Grace Bible Church
Pastor Teacher
Robert R. McLaughlin
121119
God is looking for those who will stand in the gap.
One of the most helpful manifestations of the divine blessings of God is when the Holy Spirit teaches us and provides for us the Fruit of the Spirit; Gal 5:22-23.
They became deceived by allowing Satan and his kingdom of darkness to put them in religious bondage once again.
The major difference is that the singular refers to the individual believer and his personal sense of destiny when the believer says; “I have been crucified with Christ.”
The plural of the verse would say; “WE have been crucified with Christ” as a body of believers or as a group called a church.
The point here is that either way, God can be glorified.
It is much more difficult for two members of the Church-age to become mature believers in marriage then it is for them to become witnesses of the Church-age.
You are missing out on one of the most unique and powerful principles of doctrine that I believe very few believers have ever understood.
The only reason why this is more difficult to glorify God is because one or both parties have NVTD.
The apostle Paul is dealing with a lot of sexual activity that the Corinthian Church had been allowing false teaches and carnal believers to teach behind their pulpit.
The present distress was the carnality and lack of respect toward doctrinal teachers.
GEN 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
This is NOT the beginning of God because God has no beginning; He is eternal meaning that time does not exist for Him nor does time do anything to Him, Time is the servant of God.
Eternal Life has NO beginning and NO end whereas everlasting life has a beginning but no end.
All believers were born with everlasting life which has a beginning but no end.
Eternal life is given to man in time through faith in Christ and this eternal life has no beginning and no end and was provided for us through the grace of God.
In the Koine Greek there is a tremendous difference between Eternal life and everlasting life.
Nor is this the beginning of the angels because the angels were already around before God created the heavens and the earth; we know that from Job 38.
The Divine Judge comes into the picture with a series of interrogations really towards Job not Satan or the devil.
One of the great sins, especially of the sophomore believer, is that they really do think MORE of themselves then they think of others.
Watch out, ad be on the alert; PRO 11:2 When pride comes, then comes dishonor, but with the humble is wisdom.
Once a believer becomes in bondage to pride; PRO 16:18 says; “Pride goes before destruction and an arrogant spirit comes before stumbling.”
PRO 29:23 A man's pride will bring him low, but a humble spirit will obtain honor.
PRO 15:25 The Lord will tear down the house of the proud, But He will establish the boundary of the widow.
One of the first present dangers for new believers is that they distort doctrine as it is being perceived, metabolized, or applied.
And by distortion I mean using doctrine rather than having doctrine use you.
What our Lord is saying is that He means that Job has the doctrine but has made the wrong application.
Remember that you can perceive and metabolize doctrine and still refuse to apply it….especially when it is the filling of the Holy Spirit.
The phrase “like a man” is an idiomatic phrase that literally says some intestinal fortitude which is defined as courage and endurance to go on no matter what the obstacles are.
One of the biggest difficulties with believers when they get into suffering is that they lose the manliness principle of being courageous.
Even the greatest believer of his generation, Job, had to learn to stop whimpering and whining about his suffering.
Prin-You can't be a cry-baby about the past and serve the Lord in the present.
This is a command for him to face the facts so that he can get back in fellowship with God and forget it mentally as much as you can.
Prin-No believer can serve the Lord when he's hand-strung by a guilt complex, or bitterness, or regrets regarding the past.
Second principle: No believer who judges and gossips about others will ever be in fellowship with the Lord as long as he or she remains in the same situation with no rebound and recovery.
The very fact that God tells Job to "gird up his loins like a man" reveals that Job was acting like a baby relying on his morality rather than virtue.
To "be a man" you have to face the fact that you are responsible for your failures, even the ones you did not enjoy, you are still responsible for.
Don’t run away and hide from your troubles, face the situation head on because of 1Jo 4:4 greater is He that is in you than he who is in the world.
Always remember that in every generation, God is looking for men and women who will be men and women and who can stand in the gap and handle pressure.
Eze 22:30 And I sought for a man that should make up the hedge and stand in the gap before Me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none.
David's words to his son Solomon just before he died were 1Ki 2:2 “Be strong therefore and show yourself a man.”
Joab, David's general said to his soldiers who were outnumbered and the odds were against them in 2Sa 10:12 "be of good courage and let us play the men for our people."
The word "men" is chazaq (khaw-zak'); to fasten upon; to seize, be strong, courageous, strengthened, cured, and finally, to conquer as the means of a valiant brave soldier.
1CO 16:13 "Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong."
The first question: Was Job present at the creation of planet earth, and of course the answer to that is no, Job wasn't there.
JOB 38:4 "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding,
JOB 38:5 Who set its measurements, since you know [that's what we call divine sarcasm]? Or who stretched the line on it?
Job had a plan that he was going to have prosperity for life, and he thought he was all set for life, however, that was Job's plan not God's plan!
Job thought everything was going to be just perfect and everything was going to be just wonderful and pleasant for the rest of his life.
Whereas God's plan was to bring some adversity into his life whereby Job could glorify Him in the angelic conflict.
"You do not have it made when you are spiritual."
2TI 3:12 And indeed, all who desire to live godly [eusebos-spiritual] in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.
If man doesn't know what God is doing it is simply because he doesn't need to know or man is not oriented to God's plan and rally he or she has no desire for the plan of God for our life.
We may not understand the adversities and the sufferings which come into our lives now but in the end we will discover that God knew all along exactly what we needed and what was best for us.
JOH 13:7 "What I do you do not realize now, but you shall understand hereafter."
No one in the human race can ever really understand in depth the principle of omniscience and the fact that God knows all things and has everything under control.
ROM 11:33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!
It is God's intention that every believer come to understand everything in the Bible, and that is "in time."
DEU 29:29 "The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this doctrine."
Every book in the Bible was written by a human author who understood what he was recording.
Job is about to learn that some of the greatest blessings you can have in this life comes through suffering not through prosperity.
When God started to restore the earth for man's existence on it, where was Job?
Gen 1 is not a record of the creation of the earth but a record of the restoration of the earth.
God was going to take a new type of creature called man, give him a free will, and prove to the Elect and the Fallen angels that they were out of line in their decision to follow Satan.
Did you ever wonder why the sea doesn't just come up upon the shore and keep going until it destroys everything?
It is because God has placed boundaries upon it.