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Whether we like it or not we are involved in a war, a spiritual war, with eternal consequences.  Scripture reveals the extent of this battle, we have a very real enemy with an organizational structure.  Spiritual kingdoms are under his authority, yet there is a weapon that is superior to his kingdoms, it is the WORD of GOD.  God’s Word is called a spiritual weapon, greater than any two edged sword, it is the sword of the spirit. Ephesians 6:10-18 describes the spiritual war and the armor the believer must wear, but the offensive weapon is the WORD of God.

 Eph 6:17 (17)  and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,

Heb 4:12 (12)  For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

How does the believer become equipped to use the Sword of the Spirit? It is by learning and understanding its meaning and putting its words to use. The Romans would train future legionnaires by giving them a wooden sword twice as heavy as the steel sword[1], the Gladius, they would take into combat.  A sword twice as heavy as the one they carried into battle would allow them to use it with ease when the time came battle. In the same way, we should learn to use the word of God in battle, being prepared for conflicts.

            Are you able to use scripture to defend your position? Are you able to use scripture to share the Gospel?  In the book Acts we see several examples of what this means, two examples are Paul and Apollos.  Paul went from city to city, explaining Jesus Christ out of the scriptures, both to Jews and Gentiles. In the city of Athens while Paul was waiting for Timothy and Silas, he was alone, but not intimated, every day he was in the marketplace sharing (Acts 17:9) with whoever God brought his way. Paul knew he had the message people were waiting for, it was his job to deliver the message. Stoic and Epicurean philosophers invited to present at the Areopagus, there he presented the Gospel to people who never heard of it before. He did not have to research or read it, he already knew it, and he was able to communicate it because it was in his heart. Paul was advancing the Kingdom of God on enemy territory.  Greece as well as Rome eventually fell to the Gospel and proclaimed themselves Christian nations.

Act 17:16-34 (16)  Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols.(17)  So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there.(18)  Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, "What does this babbler wish to say?" Others said, "He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities"—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection.(19)  And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting?(20)  For you bring some strange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean."(21)  Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new.(22)  So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: "Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious.(23)  For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, 'To the unknown god.' What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.(24)  The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man,(25)  nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.(26)  And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place,(27)  that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us,(28)  for "'In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own poets have said, "'For we are indeed his offspring.'

(29)  Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.(30)  The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,(31)  because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead."(32)  Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, "We will hear you again about this."(33)  So Paul went out from their midst.(34)  But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.

 In Athens, there were people who were waiting to hear the Word of God, God has chosen to us, the Church, to deliver the message of the Gospel. Jesus tells us the Word of God is surer then the world itself, Jesus came to fulfill the Word of God as foretold by the prophets.

 Mat 5:17-18(17)  "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.(18)  For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.Jesus declares that the heaven and earth, the universe will pass, before all is accomplished even to the dot and the letter Iota. This is how sure God’s Word is, you can bank on it, invest in it, make it part of your life and your being.

The Power of God’s Word in our life

God’s word is not only surer then the universe, it is the light for the path of the believer, the secret to success.  When we internalize the WORD of God, we create spiritual strongholds, giving us power to overcome spiritual attacks.

1. Knowing God’s Word helps us to not sin against the Lord

Psa 119:10-12(10)  With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments!(11)  I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.(12)  Blessed are you, O LORD; teach me your statutes!

 2. Knowing God’s Word creates stability and prosperity in life,

Psa 1:1-3(1)  Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;(2)  but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.(3)  He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

Jos 1:8 (8)  This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

 3.  God’s Word is light to our path

 Psa 119:104-105 (104)  Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.(105)  Nun. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

4. The Word brings persecution because it opposes the World

Rev 6:9 (9)  When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne.

Rev 20:4 (4)  Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_infantry_tactics#Training