The past few Wednesday evenings, we have been studying the whole armor of God found in Eph 6:10-18. We have already discussed the helmet of salvation, which protects your mind in spiritual warfare; the breastplate of righteousness, which protects your heart when you yield to the righteousness of Jesus Christ and do right; the girdle of truth, to protect against the lies of Satan; and the shield of faith, which protects you from the fiery darts of the wicked when you believe the words of God. Tonight we are going to discuss the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, Eph 6:17.
According to Heb 4:12-13, the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. It is a very powerful weapon. In Rev 1:16, when John saw Jesus, he said, “out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword.” In Rev 19:15 and 19:21 the sword proceeded out of his mouth. The sharp two-edged sword that went out of his mouth is undoubtedly the word of God. He uses it powerfully now like he did when he was on earth.
In Lk 4:3-13, when Jesus Christ was tempted by the devil in the wilderness, he repelled the attacks of the devil by quoting scripture. He said, “It is written,” and he quoted Deut 8:3; “It is written,” and he quoted Deut 6:13; “It is said,” and he quoted Deut 6:16. Notice the devil said, “it is written,” but he didn’t quote Ps 91:11-12 correctly; he subtracted some words and added some words. And in this typical fashion, he tempted the Lord. But the Lord didn’t budge.
The third stanza of A Mighty Fortress is our God:
And though this world, with devils filled, Should threaten to undo us; We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us. The prince of darkness grim – We tremble not for him; His rage we can endure, For lo! His doom is sure, One little word shall fell him.
“One little word shall fell him.” The word is powerfully used in spiritual warfare when it is spoken out of your mouth. In Lk 4:36 the people “were all amazed, and spake among themselves saying, What a word is this! for with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out.” They came out when Jesus spoke the word.
Likewise, the word of God becomes a powerful weapon in our spiritual warfare when we speak it. In 1 Cor 10:13, the way to escape in temptation is in the word of God. Therefore, you and I must memorize scripture so that we can recall it and quote it anytime we are tempted.
Conclusion: the way for us to take the sword of the Spirit is to take it into our hearts so we can quote scripture just like Jesus did. We must memorize verses, just like the Lord did, and speak them when we are facing temptations and attacks from the adversary.