Dr. Tony Evans is the founder and senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, founder and president of The Urban Alternative, chaplain of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, and author of over 100 books, booklets & Bible studies. His radio broadcast, The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans, can be heard on more than 1,300 US outlets daily and in more than 130 countries.
we want you to clearly understand what
it is to have this Alma operating in
your life the divine resources that God
has prescribed for us to use to exercise
victorious spiritual warfare the armor
of God he wants you to stand firm that
is to hold the ground that Jesus has
already won Jesus has already been
victorious legally he wants us to
experience it literally he doesn’t want
you and I to go out and create victory
he has already crafted victory he wants
us to stand firm he says beginning in
verse 10 through verse 13 stand firm
stand firm he says you’re not fighting
for victory you’re fighting from victory
you’re not trying to achieve something
something has already been achieved so
stand firm but make sure you have the
right wardrobe on make sure you have the
belt of truth and breastplate of
righteousness and shoes of the gospel of
peace with the shield of faith and the
helmet of salvation he comes at the end
of verse 17 and gives the last piece of
the armor verse 17 he says and take the
sword of the Spirit which is the word of
God remember the verb take means pick up
as needed
the last three of the armors use that
verb the first three uses the verb to be
that is this is the state you should
always be in but these last three deals
with the verb to take pick up as needed
or as appropriate he says I want you to
pick up the sword of the Spirit
the sword of the spirits this is very
important because this is the only
offensive piece of weapon in the arsenal
everything else is designed to hold you
steady from what the enemy is seeking to
do in the evil day but now in this last
one he has put a weapon in your hand the
soldier has two types of swords in the
Roman army the longsword though the
sword that allows you to fight at a
distance because it is extended but the
Greek word for sword here is not the
word for the longsword like the
swashbuckling kind of sword that you
would see in movies and on television
the Greek word sword here is the word
dagger it was approximately in an 18
inch dagger the dagger was used for up
close fighting in-your-face fighting the
dagger was used when you were in
hand-to-hand combat and your enemy was
right up close so the word for sword
here the Greek word for sword is the
word for dagger and the dagger was
needle sharp it was used for giving a
death blow because the enemy is up on
you as the enemy ever been up on you on
you on you see in a general way we know
the devil and his emissaries are like
always there but sometime their opinion
Grill
they have confronted you and it is your
evil day because he talked about this is
the evil day this is are you under
attack it’s all up in your face the
attack the attack is is creating
consternation and conflict and chaos
it’s like somebody getting up in your
face
well the dagger was for that kind of
battle he says I’m going to give you the
sword for the up close in your face
battle he says it is the sword of the
Spirit
he says the sword of the Spirit it is
the tool that the Spirit uses but here’s
the most important thing it is the only
tool he uses it is the spirits offensive
weapon it is the tool he uses in the
spiritual realm
it is the tool he uses to address what’s
happening in the invisible world for
what’s in your face in the visible world
he says it is the sword of the Spirit it
is what the spirit uses to deal with
what is causing you consternation in the
world in which you live that comes from
the invisible world that you do not see
now if you don’t believe it’s coming
from the invisible world you won’t use
this sword you’ll do like Moses and
Peter when Moses tried to deliver Israel
he killed the Egyptian he destroyed the
Egyptians when Peter wanted to deliver
Jesus he cut off the servants in he
pulled out his sword and he sliced the
servants ear off in order to protect
Jesus
Jesus had to God in the Old Testament
Jesus in the New Testament had struck
both of them I don’t need that
I don’t need your human methodology
human approach human perspective human
orientation to fight a spiritual battle
one of the reasons why so many of us so
often are losing our battles is we go to
human and once you go to human that’s
not a sword the Spirit uses here are you
that need I use that sword when you
choose to use a man-made method for a
spiritually derived cause you have no
support from God in your faith that’s
why the Bible says that the wrath of man
does not accomplish the purposes of God
in other words your human anger that’s
why the Bible says vengeance is mine
saith the Lord I will replay I’ve got my
own approach and your method is not my
method my ways are not your ways I don’t
handle it like you handle it in the
spiritual round the only tool that the
Spirit of God uses is this dagger and it
is needle sharp it is because we have
lot believed in the power of the dagger
and we know we don’t believe it because
we don’t use it that we don’t see the
enemy being sliced and diced he says
this sword this sword is what the Spirit
of God will use in your battle conflict
evil day and it is the only one in the
arsenal
maybe it’s the only one you have because
it’s the only one you need
what is this sword he says which is the
Word of God which is the Word of God so
he tells you that the Spirit has a sword
that he has given to us to use in the
battle the spirit because this is a
sword that belongs to the spirit it’s
just putting your hand to use and he
says this sword is the Word of God now
let me give you three words for the word
of God so that you can understand how
this works because they want you to use
a sword correctly Groff a logos and
Rhema graphic that is the Greek word for
the writings Groff a means the writings
scripture is called in the Bible graphic
the writings that’s the book the book
that this is this is the Word of God but
it’s the Word of God
Groff a in other words as I’ll sit it
down there on the podium as you hold the
book in your hand you are holding
graphic you’re holding 66 books and the
words that make them up that compose the
Canon of Scripture whether you have it
on your shelf at home whether you have
it on your coffee table whether they
have a copy in your car whether it was
tucked under your arms when you walked
in the church you came in with graffiti
you came in with the book you came in
with the Word of God
in written form he says God gives the
sword of the Spirit which is the word of
God but the Greek words my grasp
this is Groff a this is this is the
written book and is the Bible but when
he talks about the spirits use he’s not
talking about you walking around with a
Bible in your hand or having a Bible in
your car cuz see some people use the
Bible as the graph they like a rabbit’s
foot you see folks got crosses dangling
from their rearview mirror like that
supposed to stop an accident or
something Lawkeeper
that’s magic that’s magic
well what some people do is sanctify
their car by putting the graph a in it
they have a graph a in the glove
compartment like that’s gonna be magic
or somehow their living room don’t get
holy because there’s a Bible on the
coffee table
that’s graphic now don’t get me wrong it
is the Bible it is the word of God but
that’s not what the spirits using there
is the logos for example in Saint John 1
in the beginning was the word the logos
now the long house goes further than the
graph a the graph a is the book written
that has been written the low cost is
the message of the book it is it is its
message content this is the Bible when
you don’t read it when you do read it it
is the Bible because it is the Bible its
message is the logos so when you come to
church and you hear a sermon preached
and you understand what the passage says
you’ve just experienced the logos
because now you’ve gotten the message of
a graph a so the content has now been
clarified to you and
you understand now locust is very
powerful because in the beginning was
the logos and the Word was with God and
the Word was God
so the message is God talking the graph
a is God talking but it is just it’s
written form the logos is the message
given from the graph a written so the
graph a is God’s message written whether
you use it or not open it or not you
know like when you go to court and put
your hand on the Bible you swear to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but
truth so help you God
that’s graph a in other words they’re
not interested in the message they’re
just using the book so they put your
hand on the graph a when you may not
even care about the logos you may not
care about what it says but you’ve got
your hand on the graphic so people go
around
bring me a Bible I’ll swear on the Bible
I’ll swear on the Bible they’re not
concerned about the message they’re just
concerned about the book the written
documentation so that somehow if I put
my hand on it that automatically means
I’m telling the truth the logos is the
message given so when you understand the
message from a part of the book or all
of the book or whatever you have now
graduated from graffiti logos you have
this message and this message is living
in this message is powerful because it’s
of course true but that’s not the word
in verse 17 he doesn’t say the sword of
the Spirit which is the graph a of God
he doesn’t say the sword of the Spirit
which is the logos of God he says the
sword of the Spirit which is the Rhema
of God
his Greek word is Rima now we’ll explain
how its time together an amendment
minute but it’s Greek word is Rima
now Rima means utterance or words spoken
or declared it is the declaration of the
logos that you got from the Groth a the
graph a is the book the logo says the
message the Rhema is the utterance the
speech the spoken s of the message you
could be the owner of a Bible Factory
and not have a sword see you you could
make Bibles and not have a soy he says
the sword that the Spirit uses is the
Rhema of God here it is the graphic of
the book gives you the locusts the
message but it is the Rhema that punches
in and draws blood it is the Rhema that
for spirit uses so many of us are not
seeing the power of the Spirit because
we haven’t graduated to the Rhema we the
stuff at Groff a because we bought a
Bible the church you know that focal
bring the Bible Church don’t even all
open it lets up no bring the Bible to
church you are stuck at the graph a
because it’s a it’s just a book and you
feel holier because you walk with it
but the spirit doesn’t use that that’s
not the tool for the spiritual warfare
it’s still the Word of God but it’s not
the tool that the Spirit uses others of
us perhaps most of us we come to
understand the logos the message we want
to understand the sermons we want to
understand the truth we want to
understand its message we may be
inspired by it were educated by it
oriented by
and so we now understand something we
did not previously understand from the
graph a that now has become logos in our
minds and understanding but when it
comes to spiritual warfare when the
enemy is all up in your grill you need
more than graphic and logos you need
Rhema you need the locus from the graph
a uttered spoken or declare why do you
want to Rhema the logos because I’ll you
have to understand it’s fully to fully
get this why do you want a Rhema utter
declare speak the logos the message
because of the intrinsic nature of the
logos turn to Hebrews 4 hebrews chapter
4 we’ll come back back to Rhema in a
minute but I want you to understand it
because what you are doing the Rhema on
is the logos to get the logos you bring
the Groff a so I go to the graph a the
writings to get the message but I don’t
get the message to say I enjoy Church I
get the message
so when I need Rhema in Hebrews chapter
4 he speaks about the logos and this is
what he says beginning in verse 12 for
the word logos of God is living when you
get the message not when you carry the
book but when you get the message that
is a living message it is not just
information it is alive the logos of
God is alive and it is active it is not
only alive it has energy behind it you
know it’s got a force field
he says the logos of God is living and
active and sharper than any two-edged
sword watch us now
he says the low caste of God is sharper
than a sword whose blades on both sides
have been sharpened in other words it
can catch you either way you can go this
way it will cut you you can go that way
it’ll cut you cuz all both sides is
sharp no no you got to follow me here
he says the low castes of God ok but I
know what you’re thinking you said wait
a minute you just said it a minute ago
that the sword and spirit is the Rhema
yes the sword of the Spirit is the Rhema
when he’s going to use it but I’m trying
to tell you what he uses when he uses it
he uses it when it’s Rhema it’s alive
when it’s locusts so by the time it hits
Rhema if you got logos you got a sword
with life in it cuz he says the low cost
of God is sharper than any two-edged
sword and it’s piercing as far as the
division of soul and spirit and why do
you need to know that the low gasp of
God can get down to spirit and soul
because your spirit and soul is your
invisible world that’s the invisible
world your visible world is a physical
your body your invisible world the world
where you truly live is made up of soul
your personality and it’s made up of
spirit the God presence in you he says
this thing is
sharp that it can slice the invisible
realm separating spirit and soul now why
does why does God want to use the locust
the message to separate your spirit from
your soul because your soul gets in the
way of the spirit your personality how
you arrange your orientation your your
thought your perspective keeps getting
in God’s Way
so God’s gotta slice you out of the way
so his spirit can break through see we
have so intertwined our souls with God’s
Spirit that we keep getting in God’s Way
so God wants the logos that gets you out
the way and he wants to get you out the
way this is the only thing that can do
that is the message of God so when you
come and you hear the message you have a
content of the word and it dawns on you
that what you thought and what God says
isn’t the same you just got sliced and
diced will you come in you hear the word
of God and you discover that your
perspective what mama taught you what
daddy taught you disagrees with what God
says and it dawns on you you had all
this stuff mixed up and you had God’s
name all up in yo soul when God had
nothing to do with how you were thinking
and how you were functioning and how you
operating
you got sliced and diced he said it’s
active and it’s sharper than any
two-edged sword it can divide it’s
piercing it is penetrating down to the
invisible level of joints and marrow and
it is able to discern judge it is able
to discern the thoughts and intents of
the heart see see here’s the problem
with the word with the with the logo the
problem with the logos only attacks what
you do it attacks what you think he says
it gets down to what you were thinking
it gets down to the thoughts and it goes
deeper than before it goes to the intent
and not only what you were thinking but
what you were thinking about what you
were thinking it gets down to the
thoughts and intents of the heart it is
penetrating why is it penetrating verse
13 there is no creature hidden from he
told you the lie so the look-outs is the
lie where the life come from yes I cuz
God stands behind his word so whatever
his word sees is because God is seeing
it so it says there is no creature
hidden from his sight but all things are
open and laid bare to the eyes of him
with whom we have to do in other words
you’ve been sliced open let’s put it
another way the word of God’s goal logos
is to expose it is to expose it is God’s
MRI machine
it is God’s x-ray machine if all you get
when you come to church is what you hear
in your external ear all you did was
open up Groff a you opened up Groff a
and somebody told you something when the
truth hits you you ran in the logos you
ran in the low God because the message
is given Jesus is called the logos in
John 1 because he was God’s messenger he
came to present God to human beings he
was the deliverer of the message he says
that the Word of God the logos
penetrates with power when the message
is given when you grab the message and
accept it
you now have understanding
you said oh that’s what that says and
that’s what that means then what happens
he says the sword of the Spirit which is
the Rhema of God now he brings in Rema
Rema
is the word of God a turd or used Groff
a is the writings it’s just been written
no Goss is the message of what’s been
written Rhema is the use of the message
when you pull out Rhema you just pulled
out the spirit because the sword is the
sword of the Spirit when you pull out
Rhema that is when the word that you
have becomes the message that you
deliver in short battle conflict when
it’s all up in your face you have now
given something the Spirit uses if you
are satisfied with Groff a just having a
Bible in your car you know on your
kitchen table in your bookshelf or under
your arm yeah that’ll help you in close
up from battle if you only have low guys
coming to church hearing the sermon
even understanding the message that
message is true that message is alive
that message is active that message
works in the spiritual realm but in
close up battle with hell breakthrough
in your life the evil day he says what
the spirit wants you to use it’s not
just the understanding tapes you’ve been
listening to a radio broadcast you’ve
been listening to it now has to do with
a sword you use a dagger you use and he
calls that the
of God the utterance of God in the
beginning God said said let there be
light God spoke and the Bible says and
it was so in other words the spoken word
had within it the power to do what the
spoken word declare would be done the
God spoke it and what he said happened
and it happened exactly like he spoke it
but watch this it didn’t happen till he
spoke it God didn’t just think world
world world world world come into being
come into being he declared it and when
he declared let there be light
BAM there was light because there was
power in the word used not just God even
having the word known God knows it all
but he used what he knew the spoken
words had power in it to produce what
the spoken word called for it was a
dagger used that is it was what the
spirit how do we know that the spirit
had something to do with it because it
says that when God was ready to create
the Spirit of God was hovering over
ready to move when it heard the spoken
word the Spirit of God was hovering over
just by this time saying to the father
as soon as you talk I’m ready I’m
hanging out I’m hanging out soon as you
say something i’ma do something but I
wait no you Father
cuz I can’t do something that you say
something but when you say something
whatever you say I might do cuz you are
giving me
I need to pull it off with Adam and Eve
fell in the garden what did the devil do
mess with that word he said well half
God said half God said that let’s talk
about what God said because he knew if
he could mess up the use of the word he
would mess up their power and he could
now take control cuz he not heard of
your words in fact the devil loves to
hear you say well I think he loves hear
you say what my opinion is
he loves hear you say well my daddy told
me he loved me you say this is what my
momma taught me he loves here you say
well my friends say he knows that sword
is on both sides he loves for you to go
look at Oprah and find out what Oprah
says and then find out what this group
says and find out what that group says
look at all the news show and find out
where he loves that because he knows the
spirit is not in it but when you go
Rhema when you go Rhema when you take
the logos and you slokas he’s allergic
to
he’s allergic to that the sword of the
Spirit which is the word of God it is
the Rhema of God the utterance of the
logos that you got from the graphic when
you take the Bible get the message and
use the message as uttered the enemy in
your face Kate Kendell look at Matthew
chapter 4 real quick Matthew chapter 4
then Jesus verse 1 was led by the spirit
into the wilderness to be tempted by the
devil okay watch this now watch this God
led Jesus into the wilderness to face
the devil okay you know most of us will
say who the devil’s all Oh me well
suppose suppose he are on you because
God led you to says the spirit led Jesus
into the wilderness for the express
purpose of being tempted by the devil
why would God do that could you suppose
be on offense and offense goes at the
defense in other words you supposed to
be so confident in the Lord and so
confident in the word that God can lead
you in the Satan’s territory
you gonna be fine
says the Spirit of the Lord led Jesus
into the wilderness for the express
purpose of being tempted by the devil
and the tempter came to him verse three
and said to him if is called a
first-class condition in the Greek which
means sense because Jesus devil knows
who Jesus is since you are the son of
God command these Stones become bread
okay now we read at the end of verse two
Jesus is hungry so where does the devil
meet Jesus he meets Jesus at the point
of his problem
Jesus is struggling coz he’s hungry
struggling for physical food he’s hungry
so the devil shows up at a specific time
to address a specific need a legitimate
need in his life that he is now hungry
so what does he offer
he offers operation breadbasket he
offers him a feeding program he says
give the Son of God you can do whatever
you want to do won’t you turn these
stones into bread Jesus says it is
written no he didn’t
that’s what Jesus doesn’t do get into a
long meeting that’s why we have a three
hour meeting to discuss this get into a
long conversation he doesn’t get into a
long dialogue or diatribe he doesn’t get
all that he says it’s written it’s
written now watch this The Living Word
the Bible calls Jesus the Living Word
and he’s a Living Word if the Living
Word
needed to use the written word to deal
with the enemy of the word then how much
more you and I who have written no word
need to use that same word against the
enemy of the word what makes you think
you better than Jesus Jesus wouldn’t
even go at the devil based on what he
thought and he had perfect thinking he
wouldn’t go after the devil based on who
who said what and what he didn’t even
say well well this might what my daddy
taught me he said let me tell you what
the graph a says but when he tells it
what the graph a says he tells him what
the graph a says based on logos because
he quotes Deuteronomy chapter 8 so guess
what Jesus is in the New Testament but
he reaches back to the Old Testament to
a passage that dealt with the situation
he was currently facing in the New
Testament
cuz the New Testament hadn’t been
written yet so he’s hungry the devil
says I’ve got a feeding program Jesus
goes into his computer he googles it
feeding program feeding program TV
program feeding program feeding program
well it’s real is crossing the
wilderness and they are hungry and they
need a feeding program so with a Google
feeding program
it took him back to Deuteronomy 8 and it
told him when they were crossing the
desert and they were hungry that they
call on God and he rained down
cornflakes from above called manna the
Hebrew word nada means what is it or if
you’re urban what it is and it had to do
with cornflakes from above he rained
down
cause rates from above in other words
God met them in their hunger through a
supernatural means the devil was
offering to solve the problem to a
satanic means God is offering the
solvent his way the devil was offering
to solve it his way both were trying to
address a legitimate need the issue is
not is my need legitimate the issue is
who’s giving me the advice as the how to
a classic Jesus Christ Google down
feeding program ran to Deuteronomy 8 and
say devil let me tell you what God said
about this situation it is written man
shall not live by bread alone but man
also lives by where it came from every
word that proceeds out of the mouth of
God when he heard what was written he
couldn’t handle that anymore
he went to another subject he takes him
to the top of the temple and says jump
off cuz then everybody will know you
Messiah when you hit the ground like
Superman spider-man or Batman they will
see that that jump didn’t kill you and
they will all know you are the son of
God guess what Jesus says it’s written
again he says it is written you shall
not verse 7 put the Lord God to the test
he was saying
tainless and test God God say don’t test
me
he said Satan this is what God told me
to tell you about you telling me right
now to jump are the pinnacle of the
temple
then he verse 8 he took him to a very
high mountain and showed him all of the
world and their glory
he took him please notice he took him he
took him do you know sometimes God will
let the devil take you
it took him he took him God let the
devil take Jesus jesus goes along the
God let the devil take him he took him
he said I give you all this stuff all
this money all this glory all this power
all this fame i’ma give all this stuff
to you if you do really what I was after
all the time get on the knee and worship
me if you will just reckon
mine’s me as Lord of your life I’m gonna
give you the whole world I’m gonna give
you the whole world Jesus Jesus said
verse 10 it is written you shall worship
the Lord your God and serve him only
Satan said worship Me Jesus googled
worship okay you shall worship the Lord
your God but he didn’t just study the
Bible and know what it said he opened up
his mouth and said what it said he told
the devil devil let me tell you what God
just said about what you telling me and
when he told the devil this the Bible
says that the devil
verse 11 left him and behold angels came
and began to minister to him
the devil left him oh I hope you get
this God likes baseball three strikes
you out he said it is written it is
written it is written the devil couldn’t
handle more than three strikes and the
devil was gone you say why won’t the
devil leave me alone cause he know you
ain’t gonna say it is written you know
my reading my education he knows you’re
never gonna go and Google anything about
what is written or if you do you’re
never gonna use it so he doesn’t have to
feel you he can hang out with you all
day cuz he knows that you will not use
the one two that the Spirit does use to
give you victory in the spiritual realm
in other words you read the graph a so
you can understand the logos so you can
use the Rhema you read the graph a so
you can understand the logos so you can
use the Rhema it is to be used not only
to be read not only to be understood it
is to be used and guess who you supposed
to use it all you’re supposed to use it
on the enemy or any of his reps now
you’ll see the power of the word now
you’ll see the power of the word because
when that word gets pushed down into the
spiritual realm when this gets dripping
down until the spiritual realm and used
in that realm it is transforming I want
you to know you got a sword and God
wants you to speak spirit-filled words
cuz these the words the Spirit uses in
your situation but if you don’t open the
Groff a and get the logos you won’t have
a Rhema word you don’t make up a Rhema
word you get Rhema word from lo God’s
words and lo God’s words come from Groff
a it comes from the written book I mean
if I spend more time with the newspaper
did we do with the word if you knew you
had something this powerful to deal with
the real issues of life it’s powerful
it’s transforming an old man one time an
old man real old man went to one of
these lumber communities that chopped
down trees and he’s real old it’s like
85 90 years old he walks into the local
tavern he says I’m looking for a
supervisor or an owner of one of these
companies that chopped down trees and
said pointed out a guy over there who
owned one of the companies he said I’d
like to come work for you the man
laughed he said Oh
you hold his dirt we think you wanna
work for me you have to be young and
vibrant and strong to pick these axes
and chop down trees I said no I think I
can do it I really think I can do it I
think I know I can do it it’s okay okay
let me humor you I’m gonna take you out
there I’m gonna give you some trees and
I’m gonna show you you have bitten off
more than you can chew he took the old
man out there and then the old man
showed out that old man was chopping
down trees at a rate that none of the
younger men that he had working for him
had ever done this 85 90 year old man
he’s chopping down trees at a phenomenal
rate the man’s mouth is open so maybe
picking this axe and he’s killing trees
where did you learn to trot down trees
like that the old man said have you ever
heard of the Sahara forest
the company man says you mean it’s a
narrow death it he said that’s what they
used to call it you see when you got the
sword of the Spirit I don’t care how old
you are who you are you can chop down
some stuff that’s been lingering for a
long time in your life you just got to
know who you are and what you got in
your hand don’t waste the Rhema word
while you’re learning the logos word
from the Groff a book
[Applause]