February 16, 2025
Sword of the Spirit
Ephesians 6:17
When you think of great sword fights, what comes to your mind? My mind goes to the movies and the great sword fights that we have seen in cinema history, like Aragorn as he leads the armies of Rohan in the Battle of Helm’s Deep in the Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers or Inigo Montoya as he fights the Dread Pirate Roberts as he searches for the six fingered man in the Princess Bride. It’s in these cinematic sword fights that I can't help but appreciate the eloquence and skill that go into sword fighting. It’s this same eloquence and skill that comes to my mind when I think of the last piece of armor that is given to us — the Sword of the Spirit.
Ephesians 6:17b -
… and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
When we look at all the pieces of armor that we have read about so far, there has always been a prepositional phrase that is used to define exactly what each piece of equipment is. We also see what it is equated to in a spiritual sense so that we can understand how it is best used when it comes to the spiritual warfare all followers of Jesus experience. For example there is a belt that is the truth that we call the Belt of Truth, there is a shield that represents our faith that is called the Shield of Faith, etc. However when it comes to the Sword of the Spirit, we do not see that same prepositional relationship. The Holy Spirit is not the sword that we are called to brandish and swing by our own hands. To think that would be a ludicrous and heretical thought since the Holy Spirit is the third part of the Trinity. You would be thinking that you could control and wield God Himself. Man does not and will never be able to control an all Holy and sovereign God. In Isaiah 46:10, God says, “My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purposes.” We do not get to use God to accomplish our purpose in life. We are here to accomplish His purpose in our lives. If the sword is not the Holy Spirit given to us for our use (although as we have seen in Scripture, once a sinner places their faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior they are then saved by his amazing grace and the Holy Spirit does seal them and live in them for all their lives 1 Corinthians 6:19), what is it? Well Paul lays it out clearly at the end of verse 17 when he tells us the sword is “the Word of God”. Now of course this sword is not going to be used like the swords in those movies. We live in the real world where our battle is real, it’s dirty, it’s not cinematic in any sense, but it’s going to still take an eloquence and a skill to wield the Sword of the Spirit to be effective in the battle against our enemy. But before we get to know how we are called to wield the sword according to Scripture, we must understand its power so that we will properly respect the sword because the Sword of the Spirit is a very destructive weapon.
Understanding its Power
There is a word that is added for understanding in this verse and it’s the word “take”. It’s not found in the original manuscripts at all (this happens often in English translations of the Bible and when it happens the word added is usually denoted with a word that is italicized), so he command we need to focus on when it comes to the Sword of the Spirit, is actually the command that was given at the first of this verse. It’s the one that we spoke of last week when we talked about the Helmet of Salvation. It’s the command to receive and to be assured that it cannot be destroyed in any way. Last week we saw exactly how this plays out in Salvation and by going to Scripture we can easily see how it applies to the Sword of the Spirit. We see the idea of receiving God’s Word many times in Scripture. James even says in James 1:21 that we are to receive the Word because it has the power to save. Then you have the truth that God’s Word will never be destroyed. Isaiah 40:8 says, “The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the Word of God stands forever.” Jesus Himself said in Matthew 24:35 that “Heaven and Earth will pass away, but My Word will never pass away.” Both facts are true for the Sword of the Spirit, not because the Bible says so (because that would be circular reasoning and would be faulty), but because of the reason it’s called the Sword of the Spirit. The Sword of the Spirit because it's the Sword that is given and empowered by the Holy Spirit. It’s the Word of God that must be received to produce Salvation (Romans 10:17, Ephesians 2:8-9). The Word of God will never be destroyed or found lacking because it’s not just the words of men or the wisdom of man, but it’s because the Bible is the very Word of God, and it is alive (Hebrews 4:12). The Holy Spirit is where the Bible gets its power to do all those things. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 tells us that “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” God’s Word is powerful, and it must be if it is the standard in which God says we must do all the things listed there in 2 Timothy. It’s a call to compare ourselves to the truth that is the Word of God. If we see a difference between the Word and our lives, we are the ones who must change, and it is powerful enough to change even the most hardened hearts. To teach, to rebuke, to correct, to train or those are very important topics that followers of Jesus must be trained in. The fact that God doesn’t tell us to trust anything else shows us what type of respect we must have for the power of God found in the Word of God. The Word of God is not only something to be respected simply because it is given by the Holy Spirit (although that is enough to cause us to respect it), but it is also something that must be respected because it is dangerous.
When we were growing up, our parents taught us to use dangerous weapons, like knives or guns. One of the first things we were taught is how to respect the weapon because of the damage it can do to ourselves and others. The same could be said of the Word of God and I say this because of what is recorded in Hebrews 4:12. Hebrews gives us a very interesting and almost disturbing description of what the Word of God does in Chapter 4 and verse 12,” For the Word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to divide soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” The Word of God lays us bare and exposes our innermost being. As a follower of God, you have experienced this. There was a time when the Word of God sliced you to the core and sliced right through to your heart and your true self was revealed. You saw yourself for who you really were for the first time. You saw that your heart was wicked, you saw yourself as a sinner and you knew for the first time that you were hopeless and dying. As you lay dying because the Word of God cleaved you in two, you knew that you could not save yourself and that there was no hope that any other human could help heal your old sinful body. The Word of God didn’t just cleave and leave you to die, rather it also brought you the healing of the Gospel. It's through the Word of God that we learn of a Savior who promised that when we put our faith in Him, those wounds would be healed because (through the blood of Jesus Christ) we would be raised to a new life. Now we can walk in the newness of this life given to us by Jesus. We never could have experienced it any other way. When the Word of God slices, it does not cause the sin and the wickedness in our lives, but instead it brings it to light where it can be dealt with God’s way. Hiding the fact that we are sinners will not lead to healing from sin’s consequences. It will lead to where sin always leads — that is to death. Since we understand the power given by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God, we can now wield this weapon with the respect that it is due because we have experienced it ourselves.
Wielding our Weapon
Before one goes to war with it when it comes to weapons of war, you are going to have to learn how to use it. The same goes for our call to use Sword of the Spirit for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training. However, to get used to using this weapon we must use it ourselves. Jesus Himself said that before you address a speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye you must take care of the plank on your own. This is why we must practice with the Sword of the Spirit in our own lives. The Roman sword that Paul was talking about was not a large two-handed sword that we might refer to as a claymore, but it was a short sword that was to be used in close quarters in hand-to-hand combat. Such short swords were usually kept in sheaths attached to the belt. To be used properly they must first be taken out of the sheath. The same thing comes into play when we are talking about the Sword of the Spirit. We must take it out to use it. In a recent survey it says that only 18% of Americans are engaged with their Bible. They considered being engaged as someone who reads their Bible 3 - 4 times a year. Can you imagine being at war and the enemy is constantly assaulting you and you only pull out your weapon 3 - 4 times a year and think you will not end up a casualty of the war? Therefore we must read our Bibles daily, we must memorize the Word of God. We must study our Bibles, and we must let its truth teach, rebuke, and correct us. Only once we practice with the Sword of the Spirit on ourselves will we be ready to use the sword in true battle.
The Defensive Battle
When we think about using the Sword of the Spirit, we need to understand that there is a defensive use and an offensive use for the weapon. When it comes to the defensive use of a sword, it would be used to parry the attack of the enemy who was trying to strike. When it comes to the Sword of the Spirit it’s used to parry the lies of the Devil. There is no greater example than when Jesus used the Sword of the Spirit as Satan tempted Him in the desert in Matthew 4. Jesus had been in the wilderness for 40 days and had been fasting the entire time and was very hungry. That is when Satan came to tempt Him. The first time he came he told Jesus that, “If you are the son of God, turn these stones to bread”, but as Satan attacked Jesus parried the attack by quoting Deuteronomy 8:3 when He said, “People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Satan continued this attack by taking Jesus up to the top of the temple in Jerusalem and tried to attack Jesus by twisting Psalms 91. He attacks by telling Jesus to throw Himself off the top of the temple because God promised that Jesus wouldn’t even hurt His foot on a stone. Jesus comes back with the Sword of the Spirit to parry the lies of Satan as He quotes Deuteronomy 6:16 and tells Satan that it is written that you will not tempt the Lord. Satan tries with his biggest attack yet and promises Jesus everything this world has to offer. Jesus once again parries that attack by quoting Deuteronomy 6:13 when He tells Satan that you must worship the Lord your God and serve Him only. This is exactly how we must use the Sword of the Spirit. When Satan attacks with his lies we must be ready to respond with God’s Word to deflect it. This should show us the importance of Bible study and Bible memorization and how important it is to not only know it, but to also apply it to our lives. When Satan throws his attacks, not only can we quickly identify the attacks and the lies he throws but we are ready with the truth that will always deflect Satan’s attacks and land a counter strike for God’s truth.
The Offensive Battle
When it comes to the offensive uses of the Sword of the Spirit, we need to understand the word “WORD” that Paul uses when describing the Sword of the Spirit as the “WORD “of God. When Paul is speaking of the “Word” in all his writings, he usually uses the term that can be used to denote the written word, but Paul doesn’t use that here. He uses the word for “Word” that denotes the spoken word. This is important in the Sword of the Spirit’s offensive use because in Romans 10:14 Paul says, “How can they be saved unless they call upon Him in faith. How can they have faith in Him if they don’t know about Him? How can they know about Him unless someone tells them?” Paul sums it up a few verses later when he says, “Faith comes from hearing and hearing from the Word of God.” We must be ready to proclaim the truth of God’s Word verbally in our battles and as we help others in their battles as well. It might be a word of comfort when someone has found themselves in a valley in their lives. It might be from sharing the hope of Scripture that we have in Jesus Christ to someone whose soul has been worn down. It might be sharing a word that calls for courage for someone who is shaken to their core. But remember this is the Sword of the Spirit that the writer of Hebrews says is sharper than any two-edged sword and will cleave the soul in two. This sword will not always bring with it good things, it must address the bad as well, but we must remember it must be delivered in love. We must show others the truth of sin in their lives. We must confront apathy in the church. When a follower of Jesus speaks the Word, it needs to be for witnessing to a lost world to warn of the coming judgment. It is a promise of a pardon from that judgment that can only be found through Jesus Christ. This sword might leave them hurting and angry but remember we must share the Gospel with a lost and dying world. That was our order from Jesus and will remain our orders until He comes back for us.
A few months ago, I was able to go to the British Museum in London and got to see some pretty amazing things. Among them were all sorts of ancient weapons of war. There were spears and swords and many weapons displayed throughout history. The oldest sword they had was from right around the time that Moses would have led the children of Israel out of Egypt. However we had just come from the science museum where we got to see some more modern weapons of warfare and I couldn’t help but feel how ineffective those ancient weapons would be in modern combat. I wonder if we feel the same way about the Sword of the Spirit, that we see as antiquated or a relic of a bygone era. We take it and put it in the museum of our mind or in a place in our home where it just sits and gathers dust. The Word is alive, it is still the greatest weapon we have against our enemy. Don’t let Satan try to convince you otherwise. As a soldier of Christ we must take up our sword by reading Scripture daily, memorizing Scripture daily, live out the scriptures daily and proclaiming it daily. We will be obedient to 2 Timothy 2:15, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the Word of truth.” This is what is required of one who has been given the Sword of the Spirit.
