The Shed
3.1.26 sunday morning
- I Just Feel Like Something Good
- Let God Arise
- im on the battlefield for my lord
- I am blessed
- my God's got an army
- went ot the enemies camp
- We began by taking a trek through the book of Ephesians, discovering what Paul reveals about the identity of the believer in Christ and Christ’s work in us.That identity and power are critical as we arrive at chapter 6 where the scripture begins to speak of setting in order the Christian life, ready for what lies ahead.Then in verse 10 we read…
Ephesians 6:10–13 NASB95 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.Paul makes this assumption, that once you realize who you are in Christ, the question is not whether you will enter the battlefield, but will you be prepared when you get there?How does he say to prepare?First is to recognize that the strength belongs to the Lord…Ephesians 6:10 NASB95 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.Be strong IN THE LORD and the strength of HIS MIGHT.That word strength there is the Greek is kratos which can be power or might, but most of the time it is translated DOMINION… because this strength is not just physical, it is influential…This victory isn’t resting on your strength! This victory is based in HIS dominion, rule, and reign…That is the strength of His might!So we do what the scripture calls us to…Ephesians 6:11–12 NASB95 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.God has given us the word that this is a year of harvest, and we have already seen the first fruits of that begin…And even since we have started this series, I have had call after call about attacks of the enemy because we have stirred something up in the spirit realm…The enemy was fine when we were sitting in here learning who we were going to be at The Shed…He was inattentive when we were developing our vision, mission, and core values…But the minute we shifted our focus out there… Now he’s mad… in fact he’s BIG MAD…THEREFORE. We prepare! Therefore, we get armored up…Therefore…Ephesians 6:13–14 NASB95 13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,We talked about leading with truth and how truth ties all the armor together.It’s the first thing Paul mentions in the ensemble followed immediately by the breastplate of righteousness…Last week we talked about the Breasplate of Righteousness that isn’t ours but His, given as a gift, just as the rest of the armor is a gift of light from the father of lights…Romans 13:12 NASB95 12 The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.So it’s not our strength, it’s his. It’s not our truth, He is the truth, and it’s not our righteousness, it’s His Righteousness we wear as a breastplate.This week we are going to look at the next piece of the armor: The Shoes of the preparation of the gospel of peace…Ephesians 6:14–15 NASB95 14 Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;There are those who read this passage and they try to picture what shoes the author is talking about, whether they were the spiked shoes of the roman soldiers or the walking shoes, or whatever else…But We don’t have to go anywhere else to find what the author intended in this text. The scripture is plain in this verse about what is meant…Ephesians 6:15 NASB95 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;I’m going to point out something deeply theological with this question so please listen close and don’t miss it…What is the reason you put your shoes on?This is a discussion we have at our house nearly every day, but especially on Sundays when the dress shoes come out.Any time we have something planned and we have to be there at a certain time, it is inevitable that there will come a time, usually around the moment we are supposed to be walking out the door that we will head toward the exit only to find that one if not both of our kids will not have their shoes on…So what we have to say when we are telling them to prepare to leave the house is…GET READY! PUT YOUR SHOES ON! WE ARE ABOUT TO GO!So what is the reason you put your shoes on?It is because you are getting ready to GO!Look at someone next to you and tell them, “Get your shoes on, we are getting ready to go.”If we are at the stage of getting our shoes on, then we are not just polishing, we aren’t just training, we are preparing to GO!It’s time we got ready to go! Not just to the building we gather in, not just to our normal day to day, but get ready to enter the battle field where the harvest awaits…GET READY! PUT YOUR SHOES ON! WE ARE GOING TO GO!Anyone ever been told from the open door, “We are leaving right now! Let’s go!”It’s usually at that point that the complaints about the shoes start…They are too tight or the socks are not lined up right…Or they feel weird…And we have to tell them, we specifically bought those shoes in your size, ready for a bit of growth, and we got those socks specifically, and laid them out for you…In other words, put the shoes on, they have already been prepared for you!Remember the elements of the armor aren’t yours to work up… They are yours to put on…The shoes have already been prepared…That’s why he says…Ephesians 6:15 NASB95 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;So the first thing is that we are to be ready to go, and the way we do that is by putting on our feet the preparation…Now he could have said, “Put on your feet the Gospel as shoes” but he doesn’t. He says, put on your feet the preparation…In other words, this isn’t something He slapped together for you last minute..No this is something He prepared for YOU… And now you’re clothing yourself in His preparation…In fact this is a reiteration of something he said way back in chapter 2…Ephesians 2:10 NASB95 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.What are we walking in? THAT WHICH HE PREPARED!And what is that? THE WORK HE CREATED US FOR!Some of you think you’ve got catching up to do because you’re just now coming into this Christian walk, but He’s prepared this for you for a long time before you were ever here…He’s been preparing this moment and He’s been preparing you… and now you can wear His preparation as armor on your feet…Get ready to Go! Put on what He prepared for you!And what was it he prepared?Ephesians 6:15 NASB95 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;So get ready to go.. but how?By putting on what God has prepared…But Go do what?Spread the Gospel!Declare Jesus as Lord! Let the whole word know!There’s no waiting period for you to start making disciples! Now is the time you clothe yourself in what he prepared…Matthew 28:19 NASB95 19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,Acts 1:8 NASB95 8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”Mark 16:15 NASB95 15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.John 15:8 NASB95 8 “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.In fact Jesus Himself said this:John 15:16 NASB95 16 “You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.God has prepared this for you!I stand here and declare to you as Mordecai did to Esther… YOU HAVE BEEN BORN FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS!Go in what God has prepared for you!And the question always is, but WHERE do I go?Look at the verse again:Ephesians 6:15 NASB95 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;This gospel isn’t just any gospel…It’s the Gospel of Peace…That word Gospel wasn’t a new word invented for the story of Jesus…No that word was common in contemporary Greek and often it was used when a new ruler would take over, and new Caesar would come to power or a new governor would take an official seat, they would send out heralds with the “GOOD NEWS” that there was a new ruler in town….So when we talk about the Gospel, it is the good news of Jesus… the good news that there’s a new ruler in town…The Good news that there’s a king on the throne…And the government rests on His shoulders and His name is wonderful counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father… PRINCE OF PEACE!Prince of PEACE!This isn’t just any Gospel, it is THE gospel!The Gospel of one who came and will come again and is the God of peace!But the Gospel of Peace isn’t just a descriptor of the one in charge.. it is also the direction of the destination…If we are putting on our shoes, getting ready to go with what God has prepared for us beforehand, this Gospel of Peace…Then the place where we should go declare peace is where peace is not currently reigning…We aren’t just here to reinforce battlements… No we are putting on our shoes to go and spread the Gospel of Peace where chaos abounds…Everywhere you look, every news outlet you listen to, every post on facebook and instagram and tiktok seems to be riddled with people in chaos looking for what we carry!PEACE!John 16:33 NASB95 33 “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”2 Thessalonians 3:16 NASB95 16 Now may the Lord of peace Himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance.Colossians 3:15 NASB95 15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts…John 14:27 NASB95 27 “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.We are carriers of peace!And that peace is as much a weapon against darkness as any other piece we wear, because you can walk into the middle of a chaotic situation and declare peace over it…Matthew 10:12–15 ESV 12 As you enter the house, greet it. 13 And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14 And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. 15 Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.Look at that again…Matthew 10:13 ESV 13 And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.We are carriers of peace!And anywhere I go, I take that peace with me…Because I have…Ephesians 6:15 NASB95 15 …shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;So we get ready to go, we put on what God has prepared for us beforehand, we take the good news, and we carry peace with us into the places of chaos, bringing peace to those places in the power of His might!If you will put it on, you’ll walk into places and people will recognize the peace on you…I’ve been there in situations where people will walk up and just take a deep breath for no reason…I’ve been there when people are brought to tears because their lives are in chaos, but the moment peace enters the room they can breath again…Some of you are going to leave this place today and walk in somewhere that’s eat up with chaos, but you carry peace with you…This isn’t enemy land anymore… Because I got up this morning and put on what God had laid out for me and it was the Gospel of Peace!I put it on like shoes and I walk in it all day long, so that everywhere my feet take me, His peace I carry with me…This is what it is to shod your feet with the preparation of the Gospel of peace…This is what it is to take territory… Let me find out there’s some chaos close to me, I’ll show up with peace and shut it down…Some of you need to take peace back home with you…Some of you need to take peace to the restaurant with you…Some of you need to take peace to bed with you…Some of you need peace in your marriage… Peace in your mind… peace in your families…PUT IT ON! God has prepared it for you already!Ephesians 6:15 NASB95 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;Let’s put our shoes on…And carry peace… Ephesians 6:10–13NASB95
Ephesians 6:10NASB95
Ephesians 6:11–12NASB95
Ephesians 6:13–14NASB95
Romans 13:12NASB95
Ephesians 6:14–15NASB95
Ephesians 6:15NASB95
Ephesians 6:15NASB95
Ephesians 2:10NASB95
Ephesians 6:15NASB95
Matthew 28:19NASB95
Acts 1:8NASB95
Mark 16:15NASB95
John 15:8NASB95
John 15:16NASB95
Ephesians 6:15NASB95
John 16:33NASB95
2 Thessalonians 3:16NASB95
Colossians 3:15NASB95
John 14:27NASB95
Matthew 10:12–15NASB95
Matthew 10:13NASB95
Ephesians 6:15NASB95
Ephesians 6:15NASB95
- trust in God
- i believe