Take Your Shield of Faith
Take Your Shield of Faith
We continue in our study and fight against our arch enemy, Satan and his hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. It is a daily battle and our Captain, the Lord Jesus has already won the war. We are only enforcing the victory, thus we are more than conquerors through Christ. Put on your whole armor today. Let’s look deeper into the armor of the “Shield of faith”. The Lord is our “Shield”.
Let’s read the charge from Apostle Paul in Ephesians 6:10-16.
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,[c] against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.
The Shield of Faith is “not a brass shield but a heavy wooden shield, wrapped in leather and soaked in water with hooks on either side. Only the soldiers in the front had these shields and they would lock them together and stand firm to diffuse the charge from the enemy and also quench fiery arrows.” The water soaks the leather and it extinguishes the fire on the enemy’s arrows.
We get a picture here. The Word is sometimes referred to as the water. We need to soak ourselves in the water of the word to quench the enemies attack. Faith comes by hearing the Word.
We need to establish some truths regarding this armor of faith. – What is faith and the source of our faith? We must also distinguish between true faith and false faith.
“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for… 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” Hebrews 11:1-2,6. Do I believe God and His Word?
Paul makes it very clear in many places the source of our faith. “20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” Galatians 2:2. Our faith is of and in the Son of God. Our faith is neither in our ability nor in our faith as in will-power. Jesus spoke so much about faith and always pointed people to Himself, the Son and to the Father who sent Him. Many have faith but not faith in Christ. Is your faith in Christ?
There is also true faith and false faith. Apostle James, the half- brother of Jesus makes this very clear to us. He saw it first hand in Jesus.
“14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your[d] works, and I will show you my faith by my[e] works. 19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? …26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also”.
James is not comparing faith to works or deed but he is differentiating false faith from true faith. True faith is not complete until it is worked out. It says “if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?” (NIV). The key word here is “claim”. We can claim anything but the truth is in the pudding. Show me. We are not talking about saving faith but living faith for those “in Christ”.
Of course we are saved by grace. “ 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2. We must exercise faith in God to do the good works He has prepared us for.
Our faith becomes a shield when we obey the Word of God and the inspiration by the Holy Spirit that line up with the Word. When God says, forgive, and we do, we defeat the enemy. When the Lord says, give, and you give, you defeat the enemy by shielding your heart from greed and hoarding. The fiery darts are saying don’t forgive and don’t give. Go ahead lie and cheat because God will not take care of you and etc.
The true faith we have is not for “name and claim it” of the prosperity gospel sellers. True faith always draws us to the Father who will take care of us regardless of our condition or state.
Our faith is lived out in a community of believers. We need each other’s faith. We are called into one faith. We must persist in our faith and pursuit of God. Jesus asked, “When the Son of Man comes, will he really find faith on the earth?” Will He find those that are still looking forward to Him for the final consummation? Are you looking for God or something else? No substitutes will satisfy our hunger.
Without faith, it is impossible to please God. Let’s please God by faith in Christ thru dousing ourselves in His Word and in obedience and thru praying without ceasing. Let’s run to God and resist the devil and he must flee. Amen.
We continue in our study and fight against our arch enemy, Satan and his hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. It is a daily battle and our Captain, the Lord Jesus has already won the war. We are only enforcing the victory, thus we are more than conquerors through Christ. Put on your whole armor today. Let’s look deeper into the armor of the “Shield of faith”. The Lord is our “Shield”.
Let’s read the charge from Apostle Paul in Ephesians 6:10-16.
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,[c] against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.
The Shield of Faith is “not a brass shield but a heavy wooden shield, wrapped in leather and soaked in water with hooks on either side. Only the soldiers in the front had these shields and they would lock them together and stand firm to diffuse the charge from the enemy and also quench fiery arrows.” The water soaks the leather and it extinguishes the fire on the enemy’s arrows.
We get a picture here. The Word is sometimes referred to as the water. We need to soak ourselves in the water of the word to quench the enemies attack. Faith comes by hearing the Word.
We need to establish some truths regarding this armor of faith. – What is faith and the source of our faith? We must also distinguish between true faith and false faith.
“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for… 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” Hebrews 11:1-2,6. Do I believe God and His Word?
Paul makes it very clear in many places the source of our faith. “20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” Galatians 2:2. Our faith is of and in the Son of God. Our faith is neither in our ability nor in our faith as in will-power. Jesus spoke so much about faith and always pointed people to Himself, the Son and to the Father who sent Him. Many have faith but not faith in Christ. Is your faith in Christ?
There is also true faith and false faith. Apostle James, the half- brother of Jesus makes this very clear to us. He saw it first hand in Jesus.
“14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your[d] works, and I will show you my faith by my[e] works. 19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? …26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also”.
James is not comparing faith to works or deed but he is differentiating false faith from true faith. True faith is not complete until it is worked out. It says “if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?” (NIV). The key word here is “claim”. We can claim anything but the truth is in the pudding. Show me. We are not talking about saving faith but living faith for those “in Christ”.
Of course we are saved by grace. “ 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2. We must exercise faith in God to do the good works He has prepared us for.
Our faith becomes a shield when we obey the Word of God and the inspiration by the Holy Spirit that line up with the Word. When God says, forgive, and we do, we defeat the enemy. When the Lord says, give, and you give, you defeat the enemy by shielding your heart from greed and hoarding. The fiery darts are saying don’t forgive and don’t give. Go ahead lie and cheat because God will not take care of you and etc.
The true faith we have is not for “name and claim it” of the prosperity gospel sellers. True faith always draws us to the Father who will take care of us regardless of our condition or state.
Our faith is lived out in a community of believers. We need each other’s faith. We are called into one faith. We must persist in our faith and pursuit of God. Jesus asked, “When the Son of Man comes, will he really find faith on the earth?” Will He find those that are still looking forward to Him for the final consummation? Are you looking for God or something else? No substitutes will satisfy our hunger.
Without faith, it is impossible to please God. Let’s please God by faith in Christ thru dousing ourselves in His Word and in obedience and thru praying without ceasing. Let’s run to God and resist the devil and he must flee. Amen.
Comments