The Believer's Armor, Part 3: The Shoes of the Gospel of Peace (Podcast)

The Believer’s Armor, Part 3: The Shoes of the Gospel of Peace Podcast by Pastor, John MacArthur for Grace to You

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For our study this morning, I would invite you to turn to Ephesians chapter 6; we’re looking at verses 13 through 17 on the theme of the believer’s armor. I’d like to read verses 13 through 17 as a setting for our lesson today. “Wherefore, take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand, therefore, having your loins girded about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, with which ye shall 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.”

There was a time in the life of Martin Luther when his conflict with Satan became so very real that it almost took on a physical manifestation, with the result that in anger over Satan, Martin Luther picked up his inkwell and threw it at the devil. It broke and splattered ink all over his wall, and the stain remained for many years, reminding many people of how vivid the conflict was in his own life. It is no less real in our lives, though we may not have the spiritual intensity of a Martin Luther to see it as such. The believer and Satan are in a mortal combat; verse 12 of Ephesians 6 says “we wrestle,” and the verb is a term describing a life, death, hand to hand combat.

Now, God has such high and holy and lofty and grand and glorious purposes for the believer that He calls us to walk in a manner that sets us apart from the system. These are purposes which gain God His own glory. But on the other hand, Satan does and will continue to do all that he can to hinder us from realizing the purposes of God. Consequently, there’s war in the life of a believer. I believe the war really begins at the moment of salvation, even before salvation, as the Word comes with the message of the Gospel. According to the words of our Lord, Satan attempts to snatch it away, so that a person can’t respond. And when we become a believer, and we’re just little children, as it were, in faith he sends our way a flood of false doctrine to toss us to and fro, and carry us about, away from the truth. He batters, and besieges, and accuses us relentlessly through all of our lifetimes. You go back to the point in time in which you see Jesus enter the world, and Satan does everything he can to have Jesus Christ murdered by Herod. He does everything he can during the very life of Christ to have Him killed, pushed off a cliff, crucified; Jesus conquers those efforts.