What's In Your Hand?

Ephesians 6.10-18

Exodus 4:2 Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?”“

Much has been written about the spiritual battle we are in. Some of it goes beyond the Word of God. Some deals with the sensational. We need to be Biblical. To understand this battle once again we have God's Word as our anchor and foundation.

We need to be aware of our weapons and armor so that we can stand firm.
We are in the thick of the Last Days Battle.

Notice this soldier Paul is describing is standing, not charging. His feet are planted firmly.

There is no mention of equipment to cover his back. The LORD is his rear guard, but we are to face the battle head on.
Isaiah 52:12 But you will not leave in haste or go in flight; for the Lord will go before you, the God of Israel will be your rear guard.

The armor is impressive and we will go into detail in the Bible Studies this week but this morning we are looking at what is in the hands of the Christian Soldier.

That was the question the LORD asked Moses when He called him from watching sheep to leading the nation.
What's in your hand?

Ephesians 6:16-18 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

1. The Shield of Faith
This is defensive faith.
Its purpose is extinguish all the flaming arrows of the Devil.

So often we think of faith as doing great exploits. That is part of it but not all of it.
Faithfulness and standing firm are parts of faith as well.
One who is full of faith is first of all faithful.
I would like to see equal emphasis on standing firm along with God working through a person. Jeremiah was a man like that.


Fiery darts or flaming arrows were part of Roman weaponry in the first century.

"The fiery darts" that were used in war were small, slender pieces of cane, which were filled with combustible materials, and set on fire; or darts around which some combustible material was wound, and which were set on fire, and then shot "slowly" against a foe. The object was to make the arrow fasten in the body, and increase the danger by the burning; or, more frequently, those darts were thrown against ships, forts, tents, etc., with an intention to set them on fire.

What are the characteristics of these fiery darts?
If you have ever tried archery or been close to a bow and arrow an archer is using, you know:
1. Arrows travel at extremely high speeds. They come suddenly. In warfare they came without warning. You must remain alert. (v.18)
2. In ancient warfare, they came from unexpected places. Church and family. Sometime friendly fire, sometimes not.
Zechariah 13:6 If someone asks him, ‘What are these wounds on your body?’ he will answer, ‘The wounds I was given at the house of my friends.’
The enemy of our souls hides, is a serpent and a lion. Both of these sneak up on their prey. Like the flaming arrow they come upon us quickly and seek to take us out.

3. In spiritual warfare they come from Satan to take us out or a whole building as with the temple in the first century.
As the temple burned the silver and gold ornamentation melted down and ran into the cracks of the foundation stones. In order to get it out the Roman soldiers took iron bars and pried apart and threw down the foundation stones, thus fulfilling the words of Jesus 38 years earlier, "not one stone will be left standing on another." We can see the destruction a single flaming arrow can bring.

What are "all" the flaming arrows of the evil one?
*Discouragement
*Doubt
*Depression
*Past sins
*Condemnation
*Despair
*Bitterness
There are many more. He has an arsenal of weapons with the ability to take down anyone who does not use the shield of faith.

These can come in a split second, often after a great victory, or when we least expect it.

Paul here refers, probably, to the temptations of the great adversary, which are like fiery darts; or those furious suggestions of evil, and excitements to sin, which he may throw into the mind like fiery darts. They are - blasphemous thoughts, unbelief, sudden temptation to do wrong, or thoughts that wound and torment the soul.

Lit., the darts, those which have been set on fire, soaked in pitch, set aflame.

the furious temptations, violent and sudden injections of the devil

We extinguish them by lifting up the shield of faith.

1 John 5:4-5 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
Our faith in Christ Jesus, God’s Son. Christians, that hold fast their faith even in the face of death against the power of their foes, and temptations and persecutions.

Build yourself up in the faith.
Jude 1:20-21 But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

Grow in grace.
2 Peter 1:3-8 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Grow in the Word of God.
Romans 10:17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.

The shield of faith us used with the Word of God and prayer. The weapons and the armor are all related to each other and to be used as "the full armor of God." (v.11)

2. The Sword of the Spirit
The Word of God
This is an offensive tool.
It was used to put the enemy to death or cause him to retreat.
Romans 16:20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

2 Corinthians 10:4-5 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
This is done not by our own understanding but by the Word of God.
It reveals things to come.

If we want to defeat the enemy and his attacks against us, we need to fortify ourselves with the Word.

Jesus fought off Satan's temptations with the Word of God. (Matthew 4)

The Bible itself must be brought out, not only as the best defense against all the assaults of infidelity from the lofty towers of human reasonings, but also as the mighty weapon to overcome and bring the enemies of God into captivity to Christ. "They overcame by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony" (Revelation 12:11). "

He washes us with the Word. He feeds us His Word. In our hand is the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. In our hearts and in our hands.

3. The Prayer of Faith

In the Spirit
Faithfully
For Each Other
For the spread of the Gospel

In our hands, in our heart are precious weapons, faith, God's Word and prayer. Let's use them together to win the battle!
Romans 8:31 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?