Ephesians, 6:14-15

Alright, let's begin today by going back to Ephesians 6 verse 10 and read through verse 20. Today's topic is really focused on two verses, 614 and 615. So we're going to look at certain aspects of the armor of God. Alright, verse 10. 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. Okay, so that's why the armor's on, right?

We've got some adversaries out there, and Satan himself is one. Where's Satan, by the way? Where's he living nowadays? His presence is in the world, but where's his home? still in heavenly places. He hasn't been cast out yet. I mean, that's Revelation 12, I believe, where Satan's finally cast out. He dwells among the heavenlies, but yet his prevalence is really here on this earth. Verse 12, For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

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. And take the helmet of salvation, and the word of the Spirit, which is the word of God. praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds, that is, in this I may speak boldly as I ought to speak. All right, so the verses before us today are 614 and 615. This is the beginning of describing the various aspects of the armor of God. Okay, so we all, you know, when you get up in the morning, you think about putting this armor on. Is that what you think about? Yeah, Tom.

I think of more of this, I'll just say it, I'll try to sing it, this little ditty my mom gave to me when I was ornery. I like little ditties. sun begins to shine at four or five or six o'clock in the good old summertime. And when or when it's bleary and the skies are dreary overhead, well, it's great to get up in the morning, but it's nicer to stay in bed.

Randy, could you get your guitar out for that one? You know, Tom, you and Randy need to get together. We need to put this to tune. I was afraid there was a tune. Randy, you need to hear the tune privately. All right, this stand is not a suggestion here.

All right, so this is an active imperative. So what do we mean by an active imperative? You do it. You do it? Yeah. Who does it? You do it. Oh, yeah, you got it. We're all on the same page. So this standing is, in fact, an imperative. You need to do it, and it's you actively doing it. So this stand, what do we think of when we're told to stand scripturally? This is the book of Ephesians. What have we been studying here?

Stand firm. Well, yeah. Where does that firmness come from? The Lord. By faith. By faith, okay. But what are we talking about here? If this ain't positional truth in terms of standing firm, what are we standing firm in, Adam? Are we buffing up the old man here to stand firm in the arm of God? Heavens no. This is Ephesians 1 truth playing out in Ephesians 6 in terms of that armor that we put on.

And it kind of, if you interpret it literally, means maintaining our ground. And what's our ground? What ground are we maintaining? Okay, where's our citizenship? That's the ground. We're maintaining position upstairs by standing here by faith in who we are in Christ. Good. Okay. And this is solid ground, isn't it? Mean as earth, I don't know. Places around this globe, you know, earthquakes happen. People fall down and get crushed, etc. But this is firm ground because heavenly ground has no earthquakes.

And who's doing the standing? Okay, but Remember, we're going to spend two weeks on these natures here. Which nature is this that's doing the stand? It really is, isn't it? This is the Christ nature that stands with us. Now, it's important at this point, I think, to set the stage for the verses that follow, including the rest of verse 14.

Other than this active imperative in terms of standing, meaning do it, everything else is aorist, middle, participles. And we've got a number of verbs that are used in this form. And what's this mean? The middle voice indicates the subjects or middle participle indicates that the subject performing an action upon himself is a reflective action and it's for your own benefit. So this concept here of having your loins girded. having on the breastplate of righteousness, having your feet shod with preparation of the gospel. It's all this middle participle that's kind of being played out for our own benefit, and we're involved in this process. This is heiress middle participle playing out in each and every one of us to our benefit.

Now our benefit, if we're standing in Christ and we're really the imperative of really maintaining our ground in Christ, then our benefit is being lifted up in the power of the Spirit. Yeah, Tom. Yeah, very much so. And that standing firm in our position really reflects that, doesn't it? I mean, exactly what you say is being played out now in our lives as we put on this armor of God and have these middle participles really enacting our existence day in and day out. All right.

Therefore, for the 80th time in this class, what's it there for? Okay. Where would you like to take us back to? Would you like to go back to 11, 12, or 13? Alright, that's an imperative. Have that verse 13, wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God that she may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand, right? Therefore stand, stand therefore. So we're seeing a number of verses that precede this that really give us what the therefore is therefore. Remember therefore always takes us back to something that precedes it.

The Roman soldier wore a girdle, a breastplate, shoes with iron nails, a helmet to protect his head, and carried a great shield on his left arm which was thrown in front of his body. His weapon was the sword, and it was with the sword, not the spear, as other nations, that the Romans conquered the world, and these represent parts of the Christian spiritual armor."

Nice. Nice historical description and kind of reflects, I think, what Paul's getting at. Yes, Paul. You're full of questions, so this is good. was a Roman citizen, so therefore he could give in these details important items that the non-Roman citizens who were believers would have missed out on. This is a very good point. Other thoughts on this description of this Roman soldier or the way the Romans conquered the world? All right.

We're now going to kind of drill down on these various types of armor in terms of how they're put together and why they're there. What's it mean to gird your waist? What are your thoughts here? I think they're talking about this skirt stuff they wore that they had to tuck in so it wouldn't be in the way for their violent action they were going to be involved in. Okay. Other thoughts? Okay.

Protect your tender sensitive organs. I've got a technical symptom, so it could be hurting your lungs. You've got sensitive body parts. Is this abdomen or pelvis here? Well, no. Technically, all of the armor had a defective nature to it. Points above and below McBurney's point. Tell the class what Bernie's point is. You're going to tell the class what it is? Yes, it's halfway between where the legs join the torso and the belly button. Right. Is it on one side versus the other? The front. No. Is it on the right side or the left? It's in the midline. Bernie's point is there. I'm quoting now that great educator Brad Mastin in his notes on Ephesians.

This was obviously a key area to protect because it is among the softest areas of the body, least protected by bone structure. Additionally, this belt would be the piece that held the armor together. It serves as a securing piece that held the whole thing in one unit. Generally, this area of the body is felt to be the abdomen.

Around the waist would be the internal organs, which would be vulnerable to a spear or any other weapon, obviously. So we think of loins, I tend to think below the waist, pelvis kinds of stuff, genitalia, et cetera, but no, this is really talking about the abdomen, I think, most accurately.

And with truth. And truth's so very important, and I think what I put next is I would contend, and this is a point of discussion, that truth is more important than faith, hope, and love. Anybody want to take that on? You could be as sincere as you wanted to, but it wouldn't do any good unless it was grounded in truth. I got saved by truth. I didn't get saved by love or hope or faith. Obviously the principle was grace and through faith I was saved, but the point is the truth is what brought me to Christ. Who am I? Where am I going? Where did I come from? Truth is who he is. Okay. So without truth you don't have him. That's really true. His effect, his benefits, any of it. Good point. Roy?

When we talk about truth, certainly the foundation of that truth is the gospel, the good news. That is the message that God has given us to share. It is the response to that truth, however, that determines whether it becomes our truth or not. The possession of truth is by faith, that we trust it.

We can't really say that truth is more than important, I don't think. is that he gives us the truth, but it's how we respond whether or not it's a good thing. But our faith could be misdirected, correct? Oh yeah. I mean, look at all the faiths in the world where there's an active faith in the Muslim religion, but yet that faith is misdirected because it's not directed towards the truth. I'm the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me. I mean, there's so many verses in the New Testament particularly that deal with truth.

And you know what the last national group noted on the day of Pentecost, people hearing each other in their own languages? It was Arabs. And so that's the supreme irony there. Nobody got the whole Word of God down to them. It got kind of sequestered. Interesting point. Good. Other thoughts? Well, the girding, is it faith in the truth? Well, girding means to put on, right? To have fastened or ultimately secured.

The nature of truth is not that it's I like that. Love without the truth is tolerance. Love without truth is not rich and deep. And it's interesting that that's the first thing that is presented. To fasten the garments, to gird with truth. I mean, it's like everything that follows has to be, that's the first act you would do. What we're going to do at the end of the class is we're going to return to why these various truths of the armor are applied to different bodily parts. We're going to leave that for now, but we're going to come back to that. Margaret brings up an excellent point. Truth is the first thing mentioned here in terms of the armor of God. Again, I don't disagree with what you're saying, but I think that we must have a faith to respond to the truth. There's no question about that. But boy, the truth is so important. If we think of the book of Ephesians 2, that truth is founded in identification. It's not the identification of where we are, but where we've been.

And remember, Ephesians 2 takes us down into death first, before we're risen positionally in Christ and now are in heavenly places with all spiritual blessings. So this girding the waist, which is again vulnerable organs, Now that doesn't mean the heart and the lungs aren't important. We're going to come back to those. They're up here. But the abdomen is our vital organs that ultimately we gird with truth.

So this is the first aspect of the armor of God. And I've just selectively picked a few verses that I think exemplify the importance of truth. And the Lord became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. So, truth is wrapped up in the Lord Jesus Christ.

We would all agree with that for sure, I think. Secondly, John 8, 32, "...and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." How's the truth make us free? Is that free to live in sin? No, but we're free from the law because the truth is Him and who He was and what He's already promised us.

True. Wayne? Well, Satan is the father of lies, so truth is Okay, good. Those are good points. Other thoughts about truth? How does the truth make us free? I've heard somebody say that the fact that we are made free by truth is that we now are free to live a life without sin. that freedom is the absence of bondage to the old man and his ways.

Amen. This is a whole new life. And by the way, if we sin today, and who among us will not in some way sin today, what's the deal with that? We have a mediator between God and man. And does that sin make us any more guilty than we once were or have been? I mean, the cross is final, is it not? I mean, we're saved eternally and secure in that salvation. And although we might not want to sin, and in the power of the Spirit in our lives, we do not choose sin.

Just the old man chooses sin. The point is, we're eternally forgiven. All we do is break fellowship. I mean, we're fully accepted in the Beloved. Isn't that freedom? There's no more bondage. And Margaret said it'd be fine. We're not under law anymore. Law was to convict and condemn.

But we're new men and women in Christ Jesus. And that gives us a freedom to exist by faith in that new life, that new person. Truth. And what a freedom, too, to know where you're going to be in eternity. I mean, what a freedom is that? I mean, you know, this freedom to some extent is the freedom to even do things that we thought before we were being convicted of. I mean, what about that occasional glass of wine or that cigar?

I mean, the point is, I'm not encouraging, I'm not saying there's a freedom. I mean, these things are no longer the issue before us. It's who we are in Christ. And you know, I'm not necessarily condoning cigarette smoking, I'm not condoning drunkenness, obviously, but I mean, of course, there's a freedom to live this life by faith, and the great grace God gives us to not be bogged down with these minutial details about what the Christ life looks like in each one of us. Other thoughts? Randy?

In John 8, 32 there, the context for that is the Pharisees being really legalistic about Abraham. We're the descendants of Abraham, we've got it all down. But they didn't have truth, they had genealogy. It's easy for us to be distracted by, oh, how many people in the Bible Belt consider themselves Christian because they were born in the Bible Belt. They don't have truth, they just have a religious context which they've affiliated with. A location. Well, it's a legal system, is it not?

I mean, other than Christ, there's no freedom. And that freedom is not to sin. Actually, the freedom is to live a life without sin. That's where the freedom really hits the road. It's that freedom to walk above by faith and not get dragged down by the details of this earthly existence.

And the last verse, among many, many verses we could choose to exemplify truth in all this, were 3 John 3 and 4. For I rejoiced greatly when brethren came and testified of the truth that's in you. Just as you walk in the truth, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. That's why we gather here, isn't it? We're here at Holly Hills because we sense that the truth of the Word of God is not only preached and taught here, but we're comfortable that we're trying to get to the truth as closely as we can in terms of who we are in Christ and what that walk really looks like. Other thoughts about truth and how important truth is. Now remember, this is girding our waist with truth. And as Margaret said, this is the first piece of armor we put on. Tom and then Roy. Tom, go ahead. You probably remember seeing in various, maybe even high school classes, parts of the body and all that, and everything kind of joined together in unity.

And it seems like if truth is central, then that's the part where it matters the most. If the truth is in the center of your being, which is the Lord Jesus Christ, because he said, I am, he is the way, the truth, the knowledge, then everything else works out from that center point. So relevant, and since for me seeking truth has been part of my career, I mean, I do science, and so science is a series of experiments that become validated with repetition, and ultimately I want to know the truth about our existence biologically, narrowed down into some systems obviously, but when the Gospel finally became clear to me personally, I sensed I'd found something that was really true, and God's proven himself correct there. Roy? Any other thoughts about truth? I'm going to continue to contend that truth is the most essential element of our Christian faith. And yes, I'm not belittling faith and grace and love and all these other things that are exemplified in many places in the epistles, but truth is the center of who we are and what we do.

Truth and life are always good together. Christ himself said that. Although the things have to be based in truth though, they're worthless. That's the foundation, like Christ is the foundation for the church. He is the church. Otherwise you don't have anything of merit. Okay, good. I think we have, if not a consensus, close to it.

All right, so after putting on truth in terms of girding our loins or girding our waist and putting on or clothe with a breastplate or corsolette is another term for the breastplate. So this consists of two parts and protects the body from the neck to the middle on both sides and this implies the heart and lungs. I mean your chest effectively is your heart and lungs. Obviously both critical organs. You know a wound to the chest typically creates what we call a pneumothorax and when a pneumothorax occurs that means there's First of all, let me back up a second.

There's a negative pressure between the lungs and the chest wall to allow breathing to occur normally. And so once you puncture that, you eliminate the negative pressure and therefore you can't expand your lung. So the lung collapses. It no longer operates within a environment of negative pressure. So once you puncture the lung, the lung collapses and you don't ventilate.

Now if that wound is on one side, people, In fact, there are conditions wherein people have spontaneous pneumothoraces. These are typically tall people and very thin people. And nobody quite understands this. But tall, thin people are much more likely to get spontaneous pneumothoraces.

And so they'll come into the emergency room short of breath. And typically one lung is totally collapsed because they've broken, there's been an area of the lung that's broken out. The air goes out into the space and creates no negative pressure anymore. The lung simply collapses. So a wound to the chest on one side creates not a life-threatening situation, but clearly you're short of breath and don't oxygenate as well.

So now a wound to both sides of the chest would create a pneumothorax on both sides. That would be a terminal condition. But obviously the heart is the organ that pumps and so therefore if wounded clearly would limit life if it were a major wound in the heart.

So this is also an important part of the armor. This breastplate or corset that covers the trunk, right? I guess you could say this might even be a more vital area than the abdomen in terms of your ability to survive for long periods of time with a major wound in this area. This breastplate is of righteousness. We girded our loins or our waist with truth and now we're thinking about putting on righteousness as our breastplate. Let's define righteousness. What do you think of Romans 5, 3 through 5. What's righteousness?

For us it's simply equity and justification. Equity equaled what? The only way you can have a relationship with the Lord is to be on equal terms with him, otherwise you're under condemnation. Back to being fully accepted in the Beloved, correct? Okay, so we're one with Christ because of being made equal to him, and that process is one of justification. What's justification? Justify, that's the sin, right? What's justification? being declared righteous. What's the basis of that declaration?

This is Christianity 101. Right, okay, so the sacrifice and, by the way, the resurrection. You know, we sometimes lose out on this. It's simply not the crucifixion. Christ is not resurrected, our faith is dead. So it's having our sins forgiven and also being co-crucified. Remember, that's really something much of Christianity misses.

The fact that we ourselves in Adam were crucified with Christ and buried with him with baptism unto death. And the fact that we're risen with him in newness of life is really the basis of our righteousness. I mean, ultimately, if we're dead in the grave and he's not raised, God is not satisfied. Right? So our justification reflects our sins, the sin nature, being buried, as Christ was unto death and then risen with him in the New Testament.

Now in the Old Testament in Isaiah 59-17 it says, for he put on, meaning God, put on righteousness as a breastplate and a helmet of salvation on his head. So we're seeing some analogy here to the Ephesians text. And he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing and was clad with zeal as a cloak. So this idea of righteousness as a breastplate is taken directly from Isaiah. So Paul reflects back on Old Testament prophecy and scripture. But then in 1 Thessalonians 5, 9, you've got to help me here a little bit.

But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love. What's this? And as a helmet, the hope of salvation. So the helmet is kind of in place here. We see that repetitively exemplified scripturally in Ephesians. as we look down to verse 17. That's the helmet of salvation. It's part of our armor. But why do we see this contrast in the description of this breastplate? Why are there different metaphors here?

And by the way, I don't have an answer. So let's discuss this. What are your thoughts? Well, in Isaiah, it just talks about God Himself and nobody else included, just God. But we are not God, however the life of Christ in us allows us to put on not just righteousness as a breastplate, but with Christ living in us we can do the breastplate of faith and love too. That was lengthy, Tom.

Did you understand the question? I mean, the righteousness of the breastplate we have exemplified in several places, but now we're getting a new twist on it, right? So what you're saying is that ultimately these are one and the same? Is that what you're saying? I think he was saying additional aspects. Just an additional aspect. A descriptor. Okay.

Other thoughts here? already with the armor on, and here the faith and the love would be an expression of trust in the truth, that we are indeed girded with the truth, that we are indeed, what is it, wrapped around with Christ himself, our righteousness. We're identified with him. He is our righteousness. That's the faith that we have, that's the love. So you're saying then that the breastplate of faith and love is an extension of his righteousness? Of the walk, yes.

And what brought the early unbelievers to faith in Christ is seeing the faith of those who were believers, seeing the love and action between fellow believers and also to them, and deciding this is a lot better than what I'm dealing with day to day. Alright, let's put shoes on this. In effect, if our righteousness is entirely based on what we just described in terms of being co-crucified, buried and risen with Him in newness of life, and now we're positioned above. Remember, Ephesians 1-5 occurred before Ephesians 6. Alright, so that righteousness, if you will, is in fact the beginning of the new life. And ultimately, that life then becomes one of active faith and love.

Remember, what Christ commands is that you love your neighbor as yourself and you love him with all your might, soul, etc. I'm saying, well, I can't do that. No, he never intended us to do that. It's the faith of who we are in the new creation that allows us to love one another as ourselves. And of course, his love for us, or our love for our neighbor is his love for us, extended through us. as vehicles. So therefore this breastplate of faith and love is presumably an extension of that righteousness.

Maybe you've covered it, but these are all defensive weapons. Okay. Yeah, it's armor, right? And remember in verse 11 we're putting on the whole armor of God that we might be able to stand against the wiles of who? You know, I don't know about you all, but I don't really need the devil to really be a problem for me. I mean, I've got the world system around me and the old man existing within here. But these are all spiritual warfare. Sure, sure. All right, good discussion. Let's go on to 15 now where we've described two aspects of the armor. We're talking about the waist and we're talking about the trunk being clothed with ultimately truth and with righteousness.

And now Ephesians 6.15, having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel piece. What do other versions say other than shod? Do they have a different verb there? Having bound under. Bound under? Yeah, that's probably a better translation. So schad is to underbind or bind oneself. So that's effectively a better term than schad. We don't use that term a whole lot these days. All right.

And your feet. You know, reading a number of commentaries on this, I mean, feet implied, I guess, in context in those times, sandals. I mean, it just wasn't bare feet. It implied some shoe wear, footwear, that ultimately this gospel piece was connected to. So keep in mind, we're not talking about something drilled into the flesh itself or into the bone. We're talking about something connected to the sandals.

All right, so what's this preparation of the gospel of peace all about? What are your thoughts here? My first question, is this like studying for an exam here? This preparation of the gospel of peace. And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. So whatever this device is, or covering, or armor, it's the preparation for the gospel of peace.

It doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Go ahead. Making ready. It's a better term, I think. You're looking ahead in the notes, I think. So this isn't like studying for an exam. I mean, we're not preparing for the gospel of peace. And this isn't something you're... My next question is, how's your cramming going here? We're all getting ready for this footwear that we're going to be putting on? No, I don't think so. I'm just then asking an additional question.

Is this Galatians 2 point of truth in each one of us? I've been crucified with Christ, no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, in the life which I now live, in the flesh I live, by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I mean, this piece, in fact, is one that our preparation for really reflects who we are, doesn't it? I mean, the gospel of peace really is something we're prepared for because of who we are. Peace, simply defined, is quietness, it's rest. I like the definition, set at one again. How do you interpret that? Set at one again, as a definition of peace. What do you think about peace on this earth or peace with your neighbor?

Well, I was just thinking that, you know, this is the armor that were put on. It's interesting that he's talking about, you might think you would say you put on speedy shoes and take off for the hills, but he doesn't. It seems like the idea is that you're at rest about this and this battle is not this. You're standing there and you're shot with this piece. And so it doesn't it doesn't make you want to run away because you're in Christ and there's no reason to do that. So, I mean, it just kind of occurred to me as you were going through that, it's a gospel of peace and so you're not in anguish about this battle. It seems like it's interesting.

What allows this atmosphere of peace and quietness and being set as one in each and every one of us as we think of the armor of God here? Yes Wayne? Christ is our peace and the preparation is knowing him and as we are grown into that, that peace enables us to stand. And let's just take that on to kind of where we're at today in terms of world peace or where we're at in terms of this country and the direction we're heading. Isn't there a settledness or a quietness and a rest in terms of our citizenship, in terms of where we really exist? devolving with the U.S. and other places is, fear not him who can only kill you and after that he can't do anything.

Fear him who can put both body and soul into hell. That's a pre-Christian view of getting to know the Lord and deciding from that point on who am I going to align myself with? Not the world system, not my flesh, and not Satan of course. There's a rest, therefore, for the people of God, right? And that rest is that perfect union we have with the Lord Jesus Christ.

By the way, if you get too comfortable here, ultimately you're reminded by something that will make you less comfortable as to where your rest is really at, isn't it? I constantly remind myself of my true citizenship. It's not here, and at times I get pretty secure here. My true citizenship is that trust and rest I have in my eternity. with Christ is peace.

You know one thing the world system suffers from that I think also exists within Christianity to a much greater extent than it should is the the atmospheres of within each and every one of us, I'm not saying everybody, but in certain people predominates in terms of an atmosphere is that of anxiety and depression. And what do you think of that in terms of people who suffer extensively from anxiety or depression? There's no rest. There's no quietness. There's no oneness with the Lord Jesus Christ.

And I'm going to generalize this and this is more of a statement based on our faith rather than it's based on a medical issue. And I believe full-heartedly that people can have mental diseases just like you have physical diseases. But all that aside, I think ultimately the anxieties and depression really have individuals focusing on themselves.

We all kind of have those mood swings and things where things tend to bother us that are not consistent with the way we think things should be happening in our lives. Again, this rest and quietness really is one of total comfort and it's an acceptance of the fact that things around us may not be so good at times, but yet there's just you know, that set at one again, this peace we have with the Lord Jesus Christ is an eternal peace, and it's a comfort, and it's a rest. And the way we put on the armor ultimately is an ability to transmit that message outward, but yet remember, this is still protecting us. This rest and peace we have protects us from all the wiles of the devil. Yeah. We have that peace.

Isn't that wonderful? Just a thought. Other thoughts? Yeah, as long as I'm saying this, having been in the military, your footwear is one of the most important things you have. Okay. Whether you're walking somewhere, footwear is extreme. It's the basis. Right. And that's what I'm saying here, put on that footwear. All the rest of the armor is fine, but this is the basis. This is where it starts. mission.

You're in trouble. Well, the military sure is a place where in fact poor footwear will make themselves known, but all of us have had a pair of shoes at times that don't really fit well, right? Boy, that can be uncomfortable, isn't it? This might help you a little bit in this known reading. Okay.

It says that the Roman soldier, not the officers, but the soldiers, were girded with metal plates around their lower legs. military warfare by the soldier on the ground. To get a grip in the ground they had nails in them. Yeah, and remember the People's New Testament that I quoted before said shoes with iron nails. Get a sense of that footwear that the Roman soldiers utilized.

All right, so I just picked out one verse, or many verses of course, that the New Testament did with peace. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you, not as the world would give do I give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. And in a sense that is armor, isn't it? At peace I give to you. Boy, and this world system has never been one at peace.

And you know, the ultimate liberal mindset is that we're going to have peace on the surf one day. If we believe the Bible is the source of all truth, which we in this room all do, I sense that God's prophecy is anything but world peace. Things going forward, right? Margaret and I discuss that all the time.

His idea of the great peacemakers that continue to exist. And the Nobel Peace Prize, if that's not an oxymoron. Luther just hits home every time when I see what's going on in schools. His quote was, if the Word of God is not taught increasingly at every level, then schools will become the gates of heaven. Martin Luther had a lot right a long time ago, didn't he? I think on your hand that this guy part of this verse got eliminated, but the verse is stated clearly in your handout.

Romans 10-15, and how shall they preach unless they're sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel peace. So this is the only other time that phrase is used, and of course that's kind of the idea of sharing the gospel. So do we think the armor of God in terms of sharing this gospel peace is really part of the armor? If we're thinking about defense, then the proactive sharing of the gospel may not be exactly what this indicates. What are your thoughts here? I mean, 1015 clearly says the gospel of peace is something that's proclaimed and preached. Is that armor also actively...

Couldn't they go back to the truth that you started with? The truth that's being proclaimed? And that's the most powerful truth there is, because that can change men's lives. Excellent point, Roger. I think, you know, remember, our light as believers into the darkness of the world system, in effect, begins with truth and righteousness, and then ultimately that gospel of peace may be proclaimed in how we walk. And someone who's motivated at all by curiosity may begin asking questions about why you walk the way you do. One of the things that one of the guys said about a man who had it all was that a young That's really very special.

But let me take that a step further and say, are there times in your life where you don't really proclaim that peace by the way you respond to things? Yeah. And what do we do as believers when that occurs? Carol, let's just say you lose your patience in a store or something. I mean, I think we all have that little nature that lives within here. So how does a believer then reflect truth, righteousness, and the gospel of peace when in fact the Adam nature shows up? restore fellowship with the Lord.

Okay. So at least to acknowledge our mistake, our sin, of course to us it's sin, to them it's simply an error of some sort. They've been offended by your response. Sure, I think we're too reluctant to apologize. I think we need to, spirit-led, need to be doing that much more often. Maybe I speak for myself all day. No, I think it's really important to acknowledge. I'll go along with that. Actually, I've found the times when I do that. People are actually kind of surprised that I would, you know, they will say, you didn't need to do that, you know, but you cleared the slate. I mean, for you, it's wonderful. And then they don't understand it. But what sometimes occurs after that? Have you experienced that at all?

Well, let's say you've. You know, you were impatient or something, you offended the clerk checking out and you were, you know, it's not necessarily anything injurious, you said, but something that reflected the old man, the sin nature, and you apologized for that. I mean, at the checkout, you may not have time to do this, but in other settings, what might occur after that? I'm kind of playing guess what I'm thinking, but I've seen this occur. You mean like they'll question what you believe in?

Yeah, exactly. I mean, I thought you were a Christian. I mean, sometimes there's that next, of somebody who knows you well. This would be not a casual interaction, but this would be someone who maybe knows you. So what is the opportunity that Spirit led, I think, in how to respond to that?

That this gospel of peace is not being proclaimed. Yeah, Tom. This will be short. Todd pulls this family, a station wagon load of a family over for speeding. And the guy who's the driver said, everybody's been passing me 20 miles an hour faster than I am. Interesting. That's profound, Tom.

What I'm going at is that I think the world system needs to understand the reality of the believer still having a sin nature. and it's an opportunity to share just a little bit about that. You can share with confidence your faith and your security in the Lord Jesus Christ, but indicating that God is about his business in conforming me, and I still am capable of falling short of that glory. In other words, there's an opportunity to share the gospel in kind of a unique way, when in fact we've humbled ourselves by the leading of the Spirit when we make mistakes in the Lord's system. I've had that happen to me a number of times, and it's caught people's attention.

Think about the way the world system looks at Christianity. How does the world system look at this belief? They can't wait for us to mess up. Hypocrisy, right? Here are all these people that claim they're Christians and then ultimately look at what they've done or what they said or what they didn't do. We're on a platform all the time.

And I think, ultimately, the Lord may allow opportunities for you, in fact, to share, yes, we're sinners saved by grace. We still have this capability. Forgive me, I've made a mistake, but I'm secure in my belief, but yet I'm still not perfect as you would believe that the Christians would be perfect. And it gives you an opportunity to kind of share a little bit of theology. And sometimes that can be very, very effective. We've kind of gone tangential here a little bit.

Okay, so this is a readiness, Roy, I think you're perfectly right, that this gospel of peace is just, the preparation isn't cramming for an exam, it's a readiness in who we are in Christ to really proclaim the gospel of the opportunity. And by the way, this is a promise, and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. That's a promise. So by faith, by his great grace in our faith, we in fact will be able to guard our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus, and that is the true peace of God in each and every one of us. So here's the last question that I promised you a few minutes ago.

Why do you think that God has identified various aspects of his armor that may be positioned on certain body regions, or is this at all relevant? What about truth in terms of the waist? What about the breastplate of righteousness? and what about this gospel of peace in our footwear? Is there any relevance at all here?

I think we've already covered all of this step by step, point by point. This is a little bit redundant. Okay. Any thoughts here? Is this relevant at all or is it just the armor of God incomplete? Doesn't that almost feel like a teaching tool? something to help you remember the different aspects. You mean so that ultimately when all this armor is on we are complete in terms of all the aspects of who we are in Christ? Not much relevance then to the body part, it's just making sure that we have exemplified entirely who we are in Christ with the armor.

I think it's what you said originally that Paul was talking to a Roman audience, people who would be familiar with Roman soldiers and this was all, this really hit home with them because many of, most of them were not Roman soldiers but they feared these Roman soldiers and they, that was vivid in their minds, what that armor looked like.

Okay. I mean, the Roman Empire ruled Ephesus in those days, so I mean even though this is a Greek area and ultimately Many of the people Paul was ministering to were perhaps Jews initially and also Greeks. I mean, the Romans rule. And so the Roman soldier had a reputation. Yes, why? I think it's significant because of the vulnerability of certain parts of the body. You know, if you get shot in the arm, you're probably going to die from it. There's no armor on the extremities, is there? I mean, the feet has it. There's no thigh or no upper arm. And maybe other parts, you know, you're going to die right away.

I think there is some significance. The white truth is the abdomen and the preparation of the gospel is the feet and the chest is the breastplate of righteousness. No special meaning there, anatomical? What about, and I'm stretching here, I don't know Bob, but here's Paul, he's given us all this wonderful I like more the fact that truth is the first piece of armor that's exemplified. I think it could have equally as well been the trunk as it could have been the waist. And what's second? It's the breastplate of righteousness. So truth is first, and by the way, that truth is our righteousness, and that righteousness then is proclaimed in the gospel. I don't know, it seems like there's a leading of one biblical truth to the next. Yes?

At that time, the inner organs, like the intestines, were considered the innermost Any other thoughts here? What are your thoughts, Paul? My thoughts, again, I think were summarized just in what I said a moment ago. I think the order of presentation of these who I am in Christ aspects in terms of truth, righteousness, and gospel of peace makes sense in order. Again, I tried to emphasize that a little bit before when I spent a little time on truth. I think truth is critically, critically important. And from there, everything else flows.

Our righteousness would not be understood unless we had the truth of who Christ is and who we are in him. So I think there's an order in terms of the sharing of these various aspects of the armor. I'm not sure the anatomic regions I can overly interpret, though.

But I think Tom may, I mean, kind of the gut, kind of, but you know, if you think about a gunshot or a sword, of course, back then it wouldn't be a gunshot, but a sword wound in the chest, I guess if we're in one lung versus the other, I'd rather probably have it there than in my abdomen, because by the way, in your abdomen, the blood flow to the liver is incredibly relevant, and if you knock off that blood vessel, you basically will succumb. The aorta, of course, pumps a ton of blood into the legs and lower abdomen, and you hit the aorta, it's a dead deal, too, because 40% of the cardiac output goes into the aorta beyond the chest. So the issues of major injury to the abdomen is immediately or within minutes fatal. But the heart, obviously, I mean, people, when they shoot themselves, they don't shoot themselves in the abdomen, typically, they shoot themselves in the heart or the brain.

And the helmet of salvation we're going to be doing, who's teaching next week? Okay, so Raj is going to be doing the helmet of salvation next week. But I guess if you think about potentially the impact of an injury Again, a chest wound could be tolerated but one side in the lung, again from a pneumothorax on one side only, but a heart wound obviously would not.

So I think we're thinking a little bit too far beyond what scripture seems to indicate. I think it's the order that's the most important aspect. Frank, close to some paraphrase. Heavenly Father, we come before you and we're grateful for your son, Dean, so many of the details that we get to study as we look our daily lives. And we just thank you for this time in the world. Jesus. Amen.