Theodicy

I'll be honest with you, this morning, this message

was the single most difficult message to start

that I have written in the last 20 years. On

Wednesday night, when the elder team decided

that we should address the events of the week,

I honestly thought it was going to be very easy.

I sat down and I started typing like a madman

on my laptop. The thoughts in my head just flowed

out through my fingers. but they weren't in any

organized fashion at all, just lots and lots

of thoughts that were coming to my head as I

was watching the wickedness flow across my newsfeed

from the previous few days. And then came the

moment where I said, I've got to start organizing

these thoughts, and that's when the struggle

really came. For hours, I just sat there and

I stared at the screen. I was feeling this incredible

heaviness of heart, and I kept thinking, where

do I start? How do I make sense of the world

that we live in? And I know I'm not alone in

this. I talked to so many of you guys over the

last couple of days, and the feelings have been

raw and emotional. You may have even found yourself

crying over the life of somebody you never even

met before and not even really understand why.

And it's okay. I was right there with you. And

for some reason that I can't quite put my finger

on yet, it feels like this is a pivotal moment

in... the direction of our country, and maybe

even wider than that, perhaps even a change of

perspective across the broader Western world.

We don't know for sure. Only God does, and time

will tell. Here's what we do know. The flagrant

evil that exists in the heart of natural man,

unredeemed man, is a very real thing. Don't let

anybody ever tell you otherwise. Driven by the

God of this age and the father of lies, it's

an evil that never sleeps. It never slows down

and it never stops trying to steal, kill, and

destroy. And we found that it gets especially

aggressive when those who are driven by a hatred

for God, a hatred for truth, begin to feel like

they might be losing the fight. They might be

losing ground. When evil is confronted and cornered,

it becomes especially dangerous. And it's likely

to lash out in deadly ways. By the way, I'm not

just talking about Charlie Kirk, although that's

the freshest and most shocking example in our

minds, and I'll come back to him in a moment.

But there's so many more things we could talk

about this morning, so many more mind -numbing

wickedness happening in the world out there.

I've been thinking about the gruesome stabbing

of the young Ukrainian woman, Irina Zerutska,

who was just riding a train in Charlotte. earlier

in the week, murdered by a career criminal who

had been jailed and released 14 times. 14 times

he'd been arrested, jailed, and then released

before he committed this heinous act. And for

no other reason other than what he himself said

on the security video because of the color of

her skin. This was a young woman who fled a war

zone and came to the United States to feel safe.

And I can't shake seeing the video of it. I wish

I hadn't seen it. The still photos of her terrified

face as she slowly realizes what has happened

to her. When she realizes that she's about to

die alone and that nobody on that train is coming

to her aid. As a father, as a girl dad, I can't

tell you. How hard that was to watch. I wept

over it. I wanted so badly to be on that train

to protect her. And at the very least to comfort

her and pray with her as she bled to death. There's

more. I have in mind this couple. A couple in

their mid -70s. Frank and Maureen Alton were

their names. Lived in New York. Two kind souls

who opened their door to a man who knocked on

it. saying that he needed their help. And this

man who had a rap sheet of 30 years worth of

crimes, including sex offenses, took advantage

of their kindness and gained entry into their

home. And there he proceeded to tie them up,

torture them, and stab them to death before setting

their house on fire. And when the home's fire

alarm system went off, notifying the local fire

department, their son. A city paramedic had to

arrive on the scene and discover the bodies of

his burned parents. That happened this week.

Just six days ago, on the outskirts of Jerusalem,

two Palestinian terrorists from the West Bank

pulled up to a bus stop and randomly started

shooting everybody in their line of sight, spraying

bullets in every direction, killing six, including

two rabbis, wounding another 12. And for what

reason? Because they were Jews. And if you think,

well, that's on the other side of the world.

Why should we care? Not only are those six souls

too valuable to dismiss, but you should know

that same bus route is the route that our own

Miles and Zariah are on each and every week.

Pray for them. Pray for their safety. In the

past 48 hours, I've been reminded over and over

I knew I was not going to get through this. Over

and over again of the worship lyrics that we

so often sing together, do you feel the world

is broken? And the answer is, we do. Do you feel

the shadows deepen? We do. Do you get a sense

that the creation is groaning under the weight

of sin? And on weeks like this, we long for an

end to the struggle. We long for Christ to return.

To put things in order. Grab your Bibles. We

started our time this morning and our call to

worship in John 15. Let's open there and look

at that passage once again. John 15, verses 18

John 15:18–21

to 21. I know, guys, I know this message started

out dark. It's gonna get darker. But I wanna

encourage you to stick with me because it's gonna

end in joy. Will you do that? John 15, the context

here is very simple. In light of his coming arrest,

Jesus is beginning to equip his disciples for

a future where he will no longer physically be

with them. He says in verse 18, if the world

hates you, you know that it has hated me before

it hated you. If you were of the world, the world

would love its own. But because you're not of

the world, but I chose you out of the world,

because of this, the world hates you. Remember

the word that I said to you, a slave is not greater

than his master. If they persecuted me, they

will also persecute you. If they kept my word,

they will keep yours also. But all these things

they will do to you for my namesake, because

they do not know the one who sent me. And so

we learn here that in the... In the immediate

aftermath of these prophetic statements by the

Lord, the world did indeed grow in their hatred

for his disciples. And bridging the time gap,

we can see a secondary application, that if you

and I are faithful and are witness for Christ

in the midst of a world that hates us, we should

expect it. Jesus warned us to expect it. Let

me say it again, expect to be hated. Why? Because

the world hates the Christ of Scripture. They

don't hate the Christ who they cherry pick from

to fit their own demands. They hate the fullness

of the Christ of Scripture who spoke the truth

about God's law, who spoke about the penalty

for sin. That's what they hate. And when you

step back and you look at the two kingdoms that

are active in creation, on the one hand, the

kingdom of God, on the other, the system of this

world that does not know God, that is what that

system is known for. It's known for hatred. So

as Adam said earlier, we shouldn't be surprised.

We shouldn't be shocked by this. When a Charlie

Kirk exposes the sin and depravity of those on

the left, even while doing it with a smile on

his face and with sound logic in a... what you

would call a very friendly debate format, what's

really happening in that moment is the enemy's

being exposed. The lies are being uncovered.

The foolishness is being shown for what it is,

and in response, the serpent hisses, and he plans

his counterattacks. Jesus said, look, if the

world loves their own, And you just go along

with them, they're gonna love you too. But for

the true believer who lives out his faith, who

speaks boldly, they will hate such a man or woman

because the light of Christ shines through them.

Jesus said this, right? It causes a reaction.

John chapter three says, this is the judgment

that the light has come into the world. But men

love the darkness rather than the light. For

their deeds were evil, that's why. For everyone

who does evil hates the light, does not come

to the light. for fear that his deeds will be

exposed. They know that. It's written on their

heart. They know it. So friends, it's September

2025, and I'm here to tell you, evil is trying

to advance in our world, and we cannot ignore

it because the battle has come to our doorstep.

And its target is you. I know that's shocking

for evangelicals who've been around for 40, 50

years. Evil's target is you and me. And we better

start understanding that. Two things I'll share

with you. And listen, as I say this, this is

not my goal to scare you today. It's not my goal

to make you paranoid. It's just to warn you that

if the events of this week haven't awakened you,

you need to start renewing your mind about the

spiritual battle that has always been raging

around you, even if you didn't acknowledge it.

Truth be told, that is a battle that started

in Genesis 3. And then it got more intense at

the cross and at the empty tomb. We've been fighting

this fight our entire lives. That's why Paul

said, you've got to put on your spiritual armor.

But many of us, and listen, I'll admit, I'm guilty

of this too. We have brushed it off because we

live in America. It's not that bad here. Always

thinking, oh, the fight's somewhere out there.

Well, guess what? It's not out there anymore.

It's here today. And really, it's across all

Western civilization, and we cannot stick our

heads in the sand any longer. I'm in my early

60s right now, so I can tell you there once was

a time in America where we had a stable Christian

foundation that made it possible to debate ideas

rather than hurl threats at each other, to use

actual ideas and words, not knives and rifles.

There once was a time in America, 40, 50 years

ago, where folks on the right and the left were

not that far apart. They were minor differences

that could be debated in an atmosphere of mutual

respect. I don't have to tell you, that day is

long gone. The world's become much more dangerous.

It's all been replaced now by outrage and anger

and lies, and now, as we've seen, deadly intent.

So two things you should know. Number one, they

murdered Charlie Kirk. for theological and practical

positions, for the most part, that we agree with.

He was murdered for things that you and I generally

agree with. Let that sink in. You have to understand

this. No matter what people say, Charlie Kirk

was not some kind of radical right person. He

was very much a mainstream Christian conservative.

What do I mean by that? Well, he was staunchly

pro -life. He boldly declared that two -parent

households are the best thing for children. He

wouldn't affirm same -sex marriage. He was a

loyal defender of the Second Amendment and gun

owners. He didn't believe that minors should

be given cross -sex hormones. He thought people

claiming to be trans should be redirected towards

their God -given biology. He was against illegal

immigration, but for legal immigration. He said

that Israel had a right to exist and should eliminate

Hamas for the good of the region. He affirmed

the biblical roles of men and women in marriage.

And for those things, he was killed. Those are

not extreme or irrational positions to take.

In fact, I agree with all of them. That's me,

and maybe that's you as well. Yet the mantra

that you heard, and you saw this all over the

news, all over social media, was this. Charlie

Kirk preached hate. Did you catch that? He preached

bigotry and division. He was a fascist. He was

a Nazi. He was a homophobe, a transphobe, a Christian

nationalist, and a white supremacist. They got

all of that from those positions I just shared

with you. And in a leftist mind where they believe,

literally, words are violence. It's fully appropriate

in their minds to respond to a Charlie Kirk with

violence. After all, wouldn't you physically

attack a true fascist? Wouldn't you physically

attack a true Nazi? That's the thinking. And

the sad irony is this. In part, fascism is literally

defined as one who suppresses the opposition

or dissent, which is exactly what the shooter

did when he silenced Charlie Kirk. What that

shooter did was peak fascism. But the fact is,

progressive leftism is a fanatical religion.

We have to understand, this is a battle of faith

traditions. Progressive leftism is a fanatical

religion, and it has many illogical zealots.

The pro -Palestine movement is a fanatical religion.

The trans movement is a fanatical religion. The

anti -gun movement is a fanatical religion. And

most of them cannot be rationally argued with.

How do you talk to someone who, when you say,

I support the Second Amendment so that I can

defend my family, they translate that as, you're

fine with kids dying in school shootings. How

do you talk to that person? How do you debate

with somebody when you say, I think children

who think they're trans should be helped towards

identifying with their biological sex, they translate

that as, you want all gay and trans people to

be put in camps. I've seen that from prominent

voices. How do you debate with somebody that

when you say Israel has the right to defend itself

and make war against those who attack it first,

they translate that as, You support bombing hospitals

and killing children and committing genocide

in Gaza. This is quite literally what Romans

1 describes. Those who exchange the truth about

God for a lie then become futile in their speculations,

their foolish hearts get darkened, and thinking

they're wise, They become fools instead, and

God gives them over to a depraved mind. That's

the type of thinking we're seeing in our world

today. And you have to know this. Each of these

progressive causes is filled with adherents who

are far more zealous than your average worshiper

in any church. These people are willing to kill

for their beliefs. We've seen it. The problem

that Charlie had and why he was targeted is simply

this. He was effective at what he was doing.

He was making a difference. He was brilliant

in his planning, his ability to communicate,

just obvious common sense truths in a very logical

fashion. I didn't agree with everything he said.

There were things he said I would not have put

it that way. But you cannot argue that he came

across as reasonable and energetic and joyful.

And the average fair -minded person out there

said, that's a guy that's hard to dislike. But

he was going into the enemy's lair, wasn't he?

University campuses. And he was winning arguments.

And he was winning hearts. He was drawing young

men and women out of progressive leftism. They

said he was using hate speech, but actually he

was just using speech that they hated. And he

was confident in his faith. Early on, he didn't

talk much about his faith, but in the last couple

years, he became very bold. And every time he

was out there, he rooted what he was saying in

the gospel, talking openly about his faith. And

the enemy can't have that. And that's why he

was taken out. The second thing you have to know

is that Charlie Kirk may have been killed by

a single gunman, but many, many, many of our

fellow Americans wanted him dead. for expressing

those opinions and for exposing the fallacies

of the left. How many of you guys have seen the

TikTok videos celebrating his death? If you haven't

seen them yet, don't look. It will shock you

to your core. There just aren't words for it.

Over and over again, he deserved this. He deserved

to be murdered. For speaking as he does. Oh,

thoughts and prayers, they mockingly say. Someone

should take out his wife, too. And that's the

mild stuff. I won't even share some of the more

vile things that have come across social media.

It'll chill you to the bone to see those posts.

Literally tens of thousands of Americans dancing

on his grave. And by the way, those are only

the ones stupid enough to film themselves. How

many more feel that way but didn't film it? 10

times more? 20 times more? Is it possible that

there's hundreds of thousands of Americans on

the left that believe you and I would deserve

it if we were murdered for holding biblical positions

as we do? How many? How many more assassins are

out there? Ready to be sobered? There are 19

million university students in our country. The

latest data from surveys show that one out of

every three college students believes that physical

violence is an appropriate response to what they

believe is hate speech. Do the math on that.

That's more than six million young Americans

who would laugh and celebrate if you or I were

beaten or worse based on our Christian values.

And catch this, of the tens or even hundreds

of thousands of social media accounts out there

celebrating this assassination, they're not all

college students. Some of them are adults who

have no excuse for just being young and stupid.

Plenty of adults, and not just pink -haired baristas

with a bullring in their nose. You know, those

ones are obvious. We see those ones. But this

is so shocking. It's the highly committed liberal

rank and file. who are saying these things. Get

this, teachers. The number one group of people

dancing on Charlie Kirk's grave are teachers.

And then university professors and lawyers and

pilots and government workers and healthcare

professionals. So these are the people out there

that teach your kids. who are entrenched in our

institutions, who say they'll care for us when

we come to the doctor, but will they if they

find out we believe what Charlie Kirk believed?

It's darker out there than we want to think about

or admit. But it's undeniable, and it's time

for us to just not be naive anymore. I think

that's what this week has done to many of us.

It's awakened us. There was a post on X Today.

that spelled out the scenario so well. Kind of

sarcastic, but so true. Here's what it said.

Normal people see a relatively nice guy doing

a simple debate. Not a political speech, not

a rally or a riot. And they see him getting gunned

down in 4K. Then they see a bunch of people,

even their friends, cheer and clap and dance

about it. And they ask why. He was a fascist,

they cry gleefully. The normal person just stares

at the screen. Here's a clean -cut looking guy

in a t -shirt with a microphone who's bleeding

out horrifically. And it reminds them of the

scared young blonde they saw bleeding out on

the train just a few days ago, and a question

forms in their mind. What did he do that made

him a fascist, they ask. Well, he said bad things,

is the response. So are you happy they murdered

him for talking? Of course we are. Collapse their

kid's teacher, their pilot, their doctor. And

the normal person is horrified. Someone they

trust their kids to, their health to, their safety

to, is acting like a foaming, raging lunatic

who wants people dead because they held a different

opinion and talked about it. So here's the thing.

This is why I say we've hit a pivotal moment

in our country. The enemy's cover got blown off

this week. As disgusting as all those TikTok

videos were to watch, his cover is now blown.

He's exposed for all to see. He can't hide. He's

starting to hiss again. And the normal people

of this world have noticed. So the battle's been

engaged. And what should we expect now? Do you

think the enemy is going to back away? It's going

to get harder. It's going to get more difficult.

So that's the diagnosis. Does any of that surprise

you guys based on what you've seen this week?

I hope not. And listen, let me just caveat. Not

everybody is built to dive into all of that stuff

and deal with it. I get it. My wife is one of

them. Tandy's like, you tell me what's going

on. I don't need to see it. You need to know

your own heart, right? And maybe you need to

just guard it from that stuff, but you can't

be naive at the same time. You have to know what's

happening out there. So how do we respond? First

of all, let's make sure we ground our response

in biblical truth. Let me pose a couple questions

to you. Are Christians called to confront evil?

Are we called to do what we can to put a check

on the spread of evil? Do we see biblical characters

stand against evil or do we see them acting passively

in the face of evil? Well, how did Elijah respond

to the wickedness of King Ahab and Jezebel? Did

he stand up? He did. How did Shadrach, Meshach,

and Abednego respond when they were commanded

by a pagan official to fall down and worship

that golden statue? They said no. How did Daniel

respond when he was told by decree of the king

under threat of death that he was not to pray?

He prayed. How did prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah

and Amos respond when they saw the ruling elite

of Israel and Judah violating the covenant with

Yahweh? They pointed their fingers and they pointed

at the government officials and the kings and

the elite and they said, repent. How did Jesus

respond when Israel had turned the temple courts

into a marketplace? How did he respond when the

religious establishment called him a blasphemer?

When they accused him of breaking the Sabbath?

When they claimed he was driving out demons by

the power of Beelzebub? How did Peter and John

respond when the all -powerful Sanhedrin threatened

them, do not preach in the name of Jesus? They

stood up to it. They said, no more. Can't let

evil take over. Next Sunday we'll be back in

the book of Esther. You talk about the spread

of evil. An edict from the king that says exterminate

the entire Jewish population of the Persian kingdom.

Will she and Mordecai take steps to confront

that evil? Or will they just give up? I hope

the answer to the questions on the screen are

obvious. Because when God's people go passive,

When we start to navel gaze, we start to live

in silos where we just look away from evil as

if I don't notice it, it won't be there. That's

how we open the door to its spread. It's that

kind of weakness that encourages the enemy to

advance. Criminals see that kind of weakness

and they take advantage of it, don't they? We've

seen this. That kind of weakness emboldens progressive

leftists to push their agendas, and they will

push and they will push and they will push until

they get pushed back. True? We've seen that in

the BLM riots, in the COVID lies, in the increase

of unchecked crime in our cities. And I'm going

to say something provocative here. There's another

group out there, and they are probing for weakness

more than anybody else. In my opinion, the biggest

threat the West faces right now, whether you

realize it or not, is the advance of Islamic

supremacy. Don't sleep on this. I know this from

history. I've done too much study of the spread

of Islam in the 7th and 8th centuries. From studying

the wickedness of the Quran, the Hadith of Muhammad.

Don't be fooled. Islam is not really a religion.

It's not just a religion. It is a political ideology

that always, always, always insists on domination.

Always. There is no other type of Islam. No matter

what people try to tell you, moderate Islam is

a cover for that. It's always watching for weakness,

looking for ways to infiltrate. And though Islamists

despise the lifestyle of progressive liberals,

they will partner with them as useful idiots

to further their goals. And so we already see

this unholy alliance that's making massive gains

across Europe. It's making massive gains in cities

in our country as well. And if they gain a majority

in any Western nation, freedom ceases. By definition,

freedom goes away. That's how Islam rolls. It's

an ideology from the pit of hell. Don't soften

it. It's an ideology from the pit of hell that

only respects strength and can only be stopped

by taking strong positions and drawing hard boundaries.

Now, before I share some of the thoughts on how

we as believers can go on the offense and take

ground for the kingdom of God, let me start by

sharing with you a few very practical defensive

tips that can help us to combat evil. And here's

the overarching principle. You have to be aware

that evil is out there. It's just basic awareness.

Again, not to live in fear, but to be aware that

evil is out there. Peter has warned us, your

enemy, your adversary prowls around like a roaring

lion. He's seeking to devour, so don't be naive

to it. Again, not to live in fear. God does not

want us to live in paranoia like there's a bad

guy behind every tree, but we should be aware.

Be alert. Be wise. Be discerning. These are biblical

concepts, you guys. Listen again. Be alert, be

wise, be discerning. Biblical concepts. And know

this, evil will use your innocence and your naivete

and your kindness and your empathy to take advantage

of you if you're not careful. So you have to

be cautious. Even when your heart is in the right

place, you have to be cautious now. Know the

days that you live in. So for example, that couple

that opened the door to their own killer. What

red flag should have they... noticed before they

opened that door? Was there another way to help

this guy who turned out to be a monster without

opening that door? Now, I know that there's an

argument to be made from Scripture that opening

that door is worth the risk to help somebody.

I get that. There are always risks to helping

people. But please, I love you too much to not

warn you. This is not an innocent world. These

days are evil. So be aware of it. In fact, Proverbs

22 .3 is fitting for this. It says this, the

prudent sees the evil and hides himself, but

the naive go on and are punished for it. A prudent

person notices evil. They take precautionary

measures. The naive person who lacks wisdom ignores

the obvious signs or just doesn't pay attention.

This is what breaks my heart about that Ukrainian

woman who was killed on the train. I've seen

the video. And there were other seats that she

could have sat in. Did she take note of the people

around her? Because of all the people that I've

seen in the frame of the video, only one of them

looked dangerous. And I'm not talking about the

color of his skin. That's not the issue. I'm

talking about having the sense to notice when

somebody is carrying themselves in a way that

doesn't look right, acting in a way that is suspicious.

So we all have to learn to scan our surroundings,

head on a swivel, as we say, right? And then

trust your instincts. That guy in the train had

all the physical signs of being potentially dangerous,

and yet for some reason, she decided to sit right

in front of him. Last practical tip is this,

and this is for parents out there. Do not allow

your kids to live in the dark online. That's

exactly what this shooter was doing. Moore's

gonna come out, watch. His neighbor described

him as a, quote, a Reddit kid, somebody who immerses

himself in toxic online propaganda. 22 -year

-old kid, seems to have grown up in a decent

home, falls into the world of Antifa. Chatting

in Discord rooms, talking about trans issues

all the time. And the poison of that progressive

ideology overcomes him. Soon he's arguing with

his family over dinner that Charlie Kirk is a

fascist. He's an existential threat to gay people.

And so he goes out and he engraves. Antifa phrases

on his bullet casings. Know what your kids are

doing, parents. I know so many of you have young

kids. You're like, I haven't gotten there yet.

It's coming. Know what they're doing. Know who

they're hanging out with. Check their internet

history. Find out who they're talking to. This

is all part of being wise and discerning and

being on alert in an evil time. Now let's talk

about going on offense and confronting evil.

Do you know that there is a New Testament passage

that tells us how to wage war? It's in 2 Corinthians

10. Here's what it says. For though we walk in

the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.

For the weapons of our warfare are not of the

flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction

of fortresses. We are destroying speculations

and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge

of God, and we are taking every thought captive

to the obedience of Christ. So Christians, we

don't pick up physical weapons to attack the

enemy. It's not our calling. Our weapons are

spiritual in nature, but notice this. They are

powerful. That's Paul's point here. They're powerful.

They're strong enough to take down the enemy's

strongholds. Every lie, every false idea, every

empty philosophy that stands against the knowledge

of God, those things can be brought down through

spiritual weapons, if God wills. It's not because

of us, is it? Because we're not that powerful,

but because of the sovereign power of God working

in us and through the truth of his word. So our

calling is to pick up spiritual weapons and do

what Charlie was doing, engage the battle, employ

the type of reasoned arguments that will lead

our opponents out of their false ideologies,

out of their false worldviews, and toward the

truth. That's our calling, folks. That's how

we wage war. We need to be resolved to stand

firm in the truth, become bolder in our speech,

knowing that God is sovereignly at work. He is

the one empowering it. Remember, they want you

to be afraid and silent. That was part of the

point of the assassination. Hey, Christian, you

should shut up. So we respond by becoming more

vocal. Not by walking away from the debate, but

by taking ground for the kingdom, drawing people

away from the lies. Sometimes the most profound

thing we can do as Christians is to lean into

the debate and say, no more. I draw the line

right here, no more. And we can do that. Listen,

we can say those things in a godly way. Those

things are not mutually exclusive. We can be

resolved and in a godly way say no more, not

with hatred in our hearts, but with a smile on

our face and with true love as our motivation,

with resolve and with confidence, knowing that

we are standing for principles that are best

for both us and for our neighbor because God's

ways are always best. They're best for all of

society, so why would we not stand on them with

confidence? In Romans 12, Paul finishes out this

important chapter, and he gives us four very

important principles that we can apply here.

Let me share them with you. He says, first, our

inclination should always be to strive for peace.

He says, if possible, if possible, so far as

it depends on you, be at peace with all men.

That's number one. Start there. Your inclination

is towards peace. Number two, he says, don't

fall into the trap of returning evil for evil.

He says, never take your own revenge but leave

room for the wrath of God for it is written,

vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.

And friends, this is critical. Okay, we need

to guard our hearts from sin in this area. Because

if you're like me, when you heard the news about

the murder of Irina or the murder of Charlie,

you wanted vengeance. That was probably the first

reaction you had. And then hopefully you said,

nope. But I get it. I felt it deep within my

core. I wanted retribution and I wanted it now.

And that's when we take a deep breath. Because

that's a fleshly response, right? We take a deep

breath. We can't let it overcome us. We think

biblically. We pray our way through it, and we

remind ourselves, no, our weapons are spiritual,

not physical. Just to underscore the difference

here, take a look at this picture. Look at these

contrasting photos. On the left is the destructive

rage of the BLM riots. On the right is the response

of students on Liberty's campus. when they heard

the news of the assassination. Vengeance belongs

to the Lord. Let him do the work. You pray, and

you step into the battle. Amen? Number three,

try to win your opponent through kindness. If

your enemy's hungry, feed him. If he's thirsty,

give him a drink. For in so doing, you will heap

burning coals on his head. What did Paul mean

by that last statement? Showing your enemy kindness

is a means of leading them to be ashamed of their

thoughts and ideas and the way they're treating

Christians. If God wills it, to produce repentance

in them, to show them their foolishness. But

you do it with kindness and by serving them.

And then number four, this is sort of the summary.

Do not be overcome by evil, and that's important.

Do not let evil overtake you. Stand firm. but

overcome evil with good. We overcome evil. We

get triumph over evil through these positive

steps that show the character of Christ and his

work. We put it on display for our opponents

to see. In John 15, we saw that the world is

known for its hatred. We're to be known as the

opposite for our love. That's how we win. Now,

what does that look like practically, right?

Because this is great stuff, right? This is great,

giant theological stuff. I already know some

of you guys, because we've been talking in recent

days, and you're like, yeah, but give me the

real stuff. Like, what do I do tomorrow? Okay.

At its foundation, it means, first of all, every

single one of us focusing on the basics of the

Christian life. We commit to stop being lazy,

stop being passive, Stop being apathetic about

the Christian life. And we get into the battle.

Dive into the life of your church. Engage in

deep fellowship with other believers. Commit

to spiritual growth in your life. Serve other

people. Resist selfish living. Worship, study,

pray. Commit to the habit of communion. Make

wise and careful choices in how you spend your

free time. Those are the basics, friends. I mean,

if you wanted something spectacular, I'm just

telling you, if you want to be in the battle,

start there. Start with the basics in your life.

Recognize that you're in the battle. I mean,

are you all standing on the sidelines going,

well, someday God will recruit me and maybe I'll

jump into it? You're in it. You're the target.

You're in the battle. So take this stuff seriously.

Put your hand to the plow. Do the hard work.

Do the necessary things. While other people are

coasting, you swim upstream. And you commit to

it. And then you go to the next level. Become

outspoken about the beauty of the gospel in your

life. Tell people how it's changed you. Show

them what it means to know Christ. Lean into

hard conversations with people. Challenge false

ideas in love. Call sin, sin. Call what is evil,

evil. And at the same time, extend kindness and

grace to those who are seeking the truth. These

are basic principles, guys, but are we putting

them into practice? See your vocation as kingdom

work. When you can, speak up in the workplace.

Put yourself out there. And then speak up in

the public square if you have an opportunity.

We have an evangelism table called Ambassadors

Well. That's at the mall once or twice a week.

And sometimes we have a hard time getting people

to volunteer. Confronting evil means being willing

to put yourself out there to endure the pressure

and the heat that comes with your witness for

Christ. That's the battle. And then I'm going

to cast a giant vision for you. In the ultimate

sense, think long term. You want to be in the

spiritual battle? You want to win victories?

Get married. and have children, and then grandchildren,

and raise them in the fear and the admonition

of the Lord. Put an emphasis on a biblical marriage

that pleases God, that serves as a witness to

the world. Pass down your faith and your values

to future generations. Leave a legacy that other

people want to emulate. This is all part of overcoming

evil. There's spiritual battles that are won

by discipline, faithfulness, and courage. And

what if we had a whole army? of men and women

who did that all at once together, charging the

gates of hell. Speaking of overcoming evil with

good, I'm gonna invite Adam to come to the pulpit

and he's gonna share something about how we here

at Oak Hill are playing our part as a church

right now in the spiritual battle. And I'm super

excited about it. I'm just gonna share with you.

Thank you, Jeff. And church family, I pray you're

encouraged as hard as it is to be reminded about

the problem of evil. It's important that we don't

turn our eyes away. We need to see what evil

is. And I've often said, many of you have heard

me say it from here, from the pulpit, in small

groups, in personal discipleship, that we are

a soft people. A soft people. We don't see the

hardship. And that's not an accusation. It's

not any meanness that I say that. But we don't

see the suffering and the evil regularly. We

live a soft life and we're often guarded from

the hardships and realities. So it is, as hard

as it is, it is actually a grace to see the world

for what it is. To see the reality of the spiritual

realm and then, then to respond faithfully and

to see that God is still at work. amidst all

the evil. Evil has a day, but it does not have

eternity. Amen? Here's some of the good. We focused

on raising $9 ,000 for a church in Madagascar.

That was our goal. And we were several thousand

under that goal until last Sunday. And providentially,

Jeff Steele, Remington, who's recovering from

knee surgery today, gave a sermon that involved

giving. Now, I can tell you that was not planned.

He said it, but I'm telling you from the elder

team, it was not planned. That was not our emphasis.

We were not trying to guilt anyone. We were not

trying to push you to give out of any compulsion

other than Christ. And yet God superintended

and organized that. He was supposed to deliver

that sermon several weeks earlier, in fact. But

in God's kindness and in the faithfulness of

this church body, we raised more than $9 ,000.

We raised 13 ,500. Yes, you can clap. You can

be excited about that. Think about this. This

other church on the other side of the world,

they're overjoyed. Overjoyed because what they

asked for was for a roof for their church, rooms

for the kids so that, as Jeff just encouraged,

that the next generation can be raised up in

the fear and the admonition. of the Lord. That

is a good thing. But what is one of the only

things better than blessing one church body around

the globe? Blessing two. Blessing two church

bodies. We raised more than we needed for that

church. And so in talking with Pastor Folley,

he said, there's another church. There's another

church who has a great need that we could bless.

I gave the transliteration because you can't

pronounce it without that. At least I couldn't.

But mango rivotra. You can try to say it. Mango

rivotra. You're not trying very hard. Say it

with me. Mango rivotra. Yeah, you'll never remember

that. Maybe. We'll see. We'll leave it up there

for you. This church body is like six and a half

hours as the crow flies away from Ampanube. And

they also, as you can see, don't have a roof.

They don't have doors and windows. They have

a partial steel structure on part of their building.

But since we raised more, Folly said, would we

be willing to allow that excess of funding to

go towards this church that is a church plant,

has been for many years with a guy named Pastor

Allen, and has about 50 to 60 children and adults

that gather in it every single week to hear the

gospel. And of course, what did the elders say

to that? There was no hesitation. Before I finished

sharing what the goal was, there were thumbs

up all around. You know, Matthew 16, 18 tells

us that Jesus is going to build his church upon

this earth. And I take that to mean as both this

earth and the confession that Jesus Christ is

the son of the living God and that the gates

of Hades will not overpower it. As you look at

this church body halfway around the globe, think

of God's goodness building his church and the

gates of Hades will not overpower. So friends,

amidst the evil of our day, remember that God

is good. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the

life. The spirit is transforming hearts and the

church grows most through persecution and hardship.

And though some days may look bleak, our Lord,

our God, he is not surprised by the trials and

tribulations we face and he uses them for his

glory as we sang earlier and our good. So our

prayer is that we continue to run the race that's

set before us, that we look to Christ and that

we're faithful no matter what comes our way.

He is worthy of our obedience. He is worthy of

our worship and he is worthy. of our love. So

I want to say to this church body, as much as

I say, hey, we're a soft people, I include myself

in that, but well done church. Well done church

on raising these funds for those who sacrificed,

those who gave willingly, and those who prayed.

Even if you weren't able to give, but you prayed.

Keep praying for these churches. Pray that they

will be faithful like we're trying to be faithful

to stand against the gates of Hades. We're going

to keep you posted as we hear from these church

bodies about how these funds will be utilized

to help build those structures for the church.

But at the end of the day, it's not the building.

You know that as we sit here in this sanctuary

that we've made that is from a school. It's not

the building. Look around. It's the people. The

church is a people bought by Christ for his own

possession. A people who were once lost. Helplessly

lost. A people who hated him. at one point, and

yet were redeemed, were washed, renewed, and

saved, and sanctified, and made holy and lovers

of God, from haters of God to lovers of God.

That's what we want our testimony to be. That's

what we want to be to a watching world, and that's

what we want to pray for these churches as well.

We have a special video of gratitude. from Pastor

Folly, who is coordinating the efforts for these

churches, and then Jeff will come up to close

our time. Dear friends at Oak Hill, I just wanted

to take this time to express my gratitude, though

words fail me, for the very generous donation

that you did towards the school project in Ampanube.

It could be that because of your generosity,

we could also maybe help another church as well

because of that. And so really, I don't know

what the right words are, but just wanted to

say that may the Lord reward you richly for your

generosity. Thank you to all of you who made

the effort to do this fundraising. Thank you

for all of you who believed in this project and

really contributed. And thank you to those of

you as well who are contributing. through your

prayers, not just only through this financial

donation. Again, to all of you at Oak Hill, thank

you so much. Amen, right? All right, here's how

I want to close out our time today. You might

have noticed on the first screen, I put up the

word theodicy, and you might think, what is theodicy?

Theodicy is a word that refers to how we explain

how God can be both Good and sovereign while

at the same time allowing evil to exist in his

creation. And it's a challenging question. It's

something that may have been on your mind this

week. Where was God? Did anybody ask the question?

Where was God? Is it possible that God's goodness

and power are compatible with the reality of

human suffering and evil? The answer is yes.

And the Bible tells us it is. And the Bible gives

us three ways. that that is true. And I think

it's important to understand this so that you

don't walk out of here thinking, I'm confused

about why God would allow for this. So let's

look at this. First of all, you have to know

that suffering and evil are traced back to the

original source. Not to the creator who made

all things perfect, but to the fall of man and

woman in the garden. Adam and Eve, created by

God in a state of positive holiness, chosen their

freedom to disobey God's law and they started

a ball rolling, guys, that is still rolling today

and it's accelerating. Bringing hardship, bringing

suffering, bringing death into the created order,

injecting corruption and guilt into the DNA of

every single human being. But the truth is the

genuine freedom and privilege that they had to

know God and to walk with God in the garden,

necessarily included the power of contrary choice,

to disobey. And man bears the responsibility

for that just as we bear the responsibility for

our sin today. We don't blame God for that. We

blame man and woman. Second thing, the Bible

casts evil as suffering. There it is. The value

of evil and suffering as principles that are

necessary to produce in us the most valuable

things in life. And I want you to think about

the contrast to that. Hardship, suffering, difficulty

is given to us to produce the most valuable things

we can discover in this earthly life, namely

salvation, being saved from the wrath that we

deserve, and then, once we're saved, spiritual

maturity that conforms us to the image of our

Savior. The truth is, God uses the wickedness

of this world as a contrast to His goodness.

to open up our eyes to what the remedy for our

sin is and to bring us, to draw us into salvation.

And then once we're saved, he will bring hardship

and suffering into our lives as a means of shaping

our character. Adam quoted from James and Peter.

It's true. He shapes our character through suffering.

He causes us to have to trust him more. He causes

us to produce godly endurance. None of those

things would happen if life was easy. Amen? And

then third, the evil in this world is a constant

reminder of the fact that we are aliens and strangers

down here, that our truest home is in the heavenly

realms, and we look forward to that, do we not?

And the suffering and the tears and the heaviness

of heart that we experience down here reminds

us of our true home. And so even in the midst

of the type of evil we've seen this week, We

remember why these things happen, what God's

purposes are. We see the principle of Romans

8, 28 at work, that God causes all things, even

difficult things, even tragedies, to work together

for good to those who love him, to those he has

called according to his purpose. And then we

also look down the road and we say, God's sovereignty

and his justice will prevail. Proverbs 16, 4

says, that the Lord has made everything for its

own purpose, even the wicked, for the day of

evil. He's sovereign over all of it. And justice

is coming, Proverbs 24. For there will be no

future for the evil man. The lamp of the wicked

will be put out. Vengeance belongs to him. He

will make all things right. And we step into

the battle knowing that those things are true.

Praise God this morning that this past Wednesday

was not the end of life for Charlie Kirk. In

fact, it was just the beginning of his living.

Oh, death, where is your sting? Oh, wicked world,

what power do you really have over us? It's true,

for a little while longer, evil has its moments,

as it did this week, but its time is running

out. And so we don't have to live in fear. Psalm

23 tells us, right, that we walk through the

valley of the shadow of death. We will fear no

evil for God is with us. Our days are in his

hands, right? For the battle belongs to the Lord.

So let's engage in it. And let's pray that God

would raise up another 10 ,000 Charlie Kirks

in this country. An entire generation of young

men and women who will stand boldly for truth

and confront the evil that wants to overcome

us. And let us continue to trust that God's goodness

and sovereignty will reign no matter how or where

the enemy strikes at us. Do you feel the world

is broken? Do you feel the shadows deepen? But

do you know that all the dark won't stop the

light from getting through? That's the truth.

Let's pray together. Lord, you are a good God

who brings us comfort and brings us peace. In

our time of need, Lord, you are there for us.

All we have to do is ask, and you come to our

aid. And you are a God who, in these moments,

shows us truth. You remind us, go back to the

word. I know the feelings are strong. I know

the emotions are heavy. Go back to my word. Look

at it, believe it, trust it. For I will never

leave you nor forsake you. These are precious

truths, Lord. These are precious truths that

we need to keep preaching to our own hearts and

then preaching to each other in your body so

that we might be encouraged to keep fighting,

to keep in the battle and to trust that you will

give us the victory. Even now, Lord, as our hearts

are heavy, Lift them, Lord, and help us to worship

and sing well. For your glory, we pray. Amen.