This Armor was Made for Walking
Notes
Transcript
Are you Ready?
Are you Ready?
and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.
So far in this series we have spoken about the schemes of evil. We have spoken about the art of standing. We have also spoken about complimenting pieces the belt of truth and the breast plate of righteousness. As we continue to put on the whole armor of God i want to remind you that each piece even though we talk about them individually they all go together. Also that each piece represents Jesus. Has everyone enjoyed the series so far?
Today we get to talk about a subject that many people do not speak about. That is the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel has become something that we say but really do not understand what it is or what it means.
The gospel of Jesus is considered sufficient for all needs, salvation and sanctification. I know I have just thrown some Christianies at you. When we start to talk about salvation and Sanctification people’s heads start to turn. In simple terms salvation is deliverance from sin and its consequences paid for by Jesus Christ. Sanctification is the action of declaring or making something holy. So in short the gospel is the story of forgiveness of sins and through that we are made holy. The gospel is the story of Jesus Christ spoken in the Synoptic Gospels, which are Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Each book of the Synoptic Gospels tells the same story of Jesus, but from their perspective and to address the audience they were speaking to. The Gospel is enough for everyone. When I say the gospel is enough what I am saying is that Jesus is enough.
Here is what I mean when I say that Jesus is enough.
Total Sufficiency: Jesus provides everything necessary for salvation and life, meaning that adding to the gospel actually subtracts from its power.
Finished Work: The phrase "It is finished" (John 19:30) signifies that the debt for sin was paid in full, offering righteousness through faith rather than obedience to the law.
Sufficiency in Trials: The gospel is sufficient during difficult times, including illness, loneliness, financial distress, and the challenges of everyday life.
Identity and Freedom: Rather than relying on self-sufficiency ("I am enough"), the focus is on Christ's presence, freeing believers from fear, comparison, and the need to earn divine favor.
Biblical Foundation: Scriptures such as Colossians 2:10 ("you are complete in him") and Philippians 3:8 emphasize the surpassing worth of knowing Christ.
The Gospel changed me forever. It is the story of Jesus Christ that changed my life. I learned of a God who loved me so much that;
John 3:16 ““For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
I learned of Jesus who was that Son sent by God and the life He lived. Listen I have been to Israel seven times and I can tell you without a doubt in my mind that Jesus lived. Not only did he live but everything that has been written about Him happened. It has never been a dispute on whether Jesus lived or not, the dispute has always been on whether Jesus is the Son of God or not. The Gospel tells that story of Jesus. I can tell that when I said everything written about Him was true that includes the Old Testament and the New Testament. I can say without a doubt in my mind that Jesus is the true Son of God. Jesus is the Begotton Son meaning of the same kind as God.
Do you understand what that means? That means that out of all the religions and beliefs in the world the Christain is the only one who can say that their God came and lived among them. This would be a true statement. Listen you don’t have to believe me, because Philippians says;
Philippians 2:10–11 “so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Hallelujah.
This armor was made for walking and that’s what we are gonna do. This morning can we talk about an armor that travels. Can we talk about the armor in its readiness. Finally can we talk about the armor of peace.
The Armor that Travels:
as shoes for your feet,
Imagine a parent reminding their child to wear their shoes before heading out to play. Those shoes protect their feet from the hot pavement and sharp stones. Just like those shoes, the Gospel of Peace equips us to walk through life's challenges confidently. We may stumble, but our feet can be firm when we wear the right armor. The armor of God can make our walk light as we navigate the ups and downs of daily life!
I bet you did not know that this armor travels. The gospel is as shoes for your feet. Which means that this gospel does not reside in any building or library. It resides in the hearts of men and women, and becomes like shoes to our feet as we preach the gospel.
Just like the old movie that I love called “Full Metal Jacket”, which was a movie about the Vietnam war. There was a part where the famous song written by Nancy Sinatra in 1966 came “These boots were made for walking”. In the same way this gospel was made for moving from town to town, from city to city, and from country to country until it is preached to the whole world.
Jesus gave us His great commission which we see in Matthew.
Matthew 28:16–20 “Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.””
The question is how do we make disciples? We make disciples be teaching them the gospel of Jesus Christ. In hearing the Gospel they will learn of what Jesus did for us and why. They will learn that there is a God who loves them. These shoes were meant for walking.
In the time that Paul is writing this not everyone owned shoes. Think of that for a second and on top of that they had to walk everywhere they went. Unless they were rich and owned a horse or a carriage. I could share with you how important it is to have a pair of good shoes. When I was in the army we would go on a 20 mile road march once a month. If your shoes were worn out you would seriously regret it. I can remember when I first put on my first pair of combat boots. They felt very uncomfortable. In fact I had some really big blisters on my feet. But after a while of wearing the combat boots they became very comfortable. They felt molded to my feet and I no longer got blisters.
In battle it is important that the soldier takes care of his feet. An army moves on the feet of its soldiers so it is important that they have the right shoes. As a Trooper it was different as our boots were custom made for each of us. They went on like a glove from day 1.
The Gospel as shoes for your feet. Which means the Gospel will take you to places you would have never thought you would go. The truth is that when we first start to tell others about Jesus it feels uncomfortable. It feels as if we will get some blisters until we get our fit and then it is like a fitted glove.
I think that we as a church and I am speaking of the church as a whole has made the gospel an internal thing. The Gospel of Jesus was not meant to be an internal thing. It was made to go out through the world. It was made to go to the whole world. That is why missions is so important. The problem is that most people think missions is meant for over seas in other countries. But missions starts at home in your house and your community. Everyone is not called to go over seas but everyone is called to preach the gospel. I believe that Paul made a proper analogy when he said as shoes for your feet. The gospel is armor on the go.
I remember when i was in middle school and we played basketball for our middle school basketball team. All the kids had on Nike and Adidas sneakers. I had the Kmart specials on. There were 5 boys and one girl in our family my mother did not have the money for that. So during the games I would get called for traveling because when I would go to stop I would slide another foot. Let’s just say shoes are important.
The most victorious Christain is a witnessing Christain. We must be prepared to share the Gospel with a lost world. If we wear the shore of the gospel then we have on what Isaiah was saying.
Isaiah 52:7 “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.””
Romans 10:15 “And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!””
Look at your neighbor and say it’s gotta be the shoes.
2. The Armor in its readiness:
having put on the readiness
Now that we have on our shoes for our feet we need to put on readiness. What does it mean to put on readiness?
I am reminded of when I was a little boy and I would get challenged for a race. We would line up at the starting line and someone would say ‘Get Ready”. That is when we would get into our running stances. Then they would say go and we were off. I must say I was a pretty quick kid when I was younger and about two hundred pounds lighter. But anyway I digress.
This imagery that Paul is speaking about signifies being spiritually prepared, firmly grounded in peace, and eager to share the gospel. Enabling one to stand against spiritual, or "evil," attacks.
You know what I really dislike. I really dislike when someone pushes me to get ready for something, but when I am ready I have to wait for them. Any guys in here ever feel my pain? In the military we would call it hurry up and wait. Unfortunately this is the attitude of most Christians. They are not in a rush to share the gospel. But Paul says put on the readiness. This means not only are we ready to go, but we intentionally prepare ourselves to go. Listen I would never put on a good pair of shoes if I was not intending on going somewhere. When I put on my shoes whether they are for play or church that means it is time to go. The question is are you ready to go? Ask your neighbor are you ready.
Putting on the readiness of the gospel means to be ready at all times to tell someone the good news of Jesus. I don’t know about you but I am always waiting to swing the conversation to Jesus. I don’t beat people over the head with the bible, but I am ready to tell anyone who wants to know who Jesus is.
As the song says;
I'm just a nobody trying to tell everybody
About somebody, who can save anybody
I'm just a nobody trying to tell everybody
About somebody, who can save anybody.
The truth is you can go 40 days without food, 3 days without water, 8 minutes without air, But you can't go single second without Jesus.
Look at your neighbor and ask are you ready?
3. The Armor of Peace:
given by the gospel of peace.
2 Corinthians 5:18–21 “All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
Wherever we go we take the gospel of peace with us. This is powerful family. We were once enemies with God and because of the Gospel of Jesus and the sacrifice on the cross enmity has been taken away. Now we have peace with God which means we are free to approach Him whenever and wherever we want. The vale that was in the inner most holy place was split in two. We no longer have a dividers between us and God our Father. The gospel is now known as the gospel of peace. It is the story of the peace that was given to us from God the Father through Jesus Christ.
Family this changes everything and now we can go boldly before the throne of God.
Hebrews 4:16 “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
This means that you’re no longer alone. But now you can approach a loving God and request of Him what you need. The gospel the story of Jesus Christ is the story of peace. Listen it is peace with God and peace with yourself. This means that Jesus makes peace between republican and democrat. He makes peace between gentile and Jew. He makes peace between husband and wife, And brother and sister. Because when Jesus comes and lives with you He brings peace. The God of peace comes and lives within you somebody needs to give the Lord some praise.
The armor destroys strongholds while bringing peace that is incredible. Listen we need not fear the attacks of satan because we have peace with God
Romans 5:1 “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
There is another Christineese word Justification. Watch how this all works together. Because of the salvation of Jesus Christ (forgiveness of sins) we have sanctification (we are made holy) which is what justifies us. Justification is the act of making someone right with God. So in one act Jesus gave us salvation, which sanctified us, and justified us. About 10 of ya’ll should be running around this room.
That is why they have it so right when they say;
There’s Power in the Blood:
Would you be free from the burden of sin?There’s pow’r in the blood, pow’r in the blood;
Would you o’er evil a victory win?
There’s wonderful pow’r in the blood.
There is pow’r, pow’r, wonder-working pow’rIn the blood of the Lamb;
There is pow’r, pow’r, wonder-working pow’rIn the precious blood of the Lamb.
Come on family this is why it is so important to tell everyone of the good news of Jesus Christ. Not to tell as many people as you can would be like preventing a person dying of thirst from water. It is like you have a reservoir of water and you’re letting people die of thirst.
Wouldn’t you wont everyone you know to be aware of the Gospel of peace. Isn’t awesome that God who can give us something that destroys can also give us peace. When we put on the whole armor of God we have the divine weapons to destroy strongholds and we have the ability to give peace.
I believe that every Christain who first gets saved should have to read the synoptic gospels as mandatory reading. How else can you fall in love with Jesus if you don’t read about everything He has done for us. It will change our prayers. We will see how a loving God went far overboard in showing His love for us. It would have been enough if He gave us the law, but He also gave us grace. It would have been enough that He gave us grace, but He also forgave our sins. It would have been enough if He forgave our sins, but He also works in the lives of men and women everyday. it would be enough that He works in our lives everyday, but He also is a personal God who care about your every thought and feeling.
Psalm 56:8 “You have kept count of my tossing; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?”
Our God has and is overdoing at every level for us. It was enough that you had food to eat, but you got to choose what you would eat. I could go on and on how our Lord has over produced when it comes to us. That is why the gospel of peace is so important to share with everyone. Whether you share it or not there will be no excuse for anyone on whether you heard the gospel or not. On whether you got to know Jesus or not. I don’t know about you but I do not want any of my loved ones to go before Jesus and hear be gone from me I never knew you.
I think we put to much on this. What I mean by that is this is a message of peace and love. It is not a message of pain and bondage. In fact it is the total opposite. So when we share the gospel we should be letting people off the hook by telling them of a love so great that it caused peace. That is the short of the gospel. It is a story of love that is so fierce that it blasted forth with power. This is a great picture for you. The gospel is like creation being formed all over again. There was nothing then God spoke and creation came into existence. Can you imagine the power of that? There was nothing for four hundred years and then God came into existence. Between the book of Malachi and the book of Matthew there was four hundred years where God did not speak to mankind. Then Jesus came on the scene. This is how powerful the gospel is to us and for us.
Look at your neighbor or and say Bang!
End with this:
For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.
This describes the redemptive work of Jesus Christ in establishing unity between Jews and Gentiles through his death on the cross. Not just Jews and Gentiles but everyone as I stated earlier that He brought peace between.
Paul did not write any of the synoptic gospels but right here he is talking about the gospel of Jesus. That He brought peace to those who were far and those who were near. I love that Paul says that He himself is our peace. Jesus is the password that gets us through the door and relationship with Him is what allows us to stay. Jesus is enough, and now you are starting to understand why I said when we put on the whole armor of God we are putting on Jesus.
I bet you had no idea that the armor of God was so powerful. This brings an entirely new outlook on the armor of God. That is why Paul says to put on the whole armor of God. It has the power to destroy strongholds and it has the power to bring peace. Praise the Lord our God.
Here is my altar call this morning. If you are here and you do not know Jesus as your Lord and savior can you raise your hand. I want to pray for you. If your here and you had no idea what the gospel meant and now you want more come to the altar.
