The Immersive Experience - Purity 793

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 Vincent van Gogh's painting At Eternity's Gate projected on a wall just above an exit sign comes to us from yours truly, as my wife and I decided to spontaneously immerse ourselves in the spectacular art exhibit Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience Experience. yesterday, and this dark piece and the irony of its positioning caught my attention and compelled me to share, capture and share it. Well, it may be two for Tuesday for some, but I can think of at least three reasons that I decided to share this particular image out of all the works of Van Gogh that were on display at the exhibit that literally puts the participant into the paintings of Van Gogh. The first reason I share it is promotional. I really enjoy the work of Van Gogh and art in general, and I wish to encourage others to take a part of their time this summer to go to a museum or gallery to appreciate the work of artists who purposely or unwittingly give God glory as their artistic talents point to the God that has blessed them with their talents to paint, sculpt, or produce other creative works. The world may not be a perfect place, but as Van Gogh said, "If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere." And as much as I use my blog's photo of the day to highlight the beauty that is inherent in various scenes of nature, I can also admit that we can find beauty in the work of man's hands, and that God gave people these abilities to use them. To help us to appreciate their work and the lives he has given us. If you are anywhere near the Capital District area of upstate New York, I highly recommend Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience, and I'm sharing a link to the site where you can get your tickets for it on the blog today. I am also sharing a link that shares a list of other cities where this exhibit is on display, or where it was. Just like life, this exhibit doesn't last forever, so if If this interests you, you should sign up and get 'er done before you miss your chance. Of course, there are other places and events where you can see art, and I guess this is a general encouragement to support the arts in all its forms, places, times, and seasons as they highlight the beauty of life. Another reason I share today's photos is to encourage my friends to be spontaneous. Out of the love I had have for my wife, I decided to keep experiencing her presence for one more day and took an unscheduled day off just to be with her. I didn't have any plans for the day, and because the weather was hit and miss with thunderstorms, I encouraged her to think of something we could do indoors, specifically mentioning museums or art galleries as an option that I would be open to. Luckily, we both have friends that have been to the Van Gogh immersive experience who shared their experience with it on social media. And my wife remembered it and subtly presented this option to me by putting it on my phone while my attention was turned elsewhere. So she silently suggested it, and me being a let's go, let's go now kind of guy, jumped at the opportunity presented to me. And before you know it, tickets were purchased and we were on our way to immerse ourselves in Van Gogh's work. So my encouragement here is to be open to new experiences, love your loved ones, and enjoy the life God has given you by going out there and doing something. In truth, it didn't matter where we went or what we did yesterday. I had taken the day off to be with my wife and to enjoy her company. We merely put that mutual desire to love one another in this context. We love art, we love nature, we love God, and we love each other. And we do. Um, and I keep scrolling away from things. Um, anyway, we love, we love art, we love nature, we love God, and we love each other. And we just happen to bring all of that to the Van Gogh immersive experience, where all of the elements came together like a piece of art. Another quote attributed to Van Gogh says, great things are done by a series of small things brought together. And yesterday we brought all of our small things together to make a great day. But I, but I would be remiss if I didn't address the rather large existential elephant that I brought into the middle of the room by highlighting Van Gogh's At Eternity's Gate. Did I share it because I shared Van Gogh's depressive view of life, which is expressed by another of his quotes, reportedly the last words that he spoke before leaving this mortal coil, that says, The sadness will last forever? Not at all. I share it to plead with anyone who will listen that the sadness doesn't have to last forever, in this life or the next, and that the one who can give us joy here on earth and the hope of eternal peace and purpose in heaven is the Lord Jesus Christ. Van Gogh's apparent suicide, although some doubt it, and mental health struggles are well documented. At Eternity's Gate really highlights the mental anguish that Van Gogh was familiar with. The title is very specific for the cause of the subject's anguish. Whether you theorize it is because of the pain of dying, the loss of the beauty of life, or the fear of an unknown eternal destination, the message of At Eternity's Gate and Van Gogh's last word words is clear: I have no hope. But is that true? For those who don't know, Van Gogh was the son of a pastor, trained to be a pastor, and had been a missionary to a small mining community in Belgium before being fired for being overzealous, for, uh, for being overzealous, for his ineloquent speech and his scruffy appearance. Returning home, Vincent suffered a nervous breakdown, and his struggle with mental health and depression would have permeates throughout his life. Van Gogh was frequently misunderstood by others throughout his life. I fear that despite his exposure to the gospel of Jesus Christ in his background, I fear that near the end, near the end, he misunderstood the hope he could have in Christ. Another quote from Van Gogh says, Christ alone, of all the philosophers, musicians, et cetera, has affirmed eternal life as the most important certainty, the infinity of time, the futility of death, the necessity and purpose of serenity and devotion. He lived serenely as an artist, great— greater than all other artists, scorning marble and clay and paint, working in the living flesh. While this quote affirms the importance of eternal life, spiritual practices, and using our love to impact and shape the lives of others, I fear that it also revealed Van Gogh's doubts of who Christ is. Christ is not a philosopher or magician. Christ is the Son of God and God the Son. It is through faith in him alone that one can have a new and eternal life. However, due to his failure at serving God's kingdom in his youth, the rejection of man throughout his life, and his personal sins and mental struggles, Van Gogh's view at the end appears to be bleak. I don't know the outcome of Van Gogh's eternal destiny, but I do know that God is good and merciful, and that if Van Gogh ever put his faith and trust in Christ as his Lord and Savior, Van Gogh's mourning would be instantly turned to gladness the moment he died, because if his name was written in the Lamb's Book of Life, there would be nothing that could separate him from his Father's love. If Van Gogh put his faith in Christ, his sins were forgiven, and even if Van Gogh had believed Satan's lie that the sadness will last forever, the artist would have known the joy of his salvation the moment he was absent from his body and was present with the Lord. But I also don't want to paint a picture that ignores Van Gogh's pain and anguish over his contemplation of eternity. Eternity. Van Gogh knew the Word, the Word, and he knew his life. He knew his sin, and he knew what the Word said about people who lived in the flesh. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 says, do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. Revelation 21:8 says, But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. For the unrepentant sinner who never trusts in Christ alone and turns from their former life of sin, the sadness will last forever. If you reject Christ by choosing yourself, your sin, and your way over Him and His way, all hope will be lost when your life expires. But where there is life, there is hope. As long as we live, we can choose to immerse ourselves in life everlasting by putting our faith in Christ. As bad as 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 paints a picture of the consequences of our sins. Paul was writing to give hope to the church, as the next line says in 1 Corinthians 6:11, and such were some of you, but you were washed, you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. Such were some of you. If you are justified by faith in Christ, you are washed clean and accepted. We need not fear death, and we have the power to turn from the sin that would cause us to doubt such a great salvation and lead us to despair. So which was it for Van Gogh? Eternal sadness in hell or a life of peace and joy in heaven? Only the Lord knows for sure, but we can be sure that God will do what's right according to each of us and our faith. So keep walking and talking with God. Place your faith in Christ and enjoy the beauty that is all around us. Give the world the hope of heaven and the assurance of a beautiful life that comes through Christ by sharing the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If you see people lost in sin and dragging through life in confusion and despair, assure them that God loves them and that if they would simply turn to him, they can leave the darkness and sadness behind for a life of peace, purpose, and beauty that will shine a light from here to eternity's gate. Today's Bible verse comes to us from the New Living Translation Bible Promise Book for Men. This morning's meditation verse is Matthew 5:19, and it says, "So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the kingdom of heaven." Anyone who obeys God's laws and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Today's verse, today's verse are the words of Jesus, and surprise, he is teaching us that to be called great in the kingdom of heaven, we are to obey the commandments of God and to teach them to others. There is little consolation for the carnal Christian here, and all of us really, Christ doesn't condemn all who ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same to hell. He indicates that your status will not be great, but at least he doesn't say you're out. Uh, this points to the fact that we do not have to be perfect to be in God's kingdom. We merely have to be his by our faith in Jesus Christ. But this verse does indicate that we shouldn't ignore God's commandments in just rest on His grace. We should instead rejoice over God's grace and seek to please Him out of our love for Him by applying the wisdom of His Word to our lives. Here Christ encourages us to choose that which is best by seeking to be called great in the Kingdom of God by obeying the Lord's commandments. So humbly seek the greatness that God has for you by drawing close to Him through studying His Word and by living out your faith in everything you do. As always, I invite all to go to mtforchrist.org, where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist them with their walk. Today we continue sharing from Clinton Arnold's Powers of Darkness, and today we're sharing a section, um, it's from chapter 9, and it's about The Influences of the Powers of Darkness on Christians. And today's section is entitled, um, Giving a Foothold to the Devil. So if you want to know what that's about, and also a section called Deceived by Servants of Satan, um, if you want to— if those titles grab your interest and you want to check them out, go to M.t. Clark.org to check out today's resource. As always, we share what we've learned, not to— not necessarily to be great in heaven, but to, um, to show people what we've learned about the joy that comes from faith in Jesus Christ, the joy of our eternal destiny, and the joy that, that we have the power to overcome our sin and to know a life of peace here on earth as well as in heaven. So if you want to know what that's like, we do share our discipleship classes that will help you to learn who you are in Christ and how you can overcome your personal spiritual conflicts. We share classes entitled Victory Over the Darkness, The Bondage Breaker and Freedom in Christ, that are all based on the Word of God and the work of Dr. Neil Anderson to direct people to walk out their faith here on the earth in a real immersive experience of faith. And so we, we were lucky enough to decide to do that, and we've benefited greatly through the many years of struggle and everything to come in line with, uh, with that truth and Our purpose here on the blog and the podcast is to share the hope that we have found with other Christians and people who might not know Christ, that this is the way, the truth, and the life that the Lord has for you through faith in Christ. So life is a beautiful thing and we should experience it. This is the life of Christ wanted for us, a life that's more abundant. And this is it, not being locked into depression or sadness, but to know the joy and peace of the Lord. So we do that, and of course, you know, central importance to doing that is knowing the Word of God and applying it to our lives. So we share a Bible study once a week to show you know, what it is to, you know, be a Christian and to ponder what the Word says and various aspects of our lives. So if you want to check that out, you can find it on the blog, a blog and podcast, and our YouTube channel by looking for Bible Study with the Sinconys. And as, as fate would have it, we just happened to do a study called In Christ Alone this past weekend. So if you want you want to check that out, go to the blog and podcast to see it. That's it today. Today is Tuesday and we're going back to work, back to life, back to reality. But, you know, even though we work, we, we rejoice because it gives us an opportunity to, to work, to support ourselves, to enjoy our lives and to to experience life outside the four walls of our home and to see everything that the Lord has for us. So, so we pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we thank you for all that you've done for us. We thank you for the beauty that surrounds us in our lives. We thank you for the truth of the knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the amazing transformation that it can bring our life, taking us from sadness to joy. Lord, we pray for everyone who's listening today to be blessed by you. And Lord, we pray for you to go before us, to open our eyes to what you want us to see and to lead us into the things you want us to do. We thank you, we praise you, we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.