🛡️ Continuing with Defensive Weapons

We continue in this session with looking at the defensive weapons that have been given us in the armor of God.

The armor of God being one of the ways that we survive and thrive and are victorious in this battle that we are in with the enemy.

👟 Nike’s Ad Campaign: “It’s Gotta Be the Shoes”

Now, many years ago, there was an ad campaign by Nike, which is a major producer of athletic equipment—particularly shoes.

The campaign was:

  • “It’s gotta be the shoes,” and it featured Michael Jordan, of course.

In fact, you can still buy Michael Jordan shoes, but you’ve got to spend hundreds of dollars on them even yet.

The whole idea was to show Michael Jordan soaring over people, dunking a basketball… and the whole idea they kept saying is:

  • “It’s gotta be the shoes. It’s gotta be the shoes. It’s gotta be the shoes.”

The implication is:

  • If you would just buy Michael Jordan shoes, you could run and jump like him.

And, you know, he’s considered the greatest of all time, right?—in basketball.

👟 The Importance of the Right Shoes

And in a sense, it’s true:

  • If you don’t have the right kind of shoes, you’re not going to be able to do well in sports.

  • And that’s different depending on the sport you’re playing:

    • A soccer shoe is different than a basketball shoe.

    • A basketball shoe is different than a football shoe.

Having the right kind of shoes can determine your success or failure.

And, in fact, you’ve got to be careful in many ways in wearing the right kind of shoes for what you’re doing.

👴 A Lesson from Grandpa

I learned that not too long ago when I was taking care of my three young grandchildren who lived near me.

So we were determining what to do.

  • We had a night together.

  • Mom and Dad were at meetings.

  • My wife was somewhere else.

So, just me and the boys, right?

We decided:

  • “Well, what should we do?”

  • They had some ideas about what we were going to do with the hours that we had together that night.

One suggested:

  • “Let’s play tag!”

Great! Let’s play tag.

  • So we got our coats on—it was quite cool out that night—and we began playing tag.

Now, because I’m the grandpa, I became the focus of, you know, whoever was “it” and wanted to get me.

👟 The Wrong Shoes for the Job

Now, I’m going to show you the shoes I had on that night.

  • They’re kind of a tennis shoe.

  • They’re Skechers.

But the weird thing about these—I love these shoes because you can just slip them on.

  • But these, the laces aren’t very tight at all.

  • And it’s not meant to be a shoe that you run in and that you fool around in sports.

  • It’s meant to be, maybe, walking, that sort of thing.

So, I love these shoes. But that night, we were playing tag.

  • My youngest grandson, who’s 10 years old, is chasing me.

  • I plant my left foot in order to dodge him, right?

  • He’s getting closer, so I’m going to dodge to the left.

And because my shoe was loose, it kind of twisted, and I felt myself falling.

  • I couldn’t recover.

  • And what do you know? I fell onto my left shoulder.

Now, my left shoulder is artificial because of sports injuries.

  • Many, many years ago, I developed arthritis in it.

  • And finally, it came to the point where the doctor said:

“In order to deal with your pain, you should have that replaced.”

So, replaced.

But now, I’d fallen on that shoulder, and I spent days not being able to hardly move it.

  • Worried that I had messed up the implant that was in there.

  • And it was because I had the wrong shoes.

Now, everything turned out fine, right?

  • I got better.

But I just share that with you as an introduction to the reality that:

  • The right kind of shoes make all the difference in the world.

🛡️ Paul’s Reference to the Roman Soldier

And Paul, when he’s looking at the Roman soldier, puts the shoes as part of the vital armor of God—the boots of peace, as it’s put in this place.

📖 Ephesians 6: The Armor of God

So, here it is. Let’s read this section of Ephesians 6 once again:

📖 “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that 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 that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you’ve done everything, to stand. 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.”

👢 The Roman Boot: Caligae

Now, this is close to what the Roman boot looked like.

  • This is a little loose, a little modern, but the idea was—it was these leather straps that would hold tightly to your feet.

  • They were called caligae.

In fact, do you remember that there was one Roman Emperor whose father would take him to all the reviews of the troops?

  • He wanted boots like the soldiers had.

  • And so he got them.

  • And actually, he got a nickname—it was Caligula—one of the most brutal emperors in the history of Rome.

  • But they called him Caligula, “little boots.”

👢 The Key to the Roman Army’s Success

So, this is what it looked like. It was tightly to the feet, so that you wouldn’t slip.

  • You’ll notice—this is the best picture I could find—but you’ll notice, this is a little loose.

  • This wouldn’t have done as a Roman boot.

But the secret to the Roman army’s success is the next part of this boot.

In fact, there are those historians who say that it was the boots of the Roman soldier that enabled them to have such success over a long period of time.

  • And that was because the boots had hobnails or nails in the bottom.

Now, this is a picture of boots from the Civil War period in the United States.

  • You’ll notice—they have learned this lesson.

  • In the boots are these nails.

  • They can look something like this.

  • Here’s a drawing—they’re screwed into the bottom of the shoe.

  • And therefore, they stick—they’re able to make you stand firm.

  • Nothing can push you.

🗣️ Paul’s Meaning: Readiness from the Gospel of Peace

Now, Paul is looking at these boots, these shoes, these caligae of the Roman soldier.

  • And he says that this is part of the armor in our battle against the enemy.

The boots—and the interpretation of what they are—are:

  • The readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

📖 Interpreting Paul’s Words

Now, let’s look at that.
There are two different interpretations of what Paul meant here.

First of all:

  • The gospel of peace is the foundation that readies us to stand firm against the evil one in this battle.

Now, the gospel of peace—we’re going to look at each of those words carefully.

But, in other words, the interpretation is:

  • You’ve got to be able to stand firm.

  • The enemy is going to come against you.

  • And if you have the gospel of peace in your heart, in your mind, in your head, you’re going to be able to withstand the attack.

🗣️ A Second Interpretation: Readiness to Share the Gospel

But there’s a second interpretation too:

  • That believers should be ready to spread the gospel of peace.

  • And that readiness—to be able to tell somebody about your faith in Jesus Christ—is what provides you with the steadiness and firmness, no matter what happens, no matter what comes against you.

So, these are the two interpretations.

🔄 Let’s Look at Each in Reverse Order

First of all, number two:

  • The believers should be ready to spread the gospel of peace.

📖 Isaiah 52:7 – Beautiful Feet

Certainly, that is scriptural, right?

Here is Isaiah 52:7:

“How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.’”

Now, obviously, we’re supposed to be ready to be those people who bring the good news to people.

  • We’ll talk more about that in just a moment.

📖 Colossians 4:5–6 – Wise with Outsiders

So that’s one part of that interpretation—that the gospel of peace means:

  • Being ready to share the good news that you know the truth about.

Here’s New Testament:

Paul in Colossians says:

“Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”

Now, Colossae was a Gentile city.

  • It’s one of the cities that Paul never visited.

  • But because of one of the disciples of Paul going there, they learned the truth about Jesus Christ, and received Him.

  • And so, a church got established there, and it was a thriving church.

Paul writes to them:

  • “Make sure, as you’re dealing with outsiders, make the most of every opportunity.”

  • There are going to be opportunities for conversation to come up.

  • And you gotta be ready for that.

That’s part of the battle, right?

  • We want people to experience salvation the way we’ve experienced salvation.

📖 1 Peter 3:15 – A Convicting Passage

Here’s another one.
This is one of the most convicting passages for me from 1 Peter 3:15:

“But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”

😔 A Personal Story of Missed Opportunity

Now, I say that’s a convicting one, because I remember many years ago:

  • I grew up in the church, right?

  • I had the wonderful example and encouragement of my mother in particular, my father as well, for what it meant to be a believer.

  • But I can say that I never really interacted with too many unbelievers that I was ready to share the gospel with.

Until one night…

  • I showed you that picture in a previous session—of my mother with no head—one of our neighbors that my mother led to Christ.

I was graduating from college, and I was going to go to seminary and go into ministry.

  • And one day, no head was over.

  • She would come over every once in a while just to talk with Mom.

  • I had come home from somewhere, and she asked:

“Okay, you know, Mom had told her I was getting ready for graduation. And she said, ‘Oh, that’s wonderful. And what are you going to do?’”

And I said:

“Well, I’m going to go to seminary. I’m going to become a pastor.”

And she said:

“Why? Why?”

🚪 A Missed Open Door

Now, there are times when somebody opens a door that invites you to share the good news with them.
This was one of them.

  • I could have shared so many wonderful things.

  • Instead, I wasn’t ready.

  • I wasn’t prepared.

And as a result, I mumbled some stuff about:

“Well, I wanted to do good things in the world, and I wanted to help people.”

Instead of saying:

  • “You know, I realized in my life that I’m a sinner, and I believe Jesus Christ came into my life and let me know that He loved me, and that He died for my sins, and that all of us are sinners, and He makes this offer to all of us, and I want to share that with the world.”

I could have said that—but I didn’t.

😢 Confessing and Preparing

I remember going upstairs to my bedroom, falling on my knees, and confessing my failure to my Lord—my very loving, forgiving Savior.

And I began to prepare.

  • I prepared carefully what I should be doing.

👣 What Does It Mean to Put on the Gospel of Peace Shoes?

So this is one interpretation of this.

  • What does it mean to put on the gospel of peace shoes?

Well, it means:

  • I’ve got to be ready.

  • I’ve got to be ready to share with unbelievers the hope that’s in me, my understanding of what Jesus Christ has done, what God has done in sending Jesus Christ.

  • I’ve got to be ready for that.

And then that will impact the battle against the enemy.

  • Because the more people who become believers, the more the world changes.

  • The Kingdom of God is built, and the Lord is glorified.

🧠 The Real Battle Is the Heart

That’s something we tend to forget.

  • You know, in the world in which I live, there’s often a tendency to try to force righteous behavior on people.

  • And the only thing that really happens is this:

Change of heart.

So the battle is in the hearts of people—men and women.

🏁 That’s One Interpretation

Okay, so that’s one.

🔄 Back to the First Interpretation

Now let’s, let’s go back to the other one—the other interpretation:

  • The gospel of peace is the foundation that readies us to stand firm against the evil one in this battle.

In other words:

  • My understanding that I am not saved by my own works, as we talked about, but that I have this gospel of peace.

📖 Ephesians – He Himself Is Our Peace

Here’s one scripture passage:

“He Himself is our peace.”

This is, again, in Ephesians.

“He Himself is our peace—Jesus—who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in His flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in Himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which He put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to those who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through Him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.”

✡️ Jews and Gentiles United in Peace

Now, Paul is writing this, and what he’s saying here is that Jew and Gentile, which in that society hardly ever interacted because they hated each other…

But he said:

  • There’s this miracle that happens when the gospel of peace enters—

  • That people who have disparate ideas can come together.

  • They can experience peace.

🕊️ What Is Peace?

Now, peace—couple of words there:

In the Old Testament, the word is Shalom.

  • It means a completeness, wholeness, at rest.

  • Peace is not just the absence of conflict—that’s how we often interpret peace.

The New Testament word that’s translated peace is eirene,

  • Which means to join together that which has been separated.

👣 The Shoes We Put On

So the shoes we put on are peace shoes:

  • Completeness, wholeness, at rest.

And the gospel is good news.

  • In fact, in the New Testament, the word is euangelia, from which we get our word evangelism.

  • This is the good news, gospel.

And so when we’re bringing the gospel, we bring good news—evangelism.

📖 New Testament Uses

Here are some ways that’s used in the New Testament:

“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

So the first thing this gospel of peace means:

  • We’ve got peace with God.

“While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

That there is no animosity between God and us.

  • Rather, God sheds on us His everlasting love and peace.

  • There is no conflict between us and God.

  • Rather, it’s Shalom.

👥 Peace with Others

We also get peace with others.

📖 Ephesians: From Separation to Peace

Remember, at that time—again, this is Paul speaking:

“You were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel, foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now, in Christ—now in Christ Jesus—you who were once far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one, and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in His flesh the law…”

“He came and preached peace.”

🌍 Peace with Others

We can have peace with other people.

Now, as I’m recording this in the studio, there is a war going on between Israel and Hamas.

  • Israel’s bombing Gaza, and they’re doing a land thing.

  • They’re going to destroy Hamas, they say.

I think:

“What a miracle it would be if Israelis and people from Hamas came to Jesus and would experience peace.”

👥 Experiencing Unity Across Differences

Now, I have experienced that in some respects—with people who are of different Christian faith than I.

In California, I had a group of people that I considered friends:

  • One was Pentecostal.

    • And when it came down to details in Scripture, sometimes we would probably differ greatly.

  • There was a man who was Brethren in Christ, and we had different views of Scripture in many ways.

But we learned—I learned to love that man, and I think he loved me.

  • There’s something about the presence of Christ that unites us with people around us.

🕊️ The Third Aspect of Peace

And then the third thing about peace—the gospel of peace, the good news about peace—is that we have peace.

This is the way Paul puts it:

📖 “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again, rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God—the shalom of God—which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned, or received, or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of shalom will be with you.”

That’s from Philippians chapter 4.

💬 Internal Peace

Peace. Internal peace.

  • I’m right with God.

One of the miracles I believe I’ve experienced in ministry is:

  • People can go through some really awful stuff, and in the midst of it, they say:

“God is with me.”

I remember so many times—multiple times—saying to people:

“You know, people in church are praying for you.”

And they said:

“We know it, because we’ve got this peace—peace that passes understanding.”

🤔 How Are You Doing?

So how are you doing?

  • Is your life characterized by peace—the good news of peace?

Which interpretation is right?

  • I don’t know. Both of them.

Are you ready to share your understanding of truth—about Jesus Christ coming into the world to die for your sins?

  • And are you experiencing the shalom of God, with God and with others around you?

That’s part of the battle.

  • It’s part of the key to winning the battle with the enemy.

🌟 Blessings, and We’ll See You Next Time

Last modified: Thursday, May 29, 2025, 9:12 AM