The Shield of Faith
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READ Ephesians 6:13-18
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 firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,
Today we continue our series on the armor of God by studying the Shield of faith. Shields would have been a common sight during the time when Paul wrote Ephesians. If you saw a battalion of soldiers, you would see each of them carrying a shield. Today shields are not nearly as common a sight, nor are they as popular in practical use. However I can say without a doubt in my mind the most popular and well known shield would be the one which belonged to Captain America. While the shield of Captain America was just an accessory, it was a very diverse piece of armor. It was made from the strongest element to ever be discovered, the fictional element Vibranium. Because of this it was nearly indestructible and extremely useful in defense. However what people remember most about his shield is its appearance. Red, White and blue with a Star in the middle, classic. However, what's notable is the shape. It’s a classic circular shape shield that’s probably about 3 feet in width and height. This is not what the shield Paul was describing would have looked like.
Move 1 The Shield of a Roman Soldier would be called a Scutum, and it would look something like this (show slide). Rather than a circular shape, the scutum is a half-cylinder shape which would be about the height of the soldier. This shield design would revolutionize the Roman military. There aren’t many “Shields” in use today. However riot police and suppression use “riot shields” and they look like something like this (show slide). Does it look familiar? This is how effective this shield was, it’s basically still in use today. The shield would offer soldiers maximum protection against enemy spear and archery volleys. One of the most common offensive gestures by armies would be an archery volley. Archers would stand in a line formation, and then in unison noch and fire their arrows into enemy formations. Sometimes armies would use pitch to light the arrows on fire. Without an effective shield, the soldiers would be left vulnerable.
Move 2 So we now understand it’s no coincidence when Paul explains the importance of the “Shield of Faith.” The shield of faith is to be used in the same way a Roman legion would use their shield. Extinguishing the flaming arrows of the evil one.
The temptations of Satan often mirror that of an archery volley. You can almost picture Satan as this sick, twisted, demented cupid. However instead of having a quiver of love arrows, his quiver of arrows are all the things that torment our minds. In Satan's quiver of arrows, you would arrows such as
Hopelessness, anxiety, anger, depression, addiction, jealousy, loss of faith, abandonment.
. If Satan is allowed to continue to fire these arrows unopposed our mindsets will slowly begin to change
A Steadfast faith can be weakened, a strong marriage can begin to crumble, a peaceful mind can be weighed down by anger and guilt, a confident faith can be made anxious.
However when we equip the shield of faith, we can block these arrows by leaning upon the promises of Christ.
In John 6:35
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
Jesus promises provision for our souls
In John 14:6
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Jesus promises us security for our souls.
In John 11:25
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,
Jesus promises the restoration of our souls.
All of these passages are useful in helping reinforce our faith to defend us against the arrows of Satan.
Move 3 However, when Satan attempts to bombard us with his arrows, he’s not always the one who fires the arrows.
ILLUSTRATION: Liberation of Kiska WWII
Sometimes we have to raise our shield of faith to repel friendly fire.
There will be times when Satan uses our friends and family to fire his flaming arrows.
What do we do when those arrows come from our spouse? Our best friend? Our Children? This is bound to happen. What do we do? What happens when our faith has to defend us against those who are on our side?
Sometimes this friendly fire is unrealized, sometimes this friendly fire is intentionally aimed at us. In either case, our response should be the same.
When the flaming arrows of Satan take the form of friendly fire, we equip the shield of faith by leaning on grace.
Remember all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. If you are ever the recipient of friendly fire, you have also likely been guilty of pulling the trigger. We must show grace and mercy upon those who made us the recipient of friendly fire.
And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.
We have hope that Christ himself will restore us from the pain of enduring friendly fire.
Move 4 Application So we know how the shield of faith should function, we know it is meant to defend us against the arrows of Satan. But what does that look like in practical action? How do we best utilize this wonder tool God has blessed us with?
To answer this question, we have to look back at the one aspect of the Roman shield I haven’t discussed yet. The tortoise formation.
In the tortoise formation the Soldiers in the front of the battalion would lock their shields together in front, making a mobile nearly impenetrable wall. Meanwhile the soldiers in the back would hold their shields over everyone's heads. Making them fully protected against oncoming attacks. The formation would look something like this
This formation would be efficient, methodical, and absolutely terrifying to enemy soldiers. It would appear to be unstoppable.
What would happen if our faith looked like this? If each of us took our faith and used them together in unison to make 1 giant unmovable wall. It would be effective, methodical, terrifying to Satan, and seemingly unstoppable.
If we are able to do this, we will understand Jesus when he says the gates of hell will not stand against the church.
Let us take our shields of faith so we can not only protect ourselves, but others as well. Let us together be united so our faith may be locked together and become a shield for all. Let’s strive to make our faith look like this.