Another piece, and another kind of armor, is now introduced—the shield of faith. It is for defensive warfare. It defends the soul from the assaults of the enemy. The first three parts, as we have seen, relate to the spiritual condition of the Christian’s own soul, and to his walk. But a piece of defensive armor is needed to cover these. Each of them is so constantly the aim of Satan’s attacks. Hence the need of the shield, that his venomous efforts may be ineffectual. “Above all,” or, over all; or, added to all the rest, “taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.”
We have here two things for our meditation.
1. The exhortation; “above all, taking the shield of faith.”
2. The argument pressing it; “wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.”
What then are we to understand by the shield of faith? Faith in God as unchangeable in His grace and love—a confidence in Him, answering to what He is to us in Christ Jesus. It is the full assurance of the heart in the love of God, according to the revelation which He has given of Himself. God for us, should be emblazoned on the christian shield. This is more than the faith, observe, that simply receives God’s testimony concerning Christ for salvation; though founded on that, of course. It is a deep and blessed work of God’s Spirit in the soul, whereby the blessed consciousness that He is for us, and that His favor is unchangeable, is maintained in the heart. This is the invulnerable shield of faith: it covers the whole man. it is over all. While this shield is raised, no arrow of Satan can possibly reach us. They all fall pointless to the ground. What a mercy, Ο my soul! What a provision of grace, to be shielded from the poisoned shafts of the foe! How dreadful to be stung in the heart, in the conscience, in the ways, by the fiend of hell! Blessed Lord! impress our souls with the importance of these words, “Above all.” “Above all, taking the shield of faith.” Docs the apostle elevate this grace “above all” the other graces, as well as “over all” the others? Enough, however, to mark its unspeakable importance. Still meditate, Ο my soul, on the character and uses of thy shield, and take a still wider view of what the Spirit has taught us.
How blessed to find that God is often called in scripture the Shield of His people. “Fear not,” said God to Abram, “ I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.” (Gen. 15:11After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. (Genesis 15:1).) “For thou, Lord,” says the psalmist, “wilt bless the righteous; with favor wilt thou compass Mm as with a shield.” (Psalm 5:1212For thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous; with favor wilt thou compass him as with a shield. (Psalm 5:12).) The living God is His people’s shield. What rest, what security this gives! Behind His ample shield we have nothing to fear.
2. We now turn, for a moment, to the second thing: “Wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.” The enemy’s first and dreadful aim will be to weaken in our hearts this unquestioning confidence in God, to edge in by some means unbelieving thoughts, to insinuate that God is not all love, all goodness. These are his fiery darts, darts of unbelief. Especially when there has been failure; when the heart, by some means, has been turned away from God, will he drive the soul to despair if he can. He will press upon the fallen one the terrible thought that God is against him, that God has abandoned him, that there is no hope. Hence the Lord’s prayer for Peter that his faith might not fail him, that he might not be tempted, in consequence of his great sin, to unbelieving thoughts of God. There is no suffering so great as the agony of despair. Those who have witnessed it in others will never forget it. What must it be to pass through it! It partakes of the torments of hell—the forsaken place—the place where hope never enters. Nothing but the shield of faith can quench the fiery darts of unbelief.
The efforts of Satan to seduce, to act upon the desires of the flesh and of the mind, are entirely different to his fiery darts. There is pleasure of a certain kind in gratifying these desires. But there is no pleasure of any kind in yielding to unbelieving thoughts of God. Despair, more or less, is the result. At the same time, his seductions, if yielded to, expose the soul to his further and hotter attacks. If we have opened the door to him in gratifying an evil desire, one may have to suffer terribly from his fiery attacks before we are restored to the confidence and peace of God. But pray, tell me how these dreadful darts may be detected and avoided? They are truly awful to think of. Yes, indeed, my soul, they are truly awful. They are called fiery darts, because they are like a consuming fire in the soul; at least if they bring the soul to the point of despair. His great object is to darken the light of God in the soul and hide from it His love and favor. But few cases reach this point, thank God, where accomplished redemption is known. But here, prevention is better than cure; let us see how these inroads of the enemy may be prevented.
The most effectual way is being at home and happy in the presence of God. The personal knowledge of pardon and acceptance in the Beloved—of being complete in Christ, silences doubts, dispels fears, and quenches the fiery darts of the wicked. But the grand sheet-anchor of the soul is the knowledge of God’s unchangeable love as He has made Himself known to us in Christ. We may, alas, for a time, become indifferent, careless, lukewarm—turn aside, fall away; but the door is always left open for our return, and no change can take place either in God’s heart, or in His counsels towards us. The heart, in the calm assurance of His love, can say, I change, you change, all change; but He changes not. Circumstances change, friends change, everything around may seem changing; but there is no change in Him. Oh! what a hold this gives the soul of the living God! What peace, what joy, what repose, what happiness, and what irresistible power against the enemy! His arrows cannot reach us here. We are behind the shield of faith. Under the painful sense of failure, the heart is broken by the assurance that His love is the same, and cannot change towards us, though chastening may be necessary. But in place of doubts or dark despair under His chastening hand, there will be the bowings and the meltings of worship.