Shield of Faith

Rev Gideon Lee

When we say shield we often think about the armour of God. Let us read from the book of Ephesians.

Ephesians 6:10-16

The Whole Armor of God

10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.

The shield of faith. But before that I want to point out a few things with regards to the armour of God. First we are in a battle. Whether you feel like I'm in a battle or not you're in a spiritual battle the day you accepted Jesus as your Saviour. We are all in a battle and we want to be an effective soldier. The victory has already been won for us at the cross but we want to press on. I pray that we will be good and effective soldiers. The first thing is that we need to put on the full armour of God.

We learnt this in cell. How many of you attend cell? It's the place where we go deep. Where the rubber meets the road. We study the Bible. This week we did Jehovah Mekadesh. The Lord who sanctifies.

We need to wear the full armour. You cannot say you just want to put on your helmet because you look cool. I don't like to wear a hat because it messes with my hair. But I cannot say I go to battle without my helmet. I'll get a head shot like in those shoot-em video games. We need the full armour.

We are in constant battle. How many of you have fiery darts thrown at you often? Even this morning when coming to church? You need to pick up the shield of faith.

First and foremost gird yourself with the belt of truth. What is this truth? Truth that comes from the word of God. With what God says. The belt those days were leather belts. It may not be nice looking but it's important because it holds up the rest of the armour. And when you are tired you can rest your shield on it and also place your sword.

Then it's the breastplate of righteousness. The enemy likes to condemn us. You have sin, you don't deserve his love but God says put on the breastplate of righteousness and it covers your back too. And all your vital organs like your heart and lungs. Not our own righteousness but his imputed righteousness.

The breastplate is made of bronze. They shine the bronze so nicely that the sun rays bounce off the armour and blinds the enemy. You'll be afraid to face them.

Then the Bible says put on your boots. It's not like your sandals and snickers. It covers your entire feet made of bronze. It covers up to your knees. I read their boots has a 3 inch spike. It will not slip on slippery ground. And it is also a weapon when they kick the enemy.

I love army stuff. In my house there is a room for some of those stuff. In the army everything is provided for you. Everything. They will have a chop to show its provided by the government. Hak Kerajaan Malaysia. And you can get replacements if they are worned out.

But I like their boots. It's front is like those construction boots. It is protected. It's the kind of boots that you wear as you march for God.  

And then the Bible says wear your shield of faith. So that you can be protected from the fiery darts of the enemy. The spiritual armour we put on is something we need everyday.

Let me tell you a little bit about the shield. It's made from leather. It's not just one piece but it's six layers. And it's not easy to be penetrated. It's the same word oblong. It also means a door. The shield is as big as a door and it's oblong in shaped and it's six layers of leather.

As we pick it up we need to understand where does our faith comes from? Faith comes from hearing the word of God. We need to first and foremost learn how to grow our faith.

Each one of us is given a measure of faith. A shield is custom made to the individual soldier. If Joshua is a Roman soldier I cannot give him a tiny shield. Joshua being Joshua needs a shield that is big enough so that he is protected.

Danny. Stand up Danny. If he was a Roman soldier I cannot give him a shield that is taller than him. It'll be too big for him. God has given us a measure of faith according to the individual.

The problem is not we do not have faith. The problem is we don't exercise our faith.

One day it has not been raining in this country for the last 6 months. Situation was dire and the pastor say come to prayer meeting and we will pray for rain. Everybody say they'll come. Wednesday night the church was full. All came except everyone came but only one brought an umbrella. They came to pray for rain. We don't put our faith into action. We gotta exercise our faith.

19th December are we going to bring our friends? Transfer your yes into action.

The shield is useless if it's on the floor or leave it at home. Your faith is useless if you don't exercise it. Your faith comes from Jesus. He's the way. It's by hearing the word of God. You may ask what about reading the word of God? It does help but if you read the word of God aloud and you hear what you read it makes a lot of difference. If your quiet time is too quiet, can you take your Bible and read aloud? When you do that our faith increases.

Even when you are driving, put all the Christian tapes and good sermons on. Hear the word of God and Christian songs. To increase your faith hear the word of God.

It's not whether we have faith or not, the most important is are we exercising our faith. That's how we grow our faith. Are we doing that church? Or is our faith like the stock market.

In order to maintain the shield, they need to apply oil on the leather. When it's dry it becomes brittle. If you have leather sofa, you'll need to apply leather oil so that it remains supple. If not it wrinkles. Like your shoes. To maintain their shield they apply some oil. Some soldier soak their shield in water and the leather absorbs all the water. The shield then becomes heavy, and when they go into battle, the fiery darts are distinguished because of the water.

Sometimes we get discouraged when things don't go the way we want them. So it's important you maintain your faith. You only so it one way.

Ephesians 5:22-26

Marriage-Christ and the Church

22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. 24 Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word,

Have you soak your shield in the word of God? Soak your faith in God's presence. What are you spending your most time on? Your work? Your hobbies? That's where you are soaking your faith on. Are we soaking our faith in his presence.

Last but not least, how many of you feel so tired you cannot lift your shield?

Here's the secret. The shield is made with a hinge. When the soldier face the enemy, the soldier link their hinge so that they form a barricade. This manoeuvre is called the Roman testudo, or the tortoise. It becomes almost impossible to attack. They were hinged to one another. If you hold it on your own you'll be tired.

We need to learn to hinge on one another. We are not in this battle alone. When we hinge our faith on one another we can do it. Support one another. In church we need to do this. We are all not alone.  If you go through something and you tell me we have a prayer group and we stand with you. You are not alone when you go through a problem. We go through together as a body of believers. But some of us want to be a Rambo. You know Rambo? We go solo.

That shield also becomes a weapon. How many of you see Captain America? What is his weapon? He has his shield. He sometimes use his shield as a weapon. How do we use our faith as a weapon? Sometimes the devil come and tell you you are a sinner but our shield is that Yes, we are a sinner but a forgiven one by Jesus. Remember when Jesus was in the dessert? How he was tempted? But Jesus give it to the devil with the word of God.

How many of you are exercising your faith? How many of you maintain your shield? How many of you hinge your shield? If we don't we become as easy prey for the devil.

The Bible says put on the full armour of God and after this is to stand firm and to resist. Too often the enemy comes and push us around. 

We are all in a war. Whether you like it or not. Let's be effective soldiers.