Sword Ministries, South Africa

02/07/2026

Are we ignorant of the enemy’s wiles?
Paul warned the Corinthians about the dangers of certain sin, such as unforgiveness, stating confidently, that they would avoid the possibility of satan taking advantage of them since they were “not ignorant of his devices.” [2Co2:11] Can the same be said of believers today? In our experience ministering deliverance to believers, the answer sadly, is a resounding NO.
There is no excuse for not being aware of how our enemy operates. The Scripture itself is full of admonition about the devil, describing him in many different ways. The word translated “devices” has different meanings which deepen our understanding of what Paul says: purpose, mind, intention, machinations. It speaks not only of his plans, but the way he executes them too.
Paul warns that he is subtle, crafty and corrupts [2Co11:3] that he snares immature , opinionated and argumentative people in his traps at his will [2Ti2:26]. Peter describes him as a roaring lion looking to devour those who are ignorant and unaware [1Pe 5:8] Jesus Himself described him as a murderer and the father of lies. Note that Jesus is known as the Lion of the tribe of Judah, so the devil tries to pretend he too is a lion, and tries to frighten unwary believers. But he can also appear as an angel of light. [2Co11:14]
We see all these aspects of satan and many many more in the ministry the Lord has entrusted to us. The biggest trap though, is ignorance. People are woefully unaware of the reality of the spiritual realm and of the enemy who plans to steal, kill and destroy in whichever way he can. Some people carry problems, oppression, mental and emotional issues for years into their adult life that could have been resolved so much earlier had they realised how demons had gained access to their lives. They could have lived peaceful, productive and fulfilled lives. Instead they have been oppressed, tormented, handicapped, confused, not understanding why they confront certain issues, what their origin is, how to overcome them and how to live in freedom.
Generally, they end up blaming God. Because He is “allowing” these circumstances. No he’s not. You are. The devil can do nothing without permission – your permission. If you open doors for him, or fail to close doors that were opened by forefathers, he will not hesitate to come in. But as we recently pointed out to one person – if you don’t know what you are up against, how can you resist, how can you fight, how can you overcome? If you don’t recognise the enemy’s operations and don’t know your own identity in Christ, your authority, your weapons, your hands are tied behind your back!
Nobody wants to exalt the devil – that is the excuse given for not speaking about him at all, but it is misguided. Revealing an enemy’s tactics and strategy is not exalting him. You cannot fight an enemy you don’t know. Many ministers are failing their sheep because they are not equipping them to live in the fullness Christ has provided. Christ has defeated satan and has all authority in heaven and on earth, but He has delegated that authority to us! Because He has overcome, we now have the weapons and authority to enforce that victory in our own lives and those of our family. Make it a point to learn, to equip yourself, to know how to recognise the enemy’s operations and then use what Christ has provided to live in victory.

Send a message to learn more

01/06/2026

Must we obey the 10 commandments?
Wrong question. The correct question is, Under which covenant do we live?
The “Old Covenant” (ie the Old “Testament”, an outmoded word for “Covenant”) was given to Moses and the children of Israel, 50 days after Passover, from Mount Sinai. It was a contractual covenant, in other words, If you do this, then I will do that. If you don’t do this, this bad thing will happen. It was a covenant that required strict obedience to laws in order to earn blessing. If the laws were not obeyed, the penalty was death. To avoid your own death, you had to bring an animal sacrifice. Your sin was passed on to the innocent animal and it was killed in your place. It was a covenant of works. Of self-effort.
When Moses came down the mountain with the tablets of law, he discovered his people worshipping an idol of a golden calf which they had made, placed on top of an altar. As a direct result, 3 000 people were killed for idolatry.
The “New Covenant” (Testament) was established 50 days after Christ’s death, when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the 120 who were “sitting” [Act 2:2], not “doing”. It is a picture of the rest of the believer in Christ. It was Christ who did the work of salvation and redemption. We receive that gift by His grace, not by working or earning. On the Day of Pentecost, when the Spirit was poured out, 3 000 people were saved.
Paul explained it in the letter to the Romans [8:2]. The Law of the SPIRIT of life in Christ has set us free from the law of sin and death [Old Covenant]. And it is by walking in the Spirit that we are delivered from obeying the dictates of the flesh.
The Law could not change anyone. It was inflexible. It could set no one free from sin. The law of Grace, of the Spirit, changes us from within, not by our own efforts or striving, but by the working of the Holy Spirit because Christ has destroyed the power of sin. We no longer obey laws given from outside, but learn obedience to the prompting and guidance of the Holy Spirit within. It is He who changes us “into the image of Christ” [2Co 3:18]. We do not “try to be like Christ”, by our own strength or will.
The Old Testament was established from Mount Sinai. What does the prophet tell us of the New? “And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.” [Isa 2:3]
Only Moses could go up Mount Sinai to meet God. After that, only 70 elders went a certain way up the mountain to ratify the covenant. In the New Testament, “many people” can go up! It is not reserved for the select few. There the Holy Spirit will “teach us His ways”. In the Old Testament only Moses was shown the Lord’s way, the people saw only the works. [Psa 103:7] And walking in His ways sets us free from the law of sin and death. What is the law that goes forth from Zion? It is the law of the Spirit of life in Christ. The Old Covenant law went forth from Sinai.
The letter to the Hebrews affirms this, “You are not come to Mount Sinai, but to Mount Zion.” [Heb 12] We were born into this New Covenant when we received Christ as Lord and Saviour. Then “He put a new spirit in us and wrote His laws on our heart.” [Eze 11:19; 35:26; Jer 31:33] Now we are led by the Spirit, not by laws imposed from the outside. [Rom 8:14].
The Old Testament laws pointed the way to salvation through obedience and sacrifice. Jesus Christ fulfilled the Old Covenant through His obedience and sacrifice and set us free, no longer to strive to obey through our works but to receive and live by His grace and the power of His Holy Spirit. “Sin no longer has dominion over us because we are not under the law but under grace.” [Rom 6:14]

15/05/2026

The temptations of Christ
Among the many lessons contained in the temptations our Lord Jesus overcame in the desert, are some very important teachings that we need to note.
Satan came to Christ after He had fasted for 40 days – the Word says, He was hungry. So the first temptation came in physical form – to tempt a body that was starved for food. Remember that when Adam was tempted, they were in a lush garden, where they had everything their heart could desire. Christ was in a desert and had not eaten for 40 days.
Turn the stones into bread, the devil suggested. If you really believe you are the son of God, you must surely prove it to yourself, confirm it, use the power to get something to eat, after all, you’re starving, and then you will also know for sure that you really are the son of God. Slyly leaving out that God had said, “You are my BELOVED Son.” Because it’s in knowing that we are loved that enables us to resist temptation.
Christ used the Word against him – something we always need to do. We cannot resist the enemy’s lies and temptations with our reasoning, our conviction, our feelings or thoughts. He cannot handle the Word of God. That is the Sword that destroys all his lies.
Another interesting consideration is that stone is frequently used in the Bible to symbolise the Law. The ten commandments were written in stone. The Holy Spirit referred to our sinful heart as a “stony” heart. So what does that indicate? That Jesus was not going to take what represented law and turn it into food. The law kills. Only the spirit gives life.
The second temptation was, throw yourself off the pinnacle of the temple – after all, the Word says that God will command His angels to catch you. This was an appeal to the soul – the emotions, the thoughts. Just think of the fame, the acclaim, the wonder that would grab people when they saw Jesus floating down to earth! Instant recognition! This is the Messiah! Pride and self congratulation lurked behind this.
It also suggests a dangerous misconception that many believers espouse. “God is always in control.” No He isn’t. He has given us free will, He has given us authority. We can’t just make stupid or short-sighted or careless decisions and say, well it doesn’t really matter, God is in control you know. We cannot justify wrong actions, wrong words, wrong behaviour by saying that it doesn’t matter what we do because God is in control and He will fix things. He doesn’t just fix things because we have relinquished our responsibility. Would God have rescued Jesus if He had jumped? We don’t think so. Jesus had been given free will to choose which road He was to walk and what actions He was to take. Expecting the Father to undertake if He made a mistake was not in God’s will.
Notice that as with the first temptation, Jesus didn’t argue. Just responded with the Word.
The third temptation was brutal. Look, these are ALL the kingdoms of the world. They belong to me. I will give them to you. Just bow down and worship me. Why go through three and half years of rejection, opposition, anguish, misunderstanding, struggle and suffering? And why on earth would you want to undergo the horrific torture of Roman whipping, the merciless interrogations, the vicious hatred, the cutting betrayals of those closest to you, and worst of all, the crucifixion – the cruellest death the most depraved mind could think up in those days? It’s all so easy, just worship me. This was the spiritual temptation. He chose to turn His back on the shortcut. This is a difficult lesson for many believers. The Lord lays a path before us that is full of challenges and even hardship. It’s in overcoming these with the Word and the help of the Holy Spirit that we grow, that we learn to trust Him, that we learn Who He is and grow in the knowledge of Him.
Shortcuts circumvent what the Lord wants us to learn and how He wants us to grow. Yet how many fall for this. Why work? You want to have lots of money so that you can buy things and have an easy life. So just sell some drugs. Or come and join this gang, we steal what suckers work for and get it for nothing! Falsify these documents, then you can get this job that pays a lot of money. Pretend you are someone else online and scam people out of money. And so the hooks are constantly baited. Without realising it, people make idols and gods out of money, out of lies, out of deception, out of fame and reputation – they get filled with a perverted self-gratification and pride. In the life of the believer, there should be no shortcuts. Jesus showed us the right choices to make.
Jesus overcame all temptation: against body, soul and spirit. He didn’t debate or discuss. He didn’t reason. He didn’t try to disprove. He just used the Word. He has gone before us. He has endured every single temptation we are subject to. He has promised that no temptation would come on us that is too great for us to overcome, but that He would give the way of escape. He has promised that we can do all things through His power and strength. So there really is no excuse. We have His authority, His Name, His blood, His Word and His anointing through the power of the Holy Spirit to be able to withstand anything the devil throws at us. And no, it isn’t easy. But as the Holy Spirit says, “You have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.” [Heb 12:4]

Send a message to learn more

14/04/2026

What is the place of deliverance?
Deliverance is one of the three pillars of the Great Commission Jesus gave in Mark 16 and Matthew 28 before His ascension:
“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover." [Mar 16:15-18]
“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." [Mat 28:18-20]
What are the “all things” Jesus commanded them? For the three and a half years He was with them, He taught them to teach/preach, cast out demons and heal the sick. [Mat 10-1-4; Mar 6:7-13; Luk 9:1; 10:1-17] His instructions have not changed.
Jesus Himself taught, cast out demons and healed the sick in fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophecy [61] He set the captives free, opened prison doors of those who were bound. Who are the captives and those who are in prison? Those in bo***ge to the devil through ignorance, demons, sickness and disease and emotional and mental afflictions, The Holy Spirit tells us explicitly that Jesus “healed all who were oppressed of the devil.” [Act 10:38] Oppression takes many forms: sickness, demonisation, bo***ge, mental and emotional problems that affect our spiritual growth and relationship with the Lord.
Jesus referred to deliverance as “the children’s bread.” [Matt 15:26; Mar 7:27] Bread is a completely normal part of everyday meals, it is not fancy, exotic or mystical. If it is safe for children, then it is safe for everyone.
Why deliverance?
It is important to understand that the main aim of deliverance is to remove every obstacle in our lives that hinders our relationship with the Lord and our spiritual growth. It enforces Christ’s victory over satan and all his demons. It establishes His authority over all demons and diseases. [Luk 9:1] It brings freedom into every area of our lives.
It is not a specialised ministry that stands on its own, reserved only for the elite, for the few chosen or “spiritually superior”. It is a normal part of everyday ministry and of the full counsel of God, together with preaching, teaching and healing the sick. It is available to and expected of every single born-again child of God.
What prevents people from casting out demons? Ignorance, superstition and fear. Believers must know that they have “all authority in heaven and on earth” in Christ’s Name. They have Christ’s Word, His Blood, His Name and the power of the Holy Spirit to do the works He did – deliverance is part of the works. All those practising deliverance do so with the anointing and power of the Holy Spirit, not with their own efforts, with shouting, with theatrics or their own experience and knowledge. It is entirely a ministry of the Holy Spirit. It is “demonstration of the Spirit and power.”[1Co 2:4]

11/03/2026

Learning His ways
“He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel.” [Psa 103:7]
We have often heard this verse quoted, generally out of context, as a type of indication that God is very selective about whom He chooses to reveal Himself to, often implying that we don’t fit into the “Moses category.” Most frequently, this quotation is followed by another, often spoken with religious tones and folded hands, “...how unsearchable are his judgements, and his ways past finding out!” [Rom 11:33] and of course, the famous verses in Isaiah: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your ways my ways, for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” [55:8,9]
What is conveyed is that God the Father is mysterious, out of reach, distant, far beyond us – not really to be trusted, because we never know what He is going to do or why He is doing it. So, rather to be kept at a respectable distance so that we don’t make a misstep somewhere and somehow fall foul of Him – because , you never know.
To begin with, the verses are all taken out of context. A simple reading of Psalm 103 details the “ways” of the Lord! He forgives iniquities, He heals, He redeems lives from destruction, He crowns us with lovingkindness and tender mercies, He satisfies our mouths with good things, Hi executes justice and judgement for the oppressed, He is slow to anger and full of mercy and His mercy is for all eternity.
Those are among the ways He showed to Moses – that were expressed in His acts: leading them out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, providing manna, meat and water, healing their diseases, defeating their heathen enemies. Did the children of Israel realise those “acts” were demonstrations of Who He is, of His ways? No. They saw only the miracles, the food, the water, the victory.
The verse in Romans quote abovel, according to Francois du Toit, who wrote the “Mirror Study Bible,” has been incorrectly translated. He explains that the Greek words for “unsearchable” and “past finding out” are derived from prepositions indicating “upwards” and “source”, and the root of “finding out” is the word “footprint”. He therefore suggests the following: “The understanding of his judgements can be sourced only in a conversation that originates from above, also his ways are only accessible in the footprints of his thoughts.”
Which brings us to the following, which is very very clear in all the above texts anyway: that the human, carnal mind cannot search out God or understand how He operates. And no, we can’t, but what does the Holy Spirit say, “We have the mind of Christ.” [1Co 2:18]
In fact, Paul explains it so clearly in 1 Corinthians, Chapter 2: “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” [vs 9] Note, the heart of MAN cannot see or hear or grasp what God has prepared, BUT :” God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. [vs 10-12]
The following point about the so-called “inscrutability” of God’s ways and the impossibility of knowing them also needs to be made.
Throughout the Old Testament (note, this is BEFORE the Holy Spirit was given) God laments that the children of Israel have constantly departed from His ways and walked in their own ways, to their own destruction. He constantly beseeches them to return to His ways and walk in them. If He had not revealed His ways to them, this would be extremely unfair and unjust – how could He expect people to “walk in His ways” if they are “past finding out”? In fact, over 20 times in the Old Testament, He begs them to “walk in His ways”.
And repeatedly, particularly in the Psalms and prophets, the people are called to “learn of His ways.” For instance “Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.” [Isa 2:3; Mic 4:2]
So apart from what we learn of His ways in Psalm 103, what else does the Word tell us of the ways of God?
“He is the Rock, His work is perfect, for all his ways are judgement, a God of truth nd without iniquity, just and right is He.” [Deut 32:4]
“The Lord is righteous in all his ways and holy in all his works.” [Ps145:17]
“His ways are ways of pleasantness and all His paths are peace.” [Pro 3:17: this is speaking of Wisdom, and of course, Christ has been made wisdom to us! 1Cor 1:24, 30]
All His ways are right: [Hos 14:9] everlasting [Hab 3:6] true [Rev 15:3]
His ways guarantee long life. [Deut 5:33;1Ki 3:14; Act 2:28]] They promise holiness, [Deut28:9] increase and blessing [Deut 30:16] , prosperity [1Ki 2:3], security, safety and protection [1Ki 11:38; Jer 12:16] wealth and honour [2Chr 17;5,6] victory over enemies [2Cr 27:5,6] deliverance and reward [Ps 18] blessing [Psa 128:1] righteousness [Psa 145:17] judgement [Dan 4:37] position [Zec 3:7]
Throughout the Old Testament and particularly in the Psalms, His people ask the Lord to teach them His ways and the Lord Himself instructs Moses and the priests to teach the people His ways. So the very concept that His ways are inscrutable, unsearchable and beyond finding out is clearly totally wrong. Yet this is so often taught in church. Walking in His ways brings innumerable blessings and promises into our lives. All the Lord requires of us is that we ask Him to teach us, to reveal these things to us by His Holy Spirit who has been given to us as the Teacher.
It is not enough just to know His acts, His works. He desires for us to know His ways, and we learn those through a close and personal relationship with Him.

06/11/2025

It's hard to believe we have been married for 34 years! Today we celebrate the Lord's constant presence in our lives, His grace, His love, His hand in everything we do and wherever we go. We bless Him for the wonderful people He has brought into our lives and we are ever grateful for the people that He changes as He works with and through us to establish His kingdom in their lives. We are excited for what the future holds and for the constant adventure of growing in the knowledge of Him.

Send a message to learn more