This marks the conclusion of our journey of hope. Beyond this point, we find ourselves devoid of any optimism or positive outlook on life. All that remains is a pervasive sense of despair and death all around us.
The next few lines will discusses the themes of death and separation from God. Many of us have experienced these feelings at some point in our addiction to pornography. We reached a point where we extinguished the fire in our hearts, causing God to no longer speak to us and the Bible to remain closed. Even if we heard something, we became numb, unable to truly listen or see. We felt spiritually dead inside. However, even in our state of spiritual death, there is hope. We will still witness Jesus offering hope and power to those who are spiritually dead. It is important to remember that up until now; we have been emphasizing the significance of someone showing God a willingness to change and a desire for improvement. God can take even the smallest flickering spark of that desire and send a wind to reignite it. But what happens when there is no desire, no flickering spark, and no will to change? When everything feels completely lifeless! We find ourselves torn between our love for pornography and these lustful desires, and the exhaustion of fighting against them. Now, there is no will left. We have a name that suggests we are alive, but in reality, we feel dead inside.
I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. (Revelation 3:1).
When we close our eyes at night, we hope there won’t be a morning. Nothing satisfies us anymore, not even porn. We don’t feel anything and shame doesn’t bother us. The physical diseases from pursuing our lust don’t hurt us. We hear voices of people who want to save us, but we don’t care.
Even in death, there are three different types. Let’s see how Jesus dealt with each one.
Raising Jairus’ daughter:
Jairus’s daughter died at home, clothed in her own garments. In hopes of a miracle, her family asked Jesus for her healing. Jesus came to their home and performed a miracle, raising her from the dead.
At times, we may feel emotionally empty. However, we are lucky to have loved ones in our home or among our friends. They support and encourage us, preventing us from losing hope. They help us find comfort in various ways. Their support leads us to Jesus, who can fill our lives with love and grace. Raising us from our spiritual death.
Raising of the son of the widow of Nain:
Her son passed away, no longer in his home or near the church. He is in a casket, wrapped in the death cloth. he is surrounded by family and friends who are grieving his loss or their emphasize with his mother, but they can do him no good anymore. No one thinking of Jesus, he is being transported to the burial site. It seems like a hopeless situation, as none of the people gathered around him believe he can come back to life.
We close our doors and block out any sound that mentions Jesus. We have been living a lie that has become our reality. The true life seems like fiction that we can’t believe exists. Even if friends or family try to wake us up, we stubbornly shut them out. Deep down, we know they are right, but our addiction and lust keep us trapped. It’s like a burial cloth holding our hands and feet, and a casket trapping our body. Any flickering spark inside us quickly dies out.
When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” (Luke 7:13-14).
This deceased man does not have a will, but God showed compassion for his mother and raised him from the dead for her. This reminds us of the story of St. Augustine and Monica, where God had compassion for her prayers and tears for so many years and saved St. Augustine. (Read St. Augustine’s story). My dear, even if you closed your door and denied his voice, he still seeks your soul. He created you in his image without you asking; he called you son before you were born. He will live up to his title as a father as long as you breathe. He will not give up on you.
Lazarus:
He is trapped in a dark place, surrounded by death, with no hope of light or sound nearby. His hands are tied, his body wrapped, and the smell of death fills his nose. He was put in a tomb with a heavy rock on its door. No matter what methods or ways I try, I cannot escape this misery. I’m giving up. There is no hope. I’m lost, and nothing can bring me back from the death that is growing inside me like cancer spreading throughout my body. Traditional treatment has failed. I am like Lazarus on my fourth day of being dead. Even my family believes it’s too late, saying to Jesus that it has been four days and I am decaying. Nobody has hope for my recovery.
I feel overwhelmed by darkness and long for someone to help me find my way out. But there is no one around. No family or friends. Could it be that I need someone to remove me from my destructive course by force?
This image deeply saddens God. It’s amazing that the Bible has a specific, significant verse that stands out as the shortest yet most important in the whole bible. This verse demonstrates God’s love for humanity.
Jesus wept.
(John 11:35).
He wept as the human, created in his own image, strong and courageous, fell. Now, with his hands and legs bound, the stench of death emanating from him, it feels as though we are mourning alongside this lifeless man. If only an external force could take control of us and offer help. If only he could summon me back from the clutches of death, like Lazarus.
This is the ultimate distance from God, yet God gives this soul hope. He tells her that maybe it’s because of her previous will that she chose a life away from Him. Now she is a slave to her habits and addictions, and perhaps with a master who won’t forgive. But even if by doing that, she closes all the doors that God can seek her through and puts a heavy stone between them, He will still send her His voice, even in her death, so she can awaken. His words will have the power to wake her up. Just please, if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart.
As it is said, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” (Hebrews 3:15).
Jesus Now whispering in your ears, Listen to my voice. It will empower you to stand up and emerge from darkness, stepping into the light. Nothing, not pain, chains, death cloth, casket, or anything else, can hinder your salvation. Even nature’s power that causes the body to decay will stop, silenced by the sheer power of my voice.
Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light. (Ephesians 5:14).
By grace, you have been saved.
Among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ by grace you have been saved, and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,(Ephesians 2:3-6).
My dear, please remember that if you’ve reached this point and feel as though you’re at a dead end, know that God still wants to save you. Remember that His forgiveness is unconditional, regardless of what you’ve done. None of us truly deserves that forgiveness, but God, in His infinite love, freely offers it. He was even willing to forgive all the people of Sodom and Gomorrah when Abraham interceded on their behalf, suggesting that perhaps there were at least ten righteous individuals in the entire city.
Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.” (Genesis 18:32).
Also Nineveh, Jonah was sent to the great city of Nineveh by Him to warn the people who were living sinful lives, worshiping idols and in spiritual death, much like Lazarus, who needed to hear His voice.
None of them sought salvation, none asked for forgiveness, and none even knew him. They may have heard of him as the God of Israel, but to them, he is just another God beside their idols.
They led sinful lives, and the stench of death rose to him. As God, he can punish them, but as a father, he sought their redemption from imminent ruin. So he sent them his voice through Jonah. they listened and there was salvation to Nineveh.
There is a deep desire in your father’s heart to forgive you and accept you. The only problem lies with us – we often resist this desire by indulging in the passions of our flesh and rejecting his healing hand. Sometimes, we believe the lies of Satan when he tries to convince us that our situation is beyond redemption or that it’s pointless to struggle because we can’t live without our habits.
My dear, you witnessed how Jesus turned every darkness into light. He is likely doing the same for you now, urging you to read these words because He wants to save you. Please don’t harden your heart or close your eyes. If you feel lost, come to Him and He will see you and take care of you, just as the Good Samaritan did for the wounded man.
He will grant you the power to emerge from your burial place, even if you feel as though your hands and feet are still bound by death, just like what happened to Lazarus.
And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.” (John 11:44).
Win this battle.
