The Shield of Faith

Several years ago, our family had the opportunity to participate in a fundraiser that would raise awareness for a nonprofit that was rescuing women from human trafficking in the state of Ohio. The name of the event was unique. It was called Walk a Mile in Her Shoes. And we were encouraged to all get a pair of high heels, show up at a local mall all at the same time, and we would walk a mile and in high heels. And so I borrowed a pair of high heels.

Our boys borrowed some of their mom's shoes. Audrey put on some of her heels, and we proceeded to walk a mile in high heels. And I just have to tell you, like, this is something you women already know. That is no joke. Like, I was probably 30 steps in.

I thought, how am I gonna finish a mile? Like, there is no way. By the time the mile was over, my feet and my calves were so, so much in pain. That experience illustrates something I think we all know about footwear, is that it's important to have the right footwear for the right situation, the right circumstance. You don't want to walk a mile or two or three miles in high heels.

You don't want to work at a factory around heavy equipment with your Chacos or your Birkenstocks on. You don't want to be a cowboy wrangling cattle and have flip flops on. You want to have cowboy boots. Like, the right footwear is essential to a given situation to make it safe and secure and a success. Athletes, you know the importance of the right footwear.

Thinking about the World cup that's wrapping up today had those athletes on the soccer pitch worn just regular tennis shoes. Can you imagine what would have happened after one of those hydration breaks? The players are getting their water, and the field is actively getting water. They'd come back from one of those hydration breaks if they were wearing tennis shoes, and they would be slipping and sliding all over the place. All kinds of injuries.

If those same athletes then travel home after the World cup before their next league season starts, and they're gonna play pickleball with friends, they're not gonna wear their metal studded soccer cleats to play pickleball again because it's not safe, it won't lead to success. The right footwear is essential to success and safety and just prevailing over potential dangers. As we move along through the armor of God. This week, it's the series that we're in against the darkness. We're going to turn our attention to the spiritual footwear that God has given us so that we can stand in the victory that he supplied over the enemy.

There's an enemy who is waging war against God and his good purposes in this world. And God has given us spiritual footwear that can help us stand in the victory that he has supplied.

I want to turn to Ephesians 6, 10, 13 to give us a little bit of context before we jump into this next piece of armor. So if you have your bibles, find Ephesians 6 will be in verses 10 to 13. If you don't have a physical Bible, find it in your Bible app or the verses will be on the screen. Each week in this series, we've said that it's important to. To understand the overall perspective that Paul is coming from.

Matt Gabler, our senior minister, set it up for us the very first week of this series. Now, this is the fourth week of the series three weeks ago. And then Jeff Fall did the same thing two weeks ago, and I did the same thing last week, and we'll do it again. Now.

Verses 10 through 13 are essential to us understanding kind of how the armor all fits together and what its purpose is. So if you would follow along. Ephesians 6, 10, 13. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so 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 when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground. And after you've done everything to stand, to keep on standing, and then he goes into the rest of the armor. But before we do that, let's just remind ourselves of what's important to remember with the armor of God. First and foremost, we are engaged in a spiritual battle against a very real and relentless enemy that Satan, the devil and his whole host of evil forces.

Second thing we have to remember is that this is God's armor. God is giving us this spiritual armor, not physical armor, but this spiritual armor, so we can stand in the victory that he's already secured for us through Jesus Christ. And the third thing to remember is that every piece of armor is essential while we look at them individually. The belt of truth one week, the breastplate of righteousness one week. The shoes, the Gospel shoes this week, the shield of faith next week, and the helmet of salvation that follows it, and the sword of the spirit and prayer that all of these are intricately connected and are interdependent on one another.

So with that in mind, let's turn our attention to the gospel shoes or the gospel sandals. Look with me at Ephesians 6, 14, 15. 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. He says to fit our feet with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. The spiritual footwear is the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

As Paul shares this kind of metaphor, helping us relate spiritual armor to physical armor, he's, he's envisioning kind of this picture of the Roman soldier. And the Roman soldier had a special type of footwear. It's actually what we look at and say was kind of the beginning of what would be the combat boot. It was called the Roman Caligae. The Roman Caligae was a leather sandal.

The sole of the sandal often had hobnails in it for traction, had leather straps that came around the ankle and up to the mid calf. The sandal was designed to provide protection, support and traction. The footwear was designed so that when the Roman soldier, regardless of the environment they were in, regardless of the terrain, regardless of the battle situation, that they would have what they needed, that they could stand firm when they needed to stand firm, and they could be nimble and agile when the situation called for it. And so the footwear is very intentional. And Paul grabs us to say, listen, the spiritual footwear that we have is essential and it's important as well, because there are situations in life where the landscape will change, the terrain will change.

And if we wanna stand our ground in the right moments and stand in the victory that is ours in Jesus, if we wanna move and be nimble when circumstances change and the situation calls for it, we need to fit our feet with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. The word that we translate as readiness in verse 15 only occurs one time in all of Paul's letters. And it carries with it this picture of constant vigilance. Like you were prepared in a moment's notice for anything that could possibly happen. Probably a modern day picture for us is the woman with her bag or her fanny pack at an amusement park.

Like, there's everything in there. If you need it, it's there. Isn't it amazing how like something can happen? Someone gets an injury, they need a band aid, they need an ice pack. Like mom reaches into this never ending bag and just pulls out exactly what was needed for that moment.

She is prepared, she is vigilant, she is ready. And that's what Paul is saying. We need to be prepared, vigilant, ready for whatever comes. And the spiritual footwear helps us do that. Because the landscape of life, it changes, doesn't it?

The landscape of life circumstances can shift subtly and suddenly. What are some of the shifts that we see? You spend most of your life watching your parents, strong, mobile, competent, confident. And then you wake up one day and those strong parents are no longer as mobile. Those parents that supported you and gave you care now need your care and your attention.

The landscape has shifted. The terrain has changed.

Or think about that home that was once filled with the laughter and the cries of children.

And now when you sit in that home at night, it's eerily quiet. The landscape shifted. The landscape changed. Or think about that job, the job that you thought would never end, that job that you thought that you would retire from, that job that you thought was yours for the rest of your working career. It suddenly ended.

Or you've been demoted or you've been moved. The landscape shifts and landscape changes. Or think about that relationship with your parents, like you were close, like you stayed up on Friday nights, you watched TV together, you ate pizza together, you played games together. Or maybe parents, you did that with your kids. And suddenly your Friday nights, the calendar's free because those kids are doing something else with somebody else.

The terrain, the landscape has shifted. Or think about our physical health. We spend many of our early years, like, just not giving even a second thought to the things that we attempt and that we try. And then suddenly one day we wake up and we get out of bed and we step wrong and we're limping the rest of the day and suddenly our bodies fail at inconvenience, sometimes costly, sometimes embarrassing ways. The landscape has shifted.

It has changed. Or maybe you have this great vision for your future. If you're young, you were hoping to grow up in a world much like what your parents or grandparents did, and now you look out and the future just seems more bleak. Or maybe you hope for something more for your children or your grandchildren. And things are scary right now.

The landscape shifts and the landscape changes and the landscape shifts and changes, not always in bad ways. Sometimes it's positive, but. But when it shifts in negative ways, it presents an opportunity for danger. Will our feet hold? Will we stand secure?

Will we move when we need to move? And every time the landscape of life, circumstances, shifts, it presents an incredible opportunity for our enemy, Satan, to bring about the danger of disillusionment, discouragement, disappointment, and even doubt. Our enemy Satan and his evil forces are like eager farmers in the spring, when soil conditions are just right and the outdoor temperature will sustain life. They can't wait to sow seeds of anger, of fear, of worry, of anxiety into our lives. And so how can we stand firm?

How can we believe in the good news that is ours in Christ and hold up underneath the pressure? How can we keep from our peace being true, choked out by the circumstances of life as they shift and as they change? And that's why God encourages Paul to write these words. He says, I've got spiritual armor for that. I've got spiritual armor that you can put on.

You can fit your feet with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. There are three key words in this verse. Readiness, gospel, and peace. We're actually gonna look at them backwards. I think it can help us capture the fullness of what Paul is getting at.

So let's start with peace. What is peace? You may have heard of this thing called Pax Romana. It was this Roman peace as the Roman Empire was kind of taking over territory and building roads and infrastructure. Their goal was to have a world that was calm, absence of conflict, and have the presence of calm.

Absence of conflict and the presence of calm. That's often what the Roman Empire people thought of when it came to peace. And if we're honest, many people in our world think of peace in the same way. It's the absence of conflict and the presence of calm. There's no drama in my life.

There's peace. There's no war in the Middle East. There's peace. There's the absence of conflict and the presence of calm. But that's not what Paul is getting after.

Two things we have to keep in mind and hold in balance is that Paul grew up as a Jewish man. Paul was a Pharisees of Pharisees is how he describes himself. He understood the Old Testament scriptures, He understood the Jewish concept of peace. And so he builds his perspective of peace from that. His Jewish faith is the foundation for then Christ coming and showing him that he fulfills the law and the prophets.

And then Paul begins to follow Jesus. And so his perspective of peace is built upon that. What did peace mean to a Jew? Well, the Hebrew word is shalom. Maybe you've heard that before.

Shalom is far more than the absence of conflict and the presence of calm. Shalom refers to this deep seated sense of completion, wholeness, and wellness. Shalom is this experience that everything is actually right with me, even when things around me seem to be so wrong. Sh' shalom is this idea that I can feel like things are right, that God is working, that I'm going to be okay, even when my life circumstances seem to be fracturing and breaking at every turn. That's shalom.

And that's what Paul, when he uses the word peace, that's where he starts, is that there's this completion, there's this wholeness, there's this wellness that we can feel even when there's conflict in our life, even when it's not calm. It's so much more than our worldly definition, even the Roman definition of peace. But there's something else that we have to hold in tension with that, and that's that Paul has already told us in Ephesians where peace is ultimately found. If you look at Ephesians, chapter 2, verse 14, Paul very specifically says, for he himself is our peace. And if you were to rewind and look at verse 13, you would see he's talking about Christ Jesus.

Jesus, the Son of God, the Messiah, the Savior of the world, that he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility. He says, jesus is our peace. Jesus is the one who brings completion and wholeness and wellness. Jesus is the one that enables everything to be right with us, even when so much is wrong around us. And Jesus himself said this.

I want to show you just a couple of places. It's in John's Gospel, Jesus is gathered in a room in Jerusalem with his closest followers. He knows that it's the hours before he'd be handed over, betrayed, arrested, and then a day later crucified. And here's a couple things that Jesus shares about peace. In John 14:27, we have these famous words.

Jesus says, peace, I leave with you. My peace I give you. Look at what Jesus says next. He says, I do not give to you as the world gives. My peace is different.

Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid, like all can be right with you when you're with me, even when everything around you seems to be so wrong. If you fast forward in that conversation he had in that room to chapter 16, verse 33, we read these words, I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. Where is peace found in me? Jesus says, in Jesus, in this world you will have trouble. Things can be wrong.

But take heart, I have overcome the world. You can still feel right even when Things around you feel so wrong. That's shalom. That's peace. That we feel complete and whole in Jesus.

And that leads me to the word that precedes peace. In verse 15, we fit our feet with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. What does gospel mean? When gospel is used in our New Testament, its most accurate definition is a proclamation of good news. Now, good for the people, receiving these words for the first time was pretty much the top level.

It was exceptional. We live in a world where Jim Collins has wrote a book, Good to Great. So we think good is just mediocre and great is even better. And there's probably something above that. But when Scripture says good, it means the most incredible thing ever.

And so the good news is this proclamation of incredible, amazing good news. And Paul uses that word exclusively to speak of the proclamation, the message of good news about who God is, who we are, what God has done, and what he calls us to do. That's the gospel. One of the most succinct summaries of the Gospel is found in Titus chapter 2. In Titus 2, 11, 14, we read this for the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people.

It teaches us to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age while we wait for the blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from, from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. The gospel, this good news about who God is. You could read through this passage and identify. Our God is a gracious God. Our God is a God who cares about us.

Our God is a God who is holy and separate from us. Who are we? We are people who have been broken and ravaged by sin. And we're in need of a Savior. What has he done?

He sent Jesus to redeem us and to rescue us and to save us. What does he want us to do? How does he intend for us to live, that we would live in response to that, doing the good that he wants us to do in the world. That's the gospel. And so as you start to put this together, you see that it's the readiness that comes from the gospel, the incredible proclamation of who God is, who we are, what God has done, what he calls us to, this gospel of peace.

Because who God is and who we are in light of who God is, what God has done. And what he's called us to do allows us to feel complete and whole, no matter the circumstances of life. And so we can stand our ground when we need to stand our ground. And we can move when the landscape of life shifts and changes, because those things remain true for us. And that leads me back to readiness, this state of constant vigilance.

When I am aware and I live based upon who God is, who he says I am, what God has done. I live according to the life that he's called me to. I experience this peace, this deep seated wholeness and wellness in every circumstance. And so no matter what shifts in my life, no matter if I go to the doctor tomorrow and the diagnosis is diminished, no matter if something shifts in my relationships with my family, no matter if something changes in my job or my career, no matter if I face some sort of financial calamity, no matter what happens, I can remain whole. When everything around me can be so wrong, it all can be right with me because of the gospel peace.

And I can be ready in every single moment.

There was a man. His name was Horatio Spafford. I don't know if you're familiar with that name or not, but Horatio was a businessman in Chicago. Four daughters, a loving wife. They were all devout followers of Jesus.

In 1873, just a couple years after the Chicago fire, Horatio had gone through a really stressful season. His family had gone through a stressful season. And so he determined that they needed a break. And so they were going to go over and visit friends in Europe. He had some business to wrap up.

So Horatio sent his four daughters and his wife on a steamboat from the east coast across the Atlantic to Europe. Weeks later, he receives a message. Before the days of email, before the days of instant messenger, before the days of phone calls. The message is from his wife, and it simply says, all have perished. I alone survive.

She was sharing with him that their four daughters that he last saw in Chicago were no longer living. They had perished when their boat sank. So Horatio did what any man would do. He immediately made arrangements to head to the east coast to get on a boat and to go be with his grieving wife as they grieved together. But what we see in Horatio was a man who had his feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

When you experience sudden and tragic loss, how do you maintain your peace? You stand in the peace of Jesus. On that boat trip across the Atlantic, Horatio pinned the words to what is now a famous hymn. As he sailed across the waters that claimed the Lives of his daughters. He pinned the words to the hymn.

It is well when peace like a river attendeth my way when sorrows like sea billows roll. Whatever the lot you have taught me to say it is well, it is well with my soul. When we fit our feet with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace, we are able in every situation, no matter how wrong and fractured and broken it is to say it is well with my soul. As we move to the end of our worship experience this morning, we're gonna invite you to sing that song with us. And my hope and my prayer this week is that that would be an anthem for you this morning.

I don't know what's threatening your peace. I don't know where the enemy has sown seeds of anxiety, fear and worthy and it's threatening to break apart your peace. But would you take whatever that is and as you sing this song, make it your declaration that it can be well with your soul. Because who God is and who he says we are and what he's done and the life that he's called us to, Would you just declare that it can be well with your soul. Make this a living, active next step for you.

Would you please stand with us and sing it as well?

When sorrows like see billows ro.

Whatever my love, thou hast taught me to say. It is well, it is well with my soul.

Sing. It is well, it is well with my soul. With my soul it is well it is well with my soul.

My sin. O the bliss of this glory.

And I'll bear it no more. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. O my soul.

Sing. It is well, it is well with my soul. With my soul it is well, it is well with my soul.

Oh, it is well, it is well with my soul. With my soul it is well, it is well with my soul.

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be and the clouds be rolled back as a scroll. The drum shall reach out and the Lord shall be set even so. It is well with my soul.

With my soul. With my soul it is well, it is well when my soul.

Sing. It is well it is well with my soul. With my soul it is well it is well with my soul.

It is well, it is well with my soul.

You could just remain standing. Just a couple final words. I want to encourage you to put the gospel on repeat. That's one way to live with this peace and allow the peace that we we even experience singing that song to perpetuate. We put songs on repeat.

We play them again and again and again. And that's how their words get embedded in our minds. So what if we put the gospel on repeat? What if each day you were intentional about reminding yourself of who God is, who you are and what he's done, and the life that he's called you to live and the peace that is yours in Christ, that you would find that in the moments, as the landscape shifts, you would experience more peace. So put it on repeat.

Remind yourself of it daily as you begin your day. Maybe you listen to a song like this again and again to help remind you in another way. Or maybe you sing a song like the mighty name of Jesus, you put it on repeat in your car. But remind yourself of this message of the Gospel and allow it to fit your feet with the readiness that God wants for you. The other thing I would encourage you is that you can't put the gospel on repeat in your life until you've responded to the gospel.

So if you've not yet made a decision to trust in this saving work of Jesus, we want to help you. We have a Next Steps team that's available at the front of the room every week. I want to encourage that Next Steps team to come to the front now. They want to pray with you. They want to start conversations with you.

If you want to learn more about Jesus, they're here to start that conversation and to help you. And we'll get you connected with somebody else to continue the conversation. If maybe you've not been experiencing peace in your life and you just want prayer, prayer over to fit your feet with the readiness that comes from the Gospel piece, come to them, let them pray with you, and let them help you. We also have Next Steps classes that are here to help. Each week at 11 o' clock in room 502A&D, you'll see a big Next Steps banner.

We offer a Next Steps class. They're all unique. This week we have Next Steps Engage. It's a great step for you if you want to get involved and engaged at Greenwood Christian Church. Next week at 11, we offer next Steps Baptism.

It provides you with the information you might need if you're contemplating a decision to go all in and follow Jesus. If you want to know more about what baptism is, and you can always text the word next to the number that you see on the screen. 317-707-9997. It's been a blessing to share with you about his peace today. May we not leave this place in peace.