As people in America and across the world are martyred for their faith in Christ, we as believers must be prepared to stand against our unseen, demonic enemy.

From The Federalist. If you weren’t aware that the West’s culture war is also a spiritual battle, let the martyrdom of Christ’s six precious saints in Nashville, Tennessee this week open your eyes. We “wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

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Have you taken your place on the wall?.

It should be no surprise that worshippers of demons rage against those bought and sealed with Christ’s holy blood, and identify Christians as their worst enemy. They hate us because of Christ. Our Savior, whose torture and triumph we honor next week with Holy Week and Easter, told us to expect their violent, unceasing hatred.

Here’s Jesus in Matthew chapter 10:

If they have called the master of the house [Jesus] Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household! … Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. …

Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.

Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, William Kinney, Cynthia Peak, Katherine Koonce, and Mike Hill lost their lives for Christ’s sake. …

Martyrs imitate Christ in deep and profound personal suffering for the truth. They are those counted worthy to suffer shame for Christ’s name. Like Christ and his apostles, the martyrs’ “shame” is truly their glory. …

The righteous know that Jesus Christ has already vindicated us before God. But we should believe His other words too, which tell us, “You will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.”

The six Nashville martyrs endured to the end. …

We all must also seek to endure to the end, like our sisters and brothers in Nashville. While of course we must use all legal means at our disposal to restrain such evils in our country … we also must use the weapons of spiritual warfare.

For, again, this is clearly a spiritual battle. It cannot be fought solely or even primarily with physical means. We war with words, many of which we pray. …

We are also called to repent. Every calamity is a warning from God that should have His people hitting their knees in repentance. …

Prepare to stand. Is that not the defining test of our day? It seems so simple to stand courageously for the true and the good, but it’s incredibly rare. When evil comes, we don’t run. We must not participate in it or refuse to see and name it. We simply stand. …

Share your prayers for the martyrs of the Nashville shooting below.

(Excerpt from The Federalist. Photo Credit: Getty Images)