AOG: The Shield of Faith
“…above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one…”
The Purpose of The Shield
The shield that Paul was talking about was as big as a door, and was able to cover the soldiers whole body. (I can’t imagine how heavy that would have been!) It was used to provide protection from arrows, spears and other thrown objects.
In the scripture Paul likens the protection of the shield to having faith. And in the same way the shield was used to protect the soldier from arrows, spears and other thrown objects - our faith in God protects us and quenches all attacks and fiery darts of the enemy.
The Bible says in Hebrews 11:6, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”.
As christians faith is essential to our walk. Faith is at the root of our belief in Jesus Christ and the fact that we are saved through His work on the cross. Faith is how we see the impossible made possible. Faith in His promises keeps us rooted in Him. And in our text Paul tells us that we will need faith to fight against the fiery darts of the enemy as we journey through this life in Christ…
Doubt
One of Satan’s primary tactics is to cause doubt in the mind of the believer.
We see this from the beginning with Adam & Eve in the garden of Eden. Satan deceived Eve by first getting her to question and doubt God…
“Has God indeed said; ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” (Genesis 3:1). “Satan’s attack was directly against God’s Word. Satan knew that if he was able to make Eve doubt God and His Word, then his battle was already partially won.”
And we see that after the first dart of doubt, Satan brings in the second dart of deception… “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
And it was after this that Eve fell into the trap of the enemy to eat the fruit of the tree God had forbidden them to eat.
“From the beginning Satan has tried to undermine God’s people by undermining God’s Word. He can undermine just as effectively by getting us to neglect God’s Word as getting us to doubt it.”.
Notice that when the serpent first asked Eve the question in Genesis 3:1, her first mistake was entertaining the doubtful whispers. Instead of shutting the lies down she entered into a conversation with Satan. And when she answered the question she misquoted what God had actually said. In a commentary I read it said that Eve not knowing what God has really said made her vulnerable to deception…
And this is the same as for us as christians, many times Satan will plant seeds of doubt in our minds. “What if God doesn’t come through for you?”, “How could God still love you after what you’ve done?” or “Maybe God can’t hear your prayers.”. And it’s at this point like Jesus when He was fasting for 40 days and 40 nights, that we are meant to hold up our shield of faith and fight back with our trust and belief in the word of God over the lies of the enemy.
But instead a lot of the times, like Eve, we so easily entertain these whispers of doubt that opens up doors for the enemy to deceive us. And sometimes it’s not that we intentionally entertain Him, it’s that we don’t know God’s Word.
So… How do we hold up our shield of faith…
Faith is having complete trust or confidence in something.
The Bible says in Proverbs 3:5, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean NOT on your own understanding.”. In order to trust someone, it makes it easier/helpful to know and actually have a relationship with them right? & so I think that is crucial for our faith to KNOW the One whom we are believing in.
So how do we get to know Him? Through prayer & His Word.
Honestly this is something that God has really been speaking to me about over this past year - because one of the areas that I struggled with a lot was trusting Him, I would always entertain those whispers of doubt that led me to believe so so many lies about God. And so I began to pray that I would know WHO God actually is, not what I’ve heard of Him or what I assume - I prayed to know who He really was, and what His thoughts are towards me. And as I began to read His Word it’s like He has removed & continues to remove scales from my eyes.
The Bible says in Jeremiah 29:13, “And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”. Searching and finding God through His Word is the most beautiful thing ever. In Exodus 34:6 God tells us who He is…
“The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abounding in goodness and truth.”
What’s so beautiful is that as we find Him in His Word, we begin to see all the traces of Him in our lives from the beginning. Oh how He has been so kind, patient and merciful to me (just to name a few) - and it’s now that I know and continue to get to know Him that I am able to trust Him more! Because our faith is to be in Jesus then knowing Him will build it up.
Faith in His Word
& as we get to know Him, we get to know His Word. THIS is crucial, because in His Word we find His promises and we see what He has done for others. & so when the enemy comes with doubt we are to REMEMBER and speak out these promises to combat the lies of the enemy!
Examples…
Arrow: Surely that’s impossible, can God really do that for me?
Shield: The Bible says that there is NOTHING too difficult for my God! So I trust and believe that He is able to do the impossible for me.
Arrow: Maybe God doesn’t even hear your prayers…
Shield: I trust and believe that Jesus has heard every one of my prayers because His Word has said in Psalm 116 that He hears my voice and my prayer for mercy and that He bends down to listen so I will pray as long as I have breath!
Arrow: Will God ever heal you?
Shield: Jesus said that if I ask that I will receive, and so I will be healed because I have asked Jesus! And on top of that the Bible tells me in Psalm 103, not to forget His benefits - that He forgives all my iniquities and that He heals all my diseases!
Arrow: Can God really forgive you after you’ve done that?
Shield: I know and believe that I am forgiven because the Bible says in Micah 7:19 that, ‘He will again have compassion on me, and will tread my sins underfoot and hurl all my iniquities into the depths of the sea.”.
Fighting Together
Lastly guys something I found amazing is that when fighting as a group the soldiers would position their shields next to each other to “form an overlapping unbreakable wall of defence for the entire formation.” Sometimes we have to stand in faith with and for one another! We have to hold up our shields of faith together standing on the truth of the Word and believing in faith for things, standing against the enemy in unity!
& as we hold up our shields of faith for ourselves and others, we cover ourselves from the lies of the enemy! & that’s when we see God move amazingly.
To close here is a few quotes on faith that I find encouraging…
“Faith binds us in vital deep union with God. Faith is not just belief, it is belief plus trust. It is resting in the person of God and in His Word to us.”
“Faith is the doorway to hope in God. Because we have faith in God, our suffering need not faze us; in fact, we can persevere under it.”
Okay guys, day four done - see you guys tomorrow ;)
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” - Hebrews 11:1