Running To Win

Dave McAllister: Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Looking to Jesus, the founder and proclaimer of our faith. Inner peace is much more than just a sense of well-being. Its basis is what Paul calls the gospel of peace, good news that gives us assurance of a future that will transcend our daily stress. Are you experiencing the peace of God today? If not, stay with us. From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is running to win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Pastor Lutzer, as the world seems to be spinning out of control, inner peace is a desperate need for each of us.

Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer: David really is, and to be honest, it is not easy for us to be at peace when everything is spinning out of control. One of the things that we have to realize is thanks to the scriptures, thanks to the promises of God, Jesus said, my peace I give to you. That means that there are these inner resources that come to us from the blessed Holy Spirit of God. And you know, I love the song that we used to sing years ago. There is a place of quiet rest near to the heart of God. I want to thank the many of you who support this ministry.

As a matter of fact, at the end of this message, I'm going to be sharing with you some testimonies of people who have been impacted. But would you consider becoming an endurance partner? That's someone who stands with us regularly with prayers and with your support. Here's what you do. Go to rtwoffer.com. That's rtwoffer.com. And when you're there, you click on the endurance partner button. And now let us listen. As you know, in this series of messages, we are learning that we are all in spiritual warfare. And there are none more vulnerable than those who are not aware that they are in a spiritual warfare.

We are up against a spiritual foe called Satan. The Bible has many names for him. One word is adversary. First Peter 5:8, your adversary walks about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. He's against us. He's our adversary. Another word for him is devil, which really means slanderer. When you slander someone, you are doing his work. Another name for him is Lucifer, son of the morning, the evil one, the tempter. And all of those names have meaning, and they refer to the same being. Now, of course, under him there are a myriad. We don't know how many, but perhaps tens of thousands of spirits, his angels, the Bible calls them, who do his work.

So even though Satan is not omnipresent, he can't be in Alaska or Japan at the same time that he is in America. He can be in one place at only one time. But because of his army and because of his organization, it appears as if he's everywhere, and his evil influence is everywhere. What is it that Satan wants to do? Well, what he would like to do is to first of all, his first goal would be to actually occupy our souls. That's called demon possession. And yes, demon possession happens today. No question about it. In fact, I have spoken to people that I am completely sure were demonized.

It still happens today. If he can't possess your soul, if he can't occupy your soul, what he would like to do is to own your soul. There are many people whom he's not possessed, but he has owned because they've never come to saving faith in Christ. They are on his side, the devil's side of the dividing line. And if he cannot do that, the other thing that he uses particularly against Christians is he wants to defile your soul. Because when you are defiled, your fellowship with God is cut off. Haven't you had that experience? You are fellowshipping with God, and then you see something very sensual on television or in a movie, and there's a defilement.

There's a cutting off of fellowship, and the devil wants that. Remember, he hates the fact that we are in fellowship with God. And if he can't defile the soul, what he wants to do is to harass us. He wants to make sure that our peace is disrupted because when our peace is disrupted, we cannot live in faith. We have no joy, and life is just one terrible experience after another. There's some indication in scripture that when Satan fell, 1/3 of the angels went with him. This is based actually on the 12th chapter of the book of Revelation.

It says that the evil dragon, his tail swept over the heavens, and he drew down 1/3 of the stars. Stars sometimes referred to spiritual beings. And later on, it talks about how Satan then assaulted Christ or attempted to. So many theologians believe that 1/3 of all the angels continue to rebel against God and will always rebel against God. They can never be redeemed for reasons I don't have time to mention today. But 2/3 still are redeemed. The Bible calls them the elect angels, preserved from falling by a divine decree. Now, can you imagine how angry Satan is?

He is angry because for every tongue, so to speak, every spiritual being that is cursing God too are giving praise to God. But there's something else that makes him even more angry. I'm convinced that the reason he wars against us with such fury and such unrelenting hatred is because he knows exactly what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches that even though we fell into sin just like he did, Adam rebelled and we all participated in that rebellion, even though that happened to us, Satan knows something. That because of the work of Jesus, we shall be exalted even above the privileged position that he once had in God's presence.

This is a longer story, but I think that one of his responsibilities was as a worship leader to make sure that the worship of all the angels got to God. And the Bible says that he began to steal some of that adoration, and that was his fall. And now he knows that we're going to be above those angels. We're going to be above where he once was when he was the son of the morning, way above him. I'll tell you why. It's because angels were created individually. And because they were created individually, they have no relatives.

You don't have you know, mom and pop and grandfathers and cousins and brothers and sisters. You don't have that in the angelic realm, all individually created. We are connected in family, and we are connected in God's family. That's part of the incarnation. That 's why the Bible says that we are sons and daughters of the Almighty. No angel could ever claim that. And then more breathtaking that we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus because he calls us his brothers. Wow, way above it. And it says, he who overcomes, to him I shall grant to sit with me on my throne.

Jesus said, even as I overcame and sat on my father's throne. Us sitting next to Jesus on the throne of God. And the devil hates it with a passion, and he hates you with a passion. You say, well, why doesn't God just do away with him? Why not just confine him to another planet? Why not exterminate him? Well, I'm going to have a surprising answer, but I believe that the Puritans were right when they said that God allows the devil to increase the joy and the happiness of the saints. Because when we overcome him, there is nothing more glorious, nothing that brings God more honor, nothing that gives us an opportunity to declare our allegiance like overcoming Satan.

Now our text today is the sixth chapter of the book of Ephesians. As our text has always been in the last two or three messages and will continue to be for about three more. As we look at the pieces of armor that are mentioned here given to us by God so that we can withstand the wiles of the devil, the schemes of the devil. That's what the text actually says. I 'm going to pick it up in verse 13 of chapter 6. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God so that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.

Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth. That was a message that we preached a couple of weeks ago. Last time we preached on the breastplate of righteousness. And if you weren't here for that sermon, you need it because the breastplate of righteousness is the answer to the soul that condemns itself. It's the answer to self-condemnation and guilt. So we put on the breastplate of righteousness. And then today, verse 15, and as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. Now remember, Paul wrote this when he was chained to Roman soldiers because these are the prison epistles written in Rome.

And Paul is there, and he writes about a soldier. And he uses the analogy that is really just before him. What the Roman soldiers did is they had shoes with knobs, metal knobs, which was the ancient version of cleats so that they could stand well. And then their shoes had straps that would go all the way up to their knees. Why? Firm footing. You see, you can have the breastplate of righteousness, you can have the belt of truth. But what good is it if you cannot stand firmly? And what Paul is saying is we have to stand firmly on the gospel that brings peace.

The gospel that brings peace. And we must stand there. And if you're here today as a Christian and do not have peace, you have come to the right place to hear about how you can have peace because God wants you to have peace that is brought by the gospel. Now everyone wants peace. The Sunday school teacher wants peace. The missionary wants peace. I want peace. Drug addicts want peace. Alcoholics want peace. Evil people, they want peace. You know, the Bible says that the wicked are like the sea that cannot rest, whose waters churn up mire and dirt.

But they want peace too, even though they leave devastation wherever they find themselves. But they also want peace. Everybody wants peace. But the problem is that we have certain thieves that rob us of our peace, don't we? Thieves that are could be divided first of all into the inner life. I mean, now we're talking about guilt, self-hatred. We're talking about anger and jealousy, those inner sins of the spirit that rob us of peace. But then there are other things also that rob us of peace. They are more outward. Financial struggles, people. Have you ever met a person who has robbed you of peace?

Aren't they everywhere? Uh perhaps you're a person that someone is thinking about right now because you have robbed somebody of peace. You are connected with people who are not committed, hardly committed to your happiness. Have you ever met people like that? And so they rob you of peace. Now what is the answer? It is the gospel of peace. And when this message is over, we're going to get very specific because I want you today today to leave here knowing exactly what you need to do to be at peace. All right? Now what is the gospel of peace?

Let's take Ephesians since Paul has written this in the book of Ephesians and go back to chapter two. Let's look at chapter two where he raises the theme of peace, and this will give us some indication as to how we can stand and how Paul expects us to stand with the shoes of peace. First of all, notice it says verse 13 of chapter two, but now in Christ Jesus, you who were once afar off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. And I love this verse 14, he himself is our peace. It's not just that he brings it, he is it.

You see the good news of the gospel, Romans chapter 5 verse 1, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God. Jesus brings peace because first of all, he is peace. And he's the only one who can bring you peace between you and God. You see, the problem is sin. Sin makes us enemies of God. And because we're born sinners, we are born actually enemies of God. And the question is, how do we take care of the disconnect between us and God? That's the big issue. And Jesus comes to say, I will die on the cross.

I will make a sacrifice for sin so that those who believe in me, their sin will be set aside, wiped out so that they can be at peace with a holy God. And only Jesus can do that. Imagine coming to the end of the restlessness, the guilt, the self-condemnation, the self-hatred because God has said, I have forgiven you and you have peace. Now what is listening today? And I 'm sure that here in this congregation as well as radio and internet, there are people listening who are who have chosen a God who is different than the God of the Bible.

For example, let's suppose there's some of you here who have read Eckhart Tolle, his book the Power of Now or the New Earth. Let's use that as an example. And you've bought into it. That God actually is impersonal. God is within us, and we find God by going within because there is no God without, and there is no God in whose presence we need forgiveness. We don't need forgiveness at all unless we forgive ourselves because God is not there to forgive us. He's not that kind of a God. He's pleased with everything that you do.

Can you imagine the conscience of a person like that? I mean, I read a story about a man who was who was seeking peace, and he was into the movement. And he couldn't because he had done some terrible things, and his conscience condemns him. But his theology tells him, there is no God who can declare you righteous because God is impersonal. God is the God within you who approves of everything you do until he came to saving faith in Christ. And then he realized, of course, what he knew intuitively, what all people know intuitively, that there is a God in heaven.

He is personal, and unless he forgives your sin, no matter how much you drink, no matter how many drugs you take, you will never find peace with God apart from Jesus. He's the only one out there who's able to do that for us. So the first kind of peace Yeah, you can clap if you want. You might be alone, but the first kind of peace is peace with God. But now look at the text. Verse 14, he himself is our peace, who has made us both one. And you'll notice it says there, by the way, he not only makes us to have peace with God, but peace with one another.

When he talks about two men becoming one, he's talking about Jew and Gentile. And from this distance of 2,000 years, it's hard for us to understand the extent to which the Jews and the Gentiles had animosity toward one another. They hated each other. Best example today might be the Jews in Israel and the Arabs, absolute hatred and distrust. And God in Christ brings the two together. That's what he's talking about. You'll notice in verse 16 and reconcile both both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. Don't you like that phrase, killing the hostility?

I mean, here's this hostility, and God comes along and kills it. What other religion is there? What other person is there who can do that? So Jesus in verse 14, he is our peace. In verse 15, he makes peace. Verse 17, he came and he preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who are near. Jesus is the quintessential peace candidate who brings us peace with God and peace with each other. You see, if I'm in fellowship with God and you're in fellowship with God, we should be in fellowship with one another.

And sometimes God brings people into our lives that are hard to get along with. You students that are here uh you probably have roommates. And uh you say to yourself, why did this happen to me? You may say when you get to know your roommate. And your roommate has identical thoughts except perhaps more pressing and more urgent about you. What's God up to? What God does is And And I'm speaking now to those of you who are married. You know, there may be many here in there's not a whole lot of peace in your relationship in your marriage.

What's God up to? Remember this, what God wants to do is to bring us together because the purpose of marriage and the purpose of roommates that are hard to get along with, the purpose is not happiness, it is holiness. And so what God does is he teaches us that we need to work at this business of peace racially, economically, educationally, vocationally. For those of us who believe in Jesus, peace even at great personal cost, that should be our desire. Now notice that that is peace with God, peace with others. And of course, as a part of this, what you have is peace with ourselves.

Imagine being at peace. You know uh it was said of someone that he is a cauldron, an inner cauldron of conflict. There are people like that. Some of them are what could be described as obsessive, compulsive kind of people. Uh many of them could be described also as evil people who are never at peace. They are always always agitating. And then there are those who are trying to deny their guilt. There are those who are trying to deny their anger. They take their emotions and they put a cap on those emotions. And they're trying to live with all matters of unresolved issues.

And they find within themselves, there is no peace. In fact, the Bible says I'm just thinking of it now. There is no peace for the wicked, says the Lord God. That That is a verse of scripture. God says, there can be no peace as long as you are not at peace with me, as long as you are not at peace with others and circumstances and as long as you are not at peace with yourself. Are you here today and there is no peace in your heart? In a moment we're going to find out exactly how peace can come to you.

Now it's interesting that the apostle Paul using this expression which we read a moment ago says in verse 15, having on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. And I do need to point this out that I believe that the apostle Paul is not talking here about evangelism. That's not his primary purpose. He's talking about being able to stand against Satan's assaults because after all, that is the theme of the text. And he keeps saying stand, stand, stand, stand. I think he uses the word four or five times. So the apostle Paul is saying that unless we're at peace, Satan will have a heyday with us through distractions, through false means by which we are going to try to get peace.

And you've got all kinds of it, whether it's money or fame or or anger or control or substance abuse. People are doing everything they can to say, I want peace. And they the things that they do only increase the personal turmoil because they're not dealing with the issue. So Paul is saying, understand that the gospel is a gospel of peace. But I like the fact that he says the readiness or the establishment of the gospel of peace. He seems to be drawing on the Isaiah imagery where it says, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace.

So maybe that's what Paul has in mind. It is a gospel of peace that we have to proclaim. So for a moment I'm going to simply comment on that. When you and I share this gospel of peace, instantly there is satanic resistance. You don't know how much Satan hates the gospel. And you know, if I might say, I think that Satan is more unified in his war against us than we are unified in our war against him. That's why it's so important for us to listen to what the apostle Paul spoke about as he talked about the gospel, of course, the gospel of peace and all of the pieces of armor.

I'm holding in my hands a couple of letters from those who listen to this ministry. This person says, before I came to faith in Christ, I was in a cult. Your program was like a steady rock of truth that helped me immensely. Tears of gratitude would come down my eyes, and I would thank God for giving us such wonderful teaching, not afraid to tackle tough issues, etc. One other, and then I'll explain to you why I'm sharing these with you. A mother writes, your program opened my eyes to how bitterness and unresolved family conflicts were poisoning my home.

And then she goes on to talk about the impact of our ministry. Now my dear friends, these testimonies are testimonies that also belong to you. Would you consider becoming what we call an endurance partner? Endurance partners are those who stand with us regularly with their prayers and their gifts. Would you investigate what that means? Here's what you can do. Go to rtwoffer.com. That's rtwoffer.com. And when you're there, you click on the endurance partner button. Or if you prefer, you can call us at 1-888-218-9337. Why not consider joining the running to win family? Go to rtwoffer.com.

Click on the endurance partner button or call us at 1-888-218-9337.

Dave McAllister: You can write to us at running to win, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60614. Running to win is all about helping you find God's road map for your race of life. Taking the gospel of peace to a world under Satan's dominion is a sure way to find yourself in a battle. The devil sets his sights on any believer obeying the command to take the gospel to another person. Only by having the peace of God within can a believer withstand the attack of Satan from without. Next time on running to win, more on why the gospel of peace creates so much war in Satan's realm.

Running to win is sponsored by the Moody Church.