Tag Archives: Hope

Proclaiming Truth Through the Tears

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“The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous 
and his ears toward their cry.
The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
to cut off the memory of them from the earth. When the righteous cry for help,
the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.
The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”
(Psalm 34:15–18)

On Monday, March 27, 2023, three 9 year old students and three adult staff of Covenant Presbyterian Academy in Nashville, TN were murdered when an armed assailant entered the school with intent to kill. The female attacker was quickly stopped when Police entered the building using deadly force to prevent further carnage.

Within moments, the blame games were started.

Mainstream news outlets blamed Republican politicians for not doing enough to prevent gun violence, the Church and Christian School for not being more inclusive of the “Trans Community” (the female perpetrator identified as a male), and even the killer’s parents for their alleged rejection of their daughter’s new identity.

Meanwhile, conservative pundits were quick to blame the Democratic party for their lack of initiatives to provide protection in our schools, the LGBTQ+ activists for encouraging a mindset that leads to greater depression and aggression, and even the mainstream media for blaming everyone but the killer.

In each and every time that this kind of violence erupts in our world, we turn on each other, accuse and vilify one another, and even subtly blame the victims… all because we are afraid to say the one thing we know to be true: Sin and Evil are real, and there is a cosmic, spiritual battle raging in the world around us. Since the fall, satan has asserted himself as the prince of the power of the air (Eph 2:2), and has been working to undo all that God has done. Jesus said, “[The devil] was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). The lies of the left, and the lies of the right, only serve to promote satan’s agenda. When we turn to lies in the midst of tragedy, the only one who wins is the devil.

And so it is that in the midst of evil’s eruptions, the Church must stand for the Truth. Even in our suffering and sorrow, we proclaim the victory over sin and death that has been won for un in Jesus Christ. We declare that there is freedom from the chains of sin, hope in the midst of a dark and fallen world, and security in the arms of our Eternal God. We stand in the revelation that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and that no one may come to the Father except through Him (John 14:6). 

Because of this victory we have in Christ, called to bless those who persecute us, and reminded “never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:19–21).

This is the hope, the peace, the faith that I hear when Pastor Chad Scruggs, Senior Pastor of Covenant Presbyterian Church (PCA), and father of 9 year old Hallie who was killed on Monday said, “Through tears we trust that she is in the arms of Jesus who will raise her to life once again.” Through tears of pain, sorrow, and unbearable grief, there is still a hope that is rooted in the eternal Truth.

This is the truth that, only months ago, Pastor Scruggs proclaimed as he preached from John 11:35:

The whole time Jesus knew how the whole thing would go down and yet what are the most remarkable things about this story, it always gets me, is that knowing exactly what he’s about to do Jesus sits down and does what? He weeps. Do you see that a strong confidence in the end of the story does not undo or justify the absence of grief in the middle. A mature faith adds its tears to the sadness in our world Jesus says blessed are those who mourn all the while not losing confidence and how that sadness will eventually be overcome in him

If you’re doubting the love of Jesus, you try to work it out through your circumstances. No, you never read your circumstances and then read the Love of Jesus. You read the Love of Jesus towards your circumstances. If you are doubting his love for you, if you are struggling with his authority in the midst of sadness and confusion, let the cross speak to you again. Look there so that you might say confidently, ‘see how he loves me. This is the one man given for me.’

Beloved, let us not do the devil’s bidding today and be divided by lies, but let us stand firm in the truth that is found in Christ alone. In Him we have redemption from our sins, forgiveness with God, hope and security for the future, the Spirit who gives us grace and strength to live for today and the boldness to stand and shine as a light in the midst of darkness.

SDG

Mama Said There’d Be Days Like This

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“But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.  They said to you, ‘In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.’  It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit.”
Jude 17–19

Who could have ever foreseen what 2020 would hold? I think we all knew that the political circus was coming to town with the Presidential Election, but adding in a global pandemic, protests and riots over racial divisions, threats of war in Iran, talks of peace in for Israel, an alphabet of hurricanes and tropical storms, and even murder hornets – this has been a full year. 

If someone had told you back in 2019 what was to come, would you believe it? Would it have made a difference. Maybe you would have stocked up on toilet paper, invested in the company that makes face masks, but I don’t know that knowing any of this would have made this year easier. Knowing something bad is coming doesn’t make it better, it doesn’t make it less evil; but it may be more bearable.  

This is the point of Jude’s reminder in vs. 17-19. Jude has spent 2/3 of the letter detailing the corruptive teaching of those who had crept into the church. He has highlighted that their judgment is sure, and their teachings are empty. Now Jude begins to speak to the faithful.

“My beloved,” he says, “remember that the prophets told you this was going to happen.” These false teachers are no surprise to God, and God has warned us of their coming. We don’t know exactly what prophecies Jude has in mind, it could be that these were predictions made by the apostles but never written down, or he could be referring to passages such as:

1 Timothy 4:1–5: “Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.”

2 Timothy 3:1–5: “But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.  For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,  heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.”

Acts 20:29–30: “I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.”

or even Matthew 24:10–12: “And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another.  And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.”

In these passages the faithful are called to remember that all of this was foreseen by the Lord.  Remembering here doesn’t simply mean to recall, but to take to heart what was spoken. God has determined the end from the beginning, nothing comes as a suppose to God. God has spoken, through Christ His Son, and through the prophets and apostles, about the troubles that the church would face. God has warned the faithful that there would be days like this. His warning is a call to prepare for trouble, but also to not lose heart.

In these last days – between Christ’s death and resurrection and His coming again – some will be led astray by false teaching. Some will cause division within the church as they seek their own desires. Some will cause trouble for the church, and even bring persecution to the faithful as they reject the Lord and His word.

None of what we face is beyond God’s sovereign provision, and even in the midst of it God is working for the good of those who love God (Rom 8:28).  In all things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us (Rom 8:37). 

Knowing that these times of trouble in the church were foreseen by the apostles doesn’t make it any less evil or troubling, but it does make it more bearable.  Thomas Schreiner writes in The New American Commentary:

No false teaching, no threat from the outside can be considered a genuine threat to the truth since it has all been foreseen and predicted. God never promised that the church would progress in the world without enemies from within. People are apt to think that blessing from God would mean that the people of God exist in a blissful state with no conflict. On the contrary, the apostles foretold that opponents would come, and now they had arrived. They were evident by their words and their works. It should be clear to all, therefore, that they were not part of the people of God. The church should recognize them, reject their teaching, and reach out to those wavering under their influence.

Schreiner, Thomas R. 1, 2 Peter, Jude. Vol. 37. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2003. Print. The New American Commentary.