In this devotional teaching, M.T. Clark addresses the misconception that "relapse is part of recovery" and contrasts it with the biblical freedom offered through Christ. He explains that Christian discipleship is not a regimented program of behavior modification but a relationship‑based process of spiritual formation that leads to inner healing. Clark critiques the self‑deception of believing that people who reject Jesus will still inherit heaven, citing 1 Corinthians 6:9‑11 and John 14:6 to affirm the exclusivity of Christ for salvation. He then moves to practical counsel on marriage, divorce, and adultery, referencing Matthew 19:9 and related counseling guides, emphasizing that while sin is forgiven through Christ, repentance and confession are necessary. The teaching also promotes resources such as A.W. Pink’s The Holy Spirit (chapter 14 on comfort in suffering), the Celebrate Freedom discipleship group, children’s Vacation Bible School, weekly Bible study with Arthur and Susanna Sincotti, and various Freedom in Christ materials. The sermon concludes with a prayer for repentance, discernment, and the spread of the gospel. Throughout, Clark weaves personal anecdotes, scriptural exposition, and calls to engage with the church’s online and local ministries.
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 a gray peak of volcanic sand and rock dotted with green trees under a clear blue sky comes to us from Nick Harang as he shared this scene from his recent Knights Crossing Lassen camping adventure somewhere near the Lassen Volcanic National Park. National Park or the Lassen National Forest in northeastern California on social media this week. Well, it's Wednesday and sharing Nick's photo was a no-brainer as its clear beauty and ashy peak seemed to be a perfect way to visually represent our arrival to another hump day and to express a feeling of peaceful clarity. Because my local church is hosting a children's vacation Bible school this week, The Celebrate Freedom Discovery/Discipleship growth group is on vacation this week too, and I am pleased to say that I have already prepared the lessons for the next few weeks and enter into today with a peaceful, easy feeling because not only do I have the night off and have done what's needed to be done for the weeks ahead, as I will be going on vacation for the next for the first two Wednesdays in August. Our program isn't about regular meetings. That's why I have peace. Our Celebrate Freedom, uh, is about forming a relationship with God and the personal transformation that comes from abiding in God's presence and following Jesus in spirit and in truth. So I am night— I, I am not white-knuckling my sobriety or sanity because our group isn't meeting tonight. The path of Christian discipleship isn't about a strict regimen of rules, requirements, and re— or meetings. Uh, the path of Christian discipleship isn't behavior modification as much as it is spiritual formation. It isn't about recovery as much as it is about receiving healing by allowing God to change your heart, mind, and behavior from the inside out. While many recovery programs seem to stress the absolute importance of touching home base with strict adherence to attending meetings, The Path of Christian Discipleship recommends regular meetings with God through Bible study, prayer, and just walking and talking with God. As much as regular recovery meetings and accountability groups can help in recovery, forming a relationship with God and seeking to surrender to his will for your life can result in Freedom. While relapse is a part of recovery is a saying that is intended to help people who slip up and not feel so condemned, is actually a contradiction in terms, a lie, and can lead to acceptance of periodic failures and a belief that you will never be completely free. When Jesus tells us that in John 8:36, if the If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. The Apostle Paul explains that in Romans 8:2: For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made, made me free from the law of sin and death. Jesus has set us free indeed, and we are free from the law of sin, the authority of sin in our lives. We can say no to sin because we are free now in a way that we were never were before coming to Christ. Through our faith in Jesus Christ, we are free over sin and death. But we have to believe it and live according to that truth to experience it. And we have to reject the lies that contradict that word of truth and keep us from experiencing our freedom in Christ. Like relapse is part of recovery, the 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, uh, Deception Versus 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 8th way you can be deceived by the world. 8. Believing that people who refuse to receive Jesus will go to heaven anyway. Scripture reference for this point is 1 Corinthians 6:9-11. The word of God says, Don't you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the kingdom of God? Don't fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, who commit prostitutes or practice homosexuality or are thieves or greedy people or drunkards or are abusive or cheat people, none of these will inherit the kingdom of God. Some of you were once like that, but you were cleansed, you were made holy, you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. As much as the verses, uh, point out the bad news for sinners, The emphasis is on the good news that we are made right with God and were cleansed and made holy the minute we called on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. This is— this, of course, is the good news of the gospel. But the most pervasive lie of the enemy that persists in our world today is that there are other ways to God, that it's not all about Jesus. As much as we would like to think that everyone will be accepted by God, it is logically inconsistent to think that God would have his beloved Son come and live a holy life, suffer and die, and be resurrected to only save some. That Christ only suffered for the Christians, and the rest of the world can come into God's kingdom by other means, like good works. Jesus himself declared that he is, in John 14:6, John 14:6, 'The way, the truth, and the life, that no one comes to the Father except through him.' Jesus is the only way to be reconciled with God, and if we deny the exclusivity of Christ to save, we are deceived. So stand in the truth and safety of the gospel of Jesus Christ and don't entertain any ideas to the contrary, contrary, because they are not true. And lead to death and eternal separation from God and suffering in hell. Today's— let's see, sorry— today's Bible verse comes to us from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Cruis. This morning's meditation verse comes from the section on adultery, and the word of God— today's verse is Matthew 19:9, uh, from the English Standard Version. And the word of God says, "And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife except for sexual immorality and marries another commits adultery." Today's verse falls under the 18th point of our Counseling Reference Guides 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's verse continues the truth about legitimate divorce and the sin of adultery that is committed when one remarries if their divorce is not for legitimate reasons. That, that was presented yesterday with Matthew 5:31-32. As disturbing as the idea that is that we could unintentionally commit the sin of adultery after a bad marriage divorce and be being remarried, um, we have to remember that Christ paid for all our sins, even adultery, whether flat out and intentional or through one's own ignorance of the spiritual realities that encompass marriage covenants. While we are guilty of breaking the law regardless of whether we are ignorant or not, we are forgiven all things through our faith in Christ. So even our sin of unintentional or ignorant adultery would be forgiven. If we realize we unwittingly committed it, we should still confess it and come before God to make sure that we are living in harmony with him going forward, whether or not that means— as discussed yesterday, uh, the word of God also indicates divorcing or separating from the unbeliever is also permitted, and the fact that unforgiveness or abuse may have led to divorce could indicate that our ex, quote unquote, Christian spouse wasn't believing God in the way they should have, indicating their profession of faith may be false. They certainly didn't live out their faith. Anyway, the point is marriage, divorce, and adultery are very serious matters, and we should live according to God's word regarding them. While we may not be able to change the mistakes of the past, we can be forgiven for them and seek to live according to God's word going forward. As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org, where I always, always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. Today we continue sharing from A.W. Pink's The Holy Spirit, as we continue sharing from chapter 14, and today's topic is the nature of the Spirit's comforting in suffering. And so if you want to hear how the Holy Spirit can comfort you in times of suffering Go to mt4christ.org and you'll see that resource at the end of today's blog post. As always, we encourage a lifestyle of Christian discipleship and a lifestyle of grace. Um, you know, we're gonna do things unintentionally or intentionally that will go against God's word, but the good news is we can be forgiven. But at the same time, that should lead us to repentance so we don't repeat those mistakes in the past. As someone who's gone through a divorce, um, and who's— who's have several friends who are divorced, I know several people who, who have been divorced for reasons other than sexual immorality. And like I, like I said, there's the principle in, in Scripture is that divorce should only be because of that. However, there's other verses in the Bible about leaving the unbeliever— if the unbeliever leaves, that's it. Now whether or not that means you're supposed to remain unmarried or not, that's up to you and God. If you want to remain celibate after being divorced, that's certainly an option. I know I was for a few years. So, but, but, but if God brings a Christian into your life and you're not just shacking up to satisfy sexual sin and you're going to get married, as long as you repent and ask for God's forgiveness, I believe that he even, he blesses second marriages or even third or fourth. I don't know. You know, it's between you and the Lord. We shouldn't have a blasé attitude toward God's word and take it seriously, obviously. But, you know, after the cat's out of the bag, I think God will forgive us, you know, when we confess our sins and seek to do right by him and surrender to his will. You know, that's one of the bones of contention in the Christian faith, or the Christian religion I should say, is that people beat each other up with the Word of God. And, you know, "Oh, you committed adultery because you got remarried." Well, people didn't know that necessarily. And you may be educating someone, but is that to lead them closer to the Lord? I don't know, it doesn't sound like it. So we have to be, you know, teachers of the truth and encouragers in our faith and try to do it in spirit and in truth, but to also do it in love. So hopefully we'll do that. Anyway, as always, we encourage a life of Christian discipleship, and we point to the freedom in Christ by providing our lessons on discipleship from Freedom in Christ, The Bondage Breaker, and Victory Over the Darkness, which are all available on our YouTube channel and our podcast. We also recommend you study that Word of God so you won't do unintentional sins, um, and by developing a daily spiritual practice and Bible study. We encourage Bible study through our Bible study that we do once a week with Arthur and Susanna Sincotti, known as A Bible study with the Sincatis. So if you want to hear what we have to say as we try to figure out the word of God and apply it to our lives, you can join our Bible study once a week or dive into all the archives as they go back to 2021. Um, well, um, you know, I'm not sure how this recording is going to come out, um, basically because, uh, my computer crashed. But I think I'm putting this on at the end of the first part that was saved. Um, I'm gonna have to check that out. So, uh, I'm gonna pray right now. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. We thank you for Data Recovery, and we thank you for our recovery and our freedom in Christ. We thank you for anyone who's listening or reading today's message, that they would be blessed in their prayer requests, and that you would come alongside them to lead them in the way they should go. To repent of the known and unknown sins in their lives, as your Spirit of Truth will reveal things to us as we need to know. I know when we want to follow you, you show us the way. And so we're asking you to do that today. We are asking you to go before us today, to open our eyes to the things we should see, and to lead us in the way we should go, because Lord, we desperately need your help. And All we want to do is represent your kingdom on this planet, to show other people the truth about your great, your great love and the peace that comes from walking in spirit and in truth through a lifestyle of Christian discipleship. Lord, so we just pray that you go before us today. We thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.
