Tonight, we resume our consideration of the full armor of God, as we have two things yet to be considered, one tonight and, the Lord willing, next week. First of all, we read, though, from Matthew 4, verses 1-11. Matthew 4, verses 1-11. and then considering our text from Ephesians 6, the second half of verse 17. Just prior to this, the context here is that familiar episode of the baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ. And now the episode that we read together tonight in consideration of our text is the temptation of our Lord by Satan in the wilderness. Matthew 4, beginning at verse 1, as we give our attention to the Word of God. Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting 40 days and 40 nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread. Jesus answered, It is written, Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. If you are the Son of God, he said, throw yourself down, for it is written, he will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands so that you will not strike your foot against the stone. Jesus answered him, it is also written, do 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 splendor. All this I will give you, he said, if you will bow down and worship Me. Jesus said to him, Away from Me, Satan. For it is written, Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only. Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him. And as we consider our text, Ephesians 6, verse 17, the second half, reading that whole verse, it says, take the helmet of salvation, and then the portion for our consideration, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Christian soldier is clothed with the Lord's armor firmly in place. Boys and girls, you know that we've considered in the past quite a number of the pieces of armor that Paul talks about. And you remember that the belt of truth is fastened securely. The breastplate of righteousness fits comfortably in place. The sandals of peace are just the right size. The helmet of salvation fits properly. And the shield of faith stands as a wall of protection for the Christian soldier. The Christian soldier is fully covered and protected from Satan's attacks and schemes and his flaming arrows. Wherever the evil one may strike, whatever part of the body may be his target, the Christian soldier is sure to be protected. But this armor is not yet complete. This is not yet the full armor of God which Paul speaks of. Not only does the Lord provide protection for the different parts of the body from the different methods of attack from Satan, but He also provides that piece of equipment that defends by holding back the enemy himself. And this piece of armor also gives the soldier the ability to take action, to drive the enemy back, and to disarm him. This piece of armor gives the Christian soldier the strength and the ability to follow the instruction of James when he says, resist the devil and he will flee from you. The soldier must take up the sword. Beloved, Satan tries to overwhelm us as if we have no hope. That's what he wants us to think. That the struggle is in vain. That it's all for nothing. That we're losing ground, he says. But the sword of the Spirit makes the Christian soldier able to stand firm against him and resist him and cause him to flee. Beloved, the devil's power and temptation must be respected because he is powerful. Not respected in the sense that his power is to be admired, but respected in the sense that it is to be something that we are to take seriously. You see, Satan is not a joking matter. He's not simply a little red person with horns and a pitchfork. He's nothing to laugh at. But you see, we've made a joke out of him in many respects. especially as we consider that secular holiday that's coming up called Halloween. And so often, even we as Christians, we say, well, it's just a little harmless fun for our children. It's a good time. But I'm confident that if you took the time to study its origin, that Halloween is the new year of witchcraft and devil worship, and those things which are just a little bit of fun for our children that you see that those things actually are derived from this devil-worship, Satan-worship, witchcraft New Year. He's not a joking matter. Why not teach our children how to celebrate the Reformation instead of Halloween? We must be conscious of and respect His power and influence. Yet we are not to be terrified of Him. We are not to be brought to a feeling of utter hopelessness because of His great power and strength. Why? Because greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world. Tonight, we consider this Word of God the call to arms with the sword in hand. As we consider, first of all, the identity of this sword. Secondly, the function of this sword. And finally, the reception of the sword. Now, as we consider the identity of the sword, we know that the sword is the only dominantly offensive piece of armor. It is a weapon. All of the other pieces, the helmet, the breastplate, the belt, the shoes, the shield, we consider defensive pieces of armor. But the sword is both. On the one hand, it is used for defense to defend against strikes from other swords, but it is also offensive, dominantly offensive. It is also used to go forth and attack. It is used to be the aggressor. And we need to understand here, beloved, that Paul is talking about the short sword, the short, straight sword of the well-armed Roman soldier as opposed to the long sword, the kind which we might think of with two men fencing. This sword was some sort of a dagger that could be easily and quickly used with precision. That's the image that Paul uses. But then also, he clearly explains the identity and the substance of this sword. This sword belongs to the Spirit, and it is made up of the Word of God. The Spirit is the author of the sword, of the Word of God. Paul is talking here about the sure utterance of revealed truth, the inscripturated revelation of the Old Testament and the New Testament. Someone has somewhat cumbersomely described this sword as being forged of the metal of God's mind upon the anvil of the processes leading to a plenary verbal inspiration which leaves us with God-breathed Scripture. You say, what in the world does that mean? Well, it's a fancy way of saying that this sword is the entire Word of God as it has been written by the biblical writers under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Paul says in 2 Timothy 3.16, all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. Peter says, no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man. But holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit of God is the owner of this sword. He is the one who gives it to His people. and He is also the one who gives it power. And Paul also talks about just how powerful it is in Romans 1, verse 16, for example. He says, For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes. And he says in 1 Corinthians 1, verse 18, For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. You see, beloved, we must understand the intimate connection between the Spirit and the Word. A very intimate connection. Some evangelicals claim the Spirit. Being slain in the Spirit. Worshipping Spirit-led with all kinds of disorganization, but they have no use for the Word of God. And this leads to mysticism and emotionalism. But on the other side of the scale, There are those who cling to the Bible but throw out the Spirit because they're afraid of any sort of charismatic activity. They may have an academic knowledge of the Scriptures, but apart from the Holy Spirit, it is nothing but a dead orthodoxy. Paul says the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. People of God, you cannot separate the Holy Spirit of God and the Word of God. The Spirit does not work, never works, apart from His Holy Word. And the Word of God has no power apart from the working of the Holy Spirit. And He not only gives this sword to His people, but He is also the one and only one who can apply it to our hearts and make this sword effective in our hands for the purposes for which it was given. 1 Corinthians 2 says, eye has not seen nor ear heard nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. His Holy Spirit must open His Word. He must open my mind and my heart. He is the One who alone exercises His sword with perfection and ease so that it can perform its function. As we seek as believers, To live out our duties in Christ, how is the sword of the Spirit to be applied? Paul's familiar words in 2 Timothy 3.16 remind us that not only is all Scripture given by the inspiration of God, but also it is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. All of that the Word of God provides. Now, in Reformed theology, we speak of the perfections of Scripture. The perfections of Scripture. First of all, Scripture has authority as the supreme and final standard for our faith and practice. The Word of God has authority. It has the last word on our lives. What we do on how we observe the Lord's Day. On how we educate our children. Secondly, Scripture is necessary. That's the second perfection. It is necessary in order to know God and ourselves. Apart from the Word of God applied to our hearts and our minds by the Holy Spirit, we cannot truly know God. We cannot know ourselves. As we consider this morning, we cannot truly know Him and love Him and live with Him in eternal happiness to His praise and glory. The third, Scripture is sufficient. Sufficient as the foundation and for regulating and confirming the church's faith and practice. All that we need to know about salvation is sufficiently taught in the Word of God as Belgic Confession, Article 7, teaches us as well. And then finally, Scripture is clear. It's understandable in its teachings. All of this, beloved, confirms that this sword becomes the main instrument of aggressive warfare in order to stand firm on the ground given in Christ. Ground which is constantly attacked by the schemes of the devil. In that evil day, it is this sword of the Spirit, the power of God unto salvation, which we are to take up in the hand to face and overcome the enemy in the strength of the Lord. We read together in the Word of God tonight of the greatest example against the concrete realities of real temptation in the presence of the real devil with real intentions to bring into real sin with real and dreadful consequences. Why the emphasis on the reality of it? Because we must know that the devil is real. We must know that He really hates us. We must know that He really wants us to fall forever and ever. He really wants us to suffer eternal hell. But that greatest example, beloved, is our blessed Lord Jesus Christ. He had just been inaugurated in His baptism, we know, by the Holy Spirit and God the Father's voice from heaven, inaugurated as to His official identity and appointment, And then he is driven into the wilderness by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan. And these were three very real temptations. As the writer of Hebrews says, he was tempted as we are in every way, yet he was without sin. And in each one of these cases, with each one of these temptations, he doesn't meet these temptations with his own, verily, verily, I say unto you, which he could have done. But instead, He met the temptation of the tempter with the words, It is written. Demonstrating for you and I that indeed God has given to us a most precious gift in His inscripturated Word. First, we know that Jesus was hungry after fasting for 40 days and 40 nights. And Satan, in essence, says, if you really are the one whom the voice from heaven spoke about, then surely He wouldn't want your stomach to agonize with hunger, go ahead and do a little magic trick with these stones over here and be satisfied. The boys and girls, Jesus holds up the shiny sword of the Spirit from Deuteronomy 8, verse 3, and says, It is written, Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. Next, Satan tries to test the truthfulness of the Word of God. Throw yourself off of this very highest point of the temple. After all, it is written that the angels will be ready and waiting. And again, with that sword firmly in His grip, Jesus disarms the devil with a command from Deuteronomy 6 verse 16. It is also written, do not put the Lord your God to the test. And then with one last effort, the tempter tries to bribe our Lord. Look, you came to save the world, right? Well, why go through all of the pain and agony of the cross? Why travel the road that you don't have to? Worship Me and it's all yours. Hustle-free job done just like that. For the third and last time, Jesus overpowers with the sword of the Spirit in such a way that the devil flees. With the words of Deuteronomy 6, verse 13 and Deuteronomy 10, verse 20, Jesus says, Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only. You see, beloved, with those three swings of the sword, Jesus Christ demonstrated the authority, the necessity, the sufficiency, and the clarity of Scripture. With those three swings of the sword, He repelled and disarmed the devil and caused him to flee. Jesus has shown us, demonstrated for us what it means to take the sword and meet the assaults of the devil head on. Remember, beloved, Satan's sword is the lie. And throughout the ages, he has continually lied to man and especially to God's people by trying to tell us that the Word of God is nothing but a lie. For example, for thousands of years, secular philosophy has attacked the truth of the Word of God. Philosophy which says that man, by seeking himself, can find out God. That man can arrive at truth as a result of meditation and working out his theories. That man is the measure of all things. That man is independent. That man's reasoning capabilities are supreme. But also, increased knowledge has also been an enemy of the truth of the Word of God. Secular scientific advancement causes many people to reject Christianity. The more we learn, the more we know, the more so many doubt. You see, the only truth, they say, is that which science can prove. And these attacks continue today. The truth continues to be attacked. And we know that this is the case also within the visible church. A number of you, I trust, are familiar with that organization called the Jesus Seminar. A couple of years ago, I read a newspaper article about the Jesus Seminar. and this group of so-called religious scholars teach that Jesus was only human, not divine. They teach that Mary was not a virgin. After all, we all know that it's impossible to have a baby if you're a virgin. They teach that the physical resurrection of Jesus was just a story, not a fact. They teach that most likely the reason that Christ's body has never been found or could never be found was that it was eaten by wild dogs. And they teach that most of what the Bible says Jesus said, you know in your red letter editions, all the words in red, they say that He didn't say most of that. It isn't true. And according to them, this is a direct quote, Jesus must change if He is to survive in the age of Galileo's telescope, Einsteinian physics, electrons, and the demand for verifiable information. In other words, if man can't verify something, then it cannot be true. Jesus must change if He is going to survive. Beloved, I thought that it was the other way. That we must change by the grace of God if we are to survive in the age to come. Satan is also working a little closer to home, we know, trying to make dull the blade of the Spirit's sword by planting the idea of multiple interpretations to various Scripture passages, by causing doubt about the origin of creation, by challenging the authority and the clarity of Scripture, as well as challenging the relevance of portions of the Bible for us today. Scripture's authority is no longer the self-revelation of God found in the Bible and the fact that the Word is God-breathed, God-given, and God-honored. Instead, man, by the power of Satan, is taking on that authority to himself. And those who teach these things and believe these things are trying to take the heart right out of the Gospel and trying to extinguish the saving power of the Gospel. But praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ that this will never be. For as the writer of Hebrews says in chapter 4, verse 12, 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 it is the discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart, beloved, the Word of God can dissect and cut the lie out of anything that attacks it. The Word of God alone sheds light and exposes even the darkest recesses and crevices of the lie. This is the grand instrument the Christian soldier is called to use when the devil tries to move him from the ground on which grace has placed him. The foundation of truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation. We are called, beloved, to stand firm on this very same Word that is being attacked. And our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ demonstrated for us how to do that. As well, Paul's method of defense was to reason from Scripture and take notice of how often Paul and the other New Testament writers quoted from Old Testament Scripture. As well, the Reformers took their stand on Scripture sola scriptura, which is above the church and above tradition. The soul authority. Only the Word of God is powerful enough to repel the devil's attacks, to disarm him and cause him to flee. Hosea 6, verse 5 talks about God slaying the disobedient people by the words of His mouth. Isaiah 11, verse 4 speaks of the Messiah striking the earth with the rod of His mouth and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. Revelation 19 speaks of the conqueror who is called the Word of God and when He comes out of His mouth will be a sharp sword to strike the nations. When Jesus comes again, beloved, His truth and beauty will quickly cut away those clinging to the ugliness and deceit of the devil's lies. Beloved, no word of man is capable of overpowering the spiritual hosts of wickedness, but these same spiritual hosts of wickedness cannot stand their ground when God speaks. Martin Luther penned those comforting words which we sang. I'm glad Katie chose that song. And though this world with devils filled should threaten to undo us, we will not fear, for God has willed His truth to triumph through us. The Prince of Darkness Grim. We tremble not for Him. His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure. One little word shall fell him. Finally, beloved, how is the Christian soldier to arm himself with this sword? What is the reception of the sword? The text says, and take, of course, the helmet of salvation, and then the word take is to be included, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. The verb take means to receive, to accept. The Holy Spirit makes His sword available. He gives it to His people. And as with all of the armor, the Christian soldier is called to put it to use. How? By faith. How is the Christian soldier to take the sword up as a useful and skillful weapon in the spiritual warfare? Well, three considerations that I lay before you tonight. First, beloved, we must regularly, prayerfully, systematically engage in the heart-absorbing and heart-digesting of the contents of our Bibles. What am I talking about? You've got to read and study your Bible. It's not just going to jump into your mind and into your heart sitting closed on the shelf. You've got to study it. Psalm 1 says the blessed man meditates day and night on God's Word. Jeremiah 15 verse 16 says, Your words were found and I ate them and your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart. The psalmist in Psalm 119 speaks of God's precepts being sweeter than honey and beloved. That means that He has tasted them spiritually. speaking we're talking here about the taking in of god's word feasting on the word of god and digesting it so that through the operation of the holy spirit becomes a part of you the crowning sin of many christians today is the neglect of the word of god and this is why we struggle so in in the spiritual warfare why so often we don't even dare to get into theological conversations with our brothers and sisters in the church, let alone with relatives in other churches or other denominations or whatever the case may be. And so often when something comes up in the church that we don't like, we simply say, well, I don't believe that. I don't believe that way, instead of truly studying Scripture. But as well, beloved, this is why many of us don't welcome Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons into a conversation when they knock on the door. And we all know this is true. Instead of driving them away by slamming the door in their face, God's people ought to be sharing with them the truth of the Gospel. I admit I have a hard time with this too. It's difficult. It's scary. But you see, they are on their way to hell. And if we turn them away without trying by God's grace to set them straight, we are basically saying that's where we want them to go. The second consideration of taking the sword is that there must be a conscious effort to memorize texts, and especially those that are particularly suited to your own area of spiritual conflict and weakness. Thy word I have hid in my heart, the psalmist says. Why? That I might not sin against you. Let me ask you, at what age are we permitted? To stop committing Scripture to memory. Our boys and girls in the Christian school memorize Scripture verses weekly. Praise be to God. But who said that we as parents could stop? Never may we stop committing Scripture to memory. Our dying breath ought to include committing Scripture to memory. When Jesus was being tempted, you notice He didn't have to run off to the local synagogue and call on the rabbi on call to loan him the scrolls of Deuteronomy. He had the sword drawn. He had the text ready. And the argument from you and me that Jesus is God won't work. Scripture tells us that He also grew in wisdom and in stature and by God's grace through the sanctification of the Holy Spirit, you and I continue to grow every day. And Jesus promised to give His Christian soldiers the words that we need. When Satan himself tried to play the it is written game, twisting Scripture to his own advantage, Jesus, as it were, thrusts His sword more forcefully into the enemy's vital organs until Satan doubled over and went away for a time. Beloved, we must hide God's Word in our heart, ready to be used at a moment's notice. And the third consideration in taking the sword is this. Take only this sword. Refuse any substitutes that may be offered that do not agree fully with the Word of God. Paul told Timothy to preach the Word and to preach only the Word. You and I know that there are self-help and how-to manuals for virtually everything today from how to fix a car, to cook a meal, obviously, but also how to raise our children, how to live spiritually in the workplace, whatever the case may be. And not that some of these things are necessarily wrong, but often even we as Christians, we put more faith in these self-help guides than we do in the Word of God. Some of these things are fine, but never, never put them above Scripture. The sword of the Spirit is the one and only weapon of spiritual warfare that will be effective and it alone makes the other pieces of armor effective. The helmet, the breastplate, the belt, the shoes, the shield depend upon the sword of the Spirit to become effective because as truth, the Word of God belts us. As the Gospel of peace, it puts the readiness of courage into our hearts. as the faith that shields us against any and all of the wicked ones' lies. Beloved, the only way to take up the sword of the Spirit is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ by grace alone through faith alone and to study His Word, that which He has given. He is the sword. He is the Word of God incarnate. He is the truth. And only if you are in Christ Jesus can you resist the devil and will he flee from you. Jesus conquered Satan with that sword called the cross when He cut His people loose from the dominion and power of Satan. But those who are not with Christ are against Him and they too will be cut off from Him for eternity apart from true repentance and faith. The sword of the Spirit, beloved, means certain death for His enemies. But it means certain life for His bride, the church. Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. Congregation, Christ calls us. As His Christian soldiers, He calls us to arms. By the grace of God and the Spirit's strength, stand firm with a sharp, bright, shining sword of the Spirit unsheathed and lifted high. Because against this sword, There is no defense. Nothing. Nothing can overpower it. And may this sword cleave to your hand until it becomes a part of you. And remember, beloved, that no one has ever been saved apart from the Word of God. Amen. Amen. Shall we pray? Father, what a tremendous blessing that You have bestowed upon Your people, Your church, that You have given to us Your Word inscripturated the sword of the Spirit. Father, we confess that so many of us really don't know how to use it. We're not comfortable with using it. And we pray, O Lord, that You would equip us with it. That You would increase our talent daily in using this wonderful piece of armor, this weapon of warfare. That You would give us the strength to stand firm against Satan with the sword drawn. That whatever means he may use, whether people, whether media, whatever the case may be, whatever he uses to try to attack us and to catch us off guard that we might be ready with the sword of the Spirit. Father, may we not ever be content with simply saying, I don't understand something this way or I don't believe it that way. But may we dig into the Word of God and desire that You would show us the truth, Your truth, which alone set Your people free. We thank You, O Lord, for hearing our prayer. In Jesus' name, Amen. Amen.