One Enemy - Shoes of Peace

Good morning & Welcome to New Hope!

We’re in this series titled One Enemy, based in about putting on the full armor of God. And what we must realize is that we are in a battle for our lives. Better said, we are in a battle for our soul. Because whether we can see it or not, whether we know it or not... there is a spiritual battle going on around us.

Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News.

And what we’ve covered so far is that it’s God’s armor, not ours; and we have to put it on; he won’t put it on for us.

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Paul began with the belt of truth and connected it with the body armor of righteousness. The two must go hand-in-hand in order to fully protect the soldier. Just as truth and righteousness must go together.

Well today we look at the third piece of equipment that a soldier needs when going into battle;

We said last week that the body armor protected the core of the soldier; and on the spiritual side - of our righteous standing before God through faith in Jesus.

Disciples are to be on the move!

Well, the feet are our foundation. If we are to stand firm - really digging in our heals and bracing ourselves to receive the impact of a strong enemy coming against us, our feet need to be protected in order to stand. If a soldier slips or looses his footing he becomes extremely vulnerable.

Remember as a young kid being able to be playing bare foot outside in the yard and inevitably someone throws or hits the ball on the other side of the driveway… And without missing a beat…in a dead sprint…running full steam right across the gravel drive. And you have to come back, right. So you run back of the drive without hesitation. I don’t know about you, but those days are over. I can barely take two steps in the stones today as an adult.

The terrain back in Jesus’ day wasn’t soft like walking on shag carpet. It was rocky, sharp, and rough.

Disciples are to be on the move!

Sandals/Shoes are a picture of readiness/preparedness. What do you do when it’s time to go or you’re getting ready to go? You get your shoes on, right. So the writer of Ephesians, Paul, makes this connection with the shoes & preparation.

NASB says, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace

Two possible meanings of the Greek word (he-toi-ma-se-a)- 1. to be prepared and ready to move forward with the Good News, and 2. to be prepared by having a firm footing, ready for the oncoming attacks from the enemy. Although the second meaning seems to be most fitting in the greater context of the passage, let’s explore both for just a moment...

Point #1...

Disciples are to be prepared and ready to be on the move with the Gospel! What is the Gospel? It literally means good news. The Greek word is found in (Good News) and is (yu-an-ge-le-on). It’s where we get the word - evangelist. And in a nutshell, the Gospel is the good news concerning Jesus and the way to salvation.

In order to truly understand the good news, we must understand the bad news. So the Old Testament given to Israel during the time of Moses, said that sin is anything that falls short of following the Law. The Law was so stringent that no one could possibly follow it perfectly. So they (we) all had sinned and fallen short of this standard put in place by God, and the due punishment for this action was death - not necessarily physical - but most certainly eternal separation from God into the place of eternal torment. The Law established that in order to be made right with God and cleansed from our sins, a perfect, innocent life had to be sacrificed on our behalf - hence the bloody sacrifices that we read about in the OT. But God...

For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.

16“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

17God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.

I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died.

3I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said.

Ready at any moment to take the Good News to others.

4He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said.

So back to the shoes of readiness. If you’re a Jesus-follower, we should be ready at any moment to take the Good News to others.

5He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve.

says, And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it. And the word tells us how to explain it - in a gentle and respectful way.

6After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Ready at any moment to take the Good News to others.

So let me ask you… Jesus follower… Are you ready? Are you ready to move forward with the Gospel? Are you prepared to give a response to the hope you have as a believer?

Point #2...

These shoes give us a firm footing to help us stand strong.

Even though there is a spiritual battle going on around us, we can stand firm and have confidence knowing that we have the peace of the Good News. It’s important to know that we are no match in our own strength to take on the devil. I wouldn’t advise going and picking a fight. And the text seems to let us know that we won’t have to go looking for one. If we are moving forward with the Gospel, the devil won’t be very happy about that and will most certainly come find us. And when he does… We must put on the full armor in order to stand firm. If we don’t have a solid and firm foundation we won’t be able to stand.

Have you ever, or when’s the last time you ski’d? It’s been a few years ago, but I made the mistake of skiing with some friends from New Hope (mistake #1). I’d never been before and they convinced me to ski without any lessons and without going to the bunny hill (mistake #2). I started feeling comfortable with what I was doing and started believing I could handle a little more speed (mistake #3). Tell the rest of the story...

I had lost my foundation; I had lost all confidence. So it is with our spiritual footing. We need to be on solid ground. We need to have a firm base. We need to be planted. And the shoe’s of peace can help us do that.

Jesus said, “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

Point #3… That I’m throwing in for free this morning is...

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

33I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

6Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

The Lord gives his people strength. The Lord blesses them with peace.

7Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

11The Lord gives his people strength. The Lord blesses them with peace.

Would you say your life is marked by peace? Even in the midst of the battle that’s going on, God can bless you with peace. Even though you may be in the mids of many trials and sorrow, take heart for Jesus has overcome the world!

Point #3… That I’m throwing in for free this morning is...

Prepare to persevere. These shoes help us keep going… The devil would like nothing more than to get disciples to quit - to stop pursuing righteousness and godly living. He would like nothing more than to get people to disconnect and disengage. He would like nothing more than the get people to quit serving and quit giving. The devil would like nothing more than to keep people from hearing and responding to the Gospel.

As we wrap up this morning… I want to close with one last verse -

Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.

1Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.

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The terrain back in Jesus’ day wasn’t smooth like walking on shag carpet. It was rocky, sharp, and rough.

Well, the feet are our foundation. If we are to stand firm - really digging in our heals and bracing ourselves to receive the impact of a strong enemy coming against us, our feet need to be protected and covered in order to stand.