Use of Greek "rhema" in the New Testament

There are 70 places in the New Testament where the Greek word “rhema” is used. There is a distinct connection in my thinking between 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Ephesians 5:25-27, Ephesians 6:17, Romans 10:8,14-17, Hebrews 1:3, and Acts 5:30-32. It seems there is a sense in which the spoken word (rhema) has a superior beauty to it (Romans 10:15). The importance of the written word (logos) is everywhere made obvious (and necessary) in all of the scriptures, but it seems there is just something very special about the spoken word specifically in the life of the Christian. There is the “breathing-out” or “saying” of all the scriptures that is attributed to God, immediately followed by a summation of the very purpose of the scriptures (2 Timothy 3:16-17). So it is by the speaking of God (rhema) that we have the (written) sayings (logos) of God. Christ Himself is identified as both the “logos” of God (John 1:1) and the “rhema” of God (Matthew 4:4, John 6:63). It is obvious that one is not used at the expense of the other. If the Christian is to be an “imitator of God” (Ephesians 5:1) he must also “breathe-out” or speak the word of God. If he is to do that effectively, actively, this has at the very minimum the following implication: it must be resident within him. Its use in Ephesians 6:17, when considered contextually, is very practical - the sword is to be used. The idea here is not one of merely the written word, as if Paul were talking about the writings themselves, but the Writings written upon the heart and ready on the tip of the tongue. It is interesting to note that the spoken word is everywhere and in every practical way much more accessible to the masses than is the written word, and it is the specific means which God has set up to redeem men to Himself (Romans 10:14, 17). Therefore, too much emphasis can not be given to the necessity of the spiritual ingestion of the word of God in order that it might at every point in the life of the Christian be written upon his heart and ready on the tip of his tongue. Scripture memorization is absolutely essential.