Alright, we're back in Ephesians chapter 6 tonight. Ephesians chapter 6. Let's read our verses here and we'll stop with what we're going to deal with tonight, ok? Verse number 10, Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God that you 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 armor 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, you ought to underline that above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith he shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. There was a missionary to China more than 50 years ago. Her name was Gladys Allward. and she was forced to flee when the Japanese invaded Yanqing, but she could not leave her work behind, and with only one assistant, she led more than a hundred orphans over the mountains toward free China at that time. During Gladys' harrowing journey out of the war-torn Yanqing, she grappled with despair as never before. After a sleepless night, She faced the morning with no hope of reaching safety. A 13-year-old girl in the group reminded her of their much-loved story of Moses and the Israelites crossing the Red Sea. We all do that with the Word of God, haven't we? We ought to be encouraged by what we read and what we know of God's Word. And Gladys, she cried desperation, but I'm not Moses. Of course you aren't, the girl said, but Jehovah is still God. And when Gladys and the orphans made it through, they proved once again that no matter how inadequate we feel, God is still God and we can trust in Him. That's what we're going to look at tonight. It's a matter of being shielded by faith. That's faith. Trusting the Lord to get you through a difficult time. We know, based on Hebrews 11.6, That faith is an essential element in our lives. For without faith, we cannot please God. If you're going to please God, you're going to have to have faith. Some folks say, well, I just can't have faith like you're talking about, Preacher. I just can't have faith. Well, you know, what they're saying is they don't have the capacity to believe, but they believe in different things each and every day, multiple times a day. When I got on the airplane Thursday, I didn't know nothing about the pilot, nothing about the airplane that I was flying in. I fully trusted that the mechanics had it going where it would fly, and that the pilot was trained well enough, him and the co-pilot, to get me where I was going to go. And I didn't question them or anything. I just got on the plane. believing that I was going to reach my destination. Now, my faith could have failed me at that point. That plane could have come down. But what I'm saying is I exercised faith. Actually, my faith was in God. And to hold that plane up. And if you saw my Facebook post, you'd know that. I took some pictures of some clouds that were out the window. I took these while the Lord was holding the plane up in the air that I was traveling in. And I do believe that. But we know that faith is an essential element. We each exercise a degree of faith each and every day. The difference is what is the object of our faith? What is the object of our faith? And the Word of God tells us that faith is essential for eternal life. We know that. There's no person in this whole world that has ever, or is ever, going to go to heaven without faith in Christ alone for salvation. Believing on the Gospel, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scripture. He was buried and rose again the third day according to the Scripture. Ephesians 2 and 8 and 9 says, By grace are you saved through faith. And that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Not of works, listening men should boast. But understand that faith is also essential for living a victorious Christian life. There is no person who can live a victorious Christian life without trusting God, without believing God. That's why it's an essential part of the believer's armor. I like what it says there in Ephesians 6.16, above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darks of the wicked." And we're going to break that down here in just a minute. As we've already seen, the purpose of the believer's armor is to have it where we can stand against the wiles, the methods, the schemes, however you want to put it, of the devil. We're to wear the belt of truth, the Word of God. We're to wear the breastplate of righteousness, realizing that we are crucified with Christ and that Christ is alive in us. And we should, by faith, allow Christ to live His life through our life. We are also to stand with our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, being filled with His Spirit, focused on Christ, and having fellowship with God. That brings all the problems that we have to Him in prayer. Now, let's see the importance of faith as a defensive weapon. Believers go through trying circumstances Sometimes which are much bigger than us If you've never done that Tell me how you do it. Okay, because there's a lot of times when they're at the year you come across circumstances that just are bigger than you and Because they are beyond our abilities All we can do is trust the Lord to get get us through it What a blessing to be able to trust the Lord. Amen? And I want us to look at three things with regard to faith or trusting the Lord tonight. First thing I want us to see is the priority of faith, and then we're going to take a look at the procedure of faith, and then the profit of faith. First of all, we see the priority of faith. And that's what I had you underline there. The words above all. Faith is an essential It's essential for living the victorious Christian life. And those words above all tell us that you're not going to get very far without having the shield of faith. We know that in addition to the belt, the breastplate, and the shoes, the Christian soldier is also to take the shield of faith. There were two types of shields used by soldiers. You've probably seen them depicted in movies or a film of some sort. You had a little small shield that was used for hand-to-hand combat, usually held with one hand while you're fighting with the other hand. Then you had the other shield, which is the one that's referred to here, was about two and a half feet wide and about four and a half feet tall, and it was big enough for you to duck down behind and hide. okay, when the enemy started throwing things. This shield was covered with metal or heavily oiled leather, and on the front lines of battle, soldiers would stand side by side. I've seen that before also depicted in films. They'd stand side by side, ducking down behind their shields, so that a defensive wall would be formed. Now, our shield is called the shield of faith, and it needs to be a priority in our lives. Again, Hebrews 11, 6. Without faith, it's impossible to please Him. If you want to live a pleasing Christian life to the Lord, you've got to have faith. Trust is an important part of many different relationships we have. Trust is an important part of a friendship. Friendships are sometimes ruined by a lack of trust. Trust is an important part of marriage. My wife and I are going on 46 years this year. We didn't get through 46 years without trust in one another. I've seen marriages that were ruined by a lack of trust. And when trust is violated, it takes a long time for a marriage to be restored, if it ever is restored. Sometimes it's not possible, sadly. Trust is important between parents and children. When a child can't trust the parent and or the parent can't trust the child, the whole relationship can be strained. But what's really sad is when a trustworthy person, think about it, when a trustworthy person is not trusted by the other person in the relationship. If your wife is trustworthy but not trusted by her husband, that's not good, is it? If a child is trustworthy but not trusted by the parents, it's not good. If a friend is trustworthy, not trusted by his or her friend, then that friendship's in trouble. But can God be trusted? Of course He can. In fact, He can be trusted more than any other person. Think about it. Listen, when we do not trust our trustworthy God, that's not a good thing either. He is trustworthy. Now, how can we tell that we're not trusting God? Well, I can tell you if you worry, you don't trust God like you should. If you fear, when we fear, we're not trusting God. when we rely on our flesh instead of relying on God. And in doing so, we allow temptation to conquer us. That's what happens when you rely on your flesh rather than rely on God. You're going to be conquered by temptation. It's obvious in these situations that we are simply not trusting Him. We're not using the shield of faith. Have you ever stopped to think why we trust people? Why do you trust them? We might trust some because they're family, right? And we might trust some because they're friends. We might trust some because they care, they show them they care for us. We might trust them because we believe that they have what's needed to help us. Maybe we've seen them help other people and we say, I'm gonna give them a shot because I think they really can help me in this situation. We might trust them because they have proven themselves trustworthy. But why should we trust God? We should trust Him because He is family. Amen? We're in His family. He's our loving Heavenly Father. Think about it. He's not some ogre ready to zap you with a lightning bolt. That's not what He is. He's a loving Heavenly Father that wants you. He's concerned about you being His child. We should trust Him because He's our friend. He's a friend that's closer than a brother. We should trust Him because He knows what we're going through and He cares. I'm glad that Jesus cares. I wanted a song that Susan and I have sung in the past. I don't know when was the last time we sang it. Oh yes, He cares. I know He cares. His heart is touched with our grief. And He does care. We should trust Him because He has the power or ability to help us, we should trust Him because He has proven Himself trustworthy. I mean, He's got abilities others don't have. And He can fully get us through. And since He's proven Himself trustworthy over and over again in Scripture, we should see that He is trustworthy for our lives. Bottom line, we can trust the One who sent His Son to die for us. Romans 8.32 puts it this way, He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? That all things includes help when you need it, right? How many times have we personally disappointed our wonderful Heavenly Father and our wonderful Lord with our lack of faith? How many times have we grieved His Holy Spirit with our worrying and fretting and with our doubts and fears? Listen, when we're not trusting God, we are not pleasing our God. Without faith, it's impossible to please Him. So we see the priority of faith above all things. Let's see the procedure of faith. There's a rather explicit command here. We are to take the shield of faith. In other words, we are to make use of it. Make use of it. I remember my mom used to carry a small umbrella. I don't know how in the world you could fit an umbrella in a pocketbook, but she had one she could fit in a pocketbook. But if it started to rain, that small umbrella could not keep her dry if she didn't actually pull it out and use it. It's the same way with faith. It's no good unless we put it to use. Actually, it doesn't even exist if we don't use it. We can say we have faith, but we show we have faith by our actions, or we show we don't have faith by our actions. How do we take the shield of faith? Hebrews 11.6 says, "...without faith it is impossible to please Him. For he that cometh to God must first of all believe that He is, and second, that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." Hebrews 11.6 Now, notice there are two things mentioned in that verse which we must do to use the shield of faith. First, we must believe that God is. And you might be thinking, Pastor, we all believe in the existence of God. I think we all believe in our head, but we don't always practice belief in our heart because sometimes we don't act like we believe in God. I'm going to pause there just a second and let you think about that. Sometimes we act like we don't believe in God. We can say we believe in God, but do we trust Him in tight jams? We can say we believe in God, but do we care about His thoughts regarding our behavior? What we do? We can say we believe in God, but are we ever concerned about hurting Him? We can say we believe in God, but do we worry as if He doesn't exist? You know, if you worry, that shows a lack of belief is what it does. We can say we believe in God, But if we act and live as if there is no God, we don't really believe in Him like we should. By taking the shield of faith, we believe in God as an integral part of our everyday life. Now all of that that I just said is important. Taking the shield of faith, we believe in God as an integral part. It's a must thing. You must do it. of your everyday life. But there's more. Not only are we to believe in God's existence, but we are to believe that He rewards those that diligently seek Him. Do you believe that? Yes. How can we tell if we believe that He rewards those who diligently seek Him? This is not complicated. This is very simple. Are you diligently seeking Him? We believe that He rewards those who diligently seek Him if we diligently seek Him. If you really believe that He rewards you if you diligently seek Him, you'll be diligently seeking Him. Millions of people say they believe that God answers prayer. But the ones who truly believe that God answers prayer are those who pray diligently. They pray diligently. You can say, well, I believe God answers prayer, but you never pray. You're not showing it. You're not showing it at all. And after we have prayed, they simply believe that God will answer. That's faith. We believe, we trust Him to give the right answer. The answer's not always yes. The answer's not always what we're wanting. Sometimes the answer is quite different than what we're looking for, but when you believe God, you know that He knows what's best for you. several passages. Psalm 37 verse 5 says, Commit thy way unto the Lord. Trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. That's one reason why when you take up that shield of faith in the morning, when we get up, Lord, this is the day You have made. I'm going to rejoice and be glad in it. I commit this day to You. I trust You. Direct my steps. Right? Psalm 91 verse 2, I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in Him will I trust. That's a good one to use when the enemy has pounded the daylight side of you and trying to get you to doubt that God even cares about you. A lot of times we allow Satan to put a question mark where God's put a period at. Yaheth God's sin? Did God tell you that? We get just like Eve was in the Garden of Eden. Proverbs 3, verses 5 and 6. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not into thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths. So take the shield of faith, whatever you do. Believe that God exists and believe that He rewards those who diligently seek Him and do so by your actions. Okay? Diligently seek Him. So we see the priority of faith. We see the procedure of faith. Last of all, let's see the profit of faith. The profit of faith. Listen, just as a bulletproof vest protects a police officer, And the shield of faith protects the believer. I know that my son-in-law, who works with the Sheriff's Department of Overton County, Tennessee, even though he's a detective, he believes in that. When he goes out, he wants that shield on, because it saves lives, it does. And in fact, when he had one that was not working properly, that was deemed not There was a new generation that came out. We made sure that he got the good one that he could rely upon. And you know, when the Roman soldier faced fiery darts hurled by the enemy, his shield with its leather lining would catch and then quench them. That's what it says there. Above all, take in the shield of faith wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. Well, what if he sends fiery darts that you're not able to quench? God didn't say that there would be any of those. He said you'd be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. It's a matter of believing God, trusting God. When we put up the shield of faith, Satan's fiery darts are also quenched. His fiery darts are temptations. in all different kind of areas of our life. Sometimes we're tempted to be immoral. We're tempted to lie and or steal. We're tempted to think evil thoughts. We can be tempted to worry, to fret, or fear about certain things. We can even be tempted toward having unrighteous anger towards somebody. Now, we all think that when we have anger, we have righteous anger. I got a right to be angry in this situation. If you take that before the Lord, sometimes I think he might tell you a little bit different there. As we hold up the shield of faith, those fiery darts are put out. Because they're put out, they don't hurt us. Listen, there's even more profit that comes with our trust. There where I quoted Proverbs 3, verse 5 and 6 a while ago, We are promised that as we trust God, He will direct our paths. What do we need each and every day? Direction, don't we? We need to know how to walk. We need to know His wisdom for our lives. In Hebrews 11, verse 6, we're told God rewards those who diligently seek Him. And Psalm 91, verse 1 promises protection for those who trust Him. I like what it says. He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. It's nice to be under the shadow of the Almighty God, isn't it? Psalm 46. Look at Psalm 46. I'm closing here tonight. Psalm 46. In verses 1 and 2. Psalm 46 verse 1. God is our refuge. What is a place of refuge? A place of refuge is where you can run to when you need help, right? God is our refuge and strength. In and of ourselves, we lack strength sometimes that we need. But He is our strength. God is our refuge and strength. A very present help in trouble. He's not a God that's far away. He's a God that is near. Right? Draw an eye into God and He will do what? He will draw an eye into you. I mean, that's still in the Bible. Last time I checked mine. Amen? What do we need to do, dude? We need to just believe the Word of God. Believe God's Word. And he says in verse 2, Therefore, in other words, because those three things are true, because God is our refuge, because God is our strength, and because He is at very present help in trouble, he says, Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea. That's a whole lot of shaking going on, right? And we're living in a world where there's a whole lot of shaking going on. And it's not stopped. I mean, I saw more warnings this morning, even about our own state. I'm talking about the middle part of Florida. It's just a tinker box right now. So if it catches fire, it's gonna spread quickly and burn down around Orlando and all. They were talking about how dangerous the situation was and trying to get people, to not set fires, don't burn trash, because it's a tinderbox. Well, there's situations like that. There's weather situations. There's all kinds of things that could cause us to fear. But we don't have to fear, do we? Because God is our refuge. We can run to him. He's our strength. He's our very present help in trouble. thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. See, Lord, we need to meditate upon that. Amen? The priority of faith, the procedure of faith, and the prophet of faith. The question is, are we availing ourselves of the shield of faith such that we're properly covered? Take it to you. Cover yourself as the Lord would have you to do. Amen. Let's pray. Father, we thank You for the shield of faith that You've given to us. Thank You for all of the whole armor of God. Lord, You are a trustworthy God. You've proven that time and time again. And Lord, not just trustworthy as far as salvation goes, we thank You for that. I thank God that You're the only source of salvation. And Lord, we come to You. We've trusted You. And we have full assurance that no matter what comes our way, if we somehow become absent from this body, we die in this life, we know that we immediately will be ushered into Your presence based upon Your Word. And Your Word is true. and Your Word can be relied upon. And we've relied on it. We've believed You. We've trusted You for salvation. We've done what You've told us to do in order to have a heavenly home. Lord, help us to believe You in that way in the other areas of our life. You prove Yourself worthy of our belief with regard to salvation, but You also with regard to our everyday walk. There are things that are going to come our way tomorrow that we have no idea that's coming our way. Temptations, evil thoughts. There are things that are going to try to catch us off guard. Satan's going to cast some fiery darts our way. But Lord, with that shield of faith in place, as we wake up tomorrow and we take it up And we just determined that we're going to trust You. Lord, help us to do that. And as we do that, we will see more and more in our lives that You are trustworthy. You'll help us every step of the way. Give us a blessed week this week. And Lord, if there's somebody tonight that needs to deal with something in their life, help them to do that. especially with regard to salvation. If they want to know Christ, help them to come to know Christ as Savior. Lord, we've been talking about faith for living tonight. Help us to put it in action tomorrow, and not just tomorrow, but each and every day of our lives, taking up the whole armor of God that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. We pray all this in Christ's name. Amen.