Discover Your Spiritual Sword in Luke 4:18-19

You are part of the army of God and must understand your fight is against an invisible realm.

The armor God provides is spiritual and invisible, and you must put it on and keep it on to stand firmly in your place.

Obedience to God's commands is key to staying within the protection of the sheepfold and avoiding the enemy's schemes.

You must resist the devil and stand firm against him, and he will flee from you.

As Christians, you and I are told we belong to an army, the army of God. Then, as a child of God, if we belong to this army, what and who is our fight against? The epistle of Paul in Ephesians 6.10 proves great insight as to whom our fight and our battle is against. And also, we are informed here in the scripture as well, the importance of our stance. That is, our position, our attention, and readiness, dressed in the full armor provided by our Lord in his army. In Ephesians 6.10, be strong in the Lord. Be empowered through your union with him. Draw your strength from him, that strength which his boundless might provides. Verse 11. Put on God's full armor, the armor of a heavy-armed soldier which God supplies, that you may be able successfully to stand up against all the strategies and the deceits of the devil. For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood, contending only with physical opponents, but against the despotisms, against the powers, against the master spirits who are the world rulers in this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly, the supernatural sphere. Verse 13. Therefore, put on God's complete armor that you may be able to resist and stand your ground on the evil day of danger. and having done all the crisis demands to stand firmly in your place. Verse 14, stand therefore, hold your ground, having tightened the belt of truth around your loins and having put on the breastplate of integrity and of moral rectitude and right standing with God. Verse 15, having shod your feet in preparation to face the enemy with firm-footed stability, the promptness and the readiness produced by the good news of the gospel of peace. Lift up over all the covering shield of saving faith upon which you can quench all the flaming missiles of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword that the Spirit wields, which is the word of God. Pray at all times, on every occasion, in every season, in the Spirit, with all manner of prayer and entreaty, To that end, keep alert and watch with strong purpose and perseverance interceding in behalf of all the saints, God's consecrated people. Our fight as a soldier in the army then is made clear in verses 11 through 13. Put on God's whole armor, the armor of a heavy-armed soldier, which God supplies, that you may be able successfully to stand up against all the strategies and the deceits of the devil. For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood, contending only with physical opponents, but against the despotisms, against the powers, against the master spirits who are the world rulers in this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly, the supernatural sphere. Verse 13, therefore, put on God's complete armor that you may be able to resist and stand your ground on the evil day of danger and having done all the Christ's demands to stand firmly in your place. We fight not against flesh and blood. Our battle is against an invisible realm. We see also in verses 11 and 12 that we are exhorted twice to put on God's full armor. And since God is spirit, we must be certain then that the armor he provides us that is also spiritual, that it's invisible. So we must be certain then we must know this, that he provides it. It is invisible. It is spiritual. Verse 13, therefore, put on God's complete armor that you may be able to resist and stand your ground on the evil day of danger and having done all the crisis demands to stand firmly in your place. Since we do not see our invisible foe, we learn as a soldier in the army of God that he even provides us this armor, and we are told we need to put it on and keep it on and learn to stand firmly in our place. In other words, just stand. Learn to take your orders and stand at attention and beware of the enemy's schemes. Jesus tells us in John 10, 7, that since he is the door for the sheep, that is us, and we can go about freely and not fear the schemes of our enemies if we live in the obedience of his commands. And we can also see in these verses that obedience is a factor for staying within the confines of this wonderful protection within the sheepfold in John 10, 7. So Jesus said again, I assure you most solemnly, I tell you that I myself am the door for the sheep. All others who came as such before me are thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to and obey them. I am the door. Anyone who enters in through me will be saved, will live. And he will come in and he will go out freely and find pasture. Verse 10. The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life and have it in abundance to the full. till it overflows. Hallelujah. Yeah. The thief comes, precious ones, to steal life. Satan the devil is described as a lion seeking whom he may devour. And this is our battle and warfare in the army of God. We have the responsibility of taking our place and standing. We need to take it serious and understand that putting on this armor and keeping it on at all times is imperative in order that we may not be picked off and devoured by the forces of hell. Verse 13, Therefore, put on God's complete armor that you may be able to resist and stand your ground on the evil day of danger and having done all the crisis demands to stand firmly in your place. In other words, you're not going to run scared. Terror and dread won't come upon you, but you will stand firmly in your place. And the book of James gives us wonderful insight as to this place of standing and the importance of taking our commands from our commander-in-chief and being obedient to carrying out our orders. In James 4, verse 1, please. James 4, verse 1. What leads to strife, discord, and feuds? And how do conflicts, quarrels, and fightings originate among you? Do they not arise from your sensual desires that are ever warring in your bodily members? You are jealous and covet what others have, and your desires go unfulfilled, so you become murderers. To hate is to murder as far as your hearts are concerned. You burn with envy and anger and are not able to obtain the gratification, the contentment and the happiness that you seek. So you fight in war. You do not have because you do not ask. Or you do ask God for them and yet fail to receive because you ask with wrong purpose and evil selfish motives. Your intention is, when you get what you desire, to spend it on sensual pleasures. Verse 4. You are like unfaithful wives, having illicit love affairs with the world, and breaking your marriage vow to God. Do you not know that being the world's friend is being God's enemy? So whoever chooses to be a friend of the world takes his stand as an enemy of God. Verse 5, or do you suppose that the scripture is speaking to no purposes that says the spirit whom he's caused to dwell in us yearns over and he yearns for the spirit to be welcomed with a jealous love. But he gives us more and more grace, power of the Holy Spirit to meet this evil tendency and all others fully. That is why he says, God sets himself against the proud and haughty, but gives grace continually to the lowly, to those who are humble enough to receive it. Verse 7. So be subject to God. Submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil. Stand firm against him, and he will flee from you. Verse 8. Come close to God, and he will come close to you. Recognize that you are sinners, and get your soiled hands clean and recognize you've been disloyal, wavering individuals with divided interests and purify your hearts of your spiritual adultery. Verse 9, as you draw near to God, be deeply penitent and grieve and even weep over your disloyalty. Let your laughter be turned to grief and your mirth to dejection and heartfelt shame for your sins. Verse 10, humble yourselves. feeling very insignificant in the presence of the Lord And He will exalt you He will lift you up and make your lives significant Hallelujah Our command then, according to verse 7, is to be subject, to submit to God's commands. This means to live in and practice what His whole Word tells us. And secondly, when we resist the devil through the obedience of our standing in place, God says the devil will flee from us. Our obedience then is the key for winning the battle and running the race in our Christian life. Verse 8 of this scripture says, come close to God and he will come close to you. Recognize that you are sinners and get your soiled hands clean and realize that you've been disloyal, wavering individuals with divided interests and purify your hearts of your spiritual adultery. As you draw near to God, be deeply penitent and grieve and even weep over your disloyalty. Let your laughter be turned to grief and your mirth to dejection and heartfelt shame for your sins. humble yourselves feeling very insignificant in the presence of the Lord and he will exalt you he will lift you up and make your life significant ha hallelujah if we humble ourselves to live our lives in the obedience of God's word he will lift us up just like he raised Christ up from the dead and seated him in the heavenly realm next to his heavenly father because he was obedient to do what his father had sent him to do. Jesus Christ, who is the very word of God himself, gives us the example and shows us the way. The humility of which our Lord suffered for each one of us, won the victory and brought the cure for you and me to overcome, to win the battles against the devil, against worldliness, and yes, even ourselves. Verse 8 again says, come close to God and he will come close to you. Recognize that you are sinners and get your soiled hands clean. realize you've been disloyal wavering individuals with divided interest and purify your hearts purify your hearts and draw as you draw near to God be deeply sorry and weep over disloyalty and verse 10 says humble yourself feeling very insignificant in the presence of the Lord and he will exalt you he will lift you up and make your lives significant. Yes, indeed, He will make our lives significant. If we humble ourselves, Christ will lift us up. He will lift us up. And it is only when we are lifted up by our Lord's divine and mighty strength, precious ones, that we too will be like Job who cried out in the midst of his trouble, declaring, For I know, I know, I know that my Redeemer lives. And you too must know that your Redeemer lives. And his titles are eternal. And they are a force and a divine inspiration. That we should wield these titles, these names like mighty tools in our mouth when we declare the Lord's names which are given. My Redeemer lives. Or Jesus, you are the captain of my salvation. You are the ensign of your people. You are my leader. You are my commander. You are the chief shepherd. Precious church, Jesus is not only the one who leads us in the battle of life, but he is our crowning victor, the victory of his people. You see, Jesus is the very one who created all things seen and unseen. He created the earth and all that is in it. He is called the word of God. We must see him in this light. In the light of truth we must see him. the very name of Jesus at the very name of Jesus every knee shall bow every knee in heaven on the earth and under the earth shall bow the words of his mouth are like a double-edged sword and his word is a creative force and powerful in your mouth too that is if you truly are obedient and submissive as a soldier in his army. Our scripture in James again says, so be subject to God or submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, stand firm against him, and he will flee from you. You see, in natural warfare, the soldier must have absolute confidence in his gun. He's already won the battle. If he has confidence in that tool, he has won the battle. He has already had the necessary instruction before he goes out to battle. So he understands the weapon of warfare. And he understands that he must take care of the gun or the word if he is going to rely upon it to defeat the enemy. So when the soldier goes out to battle, his gun is the most important tool he has in his possession. It protects him by slaying the enemy, or at least by driving the enemy back. And the soldier actually learns to live and sleep with his weapon of warfare called his gun or the word of God. We are instructed in God's word in Ephesians 6.17 to take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. We are called to take it up or Isaiah 49.3 says, before I was born, the Lord called me from my birth he has made mention of my name. He made my mouth like a sharpened sword. In the shadow of his hand he hid me. And he made me into a polished arrow and concealed me in his quiver. And he said to me, You are my servant. In Hebrews 4.12 the word declares the word of God is living and active sharper than any double-edged sword. and it penetrates even to the dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and it judges the thoughts and the attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Revelation 2.16 declares, Repent, or I will come to you suddenly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth. You see, your weapon of warfare, your sword, is actually your faith in God's word. You and I are called to be servants in the household of God. And we are called to take up our rightful place in his army. Isaiah 49.3 says, Before I was born, the Lord called me, called me from my birth, and he has made mention of my name. and he made my mouth like a sharpened sword. In the shadow of his hand, he hid me and he made me into a polished arrow and he concealed me in his quiver and he said to me, You are my servant. You see, God, again, has called each one of us by name and he's called us his servants. It's done. It has already been established in the heavens. Now it is up to us, each one of us, to live up to that, to take it by force, if we will, to be a soldier in God's army. Again, your faith in God's word must be an absolute certainty in your heart if you are to walk as a soldier in the army. And in order to carry out any successful spiritual warfare in battle, you must have absolute, unshakable, unwavering faith in the Word's ability to stop the devil's activity in your life whenever you use it on him correctly. One of the main differences between physical and spiritual warfare is that when you shoot a physical rifle, you can actually see the results of damage that has been inflicted by the bullet. But in spiritual warfare, you must depend entirely on what the Bible says in the resulting damage when you shoot your spiritual gun. James 4.7 says, Admit yourselves then to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Usually when you resist the devil, you are actively involved in some sort of defensive warfare. This means you are most likely wielding the sword of the spirit, God's word in the battle. And you are firing the bullets of God's word at him. Satan, it is written, I shall fear the Lord my God and not you. But because you can't physically see the devil in the act of fleeing, you have to believe with absolute total faith and confidence that when you resist him, which is in the realm of the spirit, that is exactly what is taking place. The Lord says that when we submit to him and the devil comes, when we are in complete submission and obedience, the devil must flee. The devil must flee. He is fleeing and you shall experience freedom from his assault. Well at times you might have said or even say today it doesn feel like he fleeing from my commands which come from God word And you may have also said the symptoms are still there The problem is even worse now than before I prayed. Now can the devil be fleeing if the circumstances are worse than before? But I say to you, precious one, that this manual, the Bible, that holds the truth for our spiritual warfare of weapons, what does it say? What does it declare on how we should feel? remember we do not walk by how we feel or what we see you must remember that is a vital key we do not walk by how we feel or by what we see the only condition in James 4 7 is that you must be submitted to God when you resist the devil Look again, please, at that scripture in James 4, 7. Submit yourselves then to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. The call here is to submit yourselves. Submission is more than obedience. It involves humility. The devil is the enemy of God and he is to be resisted. And when he is resisted, he will flee from you. I would like you please to look with me at an account in 2 Samuel 23. And see the character of a leading man in the time of King David's army. Whose name was Eleazar. In 2 Samuel 23 verse 1. Now these are the last words of David David son of Jesse says The man who was raised on high The anointed of God of Jacob And the sweet psalmist of Israel says The spirit of the Lord spoke in and by me And his word was upon my tongue The rock of Israel said to me When one rules over men righteously Ruling in the fear of God He dawns on them like the morning light. And when the sun rises on a cloudless morning, when the tender grass springs out of the earth through the clear shining after rain, truly, does not my house stand so with God? For he has made with me an everlasting covenant ordered in all things and sure. For will he not cause and prosper all my help and my desire? but wicked, godless, and worthless lives are all like thorns to be thrust away because they cannot be taken with the hand. But the man who touches them arms himself with iron and the shaft of the spear. They are utterly consumed with fire on the spot. Verse 8. And these are the names of the mighty men whom David had. Jobashibas, chief of the three heroes known also as Adino the Esnite. And he wielded his spear and went against 800 men who were slain at one time. And next to him, among the three mighty men, was Eleazar, son of Dodo. And he was with David when they defied the Philistines there for the battle, and the men of Israel had departed. Verse 10. Eleazar arose and struck down the Philistines until his hand was weary and clung to the sword. And the Lord wrought a great deliverance and victory that day. And the men returned after him only to take the spoil. Next to Eliezer was Samah, son of Aji, the Harait. The Philistines were gathered on Lehi on a piece of ground full of lentils. And the Israelites fled from the Philistines. Verse 12. But he stood in the midst of the ground and defended it and slew the Philistines. And the Lord brought great victory. Hallelujah. The scripture I wish to make emphasis here is verse 10. Eleazar arose and struck down the Philistines until his hand was weary and clung to the sword. The Lord wrought a great deliverance and victory that day. and the men returned after him only to take the spoil. You see, this mighty soldier had a firm grip on his sword. And Eleazar's firmness of grasp and fierceness of conflict made his sword stick to his hand. And this is showing us that whatever we cling to shapes the grasp and will in proportion to the strength of the grasp we have on it, stick to our hands. Hallelujah! The more firmly we grasp, the more efficiently we will use the words and the principles of the word. And it is this way that they will become more deeply immersed or impressed into the fiber of our nature and stick to us by entwining themselves into the very core of our being, becoming one with us. Let us please remember, Jesus Christ is the very Word of God. And the sword clings to our hand, and the hand may grow weary, but we can still fight on. The sword of the Spirit has adhered so firmly to the hand of many a hero in God's army, precious ones, that even death could not break the grasp of it. This firm grip on the sword by Eleazar was the mark of heroism and also of his reward. He did not let go, even though his hand grew weary. But he gripped the sword all the more. And we have to know that he had a death grip on it. How many of us have ever gripped on to something with all of our might? And the hold on that grip was so painful, we wondered how we managed to maintain such a hold. And our scripture is showing us that the true marks of honor are obtained through conflict and suffering. The yielding of the sword in scripture is the mark of honor of many of God's greatest heroes, that being his prophets, apostles, martyrs, reformers, missionaries, and many others. clinging to and holding to the right or righteousness of God until it takes such a hold of us and shapes us into what God purposes for us to be. Christian life is not about controversy, but a heroic life in Christ which requires and produces a firm grasp on the word of God, the principles and the obedience of God's commands. In Matthew 4.1, Jesus was alone in the desert in this account. And he was being tempted by Satan. And when he came face to face with the age-old serpent, he repulsed him with his powerful words. I'd like you to look with me, please, at the example of Jesus, captain of our salvation. when he was led by the Spirit of God into the desert and tempted by the devil in Matthew 4.1. Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting 40 days and 40 nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came to him and said, If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread. Jesus answered, It is written, Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. Verse 5, Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand at the highest point of the temple. If you are the Son of God, he said, throw yourself down. For it is written, He will command his angels concerning you and they will lift you up in their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. Verse 7, And Jesus answered him, It is also written, Do not put the Lord your God to the test. Verse 8, Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. All this I will give to you, he said, if you will bow down and worship me. Jesus said to him, Away from me, Satan, for it is written, Worship the Lord your God and serve him only. Then the devil left him, and the angels came and attended him. Dear church, when we are alone as Jesus was, and as Eleazar was to stand in his place and wield his sword, We too can learn from this, that where our greatest victories will be gained, Jesus himself used the word of God. Jesus was submitting himself to his Father's will, and he had to go through this trying experience. This is the mandate and the glorious victory from the enemy ever troubling in our lives too, that we submit ourselves to God in order for the sword or the gun with the bullets being God's word to be an effective weapon against Satan. So simply said, this is the condition to be met in your life. If you ever expect the devil to flee from you when you raise the sword of the spirit against him. So I provoke you with these questions today? Are you submitted to God? Are you staying free from sin? Are you keeping your fleshly desires that are not pleasing to God under control by the power of his Holy Spirit who dwells within you Is Jesus really the Lord and ruler of your life Do you show your love to him by your prompt obedience to do as his word commands First Corinthians 8 says But if one loves God truly with affectionate reverence and prompt obedience and grateful recognition of his blessing he is known by God recognized as truly worthy of his intimacy and love and he is owned by him are you living according to his will in these ways which demonstrate our humility and obedience if not you have given the devil a foothold or an open door in your life which gives him the right to not only hang around, but also the rights to continue harassing you. Ephesians 4.27 says, Do not give the devil a foothold. Dear ones, you must repent of the sin in your life and close the door before you even begin shooting your weapon or wielding your sword of truth, or you will just be wasting the efforts and bullets. If you are submitted to God and your heart does not condemn you, then you will have total confidence in your gun, the word, and know that the bullet hit the target exactly where you aimed it. And you can know then that the enemy is fleeing from you. Hallelujah. 1 John 3.21 says, Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence towards God. And whatever we ask, we receive from him because we keep his commandments and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. Satan will try to deceive you because you are shooting blind physically. and he will tell you that you missed the mark and that God's word didn't work. He will use anything to try to discourage you and make you doubt God and his promises to you. But who will you believe? What you decide at this critical moment will determine whether you experience victory or defeat in your life. Are you going to believe the circumstances and the tricks of the enemy? And or are you going to believe God's word by faith? Again, Ephesians 6.11 Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. People who are victorious in the family of God live by faith in what God's word tells them. They do not live by what they see or how they feel or how their circumstances look. They live by faith in God's word. Galatians 3.11 says that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident for the just shall live by faith. Habakkuk 2.4 declares, Look at the proud. They trust in themselves and their lives are crooked, but the righteous will live by their faith. Romans 1.17 tells us, This good news tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the scripture says, it is through faith that a righteous person has life. And Hebrews 10, 37 says, For in just a little while the coming one will come and not delay, and a righteous person will live by faith. But I will have no pleasure in anyone who turns away. But we are not like those who turn their backs on God and seal their faith. But we have faith that assures us of our salvation. So then, if your faith is weak, then you must immerse yourself in God's word and ask him to implant his word deep into your heart and spirit. by listening to what his word says about any situation. You can override through the help of the Holy Spirit whatever your mind or your flesh tells you when the battle is raging in your life. You see, precious ones, the devil will use your mind and your body to trick you into doubting God. Once you so embrace God's word and your body, your soul, and spirit are saturated with it, your mind will not accept the lie. Romans 10, 16 says and declares, But not everyone welcomes the good news. For Isaiah the prophet said, Lord, who has believed our message? Verse 17, Yet faith comes from listening to this message of good news, the good news about Christ. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. So as faith floods your heart, the Word of God becomes so engraved on your heart that you know without a doubt that when you follow its instruction, your gun or sword of the Spirit will work perfectly and do exactly what it is sent to do. You will not believe with your head, dear one, But you will believe with your eyes of faith. We walk by faith and not by sight. So it doesn't matter if you are in the middle of an earthquake or forest fire or financial crisis or medical crisis or even in a character assassination attack. You first establish what God's word says about the situation. and then you make that your point of reference as to what you will believe and how you will act. It is so important for you to know that God desires the devil to be powerless over you. Jesus defeated him and took back the keys or authority from him for you and for me in order for us to walk out our Christian lives in complete victory. So at this point, I'd like to say, neither are you to become overly concerned with the devil or what he tries to do. But you simply have a quiet confidence in your gun, your sword, God's word. And you just learn to stand. You aren't moved by the physical realm, but by what God says. Remember, your attention and thoughts are on Jesus. You live for him. You imitate your standard, your ensign. You avoid everything evil. Then, when Satan tries to bother you, he knows he has no right, but you command him to stop in the name of Jesus, and he knows he must obey. Because you are. You are obeying by submitting to your Captain Jesus Christ. Every knee must bow in his all-powerful name. You live for one and for one alone. And Satan fears his name and his blood. His blood covers you. Satan cannot reach through the blood to touch you or to harm you. Satan fears your oneness with the Lord. He will go to great lengths, dear one, to keep you from this. But you must remember that your victory is first in the word of God and then in fellowship with the Lord of your life. Jeremiah 23, 29 declares, Is my word not like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks a rock into pieces? you take your rightful place alongside the Lord and Master of your life and use His mighty word like a powerful gun or a sword to break and shatter every stronghold interference and lies and every potential scheme of the enemy act like a soldier in the army of God dear church be confident and take your stand arm yourself with the word of God the love of God and humility and see the promised victory. The soldiers of Christ will speak the word of God and they shall hit the target and they will bring life. We will hit the mark and we will see our families and the unsaved brought into the kingdom of God. We shall pray for justice and see the victory come, whether it be in the defilements right around us, the unjust scales, unrighteousness, or the profane things. We can be assured that someone was praying for us too at one time and hitting us with their words of life and the bullets of truth. And so will our words do the same. They will not come back void when they are centered on and in God Almighty's, His powerful word. Aim the word of God. Shoot the word of God and have faith they will hit the mark in those things in your own life and the lives of others. Have faith that they will bring change in your life, in healing or deliverance and the lives of those whom you pray for. Have faith in God's word. Live for Jesus Christ. Resist the devil and he shall flee from you. Take your place in the army of God, and God will give you a place of standing and rescue you also from every snare and wicked scheme of the enemy. He will lift you out of the dark waters and set your feet upon the solid rock who is Jesus Christ. Have faith in him. Thank you.

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