 Open your Bibles up to Matthew chapter five and let's look into the Word of God father We thank you tonight for the privilege We have to study your word pray that you'd open it to our understanding and help us Lord Jesus this evening to Bring it to your people in the way that would be pleasing to you and we give you glory for it in Jesus name Everybody said a good. Amen Matthew chapter number five verse number Pardon me Yeah, you didn't need that either did you Verse number two and he opened his mouth Jesus did and taught them saying blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven and Tonight verse four blessed are they that mourn Blessed are they that mourn for they for they shall be comforted This is an incredible lesson tonight, and I say this From the outset because Everything in our world and society right now, especially with what's going on You see it in the United States and in our schools and everything Recent report that came to me in the past few days Is that there's more suicides that are taking place in our particular area right here than ever before And and what what's happening people are losing hope Which is what we're gonna study about tonight, but the heightened interest is on mental health Okay, now let me say to you that there are Ways of being able to help people some people may have some kind of a chemical imbalance Or maybe something going on with them, and I understand all of that, but I'm just gonna tell you as a spiritual Answer to the situation I think what we are doing in our society and Christian people even to that degree is that we've abdicated everything over to a human answer and We've neglected the fact that whenever we come to the Lord there is to be a place of rest and peace in our minds mentally That is healing for our bodies for our minds and for our spirit I'm not told I'm talking about neglecting what you need to do in a health measure, but I am saying You're gonna see it in this lesson tonight There is a path of healthy mental Stability in God that you will find nowhere else not on a couch somewhere or not talking to a Multiple people about your situation Okay, in a world of social media you've got enough counselors out there who are Let's see if I can find the word idiots And you're getting advice from somebody that that has no idea what the situation is But let me say there is a God in heaven who knows everything about you and everything you're dealing with and If we don't go there first With it all Then we are neglecting Our healing place if you will All right with that being said I want you to get your pin there's a passage of scripture that That's not on your paper that I want you to write it down because it is an explanation of this entire lesson as a overview But it is also a definition of what I'm about to tell you The higher you go in life Success whatever you want to call it the more vulnerable you are to sorrow Brother if you can give me just a little bump up here. That'd be good Write this down Ecclesiastes 1 verse number 18 Here's what it says For in much wisdom is much grief Hey like that guy For in much wisdom is much grief he that increases knowledge Increased sorrow What does that mean? Well, it's pretty obvious and almost self-explanatory But let me just let me just take a just a branch here for you The person that increases their knowledge their wisdom There's going to be sorrow and grief on the other side of that because now you know something that you didn't that you're now responsible for Now whether you want to be responsible for it or not now you have the knowledge of Now some of you here some of you're watching or immediately saying within yourself Well, if that's true and it's Bible and I believe it then the best thing I could do is just stay dumb But that's not God's plan either Because this pass a description Script and believe me look at what the wise man Solomon says and all you're getting get what? Understanding get your get wisdom and understanding and knowledge get these things you need to get this because It's a horrible thing to be ignorant all of your life Because God doesn't want us to stay in that position But with the more of our getting of understanding and knowledge and wisdom There is more sorrow that's increasing. What is he saying here because you're getting more information about things that are to come Somebody's got to know what's coming Okay, and it brings a burden of grief to your heart because you know or Sorrow because you know that there are things that are coming. It's not necessarily that it may not be joyous things or whatever It might be completely happy But the person that you're thinking about or whatever that it may be They're not seeing it that way. Have you ever tried to help somebody that didn't want to help themselves and yet You know that if they just stepped over the line by faith that they could have all of this Now you have that knowledge You have that wisdom and suddenly now you're responsible for it But it it brings grief and sorrow and a burden to your heart now because you know Let's say it like this in the big in the big evangelist Sense of the word. We know that Jesus could come at any moment Okay, I'm gathering steam here, but I want you to know the rapture is like bam. There it is and you were done So so there won't be any gathering up Okay, you got to know it in your knower because it is the most attack and the most The the the one doctrine that is left out of every pulpit. I just read a stat on it Pulpits are not preaching about the rapture of the church Now I know you hear it all the time and you sometimes you go. Oh lord. He's gonna talk about the coming of the Lord again. Yeah Yeah, I'm gonna talk about over and over and over and over and over and your heart's gonna get so full of it And you're gonna be all the way up to here with it, and then it's gonna happen. You're gonna go. Wow. Thank you for I'm saying it to myself. Are you with me? Why is that so important because We are as you'll see We are comforted to Comfort others in sorrow What good is the pain if we don't know the purpose behind of the pain? Is it all about my suffering and my turmoil and the situations that I'm going through? I talked to a young man today Who told me, you know pastor I? I Asked about a situation. He said well It's been a tough time for me I watched my father get shot in the head as a small boy and now I'm doing my best to make it in life So there's there's situations that people go through and If there's if there's no purpose to that Then is it just torture from God? Well, first of all God doesn't do that But because we live in this life there are things we're gonna walk through and if we don't know the God way on how to deal with it we can succumb to it like many people are doing sinking in grief and sorrow or Being so overwhelmed by it that they see no hope and they say the best thing for me to do is clock out So let's look at it here because because there's a burden that comes to our heart when we talk about sorrow You can escape sorrow, but at the same time you escape joy Isn't that the dichotomy of God? He said he says in the middle of your sorrow. There's gonna be great joy Well pastor, I don't see it right now. I know and neither do I Sometimes it takes years for that to develop. I think I'm teaching good right now Greater opportunities for joy and sorrow the older you get while you're young you're jumping off of bridges Don't think about breaking your neck anything like that And then the older you get Why don't you take the risk anymore? I'm not it's not about the risk. I'm just cautious There's a higher probability of me breaking a hip somebody asked me when I went to the Down to the kids skating thing they did here on Saturday I popped in there for a little while and all these little kids are racing around and you know Not thinking anything about it somebody you don't get your skates on us. No, I'm taking pictures That's what all people do because we're cautious Jesus never tried to escape the sorrows of life. In fact, he was headed on purpose Toward the sorrow of life. He didn't deny it existed. What he did is he took it and transformed that sorrow into joy He didn't go out looking for sorrow You make that let me let me put that out there for you Jesus didn't go out looking for sorrow There's some people that just look for it and Want to get in the middle of it all the time That's not healthy and good for you But he did say that he would transform our tears into comfort and ultimately into into joy And so what does God do he uses broken people he uses weak people for weak people In fact, let me submit to you that the thing that you went through or are going through right now May not even be about you It could be about someone that you're gonna come in contact with that God's gonna put you together and you go You know what? I went through that just a few days ago a few weeks ago a few months ago a few years ago And I want you to know that this is what I did and suddenly that person who feels hopeless and and without an answer Suddenly they've got a personal connection with somebody who's been there done that. Let me say this to you I don't want to hear from anybody who hasn't been there done that Please don't tell me how to raise my two-year-old child if you don't have any I Love you. I appreciate you reading the manuals, you know, I know you got all the ideas You read on Facebook how to raise children and all that kind of stuff But I just want to let you know if you've never had a two-year-old You don't know what you're talking about if you've never been through hurts and pains You cannot relate to me That's the reason why Jesus I feel some push here now That's the reason why Jesus can relate to all of us because he didn't sit on his throne up there and say I'm gonna send You some salvation down. He was manifest in the flesh He let them lay the whip to his back and to his side and to his hands and his feet and his head because he was As you'll hear it in a moment acquainted with grief This is probably one of the greatest passages scripture and you should you should write this down because the bottom line is is that Jesus was Acquainted with grief God uses broken people and so brokenness for self comes from seeing Christ on the cross and realizing that it was our sin That put him there this on your paper right here because you need something to write There's three people who mourn first the person who is desperately sorry for their sins as In the example of Luke chapter 18 verse 13 or the Bible speaks of the publican who wouldn't even lift up his eyes He wouldn't even he wouldn't even lift himself up. There was no there was nothing left in him He says be merciful to me a sinner The second person is the person who feels the desperate condition and terrible suffering of other people of other people as Is found in Matthew 9 verse 36 that when Jesus saw the multitude This is one of my favorite passages when he saw the multitude he was moved with compassion on them because they fainted imagine this and Scattered abroad a sheep having no shepherd That ought to be the focal point of our life That we're not just oh, I'm so sorry for them, but we are moved with compassion That literally means Jesus did something about it If it's within your capacity to do something about it and to help heal somebody's hurt a Word in season whatever it may be That needs to be done It needs to be done. I'm talking to you about the attitudes the be attitude. This is what Jesus expects us all This is not a suggestion. This is an expectation that the Lord has of those that call themselves Christians The third one is this that the person who experiences personal tragedy and intense trauma This is Well the Lord dealt with me about this and Well Larry and I were talking a little bit about it today second Samuel chapter 12 16 and 17 here it says this that David pleaded with God for his child This is this is the child he had with Bathsheba now that the baby gets sick And the baby is dying and David falls on the floor and he's fasting and went into his house And he spent nights laying on the floor in verse 17 the elders watch this the elders of his household Stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused and would not eat any food with them What's the point there are times in our life when we're gonna face tragedies and an intense traumas that are going to Shape the rest of our lives because we went through them difficulties that You know Nobody's words. This is let me just give you a little lesson right here. Just a little caveat Sometimes when people are going through things People get really talky around them They go to a funeral service or visitation or whatever and they jibber jabber about all kinds of stuff trying to heal somebody's hurts But it's not your words that are gonna do it it's your presence that does that The Bible says that God commanded Ezekiel To go down and sit with the people that were hurting for seven days and shut his mouth and not say a word I Want you to get acquainted with their grief and their sorrow don't try to tell them well Hey, this is the way you need to do it Sit where they sat the Bible says in the book of Ezekiel sit where they sat just sit with them just be there There'll be times when you can pour a cup of cold water or maybe make some Macaroni and cheese or whatever it may be see see the need but most of the time They don't need all your jibber jabber what they need is just someone who cares enough to just sit where they sat Now I've just given you some pastoral care advice right there. So What's happening here is that David is fasting and praying for his child to recover and He is so overwhelmed with grief now listen I'm so glad the Bible didn't sanitize itself and God didn't sanitize the Bible take all this stuff out of it To make us think that somehow all the people in the Bible don't act like us feel like us You know all that kind of stuff that was that's in there for us to learn a lesson on how to deal with grief and sorrow and how to be able to overcome it and I'm gonna tell you people around you don't understand that Because they're not walking through it Are you hearing what I'm saying? To the length that it takes you to walk through a trial or whatever it may be is the trial is the time that it takes First of all, you need to know that time doesn't heal anything all You know time will heal. Well time don't heal nothing. God heals Time does not heal, but it does take time to process some things. You follow what I'm saying So with that in mind David is praying God heal my child heal my child and look at this For everybody that feels like that somehow God has let me down because he didn't answer my prayer God did not answer David's prayer the child died Now I don't know how you feel but that's like way up on the register of sorrow and grief and intense pain and Things that are gonna affect my life for the rest of my life Okay, that's just that's just the way it is and And he could not be comforted by those around him they couldn't get him off the floor for days Well, what do you do leave him alone? Be there Do what you can but but the process He's in a moment of prayer and fasting and seeking the face of God Now and I won't go into the rest of this story, but the bottom line is the way David handled this Is an amazing thing in fact When I when I came on staff here in the early 90s with brother Lowry the phone call came and The first funeral that I did was an infant Sid's death in Gulf Breeze And he sent me on that over there and I didn't know the people I didn't know what the deal was But that's the way we operate here. We minister to who so ever will so on my way to that funeral I'm praying God. What do you want me to say and he took me to this passage of Scripture? Now I'm just giving you this is a little caveat right here the Bible says that David fasted and prayed and the child died and Everybody's standing around and they're ready to grieve with David and they don't know what to do And they're trying to get him off the floor and he's in pain and sorrow and tears rolling down his face And he's not eating anything and all that and suddenly the child died they send him word the child has died David gets up in The most strange thing for everybody around him read the story. They didn't know what to do with this While there was a moment of time right there where the baby Was still on this earth and still breathing on this earth. He's fasting and praying and interceding with God When the child dies David gets up off of the floor goes in and washes his face Puts on fresh clothing and goes and sits down for a meal And the people around him when you read the story the people around him look at him and go What is up with David and one of the most powerful and I now use this passage of Scripture and God just gave me the words at the moment When they ask him what is up with you man How is it that how is it you were in such overwhelming grief and sorrow when the baby was here And now that the babies died you would think you would go into a deep grief and sorrow and all that's going on and David said look I Can't bring the child back here But I can go where the child is And my friends, this is the problem why people are having trouble in their minds today Because they don't know where the child is They've lost their hope because they don't believe that why am I preaching Sunday morning? I believe in God Because ladies and gentlemen if you don't have hope in the Lord There is nothing left On the other side but hopelessness But I'm gonna tell you what the Lord does he picks the children up and puts them in his lap and one day the Bible says They're gonna play in the streets of the holy city So I'm telling you my dear friends our hope is in God And if we don't have that hope the Bible says we are of all men most miserable Are you hearing me tonight? So Jesus look and what does that relate to look at the intensity of the of the of the Trauma that Jesus goes through in the garden The Bible said he is praying and so intense with sorrow and the weight of our sins upon him That it brings out Great drops of sweat and blood through the pores of his body that that's intense I've only known one person that's ever been like that She went into detox and they had to pry the bottle of vodka from her hand because she was literally Sweating vodka. That's how that's how intense the alcohol addiction was and Yet when the Lord saved her she sat in my congregation for years and worshiped in the choir And served all around because the Lord had done great things for her and gave her hope back. I Know where she's at tonight What what happened Jesus is praying and great drops of blood and then in Isaiah 53 Which is the which is the That is the thesis of what Jesus wants us to understand here tonight that that Jesus is a man of sorrow Acquainted with grief Here's what the Bible says I want you to hear this if you don't get anything else I'd say tonight because we are in a world right now where people's hearts are overwhelmed with sorrow mental instability People are off the chain tonight and they don't know what to do Now friends listen to me Here's what the Bible said if the righteous Scarcely be saved where will the sinner in the ungodly be let me say it like this if the righteous scarcely have their mind Where is that world gonna be if we're losing it because we're afraid Fearful or don't have a sound mind, but wait a minute God has not given us the spirit of fear, but a power and love and a sound mind So if a sound mind belongs to me as a child of God and I don't have it right now Boy, I'm fixing to kick my foot I'm just telling you tonight if you don't have a sound mind as a child of God You better get on your face until a sound mind comes into your spirit down in your soul Because you're being robbed of what the end of what Jesus said belongs to us Because he purchased it on the cross when they planted that crown of thorns on his head He was taking the grief and the sorrow upon himself and our sins and our mental anguishes and our trauma and Everything he put it upon himself. He carried our Greaves The Bible said he bore our griefs So don't sit there and tell me when you're looking at a casket or anything else that you can't be able to walk past that Well pastor, they weren't saved ladies and gentlemen There's more times than not when I've preached funerals that I've had to say Friends I am not the final judge of this person's life. I don't know What they did in the last moments of life? Passion you really believe that somebody could pray a prayer that would get them into heaven mightier friends as Sure as the scripture and the parable says that the last one that got in got paid the same way That's the first one got in you better know that God and his great love and mercy and grace is able and he hears the very Growning well, I didn't hear them. You don't have to hear them. God heard them from their heart And we're gonna be shocked to know who made it into heaven Jesus Messiah Isaiah 53 bore our griefs So never in your life again feel like you're carrying your grief alone because he already carried it for you Well, somebody didn't heal tonight. He bore our griefs and He carried our sorrows. What's sorrow? Whatever sorrow you're dealing with he carried it. He carried our sorrow He's carrying my sorrow right now Pastor I'm walking through a place right now that that if I let myself tears would would bust out of my eyes right now All I got to do is just let myself go in that direction. Well, wait a minute You don't have to carry it by yourself I'm about to teach you something. He had surgery on that leg. You're hurting Yeah, you're hurting a little bit. So here comes in tonight. He's having to lean on this But not forever Did you hear what I said Something else is carrying his sorrow and bearing his grief If he put his foot down by himself, he'd have to bear it all himself But somewhere there was a cross ladies and gentlemen where he bore our grief and carried our sorrows So let us stop trying to take it all on ourself on a guilt trip. Did you hear what I said? Pastor that almost sounds hateful. It's not It's not I'm gonna show you here tonight. You still with me here this evening. I'm telling you all that was free I didn't have none of that So if we're to experience the comfort of God then we got to understand and a broken it down in three parts Different kinds of sorrows three different kinds of sorrows. First of all is the natural sorrow You'll read in Ecclesiastes chapter number three That there's a time for this and a time for that all of that He goes through the whole list. He said there's a time to weep. There's a time for war. There's a time for That not to be in There's a time for joy and there's a time for this and time for that Okay, so there's seasons that come into our life Do you hear me? There's seasons in it funny Seasons Seasons blow my mind about the time that I think I'm enjoying one season the season change You ever had a season change on you without announcement There you are wearing winter clothes and all of a sudden. Hey ho is hot Look at us. I think we're gonna skip skip the the spring completely by the porous alias are out there going Oh, man, what's going on? The grass is growing. I had a plan y'all I had a plan I Need to get some patches where there's no grass in my yard to grow again, and I had a plan I had a plan in the winter. This is what I'm gonna do Come March 1. I'm gonna be ready to do this and do this and get this and What do you know? God didn't ask me to change the season and He didn't tell the grass hold off until Rogers gets his act together to plant some seed Stuff just starts growing right are you are you here stuff starts turning green you want to go hold it I had a plan There's a time season Seasons are hard because because they kind of mesh they kind of go like this and then and we don't understand All of that all the time But God said there's a season that's gonna come into your life, and it's just a season look at somebody tell him It's just a season Abraham was Bible says was a great man of faith, but he wept when his wife died as a season He didn't weep for the rest of his life. He wept then Jeremiah wept when he saw the nation go into captivity But he didn't weep all the time because there was a prophecy that he was hoping for that God gave to him that they would return to the land Guess what they're doing. They're returning every day Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem Because they wouldn't come to him like he wanted them to he wept at the tomb of Lazarus the shortest verse in the Bible Jesus wept He wept he didn't weep so much because of his friend He wept because the people around there didn't believe that he was a resurrection at the time When God created man, he gave him the ability to weep That's those little that's those little Weepyduck things you got in there and what how would you express it if God didn't allow it to come out of Your eyes and roll down your cheese. I don't want to cry. I don't cry You will and I'm telling you right now. There are times when tears are a cleansing agent for the soul Reed and I used to sing on the road and we sang the song tears are a language that God understands Sometimes I can't express out of my mouth how I believe but when tears start rolling down my cheeks God reads all of my mail Write it down people who do not mourn do not easily adjust to new circumstances and wounds are left open There's nothing worse than a wound that won't heal Morning is an expression of love When pain is left inside it leads to poison in the bloodstream Write it down hopeless sorrow hopeless sorrow is the sorrow of people who do not know Christ That's what first Thessalonians chapter 4 verse 13 says first Thessalonians 4 13 tells us That you sorrow not When somebody dies as others who have no hope Now this is something that I'm watching more and more today, and it's very very sad for me Because the whole thing has shifted Where people don't believe in God so they don't want to have any kind of religious funeral service or anything like that They don't want anything spoken to them over about over them about God Nothing like that and my friends I have to ask the question then where are you gonna go? With how you're feeling I Feel pity for people who don't know the Lord who do not have the hope Because you got to know you're going somewhere even even the reincarnationist know I'm coming back as a bug All right cow come on somebody that's what they believe Therefore they are What a shock and all it's gonna be for them to show back up in the face of God and they're still Recognizable in their body ain't that funny? I thought I was coming back as a cockroach. No no you are a cockroach, but I'm just telling you you are human being Here's the second thing Unnatural sorrow what is that all about unnatural sorrow Unnatural sorrow explained it makes wounds deeper and leaves the heart full of pain It leaves a person or a person is unwilling or unable to allow healing or comfort from God I want to say this here. I'm gonna say it again in a few moments probably how you respond to grief or sorrow will affect people around your life and Could affect them for a lifetime so You need to get healed. There's healing in God Okay, I can't perpetuate this sorrow and pain in my life I've got to find a place to drop this pain off and pick up my joy again Well pastor this has been a process. It's a long thing and you know and I'm just gonna tell you and you've heard the Before hurting people hurt people so there's so there's stuff on the inside That has to be dealt with and you can't you can't listen. I love and appreciate Counseling and so forth, but I'm just gonna tell you I don't know Maybe this is my maybe this is my age block or something But and I'm not saying that this is this is the this is the only way that you deal with it But I'm just gonna tell you there was a time in my growing up years Well, you just got to the altar and prayed through and people around you cared enough come on So I said people around you cared enough That you prayed through until you bore your soul before God Now I'm gonna say this as I was studying this lesson preparing it for you This question came up in my head. Why are so many people in such a mental state today? And the answer is quite simple They have Walked away from God who is their peace their joy their love and all of that and they're trying to find it in something else And they remain empty even when they get the millions of dollars. They're still empty. I Mean, you know, I always always go back to this. It's it's sad and it's funny at the same time The all these people got together. I mean like the richest entertainers of the world They all went into a studio and made a record for everybody to buy we are the world We are the children if they would have just taken up an offering from Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston and all these other people They would have made more money than everybody getting an album What am I gonna do with that because you can get all the cars you can get all the houses You can get all the stuff, but it's gonna leave you empty Especially when you're in your sorrow, I'll never forget getting the phone call right after we started pastoring a desk And I didn't have I didn't have 10 people in my in my church at that time and I get one of the Richest guys in the town that calls me up and said I need you to get over here because he had built a little porch out on the front Of that church. He remember that church called me on the phone said I need you to get over my house right now In the middle of the night my daughter's face down in the shag carpet. That's eight inches thick and I don't know what to do I've given her everything. I've done all of that. I've done come on somebody. You know what I'm talking about I've done everything and I don't know what to do with this Well, when you take your family away from God, they have nowhere for their sorrow their grief their pain and the situations They're going through to go to That's the reason why it's so important to have your kids out here Well, it's a hassle pastor. So is para. I can't get no a man's right there I'm just gonna say there's gonna come a day when parents and grandparents are gonna regret and rue the day because they Spent more time doing this and now when they get this they don't know what to do with it And let me just tell you if you believe God, there's always the place to go to do with it I didn't say it's gonna be fixed overnight, but what I am telling you is is that I know where to go with it Otherwise, you're gonna create an a deeper Wound I am not a psychiatrist. I am not a psychologist I'm a spiritual person. My advice is spiritual. You would expect me to speak the Bible. I don't have anything else to say You hear me Five minutes before this service someone walks into the room where I'm sitting and starts telling me about Their family member who needed to get to detox who's been out of detox and need to go to the program And then they needed to go to this and that and I'm just gonna tell you when your head is spinning and mom and daddy Don't want to do and family members don't know what to do There's only one where to one place to go and that's to get them to God as quickly as you can and do your best to hold them there Because the deeper it goes the more hurt and pain and sorrow becomes overwhelming Are you hearing what I'm saying in fact? unnatural sorrow Can lead to physical affliction Another preacher to say one time that a pastor's wife Had gotten hurt and all that kind of thing going on and at one time I mean they said that she was a Very classy dresser and beautiful all that kind of stuff And then when she allowed the bitterness of the pain and the sorrow to become on the inside and stayed there She literally physically turned ugly and became Afflicted in her body with all kinds of Sickness and issues and if I remember the story correctly, they were they were coming to a particular place I think it was at an airport They were having to carry her off of the plane and they come in contact with the persons that hurt And it was at that moment that God dealt with her heart about forgiving And my friends the long story short the moment she forgave was the moment her recovery started And she returned to the beautiful vivacious person that she was before If you allow bitterness and things to stay in your heart because of because of even legitimate stuff See the first place people want is anybody getting help out of this here tonight because I feel like I'm in the track here The first one that people want to blame when something happens is God and Some of you here and some of you watching tonight may have a hurt bitter feeling with God because your loved one died Or this or that and all that kind of stuff and I'm gonna tell you nobody can fix that but you and God But when you go to God and you pour it out and You come back with somebody told me the other day, you know, I got all these questions going on I said, that's fine. You can have questions. God can handle that as long as every answer ends with Jesus Did you hear what I said? As long as the answer ends with Jesus, you're gonna be all right So physical afflictions can take place unnatural sorrow isolates and blinds you to the comfort and the hope of God's love Listen while I was studying for this message this past weekend and the one coming up this coming weekend And and just reading some things and I'm just gonna tell you I don't think I even got to it this past weekend Lord willing. I will this weekend God is so faithful to us that even in our disobedience. He still loves And when I read that man, it hit me right outside the head Because there's been so many times that I've been unfaithful and disobedient and repetitively sinful Boy, y'all leaving me out here to die. Aren't you? Thank you. I can't get no a man's that a nobody Oh boy, Sean we got ourselves a pastor. Don't we big old VIP shinin pastor Well before you throw a stone at me, I'm just gonna tell you there ain't a person here I'm peace people that are watching right now You know what I'm talking about That God's love is not reached around you When you refuse to be comforted is a bad thing. Let me go a little deeper here Unnatural sorrow turns memories into punishments that destroy peace Every time you see their face people talk about I This is what's amazing to me and this is this is an attack of the enemy in my personal opinion I can't go back to that church because I see their casket all the time Well, do you go home and see their chair? I mean the clothes the clothes are still in the closet Come on somebody So what am I gonna do with that? If I allow those memories to remain and I don't and I don't Enjoy the good ones. I'm telling you I'm not somebody that's talking to you off the cuff or out of a book At 19 years old my mother passed away at 55 years old with cancer And she'd she'd been out of it for a long time ten days before that. I got married went by the hospital She's in a coma. She couldn't even come to our wedding. I said mama. I'm getting married today She couldn't answer a word her head was bald from the chemo and everything else ten days after that I Walk away from a graveside and and I'm brand-new married and thank God because God knew I needed read at that time more than ever before So 10 days I couldn't even my sister helped me go get a jacket. So I would be decent for the wedding. I Was I was gone Ten days later. I buried my mother a few days later. They accept me into the fire service as a firefighter a Few days after that I go to my internist because something's wrong on my stomach. I go in there. He does all this scoping He said what's been going on in your life. I said well I got married I buried my mother and I went to work at the fire department. He said here here's some pepsid You got ulcers. I could be very grief-filled with the fact that I've never had the opportunity to have an adult relationship with my mother She's never known but she knew we were getting married, but she didn't she don't know my my son or grandchildren all that kind of stuff. I Got her pictures hanging up in my office What is it that keeps me going oh Son, I'll tell you what keeps me going What keeps you living for the Lord when I get down and depressed or whatever it may be I'll tell you what keeps me going. I see her face and I see her completely whole my grandmother Stood over the top of her bedside when she was dying in my aunt and I truly believe the two of them and their prayers held Her on this earth for the longest when they got ready and they released her and my grandmother said it's over I want the Lord to take her she's in too much pain within moments. She was gone That's so much power my grandmother's prayer went Okay, boom So what what what what what's happened here? What's happening? What am I gonna do all of that? Cuz cuz watch this as a preacher. I'm praying for people to be healed and I have to bury my own mother if I allow a natural sorrow to take over my life my memories will haunt me all the days of my life and become punishment to me and And and what I went through See now now. I'm not just telling you the Lord can comfort and strengthen you at funerals. I know Personally in the deepest kind of way that the Lord can comfort you in your sorrow Because he has comforted me. I got married. She she she comes into my life. I'm so glad I Mean that helped sustain me But I'll promise you when I walked away from that gravesite. There was no there was no No one's words could fix it That's my mama. I walk away from that gravesite and my soul is empty. I don't know what to do and Then at nine years old because I was filled with the baptism the Holy Ghost The Holy Spirit comes in and goes I'll feel the void. Oh, here's what he said in the Bible Just in case you need a scripture. I'll be your father and your mother and your sister and your brother Don't you worry about that? I'll take care of the void in your life until you see them again Don't let unnatural sorrow Overwhelm your soul You'll know because it takes your peace you're totally consumed Here's the major causes of unnatural sorrow selfishness Selfishness selfishness selfishness and selfishness Do you know that people cry for themselves at funerals? Well pastor that seems very natural well, it is but They're not crying because they're crying They're crying to be seen and to be heard because it's all about them Nobody suffered like them When you let the enemy tell you in your ear, nobody has been through it like you have That's a lie. I could guarantee I could take you to 10 people just like this in this room right here That could tell their story to you about what they've been through and it would make yours pale in comparison really This is not about comparing our griefs and sorrow. This is about us going through what we've gone through and then why Not becoming selfish. Here's the second thing fear Fear becomes an unnatural sorrow. What do you mean by that? It is actually a systemic attack upon our life. I Can't take any responsibility don't demand too much of me. I'm already bearing enough Because you're afraid to take the next step. I'm just gonna tell you my mama would want me to be preaching right now You hear me my mother would want me to be preaching she want me to be seen She told me in sixth grade boy, you better sing for that talent show. Don't do that magic trick thing She bought me a box of magic tricks. I got them rings, you know where the little loop in he's supposed to be able to do that Because I was fascinated. I did that and I didn't get into sixth grade talent show She said when I got home. I told you to sing Fear will not let you step over the threshold because your grief is taking so hold of you But wait a minute. Blessed are they that mourn? Pastor you don't ever get to that. Yeah guilt is a Major cause of unnatural sorrow guilt It's our way of atoning for our past sins, isn't it? Okay, I'm okay this sorrow happened and it's my fault Well, it might be It's my failure Well, it might be But that doesn't mean you go out and buy You go in to hawk for a fifty thousand dollar casket Didn't we stand there right up the road up here and people were trying to make it that I know this is not funny But for me it was shocking and then when I walked away it was funny Because I'm going this is this is it This guy just walked past this open casket and dropped a five dollar bill in that guy's shirt pocket that he owed He and the next guy come by and put a pack of marbles in there. He didn't add any matches Maybe ain't gonna need them. I don't know that's left up to the God of heaven I Mean it you know and I get putting stuff, you know all that but this wasn't memories This was trying to atone for their problems that they had and I'm gonna tell you you better not let them die And that's still be in your heart because it'll stay with you if you're gonna make it right you better make it right now You can act like I ain't I don't need nobody. Oh, yes, you do In fact, you need them To release you From your overwhelming sorrow Can y'all handle this preaching tonight People consume with guilt and that and it's an unnatural sorrow You got to get out of that he bore our griefs carried our sorrows And he also dealt with the guilt and the shame hanging on the cross Because he wasn't up there with a loincloth on y'all He bore and took upon himself our guilt It was our guilt and the shame that goes with it See we don't have any shame faceless about anything anymore cuz so to talk about shame ain't no ain't no big deal But see Jesus was naked on the cross Because he took our shame I don't have time to go into all these scriptures But you can know that first Peter 5 and 7 says casting all your cares upon him for he careeth for you How am I gonna get out underneath this guilt this fear this pain this sorrow this this attack of selfishness into my life How am I gonna get past that go cast all of your cares upon him because he cares for you So I got to tell you one story add-on in here. It's David and Absalom It's a story of an unnatural sorrow caused by guilt. So watch this David and Absalom David has his son Absalom who looks in the mirror every day and combs that beautiful here and says what a beautiful guy you are You're the hunky hunk He was a disobedient son and Absalom tried to take the kingdom from his father David and almost succeeded and why? Because of David Help me Jesus Don't let me contribute to the cause and effect But David did in 2nd Samuel chapter 14. He was a favored son. What do you do? He pampered him? Come on over here, baby. I know you're the only one And Absalom was vain and he was proud and Then if that wasn't enough David told all of the people around all the leaders. He said hey y'all Absalom Absalom is a special child Absalom is the kind of a child that you just can't you just can't tell him no at the candy aisle Come on somebody You don't tell Absalom don't know don't say no to Absalom now. He can say no to you all day long No Deal gently with him. I wish somebody would have told my daddy that I Mean he's in heaven and I think he's still got the longest belt in the world. Come on somebody Yes, I can feel it everyone's come on anybody know what I'm talking about You know when you disappoint your parents and they're all the way in heaven All the way up in heaven and they're still sending signals down. Hmm. Oh It's my daddy. She loves this when he did that right there. It was something fixing to come What else did you tell me oh Absalom look at this at the end of David's life. Oh Absalom would to God. I would have died for thee Wish it was me that was dead the king of Israel David is wishing he was dead instead of his rebellious pampered proud son who tried to kill him to take the kingdom Wow, so here's a big question. Was it better for David to die or for Absalom to live David sorrow was was why what you got to go back in David's life David sorrow was partly because of his sin with Bathsheba He's trying to make amends with his kids Now watch this. I won't make it to the end of this y'all. All right I'm not running any races. Listen. Hey just for all of you out there. I'm not gonna get to the end of this I'm not gonna get the end of this tonight when we get to heaven y'all. Just join me over at my mansion, and I'll finish the lesson 13,600 and whatever But I got to get this to you tonight you got a second because this is this this just bleeped to me So what happens The soldiers okay Absalom's out there running David is running for his life. He's the daddy Absalom is the son who's so rebellious that he's chasing his own daddy down to kill him and take the kingdom from it Man, I wish I had my belt back at two years old Absalom I would have shaved your head and blistered you're behind But now you're too old for me to bend over my knee I'm running for my life because I'm afraid of my son. So when it finally occurs and He gets that pride See whatever it is that you are pride filled with is what you're gonna be filled with at the end So he's riding along one day on his little donkey next thing you know a tree limb Reaches down and snatches Absalom by his long beautiful hair He can't get out. He's all tangled up now. I don't know how that happened, but I believe God said I've had it right here David's over here at the house and Joab goes out and Runs the spear through absence kills his boy Because he's one of David's mighty men Now boy, this is a story right here You and it's a story and how to handle sorrow and the whole process because David David when the word comes back to him, let me let me just read it. I think it's on your paper there follow this Second Samuel I put it in in in IV here. It's a little bit plainer language Joab was told the king is weeping and mourning for Absalom David is and for the whole army the victory that day was turned in the morning because on that day the troops heard It said the king is grieving for his son. Well, that's natural The men stole Into the city that day as men steal in who are ashamed when they flee from battle Why the king covered his face and cried aloud Oh Absalom Oh my son Absalom Absalom my son my son Verse five then Joab went into the house to the king and said today you have humiliated all your men Who have just saved your life and the lives of your sons and daughters and the lives of your wives and concubine? My god, you they even killed him for your concubine. You love those who hate you and hate those who love Wow You made it clear today that the commanders and their men mean nothing to you I see that you will be pleased if Absalom were alive today and all of us were dead You know you need somebody in your life it can walk in and tell you the way it is Now go out and encourage your men I swear by the Lord that if you don't go out not a man will be left with you by nightfall This will be worse for you than all the calamities that have come upon you from your youth till now Wow They took out the guy who was going to take out the king That was the son of the king and now they're ashamed they did it to save his life Because his watch this because his sorrow has overwhelmed him so much that he stopped being the king And started being the father and now watch that This is the problem with hanging on to sorrow and not understanding what your role is now It's affecting the entire nation And all of his mighty men and it's so bad that Joab has to tell him Hey, if you don't get out there and let the people know that you're glad that they have dealt the way They have even though it's bringing pain to your heart Then you're gonna lose the entire nation your kingship and all these people are gonna leave and they're gonna Defeated people are you hearing me? There's so much contained in this story David refused to be comforted Because he was trying to atone for his sin same problem today People won't trust God for forgiveness So it takes somebody You know what I've had drug addicts come and get saved here at this church and you know what they tell me Pastor, thank you for just telling us like it is Now I'm not beating my chest on that But you know what they have to have somebody in their face Now there's times to caress somebody pray with somebody and weep with those who weep mourn with those who mourn But the Bible says here on the end of it and we'll take this up next week God willing let's Jesus comes and we'll meet in that great Bible study in the sky Now for those of you that think I'm gonna be teaching the Bible class and Evan Hey, but one teacher there. All right, y'all get that all the preachers are gonna be unemployed on that day Unemployed out of a job There's so much this container here. Give me two minutes David the office of the king holds the responsibility And when I say that the office of the king, let's look at the office of the father the husband The the CEO of the company the pastor of a church Community leader whatever that it may be whatever it may be. There are certain levels Where you have to be able to say I've got a disconnect here Because if I don't now watch this if I don't do what I should do. I've got to get over my sorrow Otherwise, it's gonna sink my family. Let me just put it in the family realm If I go in a dark room and pull a sheet and to blanket over my head and that's where I am and nobody can comfort me Then now I've given myself over to him to a spirit that the enemy will kill me with That's unnatural sorrow David went into a sinking hole and It started affecting all the people the rumors started getting out Hey Maybe we shouldn't have pursued Absalom But wait a minute. He was trying to kill our king Now the king's all sad We don't want we don't know what to do wait a minute We're trying to live what we're supposed to and now the leaders of our country are all mad because we're trying to be right We don't know what to do Without a vision people perish That's what's happening right here. They cast off restraint. They said oh god Our we we must have we must have thrown that spear through the heart of our leader David instead of Joab Because now he's in such grief And we're ashamed We thought we were doing right What's going on here? I'm not saying being insensitive Because this could look like an insensitive act But I believe that the spirit of god upon joe ab Knowing Knowing what was righteous Or not Took the action That had to be taken are y'all hearing me This goes into the debate all about you know, should we get involved in war and all that kind? Wait a minute Here's david sinking into this hole And somebody has got to be spirit filled enough to say David Do you realize that what you're doing is affecting all the other people around you You're sinking depression is affecting people around you. I'm not trying to lay more guilt into you, but but you're a leader david You you can't stay here in this People are people are gonna run you're gonna lose the whole nation. You're gonna lose the whole church. You're gonna lose your whole family You got to find god And come out and come out of where you are Now that's a hard thing When all you want to do is cover your head and stay in the dark room But that's why god gave you the church So you could get together with people of like precious faith who are genuinely concerned about you And you come to bible class on wednesday night you you you get involved in kingdom work Because if all that I went through was just for my son absalom to die Then what was the purpose? I don't even want to be king anymore This is when people quit their jobs and and and move to other and doing all kind of rash things Thank god for a holy ghost filled mighty man of god in joe ab who walked in and said david david Come on man You're the king And this is the guy who put the spear in absalom If there's anybody that david wanted to beat up it'd be him He needed a godly man who did a righteous thing To say david You cannot stay in this place I know you don't want to be king right now. I know you don't want to be daddy. I know you don't want to be mama I know you don't want to be pastor. I know you don't want to be all of that, but I'm just telling you if you sink The whole ship's going down So somewhere you got to get along with god And then you got to come out of this house And then you got to come out of this house And get out in the doorway and let people see that the king is going to be all right Friends let me let me let me do this and then i'm done If jesus died on the cross And was put into the tomb and he's still there today Why are we here? The bible said our preaching is in vain our faith is in vain all the things he's ever done is completely useless and empty I needed to see the king Come out like he said he was going to on the third day To overcome my depression and my sorrow and my grief. I need to know the king's alive Oh god, i'm about to run Well, wait a minute pastor. You weren't there to see him come out of the tomb. I didn't have to be I have the holy ghost witness on the inside of me that tells me every day. He's alive He's alive. He's alive And if he's alive And not depressed over what they've done. I haven't suffered half of that Doesn't negate or diminish it It just puts it into perspective before the devil takes it and blows it out of proportion and sinks you and your house Because my dear friends It had been easy for me It had been easy for me to sink in a hole when mom passed And I could have said you know what god you took mama and never seen her do this this this or this She was a holy righteous woman. What's this all about? I'm just going to tell you something that I told rita I think just the first time just the other day She died at 55 when I started approaching 55 The enemy jumped up on my shoulder It said you ain't gonna live any longer than that And then I turned 56 And I told the devil you better get out of my way Because what you said was a lie all along and I am alive and I am on to damage to the gates of hell The rest of my life Come on somebody are you getting this lesson tonight? Come on lift your hands towards heaven and just ask the lord for your help that you need tonight father in heaven Lord, we need you like we never needed you before There are plenty of things. Oh god That could tear us down and take us out and and cause us to be in a place of such depression that that we would lose Our hope but tonight I pray that hope would spring alive Inside of every heart that is in this room and those that are watching I rebuke the spirit of death and suicide and every attack of depression Off of your people in the name of jesus christ And I pray you would lose the joy of the lord that is our strength every day of our life And god let us keep our eyes upon you Because you are our hope you are the lifter of our head The restorer of paths to dwell in we give you glory for it tonight in jesus mighty name Everybody believes it shout a great big amen Get up and encourage somebody in the lord and I give them some hope Those of you ladies that are going to help my wife with this coming saturday's marketplace Come right down to the front and meet jane down here. God bless you sunday morning. Don't miss it I believe it's going to be a great time