No. 69 - IN THE PITS By: John J. Blanchard Saturday, August 06, 2005 The title of this sermon is “In the Pits”. I want to start with a quote by Winston Churchill who once said, “If you’re going through hell, keep going!” There is a lot of wisdom in that statement. Who wants to stop in an uncomfortable place? To that I would like to add a little story. Around midnight one night a very drunk man left a bar and went to his car. He was fumbling with his keys to unlock the car so he could drive home. Then it occurred to him, this is not a good thing to be doing. I am only three blocks from my house. I will walk home. He started walking down the block, and he decided to take a short cut through the cemetery. As he was walking through the cemetery in the dark, he was stumbling and fell into an open grave. He tried and tried to jump out of that hole and could not do it. Every time he would fall over backwards. He got exhausted. He just curled up in a corner and went to sleep saying somebody will find me in the morning. About 1:00 when the bar closed another very drunk man left the bar and started walking through the same cemetery. Wouldn’t you know it, he fell into the other end of the same open grave. There he was trying to jump out over and over, yelling, “Help, help!” It was to no avail. He could not get out. The other man was just quietly watching for a minute and then he said, “You’ll never get out of here.” But he did! That is something we need to consider, brethren. Because the Church is finding itself now in quite a pit. Perhaps when we are worried enough about our situation and we beg God for help, we will get out of that pit. SATAN KNOWS OUR WEAKNESSES The body of Christ has actually fallen into several pits depending on each person’s individual weaknesses. It does seem like the Church will never get out. The Church is almost in a free fall into some kind of abyss and destroying itself. Brethren, it is Satan that digs these pits, and he sets snares in the bottom of them. He does it along the course of our lives hoping to trip us up and get us to fail. He knows all of our individual weaknesses very well. He patiently digs pits and sets snares that sometimes take years for him to spring. But he is very patient, and he is very diabolical in his efforts. He knows our weaknesses. I would like to list a few here. He knows lust in humanity, the human desire for forbidden fruit or for power or the lust for prestige or materialism. A second weakness is greed: ever wanting more and holding on to what we have so tightly. We do not share. It can even lead to not sharing with God and not giving to God what He says is His (His first tenth). Pride is another one: thinking too much of ourselves and getting puffed up. We know what happened to Saul when he thought too much of himself, and it led to his downfall. Yet many Christians have fallen into the same pit (the same snare). Pride can also lead to us taking offense very easily and getting offended. It also leads to a condition where we do not want to admit our errors. That is a very dangerous pit to be in. Sometimes we are not willing to admit we are wrong. The fourth weakness is laziness. We know in our physical lives laziness leads to sloth and going backwards in financial matters. But in our spiritual life it can be wanting an easy life spiritually and not wanting to appear different to our friends and neighbors. We want an easy way into the kingdom, and we are not willing to push ourselves to overcome. There are other snares and pits to fall into, but at the bottom of them all (the deep hole) is the pit of despair. For a Christian it is like running out of gas. There is no energy left to keep going. He gives up. All the different snares and traps that Satan sets are for the single purpose of trying to get the true Christian to give up. That is why I want to turn to a quote by Vince Lombardi, the famous American football coach, when he said this. He told his team, “Fatigue makes cowards of us all.” I think that has happened to many people in God’s Church. They have grown very tired, and fatigue has set in. Not far behind is a lack of courage, cowardice and giving up. Brethren, we must be just the opposite. We must persevere. Let’s turn to our first scripture in Revelation 3:11. Christ tells the Philadelphia Church Era: “‘Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown. He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more.’” We must overcome and hold fast to what we have, brethren. If you would, turn a few pages over to Revelation chapter 13. You will find some admonitions to the Church, especially in this last era. Revelation 13, verse 7: “It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation.” Certainly the Church of God has been overcome. Continuing in verse 8: “All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If anyone has an ear, let him hear. He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.” That word patience, brethren, in verse 10 means endurance, to endure, to hang in there under all circumstances and to never give up. Brethren, many have been led into captivity. We have looked at these scriptures in a physical manner far too long. It is captivity to go back into paganism. It is captivity to give up God’s ways and go back to the ways of Egypt, the ways of the world and the ways of the wilderness. It is also a danger to face those who wield the sword of God (the word of God) in a wrong manner. Christ is saying here he who kills with the word of God by falsely using it and abusing the brethren must be killed by the word of God. For the sword that comes out of Christ’s mouth (the two-edged sword) is the word of God, the Bible that you and I are reading right now. Under these terrible conditions we find ourselves in in the last days we are warned, “Don’t give up!” “Persevere!” “Press on!” “Get out of the pit!” With Satan one pit always leads to another farther down the shaft, farther down we go. Deeper and deeper we go down a slippery slope into like a black abyss where eventually despair sets in and we give up. There are two major snares that lead to the bottom which leads to despair. At the bottom of our individual pits when Satan knows our weakness, he wants us to do one of two things or both. He wants us to turn bitter or turn selfish. The two things we want to talk about today at the bottom of the pit are bitterness and selfishness. Let’s tackle bitterness first. BITTERNESS It is in our own lives that we become bitter. A lot of people do not understand what is wrong with us when we become bitter. We have all met people that are so negative, so down, so bitter that they literally suck everybody into their black hole who come in contact with them. People tend to leave them alone and stay away from them. That is how horrible bitterness can be, and that is where Satan is. That is where he is headed to be, locked up into the outer darkness, where there will be simply bitterness and selfishness eternally for him and the angels who followed him. Turn, if you would, to Proverbs 14:10. “The heart knows its own bitterness, and a stranger does not share its joy.” God showed us in the Bible that is exactly how it is. We can fall into a pit of bitterness where we are so down. We can come up with all kinds of good reasons to stay down, but the people around us cannot understand what is eating us. They cannot understand what kind of cancer is destroying us. It is as if the heart knows its own pain (its own bitterness), and when it gets that far down it cannot even share it with its friends or strangers. When we are in that state, it is a very dangerous state for a Christian to be in. Turn back to Job chapter 10. Here is how low Job became. We know in some ways Job portrays the Church of God (the body of Christ) in the last days. Read Job 10:1-9. Job is talking to God in a very bitter way here, blaming God for making him mortal flesh. Then he is accusing God of oppressing him. We could ask that same question of the Church today. Why, oh God, have You allowed the Church to get destroyed like this? Individually we could say why do I deserve the disease that I have. Why do I deserve the affliction I have? Why do I have all of these problems? Since I am Yours, why are You allowing this? If I am Yours, why not set me free from all of this affliction, pain and suffering? As Christians we could actually turn on God in our thoughts and attitudes when we become too bitter! We have to remember Satan’s pits are horrible and they are ugly. Beware of the pit of bitterness! Turn if you would, to Hebrews chapter 12 where we are warned of that. We often read the latter part of Hebrews 12, but let’s start a little earlier this time. Read Hebrews 12:12-17. We do not want to fall into the same trap Esau fell into. For us the spiritual consequences could be eternal! We cannot allow bitterness to stop us from bearing fruit for God and actually cause us to turn on God. We cannot allow bitterness to tear the body of Christ apart when we actually should be helping those who are feeble and weak. God knew the Church would be in a weak state at the end of the age, and those who are contributing to the weakness by being bitter are only making matters worse for the body of Christ. We need to encourage one another and strengthen each other’s hands and strengthen their knees. Help people to get up and get out of the pit. Drop down, if you would, to verse 18. Read Hebrews 12:18-24. Esau traded his physical birthright for a bowl of soup (for a morsel). Will we trade the pearl of great price for relief from our pain and suffering or to just give up so that Satan will leave us alone? Are we ready to trade anything that is physical for the pearl of great price? I hope not, brethren. We need to hang in there under any and all circumstances and help one another to do so. Remember what we are all a part of, the body of Christ. Remember that we have been offered the pearl of great price! There is no sacrifice we can make or anything physical that we can give up that would compare to the future that lies ahead if we would only endure. SELFISHNESS The second horrible condition at the bottom of the abyss is selfishness. It can destroy us, brethren. It can turn us inward. It can block love. Turn, if you would, to Matthew chapter 13. Matthew chapter 13 talks about the pearl of great price. What could we hold on to in a selfish way that could be valued anywhere near our calling, the pearl of great price? Matthew 13, verse 45: “‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.’” We are like merchants, brethren, who saw something of great value years ago. We were willing to give up all for our calling, for the pearl of great price. But as time has dragged on and we have grown tired and fatigue has set in, we have all become a little bit cowardly. We have all become a little bit timid. We have all fallen into certain pits. Instead of striving to get out, we lay down in a corner of the pit and fall into bitterness or selfishness. It is the pit of despair. Turn, if you would, to Matthew 24 because the bottom of a pit like that is a cold place to dwell, brethren. It is a very, very cold place to dwell. That is why if we are there for very long, our love can grow cold. Matthew 24, verse 10: “‘And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.’” He who perseveres to the end has the patience of the saints and will be saved. Every generation that has preceded us had those things that Satan tried to snare them with and the pits he tried to get them to fall into. But I do not think any generation of the Church has ever faced more evil, more traps by Satan than we have! He is very angry as his time is nearly cut short. He has many tools at his disposal today which he can use to attack the Christian and get us to give up. But we know we were called to follow Jesus Christ. We are told to pick up our cross and follow Him and to bear any sacrifice in His name. Turn to Matthew chapter 16:24. “Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.’” What is it we will do in exchange for the pearl of great price (for our spiritual life)? Is there something we are willing to trade? Satan is offering us a bad deal, brethren. Yes, it is easy to fall back into the worldly ways and to look like our neighbors and not keep the Sabbath anymore. Yes, it is easy not to tithe and not to push ourselves too hard financially. Yes, it is easy to not have to overcome and grow in holy righteous character. It is easy to fall into that lazy attitude in which I don’t have to change. I can just keep doing what I am doing. But, brethren, that is exchanging our calling for a morsel! It is a little relief in Satan’s world. It is much better to pick up our cross and follow in Christ’s footsteps and bear our cross. As we learned once before, in the Greek that means to extinguish all selfishness. We need to be learning to extinguish all selfishness. ACCEPT THE LIFELINE Turn, if you would, back to Psalms chapter 40. Christ is throwing us a lifeline, and He wants to deliver us. Will we allow Him to pull us out of the pit? Please accept the lifeline! David prays in Psalm 40, verse 11: “Do not withhold Your tender mercies from me, O Lord; let Your loving kindness and Your truth continually preserve me. For innumerable evils have surrounded me; my iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of my head; therefore my heart fails me. Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me; O Lord, make haste to help me! Let them be ashamed and brought to mutual confusion who seek to destroy my life; let them be driven backward and brought to dishonor who wish me evil. Let them be confounded because of their shame, who say to me, ‘Aha, aha!’” We need deliverance from those who laugh at us, mock us or persecute us for whatever reason when we are following God’s ways. No one mocks the Church more than Satan and his cohorts. Please allow Jesus Christ to throw you a line so that you can take a hold of it and get out of the pit. Satan has been very patient in setting traps for God’s people (for God’s Church), and he has sprung snares on us individually and as an organization, the body of Christ. But God is not going to allow that to stand if we would only allow Him to help. Back up now to verses 1-5 of the same chapter. We need deliverance while it is available, brethren. “I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me, and heard my cry. He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps. He has put a new song in my mouth, praise to our God; many will see it and fear, and will trust in the Lord. Blessed is that man who makes the Lord his trust, and does not respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies. Many, O Lord my God, are Your wonderful works which You have done; and Your thoughts toward us cannot be recounted to You in order; if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.” God loves us so much, brethren, that He will do anything to help us! But we have to use our free will to grab a hold of the lifeline and let us get pulled up out of the pit of despair and the sins and the evil that surround us. We need deliverance, and God is there faithful and true to deliver us out of our circumstance. Turn, if you would, to Zechariah 9:9. “‘Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!’” That is the Church pictured in the last days. “‘Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey…’” Christ came lowly and riding a donkey once. Now in essence, the donkey is the body of Christ carrying the cross that we have been given to bear. But He is coming to deliver us with salvation now. He is coming for salvation for the world. He is going to deliver us from our physical maladies and spiritual maladies that have befallen on the Church. Allow Him to do it. Continuing in Zechariah 9:10. “‘I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem; the battle bow shall be cut off. He shall speak peace to the nations; His dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.’” That did not happen with Christ’s first coming, but it will happen with His second coming. This is a dual prophecy, brethren. Continuing in verse 11: “‘As for you also, because of the blood of your covenant, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit. Return to the stronghold, you prisoners of hope. Even today I declare that I will restore double to you. For I have bent Judah, My bow, fitted the bow with Ephraim, and raised up your sons, O Zion…’” This is God telling us He is going to deliver us. “‘…against your sons, O Greece, and made you like the sword of a mighty man.’” This is not talking about the physical nation of Greece. But do you remember how the angel had to fight through the prince of Persia and the prince of Greece to bring the message to Daniel? These are our real adversaries. They are the ones that Satan uses to set the snares in our life to pull us down. God says here He will bring us salvation and deliver us from these enemies. He will bring peace to the entire earth, and that is almost here! Can we not hang on a little longer? In fact, can we not even hasten the day by getting the bride of Christ ready? There is a judgment and justice coming. God is a just God, but He wants to forgive in every way. But we must allow Him to do so and allow Him to work with us in our lives. Grab the lifeline and escape life’s snares! Get out of the pit while we still have time, brethren. CHRIST DIED FOR THE WORLD, BUT WE CONDEMN THE WORLD One of the biggest pits of selfishness that the Church has fallen into in the last days is the pit of self-preservation. Call it the place of safety. Call it the rapture. Call it physical protection or whatever. Are we willing to trade our physical life for our eternal life (our eternal reward)? Brethren, the place of safety as such has never been there for our predecessors in the Church, nor is it there for us today. Yes, God can protect us individually at certain times, but to have a physical place of safety to get gathered while 6.5 billion people die on the earth is the biggest act of selfishness there ever could be! The Church is not called to that kind of selfishness. That is the biggest hoax and the most destructive doctrine that has ever hit the Church. It has made so many of us become selfish in the last days. Why is our generation of the Church so special? Why did Paul have to be martyred? Why were Stephen and James martyred? Why did all of these people have to be martyred and not those in the last days? Are we not willing to give up our lives for the world, brethren? Are we not willing to give up our lives for one another? I know we are not all going to die. John did not die a martyr’s death, and there will be some alive when Jesus Christ returns. But right now we are being tested by God to see how selfish we will become. He died for the world while they were yet in their sins. We condemn the world while we should be getting out of our sins and learn to be compassionate to the rest of the world. Are we willing to trade a few in the body of Christ for 6.5 billion souls on the earth who do not know their left hand from their right? Do we have the Jonah complex in the Church? Yes, we do! Many in the Church jump up and down with excitement waiting for the next catastrophe to befall mankind, while striving for the illusory place of safety. How many of our brethren have gone and died before us now in the last few years? They have died from cancer, accidents and other diseases, waiting for that illusive place of safety. Will we all die? Will we all perish, none of us having lived into the Millennium physically? That would break scripture, brethren. That is the prophecy in Matthew 24 when Christ says the body would have nothing left to it in the last days. There would be no one of the body of Christ left alive when He returns unless He cuts time short. Beg God to cut time short to get us out of the pit as soon as possible. If you would, turn to Luke chapter 9. We just read that, but we will read it again. Luke 9, verse 23: “Then he said to them all, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.’” This is something we have to do every single day. Verse 24: “‘For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels.’” Brethren, we need to be very proud of our Savior and what He has done for us and for mankind. We need to be willing to share the truth with the world and not always be condemning them in their ignorance. A willingness to condemn the world to destruction while seeking a place of safety I feel is the greatest hoax and one of the biggest pits of selfishness we could ever fall into! It is one of the most horrible doctrines to ever come into God’s Church. We want protection from spiritual destruction. We want protection from false doctrine. We want protection from being led astray. We want protection from Satan’s fiery darts. We want the armor of God. We do not want a physical place of safety. We want a spiritual place of safety. In effect, the Church by and large has swallowed Satan’s deal and traded our wonderful future for a morsel. We can reverse this by letting God work within the Church and pull us out of the pit we have fallen into. Let’s turn to Isaiah chapter 28. This is very insightful with the understanding that we have now, brethren. Let’s apply it here. Isaiah 28, verse 9: “‘Whom will he teach knowledge? And whom will he make to understand the message?’” Who is God going to give the message to in the last day? Is He going to give it to people who are condemning 6.5 billion people on the earth (their fellow man) to a horrible death? Or is He looking for people who are compassionate? Continuing in verse 9: “‘Those just weaned from milk? Those just drawn from the breasts? For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little.’ For with stammering lips and another tongue he will speak to this people…” Yes, some of the things we are learning, such as the compassion for our fellow man, are like another tongue. The understanding that God is revealing in His word in the last days is like a foreign language! It is God’s language, and it is beautiful! Continue reading in Isaiah 28:11 again. “For with stammering lips and another tongue He will speak to this people, to whom He said, ‘This is the rest with which you may cause the weary to rest’” The Church is weary, and the world is weary. The rest is the Millennium that is just ahead. We need to teach the world. He concludes in the last half of verse 12: “And, ‘This is the refreshing’; yet they would not hear.” People do not want to hear about mercy for the world. In many cases they do not want to hear it! They jump up and down with excitement every time there is an earthquake, a tsunami or another war. They do this every time there is suffering. Continue reading Isaiah 28:13. “But the word of the Lord was to them, ‘Precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little,’ that they might go and fall backward, and be broken and snared and caught.” It is Satan who sets those snares and makes us selfish. “Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scornful men, who rule this people who are in Jerusalem…” We are in spiritual Jerusalem. Continue reading verse 15. “Because you have said, ‘We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol we are in agreement. When the overflowing scourge passes through, it will not come to us…’” Do not worry, brethren, we will be in a place of safety. We will be in Petra. It is not our problem. What is happening to the world is not our problem! God says He hates this doctrine. Continue reading in Isaiah 28:15, the last part. “‘For we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood we have hidden ourselves. Therefore thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; whoever believes will not act hastily. Also I will make justice the measuring line, and righteousness the plummet; the hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters will overflow the hiding place. Your covenant with death…”’” This deal with Satan, brethren, will be annulled. “‘“…will be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand; when the overflowing scourge passes through, then you will be trampled down by it. As often as it goes out it will take you; for morning by morning it will pass over, and by day and by night; it will be a terror just to understand the report.”’” COMPASSION GETS US OUT OF THE PIT Brethren, we are starting to understand the report! We are starting to understand that we have to get out of this pit of selfishness and the pit of despair and have compassion and love for our fellow man. We need to have compassion and love for our brethren. Help the weary hands that are hanging down and the knees that are giving out. Take care of one another, brethren, while we still have time. That is how we will get out of the pit. By caring for one another and caring about the world is how we will get out of the pit. Turn, if you would, to Matthew chapter 5. In this light we will now look at The Beatitudes and what they lead to. Read Matthew 5:1-12. Brethren, to think these thoughts and to have kindness, mercy and compassion for the world goes contrary to much of the way the Church is being taught today. They are willing to condemn the world to a horrible fate while seeking self-preservation. We are to lay down our lives for the world, brethren. There is no blessing here for seeking the place of safety, if you noticed. Let’s continue in Matthew 5:13. “‘You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.’” Salt is a preservative. Our calling is to help preserve this earth for a beautiful Millennium. We are not to condemn it to a horrible fate but to preserve it so it can go into the Millennium. It will be a place where Satan’s influence is gone and people can finally learn God’s way of life. We are told in verse 14: “‘You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.’” Brethren, they will find us and know us by our love for each other and by our love for mankind. They will know us for our willingness to extinguish all selfishness and by us staying out of the pit of bitterness and despair. We have ended up in a scary place as the body of Christ (as the Church) in the last days. Christ is throwing us a lifeline to pull us up out of the pit individually and as His entire body. Will you take hold of that lifeline? Or will you follow after the lie and believe we will never get out of here?