The late theologian John Broadus described opportunity in the following manner,

“Opportunity is like a fleet horse that pauses for a moment at one’s side. If you fail to mount him in that moment, you can hear the clatter of his hoofs down the corridors of time. That opportunity is gone forever.”

This pandemic has, unquestionably, taken much, but it has also provided a unique opportunity for believers to “redeem the time” (Eph. 5:15-16), in order that we might be rooted and strengthened in our faith (Col. 2:6-7).

With that in mind, I offer the following three recommendations to “mount the horse opportunity” in this moment, in order that, in the future, we can look back down the corridor time, and be able to say that we redeemed this occasion, to “grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Pet. 3:18)

Bible Reading Plan – This link contains plans as short as two weeks, and a variety of ways to immerse yourself in Scripture. Here is a free audible bible resource, and this is a great short commentary to accompany your reading.

Scripture Memorization – Download the Topical Memory System app and, before you know it, you will have hidden 60 verses of God’s Word in your heart.

Theological Training – take advantage of Ligonier Connect, now offering free video courses for individual or group study on topics related to the Bible, theology, Christian living, church history, and more. (Right now our family is working through The Basics of the Christian Life with Dr. Sinclair Ferguson)

Praying for this historical event, yet confident in God’s sovereignty and committed to His glory.

Even as we find ourselves in the midst of this crisis, people have begun to speculate about what impact this pandemic will have on our daily lives moving forward. What will be the new normal, in light of what we’ve experienced and learned? Many believe that much will change as a result of COVID-19. However, one thing is guaranteed to remain the same: the Word of God.

Laws may change. Technological advances may emerge. Social mores may be altered. Economic empires may rise and fall.  However, amidst shifting tides, God’s Word stands firm.

Puritan Thomas Watson said,

“The Devil is always trying to blow out the light of Scripture one way or another.”

Psalm 110:160 declares,

“The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.”

Peter quoting Isaiah affirms,

“All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.” (1 Peter 1:24)

The character and capacity of Scripture will remain unaltered. We can take comfort, amidst uncertainty, that, per Psalm 19:7-9, the Bible will remain perfect, sure, right, clear, clean, and true. And it will continue to restore the soul, make wise the simple, rejoice the heart, enlighten the eyes, endure forever, and produce righteousness.

The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul;
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether.

As Richard Mayhue and John MacArthur explain in their tome, Biblical Doctrine, the kingdom of God is the overarching theme in Scripture.

“The kingdom of God can be explained in this manner: the divine, eternal triune God literally created a kingdom and two kingdom citizens who were to have dominion over it. But an enemy usurped their rightful allegiance to the King and captured the original kingdom citizens. God intervened with consequential curses that exist to this day. Ever since, God has been redeeming sinful, rebellious people to be restored as qualified kingdom citizens, both now in a spiritual sense and later in a kingdom-on-earth sense. Finally, the enemy will be vanquished forever, as will sin. Thus, Revelation 21-22 describes the final and eternal expression of the kingdom of God, in which the eternal triune God will restore the kingdom to its original purity, removing the curse and establishing the new heaven and the new earth as the everlasting abode of God and his people.”

As difficult as it may be for us to comprehend, the Corona virus is part of God’s sovereign kingdom plan. It is one of the consequential curses resulting from the fall. And He is, and will, use it to redeem sinful, rebellious people to be restored as qualified kingdom citizens.

Moving forward, COVID-19 may alter much around us socially, physically, economically and emotionally, but it changes nothing spiritually. God’s Word, His sovereign plan and requirements for kingdom citizenship remain unaltered.

As I’ve watched the hostility and resentment play out over Samaritan’s Purse emergency hospital erected in Central park, I can’t help but reflect on the sweeping cultural shift in America and resulting animosity towards followers of Christ.  John Adam’s recognized that “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” 

Fast forward to today, and we have secular leadership actively seeking to marginalize, ostracize, and persecute Christians, not primarily for their behaviors…but their beliefs.  [In this case adherence of Samaritan’s Purse to the biblical beliefs on marriage and sexuality.] Some clearly believe that America would be better off if we could rid the country of followers of Christ.

I was struck by the following section in Stephen Nichols’ A Time for Confidence, regards Rome’s similar view of the early Christians.

Rome had two designations for the religions it encountered across its spreading empire. One of those designations was religio licita, which means “legal religion.” The other was superstitio illicita, which means “illegal superstition.” The word superstition reveals how contemptuous Rome found these practices to be. As Rome overtook other peoples, for the most part those people groups were polytheists. This presented no problems to Rome. This simply meant more gods to add to the Roman pantheon. Most of the religions that came into the empire were dubbed religio licita. They had the stamp of approval of Rome and could be practiced freely. Judaism was granted religio licita status primarily because Jews didn’t tend to proselytize a great deal. But from its beginnings, Christianity was designated a superstitio illicita.

As a consequence, Christians were literally enemies of the state—marginalized, ostracized, and persecuted. They could be killed with impunity. To be a Christian was to identify with a group of people who were worthy of nothing but shame and scorn. To the best Romans, Christians were seen as worthy of sympathy for their primitive ways. To the worst Romans, the death of Christians could provide entertainment. Ridding Christians from the empire would be the best possible outcome.

Tacitus refers to Christianity with the designation superstitio illicita and testifies to the hatred the Roman populace had for Christians. This despite the fact that Christians in these early centuries lived exemplary lives. Early apologists such as Athenagoras and Justin Martyr testify to the lives Christians lived. They promoted virtue. They honored the emperor. They had a work ethic that set them apart. Paul admonished servants to work “as for the Lord” (Col. 3:23). Christians had loving families that showed genuine concern for each other. Yet, they were seen to be a criminal element and enemies of the state. They were hated—not because of their behavior, for their behavior was laudatory. If only all Romans lived like the Christians. They were hated for their beliefs. They were hated for their belief in Christ and in the gospel. Ultimately, Christians were hated because their beliefs were different, and their beliefs challenged the status quo.

So, we, as Christians, should heed Peter’s admonition to,

“Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.” (1 Peter 1:21)

But, be prepared, even when our behavior is clearly beneficial to society, as in the case of Samaritan’s Purse service to New York, we should still be expected to be hated for our beliefs, because they challenge the status quo and are in keeping with Paul’s encouragement to Timothy,

Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. (2 Tim. 3:12)

“We’re going to give the best health care we can to all New Yorkers, it doesn’t matter who they are or what they are. We’re going to give them the best medical care that we possibly can in Jesus’ name.” – Franklin Graham

Contrary to what false teachers, peddling the prosperity gospel, would have you to believe, suffering is part of the Christian walk.

And yet, as the puritan Octavius Winslow wisely notes below, a calm amidst life’s storms should characterize the believer. (And, yes, this includes COVID-19)

“The Christian is far from being entirely exempt from those chafings and disquietudes which seem inseparable from human life…But through all this there flows a river, the streams whereof make glad the city of God. It is the peace of the heavenly mind, the peace which Jesus procured, which God imparts, and which the Holy Spirit seals.”

The apostle Paul wrote,

We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. (2 Cor. 4:8–10).

Paul lists mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual suffering, and, yet, most scholars consider Paul to be the greatest Christian to have ever live! So much the notion that sacrifice, Christian sincerity and “sowing a seed” financially will result in living your best life now!

As John Piper’s desiringgod.org notes,

“All Christians suffer. Either you have, you are, or you will — “through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).

This reality is a stark reminder that we have not reached the new heavens and new earth. The New Jerusalem of no tears and no pain, of no mourning and no death, hasn’t arrived yet (Revelation 21:1, 4).

But just because we experience suffering as we await the redemption of our bodies, it doesn’t mean that our suffering is random or without purpose. And neither does it mean that Scripture doesn’t tell us how to think about our suffering now.”

So…what was Paul’s secret? One key, I believe, is perspective. Paul continues in 2 Corinthians 4,

16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

As I was reminded recently, amidst my quarantine reading, we must remember that there is something worse than death, and something better than human flourishing.

Read that again:

Worse than death

Meaning worse than physical death, which we will all experience, is spiritual death, the second death of hell described in Rev. 20:14 for those who are not reconciled to God through Christ’s death and resurrection

At this moment, March 31 2:04pm COVID-19 has killed 40,708 individuals. Sadly many of those persons were already dead…spiritually.  Unless they were born again, as Paul says,

And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with [Christ], having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. (Col. 2:13-14)

Better than human flourishing

Paul told the Corinthians,

“Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.” (2 Cor. 5:8)

Paul considered physical death, departure from the body, to be preferable, as he would be with Jesus. So, even amidst the best that life has to offer: the most beautiful sunrise, the birth of a beautiful newborn baby, the joy of a wedding or the warm embrace of a loved one, none of this will compare to the new heaven and earth that John Piper referred to earlier.

That fact, along with trust in a sovereign, all-wise Lord, who promises to work everything together for our ultimate good, is what can and should give us the peace of heavenly mind Octavius described earlier.

We’ve all seen those warnings on drug commercials and medications. Communicated in small print and rapid recitation is the fact that prolonged use can produce long-term adverse side effects.

While I wholeheartedly applaud the Church’s current creativity in utilizing an online presence amidst this crisis, I am concerned about the long-term adverse side effects. So, even as we minister now, we must keep the long-term in mind, and shepherd the flock that the Holy Spirit has made us overseers accordingly (Acts 20:28). 

What most are doing now, gathering around our computers isolated in our homes, is not church, and we must communicate that.  It is the best available alternative, and the Church is not a building but a people. Yet, we must be aware that this new paradigm may be very appealing to some and quite unappealing to others, and accurately assess why.

First, we, as a people, tend to be lazy and, like the students that I witness daily at my daughter’s school bypassing the paved sidewalk to carve a barren path in the grass, will take the path of least resistance. This new temporary stopgap measure of online worship and small groups may appeal to many, given its ease and relative anonymity.

And advancing technologies will continue to provide new possibilities; however, just because we CAN doesn’t mean we SHOULD utilize them. Our standard for accountability is sola scriptura, and our motivation is the full spiritual maturity of our people in Christ (Col. 1:28).

Second, there may be a large group of church attendees who find this current scenario woefully unappealing…for all the wrong reasons.  Drawn in by large, emotional worship experiences, quality production values, and state of the art facilities, some find themselves longing for a quick end to quarantine.

Truthfully, many of them are unsaved. Sadly, the church today is full of unconverted people, often drawn by false teachers, tickling their ears with false gospels, cheap grace, and self-help talks disguised as sermons, bereft of sound doctrine.

And while it is certainly an occasion for joy when an unsaved person chooses to observe a worship service of believers, it is also important to remember the primary purpose for worship. 

Steve Lawson in his book, Famine in the Land, states

These first gatherings of the church were designed primarily for edifying believers, not for evangelizing unbelievers. Of course, they were reaching out to the unsaved, for “the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved” (v. 47). But this “evangelism explosion” was the result of their teaching, not the stated purpose of it. They gathered for edification; they scattered for evangelism. The primary focus of their corporate worship gatherings was for building up the believers, not for reaching seekers. When this priority becomes reversed and the church meets primarily to save the lost, the apostles’ teaching soon becomes compromised and diluted.

And what of believers frustrated amidst this current scenario?  R.C. Sproul in his book Truths We Confess, states the following about this statement in the Westminster Confession of Faith:

Saints by profession are bound to maintain a holy fellowship and communion in the worship of God.

Our purpose for assembling together is to worship God, to offer the sacrifices of praise. If people are leaving church because they are bored, that is revealing. The answer is not to put on dramatic presentations on Sunday morning or to include Christian rock music or any other form of entertainment. If people are bored, they don’t have a sense of coming into the presence of God. No one has ever been confronted with the living God and walked away bored.

So while the current online prescription is the only available, let’s beware the danger of long-term exposure to anything less than a biblical expression of a worship service.

If you find memorizing Scripture difficult, let me encourage you by helping you to learn something from each of Paul’s 13 New Testament epistles. 

I guarantee your success! 

“Impossible!” you say.

Nope.

Say with me, “Paul.” 

Okay. You now have committed to memory the first word of each of his letters. 

Take a look:

Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God…(Romans)
Paul, called as an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God…(1 Corinthians)
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God…(2 Corinthians)
Paul, an apostle (not sent from men nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father…(Galatians)
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God…(Ephesians)
Paul and Timothy, bond-servants of Christ Jesus…(Philippians)
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God…(Colossians)
Paul and Silvanus and Timothy…(1 Thessalonians)
Paul and Silvanus and Timothy…(2 Thessalonians)
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the commandment of God our Savior, and of Christ Jesus, who is our hope…(1 Timothy)
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life in Christ Jesus…(2 Timothy)
Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ…(Titus)
Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus…(Philemon)

That is the way the Greeks wrote a letter: they began a letter with the name of the author, which honestly seems a lot more reasonable than how we, today, put it at the end.

Another thing to notice is how often Paul establishes himself as an apostle.  

John MacArthur explains why,

“Now, this is something that Paul repeatedly did, and there were many reasons why he did this. You do not find the other writers of the New Testament doing this in the way Paul does. Of course, not all of the apostles wrote in the New Testament, but nevertheless, Paul is the one who is continually identifying himself as an apostle. And I think there are some very specific reasons why he does this. He says: “called an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God.”

He had not lived and walked with Jesus Christ in His pre-death years. He had not seen the resurrected Christ before He ascended into heaven. And the qualifications for an apostle, according to the Scripture – Acts 1 – were that they know Christ in His post-resurrection reality, and that they be specifically and personally and directly chosen by Christ. They had to have seen the resurrected Christ and been called specifically by Him into the apostolate.

That’s the reason we can’t have any apostles today. That’s the reason there couldn’t be any past the biblical ones, because no one since then has seen the living resurrected Christ, and been specifically commissioned by Him. He has ascended into heaven, where He is until He comes again. So, the apostolate has ceased. It was foundational, according to Ephesians 2:20.”

________________________

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:19-22)

Therefore it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us— beginning with the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from us—one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.” So they put forward two men, Joseph called Barsabbas (who was also called Justus), and Matthias. And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all men, show which one of these two You have chosen to occupy this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” And they drew lots for them, and the lot fell to Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles. (Acts 1:21-26)