In this series, we are going to deal with the subject of spiritual warfare and bring correct, biblical teaching to this often-misunderstood subject.
As a point of reference, we will be referring to content from the following books:
Dressed to Kill
by Pastor Rick Renner
The Triumphant Church
by Rev. Kenneth E. Hagin
- We must always remember that the real battle with Satan was won at the Cross and the resurrection by Jesus Christ.
- We must approach spiritual warfare from a place of already obtained victory (by Jesus) instead of trying to get the victory.
There are three different aspects to spiritual warfare:
- Taking control of our minds
- Crucifying the flesh
- Dealing with the enemy
We see Paul write in Ephesians 6:
Ephesians 6:10-18 NKJV Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. (11) Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. (12) For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (13) Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. (14) Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, (15) and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; (16) above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. (17) And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; (18) praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—
God has not left us naked before the enemy!
God has given us spiritual weaponry that has the ability to counterattack and defeat any scheme that the devil would try to use against us!
Before we go on in our study of the armor, we need to mention the perfect balance that exists in the armor of God. There are three offensive weapons, three defensive weapons, and one neutral weapon.
Three defensive weapons:
- The breastplate
- The shield
- The helmet
These weapons protect you and give you confidence and assurance so you can move forward in your spiritual growth.
Three offensive weapons:
- The shoes
- The sword
- The lance
These are weapons that enable you to enforce and demonstrate Satan’s already secured defeat.
- We must always remember that the real battle with Satan was won at the Cross and the resurrection by Jesus Christ.
- We must approach spiritual warfare from a place of already obtained victory (by Jesus) instead of trying to get the victory.
There are three different aspects to spiritual warfare:
- Taking control of our minds
- Crucifying the flesh
- Dealing with the enemy
We see Paul write in Ephesians 6:
Ephesians 6:10-18 NKJV Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. (11) Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. (12) For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (13) Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. (14) Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, (15) and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; (16) above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. (17) And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; (18) praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—
God has not left us naked before the enemy!
God has given us spiritual weaponry that has the ability to counterattack and defeat any scheme that the devil would try to use against us!
Before we go on in our study of the armor, we need to mention the perfect balance that exists in the armor of God. There are three offensive weapons, three defensive weapons, and one neutral weapon.
Three defensive weapons:
- The breastplate
- The shield
- The helmet
These weapons protect you and give you confidence and assurance so you can move forward in your spiritual growth.
Three offensive weapons:
- The shoes
- The sword
- The lance
These are weapons that enable you to enforce and demonstrate Satan’s already secured defeat.
Ephesians 6:16 NKJV above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.
We must remember that the Roman Soldier’s shield and loinbelt were inseparably linked together.
The massive shield rested on a small clip attached to his loinbelt when not in use.
The loinbelt is representative of the written Word of God. Attached to the written Word of God is faith.
Your faith is attached to the Word of God.
The presence or absence of faith is determined by the presence or absence of God’s Word. Faith and the Word of God are inseparable.
Romans 10:17 NKJV So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
The Word of God is central and foremost to everything else that we have in God.
Your ability to walk in the knowledge of who you are in Christ hinges entirely on the Word of God; so does peace and strong faith.
Faith is a result of the impartation of God’s Word into the human heart.
It will be impossible for us to grow in faith unless the Word of God has a priority in your life.
Although Born Again and destined for Heaven, you will not be able to enjoy the benefits of your salvation NOW – in this life – unless you permit the power of God’s Word to continually work to transform your mind.
Furthermore, there will no sword of the Spirit (rhema word) at your disposal when you desperately need it.
Thank God for the times when the Holy Spirit speaks that special word to your heart, but you do not have to depend on that. You can have the “loinbelt” of God’s Word in your heart for the Holy Spirit to draw upon in bringing help and insight.
The Roman Soldier possessed two types of shields:
- Aspis – a smaller, round shield that was primarily a decorative piece of equipment to be used in public ceremonies and parades.
- Thureos – in the Greek refers to a door that was wide in width and long in length. These shields were shaped like a door.
The Holy Spirit chose to refer to the second shield as the illustration of faith versus the aspis.
Like a wide and long shield, the faith God has given you is adequate to cover every need that could ever arise in your life.
God has given you enough faith through His Word to cover every need or battle.
The shield was made up of multiple layers (usually six) that were tightly woven together. They were woven tightly that they became almost as strong as steel.
Because the soldier’s shield was made of all of the animal hides, is was extremely strong and exceptionally long lasting and hard-wearing.
Your faith is extremely tough and exceptionally durable – more so than you ever realized.
No matter how hard and how long the enemy beats against your faith, your faith can outlast his attack.
The shield must be properly taken care of.
Every day the soldier would wake up and would reach for his shield and a small vial of oil. After saturating a piece of cloth with this heavy ointment, he would thoroughly rub the oil into the leather of the shield to keep it soft and pliable.
Without proper care, the leather would become hard, stiff and brittle. Over time it would have hardened until, when it was put under pressure, it cracked and fell to pieces. Proper care of his shield could make the difference of life and death on the battlefield.
If the Roman Soldier wanted to live a long life, it was imperative for him to pick up that vial and apply the oil to his shield every single day of his military life.
Because the shield is representative of our faith, this analogy tells us that our faith requires frequent anointings of the Holy Spirit.
Without a constant, fresh touch of the Holy Spirit’s power on your life, your faith will become hard, stiff, and brittle.
Faith that is ignored nearly always breaks and falls into pieces during a confrontation with the enemy.
Play it safe and assume that your faith always needs a fresh anointing. By taking this approach, you will always seek to do what is necessary to keep your faith alive, active and well.
We do this by going to the Great Anointer and spending time in prayer and worship, allowing the Holy Spirit to minister to us.
There was another reason the soldier’s shield was made of leather.
Before the soldier went out to war, he placed his shield in a tub of water, then he left it there soaking until his shield was completely saturated.
Why did he do this? Because his enemies used arrows that carried fire.
Even when those dangerous flaming arrows hit their targets, the wet surface of the shield would extinguish them on impact. These water saturated shields gave the soldier the upper hand in battle by putting out the enemies’ fire.
Ephesians 5:25-26 NKJV Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, (26) that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word,
We see that in order for Roman Soldiers to keep their shields in top-notch condition and effective in battle, it was required that their shields had daily applications of both oil and water.
We must make certain that we are allowing the Holy Spirit to freshly anoint our lives on a daily basis as we regularly saturate our faith with the water of the Word.
Ephesians 6:16 NKJV above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.
This verse is not telling us that the shield of faith is more important than any other piece of spiritual weaponry. We already know that the loinbelt of truth (God’s Word) is what holds it all together and thus is the most important piece of armor.
The phrase “above all” in the Greek is “epi pasin”. The word “epi” means “over” and the word “pasin” means everything. This phrase is correctly translated: “out in front of all”.
It describes position not importance.
Faith is designed to be out front where it can completely cover you in every situation of life!
The phrase is telling us that the shield of faith is meant to completely cover us and protect us from harm – especially when we are marching forward to take new ground for the Kingdom of God.
Ephesians 6:16 NKJV above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.
This word comes from the Greek word “analambano.” It means to take something up in hand or to pick something back up again.
This plainly tells us that the shield of faith can be laid down and picked back up again.
1 Timothy 1:18-19 NIV Timothy, my son, I am giving you this command in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by recalling them you may fight the battle well, (19) holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and so have suffered shipwreck with regard to the faith.
It especially assures us that if we have laid our faith down at some point along the way – if we have gotten discouraged and stopped believing God to work in our lives – it is not too late for us to “pick up” our shield and walk in faith again.
Ephesians 6:16 NKJV above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.
This phrase comes from the Greek word “dunamis” and tells us that when we hold the shield of faith in front of us – when it is anointed by the Holy Spirit and saturated with the Word of God – your faith positions you to move in God’s explosive and dynamic power.
Power and faith working together in your life will spiritually equip you to hold your position against the enemy with out taking any serious blows to yourself.
What are the “fiery darts of the wicked?”
In Roman times there were regular arrows, similar to those we use today. Then there were also arrows which were dipped in tar and set on fire. Finally, there were arrows that contained combustible materials that could burst into flames on contact.
When Satan does not have direct access to your life, he will shoot fiery arrows into your emotions, weak places in your mind and heart in order to inflict the maximum damage.
By keeping your shield of faith anointed with the oil of the Holy Spirit and saturated with the water of the Word, you will ensure that every fiery dart the enemy launches against you will miserably fail!
It is also important to note that we as Christians can march side by side with our shields joined together to help one another and strengthen a body of believers.