Post by Shepherd on Mar 26, 2009 10:07:16 GMT -6
-VIII
SWORD OF THE SPIRIT
EPHESIANS 6:17..AND TAKE THE HELMET OF SALVATION AND THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT, WHICH IS THE WORD OF GOD.
Have you ever realized that for a Christian the only weapon he has with which to attack the enemy, is the Word of God?
In the Book of Ephesians, Paul has recognized that God has arranged for the Christian to be guided, to become more mature in Christ Jesus. To this end God had arranged that the Christian should have the Holy Ghost, and be filled with Him for his daily living. Paul understood that even with this background, there would be spiritual conflict.
The Christians have an enemy; a vicious, active, cunning, capable enemy, and adversary who is against them. Paul points out that because of this the Christian should put on the whole armor of God. in addition to the armor there is given to the Christian one weapon for attack, and that is the Word of God. AND TAKE THE HELMET OF SALVATION, AND THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT, WHICH IS THE WORD OF GOD. EPHESIANS 6:17.
As the Christian engages in conflict Paul tells him how to put on the whole armor of God. The concluding features are the helmet protecting the head, the helmet of salvation; and the sword of the spirit, which is the Word of God.
Let us look for a moment at the helmet protecting the head. The head contains the brain where, among other things, the process of thinking takes place. It is important to understand that if my ideas are false, biased or one-sided, my conclusions will also be wrong. So salvation is what I need to have to protect my thinking. Salvation is the helmet to protect the head. Salvation is the work of God through Jesus Christ.
When I call to mind what God has done through Jesus Christ, when I understand the relationship I have with Christ Jesus by faith, the mind is protected from errors that could be introduced. Everything that comes to mind then is checked by the revelation in Christ. After I have once known Him, when any thought comes to tell me anything, I consider it in the presence of Christ. If it is acceptable to Him, I accept it; if not, out it goes.
The Gospel is a message to be believed. In the Gospel all men are the creatures of God, made by Him. The Gospel is to those who will need help. All of them have done wrong. All of them are now doing wrong. Some of them do not know how to do right. These men need help and so the Gospel comes to them. The Gospel is grounded in certain events in the life of Jesus Christ. There isn’t any such thing as the Gospel apart from telling the story of Jesus Christ.
The Gospel brings to mind that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Him-self; that Jesus was the Son of God, and came into the world to give His life a ransom for many. Christ died on Calvary’s cross for sinners. God accepted that death as a substitute sacrifice for sinners and, on the basis of it, He will forgive anyone who accepts Christ Jesus as Savior and Lord. Christ Jesus was buried. He arose again the third day according to the Scriptures, He was seen, and He ascended into heaven in full view of them all. He is now in the presence of God praying for us, and He is coming again. This is the Gospel.
The central ideas of the Gospel is the resurrection. This is absolutely essential. If a man confesses with his mouth that Jesus is Lord and believes in his heart that God has raised Him form the dead, he shall be saved. The Gospel that Paul talks about in I Corinthian 15:1-3 is grounded in certain events in the life of Jesus.
The Gospel story of Jesus Christ is verified by the testimony of countless millions of people who have believed and have been saved, and is now demonstrated in the lives of Christians.
Into our hands is put the Scriptures, the written Word of God. God has revealed in the Scriptures the nature of creation, of heaven, of His law, and the nature of his grace. These are given to Christians.
The Christian confronts the lies of Satan with the truth of God. Here the Christian can stand. Satan will use someone to say, “There is no hope; look around, it is just a hopeless situation. This is just ruined.” The Christian can see all this, but he realizes that he has the Word of God. The Scriptures is in his heart. The Scriptures confront the bad situation by saying God can raise the dead. When the heart is filled with fear, the Christian has the Gospel telling him FEAR NOT, FOR I WILL BE WITH THEE, I WILL NEVER LEAVE THEE NOT FORSAKE THEE.
Around me may be a storm of sea, but as a Christian I have in the Scriptures a compass to follow, to guide me directly in the will of God.
This is fighting with the sword of the Spirit. I am not going to kill anyone with this, but I am going to answer the lies of Satan. I am going to put the enemies to flight, because actually as over against everything I have the plain Word of God which is my weapon for attacking the lies of the enemy.
EPHESIANS 6:17..AND TAKE THE HELMET OF SALVATION AND THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT, WHICH IS THE WORD OF GOD.
Have you ever realized that for a Christian the only weapon he has with which to attack the enemy, is the Word of God?
In the Book of Ephesians, Paul has recognized that God has arranged for the Christian to be guided, to become more mature in Christ Jesus. To this end God had arranged that the Christian should have the Holy Ghost, and be filled with Him for his daily living. Paul understood that even with this background, there would be spiritual conflict.
The Christians have an enemy; a vicious, active, cunning, capable enemy, and adversary who is against them. Paul points out that because of this the Christian should put on the whole armor of God. in addition to the armor there is given to the Christian one weapon for attack, and that is the Word of God. AND TAKE THE HELMET OF SALVATION, AND THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT, WHICH IS THE WORD OF GOD. EPHESIANS 6:17.
As the Christian engages in conflict Paul tells him how to put on the whole armor of God. The concluding features are the helmet protecting the head, the helmet of salvation; and the sword of the spirit, which is the Word of God.
Let us look for a moment at the helmet protecting the head. The head contains the brain where, among other things, the process of thinking takes place. It is important to understand that if my ideas are false, biased or one-sided, my conclusions will also be wrong. So salvation is what I need to have to protect my thinking. Salvation is the helmet to protect the head. Salvation is the work of God through Jesus Christ.
When I call to mind what God has done through Jesus Christ, when I understand the relationship I have with Christ Jesus by faith, the mind is protected from errors that could be introduced. Everything that comes to mind then is checked by the revelation in Christ. After I have once known Him, when any thought comes to tell me anything, I consider it in the presence of Christ. If it is acceptable to Him, I accept it; if not, out it goes.
The Gospel is a message to be believed. In the Gospel all men are the creatures of God, made by Him. The Gospel is to those who will need help. All of them have done wrong. All of them are now doing wrong. Some of them do not know how to do right. These men need help and so the Gospel comes to them. The Gospel is grounded in certain events in the life of Jesus Christ. There isn’t any such thing as the Gospel apart from telling the story of Jesus Christ.
The Gospel brings to mind that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Him-self; that Jesus was the Son of God, and came into the world to give His life a ransom for many. Christ died on Calvary’s cross for sinners. God accepted that death as a substitute sacrifice for sinners and, on the basis of it, He will forgive anyone who accepts Christ Jesus as Savior and Lord. Christ Jesus was buried. He arose again the third day according to the Scriptures, He was seen, and He ascended into heaven in full view of them all. He is now in the presence of God praying for us, and He is coming again. This is the Gospel.
The central ideas of the Gospel is the resurrection. This is absolutely essential. If a man confesses with his mouth that Jesus is Lord and believes in his heart that God has raised Him form the dead, he shall be saved. The Gospel that Paul talks about in I Corinthian 15:1-3 is grounded in certain events in the life of Jesus.
The Gospel story of Jesus Christ is verified by the testimony of countless millions of people who have believed and have been saved, and is now demonstrated in the lives of Christians.
Into our hands is put the Scriptures, the written Word of God. God has revealed in the Scriptures the nature of creation, of heaven, of His law, and the nature of his grace. These are given to Christians.
The Christian confronts the lies of Satan with the truth of God. Here the Christian can stand. Satan will use someone to say, “There is no hope; look around, it is just a hopeless situation. This is just ruined.” The Christian can see all this, but he realizes that he has the Word of God. The Scriptures is in his heart. The Scriptures confront the bad situation by saying God can raise the dead. When the heart is filled with fear, the Christian has the Gospel telling him FEAR NOT, FOR I WILL BE WITH THEE, I WILL NEVER LEAVE THEE NOT FORSAKE THEE.
Around me may be a storm of sea, but as a Christian I have in the Scriptures a compass to follow, to guide me directly in the will of God.
This is fighting with the sword of the Spirit. I am not going to kill anyone with this, but I am going to answer the lies of Satan. I am going to put the enemies to flight, because actually as over against everything I have the plain Word of God which is my weapon for attacking the lies of the enemy.
