Spiritual Warfare The Sword of the Spirit 09/16/2020

I'm armor. And that is the sword. Of the spirit. Did you change that Vicky? Okay. Alright. Thank you. Alright, we going to look at the sword of the spirit tonight. This is in Ephesians 6 and verse 17. And let's read that. It's very short says and take the helmet of salvation. We talked about that two weeks ago. And the sword of the spirit, which is the word. Of God now what I want to do right now and I'm going to put a slide up here is let's just take a look at all of these. The armor and I'm kind of put the piece of armor on the left and then what Satan does on the right and how that piece of armor helps or so. Look at the first one that helped. Well, I think this helps against Satan as an enslaver. He he would love to enslave Us in sin. And if not in some out rights in also, he would love to enslave us just to ourselves our own selfish desires just to live for ourselves and not to live for God. So when we put on the Belt, what was it called the battle fought the belt of Truth. So we're at we're living in truth. We know that we don't have to live for ourselves, but we live for God and we live for other people. So this the belt of Truth helps us against Satan as in flavor number to remember the breastplate of righteousness. This helps us against Satan as accuser. He is the accuser remember, we have a positional righteousness. Now that we are saved that we are in Christ, but we also have a practical righteousness that we live a righteous life, but we don't live a sinless life. So Satan just like he did Joe he goes before God and he accuses each of us every single day before God will look at your service John. Look at your look at your service Lewis. Look what they've done today. Look at all the thoughts that they had today and he chooses us before God but because we have this positional righteousness in Christ. God says why I don't see Mike is ucn he saved and he has been clothed with the righteousness of my son and I see him as perfect righteousness. And so that's what the breastplate does for us. It helps us because Satan has it is called in the Bible the accuser what about the shoes of the Gods? A piece. Well, this is Satan as serpent. You see the gospel we go out and we share the good news of the Gospel. Well as a serpent, we have to have the gospel the shoes of the Gospel on with not where it where is a serpent more likely to bite you at on your foot or on your heel or something like that on your ankle or something, but we put on the shoes of the gospel of peace and that helps us the battle Satan as serpent. How about the shield of Faith? Remember the Fate that we talked about and this is Satan as tempter. O Satan don't want us to live a life of Faith. He wants us to live a life of

Aside he wants us to look at things in the way that the world looks at things. And so when we have the shield of faith on what he does, is he brings Temptations into our life because he wants to tempt us and he wants us to fall. That's why we need the shield of Faith to help us against Satan as tempter. And then the last time we talked about the helmet of salvation and we talked about our fault life in our in the fill our heads with those things that are good and Justin pure and lovely of a good report. This is Satan as deceiver Satan would love to deceive you and get you to think well, Maybe I'm not saved. Maybe I can lose my salvation. I wonder if God really is good. Remember what he said to Eve. He said God surely didn't say this. We start doubting God and we start questioning God see this is Satan as a deceiver. But if we have the helmet of salvation on there, he's not going to deceive Us in any in anyway and tempt us to rebelled against God and then denied we come to the sword the sword of the spirit, which the Bible is clear. What this is it is the word of God. This protects us against Satan as liar. Satan is a liar. The Bible says he's a father of it and John and so he will lie and he will try to tell us that the word of God is really not, you know, it's got some errors of some of its true some of its not we see this tonight because we going to look at the episode when Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness. And he tempted Jesus in a way that he was trying to get Jesus to doubt or even flat-out deny the word of God. So all the armor we've looked at so far. Has been defensive its gives it to us so that we can kind of ward off the attack if you want to call it that but tonight he gives us a weapon that we can use offensively. But it's also a weapon we used offensively. Because let me say this as we go out into the world and share the gospel and we speak and we bring light into a dark World. Satan is going to attack us for that. So when we bring light into a dark World, we're using the word of God offensively. We are actually going to people and counseling them and encouraging them into in the Lord and we use the word of God to do that. Well when Satan sees that he's going to attack us and then when he attacks us, that's when we have to use the word of God defensively. Well Jesus in Matthew chapter 4, he uses it defensively but you can use it either way, so We use the Bible as our sword. So the first point I want to make tonight. Is this the explanation of the sword now, I broke this now and I put this on the slide and I'm going to put it up here now. There's two Greek words. In the New Testament for the word word. Okay. Now it is the word the word word is used 318 times in the New Testament. It's predominantly has two Greek words for word. There's several others, but they only use one or two times 246 times. The word word is the word Lagos. How many of you have heard Lagos before you ever heard that word? Alright Lagos means the Divine word that refers to Jesus Christ. Now listen to this verse John 1:1 in the beginning was the word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. All three answers is there when it says the word it uses the Greek word Lagos. That's the Divine word in Jesus Christ is the Lagos Lagos is used 246 times in the New Testament out of the 318. But now the other word for word is the word Rhema. Esu's 56 * 4 total. I stole a 302 out of 318 these two words now Rhema is different. And if we're going to arm ourselves with the word of God the sword of the spirit, we need to understand the difference hear the word Rhema literally means the same things of God. Things that God has said well you say the whole Bible is the sayings of God will it is but just think about The Parables think about the teachings of Jesus think about the Book of Proverbs in the Book of Psalms. Think about in your life when you need comfort, where do you turn to you turn to the word of God and you may turn to the songs and you may pull out a verse out of Psalms that gives you comfort what how about if you if you need courage you may turn to Proverbs and you may pull a verse out of Proverbs that speak of Courage. Will how about if you need something to help you with fear. Well, you may go to 1st Timothy and you may say well God has not given me the spirit of fear, but of love power and a sound mind you see those are the sayings of God. Those are little things that we pull out of scripture and bring into our own life. That helps us in the moment of need whatever that need. Maybe where this is what Paul is talkin about here. He's talkin about the sayings of God. So another words the Bible is like an Armory and inside this Armory. There's different swords to put a pull out a different sword for courage and and comfort and fear and perseverance and patience all of that. The Bible talks All About That Bass are different swords. Now, let me go to Romans 10:17. I look what the Bible says here. So then faith comes by hearing. and hearing by the word of God now what Greek word you think there is forward there. You think it's Lagos the Divine word Jesus or do you think it's Rhema for the sayings of God is Rhema? So faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Rhema of God. I always thought that verse man that if you read your Bible, you'll get Faith but I later discovered that it means that you read God's word. All of a sudden you'll be able to pull out the ream of the sayings of God to help you in the time of need and when you do that your faith comes alive. How many of you ever done a morning devotion or something and you read a verse and for some reason you read that verse before but something just sticks out and it just speak to your heart. You just it just hit you right in the face. You said this is exactly what I need with that's the Rhema at work. That's the sayings of God at work and it becomes a revelation to you. So I hope you can see it's essential that we understand this passage because too many believers. Act like the Bible is kind of like a rabbit's foot and we shared around in our pocket and we carry a Bible under arm or something like that the church but friends, we're not fit the fight unless we can pull out the Rhema of the word of God just because I've have a Bible in my hand under my arm doesn't mean that is active in my life. I have to have more than in my hand got to have it in my heart and in my head and that's how we fight against Satan and so these sayings of God, so what we talkin about tonight, we're talking about the Rhema of God. Well, let's look at Point number two, and that's the effect of the sword. How does this spirit this this sword the word of God help us. We look at Hebrews chapter 4 verse 12. This is the effect that the word of God has on our hearts for the word of God is living. We're not reading a dead book. This book is alive. That's why we pick it up. You never day cuz it speaks your heart. It's a living book. The word of God is living. It is powerful sharper than any two-edged sword. So it talk about a sword again piercing even to the division of Soul and Spirit and a joints and Marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the Heart by think about that scripture is alive. It is powerful. It can pierce your heart. The word of God can pierce your heart can cause the enemy to retreat it's useful for Discerning. What's right is useful for Discerning. What's not right? usual for Discerning how to get right and is useful in Discerning for how to stay right all that the word of God. It says I think about a metal sword if you had one it may pierce your body. What the Bible says that the word of God pierces your heart and just think about if you have a metal sword and you use it everyday the more you use it the dollar it becomes the friends the more you use the word of God is sharper. It comes it becomes sharper in your life and Satan hates that and a metal sword at it may wound you it wounds to hurt but the word of God wounds to heal. The think about that for a second. So how effective is the word of God? Well, let's look at another verse now with this is Acts chapter 2 verse 37. This is Peter on the day of Pentecost. He had been preaching and he was preaching about Sin and judgement in the resurrection of Jesus Christ and look what the word of God did to the people now when they heard this they were cut to the heart to see who pierces the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the Apostles men and Brethren, what should we do? They heard the word of God and I was paying what do we do? What we we are pierced to the heart. What is it that we do now? Well, that's how it does to some people it it brings conviction. It pierces the heart and people all the sudden start listening. Well, let's look at another person see what it does. This is ax. This is Pentecost again. Well, some of the people want to know what should we do? We're Pierce to the heart. Look what some of the others said when they heard this they were Furious and plotted to kill them. So sometimes the word of God he hit somebody and they get all angry and upset and they just want to kill somebody. They're not they're not going to they're not going to take it the sword of the spirit unleashed it has power to cut to the heart and people respond in different ways you ever heard a sermon before? and it just felt like I sermon was just just pointed straight at you. I don't know. I don't know how many times I preach before and people come out shake my hand said breacher. You stepped all over my toes while I wouldn't rhyme step on anybody's toes. I was just preaching but that's what the word of God does. Now what we want to do and this is .3 is we want to look at the illustration of how he handled Temptation when Satan came to him in the Wheelman slow take your Bibles and turn to Matthew chapter 4. Matthew chapter 4 and we're going to look and see how Jesus handled this Matthew chapter 4. And we're going to look at probably verses 1 through 11. This is when he was tempted. Remember he had just been baptized in the Lord said this is my son in whom I am well pleased and then Watch What Happens? After God had said this is my beloved Son and I am well pleased with him. Look at verse 1 of chapter 4 then Jesus was led up by the spirit not by Satan the spirit told him to go to the Wilderness for what reason to be tempted by the devil not let me say he's going to give him three Temptations.

If raspberries are the same Temptation that Satan has given all through history. These are the same three temptations that he will give you as well. This is not we're not looking at this just for a historical perspective. This is the way that he tempts us as well. Now. Let me give you a show you scripture. And I want you to look at this for all that is in the world. The lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the father but is of the world every single time Satan tempt you he tempt you through the lust of the flesh. The lust of the eyes and the pride of life. It's the same way. He tempted Eve. He said the fruit was good for food. That's the lust of the flesh. God told me not to be able to eat it. Anyway, I'm going to do things my way. That's the lust of the flesh then he said the fruit is Pleasant to the eyes. She looked at it and she said I want whatever it was. I prepare. I don't know what it was. I want that piece of fruit the lust of the eyes and what's up last one the pride of life. If you eat this fruit, you will be like who you'll be like God. You'll have all wisdom. You'll be just like it. That's the pride of life. Any Temptation in your life, it will be in one or all of these three ways here. So let's examine this temptation of Jesus and let's read the first three verses then Jesus would let up by the spirit Into the Wilderness to be tempted by the devil when he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights afterward. He was hungry. So he went 40 days 40 no food, and he was hungry verse 3 now when the tempter came to him. He said if you are the Son of God command that these Stones become bread. Well here it is right here. This is the lust of the flesh. This is the lust of the flesh right here. If you're the Son of God make these Stones become bread. Well, he was hungry. Could Jesus have made those stones bread, could he yes, he could have. Did he turn water into wine?

Bidding on a couple occasions. They just had a few loads in a few small fish and he just fed everybody and hadn't well baskets left over. Certainly, he could do that and Satan knew that is so Satan was saying satisfy your hunger by turning these stones into bread and other words just do a little miracle. Jesus is all you have to do and you can satisfy your appetite use your superhuman power to meet your human need That's what Satan was say. Now had Christ done that. Did you know that he would have have aborted his Incarnation because he was mad he was living as man if he just walked around all the time turning stones into bread. What would that has shown in his Humanity. Didn't show that he was human at all. So he knew that he couldn't do that. So Satan was trying to destroy his mission on Earth by getting Jesus to act independently of God. That's what he was trying to do. So he wanted to use human hunger to trick him. Did you know that you'll never find a miracle in Scripture that Jesus did he never did a miracle for himself? Did you know that never he was always ministering to someone else? That's why the Bible says the son of man did not come to be served. But to give his life a ransom for many. He always did miracles for other people his whole purpose was to minister to others Satan tried to get him to do a miracle for himself and to bypass got well, he was faced with this temptation. What did he do? Well, he reached in and he pulled out a sword with what's the sword the word of God. Will what did he pull out? What type of Sword did he pull out? Well, let's look at it Deuteronomy 8:3. This is what he quoted not all of this so he humbled So he humbled you allowed you to hunger and fed you with Manning, which you did not know nor did your father's know that he might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone. This is what Jesus said to say, man. Shall not live by bread alone and we can see that in Matthew 4 verse 4. He answered and said it is written man. Shall not live by bread alone, but by every word Rhema For every Rhema that precedes from the mouth of God ever saying of God, that's what we rely on for nourishment. God keeps people alive. Not bread. Amen. It's not the bread to go to keep you alive. As God is going to keep you a lot and he can bring nourishment to you whether you have food or not. But the key word here is alone man. Shall not live by bread alone. In other words apart from the wheel of God we are to walk in dependence on God, what state was trying to get Jesus to do was to act independently of God and turn those stones into bread. That's the lust of the flesh. That's what he tempted him with so Jesus was determined to do the Lord's will and that's exactly what he did Temptation number to we see it in verses 5 through 7 and look at this then the devil took him up to the holy city set him on a pinnacle of the temple about 450 feet up and said to him if you are the son of God. Throw yourself down for it is written. He shall give his angels charge over you and in their hands they shall bear you up lest you dash your foot against a stone. That's comes from Psalm. 91. Jesus said to him it is written again. You shall not tempt the Lord your God now. Let's look at this and Psalm 91. For he shall give his angels charge over you. and well, look what Satan did he left out a portion of the scripture? He quoted half the scripture, but he left out the portion that says and he will keep you in all your ways. If you'll just trust God will keep but that's not what Satan said. He says for in there had he shall give his angels charge over you and in their hands. They should bear you up. He left out the part where God will take care of you you say he miss quoted scripture and that's exactly what he does. Well, what did the Lord say to Satan? You shall not tempt the Lord your God as you tempted him and Masa, so you can't tent what was Satan trying to do here. He was trying to get price to not trust God. He didn't want him to trust he perverted the text here and Jesus said to his heavenly father was in control and he would take care of him. No matter what you see the devil. The devil is very shrewd. I look what he tried to do the first Temptation. He tried to get Jesus to act independently from God. But look what he does in this temptation. He tries to get Jesus not the watch Hamilton say this he tried to get Jesus to trust God more than he should. Recycle, how can you trust God more than you should you should always trust God. You should always trust God, but you are never to be presumptuous toward God. You see you cannot do that. You see he told him he says. You are the Son of God throw yourself down. If you're the Son of God and you're going to have to die on the cross. If you go up there a Hound the step on jump down. You know, what God's going to do. He has to save you. He has to catch you before you fall because you're the anointed one you the Messiah you have to die on the cross. So go up here and get in jump down. So that people can see that you are a superhero. You can do anything you want to in God's going to take care of you. You see the first Temptation was don't trust God II Temptation. If you trust him more than you should in other words you be presumptuous that's like saying, you know, I don't think it's my time to go. So I'm going to go out here on the road and I'm going to wait for a semi-truck to come by going about 70 and I'm going to stand right there in front of it. And if it's not my time to go I will live for friend. If you do that your time to go will be today. I can guarantee you that God will move it up on the calendar and today would be the day that you will die. But this is exactly what Satan was asking him. He wanted him to put on a show. He wanted him to have a large following just jump off and got to save you in the people of know then who you really are. You see he wanted him to be presumptuous about God God is not a servant to be ordered around in Christ was not going to be presumptuous with God friends. Listen. It is absolutely right to believe in miracles, don't you think so it is absolutely right to believe in miracles, but it is absolutely wrong to try to schedule. You better not try to schedule one that is wrong in saying I know what God is going to do it. No, we don't we do not know. Well that was the lust of the eyes you'll be popular. You don't have to you know, you just trust God to do any of you go out and live the way you want to and not what some people do. I ain't I'm saved. I'm a Christian. I'll just live the way I want to I'll ask for forgiveness. And God will do what you'll forgive me. Using his grace as a license to live the way I want to that's being presumptuous toward God. This is what Satan was trying to get Jesus to do the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and then Temptation number 3 8 through 10 Again devil took him up to an exceedingly high amount even higher now showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their Glory And he said to him all these things. I will give you if you will fall down and worship me. Then Jesus said to him away with you Satan for it is written you shall Worship the Lord your God and him only shalt you serve. Well, he was encouraged in the Lord here to take a shortcut. The Lord was going to bring a kingdom to this Earth, but it's a spiritual Kingdom. Was Satan offers an immediate Kingdom? Look what he says in verse 9 all these things I will give you if you'll just fall down and worship me. What state was saying is why I suffer while I go to the Cross white suffer all this humiliation. You can bypass the cross. You can buy Pro Bypass or suffering and humiliation just Bow Down and Worship me and I'll give you all these Kingdoms. Just do it the easy way forget about death and sacrifice and salvation, you know, you don't want to suffer like that. You can gain your kingdom without across. Satan has offered him a shortcut. Satan was offering him the pride of life. It's what he was doing. But what did Jesus do? He reached down again pulled out another sword and said You shall Worship the Lord your God and him only shalt you serve. And what happened right after that inverse 11, then the devil left him and behold Angels Came and ministered to him. He use the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. He used the Rhema the sayings of God and what did Satan do he flew from him? What is James a James says that if we use the Rhema if we resist the devil, he will do what he will flee from us. How do you resist the devil the ram of God the sayings of God, you've got to have the word of God dwell. How does that help us? In our own life, let me give you an example of the Christian Life and why we need the sword of the spirit. You see the sword of the spirit explains number one. the dynamic of preaching you ever gone to church before you had a need you heard of Summer and something just entirely different than what the preacher preach but God use the verse of scripture to speak to your heart and it just stuck to you like a sword. I have preached before sermons and I've had people come out to me and said, you know when you said such and such this just it is me I have been going through this. I didn't even remember saying that It was just totally out of context what I was preaching about, but God took a saying of God and used it in that person's life and spoke to that person's heart and they got an entirely different classes in the message. I was actually preacher but God can do that. That's what the word we all day. It is active it is sharp and it pierces the heart a Bible preacher or teacher ever how you want to play. All we do is get up here. And what we're doing is we're slinging arrows out in every direction and some of them is going to pierce the heart and the Rhema of God and because of that people going to walk away Chainz. That's how the word of God impact lives. That's how it does it. Well so is the dynamic of preaching. Well, there's something else that it kind of explains the sword of the spirit and that's the discipline of reading when you read the Bible systematically. Now lot of Christians say well, I'm not going to read the Old Testament. I don't understand it is sold. It don't apply today. And so I'm just going to read the gospels. Well, if somebody tells me they're going to read the gospel. That's a good thing. You ought to read the gospels because Jesus is in the gospels, of course, but as we found out and Joseph Jesus is in the Old Testament do it then he's in there too. So don't ever say well. I don't want to read the old. I'm just going to read the New Testament. There's pastors out there. Now I can think of one is Charles Stanley son has a big church down in Georgia and he came out a year or so ago and said that the that he thinks that the Old Testament all to be done away with. Can you imagine that doing away with the Old Testament all this fruitful preaching and teaching we've been doing in Genesis on the life of Joseph and you want to do away with that. You should never say anything like that. When Jesus confronted Satan here with the word of God, where did those three verses come from? The Old Testament Deuteronomy chapter 6 and chapter 8. He used the Old Testament if you don't go through the entire Bible. You going to be shorthanded when it comes to swords? Let me just say that if all you have is the New Testament swords, they're good, but you're going to be shorthanded and then lastly. I put here determined to memorize key passages. I just imagined Jesus out here in the wilderness and he had fasted for 40 days and nights and Satan comes to him and he can't see him in one if Jesus would have said this. Wait a minute. Let me get out my camcorders. I need to find something here that I can say to you for this. He didn't say that he didn't flip through his Bible and just close my eyes and point down like that. Listen to We need to memorize scripture if the only scripture you know is Jesus wept that's just not going to be enough cuz you going to go you going to lose your job. You don't have financial trouble and only scripture, you know is Jesus wept and I know that but we need to know more than Jesus wet, but too many times Christians go into battle like that. And you know that most Temptations in life don't come to you when you have a Bible in your hand, you know that I have very rarely ever been tempted. When I was at church, you know when my Temptations come. Tuesday evening Thursday morning Friday afternoon not when I've got a Bible in my hand standing in the Pulpit not when I'm studying the Bible at home. That's when I don't have it. That's when The Temptations come and that's when we have to have it in our heart and in our mind remember the psalmist wrote. He says you were word. I have hid in my heart that I might not sin against you. So we need to hide it in our heart and when Temptation comes you'll know how to deal with it. I've always said if you don't have a grip on your Bible Satan is going to get a grip on you. We will we had better have a grip on the Bible because if we don't we are walking into this spiritual warfare unarmed and on prepared. So let's just think about these five and we'll close the whole it says clothe yourself with the whole put on the whole armor of God. And we said that this is a picture of Jesus Christ.