Ephesians 6:16 (AMP): lift up over all the (covering) shield of saving faith, upon which you can quench all the flaming missiles of the wicked (one).
In the above Scripture, what the Apostle Paul means by the “shield of saving faith” is that when the enemy attacks, believers must trust in God and His promises to block and quench the flaming missiles of the wicked one.
What are the flaming missiles? They could be thoughts like doubts, fears, and worries. The word “wicked” in the original text is poneros, which comprises all the following words: sorrow, pain, evil, malignant, malicious, ill, or vicious. The evil ones make all of these into arrows and shoot them out at us. They range from temptation to pride and selfishness to fear of circumstances, including health problems or death, discouragement, despair, doubt, or persecution.
The shield of faith will help us quench these fiery arrows, but we need to soak our faith in the Word of God. Our faith is in God and His Word, never our abilities, because we are finite beings. Praise God that we are in union with Him, connected to Him, and hidden in Christ.
Faith comes by hearing and hearing the Word of God (Romans 10:17). If we want to soak our shield with the Word, we must spend time meditating on it, listening to sermons and teachings, and walking out the truth to exercise our faith. We must also prepare our hearts to be good soil so the Word can multiply up to 100-fold. Faith is actively trusting and having faith in God, which means looking at the circumstances in life but choosing to trust in the Word of God instead.
In other words, faith in God requires us to move out of our comfort zone until we believe in God and His Word more than the circumstances. Why? Because some fiery arrows are shot at us by making us look at the circumstances. The devil knows our weaknesses and pride, and if he can cause our emotions to go on a “roller coaster,” then we won’t be able to focus on God and His promises! Therefore, he will attempt to penetrate our minds and emotions, thus bringing fear to grip and torment us till we come to our wit’s end, the end of our wisdom and abilities. What we must do is come before God and say, “In God, I lay my trust”.
Let us take hold of what belongs to us by faith in the Word, the redemptive work of Christ, and appropriate our belief by holding up the shield of faith as a cell group. Pray in faith together based on your conviction!
Hebrews 11:1,6 (NKJV) Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen…. But without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Sermon Series: The Weapon of Our Spiritual Warfare (Part 3)
信心与火箭
以弗所书6:16：此外，又拿着信德当作藤牌，可以灭尽那恶者一切的火箭。
在上述经文中，使徒保罗所说的”信德的藤牌”是指当敌人攻击时，信徒必须信靠上帝和祂的应许，以挡住并熄灭那恶者一切的火箭。
这些火箭是什么呢？它们可能是怀疑、恐惧和忧虑等念头。”恶者”的原文词汇是”poneros”，囊括了以下所有词汇：悲伤、痛苦、邪恶、恶性、恶意、病态或恶毒。恶者将所有这些化为箭矢，向我们射来。它们从诱惑到骄傲和自私，乃至对环境的恐惧，包括健康问题或死亡、沮丧、绝望、怀疑或迫害。
信德的藤牌将帮助我们熄灭这些火箭，但我们需要用上帝的话语浸泡我们的信心。我们的信心在于上帝和祂的话语，而不是我们的能力，因为我们是有限的存在。赞美上帝，我们与祂联合，与祂相连，并隐藏在基督里。
信道是从听道来的，听道是从基督的话来的（罗马书10:17）。如果我们想以神的话语浸泡我们的盾牌，就必须花时间默想它，听讲道和教导，并行出真理以锻炼我们的信心。我们还必须预备我们的心成为好土，好教神的话语可以结实百倍。信心是积极地信靠上帝，这意味着冷眼看客观环境，选择信上帝话语。
换句话说，对上帝的信心要求我们走出舒适区，直到我们相信上帝和祂的话语超过相信环境。为什么？因为有些火箭是通过让我们关注环境而射向我们的。魔鬼知道我们的弱点和骄傲，如果他能让我们的情绪坐上”过山车”，那么我们就无法专注于上帝和祂的应许！因此，他会试图渗透我们的思想和情感，生出恐惧来抓住我们，折磨我们，直到我们束手无策，走投无路。我们必须做的是来到上帝面前说：”我信靠上帝”。
让我们凭着对圣经的信心抓住属于我们的，靠着基督的救赎之工，作为小组一起举起信心的盾牌。根据你们的信念一起凭信心祷告！
希伯来书11:1,6 信就是所望之事的实底，是未见之事的确据。…人非有信，就不能得神的喜悦；因为到神面前来的人必须信有神，且信他赏赐那寻求他的人。
讲道系列：我们属灵争战的武器（第三部分）
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