The Shield of Faith
A Sermon on Ephesians 6:16
Scripture
16in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
16Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
Sermon Description
Christians must realize that they are engaged in perpetual spiritual warfare. In this sermon on Ephesians 6:16 titled “The Shield of Faith,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones reminds that Paul exhorts believers to take up the “shield of faith.” He referred to other pieces of the armor of God as things to “have,” but Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains that this action changes to “take.” The shift is because the first three pieces of armor are fixed firmly to the body, but the shield must be taken up. People do not fight some general evil, but a particular spiritual person and others he commands. What are the “fiery darts”? Commonly, they are doubting thoughts, blasphemous words, and phrases that fill the mind and come to mentally discourage, depress, and defeat. Other darts inflame desires and passions, destroying peace, and contentment. Some are fiery trials of persecution, antagonistic people, or adverse circumstances. The “shield of faith” is the ability to quickly apply belief in answer to everything the devil does or attempts to do. Faith is not merely an intellectual belief or theory, but is always practical to apply truth. Faith never points to itself but to its object. The object of genuine faith is God, His character, and His promises. When attacks come, faith is actively dependent upon God and His grace in Christ.
The Book of Ephesians
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.