AOG: The Sword of The Spirit
“…and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God…”
The Purpose of The Sword
Initially when I pictured the sword I imagined it to be really long and big, however I found that the sword that Paul is actually talking about here is short, sharp and compact and was used for close combat. And as we have read Paul likens this sword to the Spirit which is the word of God…
The Word of God & Specific Scripture
I remember this game that I used to play growing up called, Draw Your Sword (I didn’t know it was actually called this - its only when I searched it that I realised this is the name), and the point of the game is that when the leader calls out the bible verse you need to race to find the verse as quick as you can. The person that finds the verse the fastest and reads it out first gets the point. It would really show how well you knew where everything is in the Bible. If you’ve grown up in church you’ve probably played this game, I’m gonna have to bring this game back it was so fun!
And it makes sense that the game was called, Draw Your Sword, because the word of God quite literally is what we use as our weapon against the enemy. Within The Bible God has given us everything we need to know and will need to fight against the enemy in this life - no matter the situation.
Going back to the short, compact sword Paul was talking about, as mentioned these swords were only used in close combat fighting. It is said that the “short sword was superior if your fighting technique called for getting very close to the enemy.”.
And the word of God being likened to this compact sword makes so much sense, because when we fight with the Word we can’t just throw around random verses that we just about remember - we have to be precise, intentional and specific when it comes to memorising and fighting with it as we face a variety of situations.
In this life as you probably know by now, the enemy comes at us in all sorts of ways, and he doesn’t just stand at a distance, he comes close and personal. And what I mean by that is that he will often attack us in the ways that are personal and very specific to us - and so that means that we need to be very sharp and exact with our attack back. And that’s where using specific scripture comes into play! For anything in your life that is from Satan, e.g., fear, anxiety, lust, pride, envy, discouragement, confusion etc, there are scriptures (swords) that we can use in order to fight with precision.
So to put this practically, something I do is that when I am going through anything I will get my notebook and write whatever it is that has been troubling me and then i’ll go and find specific scriptures that combat it. I then write them down and will memorise them, and I will also speak out those scriptures when I am praying, and stand on the truth!
Our Defensive & Offensive Weapon
The Bible says in Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
The Word of God is not only a defensive weapon we use to protect ourselves against the enemy, but it is also a weapon of offence.
And by this I mean that when we study the Word of God, it does what the scripture says in Hebrew 4:12 in that it pierces to the division of soul and spirit, joints and marrow and is a discerner of thoughts and intents of the heart. And so as we read the Word and study specific scripture, as we get into the presence of God and make room for His Holy Spirit to speak to us, the sword is used on us, in a sense that it cuts away the things in our hearts that shouldn’t be there.
The Bible says in Psalm 119:130, that “The entrance of God’s Words gives light…”, when we come into contact with the Words of God it shines a light on our life so that things can’t just stay hidden. It plucks up and removes what shouldn’t be there - when we submit to it and allow it to.
I love the way this study puts it…
“The sword of the Spirit is like a surgeon’s scalpel that can remove the cataracts of sin from our spiritual eyes. Cataracts are a condition that causes the lens of the eye to become cloudy, impairing vision. This is how the kingdom of darkness deceives and enslaves humanity. Sin clouds our spiritual vision and prevents us from seeing God, ourselves and others clearly. This causes us to have a distorted or false view of God’s character, will, promises and of His love… The sword of the Spirit can cut through these cataracts and restore our spiritual vision.”
And so when we allow the sword of the Spirit to work on our own hearts and lives, we become even more effective when we begin to use it to fight against the enemies attacks against us.
For example if there is someone that comes to Christ and has struggled with a spirit of rejection, as they begin to draw closer to God through prayer and studying of the Word, God’s Word will highlight and show certain behaviours and habits that stem from that place of rejection. This may look like fear, pride, self-hate etc. And as God highlights these things through The Holy Spirit, He uproots and restores through prayer, fasting and His Word.
However the enemy being the enemy will always come to tempt and taunt, so when he does come with those thoughts that stem from a fear of rejection etc, you’re able to pick up the same word of God that was used on your own heart to now combat the lies of the enemy!
Okay guys, day five done - see ya’ll tomorrow for the last one :)
“It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” - Matthew 4:4