Gospel Shoes

Ephesians 6:10–20 NIV

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. 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. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

Darkness is accelerating at an enormous rate. More so in the past 10 years than we have ever seen.

Recent surveys have found that 70% of children that were raised in the church have left Christianity all-together.

25% of Americans are practicing Christians.

The shoes

Footwork is important, your feet and what they are equipped with largely determines how well you do in this war.

(The Caliga): Made of leather, toes were free, had heavy studded soles, tied to the ankles and shins with ornamental straps. These equipped him for long marches and for a solid stance. They did not impede his mobility, yet prevented his feet from slipping - unmovable and advancing.

Isaiah 52:7 “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!””

This equipping is the reality that the christian in spiritual war - says something. We have a word for this - called evangelism.

Evangelism - the act of sharing the gospel

We are equipped with the gospel that keeps us grounded and secure and also wins the battle of the spirit by telling someone the good news.

The devil has done a tremendous job of intimidating Christians to remain quiet, to convince some that it isn’t for everybody… Why would the devil work so hard about this?

The devil fears and hates the gospel, he knows more than any of us its great power to rescue people from his tyranny.

The Gospel equips us in two ways in our fight against the enemy.

Stand uncompromisingly.

The world will get darker and our secular culture will continue to put pressure on our biblical stance trying to get us to conform to them and the deception of the enemy. This pressure isn’t new.

Philippians 2:14–16“Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life...”

What tells you what you ought to do? Not whats convenient or best for yourself but the “ought”? Must be the Word of Life and the world will hate you for it. Luke 6:22–23“Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.”

It has a cost.

Daniel 3:13–18“Furious with rage, Nebuchadnezzar summoned Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. So these men were brought before the king, and Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of gold I have set up? Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?” Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.””

We may not be here yet - being demanded to bow down to the idols of the age, the idols of sexuality. But we are required to be quiet. As of now, it’s tolerable that you believe the way you do but keep it to yourself.

What does that sound like? Sounds like the enemy and his intimidation tactics to silence the gospel.

Cancel culture - shame into silence those that differ from the new political orthodoxy.

Acts 18:9–11“One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.” So Paul stayed in Corinth for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God.”

We remember that in this cost, we are not alone.

Perhaps safety and without harm means differently than we think it.

It means not overcome.

Do we cower in fear of the cost or do we move forward with truth and love?

Hebrews 12:2–3“fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

Kata-phroneo - Down / Think

Think little of the cost and think much of our purpose.

Philippians 1:27–29“Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God. For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him,”

Share the Gospel. The task (not a task) of the church is evangelism (the act of preaching the good news, the act of confronting the world with truth). Jesus explicitly gave us the mission of the church - go and make disciples.

We are made into disciples and we are to make disciples. Not only do we stand uncompromisingly, we also move forward with confronting the enemy in his camp of darkness with the light of the Gospel.

We are ambassadors, we represent Christ in the world. God is not sending birds, God is not sending angels, God is sending us. We are his representatives everywhere and in every way.

A key element in our battle with spiritual darkness is the act of sharing the good news with others.

The devil absolutely hates the gospel because it is the power of God that rescues them from his tyranny.

We are standing at the precipice of the greatest opportunity to share the gospel with others.

Modernism - science good, religion bad.

Science can tell you how the universe arose but not why it is there. Science can tell you what you consist of but not what you are worth. Science can generate solutions to poverty but not the compassion and care to implement them. Science can make you money but not purchase a meaningful / purposeful existence.

Science can tell us how to cure cancer and it can also create an atomic bomb, it can’t tell us which is better. It has no value judgment.

In the name of freeing man from the oppressive shackles of religion, it has created a worldview and a bondage that gives no reason for living.

Post-modernism has failed. It has led to the highest numbers of suicide, depression, unhappiness - why? Because when truth becomes subjective no one knows why they exist. The meaning of life is destroyed and then tried to be created by ourselves and because we are not God it fails miserably.

Josh L.

Terrance

The devil has persuaded us that people don’t want to hear about it

Johnny B Good