“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have
life, and have it abundantly.”
John 10:10 NASB
“The Sword of the Spirit”
Ephesians 6:10-20
“10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full
armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s
schemes. 12 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.
13 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. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled
around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that
comes from the gospel of peace.
16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can
extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of
salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray
in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this
in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
19 Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I
should.”
– Ephesians 6:10-20 NIV
“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.”
– Ephesians 6:13 NKJV
The Roman Armor / The Believers Armor:
v. 14 “Gird your loins with truth”
v. 14 “Put on the breast plate of Righteousness”
v. 16 “The shield of faith”
v.17 “The helmet of salvation”
v. 17 “ The sword of the spirit”
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers
of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the
heavenly places.”
– Ephesians 6:12 NKJV
“…..the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.”
–Ephesians 6:17
Two Foundational Principles of Scripture:
I. The Reliability of the Bible.
Canon – “A rule or a stick. A boundary. A standard of
faith and practice.”
Three Attributes by which the New Testament Canon was Compiled:
A. Every book in the New Testament has to be written by an eyewitness or it had to be recorded
testimony from an eyewitness.
B. Every book in the New Testament had to possess intrinsic worth and value.
C. Every book in the New Testament has to be used by the church universal, not just by one local congregation.
Compelling Evidence for New Testament Reliability:
A. We have over 5,000 Greek New Testament
Manuscripts.
B. We have copies that are 99.2% accurate to
the originals.
C. We have approximately 20,000 copies of the New
Testament in other languages. (Syriac, Latin,
Coptic, and Aramaic).
Author Date Written
Earliest Copy
Approx. Time Span between
original & Copy
Number of
Copies
Accuracy of Copies
Plato 427-347 B.C.
900 A.D. 1200 years
7 __
Caesar 100-44 B.C.
900 A.D. 1000 years
10 __
Aristotle 384-322 B.C.
1100 A.D.
1400 years
49 __
Homer 900 B.C. 400 B.C. 500 years 643 95%
New Testament
1st Century A.D. (50-100 A.D.
2nd Century A.D. (c. 130
A.D.f.)
Less than 100 years
5600 99.5%
New Testament Reliability Chart
A. We have manuscript evidence
B. We have archaeological evidence
C. We have evidence from Messianic prophecies
Foundational Principles of Scripture:
II. The Spirituality of the Bible.
1.The Word of God is
divine in origin.
“16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for
reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man
of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”
- 2 Timothy 3:16-17 NASB
“For no prophecy was ever made by an act of human
will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”
- 2 Peter 1:21 NASB
2. The Word of God is
Indestructible.
“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass
away.”- Matthew 24:35
“The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God stands forever.”
- Isaiah 40:8
Top Related