2002-09-18
Good Morning Faithful Readers,
I have a beautiful mental picture when we take up the issue discussed in EPH 6: 15. "...And as your shoes the readiness to announce the Good News of peace." The context is, of course, God's full armor and the description of it in the entire EPH 6: 10-20 passage. My beautiful mental picture is not the Roman soldier used as a metaphor in this passage, but is, instead, from another citation upon which EPH 6:15 is drawn. IS 52: 7 [KJV]. "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvaton; that saith unto Zion thy God reigneth!" In my mind, I see devoutly believing messengers coming across the mountains of Israel and the world to bring the Gospel of Yeshua [the Hebrew name that we Messianic Jews use for Jesus Christ]. That picture could be at any time in history, not just Isaiah's time. It could be now. It could be the 144, 000 Jewish evangelists carrying the message during the Tribulation. The light of Christ would shine from the eyes of these messengers and God's peace would be felt by all who believe and are thus saved. We should be reminded that not only has God not given up on the Jews, as adherents of the apostate replacement theory would have us believe, but that this message is intended for the salvation of all people, Jews and Gentiles alike [RO 1: 16].
We must remember that to make that trip across the mountains, these messengers must have sturdy, well-built shoes to protect their feet. They must walk a long way. The shoes are a metaphor for a thorough and accurate knowledge of the Gospel, which is not just head knowledge but is firmly entrenched in their hearts. I once had a new believer who didn't have a lot of familiarity with the Scriptures ask me: "What is the main gist of the Gospel message?" The best way I can find to answer such a question is to go to the most concise expression of it I can find in the Scriptures. 1 COR 15: 1-8, "And now I want to remind you, my brothers, of the Good News which I preached to you, which you received, and on which your faith stands firm. That is the Gospel, the message that I preached to you. You are saved by the Gospel if you hold firmly to it-unless it was for nothing that you believed. I passed on to you what I received, which is of the greatest importance: that Christ died for our sins , as written in the Scriptures [IS 53: 5-12]: that He was buried and that He was raised to life three days later, as written in the Scriptures [PS 16: 8-10; MT 12: 40; AC 2: 24-32]; that He appeared to Peter and then to all twelve apostles [LK 24:34; MT 28: 16-17; MT 16: 14; LK 24: 36; JN 20: 19]. Then He appeared to more than five hundred of His followers at once, most of whom are still alive, although some have died. Then he appeared to James, and afterward to all the apostles. Last of all He appeared also to me-even though I am like someone whose birth was abnormal" [AC 9: 3-6]. Most people cite verses 1-4 and leave it at that. I choose to go all the way to verse 8, because it demonstrates the witnesses who attest to having seen the risen Christ. Their voracity, which is not questioned because of who they were and their sheer numbers, lays to rest any question that Christ existed or that He wasn't seen after His physical death.
A claim was made in EPH 6: 15 that needs our attention. It is the claim of peace from God from hearing and believing the Gospel message. This "peace that goes beyond human understanding" [PHIL 4: 7] is real. Anyone who is a believer and has been protected by God during trouble or who has been living "in Christ" can attest to having experienced it. To my way of thinking, it is an early "teaser" blessing to remind us of the greater blessings we will share when we are finally living eternally with our Abba in heaven. Countless believers who have known this peace have spoken about it to others. That brings us to a great truth of our faith and of putting on God's full armor against Satan. We must have the courage to witness to the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, so that as many people as possible can be carried to the place where the Holy Spirit will bring them to faith. That is an important part of our job description as believers. RO 10: 15, "And how can the message be proclaimed if the messengers are not sent out? As the Scripture [IS 52: 7] says, 'How wonderful is the coming of the messengers who bring the Good News!'" Satan doesn't like it when we are messengers carrying the Gospel message of peace and salvation to people. He will do whatever he can to prevent us from having success in doing that. Because of this, we must be alert to his efforts and always remember that our power to do God's work is always greater than Satan's power to stop us. That is because we can rely on God to protect us when we endure in our faith. PS 91: 11, "God will put His angels in charge of you to protect you wherever you go." PS 3: 5, "I sleep and wake up refreshed, because You, Lord, protect me." We will look at some of the ways Satan tries to thwart us from within and without ourselves in this segment. It is necessary to see why being a witness to the Gospel is so important and the ways this can be accomplished. In the meanwhile, each of us should assess how active we have been in doing this all-important work for the Lord in our own lives.
PRAYER: O Lord, You have taught us many ways to witness to Your truths. As far back as DT 4: 6, You wanted Your Jewish children to witness to the peace that comes from obeying You, so that others could see it. "Obey them [the laws] faithfully, and this will show the people of other nations how wise you are. When they hear of all these laws, they will say, 'What wisdom and understanding this great nation has!'" When we place our trust in You, our lives and sometimes those of others are blessed by this. PS 31: 19 expresses how this happens. "How wonderful are the good things You keep for those who honor You! Everyone knows how good You are, how securely You protect those who trust in You." Your servant, David, set an example for us in PS 40: 9, "In the assembly of all Your people, Lord, I told the Good News that You save us. You know that I will never stop telling it." The other day, Dearest Abba, I heard a woman who normally stutters get up and proclaim what You touching her life meant to her. She spoke clearly and precisely for the first time in her life! That is the power for good that You are in our lives, and I heard it with my own ears! In PR 10: 20, we heard another magnificent truth. "A good man's words are like pure silver; a wicked man's ideas are worthless." You have called each of us to use his own talents to convey Your message. The prophet Jeremiah in JER 31: 34 has told us a day will come when it is no longer necessary for us to witness. That will be when we are all in heaven with You, Father God, and all of us will already know Your salvation and peace. But until then, we dedicate ourselves to answering Your command with obedience to witness using the talents You gave us. We are honored to join You in this work and to proclaim Your excellence, compassion, supremacy, and greatness. We promise to stand firm as Peter and John did in AC 4: 18-20 against opposition. "So they [the Sanhedrin] called them back in and told them that under no condition were they to speak or to teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered them, 'You yourselves judge which is right in God's sight-to obey you or to obey God. For we cannot stop speaking of what we ourselves have seen and heard.'" We witness today and always to Your goodness, sovereignty over us, righteousness, truth, and wisdom. We thank You for bringing us to faith in Your Son and giving us the peace that goes beyond human understanding, as we stand up to Satan's attacks. You are our Rock and our Redeemer. We pledge You our love and offer You our humble confession. You are to be praised forever! In Christ, amen.
Tomorrow, we'll take a look at how we can put on our "Gospel shoes" and stand firm against the enemy. God has much to say on the subject, and I'm honored to share that with you. That peace I spoke of here is another manifestation of God's love. He knows It's hard for us to wait until that Day comes when we are called to a meeting in the air [1 THESS 4: 13-16] and to have to endure Satan's fiery arrows. That is why He gives us this peace to remind us He is there for us, approves of it when we obey Him, and that our hope is not fruitless. We are offered and receive His protection, and He has shown us through the story of Job that He is willing and capable of holding Satan at bay when He deems it necessary. We are reminded in JER 29: 11-13 that we are not being fitted for destruction-quite the opposite! Be encouraged. Our loving Abba is always there for us. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn