So Great Salvation #3
    Perfected Under Pressure

Normally when we discuss salvation, we talk about the moment we received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  Therefore, we often view salvation as a past event that is already taken care of.  We also tend to look at salvation in regards to the future; we talk about how getting to heaven one day and having a new body.  In this particular teaching, we are looking at the day-by-day process of salvation, for salvation is not only the past and the future; salvation is also the present.  Salvation happened the moment we accepted Jesus.  Our physical body will experience salvation the day we receive a resurrection body—when this mortal will put on immortality and this corruptible will put on incorruption.  Salvation encompasses past, present, and future.    

Your spirit was saved at the moment of salvation.  Your body will one day be saved when you receive a resurrection body.  Your soul is saved through a day-by-day process.  James talks about the saving of your soul—a growing, daily process where your thought life becomes surrounded by the Word of God.  We begin to think heavenly thoughts.  Our thoughts are lined up with the Word of God; this is where our daily success comes.  God saved us to make us a daily success, not just so we can look back on our past and say, “What a great day it was when we were saved,” or just to look forward to the future and say, “What a great day it will be when we will be saved in our physical body.”  God wants to know that we are walking and growing in salvation each and every day.

Perhaps you have been in churches that tried to relive the past.  You talked about how great it was in the 30’s and 40’s and about the outpouring of the healing movements in the late 40’s and early 50’s.  Perhaps you have been in churches where they glorified the Charismatic Movement.  Those things were wonderful, but how many of you know the God who did it before can do it again today?  Others say, “Well, you know, thank God I was saved years ago.  I spoke in tongues 15 years ago, and one day I’ll get to heaven.  Won’t that be great?”  It will be great when we get to heaven, but some people are looking at the great past and the great future and they view themselves as being trapped in the present.  God doesn’t want us to look at it that way.  He wants us to see that every day is a day to grow in the things of God. 

So Great Salvation

Hebrews 2:2-3 states:  “For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward; How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first begun to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him.” 

This verse tells us that “so great salvation” began with the Lord Jesus Christ.  What we have from the time of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to the earth is called “so great salvation.”  This doesn’t mean Old Testament believers didn’t have salvation.  Abraham was saved.  David was saved.  Heroes of the Old Testament were saved, but they did not have what this verse of scripture calls “so great salvation.”  God has blessed us so much.  We often talk about being saved—how we’re righteous and saved, how we’re holy and saved, and how we’re blessed; but we also have to point out that we were saved from something.  Had we not been in sin, there would have been no reason.  Therefore, we have to realize that we have been saved from sin, one day we will be saved from sin, and daily we are being saved from sin.  The sin we were saved from when we became born again was the sin that kept us from eternal life.  The moment we accepted Jesus, our sins were forgiven and we received eternal life.  One day we will have a resurrection body.  The source of sin, which is the nature of the flesh, will be gone.   Each day God operates a saving process in our life where we are saved from daily sin, the corruption that is around us.  This process comes by a close walk with the Holy Spirit and especially by the intake of the Word of God.  “Thy Word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against God.”

Second Peter 1 tells us these exceeding, great and precious promises are given unto us, that by them we might be partakers of the divine nature and escape the corruption that is in the world through lust.  These promises of God are given to us for daily salvation.  The blood was given to us for our salvation initially; one day the Rapture, the resurrection of the Church, will come, and we will be saved from the source of sin at that time—the nature of the flesh.  God has saved us from the power of sin; He’s given us the New Birth that’s on the inside of us, which is our power over sin.

Pressure, Trials, and Persecutions

We receive sanctification and perfection in the Lord Jesus Christ day by day and it comes through pressure.  Isn’t it strange that when we became born again, God left us in an evil world?  The world is not only evil, it carries a curse in it. And not only did God leave us in a cursed world, He actually left part of the curse in us, specifically in our physical body; that curse is the nature of the flesh.  God had a reason for it.  Our perfection, strength, and growth come through pressures we face each and every day.  Pressure does not make you great.  Pressure does not make you strong.  It’s how you act in the pressure that makes you strong.  It’s the Word you use in the pressure that makes you strong.  It’s the weapons you use in that pressure that make you strong.  Some people say, “Tribulations make you strong.”  Satan is the author of all the tribulations and trials that come our way.  If tribulation makes you strong, then Satan is the author of our strength.  That’s not true.  That’s blasphemy.  Satan is the author of tribulations.  He wants to destroy us.  God wants us to use His weapons from His Word to overcome those tribulations that come against us.  Overcoming tribulation is how we become strong and mature. 

God has left us in this evil world with superior weapons.  We had incredible weapons during the war in Iraq.  The soldiers didn’t know how good those weapons were until they got into battle.  That is when they found out how great their weapons were and how lousy the enemy’s weapons were.  Scuds, patriots, and smart bombs took on a whole new meaning during that war.  That’s what it’s like in the Christian life.  Our weapons are so superior to the weapons of Satan, but you don’t know it until you’re in the midst of a battle.  We could simply talk or read about weapons, but the weapons God has given to us are to be used.  In battle, our strength is seen and our character developed. 

The reason I’m bringing this up is because most Christians do not like pressure and trials; and, of course, none of us are saying, “Hey, I’m glad when trials come along,” because none of us are; but different Christians have different attitudes towards trials.  Some pray the trials will never come.  That is a wasted prayer for us to pray because trials will come.  Jesus said in this world we will have trouble and tribulation.  He also commanded us to be of good cheer because He has overcome the world.  He’s telling us that we will face problems.  He said if they persecuted Him, they will persecute us.

Paul told us that those who will live godly will suffer persecution, but often times Christians don’t like persecution, so they pray it never comes.  When it does come, they try to take a crash course in the Word of God and learn it all overnight.  About the time God brings them through it, they think, “Oh, I’m glad that’s over.”   Then they lay the Word aside, and we don’t see them at church until problems erupt in their life again.  Do you know why?  Because when there are no real problems or pressures in their life, they decide church is not necessary.  Instead, they’ll go out to a movie; they’ll go out to eat; they’ll have a night of pleasure and think to themselves, “That’s all right.  We can go to church on Sunday and buy a tape of the sermon from Wednesday night.”  What they don’t realize is they’ll put it with the stack of tapes from all the Wednesday night services they still haven’t listened to because somehow it makes them feel good to buy the tape.  They just never plug it in and listen to it.  Tapes are nice but they never take the place of being in the church service.  There is an anointing that is present in a church service that you just can’t experience by listening to a tape.  Oh, there’s an anointing on tape, and you can certainly learn from it, but tapes are like leftovers of a meal.  Leftovers taste great, but it is much better to be at Thanksgiving dinner to actually have the freshly roasted turkey and enjoy the fellowship around the table rather than to have a turkey sandwich later.  That cassette tape is like a Wednesday night sandwich after the service is over.  It will give you a taste of the service, but there’s nothing like actually being there. 

The Time to Prepare is Before the Trial

This brings up another important principle.  The time to prepare for the trouble that will come is during the time when you are not experiencing trouble.  Why is this so important?  Because you’re not under pressure to take notes.  You’re not sitting in a church service, feverishly taking notes, saying, “I’ve got to remember that…got to remember that.  I’ve got to go home and apply that…and apply that.” 

One of the worst times to try to take in the Word of God is when you’re in the middle of a trial.  It is much better to study the Word of God, pray over it, pray in the Spirit, receive it, and let it come into your heart; then when you need it, God will bring it to the surface.  Most of you remember that the things you crammed for in college you forgot two or three days later.  God wants you to do as it says in Proverbs 6, “Go to the ant you sluggard…that prepares for the winter during the summer.”   The ant stores up during the summer for the winter that is coming.  For those of you who have no pressures or problems in your life at the moment, life is great.  It is like the summer, when things are nice. But you knowwinter will come.  As surely as there is a devil out there, winter will come.  As surely as there is a devil out there, he is forming a weapon against you.  The Bible does not say the devil won’t form weapons.  It says the weapons won’t prosper. However, some are praying for Satan to lose the invention rights to those weapons so he cannot form a weapon against you.  You’re praying Satan loses the instructions on how to make a weapon. Somehow your name got misfiled, deleted from his computer, and he doesn’t know you exist, or you’re the one person he won’t attack. Nothing could be further from the truth.  He knows you.  On top of that, if you’re a born- again, Spirit-filled, tongue-talking Christian, your name is at the top of the list.  He’s aiming for you.  Now is the time to take in the Word of God, write it down, pray over it and hide His Word in your heart, so when trouble comes, the Holy Spirit can bring what is in your heart to your remembrance.

Four Types of Ground

Mark 4 deals with the sower, the seed, and the four different types of ground.  There is hard ground—those who don’t listen to the Word of God.  There is stony ground—those who get easily offended because they are ruled by their emotions.  Everything offends them.  They’re always mad at people and always judging people.  The third type is the thorny ground. Thorns are actually the cares of this world and the necessities of life.  These are the people who are blessed and prosperous.  There are no pressures in their life.  They’re not offended.  These people come to church, but there are thorns in their life.  The thorns represent the fact that because they are blessed and prospered, their priorities get turned around.  These are the people who don’t come back to church for a season because they are spending their money on something new or doing all the different things they do.  The Bible doesn’t say what they are doing is a sin, but when it stands in the way of coming to church and putting the Word of God into your life, these things become thorns.  Mark 4 warns us about allowing the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things to enter in and choke the Word so it is unfruitful in our lives.

I’ve always told ministers to never preach to the empty seats.  Preach to the full ones.  If you preach to the empty seats, the full ones get mad after a time and they won’t come back.  There will always be those who you think should be attending church, but it is their own decision. Often, when those people run into trouble, they come back and want a counseling course.  They want the pastor to recap the sermons for the past six months in ten minutes, hand it to them, and get them built back up.  Thank God for counseling, but counseling is not designed to replace the need for coming to church.  You’re supposed to come to church, receive the Word of God, and be exhorted in the things of God.

The Word System

The world is evil.  When I talk about the world, I’m not talking about the planet.  I’m talking about the world’s system. Maybe you have experienced driving into a town where you could sense either demonic activity or spiritual activity.  When you travel to different places around the world, you can sense the spiritual atmosphere.  We can make an impact on the world’s system, but we will never change it entirely.  God has never asked us to do that.  God never asked you to change the world.  God has asked you to change your world, your neighborhood, your house, and the place you work—to sanctify it by your presence.  The Bible says the house can be sanctified by a mate who trusts in God and make that house a place of blessing.  You affect your world, but the world itself is evil and under evil control because Satan is the god of this world.

Although the world is under the control of evil, it will not be forever.  Every day we live, we are one day closer to evil being removed from the earth.  Satan, the author of the evil, will be removed.  In Galatians 1:3-4, Paul says, “Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God our Father.”  The Greek literally says, “Who gave himself in exchange for our sins.” 

Not only did God desire to save us, but also to deliver us from this present evil world.  God’s desire is not just to get us born again.  His wants to deliver us daily from this present evil world.  He wants those of us who have been saved to move into the process of sanctification where we are saved from this present, evil world. 

“Present, evil world” is a great phrase to study.  First of all, this is an evil world because Satan is the god of this world.  He is presently the ruler over this world.  One day, Jesus Christ will come and remove him.  People often wonder, “Well, I thought the earth was the Lord’s and the fullness thereof?”  That’s true.  The earth belongs to the Lord, but the system is under the control of Satan himself.  The whole earth is like a building owned by God, and Satan is like an evil tenant.  He doesn’t own the apartment.  He just trashed the one he’s in.  The good news is his lease is coming up soon, and God won’t renew it.  When the lease comes due, Satan is going to be cast out of this place and God is going to come clean up this planet.  It will take awhile to do it, but He’s going to clean up the mess Satan has left.  Jesus will come back and remove sin and death—all the trash Satan has used to pollute this planet with for so many years. Not only does God want to save us in our lifetime, He wants to deliver us out of this evil present evil world.

Notice, it’s not only an evil world; it’s called a present evil world. This tells us the evil in the world is only temporary.  Satan’s days are numbered.  God did not take us out of this world. We have been left in a world that is under a curse.  First John 5:19 says the whole world lies in wickedness.  There is nothing redeeming in the world.  You say, “Yes, but people in the world do good deeds and there are good things out there in the world.”  The world imitates divine good, but it is only an imitation.  The world can only produce good from their flesh, and in the flesh dwells no good thing.  God doesn’t want human good in this earth.  He wants divine good backed by the Holy Spirit and a recreated spirit.  That is what God desires—divine good to be done. 

First John 2:16 says, “For all that is in the world is not of the Father.”   Not only is the whole world lying in wickedness, not everything in this world comes from the Father.  The planet and creation do come from the Father, but the world’s system is backed by Satan and nothing of this world system comes from the Father.  God’s desire is for us to be in this world, but not of it.  God has left us here so we can make a difference in a world that still has a curse.

Many Are the Afflictions of the Righteous

The world is lying in wickedness.  We are born again.  The world is under Satan’s control.  We are under God’s control.  Those who are in the world are children of Satan.  We are children of God.  Therefore, Satan targets us.  He wants to throw his darts at us and bring persecution and trials against us.  Romans 8:22 says, “For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now.”  That’s the curse that’s in this earth.  Verse 23 says, “And not only they, but ourselves also which have the first fruits of the Spirit.”  The firstfruits of the Spirit is the new birth. 

Notice, even though we’re born again, we groan and we travail.  We groan and travail because of the pressure we’re under every day.  Although pressure and trouble causes us to groan, we have great anticipation that God will bring us through.  I’m sure you have experienced times when the pressure is so great that it left you groaning.  But we can be filled with joy because we know weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.  We know God is going to bring us through. 

Why does pressure comes against us?  Because we are in the devil’s world and Satan has targeted us.  The good news is, even if Satan and all of hell came against you, you are greater than all of it put together because the Greater One dwells inside you.  The Bible never guarantees Satan won’t attack you or trouble won’t come your way.  It guarantees that you will come through because God will deliver you. 

He promised He would be with you.  “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.”  He promised us we’ll be more than conquerors, but keep in mind, a conqueror goes to battle.  To be more than a conqueror requires going into battle, but we come back victorious every single time.  Just as Jesus, Paul, and Peter faced afflictions, we face afflictions.  This verse says that born again people are not exempt from problems.  Even we groan within ourselves waiting for the adoption that is the redemption of our body.  Until the time we either receive a resurrection body or we die, we are going to be under the pressures of this world, and trials and troubles will come against us.

Our desire is to have a good rapport with the world.  We want to have good rapport with the press, the city and others in positions of authority or influence.  It’s nice to have it, and yes, God does give favor.  Jesus increased in favor with God and man. But don’t build your life on favor with people.  Build your life on favor with God, because your favor with God will never change, but your favor with the world will change from day to day.  One minute they like you; the next minute they despise you.  However, God always has His favor toward you.  You follow after Him and the favor of men will result, but you can’t build your life on the favor of men.  Even Jesus was loved at times and hated at times.  Paul was loved at times and hated at times.  The same happened to the other disciples.  Even though Jesus increased in stature and in favor with God and man, the favor with man would change from day to day.  Again, we groan.

Storms Don’t Last Forever

Second Corinthians 5:2 says, “For in this, that’s in this body, we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven.”  This verse reiterates that we’re going to groan in this physical body.  We’re going to have pressures and trials.  There are going to be days we ask why it keeps on going;  days when we face confusion;  days we don’t know why things are happening to us.  But we know it is Satan.  We may not know where it’s coming from or exactly what caused it, but we know God’s going to bring us out.  God is going to deliver us. 

Remember to focus on the eternal view of the pressures and trials.  While we’re in the midst of trials, it seems like we’re surrounded by them.  We can’t see the forest for the trees.  You may be under incredible financial pressure, marital pressure, or great family pressures.  You may have been talked about by relatives or friends.  You may have lost friends because of gossip.  We could go down a list of great pressures and trials you might be under, but we’re going to find out that none of those things that come against you are unique.  There’s nothing that can come against you that hasn’t come against others.  Sometimes it leaves us wondering how long it will last.  When we’re in the midst of it, we say, “Lord, I thought I’d be out of it by now.  It’s been a month.  How long is this going to go on?  Lord, it’s been a year.  Lord, it’s been five years.”  We begin to look at it from our own viewpoint or from our own time period.  God says that’s not the way to look at trials. 

Second Corinthians 4:7 shows us the way we should look at trials:  “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.”  It says you’re going to get hit on every side, but even though we are troubled on every side, we are not distressed.  Are you in trouble right now?  Don’t be distressed.  Trouble only lasts for awhile.  Your deliverance will come.  God will bring you through.  Let me give you an example.  We have severe storms in Oklahoma.  We have huge tornadoes in Oklahoma, but they don’t last forever.  Sometimes it seems like they will last forever.  At times, it seems every time we turn around there is another tornado.  Once, they reported 108 tornadoes across the Midwest in one week.  That’s a record number.  They talked about the record number, but I don’t care how big the record is, they don’t last forever.  I don’t care how many trials have attacked you in the past year.  You might think you’re setting records for trials.  You might think you’re setting records for tribulations and trouble, but don’t be disturbed.  Why?  God is going to bring you through.  We have to look past the trial on the other side and realize the Lord is going to bring us through. 

Jesus gave us the same promise He gave to the disciples—we are going to the other side.  You can count on it.  There’s going to be storms between this side and that side but the good news is He said, “Let’s go to the other side.”  Set your sights on the other side.  What are you going to do on the other side?  What are you going to do when your finances come through?  What are you going to do when your healing comes through?  What are you going to do when your family problems come to an end?  Begin to plan on that “other side” because God said He would bring you safely to the other side. 

Second Corinthians says that we are troubled on every side but are not distressed.  We are perplexed, but we are not in despair.  Are times you are perplexed?  I can answer “yes” to that question.  You say, “But you’re the pastor.”  My answer is still YES!

 I may be the pastor, but there are times as a pastor I am perplexed.  You say, “Yes, but you’re the pastor.  You’re supposed to know a lot about the Word.”  I don’t know as much as Paul did and he wrote this verse.  Paul said there were times he was perplexed.  Perplexed means confused.  There are times when attacks come at you, you say, “Wait a minute.  Wait a minute.  Where did this come from?  Who started this?  Who started all this gossip?  I’ll wring their neck!  Who started all these rumors?”  All of the sudden you think, “Where have I been?  Am I stupid or something?  How long has this been going on?  I’m just now finding out about it?  Everybody else knows but me?”  You go down the list.  After awhile you’re perplexed, but notice it says even though you are perplexed, you are not in despair.  What that means is you may be perplexed for the moment, but you are going to come out of this thing victorious.  You may be perplexed, but God is not perplexed.  God is never perplexed.  You will never pray to God and hear Him answer, “I’m confused.  Ask me later.”  That will never happen.  God’s not confused.  We are the ones who get confused.  Take comfort in the fact He’s not confused or perplexed.  He’s going to bring you through.
 

Persecution Will Not Prevail

Never make a decision when you’re confused.  One of the worst things you can do is make a decision in the midst of confusion.  When you we confused or perplexed, sit down and wait for the fog to clear.  Wait for the smoke to clear.  Wait for the dust to clear.  Wait until you know God has spoken to your heart, you have a scripture to stand on, and you can see your way out of it.  Pray in tongues.  The best time to pray in tongues is when you’re in perplexing times.  When you know not what to pray as you ought, pray in the spirit and wait for that revelation of the Holy Spirit to come.  When it comes, you can shout and rejoice that God is going to bring you through.  Yes, there are times we are perplexed, but we are not in despair.

Second Corinthians 4:9 speaks of being persecuted but not forsaken.  The word “persecuted” actually talks about people forsaking you, but God never will forsake you.  Persecution sometimes comes from your best friends—those that you least suspect—but the good news is you are never forsaken.  God is always with you. 

This verse s also says we are cast down but not destroyed.  To be cast down means we’ve been knocked down to the ground, but we keep getting up.  Proverbs says a just man falls seven times, but he gets right back up.  It also says the unrighteous falls and is destroyed.  We may get knocked down, but we’re never destroyed.  While we’re on this earth, we will be troubled; we will be perplexed; we will be persecuted;  and we will be cast down.  The good news is, we’re not distressed; we’re not in despair; we’re not forsaken; and we’re not destroyed.  Therefore, we have a victorious future.  This is God’s promise to us.

God Wants to be Glorified in Your Life

Second Corinthians 4:16 says, “For which cause, that is God’s glory [God receiving glory through our life], we faint not.”  The word ‘faint’ means “don’t give up.”  We could say it this way:  “For which cause I don’t give up, because when I don’t give up, God gets glory out of my life.  I may be perplexed, but God’s still going to get glory out of my life.  I may be knocked down, but I get back up.  God’s still going to get glory out of my life.  God gets glory out of my life because I keep increasing in strength and increasing in faith.  As I increase in faith, God receives glory.  Romans 4 says Abraham increased in faith, grew strong in faith, giving glory to God.  Continue walking in the promises of God day by day.  There are some days when it takes everything you have to put one foot in front of another.  You put one foot in front of another because all you know is God is faithful. God is faithful.  No matter what it feels like, God is faithful!  God’s faithful!  No matter what it looks like, God is faithful!  God’s faithful!  No matter what the doctor’s report says, you’re not moved by what you hear because God is faithful!  God is faithful!  God is faithful!  You put one foot in front of another, and God gets glory out of that!  He looks at me and says, “Oooh, I like that!  He’s clinging to My Word!  He’s so dependent on My Word—whether he feels like it or not, whether it looks like it or not, no matter how many people are talking about it, no matter what pressures are coming against him, he keeps standing.”  “For which cause we don’t give up, but though our outward man perish yet the inward man is renewed day by day.” (2 Corinthians 4:16)

Your outward man perishes; it gets older. But there are a few marks and wrinkles on you that didn’t come by age—they came by the pressures you have come through.  I have seen people go through extremely difficult times, and their hair color changes.  Gray hair not only results from growing older; it can happen because of sudden trials and extremely difficult times.  Sometimes you know people must have had a hard life because it shows on them.  There are times you might look in the mirror and say, “Whoa!  Where’d that come from?”  This verse says it’s going to happen to your body.  This isn’t talking about sickness.  God has redeemed us from sickness, but He hasn’t redeemed us from getting old or having marks on our bodies from the pressures and trials and troubles we have gone through. 

Paul talked about the marks on his body he suffered at the hands of other people.  Paul is an excellent example of this verse, that though the outward man is perishing, the inward man is renewed day by day.  It’s okay to try to keep the outward man as young as you can, but there comes a point where you might as well just give up.  God’s going to give you a new body one day anyway.  Hallelujah! 

God Will Bring You Through

How is the inward man renewed?  By the Word of God and fellowship with the Holy Spirit.  Second Corinthians 4:17 says, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment…”   Whoa!  Light affliction!  You might be thinking to yourself, “Do you want to carry what I’m carrying, Pastor?  But for a moment!  It’s been five years!!!”  However, verse 17 is looking at the affliction in the light of eternity.  What is five years when you’ve been in heaven for four billion years?  You’re going to look back on those five years like they were a vapor.  Your whole life is compared to a vapor that appears for a very brief moment and then vanishes away.  During that time called a vapor, there’s a little brief moment  you went through called a problem.  We tend to get caught up in that moment of a problem.  This verse says we are not to do that.  If you’ll stand back and look at all of your problems in the light of God’s Word and promises, you will realize you can carry it.  The Holy Spirit is with you.  You may have prayed for this problem to be taken away, but just like when Paul prayed for his thorn in the flesh to be taken away, God kept saying, “No, no, My grace is sufficient.  I’m right there with you, Paul.  Through the pressures, trials, and troubles you’re enduring, and the things people have come against you with, I’m right there with you in the midst of it all.  I’ll bring you through.” 

Quit looking at your load in comparison to yourself.  Look at your load in comparison to the Holy Spirit and realize it’s a light affliction.  No matter how long your problem may hang around, it’s only for the moment.  In the meantime, put your trust in God.  Verse 17 goes on to say, “that your light affliction, which is but for a moment, works for you.”  You thought your problems were working against you.  No.  When you follow the Word of God, your problems work for you.  Imagine fighting the Iraqis, and they suddenly give up and run over to your side, pull out their guns, and start shooting with you.  Imagine the problems of life turning around and working with you, fighting on your side.  The problem you are facing now seems to be so horrendous, but one day, instead of being a stumbling block, it will become a stepping stone and actually work together for your good according to Romans 8:28. 

This is not for every Christian.  It is for the one that follows the Lord, walks by His Word, and prays in the Spirit.  It is for the one who knows how to trust in the Lord, knows how to trust in the promises, and daily puts his faith and trust in God.  Verse 17 continues to say that our light afflictions work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.  The glory I’m going to receive far outweighs the pressures I’m going through right now.  Hallelujah! 

Verse 18 tells us how all of this comes to pass.  “While we look not at the things which are seen….”  The things which are seen are the trials, the troubles, and the pressures.  Get your eyes off those things that are seen and look at the things which are not seen.  The things which are not seen are the promises of God and the walk of faith.  The inward eye of faith knows I’m going to be delivered though the physical eye cannot see it.  I’m going to start looking forward to that deliverance.  These eyes can’t see it, but I know it’s going to come to pass down here because God promised it.  The verse continues, “…for the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”  We need to keep our eyes on the eternal things of God.  The walk of faith looks beyond the trouble to the glory of God that will be revealed on the other side, realizing the glory that will be revealed far outweighs the troubles and trials we face today.

The Results of Tribulation

Tribulation is necessary for sanctification.  God does not send tribulation, but it is necessary for your sanctification.  Tribulation comes from Satan.  Satan’s desire is to destroy us through tribulation, but God’s desire is to preserve and improve us through the tribulation.  God’s weapons are proven in tribulation, in combat with Satan, and in combat with circumstances.  Tribulation is necessary, not only for sanctification, but also for spiritual growth.  If there was no tribulation and no demonic attack, there would be nothing to use our weapons against.  If there was no war, there would be nothing to use our preparation and our training against.  God doesn’t want the Christian life to be training alone.  He wants us to be able to use our training.  He doesn’t want us to just stare at the weapons and realize they are nice.  He plans on us using them, and He plans on us being victorious.

Patience is a positive product that comes from tribulation.  Romans 5:3 says,“we glory in tribulations also knowing that tribulation works patience.”  Through tribulation, we get patience.  A minister friend of mine once told me of a man who came to his prayer line.  The man asked the minister to pray he would receive patience.  The minister replied, “Well, I’m going to have to pray for tribulation.”  That was a shocker.  The man said, “Why?”  He answered, “Because that is the only way patience comes.  Patience comes in tribulation.”  What good is patience if there is nothing to be patient about?  This verse says the tribulation and troubles around us will actually cause patience to come to the surface.  James 1:2-3 says, “Count it all joy when you fall into different types of trials knowing that the trying of your faith works patience.”

Another similar Scripture is Ephesians 6:10-11 which states, “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.”  How do you become strong?  It says to be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.  Put on the whole armor of God.  This verse tells us that in order to be strong in the Lord, you have to go to battle.  It didn’t say to sit down and do nothing!  It says there is a time every day when you get up and put that armor on, knowing there is going to be a battle.  Some days have bigger battles than others.  Other days it seems like we don’t have much of a battle at all, but there are always mental battles.  There are always battles with the lusts of the world and the lusts of the flesh.  There are always demonic forces working in the earth.  It may not be a direct attack against you, but whether or not Satan or his demons are present, there are always lusts in the world.  Every day is a battle. How do you become strong in the Lord in order to win that battle?  Put on the armor of God that you maybe able to stand against the wiles or the strategies of the devil. 

First Peter 5:10 is a powerful verse listing what you receive through trials and tribulations:  “But the God of all grace, who has called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus after you have suffered for awhile.”  Some of you would probably like to scratch out that phrase because you don’t like it.  Notice, it didn’t say “before” you suffered; it says “after” you suffered.  Look what we get afterwards:  “…after you have suffered for a while, make you mature, stabilize you, strengthen you, and make you steadfast.”  Did you catch that?  There are four results of coming through trials, but they come after you have suffered a while.

 Two important words are attached to suffered—“a while.”  It doesn’t say ‘forever.’  The trials and sufferings that come along only come for a while, but what happens after that trial is over?  What happens after the suffering is over?  It says here you become perfect—that’s mature.  Next, you become established—that’s stabilized.  Next, you become empowered or strengthened.  The last thing it says is it will settle you—that means you become steadfast.  Look at all the great things that happen when you come through problems and trials and don’t give up, faint, or throw in the towel.  Every day put one foot in front of another, give God all the glory, and decide you’re not going to give up.  Decide that you are going to follow Jesus through this thing.  He’s going to bring you through, and when He brings you through, you’re going to be stronger, more stable, steadfast, and empowered.  Glory to God!  When Satan attacks you the next time, you’re going to be a giant, greater than ever!

Copyright 2007 by Bob Yandian Ministries.
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