The Sword of the Spirit

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to resist". (Ephesians 6:12-13) "And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God". (Ephesians 6:17)

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The evil one is the unseen ruler of this world, and so it should not be surprising that the world is not only opposed to the gospel, but to the scripture which proclaims it. This has been true from the earliest times until now. The opposition may be blatant, or subtle, but it is constant. It began when the serpent asked Eve; "Did God say?", and the same question is asked today, even in our seminaries and churches. Whether you are aware of it or not, you and I are in a daily battle for the revelation of truth, and the eternal soul of man lays in the balance. And if the enemy cannot win that battle, he conducts a thousand others, all designed to keep us from a close relationship with God. The enemy wants to rob us of joy, peace, health and material blesings. He wants us to worship at the altars of this world instead of at the foot of the heavenly throne.

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One of the main tools that God has given us to find, and to understand truth, is sacred scripture. I believe that the Holy Spirit reveals truth, and gives understanding, and although He does that in many ways, He has given us His written word as a sure and unchanging standard against which we must submit everything else. This standard is not to be a law, which leads to religious rules interperted by others, actually blocking the working of the Holy Spirit. Instead, it is to be a fountain of life for those that humbly seek, and a sword for those that respond in faith.

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Here are some things that may help you hear the Spirit as you read and study scripture. Begin by having a short talk with God before each reading, asking for understanding and retention of His word. Have an attitude that desires to know what is true, and is willing to surrender to that truth. Realize that there are usually three different ways to look at a passage. The first is to consider what the author was saying to the people he wrote to. Check the overall context and the context of the section in which the verse is located. The second is to listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying to us from the passage. Although written by men, the true author is the Holy Spirit, who can speak to our hearts from any verse to inspire, guide and instruct. Third, there may be a prophetic purpose to a passage.

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I believe scripture ends up making the most sense if looked at it in a literal sense, except when the context is obviously allegorical. And to understand one section of scripture we may need to compare it with other sections. This will help keep us from forming opinions and doctrine based on just a little piece of a bigger puzzle. The concordance in the back of your bible can be very helpful. The other day a sister of mine who lives in another state, and who just started going to a bible study two years ago, called to inform me that she just discovered that Christians were cheaters. "I thought they had all those verses memorized, until I found out that your could look them up in the back of the book". And lastly, listen to wise and Godly consul from others. Listening to the Spirit is still your responsibility, but God does place people in our lives to help.

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Here are some well known passages, in their context, concerning the necessity to learn, apply, believe, and use scripture. In these verses we see a common theme. The world, it's attitudes, it's system, cannot comprehend and thus instruct us to know the will of God. But the inspired written word, through faith, can. The author of Hebrews, beginning in the 3rd chapter, compares Jesus to Moses. The people that Moses led out of Egypt had a chance to enter into the promise of God, but did not take up their swords because of unbelief. But we have a promise given by God that reads; "let us fear lest, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you should seem to have come short of it. For indeed, we have had good news preached to us (the Word of God) but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard . . . Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall through following the same example of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart".

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In the 3rd chapter of 2 Timothy we see that difficult times will come but that scripture will equip us and help lead us through those times. Compare this discription with what we are being bombarded with every day. "Men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconsilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power . . . always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth . . . You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work".

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And finally, Peter advises; We did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty . . . And so we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention, a lamp shining in a dark place . . . But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God". ((2 Peter 1:16-21)