Ephesians: In The Lord's Army (4)

Verses 10–13 introduce the subject of spiritual warfare. We are told that the saints of God are engaged in a great spiritual battle against a powerful, relentless advisory.

Our advisory is called “the devil,” v 11.

Our enemy is said to employ “wiles,” v. 11.

This word refers to “the tricks, schemes, and methods” the devil uses to undermine the faith of the saints, and to attack the glory of God.

God’s command to His people is that they “stand” against the attacks of the enemy, vvs. 11, 13, 14.

The word “stand” is used here as referance to a military term.

It means “to hold a critical position during a time of enemy attack.”

It is the image of “a soldier refusing to yield even one inch of ground to an attacking foe.”

We have been given things by God that are worth “standing” for

God had given His people some very precious possessions.

He has given us truth,

His church,

His Word,

His grace,

His salvation,

His blessing, etc.

And, the devil wants all of it.

He will stop at nothing to take everything we have been given by the Lord.

If we are to keep what we have received from the Lord, we must “stand” and hold our ground.

To do that, God says we must “put on the whole armor of God.”

This passage tells us about the pieces which constitute this armor.

Like we saw last week, We have already discussed The Belt Of Truth, and The Breastplate Of Righteousness.

The Belt Of Truth refers to a life of total commitment to the Lord.

It refers to a life that is built upon the truth that is found in God’s Word and It speaks of truth in testimony and truth in living.

This “belt of truth” will provide the Christian soldier stability, and it also provides a place for the other pieces of the armor to rest. Without the “belt of truth” the soldier of God will find the other pieces of the armor useless.

The Breastplate Of Righteousness refers to the protection we have

This comes from the imputed righteousness of Christ.

This also comes from living a life according to the teachings of God in His Word

this is a powerful defense against the attacks of the enemy.

When we allow sin to dwell in our lives, we give Satan an opening from which he can attack us and exploit us,

Living a holy and righteous life closes the door to the devil, and it helps protect us from his attacks.

Today, as we continue to discuss being ‘In the Lord’s Army, we want to consider The Boots for Battle.

The right boots can mean the diffrence between success and failure so

Let’s examine what Paul means when he says that we are to “stand” with our “feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace.”

I. Boots are an Important Part of Our Protection

We take shoes for granted, but they are a very important part of our apparel.

We have different shoes for nearly every kind of activity.

I have dress shoes, casual shoes, work shoes, and shoes that I wear when around the house.

What I plan to do on a given day determines the type of shoes I put on.

I don’t often think about my shoes, but I am grateful for them.

They protect my feet from the dangers of walking around barefooted.

They keep my feet warm, dry, and safe.

When I was a child, I liked running around barefoot until I stepped on a bee or a thistle.

Shoes are an important component of our wardrobe.

Think about how important shoes are to certain professions.

Construction workers would be crazy to try and do their job without proper footwear.

Could you imagine a football player walking onto the field without his cleats.

Could you see a baseball player doing that?

Could you imagine a firefighter going into a burning building with tennis shoes on?

No, it doesn’t happen because construction workers, firefighters and athletes understand just how important the right shoes are to what they do.

As important as shoes are to an athlete, a construction worker, a business man, a housewife, or even a toddler, they are even more important to a soldier.

The soldier’s life could depend on his shoes.

Soldiers are required to march long distances,

fight battles in all types of environments,

walk through jungles, over rocks, cross stream beds filled with sharp, jagged rocks, slog through the snow, and cross burning deserts.

If a soldier’s feet become swollen, tender, cut, or blistered, that soldier would be greatly hindered in the day of battle.

That soldier might not be able to stand and fight.

He might not be able to march.

He might not be able to properly handle his weapons.

He certainly could not advance on the enemy.

Sore feet would undermine the soldier’s ability to stand firm.

The thing that pushed R.E Lee to surrender was his inablity to resupply his soldiers with not only supplies but foot ware. Many Confederate soldiers had to be left behind because their feet were so injured that they could not walk.

Alfred M. Edgar of the 27th Virginia Infantry (Stonewall Brigade) noted in a letter:

“The physical effort required is greater than most of the men are equal to. So many of them are without shoes and are foot sore…. Night comes on and we have made as much as twenty miles or more. All of us are very tired and some have fallen out of rank, and many others are weary and footsore, that it seems that they will not be able to get much farther…. I congratulate myself that I succeeded in getting my shoes whilst in Frederick City, otherwise I might now be among the number who had to fall out of the ranks, and that is something I have never had to do yet.”

Shoes were a vital part of the uniform for the soldier in the Civil war.

The Roman soldier, the image Paul is using to illustrate “the whole armor of God,” wore leather boots that protected the feet and ankles.

These boots, called the “caliga”, were a half boot that allowed the soldier to advance toward the enemy undistracted about what they might step on.

These boots usually had hobnailed soles, which means they had bits of metal, or nails, driven through them.

These hobnailed soles gave the Roman soldier great traction as he climbed hills, and fought on uneven terrain.

The boots worn by the Roman soldier gave him great stability as he engaged the enemy.

If we are going to stand against “the wiles of the devil,” we must have on the proper spiritual footwear.

We can be “girt about with the truth,” and we can have on “the breastplate of righteousness,” but if we neglect to have our “feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace,” we are destined to stumble and fall.

So, not only are our boots important part of our protection, but just like the Roman soldier boots are also essential to the Roman soldier’s “preparation” for battle.

II. Boots are an Important Part of Our Preparation

The word “preparation” refers to “being ready.”

This same word appears in Titus 3:1, which says, “Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work.”

A soldier’s boots allows him to be ready for whatever he faces.

A good pair of boots makes him ready to march, to stand, to climb, to fight, or whatever else he may be called on to do.

That same readiness should mark the people of God.

To what does this kind of readiness refer?

a. Ready to Defend

Being prepared means you are ready for anything, which includes a surprise attack.

We must always be ready to defend against false attacks on the gospel.

There are many false gospels out there today.

For a soldier to always think that an attack will be planned and for them to think they will know when an attack will come is foolish.

The enemy does not care if we are ready or not, he will use any means necessary to make you wavier.

There will be those that want to make you question your beliefs

There will be others that will try to prove you wrong

Peter told us in 1Pet. 3:15

1 Peter 3:15 KJV 1900

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

b. Ready to Defeat

Not only is a soldier to be ready to defend his base, he is to be prepared at all times to defeat the enemy.

How does this relate to us?

How is the best way to defeat the devil?

To tell others the good news.

When God saved us, He commanded us to tell others what He has done for us, and what He can do for them, Mark 16:15

Mark 16:15 KJV 1900

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

He has given us His Spirit, and the Holy Spirit has equipped us for the work of evangelism, Acts 1:8

Acts 1:8 KJV 1900

But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

The very heart of our duty to the lost is that we “go and tell.”

That is The Great Commission.

A soldier in the Lords Army should always be ready to not only give an answer to those that attack our faith

A soldier is to always be ready to defeat the enemy, by telling others about the good news

III. Boots are an Important Part of Our Peace

When a soldier has peace of mind about the integrity of his boots, when he goes into battle, he knows that his feet are going to be protected from the elements.

He knows that as long as the souls of his boots are firm and have good traction that he will be able to fend off any attack without slipping.

The “Gospel of peace” refers to the glorious news that, through our relationship with Jesus Christ, we are at peace with God.

Philippians 4:7 KJV 1900

And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

It wasn’t always that way.

Before we were saved, we were the enemies of God,

Romans 5:6–10 (KJV 1900)

For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

When God saved us, He reconciled us to Himself, v. 10–11.

When He did, He declared us to be at peace with Him. Rom. 5:1

Romans 5:1 KJV 1900

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

Now, in Jesus, the saints of God are at peace with God. Col. 1:21–22

Colossians 1:21–22 KJV 1900

And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:

Beloved, “the Gospel of peace” Paul refers to here is the marvelous news that in Christ we are at peace with God.

It is the glorious truth that we have been made one with the Lord.

So, having our “feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace” means that we stand in the absolute confidence that God loves us,

that He has forgiven us,

that we are united with Him,

that He fights for us,

and that all is well with our souls.

John 14:27 KJV 1900

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

It is the confidence that we are saved.

When we have that confidence, and when we possess the peace of God in our hearts, we are “ready” to “stand” against any enemy that comes against us.

Gideon had the peace of God and was able to stand against the great Midianite army with only 300 men. Judges 6.

King Jehoshaphat had the peace of God when they were about to be invaded by the Ammorites and the Moabities. He said 2 Chron 20:15

2 Chronicles 20:15 (KJV 1900)

Thus saith the Lord unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s.

In verse 18-23 the king and all Judah fell before the Lord and worshiped.

Judah experienced a great victory because they took God at His Word and stood in their confidence in Him.

The redeemed child of God, who stands in the Lord’s power, and in full assurance of the Lord’s salvation, does not have to fear any enemy, even if that enemy is Satan himself.

When we are attacked, we stand on the firm, unchanging ground of the Gospel of Peace.

The same Gospel that converted us from sinners into saints.

The same Gospel that changed God from our enemy to into our protector.

We who were once on the outside, are now the sons of God.

He is our heavenly Father, and we are His children.

Everything we need to “be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might,” v. 10, is at our disposal.

Our confidence in the day of battle does not rest in our own power, but in the promises of God.

Here is what He promises His children:

Romans 8:31–39 KJV 1900

What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Those promises, those truths, are the shoes that give us the ability to stand in “the evil day.”

• The truth that we are loved by the Lord gives us the confidence to stand.

• The truth that we are saved by His grace, gives us the confidence to stand.

• The truth that we are His children gives us the confidence to stand.

• The truth that we in His tender care, and that He has promised to stand with us, to protect us, to keep us, and defend us, gives us confidence to stand.

Conc:

So, the question here is this:

Are you ready to stand?

Do you have absolute confidence in your heart that God has saved your soul, forgive your sins, and adopted you into His family?

If you have the kind of confidence, you can stand regardless of what the enemy throws at you.

If you don’t have that deep, settled confidence in your heart, you will be unstable in all your battles.

Unless you are grounded in absolute assurance of salvation, the enemy will have little trouble knocking you off your feet.

You can be sure! You can have confidence that all is well. You can know Him, and His power to stand. You can be stable, strong and sure. To have that stability you need to be sure you are saved. When you are, the enemy will have a hard time with you, because you “will be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand.”

Do you have on the right shoes today? If the Lord has spoken to you about this matter, please come to Him and let Him have His way in your life.