The Armour of God
Sword of the Spirit #7
“It is the full proof weapon used to defeat satans lies, deception and deceit”
It destroys his work = Fear, discouragement and doubt
Paul gave us the various pieces of armour, Powerful weapons to stand against the devil.
Ephesians 6:13 “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that *when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground….” – The key here is to Stand, it’s not about the attacks.
*When – Not If
Far too many Christians are casual about the armour of God.
They think just because they’re saved they don’t really need the armour.
Listen ……if God says put on the full armour, then, you had better put on the full armour!
So let’s look at the second last piece of armour how we are to stand against the devil.
Ephesians 6:17 “Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” NIV
Proverbs 18:10 (NIV) – The name of the Lord is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.
The sword of the spirit differs from all the other pieces of armour because it’s both offensive and defensive.
Up until now all the other pieces of armour were defensive in nature;
The helmet is used for defence; you’re not going to attack someone with your helmet.
The same with the breastplate of righteousness and the shield of faith, they are defencing pieces of armour.
The belt of truth ……. You could probably strangle someone with your belt.
But the sword is different in that it’s both offensive and defensive.
The sword will give you the ability to attack the enemy or to drive the enemy back.
James 4:7 Resist the devil and he will flee
When the Bible says he will flee it doesn’t mean that he backs up a little or he takes a step back, it means he will flee!!!
i.o.w. He will get the hell out of there!!
There’s a scene in The Lion King where little Simba and his little sidekick, or his little romantic interest, Nala have ventured away from the safety of their pride and they’re exploring enemy territory called the elephant graveyard.
The problem is, they are just little cubs, and in this graveyard they come across three hyenas, their enemies, who give chase and eventually they end up in a cave.
In the cave they realize they’re trapped and so little Simba with his back up against the wall roars his best little roar.
It’s so cute because it doesn’t sound anything like a roar, at best it’s more like a little growl.
The hyenas are laughing saying – is that the best you’ve got!
Unbeknownst to them Simba’s father, Mufasa, the king, has entered into the cave, and as Simba tries another little growl to fend off these hyenas, they hear the loudest most powerful roar, it’s from the king.
The hyenas saw this weak little cub, but when they heard the roar of the king it put fear and terror into their hearts.
Sometimes we look at ourselves in relation to our problems or in relation to our enemies and we see ourselves as weak, and we sometimes even feel like we’re trapped.
But when the king roars on our behalf those very enemies will be scattered.
Psalms 68:1 “Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered.” NKJV
My message to you today is this – there is a king who wants to roar on your behalf.
And this is how He does it– through the word, this is the roar of the king.
God is saying to you and me; I want you to use it, I want you to learn it and quote it and declare it, because I want to roar on your behalf.
These are the words of the King of kings.
This is not just A book, this is THE book. – The Word that became flesh and walked amongst us.
This is the living eternal infallible, inerrant* indestructible word of God.
This is the greatest book of all time – more copies have been sold of this book than any other book in history.
*(Incapable of being wrong)
Throughout the ages Satan has attacked this book.
He’s lied about this book, he’s tried to get people away from this book, he’s got people to question or to doubt this book.
He started all the way back in the Garden of Eden, he planted doubt in Eve’s mind…..Did God really say…..Gen 3:1
Why do you think he tries to create doubt about what God says?
Because he knows how powerful this is and when we start doubting God’s word, we won’t use it against him.
He can’t withstand the roar of the king.
Do you know that Satan has even tried to destroy this book?
Diocletian was the Roman emperor who issued an edict that every bible in the Roman Empire must be burned.
Bibles were burnt and Christians were slaughtered.
Eventually he built a monument over a burnt Bible with this inscription on the monument: The name of Jesus Christ has been extinguished from the earth.
But out of the ashes of those burnt Bibles exploded a worldwide revival that established the Christian Faith on this earth, and it’s still growing and thriving today.
Today, Diocletian is seen as a fool!
Behind Diocletian was Satan himself
Remember we said Satan often uses people.
Why did he want to destroy the word of God?
Because it’s the roar of the king, and when you and I use this bible and quote from this bible, the king roars on our behalf and the enemy has to flee.
So let’s make this practical….How do we use the sword of the Spirit?
Three steps.
Dig in
Discover
Declare
Dig in
Some people think just because they have the bible they have power.
It’s possible to have a dozen of bibles in your home and have no power.
You can even put up verses all over your house, and have no power.
Some people think if they put up verses all over their house it’s going to ward off evil influences …….. like some spiritual voodoo or something.
You’ve got to dig in.
You cannot rely on the 30 to 40 minutes that you get from me once a week; you’ve got to dig in for yourself.
Daniel 11:32 The people who know their God will be strong and do exploits.
How do we develop a relationship with God?
There’s only one way…..spending time in the word, and the more time you spend in the word the more you discover about who God is, His preferences, His promises and His power.
Discover
When you dig in, you will discover.
Joshua 1:8 “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” NKJV
Repeats it in: Psalm 1: 3 – That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither – whatever they do prospers.
Notice He didn’t say, spend a little bit of time in the word on Sunday, and if you have a little bit more time during the week, if it’s convenient, if it’s fits into your busy schedule…….no, spend time in the word every single day.
i.o.w. ……make it a priority.
If you want to be prosperous and successful you need to get into the word every single day
What does it mean to meditate on God’s word?
There are two words used for God’s word, Logos and Rhema.
Logos is the written word or general word,
Rhema is when that written word or general word becomes His specific word to us.
When the information (Logos) becomes application (Rhema)
To meditate means to think about the written word over and over until it’s not words on a page anymore (Logos) but it becomes God’s word in your heart (Rhema)……it becomes real to you, it becomes a part of you, it becomes Rhema.
Somebody who doesn’t spend time in the word will end up following their own opinion and what’s acceptable in society today.
Doesn’t matter what the bible says; I will do it may way because it won’t offend or make people feel bad.
What’s acceptable in society is often in stark contrast to what’s acceptable to God.
When I follow society more than God’s word I may I find myself in trouble.
But when I start following the word of God very soon I find myself blessed and prosperous and successful.
For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.
When God’s word dwells in us richly Satan has no way of defeating us.
On the other hand if there is very little word in you then you’re easy prey for the devil.
If you’re satisfied coming to church on a Sunday and listening to a little bit of God’s word, and you never spend time in the word yourself during the week, you’re easy prey.
But when you come to the place where you love the word of God and where you dig in and discover for yourself, that’s when you become Satan’s worst nightmare.
Before I open the word I say to Him, Lord speak to me.
May the Logos become Rhema, because I can’t go into this battle today with my little growl, I need you!!
That’s when God speaks through his word.
Somebody once said; A word from man can change your mind, a word from God can change your life.
Let’s make this practical, let’s move on to the third step.
Declare
Psalms 68:1 “Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered.” NKJV
How do we let God arise?
When we let his word arise, when we start declaring His word.
Let’s say you’re reading God’s word in your quiet time and you get to Philippians 4:19 My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
You just happened to be going through a tough time financially.
Only a fool reads that and thinks, O that’s a nice verse, but then half an hour later he’s forgotten about it and the enemy keeps him in a poverty mentality.
How do we fight the poverty the enemy is trying to put on us?
With the sword of the spirit.
A smart person reads that verse realizes ….Thank you Jesus. This is your word to me today, this is Rhema.
Then they start declaring it – My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
That’s when God roars on your behalf.
God is bound by His word, because scripture says in Number 23:19 that God is not a man that He should lie, or a son of man that He should change His mind.
Isaiah 55:11 (NIV) – So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
When God says something He does it.
When God promises something He sticks to it.
When He gives His word He honours it.
When I say; God you said you will supply all of my needs according to your riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
That’s when God roars on your behalf.
The bible tells us that the tongue has the power of life and death.
Prov 18:21 Whatever we speak will have consequences, it will bear fruit.
When you use God’s word and the promises of God’s word as a weapon, it makes him tremble!
Why? Because God backs up His word.
Psalm 89:34 I will not break my covenant; I will not take back a single word I said.
2 Corinthians 1:20 No matter how many promises God has made they are ‘Yes’ in Christ.
God backs His word.
There is power in God’s Word.
2 Corinthians 10:4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. NIV
This is why memorizing scripture is such an essential part of any Christian’s life.
If you don’t have any Bible verses memorized, you can’t declare His word and God can’t roar on your behalf.
I want to encourage you to memorize at least one verse a week for the rest of your life.
Imagine how much stronger you’ll be!
Some people have been declaring the wrong things for a long time;
I’ll never get out of debt
I’ll never be able to do this or ….
My child will probably not…..
Do you know it’s just as easy declaring the right things as it is declaring the wrong things?!
But we get into a habit of declaring the wrong things and then we wonder why the wrong things are happening to us.
Dig into God’s word, discover the truth and start declaring it.
There’s a big difference between knowing about a promise and declaring a promise.
When you know about a promise you say; Yes I know the bible says something about God blessing me when I tithe.
But when you declare a promise you say; God you said, when I bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, you will open the windows of heaven and pour out a so much blessing that I won’t have enough room for it. Mal 3:10
There is tremendous power in declaring His word.
That’s when God roars on your behalf.
Ephesians 6:17 (NIV) – “Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
