How Do I Fight My Coronavirus Fears?
00:00:00.000 | (upbeat music)
00:00:02.580 | - Hey everyone, and welcome to this special episode
00:00:06.720 | of the Ask Pastor John podcast.
00:00:08.720 | It seems right to address some aspects
00:00:10.560 | of the current coronavirus pandemic here,
00:00:12.800 | but as it stands, not a lot of attention
00:00:14.800 | will be devoted to it.
00:00:16.360 | But I think there are a few aspects we need to address
00:00:18.600 | based on what you, the listeners,
00:00:20.120 | have emailed us over the past few days.
00:00:22.560 | But first, Pastor John, I suspect a lot of people
00:00:24.440 | just wanna know how you're doing physically in this season,
00:00:27.160 | and I presume you're spending a lot of time
00:00:29.600 | at home right now.
00:00:31.200 | - We are at home a lot.
00:00:32.600 | (both laughing)
00:00:35.040 | Well, who knows?
00:00:36.080 | On December 20th, 2006, I thought I was fine,
00:00:42.880 | and on 2006, December 21, I had cancer.
00:00:47.000 | So I have no idea how I am, but I feel fine,
00:00:50.240 | and I don't think we're sick,
00:00:51.800 | and I don't anticipate getting sick, but the Lord reigns.
00:00:55.860 | Worship is different, of course.
00:00:58.880 | Bethlehem is doing it online.
00:01:00.600 | So two Sundays ago, we met with a group of 10,
00:01:03.600 | and we sang in the Livingston's basement
00:01:06.200 | and watching a video of the service as it went,
00:01:09.960 | and this time, it was just Noel and me.
00:01:12.880 | And I'll tell you, if a husband and wife
00:01:15.360 | have never sat in two chairs,
00:01:18.320 | worshiping with their church,
00:01:19.940 | and singing alone by themselves, you should try it.
00:01:24.940 | It will sweeten, it will sweeten.
00:01:27.600 | If you can get over the embarrassment.
00:01:29.440 | (both laughing)
00:01:31.360 | This is my wife, bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh.
00:01:34.600 | If you can get over this, then it will be sweet.
00:01:38.160 | And it was sweet.
00:01:40.560 | So that's been different.
00:01:42.560 | My treadmill doesn't change.
00:01:44.040 | It's up in the attic.
00:01:44.900 | I'm still getting the same kind of exercise.
00:01:46.600 | I always get, I'm doing all kinds of video conferencing.
00:01:51.360 | I was on there with T4G today.
00:01:53.680 | I was on there with a leadership team with you, Tony,
00:01:56.800 | on the internet doing our Zoom video things.
00:02:00.980 | I got 60 look at the books done
00:02:03.880 | on the first chapter of Ephesians.
00:02:06.360 | - Amazing.
00:02:07.200 | - I mean, we're not goofing off here in the meantime.
00:02:10.640 | - No, there's a lot of work to do.
00:02:11.480 | - But it is sober.
00:02:12.480 | I mean, we really, really,
00:02:14.920 | I desire people be very, very sober-minded about this
00:02:19.920 | and not make light of it,
00:02:21.960 | because I think God is in charge.
00:02:23.760 | He is saying something.
00:02:25.300 | We need to ask, what is God saying?
00:02:28.200 | Because he's in charge.
00:02:29.120 | He doesn't do things like this willy-nilly.
00:02:31.560 | He has purposes.
00:02:33.280 | And so I'm very trustful of him
00:02:36.320 | and eager to discern what he wants us to say.
00:02:40.100 | - Amen.
00:02:40.940 | So much of the work at DG continues on as normal for us,
00:02:43.480 | even in this pandemic.
00:02:44.840 | Obviously, we can't travel.
00:02:46.300 | That's the biggest change so far.
00:02:48.400 | I just finished a string of travel teaching in Frisco, Texas,
00:02:52.080 | and then in Austin,
00:02:53.240 | and was in Seattle two weeks ago today
00:02:56.040 | as the city was shutting down.
00:02:57.600 | And I know your big Southeast Asia trip
00:02:59.960 | that was planned got canceled in light of all of this.
00:03:02.640 | - Yeah, that's why I've gotten
00:03:03.560 | so much "Look at the Book" done,
00:03:04.720 | because we just said,
00:03:06.240 | okay, let's do a deep dive on "Look at the Book"
00:03:09.120 | when we should have been in Asia.
00:03:10.840 | - Well, it's great to hear that you and Noel are healthy.
00:03:13.720 | Same here.
00:03:14.560 | The family's healthy,
00:03:15.380 | and things seem to be going really well
00:03:17.200 | from all outward appearances, at least.
00:03:19.080 | - Great.
00:03:19.920 | - Well, as you know,
00:03:20.740 | there's an overwhelming sense of fear right now, Pastor John,
00:03:23.980 | and we're seeing it in the many emails
00:03:25.700 | coming in from listeners in the US now.
00:03:28.780 | The headlines are ominous.
00:03:30.280 | The Dow is dropping 1,000 points per day, it seems.
00:03:33.080 | The consumer market has largely frozen.
00:03:35.180 | Airlines are slowing and may halt soon.
00:03:38.160 | And with the stoppages has come the loss of income,
00:03:41.700 | and even the loss of jobs.
00:03:44.060 | We're hearing now from DG Partners,
00:03:45.420 | our donors who are faced with new struggles
00:03:47.340 | in the marketplace, facing shutdowns,
00:03:49.980 | the inability to work as normal,
00:03:52.020 | and even the harsh reality of now letting go of employees
00:03:55.020 | they can't put to work.
00:03:56.820 | Meanwhile, on TV,
00:03:57.980 | politicians are holding live press conferences all day
00:04:00.140 | with the latest news, infection stats,
00:04:02.220 | and to convince people to stay home.
00:04:04.700 | Outbreaks of the virus continue to spike in Italy,
00:04:07.020 | Spain, Germany,
00:04:08.000 | but have also moved in much closer to home
00:04:10.300 | in states like New York and New Jersey.
00:04:12.980 | Every state in America now has cases,
00:04:15.520 | and our hospitals are starting to feel the surge.
00:04:18.620 | Older citizens know they're in the bullseye of this,
00:04:21.260 | and the virus is causing lung failure
00:04:22.980 | in a younger demographic than was previously expected.
00:04:26.540 | It seems like the elderly are stressed,
00:04:28.740 | adults of all ages are stressed,
00:04:30.780 | kids are stressed, parents are stressed,
00:04:32.900 | business owners are stressed,
00:04:34.700 | dads who provide are stressed.
00:04:37.020 | Few of us know if this virus will infect us personally,
00:04:39.320 | but its ripple effects have really impacted
00:04:42.140 | every single one of us,
00:04:44.140 | and now we're being told that this could all last
00:04:46.700 | for months.
00:04:49.180 | So to the many listeners who are fighting for faith
00:04:51.140 | right now and fighting against fear right now,
00:04:53.180 | whether it's physical or financial,
00:04:55.100 | Pastor John, what would you say to them?
00:04:58.100 | When I think of the preciousness,
00:05:01.900 | the precious experience of being free from fear,
00:05:06.540 | free from anxiety, full of peace,
00:05:09.340 | full of contentment in the face of danger,
00:05:12.340 | my question is, who is it that can have a warranted,
00:05:17.340 | well-founded, justifiable, God-given,
00:05:22.020 | God-sustained freedom from fear
00:05:25.700 | and freedom from anxiety and unshakable peace
00:05:28.920 | and sweet, abiding contentment?
00:05:31.500 | Who can lay a rightful claim to these treasures?
00:05:36.500 | It's crystal clear in God's Word
00:05:39.940 | that He commands and He offers
00:05:43.900 | a life of fearlessness and peace.
00:05:46.740 | Hebrews 13, 6, "The Lord is my helper.
00:05:49.260 | I will not fear.
00:05:51.340 | What can man do to me?"
00:05:52.980 | And Philippians 4, 6, "Do not be anxious about anything,
00:05:57.980 | but in everything by prayer and supplication
00:06:00.820 | with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God,
00:06:03.780 | and the peace of God, of God,
00:06:08.620 | will surpass all understanding
00:06:10.620 | and guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."
00:06:13.200 | And Philippians 4, 11, "I have learned
00:06:16.020 | in whatever situation I am,
00:06:20.060 | coronavirus or not, to be content."
00:06:23.780 | No fear, no anxiety, supernatural peace,
00:06:26.420 | supernatural contentment in every circumstance,
00:06:29.620 | horrible or happy, that's what God offers.
00:06:33.660 | And the question is, to whom is such an amazing,
00:06:38.020 | supernatural experience of fearlessness and peace given?
00:06:42.260 | In other words, I'm not interested, Tony.
00:06:44.500 | I'm not interested in corona time or any time
00:06:48.060 | in the mere psychological experience of fearlessness
00:06:52.400 | and contentment that is not based on reality.
00:06:56.060 | The aim of our lives is not to have
00:07:00.080 | a psychological state of mind that is pleasant
00:07:04.620 | without reference to reality.
00:07:06.740 | The aim is to have for ourselves and for others
00:07:11.740 | through us psychological, spiritual,
00:07:16.420 | physical states of happiness
00:07:20.300 | that are based on reality, that make much of our maker,
00:07:25.060 | and that will be true in a million years.
00:07:27.740 | That's the only kind of fearlessness
00:07:30.420 | and contentment I care about.
00:07:32.580 | So the kind of fearlessness that you see in movies,
00:07:36.500 | where the cocky heroes keep their cool
00:07:40.260 | in dangerous situations and flaunt their boldness,
00:07:43.820 | has no interest to me at all, none,
00:07:47.260 | because it's not based on reality.
00:07:51.300 | God is real, sin is real, hell is real,
00:07:54.660 | Jesus Christ is real, the blood he shed
00:07:58.440 | in the crucifixion is real, the Holy Spirit is real,
00:08:02.220 | faith and the absence of faith are real,
00:08:05.340 | heaven is real, the human soul that will exist forever
00:08:09.940 | in heaven or in hell is real.
00:08:11.780 | Those are the great realities of the universe,
00:08:16.660 | and none of the fearlessness that you see in the movies
00:08:19.620 | is based on any of them.
00:08:21.080 | Therefore, it's worthless as something to admire
00:08:24.460 | or to aspire to.
00:08:26.180 | What God is doing, among a million other things
00:08:30.020 | in the coronavirus, is forcing the issue of reality.
00:08:35.020 | And one of the litmus tests of whether your life
00:08:40.340 | is based on reality or based on the mirage
00:08:45.340 | of God ignoring pillars holding up
00:08:48.300 | the cultural temple of secularism,
00:08:51.560 | one of the litmus tests is fear.
00:08:54.400 | The test of the foundations of your life is fear.
00:08:59.060 | Oh, what a precious gift God is giving to us
00:09:03.980 | to discover while we still have time
00:09:08.900 | that the pillars holding up our peace are hollow
00:09:13.180 | and made of paper mache.
00:09:15.460 | That's a gift.
00:09:17.100 | So I don't want to just start saying
00:09:20.360 | when you ask me about fear,
00:09:22.740 | fear not everybody, fear not everybody,
00:09:25.060 | fear not everybody, when for all I know,
00:09:27.460 | the people listening to this should fear
00:09:30.580 | because the pillars of their lives are paper mache.
00:09:34.300 | Their lives are not based on reality.
00:09:36.140 | I don't know.
00:09:38.020 | I'd sure like to help it not be so.
00:09:40.540 | There are glorious, rock solid, indestructible reasons
00:09:45.540 | and warrants and grounds and foundations
00:09:48.100 | for not being afraid of what the coronavirus can do
00:09:52.420 | to your health or your business or your family
00:09:54.760 | or the economy or to Western civilization
00:09:57.600 | or to history as we know it.
00:10:00.120 | There are foundations in reality not to fear any of this.
00:10:05.120 | So my question is, who is it that can have warranted,
00:10:09.420 | well-founded, justifiable, God-given, God-sustained freedom
00:10:14.420 | from fear and unshakable, sweet, abiding contentment?
00:10:20.480 | And the answer is given in one verse,
00:10:23.860 | one of the most sweeping, all-encompassing,
00:10:27.200 | stabilizing, precious, well-known promises in the Bible,
00:10:31.720 | namely, we know, we know that for those who love God,
00:10:36.720 | all things work together for good,
00:10:43.360 | for those who are called according to His purpose,
00:10:48.360 | Romans 8:28.
00:10:49.920 | So who is it that should enjoy the fearlessness and peace
00:10:54.920 | that absolutely everything around this coronavirus
00:10:58.460 | is working together for their eternal good, everything?
00:11:01.420 | And the answer is those who love God
00:11:04.460 | and those who are called according to His purpose.
00:11:07.380 | So here's one of the 10,000 things God is doing
00:11:12.300 | through this horrific virus.
00:11:15.260 | He is saying to the world, He is saying to us
00:11:19.460 | what He said to Peter in John 21, 16, "Do you love me?"
00:11:24.100 | That's what He's saying.
00:11:25.460 | And Jesus made it more plain in Matthew 10, 37,
00:11:28.960 | "Do you love me more than anything, more than these,
00:11:31.940 | "more than your mother or father,
00:11:33.580 | "child or son or daughter?"
00:11:35.820 | And second, He is saying what He said through Peter
00:11:40.480 | in 2 Peter 1, 10, "Be diligent to confirm your calling
00:11:45.480 | "and your election."
00:11:46.980 | The coronavirus is a wake-up question to the world,
00:11:51.980 | especially Christians.
00:11:54.020 | Is your life a confirmation that God has called you
00:11:59.020 | out of darkness into His marvelous light?
00:12:03.100 | These are the people, the called and the lovers of God,
00:12:08.100 | these are the people who have a warrant, a ground,
00:12:11.600 | a foundation in reality not to be afraid,
00:12:15.380 | but to be steadied by unshakable peace.
00:12:19.060 | And Romans 8, the great eight that I think everybody
00:12:22.500 | in this isolation period should be memorizing,
00:12:25.340 | I'm making that as a suggestion,
00:12:27.060 | best thing you could do with your time.
00:12:29.020 | Romans 8 gives greater foundations for this fearlessness
00:12:34.940 | than anything in the world, anything the world has to offer.
00:12:39.300 | I just, I mentioned four.
00:12:41.060 | Number one, "For the called who love God in Jesus Christ,
00:12:46.060 | "all of God's righteous condemnation toward you
00:12:48.940 | "was put on Jesus, and there is now no condemnation,
00:12:52.720 | "no punishment for those who are in Christ."
00:12:55.700 | Verse three, "By sending His own Son in the likeness
00:12:58.900 | "of sinful flesh and for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh."
00:13:03.900 | Condemnation for those who are in Christ is over.
00:13:09.100 | It happened at Calvary.
00:13:11.060 | That is wonderful.
00:13:12.900 | Number two, "God's willingness to sacrifice His only Son
00:13:17.900 | "for the called ones who love Him means He not only died
00:13:23.080 | "in their place, but will not withhold anything from them
00:13:28.800 | "for their eternal good."
00:13:30.340 | Verse 32, "He who did not spare His own Son,
00:13:34.900 | "but gave Him up for us all,
00:13:37.060 | "how will He not with Him graciously give us all things?"
00:13:40.860 | So everything we need to glorify God
00:13:43.740 | and to have everlasting joy, He guarantees in the cross
00:13:48.740 | for us during coronavirus time.
00:13:52.460 | Number three, "Nobody who is called by God
00:13:56.360 | "will fail to attain eternal glory."
00:13:58.760 | There is a golden, unbreakable chain of covenant commitment
00:14:03.500 | that God will keep His called ones forever.
00:14:07.820 | Verse 30, "Those whom He predestined, He called,
00:14:11.340 | "and those whom He called, He justified,
00:14:13.360 | "and those whom He justified, He glorified.
00:14:15.740 | "None of the called is lost ever."
00:14:20.180 | And number four, finally, this means, verses 35, 37,
00:14:25.180 | "Neither tribulation, nor distress, nor persecution,
00:14:29.020 | "nor famine, nor nakedness, nor danger, nor sword,
00:14:32.120 | "nor coronavirus, nor economic collapse,
00:14:35.260 | "or total anarchy, or the end of the world
00:14:38.960 | "can separate us from the love of Christ."
00:14:42.220 | And that includes death, especially death,
00:14:45.660 | because verse 36 says, "For your sake,
00:14:47.720 | "we are being killed all day long."
00:14:49.520 | And it doesn't matter whether we're being killed
00:14:52.420 | by coronavirus or anti-Christian mobs,
00:14:56.180 | nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus
00:15:01.300 | in all these things, He says,
00:15:04.380 | "We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us,
00:15:06.580 | "therefore, Christian, therefore, Christian,
00:15:10.640 | "lover of God, called out of darkness
00:15:13.660 | "into His marvelous light, lift up your head,
00:15:17.560 | "put a song in your mouth, love your neighbor,
00:15:22.120 | "and do not be afraid."
00:15:25.440 | Those are some rock solid pillars under the Christian life.
00:15:28.280 | Thank you, Pastor John.
00:15:30.420 | And yes, what a precious gift God is giving to us
00:15:33.680 | to discover while we still have time
00:15:35.560 | that the pillars holding up our peace
00:15:37.100 | are often hollow and made of paper mache.
00:15:40.740 | Wow, what a word for this season.
00:15:43.580 | Well, as we mentioned earlier,
00:15:44.980 | much of our labors at DG continue on as normal,
00:15:47.180 | and that includes this podcast, Ask Pastor John.
00:15:50.460 | And Lord willing, as God sustains us,
00:15:52.220 | we'll keep up our regular schedule of episodes
00:15:54.140 | on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays,
00:15:56.080 | and then when we have episodes related to this virus
00:15:58.740 | or other unfolding events,
00:16:00.460 | we'll release those as bonus episodes in the week.
00:16:03.260 | So stay tuned for more.
00:16:05.220 | And thank you for listening.
00:16:06.180 | Keep sending us your questions.
00:16:07.380 | Do that at desiringgod.org/askpastorjohn.
00:16:11.540 | Thanks for listening and being with us.
00:16:12.980 | I'm your host, Tony Reinke.
00:16:14.140 | We'll see you next time.
00:16:15.340 | (upbeat music)
00:16:17.920 | (upbeat music)
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