JOHN’S BLOG (11)
THE CHRISTIANS ARMOUR-EPHESIANS 6:11-18
“And having shod your feet with the preparation of the Gospel of peace-vs.15.
What is meant by the Gospel? Quite simply it means, “Good News,” or “Joyful Message.” When the angel came to the shepherds in Luke 2:10, he said, “……behold, I bring you good news of great joy…” Then, he added, “For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord,” vs.11. So, in these verses we see that the Gospel should be the expression of joy and good news.
The best news in the world that any person can hear, is the revelation of Christ and the grace of God in Christ. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life,” John 3:16. “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life,” Romans 5:10.
Are these two Scripture verses good news or not? They certainly are! Yet we sometimes puzzle over the world’s rejection of the good news of the Gospel. But, what was our own reaction when someone first spoke to us of Christ? It too was often one of rejection. As Paul tells us above, at that time we were God’s enemies, and in Colossians 1:13, He tells us that, ”we were living in the kingdom of darkness, but now God has transferred us into the kingdom of His beloved Son.” With some of us, the transfer process took a long time, as we first rejected God’s truth but eventually came through into eternal life. Hallelujah!
However, the reality is, no matter how wonderful is the news of the Gospel, only a remnant or minority embrace it. God has given every person the power of choice, and Satan holds mankind in such a grip, that if the chance were given to get rid of Christ and the Gospel, I fear the vote would go against Christians, and the Christian message.
This does not mean that we should stop witnessing or preaching the Gospel.
We must:
(1) Obey our Lord and continue to preach the Gospel whatever.
(2) We never know that the next person to whom we speak may have previously been touched by the Holy Spirit and is ready to receive Christ.
(3) Each time we make known God’s salvation in Christ, we may be either the first, the middle, or the end of the chain of people who have already spoken to that person. Let us not be the weak link who does not speak, even though the Holy Spirit may be prompting us.
However ungodly a people or nation may be, the Lord always had some, even to the point of death, who will trust and believe in Him. Some years ago there was a remarkable report in a Christian magazine of a missionary who contacted a tribe in Africa for the first time. He began to explain to them how God sacrificed His only Son on a Cross, bearing the world’s sin, and how we can have a daily experience of forgiveness and of knowing God as our Father. Before the missionary had explained very much, the chief of the tribe stopped him, and said, “Thank you for coming to tell us this, but we have known it for a long, long time.” No one could explain how they knew, it was something they had always believed.
I once heard a preacher take as his subject, “The Doctrine of the Remnant.” He went through the Scriptures pointing out the times when God’s people grew cold and turned away from Him to serve idols. However, in all these times there was always a remnant of believing people, who would not give up their faith. It doesn’t seem to matter where one is in the world there is always someone to whom God has revealed the gospel truth. Even in the heart of Islam or communism there are people who worship the true God.
If we consider the revivals of the past, they all came at a time when national life was at a low ebb. But a faithful few believers persistently prayed for revival until God answered their prayers. We can read of these wonderful moves of God in the last century in Korea and Indonesia, or in our own country in the 1700’s and 1800’s with the Wesley brothers and George Whitfield, through whom God made such an impact upon society. During the 1800’s God gave us such godly men as C.H.Spurgeon, George Muller, Bishop J.C.Ryle, Hudson Taylor (missionary and founder of the China Inland Mission), Andrew Bonar, and many others.
When I lived in Coventry, I used to enjoy talking to an old saint who had experienced the 1904 Welsh Revival. We used to say to him, “Tell us about the revival Uncle Bob.” Bob had been a miner, working at the local colliery, and he would tell us that as he and his work-mates walked the distance to the mine each morning they would be singing hymns as they walked; and Bob used to say, “You know, as we walked, it felt as if the angels themselves were singing along with us, the whole atmosphere was so electric.”
Then there was another revival in the late 1940’s early 1950’s in the Hebrides which began after two elderly ladies committed themselves to pray and asking God to move on a godless local society. Again, here was a small remnant to whom God gave the need for people to receive the Gospel.
In this country, Christians have been side-tracked and become a remnant in society, and in many of our churches there is an ageing congregation where the burials outnumber births. However, all is not lost, in many towns and cities there are also churches whose congregations are growing and whose main focus is on sound Biblical teaching, and preaching the Gospel to win the lost to Christ, and then to disciple them into maturity.
So then, we live in a society where, in our schools Christian teaching and ethics is at a very low level. Where same sex partnerships are regarded as equal to marriage between a man and a woman; where political correctness often clashes with Biblical truth and standards; and where police and parental discipline is sometimes regarded as a crime.
How times have changed in my own lifetime. When I was a young boy and was caught by a policeman for scrumping apples, or some other misdemeanour, I would receive a cuff round the ear and be told by the policeman that he would be round to see my parents about me. He never did come round, but I lived in fear and trembling for the next two or three days in case he did. These days, the policeman would be charged with assault.
I was once in a Christian’s home where the son deserved to be disciplined. As his father went toward him, he ran and picked up the telephone, looked at his father and said, “You take another step toward me and I will call the authorities.”
This is the world where Paul tells us to have our feet shod with the Gospel of peace.
We also live in a world where there are warring factions in many parts, and true peace can only come through the Gospel. There is a darkness upon men’s minds which justifies to them all forms of sin; be it murder, uncleanness, cruelty, or dishonesty; whatever form it takes, or call it what you will, the people who do any such things are living all around us and we have the answer to this darkness in the light of the Gospel. Only the Gospel of Jesus Christ can bring light to darkened minds, and peace to troubled souls.
As we walk among those who are walking in darkness and for whom Christ died, having our feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace; may we be so open to the Holy Spirit that no opportunity is lost to pass on a word, that one day will bring someone to salvation.
God bless you,
John