And Take the Word of God…

Ephesians 6:10-20  The Whole Armor of God

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. ¹¹ Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. ¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. ¹³ Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. ¹⁴ Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵ and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; ¹⁷ and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,

Take the helmet of salvation and the Sword of the Spirit

TO BE A CHRISTIAN is to be a warrior, it is to fight.  The only fight I ever been in was in kindergarten against my arch nemesis whose name was Kirk, mainly because he picked on me every single day.  Teased me. Pulled my pigtails.  Laughed at my homemade clothes, and strangely every day my bus driver what was happening to me.  So, one day she turned around and said baby you just hit him!!  Now this was before zero tolerance and the like, so I just wound one up and punched him ONCE and RAN!!

Fortunately, we don’t fight with our fist which can fail us, we fight with a sword. 

It is noteworthy that there is only one weapon of offense provided, although there are several pieces of armor. The Roman soldier usually carried a spear as well as a sword. We have seen frequent representations of the legionary standing upon guard as sentry, and he almost always stands with a spear in his right hand, while his sword hangs at his side. The soldier's main weapons were a short swordfor stabbing (gladius) and a longspear, or javelin(pilum) for throwing.

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But Paul, for excellent reasons, concentrates our offensive weapon in one, because it answers for all. We are to use the sword,and that only. Therefore, if you are going to this fight, see well to use your only weapon. If you are to have no other, take care that you have this always in your hand. Let the Captain's voice ring in your ear, "Take the sword! Take the sword!",and so go forth to the field.

The good soldier of Jesus Christ must not expect to find ease in this world: it is a battle-field.

We are not merely to defend, but also to assail!

It is not enough that you are not conquered; you have to conquer!

Defense wins games, but Offense is who scores all the POINTS!!

You are to grasp your weapon and go forth to fight.

TAKE THE SWORD!

TAKE THE SWORD! No longer is it, talk and debate! No longer is it, compromise! The word is-Take the sword.The Captain's voice is clear as a trumpet-Take the sword!No Christian man here will have been obedient to our text unless with clear, sharp, and decisive firmness, courage, and resolve, he takes the sword. We must go to heaven with a sword in hand, all the way.

So, what is the Sword?

Paul says it is the WORD OF GOD!!

Graphe– means the words on the page, the ink, the paper ---literally the written word

Logos– the meaning of the grapher. It is what is written into 66 books over 1500 years.  Logosis used in John 1:1 (NKJV). "In the beginning was the[logos] Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God"(John 1:1 NKJV).

Rhema– The Word of God is the living breath of God,the spoken Wordof God to you in your life.  Rhemais a spoken word. "And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the [spoken] word of God"(Eph. 6:17 NKJV).

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