Sword of the Spirit
Notes
Transcript
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.
The triune God is a person!
He has likes and dislikes, plans, persons, preferences, desires, rules, boundaries. He is who He is and is not what He is not.
As believers in God, we must always remember to let him self-define.
We understand this in relationships, that is the whole point of relationships.
If I don’t let my wife self-define, it will simply be my own projection on her and that is no relationship, that is manipulation and control.
It is possible that we can project on to God who He isn’t.
It is preferable to not want to be in relationship with God (who he self-defines as) than to project onto him and create a god of your own making.
So of course we have the Holy Scriptures. It is Him telling us who He is through his actions in history, through His words and especially and mostly through the incarnation - Jesus the exact perfect image of the Fatherr. And what He requires of us to be in relationship with Him.
Of course, we understand this with every relationship.
Thankfully there is also forgiveness, grace and mercy involved with relationships.
God has a certain way to be worshipped.
So we have God’s self-revelation and our own revelation
This Word of the Spirit (it is not part of the trinity, but it is the weapon of the Spirit)
The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
The machaira - A shorter sword that was sharp on both sides, designed for effective close combat, offensively and defensively. The end was tipped up a bit for easier penetration and twisting to spill the bowels of the enemy, no hope for getting back up.
Isaiah 11:4 “but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.”
Revelation 1:16 “In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.”
Revelation 19:15 “Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.”
Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
This written document is more than simple letters on a page. They are full of life, Jesus said that the words are full of the Spirit and life. The Spirit of God speaks to us directly from these pages, illuminates truth and illuminates application for them in our life.
This Word is Powerful! My endeavor is to show you from Scripture a brief but broad overview of its importance in our life.
God’s Word Created All Things
Psalm 33:6 “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.”
The contrast: His Word destroys and Creates. I need God to destroy some things in my life and create some things in my life… Not me doing it but His Word.
Hebrews 11:3 “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.”
And holds all things together
Hebrews 1:3 “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.”
“This Word of God is the breath of God filling the world with living potentiality. The voice of God is the most powerful force in nature, indeed the only force in nature, for all energy is here only because the power-filled Word is being spoken” - AW Tozer
Powerful For Transformation.
2 Corinthians 3:18 “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”
2 Corinthians 4:4 “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
God’s Word Is Powerful In Evangelism
The power is in the Word or we can say message.
Acts 2:37 “When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?””
For Instruction and Training in Righteousness
2 Timothy 3:16–17“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
What equips us for what God has called us to do?
Psalm 119:11 “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”
For Growing in Faith
How do I grow in faith? In trusting? Well, it helps to know who it is you are trusting!
Thankfully you have His word which reveals how faithful and good He is.
Romans 10:17 “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.”
Get to know Jesus and you will grow in trusting Him.
For Direction in Life
Psalm 119:105 “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.”
The Word of God makes us wise, it reveals the Will of God to us, where we can make wise decisions in life.
For Encouragement and hope
Romans 15:4 “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.”
How often we look to the wrong places for encouragement and hope.
How many will be glued to their tvs on November 5th filled with anticipation and hope for their candidate to win.
We should obviously vote for the right person, however, my courage and hope will not be anchored in any human, but in the Word of the Living God.
My courage and hope will not be anchored in the economy, for I have story after story in my Bible that gives me courage that my God will provide for me at all time regardless of the circumstance.
It Is Eternal
Psalm 119:89 “Your word, Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.”
It is relevant and practical for every age, every culture. It does not age.
Some 300 years ago, French writer and intellectual Voltaire is reputed to have said, “One hundred years from my day, there will not be a Bible on earth except one that is looked upon by an antiquarian curiosity-seeker.”
Sam Harris, one of the 4 horsemen (as they are so called) of the New Atheist movement has said, “I can go into any Barnes & Noble blindfolded and pull a book off a shelf which is going to have more relevance, more wisdom for 21st century, than the Bible.”
Other New Atheists such ash Lawrence Krauss and Richard Dawkins disparage the bible as the product of “Bronze age peasants” or “desert tribes.”
German Philosopher Immanuel Kant said once: “The Enlightenment was man’s coming to age. It was man’s emergence from the immaturity which caused him to rely on such external authorities as the Bible, the Church, and the state to tell him what to think and do. No generation should be bound by creeds and customs of bygone ages. To be so bound is an offense against human nature, whose destiny lies in progress.
An imbecile habit has arisen in modern controversy of saying that such and such a creed can be held in one age but cannot be held in another. Some dogma, we are told, was credible in the twelfth century, but is not credible in the twentieth. You might as well say that a certain philosophy can be believed on Mondays, but cannot be believed on Tuesdays. You might as well say of a view of the cosmos that it was suitable to half-past three, but not suitable to half-past four. What a man can believe depends upon his philosophy, not upon the clock or the century.
When he drops one doctrine after another in a refined scepticism, when he declines to tie himself to a system, when he says that he has outgrown definitions, when he says that he disbelieves in finality, when, in his own imagination, he sits as God, holding no form of creed but contemplating all, then he is by that very process sinking slowly backwards into the vagueness of the vagrant animals and the unconsciousness of the grass.
Catholic doctrine and discipline may be walls; but they are the walls of a playground. Christianity is the only frame which has preserved the pleasure of Paganism. We might fancy some children playing on the flat grassy top of some tall island in the sea. So long as there was a wall round the cliff’s edge they could fling themselves into every frantic game and make the place the noisiest of nurseries. But the walls were knocked down, leaving the naked peril of the precipice. They did not fall over; but when their friends returned to them they were all huddled in terror in the centre of the island; and their song had ceased.
“The New Testament is new forever.” Jesus wasn’t suited for that time or anytime, He is from beyond time. He and His word is eternal.
People all over the world are coming to terms that the Biblical story, the story of Jesus the Word, is the only story that makes sense of their personal story.
The Sword of the Spirit - God’s Word enables us to live a life that is pleasing to Him - the core motivation of the Christian heart, including the desire to see others live lives pleasing to God. We please Him by obeying the Word and sharing the Word.
It is imperative then that we become wise in the Holy Scriptures, How can you wield the weapon of the Spirit if you do not know it. Knowing/understanding the Scriptures is of upmost importance.
The Rule of God
What is the rule of God? (We pray your kingdom come your will be done...) Where is God’s Kingdom? Where is He reigning?
Just as with any king, nation, government, it is where the rules and ways of life are enforced.
His rule, the kingdom, is where His Words are heeded and obeyed.
It is better to obey God than to obey man. (Regardless of the cost)
Ephesians:
God’s grace has accomplished for us and to us.
Jesus is the true Authoritative Lord of the world.
He saved us from the evil powers.
Live it out practically
Unity, service, honor with each other
Especially within the family unit
The Kingdom and rule of God is breaking in this world through us living as new creations.
Paul ends it with the reality that with this breaking in of the new creation, the rule of God and our going full discipleship mode comes conflict.
To the follower of Christ, this is not surprising.
The enemy will tempt us to not follow the ways of the Lord.
The Bible
The church never canonized books by its own authority; instead, it recognized books’ inspiration and canonicity, and it had a functioning canon long before it attempted to define the canon.
Canon: in Greek is a “rule” or “measure” and was a way to determine accuracy.
It was received rather than created. The Council of Nicea affirmed the canon in 315.
Cost:
Each copy of the bible in the Middle Ages cost roughly 1500 sheep.
In Spain the Leon Bible (960 AD) cost an estimated 155 cows to produce.
Not counting the cost of ink, quills, and binding for the final books.
Also needed, was at least one scribe with a practiced hand, capable of copying the text. Many times there would be several scribes working in unison but then a supervisor was needed to ensure each page passed without errors.
A well stocked and well trained monastery would typically produce two to four complete bibles a year.
That was best case, one monk remarks that his goal was 1 bible every two years, however, he often need a third year to complete.