The Angelic Conflict - Part 54 -
Under undeserved suffering, the believer is challenged to use the PSD’s to grow in grace, orient to the plan of God, and advance to spiritual maturity where we can glorify God in the angelic conflict.

(a) Preventative suffering is added to spiritual self-esteem, the first stage of spiritual adulthood, to strengthen it to the point of spiritual autonomy or independence.

This is a form of suffering designed to make the individual stronger within and increase his personal love for God.

This is designed to push you from spiritual self-esteem to spiritual autonomy, the next stage of spiritual growth.

1. Insults = slander and people testing.

2. Distresses = pressure and thought testing.

3. Persecutions = system testing.

4. Difficulties = stress and disaster testing.

(b) Momentum testing is given to strengthen the believer’s impersonal unconditional love toward others, so the believer can advance to spiritual maturity.

Preventative suffering is designed to strengthen your personal love for God and increase your dedication to Him and His plan for your life.

Momentum testing is designed to strengthen your impersonal love for man; you have to be mistreated by people and remain in impersonal love toward them in spite of what they do to you.

In spiritual autonomy, there is a stronger and increased contentment, capacity for life, and capacity for happiness as a result of combining spiritual self-esteem with providential preventative suffering.

The key to this contentment is impersonal love for all because others’ imperfections and mistakes will not be a source of unhappiness to you.

If you, in spiritual autonomy, have unconditional love toward all mankind, you have the most fantastic capacity for personal love toward those in your periphery.

Impersonal love is the key to solving people testing and the problems of interaction with people.

Impersonal love solves system testing, which involves relationships with people in authority over you.

Impersonal love is a major characteristic of spiritual autonomy and the means of passing momentum testing.

In people testing, spiritual autonomy’s grace orientation = tolerance from impersonal love toward all. People can no longer get you down.

(c) Evidence testing is given for the mature believer to glorify God to the maximum in the angelic conflict.

a. Relationship with the Holy Spirit, Mat 4:1-4.

b. Relationship with the Word of God, Mat 4:5-7. c. Relationship with the plan of God, Mat 4:8-10.

a. Loss of prosperity, Job 1.

b. Loss of health, social life, and attractiveness, Job 2:1-10.

c. Loss of friends and having them malign and judge you, Job 2:11-42:17.

Suffering is an extension of the angelic conflict to see if the believer will learn from metabolized doctrine and utilize the dynamic grace provisions designed in eternity past.

Robert R. McLaughlin Bible Ministries

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Robert R. McLaughlin 2001