Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries |
Spiritual mechanics must be parlayed into spiritual dynamics, Part 11.
Friday, October 17, 2008
PHI 3:7 But whatever quality of things were gains to me, those things [gains] I have concluded as an expert as loss for the sake of Christ.
PHI 3:8 Not only this but more than this, I conclude as an expert all things [Paul’s pre-salvation human celebrityship and achievement] to be loss [singular] because of the surpassing greatness of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord,
PHI 3:10 that I may come to know Him, and the power of [behind] His resurrection and the participation of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;
JOH 1:18 No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.
JOH 5:19... whatever {the Father} does, these things the Son also does in like manner.
JOH 8:19 “If you knew Me, you would know My Father also.”
JOH 14:7 “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also;”
JOH 14:9 “He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how do you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”
JOH 14:17 “the Spirit of truth the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him, {but} you know Him because He abides with you, and will be in you.”
You can have eternal life without knowing God the Father and God the Son but you will not experience that eternal life until you come to know them.
Knowing Him all begins with one very simplistic word, simplistic but valuable.
Time.
Most believers don’t know what to do with their time in this life and yet they want a life which is eternal.
Most of God’s people have difficulty in realizing and facing up to the fact that God is not on a timetable and He is not in a hurry in His development of their Christian life, PHI 1:6.
It is true that the new believer often begins and continues growing for some time at a very fast rate, just like a baby.
In most instances when it seems like we are becoming dull or losing our fervency, and boredom or apathy begins to set in, it is not, as so many think, a matter of backsliding or losing your love or apostasy or reversionism.
PRO 11:1 A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, But a just weight is His delight.
PHI 3:9 the Apostle Paul reveals grace orientation in phase one at salvation -
and that I may be found in Him, not having my own righteousness derived from the source of the Law, but that [righteousness] which is acquired by means of faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from the source of the God at the point of faith,
Paul continues with phase two, grace orientation after salvation, PHI 3:10, and it begins after salvation with one simple phrase -
that I may know Him.
1CO 1:9 God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
2CO 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.
PHI 2:1 If therefore there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit [and there is],
JOH 17:3 “And this is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent.”
No one can experience eternal life without knowing God the Father and God the Son.
You can have eternal life without knowing God the Father and God the Son but you will not experience that eternal life until you come to know Them.
HEB 13:21 God is strengthening and equipping you with everything good that you may carry out His will; while He Himself works in you and accomplishes that which is pleasing in His sight.
We would rather have that which is pleasing in “our sight.”
Many times when it seems as though we are stagnating, it is not as so many think, a matter of backsliding or losing our love or entering into some form of reversionism.
There is bound to be a constant frustration or maybe even boredom, and even more dangerous, familiarity, with the plan of God, to say nothing of resisting God’s developmental processes within us.
Unless the “time factor” is acknowledged from the heart, there is always danger of turning to the false enticement of a shortcut through the means of “experiences” or “blessings” or “retreats,” where one becomes pathetically entangled in the deceptions from the kingdom of darkness.
Paul is saying, keep your sense of self-discipline and endurance, whether the opportunity seems to be favorable or unfavorable, whether it is convenient or inconvenient, whether it is welcome or unwelcome.
George Goodman -
“Some have been betrayed into professing perfection or full deliverance, because at the time they speak they are happy and confident in the Lord.”
“They forget that it is not a present experience that ensures fruit unto maturity, but a patient continuance in well doing. To taste of the grace of God is one thing; to be established in it and manifest it in character, habit, and regular life, is another.”
“Experiences and blessings, though real gracious visitations from the Lord, are not sufficient to rest upon, nor should they lead us to glory in ourselves, as if we had a store of grace for time to come, or were yet at the end of the conflict.”
“No. Fruit ripens slowly; days of sunshine and days of storm each add their share. Blessing will succeed blessing, and storm follow storm before the fruit is full grown or comes to maturity.”
ECC 3:1 There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven.
GAL 6:9 And let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary.
EPH 5:16 - making the most of your time, because the days are evil.
Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately most of the time it kills all its pupils.
We will always have enough time, if we learn to simply apply it correctly.
There is a waiting period between the acceptance and the receiving of God’s word and then the real experiencing of it, often years.
Our responsibility is to patiently wait on Him and the time necessary for Him to work into our character, our life, that which we have learned and received as we are getting to Know Him.
HEB 10:36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.
HEB 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Regarding this all-important principle of time, it is usually a matter of years between the actual appropriation and the practical experience of that which we have claimed to believe.
It is the experience of our position in Christ experientially which is what I am after in teaching this principle of having the spiritual mechanics parlayed into spiritual dynamics.
There will be problems if you pursue the spiritual life and the upward call of God in Christ Jesus -
PHI 3:14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Press on - dioko = to press forward, to suffer persecution on account of something, to seek after eagerly, to earnestly endeavor to acquire.
Every bit of truth we receive, if we receive it with positive volition and a positive attitude, will take us into a conflict and will be confirmed through that conflict, if we remain faithful to that doctrinal principle.
You will not only know “greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world,” you will experience it in your spiritual life.
We will not only know “For we can do nothing against the truth, but only for the truth,” 2CO 13:8, we will experience it.
Getting to know Him and appropriating His word will not be truly meaningful and at times will seem even worthless until there has been a battle over it.
Take any challenge the Lord calls you to take, and, if you are taking it with Him, you are going to go through things in it, and there will be other factors learned from the battle that you did not expect.
PSA 119:32 I shall run the way of Your doctrines, For You will enlarge my heart.
2TH 1:3 We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged,
Whenever you take a doctrinal stand or a position but you have not really experienced it yet in the spiritual realm, the real value of it has not been proved.
Whenever our hearts may be tormenting us with self-accusations and making us feel guilty or condemned because we may not think that we are making any spiritual progress, we realize that we are in God’s hands, not man’s.
Keeping His commands, obeying His orders, and following His plan, causes us to abide in Him and He in us.
As the result of the work of TLJC on the cross, and His resurrection, eternal life is received already by those of us who have believed.
There is a deposit in every believer, which in itself needs no addition, so far as its quality of the life is concerned.