1 00:00:01,400 --> 00:00:07,360 I search for hope, I search for love, and one day for it leads 2 00:00:08,520 --> 00:00:14,040 God give me strength to accept the things that I just cannot 3 00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:21,520 know, that even when I lose control, I will not let you. 4 00:00:21,840 --> 00:00:30,120 Go Hey everyone how you doing? Good morning. 5 00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:36,320 You know I'm so glad that I told this to 1st service as well. 6 00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:42,280 I'm so glad that Kyle and Taylor did their thing with leading us 7 00:00:42,280 --> 00:00:45,160 in worship before I had to come up here. 8 00:00:45,880 --> 00:00:48,160 I did not want to follow those crazy people. 9 00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:53,440 They're all my friends but and the cannon Cannon would have 10 00:00:53,440 --> 00:00:57,560 been the worst. So anyway, we are going to 11 00:00:57,560 --> 00:00:59,800 continue. By the way, for those of you who 12 00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:02,600 don't know me, my name is Vance Furtado. 13 00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:06,560 I'm a volunteer teaching pastor here at Resurrection Church. 14 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:12,200 We're going to be continuing our series that we've been doing on 15 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:16,400 mental health. And so this is actually a little 16 00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:20,120 on the funny side. The topic I was assigned is Hope 17 00:01:20,240 --> 00:01:29,280 in Depression. The reason why it's a little 18 00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:35,160 funny is that I haven't been up here for three months. 19 00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:41,120 I was scheduled to speak. The last time I spoke from the 20 00:01:41,120 --> 00:01:44,920 pulpit was the first Sunday in March, and I was scheduled two 21 00:01:44,920 --> 00:01:48,160 other times to speak between then and now. 22 00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:53,600 And the reason why I didn't is because two dear brothers of 23 00:01:53,600 --> 00:01:59,400 mine, Pastor Daniel and Pastor Mark, came and talked to me and 24 00:01:59,480 --> 00:02:03,600 they very clearly told me you need to take a break. 25 00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:09,080 You're not healthy. And they were right. 26 00:02:10,560 --> 00:02:14,000 You see, I have struggled much of my life with depression. 27 00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:18,680 And I was struggling again and I was losing that battle. 28 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:23,040 And the reason how I knew really I was losing the battle is I was 29 00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:25,520 struggling more and more with anger. 30 00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:30,840 You see, a lot of times depression manifests itself as 31 00:02:30,840 --> 00:02:35,040 basically repressed anger. And I was holding it down like 32 00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:38,880 you would hold down a spring as best I could. 33 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:44,840 But I was losing that battle. And so my dear brothers said, 34 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:48,040 you're going to take a break. You need to heal. 35 00:02:50,440 --> 00:02:54,200 That was hard, but it was absolutely what I needed. 36 00:02:56,040 --> 00:02:59,560 So depression is something I'm very familiar with. 37 00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:05,920 Let me give you guys just 5 facts about to kind of portray 38 00:03:05,920 --> 00:03:09,280 how big of a problem depression is. 39 00:03:09,680 --> 00:03:14,040 First of all, and this is a quote, depression is the leading 40 00:03:14,040 --> 00:03:16,560 cause of disability in the world. 41 00:03:18,520 --> 00:03:24,360 And it might sound strange, but it incapacitates us to where we 42 00:03:24,360 --> 00:03:27,360 find it very hard to work, very hard to concentrate, very hard 43 00:03:27,360 --> 00:03:31,840 to do much of anything. Also, just in the US alone, 44 00:03:31,840 --> 00:03:36,600 about 22 million people struggle with clinical depression, 45 00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:38,640 meaning they have been diagnosed with it. 46 00:03:38,920 --> 00:03:42,720 And I am one of those 22 million for which I take medication. 47 00:03:42,720 --> 00:03:47,640 My only regret is I didn't do the medication decades earlier. 48 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:54,640 One out of every six teenagers will struggle with one or more 49 00:03:54,960 --> 00:04:00,080 major bouts of depression. So guys, if you feel a little 50 00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:03,840 weird sometimes it's OK. Lots of people feel that way. 51 00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:08,680 Depression is often coupled with anxiety. 52 00:04:10,280 --> 00:04:15,440 And the last one is that depression is sometimes called 53 00:04:15,440 --> 00:04:21,079 the hidden illness because sadly, what happens is people 54 00:04:21,079 --> 00:04:25,800 don't get diagnosed and get help with it until it's too late. 55 00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:29,120 Some of us are familiar with this man. 56 00:04:29,440 --> 00:04:34,120 His name was Robin Williams, very talented, very gifted 57 00:04:34,120 --> 00:04:39,600 actor, comedian. Well, Williams was struggling 58 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:45,000 severely with depression in his later years, and so he did 59 00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:49,400 something that was absolutely not the answer, and that was he 60 00:04:49,400 --> 00:04:56,000 took his own life. That's not the answer. 61 00:04:57,760 --> 00:05:03,600 Now, by the way, please do not. If you know someone who is 62 00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:07,600 struggling with depression and you want to help them, please do 63 00:05:07,600 --> 00:05:12,040 not tell them what I'm going to call Christianized cliches. 64 00:05:12,520 --> 00:05:14,640 OK, let me give you 3 examples of them. 65 00:05:14,880 --> 00:05:18,960 Here's one. If you were more spiritual, you 66 00:05:18,960 --> 00:05:23,200 wouldn't be depressed. OK, great, now I'm depressed and 67 00:05:23,200 --> 00:05:29,720 I feel guilty. Just pray more. 68 00:05:31,240 --> 00:05:34,840 You know, that's sort of like this guy sitting in a rowboat. 69 00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:39,000 The rowboat has multiple holes, it's sinking and you hand them a 70 00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:42,040 Dixie cup and tell them just bail out more. 71 00:05:42,120 --> 00:05:48,240 You know, Christians don't get depressed. 72 00:05:53,680 --> 00:05:58,760 You know, if if anybody says one of those things to you or if you 73 00:05:58,760 --> 00:06:01,680 maybe have said one of those things in the past, let me just 74 00:06:01,680 --> 00:06:03,760 mention a couple things that I think are helpful. 75 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:11,000 First of all, read the Psalms, because in the Psalms not only 76 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:16,000 do you have of course, people praising God and people joyful 77 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:20,360 in their walk with the Lord, you also have people sharing the 78 00:06:20,360 --> 00:06:23,200 fact that they are very struck. They're struggling in their 79 00:06:23,200 --> 00:06:26,320 life, they're struggling with despair, they're struggling with 80 00:06:26,320 --> 00:06:30,440 depression. So for example, Psalm 22, the 81 00:06:30,440 --> 00:06:36,560 Lord Jesus himself quoted that from the cross when he said, my 82 00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:41,120 God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 83 00:06:42,240 --> 00:06:49,800 Or Psalm 42 and 43, where three times the psalmist writes, Why 84 00:06:49,800 --> 00:06:54,600 are you downcast, O my soul, why so disquieted within me? 85 00:06:55,560 --> 00:07:01,320 And then he says, Hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my 86 00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:09,600 Savior and my God. Here's a verse that we really 87 00:07:09,600 --> 00:07:12,800 need to practice sometimes with what we say. 88 00:07:13,760 --> 00:07:20,320 Let everyone be quick to hear and slow to speak. 89 00:07:22,080 --> 00:07:26,880 Sometimes the most helpful thing is to shut up. 90 00:07:30,760 --> 00:07:35,320 I'm not saying don't care. I'm saying that maybe if we 91 00:07:35,320 --> 00:07:37,840 don't have the words to share, maybe just the fact that we're 92 00:07:37,840 --> 00:07:42,760 sitting with this person, we put our arm around them, we're 93 00:07:42,760 --> 00:07:45,320 present with them, we pray for them. 94 00:07:46,360 --> 00:07:48,560 We don't have to necessarily tell them we're praying, but we 95 00:07:48,560 --> 00:07:54,440 pray for them. That in itself can be incredibly 96 00:07:54,440 --> 00:08:01,280 helpful. The good news, the good news is 97 00:08:01,600 --> 00:08:06,640 not only does the Bible have lots to say very honestly about 98 00:08:06,640 --> 00:08:13,520 depression, it also has information within it to help us 99 00:08:13,720 --> 00:08:19,040 to overcome those issues that come with depression to where we 100 00:08:19,040 --> 00:08:23,040 can have hope. As a matter of fact, the main 101 00:08:23,040 --> 00:08:25,320 point of this message is simply this. 102 00:08:26,440 --> 00:08:34,120 Despair drowns, but hope floats. And for this message, we're 103 00:08:34,120 --> 00:08:36,440 going to be looking at three different passages of Scripture. 104 00:08:36,440 --> 00:08:39,200 First of all, we're going to go to a little book called 105 00:08:39,440 --> 00:08:41,520 Lamentations. All right? 106 00:08:41,520 --> 00:08:43,600 We're going to look at 2 passages. 107 00:08:43,600 --> 00:08:45,720 There. We'll receive, first of all, 108 00:08:45,720 --> 00:08:48,320 despair depicted. And then we see a decision 109 00:08:48,320 --> 00:08:49,640 declared. And by the way, don't worry 110 00:08:49,640 --> 00:08:52,560 about having to copy this. It'll show up later, those of 111 00:08:52,560 --> 00:08:55,640 you who like to take notes. And then we're going to go for 112 00:08:55,640 --> 00:08:58,840 the Third Point. We're going to go to the Gospel 113 00:08:58,840 --> 00:09:01,840 of Mark. Mark chapter 10, verses 46 to 114 00:09:01,840 --> 00:09:07,480 52, and we'll see their deliverance demonstrated a story 115 00:09:07,480 --> 00:09:11,440 from Jesus's ministry where He helped someone who was in an 116 00:09:11,440 --> 00:09:15,760 absolutely hopeless situation. And finally, our last passage 117 00:09:15,960 --> 00:09:19,560 deals with what I'm calling destiny described, and that's 118 00:09:19,560 --> 00:09:24,640 from Second Corinthians chapter 4 verses 16 to 18. 119 00:09:24,640 --> 00:09:30,200 Now, as we do this, it is separate points, but please 120 00:09:30,200 --> 00:09:33,600 think of this as sort of like basically we're putting pieces 121 00:09:33,600 --> 00:09:37,040 together, OK? And as we put these pieces 122 00:09:37,040 --> 00:09:40,480 together in the message, there's going to be some parts of it 123 00:09:40,520 --> 00:09:42,880 that I think you're going to find perhaps more helpful than 124 00:09:42,880 --> 00:09:46,160 others, but it is a package. OK? 125 00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:52,360 So let's go ahead and go to our first passage that is 126 00:09:52,360 --> 00:09:55,240 Lamentations. I know, what a horrible name for 127 00:09:55,240 --> 00:09:59,560 a book. I don't know if the Hebrew name 128 00:09:59,560 --> 00:10:10,220 would be much better in Hebrew. It's simply ho Lamentations. 129 00:10:10,220 --> 00:10:14,100 Now, if you're wondering where to find it in a Bible, if you 130 00:10:14,100 --> 00:10:18,220 find in the Old Testament, the book of Jeremiah, it's a little 131 00:10:18,220 --> 00:10:22,620 book right after that one. OK, so I'm going to Lamentations 132 00:10:22,620 --> 00:10:25,940 chapter 3, just verses 19 and 20. 133 00:10:26,260 --> 00:10:31,600 Here we go, remember my affliction and my wanderings, 134 00:10:32,680 --> 00:10:38,120 the Wormwood and the gall. My soul continually remembers it 135 00:10:38,160 --> 00:10:44,320 and is bowed down within me. This is despair depicted. 136 00:10:46,920 --> 00:10:54,200 What in the world is going on? Well, this is most likely 137 00:10:54,200 --> 00:10:59,400 written by the prophet Jeremiah, and he's looking upon something 138 00:10:59,400 --> 00:11:05,320 that is absolutely breaking his heart, something that could have 139 00:11:05,320 --> 00:11:11,560 been avoided. God's people whom Jeremiah had 140 00:11:11,560 --> 00:11:17,760 ministered to for some 40 years, they kept committing willful, 141 00:11:17,760 --> 00:11:25,240 determined, defiant sin. God had repeatedly warned them 142 00:11:25,680 --> 00:11:30,800 and urge them come back to me, repent, I love you, stop turning 143 00:11:30,800 --> 00:11:33,240 your back on me, stop breaking my heart. 144 00:11:35,280 --> 00:11:38,760 But they kept rejecting them anyway, until finally, as we're 145 00:11:38,760 --> 00:11:43,520 told elsewhere in Scripture. But they kept ridiculing God's 146 00:11:43,520 --> 00:11:48,960 messengers, despising his words, scoffing at his prophets until 147 00:11:48,960 --> 00:11:53,480 God's wrath was so stirred up against his people there was no 148 00:11:53,680 --> 00:11:59,800 remedy. And what happened was everything 149 00:11:59,800 --> 00:12:04,760 got devastated. Now we know what this looks 150 00:12:04,760 --> 00:12:07,240 like, even if we haven't personally experienced it. 151 00:12:07,840 --> 00:12:11,920 Because if you've seen stuff on social media or watch cable news 152 00:12:12,080 --> 00:12:15,000 and you're looking at a war zone where everything is destroyed, 153 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:18,760 everything is devastated. That's what Jeremiah is looking 154 00:12:18,760 --> 00:12:23,160 at. OK, The Kingdom of Judah is 155 00:12:23,160 --> 00:12:26,160 gone. Jerusalem and the temple, the 156 00:12:26,160 --> 00:12:30,200 beautiful temple that the Jews had are now just smoldering 157 00:12:30,200 --> 00:12:34,160 piles of rubble. So many people are dead, they 158 00:12:34,160 --> 00:12:36,720 don't have enough people to even bury the bodies. 159 00:12:38,080 --> 00:12:43,200 People are starving, people are homeless, people are exiled. 160 00:12:43,720 --> 00:12:52,120 It seemed hopeless. And Jeremiah is honestly 161 00:12:52,120 --> 00:12:56,360 expressing what he feels as he looks on this. 162 00:12:57,840 --> 00:13:02,760 And that was a start, by the way, because what seemed 163 00:13:02,760 --> 00:13:07,440 hopeless was actually the beginning of an answer. 164 00:13:09,400 --> 00:13:14,480 What do I mean? It's a beginning of a change. 165 00:13:16,280 --> 00:13:22,120 You see, the Lord can't help us unless we're honest with Him. 166 00:13:23,320 --> 00:13:28,840 It's when we stop making excuses, stop denying the 167 00:13:29,480 --> 00:13:35,000 obvious truth that we need help, when we desperately need what 168 00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:39,400 only Almighty God can provide. When we come to that point, 169 00:13:41,520 --> 00:13:44,680 that's when we start turning and getting serious with God. 170 00:13:45,800 --> 00:13:50,880 My old childhood pastor used to say the 2 greatest evangelists 171 00:13:50,880 --> 00:14:01,680 are memory and misery. Now when did I finally start to 172 00:14:01,680 --> 00:14:07,360 realize I needed help? It was when my wife Linda and I 173 00:14:07,360 --> 00:14:12,560 were trying to care for our last living parent, my mom, as she 174 00:14:12,560 --> 00:14:14,760 was in Hospice care living with us. 175 00:14:16,000 --> 00:14:20,120 Her second stroke deprived her of the ability to speak for the 176 00:14:20,120 --> 00:14:24,840 last five months of her life. The last complete sentence I 177 00:14:24,840 --> 00:14:29,280 ever heard her say was You look tired. 178 00:14:31,760 --> 00:14:35,680 She couldn't say my name. She couldn't say the names of 179 00:14:35,680 --> 00:14:38,000 her grandchildren. She couldn't say Linda's name. 180 00:14:40,120 --> 00:14:44,920 And she was slowly declining, and there was nothing any of us 181 00:14:45,800 --> 00:14:49,760 can do about it. And we knew she was depressed. 182 00:14:49,760 --> 00:14:53,960 We knew she was upset. We could not help her other than 183 00:14:53,960 --> 00:14:58,800 to care for her. That's when I realized I 184 00:14:58,800 --> 00:15:01,720 couldn't handle this on my own. I need help. 185 00:15:04,920 --> 00:15:08,600 I had to be honest. Let's move on to the next 186 00:15:08,600 --> 00:15:13,880 passage, still in LAMENTATIONS. Lamentations chapter 3, verses 187 00:15:13,880 --> 00:15:16,560 21 and 24. This is probably going to sound 188 00:15:16,560 --> 00:15:21,560 a bit familiar because we just sang these words, but this I 189 00:15:21,560 --> 00:15:24,800 call to mine, and therefore I have hope. 190 00:15:26,040 --> 00:15:34,960 The steadfast love of the Lord never what His mercies never 191 00:15:34,960 --> 00:15:39,400 come to an end. They are new every morning. 192 00:15:40,320 --> 00:15:45,800 Great is your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, says my 193 00:15:45,800 --> 00:15:50,000 soul. Therefore I will hope in Him. 194 00:15:51,320 --> 00:15:55,240 Did you catch the words hope in that passage? 195 00:15:56,400 --> 00:15:59,880 Very beginning he mentions hope, and then as he gets to the end 196 00:16:00,240 --> 00:16:03,560 he mentions hope again. It's like their bookends around 197 00:16:03,560 --> 00:16:07,080 the passage. You see, the deal is when it 198 00:16:07,080 --> 00:16:10,440 comes to, and we're talking now about decision declared. 199 00:16:10,600 --> 00:16:15,520 OK, Lamentations 321 to 24, decision declared. 200 00:16:19,360 --> 00:16:25,280 When we choose to hope, that's the best choice we could make. 201 00:16:27,440 --> 00:16:32,640 Recovery usually begins when we choose hope. 202 00:16:36,080 --> 00:16:41,520 Now to do this, our will has to basically take the lead. 203 00:16:41,520 --> 00:16:43,840 We cannot depend upon our emotions. 204 00:16:44,200 --> 00:16:48,880 Our emotions simply will drag us down further and further and 205 00:16:48,880 --> 00:16:56,520 further. We have to make a choice now. 206 00:16:56,520 --> 00:17:02,520 By the way, a Christian community of some close friends 207 00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:06,800 who love us, who also love Jesus, is incredibly helpful for 208 00:17:06,800 --> 00:17:09,720 this. I can't even tell you how many 209 00:17:09,720 --> 00:17:13,839 times my Christian brothers and sisters in my small group and 210 00:17:13,839 --> 00:17:17,160 others around me have helped me. And if you're not in a 211 00:17:17,160 --> 00:17:27,119 community, you need to be. Jeremiah is declaring his hope 212 00:17:27,480 --> 00:17:30,560 based on what he knows about God. 213 00:17:31,760 --> 00:17:36,920 These are things that he has personally experienced about 214 00:17:36,920 --> 00:17:42,880 God. So if you're here and you're a 215 00:17:42,880 --> 00:17:46,680 non Christian, you do not know Jesus, but you wanted to come 216 00:17:46,680 --> 00:17:50,120 out and check out this church. Maybe a friend invited you or 217 00:17:50,120 --> 00:17:55,280 maybe you just decided to visit. First of all, we're all glad 218 00:17:55,280 --> 00:17:57,000 you're here. I'm incredibly excited that 219 00:17:57,000 --> 00:18:00,760 you're here. What you need to realize as we 220 00:18:00,760 --> 00:18:04,440 go through and look again at this passage is that this is 221 00:18:04,440 --> 00:18:10,160 what God is really like. This is how God truly is, the 222 00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:15,320 God that you don't know, but who wants you to come to know him. 223 00:18:16,760 --> 00:18:24,000 And Christian, this is a reminder of who God is, the God 224 00:18:24,040 --> 00:18:30,840 who loves you. OK, so there's 3 certain truths 225 00:18:31,520 --> 00:18:35,600 about the Lord in this passage. And by the way, God himself 226 00:18:36,160 --> 00:18:40,200 described himself in these terms, OK, earlier in the Bible 227 00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:45,200 at a place called the book of Exodus 34, verse 6, this is what 228 00:18:45,200 --> 00:18:50,960 he said about himself. First of all, His steadfast love 229 00:18:51,920 --> 00:19:00,360 never runs out anytime in this Bible translation, the English 230 00:19:00,360 --> 00:19:04,040 standard version where you read steadfast love in the Old 231 00:19:04,040 --> 00:19:08,760 Testament, it's most likely the Hebrew word hesit. 232 00:19:10,400 --> 00:19:17,400 That word is God's covenant, committed, determined love that 233 00:19:17,400 --> 00:19:21,280 we will never ever earn, but He gives it to us anyway. 234 00:19:21,440 --> 00:19:23,760 Why? Because He loves us. 235 00:19:25,880 --> 00:19:33,760 That's his steadfast love. His mercies never quit. 236 00:19:37,040 --> 00:19:41,160 How many of us, maybe as a kid or maybe you were reading this 237 00:19:41,160 --> 00:19:44,880 to a younger brother, sister or grandchild, but how many of us 238 00:19:44,880 --> 00:19:48,640 are familiar with that little book, Green Eggs and Ham? 239 00:19:50,440 --> 00:19:57,320 OK, Do you remember how Sam I am kept pushing the grumpy guy to 240 00:19:57,360 --> 00:20:00,200 eat green eggs and ham? I mean it, it sounded gross. 241 00:20:00,200 --> 00:20:01,440 It really did. OK. 242 00:20:03,720 --> 00:20:09,040 And the grumpy guy kept saying no, I will not eat them here or 243 00:20:09,040 --> 00:20:10,800 there. I will not eat them anywhere. 244 00:20:12,560 --> 00:20:16,760 And Sam I am just keeps hammering at it and says eat 245 00:20:16,760 --> 00:20:20,520 them, eat them. And finally the grumpy guy says 246 00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:24,280 OK. And he eats the green eggs in 247 00:20:24,280 --> 00:20:28,520 ham. And then he says, I like them. 248 00:20:29,080 --> 00:20:31,520 I like green eggs in ham. I do. 249 00:20:31,520 --> 00:20:34,160 I do. I like them, Sam, I am. 250 00:20:38,280 --> 00:20:43,560 That's what God's steadfast mercy and love is like. 251 00:20:45,760 --> 00:20:48,000 You got to check it out for yourself. 252 00:20:49,400 --> 00:20:53,360 I can only describe it so much, but that is what God is like, 253 00:20:54,120 --> 00:20:58,920 OK. And the third thing, the third 254 00:20:58,920 --> 00:21:04,840 certain truth about the Lord is that His faithfulness is huge. 255 00:21:05,320 --> 00:21:09,760 Anytime you have heard somebody or maybe yourself say at church, 256 00:21:09,760 --> 00:21:11,960 because they get kind of excited about what's going on. 257 00:21:12,200 --> 00:21:15,520 And so they say that word that we say, Amen. 258 00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:20,880 Anytime you hear that, that's basically this term, OK, 259 00:21:21,640 --> 00:21:27,240 faithful, that's what it means. So we put this together. 260 00:21:27,440 --> 00:21:31,480 God's steadfast love, God's mercy, God's faithfulness. 261 00:21:32,640 --> 00:21:40,280 Here's what it all means. Our hurts begin to fade when we 262 00:21:40,280 --> 00:21:46,040 focus on who the Lord is rather than our pain. 263 00:21:49,600 --> 00:21:54,640 Remember, despair drowns, but hope floats. 264 00:21:55,560 --> 00:22:01,640 So Jeremiah is making a choice. I'm going to focus on what I 265 00:22:01,640 --> 00:22:08,280 know is true about God. All right, all this sounds 266 00:22:09,400 --> 00:22:13,200 probably pretty good, but it's all pretty theological too. 267 00:22:14,480 --> 00:22:20,600 Let's go to a personal example from Jesus's life where he gave 268 00:22:20,600 --> 00:22:25,040 hope to somebody who had no hope, who was in despair. 269 00:22:25,040 --> 00:22:31,080 So we're going over to Mark chapter 10, verses 46 to 52, and 270 00:22:31,080 --> 00:22:34,800 this is going to be Deliverance demonstrated. 271 00:22:35,320 --> 00:22:40,280 OK, Deliverance demonstrated. And when they came to Jericho, 272 00:22:41,240 --> 00:22:44,320 and as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples in a great 273 00:22:44,320 --> 00:22:48,720 crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was 274 00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:51,840 sitting by the roadside. And when he heard that it was 275 00:22:51,880 --> 00:22:57,280 Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, Jesus, son of 276 00:22:57,280 --> 00:23:02,560 David, have mercy on me. And many rebuked him, telling 277 00:23:02,560 --> 00:23:07,720 him to be silent, but he cried out all the more, Son of David, 278 00:23:08,320 --> 00:23:14,440 have mercy on me. And Jesus stopped and said, call 279 00:23:14,440 --> 00:23:17,320 him. And they called the blind man, 280 00:23:17,320 --> 00:23:20,760 saying to him, Take heart, get up, he's calling you. 281 00:23:21,480 --> 00:23:24,720 And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. 282 00:23:24,880 --> 00:23:28,760 And Jesus said to him, What do you want me to do for you? 283 00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:34,920 And the blind man said to him, Rabbi, let me recover my sight. 284 00:23:35,960 --> 00:23:40,960 And Jesus said to him, go your way, your faith has made you 285 00:23:40,960 --> 00:23:44,280 well. And immediately he received his 286 00:23:44,280 --> 00:23:46,880 side and followed him on the way. 287 00:23:47,120 --> 00:23:54,080 OK get the picture. It's a busy, busy Rd. basically 288 00:23:54,080 --> 00:23:55,720 a dirt path that they're walking on. 289 00:23:55,960 --> 00:23:59,000 They're leaving the city, they're headed up to Jerusalem. 290 00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:01,720 And literally there are hundreds and hundreds of people 291 00:24:01,720 --> 00:24:06,440 travelling because the Jewish festival of Passover is coming 292 00:24:06,440 --> 00:24:09,440 very quickly. And so everybody is headed up to 293 00:24:09,440 --> 00:24:12,560 the big temple in Jerusalem and Jesus is going to. 294 00:24:12,560 --> 00:24:16,720 And lots and lots of people want to hear what Jesus says, want to 295 00:24:16,720 --> 00:24:21,440 see what Jesus does. And off to the side is a blind 296 00:24:21,440 --> 00:24:25,240 beggar. Nobody's looking at him. 297 00:24:26,680 --> 00:24:31,320 He's practically invisible because there were so many 298 00:24:31,840 --> 00:24:36,480 beggars all over the place in Bible times. 299 00:24:37,040 --> 00:24:42,040 Sort of like we see the homeless so often, we kind of don't even 300 00:24:42,080 --> 00:24:45,240 look anymore. That's what it was like. 301 00:24:48,120 --> 00:24:50,200 We're told that he's lost his eyesight. 302 00:24:51,200 --> 00:24:53,360 That also was common in Bible times. 303 00:24:53,920 --> 00:24:57,360 Sometimes people would get their eyes infected, especially from 304 00:24:57,360 --> 00:25:00,680 flies, and the result of that infection, they would lose their 305 00:25:00,680 --> 00:25:03,200 eyesight. It might have been cataracts, it 306 00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:06,760 might have been something else. But if you lost your eyesight 307 00:25:07,240 --> 00:25:11,560 back in the time of the Bible, it meant two things. 308 00:25:11,680 --> 00:25:17,480 First of all, it was a disaster because they didn't have things 309 00:25:17,480 --> 00:25:21,080 like Braille. So if you lost your eyesight, 310 00:25:21,080 --> 00:25:26,720 basically you would no longer be able to read anything, assuming 311 00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:29,600 you ever even had an education, even if you wanted one. 312 00:25:29,720 --> 00:25:35,520 It's not going to happen. You're totally dependent upon 313 00:25:35,520 --> 00:25:40,320 other people. And so maybe you have a family 314 00:25:40,320 --> 00:25:42,320 to help you, maybe they're tired of helping you. 315 00:25:42,640 --> 00:25:46,360 And then the end result is you become a beggar. 316 00:25:47,760 --> 00:25:49,600 And nobody wants to look at beggars. 317 00:25:50,240 --> 00:25:52,800 They'll throw them a coin occasionally, but nobody cares, 318 00:25:52,800 --> 00:25:56,120 not really. And the second thing that 319 00:25:56,120 --> 00:26:01,400 happened, and this really is frustrating, is that some people 320 00:26:01,400 --> 00:26:05,680 would say, oh, you must have become blind, maybe because you 321 00:26:05,680 --> 00:26:09,000 had terrible sin in your life and therefore God judged you and 322 00:26:09,000 --> 00:26:13,600 he made you blind. You lost your sight because 323 00:26:13,600 --> 00:26:21,000 you're a great Sinner. By the way, Jesus never accepted 324 00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:27,000 that kind of thinking. You know the last song that Kyle 325 00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:30,040 and Taylor LED us in blessed assurance. 326 00:26:30,040 --> 00:26:33,680 It's an old, old song. It's a beautiful song, but it's 327 00:26:33,680 --> 00:26:38,360 a song that's also written by a woman, Fanny Crosby, who lost 328 00:26:38,360 --> 00:26:48,240 her sight as a child. She wrote hundreds and hundreds 329 00:26:48,240 --> 00:26:53,240 of songs, some of which are being sung in churches right 330 00:26:53,240 --> 00:26:56,840 now, all throughout Bakersfield and elsewhere. 331 00:26:57,880 --> 00:26:59,840 Did you catch the line that we sang? 332 00:27:00,080 --> 00:27:03,120 Visions of rapture now burst on my sight. 333 00:27:04,400 --> 00:27:12,800 She couldn't see physically a thing, but spiritually she saw 334 00:27:12,800 --> 00:27:16,680 plenty. She had hope. 335 00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:22,200 She glorified God in spite of what had happened to her. 336 00:27:22,640 --> 00:27:25,160 She lived a rich and fulfilling life. 337 00:27:25,160 --> 00:27:29,280 Why? Because Fanny still had hope. 338 00:27:31,840 --> 00:27:35,440 Well, Bartimaeus didn't seem to have any hope. 339 00:27:37,040 --> 00:27:38,560 And then he heard some commotion. 340 00:27:39,160 --> 00:27:42,080 A crowd's coming. He hears lots of crowds, but 341 00:27:42,080 --> 00:27:46,080 this one seems to be different because he's hearing people 342 00:27:46,080 --> 00:27:49,280 talking about Jesus. And of course, he's never seen 343 00:27:49,360 --> 00:27:51,960 Jesus. But he knows, OK, Jesus is the 344 00:27:51,960 --> 00:27:54,560 son of David, which means he's the Messiah. 345 00:27:54,560 --> 00:27:56,240 He's the special one that's coming. 346 00:27:56,600 --> 00:27:59,720 And he also knows Jesus heals people. 347 00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:06,280 And so he begins to cry out, Son of David, have mercy on me. 348 00:28:06,560 --> 00:28:09,760 And the crowd is telling him, you don't count. 349 00:28:10,440 --> 00:28:13,840 Be quiet. And he's not going to be quiet. 350 00:28:14,600 --> 00:28:20,360 He calls out even more. He is absolutely determined to 351 00:28:20,360 --> 00:28:28,160 get to Jesus. And so he comes and Jesus heals 352 00:28:28,160 --> 00:28:33,080 him. Now please listen carefully, OK? 353 00:28:34,560 --> 00:28:38,120 Jesus can save. Jesus can heal. 354 00:28:38,120 --> 00:28:42,760 Jesus can restore because he's God in flesh. 355 00:28:43,600 --> 00:28:46,000 He's the second member of the triune God. 356 00:28:46,000 --> 00:28:53,640 All of that is taught in the Bible, but he usually acts when 357 00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:59,080 we trust Him. And trust is faith. 358 00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:03,680 That's why we're told in Hebrews 11/6. 359 00:29:03,960 --> 00:29:08,000 Now without faith it is impossible to please God, since 360 00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:11,240 the one who draws near to Him must believe that he exists and 361 00:29:11,240 --> 00:29:15,000 that He rewards those who seek Him. 362 00:29:17,200 --> 00:29:22,960 Bartimaeus Sodom. Bartimaeus got healed and then 363 00:29:22,960 --> 00:29:27,760 notice Bartimaeus starts following Jesus. 364 00:29:30,520 --> 00:29:33,200 You see, he didn't just simply get healed and say, oh thank you 365 00:29:33,200 --> 00:29:35,800 very much Jesus, and then went the opposite way. 366 00:29:36,040 --> 00:29:39,400 No, he starts to follow Jesus. What's the big deal about that? 367 00:29:39,800 --> 00:29:44,760 Simply this, a disciple is a follower. 368 00:29:45,840 --> 00:29:52,440 From this point on, this healed man walked as much as he could 369 00:29:52,440 --> 00:29:55,800 with Jesus, which sadly he wouldn't walk with him 370 00:29:55,800 --> 00:30:00,440 physically for very long because Jesus is headed to Jerusalem to 371 00:30:00,440 --> 00:30:06,640 die, but Bartimaeus is walking with him. 372 00:30:08,800 --> 00:30:14,760 All right, wonderful story. Bartimaeus got healed. 373 00:30:15,760 --> 00:30:22,960 He had no hope. He got healed, but what if God 374 00:30:23,840 --> 00:30:32,720 doesn't heal you? I'm 64 years old. 375 00:30:33,440 --> 00:30:37,560 I have struggled with depression probably since I was a teenager. 376 00:30:39,040 --> 00:30:48,800 I'm not healed. Is it possible to still have 377 00:30:48,800 --> 00:30:57,000 hope and not be healed? That's where exactly some of us 378 00:30:57,000 --> 00:31:06,600 are, like me. If God for whatever reason does 379 00:31:06,600 --> 00:31:11,800 not heal us, can we still have hope? 380 00:31:14,600 --> 00:31:21,360 Yes, we can. And it's not just my word about 381 00:31:21,360 --> 00:31:22,840 that. That doesn't really count. 382 00:31:24,280 --> 00:31:29,280 It's in Scripture. It's something that the apostle 383 00:31:29,280 --> 00:31:32,000 Paul wrote in Second Corinthians. 384 00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:38,080 So in Second Corinthians chapter 4, verses 16 to 18, here's what 385 00:31:38,080 --> 00:31:42,480 he wrote on this issue. So we do not lose heart. 386 00:31:43,720 --> 00:31:48,000 Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being 387 00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:53,240 renewed day by day. For this light momentary 388 00:31:53,240 --> 00:31:57,600 affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory 389 00:31:57,600 --> 00:32:02,000 beyond all comparison. So we look not at the things 390 00:32:02,000 --> 00:32:05,000 that are seen, but that the things that are unseen. 391 00:32:05,480 --> 00:32:10,200 For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that 392 00:32:10,200 --> 00:32:20,880 are unseen are eternal. This is destiny described by the 393 00:32:20,880 --> 00:32:25,920 time Paul wrote this. Let me give you some information 394 00:32:25,920 --> 00:32:31,160 about what he had gone through. He's been beaten up a number of 395 00:32:31,160 --> 00:32:35,600 times. He's been shipwrecked twice. 396 00:32:37,040 --> 00:32:39,360 He says. He even spent a night and a day 397 00:32:39,360 --> 00:32:43,240 just basically floating around in the sea, holding on, probably 398 00:32:43,240 --> 00:32:47,440 to a piece of wood. He's been attacked and left for 399 00:32:47,440 --> 00:32:50,080 dead. A crowd stoned him to death and 400 00:32:50,080 --> 00:32:51,880 thought he was gone. He wasn't. 401 00:32:53,440 --> 00:32:55,640 He's been attacked by false teachers. 402 00:32:55,760 --> 00:32:58,640 He's had his reputation shredded. 403 00:33:01,760 --> 00:33:06,680 He's even got what he only calls in 2nd Corinthians 12. 404 00:33:06,680 --> 00:33:08,480 He calls it a thorn in the flesh. 405 00:33:08,800 --> 00:33:12,760 And people have debated for a long time, what was that thorn 406 00:33:12,760 --> 00:33:15,920 in the flesh? Was it a physical element, maybe 407 00:33:15,920 --> 00:33:19,320 involving his eyes? Was it a disease like malaria? 408 00:33:19,320 --> 00:33:23,200 Because once you get malaria it can keep coming back, and it was 409 00:33:23,200 --> 00:33:25,000 common then. Was it this? 410 00:33:25,000 --> 00:33:29,200 Was it That we don't know. What we do know is that Paul 411 00:33:29,320 --> 00:33:35,560 asked the Lord three times to take it away, and the Lord said 412 00:33:35,760 --> 00:33:40,920 no. You're a better man serving me, 413 00:33:40,920 --> 00:33:45,000 Paul, with that problem than you would be otherwise. 414 00:33:45,200 --> 00:33:53,200 My grace is sufficient for you. In spite of all those things, 415 00:33:54,200 --> 00:33:58,200 Paul says. They are light. 416 00:33:59,120 --> 00:34:06,360 They are momentary afflictions. How? 417 00:34:08,679 --> 00:34:11,199 How could he say that? How could he write that? 418 00:34:13,159 --> 00:34:19,280 Here's why. Paul's focus was elsewhere. 419 00:34:21,600 --> 00:34:26,760 Paul wasn't focused looking dwelling upon his present 420 00:34:26,760 --> 00:34:30,600 trials. He was looking ahead. 421 00:34:31,719 --> 00:34:37,560 He was looking in the head to a glorious, eternal future that 422 00:34:37,560 --> 00:34:42,800 he's hinting at in these 3 verses, a future that is for 423 00:34:42,800 --> 00:34:47,880 every person who knows Jesus. And there's so much in the Bible 424 00:34:47,880 --> 00:34:50,679 about that. But he mentions 3 things here. 425 00:34:51,440 --> 00:34:56,480 First of all, where we're going to be with Jesus forever. 426 00:34:56,600 --> 00:35:04,080 It's being prepared right now, Jesus himself said in John 14 427 00:35:04,080 --> 00:35:07,920 verses 2 and three. He tells his disciples and he 428 00:35:07,920 --> 00:35:13,400 tells us I am going away to prepare a place for you, and if 429 00:35:13,400 --> 00:35:19,920 I go away, I will come again and take you to be with me forever. 430 00:35:21,520 --> 00:35:26,720 Also, we're told here that that place will be glorious and it 431 00:35:26,720 --> 00:35:30,280 will be weighty. Now, frankly, I never really 432 00:35:30,280 --> 00:35:32,760 understood that idea of the weight of glory. 433 00:35:32,760 --> 00:35:37,080 What, what, what does that mean? And then I did some study on it, 434 00:35:37,080 --> 00:35:41,280 preparing for this message. And the deal is in the Hebrew 435 00:35:41,280 --> 00:35:44,120 language, which of course Paul knew fluently. 436 00:35:44,880 --> 00:35:48,600 The word we see in our English Bibles, glory, can also be 437 00:35:48,600 --> 00:35:58,360 translated heavy, meaning solid, tangible, like a big massive 438 00:35:58,560 --> 00:36:04,400 rock. Except that rock is the very 439 00:36:04,400 --> 00:36:07,000 glorious presence of God Himself. 440 00:36:10,520 --> 00:36:19,440 It is infinitely greater than we can ever imagine now, and we who 441 00:36:19,440 --> 00:36:24,600 know Jesus will experience God's glory in our new home. 442 00:36:24,600 --> 00:36:28,960 And if you wonder what that new home is like, just read the last 443 00:36:28,960 --> 00:36:32,680 two chapters of the Bible, Revelation 21 and 22, and you 444 00:36:32,680 --> 00:36:35,280 get a little taste of our forever home. 445 00:36:35,280 --> 00:36:43,440 Excuse me? The third fact is that our 446 00:36:43,440 --> 00:36:50,800 future with Jesus, it's eternal. It never dissipates and never 447 00:36:50,800 --> 00:36:56,400 slows down. Everything in the world around 448 00:36:56,400 --> 00:37:05,680 us is transient. When I was 17 years old, I sat 449 00:37:05,920 --> 00:37:12,120 right there. I'm 64. 450 00:37:13,640 --> 00:37:16,720 Let me tell you that time went by fast. 451 00:37:19,280 --> 00:37:26,520 That's what I mean by transient, but that's not how it is in 452 00:37:26,520 --> 00:37:29,400 heaven. Like the old song, when we've 453 00:37:29,400 --> 00:37:34,080 been there 10,000 years, bright shining as the sun, we've no 454 00:37:34,080 --> 00:37:38,160 less days to sing God's praise than when we've begun. 455 00:37:40,600 --> 00:37:46,840 So eternal means will have never ending joy in the presence of 456 00:37:46,840 --> 00:37:55,120 God, His angels and His people. So is it possible to have hope 457 00:37:55,120 --> 00:38:06,320 now and still not be healed? Yes, if we stay focused on where 458 00:38:06,320 --> 00:38:15,160 we're going, not where we are. What's your focus? 459 00:38:18,680 --> 00:38:22,720 What fills your mind? What do you dwell upon? 460 00:38:24,720 --> 00:38:26,920 Is it your present troubles, whatever they are? 461 00:38:29,200 --> 00:38:33,280 Or are you doing what Paul is telling us to do here? 462 00:38:33,520 --> 00:38:37,800 Are we focused upon and trying to focus more and more upon the 463 00:38:37,800 --> 00:38:45,240 indescribable infinite beauty that awaits every child of God? 464 00:38:48,840 --> 00:38:52,040 I like what Psalm 121 verses one and two say. 465 00:38:53,000 --> 00:38:55,640 I will lift up my eyes to the hills. 466 00:38:56,240 --> 00:39:01,640 From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord who 467 00:39:01,640 --> 00:39:07,560 made heaven and earth. So as we wrap this up again one 468 00:39:07,560 --> 00:39:12,760 more time, our main point, despair drowns, but hope floats. 469 00:39:15,120 --> 00:39:21,640 Two last questions, all right. First of all, if you're a non 470 00:39:21,640 --> 00:39:24,840 Christian, you're somebody that's here but you don't know 471 00:39:24,920 --> 00:39:26,800 Jesus. And again, we're glad you're 472 00:39:26,800 --> 00:39:31,680 here. Let me ask you this, will you 473 00:39:31,680 --> 00:39:38,640 come to Jesus so that he can save, restore and love you? 474 00:39:40,320 --> 00:39:44,080 You see, sadly, what I've been describing, much of the sermon 475 00:39:44,080 --> 00:39:47,840 is outside your experience 'cause you don't have a 476 00:39:47,840 --> 00:39:53,120 relationship with the one who died because he loved you and 477 00:39:53,120 --> 00:39:56,560 who wants to have a forever relationship with you. 478 00:39:59,240 --> 00:40:06,280 So if you would like to have a relationship with Jesus, I'm 479 00:40:06,280 --> 00:40:09,800 going to ask everyone please to close your eyes now so that 480 00:40:10,040 --> 00:40:15,320 there is no distractions. But if you would like to have a 481 00:40:15,320 --> 00:40:20,680 relationship with Jesus, I'm going to ask you to pray with 482 00:40:20,680 --> 00:40:23,480 me, whether it's out loud or silently. 483 00:40:24,440 --> 00:40:32,840 But to pray this, dear Jesus, I want to have a relationship with 484 00:40:32,840 --> 00:40:38,040 you. I ask you that you cleanse me of 485 00:40:38,040 --> 00:40:43,640 my sin. I ask Lord, that you would come 486 00:40:43,640 --> 00:40:48,760 into my heart. I ask and ioffer my life up to 487 00:40:48,760 --> 00:40:52,800 you. I ask you, Lord, that I would 488 00:40:52,800 --> 00:41:00,600 have a relationship with you. If you prayed that prayer, would 489 00:41:00,600 --> 00:41:02,560 you raise your hand so I can see it? 490 00:41:04,320 --> 00:41:06,160 Thank you. Thank you. 491 00:41:08,840 --> 00:41:12,880 OK, let's open our eyes. Can I have everybody stand, 492 00:41:12,880 --> 00:41:20,520 please? If you prayed that prayer with 493 00:41:20,520 --> 00:41:33,000 me, welcome to the family. I'm going to ask if you prayed 494 00:41:33,000 --> 00:41:36,320 just now to receive Jesus into your heart. 495 00:41:36,840 --> 00:41:40,320 I'm going to ask that before you leave here, you would visit. 496 00:41:41,000 --> 00:41:44,840 We have a table over here where it says I just raised my hand. 497 00:41:44,840 --> 00:41:48,200 We have a table over here where it says I just raised my hand. 498 00:41:48,200 --> 00:41:50,720 Guys, can you put the house lights on on those sides so 499 00:41:50,720 --> 00:41:55,600 people can see them? Please go there at the end of 500 00:41:55,600 --> 00:41:57,360 service. We have somebody who would like 501 00:41:57,360 --> 00:42:01,000 to chat with you. We want to help you in whatever 502 00:42:01,000 --> 00:42:06,160 way that we can. Now my question for the 503 00:42:06,160 --> 00:42:14,480 Christians is this. Will you return to Jesus so that 504 00:42:14,480 --> 00:42:18,160 He can help restore and love you? 505 00:42:20,440 --> 00:42:23,560 Maybe you don't struggle with depression like I have for so 506 00:42:23,560 --> 00:42:25,360 long. Maybe it's something else. 507 00:42:26,600 --> 00:42:32,760 But regardless, our Lord is there to help heal and restore. 508 00:42:33,000 --> 00:42:40,120 We just have to come to Him. So I'm going to invite you to 509 00:42:40,120 --> 00:42:43,160 come forward so that we can pray for you. 510 00:42:44,840 --> 00:42:46,960 See, we want to help you in any way that we can. 511 00:42:46,960 --> 00:42:50,880 And that coming forward and asking for prayer, seeking 512 00:42:50,880 --> 00:42:54,320 prayer with another brother or sister, that's a good step. 513 00:42:55,800 --> 00:42:59,320 So if God is dealing with you, my Christian brother or sister, 514 00:42:59,800 --> 00:43:01,160 you come.