Take...the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. We are coming to the end of this study on the sword of the Spirit. Jesus is putting some last minute training in us so we can go out and win at life here and in eternity. This sword is empowered by the Holy Spirit and God’s Word. As Jesus teaches us more of His Word, we learn how to use it on more and more issues of life. Let’s read, study, and pray that the full potential of the sword of the Spirit is manifest in our lives.

The sword of the Spirit protects us, sets others free, and gets others ready to set others free. As it does this, we automatically get ready to pass Jesus’ final exam (Mat 25:31-46). Jesus is teaching us how to pass this final exam with such skill that we don’t just barely make it in to His Kingdom. We are learning how to use the sword of the Spirit with such effectiveness that we are becoming the very best there is in Jesus.

We have a choice of where we want our benefits and rewards to be stored. Mat 6:19-20 (NIV) Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. In 1 Cor 3:12-13 (NIV) we were taught that we can take advantage of Jesus’ power and training to get all our benefits invested in eternity.

We made the commitment in Phil 3:13-14 (NIV): I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

James 1:21 (NIV) Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. For us to understand moral filth and evil we have to understand sin. Sin is anything that is harmful to you and those around you. Sin is a thought, feeling, word, or deed that hurts people. Sin can be very pleasurable but ends up doing damage to the people who yield to it. Sin is often like fish bait; it can contain something good, but, with a hook in it.

Moral filth and evil can be so pleasurable that even when you start seeing the great damage it is doing to you, you can’t quit. But, if you humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you, your sword of the Spirit can set you free. The hardest part of being set free is for you to DESIRE to be set free. The memory of the pleasure-experiences can keep you from WANTING to be set free. This is where you will have to ask Jesus to help you see how bad the moral filth and evil are.

1 John 2:14 (NIV) I write to you, fathers, because you have known Him Who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one. The main way for us to get to know Jesus Who is from the beginning is to study the Bible. The main way for us to be strong, and the word of God live in us is to study the Bible. If we are going to be successful now and in eternity by overcoming the evil one, we are going to have to fully understand how to use our sword of the Spirit.

BAD DESIRES WITHOUT PRAYER: James 4:1 (NIV) What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? We all start out with human desires, world training, and satanic influence governing our life. We start out with wrong desires, wrong goals, wrong philosophies, wrong plans, and wrong systems and methods. So, we get actively involved in life with all these wrong things and we end up with all the wrong results.

HUMAN EFFORT WITHOUT PRAYER: James 4:2 (NIV) You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. We misunderstand what it is we want; instead of going after true happiness, we make a major FALSE assumption. WE THINK THINGS WILL MAKE US HAPPY. So, we decide what kind of career, job, person, circumstance, or thing will make us happy. Then, for the rest of our lives, we put that assumption into place and pursue happiness based on that philosophy.

All a person has to do to keep from spending their entire life pursuing happiness the wrong way is to ask God. He will help us use our sword of the Spirit to resist all of our wrong desires, wrong goals, wrong philosophies, wrong plans, and wrong systems and methods. That will set us up for a whole new way of life that has good desires, good goals, good philosophies, good plans, and good systems and methods. Plus, God will introduce us to a better experience than happiness; He will provide us with joy.

PRAYER WITH BAD MOTIVES: James 4:3 (NIV) When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. When we first learn the importance of praying and asking God for the things WE THINK will make us happy, we haven’t changed that much in our wrong desires, wrong goals, wrong philosophies, wrong plans, and wrong systems and methods. We have just ADDED God to our list of ways for getting things WE THINK will make us happy. When that happens, our prayers don’t work.

The new person of prayer still thinks they know what is best for them; they just want God to see to it that they get it. THEY are NOT asking God; they are TELLING God what to do. They haven’t learned that God is smarter than them, loves them more than they love themselves, and has a lot more power than they do. They see God as their new delivery system; and, they are willing to USE Him. They are willing because He offers them a greater potential of making THEIR dreams, desires, and needs come true. However, the sword of the Spirit will help us get rid of all these wrong attitudes, motives, and philosophies. It will bring healing to our faith, trust, dependency, and reliance on our heavenly Father.

2 Tim 4:7 (NIV) I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Our efforts, determination, commitment, and expectations become weak when we lack the faith that God really does exist and really does reward us when we earnestly seek Him. Heb 11:6 (NIV) And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him. Our sword of the Spirit is capable of bring us all the victories. But, if our swinging, striking, and fighting is half-hearted, we won’t win based on its full potential.

We have to fight the good fight; we have to finish the race; and we have to keep the faith. We must allow Jesus to put a fierce, bold, tenacious, and committed attitude into our use of our sword of the Spirit. If faith fills our heart, our whole attitude and motivation will be all out. When we fight, it will be such an attack against our human desires, the world’s influences, and Satan’s temptation that it can only be described as ferocious.

Eph 4:15 (NIV) Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Him Who is the Head, that is, Christ. When we present the truth of the sword of the Spirit, it doesn’t destroy people; it heals them. We aren’t attacking people; we are attacking the things and the influences that are driving them. Eph 6:12 (NIV) For our struggle is not against flesh and blood [humans], but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

2 Cor 10:3-4 (NIV) For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. The sword of the Spirit is Jesus; and, He has a love-motive that He operates through. John 10:10 (NIV) The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. The sword of the Spirit operates through Jesus’ motives of love.

James 1:22 (NIV) Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. We have the sword of the Spirit for the purpose of using it. We can have it, carry it every where we go, learn all about it, and become very skilled in knowing how to use it; but, if we don’t actually use it, we lose. We have been exposed to a lot of information about it; we have prayed a lot of prayers for it; now we need to intentionally, purposefully, put it into action in our life.