The Whole Armour of God Part 4

VII. “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked” (EPH 6:16). A. shield: In ancient and medieval warfare, and still in that of uncivilized peoples, an article of defensive armour carried in the hand or attached by a strap to the left arm of a soldier, as a protection from the weapons of the enemy. Sometimes applied spec. to an article of this kind larger than the BUCKLER, which was usually carried in the hand, and smaller than the PAVIS, which was held by an attendant in front of a knight or archer. B. faith: Belief, trust, confidence. 1. Confidence, reliance, trust (in the ability, goodness, etc. of a person; in the efficacy or worth of a thing; or in the truth of a statement or doctrine. C. quench: To put out, extinguish (fire, flame, or light, lit. or fig.). D. Satan’s darts are fiery. They pierce and burn. Our shield must not only stop the piercing of the dart, but also quench it lest it burn up the shield or weaken it. 1. Faith knows that temptations can be overcome through Christ. 1CO 10:13. 2. Faith knows that lustful temptations are wisely avoided. ROM 13:14. 3. Faith knows that godly desires, attitudes and actions are good replacements of former sins. EPH 4:28-32; 1PE 4:1-5. E. “Above all...” indicates a preeminence of faith in Christian warfare. 1. Faith is a weightier matter of the law. MAT 23:23. 2. Faith is the victory that overcomes the world. 1JO 5:4. 3. The honor-roll of Biblical victors is that of faith. HEB 11. 4. Jesus Christ was especially known for His faith. HEB 2:10-13 c/w ACT 2:25-28. F. Faith accords with and is measured by Scripture. ROM 10:17. 1. It is not blind faith, though we walk by faith and not by sight. 2CO 5:7. a. Biblical faith is in accord with scientific and historical fact. (1) If you can’t trust God concerning Scripture’s record of creation, the cosmos, the flood, the post-flood order, etc., why would you trust Scripture about heavenly things? JOH 3:12; HEB 11:3. (2) God even left enough witness of Himself in the broken creation to condemn any gainsayer with a functioning brain and senses. ROM 1:19-20. b. Christianity is not like pagan religions based on fables or superstition. 2PE 1:16; ACT 17:22. c. It has as its basis an unimpeachable record (Scripture) and a conquered tomb (which cannot be said for any other religious founder). d. “Strong Son of God, immortal Love, Whom we, that have not seen thy face, By faith, and faith alone, embrace, Believing where we cannot prove.” (Tennyson, In Memoriam) 2. Faith is not a blissful naivete—a flowery assumption that anything done with good intentions will be blessed. LEV 10:1-2. 3. Faith is not trusting God to do what you want. Such a vanity assumes the sinner is the god controlling useful powers. a. Faith is rather trusting God to do what He wants and has promised. ROM 4:20-21. b. Faith is rather trusting God so that you do what He wants. LUK 7:29-30. 4. Faith is also trusting God’s record of Himself and His Son, Jesus Christ. 1JO 5:9-10. 5. Faith is therefore belief and action based upon God’s record, commands or promises. HEB 11:7; JAM 2:20-24. G. The basis of faith: 1. God is. HEB 11:6. 2. God is constant and consistent. MAL 3:6; JAM 1:17. 3. God is faithful and never lies. 1CO 1:9; TIT 1:2. 4. God is always right. DEU 32:4. 5. God cannot die. 1TI 1:17. 6. God’s word is as God: constant, consistent, faithful, truthful, always right and endures forever. H. Faith 1. gives us an accurate view of the past. 2. gives us direction and victory in the present. 3. gives us hope for the future. 4. transitions from trust in an unseen Godhead now to trust in a fully seen Godhead in the world to come. 1CO 13:12; REV 22:3-4. I. Faith 1. gives evidence of everlasting life, deliverance from death and condemnation. JOH 5:24. 2. gives evidence of regeneration. 1JO 5:1. 3. shows one justified. ACT 13:39; GAL 3:6-9. 4. accounts one righteous before God. ROM 4:3-5. J. Faith enables us to 1. understand what we have not seen. HEB 11:3 c/w 1CO 2:9-10. 2. worship God acceptably. HEB 11:4. 3. please God. HEB 11:5-6. 4. press ahead in the face of the unknown. HEB 11:7-8. 5. defy personal insufficiency. HEB 11:11. 6. deny sense and self in deference to God. HEB 11:17-19. 7. keep priorities straight. HEB 11:24-26. 8. overcome fear of man. HEB 11:27; 13:6. 9. overcome fear of death. HEB 2:15. 10. save ourselves from this present evil world, its corruptions and its dooms. HEB 11:29-31; ACT 2:40. 11. be victorious when outnumbered, attacked or weak. HEB 11:33-34. 12. suffer for righteousness’ sake. HEB 11:36-39. K. Consider the relationship of faith to the other pieces of Christian armour. 1. Faith is not independent of the truth. a. God has ordained our salvation through belief of THE TRUTH. 2TH 2:13. b. Trusting in a lie has no profit (JER 7:8). Pagans trust in their idols, oracles and curious arts unto their own destruction. c. Departures from truth are not excused by faith: they counter and destroy faith. 2TI 2:18. d. The subverted Galatians were still believers of a gospel but not the true gospel. GAL 1:6. e. Faith without truth is wishful thinking at best, gambling at least, and death by rattlesnake bite or poison at worst. MAR 16:17-18. f. What’s the point in having a shield for defense against Satan’s darts if you’re so ignorant of truth that you interpret a dart as a spiritual vaccine? g. Faith without truth is like the man who writes cheques on an empty bank account and then later wonders why he ends up in trouble. 2. Faith is not independent of righteousness. a. Faith without works is dead. JAM 2:14-26. b. Agrippa had faith but lacked commited works and so was no Christian. ACT 26:27-28. c. It is given unto us to believe AND to do righteousness. PHIL 1:29; EPH 2:10. d. How shall we fare with our shield when the enemy is on the handle-side of it firing darts and we have no breastplate? e. Faith without righteousness is like a hollow egg: a big disappointment when cracked. 3. Faith is not independent of THE gospel of peace. a. Faith requires the gospel of peace. ROM 10:13-15. b. There are many counterfeit gospels, but men are called to believe THE gospel. GAL 1:6-7. c. If we are not submissive to the good news that Christ HAS made peace between God and us on our behalf, and that eternal life is really determined by Him, not us, we have a misguided faith that is not even counted for righteousness. ROM 4:5. d. A shield is a great defense, but if one’s feet are not shod he can still be crippled by stepping on a fiery dart of a false gospel. e. Faith without THE gospel of peace is the inroad to bondage. GAL 2:4. 4. Faith is not independent of the hope of salvation. HEB 11:1. a. Faith and hope are virtually indivisible. GAL 5:5. b. Faith is put to the test where hope seems gone. ROM 4:18. c. If there is no hope of a future life and resurrection, our faith is at risk of being overthrown. 1CO 15:19; 2TI 2:17-18. d. If our head is not protected from thoughts of futility, impatience or doubts, we are likely to lay down our shield and quit. Hope of salvation prevents that. f. Faith without hope is like seeing the sun rise every morning of one’s life but not expecting it do so tomorrow. 5. Faith is not independent of the sword of the Spirit: Scripture. a. As noted earlier, faith is impossible without the Scripture. ROM 10:17. b. The best defense is a good offense. We need to not only to shield ourselves from the enemy, but fight back with the word of God. MAT 4:1-11. c. Let the shield of faith be in our left hand for defense, but the word of God in our right hand to drive the enemy back. d. Faith without Scripture may be little more than a happy delusion or like a soldier spending all his time deflecting the enemy’s BB’s while never unholstering the Glock 66 at his right hand.