The sword of the spirit
The armor of God • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 1 viewNotes
Transcript
Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel,
One of my favorite movies is Braveheart, the story of William Wallace and his fight for freedom. People have debated the historical accuracy of the story, but I don’t really care about that much, I still enjoy the story. One of my favorite scenes is towards the beginning of the movie. Wallace is a small child when he discovers that his father and older brother were killed by English troops. During the funeral Wallace learns he will be living with his uncle Argyle. During their initial conversation Wallace notices Argyle's sword, a large English claymore. He picks it up and gazes upon it. Argyle takes the sword away from Wallace. He then points at Wallace's head and says “First learn to use this (his head), then I will teach you to use this (the sword).
Move 1 Today we continue our series “the armor of God” Today we are going to learn about the sword of the spirit. The word of God is the best weapon Christians have in our arsenal. However if not properly understood, Satan can use the word of God against us. Satan typically does this in 2 ways.
He will try to use scripture to justify sinful behavior
He will try and convince us to change the meaning of scripture which is challenging
We must have an understanding of scripture in order to fight against Satan’s temptations.
I want to make it clear that I am not suggesting we have to understand everything in the bible cover to cover. Instead we have to have an understanding of what the bible as a whole is trying to tell us. If our understanding of a passage of scripture goes against what the scripture is actually saying, we will know it’s NOT a proper understanding. If our understanding of a passage directly contradicts another, we know it’s NOT a proper understanding. If we know our interpretation of a passage disregards the context, we know it’s not a proper interpretation.
In order to understand and frame this context, let’s look at the way Satan attempts to use scripture against us.
Satan used scripture against Jesus in his temptation of Christ in the desert (Luke 4:9-13
And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’ and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ” And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.
The scripture Satan tries to use comes out of the Psalm 91:11-12
For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.
However Jesus understood the true meaning of the Psalm. He knew it was meant to reassure that God is our refuge and strength, and should NOT be used as a means of testing God. Why? Because that understanding would be in contradiction with scripture because we are clearly commanded “You shall not put God to the test” If we have an understanding of scripture, it makes it more difficult for Satan to use it against us.
It’s also important to realize that without an understanding of scripture, people can make it mean whatever they want scripture to mean. They can assert their own views into scripture and completely change the dynamic of what it was meant to say. I have a fun exercise with I believe will illustrate how easy it is to change the intended meaning
Play Halloween and X-files theme in there original key
Play those same songs in a minor key
Play happy music in major key
Play happy music in minor key
Just as the tone of a song can greatly change the dynamic, so too can tone change the nature of how we understand the bible.
It’s no secret the bible is very clear on some issues regarding identity, sexual ethics, and truth. Many of these passages are challenging. We must let these passages challenge us, even if they don’t align with our world view. Why? Because that’s exactly what that passage was meant to do, it was the purpose for which it was written. If we twist the meaning of scripture and attempt to make it less challenging. We are drastically changing the nature of the passage, even if we believe the changes are harmless. We let the truth of scripture be the truth it was meant to be.
There is a flipside to this coin. Sometimes people twist a passage to mean something else by making the scripture darker than what it was meant to be. This most often occurs with passages people believe are about the second coming. Matthew 24 is a great example of this. In this passage Jesus even warns this passage would be used to lead people astray. Jesus mentions that bad things happen in the world, wars, pestilence, and famine. However Jesus makes it clear, the end is not yet, these are birth pains. However every time there is an earthquake anywhere in the world, there are Christians who will suggest the end has come. The passage was meant to tell us not to be alarmed, however it’s twisted to alarm people.
We cannot let Satan abuse scripture to lead people astray. We know he will try, and we now are aware of the many ways he tries. We must avoid Satan's trap by ensuring our mindset should be a gospel centered mindset, not a worldview centered gospel. So how do we do this? We cannot use the word of God as the weapon it was meant to be if we cannot properly understand scripture. We cannot prepare to use the word of God as a sword if our minds are not prepared first. So how do we do this, how do we make sure our minds are properly prepared? The answer is found in Romans 12:2
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
We renew our minds to have a Christ and gospel focused mind. We do this by
Pursuing Christ. Daily seek out Christ and his truth, we must be proactive
Pray for humility, this is key to letting the truth of the gospel speak to us
Prepare our minds for action..
The bible is meant to be the greatest weapon God has given us, and it’s an essential part of the armor of God. However let us first learn to use this (our minds) so we can properly be taught to use this (the sword)