The Roman soldiers would go into battle with a number of other fighting groups spread across their front line. Those in the front line would have their shields held in front of them, locked together and the rows of soldiers behind them would have their shields held overhead locked together across and behind. What the enemy would see as they approached was a wall of shields facing them and a sea of shields overhead. The overhead shields would catch any arrows, darts or spears that were thrown over the front shields. The Roman Armies also recognized the fact the front line soldiers who were carrying the brunt of the battle would quickly become tired, so about every 15 minutes a command would be issued and with the precision of a well-oiled machine the front line would turn sideways and the second row would step up and the front row would step back and work their way to the back. This way no one man would be fighting so long as to become too tired to fight.
Ephesians 6:11-18 "Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 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: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;"
TAKING THE SHIELD OF FAITH
In these verses in Ephesians, faith is being compared to a shield. So if we understand the purpose of a shield, we can better understand the purpose of faith. A shield is a weapon of protection, it has a minor role in the attack, but it is primarily used as a means of protecting its possessor from a thrust of a weapon such as a spear, a sword, or a dart and also from a blow from a weapon. Its purpose is to absorb the blows of weapon and thus keep the wearer from being injured or killed.
In the same way, faith absorbs the blow from a spiritual weapon for the purpose of keeping its possessor from being mortally wounded spiritually. For example, suppose you are a young Christian who is entering our college system, a college system that is geared against people who believe in God. When everyone around you is teaching evolution and scoffing at the idea there is a God, how can you survive spiritually? By having Faith in God! When we trust in God, faith allows us to absorb the blows of doubt are thrown at us from every side and to overcome the wiles of the devil and to be an example of faith.
WHAT IS FAITH?
Hebrews 11:1-3 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. 3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear."
These verses explain better how faith acts like a shield. Since faith is like a shield, if we better understand the purpose and use for a shield, we can better understand the place faith should play in our lives and we can better understand how God intends us to have and to use this faith. A shield is a weapon of protection. While a shield plays a minor role in attacking, its main purpose is to provide protection to its possessor. If used properly, the shield protects its user from thrusts from a spear, dart, or sword. Additionally the shield provides protection from blows that would kill or stun its possessor and allow him to stay in the fight. The shield is a weapon that is designed to absorb the energy of a weapon or to turn the weapon aside, so the attacker can in turn be overcome.
In the same way, faith absorbs the energy of the blows from a spiritual weapon to keep it from being a deadly spiritual blow that will overcome the Christian, thus allowing them to remain faithful unto the Lord and to stay in the spiritual warfare. For example, suppose you are a Christian who is entering our college system, a college system that is designed to be biased again Christians who believe in God. When everyone around you is teaching there is no God and belittling you if you claim to believe in God. The college system is designed to scoff at those who believe and belittle them. How can a Christian withstand and survive?
The answer is what this chapter is all about. By having Faith in God! When we trust in God and we believe in God and have the proper type of faith, it allows us to absorb the doubt that may arise and to overcome the attacks of Satan. Here in Hebrews 11, we are given the Biblical definition of faith and given example after example of how men of God in the past, used this faith to not only overcome the wiles of the devils, but to stand victorious and shine forth as examples for us to learn by.
First we notice Faith (trust in God) is the thing that gives substance to our hope in heaven. What this means is a mature Christian is a person who has learned from their experiences the things the Bible says are true, they have put them to the test. Because the mature Christian has proven to their satisfaction God exists from the evidence they have seen and believe and have come to trust in the things they can not see. Their faith turns aside the scoffings of the world and through faith they overcome Satan and his spiritual weapons.
Matthew 6:28-34 "And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."
When we get to the point of trusting in God as we should, we can be as little children in the way we will not worry about our future. Little children do not worry about where their next meal will come from. Little kids have what my wife, Jeannette, refers to as “Magic Drawers.” Whenever I want to change clothes, I open the dresser drawer and if I want socks, Lo and behold, there they are. If I need a change of pants, I open the drawer and Lo and behold, there they are. Like magic! Why don’t I worry about my clothes? Because from my past experience, I have learned to trust my wife! In the same way, I have learned to trust God to take care of my needs. When I first moved to Sacramento in 1973, I had very little money. It seems like every time it came to the contribution and giving, I was always strapped for money. Every time I would reach into my pocket and say, all I had was $20.00, if I went ahead and put in everything I had, after church, someone would come up to me and say, “Don, We know you are trying to work for the Lord. We want to help!” And every time, I was handed back exactly the amount I had put in.” Was this Coincidence? I do not believe it was. I firmly believe it was God taking care of me. Many times, I did not put my trust in God and kept back part of the money to tide me over. On those occasions, strangely enough, no one came up to me and offered me help. It happened to me often enough I have learned not to worry about where my physical blessings will come from. This is what I have learned from these verses and my past experiences. If you trust in God, your needs will be taken care of.
2 Corinthians 5:7 "For we walk by faith, not by sight:)"
As Christians, we need to learn in this life we must walk by faith and not by sight. The Apostle Thomas had to learn this lesson and we need to also. If we expect God to prove to us he exists through a series of tests as he did with Gideon, we will be disappointed. We need to learn we must trust in God. We will walk by sight only after the judgment day. One of the problems I think so many of us have is like the man who fell in the river. As he was floating down the river, he prayed to God. Save me God, please do not let me drown. About that time, some men in a boat came by and started to fish him out of the water. Instead he pushed them away, exclaiming, I trust in God, He will save me. A few minutes later a helicopter came by and lowered a rope down to him. Again, he refused their help, exclaiming, I trust in God, He will save me. Shortly afterwards, the man drowns and when he wakes up in Heaven, he is so disappointed, he says to God, Why didn’t you save me from drowning? God says, I sent a boat and a helicopter, what else should I do? Many times instead of looking for the way God provides, we look for the way, we expect him to provide.
There is a tremendous difference between mentally believing God exists and trusting his words. I am reminded of the story of the Great Blondin, who in 1859 was the greatest tightrope walker of his time. One day, with the help of others, he stretched a tightrope across Niagara Falls, from the Canadian side to the United States side. Day by day, he would demonstrate his talents before the crowds. He walked across the tightrope forwards and backwards. He walked across during the daylight and he walked across at night. He rode a bicycle across, He walked across on stilts and he even walked across blindfolded and as one of his stunts, he walked across with his hands and feet manacled. Once he even walked out balancing a stove, stopped in the middle and proceeded to cook and eat an omelet. One day he issued a special challenge, he had a special saddle built which he put on his back. He would then select out members of the crowd who had seen him do these marvelous stunts day after day and ask them, "Do you believe I could walk across this tightrope, carrying a man on my back. And one by one they said, "Yes, we believe you can." But then he went further and issued the challenge to each one who believed he could walk across carrying a man by challenging them by saying "Well then hop on." Suddenly things were different. One by one they began to look down and turn and hurry away. You see, that is the difference between Belief and Trust. Believing is just mentally thinking it is possible. TRUST means believing enough to hop on. This is the type of faith God expects us to have.
Psalms 28:7-8 "The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him. The LORD is their strength, and he is the saving strength of his anointed."
David speaks of his trust in God. David knew without God, he was a weakling and had no protection. But because David trusted in God, he did not worry about where his next meal would come from, how his next battle would go, or even how his next day would go. He knew from experience God would provide his necessities.
Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."
Solomon, who was the wisest man who ever lived, says here in Proverbs trusting in God means you do not trust in your own understanding. This does not mean we are not to try and understand why God wants us to obey a particular command, but rather when it is all said and done, whether we understand why or not, we are to do what God has commanded. In everything we do, we are to acknowledge God deserves all of the credit and glory, we are but tools and we deserve no more credit and glory than a hammer does because a carpenter used it to build a house or a paint brush does because the artist uses it to paint a Mona Lisa.
Job 13:15-16 "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him: but I will maintain mine own ways before Him. He also shall be my salvation: for an hypocrite shall not come before Him."
This is showing the ultimate level of faith and trust in God. If I believe and trust in God and the thing God wants me to do will bring death to me, I am to do it anyway. In today’s world, we seem to think God expecting that level of faith is not fair, but this is the level of trust the Apostles had in Jesus. Every one of the Apostles demonstrated this level of trust in God because, according to secular history, every Apostle died a martyr’s death for the cause of Christ except for the Apostle John. The only human being I can think of in the Bible who may have demonstrated a higher level of faith than the Apostles was Abraham, when even though he did not understand why, when God commanded him to sacrifice his son, Isaac, he was willing to do so.
Luke 16:11-13 "If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon."
Jesus teaches a very valuable lesson in these verses. He says, if we can not be trusted to be faithful in physical things such as money or etc, how can we expect to be trusted in regard to spiritual things? I believe what he is saying here is basically the same thing as he said in Matthew 20, when he is talking about who would and would not be a leader in the Kingdom of Heaven. There if I may paraphrase what He says, In the world, the leaders are bosses who have the final say and have the power to force people to do the things they are told. In the Kingdom of Heaven it SHALL NOT be so. The greatest is the one who serves the most. How can you be entrusted with the leadership in the church, if you cannot be trusted to serve the congregation and serve faithfully?
WHAT ARE THE RESULTS OF FAITH?
The next thing we want to notice is what happens to us if we continue to grow in faith, if we keep studying, putting the word of God to use in our lives, and testing it by giving it free reign in our lives.
What we are interested in is this question. What will happen to us if during this life we continue to follow in the footsteps of Jesus? We also want to consider the even more important question. What are the end results or the final results of living the Christian life?
Matthew 6:30-34 "Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."
We see if we continue to trust in God enough to put serving the Church first we have a promise, a written guarantee from God witnessed and signed by the blood of Christ.. This promise tells us during this life time God will make sure our physical needs are met. Does this mean we will be given a mansion on a hilltop or a Cadillac to drive or a Lamborghini? No, but it does mean we will have our daily necessities taken care of.
We need to ask ourselves this question. “What is really necessary to sustain my life?” We will find most of the things we desire in this life are luxuries, not necessities. God has promised to take care of our daily necessities. The problem is many times we are so busy asking God for a mansion to live in because we do not appreciate the small home we may be blessed with.
Jesus teaches a valuable lesson when he says, “sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” In other words, “What good does it do for us to worry about what may or may not happen tomorrow, if we spend our entire day today worrying about it and then die tonight, what will it matter?" We will have wasted valuable time we could have using to serve God.
I have a saying I like to use from time to time which helps me keep things in perspective. The saying is this, “A Hundred Years from now, will this matter?” If it will not be of consequence, a hundred years from now, is it really important? The only thing I think will be important is the influence of the choices I make on people. We see here one of the results of faith is God will take care of our daily necessities.
Romans 1:15-17 "So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one 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 is written, The just shall live by faith."
Paul declares the gospel, the good news that Jesus Christ died for our sins, was buried, then arose the third day and paid the price for our sins, is the power of God unto salvation, to everyone that believes, which as we noticed earlier in our lesson, is more than giving a mental assent to the fact Jesus Christ is the Son of God. It is the obedience to the gospel through baptism for the remission of sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and the Holy Ghost. This is the power of God unto salvation. To me this shows the importance and power in baptism. An all-powerful God, who can just speak the entire universe into existence, has revealed unto us his power for salvation is contained in baptism. If we continue to live by Faith, we will be justified, we will be found innocent in the Day of Judgment. Thus we see another result of faith is we are found in the eyes of God to be justified.
1 Timothy 4:10 "For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe."
Paul states the main reason we as Christians both labour and suffer through the things we go through is because of our faith in God. If we do not have this faith in God, it means it has all been for nothing. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God who is alive has the power to save all men, but as we have seen, he has reserved salvation to those who have shown their faith in Him and His word by being baptized. We see one of the results of faith is salvation from our past sins.
Romans 4:16-22 "Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all, (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations; according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness."
Paul again writes and tells us one of the reasons God has given us commandments is in order to give us a chance to demonstrate our faith through trusting Him and obeying these commands. Thus, because we demonstrate our trust in God through our obedience to His commands, God is able to extend His grace to us. This grace (free gift) which is that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and arose again the third day has been freely given and this free gift will never be taken away. But if we do not demonstrate our faith (trust) in God, by being baptized, then we have no access to the grace of God. We see Abraham could not of himself be righteous, yet because he completely trusted God, through grace, God counted his faith as righteousness. In the same way, God gives us commands to obey and if we demonstrate our trust in God, our faith will be counted unto us as righteousness. We see another result of living by faith is we are considered righteous in the eyes of God.
2 Corinthians 1:9-10 "But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us;"
Here Paul is talking in the same vein he used in I Corinthians and in other places through the New Testament, where he is referring to the old man of sin being put to death and being buried with Christ in baptism and since we have been planted in the likeness of His death, we shall be raised in the likeness of His resurrection. In the same way our old man of sin had the death sentence pronounced upon him and that sentence was carried out and the old man of sin has already been buried. Since we have already been put to death, the only way we can have hope of life is through Jesus Christ our Lord. Since we are already dead, the only hope we have is in God the Father, the one eternal being, who has the power to raise the dead. Therefore since Christ through his resurrection has already shown God has the power to raise the dead, his resurrection is both our hope and our earnest (our guarantee) that we will be resurrected on the Judgment Day. Thus another result of living by faith and continuing in faith, faith is also our guarantee of our resurrection.
2 Thessalonians 2:13-15 "But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle."
Paul in writing to the Thessalonian brethren sums it up, when he says God chose us, Christians, to salvation because of our faith in the truth of the gospel and in Jesus Christ. Thus another result of continuing steadfast in faith is we are sanctified through the Holy Spirit and we have our guarantee written in the blood of Christ and that guarantee has God standing behind it. God, who by two immutable things that make it impossible for Him to lie promised. First is God cannot lie because whatever he says happens, thus it would not be a lie and second since God does not change, his opinions do not change, thus he does not lie.
WHAT ARE THE RESULTS OF NOT HAVING FAITH?
Deuteronomy 32:20-26 "And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith. They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation. For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains. I will heap mischiefs upon them; I will spend mine arrows upon them. They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction: I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents of the dust. The sword without, and terror within, shall destroy both the young man and the virgin, the suckling also with the man of gray hairs. I said, I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men:"
God lets it be known how He feels about those who have no faith. Here in Deuteronomy. God tells us He will move them to jealousy. The anger of God will be moved against them and they will burn unto the lowest hell. It is plain God is not pleased and will never be satisfied with those who have no faith in him. God does not care to see them, since he knows what their end will be. God has been provoked to anger by the vanity of those who think they have no need of Him. Their end is not only will they cease to exist, but God will even wipe away the memory of them.
Psalms 53:1-5 "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good. God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God. Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread: they have not called upon God. There were they in great fear, where no fear was: for God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee: thou hast put them to shame, because God hath despised them."
The Psalmist calls those who think there is no God, fools. This shows the distain God has for those who do not trust their eyes and their senses enough to know there is a God. Christians are warned against calling someone a fool, most likely because of the possibility of us getting the attitude of thinking we are better than they are. God reveals to us through His Word when someone gets the attitude they think they know enough to say there is no God. They have become corrupt and full of evil ways. Thus the result of having no faith in God is a fate that will lead them to eternal death.
Zephaniah 3:1-5 "Woe to her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city! She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not in the LORD; she drew not near to her God. Her princes within her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves; they gnaw not the bones till the morrow. Her prophets are light and treacherous persons: her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law. The just LORD is in the midst thereof; he will not do iniquity: every morning doth he bring his judgment to light, he faileth not; but the unjust knoweth no shame."
Zephaniah in the Old Testament speaks about what happened when Israel quit trusting in God. When they quit worshipping him in the way they should. Because this people did not trust in God, they were a filthy spiritually polluted people. Because they did not trust in God, their prophets are treacherous, their rulers devoured them, her judges were like ravening wolfs, and no matter what God did to bring Israel to shame, hoping she would repent, they knew no shame. Thus they would not repent. One of the results of not having faith in God is it leads to people not respecting the law and having no shame at anything they do.
John 8:41-47 "Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God. Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God."
Jesus chastises the Pharisees and the leaders of Israel because they did not trust in God and they did not follow Him. Many of them knew Jesus had to be who he claimed to be because of the miracles he did, yet because following Jesus meant giving up their positions and power and even being kicked out of the synagogues, they could not bring themselves to do what God wanted of them. It was too hard for them. Because they did not trust in God, they were of their father, the Devil. Thus another result of not having faith in God means one is actually serving Satan.
Chapter Summary
- 1. Each Part of the armour of God fits together with the other pieces to protect the Christian who are wearing it.
2. The Shield of Faith is designed by God to help Christians to fight the Spiritual Fight as a unit, a congregation.
3. The Shield is designed not only to protect the user, but when used properly, it protects those around him.
4. The purpose of the shield is to turn aside and absorb blows that otherwise would injure or kill the soldier.
5. The purpose of Faith is to turn aside doubts and fears that otherwise might spiritually injure or kill a Christian.
6. Faith is what gives substance to our hope.
7. Faith is what we believe in things not seen because of the evidence presented by things we see.
8. Faith is what allows us to put Spiritual things first in our lives.
9. God promises to take care of our physical needs if we put the Kingdom of Heaven First in our lives.
10. Faith is what allows us not to worry about our physical needs.
11. Faith is trusting and walking according to the Bible
12. Faith is trusting in things we can not see.
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