GOD, HITLER AND WAR

War
Edwin Starr

War, huh yeah
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing. [Impossible, even a bad war can serve as a good example]
War huh yeah
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing.
Say it again y'all
War, huh good god [God is good but blasphemy is not. Mk. 10:18, Ex. 20:7]
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing. Listen to me

War-I despise
cause it means destruction
Of innocent lives [In the strict sense there are no innocent lives-- Rm. 3:23, 6:23][First, there is no such person as the innocent, as we have seen already. We are all sinful. But furthermore, we clearly have to reap the consequences not only of our own personal sins, but also of the sins of the entire race; and, on a smaller scale, the sins of our particular country or group. We are, at one and the same time, individuals, and members of the state and of the entire race. The Gospel saves us as individuals; but that does not mean that we cease to be members of the state and part and parcel of the entire human race. We share the same sun and rain as other people, and we are exposed to the same illnesses and diseases. We are subject to the same trials by way of industrial depression and other causes of unhappiness, including war. Thus it comes to pass that the innocent may have to bear part of the punishment for sins for which they are not directly responsible.-MLJ]

War means tears to thousands of mothers eyes
When their sons go off to fight
And lose their lives

War, huh good god y'all
What is it good for? [Stopping evil--- WWII for example]
Absolutely nothing. say it again
War whoa lord
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing. listen to me
It ain't nothin but a heartbreaker [It's more than that as we shall see]
Friend only to the undertaker [Do undertakers love death?]

Oh war, is an enemy to all mankind [It's a sympton, not the actual problem.]
the thought of war blows my mind
war has caused unrest in the younger generation
induction, then destruction who wants to die

War, good god y'all
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing. say it say it say it
War uh huh yeah huh
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing. listen to me
It ain't nothin but a heartbreaker
got one friend that's the undertaker

oh war has shattered many young mans dreams
made him disabled bitter and mean
life is much to short and precious to fight mighty wars these days
war can't give life it can only take it away oooooh [War cannot give life, but it can preserve and protect life]
War, huh good god y'all
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing. say it say again
War whoa lord
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing. listen
It ain't nothin but a heartbreaker
Friend only to the undertaker

Peace love and understanding tell me
Is there no place for them today
they say we must fight to keep our freedom
but lord knows there's got to be a better way [There is a better way- for men to trust Christ and then live for Him but men reject the only solution and want still another way. There is no other way. No-one can ever offer a different solution than to trust Christ or have war.]

I. WAR IS A CONSEQUENCE OF SIN (it is not a sin in and of itself)

1. Satan's sin [Rev. 11:7, 12:7, 12:17, 19:19]

2. Man's sin [Rev. 17:12-14, James 4:1-3]

3. World of sin [II Cor. 10:1-6]

II. WAR IS A REMINDER OF SIN

1. The cost of sin [Ex. 17:6, Is. 21:15, Rm. 6:23]

2. The cancer of sin [James 4:1-2, I Pet. 2:11]

3. The continuation of sin [Judges 5:8, I Sam. 23:8]

To ask God to prohibit war or to prevent war, therefore, is to ask Him to prohibit one of the particular consequences of sin. Or, if we take the view that war itself is actual sin, it is to ask God to prohibit one particular sin. Here again we see both the selfishness that is involved in the request and also the insult to God. Because this particular form of sin, or consequence of sin, is especially painful and difficult for us, we ask God to prohibit it. We are not at all concerned about the holiness of God, or sin as such. Were we so concerned, we would ask Him to prohibit all sin and to restrain all iniquity. We would ask Him to prohibit drunkenness, gambling, immorality and vice, the breaking of the Sabbath, and all the various other sins which men enjoy so thoroughly. But if anyone ventured to suggest that, a protest loud and strong would be registered immediately in the name of freedom. We boast of our free-will and resent any suggestion or teaching that God should in any way interfere with it. And yet, when, as the result of the exercise of that very freedom, we find ourselves faced with the horrors and troubles and sufferings of a war, like peevish children we cry out our protests and complain bitterly against God because He has not used His almighty power and forcibly prevented it! God, in His infinite and everlasting wisdom, has decided not to prohibit sin and not to restrain altogether the consequences of sin. War is not an isolated and separate spiritual and religious problem. It is just a part and an expression of the one great central problem of sin.---Martyn Lloyd-Jones


III. WAR DOESN'T MAKE THE PARTICIPANT'S SIN

1. War can be fought righteously [Ex. 15:3, I Tm. 1:8, Rev. 19:11]

2. War can bring benefits [Dt. 4:34, Job 5:20, Ps. 27:3]
(Does anybody really believe the world would have been better off if nobody opposed Hitler?)[And all this, in turn, leads to the final purpose, which is to lead us back to God. Like the Prodigal Son, when we have lost all and are suffering acutely and in a state of wretchedness and misery, seeing our folly and our stupidity, we think of God, even as he thought of his father and his home. No word is found more frequently in the Old Testament as a description of the Children of Israel than the words, in their trouble and distresses they cried unto the Lord.---MLJ]

3. War will be ended [Is. 2:4, Micah 4:3, Rev. 20:7-10]

The question that needs to be asked is not "Why does God allow war?" but rather,

Why does God not allow the world to destroy itself entirely in its iniquity and its sin? Why does He in His restraining grace set a limit to evil and to sin, and a bound beyond which they cannot pass?

Oh, the amazing patience of God with this sinful world! How wondrous is His love! He has sent the Son of His love to our world to die for us and to save us; and because men cannot and will not see this, He permits and allows such things as war to chastise and to punish us; to teach us, and to convict us of our sins; and, above all, to call us to repentance and acceptance of His gracious offer.

The vital question for us therefore is not to ask, "Why does God allow war?" The question for us is to make sure that we are learning the lesson, and repenting before God for the sin in our own hearts, and in the entire human race, which leads to such results.

May God grant us understanding and the true spirit of repentance, for His Name's sake.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981), minister of Westminster Chapel in London for 30 years