The Kingdom Perspective

Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to a special-edition series of the Kingdom Perspective.

How should we respond to the coronavirus shelter-at-home order?

We should thank God for a providentially enforced Sabbath rest!

Biblically speaking, rest is a good thing. God instituted a Sabbath in the very created order. He commanded the children of Israel to “Remember the Sabbath, and keep it holy”. In other words, the nation of Israel was to cease from their labors, one day in seven, and reflect upon the fact that God provides for his people even when they are helpless. Indeed, it was in their helplessness that He delivered them from the 24/7 slavery in the land of Egypt.

You see, God is not like the pagan deities or rulers, that demand round the clock toil. Human beings do not exist for subservience to anyone. Even God himself shared his rule with human beings when he gave them dominion over the creation. Indeed, even our destiny in the kingdom of Heaven is spoken of a sabbath rest where we will reign with King Jesus.

Now, good Christians can debate about the proper application of the Sabbath command in the life of the church. However, what we cannot debate about is the heart of that command: God is a god who gives rest. And we cannot debate about the propriety of the command: we are mere creatures which God in his grace has made kings of His creation, and so we need rest and deserve it. Slaves have to work 24/7. Kings are free to enjoy the pleasure of their dominion.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to a special-edition series of the Kingdom Perspective.

How should we respond to the forced shut down caused by the coronavirus?

We should take the time to dig deeply into the knowledge of God.

Nothing is more important than knowing God, and nothing is more practical. The great 19th century preacher Charles Spurgeon put it this way:

“I know nothing which can so comfort the soul; so calm the swelling billows of sorrow and grief; so speak peace to the winds of trial, as a devout musing upon the subject of the Godhead.” (morning sermon on January 7, 1855, at New Park Street Chapel, Southwark, England)

God is our source (he made us), and God is our destiny (he is our final judge). We were made by him and for him. We were made to know him and be in relationship with him. But to know and be in relationship with someone requires us to know something about that person. Thus, to begin to know God, we must first know something about him.

So, what can you do to grow in this knowledge about God? I recommend that you grab a classic book that faithfully distills the teaching of Scripture, like Knowing God by J.I. Packer. If you want to start on a more basic level, try R.C. Sproul’s The Holiness of God. And, if you are looking for something more advanced, you’d be hard pressed to find anything more impressive than the Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin.

Bottom line: You should pursue the knowledge of God.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to a special-edition series of The Kingdom Perspective.

What should we do with the emotionally overwhelming situation of the present pandemic?

We should feel free to weep at the sadness of the whole situation.

The Bible is no stranger to weeping and sadness. “Lament” is an entire genre of biblical literature. Multiple Psalms fall into this category, not to mention that entire Old Testament book that goes by the very name “Lamentations”.

And, of course, there is the book of Job, whose sad life goes on for over forty chapters. Job goes deep into the confusion of lament, but he so before God and so in faith to him. Listen to great preacher Charles Spurgeon explain:

“Job was very much troubled, and did not try to hide the outward signs of his sorrow. A man of God is not expected to be a stoic. The grace of God takes away the heart of stone out of his flesh, but it does not turn his heart into a stone. I want you, however, to notice that mourning should always be sanctified with devotion. “Ye people, pour out your hearts before Him: God is a refuge for us.”

When you are bowed down beneath a heavy burden of sorrow, then take to worshipping the Lord, and especially to that kind of worshipping which lies in adoring God, and in making a full surrender of yourself to the Divine will, so that you can say with Job, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.”

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to a special-edition series of the Kingdom Perspective.

How should we think about “doing church” in a time of mandated social distancing?

We should see all the more clearly that the church is a church in exile.

As a church we are experiencing what the Bible calls exile. To be sure, the church in this world is always in exile. Indeed, even when we have the greatest freedom to gather, we are still, a church in exile. Why? Well, ultimately, we are looking for a gathering that is yet to come. We are looking for the new heaven and the new earth. We, as the church, are created in Christ Jesus to be the New Jerusalem, that city that will come down out of heaven, a bride made ready by and for the Lamb—a multitude redeemed out of all tribes and peoples and languages. A people gathered from all times and all places!

For now, though, even in the best of conditions, the “communion of saints” we experience is only partial and incomplete. Yet, as we long for its fullness, we always fight to make the best of it, even as we are now.

Nonetheless, even so, that fullness is only by faith. But take courage, someday our faith will be sight. Someday we will hear “the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,

““Hallelujah!

For the Lord our God

the Almighty reigns.

7 Let us rejoice and exult

and give him the glory,

for the marriage of the Lamb has come,

and his Bride has made herself ready…”

~ Revelation 19

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

1 Peter 1 ESV

1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood:

May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

Transcript:
Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to a special-edition series of The Kingdom Perspective.

What should we do with our emotions in the face of the present pandemic?

We should spend more time in the biblical book of Psalms. The Psalms are the Bible’s song book and as such it is not surprising that they deal with the full gamut of our human emotional experience.

The Reformer John Calvin put it this way:

“I have been accustomed to call this book ‘An Anatomy of all the Parts of the Soul’; for there is not an emotion…which is not here represented as in a mirror.”

Now, since these Psalms are divinely inspired, we can be assured that they show us the proper way to process our emotions before God. We are emotional creatures, and that is a good thing. Our emotions were meant to drive us to relationship with God and positive relationship with one another. However, because of sin our emotions can be out of whack. They can be misleading.

Therefore, like everything else in our human experience, our emotions need to be reoriented according to God’s design. We need to be led by the Word of God and not by the voice of our emotions. In some instances, this will mean that we are affirmed in our emotions (e.g. it is right for you to feel a sense of fear at your own frailty). However, in other instances we will need to be corrected in our emotions (e.g. just because you feel your own frailty does not mean that you cannot likewise turn to God in your fear and trust Him).

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to a special-edition series of the Kingdom Perspective.

What should we do in the face of the coronavirus epidemic?

We should take comfort that God saves us through suffering not apart from suffering.

Peter tells us to not be surprised by the “fiery ordeal” that comes upon us for our “testing”. In the context the “fiery testing” speaks of precious metal in the furnace. The heat allows the dross to separate from the gold, and as the dross floats to the top it can be more easily discarded. So it is with our faith. God uses the sufferings of this present life (the heat of trouble), in order to purify our faith—in order that we may rejoice more fully in the “praise and glory and honor” we will share with Jesus Christ at his second coming (1 Peter 1:7). Something so glorious that even the glimpse of it in the here and now makes us “rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory” (1 Peter 1:8). He saves us not apart from suffering, but rather through it.

Jesus presses the same truth on his disciples in the Upper Room discourse: “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have trouble. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” Remember, Jesus says this the night before his crucifixion. His crucifixion! A suffering so unimaginable that those closest to him could not see it coming. But it did come, and “Christ suffered for our sin once for all” (1 Peter 3:18). And so, God saved us, not apart from suffering, but rather through the suffering of his only begotten Son.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to a special-edition series of the Kingdom Perspective.

What should we do in the face of the coronavirus pandemic?

We should be particularly concerned to care for the most vulnerable.

The New Testament writer James defines “pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God” as caring for “orphans and widows in their distress.” “Orphans and widows” is a reference the most vulnerable in society; in the ancient world they were the “poster children” for the needy and marginalized. Thus, in times of great upheaval, we as Christians need to be most concerned to care for those that are most vulnerable—first, within our churches, and then also outside our churches. This may take some thought: who are the most physically/financially/socially vulnerable and how can I care for them, practically?

One most basic ways is through financial giving to your local church. Many churches have a benevolence or mercy fund from which they help the needy. You should contribute to this generously—above and beyond your regular giving to the church’s gospel ministry.

Now, James seems to suggest that those that have this “pure and undefiled religion” (i.e. James’s term for true understanding of the gospel) are particularly drawn to care for the neediest. Why? Because a genuine experience of the gospel brings us to a deep and true recognition of our own neediness before a holy God. We are spiritual paupers (sinners) in need of His mercy—and it is precisely His mercy that He has so freely and generously lavished on us in Jesus. Thus, experiencing His kindness makes us kind.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

NOTE: If you wish to volunteer or know of needs in the community, please email [email protected] to be directed to a CRC point person. We also encourage you to continue to give regularly to support the work of the church. All the more in the face of growing needs in our community, we encourage you to give above and beyond your regular giving, by contributing to the church’s Benevolence Fund. The Benevolence Fund is used in two main ways – 1) to help those with material needs within our church, and 2) to help those with need in the broader Upper Valley Community.

For your convenience here are the links to giving online:
Regular Giving to CRC
The Benevolence Fund at CRC

You may also give by mailing your gifts to Christ Redeemer Church, PO Box 5523, Hanover, NH 03755.

To learn more about CRC’s charitable work and financial giving policy, please visit visit here.

Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to a special-edition series of the Kingdom Perspective.

What should we do in the face of the coronavirus?

We should grow in our understanding of God’s providential care and the comfort that comes from it.

The coronavirus does not catch our God by surprise. He is lord of all creation. There is not a single atom, not a single virus, that escapes his notice or power.

Listen as the Heidelberg Catechism explains this in simple question/answer format:

Q: What do you understand by the providence of God?
A: Providence is the almighty and ever present power of God by which he upholds, as with his hand, heaven and earth and all creatures, and so rules them that leaf and blade, rain and drought, fruitful and lean years, food and drink, health and sickness, prosperity and poverty— all things, in fact, come to us not by chance but from his fatherly hand.

Q: How does the knowledge of God’s creation and providence help us?
A: We can be patient when things go against us, thankful when things go well, and for the future we can have good confidence in our faithful God and Father that nothing will separate us from his love. All creatures are so completely in his hand that without his will they can neither move nor be moved.

In troubled times like ours, we can find comfort in a God that both holds our lives in his hand and has our best interest at heart.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to a special-edition series of the Kingdom Perspective.

How should we respond to the coronavirus?

With confidence that God is working all things together for good.

Remember that scene in The Lord of the Rings where Frodo is lamenting to Gandalf about the trouble that has come upon him because of the Ring.

Frodo: “I wish the ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened”

Gandalf replies: “So do all who live to see such times; but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world, Frodo, besides the will of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the Ring. In which case, you were also meant to have it. And that is an encouraging thought.”

Tolkein’s point, though subtle, is brilliant. Evil shall not have the final say, because there is an intention at work in our world that is higher than the intention of evil. Indeed, the coronavirus may work evil. But God, the sovereign maker of heaven and earth, intends and is working good for us through it. Though the devil has the power to twist creation to our destruction, God has the power to “twist” evil to our salvation.

How do we know this? Look to the cross. On the cross, the evil of our sin, the malice of humanity and the wickedness of the devil conspired to bring about the most heinous act of all time—the unjust murder of the Holy Son of God. But, this was not the final word. The gospel is always the final word. The cross was not merely a conspiracy of evil; it was the conspiracy of God’s love. Listen to Scripture: “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

Such hope out of despair, good out of evil, inherent in the gospel, gives those who trust it undying confidence.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to a special-edition series of the Kingdom Perspective.

What should we do in the face of the coronavirus?

We should commit our lives to God’s eternal safe-keeping.

This pandemic reveals that we do not ultimately control our lives. God is in control. Not us. Your life is not your own. You belong to Him. Your life is in His hands. And, for those who know God as their loving heavenly Father through Jesus Christ, this is a very good thing.

The New Testament writer Jude speaks of God as the One “who is able to keep you”. “Keep” means to guard and protect. We see similar sentiment in Romans 8 where we are told that “if God is for us who can be against us” (Romans 8:31). The ruler and judge of heaven and earth is for us. Indeed, he died for our sin!

And so, God is in the business of keeping His people safe in His grace. God has promised to complete the salvation that he has begun in us, namely that through all the trial and trouble of this world we shall be transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29). This is God’s good and sure plan.

Thus, there is no reason for us to react in fear. History shows that fearful people do foolish things. Desperate people make desperate moves. However, we have no reason to feel desperate.

We are, thus, free to act in faith-filled wisdom, for we know that in whatever comes our way we are more than conquerors through him who loves us, and that nothing shall be separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:37-39).

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.