John K. Jenkins Sr - The Shoes of Peace (01/24/2026)
In part four of the spiritual warfare series from Ephesians 6, Pastor John Jenkins focuses on the shoes of the armor of God—having your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. He explains that this means living a lifestyle that reflects strong faith in God, being ready at all times to share the gospel clearly and confidently, using the Romans Road verses to lead others to salvation and bring them true peace through Christ.
Introduction to Spiritual Warfare: Shoes
Open your Bibles with me to Ephesians chapter 6. This is part four of our message on spiritual warfare. Today is part four of spiritual warfare, and today I want to talk about shoes. Shoes. At the 10:00 service, a mother came up to me and said: I’ve been trying to get my boys to come to church. And she said: I just asked them to come to church today—just come today. And she said they both own shoe stores, and the message spoke to them. And they both came up and gave their life to the Lord today.
Ephesians chapter 6, verse 10. I’m going to read verses 10-15. It says: «Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Therefore—verse 13—take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace.»
Having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel. He’s talking about shoes. Shoes. Somebody say: shoes.
Personal Story About Shoes – Comfort vs. Looks
My wife and I have been married for 44 years. Amen. And she has a habit that’s very frustrating to me. She has a habit… Rashar Baker—here’s what she does. She brings to church with her two pair of shoes. Yeah, wait—don’t… She wears one pair to church 'cause they are comfortable. Then she has another pair that looks good, but they’re not so comfortable.
I’m okay with her having two pair of shoes. I’m okay. My problem is she waits until we get to church to take off the comfortable ones and put on the uncomfortable ones. Don’t applaud that. No, that’s a problem. It is a problem. Why can’t she put those uncomfortable ones on while we are driving to church? Why does she wait until she gets to the church?
Now of course, if I just jump out the car and go in, now I’m the worst husband in the world. I just wish she would go ahead and change the shoes—like we get a minute out. You know it’s going to take you a minute to take off those shoes and put… When we a minute out, go ahead and make the shift.
Come on, brothers—don’t leave me hanging out here by myself. Come on. Y’all brothers… Y’all get on my nerves sometimes. Y’all afraid. Y’all scared. Say amen with me. Hey, don’t leave me hanging out here by myself. Oh my gosh, sir. Amen.
It’s troublesome that she waits until we get here to put the shoes on. I got to sit in the car and wait for her to do all of that—put new shoes on.
Spiritual Shoes – Don’t Wait Until You Need Them
The problem is those are her physical shoes. Some of y’all do the same thing with your spiritual shoes. Amen. You wait until you need to know before you learn to know. Wow. So I’m going to talk about this in just a moment. Can y’all hang with me? I’ll be finished when I get done. Can y’all just hang with me for a few moments?
Paul is talking to the church in Ephesus. Just hang with me—I’m going to make sense in just a moment. Paul is talking to the church in Ephesus, and he says to them—he gives them all these spiritual weapons for spiritual warfare. He tells them what they are to put on to do spiritual battle. And one of the things he says is: have your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel.
When he talks about feet—somebody say: feet. Holler back—say: feet. Feet. He’s talking about… When he says have your feet shod—here’s what he’s really saying. He says the feet represent how you walk—your lifestyle. Amen. That’s what it means. Have your feet shod. Have your feet moving in a direction. Have your feet be reflective of the fact that you truly do have a relationship with God.
All right, that’s what feet represent: lifestyle. Somebody say: lifestyle.
Your Lifestyle Reflects Your Faith – A Confident Walk
When you say you’re a Christian, you ought to live a life that when people watch you and observe you and are looking at you, that they ought to see that you have such a relationship with God that nothing’s stressing you out. You ain’t going off on people. You ain’t upset or mad. But you got the confidence…
Don’t clap yet. Wait till I finish. Wait till I finish before y’all start clapping. Then shout, dance, run around the building right after I make the statement. Y’all can do that.
I want you to… Here’s what Paul said: I want your lifestyle to be such that when people are watching you and watching the hell that you’re going through and watching the struggles that you have, they see you still loving God, obeying God, worshiping God, and got confidence that one way or the other God is going to work it out.
Do I have anybody here today that has such a walk with God that come hell or high water—come difficulty, come challenges—you know that when it’s all said and done, you’re going to be okay?
Yes, difficult days happen. Yes, challenges happen. Yes, stuff that we would not choose comes into the domain of our life. But when he says I want your feet to be shod—here’s what he’s saying: I want your walk with God to be such that other people see how God’s working it out on your behalf, answering your prayers.
God Answers Prayers – Even Before You Ask
Here’s what I love about walking with God. Here’s what I love about my relationship with God. Here’s what I love about my engagement with God: that I see God often answering my prayer even before I talk to Him about what I want Him to do. Is anybody other than me have that experience? God’s fighting your battles, and you didn’t even have to ask Him to fight your battles.
Y’all ever seen God get somebody laid off your job, and you didn’t even talk to God about getting rid of that joker that’s getting on your last nerves? Y’all ain’t hearing what I’m saying to you today.
That’s what I love about my relationship with God: He answers my prayers even before I ask Him. I didn’t have to talk to Him about Derrick Henry last night—He just anointed him. Yes. I didn’t have to mention Lamar’s name to Him last night.
Come on, holler back at your brother. Look—I know y’all Commanders fans, but just show some love to my Ravens for just a moment. Thank God they kicked the Steelers behind last night. Praise Him. Glory to God.
I forgot what else I was about to say next. I’m so excited about… We going to the Super Bowl. Commanders fans, I will give you a comforting word next Sunday. I’m cheering for them. I want them to win—they my second team. My first team is the Baltimore Ravens. That’s what I’m talking about. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That’s what I’m talking about. Yes. Glory to the God that I serve.
I got to gather my thoughts 'cause I forgot what I was about to say. Lifestyle. Your lifestyle—people ought to look at you and see how you living your life and make them want to know the God that you’re serving. Amen.
A Distinct Lifestyle – Something Special About You
They ought to look at you and be able to see something special about you. There’s something about you that’s different and unique—that you have a confidence in the God you serve that I don’t have with whatever—whoever—I’m serving. They need to be able to look to you and see there’s something special about you.
So Paul says to the church in Ephesus—and what he’s doing is he’s telling them to put on these… He’s encouraging them, challenging them to put on the armor of God so that you can do battle against the enemy. That’s what he’s doing. He said: put on the full armor of God. And he goes through all these pieces, and one of them has to do with some shoes.
He says: I want you to put some shoes on. I want you to put some shoes on so that you can fight against the tricks of the devil. And he’s taking it from the Roman soldiers. The Roman soldiers who put on all this weaponry—and he says to them… 'Cause he knows that the Roman soldiers wore some sandals. And he says: I want you to have your feet shod.
Now that word «shod» means to bind under. That’s what it means. It means to bind under. Here’s what that means: to tie them on tightly. Put them on so they don’t easily come off.
Tie Your Shoes Tight – No Flip-Flops in Faith
See, some of you have some shoes on, but they are flip-flops. Y’all getting quiet on me right here for just a moment. Somebody look at your neighbor, say: flip-flops. You got some flip-flops on. And the reason you have flip-flops on is because you want to be able to easily get out of your church shoes so you can get into your club shoes.
Don’t act like I ain’t talking to y’all. I’m talking to the 12:00 crowd right here right now. That’s this crowd. Some of y’all just made it home in time to be able to slip off your dancing shoes and put your church shoes on. Come on, holler back at your brother.
Y’all ain’t got to like me—if y’all all say amen together, nobody will know I’m talking about you.
He says: have your feet shod—tie them on tight so they don’t easily come off. He is saying, in essence: so that you can advance against the enemy—so you can move and press toward and defeat the enemy. You need some good shoes on, and they need to be tied on tightly.
And here’s what he says right here in verse number 15: having shod your feet—tied on tightly to your lifestyle. When he says shod your feet with what? With the preparation of the gospel.
Be Prepared to Share the Gospel – Ahead of Time
The word «preparation» here means that you have prepared yourself ahead of time. Go ahead, Pastor—deep. That’s deep. He says that you have prepared yourself ahead of time.
The problem some of you have is you wait until a person needs Jesus before you learn how to share Jesus. Wow. And then when they come to you and they say they want to know Jesus, you got to say: come to my church on Sunday. You want to say to them: let me call one of my ministers at our church to call you. Let me let you talk to somebody else who knows.
When you ought to know. By the way—and another thing—some of you been coming to this church for years and decades, and you still haven’t learned how to share the gospel with anybody.
You are not going to stand before God and tell God that I did not tell you how to win somebody to Jesus. We got classes. I teach it on Sundays. I teach it on Bible study. We have taught it multiple times. And you’ve been here long enough—you ought to know better by now.
Be Ready – Know the Gospel Inside Out
You ought to be able to preach the Scriptures out of the back of your head. You ought to know it out of the bottom of your heart. Has a… Has a… Me… And another thing—I feel… I feel something coming up inside of me. Let me… Let somebody say: slow down, Pastor. Slow down. Slow down. Slow down.
I’m… I want you to be prepared. Yes, Lord. Yes. To share the gospel with the preparation of the gospel. God has made it possible for us to help people who are lost, depressed, frustrated, down, defeated—don’t know which way is left, which way is up, which way is right.
God has given us the message to be able to share the gospel with people. Because you know what it is? The gospel of peace.
Y’all have met some people that ain’t got no peace. They ain’t got no joy. They don’t… I know that’s not good English, but it’s good preaching. They ain’t got no joy. They ain’t got no stability. They don’t know which way they’re going in life. And you have the answers. You know how to give them direction. You have the truth.
That’s what we teach in this church. We teach you the Word of God. We got classes. We got all kind of classes and workshops and discipleship groups to teach you how to share the gospel—how to get people right, how to put them in the right direction, how to make decisions in life. We teach you how to do that.
You are not going to stand before God and say: I didn’t tell you. 'Cause I told you.
Teaching the Romans Road to Salvation
When I first became the pastor of the First Baptist Church—I’ve been the pastor for 35 years. Yeah, this is the 36th year. When I became the pastor, and somebody came forward to accept the Lord, the deacons would take you in the back room—get your name, get your address. They would bring you back out front, and then the church would vote on you to be a member of the church.
Ain’t that ridiculous? Sinners voting on whether to let other sinners join the church. Amen. They wasn’t sharing the gospel with them. They just took them in back and got name and phone number and address—brought them back out front. We voted on them. That’s how we did it.
I changed that. I changed that. So when people would come forward, I would sit those people who came forward on the front row. Yes—we had pews back then. Right? Y’all know what a pew is? Some of y’all don’t know what a pew is. Yes, sir. How many of y’all ain’t never been in a church where you seen a pew? Okay. All right. So y’all know what the pew is.
I sat them on the front pew, and in front of everybody, I walked them through Romans Road to Salvation—Sunday after Sunday, service after service. That’s what I did. I was not only giving them the gospel—I was teaching the church. Amen. How to know it.
We’ll get to the point where I’d say: okay, what’s the next verse? And they would shout it out 'cause they knew it 'cause they saw me do it Sunday after Sunday after Sunday after Sunday. And we’re still doing… I’m still… Matter of fact, I’m about to teach you today. That’s what I’m about to do.
Why? Because you need to be able to have your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel. You need to know now how to lead somebody to the Lord. But you need to know now—if somebody comes and they need the Lord—if your children come to you and want to know Jesus—you ought to be able to know it.
Prepared on the Inside – No Notes Needed
As a matter of fact—hold up—let me slow down for a second. The word «preparation» means this: it means to be prepared on the inside. That’s what it means—that you know it so well that you know it inside out. You don’t need notes. You don’t need to have it written down 'cause you learned it well enough.
If you cut me in the middle of the night, I’m going to preach and teach Romans Road to Salvation. You wake me up at 3:00 in the morning and say: I need to be saved—I’m going to say Romans 3:23. I’m going to keep my eyes closed. Romans 6:23. I’m going to try to go back to sleep, but I’m going to be able to give you the plan of how to get saved without a Bible in my hand.
And God says you ought to be able to do the same thing—know the gospel, know and be able to share. 'Cause some of you have relatives and friends and acquaintances and neighbors and co-workers that don’t know Jesus—have no relationship with Jesus—don’t have any encounter. They need the Lord. And God has placed you there for the purpose of helping them to meet Jesus.
The Gospel of Peace – Bringing True Peace
Y’all notice the claps are getting lower and lower and lower. It’s okay. Y’all not going to stand before God and say: I didn’t tell you. 'Cause I’m teaching you right now how to share the gospel.
That the Scriptures say it’s a gospel of peace. It helps bring people to a place of peace. Amen. Amen. It helps people have peace and have peace with God. Oh, I feel a shout coming in my…
That’s what the gospel does: it helps you have peace with God and have inner peace. And you know people that need that peace—tormented, frustrated, mad, upset, angry with the world, defeated, frustrated, depressed. And you have the answer to be able to help them change their life.
Right—truth be told—that’s where you were. And then one day somebody told you about Jesus, and your life got turned around.
Who in here that life been turned around? You’re not the same person today that you were years ago when you first came to the church. And somebody told you about Jesus, and your life got turned around. Your focus got turned around. Your purpose got turned around. You learned your destiny. You learned your purpose. You learned your assignment. You had a relationship with God, and you now talk to a God who answers your prayer.
I Trust in God – He Hears and Answers
That’s what I love about God—that He not only answers… Oh, did… What did y’all… Did y’all sing that song during praise and worship? What… What did they sing? This… Did they sing the song: what’s the song? What’s the song? I trust in God. I trust in God. Yeah, yeah. What’s the… What’s the verse? I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered.
Anybody know what I’m talking about? I cried out to the Lord and He heard and He answered. I sought the Lord—He heard and He answered. Somebody ought to give God a shout if you know what I’m talking about.
I sought the Lord and He heard. When you have a walk with God and a relationship with Him—it’s worth it all. I’ll take Jesus. I’ll take Jesus every time.
I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered. I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered. I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered. That’s why I trust Him. That’s why I trust Him.
I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered. I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered. I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered. That’s why… That’s why… The Lord… I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered. I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered. I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered. That’s why I trust Him. That’s why I trust in God.
That’s why I’m in church today. That’s why I’m not a Muslim. That’s why I’m not a Hare Krishna. That’s not why I follow those others. I sought the Lord—His name is Jesus—and He heard my prayer and He answered my prayer. Hallelujah.
Sit down. Sit down. Sit down. Y’all going to make me run around this building in a moment here.
Your Assignment – Share the Gospel with Others
And there’s somebody here today that don’t have that relationship with God. Right? And there are people in your personal life—there are people that you have relationship with—that don’t know the Lord. And He’s anointed you to tell them—to engage them—to have spiritual conversations with them—to lead them to the Lord. God has anointed you for that purpose. That’s your assignment.
You just don’t… We don’t just come to… I hope y’all just don’t come to church so you can get your good feeling—your little shout and feel good and go on. No—God’s equipping you and training you and anointing you to help take the gospel to the world. Amen. Can I get an amen right there from anybody?
And so when he says have your feet shod with the preparation—he is saying: be equipped on the inside of yourself to be able to share the gospel. Be equipped to share the gospel. Amen. Amen.
Romans Road to Salvation – Step by Step
And right now, I’m going to teach you how to do it: Romans. And matter of fact, all the verses I’m going to give you from Romans. It’s Romans Road to Salvation. Romans Road to Salvation.
What are those verses? I’m glad you asked. Here’s the first one: Romans 3:23. Jot it down. Romans 3:23. Learn these verses, please. I’m challenging you today 'cause God wants to use you to help make a difference in somebody’s life.
Here’s what Romans 3:23 says: «For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.» That’s Romans 3:23. Write it down. Learn it. This passage—Romans 3:23: all have sinned. We all are sinners. We’ve all missed the mark. We’ve all failed God. Nobody is perfect. Nobody in here—you’re not born saved.
You didn’t… I talk to people: some—I was… I’ve been saved all my life. That’s a lie. No, you have not. You have not been saved all your life. We are born in sin. All have sinned and fallen short of God’s standard. So we’re all in the same category together. We all are sinners.
Look at the person next to you, say: you a sinner. Look on the other side, say: you a sinner. We all sinned. Yes, you are. You’re a sinner. You’re born in sin—shaped in iniquity, the Bible says. We come in this world as sinners. We’ve all sinned and fallen short of the standard that God has established. That’s number one.
Romans 6:23 – Wages of Sin and God’s Gift
Here’s the next verse: Romans 6:23. That’s the next verse. Romans 6:23. Jot it down. You got to know it—from 3:23 to 6:23. And what does 6:23 say? «For the wages of sin is death.» Stop—stick a pin right there. The wages of sin is death. The reward—the compensation—for your sin is death.
The word «death» means to be separated from God. It doesn’t mean to die. What that word «death» means: that you are separated relationally from God. That’s why your life is a mess—because you’ve sinned and you’ve missed the mark, and you’re separated from a relationship with God.
«For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and the wages of that sin is death.» But verse 23 also says of chapter 6: «but the gift of God…»
I like when God sticks His «but» in the Scriptures. Anytime you see «but» in the situation, it means something’s about to shift. Romans 6:23 says: «For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.»
He gives us a gift. Salvation is a gift. You don’t earn it. You don’t get it 'cause you’re good or whether you’re bad. You don’t get it 'cause you paid your tithes. You don’t get it 'cause you sing in the choir. You don’t get it 'cause you an usher. Amen. It’s a gift.
That’s what you got to tell people: it’s a gift. There’s nothing you can do to earn it. It cannot be earned. It’s a gift.
The devil got you thinking that if your good outweighs your bad, you’re going to make it into heaven. A lot of people going to go to hell thinking that: if my good outweighs my bad, I’ll make it in. Your good will never outweigh your bad.
You get to heaven on the basis of a gift that God has made available to you. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. That’s right—eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. It’s eternal. It’s life. It’s zoe—it’s life with God that will last eternally.
That’s why we don’t get all spaced out when somebody dies. Some people be trying to crawl up in the casket with people—stuff like that. We don’t do that here. 'Cause we know: when I close my eyes here, I’mma open my eyes in the arms of Jesus. Can I get an amen right there from anybody?
It’s eternal life. It lasts for eternity. But it starts here on this side. Some of you don’t have that eternal life. You’re here, but you don’t have it. God wants to make it available to you today.
Yeah—you may be a church member. I was a church member. I came to church. I was raised in church. My mama took me to church as a kid. I got baptized as a little small kid. But I did not have eternal life. And one day I realized something was missing in my life, and I came forward.
I know they talked about me, and they said: he already singing in the choir—he already an usher. But I know I wasn’t saved. I didn’t have a relationship with God. And so I came forward. And when you want Jesus, you don’t care what people think about you. I don’t care what people say—talk about me all you want. Yes, it’s okay. Say what you want to say. But I knew there was something missing in my life. And that night, Jesus saved me.
Romans 5:8 – Christ Died for Us While We Were Sinners
Here’s the next verse: Romans 5:8. I’m going to try to finish here. Romans 5:8. Here’s another «but.» Here’s another… But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Somebody ought to holler right there. You were in the middle of your sin, and He still died for you. He knew you were going to do some stuff you ain’t had no business doing, but He still died for you.
He was wounded for my transgressions and bruised for our iniquities, and the chastisement of our peace was laid upon Him. He died for us. He died so that we could have a relationship with God the Father.
God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
I’m almost finished. Romans chapter 10, verses 9 and 10 tell us how to get salvation—how do we take advantage of this salvation—how do we participate in this salvation—how do we get this God in our life.
It says in verse 9: that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
I’m preaching to somebody here today that you know your life is in… You’re in the danger zone 'cause you have not surrendered. You have not been born again. You have not put your faith in the Lord. You have not confessed with your mouth nor believed in your heart.
But right here—here’s the promise of verse 9—that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. That’s a promise from God—He will save you.
Romans 10:9-10 – Confess and Believe
Verse 10 says: for with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
If you confess with your mouth, believe in your heart—God will do a wonderful work in your life.
Romans 10:13 – Whoever Calls Shall Be Saved
And then verse 13—I’m finished. Here’s verse 13. Now here I’m going to shout. Verse 13—somebody going to run around the building on verse 13. Somebody may not have never read verse 13, but I want to… Matter of fact, I feel like running around on verse 13 'cause it says: «For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.»
Y’all didn’t hear what I’m saying. If you call on Him—I sought the Lord and He heard and He… If I call on the Lord, He will answer me. He will save me. Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
That’s great news right there. If you open your heart and cry out to God, He will forgive you and save you. It is a promise from God. Amen. Hallelujah.
Who knows that to be true? Who knows that verse to be true? Amen.
Somebody here today needs to know that. And somebody here today needs to grab a hold of it.
That’s… That’s that. By the way—by the way—I just gave you these verses. It’s called Romans Road to Salvation. Do what you have to do to learn it so that when you talk to your cousin, when you talk to your neighbors, when you talk to your grandkids and your kids—you can say: here’s the plan right here. If you just do this right here—and lead them to a place of relationship with God.
Closing Challenge – Are You Prepared and Sharing?
In just a few moments, somebody here today going to get saved. In just a few moments, somebody who knows they’re on their way to hell—God brought you here. It’s not an accident that you’re here. It’s not a coincidence. God brought you here.
Now that devil wants to put you to sleep. That devil wants to put your mind elsewhere. But today is your day to get delivered from the stronghold of the enemy.
Now I want to close with this. I’m going to close with this. I’m finished. Just… I’m finished. It’s 4 minutes to one. We going to be done before 1:00 today. Go ahead, Pastor. I think so. I’m going to try to be finished.
I want to find out whether or not you know how to share the gospel. Yes. Amen. Amen. I asked y’all a question: do you know? Have you learned? Have you put on the shoes and tightened them down tight so they won’t come off easily? Have you learned?
That’s my first question. My second question: well, who have you shared it with? I asked y’all a question: who have you shared it with? Who have you told?
There are people all around you that need the Lord—their co-workers, neighbors, friends, relatives that need the Lord. And it’s your job to share the gospel with them. Amen. Amen.