The Sword of the Spirit
Spiritual Warfare • Sermon • Submitted
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Corona Virus
We remain to be a church, for this weekend we are not a church gathered but we remain to be the body of Christ here at Crosswind.
The leaders are here
Stay tuned this week for announcement on how we will conduct our services next week.
27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
John 14
Frantic buying or being mean because the store ran out of toilet paper!
Don’t be anxious
President: National Day of prayer.
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 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. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,
Sermon series on Spiritual Warfare
Recurring Theme of the Sermon Series on Spiritual Warfare:
“Satan is terrified of Jesus Christ. We can only have complete Spiritual Victory when Jesus has complete presence and rule in our hearts.”
The Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.
The only weapon in our spiritual armor. Which means it is the only piece of the armor that is both defensive and offensive.
Why Sword of the Spirit?
Adjective in the sense that it is not a physical but rather a physical sword.
You cannot fight spiritual enemies with guns, knives and bombs. Just like you cannot fight the corona virus with toilet paper.
Just a note on the corona virus.
I believe that it is being weaponized by the enemy against the church.
There are events in churches around the world that are being cancelled.
Missionaries are being prevented from traveling to the different nations.
Teachers that are not able to travel to places hosting vision school.
There is a school in South Korea that may also be delayed from accreditation because the president of the accrediting institution is supposed to go there.
This is why I believe the Corona virus will not last...
As Satan continues to weaponize the coronavirus the triumphant global church of Jesus will be on its knees and wield the sword of the Spirit.
What is the sword of the Spirit? - The word of God. This is the Rhema word of God which is a specific bold statement that we as the church can use to strike back in our fight against the enemy.
17 no weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their vindication from me, declares the Lord.”
The word of God is the sword of the spirit because it is spiritual, but notice that the Spirit is also a Person.
So..
The Sword of the Spirit is a spiritual weapon given to us by the Holy Spirit.
Sixth piece of the armor, God has given us everything we need to not only fight but to win in Spiritual warfare.
How effective is the sword of the spirit?
Image of the word “machaira”
This is not the long sword like King Arthur’s excalibur.
Of all the swords that a Roman soldier could use, this one was the deadliest. Indeed, the “machaira” could be as long as 19 inches, but it was often shorter, resembling a dagger, therefore it was usually used in hand to hand combat. It was razor sharp on both sides of the blade and its very end turned upward, causing the point of the blade to be extremely sharp and deadly. After stabbing his enemy and before removing the blade, the soldier would grab the sword tightly and twist it, pulling the man’s entrails out as the sword was removed. Not a pretty sight.
The machaira is meant to deliver a deadly blow to its enemies.
That is the type of sword that the Apostle Paul through the Holy Spirit envisioned.
We are to fight back Satan and his minions, but our weapon won’t be effective if we just give him a spanking. We are to deliver a fierce blow to him so that he flees away.
How do we do use this weapon?
There is no better example from the Bible that we can model from than the Lord Jesus Christ
Matthew 4:1-
1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ” 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ” 7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ” 11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.
Satan attacks
Temptation
Tactic: Twisting a truth
16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.
Jesus is coming out of a mountaintop — subdued the flesh thru fasting..
I am calling for a 21-day Daniel’s fast
When fasting you subdue the basic desire of the flesh for food and you soar into new spiritual highs..
That is when the Devil attacks where you are weakest..
After fasting, the word of God said: Jesus was hungry..
There was a temptation.. then the tactic taking truth and mishandling it.. “If you are the son of God” .. can Jesus do it? Yes. would have undermined his authority and His trust in God.
Jesus pulls the dagger from the scubbard” from Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple
Matthew 4:5
3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ” 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple
4 But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ” 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple
Ephesians 6:11-
11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 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. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,
3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”
Temptation: Is to use His power unnecessarily, when He walked the earth, Jesus always used His supernatural powers to help someone, to fill a need.. show off your powers.. it was a challenge to pride.
Jesus had zero pride, He was the humble King. We are encouraged to do the same, Bible encourages us to have this attitude among ourselves which was also in Christ Jesus , alt
Philippians 2:4
4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
Could Jesus had jumped.. as both God and man he could have done it..
Tactic: Satan again repeated a truth and he twisted it, but then he added his own version of scripture..
“He will command His angels charge over you...”
Satan knows the Bible. He was actually quoting from .
Satan completely distorted and misused it by ommitting:
11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.
To guard you in all your ways.. God’s protection to His children…
Lie, misuse, distort scripture that is why people are deceived into cults… lace the truth with a lie.. 99% true but there is a subtle 1% lie
Jesus again wields the sword of the Spirit, take that Satan it is written “you shall not put the Lord your God to the test”. .
Satan took him to the top of a very high mountain and showed Him all the Kingdoms of the world and their glory.
Temptation: What s the temptation? Was Jesus attracted by the glamor of the kingdoms of the world?
the lust of the eyes.
I believe, Jesus did not care about the kingdom of Satan as much as He was drawn to compassion to the people, the souls that were in Satan’s grip in the kingdoms of the world. What Satan would was offering is a shortcut for Jesus to reclaim the souls of men.. his way not God’s way… the cross.
Jesus delivers the final blow:
Be gone Satan! For it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve
Round three is over Jesus wins! Jesus has won and Jesus will always win.
It is important for the Christian.
Study and meditate on the scripture.
2. Allow the Holy Spirit to illuminate.
2. Allow the Holy Spirit to illuminate.
The entrance of Your words give light.
3. Memorize.
Your word have I hidden in my heart, that I may not sin against you.
I have memory problems! It is not by physical means, not by the sharpness of our memory.. this is spiritual..
Allow the Holy Spirit to remind you..
26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
John 14:26
So far I’ve talked about the sword as a defensive weapon. But it is also meant to be our weapon of offense, it is meant to pierce the darkness.
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.
The word here is not the rhema word but rather the logos, the revealed word of God. The Apostle Paul differentiates on how we handle the 6 elements of the armor..
We are told to put on the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteosness and the shoes of the gospel of peace..
But we are told to take up the last three, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit..
We have an armory of swords, the logos, which is powerful, and it talks about the potential,,
but it is when we take up each sword, pull it out of the scubbard and proclaim the Rhema word of God that we can take the fight to enemy territory and advance the Kingdom of God.
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
Satan is a defeated foe.. he is no match to God and the saints whose lives are totally given to the Lordship of Christ. He cannot even read our minds. We have to proclaim the Gospel with authority.
18 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,
Prayer:
Corona Virus
Our church - revival, every family, unity
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