Ephesians 6:10-18 August 3, 2008
The Whole Armor of God – Part 6
“The Shield of Faith – The Big Cover-Up!”
Rev. Meagan M. Boozer
Ephesians 6:10-15, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. . . ”
I want to begin the message on the Shield of Faith this morning by listening to a song together. The words are printed on the yellow sheet in your bulletin. In a nutshell, this song tells the Biblical story:
Tell me the Story Again
By Chris Rice
Start with an infant world
and an open sky - on a perfect day
breath from the mouth of God
sends a quiver through his design of clay
and it is good, And it is good
Tell me the story again
Tell me the story again
Wake to a girl beside
here's a hand to hold
and never go away
now taste the forbidden fruit
make a poor excuse
feel the wall of shame
and run and hide, And run and hide
Tell me the story again - tell me the story again
Child in a manger bed
see the virgin smile - she understood
now grow up and break your bread
pour your cup of wine
on a cross of wood
a cross of wood, a cross of wood
Tell me the story again (4x)
Time 20 centuries
there's a boy on his knees
at the river's edge
now plunge with his guilty stains
in the cleansing waves
and wash his sins away
oh happy day (4x)
Tell me that story again
tell me that story again
tell me the story, tell me the story
tell me the story, tell me the story again
Start with an infant world
and an open sky
on a perfect day
. . .
The Shield of Faith is complete trust in that story – the Shield of Faith is belief, without a doubt, that the biblical story is not irrelevant to your life, it’s not just some dry history written down to read now and then: The biblical story is your story - the story of your past, your present, and your future. The Shield of Faith is complete trust that, because of your faith in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, your life is all intertwined with the lives of every other believer from the beginning of time to the end of the age.
I’ve heard people say that if their house was on fire they would first make sure all their family was out, but if they had time to grab something, they would grab their pictures. Just last Sunday during Sunday school, Joni Frey brought a small pile of pictures in that she found at Alma Lytle’s home. We saw some wonderful pictures of George, Elsie, Floyd Baker, of course Alma & her parents, and so many others. Pictures help to give our lives a visible history – a context – and because of that, they are very valuable. It’s very difficult to throw a picture away. Even when we don’t know what to do with all of them, we hold onto pictures for the sake of the family story – family history. Well, I’d like to offer this thought today: For the sake of the family of God (those who are already part of the family, and especially those who have not come into the family yet), we must hold onto God’s story, and by faith, trust that our part in the story is secure and spectacular. This kind of faith covers us and protects us from the attacks of the devil who wants to erase our memories, our knowledge, and certainly our resolve to persevere like so many who have gone before us to their heavenly home:
Let us pray: Gracious God, help us learn well today. Make us hungry for your truth, and convicted to obey it. May we not compromise so that your witness is diminished by our failures. Fill us anew with your Holy Spirit, and bring us confidently to your throne of grace. This we pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
The Roman soldier would have had 2 different kinds of shields that came with their suit of armor. They would have had a small round shield, called a buckler, that was usually strapped to the soldier’s arm. If he was in hand-to-hand combat, he could use that little shield to protect himself with one hand, while swinging a short sword with the other hand. The soldier would have also had a larger shield approximately 4’ high and 2 1/2’ wide (very much like a door, from which the word Paul uses for shield is actually derived). This large shield, according to Kent Hughes’ commentary on Ephesians (p. 234), was made of 2 layers of laminated wood, covered first with linen and then with hide, and then bound top and bottom with iron, with an iron ornament decorating the front of it. Hughes writes that a man could put his entire body behind it as it absorbed the javelins and arrows of the enemy. In the case of flaming arrows, which would have been arrows with a hollowed out shaft, filled with a combustible fluid, very often the arrow would snuff out as it buried itself in the thickness of the shield. During battles these great shields would often bristle with smoking arrows like roasted porcupines.
We’ve already learned that the Belt of Truth is THE most important piece of armor that we wear. The Belt of Truth is the written word of God – the Bible, and the “In the flesh” Word of God – who is Jesus. We learned that we have to pick up our Bibles, and allow the Spirit of Christ to infiltrate every area of our lives if we want to walk in victory against the mind games of the devil. We’ve learned that the Breastplate of Righteousness is the CONFIDENCE that we are COVERED in the Robe of Righteousness that has been washed in the blood of the Lamb of God! The Breastplate of Righteousness makes you feel sort of like you do when you graduate from someplace and you’re wearing that cap and gown. “Wow. I really did it. I’m a graduate!” Or, you’ve gone out hunting on the first day of deer season, and you come home with an 8-point in the back of the truck. “Wow. I did it. I got one!” Wearing the breastplate should make you stand up straighter, but not because of what you did, but what Jesus did for you: “Wow. HE really did it! JESUS really saved me from my sins. I’m really free from them forever.” That’s the Breastplate of Righteousness!
We learned that the shoes of peace keep us from falling over when the storms are raging around us. The shoes of peace help us dig into God’s promises and stand firm against the lies the devil tries to get us to believe.
So, there we are, walking around, minding our own business, trying to make a living – trying to do good things for other people – and our enemy, the devil, is prowling around, looking for someone to devour. He starts launching repeated courses of blazing arrows: Temptations, Strategies, Deceptions – to inflame us and wound us and even destroy us. Let’s admit it, we all have lusts within us which are easy to ignite. All we need is the tiniest flame and we become a roaring fire – inappropriate, destructive passion for people and for things. We want more money for ourselves, we want more stuff, we want more trophies on the shelf for ourselves or our kids, we’d rather our kids be accepted and popular than saved and safe, and so we turn our heads and our hearts from them, we want to be right all the time and don’t mind telling everyone else the correct answer. We want to retire so that we can do what we want to do. We burn so easily! And our rationalizations come so naturally: “If God didn’t want me to have this, then why would he allow this desire within me for this thing, this person, this pleasure?” “If my spouse understood me like this person does, my marriage wouldn’t be such a drag…” “Other kids my age are doing it and it doesn’t seem to be hurting them...” “I don’t have to go to Sunday school or worship. I already believe in God. It’s just the same old story over and over again. I already know it.”
Then there are all the headlines on the news in our own Public Opinion: Body of swimmer recovered at Pine Grove, Police looking into feud, Chambersburg man charged as child predator, Man charged with Waynesboro burglary, Reward Offered in M & T Bank Robbery, JLG Industries to cut 600 Jobs, Furnishings stolen from new homes, Artemas woman killed in Fulton County Crash – and that’s not even touching the surface. Turn on Fox news or CNN and almost all you hear is bad news. It’s like, if it’s not bad news, it’s not a story worth reporting.
Then, there are all the fiery trials awaiting us in this life that it seems we can’t control at all: illness, tragedies, persecution. Along with all this, the devil and his demons are shooting arrows of doubt about God’s goodness, the truth of the gospel, arrows to get us to doubt even the very existence of God.
Plus, what about the arrows that come from within our own camp – our own family, or church family? Arrows of rejection, criticism, abuse, and hypocrisy. What about arrows that we ourselves hold? Pride, vanity, narcissism - the “everyone’s against me” syndrome, or “it’s all about me condition.”
Tell me the story again. Tell me the story again. Tell me the story again.
Is there anything I’ve named that’s not real? How do we keep from growing so worn, weary, and wary in the midst of it all? We must hold onto God’s story, and trust, by faith, that our part in the story is secure and spectacular. Please sit back, and listen to your story.
Hebrews 11
1What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see. 2God gave his approval to people in days of old because of their faith. 3By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen. 4It was by faith that Abel brought a more acceptable offering to God than Cain did. God accepted Abel’s offering to show that he was a righteous man. And although Abel is long dead, he still speaks to us because of his faith. 5It was by faith that Enoch was taken up to heaven without dying—“suddenly he disappeared because God took him.” But before he was taken up, he was approved as pleasing to God. 6So, you see, it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that there is a God and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. 7It was by faith that Noah built an ark to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about something that had never happened before. By his faith he condemned the rest of the world and was made right in God’s sight. 8It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going. 9And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith—for he was like a foreigner, living in a tent. And so did Isaac and Jacob, to whom God gave the same promise. 10Abraham did this because he was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God. 11It was by faith that Sarah together with Abraham was able to have a child, even though they were too old and Sarah was barren. Abraham believed that God would keep his promise. 12And so a whole nation came from this one man, Abraham, who was too old to have any children—a nation with so many people that, like the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore, there is no way to count them. 13All these faithful ones died without receiving what God had promised them, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed the promises of God. They agreed that they were no more than foreigners and nomads here on earth. 14And obviously people who talk like that are looking forward to a country they can call their own. 15If they had meant the country they came from, they would have found a way to go back. 16But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a heavenly city for them. 17It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God was testing him. Abraham, who had received God’s promises, was ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, 18though God had promised him, “Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted.” 19Abraham assumed that if Isaac died, God was able to bring him back to life again. And in a sense, Abraham did receive his son back from the dead.
20It was by faith that Isaac blessed his two sons, Jacob and Esau. He had confidence in what God was going to do in the future. 21It was by faith that Jacob, when he was old and dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons and bowed in worship as he leaned on his staff. 22And it was by faith that Joseph, when he was about to die, confidently spoke of God’s bringing the people of Israel out of Egypt. He was so sure of it that he commanded them to carry his bones with them when they left! 23It was by faith that Moses’ parents hid him for three months. They saw that God had given them an unusual child, and they were not afraid of what the king might do. 24It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be treated as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. 25He chose to share the oppression of God’s people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26He thought it was better to suffer for the sake of the Messiah than to own the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to the great reward that God would give him. 27It was by faith that Moses left the land of Egypt. He was not afraid of the king. Moses kept right on going because he kept his eyes on the one who is invisible. 28It was by faith that Moses commanded the people of Israel to keep the Passover and to sprinkle blood on the doorposts so that the angel of death would not kill their firstborn sons. 29It was by faith that the people of Israel went right through the Red Sea as though they were on dry ground. But when the Egyptians followed, they were all drowned.
30It was by faith that the people of Israel marched around Jericho seven days, and the walls came crashing down. 31It was by faith that Rahab the prostitute did not die with all the others in her city who refused to obey God. For she had given a friendly welcome to the spies. 32Well, how much more do I need to say? It would take too long to recount the stories of the faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and all the prophets. 33By faith these people overthrew kingdoms, ruled with justice, and received what God had promised them. They shut the mouths of lions, 34quenched the flames of fire, and escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their weakness was turned to strength. They became strong in battle and put whole armies to flight. 35Women received their loved ones back again from death. But others trusted God and were tortured, preferring to die rather than turn from God and be free. They placed their hope in the resurrection to a better life. 36Some were mocked, and their backs were cut open with whips. Others were chained in dungeons. 37Some died by stoning, and some were sawed in half; others were killed with the sword. Some went about in skins of sheep and goats, hungry and oppressed and mistreated. 38They were too good for this world. They wandered over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground. 39All of these people we have mentioned received God’s approval because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised. 40For God had far better things in mind for us that would also benefit them, for they can’t receive the prize at the end of the race until we finish the race.”
When the family picture is taken, if we have trusted in Jesus as Savior and Lord, we’re right there alongside Noah, Enoch, Abraham, Moses, Hannah, David, Samuel, Mary, all the disciples, the Apostle Paul, and all the believers from every time and place. There is nothing happening in any of our lives right now that hasn’t happened already in the history of the family of God. We might not be building an ark, any of us, but some of us feel like we’re doing some pretty radical things for the Lord right now, and others don’t seem to understand. Some might even say spending $65,000 on this old property is about as stupid as spending 120 years building a boat. But we walk by faith, and not by sight.
Some might be called from one place to another like Abram was, without a clear sense of what is next. Some might even be called from a place of financial security to financial uncertainty. As long as we’re on earth, we’re all called from the innocence of youth to the awareness of old age. If that’s not a challenge like Abram’s, I don’t know what is! Some are called from one job to another – from living at home to moving away from home like Neil Hill, Angie Ruby, & Andrew Thatcher are about to do as they head out for their first year of college an a couple of weeks. In moving from one place to another, our faith might be sorely tested, as Abraham’s was. But, he stood against the tests and the temptations, and so will we if we walk by faith, and not by sight.
And what about Moses? He stood up to his opposition, didn’t he? He didn’t wilt. He stood. When the Red Sea raged before God’s people, Moses stood by faith, and believed that he was securely part of God’s spectacular story in a way he could never understand. That’s faith. And that’s what totally protects us against those dumb arrows of the devil: FAITH.
Did you know that on those shields were hinges that enabled the soldiers to connect their shields to each other to create a wall of protection? Can you see it by faith, and not by sight? It’s important to have our shields up as individuals. But it’s awesome to have our shields up together in the battle! I think about that scene in the Wizard of Oz, when those soldiers were marching outside the Wicked Witch of the West’s castle. Remember the sound of their marching? Do you remember their marching song? O – EE – O, o-ee-o, over and over again. Formidable. Unforgettable. And, that’s what we do for each other, when we stay connected to our family - the body of Christ - in study, in worship, in fellowship, in service, and in prayer – keeping each other alert, and reminding each other when we need reminding – that God’s got a plan to prosper us, and not to harm us – a plan to give us a future filled with heavenly hope.
College students, even when you’re not right here with us, please know that because of our common faith, we are always together. We might not be right beside you in the battle, able to touch you and pat you on the back, but somewhere down the row, our shields of faith are at the ready to help you fight off the arrows of the devil. If Moses could do it, if Abram could do it, if David could do it, if Mary could do it, if Alma, and Martha, and Herbie, and Dorothy, and Jim, and Anna, and Dave, and so many others could keep their shields of faith up by holding onto all of God promises no matter what came against them, we can keep our shields up and hold on, too. We must persevere, for the sake of those the devil seeks to devour.
Shields UP! Stand STRONG! Hallelujah! Amen.
The Whole Armor of God – Part 6
“The Shield of Faith – The Big Cover-Up!”
Rev. Meagan M. Boozer
Ephesians 6:10-15, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. . . ”
I want to begin the message on the Shield of Faith this morning by listening to a song together. The words are printed on the yellow sheet in your bulletin. In a nutshell, this song tells the Biblical story:
Tell me the Story Again
By Chris Rice
Start with an infant world
and an open sky - on a perfect day
breath from the mouth of God
sends a quiver through his design of clay
and it is good, And it is good
Tell me the story again
Tell me the story again
Wake to a girl beside
here's a hand to hold
and never go away
now taste the forbidden fruit
make a poor excuse
feel the wall of shame
and run and hide, And run and hide
Tell me the story again - tell me the story again
Child in a manger bed
see the virgin smile - she understood
now grow up and break your bread
pour your cup of wine
on a cross of wood
a cross of wood, a cross of wood
Tell me the story again (4x)
Time 20 centuries
there's a boy on his knees
at the river's edge
now plunge with his guilty stains
in the cleansing waves
and wash his sins away
oh happy day (4x)
Tell me that story again
tell me that story again
tell me the story, tell me the story
tell me the story, tell me the story again
Start with an infant world
and an open sky
on a perfect day
. . .
The Shield of Faith is complete trust in that story – the Shield of Faith is belief, without a doubt, that the biblical story is not irrelevant to your life, it’s not just some dry history written down to read now and then: The biblical story is your story - the story of your past, your present, and your future. The Shield of Faith is complete trust that, because of your faith in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, your life is all intertwined with the lives of every other believer from the beginning of time to the end of the age.
I’ve heard people say that if their house was on fire they would first make sure all their family was out, but if they had time to grab something, they would grab their pictures. Just last Sunday during Sunday school, Joni Frey brought a small pile of pictures in that she found at Alma Lytle’s home. We saw some wonderful pictures of George, Elsie, Floyd Baker, of course Alma & her parents, and so many others. Pictures help to give our lives a visible history – a context – and because of that, they are very valuable. It’s very difficult to throw a picture away. Even when we don’t know what to do with all of them, we hold onto pictures for the sake of the family story – family history. Well, I’d like to offer this thought today: For the sake of the family of God (those who are already part of the family, and especially those who have not come into the family yet), we must hold onto God’s story, and by faith, trust that our part in the story is secure and spectacular. This kind of faith covers us and protects us from the attacks of the devil who wants to erase our memories, our knowledge, and certainly our resolve to persevere like so many who have gone before us to their heavenly home:
Let us pray: Gracious God, help us learn well today. Make us hungry for your truth, and convicted to obey it. May we not compromise so that your witness is diminished by our failures. Fill us anew with your Holy Spirit, and bring us confidently to your throne of grace. This we pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
The Roman soldier would have had 2 different kinds of shields that came with their suit of armor. They would have had a small round shield, called a buckler, that was usually strapped to the soldier’s arm. If he was in hand-to-hand combat, he could use that little shield to protect himself with one hand, while swinging a short sword with the other hand. The soldier would have also had a larger shield approximately 4’ high and 2 1/2’ wide (very much like a door, from which the word Paul uses for shield is actually derived). This large shield, according to Kent Hughes’ commentary on Ephesians (p. 234), was made of 2 layers of laminated wood, covered first with linen and then with hide, and then bound top and bottom with iron, with an iron ornament decorating the front of it. Hughes writes that a man could put his entire body behind it as it absorbed the javelins and arrows of the enemy. In the case of flaming arrows, which would have been arrows with a hollowed out shaft, filled with a combustible fluid, very often the arrow would snuff out as it buried itself in the thickness of the shield. During battles these great shields would often bristle with smoking arrows like roasted porcupines.
We’ve already learned that the Belt of Truth is THE most important piece of armor that we wear. The Belt of Truth is the written word of God – the Bible, and the “In the flesh” Word of God – who is Jesus. We learned that we have to pick up our Bibles, and allow the Spirit of Christ to infiltrate every area of our lives if we want to walk in victory against the mind games of the devil. We’ve learned that the Breastplate of Righteousness is the CONFIDENCE that we are COVERED in the Robe of Righteousness that has been washed in the blood of the Lamb of God! The Breastplate of Righteousness makes you feel sort of like you do when you graduate from someplace and you’re wearing that cap and gown. “Wow. I really did it. I’m a graduate!” Or, you’ve gone out hunting on the first day of deer season, and you come home with an 8-point in the back of the truck. “Wow. I did it. I got one!” Wearing the breastplate should make you stand up straighter, but not because of what you did, but what Jesus did for you: “Wow. HE really did it! JESUS really saved me from my sins. I’m really free from them forever.” That’s the Breastplate of Righteousness!
We learned that the shoes of peace keep us from falling over when the storms are raging around us. The shoes of peace help us dig into God’s promises and stand firm against the lies the devil tries to get us to believe.
So, there we are, walking around, minding our own business, trying to make a living – trying to do good things for other people – and our enemy, the devil, is prowling around, looking for someone to devour. He starts launching repeated courses of blazing arrows: Temptations, Strategies, Deceptions – to inflame us and wound us and even destroy us. Let’s admit it, we all have lusts within us which are easy to ignite. All we need is the tiniest flame and we become a roaring fire – inappropriate, destructive passion for people and for things. We want more money for ourselves, we want more stuff, we want more trophies on the shelf for ourselves or our kids, we’d rather our kids be accepted and popular than saved and safe, and so we turn our heads and our hearts from them, we want to be right all the time and don’t mind telling everyone else the correct answer. We want to retire so that we can do what we want to do. We burn so easily! And our rationalizations come so naturally: “If God didn’t want me to have this, then why would he allow this desire within me for this thing, this person, this pleasure?” “If my spouse understood me like this person does, my marriage wouldn’t be such a drag…” “Other kids my age are doing it and it doesn’t seem to be hurting them...” “I don’t have to go to Sunday school or worship. I already believe in God. It’s just the same old story over and over again. I already know it.”
Then there are all the headlines on the news in our own Public Opinion: Body of swimmer recovered at Pine Grove, Police looking into feud, Chambersburg man charged as child predator, Man charged with Waynesboro burglary, Reward Offered in M & T Bank Robbery, JLG Industries to cut 600 Jobs, Furnishings stolen from new homes, Artemas woman killed in Fulton County Crash – and that’s not even touching the surface. Turn on Fox news or CNN and almost all you hear is bad news. It’s like, if it’s not bad news, it’s not a story worth reporting.
Then, there are all the fiery trials awaiting us in this life that it seems we can’t control at all: illness, tragedies, persecution. Along with all this, the devil and his demons are shooting arrows of doubt about God’s goodness, the truth of the gospel, arrows to get us to doubt even the very existence of God.
Plus, what about the arrows that come from within our own camp – our own family, or church family? Arrows of rejection, criticism, abuse, and hypocrisy. What about arrows that we ourselves hold? Pride, vanity, narcissism - the “everyone’s against me” syndrome, or “it’s all about me condition.”
Tell me the story again. Tell me the story again. Tell me the story again.
Is there anything I’ve named that’s not real? How do we keep from growing so worn, weary, and wary in the midst of it all? We must hold onto God’s story, and trust, by faith, that our part in the story is secure and spectacular. Please sit back, and listen to your story.
Hebrews 11
1What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see. 2God gave his approval to people in days of old because of their faith. 3By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen. 4It was by faith that Abel brought a more acceptable offering to God than Cain did. God accepted Abel’s offering to show that he was a righteous man. And although Abel is long dead, he still speaks to us because of his faith. 5It was by faith that Enoch was taken up to heaven without dying—“suddenly he disappeared because God took him.” But before he was taken up, he was approved as pleasing to God. 6So, you see, it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that there is a God and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. 7It was by faith that Noah built an ark to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about something that had never happened before. By his faith he condemned the rest of the world and was made right in God’s sight. 8It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going. 9And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith—for he was like a foreigner, living in a tent. And so did Isaac and Jacob, to whom God gave the same promise. 10Abraham did this because he was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God. 11It was by faith that Sarah together with Abraham was able to have a child, even though they were too old and Sarah was barren. Abraham believed that God would keep his promise. 12And so a whole nation came from this one man, Abraham, who was too old to have any children—a nation with so many people that, like the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore, there is no way to count them. 13All these faithful ones died without receiving what God had promised them, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed the promises of God. They agreed that they were no more than foreigners and nomads here on earth. 14And obviously people who talk like that are looking forward to a country they can call their own. 15If they had meant the country they came from, they would have found a way to go back. 16But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a heavenly city for them. 17It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God was testing him. Abraham, who had received God’s promises, was ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, 18though God had promised him, “Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted.” 19Abraham assumed that if Isaac died, God was able to bring him back to life again. And in a sense, Abraham did receive his son back from the dead.
20It was by faith that Isaac blessed his two sons, Jacob and Esau. He had confidence in what God was going to do in the future. 21It was by faith that Jacob, when he was old and dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons and bowed in worship as he leaned on his staff. 22And it was by faith that Joseph, when he was about to die, confidently spoke of God’s bringing the people of Israel out of Egypt. He was so sure of it that he commanded them to carry his bones with them when they left! 23It was by faith that Moses’ parents hid him for three months. They saw that God had given them an unusual child, and they were not afraid of what the king might do. 24It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be treated as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. 25He chose to share the oppression of God’s people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26He thought it was better to suffer for the sake of the Messiah than to own the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to the great reward that God would give him. 27It was by faith that Moses left the land of Egypt. He was not afraid of the king. Moses kept right on going because he kept his eyes on the one who is invisible. 28It was by faith that Moses commanded the people of Israel to keep the Passover and to sprinkle blood on the doorposts so that the angel of death would not kill their firstborn sons. 29It was by faith that the people of Israel went right through the Red Sea as though they were on dry ground. But when the Egyptians followed, they were all drowned.
30It was by faith that the people of Israel marched around Jericho seven days, and the walls came crashing down. 31It was by faith that Rahab the prostitute did not die with all the others in her city who refused to obey God. For she had given a friendly welcome to the spies. 32Well, how much more do I need to say? It would take too long to recount the stories of the faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and all the prophets. 33By faith these people overthrew kingdoms, ruled with justice, and received what God had promised them. They shut the mouths of lions, 34quenched the flames of fire, and escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their weakness was turned to strength. They became strong in battle and put whole armies to flight. 35Women received their loved ones back again from death. But others trusted God and were tortured, preferring to die rather than turn from God and be free. They placed their hope in the resurrection to a better life. 36Some were mocked, and their backs were cut open with whips. Others were chained in dungeons. 37Some died by stoning, and some were sawed in half; others were killed with the sword. Some went about in skins of sheep and goats, hungry and oppressed and mistreated. 38They were too good for this world. They wandered over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground. 39All of these people we have mentioned received God’s approval because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised. 40For God had far better things in mind for us that would also benefit them, for they can’t receive the prize at the end of the race until we finish the race.”
When the family picture is taken, if we have trusted in Jesus as Savior and Lord, we’re right there alongside Noah, Enoch, Abraham, Moses, Hannah, David, Samuel, Mary, all the disciples, the Apostle Paul, and all the believers from every time and place. There is nothing happening in any of our lives right now that hasn’t happened already in the history of the family of God. We might not be building an ark, any of us, but some of us feel like we’re doing some pretty radical things for the Lord right now, and others don’t seem to understand. Some might even say spending $65,000 on this old property is about as stupid as spending 120 years building a boat. But we walk by faith, and not by sight.
Some might be called from one place to another like Abram was, without a clear sense of what is next. Some might even be called from a place of financial security to financial uncertainty. As long as we’re on earth, we’re all called from the innocence of youth to the awareness of old age. If that’s not a challenge like Abram’s, I don’t know what is! Some are called from one job to another – from living at home to moving away from home like Neil Hill, Angie Ruby, & Andrew Thatcher are about to do as they head out for their first year of college an a couple of weeks. In moving from one place to another, our faith might be sorely tested, as Abraham’s was. But, he stood against the tests and the temptations, and so will we if we walk by faith, and not by sight.
And what about Moses? He stood up to his opposition, didn’t he? He didn’t wilt. He stood. When the Red Sea raged before God’s people, Moses stood by faith, and believed that he was securely part of God’s spectacular story in a way he could never understand. That’s faith. And that’s what totally protects us against those dumb arrows of the devil: FAITH.
Did you know that on those shields were hinges that enabled the soldiers to connect their shields to each other to create a wall of protection? Can you see it by faith, and not by sight? It’s important to have our shields up as individuals. But it’s awesome to have our shields up together in the battle! I think about that scene in the Wizard of Oz, when those soldiers were marching outside the Wicked Witch of the West’s castle. Remember the sound of their marching? Do you remember their marching song? O – EE – O, o-ee-o, over and over again. Formidable. Unforgettable. And, that’s what we do for each other, when we stay connected to our family - the body of Christ - in study, in worship, in fellowship, in service, and in prayer – keeping each other alert, and reminding each other when we need reminding – that God’s got a plan to prosper us, and not to harm us – a plan to give us a future filled with heavenly hope.
College students, even when you’re not right here with us, please know that because of our common faith, we are always together. We might not be right beside you in the battle, able to touch you and pat you on the back, but somewhere down the row, our shields of faith are at the ready to help you fight off the arrows of the devil. If Moses could do it, if Abram could do it, if David could do it, if Mary could do it, if Alma, and Martha, and Herbie, and Dorothy, and Jim, and Anna, and Dave, and so many others could keep their shields of faith up by holding onto all of God promises no matter what came against them, we can keep our shields up and hold on, too. We must persevere, for the sake of those the devil seeks to devour.
Shields UP! Stand STRONG! Hallelujah! Amen.
