THE BEACON BEAM March 2021 TRUTH FOR LIFE’S JOURNEY Keeping the Faith in a Faithless Age by Albert Mohler “The greatest question of our ture, he argued, is cut off from its current state of American society. time,” historian Will Durant offered, Christian roots like a flower cut at the This age is not the first to see un- “is not communism versus individu- stem. Though the flower will hold its speakable horror and evil, but it is the alism, not Europe versus America, beauty for a time, it is destined to first to deny any consistent basis for not even East versus the West; it is wither and die. identifying evil as evil or good whether men can live without God.” When Trueblood spoke those as good. That question, it now appears, will be words more than two decades ago, The faithful church is, for the answered in our own day. the flower still had some color and most part, tolerated as one voice in For centuries, the Christian signs of life. But the blossom has the public arena, but only so long as church has been the center of West- long since lost its vitality, and it it does not attempt to exercise any ern civilization. Western culture, is time for the fallen petals to credible influence on the state of af- government, law, and society were be acknowledged. fairs. Should the church speak force- based on explicitly Christian princi- “If God does not exist,” fully to an issue of public debate, it is ples. Concern for the individual, a Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Ivan Karama- castigated as coercive and out of date. commitment to human rights, and zov argued, “everything is permit- respect for the good, the beautiful, ted.” The permissiveness of modern A NEW ROLE and the true—all of these grew out of American society can scarcely be How does the church think of itself as Christian convictions and the influ- exaggerated, but it can be traced di- it faces this new reality? During the ence of revealed religion. rectly to the fact that modern men 1980s, it was possible to think in am- All of these, we now hasten and women act as if God does not bitious terms about the church as the to add, are under serious attack. The exist or is powerless to accomplish vanguard of a moral majority. That very notion of right and wrong is now His will. confidence has been seriously shaken discarded by large sectors of Ameri- The Christian church now by the events of the past decade. can society. Where it is not discard- finds itself facing a new reality. The Little progress toward the re- ed, it is often debased. Taking a page church no longer represents the cen- establishment of a moral center of out of Alice’s Adventures in Wonder- tral core of Western culture. Though gravity can be detected. Instead, the land, modern secularists simply de- outposts of Christian influence re- culture has moved swiftly toward a clare wrong, right, and right, wrong. main, these are exceptions rather than more complete abandonment of all the rule. For the most part, the church moral conviction. A NEW LANDSCAPE has been displaced by the reign The confessing church must Quaker theologian D. Elton of secularism. now be willing to be a moral minori- Trueblood once described America as The daily newspaper brings a a “cut flower civilization.” Our cul- constant barrage that confirms the (Continued on page 2) Sunday Beacon Baptist Church Morning Worship….9:30 AM 1622 Kirkpatrick Road Sunday School…....11:10 AM Evening Worship…..6:00 PM Burlington, NC 27215 Gregory N. Barkman, Senior Pastor (336) 226-5205 Wednesday beaconbaptist.com Michael R. Karns, Minister of Christian Education Prayer Meeting…...…7:00 PM [email protected] Robert F. LaTour, Minister of Families IMPACT Clubs........7:00 PM Gregory L. Phillips, Minister of Music Teen Ministry……....7:00 PM 1 (Continued from page 1) der the authority of the sovereign reveal the church to be a life-giving ty, if that is what the times demand. God of the universe will inevitably be oasis amid America’s moral desert. The church has no right to follow the at odds with a culture of unbelief. secular siren call toward moral revi- Dr. R. Albert Mohler Jr. is president and sionism and politically correct posi- AN OLD CALL Joseph Emerson Brown Professor of Christian tions on the issues of the day. The American church faces a new Theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Whatever the issue, the situation. This new context is as cur- Seminary in Louisville, Ky. He is host of The church must speak as the church— rent as the morning newspaper and as Briefing and author of many books. that is, as the community of fallen but old as those first Christian churches redeemed, who stand under divine in Corinth, Ephesus, Laodicea, and authority. The concern of the church Rome. Eternity will record whether is not to know its own mind, but to the American church is willing to know and follow the mind of God. submit only to the authority of God The church’s convictions must not or whether the church will forfeit its emerge from the ashes of our own calling in order to serve lesser gods. fallen wisdom but from the authorita- The church must awaken to tive Word of God, which reveals the its status as a moral minority and wisdom of God and His commands. hold fast to the gospel we have been The church is to be a com- entrusted to preach. In so doing, the munity of character. The character deep springs of permanent truth will produced by a people who stand un- Help Me to Serve You by Alistair Begg There remains a Sabbath you have ever seen upon a land the eye undimmed, the voice unfal- rest for the people of God. where they serve God day and night, tering, the heart unwavering; and the Hebrews 4:9 and yet rest from their labors. Here immortal being is wholly absorbed in rest is but partial; there it is perfect. infinite delight. Happy day when How different will be the Here the Christian is always unset- mortality shall be swallowed up of state of the believer in heaven from tled; he feels that he has not yet at- life, and the Eternal Sabbath shall what it is here! Here he is born to toil tained. There all are at rest; they have begin! and suffer weariness, but in the land attained the summit of the mountain; of the immortal, fatigue is never they have ascended to the bosom of known. Anxious to serve his Master, their God. Higher they cannot go. Devotional material is taken from “Morning he finds his strength unequal to his Ah, toil-worn laborer, only and Evening,” written by C.H. Spurgeon, revised and updated by Alistair Begg. zeal; his constant cry is, "Help me to think of when you shall rest forever! Copyright (c) 2003, Good News Publishers serve You, O my God." If he be thor- Can you conceive it? It is a rest eter- and used by Truth For Life with written oughly active, he will have much la- nal; a rest that "remains." Here my permission. bor; not too much for his will, but best joys bear "mortal" on their brow. more than enough for his power, so My fair flowers fade; my dainty cups that he will cry out, "I am not wea- are drained to dregs; my sweetest ried of the labor, but I am wearied in birds fall before Death's arrows; my it." most pleasant days are shadowed into Ah, Christian, the hot day of nights; and the flood tides of my bliss weariness does not last forever. The subside into ebbs of sorrow. But there sun is nearing the horizon; it shall everything is immortal. The harp re- rise again with a brighter day than mains in tune, the crown unfading, 2 March 2021 THE BEACON BEAM COVID, COVID, COVID By Greg Barkman Anyone not ready for this experiencing some encouraging news. and we can relate from personal expe- Covid thing to end? I can’t imagine The rate of new infections and deaths rience what others learn from news anyone who isn’t. If wishing could is steadily declining. Even when in- outlets and conversations with ac- make it happen, Covid would be gone fections were at their peak, the dam- quaintances. Covid is no picnic. yesterday. But, alas, we didn’t make age didn’t turn out to be as bad as Thankfully, neither of us had it happen, and we can’t make it go many expected from the dire warn- a severe case. Marti experienced a away. We know that the one true and ings that were issued. Most cases few mild abnormalities that resem- living God is responsible for this pan- were relatively mild, and the vast ma- bled some Covid symptoms and wise- demic, and it will continue until His jority have already recovered. Even ly decided to get tested. When the purposes have been accomplished. those in the most vulnerable catego- results were positive, I was, frankly, What are His purposes? I certainly ries have not died in great numbers. surprised. She didn’t appear to be don’t know, and I seriously doubt that Most elderly people who were infect- very sick to me, but the test did not anyone else does either. God does ed have survived and are now well, lie.