How to Bear Affronts | SermonIndex

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SonsofLevi Dec 9, 2012

Do not get angry about what people say; let them talk while you try to do God's will. As to the will of men, you could never come to an end of satisfying it, nor is it worth the trouble. Silence, peace, and union with God ought to comfort you under whatever men may falsely say. You must be friendly to them, without counting on their friendship. They come and go,-they are but as chaff scattered by the wind. Only see God's Hand in what they do; He alone wounds or comforts us through their means. You need all your resolution in your present position, but at the same time your quickness of temper requires checks and impediments. Possess your soul in patience. Frequently recall the Presence of God, so as to calm yourself, to humble and adapt yourself to the little ones. Nothing is really great save lowliness, charity, mistrust of self, detachment from one's own opinion and will. All stiff, harsh goodness is contrary to Jesus Christ: God knows how truly I am yours in Him.

From "The Spiritual Letters of Archbishop Fenelon"

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brothagary Dec 9, 2012

not a another quote from a catholic biship ,,,,this sort of thread at this time will only spark debate

i like the mission of sermon index to promote christ centerd bibical revivl ,

maby we should ask the question are the threads we post promiting christ centerd revivle

and does the ones we write about and the quotes we use use come from a christ centerd faith or a mary and christ and mass cetered faith

none of those mixtures of doctrines ,have ever produce bibical christ centerd revivle

there teaching only bring mixture ,and dilut the purity of the glory of christ in the face of god ,and draws unbibical traditions and antibibical practices ,to the surface for the weak in faith to feed from

christ centerd revivle ,,i like that statment faith

any thing less , is not worth it

and those people who promote and teach less then that ,should not be promoted ,,,,it will just confuse the weak and the unconverted about what is realy important

blessings

D

David01-72 Dec 9, 2012

brothagary quote,

christ centerd revivle ,,i like that statment faith

any thing less , is not worth it

and those people who promote and teach less then that ,should not promoted ,,,,it will just confuse the weak and the unconverted about what is realy important"

Brother this what I concerned about,it is the babes in Christ
who we should be careful with. Quoting from a decieved church
will confuse some.

God Bless
DavidC

sermonindex Dec 9, 2012

Brethren the sister who posted this little excerpt no doubt actually read it and thought about its meaning. Perhaps she thought about the man who wrote it as well. Who knows? Only the Lord knows. When I read it I see some consistency with the Franciscan (Catholic) model of thinking. I also see some substance as of a man. Some of it is spiritual and true, some of it is experiential and true and some of its reflects a tradition which of itself would cause no harm to any body. (Franciscan simple model).

Moreover who would have known who the man was. A little babe in Christ would not have even given the man a thought they would have been desiring milk. Brother's if this saying chokes you then go back to the milk and stop trying to eat meat. It is only going to make you ill. The saying ends with the words "adapt yourself to the little ones". Paul said "I am all things unto all men". Neither position is precisely the same but the intentional meaning is the same. We are to be Christ to all men both little children and the fathers if we come across them and especially unbelievers wheresoever they may be found. By drawing attention in this way all the time you are simply making certain that the little ones will stumble because yours is a contentious position and they will be seeking for understanding in a spirit of unity according to the calling of God in their little newly saved lives. True contention edifies if it is well informed and in a spirit of peace. Otherwise it will simple cause division. Neither will that which is of Christ cause a little one to stumble. Including the whips in the temple and the words which are a flame of fire and cause right separation of that which is truly wicked from that which is simply ignorant and needy.

If whatever you are eating brothers is a cause for failing to understand the most basic tenet of the faith of Christ, then consider whether you ought not to review your position before God in prayer. We all have our personal reasons as to why we believe as we do. Some of that will contain experiences in Christ which will be difficult for others to receive. Hold them in wisdom and scatter them not. They will simply cause stumbling. I am not speaking about pearls before swine, for we are not swine and unclean, we are made clean by the blood of Christ. I am speaking about wisdom. Nothing more than just simple wisdom.

What true man or woman of God would not go into the hot dessert to bring back a little one who had wandered off. If you are to be Christ to the little ones and go into the dessert walking in bear feet in the burning heat of the sun, walking on flints and treading on serpents and scorpions then do it without a though for yourself and you will be kept in it. Turn back and you will become a broken man. Other wise let Christ Himself go into the fierce heat and do that which was within Him to do. The Lord Bless You.

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ginnyrose Dec 9, 2012

A testimony:

For many years I compiled the church bulletin. Since there was so little going on in our brotherhood, I would look for inspirational pieces on the web to fill up the white space. While there are a ton of pieces to pick from, a huge challenge came to me to use pieces penned by people whose doctrines, lifestyles would not offend someone perchance they would do some investigating. In this process of eliminating pieces I drew the line in places many here would find absurd because I felt this would lend credibility to this person. Since most of these writers were still living it was easy to investigate them.

Then having said all this I am reminded of what Jesus said about this issue when his disciples complained about people preaching and performing miracles who were not 'one of us'. Luke 9:49,50: "And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name; and we forbad him, because he followeth not with us. And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us."

Oh...OK.

Then as I pondered people who have gone on before and I wonder about their eternal destination because they do not hold the doctrines like I do. Then I am reminded that Jesus is the judge, NOT me. In John there is a verse that ministered to this question: "what is that to thee? follow thou me." (John 21:22b). So, I backed off and allowed God to take that full responsibility; if there is anything that is inspiring I would accept it and go on.

Tares in wheat - is another example.

In my experience of discerning what articles I use, I must tell you I have used many penned by evangelicals and rejected many written by evangelicals; and rare was the one written by anyone in my own church which is Mennonite! AND depending on which segment they come from I do not trust them at all!

Bottom line? If an article ministers to your spirit, appreciate it, thank God for this person's testimony and leave the judging to Him - it is possible that even a tare can minister to someone's need at the moment!

My testimony...

Oh, and do I appreciate the OP in this thread? Yes, I do. A lot of wisdom contained therein. Too bad no poster on this board felt inspired to pen theses concepts...

ginnyrose

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ginnyrose Dec 9, 2012

Continued from previous post:

Having said all this, I must tell you I refrain from reading too many works penned by others because of the influence they assert upon me.

Consider: years ago I had developed a deep appreciation for a certain popular writer who is my age...Every time I got the "Christianity Today" magazines, it was his article I would read first. Then one day he wrote a book I considered far off the wall...He came tumbling down off his pedestal. He fell lower yet when I found out his stance concerning gays... Then the question comes: how on earth can a person write so well and yet hold to such unBiblical positions concerning sin? (He is an evangelical.)

I was so disappointed. And I hate this experience of appreciating a person's writings only to be told he has no horror for sin. Since this is a traumatic experience - and this is not an isolated experience - I choose to limit my reading of theological works.

Now then, what do I read? I observed the saints who have gone on before me and their relationship with God. How did this happen? As I pondered this, I felt led by the Holy Spirit to delve deeply into his WORD, particularly the parts that are relatively unknown to me. Therein I found so much inspiration and...I felt the pleasure of God in pursing this study of his word.

So...then - it is far easier and much less time consuming to go for the original and leave the knock-offs to others. It is far more fulfilling to one's spiritual life to cultivate your love and relationship with God via his word then through other peoples' writings. AND you do not have to work to discern what is acceptable according to the WORD because you are studying the WORD! (Or, pick out the meat and throw away the bones!)

My testimony...

God bless.

Y

yuehan Dec 9, 2012

@ginnyrose:

I agree with the essence of what you wrote. Though I wonder how you'd reconcile some of your views/experiences (e.g. that with the Christianity Today author) with Matt 7:18-19?

sermonindex Dec 9, 2012

There is real wisdom Sister GinnyRose in what you have testified to. Our walks must be real and after a while we may come to realise that this reality is not just in respect to knowing the Lord personally in our lives daily, moment by moment, but it will be something we have to seek for in others as well.

May I share something personal to my own walk which will really make some here think more deeply and challenge them even as it challenged me. This is not in support of the religious system of Rome nor any other religious system

When I first believed I had access to four chaplains in prison. The Roman Catholic priest, an English Catholic priest, a methodist minister and a Quaker elder. I knew nothing at all about the realities of these denominations and yet I wanted to speak with these men to both share what had happened to me and to simply connect with them. Before I did this I had the thought that they represented a division by denomination which at the time I could not understand. So I asked the Father whilst in the spirit why there were so many divisions. The simple answer I received in the spirit was "because they will not submit to one another".

Given that I was asking the Father and was in the spirit this was a real and full answer to my question. I didn't understand it at the time but remembered it very well. Then I made contact and asked to see each of these four men. None of them rejected my testimony nor did anyone of them try to persuade me to think in contradiction about the essence of what God had done in my life. Yet I had no complete peace with any of them. I did not understand this at the time either. As I fellowshipped with them in my cell I had to acknowledge that they each comprehended and understood precisely what I was speaking about. They all prayed with me and I can tell you in plain truth that the only one of these men who actually disturbed me in the end was the Quaker Elder and this was simply because he made no true presentation of spiritual knowledge but presented truth a a social gospel. When I heard the Catholic Priest praying I was truly struck by the reality of his prayer and the direction of it. He prayed to the Father and his prayer was truly anointed. My spirit bore witness to the reality of his faith. He made no blasphemous acclamations and spoke only of the Father in His great love for all men.

The same or a similar thing could be said for the English priest and the Methodist minister. The Catholic priest at my request gave me a book of typological theology. Whilst reading this I came to the doctrines of Mary the "mother of God". Instantly I was sown into confusion yet after a few moments of reflection I knew that what I was reading was not true. I put the book down and left it.

I was a mere babe in Christ a few weeks old and could easily have been persuaded to many things. Yet because I read the Scriptures from the very instant I was saved I was kept. Above all we need to read the Scriptures. Whether we understand what we are reading or not the word of God will keep us and renew our minds and this too will keep us. I have learned to think of the Scriptures as a source of nourishment and a living influence in my life and believe the very same for others as well. Reading the word is so essential and we ought to do it regardless to the inclination to it or not. It ought to be seen as a matter of obedience to God Himself. In the end the word will make ruin of the whole of the natural mind and we will learn to think soundly and reasonably.

As for babes in Christ. He knows how to keep them. Yet if men do lead them astray in the end they will incur a wrath so dreadful that to even catch sight of it will make them tremble with fear and flee to God in anguish of their souls and bodies. We serve a great and terrible God. Who does not know it? It is always preferable to speak of God' compassion and mercy they bring us to tears of joy and thankfulness. But to know His great anger and just intentions towards those who cause real stumbling against the babe in Christ is both hope of turning and dread fear for those men. They that fear Him know that He is Just and this too is precious. It pleased God to bruise His Son for our sakes.

Blessings.

Qualified addition for clarity and to avoid contention or misunderstanding.

This is not in support of the religious system of Rome nor any other religious system.

sermonindex Dec 9, 2012

SonsofLevi,
This is biblical advice about acting and not reacting to affronts by others in our lives. "Possess your soul in patience" is another way of saying "Wait on the Lord."

or Proverbs 16:32 "He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city." Amen

lesmanto