A Shield About Me
Battle Ready- Ephesians • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Recap: Last week we started a brand new series in the book of Ephesians called Battle Ready. And as we go through the book of Ephesians we will see over and over again the themes of the armor of God that he wraps the book up with in Ephesians 6. But the recap in Ephesians Chapter 6 is much like a good authors summarizing statement to his letter. But the stuff in the letter gives us a more full image of what the author had in mind. So last week we looked at the Helmet of Salvation. We looked at Ephesians chapter 1 and talked about a tactic of Satan. That when Satan speaks…he lies because it is his native language. It’s his native tongue. We talked about how we have been given the helmet of salvation to protect our minds from His lies… And that this salvation gives us a brand new life in Christ. That we have been saved (justified) that we are being saved (sanctified) and that we are going to be saved (glorified). That Satan will tell us that we are worthless, but our Father in Heaven has told me that I am worth the price of His only begotten Son. That Satan will try and tell us we are unwanted, but God has said, “I have Chosen you.” That Satan will try and tell us that we are beyond help, but our Father says we are Redeemed, Adopted, Marked by the Spirit.
And that brings us to our text for today. It’s found in Ephesians 2.
1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
This seems weird. Like Paul, what are you doing? You just got finished telling us about all these amazing blessings we have in Christ.
We are adopted, chosen, redeemed, sealed, marked, new creations in Christ.
And now he wants us to be reminded of just how great a salvation we have. What we have been saved from. And what we are saved to do…
We were dead…
We used to follow the ways of the world
and the rulers of this kingdom of the air
We used to gratify the cravings our flesh
We were deserving of wrath
BUT GOD…
He who is rich in mercy has made us alive in Christ!
This is a work of Grace through faith. Not of works.
Created in Christ to do good works…
We are not saved by our works but we are created to do them after we are given a new life in Christ.
I would say that the new life in Christ is evidenced by the good works that we now do in Christ.
That’s why James argues…
James 2:18 Living Translation
Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.”
19 “So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven. 20 First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds.
Dallas Willard: “Grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning. Earning is an attitude. Effort is an action. Grace, you know, does not just have to do with forgiveness of sins alone.”
Dallas Willard: “Grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning. Earning is an attitude. Effort is an action. Grace, you know, does not just have to do with forgiveness of sins alone.”
And so since we have a new life in Christ and since we are all on our own faith journey…
We are called to go out and do the work of the ministry. We are called to follow Jesus and do what Jesus did. To proclaim the message of the kingdom. To love God with all our hearts, minds, souls and strength and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.
And by following Jesus and living into our new lives, we engage the war of heaven. That ancient battle of Good and Evil.
Satan’s Tactic: Flaming Arrows
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.
Flaming Arrows…
So what do these arrows look like?
It was common warfare back then to shoot flaming arrows because they would cause considerable damage. They would cover their broadhead with pitch and then light it on fire. The fire would do a couple things, first it would cause the city that was under siege to be preoccupied with putting out little fires instead of focusing on the fight…it was a distraction technique and they would also severely injure soldiers who got hit with them.
See the Romans were unmatched in their miliary efforts, and Paul is drawing upon the imagery that his authors would have been very familiar will understanding what he was talking about.
The arrows were not a direct, personal attack. They were shot en mass. Their purpose was to injure, wound and distract their enemy. Hopefully causing chaos in the process and disrupt the advance.
This is exactly what Paul is trying to communicate to his hearers in Ephesians 6:16…that If we are on the advance of the Kingdom, don’t be surprised by the attack…it’s coming. And these flaming arrows are commonly things like…
Satans arrows:
- Arrows of Distraction
Paul says that we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ to do good things. (Ephesians 2:10) And he also says that we are not wrestling against flesh and blood) If Satan can distract us with a flaming arrow, he is going to be firing away.
- Arrows of Doubt (Did God really say that? God doesn’t love you, no one loves you)
- Arrows of Accusation (I can’t believe you just did that)
- Arrows of Temptation (Hey take a bite, this is so much better than that, look at what your missing out on!
You’ll notice that some of these tactics and strategies can be defeated by the shield of faith before they have a chance to penetrate our hearts, our minds…our souls.
And that’s the metaphor that Paul is using, we are under heavy fire and the only way to protect ourselves from these flaming arrows is to take up, or pick up our shield of faith.
So just what is the shield of faith?
Let’s start by defining what it is not.
Faith itself is not the shield, but the object of our faith is.
Faith alone is not the shield, but the Lord is.
You could have faith in anything, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that your faith is resting in the right place…
The Congo story. In the 1960’s the Zaire (in africa) was in a civil war, under the leadership of Moise Tshombe, foreign mercenaries were hired to stop the rebellion. Very quickly these well trained hired guns were winning the battle and in a last ditch effort, the leaders of the rebellion decided they would go to witch doctors and have them paint a magic white ash all over the Congolese rebels. This ash was suppose to protect the rebels from the bullets of the mercenaries and with full confidence, they went back to war. Unfortunately for them, they were easily cut down and the uprising was settled. They had full faith in their protection of white ash, but here’s the key: Faith in and of itself has no power, it’s all in where you place your faith.
So what is the shield…
3 But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high.
2 The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
7 The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him.
20 We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield.
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. 12 Lord Almighty, blessed is the one who trusts in you.
4 He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
9 All you Israelites, trust in the Lord— he is their help and shield. 10 House of Aaron, trust in the Lord— he is their help and shield. 11 You who fear him, trust in the Lord— he is their help and shield.
The Lord is our shield. And in order for us to pick up this shield of faith that has the power to extinguish the flaming arrows of Satan, that faith must be placed and rooted in the belt of truth. That the Lord is our shield, our protector, our provision and ever present help in times of need.
The Shield of Faith would be better translated
The Shield of Faithfulness.
Here is what the shield of faith is:
Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”
Confidence in what we hope for. What do we hope for?
In God’s promises, all of them.
If God said it, you can be sure he won’t forget it.
In God’s Protection
That His desire is to be your shield, to keep you safe and under the shadow of his wings.
- Psalm 91
- We have angels on our side.
- That doesn’t mean that God won’t allow a few of the arrows to pierce through our armor and wound us, but what it does mean is that he will take what Satan meant as evil and turn it into something good. He will extinguish the arrows.
- In God’s Power
That He can extinguish the flaming arrows that Satan hurls our way.
- Fire is life giving, but it is also life taking. This is something I know all too well.
- 1 Peter 1:6-7 “In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”
Refiners Fire
We need to reframe our outlook. These flaming arrows have just become the very thing that will make you more like Jesus. God will reframe them into something good and useful. Not that the wound or pain is good, but God will turn it into Good.
Romans 8:28-29 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”
And that’s why we can have the second aspect of Faith and that is…
Assurance about what we do not see.
He has made a way…
- 1 Corinthians 10:13
13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And 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 endure it.
Overcome temptations because he has made a way out already.
We are not alone.
One of the most common types of flaming arrows are arrows of abandonment and depression. Luke 22:31-32 “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” People who have been through the most intense seasons of refinement through trials often have the most profound faith. Faith that is immovable and that is because they have assurance that God will refine them. Just like in the Battle of the Five Armies, we are stronger together. When we hold our shields up together, our defenses are stronger
Activating the Shield of Faith
“In addition to all of this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” We need to take up our shields… But what if we are not strong enough to hold up our shields? What if our faith is failing and we have no confidence and not assurance that God is even there, let alone cares for us as his children… That is when we need to cling to the shield of faith that our brothers and sisters hold up,
Benediction:
38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.