1. Victory in Spiritual Warfare OUTFITTING YOURSELF FOR THE BATTLE

2. Roman Soldier Cleaning Armor Ephesians 6:13 “take unto you” from the Greek word analabete, ana means to repeat an action. Labete means to receive or to take. Compounded means a soldier who is not wearing his armor to reach down, pick up his armor, put it on and use it

3. Rightly expounding Scripture  Scripture that bear the same matter, will fall into place quite easily and naturally. On the other hand, if a scripture is wrongly interpreted, then other scriptures, bearing on the same matter, will have to be twisted and mangled to square with the initial misinterpretation. It is like a child’s puzzle  Get a few pieces in their right position, each piece becomes easier and easier. But let the first few pieces be wrong, the future movements of the pieces become more and more difficult, till at last hopeless.

4. Loinbelt If a soldier conducted warfare without this part of his armor, it would have spelled disaster, for many other pieces of weaponry were connected to the loinbelt. Needed to hold the breastplate together Vital to his security

5. The Belt of Truth  Impossible for God to lie (Hebrews 6:17-18)  Who cannot lie (Titus 1:2)  God is not a man he should lie (Numbers 23:19  Also the Glory of Israel will not lie or change His mind ( 1 Samuel 15:29)

6. The Belt of Truth  Only the Creator of truth Himself can define truth, it is the core  Brings clarity and victory  Predetermined by God  Truth is an Internal Reality

7. Breastplate Heaviest piece of weaponry between 40 – 75 lbs Made of metal or brass Covered the top of his neck to the his knees Protected the vital organs

8. Breastplate of Righteousness  Speaks of right acts as practiced by the believer. The breastplate protects the heart of the soldier. Thus, unrighteous acts committed by a Christian rob him of this vital protection and expose his spiritual heart to Satan.  Hebrews: 10:22,13:9  James 1:26, 4:8  1 John 3:19-22

9. Using the Breastplate of Righteousness  God deposited righteousness within us when we received salvation  Our responsibility  Dig down deep to discover truth  Meditate on what you have discovered  Act on what has been revealed to you  Wearing the breastplate of righteousness involves walking securely in your imputed righteousness by virtue of the cross.

10. Shoes Mixed with leather and metal Bottom of the shoe, the affixed with extremely dangerous nails that were intended to hold the soldier in place and to kick, wound, and even kill an opponent

11. The Shoes of Peace  Roman soldier’s shoes (Caliga)  Studded with nails  Kept the soldier from slipping when in battle  Placing yourself in a stationary position to stand firm  The nails coming out of the shoes have dug deep into the foundation (The WORD of Truth)

12. The Shoes of Peace  The goal of Satan is to keep you defeated  Keeps you from experiencing God’s purpose, provision, forward movement, and blessings in your life  Preparation  Greek word “hetoimasia” means readiness, promptness, and speediness. 1 Peter 3:15  Greek word for peace is “Eirene”, equivalent to “shalom”  Completeness, wholeness, and inner resting of the soul

13. The Shoes of Peace  Isaiah 26:3 “The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, because he trusts in You.”  Your mind agrees with God’s mind-His truth and His standard  God doesn’t change our world, He joins you in them  God does not always change your situation, but when He does you Praise Him

14. Shield Locked their shields together to form a nearly indivisible and unconquerable unit When the soldier awakened, he would reach for his shield and a small vial of oil. Without the oil the leather would harden and crack when put under pressure. Dip his shield into water, to avoid being struck by flaming arrows

15. Shield of Faith  Fiery darts are meant to mantle things in our life  I John 5:4  The shield will enable you to advance against the enemy

16. Shield of Faith  Acting as if God is telling the truth  Faith is directly tied to an action done in response to a revealed truth  In order to have faith, you have to respond to truth  Faith is a function of the mind that shows up in the feet

17. Shield of Faith  Faith does not make God move, it access what God has already done  You don’t need more faith, You need to know more truth  Faith was deposited by grace, and then drawing on the grace deposited in you when you got saved  Faith accesses the grace that God has deposited  Works exhibit our faith, Romans 11:6  Faith has to be tied to truth and truth is tied to God

18. Helmet Greek word “perikephalaia” The word peri means around The word kephalaia means the head Compounded together describes tightly fitting around the head in order to protect it. The most important defenses the Roman soldier had in battle.

19. Helmet of Salvation  Pick up and put on the helmet of salvation  Many have a lack of understanding of salvation  Being “Born Again” is the instantaneous change  Called justification, the removal of our penalty of sin along with a declaration of legal righteousness  Justification is what occurs at the point of salvation

20. Helmet of Salvation  Sanctification is the removal of the power of sin over a believer  Glorification is the future sense of salvation, the removal of the presence of sin  Sanctification is our focus on the helmet of salvation  Unless you understand “Grace” grace has nothing to do with you or me. What ever He has done for you He has accomplished through His son.

21. The Sword First sword was the gladius sword A two handed heavy with a long blade Second sword was shorter and narrower. It was approximately 17 inches long and about 2 ½ inches in width. Third sword was shorter, looking like a dagger Fourth sword long and slender Fifth sword was the type of sword Paul had in mind. 19 inches long and razor sharp on both sides. This was the most deadly by reaping the insides to shreds.

22. The Sword of the Spirit (What it is NOT!)  Your sword  The Church  Good Works  Religion  The Preacher

23. The Sword of the Spirit (What it is)  The sword is used in the Heavenly places  Our authority for victory in the spiritual realm is rooted and grounded in God  To “take….the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.”

24. The Sword of the Spirit  Graphe “The writing”  Logos “The meaning”  In the beginning was the Word  The Word was with God  The Word was God  Graphe is the message written  Logos is the message given

25. The Sword of the Spirit  Rhema, “The offensive weapon”  Satan can defeat you if you never read the graphe  Which will help you understand the logos  Which in turn you will hear and use the rhema God has given to you for your specific situation  The sword of the Spirit moves us forward against the enemy.