Part 9 Taken, Blessed, Broken and Given: The Baptism of Fire

"When you cannot stand, He will bear you in His arms." Francis de Sales

Taken, Blessed, Broken and Given: The Baptism of Fire Part 9

Here is a telling account from the live of King David

Shimei and King David: 2 Samuel 16:5-12

Following Absolom’s rebellion
King David flees to Bahurim
Shimei (a Benjamite relative of King Saul)
comes out to curse King David
(an act, that in its day, could commonly mean a death sentence)

Abishai (David’s servant) responds:
“Let me cut off his head!”

David’s Godly response:
‘God may have sent him – leave him alone…’

“Let him alone; and let him curse,
for the Lord has bidden him to do it.
It may be that the Lord will look on the iniquity done me
and will recompense me with good for his cursing this day.”

Faith Gives Pain Purpose:

□ Our destiny in Christ

is to rule and reign with Him from age to age.

□ We are being trained for this destiny,

this eternal purpose.

The parable of the talents…

“And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying,
Master, you entrusted two talents to me; here I have gained two talents more.
His master said to him, Well done,
you upright (honorable, admirable) and faithful servant!
You have been faithful and trustworthy over a little;
I will put you in charge of much.
Enter into and share the joy (the delight, the blessedness)
which your master enjoys.
Matthew 25:22-23

□ God has come to make the uncomfortable comfortable,
and to make the comfortable uncomfortable.

□ He is willing to sacrifice our comfort
so that in the long run we will become like Jesus

□ The question is:
Are we willing to step out of our comfort zones
to obtain the prize of Christ-likeness?

Taking Up the Sword of the Spirit:

Far too few Christians walk
in the authority that God has given us.

The psalmist writes.

“Let the saints rejoice in this honor
and sing for joy on their beds.
May the praise of God be in their mouths
and a double-edged sword in their hands,
to inflict vengeance on the nations
and punishments on the peoples,
to bind their kings with fetters,
their nobles with shackles of iron,
to carry out the sentence written against them."
This is the glory of all his saints.
Praise the Lord."
Psalm 149:5-9 NIV

We have been given the authority
- to inflict vengeance upon nations of darkness
- punishment upon those who practice evil
- to bind demonic kings with fetters
- nobles of evil forces in shackles of iron
- This is our heritage in Christ Jesus
- This is the glory of all the saints…
- We do so by coming against these forces
with the Word of God,
with prayer
and intercession.

The Sword of the Spirit:

The sword that we are given is double edged – a powerful offensive weapon

A physical sword is crafted in the fire:

The Sword of the Spirit is likewise crafted
when we walk through the spiritual fire

Trials are not necessarily about our being delivered
it’s about our faith being perfected:

I’m glad that God included the accounts of Peter in the Scripture
There he is big as life, warts and all!

Yet Jesus never seems dissatisfied with his service.

That fact alone gives me hope when I think of my own walk.

“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat.
But I have prayed for you, Simon,
that your faith may not fail.
And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
Luke 22:31-32 NIV (my emphasis bold)

This is really important to see…

Jesus doesn’t pray that Peter (Simon)
will be delivered from the enemy’s hand

Jesus prays that his faith will not fail

He intercedes for us to overcome evil by faith.

After this trial of faith
Peter is restored and brings restoration and order to the early church.

When persecution comes
(and it will come)…

Jesus said,“in the world you will have trouble” (John 16:33)

So when the trouble comes
Pray that your faith doesn’t fail
not that you will be delivered from the trial.

The Lord was willing to give the enemy access to test His Apostles
because he knew this would make them stronger.

A stumble is not a failure…
Peter stumbled, but God was looking at the long haul.!!!

End Part 9