What to Wear to the Battle: The Shield of Faith

Text: Ephesians 6:10-18

Focal Passage: Ephesians 6:16 "in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. " NASB95

Date: 10/04/2020 Sermon Title: Armor05.wpd Sermon ID: 19

Theme: Fiery Darts Are Inevitable, Feebleness of Earthly Weapons Is Assured, and Faith Is Essential.

In his hymn A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, Martin Luther writes of our world filled with devils who threaten to undo us ... that it to undo our faith, to turn us away from God. There was a time in his own life when Martin felt his conflict with Satan was so real to him that Luther writes of picking up his ink well, and throwing it at the devil. The ink stain remained on the wall for years as a reminder of the reality of that conflict. As Believers, we are all engaged in a mighty conflict with the enemy of God, the enemy of Christ, the enemy of our souls, the enemy of truth. That conflict is inevitable. We, who are part of the kingdom of God, we who are the servants of Jesus Christ, we who are the soldiers of the Cross are in enemy territory. This is why the Apostle Paul encourages us in Ephesians 6:10, Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s skemes.”

This morning we are going to examine the forth piece of the Christian’s Spiritual armor—the Shield of Faith. If we are going to quench all the fiery darts that Satan hurls our way, we need to have a strong and active faith. What do we learn from the text?

Fiery Darts Are Inevitable

Feebleness of Earthly Weapons Is Assured

Faith Is An Essential Piece of Armor

I. FIERY DARTS ARE INEVITABLE

“In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;” (Ephesians 6:16, ESV)

1. in Paul’s day, arrows, dipped in pitch—a tar-like substance—were used by most armies against their foes

a. when lit this pitch burned fiercely, and when the arrow struck, it would spatter bits of burning molten pitch in every direction, igniting anything flammable it touched

b. the Roman soldier’s shield was a defense against those fiery darts

2. similarly, Satan shoots fiery darts at our hearts and minds

a. his aim is to ignite our emotions and our intellect and our will with evil feelings and evil thoughts, and disobedience to God’s will

3. the Scriptures teach us that our struggle is against personal forces of evil—not simply bad philosophies or wrong ideas

a. out battle is not against abstract evil influences, but the evil one and his control of a fallen and pagan world culture

b. like the Roman soldier’s shield, our faith works as protection to fend off Satan’s attacks

A. THE DEVIL’S QUIVER IS FULL OF ALL KINDS OF FIERY BOLTS

Romans 8:35 "Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?" NASB95

1. the Devil’s chief aim is to separate Christians from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus—to drive a wedge between the Savior and His Chosen Ones

a. to that end he will use the very things the Apostle Paul lists in Romans 8:35 as his fiery darts

1) these include hard times, or distress, or persecution, or privation, or jeopardy of life and limb, or even the threat of death to alienate us from our Heavenly Father

b. his fiery missiles also include attitudes like doubt, lust, greed, vanity, envy, discouragement, vain imaginings and—his absolute favorite—pride

2. Satan’s initial temptation to Adam and Eve was to entice them to doubt God’s truthfulness and His goodness, and to put their trust in lies

a. that was the very first of his flaming missiles and the one from which all others are ignited

1) every temptation, directly or indirectly, is the temptation to doubt God’s goodness, and distrust God’s plan

b. the goal of his temptations is to inflame the passions and distress the conscience, to kindle covetousness, to excite worldly ambition, and to fan the flame of our lusts

3. if we do not—by faith—quench these darts, they will light a fire within and we will disobey God

4. we never know when Satan will shoot a fiery dart at us, but shoot he will

ILLUS. Some day this week ...

A Christian teenage boy takes something that doesn’t belong to him. In that moment, Satan will whisper in your ear, “If you’re caught, blame it on your brother,”– twang! Satan just launched the fiery dart of false witness at that young man’s life ...

A Christian mother of three young children, while visiting with a neighbor who has no children, sees all the really nice stuff the neighbor has and thinks to herself, “Why can’t I have nice things like these!” – twang! Satan just let loose the fiery dart of envy in her direction ...

A Christian twelve-year-old girl gets a poor grade on a math test, while everyone else in class did well. Satan says, “You’re just stupid and can’t do anything right!”— twang! Satan just hurled a fiery dart of discouragement towards her ...

A Christian husband and father is on a business trip when he is openly propositioned by a female coworker, and he entertains the idea, “Who will know but us if I go to her hotel room?” twang! Here comes the fiery dart of lust ...

A Christian young adult sits in a college biology class and listens to the professor extol the theory of evolution and ridicule the Bible, and they think to themself “How can I believe the story of Genesis is true with seemingly so much evidence against it?” twang! Satan has just launched the fiery dart of doubt in their direction

5. fiery darts are inevitable

II. FEEBLENESS OF EARTHLY WEAPONS IS ASSURED

1. most of you are familiar with the story of David and Goliath

a. we’re introduced to Goliath in 1 Samuel 17:1-58

2. Goliath is a giant of a man—9 feet tall—(NBA first-round draft material)

a. he is big, tough, well-armed, well-trained, and has an ego to match his physique

1) he is a military champion of the Philistine nation

b. the Philistine army is arrayed against the Israelite army at the Valley of Elah

1) every day, for forty days, the two armies would come out from their camps and form a battle line

2) every day, twice a day—morning and evening—Goliath would saunter out between the two armies and taunt King Saul and the Israelites, shouting, “I defy the ranks of Israel this day ... “ 1 Sam. 17:10

3) every day, for forty days, the Israelites would slink back to their camp—even King Saul was dismayed and greatly afraid

3. then one day, David shows up

a. his father has sent him to deliver supplies to his three older brothers who are fighting in Saul’s army

“David left his things with the keeper of supplies, ran to the battle lines and asked his brothers how they were. As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it.” (1 Samuel 17:22–23, NIV)

b. again, when the Israelite soldiers saw Goliath, they abandoned the battle line and ran back to hide in their tents

c. David is incensed and asks, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” (1 Sam. 17:26)

4. David—who is nothing but a young and lanky teenage boy—goes before King Saul and volunteers to take on Goliath

a. he lists as his credentials his bravery in taking on a bear and a lion that sought to attack his sheep

“Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God.” (1 Samuel 17:36, NIV)

b. in his attempt to be helpful, King Saul offers to let David use his armor in his battle against Goliath

“Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them. “I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off.” (1 Samuel 17:38–39, NIV)

c. instead, David goes against Goliath strong in the Lord and in his mighty power

5. so what’s the point

A. WE CANNOT FIGHT SPIRITUAL BATTLES WITH WORLDLY WEAPONS

“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:3–5, NIV)

ILLUS. On the eve of WW 2, the Polish Army fielded the largest Horse Calvaries in Europe. The Polish Hussars had a long and honorable tradition and had been the backbone of the nation’s defense for hundreds of years. Yet, when the Nazis invaded in 1939, Poland’s Calvary Units were no match for the German Panzer Tanks and motorized vehicles that the Germans threw at them. Bravery doesn’t matter when you’re fighting with the wrong or woefully out-dated weapons.

1. Christians will not gain spiritual victory over spiritual evil using worldly weapons

2. Christians are involved in spiritual warfare with supernatural forces

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 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.” (Ephesians 6:12–13, ESV)

a. if we are involved in a spiritual battle, then it behooves us to use the spiritual weapons that God has put at our disposal

3. the world cannot understand our weapons

a. Goliath took one look at the sling and five smooth stones that young David had taken from the brook and he laughed him to scorn

1) he had no idea just how effective David's weapons were going to be

b. to men without God, truth, and righteousness, and spiritual peace, and faith seem inadequate—even foolish

1) but in our struggle against the world, the flesh, and the devil, they are state of the art weaponry

2) they were forged at Calvary

3) they are provided by the Spirit of the risen Christ to His Church

4. unfortunately, we are often tempted to use the carnal weapons of this world rather than spiritual weapons provided by God

a. what are some of these worldly weapons?

1) self-confidence or self-reliance

2) lies, deception, and half-truths

3) our own cunningness, craftiness and shrewdness

4) sometimes even violence and aggression

ILLUS. Think for a moment about an incident in the Book of Acts. A believer from Cyprus has sold a parcel of land and donated it to the church in Jerusalem. Acts 4:36 says, that he “ ... brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.” The Apostles call him Barnabas, which means "son of encouragement." The indication is that it's a free-will gift with no thought of reward or praise. His generosity is an encouragement to the church and I'm sure the believer's in Jerusalem are all abuzz about Barnabas. In the very next verse we are introduced to a couple named Ananias and Sapphira. Barnabas's generosity has set the Jerusalem Facebook and Twitter accounts humming with activity. Satan whispers in this couple's ears, “Why should Barnabas get all the praise. You can get in on the accolades, too. But who says you have to give it all? Just tell you’ve giving everything." At this point, they should have both shouted, "Away with you Satan!" Their spiritual battle has just become a battle against the fiery darts of envy and jealousy of a fellow believer. How do they deal with it? Rather than raising their shields of faith to quench the fiery darts of envy and jealousy, they use the carnal weapon of deception. They’re caught in a lie and the Spirit slays both of them.

4) Acts 5:11 says, “And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.”

a) ya think???

5. the feebleness of earthly weapons is assured

III. FAITH IS AN ESSENTIAL PIECE OF ARMOR

1. the Apostle Paul writes above all take up the shield of faith

a. it’s as though he is telling us that, “All of these other pieces of armor are important, but they are only partially effective if you don’t use faith.”

2. the shield was an essential piece of equipment for a Roman solder

a. their battle shields were 2½ feet wide and 4 feet high—big enough to protect the soldier from chin to shin, and shoulder to shoulder

b. they were constructed from their version of plywood—several thin layers of wood glued together with the grain at 90 degree angles for added strength

c. that was overlaid with leather and the edges of the shield were wrapped with iron

3. their shields had to be regularly maintained

a. it was required of the Roman solder at first morning—before doing anything else—to oil his shield

1) this kept the leather from growing brittle and cracking and thus diminishing the usefulness of the shield

A. THE CHRISTIAN’S SHIELD IS FAITH

Hebrews 11:1-33 “By faith ... “

1. faith is firm confidence in God as our Father, in Christ as our Redeemer, and in the Spirit as our Sanctifier

a. when temptations burn, when circumstances are adverse, when doubts assail, faith looks up and says, “I will trust in the Lord.”

b. the only way to extinguish Satan’s flaming missiles of temptation to doubt God is to believe God

1) this is taking up the shield of faith

“Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.” (Proverbs 30:5, NIV)

“Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD himself, is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation.” (Isaiah 12:2, NIV)

ILLUS. Think of the Prophet Daniel’s three friends. When Satan—through Nebuchadnezzar—attacked the values and beliefs of Shadrach, Meshack and Abed-Nego, they were able to stand resolute and unwavering because of their faith.

2. when the enemy's fiery darts come at us, we must snatch up the shield of faith

a. Satan comes and says: "Oh, you silly fool. What makes you think you're saved? How could you be saved and think the thought you just had: Or behave the way you did yesterday? God can't accept that kind of person."

1) snatch up the shield of faith, and say: "No. The scriptures say that I am saved by grace through faith, and that not of myself. It is a gift of God, not of works, that no one may boast."

b. Satan comes and says: "Everything is going wrong. Gas prices have soared. The youngest child needs braces and the oldest goes off to college in a month. And your company is beginning to downsize and you may be on the list. You're going to lose everything."

1) snatch up the shield of faith, and say: "Liar! My God has promised to supply all my needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus!"

c. Satan comes and says: "You're a lousy disciple. God gave you a task and you're failing in it.”

1) snatch up the shield of faith, and say: "Wrong! I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. For greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world; and that's you, Satan – now get lost!"

3. by the exercise of faith—applying Scriptural truth and Biblical principles that you have learned to the circumstances and situations that come your way—you will extinguish all the enemy’s flaming darts

a. faith is not passive

1) most people consider the shield a defensive weapon

2) but when a phalanx of legionaries advanced, they were able to lock their shields together and all the individual shields became a might shield-wall with a mass of spears pointed toward the enemy

3) together it provided a thrusting force that the enemy found it hard to resist

b. the faith of a lone Christian is a powerful force, but the faith of a whole church full of Christians is an almost unstoppable force!

B. OUR FAITH MUST BE REGULARLY MAINTAINED

1. like the Roman soldier who had to daily oil his shield, so the believer must regularly oil his or her faith

a. faith that is not maintained grows hard and brittle and cracks

1) this diminishes the usefulness of our faith

2. how do we maintain our faith?

a. we oil our faith through the Word of God

1) the truth of the Word will defeat the flaming missles Satan hurls at us

ILLUS. When the tempter came to Jesus in the wilderness, our Lord repeatedly used the Scriptures to defeat Lucifer’s temptations.

b. we oil our faith through the Worship of God

ILLUS. The 2nd stanza of Onward, Christian Soldiers tells us ... At the sign of triumph Satan’s host doth flee; On, then, Christian soldiers, on to victory! Hell’s foundations quiver at the shout of praise; Brothers, lift your voices, loud your anthems raise!

1) the devil hates our praise and worship of God

2) it sends him fleeing

c. we oil our faith through the Work of God

1) folks, if you want to strengthen your faith, get on mission with God

ILLUS. Teach a Sunday School class, get involved with youth ministry, go on a mission trip, start tithing, if you’re tithing, up your giving a couple of percentage points, witness to a lost person, begin a Bible Study at work or school. These are all ministries that will strengthen your faith as you work for God.

Con. In the nation of Japan, one of the most popular game shows of the late 80's and early 90's was “Tekeshi’s Castle.” It was a silly show that pitted contestants against each other in barely possible stunts and events—most taking place over pools of mud. In one episode, one of the events had contestants making their way across a body of water by stepping on stones. The problem was, if they paused too long on any one stone it would sink from under them. So they had to try to run really fast and step lightly, just touching each stone momentarily or otherwise they would sink ... along with the contestant!

That is how it is when we live by faith in the things of this world. If we trust them too much or too long, they always sink out from under us. So people go through life, leaping from one support to the next, just hoping they can keep their balance long enough, and find the next thing before their present support disappears.

But the kind of faith Paul is talking about is much simpler than that. It depends on only one Rock, but it is a firm and sure rock and it will never fail. It is the Rock of Our Salvation. It is Jesus Christ Himself. Our faith is in Him.