GRACE FOR TODAY

Grace for Today

THURSDAY, JULY 2

Life is a funny mix of change and maintain.

There is constant change in our lives, as our bodies get older, as our kids get older, as the world gets older. Undeniably, clothes and cars and computers are very different today than they were years ago – things exist now that hadn’t been around before.

Yet, amidst that change, there is a maintaining. While the outward changes, the inward maintains. People are still the same as they have ever been, the goals and purposes of people are the same as ever. Ask someone in their 70 year old body how they feel inside and I expect they’ll tell you that very little has changed from years ago – it’s the outside where the decay has continued apace.

All this change in outward things – tech and toys – yet has man changed much at all? Do we not pursue the same aims that man has always pursued? Do we not seek what man has always sought? As so much seemingly changes, it all seems so much the same. The longer you live, the more you can say -

Is there anything of which one might say, "See this, it is new"? Already it has existed for ages which were before us. (Ecclesiastes 1:10)

Christians believe in change – in enduring change. It is a species of change unlike any other, and beyond our control – that’s what allows it to transcend the cycle of repetition, of having “existed for ages”. It is a change of within, from without. We can all change the outer person – our appearance, our conversation, our circumstances. But change from within we cannot work.

I direct you to the change that happened in those men whom God laid His hand on in the Bible.

“Peter and Paul, whose writings, …, exhibit a heavenly majesty, which in a manner binds and rivets every reader.”
(Institutes of Christian Religion, Book 1, Chapter 8, paragraph 11)

What happened to transform these men – to make a fisherman a theologian, a persecutor an evangelist?

“But one circumstance, sufficient of itself to exalt their doctrine above the world, is, that Matthew, who was formerly fixed down to his money-table, Peter and John, who were employed with their little boats, being all rude and illiterate, had never learned in any human school that which they delivered to others.”
(Institutes of Christian Religion, Book 1, Chapter 8, paragraph 11)

What happened to these men? What allowed them, enabled them, to break that seemingly endless cycle of -

That which has been is that which will be, and that which has been done is that which will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 1:9)

God did it.

Change within, from without. Amidst all the normal, all the usual, all the changing of the outer, a new man is made within. That is what is meant by regeneration – that is why Jesus says, you must be born again. That is why Christian are new creatures – a new creation – in Christ. In Matthew, Peter, John, Paul – and in every believer on Jesus Christ – there is a work done on the inside that emerges in various ways on the outside. In Saul’s case, he became Paul:

“Paul, moreover, who had not only been an avowed but a cruel and bloody foe, being changed into a new man, shows, by the sudden and unhoped-for change, that a heavenly power had compelled him to preach the doctrine which once he destroyed.”
(Institutes of Christian Religion, Book 1, Chapter 8, paragraph 11)

A heavenly power compelled.

Christians are a people compelled by a heavenly power.

There is a supernatural intervention in the life of the Christian that brings them to spiritual life from death, and keeps them that way - by the Holy Spirit.  There may not be much evidence of the change, it might look very much like the members of the Church are in maintain-mode, but –

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

THURSDAY, JUNE 25

As a former Canadian, I am often asked by people meeting me for the first time, “why did you leave Canada?” The implication of the question is always “why would you leave Canada to come to England?” There seems to be a genuine sense of wonder for why a person would prefer England to somewhere else – especially somewhere as amazing as Canada (typically an idealized Canada meaning all mountains and spectacularity). Anywhere is better than England, they figure.

I always reply that England is a wonderful country (I normally say, “England is the best country in the world!”)- this is greeted with universal pity and rather sardonic amusement. If asked why, one of the aspects I typically cite is the wondrous geography. A few moments of thinking about what is north and south and east and west of where you are standing in England and it dawns that some very beautiful places are very near. It’s undeniable. The loveliness and wonder comes in so many varieties and is so proximate! It’s as if people do not have eyes to see the beauty all around them, that they live in, that is part of them. I consider it an aspect of my duty as a now British citizen to instill in my fellow countrymen a renewed appreciation for this very green and very pleasant land.

What will it take for people to see this? Surely you just open your eyes, and you access one of the millions of books and videos and TV shows that explore the outstanding natural wonder of, not just England, but the entire UK. Just watch a couple episodes of Coast or Escape to the Country! Simply expose yourself to the reality and the truth will soon be apparent.

It’s this same approach that I encourage with regard to opening a closed mind in spiritual matters. There are no videos and there aren’t millions of books: there’s 1. I tell people to access the one book that makes plain everything that I’ve been trying to explain. The book that needs no apologist, it speaks for itself. My words will do a disservice to its message – they serve well if they get somebody to read The Book.

Calvin knew this. He understood how vital it is, if you would be useful and fruitful, to direct skeptics and honest inquirers –

“… to the reading of the Sacred Volume, and whether you will or not, it will so affect you, so pierce your heart, so work its way into your very marrow, that, in comparison of the impression so produced, that of orators and philosophers will almost disappear; making it manifest that in the Sacred Volume there is a truth divine, a something which makes it immeasurably superior to all the gifts and graces attainable by man.”

(Institutes of Christian Religion, Book 1, Chapter 8, paragraph 1)

The word of God is potent – whether you want it to or not, it impacts the reader who simply reads it. For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)  It’s no use coming with certain glasses on. You come and interact honestly with the Bible, and no other book will compare.

The English countryside doesn’t require any testimonials from me – it speaks for itself in offering irrefutable proof of its splendour. How much more the word of God, which touches not just the eyes but the heart and the soul and the affections. The Bible “pierces”, the word of God “works its way in your very marrow”.

Christians know this to be true. They know that the witness of the Holy Spirit in them bears witness to this truth in the Bible. The best service we can do to our sisters and brothers in Christ, and to the lost millions who have no space in their life filled with fluff, is to relentlessly and repeatedly and single-mindedly and annoyingly direct them to the Bible. It cannot help “but make manifest that in the Sacred Volume there is a truth divine”, and that is something so wonderful and so superior and so powerful that God can use it to re-create their lives.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17

When I was young I would listen to late-night NHL games – ‘NHL’ means ‘National Hockey League’, and is ice hockey. But it’s actually just ‘hockey’. I would listen under the covers, because late at night, I’m supposed to be asleep! I had a small transistor radio that would strain to pick up a distant signal from Chicago or Pittsburgh as the Toronto Maple Leafs were playing an away game. I would tweak and adjust that little dial to barely capture as much of the commentator’s voice as possible. The crackling and the intermittent signal were maddening at the time, yet somehow in an era of DAB, the remembering of that listening is sweet nostalgia. Sadly, it was the era when the Leafs would almost always lose on the road. I didn’t need a radio for home games – those were on TV.

Anyone listening to radio hockey from that era will remember one aspect: the ads for Buckley’s Cough Mixture. My mum never bought Buckley’s, so I don’t know what it looked or tasted like. But Buckley’s was a sponsor of Leafs’ radio and theirs was a very distinctive ‘tagline’ – every ad finished the same way. “Tastes awful but it works.” It was the only company I knew that would emphasize what most people would think would turn you off. It was toting a weakness as a strength.

Most advertisements emphasize the positive potential of a product, to a ridiculous degree and to the exclusion of any negatives. Do the advertisers really think that we believe that if we use their product we will obtain that portrayed outcome? Or, do they not care – is it merely art? One cannot help but think that you’re being lied to or ‘played’ when products seem to be linking the purchase of what they are selling with the acquisition of what they show accompanies it. Do they think we’re all that naïve?

Truth in advertising – that would be interesting. Ads that only said absolutely verifiably true things about the product. “Our beer may be pale and rather tasteless, but we think the bloated feeling and headache are worth it despite the price elevated by the attractive packaging”. “This car looks cool and has neat toys, but it’s not made to last and will crumple like a paper airplane if hit by something solid”.

We have come to expect that that which promotes a person or a product or an idea will use attraction. It will emphasize all the positives. It won’t even mention the negatives – that way, you’re tempted to think they’re aren’t any.

This is not the Gospel approach. The Gospel approach is:

We preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness. (1 Corinthians 1:23)

This is an admission that the right presentation of the Gospel message will not be appealing and convincing, but will seemed flawed and problematic and just plain ridiculous. But, of course, we are not selling a product. We are promoting the glory of God – and the glory of God in the preaching of the Gospel is promoted by the fact that,

God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God.  (1Corinthians 1:27-29)

This is what Calvin calls God’s “admirable arrangement” –

“The sublime mysteries of the kingdom of heaven have for the greater part been delivered with a contemptible meanness of words. Had they been adorned with a more splendid eloquence, the wicked might have cavilled, and alleged that this constituted all their force. But now, when an unpolished simplicity, almost bordering on rudeness, makes a deeper impression than the loftiest flights of oratory, what does it indicate if not that the Holy Scriptures are too mighty in the power of truth to need the rhetorician’s art?”

(Institutes of Christian Religion, Book 1, Chapter 7, paragraph 5)

God is the author of salvation, and this is emphasized by the fact that nobody will commit their life to Christ unless that impression is made that is so deep that it is beneath all adornment of eloquence and attraction. You cannot merely dismiss the Gospel truth as not convincing – the Gospel convicts more than it convinces. That is a deep work of the Holy Spirit.

This liberates every believer to be a plain and faithful witness.

Just be an ambassador, saying what your Sovereign has told you to say. Don’t add to it, don’t alter it. Just say it. And thereby allow the mighty power that is in the truth to do its sublime work.

THURSDAY, JUNE 4

Our friend in Geneva was a highly intelligent and an educated man - and he was just so as a boy. Education mattered to his father, so he had private tutors who soon discovered his precocious intellect. This was nurtured.

His father set him on the career path of a priest, and Calvin showed abilities in that direction. But he changed his mind – they changed their minds. Why? It suddenly seemed that progress in the world – wealth, acclaim – was more likely in “the Law”.

But Calvin had always been a keen student of religion, and it was partly due to this that the change came about. He had encountered the reformed faith, and that had made it increasingly impossible for him to partake in public activities in the Roman Catholic Church. How could he progress in an institution he was finding himself disagreeing with? So he went to Orleans, to study law, under the leading man whose name meant ‘star-man’, and star-boy Calvin made such amazingly quick progress that he soon was standing in for his professors, and was treated more like a teacher than a pupil. Calvin was set for the law.

The single-mindedness and discipline that made him such a keen student was applied to his religious development, and as Calvin, an ardent and zealous student of faith and law, gained his law doctorate and went to Paris, he increasingly grew interested in religion alone. Sola religia.

Calvin was a high-flyer, intellectually speaking. A very smart man. He had an amazing capacity to absorb and process information. He wrote the Institutes in his twenties. He was schooled in the law and who could stand against him in a battle of wits?
Yet he wrote,

“In vain were the authority of Scripture fortified by argument, or supported by the consent of the Church, or confirmed by any other helps, if unaccompanied by an assurance higher and stronger than human judgement can give.”
(Institutes of Christian Religion, Book 1, Chapter 8, paragraph 1)

Would any man be in a better position to deploy argument masterfully as his primary weapon in fighting for the truths of religion? Would any man be a better advocate for the rationally prepared and presented reformed faith? Yet he knew that all the best arguments a lawyer could muster would be “in vain”, all the most detailed and convincing explanations would not help, without something more.

Something that no man can offer. Something that no man can present. Answers that no man can give.

He learned, and it’s a lesson that he never un-learned but only reinforced throughout his life, that “an assurance higher and stronger than human judgement can give” is required for anyone to come to Christ, for anyone to truly believe, for anyone to be finally convinced, for anyone to yield to God in faith and trust unto salvation.

This is a liberating and lightening truth – it sets you free to speak plainly in plain terms of the Lord Jesus Christ, and it lifts from you the burden of convincing. Nothing we say can bring that assurance, but what we say in obedience to His command to do so – in all its simplicity and imprecision and awkwardness – will be used by He who is higher and stronger to bring about the powerful spread of the glorious Gospel –

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. (Romans 1:16)

THURSDAY, MAY 28
By Simon Wills

There are two particular texts I want to take and appreciate today.

Deuteronomy 34:5 (NASB)
So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord.

Judges 2:8 (NASB)
Then Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of one hundred and ten.

As is probably clear, the symmetry lies in the use of the term ‘servant of the Lord’.

Joshua and Moses were two prominent Old Testament individuals. The work of God through Moses’ was immense. He led the Israelites in the exodus from Egypt, conversed with God Himself on Mount Sinai, parted the Red Sea. The man has a list of works that none of us could match.

Moses was succeeded by Joshua who led the taking of the land of Canaan. His victories speak for themselves. He was truly a symbol of strength. And yet upon their death, they are labelled as ‘servant of the Lord’.

This serves as a wonderfully humbling reminder of who really got the Israelites out of Egypt, who really parted the Red Sea, who sourced the victories in the land of Canaan. It was not by Moses or Joshua that this success was wrought, it was purely and utterly through the power of God. In the end, even the greatest of Biblical figures were made by God, for the glory of God. Joshua and the Israelites could not have taken Jericho without God. Moses could not have made Pharaoh release the Israelites from Egypt. It is God alone who drove these events.

To be a servant of the Lord should be our ultimate goal. To have it said in our obituary that we served the Lord and the Lord alone is all we could ask for.

Who else would we rather serve? There is no will more perfect, no mightier strength, no greater wisdom. To serve the Lord is to live as He would have us live.

Therefore, let us take after His example, who with the utmost display of humility, came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45), and live lives as servants of the Lord.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 27

There is power in the word of God.

The Bible that you hold on your lap looks like any other book. Yes, it’s paper and ink and words. You are accustomed to lyrical musings on the wonder and power of the Bible. I am not telling you something that you have not heard – and thought – many, many times.

Yet, can you hear it enough?

Can you hear it enough because it is a such a staggering truth that the Almighty, that God Himself, should speak to us? That He should provide a written record of His words? Such words, emanating as they do from perfection, can only thus be, perfection. Can you hear that enough?

Can you hear it enough because it is such a comfort to know that you have a source for truth? For what actually is. That you don’t have to go on an endless and fruitless search. That you don’t have to embrace and endorse man-made theories with holes in them big enough to drive a lorry through? Or that demand more faith than required to believe in God’s creative work of Genesis 1? Do you delight to know that God’s word is true? Can you hear that enough?
Can you hear it enough knowing how flawed you are, knowing in the secret of your own heart what no one else even has the slightest clue about, that God will forgive your sin in Christ Jesus? Can you hear it enough that God doesn’t required performance, He commands repentance and faith. Just believe. Just believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. Can you hear that enough?

Why should God stoop to inform you? Why should God reveal anything given that He is under no obligation to anyone?  Can you hear it enough, that –

Lam 3:22 The LORD'S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.

And, can you hear it enough, that none of this would mean a thing to you unless He had moved on your heart and on your mind? That you would have embraced scepticism and cynicism and resistance forever, unless He had reached into you life to show you this mercy. Can you hear that enough?

“Enlightened by him, we no longer believe, either on our own Judgment or that of others, that the Scriptures are from God; but, in a way superior to human Judgment, feel perfectly assured--as much so as if we beheld the divine image visibly impressed on it--that it came to us, by the instrumentality of men, from the very mouth of God.”
(Institutes of Christian Religion, Book 1, Chapter 7, paragraph 5)

May we never lose the wonder.

Psa 136:1 O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 20

Tastes and preferences.

We all have them.

But where do they come from?

It doesn’t appear to me that there are universal laws about what is the best flavour of ice cream or whether red and pink can be worn together. Yet most people, if asked, will have an opinion or a preference.

I’m no scientist, but I’m sort of assuming that there dwells within each of us an “assessment centre” or a “judgment cortex” which feeds information to our brains on whether something is appealing or attractive or tasty – or not. Do we all taste things the same? Do pickled shallots (they have to be a certain brand, or out of Clive or Matthew’s garden and kitchen) taste to you as they do to me? If so, if the physical experience is the same – same taste molecules on food giving the same taste information to the same type of taste bud – why then don’t you like them!? What is the filter in each of us that what we taste and see and hear is run through and causes one of us to enjoy and another of us to avoid?

Taste and preference is a wonderful thing. It contributes to our individuality.

So what about external things? Why do I think your hair looks great and you think it looks terrible? Why do I like petunias but you won’t have them in your garden? Why does one prefer the seaside and the other the hills?
Again, it seems to me that we have innate capacities of discernment. And (never start a sentence with ‘and’) that there is a nature and a nurture element to it. We all have the ability to judge material things and we all do it according to a mysterious combination of who we are and what we’ve known. There is no universal law of what is grander or cuter, but we all have a perspective.

Yet none of this applies in spiritual matters. I do believe that this is at the root of much of what is wrong in what is called the Church today. People have brought their strong tastes and particular preferences – often unconsciously – and, having applied them to all other areas of their lives, they apply them to church life. As a result, life in those churches may be varied and vivacious and full of vitality, but it will be lacking what it needs most: veritas. The truth.

The entire Christian life must be yielded to God, which can only happen when the entire Christian is yielded to God. That happens by the Holy Spirit, as He puts the word of God in the seat of our decision-making, not tastes and preferences. Jesus is Lord of our tastes and preferences, which means they knowingly and purposefully bow to Him. As Calvin wrote:

“… those who are inwardly taught by the Holy Spirit acquiesce implicitly in Scripture; that Scripture, carrying its own evidence along with it, deigns not to submit to proofs and arguments, but owes the full conviction with which we ought to receive it to the testimony of the Spirit.”
(Institutes of Christian Religion, Book 1, Chapter 7, paragraph 5)

Christians acquiesce to the Bible. The Christian in whom the Holy Spirit has an awareness of and a deference to the word of God. They seek to tag what are tastes and preferences so that they can be put to the side. We don’t trust what we want.

“We ask not for proofs or probabilities on which to rest our Judgment, but we subject our intellect and Judgment to it as too transcendent for us to estimate.”
(Institutes of Christian Religion, Book 1, Chapter 7, paragraph 5)

Christians are spiritual – tastes and preferences are carnal:

Rom 7:14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.

It is only when the Bible is truly our authority – an inward teaching of the Holy Spirit – that the entire Christian life can be yielded to God and tastes and preferences bow to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

FRIDAY, MAY 15

Is it wrong to fail to share the Gospel?

If you stop and think about all the God-ordained “openings” to speak of the things of the Lord with someone, how many of them did you take?

But what about all the days that pass, one after another, when there don’t seem to be any such openings? Whether you were at home alone all day or fully engaged at work, there was simply no “natural” opportunity to share the Gospel.

I wonder whether our views on this are hindered somewhat by flawed perceptions on what the Gospel is and what the impact of sharing it is likely to be.

The Gospel isn’t a formula. It isn’t a set of words that you must get to – like those people who telephone your home to sell you something. They are always working towards an end – the sales pitch. It’s like they have a card in front of them with one of those multi-armed flow charts that all lead to the bottom line: give the sales pitch. Sharing the Gospel isn’t like that.

The Gospel, in its simplest form, is the good news of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ:

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.
(1 Corinthians 15:3-4)

Is there but one way to express this? Is this the magic formula? Of course not.

To share the Gospel is to bring into another person’s life the truth – the ‘why’ that leads to 1 Corinthians 15:3 – of sin and the response of God to it:

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16

There are limitless ways in limitless shapes to bring this truth to people. In the end, the real question isn’t, “can I do this?” – it’s “will I do this?”

Well, what determines that type of question usually? Our perceived ability. Whether it’s a new recipe, or a bike repair, or an eight-iron over a pond. Whether I attempt it or not depends on my perceived ability. How often are you stopped in your speech - your throat constricted - because you cannot find the words. Which words did you have in mind? Magic ones?

What ability do you actually have to reach someone with the Gospel?
Answer: none. Only God can.
As Calvin writes:

“But although we may maintain the sacred Word of God against gainsayers, it does not follow that we shall forthwith implant the certainty which faith requires in their hearts.
(Institutes of Christian Religion, Book 1, Chapter 7, paragraph 4)

We can never make the unreceptive receptive. Just tell them about Jesus Christ. Tell them about what they already know deep within, that they are sinners, that there is a God, that God is holy, that God will thus judge sin, and that God has made a way.

I wonder whether what inhibits our sharing of the Gospel is often a flawed understanding of what the impact of sharing it is likely to be. We need to grasp this truth:

A natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. (1 Corinthians 2:14)

Which, of course, gives rise to the obvious question: “why bother then?”
Cue our Genevan friend:

“For as God alone can properly bear witness to His own words, so these words will not obtain full credit in the hearts of men, until they are sealed by the inward testimony of the Spirit.”
(Institutes of Christian Religion, Book 1, Chapter 7, paragraph 4)

Only God can do that, and whether He does that is up to Him. We trust Him to do His word. Simple. He commands us to obey in living and thereby sharing it. We must never let the sharing of the Gospel with another be impacted in any way with a fear as to its receptivity or acceptableness.

Only God can bear witness to His own words.

Hmmm, any idea how those words of His will come into the sphere of the non-believer who you encounter today?

How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? (Romans 10:14)

TUESDAY, MAY 12

So it turns out that the science guy whose model projecting widespread coronavirus deaths were a leading driver of hard lockdowns in the UK and America was caught not strictly keeping to the lockdown.

This hasn’t been uncommon – a few people in the public eye have been caught breaking the letter of that law. To be in the public eye is to put a target on yourself, and the failure to govern yourself accordingly can be embarrassing.

The outrage against the science guy arises from what appears to be hypocrisy, telling society they must do one thing while appearing to adopt a slightly different standard for himself. By his own judgment, he has committed an “error of judgment”.

Ah, yes – the old error of judgment. That tricky thing that leaps up to bite you, like when you mis-judge the distance to the table-leg and stub your toe. Ouch. Painful error of judgment.

Errors of judgment sound so mathematical and scientific – like calculations gone slightly wrong. There is no shame in allowing too much break on a putt. “You thought you had enough butter to last until the weekend – silly you.” A mere flaw in the application of cold, detached reason. There is no moral component to an error of judgment.

So, what happened? Did he pop out for one long walk in the park too many? Was he found with more ice cream in his shopping trolley than any reasonable person would consider essential? No, his slight misjudgement, his delicate quasi-mathematical miscalculation was to entertain a woman in his home. A woman who was not his wife – and younger than his mother but older than a daughter. A woman who was someone’s wife, just not his.

Was that the error in judgment? To engage in adultery? Or was the error to engage in adultery during the lockdown? Would it have been OK a few weeks ago, definitely not an error in judgment? Would it have been an equal error of judgement if the visitor had been his Scrabble-playing uncle looking for a game?

The outrage is so narrow and a sufficiently confected that it betrays how the eagerness of sinners to point out the hypocrisy of others – always nauseating – is a cover for the deeper awareness of the wrong-ness of underlying sin. This wouldn’t be the story it was if it didn’t involve a woman. But the critics just cannot bring themselves to point out the real error here. It is there, but it is written between the lines. And it’s not a matter of mere judgment.

The man was participating in the immoral act of adultery, a party to the betrayal of a family and the renunciation of vows. Adultery is hurtful to the individuals and a wide circle. Adultery makes a mockery of promises made and ceremonies under-gone.

And the thing is: everyone knows this. Everyone knows adultery is wrong. Everyone knows that adultery is worthy of social sanction.

But society cannot bear to face the reality of sin – all our sin, all the lustful, selfish indulgences the flesh craves – so there are sins it is prepared to look the other way for. As a result, it vents its own hypocrisy on the hypocrisy of others reinforcing its own self-delusion that the underlying circumstance is irrelevant.

But that’s sin – even when out of the shadows, everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed (John 3:20) – it’s only out long enough to justify itself.

How refreshing would it have been to read a front page story decrying the wickedness of sexual sin and all the deception and hypocrisy and lockdown-breaking it leads to.

MONDAY, MAY 4

We live in an age of experts.

It may be safer to say “purported experts”.
People who, by virtue of their experience or knowledge or education – or sometimes due just to their fame – offer opinions on questions about which there may or may not be a correct answer.

Everyone’s opinion on questions that have no definitive answer is equally valid e.g. best flavour of ice cream, best holiday destination, best football team. There is no right or wrong answer. Apart from AFC Bournemouth.

But in matters for which there is an actual answer, should everyone’s opinion be considered equally valid? Or are we prepared to acknowledge that our own opinion – and thus, the opinion of others similarly situated – are often as useful as a paper umbrella? They are not based on specialized knowledge - they are mere opinion.

Until 2020, the raging issue was the exit from the EU by the UK. Opinions as whether this was good or bad were either well-informed or ill-informed. The challenge that our society never seemed to come to terms with was deciding which were which. There are, actually, right answers on the impact on the economy of Brexit. But who has the qualifications to offer such an opinion? Or, should I say, who has the qualifications to offer a useful opinion? On most things we all have opinions – it is an exercise in healthy self-awareness in recognizing when those are useful i.e. based on knowledge or insight, and when they are merely “my opinion, so there, take it or leave it”. When we go to the doctor, we are looking for an opinion. And not from the receptionist (well, medically, anyway). And we want an opinion from the right doctor – not from the haematologist when we’ve gone for a glaucoma appointment. The validity – the usefulness – of the opinion depends on the qualifications of the opinion offerer.

In a court case, opinion evidence is not permitted to the ordinary witness – you say what you saw, describing it with words. You do not say whether the car was driving “too fast” or “recklessly” – that’s an opinion. You just tell us what you saw. Opinion evidence is only admissible when relevant and offered by a duly qualified expert.

During this Chinese flu virus crisis there are many, many opinions being offered about a wide variety of topics. If only we could all agree that the validity – the usefulness – of the opinion depends on the qualifications of the opinion offerer. Should we really be battered with views of politicians or celebrities or reporters on matters medical or viral? If only there was someone who could speak with absolute authority about the best methods for containing and curtailing the virus. We will soon be subject to an avalanche of opinion on the best ways to advance the economy. Beware. Many lack the necessary self-awareness to offer useful opinions.

How useful would it be to have a source of absolute authority to appeal to when we have questions? Such authority would require that the opinion offerer would be absolutely right in every circumstance.
Calvin commends One to us:

“… our faith in doctrine is not established until we have a perfect conviction that God is its author. Hence, the highest proof of Scripture is uniformly taken from the character of him whose Word it is. The prophets and apostles boast not their own acuteness or any qualities which win credit to speakers, nor do they dwell on reasons; but they appeal to the sacred name of God, in order that the whole world may be compelled to submission.”
(Institutes of Christian Religion, Book 1, Chapter 7, paragraph 4)

The character of the speaker determines the authority of the speech. And the reliability of the speech. And the utility of the speech.

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God   (2 Timothy 3:16)

And thus,

We have also a more sure word of prophecy (2 Peter 1:19)

THURSDAY, APRIL 30
By Simon Wills

I do hope quarantine is treating you well. It is a strange time - truly unprecedented.
I’ve been thinking on some verses of Scripture, and here are two that have been of particular help to me and I hope will be of help to you.

First, Matthew 6:27 (ESV) -
‘And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?’

We gain nothing from being fearful of the future. Were we to not have the certain hope of the coming day of Christ, we would have every right to be petrified. We should apply that same logic to us who have been saved.

We know what will happen to us, the joy that awaits us. Now is not the time for fear, we are to look to that joyous hope God has gifted us. Fear only the Lord our God, and look ever forward to that day of glory.

Second, Romans 8:18 (ESV) -
’For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.’

What a true beauty this one is. Just a stunner. Our suffering in this time of great fear and trepidation, is not worth even comparing to the glory that is to be revealed to us. We have this absolute delight awaiting us in heaven. This is something we can never forget.

The relief that God has provided us with is so awe inspiring that it trumps any sufferings we have now, however great (and not greater than Jesus’, might I add). If you have time, and you definitely do as we’re all locked up, go read Romans 8. It isn’t long, but the verses come out swinging and it’s beautiful.

Finally, John 19:30 (ESV) -
When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished,” and He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.

It is finished. You can say that with unfaltering certainty. What a blessing that is. The trials of our lives will come in hot and fast, but we know that the ultimate task has been completed. Not by us, but by our Saviour. Look to the future with delight, knowing it is finished.

The joy we get from these verses is just something else, it is wonderful. And to deprive people of that joy would be cruel. We should want to share this good news, the best news. Be the shining light, show that we have that powerful certainty and people will see.

God works through even the greatest troubles. He managed to save each of us; He can save anyone.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29

Science is a great friend of Christianity. Despite persistent attempts to declare the Bible unreliable, both physical and archaeological discoveries continue to confirm its accuracy and reliability. Christians aren’t surprised.

Science is undergoing a crisis. Everyone has heard of the “scientific method”, a process which was meant to assure us that experiments resulted in accurate results. It used to be a given that science meant that results obtained were repeatable and verifiable (and falsifiable, which, while disappointing, at least would validate the process while villifying the motives).

That isn’t the case anymore. There seems to be “soft” science and “hard” science, where the soft is malleable according to the prevailing political philosophy or cultural agenda, and the hard continues to be as hard as the ground when you hit it after deciding that maybe the law of gravity is soft science. There is no such thing as soft science – well, it’s a thing, but it’s not science. Science doesn’t know motive or agenda, science isn’t interested in your political point. The purpose of science is to tell us what ‘is’ in the real world. Anything else is social science, which will offer theories and models, but not truths.

As Christians, we love truth. We love truth because truth is of God – when Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6), He was declaring truth to be more than a conclusion but to be an evidence of the reality of God, to have aspects of divine personality. He is the Rock, His work is perfect: for all His ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is He. (Deuteronomy 32:4)

Lies are of the devil, the truth is of God, so Christians avoid all lies – including white ones – and pursue all truths – even awkward ones. Christians should actually be the most outspoken people – ask a Christian, “do I look fat in this?” and you should get a true answer (warning: do not try this at home, and if you do, the writer bears no responsibility for any undesired outcomes) .

Truth – sometimes discovered in the exciting confirmatory findings of science – is independent of the speaker. When I say something that is true, it is true whether you like me or not, whether I am nice or smart or honest or not. It’s true.

God’s word is truth, and that there are disputes about plain texts is a sad reflection on the modern church. Calvin has something to say about this:

“A most pernicious error has very generally prevailed--viz. that Scripture is of importance only in so far as conceded to it by the suffrage of the Church; as if the eternal and inviolable truth of God could depend on the will of men. …”
(Institutes of Christian Religion, Book 1, Chapter 7, paragraph 1)

The Bible is true on its face, true because it is God’s word, and God is truth. There is no scope for discussion or debate. Yet, especially as pertains to moral issues, it is as if the truth revealed by God is only applicable as suits modern man. Where the Bible is seen to be in conflict with culture, with the zeitgeist, with the prevailing norms, the Bible proves very inconvenient and, as is the case with any awkward, somewhat outspoken but beloved older relative, it is ushered from the room. This is foolish and counter-productive, as it promotes neither the good of the individual, the society or the Church.

And it entirely fails to consider the implications of the meddling by man with the word of God:

“what is to become of miserable consciences in quest of some solid assurance of eternal life, if all the promises with regard to it have no better support than man's Judgment?”
(Institutes of Christian Religion, Book 1, Chapter 7, paragraph 2)

FRIDAY, APRIL 24

Day after day the heavens are declaring God’s handiwork.
These days, it’s a work of art that we all enjoy: it’s blue, with a brilliant yellow centre and occasional wisps of white dabblings.

The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech, And night to night reveals knowledge. (Psalm 19:1-2)

For many of us, this is a rare opportunity to spend time taking it all in.

I’ve known people identifying as Christians who’ve said that their need for attending Sundays was not urgent, that they received so much blessing from creation. Yes, they’d say, I agree with Romans 1:

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. (Romans 1:20)

Oh, praise God, He is clearly seen all around us.
But that verse must be read in its entirety – the witness of creation, the clarity of its testimony, is to make all accountable to God. You have no excuse for denying Him. You have no excuse for ignoring Him. You, if you are a Christian, are given constant daily reminders to obey Him, and are without excuse if you don’t.

Nature offers what we call general revelation – it’s there for all. The responsibility of the Christian is to pursue both general and special revelation. Special? Yes – the Bible.

As Calvin puts it:
“… while it becomes man seriously to employ his eyes in considering the works of God, since a place has been assigned him in this most glorious theatre that he may be a spectator of them, his special duty is to give ear to the Word, that he may the better profit. …”
(Institutes of Christian Religion, Book 1, Chapter 6, paragraph 2)

God commands specific adherence to His specific commands. Oh, yes, He requires general repentance, and offers all the proof necessary to embark on that path. But having experienced the general, the Christian pursues the specific. And just as He has spoken eloquently in creation, just as it declares the work of His hands, so the Bible declares the work of His hands, too.

How gracious is God that He doesn’t require us to respond to a mute God, seen only in nature. He has spoken. Offering clarity, authority, sufficiency. Meaning, we know what is required (the Bible is clear), why it is required (He said so), and how to obey it (all you need is in the Bible).

How will any Christian know what is right in the realm of money or family or sex or work or TV? Not from the sky – as Calvin wrote,
“… it is impossible for any man to obtain even the minutest portion of right and sound doctrine without being a disciple of Scripture. …”
(Institutes of Christian Religion, Book 1, Chapter 6, paragraph 2)

The message of the heavens is communicated to all people. Yet it is interpreted so differently. The Christian points the unrepentant to the creation – to the vastness of space and the splendour of nature and down to those wonders too small for the human eye – to declare the reality of God, and having done that, points the unrepentant to the Bible that they might know God and what it all means.

MONDAY, APRIL 20

When Mary Magdalene went to the tomb where she had seen Joseph of Arimathea lay the body of Jesus, she brought something with her.
She brought spices.

She didn’t come skipping and humming a happy tune – she came mournfully, she came ready to do her loving duty by the One whom she loved and had seen die. She would not leave Him abruptly, even in death.

I don’t what historians tell us, but it would seem that the practice of amateur mortuarial practitioner was common. When someone died, you didn’t pay a professional, you got the body ready for final disposal yourself. The Bible says that Mary and the other women went to “anoint Him” – meaning, apply spices to the body to moderate the processes of decay (or “corruption”). There was clearly no expectation that He was alive – if that were the case, they would have brought Him a croissant and something to wear.

Should we or shouldn’t we blame her in this? She loved Him so much, she was ready to take the risks and spend what was necessary to see His body dealt with rightly, and surely, when someone says they will rise from the dead after 3 days we don’t take them seriously, do we? When it’s Jesus, we do.

We do blame Mary – we blame the apostles, we say to all of them: you should have believed Him. You should have taken Him at His word. You doubted Him.

What cause did you have to doubt Him? What did He ever say that didn’t happen? What sorts of supernatural acts did He do in your presence? How did He demonstrate authority over death in your presence? You actually saw a dead person dead, you actually knew Lazarus who told you about being dead, and you saw these people alive again. Why would you doubt Jesus when He said that He would defeat death, that He would rise from the dead, that there would be no need for spices to anoint Him because He will be alive?

It’s simple, really.
Faith means taking Jesus at His word, and that isn’t easy.

Faith means suspending the natural urge to disbelieve.
Faith means seeing natural laws as malleable in the hands of Jesus.

Mary wasn’t a fair-weather believer. She loved Jesus, she was committed to Jesus, she stayed with Him until His body was placed in that tomb, and she wasn’t afraid of His enemies at the cross on Friday or the dangers of the dark on Sunday for His sake.
Yet she didn’t take Him at His word.

Do you remember the raging sea of Matthew 8 – the men are sure they are going to die, and Jesus is sleeping. When awakened, Jesus’ words to them are: why are you afraid? That may seem like an odd question. Can you almost see their faces, and how they resist the urge to be sarcastic? “We’ll tell you why we’re afraid, Jesus”: there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered with the waves. (Matthew 8:24) Fear is a human response to danger.

Jesus’ response to fear in a situation where fear is the normal human reaction is you men of little faith. Why isn’t this harsh? Why isn’t this a bit unfair?
Because the presence of the Lord ought to instill fearlessness. There is no cause for fear in the presence of Jesus Christ. Unless you lack faith.

Similarly, the word of the Lord ought to instill fearlessness. Mary had no cause for bereavement sorrow because of the words of Jesus. Yes, she should have gone expectantly, excitedly. (if you’re thinking, “well, would you have?” – that’s irrelevant, and my weakness is no justification for anyone else’s)

So similarly, believer, the word of the Lord – the Bible - ought to instill in us fearlessness. We ought to take the word of God as the infallible word of God. We ought to read it and believe it because Jesus said it. No matter what the circumstances are, no matter what the flesh is feeling, no matter what laws of nature would have to be suspended for it to happen.

We are living in a climate of fear, a national period of anxiety. People are fearful for their lives and the lives of their loved ones. What should we be like?
Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. (Philippians 4:5)
We should be shining examples of faith, not spice-bearers.

Don’t fail to notice where this verse falls – right between verse 4 and 6, which are a double-whammy reminder to trust, trust, trust Him. Even when it makes you seem weird.
Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! (Philippians 4:4)
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; (Philippians 4:6)

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15

There is a lot of yellow out there – and we’re missing it (and I don’t mean sunshine).

I was out for some exercise in the very early morning to avoid making myself and others uncomfortable by passing too near to one another, when “all at once I saw a crowd, a host, of golden daffodils”. Well, they were more yellow. But they were striking. Pretty, whimsical, abundant, bursting in colour and life. Set against a blue sky it was a remarkable scene.

What struck me in the moment was that there was no one else there to see them. I looked up and down – nobody.

It may have been due to the hour. But I suspect that it was largely due to the lockdown. “They stretched in never-ending line along the margin of a bay” – well, not a bay, exactly – it was the road. But they did stretch along the margin, and the line went on and on. It was so lovely and it seemed somehow wrong that in a populous place, with typically vehicles and people passing regularly, I thought: “it’s wasted”.

Which gives rise to a question: “is wonder wasted when not beheld?”
Is beauty beautiful only if it is seen? Otherwise, it just ‘is’, isn’t it?

In Wordsworth’s poem (all the quotes are from it) he was “lonely as a cloud”, yet the value in the experience was real, it brought “wealth” to him. That wealth was tapped when he would relax and really not be thinking about anything at all until the image of the daffodils flitted into his mind, with the effect, “and then my heart with pleasure fills, and dances with the daffodils.” The flowers gave him pleasure at the time, and later upon remembrance.

This isn’t enough for me. A lot of effort went into those daffodils – both mine and Wordsworth’s. All the forces of nature operating to bring them about, the faithful processes that nurture and develop the plant, the busy-ness of bees and processes of photosynthesis, all building to those few days of the year when they are most splendid, knowing that soon they will revert to the months of dull greenness. More need to see them, enjoy them, savour them. Wasted, or no?

My question for today is: is Church wasted when not beheld? Our experience of the Church – and by Church I mean the body of Christ, not a Sunday morning service or a denomination – is limited right now, but if we’re honest: isn’t it often so? How often do we allow our thoughts to drift to the Church, and be glad in it? How often do we avail ourselves of the pleasure of reflecting on what God has tangibly placed in our midst to bless us?

I hope you enjoy the poem, “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” by William Wordsworth. It’s lovely. I invite you to adapt the poem, and instead of daffodils, substitute “the Church”. If you do, I think you’ll find that your experience as a believer is just like the lonely wanderer at this time, deprived of the Church.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

(that could easily be those who are with Him now, rejoicing in the presence of the Lord)

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

(how blessed are we by contemplation of brothers and sisters in Christ)
(and how rarely we do it)

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

Assuming that there may be a bit more couch-lying than normal, my hope for the believer is that amidst your solitude, when you are hanging around “in vacant or in pensive mood”, may the thought of the Church, all the body of Christ, the bride, those we count beloved as brothers and sisters, may that thought fill your heart with pleasure.
May the love and joy and sharedness of Christ give a lightness to all of life.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8

It has been lovely to see how, as a nation, the UK has come together to hope for the rapid recovery of our PM. Many have very publicly expressed their concern by “sending prayers”. Whether you like him or not, whether you support his party or not, there is no denying that he has shown an inspirational verve and jollity and commitment to put things right, as he would see it, in this country of ours that he clearly loves. I expect most of us are continuing to check regularly, longing for good news about his recovery.

A trend apparent for some time in our culture when there has been a particular crisis in a person’s life has been for other people to assure the sufferer of their prayers. Do people realize what they are saying?

When a person of faith speaks of their prayers, we all know in what direction they are indicating that their devotional energy will be spent. As Christians we believe that there is one God, one Lord, and He is Yahweh, the God of the Bible. We believe that there is no other. We know and understand that someone of a different faith will be addressing the god (or gods) that they believe in. We respect their sincerity while disagreeing with their theology and praying that they may in fact know the one true God. Christians are unapologetically exclusivists – which is surely a position worthy of more respect than a vacillating relativist or weak-knee’d woke worshipper, afraid to face the irrefutable consequence of agreeing with the First Commandment i.e. the exclusion of all others.

So, I don’t have a problem with a person of a not Christian faith speaking of prayers because I know what they mean, and I think they know what they mean.

But what do you do with the atheists and agnostics and secularists and nominalists who promise their prayers? Who are they praying to? What are they saying? What does a prayer sound like absent the spiritual Interlocutor? Why are they even using that sort of language?

If such people have a vague notion of some deity, a casual idea of prayer, they need to be careful. God is not be trifled with. The God of the Bible is not a needy weakling just waiting for someone to notice Him. He is to be approached with reverence and godly fear.
Why? (you would’ve thought being God would have sufficed) The reason He must be approached in the right manner – the right spirit – is because, our God is a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12:28 and 12:29)

The proper manner of approach to God doesn’t begin with a pre-occupation with me, it begins – and continues throughout – with a pre-occupation with Him.

I’m assuming that when a person speaks of prayers offered on behalf of a sufferer they mean for them to be meaningful not meaningless words. They mean to reassure the one in need that efforts are being made on their behalf to enlist supernatural aid. If not, if the words are just said for the sake of it – or worse, to make the speaker look good - it’s insincerity of such a blatant nature that it betrays either a careless ignorance or a barefaced dishonesty.

A word of urgent counsel for people who wish to pray on behalf of others:
please pray to Yahweh, to the God of the Bible, the one true God. Know this: to do so, you must follow this command:  he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6)

You must come believing, you must come worshipfully. Faith in Him is essential, because without faith it is impossible to please Him.

It would be awesome if we became a nation of pray-ers and prayers. Sick people don’t need virtue-signalling phoneys. They need prayer.

Our PM needs prayer. That’s why tonight, at the GCW Prayer Meeting, we will approach the throne of Almighty God in the name of Jesus Christ to pray for him by name. Our nation – and his loved ones – need our leader right now.

MONDAY, APRIL 6

Are you a preacher of the Gospel?
Of course not, you say – if I mean it in the formal sense.

But must it be so? Can anyone preach the Gospel? Of course they can!
Anyone can take an inquirer aside, an interested person, and “…explain to him the way of God more accurately”. (Acts 18:26)

Not anyone can just stand up in the gathered assembly of believers – the role of preaching to the Church is specifically restricted by God to men who meet Biblical criteria.
But we are all called to call. Called to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to family and friends and neighbours and the world.

An immediate question is, “well, do you?” – but I’m not here to make you feel guilty. Let’s say you did preach to someone – what would you say? Where would you start? How would you start? What would you leave in and leave out? How long would you talk for?

At GCW I like to ask a prospective member to explain the Gospel to me as if I were somebody they’d just met on the bus. It’s not easy. And not because we’re all scaredy-cats. It’s not easy because most of us aren’t entirely prepared for that moment, and – to be honest – a lot of Christians don’t actually know what to say. They know what the Gospel is but it’s the putting it in words part that is a challenge.

There are 2 main aspects to preaching the Gospel: the form and the content. All that matters is the content. The form? Well, if donkeys can talk, then eloquence isn’t essential equipment. The reason is, of course, because the power isn’t in the speaker – it’s in the words. The content.

I saw an article on a website (noted below) that prompted me to share this with you – as I have said many times to anyone who has ever heard me speak: I rarely say anything original, but I can’t always remember just where I heard it before. It’s not originality or novelty that matters – it’s truth. Do any of us really think we’re about to say something that hasn’t already been thought or said?

Is there anything of which one might say, "See this, it is new"? Already it has existed for ages Which were before us. (Ecclesiastes 1:10)

It is important that we understand that preaching the Gospel does have essential content. Meaning, leave it out, and you haven’t preached the Gospel. Sure, you’ve talked about God or shared an experience, but if you will be faithful, it's as easy as ABCD:

A. Tell of God, who is our holy Maker and deserves worship and obedience.

B. Tell of Man, who refuses to worship and obey, and whose sin will be justly punished in hell.

C. Tell of Jesus Christ, who died on the cross to satisfy God’s justice, taking the punishment for sin, and Who was buried, and rose again, opening the way to heaven.

D. Tell of the Holy Spirit, who brings repentant faith, whereby Man confesses his sin and believes on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Basically, you speak of the 4 persons involved in your salvation.

You must include these truths if you want to preach the Gospel. If you don’t, you’re not.

People need to the hear the Gospel – they always have. Is it any more urgent today than it ever was (virus, or no virus)? Is it any more relevant today than it ever was (Easter week, or not Easter week)?

In 2020 God has His people, the Church – that’ s you, believer – who is chosen and called,

that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations (Luke 24:47).

https://www.9marks.org/answer/what-content-necessary-order-share-gospel

FRIDAY, APRIL 3

People want answers.

This current situation sees government and public figures peppered with questions, the Internet is full of theories, social media is a field full of new “experts” in medical science – all in pursuit of answers.
People are suddenly keenly interested in the news and what’s happening in Italy and how bad it is in the U.S. because people want answers. It’s not intellectual curiosity and it’s not educational pursuit.

It’s self-preservation –whether economic, psychological, social.

Just how dangerous is this if I catch it? How exactly is it transmitted?   Why are there not enough ______ ? (you fill in the blank – shortages are a big issue) How long will this last? When I can go back to work? When will things be normal again?
People are worried.
The questions go on and on.
Yet, amidst the need for answers, with virtually every question that doesn’t receive an answer today, there is a right answer: time will tell.
That’s not meant to be trite.
Just wait, you’ll know eventually.

But while you have questions about temporal matters, should you not moreso be concerned with getting answers to questions that have, I suggest, much more enduring significance? People are asking “what must I do to be saved from this virus”, but why is no one asking, “what must I do to be saved forever?”
Jesus warned:

Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10:28)

There was an age when, during a time of crisis, the nation would look to the Church. That age has passed as the Church has lost moral authority by being ‘of the world’ instead of remaining purely ‘in but not of the world’.
In Christ are the answers to the hardest questions. Yet as people are called to repent and turn to God, Calvin observed an apparent contradiction:

“His essence, indeed, is incomprehensible, utterly transcending all human thought; but on each of his works his glory is engraven in characters so bright, so distinct, and so illustrious, that none, however dull and illiterate, can plead ignorance as their excuse.”
(Institutes of Christian Religion, Book 1, Chapter 5, paragraph 1)

God is there to be seen. His essence may be beyond us, we cannot fully grasp Him, yet His reality is so near
us. It is the blindness of sin that causes us to not see what is right there, before our eyes. The answer to all of the questions, the resolution of all our difficulties – it is at hand. Turn to Him! (not to professionals or experts or government)

Instead of seeking God, instead of trusting God, instead of looking away from ourselves and to Him, people go to man’s preferred default, that which has been enthusiastically taken up by all peoples since Israel smelted the golden calf –

“No sooner do we, from a survey of the world, obtain some slight knowledge of Deity, than we pass by the true God, and set up in his stead the dream and phantom of our own brain, drawing away the praise of justice, wisdom, and goodness, from the fountain-head, and transferring it to some other quarter.”
(Institutes of Christian Religion, Book 1, Chapter 5, paragraph 15)

The “dream and phantom” of the moment is a cure, a vaxxine, more equipment, a better lockdown. This moment in history is, in fact, our nation’s best recent moment to turn and not pass by the true God.
Who is using this time to consider the state of their soul? Who is waking up to their own sleep-walking to death and judgment and hell? Who is investing in eternity and not the uncertain present? Upon whom has it dawned that the present circumstance is calling them to God, the rightful orientation of every one of us?

Who, and this is the big question, is looking to God for answers?

TUESDAY, MARCH 31

I think we all know someone who can be a bit grumpy – if you don’t, then that person is probably you.

However, I think that it’s fair to say that, in general, most people are OK. Even, most of that same portion of people, you might consider to be rather pleasant, even nice. Well, that’s my experience.

Now, you mustn’t think me a ridiculously optimistic i.e. naïve, person. Some people are blind to the faults and shortcomings of those around them to a degree that while it’s sort of sweet in its childlikeness, it’s not very useful. It can even be dangerous – that person’s discernment is likely not that reliable.

I say this all in rather general terms, and what I am building towards is how this outward demeanour of docile pleasantness is actually a very thin mask. It falls away almost instantly when certain topics are introduced. Those topics may vary from person to person, but there is one topic in particular which I suggest will invariably lead to the rapid disappearance of the kindly Dr. Jekyll and the rapid appearance of Mr. Hyde. That topic is Christianity.

About this I wish to be clear: (1) I don’t say ‘religion’, I say Christianity because I haven’t observed this alter-ego in discussion around other religions, which may be purely cultural – people who have little exposure to other religions will likely have muted views on them; and (2) when I say ‘Christianity’, I mean true Christianity, not the insipid, Jesus-less, repent-free variety that is often sold as such – I mean the Christianity that proclaims the sovereignty of God and preaches the cross of Christ and practices the authority of the Bible.

So, why do people change from nice to nasty when Jesus is the topic?
Jesus says,
And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  (John 3:19)

Because they don't want the light to shine on their life!
Since Jesus is the light of the world - I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.  (John 8:12)  - this sets Him immediately in opposition to them, and everyone else who isn’t with Him.

Meaning, if you don't follow Him, you are still in the dark. Is this harsh? I don’t think so, because what do we all do when we’re engaged in something wrong or shady or embarrassing? We hide it, we shield it, we close it – we look like deer in the headlights when we think we’ve been seen. It is our nature to avoid detection, to not want to get caught, to avoid the light of scrutiny. The first thing Adam did after sinning? Hide from God.

Calvin observed the following about people, how we don’t by nature want to be brought before God:

“… when they do think of God it is against their will; never approaching him without being dragged into his presence, and when there, instead of the voluntary fear flowing from reverence of the divine majesty, feeling only that forced and servile fear which divine Judgment extorts …"
(Institutes of Christian Religion, Book 1, Chapter 4, paragraph 4)

What is going on when that nice person suddenly isn’t so nice, is this: you have brought them before God – or you have brought God before them – by speaking of His Son or of the things of God. They recoil, they pull back, they want nothing to do with it, for their conscience is saying, J'accuse!

If you don’t believe me, try it out. Expect to reduce your own popularity rapidly. There’s a reason that certain topics are verboten – you cannot say them – in certain settings e.g. family occasions, funerals. People want platitudes – or, even better, say nothing. But, I ask: who is served by your silence? Which cause is advanced - light or darkness?
And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. (John 3:19-20)

MONDAY, MARCH 30

The Incarnation began a long physical journey for Jesus Christ, after travelling en ventre sa mere to Bethlehem from Nazareth to Jerusalem to Egypt to etc. So much to be done. So much to be accomplished. As Jesus nears death on the cross, we read in John:

After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. (John 19:28)

One of the most astonishing and convincing aspects of Christianity is the precision and particularity with which prophetic pronouncements about Him were fulfilled. The redemption of sinners required elaborate preparation and infinite attention to the detail of satisfying God’s perfect standard – as He said to John the Baptist:

"Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he allowed Him. (Matthew 3:15)

In fulfilling all righteousness as the spotless Lamb of God, the long-promised Messiah, He was accomplishing all that His Father had ordained for Him:

Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. (John 4:34)

Jesus did it all, and thus Spurgeon observed:

“That all the types, promises, and prophecies were now fully accomplished in Him. The whole Book, from the first to the last, was finished in Him. There is not a single jewel of promise, from the first emerald which fell on the threshold of Eden, to that last sapphire-stone of Malachi, which was not set in the breast-plate of the true High Priest. Nay, there is not a type, from the red heifer down to the turtle-dove, from the hyssop up to Solomon’s temple, which was not fulfilled in Him; not a prophecy, whether spoken on Chebar’s banks or on the shores of Jordan; not a dream of wise men, whether they had received it in Babylon, or in Judaea, which was not now fully wrought out in Christ.”

FRIDAY, MARCH 27

The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and most people feel themselves drawn to the outdoors. Well, by all means, go outdoors if you can – but only to the end of your garden – or, you might want to stop just 6 feet shy at the end.
In a country whose climate is wonderful (I’ll take moderate over the extremes of my past, any day) there is a feeling a day of sunshine being wasted if we’re not out there, enjoying it.

This allure? This basking in the sun full on your face, taking in the wide sweep of the blue sky, hearing the sweet sounds of nature – why should we care? We do, it’s in all of us. But why should we, if we are just the product of random processes over time?
Yet, it is the universal experience of humanity to appreciate the wonder of the world around us. The reason? There is, within every person, an awareness of the Creator, and the heavens are the first witness for the prosecution:

“The heavens declare His righteousness, And all the peoples see His glory.” (Psalm 97:6)

Calvin put it like this:
“God himself, to prevent any man from pretending ignorance, has endued all men with some idea of his Godhead”. (Book 1, Chapter 3, paragraph 1).

We all know, we all see it, we all bear the witness within. Will you deny it? Will you really tell yourself that everything – all this beauty and wonder – is the product of something coming from nothing billions of years ago? Despite all the evidence – yes, evidence. Things we see, things we know. Calvin again:
“All men of sound Judgment will therefore hold, that a sense of Deity is indelibly engraven on the human heart.” (Book 1, Chapter 3, paragraph 3)
Recognition of reality isn’t superstition – it’s sanity.

“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse”. (Romans 1:20)

Let every one of us pause today to consider. To consider the creation – and to consider the Creator:

“When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?” (Psalm 8:3-4)

Yes, and let each consider Christ, God in flesh, who visits us and brings salvation and righteousness and freedom and hope.

THURSDAY, MARCH 26

It’s fair to say that we live in largely “shame-less” age. I intend the double-meaning, firstly, that there is a tone in the culture of immodesty, and secondly, that the classic admonition “you should be ashamed of yourself” is typically met with uncomprehending bemusement, since nobody is ashamed of anything anymore. The concept of shame is lost.

It seems to me that the same cannot be said of fear. Our boastful age likes to pretend that it is fearless, undaunted, unendingly courageous – except at the moment we are all witnessing a very different reality. Everybody is in fear. Acts of defiance are seen as foolish and almost traitorous - "just stay at home, dummy. Nobody is impressed by your 'courage'". Fear hangs over the nation and the planet. For most of humanity, the one fear above all fears is the fear of loss of life.

While understandable, this is mistaken. The greatest fear in every living person ought not be a fear relating to self, but relating to God. Now is a time for all to fear God. However, while cultural boasting about fearlessness is dispersed like a vapour, the lack of a fear of God is much more universal and persistent. It is fair to say that in our world, “there is no fear of God” -  Transgression speaks to the ungodly within his heart; There is no fear of God before his eyes. (Psalm 36:1)
Many people will acknowledge that there may be God (as if dispensing a favour), but it comes with no fearful implications. It should. Now is time for all to fear God.

Here’s what Calvin had to say:
“… how can the idea of God enter your mind without instantly giving rise to the thought, that since you are his workmanship, you are bound, by the very law of creation, to submit to his authority?--that your life is due to him?--that whatever you do ought to have reference to him? … Such is pure and genuine religion, namely, confidence in God coupled with serious fear--fear, which both includes in it willing reverence, and brings along with it such legitimate worship as is prescribed by the law. …”. (Book 1, Chapter 2, paragraph 2).

Life lived rightly, typically with the clarity of thought afforded by a crisis, will focus on how each individual person relates to the ultimate reality: God. Life lived in reference to God is right living, and in such living there will be fear – “serious fear”. Good fear. The good type of fear that causes you to draw back from cliff edges, the fear that recognizes imminent danger and acts sensibly.

For the Christian, it’s a life lived daily in “willing reverence, and brings along with it … legitimate worship”. Reverent worship of the holy God to whom my life is due.

Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long.
(Proverbs 23:17)

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25

This is a ____ time in our world. Now, how you fill in that blank depends on many things.
What word would you use?

-frightening, scary
-worrying
-interesting
-uncertain

The choices are many.
The choices for the believer are, however, limited. They are limited in direct proportion to the individual’s vision of God. Do you see God for who He is, glorious, holy, sovereign, almighty, good?
This series of devotionals will draw on Calvin’s Institutes, and this is what he wrote about our vision of God:

“men are never duly touched and impressed with a conviction of their insignificance, until they have contrasted themselves with the majesty of God.” (Book 1, Chapter 1, paragraph 3).

It is when we see ourselves in contrast to God that we can have a right and healthy understanding of our situation. We are small, He is great. God is not absent – quite the contrary,

“For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes. For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, And its place remembers it no more. But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting On those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children's children, …” (Psa 103:14-17).

This current situation is a daily and vivid reminder of human frailty, that every person on the globe – no matter how advanced our era - is vulnerable to a suddenly appearing unseen enemy. We are locked away in our homes, we must not be exposed.

At a time like this people grasp for meaning, and they are right to. Some find it in turning inward. The Bible tells us our purpose, reveals to us the meaning of our existence. Now is a time when plain before all eyes is the humbling reality that the joy of worship of the God of creation is our lofty purpose, it sets the meaning of our daily lives.

It fills in the blank to tell us that this is a time in our world like all others, when all people everyone must urgently, “repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord”. (Acts 3:19)