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.

The sword of the Spirit is a very well-known part of the armor of God.  It is the spoken, or the Rhema coming out of your mouth.  This word “sword” is from the original word “machaira.”  This sword was a brutal weapon of murder used by the Roman soldier; it was razor sharp on both sides, with a small hook on the end to finish off the enemy in a brutal fashion.

In Hebrews 4:12 and Revelation 1:16, we see the term “double-edged sword.”  The word “double edged” is from the word “distomos,” and it means two mouthed.  That is, God says and then, we have to say.  It doesn’t become a two-edged sword until we speak a Rhema, a word from the Word spoken by faith, against the enemy.  “The Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword,” as it says in Hebrews 4:12, and Revelation 1:16 says this about Jesus, “…and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword.”

We can clearly see the intent of using this two-edged sword against the enemy when we look at Jesus in the Wilderness (Luke 4:1-13).  When Satan tempted Jesus, He pulled out His sword, spoke the written Word of God (logos), and on the way out of His mouth, because it was spoken by faith, it became a rhema.  That’s what makes it a distomos (rhema).

We must have the logos (the belt of truth) which will become a Rhema when spoken by faith, the breastplate of righteousness, our shoes of peace, the helmet of salvation, and out in front the shield of faith; but if we never use our sword by speaking a Rhema, the devil will run over us.  We have to put the devil on the run with the Word of God coming out of our mouth in faith.  We have to answer the devil; any thoughts, accusations, temptations, or anything else he brings must be answered with a Rhema.

In order to answer with, “It is written,” we must know, or least be able to clearly find where it is written.  If you catch yourself saying, “Well, I just believe,” understand that what you “just believe” is not enough to get rid of the devil.  You must answer the devil back with, “It is written!”  Just like when Jesus answered the fig tree when it had no figs, and when he spoke to the storm, dead bodies, evil spirits, fevers, and the devil himself.  You and I must do the same thing.  Don’t ever let the devil have the last word.  Speak the written Word of God and it will become a Rhema in your mouth and with that two-edged sword you will run the devil off.