 |
|||
Volume. XXXVII, No. 9 A Better Heavenly Place (Part 1) A Message Summary (based on John 14: 1-6) Pastor Jack Sin preached on this message at the Watchnight Service of Sovereign Hope BP Church on 31 Dec 2021. The salient points were as follows:
A) Counsel and Comfort for the Troubled (v1) John, a beloved disciple of our Lord Jesus, did not die as a martyr but he died naturally at a ripe old age. John had an intimate (close) relationship with his Master. He recorded many incidents in the Lord's life that were not recorded in the other gospels. In John 14:1, he recorded that Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.”
2021 was a troubling year. The word “trouble” in the original sense means “to agitate, to disturb, to afflict, to annoy, to distress”. Did you feel troubled in this year 2021? Have you experienced similar feelings/conditions as mentioned above? When people are under prolonged duress or pain, and a season of affliction, inconvenience, or misfortune, due mostly to the Covid 19 pandemic, they are not only physically affected, but also mentally, intangibly, and psychologically too. In a personal, family, or social dimension. Have you also been similarly afflicted thus? How were you and your family affected? What were the specific issues that distressed, afflicted, or depressed you? Do you think that the Lord also presupposed that the people He was addressing at that time were similarly affected? If those people were troubled, why were they troubled at that time?
The reason why 2021 was such a troubling year is because many issues affected us personally, nationally or as a family. What do we do when we are troubled? In Psalm 32:5–7, King David was going through some trouble that he had brought upon himself. He acknowledged his own sin with Bathsheba and David confessed his sin in Psalm 32:1. What is the cause of trouble? The main cause of trouble, including physical disasters such as earthquakes, floods, and volcanic eruptions, is SIN. Sin is a transgression against God and as we have offended God, we will have to face the wrath of God as the dire consequences of our sin.
We, in this present time, also need to examine ourselves of what sins we may have committed and to acknowledge them and ask for God's forgiveness, just as David did. We must set right with God lest we incur his wrath and seek His mercy in the midst of this pandemic and mitigate the divine punishment that will befall us as a direct result of our sins.
God can be a hiding place for the people who come to seek Him for His pardon and His deliverance from their troubles. Again, in Psalm 59:16-17, David cried out to God to deliver him from his malicious enemies and God became his defence and refuge. In Psalm 34:4, the psalmist said, “I sought the Lord and He heard me and delivered me from all my fears.” Also, in vs 6 he said, “This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.” As we approach the end of 2021, have we found the solution and basis for our troubles?
The answer and the solution for our troubles is faith in the PERSON of our LORD JESUS CHRIST, not any human plan, vaccine, safety management scheme or strategy!
The Lord Jesus was also, in reality, addressing His disciples and followers (Christians/believers). Did they believe in Him, as the Son of God, and the Saviour who could save and deliver them from their afflictions, distresses, and troubles. The Lord was speaking to Christian people who were saved and believed in Christ. So can Christian people suffer from afflictions, distress, troubles, depression, fears and mental concerns? When you go through such circumstances, what should you do, what can you do?
In 1 Sam 30:6, “David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.” In his deep mental anguish, David “encouraged himself in the Lord his God.”
We learn that in our great distress, we should emulate David and learn the art of encouraging ourselves in the Lord, when there is the unjust oppression of men or trials of life, or in the current situation of the raging health pandemic, when we become infected and must be isolated/quarantined from family and friends. However, we also ought to seek counsel and comfort from godly sources of help if these are available as David sought the priest too. Being Christians, we are not alone; we ought to pray, to seek and to discern God's will for us, to mitigate our troubles and distress. The Lord reiterated that as we believe in God, we ought also to believe in Jesus Christ. The word ‘believe’ has 2 elements; one is a salvific element.
Are you gravely troubled today? Is God causing things to happen to awaken you from spiritual slumber, to enable you to realise that you need Christ to save you from your troubles? The more you struggle with your troubles, the deeper you will sink in them. Our unwillingness to seek God for his mercy and to submit to God's will and to entrust to the Lord will exacerbate our problems in life. We find the word “surrender” a very difficult action to carry out. If we don’t submit to God's will, we will miss out on the revival, restoration, and healing in our lives.
The Lord has given us only one option as counsel and comfort for deliverance from our troubles living in this depraved world, and that is TO BELIEVE AND TRUST IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.
To be continued…. By Rev Jack Sin (reproduced from Sovereign Hope Bible-Presbyterian Church Weekly published 23 Jan 2022) |
|