Sermons on Simon On Cyrene:

Reflection B.5 / Does God Have A Purpose In Coronavirus? Isaiah 1, God’s Indictment On Israel

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on May 11, 2020

God's arraignment and indictment of Israel: rebellion, and the evidence for it.

At last, we’re looking at the prophets! We’re starting with the ‘prince of the prophets’, Isaiah, and we’re going to take a look at Isaiah 1. Yesterday I quoted 1:2: Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the Lord has spoken: “Children have I reared and brought up, but they have ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Reflection B.6 / Does God Have A Purpose In Coronavirus? Isaiah’s Oracles Or ‘burdens’, Fulfilled Or Could Be Fulfilled

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on May 11, 2020

Events that may be indicative of 'End Times' in Isaiah 13-22; reasons for God's judgement

In chapters 13-23 Isaiah pronounces a series of ‘oracles’ regarding eleven neighbouring nations. This part of Isaiah is often referred to as ‘the oracles against the nations.’ But Isaiah doesn’t introduce his oracles as ‘against’; he uses the phrase ‘an oracle concerning…’ Oracles don’t have to ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Reflection B.7 / Does God Have A Purpose In Coronavirus? / Isaiah’s Oracles Or ‘burdens’, An Environmental Dimension

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on May 11, 2020

What might lead us to conclude that God is in some way behind coronavirus? We need to see if present-day events fit the picture Scripture gives us of how God judges and 'End Times'. Isaiah's oracles clearly indicate that God judges by means of acts in the environment.

We’re looking at three questions. Is coronavirus a judgement from God? Are we living in end times? And, what does the Bible say about COVID-19? In order to answer them I’m looking at prophecies that were made maybe 2700 years ago. Why? In order to understand an event, we almost always draw on ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Reflection B.8 / Does God Have A Purpose In Coronavirus? / Isaiah 24, Isaiah Foresees Global Environmental Destruction

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on May 11, 2020

Isaiah foresaw global environmental destruction. That's what we have today.

People often talk about ratios. We have student-teacher ratio, price-earnings ratio, debt-GDP ratio, power-weight ratio and so on. I’d like to propose a ‘significance-study ratio’ to highlight significant passages of Scripture which we overlook. Today’s passage is one of them. World leaders and ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 24:1-6

Denomination: Baptist

Reflection B.9 / Does God Have A Purpose In Coronavirus? / The Siege Of Jerusalem By Rome

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on May 11, 2020

The story of the siege of Jerusalem by Rome reminds us that God judges. But it also tells us that in a time of judgement, God protects his people.

In an earlier 'Reflection' I mentioned that I would include a few Reflections on notable events in Christian history, mainly to give us a bit of variety. Today we’re going to have the first of those. The event is the siege of Jerusalem. In 66 A.D. a Roman prefect attempted to seize money ...read more

Scripture: Luke 21:20-22

Denomination: Baptist

Reflection B.10 / Does God Have A Purpose In Coronavirus? Jeremiah 16:10-11, Forsaking God, Going After Idols

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on May 11, 2020

Why did God judge the Israelites? Forsaking him, following idols

In 2008 we went to China to watch the Olympics. Our two children were 10 and 8 and it really was a once-in-a-lifetime family holiday. When we first visited the main stadium – the ‘Bird’s Nest’ – I remember thinking, ‘It’s like a temple!’ At the Olympics, the flame, the oath, the hymn, the ...read more

Scripture: Jeremiah 16:10-11

Denomination: Baptist

Reflection B.11 / Does God Have A Purpose In Coronavirus? / Jeremiah 51:63, Babylon As A Foreshadowing Of An ‘end-Time’ Event

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on May 11, 2020

Jeremiah prophesies what will happen to Babylon. But then John - and an angel! - apply that to a future Babylon!

In 605 B.C. the Babylonians defeated the Assyrians at the Battle of Carchemish. Babylon became the ruler of much of the civilised world. Most of the book of Jeremiah concerns destruction by Babylon. The Babylonian Empire conquered the Kingdom of Judah and destroyed Jerusalem in 587 B.C. But ...read more

Scripture: Jeremiah 51:63

Denomination: Baptist

Reflection B.12 / Does God Have A Purpose In Coronavirus? / Ezekiel 16, Israel, The Brazen Prostitute

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on May 11, 2020

Ezekiel explains why God will judge Judah.

Today, we’re moving on to Ezekiel in our whistle-stop tour of Old Testament prophecy. Just to keep our goal in mind, our purpose in this series of Reflections is to look at passages of scripture which tell us about how and why God judges, and about ‘End Times’, so we can see if coronavirus and/or ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Reflection B.13 / Does God Have A Purpose In Coronavirus? / Ezekiel 40-42, A Third Temple?

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on May 11, 2020

Should we expect a third temple as part of the 'End Time' picture?

You’re on a whistle-stop ‘ten-cities-in-fourteen-days’ European tour. You had three days in Paris and then two days in Rome. Now you have two days in London. On your first day you had a highly cultural visit to the British Museum. That was great! Today, your tour guide takes you to a former ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Reflection B.14 / Does God Have A Purpose In Coronavirus? / Daniel 7, Daniel’s Fourth Beast And The Horn Which Made War With The Saints

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on May 11, 2020

Daniel anticipates persecution of 'the saints' to an extent that he describes it as war. Some commentators today have used the word 'war' or 'genocide' to describe persecution of Christians today. Daniel's prophecy seems to be fulfilled.

Today we move on to Daniel. We’re familiar with many of the stories in the first half of Daniel, the fiery furnace, the lion’s den, and so on. But we’re less familiar with the material in the second half. Daniel has a lot to say about ‘End Times’. One thing that Daniel tells us is that there ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Reflection B.15 / Does God Have A Purpose In Coronavirus? / Daniel 7, Daniel’s Fourth Beast, Identifying The Horns

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on May 11, 2020

How can we identify the horns that come out of Daniel's fourth beast? Revelation can help us.

On the small Greek island of Patmos there is a place called ‘the Cave of the Apocalypse’. It is here, according to tradition, that John had the vision which we now have in the form of the last book of the Bible, Revelation. However, in the Book of Revelation, the word ‘vision’ is used just once. ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Reflection B.16 / Does God Have A Purpose In Coronavirus? Daniel 7, Daniel’s Fourth Beast, Trampling And Devouring

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on May 11, 2020

The description of Daniel's fourth beast fits with the identification in the previous 'Reflection'. It looks very much like the westernised nations at the present time.

We are trying to read signs. Are we in a time of God’s judgement? Are we in ‘End Times’? As we look at possible signs, I can imagine several errors we might make: We can take something as a sign that is not a sign. In Greek mythology, the beauty of Europa inspired the love of Zeus. He ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Reflection B.17 / Does God Have A Purpose In Coronavirus? / Isaiah 65:17-25. Heaven, Or The Millennium? Either Way, It’s Good.

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on May 11, 2020

The description of 'End Times', and prophecies of judgement may seem gloomy and depressing. No doubt these will be difficult times. But having gone through that, we will come into a very, very good situation.

In today’s Reflection I’m looking at why we can be encouraged, even as we think about ‘End Times’ and God’s judgement. We don’t know if we are in such a time, but suppose we are? Jesus described the various signs that will accompany ‘End Times’ as ‘the beginning of birth pains.’ Painful, but the ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 65:17-25

Denomination: Baptist

Reflection B.18 / Does God Have A Purpose In Coronavirus? / "Are These Questions Really Necessary?”

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on May 11, 2020

Someone may ask, 'Why do who even need to think about whether God might be behind coronavirus?' Here's part of the answer, at least.

I’ve often mentioned that I’m asking three difficult questions. In reality, there are two main questions: ‘Is coronavirus a judgement from God?’ and ‘Are we living in end times?’ But are these important questions to ask? Suppose you don’t feel well and go to the doctor. The doctor checks your ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 9:12

Denomination: Baptist

Reflection B.19 / Does God Have A Purpose In Coronavirus? / Summary So Far. Do We Imagine God Has Something To Say?

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on May 11, 2020

This is a summary of the Reflections on coronavirus so far (series A and B). I will follow with a series based on the New Testament excluding Revelation, and then another on Revelation, in the coming weeks.

Today we’re at a milestone in our Reflections. We’ll be leaving the Old Testament! Do I hear ‘hooray’? 🙂 After a short break we’ll move on to the New Testament. A milestone is a good place to take stock. It’s probably impossible to summarise 23 Reflections in a short space but I’m ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 9:12

Denomination: Baptist