Spiritual Skills 6-10
As we have been studying the life of Solomon we have hit his tremendous failure because of his inability to pass the prosperity test, a failure that is not uncommon. It is extremely common because when people become somewhat prosperous, whatever that means, and once they feel there are no threats, no immediate problems or difficulties, it is easy to cope and to say they will just sit back and relax. They slip spiritually into neutral and often fail to realise the spiritual life is always momentum on an uphill slope. Once we slip into neutral we start regressing very quickly if we don't pay attention to going forward. God has given us various skills to use in the spiritual life to stay in fellowship and to keep going forward—stress busters or problem-solving devices. They are basically a synthesis of the teaching in Scripture on how Christians can continue to stay in focus with a forward momentum in the spiritual life. They are a defensive protection against the external enemies that we have. Our enemies are the world, the flesh and the devil. The flesh, the sin nature, is an internal enemy, and against even the flesh these problem-solving devices give us protection.
In Ephesians 6 Paul is coming to the conclusion of the epistle and he reminds us that in light of all that he has said the believer needs to think about his own spiritual life as a battle, a struggle. Again and again the apostle Paul will use military and battle metaphors to illustrate what is going on in the believer's life because it is a battle, an ongoing struggle. Ephesians 6:10 NASB "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might." Often we want to be self-absorbed instead of putting our focus on God and making Him the only one who matters. So it is a struggle, a battle, because we struggle with these enemies. The issue is to be strong in the power of God and not in our power—not in human skills, human techniques, but in the basic skills that God has given us.
Ephesians 6:11 NASB "Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil." The key words that we see through this passage is either the word "stand" or "withstand." They are both based on the same Greek word—histemi [i(sthmi] or anthistemi [a)nqisthmi]. anthistemi has more of the idea of standing against something, but these are defensive terms. The believer is to stand firm in the provision of God. [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.}" The word for "struggle" in the Greek is a very strong word that has the connotation of a battle. It is not just something that is a little inconvenient or difficult; it is hand to hand combat at times. Ultimately the battle is against a cosmic system led and orchestrated by Satan who is promoting ideas, values and strategies that are sympathetic to our sin nature. So it is very easy for us to go about trying to solve problems in one way or another because it is easier to do that than study the Word. [13] "Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm." Then Paul describes it in terms of armour the Roman soldier. All of these items are defensive, even the sword of the Spirit is defensive. The sword is the machaira [maxaira]. The rhomphaia [r(omfaia], the broadsword, was the weapon used as the more offensive weapon; the machaira was often used in defence and for a counterattack, not as the original offensive weapon. This is the way that Jesus uses the Word in His testing in Matthew chapter four. He is using the Word of God, the sword of the Spirit, as a counter to the attack from outside; He is not engaged in an offensive campaign. It is the believer's job to take up this defensive position.
The metaphor that Paul is using is that the believer needs to be protected by something that God provides. He uses the armour of the soldier first, and in one place he relates it to one set of principles and in another place (1 Thessalonians 5) to another set of principles; but he is making the same basic point, and that is that the believer is protected by that which God provides and it is in God's power and God's might that the believer is enabled to stand fast in the midst of the onslaughts of the enemy. So this is no different from the psalmists' discussion about God as our bulwark, our rock, our fortress. These are not hard and fast categories. These ten spiritual skills are not defined in a particular chapter of the Bible in this way. This is a synthesis, though, of the totality of what the Scripture says on the spiritual life. It is a great teaching device to help us control this vast amount of instruction that the Bible has, to boil it down and to be able to reduce and summarize the Christian life in terms of these 10 basic spiritual skills.
In spiritual adolescence we begin to focus on what God is really doing in training us and preparing us to rule and reign with Christ in the Millennial kingdom, and that we are actually going somewhere and that everything that has happened in life God is orchestrating in such a way as to train us so that we can be better administrators, rulers, priests, kings, with the Lord Jesus Christ in that kingdom. So we begin to get a personal sense of our eternal destiny.
There is an interrelationship between the faith-rest drill, grace orientation and doctrinal orientation. Don't think of these as three compartments that are completely separate, they are just looking at in some way different aspects of the same basic dynamics. There are certain things that are distinct and being emphasised but they are all related to realising the priority of God's Word in our life and that we can trust God to do what He says He will do, and we need to implement that in our own lives. And as we master these skills to think in terms of trusting God in any and every situation, relying upon what He has provided in grace and then that relates to other people, and then doctrinal orientation and just relying upon His plans and purposes, these then develop us in terms of our maturity through our sense of our eternal destiny and then on into the more advanced spiritual skills. The result of all of this is the happiness that we have, the real joy that is ours in our personal life.
- A personal sense of our eternal destiny. We recognise at this stage that the destiny of every church age believer is to rule and reign with Jesus Christ in His kingdom. Revelation 1:6; 5:10. That is our destiny and we are in a training ground. God is taking us through a boot camp, as it were, in this world where we are going to face problems—internally with the sin nature, externally with the thinking of the world and with the devil. So that when we get in a position of responsibility in the Millennial kingdom we have been trained to think biblically and are prepared to handle the responsibility that He is going to give us. There is a destiny that God is preparing us for. When we think about this we recognise that every believer is going to be evaluated for rewards and responsibility at the judgment seat of Christ. There is accountability and we must learn to live in light of this future destiny. Revelation 22:12 NASB "Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward {is} with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done." That is not salvation, it is talking about rewards for believers. 2 Corinthians 5:10 NASB "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad."
- Personal love for God. We learn what love is from John 3:16. Love is doing that which is right and best for the object of love; it is not based on feeling. As the believer learns about God and all that God has provided for him appreciation increases, along with the desire to obey God and to serve Him. It takes time to develop love for God. John develops the idea that to love God we have to obey His commandments; and to love God we have to come to know Him. It is a process of learning and it only comes through studying the Word. Love for God is therefore measured by obedience, not emotion. Love for God motivates the believer to press on to spiritual maturity. The more we learn the more we appreciate all that God has supplied us and provided for us. Deuteronomy 6:5 NASB "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might." [11:1] "You shall therefore love the LORD your God, and always keep His charge, His statutes, His ordinances, and His commandments." Josh 23:10, 11 NASB "One of your men puts to flight a thousand, for the LORD your God is He who fights for you, just as He promised you.
- Unconditional love for man or impersonal love for all mankind. This doesn't demand a personal relationship. This is a love that is shown to people whether we have a personal relationship with them or not. We deal with them in the same manner as someone we love who is very close and dear to us. Impersonal love is the kind of love that God has for the believer. Unconditional means that we treat people with kindness, generosity and graciousness not matter what their behaviour, and without expecting anything in return. John 13:34, 35 NASB "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." The Old Testament said you were to love your neighbour as you love yourself. The neighbour may or may not be a believer. Here to love one another means to love believers "as I have loved you." Christ's love is the pattern. Ephesians 4:32 NASB "Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving [be gracious] each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you."
- Occupation with Christ. This is focusing our thinking in terms of imitating Christ—maybe not consciously, maybe not in the forefront of all of our thinking, but He is always around the edge. That is a focal point. Illustration: For anyone who has ever been crazy in love with somebody, they just thought about the object of their love all the time. Here, there, whatever you were doing, their reality, their presence, what they might say or think, is always in the back of your mind. You are just occupied with that person. That is what occupation with Christ is—focusing our thinking in terms of imitating Christ. We can only imitate our Lord if we know enough about His Word. We have to know the Word in order to know who Jesus is so that we can imitate Him in His thinking and in His character. That only come through the filling of the Spirit and walking by the Spirit. Hebrews 12:1 NASB "Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us." In other words, when we grow older we should get rid of the distractions to spiritual growth. We are going to realise that some things just don't matter anymore. They are important, you like them, you enjoy them, they are not bad or evil; they are just a distraction to the reason we are here, which is to grow to maturity. [2] "fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." The cross was not a happy experience. The joy was His anticipation of what His work would do in bringing believers from sin and so bring out believers into His body as the bride of Christ and prepare them for the future.
- Sharing the happiness of God. This is the result of the previous nine problem-solving devices. As we apply them it gives us a peace and tranquillity in our souls. This is based on doing God's will, not on our circumstances, emotions or people around us. As we focus on God's plan and provision we can endure the vicissitudes of life just as Jesus endured the cross.