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Sunday 22 June 2003 - "The shield of faith" or
"The believer's armour"
(Summary of sermon by Erlo Stegen)
Eph 6:16
Above all, taking the shield of
faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
Paul uses the armour of a Roman soldier as symbol of how
Christians should arm themselves. Many Christians are completely unaware of the battle
they are in and are unarmed. Christians should be full of God's strength, and not full of
religious motions and rituals. David decapitated Goliath, but today the world decapitates
Christians and hell rejoices.
You should live in God's strength and associate with those who also live in God's
strength. The breastplate of righteousness will protect your heart and mind from evil
designs and thoughts. Your feet must be shod with the Gospel of peace, even in the face of
slander by so-called brethren.
But above all, we must put on the shield of faith to stop
the fiery darts of the wicked one. His darts are aimed at destroying you and burning you
up. Some Christians have been hit by these darts and are aflame by a strange fire. Their
tongues are set aflame by from hell.
In warfare they used to light a dart tip, and then shoot the flaming dart at the enemy.
If it hits a tent, it would burn down. Likewise if a soldier is hit by such a dart, he
would burn. Sometimes a soldier's shield would be hit by such a dart and burn and he would
have to leave it. At times, in order to defend themselves, they would stand side by side
without a gap between their shields and so be protected. However, it's evil when
Christians fight each other instead of standing side by side to fight the enemy. Such are
lukewarm Christians. Israel failed because they did not combine the word of God which they
heard, with faith. Faith is to accept, believe and do God's word. When faith is gone, you
will be strengthless and defeated as Samson when his locks were cut.
We need Christians need to be prepared for battle, with not
one piece of armour missing, and without the smell of the world on us. There is no army
comparable to the Christian army and no soldier comparable to a Christian soldier. But
where are they today? We find many filled with strife, slander, the lust of the flesh and
of the eyes, lies etc.
Take therefore this shield of faith and all the armour we've spoken of and be faithful
soldiers of the cross. |
