Soldier No.6 The Shield of Faith

Deuteronomy chapter thirty-three, beginning to read at verse twenty-four. By way of introduction, may I read to you the first verse in the chapter. Moses blesses the tribes.

This is the blessing that Moses, the man of God, pronounced on the Israelites before his death. Verse twenty-four, about Asher, he said, Most blessed of sons is Asher. Let him be favored by his brothers, and let him bathe his feet in oil.

The bolts of your gates will be iron and bronze, and your strength will equal your days. There is no one like the God of Jezreel, who rides upon the heavens to help you, and on the clouds in his majesty. The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.

He will drive out your enemy before you, saying, Destroy him. So Israel will live in safety alone. Jacob's spring is secure in a land of corn and new wine, where the heavens dropped you.

Blessed are you, O Israel, who is like you, a people saved by the Lord. He is your shield and helper, and your glorious sword. Your enemies will cower before you, and you will trample down their high places.

Amen. Now let's turn to Ephesians and chapter six. Let me say by way of clarification, last Sunday I made reference to a tract directed to, sent to, the Christian publicity organization with an accompanying letter criticizing them for the use of the new international version of the Bible.

Let me make it very clear that the tract was not produced by them. There's so much difference in the prepositions to and by. They received it, but it wasn't theirs, and I was using it as an illustration of the attitude of folks who bind on other people as far as their Christian faith is concerned, things that are not vital in terms of our preference for Bible translation.

As far as we're concerned here at the tab, the person uses the translation that most helps them, and for the sake of clarity I've adjudged it right for particularly bearing in mind our young people that our ministry is from the NIV. But I hope I made that perfectly clear when the summer comes. Ephesians 6 and these very familiar verses from verse 13.

Join me right down to the 17th verse. Therefore put on the full armor of God so that when the day of evil comes you may be able to stand your ground and after you have done everything to stand. Stand firm then with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

In addition to all this take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. Amen.

Well we come now to look at this fourth piece of the Christian's armor. But just to set the context for visitors and we're always glad to have friends who've decided to become worthy as their holiday center who are with us this this morning. Let me say that we've been going through Ephesians for well a reasonable amount of time here in the in the tabernacle and we've come to the point where the Apostle is very much getting to grips with the fact that the Christian is indeed a soldier.

He's involved in a warfare and the whole of the Old and the New Testament it seems to me rises up to underline the point. You go back to the book of Genesis and there you discover after the fall God speaking to the devil personified in the form of a serpent or if you like demonized in the form of a serpent and God says to the to the snake that he will put enmity between the serpent the devil and all who work for him and man and ultimately the seed of Eve, a prediction of the coming of the Lord Jesus. There will emerge from the ranks of humankind someone who will take on the forces of evil and mankind will find itself split into these two camps.

Those who follow Satan and his evil teachings and those who follow the Lord Jesus Christ. That seems simplistic to some folk but nonetheless it's what the Old Testament and the New Testament teaches. So when we move into Ephesians 6 Paul has many, many scriptures to which he can make reference that underpin his point that the Christian is to see himself moving through this world as a soldier in the army of Jesus Christ.

Now back in the Old Testament the idea of conflict and also of defense at a time of battle also comes through. Now I could give you several scriptures that would pin the point in your thinking. For example when Abraham is being tested and maybe we'll come back to that if we have time in a moment or two you discover in Genesis chapter 15 God reveals himself to Abraham and he says Abraham I am your shield and I am your exceeding great reward.

Here are the tribes of Israel and they're going back into the land of promise and Moses on his deathbed blesses the children and he gives certain promises and predictions. A snippet of which you've heard in the reading earlier where Moses in the name of God says of one of the tribes that they can look to the Lord as being their shield and their defense and know underneath them and round about them the everlasting arms of God. Well I say this whole of conflict and of armory is not just a New Testament concept it's there in the old.

But to be specific here's Paul and he's addressing these remarks to Christians in Ephesus. Paul himself you recall is in jail in Rome possibly being looked after by some Roman soldier and he uses the latter as a visual aid to prompt Paul to appreciate the nature of the defenses that are available to Christian people like ourselves. So we come to this fourth piece of armor and he speaks to us about the shield.

He's going to go on to speak of the sword and of the helmet or the cap. Now the difference between what he's to deal with at this moment and what has gone previously in his teaching is simply this that the other pieces of armor were fixed. You remember the breastplate which I tried to describe as graphically as my vocabulary will allow.

Well it's a fixed piece of armor. The belt it's fixed. Similarly the shoes.

But the three that are to come the shield and the sword and the helmet which was more of a cap that was just put on the head rather than buckled under. These were not fixed. These were adjustable.

These demanded as I shall show you in a moment or two the expertise of the soldier in being able to use them. So we look at the shield and the first thing I want to ask is this. What is this shield? This shield to which Paul makes reference in the 16th verse.

And my first summary of Paul's teaching in that verse is simply to point out to you that it's a most important piece of armor. Look again carefully at those first two or three words whether you were the A.V. or the N.I.V. version of the Bible. In addition to all this the authorized version puts it above all take the shield.

As though there's something very valuable in the shield that the other pieces of armor that he's dealt with thus far don't have. Not that he's saying take one in expense of the other or as an alternative to the other. Rather he's concerned that the breastplate and the belt and the shoes are in place.

But in addition to this above all this ensure whatever you do that you don't go as a Christian out to the line of conflict without your shield. Now why does he have to say this? Well for this very interesting and simple reason. You see when a soldier has dealt with one particular part of the battle there's been a skirmish.

And now there's a bit of a lull. He might well sit back and relax. He could return to barracks for a while.

He's for a moment or two shall we say off-duty. Well what does he do? He puts his shield down. It's a natural thing to do isn't it? To put your shield down.

Maybe to put your sword down. But then the bugle calls or maybe there's such a sudden attack from the enemy that there isn't time for the bugle to call. Now you move out from your barracks.

You move to the front line again and Paul says whatever you do men remember this above everything else take that shield which you've put down and go to the front line. Go to the place of battle with this shield. It's absolutely necessary.

Its size is very interesting. The Roman shield was somewhat different from the more recent examples in history. It was a very big shield.

You could almost hide your body behind it. It could be two foot wide. It could be four foot long.

You could crouch behind the shield and the whole of your body as a result would have the shield as a sort of metal bodyguard. Not only was it large it was extremely carefully manufactured. It was made basically out of wood but not entirely for reasons I'll explain.

It was covered with a coating of metal and so here is this very very important piece of the of the Roman soldiers armor and as I told you on previous occasions the Roman military never economized as far as their weaponry was concerned. The reason why Caesar, the reason why the various emperors were able to maintain the Pax Romana, the political power of Rome so long in the ancient world was because of the way in which their soldiers were equipped. There may be things in your spiritual life where you can engage in economy but not in the area of the armor.

Paul points out the obvious example from the shield and remember he refers to it as the shield of faith. You say what does all this mean? Well the faith has something of course to do with the gospel. In one sense it's the definition of the gospel but it's not just the gospel passively received.

You see you could come here Sunday after Sunday and some of you indeed do and you may have come for decades and you've listened attentively to whoever's been the preacher and you've absorbed the information that's been presented but that doesn't mean to say that you are using the shield of faith. You see this is nothing to do with sitting back and absorbing, this is rather moving forward and engaging in some form of activity. That's why Paul says take the shield of faith.

You see I repeat the breastplate, the belt, the shoes, well they're available for every Roman soldier and at that level every Roman soldier was as good as the other and as equipped as the other. But now you see we're moving further forward in this whole description of weaponry. We're not talking about something that is passively worn, the breastplate.

We're talking about something that is skillfully used, the shield. Take the shield of faith. Now this idea of maneuverability, it must be obvious to you as I even move my fist around with my imaginary shield.

The enemy is attacking from one side so you've got your shield there. No he's now coming from the other side, he's now coming on top, he's dropping his arrows. So your shield you see, it's most necessary that you know how to use your shield.

If it's in a fixed position then its usefulness is minimized. But if you're skillful in the deployment of your shield then you can be a very victorious soldier indeed. Well then that's what the shield is.

But why is it necessary? That's my second question and in some degree I've trespassed on the answer already. Why is it so necessary? Well remember we're speaking of course not just of literal soldiery and literal warfare. We're thinking in terms of spiritual warfare which is nonetheless real.

And there is an enemy as Caesar had enemies on the frontiers of Rome. And this enemy is referred to, is it not, most clearly, almost frighteningly so, in the latter part of the 16th verse. Take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

All the flaming arrows of the evil one. Paul here you see is dealing with the thing that modern theologians are unprepared to accept the reality of the devil. Now I preach sermons on this in my series on Ephesians 6 and if you didn't listen to the address on the origin of evil, will you do me a favor, will you get the address, I'll even buy you the tape if it's a problem for you to purchase it for yourself.

You see Paul's taking us back and as far as we're concerned we're going back now several months. This idea of the personification of evil, the devil himself. Why is it necessary? Because of the reality of evil forces.

How do you see this world? Do you come along with your Freudian analysis of man and say, well you see it's all due to certain things that are wrong with man, his id and his ego and the conflict between the ego and the super ego and so on and so forth. And from a neurotic psychologist you believe that you can resolve the issues of man. Now perhaps that's not being too kind to Freud, but I tell you, however you understand the human dilemma, however you try to analyze it, you can never come to a more brilliant summation of the problem than you find within Scripture.

And Scripture takes us back to those two opposing camps, the seed of Satan or the seed of Jesus Christ, and the conflict that there is between the two. So you move out of the area where Satan is in control into the area where Jesus is in control, and you are not immune from attack. Indeed contrary, you may be more aware of pressures and attack in your life as a Christian than ever you were as a non-Christian.

And the logic of that I hardly need to explain to you. It's obvious that this would be the case. Why? Well you see there is a real enemy out there, the reality of evil.

Not only does Paul express his belief in the reality of evil, but he's got the rest of the New Testament to embrace the concept of the totality of evil. Says John writing the first epistle that bears his name of the last chapter in the 19th verse, the whole world lies in the hand in wickedness. That's the authorized version.

Actually it's not a very precise translation. Gives you the idea that wickedness there is a concept, it's just an atmosphere. Whereas the Greek indicates the whole world lies in the hands of the evil one.

One person who heads up the bastion of sin and wickedness. Not that he doesn't have his emissaries, not that he doesn't have his servants, his agents. Paul has made reference to those, has he not, in verse 12 when he speaks against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Are you prepared to accept this my friend, that the whole world is influenced by the devil? Whether you're in the realm of politics or philosophy, psychology, medicine, I care not. What area you go into you will find there in some way, and I'm not saying that all those areas are wrong, but you will find there the impregnation of evil forces in some degree. Things that sometimes seem to be so innocent can become, when certain influences, individuals in these categories, can become a tool by which man is made a very wretched person.

Take politics for instance, nothing a matter with politics. Thank God for our politicians. But look at the mess in the Middle East, and you've got a bizarre political situation, and who can find the answer to that one? Take southern Africa, another problem.

You see these are great difficulties which are confronting us today. These are not things that thinking people can pass on one side. The whole of our future depends on the resolution of these problems, and I am suggesting to you that at the heart of the human dilemma is the problem caused by the world being under the influence of evil forces, as well as the forces of righteousness.

These weapons, they're brutal weapons. Take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. These arrows, says William Gurnell, a Puritan preacher of three or four centuries ago, are dangerous because they come from afar.

They're dangerous, he says, because they come in silently, and they're dangerous because of the damage that they can do. Flaming arrows. Let's get behind the metaphor.

The apostle that has got at the back of his mind, of course, the Roman arrow, and the arrows of Roman enemies, when sometimes they would put some ignitable substance on the tip of the arrows, and they would inflame it before they shot it, and then it would go straight into the camp. And if your shield, incidentally, was made just of sword and didn't have a metal covering, then you could be in a wretched condition if the shield catches fire. That's why you need the silver or the metal covering the shield, you see.

Here is the devil, and he has the most brutal equipment at his disposal, and sometimes those arrows, they come in so silently that you wonder to yourself, where on earth did that problem come in my life? There you were, you see, and perhaps, and again I'm anticipating the next thing that I want to share with you. There you were, reading your Bible, or you were on your own, and suddenly a thought came out of nowhere. You use that expression, don't you? Out of nowhere, out of the blue, and you find yourself discomforted and handicapped as a result.

How do you explain all these things? Well, I say you explain them by coming to grips with what Scripture teaches us about the reality of the evil one. That's why the shield is so necessary. So let's put up this third question, which really demands such a simplistic answer that you might wonder why I brought it before you.

I do so because very often the obvious things we fall down on in our understanding. When do you use your shield? My answer is, you use your shield when you're under attack, when those flaming arrows of the evil one come in on you. So Paul's point, take up the shield.

You say, what is this to do with me? Are you really saying that the devil will reign his arrows in on my life? I'm not only suggesting it, I'm dogmatically asserting it. Unless you are a unique individual, and I very much doubt that, then you must identify with what I'm saying here. Do you ever have this experience, my dear Christian friend? I'm speaking to you as well as to unbelievers, when all hell seems to be let loose in your life.

There you were, and for a while things have gone very well in your experience, but now you're in great difficulty, and you ask yourself, what is it? What's it all about? Now I say that this isn't just an experience that a few people go through, it's an experience that's common to many. And indeed, the first thing that I would want to say, if anyone finds themselves in this situation this morning, remember that this is not exceptional. If you're having problems in your spiritual life at present, then this is not an exceptional situation in which you find yourself in.

Great men and women of God in decades, in exactly the same situation. The man who wrote, as far as I know, most about the devil was Martin Luther, and he was followed by John Bunyan. And these were great men, and yet they knew that the arrows coming in to their particular camp, and the necessity of taking the shield, and deflecting the blow, extinguishing the flame.

You're not an exceptional person. Dare I say it, that when our Lord passed through the waters of baptism, He then went on into the wilderness of buffeting. From the crisis experience, when God is very real to you, you go to the critical experience, when the devil is very real, and you have great problems in overcoming.

Don't be alarmed, my friend. That's another piece of advice I would give. Don't be over alarmed.

Sometimes you say you find it hard to read your Bible, but when you're reading the Bible, the most terrible thoughts come to you, and you start to doubt and to wonder about the character and the person of the Lord Jesus. Sometimes in your prayers, you try to concentrate, and you're all over the place. You don't know why this should be, and in one sense, there's no psychological reason.

You don't find it difficult to concentrate on football results, or what's going on at Wimbledon, but here you are in prayer, knowing full well that this is a far more important pursuit, and yet you find it so difficult. Why is this? I say psychologically, there's no explanation. But spiritually there is.

The darts of evil one, you see. He comes to rub you of concentration at the point at which you need it. What must you do? Well, you must go for your shield.

Particularly when your peace is being disturbed. Have you ever known this? There you were in a meeting, and everything was marvelous. You know, the preacher had come along, and he'd spoken, and it seemed to be relative to your situation.

There was a sense of empathy in the meeting. People were relating to one another. There was a sense of worship and of praise, and you felt, my, this is wonderful.

And the next day, there you were, almost in little pieces, as far as your spirituality is concerned. Why this depression? Why the rubbing of your peace? Because the peace that you have is the peace that Jesus gives. And when a man receives the peace of Jesus, then the devil comes and tries to dissuade him, tries to dislodge that peace from him.

Doesn't this happen? And what's the consequence of this? You start to get things really out of proportion. There you were, you see, in your meeting, and you've got God in perspective, and the greatness of His character, and all that He's doing for you, and all that is in store for you, and you felt so related, and so, it was so wonderful. But now you're back in the middle of the week, and you start to read your letters.

Maybe somebody says something to you, or a disappointment comes into your life, and you're shattered. Did you never have that experience? I've known what it is to go from this tabernacle and feel that I was walking on air. And within a matter of two hours, my peace, my serenity, my calm, my tranquility, it's all gone.

Why is this? Well, because, you see, what I'm talking about is real. The devil is a very real foe. I feel him in my life more now than I've ever known him, in terms of my Christian experience down the years.

And this is what Paul is writing about, you see. This is why it's so necessary that we look at these things. If you feel that I'm too long on Ephesians, then I don't apologize one whit.

You tell me, if you've grasped all these things, and if you have, and you can convince me, then I'll apologize. But you see, I'm still a beginner myself. The more I look into the doctrine of evil, and see the great problems that are out there, and the reason why they are there, the more I need to come back to Paul's brilliant analysis, and then move on from the difficulty to the solution, and begin to appreciate the reason why I've got this shield of faith, to be able to withstand these nasty, brutal attacks that the devil makes on my life.

Let's move on then, and clip just five more minutes. How do you use your shield? In one sense, I suppose this is the most important part of what I'm trying to share with you. How do you use it? Remember, my friend, how it's defined? It's the shield of faith, and this you must take up.

But once more, I bring you back to the notion that you're active in this. Faith must be an active thing, it's not a passive thing. Look, let's turn to 1 John chapter 5 and verse 4, just to nail this point, shall we? 1 John chapter 5 verse 4. Let me set up the scene.

John is here speaking a great deal about the power of God, and also the problems that Christian people encounter as they live for the Lord in this world. Here is John, a totally different personality from Paul, and yet his teaching is more or less identical. As he goes on in the end of the chapter and makes reference, as I have quoted him earlier, to the whole world lying in the hands of the evil one.

Well, John, Pastor John, Brother John, how do we cope? Well, he tells us in verse 4, for everyone born of God has overcome the world. Well, that's true positionally, it's true in the long term. But what about the problems that I'm experiencing just at this moment, John? Well, he goes on, this is a victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.

So the way, if I understand him right, the way that I am to cope with the difficulties that I encounter is directly from my faith, even our faith. So I must use my faith. Do you use your faith, friend? Hebrews chapter 11 speaks of men, of great warriors of Old Testament days, who battled against the devil, and you get a lead-in almost on every name as one is introduced after another.

That phrase, by faith, by faith, by faith. Not by faith, they sat passively in a service and sung Hebrew songs. Not by faith, they listened to the rabbi speak.

No, by faith, they were doing things. By faith, they conquered. They put their faith into action.

You see, you can't really have a passive faith. If it's a real faith, then it helps you when you're in the midst of the battle and you have great difficulties to overcome. Let's go to Hebrews 11 and look at Abraham just for a moment or so.

He's a great example of this. You remember references made to Abraham earlier on when I quoted from Genesis 15? Well, here is Abraham, and he's got great difficulties. Verse 11 tells us something about it.

He's an old man. Well, some of us will identify with him. By faith, Abraham, although he was past age and Sarah herself was barren, they were unable to do what? Well, verse 11 makes it clear, to become a father, to become a mother, because he considered him faithful who had made the promise.

Abraham and Sarah received the promise of God that they would become parents. And when Abraham is tempted to doubt this, then God appears to him and says in Genesis 15, Abraham, I am your shield. I am your reward.

Abraham believes this. Now go on a few years. Isaac's been born, the son that brought joy to his heart, and so he's called Isaac, which means in the Hebrew, laughter.

But now that the life of the lad is in balance, verse 17 tells you of it. Abraham is required by God to sacrifice his son. What a command for a father to have to cope with.

The very God who'd made the promise now makes the command. What does Abraham do? Well, having received the promise, he'll submit to the command. Verse 17, he who had received the promise was about to sacrifice his one and only son.

On what basis can Abraham do this? Listen, my friend. Verse 18, if I can't get anything through this morning that's clear, may in God's grace this come through. How did Abraham manage to cope? Verse 18, even though God had said to him, it is through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.

Verse 19, Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from the dead. You see, faith is an active thing. It's not a passive thing.

It's an analytical thing. It's not a, it's not a, an emotional thing. Stay with Hebrews 11 and go to Moses for, for a moment.

We discover him in the 24th verse. Moses, by faith, what does he do? Well, he refuses to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. You got that reference? Chose to be ill-treated along the people of God, along with the people of God, rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time.

Now, this wasn't an emotional decision he made. It was a rational decision. Why? Well, you see, the pleasures were there in Egypt.

There's pleasure in sin. Anyone who tells you there's no pleasure in sin is a liar. Of course there's a pleasure in sin.

But you see, the pleasures of Egypt were short-lived. They'd come to an end. Whereas pleasures with God, when you fulfill his purposes, they're unending.

So what does the logical man do? He gets the best bargain, and that's what the Christian has done. He's come to the Lord. He's confessed his need of Jesus as Savior.

He's turned his back on the world. Not a great issue that the world is going to come to an end, as we now know it. So with pure logic, he applies himself to the situation.

Here is a grand bargain of the gospel. I speak reverently, and so I commit myself to it, and to the God who will save myself. And that means the man of faith is not a pessimist.

He's an optimist. Moses refuses to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. Why? Well, because he was looking ahead to his reward.

Now that's what Scripture says. You may say, well, he was a Jew. You would expect him to do this.

Well, thank God for that Jewish characteristic of looking for something that will last. So that's what you have done. So here the devil comes along, and he says to you, in his way, because he can quote Scripture, this God of yours, he's not going to stay with you, you know.

He's going to let you go. Look at your past sins, and the devil multiplies your sin by guilt. What do you do? You come to the word, there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.

Sort that one out, devil. That's what Jesus did, didn't he, in the temptations. Here you are, and you've just gone through a great disappointment in your life, and it seems as though the world is falling around you.

That happens, doesn't it, at times? And then you begin to think as you reason it out. Well, so what? It wasn't that important after all. The great issues of life have been settled by my God, and he's with me, and his hand is upon my life, and he's taken me through from one year to another year, and ultimately into glory.

So even those disappointments, they didn't really matter that much. You see, this is the logic of faith. It's using your faith in an active fashion.

Well, I apologize. It's quarter to twelve, and once more I find myself with more to say. Take this shield of faith.

Think it through, what it means to hold it and use it, apply it in your own situation, and may God grant you an ability to be a good soldier of Jesus Christ, quenching all the fiery flames of the evil one by using the shield of faith.