Eph. vi. 14, 15. Stand . . . having . . . your feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace.
THERE are many things which the art of war has rendered necessary for the success of an army, besides those rude weapons which an untaught savage would employ : and though they may be of inferior and subordinate use, still the want of them may prove as fatal as the want of things that are of primary im- portance. It would have been to little purpose, in some situations, for soldiers to have their vital parts covered with armour, if they had not also shoes, or greaves, to protect their legs and feet against the sharp stakes, that were fixed in the ground to obstruct their progress. That this was a part of armour in the days of old, the sacred history informs us. Goliath had " greaves of brass upon his legs, as well as a target of brass between his shoulders3." And, when the irresistible success of the Chaldeans was foretold, it was particularly said, that " the lachet of their shoes should not be broken V In reference to this part of a soldier's accoutrements, the Apostle ex- horts us to have our feet guarded ; and intimates, that as the military shoes gave to him who wore them a readiness to march over any obstacles that might lie in his way, so " the Gospel of peace" gives to the Christian soldier a " preparation," or readiness, to prosecute his warfare without halting. This it does,
I. As bringing peace into the conscience ; and
II. As producing a peaceful disposition in the soul.
I. The Gospel of peace gives us a readiness to march, in that it brings peace into the conscience —
The Gospel is the one source of peace to sinful man. If he obtain peace from any other source, he
a 1 Sam. xvii. 6. b Isai. v. 27.