As many of you know, my family consider ourselves part of Grace Community Church, pastored by John Macarthur. Yes, we live zillions of miles away from there, but we have found him to be a stalwart voice for the truth of scripture. He has rightly divided God's word for 4 decades now, and continues to teach rightly.
We received this letter today. I found it very encouraging and so appropriate for the days we live in.
I am sharing most of it here. I don't need comment on it, but am wanting to offer to others the same encouragement that I found in it. Comment, however, if you wish.
The rest of the letter is discussing the resource sent with the letter, so I will not include that info here.
Be encouraged, dear friends! God is still on His throne, He is still in charge, and He has already conquered!
We received this letter today. I found it very encouraging and so appropriate for the days we live in.
I am sharing most of it here. I don't need comment on it, but am wanting to offer to others the same encouragement that I found in it. Comment, however, if you wish.
Of all the ways to describe the times in which we live, I think the most concise is this: The days are evil. Every age since the Fall has been dominated by evil, but that doesn't mean it won't become more blatant, pervasive, grotesque, dangerous, and institutionalized. Scripture is clear that over time, evil men will become worse (2 Timothy 3:12-13).
So while last months' United States Supreme Court ruling that sanctioned homosexual marriage was troubling at many levels, it wasn't particularly surprising. The decision was simply the practice of sowing and reaping writ large. The trajectory was set long, long ago.
What has been surprising is how the moral slide has accelerated in recent years in America, and how hostility to Christians has become so overt in such a short time. Usually a culture changes so slowly, to change is barely perceptible. Not so now. The recent, seismic ruptures in our society have been swift and catastrophic.
While many people fear that the current moral crisis will someday lead to god's judgment, I believe we're far past that. What we see happening now is God's judgment. Romans 1 indicates that divine judgment involves three stages. first, there's a sexual revolution, followed by a homosexual revolution, and finally an abandonment to a reprobate mind. Ultimately, the culture's way of thinking is so corrupt, there is no way back to truth and goodness. We see the reprobate mind in full bloom in the Supreme Court, the presidency, the legislature, the media, and the popular culture.
As a result, we are feeling pressures we've never before experienced and facing mockery and abuse simply because of what we believe. Our gospel, our values, our priorities, our doctrine -- our entire lives -- are comprehensively and irreversibly at odds with the world. And as challenging as the situation is, it can and will get worse. I've commented several times recently that I believe the hostility toward Christians in the west will give way to full-blown persecution. A decade ago, many Christians would have laughed at such a suggestion. No one is laughing now.
What should our response be to these new realities? First, I believe we should be supremely hopeful. God has not been surprised by the moral slide we are witnessing, nor have His good and loving purposes been thwarted by it. He reigns supreme over everything, from the smallest details of individual lives to the monumental, collective acts of rebellion and sin of a nation. While He is offended by sin, He is neither a victim of it nor is He a helpless bystander. He is acting in patience and mercy to many, meanwhile storing wrath for His ultimate day of righteous judgment. We can rejoice both in His mercy and in the knowledge that He will someday make things right.
We must also stay focused on Jesus Christ and the mission to which He has called us -- to live and proclaim the gospel. while Romans 1 offers a bleak diagnosis of the world's lost condition, it also assures us that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation, and that we must preach it without being ashamed. External circumstances have no real power over us -- rather than being gripped by fear and discouragement, we should fix our eyes on Christ, walk in obedience, and trust Him. He will not disappoint.
The current circumstances should also create in us an increased sense of expectation. Expectation of seeing the grace of God displayed in and through His church. Expectation of seeing many people gloriously converted, as a refined, purified church fulfills its role as salt and light in a fresh, powerful way. Expectation of seeing the return of the Lord and the final consummation of our salvation. Now is not a time for fear and shrinking back, but for trust, obedience, and, yes, expectation.
As for how the Bible-teaching ministry of Grace to You is responding to these evil days, the answer is simple: Hold nothing back. We are going to articulate biblical truth more clearly and assertively than ever. In fact, as the culture continues to degenerate and biblical standards are challenged, every new attempt to undermine Scripture is going to elicit from us a loving -- but clear -- confrontation.
So while last months' United States Supreme Court ruling that sanctioned homosexual marriage was troubling at many levels, it wasn't particularly surprising. The decision was simply the practice of sowing and reaping writ large. The trajectory was set long, long ago.
What has been surprising is how the moral slide has accelerated in recent years in America, and how hostility to Christians has become so overt in such a short time. Usually a culture changes so slowly, to change is barely perceptible. Not so now. The recent, seismic ruptures in our society have been swift and catastrophic.
While many people fear that the current moral crisis will someday lead to god's judgment, I believe we're far past that. What we see happening now is God's judgment. Romans 1 indicates that divine judgment involves three stages. first, there's a sexual revolution, followed by a homosexual revolution, and finally an abandonment to a reprobate mind. Ultimately, the culture's way of thinking is so corrupt, there is no way back to truth and goodness. We see the reprobate mind in full bloom in the Supreme Court, the presidency, the legislature, the media, and the popular culture.
As a result, we are feeling pressures we've never before experienced and facing mockery and abuse simply because of what we believe. Our gospel, our values, our priorities, our doctrine -- our entire lives -- are comprehensively and irreversibly at odds with the world. And as challenging as the situation is, it can and will get worse. I've commented several times recently that I believe the hostility toward Christians in the west will give way to full-blown persecution. A decade ago, many Christians would have laughed at such a suggestion. No one is laughing now.
What should our response be to these new realities? First, I believe we should be supremely hopeful. God has not been surprised by the moral slide we are witnessing, nor have His good and loving purposes been thwarted by it. He reigns supreme over everything, from the smallest details of individual lives to the monumental, collective acts of rebellion and sin of a nation. While He is offended by sin, He is neither a victim of it nor is He a helpless bystander. He is acting in patience and mercy to many, meanwhile storing wrath for His ultimate day of righteous judgment. We can rejoice both in His mercy and in the knowledge that He will someday make things right.
We must also stay focused on Jesus Christ and the mission to which He has called us -- to live and proclaim the gospel. while Romans 1 offers a bleak diagnosis of the world's lost condition, it also assures us that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation, and that we must preach it without being ashamed. External circumstances have no real power over us -- rather than being gripped by fear and discouragement, we should fix our eyes on Christ, walk in obedience, and trust Him. He will not disappoint.
The current circumstances should also create in us an increased sense of expectation. Expectation of seeing the grace of God displayed in and through His church. Expectation of seeing many people gloriously converted, as a refined, purified church fulfills its role as salt and light in a fresh, powerful way. Expectation of seeing the return of the Lord and the final consummation of our salvation. Now is not a time for fear and shrinking back, but for trust, obedience, and, yes, expectation.
As for how the Bible-teaching ministry of Grace to You is responding to these evil days, the answer is simple: Hold nothing back. We are going to articulate biblical truth more clearly and assertively than ever. In fact, as the culture continues to degenerate and biblical standards are challenged, every new attempt to undermine Scripture is going to elicit from us a loving -- but clear -- confrontation.
Be encouraged, dear friends! God is still on His throne, He is still in charge, and He has already conquered!
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