19. Sword Of The Spirit Or Sword Of Satan?
Chapter 19 Sword Of The Spirit Or Sword Of Satan?
Satan Wants To Replace The Sword Of The Holy Spirit In the chapter about the armor of God we introduced The Sword of The Spirit which is the Word of God (Ephesians 6:17). As believers of Christ, we know that the Holy Spirit already lives inside us, so the Spirit will always use God’s word in our minds to fight against any of Satan’s lies that are hidden there.
Hebrews 4:12 says: “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
Satan knows that word of God is the Sword of the Spirit and it is the Holy Spirit’s most powerful weapon to fight against Satan’s lies. So Satan will do everything he can to take away that “sword.” Without the Sword of the Spirit we are like a soldier without a weapon to fight with. Or if Satan can’t take it away from us, then he will try to weaken God’s word in our lives. He doesn’t want us to know God’s word well and he is always trying to replace the word of God with something that is fake—just like he did with Eve in the garden of Eden. Another example of replacing the Sword of the Spirit with something that is fake, would be like an enemy that sneaks into the armory storage at night and replaces all the soldiers’ swords with toy swords or sticks. Then later when the soldiers wake up and go out to fight the enemy, they won’t have a strong weapon to fight with. They will be useless fakes.
Satan loves to twist God’s word or replace it with false doctrines so we won’t have the ability to fight spiritual battles. The Bible calls these “doctrines of demons” (1 Timothy 4:1 NASB). Let’s look at some ways that Satan is trying to replace the Sword of the Spirit in the church.
What About Prophecies, Visions And Dreams?
Many Christians and even pastors these days spend time in church talking about visions and dreams and try to interpret those dreams for others. Some have even written books about their dreams and make a lot of money selling them because people love to read these kinds of stories. Some people are also claiming to be prophets and making all kinds of new prophecies about the future—new things that are not found in the Bible. But are they true prophets and are their prophecies all true? Is it proper to share these dreams and prophecies in church? How can we discern what is true? Well, one thing we do know for sure is that God alone is the one who can help us discern what is truth, because he is the author of truth and never lies or deceives us. And that is why he has given us his word, the Bible, so we can discern what people say. It can help us separate (or divide) the truth from the lies. We know that Satan is always trying to fill the church with new lies and confuse us, so God has given us his word, the Sword of the Spirit, to battle against any lies that might come up in the church.
God Gave Many Prophecies And Dreams To Prophets In The Old Testament
We know that in the past God did use visions and dreams to communicate with men like Jacob and Joseph and Daniel and other prophets. God also gave special prophecies to leaders like Moses and Joshua, and to kings like David, in order to lead and guide his people Israel. That’s how God worked in the Old Testament. But in the New Testament, after Jesus came, things began to change. A Big Change Began To Happen With Jesus (The ‘Word’)
Hebrews 1:1-3 says: “In the past God spoke to our ancestorsthrough the prophetsat many times and invarious ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son...The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representationof his being, sustaining all things by hispowerful word.”
These verses tell us that God had used many different ways to communicate with man through prophets in the past. And many of those dreams, visions, and prophecies were filled with symbols and mysteries, and the meaning wasn’t always very clear to understand. Even the prophets didn’t understand everything that God was saying. God seemed distant and somewhat mysterious. But then Jesus came as a man—and he was the “the exact representation” of God. He was God in the flesh so that mankind could see and hear exactly what our invisible God sounded and acted like in person. In fact, Christ is called “the Word.” (In Greek it can also mean “The Expression” or “The Message.”)
John 1:1; John 1:14 says: “In the beginning was the Word, ...the Word was God...The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us...the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
Jesus was always part of the Trinity—he was there in the beginning with the Father and the Holy Spirit. He was God’s “Word” –the Communicator. He was the Voice or Mouthpiece of God that spoke, and the world came into being. This same Voice of God also “became flesh!” That’s a bit like saying all the visions and dreams and prophecies of the Bible became a human being. God’s Spokesman was expressing himself in a way that we could see and hear him directly, and he would no longer be so distant and mysterious to us. God was with us, in person and up close, and we could hear God’s thoughts directly. This Spokesman, Jesus, was far greater than all the dreams and visions and prophecies of these other prophets like Abraham, Moses, David, and Elijah, because he spoke directly from God, because he is God. The Apostles Wrote The Final Prophecies Of The Bible
After Jesus died and was resurrected, then he sent his own Spirit, the Holy Spirit, to start the church. He also chose the apostles to be his spokesmen. The Holy Spirit guided these apostles to finish writing all of Jesus’ words and deeds in what we call the New Testament. The apostle Paul had said that prophecies would come to an end (1 Corinthians 13:8), and apparently that is what happened after the apostles all died. The apostle John was the last apostle alive and the Lord Jesus gave him the prophecies of the last book of the Bible, called Revelation. Those prophecies are the revelation of God’s plan for the end times all the way to eternity. It was the last book of prophecies to be written. It has been almost 2,000 years since the New Testament was finished and God has not given any new prophetic books in that time. God had said that prophecies would stop, so most scholars believe that he has finished all the things he wanted to put in the Bible. So we shouldn’t be looking for more prophecies.
Satan Also Has Prophets, And Some Are In The Churches
2 Peter 2:1 says: “But there were also false prophets among the people, even asthere will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies…” (NKJV) The apostles gave us the final prophecies of the Bible (1 Corinthians 13:8-10) and God has forbidden us to add more to his words (Deuteronomy 4:2; Deuteronomy 12:32; Revelation 22:18-19). But we know that Satan always likes to add to God’s word or exchange God’s word for his own. Satan also has his own prophets. We see many examples of that in the Old Testament.
Proverbs 30:6 says: “Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar.”
Jesus also said there would be many false prophets in the last days (Matthew 24:11) who will follow Satan’s lies and wishes. Some of those false prophets will be in churches and even call on God’s name (2 Corinthians 11:13). They are very influential people and leaders so they lead many good people astray. Look in Jeremiah:
Jeremiah 14:14-15 says: “Then the Lord said to me, “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions...and the delusions of their own minds. Therefore this is what the Lord says about the prophets who are prophesying in my name: I did not send them...Those same prophets will perish...”
These Prophets Mistakenly Think They’re Prophesying God’s Truth
Satan had deceived those false prophets, making them think they were actually God’s true prophets. They told people about their dreams and visions that Satan has planted in their minds, or things they thought up themselves. Many people believed them, thinking they were hearing true words from God himself. But Satan had blinded their eyes, so that the false prophets drew many people away from God. God will judge false prophets for their deceitful lies.
God Rebuked Some Of The Religious Leaders For Their Visions And Dreams
Jeremiah 23:11; Jeremiah 23:16; Jeremiah 23:18; Jeremiah 23:21 says: “Both prophet and priest are godless; even in my temple I find their wickedness,” declares the Lord. This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes. Theyspeak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. But which of them has stood in the council of the Lord to see or to hear his word? Who has listened and heard his word? I did not send these prophets, yet they have run with their message; I did not speak to them, yet they have prophesied.”
Three Word Pictures Referring To God’s Word
Jeremiah 23:28-32 says: "Let these false prophets tell their dreams, but let My true messengers faithfully proclaim My every word. There is a difference between straw and grain! Does not My word burn like fire?" says the LORD. "Is it not like a mighty hammer that smashes a rock to pieces? "Therefore," says the LORD, "I am against these prophets who steal messages from each other and claim they are from Me. I am against these smooth-tongued prophets who say, ’This prophecy is from the LORD!’ I am against these false prophets. Their imaginary dreams are flagrant lies that lead My people into sin. I did not send or appoint them, and they have no message at all for My people. I, the LORD have spoken!” (NLT) God’s Word Has True Power Let’s think about the meaning of the word pictures in these verses:
God’s word is like grain. It is good for feeding and strengthening our bodies.
(But Satan’s word is like the straw—throw it away).
God’s word is like a fire that burns rubbish. It has the power to judge bad thoughts.
God’s word is like a hammer that breaks stone. It can judge or convict men with hard hearts.
These three word pictures all show us that God’s word has real power: to heal and strengthen, to judge evil thoughts, and to break through and convict hard hearts. But the false prophet’s words are like rubbish. They are useless.
God Speaks Against People Who Lead People Astray With Their False Dreams
Jeremiah 23:31-32 says: “Yes," declares the LORD, "I am against the prophets who wag their own tongues and yet declare, ’The LORD declares.’ Indeed, I am against those who prophesyfalse dreams," declares the LORD. "They tell them and lead my people astraywith their reckless lies, yetI did not send or appoint them. They do not benefit these people in the least," declares the LORD.” (cf. Jeremiah 27:9; Jeremiah 29:8) God Told Israel How To Judge False Prophets
Deuteronomy 18:20 says: “But if any prophet presumes to speak anythingin my namethat I have not authorized him to speak…that prophet must die.”
Verses 21-22 go on to say that the Israelites could test the prophets by seeing if their words came true or not. If not, then they were false prophets and they should die. Wow! Why would God give such a harsh judgment to those men who prophesied falsely? God wanted to give a strong warning to the prophets and to Israel, saying that it was a very serious offense to pretend to be a prophet or to prophesy falsely! God didn’t want Israel to be playing around with fake prophets. He knew that if someone gave false prophecies, it would confuse people and lead them astray. We are not Israelites so we are not commanded to put false prophets to death, but this law still helps us realize how much God hates false prophecies in his name. God detests them and does not want us to follow false prophecies or the people who pretend to be prophets now.
Even If Some Of Their Prophecies Come True, We Are Not To Follow False Prophets In Deuteronomy 13:1-3 God says that even if the false prophets do miracles and even if some of their prophecies come true, Israel should not follow them. We know that Satan can do some miracles and he is very clever at making people turn away from God’s truth. Because of this we need to study God’s word so we know it well enough so we can use it as a sword of the Spirit to fight against Satan’s lies.
Satan Also Knows How To Use God’s Word
You will probably remember that long ago, when Satan was in the Garden of Eden, he used God’s own words as he was deceiving Eve. And later when he tempted Jesus, he used God’s word again. Satan loves to use God’s word and mix it with some of his lies so people will think it is all truth. But what about now? Does he still do that in modern churches? Absolutely! He does it all the time! Many churches and false religions have been started because of using God’s word mixed with false visions and dreams. Here is an example: An Example Of A False Prophet’s Dreams Today
Mary Baxter, an American woman, has written a lot of her dreams and visions in books that she sells around the world. She has taken verses from the Bible and mixed them with false teaching of her own, so many Christians think that it is all true. Many people have been deceived by the false teaching that she has written. She is like the false prophets we just read about in Jeremiah 23:31-32 who used dreams to entice people to listen to their false doctrines about God. Mary Baxter claims that Jesus himself gave her those dreams so people should listen to her or else they will go to the lake of fire. In her first book, she talks a lot about her dreams and visions about hell. Hell is indeed a real place talked about in the Bible. But if we compare her dreams with the Bible we’ll see that her dreams aren’t really from God. They are full of lies from Satan. Satan is very smart and can easily confuse people if they don’t know the Bible well. Some people who really do study God’s word have seen the deceit and shown others from the Bible where she is wrong. But instead of admitting that she has written things that go against the Bible, Mary Baxter just quietly changed some things she wrote in her books in order to hide the falsehoods better. In the second edition of her original book, she even made changes to some of the things she claimed that Jesus said. If she really was a true prophet of God, she would never want to change God’s word or anything that Jesus supposedly said. But this shows us that she is a false prophet. False prophets are always changing and twisting God’s words, just like Satan does. So Mary’s books are not recommended for reading because they have confused so many people. Here is a sample of a few of the lies she has written in her books:
In her dream she says she saw Satan and the demons ruling over hell even now. She said they were dragging people into hell and then celebrating and laughing as they caused pain to those people there. But the Bible doesn’t say that at all. In fact, the Bible says that Satan isn’t in hell yet. Now he is roaming the earth (Job 1:7; Job 2:2; 1 Peter 5:8) and will go to the lake of fire later during the end times—at a time when God has determined (Revelation 20:10). We’ll talk about this in another chapter. But Satan will never rule over hell. That is God’s job. Hell is a place of judgment, and God alone judges people and determines who goes to the lake of fire, so he is the only one who rules over it—not Satan! Satan can’t just drag people to hell whenever he likes. And we know for sure that Satan and the demons won’t be partying and enjoying themselves in hell! Hell is a terrible place of punishment. When God does send Satan and the demons there, they will experience terrible pain and they will not be celebrating or laughing (Revelation 20:10). Matthew 25:41 talks about hell and says it is the fire that God has already prepared for Satan and his demons. So if the Bible says that God has prepared hell for Satan, it means that hell is ready for Satan, but he’s not there yet.
Mary Baxter said that in her dream she saw people in hell and they had already received new bodies. But the Bible doesn’t say that either. In Revelation 20:10-15 we can see what will happen to unbelievers. They will not receive new bodies right away (20:5). They will only be resurrected at the very end when God also judges Satan and sends him to hell. Then the unbelievers will go down into this lake of fire with their resurrected bodies along with Satan and his demons. Again, we see that Mary Baxter’s dreams are false prophecies and lies of the devil.
Mary Baxter also talked about some believers being in hell. She said that they had been children of God, but God later removed the Holy Spirit from them and sent them to hell. But is that what the Bible teaches? We have already read in previous chapters that when God saves us, the Spirit of God comes and lives inside us forever (John 14:16-17; Ephesians 1:13-14)! We are sealed and protected by the Spirit and he will never leave us or forsake us. Satan is a liar and he wants to use this woman’s false dreams to confuse and frighten us and make Jesus look like someone who has a cold and unloving heart. But God’s Word is clear and it can strengthen our faith too. Look at these verses:
Romans 8:33-39 says: “Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angelsnor demons,neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation,will be able to separate usfrom the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
We could also read John 10:28-29 and Romans 8:1 and many other verses that will strengthen our faith in these matters. Don’t let Satan and false prophets confuse you with holy sounding words.
There are many false prophets around the world like Mary Baxter and they have all kinds of false prophecies, visions, dreams and new ideas that they try to mix with God’s word. They have so many spiritual sounding words that sometimes it is easy to be fooled by them. Satan fights with words and ideas.
How will we be able to discern people’s words, and fight against Satan’s false prophecies, dreams, or visions? We need to hold firmly to the Sword of the Spirit—we do battle with God’s word, the double-edged sword. The Sword Of The Holy Spirit Can Overcome Satan And The Lying Spirits
1 John 2:14 says: “…you are strong, and theword of Godlives in you, andyou have overcome the evil one.”
Satan’s prophets are very deceitful and constantly changing, but God’s word never changes, so we can use the word to constantly test what others are saying. Satan can never win against God’s word. If we want to overcome Satan and his lies, we must learn the word of God well. It is the Sword of the Spirit so it is our best weapon to defeat the lies of Satan and doctrines of demons. Don’t let the lies and dreams of false prophets fool you. They are Satan’s weapons that he uses to confuse us. But God’s word is true and never lies.
Summary Verse
“…we were not making up clever stories … you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding, or from human initiative. No, thoseprophets were moved by the Holy Spirit,and they spoke from God.But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach destructive heresies… Many will follow their evil teaching … And because of these teachers, the way of truth will be slandered. In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago, and their destruction will not be delayed. (2 Peter 1:16 to 2 Peter 2:3) (NLT) Have you thanked God lately for the Word of God? The word of truth is a powerful weapon that we have graciously received in order to do battle against false prophets Satan’s lies. God’s word is “sharper than any double-edged sword.”