Sermon Tone Analysis

Play “Armor of God Shield Opener” Video

Our theme verse for our series is found in

Introduction: Here, Paul leaves his readers with words that encourage them to use the tools God has given them to stand their ground against the enemy.

The belt of truth was first given when they responded to the good news about Jesus, recognizing the fact that every human needs God and His forgiveness that Jesus provided through His death.

Truth is not an invention of man, but is reality from God Himself.

The breastplate of righteousness was also given when they confessed Jesus as Lord and Savior and believed in their hearts that God raised Him from the dead.

They were brought into right standing with God because they put their entire trust in Him.

The sandals of peace came when they made peace with God by calling on the Lord in repentance.

Having peace with God brings the peace of God into our hearts and lives, helping us be peacemakers as Jesus said we should be.

His peace gives us traction for action as we stand against the enemy.

Today I’d like to look at

This passage introduces the shield of faith.

In the days of Roman warfare the flaming arrow was a dreaded weapon.

This arrow had a heavy iron tip which was dipped into pitch and set on fire.

Even the speed of the arrow in the air would not extinguish the flame.

It became a deadly flaming missile.

These arrows would cause panic within the opposing ranks, especially when they lodged in a shield, causing the shield to burn.

A frightened soldier might throw down his burning shield leaving himself, and those around him, unprotected from arrows and spears.

You can imagine the resulting chaos.

Paul does not explain the kinds of demonic attacks represented by the flaming arrows, but their characteristics seem quite clear.

The dart or javelin was a weapon hurled from a distance.

This was no close, personal confrontation.

They were not primarily weapons for killing; they were designed to incapacitate, to break up an advancing formation.

They were simply obstacles that an advancing army had to deal with before it could close in and do battle with the enemy.

Such a deadly weapon needed a solid defense, which is where the shield comes in.

This big shield stood 4-feet high.

It was made of 3 layers of wood, with linen sandwiched between each layer.

It also had an outer layer of leather or animal hide.

To hold it all together a bronze strip was wrapped around the entire edge.

If it was hit by a flaming arrow this shield would still burn.

So, before they went into battle, the soldiers would soak the shields in water.

The wet linen and leather would stop the shield from igniting, even when there was a flaming arrow embedded into it.

Play “Roman Soldiers Demonstration” Video

TC: Since we are talking about a spiritual war that we cannot see, how can we recognize the fiery darts of the enemy when they are hurled at us? Here’s an example:

Satan’s Scheme

It was an exciting offer—a job that Preston had always wanted: marketing for a Christian organization.

But it would mean moving his family from California to Wheaton, Illinois.

Normally Preston and his wife, Jenny, would not have hesitated to move.

But it was winter, and the Chicago area was bitterly cold.

They had three young children, and after his being laid off for so long, they simply did not have the money to buy three sets of winter clothes.

Preston and Jenny prayed about the offer.

They believed they should accept it, but had difficulty moving forward because the nagging concern for their children would not go away.

Preston and Jenny were experiencing one of Satan’s most common attacks.

The apostle Paul, writing to the Ephesians, is deeply aware that evil spirits are poised to attack believers.

The Ephesians’ struggles—like Christians’ today—are not “against flesh and blood,” but against demonic beings, “against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers . . .

and against the spiritual forces of evil” ().

They needed to understand how to defend themselves.

defend themselves.

At the end of his letter to the Ephesians, as Paul thinks back over his words recorded for us in (re: faith and trust in what Jesus Christ did for them and therefore they are new), he continues to use a particular tool to help his readers remember his teaching.

Drawing on the imagery of a Roman legionnaire’s armor to call each theme to mind, he now writes in

Sometimes we lose the meaning of things through over use.

When something becomes a catchword it can lose meaning.

So I like to interchange words sometimes to get a clearer picture of Scripture.

As I think about the shield of faith, I put in the word trust – shield of trust.

What is a shield of trust or faith?

Soldiers trusted that these shields would extinguish and stop the flaming arrows.

But Paul, of course, is writing about something spiritual here.

What does it mean to be shielded or protected by faith or trust?

If we have faith in God’s faithfulness, we will stand strong in the battle.

Don’t have faith in your own faith – have faith in God!

If we actively trust God’s trustworthiness, the enemy will not find an opening in our lives to shoot in his flaming arrows.

The arrows might represent any spiritual attacks or struggles brought on by the forces of evil around us

Remember Preston and his wife Jenny?

Preston had dreamed of putting his talents to work in a Christian organization, but when an offer came, there was an obstacle: The job was in icy Wheaton, Illinois.

He had three young children and no money to get them the winter clothes they would need if they moved.

He and Jenny were anxious and uncertain.

Was God calling them to Wheaton?

Or did their anxiety signal that a move was not in God’s will?

Their concern was a very real and natural one.

But their situation was typical of this scheme of Satan—the “flaming arrows” that he throws up as obstacles in every Christian’s way.

Most of us have had experiences like Preston and Jenny’s.

We are living our lives, and suddenly we are confronted by a circumstance that makes us anxious or uncertain.

What are we supposed to do?

supposed to do?

Two months ago, Carl was recruited for a new job by a previous boss.

Last week the company let the old boss go.

Carl is worried.

Will he be let go, too?

Emma was laid off from a well-paying job.

She finally got another job running a busy office, at fifteen thousand dollars less than her old job paid.

But now her coworkers are undercutting her with their employer.

Emma is frustrated, depressed and angry.

Should she stay?

A Biblical Example

That happened to Abram and Sarah.

After years in the Promised Land with no children, they became anxious and discouraged.

Sarah urged Abram to have a child with her servant, Hagar.

Filled with doubt and disappointment, Abram did as Sarah suggested.

The result was Ishmael—and millennia of conflict between Arabs and Jews that continues to this day.

Abraham and Sarah, panicking under pressure, failed to raise the shield that God provides for believers.

panicking under pressure, failed to raise the shield that God provides for believers.

When trouble and persecution come, we need to understand the wonderful resource that will extinguish those flaming arrows.

We need to take hold of—and raise up—the shield of faith.

Satan takes delight in tossing just such “fiery darts” at you and me.

His “fiery arrows” are those stressful circumstances that make us fearful, uncertain about what we should do next.

Jesus described such situations in one of His parables as “trouble or persecution” ().

When we face any situation that creates anxiety, doubt or uncertainty, the chances are that Satan is throwing fiery arrows at us, hoping to incapacitate us.

So here is the main thought of today’s message: The more we trust God to sustain us, the more protection we will have against the enemy of our souls.

The greater the trust, the greater our shield against the attacks of the enemy.

Proposition: The more we trust God to sustain us, the more protection we will have against the enemy of our souls.