Enjoying Victory with the Shield of Faith E15

Temptation and discouragement do not have to stop us in our tracks. Our shield of faith can protect against any spiritual arrow the enemy wants to shoot at us. Paul knew that the Roman soldiers were equipped for success in battle. The fact that he used their armor as an illustration says a great deal about what he believed our chances for victory are in spiritual battle. Today, we are looking at the fourth kind of spiritual armor from Ephesians 6. In Today's episode: • What does a spiritual arrow from the enemy look like? • How can we 'Take up the Shield of Faith' like Paul says to do? • Why would the enemy want to target us? • How our response to his attacks can be the preparation we need to go forward and do great things for God in the future. • Hear missionaries talk about their strategic plans to take the Gospel to another land. Ephesians 6:16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one. Illustration of the Roman soldier used by Paul in chapter 6 Paul spent lots of time around the Roman soldiers of his day. One time he had as many as 470 with him while he was being moved from one location to another (Acts 23:23) Roman soldiers were very successful agains their enemies… 3 Reasons for Success Equipment Physical Training Mindset Equipment ~ Shield -size of a small door (2 ft by 4ft) -thin strips of wood glued together and covered in canvas and leather -in middle, a round knob made of iron; used to knock down the enemy -shield weighed almost 22 pounds Physical Training -Endurance exercises including marching—have to travel about 20 miles in 5 hours, with all equipment on! -Fighting exercises including practicing strategic ways to use shields/different formation 1 More item necessary for survival… Mindset! Soldiers on the battlefield, closing in on the enemy, approaching enemy fortress… Critical moment that reveals whether the soldier has an attitude of trust in his leader. Their leader decides what formation to use Soldier could just try to protect himself…OR obey his leader and move into formation If there is going to be success, soldiers have to completely trust their leader Not only must he trust the ability of the leader to make good decisions, but also the leader's character! -Trust that the leader was there to help, not secretly planning to hurt -Trust that the leader has best intentions and planning for the army's success. Having this mindset of trusting the leader would have been critical, because if you really trusted him, you would naturally obey. You would take your shield, and move into the correct formation that the leader has decided to use. Recognizing the Spiritual Arrows There are spiritual attacks by our enemy, meant to target us in a particular way…keeping us from standing strong in the Lord. Understanding about these arrows will help us know how to use the shield of faith. 4 Main Parts of an Arrow Analogy The Nock: Reminds me of the timing of the shot. Enemy waits for just the right timing. The Fletching: Reminds me of the topic or subject area Satan will use to keep arrow on target. The Shaft: Reminds me of the actual deception; the goal of the enemy getting us to believe a lie about God. The Arrowhead: There are different types of arrowheads for different situations. The arrowhead is what this weapon is all about. The other 3 parts work together to accomplish 1 goal: getting the arrowhead on target. The arrowhead reminds me about: the kind of wound Satan wants us to have. And the best way to explain it is to show you what it looks like in action. First, we have to take a close look at the day Satan shot his first arrow at humans, in Genesis 3 Satan waits for the perfect timing (the nock). Eve seems to be near the tree with the forbidden fruit and it appears that God is not talking with them right now, like in the past. Satan waits for just the right time. The topic Satan uses to keep the deception on track (the fletching) is about whether or not the fruit will really hurt them. The lie (the shaft) —Satan told them that they would be like God. Eve begins too believe that God is not telling the truth The wound (the arrowhead) - 'Satan wants her to believe that she cannot trust God". He wants her to think that God is not protecting her from something bad, but instead, God is keeping her from something good!" Satan wants to wound her trust in God. God knew the effects and nature of evil. This infection of evil was what God wanted to protect Adam and Eve from. What Satan told Eve was partially true—she would know evil. But she would not know evil the way God did, without the contamination of evil. She would know evil by experience, and be infected by it for life. Satan wanted her to think God kept something good from her, but actually God was protecting her from something bad! This is what the arrow is all about. The intention...