Armor of God-Shield of Faith
Ephesians 6:10-18
Introduction
George Burns:
The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a strong ending, and to have the two as close together as possible.
Last couple weeks we looked at the armor of God.
We have looked at the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, and this morning we will be looking at the shield of faith.
Belt of truth- know what you believe, why you believe it.
Breastplate of Righteousness- Spiritual body armor that protects our vital parts. we know that we cannot be righteous in our selves, then it would be self-righteousness, but we are righteous because of Christ.
What He has done for us already (cross)
What he continues to do in us (Holy Spirit)
This morning the shield of faith:
The main text again this morning is Ephesians 6:10-18
you put the belt of truth around you
you place the breastplate of righteousness on
your feet are fitted with the gospel of peace.
Above all else, in addition to these, we are now to take up the shield of faith
T When you are in a battle is not the time to put on your armor.
To take inventory of what you have or have not got on.
To do damage control. As a believer, the armor must be on at all times, and when you are not in battle is when you repair any damage done to your armor. Breastplate damaged- fix it. Shield is dented- bang out the dents.
The shield of faith defends our whole body, plus the other parts of our armor. It protects our head, chest, arms and legs. No wonder the bible says “above all”.
The shield has a function. It is to stop the fiery darts that Satan and life throws at us.
Hebrews 11:1-2
“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not yet seen.”
Faith is of God.
God gives us faith, and if we are seeking Him, He can increase our faith.
If you lose faith, God can get it back for you.
Jesus said- Mustard seed faith can move mountains.(power)
Faith is the confidence we have in the crucified and risen Jesus. (Redemption) Faith is relying of God, looking past all of our circumstances. (Trust).
***Faith is what the Holy Spirit dropped into our heart when we received Christ as our savior. Rom 8:15When we Stepped away of what we could do and trusted what God has done.
Faith allows us to call God our heavenly Father. (Gal 4:6) and know according to His word we have been redeemed.
We have gone from being a enemy of God to a child of God. Part of the royal family. Complete with all the benefits. So today your earthly family may not have a lot of things(materially), but one day as a believer in Jesus Christ, we will stake our roots for eternity with our heavenly Father.
Faith is responding to truth:
Jesus says:
I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man comes to the Father except through me.
Jesus tells us:
I am the bread of life- sustainer of life
I am the great shepherd- protector of the flock
I am the light of the world- show us the way
I am the gate- I am the protection
I am God’s Son- I am part of the royal family, and you can also be.
I am the resurrection and the life- I have conquered death and the grave and so can you.
John 5:24-
“ I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned, he has crossed over from death to life.”
Jesus goes on to say:
“Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come out. Those who have done good will rise to live, those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. Remember, the righteousness is in Jesus Christ, not us.
Jesus said:
“I am the resurrection and the life, he who believes in me will live, even though he dies, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.”
That is the shield of faith that you need to put out in front of you.
Faith involves trust and reliance in Jesus. You believe that pew will hold you, but when you sat down you exercised your faith.
3 legs of faith:
prayer:
communication with God. Personal relationship with the one you say you put your faith in.
His word:
His word is truth, you can stand on the promises of God. This book is our life source. This is where we get our direction. We draw strength from His word.
Fellowship:
I said before, God says we should fellowship with each other for a reason- we need each other
A Roman soldier shield was about 4 foot high and about 2 foot wide. They had ridges on the sides, so that when they were being attacked by flaming arrows, which was the main warfare and very effective for it’s day. They would attach their shield together so that none would be able to get through. They would put their faith(shield) together for protection.
A lot of people tell you they will be with you through thick and thin. When troubles happen and things get thick, they get thinned out.
We see people who have stuck together
David- Jonathan
Moses- Aaron
Paul- Silas
Joshua- Caleb]
you think your superman, or the Lone Ranger
Superman- Lois Lane
Lone Ranger- Tonto
Starsky- Hutch
Batman- Robin
Sanford- Grady
and you need each other To help protect you from the fiery arrows and darts.
Define the shield of faith:
Trusting in God’s word
Trusting that God will provide
Trusting that God will protect us
***Believing that through faith, we have Christ authority over evil powers.
Enemy tactics
persuade you to believe a lie, the shield loses its strength, not because of the lord, but because of you.
The devils goal is to make us provide our own provisions instead of trusting God for His. Get That In your own strength you are limited and can be defeated.
Hebrews 12:2
“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.”
Lets keep Jesus in focus, lets keep the goal out in front of us.
We should and can ask God to build our faith. The Lord encourages us to do that. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
Faith comes by remembering what He has done in the past and believing He can do it now. We will keep our eyes fixed on the prize and stay focused.
Action steps:
you’re here today, you say to yourself, I believe that, now what do I do to increase my faith, how do I hold up my shield of faith and protect myself from the enemy.
T Study the word of God. Make time for God everyday. You cannot afford to get to busy for God.
T You must apply the word of God to your life. According to God’s truth.
T Praise Him While you are waiting to hear answers to your prayers.
1. Praise brings power to our lives, because we invite Jesus into the situation.
2. Praise causes the devil to flee- and the power of God begins working in our life.
3. Praise helps us to focus on Jesus and not our situation.
Closing:
Salvation is not by works, it is not by doing, it is by believing.
We do because we love him, it’s believing what he did on the cross of Calvary.
T That is why it is never too late as long as we have breath in our body.
When we have faith in God, no task is too hard.
God has the power for our lives. In ourselves we can do nothing; through Him we can do all things.
Questions
have you been under attack lately?
Have you had thoughts that filled your mind that you had no intention of thinking about?
Have you engaged in prayer and you just get so distracted that you feel you missed God?
That is the fiery darts
Keep pressing into the Lord, keep turning it over to Jesus. God allows us with His protection to march over rough terrain of life without giving up.
“Not by might, not by power, but by my Spirit saith the Lord”
Combat rules by Glen Weekley
1. If the enemy is in range, so are you.
2. Don’t look conspicuous, it only draws fire
3. The easy way is always mined.
4. Try to look unimportant, they may be low on ammo.
5. Teamwork is essential; it gives the enemy someone else to shoot at
6. If your attack is going well, you walked into a ambush.
7. Don’t draw fire it only irritates the people around you.
8. The only thing more accurate than incoming enemy fire is incoming friendly fire
9. When the pin is pulled, “Mr. Grenade” is not your friend”
10. Five second fuses only last three seconds
11. The enemy attacks in two ways- when you are ready, when you are not ready.
12. Purple heart just proves that you were smart enough to think of a plan, dumb enough to try it, and lucky enough to survive.
Today we wage war with an enemy.
That is bigger than any terrorist, bigger than any scare of our economy. More diabolical and more of a threat than any corrupt leader in our country or any other.
Spiritual warfare needs spiritual weapons.
We must put on the armor of God to be successful.
2 Corinthians 10:3-4
“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses”
By understanding the armor God provides, we can be protected from the attack of the enemy.
Altar call:
