The Sword of the Spirit (Part 2 of 3)

God's Word is necessary for someone to come to faith in Christ. But how does God's Word help us persevere in our Christian journey?

Today on Truth for Life, Alistair Begg continues a message about the sword of the Spirit, teaching us how to respond to Satan's accusations and how to remain steady in times of doubt. We're going to read from Matthew chapter 4, and I invite you to follow along as I read. Actually, we'll read from the thirteenth verse of chapter 3. Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me? But Jesus answered him, Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.

Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water. And behold, the heavens were open to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him. And behold, a voice from heaven said, This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread. But he answered, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, He will command his angels concerning you, and on their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.

Jesus said to him, Again it is written, You shall not put the LORD your God to the test. Again the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me. Then Jesus said to him, Be gone, Satan, for it is written, You shall worship the LORD your God, and him only shall you serve. Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

Amen. Well, let's turn to Ephesians chapter 6, where we have been part now for some time, and purposefully, and I believe helpfully, it surely would seem to be time well spent to be equipped by the Scriptures for the challenges that we face in living for Jesus, and especially if we're going to be prepared to take a stand on his promises, insofar as those promises are largely disregarded and in many cases completely overturned, if they could be, by those who have no interest in them. And we began this morning to think a little about the second half of verse 17 of Ephesians 6. It begins, Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And I said this morning that clearly, in coming to a text like that, it actually would be possible to begin an entirely new series within the series on the authority and the veracity of the Scriptures themselves.

I don't plan to do that, but it means that the person in my position has to determine how we want to tackle this and, if you like, how we want to make application of it. And so I said we would think, first of all, about the absolute necessity of the word of God in the matter of coming to faith. And we tried to think this morning about the distinction between the way in which God has given to his general revelation in the light of nature and in the works of creation and providence, and has provided for us his special revelation in the word of God itself—and, of course, a final and full and saving revelation in the Lord Jesus himself. I said that once we had done that, then we would look a little at the absolute necessity of the word of God when it comes to continuing in the faith and then a word or two concerning the same thing in the matter of contending for the faith.

So let's then think for a little about this matter of how important it is for us to implement the sword of the Spirit if we are not only to make a beginning in the Christian life but if we are to continue to the end. Jesus spoke very clearly to the people of his day, saying to them that it was those who endured to the end who would be saved. And, of course, the promise of the Bible is that the one who begins a work in us will bring it to completion, but not in a vacuum. And therefore, the instruction and direction of the Bible turns the responsibility to us to ensure that we pay attention to these things. For example, when Paul writes to the Colossians in the early part of his letter to them, he's speaking to them, and he is making reference to what is theirs in Christ. And then he says to them, if indeed you continue in the faith stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard.

Now, he's not suggesting there that he is fearful that they are about to fail to continue. The language in the original text does not bear that out. But what it is pointing out to us is the absolute necessity of continuing—that it is not sufficient for us to have made some immediate and perhaps even superficial response to the gospel. The parable of the soils bears that out, doesn't it? That there were those who heard and made an immediate response, and then as quickly as the plants grew up, they faded away. And Jesus taught that in order to make clear that there was then only one soil out of them all about which any of us could be confident if it represented our hearts, and that in which there was the blossoming and the fulfilling of the evidence that the seed had been sown in good soil. Now, that is true in writing to the Colossians. It's also important when Paul writes to Timothy, and he is reminding Timothy of his role as a pastor.

And he is reminding Timothy that it is important for him to continue—to continue in what he has learned and has firmly believed. I don't know what the perception is of pastors. I've kind of forgotten what it's like not to be one. But I think it wouldn't be surprising if some people thought that somehow or another, if you managed to find yourself in this position, that pretty well, you're home free from that point.

You know, after all, you presumably would never have arrived there if it weren't… that you were just destined to continue all the way to the end. But what do we know about pastoral ministry? What have we seen in the last fifty years in America? The scenes of sorry collapse, of those who wielded the sword but apparently did not wield it to their own benefit, those who instructed others and who presumably began to think that if the instruction was given, then the obedience was obvious—only to reveal to themselves, sadly, and to those who knew them best, that this was not the case. Timothy had an amazing background. He had a godly granny, a godly mom. Some of us have enjoyed that. And yet Paul does not say to him, now, you had a wonderful start, and your family life has been so strong.

There's no reason for me to really write to you at all. But now he says, I want you to make sure that you continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed. In other words, to mix the metaphors, he wants to make sure that Timothy himself is firmly grounded on the foundation of the Word of God, on the truth of God's Word. Again, in Jesus, in his parables, the man who hears my word and fails to put it into practice is the man who built this house on the sand, and when the winds came and the waves came, it just knocked it flat.

The one who hears my words and puts them into practice is like the man who built this house on a rock, and when the winds and the waves came, then it stood firm. The whole matter of continuance. Now, this, then, is the place of the Word of God, the sword of the Spirit, in the life of the believer. It's not the entirety of its application, but it is this.

And there are certain things that ought to be obvious to us. And one would be this—that the sword of the Spirit actually fits every hand. That the sword of the Spirit is not something that you get when you're a certain age or when you've qualified through a certain course. But the sword of the Spirit, if you like, comes with your birthright. The sword of the Spirit is entrusted to the one who has been enlisted in the Christian army and who has been putting on Christ and who is clothed with the armor. And therefore, into that hand is placed the sword. It is the same sword for children.

The work amongst children is of such vital importance in every generation. And what are we doing when we sit with those children and we open the Bible to them? We're putting the sword into their tiny hands. We're teaching them to say, Oh, the B-I-B-L-E, that's the book for me.

I take my stand on the Word of God. The B-I-B-L-E. We're putting the sword in their hands. What is necessary for those who are making their way, navigating their way, through the middle stages of life—perhaps facing bereavement, perhaps divorce, perhaps dissatisfaction? What is the great need? The sword of the Spirit into our hands. And when we get old and wizened and cold and gray and even more settled in our ways than we are now, it will be the same need to have the sword in our hands—the Word of God. The grass withers, the flower falls, the Word of the Lord endures forever. Peter proclaimed that to them, didn't he? And he said, And this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.

So we're not talking about some dry, dull, legalistic account. We're talking about the vibrancy and the vitality and the life-giving power of the gospel. And Jesus himself, of course, declared that heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. Now, you think about that for a moment, living in our world. One of the great preoccupations of our time is we're going to have to save the planet. And it's very good for us to look after things and not put straws in the ocean and don't fiddle around with things. It's not good.

It's not very helpful. But from the lips of the Creator, here's the news. Heaven and earth will pass away, but his words will not pass away. We await a new heaven and a new earth in which dwells righteousness. And in the progress that we're making to that destination, we lay hold upon this sword.

So it is suited to every hand, and it is suited to every time. When you think about this, there are books that have been written that were good in their day—especially books about eschatology. I always like telling about the books that were written, you know, in the early part of the twentieth century, defining definitively the date of the return of Jesus. And they usually sold well for a while. I mean, the fellow who invented logarithms, who has a college named after him in Edinburgh—he shouldn't have had that for inventing logarithms.

I mean, that's been a nuisance to most people. But anyway, he used his logarithms to predict the date of the return of Jesus, you know, and he sent it somewhere around, you know, 1943. Of course, the book sold fairly well up until 43, but since then, it's been regarded as largely irrelevant.

Which, of course, is a fair response. Books of science have been superseded. Genetic technology has superseded things. In areas of discipline in many of our lives, there are things that are of interest now, but they're buried in the past, because they have no pressing relevance for today. The staggering thing—one of the profound things about the Bible, about the sword of the Spirit—is that it is timeless. So that it is the word from the mouth of God that sustained Adam and Eve in the garden. It's the word from the mouth of God that saw the children of Israel through the wilderness.

It's from the mouth of God that the citizens of Israel in David's day lived and moved, and so we can go all the way through history, right up until the present time. Suited to every hand, suited to every time, and suited to every type. And what I mean by that is every type of person. One of the great joys of standing up here is I get to see you all. I get to look at you. And I see more than you even know. And not always to my benefit, but nevertheless, I do see… And really, it is a fascinating array of people. And we are all here saying, Yes, this sword, this word, is placed into our hands, young and old, and so on. And some of us are peculiarly educated, and others of us not so much. Some of us have a certain amount of culture that we like to make mention of, others of us not so. Some of us have size fourteen brains, and some of us hardly have a brain at all. And yet it is the same sword.

Do you know of any other book like this? You see, the wonder of it is that it is at the same time suited to every circumstance. To every circumstance. There's not an event in life for which the Bible is insufficient.

Now, we could go for a long time this evening saying, And, of course, consider this and consider that. But the reason we read from Matthew 4 was in order to make the point that in the life of Jesus, in the face of temptation, following his baptism, what does he do but wield the sword of the Spirit? In response to the accusations and the temptations of the evil one, he quotes the Bible.

What an interesting thing to do! The tempter came and said, If you're the Son of God. And he answered, It's written. Quoting, interestingly. And he doesn't quote—you know, he doesn't have, like, you know, shaving-mirror verses, which just proves that he really knew the Old Testament. Some of us would be hard-pressed to say it is written in response to specific circumstances, because we don't know our Bibles well enough to know what verse from which to quote to be able to answer the accusations and temptations that come our way. I say that for your encouragement. You get that?

And for mine too. What a strange thing it is that we who claim to love this book spend such little time in it, know so little of it, are prepared to dig down deep into it, are prepared to accept a few superficial quotes that have been hanging around since we were fourteen and received a car for Bible memorization that we keep up on a shelf somewhere in our study. This is biographical information that you don't need, but nevertheless. He starts by quoting Deuteronomy 8. And then the devil masterfully decides, Well, if you can quote the Bible, I'll quote the Bible too.

We shouldn't be surprised by this. The devil knows the Bible. He knows it better than many a silly Christian.

And so what does he do? Well, he misstates the Bible. He quotes it, and he twists it.

That's always his way. And so he says, quoting from Psalm 91, here's the thing, if this, if this, if this… And Jesus says, No, you're absolutely wrong there, and let me say something else to you. It is written, You shall not put the LORD your God to the test. And a third time he comes back, and Jesus says once again to him, Be gone, Satan, for it is written, You shall worship the LORD your God, and him only shall you serve. So if Jesus dealt with the temptation of the devil by quoting the Bible, we are on a pretty good track if we determine that we will operate on that same basis.

When I read this third response of Jesus, it makes me smile. Because as a child, I was often plagued by fears in the night, and I had some quite remarkable dreams, all of which have now been forgotten. But then, when I would go through and trouble my mother and father in the night and tell them, the thing, it's coming for me, it's getting me, and whatever it was—you know what they would tell me to say? They'd tell me to say, Be gone, Satan.

That's what I was supposed to say. I'd say, What possible good is that? They'd say, Well, try it, because we don't want you to keep coming through here, you know. But after all these years, I'd still say it and take up the sword of the Spirit to tell him, Don't come with that stuff to me. You go back to hell where you belong. Be gone, Satan.

But the way in which we respond is not on the strength of personality or some other thing. It is in confidence in the Bible itself. Three times, and three times it is written. It therefore follows straightforwardly that we shouldn't ever attempt to defeat the devil except by this sword. And that's why the sword has been given. It has not been given for ornamentation, but for battle. When you wear a kilt as a Scotsman, if you choose to, you have a little ski and dew that goes inside your sock.

You may have seen it. And it is actually a dagger, and it is there as needed. You know, like if you can't open an envelope or something very significant, very important. And it is there in order that it might be used. But in actual fact, it can't be used, because it's blunt, and it doesn't work, and it's there for style. The sword of the Spirit is given to us not for ornamentation, not for style, not to walk around with. It is provided for battle. Alistair Begg is explaining for us why we have been given the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God.

You're listening to Truth for Life. As Alistair just mentioned, the devil is a fierce opponent. We ought never try to defeat him without using the sword of the Spirit. And since he's our enemy, it's to our advantage to know more about him and know more about how he operates. And that's why we're recommending a book titled Our Ancient Foe, Satan's History, Activity, and Ultimate Demise. In this book, a group of contributing pastors and scholars, including Alistair's friend Sinclair Ferguson, unpack the real threat that Satan poses. They address frequently asked questions about the devil, things like who exactly is he? How did he become our enemy? What are his methods and intentions?

And most importantly, how can we be protected from him? You can prepare yourself for spiritual battle today by reading the book Our Ancient Foe. Request your copy when you donate to support the Bible teaching you hear on this program. You'll find the book on our mobile app, online at truthforlife.org slash donate, or you can call us at 888-588-7884. If you'd rather mail your donation along with your request for the book Our Ancient Foe, write to Truth for Life at post office box 398000, Cleveland, Ohio.

The zip code is 44139. We also want to let you know about a classic collection of three books on the topic of spiritual warfare that we're making available. It's a timeless classic titled The Christian Incomplete Armor. This three book collection is available from Truth for Life today.

It's an abridged version with updated language, makes it easier to read. You can purchase the book for just $10 and the shipping is free. The great offer comes to you because of the generosity of your fellow listeners who we refer to as Truth Partners. These are folks who give monthly and they're giving offsets the cost of outstanding Bible teaching materials like this. So if you listen to Truth for Life regularly, if you benefit from the free online teaching or the at-cost books, we want to invite you to join the Truth Partner team today. Sign up as quick and easy. Visit us at truthforlife.org slash truthpartner. I'm Bob Lapine. Hope you have a great weekend. Hope you're able to worship with your local church and then be back with us on Monday when we'll find out how every believer is called to use the sword of the Spirit to contend for the faith. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life, where the Learning is for Living.