New Shoes Series

GEARING UP FOR WAR - New Shoes

September 25, 2022

Ephesians 6:10-15

Introduction:

Every August when I was growing up my mom would take me downtown to a store called Wolffe Wiles (This is pre-mall invasion). The purpose of this excursion was to purchase me new shoes for the start of school…

And for me there was only one choice of new sneakers…Chuck Taylor All-stars. They were the shoes Kentucky basketball players wore…They were the shoes my older brother and his friends wore…And I always chose black high-tops…I wore them out of the store with my old ones in the box.

I loved getting those new shoes…Its one of those childhood memories that makes my heart smile when I think about it…

With those new Chuck’s on I was ready for all kinds of new adventures. I wore some today just to recapture that childlike excitement in my soul.

As we Gear Up for War, and put on the full armor God has provided us with…new shoes are essential as we prepare for battle…taking a stand against the Devil’s schemes, when the day of evil comes, and standing firm and standing our ground will only work if we’ve laced up the gospel of peace…they prepare us for all kinds of new adventures.

First of all those shoes go on

I. FEET THAT ARE READY FOR ACTION

Paul talks about “feet that are fitted with readiness…”

[My beautiful daughter Cyndi ran track in High School. Her best event was the 100 meter hurdles…and even though I had to take her to the ER a couple of times when she didn’t clear them…she was really good at it and really quick.

Just before she got ready for her race she put on some special spikes we bought her…these weren’t your everyday walkin’ around shoes (unless you wanted her to aerate your yard). These shoes had a specific purpose…and that purpose was to help her run. She’d lace them on…loosen up, take her initial stance in the blocks, and then the starter would say, “On your mark…get ready.” (She’d drop down, tense up in anticipation.) She was waiting for the gun to go off…It’s that moment before the gun goes off that describes “readiness.” She was ready to spring into action… “Let’s go…” She wanted to run to win.

When God calls us to this race we call “Christianity,” and when we accept that Holy Spirit’s calling…saved by he precious blood of His Son…He expects us to put on new shoes…and these new shoes are described as “The Gospel of Peace.”

Like Cyndi’s spikes, these shoes are designed with a very specific purpose and we have been made ready for this purpose through the sacrifice of Jesus and the sanctifying work of God’s Spirit.

The Purpose…“Run with the Gospel of Peace into a lost world.”

God’s Word says that this world is at war with God and hostile to Him.

Paul writes to the Colossians and reminds them…“Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your mind because of your evil behavior.” (Col. 1:21)

He also reminded the church at Rome…“The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God, it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so…Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.” (Romans 8:7-8)

The decision of where our feet go is always determined by our minds. And before we are redeemed by the blood of Christ and filled with His Spirit our minds view God as a weigher of scales…good on one side…bad on the other…If we consider Him at all, we want to do what we want…when we want…our sinful rebellion simply thinks…“I don’t want anyone to tell me what to do…I hope I do enough good to tip the scale.” But with some hostility we simply live how we want. God has no desire to be our enemy…but in our minds we think of Him as someone who is the punisher of bad and the rewarder of good…and maybe we’ve had some tough issues in our life and we think…“If God really loved me He wouldn’t have let that happen.” So we keep Him at a distance…we might tip our hat at Him…but its only out of fear…fear leads to alienation and hostility…so we put worldly shoes on our feet and walk in our own will…we live in the flesh…but those who live in this realm can never please God…ever!!! By the way…all of us have worn these shoes…or are wearing them now.

Only the Holy Spirit can stop us in our walking away from God.

Jesus told a group of people who had this same alienation and hostility to God these words: “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them and I will raise them up at the last day.” (John 6:44)