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Free Will Baptist Church
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Ironton, Ohio 45638

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Shield of Faith

June 20, 2007

Bob Bradley

_________________________ 

 

Ephesians 6:16

 

16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

 

Think about what Paul is saying here.  Paul is talking about a shield of faith that can do some great things.

 

Do you think that the grace and the shield of faith that Paul is talking about; do you think that it was an all-sufficient shield?  It was, wasn't it?

 

Paul recommended this shield everywhere that he went.  He talked to people about it.  He preached to people about it.  He made all kinds of recommendations to people about this shield and how that we needed to have it and carry it around.  Since it is an all-sufficient shield, he has recommended this shield of faith, and his recommendation is based upon personal experience.  We know that it is.  Paul's recommendation about this shield of faith--he could recommend it because of experience.  When you are going through something, when I have experienced what you are experiencing then I can say that I know how that you feel.  I know what you are talking about.  I can relate to what you are going through.  If I have never done that, then I cannot do that.

 

Since Paul has recommended this shield of faith and since he talked about it being an all-sufficient shield he knows this by experience.  When we look at the signs and examine Paul's life, do we really see the signs of a life that has been protected by a shield?  Do we see a life that has been protected from all kinds of obstacles?  When we look at Paul's life, we might see some things different than that.  When we move through Paul's life and move through his experiences of life we don't see a quiet life.  We don't see a life that has been sheltered from the storm.  We don't see a life of ease.  We don't see a life of...

 

Years ago, we used to plant gardens.  Sometimes we would put fences around the gardens.  When the fruit would come up on it, it would keep the animals out.  Sometimes, we might put electric on it and do some different things to keep the neighbors from stealing it.

 

Paul's life...If Paul preached about this shield of faith and he talked about it being an all sufficient shield, but when we look at Paul's life, we see all kinds of problems.  We don't see a time of quietness.  We don't see a life that has been guarded from adversity.  We don't see that.  Paul is telling us some things here that we need to see.  We need to understand some things about what he is really talking about.

 

Sometimes we want a shield for many different things.  As we look at the protected life, if Paul had a protected life, since he had a protected life, then what are some things that we could look at about him?  What are some things that we could see about him that would prove unto us what he is really trying to talk about?  He has talked about a shield of faith.  We know what a shield is.  A shield is something that will protect us.  The soldiers in Paul's day had a shield.  The shield was made out of leather.  They could take their shields [2 feet wide and 4 feet tall], soldiers could line up, and they could put their shields together.  They would be able to protect themselves against the enemy.  Since they could do that, then we know that it protected them.  It protected them from the adversary or the enemy that was on the outside of them trying to destroy them, or kill them.

 

As we take a glance at his life and all the outward circumstances about his life, we might ask our self a question; where was the shield?  Where was it at and what was it actually protecting.

 

II Corinthians 11:24-27

 

24 Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one.

25 Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep;

26 In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;

27 In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.

 

Where is the shield at?  When Paul says that all these things that have happened unto him, then where is the shield at?  Paul has preached and taught about this shield everywhere that he has ever gone he has talked about the shield of faith.  He says that we need to have it above all.  Where is the shield of faith when Paul is going through all these things that he has mentioned in his life; where is it at?   If it is all-sufficient, if it is something that will take care of us, defend us and keep us; where is it at?  We may ask our self this question. 

 

We need to ask our self this question because do you know what we do many times?  Many times, we want a shield here for the physical, but we don't think much about a shield for the spiritual.  We think about a shield for our bodies, about the external things and about circumstances that affect us on the outside but what we don't think about sometimes is the shield that we need for our soul.  That is what Paul is talking about.  Paul is not talking about a shield for this body and about all the circumstances that are going to come his way.  He is not talking about that but he is talking about a shield that he needed for his soul.  We need that.  We need a shield for our soul.  In spite of this protecting shield that Paul had all these things happened to him. 

 

 

He was shipwrecked

He was beaten

He was hungry

They stoned him

They whipped him

 

Even though he had this shield, all these things happened to him.  I want you to understand that even though we are saved and living as we should be living, that does not mean that we have a shield against all the problems of life.  There are going to be problems.  He is not talking about a shield that is going to shield this body, or a shield that is going to keep us from problems.  That is not what he is talking about.  He is talking about a shield of our soul.

 

Many times, we forget about that.  For a few moments, let us look at Paul and what he went through.  Ask ourselves this question; where is the shield at?  When we look at Paul's bodily infirmities, when we look at

 

II Corinthians 12:1

 

1 It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.

 

We can read there where Paul says that he has a thorn in the flesh.  We know that God had allowed satan to give Paul a thorn in the flesh.  There is no doubt in my mind that the thorn that Paul had was probably some kind of eye problems.  As great a man as the apostle Paul was, yet he had a thorn in the flesh that was hindering him and that was causing him problems.  Paul had messages to preach.  He had things to do.  He had churches to take care of.  He had people to minister to.  However, he had this thorn in the flesh.  Since he had this thorn in the flesh, we might ask ourselves, where was the shield at?  The shield that Paul had did not keep him from this infirmity in the flesh.  It did not keep him from having this.  Paul had this shield and even though he had this shield, it did not prevent him from having this thorn in the flesh. 

 

Why didn't it protect him? 

 

Paul mentioned about labors.  The apostle Paul labored and labored.  The Bible says and Paul even testifies that he labored more than anyone else labored.  We know that Paul worked and we know that Paul labored.  We know that Paul traveled.  We know that Paul had all kinds of laborers and he did all kinds of labors. 

 

He was not talking about laboring an hour or two a day or a week, but he is talking about a labor that he did everyday to the point of exhaustion, to the point that his body was completely zapped of all of its strength.  That is what Paul was talking about here when he mentions the labors that he had.  Since that was the case then where was this shield at that he talked about and preached about?  Where was the shield of faith at?  Paul had infirmities.  Paul labored to the point of exhaustion.  Where was the shield at?  Is that a fair question?

 

Sometimes we get the physical and the spiritual flipped-flopped.  We get those things confused.

 

Remember this

 

Not only do we have infirmities in this flesh even though we may have the shield of faith, but also we have to labor.  God ordained that.  I get tired quicker than I used to.  Sometimes we get that way.  Even though we have the shield of faith, we have infirmities.  Even though we have the shield, we get tired. 

 

Paul, even though he had the shield of faith, he had failures.  There were things in Paul's life that he looked at as failures.  Just because we have the shield of faith does not mean that we will never fail.  It does not mean that we will always be successful.  It does not mean that.  Sometimes we think that because we are saved and that God has saved us and that everything that we know that we are saved and our names are written down in heaven, we think sometimes that we will never fail in life but that is wrong.  The shield of faith that we have does not keep us from failing. 

 

When you look at the book of Galatians, Paul had labored.  Paul had preached.  Paul had taught these folk.  They had been born again but Paul looked at them one time and saw everything that was going on and he made the statement, you guys have fallen away.  You guys have been removed or have removed yourselves from the faith quickly.  What is happening to you?  There is no doubt in my mind that the labor Paul had spent there preaching and teaching  and doing all that he did when he saw people here folks falling away and quit being faithful to God; there is no doubt in my mind that Paul must have thought, "I have been a failure here." 

 

I think that way.  I have thought that way many times before in my life when I look around and you talked to people and worked with people and churches.  It seems like sometimes you don't ever get anywhere.  Sometimes we think that things are failures.  Just because we have the shield of faith, it does not mean that we will never fail or that there will not be failures in our life.  Paul did not necessarily fail here but there were things where he was at there were failures.

 

Not only that but when you read here in

 

Galatians 4:15

 

15 Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me.

 

Paul said that there was a time that you guys loved me so much that if it had been possible, you would have pulled your own eyes out and given them to me.  That is what Paul testified to this church.  I know that there was a time here that this church loved Paul.  That is why I said earlier that the thorn that Paul had was with his eyesight.  The church here at one time Paul said I know you loved me enough that there would have been a time that you would have pulled your own eyes out and given them to me.  Paul goes ahead and says but have I become you enemy because I have told you the truth.  Even though the apostle Paul had the shield of faith, even though he lived by faith, there were failures in his life.

 

There are going to be failures in our life.  Just because we have the shield of faith does not mean that there is never going to be failures.

 

I was talking to a young man a couple of days ago and he is so lifted up in pride that he is still yet afraid to say hey, I messed up.  ...to say I shouldn't have taken this direction in my life.   I went the wrong direction.  I should not be here.

 

 When we get that way, when we figure out that we messed up and we have failed, we need to say, "Lord, I have messed up.  Lord, forgive me."  Get me out of this mess.  Until we admit our failures, we stay right in the same place.  We never get out of the mess that we get in.

 

Galatians 4:16

 

16 Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?

 

There was a time that the church at Galatia loved Paul enough that they would pull their own eyes out and give them to him.  Now they didn't like him anymore because he told them the truth.  I know that Paul probably looked at that as a failure.  He had the shield of faith, but this church here once loved him, now a lot of them did not love him anymore.  That is sad to think about.

 

I Corinthians 3:3

 

3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?

 

Paul said, "I hear that there is strife among you."  Paul had the shield of faith.  When he looked at some of his labors and some of things that he had done, he says he looked at the church at Corinth and said, "I see that there is strife among you."  Paul could have looked at that as a failure.  Maybe I didn't talk much about that.  Even though Paul had the shield of faith, he preached about it, he talked about it, he recommended it everywhere he would go and went but there were failures that happened. 

 

I Corinthians 5

 

1 It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife.

 

Paul says, "I hear that there is fornication among you."  No doubt, that broke his heart.  When he was informed that the church at Corinth that there was fornication or immorality in the church.  Paul may have thought this to be a failure.  He had the shield of faith.  He knew what the shield of faith was.  He lived by faith and yet even though he did that, there were some failures in his life. 

 

Life is not always going to be a bed of roses.  Life is not always going to be success after success.  Many times, we do fail.  Many times, there are failures in life.  If you read in II

 

Timothy 4:10

 

10 For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.

 

Paul may have thought if I would have worked harder at this relationship, if I would have worked harder at this or that it might have been different.  Paul could have looked at it as being a failure in his life because of what happened to him here.

 

Just because we are saved, just because we have the shield of faith does not mean that we will not have failures.  When someone tells you that when you get saved all your problems are over, they are a liar.  If we are saved, we are in a battle for our eternal soul.  There is an enemy that is trying to kill us, destroy us, and trying to get us to throw up our hands and quit.  I am glad that the Bible says that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.

 

What have I committed unto Him?  If I have committed my eternal soul unto Him that is one thing.  Many times, we want to commit part of things and keep back a bunch of other things.  God will keep what we commit unto Him.

 

When we look at all the disasters all along the way, we can ask our self this question; where was the shield of faith?  Where was the shield at that Paul had preached and taught about all of his life.  Where was the shield at that Paul said above is all you need to take.  He was beat.  He was stoned.  He was left for dead.  He was hungry.  He was shipwrecked.  His own countrymen hated him.  The churches here had all kinds of problems.  Demas had forsaken him.  Timothy was having problems about being secure and doing different things.  We could say where was the shield of faith at?  If we do that, we are looking in the wrong place.  That was not what Paul was talking about when he was talking about the shield of faith.  Paul was not recommending us or telling us here that the shield of faith would keep us from infirmities, labors, from exhaustion, from all the difficulties in life.  Paul never said the shield of faith was for that.  Paul did say that the shield of faith was for this...

 

Paul recommended this.  He spent his whole life talking about the shield of faith.  He spent his whole life talking about that.  His life was full of turmoil, burdens and defeat.  Where was the shield of faith at?  Do we really have this shield?  When Paul is talking about the shield of faith, he is not talking about a shield for our bodies, but he talking about the shield of life.  A life that will shield our souls.  I don't know whether you think too much about that or not, but that is what he is talking about.  There is no doubt in my mind that when Paul is mentioning the life of faith, he is mentioning the life of our soul.  He is mentioning that which is on the inside of us.  He is not mentioning a shield that is going to keep me from being sick.  He is not mentioning a shield that is going to keep people from talking about me.  He is not mentioning a shield that is going to keep me from having all kinds of turmoil.  Paul is not talking about a shield like that, but he is talking about a shield that is going to shield our soul. 

 

You need it.  I don't know whether you think you do or not but we need a shield for our soul tonight.  I cannot keep myself.

 

Paul speaks here of the life; he means the life of the soul.  Our life--soul life--

 

The questions of success and failure; Paul did not look at those things and he did not decide those things outwardly.  In other words, he did not use those things of the physical to decide whether he was a success or a failure.  Paul looked at the heart.  Paul looked at the soul.  Paul looked deep down within and there is where Paul looked at success or failure at. 

 

That is what we need to look at today.  We cannot look at the physical things and decide whether we are success or failure or not.  That is not where it is decided at.  The question of success or failure is decided in our souls, not in external things.  We may have all kinds of money, house and cars and all kinds of things but that is not where success is measured at. It is not measured here by accident.  Success or failures here is not accidental; it does not happen that way. 

 

Paul understood some things that we don't understand sometimes.  Paul did not look around, he did not have his eyes on the things and all the circumstances around him; everywhere Paul went, there were rich and there were poor people.  Everywhere Paul went there were people like that.  Paul did not look at the circumstances around him.  Paul did not look at those things here and all of his surroundings here to answer the question of success or failure.  He did not look at that.  He looked on the inside of his heart.  That is where we have to look at today.  If we are going to figure whether we are a success or failure, we have got to look on the inside; not on what we own, or what we have, not what we have in our billfold.  Paul was like that.  He watched the growth and the decay of our soul.  We look at external things.  We look at houses, cars, and furnishings and look at those things as being important.  That is not where we get the answer of the question of success or failure.

 

What is going on in here?  Are we decaying in our soul?  Do we have growth on the inside?  Is our relationship with Jesus Christ growing or decaying?  That is where we can determine that whether we have success in our heart or not.

 

Do you know what we are so inclined to do so many times?  We are prone to live for the body.  We are prone to live and do things that make us look good.  It makes us look good with our neighbors.  Paul did not do that.  Paul lived for the inner man.  Paul lived for the soul.  Paul knew that he needed a shield for the soul.  Paul knew that he could not stand against all the wiles of the devil without a shield for the soul.  You cannot stand by yourself.  Don't ever think that you can stand against all the methods of satan without having the shield of faith because you cannot do it.  I don't care how strong you think you are; God can pull His hand back just for a moment and you can see some things that you can figure out that you cannot stand and you cannot deal with and you cannot overcome by yourself.  Paul understood that.

 

Paul lived here and he was more interested in a shield for his soul.  Paul did not want a shield from sorrow.  We would like to have a shield from sorrow.  We would like to have a shield that would keep us from ever being sorry.  Paul did not want that.  Many times, we want a shield against loss.  We don't like to lose things; we get it in the bank when the refrigerator blows up and we need tires and we have to go take that out; we don't like that.  We would like to have a shield from that.  Paul was not looking for a shield like that.  He was not looking for a shield against loss like we do many times.  Many times, we want a shield that will shield us from death and from all the pain that death brings.  Paul was not looking for that.  Paul was looking for a shield of the soul.  Many times, we want a shield that will make us comfortable.  We want to a shield that will make us feel good and make us comfortable.  We don't want no pain, no sorrow, no bereavement, no loss; we don't want any of those things.  Paul understood some things that the shield that he had and the shield that he had is not a shield from loss, injury, bereavement and all these things.  That is not the shield that Paul was seeking.

 

God never told me that He would make me comfortable.  God said that He would take me to heaven if I would follow Him but you will not find in this book [holding the Bible] where God said that He would make me comfortable.  It is not in there.  You can seek a shield like that and if you are looking for a god that is going to make you comfortable then you are not going to find that in the Bible.  God saves us and we have peace and contentment.  Life is not always comfortable. 

 

There have been times in my life that my life has been tore upside down.  There have been times in my life that I was the farthest thing from being comfortable.  Most of you have been through that too.  We want a shield that makes us comfortable.  Paul was not looking for that.  Paul knew that was not going to happen.  Many of us are chasing pipe dreams about being comfortable that is never going to happen because we are not living where that is obtainable.  We might be comfortable for a week or two or a short time but I promise you something that there are going to be things that will come your way that will make you uncomfortable.

 

Paul lived in character and he sought a shield that would make him holy.  He was not worried about a shield would protect him from being shipwrecked or lied about or beaten or stoned.  He sought a shield that would make him Holy.  The word "Holy" means "different."  It means different from the world. 

 

We need a shield that will make us different from the world.  We need a shield that will make us separate from this world and be able to be used for the glory of God.  That is what Paul was living for.  He was looking for a shield, that when the circumstances came, would shield his soul.  That is what we need.  We don't need to look for a shield that is going to keep circumstances from coming because they are going to come.  We need a shield that will protect our soul when they do come because they are going to come.

 

Paul was looking for a shield that would keep him from being a pessimist when failures did come.  Many times when failures come in my life, instead of dealing with them in the right way, we get very pessimistic, nothing works, and nothing is good enough for us.  We don't like anything that is going on.  Paul was looking for a shield here that would keep him from being that way.  Paul knew that there were going to be failures but he was looking for a shield that was going to keep him from being a pessimist.  That is something that the church of Jesus Christ and every church in America today we don't need to be pessimist people because we need the shield that will keep us from being pessimist.

 

If I have the shield of faith and if I am living by faith then I am not going to walk around all the time with my chin hanging down and talk about how bad I have it; I am going to be praising God.  Even though there may be failures in life, I am not going to be walking around telling everyone how bad I have it.  People get up, lift up their hands, and talk about how much they love the Lord then the next minute they can hardly make it.  I understand and I am not trying to diminish what you are going through, but I am telling you this; we need a shield.  If we had the shield of faith, it will help us and keep us from being pessimists in this life.

 

Paul was not looking for a shield to keep him from injury.  Paul was looking for a shield that would keep him from all the deadly things that was born out of injury.  Many times, we get hurt in life, and just because we have the shield of faith that does not keep us from people hurting us.  The shield of faith will protect me and keep me from the things that are born out of injury.  If I have the shield of faith then I won't have a get back spirit about me.  I will not want to get revenge.  That is what Paul was saying here.  I need that kind of a shield that will keep me from wanting to get revenge against people.

 

Paul was not looking to have a shield of faith that was going to keep him from pain.  Paul was looking for a shield that was going to keep him from murmuring and complaining.  Many times when pain and sorrow come, we murmur and complain.  Paul was looking for a shield that would keep him from doing that.  Pain is going to come; we can overcome these things through the shield of faith. 

 

Disappointments are going to come.  Difficulties are going to come.  However, Paul was looking for a shield that would help him to fight against pride when success is come.  Many times we do things and God blesses and things go very well in life and we get lifted  up in pride and we think that we are just on cloud nine.  Paul wanted a shield that would keep him from being lifted up in pride.

 

He wanted a shield that would keep him from getting exalted in himself when wealth came.  We need that today. 

 

Paul wanted a shield that would help him when difficulties came, when problems came, when wealth came, and when success came.  Paul was looking for a shield here, not to shield those things from coming, but rather the things that were born out of those things.  Paul wanted protection for his soul.  We need that.

 

When success comes, we need a shield.

When failures come, we need a shield.

When injury comes, we need a shield.

When pain comes, we need a shield.

 

Paul understood the shield of faith was not going to keep these things from coming, but Paul understood that he needed a shield here when they did come.  That has not changed any.

 

How can I live in a way that even though failures come, injury comes, infirmities come; how can I live a life of faith; to where that I can experience this great shield that Paul was talking about? 

 

One thing we need to remember is this:

 

We must cultivate or work on our personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  If I am going to have the shield of faith that is going to help me, then I am going to have to work on my personal relationship and my personal fellowship with Jesus Christ.  I am going to have to seek His presence.  I am going to have to talk to Him.  He is going to have to talk to me.  I am going to have to listen to Him when He talks to me.  You are going to have to do that same thing. 

 

We are going to have to let the Lord have complete control of our minds.  If I am going to have the shield of faith and I am going to have to live that way, then I am going to have to let Him have complete control of what goes on.  I am going to have to talk to Him and He is going to have to talk to me. 

 

We are going to have to take all the affairs of life; our problems, our good days, our bad days, our decisions that we make in life; we need to take those things to the Lord and ask His advice.  When we ask His advice and He gives us counsel, we need to listen to that counsel.  The counsel that He gives us should direct us in the decision that we go ahead and make.  We make decisions, we go ahead and make decisions and then we pray and ask God to add His blessing on it.  That is not the way things work.  When we make a decision, we need to consult the Lord.  Lord, I need counsel.  I need to understand whether I need this job, whether I need this home, whether I need this automobile, whether I need to go this direction in life; Lord, what do I need to do here.  We need to Listen to Him and the counsel that He gives.  That counsel should direct us in the path that we should go.

 

If we do that then we are building a relationship with Him that the shield of faith that we can have will help us through all the problems here that is going to come.  We must talk to Him secret.  I love praying going down the road.  I love praying on this old motorcycle.  I love praying on the rail buggy.  I love praying walking up and down the hill.  I love praying in many places.

 

If you don't do that [I am encouraging you tonight, I am not jumping on you] but if you don't have a secret place to pray then I would encourage you tonight to start today.  If you don’t have a place that you can go and shut the door behind you to shut out the whole world; turn off the TVs, and get rid of the cell phones, turn off the radio and get rid of all that stuff; then if you have a closet, go into it and shut the doors.  Jesus taught us to pray.  If you are not doing that, then do that.  Find you a place to pray.  Go clean out a closet.  Find you a place that you can go in and shut the door and shut out the world then talk to the Lord in secret.  There is nothing like getting down on your face before Almighty God and just simply talking to Him as you would talk to a friend. 

 

That is what He wants us to do.  When we do that, if we are living right then He will talk to us.  When we spend time talking to Him, when we shut out the world and all the racket of the world and cleanse our mind of all the things that is going on.  He will talk to us.  There is nothing like having the Lord speak to you.  There is nothing like being able to talk to Him and He talks to you.  That conversation is a great conversation.  Sometimes we want it all to be one-sided, we want to tell Him all that we want and how that we want to do it.  You are wasting your time. 

 

Ask His advice.  Ask His counsel.  Ask Him the direction that you should go.  Ask Him what you should do here.

 

You might think that you know enough about vacuum cleaners to know which one you need.  I found out over the years, that is not true.  I bought a few of them.  We can say Lord, do we need this one?  Many times, we just want to get rid of the old one, which is still functioning fine, but we had it for three years and we want to get rid of it because it has a little dink on it.  We do things like that. 

 

If we will take those little things in life to the Lord and ask His counsel and His direction about, you will find that He will not only help you with these little small things but when major come along, He will help you with them also.   If you don’t take the small things to the Lord, you might be barking up the wrong tree when the big problems come.  We need to trust Him with small things. 

 

God will help us do some things that will surprise us sometimes.  We need the shield of faith.  Not only do we need to cultivate our relationship with Him and fellowship with Him and pray and talk to Him and listen to His advice.  We need to put first things first in life. 

 

If I am going to have this shield of faith and it is going to protect my soul when problems come then I have to put first things first.  Sometimes we get that flopped around.  Sometimes we forget about what should be first and what should not be there.  We should be concerned about our habits and we should be concerned about our practices.  If I am concerned, about my habits, my practices, my relationship and how I live before Almighty God then that will cultivate and my relationship with Jesus Christ will grow.  If I am not concerned about my habits and my practices then I am not going to get very far with Him. 

 

If I just live any old way, say anything and do anything then my relationship is not going to grow with Him.

 

Is your character more important to you than the office that you hold or the position that you hold.  Is your character more important to you than your position at work?  Is your self-respect more important than being popular?

 

When we have the shield of faith, then I am going to have clean hands and a pure heart.  My eyes are not going to detract from that if I have a shield of faith and living as I should be living.

 

The life of faith, if I have the shield of faith, it is never near sighted.  If we live by faith and I have the shield of faith then what I look at goes beyond all the circumstances, all the ills, and the problems that happen.  I look to the end of the things.  The life of faith always looks at the goal. 

 

When the world comes crashing down there is a shield that will protect me and keep me from being destroyed and I can still yet praise God through all these things.

 

Psalm 91:5

 

5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;

 

If we have the shield of faith then we don’t have anything to worry about. 

 

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