Faith and Hope: Navigating Life's Uncertainties in Christ

"escapism you see because the world is in trouble let's go out and have a good time what problem does that solve what difference does that make to anything but you see that's the solution who can blame them for doing this who can blame them for being sure escapists just pulling down the blinds having a drink forgetting it all for a few moments at inter it but that's not thought that's not reason that's not understanding that's a sheer evasion of the whole problem it's pure escapism he doesn't begin to think and to ask the right questions he doesn't raise the question of why is the world as it is doesn't occur to him that that's the most important question of all no no he just takes all this for granted he doesn't understand it he doesn't know and he doesn't even want to here is the utter bankruptcy of men in sin men without Christ it's blind it's hopeless he's got nothing to offer he simply can say let us eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we die it's all completely hopeless and doesn't I say even begin to raise and to ask the only question questions that should be considered at such a time but thank God we've got something different the derided Christianity is the only thing that can face this situation now I'm I'm prepared to defend this I defy you to give me any Theory point of view philosophy teaching religion in the world tonight that even begins to answer the question save this blessed Gospel of the Glorious God it is the only thing that can enable a men to stand up tonight and look at it all as it is and say I know I am certain I am sure I am always confident I say the answer is all here" [00:11:18]

"the Christian in this world walks by faith not by sight his whole life is a life of Faith what do you mean by that says someone well it means this a Christian is a man who lives in the light of all the things we've already been considering that is his faith it is his faith that teaches him the truth about himself it is his faith that teaches him the truth about the Lord Jesus Christ it is his faith that tells him the truth about God it is his faith that tells him the truth about salvation it is all the faith this Faith by which he walks and by which he lives and what the Apostle is really saying is this that the Christian in this life and in this world is walking through it all in the light of this Faith now it isn't Theory I do want to remind you of this when the Apostle wrote these words he wasn't writing on holiday he wasn't writing surrounded by comfort and everything going well and just giving his view of life no no he's been telling us in the previous chapter if ever a man were surrounded by trials and troubles and tribulations and problems it was this Apostle Paul everything was going against him he was being persecuted and maligned they were threatening his life he was suffering physical illness no men could have been in a more desperate position and here he says well even if I die if the Earthly House of this our Tabernacle were dissolved it's all right now then how is it all right what enables him to say this well in addition to all the things I've enumerated we come to this his view of life and here you'll find something again which is allog together different from everything that is known and believed in by the world remember the the the letter I've read you out of the newspaper there's Man Without Christ listen to man with Christ why is he so different well the answer is this first and foremost he understands why life in this world is as it is that's rather important isn't it you see the thing that baffles these non-christians is as to why the world is as it is they say surely we've had two world wars already what they are they going to have a third are they mad nothing's come of the others but misery and increased TR and yet here they are preparing for what's going wrong with me and the simple answer is they don't know they do not understand they're completely baffled you see their view is that the world is getting better and better well then why the trouble well they don't know they're completely bewildered now the Christian starts at once with a different idea he knows why things are as they are because nobody likes facing that question the man who writes his letters to the Press he's not interested in that he's too superficial in his thinking to get at causes and to go down to the origins of things Christianity alone does that the Statesmen don't do that your philosophers never do it but here is something that takes us down to the roots the causes of our ills the Apostle puts it like this we that are in this Tabernacle do grown being burdened what does he mean by this in this we grown earnestly Desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven now he starts off by saying this that this world this life is one in which a man is burdened it's a life that makes a man ground the Christian starts by saying that it's a life of troubles it's a life of Trials it's a life of problems now here is what I call the realism of the Christian gospel course a clever man who writes a letter to the Press he says this the pleasures at end are far more certain than the rather nebulous ones that are offered in the next World you see he's a man of this world he's a man who really is a realist and he faces things but of course he doesn't that's just his trouble he takes his drink he has his good time that's all he wants he wants ease happiness he doesn't want to think he's afraid to to think that's why you've got your pleasure Mania that's why everybody's spending tonight outside Christianity in some form or another drugging itself drink or cinema this that or the other getting away from it Escapist and why well because they dare not think and they can't think and they're not aware of first principles but you see the gospel is realistic the gospel doesn't paint your rosy pictures for you it tells you that this is a world in which we grown it's a world in which we are burdened it's it's a world in which there is cruelty a world of persecution a world of quarrels a world of Wars a world of Spite and jealousy and envy that's what this says that's what it says about life people don't like it because it says that and yet they say they want realism well there is realism the gospel starts by telling us that this world is like that and it tells you why it's like that why is it like this it's like this for one reason only and that is that man who' been made by God was fool enough to rebel against God he thought he could run life in the world better than God he listened to a suggestion which told him that he could do so and he was ready to believe it conceit has always been man's trouble and it's the conceit of the modern man that is the essence of his trouble he still thinks he can run this world and manage it but he's failing but he won't admit it it's always been this Rebellion what is called the fall of men everything that is happening in the world tonight is the result of the Fall it's the result of sin it's the result of men's antagonism to God and men's determination to live life apart from God it is the sole explanation if every man in the world tonight believed in God and lived in subservient to him there would be no crisis there would be no problem at all if only everybody in the world lived according to the Sermon on the Mount all the problems would be immediately ended but they don't they rebel against them they hate them the natural mind is enmity against God is Not subject to the law of God neither indeed can be now then all our troubles are due to the fall Rebellion against God and all the consequences that have followed the world is as it is tonight because God is Not blessing it and he is not blessing it because he doesn't believe in him because it Rebels against him he's told them that he's told them that if they Rebel they will be cursed they have rebelled they are being cursed the world tonight is not being blessed by God because it spurns His blessings and tries to spit into the face of God that's why the world is as it is the Bible starts by telling us this and then he tells us that because of all this it is a world which is doomed it is under the Wrath and the curse of almighty God now then the Christian you see starts out with that and because he starts with that he is not a bit surprised that the world is as it is he's not disappointed he expects nothing better from it indeed to the Christian the amazing thing is so often that the world is as good as it is the amazing thing to the Christian is that God hasn't long since ended it all and blotted this rebellious human race out of existence he's not a bit surprised in other words the first thing this Christian view does is to Deliver Us from that false ridiculous optimism which has created such false hopes in the human heart throughout the centuries but you know you and I are living at a terrible time is it the end I don't know but the optimism is beginning to wear very thin isn't it it's not surprising look at the world and things that are happening look at the way it all seems to be heading up to something well now the Christian starts with us and you see in the world tonight it is a very great help to understand the cause of it all and not to be surprised not to be amazed at it all not to feel that all your theories have been bellied and that all your hopes have suddenly dashed to the ground the Christian is a man who takes a very pessimistic view of life in this world now that's not a popular thing to say is it but it's the truth that is what the clergymen and the preachers are for they're not to rush out and try to do what the Statesman can't do they can't do it any better than the Statesman no no the business of the preacher is to tell the truth and here is the first word of truth if you are pinning your hopes to this world well my dear friend you're doomed to disappointment it is an evil World which is under the curse and the Doom of God in this Tabernacle we do grown being burdened that was the experience of the great Apostle it has been the experience of the Saints throughout the centuries very well the gospel then starts by helping us with our whole View and Outlook upon life in this world but then secondly because of that it also helps the Christian to view his own life in this world in an entirely different way now you notice it coming out in the chapter what do you mean sir someone will I mean this the moment a man becomes a Christian he realizes that this is not the only world that life in this world is not permanent that's the first thing we've all got to if our Earthly House of this Tabernacle were dissolv that's it now this is the thing that troubles the non-Christian isn't it is this going to happen is the is life going to end am I going to be killed is the world going to end and this is terrible this is the end of everything because he's only lived for this world and he knows nothing about any other world this is all no no just the Christian this is not a permanent world this is a only a temporary world and in any case we in this life and in this world are nothing but uh strangers and pilgrims and Journeymen and travelers that's the whole teaching of the Bible from beginning to end according to the Bible this life this world is only some sort of Preparatory School this isn't the real thing this is only the place of preparation oh you've got endless statements of this in the Bible I suppose the lucus classicus is the 11th chapter of the great epistle to the Hebrews you see there you've got a gallery of the Great Men of God in all the centuries starting back away with Abel coming along you remember through Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Moses and David and Jeff and all these men now here are the Great Men of God here are the great heers of the faith these are men who lived in this world as life should be lived in this world well what was their secret well here's their secret these men we are told were looking for a city which has foundations whose Builder and maker is God there ERS You' never get that in this world they say here have we no continuing City but we seek one to come that's their confession they all confessed that they were pilgrims and strangers in this world they were just Travelers they all had their eye on something away Beyond this world and this life now whether we like it or not that is their characteristic that is always the characteristic of the people of God and that was the characteristic of this great Apostle Paul he says our citizenship as Christians is in him that's where we belong we are a colony of heav we are people away from home you see there's nothing in common between this View and the worldly view is there this is the Christian's way of looking at it all he is in this world like everybody else yes but he starts off by saying this is not permanent this is not everything what is your life it is but a vapor here today gone tomorrow this fleeting life of ours that's the Christian view very well then there is its essential difference but it goes on as the Apostle puts it here he says For the Love of Christ constraineth us because we thus judge Etc and that he died for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto him that died for them and rose again now there's a fundamental Point again the man of the world of course you're non-Christian he lives for himself alone that's all he wants I want have a good time this good time that's the thing that matters not truth not morality not the uplift good time that's what we want get rid of troubles and problems that we can all drink as much as we like and indulge sex as much as we that's a good time and that's only once you see he's got no other ideas he never Rises Beyond ah but not so the Christian he doesn't live for himself neither does he live for this world because you see he's now looking at things in this entirely New Way having seen that this is only a preparatory world and a preparatory State and that this brief life of ours three score years and 10 little more or less what is it a thousand years in God's sight but one day and one day is a thousand years oh it's a very fleeting existence ah yes but it's uh it's one that leads on to something which which is eternal and everlasting and endless that's the real very well says this man as my eternal Destiny depends upon what I do here I've got to view this life in a new way I don't settle down in this I don't pin all my hopes to this I don't say oh now then here it is I'm making the maximum no no I put it into that context that other context and not only that I realize that this son of God this Lord Jesus Christ has come into this world to deliver me from it and its ser and its throm and its doom and its final destruction he came into it and he died for me he came and went to the cross that I might be delivered from all that and have that eternal life in the future very well says this men this is my argument that they that live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto him that died for them and rose again ah says this man what I'm out for now is not a good time not just to enjoy myself not just to try to make this world perfect so that I can stay here as long as I can no no I concerned now to live to the glory of this Lord this son of God who came into the world and died for me that I might be rescued and might have the hope of that Glory that's coming not unto ourselves but unto him that died for them and rose again to please him to make him known my business tonight is not to rush out into the world and try and do things that the great Statesman can't do oh no my job my task my calling is an infinitely bigger and greater one it isn't to save men's bodies it's to save their souls it's to tell them about this Lord of Glory who came into the world in order to save us from its ultimate doom and to tell us that it's possible not unto themselves but unto him that died for them and rose again in other words the Christian is a man who uses this life to prepare for the next here it is at the previous chapter our light Affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory now here is the typical Christian view and it's absolutely essential if we want to have this confidence that will enable us to face the end and say we know we are always confident we are full of Courage come what may let the End come it doesn't matter this is the way you've got to view life in this way it's a new way it's revolutionary the world says Ah but you are an Escapist no I'm not I'm living in this world I'm doing my duty in this world world I'm doing everything I can in this world but I don't live for it I'm not bounded by it I'm not shut in by it it isn't to me the only one my hopes are not in this I use this to the glory of God to make Christ known and to prepare myself for the life which is to come now that's how the Christian views his life in this world so you don't say you see can't these bums be stopped so that I can go on having a good time why should these men have these International crisis one after another and spoil my spot and my fun my dear friend how utterly superficial it all is you know even if there were not a war life would still be a place of troubles and of problems even when the victorians thought that there'd Never Be Another War the PX britanica was life a pleasant and an enjoyable thing no it was still a place of groaning and being burdened read the biographies read the histories there was still trouble there were still drunkenness and squalor and vice and evil the world has always been like this ever since men fell so it is essential you see that we should be clear about these things understand why life is as it is get this new view of Life see it for what it is temporary passive evanescent leading to something big and great and eternal then finally it comes to this the Christian is a man who has absolute certainty about his eternal future now you notice what the letter said rather nebulous rather nebulous well of course to that poor men it is rather nebulous it's surprising that it is even as much as that but the answer to the the charge of rather nebulus is this we know we know that if our Earthly House of this Tabernacle were dissolved let me remind you again it isn't a man on holiday who says that it is a man in prison it is a man who may be killed at any moment is in the hands of a wicked Emperor called Nero who is always changing and fitful and capricious he may suddenly decide in a drunken fit to kill this man of God and he knows that never was a man's life more precarious but looking into the face of death he doesn't got a rather nebulous hope he says we know listen to him as he goes on repeating it therefore we are always confident full of Courage knowing that whilst we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord we are confident I say and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord wherefore we labor that whether present or absent we may be accepted of him he's not sitting in a corner doing nothing he's laboring he's doing his work he's getting on with it he he hasn't gone out of life now no he labors whether present or absent that's not the big thing to him but it's everything to the other man is the world going to end that we only got six months what can we do well let's forget it all let's jump into pleasure no no says the Apostle I know I know whom I have believed I am persuaded that neither death nor it's all here it's ever the same thing now then the question before us is this what is this faith of his how does he know all this how can he be so confident well I can't answer that question fully I'll give you some headings to work out for yourselves what's his confidence based on well it isn't sight he says we walk by faith not by sight now that's the whole essence of the Christian position but what is this Faith well it's this you see this is what it rests upon the truth that you have in this book is and of itself here is the only book as I say that understands life the only book that rarely understands men here is the only truth about ourselves and the whole state of the world tonight that ought to be enough to make you believe it my faith is based partly upon this book in and of itself but I've got more there is a plan of God for this world it's outlined in this book you you see it in the Old Testament God has given various promises yes and this book is a record of the Fulfillment of the promises now you take the whole story of the Jews how they ever came into being and what happened to them can you explain all that apart from God of course you can't take this striking momentous fact about 800 years before the time God gave a message to the prophets telling them that he was going to send a great deliverer in into this world he told one of them that he was to be born in a little place called Bethlehem he told another that he was to be born of a virgin he told many of them that he was to be born in great poverty he gave an account of his life his working of Miracles his loneliness all these things and then he went on to say about his death that he'd be led like a lamb to the slaughter that he was going to be smitten that he would die be buried that he'd rise again now all that was said a 800 years before the time and then you get the Fulfillment in other words the faith of the Christian is based on this not on theories not on imagination not on fairy tales but on the fact of the Lord Jesus Christ and the whole world acknowledges this you called this 1961 for that reason it's 1961 years since he came Jesus of Nazareth is the dividing point of History the fact of Christ my faith is based on him the Fulfillment of all the promises of God in him all the promises of God are ye and are men he was born in Bethlehem he was born of a virgin he was born in loneliness and poverty he was a carpenter he did go down into Egypt he did work miracles he was crucified in weakness he did die he was buried he rose again the fact of Jesus Christ the Fulfillment of the promise this man is confid and why well you see it's all here in in these various phrases that he uses listen to it again and that he died for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto him which died for them and rose again how can this man the Apostle Paul look into the face of death and say if our Earthly House of this Tabernacle where is are we know that we have a what was he certainly best upon not only the fact of Jesus Christ but especially the fact of his resurrection died and rose again he'd seen him on the road to Damascus he knew it was a fact Christ had finished dying he had risen all enemies had been conquered the resurrection is the proof of it all and he'd seen the Risen glorified Lord hence his confidence That's the basis of our confidence and not only that as he tells us now he that ha wrought us for the self same thing is God who also ha given unto us the Earnest of the spirit my faith is based primarily upon the facts the historical facts concerning Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the Fulfillment of all the promises of the Old Testament yes but I've got a confirmation within the spirit of God as an Earnest what I know and experience since I believed in him the earnest this thing within me that testifies to it all that makes me absolutely certain the Earth Earnest of the spirit the new life that he gives us something we can't explain we can't analyze something we can't even describe it isn't ourselves it what God has done to us the earnest of the spirit New Life in Christ Jesus that's it very well that is the thing on which the faith and the hope are based but what is this hope why is it that the apostles can look like this into the face of death and be undisturbed here's the answer it isn't escapism it is the exact opposite of escapism as a matter of fact listen to the way in which he puts it not that we would be unclothed but clothed upon that mortality might be swallowed up of life what does he mean well he means this you see the Apostle didn't look at it in this way like so many have tended to do oh well this is a world and a life of trouble and of pain and of Sorrow a life in which we grown being burdened the sooner the better I'm dead I wish I could get out of it all I wish I could have an end to it all why doesn't death come and take me out no no that is it escapism that is the desire to be unclothed but it wasn't the apostles teaching but you know that is the teaching of many religions that is the teaching of mamad of Buddhism and of Hinduism and many another ISM but it is not the teaching of the Christian Gospel of the faith that is in Christ Jesus what is this well not that we be unclothed but the exact opposite clothed upon in this Tabernacle we do grown being burdened not for that we would be unclothed but clothed upon that mortality might be swallowed up of life if our Earthly House of this Tabernacle were dissolved we have a b building the building of God an house not made with hens Eternal in the heavens what's it mean well you see it isn't a tent any longer if our Earthly House of this Tabernacle tent My Soul at the moment is in this tent which is called my body and it is like a tent it is only a temporary and a transient and a flimsy place in which to dwell if our Earthly House of this tint were dissolved our tint likee existence came to an end what have I got well he says it isn't another tent but it's a building a building of God and house not made with hens it's Eternal in the heavens this is a moving tent that is a building where with foundations it's Everlasting it is eternal the great Apostle here of course is but repeating what our blessed Lord and Savior Jesus Christ himself had said you remember it in John 14 let not your heart be troubled ye believe in God believe also in me in my father's house are many any mentions if it were not so I would have told you I go to prepare a place for you and if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am there ye may be also that's it a building not a tent a house a mansion in a great building God not H but God Everlasting Eternal in the heavens not transient no possibility of change an eternal place of dwelling that's the thing says the Apostle what else well here he is you see putting it like this knowing that whilst we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord wherefore we labor that whether present or absent we may be accepted of him we are confident I say and willing to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord what is this well here it is the moment I go out of this tent I go onto that building that has been prepared for me that mansion that Christ has prepared yes but beyond the Mansion is the Lord Christ himself present with the the Lord yeah he says in this body I'm absent from the Lord but when I go out of this tent I go to be with the Lord to see him to speak to him to look into his face do you remember what he said to the thief Dying by his side upon the cross today Thou shalt be with me in Paradise that's it you remember what the same Apostle says in writing later to the Philippians to me to live is Christ and to die is gain what is death to him to be with Christ Which is far better have a mansion to see him to live with him to dwell with him in a place where there is no sorrow no sighing no sin no war no trouble no Bloodshed God shall wipe away all tears from eyes a land of bliss and of Joy oh yes forever with the Lord amen so let it be life from the dead is in that word is immortality here in the body pent absent from him I roam but nightly pitch my moving tent a day's March nearer home that's it no longer a tent a building a building of God a house not made with hands an eternal house a way out of the sorrow and the shame and the war and the sighing and the Bloodshed forever with the Lord that's it and then ultimately and beyond all that at the end of history when he returns into this world for he's coming back into it the world is not just to go on and on and on the Son of God is coming back and coming back to judgment and then will be the general resurrection and the Christian's body the tent is left behind him will be raised renewed glorified he'll be given a body fit for the spirit which is already glorified he'll be like Christ there shall be new heavens and a new Earth wherein dwelleth righteousness this old world is to be redeemed the earnest expectation of the creature waited for the manifestation of the sons of God says Paul in Romans 8 the whole creation granth and travaileth in pain together until now what is it waiting for this renewal when the son of of God shall come this is the Christian Outlook my hopes are not based on this world or this life but on the one to come in this Tabernacle we do grown being burdened yes but we are children of God and if children then as hes of God and Joint as with Christ we are going to an inheritance and it's an inheritance Incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away let China and Russia and the whole world decide what they like they make no difference to this let the world be blown up in 6 months it doesn't matter the city of God remaines it's a building of God it's a house not made with hems it's Eternal in the hens it's Everlasting it's the glory of God which is to descend and to revolutionize the whole Cosmos and there shall be this new heav and new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness that's the teaching that's what this Apostle believed and that is why he could say y though our Earthly House of this Tabernacle were dissolved we know that we have a building of God and house not made with hens Eternal in the heavens that's it my friends this is the business of Cl CLG this is the business of the preacher I can't influence chus cha I can't influence China neither can you neither can anybody else but thank God they're all under the hands of God they're only temporary let them do their worst let hell be let loose let the devil emerge as he will with unusual malignity he's already defeated the Christ of God has already vanquished him Jesus Reigns and Jesus shall reign whereever the sun do his successive Journeys run his kingdom stretch from Shore to Shore till moon shall wax and way no more here then is the question what do you want what are you looking for are you just out for a good time are you just out to postpone War and the use of these infernal bums well if you are you're doomed to disappointment if you are just out for some Escape mechanism you'll never find it forgive the language go out if you like condemning this gospel and go don't have your damned good time what better are you what have you got what have you had what are the shame and the remorse that will follow what about the facts that are still there what about the end of life which is coming what about the Judgment of God the terror of the Lord what about it can you meet it can you face it all the unutterable madness of this superficial non-Christian and thinking face the facts my friend be a realist for once inquire into Origins and causes and having seen the truth about it all and about yourself having come to see that the whole world as it is is as it is because it's like you as you are recognize that there is only one place of safety and of rest and of quiet and of peace and that is to become a child of God and in his hands knowing that his dear son has died for you that your sins might be forgiven knowing that he's just gone ahead to prepare a place for you to erect a mansion for you in God's Building in eternity and that he'll come again and receive you unto himself so that when the world is destroyed in the last judgment you will not only be safe it will just mean that you enter into that inheritance that has been prepared for you before the very foundation of the world I beseech you in Christ's stand be ye reconciled to God if you're not you've got nothing you can use bold language and escape and a pleasure for the moment but the facts remain and your doom remains I beseech you as an ambassador for Christ that's my privilege I'm speaking for him he taketh no Delight in the death of the ungodly I beseech you in Christ dead be ye reconciled to God which means acknowledge your sin acknowledge that the world and you yourself are as you are because of this Rebellion against God repent confess it all give up selfdefense cast yourself upon God's mercy believe his message concerning his son that he did make him to be sin for you who knew no sin that you might be made the righteousness of God in him and then get up and no longer go on living for yourself but unto him that died for you and rose again prepare for the glory that is coming it may come before you know if it's only 6 months it means only 6 months before the glory begins do you believe this that's what it means be reconciled to God it's his word it's not mine it's not human invention it is the revelation of God it is the thing given by the Risen Lord to this man Paul and I'm repeating his words I beseech you in Christ dead be ye reconciled unto God fading is the worldlings pleasure all his boasted pump Angel solid J and Lasting treasure none but Zion's children know are you a child of Zion do you belong to it well repent and believe be reconciled to God and you become immediately a citizen of God's Eternal City amen we do hope that you've been helped by the preaching of Dr Martin lyd Jones all of the sermons contained within in the mlj trust audio library are now available for free download you may share the sermons or broadcast them however because of international copyright please be advised that we are asking first that these sermons never be offered for sale by a third party and second that these sermons will not be edited in any way for length or to use as audio clips you can find our contact information on our website at mlj trust.org that's mlj t .org" [00:38:27]