The Shield Of Faith Series

Series: The Armor Of God [#4]

THE SHIELD OF FAITH

Ephesians 6:16

Introduction:

Over the last several weeks, the subject of Spiritual Warfare has been a focus. We know that we are not supposed to take the fight to the Devil. We know that we are to put on the full armor of God and stand firm. My question to you is, “Are you putting on the full armor of God and standing firm”?

Ephesians 6:10-16 (NIV)

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

We are told that after we have put on the full armor of God that we are to stand firm. Then, the armor is explained 1 piece at a time. We have looked at the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, and the shoes of the readiness of the gospel of peace. Tonight, we are going to study the shield of faith.

1. The shield of faith.

Up until now, Paul's description of the armor of God has been limited to items we wear. We put on the belt, the breastplate, and the shoes; and they essentially hold themselves up. The shield is different. Paul tells us that the shield is something we must take up, something we are required to raise. Just strapping it to our arm won't do any good at all if we don't make the effort to hold it and use it.

The Roman shield was a very large, slightly curved rectangular shield featuring at its center a large metal knob (called a boss). Because of its sheer size (some were 3½ feet tall and almost 3 feet wide), soldiers were afforded a great deal of protection from enemies. Because of its slight curve, it was able to deflect attacks without transferring the full force of the assault to the man holding the shield. Because of its boss, it was able to deflect even the more vicious blows and function in a limited offensive capacity as a means of knocking an opponent backwards.

The shield is represented by faith. Faith is believing in something that none of your senses can pick up on. Faith involves trust.

2. The purpose of the shield of faith.

A shield guards. While a physical shield protects us physically, faith can protect our spiritual lives even in the middle of physical trials.

A shield deflects. Satan is always hurling his fiery darts of fear, doubt, and worry in our direction; but the only time they can hit us is when we let our shield of faith down- When we stop believing that God is in control; that He is working everything out for our good; that whatever happens is for the ultimate best of everyone involved, however little it seems to be that way.

A shield is the first line of defense. While the rest of our armor helps protect us from Satan's attacks, it is not what you ideally want to be using to absorb every hit. You do not, for instance, go out into battle intentionally blocking everything with your head.

A shield can incapacitate. When Christ was being tempted by Satan, His faith in the Word and commands of God repelled Satan for a time. The boss (the metal knob in the middle) on the Roman shields allowed soldiers to give their enemies a stun-inducing shove that would allow them to follow through with an attack. Our faith in God, as demonstrated by Christ, can also give Satan a good shove backwards and give us a chance to fight back by doing God's will and work. Because God tells us that faith cannot just be in our minds, it must produce actions- Works of obedience and service.

3. The proper use of the shield of faith.

As we have already studied, the shield is used to block the flaming arrows of the devil. It can be used to shove the devil back. The shields of the soldiers could also be used together. When the Roman army joined its shields together, it became an almost unstoppable force; and if we in God's Church join our shields, we strengthen each other with our faith, building up and serving within the Body as we are able- We will become an unstoppable force able to take on any challenge.