{"id":2708,"date":"2020-03-25T15:46:24","date_gmt":"2020-03-25T13:46:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sonofcarey.com\/?p=2708"},"modified":"2020-03-26T09:02:43","modified_gmt":"2020-03-26T07:02:43","slug":"a-christian-response-to-the-corona-virus-part-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sonofcarey.com\/?p=2708","title":{"rendered":"A CHRISTIAN RESPONSE TO THE CORONA VIRUS, Part 3"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

6. Money that is printed by governments without gold or other wealth behind it is theft. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou shall not steal.\u201d These words seem very simple, but\nthey imply private property, ownership, and even a work ethic. They strictly\nforbid not only \u201cbreaking and entering\u201d but also taking things through a third\nparty such as receiving unjust government benefits, wasteful taxation, and\nincreasing the money supply through fiat currency, i.e. inflation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The US government is trying to pass out free money to each\nfamily as if money was simply paper. They have forgotten that money without\nwealth behind it is a time bomb. The previous recessions and depressions of the\nworld have taught them nothing because they refuse to obey simple commands\nlike, \u201cNo stealing.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since God is not mocked, they (and we) will reap what has\nbeen sown because we can be sure that our sin will find us out (Num. 32:23). We\nhave the most trifling thoughts about the consequences of ongoing, generational\ntheft, and we forgive ourselves without confession or repentance because we\nfear the changing winds of an election as if there were no Master who set up\nkings and appointed rulers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eph. 4:28 He who\nsteals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own\nhands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has\nneed.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Summary: Christians reject government sponsored theft even if it makes their lives easier. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. The fear of death only reaches those who have not laid hold of Christ. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the worst that could happen during COVID 19? You\nwould die. Unbelievers are afraid of death, but they are not afraid of God. Or\nperhaps, secretly, they are terrified of God which is why they are afraid of\ndeath. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But to be a believer is a kind of death. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gal. 2:20 I have been\ncrucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me;\nand the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God,\nwho loved me and gave Himself up for me.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luke 9:23 If anyone\nwishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and\nfollow Me.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those who believe are marked by no fear of death, rather a\nunique relief by death. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phil. 1:21 For to me,\nto live is Christ and to die is gain.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2 Cor. 5:1 For we know\nthat if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building\nfrom God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of believers, Scripture says, \u201cHe sleeps.\u201d Jesus promised\nthat they would be raised again (John 5:28-29).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John 11:25-26 I am the\nresurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, 26 and\neveryone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where does panic in an epidemic come from? The soul of a man\nwho is secretly terrified by death. By the grace of our modern standard of\nliving, we believe that we should be free from all risk. To this our Lord says,\n\u201cThey will put some<\/em> of you to death\u201d\n(Luke 21:16). To become a Christian is to accept a risky calling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Living without the fear of death is now on display\u2014not simply\nignoring this crisis because these kinds of things don\u2019t scare you, nor\nbaseless \u201cgod-talk\u201d about speaking life, but genuinely feeling the absolute\nconfidence that being absent from the body is present with the Treasure hidden\nin the field. The last day of your time on earth is the first day of a new life\nwith Christ. When viewed that way, I wonder that every professing Christian is\nnot eager for his earthly time to be shorter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Col. 3:2 Set your mind\non the things above, not on the things that are on earth.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The world is marked by an intense interest in this life.\nThat means all the things of this world are very prominent in their eyes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1 John 2:15 Do not\nlove the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love\nof the Father is not in him.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sin of worldliness is loving this world and the things\nin it. How does a Christian feel? He holds the world with an open hand\u2014ready to\nlose it at any moment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Summary: Fear of death has motivated the world\u2019s massive response, but this does not move Christians who are prepared and even eager for death. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

8. Prayer in an emergency should first ask for forgiveness from sin. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Israel is in captivity, Daniel asks only that God would\nforgive Israel for their many sins (Daniel 9). When Solomon opens the temple,\nhe asks five times that God would forgive the sins of the nation in the future\n(1 Kings 8). <\/p>\n\n\n\n