Hey Family,
As I finished preaching yesterday a big “Oh no!” overcame me. I forgot the end of the story. In the sermon, Premeditated Betrayal, I shared about my Dallas Seminary experience and how Chuck Swindoll shared that you will never be more spiritually attacked then when you are in seminary. To which I gave Chuck an inner eye roll. However, he was right. I experienced more spiritual attack than I had ever experienced–including combat. I wasn’t the only one. My seminary spiritual formation group which consisted of five men had its fair share of trouble.
One night while studying for Greek or something theological in the library, I got a call from one of the guys and his voice was a little shaky.
“Hey come meet me in the parking lot. I think I’m gonna kill somebody.”
I sprinted downstairs and hopped into his car and found my buddy holding a baseball bat and wearing a flustered face. He let me and another guy from our spiritual formation group know that he was heading to West Texas to find and kill the man that slept with his wife.
After a couple hours, God changed his heart on giving an adulterer the death penalty, but the hurt wouldn’t stop.
Now first service I remembered to bookend the story. Second service…not so much. So here is the ending for those who came second hour Sunday.
My buddy looked to reconcile with his wife, but it was tough. There were so many issues within both their hearts and trust kept slipping through their relationship. What compounded the problem is that his wife was still talking to the man with whom she had the affair. The adulterer was in love with his wife. It drove my buddy crazy. One night the cheater called to speak to his wife and my buddy was there to pick up the phone.
Instead of threatening his life, my buddy shared the Gospel. He told him that he was a sinner and his actions deserved death and hell. He told him that Jesus died on the cross for his sins and rose from the dead to conquer the penalty and power of sin. If he could accept what Jesus did for him he could have forgiveness and eternal life.
My buddy didn’t say anything else, he just shared the Gospel. In his hurt, he brought healing. In his brokenness, he sought to repair. My buddy would tell you that it wasn’t him who did it, it was all God and it was like an out of body experience. However, I would tell you that the Gospel has to permeate your life to such a degree that it becomes your answer to everything. When arguments happen, when hurt happens, you always fall back to what is stored up in your heart (Luke 6:45). My buddy fell back on the Gospel.
Store up the Gospel in your heart. So the next time you are hurt, you can be healed and a healer.
