Your Feet Shod With The Preparation Of The Gospel Of Peace

Temple Baptist Church - 11-9-2011

Ephesians 6:10-15

Introduction:

A. Notice with me the progression of the armor. Our loin girt with truth protects our minds; the breastplate of righteousness protects our hearts; now we come to the protection of our walk. A right mind and heart make for a right walk! The Lord says nor does anything randomly. His word is both progressive and purposed.

B. I am a “tenderfoot” in my old age. I remember, as a little boy, running barefoot over just about anything but, occasionally, I would get a “stone bruise.” Remember those things? They were painful for a long while. I would stub my toes often also. Wearing shoes became a way of life as I became a little older. Oven in my teen years I do not remember going barefoot a lot unless I was walking through the freshly tilled ground of our garden. Now, I cannot walk across the grassy front yard without flinching. Shoes protect our walk.

C. When wearing shoes, I do not have to constantly be looking down to see where my foot will land. I can walk with confidence while looking down the road and see where I am going. So it is with spiritual shoes. With our feet “shod,” we can walk without having to watch our every step and walk safely.

D. I want to look at the “shoes” and the “safety” for a few minutes tonight. If you do not have the right kind of shoes on, you cannot walk safely. Can you imagine a lady wearing “spike heel” shoes while hiking through the mountains? Occasionally, I go to my tool shed in house shoes and still walk like a “tender foot” because house shoe are made to walk in the house. You can be “shod” with the wrong kind of shoes and still get hurt or not be able to walk.

1. The Believer’s Shoes. “the preparation of the gospel of peace” Preparation simply means the foundation or the base upon which we walk. There are three words that I want to look at in relation to the “shoes” of the believer.

a. Preparation – Preparation begins with a mental preparedness:

1) We walk before God - Psalms 116:9 I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living. (Because we are His children, He watches us.)

2) We walk with God - Genesis 5:22 And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: (Walking with God speaks of fellowship and communion.)

3) We walk for God – Romans 10:15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! (We carry the gospel to those who will not come to us and hear it.)

b. Gospel – The gospel is the:

1) Way of God in salvation - 1 Corinthians 15:1-2 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; (2) By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

2) Power of God unto salvation - Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
3) The only hope for both the sinner and this present evil world is the gospel!

c. Peace – The gospel brings to the sinner:

1) Peace with God - Romans 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

2) Peace of God - Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

3) Peace of mind - Colossians 3:15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.

2. The Believer’s Safety. “peace” Having our feet “shod” with the right spiritual “shoes” does several things to protect the believer.

a. They remind us of who we are as we walk. 1 John 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. (Obligation)
b. They direct us as we walk. Psalms 25:4-5 Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths. (5) Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day. (Purity)
c. They protect us as we walk. 1 Peter 2:12 Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. (Testimony)