Such a blessing to have these young men leading. Just being spoken to already before even the preached word. Just amazing, you know, having Tony open up the scriptures and Nathan singing those glorious songs of the faith. I pray that You've come here not just to fulfill some sort of religious obligation, but to meet with the Lord, to be ministered to by the Lord, and to worship Him in spirit and truth. If you have a Bible, please open it up to Ephesians 6. Those of you who are regulars know that we're still working through the armor of God. For those of you who are visiting or are newer, we've been looking at all these various armaments that Paul has enlisted for us, how we as Christ's people, as his church militant as it were, are to arm ourselves. that we might stand against these schemes of the devil, which Rene so gloriously reminded of this morning. This morning we're going to look at the sixth piece of armor. Some scholars believe it's the sixth and final. I'm not fully convinced of that. I believe the weapon of all prayer would be the seventh, but I'm not going to be nitpicky. Nevertheless, we're looking at the Word. We're looking at the sword of the Spirit this morning. God has provided all of these armaments, and as we've seen many times, we need to put them all on. And as we're going to see this morning, that we've not just been given defensive armor, but we've also been given offensive weapons. Let's read verses 10 through 20, as has been our habit, just to remind us of the surrounding context. Ephesians 6, verse 10. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the whole armor of God. that you might be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil 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 firm, Stand firm, therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth and having put on the breastplate of righteousness and as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace in all circumstances, having taken up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one and have been taking up the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. That's our text for this morning. Next week, praying at all times in the spirit with all prayer and supplication to that end, people are with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints and also for me, that words may be given me and opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in chains. And I might declare it boldly as they ought to speak. Please just join me for a moment as we pray to the living God in the name of Christ, that he might rain down upon us showers of blessing, that the Holy Spirit might be our teacher and that he might show us Christ this morning and all the inestimable riches, all the unsearchable riches that we have in Christ. Father, we read about it in 1 Corinthians 2 this morning. Apart from the powerful working of your spirit, your word will lie dormant. That it's only as the Spirit takes your word, takes the gospel of our Savior, that powers evoked and changes are wrought in our heart. Father, I pray that if there be any here who are not alive in Christ, Lord, that you would, according to 1 Corinthians 2, make them spiritual. Give them the Spirit. Regenerate them. Convert them. Give them life. and give them eyes to see Christ, they might believe in Him and turn from their sin. Father, help me. I know exactly how Paul felt at the end of this text. Lord, how I need prayer, how we all need prayer, to make known, to preach, to declare this mystery of the Gospel. Father, would you help me to do so clearly and boldly as I ought? Father, as we just sang, speak, O Lord, till your church is built and the earth is filled with your glory. Father, would you do so for the sake of your Son and His renown to the ends of the earth, and even for the good of your children. Father, would you do so, we ask in Jesus. Glorious, mighty, worthy, beautiful, lovely name we ask. Amen. This morning we come, as I have mentioned, to the sixth piece of armor. You can sort of imagine Paul putting them on with the belt of truth leading the clothing. He puts the belt of truth on which defines everything else to which is attached the breastplate of righteousness, having put on the shoes of peace, having taken up in every circumstance the shield of faith and put on the helmet of salvation. We're still not completely done unless we have first taken up the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Remember, the construction of Paul's language is that we can't stand firm until all of these have been put on. You can't stand or withstand against all of Satan's assaults, and all of his temptations and deceivings, until all of these have been put on. So I'd be remiss to not spend a Sunday, as I've done with the other pieces, focusing on the Sword of the Spirit, or focusing on the necessity for the Christian to take up this powerful weapon called the Word of God. As we have seen, this battle is not against flesh and blood, or literally against blood and flesh. We have seen, rather, that our warfare is not against flesh. It is not against men and women, per se. It is not a physical or a fleshly fight. And therefore, our weapons cannot be physical or fleshly. They are of no use to us. You need the right kinds of weapon for the right kind of war. This is precisely what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10. You don't have to turn there, but just let me read it, because I think it does open up for us a little more understanding as to what Paul is saying in Ephesians 6, 17. He says this in 2 Corinthians 10, verse 3. For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging warfare according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ. Fleshly weapons, beloved, are of no use in a spiritual war. Fleshly weaponry, according to the Apostle in this passage, has no power to destroy the enemy's strongholds. Or as we're going to see in the language of Matthew 16, fleshly weapons have no power to assault and assail the gates of hell. The weaponry that we need as Christ's people for the demolition and destruction of the enemy's strongholds are those that have divine power. Or translated literally, are powerful to God. We need a weapon that is powerful to God or powerful by God. God doesn't give us a whole bunch of weapons by which He gives us one weapon that is powerful to Him or powerful by Him. There's only one weapon offensively that has been entrusted to us as God's people through which He works powerfully. And it's not, as Tony said, through the wit. Or through the intellect of a wise pastor. It's not through an awesome rock show before the service. It's not even through smiling greeters. It's not through a fancy church building. It's not through an entertainment complex with a latte distributary. No, it's through the Word of God. God makes one thing powerful. There's one thing that He stamps His divine approval on. And it's the word. It's the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is one thing powerful to one thing made powerful by God. And it's the sword of the spirit. This sword may appear weak to men. But they are powerful to God. Remember that the world wants you to say that the book that you love and adore and read and seek to apply, that it's for barbarians and it's old and outdated. But this book and the gospel within is powerful to God and powerful by God. The gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. So regardless of what the world says, the word is powerful. Though the world may scoff and mock at our weaponry, though the world might say this sword seems dull, we know that it is a sharp, two-edged sword, as Tony reminded us. And it is powerful to afflict damage against our foes. The world may laugh at us, but we must by faith realize this morning that this sword is of more worth to us and contains more power than all the guns, bombs, tanks, subs, armies of the world combined. Do you believe that? Why? Because God is the one who makes the word powerful. 2 Corinthians 10 and Ephesians 6 teach us that this weapon that Paul is talking about particular is the gospel. It's the word of God. Though foolish and weak in the eyes of the world, God's word made powerful by his spirit is both the wisdom of God and the power of God towards those who believe it. That's in 1 Corinthians 1 for you note takers. Beloved, you might be ridiculed and mocked for believing this book, for believing this good news. But do not allow this persecution to make you ashamed to not take it up. Remember, Paul says, the foolishness of God is wiser than man and the weakness of God is stronger than the power of man. If this is so, the question we must ask ourselves is this. What is it that makes this book, this word, this sword so powerful? Well, it's very evident in the text. He says, take up the sword of the Spirit. I could get nitpicky, but I think that's important. He doesn't just say, take up any old sword. Remember when the disciples asked Jesus, is this sword good enough? And Jesus says, I'm not talking about that. He doesn't just say, take up any old sword, but you must take up the sword wielded by the Holy Spirit. The text tells us that this word or this sword is not so matter of question of what makes it powerful, but who makes it powerful. The sword that is the Word of God carries with it divine power, listen, when it is wielded by the Holy Spirit. So I'm not separating word from spirit here. It's the Word of God, but it's the sword of the Spirit. Let me give you a quote from Mr. Spurgeon. He's always so helpful with his pictures he presents for us. He says this, in ancient history, there's a story of a valiant captain whose sword was dreaded by his enemies. His monarch once demanded of him that he should send this potent sword to him to be examined. The monarch took the sword, quickly criticized it and sent it back with this message. I see nothing wonderful or powerful in this sword. I cannot understand why any man should be afraid of it. The captain then sent back this message to his monarch. Your majesty has been pleased to examine the sword, but I did not send the arm that wielded it. If you had examined that, you would have understood the mystery. And so what Spurgeon is saying that it's not so much the sword that brought dread upon the foes, but it was the arm that skillfully wielded that sword, which brought a great brought about great victory. Brian Rossner says this to somehow pit the spirit against the word does not ring true for Paul. The spirit does not replace the word. Rather, the spirit cooperates or wields the sword. For example, Paul clearly teaches us in Ephesians that it is impossible for anyone to either understand or use God's Word apart from the enlightening, empowering ministry of the Spirit. You cannot understand God's Word, nor can you use it unless the Spirit enlightens or empowers you. That's what he prays for in chapter 1. For this reason, because I've heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I have not ceased to pray for you. What? That God may open up your minds. How? by the Spirit, that He might give you spiritual wisdom and spiritual revelation in the knowledge of Him. You cannot know God apart from the Word employed by the Spirit. Did you know that there are many churches this morning that are reading this book, but if it is not empowered by the Spirit, that Word falls, as it were, useless? But it is made divine, it is made powerful through the Spirit who wields it. In other words, it's not enough to have the Word or the Spirit. You need both. It's like asking which wing is more important on an airplane. The right wing or the left wing? No, you need them both and they balance and complement each other. If you have one wing that is shorter or longer or missing than the other, imminent danger is inevitable. So I want us to understand that though we're talking about the Word of God, that Word of God is not just empty and mere intellectualism. It's not just studying creeds. It's asking the Spirit to take that Word, to give us the mind of Christ in the language of 1 Corinthians 2. Charismatics and Pentecostals, they overemphasize the Spirit to the neglect of the Word. And unfortunately, it renders themselves powerless against the assaults of Satan. They get all hyped up in a small-ass spirit, and they neglect the Word. And they're not able to stand, stand firm, or withstand the assaults of Satan. But those of us who are Reformed, on the other hand, sometimes overemphasize the Word to the neglect of the Spirit, and inevitably render ourselves powerless against the same assaults of Satan. Balance. Yes, we need the sword. But not just any old sword, we need the sword of the Spirit. Many Reformed churches have a huge sword, but it is locked away and hidden in a vault. It's a huge and glorious sword! And it's sharp! And it could do so much damage if the Spirit was in that church to wield it. So make sure that, you're not just praying that we be a word-centered church, but pray that we be a Spirit-filled, word-centered, Christ-exalting, God-glorifying church. This is why Paul commands us not merely to take up the sword, but to take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. In the New Testament, there are two words translated for sword. The first is a broad sword. It's a long one. I think a brave heart, of course. And you would sort of swing it around and it could bring about great damage. But the more predominant word used in the New Testament for sword is the one used in this passage, and the Greek word is called a makaira, and it refers to a short, double-edged sword that was one to two feet in length. This is the kind of sword Paul wants us to take up, not a clumsy flailing around of the Word of God with imprecision, but rather taking up this precise sword. that we can maneuver, and which we can use with great skill and great power. Though perhaps not as visually impressive as the large and imposing broadsword, the much smaller machaira was in reality much more lethal in battle, particularly in close combat, and especially when wielded by an experienced warrior. Not surprisingly then, this machaira was standard military equipment for Roman soldiers. What I want us to understand from Paul's analogy this morning is that when we take up God's word to fight spiritual warfare, we have the weapon par excellence for defensive and defensive battle. So this small little sword gives us a great agility, and we can block, but we can quickly counter. And I want us to see how we can do that in a spiritual battle. And so there's really two points to have this morning. This word of God used for defense, as it were, to parry, which is Lazarus' favorite word, or to deflect, or to shield us from Satan's attacks, but also to use it offensively. And I don't mean offensively as a moron, swearing at people, quoting scripture, but to use it on the offensive. To see Christ's kingdom progress through the word. To see the church built as she preaches the gospel to the ends of the earth. So first, defensively. How is this sword, how is this Micaira beneficial for us spiritually when we're in a defensive mode? Against an inferior foe, being equipped with a broadsword might be sufficient. In other words, if I'm fighting Matt, I can probably take him out with a broadsword because he's slow and he's clumsy and all those things. Okay, but say if I was fighting a ninja like Tony, different. Tony would carve me up. I just think, I was thinking actually this was going to get the, I want to say Mennonites, get the Filipinos into the sermon. I thought of Manny Pacquiao. It's tiny. And he carves up much larger enemies. Why? Because he's so lightning quick. He can block with his hand, and then he can counter with that same hand. And though he floats like a butterfly, to bore the words of Ali, he can still sting like a bee. And that's exactly why we need the short sword. Against a slow, slothful enemy, yeah, the broad sword, likely we can just swing around and eventually we'll hit something. But remember that we're battling a formidable foe. One who's been doing this spiritual warfare for many more years than us. And so not any old sword will do. We need the makaira. We need this if we are pitted against an experienced and battle-ready warrior, who himself would be wielding his own makaira, his own short sword, to jab at us and take short strokes at us. If all we had was this broad sword, we would be slow and our imprecise swipes would be of no avail. against the calculated attacks from the phone. Satan's not just lobbing any old attempt at you or any old temptation. He's very precise and he's very calculated. He's very methodical. He's been scheming. He knows where he's going to attack. He sees all of your weakness and so you need something that is able to counteract that. To dodge. To deflect and defend against these lightning fast strikes. In light of Paul's military metaphor in Ephesians 6, this is precisely with the Lord Jesus Christ himself skillfully wielded against his foe. I would like you to turn to Luke 4. I know this is more of a topical sermon, which is why I feel like a fish out of water. I'm longing to get back into more of an expositional mode. But please just bear with me as we're all over the place, as we sort of look broadly That's spiritual warfare on the defense of using the Word of God. Now, I could have chosen Matthew 4, but I thought Luke 4 was a little more useful for us in its extended context. Now, I'm not going to read it, but we see here that Jesus, in verse 1, was full of the Holy Spirit. That the Spirit drove him, as it were, into the Jordan, that he might be tempted. That he might be tempted by who? by the same one who tempts us in Ephesians 6, the one who hurls at us these flaming darts, these flaming arrows, these missiles. He's tempted by the devil for 40 days and 40 nights. And he's fasting, and he's weak, and he's hungry, and yet he's full of the Spirit. And it's interesting to note that Satan tempts him three times by misquoting, or misappropriating, or mishandling the Word of God. He tempts the Son of God three times by appealing to scriptures. This is exactly what he did with Eve in Genesis chapter 3. You can read it after if you want. But he took what God had spoken to Eve and Adam and Satan just sort of twisted it and just added it. And they weren't, as it were, skillful with their sword. They were clumsy handlers of this sword. And Satan duped them and got the better of them. But Jesus is different. He's the sinless and perfect Son of God. He knows how to handle His sword well. And He knows how to parry. He knows how to deflect these assaults, these onslaughts from the devil. And so three times Satan misappropriates or misquotes scripture. And three times Jesus properly Contextually, accurately quote scripture. And after the third time we read that Satan leaves him, right? Look in verse 13. And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Jesus until an opportune time. What was it that Jesus used so precisely to defend himself against all of these assaults and attacks from the devil? He used the sword of the spirit. He used the word of God. He used it defensively. He takes up his sword and he does so specifically and accurately quoting the word of God, something I think that the Church of God has let fall by the wayside. Perhaps intentionally used if you're thinking of Matthew 13 and Mark 4 and the parable of the sower of the seed and the word that fell by the wayside. We just have so much on our plate that we can't actually study the word. That we can't analyze words. That we can't see arguments. And we just sort of flail around with our couple of life memory verses. Thinking that one or two scriptures is sufficient. No, no. You need more than an uppercut. You need to work the jab if you're a good boxer. So Jesus knew how to fight. I found it interesting that Jesus knew scriptures so well that he went exactly where he needed to go. He didn't just quote his life verse. He didn't just quote Jeremiah 29 11 to Satan three times. I know that God loves me and has a wonderful plan for my life. It doesn't cause that, because that doesn't fit there. Jesus knows the context. And so he quotes. from Deuteronomy. And Deuteronomy is all about the Word of God that is necessary for the people of God to live in the Promised Land in a manner worthy of God. You need the Word. That's what Deuteronomy is all about. Here's your commandments. Here's what gives you life. Here's how you live in a manner worthy of the One who has called you out of darkness. Jesus knew that Word. Therefore, Jesus, knowing, handling that Word accurately, skillfully, is able to battle well against His foe. How was Jesus made strong for battle? Now this is going to ruffle some feathers, perhaps. But I want you to look in Luke Chapter 2. That's why I chose Luke 4, because I want to look at Luke Chapter 2. Now before we look at Luke 2, remember that Luke Chapter 3 is not about Jesus' ministry. It's about John the Baptist and then Jesus' genealogy. Okay, so I'm going from the end of Chapter 2 to the beginning of Chapter 4, sort of from one to the other, and Chapter 3 is a parenthesis. Okay, so I want us to see. Jesus, how did you... was it just inheritance? Yes, yes, he's God, but how does the fact that Jesus is a man figure into this? Because if Jesus is just God and he's not the God-man, then we're like, well, this doesn't apply to me because I'm not God! But look at it in Luke chapter 2, in verse 39 and 40. This is the child, they're performing everything according to the word, they're circumcising, they're offering up the sacrifice required. And it says this, and when they, Jesus' parents, had performed everything according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. Now listen, and the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was upon him. Let me translate that. The way it should be. It says, the child became strong as he was filled with wisdom. That's how it should be translated. So Jesus is becoming strong as he's feeding on the Word. That's my paraphrase. Ephesians chapter 6 says, be made strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. I'm going to paraphrase that at the end in the application, be made strong in the Lord and in the power of his word. So here's here's Jesus, the God child will say. Fully God, but fully human, and it says here that he became strong, but he's God, isn't he strong? It says here he became strong as he was filled with wisdom. Being filled with wisdom, or filling himself with wisdom, you could translate it. Look in verse 52. This is right after Jesus is found in the temple. And he's not just talking about the weather with all the religious folk. He's sitting there, in Jerusalem, discussing the things of God, as given through the Word of God. So I see here in verse thirty nine, he's being filled with wisdom. Next section is in the temple discussing the things of the word of God. So I understand that him being filled with wisdom is him immersing himself as a child in the scriptures and memorizing and meditating and living, getting himself into the word and growing in this wisdom. And then this child who's growing in his wisdom is able to talk about the things of God so that it blows the mind of all those who are with them. In verse 47, and all who heard him were amazed at his understanding as in his answers. He wasn't philosophizing with them or doing, you know, equations or calculus with them. They were amazed that this child was so wise in the scriptures. And then Luke ends the narrative here in verse 52, after his parents find him and say, what are you doing? I had to be about the things of the Lord. And then he adds this little parenthesis right before his narrative of the temptation. So this is exactly what happens in Luke's mind before the temptation theologically. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man. The very last verse about Jesus before his temptation, Luke tells us again that Jesus not only as a young boy but now as a man, you could translate it, kept increasing in wisdom. It's a better translation. He kept. He was a good Jewish boy and he learned the scriptures. He was the fulfillment of someone. Blessed is the man who not only avoids the wicked. but meditates on the Word day and night. He's like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, whose leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers, he succeeds. That's the same verb in Isaiah 53, by the way. My servant shall succeed, he shall be wise. Why? Because he's filled with the Spirit and he's filled with the Scriptures. Remember I said you can't separate the Spirit and the Scriptures? So Jesus does enter into the wilderness to be tempted, full of the Spirit. Yes, but he's not only full of the spirit, he's full of the scriptures. He kept increasing in his wisdom. Jesus not only had the spirit, he had the sword of the spirit. And that he was able to stand against the schemes of the devil and having done all to stand firm. May this lesson not be wasted on us. If Christ, the divine man, in battling Satan while here on earth, did so with the sword of the word, how much more do we frail men and women need to wield that same word, sword, if we are to be victorious? Are you increasing in wisdom? Is the word your daily delight? You will never be able, if Jesus needed to, immerse himself in the scriptures, like someone says, how much more do we who battle against sin and temptation and who have a fallen mind? It's so easy to forget the important things of life and so easy to remember the rubbish and the sin. How much more if Christ needs the word that he might battle against saying, how much more us? Three times in the book of Hosea, God reminds us that His people perish for a lack of knowledge. Jesus is full of knowledge. He's full of the Word of God. And by God's goodness, we see that He does not perish for a lack of knowledge, but He triumphs through it. Like the ill-equipped soldier in battle, the ill-equipped Christian is not able to withstand all the assaults and attacks of the adversary. I don't want to start getting into stats, but they're appalling for the amount of time the average professing Christian spends in the Word of God. Did you know it's less than five minutes a day? If there are a whole bunch of samurais I came in to Lethbridge and we had a little bit of time to train. How foolish would it be to be YouTubing and Facebooking all day rather than learning how to wield that sword? Samurai is going to carve me up, make sushi out of me. So, knowing that there's this huge onslaught that's coming, what should I do? I should learn how to use that sword. That's why I want to remind you that you're in a spiritual battle. You need to grow in wisdom. You need to grow, and you grow in wisdom by immersing yourself in this book. Not five minutes. Not just reading through it or focusing on one verse out of context. Saint loves Christians like that. What makes him tremble is Christians whose minds and souls are filled with the Word of Christ. As one of the great Puritans once said, when Satan borrows sense to speak one thing, let faith borrow scripture to speak to the contrary. So Satan attacks you this way, and the Puritan says, attack Satan back with scripture. When he borrows sense to attack you and tempt you, let faith borrow scripture. You can't attack Satan with bumper stickers, or with songs. You can't defend yourself with all kinds of ridiculous Christianese. You have to defend yourself with the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. If you are to successfully, if I am to successfully stand against the deceitful schemes of the devil, it is imperative that we take up the sword, which is the Word of God. It's not enough to own a sword. It's not enough to let that thing collect dust on your shelf. You must take it up. It's not enough to have a word of God on your iPad. You must read it. It must be alive in your heart, not dead on your bookshelf. So here's already the application. Some of you, Satan is just tempting you to the hilt. And you don't know how to answer him. You have nothing to fight back with. Why? Why? Why not get into the book? Why not defend yourself? Why not take up the word of truth? The truth is we are all at war. And our razor sharp weapon is God's word. And we are fools if we let it lie unused in its scabbard. Illustration that came to mind again. I'm thinking of gladiator the movie and it's been Russell Crowe Maximus He's about to be executed and then miraculously, you know, he's he's such a worry kills them all and there's one guy He's about to kill him and he tries to pull his sword over the scabbard. I know Charles knows what I'm talking about He's like, oh you forgot to realize that when it's frosty outside. You can't get your sword out and then of course Crowe kills him That's like many of us Our swords are rusted in our scabbard through disuse Satan's coming draft You got to use it. That knife will get stuck in there if you don't use it enough. But let's move now from defense to offense. Just as the Christian soldier must be precise and accurate with the word when being attacked, he must also be precise and accurate when attacking. Many commentators know rightly the sword of the spirit is the only clearly offensive weapon in Paul's lists of spiritual armor. As helpful and necessary as the sword is for defense, It is especially valuable to the Christian for offense. P.T. O'Brien, the commentator, says this. For Paul, the Word of God often refers to, quote, the faithful speaking forth of the Gospel in the realm of darkness so that men and women held by Satan might hear this liberating and life-giving Word and be freed from his grasp. Paraphrase, it's the Gospel of God in the hands of the Spirit of God through the Church of God that advances the Kingdom of God. Remember, that's the whole purpose. 110. It's a thesis statement that in Christ God is summing up all things in Christ through the church. And I would now modify that through the church that is wielding the sword of the spirit. God is advancing his kingdom against the powers of darkness through the spirit filled, sword wielding church of Christ. In the language of Colossians 1.13 and Ephesians 1.13, God is delivering His elect from the domain of darkness and transferring them into the King of His Beloved Son as the gospel of His Son is preached in the power of the Spirit and received by faith. So what's the offensive motion of the Spirit? As we preach, people are converted. So what I want us to go to now is Matthew 16. I've kind of alluded to it. Just go there for a second. It's a verse many of you are familiar with. Matthew 16, verse 18. In the prior verse, God has illumined the mind of Peter. He has revealed it to Peter to see Christ as He is. That He is the Son of the Living God. That He is Israel's Redeemer and Messiah. But then he says something interesting here. He says this in verse 18. I tell you, you are Peter. And on this rock, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Yes, Jesus elsewhere promises to defend his church. But here, Jesus is not promising so much to defend his church, but to build his church. The language Jesus uses here depicts the church as an army advancing against the gates of hell. So often we think of this verse, and we think, here's the church, and it's sort of like Jerusalem of old, and Satan is attacking the church, and God is going to preserve his church, keep us. And that's true, but that's not the language here. Jesus' church is actually seen as an army advancing and pressing forward the line. And what Jesus is promising that all of Satan's attack against this advancing church are not going to be able to stop her. But how does this church advance? How does this church press on? How does this church move the line? How is it that we are invincible against Satan's attacks? You are Peter. And on this rock I will build my church. Now be very careful. He's not talking about Peter's Pope-ism. There's nothing in there for the Catholics to get excited about. But he is going to build his church upon Peter. How does he build his church upon Peter? It's not until the Book of Acts. And a lot of people say, yes, it's the confession that he builds the church upon. But that's not what the Greek reads. He builds his church on Peter. The Catholics are wrong, but sometimes the Reformers push all the way to the other side. No, he builds it on his confession, yes, but he still says he's going to build his church on Peter. Well, that's why you need to understand the Book of Acts. The Spirit comes in Acts chapter 2, and who begins to preach? Peter. He stands up and filled with the Spirit and full of the Word of God, he preaches the Gospel and what is birthed, what is built, what is formed on Pentecost. Oh, it's the church. The church is built, as it were, on Peter. The church is birthed in Acts 2. The church is not existent until Acts 2, and Peter preaches the gospel. So the church is built by the gospel, but the church is also furthered by the gospel. And that's the rest of the book of Acts. Yes, the church is built. Do they sort of stop and say, OK, good, we've got our megachurch. It's awesome, we're going to build a big building, and get a good band, and have cool slides, and everything's good. No, the church is only built in Acts chapter 2. Ephesians 2.20 says this, that God is building His church upon the apostles, the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone. So He's doing it through the gospel. He builds the church first, and then He continues the church through the gospel. So take up the sword of the spirit, not just to defend yourself, but to further the church, to see people converted. How are people converted? Preach the gospel at all times, and if necessary, use words with a load of junk. The church will never grow, never grow in depth, and it will never grow in breadth without the preaching of the word, which blows my mind by so many churches are afraid and ashamed to have a sermon that's more than 15 minutes. The sheep are starving. And as John MacArthur says, not even the non-elect can reject it. It's infuriating to me. We're ashamed of this book because people are bored with it. And Jesus says the only thing that advances the church is the word of God, wielded by the spirit of God. No book, no spirit, bankrupt, empty church. No, there's 400 people here. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about spiritually. The book of Acts is basically Luke recounting the progress of God's church through the preaching of God's word in the power of God's spirit. Progress of church through preaching of word by power of spirit. And it's always interesting, it says, not only does the church grow, but in other passages he says, the word of God grew, which is growing, the word of God of the church. And Luke says, it's the same. No, no, we had 400 people in church. Did you preach the gospel? No? Then you just basically gathered a whole bunch of people. You might as well just have a lion's club. But the church, the spiritual, true church, is built as the word goes forward. Are you able then to wield the sword offensively? Can you share the gospel with somebody? I hope so. In other words, Christ has not merely equipped his people in church with the sword of the spirit to defend and protect herself. He has also purchased this valuable gift that we might go on the offensive and storm the gates of hell by preaching the gospel of Christ to the ends of the earth. Satan can't stop this church if we are preaching the gospel. Do you believe that? Do you believe Christ's words, that as we go door to door, as we go downtown, as you share the gospel with your coworkers and neighbors and family and friends, that as you preach this gospel, Satan can stop that. Christ has bound the strong man in his crucifixion and death and resurrection. But Christ is now looting the enemy through our preaching. Do you believe that? Do you believe that Christ is rescuing his sheep from the mouth of the lion through the preaching of the word? If you do believe it, then know this word. Beloved, ever since Genesis 1, understand this, God has been advancing His redemptive purposes against the chaos and antagonistic powers of demonic darkness through His word and by His Spirit. I don't want to get into Hebrew cosmology, but in Genesis chapter 1, you have sort of this empty and void world, Bohu Votohu. And in the Hebrew, there's this idea of chaos and disorder and darkness going on. And what you have in Genesis 1 is the spirit hovering over this chaos. And then something amazing happens, that God subdues and conquers this chaos through speaking the word. It's exactly what Paul says in 2 Corinthians chapter 4. that we live in a world of spiritual chaos, where people are overpowered by demonic darkness. And Paul says, as we preach the gospel, as I'm preaching the gospel of Christ crucified, exactly what happened in Genesis 1, where the Spirit takes the word of God and creates life and order and peace and sets up the kingdom of God. So it happens in the New Covenant. So let's just imagine some of you are dead in sins this morning. No, no, I carry my Bible in and I got baptized. Well, let's just imagine. You're dead in your sins. And because we've been praying and praying, the spirit is hovering as it were over you. And the spirit takes the preached word and it gives you life. That's the advancing of the kingdom. Satan can't stop that. Satan can't stop the spirit from using the word to save the sheep. Jesus, my sheep will hear my voice. For goodness sake, then why not preach his voice? You can't hear Christ's voice in a church that's man centered. I know it sounds like I'm getting nasty, but it drives me nuts. Why are we so ashamed of this? This is the only way people can be saved. No gospel, no salvation, no advance of the kingdom. I don't care how big the church is or how small it is. Almost, I heard that. Everyone wants to go home. This is what the book of Acts clearly and repeatedly teaches. As goes the Word, so goes the Church. So my question is, are we a Word-centered people? This is the power of the Word, wielded by the Spirit. Let me give you a quote from Martin Luther. It's got beer in it, so it should wake some of you up. Martin Luther was asked this. What brought about the Reformation? And Luther reflected deeply before answering. And he said this, I simply taught, preached, and wrote God's word. Otherwise, I did nothing. It wasn't because he was campaigning. He wasn't a gifted orator. He wasn't a great PR guy. He didn't sell the church. He says, all I did was one thing. I dealt with the word. I taught it. I preached it. And I wrote it. Otherwise, I did nothing. And while I slept or drank Wittenberg beer with my friends, the Word so greatly weakened the papacy that no prince or emperor ever inflicted such losses upon it. I did nothing. The Word did everything." That's amazing! What brought the Reformation? Sola Scriptura! Scriptures alone! We don't need all this other razzamajazz junk. This is enough. He's given us everything we need in this book. That was for dramatic effect. When you read the Old Testament, whether with some of the godly kings, think of Josiah. Before Reformation came, what did he find? What had been hidden in those dark ages? God's word was hidden. The kings had rejected it. And God's people plummeted morally and spiritually and were under God's curse. And then in God's providence, something was recovered in the temple, the scrolls, the book of the law, the Bible. He found it, repented, and he proclaimed a public fast that we need to turn back. God's word restored, God's people restored. Read about it. Look in the book of Acts. Whenever the word goes forth, the church is built and furthered. Look in church history. Every time there's been a great movement of God, by the Spirit of God, it's always been because the Word has been revived. Every time there's been a dearth, darkness, insipid, powerlessness amongst God's people, it always has been the result of a recession of God's Word. Revive God's Word, revive God's people. Turn from God's word, God's people begin to wither. This is so beloved, may God strengthen us to take up the sword of the Spirit with faith and vigor. Listener, unless you take up the sword, the scriptures, by faith, God's word will do you no good. Either defending against Satan or advancing Christ's cause to the ends of the earth. I was reading this morning and I thought it was interesting. This is the man I want us to be like spiritually. It's in the narrative of David's mighty men in 2 Samuel chapter 23. The man's name is Eleazar. So not just priests are named Eleazar. He's the son of Dodo. Who in defending his great king struck a mighty blow against the foe. The Bible says that this mighty man of valor so clung to his sword as he struck down the Philistines that his hand literally became one. And I love the King James, his hand clave. You know when we teach about marriage, leave and clave, leave and become one. It says that Eliezer was so acquainted and he so used his sword, he never put it down, that his hand became one with his sword. That's what I want to be like. That's what I want this church to be like. We're so immersed in the Word that it becomes one with us. It actually becomes inward in us. It actually becomes living with us. You know what the next verse says? That the sword clave to Eliezer's hands. It says this, and the Lord brought about a great victory that day. That's my desire. I want the Lord to bring about a great victory through His church. How will God bring about a great victory through His church? As she cleaves to the Word of God. God gave the victory that day, but not until Eliezer picked up his sword and fought. Brothers, the same holds true for us. We will not be made strong. We will not be strong by and for the Lord until we take up the sword of the Spirit. which is the word of God. Please don't sit there like a hyper-Calvinist and do nothing until you feel some buzz going through your body. Go home. Get into this book. I think the last three sermons have encouraged you to go home or go to community group. Go somewhere where this book will be opened up and will not only expose you to it, but expose it to you. Go home. Be acquainted with this word. Get to know it. Cleave to it. Pick it up. You must wield it, even though the spirit wields it. It's a synergism. We need to be like our girls last New Year's Eve. We had a piñata. Everyone knows what those are. You hang it, and it's full of all kinds of treats that we have purchased. And I want my girls to partake of all those gifts that I have purchased. And so what we had to do is we gave them a broom handle, and then we realized they were incompetent. They're not here. They were missing it, and they were hitting my brother in the face. So what I had to do is I had to come behind them, and I grabbed the piñata, and we both swung. That's exactly what we're to do. Yes, the Spirit wields the sword, but He will not wield it until we take it up. Okay, I'm an Armenian. I just think that's what the Bible teaches. Are you picking it up? Because until you pick it up, The Spirit's not going to wield it for you. Until you get it off the bookshelf and blow the dust off and crack the spine. Until you read it. Until you make it living. The Spirit's just going to say, okay, fine. Sit there and be your hyper-Calvinistic self. Let me apply this quickly. I've heard some of those sighs and groans and I feel for you. If you are to wield this weapon effectively, certain principles must govern your swordsmanship. Let me just give them to you quick. I had a whole bunch more. I think someone was signed because they want me to go longer, but I will not do that to you. Let me give you some basic principles which are no-brainers, but which we must hear afresh. You want to increase your swordsmanship? You want to have the Lord bring about a great battle or a great victory through you? First, Just read the Bible regularly. Did you know that through the spirit of self-control or discipline? We always think that being spirit filled is just flopping around and doing whatever. I'm just following the spirit. The spirit says, read the Bible regularly. Lloyd-Jones says, even understand when the peak times of your day are and spend those times reading and praying. Are you good in the morning? Then wake up. Don't go to bed late, wake up. No, no, that's legalism. Fine, be a legalist. Our minds are leaky vessels and thus need to be refreshed again and again. I forget so much in here. I have to remind myself what this book says. So first, read the Bible regularly. It is our daily bread. It is amazing that a Christian can imagine that he or she can live the Christian life without regularly reading their Bible. I don't want to look at anybody, but I wouldn't be surprised if there are people who have not read the Bible very much this week. Second, take up the sword by meditating on it. So read it regularly. Put it on a calendar, put on your device, do something for God's sake. Do something. Don't fly by the seat of your pants because something always more important comes. Another Facebook, YouTube, whatever. You'll never do it. Say no. You might say yes to the word. I'm pleading with some of you. No read, no feed, that's on Tony's fridge. Piper's church, they have a motto, no Bible, no breakfast. That's great. There are people who have been believers for years who have never read through the Bible once. Second, meditate on it. This is the secret of God's great warriors. Not just reading, but meditating. Spurgeon once said, it's good that you wash yourself in the Word. You regularly wash yourself. But Spurgeon said, there are times when you must soak yourself in it. And he said, sometimes soaking on one verse is more effective than reading a whole bunch of chapters. And I agree with that. Yes, read the whole chapter so you can learn context. But Lazar came over yesterday and he said he was just meditating on Romans as he drove. You can't meditate while you're driving if you've not memorized it. Which is my third point. Bible memorization. I'm really excited about wanting to bring into our church what they're doing at Kimi's old church. Quizzing. I want us to memorize it. You can't meditate on the word unless you've memorized it. Fourthly, you become mighty with the sword by studying it. Paul told Timothy, do your best to present yourself to God as one approved. A worker has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling or dividing the word of truth. Let me give you a quote from Puritan. I promise this is the last point. Richard Baxter says this, it is not the work of the Holy Spirit to tell you the meaning of scripture and give you the knowledge of divinity without your own study and labor. This is just zap you. Now I know what the Bible says. He's not going to teach you what the Bible says until you study it. He says this, the Spirit's ministry is to bless that study and give you knowledge thereby. To reject study on pretense of the sufficiency of the Spirit is to reject the Spirit Himself. The Spirit works with the Word and there is something to be said about studying it. Studying it systematically. Studying it for all these glorious themes of redemption. What in the world does propitiation mean? What in the world is justification? Do you know what those mean? Those things are glorious. When Satan attacks me, the doctrine of justification, man has that been sweet. The doctrine of perseverance. The doctrine of adoption. The doctrine of election. All those things. They're fantastic. So first, if you want to be a good swordsman or swordswoman, read the Bible regularly. Read it every day. Please, let it be your daily bread, your living manna. Please don't let it rot and fester and be worm-ridden. Read it every day. Say no. Don't even get together with your best of friends. McShane used to say this, before I look upon the face of man, I must look upon the face of God. Second, you need to meditate on it. Third, you need to memorize it. Fourth, study it. Spurgeon said, God's people must become walking Bibles. It's a great picture. Some of us are King James. Some of us are this. Some of us are ESV study Bibles. I want to maybe narrow down a bit, but that's okay. As David was unable to fight with Saul's weaponry, neither is the Spirit able to fight with our weaponry. Remember, David says, these won't do. I've not tested them. The Spirit won't use all of our clever gimmicks. He won't use the sword that God has given him. So we, by God's grace, like Saul, must be able to say, This is my prayer this morning. This is the scripture that came to mind. My soul is consumed with longing for your rules, or we can translate, for your Word at all times. Finally be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. How? Taking up the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. I just want to commend that to you. Get into this book. It will not fail you. Get in. Study out the glorious truths. See who Christ is in this book. Please say no to anything that takes away time from this book. How many of us will stand as it were ashamed, having not redeemed the time. Chasing after all the fancies and follies of this world. And God has given us this treasure. Seriously. I want to challenge you, not as a legalist, I want to challenge you. Read more of this book this week than you did last week. If you only read five minutes, try reading for seven minutes tomorrow. If you read for an hour, try reading for an hour and five minutes. Husbands, lead your wives well. Don't watch a movie tonight or tomorrow unless you first read this book. I'm serious. I'm serious. Lead your wives well. Don't let your children go to bed without working through scripture. Here's the self-righteous coming out. We're training our girls. We're getting them to learn the Lord's Prayer in Psalm 1, catechizing them. I'll come back when Renee quoted that scripture. Man, I almost wanted to weep. That's fantastic. Renee knows that she can be strengthened in the Lord by putting on the Lord's armor. That's fantastic. Praise God, Nathan and Hannah, for teaching her. I know it probably took some time, unless your kids are smarter than ours, but it's not easy. But it's oh so rewarding. You will never ever at the end of your life say, I wish I had watched more YouTube. I wish I had done more of this. I wish I'd been on Twitter more or on Pinterest more. Why did I spend so much time reading this book? What a waste of time it was. No, you will never say that. You will probably say, oh, that I had taken up the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. Oh, how things would have been different. Oh, how I would have defended myself more adequately. Oh, how Christ could have used me more for the advance of his kingdom. Father, I just pray as we get ready to take the Lord's table, prepare our hearts, Lord. We thank you that none of us have read the Bible as much as we should have this week, but we're thankful that the Bible teaches us that Christ loves to save sinners, that Christ becomes our righteousness through faith in the gospel. Lord, for all the times that we never read or kept your word perfectly, we thank you, Jesus. that as the God-man you grew, that you made it your meat and your drink and your desire and your passion, your everything, to be about your Father's business, to be meditating on your Father through the Word, through communing with Him. Thank you, Jesus, that all that you have accomplished becomes ours with the simple act of faith. Father, I pray that if there's any here this morning who are still relying upon their own tattered, filthy garments, all their false righteousness, They would understand that all the Bible reading in the world cannot make us right with God. But Father, I pray they would put their faith in Christ and they would be, as it were, given a new hunger for this book, more about Jesus in His Word. Lord, I pray that we would find out more about His love who died for me. Father, I do pray, work in this church, make us a people of the book. Come, Spirit, wield your sword mightily in our midst, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. We are going to take the Lord's table.