Shields and Fire Extinguishers – Part 4
In addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one [Ephesians 6:16].
In our last study we enumerated seven examples of Satan’s flaming arrows, each of which gives him such enjoyment to shoot at the Christian soldier on the battlefield of spiritual warfare. If even one of those arrows should find its mark, it could prove critical to the Christian soldier’s spiritual vitality, rendering him useless in his Lord’s service. And on that battlefield the sky is filled with them! Oh, dear. What to do?
Well, that is where the Word of God comes in, dear friends. Remember, every piece of armor points us to some aspect of the Word of God and the Christian’s relationship with God’s Word.
In order to “extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one”, what is it again that the Lord furnishes to the Christian? Is he to panic and cry hysterically? No way. Is he to hightail it outta there in precipitous flight? That would be a no. Ah, now I remember. He is to obey the Word of God.
So, then, what does the Word of God instruct the Christian to do, in order to “extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one”? The answer is…is…is…“take up the shield of faith”. Again, “faith” is defined as believing the Word of God and conducting oneself accordingly. Let’s consider how this works itself out on the battlefield of spiritual warfare.
One flaming arrow accuses the saint of having sinned. Ergo, he’s not really a saint at all. He’s still the same old sinner. The saint’s response of faith to this charge goes something like this:
Yes, the old sinner still exists in me, and he did get the upper hand on that occasion. But I confessed my sin to the Lord Jesus, and He is faithful and just to forgive me my sin and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness. He can do this, Satan, because the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanses me from all sin. So begone with you, Satan!
We could go through the other six flaming arrows of Satan’s accusations against the saint on that battlefield, and we could enunciate the saint’s answer from the Word of God for each one. But it would be good exercise for each person to do this for himself. The investment of time will earn valuable spiritual returns for us.
With that we will bring this study to a close. In our next study we will continue descanting on spiritual warfare and the next piece of “the full armor of God”. For now let’s sit at the feet of Jesus and ponder “the shield of faith”. It is the fire extinguisher which smothers the flaming arrows of Satan’s assaults, an invaluable weapon in the arsenal of God’s army indeed!
And isn’t that odd…a shield that is a fire extinguisher? Leave it to God to invent such a contraption! But I’m sure glad He did.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
In our last study we enumerated seven examples of Satan’s flaming arrows, each of which gives him such enjoyment to shoot at the Christian soldier on the battlefield of spiritual warfare. If even one of those arrows should find its mark, it could prove critical to the Christian soldier’s spiritual vitality, rendering him useless in his Lord’s service. And on that battlefield the sky is filled with them! Oh, dear. What to do?
Well, that is where the Word of God comes in, dear friends. Remember, every piece of armor points us to some aspect of the Word of God and the Christian’s relationship with God’s Word.
In order to “extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one”, what is it again that the Lord furnishes to the Christian? Is he to panic and cry hysterically? No way. Is he to hightail it outta there in precipitous flight? That would be a no. Ah, now I remember. He is to obey the Word of God.
So, then, what does the Word of God instruct the Christian to do, in order to “extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one”? The answer is…is…is…“take up the shield of faith”. Again, “faith” is defined as believing the Word of God and conducting oneself accordingly. Let’s consider how this works itself out on the battlefield of spiritual warfare.
One flaming arrow accuses the saint of having sinned. Ergo, he’s not really a saint at all. He’s still the same old sinner. The saint’s response of faith to this charge goes something like this:
Yes, the old sinner still exists in me, and he did get the upper hand on that occasion. But I confessed my sin to the Lord Jesus, and He is faithful and just to forgive me my sin and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness. He can do this, Satan, because the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanses me from all sin. So begone with you, Satan!
We could go through the other six flaming arrows of Satan’s accusations against the saint on that battlefield, and we could enunciate the saint’s answer from the Word of God for each one. But it would be good exercise for each person to do this for himself. The investment of time will earn valuable spiritual returns for us.
With that we will bring this study to a close. In our next study we will continue descanting on spiritual warfare and the next piece of “the full armor of God”. For now let’s sit at the feet of Jesus and ponder “the shield of faith”. It is the fire extinguisher which smothers the flaming arrows of Satan’s assaults, an invaluable weapon in the arsenal of God’s army indeed!
And isn’t that odd…a shield that is a fire extinguisher? Leave it to God to invent such a contraption! But I’m sure glad He did.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
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