The Shield of Faith

Well, it's been a while that I've been going through the series on the armor of God. We've talked about actually three of them. We've gone through three different messages. Let's turn over to Ephesians 6 and verse 10 as we begin here. And we've talked about the fact that God is trying to make ready a people prepared. And we've talked about the fact that we need to be good Christian soldiers, that we're in a spiritual war, that we're in a battle.

And so, I know we've had a break, we've had the feast, and I've been overseas and come back, but I wanted to pick up with number four in the series here as we talk about the armor of God. So let's pick it up in Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 10 as kind of a concluding thought that Paul is giving to our brothers and sisters in Ephesus as he says, Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.

So God says not to be strong in our own power and our own might, but to be strong in him and to be strong in the power of his might. And he begins to tell us how to begin to do that. He says in verse 11, Therefore, put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

And we've talked about the fact that there's several different pieces of armor. There's not just one. And if we only had just one, we actually would need more than that, and we would be in danger of other areas if we didn't have all of the pieces. So he says to put on the whole armor. And then he talks in verse 12 of who we're wrestling against, who we're battling against. It's not against flesh and blood, but it's against spiritual principalities.

It's against spiritual powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age. And so we know who we're battling against. It's Satan the devil. And it talks about the fact in other parts of the Bible that there is no light in him. There is no truth in him. And so he's a spiritual ruler of darkness. And then verse 13, God again says, therefore, take up understanding all of this. Take up the whole armor of God in order that we might be able to stand. So God is relaying through Paul here to you and to me that this is something that we need to take on all of the armor.

And then he tells us what it is. In verse 14, we've covered already of having our waist girded with truth. Of having put on the breastplate of righteousness, that was the second piece of the article of the armor to put on. He goes on to say in verse 15, and having your feet or shot in your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace.

And we covered that one the last time. And so then we come to verse number 16, which is the fourth piece of armor. It says, above all, or as it could also be translated, overall, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And so now he introduces another piece of the armor. And of course, he's kind of relaying this to the armor that the Roman soldiers wore at this time.

And now he talks about the shield, the shield and how important that is and how important it was to a soldier. And he says, above all, verse 16, he says, taking that shield, the shield of faith, notice with which you will be able to quench all of the fiery darts of the wicked. Doesn't say some, but apparently this particular armament, this particular piece of armor would be able to quench all of the fiery darts of the wicked one.

There's a commentary by the name of Albert Barnes. He writes in his commentary, talks about this verse, and he talks about the subject of faith. And this is what he writes. He says, faith occupies a very important place in the Christian armor, possibly more important place than the other pieces, because it bears to the whole Christian character the same relation which the shield does to the other parts of the armor of a soldier.

It protects all. It is indispensable to the security of all, as with the case of the shield of a soldier. The shield was an ingenious device by which the blows and arrows could be glanced off and the whole body defended. Brethren, how important is faith? It says it could be made to protect the head.

So sometimes the shield would protect the head. Sometimes it would protect the heart. Sometimes it could be thrown around the back to thwart the attack that's coming from behind, or the front, or the sides.

He says it comes to his aid in every attack that is made to him, no matter from which direction. It says it secures the protection. Like a shield does the soldier, the shield of faith protects the Christian in the whole of the spiritual warfare. Brethren, real faith is what he's talking about, that it can quench all of the fiery darts. What about the fiery darts of the wicked? What are we talking about when we talk about that? What does it mean? Well, Paul here refers to a way that the adversary would attack, the way he would come at you, that they come suddenly. They come suddenly like arrows that are being shot with great force from the bow. They can come from unexpected directions, that you're not necessarily looking from a certain direction, like an enemy that can shoot from an unexpected area in an ambush. He says, fiery arrows, they pierce, and they penetrate, and they wound, and they kill, as arrows do that are set on fire. That's what they were used for. Another reason, they were like fiery darts, like they would fly over water to a ship to try to get the ship to begin to ignite on fire to destroy it, or a castle, that type of thing. The reason for fiery arrows. So this is a very important piece of armor in order to quench all the fiery darts of our enemy. And yet, even though this is a most important piece of armor, Jesus Christ wondered if the armor of faith would be around at the end of the age, when he returned. Let's notice Luke chapter 18, verse 6. This is a very important piece of armor that God wants us to think about and to make sure that we put on. Luke chapter 18, verse 6. We're going to see here a remarkable question. In fact, it's almost like a statement. It's really a powerful question that Jesus asks here. And in the context, he's really replying to his disciples to a parable that he'd given to them. And the parable, if you remember the one about the unjust judge. Remember that one? There was an elderly woman that came to him and she wasn't getting justice, but she just kept coming and coming and coming. And finally, the judge says, okay, okay, I'm going to listen to your grievance. I'm going to listen to your petition. And so I think the lesson here is that God loves us. And how much more should we trust him to take care of our problems? Even though sometimes he doesn't come in the context that we may think. Usually, though, it's right on time. So she kept going and going to him. And finally, even though he's an unjust person, he reacts to her petition. And how much more God? Notice verse 6 here in Luke 18. It says, And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge said, and shall God not avenge his own elect, who cry out day and night to him, though he bears along with them? You know, if the unjust was willing to do that, isn't God willing to do that? You know, when we cry out to him day and night and put our trust in him? You know, he says the purpose of this parable isn't just so that the unjudged judge is going to teach us anything, but rather the purpose of the parable is that even if human beings can do that, how much more can we trust and believe that God will do that, even though maybe it's not on our timetable?

But I think it's what he says in verse 8, which is particularly, I think, stunning. He says, I tell you that he will avenge them speedily, so God will come through. In other words, he's going to take care of them or he's going to take care of us. But nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he really find faith on the earth? You know, that's a stunning question that he would pose, isn't it?

Jesus says, when I come back, will I really find anyone that has faith, that trusts God?

That's a remarkable question that he poses.

Why is faith so difficult for us to maintain? Why is it that Jesus Christ would say, when I come back, will I be able to find faith?

Why is it difficult for us to maintain?

Sometimes I think it's easier for us to keep the commandments than it is to have faith. You may think, well, don't you have to have faith to keep the commandments? Well, not necessarily, because Jesus Christ said they were tithing of mint and common, but they were omitting the weightier matters of the law. And one of those weightier matters of the law was faith.

So we really have to know, if we're going to put on this armor of faith, we really have to know what faith is.

And we have to know what God's definition of faith is. Not necessarily our own or what someone else teaches, but what God says through the Scriptures. We have to understand what it is. And then we have to ask this question, why is it that Jesus said, when I come back, will anyone have faith or believe in God anymore?

Well, let's take a look at Luke 17 and verse 5. There's a little bit before this, the disciples come to Jesus with a question. Let's go back to Luke 17 and verse 5.

You know, we may ask the question, well, isn't just faith belief in God? Well, that's not necessarily the answer because faith is more than belief in God. And I hope we'll find out that as we go through the message today.

But let's go back to Luke 17 and verse 5, because he was giving his disciples some teachings here about faith. He was giving them teachings and parables about faith.

So he says in verse 5, and the apostles said to the Lord, increase our faith.

He says, all right, you've been, they say, you've been teaching us about faith. You've been telling us how important it is. You've been telling us that we need to increase our faith. And we're finally beginning to understand that you've convinced us and we don't have enough faith.

Now, remember, these were men who all their lives had grown up understanding who the true God was, trying to obey their commandments of God, trying to live their lives as best they could. But they had come to the point where they began to understand that something was missing.

Something was missing in the way they were living their lives. Something was missing in their religion. And they finally said to Jesus, okay, we're beginning to understand that we need to have more faith.

Increase our faith. And so Christ responds to them here in verse number six. So the Lord said, if you have faith as a mustard seed, in other words, just a little bit of faith. He said, if you had a little bit of faith, you could say to this mulberry tree, be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea and it would obey you. Now, that's not necessarily the way you would think that he would answer the question. Increase our faith.

Jesus says, if you just had a little bit of faith, this is something that God could do, the miracles that God could do. So they said, increase our faith. So how do we increase our faith? How do we do that? This was a question that they asked, and I think it's a good question that you and I should ask individually to God.

You know, every once in a while, I'll hear a question from some of the brethren or some members. What is faith? Or how can I have more faith? It wasn't long ago my wife said, Dave, you should give a message on faith. And I've been delaying doing that because, you know what, it's a pretty important topic. You want to make sure you represent it according to the Scriptures.

I think it's one thing to talk about a theological concept of faith, and another thing about real faith, when we really are faced with a huge trial, when we're faced with the loss of our life, or we're faced with the loss of a spouse, or of a loved one, or someone we care about, or when we're faced with a time in our life when nothing seems to be working out at all.

And then faith becomes real. How do we increase our faith? Well, let's go back to the basics. Let's go back to Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11. We have to start with a definition of faith. We need to understand what it is so that we can begin to understand how we can increase it, and how we can put on that armor that God says will quench all of the fiery arrows of the wicked one.

So let's go back to Hebrews 11. We'll take a look at faith here in the context of Ephesians 6, and see how faith fits into the armor of God and why God says it's a shield, and how it can quench all of the fiery darts of the wicked one. Hebrews 11. The faith chapter. It talks a lot about faith in this chapter in detail, but we're not going to cover all the scriptures, but we're going to look at some of them here.

We'll look at some of the components of faith. And before we begin, I'll just refer to a scripture. You may remember in the book of James, where James said, that faith without works is dead.

So real faith has to produce something. It has to produce something, or it's not faith. But what does it produce to be real faith? Well, let's begin with verse number one of Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11. And we'll pick it up here in verse 1.

It says, now faith is the substance of things hoped for, and it's the evidence of things not seen. That's quite a verse, really, right out of the chute here. Verse number one. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, and it's the evidence of things not seen. Faith doesn't necessarily have evidence to be believed. You know, this podium has substance. It's real, isn't it? It's sitting right there in front of you, in front of me.

It's something that's real, that you can see. But faith is the substance of something that you can't see, and that I can't see. And it's evidence of something that we cannot see. And yet it's a reality. It's real. It's actually believing in something that is a reality to you and to me that is real even though we cannot see it. And therefore, it becomes the substance. It becomes the confidence. Faith means it's a reality, and I believe in that reality. I trust in it. And others don't see what you see, and so they don't believe it because they don't see it.

But real faith is believing in something that we can't see. But faith, which is what we're talking about, the substance that we're talking about, is what's the object of our faith? Faith in what? Well, brethren, we're talking about faith in God. Faith in God. That is the substance. You know, you and I have never been able to see God. We've never seen Him, and yet we believe that He is. We believe that He's there. You know, by its very definition, faith involves something that we cannot see.

And yet it's very important to God. It's very important to God. So in this context here of Hebrews, chapter 11, talking about faith in its context, it's an absolute trust and belief and faith in God, who we have never seen. The writer of Hebrews, I think, makes it pretty plain here, as we pick it up here in verse number 3. He says, By faith. It's a perfect example of faith. You know, we talk about what faith is, what you have faith in, what is the object of your faith. And the object of our faith is God. Now, when you talk about evolutionists, they weren't there at creation either.

They didn't see how it was created. So they have faith. But the object of their faith is not God. The object of their faith is evolution. And so God says, true faith is faith in Him. So you and I weren't there. We weren't there to see the creation of the earth here, as it talks about in verse 3, but we believe it.

We believe it, or we wouldn't be here. We wouldn't be sitting here right now. If God didn't create the universe, if He didn't create man, if He didn't create you and me, then why are we even here? Why are we here at church services, worshiping this being that we don't believe in? That He did all these things. Brethren, we do believe it, and that's why we're here.

And that's why we have begun to change our lives, and that's why we've made changes. We've become converted. We begin to do things differently because we believe to the core of ourselves that God is doing these things. Otherwise, life has no meaning if God didn't do this.

If God didn't create this, life has no purpose. Remember that scripture that Paul talked about? We may as well just eat, drink, and be merry. Let's pick it up in verse number 6. Notice here it says, But without faith it is impossible to please Him. Boy, faith must be pretty important. Because God says, I want you to believe that I am, even though you've never seen me. Now, you've seen the results of things that I've done, but you've never seen me. And so you believe in me. Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for He who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

There are three components in that verse, brethren. Number one, we have to believe that He is. Number two, we have to have absolute belief. And number two, we have to trust Him, that He is a rewarder. And number three, that He is a rewarder of those that seek Him. Faith involves seeking God diligently. We can't just say, well, you know, I kind of believe that God is out there somewhere, and I'm going to be kind of a good person, and everything will be okay. That's not the components of faith. That's not faith. Faith is diligently seeking God, diligently seeking God.

So we believe that He is. We trust in Him. Let's go on to verse number seven. We start to see some examples here of people that have gone before us that have had faith. It says, by faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen. So God told him things that were going to come, but that hadn't come yet. But He hadn't seen them. Notice, it says, He moved with godly fear.

He reacted to what God had told him. And He prepared an ark for the saving of his household by which He condemned the world, and He became heir of the righteousness, which is according to faith. So by faith, He built the ark. He built the ark. He did something. He believed God, and He did something.

There were works that went along with His faith. Verse number eight. And by faith, Abraham obeyed. So faith does involve obedience to the commandments of God. It does involve obedience. But that's not all there is to it. Verse number eight. By faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called to go to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, and he didn't know where he was going.

You know, he didn't see the end from the beginning. He trusted God. He believed in God. He went out not knowing where he was going. Sometimes that happens in our life, doesn't it? We don't know what the future holds necessarily. You know, God says, I'm not necessarily always going to show you all the details of what's going to happen in your life, but I want you to trust me. It's very important to God. It's very important to God that he feels trusted. He's going to honor that trust, but he doesn't always have us understand everything that's going on.

But he wants us to believe him. He wants us to trust him. And he's going to reward us. And he wants us to seek him. That's all part of having faith in God, is those three things. Verse number nine. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise, as in a foreign country.

He dwelt in tents with Isaac and Jacob, with the heirs of him of the same promise. And he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Brethren, he waited for something that he could not see. He lived his life believing that he would see it. He waited for a city whose builder and maker was God, but he could not see it. But he believed it.

Verse 11. By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed. And she bore a child when she was past age because she judged him faithful who had promised. That's a pretty important point. Why did Sarah have a child when it was physically impossible for her to have a child? Because she believed God. She believed God was strong enough. She believed God was going to fulfill his promise that he was going to be faithful for what he said he would do. And so she received it. Brethren, faith is only as meaningful of what we have faith in as far as what is the object of our faith.

Sometimes we can get confused and we can have faith in ourselves. We have faith, well, God's going to do this for me, you know, find me a parking spot or that type of thing. But what God is trying to tell us is that we need to have faith in him. Our faith is only as strong as the object of where our faith is. He's trying to tell us to have faith in him. Because then our faith can be as strong as God is. Hebrews 11. Let's jump to verse 17.

By faith Abraham, when he was tested, he offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, in Isaac, your seed shall be called. You know, this was a real test of faith because God asked him to sacrifice his son. But God had told him earlier that the promises are going to come through Isaac. You know, your son is going to have children. Your son is going to have descendants through Isaac. And now God is saying, okay, I want you to sacrifice your son. Now, maybe for a while, for a split second, and this is speculation, why would God tell me that? This is my heir. This is the one that my descendants are going to come through. You know, if I kill him, I have no other son. You know, the Scripture says, even in this context, that Abraham believed God. And he believed that God was still going to perform what he had promised through his son, Isaac. He believed that God would raise him from the dead. That if Abraham truly sacrificed his son, that God was going to resurrect him. And that God's promises were still going to be fulfilled. Brethren, that took a lot of faith. Something for a moment, maybe, that didn't make sense for him. And he believed, even as he was about to kill his son, that God would raise him from the dead if he did indeed kill him. It's quite a story. And apparently, God had to know. God had to know. He had to put him through this test to know if he was truly going to have the type of faith that he would be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And so he tests us, sometimes, brethren, to see whether or not we will have that kind of faith. Let's go on. Verse number 13. It says, these all died in faith, not having received the promises. What? Okay. They all died in faith, and they never saw the promises. But they lived their lives with absolute confidence and belief that God was able to do what he promised he was able to perform. And that's why they're here, as examples for you and me. They all died without receiving the promises. It doesn't matter who we're talking about. Noah, David, Abel, Peter, Paul, James, John, Sarah. All of these people died without having received the promises. They're waiting in faith for something that they had never seen. You know, in the last few moments of Sue Struthers' life, there was probably several little miracles that were going on there, but the family was gathered around the bedside, and they were discussing whether they would take her off of life support. What they thought Sue's wishes might be for that. And all of a sudden, Sue became conscious. All of a sudden, she was alert. And the doctors didn't have to talk with her family, they talked with her. And so she made that decision. They said, well, you know, if we take you off of life support, you may not survive. Do you want us to take you off or not? Or if you do start to fail, do you want to be revived? Do you want us to try to revive you and put you back on life support? And she said no. She said no. Rather than she had faith, she had faith in the resurrection, in the promise that God says that all men and women will be alive again. She saw something that some of the people around the hospital bed didn't see. I can tell you that.

She had faith. She was waiting for something that she hadn't yet seen, nor had they seen. This was the same hope for some of the people that we're reading about here, or some of our brothers and sisters that have gone before us here in Hebrews 11. He goes on to say, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, they were assured of them.

They were assured of those promises that they had not yet seen, as we are assured of the substance of this lectern that's right in front of us here.

It was the substance of their life. It was the promises of a God that they had never seen. And of a city that was going to be built that they had never seen. They were assured of them. It says they embraced them. They just grabbed onto them. They weren't going to let them go. They believed God. They were going to hold on to that promise, and they weren't going to let it go.

That's how they lived their lives, and that's how they looked at things. And what they lived for, and they confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

Were those who say such things declared plainly that they seek a homeland.

And truly, if they called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return.

But now, they desire a better country. A country that they have never seen. A heavenly country.

Notice what it says here in this next verse here.

It says, therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, and he has prepared a city for them.

For those who have faith in God, this is what he promised us to do.

That's pretty important to God. It's pretty important to God that he be trusted, and that we have faith in him. He's made a lot of promises. He wants us to have faith in him and in his promises, because he doesn't lie.

He tells the truth. The truth is very important to him.

He said, I've prepared a kingdom for you from the foundation of the world. I've had you in mind all along.

I'm preparing a city for you. I'm preparing a place for you.

He says he's not ashamed for these people that have this belief and this strong faith in him.

He's not ashamed to be called their God. He said, I am your God, and I'm not ashamed of that.

You are my son and you are my daughter.

Verse number 32.

And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell you of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David, Samuel, and the prophets. A lot of people here that we could look at their examples in Scripture of the faith, the real faith that God talks about, examples for you and me.

People who had faith, who lived it, who held on to it.

Verse 33.

There's a lot there in verse 33. Through faith, they subdued kingdoms. Notice, they worked righteousness.

You know, we look at the example of Job, and boy, wasn't his faith tested.

Wasn't his faith tested?

You know, the circumstances weren't making a lot of sense to him at the time.

And yet he said, he trusted God so much, he said, though he slay me, yet I will trust in him.

He had that type of faith in God, that type of trust in God.

Very similar to what Abraham did when he almost, well, he was intending to sacrifice his son, but God intervened at the last moment.

He had a lot of faith. It was challenged. He was really tested, right, to the nth degree.

But remember, towards the end of the story, in Job 42, he talks to Job's two friends, and he says, You know, you have not spoken right, as my servant Job has.

You know, throughout the entire context of his trial, Job hung in there.

He worked righteousness through his faith, as we see here in verse number 33.

Others obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions.

That's definitely referring to Daniel in the example here.

Let's go back to Daniel 6, verse 20.

Daniel 6. We're going to come back to Hebrews 11. You might want to keep your finger there, but let's go back to Daniel 6.

I want to make sure we understand the object of our faith is God.

Not faith in our own faith, but faith in God.

It wasn't Daniel's faith that protected him. He was looking to God. He had faith in God. He realized that God was the only one that could deliver him. Daniel 6.

Right after the book of Ezekiel, Daniel 6.

Let's go back to verse 20.

Remember the story of the king who set the stage?

People came to the king and said, You can't worship any or honor anyone other than the king for 30 days or pray.

He did as he normally did. He went and he prayed.

Then, of course, he was thrown into the den.

Verse 20.

This is the king coming back now to the den. He's really worried about Daniel because he really liked Daniel.

He realized he'd been set up.

He prayed and couldn't sleep through the night.

He comes to the den and he says in verse 20, He went with a lamenting voice to Daniel and spoke, saying to Daniel, Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions.

Brother, it was God who was able to deliver him.

It wasn't his faith that delivered him.

It was his faith in God that God could deliver him.

And so Daniel answers, verse 21, O king, live forever. My God sent his angel and shut the lions' mouths, so that they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent before him, and also, O king, I have done no wrong before you.

Well, let's go back to Hebrews 11.

It was Daniel's faith in God. God was the object of his faith.

So it's important to understand that we have to have faith in God.

Hebrews 11, verse 33, talking about who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, referring to Job, obtained promises, referring to Abraham, stopped the mouths of lions, referring to Daniel, and quenched the violence of fire.

Quench the violence of fire.

Does that bring any memories back of a story?

Daniel, Meshach, or Daniel's friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

Let's keep our finger here in Hebrews 11, but let's go back to Daniel chapter 3.

Daniel chapter 3. I guess I should have had you keep your finger there, too.

During the last preaching camp, we were teaching the children.

Our theme for the camp was courage and faith to obey God.

One of the things that we talked about was this story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

We were trying to teach them about faith and be able to have confidence in things that you cannot see.

We had a couple of volunteers that came up, and we had blindfolded one of the campers.

Then we had an instructor or one of the teachers that was behind them. We said, okay, we want you to fall backwards and we'll catch you before you hit the ground.

We want you to keep your feet planted and just start to fall backwards.

Then the person behind you will catch you.

You can imagine being in their shoes, but some of them had complete faith and trust.

They started to fall. They never moved their heels from the position.

Others, they'd start to fall backwards and they moved their feet.

You know why they did that?

Because they didn't have complete faith and trust that the person who said they were going to catch them was going to catch them.

Afterwards, we talked to them and said, what's going through your mind? You know why we started to fall?

Well, some said I was a little nervous. You can imagine being in their shoes.

In one case, we let them fall quite far before we caught them.

So they had an opportunity to express their thoughts.

It was our way of trying to be able to teach somebody at that level of having faith and trust and having evidence and substance of something that you cannot see.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Let's look at a little bit more of their story. Daniel chapter 3. Daniel chapter 3.

Remember the decree? Nebuchadnezzar built this false god of gold.

And then they said, when you hear the sound of this music, you have to fall down and you have to worship the image.

Of course, that breaks one of God's commandments.

You shall have no other god before me. You shall not bow down before any other god and worship any other god.

So they found themselves in this predicament.

You can imagine, and we went through this scenario, too.

We had the kids and we had them all stand. We said, okay, we picked out three volunteers.

Everybody else, get down, you know, like you're on the ground. You can imagine, if we had the whole group that was down like that and the music's playing, and they're all mowing down to this image, and there's three very conspicuous people that are still standing.

You know, they had to have faith, didn't they? They had to have faith in God. Well, let's take a look at that. Daniel 3, we'll pick it up here in verse 16.

Well, let's pick it up and get some of the context here.

They've been brought to Nebuchadnezzar, verse 14. He speaks, and he said, Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you don't serve my gods, or worship this gold image which I've set up? Now, if you are ready at the time you hear the sound of the horn, the flute, the lyre, and the psaltery, and symphony with all kinds of music, and you fall down, and you worship the image which I have made, that's good.

But if you do not worship, you will be cast immediately into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

And who is the God who will deliver you from my hand?

I want you to notice verse 16-18.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.

If this is the case, our God, whom we serve, is able to deliver us.

So they were looking at faith in God, not their own faith, but their faith was in God.

God is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace.

And He will deliver us from your hand, O king, but if He chooses not to, if He chooses not to, notice they're still going to have faith in God, no matter what.

But if not, verse 18, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, and nor will we worship the gold image which you set up.

So regardless of the consequences, they were going to have faith in God.

He was going to be the object of their faith.

If they were going to be delivered, He was the one that would deliver them.

And if He wasn't going to deliver, that was His choice, but they still had trust and faith in Him.

Let's go back to Hebrews 11. Pick it up again in verse 34.

Hebrews 11.

Verse 34.

Quench to the violence of fire. Through faith, that fire was quenched.

It was gods that delivered them, but they had faith in God.

Others escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, and they turned to flight the armies of the aliens.

You know, you and I can't turn to flight the armies of the aliens.

We can have faith in God, though, and God can choose to do that. And a very small number of people can make a multitude flee, if that's God's will.

Verse 35.

Women received their dead, raised to life again.

And so we see some of the things that happened with people that had faith in God.

But it goes on, and sometimes it doesn't always end well in this physical life.

He says others were tortured.

He doesn't say others were tortured because they had no faith. He said others were tortured, but these are examples of people that did have faith.

They endured the torturing because of the faith that they had in their Maker.

They believed God.

They trusted God, just like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did, regardless of the outcome.

Because it was the substance in their lives. God is the substance of their lives.

Not accepting deliverance. He says they could have accepted deliverance.

But they didn't.

That they might obtain a better resurrection.

Rather, they looked forward to something that they could not see.

But they believed because God had promised a better resurrection.

They saw something that nobody else saw, just like Su.

They saw a kingdom that no one else saw. They saw a city that no one else saw.

And they wanted it.

They believed God, and they wanted to be a part of it.

This is faith. Verse 36.

Still others had a trial of mockings and scourgings and yes of chains and imprisonment.

They were stoned. They were sawn in two. They were tempted. They were slain with the sword.

They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins being destitute, afflicted, and tormented.

There was no way that our enemy could get through to them, no matter what he did.

The faith that they had in God quenched every fiery dart.

Brethren, God knows how important faith is and trust in Him. He's going to honor that trust.

He will honor that faith.

What about Abel? Let's go back to verse number four, same chapter, Hebrews 11.

By faith, Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained a witness that he was righteous.

God testified of his gifts and through it he being dead still speaks.

You know, Abel didn't do anything wrong. He's the one that offered the sacrifice that God wanted. He was faithful in what he offered, and he's the one that died.

Cain, the one who was not faithful in responding to what God had instructed in the sacrifice, continued to live, at least as a human being, for longer.

And Abel, who'd done nothing wrong, his life was cut short, but his example still speaks to you and me, and has throughout the ages in the Scriptures.

Faith is whether the violence of fire is quenched or whether it's not, or whether it consumes us, or whether we subdue the armies, or whether we are subdued, or whether we believe God, no matter what the outcome.

That's faith no matter what the circumstance. That's what faith is.

You know, you think about our first parents. They were tested. What was their faith in? What was the object of their faith when the serpent came into the garden? What were they looking to? So many times we think about God's laws, and in fact, they shed light on things. In fact, they are laws of liberty, laws of freedom, as it says in the book of James.

And even back then with our first parents, you know, I've talked about the fact that the laws really protect us from dangerous areas. God's commandments help us, keep us from harm.

He tells us that's why He gave them to us, that therefore our good. And sometimes we believe that, and sometimes we don't, I suppose, depending on how we live our lives.

But that God's law keeps us from harm. It's like we're in this big city, and there's an electrical substation, and the fence around the electrical substation keeps us from being harmed. God says, don't go there.

And Adam and Eve had all of these trees. They had all of these trees that God said you may freely eat, except for one. That one will hurt you. That one will harm you.

When it came to faith, there were many people of different experiences. Some had faith, some did not. Abel died young. He did nothing wrong. He was righteous. Yet he died. John the Baptist wandered in the desert. He didn't have necessarily what we would consider a good life, a comfortable life. He ate locusts.

David was a king of Israel. He had his trials, his difficulties, and yet for 40 years he ruled. These people all have different types of experiences.

Some of them saw their loved ones raised from the dead, and others saw their loved ones die. But in each case, they had faith in God.

Verse 38, of whom the world was not worthy. God says these are people according to God, that the world isn't even worthy of them. They've trusted me, and I am not ashamed for them to be called my sons and daughters.

God says the world was not worthy of these people because they're his sons and daughters. That doesn't mean he doesn't care for the rest of humanity. He cares for them too. They're still his sons and daughters as well.

And what he wants for them to have is the same thing, to eventually have that type of faith in him.

He goes on, they wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. And all of these, the ones we've been talking about, have obtained a good testimony through faith.

But they did not receive the promise. They have not seen the promise that God has made. They still wait.

They died in faith, but they have never seen what they had faith in. Why is that?

Verse 40, God, having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.

Brethren, when God rewards those that have been diligently seeking him, that have been trusting him, that have had faith in him, the reward is going to happen all at the same time.

It's part of those that are being called in this age.

They're not going to receive the promise apart from us. So they wait. They sleep. They wait for us.

When Christ comes back, there'll be a group of people prepared because they believed, and they will be prepared for him.

So they wait, the ones we read about. Abel waits. Abraham waits. Noah waits.

They wait for us, and if we die, then we'll wait for the next generation until God says there's enough time that's gone by that my bride is ready, and they'll receive the promise at the same time.

Faith is so much more than simple belief. It's a trust, an absolute trust in our God, no matter what.

When we begin to take this road of understanding that faith is just more than a belief, that it's actually a total trust in God, we begin to have to ask ourselves some questions maybe that we don't normally ask.

We go through life thinking that life is what we make it, and to a certain degree, that is true. You and I do have to make certain choices, and God does give us free will.

But faith breaks down into belief and a total assurance and trust that we turn our lives over to God, and we say to God that you do with my life as you see fit, even if it's not something necessarily that I want to do.

We say, Your will be done, not my will be done. Increase our faith.

I think we all here believe that God exists. You believe that. I believe that. It takes a certain amount of faith. That leads us to that understanding and leads us to obedience.

But the faith that we're talking about here goes beyond that. It goes beyond that to where we say, Your will be done. I will go where you want me to go, even if it's not some place that I want to go. I will do what you want me to do.

Faith gets a little bit stronger then, doesn't it, when we start thinking about it that way. Total belief and trust in God.

True faith is trust. It's not just giving up things. It's literally turning our life over to God and saying that you do with me as you see fit, because I know and trust that you know what you're doing.

I believe that you love me and I'm going to accept your decisions no matter what. I may not always agree with them. I may not always understand them. I sometimes may struggle with them.

Sometimes I may ask for the cup to be removed, but in the end I'm going to say, God, if that's Your will, then let it be so.

The disciples said, increase our faith. Let's go to 1 Peter 5 and verse 9. 1 Peter 5 and verse 9.

We have to believe and trust God that He won't put us through anything greater than what we're able to bear. That's His promise as well.

1 Peter 5 and verse 9. Talking about the battle that we're in, resist Him steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.

So, brethren, we see in this battle that we have to stay steadfast in the faith and realize that there are others that have gone before us that have been tried and tested in the same way that we are being tried and tested right now.

Let's notice 1 John 5 and verse 4. 1 John 5 and verse 4.

Talking about putting on this armor, talking about being a part of this family, which is the reason that God created us to be in His family, to be His son or daughter. It says, for whatever is born of God, overcomes the world.

And so, when it comes to overcoming, there's some work that's involved.

And so, we've talked about that faith without works is dead.

And it says, and this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith.

Brethren, that's how we will gain the victory, is our faith in God, our faith.

Who is He who overcomes the world, but He who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

And so, we follow the example of our older brother.

We do what He did, we emulate, we imitate, and we believe what He and the Father say.

Let's go back to Ephesians 6 and verse 16. Ephesians 6 and verse 16, where we started.

We've talked about the armor of God and putting on the whole armor.

And God says, when it comes to this piece, it's like a shield.

These fiery darts are able to be quenched by the shield.

He says in verse 16, above all, or overall, as it could also be rendered, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts.

It doesn't say you may be able to quench the fiery darts.

It says, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.

Brethren, faith is vital. I think that's what God is trying to tell us.

And you know what? Our enemy knows that. He knows that, too.

And that's why he would just as soon as we cast the shield aside.

But I can tell you, any soldier held on tight to that shield, because it had the opportunity to save his life, he felt that he was not ready for battle without the shield.

So our enemy knows how important this particular piece of armor is, and he just as soon as cast it aside.

But, brethren, let's not do that. Let's not do that. Let's go before God.

Let's pray the prayer that his disciples did when they asked Jesus Christ to help us to increase our faith.

Let's finish up here with verse number 13. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand.