Alright, so Ephesians chapter 6, and we'll just
read these first few verses here beginning in
10 Finally be strong in the Lord and in the strength
of his might put on the full armor of God so
that you will be able to stand firm Against the
schemes of the devil for our struggle is not
against flesh and blood But against the rulers
against the powers against the world forces of
this darkness against the spiritual forces of
wickedness in the heavenly places Therefore take
up the full armor of God so that you will be
able to resist in the evil day and having done
everything to stand firm stand firm Therefore
having girded your loins with truth and having
put on the breastplate of righteousness and having
shied your feet with the preparation of the gospel
of peace In addition to all taking up the shield
of faith With which you will be able to extinguish
all the flaming arrows of the evil one and take
the helmet of salvation and the sword of the
Spirit, which is the word of God. All right,
so tonight we'll talk here about the shield of
faith that Paul mentions. Now, we've already
talked about faith. We've mentioned faith multiple
times, and so... All of these things that Paul's
talking about it's not as though they're you
know It's just this one shield of faith and that's
it you know, but no faith Faith is involved in
all these other things just as we've mentioned
before But what is What is Paul saying here,
what does he want us to what does he want us
to To think about to bring home to us here. He
says I guess first of all here he says above
all I think is the King James says above all
the new American standard says in addition to
the idea there is not that the shield of faith
is superior than all these other things that
we have listed here it's just another another
one that we are to to to use here. Another way
that it could be translated is furthermore. So
it's not as though the shield of faith is the
most important part of the armor that we're going
to put on here. So let me just start with that
then. But then what is this shield of faith?
Well, what was the shield for back in the day?
If we're thinking of our Roman soldier here,
what was the shield for? Okay, it protected his
body. What was it made of? Okay. So some wood,
so most say it was made of wood, but that it
had a cover on it. So some say leather, a leather,
wrapped in leather, and some say it was wrapped
in some sort of a metal, that wood. Again prevent
anything from really catching fire The flaming
arrows of the enemy and so on it was a big shield
that is That everybody I've read it always says
it was a big shield four feet four feet tall
and two two and a half feet wide and so it was
if you've seen some of the old movies like the
gladiator and Think a good one too would be the
hobbit there Maybe when they are all in battle
if you if you locked all these shields together,
you know Stood together as it was a wall and
it was a great Defense against the enemy and
so that's what we're talking about here. We're
talking about a great Tool To protect yourself
to protect your whole body If you duck behind
it you could you could shield your whole self
So that's what Paul is mentioning here when he
talks about this shield of faith this thing that
will protect us Against all of the flaming arrows
and all of the attacks of the enemy So what is
faith? Anybody Okay, so Hebrews 11 1 there that's
that's one definition of faith Okay, what's another
way we could describe faith? Okay, so we could
say faith is active faith is believing truths
and putting those truths into practice Using
using those those facts that we say that we believe
all right Anything any other descriptions of
faith Okay, again an active faith is active Okay,
so What I what I put down here is faith is only
as strong or faith is only as good as the thing
that your faith is in Okay, so if your faith
is in some rickety bridge that it's gonna get
you across this cavern But it really isn't strong
enough to get you across there What good is the
faith you're gonna walk on out across that bridge
thinking it's gonna get me there And then in
the middle of it it collapses it falls. What
good was your faith? Worthless, right? You're
dead. And so our faith is only as strong, is
only as sure as the thing in which we're placing
our faith. So our faith must be in something
solid, something sure. And of course, who or
what is that? Okay, Jesus, God. Okay, our faith
is in God. What is... What is the very first
thing that we mentioned here when we began this
discussion a number of weeks back on these verses?
Be strong in the Lord. He is our strength. So
we're looking to Him in faith. And I think we
said that. As I said, these things overlap. They
all go together. So our faith is only as good
as what we're placing our faith in. And so our
faith is in God. Our faith is in His word, what
He has told us. Okay? So, faith, only as good
as what we're putting it in. Alright. What else
can we say about faith? Faith in the Christian.
Faith grows through exercising our faith. Does
everybody have this faith? That's a Christian,
right? So yes, everybody doesn't in that everybody
in the world. But only Christians have this faith.
But we're speaking of Christians, so does everybody
have this faith? Yes. Everybody has this faith.
That's something to really consider. We look
across history. We look at scripture. We look
at the men of faith there in Hebrews. And we
may think that, oh, that was such great faith.
Did they all have such great faith? What we would
think of as great faith? Who's in the Hall of
Faith there? We just got done studying a number
of them. Does anybody remember? Samson's in there,
Gideon's in there. Well, that's enough that's
good enough how good was I shouldn't say how
good But how about Gideon how about his faith
right the Lord comes on to him and he says I'm
gonna use you to deliver my people He's got to
put out a fleece and so then you have this miraculous
fleece Experience here the ground was the ground
wet the fleece dry or vice versa And that wasn't
good enough. He's got to do it again. Now do
the opposite, Lord. So maybe that was just a
fluke. Maybe that was natural that that first
thing happened. And now we got to do the opposite
so that I know for sure. Samson. We see all sorts
of problems there with Samson. So this faith
that we're talking about, we all have a degree
of faith if we're in Christ. If we're Christians,
this faith has been given to us. So, in order
for us to use this faith, it doesn't have to
be this great amount of faith, so to speak. You
know, we look at men like George Mueller, and
we see here is, we would say, a man of faith.
Maybe he had the gift of faith, we could say,
and did great things there through trusting the
Lord, providing for how many thousands of children
just upon the Lord. Each day, looking to the
Lord, well, Lord, I need 300 pounds to pay my
bills and get food for everybody. And lo and
behold, 300 pounds shows up. That's amazing faith,
we would say. But we all have that same faith
to some degree. And our faith grows, as we already
said, as we exercise that faith, as we use that
faith. So it's imperative for us to understand
that, first of all, that we all have this faith.
We've been given this faith if we are the children
of God, if we are Christians. We all have this
faith. And it's not a matter of how much faith
we have, whether or not we are able to use this
shield. Okay? So we are all able to use this
shield, we're all able then to quench the fiery
darts of the evil one. That right there, I mean,
what is Paul saying there? With this shield of
faith, there's a good chance that you could be
successful. Is that what Paul says? That with
this shield, It might be enough to get you through.
I think that's how we often think, though. But
that's not what Paul says. That's not what the
Word says. That this shield of faith that we
should be carrying with us day in and day out,
we're able to withstand. We are able to shield
ourselves from. We are able to put these darts
out and to protect ourselves. from these things.
So that's again, that should be a great encouragement
to us. We're not talking here about pie in the
sky, wishful thinking, oh I hope, in the way
that the world uses hope. Paul's telling us we
are able, we are able. Again, it's just like
all of these other things that we've mentioned,
being strong in the Lord. I don't have my passage
anymore. Girding our loins with truth the breastplate
of righteousness the preparation of gospel is
peace the shield of faith all of these things
We've got to use them. We've got to put them
on We've got to put on the full armor so that's
key. That's That's key to us here if we are going
to Win the battle if we are going to extinguish
the fiery darts of the evil one we have got to
have this shield we've got to be exercising this
faith okay why don't we why don't we look at
a few verses here I've got a bunch of them written
down so should we start over here start on this
side of the room Hannah you want to read 1st
Peter 5 8 and 9 Jake Barry How about 1st John
5 -4? Other Jake? James 2 -17? And then Emma?
Romans 4, 18 -20? Okay, go ahead. Because your
adversary, the devil, walks about like a roaring
lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him
steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same
sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood
in the world. Okay. Resist him steadfast in the
faith, and then knowing that... What? You're
alone in all of this. You're the only one who's
ever experienced this. No. Your brother's...
We have also experienced this, and also have
overcome, and also have resisted. So that should
be an encouragement to us. Go ahead, Jake. Again,
our faith, overcoming. Through faith we are able
to overcome. Go ahead, Jake. Thus also faith
by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
So that goes with what Becky said. Or was it
Brian? What Brian said and what Becky was saying
there. This faith is an act of faith. This faith
is something that we should be putting into practice.
This faith, if it's true faith, is doing something.
It's working. All of those things that God's
called us to do. and then Emma He grew strong
in His faith as He gave glory to God. Now we've
read this a few times, and it's a great example
of faith. But in that last verse there, Paul
says, He did not waver in unbelief, but grew
strong in faith, giving glory to God. How is
giving glory to God? Strengthening his faith.
How was his faith strengthened? How did he grow
in faith? By giving glory to God. Have you ever
thought of that? These aren't my own thoughts.
I just happened to be reading some Lloyd -Jones
on our little trip. And I wrote this down. But
how does that work? How is Abraham's faith growing?
being strengthened as he gives glory to God thinking
on what okay He's seeing God for who He is, right?
If we're gonna glorify God, what are we doing?
We're worshiping Him for who He is, for what
He has done. So Abraham here is seeing all that
God has said. He's seeing all that God is. He's
seeing the faithfulness of God. And so, as he
does all of these things, he's glorifying God.
His faith is growing. So, what are some things
here? I wrote down just a couple. God is omnipotent.
In other words, God is all -powerful. God's all
-knowing. He is holy. He's just. He's good. He's
faithful. He's unchanging. So these are just
a few of God's attributes. This is who God is.
As we contemplate who God is, As we see Him for
who He is, our faith should be strengthened.
As we glorify God, we grow in our faith. We meditate
upon these things. Our minds are renewed. We're
changed. What is another big thing? We're not
looking at ourselves anymore. We're looking at
God. That's... So often our problem, right? We're
looking at our circumstances. We're looking at
the situation that we find ourselves in. We're
looking at this world and all that's going on.
Is there any encouragement in that? No. But there
is encouragement when we see everything around
us and we look at God and we say, well, God is
sovereign. God has put me here for a reason.
God has given me a job and I may not like it.
It may not be the greatest thing. It may be hard
But he's given me this and so I'm gonna glorify
him as I work hard and as I endeavor to do what
I should do Now I'm not looking at my job that
I don't like I'm looking at God and I'm glorifying
God and my attitude and my actions and as we
do those things We grow in our faith because
God meets us there God encourages us, He helps
us, He strengthens us, and we press on in faith.
Our faith grows just as Abraham's did. So those
are a couple verses on faith. So this shield
of faith that we are to carry with us, what is
something else that we could call it? or what
is something else that we could think? If we
were going to say it, what does this shield of
faith do, or how do we use this shield of faith?
What does it look like in our daily lives? What
would that be? Okay Okay, those are all good
things absolutely that's not the one that's not
what I was thinking of But those are good, right?
I mean that's that's that's that's essential.
I mean that is essential to our Christian life
and our growth and faith Knowing the word reading
the word praying seeking God singing his praises
Absolutely. Okay, trusting. How about the promises
of God? That's what I'm thinking about. Okay,
the shield of faith. What are the attacks of
Satan? They're lies, right? They're the lies
of Satan, they're temptations, whatever that
may be. When those things come against us, how
do we battle those things? Well, if we're in
the Word and we're in prayer, we battle in that
way, absolutely. But we remind ourselves of all
those things we read in His Word, all the promises
of God, the doubts that Satan brings against
us. How do we combat those doubts? With truth.
Well, God said this, and I'm going to trust God.
I'm going to believe God rather than you or anybody
else. I'm going to believe God. We're going to
talk, I don't know if we'll get there tonight,
the helmet of salvation, the hope of glory that
we have. What does Satan say? There is no afterlife.
There is nothing after this. It's done. You die
and you turn into dirt and you're done. You're
living this way for no reason. You're sacrificing
and you're for what? You're not going to, there's
nothing there or you're never going to make it.
You're not good enough. You fail, you sin too
much. All of those lies, what do we combat that
with? The truth of the word. By faith, trusting,
believing. All of those things that come against
us, we extinguish those fiery darts with that
shield of faith, believing, trusting what God
has said. So we've got to know the promises of
God. We've got to know His Word. We've got to
know what's true. We've got to be girded with
truth. It all goes together. And in order to
be girded with truth, we've got to be in the
Word. We've got to know what the Word says. We
have to know what those promises are. The Pilgrim's
Progress. Is it Mr. Ray DeHalt on his crutches?
Is that who he was? Right? He's on his way, but
he's only getting there holding on to those promises,
limping through, clinging to the promises. Not
an easy way, but he's getting there. Well, that
should be us. Hopefully we're not like Mr. Ray
DeHalt, but hopefully we are in the sense that
we're leaning on the promises of God. Holding
firm to them. All right Well, I have a whole
list of verses here So if you want them, I'll
give them to you Sound 46 1 I guess we could
just read them. I guess it doesn't It doesn't
matter, right? We're not on a time crunch. Where
are we? You ready to read? Sound 46 -1. Mike.
Philippians 1 -6. Melissa. Matthew 6. 25 -34.
Brian, 1st Corinthians 10 13. Rebecca, Hebrews
13 5. Matt, 1st John 1 9. Marie, James 1 5. Chris,
Colossians 1 20 through 22. Ben. Romans 8 33
through 39 Josh Ezra 822 Amanda sound 512 Dad
sound 23 6 Mom sound 91 3 Eli you want to read?
Izzy? Julia? All right, Becky? Matthew 7 -7 I'll
get the last one So Hopefully I wrote them all
down right and we're not going to talk about
them so These are just promises or encouragements
in the Word over a broad range of things. So
just go ahead and give you your verse and go
ahead and read it. That he who has begun a good
work in you will complete it until the day of
Jesus Christ. Matthew 6, 25 -34 Therefore I say
unto you, take no thought of your life, what
ye shall eat or what ye shall drink, nor yet
for your body what ye shall put on. Is not the
life more than meat, and the body more than raiment?
Behold, the fowls of the air. for they sow not,
neither do they reek, nor gather in the farms,
yet your heavenly Father feed them. Are you not
much better than they? Which of you by taking
thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And
why take you thought for raiment? Consider the
lilies of the field, how they grow. They toil
not, neither do they spin, and yet I say unto
you that even Solomon in all his glory was not
arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God
so closed the grass of the field, which today
is and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall
he not much more clothe you? O ye of little faith!
Therefore, take no thought, saying, What shall
we eat, or what shall we drink? Or wherewithal
shall we be clothed? For after all these things
do the Gentiles seek. For your Heavenly Father
knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
But seek ye from the kingdom of God and His righteousness,
and all these things shall be added unto you.
Take therefore no thought for the moral, for
the moral shall take thought for the things of
itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
And God is faithful, who will not allow you to
be tempted beyond what you are able to, but with
the temptation will provide the way of escape
also, so that you will be able to endure it.
Hebrews 13 .5 Let your conduct be without covetousness.
Be content with such things as you have. For
he himself has said, I will never leave you nor
forsake you. So we may boldly say, The Lord is
my helper. I will not fear what can man do to
me? James James 1 5 if any of you lacks wisdom
let him ask God who gives generously to all Generously
to all without reproach reproach and it will
be given to him Caution one and through him to
reconcile to himself all things Whether on earth
or in heaven making peace by the blood of his
cross And you who once were alienated and hostile
in mind Doing evil deeds he has now reconciled
in his body of flesh by his death in order to
present you holy and blameless and above reproach
before For I was ashamed to request from the
king an escort of soldiers and horsemen to help
us against the enemy on the road, because he
had spoken to the king, saying, The hand of our
God is upon all those for good who seek him,
but his power and his wrath are against all those
who forsake him. So just real quick, that one
Ezra, Ezra's walking by faith because He trusted
God to get him from Babylon to Jerusalem even
though it was a treacherous road But he said
I'm not going to ask the king for a for a bodyguard
basically I'm going to trust the Lord because
I said I already said to the king my God is able
and So I'm trusting God and I'm not going to
ask the king this thing And we know that all
things work together for good to them that love
God, to them who are the called, according to
his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also
did predestinate to be conformed to the image
of his son, that he might be the firstborn among
many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
then he also called. And whom he called, then
he also justified. And whom he justified, then
he also glorified. What shall we... then say
to these things if God be for us who can be against
us he that spared not his own son but delivered
him up for us all how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect it is God that justify
it who is he that condemned it is Christ that
died yea rather that is risen again who is even
at the right hand of God who also maketh intercession
for us. Who shall separate us from the love of
Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution,
or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
As it is written, for thy sake we are killed
all the day long. We are accounted as sheep for
the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are
more than conquerors through him that loved us.
For I am persuaded that neither death nor life
nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor
things present nor things to come nor height
nor depth nor any other creature shall be able
to separate us from the love of god which is
in christ jesus our lord all the days of my life
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Psalm 91 verse 3. Surely he shall deliver thee
from the snare of the fowler and from the noisome
pestilence. Matthew 7 7 ask and it will be given
to you seek and you will find knock and it will
be open to you. And then Philippians 4. four
through seven rejoice in the Lord always again
I will say rejoice let your gentle spirit be
known to all men the Lord is near be anxious
for nothing button everything by prayer and supplication
with thanksgiving let your requests be made known
to God and the peace of God which surpasses all
comprehension will guard your hearts and your
minds in Christ Jesus I mean that was an array
You name it, right? We read it. Wisdom, forgiveness,
reconciliation, peace, eternal security, physical
provisions, spiritual provisions, resisting temptations,
overcoming sin. We read all of it there. I mean,
that should fuel us for the rest of the day.
And then tomorrow when you get up, you can read
them again. And if you just read those verses
that we read tonight, tomorrow morning and every
morning, you'll be encouraged to walk in faith.
You'll be encouraged to deny all those false
things that Satan will bring to us. All the sin
that would tempt us. The Word of God. It strengthens
us. It encourages us. It helps us. It speaks
truth to us daily as we're in it. I'm just going
to make another plug then for reading. Read the
Word. You can also read biographies. I can't
say that enough. It is such... I read another
biography basically over our vacation. Dad recommended
these letters to my grandson. It's just about
the life of Martin Lloyd -Jones. It's real small.
It's real short. But you just see in that the
faithfulness of God. You see a man who was faithful
to God and a God who was faithful to man. And
it's just encouraging. It's encouraging to think
about. It's convicting. I mean, you come away
thinking, I'm a failure. But at the same time
you come away encouraged to press on do better
So read biographies of the saints those who have
been faithful And if it's a good biography you'll
see in there that they weren't perfect You know
this guy points out some of Lloyd Jones's failures
So you see in their failures of men and yet the
faithfulness of God. So it's it's good. It's
helpful. Alright, any questions or comments?
So. Would you say like the opposite of? Thank
this here. Uh. Yeah, I don't know if I'd say
opposite. I mean, definitely. contrary faith
is definitely having confidence in what God has
said believing it and putting it into action
Getting ready to go to the cross. He told us
disciples like I will go before you to Galilee
like there was not Even though he was getting
ready to go through this very trying and hard
time. He did not waiver or have any doubt You
know like things that we struggle with So it
reminded me of when we were talking about faith.
When we were talking about when you had the bridge
thing and just the matters about the trustworthiness
of the object that a person's faith is in. to
the Wednesday that I missed and you were talking
about some house you were trying to build without
some piers or something. Without a sure foundation?
I guess I was wondering how that would be like.
Well I tempt it up and then I'm done. Somebody
else can take it out and let it fall.