The Shield of Faith

Last Sunday I taught briefly about using the shield of faith to deal with spiritual strongholds. Here is a fuller version.

Evil schemes
Paul warns us to be careful about the enemy’s schemes.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes (Eph 6:10-11).

Most Christians assume that they need the armour of God to protect us from the power of the enemy. We should get rid of this idea. Paul does not warn about the devil’s physical power. As far as Paul is concerned, his powers are feeble, because he was completely destroyed by the cross.

The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work (1 John 3:8).

We do not need spiritual armour to protect us from his power, because he is powerless. We need the spiritual armour to protect us from thoughts and suggestions that would give him control and allow him to harm us. We should stop worrying about his physical power, and learn to deal with his schemes.

If we are living in obedience to Jesus, Satan can only get permission to attack us through scheming. He must convince us to give him permission to attack us. He gains control by influencing us to agree with his deceptions. This is why we must be aware of his attacks.

Take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one (Eph 6:16).

The suggestions and deceptions of the enemy are the flaming arrows described by Paul. In biblical times, soldiers would attach some tar to an arrow and set it alight before it was released from the bow. These darts were fairly harmless, but became dangerous if they were not quickly extinguished. They could not damage a building, but if they were allowed to burn, the entire building could be destroyed. If they hit a person, their clothes might catch fire. Fiery darts must be extinguished quickly to prevent serious damage.

The enemy uses a variety of schemes. He will rarely try to persuade Christians to enjoy sinning, because that would be a waste of time. His schemes are more subtle. When tempting Jesus, he suggested some ways he could fulfil his ministry. If Jesus had accepted these suggestions, he would have been defeated.

An attack usually begins with the acceptance of a false thought. By accepting these false thoughts, we give him influence in our minds. Once our thinking is shaped by his ideas, he has a foothold in our lives.

Some of these thoughts come directly from the enemy. Others come from the people we meet. Many are the product of our distorted imaginations (this should become less frequent as we grow into the mind of Christ). Where these thoughts come from does not really matter. They must be dealt with quickly, before they take hold.

Strongholds
Negative thoughts can build up layer by layer over many years to become a stronghold. It starts with single thought, then another is added, then more and more. When the enemy has shaped my entire way of thinking about something, he has a stronghold in my life. It may have started with the thought that “God does not like me” when a parent made a negative comment. That may build into “God does not care about me”, after rejection by someone close. The next building block may be “God does not love me”.

The first deception opens the door a chink that leaves the Christian vulnerable to another deception. The second one pushes it further open. If we allow these thoughts to multiply over many years, they can grow into a controlling stronghold.

Anxiety and worry increase the power of deception. Advertisers know that thoughts attached to an emotion become more powerful. This was confirmed by Peter.

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith (1 Pet 5:7-9).

Anxiety can lead to our being devoured by the devil. When he suggests that something evil might happen, we can start to ponder it. If we brood over it, we can become anxious. Once we become anxious, we have effectively agreed with the deception. If we do not deal with anxiety, we are giving the devil permission to have a go. Job made an interesting comment about his situation.

What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me (Job 3:25).

Maybe Satan was able to afflict Job, because he had feared this happening. Getting anxious about something gives it permission to strike.

Peter advises that self-control and faith are the remedy to anxiety (1 Pet 5:8-9). We have the power to accept or reject the thoughts that come into our minds. We can reject a bad thought from the enemy by countering it with a thought that expresses faith. Positive declarations destroy doubt.

Declarations of Faith
Because the devil was defeated by Jesus on the cross, the solution is relatively simple. God’s revelation is stronger than the enemy’s lies. We must resist his lies with declarations of the truth. Paul advised Christians to take control of their thoughts.

The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ (2 Cor 10:4-5).

Negative thoughts are “pretensions” opposed to God. If we agree with these pretensions, we give them a stronghold in our lives. The solution is to resist them with a declaration of the truth. Sometimes it may be enough to say to yourself, "That is not true", or "I do not accept that", or "That thought did not come from God".

We must resist all negative thoughts that allow evil to get a hold in our live. These fiery darts can be quickly extinguished by the shield of faith.

Take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one (Eph 6:16).

When the evil one puts dangerous thoughts into our minds, they should be countered with words of faith. Simply thinking about a relevant promise of God’s will extinguish the thought, rendering it harmless. Dangerous thoughts can be destroyed with a declaration of faith based on the revelation in God’s word. Declarations of faith destroy the arguments and pretensions that oppose God. Anointed songs of praise and worship are another great way to declare our faith.

Jesus resisted the devil’s words by quoting the scriptures; he did not argue or shout. He calmly spoke relevant scriptures claiming them for himself (Luke 4:1-12). He commanded Satan to “get behind him”. This is how we should use Shield of Faith to kill the fiery darts of the enemy.