Shoes for Pilgrims and Warriors

Shoes for Pilgrims and Warriors

(No. 3143)

A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, MAY 6, 1909.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"And your feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace."
Ephesians 6:15.

THE Christian was evidently intended to be in motion, for here are
shoes for his feet. His head is provided with a helmet, for he is to be
thoughtful. His heart is covered with a breastplate, for he is to be a
man of feeling. His whole nature is protected by a shield, for he is
called to endurance and caution. And that he is to be active is
certain, for a sword is provided for his hand to use and sandals with
which his feet are to be shod. To suppose that a Christian is to be
motionless as a post and inanimate as a stone, or merely pensive as a
weeping willow and passive as a reed shaken by the wind, is altogether
a mistake! God works in us and His Grace is the great motive power
which secures our salvation, but He does not so work in us as to
chloroform us into unconscious submission, or engineer us into
mechanical motion–He orchestrates all our activities by working in us
"to will and to do of His good pleasure." Grace imparts healthy life
and life rejoices in activity! The Lord never intended His people to be
automatons worked by clockwork, or cold and dead statues–He meant them
to have life, to have it abundantly–and in the power of that life to
be full of energy! It is true He makes us lie down in green pastures,
but equally certain is it that He leads us onward beside the still
waters! A true Believer is an active person–he has feet and uses them.

Now, he who marches meets with stones, or if as a warrior he dashes
into the thick of the conflict he is assailed with weapons and,
therefore, he needs to be suitably shod to meet his perils. The active
and energetic Christian meets with temptations which do not happen to
others. Idle persons can scarcely be said to be in danger–they are a
stage beyond that and are already overcome! Satan scarcely needs to
tempt them–they rather tempt him and are a fermenting mass in which
sin exceedingly multiplies–a decaying body around which the vultures
of vice are sure to gather. But earnest laborious Believers are sure to
be assailed, even as fruit bearing trees are certain to be visited by
the birds. Satan cannot stand a man who earnestly serves God–he does
damage to the arch-enemy's dominions and, therefore, he must be
incessantly assailed. The Prince of Darkness will try, if he can, to
injure the good man's character, to break his communion with God, to
spoil the simplicity of his faith, to make him proud of what he is
doing, or to make him despair of success. In some way or other he will,
if possible, bruise the worker's heel or trip him up, or lame him
altogether. Because of all these dangers, Infinite Mercy has provided
Gospel shoes for the Believer's feet–shoes of the best kind–such as
only those warriors wear who serve the Lord of Hosts!

We shall at this time first examine the shoes and then try them on.

I. Our first duty is to EXAMINE THE SHOES which are provided for us by
our Captain. And in doing so we are delighted to find that they come
from a blessed Maker, for the feet of the Believer are to be shod with
a Divine preparation. Many preparations and inventions are used for
protecting feet, but this is a preparation in which infinite skill has
been displayed and the same wisdom put forth as in the Gospel, which is
the masterpiece of God! Every portion of the Gospel is from God and all
the influence which makes it a Gospel of Peace is His–and we are
therefore thankful to find that we are to wear "the preparation of the
Gospel of Peace." It would not be meet that he who is helmeted with
Divine Salvation should be shod with a mere human production! Having
begun in the Spirit, it would be strange to be made perfect in the
flesh. We would not be like the image of the monarch's dream whose head
was of fine gold and whose feet were part of iron and part of clay. We
rejoice that all the pieces of armor which compose our panoply come
forth from the celestial Armorer whose productions are without a flaw!

We are glad to find that the shoes are made of excellent material, for
they are composed of "the preparation of the Gospel of Peace"–and what
better material can there be than the Gospel–the Gospel of Peace and
that peace which grows out of the Gospel? This is what is meant. We
believe in a Gospel which was formed in the purpose of God from all
eternity, designed with Infinite Wisdom, worked out at an enormous
expense, costing nothing less than the blood of Jesus, brought home by
Infinite Power, even by the might of the Holy Spirit! It is a Gospel
full of blessings, any one of which would outweigh a world in price–a
Gospel as free as it is full, a Gospel everlasting and immutable, a
Gospel of which we can never think too much, whose praises we can never
exaggerate! It is from this choice Gospel that its choicest essence is
taken, namely, its peace. And from this peace those sandals are
prepared with which a man may tread on the lion and the adder, yes, and
on the fierce burning coals of malice, slander and persecution! What
better shoes can our souls require?

What matchless material for girding the pilgrim's feet is that which is
here mentioned, namely the peace which comes from the Gospel, the
preparation of heart and life which springs of a full knowledge,
reception and experience of the Gospel in our souls! What does it mean?
It means, first, that a sense of perfect peace with God is the grandest
thing in all the world with which to travel through life. Let a man
know that his sins are forgiven him for Christ's name's sake, that he
is reconciled to God by the death of His Son and that between him and
God there is no ground of difference–and what a joyful pilgrim he
becomes! When we know that as the Lord looks on us, His glance is full
of infinite, undivided affection, that He sees us in Jesus Christ as
cleansed from every speck of sin and as, "accepted in the Beloved," and
that by virtue of a complete Atonement we are forever reconciled to
God, then do we march through life without fear, booted for all the
exigencies of the way, yes, ready to plunge through fire and water,
thorn and thistle, bush and briar without fear! A man at peace with God
dreads neither the ills of life nor the terrors of death! Poverty,
sickness, persecution and pain have lost their sting when sin is
pardoned! What is there that a man needs to fear when he knows that in
no affliction will there be any trace of the judicial anger of God, but
all will come from a Father's hand and work his lasting good! Goliath
had armor of brass upon his legs, but he is better armed who wears a
full assurance of peace with God through the Gospel! He shall tread
down his enemies and crush them as grapes in the winepress! His shoes
shall be iron and brass and, shod with them he shall stand upon the
high places of the earth and his feet shall not slip. Achilles received
a deadly wound in the heel, but no arrow can pierce the heel of the man
whose foot is sandaled with reconciliation by atoning blood! Many a
warrior has fainted on the march and dropped from the ranks exhausted,
but no weariness of the way can happen to the man who is upheld by the
eternal God, for his strength shall be renewed daily.

The preparation of the Gospel of Peace here mentioned must be
understood to comprehend more than the legal peace ofjustification by
faith. If we would enjoy the fullest comfort of the well-shod pilgrim,
we must have the exceeding peace which springs from intimate,
undisturbed communion with God. We should pray not only to feel that we
have been brought out of our natural enmity into peace with God, so as
to be no more culprits but children, but also to dwell in the full joy
of our new relationship. It is a sweet thing for a child of God to feel
that he is so acting that his heavenly Father has no reason for walking
contrary to him. You know right well that as a child of God, you will
not be condemned and cast away as an alien–but you also know that as a
child, you may greatly displease your Father and render it necessary
for Him to frown upon you, and visit you with stripes–and this you
should, with the utmost diligence and prayerful-ness, labor to prevent.
There are times when the Lord of pilgrims hides His face from them in
sore displeasure, and then it is very hard travelling. Life is "a great
and terrible wilderness" when the Lord's Presence is withdrawn. The
more a man loves the Lord, the more does he suffer when there is a
temporary suspension of happy communion between his soul and Heaven–he
cannot be happy again till he knows that he is fully restored to the
paternal favor. O child of God, you will very soon have your feet torn
with the briars of the way if you do not abide in fellowship with God!
When Adam had lost his oneness with God, he found out that he was
naked, and so will you if you lose your communion with Jesus. Where
before you dashed onward as with a charmed life, treading the world and
all its cares beneath your feet, you will find yourself pierced with
many sorrows, bleeding with acute griefs, scratched, torn, lacerated
with trials, losses, crosses and endless annoyances. If we continue in
the love of Jesus, pleasing Him in all things, jealously watching and
carefully observing His will, our mind will be kept by the peace of God
which passes all understanding–and our road to Heaven will be a
pleasant one! It may indeed be very rough in itself and in the judgment
of others, but it will be so smoothed to us by the peace which reigns
within that we shall glory in infirmity, exult in suffering and triumph
in distress, knowing that

the Lord is with us and no harm can come to us. Thus you see that the
peace which comes ofjustification–and the fuller peace which arises
from enjoying the love of God are a grand preparation for our life's
journey–shoes for the feet unrivalled in excellence!

It is also a grand sandal for a pilgrim's feet when the Gospel of Peace
has fully conformed his mind to the Lord's will. Some children of God
are not at peace with God because they do not fully acquiesce in the
Divine purposes. To them the pilgrim path must be a painful one, for
nothing can please them–their self-will creates swarms of vexations
for them. But to hearts which have crucified self and yielded all to
the will of God, the most thorny paths are pleasant. He who can say
concerning all things, "Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your
sight," is shod for all ways and weathers, and may march on undismayed.
Fully conformed to the Divine will, saints are invulnerable and
invincible, "none shall be weary nor stumble among them, neither shall
the laces of their shoes be broken"–

"They hold by nothing here below. Appoint their journey, and they go
Through joy or grief they march the same, Triumphant still in Jesus'
name."

Surely it is when the heart is completely at one with God that the true
beauty of the Christian character is seen! Then it is that the heavenly
Bridegroom cries out, "How beautiful are your feet with shoes, O
prince's daughter!" Then, too, the Church in her tribulation becomes
bright and glorious, like her Lord, of whom we read, "His feet are like
unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace." Shod with perfect
delight in the will of the Lord, we are able to surmount all the
difficulties and trials of the way, for it becomes sweet to suffer when
we see that it is the will of God. Resignation is good, but perfect
acquiescence is better, and happy–thrice happy is the man who feels
it! No silver sandals were ever so precious, no covering of golden mail
adorned with precious stones were so glorious to look upon as a mind
molded to the Divine Will, perfectly in tune with the mind of the Lord
Most High!

The preparation of the Gospel of Peace, you thus see, is, in many
aspects, the fittest help for our journey to the promised land. And he
who has his feet shod with it need not fear the flinty ways, the craggy
rocks, or the thorny passes.

But the Gospel of Peace has another side to it, for it not only brings
us peace with God, but it inspires us with peace towards ourselves.
Civil war is the worst of wars and for a man to be at discord with
himself is the worst of strife. The worst peril of Christian pilgrimage
is that which arises from the pilgrim's own self–and if he is ill at
ease within himself, his course cannot be a happy one. The prayer of
the evening hymn is very suggestive–

"That with the world, myself and Thee, I, ever I sleep, at peace may
be." It is a most necessary matter to have peace at home. It is a cruel
case for a man when his own heart condemns him. To whom shall he look
for a defense when his own conscience indicts him and all his faculties
turn king's evidence against him? It is to be feared that many
Believers habitually do that which they would not like to be questioned
upon by the rule of the Word of God–they have to close their eyes to
many passages of Scripture, or else they would be uneasy in their
consciences. Brothers and Sisters, this makes wretched travelling! It
is like walking through a wood with bare feet. If you cannot satisfy
your own heart that you are right, you are in a sad case, indeed, and
the sooner matters are altered the better. But if a man can say before
the living God, "I know that what I am about to do is right and
whatever comes of it, I have a pure motive and the Lord's sanction to
sustain me in it," then he proceeds to action with a nimble tread. Such
a pilgrim is girt for the roughest of ways and will hold on his way
joyfully to the end. Rest of conscience shoes us right well, but a
question as to the rightness of our procedure makes us barefooted.

Come what may, if we order our ways with reverent regard to the Lord's
commands, we shall be able to confront the future with serenity, for we
shall not have to accuse ourselves of bringing ourselves into trouble
by sin, or losing our joys by indulging in forbidden things. When the
Believer falls into any trouble through having been zealous for God,
then may he spread his complaint before God with the full expectation
that He will bring him out of all his difficulties, for is it not
written, "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord…none of his
steps shall slide"? Oh, to walk in such a way that your conscience is
void of offense both towards God and towards man–then integrity and
uprightness will preserve you and your goings will be established. "He
will keep the feet of His saints." "He shall give His angels charge
over you, to keep you in all your ways. They shall bear you up in their
hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone."

While travelling through the mazes of life, another form of the
preparation of the Gospel of Peace will be of essential service to us,
namely, peace with our fellow men. The Gospel of Peace leads us into
the closest bonds of amity with our fellow Believers, although, alas,
it is not always possible to prevent offenses arising, even with the
best of them! If we cannot make all our Brothers and Sisters amiable,
we are at least to be at peace on our side–and if we succeed in this,
no great disagreement can arise, for it always needs two to make a
quarrel. It is well to go to bed every night feeling, "I have no
difference in my soul with any of the members of Christ's body. I wish
well to everyone and love them all in my heart." This would enable us
to travel in right royal style over fields which now are often stony
with controversy and thorny with prejudice. Theological conflicts and
ecclesiastical squabbles would utterly disappear if we were shod with
the true spirit of the Gospel of Peace. An unwillingness to think
harshly of any Christian is a sandal most easy to the feet, protecting
it from many a thorn. Wear it in the Church, wear it in all holy
service, wear it in all fellowship with Christians and you will find
your way among the brethren greatly smoothed! You will win their love
and esteem before long, and avoid a world ofjealousy and opposition
which would otherwise have impeded your course.

It is well to travel girt with this shoe ofpeace with all mankind. "If
it is possible, as much as lies in you, live peaceably with all men."
It is barely possible, but aim at it–and if you do not perfectly
succeed, try again. Unconverted men will not love your religion, for
they are carnal. That you cannot help, but you must love them, carnal
as they are, and by degrees you may win them to love both you and your
Lord. If they will not live peaceably with you, yet give them your love
and live peaceably with them. Be not easily provoked. Bear and forbear,
forgive and love on, return good for evil, seek to benefit even the
most unthankful and you will travel to Heaven in the most pleasant
possible manner. Hatred, envy and persecution may come, but a loving
spirit materially blunts their edge and oftentimes inherits the
promise, "When a man's ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies
to be at peace with him." If you have to feel, "Now, I am going this
part of the journey with the view of avenging a wrong," you will not
journey pleasantly or safely! But if from the depth of your soul you
can say, "When Christ made peace with God for me, He made peace between
me and my bitterest foe," you will march on like a hero! Travel through
the world as a sincere philanthropist, with your feet shod with love to
all born of woman and your course will be happy and honorable. God
grant us that loving spirit which comes of free Grace and is the work
of the Holy Spirit, for that is a mystic sandal which gives wings to
the feet and lightens a weary road.

Having thus described these Gospel shoes, I should like to say that the
feet of our Lord and Master were sandaled in this manner. He was the
King of Pilgrims and to Him, the way was even rougher than it can be to
us. But these were the shoes He wore and, having worn them, He counsels
us to put on the same. "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto
you," He said. Always while He dwelt in this world He was in fellowship
with God. He could truly say, "I came down from Heaven not to do My own
will, but the will of Him who sent Me. He who sent Me is with Me. I am
not alone because the Father is with Me." He always sought the good of
His chosen–"having loved His own which were in the world, He loved
them unto the end." And as for His enemies, He had only prayers and
tears for them. He was at peace with all above, around and within Him.
That peaceableness of His, that wonderful serenity, was one of the
marvelous points in His Character. You never find Him worried,
disturbed, flustered. No, that is ourinfirmity because we take our
shoes off and are taken by surprise–but His feet were always shod–He
dwelt in perfect peace and, therefore, He was the grandest Pilgrim and
the noblest Worker. We cannot need to be better shod than our Lord was!
Let us sandal our hearts with His peace and we shall be royally
prepared for our journey!

I may add that these shoes are such as will last all our journey
through. We feel most comfortable in our old shoes, for they fit the
foot so well, but they will at last wear out. These shoes of my text
are old, yet always new and are like those which Israel wore in the
wilderness, of which it is said, "Your shoe is not waxen old upon your
foot." The everlasting Gospel yields us everlasting peace! The good
news from Heaven never grows stale, neither will the peace which it
brings ever become like the Gibeonites' "old shoes and patched." The
man who wears the preparation of the Gospel of Peace was comforted by
it when he was young and it still cheers him in his later days–it made
him a good traveler when he first set out and it will protect his last
footsteps when he crosses the river Jordan and climbs the celestial
hills!

Friends, are you all thus booted for your life-journey? See you well to
it.

II. We come now to our second business, LET US TRY ON THESE SHOES.

Here our joy is great to find that they fit perfectly and need no
tugging and straining to draw them on. By a miracle more strange than
magic, the preparation of the Gospel of Peace suits every foot, whether
it is that of a babe in Grace, or a strong man in Christ Jesus. No man
can travel well, much less engage in battle successfully unless his
dress is comfortable, especially that part of it which relates to the
feet. And here we have the grand advantage that no foot was ever uneasy
when once it had put on this shoe! Mephibosheths who have been lame in
both feet even from birth have found this shoe works miracles and
causes them to leap as harts upon the mountains! The Gospel of Peace
helps all our infirmities, heals all the wounds of our old sins and
suits itself to all our tender places. Whatever the weakness may be,
the Gospel provides for it! Whatever the distress, its peace relieves
it. Other shoes have their pinching places, but he who wears the
preparation of the Gospel of Peace shall know no straitness of spirit,
for the Gospel gives rest to our minds. Real Gospel really believed,
means real peace! That which disturbs us is something alien to the
Spirit of the Gospel, but the Spirit of Christ is the Spirit of Peace.
Who would not wear such a shoe?

The preparation of the Gospel of Peace is a wonderful shoe for giving
its wearer a firm foothold. Surely it was of this shoe that Habakkuk
sang when he said, "The Lord God is my strength, and He will make my
feet like hinds' feet, and He will make me to walk upon my high
places." When persons are on slippery rocks, or dangerous eminences,
where a fall would be fatal, it is well to be so shod that the feet get
grip and hold. Nothing aids a man to stand fast in the Lord like the
peace of the Gospel. Many professors are very soon thrown over–they
are attacked with doctrinal error and they readily yield. They are
assailed by temptation and their feet go out from under them. But the
man who has perfect peace with God and who relies upon the Most High
shall never be moved, for the Lord upholds him. His shoes have driven
themselves into the eternal Truths of God and hold like anchors! Tell
him the Atonement is not true, preach up to him the bloodless neology
of modern thought and he ridicules the ineffectual attempt because he
knows whom he has believed and feels a heavenly peace within flowing
from the substitutionary Sacrifice. Tell him that the Doctrines of
Grace are a mistake, that salvation is all of free will and man's
merit, and he says, "No, I know better. I know the Doctrines of
Sovereign Grace to be true by experience, I know I am God's chosen, I
know that I am called, I know that I am justified, for I know that I
have peace with God as the result of all these." You cannot move him an
inch! His creed is interwoven with his personal consciousness and there
is no arguing him out of it! In these days of skepticism, when no man
seems to have any resting place, it is well to be so shod that you can
and do stand on the Truth and cannot be blown about like thistledown in
the breeze.

The shoe of our text is equally famous for its suitability for marching
in the ways of daily duty. Soldiers have little time for contemplating
the comfort of their shoes, or their fitness for mere standing, for
they have daily marching to perform. We, too, have our marching, and as
far as some of us are concerned, they are no mere parades, but heavy
marching involving stern toil and protracted effort. A soul at perfect
peace with God is in a fit state for the severest movements. A sense of
pardoned sin and reconciliation with God fits us for anything and
everything. When the burden of sin is gone, all other burdens are
light. Since we are no longer on the road to Hell, the roughest places
of our pilgrimage do not distress us. In every sphere, a heart at
perfect peace with God is the soundest preparation for progress and the
surest support under trials. Try on these shoes, my Brothers and
Sisters, and see if they do not enable you to run without weariness and
walk without fainting. All earth cannot find their like–they are
unrivalled–they make men like the angels to whom duty is delight!

These Gospel shoes are also an effectual preservative from all the
ordinary roughness of the road of life, although to most of us it is
far from smooth. He who expects to find a grassy walk all the way to
Heaven, well mown and rolled, or looks for a highway leveled by a
steam-roller, will be sorrowfully mistaken. The way is rugged, like the
goat tracks of Engedi, and oftentimes so narrow and so far on high that
the eagle's eye cannot discern it! The blood of former pilgrims stains
the way to Glory, yet from all perils to our feet, the preparation of
the Gospel of Peace will guard us! From fears within and fighting
without, Gospel peace will surely deliver us. Perhaps we are more vexed
with little trials than with great ones–certainly we bear them with
far less equanimity–but a peaceful heart protects alike from tiny
thorns and terrible rocks. Everyday vexations as well as extraordinary
tribulations we shall bear cheerfully when the Peace of God keeps our
heart and mind!

Beloved, this shoe is also good for climbing. Do you ever practice the
holy art of spiritual climbing, God's blessed Spirit leading the way?
Do you ever climb Mount Tabor to be transfigured with your Master? Have
you watched with

Him one hour and seen His conflict and His victory? Have you ever
looked from Pisgah's glorious heights upon the goodly land and Lebanon,
anticipating the glory to be revealed? Has your spirit ever been away
there alone in mysterious communing with God upon the Hermons? I trust
you know what climbing work means and that you have enjoyed rapt
ecstatic fellowship with Jesus Christ. But of this I am sure, you can
never mount on high if your feet are not shod with the Peace of God!
Unshod with these sacred sandals, there is no climbing! Only those who
delight themselves in the Lord God shall ascend the Hill of the Lord
and stand in His Holy Place!

The heart prepared by peace with God is shod suitably for running as
well as for climbing. There are periods when all our energies must be
put forth and we must rush forward at the heroic pace, for, at certain
passages in life's campaign, things must be carried by storm and every
faculty must dash forward at its swiftest speed. We cannot at all times
keep up the swiftness, which, nevertheless, is occasionally required of
us, but the man for a push and a dash is he whose soul abides in peace.
Troubled in heart, our feet are blistered, our knees are weak and our
movements are painfully slow. But the joy of the Lord is our strength
and in the power of it we become like Asahel, fleet of foot as a young
roe. Try on these shoes, my limping Brothers and Sisters! What do you
say?

Lastly, this shoe is good for fighting, and that I gather from Paul
having put it among the armor. In the old style, fighting meant hand to
hand and foot to foot, and then it was necessary for the feet to be
well protected and, indeed, so well covered over as to be useful in
assault, for the warriors kicked with their feet as well as struck with
their hands–and many a foe was placed hors de combat with a heavy
kick! Christians are expected to fight with their feet in the battle
against sin and Satan! Indeed, they must fight with all their powers
and faculties! That grand promise has been given to us, "The God of
Peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly." What a tread we will
give him when we once have the opportunity! We shall need to have our
feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace to break that old
dragon's head and grind his snares to powder! And God helping us, we
shall do it! Our Covenant Head has trampled on the old serpent and so
shall all His members.

Let this suffice concerning these shoes, but a serious question
suggests itself to me. Are there not some of you who have to travel to
eternity and yet have no shoes for the journey? How can the unconverted
man hope to reach Heaven when he has no shoes on his feet? How will he
bear the troubles of life, the temptations of the flesh and the trials
of death? I pray you, unconverted ones, look at yourselves and at the
way–and see how impossible it is for you to accomplish the journey
unless you go to Jesus and obtain from Him the Grace which will make
you pilgrims to Glory! Go, I pray you, and find peace in Him–and then
your life-journey shall be happy and safe, and the end eternal joy–for
your feet will be shod with "the preparation of the Gospel of Peace."

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: EPHESIANS 6:10-24.

Verse 10. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power
of His might Everything depends upon that. Whether you are called upon
to work, or to wait, or to watch, or to suffer, you have need to be
strong. If you are not strong, the very armor that you wear will be a
burden to you! It is of the utmost importance that Christians should be
as strong in Grace as they can possibly be. And the power that is to be
in them is to be the power of God–"the power of His might." What a
wonderful power that is! The power of flesh is weakness and the power
of man is fading, but the power of God is almighty and unchangeable!
And if we can be girt about with this power, there is scarcely any
limit to what we may successfully attempt.

"Finally"–as if this were a matter of the highest importance, to be
considered first and last–"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord
and in the power of His might." You know how strong Paul was–he was a
veritable giant for Christ and he here calls upon his brethren to be as
he was. He did not want to be brother to dwarfs, so he appealed to his
brethren to "be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might."

11. Put on the whole armor of Got. The armor of God will not serve you
unless you, yourself, are strong. It needs a strong man to carry
girdle, breastplate, shoes, shield, helmet and sword. Let me impress
upon you the fact that we must first of all get strong within and after
that, "put on the whole armor of God," that armor which God has
provided for the good soldiers of Jesus Christ–that armor which
distinguishes men as belonging to the army of God. Do not merely

put on a part of it, but put on the whole of it! Do not simply look at
the armor and clean it up so as to keep it bright, but put it on, wear
it–it is meant for you to use in the great battle for the right
against the wrong! "Put on the whole armor of God."

11. That you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devii. He
will attack you sometimes by force and sometimes by fraud. By might or
by sleight he will seek to overcome you and no unarmed man can stand
against him. Never go out without all your armor on, for you can never
tell where you may meet the devil. He is not omnipresent, but nobody
can tell where he is not, for he and his troops of devils appear to be
found everywhere on this earth.

12. For we wrestle not against flesh and bloot. Our great fight is not
against our fellow men. As Christians, we go not forth armed with sword
and shield to fight against "flesh and blood."

12. But against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of
the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high
places. Our battle is against evil wherever it is to be found, against
evil in every shape and form. Evil is as much in the world today as it
was in Paul's time and we must fight against it everywhere. We are not
to shut our eyes to it, or try to patch up a compromise with it.
Christians are bound to fight against evil principalities, evil powers,
the evil rulers of the darkness of this world–and wicked spirits in
high places.

13. Therefore take unto you the whole armor of God. What stress the
Apostle lays upon this point! He repeats the command he had just given
and again emphasizes the fact that it is "the whole armor of God" that
is to be worn. There are some professing Christians who only in part
obey the injunction given here–but it is no use to wear a part of the
Christian armor and to leave the rest of the soul unarmed. A little
leak will sink a ship and the absence of one piece of the armor of God
may cost a man his soul! "Therefore take unto you the whole armor of
God."

13. That you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done
all, to stanc. That is what we have to do–to keep our place and our
standing as Christians right to the end. To be apparently pure and holy
for a time is no use at all. Transient professors will find everlasting
ruin, "but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved."
We are in God's army for life–we can never quit this warfare till God
shall call us home!

14. Stand, therefore, having your loins girt about with Truth. Let this
girdle of the everlasting Truth of God brace you up. Let it tighten all
the rest of your armor.

14. And having on the breastplate of righteousnes. Let your heart be
guarded by the knowledge that you are right with God–that you love
that which is holy and true. Put on the righteousness of Christ,
Himself, as the best possible protection for your heart.

15. And your feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace.
Rough roads grow smooth when these blessed Gospel sandals are on your
feet. A little stone in the shoe will make the pilgrim's progress a
very wearisome and painful one, so try to keep out all the
stones–everything about which you have any scruple, or that you think
may be wrong– and walk in the safe and narrow way set forth in the
Gospel of Peace.

16. Above all. Over all, covering all from head to foot.

16. Taking the shield of faith. [See Sermon #416, Volume 7–SHIELD OF
FAITH.] For you need this shield to protect both your armor and
yourself.

16. Therewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the
wicked. Not only the fiery darts of the Wicked One, but those, also, of
wicked men and wicked women who may throw at you afar, darts that are
all ablaze which would burn as well as pierce you if you were not well
guarded against them. Nothing can quench these fiery darts but the
shield of faith!

17. And take the helmet of salvatioi.. You used to wear the helmet of
pride with its fine nodding plumes, but that has been taken off of you
long ago. Now put on "the helmet of Salvation." This will effectually
defend your head and no sword will be able to cleave through it to
injure you. Your brain and everything that is connected with your
mental powers will be right when you know that you are saved–and when
the power of God's salvation is working within you!

17. And the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. [See Sermon
#2201, Volume 37–the sword of the spirit.] There is no sword like
that! It pierces even to the dividing

asunder of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow and is a discerner of
the thoughts and intents of the heart. Nothing can resist the Word of
God if it is only wielded aright. There is one more weapon in the
heavenly armory.

18. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit. When
you cannot use your sword, and even when you can hardly grasp your
shield, you can pray. That weapon of "all prayer" is of the handiest
kind because it can be turned in any and every direction. "Praying
always with all prayer"–groaning prayers, weeping prayers, prayers
that are made up of single words, prayers that have not a word in them,
prayers for others, prayers of confession, prayers of
thanksgiving–"praying always with all prayer and supplication in the
Spirit."

18. And watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for
all saints. But will prayer for other people help us? Yes, very much!
You will sometimes find that when you cannot pray for yourself, it is a
good plan to pray for somebody else. Think of some child of God and
pray for him or her–and then the fire of supplication will soon burn
up in your heart! The Lord turned the captivity of Job when he prayed
for his friends and He will do the same for you. I have heard many of
our members say that when they have felt bound in prayer, they have
pleaded for their Pastor and afterwards they have been able to pray for
themselves. I advise more of you to try that plan–it will do me good
and then if it also does you good, there will be a double advantage in
it! Paul was of the same mind as I am, for he added.

19, 20. 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. "An ambassador in bonds!" Such a thing was
never heard of in earthly courts! We never think of chaining an
ambassador, but this is how men treated this great messenger from the
court of Heaven!

20-22. That therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak But that
you also may know my affairs, and how I do, Tychicus, a beloved brother
and faithful minister in the Lord, shall make known to you all things:
whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose, that you might know our
affairs, and that he might comfort your hearts. It is well for
Christian people to know how it fares with their spiritual guides. Paul
wished the Ephesian saints to know in what state of heart he found
himself–that they might the more intelligently pray for him.

23, 24. Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all them that love our
Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen. I am sure that we can heartily
repeat that benediction. May the Lord send much of His Grace to all His
people in every part of the earth who love Him in sincerity! Amen.