Making the INSIDE adjustments

Here’s an outtake from last Sunday morning's adult Bible class at my church:

Paul begins Romans 5 with, [1] Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
[2] By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
[3] And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
[4] And patience, experience; and experience, hope:

You have peace with God, you have the access to it and you have an eternal hope, so right now when the troubles come, you can glory—you can realize these things are going to produce some opportunity for spiritual benefits to occur in my life that otherwise I couldn’t have had.

What Paul knew and what he understood about going through tribulation is what this passage is about.

He understood that here you are as a Believer with all these benefits and now you’re living in time with the difficulties of living in this fallen world--the difficulty of making bad decisions and reaping the consequences, the difficulty of living godly in Christ Jesus and having the blowback from that--and those difficulties produce spiritual benefits, so they are spiritually beneficial.

So don’t fire your best workers; look at them for what they really are.

When I hear that word “glory” I think about the tabernacle. Moses builds the tabernacle and the glory of the Lord fills it. There’s this bright glowing light that demonstrates the presence of God. The glory isn’t the light; the light demonstrates God’s presence. It’s the visible evidence that Jehovah is there.

So, when you think about the glory of God, there’s the evidence of God’s life in us as Believers. We literally put on display the evidence of the grace of God as we go through these circumstances.

Paul’s perspective about trouble, pressures, difficulties is you glory in them. You say, “Whoa.”  He said, “There’s an opportunity to give a tangible evidence of the power of God working in the Body of Christ.”

“There’s a tangible evidence; I can experience the inner power of God’s grace working inside of me. I already have it, but now here’s the outworking of that, and I never have any access to that without a problem/situation. In normal times I wouldn’t be able to do it.”

You glory in it because, “Now I have an opportunity to manifest something that without the tribulation I couldn’t have manifested.”

II Corinthians 12:7: [7] And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.

Paul’s got this problem that humiliates him; that’s why he says, “Lest I should be exalted.”

[8] For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.

It was bad enough that three different times Paul crawled off into a corner and said, “Lord, could you just get rid of this; could you just take it away? It’s hindering the ministry; it’s discouraging me from what I’m doing. Lord, I could do so much better if I didn’t have this.”

Now, what He said to Paul is an example for you:

[9] And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
[10] 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.

His strength is always in you, but you access it by faith and it’s made perfect—it works the edification, the strengthening--where?

When you’re weak, God’s grace works. He says, “I glory in those things because when I’m weak then the power of Christ rests upon me.”

*****

Here is a related study from several years ago and will have a new article tomorrow:

The great old hymn, Christ Is All, includes the stanza:

“I saw a martyr at the stake,
The flames could not his courage shake,
Nor death his soul appall;
I asked him whence his strength was giv’n;
He looked triumphantly to Heav’n,
And answered, Christ is all. Christ is all, all in all,
Yes, Christ is all in all;
Christ is all, all in all,
Yes, Christ is all in all.”

A very famous verse even unsaved people love to cherry-pick from Paul’s epistles is Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."

Just off the top of my head, I can think of two superstar athletes--Stephan Curry and Tim Tebow--who use Philippians 4:13 as their motto. What's so fascinating, though, is the testimonial Paul gives beforehand that leads him to his conclusion.

Paul writes in Philippians 4:10-12, [10] But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again; wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity.

[11] Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
[12] I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

“Contentment is that peace of God,” explains Richard Jordan. “Contentment is that emotional stability that comes from that renewed mind that’s dependent on Christ being enough. It’s that strengthening of your inner man by His spirit to give you peace in the circumstances of life. It’s that emotional stability.

“Now, you notice how Paul got it? He says, ‘For I have learned.’ How do you learn? Verse 12 tells you.

“Paul was instructed in some sound doctrine that allowed him to have emotional stability in whatever circumstances there were. Abounding and suffering need; having overabundance and having nothing.

“The circumstances of his life were not what controlled his inner contentment and strength. He learned, meaning he took in some sound doctrine and had an edification that produced a maturity that gave stability.

“It doesn’t come because you pray for it; it comes because the doctrine produces a mindset that then you can apply to the details of your life. It doesn’t come automatically; it comes through the faith application of His Word.

“Paul made an adjustment on the INSIDE, based upon some doctrine, that produced inner strength and gave him the ability to deal with the outside.

“When you find the outside to be a challenge, the way you deal with it is make that internal adjustment that gives you the contentment.

“That’s why verse 13 says, ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me.’ That ‘all things’ is the ‘all things’ in verses 10-12.

“I can abase; I can abound. I can have people love me; I can have people hate me. I can be rich; I can be poor. I can be hungry; I can be fat. I can live in whatever circumstance through Christ who strengthens me. That’s spiritual strength that comes from having Christ be everything.

“If you follow down through the rest of the chapter, what that did is it produced and resulted in a visible ministry.

“If you look at verse 14 and on, there’s something spiritual going on there: [14] Notwithstanding ye have well done, that ye did communicate with my affliction.
[15] Now ye Philippians know also, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only.
[16] For even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity.
[17] Not because I desire a gift: but I desire fruit that may abound to your account.

“There’s an activity inside of you that’s producing some life outward. Where did this outward working come from? They weren’t trying to gain something from God; they were just being a part of who they were.

“Paul writes in verse 18 and 19, ‘But I have all, and abound: I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God.
[19] But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.’

“God’s going to supply everything they need. It doesn’t say needs plural—it’s not talking about your physical stuff. It’s talking about God gives you everything you need according to His riches in glory.

“Everything you need to be everything God’s ever made you to be, He’s made available to you, whatever the work of the ministry is, whatever the outreach. He strengthened you with MIGHT in your inner man because you can do ALL things through Christ.

“God has revealed the mystery and you’ve learned it; you’ve got the material. That material will develop maturity as you keep your eyes on His majesty. It will result in an unshakeable motivation to be, in all the details of your life, just who God has made you to be and to have God’s Word 'work effectually' in you that believe.

"Praise God for that and the privilege to be a recipient of such love. Just relax and let God love you and let that be enough.”