...by My Spirit Pt. V

Sunday 07/24/16

Series: Living in the Kingdom Pt. 43

Message – …by My Spirit VII

We are sorry to report that our normal recorder was down, so the quality is rather poor this week.

Living in the Kingdom…by My Spirit says the Lord

This is our 3rd week we are looking at what it mean to BE a living witness.

1Cor. 2:12, “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit Who is from God, THAT WE MIGHT KNOW the things that have been freely given to us by God.”

Living Witnesses

Every Christian is called to be a Living Witness or a Testimony. This WAS and IS the great commission. As of last week we discovered the following about being Living Witness:

God has appointed Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastor-Teachers…etc. to establish us as living testimonies.
We ARE His “letters” – written by the Holy Spirit!
Jesus IS our message.
We are partnered with the Holy Spirit in His work of giving testimony to Christ.
A witness is something you ARE by nature and experience – NOT something you do!
You Testimony serves three purposes…
- It strengthens your brothers in Christ
- It is a testimony to the world
- It will be used as a testimony against Satan when he is judged!

This week we are going to take a more personal approach to the topic and looking at:

What hinders our Testimony.
What empowers our Testimony.
How we can turn a weakness into a strength.

What Hinders our Testimony?

Reflecting ourselves instead of Christ.

Nothing hinders and works against the Christian’s testimony more than handling life’s problems like the world.

Remember our example of the Temple Lampstand as an example of Living Testimony from last week.

What Empowers our Testimony?

Looking expectantly at Christ & listening attentively to the Holy Spirit!

Zech. 4:6,

“Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit says the Lord.”

Our power to live a godly Testimony is the Holy Spirit of God!

The heart that holds their Lord in devoted love, need not fear the scorn of a bad Testimony.

[Look at Hebrews 12:1-6]

This is where we continued from last week

How we can turn a weakness into a strength?

Embracing our union and communion.

2Cor. 13:14,

“(14) May the grace of the Lord Jesus the Messiah, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you!”

2Cor. 12:8-10,

“(8) Concerning this, I pleaded with the Lord three times to take it away from me. (9) But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me. (10) So because of Christ, I am pleased in weaknesses, in insults, in catastrophes, in persecutions, and in pressures. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Properly translated it read, “A tent spike – something to frustrate, afflict and cause me trouble was inflicted upon me.

What is a thorn in the flesh? This term is used several times with various wordings in the Bible and is always used in reference to people hindering progress or causing trouble.

When we think of a thorn, we think of a somewhat minor irritation, but the root word Paul uses for thorn here describes a tent stake, not a splinter!

In the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament known as the Septuagint, the word thorn skolops shows “something which frustrates and causes trouble in the lives of those afflicted.”

This was given to Paul to hinder his being elevated beyond measure.

This is actually a compound Greek word huperaírō. From hupér (G5228), above and aírō (G142), to lift up. So accurately translated it means – To lift up above.

While this CAN mean in “pride”, one can hardly attribute to satan a desire to keep someone from pride. No, the meaning is most certainly more akin to that found in James 4:10,

“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.”

There is nothing inherently evil about being lifted up above. David uses a similar phrase in the Old Testament in a positive light.

Psalm 27:6,

“And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me, and I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and make melody to the LORD.”

So let’s examine what was happening here. Regardless of what you believe Paul’s ‘thorn in the flesh’ was, it was FROM satan NOT GOD and it was designed to be like a tent spike, inflicting affliction, trouble and frustration.

Do you think this could have worked to ruin Paul’s testimony? Of course.

What was God’s answer to Paul? My influence over your heart and its reflection in how you live your life is enough for you Paul – you do not need the thorn removed, you need to be exalted above it!

What was Paul’s response to this? Well it wasn’t grumbling and complaining! “Ah Lord! Can’t you just make this one go away! You just don’t know how hard it is to live with this oppression every single day! It’s there when I eat, it’s there when I try to sleep, it pesters me endlessly throughout each day – I can’t get a break from it and I’m feeling suffocated by it!

Anyone ever feel this way? Why? Notice the words are all focused upon you!

So again, what did Paul do?

“Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me. So because of Christ, I am pleased in weaknesses, in insults, in catastrophes, in persecutions, and in pressures. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Boast in my weakness – glory and exult in my moral frailty, so that the achieving power of Christ might descend upon and dwell upon me. For this reason I take pleasure in my moral frailties, in people being rude, disrespectful and hurtful to me even to the point of injury, I think good of being subject to offenses, hostile pressures against me from without and troublesome distress from within my own-self for the sake of Christ’s glory for in the middle of these I find myself NOT alone, but united with Him and thus made stronger than any force against me. Yes I approach all these things with the mind-set of one who not only understands what is right and good, but freely involve my will of intention and resolve in seeing them as working towards my good!

In brief, I regard as good all of these things with absolutely faith that they are working for my good even if it is painful to go through, because I am united with You as they happen.

What is Paul saying here?

He is admitting his moral weakness to endure insulting rude and harmful behavior from others, injury, mistreatment and external pressures from others as well as his inability to cope with his own inner struggles which result from them, but that he has had his eyes opened to the fact that he is NOT alone. That in these times, if he will turn in helpless weakness to His Lord and allow his heart to be united with Him, God’s strength will overwhelm his weakness and cause him to count these insults and injuries as working good in him towards God’s glory – Christ in us!

Let me offer two examples in closing…

Php 4:4-7,

“(4) Rejoice in the Lord always! Delight in Him and make glad yourselves in your Father; again I tell you, Rejoice! (5) Let all men begin to see your unselfishness, your considerateness, your forbearing heart, your total unwillingness to assert yourself or contend with others. The Lord is near to us and His return is imminent. (6) Do not fret or have any anxious mind about anything, but by prayer and clear requests out of a heart of true worship and thankfulness, continue to make your desires known to God in every circumstance and in everything. (7) And God’s peace which He left with you and which goes way beyond our comprehension, will set up a garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

1Peter 4:12-19,

“(12) Dear friends, when the fiery ordeal arises among you to test you, don’t be surprised by it, as if something unusual were happening to you. (13) Instead, as you share in the sufferings of the Messiah rejoice, so that you may also rejoice with great joy at the revelation of His glory. (14) If you are ridiculed for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. (15) None of you, however, should suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a meddler. (16) But if anyone suffers as a Christian, he should not be ashamed, but should glorify God with that name. (17) For the time has come for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who disobey the gospel of God? (18) And if the righteous is saved with difficulty, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner? (19) So those who suffer according to God’s will should, in doing good, entrust themselves to a faithful Creator.”

We will be spending more time looking at Fellowship with God next week….Blessings!

I hope this teaching will challenge you and encourage you to place your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

You have a special place in God’s family & kingdom. If you do not know Him, please use our ‘Contact Us‘ page and reach out so we may have the privilege of introducing you to the Lord. Neither money nor attendance at our church will be mentioned.

If you have been spiritually fed by this ministry and wish to give, we truly appreciate that and you may do so here, but all outreaches of this ministry are FREE for you and anyone to enjoy at no cost.

Blessings!

Pastor Mark

View posts by Pastor Mark

Hi my name is Mark and though I am opposed to titles, I am currently the only Pastor (shepherd/elder) serving our assembly right now.

I have been Pastoring in one capacity or another for nearly 30 years now, though never quite like I am today.

Early in 2009 the Lord revealed to me that the way we had structured our assembly (church) was not scriptural in that it was out of sync with what Paul modeled for us in the New Testament. In truth, I (like many pastors I am sure) never even gave this fundamental issue of church structure the first thought. I had always assumed that church structure was largely the same everywhere and had been so from the beginning. While I knew Paul had some very stringent things to say about the local assembly of believers, the point of our gatherings together and who may or may not lead, I never even considered studying these issues but assumed we were all pretty much doing it right...safety in numbers right?! Boy, I couldn't have been more wrong!

So needless to say, my discovery that we had been doing it wrong for nearly two decades was a bit of a shock to me! Now, this "revelation" did not come about all at once but over the course of a few weeks. We were a traditional single pastor led congregation. It was a top-bottom model of ministry which is in part biblical, but not in the form of a monarchy.

The needed change did not come into focus until following 9 very intense months of study and discussions with those who were leaders in our church at the time.

We now understand and believe that the Bible teaches co-leadership with equal authority in each local assembly. Having multiple shepherds with God's heart and equal authority protects both Shepherds and sheep. Equal accountability keeps authority and doctrine in check. Multiple shepherds also provide teaching with various styles and giftings with leadership skills which are both different and complementary.

For a while we had two co-pastors (elders) (myself and one other man) who led the church with equal authority, but different giftings. We both taught in our own ways and styles, and our leadership skills were quite different, but complimentary. We were in complete submission to each other and worked side-by-side in the labor of shepherding the flock.

Our other Pastor has since moved on to other ministry which has left us with just myself. While we currently only have one Pastor/Elder, it is our desire that God, in His faithfulness and timing, may bring us more as we grow in maturity and even in numbers.

As to my home, I have been married since 1995 to my wonderful wife Terissa Woodson who is my closest friend and most trusted ally.

As far as my education goes, I grew up in a Christian home, but questioned everything I was ever taught.

I graduated from Bible college in 1990 and continued to question everything I was ever taught (I do not mention my college in order to avoid being labeled).

Perhaps my greatest preparation for ministry has been life and ministry itself. To quote an author I have come to enjoy namely Fredrick Buechner in his writing entitled, Now and Then, "If God speaks to us at all other than through such official channels as the Bible and the church, then I think that He speaks to us largely through what happens to us...if we keep our hearts open as well as our ears, if we listen with patience and hope, if we remember at all deeply and honestly, then I think we come to recognize beyond all doubt, that, however faintly we may hear Him, He is indeed speaking to us, and that, however little we may understand of it, His word to each of us is both recoverable and precious beyond telling." ~ Fredrick Buechner

Well that is about all there is of interest to tell you about me.

I hope our ministry here is a blessing to you and your family. I also hope that it is only a supplement to a local church where you are committed to other believers in a community of grace.

~God Bless!