Paul the
apostle told the Ephesian church members to “take” “the
whole armor of God” so they “may be able to withstand in
the evil day, and having done all, to stand”. Paul then began
to describe how this “armor” consisted of the “truth”,
“righteousness” and “the preparation of the gospel of
peace”. In chapter six and verse sixteen of his letter, Paul
continued his list with “the shield of faith” where we
read:
Above all,
taking the shield of faith,
wherewith
you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
The
verse begins, “Above all, taking the shield of faith,...”
Paul began with the words,
“Above all” or “a
position on, at, by, over and against each, every, any, the
whole, everyone, all things and everything”,
“taking the shield”
which refers to “raising up a thing in order to carry a large
oblong and four cornered shield” “of faith”
which means “the conviction that God exists and is the creator and
ruler of all things, the provider and bestower of eternal salvation
through Christ”. Though Paul listed the other important “armor”
pieces, “the shield of faith”
was most important.
The
verse goes on to say, “...wherewith you shall be able to quench
all the fiery darts of the wicked.” Paul continued, “wherewith”
which means “in, by and with” “you shall be able” or
“have power whether by virtue of one's own ability and resources,
or of a state of mind, or through favorable circumstances, or by
permission of law or custom” “to quench” which means
“extinguish, suppress, stifle and make go out” “all the
fiery” or “each, every, any, the whole and everyone of the
burning with fire, kindled, incensed, indignant and made to glow”
“darts” which means “missiles, javelins and arrows” “of
the wicked” which refers to “the one full of labors,
annoyances, hardships, toils, perils, of a bad nature or condition
whether in a physical sense such as diseased or blind and in an
ethical sense evil and bad”. “The shield of faith” in
Jesus Christ is to be used against any attack of war the “wicked
one” sends against us.
When
we think through these words of Paul, we understand the importance of
“faith”. “Faith” is the believer in Jesus' main
piece of armor to defend against the onslaught of our enemy “the
devil”. “Fear” and “fearful” situations constantly
make themselves present in our lives, and our “faith” in
Jesus Christ and His super-abounding ability to conquer anything will
be the source of our prevail. God Almighty desires that we know and
trust Him, and therewith we will prevent satan's “fiery darts”
of “doubt, insecurity, instability and uncertainty”. Our
chief weapon against these is our “faith”, and by
“hearing”, and “hearing”, and “hearing
the word of God”, we shall obtain all the “faith”
necessary to “quench” the attack of our enemy.
Next
time Paul shares about the “helmet of salvation” and
“the sword of the Spirit”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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