Do you ever have “one of
those days”? Everybody has bad things happen to them every now and then, right.
And sometimes your bad day turns into a bad week or even a bad month. And for
some people, it seems like it is always something. Why is that? Is God
displeased with us? Does He hate us and want bad things to happen to us?
I don’t even have to
bring up all the things happening in the news. It’s bad enough for some of us
here today in our own lives. I look out and see people affected by difficulty
all over the room. Job problems, physical problems, money problems, marriage
problems (those two words go hand in hand, don’t they?). Problems with the
kids, problems with the car, the weather…It’s enough to make you just want to
give up sometimes, isn’t it?
Well, it would be if we
weren’t being so saturated by the peace of God that passes all understanding.
That’s what Philippians 4:7 says, that our hearts and minds
are protected by God’s peace through Jesus Christ. It doesn’t say that bad
things won’t come our way and I’m not going to stand up here and tell you that
being a Christian makes life easy but I will tell you that I don’t understand
how people get through this life without the peace that comes from having a
relationship with Jesus.
Did you know that having
God’s peace is actually part of what we are called to put on when Satan attacks
us? It is part of the armor of God that Paul talks about in Ephesians
6:10-18. Now, surely nobody here ever gets attacked by Satan,
right? You do? How? Is every bad thing that
happens in this life an attack from Satan? No. Sometimes
God allows bad things or even causes bad things to happen so we can’t blame it
all on the devil. Then sometimes bad things happen to us because we
do bone-headed stuff that has consequences, right? And sometimes we are tempted
by Satan to do something that we know is wrong.
Make no mistake, we are
in a battle. We are at war with Satan and all his minions and they
want nothing more than to kill you dead but if God won’t allow them to kill
you, they will settle for making your life miserable, either through
temptations to sin or by causing bad things to happen to you. So, we
are looking at what our options are when that happens. What
protection do we have? What armor? What
weapons? Well, Paul tells us in beautiful detail in the book of
Ephesians chapter 6.
Verse 15 is where we will
focus but to keep everything in context, let’s read the full passage. Ephesians 6:10-18 says, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty
power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can
take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 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. 13 Therefore put on the full armor
of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your
ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand
firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the
breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your
feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In
addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can
extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take
the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of
God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with
all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep
on praying for all the Lord’s people.”
You may have heard
sermons preached on this beautiful passage before and, if so, I have to warn
you that many times it may be a good and inspiring sermon but it often gets
interpreted incorrectly. To have your feet fitted with the readiness that comes
from the gospel of peace is not Paul exhorting us to take the gospel out. This
is one time where he tells us to put the gospel on…and then stand there. Stand
there and don’t give in.
There are many, many
other places that tell us as Christians to go out and tell others the good news
or the Gospel but this is not one of them and it is important to know exactly
what Paul was talking about because if we fail to put on one part of the armor,
we can be assured that is where Satan will attack us.
On Feb. 28, 1997, 2 men robbed the Bank
of America in North Hollywood, Ca. They went in carrying several guns
each with over 3000 rounds of ammo and wearing full suits of home-made body
armor that covered them from their heads down to their knees. They immediately
started shooting with armor-piercing ammo that went right through the police
cars when the cops got there.
When the police shot
back the body armor repelled every bullet. It is estimated that the police
fired almost 700 rounds at the 2 men but it wasn’t until one of the SWAT team
members, who had ducked behind a police car shot under the car hitting one of
the men in the shins and feet that finally the man was brought down. They had
protection everywhere else and may have gotten away with it but they had left
one piece of armor off and it proved to be their downfall.
So, it is just
as important or more for us to know what armor is available to us and
to make sure that we put it on. Paul tells us to be strong in the Lord and
stand firm against the schemes of the Devil and to put on the belt of truth and
the breastplate of righteousness as we have talked about in previous weeks. He
then says to have our feet fitted with the readiness that comes from having the
gospel of peace.
Some of your
translations probably say to be “shod with the readiness.” It means to lace up
tightly. As I prepared for this sermon I read several commentaries about what
this verse means. Almost every commentary would explain that a Roman soldier’s
shoes would be made of leather and metal with spikes on the bottom for traction
or sometimes they might imbed rocks in the sole for the same
reason. They would also include brass greaves that would protect
from the knees down to the top of the foot. The commentary would then go on to
say that we should shod ourselves with the gospel of peace so we don’t slip.
I would read that and
think, “Yea, we should do that. But what does that mean?” I
read sermons from other preachers and they would talk long and pretty about
fitting ourselves with the gospel of peace but few tried to actually explain
it. Some would say that our feet should always be ready to take the gospel to
all parts of the world and while that is true and good to say, it is not what
this passage is talking about.
As we explore what it
really means to have our feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the
gospel of peace, I want us to see 3 basic things:
· The Gospel – the good
news about Jesus Christ and how He lived, died and was resurrected and lives
today so we can have a relationship with Him – that Gospel brings
· Vertical
peace
· Horizontal
peace
· Internal
peace
The Greek word
translated “readiness” or “preparation” refers to the basis of something or the
foundation, the firm footing of something. We are to be strong in the Lord,
standing against Satan’s schemes, on the firm footing of knowing the Good News.
Let me ask you some questions as examples.
How many of you have
ever had God tell you to do something or not to do something and you wanted to
do the right thing but you just couldn’t. How many of you have ever had
somebody do something mean or wrong to you and you harbored a grudge against
that person for years? How many of you have ever been scared about what was
going to happen to you tomorrow or next week?
We have probably all
been in all of those situations and the answer to all three is having our feet
shod with the readiness of the gospel of peace. You see, if God has told you
not to do something and you keep on doing it then you need the gospel that
brings vertical peace, up and down, between you and God. Romans 5:10 says
that before we were Christians we were actually enemies with God. He loved you
and sent Jesus to die for you but until we accept Jesus into our lives to be
Lord and Savior, we are His enemies
But the good news (the
gospel) is that once we accept Jesus we are considered friends with God. We are
joint heirs with Jesus to all good things including a life of purpose and
fulfillment and then eternal life with God in Heaven. It also means that we
accept God as our spiritual Father who is sovereign, in control of everything
and while we should have a fear of Him and His power, it should also bring us
great peace because we know God has proven Himself faithful over and over
again; and not just faithful but very loving, compassionate and generous.
Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Do
not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition,
with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which
transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ
Jesus.”
Do you understand that?
When God tells us to do something or stop doing something and we refuse it is
because somewhere in our minds we are not sure if we can trust Him. We say we
believe Him and trust Him but our disobedience is proof otherwise. When
difficult times come and we start to worry and we take off those brass greaves
that protect our shins and Satan hits us with a baseball bat of doubt and down
we go. We slip. We fall. We sin.
Put on the good news,
the Gospel, that God loves you and has provided a way to Him through His Son
Jesus. It won’t always be easy. He never promises to give us everything we
want. But He does promise to work for the good of those who love him and that
brings vertical peace or peace between us and God.
Another way it brings
peace is horizontally, between us and others. One of the reasons the
Roman army was so successful was because they knew how to march and fight in
formation, as a whole. The men in the front had their shields to the front. The
men in the back had their shields to their backs. That way the whole platoon
was protected from the spears and arrows of the enemy.
Colossians 3:15 says, “Let
the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were
called to peace.” The good news of Christ should affect how we deal
with others. When we know that everything that happens has to cross the desk of
the Creator, Sustainer, Deliverer and our Friend, then we should be at peace
with other people even when they mistreat us.
There is always going to
be the potential for friction anytime two people show up at the same spot for
anything even if it is the church. Adrian Rogers was a
powerful Baptist preacher from a time not long ago. He was in a meeting one
time when a young man stood up and said, “There is only one way to see
this problem and that is this way…” When he got through explaining his
way was the only way, Adrian Rogers said, “It’s a mighty thin
pancake that only has one side!”
There is usually at
least 2 ways to see a problem and that is going to lead to friction but it
doesn’t have to mean that we slip and fall and bring shame to the Kingdom. It
is an opportunity for us to show the peace that we have with God to the other
person, knowing, again, that God is in control and is going to work to make all
of us more like Him and to our good. That ought to bring such peace that when
Brother Thundermuffin stands up in a meeting and he is full of hot air and bad
attitude and wrong ideas that instead of arguing over our preference, we let
him have his way knowing that God is in control. We don’t compromise on truth
but when it comes to preferences we show peace and let Brother Thundermuffin go
home thinking, “What’s different about that person?”
I'll end this section by
simply saying that every time there is disunity in the church, you can trace it
back to sin somewhere. Remember Colossians 3:15. “As
members of one body, we are called to peace.” And why wouldn't
we have peace with others when we have such peace with God? Without peace
with God, peace with others is almost impossible.
The last way the gospel
provides peace is internally. Let me tell you about my latest
idea. I’m thinking about renting out the back porch behind the Fellowship Hall
just for people to come and sit. I think it’ll be a money-maker. People do all
kinds of crazy stuff to try to relax in this world and all they have to do is
come here and sit out on that back porch for a while.
You can look out at the
lake. You can watch the boats and the sunset and see the hummingbirds come to
the feeder. You might even get lucky and see the fox that hangs out back there.
I’m telling ya. It’s hard to be stressed out sitting out on that back porch!
It’s very peaceful. (I’m not really going to rent the porch, by the way.)
Do you know what Paul
means by “peace” in this passage? The word means to have rest and
contentment. It is easy to have rest and contentment sitting on that
porch with perfect weather and a Dr. Pepper in the arm rest of the chair. Anybody
and everybody could find rest and contentment there.
But what about when it’s
not peaceful? What about when you have a crisis? Do you
have to lose your rest and contentment when the doctor says you have a physical
crisis or the bank says you have a financial crisis or your spouse says you
have a marital crisis? When Satan attacks you with a crisis, did you
know that you can still have rest and contentment? Did you know that
if you have the belt of truth buckled up and the breastplate of righteousness
pulled over and your feet are planted firmly in the good news of Jesus then you
can still stand?
I have two beautiful
passages of scripture to illustrate this. The first one is Psalm
46:1-3 and 10.
1 God is our
refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging. 10 He says, “Be still, and know
that I am God;
Though my body give way
and my job fall into the sea. Though my spouse roars and
foams! Be still and know that I am God. That means to
quit striving. Let your hands hang down. Quit running
around trying to fix everything with your own power. In fact, isn't
that what Paul is telling us to do in our main passage? Be strong in
the Lord, and STAND! Accept God's peace and stand strong when Satan
attacks.
The last passage I want
to look at is in Habakkuk 3:17-19.
17 Though the fig tree
does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will be joyful in God my Savior. 19 The Sovereign LORD is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to tread on the heights.
For this last passage, I
want you to go home and personalize it. I want you to go home and
substitute what threatens your peace in the place of what threatened Habakkuk’s
peace.
Though the credit card
gets declined and the bank account falls to zero, though the contract gets
cancelled and the grocery store runs out of toilet paper. Though
there is no car in the garage and no clothes in the closet, yet will I rejoice
in the Lord. I will be joyful in God my Savior. Can you
say that this morning? If not, then your feet are not fitted with
the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. And that may be
because you don't know God well enough; you aren't close enough to
Him. Or it could mean that you don't know Him at all.
In John 14,
we see Jesus comforting His friends who are going through a really rough
time. These words are a comfort to us as Christians today but they
are also an invitation to those who have never accepted Him into their lives to
be Lord and Savior.
John 14:1 says, "Do
not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in
me." Trusting in the Lord is what gets you to Heaven but it
is also what you have to do every day as you put on that
armor every day. This life is rarely
easy. Don’t try to go another day on your own. You sure
don’t want to try to fight off Satan’s attacks on your own. I don’t
know how anybody makes it through without a relationship with Jesus.
Repent of your
sins. Ask God for forgiveness of those sins and then trust
Him. When you do that you will have vertical, horizontal and internal
peace. What’s that worth to you? Ask God to be Lord of your life and
commit yourself to serving Him and being obedient to what He says. Do that right
now as the music plays.