Thurlow Switzer: The Sword of the Spirit

I have some thoughts and expressions about the subject of spiritual warfare and victorious living which I want to call “The Sword of the Spirit.” Of course, the sword of the Spirit is the Word of God. The word “sword” is used 426 times in the Bible.

Heb 4:11-12 – “Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” NKJV

S - Spiritual Warfare

“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing…” (v. 12). We are living in a world that is a war with God and that means we are involved in spiritual warfare. In this war, we must understand the power of our greatest weapon, the Word of God. A sword provides a zone of protection, a swath of peace around us. We must not allow the enemy to come onto our ground.
In Ephesians 10-18, Paul talks about the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the belt of truth, and the sandals of peace. He tells us to protects ourselves with the shield of faith and above all to take hold of the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, and to do all this by praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, be watchful in all perseverance.
In Judges 7, Gideon won the battles when he and his 300 men shouted, “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon.” We win our own battles, when we proclaim, “The Sword of the Lord and of _____” (insert you own name).

W - Word of God

Key to spiritual warfare is the Word of God. By it Jesus rejected the temptations that the devil brought to him. “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword.” (v.12). Jesus in the Book of Revelation is repeatedly described as the One who “out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword” (1:16, cf. 2:12, 16; 19:15, 21).

O - Obedience

The writer of Hebrews says, “Let us therefore be diligent to enter the rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience” (v. 11). Disobedience destroys the possibility of victory in spiritual warfare. Obedience is the opposite of disobedience. Obedience, from the Greek hupo meaning “under” plus, akouo meaning, “to hear,” has the strong ideas of, “to hear under the voice of another.” We hear under the voice of God. Hearing God’s voice and obeying is key to spiritual victory.

R- Rest

“Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest” (v 11). Restfulness is the opposite of anxiety. Isaiah talked about swords. When we have our sword ready, polished and available (Isa 21:9; 49:2), resting in the sheath (21:30), then God will fight our battles. He will exalt the humble and humble the exalted (21:26), and overturn, “until He come whose right it is, and I will give it to Him” (21:27).

D - Division

The word of God is sharp to the dividing and discerning between things. “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Jesus said he came to bring “division” on the face of the earth (Matt 10:34; Luke 12: 51-52; 14:26-27). We are either for Him or against Him. God calls us to divide things correctly, to know the difference between things of the spirit and things of the flesh.

God’s Word divides between soul and spirit, between joints and marrow, and between the thoughts and the motives of the heart. Why live in our human soul power, when we can live in the Spirit, in the spiritual power of the Word of God? Why yield to the excruciating pain of our joints, we can live in the vitality of the marrow of our
bones? Laughter does good like medicine for it is healing to the bones. Lastly, why judge another by the inadequacy of their thoughts, when we can appreciate them for the motives in their heart? God divides things according to the spirit versus the flesh. The spirit wars against the flesh and the flesh wars against the spirit.

Let’s pursue the Word of God daily. Our victory is in the Word of God. Let your church be a community of faith in which its congregants gain spiritual victory because they adhere to the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. God bless each one of you.

Daniel Switzer, Ed.D.: Sharing the Good News of Christ

Sharing the Good News of Christ: A Look at Jesus with the Woman at the Well


The Lord has been burdening my heart recently regarding the need to be purposeful about sharing the good news of Christ with others. There is much going on in our world today that is causing people to take pause and think about larger issues, to think about why we’re here, and to consider God. With the economy the way it is, people for whom life was going just fine a few years ago, may now be ready to cry out in desperation to God. And we need to be ready for the harvest. Jesus said, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field” (NIV, Matt. 9:37-38) The Lord is calling us to be ready for the harvest.

As people cry out for God—sometimes loud cries and sometimes silent cries, we need to be ready to give them hope; we need to be ready to share the good news of Christ. I’d like to look at Jesus’ encounter with the woman at the well in John 4 to see what we can learn from our Lord and Savior regarding reaching out to the lost.

First, Jesus was willing to break down human barriers to share the gospel. Jesus “had to go through Samaria” (John 4:4); he purposefully wanted to deal with the hatred between the Jews and the Samaritans. He also was willing to share the gospel with a woman, which definitely caught her attention. Jesus was willing to “associate” with people different from him in order to share the good news.

In John 4:10, Jesus said to the woman, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” When sharing with others, we need to approach them with a positive message that we have a precious gift. Matthew 10:8 says, “Freely you have received, freely give.” Through the powerful influence of our testimony, we can freely give Jesus Christ to others. Jesus said, “Behold the Kingdom of God is at hand.” God’s Kingdom is good! It brings a life-giving order to individuals and families that align their lives with the Word of God and ultimately produces wholeness, right relationships, and God’s blessing.

As Jesus continued to share with the woman at the well, he discerned that the woman was living a life of sin. (The man she was presently living with was not her husband.) Coupled with the fact that the woman was visiting a community gathering place (the well) by herself, we can surmise that she was experiencing the effects of sin. She was very likely dealing with serious rejection. (She had had five husbands.) And so as we share with others, we can remember that people in our society are dealing with much rejection and family dysfunction. Ultimately when people see that we care, they desire to go beyond a surface existence of casual conversation to dealing with real issues. So many people have buried tremendous hurts in their lives. Deep down they are hurting, but as we share compassionately with them, Christ can heal them.

As the woman at the well did, sometimes people we witness to will get uncomfortable and try to change the subject or even start making a religious argument. The woman said, “Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem” (John 4:20). Jesus refused to take the bait. He refused to let a potential argument distract him from his purpose of sharing his life and grace with this woman. He didn’t focus on arguing this religion over that religion; rather he talked about being true worshippers who worship the Father in spirit and truth. In other words, he encouraged the woman by telling her that she could have an open and honest relationship with God. And this person—Jesus Christ—would never reject her. He would be faithful to her.

For us as we’re sharing with others, we can encourage them that they can have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Many people believe that there is a God “out there” like this woman did, but do they know God? So when people try to engage us in this kind of religious argument, in compassion we can keep our focus on sharing the good news and encouraging others that they can know God—they can have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ—one that is not dependent on their works, or a bunch of do’s and don’t’s, but on the grace and love of God.

At some point we need to share the truth of Jesus Christ. Jesus shared that he was the Christ. We need to trust the Holy Spirit’s leading to open our mouths and allow the words “Jesus Christ” to come out. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. People only come to the Father through him. We need to show care and compassion; at the same time, we ultimately must share the truth of Jesus Christ.

The woman became so excited at this good news that she left her water jar and went back to the town to tell others. The gospel spread to many others! Because of one victory, many more became saved through Jesus Christ! And with our sharing, we need to remember that one saved person could result in whole families, whole offices, whole neighborhoods, whole tribes and nations coming to the Lord!

Meanwhile Jesus’ disciples came back after getting some food; they had seen her talking with this woman and then encouraged him to eat. Jesus proceeded to tell them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work” (John 4:34). Jesus, of course, knew the principle that we can all experience: that when we purposefully live our lives to do his will—namely, to share the good news of Christ and to make disciples—that this is the food that sustains and nourishes us. We are filled—fulfilled—as we share Christ to make disciples that follow Him.

Jesus said, “Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.” I encourage you to live your life with your eyes wide open to the fields—with your eyes wide open to the people in your life—and be purposeful and caring enough to open up your life, share your testimony, and share the good news of Christ with others!

Deborah Switzer: Which Phase of the Moon Are You?

Have you ever looked up at the moon in the middle of the day? A strange question, I know; but I find my children have a knack of finding a barely visible moon in broad daylight. They look up and say, “Mommy, look at the moon! I can hardly see it, but there it is!” It was with this memory in my mind, that I felt the Lord gave me a prophetic picture of the present-day church.

But first, let’s “reflect” a bit on the moon. The moonlight we see here on Earth is actually just a reflection of the light of the sun. Although the sun is not visible in the night sky, it still makes its presence known through the reflection of its rays on the moon’s surface. During the day, most of us barely even notice the moon, if it is even visible at all. It is the setting of the sun and the ebony of a night sky that allow the moon’s luminosity to stun our eyes and provide light in the darkness.

Last fall, my family took a trip to Nantucket. My husband and I went for a nighttime walk on the beach and were completely overwhelmed at the brightness of the moon. A shimmering full moon hung in the sky, and we were enthralled with how clearly we could see the waves, sand, and shoreline ahead of us. It was truly one of the brightest moons I had ever experienced, and it almost felt like daytime. Soon however, a cloud started to overshadow the moon, and we found ourselves a bit lost in the darkness. When the cloud coverage would pass, we would again stand amazed at its luster, as if the finger of God had flipped on a global light switch.

Now let’s look at 2 Corinthians 3:13-18:

We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

Just as the moon reflects the glory of the sun, so we are to reflect the glory of Christ. Upon pondering this truth, God showed me a picture of the moon barely visible in the bright light of the daytime. But as darkness increased, the moon became more visible – until eventually a thick darkness enveloped the sky. All eyes on earth eventually turned up toward this brilliant full moon which was the only reflection of light in the world.

In this day, as dark times approach us, I believe we are called to be a vivid and intense reflection of the light of God. The world has not noticed the glory in the church when things were “going well”; but God will allow the darkness to come so that His true purpose for His Church can be fulfilled. He designed us to be a reflection of His character and glory as we grow in our intimacy with Him. Now is truly the time to seize the moment, for never before has there been an opportunity for the church to shine so brightly.

Psalm 104:19 states, “The moon marks off the seasons, and the sun knows when to go down.” Our Sovereign God knows when to allow darkness to come upon us, but He does not ever truly depart. We must never forget that the sun does not dissolve at its setting – it is still a blazing flame that cannot be quenched – whether we see it or not. So is it with our God: We may not see Him in the darkness, but still He is there – and He provides reflections of His light as hope in a time that our human tendencies might be prone to despair. Remember, darkness provides opportunity. We have seen this proven time and time again throughout history and even in our present day. It is during the darkest times of persecution, oppression, and trials that the glory of His Church shone the brightest – a Full Moon Church!

But just as the moon reflects the sunlight in phases, so we, as the Church, must determine what “phase” of the moon we will be in these present and ensuing dark times. God posed the question in my heart, “Will you be a full moon, a quarter moon, or a new moon in the days to come?” A soul-searching question? Yes, and one we all must honestly ask ourselves. Where do we stand in Christ, and how much of His light will we shine forth in the darkness?

Waxing or Waning
Before we discuss the spiritual picture of the moon’s phases, we must first learn two terms: waxing and waning. When a phase of the moon is waxing, it means it is growing larger, and eventually will shine forth to a Full Moon. Contrarily, a waning phase means it is diminishing and moving toward darkness (or a New Moon). We can see this in the scripture with Moses. The glory of the Lord would fade, and Moses would have to wear a veil to protect the people from seeing God’s glory diminish. This is the Old Covenant glory, and it was waning for the people of Ancient Israel. However, under the New Covenant, the glory that is reflected in us should never be waning, but rather waxing toward the fullness of our God. The scripture said that “whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away” (2 Cor. 3:16). We go from glory to glory in Christ. Therefore, as we evaluate the different phases of the moon and recognize different areas in our own lives, it is also important that we insure we are moving toward the fullness of God. Our desire should always to be whole-heartedly reflect His glory in all that we do, and never revert back to a waning Old Covenant glory.


New Moon:
The New Moon phase is when we cannot see any light on the moon from our position on the earth. As His Church, this is a dangerous phase to be in. If the world around us cannot see God’s light in us, then we truly aren’t His church – we are the world. “If we claim to have fellowship with him, yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth” (1 John 1:6). It is simple: If we fellowship with Christ, then at least some area in our life will be a reflection of His light. But too often there are claims of Christianity without relationship. We must recognize that without a relationship with the Living God it is impossible for us to be a reflection of His glory. Works and duty will neither save us, nor provide light to a darkening world. All over the globe today, there are people who sit in churches believing they are Christians because of their works, efforts, and morality, but they do not have a relationship with Christ. What an incredible opportunity for those who do have intimacy with the Savior to reach out and guide these New Moon Christians into Full Moon Christianity!


Crescent Moon:
The Crescent Moon is a sliver of the moon’s surface seen in the sky. This is the church that is barely alive. Revelation 3:1-3 states:

“I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. Remember therefore, what you have received and heard, obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief and you will not know at what time I will come to you.”

This scripture so accurately portrays those who have received the Gospel into their hearts, but have not chosen to walk it out. These are the saints who call Christ Savior, but have not yet made Him their Lord. They have tasted the mercy of His forgiveness and seen the glory of His grace, but have not yet chosen to fully surrender to His will. Jesus earnestly implores that they wake up and realize that their lives are reflecting just a sliver of His glory.


Quarter Moon:
Although only one quarter of the surface of the moon is lit in a Quarter Moon, it actually looks like a “half-moon” to us on the earth, because from our perspective it has a semi-circular shape. I parallel this moon phase to the Church at Laodicea, to whom it is written:

“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm – neither hot nor cold – I am about to spit you out of my mouth… Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3:15-16; 19-20).

I take encouragement in this Scripture because often times I do feel lukewarm, even in the midst of my desire to be blazing hot. And although it is a frightening concept to be spit from the Lord’s mouth, I also know He disciplines me out of His love. He cares for me enough to warn me and to insure I get on the right path. In today’s society, we are trained to believe that we can have the best of “both worlds” – that we can be Christian and still love the world. But 1 John 2 states, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world – the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes, and the boasting of what he has and does – comes not from the Father, but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.” (vs. 15-17). We cannot allow ourselves to LOVE the things of this world. We must remember that this is just a temporary residing place, and the things that are eternal rest in the Kingdom of God. We must renew our minds so that we do not accept the attitudes, materialism, and culture of a fallen world into our own hearts. We must quickly repent when we find ourselves lured by the onslaught of a seductively independent and powerful culture that preaches and imparts the antithesis of our humble and loving God. We cannot serve both God and manna. We must choose this day whom we will serve – our culture or our God!


Gibbous Moon:
The Gibbous Moon is when we can see the majority of the moon, but yet we are still not in the position to see the Full Moon. This moon depicts the Church of Ephesus in Revelation:

“I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you. You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.” (Revelation 2:1-5)

Isn’t it easy to settle for less than what is the best at times? This moon is “almost there” in terms of reflecting the fullness, but it is lacking! I do not want to let anything dampen my heart toward reflecting the fullness of God’s glory in my life. Yet, the busyness of this life, the distractions of ministry, and the lack of passion to pursue Christ with all of my heart can lead on a path where I merely settle for serving Him rather than experiencing Him. Christ recognizes the hard work of these incredible saints who sacrifice much and stand up for righteousness – but He never wants it to come at the cost of His relationship with them. He earnestly pleads for us to go back to that moment where we fell in love with Him and allowed Him to mercifully wipe away our sin and gently guide us on the course He set for us. Oh where do we get so distracted on that road that we veer away from the hand that guides us! Our loving Savior calls us to repent, for He knows that somehow the world will only see our service, and will not see our ardent passion for Him if we have lost our first love. Go back to the day of your salvation … remember where you’ve come from and the love that met you there. Let God restore unto you today the joy of your salvation!


Full Moon:
The Full Moon is when we can see the completeness of the moon from our position on the earth. This represents the glorious Bride of Christ, who He “might present … to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:27). This type of church is the one that cries out for Christ’s return not through its voice, but through the lives lived by its people. Saturated with adoration, righteousness, holiness, and an unconditional love for His people, this Bride of Christ will not be diminished by darkness, not will she hold any darkness in her. She will arise and shine in the darkest skies and allow the world to see Her Savior for who He truly is. She will take seriously the duty to reflect the love and heart of Christ, just as Christ reflected the love and the heart of the Father. She is the Lord’s joy and glory, and she displays the ardent blood-bought reconciliation of a Messiah with His Bride.

I know the Bible says at the end of the age, the moon will turn blood red. Instead of being afraid of this image, perhaps we should view it as the most beautiful moon of all – His spotless Bride reflecting to the world the glory of the precious Blood of the Lamb!

Jonathan Switzer: Pregnant Faith Dilemmas

My wife, Carol, is pregnant. She is due in just a few weeks with our first girl. As you can imagine, she is feeling very…heavy… and emotional (joyful anticipation and tearful weariness).

However, in the last month, I have had two very significant conferences to attend along with several faith debate radio recordings. Simply put, I have been very busy.

As a result, Carol has not had me near when she needed me near. This is a confessional of sorts. I only have a few weeks between now and the delivery to put my priorities in the right place and be there for her.

I want to talk about faith for a minute. Like my priorities with my pregnant wife, it is important that we put faith in its proper place. Since unborn babies are happy future anticipations I thought they would be a good introduction to faith.

Let’s start by limiting faith’s importance.

Faith is Not the Goal
Faith is NOT the end goal of our relationship with the Lord. Faith is the means NOT the end. We are told in 1 Cor. 13 that “these three remain, faith, hope and love; but the greatest of these is love.” Faith will never outshine or be more important than love. In 2 Peter 1:5, Peter describes to us the precious promises at the root of our faith by which we participate in God’s divine nature. Then he tells us to add to our faith a whole list of things, at the end of which is Love.

The goal of our faith is God’s love. Proverbs 19:22 says, “What a man desires is unfailing love, better to be poor than a liar.” The greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and the second to love your neighbor as yourself.

So, faith is NOT what it is all about.

Faith is Vital
However, now we should magnify faith’s importance…

…without faith it is impossible to please God!

Which can be a bit confusing.

Or not. We need faith. Our goal, our desire is unfailing love. We have found unfailing love in Jesus Christ. We have the fullness of that love in our hearts right now. However, we will have even more of that fullness when Christ returns and takes us to be with Him forever. Whatever fullness we have right now, we have MORE coming. Faith keeps us focused on what is yet to come.

Furthermore, much of the world is not aware of God’s love. Many of them continue to be deceived and stuck in sin. Again, faith keeps us focused on future conversions to Christ.

Faith is the evidence of things hoped for and the essence of things not seen. If we are hoping for MORE of God’s love then we must live by faith. All the way up until the very end of things, when God’s love is fully ours, and fully the world’s, for eternity, we will HAVE to HAVE faith.

Think about it, we need faith because God has called us to do things that seem to make no sense from a worldly perspective. Preaching the gospel to people who, at least on the surface, seem to mock and reject the gospel. We need faith if we are to love our enemies, pray for the sick and hurting, care for the outcast. All of these require faith.

So we need faith, but it’s not the goal.

The Dilemma of Faith
However, there is another major problem with faith. It has to do with how badly we need faith.

Faith is needed precisely because everything that we want can only be attained by faith. The Promised Land, where God’s promises in our lives are fulfilled, can only be acquired by faith. What I mean, is that we must act in obedience to God’s commands or else we will not acquire the promises God gave us; and He calls us to do things that often feel strange or foolish (like love our enemies and bless our persecutors).

When the Israelites came up to the Promised Land, they had come out of slavery in Egypt and through the desert (which was clearly not the fulfillment of God’s promises of blessing). So, when they got to the border and heard the report about the Canaanite giants, they had only one choice.

This is the problem that faith presents us. When God has called us to His purposes for our lives, which are to bless us and not to harm us, to give us a future and a hope, …when He has called us to those purposes, those purposes always bring us face to face with giants.

God’s purpose is both to see the downfall of wickedness and see the exaltation and blessing of His people. That means that the giants, the gates of hell, the hateful and arrogant are planted right at the place where God calls us to step out in faith. He doesn’t just want to bless us, but actually wants to bless us with the resources that up til now have been used for wicked purposes. He wants to plunder the wealth of the wicked and give it to the righteous. So, when God calls us to follow in faith to His promises, it is ALWAYS right into the land of the giants.

Remember, going back is simply not a legitimate option. The Israelites were right, their choice was between having stayed in Egypt, in slavery, or trusting that God would take care of them. If God quit taking care of them, then there was no future. At one level it’s no wonder that they started complaining for Egypt.

But that is our point. This is the problem following God by Faith creates. If we follow God by faith for a period of time, we will find that there is no longer anything to go back to. Somehow the bridges back to our old lives or the way that things used to be are burned. Going back is NOT an option.

So, faith almost always puts us between a rock and a hard place. Going back is not an option and going forward means giants. If we go back then we are left wandering in the desert. If we go forward then we are faced with giants who we are not able, by ourselves, to defeat.

So, Yes faith is NOT the most important thing. However, without it we CANNOT please God. All of His promises require faith for us to receive. We will have to obey His command to go places that seem crazy to go.

Summary
At this point, I can’t decide to give back the growing baby in my wife’s belly. There is no going back. Not that I want to. But, our new little girl must be carefully brought into a place of priority in our lives. I must re-prioritize and make the room in my heart, life and schedule. I have to trust God to give wisdom.

In the same way, faith changes everything.

It is NOT most important, (love is), but it is absolutely necessary. We surely don’t want to stay in slavery in Egypt.

However, wandering in the desert is really no better than slavery. So, we will have to have faith to face the giants in the Promised Land. There's no going back.

Nevertheless, faith is not the end goal, but rather living in the Promised Land of God’s rest where His unfailing love is our constant companion, that is our goal.

Thank God for His great and precious promises and for nourishing in us the faith to hold out for the fulfillment of those promises.