Thank you, Carol. If I'm not
deceiving myself, all that thrills my soul is Jesus. He is more than life to me and
the fairest of 10,000 in my blessed Lord, I see. Ephesians chapter six. I want
to read the 16th verse. I'm going to attempt to preach
on the shield of faith. And I hope this will be a blessing
to all of us. Ephesians chapter 6, verse 16,
Paul writes, above all, don't miss that, above all, taking
the shield of faith wherewith you shall be able to
quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. Now what does Paul
mean when he says above all taking the shield of faith? Is he saying
that faith is more important than these other pieces of armor? No. He's not saying that at all. Is he saying faith is more important
than the truth? Having your loins girt with truth?
Obviously not. You can't have faith if your
loins are not girt with truth. Is he saying faith is more important
than that breastplate of righteousness? the righteousness of Jesus Christ
as my own personal righteousness before God? Why? Faith's not
important. More important than that? That's
what faith believes. Is he saying faith is more important
than having your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel
of peace? Absolutely not. Faith is relying on the gospel
of peace. That's faith's readiness. Is
he saying that faith is more important than the helmet of
salvation? Certainly not. If you're saved,
you have faith. You can't say that faith is more
important than the great truth of salvation being of the Lord
and salvation being by grace. Is he saying faith is more important
than the sword of the spirit? Absolutely not. Faith comes from
the word of God. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing
by the word of God. All six of these pieces of the
Christian armor are of equal importance and they all go together. You can't have one of them or
five of them. You either have all six of them
or you don't have them at all. Now, I was listening to a preacher
preach on these pieces of the Christian armor and he says they're
provided for the believer so they can live the victorious
Christian life. Now, the man who said that doesn't
understand anything about the Christian armor and my thought
is I would like to say to him, shame on you. You're putting
all the emphasis on how somebody's living and keeping them from
looking to the Lord Jesus Christ. Every believer has every piece
of this glorious armor and we're to put it on constantly as we
put on the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is this armor and all
of these pieces of armor are aspects of what God does for
the believer. He gives him the truth. He gives
him righteousness. He saves him by the gospel of
peace. He has the shield of faith. He has the shoes of the gospel. He has the sword of the spirit.
Every believer has these blessed pieces of armor provided by God
and they're all of equal importance. They cannot be separated. Well,
what is he saying then when he says, above all, take the shield
of faith? Now, this word shield is different
than the word that is generally translated shield. When you think
of shield, you think of something about that big to ward off blows
and so on. But this is not the shield he
was speaking of. The shield that is used here
was about as big as a door. And as a matter of fact, the
word is taken from the word door. Now, this is a shield made of
wood and brass. It was about as big as a door.
And when you were coming upon a city or if you were coming
upon an army where there would be archers shooting their arrows
in the air, you would get behind this shield and every part of
you would be protected. Now, if you had archers shooting
at you, would you want a little small shield that you could try
to figure out where the air was coming, block it, or would you
want to be completely behind a big shield to where no archer
could get at you? Now, this is what this is talking
about. This shield would protect the
entire body. The soldier could get completely
behind this shield for his protection. The belt, the breastplate, the
shoes, the sword, would all be behind this large shield. And it is only by this shield
that we can be protected from the arsenal of the fiery darts
of the wicked one. Now, these are comprehended by
John when he says, all that's of the world, the lust of the
flesh. And what a temptation that can
be. We have a fallen, sinful nature. The lust of the flesh. How many different ways can those
fiery darts be fired at you? The lust of the eyes. That's
being more concerned about what men think. That's keeping up
with the Joneses. That's wanting to be popular.
That's wanting to be conformed to this world so you'd be loved
by the world. Being more concerned about what
men think than God thinks. the pride of life, self-righteousness. That's what that's referenced
to. Looking to yourself rather than Christ. What a temptation
that is. Looking to yourself rather than Christ. That's perhaps
the biggest temptation a believer ever is called upon to bear. Well, the only thing that'll
protect us from these fiery darts is the shield of faith. And let me say this about the
shield of faith. This is not talking about my
faith subjectively. You know, my subjective faith,
sometimes it seems strong, sometimes it seems weak, sometimes it seems
non-existent. You know, the Lord said to his
disciples, where is your faith? You're not practicing at all
right now, O ye of little faith. And my shield is not made of
my subjective faith, but this is talking about the objective
faith of the gospel. Not your faith, the faith. The faith of the gospel. You see, our subjective faith
is subject to so much change. So many ups, so many downs, and
I don't want that as my shield. I want the faith. The gospel is actually called
the hearing of faith. It's called the one faith and
the common faith. that every believer possesses,
the faith of God's elect. Now, in thinking about this thing
of faith, remember, this is not a reference to your or my subjective
faith, although we have faith, but it's talking about the faith.
Now, remember this about your faith, and I hope this will be
helpful. The strength or the weakness of your faith has absolutely
no bearing on your salvation. It's the object of your faith,
the Lord Jesus Christ, not the strength of your faith or the
weakness of your faith, but the object of your faith that saves. I love what The Philippian jailer
asked when he said, sirs, what must I do to be saved? I love
the simplicity of the answer. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Believe on the Lord. He is the
Lord. That means He's the one who controls everything. He's
the Lord of creation. He's the Lord of providence.
He controls everything that happens in time. He's the Lord of salvation. He can will your salvation, and
He does will the salvation of everybody He saves. He's the
Lord. He's Jesus. That's His name is
Savior. Thou shalt call His name Jesus,
for He shall save His people from their sins. He's the Christ. He's God's prophet. He brings
God's Word. He is the Word of God. He's God's
priest. He brings His own blood, unlike
those Old Testament priests who brought the blood of animals.
He brings His own blood that always is successful and presents
it to the Father. He's God's King. His will actually
is done, and He's got the authority to cause you to be saved. Now,
this is who we believe on, the Lord Jesus Christ. Truly, faith is in Christ alone. Now, why does the Lord say several
times in the New Testament, thy faith has saved thee? I can answer
that question. Because faith looks to Christ
alone and gives him all the glory. Now, if you have a kind of faith
that doesn't look to him alone at all times, it's not saving
faith. That's not the faith that's in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
faith in yourself. That's faith in your experience.
That's faith in your intentions. That's faith in your works. That
kind of faith is not saving faith at all. Faith is always alone. Faith looks only to Christ. And if the Lord causes me to
live 90 years, by his grace, I'm going to be looking to Christ
alone. Not Christ and anything. Now
that is faith alone. And it's the objective truth
of the faith chosen in Christ, redeemed by Christ, justified
by Christ, called by Christ, regenerated by the Spirit of
Christ, preserved in Christ Jesus, glorified in Christ. I think
of what the Lord prayed for Peter. He said, Peter, I prayed for
you. that your faith fail not. Now, Peter failed. Peter made
a mess of things. Peter denied any connection with
the Lord Jesus Christ. And I guarantee you, at that
time, he thought, after this took place, I'm not saved. I
couldn't be saved. There's no way I could be saved
and do the things that I did. And if you would have asked Peter,
Peter, do you believe you're saved? I believe he would have
said, probably not. I doubt it. But do you know there
was no time when Peter ceased to believe that Jesus was and
is the Christ, the son of the living God. Let me remind you,
faith doesn't have anything to do with what you believe about
yourself. It has wholly to do with what you believe concerning
him, his person and his work. It's the objective faith of the
gospel that is our shield. Not my subjective faith, not
the strength of my faith or the weakness. No, it's the faith
of the gospel. Now the reason he says above
all things, take the shield of faith, is that faith has something
to do with grace. Always. It is the saving grace. Now what do you mean by that?
Well, Paul put it this way in Philippians chapter 2, verse
8. I mean, in Ephesians chapter 2, verse 8, for by grace are
you saved. But what's it say next? Through
faith. And that, that faith, it's not
of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. Let me read this passage from
Romans chapter 4. Beginning in verse 13, Paul says, for the
promise that he should be the heir of the world was not to
Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness
of faith. For they which are of the law
be heirs if you are made An heir because of what you do. Salvation
dependent upon what you do in some way. That's what law means.
Faith is made void. It's made meaningless. And the
promise made of none effect because the law worketh wrath. That's
all it does. For where no law is, there's
no transgression. Therefore it is of faith. What's a faith salvation? It
is a faith that it might be by grace. Now the only way salvation
can be truly all of grace if it comes only through faith. Therefore it is a faith that
it might be by grace to the end that the promise might be sure
to all the seed. Not to that only which is of
the law or the Jews, but also to that which is the faith of
Abraham, who is the father of us all. Now, the only way salvation
can be sure, the only way the promise is sure to come to all
the seed is if salvation is all of grace. And the only way salvation
is all of grace is if salvation comes through faith and not of
works. Are believers eternally secure If salvation is by grace, they
are. You see, faith is the grace of salvation. By grace he is
saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It's the gift
of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Now, I want
to stay here in Romans 4 for just a moment. Paul says, what
shall we say, then, that Abraham, our father, as pertaining to
the flesh, hath found? How about Abraham? How was he
saved? For if Abraham were justified
by works, he hath whereof to glory, but not before God. You see, if Abraham was saved
by works, that means God was paying him salvation. He was
paying him for deeds performed, and that shall never be. If Abraham
were justified by works, he'd have something to glory in. Not
before God. For what saith the scripture,
Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness. Now, I hear this is a quotation
from Genesis chapter 15, verse 6. God said, look at the stars,
Abraham. Can you count them? No. So shall
thy seed be. Abraham didn't have any seed
at that time. He didn't have any descendants. He didn't have
any children. He didn't have the possibility of having any
children. But he believed what God said with absolutely no evidence
but the naked word of God. He believed God was true and
he believed what God said and it was counted to him for righteousness. Now does that mean that the act
of faith is counted for righteousness? No. the righteousness of Jesus
Christ given to the believer is counted for righteousness. Faith believes that. Faith believes
and relies upon Christ's righteousness that it's given to every believer
through the gospel. Now, he goes on to say, verse
4, now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace
but of debt. Now, what that means is is if
any part of my salvation, in any way, to any degree, is ultimately
dependent upon me doing anything. I don't care what you put in
there. If it's dependent upon me doing anything, that means
if I'm saved, God is paying me for deeds done. It's not a gift, it's Him paying
for me, God is obligated to me to render payment to me for what
I have done. He owes me salvation. Now that's
what work says. Now to him that worketh is the
reward, salvation, not reckoned of grace, but of debt. God owing it to him. But, and
this is one of my favorite verses in the but to him that worketh
not. Now, are you convinced that insofar
as your case goes, if salvation is dependent upon anything you
do, there is no hope for you? To him that worketh not. You
know you cannot be saved by your works, but to him that worketh
not, but believeth, they're safe. but believeth on him that justifieth
the ungodly. To him that worketh not, but
believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly. Do you believe on
him that justifieth the ungodly? Do you believe that what Christ
has done is all that's needed to make you just before God,
where God would declare that you're just, you're righteous,
your sin has been paid for, and now God can be just and justify
you, even though you're ungodly in and of yourself. Do you believe
that? My dear friend, that's what faith is. To him that worketh
not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith
is counted for righteousness. Now, it works like this. I am utterly righteous in God's
sight, and my faith is counted as righteousness. Now, that doesn't
mean my faith is my righteousness before God. Let me remind you,
faith didn't die for your sins. Christ did. Faith didn't obey
the law for you. Christ did. Faith was not raised
from the dead for you. Christ was. That's what faith
believes. to him that worketh not, but
believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted
for righteousness. And that's the only thing that'll
quench those fiery darts, knowing that you're justified by what
Christ has done for you. Now, I would like to look at
another passage of scripture in Hebrews chapter 11. This is
the great chapter on faith. And we read beginning in verse
one, now faith, Remember, above all things, take the shield of
faith. That's the objective faith of the gospel. Now, faith is
the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not
seen. Now, I have a hope. Hope's not
something you see, but you hope for it. I have a hope that on
judgment day, God is going to say to me, well done. thou good and faithful servant."
I have a hope that I'm going to hear those words. Now somebody
says, do you have that high an opinion of yourself that you
think he's going to say that to you? Well, I've got that high
opinion of Christ. And I believe that what Christ
did merits the well done thou good and faithful servant. And
I'm in him. Faith is the substance. That's
the substance of things hoped for. My faith apprehends the
Lord Jesus Christ and relies on him. And next he says it's
the evidence of things not seen. I don't have any access to the
Lamb's Book of Life. I can't see my name recorded
there. I don't have any physical, tangible evidence that I'm in
there. I can't say, I can prove to you
that my name's in the Lamb's Book of Life. I can prove to
you that I'm one of the elect, and I know I am. How do you know? Because I believe the gospel.
I look to Christ only, and that's what God's elect do. I cannot
see that I stand before God absolutely just, without sin. That's what
justification is, sinlessness. You've never sinned. You stand
before God, holy, perfect, perfectly righteous before the law of God.
Now, I can't see that, but I know I am. How? Faith is the evidence
of things hoped for. The evidence that I'm justified
is that I believe the gospel. I really do. I really believe
that Jesus Christ is my righteousness before God. I can't see that
I'm wholly unblameable and unapprovable in his sight, but I know I am
because I believe the gospel. Faith is the evidence of things
not seen. I believe that Jesus of Nazareth
is the Christ, the son of the living God. and that he is able
to present me faultless before the presence of his glory with
exceeding joy. I love David's words, his dying
words in 2 Samuel chapter 23. He said, although my house, this
is in the fifth verse, although my house be not so with God. Now he, no doubt, was speaking
to his family. He had a family of rebels. A
family of people who had no love for God. A family of people who
were his own enemies and sought to destroy him. His house was
a mess. And not only was his house, his
children, his wives a mess. He's talking about this house.
This body, although this body, this house that I'm living in,
this body, this earthly tent is not so with God. He was aware
of sinfulness and weakness right up to the end. Although my house
be not so with God. Yet, in spite of that, he hath
made with me everlasting covenant ordered in all things and sure
no way this is gonna go wrong I can't do anything to mess it
up and this is all my salvation this is it this is all my desire
I don't desire anything else and this is all my salvation
And then he ends that statement with this curious statement,
though he maketh it not to grow. Now, I want to grow in grace.
I want to grow in the knowledge of the Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ. I want to grow in the fruit of God, the Holy Spirit.
I want to grow. So what does David mean when
he says, though he make it, this salvation, this everlasting covenant
ordered in all things and sure. What do you mean? Make it not
to grow. It can't grow, it's already complete.
It can't become bigger, it can't become better. That's what every
believer is in the Lord Jesus Christ, although my house be
not so with God yet. In spite of that, he hath made
with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure. Now faith is the substance of
things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Then he says
in verse two, for by it, by faith, The elders obtained a good report. Now we are saved the same way
the Old Testament saints were saved, through faith in Christ. The only way I'm going to get
a good report card, the only way you're going to get a good
report card, is through faith in Christ. No other way. By faith, the elders obtained
a good report. They were seen as perfectly righteous
just like the Lord Jesus Christ. They had the same faith that
every believer has. And then he says in verse 3,
through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the
word of God so that the things which are seen were not made
of things that do appear. By faith we believe God created
everything. We can't see it, but we believe
it. We believe it with all of our
heart. Verse four, by faith Abel, I love this, by faith Abel offered
unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. What did he offer? He offered the blood of a lamb. Now I have no doubt that Abel,
that Adam instructed both of his boys, the only way you can
approach God is through the blood of a lamb. And Abel believed
that, Cain didn't. Cain thought my works are just
as good. He brought the fruit of the ground. And the scripture
says that God had respect to Abel and to his offering. But
to Cain and his offering he had no respect, no regard. Now let's go on reading. By faith
Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain
by which he obtained witness that he was righteous That's
what faith says. It doesn't simply say Christ's
righteousness was imputed to him. It says he became witness
that he was righteous. God testifying of his gifts. And by it he being dead yet speaketh. You come the way Abel did, God's
gonna respect you. And you are righteous through
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. You really are. Verse 5, by faith
Enoch was translated that he should not see death and was
not found because God had translated him for before his translation
he had this testimony that he pleased God. Now Enoch went straight
into heaven. He never died. And the scripture
says he pleased God. And most people when they think
of Enoch they think Enoch was this heavenly minded person who
didn't have the problems with sin the normal person does. who
was just obedient and good, and God just took him into heaven.
Look what verse five says. Without faith, it is impossible
to please him. You know how Enoch pleased God? Looking to Christ only. Without faith, it's impossible
to please him, for he that cometh to God must believe that he is,
and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Now, you see, faith is the work
of God. What must we do that we might
work the works of God? This is the work of God, that
you believe on him whom he has sent. Now, faith is the gift of God. By grace are you saved through
faith and that not of yourselves, it's the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should
boast. Do you look to Christ only right
now is all you have? You've been given this precious
gift of faith. Christ is the author of faith,
looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, but
the word ours in italics, best left out, looking unto Jesus,
the author and finisher of faith. Now, if you have faith, you know
he's the author of it and the finisher of it. But he is the
author and the finisher of the faith. And faith is always alone. you add anything to it and the
fiery darts that are going to be fired your way cannot be quenched. It's faith alone. Somebody says
what about James chapter 2 where it says faith without works is
dead, being alone. Don't you have to have works
along with your faith? Let me tell you this, that's a complete
misunderstanding of that passage of scripture if that's the way
you see it. But I'll also say this, there will be works that
prove you really did believe that Christ was all you had. There will be evidence that you
really did believe that all you had was Christ. Listen to this
scripture. Romans chapter 14 verse 23 says,
Whatsoever is not of faith is sin. Whatsoever is not of faith
in Christ, looking to him only, is sin. 2 Corinthians 5, 7 says
we walk by faith, not by sight. Oh, what a shield this is. 1
John 5, verse 4 says, this is the victory that overcometh the
world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the
world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God. Now, that's what faith is. It's
believing who he is. This shield is not something
you're so much adept at, you know, trying to hit that, dodge
the fiery darts. No, this is that big door that
you stay behind and don't even let a finger come out. Faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what abiding in Christ
is. Now, let me close with this.
Four times, we read in the scripture, the just shall live. by faith. Four times. The just,
the justified, those who stand righteous before God, they shall
live by faith. Now the first time it's found
is in the Old Testament in Habakkuk, I don't know how to pronounce
it, I've called it Habakkuk, but I think it's Habakkuk, Chapter
2, verse 4, we read, Behold, his soul that is lifted up is
not right within him, but the just shall live by his faith. Now, faith in Christ is opposed
to being lifted up. Faith in Christ is opposed to
all self-righteousness and pride. Faith gives no room for self-righteousness
and pride. It will not tolerate it. And then we read in Romans chapter
1 verses 16 and 17 where Paul said, I'm not ashamed of the
gospel of Christ for it is the power of God and the salvation
to everyone that believeth. to the Jew first and also to
the Greek for therein is the righteousness of God revealed
from faith to faith. As it's written, the just shall
live by faith. It is faith that receives the
very righteousness of God as its own personal righteousness. And the third time it's mentioned
is in Galatians chapter 3 verse 11 That no man is justified by
the law in the sight of God. It is evident for the just shall
live by faith. Faith is the enemy of being saved
by the law. It won't have it. It's the enemy
of someone being saved by what they do. And finally, in Hebrews
10, verse 38, the just shall live by faith. But if any man
draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. Now, you continue in faith. The just shall live by faith.
This drawing back is the perseverance. You continue looking to Christ
only as everything in your salvation. And if you draw back from that,
God says, my soul shall have no pleasure in you. the just shall live by faith
only. And it's only through this shield,
the shield of faith, that the fiery darts of the wicked will
be quenched. Let's pray together. Lord, we thank you for the gift
of faith that looks to thy son only. And we ask that you give
that to us for Christ's sake. Lord, we also would remember
the Clarks at this time and the Fortners. We pray for your blessings
upon them according to your will. Thank you for Christ. Thank you
for the shield of faith that looks to him only. In his name
we pray, amen.