Alba 7-23-2023
THE ARMOR OF GOD: THE GOSPEL OF PEACE
Ephesians 6:15
Today we are going to talk about shoes. Over the years, I have had a variety of styles of shoes. I want to show some of them to you.
*Here are the Nike shoes that I bought probably 20 years ago. I wear them when we go to Silver Dollar City.
*Here is a pair of nice looking dress boots.
*I have a pair of work boots.
*I even have a pair of cowboy boots.
*But these take the prize. (Red and blue non-leather lace up shoes with a two inch heel.) I actually wore these shoes in the 1970's. I even wore them to church. And I was the preacher!
I have a history with shoes. When I was in high school at the end of my sophomore year, I began my place in the workforce. I applied at several stores. There was one where I thought I would like to work, but they didn't hire me. But another store did. It was a shoe store, Corbaley Shoe Store, in the Benson district of Omaha. I was just 15 years old.
My first responsibility was to carry big boxes of shoes that had arrived and take them down the stairs to the basement. My second responsibility was to bring the shoes back up and stock them on the shelves in the order of their size. I worked there most of that first summer before I was allowed to begin as a salesperson.
Among serveral things we had in order to make sure that the shoe fit (you know, if the shoe fits – wear it), we had an x-ray device. You stood on it and inserted your foot into the opening at the bottom. You could peer through a place at the top for your eyes and see your foot through the shoe to determine if it did fit your foot well. It was fun to do. Of course, x-rays can cause cancer. Now they tell us!
But I found that people did not want a shoe if it did not fit properly. And for good reason. Feet can hurt if wearing the wrong shoe. That's why when selling shoes we were careful to be sure that the person buying the shoes was comfortable with their shoe and their decision.
One man, Robert Leroe a minister and former soldier, said, “I can tell you that comfortable boots are an indispensable item of equipment. In Desert Storm I was initially issued boots that made my feet ache; I was hardly fit for battle! Fortunately I managed to exchange them for ones that fit properly.”
Walking or even standing in the wrong shoes will leave feet hurting and blistered. Having the right shoe is important. If you’re going to climb Mount Everest you don’t wear high heels. You wear boots with cramp-ons that provide warmth and sure-footedness as you climb through the snow and ice. Marathon runners don’t wear flip-flops in a race. They wear running shoes that give them comfort and good support as they run 26.2 miles.
There are shoes for different times, different occupations and activities. It is important to wear the right kind of shoes as we navigate life. Likewise, it is important that we wear the right kind of shoes as we navigate our spiritual life.
Ephesians 6:15 tells us that we need to wear the right shoes to be effective Christians. It says that as Christian soldiers we need to stand against the wiles of the devil, “having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace.”
The shoes we are told to wear are the good news of peace, yet many choose to go barefoot. Anyone who has walked outside without shoes knows that there are some places you simply cannot go – a Cactus garden for example.
And the devil has plenty of those kinds of things lying in our way as we walk this road of life. We need our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace or we won't be able to fight the battles that come our way.
Lehman Strauss, speaking of “the shoes of peace”, once said; “The soldier’s shoes are not the dancing slippers of this world or the lounging slippers of the slothful, but the shoes of the Christian warrior who knows Christ and makes Him known.”
As we continue to put on the armor of God, the various parts are taken from the image of the Roman soldier. He wore a belt, a breastplate and shoes made specifically for doing battle.
A Roman soldier's shoes were a very important part of the armor. They often had to march upwards of 30 miles in a single day, and if they didn’t have good shoes they would be unable to make the journey and unable to enter into the battle.
The shoes of a soldier were open toed, like a sandal, and tied securely above the ankle as well as just over the calf. They were custom fitted to each soldier’s feet. There was a thick leather upper part that covered the shins. The soles were extremely thick and durable.
One of the purposes of the thick leather soles of their sandals was to protect against what we might think of as ‘ancient land mines’. When enemy forces knew the Roman legions were coming, they would anticipate the route of travel and plant small, sharp stakes just under the surface of the dirt; made of sticks, or bamboo, or iron nails and so forth.
If a soldier did not have thick soles and the object passed through the shoe into the foot, that soldier could no longer march and therefore could no longer fight.
The Roman soldier's shoe had another interesting characteristic. In order to enable the soldiers to hold their ground and to dig in for the fight, the Romans would drive nails through the soles of the shoes called hobnails. In hand to hand combat, the kind of battles that these foot soldiers engaged in, taking and keeping ground was essential.
If an army could push you back, the soldiers in the rear had no room to advance, your lines would begin to collapse upon themselves and you stood the chance of being overwhelmed by the enemy.
So they used short, stubby nails sticking out of the bottom of the shoe to dig into whatever terrain where the soldier was marching or fighting. This enabled the army of Rome to not only stand their ground, but to push the enemy back as well.
So what do we learn from all of this? In the same way that the Roman soldier was called on to march to battle, hold his ground in a fight, and push forward when things got tough, we are also to march, hold our ground and push forward in the spiritual battles we face daily.
The scripture says that our feet need “preparation” for the battles ahead, being protected by the “gospel of peace.” Gospel, you most likely know, means “Good News”. And it is a word found only in the New Testament. That's because it was not until the Messiah Jesus came that there was any reason to talk about good news.
But once He came, it did not take long for the good news message to be proclaimed. In Mark 1:14-15 it says, “Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.'”
This message of good news could only come from Jesus. Because He alone could offer to us the astounding news that through His death on the cross, our sins penalty would be paid and we could be forgiven of all the wrong things we have ever done.
Each of us must come to a realization that in God’s eyes we were ugly and full of sin. BUT God cared enough for us to send Jesus to this earth and allow Him to go to that cross.
That should make us open our eyes so that we can see how senseless and tragic our sinful ways have been. Our sins deserve the death penalty and unbelievably God's own Son took that pain and agony for us.
But it doesn't end there. The apostle Paul in I Corinthians 15 declares the fullness of the gospel which we have received and in which we stand. He says in verses three and four:
“For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.”
That is the gospel. That is really good news! It is our salvation. We’re not taking on the world, flesh and devil bare-footed, but with feet protected by the Gospel.
That is why Paul could (and you and I should) be able to say in Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.”
We have been given real armor against the devil. When he reminds us of the bad, wrong, sinful things we have done, trying to defeat us, we can tell him we have good news. God took all those things and buried them under the blood of Christ. No longer are we at war with God, we are at one with God. That’s why it is called a gospel of peace.
Ephesians 2:12-14 speaks of those of the past who, “that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now (but now!) in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace.
Jesus is our peace because He brought us back together with God. So again, putting on the armor is actually a matter of clothing ourselves with Jesus.
Just like truth and righteousness, we have to put on Jesus to have true peace. When we yield to Him as Savior and Lord, He restores our relationship with God and gives us peace with God.
It may seem odd that these shoes fashioned for battle result in peace. When most of us think of peace, we tend to view it in terms that are similar to this dictionary definition: The absence of war or other hostilities.
Therefore, we have a hard time understanding how peace can be an essential piece of armor in the spiritual battle in which we’re engaged. But the Biblical concept of peace does not in any way contradict its use as spiritual armor.
The concept of peace in both the Old and New Testaments is not merely the absence of external trials and tribulations.
Jesus Himself said that in this world there will be wars and rumors of wars. There will be no world-wide peace until the Prince of Peace returns.
So what is the peace the Jesus gives? Jesus said these words in John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
When we realize just how much God has done to give us real peace, peace that could only come through the shed blood of His only Son, THEN it will be natural for our lives to be radically different.
When we have the peace of God we are able to fight off anxiety, worry, and all the battle scars of turmoil that we may be going through.
The devil will try to distract us in our walk with God, or try to cause us to stumble in that walk so we miss the abundant life He has promised us. But there is little that the devil can do when we have the peace of God working in our life.
He cannot move us when we have our feet planted in the firm foundation of God’s Word and His peace.
We can experience a peace that the rest of the world cannot understand and will marvel at. Philippians 4:6–7 says, “6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
And Colossians 3:15 says, “let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.” The peace of God will guard us. With the peace that only God can give, we can face any battle, endure any hardship and stand firm on any ground.
We have a message that the world needs to know. When we are properly fitted with the armor of God, we will be able to make known God's love mercy and grace. Then as we wear these gospel shoes it will even be said of us, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!” (Romans 10:15)
Notice how it says that our feet are “shod” with the gospel of peace. That means that we have put on that part of the armor of God. The shoes are on.
Every one of us, before we go out into the world each day, we put our shoes on. In the same way, every day, we need to have put on the good news of the gospel and the peace of Jesus Christ.
In that way we will be prepared for battle.
CLOSE:
Because Vance is an African American living in a predominately Hispanic neighborhood, he stands out. But what really sets Vance apart is that he is a servant-hearted father who cares not only for his own kids, but also for the many other kids who play in the streets by his building.
One night at 9 p.m., there was a knock at Vance’s door. The 16-year-old boy who lives a few doors down had a big presentation at school the next day. He needed help tying his tie and he had no father to help him get ready. After Vance had finished tying the tie, the boy sheepishly asked, "Do you have a pair of black dress shoes I could borrow?"
Immediately, the Spirit brought to Vance’s mind the expensive pair of shoes in his closet that he hadn’t even taken out of the box yet. He was certain God was telling him to give the boy those shoes.
Vance cringed inside. He told the boy to wait at the door as he headed into the apartment to look for any pair of shoes but the expensive pair. Before he went to the closet, though, he told his wife what he sensed the Spirit was saying to him. She agreed that it sounded like God had given him a great idea.
So Vance got out his new shoes and brought them to the boy. His last hope was that they wouldn’t fit. After all, they were size-12.
Of course, they fit perfectly.
Just a few weeks after Vance gave away his new shoes, he and his wife sensed God telling them to start a Bible study for the kids in their building.
After much prayer, they decided to invite the kids to their apartment for a Sunday evening study. They ordered four Bibles in case any kids came.
That Sunday, seven kids showed up at Vance’s apartment—led by the 16-year-old owner of a new pair of shoes. The following week they ordered more Bibles, and 14 kids showed up!
Who would have thought the kingdom of God would come to the kids of that apartment complex just because one man chose to give away a new pair of shoes?
(Bill White, Paramount, California. From a sermon by Terry Blankenship, Living for Those Divine Moments, 2/5/2010, edited)
