SPEAKER_00: Ministering to the heart of Western Arkansas's River Valley for over 165 years, welcome to Chapter and First, the Bible teaching ministry of Fort Smith's First Baptist Church.
SPEAKER_00: You'll find sermons and teachings from Pastor Greg, our ministry staff, and guest speakers.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you, church, choir, and praise team for that beautiful time.
SPEAKER_01: How do we know that Jesus saves?
SPEAKER_01: We've been singing Jesus saves.
SPEAKER_01: How do we know Jesus saves?
SPEAKER_01: We know because the inerrant, the infallible, the eternal Word of God tells us that Jesus saves.
SPEAKER_01: So I want you to turn with me in your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 6, and we're going to continue our study on the armor of God.
SPEAKER_01: And today we get to talk about the part that I've been looking forward to because I get to play with a sword.
SPEAKER_01: And so we're excited about this part.
SPEAKER_01: And so if you'll read with me here, Ephesians chapter 6, here's what the Bible tells us about the armor of God and the sword that we'll talk about today.
SPEAKER_01: Scripture says, beginning in verse 11, put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the tactics of the devil.
SPEAKER_01: For our battle, and he is using very much a military illustration here, and he is talking about battle, spiritual battle that we wage as the people of God.
SPEAKER_01: And the methodology that we have to do that is using this understanding of the spiritual truths of who we are in Jesus Christ that are illustrated to us by the armor.
SPEAKER_01: So he says, For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.
SPEAKER_01: This is why you must take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand.
SPEAKER_01: Stand, therefore, and then he uses this illustration of armor, with truth like a belt around your waist, righteousness like armor on your chest, and your feet sandal with readiness for the gospel of peace.
SPEAKER_01: Then he goes into some of the armament of a Roman soldier.
SPEAKER_01: In every situation, take the shield of faith, and with it you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
SPEAKER_01: Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is God's word.
SPEAKER_01: And so today we're going to talk about that picture of the sword and how that works.
SPEAKER_01: Now, um while I was in England, I was able to visit the British Museum, and there they have a very extensive display of Roman uh soldiers and Roman centurions and guards and all of that.
SPEAKER_01: So forgive a little bit of the sort of the reflection of some of the lights in there.
SPEAKER_01: There were a lot of people in there, so I just snapped these real quick, and Bobby was good to help me.
SPEAKER_01: You'll see there a picture of the Roman soldier.
SPEAKER_01: And so you'll recognize a lot of those things that we have talked about.
SPEAKER_01: We learned about the armor and the two different types.
SPEAKER_01: There's the chain male armor, or uh, what became more prominent was the armor that is in these segments of metal that are put together with um with leather straps.
SPEAKER_01: You see the belt, you see the helmet, and you see his shield and sword.
SPEAKER_01: And so the sword described here is a very particular type of sword.
SPEAKER_01: There are all kinds of swords all throughout history and all types of different swords that were used, but Romans developed a particular type of sword that was very specific to how they fought and how they trained their soldiers to fight.
SPEAKER_01: And so we have all kinds of pictures of things like broadswords and knights and all that kind of stuff.
SPEAKER_01: Well, Romans developed, based on that structure of their armor, a particular way of fighting, that they fought in lines and in ranks.
SPEAKER_01: And so the two pieces that you would use to fight with were the shield and your sword.
SPEAKER_01: And this particular sword was called a gladius, and it was developed and honed over time in how they used.
SPEAKER_01: And so, as we look at these pictures of the sword, keep in mind that this picture, let's go back to that picture, this uh this man on the right here, on your right, uh, my left, that very much looks like how they would fight.
SPEAKER_01: And so they would take up that shield, and that shield is probably this tall off the ground.
SPEAKER_01: It held it was held uh with a leather strap on the inside, and you can see in the middle of that sword that circle and that metal plate, and that was was built and it bulged out like that, and it was used both defensively and offensively.
SPEAKER_01: Now, the way they fought, uh they would be all in a line as Roman soldiers in a rank.
SPEAKER_01: And they were trained very extensively in the physical process of how they did this, and they were trained to fight with excellence.
SPEAKER_01: And a key part of that was how they used their sword.
SPEAKER_01: They would have that shield as they advanced on the enemy, they would begin with.
SPEAKER_01: You can see both of them have a spear called a pilum.
SPEAKER_01: And so what would happen is, as they were a certain rank out, they would take this pilum and they would throw that pilum into the ranks of their enemy.
SPEAKER_01: And it was designed in a very specific way.
SPEAKER_01: It had a wooden shaft, it was uh heavy on the end, on the tip, and it was built to penetrate, and then they would weaken that uh shank of the spear.
SPEAKER_01: Because what happens is if you throw that spear and you miss, somebody picks it up and they throw it back at you.
SPEAKER_01: Well, what would happen is they threw that pilum and it would land uh on a shield of the enemy or it would pierce their armor.
SPEAKER_01: What happened was because it was weak behind that tip, it would bend and it would be unusable.
SPEAKER_01: And so they would throw those, and then what would happen is they would take their shield in a certain way.
SPEAKER_01: They all wore their swords on the right side of their body, unless you were a commander, and then you wore it on the left.
SPEAKER_01: And under command, as they would hold that shield, they would all draw their swords with their right hands.
SPEAKER_01: Everybody fought in the same, didn't matter if you were left-handed or right-handed, you all fought the same way.
SPEAKER_01: And they would advance with that shield.
SPEAKER_01: And that shield could be an offensive weapon that you could push the enemy or hit the enemy.
SPEAKER_01: You would hide behind that crouched in a particular way, and then your sword you were taught to fight in a stabbing motion.
SPEAKER_01: You know the scripture we'll look at in a moment where the Bible talks about a two-edged sword.
SPEAKER_01: This sword is 18 to 2 feet, 18 inches to two feet long.
SPEAKER_01: It is very sharp on both sides.
SPEAKER_01: It is a two-edged sword, and it is designed to pierce directly.
SPEAKER_01: The way they built the part of the handle, it gave you a great grip.
SPEAKER_01: And then you had a protection to your hand that helped you in that process.
SPEAKER_01: And as you went forward with this shield, you could stab under at the legs or the ankles, you could stab to the side, or you could stab over the top.
SPEAKER_01: And they very much, almost like a pitcher or a boxer, you were taught to stab directly using your hips and your arms, and they would advance behind these shields, pushing the enemy forward, penetrating into their lines, constantly stabbing and jabbing and moving forward.
SPEAKER_01: It was an incredibly powerful form of armament, and the particular way that they were designed to fight with that sword, it was an incredibly effective, both offensive weapon and defensive weapon.
SPEAKER_01: If someone was coming at you with a maul or a hammer or a brace or a big sword, you could block that effectively.
SPEAKER_01: But because of the short nature of it, it was easy in close quarter battle to be very effective as a weapon.
SPEAKER_01: And so it is a powerful illustration that we're given in Scripture, and it is a highly effective way to describe the power of the Word of God and what it has in our lives.
SPEAKER_01: It's also an incredible picture because everyone would have known in those days what that Roman soldier looked like and how they fought and how powerfully effective they were.
SPEAKER_01: They also would know that they trained incessantly to handle the Gladius sword with excellence.
SPEAKER_01: They fought in lockstep together.
SPEAKER_01: They protected each other in that process.
SPEAKER_01: They were all fighting with the right hand.
SPEAKER_01: So all along that line, you knew exactly where your next soldier was, your companion or your brother at arms.
SPEAKER_01: You knew exactly how that process was fighting.
SPEAKER_01: It was all moving forward.
SPEAKER_01: No one around you was getting inner injured.
SPEAKER_01: It was an incredibly effective tool as you would pierce into someone's leg or you would pierce into their head or neck area or into their shoulders.
SPEAKER_01: It would penetrate deeply and come back out, creating devastating wounds on the enemy.
SPEAKER_01: And so everyone understood that this was an incredibly effective, highly powerful tool, and that it was wielded by men who were trained with excellence in how they handled it.
SPEAKER_01: Now, what an incredible picture for us as we think about walking through life, making the choices that we make, facing the adversity that we face, when we think about the picture of spiritual warfare and battle in our lives, as God says, standing against the schemes of the devil.
SPEAKER_01: To have this picture of a warrior trained with excellence, with a tool that has been honed through battle after battle.
SPEAKER_01: It's been taught how to be effectively used, and it is wielded by someone who is trained with excellence to handle it.
SPEAKER_01: That's who we are called to be as followers of Christ.
SPEAKER_01: We are called to wield the sword of the Word of God with excellence.
SPEAKER_01: Understanding how God has written it, strengthened it, how He has honed it down to be a tool in our lives that is incredibly effective and powerful.
SPEAKER_01: Whether we are defending against Satan and the tax or schemes of the devil, as Scripture says, or whether we are taking it out into the world as an offensive weapon to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with the world that needs him.
SPEAKER_01: It is an incredible picture to think that as soldiers of God, we should have the Word of God and be trained in its use and understand its effectiveness and fight side by side, wielding the sword of the Word of God.
SPEAKER_01: It's an incredible picture.
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to do a sermon a little bit different today.
SPEAKER_01: What I want to do is if we are talking about how the Word of God is this incredibly effective tool and sword.
SPEAKER_01: I don't want to just tell you about it.
SPEAKER_01: I want to take the sword today, and I want you to see from the Word of God itself how it works and how effective it is in our lives as a tool.
SPEAKER_01: So what I'm going to do is a little bit different today.
SPEAKER_01: We're going to have a lot of scriptures and they're going to plow through up on the screen so you can read them.
SPEAKER_01: We don't have to take the time to go find them.
SPEAKER_01: You can write the references down, but I want to show you from the Word of God how effective the Word of God is when properly wielded, led by the Holy Spirit, by a soldier of God who is trained in its use.
SPEAKER_01: So how does the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, work in our lives?
SPEAKER_01: Well, here's the first thing you need to understand.
SPEAKER_01: It is a spiritual weapon.
SPEAKER_01: And this scripture here, what the Bible says, it is the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God.
SPEAKER_01: So what he's telling us is that there was a spiritual influence and impact on how the Word of God has worked.
SPEAKER_01: And so what happens is the Holy Spirit is the one who empowers and drives the Word of God in our lives.
SPEAKER_01: So I want you to see how the Spirit works.
SPEAKER_01: The sword works because the Holy Spirit uses Scripture in a supernatural way in our lives.
SPEAKER_01: And here you see the similar illustration again.
SPEAKER_01: For the Word of God is living and effective and sharper than any two-edged or double-edged sword.
SPEAKER_01: Penetrating.
SPEAKER_01: You can get that picture of fighting in that specific, powerful way with a sword designed to cut deeply immediately as it is penetrated.
SPEAKER_01: Penetrating as far as the separation of the soul and the spirit, joints and marrow.
SPEAKER_01: It is able to judge the ideas and thoughts of the heart.
SPEAKER_01: And then the next verse says this no creature is hidden from him.
SPEAKER_01: But all things are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
SPEAKER_01: In other words, the Holy Spirit sees our lives, everything in our hearts, all of our struggles, all of our doubts, all of our questions, all of the ruminating that goes on when we face temptation and we're battling back and forth on whether we're going to give in or fight that or not.
SPEAKER_01: All of those things that are going on in our minds and our hearts, those are all open and viewed clearly by the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: And then he takes the word of God and he uses it very specifically and powerfully.
SPEAKER_01: And he goes to the thoughts and intents of our hearts that are all naked and open to his view, and he penetrates with the scripture directly into that moment in our lives.
SPEAKER_01: Into that question, into that doubt, into that fear, into that pride, into that moment of temptation.
SPEAKER_01: And so you see how the word is used by the Holy Spirit, and he steps into our lives because he sees what's going on and he knows what's going on.
SPEAKER_01: And he applies directly the powerful, penetrating word of God.
SPEAKER_01: Let me show you another scripture that describes that.
SPEAKER_01: Here in 1 John, the Bible says this the anointing you received from him remains in you.
SPEAKER_01: And that's the Holy Spirit that he's talking about there.
SPEAKER_01: And you don't need anyone to teach you.
SPEAKER_01: Instead, his anointing teaches you about all things and is true and is not a lie, just as he has taught you, remain in him.
SPEAKER_01: And there in that passage, he is talking about the scripture, and you have the Holy Spirit, and you have the scripture, and you literally are equipped with all that you need as a warrior for Christ in every moment that you face.
SPEAKER_01: As you have the living, powerful of God and the Holy Spirit who guides and directs that in our lives.
SPEAKER_01: So let me show you just three ways that build a foundation of how the Holy Spirit is using the Scripture of God in your life.
SPEAKER_01: First of all, Scripture supernaturally creates salvation in us and the faith for salvation through making the gospel clear and alive in us.
SPEAKER_01: Scripture is an integral, foundational part of how we recognize that Jesus saves.
SPEAKER_01: When we sang those beautiful songs this morning, and I opened with that first question, how do we know that Jesus saves?
SPEAKER_01: It is because the word of God tells us that.
SPEAKER_01: Now, brothers, I want to clarify for you the gospel I proclaimed to you.
SPEAKER_01: You received it, and you've taken your stand on it.
SPEAKER_01: You are also saved by it, by the gospel of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: If you hold to the message I proclaimed to you, unless you believed for no purpose.
SPEAKER_01: For I passed on to you as most important what I also received.
SPEAKER_01: And now he makes clear the gospel, founded on the word of God, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures.
SPEAKER_01: That he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures.
SPEAKER_01: And that he appeared to Peter then to the twelve.
SPEAKER_01: You see, it is the gospel as defined by the word of God in Scripture.
SPEAKER_01: Look at the next passage of Scripture, where he tells us how Scripture steps into our lives and creates that understanding and that faith for salvation.
SPEAKER_01: Romans chapter 10 says this, but how can they call on him they have not believed in?
SPEAKER_01: And how can they believe without hearing about him?
SPEAKER_01: And how can they hear without a preacher?
SPEAKER_01: And how can they preach unless they are sent?
SPEAKER_01: As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who announce the gospel of good things, of good news.
SPEAKER_01: But all did not obey the gospel, for Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed our message.
SPEAKER_01: So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Jesus Christ that is founded in the Word of God.
SPEAKER_01: How did you know that Jesus loved you and died on the cross for your sins?
SPEAKER_01: Because you heard it preached from the Word of God.
SPEAKER_01: And Scripture told us, for God so loved the world that he gave his only Son.
SPEAKER_01: It is Scripture that tells us in the book of Romans, for he demonstrated his love towards us, and that even while we were sinners, Christ died for us.
SPEAKER_01: It is the scripture that says in 1 John that not that we loved him first, but he first loved us and gave his son to be the payment for our sins.
SPEAKER_01: Look at the next scripture.
SPEAKER_01: Peter tells us that who through him, Jesus, are believers in God, who raised him, Jesus, from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
SPEAKER_01: It is in his work with Jesus on the cross, by obedience to the truth, having purified yourselves for sincere love of the brothers, love one another earnestly from a pure heart.
SPEAKER_01: Since you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
SPEAKER_01: For all flesh is like grass, and in all its glory like flower of the grass.
SPEAKER_01: The grass withers and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord endures forever.
SPEAKER_01: And this is the word that was preached as the gospel to you.
SPEAKER_01: It is the preaching of the word of God.
SPEAKER_01: It is hearing the word of God.
SPEAKER_01: It is Jesus looking at our lives and seeing what our questions is, what our hurts are, what our sense of guilt is, what our dealing with our forgiveness of sin, and we're recognizing we can't do that.
SPEAKER_01: And it is the word of God that says, Jesus loved you.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus stepped out of heaven and he died for you.
SPEAKER_01: It is Jesus who took your punishment and your sin on the cross.
SPEAKER_01: It is Jesus who rose again from the dead, conquering death and sin to offer you life.
SPEAKER_01: It is the word of God that calls to us and says, listen, give your life to Jesus, the one who gave his life for you.
SPEAKER_01: And when we place our faith in Jesus Christ, we are trusting that what Scripture tells us is true, that Jesus died for us, as Paul said, according to the scriptures.
SPEAKER_01: That Jesus rose again according to the scriptures.
SPEAKER_01: There's no question of the historicity and the truth of Jesus or the spiritual effect of what he did, because the word of God tells us that Jesus saves if you will give your life to him.
SPEAKER_01: We are birthed into the family of God, standing on the promise of the Word of God.
SPEAKER_01: It is scripture that speaks into our lives and our hearts.
SPEAKER_01: When we're dealing with that guilt or that struggle or that sin, how do I know if God will really forgive me?
SPEAKER_01: Because the Holy Spirit takes the promise of forgiveness of the Word of God and He says, I see your doubt in your question, Greg.
SPEAKER_01: This is my promise for you.
SPEAKER_01: And he speaks and he moves in our lives.
SPEAKER_01: That process does not end when you give your life to Christ.
SPEAKER_01: It just begins.
SPEAKER_01: And so just as a Roman soldier would wield that sword in a defensive way and an offensive way.
SPEAKER_01: Let's look at how the Word of God says that it is that defensive weapon of Scripture as wielded by the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: Well, one more scripture on salvation that sets us up that next point.
SPEAKER_01: 2 Timothy chapter 3.
SPEAKER_01: He is telling Timothy in times of struggle, in times of the warfare that he talks about in Ephesians chapter 6, says, for you continue in what you have learned and firmly believe.
SPEAKER_01: You know those who taught you, and then he tells us what he taught.
SPEAKER_01: And you know that from childhood you have known the sacred scriptures which are able to give you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And now that scripture doesn't just save us, but it becomes our defensive weapon against Satan as well.
SPEAKER_01: Remember, Ephesians 6 says, take up the sword of spirit, the word of God, and stand against the schemes of the devil.
SPEAKER_01: And so he tells us all scripture is inspired by God.
SPEAKER_01: That word is the breath of life that God breathed into Adam.
SPEAKER_01: He breathes into his word.
SPEAKER_01: All scripture is inspired by God and is profitable in our lives for what?
SPEAKER_01: For teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, may be fully complete, equipped for every good work.
SPEAKER_01: And so he's telling us that the word of God is inspired by God and designed to be that defensive weapon in our lives.
SPEAKER_01: It teaches us where to go, it teaches us where not to go.
SPEAKER_01: When we go down that wrong path, it rebukes us and says, come back.
SPEAKER_01: It corrects us and shows us how and trains us in righteousness.
SPEAKER_01: Look what the Bible says in the book of Psalms as it describes the use of Scripture in our lives.
SPEAKER_01: How can a young man keep his way pure?
SPEAKER_01: By keeping your word.
SPEAKER_01: When you face that time in your life or that struggle, how do you fight against that temptation?
SPEAKER_01: How do you fight against when Satan comes in and says something to you and whispers in your ear and he gets you to doubt God's not with you, God doesn't love you, God can't use you.
SPEAKER_01: How do you fight that?
SPEAKER_01: You don't argue with him, you don't present logic.
SPEAKER_01: What the Bible says is you take the word of God and you keep it in your heart and in your life.
SPEAKER_01: I've sought you with all my heart.
SPEAKER_01: Don't let me wander from your commands.
SPEAKER_01: How do we seek the Lord?
SPEAKER_01: Through the Word of God.
SPEAKER_01: I have treasured your word in my heart so that I may not sin against you.
SPEAKER_01: And when I face those temptations, I face those doubts, I face that attack from Satan, that temptation that he places in front of me.
SPEAKER_01: How do I do that?
SPEAKER_01: I keep the word of God.
SPEAKER_01: I hide the word of God.
SPEAKER_01: I pursue him through the word of God.
SPEAKER_01: I fight against the enemy using the scriptures, the powerful scripture.
SPEAKER_01: How do I know what scripture to use?
SPEAKER_01: Remember, the Holy Spirit is wielding that in your life.
SPEAKER_01: Scriptures that you've learned in church, scriptures that we've studied in church, that you've studied in Sunday school.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe someone who's discipled you have taught you, and the Holy Spirit brings those scriptures to mind and he places them in your hand as a sword.
SPEAKER_01: And we see this very example in the life of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: In this famous moment at the beginning of his ministry when Jesus goes out in the wilderness to be tempted.
SPEAKER_01: Here's what the scripture describes to us about that moment.
SPEAKER_01: After he had fasted 40 days and forty nights, he was hungry.
SPEAKER_01: Then the tempter, Satan, approached him and he said, If you're the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.
SPEAKER_01: In other words, if you'll turn to me, I'll provide for your needs.
SPEAKER_01: And what does Jesus do?
SPEAKER_01: He takes the defensive weapon that he's been given as empowered by the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: And he says, It is written.
SPEAKER_01: He turns to the Word of God that He's hidden in His heart.
SPEAKER_01: He turns to the scriptures that the Holy Spirit brings to mind specifically in that moment.
SPEAKER_01: And he parries and he fights off the enemy with the Word of God.
SPEAKER_01: It is written, man must not live on bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
SPEAKER_01: You see, deployed in the life of Jesus, the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God.
SPEAKER_01: If it works for Jesus, it works for you.
SPEAKER_01: If Jesus opens up this moment in his life in Scripture to show us how it works, then that is our greatest training manual right there on how it works.
SPEAKER_01: When Satan shows up in your life and he tries to get you to doubt, you grab a promise that the Holy Spirit empowers in your life and you fight off that attack and you parry back with it is written.
SPEAKER_01: It is written.
SPEAKER_01: But our sword is not just a defensive weapon, it is also an offensive weapon.
SPEAKER_01: By offense, what we mean is we're not going out to attack and to kill.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, Jesus told us that it's Satan who does that.
SPEAKER_01: He's the one who seeks to kill, steal, and destroy.
SPEAKER_01: But when we go out bearing the word of God, we are going out with the good news that Jesus saves.
SPEAKER_01: We are going to take ground from the enemy.
SPEAKER_01: We are going to show souls that they can be rescued just like we have by the imperishable word of God.
SPEAKER_01: Again, in Romans 10, we read before, how can they call on him they have not believed in?
SPEAKER_01: And how can they believe without hearing about him?
SPEAKER_01: They have to know who Jesus is, and we have to take the good news to them.
SPEAKER_01: How can they hear without a preacher?
SPEAKER_01: And how can they preach unless they are sent?
SPEAKER_01: As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who announce the gospel of good things.
SPEAKER_01: In the same way that we are saved by the promises and the truth of God, we go into the world wielding scripture and the promises of salvation and scripture as a sword.
SPEAKER_01: We fight off the enemy and we present the gospel and we share the gospel and we show people from scripture and we show people from the testimony of our lives how God saves, and we go on the offensive and we go to win souls and to rescue people from the devil and from hell.
SPEAKER_01: Look at the next scripture where he talks about it.
SPEAKER_01: Here we are at the end of Ephesians chapter 6, and we'll look at a couple of these verses next week.
SPEAKER_01: What happens after you've put on the armor of God?
SPEAKER_01: Well, he tells us immediately after that illustration of the armor.
SPEAKER_01: And one of the things he commands is that you pray for Paul, that the message given to him, that he will open his mouth and make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: When we have put that on, we are a soldier.
SPEAKER_01: But Paul uses this illustration.
SPEAKER_01: He's an ambassador in chains.
SPEAKER_01: We are captive to the gospel because we were saved by it, and now we take it out to the world around.
SPEAKER_01: Pray that I may be bold enough in him to speak as I should.
SPEAKER_01: If you want to know what you pray for your pastor, those two verses right there.
SPEAKER_01: If you want to know how to pray for the person who leads your Sunday school group and teaches you scripture each week, you pray for how they wield the sword and share the gospel through that.
SPEAKER_01: That's why we pray for folks and we gather behind them and pray for them on the mission trips when they go.
SPEAKER_01: Because we are marshalling those resources and pray for them as they take the promise of Scripture, the Word of God, and they take that out into the world to rescue souls.
SPEAKER_01: Finally, you see, one last scripture.
SPEAKER_01: Paul tells the church in Rome at the very beginning of that letter, I am eager to preach the good news to you, also who are in Rome.
SPEAKER_01: For I am not ashamed of the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: It is God's power for salvation to everyone who believes first to the Jew and also to the Greek.
SPEAKER_01: Paul is making clear in every way he can that the Word of God is the sword of the Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: It is that imperishable, everlasting promise, explanation, and understanding of the Word of God.
SPEAKER_01: If we were saved through the preaching of the gospel and an understanding of the promise of Jesus, then we must go out and give that same promise to the world around us.
SPEAKER_01: So here's kind of how we've structured these messages.
SPEAKER_01: Here's what the piece of armor is, here's why we use it, and here's how you use it.
SPEAKER_01: Listen, I've preached a little bit different today.
SPEAKER_01: I know I've given you lots of scriptures, but here's what I need you to understand.
SPEAKER_01: I need you to understand what Scripture says about itself.
SPEAKER_01: I need you to embrace the promise that Scripture tells us what it is in our lives.
SPEAKER_01: And I need us to take up the sword of the Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: You have to wield the Word of God as a soldier trained to use it with effectiveness and with excellence.
SPEAKER_01: What do we have if we're not using the Word of God?
SPEAKER_01: How in the world are we ever going to be effective if it is not based on the promise of the Word of God?
SPEAKER_01: Listen, one of the things, one of the reasons that I love being a preacher, and I am so grateful and humbled that God has allowed me to preach, is a chance to see the power of God work.
SPEAKER_01: Now we have lots of resources where we can talk about the historicity of Scripture, where it came from, the Dead Sea Scrolls, all that sort of stuff.
SPEAKER_01: There is so much information about that.
SPEAKER_01: But let me tell you the most important reason for me why I believe God's word is true.
SPEAKER_01: Because I have sat in my office and I have taken the word of God and I have given it to someone and I have watched it change their lives.
SPEAKER_01: One of the most important lessons I learned about Scripture, people had come in, a couple had come in and they were sitting down with me and they were struggling, and man, there was no hope and all of that, and I'm trying to learn as a new pastor how to work through these moments with these couples.
SPEAKER_01: And God just speaks to me and he says, Greg, until they have a sense of hope, they're not listening.
SPEAKER_01: You need to give them some hope.
SPEAKER_01: Give them this verse.
SPEAKER_01: And he gave me the verse from Proverbs.
SPEAKER_01: He placed it on my mind, and I took it like a sword, and I placed it into their lives, and I said, Here's what the word says.
SPEAKER_01: God says this hope set aside makes the heart sick.
SPEAKER_01: How does that feel in your life?
SPEAKER_01: He said, That's exactly what we feel.
SPEAKER_01: It is only Scripture can speak directly as a discerner and thoughts and intents of the heart.
SPEAKER_01: I said, listen, you are right.
SPEAKER_01: And God wrote that because he knows the human heart.
SPEAKER_01: And he was able to write that, and he knows exactly what it feels like, and all the way through, down through the quarters of time and the differences in culture and everything else, y'all are sitting here and you hear the word of God and you hear God speak directly to your heart.
SPEAKER_01: He said, That's exactly what we feel.
SPEAKER_01: I said, Do you want to know what the Bible says about hope?
SPEAKER_01: Now they did.
SPEAKER_01: Because God spoke to their heart.
SPEAKER_01: I've had a chance to go preach in places, and it's interesting to show up and to be a guest preacher.
SPEAKER_01: You show up in a church where no one's ever heard of you, no one knows you, you don't know anyone there, the building looks different, the air smells weird, their coffee's bad.
SPEAKER_01: How do you have bad coffee in a Baptist church?
SPEAKER_01: Everything is off and it's all strange.
SPEAKER_01: And you go into this moment and you're thinking, what in the world am I going to do?
SPEAKER_01: And how am I going to help them?
SPEAKER_01: And how is this going to connect?
SPEAKER_01: And you take out the word of God and you start to read the word of God and you share with them the word of God and you see the Holy Spirit step into the lives of people and people who don't know each other, people who don't have any shared experience.
SPEAKER_01: But when we come together around the living and powerful Word of God as supernaturally through you through the Holy Spirit, and you watch God work and you step back from that and you go, man, that was nothing but God.
SPEAKER_01: He was the only one at work in that moment.
SPEAKER_01: And when you see the word of God speak in the lives of people, listen, I don't need to go to a history book anymore to find out if this is actually true or what that history is or what that doubt.
SPEAKER_01: If Satan comes at us now and he says, listen, that's not true and it's got this error and whatever kind of a deal, listen, I don't need to worry about that anymore.
SPEAKER_01: Because I have seen the word of God at work supernaturally in the lives of people.
SPEAKER_01: And nothing can do that the way the word does.
SPEAKER_01: Should we have apologetics and an understanding of all those things?
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely we should.
SPEAKER_01: But listen, none of that intellectual work should ever be higher in our minds than a deep faith in the work of God's word because we have seen it change lives in people's lives.
SPEAKER_01: Because we have felt the wisdom and the teaching and the power of the word of God.
SPEAKER_01: I love it.
SPEAKER_01: I was reading through some quotes from Charles Haddon Spurgeon this week, and here's one he said.
SPEAKER_01: Why in the world do we feel like we need to stand up and defend Scripture?
SPEAKER_01: Scripture is like a lion, the lion of Judah.
SPEAKER_01: You don't defend a lion, you cut it loose and it defends itself.
SPEAKER_01: So let me ask you: have you cut loose scripture in your life?
SPEAKER_01: This week?
SPEAKER_01: How many days did you begin your day in the Word?
SPEAKER_01: How many days this week?
SPEAKER_01: Be honest.
SPEAKER_01: Remember what the Holy Spirit says?
SPEAKER_01: The Scripture says that all things are naked and open to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
SPEAKER_01: The Holy Spirit sees and understands in this moment.
SPEAKER_01: How many times this week did you armor yourself and pick up your sword?
SPEAKER_01: How many times was there an opportunity to make a decision this week?
SPEAKER_01: And you made it based on your feelings?
SPEAKER_01: You made it based on your analysis.
SPEAKER_01: You made it based on what you believe without some direction from the word.
SPEAKER_01: What I want to challenge us is what I've tried to show you over and over today from scripture after scripture.
SPEAKER_01: Take up the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, and be equipped.
SPEAKER_01: I want you to bow your heads as we close this morning.
SPEAKER_01: Every week, most weeks, before we close, we give everyone an opportunity to trust Christ as their Savior.
SPEAKER_01: This morning we've talked about the power of the Word of God and the truth of the Word of God, and how when you come to faith in Christ, it is that word and that promise and that description of who Jesus is and the introduction of his love and his mercy to you through the living, powerful Word of God that speaks to your heart and cause you to trust Christ as your Savior.
SPEAKER_01: We sang this morning, Jesus saves.
SPEAKER_01: And I want you to know on the promise of the Word of God, Jesus saves.
SPEAKER_01: If you've never trusted Christ as your Savior this morning, we're going to ask you to place your faith in the teaching of the Word of God, in the good news, what Paul said, that according to the scriptures, Christ came and died for you.
SPEAKER_01: That according to the scriptures, Christ was raised from the dead.
SPEAKER_01: You have heard this morning the word preached.
SPEAKER_01: You have heard the good news that Jesus will save you if you will give your life and surrender your life to Him.
SPEAKER_01: Bible is very clear in its instruction.
SPEAKER_01: It is to know and acknowledge that we are sinners.
SPEAKER_01: That's why Jesus stepped out of heaven and died for us.
SPEAKER_01: That our sin must be punished and holy God must punish us.
SPEAKER_01: But God loved you so much in that even while we were yet sinners, as it says in Romans, Christ died for us.
SPEAKER_01: He stepped out of heaven because he was not satisfied with the result that we would be separated from him forever.
SPEAKER_01: And he went to the cross and he paid the price for our sins and he rose again.
SPEAKER_01: And the Bible says, if you will come to him and you will trust in that good news.
SPEAKER_01: If you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, the Bible says.
SPEAKER_01: If you'll take your life, everything you've been, you are, and you ever will be, and if you'll give that to Jesus, he'll save you.
SPEAKER_01: If you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, if you will trust, as Paul said in the scriptures, as it is written, Jesus rose from the dead, according to the scriptures, he will save you.
SPEAKER_01: This morning I'm going to ask you to trust in Jesus as your Savior.
SPEAKER_01: If you're watching online or listening somewhere in home or wherever you are, just where you are, the Holy Spirit is talking to your heart.
SPEAKER_01: Open your heart to him and talk back to him.
SPEAKER_01: Share with him what your struggles are, what your questions are, your doubts.
SPEAKER_01: Place your faith in him by telling him, I may not even understand it all, but I am trusting what you said in your word and give your life to him.
SPEAKER_01: Here in the room this morning, I'm going to pray, and then we're going to stand, and God's people are going to sing a testimony of salvation.
SPEAKER_01: People who love the word of God, who have been connected with these moments in their life this morning as they reminisced and thanked the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: They're going to stand and sing a testimony of the truth of the promises of God.
SPEAKER_01: And if you've never accepted Christ as your Savior, we're going to invite you to come.
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to pray, God's people are going to stand and sing.
SPEAKER_01: Our pastors will be here at the front of the aisles.
SPEAKER_01: You come and trust in the Word of God to be saved.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, we love you and we thank you that not only did you give us your word, but in it you've taught us so clearly how it works, that it is alive and powerful, and that the Holy Spirit applies it into our lives.
SPEAKER_01: And I ask that you apply it today.
SPEAKER_01: If there's someone who needs to be saved, they'll come and they'll give their life to Christ.
SPEAKER_01: And then, my brothers and sisters in Christ who are already saved, I pray that you will use your word to stir us to a new commitment of taking up the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God.
SPEAKER_00: We pray these things in Jesus' name and all God's people said.
SPEAKER_00: We pray this message has been a blessing to you and helped to strengthen your walk with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Please know we want to minister to you and pray for you.
SPEAKER_00: Send an email to contact us at fsfbc.org and let us pray for you and help you in any way we can.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening to Chapter and First, the Bible Teaching Ministry of Fort Smith First Baptist Church.