The Full Armor of God Pt III (Eph 6:1-18)
Verse 16 The shield here is a Roman shield that was four feet high, made of wood and covered in leather.
• Right before a battle they would soak the shield in water to extinguish any flaming arrows.
o The shield was also rimmed with metal to prevent damage to the edges.
• This time Paul uses the verb, “to take up”
• Paul goes on to liken these attacks from the enemy as flaming arrows from an enemy army.
• But this shield of faith doesn’t just stop the arrows, where they could fall to the ground and keep burning.
o Rather they extinguish the flame like the water soaked Roman shield did.
• Faith is something we have to deliberately work to build.
o First, study scripture on faith.
o Second, we can also do this by taking risk.
Verse 17 The helmet was made of bronze and included cheek flaps that protected the side of the head and face.
o Again, Paul tells us to “take up”
• This idea again goes back to Isa 59:17
• It’s in our mind that we give mental ascent to being saved. This is to protect our mind.
o As we take up the helmet of salvation we remind ourselves that through our salvation we have been set free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:1-4
The sword: The verb “to take up” at the beginning carries over to this sword.
• What is interesting is this is the first real weapon Paul has mentioned.
• The specific sword Paul refers to here was a short sword used for close in hand to hand combat.
o This was not the sword used by front line soldiers.
• The “word” of God Paul refers to here is the rhema word of God or the spoken word.
• First, it can be seen as defensive.
o When the enemy comes at us with his lies, we put up our shield of faith but fight back with the word.
• Second, it can be offensive
o This can be seen as preaching the word of God to the lost.
• What it is not, A Spiritual hand grenade. We don’t use the word of God to put someone in their place.
Verse 18 Paul hasn’t left this military imagery and the imagery of putting on and taking up the armor.
• At the very heart of spiritual warfare and what it means to be prepared with the right armor is prayer.
o This becomes a foundational path to enable us to do all of these things he has commanded us to do.
• He also put this verb “to pray” in the presence tense which gives this command an ongoing sense to it.
o The other verbs simply stated an action.
• Paul further emphasis this by saying on ALL occasions with ALL kinds of prayers.
o In Greek an alliteration, five words with the same soun
