(Eph 6:18) “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;”  This is a continuation of the armor of God provided for the victory over sin and Satan. If I had just printed out the first part of that verse, we would have thought, “praying for self’s victory”. But true Christianity is not self, but others. The victory comes as we seek the good of others.  

(Eph 6:17) “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:” It has often been acknowledged that all the equipment for the spiritual battle we wage are those for defense until we come to the sword of the Spirit. The sword of the Spirit and prayer are for attack, offense. One is used by the Spirit of God and the other by us. Trust God, utter the Words of God as led by the Spirit of God, and pray, pray, pray.

(Eph 6:17) “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:”  So often in conversation with others, we fall into the habit of saying, “I think”, or “I believe”, even when we are speaking the truth of Scripture. Why should those listening give credence to what we say; their opinion is as good as ours? We need to say, “God says”, or “the Bible teaches”. There is the authority and there is the victory over sin. 

(Eph 6:17) “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:”  In order to be victorious, the Holy Spirit within the saved must be relied upon.  His sword is the Words of Scripture, specifically, the Words of Scripture you recall for Him to use in your battle against the forces of darkness. Laziness towards the things of God are not blessed by Him, Child of God. Those Words must be put within you, as you seek His Face daily.

(Eph 6:17) “And take the helmet of salvation,….”   Why does God tell us through the Holy Spirit this protection from the evil one is a helmet. It is because the soul is the real you, and we associate the soul with the mind. The real you, the soul, must be saved. Once again we see the preciseness of the Word of God, translated word for word in the King James Version, a method not used in any of the other translations in use today.

(Eph 6:17) “And take the helmet of salvation,….”  One cannot overcome Satan if one is not saved. Notice, it is called, “salvation”. Salvation from the penalty of our sins – death and hell. There are those who would say, “You can lose your salvation”. You cannot say you lost salvation, for salvation that does not save from death and hell cannot be called in any sense salvation at all. Would not the Master of Words and Language, Almighty God, have used a more precise term. His term is precise, for the salvation of Christ saves eternally from death and hell from the moment it is received.

(Eph 6:16) “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.”   Satan does attack the Children of God. His desire is to keep them from growing in Him. God’s children begin their walk still influenced strongly by their previous life lived only in the flesh. Now, they begin a walk in the spirit with the need to reprogram their thinking. While they remain babes they are subject to Satan’s attack, for they react as those still ruled by love for self – the flesh. Faith and only faith in God as revealed in His Word gives us victory over those attacks (1 Jn 5:4).

(Eph 6:16) “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.”  Why does it say, “above all”? Answer: faith is trusting the Lord. It “acts” based upon the belief that God says what He means, can do, and will do whatever He has said. Faith is not only belief, but it is acting upon that belief. One who says they believe but do not act do not truly possess faith – trust in God. To not trust in God is to call Him a liar, and therefore cannot please Him (Heb. 13).  So, above all, take the shield of faith.

(Eph 6:15) “And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;”   I wonder how often we are prepared to “share” the Gospel of Peace. I referring to ready and able to give the gospel to those around us in the mall, on the job, standing in our yard, of sitting at our table. Our minds are normally everywhere else but there. God help us to be walking, talking voices of appeal to the lost around us.

(Eph 6:15) “And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;”  This “peace” is not, as many asset, peace with man as much as peace with God, the message of reconciliation (Col 1:20). The Bible does say to live at peace with man to the best of our ability (Rom 12:18). Sometime they do not allow this to take place, but it should not be us (unless we are standing in a right manner for teachings of the Word of God) that caused the problem.