Wielding the Sword

“Stand therefore … with truth … righteousness … the gospel of peace … the shield of faith … And take the helmet of salvation,
And the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;”
Ephesians 6:14-17, KJV
The two boys carefully select just the right stick and stand with legs stretched apart. “ En garde!” Crack, duck, run, and try for another blow. No expertise here, no certain pattern followed—just hope you’re faster and stronger than the other guy. This strategy doesn’t work well against someone who knows how to use a sword properly. Neither does it work well in Christian warfare against our enemy, which is—
“not … flesh and blood,
but … principalities … powers …
rulers of the darkness of this world …
spiritual wickedness in high places.”
Ephesians 6:12
These enemies are, in truth, one enemy who uses whomever and whatever to deceive, discourage, and devour us. He has one aim. Since he cannot defeat God, he marches against those who belong to God. He even uses a sword that resembles the Lord’s. Remember Pharoah’s magicians who turned their rods into snakes after seeing Moses turn the rod of God into a snake? God’s rod devoured the magicians’ many snakes. The sword of the Spirit given to us is stronger than our enemy’s, but we must know how to use it properly.
Having the word of God in your hand, carrying it to church, or sitting on a shelf at home weakens our weapon against satan, because we don’t have the knowledge to use it against his twisted tongue. We need to hold the Spirit’s sword in our mind, our heart, and our spirit—then take it in our hand, and let the Spirit teach us how to wield it.
If we want to live in this warfare to fight another day, we need a living sword that cuts to the depths of truth and destroys the lies of the enemy, as well as, the lies we are tempted to embrace.
“For the word of God is quick, and powerful,
and sharper than any twoedged sword,
piercing even to the dividing asunder
of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow,
and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
Hebrews 4:12
The sword of the Spirit lays open the heart of our enemy with precise strokes revealing his evil nature and intents to destroy. If not used correctly this edge could end up wounding us.
At the same time, the other edge carefully slices through and removes all that is ungodly in the thoughts and intents of the heart. It provides our way of sanctification.
“Sanctify them through thy truth:
thy word is truth.”
John 17:17
The sword of the Spirit is our only weapon of warfare. There is nothing stronger than the word of God.
We have come full circle. Truth is our belt protecting us against satan’s lies, and it is found in our sword of the Spirit to be used to fight skillfully against the enemy. But like the boys, if we don’t know how to use our sword, it’s time to duck and run—and begin to—
“Study to shew thyself approved unto God,
a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the word of truth.”
2 Timothy 2:15
Hopefully, in my next post we will meet Jehovah-mekoddishkem and dive—or maybe wade—into his relationship to the sword of the Spirit and what it means to us. I appreciate your prayers.