We've been studying in the book of Genesis, and I'm going to take a detour this morning. And the reason is, over the holiday, I don't know how much you pay attention to what's in the news, but I know some of you do. And a very tragic series of events unfolded in Colorado Springs during the Thanksgiving holiday. The alleged perpetrator of a criminal act is in custody now, but there was a shooting at the Planned Parenthood Clinic in Colorado Springs that resulted in the death of several individuals. Of course, now the Planned Parenthood folks and the Democratic candidates for president and various other people are citing this as an example of why we need to protect Planned Parenthood from all criticism for the fact that they routinely are involved in the slaughter of innocent human lives. Planned Parenthood is an organization that engages in absolutely heinous and arguably criminal behavior year-round. They don't take a break during Thanksgiving. have been recently embarrassed by undercover videos that have been released showing some of the criminal behavior that they engage in. And allegedly, the shooter made reference to something that undoubtedly was associated with those videos. Again, what this does for a lot of people in our country is to say, well then, see, we can't allow videos like that to come out. There have already been judges who tried to keep the videos from being released because Planned Parenthood does not want people to see what goes on inside their facilities. So, what do we have to say about that? Well, I'd like to suggest several things. First of all, if you're going to be pro-life, If you're going to say that human life has special value because God says so, that there is a difference qualitatively in the life of a human versus the life of a squirrel, or a trout, or a cow, or a chicken, by the way, that being a position that not everyone in our society shares. There are a bunch of people associated with PETA who would say that the animals have just as much right to life as humans do. But if you're going to take the position that human life is unique because God created humans uniquely and endowed us with certain unalienable rights, if we're gonna say that, if that's our position, then we've got to be consistent and recognize that what the shooter in Colorado did was wrong. It was heinous. And in fact, one of the first people who was killed by the shooter, if not the first, he may have been the first, I don't know, all the facts have not yet come out, but my understanding is that he was the first, was a police officer responding to the scene. His name is Garrett Swayze. And he was the officer killed trying to rescue people. I'm quoting here from Jordan Standridge, whose website, thecripplegate.com, I recommend to you. He says, Garrett Swayze was the officer killed trying to rescue people at a Planned Parenthood facility in Colorado Springs. Swayze was shot while saving people at a place he abhorred. He was an elder of a church that believed in the inerrancy of scripture and that abortion is evil. Last night, I listened to Pastor Garrett Swayze's last sermon. He's a lovely Christian man, and a police officer, and a husband, and a father of two precious kids. He's our brother in Christ. And he lost his life defending life. defending the rule of law, defending the peace. He willingly laid down his life in order to try and rescue others. Because human life isn't just valuable when people are doing the right thing. Human life is valuable. And I dare say that Garrett Swayze was probably more prepared to meet the Lord than anybody else in the Planned Parenthood clinic. There were two other people who also died. There were a number of others who were injured. But we need to be very, very clear about the fact that what that shooter did was absolutely wrong, evil, unjustified. We are living in a state of war. That's not a new thing in our culture. That is the historic ongoing truth for anybody who is a follower of Jesus Christ. But I want you to see in Ephesians chapter six, please turn there in your Bibles. In Ephesians chapter six, we're told something that is absolutely essential for us to remember. Ephesians chapter six, beginning in verse 10. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood. but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you've done everything, to stand. Stand firm then. with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, and pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Pray also for me that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly as I should. The Apostle Paul is writing as a prisoner. He is literally, physically chained, and he is a prisoner of his own government, the Roman government. And yet he says, I'm an ambassador. And my enemy is not Caesar, and my enemy is not Rome, and my enemy is not the Roman system of government. I am an ambassador offering terms of peace. The gospel of salvation offers peace to people who are at war against the truth, against the God whose word is truth, And we need to understand what we're told right at the start of this section. Our warfare is not against flesh and blood. Please get that. That's the first main point you need to take. We are at war, but not against flesh and blood. Not against human forces. As a result, we have a different kind of weapon. Look at 2 Corinthians 10 3-5. 2 Corinthians 10 3-5. Again, the Apostle Paul writing. He says, for though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary. They have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. Please get this. We have weapons. And we have weapons that are not weak. It's not like, oh, well, they've got the big guns and we've just got spiritual things. All we can do is pray. No, prayer is mightier than what they have. And we need to understand, our weapons have divine power. That means God's power. Not to do our will, but to do His. Jesus, when He was about to be crucified, said to His disciples, don't you understand, I could ask my Father and He would send legions of angels to defend me. He said, no one takes my life from me, I lay it down. He offered himself as the sacrifice that made it possible for us to be reconciled to God. That's power. Jesus wasn't fighting for his life. He was fighting for ours, and he won. He was able to cry out on that cross, it is finished, the debt is paid. Jesus overcame all the forces of the enemy by His death and resurrection. What Jesus did was to defeat the forces of darkness with the cross. And if you and I are going to be His followers, we are commanded to take up our cross and follow Him, to die daily. Now, most of us are not likely to face in our lifetime the exact sort of circumstances that that police officer in Colorado faced. It's just not likely to happen. But all of us, if we're serious about following Jesus Christ, have got to have the same kind of commitment to doing what God calls us to do where we are, which involves serving people who don't deserve it. None of us deserve what Jesus did. And if we stand around waiting to only care about people who deserve it, We will not get around to loving people, and we will be in utter disobedience to the call of God. So, we are at war, but our struggle is not against flesh and blood. The weapons that we fight with are not the weapons of this world. But what do we make of somebody who goes out and does something like the shooting in Colorado. Well, the first thing that comes to my mind after I've prayed for the people who are suffering out there, those who lost loved ones, those who are confused, is what happened in Philippi. Now this fellow who was the shooter apparently is not known as a religious individual. He's got a long history of trouble with the law and somewhat incoherent speech and other things that would suggest it's not as if some preacher went out there and did this. But nevertheless, he will be associated As unjustly as it is, he will be associated with those of us who are pro-life. He will be associated with anybody who criticizes Planned Parenthood. He will be associated with anybody who claims the name of Christ, because after all, growing up, he was a Baptist. That makes us guilty, doesn't it? So was Brad Pitt, by the way, and he claims to be an atheist now. So, Philippians. The Philippians, you don't turn to the book of Philippians, this is in Acts. Acts chapter 16, the Philippians had a slave girl who was famous among them because she had the ability to tell people things about their future that often came to pass. And as a result, she was well known in Philippi. Paul and Silas came to Philippi to tell people how to be saved. And this slave girl, this demoniac, this fortune teller, began following Paul and Silas around, calling out loudly, these men are servants of the Most High God and are bringing you the way of salvation. How do you like that? Well, let's analyze what she said. These men are servants of the Most High God, true or false? True. And are bringing you the way of salvation, true or false? What's not to like? I'll tell you what's not to like. If you've got a demoniac screaming the truth, it undermines the presentation of the truth. And if you've got a person who says, no more baby parts, Planned Parenthood shouldn't be doing this stuff, and he kills people, that makes it a lot harder for those of us who don't believe Planned Parenthood ought to be killing babies for profit. Taking tax dollars over here, donations over here from places like the Susan Komen Foundation, and then turning around and charging their clients to come in and have their child killed, and then taking care not to damage the parts of that child so that they can sell those body parts to others, which is criminal. They're allowed to be reimbursed for processing costs. But if you listen to what their officials said, they were saying that they could be extra careful in how they tear that baby apart so as not to damage whatever parts the medical facilities want. That is not the same thing. And they were negotiating prices and laughing about it over dinner. Anybody who believes the testimony of people who kill children for a living is not smart. If you think you can get an honest answer from a killer, you don't know much. Years ago, I was hitchhiking. Not a practice I recommend. I was hitchhiking on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina and a car stopped and they were about to let me in and then all of a sudden the woman in the front seat on the passenger side got a panicked look on her face and she reached back and locked the door. And she rolled her window down just a little and she said, you're not one of those people who hijacks people, are you? And I said, oh, no, ma'am, I would never do that. And she went, all right, and let me in the car. I wanted the ride, so I waited till I was in the car, and we were back on the road. And then I said, thank you so much for the ride, and I can assure you I will not harm you in any way. But just for the record, if I were the sort of person who hijacks people, I really couldn't be trusted to give an honest answer to your question. She said, oh. Sweet innocent lady didn't understand that people who carjack folks if Asked are you about to carjack me don't say oh? Yes, doggone go ahead That's not the way it works Don't expect anybody who is associated with Planned Parenthood to tell the truth about anything and As one person said years ago about someone else who had a habit of dishonesty, everything that woman writes is a lie. Every word that woman writes is a lie, including and and the. I like that. Do you think that's right? I mean, and and the, how could that be a lie? Well, I don't know how it could be a lie unless it was in the mouth of somebody who, for example, says it depends on what the meaning of is is. And we have someone like that who was president of these United States. There are people who have made a career out of lying. and you and I need to recognize that our warfare is not against those people. It's against those lies. Our warfare is not against flesh and blood. It's not against the people who do bad things. Our warfare is against the prince of darkness. Our warfare is against the lies and the bad things that people are doing. And the way to stop it is not by joining them in killing. That's not the answer. That's not the solution. Is there ever a legitimate place for violence and force against evil? Yes, there is. There is, and the Bible tells us about that. Look at Romans chapter 13 for a moment. Romans chapter 13. Not everyone likes this passage. Romans 13, this is God's word. Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right, and He will commend you, for He is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for He does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment, but also because of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes. For the authorities are God's servants who give their full time to governing. Give everyone what you owe him. If you owe taxes, Pay taxes. If revenue, then revenue. If respect, then respect. If honor, then honor. How could Paul write that when Nero was the emperor? Nero was a wicked man. He was a murderously wicked liar. How could Paul say the authorities are established by God? Answer, because he was inspired by the Holy Spirit, not operating on the basis of his feelings. He knew what was true, and he knew that God rules over all, and he knew that God would take care of things. Now let me be very, very clear, because some of you come from situations where some of the authority figures in your life might actually not be submitting themselves to God. You might want to write this down. No one has the authority to require you to do something that is wrong or to forbid you from doing what is right. No one has the authority to require you to do something that is wrong or to forbid you doing what is right. Got that? So if somebody tells you that you need to lie, is that an authoritative command? No. If the government says, we need to round up all the Jews and put them in a gas chamber, kill them. Do you say, well, I've got to obey the government. No, the government has no authority to do that. The government, a parent, a bully, no one has the authority to require you to do something that God forbids. And no one has the authority to forbid you doing what God commands. When the authorities brought the apostles in and said, we command you to stop preaching in Jesus' name, they said, well, we'll let you decide whether it's better to obey you or God. We're gonna obey God. When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were commanded to bow down and worship an idol, they said, we're not gonna do it. The king said, I'm gonna throw you into a furnace of fire if you don't do it. They said, our God is able to deliver us, and he will deliver us, but even if he doesn't, we're not gonna do what God forbids. So you and I need to be very, very clear about this. Who has the role assigned by God to punish evildoers? Somebody who gets really upset and has a gun? Nope. The government. Well, what if the government doesn't do its job? Then God will deal with the government. And God will deal with the government. When the government of a country repeatedly says by its behavior, we hate God, we hate His laws, we're going to do everything we can to exalt what is evil and to suppress what is good. That government will not stand. That government will not stand. And when you see a government doing that more and more, you should know its days are numbered. But folks, please understand this. Our warfare is not against flesh and blood. It's not against political parties. Our warfare is against the forces of darkness that keep people blinded and enslaved. The Apostle Paul was once an enemy of the gospel. And the Apostle Paul was converted by the gospel. the power of God for the salvation of those who believe. And when you and I see somebody who's engaged in horrible behavior, it is not wrong to say, that's horrible behavior. But we need to understand that the solution is not for us to use a bullet. The solution is for us to stand firm in the truth of the gospel. So, how do we respond? Well, we pray, obviously, for the folks who are wounded, grieving. I would urge you pray especially for our Brothers and sisters in Christ who've lost one of their pastors. For a woman who lost her husband. For children who lost their dad. Their church, from what I can tell from their website, is a lot like the church I worship in. That's our family out there. and they're grieving, we need to pray. But we also need to keep doing the right thing when somebody does the wrong thing. And not be afraid to do the right thing because somebody does the wrong thing. We are sometimes wounded by those who are supposed to be on our team on a much more mundane level. I was reminded of two examples from history of where people did the wrong thing, went the wrong way, hurt those that they were supposedly trying to help. Roy Regals was an All-American football player. He was the team captain. He played center for the California Golden Bears. And he was playing in the Rose Bowl in 1929 against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. You know why he's famous? 1929, that was a long time ago. I mean, why are we talking about somebody who played football in 1929? Because he did something that was historically remarkable. He picked up a fumble just 30 yards from the Yellow Jackets' end zone. But in the confusion, he got turned around. Instead of running 30 yards into the end zone and scoring a touchdown, he ran 69 yards in the wrong direction, finally tackled on the one-yard line by one of his teammates. despite the efforts of the Georgia Tech men who were trying to block for him. Oh, is that embarrassing. How horrible. He's famous for his wrong way run. That was 1929. In 1964, Jim Marshall, three-time NFL champion, played for the Minnesota Vikings, was in a game against the San Francisco 49ers. He recovered a fumble too. And he ran 66 yards all the way into his own end zone. He was not stopped. Thinking he had scored a touchdown, he threw the ball away. And because of the way it landed, it gave the 49ers a safety. Roy Regals wrote him a letter. Said, welcome to the club. It's a pretty exclusive club. Not that many people have made such a spectacular mistake. But let me tell you, when you are wanting so much for your team to win and you see somebody take the ball, in this case national attention, and run it in the wrong direction, it makes you feel sick. Because that shooter out there has not only killed some people and wounded some people, he's wounded the pro-life gods. He's wounded the ability of people to hear the truth about what an evil, horrendous place Planned Parenthood is. Because let me tell you, as tragic and evil as it is, that people were killed in Colorado Springs. People were killed in Colorado Springs the week before, and the week before, and the week before, and the week before, and the week before. And Planned Parenthood promises that they'll be up and running again right away. They're going to keep on killing people. But what do you do? Well, I'll tell you what you don't do, you don't stop the game and say, okay, well, we're done. Guess we can't play, one of our guys went the wrong way. I don't even count that shooter as one of our guys. But unfortunately, a lot of people are gonna picture him with our jersey. They're gonna say he was on the team. Well, the rest of us need to wear our jerseys. And we need to run in the right direction. And we need to play by the rules. We need to do what's right. And fortunately, we've got something a lot better than jerseys and a lot better than shoulder pads and helmets. We have the armor of God. We have the helmet of salvation. We have the breastplate of righteousness. We have our feet wearing the shoes of the preparation of the gospel of peace. We're ready to go and tell people that there is peace, there is hope, there is life in Jesus Christ. And you and I need to be faithful in this game of life, in this warfare that we're in. We need to be faithful, even when other people make a mess of it. Don't give up. Don't back down. Don't stop fighting. But remember, our enemy is not flesh and blood. And our weapons are not worldly. They have divine power to the pulling down of strongholds. Let's pray. Father, we ask that you would help us this day to honor you in the way that we treat others. We pray that you would help us to have compassion for those whose eyes have been blinded by selfishness, by greed, by sin and shame, by pride. For people who've been wounded, not just with bullets, but with hateful words, let us become proficient in speaking the truth in love. Caring enough about people that we will tell the truth. but not to condemn, but to call to repentance, knowing that Jesus came to save sinners. Lord, I thank you for saving me, because I sure don't deserve it. And I pray that you would help us to offer the good news of your grace to people who desperately need to know that there is hope, and that there is forgiveness, and that there is life in Christ Jesus. And it's in Jesus' name we make our prayer. Amen.