Shield Of Faith Series

Stand - The Shield of Faith

Ephesians 6:10-17

Chenoa Baptist Church

Pastor Jefferson M. Willams

05-12–2024

[Armor of God bumper]

Hail!

Several years ago, I traveled with two friends to Wyoming to hike the Tetons. We hiked nine hours nearly straight up and camped near the Continental Divide.

On the way back down to the trailhead, we were walking through a beautiful meadow when we noticed the black clouds approaching.

It began to hail. Not little pellets but probably marble-size or bigger. There was nowhere to hide. My friend yelled for me to get on the ground in a ball and cover my head. I survived the hailstorm with some bruises but I wish that I had something that could have shielded and protected me that day.

Review

We are learning that we are all in a spiritual battle that we cannot see. The Christian life is not a playground but a battlefield.

Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase is helpful:

God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no weekend war that we’ll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels. Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet.

Paul is finishing his letter to the Ephesian church and wants to warn them to be armed and ready for attacks of the evil one.

He was probably chained to a Roman guard and started staring at his armor and thought, “That would make a perfect word picture for what I’m trying to communicate!”

“Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Eph 6:14-17)

We’ve studied the belt of truth and learned that truth is the foundation of our Christian journey.

We’ve studied the breastplate of righteousness and learned that God calls us to live our faith with a hunger for holiness shining the light of Jesus into a dark and dying world.

We’ve studied the shoes of peace and learned we can have peace with God, the peace of God, peace with others, and that we can share that peace with others.

I love this lyric from Rich Mullins’ song, “Let Mercy Lead.”

“Let mercy lead / and in every footstep that you leave / there’ll be a drop of grace.”

In Paul Tripp’s devotional, “New Morning Mercies” he writes:

“This is the good news of the Gospel. Peace came. Peace lived. Peace died. Peace rose again. Peace reigns on your behalf. Peace indwells you by the Spirit. Peace graces you with everything you need. Peace convicts, forgives, and delivers you. Peace will finish His work in you. Pease will welcome you into glory, where Peace will live with you in peace and righteousness forever. Peace isn’t a faded dream. Peace is real. Peace is a person, and His name is Jesus.”

Today we are going to look at the shield of faith. We will learn that our faith in God’s goodness and promises protects us from the fiery darts of the evil one.

If you weren’t here last week, you can always listen to or watch the sermon on our YouTube page, website, FaceBook.

Turn to Ephesians 6.

Prayer

The Shield

A Roman soldier’s shield was 2.5 feet wide and about 4 feet tall (the size of a door) and had two layers of wood, covered in fabric or animal hide with iron around the edges.

It was curved and had a handle to allow the soldier to carry the shield which weighed as much as twenty pounds.

Often, it was painted red in honor of the Roman god of war, Mars. It would also have lightning bolts to honor Jupiter/Zeus and eagle wings to depict the power of the Roman Empire.

Interesting fact - archeologists have only found one of these shields. It dates to about mid-3rd century AD and was discovered in eastern Syria.

In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

The belt, the breastplate, and a soldier’s sandals stayed on regardless of their duty. But the shield was stored until the time of battle and then the soldier would “take it up.”