15 And your feet shod with the preparation of
the gospel of peace;
To the worldly minded this would appear to be about
being a maker of peace between men. When Henry Kissinger was making his rounds
in the Middle East in the early 1970’s the verse in Matthew was sometimes used.
Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall
be called the children of God.
But the context is wrong for that interpretation. If
you go back to Ephesians 2 you can see that Christ made peace between Jew and
Gentile and peace between God and man. Paul said in Romans;
Romans 10:15 And how shall they preach, except they be
sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the
gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
Alluding to this verse in Isaiah;
Isaiah 52:7 ¶ 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 salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God
reigneth!
We know that the gospel is good tidings (news) from
one way the Bible defines itself by word replacement between quotations from
the Old and New Testament. Here, Jesus is speaking;
Luke 4:18a The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he
hath anointed me to preach the gospel
to the poor…
He is alluding to this verse in Isaiah.
Isaiah 61:1 ¶ The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me;
because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek…
So, gospel means good tidings (news). But, what is the
“gospel of peace”?
Romans 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
Mankind, because of his and her sin nature, which we
inherited from our first ancestors, Adam and Eve, is, in their natural state,
at war with God. Our natural destination without God is a fiery Hell that was
not prepared for us but for Satan and his angels.
Matthew 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left
hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil
and his angels:
Nothing you could do is able to make peace with God.
No work, no good reputation, no sterling character can cross that divide
between God and man created by man’s rebellion against God’s authority, most
notably as Genesis 3 points out, against His word. The main question that Adam
failed was over what God said which led to his disobedience. It is a short step
to disobedience from doubting God’s word. Liberal and conservative Christians
both change the meanings of verses and words to suit their own agenda and the
affront against God continues. And so it is today still.
Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any
beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman,
Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
If a person wishes to trust in their own righteousness
to obtain eternal life they will always run up against one incontrovertible
fact, that it is impossible for them to comply with God’s standard. The Law,
God’s standard of righteousness, was given to the Jews as their ceremonial,
religious, civil, and social law.
The Law was that body of commands given to Moses for
the Hebrews.
Deuteronomy 30:10 If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the
LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in
this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the LORD thy God with all thine
heart, and with all thy soul.
Sin is a violation of that law.
1John 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also
the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
One sin violates the entire body of law.
James 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and
yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
We are not under the law.
Romans 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for
ye are not under the law, but under grace.
Galatians 3:23 But before faith came, we were kept under the
law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to
bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after that faith is come, we are no
longer under a schoolmaster.
Galatians 5:18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not
under the law.
Christ has made peace between us and God. We,
Christians, are ambassadors of that peace and are called to proclaim it with
our words and in the example set in our daily lives and treatment of others.
Preparation comes from prayer and submitting to God
speaking to you through His words in His Book as you read them and as they are
preached by faithful messengers who do not alter or change those words to suit
their own agenda. We are told to constantly be in a prayerful state of mind, to
pray always.
Romans 12:12 Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation;
continuing instant in prayer;
1Thessalonians
5:17 Pray without ceasing.
We are to read the Scriptures.
1Timothy 4:13 Till I come, give attendance to reading, to
exhortation, to doctrine.
And think on them always. These verses in the Old
Testament in no way contradict what we as Christians are told to do so they are
also doctrine for us.
Joshua 1:8 This book of the law shall not depart out of
thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest
observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt
make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
Psalm 119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I
might not sin against thee.
Prepare yourself to deliver the gospel of peace
wherever you go with your actions and your words. Remember that your actions
can speak so loud that people can’t hear your words, to paraphrase Ralph Waldo
Emerson. You can come to church whenever the doors are open, have gospel tracts
hanging out of your pockets, and street preach every spare minute but if you
don’t have the fruit or evidence of having the Spirit of God in you there will
be little result.
Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,
peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is
no law. 24 And they that are Christ’s
have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
We talk about preparing for worship. Now, let us talk
about preparing to be a witness for the gospel of peace so that wherever our
feet go there we will preach and teach peace with God.
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