in prayer together we're going to seek the Lord in a word of prayer and you seek the Lord pray that your heart will be blessed and your soul will be encouraged as we meet around God's precious word let's pray our loving father we come to thee in our savior's precious name thankful for the opportunity to gather Here, in the place of public worship, we thank thee for the promises of God that remind us that where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. We come, dear God, conscious that we cannot gather in the church building itself, but we thank thee, dear God, that as men of old in the past, gathered in moors and in glens, in caves, dear God, we thank thee, dear God, that we can gather in such a manner. And we pray, Lord, that our hearts might be blessed as we meet around God's precious word. Bless thy dear saints who have made the effort to come today. We think of those who are at home watching in on Facebook Live. We pray, O God, that thy blessing will be upon thy shut-in ones today, the hidden ones. We pray that God himself will draw particularly near. Lord, we realize that our nation is under divine chastisement for its sin we recognize that God has a controversy with the nations and with us as a people and Lord we cry that in wrath that God will remember mercy we pray Lord in these days of divine chastisement Lord that thou and thy grace will spare our nation spare our countrymen and our countrywomen. Lord, we pray that many will be brought into the Redeemer's kingdom. Lord, grant, dear Father, conviction of sin, trouble of heart, but Lord, move, dear God, men and women, to seek after the Lord. Lord, we recognize that the world places their confidence in politicians and in scientists and in medics. But Lord, as the people of God, we place our trust and confidence in Jehovah, the true and living God. We pray, O God, that in these days that thou wilt spare us. We pray that thou wilt drive, O God, this plague, this pestilence from our borders, we pray. We do pray for our medical staff. our doctors, our nurses, those who are caring for those in hospital. Lord, grant, dear Father, Thy blessing to be upon them. Give them wisdom. Give, dear God, those in leadership within our nation. Give them wisdom. May they call upon the people to pray. Grant, dear Father, the call to soon go out from our politicians. Lord, that every believer cry to God for mercy. Lord, we pray that there might be a great turning, even to the Lord Jesus Christ. So bless us as we meet around thy word in a few moments' time. And may thy hand of blessing be upon us, for we offer prayer in and through the Savior's precious and worthy name. Amen and amen. Just some announcements at this time. Remember the drive-in service tonight, six o'clock. Note the change, six o'clock tonight. Wednesday night, eight o'clock, there will be a Bible study and prayer time. Although that will not be taking place here at the church, but will take the form of a Facebook live broadcast that can be accessed from our church Facebook page. I'm going to conduct a little short Bible study from the manse, and then we want to encourage our families, couples, individuals to have a time in prayer in their homes and lay hold of God for our nation and our fellow countrymen and women. Praying that in wrath. that God will remember mercy. Then next Lord's Day, in the will of God, 12 noon family worship service. We'll have an open air on the main street, 3.30 as we have on a biweekly basis, 3.30 on the main street, the open air. Six o'clock, the gospel service. I'll be the preacher at all three services in the will of God next Lord's Day. If you or anyone in your family are displaying any symptoms of COVID-19, we then, asked you to please stay away from the services for the recommended time period and then join us again. If there comes a time that you have to self-isolate, then please contact the manse if you require any I've already had some offers from people who are willing to help with groceries, prescriptions, the delivering of such things. So just contact the manse and we're here to help you as God's people and for the wider community. So we just remind you of that. Contact the manse on 02825821765. And let me emphasize again the need for us to pray in these days. And not only that, but to repent of our sins. and to return to the Lord. We're turning in the Word of God then today to the book of Psalms, the Psalm number 91. The Psalm number 91. I trust you have a copy of God's Word. If you don't, well then you listen to the reading of the Scriptures, and then we're going to bring the message that God has given for today. Psalm number 91, and we'll read the Psalm together. He that dwelleth in the sacred place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, and Him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shall thy trust. His truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night, nor for the arrow that flyeth by day, nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor for the destruction that wasteth at noontay. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked, because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most high thy habitation. There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. I shall tread upon the lion and the adder. The young lion and the dragon shall thou trample under feet. Because he has set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him. I will set him on high because he has known my name. He shall call upon me and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble and will deliver him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation. Amen. And God will always bless the public reading of his word. Let's unite briefly again in a word of prayer. Pray for Me as I preach that God will come and God will minister to your heart by the spirit and through his word Today, let's seek the Lord together loving father We enter again into thy presence through the name of thy dear and only begotten son Jesus Christ pray that I will bless as we as we meet around the word today and Bless every child of God with all fears and worries and anxieties. We pray that this Word will be a Word fitly spoken. Come near to us, we pray. Help us to concentrate even as the Word is preached. And may, dear Father, our souls be blessed not only here in Portland, Owen, but across the world as we broadcast live here on Facebook Live. May thy blessing attend thy people wherever they be found. We think of those who are maybe unconverted, those who are not yet saved, those who have fears of death and meeting God unprepared. Oh that today they would prepare to meet their God. Lord, that they would repent of their sin and believe exclusively in the crosswork of Jesus Christ to deal with the great matter of sin in their own personal lives. Oh, may the fear of God, the fear of eternity, turn many on to Christ in these days. For we offer prayer in and through the Savior's precious and worthy name. Amen and amen. Panic, it's everywhere. If you haven't noticed it recently, just go into any supermarket and you will see panic very evident on the clientele as they rush up and down the aisle buying products that they've never bought before in their lives. Toilet roll, baked beans, pasta, milk bread are all flying off the shelves as people panic by. Make your way to the chemist and watch customers with desperation written across their faces when they ask those behind the counter have they any antibacterial hand wash or sanitizer in stock to buy. Watch the news. See politicians jockeying for position and floundering as what to do in light of the spread of this strain of coronavirus. Look at the volatility on the world's stock markets as trillions of pounds and dollars are being wiped off the value of stocks and shares. The New York Times last week carried the headline, markets plunge, economy stall, panic spreads. Now no way do I want to diminish all that is happening in the world today. COVID-19 is most certainly more serious than just the flu. It's a virus with no cure at present. It has the potential of taking tens of thousands of people into God's great eternity. In light of that reality, panic and fear are but only the natural emotions that enter any heart. especially when confronted with something that we have no control or power over. Today it is my prayer that God will minister to your heart through his precious word. It is my prayer that in these days of panic, that the truths that I'll bring to your attention will settle you, settle your worries, calm your fears. And therefore I want to preach to you today a message that I've simply entitled, God's Panacea for Days of Panic. God's panacea for days of panic. Now, a panacea is simply a cure, a remedy, a solution. And what is, therefore, God's panacea for days of panic? Well, quite simply, it is faith and trust in Jehovah. Faith and trust in the true and living God. Not the false gods of this world, the gods of Allah, the gods of secularism, not any of those gods, but the true and the living God, Jehovah Himself, faith and trust in God. Now the psalm that we have read together, Psalm 91, brings to our attention the faith and the trust of His psalmist. It's very much to the fore as we read the verses within the psalm, the faith of this man of God. Days of panic, days of calamity had befallen him and his generation and so they now, or this man, expresses his own faith in God. I want you to notice how similar The circumstances in Psalm 91 in which the psalm is penned are like our circumstances today in this nation, in this world. Note verse number three. It speaks to us of an annoying pestilence. The word noisome is not a word that we would really use today. It means something that is noxious to health, hurtful, something that's harmful, mischievous, unwholesome, something that is destructive. Elsewhere in the scriptures this word is translated calamity. And therefore we have the thought of a calamitous, an infectious, a contagious pestilence invading the land and spreading death on its onward march. Look at that little word pestilence. Very interesting word in the original. It comes from the word dabar. That simply means to speak or to speak out. You think of that. times of pestilence or times when a voice is being sent out God is speaking God is speaking out in days of pestilence it is as I've said he's speaking time these days are days that proclaim the power and the sovereignty and the wrath of God amongst the people that pestilence that appears again in verse number six, nor of the pestilence that walketh in the darkness. Verse five, it speaks of the terror by night, the arrow that flyeth by day. These words refer to the terrible things that happen in the night, things like fire and storm and tempest, invasion of armies, murders, theft, sickness. If you think of verse 6, it speaks of the destruction that wasteth in the noontide. This word really simply speaks of anything that sweeps people out of this world, whether storm or war or pestilence or famine or plague. Verse 10 speaks to me of an evil or a plague, and yet I want you to notice that despite the pestilence Despite the terror, despite the destruction, despite the evil, despite the plague surrounding the psalmist, the psalmist here expresses explicit trust and faith in his God. Note verse number 2. It is a declaration of faith. He said, I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress. My God, in him will I trust. Note the word shall that is repeated in the verse three and four again, expressing the faith of the psalmist in God. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler and from the nonce and pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers and under his wings shall thy trust. His truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Don't have time to point all the verses where the psalmist's faith is clearly evident, but look at the one last example, verse number seven. He says, a thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not come nigh thee. The psalmist had enough faith in God to say that even if people, thousands of people, were dying and dropping around him, he believed that God would still preserve him. Since faith, trust in God, is a panacea for days of panic, what truths then about him will see to the strengthening of our faith during those times in our lives when our fears are at their height? Well, that's what I want to draw your attention to for a few moments. In days of panic, Christians can have faith that God is in complete control. God is in complete control. Man is not in control. That is very evident as we look at our television screens and listen to the radios and read our newspapers on a daily basis. Man is not in control of this, but God is. God is in absolute control. In this thought we come to consider that tremendous truth that we find revealed in Scripture, the truth of the sovereignty of God. God being sovereign over His entire creation. We tend to think that God is only in control with regard to the great things that happen in this world, the great things that happen in our lives, and really He has no control over the small, the insignificant details of life, and yet that is not so. We're reminded by the Savior there in Matthew chapter 10 that even the fall of a sparrow from the sky is under God's control, known by God. are not two sparrows were told their soul for a farthing, and one of them shall not fall to the ground without your father, but the very hairs of your head are all numbered. God is in control of a sparrow's fall. And if he is in control of this fall of a sparrow, is he not in control of this virus, this plague, this pestilence, Of course he is. He is doing in this world, as Acts 4 verse 28 reminds us, whatsoever his hand and his counsel have determined before to be done. In days of panic, we need to be reminded that God's hand is on the rudder. of this world's history. Nothing in recent weeks has taken our God by surprise. God has ordered all things to be presently taking place in this world. I think of great texts of scripture that remind us of that. Psalm 115 verse 3, but our God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. Psalm 135 verse 6, whatsoever the Lord pleased that he did in heaven and in earth and the seas and all deep places. Daniel chapter 4 verse 35, he doeth, speaking of God, according to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth and none can say unto him or stay his hands or say unto him what doest thou. One reformed preacher said in governing the universe, God controls all occurrences, events and actions. It may seem to some people that this world is out of control, but such is not the case. Tragedies come, trials buffet us, the unexpected occurs, yet despite outward appearances, God fully controls all events and brings all occurrences to their appointed end. Theologian John Murray made this comment, He has not resigned the reins of government. Present history is not moving towards chaos. It is moving in the grand drama of God's plan to accomplishment of His holy designs to the vindication of His glory. Know there are those who fear. This virus may be the thing that removes them from this world, but let me remind you, let me remind you that how and when we die is a matter determined by God. Even the day of death, is under God's sovereign control. Solomon tells us that in Ecclesiastes 3 verse 1 and 2, to every time and everything there is a season, a time to every purpose under heaven, a time to be born and a time to die. Let me ask you, are you ready to die? We think of the thousands that have already been taken out into God's eternity. But are you ready to die? It may not be the virus. It may be some accident, a heart attack. It may just be something that comes suddenly upon your body and your freedom. But are you ready to die? Have you prepared to meet God? Just as God sent the flood onto the world in the days of Noah, and as he sent famine in the days of Joseph, and as he sent the plagues on Egypt, and as he sent disease on the Philistines, when the ark was among them, when he sent pestilence in the days of David, sent famine in the days of Elisha, sent the stormy wind and tempest in the days of Jonah, so God has permitted the spread of this plague across the world, in order that his purposes would be fulfilled. God is not panicking in heaven. He is in complete control. The reins of this world's history remain tightly in his hands, child of God. God is in complete control. The thing that amazes me is that God's people are amazed that such things are happening in this world. Brethren and sisters, I don't want to be pessimistic today, but I want to be honest with you. What we are experiencing will continue and I believe will intensify as the coming of Jesus Christ draws ever nearer. You may get used to days like this, times like this. If you look there in Matthew chapter 24 with me, we'll read a few verses here in order to verify what I've just said. The Lord Jesus Christ there in Matthew 24 is replying to a question that is being asked by his disciples, tell us what shall the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world? The Savior said and spoke these words in Matthew 24, verse four through to eight. And Jesus answered and said unto them, take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many. You shall hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that ye be not troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. for nation shall rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom and there shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in diverse places all these are the beginning of sorrows the word pestilence it translates to mean a raging epidemic disease is that not what we're experiencing It means a plague that sweeps off multitudes at once. Did you notice whenever Christ was speaking to his disciples that he did not say that there would be pestilence but that there would be pestilences, plural. And he says that these are but the beginning of sorrows. This isn't the end. Oh, child of God, we are entering into a period before the return of Jesus Christ. A time of great tribulation and trouble in the world. Famines, wars, earthquakes, pestilence. And so we need to remember in these days when all around us seems to be shaken, it seems to be that there is nothing fixed. We need to remember that God is in control. That's the first thing. Secondly, in days of panic, the Christian can have faith that God knows what he is doing. God knows what he is doing. I confess that there are times in our lives when we question the validity of what I've just said. We wonder, does God know what he's doing? When sickness takes hold of the body, when trouble rolls into the life, when our plans are frustrated, when sorrow crushes the heart, we come to ask ourselves the question, does God know what he's doing? There are periods in our lives that are full of strange, perplexing things. We don't know what they mean. Times when, as one preacher put it, our dim eyes cannot read the dark pages, our dull ears cannot hear the voice of love that speaks out to us from every circumstance. These are times that we wonder, does God know what he's doing? Maybe you've asked yourself that question. You know, Job wondered that when he looked at his personal circumstances. This Old Testament saint tried to find God In Job 23, but he couldn't. He said, I go forward, but he's not there, and backward, but I cannot perceive him on the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him. He hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him. In Job's mind, God couldn't be found. However, this was whenever Job's faith in God overrid what he could perceive. Job 23 verse 10, he goes on to say this about his God, but he knoweth the way that I take, and when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. Job didn't know the way. No, Job didn't know the way, but he was content that God knew the way, and that was enough for Job. As we think of what we are facing at this present time in our nation and world, we might ask the question, does God know what he's doing? I can assure you that God knows exactly what He is doing. Let me suggest to you a number of things that God may be doing. Because as a finite creature, I have no infallible insight when it comes to why all these things are befalling us today. Can I say in the first place, God may be judging our world. God may be judging our world. This world has by and large rejected God. When nations forsake God, when people cast aside His word, when governments legislate against God's law, they are setting themselves on a collision course with the Almighty. No doubt about that. We are grieved as believers over the recent legislation enforced on our providence with regard to same-sex marriage and over abortion. But I want to remind the believers here today, what about the Sunday trading laws? What about the gambling laws? What about the abolishment of the blasphemy laws? What about the laws surrounding alcohol consumption that have been a long time on the statute books of our land that are an affront to the teaching of God's precious word? I tell you today, God has a controversy with this nation. God has a controversy with the nation. When we think of the sins of our nation, they are many. but they're no different than the sins of a past generation. J.C. Ryle, he wrote a very interesting article during the great cattle plague of England between 1865 and 1867. And in that article, J.C. Ryle listed England's sins. You listen to them and see if they sound familiar. Covetousness. The excess love of money and the desire to be rich in this world, to make money and die rich seems to be thought the highest virtue and the greatest wisdom, yet God has said covetousness is idolatry. Secondly, luxury and love of pleasure. Never was there a time when people ran so greedily after excitement, amusement and gratification of their senses. The many are lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. Thirdly, neglect of the Lord's day. That blessed day, he said, is rapidly becoming in many quarters the day for visiting and pleasure and not the day of God. Yet Sabbath desecration was specifically one of the sins which brought down God's judgment on the Jews. Ezekiel 20, 13, Nehemiah 13, verse 18. Fourthly, he mentions the sin of drunkenness. The number of eel houses, gin palaces and beer shops in our Lord's towns is a standing proof that we are an intemperate people. There are more people every Sunday night in gin shops than there are in churches and chapels. Yet God said no drunkard shall inherit the kingdom of God. Fifthly, immorality. Thou shalt not commit adultery. In town and in country, among rich and among poor, the tone of feeling about purity among the young is at the lowest ebb. Lastly, the growing disposition to skepticism and infidelity. Little by little, men in high places are ceasing to honor God. Year after year, the Bible is more impugned. Its authority is impaired. Brethren and sisters, There is no difference. The sins of England in the 19th century are our sins. Nothing you under the sun. And nations at some point must face the consequences of their sin. And that's maybe what we're experiencing. The reaping of the harvest of sin that we have sown for years. God may well be not only judging the nations, but God may well be reminding our world, reminding our world that all men are mortal, that we are like grass, that flourish for a little time, but they're soon cut down, that life is but as a vapor, that appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away. He may be reminding the world that he alone is God and that all other gods are imposters. You think of all the gods that have fallen before this virus. The god of popular culture has fallen. Pop concert, music festivals, St. Patrick's Day parades, movie premieres, theatre productions, all have been cancelled. The God of business has fallen. Business conferences postponed, employees sent home from work, many have been laid off. Business across the world, abroad, are beginning to suffer. The God of finance and money. has fallen before Jehovah. For two Mondays in a row, the New York Stock Exchange had to be suspended as stocks and shares plummeted. Trillions have been wiped off the value of the markets. The God of sport has fallen before Jehovah. Football, rugby, GAA, city marathons. Golf, Formula One, tennis events, all have been suspended for the foreseeable future. The God of education has fallen before God. Play groups, schools, colleges, universities, educational facilities, now closed in the province. The God of holidays has now fallen. Airlines, holiday operators, hotels, all feeling the effect of the coronavirus. Holidays being canceled. Aeroplanes being grounded because of falling passenger numbers. Every God that you care to think of, that men and women have erected in their hearts, have fallen before this virus. A virus that cannot be seen even by the naked eye. God is reminding this world that He alone is Jehovah. God knows what He's doing. Quickly, finally, in days of panic, the Christian can have faith that God can preserve his people. The psalmist expresses his confidence in that very fact throughout the psalm. Look to verse 3. This confidence in God's ability to keep His people is not only confined to this psalm, you'll find it presented throughout the psalms, Psalm 32, seven, thou art my hiding place, thou shalt preserve me from trouble. Psalm 121, verse five and seven, the Lord is thy keeper, the Lord is thy shield upon thy right hand, the Lord shall preserve thee from all evil, he shall preserve thy soul. Psalm 145, verse 20, the Lord shall preserve all them that love him. Do you love the Savior? The God who preserved his covenant people in the land of Egypt during the 10 plagues. The God who preserved his child Rahab and her family when the walls of Jericho came tumbling down. The God who preserved Daniel and the lion's den. The God who preserved the three Hebrew boys in the fiery furnace is still our God. And he's able to keep and preserve his covenant people in 2020. We trust that you believe that. We are obliged to take all necessary steps to preserve and to maintain life as the commandments teach us. There comes a time when we simply have to entrust our lives and the well-being of our families into the hands of our faithful creator. Lord Craven lived in London in the plague the plague when it raged in 1665. On the growing epidemic he, to avoid the danger, resolved to go to his seat in the country. His coach was prepared, his baggage was put up, and all things were put in place for the journey. As he was walking through the hall, of his home with his hat on, his cane under his arm, putting his gloves in order to step into the carriage, he heard one of his servants saying to another, I suppose by my Lord's quitting London to avoid the plague, that his God lives in the country and not in the town. Those words struck Lord Craven, a Christian, and made him pause. He thought within himself, my God lives everywhere. And he can preserve me in town as well as in country. I will even stay where I am. The ignorance of that servant has just now preached to me, he said, a very useful sermon. He said then these words, Lord, pardon this unbelief and that distrust of thy providence, which made me think of running from my hand. Craven immediately ordered his horses to be taken from the coach and back to their stables, the baggage to be taken into the home. He continued in London during the plague and was remarkably useful during his sick neighbors and never caught the infection. Lord Craven came to trust that his God was able to preserve his life and if he didn't, And if God saw fit to take him in death, Craven knew that he would enter his eternal reward because he was saved, he was converted, he was born again. God can preserve his people in the worst of times. May our calm spirits testify to that fact. to the unsaved who are living around us. The world is panicking, and it's very easy for us to do the same. But let these three truths, God is in absolute control, God knows what he's doing, and God can preserve me his child, let those three truths be a stay and a help and a comfort that will turn our panic into peace. May God be pleased to take these words and apply them to your heart today. God's panacea for days of panic faith, trust in God. Let's unite briefly in prayer, please. Our Heavenly Father, we bow before Thee in our Savior's precious name, thanking Thee for Thy Word. O God, a Word in season, a Word that's relevant. We thank Thee that Thou art in complete control. We thank Thee, dear Father, that Thou dost know what Thou art doing. We have sinned as a people. Oh God, we as thy people have allowed the world to creep into our hearts. We've allowed other things to take the throne off our hearts. We pray that thou wilt dethrone them, and Lord, may Christ be enthroned in these days. We thank thee, dear God, that thou art able to keep thy people. You've done it in the past. We believe that thou wilt do it again today in this our day. And if so be that you see that we should be taken from this world, we thank thee that for those who know thee, those who are seeing, those who have repented and believed the gospel, that for such it will be absent from the body and present with the Lord. Bless everyone who has watched in. Bless, dear Father, those who are with us in the car park today. May thy hand be upon them for good. We offer prayer in and through the Savior's precious name. Amen and amen.