The Voice of COVID-19 Podcast Introduction Hello out there, my name is Breck Wheelock and I would like to welcome you to another episode in which we will be looking to Scripture to help us navigate through this time of corona virus crisis. Our text for today’s episode comes from the book of Amos; specifically, chapter 3, verses 3-6. And as we did a couple of lessons ago, we will be considering the expositional insights of Charles Spurgeon regarding this passage. Spurgeon chose to preach on this particular text because of a severe outbreak of cholera that was occurring in London at the time. He titled the sermon, “The Voice of the Cholera” (sermon 705), and it was preached from the Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit in London on August 12th of 1866. I have selected and edited only those portions of the sermon which I felt best suited the purposes of this podcast, and I have modified some of Spurgeon’s language to make it more understandable to our modern ears. In altering the text, I did my best to maintain the integrity and the intent of Spurgeon’s thoughts. If you would like to read the original sermon in its entirety, it is readily available online. In fact, you can even listen to the original sermon being read on YouTube. The primary lesson that we will be pondering in this episode is this: when God judges a nation, it is not without a purpose, and He will not remove the judgment, until its full purpose has been accomplished. With that, let us begin by reading from chapter 3 of Amos. Though Spurgeon will only be focusing on verses 3-6, I will read verses 1-6 so as to give us a bit more context. Text: Amos 3:1-6 (NKJV) Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying: 2 “You only have I known of all the families of the earth;Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.” 3 Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?4 Will a lion roar in the forest, when he has no prey?Will a young lion cry out of his den, if he has caught nothing?5 Will a bird fall into a snare on the earth, where there is no trap for it?Will a snare spring up from the earth, if it has caught nothing at all?6 If a trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people be afraid?If there is calamity in a city, will not the Lord have done it? Spurgeon begins his sermon with the following introductory remarks: Sermon Introduction We have all been grieved by the mortality that has been caused by the mysterious spread of cholera in our great city of London; thus, I shall speak boldly as to the theological aspect of the subject. As Christians, we believe that God sends all pestilences and that He sends them with a purpose. Therefore, as a minister of God, it is my business to call the people’s attention to God in this time of disease, and teach them the lessons which God would have them to learn. To begin, I do not believe that every affliction is a judgment upon each and every individual person to whom it occurs. We see that in this world, the best of men often endure a great deal of suffering, and that the worst of men frequently have very little suffering. Let’s pause for a moment here because this is a very important distinction that Spurgeon is making. When God sends a widespread judgment, such as a famine or a plague or a war, these types of judgments are not directed at individuals, they are directed at nations (Spurgeon is going to elaborate on this point in the next few sentences). Moreover, it is critical that we understand as God’s people that when we have to go through a national judgment, such as the one that we are currently enduring vis-à-vis the corona virus, God is not punishing us. Christ has already suffered the punishment for His people’s sins; He paid the debt of our sins in full, there is no remaining balance. The slate is completely clean for God’s elect. However, that being said, God will still occasionally judge His people in the sense of disciplining and chastising them, as a father disciplines or chastises his children. Spurgeon continues: Though we do not believe that every affliction is a judgment upon each and every individual person to whom it occurs, we do, however, very firmly believe that there are national judgments, and that national sins provoke national chastisements. As to individuals, their punishment or reward is reserved for the Great White Throne Judgment of Christ; but nations will not exist in the next world: there is no such thing as a judgment of nations, as such, at the last great day; that will be the judgment of individuals one by one. The trial and punishment of nations takes place only in this present world, and it is here that we are to look for the judgment of God upon national sin. In light of this, I shall speak to you today regarding the national chastisement that God is presently visiting upon England. This is an EXCELLENT point that Spurgeon makes, and we don’t want to miss it because it is the foundation which he is going to build upon throughout the remainder of this sermon. His point here is that there will not be any nations (plural) in the next life, there will only be one kingdom, one nation (singular) – the true Israel of God. Furthermore, this heavenly nation will be completely pure – no sin, no curse, no death, no sorrow, no pain, no trials or afflictions or tribulations. In short, there will be no judgments upon this heavenly nation because there will be no need! Sin will have been completely vanquished and all things will have been reconciled by the blood of Christ. But in this life, there are many nations; and on this side of heaven, God will frequently visit and judge a nation according to its wickedness. During such times of national judgment, God’s people are not immune; for them, the judgment is meant as a chastisement, as we already noted. With this foundational principle in mind, let us commence with Spurgeon’s verse-by-verse exposition of the passage, beginning with verse 3: Verse 3 THE FIRST QUESTION that Amos asks, says Spurgeon, is this: “Can two walk together except they be agreed?” In other words, can God continue to walk with a sinful people? Is it not to be expected that when a nation falls out with God, God will no longer continue to bless it? In this metaphor given by Amos, two travelers have been cordially walking together for some time when suddenly they fall to angry words, and after a while one strikes the other and mistreats him. Are we to think that the one attacked (in this case, God) will continue to walk with the one who maliciously assaulted Him (in this case, the nation of Israel)? They must part company. Now, when God walks with a nation that nation prospers, but if that nation falls to words with God, quarrels with Him about His will and His law, and rushes perversely into sinful ways; indeed, if there be some in that nation who would have no God at all, who do their best to stamp out/destroy/eradicate His very name from the earth which He Himself has made, then we cannot expect that God should continue to walk with such offenders. Brethren, let me ask you soberly, has there not been enough wickedness in England, and especially here in London, to make God angry with us? Has there not been serious disagreement between the dwellers in this city and God? Has there not been enough to make Him say, “I will walk no more with this people: I will greatly chasten them, and send heavy judgments upon them”? Let’s stop here for a moment to reflect upon these poignant questions that are being asked by Spurgeon. Consider our own nation. Has our nation fallen to words with God? Has our nation quarreled with Him about His will and His law? Have we removed prayer from our schools? Have we removed the 10 Commandments from our courthouses? Have we rushed perversely into sinful ways? Are there many in our nation who would have no God at all, who do their best to stamp out/destroy/eradicate His very name from the earth? Has there not been enough disagreement between the people of our nation and God to make Him say, “I will walk no more with this people: I will chasten them, and send heavy judgments of disease and economic devastation upon them”? These are sobering questions, questions that we really don’t want to address, questions that make us very uncomfortable. But maybe that’s the point. Maybe we’ve become too comfortable. Maybe God has sent this judgment precisely to make all of us extremely uncomfortable. Certainly, God would have the unbelievers of our nation to be uncomfortable; to stop them from carrying on in their wickedness, if but only for a season, and to cause them, perhaps, to consider heavenly things and to forsake their wicked ways. But what about us, as believers? Would God send this judgment to make us uncomfortable too? Well, the wickedness that we now see coursing throughout our nation didn’t happen overnight, and it didn’t occur in a vacuum. Are there not many who profess Christ in America? How, then, have so many evil atrocities overtaken our land? Have we who profess Christ become complacent? Have we become apathetic? Have we become desensitized to the sins of our nation? Have we been negligent in civic affairs? Have we failed to cast our vote? Have we declined to speak up when we had the opportunity (sins of omission)? Have we ourselves, from time to time, sat at the table of the world and joined in the revelry of Babylon (sins of commission)? Have we made no contribution in God’s anger toward our nation? Brethren, each of us would do well to contemplate these questions, and in deep humility, to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to us those ways in which we may have provoked the Lord to judge our country. This is precisely what Spurgeon would urge his own congregation to do. He goes on to list several of the sins of England that, in his opinion, would be more than enough reason for
