We have been studying each piece of the whole armor of God from Eph 6:13-18. We have studied the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, and the girdle of truth. Tonight, we are going to study the shield of faith, Eph 6:16. The shield of faith is defensive armor “wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.” A dart is a pointed missile weapon usually thrown by the hand. Darts are not javelins; they are shorter and often have fletching. They are not arrows; they are not shot from a bow. They can be very small and projected by a blowgun.
The devil’s darts are fiery [see Is 14:29, a fiery flying serpent; Dan 3:6, a burning fiery furnace; 1 Pet 4:12, the fiery trial]. They are intended to take you out. Faith quenches the fiery darts of the wicked. To quench the fiery darts of the wicked, we must have:
Faith in God’s words – Prov 30:5 – when you trust in God through the words of God, he is your shield. You cannot stand without reading and believing the words of God. You have no shield against the devil when you don’t read and believe his words. I read a book entitled, Gay Girl, Good God, by Jackie Hill Perry, B&H Publishing Group, copyright 2018. She grew up in church. But sin distorted the word of God and she took a terrible detour into sin. Her unbelief in God’s words reinforced her belief that she was made the way she was. However, when she believed the words of God, everything changed. She said, “I received Christ by faith in His gospel. And it was in and through His gospel that I saw God. In my seeing God, through the eyes of faith, illuminated and bright with the gospel’s light, sin could not compare to the King of Glory. I’d laid eyes on Someone worth dying for because His death had both lifted my own and ensured that I would be able to die to all that kept me from life,” [p. 104]. When her faith in the words of God was restored, she saw who God really was and she saw what she had become. God didn’t make her that way; sin did. Yet God received her where she was and transformed into what he had always intended for her to be. By faith, she quenched the fiery dart of the devil’s deception. By faith she started living.
Faith in God – Ps 28:7 – Faith to believe God will protect you. In the book, Taming the Nueces Strip, by George Durham, University of Texas Press, copyright 1962, there’s an episode between Sarge Orrill and George Durham. Captain McNelly had left his Rangers to recuperate from a bout with his consumption. His Rangers were beginning to break up because he had been gone for a while and they didn’t know if and when he would return. George was thinking about moving on and wanted to see what Sarge was going to do. Sarge said he was waiting on Captain McNelly to return. He assured George that Captain would be back to settle scores with cattle rustlers and a betrayer. He’d known McNelly for more than fifteen years and was counting on him. Sure enough Captain returned and the scores were settled. If men can trust men in a battle, can’t we trust the Lord in our spiritual warfare? God is more trustworthy than a man. God said, “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man,” [Ps 118:8]. We can most assuredly trust God. He will never leave thee nor forsake thee. He will be there to protect in every spiritual battle you encounter with the devil. But you must believe him.
Conclusion: Faith is the victory in our warfare [1 Jn 5:4]. So, just keep fighting. We are assured the victory in 1 Cor 15:57-58. The devil cannot win unless you let him. Don’t let down your shield.