Welcome to A.T. Stewart and Sons Ministries. I'm your host, A.T. Stewart. I'm glad you've chosen to join us today as we look into the Word of God. So take your Bibles and let's hang out in God's Word for a few moments and see what God would say to us today. We're talking about Survivor Westside, and we're talking about the spiritual war that we find ourselves in as Christians. Much like the show Survival, where people put off in a remote place and have to survive against the hostile forces of nature, we find ourselves in the hostile environment known as an ungodly world. We need to survive as Christians, but not only survive, but thrive in your spiritual growth. This series is designed to help you do that. We saw first week the war. We saw that the spiritual war is not primarily against humans. Yes, that's right. Your wife is not the main problem. Your husband is not the main problem. It's the forces of Satan and his demons that are at war against you. He uses people, but our battle is not against people primarily. Secondly, we thought that the war was constant. Satan is at work all the time. He never takes a break. He never rests. He never takes a holiday. It is a constant battle that we find ourselves in. We saw that this war is characterized as a fierce hand-to-hand combat with devastating consequences if we lose. Satan is out for the kill. He is serious about what he's doing. And we also noted that our responsibility as Christians is to allow the Lord to strengthen us and for us to put on the full armor of God. Now, as we find ourselves engaged in this war with Satan and his demons, Paul puts three questions to us in our passage around these pieces of armor. The first question that Paul asked us was, do you really want to fight Satan at all? That question needs to be answered at the outset. If you're not really committed to the battle, if you're not really committed to win, then we don't need to go any further at all. Just put up your surrender flag and be done with it. Paul talks about the belt of truth. And I said to you, truth or integrity for a soldier is to be committed to fight. Now imagine these guys, if they were thinking Soon as the battle starts, I'm running away. I'm deserting. They'd be a farce. They'd be a living lie. And so if truth means anything for a soldier, it means he is committed to fight 110%. And as soldiers of Christ, the first and foundational piece of armor we need to put on is that belt of commitment. We need to have, first of all, a sincere commitment that's committed to fight 24-7. Because Satan doesn't take a day off, we cannot take a day off either. Also, we need to have a serious commitment that's not willing to give Satan even one inch, not allow and tolerate even the smallest sin in our lives. And then it needs to be a sacrificial commitment that's willing to do whatever it takes to win. So I'll put that question to you. Do you really want to fight Satan? Are you really willing to enter the fray? And are you fighting to win? The second question Paul put to us is are you living the kind of life that will enable you to engage in this war? He talks about the breastplate of righteousness. I called it the Kevlar vest of holy living. It is a devout and holy life. It is a life of moral rectitude. It means a life lived in obedience to God's Word. If you're tolerating sin in your life, you're going to war without your bulletproof vest on. If you're tolerating sin in your life, if you're not living a holy life, you're going to war with a paper be of own, not a Kevlar vest of righteousness. And so that question was put to us last week and I'll put it to you. Are you living the kind of life that will enable you to fight? The third question that Paul asks us today is are you prepared to fight? Are you prepared to fight? You say you can be willing to fight. You can even be living the kind of life that will enable you to fight, but if you're not prepared to fight, what good will that do you? Imagine a soldier who is there dressed up. He has his Kevlar vest, bulletproof vest on. He is totally clad with all his equipment, but he's barefooted. Now is something wrong with that picture? How long could our soldiers in Iraq last barefoot on the hot desert sand? They couldn't. Though they might be willing to fight, though they might have lived a disciplined life that would enable them to fight, if they don't have any shoes on, they aren't prepared to fight. And so Paul talks to us today about the shoes of the preparation of the gospel of peace. As I said to you, since Paul is talking about the spiritual warfare, he uses military concepts. And he's talking about the different pieces of armor that the Roman soldier of his day would have worn. And so we're looking at that and then I am updating it to our modern soldiers as well. So let's look at the Roman soldiers' combat boots. Now the Roman soldier had battle shoes that were different from those shoes that he might wear if he had another assignment. Josephus was a Jewish historian of the biblical days. He was contemporary with Jesus. And he describes the shoes that the Roman soldiers wore in combat as shoes thickly studded with sharp nails. Historians tell us that the great success that Julius Caesar had and Alexander the Great experienced was due largely to the footwear of their soldiers. Their soldiers wore shoes that made it possible for them to cover long distances in very short spans of time. Continually, they would approach the enemy and the enemy would be totally unprepared and caught off guard because the enemy thought they had plenty of time to prepare their defenses. They didn't realize how quickly these armies could travel. And so Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great's armies would approach the enemy and engage them in war before the enemy had a chance to prepare. Because they had on these shoes that enabled them to cover distances so quickly. And their combat shoes had hobnails protruding from the soles that gave them a sure grip, a firm foundation. Now we see the same thing in athletic shoes today. Every sport has its own special shoes. Have you noticed? I've got them up here for you. I mean, football has their own special shoes. Now, when I was coming along, they even had different cleats they used when it was muddy, and they have different shoes now they use on artificial turf, but they have different footings for their shoes. Golfers have special shoes that they wear. Tennis players have special shoes that they wear. Track players have special shoes that they wear. Baseball players have special shoes that they wear. Amazingly enough, even bowlers have special shoes that they wear. Now all of these shoes of these various athletic sports are designed particularly for that sport for one main purpose. And do you know what that purpose is? To make them look good. I mean, that's what's so important. They want to be good-looking athletes. When they get dressed up and dressed out in their uniform, they want to look good. Right? No. Their coaches could care less how they look. It's not how they look. They're not interested in that. The one thing, the sole purpose of those shoes is to give them traction, to enable them to have a firm foundation, to be able to engage in their sports from solid footing. That's what it's all about. Because an athlete cannot compete successfully if he's slipping and falling down. What soldier can fight if he can't keep his balance? if he keeps falling down and slipping. Imagine a Roman soldier engaged in hand-to-hand combat and he's falling and slipping. He's defeated almost before he starts. Now today's soldiers also recognize the importance of their footwear. And they have highly specialized footwear. Now what we have in front of you there are known as jungle boots. And these were worn by our military during the Vietnam days. Slater Davis is our Vietnam veteran and he is my source of information here. But if you will notice the mud tread on these boots. They had a different kind of tread than the boots they would wear for ceremonial exercises. These were jungle combat boots that had this mud tire tread that would enable them to get good traction in the mud or in climbing mountains. Also, these boots were made of canvas, not all leather, but canvas, because they needed to be able to dry out quickly because of the wet conditions found in the jungles. Not only that, but there were two drain holes on the instep of each boot to allow water to drain out of the boots that had gotten into it when they'd gone through water or through a marshy area. Also there was a metal shank in the sole of the boot because the Vietnamese, the Vietcong would put little sharp sticks in the ground and cover them over and if the soldiers would walk over them they would stick through their boot and injure their foot if they didn't have these steel metal shanks in the soles of their boots. And so these boots were made specialized to enable these jungle soldiers to be able to wage war from a solid footing, a sure foundation. Now, so when Paul talks about the Christians' combat shoes, we know that what he's talking about is something that will give us a firm footing. Something that will enable us to stand steady, to stand firm, to have a firm foundation and not slip and not fall and not lose our balance when we're engaging the enemy in this mortal combat. Well, what's he talking about? What does Paul mean? Well, look in verse 15. when Paul says, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Now let's talk about what is Paul talking about when he says, shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. What is it that he's referring to? Well first, look at that word preparation. Now it can mean a firm foundation, firm footing. And I actually think that that is a better translation in this passage than preparation. So let me give you the Stuart translation. Having shod your feet with the firm foundation of the gospel of peace. All right, next let's look at this word gospel. Now, when you and I hear the word gospel, we think about the plan of salvation, don't we? Well, the word gospel really just means good news. You remember when the Karuks would travel through that town, the crier would travel through with a message from the king because they didn't have telegraph, telephones, and other means of communication, and so that man would go from village to village and he would cry out the news? This is a word for the good news that he would cry out. the good news. And so I think, again, the Stuart translation would be having shod your feet with the firm foundation of the good news of peace. Well, what peace is Paul talking about? I think he's talking about the peace that Christians have with God. that we're not at war with God any longer. As Christians, God has declared peace between us and Him. And so again, putting it all together, I think what Paul is saying is, have you shod your feet with the firm foundation of the good news of peace with God. What Paul is saying is that if we are going to prepare to fight in this spiritual war, we must fight from the solid footing, from the firm foundation of knowing that we are at peace with God. There's an old proverb that says, when a man has peace at home, he can fight tigers and lions away from home. But when he does not have peace at home, He cannot defeat any enemy away from home. Paul is speaking up on the truth of that proverb. You cannot wage war against God and against Satan at the same time and be successful. You can only fight a battle on one front at a time. And we must be sure that we are standing on the firm foundation that we have peace with God when we wage this war against Satan. And so Paul says, if you're going to begin to wage the war, if you're going to be prepared to wage the war, your first preparation must be that you're having a firm foundation, a solid footing, and that solid footing must be that you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are at peace with God, that everything is right between you and God. and that God is on your side and it's you and God against the devil and his demons. We are not at war with God. Do you know that? Do you know that you have peace with God? Are you standing on that firm foundation of the solid conviction That you know for sure that you have peace with God today? That there's absolutely nothing between you and God? That you're not at war with God on any front, but you're at peace with God on every front? Look over in Romans chapter 5. Here Paul speaks about the believers' peace with God. And I want us to spend a few moments Looking at this truth in detail because I want to make sure that you know solidly Firmly Convincingly that if you're a Christian you have peace with God You've got to know that before you can engage Successfully the enemy in battle over in Romans chapter 5 Paul starts off this chapter by summarizing. It's like a preacher preaching a sermon and saying to you, OK, here's what I'm going to preach about today. This is the main truth I want to get across to you. And he tells you that, and then he goes back and he preaches the sermon about that main truth. That's what Paul does in this chapter. He says, OK, here's what I'm going to be talking about in this chapter. In verse 1 of chapter 5. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Having been justified. Now that's a legal term that basically means acquitted. It means to be declared not guilty. And so Paul says, what I'm going to talk to you about now for a moment, is I'm going to talk to you about your not guilty status. that God has declared you not guilty. He has acquitted you through faith and therefore He's at peace with you and you're at peace with Him. And then Paul goes on to talk about what our condition was before God justified us and what God did to bring about our not guilty plea. All right? Our not guilty status. Beginning in verse 6, Paul says, For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. What was our condition? Paul says we were helpless. That word means without strength. It means powerless. It means impotent. Paul says we were at war with God and we were completely helpless to do anything about it. We were at war with God because we were guilty. And we couldn't do anything to remove our guilt. But look what God did. While we were helpless, at the right time, Christ died for us, the ungodly. What we were helpless to do, and that is to expunge our guilt, Christ did for us by taking our guilt upon Himself. And when Jesus removed our guilt by taking it upon Himself, God declares us not guilty. He declares us justified. He says, because my Son has taken your guilt upon Himself and you're no longer guilty, we have peace. There's peace between us. I'm not at war with you anymore. We're at peace. And then Paul goes on to say in verse 8, But God demonstrated his own love toward us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. First, we were sinners, lawbreakers, violators of God's holy laws, filled with a sin nature that is in rebellion toward God. We were God-haters. But while we were sinners, what did God do? Christ died for us. He took our place on the cross. He became our substitute. He was punished for our sins. The punishment we deserved, the punishment we should have received, He took our place and was punished for us. And thirdly, Paul says, and we are saved from God's wrath. Verse 9, much more than having been justified, declared not guilty, by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. You see, God took His wrath that was on us because of our guilty status, because we'd sinned, and He took that wrath and He placed it on the Lord Jesus when He became sin for us. When He took on our guilt, God took His holy hatred for sin and He spent it on the Lord Jesus totally and completely. You've heard me say that God took all the wrath that will be on the sinner in hell and He placed it on the Lord Jesus who experienced hell for His people on that cross. So I don't have to experience hell anymore as a Christian. Jesus experienced it for me. He took it for me on the cross. And so God's wrath was spent on Jesus God's wrath was appeased. It was satisfied through Jesus' death. So God looks at me and you as believers, and guess what He says? I'm not mad at you. I'm not angry with you. My anger is gone. It's been satisfied. We're at peace. You say, but I still sin. Yes, you do. And we'll talk about that in a moment. Next, look at verse 10. For 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. What were we? We were enemies of God. Now, if there's any doubt that we were at war with God, Paul removes it right here when he says we were enemies of God. Now, you might be thinking, well, I don't think I was enemy of God before I became a Christian? Oh, you don't think so. But God says you were. He knows your heart better than you do. We were hostile toward God. We were at enmity with Him. And look what God did. He reconciled us to Him. You know this word reconcile, you know what it means? It means to change from being an enemy to being a friend. It tears the idea of removing enmity, removing any barrier to peace and unity. And through Jesus' death, God removed the sin barrier that separated us from Himself. God changed the way He sees us. He no longer sees us as enemies. He now sees us as friends. He no longer sees you as a guilty sinner. He sees you as a not guilty saint. He sees you as holy as Jesus is. He sees us as innocent, as forgiven, as righteous as Jesus is. God says we're at peace. And Paul says if you're going to fight the devil, You've got to start off by knowing you're at peace with God. Know who your true enemy is. And it's not God. Through Jesus, you're at peace with God. Oh, you don't deserve it. You didn't earn it. It was all because of what God did. We were helpless. We were sinners. We were enemies. But God did. And if you're going to fight the enemy, you've got to start off by knowing you're at peace with God. Now I want us to move for a moment, and I want to talk about some of the hobnails in our combat boots. You know, those hobnails help us to hold on to that traction, help us to maintain our balance. And there are a few hobnails that you need to keep in mind when Satan tries to knock you off balance and tries to knock you off your firm footing. I want to remind you of some of these hobnails. that will help keep you secure and firm. The first one is God's forgiveness is total and complete. Over in Colossians chapter 1 verses 13 and 14 we read, For He rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Now what you need to realize is that as a Christian, you have been once and for all forgiven. Not only were all of your past sins forgiven when you became a Christian, but God also forgave you of all your future sins. If He didn't, how could you be at peace with Him? Because you sin every day. So if He hadn't already forgiven you of every sin you'll ever commit, then brother, you're going to be at war with Him the minute you wake up. But you see, God's forgiveness is total and complete. It's past, it's present, and it is future. God declares us not guilty for everything we did before we became Christians and for everything we will do after we become Christians. He doesn't take back his not guilty plea or not guilty declaration and now say, oh, but you're guilty. No. You say, but preacher, I do sin. Yeah, you sin. But the grace and forgiveness of God is greater. You say, but preacher, if that's the case, if I have been forgiven of every sin I will ever commit in the future, then why don't I just go out there and sin it out? Why don't I go out there and sin all I want to? Well, I do. I do sin all I want to. Because I don't want to sin at all. And if you're a Christian, you don't either. So if you had the attitude, well, I'm forgiven, I can go out and do everything I want to do, then you need to question if you're really born again, if you really have the Spirit of God in you. Because I hope you are sinning all you want. I hope you're sinning more than you want to. But the old devil is going to come and he is going to say, Oh, you have got me. You have sinned. God is angry with you. You have the wrath of God on you. You have sinned. You have let God down. You have done wrong. He is going to try to knock you off balance. What are you going to do? You are going to say, Oh, no, that hobnail is stuck firm. God has forgiven me through the blood of Christ. I am forgiven. Totally, completely, absolutely. You say, well, then why does the Bible say if we confess our sins, He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins. But do you think you're telling God anything? He doesn't know when you confess. You confess for yourself. We need to get it out in the open so we can experience God's forgiveness that He's already given us. So that's the first hobnail. Second hobnail, nothing can ever separate you from God's love. Again, Romans 8. 38 and 39, for I am convinced neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing. Paul's covered the gamut, folks. He's covered everything. We'll be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Sometimes, in the heat of the battle, things get so bad, we're tempted to think God must not love us anymore. Why would He let this happen to us if He loved us? And Satan will come to you, and he will want you to doubt God's love. He'll say, look at what's happening to you. You think God still loves you? He would never let this happen to you if He loved you. God doesn't love you anymore. One of the hobnails that will keep you standing on the firm footing is the truth that nothing can separate you from the love of God. I don't care how it looks in your situation. God's truth is nothing, nothing that the devil can do, nothing that his demons can do, nothing that you can do can separate you from the love of God. in Christ Jesus. Third hobnail, God will never leave you in a lurch. Over in Hebrews, chapter 13, we read in verses 5 and 6, where He Himself has said, I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you. So that we confidently say, the Lord is my helper. I'll not be afraid what will man do to me. Now the word dessert means to leave in a lurch. God says He will never leave you. He will never forsake you. He'll never abandon you in your time of need. And I say that because the devil wants to come to you and say, hey man, God's left you. God is no longer with you. He's left you to fend for yourself. Look how bad it is. Because sometimes things do get bad. But I want you to know again, no matter how hard things might be and how bad they might look, He hasn't left you. He hasn't abandoned you. He hasn't forsaken you in your hard place. He is there. He is with you. And you need to stand solidly on that footing that my God is with me and He is helping me whether I see it or understand it or not. He is there. And then the fourth hubnail is that Jesus is committed to fight for you. Oh, I could just start and go on and on and on with all the times in Scripture that God fought for His people. Whether it was at the Red Sea when Pharaoh's army was approaching and God's people were blocked by the Red Sea, And God opened up the Red Sea and they went through and Pharaoh's army went in the Red Sea and it closed on them. Where there was a Jericho when the massive walls were impenetrable and God caused the walls to fall down. On and on again you see in Scripture, whether it be Gideon and his 300 defeating 135,000 of the Midianites, God is committed, Jesus is committed to fight with you, to fight on your behalf. Are you standing on the solid footing, the solid foundation of knowing that you're at peace with God? Let's pray. Father, we thank you that you're able to do abundantly more than we can ask or imagine. And that this peace that you have given us through Jesus is one of those things greater than we can imagine. How You can take us as hostile as we are toward You and sinners and vile and guilty and yet give the life of Your Son. Pour out Your wrath on Him that we deserve. That we can have peace with You is a truth that we cannot fathom but we rejoice in. In Jesus' name, Amen. I want to give you an opportunity today to respond as the Holy Spirit has dealt with you. If you've never come to that place in your life that you have surrendered to Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then you are at war with God today. And if you die at war with God, you will spend eternity in the fires of hell at war with God. But God is ready to declare peace with you. You will come and place yourself under the blood of Jesus as a follower of Christ. Commit your will to the will of your Lord Jesus. And by faith believe He's done everything necessary for you to be saved. That you cannot add to what He's done, you do not deserve it. But it's a free gift. If you'll come in faith desiring Christ more than anything, desiring to follow Him, as your Lord and Savior, then you can have this peace that I've been talking about today.