In this devotional sermon, M.t. Clark opens with a personal photo of a blue sky, using it as a visual reminder to appreciate God’s blessings and to avoid taking salvation for granted. He frames the message within his “Self‑Deception” series, focusing on Step 2: Deception vs. Truth, and presents the ninth way people deceive themselves: believing they can keep bad company without being corrupted. Citing 1 Corinthians 15:33‑34, he warns that unhealthy relationships erode character, sharing a personal anecdote about a Christian named Jake whose involvement with toxic friends led to addiction and death. Clark then shifts to biblical teaching on marriage, divorce, and adultery, referencing Romans 7:2‑3, Mark 10 (via John MacArthur’s commentary), and 1 Corinthians 7:15 to explain when remarriage is permissible and when it constitutes adultery. Throughout, he emphasizes gratitude, vigilance, and the need for continual prayer, Bible study, and discipleship. He promotes resources on mt4christ.org, including A.W. Pink’s work on the Holy Spirit, podcasts, YouTube channels, and a weekly topical Bible study with the Sincottis. The sermon concludes with a prayer for focus on truth and the Lord’s guidance.
Chapters
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 majestic blue heavens with angelic-like cloud formations over Waite Road comes to us from yours truly, as I captured this scene while taking a weary afternoon walk last Saturday after a forced 6-day work week. Well, it's Thursday, and as is my habit, I share this photo of an assful Salt Pathway as a visual encouragement to get on or to keep walking on the pathway of Christian discipleship. I also share it because of that magnificent blue sky, which has been a rarity this white sky summer as we have been inundated with nearly record-setting rainfall and periodic poor air quality due to the perpetual wildfires of O Canada. You wouldn't think you could take something as simple as blue skies in summertime for granted, but apparently we have, as summer 2023 makes me appreciate, appreciate it each time I look up and see blue. And that's one thing about our human existence that is lamented about in that power ballad from 1988, the hard rock hair band Cinderella's Don't know what you got till it's gone. That the love we have, that the positive experiences we have, may not last forever, and that what we take for granted today may be gone tomorrow. One of the things that Christians can take for granted and shockingly stop appreciating is the fact that they know the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that they have been translated from the kingdom of darkness into God's kingdom. If we are not careful, we can take our salvation and freedom for granted to the point that it will feel like it is gone. Instead of celebrating and rejoicing in what the Lord has done in our lives continually, we can become jaded and depressed over the negative circumstances in our lives, become wary, and seek comfort and meaning from the world again. If we fail to practice gratitude and appreciation and choose to and choose to stop seeking the Lord's presence, strength, and guidance in regular Bible study, prayer, and through walking in the Spirit, we can start believing lies that will lead us into sin or take us to the depths of depression. So as disciples of Jesus Christ, we have to remind ourselves of what our teacher has taught us, what he has done in our lives, and rejoice over our salvation and that we have been chosen to to know the truth and share it. We have to walk the fine line of contentment and seeking to be further sanctified on this path, and we must be diligent in the battle for our minds when the world, the flesh, or devil seek to deceive us. 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 9th way you can be deceived by the world. Number 9: Believing that I can associate with bad company and not become corrupted. The scripture reference for this point is 1 Corinthians 15:33-34. And the word of God says, don't be fooled by those who say such things, for bad company corrupts good character. Think carefully about what is right and stop sinning, for to your shame I say that some of you don't know God at all. Okay, this one hits close to home because I have many friends that I have left behind on the path of Christian discipleship who are going the way of the world, and unless the Lord is gracious, are headed for destruction. But the thing is that they are kind, amusing, and seemingly good people, although that good label may slip off if one were to consider some of their life choices or how they have treated others during the various times and seasons of their life. When we choose to surrender to Jesus and follow him, we make the choice to separate ourselves from our worldly ways. And many of our old friends, some in low places, will not appreciate our newfound faith and no longer be our friends. While some will flat out reject us as a Bible-thumper or born-again weirdo, others will tolerate our faith as long as it doesn't interfere with their lives, but will also secretly hope for us to come back to our old selves again. Some will seek to challenge our faith Others will seek to lead us into temptation periodically to see if our faith is for real. While I love my old worldly friends, and I've seen quite a few of them come to faith in Jesus, praise the Lord, if they are not walking and talking with God, we don't really hang out anymore. I have accepted our limited friendships, which are usually limited to, uh, disengaged status on social media, or have accepted that we are no longer friends anymore. Some people can't even tolerate being connected to me on Facebook because of my vocal faith. While I wish them well, I don't regret the disillusionment of these friendships and acquaintanceships because I know the truth and don't want anything or anyone to lead me into temptation or to disrupt my relationship with the Lord. God comes first and everyone else comes next. However, this lie that is okay— that it is okay to hang out with bad company with no fear of corruption really hits close to home because I have friends who have suffered greatly because they couldn't cut ties to toxic people, and in one case, bad company contributed to their death. A man I will call Jake was a Christian man with demons, with the demons of addiction. And although he was known for his knowledge of scripture, sense of humor, and kind heart, he had a continual need to be accepted by his friends in the street. And because of Jake's associations, Jake would continually return to it, to an addictive life of crime, an addictive life of crime. And it was in one of these episodes with the bad company that he overdosed and died. Leaving behind a devastated wife and several children and grandchildren. So don't believe the lie that bad company won't corrupt you. They may cause you to compromise your faith or lead you to be less than you are meant to be in Christ, but they could also be used by the enemy to steal, kill, and destroy. Today's Bible verse comes— verses comes to us from The Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Cruis. This morning's meditation verse— verses— comes from the section on adultery, and today's verses are Romans 7:2-3. The Word of God says in the ESV: For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage. Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man, she is not an adulteress. Today's verse falls under the 18th point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on adultery. Number 18: Anyone who divorces his or her spouse for any reason other than adultery and marries another commits adultery. Today is actually the second verse under point 18, as I discovered, as I discovered when I turned the page in our recent source this morning, and it reiterates the fact that marriage is supposed to be until death and acknowledges the insol— insolvability of the marriage covenant and the subsequent sin that results when marriage vows are broken for less than biblical reasons. But if the spouse dies, the covenant is broken by God and allows you to marry again without the sin of adultery. I was reading Mark 10 this morning in John MacArthur's commentary on Mark 10:1-12, which addresses divorce. Um, um, MacArthur's commentary regarding remarriage states, remarriage after a divorce, except for legitimate biblical grounds, proliferates adultery. The innocent party, one whose spouse has committed prolonged, hard-hearted, unrepentant adultery, may remarry without being guilty of adultery, as may a believer whose unbelieving spouse has chosen to leave the marriage. And that's, uh, the references for that is 1 Corinthians 7:15. So unless there is sexual immorality or the unbelieving spouse chooses to leave, your new relationships would be adulterous. But God forgives us when we repent and blesses new marriages when we follow him. So know the hard truth and try to obey and follow the Lord from this point forward in all your relationships. As always, we invite all to go to mt4christ.org where we always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist our brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. Today we continue sharing from A.W. Pink's The Holy Spirit, chapter 14, on the Spirit comforting, and today's section is called No Place for a Decision to Be Saved. And so if you If you want to read that to see what A.W. Pink has to say about a decision for salvation, go to mt4christ.org and you'll find that resource at the end of today's blog post. As always, we encourage you to follow the Lord in spirit and in truth and become a disciple of Jesus Christ, being a student that applies the teacher's teaching. Teachings to your life. Yeah, and if you don't know what that's like or what freedom in Christ is like, we offer our discipleship classes on our podcast and our YouTube channel for Victory Over the Darkness, The Bondage Breaker, and Freedom in Christ. They're all based on the Word of God and the teachings of Dr. Neil Anderson. And to, to know the truth, we recommend Bible study, as we offer a Bible study of sorts a topical Bible study with Arthur and Susanna Sincotti each week. So if you want to join our Bible study, just seek out Bible Study with the Sincottis on our podcast or YouTube channel, and you'll find all our previous messages where we try to understand the truth and follow the Lord by the standard set forth in the Word of God. So, well, it is Thursday and time is dwindling. Um, in the work week. So we're looking forward to, uh, that and, uh, to another day in the kingdom. So, so let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. We thank you for all that you do for us, Lord. We thank you for showing us the truth, for getting us out of the darkness of our former existence and leading us in the pathways of peace. Lord, we pray for anyone listening or reading today's message, that you would come along them and their prayer request and their walk. Um, Lord, as we all need your help, um, to, to not lose focus of this truth that you've given us and this new life that you've given us. Um, so we, we ask for you to go before us today, Lord, uh, open our eyes to the things you want us to see and lead our steps in the things you want us to do, as all we want to do is represent you and your kingdom on the earth and to show others your love and your grace that's available when we accept Jesus and follow him in spirit and in truth. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.
