We’ll be looking at the Armor of God over the next few days. You can read about them in  Ephesians 6: 10-20:  

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power; 11 put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil, 12 for our struggle is not against blood and flesh but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on the evil day and, having prevailed against everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand, therefore, and belt your waist with truth and put on the breastplate of righteousness 15 and lace up your sandals in preparation for the gospel of peace. 16 With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints. 19 Pray also for me, so that when I speak a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel,20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak.

Today’s part of the armor may be the one that you are most familiar with or have heard of before, “the Sword of the Spirit,” which is the word of God.  A couple of things to think about within this. I’ve heard it said before and have read it within my research that this is the only offensive weapon that we have; every other tool at our disposal is for defense and protection. That’s true, but also remember that the word of God is a weapon against our enemy.  Remember what Paul says earlier in this passage, our enemy is not flesh and blood, but spiritual realities.  

Let’s use the Sword as a proper weapon; to destroy the works of the devil, not the people made in God’s image.  

Second, let’s talk a little about what is meant by the word “word” within this passage.  The word here in Greek means “spoken or proclaimed” word. I once heard that there are 3 “types” of Words of God. The written word of God – Scripture, the proclaimed word of God – preaching, and the revealed word of God – Jesus. The job of the first two, written and proclaimed, is to point to the later – revealed.  In other words, everything here points us to Jesus. 

For us in the passage, this “proclaimed” word, though, is talking about the original proclamation of scripture.  Our scriptures are that word of God for us. This word is our weapon against darkness and evil.  Know it.  Ponder it.  Pray it.  Soak it up. 

When I was reading about this passage, I read a great note.  A soldier would have spent time training with their sword; they would not have just been turned loose with a sword. They would have trained for a period of time; they would have been skilled with it. They would have understood its power.  

Treat the Word with respect. Listen to it.  It is a powerful tool, but you need training as well.  Teaching.  Wisdom.  Guidance.  I’m a pastor, but daily I seek to learn, to pray, to listen. I don’t know everything about the Bible. In fact, daily, I’m amazed at what I don’t know.  Train yourself daily with scripture, but treat it with humility and seek to learn more and more each day. 

The sword of the Spirit is our great weapon against darkness.  Treasure it and learn daily from it.  

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