The sermon transcript discusses the importance of having faith as a shield against the attacks of the evil one. It explains that Satan's tactics are like fiery arrows, and faith is the shield that can extinguish them. The sermon emphasizes the need for Christians to be strong in the Lord and to have a faith that is active and obedient. It also highlights the importance of living a life of righteousness and truth, as God sees and knows everything and will eventually expose all secrets.

Lord, we are people who have come from different places. We ask you, we invite you, Lord, to be in our midst and to speak to us. Amen. I'd like to read from Ephesians 6, 16. Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery dots of the wicked one. Above all, take the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery dots of the wicked one. In this chapter, Paul is addressing the Christians, telling them about the battle that they are in. And how they ought to arm themselves. And he takes a Roman soldier in his armed dress, in the way that he has prepared for war, and he says, in that way we ought to arm ourselves. Christians ought to know full well how they are to arm. If Paul was among us Zulus, he could have contextualized it by using the Zulu of the Bible. He would have said, take up that shield, take that defensive stick, the spear, the nobkeri, and you prepare for battle. But remember that what is being spoken here is spiritual armory. The Bible says, fight the good fight of faith. We are at war. These days I thought about Christians, about how many of them start and yet many die in battle. I thought about the young people, why is it that so many of them become food for the birds and die on the mountains and in the valleys. Dying in the cities. Where are your young people today? They have finished off. I thought about it in this way, many do go to battle unaware that it is war. Secondly, many of them go without being armed. Satan is a man of many tricks. He is a man of many tricks. He is a man of many tricks. quickly. It is in verse 12 that he starts by explaining about the weapons. Also referring two verses back in verse 10 that the brethren are to be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Christians have to be full of God's strength. One who is in the faith ought to be like this. One Christian man explained that the Christian life, the life of faith, and for the Christian it is like this illustration. A muscle in the body is to be exercised and used. It only strengthens and enhances the strength of that muscle. But some people are made not of muscles, this person said, but of rubber. And the more you use the rubber, the more floppy it gets. It just expands and just becomes slack. A Christian is not to be like that. When you meet him, he is to be full of God's strength and blessing that you are blessed in their presence. Not that they are just full of being religious and church formality. And then he says, put on the whole armor of God. Let there be not one weapon which you leave. The Roman soldier had a special metal helmet. It would come down on the sides of his face and be a protection around his head and his face. On his chest he also had some protection, a breastplate. And if you hit him on the head, you would hit metal. He wouldn't be hurt. If you hit him even straight at the heart, he wouldn't feel anything because of the breastplate. And so from head to toe he was armed, even his shoes. And if you looked at him, you realize there isn't a gap, there is nowhere where you can get through to him. Remember David, the illustration of Christians. Even though he was a young person, and he wasn't then just a washout like you find young people are today. He went up against Goliath. While the whole army of Israel was trembling with fear. He said, I will go. He said, I will go. He said, I will go. Everybody told David, don't you dare. The message got to the king and the king said, well if you are going then here is my armor. David said, no I don't need that. I am prepared, I have the strength of the Lord. And he went out to meet Goliath. And David noticed that there was a gap, a chink in his armor, a place where he could get through. And that was his forehead. And he threw that stone, it hit him in the forehead, he then cut off his head. He decapitated him. He decapitated Goliath. Today you find the world cutting off the heads of Christians. What a disgrace that is. You find the torso of a Christian just lying there, no head, and there is dancing and rejoicing in hell because of it. Then it says, you Christians be strong, be full of the power of his might. And then taking up the full armor of God, that you are enabled to stand strong on the evil day, for days are not the same. It says, put firstly the girdle around you, around your waist. Now we say it in our context of men wearing trousers. If you don't have a belt on, your trousers can fall down. And a person is embarrassed. And when you confess your sins, don't do it in a way that is a mixture of truth and untruth, it's just a stew where you've put in lies into it. You'll never get anywhere like that, you're just standing before people, whereas the Bible says we do not stand before people but before God. Then you can stand up and defend the truth. You can stand up and defend the truth. Wonderful is a person who is honest and true, he's not like those who say, how can I really admit this because we made a deal with this person, it would embarrass him too much if the truth is spoken. I remember years ago a certain girl came here to Kwasisabantu, we had an engagement service and she asked, what is an engagement? Many don't even know. They just grow up with affairs between girls and boys, they grow up being sexual all the time. And they explained to her, that engagement symbolises purity, holiness. She said, I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know what you're talking about, I don that is what I need, that's what I want immediately, and she cut off her relationship, her love affair with her boyfriend, that was the end of it. You do get people who are gold, but you are a person of hell if you are messing around with the opposite sex. You have no courage to stand for the Lord Jesus in purity and in holiness. Being in the strength of the Lord and associating with those in whom is the strength of the Lord, not with the gossipers, the slanderers, those who are busy with lies, those who are trying to draw you away from the Lord. There are those who get drawn and are like flies drawn to dung. Being girdled with the truth, that waistband of truth, are you ready to be exposed for what you are, that the true you gets known? Would you be ashamed and embarrassed if it was known here? Well one day God will expose you from head to toe, all about you. There is nothing hidden that shall not be revealed. Nothing that is secretive that will not be exposed. What you have hidden and spoken, whispering in the bedrooms will be shouted from the rooftops. And then the breastplate of righteousness, that protection around your heart, otherwise the sword comes the arrow comes and you will be pierced right through. You need that protection that you will be delivered from evil and from wicked thoughts. In this translation I am reading it says, with your feet shod with the shoes, being prepared to preach the gospel. Of peace, it is a wonderful thing if a person is zealous and wants to spread the gospel. It is a wonderful thing if a person is zealous and wants to spread the gospel. But in the Greek it refers more to the preparation of the gospel of peace being your shoes, as protection around your shoes so that whatever slander, whatever evil, whatever dirt may be said about you, but you are protected and defended. That is it. But then it says, and it continues to say, and that is our theme text for today. Above all, above all the other arms, and there are still others to follow that will be mentioned, take the shield of faith. With which you will be able to quench all the fiery dots of the evil one. You see, Satan does have his fiery dots. In modern warfare we speak of missiles. But here is the fiery dot, there would be a metal head on the arrow. Sometimes they would have an arrow maybe three feet long and at the end of the arrow, at the tip they would wrap some cloth around or some leather and then they would dip it into tar, bitumen. And then they would light it. Then these arrows would be shot. They would be fiery dots aimed at the enemy. And just as the dots, the fiery dots of hell are aimed at you. We are born in This arrow would be on fire, not with the fire of the Holy Spirit or of heaven, but another fire, the fire of hell. And if it hits you, if you are not defended, it will hit you and you will burn with the same fire. If you If you were sitting in your tent as a soldier, your tent would be set alight. Or if it hit you as a soldier, your clothing would be alight. And so this thing hits you and is aimed at you so that it would destroy you and burn you up. Some Christians, so-called Christians, or they call themselves Christians, are aflame. But with a strange fire, their own fire, the tongue that is kindled by the fire of hell. The tongue that is kindled by the fire of hell. And their tongues are aflame with hell. You need to rather pack up and leave. If you don't want to repent and you hear this and you've been preached by me and you know this truth and you still want to continue with this and associating with those who have fiery tongues, rather go and be with them. I will tell you a story. Once upon a time, there was a young man. And he knows. He knows that he's worthless. You know, that fraud stole his money from him. He appreciates that he's just a porthole for the tribe and tells me to come back and He says that I'm going to throw him into the well. I beg him to possess me because I knew that he has become. Now I go and beg him. That's why I followed me. The shield was long and broad, although the people of that day were shorter than we are, they made the shield to be as long as possible and broad, about over a meter and also about two and a half feet wide, but it was long and was able to stop the fiery dart. If it was aimed at the head or at the chest, it would stop it. Sometimes, though, the fiery dart was so powerful it would go through it and it would burn the shield, often made of wood, and they would leave the burning shield there. I think it's Kala. I think it's Kala. Sometimes, the military tactic was to make the shield as long as possible, but the people of that day were shorter than we are, they made the shield to be as long as possible and broad, about two and a half feet wide, but it was long and was able to stop the fiery dart. If it was aimed at the head or at the chest, it would stop it. Sometimes, though, the military tactic was so powerful it would go through it and it would burn the shield, often made of wood, and they would leave the burning shield there. If the enemy was going to come against them with these fiery darts, they would, as the warring side, would protect themselves as a group. Sometimes, a kilometer long, you'd find the shields, one after the other, without a gap in between, as they stood closely, side by side, and they would be protected in that way. Not like Christians, who, instead of fighting the enemy, are fighting each other, busy blaming each other. And one hears reports like, don't go to that place, be careful of Ola Stegen and what he speaks. Such people want lies, they want worldliness. If you want to join the world and be with those Christians who are busy with lies and busy with wickedness, go and join them. There are many churches, by the way, who lack membership and want extra members. Go and offer yourself as a member. If you want truth to be as it is, that we speak only the truth, undefiled, undiluted, then you can stay with us, but otherwise, like you heard with Gideon's army recently in the service, you stand with those with Gideon, otherwise you'd rather go home. If you want truth to be as it is, that we speak only the truth, undefiled, undiluted, then you can stay with us, but otherwise, like you heard with Gideon's army recently in the service, you stand with those with Gideon, otherwise you'd rather go home. And it says, above all taking the shield of faith, that is above the helmet, the breastplate and the girdle of truth, as important as they are, the shield of faith, above all the other weapons, take that to be defended. If you don't believe in Jesus Christ, you do not have eternal life. There's only one way of having life, and that is believing in Him. In Hebrews it says, beware, fear lest any of you should fall behind. Fear lest any of you should fall behind. Fear lest any of you should fall behind. And it says for it, they had the same message, but it was not mixed with faith. One has to face this battle with faith. And faith is obedience, accepting the word. In Hebrews 4 it says, they were preached to, just as we are, it didn't help them, because it wasn't mixed with faith. Faith is to receive it, to accept it, to be obedient to the word of God. Faith is to receive it, to accept it, to be obedient to the word of God. Spurgeon once said, we Christians have giant saints. He's speaking a spiritual language. Saints who are giants, like Samson. He has locks like Samson's hair locks. Spurgeon said, those long locks of hair represent our faith. When we are shown of that, then we can have our eyes gouged out. We have lost the battle. We are defeated. We are strengthless. But faith, the Bible says, conquers the world. Faith is victory over the world. You find we are defeated by the world. Young people, though, instead are attracted like flies. They swarm towards the world, and they'll die for the world. Above all, taking that shield of faith, that faith, that righteousness, not wanting to have anything of the world, not even a trace, a smell of the world on you. Living for God. Such Christians we need. We need Christians who are battle prepared, as we've read in Ephesians 6. Without one piece of armory being missing. Putting on the whole armor of God, and fighting the good fight of faith. You Christian, are you standing in that? If not, part from those things, deal with them, be cleansed from them, and meet with the Lord. These days I said, there is no soldier that can be compared to the Christian soldier. There is no army like the Christian army. But where is the Christian army today? Instead you find all manner of filth, grudges, anger, sexual immorality. All manner of wickedness among them. You find lies, stealing, hypocrisy, lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes. In all that, take faith. Above all, taking that shield of faith, so that when the fiery darts are aimed at you, that you won't be found a corpse, being a corpse at the end of the day of battle. Now you are not ill, let's stand to our feet as we pray. Work Lord Jesus by your Holy Spirit in our midst. That each one would examine himself whether he is a true living soldier of Jesus Christ. Whether he is fighting the good fight of faith. Whether they are living according to your word. And Lord, if there are those who have that gap, that missing piece, grant that they would return to you in repentance today and put on the whole armour. Work our Lord. That each one would stand with that girdle bound around them, lest you come back and they find it to be a terrible day when they are not standing in the truth. Amen.