Pastor Mark’s Blog
“Thus, Saith the LORD”
The phrase “Thus, saith the Lord” is found over 430 times in the Bible, and with the derivative phrase of “The Lord says” the number comes to 513. Simply put, this is God’s “I command it…I declare it…end of discussion!” One might think of the proverbial parental quip to a child that is protesting or arguing with “Why?” or “What for?” and the parent says, “Because I said so!” Today’s world is filled with a lot of God’s creation arguing, protesting, or outright rejecting the “Thus, saith the Lord” from Genesis to Revelation. For many of our educated elites and common secularists there is no absolute of any kind in our world. Out of their relativistic thinking – which may be their only absolute, unrecognized – they echo the sentiments of William James’ “Damn the absolute” or James Joyce’s “The absolute is dead.” As the absolutes of God’s Word are rejected, truth dies and personal belief reigns – and by default the “Thus, saith the Lord” is ignored. They join Nietzsche’s belief that God is dead. The only god that exists is the one they made in their own image. The incarnation of their relativistic thinking is the equality of “my truth” and “your truth” and emotivism that exalts “what you feel is good is good and what you feel is bad is bad.” Simply put, “Thus, saith the Lord” is now “Thus, saith me!”
What follows is the requirement for nonjudgmental tolerance and acceptance. The eleventh commandment is now firmly written in the table of stones, “Thou shalt not judge.” No, but God can. The progressives and cancel culture of today easily judge my values and beliefs, invalidating my faith in “Thus, saith the Lord” while validating their own. Also, they can easily resort to Judeo-Christian values when they need to feel righteously indignant about selective atrocities and violence not in keeping with their worldview. The irony is that they are aghast at the spilling of blood in our cities via gun violence, but resort to the words “choice, fetus, etc.” and reject out of hand the constant refrain, “Thus, saith the Lord, thou shalt not shed innocent blood” (Deut. 19:10 et al). Is there any more innocent blood than that of the unborn child in the womb? Their response to what they see as judgmental bias and bigotry and hate regarding opposition to LGBTQ+ is for us to “be kind.” First, our convictions regarding sexuality as that which belongs in the bonds of marriage, and that between a man and a woman, comes from our faith in “Thus, saith the Lord.” Discussion, open-mindedness, tolerance, and live and let live have no place in Biblical convictions clearly stated and stated by God. “Thus, saith the Lord” is the end of discussion regarding sexuality and sexual sins because the Almighty said so (cf. Rom. 1:26-32; Jude 1:5-8; I Cor. 6:9-20; Lev. 18:22; 20:13).
Second, the Lord long ago tagged that mantra “Be kind”, saying “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” (Eph. 4:32). Our kindness comes not from a compromise of our faith in God’s Word and teachings, but from a willingness to exercise kindness toward those who seek the Lord in repentance, even as He has forgiven us for our sins. “Thus, saith the Lord” reveals to me my sins against the absolute of God’s Word, precepts, and will. John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave us His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” is our hope in light of the multitude of “Thus, saith the Lord.” It is not compromise, or rejecting or explaining away the “Thus, said the Lord’s” that is our answer. It is Christ. I say this with genuine kindness.