Sword

This is the final installment of my series on the Armor of God. Please start at Masks, the Armor, Shield, Boots, Belt, Breastplate, and Helmet. I pray this series increases faith and favor in all those that read it.

The Whole Armor of God

¹⁰ Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. ¹¹ Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the ^[b]wiles of the devil. ¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of ^[c]the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. ¹³ Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

¹⁴ Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵ and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; ¹⁶ above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. ¹⁷ And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; ¹⁸ praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— ¹⁹ and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰ for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

In order to wield the Sword of the Spirit you must be shielded and equipped in order to receive the Spirit of the which is the Word of God. Why is the Spirit also the Word? John tells us in the opening sentence of his Gospel of Love.

The Eternal Word

1 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 nothing was made that was made. ⁴ In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. ⁵ And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not ^[a]comprehend it.

If you wield the Sword of the Spirit within it lies the power of Creation. Not your power, His. We can alter the present reality and cause the Kingdom to Come on earth as it is in Heaven. Here is the proof. Everything that exists, exists because of Jesus, His word. The Sword is affirmation of the sovereignty of Jesus over all of creation. The action of wielding it confirms this truth.

It calls Him into action as by faith we step boldly forward, never going back to advance the cause of salvation. In short, we must use it to save the lost. We have authority by being the re-presentation of His Spirit, He is sovereign over all of creation, it’s His. He tells us to do more with it than He did, (John 14:12) the time has come for this to not be words on a page but reality.

³ All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. Why?

⁴ In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The Word of God which is the Sword of the spirit brings life. This life is spread by the Holy Spirit in order to shine forth and bring men and women into relationship. Relationship with Jesus is the source of the life force for all of creation. When the Word is in you the light is in you, creation is in you. The world does not understand why you shine. But you do.

5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not ^[a]comprehend it.

Notice shines is in the present text, not shined. The darkness did not comprehend it then and doesn’t now. The reality is the light, powered by love for all creation which oozes out of the pages when the Apostle John writes of our King is still shining and is the source of life. I asked Jesus just the other day, “what do I need to know about love.” He told me this, “I have plenty use all you want.” In light of this realization what does this passage really say?

Christ Brings Division

³⁴ “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. ³⁵ For I have come to ‘set^[j] a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; ³⁶ and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ ³⁷ He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. ³⁸ And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. ³⁹ He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.

I have included the whole paragraph for context. But as I read this through new eyes I notice on thing. Love brings division. Some among us view love as a curse. These people will fight truth and nail to stop it from being the language of Creation. But it is. What He is saying is love no matter what, share it, no matter what, be that light that offers a new alternative to the evil that seeks to stamp out the light. This is the cross we bear, to be hated for loving. The only way we can save ourselves and those that He has chosen is to shine because, His Word is in us and is the light of men.

This has caused me to realize that the full Armor of God allows us to stand on the battlefield in the center of the conflict, and shine in the darkness. Just maybe this will cause a few to look and see Jesus in us and want some for themselves as we rain down blessing on those that believe they don’t deserve it. They do, they matter, and I for one intend on being that re-presentation of the Word the Light of Jesus. Thank You Jesus I will pick up Your Sword and…. Use it.