Are Your Children Putting On The Whole Armor Of God Daily? Part 4 - The Shield Of Faith

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
(Ephesians 6:10-16)

If you have not yet read the previous parts of the armor of God, please see:

INTRODUCTION OF SEVEN PARTS

Part-1 Truth

Part -2 Righteousness

Part-3 Gospel of Peace

Part-4 The Shield Of Faith

Holding up the Shield of Faith works! I have taught my children to practice holding up the wonderful shield of faith and God has proven, (as He always shows us) that He is faithful and MOST Powerful against the attacks of the enemy of our souls. Our precious children need to know this powerful spiritual defensive weapon of war; Faith...

God has provided us with a shield call "Faith" and as He shows us in Ephesians, it is to "quench all the fiery darts of the wicked"... I had to wonder, just what are those fiery darts? Considering it, I remembered the story of "Pilgrims Progress" written by John Bunyan, Of Christian facing the fierce, Apollyon:




What a picture this creates, the wicked one hurling fiery arrows and the shield stopping them from piercing the flesh, in this case; the mind, soul, and spirit. What are those arrows or darts? and why fiery?

Doubt is the opposite of faith, God says to: "Trust in the LORD with all your heart; and lean not unto your own understanding." (Proverbs 3:5) The enemy of our soul says, as in the Garden of Eden to Eve,"Yeah, hath God said?"(or, is it really true what God said?") and so this fierce enemy shoots the arrow of doubt into our minds to make us question God's faithfulness and righteousness. Holding up the shield of faith will quench that dart of doubt. Oh how many countless times I have used the shield of faith against an arrow of doubt. The shield literally quenches and repels doubt from me. How exciting it is to experience victory over doubting God's goodness and His faithful love in everything and in all situations and to teach this to my own dear children!
Oh but there are so many other arrows the enemy shoots at us and... Yes, Fiery!

I so appreciate Albert Barnes commentary about the Shield Of Faith:

"By the “fiery darts of the wicked,” Paul here refers, probably, to the temptations of the great adversary, which are like fiery darts; or those furious suggestions of evil, and excitements to sin, which he may throw into the mind like fiery darts. They are - blasphemous thoughts, unbelief, sudden temptation to do wrong, or thoughts that wound and torment the soul. In regard to them, we may observe:
(1) that they come suddenly, like arrows sped from a bow;
(2) they come from unexpected quarters, like arrows shot suddenly from an enemy in ambush;
(3) they pierce, and penetrate, and torment the soul, as arrows would that are on fire;
(4) they set the soul on fire, and enkindle the worst passions, as fiery darts do a ship or camp against which they are sent.
The only way to meet them is by the “shield of faith;” by confidence in God, and by relying on his gracious promises and aid. It is not by our own strength; and, if we have not faith in God, we are wholly defenseless. We should have a shield that we can turn in any direction, on which we may receive the arrow, and by which it may be put out."

We are given multiple opportunities through-out the days, months and years to point our dear children to the faithfulness of God and use Scripture to help them understand what God wants... "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Rom 10:17



Here are a few examples of how we taught our children Scripture for lessons of faith in God:


We were planning a Birthday Party in the park for Leah who was turning 6 years old. That morning the wind became very dangerous outside and we had to cancel until next week. Now we had the wonderful opportunity to tell Leah again to, "Trust the Lord Jesus Christ, His plan is perfect and He knows what is best for us. Let us thank Him for loving us and taking care of us. Sometimes these things happen because He knows it's best for us, but let's ask Him to give us faith in Him about it." We prayed and reminded Leah to keep up the shield of faith. Leah was given the precious opportunity to learn faith and patience. It was a great lesson for her!


We were able to point Leah to God and His Word! We often showed Scripture to the children that applied to the need:

We said to Leah, "Trust the Lord Jesus Christ, His plan is perfect and He knows what is best for us." "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil." (Proverbs 3:5-7)

"Let us thank Him for loving us and taking care of us", "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

"Sometimes these things happen because He knows it's best for us, but let's ask Him to give us faith in Him about it". Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Rom 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. It was a good time to remind Leah to hold up the shield of faith and teach her!

Another example:

Leah was invited to a skating Birthday Party for a friend, she was very, very excited about going, but when we learned about the kind of music they were going to play there, we told her she couldn't go.

We said, "Leah, trust the Lord Jesus Christ that He has given Daddy and Mommy wisdom to know what is best for you." "Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth."(Ephesians 6:1-3)

"Listening to that kind of music does not honor God and might draw you away from God."
"Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee: To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things; Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness; Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked; Whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths: (Proverbs 2:11-15) Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away. (Proverbs 4:14-15)


"Remember that we are a peculiar people, God's chosen treasure." "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy." (1 Peter 2:9-10)

Leah was willing to submit to God with a peaceful heart. Leah learned what God says and she was willing to obey. God did the work in her heart by His Spirit. It was another wonderful opportunity to hold up the shield of faith!


Michael had longed to go on a special trip with his Daddy. Two of his sisters had already had the chance and now it was his turn. A situation came up and the trip was canceled, he never had his turn granted to him.

We said,"Michael even though you're disappointed, trust the Lord Jesus Christ that He knows what is best for you." "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones." (Proverbs 3:5-8)

"Give your disappointment to the Lord" "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you."
(1 Peter 5:7)


How wonderful it is to show to our children that God cares for the daily things in life and use Scripture to teach them every lesson there is! We can teach them to involve God in their thoughts and reasoning. We can never make them truly understand the deep things of the Spirit of God, but that is not our job. It is our job to communicate to them the truths of God's Word, it is up to God to do what He chooses to do with it in their lives.......

A fun trip denied, someone being unfair, something cherished suddenly lost forever, a friend that turns and becomes an enemy and will not explain why, loneliness for lack of godly friends, a move from a larger house to a much smaller house, siblings that need understanding... the list is endless. Each situation is a wonderful opportunity to teach our children to have faith in our Faithful Savior!


After we put on the Girdle of Truth, the Breastplate of Righteousness, the Gospel of Peace, my children would place the Shield of Faith in the hand of our cardboard soldier, and we would imagine taking the shield in our hands and I would pray, (not exactly the same each time to avoid vain repetition), something like this; "Dear Lord Jesus, I take up Your Shield of Faith, thank you for it. Please help me have faith in You in all things. Help me to take up the shield of faith to quench the fiery darts of the wicked. Cause my faith to grow stronger each day. Let me believe You and trust You that everything that happens will work out for good in our lives. Let Your Name be glorified through me"

God says to put on the spiritual armor for the battle, if we obey, He does the rest. This is spiritual thinking, although we cannot explain these things sufficiently to our children, we can teach them as God leads us and as stated before, let Him bring the understanding.



Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Shield of Faith:

This is more necessary than any of them. Faith is all in all to us in an hour of temptation. The breast-plate secures the vitals; but with the shield we turn every way. This is the victory over the world, even our faith. We are to be fully persuaded of the truth of all God's promises and threatenings, such a faith being of great use against temptations. Consider faith as it is the evidence of things not seen and the substance of things hoped for, and it will appear to be of admirable use for this purpose. Faith, as receiving Christ and the benefits of redemption, so deriving grace from him, is like a shield, a sort of universal defence. Our enemy the devil is here called the wicked one. He is wicked himself, and he endeavours to make us wicked. His temptations are called darts, because of their swift and undiscerned flight, and the deep wounds that they give to the soul; fiery darts, by way of allusion to the poisonous darts which were wont to inflame the parts which were wounded with them, and therefore were so called, as the serpents with poisonous stings are called fiery serpents. Violent temptations, by which the soul is set on fire of hell, are the darts which Satan shoots at us. Faith is the shield with which we must quench these fiery darts, wherein we should receive them, and so render them ineffectual, that they may not hit us, or at least that they may not hurt us. Observe, Faith, acted upon the word of God and applying that, acted upon the grace of Christ and improving that, quenches the darts of temptation.


John Gill's Commentary about the Shield Of Faith:

Eph 6:16 Above all, taking the shield of faith,.... Which may be understood either of the grace of faith, which is like a golden shield, precious, solid, and substantial; and like a shield of mighty men, by which mighty things are done, and by which the believer not only repels, but conquers the enemy. The Jews say (n), that repentance and good works are as a shield against divine vengeance: or rather of the object of faith, that which faith makes use of as a shield; so God himself is a shield, Gen_15:1; his divine perfections, as his power, faithfulness, truth, and immutability, which encompass the saints as a shield, and are opposed by faith to the temptations of Satan; also the love and favour of God, Psa_5:12; and particularly God in his word, Pro_30:5, which is a shield against false doctrines, and the wiles of Satan. Moreover, Christ is a shield, Psa_84:11; and faith makes rise of him as a shield, his person, blood, righteousness, and sacrifice; which it holds up and opposes to all the charges and objections of Satan; and who is the saints' protection, and security from the wrath of God, divine justice, and eternal death. The disciples of the wise men are said to be (o) תריסון, "shielded men", who, as the gloss says fight in the war of the law; but they are not like Christ's disciples, who have on the shield, and fight the fight of faith: and this is "above all" to be taken, as being the most useful part of the Christian armour; or "with all", with the rest, this is to be taken, and by no means to be neglected; and it is to be used "in all"; in every temptation of Satan, in every conflict with that enemy, or any other.

Wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked; of the wicked one, Satan; who was the first wicked one, and the tempter of others to wickedness; and is emphatically the wicked one, being wickedness itself; and his temptations are "fiery darts": they may be compared to "darts", because they sometimes come suddenly and swiftly and thick and fast, are very numerous, and where they stick are very troublesome and grieving; see Gen_49:23. And they may be said to be "fiery", because they serve to inflame the mind, and excite to sin, as lust, anger, revenge, and the like; and were they not repelled, would be the occasion of bringing into everlasting burnings. The allusion is to βελεσι πεπυρωμενοις, "the fiery darts", cast by enemies into towns, and upon houses, in order to burn them (p). Mention is also made of גירי דאשא, "fiery darts", with the Jews (q), and of Satan's casting a dart at David (r): from these customs, and ways of speaking, the apostle borrows his phrases; and suggests, that the shield of faith is of use to quench the fiery darts of Satan's temptations; so that they may not have the malignant influence they are designed for; which is chiefly done by faith's dealing with the blood of Christ. And there were ways of quenching the fiery darts alluded to; which was done by skins and hides of beasts made wet, or anointed with alum (s).



Let us teach our children to take up the whole armor of God!

Please go to part-5 the Helmet of Salvation