As believers in Christ and members of the Body of Christ engaged in warfare against the spiritual forces in the heavenlies, we need to take up the shield of faith with which we will be able to quench all the flaming darts of the evil one (Eph. 6:12, 16). Amen!
This week in our morning revival we come to another aspect of God’s economy in faith, Taking up the Shield of Faith, Experiencing the Proving of our Faith, and Receiving the End of our Faith – the Salvation of our Souls.
We, believers, are persons of faith and our Christian life is a life of faith; our daily living needs to be a living by faith.
And this faith is not of us; we are not some sort of a special kind of Christians who have the ability to believe on their own.
Faith is something of Christ infused into us to become in us the ability to believe.
The Author of faith is Christ; He is the origin, the source, and the One who generates our faith.
When we look away unto Jesus, we simply believe, for He generates faith in us.
He is also the Perfecter of our faith; He not only generates our faith but even more, He makes sure our faith grows, increases, develops, and is being perfected.
Christ is the Author and Perfecter of our faith both initially and forever.
He initiated faith in us, He is causing our faith to grow, He develops our faith, and He perfects our faith.
We simply need to cooperate with Him by contacting Him again and again. When we contact the Lord, faith increases in us.
This faith has many aspects; when we speak of faith we refer to the action of believing, not the contents of our faith.
This week we want to see three main aspects of faith: taking up the shield of faith (which is related to spiritual warfare), experiencing the proving of faith (which is related to sufferings and trials), and receiving the end, the result of our faith, the salvation of our souls (which will be at the Lord’s return).
We need to freshly open to the Lord and allow Him to shine on us, infuse faith into us, and take us on with Him.
We need to progress with the Lord. We need to advance in faith.
And in particular, as we will see in this article, we need to take up the shield of faith so that we can withstand the enemy and his attacks.
May the Lord unveil us to see the spiritual warfare going on, and may we take up the shield of faith in the Body and as the Body!
We need to Take up the Shield of Faith to Quench all the Flaming Darts of the evil one
Eph. 6:12 and 16 show us that we are engaged in spiritual warfare, and we need to take up the shield of faith with which we will be able to quench all the flaming darts of the evil one.
If we consider this matter in the context of the entire book of Ephesians, we will realize that we believers in Christ are members of the Body, and as such ones, we’re engaged in spiritual warfare against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenlies.
The subject of Ephesians is the church as the Body of Christ, the fullness of the One who fills all and in all.
Every aspect of the church mentioned in Ephesians is the particular expression or function of the church as the Body of Christ, the dwelling place of God, the kingdom of God, the new man, the bride of Christ, and the corporate warrior.
Our battle against the enemy is in the Body and as the Body. Many dozens of books were written concerning the so-called “spiritual warfare” in which Christians are told that they need to individually put on the whole armour of God.
But before we can put on the armour of God, we need to first be the church as the Body of Christ in reality, then we need to be the new man that fulfils God’s purpose.
Then, we need to be the counterpart of Christ, His bride, as seen in Rev. 19, and we will be the warrior, the army.
We need to keep this in mind when we speak of the shield of faith.
The shield of faith which we need to take up is an aspect of Christ as the armour given to the Body for warfare.
The shield protects and defends the whole Body, and when we’re in the Body and one with the Body, we can simply take up the shield of faith.
But if we’re not in the Body, if we’re not properly related in the Body, and if we don’t live in the Body or know the Body, we may try as much as we want to take up the shield of faith, but we may not have the reality.
The shield of faith is not something that we put on but something that we take up. The only way of taking up the shield of faith is by praying.
When we pray one with the Body, we will realize that the enemy is hurling flaming darts at certain parts of our being, especially our mind, so we simply take up the shield of faith to quench all these flaming darts.
Everything that the enemy tries in his attack, the shield quenches.
We take up the shield of faith in order to protect ourselves against the attacks of the enemy and to quench all the flaming darts of the evil one. Amen!
The more we hold up the shield of faith, the more the enemy’s darts are being exposed and quenched!
We need to realize that faith is a shield placed between us and Satan.
Faith is a safeguard against the flaming darts of the enemy; he attacks us with accusations, temptations, proposals, doubts, questionings, lies, snares, and attacks.
Satan’s flaming darts come as thoughts injected into our minds; these thoughts seem to be our own thoughts, but they are thoughts that actually come from Satan.
Satan doesn’t come to us directly and straightforward; he disguises himself as the thoughts that he injects into our mind.
He probably uses his demon helpers to inject his doubts, questionings, lies, and snares into our mind, and it may seem that these thoughts are ours but actually, they are of Satan.
![For our wrestling is not against blood and flesh but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual [forces] of evil in the heavenlies. Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Eph. 6:12-13](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/For-our-wrestling-is-not-against-blood-and-flesh-but-against-the-rulers-against-the-authorities-683x1024.jpg?resize=450%2C675&ssl=1 "For our wrestling is not against blood and flesh but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual [forces] of evil in the heavenlies. Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Eph. 6:12-13")
This is something that we need to learn in our Christian life, especially as we go through things or as we’re offended: the enemy is targeting our feelings and our thoughts, our worries and fears, the things that we don’t deal with by the cross.
He shoots his flaming darts at our feelings or thoughts, and suddenly these feelings or thoughts are intensified; we hardly know what’s going on, but things get heated up really quickly.
We need to learn to take up the shield of faith with the Body, realizing that we are members of the Body and we’re protected in the Body.
May the Lord teach us and perfect us to discern between our thoughts and the flaming darts of the enemy, and may we learn to take up the shield of faith by prayer, standing one with the Lord, to reject the enemy’s attacks.
When the darts come, they hit the shield of faith, and we are able to quench all the flaming darts of the evil one (Eph. 6:16).
We shouldn’t walk around being fearful of the flaming darts of the enemy; we concentrate not on the outward situation nor on the spiritual warfare itself but on the wonderful, all-inclusive Christ!
He is our center. We seek to enjoy Him and experience Him.
And we don’t live in fear: we take up the shield of faith whenever the enemy attacks and his flaming darts are quenched!
Lord Jesus, we stand one with You and one with all the saints as members of the Body of Christ. As the Body, we take up the shield of faith with which we are able to quench all the flaming darts of the evil one. Amen, Lord, we do not stand with the doubts and lies of the enemy which he injects into our mind. We stand against all his snares, proposals, attacks, temptations, and accusations – we take up the shield of faith and stand against him! Dear Lord Jesus, our focus is You: we come to You, we look away unto You, and we focus on enjoying and experiencing Christ! Hallelujah for our all-inclusive Christ, our God-allotted portion with the saints. Amen, Lord, we stand one with You and one with the Body, and we take up the shield of faith to quench any flaming darts of the enemy!
Have Truth in our Living, Righteousness as our Covering, Peace as our Standing, and Faith as our Shield
Eph. 6:14-15 speaks of truth, righteousness, and peace, and v. 16 speaks of faith.
Faith comes after truth, righteousness, and peace; we need the truth to gird our loins, righteousness to cover our conscience, peace as the standing for our feet, and faith to shield our entire being.
We need to not only know the truth but have truth girding our loins.
The truth we know, enjoy, and experience needs to strengthen our daily walk with the Lord.
Righteousness covers our conscience against any accusations of the enemy; we stand on God’s righteousness and we claim His righteousness whenever we confess our sins and the enemy still reminds us of our sins.
We need the breastplate of righteousness, for the enemy also attacks us here; he’s the accuser of the brothers, accusing them day and night before our God.
On our part, we need to be enlightened, we need to deal with our conscience, and we need to clear up everything and anything that the Lord exposes.
But the enemy still accuses, so we have the breastplate of righteousness, and we also have peace as the standing for our feet.
We stand in the peace of the gospel.
The issue of our experience of truth girding our loins, righteousness as our covering, and peace as our standing, is that we have faith as our shield.
Amen, we need to take up the shield of faith to quench all the flaming darts of the enemy, standing against his accusations and attacks.
We are members of the Body of Christ, we consecrated ourselves to the Lord and given our life to Him, and we simply stand in the Body and take up the shield of faith.
We are here to fulfil God’s economy in faith, and our living is for Christ and the church.
Though outwardly and practically we are at different stages and at different ages, and our situations differ humanly speaking, we stand in the Body and as the Body, and we take up the shield of faith against all the flaming darts of the enemy.
We need to have truth in our living, righteousness as our covering, and peace as our standing; when we have all these three, we will spontaneously have faith.
Day by day, as we contact the Lord as reality, we live one with Him, enjoying Him and abiding in Him.
He is the reality, His word is truth, and we read the word with the exercise of our spirit to be filled and constituted with the truth.
And we take His blood, stand on His righteousness, and deal with anything that His light exposes in us.
Our standing is in the peace of Christ, the blood of Jesus cleanses us from every sin, and our conscience is a peace.
In this way, effortlessly, we take up the shield of faith, for our faith becomes a shield to quench the flaming darts of evil one.
Faith is, on one hand, in our spirit, and, on the other hand, faith is in our will; we need to exercise our will to believe the word of God.
Faith is not in our mind or our feelings; faith is in our spirit, and when we exercise our will to turn to our spirit, we have faith and faith becomes a shield.
The strongest part of our heart is our will, and that’s where the shield of faith is. We believe with our heart (Rom. 10:10), and we do not doubt (James 1:6).
May we not have a vacillating will, doubting and being like the surge of the sea driven by the wind.
May we exercise our will to believe and stand one with the Lord in faith and by prayer.
Lord Jesus, we exercise our will to stand one with You in spirit. We come to You to contact You, and we apply Your precious blood to whatever Your divine life exposes in our being. We take You in as truth to gird our loins, we take Your righteousness to cover our conscience, and we take Your peace as the standing for our feet. Amen, Lord, may truth be in our living, righteousness be our covering, and peace be our standing, so that we may spontaneously have faith! We exercise our spirit to take up the shield of faith to quench all the flaming darts of the evil one in the spiritual warfare. We stand one with You, Lord, and we choose You! The enemy is a liar, an accuser, and a tempter. Hallelujah, Jesus is Lord!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by the brothers, and portions from, The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 344 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, God’s Economy in Faith (2022 spring ITERO), week 7, entitled, Taking up the Shield of Faith, Experiencing the Proving of our Faith, and Receiving the End of our Faith – the Salvation of our Souls.
- Hymns on this topic:
– We rest on Thee, our Shield and our Defender; / We go not forth alone against the foe; / Strong in Thy strength, safe in Thy keeping tender. / We rest on Thee, and in Thy Name we go. (Hymns #881)
– Looking unto Jesus, / Never need we yield! / Over all the armor, / Faith the battle-shield! / Standard of salvation, / In our hearts unfurled, / Let its elevation / Overcome the world. / Looking unto Jesus, / Never need we yield! / Over all the armor, / Faith the battle-shield! (Hymns #644)
– For the Body is God’s armor, / Not for anyone alone; / When you wrestle in the Body, / All its benefits you own. / Fight the battle in the Body! / By the virtue of the Head; / Standing firmly with the Body, / Into vict’ry you’ll be led. (Hymns #885)
About aGodMan
All the overcoming saints in the Old Testament are only witnesses of faith, whereas Jesus is the Author of faith. He is the Originator, the Inaugurator, the source, and the cause of faith. In our natural man we have no believing ability. We do not have faith by ourselves. The faith by which we are saved is the precious faith that we have received from the Lord (2 Pet. 1:1). When we look unto Jesus, He as the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor 15:45) transfuses us with Himself, with His believing element. Then, spontaneously, a kind of believing arises in our being, and we have the faith to believe in Him. This faith is not of ourselves but of Him who imparts Himself as the believing element into usthat He may believe for us. Hence, He Himself is our faith. We live by Him as our faith; that is, we live by His faith (Gal. 2:20), not by our own.
Heb. 12:2, footnote 3, RcV Bible
The devil’s flaming darts come as thoughts injected into our mind. These thoughts may seem to be our own thoughts, but they are actually Satan’s. We should never confess to the Lord all these thoughts injected into us by Satan in his subtlety. Instead, we should say, “Lord, I am fallen, but I am under Your cleansing. Satan, this thought is yours, and you must bear the responsibility for it. I will not share this responsibility.” If we would have the faith to be defended against Satan’s flaming darts, we need a proper spirit with a conscience void of offense. However, faith is not mainly in our spirit nor in our conscience but in our will, the strongest part of our heart . Romans 10:10 says that we believe with our heart. According to our experience, this faith in our heart is related mainly to the exercise of our will. No one with a weak will can have strong faith. In James 1:6 we are told that he who doubts is like the surge of the sea driven by the wind. Such a person has a vacillating will. Hence, if we would have faith, we need to exercise our will.
The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3464-3466, by Witness Lee
if we would have the faith to be defended against Satan’s flaming darts, we need a proper spirit with a conscience void of offense.
And we need to exercise our heart with our will, to be strong for the Lord and take up the shield of faith!
For us to stand firmly against Satan, we need four items of armour: truth to guard our spirit , righteousness to cover our conscience, peace as our standing, and faith as a shield to our entire being.
This is the faith of Jesus Himself, not of ourselves. If we have truth in our living, righteousness as our covering, and peace as our standing, we will spontaneously have the faith of Christ.
This faith is our protection against the attacks of the enemy, against his temptations, proposals, doubts, questions, lies, etc.
Interestingly, faith is not mainly in our spirit nor in our conscience, but in our will. We believe with our heart, mainly in the exercise of our will.
So, if we want to be persons of faith, we need to exercise our will. Yes, we are for the Lord and for His economy
Amen! Lord Jesus. Keep us under your government and your authority!
Thank you for sharing brother.
Amen brother, yes Lord let us take up the shield of faith to protect our hearts from the flaming darts of the enemy.
Praise the Lord brother, we can take up the shield of faith, and quench ALL the flaming darts of the enemy!
Ammeenn!!!
The shield of faith is something that we take up. This requires not only the exercise of our spirit but also with our heart.
In both exercises we need to have a living that is according to the truth, righteousness to cover the vital parts of our being, and and peace as our standing.
As members of the Body we must take up the shield of faith to protect ourselves from the flaming darts – the accusations, the proposals, doubts, questions and lies – of the evil one.
We need not confess these things when they come but realise that Satan is the source of these and reject them.
As we live by God as truth, we will have a righteous conscience and then we will have peace as our standing.
We also need to exercise our will – looking away unto Jesus – the Author and Perfecter of our faith – our believing ability!
When our will is strong and exercised then our faith will be strong then we can stand against the devil taking up the shield of faith.
amen Brother in order to stand agasint Satan darts we need 4 things
and may the Lord give us the discernment to know when Satan is putting thoughts into our mind so that we can deny them and not stand one with them
Dear brother, in order for us to take up the shield of faith, we first need to see that the spiritual warfare in Eph chapter 6 is not for the individual Christian alone but it is absolutely a body matter.
When the flaming darts of the evil one come bombarding us, we need to practically apply this by praying in the spirit of the Body, with the view and realisation that we are not alone but we are in the Body with the victorious Christ as our Head.
We can pray ‘Lord I’m in the Body, I’m hidden and protected from all the darts of the enemy . Hallelujah we are clothed with the whole armour of God. This shield is soooo big, it’s universal and it stands between us and Satan.
Amen Lord thank You we are in the Body!