Take Up The Shield Of Faith Series

Is there evil in the world?

All we have to do is follow the recent quadruple murder here in Milwaukee, which includes 2 babies!! Did you know that one of the ladies murdered witnessed the murder of her own mother when she was a kid right here in Milwaukee?

Although God through Jesus Christ has already defeated the devil, for a little while yet, God is allowing the devil loose.

Please open your bibles to 2 Corinthians 4:13-18………

God is in control and through Jesus Christ God will take care of us now and forever in spite of the present spiritual battle going on. You have nothing to fear if you are a Believer of Jesus Christ. Please see me later if you have fears right now and in your future. But maybe, our passage today will help you. Open your Bibles now to Ephesians Chapter 6. Let us pray together (pray slide) before reading v10-18…..

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth!

God created both what is seen and what is unseen to us. If God is real, then the spiritual world is real. This is what the Bible says and real faith comes from hearing the Bible!

Although many are blinded to the spiritual world, there is a spiritual battle going on even where we live. And so, God tells Christians in Ephesians 6:11, Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. And again, the Greek grammar for putting on the full armor speaks of personal responsibility. Every individual Christian is personally responsible for putting on the armor of God.

There are 7 pieces to this full armor of God – BBSSSHF.

We are focusing on the Shield of Faith this morning.

God uses items that people are familiar with in the physical world as teaching tools for the Christian life. Of course, this full armor of God is for the spiritual battle every Christian is confronted with! And so again, in order to understand what these pieces of the armor are good for in the spiritual world, we need to first understand their purposes in the physical.

You know when Ephesians was read for the first time, there were Roman Soldiers with their full armor just outside the building where the Christians were meeting. The early Christians knew exactly the power of a soldier’s armor.

Picture for a moment Roman soldiers with their full armor just outside our doors; What will happen to you if you attacked them? You think you can fight against their shields?

In general, what is a shield used for??

A shield is meant to block attacks. Here’s the point: A shield could be used for offense, but its main purpose is for defense!

How is a shield used? Is a shield any good if I just put in on my back or on my legs??

Not using a shield properly is like wearing a winter coat unzipped when it’s 20 degrees below zero! Why do people do that? – They put on something that doesn’t do any good because they are lazy or ignorant. If a soldier is lazy or ignorant and the enemy attacks, they are as good as dead! A good soldier will take a shield and be alert to where the attack may come from.

A shield is held by the arm and is moved to wherever the attack is coming from! How about us? Are we using this Shield of Faith properly? Let us continue to learn!

How big should a shield be?

If a shield is to be moved to wherever the attack is coming from, the user must be able to handle the shield with ease, not too heavy and not too big.

What about a tiny shield, which is easy to handle? What’s wrong with a tiny shield??

A tiny shield may be of some use, but likely will not protect!

The right answer for how big should a shield be? The shield size should be appropriate for the specific person.

Now, for the spiritual battle, God tells Christians to take up the shield of faith.

The spiritual shield Christians are to take up is faith.

What is faith?

If we look at the original Greek word for faith, it is pistis, which means a firm conviction of belief to give complete trust.

Let us briefly turn to Hebrews 11. Faith is defined in v1…….

Faith is a firm belief in something even if it is not seen! If we look at Ephesians 6:23, it tells us that faith comes from God.

Romans 10:17 tells us, Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.

Faith comes from God’s Word, the Bible!

Now, is faith just a strong belief on God’s Word?