Facing the unexpected
On 1st March 1968[1] as Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones entered the pulpit at Westminster Chapel in central London, he was unaware that it would be the last time he would do so. A health diagnosis the following week brought his time at Westminster to an end. It was an unusual and unexpected conclusion to his pulpit ministry that had lasted almost 30 years.
On the 3rd September 1939[2] he was scheduled to begin his ministry in Westminster Chapel but that very same day Britain declared war on Germany and life in London and across the world would be very different for the next 6 years. An unexpected beginning and an unexpected ending yet a ministry that lives on today through his books that have been a blessing to a multitude of Christians around the world.
I can’t begin to think how he must have felt, moving from a rural Welsh church to a large city congregation, full of hope and anticipation in response to God’s call and guidance to minister in one of the great cities of the world and then face services cancelled, church life disrupted and the future uncertain. Sound familiar?
Who would have thought 12 months ago that we would pass through days that have brought a global pandemic resulting in millions of deaths and bringing great fear upon the nations of the world?
How is the Christian community to respond to our current situation as we face this unexpected disruption in our lives? Things do not just happen and the present crisis ought to remind us of three important lessons.
THE HAND OF GOD
Throughout the history of God’s people we are made aware of the hand of God, sometimes quite visible and at other times hidden in his overall providence. However we may be coping with the changes in day-to-day living our lives are in God’s hands. We are not in control of our health, accidents or disease that come upon us. God is working out his purposes according to his eternal decree.
THE HEART OF MAN
When Dr Lloyd-Jones preached during those war years he sought to proclaim the Biblical view of life because it gave the answer to the question “Why does God allow war?” Many have asked a similar question today “where is God in Covid-19”? War, said the preacher, was not to be viewed as the interruption of personal convenience and of the enjoyments of life. Something far more serious was involved. War is divine judgment upon the very lives which men pursue; it is permitted in order that men may see through it, more clearly than they have ever done before, what sin really is, and thus be led back to God.[3]
It would be hard to argue that the present global pandemic can be interpreted in a different way. Surely God’s judgment rests upon the nations of the world today and we cannot easily dismiss the evidence of divine displeasure in the current crisis.
You may be familiar with an incident in the life of Jesus as recorded in Luke 13. Tragedy had befallen 18 people when the tower at Siloam fell resulting in their deaths. Were they more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you no, replied Jesus, but unless you repent you too will all perish. All mankind in this world is under the sentence of death, it is because of his great mercy that we are not consumed.
Jonathan Edwards once asked his congregation to give one reason why God had not destroyed them since they got up that morning. He asked them to consider every moment that they live, every luxury they enjoy, every blessing they participate in and to see God’s patience with a race of people who persistently rebelled against him.
“War is divine judgment upon the very lives which men pursue; it is permitted in order that men may see through it, more clearly than they have ever done before, what sin really is, and thus be led back to God.”
Yet people continue to ask where God is when life is interrupted and our enjoyments and pleasures are overruled by circumstances. God is a patient God, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
THE HOPE OF THE GOSPEL
Many people today are longing for certainty and security. Great hope is being placed upon the vaccination roll out and while it may suppress the rate of infection it will not prevent death or deal with the fundamental problem of mankind, sin. The Bible tells us “it is appointed unto man once to die and after that the judgment”. Amidst all the uncertainties of life the only safe refuge is to be found in Jesus Christ, Paul tells us Jesus came into the world to save sinners. It’s at the Cross, where justice and mercy meet, that we find forgiveness and peace with God.
It’s only through faith in Christ that we can face the unexpected challenges of life and death.
[1] Romans 14:1-17, Liberty and Conscience, (x) Banner of Truth
[2] D Martyn Lloyd-Jones, The Fight of Faith, p.3, Iain H Murray, Banner of Truth
[3] The Fight of Faith, p.24(Psalm 119:9).
