This Month's Newsletter

Ephesians 6:17 (NKJV)¹⁷...,and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

One of the words for sword is “machaira.” It is a short, straight sword that was used for thrusting. This type of sword is only valuable when you are in close combat with the enemy. When a soldier is in combat under the protection of their shield they are ready to fight. When not in use the sword would rest in its sheath attached to the soldiers belt. (truth)

The sword of the Spirit is our only offensive weapon. Up to this point we have been discussing the parts of the armor that protect us in battle. But the sword of the Spirit is both an offensive and defensive weapon. It was of the utmost importance that every soldier knew how to handle their sword properly if they wanted to have any hope of winning in battle. And the same is true of God’s spiritual soldiers.

The apostle Paul makes it very clear in the passage that the sword of the Spirit is the word of God. Please don’t mistake the sword of the Spirit for the entire bible. The Greek word for the entire bible is ”Logos”, which means the written word of God. The Greek word for sword of Spirit or word of God is ”Rhema” which means spoken word of God. Faith is imparted into our life we hear God speak to us.

Romans 10:17 (NKJV)¹⁷So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Faith comes when we hear Jesus speak to us. The word logos is the sum of God’s utterances. The bible is God’s logos to man. It is the expression of his mind, will and principles for living the holy life. The Rhema is much the same. It will never contradict His written revelation to man known as the bible. The Rhema is a specific utterance made to someone as a means of direction. It symbolizes a specific, Holy Spirit inspired “verse” or word of truth revealed to us to aid us in our conflict with the enemy. Jesus himself used three passages from the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy to win a victory against the devil and send him packing until another opportunity to tempt him came along.

Luke 4:1-13 (NKJV)¹Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,²being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry. ³And the devil said to Him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” ⁴But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’” Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms in the world in a moment of time. ⁶And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it o whomever I wish. ⁷Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.” ⁸And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’” ⁹Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If you are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. ¹⁰For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you, To Keep you,’ ¹¹and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up. Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’” ¹²And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’”¹³Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.

When welded as a sword the word of God is a weapon of destruction against all the forces of darkness. When Jesus first used the sword of the Spirit on the devil he didn’t know what hit him. Nobody in all of human history had ever fought him with such a powerful weapon. The weapon was there all the time, but nobody knew how to use it. It had not been ”Spirit charged” yet. Jesus said; “I come in the volume of the book that was written of me.”

His spirit charged the sword so that whenever one of his children takes the sword in their heart they will have great power to use it in battle. They must take it out of its sheath and regularly clean it, and shine it up, and practice with it so that they will have great power against the schemes and tricks that the devil has planned for them.

The sword has the power to drive the devil away for awhile. When Jesus defeated Satan the third time in the wilderness temptation two things happened. First Satan left him for awhile and got off his back. And secondly heaven took notice and dispatched angels to come and minister to him after the battle.

Friends if we will learn to use our sword by speaking authoritive words of breakthrough and deliverance over people we too will see God’s power displayed. We first must have our lives in agreement with word, this way the enemy will have nothing to accuse our minds with while we are in the heat of battle with him. Jesus also said in his next bout with the devil that ”the prince of this world is coming but he has nothing in me.” When we apply the word in our life he has nothing in us and the sword is powerful and effective.

Continued Next Month