Wednesday, January 8, 2014

The Sword of the Spirit: The Spiritual Warrior’s Offensive Weapon

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Eph 6:17
The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;
NKJV

TO BE A CHRISTIAN is to be a warrior. The good soldier of Jesus Christ must not expect to find ease in this world: it is a battle-field. Neither must he reckon upon the friendship of the world; for that would be enmity against God. His occupation is war. As he puts on piece by piece of the panoply provided for him, he may wisely say to himself, "This warns me of danger; this prepares me for warfare; this prophesies opposition." Charles Spurgeon (1)

The great actor Errol Flynn made a career of doing swashbuckling movies like The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Sea Hawk, and The Adventures of Don Juan.  Even though his private life was full of controversy and even a statutory rape charge in 1942, his life is most remembered for how he skillfully handled a sword on the silver screen.  (2)

The Roman soldier’s only offensive weapon was his sword.  Without his sword all he would be able to do is fend off the attacks of the enemy but with his sword he would be able to defeat the enemy and render him powerless.  However, the sword would be useless to the soldier if he were not skilled in its use. 

To train for battle a Roman soldier would practice daily using wooden swords and shields.  These swords and shields were deliberately much heavier than those the soldier used in battle.  (3)   This use of heavier weapons in training would enable to soldier to more skillfully use his sword and shield in battle.  As spiritual warriors we too must train to become skillful in handling our sword by

1)      Finding a Church that teaches the Word of God. 
2)      Become part of a small group Bible Study where we can interact with the teacher and ask questions.
3)      Read and study God’s Word daily.  This does not mean we have to study for hours.  God’s Word is powerful and even a few minutes each day will produce great results. 

As the Son of God, Jesus is the best spiritual swordsman in the Bible and it was His swordsmanship skills that helped Him defeat the devil at the beginning of his ministry.  Jesus had just been baptized by John the Baptist and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness (Matthew 4:1).  After fasting forty days and nights, the Devil came to tempt him (Matthew 4:2).  In this weakened state, Jesus would have had little physical strength with which to do battle but Jesus prevailed by using the Sword of the Spirit.  Here is the account of the temptation as told in the Book of Matthew.  I encourage you to read it for it provides a perfect example of how to skillfully use the Sword of the Spirit. 

Matthew 4:3-11
3 Then the Devil came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, change these stones into loaves of bread."
4 But Jesus told him, "No! The Scriptures say,
'People need more than bread for their life;they must feed on every word of God.'   "  (Deuteronomy 8:3)
5 Then the Devil took him to Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, 6 and said, "If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say,
'He orders his angels to protect you.And they will hold you with their hands to keep you from striking your foot on a stone.'   " 
7 Jesus responded, "The Scriptures also say, 'Do not test the Lord your God.'   "  (Deuteronomy 6:16)
8 Next the Devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him the nations of the world and all their glory. 9 "I will give it all to you," he said, "if you will only kneel down and worship me."
10 "Get out of here, Satan," Jesus told him. "For the Scriptures say,
'You must worship the Lord your God;serve only him.'   "  (Deuteronomy 6:13)
11 Then the Devil went away, and angels came and cared for Jesus.  (NLT)

Jesus skillfully used the Sword of the Spirit as the Devil attacked him until finally the Devil left Him.  Some may argue however that of course Jesus could do this because he was the Son of God and in fact is God.  However, Jesus experienced this temptation as a man, in fact a weakened man after forty days and nights of fasting, and successfully defeated the devil.  We too can successfully defeat the devil by learning and studying God’s Word and using it when we find ourselves under Spiritual attack. 

We recently saw how a man can skillfully use the Sword of the Spirit to defeat the enemy when under Spiritual attack.  I am speaking of the recent attack on Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty by A&E leading to his suspension from the show.  Granted, A&E has the right to suspend anyone in their employ but Phil Robertson was smart.  The statements of his beliefs against gay marriage were Biblical and Phil backed his statements up with scripture using the example of Jesus. 

When he spoke out after the suspension, many believed he would apologize but instead he stuck to his beliefs.  After all, why would a believer in Christ feel the need to apologize for what is contained in the Word of God.  Phil Robertson’s standing on the truths in the Word of God encouraged other believers that watch the show Duck Dynasty and A&E soon experienced the power of the Sword of the Spirit and ended Phil Robertson’s suspension.  . 

Persecution of Christians has occurred since the beginning of the Church.  Fortunately, in the United States the First Amendment of the Constitution has traditionally protected us from governmental persecution.  However, many of our government’s leaders have little regard for the Constitution and that means we are seeing an increase in persecution of Christians in our nation, including some governmental persecution.  We now realize we are in a battle, a spiritual battle requiring us to put on the armor of God.  However, in addition to putting on the Armor of God, we must also do what the scriptures tell us in Ephesians 6:17-18

Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints — (NKJV)

Armed with the Armor of God and by maintaining constant communication with or commanding officer through prayer we can be strong and invincible in the spiritual battles ahead.  Join me in putting on the armor of God and daily training for the battles ahead by praying, studying the Word of God, and engaging in spiritual battle against the enemy. 

1. Spurgeon, Charles. The Sword of the Spirit. www.spurgeon.org. [Online] The Spurgeon Archive, April 19, 1891. [Cited: January 7, 2014.] http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/2201.htm.

2. Channel, The Biography. Errol Flynn Biography. www.thebiographychannel.co.uk. [Online] [Cited: January 7, 2014.] http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biographies/errol-flynn.html.


3. Barrow, Mandy. Roman Army Training. primaryhomeworkhelp.co.uk. [Online] [Cited: January 7, 2014.] http://primaryhomeworkhelp.co.uk/romans/training.html.

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