The Revivalists: Sword Of The Spirit
Ephesians 6:10-18 (NIV)
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
When Roman soldiers went into battle, they would always use the sword with the shield together. They would thrust the shield to hit the enemy and then they would push their sword towards the enemy. Paul talks about the sword being the sword of the Spirit and while all the other pieces of armour are for the purpose of defence, the sword the only piece of armour that is designed to attack the enemy.
Illustration of a sword
The sword of the Spirit is a deadly weapon that we can use. It is the word of God and by declaring scriptures over us, our city, our country and our family, the enemy has to shrink.
DECLARATION OF SALVATION FOR YOUR FAMILY
“...Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”
DECLARATION FOR HEALING
“But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.”
DECLARATION AGAINST FEAR
“For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”
The Word of God, the promises of Jesus and the wisdom of the Holy Spirit – all combined – is a powerful weapon against the enemy. The Holy Spirit can guide you on how to use your sword, but you’ll need to sharpen your sword daily and get protected by the rest of your armour. To do that, we need to be clear on the Word of God and continuously speak life and vision over ourselves, then we use our sword to slice any attacks of the enemy with the power of the Holy Spirit. This is when you get your breakthrough.
There was a man named Rees Howells who was born in the late 1800. During the 1930s, he woke up one night, in the middle of the night, and felt this incredible burden to pray beyond his church. He felt to pray for world evangelism and to pray against evil that was coming into the earth. He prayed in the Spirit and used the sword of the Spirit in his prayers, based on what he felt to pray under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. He was fighting in the Spirit but with no idea on what was going to happen.
Rees Howells (1879-1950)
Then, in the 1940s, Great Britain entered into a war with the Germans. At that time, Rees was running a bible college called the Bible College of Wales. He gathered his 100 students and every evening, they would pray and they would fight in the Spirit. They didn’t have nuclear bombs or guns, but they had the sword of the Spirit, and they would intercede. Amidst the bombings, they remained untouched and their property was protected.
History tells us that the Germans were much more equipped than Great Britain and that in expectation, Great Britain should not have won the war. But there was a group of people doing battle in the Spirit for them when they were fighting in the natural. In fact, there have been accounts on the coordination found between the time that Rees Howells was praying and the victories found during the war, like the Battle of Dunkirk. While the natural war uses human weapons, we have also a far greater, more powerful weapon, that is the weapon of the Spirit.
“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds.”
Change can come to your city, your family, your marriage and your children when we use the weapons that God has given to us!
Links to include:
*Extracted from ‘The Dresscode’ sermon by Jemima Varughese
Jemima is married to Mark and leads Kingdomcity Communications Ltd. They have two sons, Zeke and Caleb.