Pastor Robert R. McLaughlin
Wednesday, February 2, 2022
CHRISTIAN SOLDIER, Part 42. Falling Forward Is Occupation With Christ, Falling Backward Is Occupation With Self.
PSD #10. Occupation with Christ and how it relates to the Christian soldier passing certain tests that brings glory to God.
- The Old Sin Nature tests
- Cosmic #1 Test.
- Cosmic #2 Test.
- Disaster testing.
- People testing.
- System Testing.
- Thought Testing.
- People testing.
(a) In personal love or admiration, the object of your love often controls your life and provides for you misery and unhappiness.
You have attained occupation with Christ and then you will be able to handle people testing.
In wanting to please the object of your personal love, you find yourself being a different person and not following your normal standards and functions.
Heb 10:26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.
This means that if you receive the truth then accept it and don’t compromise by ignoring the command and going back to sacrificing offering for sins again.
HEB 10:14 For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.
JAM 4:17 Whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
1KI 18:21 And Elijah came near to all the people and said, "How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him."
You’re going to fall and when you do fall forward.
He holds the record for striking out more than any other baseball player who ever lived.
He fell many times but he fell forward as DEU 23:5 says we can do when the Lord turns cursing into blessing.
Prin: When you fall forward you can see what’s coming your way, be it prosperity or adversity.
“Do you have something to fall back upon?
“No I fall forward not backward.”
When you fall forward you will see that even in failure you will be directed, corrected and protected.
“Do you have the guts to fail?”
I say that because when most believers fail, they fall backward into guilt, condemnation, fear and misery.
PRO 24:16 For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again, But the wicked stumble in {time of} calamity.
But the point is that he “rises again” experientially and continues going forward.
PRO 24:17 Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles;
PRO 24:18 Lest the Lord see {it} and be displeased, And He turn away His anger from him.
Prin: Ease is a greater threat to progress than hardship.
Every area of your life has some form of people testing that only PSD # 10, Occupation with Christ can handle.
We don’t plan to fail; we fail to plan.
The parent or parents who do not provide for their family are said to be worse than an unbeliever; 1TI 5:8.
1TI 5:8 But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever.
Believers can stay away from compromise when they stay away from being in bondage to the details of life; 2TI 2:4.
2TI 2:4 No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.
ACT 5:29 Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.”
JAM 4:4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
JOH 14:6 “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
MAT 6:24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
(a) In personal love or admiration, the object of your love often controls your life and provides for you misery and unhappiness.
(b) Personal hatred or animosity where the object of your antagonism or irritation often has control of your life unless you have advanced to Occupation with Christ.
Occupation with Christ will give you the power and ability to overcome certain problems that believers face.
Studying the book of Philippians, we noted very clearly that they were a very unselfish church especially as we were told in PHI 2:3-5.
There were people who had stumbled and fallen from their spiritual stability into conceit and pride and were more concerned about the things of their own life than the things of others.
We also know that there was some conflict in that church of major proportions that the apostle Paul had to deal with in PHI 4:1-3.
The command to stand firm in the Lord, is a command that is given because of the fact that Satan and his kingdom is now trying to cause divisions in the local church at Philippi.
The reason why Paul says "stand firm in the Lord, my beloved," is because Paul does not want to see a division hit the church at Philippi.
ROM 16:17 Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them.
“Stand firm” is what Paul says to the church at Philippi who were going through people testing.
Two women, coming up in PHI 4:2, Euodia and Syntyche, were being used by Satan to start divisions that could have split the church because they had an intense disagreement and others were joining them by taking sides.
1CO 1:10 Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree, and there be no divisions among you.
JUD 1:18-19 "In the last time there shall be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts and these are the ones who cause divisions.”
MAT 12:25 And knowing their thoughts He [TLJC] said to them, "Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself shall not stand.
MAT 12:26 "And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then shall his kingdom stand?
MAR 3:24 "And if a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
MAR 3:25 "And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.
MAR 3:26 "And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but he is finished!
LUK 12:51 "Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division.
LUK 12:52 for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two, and two against three.
LUK 12:53 "They will be divided, father against son, and son against father; mother against daughter, and daughter against mother; mother‑in‑law against daughter‑in‑law, and daughter‑in‑law against mother‑in‑law."
These were two prominent women in the church and that is why it was significant enough for Paul to have identified the two women by name in PHI 4:2.
Two women were able to lead divisions that could have split the church, and the different parties who took sides and had an intense disagreement with others.
These were two prominent women in the church and that is why it was significant enough for Paul to have identified the women by name in PHI 4:2.
One of these occupational hazards of people testing is personality conflict with members of the congregation.
This can even occur when you're in supergrace or no man's land on your way to ultra-supergrace, which is the subject of PHI 4:2-3.
JAM 4:6 But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, "God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble."
No Man’s land refers to the fact that very few believers go on in the spiritual life as the apostle Paul stated in 2TI 4:11 Only Luke is with me. Pick up Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service.
Ultra-supergrace qualifies the believer for evidence testing, the greatest test a believer could ever take.
The believer cannot advance from supergrace to ultra supergrace and at the same time become involved in pettiness or personality conflicts either in the local church, or at home, or anywhere else.
In people testing, pettiness is an occupational hazard that overtakes people who have never been petty before when they lived in no man's land between supergrace and ultra supergrace.
Pettiness comes from a hypersensitivity and a predilection for certain mental attitude sins, starting with arrogance, jealousy, bitterness, vindictiveness, implacability.
Two women in the Philippian congregation have reached supergrace and started out into no man's land.
They both continued with doctrine and then they saw each other, and something happened that caused them to turn and fire at each other.
Not only is the personality of the pastor not an issue, but here is something else, neither is anyone else's personality an issue in the plan of God.
2CO 5:16 Therefore from now on we recognize no man according to the flesh;
1CO 2:2 For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.
No Christian's personality is an issue in spiritual advance.
Do you know that occasionally people leave our ministry, be it face-to-face or non-face-to-face, because they don't like someone or they can't stand their personality.
They have psychotic reversionism, neurotic reversionism, psychopathic reversionism, but as long they're running loose, they haven't bothered anyone.
No personality is an issue and when you walk through these church doors, whether it’s a door that is face-to-face or non-face-to-face, they don't like someone, or they can't stand some person's personality.
Do you know when it is harder to keep your priorities straight more than any other time?
Answer = When you crack the maturity barrier and get into supergrace and even ultra supergrace because than you may develop a hypersensitivity for certain types of personalities, and you become antagonistic.
Without commitment you’ll never start, but more importantly, without consistency, you’ll never finish.
You can never be consistent, if you live in fear of the next failure, you will face which is right before you when you fall forward.
If you fall backward then apparently you have not been taught and prepared for the importance of falling forward or you have been taught and prepared the importance of preparation but you have rejected it.
PRO 21:31 The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but victory belongs to the Lord.
The horse represents the resources that the Lord provides for us and because of the Lord’s provisions to us we can have victories even in failure.
As the prophet said in EZE 38:7 “Be prepared, and prepare yourself, you and all your companies that are assembled about you, and be a guard for them.
Even the Lord prepares in MAT 25:34 "Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
The devil and his angels don’t like our Lord’s preparation and why not when you understand Mat 24:41.
MAT 25:41 "Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;
1CO 2:9 but just as it is written, #"Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, And {which} have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him."
Failure is inevitable, we will all fail and fall, but which way we do, whether backward or forward, depends upon what we choose.
We don’t plan to fail; we fail to plan.
When it becomes a personality conflict, you are shot down and so is the person with whom you have a conflict with especially if they have a conflict with you as well.
Instead of holding or standing firm as Paul has taught us, you both just peel off and crash, and you've had it.
Is there anyone in this congregation that you do not like or you cannot stand?
“Go up and be nice to them and apologize to them about the fact that you could not stand them.”
If you have a personality conflict, the last thing in the world is to run up and tell them that you don't like them and apologize to them or write them a little note.
I have seen many relationships destroyed because one of the individuals had to be so honest with the other that they shared their intimate thoughts and actions with them.
JAM 5:16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.
JAM 1:1 James says that his epistle is for the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad.
It is better that you do not share your intimate thoughts at certain times then it is to share them because you want to be honest.
If you have a personality conflict, the last thing in the world is to run up and tell them that you don't like them and apologize, or write them a little note.
Rebound the sins involved and move on, and stay as far away from that person as possible.
The worst thing you can do as a progressing, advancing believer is to get into a personality conflict with anyone.
This is why it is extremely important that you pass people testing and make godly decisions from a position of strength.
Common sense ought to tell you that life is too short.
“Some people would not waste any part of today if they knew that by this time tomorrow, they will be dead.”
This is what caused Elijah to run away from the plan of God for his life when Jezebel gave him 24 hours to get out of town.
This was right after he killed 450 prophets of the Jewish king Ahab who were really prophets of Jezebel and her foreign gods.
Elijah received a death threat from the wicked queen Jezebel which caused him in a time of weakness to run “for his life” in 1KI 19:3.
When the nation of Israel forsook the Lord and worshiped Baal under king Ahab and his wicked wife Jezebel, the result was that they lost God ’s protection and experienced three years of drought.
It was a lot for Elijah to accept especially after his victories over the 450 prophets of Ba’al.
Elijah’s means “Jehovah is my God.”
The Bible describes him as a lonely figure with no real home to live in as he was roaming the countryside appearing and vanishing unexpectedly.
Notice please that John the Baptist was said to be indwelt by the reincarnation Elijah.
MAR 6:15 But others were saying, "He is Elijah."
In MAR 6:14-15, People were saying, "John the Baptist has risen from the dead, and that is why these miraculous powers are at work in Him but others were saying, "He is Elijah."
JAM 5:17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain; and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.
JAM 5:18 And he prayed again, and the sky poured rain, and the earth produced its fruit.