{Ephesians 6:10-18}
and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.
[Rev. Dwight Yoo]
Caliga - Roman shoes that soldiers wore. They were flexible and it made the army very mobile. These shoes had thick metal spikes on the bottom that gave lots of traction, much like clets. They had thick soles that protected soldiers feet from various spikes and traps used by their enemies.
"readiness given by the gospel of peace" can mean two things. In this sermon I will cover one, and I will cover another one later. We will cover that the gospel is something we should be ready to deliver. When you are trying to deliver the gospel, this is spiritual battle. There are also other biblical reference to the feet that deliver the gospel/salvation.
"How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news,
who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation,
who says to Zion, 'Your God reigns.' " - Isaiah 52:7
"How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!" - Romans 10:14-15
Two main points
The Gospel is the Good News of Peace for the Religious and Irreligious
Living in the Gospel prepares us to Deliver the Gospel
The Gospel literally means "Good News". When we read about other countries, we hear statistics that 80% plus people are "christian." But that doesn't mean much... because there are many christians that don't know the Gospel. They are culturally raised in a church, but do not have a relationship with Christ. Because of this, we continue to send missionaries to preach the Gospel. For those who are religious, they feel they just need to follow rules x, y, & z. If they follow the rules and do enough, God would be pleased. But that is NOT what the Gospel says. The Gospel says we can NEVER do enough. We cannot live lives good enough. But the Gospel says that Christ has done it for us. So we try to live good lives not because we have to earn salvation, but rather we live lives having already received everything through Christ.
For the irreligious, they don't care about earning salvation. But the gospel is multi-faceted. Shalom. Fullness & wholeness in all of creation. No more racism, poverty, or death. The irreligious don't care about about earning points with God. But they are also disturbed by death, by brokenness, by all these things that are messed up. We can tell them about a God who is restoring. A God who sent His son to restore the whole world, the relationships, everything. The kingdom that God is creating is one where everything works as it should. We are to be a foretaste of heaven. A citizen representative of heaven.
The Good News has to be Good News to us - In order to be a good messenger, you need to live in the Gospel. Is the Gospel good news to you? If something is not important or meaningful, you will not share it. You will talk about those things that are precious to us. If the Gospel is precious, we will easily discuss it and commend it to our friends. For us, the news always gets better each time we hear it. When we first accept it, it is good. But then we learn more... and it gets more amazing. God not only loves us. He wants us to work with Him. He has adopted us into His family.
Allow the Gospel to speak to your inadequacy - You are not winning because of clever arguments. You are not reaching people because you have impeccable character. People are reached because God works through you. God works through even our inadequacies. God opens eyes, He softens hearts.
Allow the Gospel to speak to your Unworthiness - Our motives are always impure. If we waited until our motives were pure to serve, we would never serve. The devil would point out our previous mistakes to keep us on the sidelines. We should stand on the Gospel when we feel unworthy. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." - 1 John 1:9
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