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The only offensive weapon listed in Ephesians 6:10-18 is the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. The Word of God is truth. That truth is our sword.


The way we swing our sword is to speak truth (see Rev 19:15). When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, three times he said, “It is written.” When the world was created, it was formed by the spoken word, “Let there be light.” And there was light. Before leaving the earth, Jesus told his disciples to, “Go into all the world and preach” (Mk 16:15). As important as prayer is (see Mk 9:28-29), Jesus didn’t tell them to go into the entire world and pray. When Jesus sent out the twelve disciples, he told them to demonstrate and proclaim truth. He sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick (Lk 9:2). He said to heal the sick and to tell them that the kingdom of God is near (Lk 10:9). Remember that it was Jesus who said, “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free” (Jn 8:32). Truth that you don’t know can’t set you free.

Since Jesus’ day, proclamation has been the most effective evangelistic weapon. The preaching of Whitefield, Wesley, and others ushered in the First Great Awakening in Europe. These preachers were men of prayer, but the revival didn’t come until they proclaimed.

All over the world, we’ve watched public proclamation change people, families, cities, and even nations, particularly if it’s accompanied by a demonstration of the Spirit’s power through signs, wonders, and acts of compassion. We’ve lost ground in the Western world because we stopped going public with truth. As we’ve said, we’ve kept truth within the four walls of our church buildings and have largely ignored the public arenas of education, the media, and the arts.

We need the same determination as the disciples. Remember Peter and John when they preached in Jerusalem? They were told by the Sanhedrin not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus. The disciples replied, “We cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20). Peter and John went back to the rest of the disciples and prayed Psalm 2. Then, Scripture says, they were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the Word of God boldly. It also says that, “With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 4:33).

If we choose not to speak the truth, then people who could be free will stay in bondage. We take strongholds down by proclaiming the Word of God. Only when we proclaim truth publicly, accompanying this proclamation with prayer, does the light shine.

This is spiritual warfare.


 
 
 
 

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