The Sword of the Spirit

I have never taught on the sword of the spirit before. After listening to hundreds of live and recorded teachings on the subject, and writing up voluminous notes, in my heart I knew I still had no idea what this verse was talking about. How does the sword of the spirit apply to real life?

Ephesians  6:17
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

In the past, if there was no way to avoid reading this verse during a teaching, I would quickly skim past it and move on. I don't think I've even mentioned the sword of the spirit in my two previous classes, Walking by the Spirit and Teachings in the Key of Life. If I do not understand something, I will not teach it. If you want to listen to mindless sermons by men who don't understand the bible, go to church.

One point of view that came up during all those teachings I listened to was that this sword of the spirit wasn't really a sword at all, it was a javelin, and that this section of Ephesians is allegorical and illustrates competition rather than warfare. Is that so? Devil spirits don't regard this as a game.

Revelation 12:15-17
And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.

And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.

And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

This flood, which refers to the flood of Noah's day, almost destroyed the human race. It was the devil who declared war on us and it was the devil who flooded the earth to try to exterminate men. If the Jesuits and the freemasons understood his true nature, they would not worship him.

Today, everyone knows that many ancient civilisations simply disappeared off the face of the earth around the same time. They scratch their heads and come up with theory after theory about where they all went, but it's really no mystery, they all drowned. Only Noah and his family survived. That's the truth.

Genesis 7:19-22
And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered.

Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.

And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man:

All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.

When the earth was flooded, there was just one huge ocean with no land anywhere. The waters were 15 cubits higher than the top of the highest hill. At this point Pangea had not yet broken apart so there were no mountains. Anyway, it was still a lot of water, so where did it all go? If there is land now, all that water had to go somewhere. The word says the earth opened her mouth and swallowed it.

Revelation 12:16
And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.

This reference to the earth opening its mouth and swallowing all that water indicates a crack in the earth's crust down which all that water drained. By the way, according to the bible, it was after this event that Pangaea broke apart. Yes, I know that contradicts the academic world, but I don't give a fuck, the bible is truth and the world is full of shit. You make up your own mind on what truth is.

1 Chronicles 1:19
And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg; because in his days the earth was divided: and his brother's name was Joktan.

This is not a game, we are at war. The sword of the spirit is not a javelin, it is a sword. A sword is a weapon. Anyone who contradicts the bible and inserts their private interpretations of it, and then teaches their doctrines of men as truth can go and fuck themselves. Do you think Jesus Christ thought he was playing games during the two days he was tortured and beaten to a pulp before being crucified?

I often see scriptures posted on Facebook, Twitter, forums and other places, and for some reason they are always nice scriptures about nice things. You know, God is wonderful and loves us kind of stuff, with pretty flowers, nice scenery and cute animals. Hey, if your life is under attack, you're going to need something a bit more substantial than pretty flowers, nice scenery and cute animals to keep you alive.

Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is quick [alive], 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.

People carried swords for two reasons. The obvious one was when going into battle, but they also carried swords in civilian life for self defence. We can see this in the gospels. Peter was carrying a sword when Jesus Christ was arrested.

John 18:10,11
Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest's servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus.

Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?

In Jesus Christ's day and in Paul's day, it was normal for people to carry swords for self defence. Therefore, this figurative reference in Ephesians to the word of God being a sword tells us that the word of God can be used either as an offensive weapon or as a weapon of self defence. Romans shows us how the word of God can be used as an offensive weapon.

Romans 13:3,4
For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:

For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.

In the book of Acts, we can see Peter and Paul using the word as an offensive weapon to fight against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness from on high. Here is Peter in action.

Acts 5:1-11
But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession,

And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet.

But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?

Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.

And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things.

And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him.

And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in.

And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much.

Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out.

Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband.

And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.

Still think this is a game we're playing? Here is Paul wielding the sword of the spirit as an offensive weapon.

Acts 13:6-11
And when they had gone through the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew [Judean], whose name was Barjesus:

Which was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man; who called for Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God.

But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith.

Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost [holy spirit], set his eyes on him,

And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?

And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand.

There are many records where men of God used the sword of the spirit as an offensive weapon to destroy the works of the devil, but there are also records where we can see the sword being used in self defence. When the devil tempted Jesus Christ with the world and all its glory, Jesus Christ responded with it is written. He fought for his life by quoting scripture.

Matthew 4:8-10
Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;

And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.

Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

When you understand that wielding scripture is how you wield the sword of the spirit, you will also understand then why it is important to memorise scriptures. If you don't have any scriptures in your head, you have nothing to defend yourself with.

Jesus Christ didn't carry a bible and a concordance around with him. He had the word in his head. He had memorised so many scriptures that no matter what came his way he could use the sword of the spirit to defend himself and attack his enemies. He knew how to defend himself with the sword of the spirit, and he knew how to fight back. In the following example, the church leaders accused him of breaking the laws of men as if they were the laws of God.

Mark 7:5-7
Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands?

He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

Jesus Christ did not know ahead of time this attack would be coming. When these religious men marched up and publicly accused him of what they considered to be evil, he had the right scriptures memorised to counter their attack. Did he throw pretty flowers at them? Did he look at them and say, well, God loves me, and walk away with his head down? Those religious bastards didn't regard what they were doing as a game. They were looking for an excuse to kill him.

On another occasion, the religious leaders actually managed to conjure up a situation where they knew there were no scriptures Jesus Christ could use.

John 8:2-6
And early in the morning he [Jesus Christ] came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them.

And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,

They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.

Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?

This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.

It is likely these religious leaders set this woman up and arranged to have her dragged before Jesus Christ so they could catch him out in his words. This time they knew there were no scriptures he could use to counter their attack. Moses does state very clearly in the law that women taken in adultery should be stoned. They knew he couldn't possibly contradict Moses, so they knew he couldn't wield a scripture at them this time. If he contradicted Moses, they would have been able to level the charge of blasphemy at him, a crime that carried the death penalty.

Jesus Christ's response is staggering. He doodled in the dust on the ground. There were no scriptures, he knew that, so attempting to respond with it is written would have put his life at risk. He wanted to help that woman, but he had no idea what to say. So, he doodled in the dust on the ground while he thought things through and waited for an answer from God on how best to deal with the situation.

Forgiveness was the issue. God's forgiveness has always been available, and it is still available to everyone to this day. Forgiveness was available to that woman, but Moses does state that adulterers were to be stoned and he couldn't possibly contradict that. The word is quick and powerful and sharper than any two edged sword only when we wield it with precision.

John 8:7-11
So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.

And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.

And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?

She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

Go and sin no more. See, she was given another chance. God's forgiveness is always available to us. That's what the religious leaders didn't understand. Religion turns people into cold, heartless, self righteous nasty little creatures. How do I know? Been there, done that. You think you're so right about everything, and all you can find is fault in everyone. Religion is a disease. Thankfully, it's curable. Remove the cause and the symptoms will gradually disappear. If you leave your horseshit churches, religions, and ministries constructed by men, and stay well away from all your religious friends who think they are so right about everything, your heart will eventually heal. If you want a relationship with God, get out of religion, avoid all forms of religious organisations constructed by men, and steer well clear of religious men like those scribes and Pharisees so you don't catch their foul diseases.

2 Corinthians 6:14-18
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?

And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,

And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

Let's now read the section in Ephesians where it talks about the armour of God and the sword of the spirit.

Ephesians 6:10
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

Ephesians does not say we are strong in ourselves. The devil isn't intimidated by cruise missiles, tanks, or the latest fighter aircraft. You can throw stones at him, fire missiles and bullets at him, shake your fists and scream at the sky as much as you like, all it will do is make him laugh.

Job 41:27-29
He esteemeth iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood.

The arrow cannot make him flee: slingstones are turned with him into stubble.

Darts are counted as stubble: he laugheth at the shaking of a spear.

If you wander through life with an inane smile plastered to your face with nothing but nice scriptures about nice things in your head, and think that's wielding the sword of the spirit, you are clueless about the spiritual nature of the world you live in.

To defeat spiritual wickedness from on high, we have to be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Jesus Christ is our Lord and we have Christ in us, so to be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might is to walk by the spirit with Christ as our head and energise the Christ in us.

Ephesians then tells us we are to put on the armour of God.

Ephesians 6:11,12
Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places [from on high].

Our fight isn't against flesh and blood, it is against the principalities, the powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world, the spiritual wickedness from on high. The devil and his spirits hate us. They have declared war on us. They want us dead. Jesus Christ made it very clear what the devil's will is.

John 10:10
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

If we want protection from all this stealing, killing and destroying, we must put on the armour of God to protect ourselves. The only way we can prevail in life as children of God is to be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might, and to have on the armour of God.

Ephesians  6:13
Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day [withstand the evil one], and having done all, to stand.

Putting on armour doesn't stop attacks, it protects us from them. Armour protects different parts of the body, so we have to put it all on to be fully protected.

Ephesians  6:14
Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

Our loins is our midriff, where our legs join our body, and includes the groin area. The loins is where the strength and vigour of our bodies resides. We are to gird our loins with truth. This obviously doesn't mean we strap bibles around our bodies, it's a figurative reference to our thoughts. We put the word on in our minds until our thoughts are armour plated. Our wills and our commitments are to be girded with truth.

The breastplate protects our chest, where our hearts beat. The breastplate of righteousness protects our hearts. Everything we believe comes from our heart, and how we build believing hearts is with armour plated thoughts.

Proverbs 4:23
Keep [guard] thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

The word keep is the word guard. It's a military term. How we guard our hearts is by having our thoughts armour plated with truth and having on the breastplate of righteousness. It is from our hearts that life issues, that life flows from. Believing flows from our hearts, and our believing determines our lives. We must protect our hearts with the breastplate of righteousness. No matter what the devil tries to condemn us with, no matter what he throws at us from our past, we hold onto the righteousness of God. I am righteous, not because of anything I've ever done, but because God through Jesus Christ made me righteous.

Romans 3:21-24
But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;

Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

This teaching is for me as well as you. My past causes me all sorts of anguish when I don't  have on the breastplate of righteousness. These last few weeks while working this teaching have been particularly difficult because of things in my past that kept coming to my mind. Sometimes it isn't easy to drag your thoughts out of your past. I've been struggling so badly recently, that last night Father suggested I watch a movie. The Railway Man is a movie about a man who had been tortured as a prisoner by a particular Japanese soldier during World War 2, and who went back after the war to kill him. Powerful story, but the movie also shows you how much that Japanese soldier suffered with guilt after the war because of the things he had done. I've never done anything even remotely as bad as that Japanese soldier did. In comparison, what do I have to feel guilty about? The movie helped me to overcome remorse and guilt. And what about the Apostle Paul? Look at the things he did to people before he was born again. If he can put his past behind him, anyone can.

Philippians 3:13,14
Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,

I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Paul tortured people in prison, even women, and had them put to death. What do you think that must have done to him at times? Only the breastplate of righteousness can protect our hearts from our pasts. Paul put his past behind him. We all have to put our pasts behind us. That's putting on the breastplate of righteousness. Here's how Paul put it in Corinthians. Here is a man wearing the breastplate of righteousness.

1 Corinthians 4:3
But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self.

What's next in Ephesians?

Ephesians  6:15
And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

This means that our actions, our feet, where we go in life, must track with the word. That takes preparation. No one can learn the word without preparation, it's impossible. I was trained as a TA soldier by the Parachute Regiment. Have you any idea how much I had to prepare both physically and mentally to get through their training and be awarded a red beret? It's the same with the word, we have to prepare.

Psalm 119:11
Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

It isn't the absence of sin that floods our lives with the things of God, it is diligently and faithfully hiding the word in our hearts so that eventually we don't sin. That takes preparation, it takes work, it takes commitment, and it takes time. We are to prepare our thoughts until everything we think and do tracks with the word.

2 Corinthians 10:5
Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

The bible does not tell us to be obedient to religious ministries, organisations and churches constructed by men, but that is what they will tell you to do. They will tell you that their leader gets revelation from God and so following their leader is being obedient to Christ. Tell them to fuck off and get out of their shit churches and ministries. We bring every thought captive to the obedience of Christ by being obedient to the Christ in us. We learn to walk by the spirit with Christ as our head.

Ephesians  6:16
Above all, taking the shield of faith [believing], wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

A shield is a defence against attack. Warriors of old used shields to deflect arrow, sword, axe, and lance strikes. A shield protects us from weapon strikes that mean to kill us or cause us serious harm. The shield of believing protects us from the fiery darts that come at us from the spirit realm.

The devil has declared war on us and he wants us dead. If he can't kill us, he does everything he can to break our hearts and make our lives as miserable as possible. Those fiery darts are very real. This is no game we are playing. The devil doesn't come to play games.

1 Peter 5:8
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

The last piece of armour we must put on is the helmet.

Ephesians  6:17
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

A helmet protects our head. Salvation is what we received at the time of the new birth. We have eternal life, and nothing in the spiritual realm or in the physical realm can take that away from us. Being fully persuaded of this is having on the helmet of salvation. Even death itself cannot defeat us.

Romans 8:38,39
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Understanding this protects our heads and because of that protection we can live with no fear of death. We have the victory.

1 Corinthians 15:51-57
Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep [die], but we shall all be changed,

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.

But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

I'm not afraid of death, not in the slightest. Get the helmet of salvation onto your head and you won't be afraid of it either. When Jesus Christ comes back, we will be there.

Ephesians  6:13
Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day [withstand the evil one], and having done all, to stand.

We absolutely need this armour of God for protection. We absolutely need our thoughts armour plated with truth, we need the breastplate of righteousness to protect ourselves from our pasts, everything we do has to track with the word, we need the shield of believing to deflect those fiery darts, we need the helmet of salvation so we can live without fear, and we need the sword of the spirit so we can strike back.

Fighting against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness from on high is something we do, not something God does for us. Armour plating our thoughts is something we do, God doesn't do it for us. Putting on the breastplate of righteousness is something we do, God doesn't do it for us. Living the word is something we do, it isn't something God does for us. Putting on the helmet of salvation is something we do, God doesn't do it for us. He went to a lot of trouble to have the bible written so we could know these things. Clothed with the armour of God, having the shield of believing, and with the sword of the spirit in our grasp, we can soundly defeat every challenge that comes our way.

1 John 4:4
Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.