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Peace and Faith

Ephesians 6:11; 15-16
11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 

15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

Let’s begin tonight with the reminder that our war is not against flesh, specifically meaning other people, but that our war is against imaginations, false knowledge, and disobedient thoughts. If we want to pull down strongholds, we must bring each of these into subjection.

Also, recall that we mentioned last week that we are fighting on two fronts. Yes, we are fighting Hell, Satan, and his demonic forces, but we are also waring against our flesh. And if we can win the war in our flesh, we can fight much more successfully against Hell. Knowing this, Jesus told us who truly wins in the end.

Matthew 24:13
13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

I like the way Pastor Raymond Woodward puts it, “the devil’s attacks against your life will always fail if your flesh refuses to cooperate.”

Last week we talked about the Belt of Truth and the Breastplate of Righteousness. Tonight, we are going to focus on the next two pieces of armor. The Shoes of Peace and the Shield of Faith.

Peace: Concerning the Roman soldier, the shoes consisted of two parts. 1) the first part was called the greave. It was designed to cover the lower part of the leg and the upper part of the shoe itself. The greave was often made of metal and formed to fit the soldier’s leg. It was designed to protect the leg from being lacerated or broken in battle. Think of this from the old saying, “having his legs (or feet) knocked out from under him.”

The second part was the shoe itself. The soldier’s shoe was made of thick leather and brass. They were extremely durable, but more importantly, they were extremely dangerous. This was because on the bottom of the shoe were several spikes between one and three inches in length. These spikes, like that of an athlete’s cleats, allowed the soldier to dig into the ground, making it virtually impossible for him to be knocked down or for him to lose his footing.

Scripturally speaking, the foot is the part of the body that symbolizes our motion, our action, or our behavior. The Bible speaks of “feet that be swift in running to mischief” [Proverbs 6:18] and “their feet are swift to shed blood” [Romans 3:15]. Obviously, these are negative behaviors or actions symbolized as being perpetrated by the “feet”. So, it stands to reason that we need to be sure that our “feet” are armored, or covered, correctly, so “that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” [Ephesians 6:11], and not to be used by the devil.

Let’s look closely at verse 15.

Ephesians 6:15
15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

Here we see the word “shod”, or a more modern version of the word would be “shoed”, meaning to put on. But we put it on “with the preparation”, meaning that we need to be prepared every day to walk or to take action. What are we to be prepared to shod our feet with? The “gospel of peace”. Now, we usually see the word gospel and our minds automatically go to the plan of salvation, the birth, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. However, that is not what Paul is referring to here. He is simply using the Greek word that means “good news”. And lastly, what “good news” are we preparing to wear? “Peace”.

All too often we tend to put a modern day interpretation of words when we read the Bible and that can sometimes go against the true meaning. Peace here is not a “lovey-dovey”, sit around the campfire and sing Kumbaya. This isn’t being meek and passive, or transcendent, or to be all “hippified?”

Think of it as “Peace through Strength”. How? Because this is a conquering peace, this is an overcoming peace, this is a peace that’s not up one day and down the next. Not depressed one day and on the mountain top the next. Why, because shoes of peace not only protect you, but they also provide you with a powerful weapon to use against your adversary.

Philippians 4:7
7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Faith: The second piece of armor we will discuss in this session is the “Shield of Faith”.

Ephesians 6:16
16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

In relation to the Roman soldier, the shield was a large, rectangular shaped weapon. Looking at it, it would almost resemble a door. It provided nearly full coverage of the soldier body. Some would refer to it as his “battle shield”.

Being made typically of a wooden frame covered with leather, the soldier had to maintain his shield by coating it with oil to keep it from drying out and disintegrating. The soldier would also have to soak the shield in water.

[Note: Just something to point out, this had to be done prior to battle.]

Why? Because the enemy would hurl “fiery darts” at the soldier, and a dry, brittle shield would not “quinch” the fire, it would succumb to the fire. And may I point out that Paul teaches us here that the shield is the only weapon that can repel the enemy’s fiery darts.

The shield represents our Faith. The Bible tells us that everyone has been “dealt […] the measure of faith”. [Romans 12:3]. And that all you need is “faith as a grain of mustard seed” [Matthew 17:20 and Luke 17:6] to move obstacles that stand in your way. But may I submit to you that Paul is teaching us that your faith will only operate when it’s saturated with water and anointed with oil. It must be saturated by the power of the Word of God, and it must be anointed with the power of the Holy Ghost.

The writer of Hebrews frames faith for us.

Hebrews 11:1-3; 6
1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good report. 3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.  

6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Faith can move mountains, but only if we use it properly, as a shield.