As stated above, today marks the 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion. Make no mistake: D-Day, Operation Overlord and our place in WWII in general was about defeating evil. Likewise, today we are battling a very powerful, evil enemy on both
physical
and
spiritual
fronts.
Accordingly, the Lord has pressed me to share a message (Bible study) that digs into the subject of evil (lawlessness) and how we as Christians can overcome (defeat) it. Now unsheathe (open) your "sword" (your Bible --
Ephesians 6:17
) as we see what God has for us on this subject.
Let me start by sharing part of the prayer that President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave in his national address on the evening of June 6, 1944 that I believe should still be -- at least in part -- our prayer today:
"My fellow Americans...in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer:
Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our Nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.
Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith.
They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.
They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest-until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men's souls will be shaken with the violences of war.
For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and good will among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home.
And for us at home -- fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas -- whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them -- help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice.
Many people have urged that I call the Nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts.
And, O Lord, give us Faith. Give us Faith in Thee; Faith in our sons; Faith in each other; Faith in our united crusade. Let not the keenness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose.
With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogancies. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister Nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil.
Thy will be done, Almighty God. Amen.
Part of the issue with the increased lawlessness (evil) we're facing today stems from the fact that God, His Word (the Bible), genuine Christians and prayer (and those who pray) are now vilified and forced out of the government that God Himself has established (
Romans 13:1-7
) and our society in general.
Just this week (for example), a well know pastor was heavily criticized by -- God help us -- fellow "Christians" (smh) for having the audacity to pray for our President when the President himself sought that prayer (see
Prayer for the President
)!
Beyond that, we are seeing
Isaiah 5:20
("
Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness
...") being played out before us: Sex outside of marriage (sin) is the norm. Same sex relationships (lawlessness) are celebrated. One's gender is now whatever they decide it is (and those who stand on God's standard are called "bigots"). Babies are not babies (just "tissue" to be discarded). Lawlessness is increasing exponentially!
So what's the deal? If lawlessness (sin, evil, wickedness) is increasing, how can we overcome it? In bringing you God's answer, I want to share some highlights from my discussion on this subject with fellow speaker/trainer/cop and chaplain,
Jim Bontrager
of
Warrior on the Wall Ministries.
Jim said, in part (forgive me if I don't do it justice):
(1) Look to
2 John 1:6
-- "
And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it
." The gist from Jim on this is that if we're going to overcome lawlessness, we need to stop being lawless (disobedience) ourselves and then overcome rebellion and lawlessness with God's
agape
love
.
(2) Part of real manhood means caring about others more than ourselves (including our wives and families), and if we have lawlessness (disobedience, unfaithfulness) in our hearts (instead of Christ), we're going to fail.
(3) Lawlessness involves putting ourselves at the center instead of Christ (what I call the "selfie" generation).
(4) Gender issues: lawlessness (and the Lawless One -- Satan) wickedly says that God's design for men and women does not matter (that what God says in
Genesis 1
is just wrong). In short, a big part of our increasing lawlessness involves denying who God made us to be ("feelings" over God's design and plan).
(5) As servant-warriors (cops), are we in our profession for ourselves or for others? It should be "us on behalf of them" (those we serve and protect) and not us against them (or "us on behalf of us"). Likewise, Godly integrity can't end with "I'll never surrender in a gunfight" (courage on the job) but must also carry over to faithfulness in our marriages and families.
(6) Love is the fulfillment of the law (read
Romans 13:8-13
) while lawlessness is the opposite of biblical love.
(7)
Stand in the gap
(
Ezekiel 22:30
) against lawlessness as a Christian servant-warrior and make your time on this earth count for eternity -- "Go out swinging the sword until there is nothing left!" AMEN (note: Jim and I both stand on God's Word that we're not saved BY good works but we are saved FOR good works --
Ephesians 2:10
)!
One our police mottos is the Latin phrase, "
bono malum superate
" -- "overcome evil with good" -- which comes from
Romans 12:21
-- "
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good
." So how do we do that? Folks, in the end, being one of God's "
overcomers
"
means we must first be born again in Christ alone (
John 3:1-21, 14:6
) and then radically step out in faith behind Him.
God Himself has more to teach us on this subject. Open your Bible and read:
Ephesians 6:10-18
(strapping on your armor and wielding the sword)
1 John 3:4
Matthew 7:22-23
Matthew 24:12
There are times when revolts and revolutions against evil (tyranny, lawlessness) are right and just. Great Britain has the Magna Carta because of her revolution. The United States has its Declaration of Independence and Constitution because of our revolution. And of course
D-Day
was part of our revolution against Hitler and the wickedness of Nazism.
Today we have come to a place where we must have another revolution if we are to
overcome lawlessness.
God's church (His faithful) must lead this revolution. We must have a revolution against the lawlessness of alcoholism, drugs, pornography and human trafficking. We must have a righteous revolt against lying, corruption, cheating and cutting corners in politics, business and yes, in our God-ordained profession of law enforcement.
Christianity is not for weaklings. Billy Graham rightly said, "The challenge of the hour in which we live is so tremendous that it calls for the very best in us. We must be strong, virile and dynamic if we are to stand. The only thing that can give us this moral spiritual strength is a return to Christ. Unless we turn to Christ, I despair for our future. I am convinced that unless we have a great spiritual revival, we cannot endure much longer. We are at enmity against God. We have disobeyed His laws." (lawlessness)
So yes, lawlessness is increasing, and "
the man of lawlessness
" (the final Antichrist --
2 Thessalonians 2:1-12
) is coming. His time -- the
Great Tribulation ---
is drawing closer. But, in the end, we know Who wins!
Jesus is the incontestable Champion and the ultimate Overcomer who will one day utterly defeat lawlessness and the lawless one (Satan). The question then is this: What side are you on?
Fellow officer (servant-warrior), if you know Christ as Lord and Savior,
man up
, repent of your own lawlessness and allow Him to transform you into His champion (overcomer) against the lawlessness of this age. Likewise, if you have never surrendered to Him in faith, scroll down to the sections below and get right with Him today so that you too can successfully be a genuine
terror against evil
(lawlessness) --
Romans 13:1-4
.
______________________
(1) Do you falsely believe that you can "earn" or otherwise "badge" your way into heaven and escape hell because you consider yourself to be a "
good
" cop or "good" person? That you can be "good" enough without God? Take the
Good Person Test
and see how you do!
(2) Jesus' first recorded words in His earthly ministry were and remain, "
Repent and believe in the Good News
" (
Mark 1:15
). To
repent
is a "180" -- a complete,
radical
change of mind and heart as it relates to our sin (as God defines it). To "believe" (
pisteuo
in the original Greek) as Jesus intends it here is to wholeheartedly trust and
surrender
your life to Him in faith in the same way we have "faith" that our body armor will do its job against the rounds it is intended to stop; that a well-maintained weapon will function properly when used in defense against criminals intent on destroying us or others; or that our parachute will open when it is supposed to (we stake our very lives on it)! For more, see
What does it mean to believe in Jesus?
(3) This same concept of "
believe
" (the saving kind) is further revealed in
John 3:1-21
where Jesus says, "
... you must be born again
." Again, note our Lord's emphasis on the word "
must
" (not "may" or "should" or even "someday"): this is ultimately the life-saving AND life-changing personal relationship (and NOT "religion") with Jesus Christ that I stress here every week (see
What does it mean to be a born again Christian
? [hint -- there is no other kind]). Folks, it is only through this miraculous event that we can be made "righteous" before a just and Holy God and thus become part of His family.
(5) Need more? Then check out this powerful, short video message shared by my fellow "radical," Maj.
Travis Yates
:
Cops and Salvation
.
(6) Have you now said "yes" to Jesus as Lord and Savior but are wondering what to do next? The "now what" is also an important part in dealing with the issues that can lead to suicide and sin in general. Click on,
Now what?
MC
