Coronavirus: Stopping the Pandemic

This epidemic does not come from God. It is not a punishment from heaven.
It is an attack from the prince of darkness who is desperate to prevent the coming worldwide revival.
 
Countless millions are isolated and intimidated. There is panic everywhere. If this continues, many will die of poverty and hunger, even if they don't die from the virus.

Our economic system will collapse and powerful people with sinister intentions will take power worldwide.

Jesus told us to go out into the world and win people over to Jesus, but now faithful Christians have to sit at home.

But when the devil attacks, God wants to call us to stand up with Jesus and win a great victory.

Blessed be the LORD my Rock, Who trains my hands for war, And my fingers for battle-- Psalm 144:1 (NKJV)

We are in a terrible war against a cruel enemy. God can destroy the enemy with one finger, but God has given us humans the task of resisting the devil.

The enemy is much stronger than mortal humans, but our calling is to trust God in faith and in partnership with God to tear down the strongholds of the enemy.

We have to learn to fight, but we can only learn that in a real battle.

When a strong enemy invades, the warfare can be hard.

First, our own weaknesses are exposed. Then God can help us overcome our sins and weaknesses so that the enemy does not overwhelm us.

For example, if you live a good life, but mostly on a natural level, at cancer diagnosis can be a terrible challenge. The cancer doesn't come from God, of course, but you have to learn to fight with supernatural trust in God.

The devil's attacks are a challenge to get closer to God so that we can overcome the Devil with God’s power.

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. John 10:10 (NKJV)
 
Cancer comes from the devil. This epidemic also comes from our enemy.
 
Our own sins can make us vulnerable to such attacks because sins are an invitation for the devil to extend his power.

If abortion becomes commonplace, if a lot of Christians watch porn, if sex before marriage is accepted as normal among many Christians, we become very susceptible to evil attacks.

Then when the enemy invades, we have to fight, but how can you fight on God's side if you accept sin as normal?

Sin is always against God. We have to turn from sin.
 
We must also know where the attack comes from.

If the devil attacks with illness, we cannot win the battle if we think that the illness comes from God.

As a man on earth, Jesus was the complete revelation of God's character and intentions. 

He never tolerated illness, never spoke a positive word about sickness. Those who sought healing from Jesus were never turned away.

That evening many demon-possessed people were brought to Jesus. He cast out the evil spirits with a simple command, and he healed all the sick.

This fulfilled the word of the Lord through the prophet Isaiah, who said, “He took our sicknesses and removed our diseases.” Matthew 8:16-17 (NLT2)

We have to repent and pray, but how can we fight with strong faith when we are passive Christians?

So many Christians rely on preachers and pastors instead of building a close personal relationship with Jesus.

When the enemy attacks, and we need God's help, our idolatry is exposed. The pastor cannot save you from an epidemic, only Jesus himself.

If your Christian life is focused on your pastor or church and not on Jesus himself, how can you win a tough battle in faith? Of course, I don’t deny that God often hears the prayers of faithful pastors for weak believers.

I believe the pandemic that is now prevailing everywhere must give way if we turn to God and pray together in faith.

A worldwide war of intercession is already underway. God is calling us all to pray.

Corona Virus and Your Faith

If I walk into the thick of danger, You will preserve my life from the anger of my enemies. You will extend Your hand; Your right hand will save me. Psalm 138:7 (HCSB)
 
Are you rather anxious right now? That’s a normal reaction.

We're threatened on all sides. Even if you're not infected with the virus, your job could still be in jeopardy.

The devil is cruel, and he is desperately angry now because he sees his end is near. Jesus is coming back.

But if you are a son or daughter of God, you are on God's side. When the enemy attacks with sickness, fear and death, you have God's authority to release the healing power of Jesus.

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. John 10:10 (NKJV)

Peter summarised the ministry of Jesus in this way.

And you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. Acts 10:38 (NLT2)

Jesus had sent Peter and the first apostles as his representatives to continue his own ministry on earth.

So Jesus said to them again, "Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you." John 20:21 (NKJV)
 
But this great commission was not given only to the first apostles or the first Christians.

Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Mt 28:19 (NLT2)

The apostles only reached some nations but Jesus spoke of all nations. There are still many people and many tribes who need Jesus.

Many Christians in China have given their lives to save others in times of intense persecution. 

We have the same truth as the faithful disciples in the bible time and also in our own time. We have the same Holy Spirit as Paul, the same healing love as Peter.

And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. Romans 5:5 (NLT2)

The devil wants to torment and torture people, but we have a good God who wants to heal and restore us.

Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies in the day.

Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday.

Though a thousand fall at your side, though ten thousand are dying around you, these evils will not touch you. Psalm 91:5-7 (NLT2)

Do we pray for revival? Wake up! Let God Himself move in your own life to release His healing love and power.

God's Promise in Troubled Times

We live in troubled times. Do we have a future? Is our planet perishing? Even if we go to heaven when we die, what will happen to this earth?

Even the seasons are changing. We hear fierce arguments everywhere about climate change. But if it isn’t  climate change, what is it?

Recently, many Europeans have had to endure heat waves, with sometimes 40 degrees and very warm nights, like in California or Australia, but without air conditioning.

In Australia a terrible drought has led to the worst bush fires ever. An area larger than Belgium has gone up in flames. 

In some areas, people have fought for months against fires that could not be put out even with masses of water poured from big aircraft.

Many environmental scientists warn that our planet is in grave danger. Committed young people are shouting at us. 

Do we have to radically change our entire economic system to save the planet? Is that politically possible?

What does the Bible say?
Will the earth perish? Yes and no.

Jesus promised to save the souls of believers, even in dramatically hard times.
I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke.
 
The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
 
And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.' Acts 2:19-21 (NIV)
We can expect a wonderful future in God's heaven. Christians have always had this hope.
But what is to come of this earth?

Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains. Mark 13:8 (NIV)
We see natural disasters and political unrest now, but there is more to come, and much worse.
In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them. Revelation 9:6 (NKJV)
But in the end we can expect a new creation because God assures us that he has everything under control.

Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Revelation 21:1 (NKJV)


"Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. Isaiah 65:17 (NIV)

But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. 2 Peter 3:13 (NIV)
When God declares the same promise three times in His Word, we can be completely reassured. It will come to pass.

But God has more to say to encourage us.

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
 
After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. 
And so we will be with the Lord forever.
Therefore encourage each other with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 (NIV)
Will this dramatic event literally come to pass? Some would like to doubt that. But God does not want to keep us in the dark about it.

When God wants to emphasise something, he repeats his promise in another Bible passage.

Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed--
 
in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 (NKJV)
 

God and Climate Change

“Being compassionate means providing a fence at the top of the cliff, not just an ambulance at the bottom.” Fred Nile, Australian Christian politician.
 
I think Fred Nile is speaking about upholding God's ordained social order and moral law to protect us. If you believe in the Bible, it is hard to disagree. 

However, in the current crisis, we should apply this principle also to management of land and water resources. Massive amounts of water have been sacrificed to maximise export dollars, for example in coal mining. We need that water to produce food and fight fires.

Government priorities have been wrong in moral policy but also in land management policy. I avoid the word 'environment' because I am not a Green. We on the conservative Christian side need to do some serious rethinking.

The black and white climate debate obscures inescapable problems. 

Environmentalists focus on overuse of fossil fuels causing global warming. Conservatives say this is a pseudo-scientific hoax designed to undermine capitalism and bring in socialist world government.

But doesn’t the Bible predict environmental disasters in the last days?

And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven. Luke 21:11 (NKJV)

If greenhouse gas levels are a problem, why is the focus almost exclusively on use of fossil fuels?

• What about the intensive use of agricultural chemicals?

• What about the progressive degradation of agricultural soils and the dramatic decline in the nutritional content of food produced by modern methods?

Why is there so little discussion of the worldwide decimation of bees and other insects? We need bees to pollinate the plants we must have to survive.

The use of glyphosate-based herbicides worldwide dominates farming in many countries but this chemical is toxic to bees.

• In California, intensive production of almonds is sustained by using these herbicides and also by orchardists hiring bee swarms from beekeepers. Untold millions of these bees are dying but the practice continues.

What about the systematic poisoning of marine life with plastic waste and other chemical pollutants? 

Our current industrial and agricultural systems are not sustainable.

Look at the Middle East, mostly desert. Why? God’s judgement on the enemies of God’s people?
 
Maybe so. But God has also blessed the Persians and Arabs with untold wealth from oil. I am not God. We need to understand that we don't understand so many things.

But what about unsustainable agricultural practices over many centuries? Hard to deny.

However, the Jews in Israel have reversed this process. This is undoubtedly due in part to the blessing of God sending more rain. 

However, the Jews have also pioneered drip feed irrigation and strategic tree planting and no doubt other wise land and water management practices. Why are we just admiring them and not learning from them? Is that biblical?

Perhaps the environmentalists are right. We may be on a one way road to destruction.

Why should Christian conservatives resist this narrative? Why should we be committed to the status quo?

Does Bible prophecy encourage this mind set? Does Bible prophecy encourage us to expect never ending economic growth through deregulated capitalism?
I don’t think so.

Bible prophecy tells us that Jesus will return and set up the Kingdom of God in a time of horror.
On the other hand, there are Christian spiritual leaders with apparently genuine prophetic credentials who say God has raised up President Trump.

Maybe this is true. But that does not make all his policies right.

This world is on the road to destruction, how quickly or how soon, we cannot tell. Bible prophecy clearly teaches this.

If we are on the road to destruction, environmentalism, however sensible, will not save us.

Does this mean we should do nothing to improve environmental management?

The positive example of Israel is a good answer to this question.

The Green lobby focuses on a global approach to climate change. However, innovative land management practices in Israel and parts of Africa have shown that rainfall and climate can be positively influenced at a local or regional level.

This approach does not seem to be central to the agenda of either the Right or the Left in Australia and many other countries.

What we often see instead is a polarised debate which is leading us nowhere.