Romans in 40 minutes

This Lord’s Day morning we plan to begin a series in Romans chapter 8 (11:30am on facebook live).

In order to get up to speed on Romans (assuming you don’t have time to listen to all 15 sermons on chapters 1-7 preached back in 2018!), one very helpful recent resource is an address given by Sinclair Ferguson entitled Romans in 40 minutes. Ferguson has made Romans a lifetime study, and has around 150 commentaries on the book - and distills it all in this lecture given in August 2019.

Don’t miss him explaining his ‘profound commitment’ to evening worship around the 7 and a half minute mark - something we share, and which explains why we are livestreaming two services a week even in the midst of this pandemic.

Update: John Piper has a helpful summary of chapters 1-7 here.
Kyle Borg preached a sermon which covered the whole of Romans 8 and also has a blog post on preaching Romans as a young minister.

COVID-19 crisis reveals what's most important to us

Last Sunday has been called one of the most unusual Sundays in the history of the Christianity – and I don’t think that’s an exaggeration. It was a day when the majority of Christians across the world were either not permitted to gather to worship or considered it inadvisable to do so.

Church leaders around the world spent the week leading up to it scrambling to decide what to do instead. Some churches held drive in services in their car parks, with people staying in their cars and rolling down their windows to listen to the sermon and join in the singing. Others, like Stranraer Baptist Church, had the minister pre-record a service and put it online around the time people would normally be meeting together. Many, like ourselves, livestreamed a service – in other words the minister preaching to a camera, with congregants able to watch the service live via facebook, youtube or a plethora of other video-sharing platforms.

Whatever the medium however, the message that was proclaimed sought to make sense of this crisis and provide comfort to those facing worries about their health, their job and even their very lives. A number of fellow ministers turned to the familiar words of Psalm 121 – ‘I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth’. Others turned to the 46th psalm, which was a favourite of Martin Luther: ‘God is our refuge and our strength, in trouble our sure aid’. Some sought to bring comfort to their people from Philippians 4v6: ‘do not be anxious about anything’. I turned to Isaiah 8v12: ‘do not fear what they fear’.

Although it was strange and sad not to be able to meet together with other believers, many testified to a comfort they received that went beyond what any mere human words could bring.

One question that myself and other ministers have been asked is whether this is a sign of God’s judgement on us. An article in Monday’s Times called the Archbishop of Canterbury’s broadcast service the previous day ‘anaemic’ and noted that ‘once upon a time a plague might have prompted our religious leaders to demand we put on sackcloth…or perhaps they would have thunderously blamed the coronavirus on our decadent, sinful lives’.

In his day, Jesus told his followers that those who had been killed in a couple of local disasters were not actually any worse sinners than any others (Luke 13:1-5) – and yet he did use it as an opportunity to call people to repent. So we can’t make dogmatic pronouncements about why this virus has struck, but Amos 3v6, which another friend preached from, is still true: ‘Does disaster come to a city, unless the LORD has done it?’

Of course, many ministers have ditched the Biblical rhetoric altogether, other than for vague pleas for us to ‘love one another’. However, as the Times review of Welby’s efforts at ‘well-meaning spiritual consolation’ concluded, ‘This was all very nice but I wasn’t quite sure I trusted him with my soul’.

Whether we go down the road of blaming the virus on peoples’ decadent, sinful lives or not, the last few weeks have certainly brought to light an ugly side of human nature that we would like to pretend isn’t there.

Certainly, there have been stories of compassion. Some have rallied valiantly to care for the self-isolating. And yet there have also been headlines about people bulk buying disinfectant wipes and hand sanitiser in order to sell it on at a profit. Doctors have reported hygiene levels on wards slipping because people are stealing hand gel from the end of patients’ beds. And it’s not just a few selfish individuals. In the last three weeks Britons have spent £1 billion stockpiling food. When NHS workers do manage to make it to the shops, they’re often confronted with empty shelves.

One thing the pandemic has done is reveal what’s really important to us – and often it’s not pretty. If we don’t examine our own lives in the light of such an unprecedented crisis, we never will.

How long these ‘virtual’ Sundays will go on for is hard to know. One thing’s for certain – when we are able to meet together again, we will rejoice in the privilege like never before.

Next Sunday morning I plan to begin a series on what’s been called ‘The greatest chapter in the Bible’. Romans chapter 8 speaks of a love that even death itself can’t separate us from. And from the comfort of your own home, you’re very welcome to join us.

Published in the Stranraer & Wigtownshire Free Press, 26th March 2020

RPCS Day of Fasting & Prayer - 28th March

‘“Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.’ - Joel 2:12-13

‘The fast that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself’ - Isaiah 58:5

God has pressed the pause button on normal life, not just for us, but for the world world. Daily life is different for all of us. And while we can’t say for certain why God has sent COVID-19, as Amos 3:6 says, ‘Does disaster come to a city unless the LORD has done it?’. Jesus said that such events bring with them a universal call to repentance (Luke 13:1-5). In the words of C. S. Lewis, such things are God’s ‘megaphone to rouse a deaf world’.

As one minister has said, ‘If our first impulse in all of this has not been prayer, God is raising his voice’.

Right throughout the Bible, plagues are meant to call us to repentance (Exodus 10:3; Amos 4:10; Revelation 9:20), both individually and corporately.

Along with other denominations such as the International Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Presbyterian Church of England and Wales, and the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Ireland, the RP Church of Scotland has called for a day of fasting and prayer as an appropriate response to the current crisis.
The Canadian RP Churches will also be observing a day of prayer and fasting on Saturday specifically to tie in with us on Scotland. As they have put it, ‘praying together is a beautiful and blessed expression of the unity of the Church’.

Such a day provides an opportunity to:

Have an extended time of personal/family worship

Letting such times slip or descend into formalism may be the first thing to confess! If you would like Bible reading notes, the Let’s Worship God notes, produced by the RPCS, are available to read online.

Reflect on the current crisis in light of God’s word

One particularly helpful sermon preached in light of COVID-19 is ‘When God raises his voice’ (audio / transcript) by David Gibson in Aberdeen IPC. If you don’t have time for it all, his third point is particularly relevant to fasting and repentance in light of coronavirus.
Another helpful article is Responding to the Present Alarm.

Confess our sins as individuals (and families)

Confession of sin is a basic part of Christian prayer, but it’s easy just to be general - ‘and forgive my sins in Jesus’ name’. Or perhaps we just confess a few of the big, obvious sins in our lives. But one helpful list to work through is An A-Z of Hidden Sin.
In ordinary circumstances it might be good practice to work through a couple of these per day. But one of the reasons for setting aside a day of prayer is to provide time to search our hearts and confess our sin in more depth.

Confess our sin as churches

The fact that God has effectively cancelled Public Worship across the world as never before in the history of Christianity should make us ask how much we have really valued it. Some may need to confess not attending when they could have - others for being there in person but not properly engaging with it. Too often we have been ‘hearers of the word and not doers’ (James 1:22-23).

One idea might be to think of recent sermon series and confess how these things are not seen among us the way we should. For example:

- The Fruit of the Spirit: Simon Arscott (Gareth’s minister in London) recently shared a helpful congregational confession based on the Fruit of the Spirit.
- The Ten Commandments: The Larger Catechism (Question 104 following) lists duties required as well as sins forbidden by each commandment, with Scriptural references.
- The One Anothers: Even looking at the sermon titles may move us to confess areas where we haven’t lived up to the picture of a church that’s painted in the New Testament.

Confess our sins as a nation

In the words of the RPCI statement’s on COVID-19:

‘The nations of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland have sought to write God out of national life. We have walked as though the God of the Bible was nothing more than an ancient myth, despite his existence being written in creation, in history, and in our consciences.

Created things have mattered more to us than the Creator. Our desire for self-fulfilment has over-written God’s good design for human flourishing. We have rejected his definition of marriage, and legislated against his image bearers in the womb. To our great shame, Jesus Christ, who was crucified to pay the debt for our sin and to bring us to God, is dishonoured daily in these islands’.

The RPCS statement says:

‘We call on our nation to repent of breaking its historical covenants (National Covenant 1638 and Solemn League and Covenant 1643) which began our apostasy from God and from the achievements of the Reformation; to repent of its disregard for the Law of God to pass heinous laws; to repent of the desecration of the Sabbath Day; of its lack of compassion for the weak and vulnerable, particularly in slaughtering the unborn in the womb; for its abuse of the Biblical institution of marriage; and numerous other grievous sins’.

Sing Psalms

In an article entitled ‘Practice Hospitality. Especially During a Pandemic’, Rosaria Butterfield writes:

‘Singing psalms is powerful spiritual medicine; by using our mouths and lungs to proclaim the Word in the hearing of others, we embody the way that the Word of God acts in our lives and in the world. Psalm-singing is an aid to repentance and spiritual clarity, and it provides the Christian with a bounty of strength, fortitude, and courage in the face of danger’. 

Pray for those most affected

Pray for wisdom for our governments, including the Prime Minister and First Minister. Pray for strength for doctors (including those in our own congregation) and other medical staff. Pray for those working on a vaccine. Pray for the sick and dying, and their families. Pray for those particularly isolated. Pray for those who have lost their jobs.

Don’t forget the gospel!

‘If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.' - 1 John 1:8-9.

As Rosaria writes: ‘We pray as COVID-19 is rapidly spreading through every nation and tongue, that true and heartfelt repentance will usher in revival. We pray that Christian revival will spread faster than COVID-19.’.

Resources on Fasting

‘When you fast’ (Matthew 6:17)
’The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days’ (Luke 5:35)

Ahead of the RP Church of Scotland’s call for a solemn fast on Saturday, here are some resources on fasting.

(These are resources on fasting more generally - a follow-up post will provide some suggestions / resources with Saturday particularly in mind).

Sermon

The sermon below on fasting was preached in Cloughmills RPC by Joel Loughridge and is a very helpful summary of the topic.

Fasting

Joel Loughridge

Download

Video

While the Bible only applies ‘fasting’ to food, the video is a helpful reminder that fasting isn’t an end in itself and one of the main reasons for it is to help us focus on God. Murray’s approach is shared by Martyn Lloyd-Jones, who says, ‘Fasting should really be made to include abstinence from anything which is legitimate in and of itself for the sake of some special spiritual purpose’.

Book Chapters

‘Sharpen your Affections with Fasting’ in David Mathis, Habits of Grace (available free here)

‘Fasting for the Purpose of Godliness’ in Don Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life

Books

In light of the Coronavirus outbreak, David Gibson encouraged everyone in his congregation to buy and read A Hunger for God by John Piper, commenting ‘It offers the exact opposite advice of everyone else around us, even as we take every sensible health precaution.’ It is available for free here. It also has a useful appendix of quotes on fasting from throughout church history.

Gentle Reformation blog posts

James Faris - Activism, Apathy or Affliction?

‘Perhaps we have not seriously enough considered seasons of sincere fasting and prayer among God’s people - days of affliction of the body for the sharpening of the soul. In Scripture we see God’s people fasted for two primary reasons. First, they fasted and prayed when facing an insurmountable enemy or daunting task (e.g. 2 Chronicles 20:3ff, Ezra 8:21ff, Esther 4:15ff, Joel 2:12ff, Acts 13:2-3). Second, they fasted and prayed in brokenness over their sin and seek God’s forgiveness (e.g. Leviticus 16:30ff, 1 Samuel 7:5, Ezra 9:4ff, Nehemiah 1:3ff, Daniel 9:3ff, Jonah 3:5). Usually, the two purposes were intertwined.

Fasting is hard. It teaches us in the body that we are weak and sinful. It humbles us. It reminds us that we lack the strength and ability to effect any good or positive change in and of ourselves. The Lord gives this physical expression to accompany and intensify prayer as we are reminded that we are weak and that our enemies are far greater than we can overcome on our own.

Personal, secret fasts are appropriate, but the Lord also approves of public fasts, which are prominent in Scripture and are reflected in historic church documents like the Westminster Confession of Faith chapter 21’

John Calvin on the Why and How of Fasting

(For any who may want to look into the topic more deeply, some older resources are available here).

Our Culture of Fear and the Fear of God

On Sunday evening, Stephen preached on the fear of God. One very helpful recent resource on the subject is this two-part lecture by Michael Reeves. Highly recommended!

Jeremiah 33:9 - “They shall fear and tremble because of all the good and all the prosperity I provide for it”.