An Exposition 

The purpose of the Bible study is to consider and meditate on the Scriptural meaning of each piece of the Armor of God so that we might stand firm in the battles of life.

 Note that the Armor is spiritual and note also that the Christian consists of three parts: body, soul and spirit.  The body and the spirit is at war for the soul.

A key word we should note right away is the word STAND.  Standing represents preparation for action, a willingness to battle.  No one can fight face to face sitting.  So we stand and we stand firm.  Standing is a physical sign to trusting God and resisting the devil. 

The weapons that we have at our disposal come from God.  They are ours because of our personal relationship with God, our positional sanctification, but they only have value when we are experientially sanctified. 

The Armor consists of:

U       The Belt

U       The Breastplate

U       The Shoes

U       The Shield

U       The Helmet

U       The Sword

U       The Privilege of Prayer 

The Armor represents our victory for peace, remember only a born again believer can wear this armor so salvation is not an issue here.  In John 14:27, Jesus referred to the peace that only He can give.  Living in the safety of the Armor means oneness with Him and this means being persecuted as well as being at peace. The passage beginning at 2 Corinthians 4:7 is a good example of this. 

From an application in our life today, we can see the Armor this way:

Paul’s knowledge of Rome and Roman customs especially the military are readily apparent in his epistles.  So it stands to reason the he wrote the book of Ephesians while under house arrest in Rome.  God used Paul’s time in Rome to carry the Gospel to other countries and to strengthen us today. 

Now lets look at the Scripture:

Eph 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

U       Finally, literally meaning the ending, moving toward the conclusion, time to get down to business.

U       Be strong, use inner strength and moral courage, the brave are the successful because they are afraid of death.  This strength can only come from spiritual maturity.  So we can determine already that those having lived in the Word of God will be the only ones that can draw on this strength.  We have already learned that our weapons are weapons of the soul, they do not rely on doing but on being something or thinking something.  In other words, as the believer grows the soul is better armed. 

U       In the power of His might, we must realize that the source for everything is the Lord, look at 2 Corin. 4:7 

Eph 6:11   Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

U       Put on, this refers to the soldier picking up his equipment and weapons and the internal statement is that the believer will receive a benefit from putting the Armor on. 

U       The whole Armor, weapons to the soldier were like tools to the carpenter, you had to go into action with everything that you may ever need.  You have all of The Godhead, how much of you is available. 

U       To stand, we have talked about this already but it means a readiness to battle and a readiness to do your part for the whole.  It also means that you trust what you have. 

U       Against the wiles of the devil, the enemy is the devil, he has a great army (and he also has our lusts), this is a face to face battle even though it is against an unseen enemy. 

Eph 6:12   For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

U       For we wrestle, this refers to a personal battle.  How many of you have seen a wrestling match, they are always face to face and personal, the enemy is before us always. 

U       Not against flesh and blood, although this encounter is face to face it is not with another material being, it is against immaterial beings 

U       But, this adds emphasis to the contrast of material and immaterial 

U       Against, again this word emphasizes the face to face with an organization 

U       Principalities, the Greek word used here is Archon, which means one of the highest rulers, so rejoice because it means you have value not only to God but to satan who would like to neutralize you. 

U       Powers, official hierarchy in satan’s kingdom, recognized and commissioned, these immaterial beings are directly beneath the Archon. 

U       Rulers of the darkness of this world, this refers to the world rulers of darkness, they would be our heads of the FBI, CIA National Security etc.  They usually are the ones that are reserved for high level attacks.  As that old saying goes, “Aren’t you glad?” 

U       Spiritual wickedness in high places, what can I say, spiritual wickedness is evil at its worst, all the way down to the root, no hope for redemption of any kind.  Matthew 3:10 refers to the axe being laid at the root of this kind. 

Eph 6:13               Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

U       Wherefore, this means because of the fact that this is a spiritual war against demons and the greater (than our) power of satan.

U       Take, to seize or take again and again the armor, use it continuously every moment every day because the enemy does his job well.  Those of us that are ready will pick up or take up our armor without thinking about it because it will be a natural part of our living to do so.  American Express says “don’t leave home without it,” and God says don’t live without it. 

U       The whole armor of God, look at the chart that I have prepared, who can omit any of the weapons and be protected.  We can’t half step.

U       That ye may be able to stand, this goes back to my original comment on standing, we stand at ball games when the action is good, so we can understand this message even though it is directed militarily.  My favorite passage on this is Galations 5:1. 

Eph 6:14     Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

U       Stand therefore, this means to stand in combat readiness according to military rank. 

U       Having your loins girt about with truth, to put around you, this belt is the truth and it vessel and vehicle for all of your weapons. 

U       And having, wearing because you have put it on, relate the story of the Levitical priest and the Christian. 

U       The breastplate, this is directly attached to the belt of truth and provided protection to the sensitive parts of the body, the breastplate was specially designed to be pretty to look at and to shine in the sun, even blinding to the enemy 

U       Of righteousness, the righteousness of God is our protection, our righteousness has no value, that is one of the great things about being a Christian, you see our failure is where our victory rests. 

Eph 6:15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

U       And your feet, this has reference to our being grounded and ready to slug it out, the Roman soldier had metal spikes in the bottom of his sandals to help him stand without slipping on uneven or solid ground. 

U       With the preparation of, able to go long distances, in shape, able to march a long time/way and still be ready to use the weapons. 

U       The gospel of peace, we are to be ready at any time to minister the gospel and always be on the front line. The Christian that does not want to fight will still be in conflict because the enemy is not going to let up because of our poor preparation.  Evangelism is primarily an individual function.  Preparation means the ability to fight is present, it means flexibility and the ability to use God’s Word in witnessing because witnessing depends on knowledge and not personalities.

Witnessing: requires

¨       A responsible believer

¨       Clarity and effectiveness

Remember the only rewarding done in Heaven is based on what is done by Grace. 

Eph 6:16   Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

U       Above all, in addition to what is concluded. 

U       Taking, to pick it up from where ever it is i.e. the ground repeatedly or as many times as need be 

U       The shield of faith, this was to protect the main part of the body, generally it ranged from the ankle to the chin and was primarily a defensive weapon.  The fiery darts left a visible  and long trail and the soldier could get caught glimpsing at the beauty and be struck down, so the shield was designed to give maximum protection.  This shield stands for faith and belief in the promises of God.  The value of faith lies not in the person exercising it but in the object. 

U       Wherewith, just means by which or the method 

U       To quench, to extinguish, to break off, to chop off 

U       The fiery darts, fire arrows that burn and appeared as missiles. 

U       Of the wicked, the darts are the weapons of the enemy, so we use faith in God to be protected from them. 

Eph 6:17       And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

And take, in this case, the word take means to receive what is given and what we can not obtain for ourselves. 

U       The helmet of salvation, protected defense for the head, the soul was considered to be in the head, and the soul is where our reasoning, faith, etc. so all learned doctrines etc. had to be protected. 

U       And the sword of the Spirit, doctrine, the Word of God, the Romans invented the best sword, it could cut both ways without exposing themselves to onslaught. 

U       Which is the Word of God, for increased emphasis. 

Eph 6:18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; 

Prayer is the weapon that is ours as a result of the Cross………

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