. It is not preaching or teaching about Christ [generally] but rather it is the event itself being administered to an individual by the Holy Spirit. What we are talking about then is the word of the Spirit [One translation actually has The Sword supplied by the Spirit ] to our hearts based on or taken from the Word of God. The New English Bible translates it, The words that come from God Goodspeed translates it, Which is the voice of God Don Barry 2010 Page 4

5 The Sword of the Spirit is the prophetic promises of God, based out of the Scriptures or at least in agreement with the Scriptures that God gives to us. It is with these promises that we resist the enemy and force him to conceded and flee. 1 Timothy 1:18 This charge I commit to you, my son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before about you, in order that you might war a good warfare by them GNB Use those words as weapons in order to fight well GW Use these prophecies in faith and with a clear conscience to fight this noble war. 1 Timothy 4: Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given you by prophecy with the laying on of hands of the presbytery. Mediate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. The Greek word is prokope, which literally means, to drive forward by cutting. When the enemy comes against us we can parry his thrust and then fight back by using the specific words God has given us. We can speak forth what God has given us. The sword is associated with the words we speak. Isaiah 49:2 And He has made My mouth like a sharp sword Revelation 1:16 And He had seven stars in His right hand, and out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword. And His face was like the sun shining in its strength. Psalm 119:49-50 Keep in mind your word to your servant, for on it has my hope been fixed. This is my comfort in my trouble; that your sayings have given me life. Don Barry 2010 Page 5