Spiritual Warfare Part 8 | Sword of the Spirit

Paul’s ambition in this passage about the armour of God is not to make spiritual warfare seem distant and mystical, but rather to impress on us its reality and proximity. So he strives to motivate believers to cling to the word sufficiently, being girded by the BELT OF TRUTH, confident in the BREASTPLATE OF the RIGHTEOUSNESS of Christ, and wearing also the SHOES OF READINESS THAT COMES WITH THE GOSPEL OF PEACE as well as our SALVATION as a HELMET. Next he points out how it is so important to know our Bibles really well, when he speaks of the SWORD OF THE SPIRIT.
The sword is a crucial piece in the soldier’s armour. What makes the sword unique and what does it add to our defence and protection that the other pieces of armour do not offer? Versatility, precision, and a certain level of power.
1 VERSATILITY
The sword is not merely a piece of armour, because it has the versatility to be a weapon both of defence as well as offence. It does not merely protect, but can actually weaken the devil’s attack and deal wounds to him, and because of this, the sword can keep the enemy at a distance. In Luke’s account of the Lord wielding this sword in the wilderness, we see that in the end, the devil left Him and waited for an opportune time. This clearly shows the sword’s offensive aspect, which sends the enemy into retreat and buy us time. While each of the other pieces of armour protects a certain part of the body, the sword can be used to protect whichever part is under attack. The sword of the word is sufficient for any temptation.
2 PRECISION
It is a precision weapon. It requires wielding with skill and precision. That is how it is different from the Belt of Truth, which refers to the general world view and understanding we have from the word. The sword, on the other hand, requires for us to pick up specific truths from the scriptures to ward off particular attacks of the evil one. Jesus modelled this for us when the devil came to Him to tempt Him in the wilderness just as it had tempted the Israelites in the wilderness. In using scripture to defend Himself against the devil, as we see in the account in Matthew 4, not only was He using specific scriptures, but He was using it in a way that demonstrated victory in the very areas where Israel of old had failed. In this way, Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness was a spiritual re-enactment of the Israelites’ 40 years in the wilderness. And using the sword of the Spirit, He overcame the devil on every count where the Israelites had succumbed. As the perfect representative of the people of God, He fulfilled the Mosaic Covenant perfectly and won the entry for God’s people into the promise land and the utopian society of the new heaven and new earth.

Temptation #1 TO SIN ON ACCOUNT OF HUNGER | On many occasions, the evil one caused the Israelites to complain about their lack of food in the wilderness. In the same way, Satan came to Jesus when He was hungry asking Him to turn the stones into bread. But the Lord, quoting from Moses’ words to the Israelites in Deut 8:3, conveyed to the devil that there was a greater satisfaction that came from spiritual food, which would carry Him through His 40-day fast. “And He humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”
Temptation #2 TO TEST GOD | In Exodus 17, we read the account of how the Israelites put God to the test by grumbling over their lack of water to drink at Massah and Meribah. When the devil came to Jesus in the wilderness, he misapplied Psalm 91, which is a wonderful Psalm about God’s protection, asking Jesus to throw Himself from the top of the temple and experience God’s protection. The Lord Jesus fought off this temptation, using the sword of the Spirit, and quoting again from the same discourse of Moses, this time from Deut 6:16 “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah.” (This is also a lesson to us that we ought not to ever put God to the test. For example, those who set out to go to the mission field must not do so without necessary preparation. While we believe that God will come through for us in difficulty, we do not put Him to the test.)

Temptation #3 IDOLATRY | Repeatedly, Israel fell into the sin of idolatry. Satan tempted Jesus, offering Him all the kingdoms of the earth, if He would only bow down to him. Jesus again quoted from the same discourse of Moses, from Deut 6:13 which says “It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear.”

We see that Jesus quoted to the devil from the words of Moses every time, and this was the speech where Moses had explained the covenant to the people and had placed all the covenant encouragements and warnings before them, even prophesying that they would fail. Maybe the Lord Jesus, in quoting from Deuteronomy, was alluding to the fact that He would succeed where God’s people had failed. Jesus was adept at using the sword of the Spirit, applying scripture to everyday situations. Quoting scripture for our protection in spiritual warfare is not about mouthing magic words. Rather, we need to know, memorise, understand, and rightly apply scripture. We do not have to know the Bible really well in order to begin to use the sword of the Spirit, but we must know the scriptures sufficiently well so as to be able to call them to mind. It would be good to make a list of all our typical sins and triggers for depression. We could then arm ourselves by writing down specific scriptures against each item on our list, understanding the verse and applying them rightly—specific texts for specific occasions. Jesus could have used supernatural help in His trials, but He chose to use the most powerful weapon of all—the scriptures—which we must also learn to use well.
3 LEVEL OF POWER
The Holy Spirit uses all of the armour to protect us, but the word of God, which is immensely powerful and effective, is actually called ‘the sword of the Spirit.’ Why is this?

Reason #1 IT IS GIVEN BY THE SPIRIT: Peter was present when the Lord Jesus was transfigured, which would have been such a blessed memory. But we see that the apostle treasures the scriptures even more. A blessed memory would still be only a memory, whereas in the holy scriptures, we have the voice of God speaking NOW, fully confirmed. 2Pet1:19-21 And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Reason #2 IT IS WIELDED BY THE SPIRIT: We know this even from our own experience, finding ourselves so often strangely moved by the scriptures. The truthfulness and reliability of the scriptures can be explained easily, but not so the mysterious aspect of the Spirit’s wielding of it. That is why in our darkest moments, we can run to it and be protected from the evil one. Isa 55:10-11 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My word be that goes out from My mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. Heb 4:12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 1Pet 1:23 . . . born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God.

What a great gift the Bible is to us! Let us use this piece of our armour well, and not be the soldier who goes to battle without the sword.