Our Spiritual War Part 7
Ephesians 6:17-18, “…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.”
Several years back there was one of the greatest match ups in the Superbowl. Now I know sports is a touchy issue in our political climate, but for the purpose of today’s blog this is a good illustration. It was the Denver Broncos vs. the Carolina Panthers. Here’s what was interesting, the Broncos had the number 1 defense in the league and the Panthers had the number 1 offense in the league and the question was, what wins the Superbowl, offense or defense? The game proved the old saying that "defense wins championships" as the Broncos defense led to a 24-10 victory. Now I say this because what we have looked at in the first six parts of this series is that of our defensive armor. Our defensive armor (belt, breastplate, shoes, shield, and helmet) are indispensable in our spiritual war. However, the Broncos had to score points to win, just keeping the other team from scoring is not enough, and even though the defense accounted for some of the Broncos 24 points, the offense still had to do it’s job. In our spiritual war, we have two offensive weapons, the sword of the Spirit (the Word of God) and prayer.
First, we must recognize that our spiritual weapons are just that, spiritual, and not of our flesh. 2 Corinthians 10:4-6 tells us, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.” So many Christians want a “physical” fight, maybe not a one-on-one punching match, but we so often wage war according to our flesh and not our spirit. A great example of this is arguing on social media. Let me ask you a question, has anyone ever won another person to faith in Jesus by arguing on social media? I know I haven’t, so I stopped doing it, because it’s pointless. If we are going to go on the offensive in our spiritual war, we must use the weapons God has given us, and use them properly. We must use the weapons of our Commander
Our first weapon is The Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Alistair Begg said, “It is not good enough to wave the Bible like a banner, but we must be able to wield it as a sword.” Hebrews 4:12 teaches that, “…the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Jesus wielded the Word of God properly when He faced the temptation of the devil in Matthew 4:1-11. Each temptation the devil threw at Him was met with Jesus using the Word of God. Now we must use the Word properly, because even the devil tried to use the Word in his temptations, but Jesus used His Word properly, and so must we. We don’t use the Word to beat people, to degrade people, or tear people down, but we use God’s Word to proclaim God’s truth and we let His Spirit do the job of bringing people to Jesus through His goodness and conviction.
Our second weapon is Prayer, more specifically prayer in the Spirit. Our prayer is to be Led by the Spirit (Romans 8:14, Galatians 5:18), knowing that the Spirit of God is Interceding for us (Romans 8:26-27), and we are to pray In the Spirit (1 Corinthians 14:15). Prayer that is Spirit led and inspired, that is from God’s Spirit Himself, and prayer where we are in the Spirit of God, and not in our own flesh, is a powerful weapon in our Spiritual war. As important as it is that we put on our defensive spiritual armor, we must never forget our spiritual weapons, and we must wield them in the Spirit, or we will end up causing damage to those who don’t deserve it and are looking for God’s grace. Being in the Word of God by reading it, studying it, meditating on it, memorizing it, and proclaiming it, along with a constant and healthy prayer life is how we fight back in our battle.
As we end this series let me encourage you. Yes we are in a spiritual war, and yes we have a very real enemy. However, our enemy is defeated, Hebrews 2:14-15 tells us Jesus rendered our enemy powerless, and God has equipped us for our spiritual war with the whole armor of God. My suggestion is that you put it on and walk in the victory that we have been granted in Jesus Christ.
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