And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,
This is our second article on Ephesians 6:17. Last time we discussed the helmet of salvation. The other piece of armor listed in this verse is the sword of the Spirit.
This seems to be the only offensive weapon listed among the pieces of armor. Of course it is used defensively as well. The first thing we need to note is that the verb at the beginning of the verse says to take the sword. In other words we need to pick it up, have it with us and use it when needed.
What is this sword? This passage tells us that the sword is the word of God. How do we use it? Well, I think the example of Jesus during his encounter with Satan when the devil tempted Him gives us a good example.
Satan tempted Jesus in three areas which would almost certainly trip us up: The lust of the flesh — “turn these stones into bread;” the lust of the eyes — “look at all this land I will give you if you worship me;” and the pride of life — “cast yourself down and the angels will come and rescue you. Won’t that be dramatic?”
But each time, Jesus countered with a specific passage of scripture which aimed at the specific temptation Satan hurled at Him.’
Jesus’ example gives us the pattern. First, we need to memorize as much Scripture as we can. Psalm 119:11 says, “I have stored up your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” The Psalmist is clearly trying to store up God’s Word in his memory so that when temptations came he would be able to counter them.
To take up the sword and have it with us means we also need to meditate on it, and commit it to memory so that you have it available when needed.
Then, we need to actually use it. When the enemy attacks, we not only want to be sure we have the shield of faith as a defensive weapon, but we need to quote the Scripture to ourselves as well as as to our adversary to resist his onslaught. The Bible says that we should resist the devil and he will flee from us. But resisting requires scriptural fortification with the sword. Otherwise we are just standing out there on the battlefield precariously unprotected.
Think about what steps you can take to make a serious effort of memorizing Scripture and internalizing its meaning well so that you will be able to defend yourselves and attack the enemy head on when he threatens you.
Exported from Logos Bible Software, 12:50 PM October 17, 2022.