Discovering
Spiritual Healing (8)
2
Corinthians 1:8-11; 2 Corinthians 7:8-13; Psalms 6:1-7
Jim Davis
There is a new movie out. The
title is “Are We There Yet?” The movie is based on the question often
asked by children while traveling in a car. I know you have heard the
question if you have taken a trip with children. I remember one specific
trip with my children. We were coming to Florida for the first time.
They were constantly asking, “Are we there yet?” We finally told them to
just look for the sign that would say, “Entering Florida.” That was a
mistake. We reached the Florida state line, but we had another five
hours to drive to reach our destination. We didn’t prepare them for that
fact. Their questioning “Are we there yet?” turned into, “I thought we
already there!” Five hours of this—well you know what I mean. The trip
seemed three times longer than it really was.
Children miss out on all the fun sights
as they are consumed with their destination. We might call this
Destination Disease. Adults as well as children suffer from it. We want
to arrive, but we don’t like the journey. Israel had Destination Disease
when they left Egypt. The trip took them forty years longer than it
should have taken. They were miserable.
We may be forgiven but often find it
difficult to feel forgiven. What makes it difficult to feel
forgiven is that we continue to have the same thought patterns after
being forgiven. We wrestle with the same distractions we have always
fought. We have the same temptations, and the same failings. Failing to
experience the change we have always longed for leaves us questioning
our redemption. We begin to ask, “Are we there yet?” or “Will we ever
arrive?” We dream of coming to a place where there will be no more
struggle.
One may come to Christ for forgiveness
thinking forgiveness is all one needs. We may think we have
arrived at our destination when we obeyed Christ in baptism. We are in
the kingdom, the place of safety and that’s all that matters. Belonging
to the kingdom of Christ is extremely important, it is certainly the
safe haven we need to be in, but it isn’t the end of the road. There is
a journey ahead of us, which is designed to lead us through a process of
becoming. It is the process of becoming more like Christ. It is an
ongoing process; it is not a destination.
Bob Dylan said a musical artist is one
who is becoming a musician. He always saw his need to become a
better musician rather than having a few hits and fading into oblivion.
The goal is found in the reaching, not necessarily in arriving. The
journey of becoming is a never-ending journey.
What Is the
Driving Force?
Christians may lose their sense of
direction if they fail to understand being a Christian is a process.
It’s about growing. In growth there are always struggles. These
struggles may seem to be setbacks. These setbacks may be interpreted as
failure. We may feel guilt because we haven’t arrived at what we think
we should be. Satan slips in and heaps a load of guilt and depression.
We fail to realize the potential in the struggles to make us stronger
and healthier Christians.
Failing to understand the nature of
salvation may leave us questioning the sufficiency of God’s grace.
We come to Christ for forgiveness, but quickly realize we have to
wrestle with the same sinful nature we thought we should have forever
crucified and buried with Christ in baptism. It may be hard to imagine
we can be forgiven while having the same thought patterns.
Guilt may become the driving force of
our lives as we experience the struggles we thought would just
disappear. The guilt of sin and fear of punishment may bring us
to Christ, but we need more than guilt and fear to motivate us to grow
spiritually.
Sometimes people use our shortcomings
and failures to guilt trip us into a better way of living. It
never works. Have you ever tried to change someone by
making them feel guilty? A lady couldn’t get her husband to mow the
yard. The grass was always about half-knee deep before he would mow it.
She did everything she could to try and to change him. Nothing seemed to
work. So she thought she would really heap the guilt on him. One day,
when he came home from work, his wife was out in the yard cutting the
grass with a tiny pair of sewing scissors. Her husband calmly walked
into the house. He came out in just a few minutes with a toothbrush. He
handed his wife the toothbrush and said, “When you get through cutting
the grass, you can sweep the sidewalk.”
When we are loaded with guilt we often
turn to the world for solutions because we don’t know how to use the
scriptures to solve our problems? The ancient Scriptures seem
too archaic for solutions to our modern day problems. We turn to worldly
solutions like divorce, abortion, birth control, cohabitation, drugs to
discipline children, drugs for adults to cope with our anxiety because
all these worldly don’t work.
We need confidence in God’s continuing
work in our lives. Our need for deliverance doesn’t simply stop
with the gift of salvation by grace through faith. We are saved
eternally, but salvation is an ongoing process. It is a
revealing process. God’s gracious gift of cleansing is
ongoing as we struggle with the same old thought patterns. We realize
continued cleansing as we confess our sins (1 John 1:8-7). We are saved
despite our struggle. Our salvation is sure.
John 10:25-30
25 Jesus
answered, "I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in
my Father's name speak for me, 26 but you do not believe because you are
not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they
follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no
one can snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to
me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand.
30 I and the Father are one." NIV
Christian living is an ongoing process
of seeking to hear Jesus’ voice and follow him as he securely keeps us
in his hands. Being saved is about taking refuge in a place of
safety. It is like hunkering down in a safe place when a hurricane
comes. However, getting in a safe place does not stop the hurricane; it
doesn’t make the hurricane dissipate. God saves us because we have made
Christ our refuge, but it doesn’t stop Satan’s assault. If anything
Satan’s assaults intensify.
It is naïve to think we can live in
enemy territory and not be assaulted by the enemy. Why do our
old thought patterns seem more ingrained in our hearts and minds than
ever before after becoming a Christian? It is because this is where
Satan takes refuge in our hearts. These are his strongholds. He is not
going to surrender them like a wimp. He is going to fight.
2 Corinthians
10:3-6
3 For though
we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The
weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary,
they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments
and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God,
and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. NIV
We may not understand salvation is about
engaging in spiritual battle. We may be Christians, but we
continue live in enemy territory. Becoming a Christian simply means we
have declared war on the satanic influences in our lives. What do you
think Satan is going to do? Well, he’s going to engage us in battle. We
will win some and we will lose some. Winning or losing is not as
important as what the struggle is helping us to become.
We must understand our need of God’s
divine power for deliverance while we are wrestling with our old thought
patterns engrained in our hearts and minds. The important thing
is to come to a point where we understand our salvation is totally
dependent upon God. Listen to the psalmist.
Psalms
37:39-40
39 The
salvation of the righteous comes from the LORD;
he is their
stronghold in time of trouble.
40 The LORD
helps them and delivers them;
he delivers
them from the wicked and saves them,
because they
take refuge in him. NIV
It sounds as though the psalmist is
rejoicing over his deliverance. He is experiencing God’s ongoing
salvation. Many are not discovering the joy of salvation because they
are not engaged in battle. They aren’t experiencing God’s deliverance on
an ongoing basis. They think maybe they are saved but have never
experienced deliverance. They go to church, but their lives are
surrendered to worldly values.
In the verses I am about to read, the psalmist knows he is saved, but he
is reliant on God’s mercy to sustain him in his time of failure.
He is feeling much like you should feel when you fail to do what you
know you ought to do.
Psalms 6:1-7
6:1 For the
director of music. With stringed instruments. According to sheminith. A
psalm of David.
O LORD, do not
rebuke me in your anger
or discipline
me in your wrath.
2 Be merciful
to me, LORD, for I am faint;
O LORD, heal
me, for my bones are in agony.
3 My soul is
in anguish.
How long, O
LORD, how long?
4 Turn, O
LORD, and deliver me;
save me
because of your unfailing love.
5 No one
remembers you when he is dead.
Who praises
you from the grave?
6 I am worn
out from groaning;
all night long
I flood my bed with weeping
and drench my
couch with tears.
7 My eyes grow
weak with sorrow;
they fail
because of all my foes. NIV
The psalmist is in agony. Often
David used such language to reveal how he felt spiritually. The psalmist
is mourning over his failures. He is crushed. Have you ever felt crushed
over your sin? When David was convicted of his adultery with Bathsheba
he felt as though his bones were crushed (Psalms 51:8). These verses are
a commentary on Jesus’ statement in the mountainside sermon.
Matthew 5:3-4
3 "Blessed are
the poor in spirit,
for theirs is
the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are
those who mourn,
for they will
be comforted. NIV
The apostle Paul is saved. But listen to
how he was totally dependent upon God for deliverance in his struggle.
2 Corinthians
1:8-11
We do not
want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in
the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our
ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. 9 Indeed, in our
hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might
not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 10 He has
delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we
have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, 11 as you help us
by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the
gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many. NIV
Paul is experiencing deliverance. His
experience of deliverance prepares him to understand those who need to
be delivered. I believe the most touching words the apostle Paul
ever wrote are found in the verses I am about to read. He is speaking of
how the Corinthians found God’s way in their spiritual struggle to
become like Christ. Paul wrote the first letter to the Corinthians to
address multiple problems. His second letter is very encouraging.
Instead of being condemned for their sin, they are commended for their
earnestness in their struggle.
2 Corinthians
7:8-13
8 Even if I
caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret
it — I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while— 9 yet
now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow
led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so
were not harmed in any way by us. 10 Godly sorrow brings repentance that
leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings
death. 11 See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what
earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what
alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done.
At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter.
12 So even though I wrote to you, it was not on account of the one who
did the wrong or of the injured party, but rather that before God you
could see for yourselves how devoted to us you are. 13 By all this we
are encouraged. NIV
The gift of God’s grace assured the
Corinthian’s eternal salvation as they were in the process of becoming
more like Christ. They were considered innocent because of their
eagerness to make it right.
It is our willingness to make things
write that reveals we are saved. Paul writes, “So even though I
wrote to you, it was not on account of the one who did the wrong or of
the injured party, but rather that before God you could see for
yourselves how devoted to us you are. By all this we are encouraged.” I
have never seen a more encouraging way of dealing with problems among
Christians.
Conclusion:
Isn’t it time for God’s people to turn
to almighty God for deliverance. Deliverance is ours for the
asking. God will never leave us nor forsake us.
Our total redemption was accomplished
when Jesus cried, “It is finished!” His death on the cross paid it all.
Forgiveness doesn’t always leave us feeling forgiven. We must delve into
the Scriptures to deal with the reality of how we feel. Too often this
is the last place we look. Rather than searching the Scriptures we turn
to inspirational self-help books. Self-help books are a multi-billion
dollar industry today. It is an indication that the vast majority of
people need help, and is looking for answers. The self-help books are
usually very inspirational, but we need more than inspiration. We need
deliverance. Inspiration is like a short-lived opiate high. When the
high is over we are no better off.
God’s sustaining power for living is
revealed throughout the Scriptures. God’s purpose and design for
each of our lives is revealed in Scripture. It is a great help to go
back to the Word of God and see those faithful people marching across
the pages of time. We can identity with them in their struggles. We can
see how God dealt with them and get a taste of what God is going to do
for each of us. God gave us real life stories of how he worked in their
lives so we can discover our identity through those stories.
Bible Study
Questions
1.
How is it that we can be forgiven but
we don’t feel forgiven?
2.
Explain the difference in seeing
salvation as a process rather than a destination?
3.
What are some reasons we may question
the sufficiency of our salvation?
4.
What is the greatest need of a saved
person?
5.
Where does Satan take up a stronghold
in the Christian?
6.
Why is the psalmist rejoicing in Psalms
37:39-40?
7.
How is Psalms 6:17 a good commentary on
Matthew 5:3-4?
8.
What was God’s reason for Paul’s
struggles in 2 Corinthians 1:8-11?
9.
How do you explain the gentleness of
Paul in 2 Corinthians 7:18-22 as he deals with the problems in Corinth?
10.
What is the true test that we have been
saved?
