Christian Living

The Armor VI —Are We Shielded or Are We Exposed?

by J.W. Phillips
02/06/25
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The Armor VI—Are We Shielded or Are We Exposed?

Now that we’ve been refreshed in the presence of God, have been assured of his readiness to respond and are marching against Satan with perfect peace, do we honestly think the devil is going to leave us alone?

Never, ever! He’ll come after us with both fists flying! This is precisely why there are six parts to the armor and not three! These additional parts are necessary as we take the offense.

In one sense, this continuing and escalating attack is a compliment, because as A.B. Simpson observed, “The devil is too shrewd to waste his ammunition on ordinary, average things.”¹ As someone else put it, “The best evidence you are in God’s will is the devil’s growl.”²

Whenever the devil fights back, you are to implement the next part of the armor by using the shield of faith.

This shield can quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. There isn’t a tactic the devil uses which can’t be stopped by the shield.

Such a claim of invincibility surely warrants our full attention, our complete compliance; because for the battle to turn out right, we’ve got to fight it right.

In his book, Helps to Holiness, Samuel Brengle, an American pastor who served the poor of London, wrote:

"Many people say they are fighting the devil, who do not know what fighting the devil means. It is a fight of faith, in which the soul takes hold of the promise of God, and holds on to it, and believes it, and declares it to be true in spite of all of the devil’s lies, in spite of all feelings and circumstances to the contrary, and in which it obeys God whether God seems to be fulfilling the promise or not.

When a soul gets to the point where he will do this, and will hold fast the profession of his faith without wavering, he will soon get out of the fog and mists and twilight of doubt and uncertainty into the broad daylight of assurance."³

Is this where you want to be? Well, you can know for a certainty this is not where the devil wants you to be! Thus, there is this necessity for fighting with faith.

The “fiery darts” Scripture speaks of referred in the natural realm to arrows that burst into flame upon contact. Some of these “darts” had poison on the tip, designed to cause further damage in that way.

In that day, the shield used wasn’t a small circular shield worn on the forearm, such as some of those old black-and-white movies depicted. The shield was large enough to protect the soldier’s entire body, and yet light enough to be easily transported.

The main point being: It wouldn’t matter if the darts were on fire, or if the darts had been drenched in poison, if all these darts hit the shield. It is the shield that causes the attack to fail and the one behind the shield to be fully protected.

In the spirit world, these fiery darts to which Scripture refers are messages and images—only that! These darts may get launched in the particulars of a situation, or from a disposition susceptible to overwhelming emotions, or by an unkind remark, or by the head of all demons—Satan himself.

So what should we do when one of these arrows starts flying our way?

Get our shield up, which is really the Word of God!

Since every fiery dart has a message attached to it, we must first identify what that message is. Is it a fear message? A pride message? A message inducing depression? By identifying the message accurately, our shield can be turned in the right direction in order to deflect it.

For example, to the fear message that declares, “You’ll never make it this time,” stand on II Corinthians 2:14 which says: “Thanks be unto God who always causes us to triumph.” Bling! That’s one dart that didn’t get through!

To the pride message, “You don’t need anyone’s help,” stand on II Corinthians 3:5 which says: “We are not sufficient of ourselves. Our sufficiency is of God.” Bling! That’s another dart that didn’t get through!

And to the message designed to depress, stand on II Corinthians 12:9 where God says, “My grace is sufficient for you … My strength is made perfect in weakness.…” Bling! Another fiery dart of Satan didn’t get through!

This is all the exercising of the shield requires.

Jesus used this tactic when he had that high noon showdown with the devil in the desert. He hid behind the Word like a soldier behind his shield.

In our training for warfare we must accurately assess the enemy’s arsenal and be as Paul was, not ignorant of the devil’s devices.

In studying his tricks and his traps, we learn that one of the most effective weapons Satan uses against the believer is accusation.

The rationale for this strategy is found in the fact that agreement with his accusations will shut down our faith, stagnate our growth, and make the victory the Bible declares possible seemingly out of reach.

The early church knew this battle with Satan quite well. Scripture tells us that “they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb.” Commenting on this verse, F.J. Huegel observed:

"Had they not pointed to the 'blood' they could never have silenced the accuser. The cross is the invincible weapon against the foe. We must not accept the stream of accusations which, much as we desire to have it otherwise, so often flows in upon our spirit, crippling us in our Christian warfare.

When Satan confronted Luther with a list of his sins, Luther said, 'All this is true, but now write, the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sins.' Whereupon Satan fled!"⁴

He fled—because he had to! Unfortunately, much suffering occurs today because Christians lack the discipline to take this step.

Well, then! Once the devil knows that someone isn’t going to use the shield, guess what? He’ll fire off another arrow, and then another, and then another, until this person starts questioning God the way General Custer’s men must have questioned him!

Listen, God never said there wouldn’t be warfare in this life. Nor did he say that he would instantly protect us. What the Spirit of God did say is that he would give us this armor that will protect us, if we’ll use it.

Notes:
1. A.B. Simpson, The Christ in the Bible Commentary, Volume Two, (Camp Hill, PA., WingSpread Publishers, 2009), p.64.
2. Ibid., p.65.
3. Samuel Logan Brengle, Helps to Holiness, (Shoals, IN., Old Paths Tract, n.d.), p.36.
4. F.J. Huegel, The Cross of Christ, the Throne of God, (Dixon, MO., Rare Christian Books, n.d.), p.92.