Is He Worth the Risk?

Welcome to God First with Brian C. Thomas, a program committed to encouraging you to put God first while viewing life through the window of the Bible. Now, in honor of the one and only true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, let's join Brian C. Thomas for today's message. Greetings in the name of our wonderful Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

My name is Brian Thomas. And as always, it is a joy and honor and a privilege to join you on the God First program. This week, I have asked my lovely wife, Danita, to join me as we are going to talk about the pandemic that we are currently going through and in the way churches are responding as far as opening for services. So, I want to ask the question, is he worth the risk?

He be it, of course, our Lord, our God, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. And as we think about this pandemic, a lot of things have been based on risk. And we take risk every day. We go out, we decide is it safe to drive on the roads? On a nice sunny day, you say, okay, it's worth the risk to go out to the grocery store or to go to work or wherever. Maybe when it's an ice storm, you say it's not worth the risk.

So, we're going to look at is it worth the risk? And when we look at how churches are responding to this pandemic. So, let's begin by talking about the guidelines. There are guidelines out there by government officials, by medical experts.

They have these recommendations. So, what do you say as far as how churches are to respond to these guidelines and recommendations? I think it's about using godly wisdom and discernment. I think that a lot of churches are saying, well, the government recommends that, you know, we close and things like that. But at the same time, there are a lot of places here at this point that have said things are open, such as grocery stores, bars, different malls and stores like that, department stores. And so, when we think about that, we have to say, okay, I want to be smart about it. But just like people can go to Lowe's or the Home Depot or something like that to shop for things, I should be able to open the doors of the church and be able to have people come in and be able to worship being careful. You know, wear your mask if you want to make masks mandatory. Wear your mask.

Social distance. Let those who are most vulnerable know that they are not required to be at church if they feel unsafe. You know, you can make it so that it's up to that person to decide if they want to come and serve and worship the Lord. And just set your guidelines as far as safety goes, the wash hands, you know, wait and have six feet between each other and those types of things and wear your mask. So those things can be done within your church.

If they can do it in a store, it can be done within your church. And so to clarify, you are not telling people to not wear a mask. If people feel like they should wear a mask, you are recommending that they wear a mask.

Yes, if they want to wear two or three. And that's the thing. And that's the thing I think about, because these are guidelines and recommendations. With this COVID-19 being that it was something new, a lot of stuff came out and, you know, the experts, the medical experts, they were making educated guesses. And if you remember back about a year ago from today, they were actually saying do not wear a mask. There were no needs to wear a mask. Dr. Anthony Fauci was saying that.

So we've gone from don't wear a mask to now to mask is what some are saying. So the point is, though, these are recommendations. And so are we required to follow them? I think it's about using common sense. OK, let's put it that way. When you have the Holy Spirit, when you have the Holy Spirit, God gives you discernment, godly wisdom. And if you don't feel like you have it, you can ask for it. And he gives generously. Right.

Right. So using godly wisdom and discernment and just being careful. I mean, you can follow the guidelines. I think that you look to the Lord for what you need to do. And if the you know, if your state or or city or whatever makes recommendations and they're just, you know, wear your mask and things like that, then you can follow them for the sake of just being safe.

But it does not say if someone because there are different people have different health reasons why they may not be able to wear a mask. And so I would say, you know, people need to use their good judgment. But I feel like churches can open and still follow those recommendations.

They are called recommendations. And if you feel like in your church that you need to work for, a church leader says we need to wear our masks and social distance and have sanitizer available to everybody. Don't touch the offering tray. You can set forth the requirements or the guidelines within your church and and still do what's best for your your congregation. I think the key is that these are recommendations. So a church should not say we are required to follow these things.

These are recommendations, just common sense things. But everybody must, again, make a decision on what they feel is best based on their own personal health and their situation. And so some will cite Romans Chapter 13, verse one by saying the church should be subject to governing authority. So how should we look at Romans Chapter 13, verse one in light of the pandemic?

Looking at that, I think some people kind of take that and kind of twist it to how they would like it to be or how how they can apply it. But governing authorities will put there to punish those who do bad. They're helping to establish law and order and to help people, you know, operate under law and order. And so that's what I look at when I look at Romans 13, verse one, I say, OK, the police tells us that we cannot speed down the road because it's an issue with that. That's the law that has been established. And you need to follow that law. And so they're doing that to keep people from causing terrible accidents.

They've, you know, done research and they know that we can't have these types of speeds on this road. So I follow it. If I be if I decide to be disobedient and break that law, then I'm the bad person and they can take care of that bad person. And so in this situation, though, with covid-19, they're making recommendations, but we also is not just I also think about the Constitution and the freedoms that we have, you know, as far as our religious freedoms. And and then it's almost like when they talk about separation of church and state, which is not in the Constitution, but it's just it's a God it's a it's to help us to not have to I don't want to say not operate under the government, but the government cannot come into our church and tell us how we should worship. And so they are actually honoring the fact that we have God first. If they're not allowed to come into the church and tell us how to worship and things like that. So even they're recognizing that we need to put God first when we are looking at how we need to worship and praise and and conduct things within our church.

But I'm going off in a rabbit hole. But anyway, in Romans 13, I think people are taking it and using it to justify their being closed. But I do know that in a lot of states, churches are exempt. Churches are allowed to be open. So what would be the reason for keeping them closed? And so a lot of states did go and say, OK, we can't tell you to close your church, but these are recommendations. And you also have to look at what's going on in your community.

They've given guidelines for other entities within the community and they're open. And so you can still be respectful of authority. But if you're not doing anything wrong by opening your church, why not open?

Right. Because Romans Chapter 13, verse one, when when God ordained governments, the purpose is to restrain evil. That is the primary purpose of government is restraining evil. And when I think about that, when people say, well, be in submission to governing authorities.

Well, in the Babylonian kingdom, Nebuchadnezzar was the governing authority. Right. Right. And he said, bow down before this golden image. But did they submit to that?

No, because they did not line with with God's will. And in the future, the antichrist is coming. The antichrist is going to be the governing authority and he's going to issue a law which says unless you take his mark, then you will not be able to buy or sell. But the Bible tells us in doing so, you will end up in eternal damnation. You are giving your allegiance to him. So it is not a blanket statement that we are to submit to everything that the governing authorities say. So so we have to use common sense in that and not and not think about it in saying, well, whatever they say concerning church, if they simply say, no, you cannot open church because of the pandemic, we are not just supposed to automatically go with that.

Right. You you question things that are outside of of God, in a sense. So, you know, if you're sure if they settle, make a law and say you have to recognize same sex marriage, are you going to start doing that in your church, knowing that that is outside of God's law? I mean, God's way.

No, you don't do that. There are certain things that we as Christians have to put before government. We do have to put God before government. And I think that the way things are going now with the the ungodly things that are happening rampantly throughout our world, that the Christians are being silenced. And if you allow the, you know, these different guidelines to silence your church by I know people will say, well, I'm on line. I watch church online. But there is a difference when you watch church online versus being in your church and serving and getting out into your community. And they are kind of putting a cap on that when they say, OK, shut your doors. And so they're not recommend, you know, if your state or whatever is not is not saying, you know, you need to shut your doors.

And even if they do say that, you need to question that and fight for your right to have your doors open, because God is first above government. And he is essential. Amen. I agree 100 percent.

And we are going to continue to talk about the topic of is he worth the risk when we come back from the other side of the break? Speaking of how churches should approach opening during the pandemic, don't go away. You are tuned into the God First program. You are listening to Brian C. Thomas on God First. For more of Brian's teachings, please visit God First dot org to browse our extensive library of material. There you will find devotionals, blogs, articles and audio messages available as MP3 downloads on various topics such as salvation, Bible prophecy, marriage and the significance of Lesson Israel, just to name a few.

You can also sign up for our monthly newsletter and visit our Web store. So please visit us at God First dot org. Now, let's return to the conclusion of today's message. Welcome back to the God First program. My name is Brian Thomas, joined by my wife, Danita, and we are discussing the topic.

Is he worth the risk? And we are looking at it in light of the pandemic. Is our Lord God, the father, God, the son, God, the Holy Spirit worth the risk of going to church in light of the covid-19 pandemic? If you would like to listen to this message in its entirety, you can visit us at God first dot org. You can also write to us at God First Bible Fellowship P.O.

Box 266 Knightdale, North Carolina 27545. All right, Danita. So the question again is, is he worth the risk? We know there is a risk with this pandemic. There is a risk with so many things in life. And we have to have to ask the question, though, is going to church worth the risk?

Is God worth the risk? And there are some out there that will say, well, when you hold a church service now in light of covid-19, you are not loving your neighbor as you would love yourself. Mark Chapter 12, verse 31 speaks to that.

So what is your response? I would say that our primary as Christians primarily, we are supposed to passionately seek Jesus Christ and proclaim him and desire to be with him and desire to, you know, to grow with him and grow within him. And and I think that when you say I'm not loving I'm not loving my neighbor because I'm I'm at church. I think that I think is to make somebody feel guilty in a sense and say I'm not going to go because I don't want to make anybody sick or something like that. But everything is in God's control.

What he wants for you is to be faithful. And I think that when you say you're not loving your neighbor, well, I could probably say I love my neighbor so much and my community so much that I'm going to continue to feed on the word of God and proclaim the word of God and go and share that with my my neighbors. Not just online, but I'm going to be there for them physically. And I think that when you say my church is closed, you actually it's almost like you're cutting off access in a sense, because there are people who need fellowship. Yeah, they need community. And I think God set us up so that we you know, it's in our hearts to desire to be with other people and to serve them and to to love them in that way. But I think that you could also say I'll give people the option if you feel like you have a underlying condition, you don't feel comfortable, you know, we're not going to judge you or anything like that. You're welcome to to not come, you know, but I would say you encourage people if you're able or if you feel comfortable to come to church and so that we can continue to go about God's business.

I think that just trying to do things online, it is actually a limitation to that. Yeah, I agree. And folks, so for those of you listening, you were asking the question, is he worth the risk? If you haven't been able to tell already, we definitely say he is worth the risk because we have been in church for 10 months now, almost almost a year. And in a church in which you talk about a thousand members and we've only had a couple of cases of positive covid-19 tests. So we've been going in spite of it and we haven't had any major outbreaks or not any outbreaks. And a lot of churches, the same thing.

And as you were talking, I know there are people out there on the other side of the argument. They will say, well, things that are essential, like going to the grocery store. You got to have food, right?

Physical food. But we say spiritual food is essential. The church is essential. And I think it sends a very bad message to the world when the church decides we're just going to stay closed because, well, you know, there are government officials that say it's non-essential, but we need the fellowship. And as you said, there's a reason why God said in his word to fail not to assemble because we need that.

Yes. And I think, too, with the spiritual food, God also says, don't worry about what you're going to eat. You know, don't worry about these things, because if you're putting God first, he's going to give you everything that you need to go day to day. And I think that it almost it minimizes God's power. You're minimizing what you see is God's power when you say, I'm just going to close. Right. It's like a carnal carnal way of thinking where you're putting the natural before God and his power.

Right. Faith is in believing things that are, you know, that are unseen. You have to trust that God is going to take care.

You're not going to go in there and be crazy and, you know, getting up in people's faces, you know, things like that. You can still go in and worship with care, but you can be in there with your, the people you love and your neighbors and still do things with care and in order. But you are able to go and worship because God wants us to be. He wants to find us faithful. Being faithful means also that you are trusting him and that you are putting his word and his abilities above those of man.

And there are some some people who are giving guidelines who really think themselves so wise that they don't feel like they feel like they can be the only guiding source of everything regarding COVID-19. But we can we can use godly wisdom and discernment and take care and still worship our God, putting our faith in him. And he will protect. He's our protector.

He's our source. And I feel like he gives us wisdom to understand what is OK and what is not. And I do feel like God has the power. And I mean, if we're the same people who are called by his name, who says God can heal cancer, God can heal diabetes, you know, God can do all these different things. God protects me when I drive on the highway. God, you know, he protects my family.

He's the same God who can protect you and keep you as you go about especially worshiping him. You know, I mean, if you're able to go about your day and go to your job, thank you, Lord, for your job, you know, for the job. But if you can go about go get a gas and put gas in your car, go to the store and get your food. You know, those types of things.

Go to the post office, go to the laundromat or whatever you need to do. If you can go about your day, you can definitely put God first and go and say, I'm going to give you my time. Oh, Lord, I'm going to come and worship you because I have faith. You I mean, if you do that for him, he will cover you and keep you. But he does have a plan and we are to respect his plan.

You know, if someone does get covid. We respect God's plan. God has a plan. Right.

Yeah. And we just folks, we say use common sense. Even prior to covid, if I had a cold, if I woke up in the morning and I'm sneezing and coughing, I'm not going to church and breathe all over people. I'm going to use common sense and say I'm going to sit out today because I don't want to get someone else sick. If it was just a head cold or the flu or the strep throat. But I wouldn't call and say we got to shut down the whole church. We can't have service today because I'm sick. So we're saying to use the same common sense in light of covid.

If you have some symptoms, stay home. If you are high risk, maybe you have a pre-existing condition that makes you very vulnerable. Then use common sense. We're not saying to go out to church, but we're saying as a church body as a whole, we need to open because we need that time with God. And there are actual cases out there in which there are some church leaders that are encouraging people to get the vaccine before they return to church. So what do you say to that?

HIPAA? I just say it's up to I mean, it's really up to that person to decide. And I think everyone should pray and ask God, is this what you want for me? I personally feel like I don't know enough about this, this vaccine, and they don't have all of the information.

There hasn't been any long term studies on it or anything like that. And I just say that, you know, you say trust God and, you know, pray and ask God about it. But if God is saying no, you know, if it's on your heart to say, I don't I don't feel comfortable getting it, then you should have that.

You have that right. Because I personally feel like when you are saying that, when you recommend that as a leader to get a vaccine before you return to church, you're putting more faith in that vaccine than you are into God. And I think that sends a bad message.

All right. So the last thing I want to talk about is there are churches that in light of COVID-19, part of their reopening plan, they have restrictions like no singing. We know in the state of California, the government, actually the governor said that people could not sing in church. But some church leaders are saying no singing, no choirs, and they're even limiting the length of the service. So how do you feel about putting those kind of restrictions around the worship service? Honestly, I just feel like it's another way.

I'll just say this. Satan wants us to not church. He does not want us to come together and assemble and grow in Christ and become even bolder and stronger in the Lord, because that makes his battle harder. And I think that when you say don't sing and things like that, pray God and have he inhabits our praise.

He comes and sits with us and dies with us when we praise him. And so to say don't sing. That's I just that I can't get with that one.

I'm sorry. And I mean, you can social distance. People can wear their masks.

That's the purpose of having the mask on. Also, if you have enough distance to where people can sing safely, why not? Why not allow them to sing?

I just I don't I don't quite understand that. And as far as the time limit, people really love putting the time limit on church. They, you know, can sit at a game for three hours and enjoy yourself. But you can't sit and, you know, worship the Lord and listen to the word of God for more than an hour. Yeah, because sports arenas are opening up right now for basketball games and their football games.

You're talking about two or three hours or even more than three hours. And they're there all that time. But yet there are churches that are saying, no, we can't be in service that long.

And you look at these things, you look at how the world is just carrying on and doing what they would like to do. And there are churches that are closed. And I would I kind of wonder if God sits there and he wonders, why are my people folding? Why are my people not fighting and have this passion to get back together to worship? I mean, these are things that I feel like if the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit should be nudging on you, saying I got to have I have got to get to church.

I have got to go and and be with my people and stand there with them in this fight. We are we are we are Christ's ambassadors. We're supposed to be the watchmen.

We're we're supposed to be setting the example for the world. And yet the world is going on and doing all of their things that they would like to do that has nothing to do with God. But yet the things that we have that require that have to do with God, we're just sitting on our hands.

We can't do that. And I don't think God is pleased with that. I think he would say, if you don't fight for anything else, don't worry about fighting for Wal-Mart to open.

You worry about fighting for your church, your church to be open and having the right to worship and praise him. Because I am your source. I provide everything for you. I am the breath of life. I give life.

I take life away. So I would say, you know, God first and you fight for him and you have that passion. And if you feel like you just don't have it, pray and ask God for it. Yeah, because when I hear about putting the time restriction on it, I I cringe because I can't put I can't put a box around God. I can't put a box around the Holy Spirit when the Holy Spirit wants to move.

Just think about this. Maybe what you've been praying for and seeking deliverance for the Holy Spirit may say at the one hour, five minute mark. I'm going to give you that deliverance. But if you say, well, church has the end at one hour, then your opportunity for deliverance was it was missed because you put a time limit on the Holy Spirit. So I do not believe in putting the time limit on the Holy Spirit.

Like you said, if I can go out and go to work, that's the that's the interesting thing about it. We can put in 40 hours a week on a job, but yet people complain even prior to the pandemic. People complain of a church service last more than two hours. What message does that send to God that he's not worth more time than that?

We should be willing to give more time to God into our jobs because it is he who blessed us with the job. And I think about to the time that is coming in which there is going to be great persecution during the tribulation. And already on the earth, there are people who are losing their lives for the sake of the gospel. And I ask myself the question, people that now are going to stay away from church all because of a pandemic in which you have a ninety nine percent chance of surviving. What are they going to do when that time comes?

I don't see them standing for our Lord. So, folks, that is where we are. We ask the question, is he worth the risk? He is worth every single risk. And even if the mortality rate was even worse than what it is, we would still say he's worth the risk because he's our Lord. And we must be eternally minded. You know, if we go in and get covid-19 and we die, well, we end up going to be with Jesus Christ.

That's the end goal anyway. And so in light of that, folks, we want to thank you for tuning in with us this week. Our Lord God is definitely worth the risk. So please, if you are in a church that is not yet open, we want to encourage you to do so. Have faith, have trust in our almighty Lord.

Please come back next week. Until then, remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Bless God's great nation of Israel. To the only wise God be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen.

Amen. You've been listening to the Bible teacher, Brian C. Thomas, founder and president of God First. Brian and God first reserve all copyright protection under applicable law. Our copyright policy is available at our Web site, God first dot org. Until next time, remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Bless God's great nation of Israel and seek first the kingdom of God.