13)
Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and
peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy
Ghost.
14)
And I myself also am persuaded of you, my
brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able
also to admonish one another.
15)
Nevertheless, brethren, I have written the
more boldly unto you in some sort, as putting you in mind, because of the grace
that is given to me of God,
16)
That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ
to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that
the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the
Holy Ghost.
|
I |
t is through the anointing that we come to understand what is “true,” therefore, those desiring to come to an understanding of the things of God, but who have no Holy Ghost, have a “problem.”
By
now, we should have a clear understanding that, at best, it is “confusing” for
one to try to understand spiritual things with the natural mind. In truth, this
is a waste of time and should not be attempted. When it is, most often it is a
“testimony” to the attempt of Man to try to gain his own understanding of
things spiritual. If he could master what “belongs” to God, he would feel as if
he has “earned” his “credit.”
The
Lord appears to be launching an “all-out” effort to get the redeemed to a point
of humility. This was, of course, a “hallmark” of the personality of Jesus
Christ and as such, is indispensable in the life of one who would be identified
with Him. It seems so hard to attain because it requires one to forsake his
fleshly attitude and submit to the infilling of the Holy Ghost, baptism and
instruction.
It
is only through the indwelling of the Holy Ghost that we are able to be
“sanctified” (that is, “set apart”), as we must be to be able to make it
into the Kingdom of God. Most often, it seems that we forget that after the
“infilling,” we no longer belong to ourselves. You see, this is a blessing of
sanctification. Before we come to the Lord, we are responsible for ourselves
with no one to help us. By setting us apart, we have the opportunity to escape
the distraction of a World preoccupied with itself and its preservation.
The
World prides itself on operating by the “trial-and-error” method. Problems is,
that while we are “trying” and “erring” in things, we might lead someone astray
or worse yet, our lives might be required. A large part of the error in this
thinking is that trial-and-error must cease after salvation for the
simple reason that once we are set apart to serve God, we cannot go back
to what we once were. At the very least, it is counterproductive and counter
productivity robs one of his usefulness to the Lord. We know from the example
of the fig tree that which does not produce as God expects, is useless
to Him.
If
we as the people of God will survive, we must come to the understanding that
what God requires must be done because it is, indeed, the “right” thing to do. Most
of us do what we do not for this reason, but because we feel like
doing it. So, what if Jesus had not felt like doing what He was required
to do? Who would have been found to provide us salvation? Yes, we are told to
examine the life of Jesus all of the time, but how seriously do we take the
admonition? We may think it childish or foolish, but how else can a “clone”
gain the “personality” of its “original?”
Sanctification
is something that we must have in order to be acceptable t the Lord. If is not a “debatable” requirement. The Lord must
have a means of controlling us, for on our own, we are bent upon doing
what is right in our own eyes. So you see, the
Holy Ghost is not so much for our use as it is for our making.
There
should be no such ting as a depressed, downcast, hopeless saint, for when the
Holy Ghost comes in, He injects hope into an otherwise
hopeless situation. It is expected that one without the Holy Ghost will
be one without joy, for He is the definition of joy. It is neither expected,
not acceptable that the redeemed of God be downcast. We receive the Lord,
receive His joy and blessings, yet are unwilling to
suffer any “discomfort.” Even scripture questions us as to whether we will
receive blessings at the hand of the Lord, yet be unwilling to receive
“cursing.” Simply put, how do we dare to accept His benevolence, yet complain
at His testing!
One
of the biggest problems that the saints of God allow themselves comes from the
“lies” that they accept. Namely, as we look back on the early days of our
salvation, we seem to “remember” that “things” were “fine.” Somewhere along the
line, things “changed.” In a word, this is a lie. You see, it is no
specific event or events at issue, but rather, the state of our minds after
salvation. For a while, we did “fine.” Why, Because we
put things into the hands of the Lord. As long as we were doing this, we could
focus upon the Lord and remain happy. Once we allow our focus to be pulled away
from the God, we “see” all of the things that the Lord has already “fixed.”
Now, because it is the devil who profits from this
change of focus, it is his “view” that he imparts to us. Therefore, it is not
that things have changed, but rather, we view things differently.
Sometimes,
it is we who secretly expected things to go a certain way. So, when as they
did not, and we did not give things to the Lord, infraction built upon infraction,
hurt upon hurt and we end up with a problem. Do you know how we accept “problems?”
By believing that we have a “right” to take things personally.
It will bring us “down to size” to realize that God is neither dependent upon,
nor waiting for a man or a woman to believe Him. We can indulge ourselves
in our problem if we wish, but we will not be coddled by the Lord. We can
be happy and we can feel “important”—but only by submitting ourselves
to the Lord.