The Shield of Faith
Ø Intro
o Jeff Loven – student ministries intern & worship leader
o Spiritual Warfare series
§ Armor of God
· Sandals of peace last week
· Breastplate of righteousness the week before that
· Shield of faith today
o Pray before we jump in
o Structure of message today is answering questions
Ø What is Spiritual Warfare?
o Basics of spiritual warfare
§ Satan is a real being
§ Satan hates God and everything God is about
§ If you love God, Satan hates you
§ He will do anything he can to ruin your life…ANYTHING!
§ A spiritual battle is going on around you every day
§ If you are a Christian, Satan has lost his authority over your life.
§ You will spend eternity in the presence of God and Satan can’t stand it
§ Now he wants to make you ineffective in all you do
§ If you are ineffective as a Christian, you will not reach others for Jesus – and Satan loves that
§ An ineffective Christian can even turn others away from Christ – which Satan loves even more
o Basic definition
§ Good (God) vs. evil (Satan) in your life
Ø Who is the Evil One and What Does He Do?
o He’s Satan
§ The one waging spiritual warfare on you
§ The one launching the “fiery arrows” at you trying to ruin your life
o Satan’s stats
| God | Satan |
| Truth | Father of Lies |
| Faithful & True | Deceiver |
| Creator | Destroyer |
| Perfect | Evil Schemer |
| All-Powerful (Omnipotent) | Limited by God in his Power |
| Supreme Authority | Will One Day be Banished for Eternity |
| All-Knowing (Omniscient) | Cannot See the Future or Read Thoughts |
| Everywhere (Omnipresent) | Can Only be in One Place at One Time |
| Giver of the Shield of Faith | Shooter of Flaming Arrows |
o Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour – 1 Peter 5.8
Ø What are the Flaming Arrows of the Evil One?
o Anything that Satan does to try to ruin your life
§ Greek words for fiery & arrow
· Completely destroy by fire
· A projectile with a sharp point, a pointed weapon, javelin, especially arrow
o Anything that Satan does to try to make you an ineffective Christian
o Anything that Satan uses to turn you away from Jesus
o Any way Satan uses you to turn others away from Jesus
o Specific Arrows Areas in Life
§ Family
· Isaak’s dad
· Mom’s cancer
· Divorce
· Abuse
· Hurt feelings
§ Friends
· Peer pressure
· Wrong group of people
· Betrayal
§ School
· Image
o Marching band trip party & drinking
· Lying
· Cheating
· Jealousy
§ Personal Life
· Health
· Finances
· Doubts
· Fear
· Temptation
· Blasphemous thoughts
· Desire for sin
o How many of you have had a ____________ this year/month/week/today?
§ You’ve experiences a fiery arrow of spiritual warfare
Ø What Does “Faith” Mean in this Passage?
o Play “faith” video
o Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see – Hebrews 11.1
§ Basic definition: choosing to believe that certain things you can’t see are true
· Have no visual evidence
o Everyday examples of things we have faith in
§ Gravity
§ Wind
§ “Car” – guy in video
§ Chair you’re sitting in right now
o “Faith” in this passage
§ Not a salvation faith decision
§ An everyday living faith that trusts in the promises and power of God
· Crown of life, inherit kingdom, grace in time of need, Psalm 139, Isaiah 40
· “Things outside of our control will be taken care of” – movie guy
§ This type of faith requires action on our part…we must prove our faith genuine with our actions…that’s what makes it and everyday living faith
· Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead – James 2.17
§ This faith is a giving over of ourselves to what we believe (the unseen things we know are true)
Ø How Does our Faith Help us Extinguish the Flaming Arrows?
o Our faith shields from the flaming arrows of the Evil One
§ …take up the shield of faith…
o Understanding the shield
§ Used in defensive warfare
· Block and extinguish the flaming attack arrows of Satan
§ Protected the whole body (2.5’X4’) like a wall or door
· Look at picture
· Protects our mind, body, heart, etc.
§ Protected the soldier’s other armor (belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, sandals of peace)
· In addition to all this…
· Protects all parts of our walk with God
§ Anointed in oil to preserve them and make the arrows slide off of them
· Imagine our faith shield being anointed in prayer
§ Soaked in water before battle to extinguish the flaming arrows
· Imagine our faith shield being soaked in the Word
o Using the shield
§ Extinguishing the arrows
· Greek word
o Quench, stifle, suppress, put something out (on fire), damp down, restrain
§ Whenever Satan shoots and arrow at you, block it with your faith shield
· Family
o Isaak’s family
o Mom
· Friends
· School
· Personal
o Ankle injuries
§ No matter what arrow you’ve got coming at you, your faith shield will hold up if it’s true
§ The shields connected together at the sides and top
· Don’t go it alone, use the buddy system
· Proverbs 27:17
Ø Food For Thought
o What was the last flaming arrow I faced? How did I respond?
o Where part of my life is most damaged by the Evil One’s flaming arrows? How can I fix this?
o How genuine is my faith? Do my actions prove this?
o How strong is my shield? How can I make it stronger today?
Ø Pray