Thank you very much.
Thank you.
I got you guys makeup.
Thank you.
Good morning.
Let's go ahead and take out our song book first.
It's going to be that white handout.
We'll get to the hymnal later.
We're going to start off with a very loving song.
Psalm 139 in your white handout.
Figured it was appropriate for today.
Psalm 139.
If you don't have a white handout, raise up your hand
and one of the ushers will try and bring one to you.
If not, if we don't have enough, you can always take out your Bible.
To Psalm 139 or you can share your Bible.
If you don't have enough, you can always take out your Bible.
To Psalm 139 or you can share your Bible.
In Psalm 139 or you can share with your neighbor.
That song, 139.
No Exercise
with any student
You're better than class
Surely thou wilt slay the wicked
Oh, God
Depart from me, therefore, ye bloody men
be there for ye bloody men. Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee?
Am not I green with those that rise up against thee? Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee?
For they speak against thee wickedly, For they speak against thee wickedly,
And thine enemies take thine aim in vain, And thine enemies take thine aim in vain.
Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee?
Am not I green with those that rise up against thee? Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee?
I hate them with perfect hatred, I hate them with perfect hatred, I count them mine enemies,
I count them mine enemies. Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee?
Am not I green with those that rise up against thee? Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee?
Amen and great singing. Let's pray a prayer.
Dear Father, we just thank you that we could be gathered together in your house this Sunday morning to hear the preaching of your word.
I just pray you'd help us all to learn from the sermon preached this morning.
Bless Brother Ben as he preaches your word to us. Fill him with your Holy Spirit and help us to be attentive to the words preached today.
We love you Father and praise things in Jesus Christ's name. Amen.
Next song is going to be 216 in your hymnal there.
Surely Goodness and Mercy.
Again, that's song number 216.
Surely Goodness and Mercy.
A pilgrim was I and a wandering.
In the cold night of sin I did roam.
With Jesus a kind shepherd found me.
And now I am on my way home.
Surely Goodness and Mercy shall follow me.
All the days, all the days of my life.
Surely Goodness and Mercy shall follow me.
All the days, all the days of my life.
He restored with my soul when I'm weary.
He given me strength day by day.
He leads me beside the still waters.
He guards me each step of the way.
Surely Goodness and Mercy shall follow me.
All the days, all the days of my life.
Surely Goodness and Mercy shall follow me.
All the days, all the days of my life.
Back to the top.
When I walked through the dark lonesome valley.
My Savior will walk with me there.
And safely His great hand will lead me.
To the mansions He's gone to prepare.
Surely Goodness and Mercy shall follow me.
All the days, all the days of my life.
Surely Goodness and Mercy shall follow me.
All the days, all the days of my life.
At last!
And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
And I shall feast at the table spread free.
Surely Goodness and Mercy shall follow me.
All the days, all the days of my life.
Amen.
Great singing.
How's it going, everyone?
Welcome to Steadfast Baptist Church.
And thank you for coming on this June 27, 2021.
If you're wondering why Pastor Shelley looks
a lot more Arab today, it's because he's not here.
He's actually at Oklahoma City preaching for our church plant
up there.
He'll be back on Wednesday night.
So I'll be filling the pulpit this morning.
And we have Brother Duncan Urbanic
who'll be preaching at 5.30.
So make sure you come back for that service.
He's a good preacher.
And I look forward to hearing what
the Lord laid on his heart.
So if you haven't received a bulletin, just raise your hand.
And one of the ushers will grab one for you on the cover.
We have a nice picture there.
And we also have our Bible memory passage, Exodus chapter
number 20.
If you can quote this to somebody you're not related to,
you can receive a special prize.
Also, for the month of June, which is ending soon, by the way,
if you can quote Romans chapter number
1 to somebody you're not related to,
you can also receive a prize.
And that's part of anti-faggot month.
In the front of your bulletin, if you
look on the left side, we have our service times.
You have Sunday morning there, 10.30 a.m.
We have our Spanish service at 4.30.
And then, of course, like I mentioned a few moments ago,
5.30 p.m. evening service.
And this Wednesday, 7 o'clock, you
want to come back for that because Pastor Shelley's
going to be covering Genesis 19.
And I'm looking forward to that one.
We got our church-wide soul winning.
I wanted to plug this one here, Saturdays specifically.
I wanted to highlight this.
9 a.m., there's a breakfast.
And then we have soul winning at 10.
This is Brother David Noguera's time.
And I wanted to give him a shout out
because he did go through a bit of a health ailment this week.
And so just keep him in your prayers
that he would recover and get back here as soon as possible.
But that's a great soul winning time.
We do a little fellowship there.
And then at 10, right before we go out,
a real short soul winning tip.
It doesn't last forever, just a few minutes.
And then we go out and knock doors.
There's a regional times there as well.
And so just make sure you return your soul winning maps.
We have our church stats there.
And also, please pray for our expecting ladies.
You see the list of names there.
Keep them in your prayers.
We also have our prayer list.
That is covered on Wednesday nights.
And some upcoming events.
July 3, we have our DFW soul winning marathon and hot dogs.
And this is always emphasized, but I
think it's worth reiterating that if you can't make
every component of this event, that's fine.
Just come for what you can come to.
Whatever you have free time for, you're
more than welcome to come by.
It's going to be good fellowship.
Obviously, we're going to reach the lost
with the gospel of Christ.
And that's very important because the more people
you get saved, the less faggots are
going to be out there protesting.
So there's an added benefit.
September 11, we have our Shreveport, Louisiana 9-11 Truth
event.
I'm just kidding.
Shreveport, Louisiana soul winning marathon.
That joke totally fell flat.
So you come by, and we can do some soul winning in Louisiana.
That's going to be a lot of fun.
And then October 6 through the 10,
we have our fire breathing Baptist fellowship.
Now, I went to this in 2019.
It was the first one.
It was awesome.
I had a really great time.
I traveled here from Jacksonville.
So make sure you show up to this one.
There's going to be a spelling bee for the kids
along with other events as well.
And you're not going to want to miss that.
Lots of great preaching there.
On the back, we have congratulations for a new baby.
Let's congratulate Nick and Kimfy Kenyari
on the birth of their daughter Miriam.
Let's go ahead and give them a round of applause real quickly.
She was born on the 23rd of June at 11.17 AM,
weighing 8 pounds 2 ounces and measuring 21 inches long.
So congratulations to them,
and I look forward to more babies being born.
And that's all I've got.
If there's an announcement that I forgot,
go ahead and shout it out.
But if not, we'll move on to our final song.
And brother Duncan, what is the final song?
What is the final song?
It's going to be song 160, back in your hymnal there.
Crown him with many crowns.
You know that song number 160?
Crown him with many crowns, all together.
Crown him with many crowns,
A lamb upon his throne.
Hark how the heavenly anthem drowns,
All music but its own.
Awake my soul and sing,
Of him who died for thee.
And hail him as I match this king,
Through all eternity.
Crown him born above,
Behold his hands and side,
Rich moves yet visible above,
In beauty glorified.
No angel in the sky,
Can fully bear that sigh,
But downward bends his wondering eye,
At mystery so bright.
Crown him the horn of life,
Who triumph o'er the grave,
Who rose victorious to thou hast tried,
For those he came to save.
His glory's now we sing,
Who died and rose on high,
Who died eternal life to bring,
Headless that death may die.
Crown him the Lord of heaven,
One with the Father Lord,
One with the Spirit through him give,
From yonder glorious Lord,
To thee be endless waste,
For thou for us hast died.
Be thou a Lord through endless days,
Adored and magnified.
Amen.
While the offering plates are being passed around,
please turn in your Bibles to Proverbs chapter 15.
That's Proverbs chapter 15.
Proverbs chapter 15.
Proverbs 15.
A soft answer turneth away wrath,
But grievous words stir up anger.
The tongue of the wise useth, knowledge aright,
But the mouth of fools pour without foolishness.
The eyes of the Lord are in every place,
Beholding the evil and the good.
A wholesome tongue is a tree of life,
But perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit.
A fool despiseth his father's instruction,
But he that regardeth for proof is prudent.
In the house of the righteous is much treasure,
But in the revenues of the wicked is trouble.
The lips of the wise disperse knowledge,
But the heart of the foolish doeth not so.
The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord,
But the prayer of the upright is his delight.
The way of the wicked is an abomination unto the Lord,
But he loveth him that followeth after righteousness.
Correction is grievous unto him that forsaketh the way,
And he that hateth reproof shall die.
Hell and destruction are before the Lord,
How much more than the hearts of the children of men.
A scorner loveth not one that reproveth him,
Neither will he go unto the wise.
A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance,
But by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.
The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge,
But the mouth of fools feedeth on foolishness.
All the days of the afflicted are evil,
But he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast.
Better is little with the fear of the Lord
Than great treasure and trouble therewith.
Better is a dinner of herbs where love is
Than a stalled ox and hatred therewith.
A wrathful man stirreth up strife,
But he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife.
The way of the slothful man is an hedge of thorns,
But the way of the righteous is made plain.
A wise son maketh a glad father,
But a foolish man despiseth his mother.
Folly is joy to him that is destitute of wisdom,
But a man of understanding walketh uprightly.
Without counsel purposes are disappointed,
But in the multitude of counsellors there are.
A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth,
And a word spoken in due season, how good is it?
The way of life is above to the wise
That he may depart from hell beneath.
The Lord will destroy the house of the proud,
But he will establish the border of the widow.
The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord,
But the words of the pure are pleasant words.
He that is greedy you gain trouble,
He that is greedy you gain trouble at his own house,
But he that hateth gifts shall live.
The heart of the righteous studieth the answer,
But the mouth of the wicked poureth out evil things.
The Lord is far from the wicked,
But he heareth the prayer of the righteous.
The light of the eyes rejoiceth the heart,
And a good report maketh the bones fat.
The ear that heareth the reproof of life
Abideth among the wise.
He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul,
But he that heareth reproof getteth understanding.
The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom,
And before honor is humility.
Let's pray.
Heavenly Father, Lord, I pray you would bless brother Ben with your spirit,
And please Lord fill us all with your spirit that we might be edified,
And please help him deliver your message boldly,
And please Lord keep us safe from the sodomites.
In Jesus' name, Amen.
Amen. I want to begin by thanking Pastor Shelley for the opportunity to fill the pulpit this morning.
And also, just bear with me, my voice is kind of raspy.
I tried my best to fix that, and it was the best I could do, so just bear with me through that.
But we're there in Proverbs chapter 15, and if you would, look down at verse 13.
That's going to be the focus, verse 13.
And notice what the Bible says in Proverbs chapter 15 verse 13.
It says,
So the Bible is telling us here that the sorrow of heart or distress is analogous to a broken spirit.
And it goes on and it says that a merry heart is intertwined with a cheerful countenance.
Now if you go through life, you're going to have ups and downs.
There are going to be high points, there are going to be low points.
And the question is, what do you do when you're in the midst of a low point?
Well, the title of my sermon is recovering from a sorrowful heart.
Recovering from a sorrowful heart, an alternate title could be dealing with distress.
It could be an alternate title.
But what I'm going to be focusing on is the recovery process after you have diagnosed yourself with a sorrowful heart.
Now what do I mean by that word sorrow?
It could be defined as sad or grieving for the loss of some good or on account of some expected evil.
Deeply serious, depressed, dejected.
Now obviously the unsaved probably have more of a proclivity to be depressed.
Because they don't have the Lord Jesus Christ.
But that doesn't mean that the unsaved cannot experience that as well because they can.
And I'm going to show you that here in scripture.
If you would go to Nehemiah chapter 2. I want to start off by just showing you how that word sorrow is used in scripture.
Nehemiah chapter number 2.
Again, if you're experiencing a low point in life, if you find yourself with a sorrowful heart, my goal with this message is to help you out.
Genesis 42 says, as you're turning to Nehemiah 2, Genesis 42 says,
My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead and he is left alone if mischief befallen by the way in the which ye go.
Then shall you bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.
So Israel is speaking there and he says that if Benjamin were to fall, then he would go down with sorrow into the grave.
Meaning that he would go down with anguish, with distress, with a sort of vehement type of depression.
And that's how that word is being used there in Genesis chapter number 42.
The end of his life would be marred with anguish is essentially what he's saying.
John 16 also uses this word. I had you turn to Nehemiah 2. I'm going to quote this for you.
In John 16, the Lord Jesus Christ says,
A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come.
But as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world.
And ye now therefore have sorrow, but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.
So Jesus likens the travail that is going to be preceding the resurrection here to sorrow and distress.
And he also uses a woman who is in the midst of labor as a picture of that.
For you husbands out there who've witnessed your wives give birth, this scripture comes to life.
Because as soon as that baby is born, what do you notice?
Your wife who had just dealt with an incredible amount of distress and pain and anguish and sorrow,
in the midst of that delivery process, all of a sudden has a giant smile on her face.
And she's enjoying the baby and it's as if all that sorrow she just went through vanished away.
And that's what Jesus is trying to explain here is that, hey, whatever you go through preceding the resurrection,
once you see it happen, it's going to be as if that sorrow just vanished away.
It's as if you don't even remember it anymore.
We also, here's the point I'm trying to make.
We also, as we go through life, understand that low points can serve as a catalyst to help you, okay,
to help you through future low points, to help you through future issues, future problems.
If you go through a specific health ailment, now you know how to deal with that moving forward.
You can help other people who are dealing with a similar health ailment as well, for example.
Jesus also describes the tribulation period as the beginning of sorrows.
Why? Because it's a time of distress, a time of persecution.
It's a low point for Bible-believing Christians in the sense that they're going to be persecuted by the Antichrist.
There are going to be a lot of Christians who die during this time, who are decapitated during this time,
and so it's called the beginning of sorrows.
Now, here's the thing.
Nehemiah chapter 2 also helps us understand what this word is talking about.
I had you turn there. Look at verse 1.
It says, And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king,
saying that wine was before him, and I took up the wine and gave it unto the king.
Now I had not been before time sad in his presence.
So he's saying he's sad.
Nehemiah's sad here. He has a sad countenance.
It says, Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick?
This is nothing else but, notice this, sorrow of heart, that it was very sore afraid,
and said unto the king, Let the king live forever.
Why should not my countenance be sad when the city, the place of my father's sepulchers,
lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?
So King Artaxerxes is asking Nehemiah here, Hey, why are you sad?
What's up with this sorrowful heart that you're currently experiencing?
And Nehemiah actually explains what the problem is, and he describes how Judah has been ravaged,
and it's currently in a state of utter destruction.
And he lets him know exactly what the problem is, and then obviously he asks him later on,
I don't have time to get into it, but later on in the chapter,
he requests from the king that he can go and, he requests from the king that he can go and rebuild Judah,
and rebuild it, and get it back up to where it used to be before, in an effort to quell that sorrowful heart.
And so the lesson we can take from that is this, if something's bothering you, let someone know.
Now obviously it should be an appropriate person, right?
Whoever you feel comfortable confiding in, let someone know, and also seek a solution.
Sometimes when people find themselves at a point in their life where they're depressed,
or they're sad, or they have a sad countenance, or they have a sorrowful heart,
or they're dealing with distress, they don't seek a solution.
They just kind of have a defeatist attitude about it, and do nothing.
That shouldn't be us. We should try and seek a solution.
Nehemiah sought a solution in the sense that he asked the king to rebuild Judah.
Go to 1 Kings 19 if you would, 1 Kings chapter 19.
We also see that even role models in the faith, like I said on the onset,
yes, Christians who are saved can face this ailment in the sense that they can have a sorrowful heart too.
And Elijah is an example of this. It's a famous example of this in 1 Kings chapter number 19.
And so he is a role model of the faith, and yet he experienced a sorrowful heart here.
He wanted to take his own life. We're going to read about it.
But here's the thing, life isn't just a bunch of rainbows and daffodils and everything going great.
You're going to experience difficulties. There are going to be things that happen that you didn't plan for,
successes or even failures. Rejoicing, mourning, all of it.
You're going to experience it in this life, especially if you're a Christian.
Remember the Bible says,
Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
And you have to be strong knowing that truth and be strong deep down in your heart
and ready to endure whatever it is that is necessary for you as a Christian to keep serving the Lord Jesus Christ.
In spite of that persecution, which by the way is coming.
And here's the thing, if you think a bunch of dogs waving signs out there is really that bad,
folks you haven't seen anything yet.
Read Matthew chapter 24. Read Mark 13. Read the book of Revelation and see what's coming.
This is just light affliction. 1 Kings chapter 19 is where I had you turn. Look at verse 2.
The Bible read there,
Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying,
So let the gods do to me and more also if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.
And when he saw that, he arose and went for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah,
and left his servant there. Verse 4.
But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a juniper tree,
and he requested for himself that he might die and said,
It is enough now, O Lord. Take away my life, for I am not better than my fathers.
Elijah was responsible for what? Slaying 450 prophets of Baal.
And there was a ramification for that courtesy of Jezebel. She wanted him dead.
And he goes through this low point. He has a sorrowful heart to the point that he wants to even take his life.
When he knows that retaliation is coming, his response is, unfortunately, to fall into this sadness.
And, you know, he has a sorrowful heart here. He's despondent to the point that he even asks God to take his life.
And there are going to be situations where it might seem like that's your only option, but it's not.
Unless you're a sodomite, then it is your only option.
But if you're a saved Bible-believing Christian and your heart is still beating,
God can use you to advance the cause of Christ.
And Elijah, you know, here's the thing. If this can happen to him,
if even Elijah, one of the heroes of the faith, can go through this kind of sorrow and this kind of pain
and this kind of anguish to the point that he wants his own life to be taken by God,
it can happen to any one of us as well. It can happen to any one of us as well.
Ecclesiastes 3 says, a time to weep, a time to laugh, a time to mourn, and a time to dance.
It's basically saying that there is a time for these things. And don't get me wrong, there's a time to weep.
There's a time to mourn. There's a time to have sorrow. There's no doubt about that.
There's a time to feel these emotions. I'm not trying to dissuade you from feeling these emotions if you're feeling them this morning.
But here's what I'm trying to do for you. I'm trying to help you recover because, you see,
we shouldn't be in a perpetual state of sorrow or a perpetual state of distress or a perpetual state of sadness or depression.
That shouldn't be what people know us as. That's not how they should look.
You know, when they look at us as Christians, they shouldn't think, oh man, these are a depressed people.
These are people with no joy in their life. And again, I understand there's a time for that.
I totally understand that. But you know what? There's also a time to recover.
There's also a time to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and move on. It doesn't last forever.
Sorrow does not last forever. Eventually there's a time for recovery.
Now you might be wondering, what causes sorrow? Well, there's a lot of things that cause sorrow.
So I'm not going to have time to get into every single potential catalyst for this emotion.
But I do want to cover just a few of them. Go to 2 Peter chapter 2, if you would. 2 Peter chapter 2.
Here's one thing that might cause you some sorrow. It's called pride month.
Now look, obviously, what is the emotion, what is the response oftentimes that is elicited by people who love the word of God in a month like this?
In a nation like this? America. Abominable America. What's the emotion? It's anger, isn't it?
But I want you to see in 2 Peter chapter number 2, a different emotion.
And I want to just make this point here. In 2 Peter chapter 2, notice verse, let's look at verse number 6.
In 2 Peter chapter number 2, in verse number 6, notice what the Bible says there.
And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes and condemned them with an overthrow,
making them an ensemble unto them that after should live ungodly, and deliver just lot, notice this word, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked,
for that righteous man dwelling among them and seeing and hearing vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds.
Now, let me just make this clear to anyone who might be confused about this.
If you are normal, you are going to be vexed by what's going on in this country.
You're going to be vexed by Pride Month. You're going to be vexed by Abominable America.
You're going to be vexed by what this culture is shoving down the throats of innocent children.
And this is why I wanted to bring this up. Obviously, yes, we get angry, I get that.
But there are times as well where my anger at what's going on in this country and in the western world as a whole, it transforms to sadness.
And here's when it transformed to sadness. When I think of the kids, when I think of the children this morning who are looking at me,
they're listening to the Word of God being preached, I think of the children out there in the world.
And I think of the cult brainwashing and the indoctrination that children have to endure in 2021 America.
It makes me depressed because kids shouldn't have to worry about covering their eyes when they go and take a family trip to the mall
because there's a bunch of Pride Month filth and degeneracy all over the place. They shouldn't have to worry about that.
And I get sad for America. I get sad for western civilization as a whole and what we're doing to the next generation, to the youth, to the children.
That their minds and their eyes have to be defiled by this filth. It makes me upset. It makes me almost want to weep for them.
It makes me want to weep for this country that at one point stood for the Word of God and stood for godly values and traditional values
and to see how far it's degraded. It does make me despondent. It makes me distressed. It makes me have a sorrowful heart.
Yes, anger, but also a sorrowful heart as well. And oftentimes anger can turn into a sorrowful heart or even depression.
And so that's one reason the cultural trajectory of this nation could be one reason why you have a sorrowful heart this morning.
And I wouldn't blame you for that. You know, another reason could be maybe you're having financial problems.
Perhaps you lost your job. Maybe your employer found out that this is where you come to church.
And because he's a liberal, who's a bully, because left wingers are bullies, he fired you or she fired you.
Maybe you have a Karen as a boss, God forbid, and she let you go because of where you go to church.
Maybe you're having financial problems simply because of the fact that you're having trouble making ends meet.
Maybe you're having trouble making ends meet and feeding your family and you have to work overtime and things of that nature.
And it's causing you distress or sorrow. Perhaps the death of a loved one could be another reason, obviously a good one, to feel this emotion.
Maybe you were backstabbed by a friend. We know many pastors who've been backstabbed by friends, including our own pastor, Jonathan Shelley.
It happens. And it can happen to you as well. Maybe you've been backstabbed recently and you feel sorrow as a result.
Family drama with regard to your faith, that can cause a sorrowful heart as well.
Maybe there's a ton of drama going on behind the scenes in your family, even if it has nothing to do with your faith.
Family drama in and of itself can cause a sorrowful heart. Maybe you have a feud that you're dealing with with your in-laws or something like that.
I don't know, but family drama can oftentimes be a potential catalyst for just feeling sad.
Health problems. There are people in this church dealing with this. Health problems. Things that seemingly come out of nowhere.
Maybe you didn't see it coming. Maybe you thought you were on the right path and all of a sudden you're dealing with an ailment that sends you to the hospital.
Or you're dealing with something that you didn't see coming. Again, it just comes out of nowhere and all of a sudden you have these doctors that are prescribing you medication and all the rest of it.
And you're dealing with these issues with regard to your health and it's causing you to lose confidence.
Not just in the faith. Maybe you have a lack of faith, but also causes you to have a sorrowful heart as well.
That could happen because of health problems.
Here's the thing. If you are down in the dumps today, if you're down in the dumps this morning, I believe that the Word of God can alleviate your sorrow.
I believe that the Word of God can help alleviate whatever it is that you're going through because we can look through the lenses of Scripture and we can come up with solutions to help you recover from your sorrowful heart.
And that's what I want to do. If you would go to Psalm 118.
And my first point is this. Pray. That should be our first instinct. No matter what it is that you're faced in this life, your first instinct should be to pray.
And Psalm 118 I think demonstrates this as we're going to look at some potential things that can alleviate your sorrow through the lenses of Scripture.
Psalm 118 says in verse 5, I called upon the Lord in distress. The Lord answered me and set me in a large place.
Now prayer as a means to deal with distress, it should be instinctual. It should be the first thing that comes to our mind.
And the psalmist here is describing calling upon the Lord in distress.
And here's what you have to understand. The carnal mind thinks, oh, I can handle it. I can handle it just fine. I don't need anybody's help.
But that's not the case. It's the new man. It's the spiritual man that says, I will pour out my heart to God in this situation.
And I will make sure that my burdens are placed on him and not just on myself.
Because here's the reality. You can't handle everything on your own. You do need the Lord's help.
And that's demonstrated in 1 Samuel chapter number 1. If you would turn there. 1 Samuel chapter number 1.
I'm going to quote for you from Philippians 4 as you're turning to 1 Samuel 1.
Philippians 4 says, be careful for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be known unto God.
Not only does the Bible make it clear that he will listen to your prayers, but also the Bible is telling us here to make our request.
It's something that we're supposed to be doing as Christians.
And how do we do it? Through prayer. Here's how Hannah did it. 1 Samuel chapter 1.
Notice verse 13. 1 Samuel chapter 1 verse 13. The Bible read there,
Now Hannah, she spake in her heart, only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard.
Therefore Eli thought she had been drunken. And Eli said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken?
Put away thy wine from thee. And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a, notice this word, sorrowful spirit.
I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord.
So Hannah's saying she's a woman of a sorrowful spirit and the reason why is because her husband's wife, he was married to two women.
Not a good idea of men.
Peninnah had been essentially persecuting her and afflicting her. She was also barren.
And so this was a catalyst for her to feel sorrowful.
And a lot of women are going through this today where maybe they're barren, they're not having children and they really want to.
And it causes them to feel a sort of depression, wondering what it is that they deserve to be in that situation.
But notice the recovery process that she goes through. Does she go through this alone?
Does she decide, I'm going to fix it myself? No, she goes to God in prayer.
She takes it to God. And here's my question for you. Notice what Hannah did.
Again, taking it straight to God. She poured her heart out to the Lord.
When's the last time you decided? When's the last time you went through something difficult?
When's the last time you went through some sort of ailment or some sort of distress or anguish and you took it to the Lord just like Hannah did?
When's the last time you got down on your knees and had the faith to cast your burdens on Jesus Christ?
To cast your burdens on God himself?
When's the last time you had that instinct?
And you say, well, I don't think prayer works.
Well, here's the problem with that.
The Bible says that if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us.
And if we know that he hear us whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
1 John chapter number 5.
So here's the thing. Ask for intervention.
Whatever it is that you're going through, whatever ailment that you might be faced with today.
Have you decided in sorrow? Have you decided in distress? Have you decided in times of uncertainty?
Have you decided in tears that you're going to get down on your knees and say, God, I don't know why I'm going through this.
I don't know why my health is deteriorating.
I don't know why I lost my job.
I don't know why I'm being persecuted right now.
But I am going to ask you to intervene because I know I can't do it.
I can't get through it without your help.
Have you asked for intervention today for what you're going through?
And if the answer to that question is no, do it as soon as possible.
Go to Ecclesiastes 7 if you would.
Ecclesiastes chapter number 7.
Here's what you have to understand about prayer.
Prayer does not always yield the answer you want, but it will always yield the answer that you need.
It's not going to always yield the answer that you want necessarily, but it will yield the answer you need.
Because some people will pray for something and then it doesn't necessarily come to pass exactly the way they wanted it to.
Remember the verse I quoted to you moments ago.
If we ask anything according to his will, you might again not get the answer you want, but it will be the answer that you need.
Remember it was Paul who besought the Lord how many times? Thrice.
For what? A thorn in his flesh.
And it wasn't taken away from him because it wasn't the answer that he needed.
How about David after committing adultery?
And he prayed that his baby wouldn't die, which was of course a form of God's judgment on his life because of that wicked sin.
And he prayed fervently for that not to come to pass and yet it did.
Of course a picture of the gospel there in the sense that it emphasizes the sacrifice of a son, but here's the point I'm trying to make for you.
He didn't get the answer he wanted, but he certainly got the answer that he needed at that time.
You know what Job said in Job chapter number 13? He said,
Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.
That's the blueprint for us.
And do you have that mentality this morning?
Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.
Is that what you're thinking?
Here's my second point for you.
Look for the silver lining and have a positive mindset.
Ecclesiastes 7, look at verse 3, the Bible reads there,
Sorrow is better than laughter, for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better.
There's a silver lining, believe it or not, to sorrow, which is what?
The heart can be made better.
When you experience a low it equips you to endure further trials.
It strengthens you for the next valley that you're inevitably going to face in this life.
Because like I've said already, folks, this life is not just positive only.
There are ups and there are downs, and the downs equip you for future ones that you're going to face.
Ecclesiastes 7 is where you are. Look at verse 14.
Look at verse 14, the Bible says there,
In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider,
God also hath set the one over against the other, to the end that man should not find,
I should say, to the end that man should find nothing after him.
Life consists of times of joy and times of adversity.
Here's a silver lining for you to comprehend.
The times of adversity do not last forever.
And I think that's the lesson we could take from this chapter.
The times of adversity, the times of sorrow, do not last forever.
And so what you need to be thinking if you have a sorrowful heart this morning is this,
Hey, it's not going to last forever.
There's going to be a recovery. It's going to come to an end.
Go to 2 Corinthians chapter 12, if you would, 2 Corinthians chapter 12.
I want to show you how the Apostle Paul saw the silver lining.
Psalm 119 says, as you're turning to 2 Corinthians chapter 12, it says,
It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes.
Affliction can actually help you draw closer to God.
I know this, that when my faith is being tried or when I have people attacking me for my faith,
it actually makes me want to be more spiritual.
It's funny because the enemy thinks, Oh, if we just hate on this guy,
if we just attack him and smear him and rail against him
and levy a bunch of false accusation against him,
that's going to discourage him from coming to church.
That's going to discourage him from serving God.
That's going to discourage him from reading his Bible.
But in fact what you'll notice over and over and over again is that the opposite is true.
And I think this church is a testament to that.
This week we've been faced with a ton of hatred on social media
by a bunch of disgusting degenerate dogs
thinking that they can intimidate us from coming to church,
from coming to God's house and listening to the word of God being preached.
But this place is filled and the reason why is because when we're in distress,
when we're in affliction, we know that the only appropriate option is this,
to draw closer to God.
Luke chapter 6, Jesus Christ said this.
I had you turn to 2 Corinthians 12. I'm going to quote this one for you.
Luke 6 says,
Blessed are ye when men shall hate you,
and when they shall separate you from their company
and shall reproach you and cast your name as evil for the son of man's sake.
Rejoice ye in that day and leap for joy,
for behold, your reward is great in heaven,
for in the like manner did their fathers,
unto the prophets, tribulations and afflictions and temptations and persecutions.
What should they elicit from you? Joy. Rejoice. Rejoice.
You know, I want to see people walk out of the service this morning
with a smile plastered on their face.
You ought to be smiling this morning.
You ought to be smiling. You ought to be happy.
You ought to be leaping for joy that you've been counted worthy
to be hated for Christ's sake.
To be hated for Christ's sake.
You know, when things like this happen, I don't get down.
And look, if you are down because of this,
I'm not trying to hate on you. I'm trying to help you.
Don't be upset. Don't have sorrow when you're persecuted.
Don't get depressed when you're persecuted.
That's not the right reaction.
I understand if you are, but snap out of it this morning.
And here's the thing. This is what I want from you.
Put a smile on your face. Put a smile on your face today.
So permanent that it would have to be surgically removed.
Why? Because we're counted worthy to be hated for Christ.
You know what Jesus said? Blessed are ye.
I'm happy today.
That's a silver lining, isn't it?
Whatever you're faced with, with regard to your faith,
persecutions or tribulations, you can be happy.
There's a blessing associated with persecution.
It's a seemingly paradoxical concept
that when people are hating on you that you should rejoice.
But that's what Jesus said.
That's what Jesus Christ said.
Knowing that the trying of your faith, the Bible says, worketh patience.
Now I want you to pay attention to 2 Corinthians chapter 12 real quickly.
What's this point?
I'm talking about having the silver lining in the midst of sorrow or distress or anguish or depression.
And look at 2 Corinthians chapter 12 verse 7.
Let's look at a silver lining here.
And again, bear with me with my voice.
2 Corinthians chapter 12, it says in verse 7,
Unless I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations that were given to me,
a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me,
lest I should be exalted above measure,
for this thing I besought the Lord thrice that it might depart from me.
Paul describes a thorn in the flesh.
I don't know what it is. The Lord doesn't take it away, however.
Paul acknowledges, hey, it's to prevent him from perhaps getting too puffed up.
And sometimes we have a health ailment like this that we prayed for God to remove, and he doesn't.
And that would be perhaps a similar thorn in the flesh that you're dealing with,
that Paul might have been dealing with as well.
Look at verse 9, the Bible read,
And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee.
Now pay attention to these words,
for my strength is made perfect in weakness.
Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities,
that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions,
in distresses for Christ's sake.
For when I am weak, then am I strong.
Now look, whatever thorn that you might be dealing with in your flesh,
if it's leading you to have a sorrowful heart,
please pay attention to these verses here.
Maybe write them down in your notes.
Whatever it is that you have to do.
But I want you to notice, what's the point I'm making here?
Point number two, have a positive attitude.
Look for the silver lining.
The apostle Paul saw a silver lining here in 2 Corinthians chapter 12,
specifically in verse 10, when he says,
For when I am weak, then am I strong.
Make no mistake about it, the same applies to you.
Whether it's financial loss, or family abandonment,
or being backstabbed, or your health deteriorating.
If you're recovering from sorrow,
if you're recovering from infirmity,
or you're recovering from reproach,
understand this, that when we're weak,
when we feel like we're weak,
when we feel like we just can't make it through,
then are you strong, according to 2 Corinthians chapter 12.
Then are you strong.
See, here's the thing, our infirmities,
the sorrows and the distresses that we go through in this life,
they offer a chance for God to glorify His name.
They offer a chance for God to glorify His name
and make it obvious that the only way,
the only possible way that strength could ever be derived from weakness,
like the apostle Paul said,
the only way in spite of a physical or a mental onslaught
that strength could be derived from weakness,
the only way in spite of whatever it is that you might be faced with in this life
that someone can be used mightily by God
to turn this world upside down with the gospel
is through the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's the only way.
And so when you feel weak because of a thorn in your flesh
or you feel weak because of some other ailment
that's causing you to feel sorrow,
understand this, that God might be allowing you
to endure whatever it is that you're enduring right now
so that He can use you to glorify His name
and show, hey, even this person who has this issue,
who has these problems,
who had all these people turn on him,
can still be used mightily for me,
can still go out and get people saved,
can still serve me just like anyone else.
Head over to Philippians chapter 4, if you would,
Philippians chapter number 4.
Take a sip of water.
All right.
Come on, boys, hang with me here.
Genesis chapter 50, I'm going to quote that for you
as you head over to Philippians chapter 4.
Genesis 50 says,
But as for you, ye thought evil against me,
but God meant it unto good to bring the past,
as it is this day, to save much people alive.
Think of the silver lining right there with Joseph.
Joseph, you want to talk about a backstabbing,
his own brethren leaving him for dead.
He's sold into servitude, and what does he say?
Well, God meant it unto good.
That's a guy who could see the silver lining.
That's a guy who could look at a glass
and say that it's half full.
And, you know, if you've been backstabbed,
if you've been left behind by somebody,
understand this, perhaps God meant it unto good.
What your enemy meant for evil, God meant for good.
Philippians, excuse me, Philippians chapter 4, verse 8.
It says, Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true,
whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just,
whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely,
whatsoever things are of good report,
if there be any virtue and if there be any praise,
think on these things.
If you want to reverse your sorrow into joy,
find the silver lining, and don't just do that.
How about this? Have a positive mindset.
And I think that's what we can articulate.
I should say that's what we can derive from this verse
in Philippians chapter 4, verse 8,
is it's a positive mindset.
What does that mean?
Don't obsess, overly obsess, over the wickedness of this world.
Because you can find yourself in that scenario
where all you're doing is obsessing over how evil
God's enemies truly are.
And they are evil.
And I understand that they are.
And there's a lot of negative in the Bible.
No doubt about that.
But that shouldn't be what we are perpetually concerned with.
We should take the time also to have a more positive mindset
and think about things that are what? True.
Think about things that are what? Honest.
Things that are pure.
Don't only consume your thoughts with the evils of this world.
Now with that in mind, go to Romans chapter 1.
Romans chapter number 1.
You say, Ben, you're about to contradict yourself.
No, it's going to make sense in a minute.
Just keep listening, okay?
If the news makes you depressed, I have a solution for you.
Shut it off.
And I'm not against following the news.
I follow the news.
I think it's great to see what's going on in the world.
I don't have an issue with that.
I follow geopolitics.
I look at what's going on.
But if it's depressing you, if it's getting you to the point
that you have a sorrowful heart because you're paying
such close attention to all the different geopolitical conflicts
and the culture wars and things of that nature,
and it's affecting you heavily, unplugged for a little while,
just take a break.
I don't think there's anything wrong with that.
It'll help you mentally to cleanse yourself a little bit.
Romans 1 is where I had you turn.
Look at verse 29.
This is describing Sodomites who are reprobates.
Romans 1, 29, it says, being filled with all on righteousness,
fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness,
full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity,
whisperers, backbiters, haters of God,
despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things,
disobedient to parents, without understanding,
covenant breakers, without natural affection,
and pay attention to this word, implacable, unmerciful.
I'm going to stop there.
These are attributes of what?
A God-hating reprobate.
This is a description of the evil globalist,
new-world order elites, whatever you want to call them,
who are running this world.
This is what they are.
This is who they are.
And what you have to understand is this.
If you decide to take a break from following all the news
and all the world events,
these reprobates are still going to be reprobate.
They're still going to have these attributes.
Reprobates are still going to do reprobate things.
If you decide to unplug for a little while,
you're not going to miss out on anything.
Trust me, they're insatiable.
They're implacable.
There's nothing that could ever be done to placate them.
And so if they're implacable,
if there's nothing that could ever placate these beasts,
if there's nothing that can placate them,
that means they're going to continue to do
what they have been doing.
They're going to continue to do it
whether you're paying attention or not.
So if you find yourself in a distressful mood,
if you find yourself depressed or have a sorrowful heart
because you've been paying a little too much attention
to current events, unplug for a little while,
take a break, detox mentally.
And you know what?
When you come back, reprobate's still going to be reprobate.
You're not going to miss out on anything.
Guess what?
Nations are still going to be on the brink of war.
Everyone's going to be questioning
when World War III is going to happen.
There are going to be all kinds of wars
and rumors of wars going on
whether you're paying attention or not.
Guess what?
Joe Biden is still going to be a demented pervert freak
whether you're paying attention or not.
You know, you can unplug, take a break for a while.
You come on back, he's going to still be blabbering on
and he's still going to make absolutely no sense whatsoever.
The corporate media is still going to be filled with a bunch of fags
and it's still going to peddle fake news.
CNN, MSNBC and all the rest of it
still going to peddle fake news
whether you're complaining about it or not,
whether you're paying attention or not.
The heaviness that you're feeling because of current events
is so crippling that it's causing you to feel depressed.
Maybe you should refocus on things that are true,
things that are honest, things that are just,
things that are pure, things that are lovely,
things that are of a good report.
No matter what's going on out there in the world,
you know what I notice?
The sun always comes up in the morning.
I always hear birds chirping.
I always have a beautiful wife
ready to make me some breakfast in the morning.
I always have a job I can go to.
I always have a church that I can come to on Wednesday nights
and Sunday morning and Sunday night as the people of God.
Don't let current events affect you
like unsafe people get affected by it.
Don't let it cause you to fall into a depression.
Go to Ecclesiastes 4, if you would,
Ecclesiastes chapter number 4.
Here's my third point.
Spend time with friends.
If you find yourself depressed or sad, spend time with friends.
Ecclesiastes chapter 4 is where I had you turn.
Look at verse 9 when you get there.
Ecclesiastes chapter number 4, verse 9.
It says in Ecclesiastes chapter 4, verse 9,
Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor.
For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow.
But woe to him that is alone when he falleth,
for he hath not another to help him up.
Now the Bible is clear, two is better than one.
Why? Because if one falls, another can lift him up.
See, when you're interconnected with the people of God,
whenever you fall, whenever you're going through something difficult,
whenever you're faced with adversity,
you have somebody who can help lift you up.
You're surrounded by people who care.
There are people around you who can encourage you.
It says woe to him that is alone when he falleth.
Woe to that person who has no friends, who has no fellowship.
When they fall, they're going to have nobody to help lift them up again.
Look at Song of Solomon chapter 5.
It's the next book over from Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon chapter 5.
Meanwhile, I'll read from Proverbs 27, which says,
Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart,
so does the sweetness of a man's friend by hearty counsel.
See, friendship is associated with sweetness,
but the Bible also tells us in the book of Proverbs that it rejoices the heart.
And by the way, your spouse ought to be your friend.
The Bible describes the spouse as a friend in Song of Songs 5.
Look at Song of Songs 5 verse 15.
It says, His legs are as pillars of marble set upon sockets of fine gold.
Song of Songs 5 verse 15.
His countenance is as Lebanon.
Now, that is the ultimate compliment right there.
I like that.
Hey, Lisha, if you want to write me a Valentine's Day card, there's some good material.
It says, excellent as the cedars.
This is great stuff.
Verse 16.
His mouth is most sweet, yea, he is altogether lovely.
This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.
So the bride refers to her husband as her friend.
And of course, Proverbs 27, which I quoted for you,
says that your friends rejoice your heart.
So if you have a sorrowful heart, your spouse can help you heal.
That is the role of a spouse, to help you heal.
Lean on your spouse.
Lean on your husband.
Lean on your wife to help you when you're feeling depressed.
You know, I know for me, when I'm feeling down in the dumps,
when I'm feeling sad, if I have a sorrowful heart,
spending time with my wife helps cheer me up again.
It helps cheer me up, helps get me back up onto my feet.
Some people might say, oh, well, the honeymoon phase of my marriage is over.
Now we don't even like each other.
Well, you need to fix that, first of all.
And second of all, guess what happens when you exit that so-called honeymoon phase?
Your marriage gets even better, because now you're in a different stage.
It's called the stage of maturity, where your bond is stronger than it's ever been.
Say, what can I do to spend time with my spouse?
Why don't you take him out for dinner?
Take him out for dinner.
You can have a good conversation.
You can forget about whatever ailment that you might be enduring at that time.
It could be as simple as just taking a walk together.
Take a walk, spend some quality time one with another.
Confide in your spouse the problems that you're faced with.
Pray together.
If you have an issue that's so bad that it's causing you to have a sorrowful heart,
have you ever just prayed with your wife, prayed with your husband together out loud to the Lord?
That could help you feel better.
How about this one?
Just play a board game and beat your spouse at the board game.
If you're particularly competitive, that'll help you feel better.
And I always win when I play against my wife.
Now, it could be because she's letting me win.
I don't know, but I don't care, because I'm winning.
So I'm happy.
Play a board game.
Read the Bible together.
Maybe read out loud.
Read some passages.
If you're a man, why don't you preach your wife a sermon?
Just come up with a little sermon, five, ten minutes.
Rip some face.
Go to Romans 1 and start ripping some face in the living room.
That'll help you feel better.
Confide in your spouse.
Again, confide in your spouse what's going on.
Don't just be like, everything's fine.
No, there's something going on.
If there's a problem, let your spouse know.
Look at 1 Samuel 23, 1 Samuel chapter 23.
It's not just the spousal friendship that can help you,
but a regular friendship also can help you if you have a sorrowful heart.
Here in this chapter, David, he's fleeing from Saul.
He ends up in the wilderness of Ziph,
and we'll see that he's actually strengthened by a friend in 1 Samuel chapter 23.
Look at verse 15.
It says,
And David saw that Saul was come to seek out his life,
and David was in the wilderness of Ziph in a wood.
And Jonathan, Saul's son, arose and went to David into the wood
and strengthened his hand in God.
And he said unto him, Fear not, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find thee,
and thou shalt be king over Israel, and I shall be next unto thee,
and that also Saul my father knoweth.
So we see that as his father, Jonathan's father is in pursuit of Saul
because of his envy.
I should say he's in pursuit of David, rather.
Jonathan's father is in pursuit of David because of his envy toward him.
Jonathan strengthens David.
He encourages David.
He lets David know that, hey, you can get through this.
Everything's going to be fine.
And you see, when you come to a Bible-believing Baptist church
filled with Spirit-filled believers who are saved and the Holy Spirit inside them,
you can be around people, friends, men and women,
who will help you when you're in the midst of a potential problem like David was.
They can encourage you. They can strengthen you.
When you're in a disadvantageous situation,
the very best place that you could possibly be
is not in the psychiatrist's office.
The very best place you could possibly be is right here in the house of God.
The very best place you could be is amongst the people of God,
amongst people who can lift your spirits, that you can laugh with,
that you can have fellowship with, that can remind you,
hey, we're not alone. We're not alone.
This building is filled with people who are like-minded.
They love the Lord Jesus Christ. They love the Bible.
They are not alone in the midst of this crooked and perverse generation,
and that is so helpful for somebody who's experiencing a sorrowful heart
or a difficult time.
Go to Galatians chapter 5. Here's my fourth point.
Do more spiritual activities. Do more spiritual activities.
If you have a sorrowful heart, if you're feeling depressed,
increase the number of things that you do that are spiritual in your life.
Now, carnal activities can also be beneficial,
and what I'm talking about is going out and working hard.
When you put in a hard day's work,
that helps you feel like you actually accomplished something that day
and helps break this cycle of depression
or the downward spiral of depression that you might be experiencing.
Another thing that can help is exercising.
Just from a carnal standpoint, exercising does release endorphins into your brain.
I can tell you from experience that there have been times
where I didn't necessarily feel like going to the gym,
but I know there were people waiting for me there,
and so I couldn't just ditch them.
I was kind of feeling down in the dumps that day,
but after my workout, I felt great because of the endorphins
and just the fact that you feel like you accomplished something on that particular day.
The absolute worst thing you could possibly do when you're down in the dumps,
when you're depressed, when you have a sorrowful heart,
is to fall into laziness.
That is the worst thing you can do.
All that's going to do is exacerbate the problem.
Sitting around, playing video games all day, watching TV all day,
eating chips off your chest is going to do nothing but make you feel even worse.
Trust me on that.
If you're a woman, accomplish tasks around the home.
Do things that make you feel like,
hey, I actually accomplished something today.
That'll help you.
Galatians 5, where I had you turn, notice verse 22.
It says, but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.
Against such, there is no law.
There are two components here, two subsets, you could say,
of the fruit of the Spirit, which is what?
Joy and peace.
Sin, conversely, that offers you just temporary pleasure.
That's not going to heal you.
That's not going to help you recover.
But if you walk in the Spirit,
if you choose to do more spiritual things,
we see that a result of that is joy.
We see a result of that is peace.
And I have a few suggestions for you.
You say, what do you mean by this?
Why don't you sing a hymn?
If you feel like you're down in the dumps, sing a hymn.
Sing Psalm 139.
Sing a psalm.
Sing one of the psalms.
If it's not that, sing Psalm 15.
Sing whatever it is that you want.
Sing a spiritual song that'll help uplift you,
to help get you filled with the Spirit and feel joy and feel peace,
peace that passeth all understanding, the Bible says.
You can listen to preaching.
I find that when I turn Pastor Anderson on or Pastor Jimenez,
when I feel like I'm sort of just not having a really good day
or I even feel maybe depressed,
I listen to some preaching.
I listen to some men of God get up and thunder forth his word
and it makes me feel better.
Listen to some preaching.
Do more spiritual activities.
Maybe memorize some scripture.
If you choose to memorize some scripture,
not only is that going to help you feel like you accomplished something great for that day,
but also it'll get you filled with the Spirit and, as I said,
what happens when you walk in the Spirit?
Well, you feel joy.
You feel peace.
Head over to Jeremiah chapter 15.
Jeremiah chapter 15.
Proverbs 29 says,
Where there is no vision, the people perish,
but he that keepeth the law happy is he.
Look, if you're looking to heal your sorrowful heart,
keep God's law as much as possible.
The Bible says happy is he.
You know who's unhappy?
You know who's in a perpetual state of depression?
The drunk loser in the gutter,
vomiting all over himself who has no job.
That person has no hope.
But if you fear God, if you walk in his ways,
it will elicit joy.
Psalm 126 says,
He that goeth forth and weepeth,
bearing precious seed,
shall doubtless come again with rejoicing,
bringing his sheaves with him.
You want to heal a sorrowful heart?
Here's a pretty good remedy for you.
Go soul winning.
You know, when you get someone saved,
when you preach the gospel to somebody,
and they believe it,
and they pray and they ask for salvation,
that lifts me up.
That gets me excited for that day.
That makes me feel happy all of a sudden
when before I might have felt kind of depressed
or sad or sorrow.
You say, well, people aren't always receptive.
Well, so what?
Then you're just going on a nice walk with a friend.
What if they slam the door in my face
and they're mean to me?
I don't want anybody to be mean to me.
Well, who cares?
They're going to hell anyway.
Why does it matter?
They're the ones who rejected the free gift
of eternal life.
What if you had a check for a million dollars
and you're like,
hey, I'm just with a local organization
giving this away.
And they're like, I don't want that.
Is that really going to bother you?
Well then, how much more eternal life?
The gospel.
They slam the door in your face, so be it.
Who cares?
Just laugh it off.
I find it funny.
I laugh at them.
Joke's on them.
It's really not that big a deal.
And it's very rare anyway.
I've been going soul winning for a while now
and I honestly have not even had that happen
too many times.
So it is rare.
Jeremiah 15, look what it says in verse 16.
Thy words were found and I did eat them
and thy word was unto me the joy
and rejoicing of mine heart,
for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts.
Now Jeremiah, it says that he consumed God's word
and what happened?
It engendered happiness in his heart.
If you're down, if you're depressed,
if you have a sorrowful heart,
if you're dealing with distress,
read the Bible.
Yeah, I know that sounds easy.
Just read it.
Trust me, it'll help you.
Read the word of God and it'll bring you joy.
What we need to do as Bible believing Christians is this.
Flee for refuge to your King James Bible
when you're feeling down and out and down in the dumps
rather than fleeing to this world.
And unfortunately, there are many people
who decide instead of fleeing to this,
they flee to the world.
They flee to television.
Here's a study for you.
The association between screen time and depression
among U.S. adults.
It says in this large population based cross sectional study
of U.S. adult population,
it was found that there was significant association
between TV watching slash computer use
with moderate or severe level of depression
after controlling all potential confounders.
Running to the television set is not going to help you feel better.
Unless you're turning on preaching, then you're fine.
But, you know, put on the sodomite deception.
Okay.
But the thing is, if you just go to the TV
and you start watching a bunch of worldly television shows,
you turn on Netflix or you turn on the news,
we already talked about that, that's not going to help you.
Another thing that people will flee to is gluttony.
It says here the link between binge eating and depression.
About half of the people who binge eat have a mood disorder
such as depression.
Some people binge eat in an attempt to numb sad and hopeless feelings.
We should not run to gluttony.
We should not flee to gluttony
in an effort to quell whatever sorrow you might be faced with today.
Flee to the spiritual food instead.
And here's another one, alcohol.
I'm sure you guys have all heard the phrase,
hey, why don't you just go ahead and drink your sorrows away?
Well, the secular world even admits that that's not a viable way to combat depression.
This article says nearly one third of people with major depression
also have an alcohol problem.
Alcohol is a depressant.
That means any amount you drink can make you more likely to get the blues.
Drinking a lot can harm your brain and lead to depression.
Now that's not an independent fundamental Baptist website.
That's a secular news source, a secular website,
admitting that alcohol actually leads to depression.
And yet, there are some Christians who will flee to alcohol,
will flee to poison in an attempt to remedy their sorrowful heart.
But all that's going to do is lead to misery.
It's going to lead to even more depression, even more sorrow.
Instead, why don't we choose Christ?
Choose Christ today.
Walk in the Spirit.
Serve the Lord Jesus Christ with your life.
It'll aid in your recovery.
It'll give you joy.
It'll give you peace.
Head over to Romans chapter 8, Romans chapter 8.
You say, Ben, but you don't understand.
My life is ruined.
I have no choice.
You don't understand.
I lost my job.
You don't understand.
I've been forsaken.
You don't know what I'm going through, Ben.
You don't know what I'm going through.
Well, you're right.
I don't know what you're going through.
That's the reality.
I do not know what each individual staring me in the face this morning is going through.
I don't know what you're going through this morning.
I don't know what might be the reason why you feel sorrow or that you feel sad.
I don't.
I don't know why you're going through a low point in your life right now, if you are.
But here's what I do know.
Look at Romans 8 and look at verse 28.
Romans 8, verse 28.
The Bible says there, and we know, it says, and we know that all things work together
for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Now, that's a conditional statement.
And what's the condition?
If you love God, all things are going to work together for good.
All things will work together for good.
If you're dealing with distress, if you're recovering from a sorrowful heart, here's
the one question I want you to ask yourself, do you love God?
That should be the one thing that we're concerned with.
And yes, I understand that in the inner man, obviously the inner man always loves God,
but we might not necessarily be outwardly manifesting that love.
And if you love God, you have nothing to worry about because the Bible makes it so plain
that all things will work together for good.
That's what it promises there in Romans chapter 8, but do you believe it?
Do you have the faith to believe what it says in Romans 8, 28?
Here's my final point.
Go to 2 Corinthians chapter 4.
2 Corinthians chapter 4, here's my final point.
My fifth and final point this morning is this, have an eternal perspective.
You say, I'm sad, I'm down in the dumps right now, I've got a sorrowful heart.
Well, have an eternal perspective.
And here's what I mean by that.
If you look at 2 Corinthians chapter 4, it says in verse 17, it says,
For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding
and eternal weight of glory.
While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.
For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
Everything that you can look at is temporary.
But it's the spiritual realm that is actually eternal.
The spiritual realm is eternal.
The affliction that you might be going through this morning is temporary,
just as sure as everything else that's physical is temporary.
What you're going through right now in this life is not going to last forever if you're saved, you have hope.
A certain type of hope that the unsaved do not have, especially the reprobates.
They're out of hope completely.
But if you're saved, you have hope.
You see, if you have an eternal perspective, you'll understand this.
Eventually this world is going to pass away.
Whatever it is that you're recovering from, if you have a sorrowful heart this morning,
there's going to come a day where it flees away completely.
There's going to come a day where you don't even remember it.
Go to Isaiah 51, it'll be the last place I have you turn.
Isaiah chapter 51 as I land the plane here.
The eternal perspective is this.
This world does not last forever.
This life does not last forever.
One day these tabernacles that we inhabit, this temporary tabernacle that we inhabit,
is going to go into the ground and we're going to be raised up incorruptible at the rapture.
We're going to get glorified bodies and meet Jesus Christ in the air
and go on into eternity.
See, here's the eternal perspective.
In addition to what I just said, also, it's this.
Hey, we're leaving this home one day and the sorrow that's associated with it.
We're leaving it all behind.
Look at Isaiah 51.
Actually, before you do, I want to quote this verse in Matthew 26.
It says,
Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death.
Tear ye here and watch with me.
I want you to understand this.
Jesus Christ, the Bible says, went through sorrow.
And he went through sorrow so that you don't have to ever again.
He went through physical and spiritual anguish so that you don't have to.
You see, whenever you find yourself having a sorrowful heart,
whenever you're dealing with distress, think about the sacrifice of Christ.
Think about what he accomplished on your behalf at Calvary.
Think about what he must have been thinking or what must have been going through his mind
as he's faced with this task of saving humanity from its sins,
from putting on the sins of the whole world unto himself and being forsaken by the Father.
Think about what Jesus Christ went through, that he died on the cross, that he was buried,
that he went to hell for three days and three nights for us.
And of course, rose again the third day.
Think of all of the pain and the suffering that he went through,
and you know what, it'll put what you're going through in perspective.
And it'll remind you as well that God loves you that much,
that he was willing to sacrifice his Son for you.
And that'll lift your spirits, I think.
Isaiah chapter 51 says in verse 11, this is the last verse,
Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return and come with singing unto Zion,
and everlasting joy shall be upon their head.
They shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.
When we enter into eternity, because of what Christ did for us
and the fact that we've accepted the free gift of the gospel,
when we enter into eternity, we're never going to have to worry about sorrow ever again.
It's all going to flee away.
Whereas the unsaved are going to have sorrow if they die in that status.
They're going to have sorrow and pain and gnashing of teeth for all of eternity in hell.
We are going to enter into a place that is perfect,
where sorrow and all the distresses of this life, they all flee away.
Now again, some people, what they do to try and recover from a sorrowful heart
is they focus on the temporal.
They focus on materialism.
What you have to understand is this.
The inheritance that's waiting for you in heaven,
the inheritance that's waiting for you, that God has prepared for you in heaven,
it puts to shame anything this world has to offer.
It puts to shame anything that this world can offer you, folks.
And as Bible-believing Christians, we need to use that as motivation to say,
Hey, you know what? I may have gone through a tough time in my life.
I may have been backstabbed. I may have had people leave me.
I may have had people forsake me. I may have had this health problem.
I may have had a thorn in the flesh.
I may have endured affliction. I may have had a sorrowful heart.
But even though I went through all of those things in my life,
I know that at the end of the day, I have hope
because I know where I'm going after this life.
I know I have eternal life,
and I know that this world isn't all that I'm going to experience.
And then at the end of the day, there is nothing,
there is absolutely nothing, no enemy, no reprobate, no politician,
there is nothing anyone could ever do to change your eternal destination.
And that's what it means to have an eternal perspective
and think, hey, you know what?
I'm going to have peace in my life that passeth all understanding,
knowing that I'm going somewhere way better anyway.
We're just strangers and foreigners in this world. We're just passing through.
You say, I have a sorrowful heart this morning.
Well, my hope is that this will help you recover.
Pray. Look for the silver lining and have a positive mindset.
Spend some time with friends.
Do more spiritual activities.
And have an eternal perspective.
Let's bow our heads for a word of prayer.
Father, we thank you so much for our church
and for the ability that we have to gather together in your name
and just hear your word be preached.
Lord, I just pray that you would help us to not feel sorrow.
We understand there's a time for sorrow.
We understand that there's a time for pain
and there's a time to feel distress, Lord,
but I just pray that you would help us to recover from that.
We know there's also a time to recover.
Just help us, Lord, to feel happy.
Help us to have smiles on our faces this morning.
Help us to recognize that we do have hope, Lord,
to remember, to acknowledge that we do have hope, Lord.
Also, Lord, just help us to be joyful Christians
and to live a joyful Christian life as long as we have left here on this earth.
In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
All right, with that, let's close out with one last song for this morning.
Go ahead and take out your hymnal again and turn to song number 390,
Have I Done My Best for Jesus?
It's a great idea to think about throughout the day and throughout the week,
constantly examining yourself.
Have I Done My Best for Jesus?
Song number 390.
Sing it all together at the first.
I wonder have I done my best for Jesus
Who died upon the cruel tree
To think of His great sacrifice set Calvary
I know the Lord expects the best from me
How many are the lost that I have lifted
How many are the chained I've held to free
I wonder have I done my best for Jesus
When He has done so much for me
The hours that I have wasted are so many
The hours I've spent for Christ are few
Because of all my lack of love for Jesus
I wonder if His heart is breaking too
How many are the lost that I have lifted
How many are the chained I've held to free
I wonder have I done my best for Jesus
When He has done so much for me
I wonder have I cared enough for others
Or have I let them die alone
I might have helped to wander to the Savior
The seed of precious life I might have sown
How many are the lost that I have lifted
How many are the chained I've held to free
I wonder have I done my best for Jesus
When He has done so much for me
No longer will I stay within the valley
Or climb to mountain heights above
The world is dying now for want of someone
To tell them of the Savior's max Islam
How many are the lost that I have lifted
How many are the chained I've held to free
I wonder have I done my best for Jesus
When He has done so much for me
. . .