God gives us His Word to set us free, and to cause us to be quickened according to His Word. This is the Gospel. The Gospel is good news. But sometimes, because of preconceived ideas and religious tradition we miss God's provisions. If we fail to divide the Word of truth rightly, or if we take Scripture out of context good news can become bad news.
Burdens (trials and tests) of life
Many believers think the trials and tests of life are ordained of God. Let us listen carefully to what Jesus said about this in Matthew 11:
"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light" (Matthew 11:28 - 30, NKJV, emphasis added).
Some believers think we have to be burdened down in life in order to please God. The above Verse is God's idea of good news. Sometimes, men's tradition turns the good news to bad news.
In Old Testament days, people used a wooden yoke around the neck of oxen. It made their work easier, because it was handmade to fit the oxen. And if there was a knot in that yoke, it would rub those oxen raw in certain place.
Many believers take on burdens that God never intended for them to have. I believe that is the reason why so many Christians who go into the ministry take upon themselves all the burdens of others, instead of casting them on the Lord.
Peter said: "... casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7).
What Peter said above is God's will ad God's purpose for all of us. It is also good news for all of us.
Many ministers are burdened down because they have been taking all of the cares and burdens of everyone who came to them with prayer request. They prayed with them, but took the care on themselves instead of casting over on the Lord. If they have cast it over on the Lord, they wouldn't be burdened with it, but instead would thank God for the answer.
If you are a pastor you need to cast the care of the sheep on the Lord. Don't take all the cares of your congregation on yourself. Sometimes someone will come to you and ask for prayer concerning certain situation. You will of course pray for him and pray with him in agreement according to the Scripture (Matthew 18:19). But when you are through praying, someone might say, "Just keep praying for me, pastor." You should say no, because when you have said "amen", you already have released your faith over the situation if you have prayed in faith. It is finished as far as you are concerned. By doing this you have cast your care upon the Lord.
Jesus said: "And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive" (Matt. 21:22).
If you take all these cares on yourself, in a short time you won't be able to help anyone. You will have more burdens and problems than you know how to handle.
Burden of the Lord according to Jeremiah
"And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying, What is the burden of the Lord? Thou shalt then say unto them, What burden? I will even forsake you, saith the Lord. And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall say, The burden of the Lord, I will even punish that man and his house. And the burden of the Lord shall ye mention on more: for every man's word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the Lord of host our God" (Jer. 23:33, 34, 36, KJV, emphasis added).
The word "burden" means "job task." In the above context it means "prophetic utterance" which, according to the people, is weighty and a burden as well. God placed the burden on the prophet who bore it to the people. But God does not want the people to consider this as burden. He would punish them for saying "a burden from the Lord." Every man's word shall be his own burden because he has perverted the Word of the living God. It other words, God is not the one laying heavy burdens on people. But the Devil does.
God is good and He wants to un-burden you of your heavy burdens. God wants to get the heavy load off you - not put it on you. It is religions that burdens you down. It's the problems and circumstances in life that burden you down.
Jeremiah continued to say: "Therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast you out of my presence: and I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten" (Jer. 23:39, 40, KJV).
Anyone who says "the burden of the Lord" would face the above consequences. God's good news became bad news because the people had wrong idea abut burdens.
I believe one of the major problems with some people, especially ministers, is that they take all of the burdens of their entire congregation on themselves, instead of praying about them and releasing them to God.
God's thoughts and our thoughts
God said (through Isaiah): "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are highter than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:8, 9, KJV).
I have heard many believers (including pastors) quoted the above, sometimes in prayer meeting, by saying: "Yes, God's thoughts are highter than our thoughts. God's ways are higher than our ways."
Yes, the Bible does say that. But, we must keep it in context or it can be very misleading. Let us think a little - If God's ways are higher than our ways, the we can't attain to God's ways - that is bad news. If you are to read the two Verses before this verse and put it in the context, you will have good news instead of bad news.
"Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his ways, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord: and he will have mercy upon him: and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon" (Isaiah 55:6, 7, KJV, emphasis added).
When God said, "My thoughts are not your thoughts," He was talking about the wicked man's thoughts. He was not talking about you, a born-again, Spirit-filled believer. He was talking about the wicked people who refuse the Word and will not repent.
Now we can understand, behind this confusion, is the Devil who perverts the Word of God and traps believers to quote Scripture Verses out of context. The truth of God's Word supposed to set you free to recieve good news and not put you under bondage.
Truth is revealed in context
It takes time and meditation to understand the Scripture. You can find all kinds of Scriptures that seem to say almost anything, if you take them of of context. But if you keep Scriptures in their context, they will reveal the truth to you.
God's ways can be our ways
Let us now read two more Verses following Isaiah 55:9 - "For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it" (Isaiah 55:10, 11, KJV).
God was essentially saying: "The Word I sent is like rain which comes down from heaven, and it causes the earth to bud, and causes it to bring forth fruit, and furnishes seed for the sower so that you can operate in My way. I have sent you the seed of My Word. Put it in your mouth and sow it. My ways will work for you, and you can operate in My ways."
Clearly, God actualy says the exact opposite of what most believers thought He said. That is good news. But men's religious idears make the Word unfruitful. We should hold fast to the truth, and the Word will be fruitful to you. God's way will work for you, if you work them.
All things work together for good?
Paul said: "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28, KJV).
Most Christians are very familiar with the above Scripture. But it is also a source of confusion to many people. I heard this being quoted everywhere - from the pulpit, in prayer meeting and in conversation. Whenever there is news concerning some disasters in life - cancer, car accident and suicide etc, people will say, "Well, the Bible says, all things work together for good ...."
Once again, the problem is obvious - this Scripture has been quoted out of context. Let us put it back in the Bible context to find out what Paul really meant:
"Likewise the Spirit also helpeth in our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God" (Romans 8:26, 27, empahsis added).
Paul was saying that the Holy Spirit will rise up within you when you don't know how to pray. He will pray with words which you could not utter in the language that you know.
Notice that the three little words - "the will of" are in italics (in King James Version), which means they were not not in the original text, but were added by the translators. If we take it out (it is permitted to do so), Verse 26 reads: ".... because he maketh intercession for the saints according to God."
Praying according to God
The meaning is this - "When you don't know how to pray about a situation, the Holy Spirit, through your spirit, will make intercession through your voice in other tongues by praying the way God would pray."
Notice that you are praying the Word of God whenever you pray in the Spirit. If God were to pray for you, He would pray the Word over you. Whatever He said in His Word is what He would pray.
I believe, if we could get hold of this truth, it would solve a lot of problems in life. You can go to God with the problems, or you can go to God with the answers to the problems. If you will learn to pray the answer, it will solve tremendous problems. God's Word is the answer - good news to us. Remind God of what He said in His Word.
God said: "Put Me in remembrance; let us contend together; state your case, that you may be acquitted" (Isaiah 43:26).
That doesn't mean God is forgetful. God wants you to speak it, so that you will hear it! Faith comes by hearing the Word of God (Romans 10:17). He wants you to pray the Word of God always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit (Eph. 6:18).
All things don't work for good
Let us come back to the context of Romans 8:28. After you have prayed according to God, then you know that all things you have prayed about will work together for good.
We need to clarify here. If it were true that all things did work together for good, then you would have to say, "Adam sinned, but it worked together for good; so I guess my sin will work together for good." It wasn't God's will for Adam to sin. Neither is it God's will for you to sin. Your sins are not going to work together for good. You see how believers can take something that is true in its context and try to fit it in somewhere else where it doesn't belong. It is not only confusing but also a false truth. It is, infact, an error.
Working out our own salvation?
Paul said: "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure" (Phil. 2:12, 13, NKJV, emphasis added).
Paul was not telling you to just work up your own plan of salvation. God has already given us His plan in Romans 10:
"... that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved" (Romans 10:9).
In the context, Paul was telling us to carry our salvation into effect. If you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, then put it into action. If you have confessed that Jesus is Lord, then made Him the Lord of your life. If you haven't, then you have not put God's plan of salvation into effect.
Independent of circumstances of life
Paul said: "Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content; ..." (Phil. 4:11).
This Verse has been quoted over and over again by people who don't believe in prosperity. They say, "After all, the apostle Paul said to just be content with whatever you have."
If you read the few Verses before and few Verses after Verse 11, you will notice that Paul was referring to the fact that the Philippians' care for him had flourished again. They had sent an offering to him again.
I believe Paul had leaned how to be independent of circumstances. Paul, in effect, said: "I have learned, in whatever state I find myself, I will be independent of circumstances of life."
God wants you and me to operate independent of life. That is good news.
Conclusion
If you study the Bible diligently, you will discover that God's Word is good news. Never ever take Scriptures out of context and turn it into bad news.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
The Better Covenant
The eleven Chapter of Hebrews mentions various type of sufferings and hardships men of God (heros of faith - Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthae, David and Samuel) had to go through under the Old Covenant:
"Others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented - of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountain, in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us" (Hebrews 11:36 - 40, NKJV, emphasis added).
The "promise" of Verse 39 refers to the promised Messiah. They were people of faith and through faith "obtained a good testimony." But they didn't see the fulfillment of that promised in their days. Since God has provided some better things for us, we are not obligated to all the things they suffered under the Old Covenant. We have a better Covenant. It is established on better promise.
The writer of Hebrews said: "But now He (Jesus) has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises" (Hebrews 8:6).
Many of us are wondering why all this happened to them. Why they were not delivered? I hope to answer some of these questions. To begin with, God is not to be blamed for their sufferings. But He had provided a way of escape.
God makes way of escape
The Scripture reveals a few ways of escape. First let us look at what Paul said concerning temptations and trials that come our way of life.
"No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it" (1 Cor. 10:13, emphasis added).
I have heard the above being quoted - "God won't put any more on you than you are able to stand."
But that was not what the Apostle Paul said. Let me paraphrase what Paul actually said:
"Satan can't tempt you supernaturally. He has to tempt you by that which is common to man. He can't come with some supernatural temptation. He has to come to you through the five senses. We, as believers, have the advantage of supernatural weapon because the weapons of warfare are not carnal, but they are mighty through God. But Satan's temptation is limited to the carnal things."
Satan is the tempter and destroyer
Did you notice that Paul did not say God sent the temptation? So many believers interpret this to mean that God sent the temptation or the trial. But Jesus, used "The parable of the sower" in Mark 4 to indicate that it was Satan who brought the trials and the afflictions of life.
Jesus said: "Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful" (Mark 4:18, 19).
The way of escape ignored
Let us now go back to what Paul said: "... but with the temptation (God) will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it" (1 Cor. 10:13).
It is clear that, as Satan brought in the "temptation," God provided a way of escape. It is therefore valid to say that those men of God mentioned in Hebrews 11 either they didn't find the way of escape or they chose not to take it, but to suffer persecution.
I believe you could die in the service of God, but it is much better to live and serve Him. Present your bodies a living sacrifice and you will be able to serve Him better alive.
Paul said: "For I am hard pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you" (Phil. 1:23, 24).
Someone aptly put it: "You don't win a war by giving up your life for your country. You win a war by getting your enemies to give up their lives."
The New Covenant is better than the Old Covenant
Why is the New Covenant better than the Old Covenant? The Scripture clearly says that there are some promises people have in the New Covenant that people did not have under the the Old Covenant.
Under the Old Covenant
To get some insight into some things what happened under the Old Covenant, we have to go to Ecclesiastes to get Solomon's assessment of life under the Old Covenant:
"Then I returned and considered all the oppression that is done under the sun: And look! The tears of the oppressed, but they hve no comforter - On the side of their oppressors there is power, but they have no comforter" (Eccl. 4:1).
The problem is that people under the Old Covenant didn't have the Holy Spirit who is our comforter and guide. Under the Old Covenant they didn't have a comforter. They didn't have one called alongside to help, to teach them all things.
The oppressor had power, but those who were oppressed didn't have any power, because they didn't have a comforter.
Solomon went on to say: "Therefore I praise the dead who were already dead, more than the living who are still alive. Yet, better than both is he who has never exested, who has not seen the evil work that is done under the sun" (Eccl. 4:2, 3).
Solomon summed the whole thing up by saying, "You would really be better off dead than alive under this situation." Then after thinking about it, he said, "You would really be better off if you had never been born than to have been born and dead."
Under the New Covenant, Jesus said that when the Holy Spirit (Spirit of truth) is come, He will guide you into all truth; He will show you things to come (John 16:13, 15).
Under the Old Covenant, the Holy Spirit came only upon the prophet, the priest, the king and a few who were used by God for special services. The average layman did not have access to the Holy Spirit in those days.
Under the Old Covenant, there wasn't much people could do about the oppressor and his power. If they stayed under the umbrella of the Covenant God made with them (the book of the Law), then they had divine protection. But once they go out from under the umbrella of protection, then they were legal game for Satan, and they had no power to overcome him. This was the curse of the law.
Under the Old Covenant, there was no remission of sins. There was only atonement or a covering of sin. The sin was still there. People were still conscious of their sin. Only under the New Covenant does the blood of Jesus take away the consciousness of sin.
Under the New Covenant
Under the New Covenant, we are redeemed from the curse of the law (Gal. 3:13). Also, under the New Covenant we have authority to use the Name above all names, the Name of Jesus. We now can resist the Devil and he will flee from us because there is power in that Name.
Jesus said to His disciples: "Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you" (Luke 10:19).
Under the New Covenant, Jesus gives us power and authority over the Devil. So we have the advantage. Satan's temptation is limited to that which is common to man (in the five senses). We have now supernatural weapons the people didn't have under the Old Covenant.
A man to stand in the gap
God said: "And I sought for a man among them, 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" (Ezekiel 22:30, KJV).
God also said: "And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor; therefore his arm brought salvation for Him; and His own righteousness, it sustained Him" (Isaiah 59:16, NKJV).
The man needed to stand in the gap is the intercessor. God seemed to say: "We are going to do something about it, for this is not right. I need a man to fulfill this purpose."
Our intercessor has come
John said: "My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous" (1 John 2:1, NKJV, emphasis added).
The word "Advocate" means "Intercessor." Our Lord Jesus Christ is our Ingercessor.
Paul said: "It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us" (Romans 8:34).
The writer of Hebrews said: "Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermos those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them" (Heb. 7:25).
So we see, for those men of God mentioned in Hebrews 11, there was no intercessor. There was no man to stand in the gap and make up the hedge. But now we have a man. His Name is Jesus. He is our Intercessor. This will answer many of our questions about why things happened as they did under the Old Covenant.
The flood of the enemy
Isaiah said: "When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will life up a standard against him" (Isaiah 59:19).
Notice that when a flood comes, it overflows everything. There is no way to contain a flood. If it could be contained, it would not be a flood. Therefore, there is no way to contain the enemy when he comes in like a flood. This is true under the Old Covenant. When the people did not keep the Law, their enemy did come as a flood, and there was no power under the law to stop him. There was power on the side of the oppressor, but none for the oppressed. So for the people under the Old Covenant, there was no way of containing the enemy, once they stepped outside of the Covenant.
The flood of the Holy Spirit
Today, under the New Covenant, we are living in the fulfillment of Isaiah 59:19. The standard has been lifted up. His arm (Jesus) brought salvation (Isaiah 59:16). The tide has turned, so to speak. The Holy Spirit is in us, and the enemy can no longer come as a flood. Instead the flood of the Holy Spirit is coming from the believers, and Satan can't stop it.
If Isaiah was living under New Covenant, he would have written:
"When the enemy shall come in, like a flood, the Spirit of God shall lift up a standard against him."
Take note of the punctuation. The phrase "lift up a standard against him" in the context, means "put him to flight." So, we can read it this way: "When the enemy shall come in, like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall put him to flight."
The role of the Holy Spirit in prayer
John said: "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water" (John 7:38, emphasis added).
The phrase, "will flow rivers of living water" means "will have flowing stream of living water."
Paul said: "Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weakness. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered" (Romans 8:28).
In other words, when the enemy comes in and we don't know how to pray, that river, that flowing stream of God's Spirit within us, begins to release the flood.
When you don't know how to pray, you should pray out of your spirit in other tongues. When the enemy comes in, the Holy Spirit begins to pray through your spirit. Out of your spirit come rivers of living water. That is the flood. It is the Spirit of God lifting up a standard against the enemy. And the enemy will be contained.
Sword of the Spirit
Paul said: "And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with perseverance and supplication for all saints; ... (Eph. 6:17, 18, KJV, emphasis added).
Notice that the sword of the Spirit is not just the Word of God which many Christians believed. It is the Word of God praying. There is a difference here. In other words, it is the Holy Spirit, through your spirit, praying the Word of God. Therefore, the Word of God is not a sword until it is in your mouth. God's Word spoken out of your mouth becomes the sword of your (human) spirit.
Jesus in you praying the Word of God
Jesus came inside you when you were born again. We know Jesus intercedes for us. I believe He does it through your sprit, and through your voice. In other words, it is the Spirit of truth (Jesus, the Holy Spirit) through your spirit, praying the Word of God.
If God were to pray for you, He would pray His Word over you. God wouldn't say one thing in prayer that He hasn't already said in His Word. If you had lack, He would pray abundance over you. If you were in darkness, He would pray light over you.
Jesus is our intercessor, and He speaks only what He hears His Father say. So Jesus, our intercessor, would be praying the Word of God over us.
Conclusion
The writer of Hebrews said: "God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us (Heb. 11:40).
Therefore, we are not obligated to all things the people suffered under the Old Covenant. We have a better Covenant. It is established on better promises.
"Others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented - of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountain, in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us" (Hebrews 11:36 - 40, NKJV, emphasis added).
The "promise" of Verse 39 refers to the promised Messiah. They were people of faith and through faith "obtained a good testimony." But they didn't see the fulfillment of that promised in their days. Since God has provided some better things for us, we are not obligated to all the things they suffered under the Old Covenant. We have a better Covenant. It is established on better promise.
The writer of Hebrews said: "But now He (Jesus) has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises" (Hebrews 8:6).
Many of us are wondering why all this happened to them. Why they were not delivered? I hope to answer some of these questions. To begin with, God is not to be blamed for their sufferings. But He had provided a way of escape.
God makes way of escape
The Scripture reveals a few ways of escape. First let us look at what Paul said concerning temptations and trials that come our way of life.
"No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it" (1 Cor. 10:13, emphasis added).
I have heard the above being quoted - "God won't put any more on you than you are able to stand."
But that was not what the Apostle Paul said. Let me paraphrase what Paul actually said:
"Satan can't tempt you supernaturally. He has to tempt you by that which is common to man. He can't come with some supernatural temptation. He has to come to you through the five senses. We, as believers, have the advantage of supernatural weapon because the weapons of warfare are not carnal, but they are mighty through God. But Satan's temptation is limited to the carnal things."
Satan is the tempter and destroyer
Did you notice that Paul did not say God sent the temptation? So many believers interpret this to mean that God sent the temptation or the trial. But Jesus, used "The parable of the sower" in Mark 4 to indicate that it was Satan who brought the trials and the afflictions of life.
Jesus said: "Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful" (Mark 4:18, 19).
The way of escape ignored
Let us now go back to what Paul said: "... but with the temptation (God) will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it" (1 Cor. 10:13).
It is clear that, as Satan brought in the "temptation," God provided a way of escape. It is therefore valid to say that those men of God mentioned in Hebrews 11 either they didn't find the way of escape or they chose not to take it, but to suffer persecution.
I believe you could die in the service of God, but it is much better to live and serve Him. Present your bodies a living sacrifice and you will be able to serve Him better alive.
Paul said: "For I am hard pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you" (Phil. 1:23, 24).
Someone aptly put it: "You don't win a war by giving up your life for your country. You win a war by getting your enemies to give up their lives."
The New Covenant is better than the Old Covenant
Why is the New Covenant better than the Old Covenant? The Scripture clearly says that there are some promises people have in the New Covenant that people did not have under the the Old Covenant.
Under the Old Covenant
To get some insight into some things what happened under the Old Covenant, we have to go to Ecclesiastes to get Solomon's assessment of life under the Old Covenant:
"Then I returned and considered all the oppression that is done under the sun: And look! The tears of the oppressed, but they hve no comforter - On the side of their oppressors there is power, but they have no comforter" (Eccl. 4:1).
The problem is that people under the Old Covenant didn't have the Holy Spirit who is our comforter and guide. Under the Old Covenant they didn't have a comforter. They didn't have one called alongside to help, to teach them all things.
The oppressor had power, but those who were oppressed didn't have any power, because they didn't have a comforter.
Solomon went on to say: "Therefore I praise the dead who were already dead, more than the living who are still alive. Yet, better than both is he who has never exested, who has not seen the evil work that is done under the sun" (Eccl. 4:2, 3).
Solomon summed the whole thing up by saying, "You would really be better off dead than alive under this situation." Then after thinking about it, he said, "You would really be better off if you had never been born than to have been born and dead."
Under the New Covenant, Jesus said that when the Holy Spirit (Spirit of truth) is come, He will guide you into all truth; He will show you things to come (John 16:13, 15).
Under the Old Covenant, the Holy Spirit came only upon the prophet, the priest, the king and a few who were used by God for special services. The average layman did not have access to the Holy Spirit in those days.
Under the Old Covenant, there wasn't much people could do about the oppressor and his power. If they stayed under the umbrella of the Covenant God made with them (the book of the Law), then they had divine protection. But once they go out from under the umbrella of protection, then they were legal game for Satan, and they had no power to overcome him. This was the curse of the law.
Under the Old Covenant, there was no remission of sins. There was only atonement or a covering of sin. The sin was still there. People were still conscious of their sin. Only under the New Covenant does the blood of Jesus take away the consciousness of sin.
Under the New Covenant
Under the New Covenant, we are redeemed from the curse of the law (Gal. 3:13). Also, under the New Covenant we have authority to use the Name above all names, the Name of Jesus. We now can resist the Devil and he will flee from us because there is power in that Name.
Jesus said to His disciples: "Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you" (Luke 10:19).
Under the New Covenant, Jesus gives us power and authority over the Devil. So we have the advantage. Satan's temptation is limited to that which is common to man (in the five senses). We have now supernatural weapons the people didn't have under the Old Covenant.
A man to stand in the gap
God said: "And I sought for a man among them, 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" (Ezekiel 22:30, KJV).
God also said: "And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor; therefore his arm brought salvation for Him; and His own righteousness, it sustained Him" (Isaiah 59:16, NKJV).
The man needed to stand in the gap is the intercessor. God seemed to say: "We are going to do something about it, for this is not right. I need a man to fulfill this purpose."
Our intercessor has come
John said: "My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous" (1 John 2:1, NKJV, emphasis added).
The word "Advocate" means "Intercessor." Our Lord Jesus Christ is our Ingercessor.
Paul said: "It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us" (Romans 8:34).
The writer of Hebrews said: "Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermos those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them" (Heb. 7:25).
So we see, for those men of God mentioned in Hebrews 11, there was no intercessor. There was no man to stand in the gap and make up the hedge. But now we have a man. His Name is Jesus. He is our Intercessor. This will answer many of our questions about why things happened as they did under the Old Covenant.
The flood of the enemy
Isaiah said: "When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will life up a standard against him" (Isaiah 59:19).
Notice that when a flood comes, it overflows everything. There is no way to contain a flood. If it could be contained, it would not be a flood. Therefore, there is no way to contain the enemy when he comes in like a flood. This is true under the Old Covenant. When the people did not keep the Law, their enemy did come as a flood, and there was no power under the law to stop him. There was power on the side of the oppressor, but none for the oppressed. So for the people under the Old Covenant, there was no way of containing the enemy, once they stepped outside of the Covenant.
The flood of the Holy Spirit
Today, under the New Covenant, we are living in the fulfillment of Isaiah 59:19. The standard has been lifted up. His arm (Jesus) brought salvation (Isaiah 59:16). The tide has turned, so to speak. The Holy Spirit is in us, and the enemy can no longer come as a flood. Instead the flood of the Holy Spirit is coming from the believers, and Satan can't stop it.
If Isaiah was living under New Covenant, he would have written:
"When the enemy shall come in, like a flood, the Spirit of God shall lift up a standard against him."
Take note of the punctuation. The phrase "lift up a standard against him" in the context, means "put him to flight." So, we can read it this way: "When the enemy shall come in, like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall put him to flight."
The role of the Holy Spirit in prayer
John said: "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water" (John 7:38, emphasis added).
The phrase, "will flow rivers of living water" means "will have flowing stream of living water."
Paul said: "Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weakness. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered" (Romans 8:28).
In other words, when the enemy comes in and we don't know how to pray, that river, that flowing stream of God's Spirit within us, begins to release the flood.
When you don't know how to pray, you should pray out of your spirit in other tongues. When the enemy comes in, the Holy Spirit begins to pray through your spirit. Out of your spirit come rivers of living water. That is the flood. It is the Spirit of God lifting up a standard against the enemy. And the enemy will be contained.
Sword of the Spirit
Paul said: "And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with perseverance and supplication for all saints; ... (Eph. 6:17, 18, KJV, emphasis added).
Notice that the sword of the Spirit is not just the Word of God which many Christians believed. It is the Word of God praying. There is a difference here. In other words, it is the Holy Spirit, through your spirit, praying the Word of God. Therefore, the Word of God is not a sword until it is in your mouth. God's Word spoken out of your mouth becomes the sword of your (human) spirit.
Jesus in you praying the Word of God
Jesus came inside you when you were born again. We know Jesus intercedes for us. I believe He does it through your sprit, and through your voice. In other words, it is the Spirit of truth (Jesus, the Holy Spirit) through your spirit, praying the Word of God.
If God were to pray for you, He would pray His Word over you. God wouldn't say one thing in prayer that He hasn't already said in His Word. If you had lack, He would pray abundance over you. If you were in darkness, He would pray light over you.
Jesus is our intercessor, and He speaks only what He hears His Father say. So Jesus, our intercessor, would be praying the Word of God over us.
Conclusion
The writer of Hebrews said: "God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us (Heb. 11:40).
Therefore, we are not obligated to all things the people suffered under the Old Covenant. We have a better Covenant. It is established on better promises.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Understanding Job's Problems
The Book of Job has been one of the most misunderstood books of the whole Bible. It can hold many believers in bondage if they fail to divide the Word of truth rightly.
Paul said to Timothy: "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth" (2 Tim. 2:15, NKJV).
Wrongly dividing the word of truth
A pastor's wife was a cancer patient. She stood behind the pulpit and proclaimed, "I am like Job, chastened by the Lord. After all the Scripture says, 'Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord'."
She was wrong on two counts - Firstly, she was not chastened by the Lord. Secondly, the Lord does not take. Let us reason this out:
Chastening of the Lord
The writer of Hebrews said: "My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives. (V.7) If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? (V. 8) But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons" (Hebrews 12:5 - 8).
The Greek word translated "chasten" in these verses means "to train up a child" or to "child train." Even if you don't understand Greek, Verse 7 reveals the meaning to you - Is there any father here on earth who has a child and would not teach or train his child? Clearly, the above Scripture is not implying that God is sending some calamity your way to teach your son. That would be child abuse, not child train. Then how on earth the pastor's wife says that God gives cancer (a deadly disease) to train her?
Furthermore, if God was going to give you cancer, He would have to steal it first. God does not have any sickness or disease. Sickness could not come from heaven, because there isn't sickness in heaven! Furthermore, in the light of Verse 8, since all God's children are partakers of chastening and if sickness and disease are the chasterning to the Lord, then no sinners would ever be sick. In other words, if you are not a child of God (but an illegitimate child or a sinner) you would not be chastened of the Lord. So if sickness and disease and problems of life were the chastening of the Lord, then no sinners would have any problem nor any sickness. Only Christians would have sickness and problems. But we know that is not true. Everyone faces problems in life.
The Lord does not take
Most Christians, including many pastors, say that the Bible is the Word of God and the Word of God is the Bible. We must not be presumptuous. We must understand that not everything recorded in the Bible is the Word of God. The Bible, especially in the Old Testament, records what people said and not everything they said is of God. In other words, not all Scripture is inspired of God.
Paul said: "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitble for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" (2 Tim. 3:16, emphasis added).
There is a difference between what is "given by inspiration of God", and what is "inspired of God." If you fail to understand the difference you are going to have problem in understanding the Bible.
Job said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gives, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord" (Job 1:21, NKJV, emphasis added).
What Job said above - "the Lord has taken away" is not inspired of God. But the entire content of the Book of Job is given by inspiration of God. God did not inspire Job to say - "the Lord has taken away." The Bible merely recorded what Job said. What Job said was not the truth. There are many other verses in the Book of Job that are Job's own words but not inspired of God. We need to realize that Job couldn't read the first chapter of the Book of Job and find out that it was the Devil who took away. The following sections will make this clear.
The root of Job's problems
Let us look at some of the things Job said and we will get some insight into how these things (problems) started.
Job said, "For the things I greatly feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me" (Job 3:25).
Let us approach Job's problems from a Scriptural viewpoint.
The writer of Hebrews said: "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1).
Paul said: "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17).
The above Scripture is a positive truth concerning hearing the Word of God.
Reciprocal truths
There is an opposite or reciprocal of truth concerning hearing the Word of God. Since faith in God comes by hearing the Word of God, then faith in the Devil would come by hearing the words of the Devil - the opposite end of the truth.
The Bible says that God has not given us the spirit of fear (2 Tim. 1:7) and so fear comes from the Devil. If you begin to listen to the Devil, it will produce fear. Faith is therefore the reverse gear of faith. So if faith is the substance of things desired (hoped for), then the reciprocal of that truth is that - "Fear is the substance of things not desired." Thre spiritual truth is - Faith comes by hearing the Word of God. And fear comes by hearing the words of the Devil.
If you listen to the Devil, you begin to believe the things the Devil says. Then you begin to speak what you believed. That was the reason why Jesus never would say anything except what His Father said. We should do likewise.
Live by God's Word or die by the Devil's words
We need to take note of the fact that when Jesus was tempted by the Devil in the wilderness, Jesus would not say anything other than what the Scripture said. When tempted to turn stones into bread, Jesus replied:
"It is written, 'Man shall not live by read alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God'" (Matthew 4:4).
Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 8:3 which is the truth and He defeated the Devil by the truth of God's Word. If you listen to the Devil you will die by the Devil's words. This applies to everyone.
Fear comes by hearing the words of the Devil
We cannot blame the Lord for what happened to Job. Job was speaking his fears after listening to the Devil:
Job said: "For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me" (Job 3:25).
The Devil lied to Job. The Devil told Job that he was going to lose everthing he had. Even though God had put a hedge around him (Job 1:10), evidently, Job believed the Devil, because when calmity came, the first thing he said was:
"Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name to the Lord" (Job 1:21).
Job was essentially saying: "I knew it was too good to be true; I was expecting it to happen."
Job's fear broke the hedge of protection
I believe Job didn't just fear. He was highly developed in his fear when he said - "For the thing I greatly feared ..." (Job 3:25).
Ecclesiastes 10:8 gives us some insight into Job's situation - "He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso breaketh a hedge, a serpent shall bite him" (KJV).
The serpent speaks of the Devil. Job's fear broke the hedge that God had put around him and the serpent bit him. Let us imagine the scenario. Satan said to God: "You have made a hadge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side until I can't get to him." God said: "Yes, that's Me. That's what I did and I will not take the hedge down."
The one who broke the hedge was Job and his fear and not God. Read the first three chapters of the Book of Job you will understand how fearful Job was. Not only he was fearful but also extremely worried, he was fretting, and was praying and offering sacrifices on behalf of his sons:
"His sons would go and feast in their houses, each on his appointed day, and would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. So it was, when the days of feasting had run their course, that Job would send and sanctify them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, 'It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.' Thus Job did regularly" (Job 1:4, 5).
Notice that Job did all these things but he had faith in none of them. He did everything out of fear and not in faith. The Scripture says that whatever is not from faith is sin (Romans 14:23).
Job refused to listen to wisdom
Solomon gave some insights on Job's problems - he failed to listen to the voice of wisdom.
Wisdom spoke out: "Because I have called and you refused, I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded, because you disdained all my counsel, and would have none of my rebuke, I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your terror comes, when your terror comes like a storm, and your destruction comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you. Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently, but they will not find me. Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord" (Proverbs 1:24 - 29).
Wisdom won't come to you when you have operated in your own way. Job can't get wisdom because he was worrying, fretting, and in fear. Wisdom would not come to him because he had no faith for it.
The promises of Wisdom: "When you lie down, you will not be afraid; yes; you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet. Do not be afraid of sudden terror, nor of trouble from the wicked when it comes; for the Lord will be your confidence, and will keep your foot from being caught" (Proverbs 3:24 - 26). Job received none of these promises.
Job's realization and revelation
"Deliver me from the enemy's hand. Redeem me from the hand of the oppressors. Teach me, and I will hold my tongue; cause to to understand wherein I have erred. How forceful are right words" (Job 6:23 - 25)!
Finally, Job came to his senses and he had figured out that the root of his problems was the Devil and not God. And he realized that his tongue had something to do with it. He also came to understand and convinced that the right words are very forceful.
Job's repentance and restoration
Repentance
Job answered the Lord: "I know that You can do everthing, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You. You asked, 'Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?' Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. Listen, please, and let me speak; you said, 'I will question you, and you shall answer Me.' I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes" (Job 42:1 - 6, emphasis added).
Here Job admitted the problem of his tongue - "I have uttered what I did not understand." In other words, he said, "I utterly missed it. But I've learned some things that I didn't know."
Restoration
"And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends; also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before" (Job 42:10, KJV).
God has been accused of doing many things to Job. But this is what God really did to Job. Notice that if the Lord didn't have Job captive, it had to be the Devil. Furthermore, when the Lord turned his captivity, also indicates that Job immediately had the Devil captive. This came about because Job prayed for his friends.
Conclusion
Have you noticed that most people never talk about the things God gave Job? They usually talk about what they thought God took away from him. But God was not the taker. He is the giver of all good gifts. Job allowed himself to be ensnared by the Devil becaus fear broke the hedge of protection.
God is a good God. The Devil is a bad enemy. We also need to understand that there are some things that happened under the Old Covenant that won't happen under the New Covenant.
For one thing, under the Old Covenant there was no intercessor. God had no man to stand in the gap and make up the hedge that had been broken. But we have a Man today - The Lord Jesus is our intercessor!
Paul said to Timothy: "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth" (2 Tim. 2:15, NKJV).
Wrongly dividing the word of truth
A pastor's wife was a cancer patient. She stood behind the pulpit and proclaimed, "I am like Job, chastened by the Lord. After all the Scripture says, 'Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord'."
She was wrong on two counts - Firstly, she was not chastened by the Lord. Secondly, the Lord does not take. Let us reason this out:
Chastening of the Lord
The writer of Hebrews said: "My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives. (V.7) If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? (V. 8) But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons" (Hebrews 12:5 - 8).
The Greek word translated "chasten" in these verses means "to train up a child" or to "child train." Even if you don't understand Greek, Verse 7 reveals the meaning to you - Is there any father here on earth who has a child and would not teach or train his child? Clearly, the above Scripture is not implying that God is sending some calamity your way to teach your son. That would be child abuse, not child train. Then how on earth the pastor's wife says that God gives cancer (a deadly disease) to train her?
Furthermore, if God was going to give you cancer, He would have to steal it first. God does not have any sickness or disease. Sickness could not come from heaven, because there isn't sickness in heaven! Furthermore, in the light of Verse 8, since all God's children are partakers of chastening and if sickness and disease are the chasterning to the Lord, then no sinners would ever be sick. In other words, if you are not a child of God (but an illegitimate child or a sinner) you would not be chastened of the Lord. So if sickness and disease and problems of life were the chastening of the Lord, then no sinners would have any problem nor any sickness. Only Christians would have sickness and problems. But we know that is not true. Everyone faces problems in life.
The Lord does not take
Most Christians, including many pastors, say that the Bible is the Word of God and the Word of God is the Bible. We must not be presumptuous. We must understand that not everything recorded in the Bible is the Word of God. The Bible, especially in the Old Testament, records what people said and not everything they said is of God. In other words, not all Scripture is inspired of God.
Paul said: "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitble for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" (2 Tim. 3:16, emphasis added).
There is a difference between what is "given by inspiration of God", and what is "inspired of God." If you fail to understand the difference you are going to have problem in understanding the Bible.
Job said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gives, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord" (Job 1:21, NKJV, emphasis added).
What Job said above - "the Lord has taken away" is not inspired of God. But the entire content of the Book of Job is given by inspiration of God. God did not inspire Job to say - "the Lord has taken away." The Bible merely recorded what Job said. What Job said was not the truth. There are many other verses in the Book of Job that are Job's own words but not inspired of God. We need to realize that Job couldn't read the first chapter of the Book of Job and find out that it was the Devil who took away. The following sections will make this clear.
The root of Job's problems
Let us look at some of the things Job said and we will get some insight into how these things (problems) started.
Job said, "For the things I greatly feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me" (Job 3:25).
Let us approach Job's problems from a Scriptural viewpoint.
The writer of Hebrews said: "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1).
Paul said: "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17).
The above Scripture is a positive truth concerning hearing the Word of God.
Reciprocal truths
There is an opposite or reciprocal of truth concerning hearing the Word of God. Since faith in God comes by hearing the Word of God, then faith in the Devil would come by hearing the words of the Devil - the opposite end of the truth.
The Bible says that God has not given us the spirit of fear (2 Tim. 1:7) and so fear comes from the Devil. If you begin to listen to the Devil, it will produce fear. Faith is therefore the reverse gear of faith. So if faith is the substance of things desired (hoped for), then the reciprocal of that truth is that - "Fear is the substance of things not desired." Thre spiritual truth is - Faith comes by hearing the Word of God. And fear comes by hearing the words of the Devil.
If you listen to the Devil, you begin to believe the things the Devil says. Then you begin to speak what you believed. That was the reason why Jesus never would say anything except what His Father said. We should do likewise.
Live by God's Word or die by the Devil's words
We need to take note of the fact that when Jesus was tempted by the Devil in the wilderness, Jesus would not say anything other than what the Scripture said. When tempted to turn stones into bread, Jesus replied:
"It is written, 'Man shall not live by read alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God'" (Matthew 4:4).
Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 8:3 which is the truth and He defeated the Devil by the truth of God's Word. If you listen to the Devil you will die by the Devil's words. This applies to everyone.
Fear comes by hearing the words of the Devil
We cannot blame the Lord for what happened to Job. Job was speaking his fears after listening to the Devil:
Job said: "For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me" (Job 3:25).
The Devil lied to Job. The Devil told Job that he was going to lose everthing he had. Even though God had put a hedge around him (Job 1:10), evidently, Job believed the Devil, because when calmity came, the first thing he said was:
"Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name to the Lord" (Job 1:21).
Job was essentially saying: "I knew it was too good to be true; I was expecting it to happen."
Job's fear broke the hedge of protection
I believe Job didn't just fear. He was highly developed in his fear when he said - "For the thing I greatly feared ..." (Job 3:25).
Ecclesiastes 10:8 gives us some insight into Job's situation - "He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso breaketh a hedge, a serpent shall bite him" (KJV).
The serpent speaks of the Devil. Job's fear broke the hedge that God had put around him and the serpent bit him. Let us imagine the scenario. Satan said to God: "You have made a hadge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side until I can't get to him." God said: "Yes, that's Me. That's what I did and I will not take the hedge down."
The one who broke the hedge was Job and his fear and not God. Read the first three chapters of the Book of Job you will understand how fearful Job was. Not only he was fearful but also extremely worried, he was fretting, and was praying and offering sacrifices on behalf of his sons:
"His sons would go and feast in their houses, each on his appointed day, and would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. So it was, when the days of feasting had run their course, that Job would send and sanctify them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, 'It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.' Thus Job did regularly" (Job 1:4, 5).
Notice that Job did all these things but he had faith in none of them. He did everything out of fear and not in faith. The Scripture says that whatever is not from faith is sin (Romans 14:23).
Job refused to listen to wisdom
Solomon gave some insights on Job's problems - he failed to listen to the voice of wisdom.
Wisdom spoke out: "Because I have called and you refused, I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded, because you disdained all my counsel, and would have none of my rebuke, I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your terror comes, when your terror comes like a storm, and your destruction comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you. Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently, but they will not find me. Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord" (Proverbs 1:24 - 29).
Wisdom won't come to you when you have operated in your own way. Job can't get wisdom because he was worrying, fretting, and in fear. Wisdom would not come to him because he had no faith for it.
The promises of Wisdom: "When you lie down, you will not be afraid; yes; you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet. Do not be afraid of sudden terror, nor of trouble from the wicked when it comes; for the Lord will be your confidence, and will keep your foot from being caught" (Proverbs 3:24 - 26). Job received none of these promises.
Job's realization and revelation
"Deliver me from the enemy's hand. Redeem me from the hand of the oppressors. Teach me, and I will hold my tongue; cause to to understand wherein I have erred. How forceful are right words" (Job 6:23 - 25)!
Finally, Job came to his senses and he had figured out that the root of his problems was the Devil and not God. And he realized that his tongue had something to do with it. He also came to understand and convinced that the right words are very forceful.
Job's repentance and restoration
Repentance
Job answered the Lord: "I know that You can do everthing, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You. You asked, 'Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?' Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. Listen, please, and let me speak; you said, 'I will question you, and you shall answer Me.' I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes" (Job 42:1 - 6, emphasis added).
Here Job admitted the problem of his tongue - "I have uttered what I did not understand." In other words, he said, "I utterly missed it. But I've learned some things that I didn't know."
Restoration
"And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends; also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before" (Job 42:10, KJV).
God has been accused of doing many things to Job. But this is what God really did to Job. Notice that if the Lord didn't have Job captive, it had to be the Devil. Furthermore, when the Lord turned his captivity, also indicates that Job immediately had the Devil captive. This came about because Job prayed for his friends.
Conclusion
Have you noticed that most people never talk about the things God gave Job? They usually talk about what they thought God took away from him. But God was not the taker. He is the giver of all good gifts. Job allowed himself to be ensnared by the Devil becaus fear broke the hedge of protection.
God is a good God. The Devil is a bad enemy. We also need to understand that there are some things that happened under the Old Covenant that won't happen under the New Covenant.
For one thing, under the Old Covenant there was no intercessor. God had no man to stand in the gap and make up the hedge that had been broken. But we have a Man today - The Lord Jesus is our intercessor!
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
Disappointment and Discouragement
A recent report show that there are more pastors who get fed up, discouraged, disappointed and leave the ministry than those who have to leave ecause of some gross sin. Christians cannot afford to take disappointment and discouragement too lightly because these are the little foxes that spoil the vine, the little germs that are unseen by the naked eyes, that eat away and eventually destroy the whole body - even the Body of Christ. They must be attended to overcome.
Disappointment is so common that it happens to everybody in any given length of time. But Satan uses this to war against pastors and other servants of God. Disappointment is the forerunner of discouragement. Every man who attempts great things for God and sees little progress can be overtaken by disappointment. If from disappointment, he yields to discouragement he can become a quitter. Someone said, "Blessed is the man who expects nothing for he shall never be disappointed." I think he was rather presumptuous. Such a man is a disappointment already. He is a disappointment to God, His Maker, to his mother who bore him, and also to himself for not making some mark or impact in society.
Disappointment can be stepping-store to success and progress, or it can be a step in regression and failure. A boy can dream of getting a bicycle for Christmas and be disappointed if it does not materialize. There is a way out for him. He can save enough from his pocket money to buy one. This will teach him to earn his way through life. Giving everything to a child to avoid disappointment is to train that child for a life of getting. He will never learn the lesson that it is better to give than to receive.
A student sets his sights on high marks. He did not make the grade he wanted to. He can either quit or use that disappointment to press through, apply himself more diligently, and rise to success.
Similarly, as a servant of God, the pastor should not succumb to disappointment. He should work more diligently than he did before. He should study God's Word more diligently, pray harder, plan more thoroughly, get help and learn from other pastors and share his problems with senior members of his congregation. Apply himself more enthusiastically and he will eventually, successfully reach his goal.
Disappointment should not be allowed to mature into discouragement
Elijah was disappointed and so God encouraged him. When he got discouraged, God rejected him and sent him on his way to anoint his successor. Disappointment is normal, but if you dispair it is abnormal. Only those who set goals, who try and fail, get disappointed. It is those who despair, who stop trying and fail.
I believe the old motto, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again" has stood for good for all men. It is the constantly disappointed yet constantly persistent that break the records. You see this in all Olympic Games; you see this in the man who conquered the English Channel; you see this in the "spider-man" who climbed the tallest buildings in the world unaided. It is the mountain climbers that are disappointed at failures, but who persist and reach the top of Mount Everest.
Paul's disappointments became appointment
"Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them. So passing by Mysia, they come down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, 'Come over to Macedonia and help us.' Now after he had see the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them" (Acts 16:6 - 10, NKJV).
Paul wanted to make a great thrust into Asia Minor, but the Spirit forbade him to go. It was a great disappointment for he saw the potential of a great and quick thrust of the gospel. Paul didn't pout and say, "I'm willing to make the sacrifice, pay the price, for the glory of God, but, okay, Holy Spirit, if you don't want me to go, I'll go home and do something else."
Paul used his disappointment for another attempt - to Bithynia, a small province near the Black Sea and Russia. But again the Holy Spirit said, "No." But Paul was not a quitter. He allowed his disappointments to turn into appointments (with God).
As he yielded to the Holy Spirit who sent him to Troas, a vision was given to him. From there the doors were opened to him to journey to Macedonia (together with Corinth and Athens, the ancient Greek states). That was the place he was called to preach the gospel.
Dealing with disappointments
Do not stop and refuse to go on at the first disappointment. You could be withholding your talents from an area where the Holy Spiri can make you more effectively. Stubbornness has no virtue out of the will of God. God can turn your disappointment to appointment.
On the other hand, some disappointments in the will of God need not be disastrous. Even Jesus faced disappointments. Here are some examples;
1. Jesus was disappointed when the Jews refused to come to Him - "But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life" (john 5:40).
2. Jesus was disappointed when Philip asked Him to show him the Father - "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me" (John 14:9)?
3. Jesus was disappointed at the Garden of Gethsemane, when His disciples fell asleep while He prayed - "What? Could you not watch with Me for one hour" (Matt. 26:40)?
If you face disappointment, shattered dreams and hope, stand on the rubble, it will give you an ability to stand higher, and reach for bigger things. You may weep alone standing on that pile, but those tears will only clear your vision to see beyond today. Scratch that frosty window pane to see clearly beyond your confinement. It may even break to make your vision clearer.
Disappointments are like clouds that have "come to pass" - it may seem like those clouds have set in to stay, but they always pass. It is in the darkest night that the stars are the brightest.
Don't let disappointments blind you to God's alternatives. The breakthrough is ahead. The goal will be reached if you have one. Your ship will come in if you have launched one. Don't get mired down in despair in the midst of disappointment. Job's farm, cattle and crops may be lost, the family may have gone and he might have been disappointed, yet he came out victorious. Similarly, your loved ones may turn against you, your business may have gone sour or bunkrupt, but don't turn sour on God. He is not responsible for it, but the Devil is! God is responsible to get you out, and He will. Let Him give you a new start to make up for the failures of the past.
You have the help of the Holy Spirit to bring you out of disappointement. Don't struggle to make it on your own. The life guard can rescue you from drowing much easier if you stop panicking and struggling. Yield to the Holy Spirit and let Him lead you out.
Importance of self forgiveness
As a Christian you are forgiven. But to know that you are forgiven is one thing, and to forgive yourself is another thing. Let us look at the case of Paul. In his disappointements he could have reasoned, "God is rejecting me because I persecuted and killed believers. Families are separated, women are widows, and children are orphans because I had men killed. That is why God is rejecting me."
Paul did not reason that way because he knew that if he was forgiven the past is past. Paul had to claim forgiveness, forget the past, and press for the future:
"Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehanded; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead. I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 3:13, 14).
We must do likwise. We may carry the marks to let us remember the pit from whence we have come. As we repent, He will forvive us and the Holy Spirit will minister to us.
Your past can be therapeutic guilt or neurotic guilt like what what David went through after he sinned against God with Bathsheba. He repented and wrote a beautiful psalm:
"For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin I always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight - that You may be found just when You speak, and blameless when You judge" (Ps. 51:3, 4).
David did not allow that guilt to destroy him. He confessed, repented and fasted and then washed himself and went on to be the anointed servant of God. His guilt brought remorse, confession, repentance, reconciliation, and a commission to greater usefulness in the kingdom of Israel.
You may be disappointed in yourself, in your own failure or that of others. Whatever it is, don't dwell there. If others have failed, go to them and talk it over. Don't let the tentacles of a cancerous disappointment destroy your life. The best way to neutralize your enemy is to forgive and live him. We love our enemies and pray for them that they might find the love of Christ.
Discouragememt - road to disaster
I have already mentioned that if we don't handle disappointments effectively, they will develop into discouragement. Discouragement, unless arrested, will result in disaster. Discouragement can grip a nation as easily as it can an individual. Discouraged people will take drastic action. whenever you find discouraged people in a nation, revolution will follow.
A pastor must never allow discouragement to set into the ranks of his congregation. That is why he must not get discouraged or he will spread the spirit of discouragement as an infectious disease among the people in the Local Church. Because these people are Christians, they are taught not to strive or fight those in authority over them. And so they become frustrated and suffer silently. If they understand that there is no such thing as a perfect Church or perfect pastors they will not run and abandon ship, but stay put, and pray the situation through. It is not, however, the responsibility of the sheep to change the shepherd. The owner of the sheepfold will change the shepherd if the lambs are being devoured or straying away. If there are no lambs being born and the sheepfold is diminishing, drastic measures are in view.
When a pastor is discouraged and see no future for the success, growth and maturity of the flock, he should at least humble himself and pray and seek the Lord for direction. Perhaps the Lord would heal his discouragement and open doors for him to pastor another Local Church.
Unfortunately, some self-righteous pastors would consider that a defeat, and become more determined than ever to stick it out. So they go into the pulpit, lash out at the people instead of loving them, condemn them for lack of co-operation instead of encouraging them with a God-given vision. If only the floundering, visionless, discouraged, whining pastor would realize that the state and condition of the Church reflects his own vision, commitment and works. The sooner he will face himself, correct his own life and works, the sooner he will see a change in the congregation.
Art of encouraging oneself in the Lord
Pastors and other men of God must realize that they cannot look to people, to the arm of flesh for encouragement during crisis times. Leadership can be a very lonesome position if one does not maintain a close relationship with God. Moses, Jesus, Paul and David (just to name a few) - all of them have cultivated the art of encouraging themselves in the Lord.
David encouraged himself
A good example of encouraging oneself in the Lord is found in 1 Samuel chapter 30. David and his men were away on a mission. While they were away, the Amalakites invaded David's camp at Ziklag and carried away their wives, children and possessions. Discovering this disaster, the men turned against David which caused him to be greatly distressed:
"And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters; but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God" (1 Sam. 30:6, KJV, emphasis added).
Psalm 42 give us some insight of how he did this remarkable thing. He had a good talk to his discouraged soul:
"Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God" (Ps 42:11).
The Spirit of God within him was not going to let the soul remain discouraged. After being strengthened David consulted God and He gave him a battle plan. The Amalakites were defeated and destroyed and David and his men retrived their loved ones and their possessions.
One man who encouraged himself in the Lord turned a disaster into victorious celebration. That is true leadership. This is a great lesson for pastors and all leaders in the Church of Jesus Christ. God need leaders who wait upon the Lord and obedient to Him - These leaders "Shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint" (Isaiah 40:31).
Disappointment is so common that it happens to everybody in any given length of time. But Satan uses this to war against pastors and other servants of God. Disappointment is the forerunner of discouragement. Every man who attempts great things for God and sees little progress can be overtaken by disappointment. If from disappointment, he yields to discouragement he can become a quitter. Someone said, "Blessed is the man who expects nothing for he shall never be disappointed." I think he was rather presumptuous. Such a man is a disappointment already. He is a disappointment to God, His Maker, to his mother who bore him, and also to himself for not making some mark or impact in society.
Disappointment can be stepping-store to success and progress, or it can be a step in regression and failure. A boy can dream of getting a bicycle for Christmas and be disappointed if it does not materialize. There is a way out for him. He can save enough from his pocket money to buy one. This will teach him to earn his way through life. Giving everything to a child to avoid disappointment is to train that child for a life of getting. He will never learn the lesson that it is better to give than to receive.
A student sets his sights on high marks. He did not make the grade he wanted to. He can either quit or use that disappointment to press through, apply himself more diligently, and rise to success.
Similarly, as a servant of God, the pastor should not succumb to disappointment. He should work more diligently than he did before. He should study God's Word more diligently, pray harder, plan more thoroughly, get help and learn from other pastors and share his problems with senior members of his congregation. Apply himself more enthusiastically and he will eventually, successfully reach his goal.
Disappointment should not be allowed to mature into discouragement
Elijah was disappointed and so God encouraged him. When he got discouraged, God rejected him and sent him on his way to anoint his successor. Disappointment is normal, but if you dispair it is abnormal. Only those who set goals, who try and fail, get disappointed. It is those who despair, who stop trying and fail.
I believe the old motto, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again" has stood for good for all men. It is the constantly disappointed yet constantly persistent that break the records. You see this in all Olympic Games; you see this in the man who conquered the English Channel; you see this in the "spider-man" who climbed the tallest buildings in the world unaided. It is the mountain climbers that are disappointed at failures, but who persist and reach the top of Mount Everest.
Paul's disappointments became appointment
"Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them. So passing by Mysia, they come down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, 'Come over to Macedonia and help us.' Now after he had see the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them" (Acts 16:6 - 10, NKJV).
Paul wanted to make a great thrust into Asia Minor, but the Spirit forbade him to go. It was a great disappointment for he saw the potential of a great and quick thrust of the gospel. Paul didn't pout and say, "I'm willing to make the sacrifice, pay the price, for the glory of God, but, okay, Holy Spirit, if you don't want me to go, I'll go home and do something else."
Paul used his disappointment for another attempt - to Bithynia, a small province near the Black Sea and Russia. But again the Holy Spirit said, "No." But Paul was not a quitter. He allowed his disappointments to turn into appointments (with God).
As he yielded to the Holy Spirit who sent him to Troas, a vision was given to him. From there the doors were opened to him to journey to Macedonia (together with Corinth and Athens, the ancient Greek states). That was the place he was called to preach the gospel.
Dealing with disappointments
Do not stop and refuse to go on at the first disappointment. You could be withholding your talents from an area where the Holy Spiri can make you more effectively. Stubbornness has no virtue out of the will of God. God can turn your disappointment to appointment.
On the other hand, some disappointments in the will of God need not be disastrous. Even Jesus faced disappointments. Here are some examples;
1. Jesus was disappointed when the Jews refused to come to Him - "But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life" (john 5:40).
2. Jesus was disappointed when Philip asked Him to show him the Father - "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me" (John 14:9)?
3. Jesus was disappointed at the Garden of Gethsemane, when His disciples fell asleep while He prayed - "What? Could you not watch with Me for one hour" (Matt. 26:40)?
If you face disappointment, shattered dreams and hope, stand on the rubble, it will give you an ability to stand higher, and reach for bigger things. You may weep alone standing on that pile, but those tears will only clear your vision to see beyond today. Scratch that frosty window pane to see clearly beyond your confinement. It may even break to make your vision clearer.
Disappointments are like clouds that have "come to pass" - it may seem like those clouds have set in to stay, but they always pass. It is in the darkest night that the stars are the brightest.
Don't let disappointments blind you to God's alternatives. The breakthrough is ahead. The goal will be reached if you have one. Your ship will come in if you have launched one. Don't get mired down in despair in the midst of disappointment. Job's farm, cattle and crops may be lost, the family may have gone and he might have been disappointed, yet he came out victorious. Similarly, your loved ones may turn against you, your business may have gone sour or bunkrupt, but don't turn sour on God. He is not responsible for it, but the Devil is! God is responsible to get you out, and He will. Let Him give you a new start to make up for the failures of the past.
You have the help of the Holy Spirit to bring you out of disappointement. Don't struggle to make it on your own. The life guard can rescue you from drowing much easier if you stop panicking and struggling. Yield to the Holy Spirit and let Him lead you out.
Importance of self forgiveness
As a Christian you are forgiven. But to know that you are forgiven is one thing, and to forgive yourself is another thing. Let us look at the case of Paul. In his disappointements he could have reasoned, "God is rejecting me because I persecuted and killed believers. Families are separated, women are widows, and children are orphans because I had men killed. That is why God is rejecting me."
Paul did not reason that way because he knew that if he was forgiven the past is past. Paul had to claim forgiveness, forget the past, and press for the future:
"Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehanded; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead. I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 3:13, 14).
We must do likwise. We may carry the marks to let us remember the pit from whence we have come. As we repent, He will forvive us and the Holy Spirit will minister to us.
Your past can be therapeutic guilt or neurotic guilt like what what David went through after he sinned against God with Bathsheba. He repented and wrote a beautiful psalm:
"For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin I always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight - that You may be found just when You speak, and blameless when You judge" (Ps. 51:3, 4).
David did not allow that guilt to destroy him. He confessed, repented and fasted and then washed himself and went on to be the anointed servant of God. His guilt brought remorse, confession, repentance, reconciliation, and a commission to greater usefulness in the kingdom of Israel.
You may be disappointed in yourself, in your own failure or that of others. Whatever it is, don't dwell there. If others have failed, go to them and talk it over. Don't let the tentacles of a cancerous disappointment destroy your life. The best way to neutralize your enemy is to forgive and live him. We love our enemies and pray for them that they might find the love of Christ.
Discouragememt - road to disaster
I have already mentioned that if we don't handle disappointments effectively, they will develop into discouragement. Discouragement, unless arrested, will result in disaster. Discouragement can grip a nation as easily as it can an individual. Discouraged people will take drastic action. whenever you find discouraged people in a nation, revolution will follow.
A pastor must never allow discouragement to set into the ranks of his congregation. That is why he must not get discouraged or he will spread the spirit of discouragement as an infectious disease among the people in the Local Church. Because these people are Christians, they are taught not to strive or fight those in authority over them. And so they become frustrated and suffer silently. If they understand that there is no such thing as a perfect Church or perfect pastors they will not run and abandon ship, but stay put, and pray the situation through. It is not, however, the responsibility of the sheep to change the shepherd. The owner of the sheepfold will change the shepherd if the lambs are being devoured or straying away. If there are no lambs being born and the sheepfold is diminishing, drastic measures are in view.
When a pastor is discouraged and see no future for the success, growth and maturity of the flock, he should at least humble himself and pray and seek the Lord for direction. Perhaps the Lord would heal his discouragement and open doors for him to pastor another Local Church.
Unfortunately, some self-righteous pastors would consider that a defeat, and become more determined than ever to stick it out. So they go into the pulpit, lash out at the people instead of loving them, condemn them for lack of co-operation instead of encouraging them with a God-given vision. If only the floundering, visionless, discouraged, whining pastor would realize that the state and condition of the Church reflects his own vision, commitment and works. The sooner he will face himself, correct his own life and works, the sooner he will see a change in the congregation.
Art of encouraging oneself in the Lord
Pastors and other men of God must realize that they cannot look to people, to the arm of flesh for encouragement during crisis times. Leadership can be a very lonesome position if one does not maintain a close relationship with God. Moses, Jesus, Paul and David (just to name a few) - all of them have cultivated the art of encouraging themselves in the Lord.
David encouraged himself
A good example of encouraging oneself in the Lord is found in 1 Samuel chapter 30. David and his men were away on a mission. While they were away, the Amalakites invaded David's camp at Ziklag and carried away their wives, children and possessions. Discovering this disaster, the men turned against David which caused him to be greatly distressed:
"And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters; but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God" (1 Sam. 30:6, KJV, emphasis added).
Psalm 42 give us some insight of how he did this remarkable thing. He had a good talk to his discouraged soul:
"Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God" (Ps 42:11).
The Spirit of God within him was not going to let the soul remain discouraged. After being strengthened David consulted God and He gave him a battle plan. The Amalakites were defeated and destroyed and David and his men retrived their loved ones and their possessions.
One man who encouraged himself in the Lord turned a disaster into victorious celebration. That is true leadership. This is a great lesson for pastors and all leaders in the Church of Jesus Christ. God need leaders who wait upon the Lord and obedient to Him - These leaders "Shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint" (Isaiah 40:31).
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