After the Storm - Self Deception Series 7 – Purity 1096

To see today's photo, go to mt4christ.org or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter. Good morning. Today's photo of the simple beauty of blue skies and white clouds over green trees comes to us from yours truly as I decided to reach back into the archives of my iPhone's photos to discover this scene that I captured somewhere along Hughes Road in Amsterdam, in the Amsterdam/Charleston area of upstate New York on July 24th, 2020. Obviously, there are no distinguishing landmarks in this photo, but my iPhone not only captured the date and time, 12:09 PM, that I took this shot, but it also captured the location to be on Hughes Road, County Route 129, north of the Wilcox Cemetery and Corona Road, and west of the Schoharie Creek. It was a Friday afternoon and I was undoubtedly at work but took the time to admire the serenity of the blue sky and capture it, and now I share it with you. Turning my imagination, if not my memory, back to that time, it was not only the year of the COVID-19 pandemic and a slow return to a new normal for life as we know it on a national scale. It was, it was also just over a month after my successful exodus to my new home down by the river in Stuyvesant, New York, after 2 years of hard work and the turmoil of going through a messy divorce. Even though things hadn't returned to normal for our country and never will, and all the details of the conditions of my divorce were not fulfilled and still aren't, and I was still working two jobs, I know that when I took this photo, I wasn't dwelling on the negative circumstances but was feeling the joy of a pleasant summer afternoon and being alive and free in Christ. The turmoil of COVID-19 and my divorce was over, in my book anyway. The storm had passed. There was a clear sky to enjoy in the present, and because I was determined to surrender to the Lord's will for the rest of my life, there was and is a good future ahead. Of course, after a divorce and COVID-19, there are voices out there that would tell you that you could never be happy again. Life was forever changed after all, so how could you ever expect to be happy again? But I wasn't going— but I wasn't looking to find circumstances— circumstantial happiness by going back in time to the way things were. I was following God's truth and will to fulfill my purpose in Christ, so I wasn't buying the lie that I would never be happy again. And that brings us to our current series on self-deception, where we have decided to investigate some of the ways we deceive ourselves by walking through Step 2, Deception vs. Truth, of the Steps to Freedom in Christ to see what ways we may have been deceived by the world and ourselves and in what ways we have wrongly defended ourselves. So we present the 6th, 7th, you know, way we can be deceived by the world. I think we're on 7. Um, uh, yeah, um, and that number 7, if it is 7, uh, is believing that I need more than Jesus to meet my needs of acceptance, security, and significance. The scripture references for this 2 Corinthians 11:2-4, which says: For I am jealous for you with the jealousy of God himself. I promised you as a pure bride to one husband, Christ. But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent. You happily put up with whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach a different Jesus than the one we preach. Or a different kind of spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed. And the other reference is 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 that says, these people are false apostles. They are deceitful workers who decide— disguise themselves as apostles of Christ. But I am not surprised. Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no wonder that his servants also disguise them themselves as servants of righteousness. In the end, they will get the punishment their wicked deeds deserve. Wow. I have to tell you that even though I have taught the Freedom in Christ, uh, course more than once and lead— and have led several people through the Steps to Freedom in Christ, I never looked up the scripture references for these lies, and after somewhat— and am somewhat surprised by what is being said through pairing this statement with those verses. First of all, let's look at the lie that we are deceived because we believe we need something more than Jesus to feel accepted, secure, and significant. I hate to say it, but this lie is like the free space in bingo. Very few people Christians included can honestly admit that they feel completely accepted, secure, and significant because of their relationship with Christ alone. We have been raised in the world that has taught us to seek that which is best and to go after the things we want to pursue happiness as some grand quest to personal fulfillment. Because of the idea that happiness is somewhere out there our relationship with Christ, or our quote-unquote religious or spiritual lives are some— are often considered to be just one small separate piece of the happiness pie. But the scripture references to this lie indicate that if we somehow deviate from our pure devotion to Christ, that we need something more than Jesus to feel accepted, significant, and secure, We are deceived, believing a different gospel. And if we spread the lie that we need more than Jesus, we, we could be considered to be in league with Satan, false teachers, and subject to God's wrath. That's how sufficient Christ is. If we believe we need something more than Jesus for our acceptance, security, or significance, we have failed to understand that we are saved accepted, secure, and significant by grace alone, by faith alone, and Christ alone. If we think we need more than Jesus in this life, we are in essence rejecting the gospel and seeking to build or earn our acceptance, security, and significance through our performance or in the things of this world. If we feel we need something more, we have failed to know Jesus. What has been done for us and who we are in Christ. Now don't get me wrong, I completely sympathize with those who don't get this. Because of the world system that we grew up in, we have been trained to believe that religion is a small part of life, but our relationship with God is actually supposed to be the most important thing about us because the Lord is the author and maker of all things, of all truth, and sets the the conditions for eternity. Knowing Him and having peace with Him is the only means to true acceptance, security, and significance. But the good news is that we can renew our minds and develop a deeper relationship with the Lord and His Word that will show us that we have all we need in Christ. That because of our relationship with Jesus alone, we are accepted, significant, and secure There is nothing else out there that we can add to it that would increase those attributes or feelings in our lives. So seek the Lord in His presence and truth and start believing the truth that Jesus is all you need for acceptance, security, and significance. Today's Bible verse comes to us, uh, comes to us from this Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Cruis. This morning's meditation verse comes to us from the section on adultery, and the verse today is Exodus 20:14 from the NIV, which says, "You shall not commit adultery." Today's verse falls under the 16th point, 16th point of our counseling reference Guide's resource section on adultery, number 16, Keep the Seventh Commandment. Our resource points out how the matter of adultery is very clear according to God's word. There are no 50 shades of gray here. There are no conditions or extenuating circumstances to ponder. God's word, written in stone, on tablets of stone by the finger of God itself, tells us that we shall not commit adultery. As people who wish to do God's will, we are to flee sexual immorality in general and adultery specifically. So don't dream about some explicit affair with your neighbor's spouse. Instead, keep your life simple and free of the sin of adultery by obeying God's seventh commandment that says, "You shall not commit adultery." Enough said. As always, we invite you to go to mt4christ.org, where we always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. Today we continue from sharing from A.W. Pink's The Holy Spirit as we begin chapter 14 of that book, uh, on the Spirit comforting. And today's opening section is titled Several Sequential Steps. So if you— apparently there are steps to feeling the Spirit's comforting, and if you want to check out what they are or what A.W. Pink has to say about that, go to mt4christ.org to find that resource. As always, we encourage a life of Christian discipleship because we've been, we've been through the wringer of trying to find happiness, uh, you know, through the things of this world, through accomplishments, through relationships, through substances, through experiences. Um, and we've, you know, we've seen a lot, we've done a lot, but we didn't know peace until we knew Jesus. And, you know, that peace has increased as we understood, uh, the word of God that tells us who we are in Christ, that we are accepted, we are significant, and we are secure. You know, to summarize those points, if God accepts us, we're accepted, and we're accepted by our faith in Jesus Christ. So, you know, I don't care if the rest of the world would reject you. You're accepted by the biggest authority in all of creation. By God. That's, that's what acceptance is. So, you know, and Christ said we'd be persecuted for our beliefs. So if we're rejected by others, we, we find our peace and our acceptance in Christ. As for our security, there is no security without Jesus. No matter how secure you may be in this world, you can build a bunker You can amass a fortune to protect you and insulate you from all the pains of this world, but death will come calling and you will not be secure no matter what the conditions are of your life without Jesus. God sets the conditions for eternity, and it's through faith alone in Christ alone that we are saved and welcomed into God's kingdom. Kingdom. That's where security is found, in the blood of Jesus, in the covenant of faith in him. So that's her security, eternal life. That's pretty secure. No matter what happens in this world, we're secure in Christ. And then, significant, of all the people who ever were and throughout the history of mankind, God, the creator of all things, He chose you to know His truth. He chose you to be saved, to be secure, and to be in His kingdom forever. That makes you significant. That because you know the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ, that makes you significant. Your purpose in Christ, one of them, is to share that, that, to share that information, because the Lord will work through you to bring other people into His accept insecurity and insignificance as well. It's a mighty responsibility that we have for knowing the truth. We're not supposed to rest on our laurels and just relax now that we've been welcomed in the kingdom of God. We should follow Christ's provision, you know, instruction for us to make disciples of all, you know, to go in the world and make disciples. And tell people about the truth. Um, some— many will reject it, but some will accept it and be welcomed into God's kingdom. And that is one of your purposes in Christ, is to shine a light, to show people the truth about Jesus, um, not only by the things you say and the things you profess to believe, but the way you live your life. If people don't like hypocrites in the church, I would say don't You know, choose not to be one. Repent. You know, don't walk in sin. Walk in the light as he is in the light. And so that's a short little bonus on the acceptance, significance, and security that we have in Christ. And when we come to understand these things through our meditation on the Word of God or tools like the Who I Am in Christ list, or going through the Steps to Freedom in Christ to resolve our personal and spiritual conflicts, we understand it. And it, it really does provide us with security as we may face negative circumstances in this world, the rejection of men, but with that truth we're kept safe from it. There's no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus because of who we are in Christ, and that's given to us by God, and we should accept that gift and share it. So that's that. It is Monday. We've had storms. That's why we named today's, you know, message After the Storm, because we had a storm yesterday that dumped a whole bunch of water in my basement. I'm happy to say my sump pump worked and the, the, the water is gone-ish. The last of it will dry up that's on the edges. That things change, and, you know, the Lord has brought us through the storms of this life to be safe in his kingdom, and so we should enjoy that and share it. It doesn't save me from work, however, so I will have to go to work. And so we— because I'm an imperfect person, I I have to run an errand after work. There's something I forgot, and so I want to get to that part of the day. And so let's pray. Um, Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Thank you for bringing us through the storms of this life to, to find your peace and, um, to seek your will for our lives. Lord, we thank you so much for what you've done throughout our lives and how you've changed us from the inside out. You changed our mind and our heart to know your truth and to pursue your purposes only. Lord, we pray for anyone who's listening or reading today's message, that you would bless them and come alongside them and their prayer requests, to give them the revelation of how they are accepted, significant, and secure in Christ, and to guide them in the way they should go. And Lord, we pray that for ourselves too. We need you to open our eyes to see the things we need to see today, and we need you to guide us, um, in the way we should go, because all we want to do is represent you and your kingdom here on the earth, and we need your help with that at all times. So we thank you, Lord. We praise you, Lord. We love you, Lord. We pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.