Tag: suffering

A MOMENT OF DIGRESSION

Part 8

For the past several weeks, I have heard teaching messages from three different pastors at the local church I attend.

The content of their teaching has confirmed the words that I have been sharing in the current post series.

I am grateful for the Holy Spirit’s confirmation of His direction through the Word being shared by other ministers in the Body of Christ.

On November 12, 2023, Jeremy Pray shared from Romans 8:18-30 outlining how the Lord uses suffering in our lives today. He encouraged us by emphasizing that “God is for us!” Life can be hard; but God works it out for our good.

He listed seven statements of hope from the text of Romans 8:18-30.

He closed his teaching emphasizing that as a believer we have no cause to worry as long as everything is ok between the Father and the Son-we have no issues to fear.

Therefore, in the context of the blog series, we have ‘no issues to fear’ as believers in Christ during the time of ‘unprecedented unrest’.

The following week, on November 19, 2023, Matt Rehrer’s, sermon was a continuation of the text found in Romans 8. He shared verses 31-39.

His teaching was entitled: Anchorings, and Moorings of the Soul.

He began with showing a picture of a vessel in a severe storm that was painted by Leonardo da Vinci, entitled ‘The Storm on the Sea of Galilee’.

When I saw the picture on the screen, I immediately thought of the impending ‘unprecedented unrest’.

Pastor Rehrer shared our moorings in Christ.

  1. If God is for us, who can be against us? Who can wrestle me from God? Is my sin too much for God? The answers are unequivocal: No one, No one, and NO!
  2. “In Christ, I am not just, justified, but I am declared righteous.”
  3. Not only did Christ die, and was resurrected, but He, also, ascended to heaven and sits at the right hand of His Father. The act of being seated speaks to us of the permanency of His atoning work. His work is finished. His work is completed. He said, hanging on the cross before He died, “It is finished”. Jesus eternally secured our salvation.
  4. In heaven, He is our High Priest and He ever lives making intercession for the saints. Hebrews 7:25, NKJV, says, “Therefore, He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him since He always lives to make intercession for them.”

Therefore, as we go through the storm of ‘unprecedented unrest’, our High Priest is making intercession for us before the throne of grace. We have that mooring.

Because of our moorings in Christ, we can walk in security. We can ‘ride out the storm of ‘unprecedented unrest’ as we stay focused on Christ.

We are secure in Christ, Who is our Ark. We are safe and secure just as Noah and his family were safe and secure inside the ark being tossed about in the ‘unprecedented storm’ that God unleashed to flood the earth.

After sharing about our moorings, Pastor Rehrer shared from the same passage our anchors in Christ.

Does God have a purpose allowing us to encounter storms in our life? Is there a purpose for suffering?

I ask, Does God have a work He is doing in the earth using a storm of ‘unprecedented unrest’ at this time in our nation and the nations of the world?

As I have previously shared, I see a two-fold purpose. The two-fold purpose is judgment and grace. God’s judgment upon those who need to be judged; and God’s grace available for those who turn to the Lord to receive the message of the Gospel. It’s a picture of Calvary. The Cross judged sin and becomes the instrument of new life in Christ.

As Pastor Rehrer emphasized, ‘in Christ’, we have an anchor of security in the present and security in the coming age. In Christ, we have safety. I do not need to live in fear and doubt. ‘In Christ’, no circumstance will separate me from God’s love. He is the anchor of my soul. ‘In Christ’, my suffering, my trial, my tribulation, my personal turmoil is not pointless.

Let me turn our attention to Hebrews 5: 5 b, 7-9, NKJV. It is written of Christ, “You are My Son, Today, I have begotten You…Who(Christ), in the days of His flesh(in a human body); when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him(His Father) Who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, though He was a Son; yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect (Gr. teleios, mature, a word that means the goal, purpose or end for which something exists or is performed.) He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.” (inserts mine)

Q: If God’s Son, Jesus, learned obedience here on earth through suffering, robed in human flesh, how do you think, we, who are here on earth, robed in human flesh ,are going to learn obedience and grow into maturity?

A: Through suffering: suffering is the paramount means that God will use to bring His children to maturity in Christ. It comes by the way of the Cross throughout our life. It is the ‘inwrought’ discipline that takes us through the process of sanctification.

Consider Paul’s words found in Colossians 1:24-29, NKJV.

Q: What is the goal of Paul’s ministry as he understood it from the Lord?

A: “I now rejoice in my suffering for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body which is the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, the mystery which has been hidden from ages, and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known (ginosko) what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man perfect (teleios, mature) in Christ Jesus. To this end I also labor striving according to His working which works in me mightily. (insert,emphasis mine)

What did Paul understand regarding the impact of his ministry ? Preach Christ, and water that preaching so that believers could mature ‘in Christ’, NOW!

I realize that this ‘diversion’ has been extensive; but I believe that it is necessary because it verifies that God is doing a work in the earth. He is stirring the ‘unrest’; He is moving the puzzle parts of the nations; and He is pouring out His Spirit saving the lost in a darkened world.

In the midst of this ‘unrest’, our security, safety, and refuge is in our ARK, Christ Jesus, the Lord.

Recalling Psalm 64:10, NKJV, “The righteous shall be glad in the Lord, and trust (find their refuge) in Him. And all the upright in heart shall glory.” (insert mine)

We now give our attention to the Senior Pastor at NCC.

On December 10, 2023, Pastor Kent Dresdow, shared from Matthew 20:17-34.

At the conclusion of His teaching, he addressed the congregation forcefully, yet compassionately as a shepherd feeding and tending his sheep.

In Matthew 20: 29-34, it records an interaction between two-blind men, calling out to Jesus, and a large crowd that was following Jesus. The two-blind men called out to Jesus saying, “Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!” The crowd accompanying Jesus, “warned them that they should be quiet; but they (the two-blind men) cried out all the more saying, “Have mercy upon us, O Lord, Son of David! (insert mine)

Jesus stood still and called to the blind-men, and said, “What do you want me to do for you?” There response was direct, “Lord, that our eyes may be opened.”

Pastor Kent confronted the congregation lovingly inferring that we, in the days in which we are living, can be like these blind-men, not seeing what is happening around us and to us. He said that we need to cry out to the Lord that we may see.

How so, you ask? We are blind to the darkness and death all around us.

Strong words, but words we need to embrace in the hour in which we are living, because the ‘days are evil’.

We are not spiritually aware (seeing) what is happening daily in our homes, our families, our community, our work place, our state, our nation. He exhorted us and encouraged us to be like the blind beggars who cried out, “Have mercy upon us, O lord, Son of David!” For what are we crying out? to receive sight!

He warned us that just as the crowd told the beggars to stop it; the world, will tell us to stop it; you won’t find any help from God, from religion, from Christ. Are we going to listen to the world; or are we going to turn to the Lord?

Pastor Kent, told us that we can be as ‘blind-men’ in this age. We need to cry out to the Lord. We need to humble ourselves, ask the Lord to heal us, so that we may ‘see’.

Why? So that we will have eyes to see the world as it is; to see the Lord working in our lives; but most importantly to see the world as the Lord, Himself, sees the world.

In summary, these three sermons have been sharing the same subject matter that the Holy Spirit has been emphasizing in the current series of posts.

Jesus said, Matthew 24:37-39 NKJV, “But as the days of Noah were, so also will be the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know (ginosko) until the flood came, and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” (insert mine)

Jesus’s words imply blindness to what was happening in their midst. Noah obediently built an ark for the safety of himself and his family, and all the animals, creatures, and fowl God directed to come into the ark. But the people who witness the construction of the ark were blind to what was taking place.

The ark was God’s appointed place of safety for the coming ‘unprecedented unrest’ that He was going to unleash upon the world, in the form of a flood.

As I shared, in the previous post, the storm cloud have gathered; there is ‘unprecedented unrest’ in our world. It is growing throughout our nation, and the nations of the world. Do you ‘see’ it?

God has provided a place of safety for His people during this season of ‘unrest’. We are in a time of preparation to ready ourselves for the ‘unrest’. We need to pray and ask the Lord to ‘see’ what is going on, and how to be prepared for what is coming.

The truth is that all who are ‘in Christ’ are always in have a place of refuge. Do you as a believer understand that? Is that knowledge just a fact or a living reality?

We are citizens of His Kingdom. We live in a Kingdom that cannot be shaken.

Knowing (edoi) that and Knowing (ginosko) that are two different things. (inserts mine) [see the post: Knowing is not Knowing: Edoi is not Ginosko]

We are safe and secure ‘in Christ’.

We will be going through a ‘suffering’ (an unprecedented unrest) that will shake the nation in which we are living and that same ‘unrest’ will be used by the Lord to grow us in our ‘teleios’ (made perfect) which manifests itself in maturity as a son or daughter of God.

end of Part 8

tbc

a brother in Christ, deo

Knowing You, Jesus, Knowing You…

Part 6

A number of years ago, Graham Kendricks composed a song entitled, Knowing You Jesus. I do not know if you are familiar with this song; but I do strongly encourage you to listen to it. The chorus begins with these words, “Knowing You Jesus, Knowing You, There is no greater thing, You’re my all, You’re the best, You’re my joy, my righteousness…” To which, I simply say, Amen.

The Apostle Paul said in Philippians 3:10 NKJV, “…that I may know(ginosko) Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.”

How does that happen?

That, knowing,(ginosko) does not come from sermons, Bible studies, classes, conventions, books, etc., that knowing (ginosko)comes from embracing the work of the cross in your life, based upon what you have read and/or heard from the Word of God. This life comes from what Paul said is found in the fellowship of His sufferings. It is the work of the cross, based upon the Word of God, to your life by the Holy Spirit.

I am of the opinion that the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings is not something that is taught very much in the Church. I could be entirely wrong. When I reflect upon the teaching sermons that I have heard during the past seventeen years, I do not recall many teachings about ‘suffering as a believer’. I know that it has been alluded too as something Jesus said to expect. I do know that it was emphasized when I sat under the teaching of the the Sermon on the Mount.

How many of us have actually experienced Biblical suffering? I am not talking about inconvenience or temporary uncomfortableness. I have had those experiences; and I am confident that many of you too have had such experiences.

I am referring to persecution, being reviled, having all manner of evil spoken against you, as Jesus described in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5).

He also taught that if you were going to follow Him as His disciple it would cost you.

How?

You would be treated like He was treated. You would be ostracized, ridiculed, and even rejected (Read John 13-17,the Upper Room Discourse).

Jesus said, to His disciples, when preparing them (Matthew 10:5-31) to be sent out to minister in Matthew 10: 24-26 (NKJV), “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household! Therefore do not fear them. For there is nothing covered that will not be known.

I have heard this referred too as vocational suffering. It’s suffering that is part of what to expect when you identify with Christ. It is part of your job description.

The Apostle Peter, also, spoke of suffering for Christ’s sake in his first epistle.

I Peter 4:1-19 ( the entire chapter), speaks to believers about suffering. I recommend that you read the entire chapter.

Quoting from this chapter, I Peter 4:1,2,12-19(NKJV):

“Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God…Beloved, do think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange things happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may be glad with exceeding joy. If you are reproached for the name of Christ blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people’s matters. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter. For the time has come for judgement to begin at the house of God, and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? Now, “If the righteous one is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?” Therefore, let those who suffer according to the will of God, commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator.”

Paul summarized his position in the Lord like this (Galatians 2:20-21 NKJV), ” I am crucified with Christ; yet it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life that I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”

As a believer ‘in Christ’, this is our foundational position. Understanding this position and experiencing it’s reality was the essence of Paul’s life and ministry. This is what Paul taught to the believers throughout the churches he founded ‘in Christ’.

When the shaking comes, that ‘unprecedented unrest’, God will shake everything that can be shaken. This will include everything that has not been established or found to be ‘in Christ’. All will be shaken.

I have been sharing that an ‘unprecedented unrest’ is coming to our nation. Looking at the daily headlines, it is obvious that it has begun and is growing in our nation and throughout the world.

I have shared my concern about believers ‘in Christ’ who will struggle in the time of ‘unprecedented unrest’ because of their lack of spiritual maturity that is the result of knowing (edoi) a lot of information about Christ and the Word of God; but lacking in spiritual maturity because that knowledge(edoi) has not been changed into a living experience (ginosko) in the Lord.

Jesus, in John 17:1-5, NKJV, prayed to His Father, “Father the hour has come, Glorify Your Son , that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. And this is eternal life that they many know (ginosko) You, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify me together with Yourself, with the glory I had with You before the world was.”

He continues in verses 14-17 (NKJV), “I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through Your truth. Your word is truth.

Jesus, continued His prayer for His disciples, and also prayed for those who will come to know(ginosko) Him (John 17:20 NKJV), “I do not pray for these alone but also for those who will believe in Me through their word. ” (That’s us)

Jesus closes His prayer with these words, John 17:25-26 NKJV, “O righteous Father! The world has not known (ginosko)You, but I have known(ginosko) You, and these have known (ginosko) that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it that the love with which You love Me may be in them, and I in them.”

The essence of being born again, is knowing God, the Father and Christ, the Son, as your personal Savior. This is your beginning of being saved; but God’s purpose is for us to mature beyond just being saved here on earth and waiting it out to go to heaven.

When you read Philippians 3, you will see that maturity was Paul’s goal and understanding. Paul ‘presses on’ to know (ginosko) the Lord.

The thrust of the Letter to the Hebrews is to ‘go on’.

Go on to what?

As I have mentioned before, the letters of the New Testament are written to believers to mature them, to come to fulfillment, ‘in Christ’ here on earth.

Let us recall Paul’s words, “… that I might know (ginosko) Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being confirmed to His death. (Philippians 3:10, NKJV)

I understand this statement, Philippians 3:10, to be an equivalent restatement by Paul of Galatians 2:20.

I have been using the word ‘ginosko‘ multiple times in the previous posts and in this one. I have not formally defined the word. I would like to do that now.

In the Spirit Filled Life Bible, the Word Wealth Section for John 8:32 records: know, ginosko (ghin-oce-koe); Strong’s #1097: compare “prognosis”; “gnomic”, “gnomon”, “gnostic”; To perceive, understand, recognize, gain knowledge, realize, come to know. Ginosko is a knowledge that has an inception, a progress, and an attainment. It is the recognition of truth by personal experience.”

Notice the progression: inception, progress, attainment. This presents a progression of growth. There is an implied maturity taking place.. ‘Hearers’ of the Word are becoming ‘Doers’ of the Word. What is taking place? We are Justified (Inception), Sanctified(Progress)–growing into spiritual maturity(teleios),a level of attainment here on earth ,and then glorified (Attainment) in the Presence of the Lord.

We are growing ‘in Christ’ now, as we walk with the Lord.

This is our Father’s purpose for His children.

The last sentence of the definition explains to us how this happens. “It is the recognition of truth by personal experience.” This is what we need to keep before us as we walk with the Lord. This is what is meant when teachers of the Word say that doctrine must become duty. This is what is implied when we are told that what we know objectively (edoi) must be balanced subjectively (ginosko) in our lives so that we can walk in the truth of the Word with the Lord.

We embrace this balance through personal experience . This personal experience is sovereignly applied and/or orchestrated by our loving heavenly Father in our daily lives.

I have been saying that there is coming to our nation a time of ‘unprecedented unrest’.

I suggest that another term for ‘unprecedented unrest’ is God’s Sovereign intervention in the affairs of our nation through tribulation, trial, and testing. I am not referencing moments of inconvenience or momentary uneasiness. I am referring to difficult times. This reminds me of God’s Sovereign intervention for His Chosen nation, Israel, in Egypt.

The scripture has a lot to say about suffering. The New Testament is replete with the role of suffering that matures (teleios) us as believers ‘in Christ’.

This is also true of the heroes of faith listed in Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11 summarizes their walk of faith; and if you go back and read about their life in the context of the Old Testament you will read about the suffering that they endured and the faithfulness of God working in their lives.

We need to remember and understand that ‘self’ seeks to avoid suffering.

Self is our number one obstacle to following the Lord.

Why? It wants nothing to do with the Cross of Christ.

The truth is that the foundation of the Christian life and growing into maturity (teleios) is by grace through the work of the Cross.

Ask Paul.

Read his letters to the Churches.

Writing to the Corinthian Church, Paul says, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise , and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.” Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know (ginosko) God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For the Jews request a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. I Corinthians 1:18-25, NKJV) (emphasis mine)

Is “Christ crucified” taught where you assemble with a community of believers?

“Christ crucified” is the foundation of the Christian life for the growth of the Body of Christ.

Jesus said, if you want to be His disciple, a follower of Him, you must learn to deny yourself, reckon your old man dead to sin ‘in Christ’, purposely pickup your cross daily, embrace the work of the cross in your life, and follow Me. (Luke 9:23)

Do those steps characterize your lifestyle? I submit to you, that you will have difficulty embracing situations that bring ‘suffering’ into your life; then the general times of suffering that you encounter and the time of ‘unprecedented unrest’ will be hard for you.

I encourage you not to despair. Jesus said, to His disciples in the upper room, the night He was betrayed, John 14:18 (NKJV), “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.”

In Ephesians 3:17-19 (Amplified Version), Paul tells the believers, that he prays for them “…so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through your faith. And may you, having been [deeply] rooted and [securely] grounded in love, be fully capable of comprehending with all the saints [God’s people] the width and length and height and depth of His love [fully experiencing that amazing, endless love]; and [that you may come] to know [practically, through personal experience] the love of Christ which far surpasses [mere] knowledge [without experience], that you may be filled up [throughout your being] to all the fullness of God [so that you may have the richest experience of God’s presence in your lives, completely filled and flooded with God Himself]. (emphasis mine)

Do you understand what Paul was praying for them?

Paul is praying for their maturity to know God’s love for them, not ‘here say’ knowledge, but ‘real’ knowledge.

Paul is praying that the knowledge they have been given which does not have personal experience (edoi) will become practical personal experience (ginosko) in their spiritual growth.

His desire is for them to experience the fathomless love of God and to be completely filled with God’s Himself.

This knowing (ginosko) is a result of God, Himself, working in our lives, walking with us personally through hard times, sufferings, situations, trials, tribulations, testings, and/or circumstances that mature us into His sons and daughters.

As I have shared previously, there is an ‘unprecedented unrest’ coming to our nation and to the other nations of the world.

The magnitude of this ‘unrest’ will be the Sovereign will of God.

Returning to the Apostle Peter’s words regarding suffering, he speaks this benediction, 1 Peter 5:10-11 NKJV, “But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect (will perfect), establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever, Amen.” (insert mine, from notes in the Study Bible)

I want to close this post with this scripture.

Hebrews 5:7-10, Tree of Life Version, the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews, referring to Jesus says, “In the days of His life on earth, Yeshua offered up both prayers and pleas, with loud crying and tears, to the One able to save Him from death; and He was heard because of His reverence. Though He was a Son, He learned obedience from what He suffered. And once made perfect (greek word is teleios: mature), He became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him–called by God Kohen Gadol (high priest) according to the order of Melchizedek.” (inserts mine,)

If Jesus, the Son of God, who took on human flesh, was made perfect (teleios, mature) through suffering, what process do you believe God the Father will use to mature(teleios) us who are His sons and daughters ‘in Christ’ ?

God has an eternal plan. He is working out all things for good who are called according to His purpose. The word, purpose is defined as (The greek word, prothesis, suggests a deliberate plan, a proposition, an advanced plan, an intention, a design.) (See : Romans 8:28-30) Insert, emphasis mine, notes from Spirit Filled Life Bible)

Blessings, a follower of Christ, deo

End of Part 6

TBC