{"id":33062,"date":"2005-08-26T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2005-08-26T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermons\/most-miserable-people-in-world\/"},"modified":"2005-08-26T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2005-08-26T00:00:00","slug":"most-miserable-people-in-world","status":"publish","type":"sermons","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermons\/most-miserable-people-in-world\/","title":{"rendered":"The Most Miserable People in the World"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2005\/08\/19171.mp3\"><\/audio><\/figure>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading is-style-article-subhead1\">Introduction<\/h2>\n    \n    <p>\n      <span style=\"\" class=\"\">I have two groups of people standing here with me. The people on my right are not\nperfect, but they are all convinced Jesus Christ rose from the dead, and they\nhave made a personal and decisive commitment to follow him. They don&#8217;t always\nlive up to this commitment fully, but they are serious about moving in this\ndirection. These people find themselves in a daily battle with what the Bible\ncalls sin. It is a struggle, but they find that God is helping\nthem. They are deeply convinced that at the point of death their souls will go\ninto the presence of Christ, and they also are deeply convinced that at some\nfuture point in history Christ will return and raise their bodies from the dead, like the\nbody of Jesus. These people are different from each other, but they have all\nmade a life commitment to know and serve and follow Jesus Christ. <\/span>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <span style=\"\" class=\"\">I&#8217;m\ngoing to let these folks introduce themselves to you. They&#8217;re not using their\nown names; they are simply representing characters to whom we can relate:<\/span>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <span style=\"\" class=\"\">&#8220;Hi,\nI&#8217;m Pete. I&#8217;ve been a Christian for five years, and I don&#8217;t find it easy to\nlive out my faith, because I don&#8217;t always want to go God&#8217;s way. So there&#8217;s a\nstruggle inside of me. But I do know Christ is with me, so I keep pressing on.&#8221;\n<\/span>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <span style=\"\" class=\"\">&#8220;Hi,\nmy name is Jane. I&#8217;m 45 years old. I have been attending churches for years,\nbut it never really made a difference in my life until last year. A friend told\nme that if Christ is alive then there must be a possibility to know him. That\nwas the start of a new adventure of faith.&#8221; <\/span>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <span style=\"\" class=\"\">&#8220;Hi,\nI&#8217;m Todd. When I look back on my life, I can see there was a lot Christ needed\nto straighten out. I was a self-centered person, and there was clutter in my\nlife. When I came to faith in Christ five years ago, I discovered God could\ngive me a new start and the strength to change.&#8221; <\/span>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <span style=\"\" class=\"\">&#8220;Hi,\nI&#8217;m Mary. I&#8217;ve been serving the Lord for 40 years, but the best part of my life\nstill lies ahead. Being a Christian has helped me look to the future, because\nGod promises everlasting life with Christ to all who believe.&#8221; <\/span>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <span style=\"\" class=\"\">On\nmy left we have some folks who represent another point of view. These folks are\nnot perfect either, and they have had a bad experience with religion. Some of\nthem have seen hypocrisy, and that has made it difficult for them to put their\nfaith in Jesus Christ. Some have spent a lot of time in church. Some have been\nin youth groups. They&#8217;ve heard sermons. They&#8217;ve been brought along to church by\nparents. Yet they have not come to the point of making a personal commitment of\nfaith to Jesus Christ.<\/span>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <span style=\"\" class=\"\">Again,\nI&#8217;d like for them to introduce themselves:<\/span>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <span style=\"\" class=\"\">&#8220;Hi,\nI&#8217;m Dave. I&#8217;ve been coming to church for about 10 years, and I enjoy it. I&#8217;ve\nheard a lot of sermons, but I&#8217;ve never felt I needed to make a commitment.&#8221;<\/span>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <span style=\"\" class=\"\">&#8220;Hi,\nI&#8217;m Joanne. I&#8217;m here because it&#8217;s Easter and some friends invited me, but I\ndon&#8217;t find church easy. I have a lot of questions about faith, and I don&#8217;t see\nhow anyone can suggest that only people who follow Jesus will be in heaven some\nday.&#8221; <\/span>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <span style=\"\" class=\"\">&#8220;Hi,\nI&#8217;m Steve. I&#8217;ve spent a lot of time thinking about the end of the world and\nwhether there&#8217;s anything after death. I&#8217;ve come to the conclusion that nobody\ncan know. I don&#8217;t have a lot of time for organized religion, but my personal\nbelief is if you do your best to do a good job, you don&#8217;t have to worry.&#8221; <\/span>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <span style=\"\" class=\"\">&#8220;Hi,\nI&#8217;m Susan. I&#8217;m comfortable with my life right now. There may come a time when I\nneed Jesus in my life, but that time is not now. I don&#8217;t want to make a\ncommitment that will tie me down. I want to be free to make my own\ndecisions.&#8221; <\/span>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <span style=\"\" class=\"\">The\nfirst thing I want to do is say a few words to you folks who believe Jesus\nChrist is risen from the dead, and have made a commitment to serve him: What if you are wrong? What if Jesus Christ has not actually risen\nfrom the dead? When it comes to the central claim of Christianity that Jesus\nChrist rose from the dead there are only two possibilities: either he did this\nthing or he did not do this thing. I want to look honestly at this first\nscenario, a theoretical possibility that Jesus may not have risen from the dead. <\/span>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <strong>\n        <span style=\"\" class=\"\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading is-style-article-subhead1\">If\nChrist has not risen from the dead, our faith is futile.<\/h2>\n<\/span>\n      <\/strong>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <span style=\"\" class=\"\">Some\npeople are so addicted to religion, they will tell you that even if\nChristianity is not true, the Christian faith is still the best way to live.\nYou&#8217;ve probably heard people say things like this: &#8220;Even if it turned out Jesus\nChrist did not rise from the dead and there was no such place as heaven, I\nwould still have no regrets about living the Christian life.&#8221; You might have\nsaid that yourself at some point. <\/span>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>I want you to notice that in 1 Corinthians\n15, the apostle Paul absolutely disagrees with that position. He says in\nverse 19, &#8220;If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied\nmore than all men.&#8221; If Christ has not risen, folks who believe he has are the most miserable\npeople in the world. If Christ has not\nrisen, folks like you are a bunch of sad cases. <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <span style=\"\" class=\"\">Paul \ngives four reasons for this rather striking\nconclusion. First he says in verse 17, &#8220;If Christ has not been raised, your\nfaith is futile.&#8221; It&#8217;s useless. You think it will deliver something to you, but\nif Christ has not risen, it doesn&#8217;t. It can&#8217;t. <\/span>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <span style=\"\" class=\"\">Christians\nbuild their lives around the conviction that if you have faith in Christ, God\ndoes something in your life and makes you a new person and will eventually\nwelcome you into everlasting life. But Paul is quite clear that if Christ has\nnot risen, that is a fallacy. You&#8217;ve trusted a lie. You&#8217;ve staked everything on something that has no substance, and\nthat&#8217;s sad. If Christ has not risen, folks who believe he has are playing a mind game.\nThey talk about trusting Christ, but if Christ has not risen, there is no\nChrist to trust.<\/span>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <span style=\"\" class=\"\"> When the drug companies\ndevelop a new product, they run tests with two groups of people. They give one\ngroup the new tablets, and they give the other group an identical-looking\nproduct that is a dummy. They do this for a simple reason: the mind is\npowerful, and some people feel that because they&#8217;ve taken a tablet they are\nbetter, although the tablet has no substance that could change the body. It&#8217;s\nall in their minds.<\/span>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <span style=\"\" class=\"\">If\nChrist has not risen, Christians are like people who say they feel better after\ntaking a dummy tablet. They are confessing some change that has no substantial\nbasis. Like the dummy drug, such faith would not do anything except within the\nindividual minds of these people. <\/span>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <span style=\"\" class=\"\">Christians\nthink faith saves them, but if Christ has not risen, faith does nothing outside\ntheir own imagination. If Christ has not risen, all that has happened is that\nchurch music has made them more cheerful; Christian friends have made them more\nhopeful; A brighter outlook on life has made them more thankful. If Christ has\nnot risen, what they think God has done is nothing more than a figment of their\nimagination, and that&#8217;s sad. If Christ has not risen, we are the most miserable people in the world.<\/span>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <strong>\n        <span style=\"\" class=\"\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading is-style-article-subhead1\">If Christ has not risen from the dead, we would still be in sin.<\/h2>\n<\/span>\n      <\/strong>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <span style=\"\" class=\"\">The\napostle Paul gives a second reason that Christians are the most miserable\npeople in the world if Christ has not risen: If Christ has not risen, we are the most miserable people in the world, not only because our faith would be\nuseless, but also because we would still be in our\nsin. <\/span>\n    <\/p>\n    <p> \n      <span style=\"\" class=\"\">Our culture is awash with new spiritualities and new religions. The most\nimportant question to ask of any religion is, &#8220;How will this teaching deal\nwith my sins?&#8221;<\/span>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <span style=\"\" class=\"\">I sometimes ask this\nquestion when I&#8217;m watching Oprah Winfrey, especially if she has a new spiritual\nteacher who&#8217;s telling us how life should be lived, what kind of meditation we should\npractice, and what it will do for us: What will this do about\nmy sins? The usual answer seems to be that sin is not an issue. If sin is\nnot an issue in this new teaching, you know it is diametrically opposed to the\nBible and to Christianity, because the central issue you need to\ndeal with before you can enjoy a relationship with God is sin.<\/span>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <span style=\"\" class=\"\">This\nis important, because all you Christians are worried about your sins. It&#8217;s why\nyou&#8217;ve come to Jesus Christ. For you, sin is an issue. But if Christ has not\nrisen, you are still in your sins. You have staked your eternal destiny on a\nman who, it turns out, died 2,000 years ago and can do no more for you than\nJulius Caesar or Alexander the Great. Your problem is even worse, because by\nyour profession of faith in Jesus, you have actually added to your sins. If\nChrist has not risen, people like you have been praying to Almighty God in the\nname of a man who died 2,000 years ago. That&#8217;s blasphemy. You have put a man in\nthe place of God. Frankly, it would be better if you lived an entirely secular\nlife under these circumstances. <\/span>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <span style=\"\" class=\"\">So\nif Christ has not risen, you&#8217;re the most miserable people in the world.<\/span>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <strong>\n        <span style=\"\" class=\"\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading is-style-article-subhead1\">If\nChrist has not risen from the dead, we hold onto false hope.<\/h2>\n<\/span>\n      <\/strong>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <span style=\"\" class=\"\">Thirdly,\nif Christ has not risen, Christians are the most miserable people in the world\nbecause they are holding to a false hope. Look at verse 18: If Christ is not\nrisen, &#8220;then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.&#8221; <\/span>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <span style=\"\" class=\"\">Many\nof you have stood at the grave of a loved one, and those who are Christians\nhave drawn comfort from the conviction that the person they love is now in the\npresence of Jesus Christ. But Paul is brutally honest here. He is saying if\nChrist has not risen, it is false hope. For if even Jesus wasn&#8217;t raised, there\nis no hope whatsoever that anyone else is going to make it into everlasting\nlife. If Christ has not risen, they are simply lost, and you folks are living\nin denial. <\/span>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <span style=\"\" class=\"\">Some\npeople think even false hope is better than no hope. The truth is, false hope\nis the saddest thing in the world.<\/span>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <span style=\"\" class=\"\"> One of the privileges of\nbeing a pastor is getting to walk with people through painful times in their\nlives. I had that privilege with a young missionary several years ago. She had\nmarried a Rwandan pastor, a Tutsi, and they had established their home in that\ncountry. She had gone on a short trip to Kenya on her own when the awful\nRwandan tragedy erupted. Hutu militia moved in from the north, butchering\npeople wherever they went. The militia came to the area of their home, and\nanarchy reigned. It was impossible for this lady to return to her home. The\nborders were closed, and the situation was chaotic. <\/span>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <span style=\"\" class=\"\">Eventually,\nshe came back to England and waited for good news. The church surrounded her with\nlove and prayer. Days turned to weeks, and we heard nothing. She told me many\ntimes she had an absolute conviction her husband was alive. The more certain\nshe became about that, the more concerned I was about her. There was only a\nslim chance of that being a reality. I tried as a pastor to say some words to\nopen the door to the possibility that her husband might already be\nwith the Lord, but she couldn&#8217;t hear these words. To\nher, they sounded as if her pastor lacked faith.<\/span>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <span style=\"\" class=\"\">It\nwas months before we heard news, but then there was a firm report. Someone had\nseen him taken and shot. The news was absolutely devastating. The pain\nof the loss was bad enough, but the false hope made it a hundred times worse.<\/span>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <span style=\"\" class=\"\">Every person who\nhas been by the bedside of a loved one and has seen them rally, only to see\nthem decline, knows what I&#8217;m talking about. Don&#8217;t ever say hope is a good thing\neven if it&#8217;s not real. <\/span>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <span style=\"\" class=\"\">The\napostle Paul is saying if Christ has not risen, you are the most miserable\npeople in the world, because you&#8217;ve staked your whole lives on a hope that will\nultimately prove to be false. There cannot be any worse way to live than that.<\/span>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <strong>\n        <span style=\"\" class=\"\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading is-style-article-subhead1\">If\nChrist has not risen from the dead, we are wasting our lives.<\/h2>\n<\/span>\n      <\/strong>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <span style=\"\" class=\"\">Finally,\nif Christ has not risen, believers are the most miserable people in the world\nbecause they are wasting their lives. If Christ has not risen, you&#8217;re wasting\nyour life, because &#8220;if only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be\npitied more than all men&#8221; (verse 19).<\/span>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <span style=\"\" class=\"\">Paul\nmust have written these words with passion. He had paid a high price for\nfollowing Christ. On five occasions he was flogged with 39 lashes. On three\noccasions he was beaten with rods. On one occasion he was stoned. Three times\nhe was shipwrecked. He had been in and out of prison and lived in constant\ndanger. That was his life. Why? This man was a brilliant academic. He could\nhave had a comfortable life as a lecturer in a rabbinic school with a good\nsalary and the respect of the Jewish community. Why did he endure this\nincredible suffering? One reason: for the sake of Christ. Paul says: If Christ\nis not risen, I&#8217;ve endured all this for the sake of a dead man and a lost\ncause. That simply isn&#8217;t worth it.<\/span>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <span style=\"\" class=\"\">The\nChristian life is so hard that if Jesus Christ has not risen, it isn&#8217;t worth\nit. The Christians in Corinth had not been persecuted, but the apostle Paul says to them, &#8220;If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we\nare to be pitied more than all men.&#8221; They may not have been persecuted, as most\nof us have not been persecuted physically, but all of them made costly\ncommitments to Jesus Christ.<\/span>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <span style=\"\" class=\"\">If\nthere is no resurrection, then the cost of your commitment to Jesus is merely a\nregister of your mistaken choices. If Christ has not risen, you have fought\nbattles with sin, you have struggled, and you need never have bothered. You\nhave prayed, and it&#8217;s been like sending letters that never arrived. If Christ\nis not risen, you have given money you could have saved and enjoyed. If Christ\nhas not risen, you&#8217;ve spent hours in service for a cause that amounts to\nnothing. <\/span>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <span style=\"\" class=\"\">When\npeople say they think the Christian life would be a good thing even if there\nhad been no resurrection, I wonder if they&#8217;ve never actually taken up the\ncross and done anything that is costly for\nChrist. Jesus said, &#8220;If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and\ntake up his cross and follow me.&#8221; Real Christians know it costs to follow Christ, and if Christ hasn&#8217;t risen, it\nsimply isn&#8217;t worth it.<\/span>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n  How\nmany times have you heard this phrase: &#8220;I&#8217;m really glad your faith works for\nyou&#8221;? When a person says that, what they mean is that it doesn&#8217;t matter whether\nChristianity is true or not; all that matters is it&#8217;s a positive experience for\npeople like you. Paul absolutely disagrees. If Christ has not risen, your faith is an emotional crutch. It is unhealthy, and it is a miserable thing to build your whole life\naround something false. If Christianity is not true, it is not a positive personal experience; it&#8217;s actually a dangerous delusion. If Christ has not risen, folks like you are\nthe most miserable people in the world. There are many who would agree with that assessment, and that is why they have not come to Christ. They have not believed because they perceive that Christians are the most miserable people in the world. If Christ has not risen, that\nposition would be justified. That&#8217;s what the apostle says in the Bible with great\nhonesty. There&#8217;s no special pleading, no &#8220;We must keep the church going at all\ncosts. We must keep pastors in jobs. We must prop up Christianity in the West.&#8221;\nChristianity stands or falls on its claim that it is true. If it is not true,\nintegrity demands that we shut down the whole operation. If Christ has not\nrisen, there is no validity for what we are doing. If Christ has not risen, I\nquit. There are easier ways to live this life. <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <strong>\n        <span style=\"\" class=\"\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading is-style-article-subhead1\">But Christ\nhas indeed risen from the dead.<\/h2>\n<\/span>\n      <\/strong>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <span style=\"\" class=\"\">Look\nat verse 20. The apostle Paul, having painstakingly made his point clear that\neverything stands or falls on whether or not Christ was raised, declares, &#8220;But\nChrist has indeed been raised from the dead.&#8221; He does not paint this second\nscenario as a possibility; he declares it as a fact. In the Bible God confronts us with a\nmessage. My task as a preacher is to say to all who will hear: the Word of God\nto you is Jesus Christ has risen! <\/span>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <span style=\"\" class=\"\">If\nChrist was not raised from the dead, Christianity falls apart. We would all\nbe the most miserable people in the world. But this is the declaration: Christ has indeed been raised from the dead. Jesus, who claimed to be\nthe Son of God, was crucified, dead and buried, and on the third day he rose.\nThe tomb was empty. He was no longer there. He lives in the power of a new\nlife. He is alive. <\/span>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <span style=\"\" class=\"\">What\ndoes this declaration actually mean? It means your faith has substance. You&#8217;re\nnot believing in nothing. You&#8217;ve placed your trust in One who lives. When you\npray, he hears you. When you worship, it brings joy to his heart. You have\nplaced your trust in the living Lord Jesus Christ, and those who trust in him\nwill never be put to shame. It means your sins are forgiven. Jesus Christ not\nonly died for our sins, but he was raised again for our justification. That\nmeans God accepted his sacrifice, and what he did is big enough, great enough,\nand good enough to cover all your sins and the sins of everyone who will\nconfess and put their trust in Jesus. <\/span>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <span style=\"\" class=\"\">The Resurrection\nmeans you have a certain hope. It means that when you talk about heaven, you&#8217;re\ntalking about something that is going to happen, for you are going to see Jesus\nChrist. He&#8217;s alive. It means costly discipleship is the greatest investment of\nyour life. That&#8217;s what Paul says in verse 58: &#8220;Let nothing move you. Always\ngive yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor\nin the Lord is not in vain.&#8221; When following Christ becomes costly for you, it\nis the greatest investment opportunity of your life, because Christ is alive. <\/span>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <span style=\"\" class=\"\">Now,\nI have to say something to all of those who would identify with the position of\nnot yet having come to a clear commitment to Jesus: Christ has indeed been raised from the dead. That means unbelief is the most futile thing in the world. If faith was just a mind game, taking a position of unbelief would be a reasonable thing to do. But since Christ has risen, unbelief becomes ridiculous. Unbelief in the face of the risen Christ is\nfutile. The reluctance of people to believe in the risen Christ will not change\nthe fact that the risen Christ is seated on the throne in heaven with all\nauthority, calling men and women to obedience and faith under him. All over\nthe world, people are doing this in response to Jesus Christ. Staying in a\nposition of unbelief in the light of the Resurrection is futile.<\/span>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <span style=\"\" class=\"\">Those\nwho take a position of unbelief are going to have to face up to the fact that\nthey&#8217;re still in their sin. Christ has risen. That means you are going to have\nto stand one day in the presence of God. You&#8217;re accountable to the Lord who\nmade you, who is risen from the dead. Your guilt could be washed away, but it\nis not washed away, because you have stood at a distance from Jesus Christ. Why\nstand at a distance from him any longer? He&#8217;s risen.<\/span>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <span style=\"\" class=\"\">If you don&#8217;t believe, you are holding onto false hope. Those who have taken this position\nare cherishing the hope that there will be no consequences to their unbelief.\nIf Christianity were just a mind game, you would be right. But Christ has\nrisen. That means he&#8217;s coming again, and one day we will stand before him,\naccountable for our failure to believe, our refusal to repent, and our\nunwillingness to offer our lives in service to the King.<\/span>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <span style=\"\" class=\"\">Perhaps\nthe greatest tragedy we need to face in light of the Resurrection is that those\nwho hold the position of unbelief are wasting their lives. The risen Christ\ncomes to every person and offers you the greatest opportunity of your life. You\ncan invest your life in eternity, but by this passive reluctance to make a\ncommitment to Christ, the years are passing you by, and your life is wasting\naway. You&#8217;re missing its greatest purpose. By your continuing to ponder over\nquestions, you are refusing to believe. By refusing to believe, you are missing the greatest\nopportunity of your life.<\/span>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <span style=\"\" class=\"\">Those\nwho stand at a distance from the risen Christ are the most miserable people in\nthe world.<\/span>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <span style=\"\" class=\"\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading is-style-article-subhead1\">Conclusion<\/h2>\n<\/span>\n    <\/p> \n    <p>\n      <span style=\"\" class=\"\">You\nneed to make the move. You need to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. You need to come to Christ. If you do, your faith will not be futile. It will be the strongest thing in the world. As you do, your sins will be forgiven. You will have the hope and the certainty of everlasting life. You will see Jesus, and you will be with him forever. As you believe, you\nwill begin to grasp the greatest opportunity of life, the opportunity that God\nin Christ offers to you today. Christ has indeed risen from the dead.<\/span>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <em>\n        <span style=\"\" class=\"\">Colin\nSmith is senior pastor of Arlington Heights Evangelical Free Church in\nArlington Heights, Illinois.<\/span>\n      <\/em>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <span style=\"\" class=\"\"> Colin Smith<\/span>\n    <\/p>\n    <h2 class=\"wp-block-heading is-style-article-subhead2\">\n      <em>\n        <span style=\"\" class=\"subhead\">Preaching Today<\/span>\n      <\/em>\n      <span style=\"\" class=\"subhead\"> Tape # 236<\/span>\n    <\/h2>\n    <p>\n      <span style=\"\" class=\"\">\n        <a href=\"http:\/\/www.preachingtodaysermons.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"\">www.PreachingTodaySermons.com<\/a>\n      <\/span>\n    <\/p>\n    <p>\n      <span style=\"\" class=\"\">A resource of Christianity\nToday International<\/span>\n    <\/p>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[306],"tax_ctp_authors":[1164],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_field_guide_subcategory":[],"tax_ctp_field_guides":[],"tax_ctp_format":[170],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[412],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_sermon_series":[],"tax_ctp_tags":[3478,3839,3933,4830,4877,5103],"tax_ctp_topics":[],"class_list":["post-33062","sermons","type-sermons","status-publish","hentry","tax_ctp_authors-colin-smith","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-belief","tax_ctp_tags-easter","tax_ctp_tags-faith","tax_ctp_tags-resurrection-of-christ","tax_ctp_tags-salvation","tax_ctp_tags-suffering"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Most Miserable People in the World - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermons\/most-miserable-people-in-world\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Most Miserable People in the World - CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Introduction I have two groups of people standing here with me. 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