Understanding Sore Places 5/26/2024

Background

· Paul has been under attack and by false apostles and has endured much criticism by those who question his bravado and personal charisma.

· I believe deeply that Paul would not have been accepted in many popular Christian movements of the past 50 years. I also believe it is doubtful that he would have accepted many movements without severely correcting those who have claimed to labor in his name.

· I have come to a settled realization that God is at war. Our warring God will eventually take on and defeat all enemies — but God is at war RIGHT NOW with ARROGANCE AND SELF-RELIANCE within the hearts and structures of His own people.

· Shuttered windows-some due to apostasy, but everyone I have seen shuttered is due not to doctrinal error, but to arrogance and spiritual pride.

· Saul of Tarsus - amazing revelations, that had to be tempered with humility.

· King Saul of Benjamin never let the humility process in his own life, and his success became toxic in his soul.


1 Samuel 15:1-34 NKJV Samuel also said to Saul, “The Lord sent me to anoint you king over His people, over Israel. Now therefore, heed the voice of the words of the Lord. 2 Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt. 3 Now go and attack[a] Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’ ” 4 So Saul gathered the people together and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men of Judah. 5 And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and lay in wait in the valley. 6 Then Saul said to the Kenites, “Go, depart, get down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them. For you showed kindness to all the children of Israel when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. 7 And Saul attacked the Amalekites, from Havilah all the way to Shur, which is east of Egypt. 8 He also took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. 9 But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed. 10 Now the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying, 11 “I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not performed My commandments.” And it grieved Samuel, and he cried out to the Lord all night. 12 So when Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul, it was told Samuel, saying, “Saul went to Carmel, and indeed, he set up a monument for himself; and he has gone on around, passed by, and gone down to Gilgal.” 13 Then Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed are you of the Lord! I have performed the commandment of the Lord.” 14 But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?” 15 And Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, to sacrifice to the Lord your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.” 16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Be quiet! And I will tell you what the Lord said to me last night.” And he said to him, “Speak on.” 17 So Samuel said, “When you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel? And did not the Lord anoint you king over Israel? 18 Now the Lord sent you on a mission, and said, ‘Go, and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ 19 Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you swoop down on the spoil, and do evil in the sight of the Lord?” 20 And Saul said to Samuel, “But I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. 21 But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.” 22 So Samuel said: “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king.” 24 Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. 25 Now therefore, please pardon my sin, and return with me, that I may worship the Lord.” 26 But Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you, for you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.” 27 And as Samuel turned around to go away, Saul seized the edge of his robe, and it tore. 28 So Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you. 29 And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor relent. For He is not a man, that He should relent.” 30 Then he said, “I have sinned; yet honor me now, please, before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, that I may worship the Lord your God.” 31 So Samuel turned back after Saul, and Saul worshiped the Lord. 32 Then Samuel said, “Bring Agag king of the Amalekites here to me.” So Agag came to him cautiously. And Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.” 33 But Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal. 34 Then Samuel went to Ramah, and Saul went up to his house at Gibeah of Saul. 35 And Samuel went no more to see Saul until the day of his death. Nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul, and the Lord regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.

2 Corinthians 12:1-10 NIV I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. 3 And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows— 4 was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell. 5 I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. 6 Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, 7 or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.




This message, of necessity, must be presented in two parts.

#1. The Principle of Brokenness in God’s Kingdom


#2. The Principle of allowing God to break you in the right places

· (Cliff, you are healing, but for you to heal correctly, I have to undue the healing your own body has started because it doesn’t realize you were broken in the wrong places. In FACT, YOU HAVE FEW CLEAN BREAKS IN YOUR ARMS. THEY WERE SHATTERED. Yes it will be painful, but you will be broken in the right places so you can heal the right way.)

· Star Trek: The Menagerie (Spock, the Talosians, Vina, and Captain Pike)



Christian Life Lessons

1. Warning: Life in The Spirit will often take you into hidden places. Sometimes high, sometimes low, always lonely.

· Jesus was led by The Spirit into the Wilderness.

· Jesus withdrew from the crowds for appointments with the Father.

· Moses was a resident as well.

· Elijah resolved life there.

· David learned to rule there.

· Dwight Eisenhower - “I wouldn’t want a pastor who could not look me in the eyes and say, ‘I’m sorry Mr. President. I have an appointment today I cannot afford to miss.’ He was always, always talking about his time shut in with God. For that, even kings and presidents must wait.”

· Gethsemane helps us understand that even those closest to us can’t go with us fully. And those who try may find themselves unable to carry the same load — and that is a thing very, very difficult to understand.

· We are blessed indeed if there is a Joshua who will remain as close as possible as Joshua did.

· David Wilkerson

· “I’m Not Mad At God.”

· Carter Conlon


2. There are challenges designed for “seemingly no other reason” than to cause pain.

· Unresolved struggles (After the Holy moment of transfiguration: “Your disciples could not heal him.”)

· Un-sanctified Saints (Moses and the failure of Aaron and Israel)

· Unclear solutions (David and the dilemma of Ziba and Mephibosheth)


3. There are challenges that constantly put to death our self-sufficiency and self-importance.


4. The challenge of pain. Life in the Spirit often means making accommodation for pain and inconvenience.

· Isaiah 53:2-4 NLT My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him.3 He was despised and rejected—a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care.4 Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins!


5. The challenge of patience


6. The challenge of unrealized expectations


7. The challenge of understanding



What should I do?

1. Listen for instructions.


2. Follow through precisely.


3. Listen for the lessons.


“Stevie, Let the biscuits finish!”