Grace Bible Church Pastor Teacher Robert R. McLaughlin Sunday, October 27, 2013 The next piece of equipment which we are to put on, which is the combat shoes or the footwear, EPH 6:15. The soldiers would come out from their barracks and would go directly to the weapon rack and start to put on their combat harness, whenever there was an alarm. They would put on the breastplate which in the spiritual realm represents the breastplate of righteousness. The third item they would put on which were the shoes or the combat footwear. We are not just dealing with being prepared for the execution of the PPOG, we are dealing with preparation for spiritual warfare. Translation: “after you have put on your combat shoes or combat boots.” This means to be able to handle the spiritual warfare when you and the ministry that you belong to have the Gospel correct. Evangelism is related to the fact that at the moment of salvation you became an ambassador for Jesus Christ and you actually represent TLJC in His spiritual army. While there is the spiritual gift of evangelism given to a few, there is the responsibility of evangelism given to every believer as an ambassador for Christ. Evangelism not only includes witnessing for Christ, but in this passage it is analogous to the believer who is on the front line in spiritual warfare defending the Gospel. First, the spiritual gift of evangelism in presenting the Gospel. Second, the spiritual gift of the pastor-teacher, presenting the Gospel. The third is the believer as an ambassador for Jesus Christ actually communicating the Gospel to those in his vicinity. The main verb is, hold your ground, which is the divine mandate for defensive action against the devil and demons. The Bible must be interpreted in the time in which it was written and therefore a little word or two about the Roman footwear in the military. First of all, the combat shoes or the Roman sandal as it was called provided the Roman soldier with a very firm hold to prevent him from sliding and slipping and falling. Secondly, as a part of the Roman footwear they also had on their shoes what they called studs which were something like our current day cleats. The principle was that it was very important that the feet should be protected against these traps so that they were camouflaged and hidden in order to cause this trouble. The analogy, in the spiritual realm it is very important that the feet should be on the solid ground of the gospel and that the believer must be protected against the subtle traps of the devil. Satans false doctrine concerning the Gospel is camouflaged and hidden in a lot of teachings coming forth from Christian pulpits. EPH 2:8-9 For by grace are you saved by faith, and that not from yourselves; it is a gift of God, not from works lest any man should boast. GAL 1:6 Paul says I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; Another reason for providing these sandals or combat shoes was mobility. Nothing is more important in an army than mobility and the Romans were very interested in this aspect of mobility in warfare. The man who first saw the importance of mobility in a military sense was Alexander the Great, one of the greatest captains of armies and of war that the world has ever known. He lived in the fourth century before Christ and had his greatest successes by moving his armies quickly and unexpectedly, while his enemies were stationary, or moving in a heavy and slow manner. The principle of mobility and being able to move properly in spiritual combat is also in view here. When a person is involved with spiritual warfare, it is important to have mobility and know when to move in a certain direction. REV 2:7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the church 1. Realize that spiritual warfare is designed to distract us and produce negative volition to Bible doctrine. 2. Spiritual warfare also is designed to cause a lack of spiritual self-esteem, therefore, hypersensitivity and subjective arrogance in the life. 3. Spiritual warfare is designed to produce ignorance of or failure to use the problem solving devices. 4. Spiritual warfare is designed to get the believer involved in legalism. 5. Spiritual warfare is also designed to cause failure to execute the PPOG. The first is that we must have firmness, confidence and a sense of assurance. If you are engaged in a war or a conflict with a powerful, deceptive, clever enemy, you must guard against falling and slipping and sliding, and therefore, making sure that you are on solid ground. HEB 5:14 Solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern divine good and evil. You have to be sure that you know what you think, what you are doing, and where you are standing. 1CO 16:13 Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. We have faith plus commitment being taught. We have faith plus water baptism. We have faith plus making Christ Lord of all or Hes not Lord at all. Instead of faith, some propose substitutes like inviting Christ into your heart. You cant invite Christ into a sewer, and the heart of man is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, JER 17:9. Instead of faith, some propose substitutes like inviting Christ into your life. Others add to salvation repentance from sins. You cant be saved by water baptism, by renouncing sin, by joining a church, by psychological gimmicks like raising your hand and walking an aisle. When you add anything to faith in Christ for salvation that is salvation by works which is not salvation at all. Do I really believe that the Bible is the word of God, divinely and uniquely inspired, and totally accurate and inerrant? How can you hold your ground against the enemy if you do not even know what your ground is? We have the preposition en plus the instrumental of manner from a noun called hetamosia meaning readiness, preparation or equipment. The objective genitive from two words which follows to explain what we are to be ready or prepared for. The definite article, tou which distinguishes the Gospel from all other forms of doctrine. The definite article tou simply says, Look, when you get to the gospel you are dealing with something that is entirely different than all of the other categories of doctrine. In the Gospel are all the seeds of grace that actually are found in the doctrines that follow. Attacking the Gospel and the grace in the Gospel is a direct attack from the kingdom of darkness, EPH 6:12. ROM 1:16 IM not ashamed of the gospel of Christ because it, [the gospel] is the power of God under salvation. The noun which follows is euangeliou which means gospel or good news. This is followed by the definite article tes and the noun eirenes correctly translated of peace. We are not dealing with being prepared for witnessing but we are dealing with preparation for spiritual warfare. We are not talking about witnessing in this verse, we are talking about defending the gospel and the Biblical means of salvation. 1. The first is the fact that all believers must have their combat shoes on while standing on the foundation of the gospel during spiritual warfare. If you are engaged in a war or a conflict with a powerful, deceptive, clever enemy, you must guard against falling and slipping and sliding, and therefore, making sure that you are on solid ground. We have faith plus commitment being taught. We have faith plus water baptism. We have faith plus making Christ Lord of all. Instead of faith, some even propose substitutes like inviting Christ into your heart. Others add to salvation, repentance from sin. You cant be saved by water baptism, by renouncing sin, by joining a church, by psychological gimmicks......like raising your hand and walking an aisle. When you add anything to faith in Christ for salvation, that is salvation by works which is not salvation at all. Learn to stand on the solid ground of the gospel so that your entire Christian life will have a sure foundation. gbible.org
Posted on: Mon, 28 Oct 2013 15:14:27 +0000