Shield of Faith

“ Thus faith, continually at every fresh assault looking instinctively to Christ and drawing upon His help, is to be our shield, off which the enemy's darts will glance harmless, their hurtful fire quenched. ”

“ In a word, we want a shield to make us comfortable, and because the shield of faith does not do it we are often stunned and confused, and our thin reasonings are often twisted and broken, and the world appears [Pg 85] a labyrinth without a providence and without a plan. It is just here that our false emphasis leads us astray. We live in circumstances and seek a shield to make us comfortable; but the apostle Paul lived in character and sought a shield to make him holy. ”

“ Whence, while we build our walls, that is, while we add virtue to virtue, we must fight with the enemy, and grasp our weapons firmly: we must 'take the helmet of salvation, the shield of faith, the breastplate of righteousness: and for our sword the word of God,' [Footnote 138] that we may defend ourselves against them: and God's priest shall be unto us in Christ's stead, to teach us by his lessons, and defend us by his prayers. ”

“ Just as the apostle taught how the feet of desire should be shod, he then also teaches that they take faith as a shield. But faith is about unseen spiritual things and the future. It is like light, so that the understanding is enlightened by it. It is like a shield that holds back every fleshly snare and every powerful, spiritual, and unseen blow. ”

“ Religion, indeed, like morality, is in the nature of things, and Catholic faith is Una's Red Cross Knight, on whose shield are old dints of deep wounds and cruel marks of many a bloody field, who is assailed by all the powers of earth and of the nether world, armed with whatever weapons may hurt the mind or corrupt the heart, but whom heavenly Providence rescues from the jaws of monsters and leads on to victory. ”

“ Have mercy upon me and upon all them that are in my company, through the wonders of Thy grace and power. Shield us, then, O my God, from the mischief of Thine enemies, and assist us to help Thy Faith, and to protect Thy Cause, and to celebrate Thy glory. Thou art, verily, He Who from everlasting hath inhabited the inaccessible heights of His unity, and will continue to remain the same for ever and ever. Nothing whatsoever escapeth Thy knowledge, nor is there anything that can frustrate Thee. ”

“ As to inward evils, our Shield assures us of absolute exemption. 'Shield of faith.' Faith is shield because it takes hold of God's strength.
3. The ground of the call in the Revelation of God as Reward. Abraham had refused all share in booty, a large sacrifice, and here he is promised, A Reward in God, i.e. He gives Himself in recompense for all sacrifices in path of duty. 'The Lord is able to give thee much more than these.' This promise opens out to general truth that God Himself is the true reward of a devout life. ”

“ Believe, saith he, in the good things to come, and none of this armor shall be injured. In dangers, in toils, by holding out thy hope and thy faith to protect thee, thou wilt preserve thy armor uninjured. “He that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that seek after Him.” (Heb. xi. 6.) Faith is a shield; but wherever there are quibbles, and reasonings, and scrutinizings, then is it no longer a shield, but it impedes us. ”

“ For example, there is no better way of understanding the words addressed to God, “Take hold of shield and buckler and stand up for mine help,” [1] than by referring to the passage where we read, “Thou, Lord, hast crowned us with Thy favor as with a shield.” [2] And yet we are not so to understand it, as that wherever we meet with a shield put to indicate a protection of any kind, we must take it as signifying nothing but the favor of God. For we hear also of the shield of faith, “wherewith,” says the apostle, “ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.” ”

“ And therefore the first thing we have to do if we wish to wear the shield of faith is to cultivate the companionship of the Lord. We must seek His holy presence. We must let His purpose enter into and possess our minds. We must let His promises distil into our hearts. And we must let our own hearts and minds dwell upon the Lord Jesus in holy thought and aspiration, just as our hearts and minds dwell upon the loved ones who have gone from our side. ”

“ In this war our weapons are the sword of God’s word, the shield of faith, and the lance of prayer. Our companions in arms are our holy guardian angels, who invisibly help us during the strife in the same way that they visibly helped Judas. We are consecrated to, and strengthened for this war by the Sacrament of Confirmation.
Application. Of what kind is your repentance and your purpose of amendment? Have you always carried out your good resolutions? In order to have a hatred of sin you ought every evening to try to excite in yourself a feeling of contrition. ”

“ In standing up for the confirmation and defense of which truth, I am become a reproach to my neighbours to that degree, that those who see us do not only scoff at us, but point at us, one to another: but God, the father of mercies and author of all consolations, has comforted us in all our afflictions, that we might be able, in like manner, to comfort those that are pressed with sorrow and affliction: we rely upon the protection of Him who has armed and fortified us with the armor of righteousness and of faith, which is the tried shield for our eternal salvation. ”

“ In God's word a genuine Christian may have unlimited confidence, and to every purpose to which it is applicable it may be brought with the greatest effect. The shield, faith, and the sword - the word of God, or faith in God's unchangeable word, are the principal armor of the soul. He in whom the word of God dwells richly, and who has that faith by which he knows that he has redemption, even the forgiveness of sins, need not fear the power of any adversary. ”

“ Love is in some respects superior to faith, and shall live and rejoice before the throne when faith shall have finished its work; but faith is an impenetrable shield, such as love cannot furnish, on the field of battle. The shield was a broad piece of defensive armor, worn ordinarily on the left arm; and which, being movable, might be used to defend any part of the body. ”

“ First, cousin, in these words "the truth of God shall compass thee about with a shield," the prophet for the comfort of every good man in all temptation and in all tribulation, besides those other things that he said before—that the shoulders of God should shadow them and that also they should sit under his wing—here saith he further that the truth of God shall compass thee with a shield. That is, as God hath faithfully promised to protect and defend those that faithfully will dwell in the trust of his help, so will he truly perform it. ”

“ Be happy while men call thee great
And one beloved woman feels thee dear—"
Something tightened around his heart and he took her cold fingers into his own. "There's nothing in all the world that hurts like that, Madonna. God keep you from knowing about it, little girl."
An older woman would have taken warning from his words, but she did not. The caressing way in which he said "little girl" filled her soul with strange joy. She had a childish, unquestioning faith in him. Some day when he was better—but further than this her maiden thought refused to go. ”

“ Is there safety for us, unless we trust in the Lord? No. There is no other refuge. He is our only shield and protector. The Lord fought the battles of his people in ancient times, and he can do it again. ”

“ Do they not love us—who hate them? Do we not hate them—who love us? If we continue to act as we have done in the past, would not everybody lose faith in us, and would not the nations of the earth be justified in saying to us: "You can love only from afar. ”

“ So the hope of conquering every adversary, and surmounting every difficulty by the salvation of the Gospel, is a helmet that protects the head, and is of such impenetrable texture as the blow of the battle-axe cannot cleave. The hope of continual safety and protection, built on the promises of the Gospel, protects the understanding from being confused by the subtle attacks of Satan or the sophisms of unbelief. Salvation guards the whole man, the head and heart, and is both helmet and shield. ”

“ Elsewhere, the hope of salvation, that being the defence of your intellect against base and sad thoughts, as the shield of fidelity is the defence of your heart against burning and consuming passions. ”

“ It shows us that the salvation which the Lord Jesus came to bring is not only salvation at last, just escaping hell, but that it is salvation now, and salvation in everything Salvation does not only mean victory at last, but it is like a broad, shining shield, given to us in the midst of the battle, coming between us and the poisoned arrows and sharp sword-thrusts of the enemy. It is a shield not only to keep us from death, but to keep us from being hurt and wounded. ”

“ My Saviour doth not yet appear,
He hides the Brightness of His Face:
But shall I therefore let him go,
And basely to the Tempter yield?
No, in the Strength of Jesus, no!
I never will give up my Shield. ”

“ Let us therefore always walk in the light of the Lord, and never throw ourselves out of his protection, and we shall find him a sun to supply us with all good and a shield to shelter us from all evil. ”

“ Whilst, however, we rely with firm and holy confidence upon the Great Author and Finisher of our Faith, for the protection and preservation of His Church; zeal, energy, and discretion, in defence of religion, are not the less requisite in believers, who labour under their Heavenly Master for the furtherance of His Gospel. ”

“ And then incontinently following, to the intent that we should see that it is not without necessity that the shield of God should compass us about upon every side, he showeth in what wise we are environed by the devil upon every side with snares and assaults, by four kinds of temptations and tribulations. Against all this compass of temptations and tribulations that round-compassing shield of God's truth shall so defend us and keep us safe that we shall need to dread none of them at all. ”

“ Shields very explicitly declares that he believes in God, in Christ, and in the Bible. For this we cannot but praise him. Yet his book leads thoughtful readers to suspect that his faith is still undeveloped, uncertain, indefinite, and, as it were, in an embryonic condition. In fact, religion and science, as he conceives, are still at war, and revelation must yet be reconciled with reason by the aid of final philosophy; and this final philosophy is a thing of the future. What will he believe meanwhile? What will all other Protestants believe? Must they adopt a provisional scepticism? ”

“ If the Saviour were to reappear on earth, he would calumniate no minister who preaches salvation by grace—he would break up the peace of no church which holds the unity of the faith—he would show his regard for the law of God by obeying its precepts, and unveil the glory of the gospel by proclaiming it among all people. ”

“ Guard and defend us and Thy whole Christian, especially Thy Evangelical Lutheran, Church against all error, unbelief, and the pernicious doctrine of others. Restrain all enemies, persecutors and blasphemers, and be Thou our refuge, our strength, our shield and buckler, that the gates of hell may not prevail against us. ”

“ Most powerful guardian of the Holy Family, protect the chosen race of Jesus Christ; drive far from us, most loving father, every pest of error and corrupting sin. From thy place in heaven, most powerful protector, graciously come to our aid in this conflict with the powers of darkness, and as of old thou didst deliver the Child Jesus from supreme peril of life, so now defend the holy Church of God from the snares of her enemies and from all adversity. ”

“ By evangelical sentiments, we understand, among others, a belief in the guilty and lost condition of all men without a Saviour; the Supreme Deity, Incarnation and Atoning Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the only Saviour of the world; the necessity of regeneration by the Holy Spirit, repentance, faith and holy obedience in order to salvation; the immortality of the soul; and the retributions of the judgment in the eternal punishment of the wicked, and salvation of the righteous. ”

“ Wherefore I humbly beseech Almighty God, the Father of mercies, to preserve the Church by His power and providence, in peace, truth, and godliness, evermore to the world’s end: which doubtless He will do, if the wickedness and security of a sinful people—and particularly the sins that are so rife, and seem daily to increase among us, of unthankfulness, riot and sacrilege—do not tempt His patience to the contrary. ”

“ And now I understood what it is to have God as a shield, for He entrusts to His servants certain tasks in the world, and they manfully do their duty. He is ever in them and with them, and guards them as the apple of His eye, that they may not die before they accomplish the task for which they were sent into the world. ”

“ We need a wholesome obstinacy in the right that will neither be bribed nor coaxed nor bullied, nor anyhow persuaded out of the road in which we know that we should walk. 'Add to your faith manly vigour.' Learn that an indispensable requisite of holiness is prescribed in that command, 'Whom resist, steadfast in the faith.' And remember that the ground of all successful resistance and the need for it are alike taught in that series of petitions, which makes a holy spirit the foundation of a constant spirit, and a constant spirit the guard of a holy spirit. ”