Mat 25:35-36 (NIV) For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited Me in, I needed clothes and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you came to visit Me.’

Jesus, is telling us through Ephesians 6:17 (NIV) to take the...sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. If we do this, we will be accepting Jesus’ Bible as our only source of truth. If we read or hear anything that disagrees with this, we reject it by using our sword against it.

We just looked at the person who failed Jesus final exam by TOTALLY rejecting His message and His training. Now we are looking at what happens to a person who SELECTIVELY rejects certain parts of Jesus’ Word. Mat 13:5-6 (NIV) Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. In Jesus’ parable concerning the farmer that sowed some seeds in his field, some of the seeds the farmer threw on the ground landed on soil that had rocks just under the surface. Those rocks represent hidden resistance to various truths in the Bible.

Mat 13:20-21 (NIV) The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the Word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes BECAUSE OF THE WORD, he quickly falls away. This is like a person who has a lot of resistive things in their heart against God’s Word. They read their Bible and decide that they aren’t going to follow various things it says. As the seeds of the Word try to grow in these areas of their heart, their heart refuses to allow them to take root in their life.

2 Tim 4:3 (NIV) For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.

The man who hears the Word and at once receives it with joy: A person who selectively accepts certain Biblical truths, will really look good at first. They have a system for reading the Bible that allows them to only consider those Scriptures that they like and agree with. None of the verses that say things they don’t like and agree with are even considered. They think they are in charge of what is true and what isn’t. So, Jesus starts teaching them His principles so they will know how to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, befriend strangers, clothe those needing clothing, and visit the sick and imprisoned for the rest of their lives and they reject it. They don’t “believe” that these principles apply to them.

Truth has come into their life but isn’t allowed to set them free. So they remain weak and powerless to handle the pressures of life that come against them. The truths that would have met everyone else’s need including theirs for the rest of their lives has been rejected by them. So, when trouble or persecution comes BECAUSE OF THE WORD, they quickly fall away. When we refuse to accept and believe all Scripture, we aren’t taking up our sword of the Spirit for all issues.

2 Tim 2:15 (AKJV) Study to show yourself approved to God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. The sword of the Spirit is able to help us defeat trouble and persecution. The Bible makes it clear that the sword of the Spirit is the Word of God. It is the Bible under the Holy Spirit’s control that is giving us the power to destroy the effects of trouble and persecution in our life. The Holy Spirit is using God’s Word to teach us truths. And, as we allow those truths to change our belief system and life activities, we are able to forcefully attack those things trying to damage us when trouble and persecution come our way.

The battle that keeps us from being ready for all other battles is the one that keeps us from studying Jesus’ Word. Satan sends all kinds of things trying to keep us from having or taking the time to read and study God’s Word. He knows we can defeat him and his efforts, if we grow in skills using the truths of the Bible. These things he sends our way also interfere with our prayer time with God. And, they block off our time spent in church. When we don’t spend time with Jesus and the Bible, we are not going to be ready for our battle with trouble and persecution.

2 Tim 3:16-17 (NIV) All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful (powerful) for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. There are external influences that are constantly attacking us and bidding for our time and attention. The ones we are talking about are hard to resist because they are fun. They bring a lot of pleasure into our life. The sword of the Spirit is more than capable to deliver us from their influence; but we have to be willing. And the Holy Spirit is more than willing to help us defeat them before they gain control of our lives, if we want Him to. However, we have to trust Him enough to let Him help us use the sword of the Spirit against them.

Whether we are kept from growing in the power of Jesus’ Word by rejecting certain Scriptures we don’t like, or, it is because we aren’t spending much time in it, we fail to grow in our skills to use the sword of the Spirit. The above Scripture can help us see how important it is to give our brain, will, heart, and mind completely over to Jesus and His Word. Once that happens, we learn how to help everyone get their needs met for the rest of their lives; that makes us ready to pass Jesus’ final exam.

Just because we are saved doesn’t mean we are completely given over to Jesus. It is a time issue and it is a trust issue. Do we REALLY believe that Jesus and the Bible are our ONLY way to win at life? John 14:6 (NIV) Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Are we convinced? Are we willing to make ourselves spend time with Him and His Word? The more we allow Jesus and His Word to come into more areas of our life, the less we allow other things to come into our lives. That is the main, most important battle that has to be fought. We have to expose ourselves to sermons, Christian books, Christians who are a good example, accountability partners, Christian music, people’s testimonies, and anything else that helps us win this battle.

We can read our Bible or we can watch TV, get on the internet, or play video games. We can study or we can go play sports. We can grow in God’s Word or we can go do something that brings worldly pleasure. If we are willing to fight and win this battle, we will discover a major relational change take place in our mind and heart. We will start to really enjoy spending time with Jesus and the Bible. Jesus starts talking to us through His Word and during prayer. We learn how to listen and get Jesus’ input on everything. It is at this point that the first battle is being won so we will be ready for all other battles. And while all this was happening, we developed lots of soil for the roots of Jesus’ Word to grow in. Plus, we are now ready for various troubles and persecutions that come along.

As we learn Scriptures and how to use them from our exposure to the Bible, sermons, Christian music, church, Christian fellowship, and prayer, we will see conflict between Jesus’ Word and what we have believed.

• If we take those Scriptures and allow them to help us learn to dislike the things of the world, we are starting to fight with spiritual warfare.
• If we use those Scriptures to expose Satan’s lies, we are starting to destroy his efforts against us.
• If we use those Scriptures to learn how to treat those around us better, we are using the sword of the Spirit to keep bad attitudes from entering our life.
• If we use those Scriptures to fight things that used to addict us, we are using the sword of the Spirit to keep these addictive things from coming back.

Exposure to God and His Word really help to make our life wonderful because it increases our sword of the Spirit and our skills for using it. That gets us ready to pass Jesus’ final exam.