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This is our last sermon on the Christian’s full armour with
respect to this war, which is far greater and weightier and far-reaching than
all the wars in the world. Today, we will reflect on the power of God’s Word
and Prayer as we use this part of our armour in this war.
1. THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT WHICH IS THE WORD OF GOD (6:17b)
The final part of the Roman soldier’s armour as described by
Paul is the Sword. The “machaira” was
a short sword and it was carried in a sheath at the soldier’s side, and it was
usually used in hand to hand combat. The sword differs from the other parts of
the armour in that it acts as an offensive weapon.
Application to the
Christian soldier
Paul sees the sword of the Roman soldier as analogous to the Word of God in the hands of the Christian soldier. The Word of God is the Bible. But it is more than a word. Behind the written word of God is the Living Word of God. It is of great significance that one of Jesus’ frequent titles is the Word of God[1]. Here the word of God is specifically described as the sword of the Spirit. How is the Spirit of God associated with the word of God?
1. He inspired it. “All Scripture is God-breathed” (2 Tim 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:19 – 21). The Spirit of God gave chosen men His revelation, and guided them in the recording of this revelation. Whilst the Bible is written by human hands this does not mean that it merely is a human book. The Holy Spirit inspired men who wrote these words in their own language and cultural setting. Since it is the Holy Spirit that inspired them we may know that the written Word of God is without error. It does not mislead us and therefore it is utterly trustworthy. It is entirely sufficient for all that we need to know in this life.
2. The Holy Spirit alone enables us to understand the Bible. Truth is spiritually discerned. “12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual” (1 Cor. 2:12). The Holy Spirit helps us to interpret the Bible in its intended sense. However able a person may be in the natural sense, that ability does not help them to interpret Scripture. The Holy Spirit must be our Teacher. He must help us to use this word properly. It is one thing to know the contents of this book; it is another thing to use it rightly in the wisdom and understanding that the Holy Spirit gives.
The Spirit of God and the Word are linked. If a wedge is driven between these two, people fall into one of two extremes,
a. An emphasis on the Holy Spirit apart from His inspired Word often results in revelations that are not checked by the Word.
b. A stress on the Word without dependence upon the Holy Spirit results in dead orthodoxy – mere intellectual, academic knowledge of the Scriptures.
The balance is found when the Word and the Holy Spirit
operate together. The Spirit of God must open our hearts and minds to the
truths of the Word, for He is the promised Teacher of John 14:26. He will
remind us of Jesus’ teachings. He will never say or do anything that is in contradiction
to His written word. If we fail to take seriously the indissoluble bond between
the Word and the Spirit, we quickly lose ground in our fight against Satan.
This has frequently happened in the history of the Christian church. The 19th
century, the age of reason killed
the supernatural element in the Bible, The 20th century, the age of subjectivism and experientialism swung the pendulum the other way, when the emphasis on
experiencing the Holy Spirit apart from His
Word gave rise to the charismatic chaos. That is why we must maintain, that if
anybody comes to us with a dream, a vision or a prophecy, we will test that prayerfully
against the touchstone of Scripture. And if we have no way of immediately
testing whether a prophecy is true, then we will feel absolutely free to remain
sceptical, until it is proven true. The Bible gives us a clear mandate to test
everything (1 Thess. 5:21).
How is the Word of God
– the sword of the Spirit applied in spiritual warfare?
Here we need to be reminded of the text in Matthew 4:1 – 11 where we have an
example how Jesus used the word of God to deal with the attacks of Satan. The devil
comes to Jesus (after His 40 day fast) with three temptations:
a.
Matt. 4:3 Jesus
was hungry; the devil tempts Him to make bread out of stones. He is effectively
saying, “Don’t trust God; don’t wait for
God to supply your needs!” See Jesus’ response in Matt. 4:4 which is a quote from the Word of God in Deut. 8:3.
b.
Matt. 4:5 The
devil tempts Jesus to throw Himself down from the pinnacle of the temple. Satan
here tempts Jesus to put God arbitrarily to the test. Jesus will not do this,
for he who tests God in such a manner proves that he does not actually trust
God. Does God need to be tested to see whether He is faithful? So Jesus answers
Satan with Scripture in 4:7 quoting from
Deut. 1:16.
c. Matt. 4:8 –
the devil tempts Jesus to worship him. He wants to bribe Jesus with worldly
possessions. Jesus resists again (4:10)
by quoting Deut. 6:16 once again.
Jesus resists Satan at every turn by using the Word of God! And so we read in 4:11, “then the devil left Him…”. This is what James 4:7 means when he says, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” The use of Scripture in proper context is an effective weapon to resist Satan, causing him to flee. Satan cannot resist the truth (cf. the belt of truth). Satan possesses a knowledge of Scripture, but he uses it, and twists it to suit his own purposes. He abuses the Bible like so many cults and false teachers do. All these can easily unsettle the believer who does not have a firm grasp of scripture. All Christians must possess a detailed knowledge of the Word of God. It is important to hide God’s Word in our heart (Psalm 119: 11). Once it is stored there, the Holy Spirit will use our knowledge of the Bible, at the appropriate time, and bring to mind Scripture in its proper context. When Satan comes with his twisted Scripture texts, we need to immediately recognise the misrepresentation and tell him the truth! Furthermore, we must live a life that speaks of the truth. Our detailed knowledge of the Word must be matched by a detailed application of the truth in our lives. This is where Satan cannot follow us or imitate us.
This brings us back to
where we have started.
The weapons of our warfare are all spiritual commodities: truth, righteousness,
faith, standing on the basis of our salvation, the gospel of God’s Word and
prayer. How are we to resist Satan?
Not simply by quoting Bible verses, or by rebuking Satan! Winning against Satan
is not a question of claiming some kind of imagined authority over him. If we do not use the truth, live the truth,
believe the truth – if we do not have clear consciences that come from holy
living, and if we are not disentangled from the world, doing the will of God –
it doesn’t matter what we say to the powers and principalities. They are not
impressed by words. Not even the words of the Bible. But if you come against
Satan as an obedient Christian, Satan is repelled! He’s got no answer for a
holy lifestyle! Weak doctrine and sinful living will make a person
vulnerable to Satan. The battle plan is simple. Submit to
God and resist the devil.
THE IMPORTANCE OF
PRAYER (6:18-20)
We have been reminded of the nature of full armour, and now
in closing Paul reminds us of the importance of prayer. Prayer is not mentioned
here as part of the armour, because it needs to be woven into the armour. That
is precisely the thought that the Hymn Writer George Duffield (1818 – 1888)
expressed in the hymn, “Stand up, stand
up for Jesus”. He writes, “…put
on the gospel armour, each piece put on with prayer…”
The whole process of arming ourselves with truth,
righteousness, readiness, faith, the doctrine of salvation and the Word of God
must be done in the spirit of prayer. 6:18
says that all these things must be done, “praying
at all times in the Spirit“. Prayer that is directed in faith to God is an
act of supreme confidence in God. When you pray, “Dear Lord, I cannot do battle against Satan in my own strength. You
need to help me in this process of standing on your truth, your righteousness
etc.. These are your tools, Lord, and I cast myself in dependence upon you, and
trust you to make these tools effective in my struggle against Satan.”
Paul presents here a
very comprehensive prayer strategy: THE
4 “ALL’S” OF PRAYER
a.
The time and source of prayer: “Praying
at all times in the Spirit”: i.e.
(i) at
all times- whatever situation arises, making prayer an ongoing discipline. (ii)
“Praying in the Spirit”- the key to all true prayer. When we pray in the Spirit we pray by the power of the Holy Spirit. He empowers us to offer it (Rom 8:26). He orders our
mind and helps us to pray in accordance with the will of God.
b.
The variety of prayer: “With all prayer and supplication : e.g. cries
for help, confession of sin, profession of faith, adoration, thanksgiving,
intercession.
c. The manner of prayer: “Keep alert with all perseverance”. (i) Be alert to what is happening around you, as you remember biblical principles and apply biblical wisdom and in that process (ii) persevere- pray things through ; do not give up (Two illustrations: Luke 18:1 – 8 ; Luke 11: 5 – 10)
d. The extent of prayer: “Making
supplication for all the saints”. This relates to intercessory prayer. We need
to pray for others who are together with us in the battle. Since we are all members of one body, it
follows that we are bound to one another and must therefore be concerned for
one another. We try to do this in our church, and I trust that you do that for
one another. If one Christian fails, everyone inevitably suffers.
All this helps us to understand
why
Satan has such a vested interest in keeping Christians from praying
together. Samuel Chadwick (1840-1932) famously wrote,
The one concern of the
devil is to keep Christians from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless
studies, prayerless work and prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks
at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray.
Prayer does unbelievable damage to Satan’s kingdom, because
it engages God. God has ordained faithful and believing prayer. He has chosen
to work through and by the prayer and petition of His saints. The parable of
the persistent widow in Luke 18:1-8
teaches us that God will bring about
justice for His chosen ones, who cry out to Him night and day. Will He keep putting them off? In conclusion of this parable Jesus says, “I tell you, he will see that they get
justice, and quickly. However when the
Son of man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”
Beloved people, we find ourselves in a war that is far,
far greater and profounder than the current Russian –
Ukrainian war. And every day the devil and his army are assaulting the work of
God, and the image of God in man, through unspeakably sinful temptations and behaviour, causing many, many people
to slide into the eternal pit of
hell - everyday (!) and Jesus says to you, “I have given you the keys of the kingdom. I have given you my great
commission, and you will do nothing to resist Satan and to defend the honour of
my Name?”
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