Two Dead Ends – Don’t Waste Your Life - Purity 1427

Welcome to the MT for Christ 247 podcast. I'm M.t. Clark, and this is today's photo. Today's photo, uh, can be seen by going to— well, to see today's photo, you can see it on YouTube, or you can follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter. Um, let's see. Good morning. Today's photo of rolls of hay on a green plain underneath A view of mountains in the distance, all under a pleasant cloud-filled blue sky, comes to us from yours truly as I captured this tranquil scene back on Rudd Road in Medusa, New York, way back on September 21st, 2021. Well, it's Wednesday, and I was delighted to find this photo of humps of hay under the outline of mountains this morning and knew it was more than adequate to visually represent our arrival to another hump day. So happy Wednesday. And what's so happy about it? Well, tonight's the Celebrate Freedom support group, uh, meeting at, uh, they meet again at Starpoint Church for one. And for two, I've been saved and set free because of my faith in Jesus Christ. Isn't that enough? Uh, I think so. After my checkered past, believe me when I tell you that my salvation, sobriety, and sexual purity is nothing, um, Nothing short of miraculous. And tonight I will rejoice as I once again celebrate my freedom in Christ and seek to encourage others to find theirs too. I work as a technician. Uh, here's a quick segue. I work as a technician during my 9 to 5, uh, secular day job. And recently I serviced a couple of customers that reminded me of just how lucky I am to be alive and free in Christ and to be happily married to Tammy Lynn. I recently paid house calls to two customers who reminded me of what I could be if I had remained who I was before Christ. These two single men represented my lost state's best and worst case scenarios if I had remained lost and alone. Uh, the first customer was a pleasant older man, retirement age, and his house was well kept and neat, and he was in good physical shape. His life seemed to be completely in order. However, when his TV service experienced trouble, he proved to be incapable of fixing it himself and called to have someone more technically savvy to come fix his problem. Unfortunately, he got me. Ah, lol, lol, as they write in the blog. But what I lack in technical skill and expertise in comparison to my skilled colleagues, I can usually make up for by persistence and by asking for help. From someone who has been there and done that. Phone a friend works at work. Anyway, I fixed his problem and had a pleasant experience at his house. Not only did I get 'er done, but this customer appreciated my efforts. I left thinking, what a nice guy. Uh, but as my thoughts lingered on this solitary man in his little house, I realized a couple of things. One, he was alone. There's really no evidence of anyone else in his life. On the surface anyway. And two, there really was no evidence for the Christian faith. Not long ago, I, I did a blog series on checking the clues of whether or not someone was a Christian by outward evidence, and this man, based on my limited view, would not be convicted of faith in Jesus. Um, this sort of freaked me out a little bit because part of me envied this man. He was on his own, and he had a neat, orderly life. But as I thought about him, I realized that, uh, that neat existence was probably pretty lonely. And what I noticed is apparent lack of faith. I realized the horror of his final destination if his lonely and faithless condition would continue. I'm not picking on this man, and I'm ashamed to say that I didn't think to evangelize him, but this man just represents the multitudes of people that just live a neat and orderly secular life. Um, they are lonely and they don't know the benefits of salvation or the community, the community in the body of Christ. The second customer was, um, well, the second customer was, uh, also a, you know, similar in the fact that he was a solitary man. But his state was a little more tragic. Physically, he was overweight and he may have had, uh, other health issues because he never got out of his chair. And quite frankly, he smelled that sick hospital human waste smell. It was subtle but pungent. Um, and later I realized the toxic atmosphere of his house had invaded my senses or clothing because I could smell it hours after I'd left. The second man was a retiree from my company. Um, and he, we talked quite a bit after I fixed his problem, a short caused by a defective phone in his kitchen. He told me about his career and named several people he had worked with that I didn't know. His time was before mine. Even though he purported to have many relationships through our union, he was alone in that house. He also had not You know, he also didn't have any discernible faith in anything other than the union, perhaps. Seeing the worry of his situation was a lot easier. He was physically suffering from disease or from his own weight. And while I was there, I didn't notice this— I did notice a small handgun on his desk. And, and since I left, I shudder to think that It is quite possible that the enemy may tempt this man to take his own life someday. Again, I'm ashamed to admit I didn't notice these things, um, at the time, and I didn't, uh, I didn't evangelize him either, and that bothers me. Um, for me, for me, the second man represented what I would have been, been like had I not found Christ and had only my identity as a worker for my company to stand on. His obesity also rang a bell for me, as I would have almost certainly followed in this man's footsteps if the Lord hadn't saved me and impressed upon me my need to be a good steward of my health. Both of these guys represented what I could have been, best case and worst case, without Christ. And each one was tragic. You know, John Piper wrote a book called Don't Waste Your Life, where he makes the case that a life that doesn't find faith in Jesus and that doesn't seek to honor and glorify the King of Kings is a wasted life. When I think of these two men and count— and the countless multitudes of people who don't believe and who— or who don't participate in God's kingdom work and community, I know what a wasted life means. It's a, it's a life of boredom and ignorance, a life untouched by God that is headed for perdition. As I think about the lost, I am more determined than ever to continue to walk and talk with God and to attempt to show others who he is, um, and what he can do, uh, for their lives. The gospel and a life in Christ give our life meaning and purpose., we are meant to live with God. Anything less than that is a waste. You know, today's, um, In Touch, uh, with Charles— Dr. Charles Stanley talks about the gospel and how our life of faith, our life with God, is a process of learning and progress. And I'm sharing it on the blog today to— in hopes that it'll inspire us to share the gospel with others and to be assured of our place in God's grace. And Dr. Stanley writes— excuse me— uh, yeah, God's grace and holiness. One of the grandest expressions of the gospel is found in Titus 2:11, where Paul tells us, for the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. How could there be any better news than that? What was invisible for many centuries has now come into view. Moreover, this grace has appeared for all people, not just a chosen few. It is what the Apostle elsewhere calls the power of God for salvation. Pardon me. Uh, with such power at our disposal, we're sometimes disappointed to find that grace while beautiful, also involves pain. To most people, the word power suggests instant transformation and easy accomplishment. We often forget that grace is a schoolteacher whose lessons plan includes very specific instructions. In Titus 2:12, we learned that plan— what that plan entails. This teacher has appeared, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously, in a godly manner. We can learn to say no to sin. We can learn what holiness is and find ways to acquire and display it. Only through God's grace can we even attempt to live a righteous life. Such learning may take time, but progress in this school is just as much a tribute to God's grace as the instant changes that sometimes occur right after a person gets saved. Amen. You know, God's plan for us is to teach us how to become the people he made us to be. And while we may not be able to expect instant transformation, we can be assured that God's plan is a good one and that he will be faithful in teaching us the way to go. God leads us into growth and peace, so let's follow his plan and rejoice that he has pulled us out of our loneliness and will teach us his way to live. As of today— well, and today's Bible verse, thank you, um, comes to us from the Quick Scripture, uh, Reference for Counseling by John G. Krulis. This morning's meditation verse comes from the section on the forgiveness of sins, and today's verse is Psalm 51:17, which says, the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart, Oh God, you will not despise. Today's verse falls under the 6th point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on the forgiveness of sins, and that 6th point is God will not despise a broken spirit and contrite heart. Today's verse reminds us of the need for humility. While we may think that giving financially or serving the kingdom is the sacrifice of worship the Lord seeks, we would be wrong. As today's verse indicates, God is concerned with our hearts, and being able to fully surrender to Jesus as Lord and Savior requires that they be broken. If we have hope in ourselves or anything from the world system and its philosophies, we will never fully come to God. Only when we see our own inadequacy and the inadequacy of the world to satisfy or save us to the point it breaks our hearts and we see the need and feel the need for a Savior. So let this world and your failures break your heart. This world is a heartbreaker, but the good news is that God will give you a new heart filled with love and healing when you come and live with him. As always, we encourage everyone to go to mtforchrist.com where we always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist our brothers and sisters in Christ with this with a walk. Today we continue sharing from According to Your Word: Morning and Evening Through the New Testament by Stephen F. Alford. And in Alford's devotional, he prompts us to read a chapter of scripture every day, and today's chapter is 1 Thessalonians 4. And from that chapter, he shares a portion of verse 6, which says that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this manner, because the Lord is the avenger of all such 'As we also forewarned you and testified.' And Stephen Alford writes, 'The marginal meaning of the word defraud means to oppress or overreach. It would seem in the light of the context that this defrauding or oppressing is in connection with fornication or overreaching another brother in the matters of love, courtship, or marriage. Such a thing will be severely judged by the Lord. This is clearly pointed out in the same verse.' But God has called the believer to holiness. His will for him is sanctification, that each of you should know how to possess your own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God. 1 Thessalonians 4:4-5. And Alfred ends by praying, oh, that I might always deal with people with integrity and purity of heart. Amen. Amen. Yeah, here Alford points out, you know, the section sort of points to the sexual ethics of the church, basically that we're to be pure and, you know, part of our sanctification. If you read the verses in 1 Thessalonians, it tells you that God's will for your life is your sanctification. And immediately after that portion of that verse, it says, you know, to avoid sexual immorality. So when we come to Christ, we should understand the need to represent the kingdom by being sexually pure. And that's contrary to the world system that we live in. That would tell you that it's just a matter of, you know, your choice and your body and all that. But God sets you apart. It's holy. And we have to ask the question, have you surrendered? Have you fully surrendered to God? If you have, part of that would include how you live your life. As A.W. Tozer pointed out, you know, what comes in our mind when we think about God is pretty important. But I say that what we do with what God's word says about us is the most important thing about us, and that we should try to live holy lives, and you can't do it without God. You can't do it on our own. He empowers us to do that by giving us the empower— the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit to convict our hearts and to lead us in all truth and to grant us repentance. So we have to have faith. We can't clean up our own act, and that's why we need a Savior in the first place. Um, you know, this life ends and we need to go somewhere, And in the meantime, God gives us a model, um, and a book. It was a model of Jesus and his life and his— the Holy Scriptures to guide us to live our life according to God's will. And so that's what we encourage here. When you follow God's will, it'll change you, and it will lead you to do things like the Celebrate Freedom support group, um, which I lead tonight at 6:30 PM at Starpoint Church. It's my invitation to everyone in the Capital District, uh, looking for recovery or discipleship to come to our meeting tonight. Um, and, uh, if you're not in the Capital District, that's okay. We offer an online course for men, uh, starting on September 3rd, and, uh, my class is filling up. So if you want in, you got to get in quick, uh, because, um, we're almost at capacity. There's room for a few more people. And I was just contacted by somebody today asking for help with the Steps to Freedom in Christ, whether or not they join the class. And I'm not sure, but I suggested it. Otherwise, I'll— sure, I'm a Christian life coach, and I can certainly run you through the material on my own as a client, but that would be a different matter. But you can contact me at M.t. Clark at mtforchrist.com if you want to become a Christian, uh, a a client of mine for Christian life coaching, I can lead you through the Steps to Freedom in Christ, the Freedom in Christ course, and, uh, other types of prayer ministry. And, uh, you know, basically work with you to support you in your goals. But, um, for now we're gonna, we're gonna call it a day and, and go into that secular day job. Um, but before that, we ask the question: are you empty for Christ too? If so, keep on walking and talking with God. If not, seek the Lord and you will find him, and he will lead you in the way you should go. And one of the ways he leads us is in prayer. So let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we thank you so much for what you do for us. Uh, Lord, we, um, we pray for anyone who's watching or listening this message, um, today. We pray for their forgiveness, uh, for coughing, and, uh, we pray for that you'd come alongside them. Um, and their prayer requests and their walk of faith, Lord, is, uh, they need your help. And Lord, while you're at it, we're praying for our— for your help as well. Um, Lord, we pray for you to go before us today, open our eyes to the things you want us to see, and lead us in the way we should go. It's all we want to do is represent you in your kingdom, and we desperately need your help with that every day. Um, so Lord, help us. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you. And we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.