What to do in a World of Sadness - Purity 961

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 multicolored ribbon stretched out in front of a view of the Hudson River from the vantage point of Henry Hudson Riverfront Park in Hudson, New York comes to us from my phone's photo archives and an unnamed AFSP volunteer who captured this scene back on September September 15, 2018, at the Columbia Green Out of the Darkness Walk. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention seeks to help prevent suicide and to support the community of people who have been directly affected by suicide. During the walk ceremony of remembrance and support, people are encouraged to tie a colored ribbon to a large ribbon that acknowledges their loss or their part in the community support. The FSP's Out of the Darkness ceremony gives people a way to grieve, to heal, to remember their loved ones, and to encourage others to get help when they are contemplating suicide. If you have thoughts of suicide, help is a phone call or text away. Call 988 or text the word HOME to 741741 to get help. Well, it's Wednesday again, and don't worry, I am not contemplating suicide this morning, but I have to be be honest and say that there were many times in my life where I was in deep despair and wanted to die to stop the pain and thought about taking my own life. However, I was too afraid to die because I must have realized that even though I was suffering, that ending my life was not the answer. I was a— I was afraid of death and the unknown more than facing the pains and frustrations of living, I guess. So I lived to face another day, and it's a good thing I did because it eventually led to my finding salvation in Christ and a meaning and a purpose for my life. And that purpose is to let people know that their lives are of immense value because God himself, through the person of Jesus Christ, came to earth to die in order to save us and to give us a new spiritual life that goes from here to eternity. My looking back to 2018 for the photo of the day, uh, this morning was inspired by one of the Freedom in Christ course participants' comments last night, who admitted that seeing suffering that is happening in the world today sometimes fills him with sadness and frustration to the point that he doesn't feel like reading the Bible or going to God in prayer. The suffering that he sees in the world and in the various people he encounters in life makes it seem that he is in a world of sadness, and it causes him to question God's goodness, presence, and power. The hurt, pain, and suffering he sees causes him to feel sad and angry at the suggestion to draw close to God, which is exactly what the spiritual forces of darkness would want us to do. Satan and his demons seek to destroy us, and their goal is to do anything to keep us from going to the Lord or from helping others to find life in Christ. Deception is their primary strategy to make us believe a lie about God or about ourselves to separate us from him. So in this man's case, the enemy is causing him to acknowledge the suffering in the world and to doubt God's goodness or power because of the evil, pain, and brokenness he sees in the world. Because of the suffering he sees, he is a little jaded at the, at the idea of a good God while there is, while there is suffering, this, while there is this world of sadness, you know, doesn't compute. Yeah, having a good God and suffering doesn't make sense, right? Well, however, there are several lies and misconceptions and basic ignorance of life as it, as it really is that comes into play to view the world in this way. And and to cause us to separate ourselves from God. So what do we do in this world of sadness? People are really suffering. That is not good. No, it is not. However, there are some things we need to realize about reality that will put things in their proper perspective, that could help us to see beyond the veil of this world of sadness. Please forgive me, for this might be a little too real or seem harsh in light of the questions about— asked about suffering, which really amount to, why do things have to be this way? But if we are going to accuse God of not being good, we need to see the truth. Number one, we didn't make ourselves. God is Creator. He makes us, and he will call us into eternity. The life we have is a gift, and our purpose in life is to be in relationship with the Creator and to represent him. Whether we are representing the Lord or not, one day we will die. Our suffering on earth will end someday. However, our eternal destiny, and possible eternal torment, will be determined by whether or not we make peace with God by putting our faith in Jesus. We have no rights to our life. God gives it and He takes it away. But He offers us new life to all who trust in Him. 2. The world is broken by sin. God's original plan for mankind was Eden. Paradise was lost when Adam and Eve chose to disobey God's one commandment because they were tempted to believe that God was holding something out on them, and they chose to act independently of him, causing their spiritual death and separation from God. Since the fall, every person born is spiritually dead and lives independently of God Choosing to do good or evil according to their own wills and desires. Much of the evil in the world is the evil that men do. Death, disease, and natural disasters are consequences of the Fall. Why is there suffering in the world? Sin changed the very nature of reality, and we will live in the chaos of this world of sadness until Christ returns. Scripture indicates that suffering will end. When God creates a new heaven and a new earth, and all who put their faith in Christ will experience it. As harrowing as suffering may be in the here and now, it is a temporary condition that will be alleviated for all who enter God's kingdom through Christ. So when we see suffering in the world, we should draw close to God because he will one day prove his goodness by taking it all away. For those who love and follow him. When we see people suffering, we need to share this hope and encourage them to turn from their worldly ways and find peace with God. In light of the ultimate reality of God's kingdom coming to earth, death has lost its sting as the faithful live forever, and those who rebel and reject the author of life, goodness, and love will get what they deserve. God's wrath. That might seem harsh, but God gave us life, and when we waste it in selfishness and by joining in with the spiritual forces of darkness who would accuse the Lord of not being good, when the truth is that everything that is good comes from God, we have no leg to stand on. Literally, if you got legs, God gave them to you. Rather than lamenting Over the suffering of the world, we should recognize the existence of the good in the world and rejoice. Seeing the world as a world of sadness is to believe the lie of the enemy, because there is far more good in the world than bad. But the enemy doesn't want you to see that, because if we were to acknowledge the goodness in the world and to count our blessings daily, we would love God— love the God who provided it. And we would praise his holy name. We would abandon the world's ways for his wisdom because we would know that he is good, and to follow him is life, love, and peace. So open your eyes and see that God is good, even with the pain, even with the suffering in this world. If you trust the Lord, put your faith in him, what One day your suffering will end forever, but until then, you don't have to choose to suffer. Instead, you can choose to see the good and thank God for it. You can seek to change your ways that lead to personal pain. You can seek comfort and help those who are suffering by telling them the truth about God. Who is willing to save them and who will one day take away all their pain. When we live in the truth of the Creator God who loved his creation enough to die for those who would believe in him, our eyes should be open to the ultimate reality that God has for us, and we should rejoice. Therefore, keep walking and talking with God. Renew your mind with the truth of God's Word that gives us the wisdom to navigate through this world that is falling apart. Trust in Jesus and know that your new life has already happened and that you no longer live in a world of sadness because he has overcome the world. This morning's, uh, well, today's Bible verse comes to us from the New Living Translation Bible Promise Book for Men. This morning's meditation verses are Matthew 12:34-37. Or Jesus said, "You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. And I tell you this: You must give an account on Judgment Day for every idle word you speak." The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you. Today's Bible verses are a discourse from Jesus Christ himself on how our words will reflect the condition of our hearts and warns of the judgment that is to come that will consider every word we speak. In another passage of scripture, Jesus tells us that we will know his disciples by their fruit. And obviously from today's verses, we can see that one of the things that we can use to gauge whether someone is good or evil is the words we speak. And I hate to say it, but any argument, philosophy, or comments that one would make that doubts, denies, or contradicts God's Word are not just controversial or a diverse point of view. They are evil. If the things we say would cause someone to sin or to not put their faith in Jesus, um, those words will one day be rightly judged as evil, as they will be seen to be evil and unloving, as they convinced ourselves or others from trusting and following God. Treason are acts or words that seek to go against or destroy the government and is usually punished by death. And the words we speak will show whether our hearts are for God's kingdom or against it. So as the rapper Ice-T said on one of his albums, yes, you have the freedom of speech, but just watch what you say because your words can and will be used against you. And in the final judgment, they will reveal what you really believe in your heart. And they will either condemn you or acquit you. So speak the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ, encourage people to trust and obey the Lord who loves them, and show the love of God to everyone with the things you say. As always, I invite all to go to M.t. Clark.org where we 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 Sovereignty of God as we continue in chapter 5, which is The Sovereignty of God and Reprobation. And today A.W. Pink shares some of the founding, you know, some of the founding fathers of the Reformation's view on the doctrine of reprobation with John Calvin, Martin Luther, and who else? John Foxe are all mentioned in this text. So if you want to see what they had to say about The Doctrine of Reprobation. Go to mt4christ.org and you'll see that resource at the end of today's blog post. As always, we encourage a life of discipleship because, you know, quite frankly, it takes you out of the world of sadness because you live in the truth of God's word. And according to the truth of God's word, that, you know, teaches us to give thanks and all at all times and to rejoice always. And that's not just some Pollyanna view, it's a, it's a view of reality. Yes, there's suffering and death, but someday that will end. And yes, sometimes people suffer, but usually they suffer because of their, their living independently of the Lord and living against the word of God. The consequences of their suffering are usually at their own hand. And, um, and, and overall, I hate to say it, the world is broken by sin. All the death and disease that has come into the world is a direct response to sin. You know, there was no death, you know, you were dead when, when sin came into the world. The cause of death on everyone's death certificate should be sin because death came into the world through sin. as the Word of God reveals. So if we want life and life more abundantly, we have to go to the Author of Life, the Creator. And the good thing is, is He made a way for us to live again, and, um, that way is Jesus Christ. We put our faith in Him, we become spiritually alive, connected to God, and we can live in the peace. But even Christians can forget this or not know this at all. They might not be well versed in, in the doctrines of the Bible or whatnot, or they might have just received some legally legalistic teachings that kept you locked into a performance-based worldly system within the Christian faith. So the reason why we do the podcast is to— is because we discovered the truth and The truth is something that we need to know, something that this world needs so badly but often rejects willfully. You know, they just choose not to believe it. And that's— my time is not up, but it shows we were running a little late this afternoon or this morning. Oh my goodness. Anyway, I don't live in a world of confusion, even though it might sound like it right there, because I know who I am in Christ. And because I know that the Lord has a plan for all of this that goes beyond, you know, beyond my understanding and beyond probably my lifespan. So I have to trust the Lord and walk in faith to experience the peace that I can have that can make sense of the senseless. And even when something doesn't make sense, we can trust God to take care of it eventually. And, uh, we'll have to surrender it to it, um, and lean on him to carry us through. So as we enter in this Wednesday, let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we thank you so much for your goodness. We know there's suffering in the world, but we know that you have a plan to make it all right when Christ comes to reclaim the earth and make a new one. They say there will be no more suffering, no more pain, and no more death. Lord, when we— when that happens, we want to be there. And that's why we follow you and why we put our faith in Christ. And we're going to seek to trust and obey you even when there's pain and suffering in the world. And, um, Lord, we're going to do our best to represent you here on Earth and to share that good news with the words we speak. So Lord, we pray for anyone who's listening or reading this message. Lord, we pray for you to bless them in their walk. We pray for healing, um, for those who need it. Some of the guys in the Freedom in Christ course had issues that needed to be addressed in prayer, and so we lift up all of them. Lord, you know their situations better than any of us, so we lift them up. We lift up other friends, uh, from the podcast, you know, friends of the podcast that that are currently going— ongoing health issues. Um, well, we just pray for you to be with them, strengthen them, and guide them as they walk through these valleys and these shadows, um, in the crucible of suffering. Because we trust that you're good, and we know we're not going to live forever. We accept the cup that you passed to us, even though it might be bitter, but we'll take it because we trust you, Lord. And, um, so Lord, today we're not sure what, what today will hold, but we're going to trust you for it. We're going to keep walking and talking with you to go through it. And so we pray for you to be with us today, Lord. We pray for you to open our eyes to all the things you want us to see. We, we ask that you lead us into the things you would have us do so we can speak and do the things that you would have us to, to represent you and bring people closer to you. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.