Ephesians 6:16-17 (Amplified) Above all, lift up the [protective] shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.
The devil, the accuser of the brethren, will always condemn believers and make us feel unworthy, leading us to believe that God uses trials, tribulations, famine, nakedness, and lack to punish us. He wants us to curse God and have a strained relationship by abandoning our seated position! However, God has washed away our sins and remembers them no more, because our past is under the blood.
Even if we have sinned against God, remember that it is between the Heavenly Father and us, and give no place to the devil! The Bible tells us that nothing shall separate us from God’s love. He is not the source of tribulation, distress, famine, lack, or suffering. Having already raised Christ from the dead and seated us with Christ in the heavenly places, why would God want to make our lives miserable? Therefore,we need to draw the sword of the Spirit and bring to the devil’s remembrance of what Jesus has done for us.
The sword, which is the Word of God, serves as both a defensive and offensive weapon in a believer’s life. We can stand firm on the teachings of the Word based on our conviction. We can also advance and attack, as Jesus did when He said, “It is written” while being tempted by the devil. We shall also stand and advance by saying it is written!
We enforce the victory by boasting in the Lord because it is God who justified us in Christ. We must be convinced by the Scripture that God is for us and not against us!
God has dealt with the sin issue so we can be in covenant with Him. Our breastplate was put in place by the grace of God because of the imputed righteousness. Therefore, it is God who justified us in Christ.
In old times, a shield covered the entire body. It was made of animal skin and soaked with water to quench fiery darts upon impact! Likewise, we need to soak ourselves in the Word so that nothing thrown by the devil will penetrate and hurt us. We must have a firm conviction that God is perfect, there is no evil in Him, and we have peace with Him. He is not our enemy; we share a common enemy.
Finally, the helmet is important because it protects the mind. The final frontier in battle is the battlefield of the mind. Once we are convinced that God is the one who justifies us, He is the Judge, and we have Christ’s imputed righteousness, we can stay confident amid trials, tribulations, nakedness, and famines, knowing that they are not from God, and trust Him for deliverance and provision because Jesus is interceding for us. We stand firm in the conviction that God is good all the time!
Sermon Series: Cell Group Campaign (Stand)
神一直是良善的
以弗所书 6:16-17 此外，又拿着信德当做藤牌，可以灭尽那恶者一切的火箭； 并戴上救恩的头盔，拿着圣灵的宝剑，就是神的道。
魔鬼——那控告弟兄的——总是要定信徒的罪，使我们感到自己不配，甚至让我们误以为：神借着试炼、患难、饥荒、赤身露体和缺乏来惩罚我们。他的目的，是要我们咒诅神，使我们与神的关系紧张，并离开我们“坐在基督里”的属天地位。然而，神已经洗净我们的罪，并且不再记念，因为我们的过去都在宝血之下。
即便我们曾得罪神，也要记得，那是天父与我们之间的事，绝不可给魔鬼留地步！圣经清楚告诉我们，没有任何事能使我们与神的爱隔绝。患难、困苦、饥荒、缺乏或痛苦都不是从神而来。神既已叫基督从死里复活，又使我们与基督一同坐在天上，祂怎会要让我们的生命陷入痛苦呢？因此，我们必须拔出圣灵的宝剑，使魔鬼记起耶稣已经为我们成就的一切。
圣灵的宝剑——也就是神的话语——在信徒生命中既是防御的武器，也是进攻的武器。我们可以凭着对神话语的确信站立得稳；我们也可以向前推进、主动攻击，就像耶稣在旷野受试探时所宣告的：“经上记着说……” 我们也要如此站立，并且前行——宣告：“经上记着说！”
我们借着夸耀主来执行这得胜，因为是神在基督里称我们为义。我们必须从圣经中坚定确信：神是帮助我们的，不是敌对我们的！
神已经彻底解决了罪的问题，使我们可以与祂立约同行。我们的护心镜不是靠自己建立的，而是因神的恩典与归算的义而赐下的。因此，在基督里称我们为义的，乃是神自己。
在古代，盾牌几乎可以遮盖全身。它由兽皮制成，并浸泡在水中，以便在火箭射来时能够立即熄灭。同样，我们也需要将自己浸泡在神的话语中，使魔鬼所投来的任何攻击都无法穿透并伤害我们。我们必须坚定相信：神是完全良善的，祂里面毫无邪恶；我们与神之间有平安。祂不是我们的敌人——我们有共同的仇敌。
最后，头盔同样重要，因为它保护我们的思想。属灵争战的最后战场，就是人的心思意念。当我们确信神在基督里称我们为义，祂是审判官，而我们拥有基督归算的义，我们便能在患难、困苦、赤身露体与饥荒中仍然保持信心与平安。因为我们知道，这些不是从神而来；我们可以信靠祂的拯救与供应，因为耶稣正在为我们代求。我们要站立得稳，持守这坚定的信念：神一直是良善的！
讲章系列：细胞小组主题活动（站立得稳）