Background: The Jews had returned from 70 years of foreign captivity in Babylon. While they were in Babylon, the Jews were not able to practice their religion in its entirety. In fact, for the most part, they did not have access to the Law of God. For most of the captives, whatever they knew of their Faith came from memory or the memories of others. By the end of the 70 years, they had forgotten far more than they remembered about the Will of God.
After having rebuilt the Temple and having just completed re-building the wall around Jerusalem so that they might enjoy security from their enemies, Ezra the priestly scribe believed it was time to begin teaching the people the Holy Scriptures. (READ Nehemiah 8:1-9)
When they heard the Word of God, they were profoundly grieved. They were convicted. The more they heard the more they realized just how much their fathers and they, themselves, had strayed from the Will of God. Their failure was evident. Their guilt was obvious and they felt it deeply. They wept in sorrow.
In our spiritual lives, sorrow for our sins can be a wonderful thing. Paul speaks of its benefits in 2 Corinthians 7:10, "For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation."
When we realize how we have fallen short of the righteousness and holiness of God, how we have offended Him, how we have spurned His Will and rebelled against One who is so loving and kind.... it should generate remorse within our hearts. It should cause us grief, shame, and sorrow. Such sorrow is good if it brings us to repentance. It is beneficial if it causes us to humble ourselves, confess our sins, seek His gracious forgiveness, and motivate us to make the decision to change our ways. These steps lead us to the obtaining of salvation.
God desires that we have this kind of sorrow and remorse. This kind of sorrow is essential in getting us to where we should be.
However, there is a sorrow that is not the Will of God. There is a sorrow that can be counter-productive. This is excessive sorrow or despair. Brothers and sisters, it is destructive when we continue to feel grief and sorrow AFTER we have have been convicted of our sins, AFTER we have confessed them to God, AFTER we have sought forgiveness and made the commitment to change.
After confession and forgiveness, God wants to replace the grief and sorrow with holy gladness and joy.
The prophet Isaiah foresaw the ministry of our Redeemer. In Isaiah 61:1-3, that ministry is foretold as if through the mouth of Christ - "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me because the Lord has annointed me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent Me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to captives, and freedom to prisoners; To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord... To comfort all who mourn, to grant those who mourn in Zion, giving them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting."
In the sermon on the Mount, Jesus proclaimed, "Blessed are those who mourn, they shall be comforted (Matthew 5:4)." That is the essence of the Gospel - the good news - that if you mourn over your sins, Jesus will give you comfort and joy.
In Corinth, there was a brother who committed an act of immorality. The Church disciplined the erring brother with disfellowshipment and that action caused the brother to realize how wicked his behavior was. He sorrowed over his sin. In 2 Corinthians 2:6-7,11, Paul instructs the congregation to accept back the repentant brother and comfort him before his sorrow became destructive: "Sufficient for such a one is this punishment which was inflicted by the majority, so that on the contrary you should rather forgive and comfort him, lest somehow such a one be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.... in order that no advantage be taken of us by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his schemes."
You know, there are few things that Satan relishes more than a Christian who is in despair over their sins. When a Christian lacks spiritual comfort and joy, the Deceiver rejoices because that Christian is under Satan’s thumb. He is worthless to the Lord and no threat to Satan.
Return back to Nehemiah 8:9-10, "Then Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, ’This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.’ For all of the people were weeping when they heard the words of the Law. Then he said to them,... ’Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength."
The strength we need to live a godly life comes not from excessive sorrow or despair but from our joy in the Lord. Despair does not promote growth. Despair does not promote transformation. Despair does not promote thanksgiving, praise, and worship, Despair knows no victory over temptation and trial. Joy is the power that produces a successful, victorious, fruit-bearing Christian.
It has been my conviction that the reason why many of our brethren do not grow spiritually and do great works for the Lord is because they totally lack spiritual joy in their lives.
Why is this? When Paul says, in Romans 14:17, that "the kingdom of God" is "righteousness, and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit", why are so many members of the Lord’s Church lacking in peace and joy?
Well, part of the problem may be that we lack pulpit preaching that focuses on generating peace and joy within our brethren. Maybe part of it is that we are so scared of being like the holy-rollers that we squash any expression of enthusiasm and gladness in our worship. God forbid that we raise our hands in prayer or feel any urge to tap our feet while we sing.
I do think that we need to, as a Church, examine our ministries and see how we might foster joy and peace in our membership. We have got to understand that "the joy of the Lord is the Church’s strength."
Part of the problem is Satan. The old Devil is "the accuser of the brethren" (Revelation 12:10). In that role, he strives to snatch peace and joy from our souls. He works hard to discourage us by whispering lies into our spiritual ears. Perhaps, you have heard him whisper to your soul, saying:
- You’re no good.
- God’s not pleased with you and He never will be.
- You are a spiritual loser.
- You have so many faults and weaknesses, you’ll never be able to successfully live the Christian life.
- You’ll never be able to please God.
- You have screwed-up so many times, He is not going to continue to forgive you.
- You might as well give-up because you’ll never make it.
- You don’t have a chance in reaching Heaven.
- You are going to hell and you know it.
Does this sound familiar? Have you ever had such thoughts? Have you ever believed these accusations and experienced the resulting despair?
If you have not, that is great. However, you would be surprised how many of your brothers and sisters have heard these accusations within their souls and believed these things.
If you have heard and believed these things, you might be relieved to know that you are not alone. Other brethren have but have been too afraid to share this with others for fear of being belittled - which they do not need.
These thoughts are LIES. They do not have any legitimacy whatsoever. If you have these thoughts in your head, the Deceiver is playing mind-games with you. The mind is the primary battleground where Satan attacks us, today. If he can get you to think how he wants you to think and believe what he wants you to believe, your mind becomes his fortress under his control.
Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10:4-5, "the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ."
When the Deceiver begins his demoralizing attack, we need to fight back with the teachings and promises of Jesus Christ and His apostles. We need to bring our thought processes into submission to Christ. The truth shall set you free from your spiritual despair.
If we feel ourselves to be vulnerable to this kind of attack from Satan, we need to find Scriptures that challenge and defeat the destructive lies of Satan. Perhaps, it would be beneficial to write down and post Scriptures around our homes that contradict the lies and help us to align our thoughts with God’s thoughts.
I want to share some Scriptures, now, that you might want to add to your arsenal. Scriptures that might help you fend-off Satan next time he tries to discourage you by taking control of your mind:
1.Romans 8:31-35, 37-39, "If God be for us, who can be against us? He Who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the One Who justifies; who is the one who condemns?Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather Who was raised, Who is at the right hand of God, Who also intercedes for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?... But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him Who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
2.Philippians 1:6, "For I am confident of this very thing, that He Who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. 2:13, "for it is God Who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure." (Bumper-Sticker: ’Don’t judge me now, God ain’t done with me yet.’)
3.James 3:2, "For we all stumble in many ways." 1 John 1:8-9; 2:1-2, "If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness... And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins."
4.Philippians 3:12-14, "Not that I have already attained it, or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."
5.1 Thessalonians 5:8-9, "having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ."
6.1 John 4:4, "Greater is He Who is in you than he who is in the world." Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Him Who strengthens me."
I want to close by pointing-out a few things we should do to generate joy in our Christian lives -
1) 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, "Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus."
Let us note the three elements found in this passage:
When Satan tries to get you down on yourself. When he tries to discourage you and make you sorrow - REJOICE. Open your Bible and review the passages we have mentioned today. Rejoice in God’s love and faithfulness. Open your songbook or put on some spiritually up-lifting music and sing.
Don’t forget to PRAY. Tell God what is going through your head and what you are feeling. Ask Him to bring you peace. Ask Him to put His arms of love around you. Ask Him to restore a spirit of joy in your life.
Count your blessings and THANK HIM for them. Remember how good He has been to you. ’When upon life’s bellows you are tempest tossed, when you are discouraged, thinking all is lost, count your many blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done.’ A grateful heart is a happy heart. Count you blessings and thank Him for them, one by one.
2) 1 Peter 3:10-12, "Let him who means to love life and see good days refrain his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking guile. And let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears attend to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."
Brothers and sisters, do not cease trying to live right. Don’t give-up. You will only feel worse. God’s commandments, when performed, tend to give us happiness and joy. As David says, in Psalm 19:8, "The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart." ’Trust and obey; for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.’
My heart goes-out to all who are plagued with excessive sorrow. Few know just how horrible it is unless they themselves have experienced it. I hope that the things I have brought forth in this lesson may be of some help.
My wish and prayer would be that all my brothers and sisters would know - each moment - the joy of the Lord and be strengthened by it.
