Weekly Bible Study – February 14, 2022; Proclaim the Victory of Christ By Executing The PPOG For Your Life!
Scripture References, Word & Phrase descriptions: the “Logos Reftagger” scripture links are hover pop-up active, meaning the scripture reference will just pop-up if you hover your cursor over it (don’t click on the link, just hover your cursor over it), when finished reading, hover your cursor off the scripture reference link. If the Reftagger pop-up doesn’t show all the verses, left click on the “More” button in the Reftagger pop-up window and it will take you to the online bible. If RefTagger pop-ups don’t work on your computer, that’s OK, try right clicking the link then open in new tab or window; or if that doesn’t work, you can always use your Bible to look up the verses. Word or Phrase definition links may not have a website that opens.
Preparing yourself for the study of God’s Word
Before we begin, only if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ (that is; you have believed [trusted] in Him for His promised gift of eternal life) John 3:16, John 6:47 as a few examples; it is very important to prepare yourself to learn God's Word so the Holy Spirit can teach you as to what your reading or hearing is true or false. To be taught by the Holy Spirit you must be filled with the Holy Spirit which means abiding in Christ. To place yourself in fellowship with God the Holy Spirit [also called abiding in the Christ], take a moment to simply name, cite or acknowledge [confess] your known unconfessed sins privately to God (i.e.; with your thoughts directed only to God the Father). Why? Because you cannot grow spiritually if you’re not abiding in Christ [in fellowship with Him] when you take in bible truth.
1 John 1:9, says: “If we confess [meaning to simply name, cite or acknowledge to God the Father] our sins [known unconfessed sins], He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins [known sins] and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness [all unknown and forgotten sins];” NKJV (New King James Version); we call this REBOUND; read the full doctrine as to “why” we need to use 1 John 1:9 to grow spiritually. Left click the following link to learn more and fully understand the doctrine of Rebound; which answers the question, why do I need to keep confessing my sins all the time? REBOUND
If you have never personally believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, that He is the Son of God, the promised Messiah, as your Savior (that is, believed in Him for eternal life), the issue for you is not to name your sins; the issue for you is to simply exercise faith alone in Jesus Christ alone eternal life; when you do, you will instantly receive Eternal Life: John 3:16, 5:24, 6:47, 20:30, 31.
John 6:47 says: "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me [Jesus Christ] has everlasting life." NKJV
Notice again what Jesus said in John 6:47: "…he who believes in Me (Jesus Christ) has everlasting life." It doesn't say, "will have"; it says, "has." Therefore, the very moment you believe in Jesus Christ for His promise of everlasting life, you have it (it's really just that simple; nothing more and nothing less), and it can never be taken away from you (John 10:28-29). Furthermore, the gift (Ephesians 2:8c) of everlasting life (also called eternal life in scripture) is available to every human being; there are absolutely no exceptions.
John 3:14-15, 16, 17, 18, says: "14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." NKJV
Let us now bow our hearts and take a moment to prepare for worship and learning God's Word. If there is any known sin in your life, this is the time to just cite it privately to God the Father with your thoughts directed towards Him. With your head bowed and your eyes closed, you have total privacy in your mind and soul:
Study to show yourself approved to God!
Grace Bible Church
Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries
The Tree of Life is a weekly teaching summary:
God’s Word is taught Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday
STUDY TITLE:
Proclaim The Victory Of Christ By Executing The PPOG For Your Life!
Grace Bible Church
Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries
The Tree of Life is a weekly teaching summary:
God’s Word is taught Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday
STUDY TITLE:
Proclaim The Victory of Christ by Executing The PPOG For Your Life!
Week Ending 07/11/21
In this lesson, we will examine
:
– Faith over fear – Francis Scott Key (A 4th of July tribute)
– Prophecy #11 – Isa 53:7 – Jesus would not defend Himself against His accusers.
– Paradidomi – our Lord’s faith-rest demonstration.
– Prophecy #12 – Isaiah prophesied Christ is a sin offering – Isa 53:4-6, 10-11
– Volition is the key.
– By being prepared to die, literally and figuratively, we become prepared to live truly free!
– Living in fear represents failure to execute the PPOG [predesigned plan of God].
– Proclaim the victory of Christ by conquering fear through making doctrine #1.
– 10 principles for success in the spiritual life from Pastor’s notes.
In remembrance of the 4th of July holiday which just passed, and reflecting on all that America has given us, that which God Himself has provided through this great nation of ours, which was a gift to the world as well as to us, I would like to share something to encourage us, as we all see the termites in the beams, eating and tunneling through the supports of divine establishment and divine institutions, weakening the edifice, and the infiltration of our political, cultural, ideological, financial/economic, and educational institutions by Marxists who, make no mistake, despise God and truth and anyone or anything that reminds them of it, and seek ultimately the obliteration of it and all its tenets from the earth. But we must never lose sight of the FACT:
JESUS CHRIST CONTROLS HISTORY, AND GOD’S GOOD PLEASURE WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED!
Every knee shall bend and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ IS LORD. The only choice anyone has in this is whether to be a PROTAGONIST, or [invisible] hero, who is used proactively by God, or an ANTAGONIST, or villain, who is used reactively by God. Which role we play depends on our positive or negative volition at any given moment. Unbelievers are always antagonists because they are under the tyranny of the sin nature at all times, but believers can be either since we have the ability to function under the control of God the Holy Spirit. Now let’s hear a story of the power of God to nullify human viewpoint and calculations of odds, and a powerful example of “faith over fear” and true courage – the ability to think clearly (divine viewpoint) and act decisively (RMA – relaxed mental attitude) under pressure.
There was a lawyer once; his name was Francis Scott Key. In 1814, he penned a song that I am sure you are aware of – you have seen it – it is in most hymnals throughout American churches. It is called The National Anthem. It is our song as an American. We go, we stand a sporting event, we stand in our church services, we stand at a ceremony, and we sing the words of that song. And they float over our minds and our lips, and sometimes we do not even realize what we are singing. Most of us have memorized it as a child, but we have never really thought about what it means.
Francis Scott Key was a lawyer in Baltimore. The Colonies were engaged in vicious conflict with the mother country, Britain. Because of this conflict, (War of 1812) and the protracted nature of it, they had accumulated prisoners on both sides. The American Colonies had prisoners and the British had prisoners. And the American government initiated a move. They went to the British and they said, “Let us negotiate for the release of these prisoners.” Americans said, “We want to send a man out to discuss this with you.” The British were holding the American prisoners in boats about a thousand yards offshore. And they said, “We want to send a man by the name of Francis Scott Key. He will come out and negotiate to see if we can make a mutual exchange.”
On the appointed day, in a rowboat, Key went out to this boat, and he negotiated with the British officials. And they reached a conclusion that men could be exchanged on a one-for-one basis. Francis Scott Key, jubilant with the fact that he had been successful, he went down below in the boats and what he found was a cargo hold full of humanity, men.
And Key said, “Men, I’ve got news for you. Tonight, you are free.” He said, “Tonight, I have negotiated successfully your return to the Colonies.” He said, “You’ll be taken out of this boat; out of this filth; out of your chains.”
As Key went back up on board to arrange for their passage to the shore, the Admiral came and he said, “We have a slight problem.” He said, “We will still honor our commitment to release these men, but it’ll be merely academic after tonight. It won’t matter.”
And Francis Scott Key said, “What do you mean?” And the Admiral said, “Well, Mr. Key,” he said, “Tonight, we have laid an ultimatum upon the American Colonies. Your people will either capitulate and lay down the colors of that flag that you think so much of, or you see that fort right over there – “Fort Henry?”, Key replied.
The Admiral said, “We’re gonna remove it from the face of the earth.” Key asked, “How are you gonna do that?”
The Admiral said, “If you will, scan the horizon of the sea.” And as Key looked, he could see hundreds of little dots, and the Admiral continued, “That’s the entire British war fleet, All of the gun power, all of the armament is being called upon to demolish that fort. It will be here within striking distance in a matter of about two and a half hours.” He boasted, “The war is over. These men would be free anyway.”
Key said, “You can’t shell that fort.” He said, “That’s, that’s a large fort.” He explained, “It’s full of women and children.” He says, “It’s predominantly not a military fort.”
The Admiral said, “Don’t worry about it.”
“We’ve left them a way out.” And Key asked, “What’s that?” He said, “Do you see that flag way up on the rampart?” He said, “We have told them that if they will lower that flag the shelling will stop immediately, and we’ll know that they’ve surrendered. And you’ll now be under British rule.”
Francis Scott Key went down below and told the men what was about to happen. And they inquired, “How many ships?” He said, “Hundreds.” The ships got closer. Francis Scott Key went back up on top and stooping down he said, “Men, I’ll shout down to you what’s going on as we watch.”
As twilight began to fall, and as the haze hung over the ocean as it does at sunset, suddenly the British war fleet was in position and began to unleash upon the Fort. Boom, Bam!
Key says, “The sound was deafening. There were so many guns that there were no reliefs.” He said it was absolutely impossible to talk or hear. He said, “Suddenly the sky, although dark, was suddenly lit.” And he says from down below all he could hear the men, the prisoners, saying was, “Tell us where the flag is. What have they done with the flag? Is the flag still flying over the rampart? Tell us.”
One hour, two hours, three hours into the shelling every time the bomb would explode, or the cannon go off and it would be close to the flag, they could see the flag in the illuminated red glare of that bomb. And Francis Scott Key would report down to the men below, “It’s still up. It’s not down.”
The Admiral came and he said, “Your people are insane.” “What’s the matter with them?” He said, “Don’t they understand this is an impossible situation?”
Francis Scott Key said he remembered what George Washington had once said. Quoting him said loudly, “The thing that sets the American Christian apart from all other people in the world is he will die on his feet before he’ll live on his knees.”
The Admiral said, “We have now instructed all of the guns to focus on the rampart to take that flag down.”
Then he said, “We don’t understand something. Our reconnaissance tells us that that flag has been hit directly again and again and again and yet it is still flying. We don’t understand that.” But he said, “Now, we’re about to bring every gun for the next three hours to bear on that point.”
Francis Scott Key said the barrage was unmerciful. All that he could hear was the men down below praying the prayer, “God, keep that flag flying where we last saw it.” Sunrise came. Key described there was a heavy mist hanging over the land, but the rampart was tall enough. There stood the flag, completely nondescript, in shreds. The flagpole itself was at a crazy angle, but the flag was still at the top.
Francis Scott Key went back ashore, and immediately went into Fort Henry to see what had happened. And what he found had happened was that that flagpole and that flag had suffered repetitious direct hits, and when hit had fallen.
But men, fathers, who knew what it meant for that flag to be on the ground – although knowing that all of the British guns were trained on it – walked over and held it up, humanly, until they died. Their bodies were removed, and others took their place. Francis Scott Key said what held that flagpole in place at that unusual angle were patriots’ bodies. He penned the song, “Oh, say can you see by the dawn’s early light, what so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming. O’er rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that the flag was still there. Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner yet fly and wave, o’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?”
The debt was demanded, the price it was paid.
Blessed is the nation whose God is The Lord!
–Psalm 33:12
Sacrifice is required for freedom and freedom does NOT come free. And just like these men who gave themselves up for their country, so Jesus Christ gave up His life for Us. Hope you celebrated and enjoyed your freedom this Independence Day!
So today we are going to keep our momentum going and get right into it. Let’s kick it off with prophecy # 11
Prophecy #11: Isaiah prophesied that Jesus would not make an effort to defend Himself at His trial.
Prophesied: Isa 53:7
Fulfilled: Mat 27:12-14
Isa 53:7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth.
Now we have seen some of this prophecy in part, but as always repetition is good and the Spirit has a need to teach us, as we are nearing the completion to this study of all 29 Messianic Prophecies. We have 2 more to cover from the Isa 53 passage, which is that of the Suffering Servant, looking forward to the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
“Oppressed” is ‘nâgaś’ = (naw-gas’) = to drive (by force) a workman by implication of harassment and tyranny (by an oppressor or taskmaster)
“Afflicted” ânâh = (aw-naw’)= A primitive root (the idea of looking down or browbeating); – abase self, afflict or chasten self, deal hardly with, defile, exercise with force, gentleness, humble (self), hurt, submit self, weaken
Jesus never spoke to answer the charges made against Him – which were all bogus – and only answered when asked if He was King of the Jews (Mk 15:2). He did not defend Himself against the lies and ridicule. We are taught to let God defend us throughout scripture (Jde 1:9, Dt 32:35, Rom 12:19, Ex 14:14). Jesus our prototype and teacher demonstrates this throughout His illegal and completely unjust trials. Injustice is the greatest of all outside pressures of adversity which can neutralize the spiritual life of believers when the 10 PSD’s (problem-solving devices) do not function to protect the heart, aka the command post of the soul. Jesus showed us all how it is done!
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth: The prophet repeats His previous point, that the Messiah will suffer without speaking to defend Himself. When Isaiah uses the phrase, He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, we should not take this as indicating that Jesus was a helpless victim of circumstances and was helpless as a lamb. Quite the contrary – even in His suffering and death, Jesus was in control (Jn 10:18, 19:11 and 19:30).
Jn 10:11 “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
Jn 10:17 For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again.
Jn 10:18 No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”
Jesus could have had myriads of angels at his side upon a command, but that would not have been the Father’s will and Jesus would have acted in His deity, which would not qualify for a perfect sacrifice. He could only be strengthened in the same way we are right now, by God the Holy Spirit. Jesus leaned on this throughout his youth, as He grew in His humanity, up until the final days upon earth (Isa 1:1-2, Lk 2:40, Mt 11:11).
The fulfillment is found in Mt 27:12-14,
Mt 27:12 And while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, He did not answer. Then Pilate said to Him, “Do You not hear how many things they testify against You?” And He did not answer him with regard to even a single charge, so the governor was quite amazed.
Jesus’ silence amazed both Pilate and Caiaphas. They could not understand why a man would not defend himself facing a death penalty. When Our Lord stood before the High Priest, He was silent until the High Priest put Him on oath to tell them who He was (Mk 14:61, Mt 26:63)
When Jesus was with the Roman soldiers, they beat Him, spat on Him, continually hitting His head with a reed and put the crown of thorns on His head, Mocking Him as King of the Jews, yet Jesus said not a word (Mt 27:27-30, Mk 15:16-20). Peter says, when they hurled insults at Jesus, He did not retaliate. Instead, what did He Do? He gave it over to the Supreme Court of Heaven.
1 Pe 2:21-23 For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously;
The Greek work translated ‘entrusting’ here is: ‘paradidōmi’ = means to surrender, – that is, yield up, entrust, commit, give (over, up). Remember that word as we are going to see it again, used in yet another prophecy. How could Jesus remain silent before those that accuse Him? Because He had completely committed and given the whole situation over to the One who judges righteously. God the Father! Jesus totally committed Himself to the care of God the Father and His will. He surrendered and entrusted Himself into the Father’s care. This is what we are to do, utilizing the same system which our Lord used in His humanity, and every injustice we face is an opportunity to practice. If we could operate full-time in this mindset, we would welcome it! It is an opportunity for advancement, another thing to thank God for. He has provided everything pertaining to [earthly] life and spiritual life [‘eusebeia’ refers to the unique spiritual life of the church age] (2Pe 1:3).
Prophecy #12
Isaiah also foretold Jesus Christ’s crucifixion as the sin offering for the world. Prophesied:Isa 53:4-6; 10-11; Fulfilled: Jn 19:16-19
Isa 53:4-6 Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.
He bore rejections and ridicule on our account. He received scoffing and shame in our place. Through the shedding of Christ’s blood our pardon for sin was secured and sealed… and eternal life is the gracious gift that we receive – and all we have to do is to believe on His name. Jesus was prepared to stand falsely accused and unjustly condemned to death, knowing that the sacrifice of His perfect sinless life was the only way that sinners who were justly condemned and deserved God’s wrath could be pardoned, forgiven and receive the remission of sins. For His (Jesus) sacrifice was the propitiation for all sin – God the Father was satisfied with God the SON, Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on our account (Rm 3:25; Heb 2:17; 1Jo 2:2, 4:10)
When Christ was lifted up on the Cross, He was made sin for us, by receiving the full weight of God’s wrath against sin, on our behalf, so that by faith in His sacrificial death and glorious resurrection we might be made the righteousness of God in Him – through time and into eternity.
Rm 5:19 For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.
2Co 5:21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
He carried our griefs. He bore our sorrow and, on our account, He had the full fury of God’s wrath against sin poured out upon HIM as He hung on that Cross.
Christ is appointed to one day to sit on David’s throne and reign as Israel’s King of kings. However, He had to come as Israel’s suffering Servant, as prophesied of in Isa 53. The Cross before the Crown. He had to come as a Man who was despised and rejected of men: a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. The cross comes before the crown, humility and integrity are the basis of legitimate authority, not power. This is a great secret in the human world, understood by very very few. But this is why OUR King did what NO OTHER KING has ever done – He came to be humbled and abased, and He came to serve, not to be served! (Mat 20:28)
The fulfillment is in Jn 19:16-19
Jn 19:16-19 So, he (Pilate) then handed Him over to them to be crucified. They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha. There they crucified Him, and with Him two other men, one on either side, and Jesus in between. Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It was written, “JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS.”
Verse 16 — “Then” is literally “At that time.” After studying the details of the corrupted failure of Jewish, Greek, and Roman justice the Lord Jesus Christ was betrayed. Not just by Judas…
The word for ‘deliver’ here = paradidōmi, to surrender, yield up and give over (aorist active indicative) = means to betray, and this is really the sense of it here. Pontius Pilate did not deliver Jesus Christ, he betrayed Him. Reason: He knew that Jesus was innocent.
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The aorist tense: action is at a point of time.
Active voice: Pontius Pilate produced the betrayal.
Indicative mood: the factual reality of the betrayal of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Also, “unto them” is a reference to the Jews. It is also a dative case, dative of disadvantage. It was to the disadvantage of these Jews to be the ones involved in the crucifixion. The disadvantage comes from negative volition at the point of God-consciousness, negative volition at the point of gospel hearing.
“To be crucified” — an aorist active subjunctive of stauroo = to be impale on a cross, extinguish the passion or selfishness, destroy the power of flesh.
The aorist tense: the point of time in which Jesus Christ was crucified.
The active voice: Jesus Christ is the one being crucified.
The subjunctive mood: it depends upon volition.
This all should be translated, “At that time he betrayed Him therefore unto them that He might be crucified.”
The volition of our Lord was expressed at the Garden of Gethsemane. Shown through His actions and His prayer to God the Father. This expressed the mental attitude necessary to execute the plan. The humanity of Jesus Christ had the perfect mental attitude to fulfill the plan. So much depends upon mental attitude. Mental attitude is based upon frame of reference. The thinking of our Lord was divine viewpoint from metabolized Bible doctrine circulating in the stream of consciousness. When we abide in Christ’s thinking, i.e. Bible doctrine (1Co 2:16), then we abide in Christ, and in the PPOG.
We show our positive volition every time we sacrifice our time talent and treasure, our energy and passion, to the Lord and give our full and undivided attention to the learning of His word. Jesus said, “if you love Me, keep my commandments” (Joh 14:15). But how can we keep them if we don’t know or understand them, or if we have the wrong motivation? We know that the right thing must be done in the right way. Therefore, true Christian service is motivated by personal love for God, from which impersonal (or unconditional, based on love for God and the virtue of the subject, rather than the merit of the object) love originates. Otherwise, we are motivated by selfish interest, whether it be reciprocation, praise, approbation, ambition, self-righteousness, or what have you. To get to that point, we must execute the PPOG – daily PMABD (perception, metabolization, and application of Bible doctrine) and “grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2Pe 3:18). What you are doing right now shows your positive volition more than anything else you could be doing, and it also does more for our nation through invisible impact (the doctrine of the pivot – see the lesson series available on this site) than any of the myriad things believers and unbelievers alike are engaged in at this time!
Our study of the 29 prophecies revealed so much as it led us to the events surrounding the Cross and revealed the divine orchestration of events leading up to it. I hope that everyone enjoyed studying – covering them as much as we did. Go back if you missed anything. We covered lots of information and plenty of doctrines. Digging into the Word of God is absolutely Amazing! And it goes further when we see how the Word became flesh, why He came and what He accomplished for us.
What have we learned? and what are we being prepared for? … there have been so many principles that it would be impossible to cover them in one session, but what have you taken out of them. I hope you are equipped with some Truth about who Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is. You should be confident in the fact to defend the faith, that which you claim to believe, that Our Lord is who He says He is:
Son of God, The Messiah, and the Christ, the great I AM. As we covered last week, the probabilities are astronomical that One person would be able to fulfill these, but HE DID! Summarized in one statement, recorded in all 4 Gospels… Jesus said in His own words – Mat 16:25, Mark 8:35, Luke 17:33, John 12:25.
“For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake:
“will find it”, “will save it”, “preserve it”, “keep it to eternal life”. The main principle that Jesus Christ’s crucifixion should give us is that,
Principle – You are not prepared to live the supernatural Spiritual Life, unless you are prepared to die.
This means not only physically, and as believers in Jesus Christ, we ought to be looking forward to death, since for us it is the biggest promotion we’ll ever get, and “no more sorrows, no more tears”…who doesn’t look forward to that? But it means we must be prepared to give up the earthly, worldly life, to “die daily” as Paul said. Obviously he didn’t mean he died physically every day! He died to sins, to pleasure and pleasure-seeking, to comfort-seeking, to all the desires and priorities of the flesh. Paul probably had plans before his conversion, things he wanted to do, a bucket list. Surely he did not plan on being stoned to death, arrested and jailed, shipwrecked, hated, kicked out of cities, or killed by Nero! But if he had been afraid of those things, if he had not been prepared mentally and spiritually for them, he wouldn’t have been able to endure all of them and “press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus” (Php 3:12)
I like “find it”, because while most of us love our lives – if we are growing in grace and doctrine we should – and we are very attached to them, and so we have a terrible time letting go of them or or making our spiritual life our main life, when we do that, we find our true life, the one that God predesigned for us and predesigned us for! So when we lose our old lives, our worldly lives, we discover the abundant life, we find our niche, and when we execute the PPOG, we share in the happiness of God and experience “exceedingly abundantly beyond all that we can think or ask”, and realize that the world can not offer us anything that comes near what God has already set aside for us in eternity past, before the foundation of the world (Eph 1:3-4, 11).
Jesus is our prototype; He shows us the way to live the Spiritual life and makes all intersession and provisions, to give us what we need to carry out PPOG, including the Helper GHS, to reach the finish line. The Apostle Paul Explains to the Corinthians, in 1Co 9:24. He start the section with “For though I am free from all men, I made myself a slave to all, that I may win more.
1Co 9:24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.
He disciplines himself, so he can preach Christ to others and not be disqualified.
1Co 15:31 I affirm, brethren, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I DIE DAILY.”
Rom 8:36-39 Just as it is written, “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
No believer in Jesus Christ should live in fear of death, or anything or anyone else! If we do, it is a malfunction of our spiritual life. The Bible says over and over, and these are mandates from God, we can tell from the imperative mood if anyone wants to debate, DO NOT FEAR! Why would God command us not to fear? Isn’t fear a natural response and even helpful at times? Many secular professionals would tell you so. But we do not operate on human viewpoint! God says “do not fear” because “God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline” (2Ti 1:7). God has also given us a system – the PPOG – through which we can overcome fear and bondage to empirical human viewpoint thinking and live as Christ lived – abiding in love – that is agape love, aka virtue-love, aka unconditional love – which casts out all fear (1Jo 4:18).
This is why we say that fear is a sin. Everyone experiences fear at times, it IS natural, BUT, this refers to living in fear, to fear as a status quo function. This is disgraceful for a believer, because it proves that one is not making doctrine number one on their lives and growing in grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. This proves that one is not applying doctrine and the 10 PSD’s [problem solving devices]and has let the outside pressure of adversity overrun the FLOT [front line of troops] line and become stress in the soul. But – all the individual needs to do is rebound per 1Jo 1:9 to recover fellowship and get cracking on perceiving, metabolizing, and applying (PMA) Bible doctrine and this tragic existence can be flipped by God’s power. So it is sin because it represents failure to execute God’s plan for your life. Sin in the Greek is “hamartia” which literally means “to miss the mark” or “fall short.” “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). Negative volition toward doctrine is negative volition toward God.
The Lord JC overcame, finished the work, to claim victory over death, 1Co 15:26
1Co 15:26 The last enemy that will be abolished is death.
1 Co 15:54 But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory.
The Lord Jesus Christ won the strategic victory on the Cross, and we have the privilege of winning the tactical victory by sharing in His strategic victory and advancing to spiritual maturity, bringing glory to God. The fact that He became a winner for us on the Cross, by means of completing the work, means that we have forgiveness of our sin and now have eternal life, which we receive at the moment we place our faith and trust in Him.
1 Pe 3:18 “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust [the righteous One as a substitute for the unrighteous ones], in order that he might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit.”
The Greek word for “died” here is ‘apothnesko’, which means to die by separation, or by being cut off from life. This is a reference to our Lord’s spiritual death on the Cross and we will be seeing more of this as we get prepared for our next doctrine of the Christian Soldier.
This broke the back of Satan in the angelic conflict. And for any of you sports fans, this could be reference to the time in the game, when you, on the winning team, just executed a play that no doubt seals the fate of your opponent. We have just seen in these 29 Messianic prophecies that the humanity of Christ remained impeccable on the Cross; He is “impeccable” i.e. without sin, perfect. He was the “lamb without spot and without blemish,” as He underwent the greatest possible temptations. Here are two points on how He did this:
1. Jesus was sustained by the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit inside the predesigned plan of God (He 9:14).
2. He used the problem-solving devices, like FRD (faith-rest drill, e.g. 1Pe 5:7, 1Pe 2:23); sharing the happiness of God, (He 12:2) and others.
1 Pe 2:23 and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously;
He 12: 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
So, what is our excuse? We are just ordinary men and women? Both of these sustaining factors are now available to us as a winner-believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. We can utilize the SAME power of the Spirit that He showed us and is made available to everyone! The Apostle Paul said in Php 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens (pours out power into) me.” He pours that power and strength into every single believer who makes themselves available, every believer who says “here I am, send me!”
Just like Christ – Your Mental attitude matters, far more than you may think or realize, and you must have focus, a frame of reference, and divine viewpoint from PMA of Bible doctrine … just like Jesus, he is Going about His Father’s – daddy’s business, which is what we should be doing daily.
Do not become a casualty in the spiritual war…
Jesus Christ our King and role-model kept on following God’s PPOG even after the work on the cross was completed, as we studied last week. In His resurrection body, Jesus Christ would ascend from earth, enter the invisible realm, and there as a might Conqueror returning from a successful campaign, make the proclamation that His mission to earth was accomplished.
Bringing a way to overcome sin, brought an everlasting righteousness and abolished death bringing life and immortality into the Light. This trip was from earth to the third heaven, was after the victorious proclamation 1PE 3:22, in which our Jesus proclaimed the victory to the fallen angels imprisoned in Tartarus and the Abyss, which are the criminals from Gen 6 (Jde 1:6, 2Pe 2:4) and war criminals from the angelic conflict (the Abyss is like a maximum security prison for angels!)(Rev 9:11, 20:3), and also in Paradise aka Abraham’s bosom (Lk 23:42-43, Eph 4:8-9)
1 Pe 3:22 “Who [Jesus Christ in hypostatic union] is at the right hand of God [the Father] , having ascended into heaven after angels and authorities and powers had been subordinated to Him.”
Operation footstool! When Jesus Christ ascended back into heaven, Jesus was seated at the right hand of God the Father and received his third Royal Title, Rev 19:16,
Rev 19:16 “And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, ‘KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.’”
Jesus, in His humanity, is now higher than all angels. And so are we, as we are in union with Him.
You are part of His Royal Family, A Fantastic Blessing all By GRACE!
There are so many precious lessons we can learn about who God is and how to live our lives, from our Lord’s words and His death on the Cross. Hopefully, you have been taking those in and exploring or digging in more as we covered the prophecies, and now going to expand and see some more excellent point of doctrine, that our Pastor has set the course for us to prepare you.
However, let us see in our closing today, a few of the gems or nuggets that this doctrine has taught us, application of the doctrine to our spiritual life, by the means of using divine love and having the mind of Christ.
Here are listed 10 principles, right from Pastor Robert McLaughlin’s notes, adding a little
1. God can convert any evil situation into divine good, Gen 50:20.
The things that we saw fulfilled as the people that led Jesus to the Cross, they met for evil, to put him to death, however we just saw that it is the greatest victory of all time.
Gen 50:20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.
2. Whenever someone tries to curse or destroy another believer, the Lord will turn the curse into a blessing when the believer operates in the faith-rest drill. This was carried out by Jesus having the right mind set, using the power of the spirit, and trusting in His Father’s plan. Even to the point of death. A wall of fire will be there to protect you.
Lk 6:28 “bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”
3. When evil comes against you, the Lord can turn it into a blessing (Dt 23:5), providing that you operate in the faith-rest drill and let Him handle the situation. Turn over all your cares to him for He cares for you (1Pe 5:7). You will be rejoicing (not gloating) because you are keeping your eyes on the PPOG and your very own PSD, while they are being disciplined and dealt with by God. But you must operate in unconditional love for, If you hate another believer, you hate the Lord (1Jo 4:20).
Dt 23:5 “but the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you because the LORD your God loves you.”
4. The believer does not have to fight and defend himself; God will do that for the believer who operates in the faith-rest drill:
2Th 1:6 “For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you,”
5. We are also told to stop being anxious and worried and let God handle any unjust and unfair situation in Isaiah:
Isa 35:4 Say to those with anxious heart, “Take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance; the recompense of God will come, but He will save you.”
6. We are commanded never to take revenge on anyone for any reason:
Rom 12:19 Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord.
7. If you are being mistreated in any situation, do not lift up your hand against another person,
1Sa 24: 12 May the LORD judge between you and me, and may the LORD avenge me on you; but my hand shall not be against you.
8. If you have been robbed by another believer, do not take out your vengeance and frustration on him, but give it over to the Lord.
Lk 6:37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned.
9. Never repay evil with evil and give someone what you think they deserve.
Prov 20: 22
Do not say, “I will repay evil”; Wait for the LORD, and He will save you.
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