Stand Determined With Peace

Paul is encouraging the church in Ephesus to be strong in the Lord and to stand firm against the attacks of Satan. He emphasizes the need for truth, righteousness, and holiness in our lives as believers. He also talks about the importance of being prepared and equipped with the gospel of peace, faith, salvation, and the Word of God. Our readiness and preparation in this spiritual battle involve living out our faith, proclaiming the gospel, and standing firm on the foundation of God's truth. against the walls of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against pastors, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore, take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." This concluding passage that we find here in the letter that Paul is writing to the church at Ephesus that we're looking at really comes down to the statement of be strong in the Lord. Be strong in the Lord. And sometimes we need to understand sometimes the strongest is not the one with the greatest strength. Sometimes the strongest winds up being the one left standing at the end of the battle. And that's what Paul is trying to convince us of here. Our strength is not in us. Our strength is in the Lord. And what we are required to do is we are going to have failures. We're going to have shortcomings. We're going to have disappointments. But we are to be faithful. We're to continue to stand until the end. And we're commanded not to fight Satan. Not to try to run into this battle because we have enough problems already. But what we are called to do is to stand firm against the attacks of Satan. And as we do that, we understand that we are living in a war. And this war for us, we find back in chapter 4 and chapter 5, is that we walk in the Spirit. And we walk in the Spirit, not in the flesh. We walk in Jesus Christ, not as the wicked and the heathens do. And because of that, it creates this war. There is this tension that goes on within us. And Satan loves it more than anything else to see Christians fail and get knocked down. And so that's why it's so very important that we stand and we stand ready to fight. And so it's not just good, but we need to find that we have our affections and our love that is attached to Jesus Christ. As we stand in this battle against wicked and evil forces. And he says there in verse 14, he says, "...stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness." The last two weeks, we have looked at these two pieces of the armor. We started with the belt of truth. We are to wear truth in Christianity. Amen? We are to understand the truth. We are to embrace the truth. We are to hold on to the truth that God has given us. And Jesus Christ simply said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by Me. And so man, we need to embrace these convictions that Jesus Christ has left us before we go out to battle. Before we try to walk in the Spirit. We have to understand the truth about God. There has to be a commitment in the battle. We look back at the Old Testament and we saw where every time that the idea of girting up your loins is the idea of being prepared, being committed, ready to go. And we have to understand that we have the truth and we need to be prepared to go at any moment that God sends us that way. We also find, you know, the bottom line of this is if you're really not going to win, the battles that come from Satan, if you're not committed to winning. And so really, the girt up your loins is all about getting serious. Getting serious about the battle. And then we talked to you last week about the breastplate. The breastplate that we are commanded to wear is the breastplate of righteousness. And he's not talking about a self-righteous because there is none that do it good. No, not one. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. We're not even talking about the imputed righteousness that Jesus Christ has died in our place and He became sin for us in order that we might become righteousness in the sight of God. But what he's talking about is an imparted righteousness. What he is talking about is a righteousness to live holy. A personal holiness. If we really believe this is the Word of God, then shouldn't we be committed to living the Word of God? If God says that we can be holy as He is holy, then if we really believe that this is the Word of God, then we should be able to accomplish what He says. And so the breastplate of righteousness is this being holy. This righteous living. And unless you walk in holiness on a daily basis, then guess what? You're going to be in trouble because it's so easy for Satan to point their fingers and say, look, God's a liar. The Word of God is a liar because of our actions and because of what we do. And then remember Romans 13 tells us, Paul writing there, it says, knowing the time that now is the high time to awake out of our sleep, for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent. The day is at hand. Let us, therefore, cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk honestly as in the day, not in riot and in drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envy, but put you on the Lord Jesus Christ and make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof. And so as we gird up our loins with the belt of truth, we are preparing ourselves for battle. We are showing ourselves to be committed into this fight. This commitment to live the truth of Jesus Christ. Then we put on the breastplate of righteousness, which is holiness. The Christ-likeness. In other words, we are being conformed into His image. And then today we come to the third piece of equipment. And he says there in verse 15, "...and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God." But I want us to look this morning at this verse 15. "...and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace." Now when we talk about having the feet shod, we're talking about our shoes that we are wearing. We're talking about when you have a horse and that horse is shod, it means that it has had shoes put on it. And so shoes become a very important thing in our life. Shoes are very important, especially when you are walking or going somewhere. When you are running. When you are climbing. There's all kinds of shoes that adapt to all kinds of environments. But even more importantly than walking or climbing or running, shoes are very important in standing. Just being able to stand. And the whole body will immediately be taken down and be destroyed if you cannot fasten your feet on a firm foundation. It's easy to get you knocked over. It's easy to get you to moving backwards. You know, if any of you's ever played the game where tug of war as a child going up, the number one thing that's not always the strongest that ends up winning, is the one that can get the feet moving. If you can get your opponent's feet to moving, whether they're sliding or stepping or whatever, then guess what? You can control who wins in tug of war. And that's this idea that Paul is thinking about as he describes these shoes. Now, in Roman days and time when the Bible was written and Paul writing to the church in Ephesus while he is there in prison, while he is chained to these Roman soldiers, as he's thinking about this armor that they have on, this protection and this gear, immediately as he looks to the feet of this soldier, he is reminded of this armor and how it relates to us in Christianity. Now, the Roman soldiers typically wore a sandal. Not much like what we have today, but their sandals was made out of a very tough leather. They were very tough sandals. They covered the entire feet. There was usually straps that were tied around the ankle that held it on. They would literally take in the bottom of their sandals and they would drive nails in the bottom of their sandals so that most of the fighting that they did was hand-to-hand combat. And so that way the nails would grip into the ground, would grip into the deal so that they would be able to stand their position during the battle and during the fight that was there. And so this would give the soldier the ability to have a firm footing as he engaged in the battle. Whether he had to run uphill, downhill, he could do it without slipping and sliding. So what I want us to understand as Paul is looking at this Roman soldier, what we need to understand is the feet are to be prepared. They're to be prepared. Now notice the duty of the shoes. We're talking about preparation. That word preparation literally means to be ready. It means to be equipped. Paul writing to Titus, who was a minister that he had left there at Crete to take care and pastor the church, Paul told Titus in Titus 3 and verse 1, put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work. That to be ready is the same word as preparation. We are to be ready. We are to fight. Now we just read in Ephesians, what are we standing against? Principalities and powers and evil things, right? And Paul is telling Titus, guess what? Be ready. How do we get ready? How do we stand in this battle that we have? We do it by works. By how we live and what we do. And so man, a good pair of shoes makes you ready for whatever you encounter. Whether it's marching, whether it's standing, climbing, fighting, whatever you need in that moment. And so what does this readiness refer to? What are we to be ready? What are we being prepared in order to do in this battle? Now when we think about this, of course, when you see the word gospel, all of us immediately, if you have any Bible knowledge at all, we go back to Matthew 28, right? Because as a church, that is our commission. What is our commission? To go into all the world and preach the gospel, right? To teach all nations, baptizing them, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And that is our commission. We are commanded to go. We are commanded to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. And so there is this symbolic idea of this call to evangelism because of the references here of Jesus Christ. But a lot of people also think of this verse in Romans 10 and verse 15. In Romans 10 and 15, Paul wrote, And how shall they preach, except they be sent, as it is written, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring good tidings of good things. Now Paul is quoting there Isaiah 52 and verse 7. And if you read a lot of commentators, they will take when Paul says have your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, they will immediately go to this because why? They did a very good thing in Bible study. They ran cross-references. The only problem is is there's a couple of problems with this cross-reference in applying it to Ephesians 6. Number one is this verse in Romans 10 has absolutely nothing to do with warfare. Much less spiritual warfare. If you go back and you read chapter 10, what is he telling us? Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Hebrews chapter... So it has absolutely nothing to do with warfare. Also, if you read this passage, it also has absolutely nothing to do with shoes. It just says blessed are the feet that carry the gospel. In other words, God will bless you as you share the gospel. That's what it is talking about. That is the context that is there. If you take the gospel to someone, then guess what? They are going to be blessed by you. And therefore, they're going to respect you. Therefore, they're going to look up to you. How many of you can remember the pastor? Or your parent? Or your Sunday school teacher? Or your BBS worker that led you to the Lord? Right? You were blessed because of them. And because they brought you the gospel, you in return wanted to bless them. That's what this passage is talking about. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. And so this passage in Romans actually really doesn't have anything to do with shoes or warfare in the context of what we have in Ephesians chapter 6. And so doing cross-references and looking up words is good. It helps with Bible study, but don't just always use that verse and write it down and use it as a reference to support one passage without understanding the context of what it's talking about in the context that you're trying to use it in. And I think the obvious issue here in Ephesians is taking a firm stand in the battle against the devil as he assaults our lives. That's what he's telling us to do, right? To stand. Stand because we are in a battle. Put on the whole armor of God because we are fighting with Satan. How prepared to stand are you when Satan comes attacking your direction? How equipped are you? How prepared are you to stay in the battle when Satan comes a-knocking? What is it that can allow the believer to stand without flinching, without running, without getting away, to take his stand, to never slide, to never slip, to never fall under the attack? What is it that gives us this firm foundation? What is it that helps us to be able to stand in the battle? And Paul tells us it's having our feet prepared with the gospel of peace. The gospel of peace. Now, when we think about that, understand, here is the deliverance. Here is what we are learning about these shoes. What is the gospel of peace? Literally, what that is, is the good news about peace. Now, what is the good news about peace? When we understand that, what we're talking about is you cannot share what you have not received, right? You can't deliver something and you can't attack if you have at first received something. In the context of what we're talking about in Ephesians, we have to understand that we are to put on Jesus Christ. And unless you have received Jesus Christ, then guess what? There's no way you can even be in the battle, much less stand. If you will, turn to Romans 5 and verse 1. Paul writes, he says, Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, when you look the word peace and you do a contextual search and you look, this passage now deals with what we're talking about in putting on the armor, putting on Jesus Christ, having your feet prepared with the gospel of peace. What is the good news about peace? I'm at peace with God. And this is where it gets good. This is where it gets exciting. Yes, we are to carry the gospel to all the world. But listen, we have a problem doing that. You will not be an effective witness if you are not assured of your own salvation and your own relationship with Jesus Christ. That's why so many Christians don't witness today. It's not that they're afraid to talk to somebody, because we talk to people all the time, right? I have not seen people that, and I know people that are very shy, that are very bashful, but you get the right subject or the right TV program or the right food category or something, and guess what? They will begin to open up and they'll begin to talk, right? We all know people like that. And so it's not that, man, I'm so shy, I can't share the gospel of Jesus Christ. The problem is we don't share the gospel of Jesus Christ because we are not even for sure about our salvation and our relationship with God. And so, man, we have so many people that question and doubt their salvation and their peace with God. And so if you're committed to the fight, protected by the image of conformity... See, we stand because we know that we are in reality invincible. In Ephesians 6 and verse 10 that started this passage of Scripture, what does it say? It says, Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. See, we stand because God is on our side. We are at peace with God. We serve the King of kings and the Lord of lords. And if Christ is for you, then who can be against you? That's where our confidence comes. That's what we are to prepare our feet around. Protecting this image of conformity. Now think about it for just a minute. What does Satan do? He comes to us. And he doesn't come ready to fight. I'll boat up. He comes sliding his way in. Slinking his way in. Right, he's crafty. He's wily. He sets the trap and lays it down before us. And what does he end up doing? He ends up laying out a temptation before us to see whether or not we are going to question God in our relationship with God. The first thing he did with Eve was what? Get her to deny the goodness of God. And once she did that, then it was just a matter of time before Eve, when she made up her mind before she ate the fruit. And so, that's what Satan does. That's his tactic. That's his way of doing it. And so when we are at peace with God, we are confident that God is on our side. And so when we have our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, we have Jesus Christ. And if you have Jesus Christ, you can stand against anything and everything that Satan throws before you. You will not be tempted above what you're not able to withstand. But God will always do what? Make a way of an escape. How do we escape? Because we have peace with God. If you get in the battle and you begin questioning whether or not you're in a right relationship with God, or you get in a battle and you start questioning your standing and your relationship with Jesus Christ. In other words, if doubts start entering your mind, am I really saved? Does God really love me? Does God really want to bless me with all spiritual blessings as Ephesians chapter 1 set this whole category and this whole entire letter and the stage for this letter? Then guess what? If you start questioning and thinking, you become very, very vulnerable. That's our biggest problem with our society today and the reason that so many are turning away from Jesus Christ and going to the world is because why? We think. The Bible tells us not to be thinking. Not to be thinking. We are to declare the Word of God. We are to believe the Word of God. And we are to stand on the Word of God. It is truth. Remember, have your loins girded with what? Truth. Do we believe the Word of God? Have we taken Jesus Christ into our life to protect us that is there? See, if you have Jesus Christ, if you are a child of God, if you have accepted His sacrifice, that He made on the cross of Calvary, and you are living righteously, you are living a holy life, then guess what? You can be assured that Christ is before you, Christ is behind you, Christ is beside you, because why? Jesus Christ is within you. And if Jesus Christ is within you, then guess what? Even the demons tremble at the name of Jesus Christ. And so man, we need to make sure that we understand the gospel of peace. The gospel of peace, our relationship with God. When God looks at me, God does not see an imperfect sinner. God sees that righteousness that Jesus Christ has imputed unto me that what? Has been imparted unto me, and therefore, the fruit of the Spirit is the conformity of Jesus Christ. And so I start living the way Jesus Christ wants me. That's the bread plate of righteousness. And so guess what? I can stand assured of my peace and my relationship with God. Romans 8 and verse 31 says, What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? And he goes on in verse 32. He said, He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? If God gave up His own Son to die on the cross of Calvary in order that you and I might be made joint heirs with Jesus Christ, children of God, heirs and brothers of Christ and brothers with each other, then how much, if God would go through all of that in order to adopt us into His family, how much more is God going to do good things for us and protect us? If God is for you, then who's going to be different? And he goes on there and he says, Who? He starts asking some questions. Who is going to be able to lay anything to the charge of God's elect? Is there anyone that's going to be able, if you are a child of God, adopted by God through the precious blood of His Son, is there anyone that is going to be able to come and point their finger at you and make accusations against you? No, because you know what? Every time Satan goes and says, God, you know, Donny Haynes, you know what he did today? God says, but he also accepted the sacrifice of My Son. He's also covered with His precious blood. And see, not even Satan himself. And if Satan himself cannot go to the throne of God and make an accusation against Me, then which one of you are going to make an accusation against Me? Not one single one of you can accuse Me of anything because I'm covered in the blood of Jesus Christ. Now look at the next question he asks. Who is he that condemned me? Who is it that condemned us? Can anyone, can anybody send you to hell? That's what condemned. That's what he's talking about here. Nobody can condemn me. Satan cannot condemn me. Nobody can condemn me. Look what he says. He says, it is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God and also maketh what intercession for us. Jesus Christ said in John 3.17, He said I didn't come into this world to condemn you, right? Not even Jesus Christ can condemn us. Because He gave His life in order that we might not be condemned. How are we not condemned? By believing on Jesus Christ. Go back and read John 3.16, 17, 18, 19, and 20. If Satan can't condemn us and Jesus Christ is not going to condemn us, then who else is going to condemn us? Look at v. 35. Alright, well, if we can't be condemned, what about being separated? Is there something that can separate me? And this is where we get into that peace with God, right? Is there something that can cause me to be at war with God? To be out of peace with God? Look at what He says. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? If Christ won't condemn us, what can divide us and separate us from Him to make Him want to condemn us? Shall tribulation? Shall distress? Shall persecution? Or famine? Or nakedness? Or peril? Or sword? And then He goes back and He quotes the Old Testament, For thy sake we are killed all the day long. We are counted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, no, no, no, no. In all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded. This is your shoes that are feet that are shod with the gospel of peace. You need to be persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate you from the love of God, which is where? In Christ Jesus our Lord. Once you get into Christ Jesus, you can't get out. Nothing can separate you. We need Christians today to be persuaded of this. We need people to have shod their feet with the gospel, the good news, that we are at peace with God. We're at peace with God. And know, in fact, He tells us in 1 John 1.9 that if we do have a problem, if we do sin, what do we do? We confess that sin, and what is He faithful and just to forgive us of our sin and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness. See, this is what Paul is talking about with our feet shod with the gospel. Are we standing firm in the truth of the gospel? I am a sinner. I'm going to make mistakes. I'm going to fail. I'm going to not do things that I'm supposed to do. Why? Because I am not perfect. I'm not perfect. I'm going to do these things, but nothing that I do here on this earth can remove me from the will and the purpose of God. And man, we need to stand on that. We need to believe that this morning. I have no fear of Satan. Satan cannot indwell me. Satan cannot overtake me. Satan cannot overpower me. Satan cannot separate me from the love of Jesus Christ. And so therefore, because I am at peace with God, I can stand firm against the onslaught of Satan in the confidence that God is on my side and His strength is fully available to me. Let me put it to you very blunt this morning. You are not ready to engage in war if you're not confident in the strength of God. You're not ready for war. And that's what we see. So many Christians, we want to sing onward Christian soldiers, but guess what? We are doubting our salvation. We're doubting whether or not God loves us, whether or not God cares for us. How much greater! God not only says that He loves us, but He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. I've told my wife many a times that I love her. But there's been very, very few times that I've proved it. And God not only said it, but He proved it. He died in order that we may be made the righteousness of God. God does not want us hiding in fear. He does not want us cowering down or backing down from the world or backing up. No, God wants us to stand when the battle comes. He wants us to walk in the victory. When we walk in the Spirit, when we walk in the Lord, when we walk in the light, we're walking in the victory that Jesus Christ has already given us. I am more than a conqueror. Therefore, I am persuaded. See, that's where we walk, but we can't never start walking until we learn to stand. We've got to be confident in who we are in Jesus Christ. That's what the armor is talking about. The armor is about what is Paul telling us? Paul is saying finally, we are in a spiritual battle. And it is our job to put on Jesus Christ. Every aspect of Jesus Christ. We are to gird our loins with truth. We've got to believe that God is good and that God wants only good for us. And then we have to start living like it. Living in righteousness. We have to stand understanding that we are at peace with God. I'm going to ask you three questions this morning that every one of us need to answer this morning before we walk out these doors with regard to the belt. With regard to the belt, do you want to win? Do you want to win? Are you committed? You know, we looked in Exodus at the Passover. What did they do? They ate the Passover lamb with their loins girded, their sword in their hand, ready to go. But they couldn't leave until what? God said, let's go. But when God said, let's go, then they were able to go. They were prepared. They were ready. They were committed. Do you want to win? How much does it really matter to you? Unfortunately, there are so many Christians that are saved and satisfied. I'm saved. I'm going to heaven. Right? And that's why Baptists get this bad name because it's a total oxymoron. It's a total thing of stupidity when we say that I fully trust in Jesus Christ. I'm going to trust Him with my eternity, but then we don't live for Him here on this earth. Yes, I am saved and will always be saved. Because God does not love me because of me. He loves me because I believe in His Son, Jesus Christ. He's the One that died. And so therefore, I trust in Him. And so if you are content to live hiding, if you're content just to cruise through this life, you're content with your petty sins and living however you want to and have very marginal commitment in your worship and your life for Jesus Christ, listen to me and listen to me carefully. You will lose. You're going to lose. Oh, you may get to heaven. You may make it to heaven, but guess what? When God begins to judge you and He lays the fire of the Word of God and the life of Jesus Christ in your life, you're going to go up like wood, hay, and stubble. You're going to cause a lot of smoke to happen in heaven. But I don't want to leave a lot of smoke. Right? I don't want my life to be wasted for Jesus Christ. I want my life to be, when it's tried with fire, only gets more and more pure as Jesus Christ and the Word of God is put to me so that there's gold and silver and precious stones. Not so that I can say, hey, y'all, look at me. I was pastor of Kentucky and look at all these things that I earned. No. You know what I'm going to do with them rewards? You know what I'm going to do with that gold, silver, precious stones and them five crowns that I hooped to earn? You know what I'm going to do to them? I'm going to lift them and lay them at the feet of Jesus Christ and say, thank You, Lord, for saving my soul. And I gave my life committed to You because of what You did. I didn't have to die. I didn't have to die, but You gave me the ability to live. That's what our goal is. To hear when we enter in, for Him to say, enter in thy good and faithful servant. That's what we are to do. But listen, we're going to lose spiritually every single time if we're not committed to the battle. You're not going to lose your salvation, but you're not going to have any rewards. Are you willing to go to war for the convictions of winning with God? What about with the breastplate of righteousness? The second question, do you seek to support this commitment with a holy life? Yes, I believe that Jesus Christ died for me. I trust Him with my eternity. Do you trust Him with your life here today? Do you trust that there's not a battle, there's not nothing that you can go through or Satan can put your way today that Jesus Christ has not already seen you through it? Or once again, are you just content with your sins and content living however you want to? The third question has to do with relation to your shoes. Do you have the kind of confidence it takes to march into the den of the roaring lion? You know, Peter thought he did, right? Peter said, Lord, I will die with You. But when he came to fight with Satan, what did he do? He took Tel and ran. He had all the confidence in the world when Jesus Christ was standing there. Remember, he had so much confidence that it's Jesus and 11 apostles. He's in outside of Peter. And Peter does what? He grabs his sword and he is ready to fight. Because why? He is confident in the power of Jesus Christ. The only problem he has is that this was not God's will and this was not Jesus' fight. And so Jesus reaches down and picks up Malchus' ear and puts it back onto his head and restores it back to him. And then He turns and He rebukes Peter. Peter, you're confident, but you're confident in the wrong thing. See, I've got to go die. Tonight, when I'm being delivered to be crucified, where's your confidence going to be then? When things are not great. When I'm not around. Where's your confidence then? See, we live in a wicked world. Where's your confidence when all these trials and tribulations are happening? So are you bold in the battle? Are you confident in the strength that is provided for you? See, that's what the shoes is. It's not about, man, He didn't tell us to go out and share the Gospel. Paul is telling us here the very basic simplicity is that you've got to be at peace with God. And you've got to understand that. Nothing can separate me from the love of Jesus Christ. As we stand, we have a verse of invitation this morning. Are you committed? Are you committed? Are you committed enough to get in the battle and fight? Are you committed enough to live? You know, Jesus Christ said unless you hate your mother and father, unless you hate your brothers and sisters, that is a strong word. And I've heard so many people try to water that down and say, well, He doesn't really mean hate your mother. Yes, He does. He means hate. If you love your parents and your family more than you love Jesus Christ, when you get in the battle, you're going to protect you and your family and forget about Jesus Christ. And you're going to lose the battle every single time. You can still love your mother and father, but you love Jesus Christ more. Nevertheless, thy will, my will, that thy will be done. That's what Jesus Christ had to say. Mom, He loved His mama even on the cross of Calvary. He spoke to John. I was re-reading it again this week. Getting ready for Easter next week. What did He tell John? He said, John, behold thy mom. Take care of my mother. She's my earthly mother and I'm fixing to be down to heaven. And I'm not going to be here to take care of you. Provide for her. You take care of her. I love my mother, but I don't love my mother more than I love my father. And He said, it is finished. It is finished. John, I know you've gotten taken care of mom and dad. I know you've taken care of my mama. Now I've got to take care of obeying the Father. That's what God's asking us to do. Do you have that confidence? Do you have that confidence in Him? See, the reason that the church is losing the battle is because we don't have the confidence. We're not prepared. We're not committed. We're all about wanting to feel good and live our life and make God fit our standards rather than we rise up to God's standards. You know what? One thing I've learned, and I wasn't able to go into the military because I only had one kidney. I tried, but it wouldn't take me with one kidney. But everybody that I've ever visited with, every young person that I've ever counseled, you know, I'm sick and tired of mom and dad telling me what to do. So what am I going to do? I'm going to go to the military, right? That way I can be my own man. Every single one of them comes back after boot camp, and guess what? They were not able to tell anybody in the military what they were going to do and not going to do. They learned to listen. They learned to command. They learned the order of things. You know what? That's what God says for us. Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords. He is the One that gives us our marching orders. He's the One that tells us to go or to stand or to sit. We need to be listening to Him and not trying to conform Him to our image. We are to conform ourselves to His image. As we sing, let Him...