In all the descriptions of Christian, “Fighter” does not come to mind. Perhaps, counselor, peacemaker, comforter Etc. But, here in Ephesians 6, we are in battle. We are to put on the armor of God. For the past few weeks, we have been looking at each piece of the armor of God. The day we accepted Christ, we inherited many blessings, the promise of eternal life, the power of the Holy Spirit, and peace. But, now that you are a friend of God, you also inherited His Enemy, Satan. So, on the one hand, we have the promise of abundant life, but on the other, a life of conflict with Satan. We do have an advantage because we know the result. We are going into this battle with full knowledge of the outcome, and we know victory is guaranteed. Information is a wonderful thing, especially when you know it in advance. So as we go through the battle, it does not change the severity of circumstances, but it does change our reaction. For instance, if I told you, next week you would be fired, but you will have a better job with raise in a month, your response to the news would be different. Similarly, we are in a constant struggle here on earth, but glory is awaiting us. All the pain, suffering, and persecution are real, but so is our victory in Christ.
So far, we have looked at the first three pieces of armor. Now I want you to keep in mind, God gives us the armor, but we have to put it on. Armor is useless if you don’t put it on. A doctor can provide you with medication to heal your illness, but it will only work if you take it. Paul divides the armor into two categories of 3, introduced by two verbs. The first three are introduced with the verb “to be,” last three are introduced with the verb “to take.” First, three relates to the state you should always be in, the last three you pick on as needed bases. Let me give you a sports analogy to illustrate that a cricket or baseball player has a uniform throughout the game, but the player will pick up a bat or helmet or glove as needed bases. So these next three pieces of armor we pick up as needed.
Let me remind you we already have girded our loins with the belt of truthfulness, which speaks of readiness, preparation, commitment. Then, the breastplate of righteousness indicates personal holiness, righteous living, and when sin enters our lives, we confess, repent, and turn from it. Third thing, we are to have on the shoes of the preparation of the Gospel of peace. As Christians, we stand our ground; confident God is on our side. Let’s look at verse 16, the shield of faith. “And above all, taking the shield of faith, with which ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.” Roman soldiers used several kinds of shields, but two were the most common. The first was a relatively small round shield, perhaps two feet in diameter, secured to the arm by two leather straps. It was relatively lightweight and was used to deflect the sword blows of one’s opponent in hand–to–hand fighting. The second kind was the thureos/Scutum, to which Paul refers here. This shield was about two and a half feet wide and four and a half feet high, designed to protect the soldier’s entire body—who was considerably smaller than the average man today. The shield was made of a solid piece of wood and was covered with metal or heavily oiled leather. The soldiers who carried these shields were in the front lines of battle and usually stood side by side with their shields together, forming a vast phalanx extending as long as a mile or more. The archers stood behind this protective wall of shields and shot their arrows as they advanced against the enemy. Anyone who stood or crouched behind such shields was protected from the barrage of enemy arrows and spears. Romans had a system of locking these large shields together for their corporate defense against their enemies and for an attack. I am sure you have seen this in many war movies.
What is the purpose of this shield? When the battle gets furious and the arrows start flying, we take up the shield of faith. To do what? Stop the fiery dart of Satan. Notice, does it say it will quench most of them? No, it says ‘ALL”. So whatever Satan throws at you, it is sufficient to protect you. Satan is firing and using his demons to fire all of these fiery darts, and we are quenching them by the shield of faith. Now, I want you to notice that the term “the evil one” or “the wicked one” reminds us that this battle is not against belief. It’s against a personal being. In the Gospel of John chapter 14, Jesus tells disciples, ruler of this world is coming. He did not say Judas is coming to betray me. Our fight is against the devil and his demons who are actively attacking the truth of scripture, on God’s character, and all believers. What are Satan’s fiery darts? They are seducing temptations, that’s all. Satan fires shafts of impurity, shafts of greed, doubt, worry, failure, lust, desire, vanity, covetousness – it all comes down to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. He blasts the believer with the arrows, the fiery darts of alluring temptation, to evoke out of us ungodly, non-Christlike, evil responses. And the only defense we have at this point, Paul says, is the shield of faith, because sometimes it rains temptation. What is a shield of faith? Satan is a one-trick pony, and he wants you to doubt God’s word. This was his ammo in the garden of Eden, and he played the same card with Jesus in the wilderness. It always starts with, did God really say that? Every temptation that ever came to you came on the tack of “believe me, not God.” Bible tells us God will provide all our needs, but what happens if we lose our job? We doubt. we know the Bible says, “seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added.” And we run through life seeking all the things that should be added and missing the Kingdom of God. You see, you can not just go around saying, “I believe God, I have faith in God, the just shall live by faith,” and then live a life of worry, anxiety, and fear.
The only way to quench the darts of Satan is to believe in God. The Bible says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness.” do you believe? Second Corinthians 1:24 says, “By faith ye stand.” It is the shield that causes us to stand, have faith in God, believe God, and you will stand. The shield of faith is applying the truth of scripture in our day to day life and trusting the promises of God in all our life’s circumstances. It all goes back, as everything does in the Christian life, to your relationship with God. We all want the best for us and be blessed. God says you can have it all as long as you trust me and obey me. Psalm 84 says, “The Lord God is a shield.” He is on our side, and He wants to bless us, and He wants to give us victory over Satan, but we have to believe Him and do it His way. Trust His Word, and obey it.
We are ready for battle, and we are ready and committed. Our life matches the faith we proclaim. We are confident knowing the Gospel of peace and God is on our side. When the battle begins, we grab the shield, take it up, and shun the fiery darts of temptation by trusting God completely. Christians, there is no reason to lose the battle because eventually, the victory is ours. Romans 8 tells us we are more than conquerors. Jesus has defeated Satan on the cross. Trust Him, Obey Him, and we will win. Amen
only savior jesus 