Internet Church Service – October 23, 2022; How a Woman or Man of Virtue Responds to Authority, Hebrews 11:11.
Please join us as we fellowship in the Word of God, listen to
Christian Music, Pray in Christ’s Name, and Praise the Lord
Our God in our Hearts and Minds.
ALL ARE WELCOME
from - Romans 8:38-39
Hymn #1
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 23, 2022How a Woman or Man of Virtue Responds to Authority, Hebrews 11:11.
We The next “Defense Mechanism” is DM #20 known as Reaction Formation which manifest itself as an ego-defense mechanism which includes a desire for a person over another with sexual desire for a certain man or a certain woman.
One must learn that intimate same-sexual relationships can be wrong or sinful.
It is also described as a desire for intimate sexual relationships; as Rom 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 fourfooted 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.
This evening we are going to approach the sexual relationships and how they are to be viewed from certain passages.
First all of, let look at what God created sex for.
Sex was designed for pleasure, for the expression of category two love and the perpetuation of the human race between one man and one woman.
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.
And this is because of every kind mismatch, distortions in the soul which Satan tries to use to distort the plan of God in the sexual realm.
There are many reasons for these attacks.
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.
There are three areas of intimacy that should take place in marriage between right man and right woman.
1. Physical intimacy, which is coalescence of bodies or the sexual relationship in marriage.
2. Compatibility intimacy, which is coalescence of souls or mental attitudes in the relationship of marriage.
3. Rapport intimacy, which is coalescence of human spirits or the spiritual relationship in marriage.
God invented sex for two purposes. Recreation and procreation. But God did not design sex for the creation of life. Sex does not create human life; it produces biological life and the old sin nature. Life comes from God, not from man.
So, we have inherent strength recovered.
And, by now you should realize how Sarah was a phenomenal woman because of all the things that she had to overcome to reach spiritual maturity.
And she is a perfect example and encouragement for every female that even though she was mixed up and flaky and jealous, she snapped out of it and made it to spiritual maturity.
Look at Heb 11:11 By means of doctrine resident in the soul even Sarah herself received inherent ability for the deposit of sperm, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised;
The word since is the conjunction "epei" used in the causative meaning and it should be translated "because", in fact, a very strong because.
Notice, how she made God's hall of fame.
You'll never make invisible hero-ship and glorify God without that strong objectivity of divine viewpoint and encouragement from doctrine in your own soul which gives you an increasing occupation of the person of Christ.
You must learn to respond to the Lord in spite of all the different problems you face.
And you respond to the Lord by positive volition toward doctrine.
And whether you have your right man or not or whether he is positive toward doctrine or not is not even the issue.
Sarah has proven many things to you ladies.
One thing for sure, you don't need a man to make it to spiritual maturity except, in the spiritual realm, you need your very own pastor-teacher.
Heb 11:11 By means of doctrine resident in the soul even Sarah herself received inherent ability for the deposit of sperm, even beyond the proper time of life, because she considered
The word considered is the aorist middle indicative of he-ge-o-mai which means to conclude, to consider, to think on the basis of expertise. It means to know something very well or to be an expert. And it means that Sarah, who failed in every part of her life, became an expert in the field of doctrine. And when she had maximum doctrine in her soul, she was able to draw conclusions. Remember, Sarah was weak.
She was overcome by jealousy, bitterness, vindictiveness, implacability, she was overcome by a very contentious nature. She was a highly volatile unstable type of woman but she overcame all of these by doctrine in her soul. However, the doctrine increased in her life, she became an expert.
1Pe 3:1 In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives,
1Pe 3:2 as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior.
1Pe 3:3 And let not your adornment be merely external braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses;
1PeE 3:4 but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.
1Pe 3:5 For in this way in former times the holy women also, who hoped in God, used to adorn themselves, being submissive to their own husbands.
1Pe 3:6 Thus Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, and you have become her children if you do what is right without being frightened by any fear.
1Pe 3:7
You husbands likewise, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with a weaker vessel, since she is a woman; and grant her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.
Now, she didn't start a ladies Bible class. She didn't write books and sell them. What did she do with her doctrine? She started to draw conclusions about the Lord based upon doctrine.
She is the perfect illustration of how with all the handicaps of subjectivity and frustration and all of the mental attitude sins collected that it is possible to break through all these barriers and move into spiritual maturity.
Doctrine became her authority. If you have doctrine in your soul, doctrine will dictate certain things to you. You will take doctrine in daily because doctrine dictates so. And as you have doctrine in your soul, you won't allow yourself to be sucked into the world and the distractions of life. You will be motivated by the doctrine in your soul. You won't let anyone or anything come between you and doctrine.
The job won't stop you! The children won't stop you! The husband won't stop you! You'll make it in spite of all the things that come your way and without excuse.
Why? Because your motivated by Bible doctrine. And when Bible doctrine motivates you then you can only come for one reason....to get doctrine. And, if you come for that one reason, to get doctrine you can't do anything but grow.
And Sarah is the monument that the little beasts can do it! Heb 11:11 By means of doctrine resident in the soul even Sarah herself received inherent ability for the deposit of sperm, even beyond the proper time of life, since she concluded Him faithful.
Faithful is the accusative singular direct object of pistos which means faithful. Now, isn't that interesting.
Of all the things you could say about God, here is a woman that says something that is extremely important.
She could have said that she concluded God to be a rewarder, or she concluded God to be powerful, or just or righteous, or a God of love.
However, what does it say? What does a woman want more than anything else? What does she desire? Faithfulness. She concluded God to be faithful! And that's what a woman wants! And she finally found someone who was faithful. In fact, that's what causes her to respond from her soul! Sarah did not conclude Abraham faithful.
You see this is why we went back to Genesis and noted so many passages so that you can understand what she went through and what I'm about to say.
Sarah did not conclude Abraham faithful, especially in Gen 12:13 when Abraham said to Sarah concerning Wahkare Achthoes III, "Please say that you are my sister so that it may go well with me because of you, and that I may live on account of you."
Especially in Gen 16:2, when Sarah said to Abraham, "Now behold, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Please go in to my female slave; perhaps I shall obtain children through her." And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.
She told him to go have sex with Hagar but he obeyed her! And he didn't know it but she probably circled that tent for hours. Got madder and madder and madder, as only a woman can.
Abraham was not faithful. I mean she sponsored the whole deal but she would have loved a lot more if he had said; "The hell with that noise hon, I'm with you all the way."That's what he should have said. But instead he said "Go and have sex with Hagar, Oh yeah, right O.K."O.K. !!!!!!!
And then he went huffing and puffing into the tent of little Egypt! She didn't conclude Abraham faithful because of what he said to the king of Gerar in Gen 20:2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, "She is my sister." So Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.
Abraham wasn't faithful. So, Sarah had not seen any person who was humanly faithful and she had become very bitter because to her there was no such thing as human faithfulness.
Human faithfulness is a very hard thing to find and when we find it in any area we admire it! Sarah was shot down on human faithfulness. She was bitter about it, just like many of you ladies are or have been.
But she began to take in doctrine because Abraham stuck it out with doctrine and she began to follow him and when she got doctrine in her soul, she had enough to know that God is faithful. And once she found someone who was faithful, she became positive and stuck with it and became one of the great women in all of human history. Sarah was seizing and holding the high ground of spiritual maturity because she concluded from the doctrine in her soul that God was faithful. And concluding that she became faithful to God!
She was a noble, glorious, marvelous, beautiful woman who made it to spiritual maturity with doctrine in her soul! She finally found someone who was stable, someone who was faithful, someone who would never let her down.
Doctrine brought her face to face with the essence of God and that made her thirst for doctrine and for a relationship with God. And she would have reached spiritual maturity with or without Abraham. Once you discover the faithfulness of God you can only be faithful to Him. Faithfulness begets faithfulness.
And how can you be faithful to God? One way only......your faithfulness to Him is in how often you take in Bible doctrine. How often do you come to Bible class! When you are motivated by doctrine in your soul, you can't stay away! But it must be "free will" faithfulness. If you're bullied into being faithful, you're not faithful, you are enslaved!
But if you are faithful because you want to be faithful and you're motivated by true love for the Lord and because the true love in your soul is the doctrine in your soul, then you have it made. And doctrine is how you find out how long God has been faithful to you! And how long has He been faithful? Billions and billions of years ago in the doctrine of divine decrees He was faithful to you.
Knowing that you were a failure and a flop and that we all are, He did something for you, He sent His uniquely born Son to die in your place so that you could live forever and ever in the eternal state.
Heb 11:11 By means of doctrine resident in the soul even Sarah herself received inherent ability for the deposit of sperm, even beyond the proper time of life, since she concluded Him faithful who had promised; "had promised" is an aorist middle participle of ep-an-gei-la-me-non which in the aorist tense refers to that point of time in eternity past when God the Father made promises for every believer. The middle voice means that God the Father produced the action of the verb, He made a promise but we must respond to those promises if we desire to receive them.
He made lots of promises and all of these promises are tied up in time and in eternity and are not available to the believer even though they were made for him until the believer responds to the faithfulness of God. And how does He respond? By being faithful to what God has placed in the world. There was a time when God placed a tree in the world and said, don't eat it!
Gen 2:16-17 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die." When man sinned and was driven out of the garden, he was cut off from the tree of life, Gen 3:24.
Gen 3:24 So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim, and the flaming sword which turned every direction, to guard the way to the tree of life.
Now, He places another tree in the world and says eat it! Pro :18 “She [doctrine] is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, and happy are all who hold her fast."
Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. So, your response to God's faithfulness by being faithful to doctrine results in receiving what God has promised you for time and in eternity.
This is where we should learn from Sarah the things that are important rather than the “Defense Mechanisms.” So Heb 11:11 says By means of doctrine resident in the soul even Sarah herself received sexual ability for the deposit of sperm, even beyond the proper time of life, since she concluded Him faithful who had promised;
Sarah had many complications that she overcame to become a winner in the spiritual life. And she did this by finally discovering that someone in life was faithful. Let's close this subject on Sarah with a recap of all the things that she had to face and overcome.
We will call this the eulogy of Sarah.
1. Sarah was the wife of Abraham, Gen 11:29.
2. She was barren and she had no child, Gen 11:30.
3. She was betrayed by Abram to the Pharaoh in Egypt, Gen 12:15.
4. She was rescued by the Lord in Gen 12:17.
5. In Gen 16:1-4, She blamed the Lord for her barrenness and told Abraham go in to my her slave girl Hagar and have a child by her.
6. In Gen 16:5, she blamed Abraham for obeying her and having sex with her female slave Hagar.
7. In Gen 16:6, she tortured Hagar and almost killed her because of jealousy.
8. In Gen 18:12, She laughed at the fact that the Lord said that she would bear a child.
Gen 18:12 And Sarah laughed to herself, saying, "After I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?"
Gen 18:13 And the Lord said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh, saying, 'Shall I indeed bear a child, when I am so old?'
Gen 18:14 "Is anything too difficult for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son."
9. In Gen 18:15, she lied to the Lord and said that she didn't laugh, Sarah denied it however, saying, "I did not laugh"; for she was afraid. And He said, "No, but you did laugh."
10 In Gen 20:2, Abraham sold her out once again and told her to lie and let the King Gerah take her into his harem.
Gen 20:2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, "She is my sister." So Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.
11. However, in Gen 20:3, once again TLJC [The Lord Jesus Christ] was faithful to her and rescued her when he said to Abimelech in a dream, "You are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken."
12. In Gen 21:2, Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age as God had promised.
Gen 21:2 So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time of which God had spoken to him.
13. In Gen 21:9-10, she saw Ishmael mocking Isaac and told Abraham to send them both away.
Gen 21:9 Now Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking.
Gen 21:10 Therefore, she said to Abraham, "Drive out this maid and her son, for the son of this maid shall not be an heir with my son Isaac."
Gen 21:11 And the matter distressed Abraham greatly because of his son.
14. Notice however that God told Abraham to listen to Sarah, Gen 21:12.
Gen 21:12 But God said to Abraham, "Do not be distressed because of the lad and your maid; whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her, for through Isaac your descendants shall be named.
15. In Isa 51:2, Sarah is called the mother of the Jewish race.
Isa 51:2 "Look to Abraham your father, And to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain; When he was one I called him, Then I blessed him and multiplied him."
16. In Heb 11:11, Sarah made God's hall of fame and became a mature believer.
17. In 1Pe 3:6, her marvelous humility was manifested by the fact that even though her husband had not been faithful to her, Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord.
18. In Gen 23:1, Sarah died at the age of 127.
Gen 23:1 Now Sarah lived one hundred and twenty seven years; these were the years of the life of Sarah.
Now, God had to show Abraham as well as to all of us that everything that Abraham had, came from God and that the source is more important than the gift.
So, the test does three things;
1. It perpetuates glorifying God or not.
2. It helps the believer keep the proper perspective of the Giver being much more important than the gift.
3. It also becomes a test in the angelic conflict, is doctrine more important than what doctrine produces.
(21) The next “Defense Mechanism” manifest itself as Sexuality and a desire for lusting after the opposite sex.
This is different than the life of Sarah, this is the life of any person, male or female.
This is 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 in Col 3:1 If then you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
Col 3:2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.
Col 3:3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
Col 3:4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.
Col 3:5 Therefore, consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.
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. And this is because of every kind mismatch, distortions in the soul which there are many reasons for.
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. There are three areas of intimacy that should take place in marriage between right man and right woman.
1. Physical intimacy, which is coalescence of bodies or the sexual relationship in marriage.
2. Compatibility intimacy, which is coalescence of souls or mental attitudes in the relationship of marriage.
3. Rapport intimacy, which is coalescence of human spirits or the spiritual relationship in marriage.
God invented sex for two purposes. Recreation and procreation. But God did not design sex for just for the creation of life. Sex does not create human life; it produces biological life and the old sin nature. Life comes from God, not from man.
So, we have inherent strength recovered. And, by now you should realize that she was a phenomenal woman because of all the things that she had to overcome to reach spiritual maturity.
And she is a perfect example and encouragement for every female that even though she was mixed up and flaky and jealous, she snapped out of it and made it to spiritual maturity.
Now, in Col 3:5 Therefore, consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.
This is the New Testament passage on this subject of sex, let also look at the Old Testament subject.
The first insight is this, we cannot understand ourselves nor can we make ourselves wise, verses 23-24.
Ecc 7:23 I tested all this with wisdom, {and} I said, "I will be wise," but it was far from me...... he couldn't pull it off!
Ecc 7:24 What has been is remote [distant] and exceedingly mysterious. Who can discover it?
We hear people say many times, "He just doesn't understand me" or "She just doesn't understand me!" And the truth is that we don't even understand ourselves!
Now Solomon hasn't really gone all out and tried his trump card yet...... His trump card is going to be the one thing most men admired him for......SEX! That's going to be the big thing! He's tried almost everything else, so now he says it's time for sex!
So, in Ecc 7:25-28, wisdom also reveals the fact that intimate relationships are compelling but often not satisfying. And this is the beginning of Solomon's seventh experiment, the experiment of seeking happiness in sex. Intimate relationships are often compelling but they're often unfulfilling!
He says in Ecc 7:25 I directed my mind to know, to investigate, and to seek wisdom and an explanation, and to know the evil of folly and the foolishness of madness. He talked to men, he talked to women! He rapped about it! He had late night and early morning discussions over it!
And notice what he says in Ecc 7:26 And I discovered more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets, whose hands are chains. One who is pleasing to God will escape from her, but the sinner will be captured by her.
Ecc 7:27 "Behold, I have discovered this," says the Preacher, "{adding} one thing to another to find an explanation,
Ecc 7:28 which I am still seeking but have not found. I have found one man among a thousand, but I have not found a woman among all these.
Now, I'm going to give the corrected translation of verse 26 first and then work our way back and prove it to you later.
Ecc 7:26 And I kept on discovering more bitter than death the woman who is a trap, and whose heart [right lobe] has destructive allurements and her hands are chains. One who is pleasing to God will be delivered from her, but the reversionistic carnal believer will be captured by her.
Now Solomon had a thousand women, 700 princesses as his wives and 300 mistresses! He thought he was a sexual athlete and none of that caused him to gain any sense of wisdom. Solomon found out many things. First, he found out that he was trapped by sexual seductions. He went looking for love and he thought he would find it in an intimate relationship with a woman. He went looking for that which would support and strengthen him and make him feel that life was worth living. But what he found was nothing but a fleeting sexual thrill! He found himself involved with women who did not give him what he was looking for at all!
Now, if we're really going to understand this passage, we need to note some of the original language! Ecc 7:26 And I discovered more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets, whose hands are chains. One who is pleasing to God will escape from her, but the sinner will be captured by her.
The phrase "I discovered" is a qal active participle of matsa which looks like this, Uwmowtse, it doesn't mean that he suddenly discovered it, in the qal active participle it means that he lived with this most of his life, he found it and it was a dogmatic finding.
The Bible teaches that bitterness results in hatred, cruelty, antagonism, implacability, vindictiveness, vengefulness, and inordinate ambition and inordinate competition. There are certain causes of bitterness found in the Bible which are very interesting. For example, in the administration of divine discipline to Israel, especially to the southern kingdom of Judah, it became quite apparent that they were a bitter people. Bitterness was their reaction and it demonstrated the weakness and the failure of the people.
What happened first, bitterness or the downfall and destruction of the nation? Actually, bitterness occurred first. The people were bitter and therefore their spiritual lives were destroyed. The destruction of the spiritual life resulted in very few spiritual champions and therefore the nation was brought into captivity. Bitter people cannot have peace on any scale of values or peace in any type of relationships in life. 2Ki 14:26 For the Lord saw the affliction of Israel, which was very bitter; for there was neither bond nor free, nor was there any helper for Israel. The Jews brought upon themselves their own destruction which was very bitter and it was like this because of their own bitterness. They brought it upon themselves, because bitter people are self-destructive just as a bitter person is a walking time bomb, waiting to explode. Suffering causes bitterness in people who do not understand the Biblical principles and do not have as their number one priority, a relationship with God. Deut 32:24 They shall be wasted by famine, and consumed by plague and bitter destruction;
Bitterness was the cause of their destruction. The economic disasters merely indicate a result of their bitterness. Ridicule is a source of bitterness in Lamentations 3:14-15.
Lam 3:14 I have become a laughingstock to all my people, Their {mocking} song all the day. Lam 3:15 He has filled me with bitterness, He has made me drunk with wormwood.
The Jews ridiculed the message that Jeremiah was given.
Why? Because they were bitter!
They even made up songs about Jeremiah and his message and they said about Jeremiah, "he has filled our lives with bitterness. In other words, the people rejected his message and therefore they were bitter toward him. It is inevitable that when the truth is taught, there is going to be the reaction of bitterness.
The greatest source of bitterness is arrogance because arrogance is bitterness. It's simply the other side of the coin. If you're arrogant, you're bitter. Arrogance is preoccupation with self. People who are preoccupied with themselves inevitably become bitter and jealous.
For example, in Acts 8:23, Peter is speaking to Simon the sorcerer and notice what he says. ACT 8:23 "For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity." The Twentieth Century Translation says, "for I see that you have fallen into the bitterness of envy." The Phillips translation says "you are a man bitter with jealousy. " Simon the sorcerer passed himself off as a spiritual giant and a person who could do good things for others. However, when Simon the sorcerer saw that Peter's ministry was prospering, he became jealous and bitter and so Peter said "I can see that you are filled with bitterness and jealousy."
Why was Simon bitter and jealous? Because people were leaving him and going to hear the apostles. When someone leaves you be careful that you do not become bitter. Being rejected is a strong reason for bitterness in the lives of most believers especially in marriage according to Col 3:19.
Col 3:19 Husbands, love your wives, and do not be embittered against them.
Degeneracy is a source of bitterness according to Romans 3:14. Rom 3:14 "Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness" Ephesians 4:31 tells us that involvement in the world system or the cosmic system of Satan is a source of bitterness.
Eph 4:31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Pro 14:10 tells us where bitterness lives and resides. Pro 14:10 The heart knows its own bitterness, And a stranger does not share its joy. Bitterness is so obvious that even strangers can see it in those who are bitter. Bitterness is so bad among believers that even strangers avoid them.
Why? Because bitterness produces a complaining attitude. And no one likes to be around a complainer. Bitterness then is found in the believer who is a walking bomb shell who has exploded within and has times of outward explosion as well.
Jer 2:19 "Your own wickedness will correct you, And your apostasies will reprove you; Know therefore and see that it is evil and bitter
For you to forsake the Lord your God, And the dread of Me is not in you," declares the Lord God of hosts.
Bitterness results from backsliding or reversionism and disrespect toward God, says this verse. In Jeremiah, we are told that bitterness reaches into the frame of reference, the memory center and even the conscience. Jer 4:18 "Your ways and your deeds Have brought these things to you. This is your evil. How bitter! How it has touched your heart!"
In Jer 23:5 "Behold, the days are coming," declares the Lord, "When I shall raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely And do justice and righteousness in the land." Just as the tree was cast into the bitter water, making it sweet, so the Lord Jesus Christ can heal the bitterness in those who invite His presence into their lives and live in His word. The book of James also warns us about bitterness in chapter three. James 3:13 Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. In other words, let his behavior be motivated from the wisdom within. James is actually saying let the doctrine within motivate the outward behavior. James 3:14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. Don't lie against doctrine. Don't live in a lie.
Bitter jealousy is bitterness and jealousy combined and it is living in a lie produced by Satan and the kingdom of darkness. Selfish ambition refers to factions, party spirits and cliques. And please notice where all of this takes place, in your heart. All of these sins originate in your heart, the place where you do your thinking. This is why James says, "do not be arrogant and lie against the truth." This means that if you have any bitterness, jealousy or party spirits, you lie against the truth and even deny the truth. In verse 15 we are told by God where this thinking or wisdom comes from. Jm 3:15 This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. It is not the doctrine which comes from above but it is earthly, natural, demonic. This wisdom is of the earth. It is from the unspiritual natural nature and it comes from evil spirits.
The next time you get bitter, jealous, or arrogant, remember that! Jm 3:16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing. Where does jealousy and selfish ambition exist? They exist in the cosmic system of Satan! There are all types of bitterness and jealousy and arrogance which exist in Satan's cosmic system.
Bitterness is also a form of blasphemy as uttered by Job beginning in the last phrase of Job 9:17-18, where Job was complaining. Job 9:17 "For He bruises me with a tempest, And multiplies my wounds without cause. JOB 9:18 "He will not allow me to get my breath, But saturates me with bitterness. Job was bitter and he was complaining. Bitter people love to complain.
When Job said "for He bruises me with a tempest, and multiplies my wounds without cause", that was blasphemy. God wasn't multiplying his wounds without a cause. There was a great purpose in Job's wounds which was the fact that he was being entered into the historical phase of the angelic conflict as a witness for God.
Then in verse 19 Job said, "He will not allow me to get my breath but saturates me with bitterness." He was wrong! This is the attitude that bitterness eventually develops. It is an attitude which says, it's all God's fault. Why did God let this happen to me? When a person says, `why did God let this happen to me,' that person is in a state of bitterness. Bitterness is irrational! Jealousy is irrational! In fact, jealousy is insanity. Bitterness will lead a person to the sin unto death, in fact it accompanies the sin unto death. Job 21:25 "While another dies with a bitter soul, Never even tasting anything good.” Death is considered to be an experience with bitterness for the unbeliever or carnal believer.
So, bitterness produces complaining. Job 7:11 "Therefore, I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit, I will complain in the bitterness of my soul." Complaining people have a reason to complain which is bitterness. All people who habitually complain are bitter people. Complaining is simply an outward effect of an inward sin.
Job 10:1 "I loathe my own life; I will give full vent to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul." Inevitably a bitter person is a jealous person and a bitter and a jealous person is motivated to gossip. They have inordinate ambition and inordinate competition.
Psa 64:2 Hide me from the secret counsel of evildoers, From the tumult of those who do iniquity, Psa 64:3 Who have sharpened their tongue like a sword. They aimed bitter speech as their arrow,
They gossip, malign, judge, and run down other people. And it all comes from jealousy and bitterness. Bitter people never take responsibility for their own decisions. Therefore, bitterness destroys relationships, courtships, marriages, friendships and even local assemblies. In this passage bitterness is revealed by the sins of the tongue. Notice what bitterness developed and produced in Psalm 64. In verse 2 they held a secret counsel. In verse 3, they gossip and malign with their bitter speech. Bitterness can be discovered through a person's speech. In verse 4, they even judge mature believers. Psa 64:4 To shoot from concealment at the blameless; Suddenly they shoot at him, and do not fear. This means that they conceal their bitterness, while behind the scenes plotting and scheming how to destroy the object of their bitterness. They do not fear or respect God. In verse 5, they encourage themselves in evil. Psa 64:5 They hold fast to themselves an evil purpose; They talk of laying snares secretly; They say, "Who can see them?"
Notice the word "themselves." There is more then one bitter person involved here! They encourage each other in their evil purpose and all of this is because they are bitter. They develop plans and conspiracies as they talk of laying snares secretly. In verse 6, they search out iniquities. Psa 64:6 They devise injustices, saying, "We are ready with a wellconceived plot"; For the inward thought and the heart of a man are deep. The King James translation says "they search out iniquities, saying, we are ready with a well conceived plot." All of this comes because the thoughts in their heart are deep or as the Hebrew says "amoq" which means exceedingly mysterious. However, in verses 7 and 8, they reap what they sow. Psa 64:7 But God will shoot at them with an arrow; Suddenly they will be wounded.
Psa 64:8 So they will make him stumble; Their own tongue is against them; All who see them will shake the head. Psa 64:9 Then all men will fear, And will declare the work of God, And will consider what He has done. This is why I say that bitterness makes a person stupid and produces self-induced misery. Heb 12:15 See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled;
Grace orientation and bitterness cannot co-exist. If you are bitter you have no grace orientation. Yet your life demands grace orientation, it is a major problem-solving device. However, there are so many ways you can come short of the grace of God. It is not just grace orientation, it is understanding grace in rebound and recovery. It's understanding grace in all human relationships. This is why it says to beware that no root of bitterness will spring up and cause trouble and by it many be defiled. When it says causes trouble is a reference to the fact that when you have bitterness, you are walking trouble.
Therefore, you become a troublemaker and as the end of verse 15 says, because of your bitterness many are defiled. So, bitterness is self-induced misery as well as chain sinning. Bitterness causes misery to others in your periphery. Bitterness means revenge motivation. Always remember that two wrongs do not make a right. Bitterness is the quickest way to destroy your spiritual life. Bitterness is complete self-absorption. Self-absorption is arrogance.
Bitterness does something that most sins of arrogance will not do, it reverses the order of the three arrogance skills. Bitterness starts with self-justification, moves to self-deception, and comes to self-absorption. Then bitterness reverses itself and goes back the other way to self-deception and self-justification.
Therefore, you spend your life trying to be right when you are wrong. Once you reverse bitterness so you can go both ways (from self-justification to self-absorption and from self-absorption back to self-justification) you are locked into arrogance. Bitterness establishes the habit of self-justification which results in total divorcement from reality.
Once you are totally divorced from reality, you are locked into a system of arrogance so that the doctrine you have learned does not circulate. When bitterness starts with self-absorption on the reverse path of the three arrogance skills, certain defense mechanisms begin to destroy the spiritual life.
The result is reinforced self-justification in which the believer has buried all his bad decisions and falsely attributes to others his own sins, failures, and flaws, which accumulate garbage in his own self-conscious.
This system of thinking feeds the self-consciousness with the garbage of the soul. You see in others the cause of all problems. Every aspect of failure involves distorted thinking, thinking in terms of self-absorption, self-deception, and self-justification. You think there is nothing wrong with you, therefore, there is nothing to rebound.
You do not look at bitterness as anything but the mere expression of your self-justification. But, any thought with regard to the situation creates an anger reaction. You justify the bitterness and justify the anger. You never think of anger in terms of sin. You think of anger in terms of, "I am right. “Why shouldn't I be angry?" The bottom line is vindictiveness, hatred, implacability, malice, revenge.
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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