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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:
Weekly Bible Study, October 24, 2022, The new things that have come; The Royal Ambassadorship and the Royal Priesthood. Part 3
The new things that have come. The responsibility and accountability of the Royal Priesthood, Part 3.
Under the principle of the doctrine that new things have come we have been noting the two unique Royal Commissions: The Royal Priesthood and the Royal Ambassadorship. We have been noting the responsibility and accountability we all have to defend the faith as members of the Royal Family of God.
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty [el shaddai]. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!” For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper, And from the deadly pestilence. He shall cover thee with His feathers and under His wings shall thou trust. His Truth shall be Thy shield and buckler. (Psa 91:1-4)
The Hebrew word for shield is tsinnah which means a large shield to guard against thorns or things that would pierce and wound us. Not only is the truth a shield, but His truth shall also be a buckler. That Hebrew word is cocherahwhich is something surrounding the believer. Truth will give you some principles that should free you from caring about what others think about you. What a bondage that is.
Here are some principles we looked at concerning unrealistic expectations:
1. Do not place yourself under unrealistic expectations concerning your relationship with others. We do have a responsibility to care for others, but it is just as true that you are not to allow yourself to be put into bondage and slavery to others.
You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men. (1Co 7:23)
Don’t be so arrogant toward yourself that your goal is to have others speak well of you. They are simply not worth it. The point is stop putting pressure on yourself.
“Blessed are you when {men} cast insults at you, and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, on account of Me.”(Mat 5:11).
2. Unrealistic expectations toward ourselves which inevitably produces frustrations that distract us from Bible doctrine and destroy the true focus of the Christian life, which is occupation with Christ, not self. The principle is found in Php 1:21, For me, living is Christ, likewise dying is profit. Or in Jn 3:30, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” That is especially true when it comes to those whom are closer to us, including our own loved ones and family members.
3. Unrealistic expectations destroys all human relationships, whether it is your relationship in friendship, romance, or marriage, but most of all, your relationship with yourself.
Nevertheless, let each individual among you also love his own wife even as himself; (Eph 5:33)
Fear does not exist in virtue love, but virtue love expels [drives out] that fear, for fear causes self induced misery. (1Jo 4:18)
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mrk 12:31)
4. Unrealistic expectation produces frustrations which distract from Bible doctrine and destroy the true focus of the Christian life, which is occupation with Christ, not people. By this I mean that you are not living in the rest and peace that comes from understanding that you have been reconciled and reunited to God. Don’t place yourself in the bondage of such things personality changes.
5. Unrealistic expectations causes us to react to others inwardly who do not believe that we are treating them the way they want to be treated. Therefore because of the demand syndrome, it is impossible for any virtue to exist in either one of us. This inevitably leads to eyes on self, eyes on people, and eyes on things. The focus that is substituted for occupation with Christ is eyes on self, eyes on people, or eyes on things which is nothing more than the trap of arrogance. Eyes on self is arrogance. This makes you selfish, self-centered, and totally unacceptable. Eyes on peopleis lust. This is where you become frustrated by comparing yourself with others, thinking that others are doing better than you. Eyes on things is covetousness. This is when you desire to have or possess what someone else has or possesses. You resent those who have worked hard and have accumulated wealth. You resent the successful and as long as you do, this will guarantee that you will be a loser all your life.
6. There is role model arrogance which is another problem that can hinder you from living in the rest and peace that comes from understanding that you have been reunited to God. Stop trying to make yourself live up to a real or an imagined spiritual role-model to others. Take the pressure off yourself.
7. Role model arrogance causes believers to fail because of lack of impersonal love for all mankind beginning with themselves and lack of occupation with Christ. Stop trying to make yourself live up to a real or imagined spiritual role model to others. Take the pressure off yourself. Reconciliation means God has called you to peace and rest.
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My load is light.” (Mat 11:28-30)
8. Role model arrogance ignores the basic doctrine that all believers sin after salvation and continue to have a sin nature. No one is perfect. But with Bible doctrine as the number one priority in your life, you learn to love God the Father, and you learn to insert the virtue of impersonal love into human relationships. From knowledge of Bible doctrine you find your true role model who is perfect. Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, He is our only role model.
When you combine unrealistic expectation with role model arrogance, you have established false standards for your life. Even if you are sincere. You have developed an arrogant system of standards which hinder both the execution of the PPOG and create spiritual failure by condemning yourself. When you are not content with the rest and peace that God has provided for you through the finished work of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, then you begin to develop the arrogance of unhappiness or the arrogance of subjective preoccupation with self.
There is another very subtle, but common form of arrogance found among born again believers which is murmuring, complaining, frustration, worry, anxiety, self-pity, etc. These are all a part of the arrogance of unhappiness.
The influence of the cosmic system upon the believer in this area cannot disappear through prayer alone! The road to recovery begins with humility, acknowledgement and then a crash diet of Bible doctrine.
The believer that has the arrogance of unhappiness always blames others for their failures. They avoid taking any responsibility for failures. They are paranoid, jealous, implacable and lack forgiveness. The arrogance of unhappiness may be classified as pre-occupation with self. Pre-occupation with self-destroys any capacity for happiness and frustrates the fulfillment of the divine plan of God. Involvement in the devil’s world or the cosmic system guarantees unhappiness.
Involvement in the cosmic system promotes erroneous ideas about what constitutes happiness in life. Those involved in the cosmic system think that people, pleasant circumstances or prosperity can make them happy. Arrogant people are unhappy people involved in the cosmic system and therefore they are miserable. They continue and persist with their erroneous views of what happiness is. Therefore, the big enemy to true happiness in the Christian life is arrogance.
Do not be grieved, for the happiness of the Lord is your strength. (Neh 8:10)
There is also a counterfeit or pseudo happiness developed in the cosmic system which is a stimulation for a moment and often mistaken for true happiness. Satan will minister this pseudo happiness to any believer who resides in his cosmic system. Through this arrogance, the believer’s capacity for happiness is completely destroyed. Satan has perpetuated a myth on the human race as the ruler of this world, that people and pleasant circumstances and moments of stimulation can make you happy. As the ruler of this world, Satan has a system for distracting people by making them think that stimulation is happiness. This is a locked in system that very few people have ever overcome.
Arrogant pre-occupation with self through involvement in the cosmic system is a guarantee of unhappiness. We must not associate stimulation with happiness. Pseudo happiness is always associated with any form of stimulation, enjoyment, excitement which provides temporary pleasure. Most people whether they are aware of it or not build their life around pleasure goals.
They go from one pleasure goal to another. In between each pleasure goal is all the boredom that surrounds their anticipation. In fact, for many their happiness comes form anticipation or the thrill of the catch being the chase.
For example, many single people think that marriage is a form of happiness. They have the idea that once you get married your troubles are over, or you are completed. But, once you get married you discover that marriage is not happiness. In fact, marriage was never designed to give you happiness nor is any organization that involves more than one person designed to give happiness.
Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you released from a wife? Do not seek a wife. But if you should marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin should marry, she has not sinned. Yet such will have trouble in this life, and I am trying to spare you. But this I say, brethren, the time has been shortened, so that from now on those who have wives should be as though they had none; and those who weep, as though they did not weep; and those who rejoice, as though they did not rejoice; and those who buy, as though they did not possess; and those who use the world, as though they did not make full use of it; for the form of this world is passing away. But I want you to be free from concern. One who is unmarried is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord; but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and his interests are divided. And the woman who is unmarried, and the virgin, is concerned about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit; but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how she may please her husband. And this I say for your own benefit; not to put a restraint upon you, but to promote what is seemly, and to secure undistracted devotion to the Lord. (1Co 7:27-35)
A wife is bound as long as her husband lives; but if her husband is dead, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord. But in my opinion she is happier if she remains as she is; and I think that I also have the Spirit of God. (1Co 7:39-40)
Happiness does not belong to any divine institution, but to God alone. There are four divine institutions:
1. Volition.
2. Marriage.
3. Family.
4. Nationalism.
Both volition and marriage existed at a time when man lived on earth with a perfect environment and without an OSN! Now, you would think that a perfect man and a perfect woman would go off into the sunset and live happily ever after. But, it didn’t turn out that way. The woman became bored with the man, like a lot of women do today. In fact, there are some women who just want to find out how many of these boring creatures called men, they can score.
The woman became bored with the man and started to hang around the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and then took up conversation with the serpent, who at that time was the most beautiful creature in the garden. You know the rest of the story. Under perfect environment the first marriage was a flop. Marriage alone cannot make you happy. Nor does everything associated with marriage have the ability to make you happy, and that includes sex!
There is the idea that sex is happiness. Young girls are hot headed and stupid, and so they look for some young boy with a good head of hair or whatever. Young boys look for some beautiful haired girl to have a good time within hopes that such stimulation will bring happiness. The young people think that a specific type of person will make them happy.
The point is you’re not going to find happiness in marriage or in divine institution number 3, the family! There is nothing wrong with marriage and family, but an arrogant man is not going to have a happy marriage. An arrogant woman, one who looks to the marriage for happiness, is not going to find it. You see, the great enemy of happiness is arrogance. Arrogance is the fruit of the cosmic system.
Any time you look to people for happiness you will lose. If you think children are going to make you happy, you have the wrong idea as to what happiness is! Any time you bring people into your social life, they do not bring happiness but rather, they challenge it!
But they, our fathers, acted arrogantly; They became stubborn and would not listen to Thy commands. (Neh 9:16)
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 their eternal future.
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