Class Notes: 5/29/2011

Suffering is the venue for the deployment of the Divinely provided problem solving devices for the Glory of God

In our study of the doctrine of suffering we left off last time with the principle that whenever we face suffering for blessing only divine solutions work.

2Cor 12:10; "For this reason I find contentment or am well pleased with weaknesses (physical ailments), in slanders (people testing), in pressures (thought testing), in persecutions (system testing), in stresses (disaster testing) on behalf of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong."

We see here that suffering for blessing causes the believer to be weak in human solutions so that he has to depend on the divine provision for problem solving.

Each stage of spiritual adulthood contains venues for suffering that provide the opportunity for the divine problem solving devices to be deployed with the objective that the believer receive blessing as a result of the suffering.

The weakness produced from providential preventative suffering, when combined with spiritual self-esteem, produces spiritual autonomy. The weakness produced by momentum testing gives spiritual autonomy a chance to get stronger to reach spiritual maturity. In spiritual maturity, the ultimate in spiritual strength comes from passing evidence testing.

The phrase "On behalf of Christ" (Huper plus the genitive of Christou) is the same construction as we saw in Phil 1:29; "For to you it has been given on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake."

It is only in the school of Bible doctrine (as opposed to the school of hard knocks) that the believer's suffering has significance in the fulfillment of the protocol plan of God.

In the school of hard knocks, the believer learns mostly from punitive preventative suffering that is for the purpose of getting the believer back into the spiritual life. In the school of Bible doctrine, the believer is learning and advancing in the plan of God by their suffering for blessing.

In the school of hard knocks, bad decisions from a position of weakness include such things as reaction to, resistance against, and rejection of Bible doctrine. Only when punitive preventative suffering is intense does the believer rebound and finally come back to doctrine, often only for a short time because as soon as he stops hurting, he falls back into the same old pattern of negative volition.

In the school of hard knocks, the learning efficiency level is very low and it is unlikely that the believer would reach spiritual adulthood during their lifetime because the only suffering for blessing is what is left over after rebound.

The believer who persists in learning in the school of hard knocks is a loser and always will be unless he repents or changes his thinking and goes to school of Bible doctrine.

The school of Bible doctrine is the school of perception, metabolization, and application of doctrine under the mentorship of God the Holy Spirit and the believer is consistent and persistent in residence, function, and momentum inside the spiritual life of the church age.

In the school of Bible doctrine, the highest priority is always assigned to the Word of God. In this school, the believer not only advances to spiritual maturity, but also fulfills the plan of God and as a result has the capacity to receive the full conveyance of the escrow that was set aside by God in eternity past.

In the school of Bible doctrine, the believer's learning efficiency is very high because of their consistent residence and function inside God's power system under the enabling power of the Spirit and with momentum from metabolized doctrine results in the attainment of spiritual self-esteem.

Only in the school of Bible doctrine can the believer successfully pass through the three categories of suffering for blessing necessary for the fulfillment of the protocol plan of God.

The believer in the school of hard knocks piles on himself more suffering than he can bear, and remains in spiritual childhood all his spiritual life. Being a loser does not imply loss of salvation, but the loss of greater blessings deposited in escrow for both time and eternity.

Once believers with the cognitive self confidence of spiritual self esteem pass providential preventative testing they advance to the cognitive independence of spiritual autonomy that is subsequently challenged with momentum testing that when passed brings the believer to the cognitive invincibility of spiritual maturity.

Momentum Testing is the opportunity for the application of doctrine that the believer has learned in spiritual self-esteem for the purpose of accelerating the believer's momentum inside God's power system.

Spiritual growth results from perception of Bible doctrine but growth is accelerated from the need to apply it in the categories of testing. This is why testing is required for the believer to fulfill the plan of God and glorify the Lord.

Some of the testing is from adversity and some of it is from prosperity but it is all designed for the acceleration of spiritual growth. All categories of momentum testing are designed for blessing so whether the source is adversity or prosperity it is for your benefit.

Human volition plays an important part in testing because the believer must make correct decisions based on the right application of Bible doctrine under the ministry of God the Holy Spirit

The categories of testing that are part of momentum testing are not exclusive to momentum testing because they are general categories of testing that occur in all stages of spiritual growth.

The tests include the old sin nature test, the cosmic one or arrogance test, the cosmic two or antagonism test, and disaster testing. The way that the believer handles these tests determines whether he accelerates or decelerates his spiritual growth.

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