not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand, therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one, and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints. So far in the word, the living God, may that word dwell in us richly. Let's approach the throne of grace once again, let's pray. Our Father, we have worshipped you together in song and praise and reading. We would now worship by hearing, hearing by that very Word of God. May you bless the speaker. We've not come to be impressed by men, but we would be impressed by your spirit working in and through the instruments that you have decided to use. And so, Father, bless the speaker and the hearers that together we may honor and glorify you. We ask it for Jesus' sake. Amen. King David in Psalm 119 verse 11, the very famous text, Your word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against you. There in that text, it's not the Bible in your hand just to read it. It's not the Bible on your lips, just to sing it. It's not the Bible in your mind, just to know it. But, it's the Bible hid in my heart. That is, in my mind, my will, my affections, my desires. Changed, influenced, directed, filtered. by the word of God. This is the last piece of the armor that we have been considering. It is used to fight the enemy, the sword of the spirit. The Christian soldier has been putting on this armor, all the other pieces, in order to fight. to get ready to fight. And the Word of God is the most powerful thing that you could ever actually think of. In fact, I remind you that it was the Word of God that created all things. Let there be light, and there was. And every living thing that came into being because God spoke a word. The world wants to discredit the Bible. They want to put science against the Bible, as if the Bible and science couldn't be reconciled. Philosophy wants to debate the Bible. History wants to argue the Bible. How do we take up Such attacks defend the word of God. We take up the sword, the sword of the spirit. It's a sword. It's both defensive and offensive. Now I remind you that in all of these pieces that we've been talking about, we're not talking about literal swords. actually thought about as a an object lessening bringing the sword that my father had stuffed in a little cubby hole for years and when he died I became the possessor of that sword. It's got a little number on it. We don't know where it came from, how old it is, whose it was, but I have it and one day my retirement will come from selling that sword, right? I doubt that. But it's a real sword. And somebody once attached it to a uniform that they wore. Well, this is not that kind of sword. None of you are carrying one. And we don't aspire to carry swords. But spiritually speaking, it is this weapon. Offensive and defensive. It protects you from attack. Anybody who's ever seen sword fights? You fend off the one who's attacking you, and then you attack. It becomes offensive. The sword is an instrument of war. The picture could not be more vivid. Christian soldier, you are at war. We just read that. Principalities and powers arrayed against you. Spiritual powers. You're in a battle. You need a weapon. Perhaps there's no other more universal weapon in the world before guns. The history of sword making. the various kinds of swords are out there and how many soldiers, how many wars and yet a fully dressed soldier without a sword would not and should not enter battle and so it's true that the Word of God is put into the hand of every Christian I mean, imagine it, brothers and sisters, a naked soldier with just a sword. He might do some damage, but he's very vulnerable. He's in big trouble if he's standing on the battlefield in his skivvies with just a sword in his hand. On the other hand, if he is completely dressed in the armor of God without a sword, he might defend himself from a few blows, but he's got no way to win the battle. There will be no victory, no conquest, no deliverance, no victory over the enemy without the sword. No. The soldier of Christ's army must have the armor, all of it, and the sword. We must have truth, righteousness, the gospel, faith, salvation, and the sword of the Spirit. Now in keeping with this illustration of sword, I would just remind you that a sword, in its scabbard, hung on your side, is in the battle of no use. You might have the sword, in a nice scabbard, hung on the belt, but if it stays there, and you're in the fight, you're in big trouble. So, too, the Bible is useless if it just stays in your mind if it doesn't come out into the application of your life and the way you live it if the Bible is just here it's as useless as a sword in the scabbard no, rather that sword, yes, it must be polished cleaned sharpened Regular, constant, frequent use. It must not be uncomfortable for you to have the sword in your hand. If you let the sword rust, decay, wear out, you're in big trouble. Now, the nice thing is that our sword cannot be broken, stolen, lost, or replaced. It's the sword of the Spirit. It's God's Word. It's living. It's true. It's the same sword for all saints. Isn't that nice that you don't get a certain kind of sword and you get another sword. It's the same sword. It's the same word for all the saints. There's none better. Fully powered by the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit. Every word of God is pure. Proverbs 30 verse 5. Several other places. The Psalms and the Proverbs. This is a sword, brothers and sisters, spiritually speaking, that shines and glitters. If it's there, you cannot help but notice it. It's ever-present. God spoke. God speaks. And that word is living, powerful, active, sharp, even today. We should become expert at using this word. Remember Apollos. Apollos in Acts chapter 18. He was called a man mighty in scriptures. There's something about him that was powerful in scriptures. Brothers and sisters, haven't you met a Christian? Know a Christian who's mighty in the scriptures? One of the most amazing minds that I've ever known is a man named John Taylor. He was a member of the church in Lewiston, Maine before we went off to seminary. John Taylor was raised a missionary kid on the field of Japan. And whenever I was teaching a Sunday school or something as an elder, I would say, oh, there's a passage somewhere in the Bible that says, and John Taylor would say, oh, that's Hosea 1 verse 13. And he was always right. Always blew me away. I don't know if he had an identic memory or what, but John Taylor knew the scriptures and knew them well. Surely we've known people like that. Paul is writing to Christian soldiers. Not new recruits. He's not talking about getting saved and here's a sword, go off and use it. He's talking to veterans of Christian warfare. He's writing to believers, Ephesians is a letter to the church. And he says to them, Christian, you are someone the sword has had an effect on in the first place. That sword has revealed your own sin. There was a time when that sword was being wielded against you, crushing your heart, showing you the need of a savior, the need for salvation. And if you are one of those who's been saved, You are a soldier who has used the sword. So much so, that in some sense it fits. It fits your hand. The Bible is not a strange thing to you. You know which end to hold. And you know how to swing it and how to use it. because you have in your life. Brothers and sisters, you should become so familiar with the word that it is second nature that you use the word without thinking. Cause. C-A-U-S-E. Cause. That you become comfortable, automatic, unconscious, skillful. You become an expert. That the Word of God is not strange, it fits. But it's automatic. There's certain things happen and a passage comes to mind. Unconsciously. You ever notice that Paul and many of the other, all of the writers, there's nobody in the New Testament who says, by the way I'm quoting Deuteronomy 12 verse 32. Because that didn't exist. But they do say the Bible says, I've also been struck by that by Billy Graham. Many, many years ago when I first started listening to Billy, he hardly ever quoted a particular text, but he said more often than not, the Bible says. The Bible says. So if you can't quote chapter and verse, is the Bible there? Is it in your mind? And then, yeah, you should work at becoming skillful and expert. I will never aspire to be John Taylor, my friend. I don't have that mind. There's many a time I go, the Bible says, and then somebody says, where? Well, give me a minute. Let me go find it. I'll find it. That's okay. Because it's the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, the text says. It's funny how we saw that this morning in Sunday School. R.C. Sproul was teaching on the power of the Word. That the Orthodox teaching is that the Bible is the very Word of God. It doesn't just contain the Word. It is His Word, written by humans, but the very Word of God. My systematic theology professor, Greenville so impressed me The teaching of the Word of God the fact that we as preachers stand behind it You've been around long enough. I've been here long enough. Yeah, I don't wander the stage I Pretty much stay right here One of the reasons is dr. Smith's teaching What's coming from me is of no effect if it doesn't come through the word of But that word is authoritative. And it stands between you and me. In our presence. John 1, 1. The word was God. Is God. Jesus Christ. His name is called the word of God. Christ is the sword of the spirit. That's not of man's making. No, God is the author, God is the interpreter, God is the preserver, and God is the dispenser of that very word. Brothers and sisters, what good would that word be if it's just a sword hanging on the wall? That sword is not nearly as impressive as when it's in the hand of a mighty soldier of God deployed and ready to go to work. It's not the Bible on the shelf that has any power. It's not the Bible in the mouth of a preacher that has any power unless the Spirit is present. But when the Spirit moves, and He moves through that Bible, He moves through that preacher, He moves through the Word of God, it's a powerful thing. Very powerful thing. 2 Peter 1, verse 21 tells us that the men who wrote the Bible were moved by the Holy Spirit. That is, that God is the author. of every word of the Bible. He knows the plot. He knows the twists. He knows the whole story from beginning to end. He wrote it. And he uses that word to save sinners. Romans 10, 17, faith comes by hearing by the Word of God. Brothers and sisters, there is no power in the Bible just sitting there without the Holy Spirit, but this is the living Word of the Living Spirit because Christ is living. He's not dead. He rose from the dead. Ascended into heaven is physically in a place from whence he will come again as the Living Word. William Gurnall in talking about this sword tells us of four powerful effects of the Spirit of God on the heart. The first powerful effect is that it has heart-searching power. Jeremiah 17, 9 and 10. I, the Lord, search the heart. The word of God gets behind the closed door. The person who says to you, I don't care about this Christianity. I don't care about the Bible. I don't care about your Presbyterianism. I don't care. The Word of God has a power to get beyond that. To go around that. To go through that. The Word of God has a power that conquers. It has heart-searching power. Not because the preacher is the greatest preacher in the world. Not because the teaching is the most careful and correctly put together, but because it's the Word of God. It has conscience-touching power. 1 John 3 verse 20, God is greater than our heart. What John is saying there is that the Word of God has power to reach inside a person. When everything on the outside is blocking it off, the Word of God has a way to get into the conscience. It has also a very comforting power. Christians in distress have cried out to the Lord like the psalmist in Psalm 107 verse 20. He sent His Word. and healed them how many times brothers and sisters in your life you've been stressed put to the test what gave you the most comfort was it not more often a word scripture that somebody said to you that your eyes ran across that you remembered And that word was a great comfort. And it has converting power. How many Christians would tell you they've been gospelized by a word of God, changed from a sinner into a saint, washed, born again, made a new creature in Christ. Because the Word of God finally broke through, made sense, and was embraced. Brothers and sisters, this Word of God is forever. Psalm 119 verse 89, Forever, O Lord, Your Word is settled in heaven. The Bible is God's Word forever. doesn't change and for all of the efforts it has survived every assault to prove it false. The Bible by every standard of historical examination has been proven reliable and trustworthy. By the way More so than the history of George Washington, which is much earlier. It's pretty clear in historical minds that George Washington never said, I cannot tell a lie. But that part of the story has been told so many times, people believe it actually happened. The Bible, on the other hand, has been examined. and assaulted, and critiqued, and tested. And it has stood the test of time. Why? Because it's God-breathed. It is the very breath of God. And God has no bad breath, not in the Old Testament, not in the New Testament. They have survived every challenge, every scrutiny, every investigation, every historical examination, And they have stood the test of time. Brothers and sisters, there are volumes on the scriptures criticism. How do we test it? How do we trust it? And after all of that, it still stands the test of time. By the way, no nation in history has ever come up with laws that work for all people, apart from the laws that God has laid down in the Bible. The most successful nations in the history of the world are those built on the principles of the Word of God. And I tell you with all confidence, there's no contradiction in the Bible. by any other part of the Bible it holds together from Genesis to Revelation and anytime somebody says well there are all kinds of mistakes in the Bible my answer is show me and if they bring me to a text that appears to contradict one another I say give me give me a week I'll go research this look at some commentaries some examination I'll come back to you with an answer that I'm sure Well, take away your contradiction. How does this word work? Well, it's the living bread. Do you remember Matthew 4.4? Powerful verse. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. That's where life comes from. It cuts to the heart, Acts 2 verse 37, Hebrews 4.12. It gets in where the hammer blows of argument can't reach. You can be a very accomplished debater. Theologically trained, philosophically trained. And you can debate with people. But unless the Word of God gets in there, sometimes a mind and a heart will stay closed. It's appointed. That passage in Hebrews talks about it making divisions. Divisions. Distinctions. Between heart and soul. Between mind and will. Between the finest, the finest differences the Word of God can get in there. Make a point. pulls down the walls of unbelief, 2nd Corinthians 10, 14. The walls that people build up and hide behind. The word of God can knock over just like the walls of Jericho. Light given. Wherever this word comes, it dispels the darkness. Darkness and the light cannot stay in the same place. It reveals errors, warns of danger. It is, as the psalmist says, a lamp to your feet, a light to your path. It repels temptations. I remind you that in Matthew 4, when Jesus is out in the desert over and over and over again, He drives the devil away. How? by quoting the word. By the way, almost in every instance there, you know where Jesus quotes the Bible? From Deuteronomy. Not the New Testament. Paul hasn't written most of it yet. He quotes Deuteronomy. By the way, Marcelo, they're having just a little too much fun in that room back there. This Word of God keeps you from perishing under afflictions. Even in your trials, the Word of God comes, helps you through the difficult times. There's only one or two. Options. You either receive this word or reject this word. That's the only two responses to God's word. God said it. Do you believe it or not? Jeremiah 8, 9. Wise men have rejected the word of the Lord. Then Jeremiah says there, so what wisdom do they have? If you reject this word of God, what have you got? The word of science? That we are oozed, and we oozed out of ooze, and we're oozing back into ooze? You believe that? As I've said before, it's unbelievable what unbelievers have to believe to be unbelievers. Matthew 13.23 No, when you receive that word, it's as if it was planted on good ground. And when it's planted on good ground, springs up, produces fruit. Yes, yes, there's a sense in which the Word of God should be your concealed carry weapon. Hide it in your heart. But that weapon is meant to be a self-defense and a defender of the faith. The Word of God should be your weapon of choice. Christian soldier. Arm yourself. Pastor Bruce Hunt, OPC pastor in Korea, back in the 50s, went to jail twice. The first time he went, when he was released, he said his biggest regret was that he had not memorized enough scripture. Because he struggled in that first imprisonment to remember the Word of God. So while he was out, he sharpened his sword. He made an effort. The second time he went to jail, he said, I was marvelously preserved by the Word of God active in my mind. Prepare yourself. Because the great enemy of your soul is Satan. And the word of God is the only thing that will fight against him. Having your armor, having your armor on does not mean there will be no fight. No, once you're dressed, you better take up the sword of the spirit. Because if you're a Christian in complete armor, you're going to face an enemy. Even if that enemy is not outside of you, you're going to face the one that's in you. And fight with yourself. The Lord has enemies all over the world. Why else would we need armor? Why else would we have to be dressed and ready to go? Unless they were real enemies. Brothers and sisters, if you don't know that you have an enemy, if you have no idea what this pastor is talking about, it's questionable whether you're spiritually alive or not. But if you're a Christian, you know you have an enemy. And your best defense is this sword. The rebel is fortifying himself in that stubborn heart of yours And the only thing that's going to get through is the Word of God. Your soul, brothers and sisters, apart from the Spirit of God, is opposed to the things of Christ. You have all kinds of reasons. I'm not old enough yet. I want to wait until I get done with college. I want to wait until I'm living on my own, apart from my parents' influence. then I'll make a decision. All kinds of reasons. I have to do this, I have to do that. But your soul is opposed to God and your only safety, my friends, is to hear the Word of God and receive the Word of God this instant. Don't put it off for another day. Another time. Another age. If you refuse the Word of God, you will come face to face with that Word on Judgment Day. The Living Word. Christ the Word. And on that day, it will be a word of condemnation. Judgment. No word of comfort. And listen. No offer of salvation. On the Day of Judgment, God is not going to say, I give you one more chance. This is the day. This is the moment. 1205. Today, in February. The word of God is speaking again. And one day that word will be a word of justice. And brothers and sisters, if you refuse that word until that day, you'll get what you deserve on that day. And that word will convict you. And that word will sentence you to eternal judgment forever. There is no shield, no way out, no hope. There is only one way to avoid that judgment. Psalm 84 verse 9, Behold our shield, O God. Look on the face of your anointed. Your only hope is in the face of the Messiah, of Jesus. The shield of faith is Jesus. The helmet of salvation is Jesus. The breastplate of righteousness is Jesus. The truth is Jesus. The gospel, you get the point. The Bible kills sin by telling us how God dealt with sin. The story of redemption. God sent his son into this world to save sinners such as me, such as you. And the cutting edge of the word of God is that Christ crucified is the word of the gospel. The sword of the spirit. That gospel is not meant just to be held in your hands not just to be read with your eyes, sung with your lips, but that gospel is meant to be in your heart, living, pulsing, with every power of the Spirit. You're in a church today that believes this is not just a book, but the living Word of the Living God and it tells you about Jesus from page one to the last page. Will you receive that word by faith and be made a soldier of the cross? Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we do come In the name of Jesus, once again, before the very throne of grace that puts before us the Word of God. It tells us that we are sinners in need of a Savior. And that Savior is Jesus. Father, I pray that Word goes forward in power to break the hardest heart that they might turn to Jesus in faith. become a soldier on the cross. Oh Lord, may your word accomplish the ends that you have ordained for it. We pray in Jesus name. Amen.