Christ and the Coronavirus

Good evening again to you from beacon Baptist Church.

Thank you for tuning in joining us at this Wednesday night. Lifestream service. I trust that it is well with your soul tonight that these days of uncertainty in unrest have provoked you to pray perhaps more earnestly than you have in the past to seek God with the fervency to be asking God what it is that he would want you to learn from this season of hope in 19 I don't not want to assume that everybody knows Wheatley through terms around referred the Cove. The coronavirus we've heard the Cove in 19 what what in the world is Cove and 19 stand for, well, the it's it's shorthand for the coronavirus of 2019 a co-means the Corona V stands for virus and D stands for disease/19 2019. I know one thing I have been praying earnestly for you for our church family. For those that are in my acquaintance my family that during this season that our hearts would be grounded and rooted in the love of God that that would be a stabilizing force in our life that we would really rejoice in the fact that God is set his affections on us that we are the objects of his love that he who spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all. The argument Paul makes their Romans chapter 8 is how in light of God giving the greatest. How would how would he not also freely with him give us all things so we can trust him for lesser things because he gave us the greatest thing. So, again, praying that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith and that being rooted and grounded in love and praying that you with all the saints would be able to comprehend what is the width and the length and the depth and the height of the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge friend of mine sent me a link to a YouTube video that I didn't have time to listen or watch the whole thing, but it was a it was a man of playing the piano and singing a hymn. This hymn was written by William Reese who lived from 1803 to 1883, so he's been he's been dead 400 and nearly 40 years.

But as I listen to this this morning it just because my heart disorders. I've thought and reflected on the love of God to listen to these wonderful words here is love vast as the ocean, lovingkindness as the flood, when the Prince of life are ransom shed for us his precious blood, who is love will not be remember who can cease to sing his praise. He can never before gotten throughout heavens eternal days in the second stanza on the Mount of crucifixion fountains opened deep and wide through the floodgates of God's mercy flowed a vast and gracious side grace and love like mighty rivers porn incessant from above and heavens peace and perfect justice.

Kissed a guilty world in love. And then there's two more stanzas that speak of what our response ought to be to this love of God revealed in Christ Jesus. Let me all that I love accepting love the ever all my days. Let me seek thy kingdom only and my life be to thy praise thou alone shall be my glory. Nothing in the world I see thou hast cleansed and sanctified me. Thou thyself has set me free in thy truth thou dost direct me by thy spirit through thy word and I grace my need is meeting as I trust in the my Lord of thy fullness, thou art pouring thy great love and power on me without measure full and boundless, drawing out my heart to the I trust that your experiences you think about and dwell upon the love of God that would draw out your heart to God that you would be one who wants to reciprocate that love to garden, live a life that pleases him one of the means that helps us in that regard is coming together is the people of God, find it interesting in these days the subject of sovereignty, God's sovereign rule and how people soften it, dismiss it garden. I have been walking couple of days a week at Cedar Park which is just five minutes from our house in week or so ago we were walking on a very familiar path and as I was walking came across a bird laying there on the path did didn't appear to be anything wrong with it other than it was lifeless and it came to my mind. Not that God knew the dead bird was laying there. That's omniscience. But the Bible tells us that God willed it.

God purposed it.

The dead bird would fall from the sky.

Listen to Matthew chapter 10 Jesus says whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light and what you hear in the ear preach on the housetops and do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin in and get this and not one of them falls to the ground apart from your father's will fallen was sparrow to the ground is explained as this, the father's will. He willed it, saw that he just knew about it but he willed it and then here's the argument what are we to learn as we think about this and as I saw this bird laying on the path the next verses, but the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear. Therefore, you are more of you are of more value than many sparrows of God's mindful of the sparrow and God orders and decrees and wills. The life of the sparrow, how much more important are you and I see God is not passively and control which is a contradiction in terms, as if he merely knows and allows� Does not stand off as a passive observer disconnected and in different to what is happening in your life in my life in this world. No, God is actively in control.

He is the orchestrator he is superintending the events of even your life right down to the very details he's intimately involved in our life is very connected to what we are experiencing. So God is orchestrating he's presiding and providentially ruling over all the affairs of men. That's our comfort that's our confidence in these strange days in which we are living well. I have a verse of Scripture's edge printed at the top of the precedence is home. Have I in heaven, but you and there is not upon earth that I desire besides you my flesh in my heart fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 73 verses 25 in verse 26 well from the pastor's perspective. Things are going well in terms of this mean this medium of preaching and connecting with our congregation and others who are joining us on lifestream will continue to do that until restrictions are lifted and were able to come together church body and meet together in corporate worship so will be doing that again on Wednesday night at 7 o'clock Sunday morning at 930 and Sunday evening at 6 o'clock so thank you for supporting the ministry in this way, thank you for the way your ministering to one another. Thank you for your prayers. Thank you for your faithful giving is the expense of the church for one we are very encouraged by how you are responding in these days.

Thank the Lord and praise the Lord, the really don't have any other announcements to the gift to you and I will repair requests here in a moment, let me mention some good news.

We we've gotten from some of our missionaries. Pastor Barkman got this email from Stuart wall came it around 2 o'clock this afternoon. Mrs. the latest correspondence from Stuart concerning his health situation there in Johannesburg. He writes Laverne and I greet you from Johannesburg, South Africa, the Lord is always doing us good and not harm. We are so thankful for the prayerful support of the saints at beacon we think of you often are and are always challenged and comforted by your faithfulness to the Lord and to us your Zimbabwean servants and friends. Here's the big news we have today been accepted to the official liver transplant listing for urgent transplantation.

Let's use praise. That's a significant answer to prayer something we have been earnest in seeking the Lord concerning he says the thing which we have asked of the Lord is been granted. Please pray with us in our covert 19 transplant situation that our God would supply all our need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Laverne is handling our affairs here in my absence and recovery from the surgery. I will be allowed no visitors for my stay in the hospital. This will be hard for her. Please lift her up in your contemplations. She will need strength and common strong trust in the Lord's doing.

We look forward to a renewal that will bring wonderful family togetherness and strong compassionate ministry of the word in Zimbabwe.

Please know that we love you and are deeply thankful for your past encouragement in word and deed your servant friends for the glory of God.

Stuart and Laverne so that's huge very, very significant.

Tim and Ruth Bixby are missionaries under out under EMU international and they are making good progress in church planting efforts in France, the director of the mission and asked him to fill out some forms. Some of the things that I want to pull a few things off of this report is to encourage you it says listed three list at least three major goals you have set for you. Industry says number one. We are praying that God will help us will help us obtain the needed funding to be able to purchase our building and if you recall, they were raising money to purchase this building, they renovated it and they of raised about 1/4 of what they need. So we need to be undergirding that need in prayer. Second goal he has. He says I want to focus on training two of our men to take on more leadership. Number three. We want to help attenders grow in their doctrinal knowledge and practical living. So he says. List two or three prayer requests you would like to share number one for provision for the purchase of our church building number two for a national man/family called of God to the ministry you could join the work to partner with us and eventually take on leadership and then three for God to create a thirst to know him and draw more people into the local church. So just a couple of things concerning the Bixby's to keep them before you and the needs of their ministry. You remember they have five children.

Michalak Miriam Zachary Zachary Gabriel and the last one. Simeon, born April 9, 2019 sages a little over year old level. Webster's are also in France ministering there and they too are been affected by coronavirus and restrictions that are been placed on them, but they're finding ways and means to carry on ministry, but I thought it was interesting. He says we both 61 years old, but in overall good health. However, since Melanie has epilepsy. We have tried to be extra careful, we are allowed one hour a day to exercise within 1 km of our house since we are blessed to live in a beautiful spacious housing development with many walkways through gorgeous greenery we've taken full advantage.

Pray for our young families who are confined in small apartments. He says, believe it or not Mike is still among the most tech savvy in our church so we had to take a crash course online and through web web seminars to learn or relearn in order to choose the best options for our contacts and how to implement them how to teach others to use them so again there making use of the technology of our day to carry on ministry. Here's a prayer request.

He says pray for decisions directly affecting the future of the church that are an important step towards full autonomy that an annual business meeting in March and things have been placed on hold their so remember the Webster's and that matter we are involved in tap ministries ministry that collects use resources and distributes them to Third World countries.

A lot of things go to the Philippines and India. This is just a short update concerning attack ministry and again tap stands for teachers assistance program.

He says for all of us are worlds of change completely in the last month over covert, 19 tap is no different. Things have been very quiet this last month, our shipping partners have added international surcharges which has increased our shipping costs considerably during this time we seen practically no materials dropped off his people are adhering to the stay at home, order or donations in the month of March were about half of our normal income were not complaining where dealing with the fallout.

Like every other ministry this past month. We were not able to ship anything.

So we spent extra time organizing cleaning and packing boxes for Shoop future shipments all over missionary partners. We would normally be shipping to are also dealing with his pandemic in their own countries. At various degrees, so we are in a holding pattern we are ready and waiting for this to pass so that we can resume our normal activities. Thank you. Your continued prayers and support.

So there's just a few updates concerning her missionaries well at this time we normally would take a Wednesday night project offering. We have been able to do that now seven weeks so that is another opportunity. That's not being afforded to you, but again, we believe that things will return to normal work trusting sooner as opposed to later as I thought about tonight and what to do. I came across a book written by John Piper.

He wrote a book in early March entitled Christ and the coronavirus now. I was made aware that you could listen to it by e-book Crossway publishing had not made the book available yet. When I first learned of the book this week. I was able to download a PDF file from desiring God's ministries website. Basically have a copy of the book I was able to read it quickly and and read it again and because of the timing of it because it's a time sensitive matter.

I don't think of ever done this before in terms of give a book report and read extensively from a book, but I want to do that tonight because of Piper skill of addressing the subject and he has some wonderful things to say wonderful insights. So that's what I want to do with the time we have tonight and again you can go to desiring God ministries website. If you have a printer hooked up to your computer can doubt download this PDF file produce hundred page book. I'm not gonna read heartlessly the hundred page book, but I want to just walk through this book and some of the salient points.

I trust this will be a blessing to you. I think this is on everybody's mind the pastors feel a responsibility to equip the saints to do the work of the ministry. We can't be where you are. We don't have the contacts you have. People are on social media people have an interaction by phone and other means, and we want you to have at your disposal truths that you can speak into the situation. A timely word that will edify and point people to Christ and make sense of what is going on so this is what is printed on the back of that book. On January 11, 2020, a novel coronavirus reportedly claimed its first victim in the Wuhan province of China by March 11, 2020. The World Health Organization had declared a global pandemic in the midst of this fear and uncertainty. It is natural to wonder what God is doing in coronavirus.

In Christ, John Piper invites readers around the world to stand on the solid rock who is Christ Jesus, in whom our souls can be sustained by the sovereign God who ordains, governs and reigns over all things to accomplish is wise and good purposes for those who trust in him.

What is God doing through coronavirus. Piper offers six biblical answers to that question. Showing us that God is at work in this moment in history and wanting to draw your attention to three of those answers that he raises again what is God doing the through the coronavirus. He gives six and I'm going to draw your attention to three of those six but the book is divided up into two sections. Section number one. The God who reigns over the coronavirus and that takes you through page 55 and then part number two what is God doing through the coronavirus and that is takes it through the end of the book. I think it's helpful to be reminded that although this is unprecedented in our personal history, it is not unprecedented in terms of human history there been other pandemics 1918 there was an influenza pant pandemic that the Center for disease control claims that 50 million people around the world died 1/2 a million people died in the United States from that virus were told that people would begin to manifest symptoms in the morning and by evening they would be dead they would go around and pick up dead bodies off the porches and bury them in mass graves that have been produced by a bulldozer again that's just in 1918. This is what he says in the opening chapter of the book he says I am moved to write because playing the odds is a fragile place to put your hope odds like 3% versus 10% youth versus old-age compromise health versus no history of disease, rural versus urban self isolated versus home meeting with friends playing the odds provides little hope it is not a firm place to stand. There is a better way. There is a better place to stand and there is a rock of certainty rather than the sand of probabilities and then he uses by personal illustration. A diagnosis that he received in 2005 cancer says when the first diagnosis came all the talk was about odds odds with waiting to see odds with medications odds with home of fat pathic procedures odds with radical surgery. He says my wife Noel and I took these numbers seriously, but in the evening we would smile at each other and think. Our hope is not in all its our hope is in God we did not mean it is 100% certain God will heal me. While doctors can only give me odds. The rock we are talking about is better than that. Yes, better than healing.

Even before the phone call from the doctor telling me I telling me I had cancer got it already reminded me in a remarkable way about the rock under my feet. After my usual annual exam urologist had looked at me and said I'd like to do a biopsy, really.

I thought when right now. If you have time I'll make time while he was going to get the machine and while I was changing into the typical unflattering blue gown.

There was time for me to ponder what was happening so he thinks I have cancer as my future in this world began to change before my eyes got brought to my mind, something I had read recently in the Bible, God spoke not says let's be clear, I don't hear voices. I at least I never have my confidence that God speaks is rooted in the fact that the Bible is his word. He has spoken once for all, and he still speaks in his word, the Bible rightly understood, is the voice of God. Here is what he said to me in that urologist offices I waited for the biopsy that would confirm that I cancer first Thessalonians 5 verses nine and 10. God is not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ who died for us so that whether we are awake sleep. We might live with him. Piper's is a wake or sleep that is live or die, I will be allied with God.

How can that be on the center of never lived the day of my life. Not one without falling short of God's standards of love and holiness. So how can this be how can God say you John Piper will be with me live or die. God didn't even wait for the question before he answered is because of Jesus. Jesus alone because of his death. There will be no wrath toward me, not because of my perfection, my sins my guild and my punishment fell on my Savior, Jesus Christ. He died for us. That's what his word says.

Therefore, I am free from guilt free from punishment secure in God's merciful favor live or die. God said you will be with me then he says that is very different from playing the odds with cancer or with the coronavirus. This is a firm rock under my feet is not fragile. It is not sand. I would like it to be a rock under your feet, and that's why I am writing. He says people would often ask me before my cancer diagnosis.

How is your health and I would say line is I don't answer that way anymore. I say I feel fine. There's a difference the day before I went for the annual prostate exam. I felt fine.

The day after I was told I had cancer. In other words, I was not fine.

So even as I write these words I do not know if I am fine. I feel fine, way better than I deserve for all I know I have cancer right now, or perhaps a blood clot or the coronavirus. What's the point. The point is this the ultimate reason we ought not to say I am fine is that God alone knows and decides if you are fine now to say I am fine when you don't know if you are fine and you don't control if you are fine is like saying tomorrow I will go to Chicago and do business there. When you have no idea if you will even be alive tomorrow, let alone doing business in Chicago.

Here's what the Bible says about a sentence like that. James chapter 4 verses 13 to 15, now you who say today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life for you are a mix that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say if the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.

So the God who was involved only in the by-and-by just evaporated. That's the effect of the bright sunlight of biblical truth on shaky ground and miss missed of our opinions. Many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivers him out of them all. Psalm 34 verses 18 and 19. He says no man can comfort our souls in this Pandemic Way, God can. His comfort is unshakable. It is the comfort of a great high rock in the stormy sea. It comes from his word, the Bible. Now he's going to talk about God's sovereignty that it is all pervasive pieces.

Isaiah teaches that this part of the very essence this is the very essence of what it means to be God. Isaiah 46, nine and 10.

I am God and there is no other.

I am God and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times, things not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose to be God is to cause his own counsel to stand always. God does not just declare which future events will happen. He makes them happen.

He speaks his word and then he adds in Jeremiah 1 through 12. I am watching over my Word to perform it is powerful, he says the coronavirus was sent by God. This is not a season for sentimental views of God. It is a bitter season and God ordained it God governs it, he will lend it. No part of it is outside his sway life and death are in his hand. Therefore, as we ponder our future with the coronavirus or any other life-threatening situation. James tell James tells us how to think and speak you want to say if the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that if he wills.

We will live. If not, we want pieces for all I and for all I know I will not live to see this book published.

I have at least one relative infected with the coronavirus I'm 74 years old and my lungs are compromise with the blood clot and seasonal bronchitis, but these factors do not ultimately decide, God decides he says is that good news, yes it's good news it's the best news moving along quite well here were in chapter 5 of his book. Again, I'm just button on site points trying to maintain the flow and help you and I know by doing it this way that I am I'm losing eye contact with you because I'm reading so much and it's a trade-off that I think the content is worth the trade-off so this is chapter 5. Why should I receive the news of God's sovereignty over the coronavirus and over my life as a sweet teaching. This is what he says the secret is knowing that the same sovereignty that could stop the coronavirus yet doesn't is the very sovereignty that sustains the soul in it.

The very sovereignty that rules and sickness is the sovereignty that sustains and loss. The very sovereignty that takes life is the sovereignty that conquered death and brings believers home to heaven in Christ.

It is not sweet to think that Satan sickness and sabotage fate or chance as the last say in my life that is not good news that God reigns is good news. Why, because God is holy and righteous and good and he is infinitely wise with daughter wisdom in mind, he has counsel and understanding. Job 12 verse 13. His understanding is beyond measure. Psalm 147 verse five he says nothing surprises him confuses him or baffles him his infinite power rests in the hands of infinite holiness and righteousness, and goodness and wisdom and all that stands in the service of those who trust his son Jesus Christ. What God did in sending Jesus to die for sinners has everything to do with the coronavirus and he's making this connection in Romans 832 that I made earlier. He who did not spare his own son, but give them up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things. This means that God's willingness to send his son to be crucified in our place is his declaration and validation that he will use all his sovereignty to give us all things, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things, meaning he most certainly will is guaranteed by the blood of his son and what are these all things.

They are the things we need to do his will to glorify his name and make it safely into his joyful presence. Amen on that now.

He says even if Satan on his divine lease has a hand in our suffering and death. He is not ultimate you cannot hurt us without God's permission and limitation and in the end it is right for us to say to Satan what Joseph said to his brothers who had sold him into slavery. As for you, you meant it for evil but God meant it for good. He says be careful not to water this down. It does not say God used it for good, or God turn it for good.

It says God meant it for good.

They had an evil purpose. God had a good purpose. God didn't start cleaning up halfway through this sinful mess.

He had a purpose and meaning from the beginning. From the start he meant it for good. So now the section.

What is God doing through the coronavirus and I encouraged by these preliminary thoughts before he begins to speak to the six issues and again will look through them. He says if God has not been dethroned if indeed he governs all things according to the counsel of his will, and if this coronavirus outbreak with all its devastation is in his holy, righteous, good and wise hands, then what is he doing, what are his purposes.

This is the first thing to say before trying to answer this question is that compared to the wisdom of God. My opinion counts for nothing.

So does yours, what we think out of our own hedges of little significance. The Bible says that whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool. Instead, we are told to trust in the Lord with all our heart and not to lean upon her own understanding. We humans are finite, sinful, culturally conditioned and shaped by our genes, and personal history out of our hearts and minds in miles, every manner of self-justifying rationalization for our preferences so we would be wise to pay attention to the prophet Isaiah when he says stop regarding man in whose nostrils. His breath four of what account is he is then not presumption for me to write this book, let alone is it then not presumption for me to write this book, let alone a section titled what is God doing through the coronavirus.

He says no it is not presumptuous, not if God has spoken in the Scriptures, not of God is stupid to speak in human words so that we might truly know him and his ways not of Paul's words are true, the God lavished his grace upon us in all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of his will. So says my name is not to dream up ideas about what God might be doing. My aim is to listen to his word in Scripture and commend to you what I hear. He says another thing I would say before I try to answer the question what is God doing, is that he is always doing a billion things we do not know Psalm 40 verse five you've multiplied O Lord my God your wondrous deeds in your thoughts toward us. None can compare with you.

I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than and be told. Not only are his designs in the coronavirus beyond counting. They are in many ways, O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are his judgments, and how inscrutable his ways. But when Paul wrote that he was not saying so close, so close your Bible and make up your own reality. On the contrary, those words about God's inscrutable ways were written as a climax to 11 chapters of the greatest news in the world, all of which are written to be understood. For example, when Paul touches on the inevitability of suffering.

He says we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love is been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. Romans five verses three and five. Knowing the Scriptures are written, that we might know the things God has revealed, especially about suffering, including this coronavirus outbreak so inscrutable means that God is always doing more than we can see and even if what we can see we would not have seen if he had not revealed.

I what is God doing answer number one God is giving the world in the coronavirus outbreak, as in all other calamities. A physical picture of the moral horror and spiritual ugliness of God be little belittling sin sin. In fact, is while physical misery exists. The third chapter the Bible describes the entrance of sin into the world. Romans chapter 5 in verse 12 says sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sin. He says when I trace the miseries of this world back to God's judgment. I am not shutting my eyes to the fact that Satan is very involved in our global misery. The Bible calls him the God of this world and the ruler of this world and the prince of the power the air. He has been a murderer from the beginning he binds and oppresses with many diseases but Satan is on a leash. The leashes in God's hands. He does not act without God's leave. He asked only with permission and limitation God decides. Finally, the extent of Satan's damage is not separate from God's judgment. He serves it unwittingly better not skip this piece is key question here is the question that brings the meaning of the coronavirus into sharper focus. Why did God bring a physical judgment on the world for a moral evil. Adam and Eve defied God, their hearts turned against God. They preferred their own wisdom to his. They chose independence over trust. This defying and preferring and choosing was a spiritual and moral evil.

It was sin in the soul.

First, not in the body was first God were not man word, but in response to moral and spiritual rebellion, God subjected the physical world to disaster and misery. Why, why not leave the physical world in good order and bring misery on the human soul, since that's where it all started. He says here's my suggestion.

God put the physical world under a curse so that the physical horrors we see around us in diseases and calamities would become a vivid picture of how horrible sin is. In other words, physical evil is a parable, a drama, a signpost pointing to the moral outrage of rebellion against God. Why might that be fitting because in our present condition after the fall, blinded by sin. We cannot see or feel how repugnant sin against God is hardly anyone in the world feels the horror of preferring other things over God who loses any sleep over our daily belittling of God by neglect and defiance but oh how we feel our physical pain. How indignant we become.

If God touches our bodies, we may not grieve over the way we demean God every day in our hearts, but what the coronavirus common threaten our bodies and he has our attention or does it physical pain is God's trumpet blast to tell us that something is dreadfully wrong in the world, disease and deformity are God's pictures in the physical realm of what sin is like in the spiritual realm that is true even though some of the most godly people in the world bear those diseases and deformities. Calamities are God's previews of what sin deserves and will one day receive in judgment a thousand times worse. There were warnings there wake-up calls to see the moral before and spiritual ugliness of sin against God. One that we could all see and feel how repugnant our offensive how abominable it is to treat our maker with contempt to ignore him and distrust him and demean him and give him less attention in our hearts than we give the style of our hair. We need to see this and feel this or we will not turn to Christ for salvation from the ugliness of sin. We may cry out to escape the penalty of sin, but will we see and hate the God, the meaning moral ugliness of sin. If we don't it will not be because God is not provided vivid portrayals of it in physical misery like the coronavirus.

Therefore God is mercifully shouting to us in these days wake-up sin against God is like this. It is horrible and ugly, and far more dangerous than the coronavirus. Another answer that he gives what is God doing in the coronavirus.

He said number. This is another point.

The coronavirus is a God-given wake-up call to be ready for the second coming of Christ. Jesus said that there would be pointers to is coming like wars, famines and earthquakes. He called the signs birth pains.

The images of the is of the earth as a woman in labor trying to give birth to the new world which Jesus would bring into being at is coming. Paul picked up this imagery. In Romans 822 and referred the birth pains to all the groanings of this age all the miseries of disaster and disease like the coronavirus, he pictured us in our diseases as part of the labor pains of the world. We grown as we wait for the redemption of our bodies at the coming of Jesus when he will raise the dead, and give us new glorious bodies.

He says my point is this, Jesus wants us to see birth pains including the coronavirus as reminders and alerts that he is coming and that we need to be ready. You must be ready for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect Matthew 24 verse 44.

You don't have to be a date setter in order to take seriously what Jesus says what he says is unmistakable. Beyond our people wake for you do not know when the time will come, stay awake for you do not know when the master of the house will come and what I say to you I say all stay awake. Mark 13 verse 33 to 37. He says the way to be ready to come to Jesus Christ and receive forgiveness for sins and walk in his life, then you will be ready. What God is doing in the coronavirus is showing us graphically, painfully, that nothing in this world gives the security and satisfaction that we find in the infinite greatness and worth of Jesus. This global pandemic takes away our freedom of movement or business activity in our face-to-face relations.

It takes away our security and our comfort and in the end it may take our lives. The reason God exposes us to such losses is to rouse us to rely on Christ or to put it another way, the reason he makes calamity. The occasion for offering Christ to the world is that the supreme all satisfying greatness of Christ shines more brightly when Christ sustained joy and suffering.

Consider, for example, why God brought Paul to the point where he despaired of life in Corinthians 1 verses eight and nine Paul writes, we do not want you to be unaware, brothers of the affliction we experienced in Asia for we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death, but that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. Paul does not view this experience of desperation is satanic or random. It is purposeful God is the one whose purpose is mentioned.

This life-threatening experience was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. This is the message of the coronavirus stop relying on yourselves and turn to God. You cannot even stop death.

God can raise the dead and of course, relying on God does not mean that Christians become do nothings Christians have never been do nothings. It means that the ground the pattern in the goal of all our doings is God's. Paul said I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I but the grace of God that was in me. The coronavirus calls us to make God the all-important pervasively pervasive reality in our lives.

Our lives depend on him more than they depend on breath and sometimes God takes our breath in order to throw us unto himself. The last thing he mentions is the effect that this coronavirus has on world missions world evangelization.

He says we may think the Crone outbreak is a setback for world missions. He says I doubt it. God's ways are often include apparent setbacks.

The resulting great advances on January 9, 1985 Pastor reach so Coolidge if a Congregational pastor in Bulgaria was arrested and put in prison. His crime was that he preached in his church. Even though the state had appointed another man as pastor whom the congregation did not elect his trial was a mockery of justice. He was sentenced eight months in prison. During his time in prison.

He made Christ known in every way he could when he got out he wrote both prisoners and jailers asked many questions and it turned out that we had a more fruitful ministry.

There than we could've expected in church, God was better served by our presence in prison than if we had been free and Piper says this is often God's way.

The global scope and seriousness of the coronavirus is too great for God to waste. It will serve his invincible global purpose of world evangelization. Christ is not shed his blood in vain.

In Revelation 59 says that by that blood. He ransomed people for God from every tribe and language. Language and people and nation.

He will have the reward of his suffering and even pandemics will serve to complete the great commission will that's an oversight, a book review of Christ in the coronavirus from John Piper. I would highly recommend it to you. It's obviously it's time sensitive. That's why chose to spend this time this evening exposing you to this and bringing this truth to bear upon your hearts. And again you can find it on desiring God's website idea file and I think there's even a place there that showing that it's available through Crossway for I think nine dollars so take advantage of this resource in this this season. It will help you it will equip you to be help for you, but it also be something that will give you things to say to people who are asking questions who are fearful and anxious. Well let me go over some prayer request with you and and will close our time here season of prayer were praising the Lord. It we bodily who had surgery for a blood clot that surgery went well. Kim Orndorff, Wendy Lynch called to let us know that she is now cancer free Christian Kristin red is greatly improved from auto accident she had a month or six weeks ago and Terry Thorton Marseilles Councilman did ask us to be praying for this woman. She is cancer free.

So praise the Lord to two people on our prayer sheet under cancer or cancer free. Continue to pray for Angela Boyd is she is making progress in her recovery from transplant surgery at Drew Guthrie. Drew is still at Duke Hospital.

She has not been released since your field feeding tube was was inserted last Monday.

That was on the 20th.

She's not tolerated that the two feeding very well. They've had to change them to gradual instead. So, she made her weaker the plan as of right now is to have her released to a rehab facility.

It's difficult with the coven.

19 and no visitors at hospital. A rehab facility so continue to uphold our sister in the Lord. Linda Spencer, Linda has been having back pain for several weeks.

She was able to see the doctor today was given some anti-inflammatory medication, and the doctor was to see her again in three weeks so that's good news that she got some help today under others. David Crowder, this is a neighbor of Bruce and Marseilles Councilman he's been at Duke Hospital due to pancreatitis to be there for at least a couple more weeks. He's having a really hard time. He also has some heart issues so are asking us to him. Scott the Lori is still separated from his family and his wife Evelyn and Daniel buddies hopeful that he's going to be able to him here. He says he says on finding a particularly grievous to be faced with the possibility that I may not have an opportunity to see my family Christ to become Baptist Karcher if lockdown procedures in Manila are not extended beyond April 30. I plan to depart sometime during the first week of May were willing plans to travel to California. Spent some time with his oldest son fly out from San Francisco. So continue to uphold him. He's making use of Skype these days and staying in daily contact with his family and that way but it's less than the best.

So uphold Scott and his family. Ronnie Fossett had a fall were thankful that there wasn't serious he didn't break any bones prefer him he's not home.

Phyllis Holt is a sister of Hazel Garcia from June from Virginia. She fell and broke both shoulders due to her age and being diabetic shall not be able to have search will have to go through rehab. So her in prayer Jack Petrie as well. Amanda Abernathy is asking us to pray for 16-year-old stepson of her sisters. His birth mother passed away shutting down and she passed away very recent last day or so. There is a need Warren Rogers pastor Burtons asked us to pray for him. He fell have surgery on this Friday ask you to remember the family of Waylon Loftus's family gather for graveside service on Tuesday. Carl Henshaw's mother Mildred, and Shaw passed away will be a private family. Graveside service on Saturday at Belmont United Methodist Church and said one more students called in Larry Noris asked us to pray for a grandson, Brandon Morrissey's 31 years of age.

He's at ARMC had to have one of his feet amputated below the knee. So there's some real serious needs. There, both physically and spiritually, for the Bible tells us to pray without ceasing, the men ought always to pray and not to faint.

So his thank you for joining us again tonight. Would you join me as we look to the Lord and bring some of these needs to him and close our season in prayer father how thankful we are that we have audience with the God of heaven.

How grateful we are that you have resources at your disposal to meet our needs and to do so in an abundant way. Thank you, are God that we can pray to you, and as we pray, you hear us. Thank you for the answers to prayer for these two are now cancer free for Kristin red is made improvement from an auto accident. Lord, you have shown yourself mighty in deed and we pause to give you thanks for answered prayer are mindful tonight.

Our father of those we know and love are mindful of store bought his situation. We thank you for this progress. We pray that you would sustain him. We pray that you would minister to them in the inner man we pray that you would provide a suitable donor. We know what that means.

That means someone's life will be taken and we pray that it would be a believer in Jesus Christ.

Somebody who will be translated from this earthly domain into your glorious presence. So Lord, we ask you to superintend our brother and his dear wife and this season of optimism. We pray for Drew Guthrie she she's knowing great measure of difficulty in these cancer treatments in dealing with a feeding tube in the strength that is draining away from her body. Please sustain her pleas uphold her. Please encourage her Lord, we pray, thank you for the help that Linda Spencer got at the doctor today.

Pray that she will no greater measure of mobility without pain and discomfort you want to pray for Bruce Marseilles's neighbor, David Crowder and ask that you would meet this man's physical needs. We are mindful of our brother Scott and we I would ask that you would go before him in Lord if it would please you allow him to be able to make this trip to see is Elder's eldest son in California and fly out from San Francisco to be reunited with his family for thank you for the confidence we have that you ordain all things in your providence, you have ordered this for he and Evelyn and Daniel, thank you for the technology that allows them to stay connected in the way he has. Pray for Phyllis Holt who has some broken both of her shoulders and cannot have surgery.

Pray that the rehab would be successful. Thank you for Jack Petrie. Pray that he would continue to do well with his dialysis treatments for route, Warren Rogers, who's had a fall and will have surgery on Friday. Pray that that would go well.

We pray for these families that have suffered loss in recent days, said goodbye to a loved one for the home-going of Mildred Henshaw how we thank you for her sweet testimony of love for Christ and devotion to Christ all these years. Lord, we pray you minister to her family as they miss her already and yet are rejoicing that her suffering is behind her's has declined over the these last couple years from a stroke that she's had so thank you Lord for calling her home to be with you for Waylon Loftus Lee ask you to draw near to Doris and encourage her and help her renew her strength and for for Chad as well minister to them according to their needs. As you know them to be. We pray for Larry Noris's grandson is so is in serious condition at ARMC having had I leg amputated young man of 31 years of age most likely outside of Christ, Lord, use this to arrest him or to use this to open his blinded eyes bring him to a place of desperation that he cries out to you for mercy. Lord have mercy upon his never dying soul. We pray over. Thank you for gifted men in our day. I thank you for Dr. John Piper's man who took the occasion to write this book Christ in the coronavirus. What a tremendous resource available to the church of Jesus Christ. What I pray for a wide distribution of this book that would fall under the hands of millions upon millions upon millions of people and people will be confronted with the God of heaven who orders all things who's using this for his own purposes.

Men and women would come to saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and that the church of Jesus Christ would be awakened and would be prepared and be anticipating and longing and looking for his coming Lord, we know that you do all things well we don't need understand all that you're doing all we need to do is trust you your good and wise and your loving and your faithful so Lord, thank you for this time we've had together this evening use it.

Lord, that he might bear fruit in our hearts that might bear fruit.

Eternal fruit in the lives of those we know and love and will have contact with her. Thank you for the ministry of your word.

Thank you that your word is more relevant than today's newspaper. It speaks to our life right now, Lord, how grateful we are for a word from heaven a word from our God. We pray that you would help us to remain steadfast and unmovable, abounding in the things of the Lord that are footing would remain solid as we stand on the rock Christ Jesus. As we look around us and see many people who are finding that the footing under their lives is shifting and it is nothing but sand that they would flee to the rock that is higher than they are mindful of our missionaries that we've heard from the Bixby's. We thank you for the ministry that's ongoing. We pray that you would indeed hear the prayers of the Bixby's and others who are standing with them that you would raise up a man a suitable man that could be trained for leadership. We thank you for Tim's desire to pour his life in a couple of man. We ask that you grant that request and the funds needed to purchase this building is the time is ticking away a three year commitment.

We ask that you would in a way that would bring honor and glory to you that would defy any human explanation provide for that church.

We thank you for its growth in its development. We think of Mike Webster and his wife.

We ask that you would particularly with Melanie and her epilepsy protect her Lord from this coronavirus Lord, thank you for the way they've been able to carry on ministry there commit them to you. Lord were so grateful for the fact that we have audience with you and we have confidence that we can bring our needs before you and you will meet our needs according to your riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Strengthen us in the inner man galvanizes fortify us in these days. Help us, that we might gird up the loins of our minds and be ready make us good ambassadors of the Lord Jesus Christ make us good citizens of your kingdom.

Wherever you put us helpless to shine brightly. Help us to be salt in this decaying world in which we live here us, for Jesus sake and for his glory alone.

We pray in his name, a man and a man