What is the sword of the Spirit?

SWORD OF THE SPIRIT. This is the word (ῥῆμα) of God, what His mouth has spoken, and is the only offensive weapon given to Christians with which to fight the Lord's battles. Eph. 6:17. The word (λόγος) of God is likened to a two-edged sword, Heb. 4:12, and the words of the Lord Jesus when He will come forth in judgement on Christendom and the world are compared to a "sharp two-edged sword." Rev. 1:16; Rev. 19:15.

Now coming to the last chapter of Ephesians I find, "And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." That which really fully furnishes the Christian — fills up the total of his armour — is the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Scripture does not say, that the Word of God is the sword of the Spirit. It says, "Take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." Satan knows how to use Scripture against the truth, and many a saint has been kept in bondage, sorely pressed, and wounded, by some bit of Scripture taken out of its connection. That is not the sword of the Spirit. The Word of God is therefore not necessarily the sword of the Spirit, but the sword of the Spirit must ever and only be the Word of God, and if the Word of God is used as the sword in the power of the Spirit, then Satan will be always defeated. Our only weapon in the contest, in these days of infidelity, is the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. May the Lord give us to know more how to use it.

If the laver as a whole suggests the person of Christ, and the water in it the whole word of God, what would the smaller vessel at the foot of the laver suggest? I believe Eph. 6:17 tells us: "Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word (literally, the saying) of God:" not the word of God generally, but "the saying of God;" that is, the word that applies, the word spoken in due season. It is not the whole Bible we are to bring to the brother, but the needed word applying to his actual condition. This needs wisdom and the Spirit's guidance to bring the right word, that it may cleanse and help.

But there is more (ver. 17): "and receive the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God." The shield of faith is more general confidence; the helmet of salvation is rather the bold and joyful consciousness of the full deliverance God has wrought for us in Christ. This crowns the various parts of the armour already noticed, and is therefore followed, not by further means of defence (for it is complete), but by the instrument of offensive energy against the adversary, the sword of the Spirit, even God's word. How wisely it is thus placed in the last place of all, will be apparent to the instructed mind! Indeed, if there be not this order known practically, the word is made a mere toy of, or perhaps a scourge for self, rather than to have the character of the sword of the Spirit; it is misused and powerless. Handled in the Spirit, what deliverance it works! What disabling of adversaries and what a detector of Satan! It is for conflict.

The helmet of salvation. The helmet rests upon the head. it covers the head, the seat of intelligence. Assurance of salvation past, present and future is this helmet. As we wear it and as it governs our mind and heart as well, the wiles of the devil cannot fall upon us. We are in possession of a salvation which is secure. No power in earth or heaven, the devil with all his demon powers, cannot spoil us of it. This gives not alone confidence, but boldness in the conflict. Sad it is to see the thousands of believers without the helmet of salvation, destitute of the assurance of salvation and therefore the easy prey of the devil's wiles, driven about by every wind of doctrine. Well has it been said: "Girded by the truth applies to the judgment of the inner man. Practical righteousness guards the conscience from the assaults of the enemy; the power of peace gives a character to our walk; confidence in the love of God quenches the poisoned arrows of doubt; the assurance of salvation gives us boldness to go onward."

The sword of the Spirit. It is the word of God, the only offensive weapon mentioned in the armor of God. It is to meet the devil and to make him flee from us. How our blessed Lord wielded this sword in the wilderness, how He met the devil by a "It is written" is well known to every Christian. Was there ever a time when God's people had greater need of laying hold with a firm grasp of the sword of the Spirit? Satan has succeeded by his wiles to dull the edge of that sword. The enemy also perverts and counterfeits the Word. What need then that as never before we go "to the law and to the testimonies." We must search the Word and have the Word search us. We must have the Word in our hearts and our hearts in the Word, and thus alone can we meet the enemy.

We have seen in what precedes, that the apostle begins by setting before us that which gives inward strength, namely, the armour defensive against the attacks of the enemy. Now he speaks of the offensive weapons, and begins with the sword of the Spirit, as the means of resisting the power of Satan in the evil day; he speaks of the sword as a means of standing; the helmet is placed before the sword, because if there is not this confidence, this assurance, we cannot even handle the sword of the Spirit. All the threats, the warnings and precepts as to sanctification, become so many means, in the hands of Satan, to lay hold of us by, if we have not the confidence that God is for us; without this confidence Satan can use even the word of God to overthrow us. This word is called the sword of the Spirit, not of the understanding, but of the Spirit in us. It is the Spirit of God who alone can handle the sword of the word. It is the Spirit who recalls the suitable passage at the moment of temptation (we have a striking example of it in Christ in the hour of His temptation). We may reason about the things of God, but this does nothing for us against the enemy; the Spirit must act in us and apply the word. It is evident that if we have grieved the Spirit, if our loins are not girded, the Spirit cannot be there to handle the word; on the contrary, in that case, Satan employs it against us. If the Christian has not this happy consciousness of being for God, he has nothing to say when Satan presents a temptation before him: the smallest warning of the word troubles and overthrows him, because the word is not through the Spirit a weapon in his hand against the enemy; but it is in the hand of the enemy against him. It is true that God uses the word as a means of convincing of sin, and thus awakes the soul by acting on the conscience; but every time that this word is not made use of on the principle of grace, it is not the work of the Spirit of God. If this conviction of sin leads us to mistrust God, it does not proceed from Him, but from the enemy; the Spirit convinces of sin through the word, but it shews the refuge in Christ; it does not drive to despair.

57 The word is represented to us as a weapon for us to handle, for it works in two ways: first, the Spirit, in using the word, can act in us by presenting to us the object which fills our hearts with joy and hope; but besides, He can use it when He would convince us of sin. The Spirit will indeed shew us what are the consequences of sin, but He will never tell us that Christ is not sufficient for our soul. The Spirit cannot deny the testimony which He bears to the glory and to the work of Jesus in grace; He can use the holiness of God to produce in us the deepest feeling of sin; but He will never tell us that God is not the God of grace towards us. To the Christian who has peace, and to whom the love of the Father has been revealed, it is perfectly clear, that if he has any other feeling about sin, it is not the Spirit of God which produces it. If we have failed, the Spirit will make us sorrowful, but He will never tell us that the Master of the house is not our Lord; this thought would be the fruit of unbelief. But here the apostle goes a little farther; he supposes faith to be in exercise, and he places the word in the hand. Satan will tell us that we are not able to use the sword of the Spirit. Then this same Spirit, who recalls the passage, silences Satan. Again, look at Christ in His temptation, Christ who never lost His confidence. The Spirit was there in power. Christ had His loins girded, and He had on the breastplate of righteousness; He was calm and knew how to use the very passage which was suitable for the circumstance. Paul supposes a Christian who is standing fast in this power of the Spirit, and who completely stops the mouth of Satan, when he tries in a thousand ways to make him fall. Such a Christian, having all the defensive weapons, is able to handle the sword of the Spirit; and when the Spirit in him is not grieved, He bears witness to the favour of God. The word of God is the most powerful of the weapons of the Christian's strength.

It is called “the sword of the Spirit” (Eph. 6:17). “The Word of God is quick [living], and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword” (Heb. 4:12). It is because it is a weapon of warfare for the Christian. He cannot “fight the good fight” by means of natural wisdom or powers of argument. In the temptation in the wilderness our Lord foiled Satan by using “the sword of the Spirit.” Three times over He quoted from Deuteronomy, and prefaced each quotation by saying, “It is written.” We need to know our Bibles to use our sword.

The Sword of the Spirit. We are definitely told that this piece of armour is the word of God, and yet not only the word, but the word used in the power of the Spirit. This is the one great offensive weapon. Until we have put on the armour that regulates our inmost thoughts, our outward walk, and establishes us in confidence in God, we shall not be in a right condition to wield the sword of the Spirit. When the word of God is used in the power of the Spirit against the enemy it is irresistible. When tempted by the wiles of the devil, the Lord on each occasion resisted the enemy with the word of God used in the power of the Spirit. “It is written” exposed and defeated the devil. The word of God abiding in us is our strength, for the Apostle John can say of the young men, “Ye are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one” (1 John 2:14).

God's word is the sword of the Spirit, a weapon against which Satan has no defence. See how the Lord Jesus used this mighty sword when Satan confronted Him in the wilderness! Thrice did He say, "It is written;" and the wicked one left Him for a season. To use the sword of the Spirit, we must know the Scriptures; but there must also be the spiritual condition, through living communion with God to be able to use the sword aright. It is the Spirit's sword, therefore we must be under the Spirit's control to use it effectively. Satan sought to use the Scriptures against the Lord; he was not wielding the sword of the Spirit. We must therefore not assume that an answer from the Scriptures is always the sword of the Spirit: the word of God is living; the application of the living word is the sword of the Spirit.

In what sense is the Word of God the sword of the Spirit? Akin to the fact that the Holy Spirit has been the Revealer, the Word of God is in a sense forged by the Spirit. The sword of the Spirit is Scripture as the Word of God. 'Observe that the Lord Himself, in His temptation, the history of which should be compared with this whole passage, used exclusively verbal citations from Scripture as His sword. No suggestion could be more pregnant than this as to the abiding position of the written Word under the dispensation of the Spirit' (Moule). "Taking" the sword of the Spirit involves knowing it, and the deliberate recognition that without it the enemy cannot be overcome.