Gooding, David: 7 - Growing in Christ

I shall not prolong this session. Uh, I, I will aim to do what I have been doing so far, simply to pick out some prominent ideas from the epistle as we go through, and I shall do that, uh, uh, even more drastically on this occasion, so that we might give ourselves time for the questions, and then, uh, um, uh, be able to get away in reasonable time, lest our relatives and friends think we've got lost and have abandoned them completely. So now we come to what on this little page of, uh, things I got out for you is the third and final paragraph. Now do be aware that there are many different ways of dividing up this epistle, and the most common way is to take the first three chapters and say that these are the Christian doctrine. This is, if you like, the Christian principle, the theory of Christianity, the theology of it, and from four to the end is the practical side of Christianity. And that's a very good distinction, and they're probably the correct one. I, for my own convenience, have divided it here into three bits, so that I might appeal to its three major topics. We thought about the purpose of God in creation in our first and second studies. That's the first column, and you may notice that when it comes to the end of that column in chapter two and the very last verse of that chapter, it says, do you see, uh, that, um, uh, salvation is not by works. By grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. So salvation itself is not of works. But then Paul adds in verse ten of the end, uh, uh, verse ten, the end of the first paragraph in chapter two. Two verse ten then, for we are his, that is God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God afford prepare- for prepared that we should walk in them. Now that's telling us something exceedingly important and basic. Salvation itself, we don't earn it by our works. We don't earn it by our behavior. Neither before nor after we receive the sal- uh, the Savior. You don't earn God's salvation. It's a free gift. Eternal life is a free gift. But when God gives us the gift of salvation, of eternal life, union with Christ, God has in mind that we should do good works, not to earn salvation, but because he has saved us. Indeed, it doesn't merely use the word saved in that verse ten of chapter two. It says here, we are God's workmanship. God produced us. I like the term salvation is not of works, but we ourselves are God's workmanship, and God is a mighty good workman, you know. He's good at his job. We are God's workmanship. And then it goes further, it says created in Christ Jesus. Now that is creation in a special sense. We're all creatures of God, that's how we come to be on this planet. But when a man or woman comes to Christ and receives Christ, when God puts that person in Christ, they get saved, of course, they are, they are, are forgiven, they have eternal life, they become a child of God, do you see? Um, but it's also true, as is put in two Corinthians and chapter five, if anyone is in Christ, he or she is a new creation. That's a marvelous thing about being a believer. It's not just something idea we get in our heads. When we trust Christ as Savior, God creates something in us that wasn't there before. We are born from above, to use another metaphor. Our Lord explained it to the learned biblical scholar who, who went by the name of Nicodemus, you see. And when he said to Nicodemus, all you around here, you need to be born again. Remember, Nicodemus didn't understand it, what it meant, you see. Born again? How can a man be born? Can he enter his mother's womb and be born again, said Nicodemus? Well, he knew that was a stupid suggestion, but he was trying to suggest that the whole idea was stupid. So Christ illustrated it for him. He said, what is born of the flesh is flesh. What is born of the spirit is spirit. And the old Christians who tried to educate me, not very successfully, but they did, they used to use a very humble illustration to illustrate that principle. They said, you know, you could have a cabbage in your garden, and you might decide to make it the best cabbage in the world, like the Welsh grow leeks, and they have a competition to who so so to decide who can grow the biggest leek, you see. Well, they're Welsh, never mind. And uh, and uh, and as you have a cabbage, and you're going to grow the biggest cabbage that ever was, and you till it, and you feed the soil, and you disinfect it from flies and mole caterpillars and things, and it grows into a marvelous big dog. No, you say, don't be daft. Whatever you do to a cabbage, it remains a cabbage. Not really surprising, is it? Never turn into a dog. And what is born of the flesh, says Christ, is flesh. You can educate it, train it, make it religious. Remains what it always was. What is born of the flesh is flesh. In the biblical sense, to be born again, let Christ explain it. What is born of the spirit is spirit. That's the miracle that God does. There's born in a believer a spiritual life that wasn't there. It's not a matter of feeling or emotion, but it is a real thing. In other words, therefore, coming to know Christ and receiving him, if anyone be in Christ, it's a new creation. We don't create it in ourselves. God does the creating. We are his workmanship. But in creating us in this spiritual sense and putting his spirit within us, God has a program. He, we are created, says this verse, do you see, uh, in Christ Jesus, for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should work- walk in them. Notice the verb, walk. Christian life is a progress, you know. We come to the Savior, to use his own illustration, he is the door to salvation. By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved. That's a very important thing, and it's a matter of a moment. Never mind how long it takes you to get to the door, and some people are years getting there. But the process of being saved is the, like entering a door, one minute outside, next minute inside. So there's as a, as a child, I was taught that, uh, simple chorus that we learned as, uh, children, you know. One door, and only one, but its sides are two. Thank God I can say like the, that the Charles Chorus said it. I'm on the inside. Long since I took that step from out to in. It's a matter of a moment, actually. I'm on the inside. And our Lord says, if any man enter in by me, he shall be saved. That's a matter of a moment. And as we receive Christ, God creates in us a new life. It's a spiritual life. It wasn't there before. And then God has already planned, but this time it's not a matter of a moment. He's a planned a whole series of good works. It's a pathway stretching out into eternity and on beyond that as well. That we should walk. And walking is a process, of course, isn't it? So that when we trust the Savior, God himself has a program stretching out in front of us to walk in. And by his Holy Spirit, he will take us by the hand to guide us along those works as we were a- able to do it, from the time of our spiritual infancy to the time of our spiritual adulthood, leading us on for the good works that God has pre- prepared for us according to our strength at any one time that he has foreseen. And here in this last passage from verse, this last, uh, section of the book from verse seventeen of chapter four to the end, we have detailed the many good works that God has prepared that we should walk in them. So let me concentrate first on that phrase that is used in chapter four and in these verses here, uh, seventeen to twenty four. Uh, verse ver- twenty, Contrasting the immoral way the world believes, it says in verse twenty, ye did not so learn Christ, if so be that you heard him and were taught in him, even as truth is in Jesus. Notice he doesn't say the truth as it is in Jesus, as though there were varieties of truth, and there's some truth in Jesus and some truth in Socrates or something. No, the truth is in Jesus. He is the truth. The truth about the little daisy that's growing by the roadside. You want to know the truth about that? Well, you can ask the the botanist, and he'll tell you what plant it belongs to, and you can ask the chemist, and he'll tell you what is its chemistry, and you can ask the physicist, and he'll tell you all about the atoms that buzz around inside it. But then there's another big question. What's the truth about it? Where did it come from? Christ is the truth about that little daisy, you know. He's the truth about this universe. He is the truth. And the nearer we come to him, the more we shall be taught what is the truth in Jesus. To for life to be real, to be valid, to be true, we have to come to Christ, who is the truth, the author of our life, both physical and spiritual, and be taught by him. So then what we have learned is this. That we put away, verse twenty two, as concerning our former manner of life, the old man, which grows corrupt after the lusts of deceit, deceitful lusts. And that you'll be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, which after God hath been created in righteousness and holiness and truth. You notice that word created again? This new man, created in God, created by God, according to God, in righteousness and holiness and truth. What God has created in the believer, this is the program. But now, of course, we're not robots. We're still living people. And we still have around us all the old habits that we, uh, once upon the time had. Some of them very difficult to break, aren't they? We have all the old desires. There's a question now, are they being brought under new management? You used to see pubs in my day, but I don't know if you saw pubs. If you didn't, you went by them. Uh, but there used to be pubs. I, I, I only knew from seeing a notice in the window. It would say sometimes under new management, do you see? Well, you could write that across me, under new management. Because Christ comes to live in the believer. We have a new life. But we're not robots. And he, we have to do what is here called putting on the new man. Do you see? Like a dear wife, she sees her husband, he's going out, uh, uh, to some public affair, and he's wearing his old trou- trousers that he wore, uh, last year and the year before and ten years ago. He likes his old trousers, and the wife says, man, you can't go in those old trousers. You've got a new suit hanging up in the wardrobe. Put that on. Yes? And sometimes we as Christians, we walk around in the old trousers, don't we? Old habits, old ways. And we're told here that Christ wants us to put off the old lifestyle. That's what the old man is, our old lifestyle, and put on the new lifestyle, the new life, the new man created by God, the potentials within us, but we have to be active in putting it on. That will mean, will it not, cooperating with God. It will mean, of course, listening to his word. Some of you have asked questions, and we shall answer them later on. Uh, do you say, how can you expect us to have all this knowledge that you seem to have, you see? Well, I don't. But this I'm sure of, that Christ speaks to all his people and does what he promised to do. He manifests himself to his people. He said, I'll not leave you as orphans. I come to you. I will manifest myself to you. And in the gospel records that tell us how he appeared to his people after his resurrection, we get examples of the kind of thing that Christ does. He came up to unto two people, were they men or was it man and wife? I don't know, nobody does, on the road back to Emmaus, and they were pretty disillusioned because they'd expected Christ was going to be a political liberator, and he wasn't, and had allowed himself to be crucified. And they were walking back home disillusioned when this stranger drew near, and he said, why are you looking so down in the mouth? Uh, and they said, haven't you heard the news? Well, he said, what news? How that this Jesus was mighty of God, we thought he was going to be a deliverer, but now he was, uh, crucified and buried. He said, you know, now some of our Christian women, they were at the tomb, and they came back saying they'd seen visions of angels or something. You know what? Well, he wasn't so rude as to say, you know what women are, but, um, uh, you know, who could believe that anyway, angels? And anyway, what good was a deliverer if he couldn't stop himself being, um, uh, put to death. Do you see? Do you know what Christ said to them? He said, you fools. Woof. You senseless men, says he. And slow our heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. And there, as they journeyed down the road, he called their attention to whole succession of Bible scriptures in the Old Testament that were prophecies of Christ, how the Old Testament proved that the Christ, when he came, would first have to suffer, and only after suffering would he enter into his glory. In other words, he took them through a rigorous Bible reading and called them fools for not having, believed after all the prophets had spoken. It is true that sometimes we take the daily newspaper more important than our Bibles, you know. We'd be stupid to do it. But then he appeared to Mary Magdalene in the garden, you know. When the apostles had gone home, they'd seen the tomb was empty, and only the grave clothes were there. The apostles had gone home to breakfast. Nothing more to be seen, they thought. But Mary stayed. She couldn't bear the thought of losing her savior. Save the woman. Cast out, I don't know many, how many demons from her. She stayed there, presently saw a couple of angels who said, he's not here, he's risen. And then she heard a voice, and she thought it was the gardener, and she said, um, he said, why are you crying, my dear lady? And she said, they've taken away my Lord, and I don't know where they've put. If you're the gardener and you know where they put him, you tell me and I'll take him away. He said, Mary. And in the moment he pronounced her name, she knew it was him. He didn't call her a fool. He didn't actually read her a big lesson from the Bible study. But he did talk to her. He said, Mary, go and tell my brethren, will you, that I ascend to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God. Spoke to her heart. Made himself real to her as the risen Christ. Satisfying a relational need. He was now the other side of the grave, but he was related to her because his God was her God, his Father was her Father. And made real in her life, her personal relationship with Christ. My point in telling the story is to remind you that Christ has different ways of talking to his people, and will talk to you according to your personality and your background. But his word is is very varied. And some people like the epistles, and some people like the gospels, and some like the Psalms. Do read it. Because it all is inspired of God, is God's word to us. It's more than something written on a page. It is inspired by God's spirit. And as believers, we can come to the Lord and say, Lord, I'm about to read your word. You know I can't read much, and I don't understand much, but Lord, speak to me. For he calls his own sheep by name and will make himself real to his sheep. Yes. So he speaks to us and leads us along this road of the good works. So then, uh, the passage will tell us about one of, well, I hesitate to use the word technique. I can't think of a better one because it's getting late and it's Saturday afternoon, it's twenty to four, and I can't think of a better word than technique. One of the things you can do, we're called upon to do. Look at chapter five and verse one, for instance. Be you therefore imitators of God as beloved children, and walk in love, even as Christ also loved you, and gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for an odor of a sweet smell. Be you therefore imitators of God. A basic principle of Christian conduct. Now, I don't know how the word imitation appeals to you. Imitation can have a bad sense, can't it? You've got a ring that you thought was a diamond, but the jeweler cheated you, and that ain't a diamond at all, it's just paste, you see. It's an only an imitation diamond, and you're tempted to throw it away in disgust. You see? You go into some houses and pooh, they've got a bookshelf full of books, ooh, a lot of books. You must think they're very learned, until you find out they're only imitation. Their book cover, the book spine of a book pasted on a bit of wood, you see. Imitation books. So imitation can be a bad thing, but imitation can be a good thing, and it's the good kind of imitation that God is talking about here, you know. But to be a successful imitator, you have to be in on the secret, you see. Have you watched a kitten? It's playing around the back garden, and it's come across a piece of paper, and it's chasing this bit of paper, ooh, hitting it with a paw here, hitting it with a paw there, and the wind blows it on, he's running after this. It's, it's doing exactly what Mama does, you see. It's seeing what Mama does. She goes after mice, of course. But the kitten is imitating mum. It'll grow up and go after mice eventually, perhaps even rats, do you see? But it's all right for a kitten to imitate mum because it's got kitten life in it. You see the boys on the football field, don't you, on the backyard there? They're doing it just like Beckham. Well, to be honest, it's no use my trying to be like Beckham, you know. I would never make a footballer, not if I tried. Sometimes I sit down at the piano and give myself all the, all, all, all the graces of the performers, you know, that nonsense. I've got that gift, to see. If you're going to imitate a cat, you better be a cat. If you're going to in- into- into imitate a footballer, yes, if you've got the insides to be a footballer and the gift to do it, well, imitate the best ones and you'll get like them. But if you haven't got the g- the basic gift, that's no use. Imitate Christ. Is that a possibility? Is this a reasonable possibility? Oh yes, it is indeed. For you see, if we have received Christ as Savior, and we've been born of God's spirit, we have the spirit of Christ, then this is not a nonsense, a hopeless thing. We have the basics with which to imitate Christ. And first of all, Christ has given us a very big object lesson for us to follow, as you'll see. How do you imitate Christ? Well, ver- chapter five, verse one: be you therefore imitators of God as beloved children, and walk in love. Now here comes the illustration of how to do it. Even as Christ also loved you and gave himself up for us as an offering and a sacrifice to God for an odor of a sweet smell. He loved us. What did it amount, what did it amount to? Just words? No, not just words. Gave himself up for us. To bear our sin in his body on the tree. And this verse tells us that as our blessed Lord gave himself up for us and died hung upon a cross, there came up from that scene a delightful perfume to God. It was an offering of a sweet smell to God. To find such a delightful attitude on the part of Christ, God's own dear son, that he was prepared to give himself up for sinners the likes of us, that we might be saved and brought home to God. Imitate him, says God, Cry- says God's word. You ca- we can't suffer in order to obtain forgiveness for other people, but we can begin to learn to love and then live for them and give ourselves for them in this way and another way, as a mother does within the family, not only gives herself for the children that they might grow up and be successful in business or what have you, but tries to love them as she has been loved by Christ, that they may themselves come eventually attracted to the Savior and be born of his spirit. Imitate Christ, therefore. It is a serious, practical possibility. There follows, of course, a lot of individual exhortations here. You'll say, I may be allowed to pick out one more, though I am ex- inexperienced in the realm I'm about to mention, seriously deficient and inexperienced. And that comes in chapter five, where we're told in verse twenty five, where husbands are told, Christian husbands, to love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that he might present the church to himself, a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. Christ's devotion to the church, that is to say, the church in the New Testament is not a building of stone and whatnot, it's a collection of people, isn't it? And Christ loves the church. He gave himself for her at Calvary to purchase her. Lives by his spirit to remove the wrinkles and the blots and the blemishes and the bits of unpleasant behavior and this, that, and other, you know. And as a devoted husband of the church, he seeks constantly to free the church from spots and wrinkles, so that when at last he presents the great mass of the redeemed in their countless thousands before the presence of his Father with exceeding joy, he might present the church, that is the sum of the redeemed people, to to himself, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing. That's Christ's example. You husbands, says Paul, imitate Christ in your love for your wives. Imitation, therefore, not fanciful. Practical. A practical possibility. Yes, we have to learn it by stages, don't we? Like the kitten learning how to hunt from the ma. But there's a distinct realistic possibility because it is a cat and can learn how to develop its cat. Oh, sorry, its cattiness, I nearly said, but you know what I mean, don't you? Mm-hmm. So if we have the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, it is a practical and reasonable possibility to seek God's help now to begin to imitate him. Then I ought to say something about the warfare that we shall discover as believers. That comes in the last chapter, chapter six, verse ten. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities and against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Wherefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand. Notice that that appears to be a rather negative objective. It doesn't say here, uh, and having done all to attack very successfully. It says that you may be able to stand in the evil day, and having done everything to stand. Because, you see, we do have an enemy. And he's very wily. And the one thing he will try to do with you is to make you fall. And if he can, undermine your faith. Because if he can break your faith, he's done what he intends to do. Doesn't mind however successful you are in other areas, if he can undermine your faith and cause you to fall. Pray don't think this is a limited objective. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, says Paul in this epistle, but against spiritual principalities, mights, powers, and dominion, and Satan himself. A very deceitful and wily. You need therefore to take the whole armor of God to yourself, that you might be able to stand and not fall. Does happen sometimes to people, doesn't it, who profess faith in Christ, and they fall. They weren't expecting such a tricky enemy. Be on your guard, says Saint Paul Peter, your adversary the devil, like a roaring lion, prowreth around, seeking whom he may devour. We need to be warned about his attack and not dismiss it. On the other hand, not to get too worried about it, you see. First thing you need to know, and therefore to be able to stand, stand therefore your loan loins girded with the truth, God's truth. Satan will go for that to start with. He's the father of lies, you know. Trying to get you to doubt God's truth. And you see, you can be utterly sure of your salvation. That's God's truth. Important to get hold of it, isn't it? Gird it round your loins. You'll say, God says it. He that has the Son has life. I give unto my sheep eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall anyone pluck them out of my hand. Oh, to get hold of God's truth. I was once up in Aberdeen, among the Scots. Well, in Peterborough, actually, Peterhead, right up there. And they, uh, after I'd preached during the week and on the Sunday, they said if I'd like to go down to, uh, the harbour at uh twelve o'clock midnight on the Sunday, I could go out with them fishing, you see. And behind the scenes, when I came back on the boat, they were all cooed up, a lot of them, on the harbour to see this Englishman come who wasn't used to seafaring. They thought to find him yellow in the face, if not green, and having been sicked his heart out and all the other contents within him because of sailing on a boat. They were, I'm glad to report, disappointed, but uh, to see. I, I heard all sorts of stories from these fishermen in these boats, and they said, you know, what you need to do, uh, b- before the storm comes or before the sea gets choppy, is to know where you are on the boat, and uh, if it's you feel like you're going over the side, know what to catch hold on, instinctively. Because if you don't, and the boat takes a lurch, and you have to say, oh, now when the boat gets a lurch, um, what do I get hold of around here? You have to do that, you'll be in the soup before you have a chance. You need to be able to get hold of it instinctively. Or, my dear friend, get some verses of God's word into your heart so you know in a day of temptation to get hold of them. That's very important. As you say, to to to have a shield of faith and be girded about with truth, God. We can rely hard upon it in the fight. We shouldn't underestimate Satan's power. We have the story of Peter in the New Testament, both to warn us and encourage us. At the Last Supper, our Lord said to say to Peter and to the bosom in general, Satan has asked permission. The meaning of the Greek word is thus, he's asked and obtained permission to sift you, to try you and sift you, all twelve of you, as wheat, to find out who are genuine and who aren't. Satan can't just attack anybody. He has to seek permission, like he had to seek permission to attack Job. And then he turned to Peter, and he said to Peter, Peter, I have to tell you that the cock shall not crow three times this night until you have three times denied me. And Peter got upset. No, Lord, he said, no, no, no, no, no, you got that bit wrong, Lord. Peter had that habit of telling the Lord he got things wrong, uh, do you see? And this he felt very strongly. No, no, these others, I may decide I'm doubtful about them, but I would never deny you, Lord. What are you talking about? And the Lord said, oh, yes, you will. For our Lord had foreseen it. But then he added, I have prayed for you. And that's singular in Greek. The old English, I prayed for thee. What did he pray for? He prayed for Peter that his faith shouldn't fail. Do notice that. Didn't pray that his testimony wouldn't be destroyed. That was blown sky high that night, Peter's testimony. Didn't play that- pray that his courage wouldn't fail. That failed miserably. He prayed that through it all, Peter's faith shouldn't fail. And you know, the one who prayed for Peter is alive in heaven, and he prays for all his people. He intercedes for us that our faith should not fail. You say, what happened? Well, what Christ said to Peter was, Peter, I pray for you that your faith shall not fail, and when you are turned again, not if ever you're turned again, but when you turn again, strengthen your brothers. Well, Peter went in feeling a big man. He went into the high priest's court, and then a girl asked him, oh, you're one of those Christians, aren't you? And suddenly he fell into a panic of fear, denied the Lord, and then getting himself in a very big muddle, he denied the Lord three times. And when he denied the third time, an old cockerel crew. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord. And the Lord turned and looked upon Peter. Can you see what was happening? When our Lord said to Peter, you're going to deny me, he wouldn't believe Christ. Curious that, isn't it? Thought Christ had got that wrong, so he didn't believe him. When it all happened and he denied the law three times, then also the sign that Christ had given him, the cock crowing, happened. So Christ was right after all. Well, now Peter believed him more than he'd done before, didn't he? Couldn't help believing him. For now it had come true. And Christ had been right. And the cock crew. And doubtless, in the miserable days that followed, Peter remembered the next word our Lord said. I prayed for you, Peter, that your faith shouldn't fail. Didn't fail, you know. Came through it believing Christ more than he'd done before. Strengthen your brothers, Peter. And Peter lived on and became the mighty man to comfort his brothers and encourage them by his preaching and in his epistles. Christ has no favorites. Do remember it. When the attack comes, remember Christ and say to him, Lord, I can't stand this. I'm going under. Save me, Lord. You know all my doubts and fears. I can't cope with them, Lord, but Lord, I don't know the answers to the problems in your word. Please, you give me the evidence, Lord. You save me. That's what he does. Prays for us that our faith shouldn't fail. When we are res- when we are turned around, we are to strengthen our brethren. I could tell you stories in my little lifetime of men who I've known, who, being bright Christians in their early days, got away from the Lord, some of them for forty years, and then how Christ brought them back. I have seen God's providences that are almost miraculous in bringing back to himself those that have fallen. But... Christ said, Satan has desired to have you that he might sift you as wheat. That sifting wheat discerns between the genuine wheat and the tares. There's the seriousness of trial. Take to you the armor of God, says Paul, that you may stand in the evil day, and having done all to stand. Yeah. So get the shield of faith, which you may be able to, uh, withstand the fiery darts of the evil one. Faith in God's word and his truth. Look to practical righteousness. Be concerned with truthfulness. Take the helmet of salvation, won't you? You need to protect your thinking. The helmet of salvation. Be sure you know, understand the business of salvation, not only your past salvation, your daily salvation, and the salvation that was yet to come when the Lord comes and saves you and takes you to heaven. Put the helmet on your head. And oh, how about the feet? You know, in a battle in ancient times in the Roman army, the soldiers were issued with shoes, of course, because one of the dangers of the battlefield, by the time the battle had lasted a, a, a, a, an hour or so, what with all the blood shedding and the trampling of feet, the ground would get to colossally slippery. It's a dangerous thing to fall over. You wanted shoes that could grip and keep you standing. We need some shoes. The preparation, says this, of the gospel of peace. Having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. In this world, we shall find many attacks of the devil and his hosts, and many attacks on our Christian gospel, as being a tr- uh, an attempt to brainwash people, or as being a gospel that causes strife and religious contention, and so forth. Make sure, says Paul, that your feet are shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. That is our Christian message, peace with God, peace with others, insofar as it is in our power. Peace, but telling the truth. We're not prepared to stand by and consort to a lie. Telling the truth about Christ. He is the only way to God, says he, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me. Standing for the truth. But be sure that your gospel is a gospel of peace.