The Sword of the Spirit

In Ephesians 6:11,13, Paul commands us to put on the whole Armour of God (which God provides to us through His Word). Then in v14-18 he describes the 7 pieces of the Armour of God. Derek shares about the Belt of Truth and how to put it on (v14), and the Sword of the Spirit, which is the spoken word (rhema) of God (v17), and how they work together. The Belt of Truth consists of God's Word (John 17:17), which we are to put on tight by wrapping our heart around with His commands and promises, bringing our thoughts into alignment (1Pet 1:13). Our Belt consists of the Word of God that we know and have embraced until it is part of us. It is the foundational piece of Armour, which is why it is mentioned first (the sword, shield and breastplate were attached to it). If loose, the whole armour falls apart. The Sword of the Spirit fits in the Belt. In a fight, a soldier pulls his sword from his belt. Likewise, in a spiritual fight, we pull a Scripture-Sword from our Belt of Scriptures as quickened by the Spirit, and put in our mouth and speak it. It will then go forth in the power of the Spirit against the enemy. God's Word is like a sharp sword (Hebrews 4:12). Jesus used His Sword 3 times to defeat Satan, saying: "it is written" (Matthew 4:3-10). For the Sword to work we must first have our Belt on tight (know the Word well). We also see the Sword in action in Revelation 12:11, Isaiah 54:17, and Psalm 149:6-9.