Chapter 1 of 12 Some of you, burdened by the evil that you see being propagated by the state, and the righteousness being suppressed by it, think that you possess the mental fortitude to oppose your own government by either civil disobedience or other means, yet you can’t even fight against the lust that resides in your own heart. Now listen to me when I say this: any shame or guilt you feel about your past failures, I cast that off in the name of Jesus the Christ. Of course you’ve failed and continue to fail despite your best efforts. You’ve found yourself in the most violent war of the soul known to man, without any of the proper equipment or training to see you through. “This is the saddest warfare that any poor creature can be engaged in. A soul under the power of conviction from the law is pressed to fight against sin, but he has no strength for the battle. He must fight, but he can never conquer. He is like a man who thrusts himself on the sword of the enemy on purpose to be slain. The law drives him on, and then sin beats him back. Sometimes he thinks he has foiled sin, but he has only raised a dust, so that he cannot see the sin. He stirs up his natural affections of fear, sorrow, and anguish, and this makes him believe that sin is conquered when it is not even touched. He soon must be at the battle again, and the lust which he thought to be slain is seen to be not even wounded.” - John Owen, Mortification of Sin I’m not going to tell you to get an accountability partner, you’ll just lie to them. I’m not going to tell you to get internet software, you’ll just find a way around it. I certainly won’t tell you to discipline yourself because the same snare that trapped many of the bravest warriors and wisest kings of biblical history will do the same to you. I only want you to understand one thing. Your salvation is in the struggle. In the combat of the soul, in the strife of this war - you are being refined, and that is the purpose of this war that rages on within you. You are bombarded with hyper-sexuality from every side of culture and media; it’s in your face at the gym, at the mall, on social media and at the tips of your fingers at any moment of the day. It’s waiting for you around every corner; ambush set, ready to fire. And yet the modern pulpit either ignores the issue entirely or is ultimately incapable of giving you proper battle plans for the most important fight of your life. To have victory in this theatre of war means to have victory in your sexuality, in your marriage or relationship and ultimately in your emotional and psychological well-being. Defeat means the absolute destruction of all those things and ultimately the destruction of your very soul. Defeat in this means the failing of your marriage, the broken heart of your spouse and the insecurity and despair of your children enduring the pain of a broken home. Your wife, your fiancé, or your girlfriend is depending on you to fight for her. Your children need you to fight for them. And that is how you achieve victory. You have to love what you’re fighting for, more than the temptation. Read that line over and over again. You have to love your family, your wife, your kids, your purity and love the Lord your God more than you love the gratification of sinful pleasure. In your willingness to sacrifice the temporary for the permanent, you begin to understand what you’re truly fighting for. Yet there is still one more lesson from the scriptures we must learn if we are to fight the good fight and it’s in the despair of Judas and the redemption of Peter. Both men rejected the Christ. Though they walked closely with Him for years and all professed at the last supper to never betray Him, both Judas and Peter failed their Lord. Judas betrayed him for 30 pieces of silver and Peter denied Christ before men, very explicitly on three separate occasions in single one night. Both men felt immense remorse for what they had done; a seemingly unforgivable sin. Judas fell into despair and killed himself, but Peter repented. He humbled himself, repented of his ways and was restored by the Lord. Now I need you to understand something; you will fail. You are up against a billion dollar industry and literal demons that are eons old and who saw firsthand the creation of the earth itself. You will absolutely fail, but here is your final key to victory. Do not fall into despair. Always come back home. Do not fall into despair and become utterly defeated and sink further into your sins, because there is always forgiveness for you. The price of everything you have done and ever will do has already been paid in full at the cross. And you, Christian, hear now the words of Moses. "This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.” Your salvation is in the struggle. You have to love what you’re fighting for, more than the temptation. Do not fall into despair. Always come back home. “So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.”” (Luke 15:20 NIV) Prodigal son, your heavenly father is waiting with arms outstretched, running towards you the moment you come back to him. Now get up, and come back home.