Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Sermon preached on Ephesians 6:16 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 09/20/2026 in Petaluma, CA.
Sermon Manuscript
Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
We continue today working through this passage on spiritual warfare and the armor of God.
Today, we come to the shield of faith. Our faith in God and in his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, is essential to our Christian life. Our sermon will help us consider the importance of faith and how it can defend us against the attacks of the enemy. In our first point, we’ll consider the flaming darts of the enemy. In our second point, we’ll consider how faith serves as a shield. In our third point, we’ll consider Christ and our faith.
We begin with considering the flaming darts of the enemy. Let us appreciate the imagery. This passage’s armor of God references has used the equipment of physical war as an analogy for the spiritual strength we need to find in Jesus. Here, these flaming darts are used in a similar way to describe how Satan attacks us. It is not that Satan wields physical flaming darts but that is an analogy of what his attacks are like.
Let me say, then, a few words about such flaming darts. First off, the word here for darts is a more general term. While it is often translated here as arrow, the word is a generic term for projectile. So, in addition to an arrow, a javelin would also be another typical weapon back then that could be described by this word. The more specific description of this projectile is that it is flaming. This was a common enhancement back then in military combat. Such arrows or javelins could be dipped in pitch and set on fire. When they are then launched at an enemy they carried with it a double threat. It could bring injury through physically piercing the target. It could also create much destruction through catching the target on fire. Such flaming projectiles had even been known to cause a soldier’s shield to so engulf in flames that they have to drop it, leaving themselves more vulnerable for follow up attack. Let us also note that such range weapons mean that the attacker can bring its destructive force from a relative distance of safety. Long before exploding missiles, such flaming projectiles were a serious threat to a soldier. By analogy, Satan is relentlessly launching his destructive attacks upon us. Only by the armor that God supplies with the strength that is in Jesus can we withstand his brutal assaults.
These flaming darts surely stand for any of the many different kinds of attacks Satan and his evil demons might use against us. Satan is looking to use all circumstances as opportunity to attack us in some way. Consider with me the many kinds of flaming darts he uses, so to speak. Two weeks ago, we said Satan attacks with lies, making you doubt the truth that is in Christ. Last week, we said Satan attacks with temptations and accusations. Satan wants to tempt you so you stop living a life of faith that follows Jesus and instead start to live a life of wickedness lived for self. Satan then wants to accuse you of your sin to make you believe you are not saved instead of having you believe on Jesus for salvation. Satan also attacks with persecution, trying to make you doubt if following Christ is worth it. Satan will stir up false teaching, trying to get you to believe that which you should not believe. Satan will try to rile up your strong emotions, things like anger, fear, and sorrow, to then get you to act out in sin, turning away from the new life of self-control you’ve learned in Christ. Satan will look to entice you with various worldly desires and the deceitfulness of riches to have you put your trust in the wrong place. These, and more, are examples of some of the circumstances in which the enemy will try to assault you.
As we think about such attacks by the enemy, let us recognize that there is a sense in which these all boil down to attacks against our faith. For example, Jesus tells Peter in Luke 22 that Satan was going to sift him like wheat and so Jesus would pray that Peter’s “faith wouldn’t fail”. Peter later in 1 Peter 5:8-9 would describe Satan’s attacking like a lion on the prowl, looking to devour us, so that we need to resist him “standing firm in the faith”. In other words, that devilish lion wants to devour our faith. Likewise, in 1 Thessalonians 3, Paul is expressing a concern that the Thessalonians may have suffered serious attack from the enemy, so he sent Timothy to them to inquire about the state of their faith. There, again, it is clear that Satan’s attack is understood as an attack on their faith. So then, when we talk today about the shield of faith, let us realize that our faith is the target of the attack. Yet, interestingly, Paul says that our faith is also a shield against these attacks. Any apparent contradiction will be cleared up as we turn now to our second point to consider faith as a shield.
So then, verse 16 says, “Take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one.” I love the imagery here. The Greek word here for shield tells us quite a bit. It’s not the Greek word for the smaller, often circular shield. This Greek word for shield is thureous which comes the Greek root of thura which means door. That is because this word describes a shield that is almost as big as a door. It’s typically a large rectangular shield that if you crouch behind it, then it can protect your whole body. Let us appreciate applying the analogy. Our faith is not a small shield. It is a significant defense to protect our entire soul.
Let us also not miss that verse 16 says this shield of faith will extinguish the enemy’s flaming darts. That is a wonderful thought. When someone throws a flaming projectile at you, even if your shield stops it, that doesn’t ordinarily extinguish it. You might manage to block the projectile only to find the flames still inflict serious damage. And if your shield catches fire you are going to have to drop it, leaving you vulnerable. Satan’s attacks are certainly powerful and dangerous. Yet, the analogy here is that the shield of faith not only blocks Satan’s arrows, but even extinguishes them, nullifying their threat!
Let us then define faith and talk a little more about its power. In short, we could define faith as a believing trust of God in Christ Jesus. If you remember from membership class, we say that this saving faith has three key elements, knowledge, assent, and trust. First, faith must have a knowledge of what it believes in. For example, you can’t believe in the gospel if you don’t know what the good news is. Second, faith must assent to what it believes in, holding what it believes to actually be true. It’s not enough just to be able to state what the gospel message is, you need to believe that the message is actually true. Third, faith must trust in what it believes. Without trust, the benefits of faith cannot be enjoyed. If you believe your toothpaste will keep you from getting cavities, that faith won’t do you any good unless you open up the tube and brush with it. You have to actually trust your teeth to the toothpaste. Likewise, the Christian life is one of such faith. We believe and trust our whole lives to the one true God through the gospel of his Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Until we trust our lives to Jesus, our soul can never experience the rest and joy and confidence of being saved and assured of eternal life. Until we trust in faith in Jesus, we won’t know the wonderful peace that comes with a restored relationship with God. This faith, such true saving faith, knows, assents, and trusts. That faith is a shield to Satan’s many attacks.
Yet, if I stop there, it would be easy to misunderstand how faith is such a shield. It is not ultimately a shield because we personally believe. It is a shield because of what we have faith in. It’s the object of our faith that is actually our shield. I need to emphasize this because too often people assume otherwise. My textbook example of this is the song “When you Believe” by Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey. Its main line says, “There can be miracles when you believe.” It leaves you with the impression that it’s your faith itself that makes the miracle, instead of the object of the faith. That either makes faith in itself a virtue, which is not right, or it makes the object of the faith yourself, that you just believe enough in yourself, then you can make a miracle. Yet, either of those views of faith would be fatally flawed. Faith with no object is not a virtue. If I believe I can fly no amount of flapping my wings will save me if jump off a cliff, even if I really, really, really believe I can fly. I will instead learn that faith without an object isn’t worth anything. Likewise, if you put faith in yourself for things you can’t accomplish, again like flying, then that is likewise misplaced.
So then, it is essential that we put our faith in the right object. Let us then turn to our third point and consider Christ and our faith. First, I want us to consider how Jesus is the object of our faith. Hebrews 12:2, speaking of faith, says, “looking to Jesus.” Our faith looks to Jesus as its object. Of course, to say that Jesus is the object of our faith, is to say that God is the object of our faith. We see repeated statements in the Old Testament of how God is to be the shield of his people. For example, in Genesis 15, God told Abram, “Do not be afraid Abram, I am your shield.” Or Psalm 33:20, the psalm says, “Our soul waits for the LORD; he is our help and shield.” I could go on. Clearly, God is the shield for his people. Yet, for God to be such a shield, we need to be in right relationship with him. If we are at odds with God, he is not our help nor will he be our refuge. Instead, he will be our enemy and come against us as the divine warrior.
Yet, God, in his great love, sent his only begotten son, Jesus Christ, into this world to save us from our sins and to reconcile us to himself. Jesus accomplished our salvation definitively in his life, death, and resurrection. He offers this salvation freely as a gift. Yet, God ordained faith as the instrument to receive that salvation. Believe in Jesus and be saved. Have faith in Christ and be reconciled to God. Trust not in yourself but on the righteousness of Christ and be delivered from Satan, sin, and death. This is why faith is such a defense against Satan. It is not by the might of your faith in itself. It is in the might found in the one you are putting your faith in. Jesus is the object of our faith and he is worthy of it and mighty to save. Satan would have us turn away from faith in Jesus. But, instead, may we in faith to lay hold all the more firmly of Jesus.
A second aspect of Christ and our faith is to consider how Jesus himself victoriously bore this shield of faith in his own earthly ministry. As we’ve been working our way through these pieces of spiritual armor, I’ve wanted us to consider how Jesus as the incarnate Messiah took up each piece of spiritual armor. We can see that with the shield of faith too. Jesus entrusted himself to the Father, and his plan for Jesus’ life and ministry. Hebrews 2:13 describe Jesus as saying, “I will trust in him”, referring to God. That’s faith. Likewise, I mentioned earlier Hebrews 12:2 which the full verse says, “Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Despite the suffering involved, Jesus perfectly lived a life of faith and trust in his Father while here on earth. When Hebrews 12:2 says that it was for the joy that was set before him that he endured the cross that means he believed God that joy and exaltation would follow his suffering and humility. He trusted his Father and believed his promises. While Hebrews references Jesus’ faith especially at the cross, we can also think of it at the start of his ministry. When Jesus was in the wilderness, Satan attacked him with multiple fiery darts. Yet, Jesus, firm in faith, quoted Scripture in response. That showed his faith in God and it served as a great shield of defense against Satan. So then, in all Jesus’ earthly life, he exercised such perfect faith. This is not just to say that Jesus is our example of faith, but he is our champion who took up this shield of faith before us to already stand fast under Satan’s attacks and complete his mission. So not only is Christ the object of our faith, but in our union with Christ we are strengthened by the very Christ who himself perfectly trusted the Father and stood victorious against Satan.
This leads us, then, to a third aspect of Christ and our faith: Christ is the source of our faith. As Ephesians 2 already told us, faith itself is a gift of God. While faith is something we personally exercise as humans, Scripture tells us we can’t believe unless God has first begun a work in our heart. It is true that we attribute that work especially to the Holy Spirit. But in John 14-16, Jesus explains how he is the one sending forth the Holy Spirit into this world for such purposes. And so, Jesus authors faith in us by the Holy Spirit and then he grows us in that faith until he perfects or finishes it at the end. Remember that the Bible describes the work of the Spirit in us as forming Christ in us, conforming us to the image of Christ (Gal 4:19 and Romans 8:29). We just said Christ himself perfectly took up the shield of faith in this spiritual war. The Holy Spirit then is at work to form such faith in us, a growing Christlike faith. We learn to trust our heavenly Father as Jesus himself perfectly did in his humanity as our Redeemer.
This fact that Jesus is also the source of our faith is ripe for application. We know that our faith can be weak at times. But we can bring our weaknesses to Jesus for help. Remember that father who asked Jesus to heal his son, but expressed doubt when he asked Jesus. When Jesus confronted his lacking faith, he replied, “I believe, help my unbelief.” If you struggle with doubt, pray to Jesus to increase your faith. Likewise, remember how I mentioned that Jesus prayed for Peter that his faith would not fail. Well, Jesus now intercedes for us before the Father. Let us take comfort that Jesus continually intercedes for us and let us ask him to strengthen and preserve our faith.
Trinity Presbyterian Church, I hope you have been encouraged on how you can take up the shield of faith in such a way that you are strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. May the faith Christ wielded be increasingly formed in you so that you trust all the more upon the Lord whenever Satan fires his fiery attacks at you.
By way of application, consider some example circumstances and how you might take up that shield of faith. If Satan lies and says God doesn’t love you, respond by saying that Jesus is proof God loves me. If Satan tempts you to some sin, respond by saying Jesus and his commands are not a burden but beautiful. If Satan accuses you by saying your sins are too great, respond by saying that, “The blood of Jesus… cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). If Satan brings persecution or tribulation to you, trying to make you feel defeated, respond by saying that “We are more than conquerors through Christ who loved us,” that not even death can separate us from Christ’s love. If Satan tries to stir up unrighteous anger in your heart against someone, respond by looking to how much mercy and kindness Jesus has shown you. If Satan would look to stir up sorrows from all of life’s challenges, trying to get you to doubt God’s goodness to you, respond by remembering Romans 8:28 is still in effect. If Satan would see your taking up the shield of faith, and try to say that your faith is not very strong, may you remember the object of faith is Jesus and the source for faith is Jesus. Look afresh to Jesus. So then, whatever the circumstances, however Satan tries to attack you, may our faith be strong because our faith is placed in Jesus, our strength and might. May Jesus author our faith and perfect our faith. May Jesus keep us strong in the faith until the day he returns.
Amen
Copyright © 2026 Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
All Rights Reserved.
