075: Bryan Styles - The Parable of COVID-19

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

1. 0:00

   Welcome to the Good Christadelphian Talks podcast. I'm Levi. And I'm Chris. Thank you so much for joining us this week. On this podcast, we select one talk a week to help each one of us get the Bible in our daily news feed. We post at the start of each week for you to listen, with a short intro beforehand to kind of set the stage for the talk you're about to hear.

2. 0:33

   And now, let's hear more about this week's talk. Hey, Chris. Hey, Levi. How are you doing? Oh, man. Crazy week. We decided to record a phone call between the two of us just to talk about what a week it's been with all the coronavirus stuff going on. So, yeah, we both had crazy weeks at work.

3. 1:01

   And, yeah, how was your week? Week was crazy. I do IT work. Everybody, you know, suddenly realizing the concept of working from home who had never paid attention to it before. So, people coming out of the woodwork, a lot of late hours getting people set up. And then it's been challenging now getting things working from home, being able to support people.

4. 1:22

   And normally, you would just swing by and talk to them in person. So, it's been an adjustment for sure for me and for the team. How about you? Yeah, I sell insurance. So, a lot of companies are really worried about what's going to happen if they have to close down for a while.

5. 1:36

   And some have started closing down. So, it's just a very, very apocalyptic feeling, I've been saying to my wife all week. It's just, you know, we kind of pray for, you know, the coming of kingdom and never really expect about what, never really think about what an apocalypse might feel like. And I'm not saying this is it, because I think that would be an error, you know.

6. 1:56

   And I think Brian says that in our class this week. He says the same thing. But if this isn't it, this is what it feels like, you know, which is a strange experience. Yeah, yesterday I had to run into town to get gas from my car and pick up dinner from a restaurant that was basically doing walk-in, walk-out only orders.

7. 2:18

   Yeah. And there were, like, pockets of normalcy. And then all of a sudden there would be, you know, the kind of social distancing stuff kind of would slap you in the face where, you know, you walk into a restaurant. And, you know, you could have driven a car between the spaces between every single person in the restaurant.

8. 2:34

   It was apocalyptic. It's a good description. It's a small thing, but I've been finding it really funny. I go for jogs in the morning and usually you just kind of jog right past someone. But now if I'm jogging and someone gives me a wide berth, all of a sudden it's just a very strange feeling.

9. 2:49

   So our class this week is by brother Brian Stiles, The Parable of COVID-19. And we had this class suggested to us multiple times. I think it was a midweek class at Livonia just this week. And it's a really interesting study because Brian kind of takes some kind of spiritual lessons, some kind of Bible study lessons, and also just some super practical lessons from this time.

10. 3:10

    He does a really good job of mixing a lot of concepts like, again, kind of serious Bible study and symbology of leprosy and disease in the Bible. But then also kind of end times and what the times we're in and then how to act. Definitely a really interesting class, jumping around a lot, but great to listen to during these crazy times.

11. 3:32

    He makes a point. My favorite point that he makes is in the middle of the class, basically, he talks about how much of a how much we've been kind of given this time in these self, you know, self-quarantine, social distancing kind of time at home alone to learn lessons. And I really found that to be powerful.

12. 3:49

    Like, you know, it would be a real loss if this isn't the end, if this isn't the apocalypse, to get through this trial and not have learned anything. And that is a very powerful lesson that we need to be sure that as we are experiencing this, that we are taking lessons out of it and not just reacting, but taking time to learn beyond surviving.

13. 4:09

    Yeah, definitely. That was one of the points, both from this class and I've also seen the spirit of that idea being shared by lots of different people and, you know, trying to be uplifting in social media and different emails and things going around. And that was, I think, one of the things that's like, you know, not taking this as a, well, I just lost two weeks or a month or however long this is going to end up having to be where everyone's isolated.

14. 4:32

    But instead to see it as a, now you suddenly have more time on your hands to do some of the things that you've always said that you really wanted to get done. Right. But because life always managed to get in the way, you never were able to find that time. Well, now that excuse has kind of disappeared.

15. 4:48

    So, yeah, don't, don't rest back on your laurels, you know, seize it and go. Yeah. So, again, I felt it was important for us to share this class. And I think what we'd like to do is ask that, because we've also heard, we also had some suggestions for exhortations that happened last Sunday.

16. 5:04

    There's going to be another round this coming Sunday for any meetings that are meeting together. If you hear a good exhortation or another, you know, great message for us to share at this time, please send it on to us. Contact us anyway through social media or email. We'll probably repost that because I think it's helpful to listen to the thoughts of people in our community at this time.

17. 5:24

    So definitely, definitely forward on to us anything that you hear that's helpful for this, you know, again, for this crazy time. And, yeah, we posted Bob Lloyd last week. Yeah. I think, yeah, things have clearly grown exponentially since then. Yeah, definitely. And we're going to make sure that all the older podcasts that have already been posted have their titles updated to call out the ones that are already exhortations.

18. 5:48

    Some of them have it. Some of them don't. To make sure that if you're looking for stuff that's already been posted that was an exhortation, because, you know, a lot of people, you're working from home or living at home right now and aren't able to go into meeting. If you're running into situations where you can't participate in, like, a live stream or memorial service for whatever reason, those are there.

19. 6:07

    Yeah. I know we're both trying to get through some other exhortations in addition to just regular classes so that we can try to maybe add a couple bonus episodes in just to give people a few more exhortations to go from, just to have something more that you can listen to, you know, when they're not able to fellowship in person.

20. 6:25

    And it's been cool seeing all the social media reaction to this. I think we have a wonderful community, and I think we really have a service. You know, social media can do a really good thing here in offering help as we're all, you know, trapped at home. Yeah, definitely. It's been encouraging just to see how the community is all kind of pulled together, all the different resources that are getting pulled out.

21. 6:48

    It's also been kind of interesting and exciting to see people embracing the technology that we can use to sort of make each other feel connected, even though we're far apart. I know the Tidings was doing a lot where they were posting links. I think at the last count there was like 23 or 24 different ecclesias globally that were live streaming their memorial service.

22. 7:12

    So if you're in isolation, you can participate. I know some of the ecclesias here locally are doing video conferencing for Bible class and Sunday school. A couple of sisters are trying to put together sisters classes for the sisters and CYC classes for the teams. So, you know, wanted to call that because, one, it's awesome to see everybody kind of pull together and try to, you know, virtually keep the fellowship that we all enjoy going.

23. 7:37

    But also, you know, if you're going through it in your area and you don't have that type of thing, it's out there. A lot of companies are doing a lot of things to make this easier, to try to help with the transition. I'll offer myself up. I won't volunteer, Levi, but if anybody has questions on how to do any of those things, feel free to reach out to me.

24. 7:57

    Yeah, we'd be happy to help if anybody needs a connection. Yeah, to kind of point you to either tools or how-tos or anything like to get you up and running. And also, it would, you know, it's a good time to also call out, you know, some of the other podcasts that are out there besides our own.

25. 8:13

    Yeah, that's right. If you're looking for something, just a little something, whether it's, you know, pause to consider with Sam Taylor. Yeah, Discerning Daughters. Yep. Absolutely. Another podcast I'm on is A Little Faith. I just did an interview about the week, about how crazy this week was on the A Little Faith podcast.

26. 8:30

    There's lots of resources in our community online, so let us know if there's any way we can help. And stay safe, everybody. You know, stay, you know, follow the directions of the medical community and stay safe where you're at. We are richly blessed to be able to stay in our homes, and we pray for anybody who has real struggles, you know, either financially or their living situation.

27. 8:56

    Hope this class is helpful. To me, it was helpful. It was a lot of good food for thought, and our prayers are with everybody. So tonight's class is entitled The Parable of COVID-19. And as things develop around us, there's obviously quite a bit of consternation at the state of affairs. And here in the U.S., we're kind of at the beginning stages.

28. 9:20

    Other parts of the world have been going through things for quite some time. And so as things continue to accelerate, anxiety around us continues to mount. And we might find that we ourselves begin to struggle a little bit and begin to wonder, you know, how is this going to impact me? How is this going to change my life or the life of my loved ones?

29. 9:41

    And so it's really helpful in these circumstances to turn to God's word and to try to understand what is it that God's word contains for us in regards to situations like this. And so I'd like to start by reading together from Luke chapter 21 to see some of the words of the Lord Jesus Christ as it pertains to times like this.

30. 10:02

    You see, Luke 21 was given to Jesus' disciples at a time when they were wondering what would be the sign of his coming and the sign of the end of the age. And Jesus proceeded to talk to his disciples about the things that they should be looking for. And what Jesus expected them to do was to connect the things that they were seeing around them with events that would be coming in the future.

31. 10:30

    They were expected to connect the natural to the spiritual and be able to take exhortations for their own lives. And so if we begin then at Luke 21 and verse 25, we'll read through to verse 33 to see what it is that Jesus tells his disciples and ultimately us concerning the mindset that we can have in situations like this.

32. 10:53

    He says, And he spake to them a parable. And so Jesus is taking the time of the earth. And he's telling his disciples here that in the days that precede his return, that there would be signs in the heavens, that men's hearts would be failing them for fear at the things that were to come.

33. 12:14

    And it's at that point that Jesus tells them to look up. Because if they can look up, then they would be reminded of their purpose and know that the Lord Jesus Christ was going to return soon. And as we've been reading through Leviticus in our first portion reading, there's quite a few connections that we can gain from the law and how the law instructs us to deal with situations like this.

34. 12:48

    You see, what we're dealing with right now is a pandemic. It's an infectious disease that's come into our nation and into the world. And when you take a look at leprosy in Leviticus chapter 13, there's quite a few connections that you can see there between the lessons from leprosy and what it is that we're dealing with in our present time.

35. 13:11

    And so what we'd like to do is to spend a little bit of time looking at these lessons from leprosy and then to see what the counsel is for us in our day if we're to apply the exhortation to help in these times of difficulty. So if you turn back to Leviticus chapter 13, one of the initial things that you note is that when somebody was suspected of having leprosy, they were to be placed in isolation.

36. 13:37

    And this period of isolation was 14 days. Coincidentally, that's the same amount of time that the quarantine has been placed. That 14 days is that period of time that's been specified to make sure that there are no symptoms after exposure. And what would happen at the beginning of Leviticus chapter 13 is somebody would be placed in ward in isolation for seven days.

37. 14:03

    And at the end of seven days, the priest would come and they would see if there were any signs visibly present that this individual had progressed in their leprosy. And if there were no signs and they would wait another seven days, a total of 14 days in isolation. And so you wonder, well, what's the lesson behind this?

38. 14:23

    What are we supposed to be learning here? A priest is actually involved here. Why would a priest be involved unless there was some spiritual lesson that we're supposed to be deriving from this? Well, as you continue stepping through the stages of leprosy, you can see that the next step involved is identification. So once that individual was isolated, then the priest had to identify if there were symptoms present that would be indicative of this plague, of this disease of leprosy.

39. 14:52

    In fact, 41 times in Leviticus 13 and 14, this word for look, ra'ah, is used over and over and over again of the need to identify. How could the priest identify? Well, he had to study Leviticus 13. He had to study Leviticus 14. He had to study God's law. That's what would enable him to be able to identify this plague.

40. 15:18

    If the plague was then identified, we're told that there needed to be a permanent separation. In Leviticus 13 and verse 46, it tells us that once leprosy was present, that individual had to be separated. All the days wherein the plague shall be in him, he shall be defiled. He is unclean. He shall dwell alone.

41. 15:41

    Without the camp shall his habitation be. And so there was a separation that had to occur. But in the case, the very rare case, where somebody would heal from their leprosy, there's a process of cleansing that would take place. And the priest had to go to the leper and cleanse the leper. And there was a form of sacrifice that was made.

42. 16:05

    Initially, two birds were taken. One bird was killed. And the other bird was released. After seven days, the individual had to shave all the hair from off of their body, off their face, off their head. And then on the eighth day, two sacrifices were made. Two ewe lambs were offered up. The first was for a trespass offering.

43. 16:29

    And the priest would do this curious thing of where he would sacrifice the lamb. And he would take the blood. And he would anoint the right earlobe, the right thumb, and the right big toe of the individual who was being cleansed. And then he would take oil in his left hand. And he would take the oil out of his left hand.

44. 16:50

    And he would then anoint that same right earlobe, the right thumb, and the right big toe of the leper. And then with the oil that remained, he would anoint the head of the leper. And the leper would then be cleansed. He then proceeded to offer the offering, the second offering, a burnt offering, which was indicative of a sacrifice of dedication.

45. 17:14

    And so when you look at these four steps of isolation, of identification, of separation, and of cleansing, there's lessons that we can derive from each and every one of those as we ourselves are living in perilous times, as we ourselves are looking at this plague that's going on around us. Think about this isolation that would have taken place.

46. 17:38

    It would have been a time of self-examination and reflection. Think about yourself as this individual that's suspected of leprosy. At that time, there was no cure for leprosy. Even though in our day, we know that it's a bacterial infection that can be cured with the medicines of today, there was no such curing back then.

47. 17:57

    In fact, once you had leprosy, it was essentially a death warrant. When you turn over to Deuteronomy chapter 28, and you look at verse 27, the Lord calls this plague the botch of Egypt. In Deuteronomy 28 and verse 27, it says, The Lord will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emrods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed.

48. 18:24

    This botch of Egypt was leprosy. They were unable to be healed from leprosy. And so while this individual is sitting there, isolated for 14 days, they would have had a lot of time to think, a lot of time to reflect about their life, what they had been involved in. How were things going to change?

49. 18:51

    What about their family? What about their relations? Everything that they were involved in would be different if they had leprosy. There was no way to shorten the time. They had to sit there for 14 days. And if they had leprosy, they would be cast out forever. What about us? Right now, many of us are put into isolation or separation to some degree or another.

50. 19:20

    School, for many of us, has been canceled for an indeterminate amount of time. Work. Many of us are working from home now. Some of us are on the front lines dealing with things in the medical field. But many of our places of work are shutting down. Manufacturing plants are idle as we see what's taking place around us.

51. 19:43

    Our ability to take vacations. Travel is limited. Entertainment's coming to a halt. There's no new movie releases. Sporting events are being canceled. Even Disney World is closed. And you think about how unprecedented that is for this extended duration of time for Disney World to be closed. I was looking at it and trying to find in history where it had taken place for a couple weeks.

52. 20:07

    It just hasn't really happened before. This is unprecedented, the things that we're seeing around us. When you think about the money, in this past month alone, the stock market has dropped. Almost 11,000 points. Think about the time that we have to reflect as we're somewhat isolated from the things around us. As our normal grind of life is brought to a halt.

53. 20:33

    And as things slow down. Life for many of us has been upset to some degree. And it's very different than it was just one or two weeks ago. So we have to ask, are we purposeful about how we're using the time? Are we redeeming the time that we may find that we now have to reflect and to think?

54. 20:55

    One of the things that struck me is, as they're starting to understand how this virus works, is to take a look at what it does to the body. Because what it does is it first attacks the upper respiratory system. There's protein receptors on this virus that attack to the host cell and begin to destroy it.

55. 21:16

    As it moves deeper into the lungs, it attacks at the site of the alveoli. And these are those tiny pockets within the lungs that allow the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide from the air into the blood. And then the carbon dioxide to go from the blood back into the air. When the infection becomes severe enough, pneumonia can actually set in.

56. 21:41

    And this is where the alveoli become damaged. One doctor from Johns Hopkins, Dr. Bassetti, was speaking about the body's response in a USA Today article. And he said the body reacts by sending immune cells to the lungs to fight it off, which results in the lining becoming thicker than normal. As they thicken more and more, they essentially choke off the little air pocket, which is what you need to get the oxygen to your blood.

57. 22:09

    So it's basically a war between the host response and the virus. Depending on who wins this war, we either have good outcomes where the patients recover or bad outcomes where they don't. And one of the things that really jumped out at me from the response or from the words of Dr. Bassetti as he described the use and talked about the thickening of this alveoli and the layer between them was that he used the word choke.

58. 22:41

    And you think about scripturally, when you see this word choke comes up, one parable comes to mind in particular, and that parable is the parable of the sower. When you think about the spiritual application of this, there was one type of ground that was particularly susceptible to being choked. And that was the ground that was covered in thorns.

59. 23:05

    Those thorns grew up with the seed and choked the seed to where it would no longer produce fruit. And when you look at our age and the struggles of our age, the biggest challenge that many of us face is the challenge of distraction, over-distractedness that pulls us away, that removes our focus from the things of God and puts us in jeopardy of not being able to produce fruit.

60. 23:33

    That though we're taking in the word of God, we're not really breathing, as it were, because the exchange isn't taking place, because our minds are too consumed with other things. When you look at the parable of the sower, what is it that those thorns actually represented in the life of the individual? Well, it tells us in three different gospel accounts what those thorns represented.

61. 23:59

    Luke chapter 8 and verse 14, it tells us that they were choked with cares, with riches, and with pleasure. That word pleasure is hedonism, which is the pursuit of pleasure as the highest form of good. Mark 4 and verse 19, it talks about the word being choked with the cares of this world, but the deceitfulness of riches and the lusts of other things entering in.

62. 24:27

    And in Matthew 13 and verse 22, it talks about the word being choked by the care of this world and by the deceitfulness of riches and becoming unfruitful as a result. When you look at the cares of this world, the literal translation is the distractions of this age. What are the distractions in our age?

63. 24:50

    What are the things that pull away our attention from the things of God? The technology, the entertainment, the work, the daily toil in life that can just sap all of our energy, all of our ability to focus, such that when we get to the end of the day, we find that we have nothing left for God.

64. 25:09

    And what we do have left, perhaps we expend on the entertainment or the things that require very little thought. He talks about the deceitfulness of riches, people's preoccupation with money. And you see how those things are being taken away as well as the stock market crashes and the lust of other things, of anything that's left.

65. 25:32

    And you just think about these things in our lives, perhaps what God is doing, I don't know, but perhaps what God is doing is he's giving us a wake-up call on the day in which we live. He's giving us a warning before his son returns. And he's applying Roundup, as it were, to all the weeds in our lives.

66. 25:52

    And he's giving us the opportunity to reflect and to see how much are we really pouring into the development of fruit and how much are we just being choked out by the things around us. There's a real lesson here in the way that this disease is working and the way that Scripture presents what thorns do in our lives.

67. 26:14

    There's an opportunity here while we're isolated, while we have this social separation going on, to reflect and to think. That's the first stage, is the stage of isolation. And we need to make sure that we're redeeming the time that we're using it effectively. Because the next piece, when you take a look at leprosy, was identification.

68. 26:37

    The priest was supposed to identify the things that were wrong. And so as we're looking at our own lives and we're reflecting, what are the things that we're identifying that need to change? And how is it that we're supposed to identify? Remember, the priest had to have a trained eye. And that training comes from the Word of God.

69. 26:58

    The problem in the Old Testament was that people weren't properly trained. God says in Hosea 4 and verse 6 that my people perish for lack of knowledge. We need to make sure that we're studying God's Word. And when times like this come along, that we're applying ourselves to taking a look at our lives and identifying those things.

70. 27:20

    And quite often, it's not until something changes that we can really see something for what it is. That's just the way that we're wired. We don't notice things unless they change. It takes too much processing power to notice things that aren't changing. Even your vision, the way that your vision works, so you only notice things that change, things that don't change in your surroundings tend to just blend in.

71. 27:44

    And so as God changes our surroundings, He's expecting us to take note and to make adjustments to identify the things that need to change. And when we identify those things, the next step is separation. We need to do something about it. Just like we're going through this time of physical separation, just like the leper was physically separated, the expectation was that there would be a separation from sin because that's what leprosy represented, that the individual, that their body would physically decay while they were still alive.

72. 28:17

    It was the acceleration of what sin does to the body, that the wages of sin is death. And in similar fashion, we need to make sure that we're seeing sin for what it is and separating it out of our lives. And this final processing of cleansing is one that really comes to bear as to what we're supposed to do after we separate.

73. 28:40

    Because when you take a look at the guidance from Leviticus 13 and you think about the significance of what the priest did, he took that blood and he anointed the right ear, the right thumb, and the right big toe. What's the significance of that? It's not just random body parts. There's a real lesson here that God's trying to teach.

74. 29:02

    You think, what do we do with our ears? Well, we hear things. What do you do with your hand? You do things. And with our feet, we go places. And so by anointing those things with blood, the expectation is that you're putting something to death. You're stopping something that you were doing before.

75. 29:25

    Stopping the things that you were hearing before, the things that you were doing before, the places that you were going. And instead, what he does afterward is he anoints those things with oil, those same body parts. What does oil represent in Scripture? Well, oil is what produces light. Every Israelite, when you take a look at Leviticus 24, if you just turn there for a moment, every Israelite was instructed that they had to bring oil.

76. 29:54

    In Leviticus 24, in verse 2, God says to Moses, command the children of Israel that they bring unto thee pure oil olive beaten for the light to cause the lamps to burn continually. They were supposed to take the olives, beat the olives, apply themselves, work at it to produce that oil. And the reason that they were to produce that oil is so that they could give it to the sanctuary such that it might be burned to produce light continually.

77. 30:26

    You think about some of the other parables, Matthew 25, the parable of the virgins. The wise virgins were the ones that had extra oil in their vessels, such that when the bridegroom returned, when the Lord Jesus Christ came back, their lamps, their lights were still burning brightly. Other people could see the impact of God's work in their lives.

78. 30:46

    And so by anointing ourselves with oil, by the leper being anointed with oil, the expectation is, yes, I'm going to stop doing something, but I'm going to start doing something better. And that something better has to be defined by the word of God. And that's why he takes the residue of the oil and anoints the head because it's supposed to change the way that we think.

79. 31:11

    And changing the way that we think, the outworking of that should be changing the way that we live and the things that we do. And that follows very closely with the words of Paul in Galatians 5 and verse 26, that if we walk in the spirit, we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

80. 31:30

    The danger when we come to situations like this though, and what the world is facing around us, is that we seek simply to survive the trial. Everybody hunkers down. They wait for the trial to pass. They wait for the play to go by. And then they just pick up with life where it left off.

81. 31:53

    The challenge to us though, is to start with the end in mind. To think, what is it that God is trying to teach us through this? How is God using this upset to our daily life to actually help prepare us for the return of his son? And to not just survive the trial, but to thrive in the midst of it.

82. 32:13

    To encourage one another. To look inwardly. To make the changes that need to be made. And to use this time of reflection to do something different. Because the danger is what Christ speaks about in Matthew 12, verses 43 to 45. If you turn over to Matthew 12 for a moment, this is the parable of the man who was demon possessed.

83. 32:38

    And he cleansed the house and then didn't do anything about it. And then found that he was worse off in the end than in the beginning. In Matthew 12, verses 43 to 45, it says, When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest and findeth none.

84. 32:58

    Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out. And when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept and garnished. Then goeth he and taketh with himself seven other spirits, more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there. And the last state of that man is worse than the first.

85. 33:17

    Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation. And so the danger is, yes, we go without for a period of time, but what happens when you take away something that someone's addicted to? Well, they go into symptoms of withdrawal. And then once they have access to it again, they binge on it, they overdose on it, and they become worse than they were before.

86. 33:41

    See, the danger is that if we don't make changes while there's an opportunity of separation, if we don't fill our lives with something better than the things that are being cut out, then we may find that not only do we not gain from the trial, but we end up worse off after it concludes because we're not purposeful about learning what it is that God desires for us to learn.

87. 34:05

    There's a really deep lesson as you continue this theme of leprosy and you look in the New Testament because in Galatians 3, if we turn over there for a moment, Galatians 3 are verses that speak very favorably about the opportunity that's available through the Lord Jesus Christ. And in Galatians 3, what Paul does is he picks up on this theme of leprosy to say what it is that these trials are meant to help us do.

88. 34:34

    That in the midst of the fear, in the midst of the difficulty, in the midst of the anxiety, this is what these things are meant to do for us. So in Galatians 3, I'll start at verse 22 and read through verse 29. It says, But the scripture hath concluded all under sin that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.

89. 34:59

    But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith, which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For when ye are the children of God by faith, or for ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

90. 35:24

    For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither bond nor free. There is neither male nor female. For ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ, then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise.

91. 35:43

    Very encouraging verses about the hope that's available to us. But have you ever noticed the wording that Paul uses there in Galatians 3, verse 22 and 23? When he says that the scripture hath concluded, it's the same word that's used at the beginning of verse 23, or the middle of verse 23, where it says, shut up.

92. 36:04

    So concluded and shut up are the same word. And what Paul's doing is he's referencing back to Leviticus 13, verses 4 and 5, where the individual was to be shut up in their own house, separated as a result of sin. And the point that he's making here is that separation occurs as a result of sin, that the law, the scriptures have shown that we are separated from God as a result of our sin.

93. 36:34

    And the expectation, when a leper was sitting in that house, reflecting, thinking about how their life would change, their mind was supposed to go to redemption. It was supposed to think of God as their only hope of salvation. It was supposed to direct their minds. And that's what it means when it says the law was our schoolmaster in verse 24, to bring us unto Christ.

94. 37:00

    And so as we're sitting in our homes, as we're reflecting with our families, as we're doing the readings together, keeping a social separation at our houses, put on break from school, from our work perhaps. What are we thinking about? Where are our minds being directed? It's an interesting concept because this whole aspect of a schoolmaster is one that was practiced in the first century of where affluent families would know what teenagers are like.

95. 37:31

    So no shot at the teenagers here. I was also a teenager once, but sometimes teenagers don't always think about step two in the process. And so what these affluent parents would do is they would have a pedagogue, is what this term schoolmaster is, that would follow their child around everywhere they went to make sure that this child would stay on the straight and narrow.

96. 37:55

    They would sit behind them in school. And if they stopped paying attention in school, they would have a stick and they'd hit the back of the student. And that was intended to direct the attention of the student toward the teacher, to keep them focused on the person at the front of the classroom.

97. 38:11

    And so in similar fashion, when all this was going on, all the lessons that were contained in Leviticus, all the things that are contained in the law, the things that we're going through in our lives are kind of like this pedagogue, this schoolmaster that's constantly tapping at us, trying to help us pay attention to the one at the front of the room.

98. 38:30

    In this case, the Lord Jesus Christ, keeping our attention on the master as we await for his soon return. And so you have to wonder, as this world is in turmoil, if God is giving us a final warning, if he's giving us a final opportunity to make some real changes and to reflect, to have some time to step back and to consider.

99. 38:56

    We know that no man knows the day or the hour. I'm not going to profess that I do, but I think we can all plainly see that things are not proceeding with business as usual. And so as we step back and reflect, you can see others throughout history who have had this opportunity.

100. 39:15

     Think about King Hezekiah. And when the Assyrians came down and surrounded Jerusalem and besieged it, that was that final shot over the bow to the nation of Judah. Yes, God delivered them. 185,000 Assyrians were dead. God delivered them from the Assyrians. But the people stopped short of making the real changes that were necessary to prepare such that they might be ready for their heavenly father, such that they might be in a right place before him.

101. 39:49

     So the question then becomes, well, how are we to act in the midst of this situation? What are some practical ways that we can apply ourselves? We've talked already about the lessons from isolation, from identification, from separation, and from cleansing that come out of Leviticus 13 and 14. But what about if we're feeling anxiety?

102. 40:10

     What about if we are struggling and we're trying to figure out what the right thing to do is? Each day we're getting inundated with more and more news. Well, what's the White House guidance today? How big of a gathering can we have? What's the CDC guidance? Is this going to hit my demographic?

103. 40:26

     Or am I safe? Do I have a precondition that makes me more susceptible? All of these questions are going on as people's hearts are failing them for fear. And so what is it that we can do? What's the scriptural counsel that's provided to us? Well, we already looked in Luke chapter 21 and verses 25 to 26, where Christ says, look up.

104. 40:49

     That's one of the key reminders that we can encourage each other to do is to look up. Because when everybody around us is panicking and when they're struggling to know what it is that they should be doing, Christ says, look up. He talks about the sun, the moon, and the stars, speaking about the political leaders, speaking about the religious heavens.

105. 41:16

     And we look around us today. And if we look at any of the other headlines, besides just the things that talk about the virus, you can see that things continue to accelerate all around us. Israel continues to go after the mountains of Israel. Putin has just changed the laws in Russia to enable him to remain the president, feasibly at least, until 2036, under grounds of economic concern and the coronavirus.

106. 41:44

     Russia is being economically challenged through this oil war that's taking place with Saudi Arabia that's completely destabilizing the region as Saudi Arabia just floods the market with oil. The alliances continue to form with the king of the north and the nations and the alliances that we would expect to see from Ezekiel 38.

107. 42:04

     The pieces are coming together all around us. Britain with Brexit, no longer a part of the feet of Daniel's image, something that people said would never happen, has happened, just as scripture said it would. The counsel here is to continue to look up, to lift up our heads because our redemption is drawing nigh.

108. 42:26

     It gives us the ability to take confidence in the midst of the turmoil. And what looking up does is it gives us a focal point when everything around us seems to be a blur. It reminds us of purpose in the midst of the storm. The second thing to remember is to have faith.

109. 42:46

     If you turn over to Mark 4, verses 37 to 41, we can see a familiar story in Mark 4, verses 37 to 41 under this theme of having faith. And this is the scene where the disciples were in the boat. These were seasoned fishermen, but we're told in Mark 4, in verse 37, that there arose a great storm of wind and the waves beat into the ship so that it was now full.

110. 43:16

     That word for great storm is a mega storm, a mega storm of wind. Waves are beating against the ship. It's now full of water. And Jesus was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow. And they awake him and said to him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose and rebuked the wind and said unto the sea, Peace, be still.

111. 43:48

     And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith? And they feared exceedingly and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?

112. 44:16

     We're in the midst of a mega storm, aren't we? When we take a look at what's going on around us and the challenges that people have presently, we may feel even at times that the waves are beating against our own hole. But we need to remember that Christ is in the vessel with us, that he will help us weather the storm, that regardless of what happens, that we have the Son of God with us and that we can take faith.

113. 44:44

     It doesn't mean that we won't be afraid. It doesn't mean that we won't have concerns at times, but it does mean that we can leverage this faith to help cast out our fear and to know that God is with us. And faith is what allows us to find calm in the midst of the storm.

114. 45:03

     When other people around us are quaking, it allows us to see that God is at work. The third thing is to lean on God. In 2 Samuel 24, verses 12 to 16, this is the instance, we won't turn it up now, but this is the instance where David is given the choice. The nation has sinned, and he has the choice in which punishment he will take.

115. 45:30

     He can suffer famine. He can suffer running from his enemies for a period of time, or he can take on pestilence for three days. And David decides that he will fall into the hand of the living God because he's relying on God to have mercy. And in three days' time, 70,000 people perished with the plague.

116. 45:57

     And it wasn't until recently that I appreciated to a greater degree as to what this must have been like in the nation at that time. As 70,000 people perished in three days in the pandemonium that would have existed in the nation, David appealed to God. God had mercy. God decided enough was enough.

117. 46:22

     And David leaned on God in the midst of trial. He was able to give his anxiety over to God, even though it was a very challenging and difficult situation. And the verses in Philippians 4, verses 6 to 7 come to mind of where he says, be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be known unto God.

118. 46:49

     And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. And so leaning on God is a way for us to demonstrate our faith by truly giving our anxiety over to him in prayer. And finally, one thing that can really help us out is to witness to others.

119. 47:13

     If we are able to continue to look up and to see purpose, to have faith in the midst of the storm, and to lean on God, it will enable us to then be a strong witness to others who may also be struggling. And the story that comes to mind is in Acts 27.

120. 47:33

     Because in Acts 27, Paul was in a boat and he himself was in a storm. He was in this great storm, Euroclidon. And what happens there is in Acts 27, in verse 20, we read that there was neither sun nor stars many days, and no small tempest lay on us. All hope that we should be saved was then taken away.

121. 48:03

     So he was lost at sea for a number of days. And it's at that point when all hope was taken away that Paul stood up and he exhorted those from God's word in verse 22. I exhort you, be of good cheer. And you wonder, well, how would that have been received at that time?

122. 48:23

     Here's all these people lost at sea. There's no hope. And Paul stands up and says, be of good cheer. They must have thought that he was crazy. It wouldn't have been received very well initially. But Paul had the courage to stand up and to encourage others even though they were in the midst of a time of great difficulty.

123. 48:45

     These were not overly religious people. This was a prisonership. It had prisoners on it. It had soldiers on it. These were hardened men who were not really interested in God at that point in their lives. In verse 27, we're told that this continued on for 14 days. Yet again, we see this occurrence of 14 days.

124. 49:08

     They've been at sea, isolated from the rest of the world for 14 days. And so now, being without hope, Paul appeals to them again in verse 34 to take meat for their health. He assures them that not a hair of their head would fall. And in verse 35, they have a meal. They give thanks to God and they begin to eat together.

125. 49:34

     And they too were in good cheer as a result of Paul's witnessing in their lives. Paul's intervention was able to save 276 people on board this boat. And you think about the impact that we could have in the midst of this if we're able to approach it purposely. Yes, we're at the front end of it.

126. 49:57

     We don't really know where it's going to go ultimately. But if we can prepare ourselves up front, we can actually use this and leverage this crisis to speak to people about the hope of God's kingdom and to encourage them to look up as well. Even though these 276 men may not have been religious when they first boarded that boat, it's amazing how people's perspectives change as life's circumstances change.

127. 50:27

     There's that expression that says that there are no atheists in the foxholes, which speaks to the fact that when there is no hope, people tend to look to anything they can for hope of something better. And we might find that neighbors or friends or coworkers who were previously completely disinterested in anything to do with something beyond this life may suddenly be receptive.

128. 50:56

     But for us to be effective, we have to make sure that our own minds are in the right place, that we are confident in our faith that regardless of what happens, God is at work, that all things are working together for good to those who love God in preparation for the kingdom that will position us to be a good witness to other people.

129. 51:19

     And so it's not simply a matter of surviving the trial. It really is a matter of thriving in the midst of the trial if we can approach it with the right perspective. And so let's make sure that we're using this as a time of reflection for each of us to step back as our pace of life changes and as the normality of what we were experiencing goes away.

130. 51:42

     And to think, what is it that God might be trying to communicate to me, to our ecclesia? what is it that I should be looking at inwardly that I can change? And then to make some of those changes, to be more purposeful, to redeem the time, it's definitely been a wake-up call to me.

131. 52:06

     It's so easy every day to just, one moment to the next, just be running at 100 miles an hour. And this has really forced me to step back and to slow down and to think more purposefully about what it is that I'm doing each day. But I need to commit that having done so, when things pick back up, if Christ doesn't return in the midst of this, that we don't just go back to running 100 miles an hour and, phew, survive that one onto the next crisis, but that we actually make the changes that need to be made.

132. 52:44

     what we're thinking, what we're hearing, what we're doing, and where we're going. That we continue to lift up our head in the midst of the storm and to look to our Heavenly Father and to know, to know that our redemption is drawing nigh and to be able to encourage others to do the same.

133. 53:05

     And so I'd just like to conclude by taking a look at Luke chapter 21 and read verses 34 to 36 together because these words are a great reminder for us in the days in which we live, days that we believe by faith will usher in the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. He says in Luke 21 in verse 34, picking up where we left off from our introductory reading, and take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness and cares of this life.

134. 53:44

     And so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore and pray always that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass and to stand before the Son of Man.

135. 54:09

     And so we truly do have an amazing hope and it's so important that we continue to look at circumstances of life and try to see what God may be teaching us and how we can strengthen each other in the midst of trial so that when the Lord does return he doesn't catch us unawares but he catches us prepared that we might stand before our Lord when he returns.

136. 54:42

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137. 54:59

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138. 55:18

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