Thanks for joining me as we seek to arm ourselves continually for the spiritual battle we have been called to fight by our Commander-In-Chief, the Lord Jesus Christ. Last week we covered the first part of the armour that we are required to put on daily – the girdle of truth, the breastplate of righteousness and upon our feet the gospel of peace (Eph. 6:10 -18).  Now, we continue the Holy Spirit’s revelation regarding the rest of the armour.

Recall that the armour is provided to cover the vulnerable areas of our body. Those areas that Satan targets the most. We can therefore conclude that these are the areas that need the greatest protection as we seek to withstand his attacks.

Next, we have the SHIELD OF FAITH. A shield is used to protect the entire body from the piercing weapons of the attacker. This is an indication of the importance of faith. Every area of our body is vulnerable without the shield. The role of the SHIELD OF FAITH is to quench all of Satan’s fiery darts. The opposite of faith is fear. Intimidation is one of the greatest weapons that Satan uses against us. But we must continually declare to ourselves that God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power, love, and a sound mind. In essence then, he cannot pierce us once our shield of faith is intact. We MUST build up our faith through vocal declaration of the Word of God. We overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony! Satan plagues us with doubt and unbelief. He constantly asks “Hath God said?” Faith comes by hearing the Word of God. When we know the Word for ourselves, and confess it, our faith is built up. Satan knows that without faith it is impossible for us to please God (Heb. 11:6). One of his greatest strategies is to break down our relationship with God in any way he can. In Mark 9:23 Jesus said to a father who had brought his child to be healed, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe, help my unbelief!” This must be our constant cry. It is interesting to note that this child actually required deliverance from the stronghold of a deaf and dumb spirit that manifested as epilepsy. Satan is well aware that once the people of God begin to believe we have been given power and authority over ALL the power of the enemy it’s all over for him.

The fifth piece of armour is the HELMET OF SALVATION. Salvation is our overall covering. A helmet guards the head wherein is housed our brain which controls all the functions of our body and where our thoughts are generated. Our minds are the real battle field. This is where Satan begins the process of temptation (Jas. 1:14-15). This is why we are told to “bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5b). We must be constantly tuned into our thoughts and line them up with the Word of God. Our initial thoughts are not under our control, however, once we begin to entertain the thought we now become accountable for it. God tells us further that our transformation into Christ’s image takes place through the renewing of our MINDS (Rom. 12:2). This alone should be an indication of how critical our minds are and why we must work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12b). We cannot afford to take our salvation for granted. Jesus suffered too much for our sakes for us not to be willing to make the sacrifice of our own lives for His sake. Many of us have fallen captive to the deception of the enemy that we cannot lose our salvation. When I read the Word of God it is clear on this matter (Heb. 10:26-31; 2 Pet. 2:20-22). Through salvation we inherit the kingdom of God. Let us not allow Satan to rob us of our inheritance.

Up to this point, all of the armour has been defensive in nature. Now we come to the two offensive weapons in the armoury – the SWORD OF THE SPIRIT and PRAYER. We will cover these in the third and final part of this series. I hope you have been blessed.

SHALOM