Dr. Mike Jones

YOUR EXCUSES DO NOT IMPRESS GOD DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC !

Saints: The coronavirus is not only a physical existence, but also a theological one.

For example: It was reported that a Northern California church was held in contempt of court and fined for repeatedly defying a court order to stop holding unmasked indoor services in violation of COVID-19 health restrictions.

Saints: During this physical and spiritual war that’s raging, we’re not to stand idlily by on the sideline, as cheerleaders; we’re not to put off until tomorrow, what sovereign God has ordained, for today. [The Apostle Paul touched on what’s before us, when he said, in 1 Corinthians 16:9, “There is a wide-open door for a great work here [ in America, during this time of Covid-19], although many oppose us.”

Who would have ‘thunk it,’ that Holy sovereign God would predetermined a global pandemic and our hustled/bustled lifestyles would change so drastically? No attending sporting events nor vacationing around the world – which now causes us to spend some quality time with each other at the dinner table. 

The Lord wants us to have a ‘Mary-syndrome’, during this Covid-19 pandemic, as recorded in Luke 10:38-42, “As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what He taught. But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to You that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.” But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”

A ministry colleague [Dr. Victor Cruz – Table Talk Magazine], echoed my sentiments, when he stated, “I wonder how our lives would look after two months of lockdown if we didn’t have all the things that soothe our souls—comfort food, music, “feasts,” and videoconferencing? I pray that the church does not miss this opportunity to help those in our congregations understand that this could be a very needed time of mourning and repentance rather than just another time where we look forward to more feasting and indulgence. This is an opportunity to seek the Lord and repent from our easy believism and idolatrous hearts. It is probably best at this time to remind our people that salvation is not about being free to go out jogging, reestablishing our busy schedules, or seeing our friends and family. Instead, it is an opportunity to remind our people that they have communion with our heavenly Father through our faith in Christ, who lived the life we cannot live and took our place at the cross so that we do not die the death we deserve for our sins.” 

Too many saints procrastinate when it comes to assignments that God has given them. Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 6:1-2, “We then, as workers together with Him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. God He saith, I have heard thee (your excuses) in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured (helped) thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold now is the day of salvation.”

Believe it or not, there are a number of people who are in our churches, who consider themselves saved, ‘Born Again Believers,’ who have excuses for not [really] following Christ’s command to get involved in His work. Their excuses, “I’m seriously thinking about rendering service to this ministry, in the name of the Lord.” But children of God, their verbal commitment seems to never move beyond mental assent. This is one reason our sovereign God ordained this global pandemic: to get their attention that time, as we know it, is winding down.

Isn’t it amazing that what we’re struggling with today (getting the saints involved in the work of the Lord), Jesus had the same [identical] problem during His 3-½ years of ministry in the earth realm? 

Let’s look at some of the issues He had with those He called, but why He only chose a few. In St. Luke 9:57-62. 

“As they were going along the road, someone said to Him, I will follow You wherever You go.” And Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” And He said to another, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” But He said to him, “Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.” Another also said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first permit me to say goodbye to those at home.” But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” 

These verses of scripture actually give us three interesting excuses that have been used since the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. And by the leading of the Holy Spirit, Dr. Luke includes them in his writings, so that we can examine our own lives and see, if these excuses are keeping people from accepting Jesus’ offer of salvation, or if these excuses are keeping us from obeying Him and following His command, to become true disciples for the work of the ministry: even during this global pandemic. 

The first excuse that Jesus exposed, is in St. Luke 9:57-62 is: Jehovah (God) is NOT impressed with your “this time, I have a legitimate excuse” Christianity. Here, in verse 57, this man (who is scribe, and we know this from reading this same story by Jesus in St. Matthew 8:19) said, “I will follow YOU wherever YOU go.” We honor the humility of this guy because he sounds loyal to the work of the ministry of Christ, but Jesus looks at things different from us, because He sees right through the facade that we put on in the person’s heart. 

One of the great 19th Century Reform Theologians, William Hendericksen, in his commentary on the Gospel of Luke, said, “This man’s intentions were not altogether honorable. He saw crowds, miracles, enthusiasms, etc. It seemed good to be closely associated with the one who was in the very center of all this action. So, he wanted to be Christ’s disciple, but he failed to understand the implications of discipleship, namely, self-denial, sacrifice, service, suffering!” 

Dr. Hendericksen is saying what I pointed out earlier about this scribe, that Jesus saw an excuse buried in this man’s heart; and He uncovered it by saying to the scribe what’s recorded in verse 58, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” Jesus was simply pointing out that the man was a ‘fair-weathered Christian.’ He really didn’t trust Him but trusted his own self-sufficiency – in his wealth (inheritance). 

There are Christians in our local assemblies, who are like this scribe. As long as it doesn’t take too much time to do the work of the ministry, I’ll get involved in the church ministry/outreach and be in church on Sunday, Tuesday, and Friday. [of late, God has had me to minister to saints are busy (simply) doing church “stuff,” (visiting the sick ,feeding the hungry, etc.] and spending no quality time at the feet of Jesus, seeking direction for their lives. Because we’re in the End Time, I’m more concerned about the saints that will be part of the great falling away mentioned in Apostle Paul’s Epistle to the Thessalonians. 

This group of church people, are the ones Jesus is referencing in Mark’s Gospel: Chapter 4: The Parable of the Sower. Jesus spoke to the seed that fell on stony ground, and He compared it to believers who “endured only for a time.” Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the Word’s sake, immediately they are offended. He also spoke of the seed that in whom “the care of this world, the deceitfulness of riches entering in choked the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 

What was the second excuse that Jesus points out/mentions in St. Luke 9:59: God is not impressed with your desire to be self-sufficient. The second person in this story that Jesus approaches and said, “Follow Me,” tells Jesus, “Lord permit me first to go and bury my father.” Sounds innocent enough, right? My father is dead. As the oldest son, I’m responsible for taking care of his affairs. What was Jesus’ response? “Let the dead bury the dead.” He was saying, Let the spiritually dead bury the physically dead. I’m calling you to come, follow me. 

The thing you have to know about Jewish culture is that the young man was speaking future tense. His father wasn’t dead, just old; the son was saying, “I got to stay close by, take care of family business for my dad. Then when he dies, I’ll get my inheritance and then I’ll come follow you, Jesus, because I’ll have the means to do so, because I’ll be self-sufficient with all the money. He loved having money more than Christ. He idolized his own self-sufficiency: nothing wrong with MONEY. It’s the love of money that causes us to go after it; that gets us in trouble. If we always seek to keep in mind whom our source is, money will never become a problem. 

The third and final excuse we see in St. Luke 9:61 that Jesus exposes about mankind, is that God is not impressed with our “higher-priority relationships.” Another person said, “I will follow you Lord; but first permit me to say goodbye to those at home.” Jesus knew that this guy knew his family would mention his obligations to the family. 

Look at Jesus’ response in St. Luke 9:62, “But said to him, no one, after putting his hand to plow and looking back, is fit for kingdom of God.” He’s using a Jewish custom of plowing a straight line for growth and harvest of his crops, but if he looks back while plowing to admire the progress he’s made, at some point, he will get off the straight and narrow path and start going crooked; other things become more important than Jesus. Apostle Paul said it best in Philippians 3:13-14, when he said, “But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind me and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ.” 

What Jesus was saying about our higher-priority relationships that caused even the Apostle Paul to weigh in by the unction of the Holy Spirit, during the first century church was, “When parents, siblings, other family members, close friends want you to SIN against Jesus, to disobey His calling in your life, YOU MUST SAY NO!”

The great Puritan Theologian Sir Thomas Watson said, “If our closest, dearest friends should stand in your way in our pursuit after heaven, we must either jump over them or trample them under foot.” 

In my conclusion, the three excuses that these three men gave Jesus fall into one of the areas that affect us today, in our society. They are PLEASURE, MONEY, and RELATIONSHIPS. Like these three men, we too have good intentions, but like these three men, we too have higher priorities than Jesus for our lives, which makes us unfit to enter in the kingdom of God. When you finish reading this teaching, ask yourselves, “Are there any excuses I’m using that keeps me from taking up my cross and following Christ,” and, “If I’m not saved, what excuses am I using that keeps me from saying, ‘Yes Lord’ to His call to salvation?” In either case, REPENTANCE is necessary. 

And for those church goers that have been, playing church for the past few years, and haven’t really committed themselves to the grounded ministry that they’re members of, and for those people who are visiting local assemblies, and are contemplating salvation but feel like, “There’s no rush. I feel as though I still have a little time to decide what direction I want to take my life in,” here’s a word for you from the Word of God: Proverbs 5:11-14, “At the end of your life you will grown, when your flesh and body are spent. You will say, “How I hated discipline! How my heart spurned correction! I would not obey my teachers or listen to my instructors. I have come to the brink of utter ruin in the midst of the whole assembly [or the church].” NIV Those are the words of somebody who has known the way of righteousness for many years; somebody that is seen regularly in church; somebody that knows how to say “Amen” when the preacher says the right thing; somebody that knows many of the hymns by heart; somebody, maybe, who prays in public meetings, and yet, that person has never given heart obedience to the truths that he/she has learned. 

Dr. Dennis E. Johnson, Professor emeritus of practical theology at Westminister Seminary stated, “We have the best of modern conveniences, and yet we run ourselves ragged with never ending “appointments. Our divinely imposed stillness can also free our attention to engage others personally, even if “virtually.” COVID-19 was God’s instrument to bring us closer to each other while we stay apart physically. For many people, of course, this crisis has not meant “stillness.” Medical caregivers, first responders, law enforcement officers, and others labor even longer hours than before, protecting and comforting vulnerable and suffering neighbors. Parents work from home or wait in food bank lines while learning a new career—homeschool educator.”