21 DAYS OF PRAYER AND FASTING
ARMOR BLACKSMITH
FORGING THE SHIELD OF FAITH
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of [b]the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. —Ephesians 6:10 - 16
FORGING THE SHIELD OF FAITH
Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. —Ephesians 6:16
5 Then the Philistines gathered together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the seashore in multitude. And they came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of Beth Aven.
6 When the men of Israel saw that they were in danger (for the people were distressed), then the people hid in caves, in thickets, in rocks, in holes, and in pits.
7 And some of the Hebrews crossed over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. As for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling. —1 Samuel 13:5 - 719 Now there was no blacksmith to be found throughout all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, “Lest the Hebrews make swords or spears.”
20 But all the Israelites would go down to the Philistines to sharpen each man’s plowshare, his mattock, his ax, and his sickle; —1 Samuel 13:19 -20
1. THE WHO – God is our shield.
Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord, the shield of your help and the sword of your majesty! Your enemies shall submit to you, and you shall tread down their high places.” —Deuteronomy 33:29
We put our hope in the LORD.
He is our help and our shield. —Psalm 33:20 (NLT)After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” —Genesis 15:1
This God – his way is perfect; the word of the LORD proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him. —Psalm 18:30 (ESV)
For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. —Psalm 84:11 (ESV)
2. THE WHY.
11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of [b]the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. —Ephesians 6:11 - 133 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.
4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds. —2 Corinthians 10:3 - 4The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. —John 10:10
3. THE WHAT - “faith.”
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. —Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. —Hebrews 11:1 (NIV)
The word “faith” in Greek is “pistis,” which conveys a sense of trust, confidence, and assurance.
Faith is the basis, the substructure. Faith stands under all of what the Christian life means, and all of what the Christian hopes for.
“… faith celebrates now the reality of the future blessings that constitute the objective content of hope.”
Faith apprehends as a real fact what is not revealed to the senses. It rests on that fact, acts upon it, and is upheld by it in the face of all that seems to contradict it. Faith is real seeing.
Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses]. —Hebrews 11:1 (AMPC)
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for… —Hebrews 11:1a
SUBSTANCE:
Signifies subsistence, that which becomes a foundation for another thing to stand on. And signifies such a conviction as is produced in the mind by the demonstration of a problem, after which demonstration no doubt can remain, because we see from it that the thing is; that it cannot but be; and that it cannot be otherwise that as it is, and is proved to be.
Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for… —Hebrews 11:a (AMPC)
ASSURANCE:
The Greek word for “assurance” is “hypostastis,” which can also be translated as “substance” or “confidence.” A confident expectation, as it implies a firm foundation or reality. In the ancient world, this term was used in legal contexts to denote a title deed or guarantee.
The true and essential nature of faith is confidence in God, belief in His declarations of Himself, His character, and His Word.
So to take up the shield of faith means to have confidence in God and to choose the unseen over the seen.
Now there was no blacksmith to be found throughout all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, “Lest the Hebrews make swords or spears.” —1 Samuel 13:19
Ahijah the son of Ahitub, Ichabod’s brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the Lord’s priest in Shiloh, was wearing an ephod. But the people did not know that Jonathan had gone. —1 Samuel 14:3
And Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring the ark of God here” (for at that time the ark of God was with the children of Israel) —1 Samuel 14:18
8 whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing,
you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,
9 receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls. —1 Peter 1:8 - 9By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. —Hebrews 11:3
For we walk by faith, not by sight. —2 Corinthians 5:7
Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” —John 20:29
So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. —Romans 10:17
13 Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocence.
14 For all day long I have been plagued, and chastened every morning.
15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,” behold, I would have been untrue to the generation of Your children.
16 When I thought how to understand this, it was too painful for me—
17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I understood their end.
18 Surely You set them in slippery places; You cast them down to destruction. —Psalm 73:13 - 181 Now it happened one day that Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who bore his armor, “Come, let us go over to the Philistines’ garrison that is on the other side.” But he did not tell his father.
2 And Saul was sitting in the outskirts of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree which is in Migron. The people who were with him were about six hundred men.
3 Ahijah the son of Ahitub, Ichabod’s brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the Lord’s priest in Shiloh, was wearing an ephod. But the people did not know that Jonathan had gone. —1 Samuel 14:1 - 36 Then Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, “Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; it may be that the Lord will work for us. For nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few.”
7 So his armorbearer said to him, “Do all that is in your heart. Go then; here I am with you, according to your heart.”
8 Then Jonathan said, “Very well, let us cross over to these men, and we will show ourselves to them.
9 If they say thus to us, ‘Wait until we come to you,’ then we will stand still in our place and not go up to them.
10 But if they say thus, ‘Come up to us,’ then we will go up. For the Lord has delivered them into our hand, and this will be a sign to us.”
11 So both of them showed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines. And the Philistines said, “Look, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden.”
12 Then the men of the garrison called to Jonathan and his armorbearer, and said, “Come up to us, and we will show you something.” Jonathan said to his armorbearer, “Come up after me, for the Lord has delivered them into the hand of Israel.”
18 And Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring the ark of God here” (for at that time the ark of God was with the children of Israel).
19 Now it happened, while Saul talked to the priest, that the noise which was in the camp of the Philistines continued to increase; so Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand.” —1 Samuel 14:18 - 19