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Shield of Faith
Introduction:
We are well acquainted with the Christian's armor as given in Ephesians 6.
For successful warfare we must put on the whole armor of God, because". .
we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."
I want to call your attention to one piece of the armor carried by the Christian-the shield of faith.
The shield that Paul had in mind here is not the small, round buckler, but the oblong, door-like shield, measuring 4' x 2 ', curved to the shape of the body and carried by the Greek and Roman soldiers.
When joined together, these large shields formed a wall behind which a body of troops could hide themselves from the rain of the enemy's missiles.
The Roman shield of the time was called a scutum.
This type of shield was as large as a door and would cover the warrior entirely.
Such a shield was not just defensive but could also be used to push opponents.
When fighting as a group, a phalanx of soldiers could position their shields so as to form an enclosure around themselves, called a testudo (“tortoise”).
This was especially helpful to protect against arrows launched from the walls of cities they were attacking.
Shields, often made of wood and then covered in hide, when wet, could extinguish flaming arrows.
Clearly, a shield is vitally important to a soldier.
It provides a blanket of protection.
It is meant to be taken up in all circumstances.
It is the first barrier against the enemy’s attack.
Often, shields were painted with identifying marks; a Christian who takes up the shield of faith identifies himself as a foot soldier who serves the Commander of the Lord’s army (see Joshua 5:14).
I The Fiery Darts - Two Examples
We will never be out of range of Satan’s fiery darts, but they can be quenched and rendered harmless by the shield of faith (literally, the faith).
Satan’s fiery darts cannot penetrate the shield of determined, living, dynamic faith in God.
That is why Satan designed the original temptation in Eden to persuade our first parents that God was not to be trusted.
lets look at two examples
The first temptation in the garden of Eden questioned the goodness of God.
“Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”
(Genesis 3:1)
The implication was that the limitation was unkind; God was unkind in refusing to allow man to have something that he wanted.
The second temptation questioned the government of God.
“Ye shall not surely die” (Genesis 3:4).
Satan planted the idea that disobedience to God was not really a serious matter, that it would not have the adverse result that God had said it would.
The third temptation questioned the goals of God.
“God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5).
This most terrible slander of all suggested that God was selfish and jealous, that He was deliberately refusing to allow man to attain full maturity.
Eve threw away the only weapon she had: the Word of God.
The result?
She was deceived, lost her faith in God, and was pierced by Satan’s fiery darts.
Adam followed her into sin.
His sin was more deliberate—downright disobedience—but its root was the same unbelief.
He saw his beloved wife in her fallen condition and, instead of trusting God to work out her salvation, he deliberately followed her into sin.
He too questioned the goodness of God, the government of God, and the goals of God.
Example 2 - Jesus in the Wilderness
Satan presented the same temptations to the Lord Jesus—the second man, the last Adam—in the wilderness.
Satan said, “If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread” (Matthew 4:3).
The Lord had been on a forty-day fast, so He was desperately hungry.
Satan was suggesting that God the Father was withholding an entitlement from Jesus and that He should take matters into His own hands and use the power inherent in His sonship to change His God-given circumstances.
Satan was challenging the goodness of God.
The second temptation followed the same pattern.
Having taken the Lord to a pinnacle of the temple, Satan urged, “Cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee” (Matthew 4:6).
Satan tempted Jesus to question and challenge the government of God.
Satan was saying, “Cast Yourself down.
You will not die.
God would not let that happen to You.
To put God to the test is no serious matter.”
The third temptation, in keeping with the others, challenged the goals of God.
Satan showed the Lord all the kingdoms of the world and offered them to Him—on Satanic terms.
Satan was slanderously insinuating that God was jealous and selfishly keeping Jesus from kingdoms that were rightfully His.
The shield of faith rebuffed Satan at every point and quenched his fiery darts.
To each tempting suggestion, Jesus replied with a verse of Scripture.
He simply fell back on the Word of God and thereby demonstrated His unequivocal faith in God.
Our faith in God should be so alive and robust that we never question the circumstances in which we find ourselves, the limitations He has placed on us, or His right to dictate the terms of our lives.
We never question the goodness of God.
We never doubt His government.
Because of our faith we shrink from sin because it offends Him, grieves His heart, and inevitably brings into our lives the consequences He says it will.
We never question God’s goals either.
If He has not yet brought us into the kingdom, we believe that one day He will.
The place, the process, and the time period are all in His purposes.
Such faith effectively quenches Satan’s darts.[1]
II The Fiery Dart Quencher - Faith
Faith is a necessary, non-negotiable component of the Christian life.
• We can’t be saved apart from faith in God.
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast,” Eph.
2:8–9.
• Our entire Christian life is built upon, and sustained by, a consistent believing that God is, and that He blesses those who place their faith in Him.
“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him,” Heb.
11:6.
We all live by some form of faith every day we live.
We cross bridges and we believe they will support us.
We go through tunnels believing they will not collapse.
We trust electricity, automobiles, airplanes, ships, and buses, believing they are safe.
Our faith in those things is well founded for they have proven themselves over and over.
Faith in Jesus is far and above the everyday faith we practice when we climb into our car and head down the road, or when we drive over a bridge.
Our faith is only as good as the object of that faith.
When our faith is in Jesus Christ, and God the Father, our faith is in Someone Who cannot fail.
Thus, the faith of the Christian has power, because the object of our faith is all-powerful.
True Christian faith never fails because the object of our faith never fails!
Simply defined, faith is belief and trust.
It is believing God and trusting God.
Both elements must be present to make faith.
It was a good answer that was once given by a poor woman to a minister who asked her, "What is faith?"
She replied, "I'm ignorant, and I cannot answer well, but I think it is taking God at His Word."
Faith is the foundation of all Christian graces.
Dr. Arthur Pink says, "The beginning of faith is faith in the beginning."
There is no true faith that does not begin at recognition of God as Creator.
We must believe that before we can believe anything else.
After the acceptance of God, we must accept the way for coming to God.
No one can come to God except through Jesus Christ.
This must be accepted by faith.
After salvation, it is necessary that we walk and work by faith.
Someone may be asking even now, "How can I get faith, and how can my faith be increased?"
The beginning, progress and strength of faith are by hearing.
God gives faith, but it is by the Word as the instrument.
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