THE SHOES THAT HELPS YOU STAND

THE SHOES THAT HELPS YOU STAND Ephesians 6:15 May 30, 1999 Given by: Pastor Rich Bersett [Index of Past Messages] Introductory Two men were camping in the woods. Early in the morning while they were fixing breakfast they heard the sound of deep growling. They looked up to see a huge grizzly bear about a hundred yards from their camp coming at them full speed. One of the men started putting on his tennis shoes. The other said, "Those aren’t going to help you man! You’ll never outrun that grizzly!" The other man continued lacing up his Nikes and said, "I don’t have to outrun the grizzly--I just have to outrun you!" In the text on spiritual warfare before us, we are going to look at the third piece of equipment--shoes. Ephesians 6:15 - and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. The Imagery of Shoes In the Roman panoply of warfare armory, soldiers wore footwear called the caliga, which was made of leather, left the toes free, had heavily studded soles and was tied to the ankles and shins with ornamental straps. The Emperor Caligula owed his nickname to these boots. Basically equipped the soldiers for long marches and for stable-footed traction and leverage when the soldier threw his spear, used his sword or shielded himself against arrows and spears. The studded shoes were designed to keep his foot from sliding. Anyone who has ever tried to play soccer or baseball in regular shoes knows what it means to need traction and bite into the soil. When trying to evade an enemy’s attack or dodge his spear, it is important to have the kind of sure-footedness that will help you both to stand strong when needed, and to move out of position quickly when needed. Psalm 121:1-3 - I lift up my eyes to the hills--where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip--he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. What good shoes with cleats meant to the Roman legionnaire was CONFIDENCE. That’s what the believer needs as he faces the day-to-day wrestling match with demonic powers--CONFIDENCE. To be certain of where you are standing and to know that your stand is stable is so important. That’s why you can watch a baseball batter scratching out his niche in the batter’s box soil--he’s looking to provide himself a place of surefooted confidence as he prepares to swing the bat at a 90-mile-an-hour fastball. In the Olympic races, there are starter blocks where the runner can brace his launching foot to help him "push off" when the gun is fired. And if the floor of the basketball court is not kept dry, someone coming in for a pick shot will suffer more than a missed two-pointer, he could break a bone on an unexpected slip & slide. Being planted is so important to the athlete and to the Christian, who desires to be the righteous man who is like a tree planted by the water, which yields its fruit in season, and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. (Psalm 1:3) The Troublesome "Readiness" {EN ETOIMASIA} - "Surefootedness", confidence and stability. Translators and commentators alike have trouble when they come to this term translated in the NIV as "readiness"--it can be translated as in the King James, "feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace." This has led many to preach and teach that you are more equipped for spiritual warfare when you are "prepared" to preach the gospel. I’m sure that’s true. Paul told Timothy "Preach the Word in season and out of season..." Philemon 6 - I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of very good thing we have in Christ. What Paul says there is that one of the best things you can do to grow in your appreciation of your relationship with the Lord is to share your faith with others. Interesting--while most Christians remain quiet about their faith because they don’t feel they know enough yet to evangelize someone else, Paul says that if you’ll get out there and share your faith you will grow in your knowledge of the things of God! While all that is true, I don’t believe Paul is talking about witnessing our faith to others. When taken in the context we have in Ephesians six, I believe the apostle is reminding believers that our confidence comes in the PREPAREDNESS we have FROM the gospel of peace, not in our preparedness to share it, although those saved BY the gospel of peace are certainly those who are most prepared to share it with others. One night during a violent thunderstorm a mother was tucking her small boy into bed. she was about to turn off the light when he asked her with a tremor in his voice, "Mommy, will you sleep with me tonight?" The mother smiled and gave him a reassuring hug. "I can’t, dear," she said. "I have to sleep in Daddy’s room." As she began to shut the door, the mother heard the shaken little voice of her son saying, "The big sissy!." Christians need confidence, a place to stand and to stand sure-footed while we face the devil. We need to be able to dig in and get all the traction and stability we can get. How do we get this confidence the NIV calls "preparation"? From the gospel of peace! The Gospel of Peace Our word "gospel" comes from the Germanic roots for GOOD MESSAGE or GOOD NEWS (EUANGELLION). When someone hears and understands what God has done for him in Christ, then he knows why the announcement is such good news. Gospel is the whole picture of what God has done for us in Christ. He has taken notice of our distance from Him through sin, and has graciously moved to bring us near to Himself. But this arrangement was costly for God. We really have a hard time understanding how much God hates sin, and how much His wrath is poured out against sin, UNTIL we consider what He did to rid us of our sin and guilt. He made His only Son to become sin for us, and He plunged the fatal knife of His justice and wrath into the heart of His only begotten Son, Jesus, in order to pay the price for the sin of us all. This cosmic drama makes it easy to answer two questions, "How much does God hate sin?" and "How much does He love people?" Jesus became our payment for sin, our salvation, our means of forgiveness, our reconciliation with Father God. In short, He became our PEACE OFFERING. Isaiah 53:4-6 - He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Earlier in this letter of Ephesians, Paul wrote about how the sacrifice of Jesus brought about PEACE - He explained in chapter 2, verses 11-12 how all of us were, before we met Christ, "separated from Christ", "without hope and without God in the world." Verses13-14 - But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our PEACE... Romans 5:1 explains that when we trust and accept the salvation of the Lord we get peace: Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ! This is why Paul calls the footwear of the Christian, that on which the believer STANDS as he wars with the devil’s temptations and taunts, PEACE. The gospel, when you believe it and trust Christ, gives peace. This was demonstrated quite personally for me when I became a Christian. At the moment I gave my life to Him He took away stomach ulcers from me. Some would say that was a miracle, and I would agree, in part. It certainly is not guaranteed to everyone who becomes a Christian, but, for me, it was a touch from God. Another way to understand what God did for me is to see ulcers for what they are, very often--worry sores in the stomach. Once I found the Prince of Peace and accepted his offer of peace with God through His blood sacrificed for me, my reasons for worry simply dried up! Jesus told His disciples: Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you, not as the world gives. (John 14:27) Colossians 1:20-21 - through Christ to reconcile all things...by making peace through his blood shed on the cross. Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation. That peace will help you stand. The Christian has peace with God, so frankly has nothing to worry about. We know where we’re going, who we’re going to see, and the sacrifice we are depending on to get there will never let us down. Concluding Exhortation How to do warfare with the shoes of the gospel of peace? 1. Rehearse the gospel - The devil hates this story - Read the gospels To yourself - You need the assurance. The word promises that the Holy Spirit will speak to you and remind you that you are the child of God through Christ. Meditate on the Word and give Him something to whisper into your ear. "Abba". Memorize portions of the Bible that speak of your salvation. "Your Word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against you." To your tempter - Jesus brought the Word of God as His defense against the tempter in the wilderness. When the devil tempted Him to turn from God’s way, Jesus reminded the devil of God’s Word by quoting it to him. He didn’t like it and it put him off. "Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you." Meditating on the gospel and rehearsing it in your heart and mind will be your defense. 2. Pray for the gospel’s success If I’ve had one person come to me in the past couple of weeks, I’ve had twenty. They’re saying "You know, ever since this spiritual warfare series started, I have faced some of the most fierce spiritual battles I’ve ever faced. No surprise there! The devil is a REACTOR. When God is moving or about to move in a big way, Satan gets wind of it, and starts doing his thing in a hurry. He gets rattled and nervous and mad, and he begins to pull things out of his bag of tricks. He will do all that he can to disturb Christians and sidetrack the church (especially on the front lines). What we are to do during such a time is very critical--our strategy in the time of attack will very often determine how the well work of God will get done and how much of a harvest will ensue. Illustrate: Billy Graham Crusade coming - not only the release of a gifted, proven evangelist on this city, but the stirring up of the saints (doesn’t Ephesians 4:11 say that the evangelist EQUIPS the saints?) He will we respond to the spiritual attacks we face? We can pray, "O, God, help us, make the devil go away and quit bothering us." Or, we can spend hours in prayer fighting and casting out the demons. OR, WE CAN FOCUS ON OUR OFFENSIVE STRATEGY, AND GET THE JOB DONE! Yes, we need to pray the other two prayers of protection and deliverance, but when the early church faced persecution from the authorities and powers in Acts 4, here was their prayer: "’Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak you word with great boldness. Stretch out you hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your servant Jesus.’ After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly." Let me ask you this morning - do you want St. Louis safe, or clean or SHAKEN BY THE BOLDLY SPOKEN WORD OF GOD? Then pray for it! I want all three! If you pray for safety, you get safety. If you pray for cleansing from demonic influence, you get that--for awhile until the devil devises a new strategy. If you want revival, pray for boldness and the filling of the Holy Spirit--AND YOU GET ALL THREE! Pray for people. God is giving you a marvelous outlet and program for that in the Billy Graham organizations’ "Operation Andrew" This is the last thing Satan wants you involved in... Illustrate: Krista began praying about six months ago through a list of eight names she felt the Lord had given her--most were people who had never given their lives to Christ. She began praying for them in earnest and to date two of the non-Christians have trusted Christ as their Savior, and a third who was a fallen-away believer came back to Jesus. Let me tell you, it has happened all in the past two months. The first prayer: God, help me be faithful Second prayer: God, bring them to You! 3. Share the gospel. Pray for the boldness and step out in the boldness. Determine to share the gospel by way of your own testimony with one other person this week. Dive in and laugh at your fears. Then determine to do so once every other day, then every day. What will God do with 100,000 believers in the metro St. Louis area who are praying for power, praying for friends and sharing their faith boldly? I can hear it now, "Hello, is this the Billy Graham International Crusade headquarters? I’m calling from St. Louis. Listen something’s happened here. Well revival has broken out and people are coming to Christ in record numbers. Yes the churches are bursting at the seams, the gospel is being successful, and the Lord is blessing us with signs and wonders, and it seems every Christian is walking in the fullness of the Holy Spirit. What? Why have I called? Well, as a matter of fact, we wanted to encourage Dr. Graham to go to Chicago in October--we don’t think we need him here anymore. By the way, thank you for stirring us up and raising our sites. Thank you for making us think of our calling again. Thank you for Operation Andrew. Thank you for helping to fit our feet with the readiness of the gospel of peace!" .             [Top]