LESSON
47
The Armor of God
Part 7
Sword of the Spirit
The devil thought that
he had the high school and college campuses of this nation, but God is going to
raise up an army of young people that are going to go forth on their high
school and college campuses preaching the gospel with a demonstration of signs
and wonders following.
God has not forsaken
It is necessary for this
generation to experience the supernatural manifestation of God. Most people think that the supernatural is
left up to "big time ministers".
If you look in the Bible, the majority of the demonstrated power of God
was done outside of the four walls of the synagogue or church. There was a public proof of evidence that
Jesus is who He claims to be.
When God's people hold
Him back from moving in the miraculous (by not believing or placing a demand on His promises),
they hinder Him from expressing His love.
God wants to express His love towards us in every aspect of our
lives. He is not holding anything
back. God desires for
us to be made whole, spirit, soul and body.
Eph.
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The sword of the Spirit
is both defensive and offensive. The
sword from the original Greek is not a 2-3 foot sword, but rather it refers to
a dirk or a knife. Generally the blade
was no more than 6-12 inches long. It
was used for two purposes; offensive warfare and to remove debris that came as
a result of battle wounds.
If a soldier was injured
or cut and got an infection, or debris got caught under his skin, he would use
this knife to cut out the junk or infection so that he could heal. In those days they did not have antibiotics,
tetanus shots, and other advanced medicine that we have today; thus if they did
not cut out the infection they could get gangrene that might spread through
their body and possibly kill them.
One of the purposes of
the sword of the Spirit, or the Word of God, is to cut out the bad stuff. The Word of God has to cut.
Heb. 4:12 For the word of God [is] quick, and powerful,
and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing
asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and [is] a
discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
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The Word of God is given
for the purpose of piercing and penetrating, dividing soul and spirit. The sword of the spirit is used defensively
to cut out the junk in your life; the infections that come as a result of the
pollution of the world.
In the Old Testament
tabernacle, there is a brazen laver in the inner court where the priests washed
their feet and hands before offering the blood sacrifice.
Eph.
There is a purifying
process when reading the Word. The
priest had to come into the temple through the blood and had to be cleansed or
washed daily. Their hands (which spoke
of their works) and their feet (which spoke of their walk) had to be cleansed
daily by the water (Word of God). Every
day we need to be washed by the water of the Word to cleanse us from the
infection of the world.
John 15:3 Now ye are clean through the word which I
have spoken unto you.
We need to use the sword
of the spirit every day, not just as an offensive weapon but also as a
defensive one.
Josh. 1:8 This book of the law shall not depart out
of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that
thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then
thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
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You must meditate
(mutter under your breath) on the Word day and night to keep you focused on the
things of God and keep
you from the disobedience of the world.
John
Eph. 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of
this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that
now worketh in the children of disobedience.
Eph. 5:16-19 Redeeming
the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding
what the will of the Lord [is]. And be
not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the
Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms
and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the
Lord.
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We have got to have the
Word of God as a daily part of our lives.
Most of us know this, but the reality is that most of us don't do
it. We must take the Word and apply it
to practical areas of
our lives daily. When you talk about the
Word it literally cuts out the junk of the world, and protects you from
spiritual infection.
If there is ever a day
when we need the Word active in our lives to simply keep us
clean and pure, it is today.
Eph.
There are three meanings
for word in the Greek; graphe (written word), rhema (spoken word)
and logos (the thoughts of God).
In Ephesians
John
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Mark 2:1-12 And again He entered into
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Jesus didn't pray for an
hour for this man to be healed, or put oil on his head. He just simply spoke the Word, and the Word
had the force and the power to bring the miracle to pass.
The
sword of the spirit is a Word spoken by God.
Mark
If you are going to step
out in the supernatural power of God and believe God will do what He said He
would do, there will be those who will mock, scorn, and criticize you. If you are going to move in the supernatural
work of God, you must know how to deal with the negative forces of doubt and
unbelief.
Mark
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The Word of God has the
force of God's power, authority and anointing behind it to bring about a
miracle. Jesus had to remove the doubt
and unbelief, then simply grabbed the little girl's
hand and spoke the Word of the Lord.
Isa. 55:11 So shall My word be that goeth forth out of My mouth: it
shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please,
and it shall prosper [in the thing] whereto I sent it.
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God's Word has the power
and the force to not return void or empty; and it shall prosper whereunto He
sends it.
Mark
The sword of the Spirit
is a defensive weapon to weed out the junk and to cleanse you daily. It is an offensive weapon against sickness,
disease, circumstances, the devil, and demons.
Luke 4:1-13 And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from
When Jesus was tempted
by the devil, He simply spoke the Word.
The Word in your mouth is a mighty weapon. The sword of the Spirit is God's Word spoken
from your mouth.
In Review:
1.
Describe in detail the sword from the original Greek (referring to Eph.
2.
Memorize Hebrews 4:12.
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3. How
is the sword of the Spirit a defensive weapon? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4. How
is it an offensive weapon? _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
5.
Complete the sentence.
The sword of the Spirit is a _________
____________ by God.