Passage: Ephesians 6:17
The Big Idea
Every other piece of God’s armor is defensive. The sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, is both defense and offense. Jesus parried every temptation with Scripture, and the Word still pierces hearts like nothing else can, because it’s His sword and He does the aiming. The same Jesus who wields that sword is the Warrior-King who will return with it. So pick it up: read it, speak it, love it, and let it do its work in you first.
A Sword in Your Hand
Paul says to take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (Ephesians 6:17).
Few things feel better to a young man than a sword handle in his grip. It’s like a coming of age: power, responsibility, honor. For centuries the sword was the soldier’s tool, until fairly recently replaced by the gun as the way kingdoms rise and fall. With a sword in your hand, you’re someone to be reckoned with. You’re useful to your captain.
Over the last several studies, we’ve seen how God has equipped His children with every piece of armor needed to defend against Satan’s attacks:
- The belt of truth.
- The breastplate of righteousness.
- The boots of the gospel of peace.
- The shield of faith.
- The helmet of salvation.
Each is designed to protect you from Satan’s schemes to disable you. Remember, Satan is after your usefulness in the war.
Oh yes, there’s a war going on, a war for souls. It’s invisible, but we see its effects everywhere: broken lives with no hope, people all around us whose hearts have been wounded by the enemy’s lies.
But not God’s children. We’re in this war, but not as bystanders. We’re the knights. We’re William Wallace, the Three Musketeers, Luke Skywalker, Inigo Montoya and the Man in Black!
We make Satan back off when we draw our sword. And what is it? The Word of God.
Defense and Offense
This is the one piece of equipment that’s both defensive and offensive.
Defensive: we can fend off Satan’s attacks with Scripture, just as Jesus did in the wilderness. Each time He was tempted, He simply answered, “It is written,” parrying the attack (Matthew 4:1-11).
Offensive: we can, and should, go on the attack, using God’s Word against the devil and against the flesh.
Against Satan
Our God is at war with the world, the flesh and the devil, and He will win. He has enlisted us as His soldiers.
We’re meant to fight with the Word of God. Not compromise. Not cut deals with the enemy. God has no interest in negotiating a political peace with His enemy. Satan’s evil must be destroyed and his power broken. He comes only to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10). There’s no reforming him, no peace treaty. He’s every movie villain rolled into one: the evil emperor, Sauron, the Joker, the Wicked Witch, the shark from Jaws and the bully from Back to the Future. He can’t be reasoned with or avoided.
But some believers have no interest in the Word. They keep their sword in its sheath and their mouths shut. When they should be declaring God’s truth, they shrink back in silence.
We’re not called to silence. We’re called to swing away! Isaiah speaks of the Servant whose mouth God made like a sharp sword (Isaiah 49:2). Our words become powerful when we speak God’s Word.
Against the flesh
Why speak God’s Word? Because it works!
Hebrews says the word of God is living and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12).
It can make the human heart bleed. I remember many times feeling that burning in my heart as I realized how I’d offended God, rejected His love and refused His grace. I hated it. I ran from it.
Spurgeon described it this way in one of his sermons: “That sword pursued you, and pierced you in the secrets of your soul, and made you bleed in a thousand places… That wound was deadly, and none but he that killed could make you alive… After that, blessed be God, your fears, and doubts, and despair, and unbelief, were also hacked to pieces by this same sword. The Word gave you life; but it was at the first a great killer.”
Speaking the Word into people’s lives is swinging the sword of the Spirit.
It doesn’t depend on how skillfully you speak. It’s a spiritual sword. It works invisibly, internally, powerfully. People will be affected. The Spirit will call people to repentance through hearing the Word.
When Peter preached at Pentecost, the crowd was “cut to the heart” and asked, “Brothers, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37).
Don’t you wish people responded to your words like that? “What do I need to do to have what you have?”
God’s Word is amazing. It can cut to the heart when nothing else can. You may have a thousand layers of armor around your heart, but the sword of the Spirit cuts through them all like a hot knife through butter. No one can defend against it. It won’t return empty; it will accomplish what God sends it to do (Isaiah 55:11).
Why is the Bible so effective? Why does it bring people to their knees in repentance? Why can we wield it with confidence?
Because it’s His Word. It’s His sword. We don’t have to aim for the heart, because Jesus is still guiding it. He does the aiming. The Bible is how the Holy Spirit works in hearts. This book contains everything God intended to reveal to us. Nothing is missing. And God is committed to using it powerfully and supernaturally in our lives.
How Jesus Wields the Sword
In Revelation, John saw the glorified Jesus: in His right hand seven stars, from His mouth a sharp two-edged sword, and His face like the sun shining in full strength (Revelation 1:16).
Again, it’s His Word.
- No one else is needed.
- No backup plan.
- No compromise.
- It’s sharp: not dull, not an idle threat.
- It’s dangerous to the soul. Don’t think you won’t be searched and cut too.
- It’s dangerous to the enemy.
- It’s not a toy.
But do we treat it like a toy, something we give only our spare time to? Or do we understand it’s the most important thing in our lives, homes, marriages and careers?
To one church, Jesus warned that if they didn’t repent, He would come and fight against them with the sword of His mouth (Revelation 2:16). His sword is against those who proudly refuse to repent.
I don’t want to be on the wrong side of that sword. I need to humble myself and repent when I sin. I don’t have to be cut every time. I can choose to repent.
To another church He said that all the churches would know He is the One who searches minds and hearts (Revelation 2:23). Jesus searches the mind and heart. If I won’t repent, the sword will see to it that I’m unfruitful. Pride is such a killer. Pride puts me in a fight with God, and I won’t win. God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6).
The Bible is so effective because it reveals whether you’re humble or proud. Just by reading it, the condition of your heart becomes clear. And then you face a choice:
- Repent, or rebel.
- Run to Jesus, or away.
- Submit to God, or to Satan.
- Raise the white flag of surrender, or keep fighting in the flesh.
People think God is joking. They think Jesus is so meek and mild that He’d never call out their sin. They think the Bible is just a book.
They’re so wrong. It’s a book that brings salvation to some and judgment to many more who reject the grace of God.
Moses sang, “The LORD is a man of war; the LORD is His name” (Exodus 15:3). He’s a warrior, a warrior with His mouth. You want to be on His side now, and when the end comes!
The Warrior on the White Horse
“But I can’t imagine Jesus as a warrior.”
Look at how He appears at the end. John saw heaven opened, and a white horse. Its rider is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes are like fire, on His head are many crowns, and He’s clothed in a robe dipped in blood. His name is called The Word of God. The armies of heaven follow Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword to strike the nations, and on His robe and thigh is written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. The beast and the kings of the earth gather to make war against Him, and they’re defeated by the sword from His mouth (Revelation 19:11-21).
Maybe you love that picture: powerful, glorious, wonderful. The Word of God no longer confined to pages, but revealed in bodily form to the world, finally honored for what He is: God.
But what about the gentle Jesus we know from the Gospels? He doesn’t seem like a warrior…
The Carpenter
In Zechariah’s vision, the prophet saw four horns, the powers that scattered Judah, Israel and Jerusalem. Then the LORD showed him four “craftsmen” coming to terrify and throw down those horns (Zechariah 1:18-21).
Horns picture the pride and strength of a bull, a sense of invincibility, like the great world empires that crushed God’s people. And who comes to bring them down? Craftsmen. The Hebrew word can mean carpenter or skilled worker. Some see in it a hint of One who is skilled to tear down as well as build (compare Ezekiel 21:31).
Ever been scared of a carpenter?
In Mark 6, Jesus taught in His hometown synagogue. People were astonished: “Where did He get this? What wisdom! What mighty works!” His words cut like a sword. But then they said, “Isn’t this the carpenter, Mary’s son?” And they were offended at Him. Jesus said a prophet isn’t without honor except in his own hometown, and He could do few mighty works there because of their unbelief. He marveled at it (Mark 6:1-6).
All that skill and power went unused in Nazareth because they wouldn’t believe. They wouldn’t humble themselves. They stood in their pride. One day they’ll see what kind of warrior He is.
Then Jesus went through the villages teaching, and called the Twelve and sent them out two by two, giving them authority over unclean spirits (Mark 6:6-7).
It’s as if Jesus said, “You don’t believe in My power? I’ll show you what kind of warrior I am! Evil spirits roam the world to deceive and destroy, but My Word has power over them. And when you go out with My Word, you overcome them all!”
When we take up God’s Word, we’re warriors of infinite power, because we carry the Word of Jesus Christ, the embodiment of power and glory, truth and wisdom, love and grace.
Pick Up Your Sword
A call goes out today: Pick up your Bible! Read it! Study it! Listen to it! Memorize it! Let it lead you to repent!
Pick up your sword. Take it everywhere. Read it. Speak it. Love it. Cherish it.
Its effect on your own life will be blessing, and through you His power and influence will be shown to the world.
We close with the psalm that pictures God’s people with His high praises in their mouths and a two-edged sword in their hands (Psalm 149:6).
Grace Takeaway
The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God, and it’s the only piece of armor that’s both shield and sword. It’s sharp enough to pierce any defense, starting with your own heart, because Jesus Himself guides it. Don’t leave it in the sheath. Let it cut away your pride, answer the enemy’s lies with “It is written,” and speak it boldly to others. The Warrior-King is on your side, and His Word never returns empty.
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