HAVING, TAKING

Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able
to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the
helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the
word of God (Ephesians 6:16-18)


Paul introduced the idea of "the whole armor of God" back in
Ephesians 6:11. In the following verses he detailed the specific
items related to the armor of God. In verses 14-15 he described
three aspects of this armor to have: truth represented by a belt,
righteousness represented by a breastplate, and the gospel
represented by sandals or boots. He wrote using spiritual
analogies, relating these aspects of the Roman soldier's equipment
to these spiritual truths and principles.

At this point, after putting forth the idea of armor to have, Paul now
wrote, "Above all" as he introduced three more aspects of God's
armor. In this sense, above all really has the idea of "in addition to
the previous," and it applies to each of the three pieces of armor
that follow. It isn't the idea, "these parts of armor are more
important than any of the other."

Yet notice the phrasing Paul used with these following aspects:
"Taking the shield of faith . . . And take the helmet of
salvation." Ephesians 6:14-15 told us of armor to have. Some of
the armor we must wear all the time, and have as a standing
foundation. Therefore having comes first. We must be rooted in belt
of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, and the "combat boots" of
the gospel.

Now we come to the armor to take. These aspects of the armor we
take up from situation to situation, as the moment demands. Think
about those "demanding moments" in spiritual warfare.

- A flood of depression or discouragement, feeling like a black
cloud.
- When a relatively insignificant thing gets blown way out of
proportion.
- An opportunity to speak with someone about what Jesus did for
you.
- Opposition against a sense that God wants you to do something,
or to follow through on something.
- A sense of panic and helplessness.

In those critical moments, we need to

Take the shield of faith.
Take the helmet of salvation.
Take the sword of God's Word.

How to do that, we'll see in the following. First, we need to sense
this distinction between having and taking, and be ready to take up
what is needful at the moment. God knows how to supply what we
need at the critical moment; we need to receive it.

By David Guzik


PRAISE GOD
BLESSED BE THE ONE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD



Tweet