11-29-2015 weekly message

Meditation of the week: Psalms 23:1-6

Main scripture: 2Corinthians 12:7-10

Subject: The life of them that abide in the fullness of the grace of God

               King David testified, though he walks through the valley of the shadow of death, he will fear no evil. Of the reason, he confessed, the LORD God is with him. He also testified, his rod and staff comforts him, even when he is wandering away from the LORD(Ps. 23:4)

               Yeah! We are living in the sinful body; and we also walk according to the flesh away form the Holy Ghost so often. Apostle Paul wrote unto the saints of Galatians to encourage them:

“This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.”(Gal. 5:16,17)

                All men born in Adam tend to follow the thoughts of the flesh because of the sinful body, unless they follow the Holy Ghost. There is no exception of man at all in the world. David became the king of Israel after King Saul died; he began to have comfortable life since then. Finally, he failed to overcome the lust of the flesh, and ended up committing adultery with the wife of Uriah one of his subordinates and even murdering him after all abandoning him in the severe warfare.

                In the main passage, Apostle Paul testifies, he besought the Lord three times , that a thorn in his flesh, the messenger of Satan in the midst of pain. But God answered him back saying, “My grace is sufficient for thee.”

Finally, he understood, let he should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was a thorn in his flesh. God took out his soul out of his body, and he was caught up into paradise in the third heaven. And he heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. He experienced the day of Christ, the Rapture in advance. As the Lord Jesus showed his disciples, Peter, John and James his glory to be with Elias and Moses in his Millennium kingdom in the future, the Lord Jesus showed Apostle Paul of the glory that is given to him in the day of Christ when Jesus appear in the air. But he was not allowed to utter unto anyone whatever he saw and heard.

                The kingdom of God coming in the future is fulfilled within the children of God born of the Holy Ghost. Their spirit is already sitting at the right hand of God with the Lord Jesus Christ (Eph. 2:6). As the Lord gave a thorn in the body of Apostle Paul, he is giving different kinds of thorn in the body of the children of God. For someone the thorn of disease, for some other the thorn related to their children in various way, for some the thorn of reproaches and or persecution or necessities or distresses and so on.

              Apostle Paul understood that the strength of the Lord is made perfect in weakness through the word of the Lord in his prayer. Carnal men are seeking to make their thorns within them to be taken out. God the Father allows such a thorn in the children of God lest they should be exalted. In this moment, let us think about the thorns given by the Lord unto each one of us, it may be the time of blessing for us to understand the will of God unto us.

                Apostle Paul understand of a thorn as the grace of God, not the thorn itself; and he testified,

 “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

And he made a great testimony saying,

“Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.”‘

               He understood the strength of the Lord working in the midst of his weakness in his flesh. Since then, he never asked the Lord to eliminate all kinds of thorn beside a thorn, the messenger of Satan in his flesh; rather he glory in his weakness for the sake of Christ.

                Today, it may be the opportunity for us to understand the spiritual mystery that Apostle Paul understood. But there is no way to understand this truth for them that have no the Spirit of Christ. But whosoever has the Spirit of Christ is able to understand through asking the spirit of understanding unto the Lord. For most of the baby Christians, their prayers are full of asking to eliminate their thorns. But what we have to know is that God wants to make us to trust in him through all kinds of troubles that are thorns, and to overcome those by faith. But there is few that understand such a spiritual mystery.

                Jesus Christ spoke toward them that followed him clearly:

“If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me…. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.”(Matt. 16:24; 10:38)

               Then, what is the cross? We are able to get to know it through the cross that was taken up by Jesus Christ. He dies for us when we were sinners for our sins on the cross. Yeah! The cross is to bear the sins of other. In other word, the cross is a kind of mistreatment or victimizing without any fault for himself. In other word, it is infirmities, reproaches, necessities, persecution and distresses for the sake of Christ. Apostle Paul understood, five kinds of thorns unto him are worthy to the eyes of Christ for the sake of him. He might understood of five kinds of thorn in him are to be exchanged with five different crowns in the day of Christ. He testified of such a great truth unto the Roman Christians under extreme persecution:

“And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”(Rom. 8:17,18)

                Apostle Paul understood of the glory to given unto him in the day of Christ and in the kingdom of Christ. He also testified unto the saint in Thessalonians that was following Christ with him rejoicing of their thorns victoriously of the will of God in Christ Jesus:

“Rejoice evermore.

Pray without ceasing.

In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”91Thes. 5:16-18)

Amen! Hallelujah!