Listen to this discussion on the challenge the church faces in the current environment. It strikes just the right balance between biblical wisdom and medical science. Pass it on!
Source: The Providence Forum
Martin Luther on Responding to Pandemics
“I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I shall fumigate, help purify the air, administer medicine and take it. I shall avoid places and persons where my presence is not needed in order not to become contaminated and thus perchance inflict and pollute others and so cause their death as a result of my negligence. If God should wish to take me, he will surely find me and I have done what he has expected of me and so I am not responsible for either my own death or the death of others. If my neighbor needs me however I shall not avoid place or person but will go freely as stated above. See this is such a God-fearing faith because it is neither brash nor foolhardy and does not tempt God.”
Source: The Patriot Post
Just Like Yahweh
This from Dale Ralph Davis’s Commentary on 1 Samuel 2 where we find Hanna’s prayer:
“When John Calvin had suffered the death of his wife Idelette, he wrote his friend William Farel: “May the Lord Jesus … support me … under this heavy affliction, which would certainly have overcome me, had not He, who raises up the prostrate, strengthens the weak, and refreshes the weary, stretched forth His hand from heaven to me.” Calvin was saying he would surely have been crushed but he knew a Lord who raises up the prostrate, strengthens the weak, and refreshes the weary—and that Lord had again acted in character in Calvin’s grief. That is what Hannah is saying here. I was ready to fall and Yahweh gave me strength; I was barren and he made me fruitful; I was poor and he made me rich. But that is not really surprising, for that is just the way Yahweh is (vv. 4–8)!“
Dale Ralph Davis, 1 Samuel: Looking on the Heart, 1998, Christian Focus Publications, Geanies House, Fearn, Ross-shire, IV20 1TW, Scotland, Logos Version.
With God, Nothing Shall be Impossible!
“And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.” (Luke 1:34-38)
“Questions and doubts will often arise in men’s minds about many subjects in religion. They are the natural result of our fallen estate of soul. Our faith at the best, is very feeble. Our knowledge at its highest, is clouded with much infirmity. And among many antidotes to a doubting, anxious, questioning state of mind — few will be found more useful than that before us now — a thorough conviction of the almighty power of God. With Him who called the world into being and formed it out of nothing — everything is possible. Nothing is too hard for the Lord!
There is no sin too black and too wicked to be pardoned — the blood of Christ cleanses from all sin. There is no heart too hard and wicked to be changed — the heart of stone can be made into a heart of flesh. There is no work too hard for a believer to do — we can do all things through Christ strengthening us. There is no trial too hard to be borne — the grace of God is sufficient for us. There is no promise too great to be fulfilled — Christ’s words never pass away — and what He has promised, He is able to perform. There is no difficulty too great for a believer to overcome — if God is for us, then who can be against us? The mountain shall become a plain.
Let principles like these be continually before our minds. The angel’s reply is an invaluable remedy. Faith never rests so calmly and peacefully — as when it lays its head on the pillow of God’s omnipotence!“
JC Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Luke