Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - Ep 114 | This Is War

Episode Date: May 20, 2019

Ephesians 6 makes clear the battle we Christians fight isn't physical, but spiritual. In light of the latest vitriol surrounding abortion, we go to God's word for wisdom, equipment, and inspiration for facing our supernatural adversary. Copyright Blaze Media All Rights Reserved.

Hey guys, welcome to Relatable. I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. Today is Monday, which means it's Theology Monday. And I want to talk about spiritual warfare. This is something that we haven't really touched, although, of course, we've talked about the things that are at stake on a spiritual level and from a spiritual perspective on Theology Mondays, but we haven't talked specifically about spiritual warfare. And honestly, I don't have time to go into all of it. There are a lot of different aspects of spiritual warfare that we could talk about. And there are different points about, you know, demonic power and how that manifests itself. But I want to keep it relevant to the problems that a lot of us are facing right now. I think I got more messages from people, from you guys,

after the Alabama law was signed and after the Georgia law was signed, then I did after the New York law was signed. And this is all pertaining to abortion. So as you probably already know, the New York law said that a human being inside the womb is not a person. You are not a person unless you are out of the womb and you are alive. That is their definition of a person. So that means that a woman can have an abortion for almost any reason, up to nine months, as long as it falls under the very broad umbrella of health, which can mean emotional health or familial problems, anything like that. So a woman can basically have for any reason an abortion up to nine months in the state of New York. There are other states that have similar laws and other states that are following suit.

Of course, that was a very big deal for all of us who are pro-life and who are adamantly anti-abortion. It was one of the most grotesque displays of draconian patterns. that we've ever seen when we saw, you know, women in pink hats celebrating when this law was signed by Governor Cuomo when there were buildings in New York City being lit up in pink because of the slaughtering of unborn children. I think it all of, it just turned our stomachs and we were all sick because of that. I was laying in bed at night just awake thinking, how can this possibly happen and how did we get here? And so a lot of us talked about that and talked through that and how horrible and terrifying that was for us from a pro-life perspective

and particularly for unborn children in New York. And I had a lot of messages after that. But I think I've gotten more messages from discouraged and disheartened and even despairing pro-life people after the pro-life bills were signed in Georgia and Alabama just because of the vitriol that you guys have seen online. And I think a lot of you guys have been surprised by some of the stances of maybe your friends, your colleagues, your peers, people that you looked up to, influencers, authors, brands, companies, all speaking out against the Alabama law in a very arrogant way, not just saying, hey, this goes too far, but really taking it to the limit of human depravity of dehumanizing the life inside the womb and arrogantly expressing some kind of pride

in killing unborn children. And I think that a lot of you have just kind of come to terms with the reality that what we are dealing with on the other side of this issue is not just people who disagree with us, although they are just people who disagree with us in some sense. I'm not trying to demonize them. But it's not just a disagreement. It's not just a disagreement. It's not just a policy difference here. This is a real spiritual warfare going on because when you see some of the lines of so-called reasoning from the other side, you really have to wonder how someone's mind could have gotten flipped upside down this much, how this much corruption and depravity could be put on display by people that you maybe thought were your friends. I'm not saying they shouldn't be

your friends anymore, but maybe these people who you thought you knew, who you thought you respected and how they have just dawned this anti-life mentality in favor of what the left has deemed a choice. So I want to speak to that from a spiritual perspective. And I think that you are going to finish this episode feeling more encouraged and feeling empowered and feeling emboldened. You know, I love those alliterations than before. before you listened to the episode. I think that you are going to be uplifted by this.

Yes, it's scary when we think about what's at stake and we think about things that are going on that we cannot actually see things in the heavenly realm, things in the spiritual realm, but it's good that we take notice of it because the Bible has a lot to say about it. That means that it's important for us Christians to know. It's so easy for us to get frustrated

and to pull our hair out and to think, what is happening in the world? How can people think this way? How can people really go to the point of thinking that, okay, not just a life inside the womb is expendable, but that it's not even a human being? Like, how did you get to that place of absolute illogic and denial of reality? I'll read to you some of the most popular tweets or some popular tweets that I've seen over the past few days in regards to abortion after these laws were signed. If they're going to make it illegal for women to get abortions, then I sure hope they're also putting a ban on using medications to get rid of tapeworm. The government has no business telling it citizens which parasites they can or can't remove

from their bodies. This has over 32,000 likes on Twitter. Alyssa Milano says, Dear Press, stop calling them heartbeat bills and call them fetal pole cardiac activity bills. Here's another tweet that had a lot of retweets and likes. The Weeping, What About Dead Babies Prolifer is the worst kind? She prioritizes the fetus because it is not a person, an abstract fetish onto which she can project her rightness, far easier than the messy business of showing true Christian love to a living human stranger. Here's another one.

This is from AOC. There are so many logical reasons for a uterus owner to decide why they want to have an abortion instead of adoption. Oh, I'm sorry, this one's not AOC. There are so many logical reasons for a uterus owner to decide why they want to have an abortion instead of adoption. One, don't want a kid in the overpopulated adoption system. Two, physical emotional trauma pregnancy. Three, do not want a parasite in their uterus for nine months.

Here's another one. Anti-abortion laws affect all people who are able to conceive and incubate a fetus. But under cis heteropatriarchy, they were invented to control cis women. and limit our options. Pregnancy has been a weapon used to decipher our options and access for centuries. I mean, if you want to see the absolute cold-hearted stupidity on full display, just type the word fetus into Twitter and you will see some of the darkest, some of the dumbest, the most prideful, saddest, most illogical refuse coming out of the deprecous.

coming out of the depraved minds of overgrown clumps of selves that you have ever seen. It is actually insane. We broke this down, all of this not last Friday, but the one before. And then, of course, this past Friday I had an interview about these particular bills. It is just out of the realm of comprehension. I think most of the arguments, if not all of the arguments, being made from the other side. I mean, I really have yet to see one good argument. argument from abortion, not a single one, not one time. Yes, that includes the one that you're thinking

about in your head. Not, not one time. The whole you don't care about the child after you're born wrong. It is pro-lifers that are taking care of these mothers in crisis. It is pro-lifers that are taking care of these children who have been born to parents who don't want them. It is pro-lifers who are adopting, for the most part. Christians are adopting more than any other. group out there, men should get vasectomies. What doesn't even make any scientific equivalent sense? My body, my choice, not so much. It's all backwards. It is all illogical. It is all depraved. And what we have to remember, as we've said on this podcast before, is that the ignorance of the pro-choice position is much deeper than just intellectual dishonesty. It is spiritual

bankruptcy. Now, that is not to say that if you don't agree with all of my politics, then you're not a Christian or you're not a good Christian. That is not true. There are many, there are many disagreements that we can have as Bible believing Christians on politics and policies all within the realm of biblical Christianity. And I think that's perfectly fine. But that does not, that does not hold for the allowance of the deliberate killing of an unborn child. There is just no biblical basis for that whatsoever, not to mention. There's not a logical basis for it. either. There's not a moral basis for it. There's not a philosophical basis for it. But most importantly, for Christians, there is no biblical basis for it. Now, I have refuted all of the arguments, the common

arguments that you hear for abortion many times on this podcast. And so I would go back and I would listen to these. I know I did one specifically from a Christian perspective called abortion ain't biblical, but I can't remember the titles of, oh, calling evil good. That was one where I talked about the New York Bill, there were, I'm sure I've talked about this several times and gone through all of the varying arguments that have to do with abortion. I also have a new one that just tackles all of the arguments for abortion that I am putting out this summer. So you can stay tuned for that. We're not going to get into that. We are going to address the spiritual aspect of this that doesn't just have to do with abortion. It has to do with every issue that we face. And not just

these culture war issues that we have. It's not just a culture war issue, by the way, but I'm not just talking about cultural and political issues. I'm also talking about real persecution. I'm talking about martyrdom. I'm talking about the real trials that Christians are going through, not just in America, but throughout the world where people in China, different parts of Asia, even in Europe, are being mistreated for their faith in a way that we in America simply just are not completely familiar with. So this doesn't just have to do with being pro-choice, but I'm tying it into that because so many of you have reached out to me over the past few days and especially expressed confusion about your pro-choice friends who say that they're Christians

and who say, okay, well, this isn't a spiritual problem for them. Yes, it is. Yes, it is a spiritual problem for them. They might call themselves Christians, but they've got a deep-seated problem in their heart because they don't take the word of God seriously. The word of God is very clear about life inside the womb. You can read Psalm 139. You can read the creation accounts. God is very clear that all human beings are made in his image and therefore have value. You can read the Hebrew laws. You can read the New Testament to see what Jesus himself thought about vulnerable life. So there really is no, like I said, biblical basis for it. So your friends who call themselves Christians who are pro-choice, yes, it is a spiritual problem that they are dealing with. It's not just cognitive dissonance. It's not

just intellectual dishonesty. It is something spiritual. It is something in their heart. That's what they have to reconcile with. And that is why this conversation about what is going on in the spiritual realm in regards to all of the lies that we see. And then in regards to what I was saying before persecution, martyrdom, things like that, it's all connected because it all comes from one place and that is Satan. So if you are asking yourself, if you are asking, asking yourself, what is going on in the world? Just know that you are not alone. We are all asking ourselves that. In John 8, Jesus is speaking to people who do not believe that he is who he says he is, that he is God and he says this. And verses 42 through 44, if God were your father,

you would love me. For I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil and your will is to do what the father desires. He was a murder from the beginning that is Satan and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character for he is a liar and the father of lies. So here is our reason when we ask ourselves, why is all of this going on in the world? How can people possibly believe all of these terrible depraved lies. How can people act in this way? How can people treat Christians like this around the world, whatever it is? This is our reason because of Satan. This is not a political

ideology problem. This is not a political correctness problem. This is not a personality problem. This is not an intellectual deficiency problem. This is a spiritual problem. That is what it is essentially and that is what it is ultimately. Jesus says, you are of your father. the devil and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. No truth. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character for he is a liar and the father of lies. I love when he says, or I just think it's very poignant when Jesus says, your will is to do your father's desires and your father's desire, Satan is to murder and to lie. He has no other choice. This is his nature. He is the father of lies. He brings

forth all lies. In him is all deception and trickery. We see that from the very beginning with Adam and Eve. He is cunning and he is crafty in his lies, this Satan. Did God really say, Eve, that you couldn't have any fruit in the garden? Well, no, that's not exactly what God said. He said we couldn't eat from this tree. No, forget about that. Satan said, God, just doesn't want you to be more like him, knowing good and evil. So you see what seems like truth weaved into this deception. God did not say that they couldn't eat from any fruit. Adam and Eve did know good and evil after they ate it. But just as Satan does today, he lied about the consequences. He made the fruit enticing and the negative consequences non-existent. And so he does

today. And abortion is a great example of that. So the lies that we see perpetuated, that are so against what God's word tells us is right and pure and good and true. They are not neutral misinformation. They are not just innocent lies made out of ignorance. They are lies from hell. They are from Satan. The Christian understands there is no neutral grounds in this world. There is truth and there are lies.

Here is Jesus praying to the Father in John 17. I have given them your word and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. Sanctify them in the truth. Your word is truth. So what is truth? God's word is truth.

God is the source of truth. Satan is the source of deception. God is the source of truth. And there is no third alternative. Ephesians 2. We're going to stay in Ephesians for a while here. Ephesians 2 says this, and you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires

of the body and the mind and were by nature, children of wrath, like the rest of man. kind. So the Bible says that Satan is the prince of the power of the air. He, allowed by a sovereign God, has power. He has jurisdiction in this life. He has a realm in which he reigns. He is the spirit that is now at work in what Ephesians calls the sons of disobedience. Who are the sons of disobedience? Are they just the terrorists? Are they just the really bad people? No, The next sentence says among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh. This is talking those of us who were pre-Christ, doing what? Carrying out.

This is what we were doing as sons of disobedience before Christ. We were carrying out simply the desires of the body and the mind. So we were just doing what we wanted to do. We were satisfying all of our selfish cravings. We were glorifying ourselves. We were serving ourselves. We were doing the things. our body and our minds wanted to do. And what were we when we were doing those things? We were children

of wrath, of wrath. We were of God's anger. We were under God's judgment. We were under God's condemnation. We were enemies of God. We were literally offspring of evil. We were depraved to the court. We were children of the father of lies. That is the picture that God through Paul paints of those who do not know Christ. And yes, we can acknowledge the very true fact that there are people who are not Christians who do not know Christ and yet seem to resemble or reflect a biblical form of morality. That is true. There is a way for a non-Christian to follow biblical morality without knowing Christ. But the Bible makes clear that apart from Christ, not one of us is really righteous, not ultimately.

We are not really righteous. No, not one of us. And apart from Christ, we are dead in our sin. So it is possible for someone to have good behavior and even seemingly good motives from as a non-Christian by following the biblical morality that we see in scripture. But ultimately, apart from Christ, no one is righteous. So I just do want to make that clear because I can see a lot of you thinking that. And I would be wondering that too.

But this is the picture that the Bible paints of those who are apart from Christ. whether you are a Christian or not, if you adhere to a principle that is of God, that is not of God, that is not of God's word, then you are believing a lie that is from Satan. John 1231 calls Satan the ruler of this world. So again, it is no question that he has great power. And that is when we are combating lies and movements and authorities and laws and powers that are contrary to what God calls righteous and holy, that is what we are up against. the ruler of this world, the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in

the sons of disobedience, the father of lies, the father of the children of wrath. That is what we are up against. First John 519 says that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. And what is his goal? What is the goal of the father of lies of Satan to steal, to kill, and to destroy? As John 1010 says. So since we are up against a spiritual adversary. Our weaponry against this adversary also has to be spiritual. Yes, we use wisdom, we use logic, we use strategy, we use dialogue, as long as all of these things are rooted in God's truth, they are helpful. But our first order of duty as Christians who are facing the schemes of Satan every day is to know and to share the gospel, the message of Christ crucified.

immediately after that paragraph I read to you from Ephesians 2. So it says that we were all children of wrath, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind. The next sentence says this, but God, but God being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, and then it goes on to say, by grace, you have been saved through faith. This is not your own doing. So the way people move from being children of wrath, sons of disobedience,

believing lies, to being children of God, the father of truth, is through Christ, which God gave to us graciously to reconcile us to himself, to save us that by faith, we may believe in him and have eternal life so that we no longer have to be ruled by the father of. lies, the prince of the power of the air, but rather are ruled by Christ, and therefore are freed from sin and death under the authority of a gracious God, the same God who said, while Satan comes to steal, kill, and destroy, I have come that you may have life and have it abundantly. So how do we make the world see the light in anything? How do we spread wisdom? We first and foremost share the gospel. Ephesians emphasizes this time and again, that we,

we go from being under the Father of Lies to being in truth and in Christ through the gospel. So chapter four of Ephesian says this. Now this I say, this is God through Paul. This is Paul writing. Now this I say and testify in the Lord that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles. That means non-Christians as the Gentiles do in this context. It means non-Christians. And the futility of their minds.

They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God. God because of the ignorance that is in them due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way that you learned Christ, assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him as the truth is in Jesus. To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires and to be renewed in the spirit of your mind and to put on the new self created after the likeness of God and true righteousness and holiness. So when people are apart from Christ, the Bible says, when people don't know Christ, their minds are ultimately futile.

They are ultimately darkened in their understanding. They are ultimately alienated from God. They are ultimately ignorant. Hearts are hardened. They are callous. They can give in to all kinds of temptation. They are vulnerable to all kinds of sin. They demonstrate an eagerness to be impure. But when we have Christ, we put that stuff behind us. We're free from it. We take it off. It's corrupt through what? Through deceit, which is all that Satan speaks. And we are renewed. We put on a new self and that new self, thanks to Christ, is righteous and holy. Chapter 5 of Ephesion says this, for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord walk as children of light for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and

true and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness but instead expose them for it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret but when anything is exposed by the light it becomes visible for anything that becomes visible is light therefore it says awake from awake o sleeper and arise from the dead in Christ will shine on you. Look carefully then how you walk not as unwise, but as wise, making the best use of the time because the days are evil. Isn't that the truth? The days are evil, therefore no wisdom and walk in it. The fear of the Lord, the Bible says, is the beginning of wisdom. I love this. So in Ephesians 2, God says that when we are apart from Christ,

that we are a children of wrath. In Ephesians 5, God says that when we are in Christ, we are children of light. And he is even so great as to go on and define what that light is. What is light or what is the product of light? It's simple, God says. The fruit of light is found in all that is good, in all that is right, in all that is true. What is good, what is right, what is true. God is the source of all of these things. And God tells us, if we go back to the abortion example, that we are all made in his image, that he knits us together in our mother's womb. So this is the passage that you guys know all very well. Psalm 139, 13 through 16, for you formed my inward parts. You knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Wonderful are your works. My soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eye saw my unformed substance and your book were written every one of them, the days that were formed for me when as yet there were none of them. So God values life. God values unborn life. That's what he says is good and right and true, according to his own word. And what is good and right and true according to Ephesians 5 is the product of light. And what we are, according to that same passage, is children of light. So in all things, not just abortion, but in all things, we are children of light, children of a good, righteous, heavenly father who is by nature love, as 1 John 4 8 says, in fighting against a wicked and evil

worldly father who by nature is lies. And the only way for someone to be transferred from being, from belonging to the lying father, to the loving father is through Jesus Christ. So our first, and our primary order of business in all that we do as Christians is to share the gospel of Christ that he who knew no sin became sin so that we might become the righteousness of God. For children, from children of wrath, sons and daughters of disobedience, slaves to sin, enemies of goodness bound for hell to the righteousness of God. All because of Jesus Christ, not because of our own doing, but because of His. That is a miracle, miraculous reconciliation that we did not deserve.

So do not separate fighting for truth and for justice and righteousness from the gospel, you cannot separate those things. It is all for not if you do. Minds might change superficially by our logic, which is important. But hearts are going to stay deceived eternally unless we tell them about Jesus, who is the only one who makes rights. Yet, once we are in Christ, you've probably noticed in your own life, once we are in Christ, God makes clear that there's still a fight ahead of us, that we are still going to find ourselves contending with Satan. We are still going to face temptation. We saw that with Jesus in the wilderness. He is still going to lie to us. He is still going to try to deceive us. He is still going to

make us and others believe things that are not true. Or he's going to try to anyway. And beyond what we ourselves will experience, now that we are in Christ, we see the story. We see the story. super that Satan is putting over the world. And we have to be able to stand up against that. The Bible does not say, once you know Christ, you don't have to deal with Satan anymore. He doesn't say that now you escape struggle and deception and temptation. No, he is, Satan is the prince of the power of the air. He is the ruler of this world and we are still physically in this world. We are still, we are still here and we still have to deal with the things that are around us. It's just that now you and I as Christians have the tools in Christ to conquer him.

So what do we do? Or conquer his lies, anyway. So what do we do? Ephesion 6 has an answer. This is a long passage. Probably a lot of you who grew up in Sunday school are very familiar with it. This is what we do in the face of Satan's lies. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.

Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authority, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places, therefore take up the whole armor of God 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 and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace, in all circumstances take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one and take the helmet of

salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the spirit with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me that words may be given me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains that I may declare it boldly as I ought to speak. Ephesians, by the way, if you haven't noticed and listening to my podcast, you probably have, is my favorite book of the Bible. If I'm allowed to pick a favorite, it's my favorite book of the Bible Genesis and Ephesians Genesis. I just find genuinely really entertaining. Like I can just read it like any book. And Ephesians just gives so much practical good

gospel wisdom, as of course every book does. But I love how it's put in this particular letter. we could spend hours on this chunk of scripture, but just to break down what God through Paul just said in that chapter of Ephesians fix. Six, first, we are to be strong. So be strong in what? In ourselves? No, in the Lord and the strength of his might. Romans 8 says, if our God is for us, who can be against us? Then put on the whole armor. Whose armor? Our armor? No, the Bible says God's armor, all of it. Why? So we can stand against the schemes of the devil. That tells us that he is still going to be working on us and those around us, even though we are in Christ. Then it is clear after that. The enemy that we have, our ultimate primary enemy are not politicians. They're not

Twitter users. They're not influencers. They're not your friends. They're not celebrities. They are not flesh and blood people. They are against spiritual forces of evil. We may not be able to see them, but we recognize them because they contradict God's word. That is not, by the way, this is not to just say that this qualifies everyone who disagrees with you as a spiritual force of evil. This is not a nickname for the people who disagree with you. These are the people who stand opposed to the Word of God. And therefore, therefore, if they are not in Christ, they are of Satan. Again, we're told, take up armor.

How much of it? The whole armor. Whose armor? God's armor. Why? To withstand evil and to be able to persevere. So what is this armor? It is a belt of truth. It is a breastplate of righteousness. It is shoes of readiness to share the gospel. In all circumstance, we are to have a shield of faith. Why? Your faith, the Bible tells us, extinguishes the flaming dart of the evil one. Put on your helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, which is why all of us need to be in our Bibles. And then, Once you have armed yourself fully with this armor, what do we do?

You pray. You stay alert. You persevere. You pray for your brothers and your sisters in Christ. You pray the gospel would be shared boldly, which is something that all of us can do more of and be better at. I love that the Bible gives us tools in the midst of this warfare that we are facing so we don't have to despair.

So we don't have to lose heart. So we don't have to be helpless. We have commands to follow. We have a role in this. We have armor that God has. given us in Jesus. We are equipped to fight against Satan and his schemes. We are up against a real power, real authorities in the spiritual realm, and in Christ, we are actually prepared and able to fight against them. And again, who is our power and what is our trump card? What is our victory?

It's Jesus and His Gospel. Colossians 2.13 through 15. And you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This, he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities

and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in him. So we have triumph over these evil spiritual principalities in a symbol that the world sees as humiliating, which is a cross, the cross of Christ. John Piper has this really good quote that says, the decisive blow was struck at Calvary. The decisive blow against the enemy was struck at Calvary.

We already have victory. And when we fight, we are fighting from a place of victory, not from a place of anxiety, of not knowing who is going to win in the end. We know who wins. And now we are waiting for, Jesus to return to judge the living and the dead, as 2 Timothy 4.1 says, to destroy Satan once and for all so that he has no power. He will be non-existent. All truth will be exposed. All lies will be

snuffed out. A. 2. Peter 3, 8 through 10 says, but do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years is as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but as patient. towards you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. And then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved in the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. So we wait, not idly, but actively and urgently. We arm ourselves with the full armor of God. We pray. We share the gospel. We love our neighbor. We do justice. We love

mercy. We walk humbly with the Lord. These are the things that we are called to do, even though we know victory is here and victory is inevitable. We fights. We battle. We push forward with the power of Christ. That is what we are called to do. So those of you who feel discouraged know that I feel your pain and I empathize with you. There are nights that I lay awake thinking about unborn children and thinking about the brutality that they endure and how sad it makes me that we have allowed. We have allowed and created a culture in which convenience takes precedence over life. So we as Christians, we have a lot of work to do, not just in helping our friends see what is true, but in loving the least of these, in loving these children,

in loving these mothers, and doing all of the work that pro-choicers say that we don't care about doing. They're never going to believe us. Why? Because of everything that we just talked about. And so we have to arm ourselves with the armor of God. We know truth. We are confident in Christ. And we are called to do what God calls us to do. It doesn't matter how many insane arguments they put before you. That doesn't change your and my responsibility to be representatives and ambassadors of Christ. So I hope that this has made you feel like you have hope in the midst of this, that there is purpose in all of this. There's a reason for all of this. And you have a role in all of this. We are not to just sit by and let this stuff happen.

We're not. We have an active role to play because of the graciousness of God who has given us responsibility in his kingdom to carry out his commands. So thank you guys for listening. If you have any questions or if you have any comments, anything like that, of course, you can email me, Allie at the Conservative millennial blog.com. And I will see you back here on Wednesday.