The Doctrine of Negative Volition, Part 6.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

When God interrupts anything in life it gives those involved the chance to think.

Catastrophe or disaster is a means to awaken people out of their spiritual sleep and disaster.

2CO 13:5 Test yourselves to see if you are in the doctrinal life; examine yourselves!

AMO 3:6-7 If a calamity occurs in a city has not the Lord done it? Surely the Lord God does nothing unless He reveals His secret counsel to His servants the prophets [in the Church-age, His pastor-teachers].

1TI 5:17 - working hard to the point of exhaustion in the study of the word and the teaching of doctrine.
PRO 16:4 The Lord has made everything for its own purpose, Even the wicked for the day of evil.

ISA 45:6b-7 I am the Lord, and there is no other, The One forming light and creating darkness, Causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the Lord who does all these.

It is imperative therefore that God interrupts our lives from time to time to wake us up.

God the Son does it in REV 3:20 revealed by the phrase “by knocking at the door of our souls.”

If our life is going to be free from dramatic divine interruptions, it is imperative that we stick with Bible doctrine.

If there is one thing that the believer minus doctrine is not prepared for, it is sudden disaster.

The souls and spirits of those who are dead cannot communicate with the living or return from the dead,
2SA 12:23; LUK 16:27-31.

2SA 12:22-23 And he said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who knows, the Lord may be gracious to me, that the child may live. But now he has died; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.”

A pastor’s dream = to be able to come back from the dead and visit a reversionist or a backslidden believer who has lived in negative volition toward doctrine.

Saul finally recognizes the Old Testament authority of Samuel.

Authority is a creation of God. Authority involves a person who is willing to take responsibility for the lives of others.

ACT 23:5 for it is written, “You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.”
2PE 2:10 They indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and despise authority. Daring, self-willed, they do not tremble when they revile angelic majesties.

Authority demands moral courage as well as honesty, integrity, fairness to all.

Just as we have authority in the government, and in business, and in all areas of life, we have spiritual authority.

You must learn to live under authority whether you like the authority or not.

The only issue between you and your pastor =
“Are you learning doctrine from him or not?”

The means by which you do so is “thought,” which we call Bible doctrine.

You can be an expert by using your IQ to study a certain subject, but you cannot be an expert in the spiritual realm by studying on your own.

You will never ever make it in life without recognition of the fact that all of us live under a system of authority.

ACT 20:28 - the Holy Spirit assigns a certain pastor to a certain congregation.
1PE 5:3 - there are certain believers who are allotted or assigned to a certain pastor.

As a part of your positive volition toward doctrine rather than negative volition toward doctrine, the believer needs to recognize the principle of spiritual authority in the pastor-teacher.

The pastor has received this authority from the Lord, just as Archippus received a ministry from the Lord inCOL 4:17.

The pastor is called “your messenger” just as Epaphroditus was the right pastor-teacher to the Philippians inPHI 2:25, and was called “their messenger.”

The pastor is given to you from God on “your behalf” just as Epaphras, who was the right pastor teacher of Colosse, in COL 1:17 was called the servant of Christ on “their behalf.”

The issue is not your pastor’s personality, but whether or not he is your right pastor and whether or not you are learning doctrine from him.

While the positive believer advances to maturity under the privacy of his priesthood, and produces divine good from his ambassadorship, he cannot continue his momentum apart from authority.

Christian freedom is like any other kind of freedom, it is always a part of a structure which includes not only the freedom but privacy, property, and authority.

Freedom is a part of a structure, and like every structure that is wonderful, it is based upon a system of authority.

The canon of scripture is the book on all systems of authority: social, civil, personal, and spiritual.

The purpose of this gift is the proper communication and teaching of doctrine, and the protection of the privacy of the congregation.

Having absolute authority does not mean having absolute control.

Absolute authority often means taking responsibility for things which are not your fault.

The pastor’s authority extends to teaching doctrine and enforcing policy in the local church; that is his professional function.

The freedom that you have from establishment plus the freedom you have from being a Royal Priest means that you have equal privilege and equal opportunity to grow in the “presence of all the saints.”

EPH 3:18 That you may be able to comprehend in the presence of all the saints what is the breath and length and height and depth,

Freedom plus equal privilege and equal opportunity equals inequality. Whatever you do, when freedom is present, freedom creates inequality. This means that with PVTD you advance to the common objective, even though you may be at a different stage of growth than the person around you.

The whole point is that we are to tolerate each other.
We are to respect the privacy of each other.

We are to love each other with impersonal love so that each one of us can use his freedom of the priesthood and his opportunity to create the inequalities in time which are transferred to inequalities in heaven.

Your motivation must come from your inner resources; it is what you think that counts, not what I say. 1TI 5:17let the elders who rule well [honorably - RFHC] be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.

1CO 16:15-16 Now I urge you brethren concerning those who have devoted themselves to the ministry that you submit to such men.
1TH 5:12-13 We request of you brethren [Royal Family], that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you in the Lord and give you instruction, And that you esteem them very highly in agape love because of their work.
REV 2:7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Saul had everything going for him, and he lost it all and died because he failed to recognize the authority of B.D. and of his Bible teacher, 1CH 10:13-14.

1. Even in backsliding Saul recognizes the authority of the one who communicated doctrine in his lifetime.
2. The absence of doctrine in Saul’s life has caused him to be humbled and prostrate himself on the ground.

3. The backslider seeks help from doctrine after many years of rejecting doctrine.
4. It’s possible for a believer to come to doctrine when it’s too late.
5. Those who reject doctrine are always ready to inconvenience others to wave the magic wand for them.