The Shield of Faith
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, 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. nd pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
Anyone who knows me knows that one of my favorite movies is the Lord of the Rings. Actually, it’s three of my favorite movies. But one of my favorite scenes in the Lord of the Rings movies is the beginning of the epic battle scene in the second movie, the Two Towers. The armies of evil mass at the base of the castle at Helm’s Deep, preparing for a mighty attack. Up on the top of the castle, in the driving rain, elves and humans prepare to rain arrows down on the marauding hordes. As the battle begins, arrows fly down upon the orcs, killing many of them. It’s only fitting that they first attack with arrows, because arrows are weapons that are best suited for long-distance attacks. An archer does not need to risk hand-to-hand combat to shoot arrows. This applies as well to spiritual warfare; Satan doesn’t need a foothold in your life in order to attack you; he can (and does) shoot his arrows from afar.
I really doubt that any of you have had real, physical arrows shot at you. I know the only time I experienced an arrow attack was when I played with one of those suction cup bow-and-arrow sets. But Satan doesn’t fire real, physical arrows at us. No, Satan’s attacks take different forms.
His main weapons are doubt, fear, worry, disbelief, guilt, and despair. His target is truth, and he attacks by spreading doubt. He makes us fear, especially the unknown. He makes us worry – is God really in control? Then he makes it seem irrational to believe in anything. He buries us in our past; the guilt of sin, telling us that there’s no way out from under it.
How can we hope to stand firm in the face of all of these attacks? Thankfully, we have an effective means of keeping safe from Satan’s arrows. The apostle Paul tells his hearers to take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
How does this work? Let’s look at the Roman shield. They were large: big enough for a soldier to hide behind. And faith is likewise large enough to shield us. The book of Hebrews defines faith as the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.
Please understand that faith does not stop Satan from shooting his arrows. If the first salvo doesn’t get you, the devil will redouble his efforts.
I am positive that Satan will continue to attack Christians. Sometimes it seems like the only way to avoid his attacks is to give up: to do nothing for God’s Kingdom at all. In another scene from the Two Towers, the Theoden, King of Rohan, when asked to fight to save humankind, says, "I will not bring further death to my people. And I will not risk open war." To this, Aragorn replies, "Open war is upon you, whether you would risk it or not."
When Satan attacks you, remind him of the Truth. James 4:7 tells us to resist the devil and he will flee from you. Remind Satan whose side you’re on. Remind him that Jesus Christ died for you and that you have hope because of Him.
Remember this: faith is always in action. James 2:17 reminds us that faith without works is dead. Real faith, like Truth, acts in accordance with what you believe.
Ephesians 6:10-18
Anyone who knows me knows that one of my favorite movies is the Lord of the Rings. Actually, it’s three of my favorite movies. But one of my favorite scenes in the Lord of the Rings movies is the beginning of the epic battle scene in the second movie, the Two Towers. The armies of evil mass at the base of the castle at Helm’s Deep, preparing for a mighty attack. Up on the top of the castle, in the driving rain, elves and humans prepare to rain arrows down on the marauding hordes. As the battle begins, arrows fly down upon the orcs, killing many of them. It’s only fitting that they first attack with arrows, because arrows are weapons that are best suited for long-distance attacks. An archer does not need to risk hand-to-hand combat to shoot arrows. This applies as well to spiritual warfare; Satan doesn’t need a foothold in your life in order to attack you; he can (and does) shoot his arrows from afar.
I really doubt that any of you have had real, physical arrows shot at you. I know the only time I experienced an arrow attack was when I played with one of those suction cup bow-and-arrow sets. But Satan doesn’t fire real, physical arrows at us. No, Satan’s attacks take different forms.
His main weapons are doubt, fear, worry, disbelief, guilt, and despair. His target is truth, and he attacks by spreading doubt. He makes us fear, especially the unknown. He makes us worry – is God really in control? Then he makes it seem irrational to believe in anything. He buries us in our past; the guilt of sin, telling us that there’s no way out from under it.
How can we hope to stand firm in the face of all of these attacks? Thankfully, we have an effective means of keeping safe from Satan’s arrows. The apostle Paul tells his hearers to take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
How does this work? Let’s look at the Roman shield. They were large: big enough for a soldier to hide behind. And faith is likewise large enough to shield us. The book of Hebrews defines faith as the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.
Please understand that faith does not stop Satan from shooting his arrows. If the first salvo doesn’t get you, the devil will redouble his efforts.
I am positive that Satan will continue to attack Christians. Sometimes it seems like the only way to avoid his attacks is to give up: to do nothing for God’s Kingdom at all. In another scene from the Two Towers, the Theoden, King of Rohan, when asked to fight to save humankind, says, "I will not bring further death to my people. And I will not risk open war." To this, Aragorn replies, "Open war is upon you, whether you would risk it or not."
Even if you don’t like it, spiritual warfare is upon you, whether you would risk it or not. Here’s the deal; if you’re on God’s side, Satan’s arrows will fly toward you.
Though faith doesn’t stop the arrows from coming, faith does stop the arrows from finding their mark.
If you want to be safe from Satan’s arrows, you’ve got to put up your shield. You do this by knowing and remembering the Truth. Jesus Christ is Truth. God wins, Satan loses. God made you in His image and loves you. God knows what you are going through. Truth is Truth, no matter what the circumstances.
When Satan attacks you, remind him of the Truth. James 4:7 tells us to resist the devil and he will flee from you. Remind Satan whose side you’re on. Remind him that Jesus Christ died for you and that you have hope because of Him.
Then steadfastly refuse to believe Satan’s lies. Pastor Ray Steadman said this: Our problem is that we have become so accustomed to believing our feelings as though they were facts. We never examine them. We never take them and look at them and ask, "Is this true?" We simply say, "I feel this way. Therefore it must be true." This is why so many are constantly defeated; because they accept their feelings as facts. What if we would examine our feelings, always in light of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice for us? Like where it says in Romans 8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Satan can’t condemn. He can only lead you down the road to condemnation. Judgment is by Jesus Christ, not Satan! And if Jesus says "no condemnation" that’s what He means!
Faith is always reminding us that there is something bigger going on. When troubles seem overwhelming, faith reminds us that God is the Creator of the universe and that He can help. God has a plan, and suffering can even be part of that plan. Romans 5:3-5 tells us: to rejoice in our suffering, because suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. Even through suffering, we still have hope. While Satan’s arrows try to convince us that suffering is all there is, with faith, we know that there is more.
One of the toughest questions asked of Christians is this: why do bad things happen to good people. Even this question itself can represent the flaming arrows of Satan – the questioner generally assumes that God should stop all attacks (on so-called good people) and that for some reason He just doesn’t. But no matter the motives of those asking; that question is really a valid question. A simple answer is that there is a devil who is constantly on the attack.
But faith reminds us that this life isn’t all there is. James 4:14 says, "You do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." Even the greatest joys in our lives, though they are all we know, will pale in comparison to the joy that is heaven.
Faith resembles a difficult race like a marathon. When I was running, I had to concentrate on
finishing the race. I couldn’t simply concentrate on getting to a certain mile marker, because if I had been satisfied to run 20 miles, I wouldn’t have finished. If you ask a marathon runner why we do it, there are two main reasons: we feel great personal satisfaction for finishing the race, and we love the physical benefits of the extreme exercise. These apply as well in the spiritual realm: God promises us great rewards for persevering, and the process itself builds strong character. Faith enables us to persist, even in the face of suffering.
finishing the race. I couldn’t simply concentrate on getting to a certain mile marker, because if I had been satisfied to run 20 miles, I wouldn’t have finished. If you ask a marathon runner why we do it, there are two main reasons: we feel great personal satisfaction for finishing the race, and we love the physical benefits of the extreme exercise. These apply as well in the spiritual realm: God promises us great rewards for persevering, and the process itself builds strong character. Faith enables us to persist, even in the face of suffering. The other half of that is the great reward that awaits us in heaven. To be honest, we cannot imagine how great heaven will be. Too often we rely on lame images of heaven – sitting on a cloud, strumming a harp… I can assure you that heaven will be much better than this! It is unimaginably good – so good that it will make every bit of pain worth it. Kind of like reaching that finish line in a marathon – if you haven’t done it, you wouldn’t imagine how it feels.
On an absolutely basic level, faith enables us to please God. Hebrews 11:6 tells us that without faith it is impossible to please God, and anyone who wants to come to Him must believe that God exists and that He rewards those who sincerely seek Him. Notice that faith isn’t simply belief in God, but it also includes belief that God rewards those who sincerely seek Him.
Remember this: faith is always in action. James 2:17 reminds us that faith without works is dead. Real faith, like Truth, acts in accordance with what you believe.
Comments