I need them, you need them, we all need them.
— Read on disrn.com/news/comedy-break-its-time-for-todays-best-quarantine-memes
Comedy Break: It’s time for today’s best quarantine memes | Disrn
1 Reply
Daily Archives: March 20, 2020
Glorious! One America’s Chanel Rion b-slaps White House correspondents for obsession with Trump’s ‘China virus’ description | the national sentinel
By Jon Dougherty
(TNS) Who would have thought that a young, attracting fire breather correspondent from upstart One America News would be the one to finally call out her Left-wing jackal ‘colleagues’ for their continued focus on the least important aspect of the coronavirus outbreak?
That would be President Donald Trump’s continued use of the phrase “China virus” — you know, to remind Americans where it came from, and for good reason (we’ll get to that in a minute).
On Thursday, after the bajillionth time one of the pretend journalists in the Leftist White House Press Corps brought up ‘Trump’ and ‘China virus’ as the president and his team attempted to update the country about the COVID-19 outbreak, OANN’s Chanel Rion called ’em out but in a roundabout way.
After getting the president’s attention, Rion asked her question: “Do you consider the term ‘Chinese food’ racist, because it’s food that originates in China?”
Enter hysterically laughing emoji here.
“No, I don’t think it’s racist at all,” the president responded.
And neither was the “Spanish flu” that originated — anyone? — in Spain. Because back then we didn’t have the kind of small, petty, self-important, preening, blow-dried, fanatical, Left-wing, Marxist propagandists serving as journalists.
But Rion wasn’t finished. She followed her initial question with:
On that note, major Left-wing news media, even in this room, have teamed up with Chinese Communist Party narratives, and they’re claiming you’re a racist for making these claims about the Chinese virus. Is it alarming that major media players, just to oppose you, are consistently siding with foreign state propaganda, Islamic radicals, and Latin gangs and cartels, and they work right here in the White House with direct access to you and your team?
Game, set, and match.
Boom with a capital “OOM.”
But then it was Trump’s turn. He explained that he was “amazed” at the amount of rank propaganda coming from alleged legitimate media sources. And he claimed that his administration no longer distributed The New York Times and the Washington Post in the White House because they aren’t honest.
“They use different slogans and different concepts every week, trying to catch me,” he said, adding that the propagandists never call him to get confirmation or his opinion on things. “They’re more than fake news, they’re corrupt news.”
Watch:
https://videopress.com/v/aZ0NMbWZ
Just. Glorious.
Naturally, the Left-wing propagandists didn’t much like being called Left-wing propagandists so they pouted and fretted and took to Twitter to be bold and brave and tweeted their disdain to the Ethersphere.
Idiot “reporter” for the right-wing “news” outlet @OANN at White House coronavirus briefing tells Trump that the term “Chinese virus” can’t be racist because the term “Chinese food” is not racist.
As if food is the same as a deadly virus.
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) March 19, 2020
Sometimes the truth more than stings. It hurts like hell.
And by the way, the president is reminding everyone that the virus came from China because the Chinese government has launched a propaganda campaign to blame it on the United States — just like Rionsaid.
03/20/20 Loving Others Differently — ChuckLawless.com
READING: Deuteronomy 4-5, Luke 6
Christians are supposed to live differently than the world does. We are to be unique, separate, God-honoring men and women who increasingly exhibit the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23) and growing Christlikeness.
Jesus made that point clear in His “Sermon on the Plain” description of how we are to treat others. Apparently, according to Jesus, even sinners treat people kindly when others treat them kindly, so we are no better than they if we do only the same: “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. If you do what is good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners to be repaid in full” (Luke 6:32-34). Christians, on the other hand, are to love our enemies and expect nothing in return when we do what is good.
I’m pushed today toward these questions about my own life:
- Do I genuinely love people, or do I love only those people who love me first?
- Do I love the people who’ve hurt me or others I love?
- Do I ever “love” others simply to get something in return (even, for example, “loving” others to be recognized for how much I love people)?
As I consider my responses, I’m glad that God is a merciful God.
PRAYER: “God, I want my life choices to magnify You and show Your love today.”
TOMORROW’S READING: Weekend is for catch-up and review
From Quarantine To Tyranny To Rebellion: Where Is The Line In The Sand? | Zero Hedge
…the more unknowns there are for the public the more panic will set it, chaos ensues, and it is chaos that can be exploited to push forward numerous agendas.
Authored by Brandon Smith via Alt-Market.com,
America is in a haze right now. It seems like half the country is in denial of the danger while the other half is awaking from apathy and frantically trying to prepare. This is creating a fog of confusion as one side screams “it’s nothing but the flu, stop buying up the grocery store…!”, and the other side just keeps stocking goods, though in an inexperienced way that prioritizes comfort over practicality.
The other day I went by the grocery store to grab a few peripheral items while they still exist on sale, and this was the first time since the Covid-19 situation began that people in my area actually seemed…different. The usual carefree obliviousness was gone from their faces and they all had a deer-in-the-headlights look, their eyes wide as saucers as they nervously scrambled around the store. None of them were absorbed into their cell phones. All of them were alert as many people huddled over their cart, quickly snatching items from the shelves as if protecting themselves from potential thieves. It seems that reality is finally hitting the masses square in the face like a sucker punch.
Suddenly, the prepper movement doesn’t look so “crazy” after all, and average people are now turning to prepper forums and websites to ask us for information on how to plan more effectively. Instead of stacking piles of toilet paper for psychological comfort, they are now buying food supplies. The people who used to accuse us of being “chicken littles” and “doom mongers” are eerily silent. I almost miss them. At the very least, everyone is now concerned about the situation, if not for different reasons.
This is a far cry from the past two months, when governments around the world as well as the UN’s WHO continually downplayed the pandemic threat and offered the public nothing in terms of usable advice. The establishment consistently kept the public in the dark, not just on the virus and its capabilities but also on the vast weaknesses in the global economy. Abruptly in the past week they suggest that a threat is ahead and now millions of people are scrambling to prepare however they can.
As I have noted in previous articles, there is a reason why the establishment refused to inform the citizenry of the instabilities inherent in the pandemic scenario; the more unknowns there are for the public the more panic will set it, chaos ensues, and it is chaos that can be exploited to push forward numerous agendas. These agendas include global centralization as well as the erasure of constitutional liberties.
Now that a national collapse event is slowly being accepted by many as a legitimate possibility, there is a debate rising as to what measures the government should take, or should be allowed to take. Those of us in the prepper and liberty movements always knew this day was coming; a day when the public would start considering trading away an array of freedoms in exchange for promises of security.
Even now, government officials are still trying to tell people that this event will be “short lived”.
“Don’t worry”, they say, “It will only last a couple of weeks.” Oh, and “Don’t concern yourselves with food shortages, that’s not going to happen…” You can look at these lies in two different ways:
1) The government is trying to stave off a “panic” by slowly easing people into the reality that the system is breaking.
2) The government is trying to keep people passive to the danger so that when the system breaks completely they will be unprepared, desperate and easier to manipulate.
I believe the second option is the most likely given the evidence at hand, but in either case the government is crippling the public response time to the disaster. They did this for months and they are still trying to do it now.
So, my argument is, why should we suddenly take their advice or take orders from them when the manure hits the fan? They have FAILED in their responsibilities to inform and protect the citizenry, and they are about to violate their prime mandate, which is to protect the personal liberties that make our society worth living in. Without these freedoms, there is no point to keeping our system intact anyway.
The establishment and its defenders will claim that we all “have to make sacrifices” today in order to have freedoms tomorrow, but that’s not how the constitution was designed to work. Our rights are MORE important during times of distress and crisis, for it is in these times that we need to know what we are fighting for, and what we are struggling for. Survival is meaningless if we have to accept tyranny to achieve it.
Once governments see a chance to usurp freedoms from the people, they DO NOT tend to give those freedoms back later unless the people become a viable opponent that could bring the establishment down.
There are some who will say that a forced quarantine is necessary to protect the “greater good” of the greater number. It is true that the Covid-19 virus is a danger, and I think the people who claim it’s “no worse than the flu” are fighting a losing battle as the death rate is clearly much higher than the average flu virus. They will look extremely foolish a few months from now as the virus continues to cycle through the population and the dead continue to increase. That said, I think I understand why they cling to this crumbling argument.
They think that by arguing that the pandemic is “all hype” they can morally justify resistance to the inevitable totalitarian response from governments. They think it has to be one or the other: Either the virus is hyped and resistance is acceptable, or the virus is real and resistance is unacceptable. I ask – Why can’t it be both? The virus is dangerous to many, but a totalitarian response is still unacceptable.
The virus is in fact more destructive than any flu in recent memory – It’s not a plague on the level of the Black Death, but if it continues to kill at a rate of 3% to 5% as it has been then this puts a large number of human beings at risk. It is not something to be taken lightly, and those people that are actively trying to discourage others from preparing for it are truly narcissistic in their ideology. If you don’t think it’s a threat, then don’t prepare, but don’t scream at others for taking precautions just because you desperately want to be right, and don’t come around demanding food and supplies from those same people when the ceiling comes crashing down on your head.
Also, understand that Covid-19 is only part of the problem. The bigger crisis is in the economy itself; a collapse has been baked into this cake for years now, and the virus has little to do with it. Leftist kids are going around calling this pandemic the “boomer remover”, almost cheering the assumption that mostly older and conservative Americans will die from this. I have to break it to them that during the economic collapse that is inevitably coming they will have to wipe the snot from their noses and put on their big-boy diapers otherwise they aren’t going to survive either; most of them have no discernible skills and no preparations to speak of. They are essentially useless.
If Covid-19 is a “boomer remover”, then the economic crisis is a “snowflake bake”, and they are about to get roasted.
As I have noted time and time again over the past few years, the Everything Bubble only needed one major trigger event to fully implode, but the international banks and central banks created that precarious bubble in the first place, and they set up all the conditions which made it so dangerous. The virus is not the cause of the crash, it is just very good cover for the banks who are the real perpetrators.
Ignore the virus if you want, but the economic collapse is undeniable. Accept that the national and global emergency is real (even if it has been financially engineered), and let’s move on to a more meaningful debate: Should governments be allowed to implement martial law measures in response?
In my view there is no excuse for tyranny, even during a pandemic event. The majority of the public is more than capable of voluntary quarantine without government enforcement. Add government intervention into the mix and it will only make people want to do the opposite. And beyond that, Covid-19 has such a long incubation period that ultimately most people will probably contract it anyway. Total containment is not achievable (as we have just seen in South Korea). Quarantines might slow the spread, which is good, but do not expect to avoid this virus indefinitely. Why sacrifice your freedoms for safety that is an illusion?
Then there is the argument of “herd immunity”, which is utter nonsense and always has been. Either a person or group is immune, or they are not, and people who are not immune do not put immune people at risk. Period. The claim that the virus might “mutate” within non-vaccinated or non-immune people and put vaccinated people at risk is a propaganda argument that ignores science. Generally, when a virus does mutate, it mutates into a less deadly or infectious strain, not a more deadly strain. Viruses are programmed to survive, too. If they evolved to kill ALL potential hosts then that would be counter to their survival imperative, which is why they usually evolve in the other direction.
In terms of Covid-19, there is no “herd immunity” by the establishment definition anyway, because it is a brand new virus. There is no vaccine and the vast majority of people have no antibodies. No one can make the argument that people need to be forcefully locked down in order to maintain a herd immunity that doesn’t exist.
Finally, there is a question of agenda and motive behind the rising call for martial law-like measures over the pandemic. For example, Champaign, Illinois mayor Deborah Frank Feinen has given herself executive powers in response to the coronavirus infection that are outright dictatorial and Soviet in their violations. Among other things, she demands the power to enforce curfews, ban public gatherings, ban alcohol, ban or confiscate firearms, as well as confiscate supplies from any citizen if those supplies are “needed for emergency response”.
Is this really about protecting the public? How does it protect the public to confiscate their only means of defense, or confiscate their food and supplies? This type of thing is usually done in communist countries, and it is done to protect government power, not protect the people.
Understand also that the Champaign mayor is not the only official calling for these types of actions. From New York to LA and beyond, those of us who are paying attention have noticed a swift and quiet implementation of orders that are whittling down American freedoms. Do not expect Donald Trump to operate differently, either. Expect him to initiate martial law measures (though he may not call in “martial law”) in the next few months. Expect him to activate Executive Order 13603, which was created by Barack Obama in 2012 and allows the federal government to appropriate everything from land to food to firearms in the event of a national emergency. This is going to happen. Count on it.
The pandemic is not an excuse for tyranny, and I for one will not comply. I and many I know will self quarantine for a time with the expectation that we will eventually contract the virus, and hopefully our immune systems are strong enough to fight it. In the meantime, I will not be allowing any government officials to confiscate my supplies or my firearms “for my own safety” or “for the greater good”.
I will not be cooperating with census takers asking questions about how much supplies I have stocked and whether or not I am ill. I will not sit idle while checkpoints are set up in my county to enforce travel restrictions or demand people test for symptoms. I will not be signing up for government rations in exchange for my biometric data. I will not be visiting the local FEMA center for government aid. And, I will fight anyone that tries to assert martial law tactics in my area.
A message to the government: I know you won’t, but I suggest you leave people alone and let them self isolate in peace. Your brand of “help” is not the kind of help we need. You and the financial elites that reside over you created this mess, and we do not trust you to clean it up. At bottom, this disaster should result in your removal from power. You should be held accountable and replaced.
The system itself needs to be rebuilt from the ground up and principles of liberty need to return to the forefront of our society. Centralization and globalization have caused untold grief and terror to humanity; this collapse only reinforces the argument that we need to try something different. They will say that the world was “not centralized enough” and that a more global (totalitarian) framework is the solution. But, of course, who really benefits from that in the end? The common man, or the elites?
They can offer any rationalization they want in the name of public safety, but we know what the real play is here. If the line is crossed into martial law, I plan to fight. Not just for me, but for the next generation. Because if I do not, those children may grow up in the world never knowing what freedom truly is. There are fates worse than death, and a life of tyranny and slavery is one of them.
— Read on www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/quarantine-tyranny-rebellion-where-line-sand
March 20th The D. L. Moody Year Book
Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.—Galatians 6:7.
THIS law is just as true in God’s kingdom as in man’s kingdom; just as true in the spiritual world as in the natural world. If I sow tares, I am going to reap tares; if I sow a lie, I am going to reap lies; if I sow adultery I am going to reap adulterers; if I sow whisky, I am going to reap drunkards. You cannot blot this law out, it is in force. No other truth in the Bible is more solemn.[1]
[1] Moody, D. L. (1900). The D. L. Moody Year Book: A Living Daily Message from the Words of D. L. Moody. (E. M. Fitt, Ed.) (p. 59). East Northfield, MA: The Bookstore.
STUNNING!… Via the CDC… As of Friday There Are 100 TIMES AS MANY Flu Deaths in US this Season than Coronavirus Deaths — The Gateway Pundit
PERSPECTIVE:
** The 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic killed 675,000 out of US population of 103,268,000 or about — 1 in 200
** The 2020 Coronavirus has killed 218 (so far) out of a population of 333,546,000 or less than — 1 in a million
And the numbers last week estimated there were 22,000 flu deaths this year.
As we have reported several times now — the Director of the World Health Organization created an international panic when he miscalculated the coronavirus mortality rate at 3.4%.
The controversial Ethiopian politician and Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, claimed in a press conference in early March that the fatality rate for the coronavirus was many multiples that of the fatality rate of the common flu.
This egregiously false premise has led to the greatest economic panic in world history.
The Director General of the WHO spoke on March 3, 2020 and shared this related to the coronavirus:
While many people globally have built up immunity to seasonal flu strains, COVID-19 is a new virus to which no one has immunity. That means more people are susceptible to infection, and some will suffer severe disease.
Globally, about 3.4% of reported COVID-19 cases have died. By comparison, seasonal flu generally kills far fewer than 1% of those infected.
Here is the video of Dr. Ghebreyesus’s remarks.
This statement led to the greatest panic in world history as the global elite media shared and repeated that the coronavirus was many, many times more deadly than the common flu.
The problem is his statement is false.
It was not accurate!
As The Gateway Pundit reported Monday, the coronavirus mortality rate reported by the media as stated by Dr. Ghebreyesus is completely inaccurate.
He overstated the coronavirus mortality rate. You can read more on that here.
Here’s a summary of the analysis updated with today’s latest numbers proving the Director General’s statement was very misleading and materially false:
N/A – not available
The flu numbers have jumped up significantly this week!
According to the weekly CDC flu report — flu deaths are up by 1,000 over last week.
And according to the global coronavirus trackers US coronavirus deaths are up by 218 this week.
As of today — Friday March 20, 2020, there are 100 times more flu deaths this season than coronavirus deaths!
** 230 coronavirus deaths
** 23,000 flu deaths
The American public is being misled by our elites.
1 Odd Method Ends Tinnitus (Ear Ringing) – It’s Genius!
Tinnitus Stop
The coronavirus panic may end up being the worst hoax of all time.
Mortality Rate of Coronavirus in US Slips to 1.25% in KNOWN CASES – Far Below Fraudulent Number by WHO — Looks Like HUGE MISCALCULATION! — The Gateway Pundit
The mortality rate for the coronavirus in the US continues to fall as more and more Americans are able to be tested.
12 days ago the US coronavirus mortality rate was 4.06
Today the mortality rate is down to 1.25%!
4.06% March 8 (22 deaths of 541 cases)
3.69% March 9 (26 of 704)
3.01% March 10 (30 of 994)
2.95% March 11 (38 of 1,295)
2.52% March 12 (42 of 1,695)
2.27% March 13 (49 of 2,247)
1.93% March 14 (57 of 2,954)
1.84% March 15 (68 of 3,680)
1.6% March 17 (116 of 7,301)
1.4% March 19 (161 of 11,329)
1.25% March 20 (237 of 18,845)
Yossi Getetner posted a list earlier in the week.
Thanks to the fraudulent numbers by the WHO the global economies are in a complete meltdown.
Now, after several days of testing, the numbers are starting to look more and more like what you would expect from a harsh flu season.
PERSPECTIVE:
** The 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic killed 675,000 out of US population of 103,268,000 or about — 1 in 200
** The 2020 Coronavirus has killed 218 (so far) out of a population of 333,546,000 or less than — 1 in a million
As we have reported several times now — the Director of the World Health Organization created an international panic when he miscalculated the coronavirus mortality rate at 3.4%.
The controversial Ethiopian politician and Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, claimed in a press conference in early March that the fatality rate for the coronavirus was many multiples that of the fatality rate of the common flu.
This egregiously false premise has led to the greatest economic panic in world history.
The Director General of the WHO spoke on March 3, 2020 and shared this related to the coronavirus:
While many people globally have built up immunity to seasonal flu strains, COVID-19 is a new virus to which no one has immunity. That means more people are susceptible to infection, and some will suffer severe disease.
Globally, about 3.4% of reported COVID-19 cases have died. By comparison, seasonal flu generally kills far fewer than 1% of those infected.
Here is the video of Dr. Ghebreyesus’s remarks.
This statement led to the greatest panic in world history as the global elite media shared and repeated that the coronavirus was many, many times more deadly than the common flu.
The problem is his statement is false.
It was not accurate!
As The Gateway Pundit reported Monday, the coronavirus mortality rate reported by the media as stated by Dr. Ghebreyesus is completely inaccurate.
He overstated the coronavirus mortality rate. You can read more on that here.
Here’s a summary of the analysis updated with today’s latest numbers proving the Director General’s statement was very misleading and materially false:
N/A – not available
According to the weekly CDC flu report — flu deaths are up by 1,000 over last week.
And according to the global coronavirus trackers US coronavirus deaths are up by 218 this week.
12x More Efficient Than Solar Panels? New Invention Takes Country by Storm!
Daily Trend Club
As of today — Friday March 20, 2020, there are 100 times more flu deaths this season than coronavirus deaths!
** 230 coronavirus deaths
** 23,000 flu deaths
The American public is being misled by our elites.
The coronavirus panic may end up being the worst hoax of all time.
ABC News Poll Shows Significant Majority, 55% Approve of POTUS Management of Coronavirus, 43% Disapprove… — The Last Refuge
First, regardless of what the poll numbers reflect, based on a three-year track record of doing whatever it takes, it is safe to say President Trump would do whatever was the best approach while considering polling of those hard decisions irrelevant.
Second, even with the constant back-biting, snark and transparent attacks from the mainstream media, President Trump’s strength as a leader and manager of crisis is well identified by the majority of Americans. The media hate us, he’s just in their way.
(Via ABC) As a deepening public health crisis rocks the nation, a new ABC News/Ipsos poll released Friday shows a far different portrait of a country than from only one week ago, as nearly three in four Americans now say their lives have been upended in some way by the novel coronavirus and President Donald Trump’s approval for his handling of the outbreak is on the rise.
In the new poll, 55% of Americans approve of the president’s management of the crisis, compared to 43% who disapprove. Trump’s approval on this issue is up from last week, when the numbers were nearly reversed. (read more)
.
This Was The Worst Week For The Stock Market Since 2008, And “Jobless Filings Are Growing Geometrically” — The Economic Collapse
Just a few weeks ago everything seemed completely normal to most people, but now fear of the coronavirus has caused U.S. stock prices to absolutely implode. The stock market crash of 2020 will forever be mentioned alongside the crashes of 1929, 1987 and 2008, and by the time it is over it could potentially end up being the largest of them all. Close to a third of all stock market wealth in the entire country has already been wiped out, and many experts are warning that the worst is yet to come. Of course the authorities are going to do their very best to try to prop up the market, but despite the most dramatic intervention by the Federal Reserve that we have ever witnessed, U.S. stocks just had their worst week since 2008…
The Dow dropped more than 17% for the week, its biggest one-week fall since October 2008, when it slid 18.2%. The S&P 500 lost more than 13% week to date after dropping another 11.5% last week. The Nasdaq fell 12.6%. Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq also had their worst weekly performances since the financial crisis in 2008.
And when you look at the numbers for the entire month so far, they are even more depressing…
The Dow is down more than 24% for March and is currently on pace for its biggest one-month fall since September 1931. The S&P 500 has dropped 22% month to date and is headed for its worst monthly performance since May 1940.
Overall, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has fallen a whopping 35.2 percent from the all-time record high that we witnessed in February, and the S&P 500 has fallen 32.1 percent from the all-time record high that it set earlier this year.
In all of U.S. history, we have never seen a market crash of such speed and ferocity.
At this point, all of the stock market gains that we have witnessed since Donald Trump became president have been completely wiped out.
Ouch.
I know that many of you may find this difficult to believe, but stock prices are still substantially overvalued.
According to historical norms, stocks valuation ratios are still way too high, and so stocks still have a lot further to fall until they get back to “normal”.
Of course these aren’t “normal” times, and so there is no telling how far prices could eventually fall.
As financial markets continue to go wildly up and down, an increasing number of financial firms are inevitably going to get into very serious trouble.
On Friday, many were absolutely stunned when Ronin Capital completely imploded…
Well, no more: according to CNBC’s Scott Wapner, one of the CME’s direct clearing firms was unable to meet its capital requirements on Friday, forcing the exchange to step in and invoke its “emergency protocols” to auction off the firm’s portfolios.
The firm in question: Ronin Capital, which on its website says “seeks the best and brightest people who embrace our Firm’s culture, and can thrive in a dynamic, entrepreneurial trading environment.” Apparently, that also meant being unable to quantify your risk exposure.
Sadly, what we have witnessed so far is just the beginning.
Meanwhile, the greatest corporate debt bubble in history appears as though it is about to burst in a major way. According to Bloomberg, “the amount of distressed debt in the U.S. alone has doubled” over the past couple of weeks…
In less than two weeks, the amount of distressed debt in the U.S. alone has doubled to a half-trillion dollars as the collapse of oil prices and the fallout from the coronavirus shutters entire industries.
In all, U.S. corporate bonds that yield at least 10 percentage points above Treasuries, as well as loans that trade for less than 80 cents on the dollar, have swelled to $533 billion, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
But most ordinary Americans are not really too concerned about such matters.
What many Americans are worried about these days is whether or not they will actually have jobs next week.
As the U.S. literally shuts down from coast to coast, Americans are losing jobs at a pace that is mind blowing, and we are being told that state jobless claims “are growing geometrically”…
State jobless filings are growing geometrically, a signal of how the national numbers will change when we have them. Last Monday, Colorado had 400 people apply for unemployment insurance. This Tuesday: 6,800. California has seen its daily filings jump from 2,000 to 80,000. Oregon went from 800 to 18,000. In Connecticut, nearly 2 percent of the state’s workers declared that they were newly jobless on a single day. Many other states are reporting the same kinds of figures.
When I first read those numbers, they took my breath away.
And since most workers in this country are living paycheck to paycheck, large numbers of them will almost instantly be struggling to pay their basic expenses once they are let go.
Sadly, more layoffs are coming, and we are now being warned to brace ourselves for job loss numbers that once would have been unthinkable…
The first real bad U.S. economic data from the coronavirus outbreak was released on Thursday, as initial jobless claims surged 70,000 to 281,000, the highest level in 2.5 years.
But that is not anything compared with what is in store.
David Choi, an economist from Goldman Sachs, says initial claims for the week ending March 21 may jump to a seasonally adjusted 2.25 million.
Please pray for those that are losing their jobs, because most of them will not be able to find work for the foreseeable future.
What we are dealing with is not just another economic downturn. In her most recent article, Annie Lowrey described this as an economic “shock” that is “more sudden and severe than anyone alive has ever experienced”…
What is happening is a shock to the American economy more sudden and severe than anyone alive has ever experienced. The unemployment rate climbed to its apex of 9.9 percent 23 months after the formal start of the Great Recession. Just a few weeks into the domestic coronavirus pandemic, and just days into the imposition of emergency measures to arrest it, nearly 20 percent of workers report that they have lost hours or lost their job. One payroll and scheduling processor suggests that 22 percent of work hours have evaporated for hourly employees, with three in 10 people who would normally show up for work not going as of Tuesday. Absent a strong governmental response, the unemployment rate seems certain to reach heights not seen since the Great Depression or even the miserable late 1800s.
So how bad could things ultimately get?
Well, Goldman Sachs is now forecasting that on an annualized basis U.S. GDP will plunge 24 percent in the second quarter…
Goldman Sachs economists on Friday forecast an unprecedented 24% decline in second quarter gross domestic product, following a 6% decline in the first quarter, based on the economy’s sudden and historic shutdown as the country responds to the coronavirus pandemic.
If that projection is anywhere close to accurate, we are about to see economic suffering that will be off the charts.
Needless to say, cries for help from the federal government will soon become overwhelming. At this point, even billionaires such as Ray Dalio are pleading for the government to do more…
As the coronavirus spread Thursday, Bridgewater’s Ray Dalio said the outbreak will cost U.S. corporations up to $4 trillion, and “a lot of people are going to be broke.”
“What’s happening has not happened in our lifetime before. … What we have is a crisis,” the Bridgewater founder said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “There will also be individuals who have very big losses. … There’s a need for the government to spend more money, a lot more money.”
So a broke government that is already 23.5 trillion dollars in debt is supposed to borrow and spend trillions more to bail everyone out?
Good luck with all that.
We have reached the beginning of the end.
We have reached a time when everyone and everything is going to be shaken, and life is never going to go back to the way it was before.
But as I keep stressing, now is not a time for fear.
With God’s help we can get through this, but God’s plan for your future may end up looking radically different from what your plan for the future would have looked like.
Dr. Oz Cheers Chloroquine Treatment of Coronavirus: “Biggest Game Changer of All – Completely Changes Behavior of the Virus – Will Know in Six Days if Successful” (VIDEO) — The Gateway Pundit
Dr. Mehmet Oz joined David Asman on Lou Dobbs Tonight to discuss the ongoing coronravirus pandemic.
Dr. Oz harped on the wonderful news on the chloroquine treatment for coronavirus.
Dr. Oz: There was actually pretty big news today.There was a paper that came out yesterday that was being discussed but didn’t get the attention that I thought it would that a paper from France that the use of an old drug, the malaria drug together with the Z-Pac seemed to dramatically impact on this virus. And that could be the biggest game changer of all that can alter if we can ever become Italy… But I’ll give you the biggest fact of all. In this study they shortened the amount of time the patients excreted the virus down to six days. The norm is approaching 20 days. That completely changes the behavior of the virus. Which means it may be actually more like a flu virus in its impact on us. It’s still dangerous but now as contagious… If drug that has already been on the market for 65 years could be effective in treating a new virus, yes there are potential side effects, there are eye problems that potentially arise, we know that we use these drugs commonly. But I think it’s worth the chance. And we should be doing the study starting today! And we’ll know in six days. In the meantime the task force is going to liberalize use of these medications.
Via Lou Dobbs Tonight:
No More Business As Usual? — CultureWatch
The most important thing is to let God change us during this time of crisis:
It seems we have heard these words before: “The world is now forever changed.” “There can be no more business as usual.” “There is no more going back to the old ways of doing things.” Where have we heard such things? We are certainly hearing them right now because of COVID-19.
But we have also heard this at other times of great crisis, especially just after 9/11. When the twin towers fell most folks were talking about life no longer being the same, that everything would change, and that we must prepare for a new way of living. So, was that the case?
Well, yes and no. Sure, some things did change. We now have longer, slower lines at airports because of security checks. That has certainly been one permanent change because of the terror attacks. And at least to some extent for some people, there is a greater understanding that the political ideology of Islam is a very real threat. But even that is quite hit and miss, with plenty of Western leaders and media outlets doing their best to tell us Islam is just a religion of peace.
So how much did things really change after 9/11? The truth is, very soon after that horrific day, it really was a return to business as usual. Most people went on living the very same lives they were living before. And here I am interested in looking at the spiritual side of things.
Yes, there seemed to have been a brief uptake in church attendance right after the jihad attacks, but that did not last very long. Folks went right back to their pagan, selfish selves. There was no real revival or reformation that swept through America.
Basically, people lived the very same lives that they lived before. It was business as usual: people being selfish and greedy and materialistic and consumeristic and fixated on living the good life. The spiritual condition of the nation did not really change, and most folks went on living as they always had: mainly for themselves.
But we are being told once again that everything will change with this current crisis. Time will tell. If something like 9/11 could not really shake us out of our selfish and sinful lifestyles, will coronavirus do it? Much of it depends on how long this thing drags on.
If we see a turn around in terms on new cases and deaths in just a month or so, then I suspect that yes, it will soon revert back to business as usual. But if it drags on for six months or more, as some are saying, then yes, there may well be some changes.
But they may be more governmental and societal changes, as opposed to individuals changing how they live, at least spiritually speaking. Already, for example, conservatives are rightly calling for an end of Western reliance and dependence on China for all sorts of things, including medicines and cheap products.
So that could well change, along with bigger picture items like reckless globalisation, open borders and the like. Everything that folks like Trump have been warning us about is happening with this virus. There really IS a good case for strict border controls, for national sovereignty, and for not running with globalist bodies such as the UN. So those things may change as well.
On a more personal level, if millions of folks are forced into self-isolation and home lockdowns, that will be a new thing for many. And maybe a good thing. Reconnecting with family and the simple things in life can always be a good thing. Getting our priorities right can always be a good thing.
And if it leads many people to start focusing on God and eternity then that is certainly a good thing. As I said, it did not really happen after 9/11. Maybe it will start to happen here. The longer the crisis drags on, and the more draconian and austere government measures become then there are greater chances of some folks at least looking beyond materialism, and hopefully reaching out to God.
Of course, if they simply reach out to all the counterfeit and bogus spiritualities out there such as the New Age Movement they will end up fully disappointed. It is Jesus Christ and him alone that they need a living encounter with. And not any old Jesus, but the Christ of Scripture.
With this in mind, let me conclude this piece my making sharing basic truths: One, most folks do not like change (me included). And it often takes something pretty radical to get them to change. Two, we tend to want to take the easy way out. We will make slight adjustments to our lives, but only for as long as is required. When things go back to normality, we tend to go back to our old ways. Three, often the best medicine needs time to do its work, but we so often do not want to give it the proper time.
Let me give a practical example and then make the spiritual analogy. I really dislike going to dentists. I guess I has some bad experiences when young. So I tend to avoid them, and only go when a tooth really starts hurting. And when there, I want them to only do the minimal and quickest amount of work.
But a concerned dentist will not readily allow a patient to just run. If they know that lengthier major work is required to bring about total health, they will insist on that. Of course cowards like me can still say no, leave the dental office, and simply stay away. But we may be asking for real trouble in that case.
It is the same in the spiritual realm. God can use a crisis like this to get our attention and deal with our spiritual tooth decay. Our spiritual health is in a real bad way, yet most folks do not want to even think about it. Thus it is often not until a crisis breaks out that God can finally get the attention of some of us.
And again, we must allow for God’s full and complete work. If we are hoping the crisis ends in a month, we will all just go back to business as usual. So God may allow it to go on for many months, knowing that the spiritual medicine so many of us need will take some time. There can be no quick fixes here when it comes to soul surgery. We are in need of major spiritual operations.
If God has to allow a major disruption of the West – and perhaps the whole world – with perhaps millions of jobs lost, major social and economic disruptions, then he may well be prepared to do that. He would far rather that we get our priorities right than just live the good – but dead – life.
Allowing us to go without so many luxuries that we are used to can be a part of how God gets our attention and how he woos us back to himself. As such, we must allow the Master Surgeon to do his work. We must allow the Great Physician the ability to work in our lives, and do deep surgery if needed.
So if we must enter into chaotic times of economic meltdown and social disarray, in order for God to get some of us to look up to him instead of to self or to governments, then so be it. God loves us too much to let us go at the first hint of discomfort and suffering.
Getting right with God for all eternity is what matters. If that means God will shut down the entire world for a year or two to do it, then that is a good thing. Let God do his work. Sure, I am not being glib here. People do have to eat and survive. We are all starting to feel the pinch with empty supermarkets, mass job losses, rationing, and even things like martial law being declared.
It will be tough on all of us, especially the poorer amongst us. The really wealthy may have all sorts of stockpiles and reserves, and can often buy themselves out of a crisis. But for most of us, this will be a very difficult time indeed. But God is in control, and we must allow him to do his work.
If he is using this to shake us out of our damnable selfishness, sinfulness and apathy, that is a good thing. We need more of it – bring it on Lord. And Scripture assures us that this indeed will take place. Consider what we find in Haggai 2:5-7: “Fear not. For thus says the Lord of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. And I will shake all nations.”
And the New Testament picks up on this as we read in Hebrews 12:25-29:
See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.
I am not a prophet, and I am not saying COVID-19 is definitely, specifically the direct judgment of God. It certainly could be. But I do know that God is in control, that God is sovereign. So he most certainly is using this for his purposes.
The only questions we must ask as he shakes the whole world are these: Are we listening? Are we seeking to hear what God is saying? Will we allow God to draw us to himself during these dark times, or will it just be more business as usual?
March—20 The Poor Man’s Evening Portion
And they journeyed: and the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob.—Genesis 35:5.
It was the evening before the last, that my soul was led to the contemplation of what is the everlasting security of a child of God, amidst all the corruption, within and without, which he carries about him in a body of sin and death. It will form a very pleasing subject to a similar effect, to trace also a believer’s security from the world at large, in the natural enmity there is in every unawakened heart to a state of grace. And this precious scripture traces every child of God’s safety to the same source. The family of Jacob, the praying seed of Jacob, are still journeying; for here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come. The people of God are but few in number; yea, very few, the scripture saith, (Psalm 105:12,) “and they are strangers in the land.” The very profession of the cross will always make them strangers; and as men whose manners and pursuits differ from the world, like Joshua and his people, “they are men wondered at.” How are they kept from being run down, oppressed, subdued, and overcome? This text answers: the terror of God was upon the cities round about them. Pause, and consider the blessed subject, my soul, and never lose sight of it. He that toucheth thee, toucheth the apple of Jesus’s eye. The reins of all government, both of men and kings, are in Christ’s hand: nothing can take place, but by his appointment. Oh! blessed to live in the full persuasion of this most unquestionable truth. If a thorough sense of an interest in Jesus, and a union, a oneness with Christ, were always uppermost in the heart, this filial fear in Jesus would drive out all creature fear, as the fire of the sun puts out the fire on the hearth. The prophet beautifully expresses this, in one of his precepts to the Church: “Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread, and he shall be for a sanctuary.” (Isaiah 8:12–14.)[1]
[1] Hawker, R. (1845). The Poor Man’s Evening Portion (A New Edition, p. 85). Philadelphia: Thomas Wardle.
March 20, 2020 Evening Verse Of The Day
Hope
These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world. (16:33)
Understanding God’s love and placing one’s faith in Him—the things of which Christ had just spoken to the disciples—brings peace despite the hostility of the world and the relentless tribulation it brings. These words were spoken just one evening after our Lord had told the disciples how much tribulation there was to be in the world before His return:
And He said, “See to it that you are not misled; for many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not go after them. When you hear of wars and disturbances, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end does not follow immediately.” Then He continued by saying to them, “Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be great earthquakes, and in various places plagues and famines; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven. But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you to the synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for My name’s sake. It will lead to an opportunity for your testimony. So make up your minds not to prepare beforehand to defend yourselves; for I will give you utterance and wisdom which none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute. But you will be betrayed even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death, and you will be hated by all because of My name. Yet not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your lives. But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is near. Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those who are in the midst of the city must leave, and those who are in the country must not enter the city; because these are days of vengeance, so that all things which are written will be fulfilled. Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days; for there will be great distress upon the land and wrath to this people; and they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” (Luke 21:8–24)
Still, in the midst of all that, believers will enjoy divine peace. That is more than enough reason to take courage and have hope. The believer’s hope is in the Lord (Pss. 31:24; 38:15; 39:7; 42:5, 11; 43:5; 62:5; 71:5; 130:7; 146:5; Lam. 3:24; 1 Tim. 1:1), His Word (Pss. 119:49; 130:5; Rom. 15:4), the salvation He provides (Ps. 119:166; Eph. 1:18; 4:4; Titus 1:2), and the eternal glory that awaits in heaven (Col. 1:5, 27; 1 Thess. 5:8). That hope is made possible because Jesus Christ has overcome the world and conquered sin (John 1:29; Heb. 1:3; 9:26, 28; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 3:5; Rev. 1:5), death (John 14:19; 1 Cor. 15:26, 54–55; 2 Tim. 1:10), and Satan (Gen. 3:15; Col. 2:15; Heb. 2:14; 1 John 3:8). In Him, Christians too are overcomers (Rom. 8:37; 1 John 4:4; 5:4–5; Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21; 21:7), for whom the Lord will work all things to their good (Rom. 8:28).
After the resurrection and the coming of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, the disciples would be radically transformed from men of fear to men of courage. Though they abandoned Jesus on the night of His arrest, they would boldly stand before the Jewish leaders less than two months later. In Acts 2, the Twelve (with Matthias replacing Judas Iscariot) “were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit was giving them utterance” (v. 4). None other than Peter, who had denied Christ on three occasions (Mark 14:66–72), publicly took “his stand with the eleven, raised his voice and declared” to the crowds in Jerusalem that they should repent (v. 14; cf. v. 42). A little while later, he and John healed a lame man in the temple (Acts 3:6) and boldly preached the gospel there (vv. 11–26). They were quickly arrested and brought before the Sanhedrin. But instead of cowering in fear, they bravely proclaimed the truth to the same Jewish leaders who had crucified Jesus. “There is salvation in no one else,” declared Peter of Christ. “For there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Noting his courage, the Jewish leaders were astonished. “Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed” (v. 13).
That same supernatural courage and boldness is reflected in the examples of Stephen (Acts 7:54–60), Philip (8:5, 26–30), Ananias (9:10–19), Barnabas (13:46), Silas (16:25), Apollos (18:25–26), and Paul (26:19–21). Filled with the Holy Spirit and marked by personal conviction, these men were not intimidated by the threats of the world. Instead, they bravely proclaimed the truth of the gospel and rejoiced when they were persecuted (cf. 5:41), being confident of the promise that “greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).
The peace and hope that characterized them is the same that has characterized true believers in every age. Being assured of what they believed and hoped for, and convinced of what they did not see (cf. Heb. 11:1), the saints of old “were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground” (vv. 37–38). Believers today can find that same courage of conviction when their “faith and hope are in God” (1 Peter 1:21). They need not fear persecution or even death, because they know “the God of hope” (Rom. 15:13) and Jesus Christ, “the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27; cf. 1 Tim. 1:1). Having trusted in the death and resurrection of Christ, they are eternally secure in His love—knowing that “neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate [believers] from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus [their] Lord” (Rom. 8:38–39).
Significantly, Jesus’ last words to His disciples in the upper room, before praying for them and departing for Gethsemane, were words of love, faith, and hope. In the face of their greatest trial in the next few days, the Lord reminded them of those three foundational truths—truths that would subsequently mark their ministries for the rest of their lives and also mark all the saints to follow them. Having done all He could to prepare them for what was about to take place, Jesus now turned in prayer to His Father, knowing that only He could truly protect the disciples in the following hours.[1]
Christ’s Disciples Scattered
John 16:31–33
“You believe at last!” Jesus answered. “But a time is coming, and has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
There are two reasons why the Lord Jesus Christ was not as impressed by his disciples’ professions of faith as they themselves were. First, their faith had been a long time coming. Second, it was about to evaporate. In the verses that close the sixteenth chapter of John, Jesus had been answering the questions of the disciples without their having actually asked them, and this had led them to exclaim, “Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God” (v. 30). This claim was honest, but really quite pretentious. They claimed to believe. They said that they were sure in their belief, but they were actually weak in commitment. Thus, instead of being impressed with his disciples’ faith, Jesus goes on to foretell their confusion and scattering at the time of his crucifixion.
This whole exchange should be a lesson for Christian people, for we are often quite confident in our faith, and yet are not as strong as we imagine ourselves to be. We say, “Now I believe; now I am sure.” But in a short while we find ourselves doubting the very thing we affirmed.
A Realistic Appraisal
A number of years ago my first assistant at Tenth Presbyterian Church told me something that he had remembered from his early childhood. He had been helping his father put some things on the dining-room table, and he had asked to carry something that his father judged to be too heavy for him. He argued with his father, making many protestations. “Please, Father, I know I can carry it. I am sure I can.” At last his father let him try. He started out confidently and carefully, but suddenly he dropped the container and the liquid spilled. He told me that he learned one of the great lessons of his life that day as he stood staring down at the spilled mess and the broken container. He felt absolutely chagrined; he had been so sure of himself. But his father had been right after all, and he was wrong.
Everyone has had such experiences, and it is these that will help us understand the profession of the disciples and their feelings as Jesus gently revealed the future to them. They were so sure of their faith. But in a short while—in fact, within hours—their faith would be gone.
Notice three things that Jesus prophesied concerning them. First, he revealed that they would soon be scattered. Now they were together, and, as is often the case, there was encouragement in numbers. And, of course, there was Jesus. If they had known the song, they might well have sung, “Give me ten men who are stouthearted men, and I’ll soon give you ten thousand more.” But they did not really know themselves. So before long, much to their chagrin, they would be scattered. Most scampered back over the Mount of Olives toward Bethany at the time of Christ’s arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane. Peter followed the arresting party back into Jerusalem, but afar off. After the crucifixion Cleopas and Mary returned to Emmaus, and the others were undoubtedly making plans for their own departure.
Second, Jesus foretold their confusion. This is involved in his questions about their belief, for when he exclaims, “You believe at last!” it is as much as to say that the time was coming when they would no longer believe and all would be confusion. Now they were sure that he was the Messiah, come forth from God. But how could they be sure of that following the harsh reality of Christ’s crucifixion? Like the Emmaus disciples they would all be saying, “But we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel” (Luke 24:21).
Third, Jesus revealed that they would soon be isolated, for each would be scattered “to his own.” When we read that phrase the first time we find ourselves asking, “Scattered to his own what? To his own house? City? Friends?” Jesus is saying that each would be scattered to his own little world and that each would be isolated in it. With the center gone, there would no longer be any cohesion to the little itinerant band. It is as if the devil, the disrupter, would have his way and that this heroic attempt to bind the sinful and scattered race of Adam into that glorious new unity of the church would come to ruin.
Well, what of it? Surely that is not our case, now that we have understood the meaning of the cross and stand on this side of Christ’s resurrection! Is that right? Are we never scattered? Never confused? Never isolated? Of course, we are! We are scattered—sometimes by persecution, sometimes by schism within the denominations, sometimes merely by our suspicion of other Christians. We are confused, for even believers do not always have a sure answer to give to those who ask them a reason of the hope within. Circumstances, sickness, and other troubles rattle us. We are isolated, for Christians are often terribly alone. I have had Christians write to me with problems because of having heard me over the Bible Study Hour, and they have said, “I have no one to turn to; there is no other person with whom I can share my problems.”
I want you to notice that in all of these respects—scattered, confused, isolated—Jesus is the exact opposite of the disciples. They scattered at the time of his arrest, but Jesus stood firm. He stood firm even to the point of death, as a result of which, after his resurrection, he became a magnetic point about which they regathered. They were confused, but he was strong in faith, as a result of which they recovered faith from him. They were isolated. But he, even though he was abandoned by them, could say, “But I am not alone, because the Father is with me.” They emerged from their isolation when he came to them again following the resurrection.
I am glad that the Lord accepts weak, stammering, even ignorant faith. If he did not, what would become of us? Who could be saved? But having said that, let us not imagine that our faith or perception is the crucial thing, for “weak, stammering and ignorant” is an accurate description of it. Our strength is not in our faith but in him who is the object of it. It is in Jesus.
Christ’s Legacy
The second lesson of these verses is Christ’s parting legacy to his disciples. He had gently exposed the weakness of their supposedly strong faith. But not wishing to leave them with the exposure, he immediately goes on to talk of that which really is strong and which will endure even in tribulations. He talks about peace, his peace. It is the same peace he had spoken of in the fourteenth chapter: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled” (14:27). It was announced of Christ at his birth that he had come to bring peace—“peace on earth, good will toward men.” This he did, and he left it behind at his departure.
In 1874 a French steamer called the Ville du Havre was on a homeward voyage from America when a collision with a sailing vessel took place. The damage to the steamer was considerable, and as a result it sank quickly with the loss of nearly all who had been on board. One passenger, Mrs. Horatio G. Spafford, the wife of a lawyer in Chicago, had been en route to Europe with her four children. On being informed that the ship was sinking she knelt with her children and prayed that they might be saved or, if not, that they might be willing to die, if that was God’s will. When the ship went down, the children were all lost. Mrs. Spafford was rescued by a sailor who had been rowing over the spot where the ship had sunk and found her floating in the water. Ten days later, when she reached Cardiff, she sent her husband the message: “Saved alone.” This was a great blow, a sadness hardly comprehensible to anyone who has not lost a child. But though a great shock, it did not destroy the peace that either of the parents, who were both Christians, had from Jesus. Spafford wrote as a testimony to the grace of God in his experience:
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea-billows roll—
Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed his own blood for my soul.
This is the meaning of the Christian’s peace. It is not an absence of conflict or any other kind of trial or disappointment. Rather it is contentment and trust in God in spite of such circumstances.
Two Conditions
But it is not automatic. That is, it is not ours regardless of whether or not we meet Christ’s conditions for entering into this inheritance. The conditions he lays down in this passage are two.
First, the peace Christ gives is for those who are “in him.” This could mean simply that peace is for Christians, for when we become Christians God places us in Christ so that we may properly be said to have died and risen with him and to be sitting now with him in heaven. But this is probably not what Christ is talking about here. We must remember in interpreting this verse that the discourses in which they occur have been full of admonitions to “believe on” Christ and, more importantly, to “remain in” him. This is not the kind of being “in” Christ that corresponds with being saved but rather a conscious dependence on him and staying close to him that is the prerequisite to joy and fruitfulness in the Christian life. It is this that Christ has in mind as he closes these discourses. Jesus gives peace. But the gift of peace is appropriated only by those who depend on him, trust him, and remain close to him in their living of the Christian life.
Moreover, this interpretation of being “in” Christ is reinforced by the second of the two conditions: that the words of Christ might be in his followers. Jesus indicates this when he says, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace” (v. 33). What things are these? They are the doctrines of this section of John’s Gospel. We previewed these at the beginning of our study of this section.
First, there is the fact of Christ’s love for the disciples. Chapter 13 begins with this truth: “It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love” (v. 1). The chapter that is introduced by that verse contains a great demonstration of the love of Christ for his own, the foot washing, which is at the same time both a true demonstration of Christ’s condescending love and an illustration of his humbling of himself in order to be able to die on the cross. Throughout the discourses there is repeated evidence of Christ’s concern for his own. He is concerned to instruct them, warn them, and prepare them for his departure.
Second, Jesus spoke about heaven, saying that he was going to prepare a place for his own in heaven and that, if he was going, he would return and take them to himself so that where he was there they would be also (14:2–3). What was new in this teaching was not the mere fact of heaven, but rather that Jesus had an interest in it and would guarantee a personalized place in heaven for his followers.
Third, Jesus had spoken about the coming of the Holy Spirit. This was a tremendously new thing, for although the Old Testament had much to say about the Spirit of God, and although several of the Old Testament prophecies had spoken of a day when the Holy Spirit should be poured forth in power, no one had been associating that with Christ’s ministry or gifts. Now the disciples were told that Christ would himself send the Spirit and that he would come to be in them and work through them. According to Jesus, the Holy Spirit would comfort the disciples. He would also perform a ministry toward the world, for he would convict the world “of sin, righteousness and judgment” (16:8).
Fourth, Jesus spoke of a work that the disciples were to perform and for which he was leaving them in the world. He spoke of it in different ways. In the fourteenth chapter he spoke of it in comparison with his own work, saying that it would be even greater: “Anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father” (v. 12). In the fifteenth chapter he spoke of it in terms of his commissioning of them to fruitful service: “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last” (v. 16). Having work to do in this world, their lives would be meaningful.
Fifth, the Lord spoke about prayer, giving us some of the most exciting promises in the Bible concerning it. “And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name and I will do it” (14:13–14). “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you” (15:7). “Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete” (16:24). The Lord also told them that he would pray for them. In the seventeenth chapter, we have a magnificent example of just such intercession.
Finally, even as Jesus reminds the disciples of what he has already taught, he adds another teaching: “But take heart! I have overcome the world” (16:33).
Christus Victor
This is the point at which we should end—the point of Christ’s victory. He overcame the world in three areas: in his life, in his death, and in his resurrection. He overcame it in life because, in spite of abundant griefs and temptations, he pursued the course God had set before him without deviation, sin, or error. He said of Satan, “The prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me” (John 14:30). He overcame the world in death because his death was the price of sin and thus broke sin’s hold upon us. He overcame the world in his resurrection because by his resurrection he began his return to the throne of heaven from which he now rules the church and from which he will one day come again to put down all authority and power.
“I have overcome the world.” These words were spoken within the shadow of Golgotha, at the very foot of the cross. They were spoken on the verge of what surely seemed a defeat. But they were true then. And if they were true then, it is even more abundantly demonstrated that they are true now. Do you believe them? Is Christ the victor? If you do and if he is, then stand with him in his victory. Possess that peace that he dispenses, and in your turn also overcome the world. Does the world deride Christ’s gospel? So much the worse for the world. Do circumstances press us down? He has overcome circumstances. Stand with him then. He is the King. He is God over all, whose name is blessed forever.[2]
33 Jesus concludes the discourse proper by encouraging his disciples with a reminder that he has told them “these things” (all the promises in the preceding chapters) so that in him they “may have peace.” Peace in the biblical sense is more than tranquility. It is the šalôm (GK 8934) of God, the sense of complete well-being that characterizes the life lived in accordance with the design of God. Peace comes from acting on the promises of God. The close relationship between prayer (vv. 23–24) and peace (v. 33) is reflected in Paul’s words to the Philippian church: “In everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Php 4:6–7).
In this world the followers of Jesus are destined to have trouble. (Thlipsis, GK 2568, is commonly used in the NT for the persecutions of the church; see, e.g., 2 Co 8:2; 1 Th 1:6.) But “take heart!” says Jesus, “I have overcome the world.” There is solid reason for joyful confidence. The world will do its worst to me, yet I will come through victoriously. The victory that I will win will be yours as well. The verb “to overcome” (used only here in John’s gospel) is a military term and denotes victory in warfare. The perfect tense (nenikēka, GK 3771) emphasizes the abiding nature of that victory. The strong adversative alla (“but”) suggests that something is to follow for which the circumstances have not prepared us (cf. Morris, 714 n. 80).
The chapter closes with a strong contrast. In this world the disciples will have trouble, but in Christ they will have peace. Believers were never intended to be exempt from sorrow or difficulty in this world. We are, however, expected to be at peace because by faith we have been brought into an inseparable union with Jesus Christ and share his victory over sin and Satan. “Cheer up,” is the Living Bible’s translation. The enemies of God are defeated, and before long that victory will be universally proclaimed (cf. Php 2:9–11).[3]
33 For “I have told you these things” see on 14:25, and for “peace” on 14:27. Jesus’ words to the disciples conclude on the notes of peace and victory. There are three contrasts here: “in me” is set over against “in this world,” “you may have” over against “you will have,” and “peace” over against “trouble.” The second of these does not, of course, mean that there is any doubt that those who are “in” Christ have peace. Rather it points to the contrast between the life that all must lead, a life in this world, and a life that all do not lead, a life in Christ. All must live in the world and thus have trouble. But people may also live in Christ, and when they do they have peace. The speaking of these words just at this time has a significance rather like the reference to the trials that would befall them in verse 4. When they had all forsaken Jesus they might well feel so ashamed that they would remain uneasy whenever they thought of him. But he predicted their desertion in the very saying in which he assured them of the peace he would give them. He loved them for what they were and despite their shortcomings. When in the future they looked back on their desertion they could reflect that Jesus had predicted it. And, in the full knowledge that they would act in this way, he had promised them peace. The world will infallibly bring them “trouble.” That is its characteristic. But he can bid them “take heart!”83 He had overcome85 the world, the perfect tense denoting an abiding victory. This statement, spoken as it is in the shadow of the cross, is audacious. The cross would seem to the outsider to be Jesus’ total defeat. He sees it as his complete victory over all that the world is and can do to him. He goes to the cross not in fear or in gloom, but as a conqueror.[4]
33 The expression, “These things I have spoken to you,” finally does what the reader expected it to do all along. It brings the discourse to a close. Here (as in 15:11; 16:1, 4) it is followed by a purpose clause: “These things I have spoken to you so that in me you might have peace. In the world you have distress, but take courage, I have overcome the world!” (v. 33). Earlier, he stated his purpose both positively (to bring joy, 15:11), and negatively (to warn against “stumbling,” 16:1, 4). This time he combines warning and assurance, with the good news that in the end assurance and hope have the last word. He visualizes the disciples after his departure living simultaneously “in me” (as in 14:20; 15:2, 4–7), where they will have “peace,” and “in the world,” where “distress” awaits them. His final word to them is “Take courage, I have overcome63 the world.” If chapters 15 and 16 are indeed a “second” farewell discourse, as many have proposed, then the second discourse ends on a note reminiscent of Jesus’ words near the close of the first, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let no one’s heart be shaken, nor let it be fearful!” (14:27). The dualism is evident in both places. Jesus and his disciples are at war with “the world,” and “the world” is already defeated in principle. His victory over the world is theirs as well, a victory confirmed and accomplished in the long prayer to follow (17:1–26), and explicitly claimed for Christian believers both in 1 John (see 2:13–14; 4:4; 5:4–5) and in the book of Revelation (see 3:21; 5:5; 12:11; 15:2; 17:14; 21:7). But as for the disciples on the scene, they are not heard from again.[5]
Christ Overcoming the World
John 16:28–33
“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
As Jesus concluded the teaching of John 16, he was perhaps drawing near to the garden of Gethsemane, where he would offer up his High Priestly Prayer, awaiting his betrayal and arrest. The time had therefore come for direct speaking. In the previous passage, he had taught of an hour to come when he would speak “plainly about the Father” (John 16:25). Now, poised at the brink of his own hour, Jesus spoke plainly about himself: “I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father” (16:28). Jesus pressed on the disciples the important realization that “in this world you will have tribulation.” His final words offered the antidote for their troubles: “But take heart; I have overcome the world” (16:33).
Easy to Believe
Jesus began these final verses with a statement “concerning his true nature, his heavenly origin, and his heavenly destiny, [that] is profound but, at the same time, so simple that the disciples listening to him were led to exclaim, ‘Now you are speaking clearly.’ ” As Jesus recounts the basic facts of his life and ministry, we are struck that he spoke not as one acting under compulsion, but One who came and went by his free will and sovereign choice: “I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father” (John 16:28). This statement sets forth Jesus’ first coming in four great movements. He came from the Father, came into the world, is now leaving, and will return to the Father. These are vital facts that structure the truth of Jesus’ person and redeeming work.
First, Jesus speaks of his eternal and divine origin, saying, “I came from the Father.” This was a truth that the disciples clearly grasped, saying, “We believe that you came from God” (John 16:30). William Hendriksen explains: “This refers to Christ’s perfect deity, his pre-existence, and his love-revealing departure from heaven in order to dwell on the sin-cursed earth.” Here is a direct claim to deity on the part of Jesus, presented as an essential element of saving faith.
Second, Jesus emphasizes his incarnation, the great miracle by which God the Son was born in the virgin womb and took up a human body and true human nature. It is noteworthy that Jesus spoke of his departure from heaven in the past tense, as a completed action. But he refers to his incarnation in the perfect tense, that is, as a past action with continued effects. “I … have come into the world,” Jesus says (John 16:28). This includes his virgin birth, his sinless life, and his ministry with its miracles and teaching. Most importantly, Jesus came into the world to lay down his life as an atoning Sacrifice for sin. “The Son of Man came,” Jesus stressed, “not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:28). Donald Grey Barnhouse illustrates Christ’s purpose in the incarnation with a judge who imposes strict justice on a convict, but then steps down from the bench to pay the fine himself. He does this because the guilty party is his own beloved child. Likewise, though very God, Jesus stepped down from heaven to pay in his blood the debt that his own divine justice demanded for our sins.
Moreover, Jesus came to reveal the glory and grace of the Father in his own person and work. We see why the perfect tense is rightly used for Jesus’ incarnation: though he has departed from our world, his coming produced effects that not only continue today but will endure forever.
Third, Jesus moves to the present—the action that he was about to initiate—saying, “Now I am leaving the world,” by way of the cross. Notice again that Jesus’ death and departure was not thrust on him by some outward compulsion. Earlier, he had told the disciples, “I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord” (John 10:17–18). According to the New Testament, Jesus left the world via the cross in order to remove completely the guilt of his people’s sins. Psalm 103:12 sings of him: “as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.”
Fourth, and last, Jesus declares that after departing the world, he is “going to the Father” (John 16:28). Jesus’ resurrection from the grave reveals God’s acceptance of his atoning death, so that we may be certain that satisfaction has been made for our sins. Moreover, in returning to the Father, Jesus assumed the place from which he can dispense spiritual gifts and blessings to his people. Most important of these gifts is our new birth into saving faith by means of God’s Word (1 Peter 1:23). Finally, Jesus went to the Father that he might take up his ministry of intercessory prayer for all believers. Paul wrote that Christ “is at the right hand of God … interceding for us” (Rom. 8:34). There, Jesus displays in his body the marks of his atoning sacrifice, presenting our covenant claims through his blood. We sing:
Arise, my soul, arise, shake off thy guilty fears:
The bleeding Sacrifice in my behalf appears;
Before the Throne my Surety stands,
Before the Throne my Surety stands,
My name is written on his hands.
These are the plain facts of the Christian faith, articulated by Jesus himself. We should notice that there is nothing difficult to grasp here; the gospel is easy to understand and believe. Jesus came from heaven, came to earth, departed the world, and returned to the Father. This shows that objections to the Christian gospel stem not from the obscurity of our teaching but rather from a moral objection to the claims made by Jesus. People reject the idea that God’s Son came to this world from heaven because they refuse to surrender to him the reins of their lives. They object to Jesus’ departure via the cross because they refuse to acknowledge the righteousness of divine condemnation and admit their need to be forgiven of their sins.
The disciples responded to Jesus with belief, stating that his words struck a chord in their hearts: “Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not using figurative speech! Now we know that you know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that you came from God” (John 16:29–30). It seems that Jesus had answered a question that was lurking in their minds. If we will open the Bible and read with an open mind, we will likewise find that the Scriptures lay bare the thoughts and motives of our heart (cf. Heb. 4:12). True faith in Jesus does not consist merely in intellectual understanding, but comes to life as the flint of Christ’s words strikes the stone of our hearts and sets us inwardly ablaze.
The Hard Reality
It seems, however, that Jesus was not so impressed by their faith: “Jesus answered them, ‘Do you now believe?’ ” (John 16:31). Some commentators see Jesus’ reference to “now” as a complaint regarding their tardiness in believing, and others see a prediction that they would soon deny him. However Jesus meant “now,” it is clear that he was challenging the disciples to realize that believing would not be as easy as it then seemed. Once God gives us eyes to see, the gospel is easy to believe. But there is a hard reality about following Jesus that every Christian must realize. Speaking of the trial facing the disciples—one in which their faith would waver—Jesus told them: “Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone” (16:32).
This reminds us that we should not take lightly the challenge of believing in Jesus in this world, nor should we indulge in self-confidence as Christians. The disciples failed to anticipate the weakness of the flesh, the power of Satan’s afflictions, and their vulnerability in the hour of trial. J. C. Ryle comments: “Like young recruits, they had yet to learn that it is one thing to know the soldier’s drill and wear the uniform, and quite another thing to be steadfast in the day of battle.” If we have felt the challenge of Jesus’ words in our own lives—“Do you now believe?”—we will pray in earnest to be delivered from temptation, we will abide constantly in God’s Word, we will regularly attend to the means of grace in the worship of Christ’s church, and we will live in close communion with fellow believers who can encourage us to walk in the light through faith. Knowing that our faith will be tried by difficulties, the mature Christian is not one who has advanced beyond careful attention to God’s Word, prayer, and regular worship in the church. Instead, mature believers have learned not to neglect the God-given means of grace that preserve our faith.
For the first disciples, these lessons would be learned in the events of that very night. Jesus foretold their scattering after his arrest, and the Gospels speak unanimously about the flight of the disciples. Matthew 26:56 reports, “Then all the disciples left him and fled” (cf. Mark 14:50). The only exceptions were Peter and John. Luke mentions that Peter followed Jesus at a distance (Luke 22:54), only to deny him three times outside the high priest’s house. John, being acquainted with the ruling priests, entered into the courtyard to watch Jesus’ mock trial (John 18:15) and later appeared with Jesus’ mother at the cross. Still, Jesus’ summary was borne out in general by the disciples: “you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone” (16:32). This fulfilled the prophecy of Zechariah 13:7: “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.”
Jesus mentions two dangers when Christians are troubled in the world: God’s people, first, are scattered and, second, are tempted to renounce Jesus. Consider how Christians are scattered today, sometimes by persecution, sometimes by disagreements, and sometimes by false doctrines and practices. As the winds of heresy, worldliness, and fleshly pride blow across the church, we find ourselves scattered by argument, resentment, and suspicion. What is the way to reconciliation among scattered Christians? The answer is Jesus himself. To the extent that our doctrine and lives are centered on Jesus, we will avoid being scattered as believers, despite differing experiences and some differences in our teaching.
Second, since they would be scattered, Jesus said that the disciples would “leave me alone.” This in part reflected the reality that, as Herman Ridderbos explains, “Jesus must walk the road alone, and can do so as the good Shepherd who gives his life for his sheep so that not one of them is lost.” It remains true, however, that the disciples were torn away from Jesus by fear and self-concern, so that they abandoned him to face the cross alone.
How different was Jesus! Whereas the disciples were scattered, Jesus stood firm in his calling as our Savior. Whereas the disciples were confused, Jesus remained master of the situation. Whereas the Eleven departed, each to his own isolated refuge, Jesus said, “Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me” (John 16:32). This is our hope: that Jesus persevered in his saving work in communion with the Father. Even when crying out on the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46), Jesus was still one with the purpose and will of the Father in making the sacrifice for our sins. Bearing God’s wrath by dying in his human nature, Jesus remained unified with the Father in his undying divine being.
Since Jesus died for sinners, there is hope for faltering but true disciples such as the original Eleven and us today. Thank God that we are not saved by our faith—as if our believing achieved our salvation—but we are saved by Christ through faith. Thus, a weak and failing faith is saved by a strong and faithful Savior. The disciples would fail Jesus and abandon their faith—how could they ever be restored? Paul answers: “If we are faithless, he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself” (2 Tim. 2:13).
Meanwhile, whenever a Christian is scattered by persecution, failure, or even our own sin, we can know that we, too, are never truly alone. Whenever our faith turns to the Lord and our prayer reaches up for deliverance, God is near us to save. James wrote, “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you” (James 4:8).
Christ’s Promise of Peace
Because the Father would remain with him, and because he would be faithful in making his sacrifice for sins, Jesus followed his warning with words of comfort: “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace” (John 16:33). Though the disciples faced trouble, Jesus would leave them a legacy of his own peace. He had spoken of this same gift earlier, saying: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (14:27).
Leon Morris describes a painting that matches Jesus’ meaning. It depicts a storm beating against a rocky shoreline with waves crashing and foam flying high. A ship has been driven up against the rock and is falling apart, bodies falling into the deep. But in the foreground is seen a mighty rock with a crack. In the crack is a dove nesting securely, the storm unable to reach within. This expresses Jesus’ gift of peace. Morris explains: “Believers are not immune to the storms of life. They must bear them.… But they are secure. The Rock of Ages is their sure refuge and there they have peace.”
Jesus qualifies his offer of peace in two ways. First, he says that we may have peace “in me.” Believers have peace only in Christ; he is the Rock in the cleft of which we are secure. In Christ we enjoy peace with God, knowing that our sins are all forgiven. Believers also experience the peace of God, as the Holy Spirit works assurance and hope in our hearts. We gain this peace through prayer. Paul told us: “with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:6–7). If you have not turned to Christ in saving faith, this might explain the restlessness of your heart. Our hearts were made to be given to him, and “he himself is our peace” (Eph. 2:14). James Montgomery Boice notes that not only do we gain peace by first coming to Christ in faith, but we must also realize that “a conscious dependence on him and staying close to him … is the prerequisite to joy and fruitfulness in the Christian life.”
Second, Jesus says that believers gain his peace through the teaching of his Word: “I have said these things to you,” Jesus said, “that in me you may have peace” (John 16:33). “These things” that Christ has said refer to the whole of this Farewell Discourse, the purpose of which was to provide peace to the disciples in light of Jesus’ coming death and departure. All through the Farewell Discourse, Jesus expresses his care and concern, which apply not only to the original disciples but also to us. Knowing Christ’s loving care gives peace to our hearts. Jesus promised to secure a place for every believer in heaven: “In my Father’s house are many rooms.… And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (14:2–3). Believers know that whatever else happens to us as we follow Jesus in life, the destination will be our own prepared place in the glorious eternity of heaven. What a source of peace this should be to every Christian heart!
When it comes to following Christ in this world, Jesus also told about the provision of God’s Holy Spirit to comfort, encourage, empower, and lead us. Not only will the Spirit “take what is mine and declare it to you” (John 16:14), but he will grant divine conviction to empower our ministry to the world: “he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment” (16:8).
Finally, Jesus’ teaching has repeatedly stressed our great privilege in prayer by appeal to his name. What a source of peace it is to know that God in heaven hears my cry and attends to my plea! Jesus taught, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you” (John 16:23). This provides us with every incentive to try out our access to God in prayer, and to lay our anxieties into the Father’s hands, requesting his gift of peace. Peter learned this in future years, urging us to cast “all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7).
Are you living in the peace that Jesus has left to believers? If you are not a believer, you have every reason to turn to Jesus, seeking peace with the Father through the forgiveness of sin and the peace of the Father as he lives in you by his Spirit. If you are a believer living without peace, does this warn that you are not living in close communion with our Lord or that you are failing to derive the blessing of his teaching in God’s Word? Many Christians struggle for peace in their hearts, some because of their sinfulness and others because of their weakness. All Christians should turn to Christ, turn from our sin, and seek his blessing. Jesus gives his people peace, and we should make sure that we receive this peace in him, through his Word, and in answer to our prayers.
Two Great Truths
John 16:33 concludes Jesus’ farewell teaching with plain and direct words that emphasize two great truths that his disciples would need to know. Jesus began this final passage with plain teaching about his own mission, and he concludes with two direct statements that are to serve as watchwords for his church: “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (16:33).
Are we surprised by the trials of this present life? We should not be, given Jesus’ clear warning. Here is a promise that is certain to come true if only we live for a little while: “In the world you will have tribulation.” The English word tribulation derives from a Latin word for the flail that was used to separate the wheat from the chaff. The world is the place of testing where our faith is revealed and made strong through trial. A. W. Pink writes: “While the Christian is left down here he suffers from the weakness and weariness of the body, from temporal losses and disappointments, from the severing of cherished ties, as well as from the sneers and taunts, the hatred and persecution of the world.” “Men design to cut [believers] off from the earth,” notes Matthew Henry, “and God designs by affliction to make them [ready] for heaven; and so between both they shall have tribulation.”10 Though in Christ we have peace, in the world we have tribulation: we should therefore direct our hearts not to the things of the world but to the blessings of Christ, which alone convey peace.
The second great truth answers the need of the first. “Take heart,” he says; “I have overcome the world.” John’s Gospel was written to display the whole range of Jesus’ victory over sin, Satan, and death—all the powers of the world arrayed against Christians. It is probably best, however, to understand Jesus’ victory in the terms that he gave the disciples in this final passage.
Jesus said, “I came from the Father and have come into the world” (John 16:28). Jesus overcame the world as the incarnate God-man by obeying the will of the Father in his perfect and sinless life, and by overthrowing the powers of Satan and sin. Jesus added, “Now I am leaving the world and going to the Father” (16:28). Jesus overcame the world in his death, because he offered his sinless life to pay the sin debt of all who trust in him, thus breaking the power of sin over us. Jesus then conquered death through his resurrection, and ascending to heaven he assumed “the throne of heaven from which he now rules the church and from which he will one day come again to put down all authority and power.” Because Christ has overcome the world, we now must only hold fast to him to gain our own victory, dividing his spoils by faith. John wrote in his first epistle, “Everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith” (1 John 5:4).
Notice two final points. Jesus said, “I have overcome the world” in the very shadow of Golgotha, where he would suffer God’s wrath at the hands of evil men. Jesus spoke of victory as he stepped forward to embrace his apparent defeat, knowing that through his sacrifice God would grant salvation to his people. You may rely on his victory when you feel yourself at the end and on the brink of failure. Our victory is Christ crucified for our sins and Christ living with power at God’s right hand. Take heart! Christ has overcome the world!
Finally, be encouraged that Jesus knew that his disciples would falter in their faith and foretold it in advance, yet did not forsake them. Jesus knows that you will have tribulations; your trials do not suggest that you have fallen outside of Christ’s will or plan for your life. Jesus knows in detail every cross that you bear, especially when you bear it for him. The Eleven would return to faith because Jesus would return to them from the dead. You, too, through faith alone, are kept safe in his hand; even your faith is secured by Christ’s unfailing grace (John 10:28). Take heart! Christ has overcome the world![6]
33. These things have I spoken to you, in order that in me you may have peace. “These things” includes whatever Jesus told his disciples that night. He had told them about himself, informing them (as he had done so often) that he had come from the Father, had entered the world, was leaving again, and was about to go back to the Father. He had pointed out that he would be betrayed by a man who ate at his table; that he would be denied three times, and this by no one less than Peter; that he was being hated; that the world would rejoice in his death; and that his own disciples would leave him alone in the hour of crisis. The fulfilment of these prophecies would naturally strengthen their faith in him (see on 16:1, 4). And through faith they would obtain the greatest of all blessings, namely, peace. The nature of that peace has been indicated in connection with the explanation of 14:27. It is both objective (reconciliation with God, Rom. 5:1, 2; 2 Cor. 5:20b) and subjective (the quiet and comforting assurance of justification and adoption, Rom. 8:16 ff.). In view of the context, the emphasis both here and in 14:27 seems to rest on the subjective side of this peace. It is contrasted with tribulation. Jesus continues, In the world you have tribulation; but be of good courage. I have conquered the world.
In Christ they have peace; in the world, tribulation (or anguish; cf. 16:21). The world, as the term is here used, forms a striking antithesis with the Christ. It is the world which persecutes the Church (see Vol. I, p. 79, footnote , meaning 6). The term which is correctly rendered tribulation has the primary meaning (both in Greek and in English): pressure. See Rom. 2:9; cf. also Matt. 24:9; Acts 7:11; 11:19; Rom. 2:9; 12:12; 2 Cor. 1:4, 8; 4:17; 6:4; 7:4; 8:2; 2 Thess. 1:6; Rev. 1:9; 2:9, 22; 7:14, etc. The world ever tries to crowd out the true believer. The disciples can expect tribulation from the side of the world (cf. 16:2) because of their relation to the Master (15:21). But this very principle—namely, that what happens to the Master will happen to the disciple—also applies in the opposite direction: the disciple can expect to conquer because of his relation to the Master. The words, “But be of good courage. I have conquered the world,” clearly imply, “And therefore you, my followers, will also conquer.”
Say that a mountain-climber and his guide are trying to ascend a steep cliff. With the skill that results from long experience in mountaineering the guide makes the ascent, and shouts to the man who is at the lower end of the rope, “Do not be afraid, for I have made it.” Similarly, the pressure that comes from the side of the world will never succeed in causing the disciples to lose their foothold, for Jesus (with whom they are united) has reached the top; hence, so will they.
In view of all that has preceded in this chapter—the promise of the Holy Spirit’s coming and work, the prediction of the Son’s glorious return, the assurance of the Father’s abiding love—it is not surprising that the chapter ends with a note of victory. Having just about reached the end of the path, Jesus can look back, and can say, “I have conquered.” However, the past tense (perfect, for abiding result) also indicates certainty with respect to the impending battle. The victory is sure. Jesus had fully committed himself. Hence, he is able to speak as if Calvary even now lay behind him. See also on 12:31; 16:11.
It is certainly remarkable that at the very moment when the Man of Sorrows concludes his final discourse in the Upper Room, just before he treads the valley of deepest gloom, he addresses his disciples with these remarkable words, “Be of good cheer!” As far as the record is concerned, with a single exception, he was the only one who employed that heartening verb (θάρσει, θαρσεῖτε). One finds it in the following passages: Matt. 9:2, 22; 14:27; Mark 6:50; 10:49 (the one exception); John 16:33; and Acts 23:11. Surely, the man who conquers along with Christ has reason to be cheerful! And this even in the midst of tribulation; yes, even because of tribulation, as is shown beautifully in Acts 5:41.[7]
[1] MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2008). John 12–21 (pp. 230–232). Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers.
[2] Boice, J. M. (2005). The Gospel of John: an expositional commentary (pp. 1239–1244). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.
[3] Mounce, R. H. (2007). John. In T. Longman III & D. E. Garland (Eds.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Luke–Acts (Revised Edition) (Vol. 10, p. 596). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
[4] Morris, L. (1995). The Gospel according to John (p. 633). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
[5] Michaels, J. R. (2010). The Gospel of John (pp. 855–856). Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, UK: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
[6] Phillips, R. D. (2014). John. (R. D. Phillips, P. G. Ryken, & D. M. Doriani, Eds.) (1st ed., Vol. 2, pp. 373–382). Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing.
[7] Hendriksen, W., & Kistemaker, S. J. (1953–2001). Exposition of the Gospel According to John (Vol. 2, pp. 343–344). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.
March 20 Streams in the Desert
“As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.” (2 Cor. 6:10)
THE stoic scorns to shed a tear; the Christian is not forbidden to weep. The soul may be dumb with excessive grief, as the shearer’s scissors pass over the quivering flesh; or, when the heart is on the point of breaking beneath the meeting surges of trial, the sufferer may seek relief by crying out with a loud voice. But there is something even better.
They say that springs of sweet fresh water well up amid the brine of salt seas; that the fairest Alpine flowers bloom in the wildest and most rugged mountain passes; that the noblest psalms were the outcome of the profoundest agony of soul.
Be it so. And thus amid manifold trials, souls which love God will find reasons for bounding, leaping joy. Though deep call to deep, yet the Lord’s song will be heard in silver cadence through the night. And it is possible in the darkest hour that ever swept a human life to bless the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Have you learned this lesson yet? Not simply to endure God’s will, nor only to choose it; but to rejoice in it with joy unspeakable and full of glory.—Tried us by Fire.
I will be still, my bruised heart faintly murmured,
As o’er me rolled a crushing load of woe;
The cry, the call, e’en the low moan was stifled;
I pressed my lips; I barred the tear drop’s flow.
I will be still, although I cannot see it,
The love that bares a soul and fans pain’s fire;
That takes away the last sweet drop of solace,
Breaks the lone harp string, hides Thy precious lyre.
But God is love, so I will bide me, bide me—
We’ll doubt not, Soul, we will be very still;
We’ll wait till after while, when He shall lift us—
Yes, after while, when it shall be His will.
And I did listen to my heart’s brave promise;
And I did quiver, struggling to be still;
And I did lift my tearless eyes to Heaven,
Repeating ever, “Yea, Christ, have Thy will.”
But soon my heart upspake from ‘neath our burden,
Reproved my tight-drawn lips, my visage sad:
“We can do more than this, O Soul,” it whispered.
“We can be more than still, we can be glad!”
And now my heart and I are sweetly singing—
Singing without the sound of tuneful strings;
Drinking abundant waters in the desert;
Crushed, and yet soaring as on eagle’s wings.
—S. P. W.
__________[1]
[1] Cowman, L. B. (1925). Streams in the Desert (pp. 89–90). Los Angeles, CA: The Oriental Missionary Society.
If Your Church Isn’t Gathering This Weekend, Watch Worship Online — Truth For Life Blog
This week, if your home church isn’t accessible in person or online, or if you’d like to supplement your local church’s worship, please join Alistair Begg for a full-length Sunday service recorded from Parkside Church.
In a comforting message that will uplift and refresh our souls during this time of uncertainty, Alistair Begg revisits the foundational truths of the Gospel—that our hope rests firmly in Scripture alone, in grace alone, in faith alone, in Christ alone, and in God’s glory alone.
Watch online beginning at 9:45 am ET at truthforlife.org/live, on YouTube, and on streaming TV. The service, originally held on October 27, 2019, will also be viewable throughout the day and into the following week.
Our Website
https://www.truthforlife.org/live
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/truthforlife/videos/602083377040332/
YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tepFfWuhicc
The environment here in Ohio, as in many places around the world, continues to be one where social distancing has become necessary to slow the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). Therefore, Parkside Church, where Alistair is senior pastor, will follow the government’s guidelines to refrain from large in-person gatherings, including our Sunday service. We thank God for His Word and are grateful to still be able to hear it proclaimed, be assured by its truth, and share it with others via electronic stream.
We hope you join us!
“Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” –Matthew 11:29-30 (ESV)
via If Your Church Isn’t Gathering This Weekend, Watch Worship Online — Truth For Life Blog
March 20 The Interpreter: Spurgeon’s Devotional Bible
March 20.—Morning. [Or June 6.]
“Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.”
Joshua 5:1; 10–15
AND it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites, which were on the side of Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, which were by the sea, heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we were passed over, that their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel.
Matthew Henry says upon this verse, “How dreadful is their case who see the wrath of God and his deserved vengeance advancing towards them with steady pace, without any possibility of averting or escaping it. Such will be the horrible situation of the wicked when summoned to appear before the tribunal of an offended God; nor can words express the anguish of their feelings, or the greatness of their terror. O that they would now take warning, and before it be too late, would flee for refuge to lay hold upon that hope which is set before them in the salvation of the gospel.”
10 ¶ And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho. (Before they entered upon the conquest of Canaan the people gave attention to circumcision and the passover. We cannot expect God to help us if we are negligent of his commands. Before entering upon any Christian enterprise it is well to look to home duties. When all is right within ourselves, we shall be in a fit condition to do battle with the evils around us.)
11 And they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the passover, unleavened cakes, and parched corn in the self-same day.
12 And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year. (We must not expect miracles when ordinary providences will suffice. There is, if we would but see it, as much wisdom and grace in supplying our daily wants in the common methods as there would be in the Lord’s raining bread from heaven upon us. We may here also remark that means and ordinances will last us until we reach the heritage above. We must gather the manna of the wilderness till we feast upon the harvests of Immanuel’s land. Grace will be our daily portion till we enter glory.)
13 ¶ And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: (The Lord Jesus usually appears to his people in a manner which proves his communion with them. He shows himself to be like his brethren. To Abraham the pilgrim he appeared as a pilgrim, with Jacob the wrestler he wrestled, to the holy children he appeared as one in the furnace, and to Joshua the soldier he showed himself as a warrior. Our Lord is the defender of his chosen, and will show himself strong on their behalf:) and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? (Like a brave man Joshua spake, and like a resolute friend of Israel, who would know each mans mind about the coming fight, and act towards him accordingly.)
14 And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now come; (Jesus is Commander-in-Chief; he is not only, as one was wont to call him, “our august ally,” but the Captain over all.) And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant?
True adoration bows its heart to hear as well as its knee to worship.
15 And the captain of the Lord’s host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so. (He must first worship, and then go to war. God will not honour irreverent spirits. It is not enough to ask instructions from the Lord Jesus; we must adore him, and maintain a devout spirit. Great Captain of the sacred host, we adore thee at this hour! Give us thy commands, and go with us to the conflict, and we will not fear our adversaries, however great or many they be.)
Thee we acknowledge, God and Lord,
Jesus for sinners slain;
Who art by heaven and earth adored,
Worthy o’er both to reign.
Great Captain of the hosts of God,
Low at thy feet we bow;
’Tis holy ground where thou hast trod,
We loose our sandals now.
March 20.—Evening. [Or June 7.]
“My strength is made perfect in weakness.”
Joshua 6:1–5; 12–21; 23, 25
NOW Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in.
2 And the Lord said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour.
God had given the city to them, but they were to use the appointed means. God’s election fulfils itself through earnest seeking on our part.
3 And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days.
4, 5 And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams’ horns: (Mean instruments were chosen to work wonders,) and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets. And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.
Little connection was apparent between the means and the desired result, yet it was not for the people to reason why; it was theirs to follow the prescribed rule.
12 ¶ And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the Lord.
13 And seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the Lord went on continually, and blew with the trumpets: and the armed men went before them; but the rereward came after the ark of the Lord, the priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets.
They did precisely as they were bidden, no doubt greatly to the amusement of the sons of Belial, who thought the procedure a very unphilosophical one, and quite unfit for men of common sense to spend their time upon.
14 And the second day they compassed the city once, and returned into the camp: so they did six days.
15 And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they rose early about the dawning of the day, and compassed the city seven times.
16 And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout; for the Lord hath given you the city. (Their former silence had proved their patience, and this commanded shout was a token of the expectancy of their faith.)
17–19 And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to the Lord: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent. And ye, in anywise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it. But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated unto the Lord: they shall come into the treasury of the Lord. (It was meet that the firstfruits of Canaan should be the Lord’s.)
20 So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city. (A strange method of overturning strongholds, and yet when God so ordained, it was as effectual as the best constructed battering-ram. How strangely must Rahab’s house have towered aloft, when all others fell in heaps. Faith pulls down, but faith also upholds.)
21 And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword.
23 And the young men that were spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brethren, and all that she had; and they brought out all her kindred, and left them without the camp of Israel.
In the day of judgment the house with the scarlet line in the window is not left to perish in the general wreck. Perish who may, believers are secured by the promise of one who cannot lie, and they have nothing to fear.
25 And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father’s household, and all that she had.
Make bare thine own resistless arm,
Through all the earth abroad;
Let every nation now behold
Their Saviour and their God.[1]
[1] Spurgeon, C. H. (1964). The Interpreter: Spurgeon’s Devotional Bible (pp. 161–162). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.
Stop the Insane Overreaction | Power Line
(John Hinderaker)
The economic devastation that is now playing out before our eyes is not caused by the Wuhan flu virus. In the last 21 days, approximately 162,000 Americans have died. Of that number, 150 were killed by the Wuhan virus. If governments at all levels had done nothing, other than eliminating regulatory barriers to the deployment of already-existing medicines, would the virus have killed more Americans? Yes, that is what flu bugs do. Would it kill more than the 13,000 or so who have died from this year’s seasonal flu virus? Who knows? More than the estimated 80,000 who were killed by the flu in the U.S. just two years ago? I doubt it: world-wide, it has killed only a little more than one-tenth that number.
The answers to those questions are speculative, but this is not: by dictating a virtual cessation of economic activity, governments at all levels, but especially state and local, are causing an economic collapse the likes of which, if it continues, we have not seen since the Great Depression, if ever. When has such a government-caused disaster comparably devastated a non-socialist country? Not often. The inflation of the Weimar Republic comes to mind.
I agree with the Wall Street Journal editorial that Scott quoted from this morning, but I think it is too mild. Here is a prediction: the deaths of Americans caused by the Wuhan flu bug will be dwarfed by the suicides committed by people whose life’s savings have been wiped out, whose businesses have been bankrupted, whose jobs have been lost, and whose prospects have been blighted by the insane overreaction we now see from our governments. That overreaction must stop. Right now. Before it is too late, if it is not too late already.
Source: Stop the Insane Overreaction
Polls: Majority of Americans Approve of President Trump’s Handling of Chinese Coronavirus Crisis — The Gateway Pundit
Three polls release this week show a majority of Americans approve of President Trump’s handling of the Chinese coronavirus #COVID-19 pandemic that originated in the Hubei province city of Wuhan last November. The virus has infected people around the globe with a virulence that has prompted an unprecedented worldwide response.
President Trump addresses the nation on the coronavirus, March 11, screen image.
An ABC News/Ipsos poll released Friday shows Trump with a 55 percent approval, reported ABC News:
“A new ABC News/Ipsos poll out Friday morning found 55% approval of Trump’s handling of the novel coronavirus crisis, with 43% disapproval. Exactly a week ago, the same poll found a 43-54 approval-disapproval — a near-mirror-image reversal.”
The Harris Poll released Thursday shows a 53 percent approval for Trump’s handling the virus, an increase from 49 percent from last week’s Harris poll.
A Survey USA poll released Thursday has Trump with 51 percent approval for his handling of the virus.
Americans nationwide today give President Donald Trump a Plus 11 Net Virus Grade, according to SurveyUSA’s latest time-series tracking poll conducted 03/18/20 and 03/19/20. 51% of adults nationwide approve of the way Trump is responding to the virus, including 25% who “strongly approve.” 40% disapprove of Trump’s response, including 25% who “strongly disapprove.” In an identical SurveyUSA poll 1 week ago, Trump was Net Zero; 46% approved (including 22% who strongly approved); 46% disapproved (including 32% who “strongly disapproved”), a strong, 11-point week-on-week improvement. SurveyUSA exclusive time-series tracking data available here.
TOTAL BS: Liberal Reporter at White House Press Briefing Suggests 11 Million Americans will Die from Coronavirus (VIDEO) — The Gateway Pundit
A liberal reporter at Friday’s White House coronavirus press conference attacked GOP Senator Ron Johnson for telling a reporter to keep the coronavirus in perspective.
The liberal media and World Health Organization has created an international panic after mistakenly announcing the coronavirus has a 3.4% mortality rate.
As of Friday morning 3-20-2020:
** There are 16,067 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the US.
** There are 219 deaths blamed on the coronavirus.
** The current mortality rate from confirmed cases is 1.3%
** There are no official numbers that include the number of citizens who had the virus but were not sick enough to seek medical attention.
** There are an estimated 22,000 flu deaths and 36 million cases in the US each year.
Senator Johnson told Craig Gilbert from the Journal Sentinel that we must keep the coronavirus in perspective.
In other words, you don’t collapse an economy over 218 deaths in a population of 327 million.
Today during his question this liberal reporter claimed the US will see 11 million people die.
Again, we currently have a total of 218 deaths.
This is the type of BS the liberal media keeps hurling at the American people.
12 Powerful Bible Verses to Build Your Faith and Fight Fear During the Coronavirus Crisis — CBN News feeds
The Bible is God’s Word and is full of truth for every situation we face in life. As the world endures quarantines, closures, and even panic during the coronavirus pandemic, God offers peace. His Word can displace anxiety and fear with hope and healing.
Jesus is described as the “Prince of Peace” for those who choose to let him reign over their lives. He offers peace for our troubled minds and freedom from fear. Here are just a few of the great verses in the Bible about God’s power to deliver us from fear – we begin with the words of Jesus from the Gospel of John:
John 14:27
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
Isaiah 41:10
“Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”
Philippians 4:6-7
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Deuteronomy 31:8
“The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”
Psalm 27:1
“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”
Exodus 14:13
“And Moses said to the people, ‘Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today’.”
Joshua 1:9
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Isaiah 41:13
“For I am the LORD your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.”
Psalm 23:4
“Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”
1 Peter 5:7
“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
2 Timothy 1:7
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
Psalm 34:4
“I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.”
VERSES ABOUT GOD’S POWER TO DELIVER FROM PLAGUES
2 Chronicles 7:13-14 begins by talking about plagues, and ends with God’s power to heal and restore our land.
“If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
Psalm 91 is a classic and often quoted passage about God’s protection for those who seek refuge in the Most High God.
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence.
He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day,
nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.
A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.
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