“THE WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD”
The Shield of Faith
Part 1
I.
Opening Prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father I thank you for this time we have to join together as one body in your name father to learn more of you and your word, Lord let me flow freely in calling you have placed upon me to minister to those you have drawn to RGC Father. Lord bless each one here tonight may they learn what it is you would have them to know Lord for we know that your word is a living word able to reach the heart no matter what the circumstance. Lord bless those that are not able to be here tonight with us that their needs be met and what ever they are going through let it be a blessing and honor to you, Lord draw all men unto you. In JESUS name Amen.
The Shield of Faith “..wherewith you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked” Ephesians 6:16.
As we begin these lessons on the Shield of Faith I take this time to remind you that the Shield of Faith is directly connected to the Loin belt of Truth. The Roman soldiers shield when not in use was hung from a clip on his belt.
The “Loin Belt as we have already discussed is the Word of God, the Bible. Attached to his Loin belt was his shield, as you can see your Faith is directly attached to the Word of God.
If you fail to give the word of God a place of priority in your life It is only a matter of time before your Faith will begin to dwindle and wane, because the presence of “faith” in your life is directly determined by the presence or the absence of the word of God in your life. Faith and the Word of God are inseparable.
This is why Paul said, “So then, Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God”(Romans 10:17) Faith and the Word of God are tied together so tightly that where there is no faith there is No word and where there is no Word there is no Faith
When Paul began to describe the Armor he started with the Loin belt of truth, the Holy Spirit is telling us something very important here to have Paul start out with this relatively unseen peace of the armor. Although it wasn’t much to look at or even seen very well it was the central peace of the armor it held all the other parts together without it the armor would simply fall off. The Holy Spirit wants us to know that the Word of God should be central and foremost to everything else that we have in God.
Your ability to walk in a wonderful sense of righteousness, hinges entirely upon God’s word, get out of the Word and it is only a matter of time before you begin to loose that senses of righteousness.
Your ability to walk in peace is determined by if you are giving the Word of God a place of importance in your life. When the Word of God has this place in your life, the peace of God is released to call the shots and keep your heart and mind. Get out of the Word and it’s only a matter of time before that wonderful peace is replaced by anxious cares of this world.
Likewise, your ability to walk in faith is determined by the presence or absence of the Word of God in your life. Again Paul says, “So then, Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God”(Romans 10:17). If the Word of God doesn’t have a place in your schedule it is imposable for you to grow in faith because faith comes by the impartation of the Word of God into your heart.
The practical outworking of your salvation is greatly affected by the renewing of your mind through the Word of God. Though born again and destined for heaven, you will not be able to enjoy the benefits of salvation now - in this life - unless you permit the transforming work of the Word of God to work in your mind.
Further more there will be no “Sword of the Spirit” for you to use if the “Loin belt” is not a part of your life. The Sword of the Roman soldier was carried in a scabbard, which was attached to his loin belt; this is another picture of the importance of the Word of God in our lives. The rhema that you so desperately need, will most likely come from the Word of God as the Holy Spirit quickens a verse to your heart.
You wont always have a rhema to build your life upon and give you direction in your personal life. Thank God for these special words from the Lord, they are a blessing to the heart when they come, but do not base your entire Christian walk on these “words from the Lord.”
Instead, learn to base your life upon the dependable, always-present Word of God, The Bible, the “loin belt of truth.”
This piece of spiritual armor will always be present and dependable and you can even touch this one! If you have this piece of armor in hand in time you will have everything else you need to live a victorious Christian life.
There were two kinds of shields the Roman soldier owned one was used for parades the other was used in battle.
The first shield was denoted by the Greek word aspis (as-pis). This aspis shield was a small round shield that was primarily used in parades and public gatherings.
This shield was gorgeous decorated with fine etchings and markings on its front. The center of this shield often depicted an artist’s rendition of a victorious battle. However this shield was of little to no use in a battle.
The second kind of shield used by the Roman soldier is the shield referred to by Paul in Ephesians 6:16, When he speaks of the “shield of Faith.”
This particular word is taken from the Greek word thureos (thu-re-os), which was use by the Greeks for a “door” that was wide in width and long in length. The reason they used this word to describe their shields was because they were long and wide like the door of a house, much better to protect them from the slings, arrows, and swords of their enemies than the aspis. This shield completely covered a man!
Because the Holy Spirit used the second shield (thureos) as an illustration of faith, rather than the first shield (aspis) he is telling us that God has given us enough faith to make sure we are completely covered – just like the shield completely covered the roman solider.
Romans 12:3 Says, “…God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.” How much faith has God given you? He has given you enough faith to make sure you are completely covered throughout your life.
Don’t worry or fret that God has given more faith to others than to you, rest assured that God has imparted to you enough faith for you to be covered from head to toe! That faith, like a long and wide shield is big enough to cover any need that will come along in your life.
In most cases the Roman soldiers shield was made up of several layers of animal hide sewn tightly together. Usually six layers of animal hide were specially tanned and sewn so tightly together that they became almost as strong as steel.
One piece of leather is tough but can you imagine how tough six pieces of leather were. Because the Roman soldiers shields were made from this material they were extremely tough and durable.
Similarly our faith is extremely tough and durable; more tough and durable than you have ever realized! The enemy can beat and beat against your Faith and it will hold up because the “shield of faith” God has given you is a strong, lasting, and durable shield.
Because the shield of the Roman soldier was made of Leather it was important that he took good care of it, if he wanted it to be able to protect him.
Though six layers of animal hide would be durable and strong, it could become stiff and breakable if the Roman soldier did not take care of it properly, thus it was imperative for him to know how to care for his shield.
In order to keep their shields in good condition the Roman soldier was given a daily regime to perform to care for it, each morning he would awaken and reach for his shield and a small vial of oil he would then saturate a small rag and begin to rub the oil into the leather portion of his shield working this ointment into the leather kept it soft and pliable.
To ignore this daily application of oil and to let his shield go without this required kind of care was to invite death. Because the shield was made of leather if it was not cared for in this manner it would become dry, brittle and cracked, falling apart in the heat of a battle, certain death in the heat of a battle.
If the soldier wanted to live a long life, he would be sure to apply the oil each and every day to keep his shield in tiptop condition.
Because the shield is representative of our faith, this tells us that our faith, like this shield in Paul’s illustration needs frequent anointing of the Holy Spirit.
Without a fresh touch of the Holy Spirits power on your life, your faith will become hard, stiff, and brittle. If you ignore your faith and allow it to go undeveloped and never seek a fresh anointing of the Spirit of God to come upon your life, your faith will not be soft, pliable, and supple enough to stand up under an attack. A faith that is ignored almost always breaks and falls to pieces when an attack comes.
Many Christians have made the terrible mistake of thinking they could live their Christian lives on the steam of their past experiences. Thank God for these experiences, but we can never rest on the workings of the past.
People who emphasize the life of faith are often accused of walking in a life of presumption, instead of walking in faith. The worst presumption one can walk in is when a believer ceases to develop his or her faith, and fails to keep their faith freshly anointed with the Holy Spirits presence and power, and then tries to move in Power.
Don’t assume that your faith is in tiptop shape rather, treating it as thought it needs a fresh anointing all the time. This way you will always do what is necessary to keep your faith alive, active, and well.
Another reason that the shield of a Roman soldier was made out of leather was because before each battle the soldier would take his shield and soak it in water leaving it there until it was completely saturated with water. What was the purpose of this water?
The enemy shot flaming arrows at the Roman soldiers the wet shield would extinguish these arrows on contact thus giving the soldier the upper hand always to put out the enemies fire!
More over when one keeps his or her faith dipped into the “ water of the Word” “Ephesians 5:26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,” this water has the power to extinguish the fire of the adversary.
In order to keep our “Shield of Faith” in top condition we must give serious thought to the condition of our “Shield of Faith”. We must make certain that the Holy Spirit is anointing our lives in a fresh way; we must saturate our faith with the water of the Word.
A Word saturated faith will always extinguish the devils attacks!