Ephesians 6:16
The Shield of Faith
Scripture Readings:-
2 Corinthians 13:1-10
Ephesians 6:10-18
Sermon Text
Ephesians 6:16
Brothers and Sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ,
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.
Amen
