Overcoming Despair

Introduction. I become concerned from time to time about what seems to be an overwhelming sense of despair that has swept over many Christians in our generation.  I don’t mean that in reference specifically to this congregation, but Christians throughout this country seem to fight the debilitating feeling that...

·         Things are not as they should be,
·         The world is growing more and more corrupt.
·         Believers are in the minority.
·         We are loosing ground!

I am afraid that we may not realize how severely this kind of attitude hinders the cause of Christ. Every time we give way to the feeling that ...

·         Things will never get better, or
·         They will never be as good as they used to be, or
·         It won't do any good to share the gospel with others, or
·         What good does it do to try to do what's right, everyone else is just going to do wrong!

I believe Satan sits back and laughs victoriously because he has succeeded in convincing those who hold the most powerful force in all the universe (the gospel of Jesus Christ) that it is of no value!

            Brothers and sisters that is a sin!  It is a sin that I confess to you I have been guilty of and it may be one that you as well have given in to. It is a sin that we must repent of this very day lest we allow it to hinder the cause of Christ one second more.

I.  In What Ways Can We Feel Despair?  Despair may show itself in a number of ways.  See if any of these have touched your heart.

A.  Anxiety about Our Society.  Have you heard any of these?

“This neighborhood is going down the tubes”

“This world just isn't a safe place to live any more”

Whatever led us to think that it was?  This is a world of darkness.  This is a world of death.  This is a world of criminals, robbers, sodomites, and thugs.  Because this is a world of sin!  It has always been and will always be and we had better bolster our courage to stand firm against it or it will roll us over.

·         Romans 8:21 speaks of the creation being in the “bondage of corruption.”

·         Romans 3:10 speaks of the world in declaring “There is none righteous.”

      Why is it that at times there is a glimmer of peace and tranquility?  Why is it that there have been those times that people have done what is right?  Only because they have been persuaded to obey the truth.

      What can bring out a glimmer of peace, hope and tranquility again?  Only when people again turn back to truth.  Matthew 5:13-15  We have the light of all lights. Are we afraid to let it shine?

      I think one reason we feel so bombarded by despair is largely due to the mass media.  What makes headlines – Godly husband and wife stay married till their death?  (That would be more rare these days.)  But that’s not what we hear.  Or maybe, Teenagers study their Bibles without their parents telling them to.  (That goes on—but we aren’t going to hear that!)   We hear record crime statistics, national perversion day celebrations, or something just as vulgar.

      Brothers and sisters sometimes if we find ourselves feeling overwhelmed by it all—just turn it off.  You might say, “I don't want to keep my head in the sand.”  I’m not talking about staying in the dark.  I’m talking about keeping things in perspective.  We are on the winning side.  We need to remind ourselves of that.  Letting our view of the world be shaped by the world’s media is like letting the enemy in a war keep us up to date on what is happening.   During World War II there was a female voice which was broadcast from Tokyo radio which Allied troops nicknamed “Tokyo Rose.” She tried to discourage troops about the status of the war, but she was not an accurate gauge because she worked for the enemey.   You are not going to see the truth from the enemy’s perspective.  Philippians 4:8

B.  Anxiety about The Condition Of The World.

“Things are not like they used to be”

                        You know that’s right.  They are a lot better!

      I think sometimes we really don’t have a good picture in our minds of what the world was like into which the Gospel was born.  Let me try to paint a picture for you:

·         You lived in a conquered land. Taxes were imposed that served your conqueror, not your people.   In some cases, some of those taxes actually went toward the support of emperor worship throughout the empire.

·         You lived in a time when human life was of little value. Abortion was common, infanticide was frequent, slavery was the norm, the sick and weak were treated with contempt. Revolts and war were simply a regular part of life.

·         You lived in a time of immorality. Homosexuality and religious prostitution were standards of society.  Divorce was sanctioned and allowed on a whim.  Anyone that stood for chastity and faithfulness in marriage was viewed as a fool.

·         You lived in a time of religious chaos. The Jews were divided.  The pagans practiced some religions that involved baths in the blood of bulls.  Very quickly those who believed in Christ became divided with false doctrines being spread all over the world.

·         You lived in a time of hardship. Many women died in childbirth.  Most illnesses were incurable.  Disease was frequently spread by insects, vermin, and those infected by the disease.  Famines could quickly wipeout a families financial security forcing them into slavery.  You had no insurance.  You had no government run welfare. All communication had to be face to face or by letter.  These had to be delivered by foot, by boat, or by donkey. If you had family just a few hundred miles away it might take months to learn about them.

Do we really have it so bad?

 C.  Anxiety about Brethren.

“We are loosing our young people”

“Faithful brethren are just falling like flies”

      When Toni and I first studied our way out of institutionalism we began to worship with a group in Springfield with a gospel preacher I love and respect a great deal.  It is probably due to him that I am preaching today, he encouraged me studied with me and provided a good example for me.  He has a son my age who when we first began to sort out some of these questions was teaching a class on The Issues That Divide Us (dealing with all of the main issues of division in recent years).  That class was very helpful to both Toni and I in coming to realize that the liberal brethren are acting without scriptural authority for much of what they do.  Beyond that he and I had a class together in college and I believe we were good friends.

A few years after I started preaching and we moved to Birmingham we got a call that related to us that he and his wife had left a sound congregation there in Springfield and identified with an institutional group.  I called him, and wrote him a couple of times trying to get him to study with me, but nothing came of it. 

There are other examples we could think of where it is not a matter accepting unscriptural practices but actually denying the faith and living in sin!  How do we emotionally bear the anguish of such losses?

We must resolve ourselves to the fact that we are in a spiritual war.  In any war there are going to be casualties.  That doesn’t make the loses any easier to bear but we have to put into perspective that as long as we abide in the truth we are on the winning side.  When young people or mature Christians betray their faith and join the enemy they are doing what has been predicted, yet we must not allow that to keep us from having confidence in the truth.   Matthew 24:10-13

D.  Anxiety about The Lost.

“Nobody wants to study the Bible any more”

“It won't do any good if I talk to them about the gospel”

      I want to confess to you a very personal example of this very feeling in my own life.  When I lived in Birmingham, I had several prospects that I was working with.  Some from the prison that I was writing to.  One from correspondence courses that we had sent out.  Some others from personal Bible studies and other contacts.  I felt very optimistic.  In fact on one occasion I stated publicly that I felt that I was having some of the most fruitful work I had ever had.

But then, for some reason they all just seemed to bottom out.  The correspondence stopped, the interest waned and what I thought were good prospects turned out to be grave disappointments.  I was very discouraged.  Not only that but I took it very personally.  I began to feel that it was just me.  Somehow I was unable to show people the truth in a way that would touch their hearts.  At the same time, some in the congregation fell back into the world (and I took those losses very personally as well). Now while I do believe we have the responsibility to try the best we can to present the gospel in a way that is loving, gentle, and simple;  and we must do what we can within our ability to rescue the lost and warn the erring;  I believe it was wrong for me to take the fact that other people rejected truth personally. 

1.      The Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:1-9; 18-23).  Here we learn that some rejected some accepted.  The reason that some rejected wasn’t because something was wrong with the Sower, or the seed but the condition of the soil.  I don’t like to have to accept this fact but we have to realize that the reason most don’t accept the Gospel is because their heart isn’t right.

2.      1 Corinthians 3:5-17 teaches us that God will judge the work of those who sow the seed.  But if they have sown the truth it is the responsibility of those who rejected the truth if they are lost, not the one who brought the message to them.

E.  Anxiety about the Future of the Church.

“This church is just dying”

From a Biblical standpoint when is a church dead? 

·         Lukewarm when they weren’t doing either good or bad (Rev. 3:14-22).

·         Corrupt when they tolerated what they should not have (Rev. 2:18-29).

·         “Lost” their “first love” when they lost their enthusiasm (Rev. 2:1-7).

·         The dead church is referred to as one whose “works” have not been found “perfect before God” (Rev. 3:1-6). 

Notice who can identify a dead church?  Their works were imperfect before God!  God is the one who knows who is dead and who is not.  What are they told to do? 

      1.  Remember (Rev. 3:3)

      2.  Hold fast (Rev. 3:3) and

      3.  Repent (Rev. 3:3).

      I challenge Christians today who think they have the divine ability to recognize what is and is not a dead church to find for me where the Bible ever tells Christians in weak or dying churches to leave?  It’s not there.  (I’m not talking about churches that have turned from the truth, but churches that externally appear to be stagnate.

      We have to get away from this denominational image that big flashy groups with expensive architecture, fancy names and organizational structures that draw anyone and everyone are the churches that in a spiritual sense are growing.  Jesus said (of the dying forms of Judaism), “Where the carcass is there the eagles gather” (Matt. 24:28).

      If we need to do a better job of keeping our then let’s just do it!  If we need to have more courage to talk to others about the then let’s do it also.  If we need to be better grounded in God’s word, let’s do it.  We accomplish nothing if we sit back and whine about what isn’t being done. We must do what can be done.

      I know that there are always things that preachers can do better, or the elders and deacons can do better.  But I have very little patience for the souls that will sit back and whine because the church isn’t what it should be and then refuse to do what they can to solve the problems they complain about. On the other hand I have great respect for those who may not have any visible position of prominence but if they see a need they will act upon it.  These are the kind of souls the church needs.  Romans 12:4-8

II.  Is Such Despair A Sin?  One might ask how is all this a sin?  It is a sin because it reflects a lack of confidence in the gospel and it’s power to make things better.  It is a sin because a lack of confidence in the Gospel is a lack of confidence in God (Acts 20:32; James 1:21; II Peter 1:19).

III.  How Do We Escape This Sense Of Despair?

A.  Recognize that we are the victors (1 John 2:15-17; 4:4-6; 5:4,5).  When this world is on fire and all the vain glory of this life passes away you know what will be the one thing that matters?  Whose side you’re on!

B.  Recognize that we have the greatest power in the universe (Rom. 1:16-17).      

C.  Understand the difference between concern for the lost  and despair (Acts 13:46-52).  Note: this “shaking the dust off their feet”, what was it about?  Did they no longer care?  Did they abandon concern?  No, it was simply an acknowledgement that their responsibility in the matter was met.  Their rejection was their own doing.

D.  Learn to approach your faith with a joy, optimism and quiet confidence. (Philippians 4:6,7).

E.  Never complain about anything that you aren’t doing something to try and correct or improve (Ephesians 4:29). Note: “edification” means building up.

Conclusion.  Let’s turn from despair and cling to faith.  It is the victory that will overcome this world.