No Retreat. No Surrender.

The Apostle Paul, after facing years of battle against an evil enemy, the messenger of Satan, 2 Corinthians 12:7, offers us his advice — “Provide no place for the devil.” Ephesians 4:27, Catholic Public Domain Version. Before the great apostle teaches us about the armor of God, he prepares us for battle. Further, the Apostle James, in writing “the twelve tribes scattered among the nations”, James 1:1, NIV, teaches us, “Surrender to God! Resist the devil, and he will run from you.” James 4:7, CEV. From a warrior’s perspective, the Apostles Paul and James are absolutely aligned — Never surrender and never retreat from the Devil. Never! That’s what I’d like to talk about in this post.

The famous American World War II general, George S. Patton, had one direction in mind when he was in a battle — forward. He didn’t believe in surrender…ever. He studied battles, wars, battlefields, military history and campaigns, and he even commended a Chaplin who wrote a prayer that turned the tide of battle. He was a win at any cost general. He wasn’t a namby pamby general. No, he was a hard core general. And his men, though they may not have liked him all the time, valued him, fought for him, and some, in the greatest tribute to this great general and America, offered their lives on the battlefield. That’s why that generation has been called, The Greatest Generation. Young men, real men, nineteen and twenty year old men, under the leadership of general Patton, and other great generals, won World War II. Then, they came home and built America into what it is today.

We owe a debt to them that we cannot pay for what we have. Our world owes a debt to them. The Axis powers of evil were defeated. And they were evil. Yes, evil exists in this world. And we, like General Patton and the Greatest Generation, must we realize the real, hard truth: In the face of evil, there can be no retreat and no surrender. We must face evil when it rises, where it rises. Always. To not confront evil, is to accede to it. When we surrender to evil, evil doesn’t stop. No, it increases…in degrees. Once you give in to evil, like an evil cancer, it takes over and kills all that is good. Evil is real. Great men and women realize that, and they call it what it is — evil.

I must say, I like President Trump. Why? Because he has that same perspective of evil — you can never surrender to evil. Among the great presidents in my lifetime, he and Ronald Reagan, knew that basic truth — you can never surrender to evil. Reagan brought to its knees the evil empire left after World War II, the U.S.S.R. Stalin was evil. Lenin was evil. Brutal, not only to their enemies, but to their own people. Brutal butchers of men, women, and children. That’s who they were. And the same type of men, albeit without the same power, seek to rise today. We cannot, we must not give place to them…ever!

The butcher of Baghdad is dead. Good. He was evil. I.S.I.S. is dead. Good. They were evil. The atrocities they committed are so heinous and despicable it lingers on causing disgust over the human condition. And now, we are facing an evil regime, a regime that was behind the attack in Israel on October 7, 2023. Less than three years ago, mass murders were committed against unarmed men and women, children, babies in their cribs. They were robbed of life, mutilated, raped, and murdered by barbarous, evil men in the name of a false god and false religion, Islam. That evil had an origination point — Iran. The regime running Iran is evil. If they could, they would murder every single American, Israeli, European, and more. They are evil. Evil. And that evil must be confronted. It must be hunted down and destroyed. There can be no surrender, no retreat in the face of such evil.

And yet, many today, like Neville Chamberlain, would offer appeasement to an enemy like Iran. It doesn’t work. The Greatest Generation would tell us that, if we would listen to them. In the face of overwhelming evil, good men and women must rise up. G.I. Joe was first coined by Dwight D. Eisenhower who used that term to identify the real hero of World War II in his Victory in Europe Day address, which took place nearly 81 years ago on May 1945. Chamberlain’s appeasement paved the way for Hitler to conquer country after country. Appeasement does not work in the face of evil. Ever. Evil men and women see appeasement as weakness, an invitation for them to commit even greater atrocities. Today, Europe is in shambles, overrun by Islamic extremists. And what they are doing in Europe, they want to do in America — conquer.

That’s Islam. It’s an evil false religion. If we, the Church, fail to recognize that most basic truth, how will the world see it? Not every religion is good. Not every person is good. Not every church is good. No, some men and women do evil in God’s name. Some try to use God to create fear in the hearts of people. Their goal is always acquiescence. Always. Ignore what we do, yield to our evil and you’ll be okay, evil will say. Come, make an agreement with us, evil will say, and all will be well. As God told the Israelites, so He says to us, “Do not make any agreement with them or with their gods.” Exodus 23:32, Good News Translation. Why? Because evil men and women will lure us into their evil ways and seek to bring their evil into our life.

King Solomon warns us how evil men and women operate in the beginning of his book, Proverbs. In Proverbs 1:10, God’s Word Translation, it says, “My son, if sinners lure you, do not go along.” And right there, we are warned to not go along with evil men and women. He goes further, “They may say, ‘Come and join us. Let’s hide and kill someone! Just for fun, let’s ambush the innocent!” Proverbs 1:11, NLT. That’s how evil thinks; it’s fun for evil men and women to do evil. “Join us. We'll split the loot equally”, Proverbs 1:13, God’s Word Translation, they’ll say. King Solomon’s advice: “My child, don't go with people like that. Stay away from them.” Proverbs 1:15, Good News Translation. Why? “They rush to commit evil deeds. They hurry to commit murder.” Proverbs 1:16, NLT. Allah Akbar, they’ll say while committing heinous crimes. Yes, they commit evil in the name of their god. Their god isn’t our God. We must recognize the difference. Lastly, King Solomon ends with this thought: “The wealth you get from crime robs you of your life.” Proverbs 1:18, CEV. As King David said, “Evil shall slay the wicked”. Psalms 34:21. That’s God’s judgment on the wicked.

When we realize that God judges evil, all evil, even before it starts, it changes our attitude regarding evil. In other words, no one gets away with anything. Ever! God is just. Always! His justice always prevails. Always! The demands of justice will always be satisfied. Evil was, is, and always will be judged. There’s no escape for evil men and women. None. God’s sentence on evil? Death! Thankfully, we can offer hope to those who’ll hear it: “Christ died for the ungodly”. Romans 5:6. His death for your life. That’s the great exchange. Your evil for His goodness. Your sin for His righteousness. That’s our message to every man, woman, and child. No! We must not retreat or surrender to evil. Rather, we must confront it with Christ’s gospel. That’s the only way to defeat evil men and women — the Gospel.

Church, we must not retreat or surrender to evil. Rather, we must face it with the power of the Gospel. While America deals with Iran in the natural, the Church must rise in the Spirit and confront the real source of all evil — Satan. He has no defense to Christ’s gospel. He’s soundly defeated by Christ’s gospel wherever and whenever it’s preached. How? “To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.” Acts 16:18. Like General Patton, the Apostle Paul had one direction — forward. As the hymn teaches us,

“Onward Christian soldiers! Marching as to war, With the cross of Jesus Going on before. Christ, the royal Master, Leads against the foe; Forward into battle, See, His banners go! At the name of Jesus Satan’s host doth flee; On then, Christian soldiers, On to victory, Hell’s foundations quiver At the shout of praise: Brothers, lift your voices, Loud your anthems raise! Like a mighty army Moves the Church of God: Brothers, we are treading Where the saints have trod; We are not divided, All one Body we— One in faith and Spirit, One eternally. Crowns and thrones may perish, Kingdoms rise and wane; But the Church of Jesus Constant will remain. Gates of hell can never ‘Gainst the Church prevail; We have Christ’s own promise, Which can never fail. Onward, then, ye people! Join our happy throng; Blend with ours your voices In the triumph song. Glory, laud and honor Unto Christ, the King; This through countless ages Men and angels sing.”

We are not equipped with bombs, bullets, or blades. Rather, we are armed with the great weapons of God’s Gospel, Word, and prayer. The Church of Christ prevails, Satan’s kingdom fails. Now’s the time to rise with victory in our eyes, for His glory appears to reveal His great kingdom, victory, and salvation from sin, death, hell, and the grave. Every eye shall see Him and His saving grace. Now’s the time to repent with tears upon our face. O for conviction to bring us ever closer to Him, no retreat, no surrender to the great evils of our day. The victory is ours and “He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.” Isaiah 11:4, Berean Literal Bible. The Gospel be proclaimed and preached till ever nation fall. Like dominos they’ll come tumbling down and on their knees shall fall.

No retreat. No surrender.

Let us pray!

— Scott Wallis