Quarantined
As a Christian, what can I do whilst I am quarantined.
The Christian church is in a very unique situation in the free world. We know that in some countries in the world where Christianity is banned, it has always been difficult for believers to be free to share fellowship with brethren and to engage in spreading the Gospel.
However, in the free world, we have never been in a position where our freedom to worship or our freedom to evangelize has been halted.
Covid 19 has changed all that.
Or has it?
The Swiss reformer Huldrych Zwingli believed that the spreading of the Gospel could never be halted.
He once said, Quote:
"Truly [the Word of God] will persist as surely as the Rhine follows its course. One can perhaps dam it up for awhile, but it is impossible to stop it."
As long as there is a water source, it cannot be stopped, it will always find a way through.
One may be able to compress air, or compress gas but you cannot compress water and neither can we compress the Holy Spirit.
The Apostle Paul found himself in quarantine, when he was imprisoned in Philipii.
Act 16:23 And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely:
Act 16:24 Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.
In fact the last part of Acts, we find Paul in many different prisons.
So how did Paul and Silas react, when they found themselves in quarantine?
They could have said, well, that’s us done for a while, we will just have to wait and see if we get out.
We, because of the lockdown, are in a similar situation at the moment.
We are locked up in our homes, we are very limited to what we can do. Our activities are limited.
We may be able to go out for emergency groceries or medicine but we have to self distance.
So, are we as Christians made impotent.
Well let’s look at what the Apostle Paul and Silas did.
Act 16:25 And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God:
Act 16:28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here.
Act 16:29 Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas,
Act 16:30 And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
Act 16:31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
Act 16:32 And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house.
Now, we know that our isolation whether self imposed or ordered by the authorities is not the same as being in prison and we have to remember that around the world, many of our brethren in Christ are isolated by the authorities in that they are limited in what they can do where the Gospel is concerned. However, there are some similarities.
How can we act in our situation?
Well, we are very fortunate that we live in a technology orientated society.
We have our smart phones, our tablets and our computers. We have Skype, Zoom, Email and text.
Even though we are separated physically, we can still meet in the cloud, over the internet.
There is no need for us to be idle, where fellowship or the Gospel is concerned.
Our lives are somewhat disrupted but does this mean that the work of the Holy Spirit is not continuing.
Of course not.
We can trust and have confidence that the Spirit of God will carry on convicting men of sin, of righteousness and judgment and the advance of the Gospel will not be marred.
What did the Apostle Paul write to the Philippians.
Php 1:12 But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel;
Rather than hinder the advance of the Gospel, God can use this situation to bring to the attention to many people, the fragility of life and how they should consider their mortality.
So, how can we act in the circumstances that we find ourselves.
Do we hibernate, find a few good movies, play more games and wait until this pandemic goes away, or should we use the time wisely, making good use of the extra time available to us because we cannot work or visit.
The Apostle Paul used his time of incarceration, building himself up in the faith.
2Ti 4:13 The cloke that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee, and the books, but especially the parchments.
He found he had more time on his hands, he could pray more, he could read more, if you are isolated with loved ones, you can talk more.
We can use this time of isolation in the same way. That study book we promised to read, all those You tube messages we promise we would watch. We can join in with fellowship over the internet with our brothers and sisters in Christ.
We could write our testimony and share it with others and post it by email or text.
If we have to go out for emergency supplies, even though we have to social distance, we are only two meters away from the next person. A kind word, a gesture, introducing a witness to Christ following a casual comment.
Charles Spurgeon preaching on Paul’s imprisonment said this.
Quote:
Paul is in prison; he cannot preach: what will he do? As he cannot preach, he will read. As we read of the fishermen of old and their boats. The fishermen were gone out of them. What were they doing? Mending their nets. So if providence has laid you upon a sick bed, and you cannot teach your class—if you cannot be working for God in public, mend your nets by reading. If one occupation is taken from you, take another, and let the books of the apostle read you a lesson of industry....”
"We are quite persuaded that the very best way for you to be spending your leisure, is to be either reading or praying. You may get much instruction from books which afterwards you may use as a true weapon in your Lord and Master’s service. Paul cries, 'Bring the books'—join in the cry."
Let’s remember, this pandemic will end, when we can look forward to meeting physically with the brethren and our families once again.
We can pray for them, we can be more prepared for that time by the way we spend our time in quarantine.
