UBBS 9.8.2021

Tests Prove Who is the Bride (5) (Audio) Enduring the Trial to Receive (2)  For this is Acceptable David Eells - 9/8/21 We have need of patience: Heb. 10:36, ...that, having done the will of God, ye may receive the promise.  Whether you like it or not, the way to get patience is going through trials and we shouldn't think it "a strange thing" when it happens to us. 1Pe 4:12  Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial among you, which cometh upon you to prove you, as though a strange thing happened unto you.  Why should we be so surprised when tribulation comes upon us; when that’s the only way to patience and patience is the only way to endure to receive the manifestation of the promise?  (James 5:10) Take, brethren, for an example of suffering and of patience, the prophets who spake in the name of the Lord.  (11) Behold, we call them blessed that endured: ye have heard of the patience (endurance) of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord, how that the Lord is full of pity, and merciful.  We will see the end of our trial and what the Lord had for Job there.  The patience of Job was what brought the good end that the Lord had for him. He finally got to manifest what God had been calling him to be all along, by faith, and that was perfection. He entered into the veil, spiritually speaking, because of his patience.  Sometimes Job didn’t seem all that patient but considering what he was going through with his tormentors, he had tremendous patience.  His wife was going through the same things and what did she say? (Job 2:9) Dost thou still hold fast thine integrity? renounce God, and die.  She was a good example of those who don’t endure patiently to the end and get angry with God instead.  Job endured through the trials of his faith to be pure and so will all those who end up being chosen for the Bride. Where do we get our vision of what is ours but in the Word of God. There we see what God has promised us and the goal that we are reaching for. Pro 29:18, Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint; But he that keepeth the law, happy is he. We get our hearing from the Word of God. "Faith cometh of hearing and hearing by the Word". Hos. 4:6, My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I also will forget thy children.  God’s people are for the most part spiritually blind and deaf. Isa. 5:12-14, ...but they regard not the work of Jehovah, neither have they considered the operation of his hands. 13 Therefore my people are gone into captivity for lack of knowledge; and their honorable men are famished, and their multitude are parched with thirst. 14 Therefore Sheol hath enlarged its desire, and opened its mouth without measure… Many die before their time. I am alive today because of the Word of God. I believe Job lived in the time of Esau because I found out Eliphaz the Temanite, who persecuted Job lived back in the days of Jacob and Esau. Job said, (Job 2:10) shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?  And of course, God knowing that some people would say that Job spoke falsely there or that was an evil thing for Job to say, the very next verse says, (10) In all this did not Job sin with his lips. He made sure that people understood that what Job said was the truth.  (10) Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?  Evil spirits often administer the curse as chastening to cause people to consider their ways.  Consider 1 Pe. 2:19, "if for conscience toward God a man endureth griefs”?  Suppose you ask God for a healing and yet you don’t see it manifested and you are in pain or you pray over someone else for a healing and you don’t see it manifested and they are in pain, is this okay?  It says, (19) For this is acceptable, if for conscience toward God a man endureth griefs, suffering wrongfully.   You know, you can suffer wrongfully at the hands of men, demons or situations.  Why wrongfully? Because you didn’t necessarily do anything against your conscience to reap what you are going through. Did Job do anything to reap his situation?  It seems obvious to me that he was ignorant of his self-righteous and he later confessed that, but he endured griefs not because he had done wrong. Job was being tried by God on his cross to reveal to his ‘friends’, that they were wrong in telling him that it was because he'd sinned that this had happened to him. But in the New Testament sin is imputed when their is knowledge of it. Jas 4:17  To him therefore that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. God said to his 'friends', that they did not speak rightly of Him as His servant Job had.  Job 42:7 And it was so, that, after Jehovah had spoken these words unto Job, Jehovah said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends; for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath.  They weren’t speaking for God when they said, "Job you sinned, that’s why this came upon you." They weren’t speaking for God because that’s not the reason the trials came upon Job. He suffered griefs but it wasn’t necessarily because he sinned. God wanted to change his heart internally, but, by his actions he was a good and righteous man. So you can do right and you will still go through trials and tribulations. This is not an excuse for willful disobedience, which always has a penalty, but Job wasn't doing that. You know, God chastens every son that He receives;  even the ones that do right. Heb. 12: 4-13, Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin: 5 and ye have forgotten the exhortation which reasoneth with you as with sons, My son, regard not lightly the chastening of the Lord, Nor faint when thou art reproved of him; 6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, And scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 7 It is for chastening that ye endure; God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father chasteneth not? 8 But if ye are without chastening, whereof all have been made partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we had the fathers of our flesh to chasten us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? 10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed good to them; but he for our profit, that we may be partakers of his holiness. 11 All chastening seemeth for the present to be not joyous but grievous; yet afterward it yieldeth peaceable fruit unto them that have been exercised thereby, even the fruit of righteousness. 12 Wherefore lift up the hands that hang down, and the palsied knees; (Meaning don’t be discouraged or depressed because God is chastening your flesh.) 13 and make straight paths for your feet, that that which is lame be not turned out of the way, but rather be healed. (i.e. Buckle down and make sure you’re doing what’s right so you don't get another whuppin.) How do you get chastened sometimes when you do right?  Well, for one thing, you can ask God for something and not immediately see the answer, that’s a chastening. If you ask God to heal you and for a period of time you have to endure a grief, that’s a test of your faith and a chastening.  He chastens every son that he receives because I discovered something about chastening; it not only comes upon those that do wrong but comes upon those that are wrong.  You can be wrong and not do wrong, you can be wrong inside and not submit yourself to the wrong on the outside.  What God is interested in is making us into something that is not wrong. (You want me to say that again? :o)  Look at the command here in 1 Peter 2:20, for what glory is it, if, when ye sin, and are buffeted for it, (there is no glory in sinning and getting buffeted for it. What you get glory for is when you don’t sin and you get chastened.) ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye shall take it patiently.  In other words, it doesn’t make any difference whether you deserve it or not, or if you think you deserve it or not, you are to take it patiently and even thank God.   This is acceptable (or originally ‘grace') with God.  The original word is grace, the translators just didn’t understand how this could possibly be grace but that’s what the word says. 1 Pet. 2:21 For hereunto were ye called (We are called to suffer the crucifixion of our old man.): because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that ye should follow his steps (22) who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: (23) who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously. (So, He was reviled and suffered at the mouth of the wicked and God was judging righteously.)   Is it possible that we weren’t doing wrong, yet we would go through hard things and that it would be God judging righteously? 2 Th. 1:4  so that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions.  Some people really get self-righteous when they go through persecutions or trials because they think that they didn’t do anything wrong, so why would God let this happen to them? The old man is wrong and he cannot enter heaven and must die here.   He is the God of love and He loves us so much that He is going to let things happen to us. 1 Th.1: 4-5  In all your persecutions and in the afflictions which ye endure; (5) which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God; to the end that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer. (You want me to say that again? :o) So it is righteous that God judges us, it is righteous sometimes that God doesn’t give us an immediate answer to our prayers because that’s sometimes part of God’s chastening.  It is not that we aren’t supposed to endure in faith until the end of the trial; that is what we are supposed to do. It doesn’t even matter that we haven’t been perfect, we still endure in faith to the end or there may be no end. We still claim and confess the end at the beginning. That is God’s way. That’s what He has taught us. Whatever you have to go through between here and there, go through it with joy and thanksgiving because it is for the kingdom of heaven that we are suffering for and it is a righteous judgment. Whatever we go through we deserve and need it to bring us into the image of Christ.    So many times people accuse God or question Him because of what they are going through and they give up in the trial of their faith.  Would you consider the suffering that you had suffered between the time you prayed and the time it was manifested worth going through or would you immediately try to escape it?   Some people don’t think you are supposed to endure any grief to see a prayer answered God’s way.  They think, “Oh no, no, you must have missed God somehow, you didn’t get it manifested, you are going through all this pain, go find another solution.”  That’s just not true! I’ve suffered a lot of pain because I decided that I was going to do it God’s way but I’ll tell you it is worth it to stay in the furnace until God says enough.  It is worth it for the patience and for the endurance that grows in your life to see God answer prayers miraculously for a testimony. God attributes righteousness to you for doing it His way. It is so worth it!   Without endurance you don’t see the end and without seeing the end, you don’t get the crown.  God has made it imperative that we agree with Him and with His Word. I’m not saying that you are going to lose your soul if you flounder in your faith but don’t make it a habit, because once God shows you something, He expects fruit from that revelation.  (James 1:12) Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he hath been approved, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to them that love him. (We can only prove that we love Him by obeying His direction.)   You know, one reason that people endure in faith is because they love the Lord. The Bible says the Lord did that himself in Hebrews 12:2, looking unto Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith, (Notice He is the beginner and finisher of our faith, just like Abraham. You can follow Abraham's life and you can see he had a beginning and end to his faith and he became a strong man of faith.) who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising shame, and hath sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  For the joy that is set before us, we should endure the cross and deny ourselves. That is what Jesus explained the cross was to us. Mat. 16:24,  Let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.  What was the joy that Jesus had set before Him that made Him to want to endure the trial of His faith?  He saw that other people were going to be saved because of His sacrifice and example. I think we should have that same goal because others are going to be saved because of our example.   In order for us to be Christ in front of others, we have to go through the trials enduring in our faith. This causes us to be somebody that we would not be otherwise.  That’s what we’ve got to do, in order to influence the people around us, we’ve got to be somebody we aren’t now. We’ve got to be Jesus.  One thing that has helped me endure all the trials of my faith, and to see them as a necessity, is because I can’t preach it unless I’m going to believe it myself.  In the midst of the trials, I’ve got to believe or I can’t preach it.  Paul said in 1 Co. 9:27, but I buffet my body, and bring it into bondage: lest by any means, after that I have preached to others, I myself should be rejected. Jesus endured this trial because He knew that, because of His death many others would be saved.  That is true of every one of us. If we don’t die then we are like that seed that abides alone, but, if we do die then we are going to bring forth much fruit.  One person who has gone through death from their crucifixions and have come into the resurrection life of Christ can do a lot of good in the Kingdom of God. But you can have an entire world full of apostate Christians who don’t believe in living the crucified life and you won’t have any of that. The Church as a whole is a dismal failure. They are useless and fruitless in the Kingdom of God. They put on aires of Christianity but it is a facade.  People often give up in the trials of their faith and endurance because of fear. God said about Moses in Hebrews 11:27, by faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him (God) who is invisible. I wonder why God makes that point? He endured because he saw Him who was invisible, but he didn’t fear the wrath of the king.  Some don't act as though God is there, while others dont want to displease Him. Who does the king represent here? The king is pharaoh and he represents satan, because pharaoh means 'the god', representing the god of this world and his works.  Many people don’t endure to the end of their faith because they have a fear of what might happen. Fear should be treated as the sin that it is. Rev 21:8  But for the fearful, and unbelieving, … their part shall be in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone; which is the second death. Fear  is faith in satan and his works which brings you under the curse. You are not having faith in him who is invisible (God).  Why does it say him who is invisible because God chose the things that are not seen to bring to nothing the things that are seen 1 Cor. 1:27-29, but God chose the foolish things of the world, that he might put to shame them that are wise; and God chose the weak things of the world, that he might put to shame the things that are strong; 28 and the base things of the world, and the things that are despised, did God choose, yea and the things that are not, that he might bring to nought the things that are: 29 that no flesh should glory before God.)   So, God's method is having faith for something we cannot see and not fearing what we do see, the king, satan, or his works in the earth.  Fear causes many people not to endure to the end of their faith to see the manifestation of their promise. 1 Cor. 13:7  talks about love that, "beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things." because "love never fails".  You know, if you love your brethern and you love God then you will die out to yourself, and endure to the end to receive your promise. If you can’t, then you aren’t useful to anybody. Unless you endure in your trials of God’s righteous judgments in your life, then you can’t be useful to God except as a vessel of dishonor. Faith is what pleases God. Heb. 11:6, Without faith it is impossible to be well-pleasing unto him.  If you love God and want to please Him, you will want to endure that trial whether anybody else is looking or not.  Have you ever noticed that, there are some people who can appear to endure a trial and can walk the Christian walk as long as other Christians are around and looking on, but that’s not proof of their love for God.  The proof of your love for God is, can you endure in faith when nobody is looking at you but God.  Have you ever noticed that, there are a lot of Christians like that? If they can’t come and fellowship with the other brethren they are automatically turning back to the worldly ways and methods. Why? Because they were motivated by their fear of man! It wasn’t a motivation based on the fear of God.   If we fear God and we love Him, then it doesn’t matter if other people are looking or not. We will still consider it important to be well-pleasing unto Him and we will still consider it important to walk by faith and come to the end of our trials.  Jas 1:2-4  Count it all joy, my brethren, when ye fall into manifold temptations;  3  knowing that the proving of your faith worketh patience.  4  And let patience have its perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking in nothing. Patience is another way of saying endurance. Notice that patient endurance will bring us to perfection and cause us to be lacking in nothing. That’s powerful! Faith that fizzles out at the finish had a flaw in it from the first. Stubborn endurance in our faith will bring us everything. Jas 1:5-8  But if any of you lacketh wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.  6  But let him ask in faith, nothing doubting: for he that doubteth is like the surge of the sea driven by the wind and tossed.  7  For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord;  8  a double minded man, unstable in all his ways. (When one begins to walk by faith for some need invariably satan comes to accuse them of failure and so robs them of faith to endure. This is where justification by faith will save us from the condemnation of satan. All we have to do is confess our sins. 1Jn 1:9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Then we can continue in faith and so receive our request. When one believes satan’s condemnation they become double minded and cannot receive from God.) One of satan’s main weapons to cause us not to endure to the end is fear. I have heard that God has commanded us to “Fear not” 365 times, one for each day of the year, so He must really mean it. Fear comes when we believe the bad report, just like the 10 spies caused all the Israelites to fear to go and take their Promised Land. Therefore, our warfare is to cast down all of the vain imaginations for God has sent us to take our Promised Land. 2Co 10:3-5  For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh  4  (for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the casting down of strongholds),  5  casting down imaginations, and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. Satan has strongholds of double mindedness and unbelief. Sometimes these are demons that need to be cast out in Jesus’ Name.