Equipped To Stand - Session 9 - Matthew Atchley

A battle-ready Christian doesn’t just try to “be a good person” and hope for the best. Paul’s language in Ephesians 6 is blunt: we’re facing schemes, flaming darts, and spiritual pressure that targets our minds, our witness, and our courage. That’s why we slow down and take a hard look at the one piece of the armor of God that actually goes on the offense: the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God.

We connect Paul’s imagery to the Roman gladius, a short double-edged sword built for close combat, and we ask a practical question: what good is a sword you never train with? It’s easy to own a Bible, keep an app on your phone, and still feel stuck when temptation hits or when someone asks serious questions about Jesus. We share a real prison conversation that turned into a direct debate about who Jesus is, and why being able to open Scripture and speak clearly can change the whole moment.

We also unpack the difference between logos and rhema, and why “a rhema word” is usually the Holy Spirit bringing to life what we’ve already studied and stored. If we want Scripture to come out naturally under pressure, we have to put it in intentionally. We end with a challenge that’s both honest and hopeful: drop the shame, reject condemnation, repent where your heart has grown cold, and get back into the Word so you’re ready for the Great Commission in everyday life. Subscribe, share this with a friend who wants to grow, and leave a review, what’s one Bible verse you want to have ready when you’re under pressure?

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Transcript

Prayer And Ephesians 6 Reading

SPEAKER_00 0:06

We're gonna continue tonight to learn about the armor of God. Which uh I'm sure all the guys that have spoken before me up until now have covered it pretty fairly well. I've heard some of them, but I didn't hear all of them. Uh open your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 6, please. And uh let's read verses 10 through uh 17, or let's go to 18. Finally, be well, I'll tell you what, let's pray first. How's that? Father God, we just ask for your Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, we invite you into this place today. We invite you into our hearts. We pray that you open our hearts and our minds up to your word and let your word speak to us in an awesome way tonight. In Jesus' name, Lord. Amen. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over the present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 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 firm. Stand therefore having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances, take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one, and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication, to that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.

Why The Sword Matters Most

SPEAKER_00 2:43

That's a lot, a lot, ain't it? I mean, Paul is making a bold statement there. And here, what I'm supposed to be speaking to you about is the sword of the spirit. And what's amazing in that, in verse 17, it puts the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit together, doesn't it? Kind of like they co-they go together, co, you know, they help each other out. And uh and the reason, the reason I see that is in Revelation, I think it's chapter 4, verse 12, it says, you will know them by the word of their testimony and the blood of the Lamb unto death. So basically, it's your salvation, it's your testimony that is basically the sword of the Spirit, in a way. Because that's the best tool you got, really, other than the Word of God, right? But Paul's proclaiming the sword of Spirit as the Word of God. So let's go through what each guy did uh before me. It's number one was the belt of truth, which holds everything together. Number two, the breastplate of righteousness, which guards our vinyl organs. Number three, the shoes of the gospel of peace keeps our footing secure. The shield of faith catches the flaming arrows targeted at us. Number five, the helmet of salvation protects our minds and protects our thought process. And if you think about it, all those items that we just named, if if you went into battle with just just those items, you're gonna be protected, right? That's all you're gonna be protected. There's no there's no offensive weapon until you get to the sword of the spirit. That's the only offensive weapon in the armor of God. That's it.

The Roman Gladius And Scripture

SPEAKER_00 4:55

And when Paul, when bought, when Paul talked about that, he was looking at one of the Roman soldiers that he was probably attached to by chains or in chains when he wrote this. He had that picture in his mind. And the sword that it's talking about in Ephesians 6 is actually the Greek word is called gladius. It's a gladius, and it's it's a very dangerous sword. I had uh Jason Jett make me a prop to show you what a gladius would be like. This would be a Roman gladius. This is the actual size. They come in 18 inch and 24 inch. They're sharp on both sides. I mean, could you imagine this going through? It will go through a person and just I mean, it's very dangerous. That's what Paul was looking at when he came up with the sword of the spirit. And that's how Paul viewed the Word of God. And even in Hebrews, you know, it talks about the word being sharp as a double-edged sword. It says it there. Able to know the motives and intentions of the heart all the way to the morrow. In other words, that sword will cut to the bone. It will cut a bone. That's how powerful they are. So Paul was talking about some pretty wild stuff. And what's amazing, really, though, honestly, back in that day, if you think about it, I try to put myself in

You Can’t Use What You Don’t Know

SPEAKER_00 6:46

that day when I read the Bible. They didn't have Bibles like we have Bibles today. They didn't have the Word of God in that form or in that fashion. So they basically read letters that Paul wrote and read the books, the Torah, and stuff that Jesus spoke from and other teachers spoke from. But most of the time, if they did, they had to go to the place of worship and somebody would read it. You know, they didn't have it in their homes, right? So they had to memorize it. They had to learn it, they had to know it. So when Paul's talking about the sword of the Spirit, the word of God being the word of God, the only way you can use it as an offensive weapon, you have to know it. If you don't know it, you have no weapon. Because now we got Bibles, you know. We can carry a Bible and we can flip through the Bible and get what we need right now. But you know, the sad thing about that is a lot of us Christians don't even do that. We're not even that hungry. So if you were if you were to stop right there and have every protected soldier, and I I mean, think about an offensive weapon. Think about that. If you went into battle with all the armor on you, without the gladius, without your sword, you're gonna be devastated, you're gonna be oblivious. They're gonna just tear you up. The devil's gonna chew you up and spit you out. And I've had that happen even in these days, last this previous week. I was at the prison and I ended up having an opportunity to talk to a Muslim guy named Bobo. A Muslim named Bobo. But uh honestly, he asked me a lot of serious questions. And I even had to go into the office and get my Bible to show him, you know. And it got it got a pretty serious debate between the two of us over which was which, but what it came down to is me and him, uh me telling him, you know, the difference between what you're saying and I'm saying is Jesus is God. And you don't believe Jesus is God, you just believe he's a prophet. And he finally had to, you know, admit to that. But see, if we don't have our sword of the spirit, you can't do that. You you just shut your mouth, tuck your tail in, and you walk away because you're not able to stand there and go into battle with the word of God. And that's where you're left without the word of God. And that's where you're left when you're not learning the word of God. It's a serious thing. I mean, it's it's an amazing thing. And what what what I've seen happen lately, honestly, with a lot of Christians, I see this in the prison all the time. People come up, they get saved, they pray the prayer of salvation, and and you see the power of God move on them. But they have no hunger for the word. Why does that happen? Can anybody answer that? Why does a person not have any hunger for the word of God? Because the Holy Spirit's not there. They had the they had a a situation there where they were feeling guilty. That's what they were doing, and they needed that guilt to be gone, and

Prison Conversation And Being Prepared

SPEAKER_00 11:05

that's how they got rid of their guilt. And then when they walk away, they have no hunger for the word because the Holy Spirit's not in them. So they're getting false salvation. And we are at fault for doing that, for not doing the right thing and teaching them and discipling them in the right way, and telling them what is important before they pray that prayer. Don't just pray that prayer to get someone saved, do it to disciple them and see them grow as a Christian and mature in the word of God. That's the main thing.

False Salvation And Real Discipleship

SPEAKER_00 11:48

Now there's two words for the word of God in Ephesians 6. And it and it and there in the word of God there's logos, right? And then the other word is rhema. You got rhema. And the one being used in Ephesians 6 is rhema. And that's what's being used for the sword of the Spirit, is the Rhema. It's basically a word that is given in a moment through the power of the Holy Spirit. And the way that happens is when you memorize and study the word of God and you put all that inside you, even though you don't know it at the moment, you think you, you know, it just naturally happens. The Holy Spirit brings it to life. And it comes out when it's needed. That's Rhema working through you, just like it worked through Jesus when he went into the desert, you know, and the devil tested him. Well, Jesus quoted Scripture every time and had everything that needed to be said immediately to shut the devil's mouth and it was done. It was over, right? No arguments. That was Rhema. Even though it's logos also, but it was Rhema. It's

Logos Versus Rhema In Battle

SPEAKER_00 13:10

good. And that's what that's what we as Christians need to see happening in us. And the main thing that happens, and it's happened with me, because I've I've backslidden in my past badly for a session of years, to where it done a lot of damage. And as I studied this about the sword of the spirit and the armor of God, I see exactly where I was weak. I did not understand the word of God, and I didn't understand the principle of God the Father and everything that was supposed to be working and working in me as a father to my children and a husband to my wife, and I failed, right? And I backslid. And that's what happens to a lot of Christians today. They have no armor, they don't have the armor of God. And you know, when somebody don't have the armor of God, if you go witness them with them, they get stuck, they don't know what to say or how to say it, and and it hurts. Has it ever happened to you? Have you ever had an opportunity to where you had to witness to somebody and you just really didn't know what to say? Or they asked you a question about God and you really don't know how to answer it. Right? Now, if you have your Gladius, which is your Bible, that might make it better, right? It'll give you a better opportunity, right? That's what Paul's talking about. But chances are everybody ain't carrying a Bible everywhere they go. I mean, everybody has it on their phones now, right? But everybody don't carry a Bible everywhere they go. You don't carry a Bible into the grocery store, do you? And that's probably one of the most likely places where you're going to have an opportunity to talk to somebody about Jesus. And that person might be a Muslim, a Catholic, it can be whatever. And if they have serious questions about God, you are in that moment in the divine opportunity that God has put you in. And because you're not dressed in the armor of God and you don't have your offensive weapon, the sword of the spirit in you, you can't do battle.

Great Commission Means Spiritual Warfare

SPEAKER_00 16:00

And it happens to all of us, man. I'm guilty of it. We have to study and work at memorizing and knowing the word of God. And put knowing in that moment when we can pull a scripture up, and the Holy Spirit, the Rhema, comes out, and that scripture pierces the heart, and it shuts the devil's mouth right then. It's over. You've done planted the seed, and all it's left to be done is for it to be watered and nurtured by somebody else. Or you're gonna be the one to lead that person to Christ right there. Now, how many people in this room? There's only certain there's not many people in this room. If you don't mind, will you honestly show hands of how many people has actually led somebody to Christ in a public arena? You see what I mean? Now I'm not doing that to make you feel guilty, but I'm doing it just to show you how you are called for warfare. You're not called for to sit on the couch as a couch potato and take Christianity lightly. You you are called for warfare. Every believer is called to the Great Commission. There's not just the pastors, not just the elders, not just the teachers, not just the preachers, not just the prophets. Sure, there's five-fold ministry, and they're called to do what they do. But you know what? Every believer is called to the Great Commission. And if you're called to the Great Commission, you're called to put on the armor of God and go into battle. That's what it's for. And that's what this, all these teaching, everybody teaching the different steps, is that's what it's all about. And I I hope that everybody's learned something from the other speakers to help you walk out of your house every day with God's armor on you. But most of all, the most important thing is the offensive weapon. It's the only offensive weapon that is in the armor of God, and that's the sword of the spirit. And if you don't have the sword of the spirit in you, you're gonna fail. You are gonna fail at times. And that's how the devil brings condemnation in and makes you feel bad, you know. Well, I didn't, why didn't I do that right? It ain't because you don't love God, it ain't because you're not hungry for God, but some of sometimes we just get laxada in really seeking the word of God. We put our jobs and everything else in life ahead of studying the word of God. And and if we're gonna be in ministry, which we all are with, it doesn't matter what title you got. If you are a believer, you are in ministry. There's no exceptions. You have to be prepared for ministry. And that's what Paul is trying to teach in Ephesians 6. He's teaching for you to be dressed in the armor of God, ready to go into the battlefield and fight for the gospel of Jesus Christ. And he you're expected to win. You're expected to win because you have the blood of Jesus Christ, you have the Holy Spirit, and if you have the Word of God, there's no battle you cannot beat, right?

Honest Self-Check And Repentance

SPEAKER_00 20:33

So there's questions here for us to ask ourselves. And honestly, I ask the guys in prison all the time, man, be honest with yourself. It ain't you don't it ain't about being honest with me or or Tyler or any of the pastors in this church. It's about being honest before God because He knows. He knows the thoughts and intentions of your heart, the motives of our hearts, before we even think it. So when you ask yourself questions, you know, answer them honestly. Don't be frightened about condemnation and all that. There is no condemnation in those who are with Christ Jesus, is there? Romans says that, right? We know that. That's the sword of the Spirit. You see what I'm saying? If you know these scriptures, you know how to respond to the devil's attacks on you. So when you look at these questions, you know, answer them honestly. And I even talked to Neil about it before, you know. Well, why do I get a cold heart about the Word of God sometimes, you know? And I just keep busy doing everything else and don't take time. It happens. You've got to pray and tell God and be honest to God. God, my heart's cold. And I'm not seeking you like I should. And He has mercy and He helps you get through it. And that's what we got to do. We got to be honest to God and just repent and move forward. And nobody's gonna judge nobody. This is about growing and maturing in the gospel of Jesus Christ, right?

unknown 22:32

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 22:33

That's all we're here to do. So that's the challenge, okay? Praise God. Thank you, guys.