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Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-18                         The Sheild of Faith

 

Ephesians 6:16  Above all taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 

 

The Shield of Faith by Allan Quak          

 Scripture Readings:-2 Corinthians 13:1-10; Ephesians 6:10-18

When it comes to the demonic, many in our culture take one of two extreme approaches. Some believe demons are nothing but a myth – the product of over-superstitious medieval minds. Others see demons and devils at every turn. Diseases are caused by demon possession. Desires such as greed, envy, lust are produced by demons. Whole towns and even whole geological areas are under the influence of demons, devils and beings from the underworld. These are the extreme ends of the views which can be taken on the issue.

So, as we think about our position, how should we assess devils, demons and spiritual forces?
• Are we to be like the 5yr old child who, after telling a blatant lie said, "The devil made me do it."?
• Are we to take the attitude of modern `logical scientists’ who say these creatures cannot possibly exist?
• Should we be more wary of Satan’s craft, taking Scriptures evidence which show him to be quite powerful?
• Should we see Satan’s influence at every turn?
How should the body of Christ appraise the evil one? I ask these questions because our text makes it clear that we are in the firing line of flaming arrows which comes form the evil one. It is an attack directed personally at each one of us. And we need to know how to defend ourselves against them.

The best place to start defending ourselves is to know the nature of the attack and how it was defended. What are these fiery arrows that are coming our way? One thing we have come to understand well as we have made our way through these verses is that Paul has been basing his descriptions of the spiritual armour on the armour of a real Roman soldier.

In the days of Paul a formidable weapon was the flaming arrow. This arrow had a heavy iron tip which was dipped into pitch and set alight. Even the speed of the arrow in the air wouldn’t extinguish the flame – it was a deadly flaming missile. These arrows would cause panic within the opposing ranks, especially when they embedded themselves into shields and began to cause the shield to burn. A frightened soldier would throw down his burning shield leaving himself, and those around him, unprotected from arrows and spears. You can imagine the result.

Such a deadly weapon needed a formidable defence; and this is where our shield comes in. This is a big shield. It was 1.6m high and 80cm wide. It was made of 3 layers of wood, with linen sandwiched between each layer. It also had an outer layer of leather or animal hide. To hold it all together there was a bronze strip was wrapped around the whole edge. If it was hit by a flaming arrow this shield would still burn. So, before they went into battle, the soldiers would soak the shields in water. The wet linen and leather would stop the shield from igniting, even when there was a flaming arrow embedded into it.

That’s the battle scene Paul has in mind when he says to us “take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one”. But let us not forget Paul primarily has in mind a spiritual battle. A spiritual shield. Spiritual flaming arrows. What strategy of Satan are we being called to defend ourselves against? What are Satan’s flaming arrows?

In a nutshell the flaming arrows of the evil one are any spiritual struggles which cause us to be hesitant in our relationship with Jesus Christ. Flaming arrows are spiritual devises Satan uses to make us question our faithfulness to Christ.

How do we discover these flaming arrows? Earlier we read 2 Corinthians 13:5
“Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?”
Test yourself. See if Christ is in you. Be honest about the way you are seeking to be a servant of God. Be honest in an appraisal of your Christ-likeness.

If we are going to find these flaming arrows in our lives we need to be willing to go through this self-interrogation. And it is an interrogation that is guaranteed to expose some shocking truths about our walk with Jesus.
• How does my life compare with the fruits of the spirit in Galatians 5?
• Is the description of love in 1 Corinthians 13 a description of my love?
• Are the beatitudes of Matthew 5 attitudes I reflect?
• In what way are the ten commandments reproduced in my life?
• Am I following the footsteps of Jesus?
• Do I look like a citizen of heaven?
• Would God’s treasured possession act as I do?

To find the flaming arrows all we need to do is turn to any page of Scripture with the purpose of asking, "How does my life reflect this truth?". And there will be times when we find ourselves wanting. We will discover the evil one is firing flaming arrows at our souls. Arrows designed to wear-down and destroy our relationship with Jesus Christ. Arrows which cause us to panic, throwing away the best protection we have. When we take the time to stop and review our walk before the Lord there can be no denying the realities of life:- we are under a fiery attack.

Sin is difficult to overcome. Sin still has a disastrous effect on our relationship with Jesus. Sin is a potentially overwhelming force. And all of these truths can wear us down and cause us to doubt our ability to stand - until we come back to the basic Gospel message. “God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him”. God’s people are under a fiery attack but in Jesus we can have a faithful life.

The reason we can have a faithful life is because the One who provides the shield is faithful. God is faithful, even when we prove ourselves to be totally unfaithful.
• God sent His Son to make us eligible for the gift of eternal life.
• God punished our sins in Christ so that we could be holy in His sight.
• God accepts the sacrifice of Jesus Christ as sufficient to cover our lack of obedience and we are made to be children of the Almighty.
• God brought us into a relationship with Himself which can never be broken.
When it comes to protecting us as His children God has done everything. Psalm 91:4 puts it this way:-
“He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart”.
The Father indeed is our shield. He protects us from the assaults of the evil one. It has always been that way.

When we are the objects of such protection we do not need anything else. When our faith is shattered. When situations arise which cause us to question our integrity. When it seems that we have been targeted and struck by the flaming arrows of the evil one. When these and many other things start to happen we do not need to start panicking. Instead we just need to have faith in the shield of God. Trusting that our eternal life is not dependant or hindered by the way we perform on this earth. Trusting that our place in heaven is secure, even when we mess up life.

Once Jesus is your shield you have a 100% assurance that you are covered with the feathery wings of the Father. Gathered. Loved. Protected. Adored. The precious possession of One who snatched you out of the clutches of evil and presented you with eternal life before the throne of God. That is who you are when you confess Jesus as Lord. God has designed such a unity between you and Jesus Christ that, even when your actions are nothing short of disgraceful, Jesus doesn’t let you go. The shield of faith stands firm – firm on the foundation of the everlasting love of Christ. And since that is the case, the flames of the fiery arrows which have been directed at you can be extinguished.

Have there been times, now or in the past, when you feel yourself being crushed by the guilt of your own short-comings? It may come because of a sin you repeat, or because you see no growth in your faith, or because your unsure of Christ grip on you. There are times when we can make ourselves feel so guilty but Christ says "stop it". Hold up the shield and look at the reality. A child of God does not have to feel that way. Christianity is not about meeting a certain standard - it is all about having faith in a living Saviour. Yes we must strive to be like Christ. Jesus gives us certain characteristics. Jesus makes us conform to His likeness. Jesus calls us to follow. But all along grace is still the priority of the day; grace which means God looks at you through the eyes of Jesus Christ. This flame of self-imposed guilt can be extinguished through Christ.

Maybe there have been times now or in the past when you feel that life is too difficult to bear. Or the traumas of this life are just too much? Perhaps you are having trouble coming to terms with the death of a loved one. Perhaps you falter under financial burdens. Perhaps your marriage is going through a straining time. Perhaps you have been through a time of watching children turn from the Lord. In the face of such trauma Jesus says "Hold up the shield and stop to look at the reality". Will Christ give us situations which are designed to tear us away from Him? Never. Will the Lord make us go through hardship so He can have pleasure in our pain? Of course not. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:13 that “God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it”. When the shield is in place this flaming arrow of doubt can be extinguished.

Maybe there are those here today who thin they don’t need Jesus. They have a faith which is non-existent. They have a sense where following God is just too much hassle. They think they can get through this life on their own, thank you very much, without Jesus. You also need a shield – but the reality is that you are running around unprotected in a spiritual battle-field. You think you are doing fine on your own, but you are not. You see anyone who moves through this life without the protection of Christ is an open target for the flaming arrows of the evil one.

If you’re sitting here today thinking, "I don’t need God", let me urge you to think again and look to the cross of Christ in humility and repentance and seek life. Seek the face of the Lord for Jesus has the only Name that can save. Seek Christ knowing there is no-one who is so sinful that Jesus will say to them, “You have been too sinful”. Accept the only hope you have - the hope of God being willing to take your sin to the cross and to die for it. Until that time Satan continues to shoot fatal flaming arrows at your soul.

Congregation the shield of faith will extinguish any flaming arrow. As bearers of the shield we can know that temptations will never stop being a part of our life. But we can also be certain that these temptations do not have to rule our response to God. When we trust in the saving work of Jesus Christ we can stand secure in Christ every time the evil one tries to make us hesitant in our relationship with Jesus Christ. We can stand secure even when we do fall, knowing that the faithfulness of our Lord will rescue us again and again. As warriors in the battlefield we have a piece of armour which secures us in the thrust for glory.

Which means we have text which is full of irony. The evil one fires his flaming arrows at our soul, hoping to bring us down. But our Lord can take these arrows and use them – use them to make us more prepared as soldiers in the army of God. God uses such things to help us to be better equipped to fight future spiritual battles. Indeed there is a passage in 1 Peter 1:6-7 reminds us of this glorious truth.
“Though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed”.
What a great God we have. He takes the best attacks of the evil one and uses them to make us holy. Even when an arrow embeds itself it the shield we do not need to panic. Being saturated with Christ means the flame will be extinguished – becoming harmless to our eternal life.

So, what should we think about Satan and those who are against us? Satan is on the attack but he is not that powerful. Evil is a reality, and even a threat, but it doesn’t have to make us anxious or cause us undue alarm. The ability of the evil one is very limited. The battle is Christ’s and the victory is Christ’s. Sin and evil have been defeated.
We have –
We can –
We will –
- be able to extinguish the flaming arrows of the evil one. The shield of faith will not let us down because the shield of faith stands secure on the faithfulness of Jesus Christ.

 

 

Dressing Up

Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-18

Breastplate of Righteousness - We must be very careful to guard our hearts.  God wants us to do what is right and good. Satan won't be able to take hold of us and sneak us into his ways if we take hold of righteousness. We are properly dressed when the Righteousness of Jesus Christ resides within us.

No Roman soldier would go into battle without his breastplate--a tough sleeveless piece of armor that covered everything apart from his head and limbs. It was often made of leather or heavy linen, onto which were sewn overlapping pieces of metal molded or hammered to conform to the body. The purpose of that piece of armor is obvious--to protect one's heart, lungs, intestines, and other vital organs.

        The mind and the emotions are the two areas where Satan most fiercely attacks believers.  He wants to cloud our minds with false doctrine, false principles, and false information to mislead and confuse us.  He also wants to confuse our emotions and thereby pervert our affection, morals, loyalties, goals, and commitments.  He desires to snatch the Word of God from our minds and replace it with his own wicked ideas.  He seeks to undermine pure living and replace it with immorality, greed, envy, hate, and every other deception. He wants us to laugh at sin rather than mourn over it, and to rationalize it rather than confess it and bring it to the Lord for forgiveness. He seduces us to become so accustomed to sin in us and around us that it no longer disturbs us. Our protection against such attacks is the breastplate of righteousness. Righteousness is to be taken and wrapped around our whole being.

Read vs. 15 – “And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;”

The Shoes of the Gospel of Peace  – We should be ready to go wherever God sends us to tell the Good News of God's amazing love for us. This gives us inner peace and happiness. It will help us to be sure footed for going forward into battle and supported with the message of the scriptures. We can stand firm while having inner peace with the knowledge of God's Word.

          Since the average ancient soldier marched on rough, hot roads, climbed over jagged rocks, trampled over thorns, and waded through streambeds of jagged stones, his feet needed much protection.  A soldier whose feet were blistered, cut, or swollen could not fight well and often was not able to stand up--a perilous situation in battle.  The shoes of Roman soldiers were usually impregnated with bits of metal or nails to give him greater traction as he climbed a slippery hill, and greater stability as he fought.  

A Christian's spiritual footwear is equally important in his warfare against the schemes of the devil. If we have carefully girded his loins with truth and put on the breastplate of righteous­ness, but do not properly shod our feet with the "preparation of the gospel of peace", we are destined to stumble, fall, and suffer many defeats.  If you are not saved today you are helpless, ungodly, sinful, and an enemy of God according to Romans 5:6-10.  The saved person, on the other hand, is reconciled to God through faith in His Son according to Romans 5:10-11; 2 Corinthians 5:20-21.

         The gospel of peace is the marvelous truth that in Christ we are now at peace with God and are one with Him. Therefore, when our feet are shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, we stand in the confidence of God's love for us, His union with us, and His commitment to fight for us. The believer who stands in the Lord's power need not fear any enemy--even Satan himself. When he comes to attack us, our feet are rooted firmly on the solid ground of the gospel of peace, through which God changed from our enemy to our defender.

Until tomorrow......

God’s Armor

Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-18

God knows that the battle with our enemy is a constant one…and that we live in the enemy’s territory.  But we are also provided with spiritual weapons to effectively fight “against the principalities, against powers, against the rulers of this world and against spiritual wickedness in high places.” (Ephesians 6:12)   Soldiers fighting right now would never think of going to war without the proper uniform and necessary weapons.   But we tend to forget that we are in an ongoing war.   Often when talking about “spiritual warfare,” we turn our heads and pretend that only happens to other people.   However, it seems the more we try to do God’s will…love others…and share His Gospel…the greater the heat of the battle that we are in. Now if this all sound foreign to you it just might be that you’re on the enemies side.  If you’re not constantly in a spiritual battle you just might ought to check yourself because you just might not be fighting on the Lord’s side.  But for those on the Lord’s side you’ll find yourselves as targets of the enemy’s hatred and constant attacks.  Like good soldiers we must be prepared, strong, and dressed for battle. God has given us the spiritual armor we need, both defensive and offensive. Let’s take a look at our gospel uniform!

Read vs. 14a – “Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth”

Belt of Truth - God wants us to tie the belt of truth around us tight. The gospel is the truth.  God loves us and Jesus Christ died for our sins. That is the truth! It will hold you up and keep you strong like a belt would hold up a pair of pants. Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."

          The Roman soldier wore a tunic, an outer garment that served as his primary clothing. It was usually made of a large, square piece of material with holes cut out for the head and arms. It draped loosely over most of the soldier's body. Since the majority of ancient combat was hand-to-hand, a loose tunic was a potential hindrance and even a danger. Before a battle it was therefore carefully cinched up between the soldier's legs and tucked into the heavy leather belt.

 

That belt demonstrates the believer's read­iness for war and stands for truth.   Truth is the foundation on which everything is built. If you don’t know what is true, you cannot avoid deception and will fall to the ‘wiles’ or deception of the devil. There are not multiple truths. The Bible expressly rules out anything but itself and God’s truth. This belt is what holds all things together. Everything in our spiritual life is fastened and held in place by truth. Without a solid understanding of truth, all of our defenses are compromised.       Tomorrow we will add more pieces to our uniform?

Are You Equipped For Battle?

2nd Timothy 2:3-4: NIV says, “Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer.”  You cannot be a soldier of Christ and abandon Him and entangle yourself in the world. Strength comes from God and we must abide in Christ to live in his strength. The Bible says, “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.”(1 Corinthians 10:12) Your strength will only stand as long as your opposition is weak or temptation is small. When the battle rages, those who stand on the rock of Christ have the power to stand even when their own strength fails.

Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-13

          Before we can accurately understand Satan’s power, we have to look at his limitations. Many people view Satan as being the evil opposite of God.  Satan will never be on the same level with God. Satan once known as Lucifer which means “Morning Star” is no longer the shining angel.  As of Isaiah 14:12-13 he is now merely a fallen angel.  He has to have clearance from God before he can do anything.  ALL POWER belongs to God.

Satan also knows his time is limited. Satan and those who fell with him know that there is an appointed time and they have a limit to what they can do and a short time in which to do it. Satan may hate God, but he also knows God has boundaries he absolutely cannot cross. Satan is never referred to as having power in the Bible beyond the ability to deceive those who are willing to believe his lies and the limited power to perform a specific task that he has permission from God to do.

      Now that we have looked at the limitations of Satan, lets look at his power. To understand Satan’s powers, let’s take a closer look at Ephesians 6:11-12. We are told to defend ourselves with God’s armor and stand by God’s strength so that we can ‘stand against the wiles of the devil’. The definition of ‘wiles’ is cunning arts, deceit and trickery. It is very important that we grasp this principle. Deceit, seduction and lies are the powers of Satan. No more, no less. Satan does not have the power to physically harm you, force you to act nor does he wield any power over you. Satan is a caged lion that seeks to devour. To seek means to search.  Satan goes about looking for a weakness.  He looks for an entrance to entangle us.     He can only devour those he can convince to come into his territory by submitting to him. There is no such thing as ‘the devil made me do it’. Satan and demonic forces only have the power that God allows to them or that a man or woman submits to them. That is why Satan is the master of lies. We are deceived into unknowingly submitting our desires to Satan in hopes of having our selfish desires met. That is why we should seek the wisdom in the children’s song oh be careful little eyes what you see, oh be careful little ears what you hear, oh be careful little hands what you touch, oh be careful little nose what you smell, oh be careful little tongue what you say, for the Father is looking down with love but the devil has a trap that he wants to entangle us in if we take our focus off Christ. 

Verse 12 says, “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against powers, rulers, darkness, and spiritual wickedness”. Those who are not “flesh and blood” are demons over which Satan has control.  They are real.  We face a powerful army whose goal is to defeat us.  When we are saved and join Christ Church (the body of Christ) they become our enemies.  Their job is to turn away from Christ and back to sin.  We already have the victory because of the war Christ won at Calvery, but we still must battle against the enemy until Christ comes again.   Don’t forget that we are the temple of God. We indeed are in a spiritual war and are called and equipped to stand against an enemy we cannot see. The war may be between heaven and the forces of hell, but it is played out in the lives of each individual man and woman. Throughout scripture we are warned over and over to both equip ourselves for the battle and to not be ignorant of Satan’s schemes. The power of Satan is his ability to convince us to act contrary to God’s will. If you can recognize his deceptions and choose to surrender yourselves to God, Satan’s powers are completely deflated.

Verse 13 says to take up the whole armor of God. God does not give us a pick-and-choose relationship with Him where we can pick what we like about being a Christian and leave what we don’t like.  He gives us a choice of a lifestyle according to His will. We cannot arm ourselves for this warfare with a weak, half-armed defense. Satan knows our weaknesses and anyone who does not follow God will suffer the loss. 

Caution

Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-13

          The book of Ephesians was written by the Apostle Paul.  He wrote this book to the believers in Ephesus to strengthen their faith by explaining the nature and purpose of the church, being the body of Christ.  Unlike many of Paul’s letters written to various churches this letter was not to confront any problems that he had heard about or to solve a conflict among the believers.  Yet this letter was written to the believers to encourage the saints.  Paul had spent over three years with the believers at Ephesus, teaching them by example and crying out to the Lord for their needs.  Thus this church was very near and dear to Paul’s heart.  Paul met with the elders of the church for the last time at Miletus (Acts 20:17-38).  It was at this meeting that Paul and the elders were filled with great sadness because Paul was leaving them for the last time.  Before leaving Paul warned them to nourish the believers with God’s truth and to exemplify God’s truth in their own lives.  He also warned them that there would be those who would try and come in and teach untruths and there would even be those that would come from among them that would speak perverse things to make their own disciples, but in spite of all they were to remain loyal to God’s Word. 

Lets begin by looking at Ephesians 6:10-13:

10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
11 Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Verse 10-  “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and the power of His might”. The word in which we get ‘be strong’ literally means to receive strength. It is not our strength that equips us to stand; it is God’s strength within us when we submit to God. That is why James 4:7-8 tells us that the power of resisting is found through submitting to God. The Devil does not flee from our power, but from God’s power within us that overcomes him. We have the promise that when we draw near to God, He will draw near to us. Resisting the Devil is no longer measured by our strength, but the strength of God who draws us out of temptation. To make sure we don’t miss the point, James 4:8 concludes with the instruction to “cleanse your hands you sinners; and purify your hearts you double-minded”. To be double-minded means to have a divided interest. Those who are divided between living for Christ and living for the world (Satan) will never experience the power of God in their lives until they allow God to cleanse, purify, and renew them with a Christ-centered focus.