https://youtu.be/gtlYwfd-wJg
2Tim 3 12-13; Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.
Because evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
Isa 1:4-5; Alas, sinful nation, People weighed down with iniquity, Offspring of evildoers, Sons who act corruptly! They have abandoned the Lord, They have despised the Holy One of Israel, They have turned away from Him. Where will you be stricken again, As you continue in your rebellion?
Eph 6:10-12; Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His omnipotent power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
James 1:19-20; You know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.
Rom 12:18-21; If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.
19 Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord.
20 "But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head." 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
John 14:27; "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.
1John 4:4; You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.
We are in a study on Smyrna, the base of the pivot power for the first gentile client nation SPQR. When we stopped last time we were in Rev 2:10; that starts with the mandate to "fear nothing"
This took us to study of the faith rest drill where we noted last time that the second stage of the faith-rest mechanics demands an understanding of five areas of doctrine found in the Scripture: the essence of God rationale, the plan of God rationale, the policy of God rationale which is grace orientation, the a fortiori rationale, and the ten problem solving devices.
Doctrinal rationales begin to circulate in the stream of consciousness as a result of reaching spiritual adulthood. Lifting the shield of faith with the doctrinal rationales provides both the tranquility and contentment of soul when there is great pressure.
The essence of God rationale comes from learning about who and what God is, you develop a stronger faith. To mix your faith with the doctrine of divine essence gives you an advance in the faith-rest drill that is absolutely necessary for your spiritual advance.
Spiritual self-esteem is that status of the Christian life where the believer grows up spiritually so that he can advance into the second stage of the faith-rest mechanics. Spiritual self- esteem does not emphasize who and what we are as believers it emphasizes who and what God is. This is why the essence of God rationale is so important.
Spiritual self-esteem understands and executes the protocol plan of God by use of the essence of God rationale. The advance from spiritual self-esteem to spiritual autonomy is rapid when the believer consistently functions under both the essence of God rationale and the plan of God rationale.
The believer in spiritual self-esteem is not easily subverted into arrogance or emotional complexes of sins because he is motivated by who and what God is from the essence of God rationale.
Part of the faith-rest drill is the application of the essence of God rationale to stress circumstances, especially those that involve injustice and unfairness to you personally. The mixing of the essence of God rationale with a strong faith is the basis of handling these circumstances.
For example, you are the victim of the public lie, the victim of slander, maligning, gossip, or some unfairness from people. By using the application of the essence of God rationale as part of the faith- rest drill you become a plaintiff before the supreme court of heaven.
As a part of the essence of God rationale, faith-rest mechanics leave all personal injustices, all vilification, and all unfairness in the hands of Jesus Christ as a Supreme Court justice in heaven.
Psa 55:22; "Cast your burden upon the Lord; for He will sustain you. He will never permit the righteous one to be shaken."
1Pet 5:7; "Casting all your cares anxieties, stresses) on Him because He cares for you."
Our Lord as Supreme Court judge of heaven hears every case brought to Him under the mechanics of stage of faith-rest mechanics.
The believer who makes his appeal as a plaintiff must understand that he or she may be more at fault in the matter, and may suddenly become a defendant in the case instead of a plaintiff.
You can very easily malfunction in stage two of the faith-rest mechanics. Do not try to appeal to the supreme court of heaven if you are at fault or if you have already made the problem public to others.
Do not be shocked if the justice you seek at the supreme court of heaven suddenly blows back at you in some form of divine discipline. In this case the plaintiff is judged rather than the defendant because the Lord knows all the facts in the case.
Self-righteous arrogance is blind arrogance and all too often is fragmented. Therefore, the believer's appeal to the supreme court of heaven for justice results in that believer receiving justice as the guilty party. You have to know your ground and keep your mouth shut.
As a victim of injustice, believers often become vindictive, implacable, bitter, and seek revenge through vilification rather than going to the supreme court of heaven immediately. They should be rebounding instead of going to the supreme court of heaven.
In the case where the plaintiff is the guilty party and is judged by God for sins related to the arrogance or emotional complex, the lust pattern of the OSN, garbage in the subconscious, or confusion from a fragmented life, do not piously, arrogantly, or self- righteously approach the bench. You have just moved from warning discipline to intensive discipline.
The victim of injustice has two options: the function of the faith-rest drill as a plaintiff to the supreme court of heaven or the reaction of mental attitude and verbal sins and succumbing to the temptation of revenge.
If you are wronged, before you react to injustice, unfairness, slander, misrepresentation, maltreatment, vilification, character assassination, or some other form of the public lie, remember that there is a supreme court in heaven. You may think you are plaintiff but in reality are guilty so you are actually the defendant.
Through the faith-rest mechanics of stage two, the believer can apply the essence of God rationale to the stress circumstances just mentioned by taking your case directly to the supreme court of heaven. You put the matter in the hands of the Lord and remain in a state of tranquility without complaint.
Once you are the plaintiff and have used the second stage of faith-rest mechanics to put the situation in the Lord's hands, you must leave your case before the Supreme Court of heaven.
To leave it there, you have to avoid taking matters into your own hands. This requires the virtue of patience. Any reaction on your part cancels your case in heaven and results in divine discipline and disciplinary action from God toward you.
You cannot be a legitimate plaintiff in the supreme court of heaven if you react from scar tissue in the stream of consciousness, garbage in the subconscious, the arrogance complex of sins, emotional and irrational self-fragmentation, or the lust pattern of the sin nature.
To fulfill stage two of faith- rest mechanics, the believer must have enough spiritual growth to understand the essence of God rationale and enough humility, patience, and objectivity to be sure that he himself has not caused an alleged injustice or unfairness directed toward those he thinks have been unfair to him.
The bottom line is that if you have complained to others, don't complain to God.
The plan of God rationale includes a thorough understanding of the plan of God and making such applications as: a wrong thing done in a wrong way is wrong, a right thing done in a wrong way is wrong, a wrong thing done in a right way is wrong, and a right thing must always be done in a right way.
The policy of God rationale understands that God's policy is grace. The rationale recognizes that God always deals with us on the basis of grace.
The a fortiori rationale is described in Rom 8:31-32; "Therefore, with reference to these things, to what conclusion are we forced? If God is for us, who shall be against us?
God the Father did not even spare His own Son but delivered Him over to judgment as a substitute for all of us, how shall He not also with Him graciously give us everything?
A fortiori is a Latin prepositional phrase that means "with stronger reason." A fortiori is a system of logic that uses inference and comparison. A fortiori is a comparison of a greater with a lesser difficulty. A fortiori is a system of debate that takes an accepted fact and by comparison produces an inescapable fact.
If God did the most for us at salvation, it follows with stronger reason that He will not withhold the less. The accepted fact is that God the Father judged Jesus Christ on the Cross as a substitute for us.
The inescapable fact is that God graciously gives to us all things. These all things that are less difficult for God to give us are our portfolio of invisible assets and ten problem-solving devices so you can solve every problem you will ever have.
The format of this a fortiori takes the fact of the greater difficulty of the Cross and compares it with the lesser difficulty of graciously giving us all things.
This results in the inescapable conclusion that if God accomplished the greater at the Cross it is obvious that He can accomplish the lesser in the provision for the believer in time and in eternity.
If the greater benefit of the judgment of the Son has been given at salvation, God will not withhold the lesser benefit of grace to the believer. If the most difficult was accomplished at the Cross then it follows with stronger reason and without a doubt that the lesser difficult can be accomplished for every individual believer after salvation.
The application of doctrinal rationales not only results a personal sense of destiny, occupation with the person of Christ, and sharing the perfect tranquility and contentment of God's happiness but it also provides powerful spiritual strength t that can overcome any adversity in life.
Doctrinal rationales begin to circulate in the stream of consciousness as a result of the believer being positive and consistent in the intake of doctrine, which results in spiritual adulthood. The metabolization and application of doctrine requires a true scale of values in which Bible doctrine has number one priority in your life.
The three stages of spiritual adulthood are related to the doctrinal rationales. Spiritual self-esteem is the product of cognitive self- confidence that is developed from the application of doctrinal rationales.
Spiritual autonomy is the product of cognitive independence from the application of doctrinal rationales. Spiritual maturity is the product of the cognitive invincibility that is developed from using doctrinal rationales.
Some verses that describe claiming the doctrinal rationales by faith or having a strong enough faith to apply doctrine to your experience include:
Rom 10:17, "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ."
1Cor 2:16, "We have the thinking of Christ."
2Cor 5:7, "Therefore, we walk by faith and not be sight."
1Cor 2:5, "That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of man but in the power of God."