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.