Part 153
30 Nov 2009
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WELCOME BACK. I AM PASTOR DOUG. WE NOW CONTINUE WITH PART 153 IN OUR SERIES ENTITLED PAUL'S LETTERS TO THE CORINTHIANS.”
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Living according to the Biblical principles required of discipleship and ambassadorship is relatively easy, when everything is going our way.
The true test of where we are in our post salvation walk with God is when everything, from human viewpoint, is going wrong and falling apart all around us.
According to divine viewpoint, there is no such thing as a “bad” day, only ones that offer greater opportunities to glorify God. Wherever there is great opportunity there is always an accompanying risk of great failure.
Is it during these times when the endurance test, spoken of in 2 Corinthians 6:4 will put the pressure on us to cave in, quit, or at least encourage us to go AWOL and react as our fallen nature would have us do.
An advancing disciple will be knocked down and suffer many losses and setbacks in the midst of spiritual combat, but he/she will not be defeated unless he/she decides to quit and run from the battlefield.
Defeat or desertion in the midst of spiritual combat will not cause you to lose salvation, but deserters will never experience the ultimate victory of fulfilling God’s call on their post salvation spiritual life, forfeiting the honor of hearing these words when the smoke of battle clears, “Well done, good and faithful servant (Matthew 25:21).”
Nothing is more frustrating for the Ephesians 6:12 forces of evil to experience than to see a disciple get back up, dust him/herself off, after being knocked down by their best shot
There will be times of humiliation, confusion, and feelings of abandonment from some of your closest human allies. Going it alone, humanly speaking, is a frequent reoccurring experience in the development of a disciple.
It has long been the contention of the devil, that if he is allowed via the permissive will of God, to put enough pressure on a born again believer, the born again believer would, “curse God to His face (Job 1:11)”.
The devil was proven wrong in the case of Job, but many others have deserted the plan of God in the face of the enemy after have been subjected to a lot LESS pain and suffering than Job.
I am not minimizing or diminishing the pain or adversity that can come upon a spiritual warrior in the midst of spiritual combat.
There WIIL be times that the pressure WILL be beyond one’s human ability to endure and/or to succeed, but there will NEVER be a time when the pressure is greater that the divine power available to us to apply, endure, and succeed.
God NEVER intended for us to endure or succeed without His enabling power (John 15:5).
It is often the pride and false sense of security of the fallen nature within us that gets in way and short circuits the availability of the necessary divine power we need to succeed.
As Peter was to learn, it is much easier to pledge death before dishonor with our emotions, than it is to execute (Luke 22: 33, 57).
God will only place his elite commandos in the most difficult phases of spiritual combat (1Corinthians 10:13).
This explains, in part, why it is that some of the worst things, according to human viewpoint, happen to some of the best people while here on earth.
From divine viewpoint, there are no better or worse people.
Divine viewpoint sees the entire human race as individuals who are saved and Heaven bound, or who are in the spiritually dead condition in which they came into this world (Psalms 51:5) and headed for Hades and the Lake of Fire.
Of those who are saved, divine viewpoint sees each one of them as individuals who are either advancing in the post salvation plan of God or as individuals who are not.
Glorifying God in the midst of the spiritual combat that each day brings is something that only the spiritually mature can understand, and most people who do reach this stage of spiritual maturity are no strangers to tragedy, pain, and disappointment while here on earth.
Sometimes the daily combat amounts to no more that an occasional skirmish with the Ephesians 6:12 forces of evil and sometimes it is an all out, no holds barred, firefight.
Sometimes we can see it coming, and sometimes we are caught off guard and are hit on our blind side.
In both the biological and spiritual realm, whatever does not destroy us, only makes us stronger.
Human viewpoint and the inherent desire of the fallen nature in all of us to be recognized and acknowledged for our “contribution” is a non-issue for the spiritually mature spiritual warrior.
A servant does not expect to be commended for only having done his/her duty (Luke 17:10).
Veteran spiritual warriors have come to accept (Philippians 2:14) that requires that ALL things be done without grumbling or complaining.
We'll take some time now to look at some of the English terms of 2Corinthians 6: 4, 5 as they appeared in the Greek language of the original manuscripts that became what we now know as the letters of Paul to the Corinthians.
These terms describe the environment in which the disciple will find him/her self in, as he/she engages in the daily, spiritual combat, of the post salvation spiritual life.
Afflictions is an English word that is a translation of the Greek word t-h-l-i-p-s-e-s-i-n meaning to be under great pressure of oppression and distress.
This is not a passive experience or a one-time event. This pressure is one that is relentless and will persistently come against us with the objective of destroying our commitment to the post salvation plan of God.
The more we advance in the plan of God, the more intense and the more frequently the pressure will be applied.
Hardships is an English word that is a translation of the Greek word a-n-a-n-k-a-i-s that refers to the necessary difficulties of life that God sends or allows in order to be able to handle the increasingly difficult situations that are sure to come.that are to come.
Pastor Doug Laird
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