The Shield of Faith

"Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked." (Eph.6:16)

It is seen in verse 11 that the whole armour is essential for protection of the Christian in the evil day, but the Apostle urges that above all the shield of faith must be taken. This is so because it is able to quench all fiery darts. It is the first arm of defence for all parts of the body; and is an extra defence for the already protected head (helmet) and heart (breastplate). The shield is worn on the arm of the warrior, and therefore could easily be laid aside, as it is not fastened to the person like the helmet or breastplate. The warrior could think within himself "there is no foe in sight today, and in any case I am protected by my other armour," and lay the shield aside and be taken by surprise.

The shield is for defence, not offence, it quenches all the darts. Darts! Quite small things are liable to overthrow the warrior. The picture is not a short, sharp, stand‑up fight against a visible foe. (At times one wishes it were so!) The possibility of defeat is not depicted as in battle, but in ambush.

The all‑protecting shield is faith . It is not hope —hope concerns the future. It is not love —love concerns our position before others. The picture is one of protection for ourselves, now. The shield is not works —if it were works the Adversary would soon defeat us. He would not need to take us by surprise if that were the case. He would tell us that we were not performing the true works, or that we were not doing enough works, or not doing them efficiently.

What, then, are the darts? Instead of darts, let us read it as "doubts;" for small darts, little doubts, may easily wear down the resistance of the soldier and cause him to give up the fray. (The soldier might say to himself that he would he were doing real fighting, real campaigning, rather than having to defend against these trivial things.) If the Christian war were of this kind there would be numerous soldiers of the cross, but, because the weapon that may defeat them is so small, the Christian army is a small one.

The Psalmist says: "His truth shall be thy shield and buckler ." (Psa.91:4) What is the connection between faith as a shield and truth as a shield? The link between the two is seen in Paul’s reasoning in Rom.10:16‑17: "Lord, who hath believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. " First the hearing of the word, and then faith in it. In Hebrews he tells of those to whom the word preached did not profit, "not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. " (Heb.4:2) Faith, then, is useless except it be exercised in truth, and truth is profitless unless it be accepted in faith.

What are the doubts or darts against which the shield of faith is so complete protection? Our doubts are not those which disturb the agnostic mind, or such doctrines as the mortality of the soul, or resurrection, or those mentioned in Heb.6:1‑2. The doubts which assail the member of Christ are about those truths concerning the church which Paul is in this Ephesian epistle including in his description of the "hope of his calling. " (Eph.1:18) Paul is writing to a church which is well acquainted with the first principles of Christian doctrine, and he writes that they may better comprehend the glories which are reserved for the sons of God. These are the truths of which doubts dart at us. The Adversary does not concern himself about the Church’s beliefs, providing he can induce them to misunderstand or undervalue their standing in Christ.

How does the dart come? Should you lay aside the shield of faith the Adversary will suggest to you that the riches of Ephesians are not written to you; or, that although you may believe them as promises to you, there is a very big "if " to remember (and he will give you chapter and verse for the "if" ); or that the promises of Ephesians are overstatements, and that to get the Apostle’s true idea one must reduce those promises to proper proportions; or that to assume that the promises of future glory are for you is an unworthy ambition. So the dart flies at us if we forget or neglect the shield. The true Church’s trial of faith is to ardently believe that the Ephesian glories are for them.

Read Eph.1:7; "in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. " No dart assails us in this, for we believe that we have this free salvation. But when we read verses 4 and 5: "according as He hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will ," our doubts may come. Do we believe verses 4 and 5 as truly as we believe verse 7? The truth that God foreknew his people, that we were chosen in him before we had done ill or good is so staggering that it is clearly beyond the mind of man to concoct; and what an answer to him who says that our standing in the body of Christ is largely a matter of works. No salvation‑by‑works mind ever dreamed of foreknowledge! But the Adversary will suggest that only pride will assume that we are chosen in him so long ago. And if you reply in the words of faith, "It is written," he may then say that the words may refer to so‑and‑so, but not you—you could not reach to that great height! Again the answer is "It is written." Is this great truth a shield? It is; many doubts are shattered by this.

Also reading the words of Eph.2:1‑3, we feel like writing our own names against these verses in the margin, because they so aptly describe what we know of ourselves. We would not dispute them; but when we read further to the end of the chapter doubts arise in our minds. The temple, the habitation of God, the citizenship, the equal standing we have even with Paul himself causes us to wonder. The doubt may say to us "You cannot raise yourself to that level, the Apostle’s pen has run away with him, and to get the proper view you must reduce it to your own plane." The question is: Do we as heartily believe the standing we now have in Christ as the position we had in Adam? The defence against these doubts of mind is simply faith. We are asked to accept this wonderful grace of God. That is all. Therefore, take the shield of faith and quench the darts.

But, we may reason, surely we must do something to attain or merit this great grace. Be careful! That is also a dart! This "doing" is a well‑tried and often successful device of the Adversary. He has always said to all the saints—"earn it, earn it." Thus, unbelief is one dart and works is another. (As though these heights of glory could ever be earned!) Let us realise that the acceptance of these promises and present standing in wholehearted faith is a far greater deed than all works.

How is the shield to be used to ward off the fiery dart? The princely leader of faith gives us, by example, the only right means of defence. The first recorded use by our Lord of the shield of faith was immediately after his baptism at the temptation. He used it by saying to the tempter "It is written;" and three times He so used it, and the Devil left him. He saw that our Lord made no attempt to reason with him, or in any way to argue the pros and cons of the temptation but relied solely upon what was already written in the Word of God. In our Lord’s closing moments on the cross He is still found quoting Scripture to himself for his own defence. The written word is the only defence we have, and is also the only reply to Satan. Let us not attempt to fight the foe—all we need do is defend ourselves in faith, for there is an appointed day for his removal.

After the Apostle has detailed the armour in Eph.6 he urges praying always for oneself and one’s fellows. Surely the prayer should be "Lord, increase our faith ." (Luke 17:5) That prayer answered will mean that we shall secure the victory that overcometh the world, our faith.

BJD