What Gives the Christian Comfort in Troublesome Times?
By Pastor Jim May
Life is filled with uncertainties. You never know what the next minute will hold, or what tomorrow may hold for your life. Of course we all know that God has every moment of our lives in his hand, and yet, even with the trust that we have in him to lead us in the right paths, there is always that uncertainty of what will happen next.
There are a number of things that are surely uncertain in this life. Let’s look at a few of them for a moment.
Beauty is uncertain, and the only thing certain about it is that it will soon begin to fade away. Outward beauty fades with time as the troubles of life and the effects of sin on this mortal body take their toll. Who among us can look into the mirror and see the same image of ourselves that we saw just a few years ago? With every passing day a little more hair turns grey, or maybe even falls out. With every trouble another wrinkle appears. Some folks want to call the wrinkles “crows feet” but I think sometimes they are little more like Eagle talons. The whole body sags under the weight of gravity and one day we find that the muscles in our chest and shoulders have fallen and settled around our mid-section and they are there to stay. I suppose if the Lord has allowed us to live to be 200 years old we might all just wind up as a mass of bone and tissue just rolling on the ground because it seems that every year gravity pulls us down a little more. Instead of growing up, we are growing out and down at the same time. Yes, outward beauty is something that is certainly uncertain.
The Promises that people make are also uncertain. I thank God that I know a lot of people who speak the truth. They are my brothers and sisters in the Lord. But how many of you know that church folks can lie like the devil too? Let me just tell you that no one is above reproach when it comes to telling the truth all the time.
We like to say that we are just “stretching the truth”. No – we are lying. We like to think that it’s just a “Little White Lie”. – NO, it’s a black lie. There is no white lie. It’s either true or it’s a lie. There is no middle ground here. We like to think that it’s a “half-truth”. NO – it’s a whole lie.
I like what our court system make us promise to do before we can be a witness on the stand, but the problem is that nearly everyone who makes that promise and takes the stand actually perjure themselves in a court of law. The promise is that we will “Tell the Truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” In reality we only say what the lawyers want us to say, and the whole truth may never be known. The promises of men are shaky at best and unreliable.
Some folks don’t know how to talk without telling a lie. It’s like one story goes about politicians. How do you know when they are lying? If their mouth is moving. Our president made his first speech before Congress last night. How many of you heard it? Do you think he told the truth, or is he hiding his agenda behind words that sound good?
Somehow I don’t think that everything he said is right, neither will it all end up the way he says and there’s no doubt that every word was weighed with the socialist and democratic party agenda in mind. And it’s not just the democrats either. The Republicans are no better. All of them say what they think you want to hear to get your vote of confidence, and then when the voting is done, it’s right back to party politics and political agendas, and you can bet that neither one has an agenda in mind that is going to do much for the working class Americans that pay the tax bill. No matter what they say, you can count it as a lie because the real truth is never told. The rich will get richer and the poor will get poorer, and I’m convinced it will be that way until Jesus comes again and sets up his righteous government. If there’s money to be made, lies will be involved.
Now I don’t know if most politicians plan to lie about everything. The problem is that many of them have been sold a bill of goods and been convinced that what they are saying is the truth. They aren’t even aware of the deceit that is involved.
Surely promises of men are something that you really can’t count on very much. A handshake once sealed a contract, but now you had better have it in triplicate, notarized and stamped, and on file with the courts. A handshake means nothing in contracts today. And you have to watch your back even if it is in writing.
Another thing that you can’t count on in this life is wealth and riches. The last economic crash on Wall Street is a prime example of quickly riches can disappear. In Haggai 1:6 the prophet is teaching about the uncertainty of riches when he told Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah, these words, "Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes."
The Sanford Group in Baton Rouge has collapsed and taken hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of dollars in investments of its employees and it all vanished in a puff of smoke. Such is the danger of electronic funds. There isn’t enough real money to back up the paper and electronic funds that are out there and so we see the value of the dollar dropping like a rock against world currencies.
The economists have stated that prices double every ten years on most items we buy. Well, I don’t know if that’s completely true, but everything today does cost much more than it did 10 years ago. In 1970 I purchased a brand new Pontiac LeMans for around $4000. It’s been about 38 years now and what does that same type of car cost today? Well, you can’t get the same thing of course so it’s hard to compare apples to apples, but the closest thing offered to that car today would be a Pontiac Gran Prix that sells for something like $24,000. The value of the dollar is 1/6 what it was in 1970 or about 16 cents. If they print up paper money like I’ve heard it said on the news, then the value will likely go to less than 10 cents compared to 1970. A man who had a $20 gold piece in the 1800’s was a rich man, but now its worth much less, and you may get arrested for trying to spend it since gold coins are a collector’s item and not legal tender anymore.
You sure can’t count on the riches of this world can you?
Is your future uncertain as far as this world is concerned? You can be sure it is. We don’t know what tomorrow will hold, whether it’s shadow, sunshine or rain. We have no promise of a future in this life. The Bible says that life is like a vapor of smoke that can be taken away in a moment. I’m glad I know Jesus for there is no certainty of life without him. Far too many graves are filled with babies, children, teenagers and young adults. We expect for those who have lived a long and full life to leave this world and go home to be with Jesus, but we never expect our children to go first, and yet there is no promise of tomorrow for any of us, young or old.
The cemeteries are also filled with too many who put off giving their lives to Jesus just one day too long. If they could come back, I promise you one thing, not one of those who are burning in the flames right now would fail to confess Christ and get saved. You talk about a revival! Brother, if the lost souls in hell could come back, there would be a revival like you never imagined and every church would be completely overwhelmed, and you’d see them dragging their family and friends to church even while they were kicking and screaming. Lost souls don’t doubt the power of God. They know the value of salvation now, but it’s too late. Life caught them unaware and now their chance is gone forever. Don’t waste life while you have it, for it is an uncertain thing.
Friendships are uncertain. I’ve seen it in my own life where those who you thought were your best friends can turn on you and become like your worst enemy at the slightest provocation. Thank God for true friends, but don’t ever forget that friendships hand on the balance of how we treat one another and friendship can end very quickly.
Earthly praise and glory are uncertain. In the ancient times the winner of the Olympic Games in Greece was given a crown of victory made of green vines and leaves. The vines would quickly dry up and the leaves would fall away. This was a constant reminder to those receiving the accolades of the crown that glory was fleeting and that their accomplishments would soon fade into forgetfulness, so don’t put too much store in the praise of others.
One minute you can be “at-a-boys” as people slap you on the back in praise, but don’t forget that they can quickly stab you in the back just a well. I’m not talking about being cynical. I’m just stating the fact that praise can quickly go away and be forgotten.
Uncertainty rules in the affairs of this world. The one thing that is certain is that everything will change. You can’t count on this world or anything of this world. There is no sure foundation in the world.
But, as Christians, we do have some things that we can be very certain of. We have a foundation that cannot be shaken. We have promises that cannot fail. And we have a God that never changes.
We have a sure promise, many promises in God’s Word that cannot fail and will come to pass. 2 Corinthians 1:20, "For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us." Matthew 5:18, "For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." God’s promises are truth and shall never fail. That’s a certainty that we can use as a foundation for living for the Lord.
We have a sure foundation through our Lord Jesus Christ. Isaiah 28:16, "Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste." Jesus Christ has finished his work, laid the path open and sat down at the Father’s right hand. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. That’s a certainty that we can count on as Christians that the world just doesn’t seem to want to accept and can’t understand.
We have the certainty of an eternal reward in glory. Jesus said that your mansion was already there. It’s there right now, with your name on the sign out front, saying paid in full by the Blood of Jesus Christ. He has promised us a crown of Glory, a Crown of Life and a Crown of Righteousness, and we will be crowned as Children of the King of Kings. My what a promise! But only Christians have that promise. I’m glad I am one of His.
We have the certainty that we will be accepted by the Lord if we just look to him. In John 6:37 Jesus said, "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." You are guaranteed in writing, and most of all, in the blood of Christ, that you will be accepted before God as one of his own dear children.
We have the certainty of God’s Love that will never leave us, nor forsake us. Paul tells us in Romans 8:38-39, "For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." 1 Corinthians 13:8 says that, "Charity [Love] never faileth…” I’m so glad that we have that promise of unfailing and eternal love from our God.
We also have the certainty of obtaining eternal life through Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:1 says, "For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." We are going home to be with Jesus and to meet all of our loved who have gone before. What a glad reunion day that is going to be! Life, life, eternal life – It’s yours and mine forever.
One last thing that I want to name as being certain for the Christian is that we have a sure Anchor to hold on to when the world is going mad.
Hebrews 6:19, "Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;"
Though the world is filled with uncertainty, and there’s nothing here that we can truly put our trust in, God has given us a great hope. That hope is our anchor that keeps us holding on to Jesus. I’m going all the way with Him, all the way to Glory land. My hope is set in nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. Thank God for that Great Hope today. AMEN
