The Armor of God: The Shield of Faith

Life of the Church

Good morning everyone, welcome to our worship service. It’s good to see everyone here on the Lord’s day. You’ll see many of the normal announcements listed in your bulletin this morning. Instead of going over those today, I’m going to use this time to talk about a visit to our church from a CNN news crew a few weeks ago.

You may remember a camera crew out front after the service. I didn’t know they were going to be there. Didn’t know any of them were going to be here at all, they just happened to come in the side door before the service wanting an interview about a story they were doing for Anderson Cooper about politics and religion, and they wanted to talk about Will Kopp and everything that happened there.

They wanted to interview me on camera. I said no, and made it clear that this was both a day of worship for our church and that for the church, everything with Will was clearly in the past. But the reporter said the story was going to run, and he’d already talked to Will and gotten his side of things, so I asked him to stay behind and I’d talk to him after the service.

Vonda and I did talk to him after the service. Again, not on camera. We were very clear that Will leaving was an agreement on both sides, and that a pastor, especially a Baptist pastor, cannot stand in the pulpit and say that you are not a Christian if you vote for one particular political party or candidate. You can be a Christian and vote for anyone you want. Period.

I was going to bring that up here the next week, but then I got sick. And the story never ran, and I thought it didn’t run because it really wasn’t a story at all.

But the story did run Friday night on Anderson Cooper. I haven’t seen it. I won’t see it. I’ve heard it was definitely from Will’s perspective. That shouldn’t surprise anyone given that it’s CNN.

I’m angry — I’ll be honest and say that. I’m angry that Will would discuss this at all after two years have passed, much less with a news organization that has never been kind to Christians. I’m angry because Will had to know what would come of this to the people and the church he says he loves. But God calls us love him anyway, and that’s what we’re going to do. And God calls us to pray for him, and so we will.

Don’t respond to anyone, don’t reach out to Will, don’t post about him on your social media. Just let it all go, and sooner or later the world will move on to the next story about the next thing.

Scripture says, “The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” We know what happened and why, and hopefully this will be the end of the issue. There will be no more interviews about this subject, so if you happen to see another reporter out front one Sunday, just smile and pass them by.

I’ve prepared a statement for the media in case anyone calls the church office. If you’re a deacon, I’ll ask you stay behind after the meal and the Q&A session to go over and approve that and a few other things we may do going forward like making sure all the doors are secured for service, which we should have probably been doing anyway.

We’re also not live-streaming today and won’t for at least a few weeks. Live-streaming was great during the pandemic, but now it’s an excuse for people not to come to church, and that’s wrong. We’ve also suspended our Facebook account because of so many hateful comments, as people will on social media. There have been many hateful calls to the church as well.

I think we all understand this is the last thing the church needs right now. Certainly the last thing I need right now. I haven’t even started in this role, and I’m tired already. So of course it’s the first thing the devil’s going to try.

But we’ll answer this in the same way that we answer every one of the devil’s schemes — with scripture. And so I’ll remind you of Isaiah 43:18-19: “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?”

George, do you have an announcement this morning?

Sue, do you have anything?

Opening Prayer

Let’s pray:

Lord God, You are our hiding place, and under Your wings we can always find refuge. Protect us from trouble wherever we go, and keep evil far from us. No matter where we are, we will look to You as our Protector, the One Who fights for us every day. Your love and faithfulness, along with Your goodness and mercy, surround us daily. Our trust is in You, God, and we give thanks to You for Your love and protection. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Veteran’s Day

Our nation will celebrate Veteran’s Day on Friday, and as is our custom, we will take this time to honor the veterans who are a part of our church. Would you please stand as I call out your branch of service.

The United States Navy claims October 13, 1775 as the date of its official establishment. Under John Adams, our second president, the Naval Act of 1794 created a permanent standing US Navy. If you were a sailor, a squid, or a salty dog, would you please stand.

The history of the United States Marine Corps began with the founding of the Continental Marines on November 10, 1775, and has served in nearly every conflict in United States history. If you were a devil dog, a leatherneck, or a jarhead, will you please stand.

The United States Army is the land service branch of the United States armed forces. It is the oldest and most senior branch of the US military, formed on June 14, 1775, to fight in the American Revolutionary War. If you were a soldier, a grunt, or a GI Joe, will you please stand.

The United States Air Force is the air service branch of the United States armed forces, created on August 1, 1907, as part of the Army Signal Corps and then established as a separate branch of the armed forces with the National Security Act of 1947. If you were an airman, a zoomie, or a flyboy, will you please stand.

The United States Coast Guard is the largest and most powerful coast guard in the world, rivaling the capabilities and size of most navies. If you were a coastie, a puddle pirate, or a guardian, will you pleas stand.

Let’s have a round of applause for our veterans who served our country with honor.

Sermon

Almost everything that’s wrong in your life can be put down to one simple statement — you think your problems are too big, and your God is too small. I’m speaking of myself here too; I catch myself thinking like this way too often.

You and I both know that statement is wrong, don’t we? But we don’t think it’s completely wrong. Atheists love to say that religious people use their faith as a crutch to lean on. We can’t handle the stresses and disappointments and confusions of life, so we turn to religion in order to help cope with reality. And to that I say, “Well of course faith is a crutch. And of course we lean on that.”

Because life is often too much for any of us to handle, no matter who we are or what we believe. We all use some sort of crutch to lean on. If it’s not God, then it’s something else. The only difference between the Christian and everyone else is that we know we’re lame and wounded and can’t walk on our own.

So we have no issue at all with thinking that our problems are often too big for us. That’s not wrong. But is God too small for our problems? Being a good Christian, you’ll answer, “Absolutely not.” And you know that’s true in here, in your heart.

But the problem is that you do most of your living up in here in your mind. And in your mind you have a nasty habit of thinking that God might not be smaller than your problems but He’s not bigger than your problems either.

At best, God and whatever you’re going through right now are pretty much the same size. And again, you might not hold that as true in here, in your heart. But if you’re honest you believe that in here, in your thoughts.

Your feelings have a lot to do with that. Emotions are so important to what it means to be a human being, but they also often stand between us and the truth.

Our problems cause worry. They cause fear. They cause doubt. And those things can overwhelm us to the point that they keep us from seeing things as they truly are. We’re left seeing things only as they appear to be in our own limited sight. That’s why the devil really doesn’t have to do much in order to attack us. Often he’ll just give you a little prick, just a little nudge, and then sit back and let your thoughts and feelings do all the damage.

So far we’ve looked at three pieces of of God’s armor that He says you need to wear in order to be dressed for spiritual warfare. We’ve talked about the belt of truth. Then the breastplate of righteousness. Last week we looked at the shoes of peace. All of those are pieces that God says you have to wear all the time. Don’t let the devil catch you without any of them, or you’re going to be in trouble.

The next three pieces of armor are ones that Pauls says you need to have at the ready to use when you need them. You have to be ready to take them up. And the first of those pieces that Paul mentions is the one you need whenever you start thinking that God isn’t bigger than whatever storm you’re going through right now, and that is the shield of faith.

Turn with me once again to the book of Ephesian, chapter 6. Today we’ll be looking at verses 13-16:

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 this is God’s word.

Appropriate message for today, don’t you think? Let’s go back to the Roman soldier for a minute, and how he would dress for battle. A Roman soldier’s shield was a massive, heavy thing. They were usually two-and-a-half feet wide and four feet long.

It was a weapon, but mainly a defensive one. Like those shoes he wore with nails on the bottoms, a shield helped a soldier to stand his ground. He absolutely had to have that shield if he was going to defend himself against his enemy.

Now, you might be tempted to think, “Well, what do I need a shield for? I already have a breastplate on to protect my heart. I already have shoes on to protect my peace. Next week we’ll see that you wear a helmet to protect your mind. And then there’s that thick belt of truth to hold them all together. I feel like I should be pretty protected from anything the devil throws at me, so why do I need a shield?”

And that’s a good question. Here’s the answer: the shield doesn’t just protect you, it protects every piece of armor you’re wearing. Look at verse 16. Paul’s gone through the first three pieces of armor, and then he says, “In all circumstances take up the shield of faith … ”. Other translations have that as, “Above all, take up the shield of faith … ”.

As a Christian, you are to put on that belt of truth, and your breastplate of righteousness, and your shoes of peace, and the helmet of salvation.

But Paul says your faith is the armor for your armor. It’s a defense for your defenses. It doesn’t just protect you, it protects your graces. That’s why Paul calls it a shield. Because when a Roman soldier stood behind his shield, he was completely covered and protected.

So as a Christian, when are you supposed to take up this shield of faith? Look back up in verse 13: “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.”

That’s when you have to take up the shield of faith — “in the evil day.”

The day when your life feels like it’s about two seconds from falling apart.

The day when you know you’ve reached your absolute limit in what you can endure. It’s when your money is so low that you don’t know if you’ll make it to the end of the week.

When you’ve lost your job and you have no prospects.

When the thing or the person who means the most to you is taken away.

When the doctor says, “We need to talk.”

When your kids say, “I never want to talk to you again.”

That’s the day when you need to be covered. Protected. That’s the day when you need a shield. You need the biggest, strongest, thickest piece of protection you can get, because that’s the day when not only your life is in danger, your soul is too. But if you take up the shield of faith, you now have something that will give you the power to live in victory even when you find yourself in the middle of terrible circumstances.

That’s how powerful this piece of armor is, so we better know all we can about it. Let’s talk about what this shield means and is.

Paul calls it the shield of faith. Maybe a better way to describe it is “the shield that is faith,” because that’s what the shield really is. It’s faith itself. So let’s start there and talk a little about what faith is, because it’s maybe the most important thing you need besides truth when it comes to spiritual warfare.

Let’s start out with a few bits of scripture. Write these down so you can go back and look at them later.

First, there’s Hebrews 12:2. The writer of Hebrews says there, “… looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Next, we turn to Paul in Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

And finally the apostle John, who writes in 1 John 5:4 that, “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith.”

What do these three verses tell us? First, Jesus is the source of every bit of our faith. In him we find not just faith’s creation, but its perfection.

Second, we’re saved by trusting in him, and that trust gives us all the power we need for victory because Christ is living and working in and through us to accomplish what we could never do on our own.

And third, the key to that victory in overcoming the sin in your life and the struggles you face is faith.

But now this is important. Pay attention to this. Faith itself isn’t going to help you at all. Faith itself is not powerful. What gives faith its power to protect you is what that faith is in.

Remember what the first piece of armor was that Paul said you absolutely have to put on? It’s that belt of truth, isn’t it? That’s the most important thing God gives you. If you don’t know the truth, or if you don’t act on the truth, then your faith can’t protect you at all. If you’re going to possess real faith, then you have to know and act on what the truth is. And you remember how we defined the truth, right? Truth is what God thinks about something.

So faith is accepting God’s truth, whether you feel like it’s the truth or not. And faith is acting on that truth — basing your life on that truth being absolute fact — whether you agree with that truth or not. That’s what fuels your faith.

You can have all the faith in the world, but if that faith isn’t tied to the truth, it’s not going to accomplish anything in your life. Your faith is only as powerful as what that faith is tied to, and what your faith should be tied to is the inspired words of God. That truth tells us everything we need to know about Him, about our world, about our hearts, and about eternity, and those words are completely trustworthy and eternally true.

So all faith means is believing what God says is true, and then living by that truth in spite of what you think you know and whatever your own experience might be. It’s recognizing that you’re nothing and don’t know anything, but God is and knows everything.

And that’s tough. Very tough, because faith is hard. Faith doesn’t come naturally to us, and it sure isn’t easy to have all the time.

Hebrews says that faith “Is the substance of things hoped for,” and guess what? You don’t hope for something that you already have. Faith might be a very real thing, and we might have plenty of evidence for that faith, but faith still takes a huge amount of trust on our part, doesn’t it?

That’s what faith really is when you get right down to it. Faith is trust. And the more trustworthy the object of your faith is, the more power that faith can bring into your life. So let me ask you this: Is your faith in God instead of in what you can do, or how much you can save, or how smart you are?

Does your faith say that God is trustworthy? That there is no greater power than His power? Then why don’t you always act like it? And I’m talking to myself here too. You better believe it. I’ve been up for the past two nights about this CNN thing, worrying whether I can even do this, praying that it won’t always be like this. That’s where trust comes in. If you believe in faith the truth of God and trust that all those words in the Bible are from God, that they’re true words, and that they’re written for you, then that faith is a shield that you can pick up to protect yourself with.

So that’s what the shied of faith is. Now let’s talk about what the shield of faith does. I’m going to give you five things:

First, the shield defends. A Roman solider wouldn’t pick up his shield against someone coming at him with a sword. That’s not what the shield was made for. Instead it was made for what would usually happen at the start of the battle.

A battle would usually begin by both sides firing catapults and arrows from long range in order to soften up the enemy’s front lines. We’re going to talk about those arrows in a minute, but for now I’ll say that barrage to start the battle had only one purpose: to create chaos and confusion.

That’s exactly what Satan wants to fill your life with, chaos and confusion. Faith is what keeps you quiet and calm in the middle of all that, because the truth of what the Bible says allows you to trust that God is always in control, that His love for you does not ever diminish, and that in Him you have victory over any scheme the devil tries on you.

Second, the shield guards. It keeps you safe. Your faith not only protects the truth you possess, and the righteousness you have in Christ, and the peace you always enjoy, and the salvation you have that can never be taken away. It also makes those things stronger. Faith keeps them safe so they can keep you safe when the devil attacks.

Third, the shield deflects. The shield can’t stop Satan from attacking you, but it will help blunt those attacks. There are some thoughts that just pop into your head. You can’t control them, they’re just there. And there are some emotions that you just can’t help but feel.

But your shield of faith is what keeps you from dwelling on those thoughts and feelings, from letting them sink from your mind or your heart into your soul. Because again, you know the truth. You live by the truth of God as it’s written down in the Bible. That’s what you trust. Not your thoughts, and not your feelings.

Fourth, the shield can drive the enemy back. Satan doesn’t tremble when he sees you. You’re just a puny little human being. He’s not afraid of whatever strength you think you have. He’s not impressed by your power; you don’t have any, not on your own. But he will run away from your faith, because your faith is in an Almighty God whose holy will cannot be prevented, whose power cannot be approached, and whose might is so great that nothing and no one can stand against it.

And lastly, the shield is most effective in numbers. The Roman military had a very effective way of dealing with that barrage of arrows. When the enemy began firing, the soldiers would come together in the shape of a rectangle. The soldiers on the outside would point their shields straight out, forming a wall on the outside of that formation. The soldiers in the middle would raise their shields over their heads to protect everyone from all those arrows raining down. The result was something like a human tank that was almost impossible to be stopped.

That’s what your church is for. That’s what those people sitting around you are for. When you’re in trouble, those people gather around you and surround you with their own shields to keep you safe. You need a church more than you can possibly know, otherwise when that day of evil comes and those arrows start flying, you only have one shield to keep you safe instead of dozens.

So now we know what the shield is — it’s faith. And we’ve just talked about what the shield does. Now we need to know how to use that shield. Here’s how you use it: you pick it up.

Now that’s easy to say but so hard for us to do. Because that shield is heavy, and you have to be strong enough to use it.

A Roman soldier’s shield weighed about 22 pounds. Most of us could pick up something that weighs that much with no problem. But remember, you’re not just picking it up and putting it down. You’re holding that shield up. You’re moving it around. You’re lifting it over your head. Not just for a moment, but for as long as the devil attacks you. That takes more than spiritual strength. That takes spiritual endurance.

So how do you develop that spiritual endurance? You practice living by faith, each and every day. Living by faith means that the truth of what God says becomes your regular way of thinking, doing, and being. It means your faith becomes more than just knowing your shield is there whenever you need it. It means grabbing it and using it to its fullest potential. Because the more you pick it up and use it, the stronger you’ll be, and the longer you’ll be able to hold it up.

Your faith isn’t a feeling. It’s not a thought. Faith is an action rooted in trusting a God who knows what He’s talking about. And you have to exercise that faith. You have to live in it and make that faith strong, because look at verse 13 again. It sure doesn’t sound like Paul’s saying the evil day might come. He’s saying it will come. Those fiery arrows will come, so we better talk about those for a minute.

Before a Roman soldier went into battle, he wrapped his shield in leather or some sort of animal skin. Then he dipped the shield in water so that when those fiery arrows came, they’d be snuffed out. Satan fires his arrows to create chaos and confusion in your life. He wants to dismantle your defenses so that he has a wide-open path to attack you. But your shield deflects those arrows and snuffs them out.

Listen to 1 John 5:4-5:

“For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”

Faith is so powerful that this passage calls it the secret to victory in whatever you’re facing. If Jesus was able to overcome all the world’s sin on the cross, how easy is it for him to take care of whatever you’re going through right now?

All you have to do is believe that he will help you overcome, and then act on that belief. You have to trust. You already have the power to battle in your circumstances. You already have strength to fight. Your victory’s already at hand. You just have to use your faith.

Here’s what you need to do in order to learn how to take up that shield. Ready?

The first thing you need to do is know your Bible. When the devil tempted Jesus in the wilderness, what did Jesus do? He quoted scripture. That’s how Jesus took his stand agains the devil. And what did the devil do? He fled. The devil can’t stand against the truth. The Bible is the truth. So you have to know what it says, and you have to believe it. And again — by “believe it,” I mean trust it.

Next, after you know and trust what the Bible says, you have to do what the Bible says. You have to live that out in your daily life. You won’t always do that. You’re still going to screw up. And those times you screw up will turn out to be a lot of the arrows that Satan fires at you. So you take up your shield. You trust in faith what the Bible says. And what does the Bible say? “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness.”

Third, and this is maybe the most important. Take the time to define your faith. Have you ever done that? Sit down with some paper and a pen or open your computer and write down what you really believe. Do that. Keep it with you as a reminder of what you know is true whenever those attacks come.

I’ve done that. Several times. I’ve defined my faith, my life, my call. And since this is supposed to be my trial sermon, I’ll tell you a little bit about that as we close.

The question I’ve gotten the most over the past few weeks has been, “What took you so long?” That answer’s an easy one.

I believe every occupation — and I know being a pastor isn’t an occupation, but let’s call it that for convenience — every occupation is a holy one. Whether you’re a factory worker or a business owner or a teacher or a homemaker, you’re there because God wants you there, because He has something for you to do there that no one else can do, and so that means your job is holy. Your job counts for eternity.

But let’s face it, being a pastor is a little different, isn’t it? The Bible says that those who teach God’s word are held to a little higher standard. They’re going to be judged a little more strictly. It’s a huge responsibility, and the reason it took me so long is that I didn’t think I could do it.

I told that to Dan Elash about two years ago. Dan was the guy we brought in after Will left to help the deacons move the church forward. Dan told me back then that I should consider being the pastor here. I told him I wasn’t qualified. Know what he told me? “Neither was Peter.”

I didn’t take up my shield of faith. Couldn’t lift it. God had to strengthen my muscles, and let me tell you — that was a long and painful process. Still is. I ran from Him, because who was I to be a pastor? I’m just a guy. I sat out there with you for almost thirty years. I’m not formally trained. I had no experience. I don’t have a fancy piece of paper framed on my wall.

I told God, “No way I can do this.”

He said, “You’re right. Pick up your shield, and I’ll help you.”

We were all trying to get through Covid as a church. I didn’t know how to do that. None of us did. God said, “Pick up your shield, and I’ll help you.”

Lorraine Zimmerman passed. Suddenly I had to do a funeral, which to me is about the holiest and most important thing a pastor can do. I had no idea how to do a funeral and didn’t think I had any business doing a funeral. God said, “Pick up your shield, and I’ll help you.”

Beth and Richard said, “We want you to baptize our kids.” Jesyka said, “I want you to baptize Laco.” Jake said, “I want you to baptize me.”

I didn’t think I was allowed to do that. The church said I could. But I told God, “Who I am to baptize anybody?” And God said, “It’s not because you’re righteous, it’s because My Son is righteous. Now pick up your shield, and I’ll help you.”

So what took me so long? Because that’s how long it took for God to show me that I could answer this call because He would be with me, and that I could prove myself worthy of this calling if I faced every day by saying, “Less of me, Lord, and more of you.”

And honestly I think that period of time was good for the church too, because I don’t know how many people here a year-and-a-half ago would want a pastor with no experience and no education. A pastor who gets up here every Sunday and preaches to himand self first, and all of you second.

I’ve said it before. I’m just a dead man preaching to dead people about a living Lord. You’re not getting a pastor you can’t approach or come to with your problems because you’re so sinful and he’s so holy. I’m no different than you are, and I’ll never pretend to be.

We live in a time when churches are shrinking, churches are weak, churches are attacked, and most of the people who call themselves Christians are lukewarm at best. The glory days of church are gone, those times when everyone just took it for granted that every church in this country would prosper and grow. But God says to me and to you, “Take up your shield, and I’ll help you.”

So let’s do that as we sing our closing hymn. And if you’d like to stay after the service for a meal and a Q&A session, you can just head to George’s Sunday school room through the door over here, and we’ll eat in the social hall.

Let’s pray:

Father we don’t always know what fiery arrows will come our way, but we know they will. We’re so thankful for the armor You provide to keep us safe, and for the shield of faith most of all. Help us to lift that shield high when the devil comes, to stand behind it, to let You fight for us. We ask for your truth, we ask for your righteousness, we ask for your peace. Less of us, Father. More of you. We ask that You give us a heart for you, a heart for others, and to be lights to a dark world. In Jesus’s name, Amen.