Virus-Responding
Virus-Responding
This document is written to provide scriptural peace in our hearts as we face the new scene upon us. The writer wishes to relay information thru research using Logos Bible Program and its resources found within. The writer’s opinions will be not provided in this document.
To start this study, I will try and type the six items Pastor Odle provide for Biblical counsel. (These are not a word-for-word quote.)
NOTE: This is a Pre-Message with the main points for our Pastor’s sermon on Sunday, 5/22/20. Use this link to go to the First Baptist Church site and get the FULL message: firstbaptistelyria.org/livestream
- Respond with faith, not fear.
- Trust the Lord, but don’t test Him.
- Share the hope we have in Christ.
- Pray for God’s eternal purposes – His spiritual purposes.
- Love each other as a family in Christ.
- Search your hearts for false hopes.
Next will take each of the above and provide the scripture(s) reference provided and some additional information on that text.
#1 – Respond with faith, not fear.
Isaiah 41:10 ESV
– fear
not, for I am with you; be not dismayed,
for I am your God; I will strengthen
you, I will Help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Isaiah 41:10 NLT 10 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.
Believer Church Bible Commentary – provides a short summary of the history at the time written:
After the court recess the Lord addresses Israel as his servant [Servant, Servants, p. 451] for the first time (41:8–9a). He compares his servant Israel to the patriarch Jacob, grandson of Abraham. The Jacob-Israel word pair occurs repeatedly in Isaiah 40–48, always referring to the exiles in Babylon. Here in 41:8 the word pair appears in reversed order as Israel-Jacob, drawing attention to Jacob’s new name: Israel. The clauses whom I have chosen and whom I took both refer to Israel-Jacob. The Lord’s calling of Israel-Jacob corresponds to his calling of the conqueror from the east (Cyrus, implied in 41:2). These are not callings in the sense of “the divine right of kings” but in the sense of opportunities for service on behalf of the King of kings.
The Lord repeats his interest in the Judean exiles (my servant) in the second stanza (41:9b–10). The Lord’s solidarity with his people comes with a rock-solid guarantee of divine presence, divine help, and divine strength. The power behind Cyrus’ victory (ṣedeq in 41:2) now opens to full view as the Lord’s victorious [ṣedeq] right hand (41:10 JB, NRSV); here the NIV prefers the more traditional righteous right hand. Salvation speeches with the admonition not to fear are found throughout the Bible (Gen 46:3; Josh 11:6; Isa 43:1, 5; Je 1:8; Ezek 2:6; Luke 1:13, 30; John 6:20; etc.). The exhortation not to fear is part of the bedrock of faith.[1]
Note that it calls for a ‘sense of opportunities for service’ – fitting today under our circumstances. ALSO – That the Lord was with them and will provide for us: His divine presence, divine help and divine strength.
#2 – Trust the Lord but do no test Him. Matthew 4:5-11
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,
“ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’
and
“ ‘On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ”
7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,
“ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God
and him only shall you serve.’ ”
11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him. Esv
The Scripture Reference that Jesus referenced might be from Isaiah 7:12 or Deuteronomy 6:16:
12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.” Esv
Deut. 6:16 – 19 esv:
16 “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah. 17 You shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and his testimonies and his statutes, which he has commanded you. 18 And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, that it may go well with you, and that you may go in and take possession of the good land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers 19 by thrusting out all your enemies from before you, as the Lord has promised. Esv
John McArthur stated this in reference to Matthew 4:5-7:
Jesus would have no part of cheap, faithless sensationalism. He therefore replied to Satan, It is written, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” For those who believe in God, it is more than evident that He already has proved Himself. Jesus did not need to prove to Himself that His Father cared and protected, and He knew that the Father’s care and protection could not be proved to others by any means but faith.
For at least two reasons Jesus refused to take part in a spectacle such as throwing Himself off the Temple roof. First, any sensationalism inevitably is frustrated by the law of diminishing returns. People are never satisfied. They always want one more sign, one more miracle, one more show. To have maintained His influence over the people by the use of miracles, Jesus would have had to produce greater and greater sensations. Because the natural, carnal heart can never be satisfied, this year’s miracle would have become next year’s bore. His followers would only have been lovers of sensation, not lovers of God.
Second, and more significant, no matter how noble and important we may think our reasons are, to test God is to doubt God. And to doubt God is not to trust Him, and not to trust Him is sin. That, of course, is what Satan wanted Jesus to do. To induce Jesus to sin, if that were possible, would shatter His perfect holiness, and therefore shatter His divinity and man’s hope of salvation. Had Jesus put His Father to such a test, He would have separated Himself from His Father and perverted the divine plan of redemption—the very purpose for which He had come to earth. …
Those who willingly put themselves in the way of danger and temptation often end up blaming God when harm comes from their foolishness. When the Lord confronted Adam about his eating the forbidden fruit, Adam’s response was to blame God even more than he blamed his wife. “The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate” (Gen. 3:12). It was true that Eve gave Adam the fruit, but because God gave Eve to Adam, the primary blame was God’s—according to Adam’s perverted logic. Our need is not to prove God’s faithfulness but to demonstrate our own, by trusting Him both to determine and to supply our needs according to His own will. … When we take risks simply to fulfill our own ambitions or to put God to the test, He gives no promise on which we can rest.[2]
- Share the hope we have in Christ.
1 Peter 3:15 – ESV
15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense (apologia G627 LN33.435 to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,
1 Peter 3:15 – NLT
15 Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain (apologia – G627 LN33.435) it.
Note the meaning for the Greek word G27 or LN33.435 clearly states it is to be a statement or argument or defend oneself.
G 627 ἀπολογία [apologia /ap·ol·og·ee·ah/…. 1 verbal defence, speech in defence. 2 a reasoned statement or argument.[3]
LN 33.435 ἀπολογέομαιc; ἀπολογίαa, ας f: to speak on behalf of oneself or of others against accusations presumed to be false—‘to defend oneself.’[4]
Life Application Bible Commentary wrote this paragraph:
3:15 But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Instead of being afraid of people, believers are to focus on Christ himself. This is also translated “reverence Christ as Lord” or “sanctify the Lord Christ in your hearts.” The “heart” was considered a place of deep emotions—that’s where fear would dwell. But Peter wanted these believers to replace fear with faith and reverence. By acknowledging Christ as Lord and Savior, they would recognize his holiness and be able to rest in him. There would be no room in their hearts for fear. This alludes to words from the prophet Isaiah: “But the Lord of hosts, him you shall regard as holy; let him be your fear, and let him be your dread” (Isaiah 8:13 nrsv). When believers have set apart Christ as Lord, regarding him as holy and reverencing him in their hearts, they know that he is in control of events, that he is the reigning king, and that all powers and authorities ultimately must answer to him.
Only he who can say, “The Lord is the strength of my life” can go on to say, “Of whom shall I be afraid?”
Alexander MacLaren[5]
- Pray for God’s eternal purposes – His spiritual purposes.
Ephesians 6:18-20 – esv
18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.
The Expositor’s Bible Commentary:
18 Some would attach this verse to vv. 19, 20 to constitute a new paragraph. But the command to “be alert” is in keeping with what has gone before and effectively rounds it off. Prayer is not itself included among the weapons wielded by the Christian combatant. “On all occasions” (en panti kairō) suggests that the believer will be in constant prayer in preparation for the battle as well as in the engagement itself. But it is in the critical hour of encounter that such support is most required (cf. “the day of evil” in v. 13).
The phrase “in the Spirit” (en pneumati) is usually taken to mean in communion with the Spirit or “in the power of the Spirit” (NEB). Barclay (p. 126) has: “Let the Spirit be the atmosphere in which you pray.” “Prayers” (proseuchē, sing.) represents the approach to God in general and “requests” (deēsis, sing.) a special form of it, namely supplication. Every avenue of such praying is to be thoroughly explored.[6]
- Love each other as a family in Christ.
Romans 12:10 – ESV 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.
Romans 12:10 – NLT – 10 Love (Philadelphia) each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.
The Greek word: “Philadelphia” is used in this text.
John MacArthur writes this:
Paul’s list of ten “family” obligations begins with the command: Be devoted to one another in brotherly love.
Be devoted to and brotherly love carry synonymous ideas. Devoted translates philostorgos, a compound of philos (friend, friendly; friendship love) and storgē (natural family love, which is not based on personal attraction or desirability). Brotherly love translates philadelphia, another compound—phileō (to have tender affection) and adelphos (brother). We are to have a loving filial affection for one another in the family of God.
Devoted … brotherly love is one of the marks by which the world will know that we belong to Christ. “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). This love is not optional for believers. It not only is required but is inescapable, because “whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him” (1 John 5:1). In fact, as John has just declared, “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen” (4:20).
Brotherly love reflects the nature of Christians. That is why Paul could say, “Now as to the love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another” (1 Thess. 4:9). Being “taught by God,” the true child of God knows intuitively that he is to love his spiritual brothers and sisters. For the very reason that God is our common heavenly Father, love for each other should be as natural and normal as family members’ affectionate love for each other.
The apostle John forcefully affirms that truth. “The one who says he is in the light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. The one who loves his brother abides in the light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes” (1 John 2:9–2:11). In the next chapter the apostle uses even stronger words: “By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.… But whoever has the world’s goods, and beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. We shall know by this that we are of the truth, and shall assure our heart before Him” (1 John 3:10, 17–19).[7]
- Search your hearts for false hopes.
Habakkuk 3:17-19 – esv –
Habakkuk
Rejoices in the Lord
17 Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
19 God, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the deer’s;
he makes me tread on my high places.
The Expositor’s Bible Commentary:
17 The nouns used in this verse represent the bases of Israel’s agricultural economy. Her prosperity was dependent on the nation’s obedience to the covenant and on the Lord’s consequent blessing (Lev 26:3–5, 10; Deut 28:2–14). Such prosperity was forfeited by disobedience and disloyalty to the covenant, which incurred the Lord’s chastening through natural and military disasters (Lev 26:14–33; Deut 28:16–17, 22–24, 30–31, 38–42; cf. Deut 11:16–17; Isa 7:23–25; Hos 2:12; Joel 1:7–12; Amos 4:6–9; Hag 1:6–11; 2:16–19). In this vision of a devastated economy, Habakkuk acknowledged his nation’s apostasy and the inevitability of judgment (cf. 1:2–4, 12; 3:2, 16).
18 The faith demonstrated in v.16 reaches full expression in this verse. The parallel verbs affirming Habakkuk’s joy frequently reveal the psalmists’ confidence and assurance of things hoped for (ʿālaz, “rejoice”; gîl, “be joyful”; e.g., Pss 13:5; 16:8–10; 21:1, 6–7; 31:6–7; 32:10–11; cf. Isa 25:9; Joel 2:21, 23)—a confidence characteristic even in the lament form underlying this chapter (cf. Pss 6:8–10; 7:17; 28:6–7; 31:7; 35:9; 42:5, 11; 55:23; 56:3–4, 10–13; 61:8; 130:5–8; 140:12–13). For Habakkuk as for the psalmists, it was “God” himself and his intervention as “Savior” (yēšaʿ) that motivated his longing and his joyful attaining. The Babylonians, by contrast, “gloat” (ʿālaṣ, v.14) to “devour the wretched” (v.14) and “rejoice” (gîl, 1:15) over their prey: their god was, in truth, their stomach; and their destiny was destruction. The basis of Habakkuk’s faith, as of Paul’s, was the revealed word of God (cf. Rom 10:17). The covenant that promised the invasion and devastation of vv.16–17 also gave assurance of restoration to God’s favor and presence (cf. Deut 30:1–10; 32:34–43); it was for this joy set before him that Habakkuk could set his face to confront and endure the intervening affliction.
19a This verse is clearly dependent on Psalm 18, in its affirmation of God-given “strength” (ḥayil; cf. Ps 18:32, 39) and most notably in the following two lines (cf. Ps 18:33): the image of “the feet of a deer, … on the heights” is found only in these two passages and in 2 Samuel 22 (v.34), which is parallel to Psalm 18. However, the phrase “go on the heights” (dārak ʿal bāmôṯ) is anticipated in Deuteronomy 33:29, which itself echoes Deuteronomy 32:13 (cf. Isa 58:14; Amos 4:13; Mic 1:3). Both passages envisage Israel’s conquest and possession of the Promised Land; the same background clearly informs this verse, in view of the extensive correlations in theme and language of Habakkuk 3 and Psalm 18 with Deuteronomy 32–33 (cf. excursus). Similarly, the reference to “strength” echoes the Song of Moses underlying this chapter (ʿōz, Exod 15:2, 13). These allusions to Exodus 15 and particularly to Deuteronomy 33:29 are corroborated by the note of praise and the reference to God as “Savior” in v.18 (cf. Exod 15:1–2; Deut 33:26, 29), so emphasizing the covenantal framework to Habakkuk’s faith. Like the “deer” in its resilience, grace, and vigor, that faith draws its life from God’s providence; like the armies of Israel on the “high places or heights” (bāmôṯ; cf. Deut 33:29; TWOT, 1:113), it lives only by its settled hostility to every enemy and counterfeit of that providence. This chapter is thus framed by the same initial and concluding emphases as Deuteronomy 33 (cf. Hab 3:3; Deut 33:2). It thereby constitutes a remarkable statement of faith in God’s “blessing” (Deut 33:1), in the very midst of disaster; Habakkuk himself stands as a noble example of the prophetic witness to a God who puts to death and who brings to life.
E. Epilogue (3:19b)
19b The final line of the prophecy forms an editorial conclusion to chapter 3, expressed in the language of the Psalms. The word “director of music” (menaṣṣēah; cf. TWOT, 2:593) is associated with supervisory authority particularly of the Levites in relation to the music of the temple service (1 Chronicles 15:21; 23:4; 2 Chronicles 2:2, 18; 34:12; Ezra 3:8–9). It is therefore translated in these terms in the Psalms, where it predominates (fifty-five times; e.g., Pss 4–6; 8–9; 11–14; 18–22; 39–42; 44–47; 51–62; 64–70). These musical connotations are reinforced by the following noun, “stringed instruments” (neg̱înôṯ), which is translated “song” or “music” in common usage (cf. Job 30:9; Pss 69:12; 77:6; Lam 3:14; 5:14). The phrase recurs as a technical term, with minor variations, in the title of Psalms 4; 6; 54–55; 61; 67; 76; and it resembles similar notations in the Psalms introduced by the preposition on (ʿal; cf. 3:1).[8]
This writer would like to encourage you to read Psalm 91 entitled; “My Refuge and My Fortress”.
Psalm 91:1&2 – He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” Etc. etc. etc.
[1] Friesen, I. D. (2009). Isaiah (p. 242). Scottdale, PA; Waterloo, ON: Herald Press.
[2] MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1985). Matthew (Vol. 1, pp. 94–95). Chicago: Moody Press.
[3] Strong, J. (1995). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship.
[4] Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 437). New York: United Bible Societies.
[5] Barton, B. B. (1995). 1 Peter, 2 Peter, Jude (pp. 95–96). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Pub.
[6] Wood, A. S. (1981). Ephesians. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Ephesians through Philemon (Vol. 11, p. 89). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.
[7] MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1991). Romans (Vol. 2, pp. 188–189). Chicago: Moody Press.
[8] Armerding, C. E. (1986). Habakkuk. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Daniel and the Minor Prophets (Vol. 7, pp. 533–534). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.