Luke 9:51-62 – It’s not the journey; it’s the destination

“When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” But he turned and rebuked them. And they went on to another village.
As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:51–62 ESV)

“The journey, Not the destination matters…” T.S. Eliot
“It’s the not the destination, it’s the journey.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

This line of thinking would shift our attention, focus and energy on the present, away from where we might be headed in life. If that is to be the case, where then do we find and maintain our resolve when faced with challenges? How can we not waver?

The Christian walk is one where resolve is essential; if we are to follow Jesus, then we must walk as he did, with our faces set toward our destination. In the life of the Christian, the destination matters more than the journey; it is knowing the destination that gives us the resolve for our journey.

It is being assured of our destination that helps us able to follow Christ with steadfastness, and without wavering under the challenges we will experience during our journey.

These challenges can be external in the form of persecution, but they could come in the form of financial hardship, or illness, loss or rejection. They can also come from within, as areas of our lives that hinder our walk with Christ become known to us.

 Let ‘s take a closer look at today’s text:

Note the emphasis here at the beginning of the verse is not on Jesus dying, but being taken up, which covers not only his resurrection but his ascension to heaven, where he would sit at the right hand of God (Mk. 16:19; Jn. 7:33; Heb. 10:12).

Jesus was determined; he was resolute in his trek to Jerusalem. He knew what awaited him there – suffering, rejection and death – but he was looking to his final destination: his resurrection and ascension to his Father; Jerusalem was a stop on the way to that destination (Jn. 13:1).

Jesus was looking ahead to his victory over sin and death; he was looking ahead, as the writer of Hebrews tells us to: “the joy set before him” (Heb. 12:2). Because he was looking ahead to his ultimate victory, he was able to “set his face to go to Jerusalem;” he was able to proceed with resolve.

If we are to follow Christ, we must look also look to our final destination and the glory that awaits us with Christ. We must remember that “the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” (Rom. 8:18). We must remember this if we are to run the race that is set before us with resolve.

Knowing our destination gives us our resolve for the journey. It is being assured of the destination that makes us able follow Christ with steadfastness, without wavering under the challenges we will experience.

The apostle Paul knew challenges; he knew afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, and hunger (2 Cor. 6:5). He said this in that same letter:

“…we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. (2 Corinthians 1:8–10)

Paul’s resolve was fixed on Christ. If we are to follow Christ, we must look to the deliverance that awaits us, for that is where we will find our resolve.

External challenges

Why the disciples sought to make preparation for lodging in a Samaritan village is a mystery, given the tension between Jews and Samaritans. The Samaritans did not accept Jerusalem as the place where God should be worshiped; they worshiped at Mount Gerazim, which was about 30 miles north of Jerusalem. Perhaps the disciples’ expectations were shaped by what happened after Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman in the village of Sychar (Jn. 4:42). At any rate, because Jesus was fixed on getting to Jerusalem, they were met with rejection.

In reaction to the Samaritan refusal to receive Jesus, James and John were ready to call down fire from heaven; all they needed was an OK from Jesus and these folks would get what they deserved. They needed to learn that the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. (Ja. 1:20)

When we are rejected because of our faith, we must remember that it is Christ that is being rejected. If we make the rejection about us, then we will act accordingly, with wrath and vengeance disguised as righteous indignation.

Jesus dealt with his disciples and moved on – and that’s how we are to deal with rejection, by 1) checking the state of our own hearts (Ps. 139:23-24 is a good prayer in this situation), and 2) moving on.

Internal challenges come from trying to follow Jesus on our terms, according to our expectations.

In Matthew’s account (8:19-20), the person approaching Jesus is a scribe who addresses Jesus as “Teacher.” The inference here is that the scribe was expecting a Rabbi-student relationship, where the student lives with the Rabbi and learns from him.

Jesus’ situation is such that he is always on the move, completely dependent on his Father to meet his material needs (Mt. 6:33).

Following Jesus means going where he goes, when he goes (recall how Simon and Andrew immediately left their nets and followed Jesus (Mt. 4:20); it requires seeking first God’s kingdom and righteousness and trusting God for all else. We cannot follow Jesus from a place of material comfort.

The next person wanted to delay for a present or future circumstance; we don’t know if the man’s father was still alive or already dead. Either way, Jesus tells him that being a disciple takes first priority – even over family.

To follow Jesus means to place him first, in all things and over all relationships.

“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. (Mt. 10:37)

The next person, like the previous person, answers Jesus with “Let me first…,” but his request was backwards facing. Like Lot’s wife who was warned to not look back (Gen. 19:17), he wanted a last look at what he would leave behind before moving on with God.

During the Exodus, the Israelites constantly looked back and complained about what they left behind: “We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic (Num. 11:5).

When we look back, we incur the discipline of the Lord.

That’s why Jesus’ response to this last person is sobering: “no one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

To plow a field while looking back meant that the rows in that field would not be straight. The farmer kept the rows straight by focusing on an object in front and in the distance (such as a tree).

To follow Jesus is to fix our eyes on him (Heb. 12:2) to ensure that we walk the straight and narrow way, without looking back to what we leave behind. To follow Jesus is to “count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus…and count them as rubbish, in order [to] gain Christ” (Phil. 3:8).

To follow Jesus is to focus on our destination, “where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.”

To follow Jesus is to “Set [our] minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

To follow Jesus is to remember that we “have died, and [our] life is hidden with Christ in God.

To follow Jesus is to remember “When Christ who is [our] life appears, then [we] also will appear with him in glory.”

The Saints of old saw their destination from afar, having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. They were seeking a homeland. A better country – a heavenly one. Because of their faith – faith that looked to their final destination, they “quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated—of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. (Heb. 11:13-16; 34-38)

How do we do this? By being prayerfully in the Word of God, for that is where the promises, the covenants, the statutes and precepts that will keep us on course for our final destination are all found. The Word of God is where we go to allow the Holy Spirit to search us, to know our hearts and try our thoughts, to see if there be any grievous way in us, and to lead us in that everlasting way (Ps. 139:23-24)

“…let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Heb. 12:1-2).

Let us fix our eyes on Christ, for he is our destination.

Return to Your Home

Luke 8:26–39

Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. When Jesus had stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he had not lived in a house but among the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.” For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many a time it had seized him. He was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert.) Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him. And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned.

When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. And those who had seen it told them how the demon-possessed man had been healed. Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.

Our text brings us across the Sea of Galilee to the Gentile region of the Gerasenes.

After a sea crossing that saw Jesus exercise his authority over nature itself, Jesus stepped out on the land, where he was met by a demon-possessed man. The man was naked and homeless; he had super-human strength and could not be restrained, breaking his chains and shackles. His body bore the scars and recent wounds caused by cutting himself with stones.

Unable to be restrained by means of men, he was left to himself among the tombs, where only the dead would hear his screams; society had given up on him.

Jesus’ arrival evoked in the occupying demons: 1) recognition of Jesus’ authority, and 2) fear that their time of judgment and torment had come early. So they begged Jesus not to command them to depart into the abyss. Jesus’s authority is such that if Jesus commanded them, they would have to obey.

The demons requested permission to enter a nearby herd of pigs. Was there anything significant about the pigs? Perhaps, as pigs were considered unclean to the Jews. Or perhaps the pigs simply presented the most convenient escape route for the demons. Either way, we note that they needed Jesus’ permission to enter the pigs.

Jesus was not showing leniency to the demons; the hour for their judgment simply had not yet come.

The herdsmen who were there fled out of fear; they did not run to the city, they fled from Jesus. The curious who came from the city to see what happened found the man, who was known to all for his condition, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind.

The demons fled; the herdsmen fled; but the man who had been healed came to rest at the feet of the One who had saved him.

So great was the fear of the area residents that they begged Jesus to leave them – and he did. But the newly healed man wanted to stay with Jesus. Jesus’ instruction was not what he (or we) would expect: “Return to your home…”

It had been a long time since the man had lived in a house, but Jesus told him to return to his home. Perhaps he had family that had also given up on him.

Rather than attempt to negotiate as the demons had done, the man obediently returned home and proclaimed throughout the whole city what Jesus had done for him.

Following Jesus involves more than just being where Jesus is present. For us it means going beyond attending church and occupying a pew on Sundays. Following Jesus means doing what he tells us to do and teaching others to do the same.

The transformation of this man was astounding; he went from being naked to being clothed; from being deranged to being in his right mind; from living among the dead to sitting at the feet of the source of life; from being an outcast to doing outreach with the good news; from being hopeless, to becoming a messenger of hope. He stood out from the rest of the city’s residents who wanted nothing to do with Jesus, as one who owed everything to Jesus. He now walked, talked and lived differently.

While we may not have been demon-possessed before Christ, that man is still a picture of us: dead in sins in which we walked, following the evil one, and unable to be delivered by the means of men. It is only because Christ stepped onto our shore and acted on our behalf that we are saved. It is only because of Christ that we can sit at his feet, with a right mind toward God, clothed in the righteousness of Christ.

While our desire may be to remain at Jesus’ feet and remain in his presence always, Jesus commands us to go and declare what he has done for us, starting with our homes.

So let us go as commanded, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that he has commanded us.

Let us go in the confidence and assurance that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him, and he is with us always, even to the end of the age.

A Biblical Response to Pride Month

As you well know, June is Pride Month; it has become the month where our nation observes, celebrates and affirms lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people as a social group. Pride, as opposed to shame and social stigma, is the predominant outlook that bolsters most LGBT rights movements.[1] The Scriptures have nothing positive to say about the pride of man; it is a characteristic of evil men (Ps. 10:4); it is something that God’s people experience before doing wrong, as evidenced by the kings Uzziah and Hezekiah. The proud are opposed by God, while the humble receive his grace (Ja. 4:6).

In observance of Pride Month, rainbow flags hang from homes, businesses, and yes, even some churches as a demonstration of affirmation and support of the LGBTQ community. On an individual level, we see t-shirts, hats, masks, buttons as people around us display their support for the LGBTQ community. Even within some churches, we see clergy wearing rainbow stoles over their vestments to indicate their affirmation of the LGBTQ community.

About that rainbow…

The rainbow is the sign that God has given us as a reminder of his mercy.

“Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, “Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.” (Genesis 9:8–17)

Why did God flood the earth in the first place?

“The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the LORD said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” (Genesis 6:5–7)

This rainbow, which serves as a reminder of God’s mercy, has been repurposed by evil men as an affirmation of the very wickedness that will incur the wrath of God: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.” (Romans 1:18).

Affirmation of the LGBTQ community remains a divisive issue in the church, as groups such as the RCA and the UMC are splitting over the issue.

I would be remiss in my responsibility as a pastor if I did not address this issue from the pulpit. As the Scriptures are our sole authority in our faith and practice of it (Sola Scriptura), we should all be familiar with what these Scriptures have to say in the matter. After all, it’s one thing to contend for the faith as delivered to us (Jude 3) when we have a congregation around us to say “Amen,” but it is quite another thing to stand as an individual to contend for the faith among family, friends, neighbors and coworkers. If you’ve not been in that position, let me assure you that you will be, as these situations usually begin with the question: “What do you think…?”

When we find ourselves in that situation, we should remember this:

“…the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will. (2 Tim. 2:24–26)

While the context from 2 Timothy is in Paul’s pastoral instruction, the same applies to everyone, as Peter writes in his epistle:

“…but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect…” (1 Peter 3:15)

With these things in mind, let us take a closer look at the things that our nation seeks to redefine.

With respect to gender…

It is becoming a common view in our society that gender is assigned at birth; if a person – even a young child – declares that they are a gender that is other than what their anatomy and chromosomes would indicate, that person’s thinking is now affirmed, and they are encouraged to live as the gender they believe themselves to be.

But what does the Scripture say?

“…God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27)

“When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man when they were created.” (Genesis 5:1–2)

You don’t have to be a believer to know that this is true, as Paul says of those who suppress the truth in unrighteousness:

“…what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.” (Romans 1:19-20)

The things that God has made, e.g., the heavens, the earth and all that is in them, all speak of our creator God. That also includes us; we are part of God’s creation, “Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves…” (Psalm 100:3 KJV)

If we subscribe to the teaching of evolution, we head down the road of suppressing the truth. If we subscribe to the teaching of evolution, believing that we came from nothing and that human beings are just a random development of that evolution, then there is no need to honor God or give thanks to him. And when that happens, we become futile in our thinking, and our foolish hearts are darkened. Claiming to be wise, we became fools, and exchange the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. (Romans 1:21-23)

If there is no acknowledgement of God, then man is ‘free’ to redefine himself. Here’s what God has to say:

“You turn things upside down! Shall the potter be regarded as the clay, that the thing made should say of its maker, “He did not make me”; or the thing formed say of him who formed it, “He has no understanding”? (Isaiah 29:16)

 “Woe to him who strives with him who formed him, a pot among earthen pots! Does the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’ or ‘Your work has no handles’? (Isaiah 45:9b)

With respect to marriage…

Just as the Scripture is clear about the source of our gender, the Scripture is clear about how those genders relate to each other, specifically in the area of marriage. Although the history of the effort to redefine marriage to include homosexual marriage goes back several decades, it was 2015 when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down all bans on same-sex marriage, legalizing it in all fifty states, and requiring states to honor out-of-state same-sex marriage licenses.

Those that would argue against the Biblical definition of marriage maintain that Jesus said nothing about homosexuality in the Gospels, taking his supposed silence as tacit approval. When reading the Bible, we must let those passages of Scripture that are explicit clarify the passages that are implicit[2], so let’s take a look at what Jesus did say about marriage.

When Jesus was asked about marriage (divorce, specifically), his answer to the Pharisees covered all the bases. He answered by quoting Scripture (Genesis 2:24) and stating the Biblical definition of marriage.

He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” – Matthew 19:4-6

By his definition, Jesus affirms gender (male and female); he affirms that marriage is between a man and a woman (“a man shall…hold fast to his wife.”) He also affirms that marriage is an institution of God, not man (“what God has joined together”).

When Jesus taught, he always cited Scripture – in this case, what we refer to as the Old Testament. If the Old Testament was about to be superseded – as some might argue – by the New Testament, then why would Jesus continually cite those Scriptures when he taught? Why would he say, “For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” (Matthew 5:18)

When Jesus spoke about the evil that is in men’s hearts, he included sexual immorality:

“But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person.” (Matthew 15:18-20a)

Sexual immorality defined by Scripture. The people listening to Jesus knew from the Scripture there were many acts found in the Law (Leviticus 20:10-21) that were described as sexually immoral: fornication, adultery, incest and bestiality, among them. In the case of homosexuality, it was described as “an abomination,” punishable by death under the Law:

 “If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination…” (Leviticus 20:13)

Fast forward to the first century when the leaders of the early church met in Jerusalem to consider the issue of their new Gentile brethren. The central issue was whether they should be required to keep the Law of Moses. It was determined that these new Gentile believers were “saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus” and simple instructions were sent to them to “abstain from things polluted by idols and from sexual immorality…” (Acts 15).

Once again, how was sexual immorality defined? Go back to the Law; those definitions have not and will not change, as Jesus said in Matthew 24:35, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”

The Scripture describes homosexual relations as “dishonorable passions” describing how “women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another” (Romans 1:26,27).

To say that the New Testament does not address same-sex marriage is not correct. From the very beginning, starting with the first couple in Genesis, all the way through the ministry of Christ and the early church, Biblical marriage is clearly and consistently defined as being between a man and a woman.

There is no Scriptural support for homosexual marriage. Homosexual relations are described as “contrary to nature” – for goodness’ sake, look how men and women are built; the physical union of male and female produces life – life that is evidence of God’s blessing to “be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28).

Are there people in the church that deal with homosexual proclivities? Yes. How are we to deal with them? As with any issue in the church, we deal with love, compassion and truth. We speak truth from the Word of God and encourage our brethren in their walk with Christ as we teach them to observe all that Jesus has commanded us (Mt. 28:20). As with any other issue, we encourage repentance and obedience; we pray with them and provide a listening ear, for it is the kindness of God that leads to repentance (Ro. 2:4), and let’s be clear: repentance and restoration are the goal.

Where there is no repentance, where there is blatant continuation in sin after being encouraged, counseled and warned, then we make room for the disciplined hand of the Lord to fall.

“I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people—not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.” (1 Corinthians 5:9–13)

Are we being too harsh? Are we being intolerant? Are we being bigoted? Are we being homophobic or transphobic?

We have to remember that we are in a battle, which is neither cultural nor political. We are in a battle because our true enemy, Satan, is waging war against the Church; he has been thrown down to the earth and is furiously making war against the saints (Rev. 12). His assaults are two-fold: 1) full frontal, as the church is openly ridiculed as out of step with society and persecuted, and 2) covert, as he seeks to introduce corrupt thinking and practices within the fellowship of the saints.

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” (Eph. 6:12) It is why we are told to put on the armor of God.

“For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.’ (2 Cor. 10:3-6)

The fact that our nation now affirms the things that the Scripture condemns, shows how far we have progressed, but this is not progress that demonstrates how we have advanced or grown as a society. On the contrary, it shows how far we have progressed down the road of depravity, as our nation’s affirmation is a clear indication that God has given us over to a debased and depraved mind, dishonorable passions and the lusts of our hearts (Rom. 1:18-32). This nation is already under God’s judgment; there is nothing to celebrate.

It’s time for the church to stand in truth and shine the light of Christ into the growing darkness.

---

[1] Wikipedia

[2] Explicit vs. Implicit | Reformed Bible Studies & Devotionals at Ligonier.org | Reformed Bible Studies & Devotionals at Ligonier.org