Hey everyone and welcome to this special episode of the Ask Pastor John podcast. It
seems right to address some aspects of the current coronavirus pandemic here
but as it stands not a lot of attention will be devoted to it but I think there
are a few aspects we need to address based on what you the listeners have
emailed us over the past few days but first pastor John I suspect a lot of
people just want to know how you're doing physically in this season and I
presume you're spending a lot of time at home right now. We are at home a lot well
who knows you know on December 20th 2006 I thought I was fine and on 2006
December 21 I had cancer so I have no idea how I am but I feel fine and I
don't think we're sick and I don't anticipate getting sick but the Lord
reigns. Worship is different of course Bethlehem is doing it online so two
Sundays ago we met with a group of 10 and we sang in the Livingston's basement
and watching a video of the service as it went and this time it was just
Noel and me and I'll tell you if a husband and wife have never sat in two
chairs worshiping with their church and singing alone by themselves you should
try it it will sweeten it if you
can get over the embarrassment. But this is my wife bone of my bone flesh of my
flesh if you can get over this then it will be sweet and it was sweet
so that's been different. My treadmill doesn't change it's up in the attic I'm
still getting the same kind of exercise I always do I always get I'm doing all
kinds of video conferencing I was on there with T4G today I was on there with
the leadership team with you Tony on the internet doing our Zoom video things I
got 60 Look at the Kooks done on the first chapter of Ephesians so amazing I
mean we're not we're not goofing off here in in the meantime no
but it is sober I mean we really really I desire people be very very sober
minded about this and not make light of it
because I think God is in charge. He is saying something. We need to ask what is
God saying because he's in charge he doesn't do things like this willy-nilly.
He has purposes and so I'm very trustful of him and eager to discern what he
wants us to say. So much of the work at DG continues on as normal for us even
in this pandemic. Obviously we can't travel that's the biggest change so far.
Tony: Yeah I just finished a string of travel teaching in Frisco, Texas and then in
Austin and was in Seattle two weeks ago today as the city was shutting down and
your big Southeast Asia trip that was planned got canceled in light of all of
this. Pastor John: Yeah that's why I've gotten so much Look at the Book done because yeah
because we just said okay let's let's do a deep dive on Look at the Book when we
should have been in Asia. Tony: Well it's great to hear that you and Noel are healthy.
Same here the family is healthy and things seem to be going really well from
all outward appearances at least. Great well as you know there's an overwhelming
sense of fear right now Pastor John and we're seeing it in the many emails
coming in from listeners in the US now. The headlines are ominous the Dow is
dropping a thousand points per day it seems the consumer market has largely
frozen airlines are slowing and may halt soon and with the stoppages has come the
loss of income and even the loss of jobs. We're hearing now from DG partners our
donors who are faced with new struggles in the marketplace facing shutdowns
the inability to work as normal and even the harsh reality of now letting go of
employees they can't put to work meanwhile on TV politicians are holding
live press conferences all day with the latest news, infection stats, and to
convince people to stay home. Outbreaks of the virus continue to spike in Italy,
Spain, Germany, but have also moved in much closer to home in states like New
York, and New Jersey, every state in America now has cases and our hospitals
are starting to feel the surge. Older citizens know they're in the bull's eye
of this and the virus is causing lung failure in a younger
demographic than was previously expected it seems like the elderly are stressed,
adults of all ages are stressed, kids are stressed, parents are stressed, business
owners are stressed, dads who provide are stressed.
Few of us know if this virus will infect us personally but its ripple effects
have really impacted every single one of us and now we're being told that this
could all last for months so to the many listeners who are fighting for faith
right now and fighting against fear right now whether it's physical or
financial pressure John what would you say to them? Pastor John: When I think of the
preciousness, the precious experience of being free from fear, free from anxiety
full of peace, full of contentment in the face of danger my question is: Who is it
that can have a warranted well-founded justifiable God-given God sustained
freedom from fear and freedom from anxiety and unshakable peace and sweet
abiding contentment? Who can lay a rightful claim to these treasures? It's
crystal clear in God's word that he commands and he offers a life of
fearlessness and peace (Hebrews 13:6). The Lord is my helper I will not fear what
can man do to me. In Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything but in
everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be
made known to God and the peace of God will surpass all understanding
and guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. In Philippians 4:11 I have
learned in whatever situation I am coronavirus or not to be content no
fear no anxiety. Supernatural peace, supernatural contentment, in every
circumstance horrible or happy that's what God offers. And the question is to
whom is such an amazing supernatural
experience of fearlessness and peace given? In other words I'm not interested,
Tony, I'm not interested in corona time or any time in the mere psychological
experience of fearlessness and contentment that is not based on reality.
The aim of our lives is not to have a psychological state of mind that is
pleasant without reference to reality. The aim is to have for ourselves and for
others through us psychological, spiritual, physical, states of happiness
that are based on reality that make much of our maker and that will be true in a
million years. That's the only kind of fearlessness and contentment I care
about. So the kind of fearlessness that you see in movies with where the cocky
heroes keep their cool in dangerous situations and flaunt their boldness has
no interest in me at all, none, because it's not based on reality. God is real.
Sin is real. Hell is real. Jesus Christ is real. The blood he shed in the
crucifixion is real. The Holy Spirit is real. Faith and the absence of faith are
real. Heaven is real. The human soul that will exist forever in heaven or in hell
is real. Those are the great realities of the universe and none of the
fearlessness that you see in the movies is based on any of them. Therefore, it's
worthless as something to admire or to aspire to but what God is doing among a
million other things in the coronavirus is forcing the issue of reality. And one
of the litmus tests of whether your life is based on reality or based on the
mirage of God ignoring pillars holding up the cultural temple of secularism,
one of the litmus tests is fear. The test of the foundations of your life
is fear. Oh what a precious gift God is giving to us to discover while we still
have time that the pillars holding up our peace are hollow and made of paper
mache. That's a gift so I don't want to just start saying when you ask me
about fear fear not everybody, fear not everybody, fear not everybody when
for all I know the people listening to this should fear because the pillars of
their lives are paper mache. Their lives are not based on reality. I don't know. I
should like to help it not be so. There are glorious rock-solid indestructible
reasons and warrants and grounds and foundations for not being afraid of what
the coronavirus can do to your health or your business or your family or the
economy or to Western civilization or to history as we know it. There are
foundations in reality not to fear any of this. So my question is who is it that
can have warranted well-founded justifiable God given God sustained
freedom from fear and unshakable sweet abiding contentment? And the answer is
given in one verse, one of the most sweeping all-encompassing stabilizing
precious well known promises in the Bible, namely, we know, we know that for
those who love God all things work together for good for those who are
called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28). So, who is it that should enjoy the
fearlessness and peace that absolutely everything around this coronavirus is
working together for their eternal good, everything? And the answer is those who
love God and those who are called according to
his purpose. So, here's one of the 10,000 things God is doing through this
horrific virus: he is saying to the world, he is saying to us, what he said to Peter
in John 21:16. Do you love me? That's what he's saying.
And Jesus made it more plain in Matthew 10:37: Do you love me more than anything?
More than these more than your mother, father, child, or son or daughter? And
second he is saying what he said through Peter in 2 Peter 1:10: Be diligent to
confirm your calling and your election. The coronavirus is a wake-up question to
the world especially Christians. Is your life a confirmation that God has called
you out of darkness into his marvelous light? These are the people the called
and the lovers of God. These are the people who have a warrant, a ground, a
foundation in reality not to be afraid but to be steadied by unshakeable peace.
And Romans 8 the great 8 that I think everybody in this isolation period
should be memorizing, making that as a suggestion, best thing you could do with
your time. Romans 8 gives greater foundations for this fearlessness than
anything in the world, anything the world has to offer. I just I mentioned four
what's number one for the called who love God in Jesus Christ: all of God's
righteous condemnation toward you was put on Jesus and there is now no
condemnation, no punishment, for those who are in Christ. Verse three: by sending his
own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin he condemned sin in the
flesh. Condemnation for those who are in Christ is over.
It happened at Calvary. That is wonderful. Number two: God's willingness to
sacrifice his only son for the called ones who love him means
he not only died in their place but will not withhold anything from them for
their eternal good, verse 32, he who did not spare his own son but gave him up
for us all how will he not with him graciously give us all things. So
everything we need to glorify God and to have everlasting joy he guarantees in
the cross for us during coronavirus time. Number 3: nobody who is called by
God will fail to attain eternal glory. There is a golden unbreakable chain of
covenant commitment that God will keep his called ones forever, verse 30, those
whom he predestined he called and those whom he called he justified and those
whom he justified he glorified. None of the called is lost ever .And number 4:
finally this means, verses 35,37, neither tribulation, nor distress, no
persecution, or famine, or nakedness, nor danger, nor sword, nor coronavirus, nor
economic collapse, or total anarchy, or the end of the world can separate us
from the love of Christ. And that includes death, especially death because
verse 36 is for your sake. We are being killed all day long and it doesn't
matter whether we are being killed by coronavirus or anti-christian mobs.
Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. In all these things
he says we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. Therefore,
Christian, therefore Christian, lover of God called out of darkness into his
marvelous light lift up your head put a song in your mouth. Love your neighbor
and do not be afraid. Those are some rock solid pillars under the Christian life.
Tony: Thank you Pastor John. And yes, what a precious gift God is giving to us
to discover while we still have time that the pillars holding up our peace
are often hollow and made of paper mache. Wow what a word for this season. Well as
we mentioned earlier much of our Labor's at DG continue on as normal and that
includes this podcast Ask Pastor John. And Lord willing as God sustains us
we'll keep up our regular schedule of episodes on Mondays, Wednesdays, and
Fridays and then when we have episodes related to this virus or other unfolding
events we'll release those as bonus episodes in the week so stay tuned for
more and thank you for listening. Keep sending us your questions. Do that at
desiringGod.org/askpastorjohn. Thanks for listening and
being with us I'm your host Tony Reinke we'll see you next time.