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Full Armor of God
Part 6 – The Gospel of Peace
Rev. Bruce A. Shields
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SERMON TIMELINE
1. Introduction
2. Strength of the Lord
3. Put on the Armor
4. Belt of Truth
5. The Breastplate of Righteousness
6. The Gospel of Peace
INTRODUCTION
Today is Sunday. November 12th, 2023
We spoke last week about the Breastplate of Righteousness and how it protects our hearts and vital organs from attacks. With all this talk of Spiritual Warfare, battles, and armor, one may think it contrary to covering our feet with the Gospel of Peace.
However, there are many times through the bible and history where followers of God had to defend themselves and fight wars, not just in the Spirit, but with those who are filled and led by Satan.
Psalm 144:1 “Blessed be Yahweh, my rock, Who trains my hands for war, My fingers for battle;”
Understanding the scripture as a whole is essential if we wish to not only fulfill God’s calling on us but be able to defend ourselves and those around us if need be, whether in spiritual warfare or from the puppets and pawns of Satan, who is actively trying to destroy us.
Ephesians 6:10-18 (Legacy Standard Bible)
10 “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the might of His strength.
11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.
14 Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth,
and having put on the Breastplate of righteousness,
15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the Gospel of peace.
16 In addition to all, having taken up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one,
17 also receive the helmet of Salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,
18 praying at all times with all prayer and petition in the Spirit,
and to this end, being on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints
Today’s Topic: the Full Armor of God – The Gospel of Peace
TODAY’S MESSAGE
I. SHOD YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE
a. You are instructed to “shod” your feet with preparation
i. Shod
means to cover your feet with protection (or the bottom of posts or poles)
ii. Feet
in scripture are symbolic of direction, path, leading, standing (firm)
iii. If
your direction, path, leading or standing firm is covered by the Gospel
of Peace, this implies a few things;
1. You
are following the leading of the Spirit (guidance)
2. Your direction will fulfill God’s calling on you.
a.
Remember, success is not measured by merit,
accomplishment, results, etc.. measured by man, but by your obedience as called
by God.
i. The
perfect and sinless teacher Jesus did not convince everyone who heard Him to
repent and accept Salvation.
ii. Some who heard Him even wanted to throw Him off a cliff and kill Him.
3. You
can stand firm against spiritual attacks BECAUSE you are following the Spirit
of God.
4. God’s
word WILL accomplish what it was sent out to do and will not return to God
void.
5. Although
Isaiah 55 is prophetic of Jesus and
His ministry, we, as followers of Christ, are commissioned by Him (Matthew 28) to continue His work
after the Cross.
Listen to what God says.
iv. Isaiah 55:11-13 “So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what pleases Me, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it. 12 For you will go out with gladness And be led forth with peace; The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you, And all the trees of the field will clap their hands. 13 Instead of the thorn bush the cypress will come up, And instead of the nettle the myrtle will come up, And it will be to Yahweh for His renown, For an everlasting sign which will not be cut off.”
v. In previous verses, Isaiah speaks of the rain coming down from heaven and not returning until it waters the Earth (by the way, we see scriptures talk about the “water cycle” here, with rain coming down, then returning to the sky, nearly 2400 years before it was discovered by Bernard Palissy in 1580AD)
1.
This water coming down metaphorically
speaks of the Holy Spirit coming down from heaven and making it bear and sprout
(Isaiah 55:10)
2.
And he speaks of giving seed (which we
know is a metaphor for the Gospel of Jesus Christ) to the sower (those who
share the Gospel) and bread to the eater (Jesus being the bread from heaven,
the bread of life, given to all who take it)
b. With the “preparation of the gospel of peace.”
i. Isaiah 52:7 “How lovely on the mountains Are the feet of him who proclaims good news, Who announces peace and proclaims good news of good things, Who announces salvation, And says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”
ii. Romans 10:12-15 “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him, 13 for “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14 How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? 15 And how will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who proclaim good news of good things!”
c. The imagery of the foot shod with the Gospel of Peace is two-fold
i. Your act or preparing yourself with the gospel
1. “the preparation of the Gospel of Peace”
2. You must KNOW what the Gospel of Peace is
3. You must CHOOSE to allow it to guide your way
ii. Ensuring that is what is driving your steps (direction)
1. Too often, we choose a path in life and then say, “God bless it.”
2. Or we choose a path in life and say, “God is leading me…”
3. Or we think we “hear” from God, yet it is contrary to scripture
a. Or contrary to God’s proclaimed will
Being sure that we are guided by the Spirit of God,
fully prepared and understanding the Gospel, i.e., a Matthew 28 disciple and not a Luke 5 disciple, is of the utmost
importance.
If WE chose our path and message, we
may fail and completely misrepresent God and His Word.
II. WHAT IS THE GOSPEL OF PEACE WE ARE TO PROCLAIM?
a. Isaiah 52:7 states
i. Good News – means “a gift from God.” It is the
proclamation of the forgiveness of sins and sonship with God restored through
Christ. Remission of sins and reconciliation with God.
ii. Peace – absence of chaos, good relations among people, as
a virtue, and a right relationship with God through Christ
iii. Good News of Good Things – Speaking of the “good
news” gifts from God
iv. Salvation – for all who call on His name
v. God Reigns – Proclaiming there is but one God
above all.
b. Romans 10:12-15 states
i. The Lord is Lord of ALL
ii. Abounding in riches for ALL who call on Him
iii. WHOEVER calls on the name of the Lord WILL be saved
To say these (and many, many others in
the New Testament) do not apply to ALL or WHOEVER, but only the “elect” and
specially chosen of God to be saved implies various unscriptural doctrines;
Not
only would you have to re-write (ignore regular reading) the meaning of words
by definition, but you would also have to say other scriptures in the text are
FALSE, such as…
1 Timothy 2:3-6
“This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our
Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the full knowledge of
the truth. (REAL PREDESTINATION!) 5
For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ
Jesus, 6 who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the witness for this proper
time.”
Regardless
of man-made doctrines taught by certain man-made denominations regarding who can
accept Jesus and be “saved,” scripture is CLEAR on the matter, and it is not up
to debate.
· 1 Timothy 2 – God desires ALL MEN TO BE SAVED
·
Romans 10 –
The Lord is Lord of ALL, abounding in riches FOR ALL who call on Him, and
WHOEVER calls on the name of the Lord WILL BE SAVED.
Do not believe the doctrines of men, which are created to foster control over people, legitimize themselves as the ONLY bearer of the truth, and manipulate the people of God into following man and his teaching rather than what the Word of God “literally” states.
c. About the Gospel of Peace
i. How
will they call on Him if they don’t believe?
ii. How
will they believe in what they have not heard?
iii. How
will they hear if no one proclaims?
iv. How can they proclaim unless they are sent?
v. By
the way, it makes no sense to preach the Gospel to the lost if God has already
chosen who goes to hell and heaven.
1. And
if God chooses some for hell, why would scripture say it is His will that ALL
ARE SAVED? Is He going against Himself? Is God schizophrenic? Is He a liar,
saying one thing but doing another?
2. Some
would have you believe so.
3. Who
are the elect, then? Those who BELIEVED the word they heard from the one
proclaiming the Good News, called on His name, and were saved.
III. Believers are priests unto the Lord, sent to proclaim the Good News
a. Believers are saints and priests who are sent to proclaim the Good News
i. Hebrews 9:11 Christ
is the High Priest
ii. 1 Peter 2:9-10 “But
you are a chosen family, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession,
so that you may proclaim the excellencies
of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
10 for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had
not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”
b. Sent to those who have not heard so that they might believe
i. Matthew 28 (and
others), we are sent into the entire world to proclaim the Gospel
ii. Giving
all those who hear the opportunity to believe
c. Believing they might call on the name of the Lord and be saved
i. Because,
as the scripture says clearly, Romans 10:12-13 “For
there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of
all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him, 13 for “Whoever calls on the
name of the Lord will be saved.”
CONCLUSION
We are called by the Lord to be the priests and preachers of the Good News. God’s Spirit guiding us to those who need to hear the Gospel, so that they might believe, call on the Name of the Lord and be saved.
When we do this, we are fulfilling the WILL OF GOD as He states it;
1 Timothy 2:3-6 “This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the full knowledge of the truth.”
Next week:
The Full Armor of God Part 7: THE SHIELD OF FAITH
To see all books by Rev. B. A. Shields, visit
Official Website of Author B. A. Shields
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