Facing Prometheus | Week 34 (The Mysterion) | “Take It Up” | Pastor Erica Parrish
About the series: We’re currently in Facing Prometheus: A Letter to the Ephesians and the Future Church Dilemma, a 48-week look at how Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus can transform our lives. For more on what the series is about, watch the prequel message here.
The armor is almost fully assembled. The belt, the breastplate, the shoes, and the shield are all in place. This week Pastor Erica Parrish takes the last two pieces, and the verb changes.
Through verses 14 to 16 Paul says put on. At verse 17 he says take. Week 34 sits on that shift, because it changes what the armor is. It isn’t something you assemble. It is something handed to you.
The Text
Ephesians 6:10–17 (CSB) — Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by his vast strength. Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens. For this reason take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand. Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist, righteousness like armor on your chest, and your feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace. In every situation take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit—which is the word of God.
Not to Win. To Stand.
The last several weeks have covered what it means to put on the full armor of God.
★★ Paul does not tell us to win. He does not tell us to conquer. He tells us to stand.
We do this by being equipped with the armor of God. There are going to be moments where following Jesus is a fight. You will be attacked by what you believe and who you believe you are. Temptation will be close and lies will get into your head. Paul reminds us to stand when these attacks come, and to remain standing.
But standing can take place before we ever get to those moments. That is what the armor is for. It is not saying that you are already in the middle of it and it is too late. It is preparing us to be ready before the arrows come. James promises trials and temptations, and tells us to count it all joy, because what they produce is endurance. The ability to stand.
The Shift in Verse 17
When Paul gets to verse 17, there is a shift in his language. He says take.
The switch in verb forms moves this into a direct command. The verb now invites the hearer to receive what is being handed to them. Lynn Cohick describes it as the picture of Christ handing his faithful soldiers their deliverance, and the soldiers receiving it gladly.
Picture an old knighting ceremony, where the soldier is being equipped for battle. He does not come with the items needed for battle. They are given to him. He does not forge his own sword or set his own helmet. They are provided by the King. The King had everything the soldier would need, and he placed each piece on him.
★★★ Your King has already provided everything you need for the battle. Your invitation is to take it up.
It is in God’s supply that we receive, and therefore can stand.
1. The Sword That Answers the Attack
Ephesians 6:17 (CSB) — Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit—which is the word of God.
To understand the sword of the Spirit and its power for us, we have to understand the terminology Paul chooses.
“The Greek term machaira, translated here as ‘sword,’ refers to a weapon with a blade about two inches wide and about two feet long. This is in contrast to the larger broadsword that a soldier might also use. The sword described in this verse would have been used in close combat. This is the only weapon that Paul urges the Ephesians to pick up.”
— Stephen E. Fowl, Ephesians: A Commentary, The New Testament Library (Westminster John Knox Press, 2012)
The machaira was typically used by Roman soldiers, because their battle tactics drew them into close contact with the enemy. A shorter sword allowed for better usage in the thick of battle, when the enemy was close. The broadsword was the long-distance weapon, up to four feet.
Why does that matter? Paul’s choice of the shorter sword alerts us to the reality that certain elements of spiritual warfare hit very close to home. That is different from the arrow attacks in verse 16, which come from a distance. God has not left us ill-equipped for any situation. We are equipped for every situation, near and far.
Clinton Arnold notes that among the weapons described in Ephesians 6:14–17, the sword is the only one that can be used to strike back, an offensive tactic. Yet he points out that it also serves a defensive purpose, specifically because of its size. In close combat, a soldier could use his sword to parry or deflect an opponent’s attack.
★★ The sword did not merely absorb the attack. It enabled the soldier to answer it.
The sword is capable of both offense and defense, but within Paul’s larger picture our posture remains the same. Stand. He does not tell us to go chase the enemy down. The sword means we aren’t defenseless when the enemy gets close. We can answer the attack. Ready, but not out looking for the fight.
The Sword Is the Word of God
Paul calls this the sword “of the Spirit,” and there is a beautiful connection there. Scripture is God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16). The Word placed in our hands has come from the breath of God.
“The Spirit of God can be described as breath, and Paul draws on the prophet Isaiah’s evocative language. Isaiah describes the Messiah as bringing righteous judgement to bear through the breath of his lips (Isa 11:4; see also Rev 19:15). Isaiah paints the image of God’s breath that brings wrath to his enemies and redemption to his people (Isa 59:19).”
— Lynn H. Cohick, The Letter to the Ephesians, New International Commentary on the New Testament (Eerdmans, 2020)
Revelation paints the clearest picture of the sword as the Word of God and its purposes.
Revelation 1:16 (CSB) — He had seven stars in his right hand; a sharp double-edged sword came from his mouth, and his face was shining like the sun at full strength.
Revelation 19:15 (CSB) — A sharp sword came from his mouth, so that he might strike the nations with it. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will also trample the winepress of the fierce anger of God, the Almighty.
In Revelation, Christ himself wields a sharp double-edged sword from his mouth, which suggests the Word doesn’t merely defend believers. It executes judgment and transformation.
The sword cuts into you first, judging the thoughts and intentions of the heart, before it cuts outward against opposition.
Hebrews 4:12 (CSB) — For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
★★★ Before I can effectively wield the Word against the lies coming at me, I have to allow the Word to confront the lies living in me.
This is key to close combat attacks, because the Word’s work in us is what produces our ability to wield it against the lies of the enemy. It is what gives us the discernment to recognize a lie in the first place.
How Jesus Answered
When Jesus was tempted by Satan, his knowledge of the Word, which is of course fitting given that he is the Word as John 1:1 calls him, defeated and tore down the lies and temptations of the enemy.
Matthew 4:1–11 (CSB) — Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. Then the tempter approached him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” He answered, “It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Then the devil took him to the holy city, had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: He will give his angels orders concerning you, and they will support you with their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” Jesus told him, “It is also written: Do not test the Lord your God.” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. And he said to him, “I will give you all these things if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus told him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.” Then the devil left him, and angels came and began to serve him.
Notice how the attack opens. Twice the enemy leads with “if you are the Son of God.” He goes after identity first.
Jesus doesn’t debate Satan. He doesn’t entertain Satan. He doesn’t reason with Satan. One line after each temptation, and every one of them answers the lie with what God had already said.
Here is what’s sobering: the enemy knows Scripture. He quotes Psalm 91:11–12. So simply having access to the Bible isn’t enough. Most of us have several. Access does nothing on its own. We have to know the Word well enough to recognize when the truth is being twisted.
Psalm 119:11 (NIV) — I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
Christ’s intimate knowledge of Scripture gives him the ability to identify the distortion of it. This is why knowing the Word matters.
★★ The most dangerous lies aren’t always obviously false. Sometimes they’re just one degree off.
Picture a straight line, and the only assignment is to stay on it. A small lie nudges you slightly off. Then a small compromise. Then a little of this and a little of that, and a question about whether the text really says what it says. Change the trajectory by a degree at a time and eventually you are nowhere near where you started. That is how the enemy works, and it is all he needs. His only concern is that you are not walking in the way God has called you to walk.
“In opposition to all error … the sole, simple, and sufficient answer is the word of God. This puts to flight all the powers of darkness.”
— Charles Hodge
God has given us the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. The offense is knowing the Word that God has already spoken. The defense is knowing how to wield it when the attack comes. When the enemy comes with a lie, we meet it with the truth of what God has already said.
Practical Handles
| When… | “It is written…” |
|---|---|
| My flesh says, “Satisfy me.” | Galatians 5:16 — Walk by the Spirit, not the desires of the flesh. |
| Temptation says, “I need this.” | Psalm 23:1 — The Lord is my shepherd; I have what I need. |
| The world says, “Everyone else is doing it.” | Romans 12:2 — Do not conform to the patterns of this world. |
| Money says, “I will make you secure.” | 1 Timothy 6:17 — Put your hope in God, not in uncertain riches. |
| Lust says, “It’s harmless.” | 1 Corinthians 6:19–20 — You are not your own, for you were bought at a price. So glorify God in your body. |
| Shame says, “I am what I did.” | Romans 8:1 — There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. |
| Offense says, “Get even.” | Romans 12:21 — Overcome evil with good. |
| Bitterness says, “They don’t deserve forgiveness.” | Ephesians 4:32 — Forgive one another, just as Christ forgave you. |
| Worry says, “I need to control this.” | 1 Peter 5:7 — Cast your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. |
| Fear says, “I am not safe.” | Isaiah 41:10 — Fear not, for I am with you. I am your God. |
| Impatience says, “I will make it happen.” | Psalm 27:14 — Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart. |
| Scarcity says, “God won’t provide.” | Matthew 6:33 — Seek first His kingdom, and He will provide what you need. |
| Compromise says, “Just this once.” | Psalm 119:11 — I have your word in my heart, so that I do not sin against you. |
There is an answer for every temptation, every lie, and every struggle in the Word of God.
So the sword gives me truth to answer the attack. But where is the enemy trying to get the lie to take root? In my mind. And God doesn’t just put his Word in my hand. He puts salvation over my head.
2. The Helmet Guards Your Confidence
If the enemy can distort what I believe, eventually it will affect how I live. If he can get me questioning who I am, whose I am, and whether I am really secure in Christ, he can disorient everything else.
That is why Paul says take the helmet of salvation. It guards our confidence and ensures that we live like we believe.
Paul pulls this imagery directly from Scripture.
Isaiah 59:16–17 (CSB) — He saw that there was no man—he was amazed that there was no one interceding; so his own arm brought salvation, and his own righteousness supported him. He put on righteousness as body armor, and a helmet of salvation on his head; he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and he wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak.
Pulling us back to Isaiah shows us that the helmet of salvation was first on God’s head. Remember where we started. Take it up. This is why.
Salvation originates with him. We cannot create it. We cannot give it. We cannot earn it. It is his and his alone to give.
Ephesians 2:8 (CSB) — For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift.
The head is the seat of thought, identity, and decision. It needs protection precisely because spiritual warfare targets our certainty, and certainty is what orients everything else. The helmet is necessary for the protection of our mind.
★★ This is the one piece of equipment you must have in order to have any of the others. If you do not know your Savior, there is no armor to put on, because the armor comes from the King who owns the kingdom.
Think about the ways the enemy uses our minds to disorient us.
- He gets us to question our identity. Who am I?
- He gets us to question our belonging. Whose am I?
- He gets us to question our security. Am I really safe and secure in what Christ has done?
The question of identity is one God placed in every heart, because the only way to know who we are is through our Creator. The enemy would rather we answer it somewhere else. The question of belonging lands hard for anyone who came out of a broken family, where a last name felt like it meant nothing. And the question of security gets answered on the cross. There is nothing you can add to finished work. You are secure when you say yes to him.
The helmet protects your confidence in what Christ has secured. And Paul already told us what we put on when we put on the helmet of salvation, back in the preceding five chapters of Ephesians.
- You are blessed (Ephesians 1:3)
- You are chosen (Ephesians 1:4)
- You are adopted (Ephesians 1:5)
- You are redeemed (Ephesians 1:7)
- You are forgiven (Ephesians 1:7)
- You are sealed (Ephesians 1:13)
- You have been made alive (Ephesians 2:5)
- You are seated with Christ (Ephesians 2:6)
- You are saved by grace (Ephesians 2:8)
Put on that. When the enemy says you are not, the answer is that it is written.
★★★ When the enemy tries to tell you who you are, do not let him name what Christ has redeemed.
Stop letting the enemy take back your identity. You have been redeemed. You have been set free. Do not let him rename you. There is power in naming, which is why so much of the Old Testament turns on names. There is power in your name, and you are his.
Clinton Arnold says that putting on salvation means realizing and appropriating our new identity in Christ.
★★ The enemy wants you thinking from your failure. God says think from your salvation.
Now and Not Yet
1 Thessalonians 5:8 (CSB) — But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled and put on the armor of faith and love, and a helmet of the hope of salvation.
Why does Paul call it the hope of salvation if we have already been saved?
Because biblical salvation doesn’t only look backward at what Jesus has done. It gives me confidence today and hope for what is still to come. My salvation has a past, a present, and a future.
Christ has saved me. Christ sustains me. Christ will bring me home, fully restored.
“That which adorns and protects the Christian, which enables him to hold up his head with confidence and joy, is the fact that he is saved.”
— Charles Hodge, quoted in John R. W. Stott, God’s New Society: The Message of Ephesians, The Bible Speaks Today (InterVarsity Press, 1979)
And we might add that he knows his salvation will be perfected in the end. Now and not yet. Secure and victorious.
Closing
★★ The enemy may attack what you think. He may attack what you feel. He may attack what you see happening around you. But he cannot change what Jesus has already done.
I know who I am. I know whose I am. And I know how this ends.
So when the enemy gets close, I have the Word in my hand. I have salvation over my mind. And having taken it up, I stand.
Sources
- Arnold, Clinton E. Ephesians. Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010.
- Brown, Derek R., Miles Custis, and Matthew M. Whitehead. Ephesians. Edited by Douglas Mangum. Logos Research Commentaries. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2026.
- Campbell, Constantine R. The Letter to the Ephesians. Edited by D. A. Carson. Pillar New Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2023.
- Cohick, Lynn H. The Letter to the Ephesians. Edited by Ned B. Stonehouse, F. F. Bruce, Gordon D. Fee, and Joel B. Green. New International Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2020, 422.
- Fowl, Stephen E. Ephesians: A Commentary. Edited by C. Clifton Black, M. Eugene Boring, and John T. Carroll. The New Testament Library. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2012.
- Merkle, Benjamin L. Ephesians. Edited by Andreas J. Köstenberger and Robert W. Yarbrough. Exegetical Guide to the Greek New Testament. B&H Academic, 2016, 460.
- Stott, John R. W. God’s New Society: The Message of Ephesians. The Bible Speaks Today. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1979, 387–88.
