Do You Have A Sword?

A sword is a weapon dating back to the time before Christ, but there is no documented evidence of exactly how or when it came about. However, the sword is highly respected as a lethal weapon, and is mentioned many times in the Old as well as the New Testament. But why would a holy book such as the Bible make mention of a weapon?


Ephesians 6: 17 refers to the "sword of the spirit" as the word of God.
How can the word of God be the "sword of the spirit?" When Satan went to tempt Jesus while he fasted in the wilderness, Jesus didn't have a physical sword. What he had was the word of God, and He used it with precision. His first response was, "It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God" (Luke 4:4).

On Satan's second temptation, Jesus said, "Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve" (v 8). And the third time, "It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God" ( v 12). In these three examples, Jesus is referring to the logos, which, according to the Scofield Bible, is a Greek term meaning (1) a thought or concept; (2) the expression or utterance of that thought.

John 1: 1 states: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." And in verse 14, Jesus is spoken of as the Word which "was made flesh and dwelt among us ..." Hebrews 4:12 says, "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."

John, describing Jesus in the book of Revelations says, "In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance" (1:16).

So, friends, when we use the word of God in our spiritual warfare against the devil, we are employing the logos, the Being, Person and work of Christ himself. The devil can never stand up to that. Christ defeated him on the cross over two thousand years ago, and His Word is powerful still. When Jesus comes back to earth He will come with that double-edged sword in His mouth with which He will defeat the armies of the anti-christ.

Today, the sword as a weapon has grown obsolete, but it is still used in a sport called fencing. Fencers take great pride in their sport and in their swords, practicing religiously and keeping their swords in good working condition. As Christians we need to do the same. There is no point in keeping our Bibles locked away, only taking them out once a week when we go to church. We are in a constant battle, and we must know how to use our sword.

Is the enemy coming against you with sickness? Break out your sword. "With His stripes I am healed" (Isaiah 53:5); Are you suffering lack of some kind? "My God shall supply all my needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Phillipians 4:19). Are you suffering from anxiety? "And the peace of God which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" (v 7).

We have a very powerful weapon. "The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds" (2 Corinthians 10: 4). NIV We must use our sword. That means getting into the word daily. Not once a week when the pastor reads it to us in church, but every day. Nowadays we have CDs that we can lisen to in our cars and we have the Bible on the internet. We can look up a verse during our lunch break. We need to become familiar with our sword, so when the enemy comes against us we won't retreat in fear. No, we'll take up our sword and run him through. Don't you feel powerful?

Words

Have you ever said something in a group setting, only to have someone who was not present at the time come and confront you about what you said? More specifically, have you ever said something in a meeting, only to have your boss, who was not present at the meeting, call you up about what you said? This happened to me this past week, and it upset me. It was a simple statement. Something I should not have said, although it would not have got me or anyone else into trouble, but someone saw the need to report it to my boss. And I have no idea who the person was.

Gossiping, spreading rumors, backbiting as the Bible calls it may be common in most workplaces, however the Bible has a lot to say about the way we use our mouth to speak about others. "The mouth of the righteous is a well of life, but violence covers the mouth of the wicked. In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, but he who restrains his lips is wise. The tongue of the righteous is choice silver; the heart of the wicked is worth little"(Proverbs 10: 11, 19-20).

Jesus said, "But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man" (Matthew 15: 18). And from James the apostle: "But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison" (3: 8).
And from the apostle Paul: "Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Who knowing the judgement of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them" (Romans 1 : 30, 32).

The Bible is not the only place we can find admonition about our choice of words. This line from the poet Emily Dickinson conveys the idea so clearly. "A word is dead when it is said, some say. I say it just begins to live that day." Just think about that.

Speak the truth

As the election campaign heats up, political commentators and the public in general are watching every move and listening to every word that comes from the lips of the political candidates. This week there was a bit of a furor as Senator Barack Obama spoke some things which his opponents did not hesitate to brand as "demeaning" and "elitist" among others. This brought to mind some of the words of Our Lord Jesus Christ which many times inflamed the ire of his listeners, chief of whom were the religious leaders of His day.

Listen to some of Jesus' words: "... Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother's eye" (Luke 6:42). "Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?" (Matthew 23:17) and "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness" (v27).

Strong words indeed. But Jesus was not running for office. He was not trying to win the popular vote. He had simply come to "seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10). He didn't care whether they liked Him or not. But He did care that they would mend their ways and seek after God with their whole hearts, and if using strong language would help them do that, then that's what He would do.

The Bible tells us that even some of Jesus' disciples left Him after they heard His words. And those who had the power to do so eventually brought charges against Jesus and had Him crucified. But many were convicted by His words, and continue to be convicted, and are saved.

As Christians we are called to walk in the footsteps of Jesus, and even though we may not want to hurt people's feelings, we must speak "the truth in love" (Ephesians 4:15). We cannot sugar-coat the truth or compromise the word of God in our day to day interaction with others. Even Paul asked the question, "Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?"(Galatians 4:16).

Let us not be as politicians who strive to say the right thing in order to be popular, but rather let us witness truthfully, and by so doing we will save others from the fires of hell. God bless.