The Shield of Faith in Ephesians 6:16

The Shield of Faith Ephesians 6:16

Opening Reading: Ephesians 6:10-16 Introduction: A quote from Charles Spurgeon from his sermon on the Shield of Faith (on bulletin). Up to this point we have studied the belt of truth , the breastplate of righteousness , and the shoes which represents the readiness given by the gospel of peace .

1. In all circumstances (ESV)/ Above all (KJV)/ In addition to all (NIV). This isn t an easy phrase to translate from the original Greek. In the ESV the idea expressed is that whatever circumstances you find yourself in be ready to pick up the shield of faith , the helmet of truth , and the sword of the Spirit . In the KJV we have the translation above all ; which gives the idea that what s going to be said about the shield of faith , the helmet of truth , and the sword of the Spirit is of greater importance than what preceded it.

In the NIV we have the translation in addition to all. This gives the idea that if you have put on all the pieces of God s armour previously mentioned, you should be as diligent to use the items that will now be discussed as well. Regardless of which of these three translations you prefer, what s coming next is of great importance. 2. take up In verses 14-15 we were commanded to put on the items described, but in verses 16-17 we re told to take up the items.

David Guzik on the two categories of armour in Eph. 6:13-17: Eph. 6:13-14 tells us of armour to have. Some of the armour we must wear all the time and have as a standing foundation. Therefore having comes first. We must be rooted in the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, and the combat boots of the gospel. Yet now Paul will deal with aspects of the armour that we are to take at the necessary moments of spiritual warfare and opportunity .

3. The shield, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts : Vincent s Word Studies describes the following shield: The shield here described is that of heavy infantry; a large, oblong shield, four by two and a half feet, and sometimes curved on the inner side . A Roman Scutum

How did this shield protect anybody from thousands of arrows raining upon them? Well, the Roman soldiers would march in formation towards their enemies, while they sent thousands of arrows towards them, and to counter this they would take a formation called the Testudo (meaning tortoise).

According to Joseph Benson the Testudo countered flaming arrows by covering the shields in brass or iron, so that the flaming arrows would be ineffectual. If the Roman formation held their position and kept themselves from panicking, while fire was raining from the sky, victory was all but guaranteed. The Spartan s (who weren t Romans) are credited to have said, concerning their shields, Come back with your shield - or on it .

4. Faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one : Is the faith spoken of here saving faith, or the faith we exercise as Christians on a daily basis? In this case I d have to say that it describes the faith we exercise daily; while recognizing that we can t exercise such faith without God giving us the gift of saving faith (see Acts 13:48). What exactly are the flaming darts that Satan lobs at us? Nobody can give you a definitive answer on that; but since faith is the remedy it must be anything that can cause us to doubt God s goodness.

The point of the passage isnt to give us great detail about all of Satan s strategies; but rather to remind us that there will be times in our life when we are tempted to cease from trusting the Lord and perhaps place our faith elsewhere; and when that happens, we need to pick up the shield of faith (Psalm 23:4). Conclusion: You need the church around you to effectively extinguish the fiery darts of the evil one . Closing Promise of God: John 6:37