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Reading 2 Thessalonians 2:16-3:5, and reflecting upon the tragic shooting that occurred yesterday at a First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, TX. Visit wwutt.com for all our videos!
Whenever we experience a tremendous loss, it is okay to grieve, and we should definitely grieve with those who grieve, but we are reminded that we do not grieve as those who have no hope when we understand the text.
You are listening to When We Understand the Text, an online Bible ministry so that we may know all the riches freely given to us by God. For questions and comments, send us an email to whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com.
Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe.
Thank you, Becky. We continue with our study of 2 Thessalonians, picking up where we left off a little over a week ago. In fact, I want to go back to 2 Thessalonians 2, starting at verse 16, and I'm going to read through chapter 3, verse 5.
The Apostle Paul writing to the church in Thessalonica. Now, may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.
Finally, brothers, pray for us that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you, and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith, but the Lord is faithful.
He will establish you and guard you against the evil one. And we have confidence in the Lord about you that you are doing and will do the things that we command. May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.
Tragedy struck a little Texas town yesterday, Sutherland Springs, with a population of just over 400 people. And there is a small Baptist church there, First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, with a congregation of between 50 and 75 attendees each Sunday.
Yesterday morning during their 11 o 'clock service, a gunman opened fire on the church from the outside of the building, and then he proceeded inside the sanctuary where he continued to shoot, killing 26 people and wounding 20.
The age ranges of the deceased are between 5 and 72 years of age. The gunman later was killed, at least at the time of this recording, it is uncertain as to whether or not he was shot by someone else or he took his own life.
The pastor of First Baptist Sutherland Springs was not in church yesterday. He was in Oklahoma and he and his wife were both away, but the pastor's daughter was among the deceased. 14 years old. Her name was Annabelle Renee Pomeroy.
My oldest daughter's name is Annabelle. When anything like this happens, when tragedies like this strike, we mourn. We mourn when Vegas happened. We mourn when Orlando happened. We mourned when New York City happened a week ago.
Just because it happens at a church doesn't necessarily make it any different. But there is hope for us who mourn because we know that in Christ Jesus, there is justice and there is deliverance. Here on this side of heaven, there is no justice and there is no deliverance.
Why is there no justice in this particular situation? Because the gunman's dead. So he's not going to be arrested. He's not going to be put on trial. We're not going to see justice served in an American court of law, but justice will be served in the heavenly court when God will have vengeance on his enemies.
Vengeance is mine. I will repay, saith the Lord. And so we leave it up to the Lord to handle these matters. We do not take vengeance into our own hands. In this case, we cannot. But we can mourn the gunman's family and we can mourn a wife and a child that he abandoned.
And in fact, what we know about the gunman he even abused. And we pray that through this tragic situation, that his wife and child would come to know the Lord. That they would not be filled with bitterness and hatred against people in this world, but instead they would have their hearts drawn heavenward to a Christ who saves, a Christ who delivers, a God who is just and is good and will rescue all those who believe on the name of his son, Jesus Christ.
There is no other name in heaven or on earth by which we are saved except for the name of Jesus Christ. As Peter said in Acts chapter four, all who believe in the name of Christ will be saved. We will be forgiven our sins, no matter how grave they are.
There is no sin too great that Christ will not forgive. And we will stand before God as justified and we will have eternal life with God in heaven because of what Christ has done for us. God so loved the world that he sent his son to die on the cross for our sins that whoever believes in him will not perish, but will have everlasting life.
Justin Peters last night on Twitter reminded me of something that Paul said to the Thessalonians because we're going through these letters right now. Paul's letters to the Thessalonians and it was back in 1 Thessalonians 4 verse 13 where Paul says, but we do not want you to be uninformed brothers about those who are asleep that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.
So we as Christians on this side of heaven, indeed we grieve and we should grieve and it is right to grieve. We grieve because the world is evil. It is evil. And every time somebody dies, we're reminded that it is evil.
Not just if someone dies at the hands of evil, but the very fact that death is in the world is because of evil. It's because we are evil people who have sinned against God. Every single one of us all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
There is nobody who can say that they are any better than the shooter or anyone in that church whose life was taken. All of us deserve death. That's what we all deserve. But we are saved by the gracious and mighty hand of God who in his divine forbearance as we talked about last week passed over former sins and we are justified in Christ Jesus who paid for our sins by his death on the cross.
This is the love that God has shown for us for his people. Romans 5 8 God demonstrates his love for us and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. So we do. We indeed grieve. We grieve the loss of anybody, a friend who dies of old age, a family member, somebody that dies in a tragic unforeseen accident.
There's nobody to blame. It was just an accident, took a person's life. We grieve over those who die of a sickness or an ailment. We grieve those who die in a tragedy such as the one that was plastered all over the news yesterday and continues in the news today.
We grieve because a fellow saint has been taken from us, a brother or sister in the Lord with whom we were growing, praising God, reading the word, maturing, encouraging. We experience joy together. We experience grief together.
One of those saints has been taken from us and is now with the Lord and so we grieve. It is right to grieve. There is a void. There is a loss and don't let anybody tell you that it's it's wrong to grieve the lost of a loved one.
Don't let don't let anyone in the midst of your tears try to slap you on the back and say, hey, Romans 828, all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose.
Buddy, buck up, you'll do just fine. Rather, the way that we consider one another should be more like the passage in Romans twelve that says rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.
Job's friends did real good when they covered themselves with sackcloth and ashes just like Job and just laid down on the ground with him and wept. They got real stupid when they started to open their mouths and try to give him their own brand of encouragement.
So when we're in grief like this, grieve with those who grieve and don't let anybody tell you that your grief is wrong. There's a void that is left behind. And so we do grieve those who have been taken from us, our fellow saints in the Lord who are no longer walking this earth with us.
But we don't grieve as those who have no hope because we know that our brothers and sisters in Christ are with Christ. And we will be together again. We will all be together, not just with saints that we have known and lost, but saints that have gone before us and saints that are going to come after us.
There is going to be such community in heaven unlike anything that has ever been experienced before. So love your fellow saints now because you're going to be with them for a very, very long time. So we don't grieve as those who have no hope.
And I know, I know that that the congregation there in Sutherland Springs, Texas is grieving and I cannot even imagine, I can't even imagine the kind of grief that would strike a congregation like this, especially one that is so small and intimate.
And I don't mean to say that mega churches don't understand this because I mean, you'll still have smaller groups even within large churches that are tight communities and they know one another and they're probably meeting at each other's homes and having smaller Bible studies.
So I don't mean to downplay the mega church by any sense. But I'm a pastor of a small church. I'm a pastor of a congregation that's just a little over a hundred people. And even I can't tell you every single person's name.
We have a very transient congregation anyway, but a small, intimate community congregation such as this, 50 to 75 people. And when the pastor says to the media that every life lost is a dear friend, I believe him.
I know that he knows all of those people. And I can't even imagine losing a child in a situation like that. And I'm at a place where I don't know what to feel and how I can help them except to just lift them up in prayer and grieve with them and weep with those who weep.
And I think that as Christians, that's what we can all extend to our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. And I don't think it's just something that we should extend just to those who experience this kind of loss stateside, but even the Christians who encounter these kinds of losses in other parts of the world every day.
Christians that are persecuted for their faith and are being put to death. People who go to church wondering if they're going to come home after church is over. There are churches like that in this world.
And every once in a while, our comfortable religious freedom, the veil kind of gets lifted on that. And we realize stuff's real bad. And there are people who die for their faith. We don't know the gunman's intentions yet or anything like that.
But however way you cut it, it was a tragic loss of life yesterday. It's a little bit closer to home when it's your own family. And these brothers and sisters in the Lord were certainly killed because they decided to go to church yesterday morning.
And they and many of them didn't come home afterward. Can you imagine? I mean, at least a third of the congregation not being able to come home after church. And so we grieve with them and we lift them up in prayer.
We mourn for them. But we're also filled with hope. We're also filled with hope in knowing that these who lost their lives, they were in the presence of brothers and sisters in Christ. And they were in a place where I would believe that the gospel was proclaimed every Sunday.
I mean, I haven't listened to every sermon or anything like that. I listen to a portion of the pastor's sermon. I listen to one of the songs that they sing, something that was shared by David Platt. But I mean, these were people who love the Lord Christ.
That's why that church was there. That's why it was planted, because people love the Lord and desired for a body of believers and worshipers to be able to gather and sing praises to our king and read the scriptures and be filled with hope because of what has been written down here for our edification, for our encouragement.
And it's through the scriptures that we have hope. And I know that if the word of God was proclaimed there, that there was hope in the hearts of those believers. And I pray that even in the midst of this tragedy, that what results from this is the gospel being proclaimed.
More people in that town will get saved. Sutherland Springs, it's a little intimate church. It's going to be a little intimate community as well. And there's I mean, it's like everybody knows everybody there.
I grew up in a little town, a little bit larger than Sutherland Springs, but a little southwest Kansas town. So I know what it's like. Little farming community. Everybody knew everybody. You're the news of your car breaking down outside of town, gets back to town before you do, you know, stuff like that.
This is the this is the way of small town life. And so yet there are going to be people in that town who have not yet known the gospel, not yet turned from their sin and placed hope and faith in Jesus Christ.
And so I hope that from this tragedy, there are people who get saved and not just in that community. But now, since Sutherland Springs, a little tiny town is in the national spotlight. In fact, it is in it is in the scope of the whole world, because the very first media coverage that I read on this shooting yesterday was a British newspaper.
The very first article that I read, I saw some other blips and clips about it. But the first article that I read on it was from a British newspaper. So we know that this little town is in is in view of the whole world right now.
This little church that loves Jesus. And desires for the good news of Christ to be proclaimed. And I pray that that's indeed what comes out of this tragedy. People hear the gospel, the good news that Jesus died to save sinners, that he likewise was persecuted and the people who died yesterday shared in the sufferings of Christ and now stand together with him in glory where there is no more hurt or pain.
They are in a place now where they are forever with Christ. And indeed, we mourn at the loss of them. But at the same time, we can rejoice in knowing that those who are in Christ Jesus who died in that church yesterday are forever with the Lord.
John wrote in Revelation 21, I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
This is the people of God that's being described here. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them and they will be his people and God himself will be with them as their God.
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes and death shall be no more. Neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore for the former things have passed away. And he who was seated on the throne said, behold, I am making all things new.
Also, he said, write this down for these words are trustworthy and true. And he said to me, it is done. I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end to the thirsty. I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.
The one who conquers will have this heritage and I will be his God and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, as for the faithless, as for the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.
And we know this is the end of every person who rejects Christ, that their portion is in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur that was prepared for the devil and his angels because they chose to follow Satan in this life instead of turn from their sin and follow Christ.
Then at the final judgment, that's where they will be sent to the lake of fire. And folks, it is not wrong. It is not inappropriate at any time to warn a person that if they do not turn from their sin, that's what will happen to them.
They will be destroyed at the final judgment and say to that person, I don't want you to be destroyed. That's why I am saying to you, turn from your sin and worship the Lord Christ and you will be saved.
And then you will understand, as we understand who worship and follow Christ, that we grieve, but we grieve with hope, knowing that we will be delivered from the mortality that we exist in now, the evil that goes on all around us.
It will be no more. And a day is coming in which the sufferings that we endure in this present time cannot even compare to the glory that awaits for us in Christ Jesus. And so we share the gospel of Jesus Christ so that people would be saved.
We warn them of the impending destruction, that they would turn from the direction that they are headed in and go the other way. They would turn from death and they would go in the direction of life, of life in Christ Jesus.
And I pray that the gospel is proclaimed even through this tragedy and that hearts would be comforted. I can't imagine losing a child and then add to that almost half the members of your own congregation.
And so I pray that the Lord would give courage to Pastor Frank Pomeroy to stand before his congregation and continue to preach the love of Christ for the forgiveness of sins. That all who believe on him and his finished work on the cross will be saved.
Let's pray together. God, you are a good God. Let us not ever forget that. That none of us deserve to live. None of us do. And yet you've not only given us life, but you have given us new life in Christ.
You have given us new birth. You have made us fellow heirs of his kingdom. And so we give thanks to you for this salvation that we have in Christ Jesus. What a precious gift of your son to die on the cross for our sins, shedding his blood so that all who believe in him would be forgiven their sins and have eternal life.
And likewise, we thank God for our brothers and sisters in the Lord, because you chose them as the first fruits to be saved. You, you called them to salvation through the gospel so that we all might obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
So, Lord, I pray that all who have heard the gospel and believed it would stand firm and hold to the traditions that we were taught in your holy word. I pray for this church in Texas, that they would hold firm to the truth of the gospel of Christ.
I pray for any churches in the surrounding area who were so closely affected or impacted by this tragic event yesterday. I pray for other churches in Texas, even churches in the US and around the world.
There are many others that that face persecution on a regular basis as bad or worse than what we what we saw in the news yesterday. And I pray for steadfastness, that not one would be lost, but all would hold fast to the gospel and endure to the end.
Lord, it is by you we are saved. It is by you that we are held steadfast. And so we cling to Christ. May the Lord Christ himself, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort our hearts, comfort the hearts of that congregation in Texas, establish them in every good work and word.
It is good that we pray for them, that we mourn with them, that our heart breaks for them. And Lord, we desire that your word would speed ahead and be honored and that many others would be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not all have faith.
We're reminded of just how wicked and evil men can be yesterday. But we know that you are faithful and you will establish us against the evil one. And let our confidence be not in our own abilities, but our confidence would be in you, Lord, that you are doing and will do the things that you have promised you would do.
And Lord, keep us doing the things that you have commanded us to do. Direct our hearts to the love of God and the steadfastness of Christ. We pray this for ourselves. We pray this for First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Texas.
And I personally pray this also for Pastor Frank Pomeroy, that you would give him wisdom and strength and endurance for the road ahead to continue to lead his people in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I pray for the Gunman's family, the Kelly family, this wife and this child that the Gunman abandoned and left behind, that you would also mend their hearts and guide their steps to your truth in the gospel of Christ, that somebody in this community or the nearby community that the Gunman was from would reach out to them and share the love of Christ with them so that they would not be filled with bitterness and rage, but know deliverance and salvation in Jesus Christ our Lord.
I pray that for all who would hear the gospel proclaimed in Jesus' name, amen.
This is a production of First Southern Baptist Church in Junction City, Kansas. Find us on the web at www .utt .com.