Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might, that on the whole armour of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 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 armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with the truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness. Your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 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, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints. May God bless you. Now we've done already one week's study, or one session's study, on this tremendous full armour of God that we are encouraged by Paul here to put on. And as I was thinking about it again, the next two items we shall look at proceed to David and Goliath. Goliath, the Old Testament, a formidable opponent, both physically, a huge spear like a weaver's beam and physically he was tremendously huge and strong. He wore armour which was impenetrable it would have seen. He was totally invincible. And there was David. David who was just a mere stripling of a lad, a chap who seemed to have no hope at all of battling with this huge giant. And David set aside the conventional armour that they tried to put upon him and chose that, that which turned out to be suitable and would give him the victory. And in these verses here we're told that we face an enemy more daunting than even Goliath was for David. But we're told here too that we need not rely on conventional weapons and strategy, but on that which Paul describes for us here in these verses, these six pieces of armour. And so last time we were together, we started off thinking about particularly the belt of truth and the way in which it is the foundation for all that we would seek to know and to experience and to do, the will of God. That belt which for the Roman soldier was indispensable, held everything together, tucked his tunic into so that he could go into battle unimpeded. And we thought about the truth that Paul speaks about here, being that truth which Jesus said, and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you whole. And how John in his gospel says, sanctify, or rather the Lord said, recorded for us in John's gospel, sanctify them in truth, your word is truth. And so that was the foundational garment that Paul described here for us. And then we thought about the breastplate of righteousness, that metal plate that covered the whole of the front and the back of the body to protect the vital organs beneath, and how that it was so effective in doing this. And we thought how that the righteousness that we would wish to clothe ourselves in, as humanly speaking, would be of no use whatsoever to us in repelling the attacks of the evil one, Satan himself. And so we were not dressed in our own righteousness. This breastplate speaks of the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, that which would prove prove exactly what was necessary for us to repel the wiles of the evil one. And so we are clothed by God in his righteousness and that through putting on in faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and his atoning sacrifice. And so we challenged ourselves as to whether we allowed God to deal with us in a particular way, as it were, in tightening that belt of truth, if we allowed God, through the Word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, to increase our knowledge of the truth and our acceptance of it. and how that breastplate of righteousness, we needed to make sure that we allowed God not only to place it upon us but to keep it in good order. So that was our first two items of armour that we thought about. And today we come to think of two others, the boots, if you like, and the shield. And we find that in verse 15 and verse 16. And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, above all taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. So first of all then, these what we might call war boots, because that's what Paul would have been looking at as he gazed upon this soldier to whom he was chained. This soldier would have had a pair of short ankle boots on. They were called Kaliga and they were open-toed leather half-boots with a heavily nailed and studded sole and strapped to the ankles and the shins. These particular boots were not for running but they were for marching. They were to give the soldier traction as he marched and to give him stability, give him the opportunity and the ability to stand firm and to be ready to advance. And if we're to have any modicum of success in the battle that we're engaged in, that battle in verse 12, wrestling against flesh, not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places, if we're to have any modicum of success in that, we need to be those who are rooted firmly and ready to advance. We mustn't be susceptible to being pushed back. Paul says that such a stance is possible and he says it's possible if we're equipped with the gospel of peace. Our feet shod with the gospel of peace. Standing firm because of our peace with God and also because of the peace of God within our hearts. So peace of God first of all, Romans 5 verse 1 tells us, therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Without Christ there's no peace with God. We recognise that when we come in repentance to the Father God for our sins and we accept the substitutionary sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross at Calvary. Immediately we have peace with God because those sins have been forgiven. We will not have them held against us to be judged for them. And so Paul says we have peace with God. The world longs and hungers for peace, doesn't it? I guess we do often in our own lives. It becomes, perhaps for some, an all-consuming pursuit just to have some peace in our lives. The world hopes that it can be achieved by money, by success, by celebrity, by good health, etc. All these things they seek after in the hope that it will bring them peace. but it only brings temporary relief. And certainly no peace with God is to be obtained by any of those things that I listed. The hymn writer put it beautifully, didn't he or she, I'm not sure which, when they said, I've tried the broken cisterns, Lord, but are the cisterns failed? But are the waters failed? And as I stooped to drink, they fled and mocked me as I wailed. You know, tremendous advantage for us, those of us who have had our sins forgiven, who have that peace with God, knowing that our sins are forgiven, that the price has been paid and that it's been paid by the only one who was eminently and only able to effect that glorious reconciliation for us to God. A joyful, utterly sublime situation for every believer. One has said some time ago, long ago, it was recorded, they said that there's nothing between me and God but peace. It's a lovely thought, isn't it? Between you and I as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ and our Father God, the righteous holy God, that there is nothing but peace. We have the peace of God then, at the moment we are those who have become children of God on confession of our faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. But not only do we have peace with God, we have the peace of God. John writing in John 14 says, let not your heart be troubled, the Lord Jesus says. Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. He says, peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth I give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. What better example is there in the Scriptures than the Lord Jesus Christ himself demonstrating this wonderful, wonderful peace that is ours, the peace of God in our lives. The Lord Jesus Christ, remember him in that fearful storm on the lake of Galilee. There he is, and he's not concerned with the storm. He's asleep in the hinder part of the boat, totally at peace. And as he's roused by the disciples, He comes to them and tells them not to fear. And he says to the waves, peace, be still. This is the God of peace. This is the peace of God that we can enjoy in our hearts and in our life. Divine peace from above, from the Prince of peace, peace which rises. above earthly difficulties and problems. So Paul says, your feet shod with the gospel of peace, peace with God through our sins being forgiven, the peace of God through the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. The word used here is the word shalom, which means completeness, soundness, welfare. It's a wonderful, wonderful piece that we have. Paul elaborates on it in Philippians and chapter 4, does he not? He speaks there of the peace of God. He speaks of the God of peace. He says in chapter 4, chapter of Philippians, he says, and the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. And then in a couple of verses on he says, and the God of peace shall be with you. the God of peace, a garrison, hedged around by this wonderful peace of God. The peace of God in our lives, super surpassing even understanding, anyone's understanding. So those who have peace with God and the peace of God, girding their feet are the powerful soldiers in the spiritual battle of verse 12 that we read against these, not flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of the darkness of the world. No matter what move the enemy makes, they hold their ground. and are prepared and ready to move forward and not to be driven back. That's the wonder of having these, being shod with the gospel of peace. So every true born-again believer, as we've said, has peace with God, but may not evidence the peace of God in their lives. It's possible for us to have the peace of God through having had our sins forgiven, being children of God, but then not to enjoy the benefits of the peace of God in our lives. Paul in Philippians 4 says, be careful for nothing. It doesn't mean to be careless, but to care less. Be careful for nothing. But in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God. And the God of peace, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ. Feet shod then with the gospel of peace. Peace with God. The peace of God. A firm foundation for you and I for moving forward into the battle. And then we come to the shield. In verse 16 he says, Paul is looking at this soldier and probably the soldier would have had two shields in those days. He would have had one small shield which would have strapped to his arm which he would have used to defend himself in close combat. but also standing up against the wall would have been his shield for going into battle in the first place. And that shield was an enormous shield, a large shield, thought to have been something about four feet high and two feet wide, like a door. In fact, the name for it, a scutum, was the word they used for door. and it was a large four by two, twin layers of wood, linen on the front and leather on the top of that. top and bottom bound with iron and decorated with an iron ornament in the middle. A huge shield and very, very strong. Protected the whole body, for he would have been facing up to javelins and arrows and many of the arrows would have been flaming arrows, but they were all dealt with by this particular shield. Paul is trying to impress upon us as believers here, I think, not only the ferocity of the attacks that we will be subjected to, but to the complete adequacy and the defence of the armour at our disposal. The enemy Satan, let's face it, we understand, is in the business of launching a continual onslaught of blazing arrows at each and every one of us. Temptations, strategies, deceptions, with the express purpose of rendering our Christian lives impotent. We recognize it surely and we accept it that each and every one of us, all of our lives are assailed by lusts which even if they are only a tiny, tiny flame of lust can be flamed into a blazing inferno. We're subject to pressure all the time in realms of sensuality. degrading passions. We burn so easily, don't we, when we're attacked by these particular passions? The danger is, of course, and perhaps you've done it. I'm sure I have. We argue with God sometimes, don't we, about those passions? We say, come on God, if you didn't want us to enjoy these passions, why did you give them to us? Why did we have to be given them? We would say to God, perhaps my family, my friends, my neighbours, they indulge in these passions and they seem to get on very well. They seem to do extremely well in their lives. Well, Paul, on more than one occasion, makes the case that we should be those who use this tremendous armor that we've got, this shield, to be able to repel such passions, such dangerous situations. And in 2 Thessalonians, chapter 4, he says, But what he's saying is we must employ that shield of faith. We must put faith and trust in God's word. And it's not only the fiery attacks, the direct fiery attacks of the devil, but those of daily life itself, the things that come into our lives and give us such failings in our lives so often as we try to live out our Christian lives using this armour. Things like illness and tragedy and persecution. We'll even at times perhaps doubt the existence of God, doubt his goodness to us, the truth of the gospel, etc, etc. You can add to the list. All these things are fired at us by the evil one and we need that shield to repel them, to deal with them. As the soldier would have stood in his garrison with his shield in front of him, the arrows would have been fired at him, the flaming arrows, and they sunk into the shield. but they were extinguished because of the construction of that shield. The flames died out and that's what we need to be doing in our Christian lives when we are assailed by all these fearful arrows that the evil one would fire at us. Then there are those, of course, those dangers, those arrows that are fired at us, even, dare I say, from our own fellowships, perhaps, when we're amongst those who we would not expect to do so. David, in Psalm 64, laments the attacks on him by those who claim to stand with him. On another occasion, he lamented the fact that his own familiar friend, Ahithophel, the high priest, had turned his heel against him. These arrows, they so often hit us, don't they? So often strike us. And they hurt. They hurt. They really hurt. But by employing, Paul says, this shield of faith, they can be snuffed out and rendered impotent. Faith in God and in his word. Paul, writing to the Romans in 1221, says, be not overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good. And if that were not bad enough, the arrows are not exhausted yet. What about those arrows, those passions that bring us such pleasure? Pride, vanity, false self-love. Paul says we need to be on our guard. God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble. Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ says. Again, resist the devil and he will flee from you. It's absolutely certain that throughout our Christian lives, multiple thousands of deadly blazing arrows will be launched at us. And the answer to them all is faith, because faith binds us in an intimate, indissolvable, indestructible union with our Father God. It's more than just a tacit belief, it's belief in action, it's faith. It's realizing that God has given us a shield of faith to snuff out the fiery arrows of sensuality, trials, jealousies, criticisms, hypocrisies, vanity, et cetera, et cetera. David eschewed the armor of men, however good it looked, and equipped himself with God's armor. And God honored his faith in giving him the victory. That's the possibility for each and every one of us, to take Paul's advice here, to girdle ourselves with the belt of truth, the truth of God, to polish, if you like, the breastplate of righteousness, to make sure that we understand the full benefits of being shod with the war boot of the gospel of peace. and to regularly bring that shield up to deflect the arrows that the evil one would fire at us. And if that were not enough to save us, those four things, we've got two more to come. We've got a helmet and a sword. Amen. 702, please. 702 safe to the rock, that is higher than I, my soul in its comfort.