“THE SHIELD OF FAITH”
“THE SHIELD OF FAITH”
“Stand
therefore, having your loins girt about with
truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet
shod with
the preparation of the gospel of peace;
above
all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able
to quench
all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of
salvation, and
the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:” (Ephesians 6:14-17)
Note:
‘quench’
means to cool; put out a fire with water; extinguish a flame.
Have
Christians failed to notice the ‘ABOVE ALL’ when putting
on the
shield faith?
Faith is
like a car’s petrol tank needing to be
constantly re-filled.
Paul says “…
faith COMETH by
hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17)
…
and that means the more we hear, read, study, dwell and meditate on the
words
of God, the Christian’s faith petrol tank turns from a shield of
failure into a
shield of faith.
What is
‘cometh’?
Why not
just say ‘comes’ like the versions of the NKJV,
Good News, NIV and NASB etc?
The
difference is ‘cometh’ is continuous,
all the time with no breaks or gaps … while ‘comes’ is only
continual,
not all the time … with gaps and pauses … it comes and goes.
What
causes these breaks in
faith for a Christian?
Put
it this way … suppose a man makes a top-flight football team and says
“Well
that’s it! I’ve made it! I don’t need to train anymore! My diet can now
be
pies, cakes, lollies and so on! I can go out late at night and party!”
Yeh!
Right! … NO!
And
so it is for the Christian … late nights, over eating, bad diet … and worldly
entertainment will rob the Christian and weaken his shield of
faith.
For
hundreds
of years Christians stood firm in their oppositions to all forms of
worldly
entertainment … recognizing them for what they were … village
fairs,
wandering minstrels, dancing, stage plays and so on … a retreat
and a hiding
place from their accountability toward God … something to numb
their
conscience and mind. They knew of the destructive effect of these
activities on
their shield of faith.
Indeed,
the saints of old were strenuous in their
endeavours …
“This book
of the law shall not depart out of
thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, …
for then
thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt
have good
success.” (Joshua 1:8)
But his delight
is in the law of the LORD;
and in his law doth he meditate day and night. (Psalm 1:2)
“I will meditate
in thy precepts, and have
respect unto thy ways. I will delight myself in thy statutes: I
will
not forget thy word.” (Psalm 119:15-16)
My hands
also will I lift up unto thy
commandments, which I have loved; and I will meditate
in thy
statutes. Psalm 119:48
“Meditate
upon these things; give thyself WHOLLY
to them;” (1 Timothy 4:15)
WHAT DO
DOCTORS SAY?
Doctors
say “Problems of the body are caused by two
things … toxicity and deficiency” … that is … you need
more of
this and less of that.
For the
Christian this is less of the worldly
entertainment and more of the word.
Dear
Reader, are you continuously delighted of the
things of God? Is it a joy to be meditating day and night on the words
of God
as the saints of old? Is it a bridge too far?
Christians
find it difficult … almost impossible …
having watched endless hours of TV over the years to re-capture their
escaped
mind with imaginations that exalt themselves higher than the knowledge
of God …
with images that can stay in the mind for hours, days, weeks, months
and years!
In
the common language it’s called breaking bad
habits … sins for Christians.
Indeed
the saints of old were told … “ … ye
shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before
you, and destroy
all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images,
and quite pluck
down all their high places:
(Numbers
33:52)
Paul sums
it up beautifully as follows … “Casting
down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against
the
knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to
the
obedience of Christ; And having in a readiness to revenge all
disobedience,
when your obedience is fulfilled.” (2 Corinthians 10:5-6).
Note: A cast
sheep does not get up again … and neither should imaginations.
Do
Christians want to be castaways?
Of
course not! Paul says he cast under … what? … his body
lest he be
a castaway (1 Corinthians 9:27) … he put aside all forms of seemingly
harmless worldly entertainment that excited his flesh and numbed
his mind. He’s been to heaven and wanted to return … he knew the
glories
that awaited him (2 Corinthians 12:2-3).
Dear
Reader, self-examination is the duty of all Christians (1
Corinthians
11:28) such that shields of faith are continuously maintained and do
not become
shields of failure (Romans 12:2).
September
2023
www.
AustralianBibleMinistries
.com
www.AustralianBibleMinistries.com
