The tolling bell!

In 17th-century England, church bells tolled out the news of what was happening in a parish. They announced, not only the times of the various worship services, but also important events such as weddings, and funerals. Indeed, I believe that, in many places, the custom continues to this day.

When John Donne, the Dean of St. Paul's Cathedral and also an author, lay desperately ill with the plague that was killing Londoners by the thousand, he could hear the bells ringing constantly, announcing death after death. he kept a "devotional diary" that was to become a classic of the English language and, writing down his thoughts, he urged his readers: "Never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."!

How true those words and, if nothing else good comes out of the current Covid-19 pandemic, it appears to have reminded people of their own mortality! Certainly, the author of the great Letter to the Hebrew disciples of Jesus made the point that: "... it is appointed for men to die once, and after that comes judgment," (9:27).

That is not news that many wish to hear! However, if we are truly disciples of the Lord Jesus; if our salvation rests solely, and wholly, on His atoning sacrifice at Calvary; if we acknowledge that ".. there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12), then the thought of death does not need to arouse dread. We know, as Paul joyfully assures us, that by His resurrection from the dead, the Lord Jesus has broken, for ever, the power of death. He has "... abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." (II Tim. 1:10). Death has been "... swallowed up in victory ..." (I Cor. 15:54) and we may ask, triumphantly: "O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?" (v.55).

Another occasion on which, traditionally, church bells have been rung, is to announce a great victory, or the end of hostilities. So, when the bell tolls for the true disciple of Jesus, it announces the good news of Jesus' victory over death, and hell, and the grave.

He is our Certainty, in uncertain times.

Joy - even in difficult times!

It was probably about thirty years ago. For my private devotions, I was reading in the book of the First (aka 'Old') Testament prophet, Habakkuk. Unusually, I was actually on my knees at the side of my bed. I was reading the third chapter. In the particular copy of the Bible that I was using, the first 16 verses of that chapter brought me to the end of a right-hand page, before continuing on the next page. It was not pleasant reading! Here is a flavour (but you might wish to read the whole section for yourself!) :

"O YHWH, I have heard the report of Thee, and Thy work, O YHWH, do I fear. ... God came from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran. ... His brightness was like the light, rays flashed from His hand; and there He veiled His power. Before Him went pestilence, and plague followed close behind. He stood and measured the earth; He looked and shook the nations; then the eternal mountains were scattered, the everlasting hills sank low. His ways were as of old. ... Thou didst bestride the earth in fury, Thou didst trample the nations in anger. ... Thou didst crush the head of the wicked, laying him bare from thigh to neck. Thou didst pierce with Thy shafts the head of his warriors, who came like a whirlwind to scatter me, rejoicing as if to devour the poor in secret. Thou didst trample the sea with Thy horses, the surging of mighty waters. I hear, and my body trembles, my lips quiver at the sound; rottenness enters into my bones, my steps totter beneath me. I will quietly wait for the day of trouble to come upon people who invade us." End of page!! You may understand that I was wondering what on earth Father God was saying to me!

Then I turned the page! What a difference! Here is what I read:

"Though the fig tree do not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in YHWH, I will joy in the God of my salvation. YHWH Adonai, is my strength; He makes my feet like hinds' feet, He makes me tread upon my high places." (Hab 3:17-19; emphasis added).

As we continue to deal with the Covid-19 virus - and its ramifications, from confinement to conspiracy theories - many are increasingly concerned at what the immediate future may hold. They are, one might say, living in the first sixteen verses of Habakkuk 3 (although, even there, there are little glimpses of hope that I omitted above!). All is doom and gloom! 

May I encourage you to "turn the page" and get into vs.17-19? Regardless of what is happening around me; regardless of what the future may, or may not, hold; regardless of any conspiracy that may, or may not, exist; "... yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation."

That is where there is real hope. That is how we may face tomorrow with strength that is not our own. That is why, for the true disciple of Jesus, the future is secure. Rejoice in the Lord!

He is our Certainty in uncertain times.