What Is God Doing?

John Macarthur. Charlie Kirk. Vodie Baucham. Each was a giant in their own way and before their own audience. All three of them exalted Jesus, spread His Gospel, and advanced the cause of His kingdom. All three of them died in the last six weeks.

Clearly, we live in a dark time and these men were beacons. We live in desperate times and these men were fierce. We live in confused times and these men were resolute. If ever we needed men like them, it is today. And yet, they died. They left large holes where they once stood.

Their deaths have caused some to ask “What is God doing?”

I think it is a valid question. I know that it is a question some of you have asked. It is a question that everyone eventually grapples with. These were not the first giants to die. And assuming the Lord tarries, they will not be the last.

Before we can answer the question of what God is doing related to their deaths, we need to remember God said about our lives.

We Cannot Be Killed

Neither internal forces, such as pneumonia or heart-attack, or external forces, such as an assassins bullet, do—or even can—kill us. They alone do not have that power. There is absolutely no shortage of examples of this in Scripture.

Noah

Noah faced an extinction level event designed by God to wipe out humanity, but Noah aboard his ark could not be killed.

Lot

God rained down fire and brimstone to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorra killing their inhabitants for their sinfulness. But angels dragged Lot out of the city first, he could not be killed.

Moses

Both as a baby and as a man, Pharaoh sought to take Moses’ life, but he could not be killed.

Elisha

Elisha was surrounded by the Aramaen army who had come for the express purpose of ending his life, but he could not be killed.

Shadrack, Meshach, and Abednego

These three young men were thrown into a fiery furnace used to melt metal, but they could not be killed.

Daniel

Daniel was thrown into a den of hungry lions, but he could not be killed.

The Apostle Peter

He was imprisoned by Herod and scheduled for execution until an angel sprang him from prison, he could not be killed.

The Apostle John

John was to be executed by being boiled in oil and cooked alive but he could not be killed and had to be exiled instead.

Brought Back to Life

How many people died and were brought back to life in Scripture?

The Widow of Zaraphath’s son brought back to life by Elijah

The man whose body touched Elijah’s bones and was brought back to life

The Shunamite woman’s son was brought back to life by Elisha

Lazarus, Jairus’ daughter, and widowat Nain’s son were all brought back to life by Jesus

Matthew records that after the death of Jesus, graves opened and many dead saints stepped out of them alive

in the bookd of Acts, Tabithatha (aka Dorcas) in the was brought back to life by Peter

Eutychus fell out of a window while Paul was preaching and Paul brought him back to life so he could finish his sermon!

Death itself could not kill these people! And what of Enoch and Elijah, they were escorted into God’s presence without dying at all!

The Apostle Paul

Any number of attempts were made on Paul’s life but the most effective was when he was stoned by the Jews.

Acts 14:19 NKJV

19 Then Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there; and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead.

The Jews in Paul’s day were very proficient with stoning someone—especially a follower of Jesus—to death.

Acts 14:20 NKJV

20 However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and went into the city. And the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe.

Paul could not be killed.

Until God Allows It

There is no denying that God’s people do die. And there is no shortage of scriptural examples of that either.

Stephen

Juxtapose Stephen’s experience with Paul’s just mentioned.

Acts 7:59–60 NKJV

59 And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Though Stephen faced the exact same execution that Paul did, the outcome was completely different. He was allowed to die.

The Apostle James

Herod had James killed with a sword and he was allowed to die

John the Baptist

Herod had him beheaded and he was allowed to die.

Jesus

Acts 2:23–24 NKJV

23 Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; 24 whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.

Death could not hold him. Nor could it take him. He had to give up His life. He was allowed to die.

The point of these litany of people is clear and must be remembered: We cannot be killed unless God allows it. The giants that have fallen over the last few weeks were allowed to fall. The fell with God’s allowance and the fell at the time known and appointed by God. Hebrews 9:27 “27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,”

Bearing all this mind, we are ready to ask and answer the question that may be burning in our minds.

What Is God Doing?

If there was ever a person who was singularly qualified and focused on reclaiming this fallen world, it was Jesus. But even He died. True, His death on the cross in our place and for our sins made salvation and restoration available to all who will believe in Him and call out to God in faith because of Him. But He still left, and left a large hole where He once stood.

Giants face a limitation

Before He left—and knowing that His followers would be left with questions—He told us what He was doing.

John 14:12 NKJV

12 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.

It is difficult to imagine that spirit-filled would be capable of doing greater works than Jesus Himself did. How is that possible?

It is possible because of the physical limitations inherent in being one person. We can only be in one place, doing one thing, at any one time. Even Jesus, in His humanity faced the same limitation.

That armies do not face

Twelve disciples could be in twelve places, doing twelve things at the same time. 120 followers in an upper room could be in 120 places doing 120 things at the same time.

Sometimes, even in this digital age, a giant can be replaced by an army of smaller people who can accomplish more than the giant ever could. That is what Jesus said God was doing.

Giants can see beyond the confusion that so often engulfs us. They can smash through major obstacles. They can point us in a productive direction. But then they must step aside so we can go and we can do.

If there was any doubt this is the case, the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s departure should have removed it. An army of people flooded every social media platform with the same message: it is time for me to stand up and speak. And a five-hour televised church service that saw Christian leaders from all walks of life stand and testify about who Jesus is, why Jesus came, and how this world needs Jesus now, reached far more people at one time then Charlie Kirk ever did, or even could.

What Are We To Do?

We should grieve

There is a sense of loss when anyone dies…or there should be. Grief is both natural and right.

We should not grieve for the fallen. As the family of Vodie Baucham noted in their announcement of His death, “He has left the land of the dying and entered the land of the living.” We do not grieve them.

We should grieve for the families and those closest to those giants. Real people have been left husbandless, fatherless, providerless, and leaderless. We should grieve for them and help them as opportunity allows.

We should, to a lesser degree, grieve for ourselves. It is we who feel a sense of loss. We cannot live long in this grief, but we should mark the loss of people who were significant to us.

We should go

Grief must eventually give way to purpose. Giants fall so that armies may rise. And so we must rise.

Isaiah 6:8 NKJV

8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”

And how did God respond to Isaiah’s volunteering? He said “Go and tell this people…” Take my message to the people who need to hear it. And so we must.

Conclusion

That, I believe, is what God is doing. I believe it, because Jesus said that is what God was doing by removing Jesus. And if that were true for the Giant of giants, than I believe it is true for the giants that follow Him.

What remains for each of us is to choose how we will respond. Will we shrink back in fear? Will we ramble on in indifference? Or, will we rise up in determination?