The 19th century English “prince of preachers,” Charles Spurgeon, said, “Peace between good and evil is an impossibility. The duty of every soldier of the Lord is every day, with all his heart and soul and strength, to fight against the dragon.”

Spurgeon goes on to say, “The Church may become lazy, but her great antagonist (Satan) does not; his restless spirit never allows the war to pause; he hates the woman’s seed, and he would happily devour the Church if he could.”

We are told in the Bible that the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one (Satan) (1 John 5:19). We are seeing his influence in the world like never before. Just turn on the news. Look at the laws now being enacted in our own country and the lawlessness some are allowing and even perpetuating.

Christians should not waste their time and energy dreaming of “peace with the world” and wishing the war against good and evil would end. According to scripture, it will not end until the Lord Jesus returns.

Jesus told His disciples, as it pertains to the end times, “And you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately. Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come. Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers. And many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other. And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people. Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:6-13).

There’s a sermon you’re not hearing on Sundays. Why? Because preachers know the people do not want to hear it. They want their ears tickled and their conscience soothed by someone telling them what they want to hear. Prosperity, apathy, comfort and ease have dulled our spiritual senses in the American Church.

Most people sitting in the pews on Sunday do not want their status quo apple cart overturned. Many refuse to take a stand on God’s Word for two reasons – first, they do not know God’s Word because they are not reading it regularly, and second – the pastors do not want to deal with opposition.

They fear “offending” someone with the actual Truth because it might not align with that person’s flavor of “truth,” so they simply avoid preaching it. God help them.

We live in a post-modern world that no longer believes in absolute Truth and this ideology has infiltrated the Church in America.

“I have my truth and you have yours.”

Here a truth, there a truth, everywhere another “truth,” which is a lie in and of itself.

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14:6). He did not say, “I am ‘a’ truth.” He said, “I am the truth.”

As Christians, we need not expect the world to love us. It will not love us if we love Jesus Christ.

Someone said recently, in response to a parent lamenting over having to raise children in these dark and evil days, “Never feel sorry for raising dragon slayers in a time when there are actual dragons.” But, for our children to grow up and be dragon slayers, they need to see their parents slay a few themselves.

The Apostle James said, “Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (James 4:4).

Jesus tells us, “In the world, you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

As true followers of Jesus, we must choose whom we will serve. We must decide whether we will be enemies of God or soldiers of the Lord – His dragon slayers! The choice is ours. We cannot be both.

Lisa Hannan lives in Valdosta with her husband, attorney Miles Hannan, who has been practicing law in Valdosta for more than 30 years. She has a B.S. in psychology from Valdosta State University. You can find her at www.lisahannan.org.