Tragedy is
all around us. In fact, in recent days,
one tragedy seems to top another. Last
Sunday we had the worst mass shooting in Texas history when Devin Patrick
Kelley walked into First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs and began
shooting, killing 26 people and injuring several more. This came on the heels of the worst mass
shooting in American history in Las
Vegas when 64 year old Stephen Paddock shot concert goers from a high rise
hotel killing 58 and injuring well over 500 others. In fact 2 out of the 5 deadliest mass
shootings in American history have occurred in the last 5 weeks! Not to mention some smaller scale happenings
such as a church shooting in Tennessee, a gunman walking into a Thornton, CO
Walmart and killing and injuring people, a man in a rented pickup truck mowing
down people on a walking trail in Manhattan, NY etc. There are a couple of especially notable
aspects to these most recent incidents that make them different. Number 1, the frequency and intensity of
these terrible attacks seems undeniably worse, and number 2 it seems the
motives in most of these cases are hard to determine; at least much more
difficult than in previous terrorist type attacks.
Many in the
media, politicians, and Hollywood believe the answer to violence is further gun
control and that the key to stopping Islamic terror attacks is to give more
sympathy toward the Muslim world as a type of concession to them because of our
previous “unjust” foreign policy.
All tragedy
in the world stems from the harsh reality that we live in a broken world. It is sin filled and sin saturated. What we saw in Sutherland Springs, in
particular, is that the comfortable American church has lost touch with the
fact that we are at war with the “spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly
realm” (Eph. 6:12). In light of our just
celebrating the 500th anniversary of the recognized beginning of the
Protestant Reformation, allow me to quote Martin Luther from his beloved hymn “A
Mighty Fortress is our God.” The third
stanza says “And though this world with devils filled should threaten to undo
us. We will not fear, for God hath
willed His truth to triumph thro’ us: The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble
not for him; His rage we can endure; for lo, his doom is sure.” Martin Luther recognized 500 years ago that
spiritual warfare was real and a real obstacle, but also that the power of God
was much stronger than anyone or anything Satan could empower to do his dirty
work.
Contrary to
what some believe, becoming a Christian does not take you out of the
battle. It does, in fact, put you right
into the heart of the battle! When you are unsaved, you are already doing
Satan’s work and he pretty well leaves you alone, but when you declare
independence from him and declare allegiance to God, then the real battle
begins. He tries to demoralize, defeat,
and destroy Christians. Every Christian
will have Sutherland Springs, TX on their mind this Sunday and Satan is strongly
recommending everyone just stay home.
No one can
begin to understand any current events or most of history without understanding
the person and work of Jesus Christ. Ray
Stedman insightfully writes “The Gospel of Jesus Christ touches and explains
all of history. It has a clear and
consistent worldview, and it provides a framework for every science, every
endeavor to investigate reality, and every effort to understand and make sense
of all the events of history.” (Ray Stedman; Spiritual Warfare: How to Stand Firm in the Faith; 76) The world likes to treat the problems and
symptoms they see on the surface. But, in contrast to that narrowness of
thinking, Christ takes mankind to the very heart of the problem. Stedman goes on to say “The Gospel is not
content simply to treat the symptoms of the human condition. It offers a radical solution to our
fundamental problem. We often come to
Christ asking him to resolve some immediate difficulty in which we find
ourselves, like a man with cancer going to a doctor and saying, ‘I have a rash
on my arm, Oh, yes, I do have cancer – but don’t bother with that. Just treat the rash and I’ll be on my way.’ No doctor worthy of his medical degree would
honor such a request – and neither does the Great Physician, Jesus Christ.”
(Ray Stedman; Spiritual Warfare: How to
Stand Firm in the Faith; 76-77)
One of the
Scriptural names given for Satan in the Word is the Greek name “Apollyon” (Rev.
9:11). The name means “Destroyer.” Satan does not only disrupt, but he destroys
at every opportunity. He can destroy
lives, but He cannot do any more. The
souls of mankind are what he really hungers for. He could not destroy the souls of people in
First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, TX but through the shock and hurt
of the circumstances he can successfully turn other souls away from God. That is certainly his aim.
Do we need to live in fear that our
church is next, or that it is just a matter of time? We do not have to live in fear. God has given us a spirt, not of fear, but of
peace, and soundness of mind. We can be
confident in our Lord and Savior. To
quote Luther again “Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be
losing; were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God’s own choosing; Dost
ask who that may be? Christ Jesus it is
He; Lord Sabaoth His name, from age to age the same, and He must win the
battle.”
In Christ,
Dr. Allen Raynor, Pastor
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