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Twentieth Sunday After Pentecost
Light of Christ Anglican Church
The Rev. Michael Moffitt, October 7, 2018


“The Sword of the Spirit - The Word of God”
Spiritual Warfare - Part 5


Text: Ephesians 6:17–18

This week we begin lesson 5 of a 6-part series on Spiritual Warfare based upon Ephesians 6:10–20. The first passage in that text “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might” serves as the foundation that we have built upon. None of us, no matter how long we have been a Christian or the level of understanding we have accumulated, are able to stand against the schemes of the devil in our own strength. The Apostle Paul exhorted his readers to “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.” We have been reminded that our struggle isn’t primarily against those around us that we can see but the “rulers, the authorities, the cosmic powers over the present darkness and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

Even though the devil and his angels are very cunning and powerful they are no match against the power and authority of the name of Jesus. The powers of darkness will try every kind of method of attack against God’s children including temptations of the flesh, fear, guilt, doubt, anger and pride but we are being assured through this study that we can fight and defeat our foe in Jesus’ name. In our passage we have been encouraged four times to “Stand” firm and fight against the kingdom of Darkness with the weapons that are provided to those who have by faith surrendered their lives to Christ. We are to have the assurance that if we will follow the battle plan that God has laid out for us, we can not only win but also move forward in building the kingdom of God.

Paul uses the analogy of a Roman soldier’s armor to give us a spiritual viewpoint for what it means to put on the armor of God. Like the soldier preparing to go into battle, we are to intentionally put on the whole armor of God. The foundation or first action in putting on the armor is to wrap around us the truth of God’s word like a belt. That gives us every confidence that we will be able to stand against the schemes of the devil because God’s truth casts out the lies of Satan. In this series we have seen that each piece of armor is directed to a specific way that Satan attacks Christians.

The Breastplate of Righteousness protects us against Satan as accuser. We saw from Zechariah 3 the example of Joshua the high priest standing before the throne of God along with the Angel of the Lord. Satan shows up to accuse Joshua, who is dressed in filthy rags, as not being righteous enough to be a high priest. God rebukes Satan and provides Joshua with rich new robes and a clean turban and proclaims to him and all that were standing around the court room of God, “Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you and I will cloth you with pure vestments.”

This is called “imputed righteousness” and it symbolizes for us the righteousness of Christ that is given to us when we come to him by faith and in repentance of sin. On the cross Jesus took our sins upon himself and when we embrace this gift of forgiveness he clothes us with his righteousness. Because of this there is now the presence of Christ in us and we are to put on righteousness as a breastplate. In doing so Satan no longer has the right to be our accuser.

The next piece of the Roman soldier’s equipment were his sandals or boots that enabled him to stand firm and not give way in battle. We saw that this symbolized the solid foundation of the gospel of peace. The good news of the gospel is that we have been reconciled to God and adopted into the family. We no longer have to fear judgment but can stand firm against the accusations of the enemy that we are not strong enough or have no right to call upon the name of Jesus. Because of the cross of Christ, we have every right and reason to stand firm and not slip back into our old lives and ways. As children of God we have the right to enter into the Holy of Holies without fear.

We put on the shield of faith against Satan as tempter. He would have us believe that we cannot trust God to deliver us from evil and to protect us. We saw the example of the shield of the Roman soldier that covers his body, protecting him from the fiery darts of the enemy. We also saw the example of how Roman soldiers advanced together, shields up and matching in row after row, column after column. They fought together and that would simply overwhelm the enemy. This is the example of how we are to fight as well, as the church. We put up the shield of faith believing in the promise of God’s faithfulness to us and we fight together against a common enemy. One of the most serious threats of the enemy is if he can get Christians to fight each other and lose the focus of the real enemy. We spoke of being offended as the “Bait of Satan” and how we must resist the temptation of offense and always seek unity and peace with each other in the family of God.

That led us to the final piece of defensive armor—“the Helmet of Salvation.” Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 5:8, “But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.”

For Paul salvation is both a present experience (Ephesians 2:8, “For by grace you have been saved through faith and this is not of yourselves but a gift of God”) and a future hope. The believer’s final ground of confidence is the faithfulness of God to complete in them what he has begun (Philippians 1:6) “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Paul was encouraging the spiritual warrior to put on the anticipation of God’s promise of future glory as a helmet of salvation. Knowing that we have been saved by the blood of Christ and that God is working to complete in us what he has begun. This should give us confidence and courage while in the midst of the enemy’s attacks.

This brings us to the final piece of armor, the only offensive part—the Sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. The sword is our defense against the lies of the enemy. In order to see the full impact of what Paul is teaching , it’s important to note that the word used for “word” in the phrase “word of God” is not logos, which is the most common word used in a phrase like this. Instead of “logos” Paul uses the word “rhema” which has a different emphasis. “Logos” is the word that John used to begin his gospel verses of John 1:1–3; 14,

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth

In John’s prologue the logos refers to Jesus and the fact that he is God’s full and final “word” to mankind. The Scriptures which are the Word of God in a parallel sense, tell us about Jesus, the living Word.

Rhema, also translated as Word, has a different meaning and isn’t quite as weighty as logos. It really is referring to a particular, specific portion of God’s revelation. One of the commonly quoted verses in the Bible is John 3:16 and in this sense it is a “rhema” as it takes an individual portion of God’s word to teach a specific thing, to reveal a specific truth. It’s important to understand this because according to Paul’s teaching we are to overcome Satan by using particular words or portions of Scripture that reveal the truth, power and authority of God. Paul speaks of this as a sword that cuts through lies, deception and temptation.

The sword of the Spirit is to be wielded in this way as our defense and weapon of power against the kingdom of darkness.

Hebrews 4:12–13 reminds us of the power of the Word (Logos) of God,

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

It’s in the application of this Word that we find the “Rhema” of God. For instance, if Satan is tempting me to hate an enemy it would not be effective for me to quote John 11:35, “and Jesus wept” but instead Matthew 5:43–44, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,” Begone Satan. This is taking the power of God’s word and making application to the present situation in order to defeat the kingdom of darkness.

We can see a great example of Jesus doing this in our Gospel reading this morning from Luke 4:1–13. Let’s look at Luke 4:1–4,

And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness 2 for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. 3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” 4 And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’”

The devil waited until Jesus had fasted for 40 days and was very hungry. The idea behind this temptation is not that it would have been wrong for Jesus to use his supernatural power to turn a stone into bread. His first miracle was at the wedding feast at Cana where he turned water into really good wine (John 2:1–11), and later when he turned five loaves of bread and two fish into enough food to feed over 10,000 people (Matthew 14:13–21; 15:29–39). The temptation here was for Jesus to use his power to test the Word of God.

R.C. Sproul in his book, Can we Trust the Bible, suggests that the emphasis on Satan’s query was on the word “if”. “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” Prior to Jesus being led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted, he had submitted to the Baptism of John and after coming up out of the waters of baptism, the Holy Spirit descended down upon him like a dove and the Father spoke from Heaven saying, “You are my beloved Son, with you I am well pleased.” The Father’s declaration was very clear, leaving no doubt as to the position of Jesus as the Son, but Satan, feigning concern for Jesus’ physical hunger encourages him to doubt the real love of the Father and instead make provision for himself apart from the Father. Jesus knew exactly what Satan was up to but he also knew that he was the one being tested in the wilderness not the Father so he replied with a quotation from Scripture (Deuteronomy 8:3), “man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God”. For some reason Luke chose to leave out the last portion from Deuteronomy 8:3, but Matthew in his parallel passage of the temptation of Jesus includes the entire quotation and he uses the “rhema” that comes from the mouth of the Father. Jesus was showing Satan an application of Scripture that was used to answer the real point of the temptation, which was for Jesus to doubt that the Father could be depended on.

The same thing happened in the next two temptations. Satan tempts Jesus by offering him all the kingdoms of the world if only Jesus will bow down and worship him. By doing that Jesus would not need to go through the pain and agony of the cross but could still accomplish what he had come to do. Take back what had been stolen in the Garden of Eden. Satan presents this as a real bargain, but Jesus knew the truth and again uses Scripture from Deuteronomy to answer Satan, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.” Then Satan takes him to the pinnacle of the temple and again challenges his sonship, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you and, on their hands, they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.” Satan is showing that he too knows the Scriptures but not the proper meaning and application or “rhema”.

For the third time and final time Jesus uses Scripture to interpret Scripture and replies, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” In all of Scripture there isn’t a better example of using the power and application of God’s Word (rhema) than here in this story. Jesus wields the sword of the Spirit and shows that the proper use of the Word of God defeats Satan every time.

Think about this for a moment. Jesus Christ — God in the flesh, the only sinless one to walk upon the earth since Adam was initially created, the one who had lived in perfect communion with the Father and the Holy Spirit for all eternity — as a human being needed to know the Scriptures in order to resist Satan and win a victory over him. If that was true of Jesus how much more do you and I need to know the word of God. We have the Logos, but we need to understand how to use the Logos as “rhema”. Satan will not flee from us simply because we tell him to. He will retreat only before the power of God as his words (Rhema) are spoken in the midst of temptation. The word of God renders the lies of Satan powerless and that is our greatest weapon against the kingdom of darkness.

Of all the knowledge that is available in all the books in the world, none has the power to transform lives and situations like the Word of God.

Years ago, I was an assistant chaplain at Beaver County Correctional in Aliquippa, PA, a 430-bed regional jail. Part of my job was to meet with those who were incarcerated while awaiting trial or waiting to be transferred to the state prison. I talked and counseled with those who wanted to talk and held Bible studies for those who wanted that. One of the men that became part of my weekly Bible study had been awaiting trial for over six months. He was charged with murder and his particular case was going to be very difficult to defend. He was a very intimidating young man in his mid to late 20’s. He was big, strong, very angry and a member of the Nation of Islam, an African American Religious movement known for violence.

When men first arrived, they were offered a Bible or a Koran but for some reason this fellow decided to take both. He was somewhat familiar with the Koran but knew very little about the Bible. He was in “A” pod, a cell block that had 40–50 men and there wasn’t much to do but read, watch TV or play cards. He began with reading and considering the Gospels and by the time he was finished he decided that he wanted to know Jesus. The living word moved in and began slicing away at all that anger and rage. It wasn’t because someone like me came in and explained the gospel message to him but was simply the transforming power of the living word (Logos) that touched him profoundly. I have seldom seen someone make such a radical change in such a short period of time.

My job became to teach him and others how to take the power of that word and use it (Rhema) to cast down strongholds and to speak against the lies of the enemy. Believe me there are many lies being told to discourage and tear down those in jail who have chosen to follow Jesus Christ. This fellow became a very powerful witness at that jail and loved to learn more about the promises of God. Sometimes I would have the joy of watching the light go on when I explained a portion of scripture that had been cloudy before. For him it was like a prized nugget as he was daily adding to his arsenal of ways to defeat the kingdom of darkness. I watched his love grow to be thing of beauty and I was so moved by the power of the Word of God in his life and the effect it had on others. Earlier he would have hated me as a white man who could come and go from the prison facility at will, but towards the end of my time there, when I walked on to the unit he would beam with joy and give me a big bear hug. We were brothers standing together against a common enemy and it was so powerful.

If we are to resist Satan using the powerful, convicting, comforting and consoling words of God, then we must feed upon that word until it becomes as much a part of us as the blood that courses through our veins.

One of my brothers-in-law has a collection of swords and other medieval shields and armor that are on display in his home. As interesting as they are to look at, I don’t think that he has any skills in wielding the swords and would most likely hurt himself more than an intruder if he attempted to use them. In order for a sword to be effective as a weapon you must take it in hand and learn to use it effectively. It must feel like an extension of your arm. So, it is with the word of God. The Word is wonderfully powerful and life giving but to be useful to you, you must learn the word and feed upon it until it’s simply a part of you. That’s when you become an effective warrior in the kingdom of God.

One of the reasons that so many churches in the West have ceased being effective ambassadors of Christ is that they don’t know the Word of God (Logos) and therefore have no ability to wield the sword of the Spirit. They have bought into the lies of Satan (he really is a very effective liar), and therefore have no reason or power to stand and fight. We must be students of God’s word if we would be warriors for the kingdom.

Let’s pray.

©2018 Rev. Mike Moffitt

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