Ephesians: The Armor for the Fight of Our Lives (Part 4) | Armor of God - Audio

City Light Church Sermons

Sermon Text: Ephesians 6:16 Sermon Date: 8/18/2024 Speaker: Brian Crawford . Check us out at: https://citylightvicksburg.org/ Or check us out here: https://www.facebook.com/citylightvicksburg . Often times, we find ourselves trying to fight spiritual wars with a lack of faith. Paul opens this text by telling us “in ALL circumstances, take up the shield of faith.” The life and walk of a Christian is a faith walk. And Satan's goal is to send a barrage of doubts to a believer. These doubts are an attack on our faith and directly upon what Jesus says for us to say "yes" to, or all the things He tells us to say "no" to as well. Paul talks about the idea of a shield - in Rome, the shield they would use was so big, the root word here actually means “door.” This shield is made of wood, but is covered in leather that metal wrapped around the shield. 4 feet tall, 2.5 feet wide. Additionally, they dip it in water. This is interesting, the soldiers are blocking flaming arrows, these arrows are covered in oil, and the water dipped shield helps extinguish this flaming oil. Faith is the commitment, trust and reliance on Christ, by which we are saved. Interestingly enough, we often say that faith is the ability to “say” a certain set of facts. Faith is not just the facts we believe. But rather what we believe in Jesus. Faith is acting and living like God is telling us the truth. This is the faith we must put on display when Satan sends fiery darts our way to destroy our shields. Holding up the shield of faith is supreme reliance and trust on God. Holding up this shield shapes the actions in our life. When we believe in a leader; we will trust their directions, even when it makes no sense to us. If we trust, we obey. Faith is tied directly to activity. When we move contrary to God’s command, we’re not losing our salvation, but we are putting our shields down while we’re fighting Satan. Unfortunately, Satan is stronger than us. Take caution with these words, however - Faith is not an exemption card from suffering. The faithful suffer too. Instead, faith is the act of relinquishing control to the Lord, come what may. Remember that the disciples walked in faith, and most of them were martyred brutally. Lastly, this shield, is massive and sturdy. But Paul would know that the Ephesians would know, that the Roman centurions would never fight alone. They were in formation, with their shields locked and pushing forward. When used this way, this shield becomes a tool of offense, AND this tool becomes even more powerful when used in community. In every single instance when we take our armor up, we take it up with Christ and with the community around us. So, when one brother is weak, we protect those in community with us. Encouraging, reminding, caring for one another continuously. This faith is not one in which you are to walk alone - but to walk in community.