The Full Armor Of God Pt 2

THE FULL ARMOR OF GOD PT 2

EPHESIANS 6:13

Last week we began to look at the 6 items of equipment that make up the full armor of God...items we must have to be able to not only stand when the enemy comes at us...but to allow us to have complete and total victory over him. Let's turn to Eph.6 read 13 17

We've examined the first three the belt of truth...the breastplate of righteousness...and the shoes the feet that are fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. Today I want to show you how the last three are also vital in making up the full armor we so desperately need to have in our spiritual battle against Satan...begin with shield of faith.

There are 2 different words for shield in New Testament Greek. One is a small, circular shield that is typical of what we usually see in the movies. The other one is a long rectangular shield and is taken from the word for a door because it is shaped something like a door. (riot police) That is what Paul speaks of when he says "the shield of faith."

A properly trained Roman soldier could use that shield so that no part of his body could be reached by enemy arrows or whatever they would send at him. It protected him completely. And this is the kind of faith Paul is speaking about when he refers to it as a shield.

When we go out against Satan and give him any trouble...you can be sure he will counterattack. He may attack our minds...our hearts...our bodies...or our finances. So we need to have a shield that completely covers us cause he'll attack any area he can reach.

If he can't attack us..then he'll attack those closest to us. If you are a married man, the first thing that Satan will attack is your wife. It is almost guaranteed. It is one of his greatest ways to get back at you. So you must have a shield big enough to protect everything for which God has made you responsible...including yourself, your family and all God has committed to you.

Now, when we look at faith as being part of spiritual armor...we find it's mentioned twice. The breastplate, as we saw in Thessalonians, is one of faith and love which are crucial parts of righteousness and here we see that the shield also represents faith.

Each use of the word "faith" must be understood slightly different. The breastplate is faith for our own personal righteousness...each has individual covering. But the shield is faith for protection and provision not just for us but also all whom God has committed to us. This is what covers everything.

...when Satan can't get at me personally...he attacks something God has committed to me as areas of my responsibility...like my family...or because I'm the pastor church members. Need to hold out the shield of faith...rebuke the power of confusion...and restore peace and order....It is a shield of full protection and provision.

And it'll be effective as long as those individuals stay within the boundaries of protection.

Next we find the Helmet of Salvation. When we looked at the breastplate, we saw that it protects the heart. And the helmet obviously protects the head. But we need to see that this represents the mind. So we're talking about a protection for our thoughts & ideas.

Now, I keep bringing you back to the fact that the battleground in the spiritual warfare we engage in is in the mind. And because of that we need to be especially careful to protect our own minds. One of the things that I've learned from personal experience came because of my motorcycle accident some years ago...where I learned that a head wound can drastically limit the effective use of the rest of the faculties.

One of my injuries was a severe concussion..an injury that limited my movements and the activities I could do, things I usually did w/o even thinking about them. Being a football fan I see players get their "bell rung" and often they aren't sure where they're at...hold up fingers to see if they can do something as basic as count. A head injury affects these areas.

A very good friend of mine was involved in a motorcycle accident where he received a tremendous blow to the head. I went to see him but he was unable to do anything...he couldn't talk, or walk...he couldn't even breathe on his own. He only had a couple small scratches outside...he looked perfectly fine. But we found out a few days later he was brain dead. He was unable to sustain his own life. Outside looked fine inside he was dead.

In the spiritual this is also true of Christian workers. I've been privileged to be associated with many great men and women of God in various ministry positions...people used mightily by God. But many times they allowed themselves to be wounded in the head.