‘The Shield of Faith’

‘The Shield of Faith’

Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

Ephesians 6:16

Faith is important to God.  According to the writer of Hebrews, ‘without faith it is impossible to please him:  for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.’  The passage from which that verse derives lists a host of people who demonstrated faith.  These have become ‘the great cloud of witnesses’ to which the beginning of the next chapter refers.  Because of their faith we understand where to place our faith and that brings us to look ‘unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.’  Satan hates us for our association with Christ.  Because we are the Body of which Christ is the Head, Satan will, according to today’s text, bombard us with ‘fiery darts,’ which are, assaults against us to wound, defeat, and to destroy us.  A reading of the experiences of the saints of God of ancient days will illustrate for us the size and shape of these ‘fiery darts.’  Satan has made use of lies, abuse, physical persecution, plots, conspiracies and a list of other ‘darts’ to assault believers in every age.  What defends us in those dark hours?  It is the shield of faith.  We believe.  We believe in God, Who has a Sovereign plan and an unswerving purpose.  We believe in Christ, the Only Redeemer of God’s Elect.  We believe in the Holy Spirit, Who takes the things of Christ and shows them unto us.  ‘This is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith.’  As we are at home or abroad today, let us carry the shield of faith.

Our Gracious God and our Heavenly Father,
we rejoice that You have granted unto us the gift of faith.
We praise You that this faith becomes our shield
to stand between us and all the assaults of hell.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning