Turn with me, if you would, to Romans 5. Romans 5, reading together the first 11 verses of that chapter. Hear now the Word of the Lord. Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance character, and character hope. And hope does not disappoint us because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit whom He has given us. You see, at just the right time when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through Him? For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life? Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. And our text tonight is verse 15 of Ephesians chapter 6. Verse 15, I'll begin by reading verse 14. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and then our text, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. Dear people of God, when one engages in any sort of competition, he or she must be ready, right? Whether you are engaged in athletic competition or musical competition or a debate of some sort or war, you have to be prepared. You must know what it is you must do. And especially in certain kinds of competition where two sides are fighting it out for something, you must know the competition. You must know what you're up against. You must be able to counter their moves or their attacks. You must be equipped to stand firm against the competition. Now you recall that in his explanation of the full armor of God, Paul began with the belt of truth. The belt is a symbol that when one is girded, when that belt is fastened tightly, then that one is ready for action. And that belt, as we have said, is also foundational for the other pieces of armor. And as Paul has described, the spiritual belt is truth. It is the truth of the Word of God. It is the truth of God in Jesus Christ. And just as the Roman soldier's belt holds the breastplate in place, the truth of God points to the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Righteousness which replaces, or can we say fits over as a breastplate, the unrighteousness of the child of God. And then the righteousness of Christ imputed to God's people removes the wrath of God from them and changes their standing before God from guilty to not guilty. Christ's righteousness brings reconciliation and peace between God and His children so that the justified believer stands firm at peace with God. He stands firm against the enemy by the grace of God with the confidence that God is on His side, or maybe we should say that God has brought the justified believer to God's side. And He stands on His feet ready for action, ready for the attacks of the evil one because He knows that nothing and no one can overpower the captain of His team. Beloved, this text tonight puts before us the call to stand ready with peace-protected feet. And I want to consider with you, first of all, the requirement for readiness. Secondly, the characteristics of readiness. And finally, the source of readiness. Now it might be interesting to some of you that Paul incorporates the feet in his analogy of spiritual armor. After all, how important can feet be? Isn't it true that unless you have bad feet, feet that are often sore, feet that give you trouble, or maybe feet that no longer work, unless you're in that kind of a situation, You don't give your feet much thought. Let's face it, we often use our feet without thinking about them. Our brain tells our legs to move and walk and our feet go off in whatever direction we are pointing. Our feet are so far from our eyes that we often forget about them. And if you think about it, our feet often get the dirtiest job, don't they? Of walking through the dirt and the dust and the sand. Something that's not very glamorous. Many of us might think that in this discussion here, feet are relatively unimportant, especially compared to some of the other pieces of armor and the parts of the body that are covered by that armor. Again, the breastplate covers what? Well, the heart and the lungs and the other internal organs that are necessary for life. The helmet, as we'll consider later on, covers the head, protects the brain. You see, it's true that one can live without functioning feet, but not without a beating heart, not without a brain that is working. Yet Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, reminds us that the entire person and the entire personality is engaged in this spiritual warfare. Not one part of us is to be exempt. And in 1 Corinthians 12, he makes it clear that all the members of the body, even those members that seem to be the least, are important because without even the least of the members, the body does not function as it is supposed to. Now, in life, balance is important, isn't it? We're often told that we have to have a well-balanced diet. We have to balance our work and our play. But we often need physical balance, but we also need physical balance, don't we? And where does that come from? Well, largely from the feet. Experts say that if you lose one big toe, your balance will be off. Your feet give you balance for walking, for running, for standing, for squatting down, for standing on the tips of your toes. Your feet give you balance for the activities of life. And congregation, balance is also necessary for the Christian life. Balance. Knowing where you stand before God and in relation to Satan. Knowing how and why you stand as you do. Balance in the Christian life comes by the grace of God from a knowledge, conviction, and confidence of one's standing before God and this makes one ready for action. You see, in the spiritual warfare as well as in life, the feet play a vital part. No matter how powerful the chest may be, if you get wounded in the feet, if you slip and fall, You are an easy target. Something you don't want to be. Paul emphasizes the requirement for ready feet from the very beginning of his exhortation about the armor of God. Put on the full armor of God. Why? So that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. Then a bit later. So that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. Stand firm. Beloved, Paul emphasizes the requirement for ready feet. That is required. Standing firm with the full armor of God depends upon the safety, the security, and the functioning of the feet in the spiritual sense. When Paul says, with your feet fitted, the Greek literally says, having sandaled your feet. Having put on the proper sandals. And again, as he has been doing, he borrows from the illustration of a Roman soldier. It's commonly believed that a Roman soldier wore a certain type of sandal. His combat boots were not those high, laced up, shiny black boots that we often associate with the military today. His combat boots were not heavy steel-toed boots, but sandals with a thick protective sole with leather straps which were fastened over the foot and around the ankle to keep the sandals tight and secure and in place so they wouldn't be flipping and flopping around. And a very important feature of these combat sandals was that nails or studs were attached on the bottom of the sole. We're kind of familiar with that. Just as sprinters wear special spiked track shoes. Golfers wear a special shoe. Baseball, football, soccer players wear special cleats in the same way the special sandals of the Roman soldier gave him a firm hold in the ground. And these sandals helped to keep him from slipping and sliding and falling all over the place. And the soles of the sandal also had a special function. Often the enemy would plant booby traps. They would take a piece of wood or a stick and sharpen it to a very sharp point, hide it in the ground with the point facing straight up just out of the ground. It was hard to see, but without sandals, as you can imagine, if you stepped on it, it would pierce your foot, penetrate the sole of your foot, causing severe pain and bleeding and no doubt sure infection and therefore putting the soldier out of action. If you've ever stepped on a sharp object, a piece of metal or broken glass, you know what this is talking about in part. You can hardly walk after you do that. But one more feature of these sandals was that they were relatively lightweight for quick movement which was invaluable to an army. Beloved, the feet symbolized a solid stand. Readiness for action. and the ability to maneuver swiftly and properly in the battle. The whole body depends upon proper functioning of the feet. The Christian soldier must stand firm in the spiritual battle, in the spiritual sense, which is demonstrated in his life. His feet must be ready to dig in and stand firm on the truth. His feet must not cause him to slip and slide or stumble or fall because Satan is always ready to attack us when we are least ready. His feet must be ready to move with the enemy to guard against any surprise attacks. We're talking here now about the characteristics of readiness. And the overall characteristics of this armor for the feet, as I trust you've already sensed, is preparation, readiness, equipping. The feet must be equipped and ready. Paul uses the same word as he uses in Titus 1 where he exhorts believers to be ready for every good work. Be prepared. Stand firm. And the spiritual armor for the feet is what? The text says the gospel of peace. The good news of peace. Now why the gospel of peace? And what is that talking about? Well, some say that Paul is telling believers to be ready to take with their feet the good news to others. Always be ready to evangelize and preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And we know that this is our calling. We don't argue against that. Peter says, always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you. But what is the context here? Boys and girls, what is the context that Paul is talking about with the armor? You see, he's dealing with our fight and our conflict with the devil. It's a conflict not against flesh and blood, but it's a spiritual conflict. And therefore, in this particular portion of Scripture, he's not talking about evangelizing, but about the Christian being attacked day and night. He's not talking about offense here going out, but he's talking about defense standing firm and ready. He's not talking in this passage about promoting the Gospel, but defending with the Gospel. And the Gospel of peace, as we hope to see in a moment in our third point, is talking about the Christian soldier's relationship to God, which is to give Him confidence to stand firm. The Christian soldier is called to stand ready, prepared, equipped, first of all with firmness, confidence, and a sense of assurance in this fight against the devil. A prepared soldier is a confident soldier, an assured soldier, but one who is not equipped is shaky, ready to collapse. The Christian is engaged in a mortal conflict with a powerful, sneaky, and cunning adversary who will try to pull the rug out from under your feet at every opportunity. And the Christian must stand guard against slipping and sliding. His feet must be firmly in place. And this means that the Christian must be resolute and determined. First of all, he must resolve to be a good soldier of Jesus Christ and be determined to be a good soldier no matter what. Beloved, you must resolve to cling to the Gospel of Jesus Christ no matter what the enemy may fling at you. And this means that your Christianity must be firm. not half-hearted, not on again, off again, not desiring the benefits, but rejecting the duties, not wanting the privileges, but rejecting the responsibilities of the Christian life. Paul is saying here, we could paraphrase, stand firm with your feet, equipped with confidence, resoluteness, and assurance. In other words, don't rush out onto the battlefield, as it were, with bare feet. In 1 Corinthians 16, verse 13, Paul says, Watch. Stand fast in the faith. Be brave. Be strong. Many today in the church are slipping and sliding and falling. All because they are compromising the Gospel. Many are trying to make friends and influence enemies that they are doing it at the cost of the offense of the Gospel, wiping out the offense. Beloved, if you take away the offense of the Gospel, you've taken away the Gospel. God is a God of love, for instance. Therefore, He must be all-inclusive when it comes to salvation. And maybe you've noticed over the last couple of years, if you've paid attention in the religious sector, that some of the Reformed and Protestant sector is willing to rejoin with those they separated from, they protested from 500 years ago. Those who still today pronounce a curse, an anathema on those who believe in justification by grace alone through faith alone. And they're willing to join them because many don't know the truth. They are not equipped with the Gospel. So much shifting and moving is taking place to the great pleasure of the devil. You see, we are called to stand firm with our doctrine, with what the Bible teaches. And beloved, that includes the deep doctrines of the Bible as we've been considering the hard-to-comprehend doctrines of the Bible as we've been considering with the canons of Dorne. Consider these questions. Do you know what to believe? Do you really believe that the Bible is the Word of God, divinely and uniquely inspired, inerrant and infallible? Are you ready to stand firm on the truth of Scripture? Are you ready to stand firm for the deity of Christ? For His virgin birth? Things that are always attacked. For His miracles that they really happen. Are you ready to stand firm for the substitutionary, sacrificial, atoning death of our Lord that that is our desperate need that we could not live without it? Are you willing to stand firm on the truth of the resurrection as a literal fact? What about the personhood of the Holy Spirit? Beloved, do you know what your position is when it comes to many of the doctrines of Scripture? How can you stand firm if you don't know? Martin Luther, with his life in danger because of the things that he had been teaching and the things that he had written against the Roman Catholic Church, stood firm by the grace of God on the grace of God. And when he was demanded to recant of the things he was teaching and writing, He said, here I stand, I can do no other. To recant, to take back what I have said and wrote would be disobedience to God. Politicians often talk out of both sides of their mouths. We say, but God doesn't. The Bible cannot be interpreted in two different ways as some claim. God does not contradict Himself. The moment you begin to compromise, you begin slipping and sliding in both doctrine and in life. In congregation, it doesn't do any good to stand firm on what you believe if you don't practice it in your life. If you are converted, you must stand unflinchingly on the Lord's side. That means that you must not even taste the old habits of the old life. Stay away from them. Young people, when you are tempted by friends who have worldly desires and tempted to compromise your Christianity, you must say, I cannot betray my Lord. I am pledged to obey His commandments because He has not abandoned me. He has pledged Himself to me forever and ever. Are you standing firm for Him? Or are you standing with one foot in the church and the other in the world? Beloved, standing on the fence is not only unsafe, but it's also terribly unbalanced. Another characteristic of readiness is watchfulness, being alert. When one is watching, then His feet are ready to take action. We sang, where duty calls or danger, be never wanting there. In other words, watch. Keep your eyes peeled as they say. Be ready. I think most of us can identify this mostly again when it comes to athletic competition. When you're engaged in athletic competition and you're busy watching what the other side is doing, then you're going to be ready to move with their moves. Paul often commanded believers to watch. The Colossian believers were to walk circumspectly. In other words, watch where you put your feet. Watch your every step because of the booby traps of the devil that seek to damage your foothold. Don't kid yourself. Satan is restless. He's ceaseless as a roaring lion. As we know, he is continually prowling. He never tires. Beloved, we are called to be watchful because Satan's attacks are often unexpected. We never know when, where, or how they're coming, or He is coming. And often times of spiritual high for the believer are the most dangerous. In fact, Peter warns against overconfidence when he says, You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked. Satan is subtle. He seeks to ambush, to toss to and fro, back and forth. And he doesn't always do it as a roaring lion. He changes his tactics. In 2 Corinthians 11, Paul describes Satan as disguising himself as an angel of light. And he also works through the powerful, authoritative sounding words of men who may sound religious, but who themselves upon careful scrutiny and inspection don't stand firm on the truth because they don't really know the truth. Paul speaks of the trickery of men, which means the cleverness by which the quickness of the hand deceives the eye. We've all heard in magic shows the hand is quicker than the eye. Look out for the trickery of man. And in his dealings, Satan often contradicts himself. His methods may change from violent condemnation one day to flattery the next. He might drive one headlong into sin or he might subtly entice one into sin. At one time he attacks Scripture, the next time he uses it or tries to use it to his own advantage as when he tempted Jesus. One time he tells us we're not good enough to be Christians The next time he tells us, tries to make us believe that we're so good, we don't need the death of Christ because God will accept us on our own merits. One time he tells us that only good works will earn us salvation. And the next time he says that no works are necessary at all, so forget about being obedient to the law. Just say you believe. That's all you have to do. Just say you believe. People of God, do we know Satan's schemes? Do we recognize the camouflage that Satan is expert in using? Do we know the different forms and disguises in which he appears? Remember, Jesus said, watch and pray lest you enter into temptation. We are called to be alert. Always watching, eyes wide open, always aware of what the enemy is doing, always ready to defend against his schemes. And this means, congregation, you must be a student of the Word of God. Each one of us needs to sincerely answer the question, am I a student of the Word of God? What is it that characterizes a student? Well, he's one who studies. And there's one other important characteristic about readiness which we cannot forget about, and that's mobility. Mobility. Being able to move. Great generals of history employed mobility with much success, moving their troops quickly and effectively to get in the proper position. We are called to be ready to move in order to counter those changing attacks of the devil. The Christian's feet must be ready to move and stand firm in whatever direction Satan may be firing from. You see, he attacks from inside the church. He attacks from outside the church. He attacks in the private arena of life as well as the public arena of life. And it's no secret that the truth of the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ is being challenged and attacked, it seems, from every corner today. And one who is slow or heavy-footed or sluggish or lifeless will be stampeded by Satan's hosts. A congregation to lack mobility is to be a lifeless Christian. And unfortunately, we see a lot of that today. Shame on us. Us here. For not getting at least as excited about the Christian life as we do about sports. Or about our hobbies. Or about our vacations. When's the last time you took an inventory to compare the time you spend on extracurricular activities and you allow your children to spend compared to the time that you devote to the kingdom of God. It's interesting as well that it's always intrigued me that for a basketball game or for a concert or for something exciting, the front fills up first. The front seat is the best. But with the church, it fills up from back to front. Ushers, why do you do that? Why don't you usher people to the front first? the first that come get the best seat in the house. What's the matter? Don't we want to sit close around the throne of God to hear Him speak to us? As well, when we come to worship at God's house, do we give the impression, congregation, that we are doing the most wonderful and thrilling thing in the world? Are we alive and rejoicing? Because this is a foretaste of that eternal worship. Or do we look like we're taking a bad-tasting dose of medicine? Do we fit with what some have accused the Reformed of being? The frozen chosen. You see, a somber, lifeless Christian is a denial in many respects of the Gospel at its most glorious point of giving life. The Gospel is good news. What do you do when you hear good news? You smile! Rejoice! It's something wonderful. to be heavy-footed, slow-moving, lethargic, having to be whipped up and begged constantly and urged to do this or that with regard to church programs, for example. To be too busy to participate instead of running to and rejoicing in the life of the church and in the communion of the saints is a sad representation of Christianity. This text, beloved, like all of God's Word, calls for each and every one of us to examine ourselves with the things that we have heard. Are you standing firm, watching, ready to move to defend the honor of God, yourself, and your actions and defend with the Gospel? Remember Gideon? 32,000 men joined him to fight against the Midianites. However, 31,700 were sent away because only 300 were truly ready for action by God's grace. You can only stand ready if you possess the source of this readiness. And this source, beloved, is the Gospel of peace. The armor sandals are the Gospel and the content is peace. This isn't talking about world peace between nations. But it's talking about peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. There is no peace between Satan and God. There never can be. And that's why compromise will never work. Satan is the enemy of God and the only way to stand firm on God's side is to be at peace with Him. Peace with God is readiness to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. But if you don't have peace with God, true saving peace, then you can only be at enmity against Him. And if that's the case, then you're on Satan's side. a side which is guaranteed to lose. But those who are justified by grace through faith, those to whom God has imputed the righteousness of Jesus Christ, they have peace with God and they stand firm on the grace of God. Paul says again in Romans 5, verses 1 and 2, Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. These verses must be the Christian's banner of truth. Without the peace of God, you will be and can only be in doubt about your salvation. And then instead of engaging in the spiritual battle, you'll be busy struggling with yourself and you will be a prime target for Satan as you will be nothing more than a spiritual couch potato. Only the peace of God frees one from the burdens of sin that weigh one down and make him sluggish. Only the peace of God gives one confidence and encouragement and zeal to fight the good fight. Only the peace of God that passes understanding takes away our anxiety and guides our hearts and minds so that we can stay the course. And beloved, only the peace of God places Christian soldiers in a position in which they cannot be defeated and gives them the sure confession that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. Without the peace of God, you will be nothing more than a spiritual casualty of war who will suffer eternally in that prison camp called hell. True peace and the readiness it brings to stand firm against the schemes of the devil is a gift of God's grace. And when Satan's schemes include the message that it's each man for himself, it's survival of the fittest, that if you don't watch out for yourself, no one else will because there is no peace, only enmity, then the Gospel truth fires back. Nothing shall separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. And as Paul says in verse 9 of Romans 5, since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through Him? Beloved, when Satan's message is that your sins are so great, there's no way God is your friend. As we sang earlier. He's really your enemy. Then the forgiven sinner points to the cross of Jesus that goes before Him and says, He's not only my best friend, He's my Savior. He's my Prince of Peace. Only those who have been reconciled to God through the blood of Christ have eternal peace with God. For them, the war is over. And they are victors by the grace of God who still today can say with confidence, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. Is that peace yours? Can you confess it? Does it cover your feet? In a few moments after the service, we have the opportunity to greet and send off our children who will be returning to college, whether far or near. And to those of you who are going off to college, I ask you, are you ready? Are you ready? Are you prepared? You see, when you leave, don't kid yourself. Satan will be there. He will be there to tempt you. You're in a sense out of your comfort zone, away from home, away from your parents, away from your home church. He will tempt you hard. Are you ready? Do you have this peace? Is it yours? Can you confess it? Does it cover your feet so that you can stand firm? For all of us, if so, stand ready. Stand confident. Stand watchful. Stand up for Jesus. Amen. Shall we pray? Father, give us Your peace in greater measure every day. Apply it to our hearts more and more by the power of Your Spirit. Give us the strength to stand firm wherever we are at in this world to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. May we not take our feet for granted, but always be ready for whatever may come our way, confessing that our strength only comes from the Lord who is our refuge and our strength and ever-present help in times of trouble. We praise You, Heavenly Father, for being our strength, our portion, and our shield. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.