"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places." (Ephesians 6:12)
If you're an 8-12 yr old kid at Camp Icthus who chooses to take my Rifle class, then this is one of your memory verses. I, myself, learned this verse when I was a camper at Camp Icthus some 20 years ago. This verse inspired Frank E. Peretti to write my favorite book This Present Darkness, which is a spiritual warfare fiction book.
Let's face it, in pretty much every book we read, and every movie we watch, the best ones pit Good vs. Evil. Some side is "Good" and some side is "Evil", and we usually pick a side to root for. But, honestly, we want the hero to overcome. We want there to be some final happy union. Sometimes it's fun to root for the bad guy even though we know they are ultimately doomed. In those stories we find escape from the "real world".
But take a look at the real world. The battle between God and Satan is as evident today as it was in Biblical times. We know that Satan is ultimately doomed because the created can never be better than the Creator, no matter how hard it tries. Satan invited Man to join him in his rebellion. His false promise was that we could be like God, having knowledge of good and evil. The problem with that is, once we realized the evil, we discovered our potential for it, and it consumed us. Satan was expelled from God's presence, and he wants to take as many people with him into the outer darkness as he can. Satan's main argument is "it's not fair". We wave the flag of Free Will, but reject all consequence.
We like to enjoy God's gift of sex, but we don't want to worry about the emotional consequences of uncommitted sex. Sex leads to procreation, whether we want it to or not, so we have no problem sacrificing our unborn child on the altar to our Self. In Biblical times, the god was Molech. Child sacrifice has been happening since the Fall, for various reasons, and to various gods. Here in America we've progressed beyond deities and raised ourselves up as gods. We ask God to stay out of our lives, yet blame Him when we perceive His failure to intervene. We see bad things happen, and claim that a loving God can't exist. He warned us not to touch the skillet on the stove, yet we got burned. We blame Him that we got burned. If your child started blaming you for things like that, eventually you would physically remove them from the kitchen while you were cooking. And then the child will blame you for pushing them away. And nobody has to teach the child to do that. Nobody has to teach kids to misbehave. In fact, discipline is vital to form them into decent humans, on any standard. Or we can avoid the children altogether by killing them before they're even born. In more ancient times, the child could only be slaughtered after birth, and seeing that horror caused discomfort, so we devised ways to do the job without having to actually see the child. I hear a lady posted a video of her abortion recently? I don't even want to touch that can of worms. It would horrify me. Children become an inconvenience rather than a blessing. And the main excuse is that the kid wouldn't have good quality of life anyway. How do we know? No, this is a direct attack from Satan. He exerts a lot of effort fighting over people who are already born, so he has another front to take them out before they have a chance to hear about God. He doesn't want any new people entering the fight who could potentially join the winning team. Beneath it all, you need to see the root of the problem.
And then once the murder is complete he wants the parents to bask in the shame and guilt of what they've done. He doesn't want them to find the love and forgiveness that God still has for them. He can blame Christians, sure. And let's face it, many Christians would rather see the mother who aborted her child to suffer for it. Few Christians want to gather around that woman and help her recover. That's a shame. Satan has distracted our troops, and that needs to stop too. "There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." (Romans 8:1) We have to realize that if we're truly in Christ His Spirit indwells us to lead us out of temptation. We now have tools to fight back against Satan's lies. No mistake that we can make is beyond His forgiveness. Forgiveness does not exist aside from Jesus' sacrifice though.
Abortion is just the hot topic right now. This can apply to anything. I think I've already written a blog post about Abortion anyway. "Insert sin here", Jesus died for it. Jesus died for my Lust. Jesus died for my Gluttony. Yes, sometimes I find happiness in them, but they never satisfy. I'm always left empty and wanting more. They don't satisfy. I struggle with temptation just like every other person. Only I know who my enemy truly is. I keep in mind that nobody has ever gone to Hell because of Satan. When it boils down to it, he only has the power to coerce, talk, and tempt. My own rebellion condemned me, but now I can see the liar for who he is because I know the Truth. "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me." -- Jesus (John 14:6) Seeing the lies for what they are decreases the desire for them, and increases the desire for God's Truth.
So, to sum things up, know your enemy. Don't preach free will and reject consequence. Own your crap. You can always find someone to agree with you, but when you're alone what do you think about? God allows guilt to lead us back to Him. Guilt leads to repentance. Repentance leads to freedom. Guilt that lingers is not from God. Guilt that lingers is from Satan, and the lie is that God won't accept us. That's a lie. God is Truth. It's becoming more evident every day that lines are being drawn. I know where I stand. Do you?
For the Kingdom,
Stuart L. Kingsley
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