The Whole Armor of God - Message 8 - The Shield of Faith. We have been given a belt of truth, a breastplate of righteousness, and shoes of readiness with the Gospel. These are things we have. They are parts of the armor that are fixed to the soldier, strapped on at all times, and used even when not in battle. Now, in addition to these things, we are to take up the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit. Notice, it does not say that we have these, it says we need to take them up. These next three pieces of armor are only useful in battle if we pick them up and use them. Paul starts the list with the shield. The Roman shield that he is using as an example was a large rectangular shield made of a solid piece of wood that was covered with metal or oiled leather. It could protect the whole body. This is the shield of faith. What is faith? Where does faith come from and how does it protect us against the fiery darts of the devil? Every temptaton, at its root, is a distrust or a doubt about Who God is, what He has said, what He has done or has promised to do. So having a shield of faith is using trust in who God is and what He has said to deflect the lies and schemes of the devil. So how do we take up the shield of faith? When we have doubts about God, His character, His Word, His promises, or His provision, we must go to the source of our faith. Faith is a gift of the Spirit (Eph 2:8-9; 1 Cor 12:7-11; Gal 5:22-23) given to us through the Word of God (Rom 10:17). When we doubt, when we are tempted, when we are tried, we must read, memorize, and meditate on the Word of God. |
