THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT

In the Christian life we battle against powerful evil forces, headed by Satan, who is a vicious fighter. To withstand his attacks, we must depend on God's strength and use every piece of his armor. In the Book of Ephesians, Paul is not only giving this counsel to the church, the body of Christ, but to all individuals within the church. The whole body needs to be armed. As you do battle against "the evil rulers of the unseen world," fighting in the strength of the church, whose power comes from the Holy Spirit. The Bible tells us that we need to wear the whole armor of God and that our strength must come from the Lord's mighty power from within. When we put on God's armor we will be able to stand safely from ALL strategies and tricks of Satan. "For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against persons without bodies - evil rulers of the unseen world, those mighty satanic beings and great evil princes of darkness who rule this world; and against huge numbers of wicked spirits in the spirit world" (Ephesians 6:12).

We as Christians must take care of our spiritual life, because our Christian life is in grave danger. The grave danger that exists, in this very moment, you must be aware that there is a war that is being fought, and some people are being seriously wounded in the battlefields. Some people don’t even realize or recognize that they are in a war. This war is not being reported by the news media. The television doesn’t show us the graphic pictures of the attacks. There is no graphic statistics that depicts the many souls that are being lost. The radio stations are not broadcasting any reports about the mutilations nor casualties that happens on a daily basis. But regardless of the lack of information being disseminated, the war rages on and this war has been fought since the beginning of mankind.

There are two armies that is participating in the war, the army of God and the army of Satan. This is why God tells us to, "Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" (Ephesians 6:12)

Every piece of God's armor is needed to resist the enemy and it consist of these pieces:

1) The belt of truth,

2) The breastplate of righteousness,

3) Shoes with the preparation of the gospel of peace,

4) Shield of faith,

5) Helmet of salvation,

6) Sword of the Spirit.

1). The Belt of Truth (Ephesians 6:14):

"Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth." Truth is the belt that holds all the other pieces of the armor in place. The belt is an essential part of the armor, but in reality this piece is perhaps the most important of them all. The Roman soldiers' belt was the piece that held their armor together. The belt held everything in place, and it was from there that they hung their weapons for battle. Why do we need the belt of truth? Because Satan is a liar and the only way that we can defeat him is with the TRUTH. There are two ways in which truth is a part of the armor of God. First, it refers to the truths of Scripture. Jesus said, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32). Those wonderful truths that are in the Bible - God loves us; We have salvation through the faith in Jesus; God's love and salvation has set us free from sin and death, and these truths set us free from the lies of Satan.

2). The Breastplate of Righteousness (Ephesians 6:14):

The breastplate of righteousness is the righteousness of Jesus. Looking at this piece of armor worn by the soldiers of that time, we would discover that it was a piece made of heavy leather, and in some instances reinforced with pieces of metal. This piece covered the soldier from his neck down to his waist. This piece was designed to protect the soldier’s vital organs. Our breastplate is to remain faithful to God. For the Bible clearly tells us, "For it is by grace you have been saved through faith - and this is not from yourself, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9). It is Jesus' righteousness that covers us and protects us. "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21).

3). Shoes of the gospel (Ephesians 6:15)

"And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace." The footwear of the Roman soldier were sandals made out of heavy leather, and oftentimes they had metal spikes on the souls. The reason for this was because the sandals could also be used as a weapon and the spikes did provide the soldiers with better stability in the battlefield. God wants us to take a stand and to stand firmly on His word of Truth. Our footwear is the gospel of peace, "And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:7).

4). The Shield of Faith (Ephesians 6:16)

"Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked." The armor of the soldiers back then was coved with thick leather and measured approximately four feet high. The soldier would use this weapon and would move it from side to side to protect him during battle. The shield that we as Christians use to protect ourselves from the attack of the enemy is FAITH. This faith is not something that comes from within us. Absolutely not! It is a gift from God to us, but it must be fed. How do we feed our faith? We feed our faith by listening and reading the Word of God. When we walk with God and study His Word, our faith grows and develop until it becomes a shield, protecting us and allowing us to live a victorious life in Jesus. That’s why Paul can boldly say, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:20). And we can experience this as well, as we use the shield of faith to withstand everything that Satan throws at us.

5). The Helmet of Salvation (Ephesians 6:17)

"The helmet of salvation." The helmet protects the head and the head is perhaps the most vital part of our body, because it is where our thoughts of the mind resides. This clearly defines the significance of the spiritual warfare in simple terms, because the battle is for our minds. This piece of armor could never be left behind, nor misplaced, or ignored, because it is the one that covers our head, our thoughts and feelings. Satan knows that if he could control our thoughts, the way we think, he would be able to manipulate us to act the way he wants us to act and this will separate us from God. The helmet of salvation is a true knowledge that we are saved by grace. When we have a sure knowledge of our salvation, we cannot be moved by Satan's deceptions. When you are certain who you are in Jesus, then you know that your sins have been forgiven and you have a peace that nothing can disturb. We can be certain about our salvation, because the Bible tells us, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).

6). The Sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17).

"And you will need the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit - which is the Word of God" (Ephesians 6:17). This Sword of the Spirit is the only offensive weapon. All the other weapons are defensive weapons, so that we could stand against the enemy, but now Paul is talking about the sword in which we can begin to move forward in the war against Satan. You don’t want to drop your sword nor have it dulled. Our first offensive weapon that is in our arsenal, that can drive Satan into a complete retreat is, "the sword of the Spirt" - simplified, the word of God. The Bible clearly tells us, "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12). Imagine all of those thoughts that goes on in your mind, those little thoughts that we keep stored away and cornered-off, that we think no one knows about, but we forget that God knows everything. Then verse 13 tells us, "Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account." God knows all of our thoughts and the intentions our of hearts.

We must understand that we are in a spiritual war and the war is for our minds and it is very real. This war we cannot see with our human eyes nor can it be detected by our human spider senses, but believe me, it is very real. But yet the war rages on with so many casualties. We must be alert at all times, always watching for the things that appear to be unimportant or insignificant. That is why the Apostle Paul closes the list of the whole armor of God by saying, "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit" (Ephesians 6:18). We must bathe ourselves in ALL prayer because prayer brings us into the fellowship and communion with God and only His armor can protect you.

God's Word is never changing and God has the final victory. The Book of Revelations tells us, "And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever" (Revelation 20:10). And it gets better and better. "And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire" (Revelation 20:12-15).