Ephesians 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
This passage of scripture should be of particular consolation to all Christians, for it confirms to us that every fiery dart coming from the arsenals of the enemy can be quenched through faith in the power of God to save. In another verse we are told that all temptations and trials may be successfully resisted, because God does not allow any perplexity to come our way, without first screening it, and providing a way of escape whereby we may be able to bear it. The real question then is, how do we quench "All" the fiery darts, and what method is involved in living victoriously through the many ups and downs of life?
To answer this all-important question we turn to an important teachable experience in the lives of the apostles, after they had been filled with the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost. At this time their differences had been put aside, and had given way to an ardent desire to see souls saved at any cost, so with this purpose in mind, and empowered by The Spirit, they went forth preaching the good news of salvation to any and everyone they would meet.
But their actions soon caused a serious stir throughout Jerusalem, and caught the attention of the authorities, who then called them in for questioning, and commanded them to stop preaching in the name of Jesus. To this they could not agree, and Peter then declared that the commands of God must have greater weight than the commands of men. The results of their conclusions are written, so that we too may understand how to quench the fiery darts of persecution, when standing firm for righteousness. Let's read:
Acts 5:34 Then stood there up one in the council, a Pharisee, named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, had in reputation among all the people, and commanded to put the apostles forth a little space; 35 And said unto them, Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what ye intend to do as touching these men. 38 And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: 39 But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God. 40 And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 41 And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.
Question: What do the wicked do when Christians deem it a privilege to suffer for the name of Christ? Here we have a situation where the fiery dart of persecution was hurled at the early Christians, with the intent that they should become discouraged and cease their activities, but instead they receive the beating with gladness, and rejoice greatly to be privileged in bearing hardship for the cause of of God. With this attitude, the devil soon runs out of options, for a Christian who rejoices whilst being persecuted must be left alone, because temptation, instead of being a cause for discouragement, is interpreted as impetus for greater exploits for the kingdom of God.
During the dark ages, millions of Christians were martyred for their faith in Christ, but a rare phenomena begun to unfold, where instead of quenching their spirit, many more would put on their best clothes, and come to the scaffold, rejoicing that they were accounted worthy to die or suffer for Christ's sake. Then after many years, when satan realized that he and his agents were inadvertently building up God's kingdom by causing the rapid conversion of millions to Christianity, he ran out of bullets, and was forced to retreat.
In our day, there is the tendency in some Christians to buckle under pressure, for when the fiery dart of financial persecution, or other darts such as heckling, applause, or peer pressure by the media, together with the gravitational pull of popular sentiment are applied in varying degrees, some of us draw back, instead of rejoicing greatly to be accounted worthy to suffer for Christ's sake. In other words, if Christians across the nation had stood their ground on the issue of traditional God-ordained marriage, and if we had rejoiced greatly when the financial support of big corporations was withdrawn from us, and the verbal abuse of social media to pressure us into accepting gay marriage was unleashed, then the wicked would have soon run out of bullets, for like the disciples of old, it would have been manifested that Christians have no problem with suffering for the sake of Christ, and thus all the fiery darts of the enemy on this point would have been effectively quenched.
Let us therefore remember that the Christian's life is not a bed of roses, but is an ongoing battle against foes within and without, and thus we are to live by exercising a living faith in the Lord Jesus, so that every fiery dart of the wicked can be successfully quenched. We therefore end with a passage of scripture which encourages us to be patient in tribulation, for God is able to empower us to live victoriously, through all the vicissitudes of life. Let's read:
Romans 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
May God add His blessing to the study and practice of His word. "Good night" and God bless!