A Sword Out of Our Mouth

In Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness he used his mouth to quote scripture. In so doing he defeated the evil one. Three times he spoke and three times he prevailed. We are to arm ourselves to fight against spiritual forces in the heavenlies. A spiritual enemy requires spiritual armour and spiritual weapons. Our sword is not in our hand. It is in our mouth. It is the word of God on our tongue.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, and pray on my behalf…

Ephesians 6:10-19

Look how prayer and petition follow our armourment. We receive our sword, and then we use it. We use our tongue to fight. There is a sword coming out of our mouth! It was and is the same for Jesus.

In His right hand He [Jesus] held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength.

Revelation 1:16

[Jesus speaking to the church in Pergamum] Therefore repent; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth.

Revelation 2:16

From His [Jesus’] mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron…

Revelation 19:15

And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him [Jesus] who sat on the horse…

Revelation 19:21

We have spiritual resources to battle against spiritual adversaries and we take hold of them with our mouth. Just as we handle physical objects in the physical world with our hands, we wield spiritual things in the spiritual realm with our tongue. We often feel helpless because we do not realise that there is spiritual power in the tongue. However, when we approach the challenges of spiritual warfare in the correct way, we find that we can make a real difference.

For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Hebrews 4:12

The weapons at our desposal are powerful because they are spiritual weapons to counter a spiritual adversary.

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete.

2 Corinthians 10:3-6

Nothing we hold in our hands helps at all, but we are armed and we can and will overcome.