DISCOURSE: 2131
THE CHRISTIAN’S SHIELD
Ephesians 6:16. Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the tricked.
NOTWITHSTANDING the armour of the ancients was generally so constructed, that it could repel any weapon that might come against it, the warrior did not conceive himself to be completely armed without a shield. In reference to the Christian soldier, this observation may be applied with still greater propriety; because, however excellent the different pieces of his armour may be, not one of them will suffice for his protection, unless it be itself also covered with the shield of faith. As “without faith it is impossible to please God,” so without faith it is impossible to withstand Satan. That powerful adversary will soon pierce through our “truth” and “righteousness,” if they be exposed to his assault without any additional defence. On this account the Apostle directs, that “above all,” and in addition to all, we should “take the shield of faith.”
In illustrating this divine injunction we propose to shew,
I. The office of faith in the Christian’s armour—
II.
Its transcendent excellence—
I. The office of faith in the Christian’s armour—
The particular use of a shield is to ward off a blow from any part of the body that may be menaced; and for that end it is to be applied in every direction, as occasion may require.
Now Satan strikes sometimes at one part, and sometimes at another, according as the different parts may seem most open to his attack. And the temptations with which he makes his assault, are as “fiery darts,” which fly with incredible velocity, and are calculated to inflame the soul with their deadly poison.
The office of faith, and its power to repel these darts, will distinctly appear, while we shew how it enables the Christian to foil Satan in all his attempts to wound either his head, or heart.
Satan has many fierce and fiery temptations, whereby he endeavours to wound the head. There is not any thing so horrid or blasphemous, which he will not suggest to the mind. Even atheism itself is not so shocking, but he is capable of impressing the idea of it upon the soul, and of leading men to an adoption of it in practice, at least, if not also in theory and judgment [Note: Psalms 14:1.]. From the apparent inequality that there is in the dispensations of Providence, Satan raises a doubt whether there be a God; or, at least, whether he interfere at all in the concerns of men [Note: Psalms 73:12-13.], or will judge the world in righteousness at the last day [Note: Zephaniah 1:12.]. He will take occasion also from the difficulties that there are in Scripture to draw men to infidelity. “How can that be the word of God which is so full of contradictions? And who can know with any certainty what it declares to us, when those who profess to believe it, are of such opposite sentiments?” By such temptations as these he assaults chiefly the avowed enemies of God. But there are other temptations whereby he labours (and with too much success) to turn from the faith those who confess the divine authority of the Scriptures. He will draw them into errors of various kinds, and thus undermine the principles which he could not destroy by open assault. Time would not suffice to point out the innumerable errors to which he has given birth, and by which he has destroyed the souls of men: but there is one way in which almost all of them have been produced and propagated: he induces men to take some one truth of Scripture, and to magnify its importance beyond all due bounds, and to exalt it, not only above all other truths, but to the utter exclusion of them; and thus he founds error upon truth, and the most “damnable heresies” upon the sacred records. Mark the different heresies, and examine them by this test; and the truth of the observation will immediately appear. Because our blessed Saviour was a man, and both lived and died as an example to his followers, therefore the Socinians affirm that he was only a man, and that he died only as an example; and thus they set aside both his divinity and atonement. Because the Spirit of God is represented as dwelling in believers, therefore the Mystics reduce all religion to a vain conceit about the light within them; from a regard to which, they overlook the work of Christ for them, yea, and supersede the plainest institutions of religion, and, in a very great degree, the Scriptures themselves. In the same manner the Antinomian advocate for faith excludes good works from his system; whilst the Moralist, from an ignorant zeal for good works, discards all concern about the faith of Christ. The rigid Predestinarian asserts the sovereignty of God to the subversion of man’s freedom and responsibility; while the contender for the freedom and sufficiency of man’s will, obliterates the decrees of heaven, and denies his dependence on God.
To enter more minutely into these various heresies would lead us too far from our subject. The point to be illustrated is, How does faith enable us to avoid them? But previous to this inquiry, it will be proper to shew briefly, that these errors do indeed proceed from Satan as their author; and that they are not unfitly compared to fiery darts.
Nothing can be plainer in the Scriptures than that Satan is the great author of error, not only because he is “the father of lies [Note: John 8:44.],” and “the deceiver of the world [Note: Revelation 12:9.],” but because the propagators of error are expressly called his children [Note: Acts 13:10.], and his ministers [Note: 2 Corinthians 11:15.]; and they who have embraced error, are said to have been “tempted of the tempter [Note: 1 Thessalonians 3:5.],” and to have “turned aside after Satan [Note: 1 Timothy 5:15.];” and to be “of the synagogue of Satan [Note: Revelation 3:9.].”
This point will receive additional confirmation, by observing with what propriety his temptations are compared to “fiery darts;” for how suddenly do they strike the mind! how deeply also do they penetrate! and with what venom do they inflame the soul! Truly “they set on fire the whole course of nature; and themselves are set on fire of hell [Note: James 3:6.].” St. Paul speaks of those who are turned from the truth as being “bewitched [Note: Galatians 3:1.]:” and indeed, when we see what infatuation seizes them, how their understandings are blinded, their judgments warped, their conscience perverted, and how they are carried away by their own pride and self-sufficiency, without ever considering what spirit they are of, or conceiving it possible that they should be misled; we cannot but confess that they are the unhappy victims of Satanic agency.
Now we come to the point proposed, to consider how faith repels these fiery darts.
Faith, provided it be a true and living faith, receives the word of God simply on the authority of him that revealed it [Note: 1 Thessalonians 2:13.]. It staggers not at any difficulties either in the dispensations of his providence, or the declarations of his grace. Conscious of man’s inability to comprehend even the most common matters in their full extent, the believer submits his reason to God, and receives without gainsaying whatsoever divine wisdom has revealed [Note: James 1:21.]. Now the interference of God in the government of the world, even in the falling of a sparrow [Note: Matthew 10:29.], or of the hairs of our head [Note: Matthew 10:30.], is most clearly asserted in the inspired volume; and, on that account, no occurrence whatever is suffered to weaken the conviction, that all things are under his immediate and entire controul [Note: Isaiah 45:7.]. Nor do the difficulties that are in Scripture at all lessen its authority in the believer’s eyes: whatever he cannot account for as arising from the circumstances under which the Scriptures have been handed down to us, he puts to the score of his own ignorance, and contentedly says, “What I know not now, I shall know hereafter [Note: John 13:7.].” And, as to all the heresies that have been broached in the Christian Church, he has one way of repelling all: he “compares spiritual things with spiritual [Note: 1 Corinthians 2:13.];” not hastily rejecting any plain declaration of God, because he cannot discern its harmony and agreement with some other declaration: he rather looks to God for the teachings of his Spirit; and keeps his mind ready to embrace whatever may tend to his own humiliation, or to the glory of God. If it be thought that still he will be as open to receive error as truth, we answer, that God has promised to “guide him into all truth [Note: John 16:13.];” and that every believer has within himself the witness of all the fundamental doctrines of our religion [Note: 1 John 5:10.]; so that, “though he be a mere fool” in all other matters, “he shall surely be kept from error” in the concerns of his soul [Note: Isaiah 35:8. with Psalms 25:9.].
We must next call your attention to the temptations wherewith Satan assaults the heart. Under this term we include both the will and the affections; the former of which he endeavours to weaken by terrors, while he corrupts the latter by the allurements of sense.
As soon as that wicked fiend beholds any turning unto God, he will suggest to their minds the comforts they must sacrifice, the reproaches they must incur, the losses they must sustain, and the insuperable difficulties they must encounter; that so he may shake their resolution, and divert them from their purpose. It was thus that he prevented the entrance of the Israelites into Canaan [Note: Numbers 14:1-4.]. It was thus also that he succeeded in damping the ardour of that wealthy youth, who, from love to his great possessions, relinquished all hope of an interest in Christ [Note: Matthew 19:21-22.]. And in the same manner does he prevail with thousands of the present day, who would gladly participate his blessings, if they could retain together with them their carnal attachments [Note: Matthew 8:19-22.].
If he cannot succeed by these means, he will represent their case as hopeless; and dissuade them from prosecuting their course by the consideration, that their efforts will be in vain [Note: Jeremiah 18:12.].
To others he will propose the pleasures of sense. He will set before them, as he did before our Lord [Note: Matthew 4:8-9.], the glory of the world; he will draw their attention to “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life [Note: 1 John 2:15-16.].” He will represent these things in the most fascinating view; well knowing, that if he can but induce them to love either the pleasures, or the riches, or the honours of the world, he has accomplished his purpose, and effectually alienated their hearts from God [Note: Matthew 6:24. with James 4:4.].
Now these also are as “fiery darts,” which, if they once enter into the soul, will burn up all the good that is within it, and destroy it utterly.
But faith is as useful to protect the heart, as to defend the head. As it obviates every difficulty that may perplex the understanding, so it wards off every thing that may intimidate or defile the soul.
To the temptations that assault the will, faith opposes the importance of eternal things: ‘Be it so; I must endure much if I will adhere to my purpose of serving God: but what shall I have to endure if I do not serve him? It is not a matter of mere choice, but of absolute necessity; for “what shall it profit me if I gain the whole world, and lose my own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul [Note: Matthew 16:26.]?” Let me not then hear of difficulties; for if Nebuchadnezzar’s furnace were before me, it were better to suffer martyrdom at once with the Hebrew Youths, than to renounce my allegiance to God [Note: Daniel 3:18.]. With respect to the hopelessness of my case, nothing but destruction can result from despair: for “to whom can I go, if not to Him who has the words of eternal life [Note: John 6:68.].?” God helping me therefore I will go forward; and if I perish, I will perish [Note: Alluding to Esther 4:16 and to 2 Kings 7:4.] at the foot of my Redeemer’s cross, crying for mercy as the chief of sinners.’
Then to the temptations that assault the affections, faith opposes the excellency of eternal things: ‘True; I might enjoy the pleasures of sin; but would they equal the pleasure of serving God, and especially those “pleasures which are at his right hand for evermore?” Are not “the unsearchable riches of Christ,” together with “the honour that cometh of God,” sufficient to counterbalance any riches or honours that I may forego for Christ’s sake? Avaunt, Satan, for what thou offerest me is poor, transient, delusive: whereas the blessedness of the saints, both in this world and the next, is substantial, exquisite, everlasting.’ Thus it was that Moses argued, when he “refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, and chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season:” and the principle that dictated the argument, was “faith [Note: Hebrews 11:24-26.].” This was his “shield;” and the same will enable us also to repel the darts of Satan, however fiercely they be hurled, and however formidably they may come against us.
Having thus illustrated the office of faith, we proceed to point out,
II.
Its transcendent excellence—
Somewhat of this has already appeared: but the high encomium which the Apostle bestows on this piece of armour in particular above all others, manifestly demands a more distinct consideration.
We may observe then in commendation of faith, considered as the Christian’s shield, that its use is universal; its application is easy; its success is sure.
First, its use is universal—
All the other parts of armour have their distinct province, to which they are confined. “Truth” and “righteousness” defend the heart; but they are of no use at all to protect the head. But faith is universally applicable to every species of temptation. Faith discerns the truth of the Gospel, and thereby is fitted to preserve the head from error: it discerns also the importance and excellence of the Gospel, and is therefore proper to preserve the heart from sin. It is no less useful to the feet; for we “stand by faith [Note: 2 Corinthians 1:24.],” and “walk by faith [Note: 2 Corinthians 5:7.].” Every step we take is safest under the guidance of faith, because it both affords us the best light, and enables us to walk without stumbling even in the dark [Note: Isaiah 50:10; Micah 7:8.].
Let this consideration then operate on all, and stir us all up to seek faith. Let us not hastily conclude that we possess this principle; for “all men have not faith [Note: 2 Thessalonians 3:2.].” “Faith is the gift of God [Note: Philippians 1:29.]:” nor can we have it, unless it have been given us from above. O that all would seek it at the hands of a reconciled God! Beloved brethren, be not satisfied with “the girdle of sincerity,” or “the breast-plate of righteousness,” or “the greaves of Gospel peace:” they are all good and useful in their place; but it is faith, that gives even to them their chief strength; and it is faith, by which alone you can ever be victorious. Does the world tempt you? “this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith [Note: 1 John 5:4.].” Does corruption harass you? you must “purify your heart by faith [Note: Acts 15:9.].” Do your graces languish? It is faith alone that will set them to work in a way of love [Note: Galatians 5:6.]. And lastly, does the devil as a roaring lion threaten to devour you? It is by being steadfast in the faith that you must resist and vanquish him [Note: 1 Peter 5:8-9.]. Think then of the use and efficacy of faith; and pray to our adorable Saviour in the words of his Apostles, “Lord increase our faith [Note: Luke 17:5.].”
In the next place we observe, that its application is easy—
A shield is easily transferred from one position to another as occasion may require: and faith also quickly moves to the protection of any part that is attacked. We do not say, that it is an easy thing to produce faith; for it requires no less power than that which was exerted in raising Christ from the dead, to create faith in the heart [Note: Ephesians 1:19-20.]. But when a person has faith, then, we say, it is easy for him to apply it for his defence. Suppose that our head were attacked with subtle heresies, and we had nothing but reason to counteract the temptation; how weak, how tardy, how uncertain would be its operation! The greater part of mankind would not have either time or ability to follow Satan in all his arguments; nor would those of the strongest intellect ever arrive at certainty; they could rise no higher than opinion at the last; while those of inferior talents would be lost in endless perplexity. Suppose again that our heart were attacked with some fiery lust, and we had no better defence than that which reason could afford; would passion listen to the voice of reason? As well might we attempt to extinguish flames that were consuming our house, by a slight sprinkling of water with the hand, as to stop the course of our passions by the efforts of unassisted reason. But in either of these cases, one single word from Scripture will suffice. How was it that our great Captain repelled the fiery darts that were cast at him? “It is written;” “It is written;” “It is written [Note: Luke 4:4; Luke 4:8; Luke 4:10.].” Thus he fought; and his vanquished enemy fled from before him. Thus also must we fight; and by opposing to our enemy this shield, the weakest and most ignorant is as sure of victory, as the strongest and most intelligent. In some respects the poor and ignorant have an advantage over the rich and learned; because they exercise faith, for the most part, in a more simple manner; whereas the others are ever trusting, more or less, to their own reason: and it is expressly with a view to confound the pride of reason, that God has given this superiority to the poor, and “chosen them, in preference to others, to be rich in faith [Note: James 2:5.].”
Let this then operate as a further inducement with us to seek faith, since none of us can get the victory without it [Note: Isaiah 7:9.]; and by it the very weakest on earth shall be able to remove mountains [Note: Matthew 17:20.].
Lastly, we may affirm, that its success is sure—
But for their faith, the most eminent of God’s saints would have been destroyed. “I had fainted,” says David, “if I had not believed [Note: Psalms 27:13.]:” and Peter would have been driven away as the chaff, if our Lord had not secured his faith from failing [Note: Luke 22:32.]. On the other hand, we have a host of saints upon record, who, “through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens: women received their dead to life again; and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection. And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea moreover, of bonds and imprisonment: they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheep-skins, and goat-skins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented. These all obtained a good report through faith [Note: Hebrews 11:33-39.].” Further, if we search the annals of the world, we shall not find one single instance wherein believers were ultimately vanquished. On many occasions they have been wounded, and sorely too: even the father of the faithful himself was not so expert in the use of his shield as to ward off every blow [Note: Genesis 12:12-13; Genesis 20:2.]: but believers are secured from any fatal stroke. Our Lord himself has pledged his word that they shall never perish [Note: John 5:24; John 10:28.]; that, if they fall, they shall be raised up again to renew the contest [Note: Psalms 37:21; Psalms 145:14.]; and, that “Satan shall finally be bruised under their feet [Note: Romans 16:20.].”
Remarkable in this view are the expressions of the text. The idea of “quenching” the fiery darts of the wicked one, may perhaps refer to the custom of making shields sometimes of raw hides, that, in case a poisoned arrow should perforate them, the wound, which on account of the poison must otherwise have been fatal, might be healed. But perhaps the true meaning may be, that by faith we shall as completely defeat the malignant efforts of Satan, as by the extinguishing of fire we shall be delivered from its fury. Nor is this true of some temptations only; it extends to “all” without exception. Nor can it be said of some believers only, who are of the highest class; for all who are armed with the shield of faith, whether they be old or young, rich or poor, learned or unlearned, “shall be able” perfectly, and for ever, to subdue their adversary.
To all then we say, “Have faith in God [Note: Mark 11:22.]:” if “ye have believed in the Father, believe also in Christ [Note: John 14:1.].” “Believe in the Lord, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper [Note: 2 Chronicles 20:20.].”