Two years ago today… Where was God?

About five or six years ago, the university in our town got a new vice-chancellor. I went to meet the new leader and to introduce myself. At the end of the day, he invited me into his office. We greeted and began to get to know one another. Not long into our conversation, I asked this really smart administrator, “Do you know for sure that all your sins are forgiven and that you will spend eternity with God in heaven?” He surprised me when without hesitation he said, “Yes, Jesus is my Lord and Savior.” This is not a common answer in Cameroon. The most common answer to my question is, “I’m trying.” This man spoke with confidence and assurance. I went on to ask, “How do you know this?” He shared the following, amazing testimony…

He said, “I grew up in church, and always tried to be a good Christian. I went to church most Sundays and gave my offerings faithfully. I participated in all the church activities and was looked up to in the community. A few years ago, my daughter was a student at a university in Nigeria. I was so proud of her. One terrible day, I received word that she had been attacked and brutally murdered. I was broken and bitter with God. I quit going to church and became a very angry man. It took several weeks for her body to be transported from Nigeria back to Cameroon. My pastor came to our home for the memorial service. I tried to avoid him because I knew he would ask me how I was doing and why I had been missing church. The pastor finally caught up with me. In bitterness I spat out the question, ‘Where was God? Where was God when those wicked men took my daughter, abused her, and brutally murdered her? Where was God then, Pastor?’ The pastor was calm and controlled. He said, ‘I know you are angry. I know you are bitter with God right now, but I want to lovingly answer your important question. God is still where he was before.’ What do you mean ‘before?’, the academic asked. The pastor continued, ‘Long before you and I were born and long after you and I will die, God will still be sitting on the throne of heaven. You see my friend; you are not the only one who lost a child to wicked murdering hands. God sent His son into this world to save sinners like you and me. One day as God the Father sat on His throne, wicked and cruel men took his Son. They attacked Him. They abused Him, and they murdered Him. And God allowed it to bring salvation to this home and to your life. I am so sorry about what happened to your daughter. I do not know God’s reasoning, but I do know where God was. He was in the same place He was when they murdered His precious child. God was sitting on the throne of heaven. He saw all that happened, and He will bring justice one day soon. What about you? Are you ready to meet the Lord today?’”

The vice-chancellor, that great academic leader of the country looked into my eyes across his desk and said, “I came under deep conviction of my sin that day. I realized that God could have stopped the murder of His Son, but He did not. I realized that God is still sitting on the throne, and I needed to surrender to Him and be saved. That was the day I chose to put my faith in Christ as my Savior. I do not know why God allowed my daughter to be killed, but just knowing that God was still in the same place He was when they murdered His Son was the mental picture and explanation of the Gospel I needed to be saved.”

Where was God two years ago when our car was attacked? Where was God when those shotgun blasts rang out and killed Charles Wesco? Where was God when Stephanie was left a widow and their eight children were left fatherless? I’m here to say today, “He is in the same place He was before.” He was on His throne in 33AD. He was on His throne on October 30, 2018, and He is still sitting on the throne of the universe. Are you ready to meet Him? Are you prepared to face His justice? Come before His throne of grace.

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans 10:9-10)

Will You Have Church Online This Week?

Please hear me out. Pastors, I believe we need to be very careful in our use of terms during these unprecedented times in history. No, you will not be having church online. In fact, it is not possible to have “church” online.
Based on some of the comments I have heard and read recently, I am getting the sense that way too many laymen are equating “church” with sitting on the couch in their pajamas while Pastor Jones preaches an online sermon. If we are not careful to define our terms to our people during these temporary interruptions from assembly, we may find that we lose some church members to outperforming online personalities and ministries by the time this pandemic is over.
I thank God for technology that allows pastors to record and even live stream messages directly to their folks over the internet. I thank God for the genuine encouragement and challenges I have personally received through online messages recently. I encourage all of you to use modern technology in every way you can to minister and to edify the flock God has entrusted to your care. I am not recommending that we all ignore the risks and meet anyway. What I am recommending today is that we take care not to unintentionally teach our people to think that “church” can be done online, or that these temporary, live stream messages are legitimate, permanent solutions or substitutions. They are not.
Words and their meanings are important. By definition, the church (“ecclesia”) is a called-out assembly of believers. My intention is not to argue definitions and details of ecclesiology here. Let me just take some time to emphasizes the defining word “assembly.” The church is not a building. The church is not a pastor preaching a message while a group of people sit and listen. The church is not a live steam program (no matter how sophisticated it may be). The church is a called-out assembly of believers who are instructed to meet regularly (Heb 10:25).
Paul refers to the church as a “body” in Romans, 1 Corinthians, Ephesians, and Colossians. The first epistle to the church in Corinth goes into great detail about the activity and value of each member of the body. Every church member has a spiritual gift (1 Cor 12:1-11). Every member is different and necessary (1 Cor 12: 12-27). These spiritual gifts are given for the expressed purpose “that ye may excel to the edifying of the church” (1 Cor 14:12). The church does not assemble together exclusively to listen to the preaching of the word – even though the preaching of the Word is extremely important.
When a church assembles, every single member should prayerfully be looking for opportunities to use his or her spiritual gifts to edify the other members of the church. Every member – every gathering! We are not saved to sit; we are saved to serve (Eph 2:10). The preacher should preach. The servants should serve. The teachers should teach. The exhorters should exhort. The givers should give. The administrators should administrate, and the mercy showers should show mercy. These are just the spiritual gifts listed in Romans 12:6-8. Perhaps there are many others. My first point is that the church members are called to assemble in order to fellowship and edify one another. This is an essential component of why we assemble together. Some of these ministries can and should be done over the phone and in accordance with social distancing restrictions – during these unique times. However, assembly is God’s ideal and mandated method. The type of fellowship and edification described in the Scriptures simply cannot be done while watching and listening to a pastor preach online. “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching” (Heb 10:24-25).
Not only can the members of the body not edify one another properly without meeting together, but secondly, corporate worship is not possible without physically gathering. I don’t mean to upset anyone here, but when I refer to corporate worship, I am not talking about singing together. I believe we do our churches a terrible disservice when we confine corporate worship to the musical segment of the service or when we call the music guy “the worship leader.” This philosophy is unwise at best. Every single aspect of the assembled church should be worship. I agree with Scott Aniol who says that "Worship is a spiritual response to God as a result of understanding biblical truth about God.” (John 4:24) Without a doubt, corporate singing is worship. However, the giving of tithes and offerings should also be worship. Testimonies, special music, corporate prayer, the proclamation of the Word, and even the invitation at the end of the service are all aspects of corporate worship.
So let me conclude. I am not trying to discourage anyone here from discontinuing your online teaching, preaching, and praying during normal service times. On the contrary, I have seen some pastors giving daily online devotionals. I love these ministry opportunities! I think these are all tremendous ideas - even though we all agree they are not ideal. My caution is that we are careful not to inadvertently convey to our church members that we are “meeting for church” online. While it is unsafe or temporarily unadvisable by our God-ordained government officials, some of us will not be assembling as local churches. These are tough calls we must all prayerfully make. Keep on preaching, feeding, and teaching the flock online if you can in the meantime – but be sure to explain that online ministry is different than assembly.
The church is a called-out assembly of believers who regularly meet to utilize their spiritual gifts to edify one another. The church is a body of individual members who physically gather for corporate worship. May we carefully and lovingly remind our folks that we are doing the best that we can during these difficult days? May I also encourage you to give the members a righteous thirst and a biblical anticipation for the day when we can meet together again as a church body - the way God intended. Genuine church (not to mention the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s supper) cannot be done online. Let’s not mislead our people or pretend that it can. The long term results may be devastating for some of the sheep.

The greatest need is prayer.

"The history of the Church demonstrates beyond question that the most important human factor in the evangelism of the world is prayer. The greatest need of the present hour is prayer. In our work at home and abroad we are placing more and more dependence upon men, machinery, and methods, and less and less upon God...What is needed above everything else today is prayer, true prayer, prayer in the power of the Holy Ghost, and prayer that meets the conditions of prevailing prayer so plainly laid down in the Word of God." ~R. A. Torrey: Chapter 53 of The Fundamentals

They can't be believed.

"When you’re busy hating everybody and denouncing everybody and seeking political solutions to everything it’s very difficult to evangelize, isn’t it? It’s very hard to be compassionate, to look on the crowds as though they’re sheep without a shepherd...I think one of the Devil’s tactics with respect to the church on the right today is to make them so hate everybody else that at the end of the day they can’t be believed anywhere, not even in the proclamation of the gospel."
~Don Carson: How to Destroy Evangelism with Political Animosity

Obsessed with Father

Jesus spoke often about His Father. We could say that He was obsessed with talking about His Father. Jesus spoke about 25,000 recorded words in the NT. He referred to His Father 181 times. At an average speaking rate (140 words per minute), Jesus spoke of His Father once every minute on average. How often do you speak of your Heavenly Father? Bring Him up in every conversation today. :) (John 5:17-47)

I told you to go.

"Those who never heard...the message of salvation...will look to us [on the final judgment day] with forlorn reconciliation to their fate, and that look will say, 'You knew! But you never came and told us; we never had an opportunity to know.' But sadder still will be the eyes of our Lord. In one of those paradoxes of the Christian faith, even as He receives us with joy, His heart will be broken over the multitudes who never knew He died for them. I believe His eyes will meetours much as they did Peter's on that night of denial, and without a word will communicate, 'I told you to go. I promised you My power. I assured you of My grace, but you chose to stay at home, to hold on to your comfort and security and were unwilling to go that my kingdom could be extended to the ends of the earth.'" (To the Ends of the Earth by Jerry Rankin, pages 55-56)

The Greatest Need

"The history of the Church demonstrates beyond question that the most important human factor in the evangelism of the world is prayer. The greatest need of the present hour is prayer. In our work at home and abroad we are placing more and more dependence upon men, machinery, and methods, and less and less upon God...What is needed above everything else today is prayer, true prayer, prayer in the power of the Holy Ghost, and prayer that meets the conditions of prevailing prayer so plainly laid down in the Word of God." ~R. A. Torrey: Chapter 53 of The Fundamentals