Ephesians 6
16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
Paul uses the armour of a Roman soldier as symbol of how Christians should arm themselves. Many Christians are completely unaware of the battle they are in and are unarmed. Christians should be full of God’s strength, and not full of religious motions and rituals. David decapitated Goliath, but today the world decapitates Christians and hell rejoices.
You should live in God’s strength and associate with those who also live in God’s strength. The breastplate of righteousness will protect your heart and mind from evil designs and thoughts. Your feet must be shod with the Gospel of peace, even in the face of slander by so-called brethren.
But above all, we must put on the shield of faith to stop the fiery darts of the wicked one. His darts are aimed at destroying you and burning you up. Some Christians have been hit by these darts and are aflame by a strange fire. Their tongues are set aflame by from hell.
In warfare they used to light a dart tip, and then shoot the flaming dart at the enemy. If it hits a tent, it would burn down. Likewise if a soldier is hit by such a dart, he would burn. Sometimes a soldier’s shield would be hit by such a dart and burn and he would have to leave it. At times, in order to defend themselves, they would stand side by side without a gap between their shields and so be protected. However, it’s evil when Christians fight each other instead of standing side by side to fight the enemy. Such are lukewarm Christians. Israel failed because they did not combine the word of God which they heard, with faith. Faith is to accept, believe and do God’s word. When faith is gone, you will be strengthless and defeated as Samson when his locks were cut.
We need Christians need to be prepared for battle, with not one piece of armour missing, and without the smell of the world on us. There is no army comparable to the Christian army and no soldier comparable to a Christian soldier. But where are they today? We find many filled with strife, slander, the lust of the flesh and of the eyes, lies etc.
Take therefore this shield of faith and all the armour we’ve spoken of and be faithful soldiers of the cross.