Sermon series: THE DOCTRINE OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD

Subject: The Battle Gear of the Kingdom of God (Part Three)

Ephesians 6:10-18
"In conclusion, be strong in the Lord [be empowered through your union with Him]; draw your strength from Him [that strength which His boundless might provides].
Put on God’s whole armor [the armor of a heavy-armed soldier which God supplies], that you may be able successfully to stand up against [all] the strategies and the deceits of the devil.
For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the despotism, against the powers, against [the master-spirits who are] the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural sphere).
Therefore put on God’ s complete armor, that you may be able to resist and stand your ground on the evil day [of danger], and, having done all [the crisis demands], to stand [firmly in your place].
Stand therefore [hold your ground], having tightened the belt of truth around your loins and having put on the breastplate of integrity and of moral rectitude and right standing with God.
And having shod your feet in preparation [to face the enemy with the firm-footed stability, the promptness, and the readiness produced by the good news] of the Gospel of peace.
Lift up over all the [covering] shield of saving faith, upon which you can quench all the flaming missiles of the wicked [one].
And take the helmet of salvation and the sword that the Spirit wields, which is the Word of God.
Pray at all times (on every occasion, in every season) in the Spirit, with all [manner of] prayer and entreaty.
To that end, keep alert and watch with strong purpose and perseverance, interceding in behalf of all the saints (God’s consecrated people)."

For the last number of lessons, we have been wrestling with the massive subject of Scripture...THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
We have learned that the KINGDOM OF GOD or The KINGDOM OF HEAVEN is referred to over one hundred times in the Gospels. It was the main message of John the Baptist, of Jesus, the apostles and Paul. And it is the gospel of the Kingdom that must be the central message of the Church today!
We have also observed that the Kingdom of God is not physical nor material, but spiritual. Paul said the Kingdom of God is not meat or drink, but righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Romans 14:17).
Jesus said: "And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind.
For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things.
But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you." (Luke 12:29-31).

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The Kingdom...it was the hope of ancient Israel. It was never given up, because it was in the very texture of Israel’s faith--and to have surrendered it would have been to surrender faith itself. As long as Israel retained any sense of calling as the people of God, or any faith in the integrity and power that God who is Lord of history, so long would there live the lively expectation of His coming Kingdom. It was of this matter that comprised the last question asked Christ before His ascension.
Acts 1:6 "Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, "Lord, will You at this time restore the Kingdom to Israel?"
As we pass from the Old Testament to the New, we stand "in the fullness of time" before Jesus of Nazareth who is called the Christ. As we do so, it is clear that our discussion of the biblical concept of the Kingdom of God has reached its climactic phase. For it is the unanimous affirmation of the New Testament that this Jesus is no less than the long-awaited Messiah, and that in Him all the hope of Israel has found its fulfillment and become present fact.
One thing is very clear, Christ’s concept of the Kingdom was not that of Israel. Theirs was one of physical conquest of Rome and the establishment of world rule and Jerusalem would be the capital. Jesus saw the Kingdom of God as conquest of Satan and the righteous rule of God...where the kingdoms of this world became the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, "and He shall reign forever and ever." (Revelation 11:15).
The Kingdom of God commenced with the coming of the King Jesus. Jesus said: "...if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. BUT IF I CAST OUT DEMONS BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD, SURELY THE KINGDOM OF GOD HAS COME UPON YOU. (Matthew 12:27-28).
The Old Testament is illuminated with the hope of the coming Kingdom, but the New Testament has introduced what we might call a tremendously significant change. In the Old Testament it was always spoken of in the future tense, but in the New Testament the proclamation is...THE KINGDOM IS HERE! This was the announcement of John, Jesus and the disciples. And that is a very "new thing" indeed; it is gospel--the good news that God has acted! It is the message of the Gospels...The King has come and the Kingdom has commenced!
The Bible is one book. Had we to give that book a title we might with justice call it "The Book of the Coming Kingdom of God." That is indeed, its central theme everywhere. The New Testament, however, there is this difference: the Kingdom of God has become also the Kingdom of Christ, and that Kingdom is actually at hand. When Jesus, in the synagogue at Nazareth (Luke 4:16-21), read from the book of Isaiah one of the Servant passages (Isaiah 61:1-2), and then said: "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing," he announced not that the finial act of the drama would one day begin, or that it was about to begin; He declared that it had, in truth, already begun; the Servant is here and has begun His work. The New Testament saw Jesus, as,

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we believe, He saw Himself--as the Christ, the promised Messiah, who has care to set up His Kingdom. It hailed Him as the fulfillment of law and prophecy. It affirmed with one voice that all the hope of Israel, in all its variegated patterns, had found its realization in Christ and His Kingdom.
The Gospel of the Kingdom is the message of the Church today! The Kingdom of God is at hand! Demonic powers of darkness and their earthly minions have held this world in deathly thrall. But good news! The Kingdom of God has commenced...the power of the new age has broken in, has grappled with the evil power and defeated it on the Cross, and now moves on to its final triumph! As the Church of Jesus Christ, we are to proclaim the rule of God, to summon men and women through faith to submit to it, to announce that in the Kingdom of God the longed-for salvation is possible!
In Christ, war has been declared against the kingdom of darkness!
This is that war Paul is referring to in the passage we are studying in Ephesians 6.
"For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the despotisms, against the powers, against [the master spirits who are] the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) sphere." (Ephesians 6:12).
When we put our trust in Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, Paul describes that spiritual event with these words: "Giving thanks to the Father, Who has qualified and made us fit to share the portion which is the inheritance of the saints (God’s holy people) in the Light. The Father has delivered and drawn us to Himself out of the control and the dominion of darkness and has transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in Whom we have our redemption through His blood [which means] the forgiveness of our sins. (Colossians 1:12-14)
As believers, now in Christ’s kingdom, we will continually be involved in this spiritual struggle with the enemy of our soul...the devil. But Peter gives us this wonderful word of encouragement! "Casting the whole of your care [all our anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.
Be well balanced (temperate, sober-minded), be vigilant and cautious at all times; for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring [in fierce hunger], seeking someone to seize upon and devour.
Withstand him; be firm in faith [against his onset--rooted, established, strong, immovable, and determined], knowing that the same (identical) sufferings are appointed to your brotherhood (the whole body of Christians) throughout the world.
And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace [Who imparts all blessing and favor], Who has called you to His [own] eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will Himself complete and make you what you ought to be, establish and ground you securely, and strengthen and settle you." (1 Peter 5:7-10)

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For this spiritual battle, Paul has instructed us to put on the whole armor of God. In recent lessons, we have considered the belt of truth and the breastplate of righteousness.
So we continue our search to understand the spiritual meaning of these various pieces of armor.
Verse 15 of text reads: "And having shod your feet in preparation [to face the enemy with the firm-footed stability, the promptness, and the readiness produced by the good news] of the Gospel of peace."
This third piece which has reference to the feet, reminds us again that the entire personality is engaged in this Christian warfare; and that therefore nothing must ever be neglected. One might be tempted to feel at first that the feet are comparatively unimportant.
There is the danger therefore, in the Christian life of regarding certain aspects as relatively unimportant, but we are told here that we must protect our feet, and for the obvious reason that they play a vital part in life. However powerful your chest may be, and however wonderful your loins, if you get wounded in your feet, or if you slip and fall in the battle, you will be easy prey for your enemy. So the feet, while having their own importance, contribute to the welfare of the whole body.
In the Roman Empire scrupulous care was given to the feet of the fighting soldier. The shoes were specially made, not only for long marches, but for protection against the secret dangers of the way. Gall-traps were set along the road, multitudes of sharp sticks, keen as dagger points, were inserted in its surface to obstruct the advance of an enemy, and to maim his soldiers and compel them to fall out by the way. And so it was an imperative necessity that the Roman soldier should be well shod, his feet made easy for the most exacting march, and thus defended against the hidden perils which would injure and weaken his ability to continue in service. The soles of the sandals were therefore thickly studded with hobnails to give surefootedness in rough terrain and slippery slopes. Shod in such shoes these ancient conquerors of the world stood ready to march in obedience to orders, along any road, to any field, whenever and wherever the trumpet called.
A Christian's spiritual footwear is equally important in his warfare against the schemes or the devil. If he has carefully girded his loins with truth and put on the breastplate of righteousness, but does not properly shod his feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace, he is destined to stumble, fall, and suffer many defeats.
The word PREPARATION has the general meaning of readiness. So, says Paul to his readers, be shod with preparedness, with brisk readiness to do whatever your Christian calling requires and demands of you. Be always in marching order, swift to answer the occasion, to follow the course of response to the pointing of conscience, or dictate of your best thought.
The readiness of the Christian warrior is the readiness that belongs to the bearer of good tidings.

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"And having shod your feet in preparation to face the enemy, with firm-footed stability, the promptness, and the readiness produced by the good news, which is the gospel of peace."
What is the spiritual application of this piece of armor? A person who experiences within his own heart the peace of God that passes all understanding, the very peace which the gospel proclaims, has been delivered of a great burden. The conviction of being reconciled with God through the blood of Christ gives him the courage and the zeal to fight the good fight. If the gospel, accepted by faith, had not given him this peace, how could he be prepared to engage in this battle? The fact that this readiness is actually derived from the gospel whose message or content is peace is clear from the passage in chapter 2, verse 15, 17.
"But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were [so] far away, through (by, in) the blood of Christ have been brought near. For He is [Himself] our peace (our bond of unity and harmony).He has made us both [Jew and Gentile] one [body], and has broken down (destroyed, abolished) the hostile dividing wall between us.
By abolishing in His [own crucified] flesh the enmity [caused by] the Law with its decrees and ordinances [which He annulled]; that He from the two might create in Himself one new man [one new quality of humanity out of two], so making peace.
And [He designed] to reconcile to God both [Jew and Gentile, united] in a single body by means of His cross, thereby killing the mutual enmity and bringing the feud to an end. And He came and preached the glad tidings of peace to you who were afar off and [peace] to those who were near." (Ephesians 2:13-17)
Among the basic doctrines of our Christian faith none is more satisfying than this "peace, the gift of God's love." All that the Bible has to say of our reconciliation to God through Christ is condensed for us in the exhortation of Eliphaz: "Acquaint thyself now with God, and be at peace, thereby good shall come unto thee" (Job 22:21). There is no treasure in the world comparable to restored fellowship with Him whose Son came to bestow peace on the earth (Luke 2:14).
"At peace with God! How great the blessing
In fellowship with Him to be,
And from all stains of sin set free,
How rich am I such wealth possessing.
At peace with God! No change can harm me,
Whichever way my course may run;
One wish alone, God's will be done,
I seek since I have known His mercy."
When we accept the accomplished work of Christ at the cross, we submit ourselves to His Lordship and repent and turn from our sins, there comes this peace within our being because, now, we are at peace with God. The ground of the peace we experience in the hour of initial faith is the precious blood of Jesus, satisfying God and pacifying the conscience. Calvary is the guar-

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antee of the believing sinner's peace. The cross reconciles the sinner to God. All obstacles to peace have been entirely met and put out of the way. God's righteousness and justice were vindicated in the death of His Son. Peace with God was secured through the shedding of Christ's blood, and this is the very substance of the gospel. Such a peace is not a fluctuating feeling, but a permanent state or condition based upon Christ's finished work.
This blood-bought peace is not an intangible something, but a Person. He (Christ) is our peace! Peace with God was made before we were born. All we have to do is to appropriate it by faith. "Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:1). "But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed." (Isaiah 53:5). "And God purposed that through (by the service, the intervention of) Him [the Son] all things should be completely reconciled back to Himself, whether on earth or in heaven, as through Him [the Father] made peace by means of the blood of His cross" (Colossians 1:20). "The Lord gives strength to His people; the Lord blesses His people with peace. (Psalms 29:11). "You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You. So trust in the Lord (commit yourself to Him, lean on Him, hope confidently in Him) forever; for the Lord God is an everlasting Rock [the Rock of Ages]." (Isaiah 26:3-4).
Jesus said: "My peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your heart be troubled and do not be afraid." (John 14:27). "And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:7)."The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace" (Romans 8:6). "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Romans 14:17). Peace of God...it is the peace of heart flowing from a full, unhindered and unbroken fellowship with Him who is our peace! Alas! not all who are at peace with God, have peace within. They have the title to it, but fail to enjoy their inheritance. The devil seeks to rob believers of this inner peace by causing them to dispute their standing in grace and creating doubt within the mind and heart. If he cannot steal our pardon, he will try to ruin our peace. Peace within flows from purity of heart. If we meddle with sin, we forfeit our peace!
Like a river glorious, Is God's perfect peace;
Over all victorious, in its bright increase.
Perfect, yet it floweth, fuller every day,
Perfect, yet it groweth deeper all the way."
To preserve ourselves from a lost peace, we must make up our spiritual accounts daily. Someone has written: "Often reckonings keep God and conscience friends. We just do with our hearts what we do with our watches,

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wind them up every morning by prayer and at night examine whether our heart has gone true all the day, whether the wheels of our affections have moved swiftly toward heaven."
Paul reminds us that this matter of inner peace that passes all understanding is communicated to us by God the Spirit upon three conditions:
(1) CAREFUL FOR NOTHING. While we are to exercise our minds calmly and judiciously in both spiritual and temporal affairs, we must not allow ourselves to be shaken with fears, vague uncertainties, and ceaseless alarms. Faith learns to trust the God of peace today and tomorrow. If we allow worries, anxieties, careworn questions to brood in our hearts, they will soon break up our peace, as swarms of tiny gnats will make Paradise uninhabitable.
(2) PRAYERFUL IN EVERYTHING. What a strong link there is between prayer and peace! What else but believing prayer can correct the feverish restlessness of the heart, bringing us into God's atmosphere of calm. "Prayer counteracts the manifold dangers in which I live," says Dr. Alexander Smellie, "summoning spiritual allies from unseen worlds. Prayer enables me to continue steadfastly in well-doing, giving me back my old energy. Prayer endues me with marvelous influence over others, opening not only the door of the Celestial City, but the door of human hearts, and my King comes in."
(3) THANKFUL FOR ANYTHING. Thanks and tranquility--praise and peace are fast friends. In every, and any hour, whether sunshine or sorrow be ours, as we trust in perfect peace, we can sing, "He knows! He knows!" The first gift of peace—peace with God—is the legacy of the dying Jesus. This second gift of peace—the peace of God—is the legacy of the living gift...it is His own peace that He gives!
Now, we have talked about the peace that should be resident within our hearts because of relationship to God through our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. But what are we to do with the peace?
The readiness of the Christian warrior is the readiness that belongs to the bearer of good tidings and peace. There were ringing in Paul's head some echoes of the music of Isaiah's words. "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings of peace!" In Paul’s thought the one power which brings a man into harmony with the universe and to peace with himself is the power which proclaims that God is at peace with him. And Jesus Christ is our peace, because He has swept away the root or bitter fountain of all the disquiet of men's hearts, and all their chafing at providences—the consciousness that there is discord between themselves and God. The gospel brings peace in the deepest sense of that word, and, primarily, peace with God...but Jesus told us that we must do something with that peace! In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said: "Blessed (enjoying enviable happiness, spiritually prosperous--with life-joy and satisfaction in God's favor and salvation, regardless of their outward conditions) are the makers and maintainers of peace, for they shall be called the sons of God."

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Our King James Version reads: "Blessed are the peace-makers for they shall be called the sons of God." The believer who enjoys the peace of God and peace with God will become a peace-maker for God! You will note that the blessing is upon the peace-maker, not necessarily on the peace-lover. The Authorized Version says that the peace-makers shall be called the children of God; the Greek more literally is...sons of God. In a very literal sense, this means...Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be doing a God-like work.
The Hebrew word for peace is shalom. It never means only the absence of trouble, but implies everything which makes for a man’s highest good. So the verse could read: "Blessed are those who make this world a better place for all man to live." Abraham Lincoln once said: "Die when I may, I would like it to be said of me, that I always pulled up a weed and planted a flower where I thought a flower would grow."
There is another meaning for this word PEACE. It is a meaning on which the Jewish Rabbis loved to dwell, and it is almost certainly the meaning which Jesus had in His mind. The Jewish Rabbis held that the highest task which a man can perform is to establish right relationships between man and man. "Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty (snobbish, high-minded, exclusive), but readily adjust yourself to [people, things] and give yourselves to humble tasks. Never overestimate yourself, or be wise in your own conceits. Repay no one evil for evil, but take thought for what is honest and proper and noble [aiming to be above reproach] in the sight of everyone. If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone." (Romans 12:16-18).
"Strive to live in peace with everybody and pursue that consecration and holiness without which no one will [ever] see the Lord." (Hebrews 12:14). "So let us then definitely aim for and eagerly pursue what makes for harmony and for mutual upbuilding (edification and development) of one another." (Romans 14:19).
There are people who are always storm-centers of trouble and bitterness and strife. Wherever they are they are either involved in quarrels themselves or the cause of quarrels between others. They are trouble-makers! There are people like that in almost every society and every Church, and such people are doing the devil’s work. On the other hand--thank God--there are people whose feet are shod with the sandals of peace, in whose presence bitterness cannot live. They are people who bridge the gulfs, and heal the breaches and sweeten the bitterness. Such people are doing a God-like work, for it is the great purpose of God to bring peace between man and Himself, and between man and man. Our beatitude could read: O the bliss of those who produce right relationships between man and man, for they are doing a God-like work." "Who is the wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of good conversation his works with meekness and wisdom. But if ye have bitter strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth...But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits...And the fruit righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace."