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from - Romans 8:38-39
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Hymn #2
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 as your Savior (that is, believed in Him for eternal life), the issue for you is not to name your sins to God; the issue for you is to believe by faith alone in Jesus, The Christ alone for eternal life [salvation] and you will be saved [receive Eternal Life] the very micro second you believe in Him:
John 6:47 says: “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me [Jesus Christ] has everlasting life.” NKJV
Notice again what John 6:47 says, “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 Jesus Christ’s promise of everlasting life, you have it (it’s really just that simple), and it can never be lost or taken away from you (John 10:28-29). Furthermore, the gift of everlasting life (also called eternal life in scripture) is available to every human being; there are absolutely no exceptions.
John 3:14-18 says: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness [Num 21:4-9], even so must the Son of Man be lifted up [the cross], that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 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. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 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 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:
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Sermon
NOTES
Unlike the bible study, these notes are not just for reading without watching the video. These notes are more designed to follow along during the sermon and to bring up the “hover pop-up scripture references;” if just hover doesn’t work, do a “control-left-click,” if that doesn’t work then look them up in your Bible) when the Pastor asks everyone to turn to that passage in their bibles.
Internet Church Service – October 16, 2022; Subjectivity, Self-pity, Undoing, Reaction Formation, Sexual desires all which have been an intimate Defense Mechanisms.
We begin with “Defense Mechanism” # 19 known as Subjectivity as a “Defense Mechanism” which involves that you assume no-one loves you or cares about you.
(19) Subjectivity, therefore, is a “Defense Mechanism” which involves self-pity especially when you assume no-one loves you or cares about you and you feel left out and rejected and filled with pity.
This is the type of believer who always feels sorry for himself and feels like the weight of the world is upon their shoulders and definitely needs to get back in fellowship with the Lord.
It was Job who said in Job 19:21 "Pity me, pity me, O you my so-called friends, For the hand of God [divine discipline] has struck me.
In Mrk 9:22, there was another case where the disciples asked the Lord to have pity on their son who was demon possessed, He is described in verse 22 when it says "And it has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!"
In Jer 15:5, the prophet Jeremiah asked for pity when he asked the Lord and said; "Indeed, who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem, Or who will mourn for you, Or who will turn aside to ask about your welfare?
The prophet Ezekiel asked for pity in Eze 5:11; 'So as I live,' declares the Lord God, 'surely, because you have defiled My sanctuary with all your detestable idols and with all your abominations, therefore I will also withdraw, and My eye shall have no pity and I will not spare.
The prophet Joel asked for pity in Joel 2:18; Then the Lord will be zealous for His land, And will have pity on His people.
All of these individuals prayed for pity.
However, the believer who has at least spiritual self-esteem demands avoidance of self-pity or any function which arouses pity from others.
Satan loves to get believers to be self-centered because it takes them away from occupation with the Lord and leads them to frustration and self-pity.
Self-pity removes you from any possibility of a solution because as long as you are preoccupied with yourself, there is absolutely no solution to any problem in your life.
And so, it's time for some of you to hear this.
You've been hiding from the Lord in the swamp of self-pity and feeling sorry for yourself long enough. Now, in 1Ki 19, we have a passage that we have learned a lot from.
We begin with the fact that Elijah has just led a great revival in Israel and someone has become very angry that this revival has taken place and that it was very successful.
There are always those who are jealous and want more than what they have and are never satisfied with what they possess.
Jealousy is discontentment with the blessings, successes, or status symbols of other people.
Jealousy is also total selfishness and is incapable of true love.
Jealousy is a possessiveness which suppresses the volition of another person; hence, jealousy is tyranny.
In other words, the object of your jealousy you seek to control and run their lives.
And in that way jealousy becomes tyranny
Fear of losing another's affection or love.
Fear of rivalry.
Fear of unfaithfulness.
You see, when it comes to jealousy, the only love that is worthwhile is when someone gives it to you freely.
Pr 14:30 A tranquil heart is life to the body, But jealousy is rottenness to the bones.
And as goes your mental attitude, so goes your health.
Jealousy is self destructive, Job 5:2 For jealousy slays t
In fact, the sin of jealousy in Israel was so great that a special offering was made for it, Num 5:11-31.
Jealousy is the basis for the destruction of category two love (personal love of a member of the opposite sex), SOS 8:6-7.
In Wis 8:6, the Shulamite woman is speaking and she says, "Put me like a seal over your heart, Like a seal on your arm. For love is as strong as death,
The seal signifies she belongs to a certain man and she is waiting for a certain man.
"strong as death" indicates that the man's love for the woman and her response to that love serves as a fortification and protection for the woman's soul and body.
Each protects the other.
Each satisfies the other.
Each fulfills the other.
However, notice next, it says that Wis 8:6 "Jealousy is as severe as Sheol [or the grave];
Just as the grave robs you from a loved one so jealousy robs you of capacity in relationship with your loved one.
And when it says in Wis 8:6 Its flashes are flashes of fire, The {very} flame of the Lord, it's not a reference to jealousy but to category two love.
Flashes represent her responses to her right man are hot.
She is turned on first in her soul which carries over to her physical response.
And these flashes she says are .... "the very flame of the Lord"
Please note that the flame is from the Lord not the flesh.
Now, notice how strong jealousy is because in Wis 8:7 "Many waters cannot quench love [however, verse 6 tells us jealousy can], Nor will rivers overflow it; If a man were to give all the riches of his house for love, It would be utterly despised."
Water ordinarily puts out fire.
And many waters simply refers to pressures, disasters, difficulties, etc.
Wis 8:7 "Many waters cannot quench love, Nor will rivers overflow it;
Rivers refer to the most horrible disasters of life which cannot destroy it
.
And there's one more phrase here, this love cannot be bought.
Wis 8:7..... If a man were to give all the riches of his house for love, It would be utterly despised."
By the way, Keil and Delitzsch bring out that this statement was a direct putdown to Solomon's many gifts and his riches to this woman.
Solomon could not conquer this woman because she was protected by the love for her man.
Now, the whole point here is that jealousy can destroy love between the right man and the right woman, that's how powerful jealousy is.
Pressures, disasters, difficulties, and the most horrible disasters can't but jealousy can.
Jealousy is the great enemy of love.
No one with pride or jealousy has capacity for love.
Jealousy has great power just as the fear of death has power.
Now back in our passage, 1Ki 19:1. 450 prophets were slain and someone is very angry. She's a woman whose name most of you are familiar with, a woman called Jezebel.
We begin in 1Ki 19:1 Now Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.
Now, Ahab is just a figure head, he's the king but his wife wears the pants even though she gives the impression that she doesn’t.
Ahab doesn't have too much to say about what happens, Jezebel does.
And so, Ahab had told Jezebel all that Elijah had done.
And she's very angry knowing Elijah is responsible for killing her 450 prophets.
Now, she finally settles down emotionally and realizes that you can't kill a man to destroy a revival, you must make him run and discredit him.
Jezebel's action was the typical anger which in turn was followed by the plotting and the thinking of how to get rid of Elijah.
So, in verse 2, Jezebel uses her feminine deceitfulness to plot against Elijah.
In 1Ki 19:2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, "So may the gods do to me and even more, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time."
In other word's, she gives him 24 hours to get out of town, and subtly she develops a scheme.
She has decided to threaten him or to frighten him from his ministry to the Lord.
And she tries to start panic in Elijah’s soul so that he'll run away and his fruit will be spoiled and the revival will stop.
Now, remember that Elijah has just enjoyed a spiritual victory.
Let's look at this so-called spiritual giant in verse 3.
1Ki 19:3 And he was afraid [this is when he read the letter] and arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.
And so, notice that verse 3 says that he ran for his life.
He's afraid and what does fear do?
Fear keeps people from thinking properly and running away as fast as possible.
His faith-rest was turned off immediately through his fear and his lack of spiritual self-esteem.
And notice that it says in 1Ki 19:3, he left his servant there.
He just ran away like a coward and he left his servant alone as he ran away because of fear.
In fact, Elijah's servant was devoted to him so much that he ran 150 miles with him....but a person who is afraid and involved in self-pity, and can't even recognize faithfulness, love and devotion in others.
People who feel sorry for themselves are always ready to attack, gossip, and to blame others for the reason why things are going wrong in their life.
Here is Elijah sitting down under a leafless tree and feeling sorry for himself.
Why?
Self-pity took away his integrity and spiritual self-esteem if he had any.
Now, in 1Ki 19:4 But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree; and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, "It is enough; now, O Lord, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers
Here he demands God to kill him because in his arrogance he thinks that he is the only one who is serving God, however that's not the Lord’s opinion that’s his opinion.
What is the Lord’s opinion?
Rom 11:2 God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel?
Rom 11:3 "Lord, they have killed Thy prophets, they have torn down Thine altars, and I alone am left, and they are seeking my life."
Rom 11:4 But what is the divine response to him? "I have kept for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal."
In other words, the Lord had seven thousand other men who have not bowed the knee to Ba-al and as verses 5 and 6 state that this is the way that the grace of God deals with His people.
In 1Ki 19:5 And he lay down and slept under a juniper tree [apparently he had a thing for juniper trees]; and behold, there was an angel touching him, and he said to him, "Arise, eat."
Notice that he was out of fellowship, and had neither earned nor deserved the right to have food or any other blessing.
But he is now being fed by God under the principle of logistical grace.
Why?
Because of God's perfect self-esteem, the justice of God imputes to the righteousness of God in us, everything we need to survive in the devil's world.
1Ki 19:6 Then he looked and behold, there was at his head a bread cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank and lay down again.
The jar of water at his head symbolizes the Word of God for the mental attitude and and the bread cake baked on hot stones represented the food of logistical grace so he ate and drank and lay down again.
In 1Ki 19:7 And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, "Arise, eat, because the journey is too great for you."
The Lord always comes to us in our hour of difficulty and trial even though we are totally unworthy He is always there.
1Ki 19:8 So he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God.
Now remember, TLJC [The Lord Jesus Chrit] has come to him and given him food to sustain him on his journey.
Even though he is going in the wrong direction, logistical grace is given to sustain him.
And that is because the Lord not only sustains the mature believer but also the passive, slothful, backslider.
In 1Ki 19:9 Then he came there to a cave, and lodged there; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
Lodged is the Qal imperfect of lun, which means to intend to stay for a short time, but to end up staying for a much longer time.
The reason here is no spiritual self-esteem, instead self-pity.
There's a time when a believer with no spiritual self-esteem believes that they're right and everyone else is wrong.
It's everyone else's fault why I'm in this situation.
Now, self-pity is bad enough because it is self-induced and therefore stupid, but in addition to that self-pity is also filled with tremendous pain.
And, as long as you are occupied with self, there is absolutely no solution to any problem in life.
And people in this stage love to bother others with their problems and demand attention, or else.
Prin-There is no help for the person in self-pity apart from what he can do himself with his own volition.
1Ki 19:9 Then he came there to a cave, and lodged there;
He intended to stay just the night but began to sulk and feel sorry for himself, so he stayed there longer.
The cave was cool and dark which is a perfect environment for self-pity and hiding out.
1Ki 19:9 Then he came there to a cave, and lodged there; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him,
Here is the beginning of the solution for the self-pity issue.
And notice that self-pity is an issue, not between a person and other people but between a person and God.
So, the Lord has come to the cave to talk to Elijah.
1Ki 19:9...... and He said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
In verse 10, notice Elijah's answer 1Ki 19:10 And he said, "I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Thy covenant, torn down Thine altars and killed Thy prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away."
Notice his arrogance, "I have been very zealous for the Lord."
Notice how occupied with self, Elijah is.
People who have no spiritual self-esteem and who are filled with self-pity always mention what they have done for the Lord.
In other words, Elijah is saying, I don't deserve this, I'm one of the Lord's best!"
And notice what else he said, for the sons of Israel have forsaken Thy covenant, torn down Thine altars and killed Thy prophets with the sword.
Immediately he looks at what others are doing or not doing.
A person who feels sorry for himself always in his arrogance assumes that he is right and everyone else is wrong.
1Ki 19:10...... And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away."
Now remember, no one is seeking after Elijah, he just ran away, and he was faked out by a letter from a woman.
He has forgotten the whole principal that as long as God's plan calls for you to live, God is going to provide the protection and the security for you.
But self-pity is a very monstrous thing.
Elijah is also making another false statement.
He is saying everyone is trying to kill me because I'm serving you.
This is called the "suffering for Christ" complex or the "I'm being persecuted for the ‘Christ complex.’
Remember, fear caused him to run away, and with fear came self-pity, than arrogance, and with arrogance came the wrong perspective in life.
What would you do if Elijah had come to you for counseling?
Would you would have sympathized with him?
Would you have said; "How could they have wounded you like that Elijah?" You're such a wonderful believer, etc.
Now, with his arrogance and self-pity comes the false concept that he is indispensable.
He says, I'm the only one left who is serving the Lord.
1Ki 19:10.... And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away."
This is a subtle indictment against God.
"You waited to long, God!"
Here is a believer overcome by self pity and obviously has his eyes on people and himself, but not the Lord.
He has forgotten that the Holy Spirit sustains us and that human ability is no substitute for divine power.
Zec 4:6 "Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of hosts"
Now in verses 11 and 12 we have a divine lesson about to be given.
1Ki 19:11 So He [the Lord] said, "Go forth, and stand on the mountain before the Lord." And behold, the Lord was passing by! And a great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.
"Go forth" is a divine command and until a believer recognizes the Lord's authority and the Lord's commands, there is no recovery from self-pity.
In fact, the phrase go forth is really not as sweet as it sounds.
The Qal imperative of jatsa means get up and get out, and move out.
Self-pity is never broken by sweetness. Self-pity is merely increased by sweetness.
So the Lord says 1Ki 19:11 "Go forth, and stand on the mountain before the Lord."
This was a position of respect, to get ready for some strict academic discipline.
1Ki 19:11..... And behold, the Lord was passing by! And a great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before the Lord;
This was a great wind and hurricane that kept breaking up the mountain and it was a great natural phenomena, a powerful expression of the power of nature.
However, in 1Ki 19:11..... the Lord was not in the wind.
Prin-A hurricane is natural power, great power, magnificent and awesome power; but natural power is not what we need to handle the self pity and the problems of life.
We need divine power.
Elijah has been respecting natural power [such as the power of Jezebel] instead of spiritual power.
1Ki 19:11...... And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.
The wind and the earthquake represent the greatest of human or natural power and human ability.
And we must learn to distinguish between human power and divine power.
We have a power far greater in us than that of a hurricane or an earthquake.
1Ki 19:12 And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire;
Here are three great manifestations of natural power, all of them are destructive, impressive and powerful, but divine power is far greater.
1Ki 19:12.... and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing.
-The sound of gentle blowing is more powerful than any great manifestation of human or natural power.
Noise is not power.
Now, in the next two verses, Elijah failed to learn the lesson of verses 11 and 12.
Subjective believers are always very intense and they take themselves too seriously.
1Ki 19:13 And it came about when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle,
He was afraid to face God and he felt ashamed that he had run away with such a powerful God on his side.
And notice the wind, the earthquake, the fire, did not make him cover his face, but the sound of a gentle blowing did.
Grace oriented souls are more affected by the tender mercies of the Lord than by his terrors.
1Ki 19:13 And it came about when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, a voice came to him and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
He still failed to learn the lesson of the importance of the power of God.
1Ki 19:14 Then he said, "I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Thy covenant, torn down Thine altars and killed Thy prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away."
Notice the repetition, he hasn't listened or learned at all.
He repeats the same thing.
In 1Ki 19:14..... And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away."
And this was not true, there are at least 7,000 more who have been faithful to God.
1Ki 19:15 And the Lord said to him, "Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus, and when you have arrived, you shall anoint Hazael king over Aram;
1Ki 19:16 and Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint king over Israel; and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place.
In other words, it's going to take three people to do the job that Elijah was going to do before he ran away and was defeated by self-pity.
The point is that self-pity can only be dealt with by grace orientation, doctrinal orientation; a personal sense of destiny and personal love for God.
(20), This leads us to the twentieth defense mechanism which is known as the Undoing “Defense Mechanism” in which the person engages in behavior designed to symbolically make amends for negative thoughts and feelings or actions.
This is the "I'll make it up" to you game.
God does not want you to make it up.....He wants to you to rebound and recover.
All of the “Defense Mechanisms” are powerless when they compare to God’s solutions.
God’s solutions are based upon not quitting and becoming a man after God’s own heart.
Let me illustrate this by looking at some of the failures and victories of King David to show what kind of people God can use and how God can take a man who has made as many mistakes as David and make him one of the greatest believers of all time.
Let's look at some of the failures of David to show what kind of people God can use and how God can take a man who has made as many mistakes as David and make him one of the greatest believers of all time.
David failed many times as a believer and used the “Defense mechanisms” to his advantage but eventually he was dealt with by the Lord for using the “Defense Mechanisms” to his own advantage.
For example, in 1Sa 21:10, David willfully sinned and told a lie the result of his lie was that an entire city was wiped out (city of Nob). David could have gotten very guilty and quit, but a quitter is not a man after God’s own heart.
You may tell a lie and some people got hurt but David told a lie and an entire city was destroyed.
The average believer would have never been able to handle this.
The average believer would run around for the rest of his life with a guilt complex, but not David - he knew grace and David got right up.
David knew and believed Pr 24:16 For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again, But the wicked stumble in time of calamity.
He forgot about it and moved right on!
God’s grace, God’s love was more real to him than his guilt so instead he simply confessed his sin and kept moving.
Then he "faked madness" became a phony and he made the enemy believe he was crazy, and, as a result hundreds died.
This is when David faked madness and made the king, King Achish of the Phillistines believe that he was crazy and as a result the king said not to touch a crazy man and as a result thousands died because David lied.
Look at the passage.
1Sa 21:10 Then David arose and fled that day from Saul, and went to Achish king of Gath.
1Sa 21:11 But the servants of Achish said to him, "Is this not David the king of the land? Did they not sing of this one as they danced, saying, ' Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands'?"
1Sa 21:12 And David took these words to heart, and greatly feared Achish king of Gath.
1Sa 21:13 So he disguised his sanity before them, and acted insanely in their hands, and scribbled on the doors of the gate, and let his saliva run down into his beard.
1Sa 21:14 Then Achish said to his servants, "Behold, you see the man behaving as a madman. Why do you bring him to me?
1Sa 21:15 "Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this one to act the madman in my presence? Shall this one come into my house?"
In 1Sa 2:11-18, thousands were killed in battle because of Satan’s temptation of David.
David pretended to be crazy in the city of Gath!
Did David get guilty, weep and wail and fall apart? He did not!
He got up and moved on.
Then David failed in responsibility in 2Sa 11:1, he should have led his troops in battle but he stayed home in Jerusalem and as a result there was disaster on the battlefield but there was also disaster on the homefront on Jerusalem itself.
Did David sit around and cry about it the rest of his life?
No - he simply got up and moved on.
Then while he was in Jerusalem, 2Sa 11:2-27 - he ends up in certain "shocking" sins, he got a man drunk, he committed adultery with his wife, he committed murder, and he lied.
Now, at this point, most believers would have stopped and quit - but not a believer after God’s own heart.
In 2Sa 6:1-13, he did not honor the word of God and he purposely disobeyed God’s command about moving the ark, he ignored the Word of God and thousands of men were killed as a result.
In 1Ch 21, David rejected the promises of God and questioned God concerning how many soldiers he had even though Joab, his chief of staff, warned him about this unbelief but he did it anyway.
And yet, even though 10,000 people died, David got up and kept moving.
And then of course we have his failure to forgive Absalom, his son, completely.
Here is a man, David, who was oriented to grace better than almost anyone in life, but he failed to use grace in regard to one he loved dearly.
This is often what happens - sometimes those whom we love the most we treat the worst.
This is exactly what David did to his son Absalom, but David didn't let his sins and failures keep him down because this is what makes a believer great.
David always rebounded - no matter what.
David forgot and moved on, he didn't cry about it.
This is what made David a man after God’s own heart, David knew the doctrine and applied the doctrine rather than the “Defense Mechanisms.”
When guilt came in, he believed the doctrine of divine viewpoint rather than the “Defense Mechanisms.”
The issue is what will you believe?
The point is that all of these defense mechanisms are the function of human volition or your own free will choosing to use them.
They cannot and they will not be able to solve your problems.
The spiritual life that God has provided just for you has all the solutions to every single problem you will ever face.
Solutions that are not only designed to solve your problems but to make you a better person as well.
When you are involved in the plan of God and the living spiritual life that God has provided, you will have all kinds of afflictions and difficulties to deal with.
If it's just you, you'll have to deal with these things personally.
If your marriage is based on doctrine, you'll have to deal with these things in your marriage.
If your family is involved in doctrine, you'll have to deal with these things as a family.
If your church is teaching doctrine, you'll have to deal with these things as a church.
The fact of the matter is, if you use the problem solving devices instead of “Defense Mechanisms,” you will prosper and be a better person for it.
It is like the children of Israel in Exo 1:12 But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread out, so that they were in dread of the sons of Israel.
This is one of the great battles fought in the soul of the believer.
A major soul conflict exists in the life of every believer between defense mechanisms and metabolized doctrine at any stage of growth.
This is the battle of application.
We have noted how PVTD [positive volition towards doctrine] is needed not only in the perception and metabolization stage but also in the recall and application stage.
So, defense mechanisms are no substitute for the function of the ten problem solving devices in the spiritual life that God has provided just for you.
f ever there is to be rebound and recovery, it has to begin with problem solving device number 1, the rebound technique.
On the other hand, if you are on a self-righteous kick, you are involved with some type of defense mechanism which equals pseudo tranquility.
And as this continues with no rebound, it ruins your spiritual life.
And this is one of the things that causes a believer to be a loser.
They can never metabolize doctrine and live the spiritual life because they are still clinging to the defense mechanisms and have not replaced them with the problem solving devices which David needed
(21) The next “Defense Mechanism” is known as Reaction Formation which manifest itself as an ego-defense mechanism which includes the Sexuality and a desire for a person who has been socialized to believe that intimate same-sexual relationships are wrong or sinful.
It is also described as a desire for intimate sexual relationships.
Romans 1:22-27 describes this pattern.
Rom 1:22 Professing to be wise, they became fools,
Rom 1:23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four footed animals and crawling creatures.
Rom 1:24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, that their bodies might be dishonored among them.
Rom 1:25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
Rom 1:26 For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural,
Rom 1:27 and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.
Sex is designed for pleasure, for the expression of category two love and the perpetuation of the human race is simply an additional factor.
In other words, the human race is to be perpetuated out of something that should be great pleasure, and I say something that should be because often it is not.
However, sex was designed by God for right man, right woman and it was designed for recreation, pleasure and enjoyment.
It was not designed for manipulation, exploitation or personal profiting as it is used by so many today.
And this is where we will start next time.
Hymn #3
The following link is to a good-news message describing how one can receive eternal life:
Ticket to Heaven, it was written for anyone not absolutely certain about of their eternal future.
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