Scroll down to see and play Audio.
Good Friday morning my dear “Walking with Jesus” friends;
I wonder if you’ve ever been physically burned? You touched something very hot, or sitting near a fire sparks jumped out of the fire onto you, or perhaps you were trying to put out a fire that was getting out of control, or maybe worst of all, you were caught in a building on fire?
Today let’s look closely at Ephesians 6:16 “In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” Who is ‘the evil one’? Satan, the devil, the accuser, Lucifer the arc angel, who rebelled against God and was thrown out of heaven by Almighty God, and who now leads an entire, evil, dark kingdom in opposition to God, God’s purposes and God’s people!
What are these ‘flaming arrows’? These are schemes, attacks, weapons, tactics of the dark kingdom, which Satan and his demonic forces use to discourage, distract, frustrate, oppose, harm, wound, even defeat Christians, redeemed followers of Jesus Christ, as we are living our normal lives. May I give you several specific examples?
> Intellectual arrows: Remember Satan attacked Adam & Eve with DOUBT about God! The serpent twisted, distorted what God had said to them about the tree in the garden of Eden. “Did God really say you must not eat from any tree in the garden?” (Gen. 3:1) Eve’s response made it clear, she had understood God correctly. They were free to eat from all and any tree in the garden, except one, only one. And she knew exactly which one.
So Satan changed his tactic… he directly contradicted what God has said and doubt awakened in Eve’s mind. She began to consider the possibility that maybe God had not spoken truth, or maybe she had not fully understood God. Then her doubting mind moved to her heart, and she began to desire, even crave, that which she knew God had told her not to touch. Do you see the very same flaming arrow tactics are used by Satan today with you and me? I urge you to take a moment and read Genesis 3. It all began right there.
God’s shield against intellectual flaming arrows is HIS TRUTH! Use God’s Word, God’s truth with confident FAITH!
> EMOTIONAL arrows are many! Envy & Jealousy, when we see someone has something we don’t have but we want. Lust, when we desire something or someone so deeply we’re willing to do almost anything to get what we should not have, even hurting ourselves or someone else in the process. Anger which can lead us to saying or doing things that we will regret, and may wound, harm or damage something or someone, including the destruction of a reputation, even our own. Bitterness & Unforgiveness when we allow anger and hurt to lead us to an emotional place of refusing reconciliation and restoration of a broken relationship. Of course there are so many more. . .
God’s shield against emotional arrows is WORSHIP! As you worship Almighty, majestic God in Spirit and in Truth (John 4:24)
> SPIRITUAL arrows are anything trying to draw us AWAY from God. Anything which dilutes or undermines the authenticity of our relationship with and worship of God. Anything countering the truth of God’s Word in our lives.
God’s shield against spiritual arrows is a combination of God’s Truth, and the Holy Spirit alive in us in power enabling us to hold tightly to Jesus and resist any temptation to drift or falter. (1 Cor. 10:13; Romans 8:5-9; Romans 12:1,2; Hebrews 12:1,2).
How do we come under attack of these flaming arrows? Can we see them? How can we defend ourselves against them?
Paul, the author of this letter to Christians in Ephesus in the first century, is writing at a time and place in history where warfare was well understood. What we today know as the Middle East, Central Asia and Southern Europe had a long history of warfare as strong empires sought to control as much of the known world as possible.
Remember in the days of Moses, (1500bc apx.), Egypt was the world power.
In the days of David & Solomon, (1000bc apx.) Israel was a prominent global force, but did not seek to conquer the world.
In 722bc northern Israel was conquered by Assyria, the vicious, dominant world power with capital city Ninevah.
In 586bc, Jerusalem and surrounding Judah was conquered by King Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian Empire, with capital in Babylon.
In the days of Jesus, of course, the Roman Empire, with capital in Rome, was the world power.
So when Paul wrote Ephesians 6:10-18, everyone who read this chapter, anywhere in the world, understood very clearly the viciousness of warfare and the life or death reality of being well armed for battle.
Warfare in the first century was with spears, daggers, bows & arrows, especially flaming arrows. When flaming arrows hit their target they splashed hot, flaming tar on their target which could spread a fire very quickly. For soldiers, few things were more frightening than seeing hundreds of flaming arrows raining down on them from the sky.
Soldiers then had two types of shields with which they tried to defend themselves. The smaller type was something like a round garbage can lid today. Perhaps 2 ft. in diameter, probably about 15-20 lbs in weight and held in one hand while the other hand wielded a sword or dagger. This small shield protected a soldier in direct, hand to hand combat.
The other shield was similar to what you might see riot police using today around the world as they try to disperse crowds, and protect themselves from thrown objects, or even gunfire. Most recently you’ve seen police use these shields in the Hong Kong riots. These shields are designed to protect a man from head to toe, so they are nearly as tall and wide as the solder. He hides behind it, like hiding behind a tree. Either of these shields could be effective in protecting against flaming arrows.
Please notice in vs. 16 Paul urges Christians to “take up the shield of faith”. Both then and now, a shield laying on the ground is useless. Shields need to be picked up and used by the soldier in order to shield them from the enemy. So how, my friends, do we, today ‘take up the shield of faith’?
Would you agree that from the opening of the story of God dealing with humanity, FAITH has been the centerpiece of the conversation and the cornerstone of any authentic relationship between a human being and God? Listen to Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith, is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” The remainder of that great 11th chapter lists many of the great Bible heroes and their specific faith challenges.
Look at Hebrews 11:3 “By FAITH we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.” Now this is a perfect example of what Ephesians 6:16 is all about. The first chapter of our Bible gives us a very clear picture of God’s explanation of how the Universe, our earth and even the human race came into existence. Over and over that chapter tells us God CREATED, He spoke into existence that which did not exist before. He created our universe from nothing… that’s CREATION. He formed Adam from the dust of the earth and breathed life into him. God formed Eve from one of Adam’s ribs, and breathed life into her.
The first two chapters of Genesis are very clear, even a child can understand them. . . but BELIEVING it to be true, and living our lives based on that truth, requires great FAITH. Why? Because none of us was there to SEE it, and we don’t know anyone who was there and saw it happen. Thus we are asked to BELIEVE the creation account God gives us, and to live our lives confident that God’s account is the truth. That’s living by FAITH!
Of course philosophers and scientists have for centuries sought to understand HOW and WHEN our Universe began / HOW and WHEN the human race began. While they can read and understand Genesis 1 & 2, they search for the evidence of some other explanation. Thus we have read, our children have been taught in school, we have heard MANY alternative theories about how everything we see, and even we, humanity, began. So… what is your conclusion in the matter? What do you BELIEVE is the truth?
Now here’s something important. What’s the difference between the word Belief and the word Faith? May I suggest, it’s the word ACTION. When we take action, when we do something, based on what we believe, now we have taken a ‘step of FAITH’! Belief in action is FAITH.
We stand at the airport and watch airplanes take off and land. And we look at a parked airplane and someone asks ‘do you believe that huge airplane can fly’? We answer, ‘yes I believe it can fly, because I’ve seen similar airplanes fly.”
Belief moves to FAITH, when you then say, ‘I so much believe this airplane can fly, I have purchased a ticket, and am now boarding the plane by faith believing it’s engines will take us down the runway and up into the air, safely to our destination and then land safely there.” You might also say, “I believe that the pilot understands how to fly this plane, and how to lead this plane to our destination, and how to land this plane safely. I am proving my faith in the pilot by strapping on my seat belt in this airplane and entrusting my life to him.”
Hebrews 11:6 says “Without FAITH it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.”
So, from beginning of the Bible FAITH is the determining factor in a person’s relationship with God. Our Salvation is based on FAITH, as we trust that Jesus is in fact God incarnate, and He did in fact die for our sins, and God will in fact forgive our sins, if we place our full trust in Jesus’ atonement death and resurrection. “Walking with Jesus” is not just phrase, it’s a lifestyle of FAITH. It means we live each day seeking to understand and live God’s truth in every situation, discern and follow God’s leading us, and bring glory and honor to God with every thought, word, attitude, choice and action of our lives.
So can you see how our great faith in Jesus is our defending shield, refuting every flaming arrow of doubt, every evil emotional temptation etc.? This is so important, I will probably come back to it tomorrow, my friends. Here’s a final verse to consider, Isaiah 7:9 “If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.”
As I close today, may I ask you to consider. . .
1. What have been the things which have shaken your spiritual faith in the past? Your faith in God, your faith in the truth of the Bible? Or perhaps your faith that your salvation is real and secure?
2. What are some examples of how your everyday life is faith-dependent? I mean practical things? Like turning the key in the ignition of your car, by faith trusting your car will start?
3. What are some of the ‘flaming arrows’ the devil has used recently, maybe even now, which are affecting your FAITH?
Lord Jesus, we hold tightly to you by FAITH today!
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
Archived back issues of “Walking with Jesus” and other resources are available by clicking here to open our ‘home page’ (or go to HOME at upper right of this page).
Share with friends. Subscribe below for daily “Walking with Jesus”.