The Feet of Peace
Ephesians 6:10-17
Chenoa Baptist Church
Pastor Jefferson M. Willams
05-05–2024
Caitlin’s Shoes
I’m going to show you a few examples of shoes and ask that you tell me what they are for:
Bowling Shoe
Ballet Shoe
Cowboy Boot
Golf Shoe
Moonstar shoes - 20 million dollars
Ruby slippers.
Flip Flops
Basketball shoe
A pair of 1998 Air Jordan 13s, worn in game two of the NBA finals by MJ, sold at auction for 2.2 million dollars.
When Imelda Marcos and her husband fled the Philippines, investigators found over 3,000 shoes in her closet.
Caitlin Clark recently went number one in the WNBA draft. She signed a deal with Nike for 28 million dollars for her very own signature shoe.
Shoes are important. Have you seen the show “Naked and Afraid?” Neither have I. But I read about it. What’s the very first thing that contestants do when they are dropped off? They make some sort of coverings for their feet because, without that, they will not be able to survive the time in the wilderness.
Review
We are learning that we are all in a spiritual battle that we cannot see. The Christian life is not a playground but a battlefield.
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” (Eph 6:10-13)
Paul is finishing his letter to the Ephesian church and wants to warn them to be armed and ready for attacks of the evil one. He was probably chained to a Roman guard and started staring at his armor and thought, “That would make a perfect word picture for what I’m trying to communicate!”
“Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Eph 6:14-17)
We’ve studied the belt of truth and learned that truth is the foundation of our Christian journey. We’ve studied the breastplate of righteousness and learned that God calls us to live our faith with a hunger for holiness shining the light of Jesus into a dark and dying world.
If you weren’t here last week, you can always listen to or watch the sermon on our YouTube page, website, FaceBook, or Twitter.
Turn to Ephesians 6.
Prayer
Shoes of Peace
Paul then describes the third piece of armor:
?“…and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.”
At that time, most people didn’t own shoes and went barefoot. The only people who had shoes were the wealthy and soldiers.
A Roman soldier would wear sandals called“half-boots.” It was made of leather, left the toes open, heavily studded soles, with spikes on the bottom, much like athletic cleats, to give them sure footing as they fought.
It was designed to give the soldier stability while on long marches and in battle.
Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, and Napoleon were obsessed with their army having good shoes because it could mean the difference between defeat and victory, as the Confederacy learned in 1864.
What is Paul trying to say here? I believe he is giving us two word pictures. Both have to do with peace.
Adrian Rogers reminds us that “peace is not the absence of problems but the addition of God’s power amid the problems.”
?This Greek word is “Irene,” which was Maxine’s middle name when I married her.
First, as Christians, we have peace with God (Rom 5:1), the peace of God (Phil 4:7), which leads to peace with others (Rom 12:18).
It is just more than the absence of conflict or trouble. It is the presence of wholeness and everything necessary for the good of a person. It is a serenity of the soul.
In this context, this means the peace that comes from knowing that our sins have been forgiven and that we are no longer under the bondage of that sin. Our debt has been paid by Christ on the cross.
We need this peace, a fruit of the Spirit individually and corporately.
Peace with God
Billy Graham wrote in his classic book, “Peace with God,”
“The greatest warfare going on in the world today is between mankind and God. People may not realize that they are at war with God, but if they don’t know Jesus Christ as their Savior…God considers them to be at war with Him.”
Remember, apart from God we are objects of wrath:
“All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.” (Ephesians 2:3)
Our sins separate us from God and there is no way to reconcile the relationship on our own.
But when we placed our faith and trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins, God changed our legal status from guilty to not guilty:
“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.” (Rom 5:1-2)
On the cross, Jesus redeemed us with His blood and made the way for us to be called children of God:
“For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.” (Col 1:20)
Abner Flerro’s father was a pastor but left his mother and his children for another woman when Abner was 5. Abner was destroyed emotionally and started acting out violently. By 16, he had been kicked out of school and joined a gang. He spent the next ten years in and out of prison more than 30 times.
At 26, he was sentenced to seven years for having a gun and sent to a maximum security prison. He ended up in solitary confinement because of a fight in his unit.
He was trying to figure out a way to kill himself in that little cell when a guard passed him a Bible.
At first, he threw it to the side but he kept looking at it day after day and feeling like God wanted him to read it.
As he read, he started feeling emotions like guilt and shame that he had kept hidden for so long. He wondered if God could actually forgive someone like him.
One night, as he read, he saw fire and he got on His knees and he heard God say, “You don’t have to be like your father. I will be your Father.”
When he got out he couldn’t find work so he went back to crime and ended up in prison again for three years.
Again he found himself on his knees and God freed him and took his anger and hopelessness. He found peace with God which he had always been searching for.
He now shares his story in prisons and schools.
Do you have this peace with God?
?
Peace of God
The peace that Paul is highlighting here is not normal. It’s a supernatural peace:
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27)
When we feel this anxiety or worry rising in our souls, we need to remember what Paul wrote to the church at Philippi:
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 4:6-7)
This doesn’t mean that everything will go perfectly but amid trouble, you can have peace:
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
Let me remind you that the church is called to be a hospital for the broken…and we are all broken.
I love Ann Lemont’s quote:
“It’s okay to realize that you’re crazy and damaged. All the best people are.”
Do you have this peace of God? If not, my prayer for you comes from 2 Thessalonians:
“Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way.” (2 Thes 3:16)
It really depends on where our eyes are focused.
“You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.” (Isaiah 26:3)
In our Griefshare group on Monday nights, we’ve talked a lot about the peace of God and how there isn’t a three-step process to experiencing it.
Nan’s son died of a bloodstream infection. She began using alcohol and sleeping pills to numb her pain and anger. And then she she had an encounter with God that changed everything.
[Griefshare video 11 Start at 20:00 -21:05]
Do you have the peace of God?
Horatio Spafford
Peace with Others
It’s been estimated that there have been 8,000 peace treaties signed in Europe over the last 100 years. Most of them have lasted less than two years.
Geo-politically peace is hard to come by. It’s even harder in our homes, our churches, our schools, our neighborhoods.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer once wrote:
“The followers of Jesus have been called to peace. When He called them they found their peace, for He is their peace. But now they are told that they must not only have peace but make it.”
But Paul says that this fruit of peace should help us to stand out.
In a world that is itching for a fight we are to be known as the “peacemakers.” (Matt 5:9)
As a baby Christian, I was challenged to memorize Romans 12:18:
‘If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” (Rom 12:18)
This is so important during this time of uncertainty and fear.
“Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.” (Romans 14:19)
Paul knew that this new thing called the Church would be fragile and there would be a lot of people from different backgrounds coming together to worship Jesus. He knew he had to help them understand how important unity is.
Paul encourages the Ephesians to “make every effort.” This phrase is in the present tense so they should keep continually making every effort toward peace. There is an urgency, a zeal, an intensity of purpose.
We are to diligently and resolutely seek to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bonds of peace.
Peace breakers. Peace fakers.
We cannot make that unity, only the Holy Spirit can, but we can make an active choice to do all we can to preserve and uphold that unity.
When confronting disunity in the Corinthian church, Paul appealed to them:
“I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.” (I Cor 1:10)
Paul writes that unity in the church leads to the worship of Jesus:
"May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Rom 15:5-6)
You can have a union without unity. Tie a dog and a cat’s tails together. You might have a union but you certainly don’t have unity!
Jesus who was prophesied to be the Prince of peace is said to be our peace:
“For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.” (Ephesians 2:14-17)
He is our example. A.W. Tozer wrote:
“100 pianos tuned to the same tuning fork are automatically tuned to each other. They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must bow.”
I read of a church that had decided to merge with another church. Everything went smoothly until they were asked to say the Lord’s Prayer together. When they got to “forgive us,” the people from one church said “trespasses” and the people from the other group said “debts.” They began to argue and ultimately the merger was called off!
Do you have this peace with others?
Many years ago, I was about to go into a meeting with a family that was very mad at me and was being very vocal about it with others. I was hurt and mad. I called a friend and asked what I should do. They said for me to sit on the floor of my office for the next hour and look up every verse on peace in the Scriptures and read them out loud and then commit to obey them.
So for the next hour, I read verse after verse out loud. I started angry and wanted to settle the score. By the end of that hour, I had experienced the peace of God that transcends all understanding and knew what I needed to do.
I walked into the meeting and started with, “I was wrong. Will you forgive me?” The entire situation was defused in an instant. Peace was made when there didn’t seem to be a way.
I love my wife. She’s really quite amazing. Her attitude this year has been, “You can either be a rose or a thorn. I chose that day to be a rose.”
We are to seek to live at peace with everyone. If you find yourself in conflict a lot, there is something wrong. Ask God to grow the fruit of peace in your life. We don’t become more peaceful by trying but by fixing our eyes on Jesus, the “Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6)
Share it!
When Paul was writing these words, he was probably also thinking of Isaiah 52:7 when he wrote Romans:
“How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” (Romans 10:13-15)
This is a word picture of a herald running toward a town that was fearful of the enemy. As they run, they shout, “I’ve got good news! The enemy has left. We are safe!”
Peter writes that we also should be ready to share this good news. This is a critical point in spiritual warfare.
“But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to answer everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect…” (I Peter 3:15)
In 1993, The Barna Group did a research project and one of the findings was that 89% of Christians who had shared their faith agreed it was a responsibility of every Christian.
When they followed up on that question 25 years later, only 64% said so - a 25-point drop!
In a study by Lifeway, 80 percent of those who attend church one or more times a month believe they have a personal responsibility to share their faith. Yet despite this conviction, 61 percent have not told another person about how to become a Christian in the previous six months.
Why has evangelism waned in churches over the past 25 years?
Here are several reasons I found from my research:
* Mainline liberal churches who do not believe in hell or that Jesus is the only way, have no reason to think that sharing their faith is important.
* In one research project, 46% of Millennials (1981-1996) believe sharing one’s faith is wrong and can be damaging to others.
* Factionalism, or in-fighting, in conservative churches has distracted our focus on sharing our faith.
* A lack of urgency and intentionality is too common in conservative churches today.
A sense of urgency is what led my friend Willard to share his faith. Willard was dying of cancer. He knew he didn’t have long so he asked that all his grandchildren be brought to the hospital.
As they stood around his bed, he shared the Gospel clearly and then called each of them to commit their lives to Christ. He told them that he wanted to make sure that he would see them again.
Research tells us that cultural Christianity is all but dead. The United States had the lowest birthrate in 2020 in the history of our nation. Transfer growth from other churches is minimal. If our churches are going to survive, it will be because we take the call to go and make disciples seriously and evangelism becomes part of our DNA.
* Be consistent in prayer
Consistent prayer creates consistent opportunities.
When we pray, we become much more aware of the opportunities around us. Prayer helps us to remember that it is not about us and gives us the boldness to be obedient to God’s call. God doesn’t need your ability but your availability
The apostle Paul wrote to the church in Rome:
“Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved.” (Romans 10:1)
The word “prayer” in that verse means “to beg.” When was the last time you literally cried out and begged for someone’s salvation? When’s the last time you stood in the gap between them and hell and begged the Father to invade their lives?
A pastor once wrote, “We have never locked eyes with someone who does not matter to God.”
Do you care that your neighbor, father, daughter, coworker, teammate, or boss is headed for a Christless eternity?
I worked at a large psychiatric hospital and most of the staff were born-again Christians, except for the CEO, who we will call Phil.
Phil had a secretary who built a relationship with him over the years and he respected her work and her faith.
What he didn’t know was that every morning before he got there, she would go into his office, anoint his desk with oil, and pray for his day and his salvation. She did that for over a decade.
The hospital was bought out and Phil found himself out of a job and struggled with the transition. She had invited Phil to church multiple times but he finally decided to come and at the end of that service he came down front and gave his life to Jesus!
Don’t give up! Maxine prayed for her father for 30 years before he came to Christ.
Action Step:
Begin praying every day for the next 30 days that God will help you to
- hear His voice directing you and that you would be obedient to whatever He tells you to do
- for opportunities to share your faith with others.
- for just one person who is lost and needs Jesus. Pray every morning that God would move mightily in their lives and that they would sense their need for salvation.
Who is your one person?
* Offer to Tell Your Spiritual Story
Pray for opportunities to build a relationship with people who don’t know Christ yet. But make sure you don’t see them as a project but as a friend no matter what.
Pray for open doors to share the Gospel with them. I often start by simply telling my spiritual story.
I often just ask if they have ever heard of the story of the prodigal son. “Well, the story of the prodigal son changed my life.” And I walked them through those verses and how my life was completely rearranged by the realization that God wasn’t mad at me but, like the father in the story, He was standing on tiptoe, looking over the horizon, waiting for me to simply surrender to Christ and come home.
This is why testimonies are so powerful. It’s easy to argue theology. It’s much harder to argue with a changed life!
Action Step:
- You can’t share with others what you’ve never experienced yourself. If you have never been born again, this is your day. This is your time.
- Write your spiritual story (testimony) down this week. If you need help, let me know. Practice with a friend. Don’t be weird. Just be yourself.
- Share your spiritual story with one other person.
* Let your light shine brightly
In the sermon on the Mount, Jesus said,
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16)
You are the light of your world. You have the honor of being the light at work, at the gym, at the grocery store, at the bank, and on social media.
As you live out your Christian walk, not perfectly, people will notice. It’s a dark world, and getting darker, and the light shines brightest when the night is darkest.
Please stop complaining about how dark it is! It’s your time to
shine for Jesus. Through our love. Through our servanthood. Through our influence.
My friend Milt was with his wife and two other friends in a house with no furniture smoking weed when they heard the church bell ring at the church at the end of the street.
High as they were, they decided it would be fun to go to church. So they walked down the street and sat on the back pew.
Milt said that the pastor shared the Gospel and, for the first time, he understood it. He said he wanted to walk down the aisle and tell the pastor but he was really high so they went back to the house.
About 15 minutes later, two older women knocked on the door. They said that they had noticed them on the back pew and felt strongly that God might have said something to them.
These amazing ladies, in their 60s, sat on the floor with four high hippies for over two hours answering questions. In the end, all four prayed to commit their lives to Christ and 35 years later, all four still love Jesus!
I can’t imagine how scary that may have been for those two sweet saints but their light shined bright enough to light that whole house and four hearts in need of Jesus.
Acton Step:
- How can you let your light shine this week in your sphere of influence?
How can you show extraordinary love and extravagant servanthood?
Cheryl stepped out of her comfort zone and took some food over to a woman who had recently lost her husband. She found out that this made this person’s day and encouraged her greatly.
- Would those around you see Jesus because of you?
I love the way that Eugene Peterson paraphrases Philippians 2:15-16:
“Go out into the world uncorrupted, a breath of fresh air in this squalid and polluted society. Provide people with a glimpse of good living and of the living God. Carry the light-giving Message into the night so I’ll have good cause to be proud of you on the day that Christ returns.” (Phil 2:15-16, The Message)
Communion
Prince of Peace
The Hebrew word for peace is “shalom.” This means wholeness and an absence of fear.
This room is full of fear this morning. There are older people afraid of dying and younger people afraid of really living. Some wealthy people are afraid they are going to lose it all and poor people are afraid they will lose what little they have.
Some people are afraid that they may never find love, or find love again.
Into a world, filled with fear, Isaiah said the One to come would be a Prince of Shalom.
What’s the antidote for fear?
According to John, it’s love. But not just any love.
He wrote,
“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” (I John 4:18)
If you struggle with fear this morning, let the Prince of Peace drive it out.
Through Christ, you can have peace with God. Jesus died on the cross, in your place, for your sins, to make a way for you to have a relationship with God.
Through Christ, you can have the peace of God.
Paul says in Ephesians 2:14 that Jesus is our “peace.”
And through Christ, you can have peace with others. If you are willing to surrender your life to Jesus this morning, you will get a new name – “child of God.”
“Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God…” (I John 1:12)
And we have the privilege and responsibility to share that peace with everyone.
John Harper was a 39-year-old Scottish preacher who had been invited to preach at Moody Church in Chicago. The year was 1912 and the ship he chose was...the Titanic!
We all know the story, thanks to James Cameron, but do you know the story of John Harper? As the boat was sinking, and the lifeboats were being lowered, it was reported that John Harper was there directing, “Woman, children, and unsaved first!”
When he ended up in the frigid waters of the Atlantic, it was reported that he swam from person to person asking them if they knew Jesus as their Savior. How do we know that?
Several years later, at a meeting of Titanic survivors, a gentleman told the group he had been saved twice that night. He had been rescued from the waters.
But, he also told the story of John Harper. John swam up to him and pleaded with him to trust Christ. As he went under, his last words were, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.” This man reported, “Alone in the night with two miles of ocean under me I believed, I am John Harper’s last convert.”
We live in a culture that is drowning in hopelessness and despair. The ship is sinking and I fear many times we are arguing over how to arrange the deck chairs while lost souls slip away into darkness. We know the LIFE PRESERVER! We must get out of our holy huddles, engage the culture, seek out the lost and hopeless, love them intentionally, extravagantly, and purposefully, and share with them the fact there is hope and healing at the foot of the cross.
We aren’t responsible for their response. We are simply responsible for planting seeds.
Penn Jillette is one part of the magician duo Penn and Teller. He’s an author, thinker, inventor, and outspoken atheist.
A few years ago, after a show, a man walked up to him and handed him a Bible.
That night, Penn made a video talking about that experience. I want you to watch this.
[YouTube - “A Gift of a Bible 1:55-4:54]
Do you hear him? “How much do you have to hate someone to not share the Gospel with them?”
Armor of God Prayer
Lord Jesus, I now follow your command to put on the full armor of God because I know that my battle is not against flesh and blood but against rulers, authorities, the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the unseen world. Thank you that you have made it possible for me to be strong in your mighty power and to stand against all that the evil one would throw against me this day.
In Jesus’ Name, I put on the belt of truth and pray that I may be centered in and encircled by your truth today. By your power, enable me to walk in your truth and to give no place to deception or the lies of the enemy. Protect me by the truth of your Word.
I put on the breastplate of righteousness. I praise you, Lord Jesus, that I am covered with your righteousness today in my body, soul, and spirit. I now pray that by the power of the Holy Spirit, my life will show forth the righteous fruit of Your presence. Guard my heart, for it is the wellspring of life (Proverbs 4:23).
Strengthen and protect the most vulnerable places in my life with that which is right, good, and noble so I might not receive a fatal blow from the enemy.
I put on the shoes of peace. I choose to stand on the firm foundation of Jesus Christ and the good news of his amazing grace. In Jesus’ name, I claim over my heart and mind the peace of God that transcends all understanding (Philippians 4:7).
I cast down every anxious thought today, and as I walk in the gospel of peace, I pray that you will make me ready to share your good news with others.
Sd
Song: Lord I Need You
Benediction:
May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it. (I Thes 5:3)
