The Shield of Faith

1. The ShieldofFaith – 9th
May 2017
“In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the
flaming arrows of the evil one.” (Ephesians 6:16).
The shieldof faithispart of the armor of God describedin Ephesians6:10–17. Aftersummarizingthe
gospel andgivingthe Ephesiansvariousinstructions,Paul concludeshismissivetothemsaying,inpart,
“Finally,bestrongin the Lord and in hismightypower. 11
Put on the full armor of God,sothat you can
take your stand againstthe devil’sschemes.”(Ephesians6:10–11). Aboutthe shield,Paul saysthatthe
shieldof faith,canextinguishall the flamingarrowsof the evil one.
The Roman shieldof the time wascalleda scutum.Thistype of shieldwasaslarge as a door andwould
coverthe warriorentirely.Suchashieldwasnotjustdefensivebutcouldalsobe usedto attack and push
opponents.Whenfightingasagroup, a phalanx of soldierscouldpositiontheirshieldssoas to forman
enclosure aroundthemselves,calleda testudo (“tortoise”).Thiswasespeciallyhelpful toprotectagainst
arrows launchedfrom armiesorthe wallsof citiestheywere attacking.Shields,oftenmade of woodand
thencoveredinhide,couldextinguishflamingarrows. Clearly,ashieldisvitallyimportanttoa soldier.It
providesablanketof protection.Itismeantto be takenup inall circumstances.Itisthe firstbarrier
againstthe enemy’sattack.Often,shieldswerepaintedwithidentifyingmarks. Inthe same way a
Christianwhotakesupthe shieldof faithidentifieshimself asasoldierwhoservesthe Commanderof
the Lord’s army.
Justlike the soldier'sshieldcoveredhisbodyincludingthe otherpiecesof armor,the shieldof faithis
the grace by whichall otherpiecesof the armor of God are preservedandrenderedactive.Like the
shieldsprovideprotection,the believerusesfaithtorepel andconquerthe enemy.Faithisthe evidence
of thingsunseen. AsChristianswe needto clearlybearinmindthatwithoutfaithitisimpossibleto
please God. If one doesNOT have faithhow can one evenbegintocome to God.We get an
understandingonthe needforfaithwhenwe read Hebrews11:`1-3, “Nowfaithis confidencein what
we hope for and assuranceaboutwhat we donot see. Thisis what the ancientswere commended for.
By faith we understandthat the universe was formedat God’scommand,sothat what isseen wasnot
made out ofwhat was visible.” Satancontinuouslyattemptstodissuade usfromourlove forGod. At
timeshis attackscan cause one to doubtGod. But whenone isstrengthenedthrough FaithinGod,it
worksagainstthe evil forcesandavailsusthe strengthto overcome same.Satanwantsto destroy
everythinginusthatremindshimof Jesussuchas our rightstandingwithGod,our hope of salvation
throughfaith,ourknowledge of the Truth…because he isthe greatdeceiver!.He evenattemptsto
destroyourconfessionof the faithinthe Word of God and our proclamationof the GoodNewsof
peace…
The burningarrows of the wicked one are evil thoughts,stronglyinjectedinto one’smind.Theymaybe
comparedto arrowsbecause theycome suddenlyandswiftly;thickandfast.These arrowsare very
numerous,causingpainandgrief inthe shortterm as well asonthe “verylong”term! Theyare called
burningbecause theyserve to inflamethe passionsintoactsof transgressionsuchaslust,angerand
revenge andto excite the soul intosinning.If these thoughtsare notrepelled,theywouldbring
everlastingburninginhell andtherefore we desperatelyneedthe Shieldof faithforourprotection.

2. We give into temptationwhenwe are ledtobelieve whatthe offerisbetterthanwhatGod has
promised. Unfortunatelymanyfall preytothese evil ways.But Faithremindsusthat,thoughfulfillment
of God’spromise, He istrue to His Word. WhenSatan attemptsto plague uswithdoubtor entice us
withinstantgratification, the level of faithone possesses, recognizesthe deceptivenessof Satan’s
tactics andquicklyextinguishesthe arrows.WhenSatan temptsusor accusesus, as Christiansitisour
faiththat enablesusto believe, thatJesushasredeemedusandthatthere isno more condemnation.
“Therefore, there is now no condemnationforthosewho are inChrist Jesus.”(Romans8:1).We have
the Shieldof Faiththroughourfaithin ourlord JesusChrist!
Faithis one of the greatestgifts as we can read in 1 Corinthians13:13, “And nowthese three remain:
faith,hope andlove. But the greatest of these is love.” It isthe meansby whichwe receive grace and
come intoright relationshipwithGodaswe can learnfrom Ephesians2:8–9, “Forit is by grace you have
been saved, throughfaith—andthisisnot fromyourselves,it is the giftof God— 9
notby works, so
that no one can boast.”Therefore asChristianswe needtoknow thatitis because we have been
justifiedthroughfaith thatwe can belongtoGod andhave peace withHim as statedin Romans 5:1-2,
“Therefore, since we have been justifiedthroughfaith,we have peace with Godthroughour Lord
Jesus Christ, 2
throughwhomwe have gainedaccess by faithintothis grace in which we nowstand.
And we boast inthe hopeof the glory of God.” One’sFaithisthe doorwaytohope inGod. Whenwe
have strongfaithin God,our sufferingneednotfaze us;infact,we can persevere underit.The things
Satan attemptstouse to discourage us can actuallybecome toolsinthe handsof God.
We can learnfroma great teachinganda promise foundin 1John 5:4, “Everyone bornof God
overcomes the world. Thisis the victory that has overcome the world,even our faith.” OurFaithin
Christisthe ShieldofFaith, a protective barrierbetweenusandthe schemesof Satan.Whenwe believe
and have strongfaithinJesusChristas onessaviour, we remaingroundedintruth, andtherefore the lies
of the enemylose theirpower,and eachdayby day we grow to become strongChristians.“Inaddition
to all this, take up the shieldof faith,with whichyou canextinguishall the flamingarrowsof the evil
one.” (Ephesians6:16).

3. WORTH