Spiritual Warfare 101 - Shoes of the Gospel of Peace and the Shield of Faith

We’ve been studying the Gospel of Luke and and got as far as Luke 9 when Jesus sends his 12 disciples out to preach the Good News of the Kingdom, heal the sick and cast out demons and realising that as disciples of Jesus too, we will engage in Spiritual Warfare at times in our lives and there is a need for us to be better equipped for these times especially as the battle intensifies leading up to Jesus’s return.

When we look at the things that open doorways to demons, we can easily see that in New Zealand, as in many countries that have abandoned their Christian foundations, we have allowed the Devil in and once again we are in the position of having to suffer to win back lost ground that our forefathers gained.

The Bible says;

1 Peter 5:8-9

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.

Why are we having to fight Satan if he is a defeated foe? 

Yes, Jesus defeated Satan at the Cross. However, it is our responsibility in our generation to demonstrate and administer the victory of Jesus (The Great Commission). This is what Paul instructed the Church so clearly.

Ephesians 6:10-13

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

When you become a Christian your enemy changes from being God to being Satan and you enter a cosmic war. When you’re not a Christian, the Devil won’t bother you too often until such point that you are on Death’s Door. He is quite happy for a nonbeliever to be at ease and think he doesn’t exist.

The Bible is a soldier’s manual and provides insight into the Cosmic War we are fighting in every one of us individually and as a Church.

Spiritual Warfare 101 begins with putting on all the parts of the armour of God before we find ourselves at the front line in hand to hand combat with the enemy.

Ephesians 6:14-18

Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—

I underlined the weapons and point out again that they actually humble and loving in nature. They are harmless to flesh and blood but they stand in opposition to our true enemy who is the opposite in nature to all of them. Can you think of a word to describe the Devil that is the opposite of each of the underlined words? 

Last week we understood we need the weapon of truth against that liar and how Christ’s righteousness protects our heart against Satan’s weapon of guilt by freeing us from the condemnation of the Law.

Let’s continue on to the next two pieces of armour the shoes of the Gospel of Peace and the Shield of Faith. 

Ephesians 6:15-16

and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.

Roman soldier’s were instructed to sleep with their shoes on. If you were awakened in the night because the enemy was attacking, the last thing you needed was to spend 10 minutes fluffing around in the dark finding your shoes and putting them on. The shoes also had spikes on them so that a soldier wouldn’t slip in combat. 

In order to bring the gospel of peace we need to be ready at all times to share the Gospel in an effective way. We can do this by our testimony and by knowing some key scriptures but we have to take the time to prepare so that when the opportunity arises, and it will, we are fully ready.

Peter said to be ready to provide a reason for why you believe as you do.

1 Peter 3:15

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;

Could you give your testimony in 3 mins? 

What would you say to give hope to a dying man?

Could you recall scriptures that could lead the person to Christ?

These are questions I ask myself!

Note that the gospel is of peace. Harsh words about sin and judgement will provoke a reaction, that’s a normal human defensive response. But if our delivery of the Gospel is balanced by the overall message of the offer of peace with God through faith in his Son, then it’s possible the hostility is from something darker. 

Jesus said something interesting in his instruction to the 70 disciples he later sent out in the next chapter of Luke;

Luke 10:5-6

But whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you.

This is using the authority of Jesus to give protection over yourself and the house. Remember we are not fighting flesh and blood. Yet there is nothing to fear as Satan is already defeated and God has promised; 

Isaiah 55:11

So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

The Gospel delivered in Peace is a seed that God can use even if at first the person doesn’t appear to have listened.

But if we don’t have peace ourselves, we won’t be able to convince anyone. At least half the impact of any message is dependent on the demeanour and honesty of the person delivering the message. If the demeanour and the message contradict, or the character of the person and the message contradict, then people will have a hard time believing us.

With 1001 things on our mind, anxiety can easily rise up. Anxiety is the real pandemic of our time.

Matthew 6:25

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?

God has given us everything we need, that is life, food, drink, a body and clothes. Can you see that is true? God provided all those things for you. And more then that. A home to stay in, a family, friends, simple pleasures like the sun and the ocean and so on. We can see him looking after us over many years, will we trust him for the future. So why are we worried about so many things ? Isn’t it ultimately because we don’t trust the Lord as we should?

And that’s a problem because it is impossible to give 100% to something or someone we don’t believe and have confidence in.

Peace comes from trusting the Lord.

Isaiah 26:3

You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.

If Jesus is your focus, if your mind is stayed on Him, you will have peace. If you have the Holy Spirit, you will have peace.

Put on the shoes of peace. Walk in confidence in the Way.

Galatians 5:22-23

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

Satan tries to attack us and disturb our peace by causing us to doubt God.

Perhaps the greatest challenge that the atheist throws at the believer is the problem of suffering. It is during life’s darkest moments that Satan attacks us trying to make us doubt God. His call, his promises, his salvation, our understanding of the world itself.

In addition to the shoes of the Gospel of Peace, it says above all take the shield of faith. This affirms faith is a priority as the Bible says.

Hebrews 11:6

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

There is plenty we can say about faith, Hebrews 11-12 is devoted to the topic of  faith, I don’t need to stress it’s importance. 

But Faith is not only central to our salvation, it is our shield in day to day living and fighting in the war against the Devil. 

The Roman soldier had 2 types of shield. One was small and circular, useful in hand to hand combat because it was light and maneuverable. But the other type is the word used for shield in this passage. This shield was as big as a door. It could be locked to a soldier next door forming an impenetrable wall against arrows as a company advanced. This is the type of shield that can ward off the fiery darts or arrows of the enemy and it is the shield of faith. We are stronger together, our faith combined will keep us safe. It is so important to be in Church. Out of Church, you are a lone soldier and it is much easier for Satan to take you out. 

Satan loves to attack us when we’re suffering. He tells us that either God is not all powerful as he cannot prevent the suffering or else he is evil for allowing the suffering when he could prevent it. You’ll actually hear the atheist use this very argument. It is Satan attacking us from above by twisting the intention of God to make us think he is against us. We counter the attack with faith. Faith in God’s promises such as 

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

And this favourite of mine

Exodus 20:12

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

We have to take up the shield of faith. Now it is true that we have been given a measure of faith and that might make us think that some Christians have a bigger advantage than others 

Romans 12:3

For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.

But if we use the measure we’ve been given, if we’re trustworthy in the small things, then we will be given more. If we want more faith we have to use the faith we have ! Just like with our body which only gets stronger through eating well and exercising same principle to make our faith stronger. 

Faith is not based on feelings. Our emotions can fluctuate from minute to minute based on how things make us feel.

Faith is not the type that people talk about when they talk about their favourite sports team. One year your team wins, the next it loses, if you put your faith in a sports team you are going to experience a lot of disappointment and ultimately they will carry on without you. That kind of faith won’t save anyone. 

Our faith is in God, he is the object of our faith. We can have disappointments but we know we are on the winning side, we are going to be with him forever.

David Jeremiah asked a good question.

He said would you rather have a whole lot of faith standing on a quarter an inch of ice or a tiny bit of faith standing on four feet of ice. 

He said that the answers are split 50/50 believe it or not. He said he always takes note of the ones who said they would rather have a whole lot of faith in a quarter of inch of ice and put them on a list and never go fishing with them!

The size of our faith doesn’t matter as much as the object of our faith which is in the Almighty Lord God. Our faith can be the size of a mustard seed but if it’s in the Lord, then it will grow big and strong. 

So what or rather who is our faith in?

But in order to enter a battle with the Devil, your faith in God does need to have grown or you’ll be mincemeat. We need the courage that comes from faith as David showed when he went into battle with Goliath.

1 Samuel 17:45-47

Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.”

David surely had a faith that had grown strong and he was able to say in the face of the enemy that he would defeat him because the battle is the Lord’s, and the Devil will fall down. Amen.