Episode 69: Gospel of peace and the shield of faith

In the name of the glorious Trinity, Father and Son and Holy

Spirit forever. Amen.

Glory be to the everlasting mercies which sent you to us, O

Christ, the light of the world and the life of all.

Give us wisdom by your law and enlighten our impulses by your

knowledge. Sanctify our souls by your

truth, and grant that we may be obedient to your words and may

fulfil your commandments at every hour.

O you who enlightens the rationale with the knowledge of

your greatness, do enlight, O my Lord, our thoughts that we may

meditate upon your holy and divine scriptures at all times,

O Lord of all, Father and Son and Holy Spirit forever.

Amen. In our last episode, when we

discussed the breastplate of righteousness, what of God's

armor readily available for us to use against the foe, the

enemy Satan, we simplified righteousness as being right

with God in the eyes of God according to the measures of

God. And again, Now for the sake of

simplifying the simplified, we read of Zechariah and his wife

Elizabeth John the Baptist's parents in Luke chapter one,

verse six, that they were both righteous before God because

before men they were cursed. Elizabeth was cursed because she

couldn't bear a child. But before God they were

righteous. Why?

Because they were walking in all the commandments and in the

judgments of the Lord God without blame.

So our series are concentrated on how to avoid Satan taking a

foothold. This is the third section.

Or the third part, part three. Our scripture reference is

Ephesians chapter 6, verses 10 to 18, and in this episode we'll

Ephesians 6:10–18

focus on yet more, actually two more armors or weapons of God

for us to use in our battle, in our challenge, in our strive

against the foe, the enemy being Satan.

In verse 15, Saint Paul encourages us to shod our feet,

which is in the Aramaic version, shod Now the shodding of feet is

when a horse is fitted with shoes, horseshoe.

Now you've seen when a horse's shoe is replaced, they are

ground grinded, the actual hoof is scraped and grinded and

cleaned, and when the shoe is fitted on, it is actually nailed

in, enforced and reinforced so that we don't have that image or

understanding that you're just merely putting on flip flops or

just slippers, or just putting on some shoes very casually.

Casually, the term shodding means.

That means reinforce your feet to be prepared to be ready of

the gospel of peace. Prepared Ready for what?

Of the gospel of peace? To proclaim the gospel of peace

to others as Isaiah proclaims in chapter 52 verse 7.

How beautiful are the feet of him that brings good tithings

that proclaims peace? And when you're proclaiming the

peace, the first person you are affecting, or when you're

proclaiming the gospel of peace or the Gospels or the good news

of Jesus Christ, the first person, the first heart, the

first mind that you are affecting is your own.

So you know when you, when you proclaim the peace, you are

either encouraged because you are in that gospel of peace, or

you're rebuked because your life and your words are contrary to

the gospel. So then you will correct

yourself, and if you're right, you will continue, and in that

way you will avoid giving, giving Satan a foothold.

Which peace? The gospel of peace.

Not war. Peace.

The peace that Christ himself praise and glory be to his name.

Now every time you hear me praising the name of God the

Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, now I won't be able

to hear you, but I want to challenge you to say Amen.

So the peace that Christ praise and glory be to his holy name

left us in John Chapter 14, verse 27.

John 14:27

As Christ himself says, my peace I give to you.

It is not as the world gives that that I gave, I give to you.

We see the peace of the world today, right?

We see what's happening, you know, and there's peace is, is

thrown. The word peace is so, so

casually thrown out there. But you cannot understand true

peace unless you have a relationship with Jesus Christ.

So that is the peace that Saint Paul is encouraging us to shut

our feet, to stand firm and to ready to proclaim that peace.

It is the peace of Christ according to Bishop Caesarius of

Arles, which was a city in France mid 4th century to mid

5th century. He goes on to say it is the

peace of Christ that indeed is serenity of mind, the

tranquility of soul, simplicity of heart, the bond of love, the

fellowship of charity. It removes hatred, the peace of

Christ. It settles wars, the peace of

Christ that is in the gospel of Allo Jesus Christ.

It restrains wrath, tramples on pride.

There's one of the armours of Satan that he shoots us at us.

The arrows of Satan, pride, the peace of Christ loves the

humble, sues the conflict and makes enemies to agree.

The only time the enemies can agree is only when they have a

relationship with Jesus Christ, who is praise and glory be to

his name, the Prince of Peace. So we are also, when we are

prepared to proclaim, we are also prepared and ready to be

focused to the path that the gospel of peace will lead us to,

which is eternal life Now. This we can accomplish if we

live righteously as the gospel commands us to do, because our

feet and the paths they tread symbolizes our life on earth, as

Saint Paul writes in Ephesians chapter 5, verses 15 and 16.

Ephesians 5:15

He proclaims this. Prior to these the scripture

references we are using for our topic, which is avoiding Satan

taking a full hole. He writes.

See therefore that you walk honorably.

Walk not as the fools but as the wise who redeem their

opportunities. Because the days that is life on

earth are evil. So when we're talking about

walking, it means our life on earth, how we conduct our lives

on earth. And when we do this, it

indicates that we have a willing heart and the readiness of doing

good deeds. And now these good deeds Christ

looks closely at when we read Psalms chapter 10, verses 17.

Psalms 10:17

You have heard the hope of the poor, oh Lord God.

And your ear has heard the preparation of the heart.

When the heart is ready for good deeds, for charity, for

holiness, for morality, Christ looks closely at that.

If we occupy our souls with good deeds, then according to the

Blessed Theophil act, we will be alert to and be turned off the

evil deeds that the devil prepares in a roundabout manner,

covering his wickedness and by making his suggestions seem

plausible to cause us to commit these very sins.

We spoke this and we quoted this last episode.

But then Paul goes on to say that above all of this referring

to the girdle of truth, the breastplate of righteousness,

the shoes, the sandals and leggings of readiness for gospel

above all that we are to take up the shield of faith.

So first and foremost is faith Now not a faith that that merely

proclaims and believes that God is true.

It's not that simple faith, but that rather such a determined

faith that makes a man believe in future events as though they

have already happened. See, we want the Kingdom of

heaven. We are eagerly waiting for the

day of the Lord, the great and awesome and faithful and awful

and majestic day of the Lord when He returns to grant His

eternal Kingdom to His church and the righteous ones when we

have hope in God and believe in God.

While we live on this earth and we are committed to God's

commandments, we do have a strong relationship with God.

Meaning, prayer, fasting, reading the scriptures, reading

the lives of the holy Saints, participating in the church and

the Sacramento life of the Church.

It's as though we're living in the Kingdom of heaven.

We're already living. This is the faith that we need

to take up. This is the shield of faith.

It's a faith that works, signs and wonders.

A faith that is so on fire that it can move mountains even

though it's as small as a mustard seed.

Yet within that mustard seed the whole being of that tree is

concealed. That faith that has fruits to

glorify God and with it to take on the enemy and to overcome and

become victorious and to defeat the enemy, not allowing him to

take a foothold in our life. Such a faith is is that faith

that is put in practice for the sole purpose of glorifying God?

You know, one person asked me, do you love God because he's

promised you the Kingdom of heaven?

Do you love the Lord because you fear him, because there is a a

awful judgement awaiting? Do you love God because of the

gracious provisions that he is given you?

Do you believe in him because of what he's going to give you?

Well, a part of it is, but the the integral part of faith is

that through it I glorify God. I glorify God by partaking in

his salvific plan which was wrought on the cross through his

Son our Lord Jesus Christ. I glorify God through such a

faith that possesses actions that grant us the gracious gift

of partaking in all that Christ Jesus completed, perfected, and

accomplished during his entire ministry on earth, which

concluded with at the cross, and it continues in the Resurrection

and the Ascension. This is only beloved through the

Sacramento life of the Church and not merely just believing in

God. Let me talk about this.

So faith in God and it's produce being the good deeds, God's the

entire soul of a man from the attacks of the demon and also

the possessions of the world. You know, it's just like you

holding a shield in one hand in front of your body to protect

your body from the blows of the enemy, from the arrows, from the

stones. It's just like the iron iron

gates, the iron doors that when they shut they shut out the

enemy, the faux, so is the shield of faith.

We talk about what type of faith, and with this Saint Paul

confirms that we shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of

the evil. 1 With a shield of faith, he writes, You will be

able to extinguish all evil desires, thoughts of unbelief

and blasphemies, by which the devil violently attacks you.

When he asks, Is there really a resurrection?

Is there indeed a judgement? Is it really a sin to do 1234?

Do you really grieve the Holy Spirit of God when you are

disobedient to God? Is there really a Kingdom of

heaven? Is there really hell?

Is there a God? You know these are the fiery

arrows that Satan or the dots that Satan casts upon us.

So to recap what we have been speaking thus far, what we have

learned, and I pray that we have begun to put in practice to

avoid giving Satan a foothold, is to put on the armor of God.

We spoke about the belt of the belt of truth, the truth of the

Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

So to recap what we have learned thus, fine.

I pray that you've begun to put in practice.

To avoid giving Satan a foothold is to put on the armour of God.

And Paul emphasizes all of the armour of God, not just one, but

multiple choice all. He began with the belt of Truth,

the truth of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,

the truth of the Holy Sacred Scriptures, AKA Bible, the truth

of the One Holy and Apostolic and Catholic, universal complete

Church which entails her faith, her doctrine, her teachings, her

liturgy and her sacraments, the truth of the resurrection of our

bodies and to life forever and ever.

Amen. We are told to put on the

breastplate of righteousness, being right with God in the eyes

of God according to God's standards and measures.

We can sum sum up the breastplate of righteousness

according to the Blessed Theophil act, the virtuous way

of life in its entirety. That means ethics, manners,

morals, etiquette, according to God's standards and not man, not

the norm, not Hollywood, not laws, not legislations, not the

liberty that is so misused today in the world.

And today we learn that we are to shod our feet with the gospel

of peace and to take on the shield of faith.

We have no excuse, beloved. Let us, those who've heard these

three episodes thus far, listen to what I'm going to tell you.

This is alarming, but I must say it You have no excuse anymore.

There is no from this point onwards, there is no excuse for

our unacceptable, inappropriate ethics, manners, morals,

etiquettes. There is no excuse for our

immoral immorality. There is no excuse for our I'll

manners. We cannot blame Satan.

The finger must be pointed at ourselves because we enjoy the

life that we're living in and the possessions of the world.

We enjoy fulfilling the desires, the evil desires of our flesh.

We enjoy living a life of debauchery because we there is

no excuse because Satan should have no power whatsoever.

Now, I'm not saying that Satan will give up.

Satan will intensify. So since you've heard these

three episodes, and if you're going to say to me, and I'll be

your father, but it's worse now, the temptations are even worse,

praise God you're on the right path.

But don't let down your guard. Don't misuse the armours.

Don't neglect the armour of God that we have and that we've

discussed. Put them in practice.

Hold on to the shield of faith. Walk in the peace of the gospel

of Jesus Christ. Put on the breastplate of

righteousness. Ask the Lord.

Pray to the Lord. Make me right before your eyes.

Make me make me right according to your standards and your

measures, because there is no more excuses.

You know, when we complain that we haven't heard the gospel, it

is a legitimate complaint, and we should complain that we don't

hear the gospels. But there is an alarming aspect

to that. When you hear the message of the

Gospels, the truth of the message of the gospel, and the

everlasting message of the holy Gospels, and you do nothing

about it, and there is no repentance, and then there is no

regret, there is no conviction, Then there is a judgement

awaiting us. So stop and look and think.

Where do you stand in the Gospels?

Are you utilizing putting on the complete armor of God?

God does not send us in a battle without equipping us.

The government will not send its troops into battle.

Unless they are protected from the air and from the ground, God

does not allow us to also enter this spiritual battle without

equipting us from the air on the ground.

Everlastingly praise and glory be to His holy Name now, and

that all times and forever. Amen.

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EE forward slash double edged sword until next time.

God bless you all.