A Spiritual Fire Extinguisher

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 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.”

Ephesians 6:10-17

 

The Shield of Faith is part of the Armor of God.

So what does it do?

It does two things.

First it guards and second it fortifies.

So how does it guard?

Well, faith will protect your spiritual life from the fiery darts of unbelief targeted at you by the enemy. Those fiery darts can come at us as doubt, fear, innuendo, gossip, anger, divisiveness and a host of other evil tipped arrows.

Regardless of their vile nature and destructive mission they will

miss their target when we take up the shield of faith.

And how does it fortify?

When my faith is joined with the faith of other believers it makes an impenetrable fortress.

Like the Roman soldiers who created a formidable defense when they strategically positioned their shields to protect not only themselves but their fellow soldiers, we turn back those fiery darts and make them of no effect when together we “…take up the shield of faith,”  

The army that does not protect one another is the army that leaves

itself vulnerable and easy prey.

We are to strengthen and encourage one another in the faith.  

I encouraged you yesterday to be certain your shield was up.

Do this for yourself, but do it for your brothers and sisters in Christ as well!