The doctrine of glorifying God, Part 22, John 15:8.

Title: The doctrine of glorifying God, Part 22, John 15:8.

 

Point 4: Becoming an expert witness for the prosecution in the Angelic Conflict glorifies God.

 

The advance to maturity requires a disciplined Spiritual Life that becomes proficient in the use of the three spiritual skills so that maximum time is spent under the filling of the Holy Spirit.

 

The three spiritual skills: Regaining the filling of the HS; Metabolizing doctrine; Executing the PPOG.

 

This maximizes the production of divine good and minimizes the production of sin, human viewpoint, human good, and evil in the life of the believer.

 

Eph 4:11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,

 

Eph 4:12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;

 

Eph 4:13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fulness of Christ.

 

 “mature” – adjective teleios [teleios] = mature, complete, lacking nothing necessary for completeness.

Eph 4:14 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming;

 

 “children” – adjective nepios [nepios] = childish, untaught, unskilled, immature.

 

This advance takes time because spiritual growth takes time.  Years must be spent in Bible class learning the strategies and tactics of the grace plan of God so that victories can be won in the Invisible War.

 

Along the way, advances in this plan become a witness for the Prosecution in the Appeal Trial of Lucifer.

 

Maximum advance results in invisible historical impact as the believer joins the Pivot of mature believers and contributes to sustaining his client nation in history.

 

The believer whose Spiritual Life is taken to the limit wins a tactical victory in the angelic conflict which complements our Lord’s strategic victory on the cross.

 

The soul is made out of such a material which God can, through redemption, conform into the very image of His beloved son.

 

The flesh could never be conformed and so it has been cut off. The conformation of the redeemed soul of the new creature into the image of Christ is guaranteed in God’s system. As we will see in John 15, this conformity within God’s system falls under the one word love, but not human love.

 

This is why any energy of the flesh, even the seemingly good energy, is highly limited, has no eternal value, and is fully contaminated with the sin nature.

 

In addition, such a believer is qualified to become an expert witness for the Prosecution in the Appeal Trial:

 

EXPERT WITNESS.  One who has skilled experience or extensive knowledge in his calling.  One possessing, with reference to a particular subject, knowledge not acquired by ordinary persons; one skilled in any particular profession, being possessed of a peculiar knowledge concerning the same, and one who has given the subject in question particular study, practice, or observation. (Black’s Law Dictionary.)

 

Hence, there are no quick solutions to a lack of skilled experience or a lack of extensive knowledge. The experience of being called as an expert witness is a reward and privilege for the believer who has dedicated his life to learning the word of God. This is the true disciple.

 

Heb 6:1

Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,

 

During Human Life, the believer’s Spiritual Life is placed under maximum testing when, after advancing to spiritual maturity; he is called by the Lord to testify in the Appeal Trial.

 

This is called Evidence Testing and it is administered selectively to some mature believers in one of two categories: (1) one’s relationship with God or (2) one’s relationship with life.

 

These constitute the two major arguments Lucifer brings before the court in his defense and for which the Lord calls witnesses forward to testify.

 

In the accusation regarding man’s relationship with God, evidence testing is summarized by:

 

Satan argues that men, like angels, will not be able to handle suffering, especially if they consider the suffering unjust.  The only reason anyone remains faithful to God, Satan charges, is because God blesses him. 

 

This was the argument in the book of Job.  Job, however, discredited Satan’s theory and was entered as evidence in God’s case against Satan.  Despite a period of failure, Job remained faithful to God not because God was blessing him but because of the doctrine he had learned and eventually applied.

 

As a mature believer, Job possessed the resources to take extreme suffering in stride and to identify his circumstances as suffering for blessing rather than punitive suffering. (Thieme, R. B., Jr.  Christian Suffering.)

 

In the accusation regarding man’s relationship with life, evidence testing is summarized by:

 

Satan’s second principle argument is that no one will remain faithful to God if offered sufficient wealth or power.  In other words, everyone has his price.

 

This argument is a direct defense of Satan’s own fall from his office of anointed cherub, the highest ranking status among angelic creatures.  The issue: Will creature lust for power, fame, wealth, or any other attainment be more powerful than the plan of the creator?  Will man choose self-aggrandizement independent of God, or will he execute God’s plan and allow God to promote him?  This is the evidence test Satan leveled against the humanity of Christ during the Incarnation in Matthew 4:1-11. (Thieme, Christian Suffering)

 

In addition to the privilege of offering testimony on behalf of the Prosecution, the mature believer acquires the conveyance of escrow blessings in time which will be converted to escrow blessings in eternity.

 

This brings maximum glory to God. By the believer’s capacity for understanding the worthiness of God and his yieldedness to that character he has gained a capacity for blessings that stagger the imagination.

 

Consequently, when the believer dies he is provided an interim body that will be sustained by Eternal Life until the moment of the rapture.

 

Once the rapture occurs every believer will receive his resurrection body, but the mature believer will have his decorated with the investitures, accessories, and accouterments which describe the Nike Awards, one’s escrow blessings in eternity.

 

Rev 2:7

To him who overcomes,

“overcomes” – present active participle of nikao [nikao] = to conquer or to carry off to victory, which is from the root word nike [nike – nee’-kay] = victory.

 

In the eternal state the winner believer will possess Eternal Life in a resurrection body just like all other believers of the Church Age.

 

But for the winner believer his resurrection body will be decorated with certain accouterments, he will be invested with authority, and possess certain accessories.

 

The thirteen paragraphs of the Nike Awards may be categorized in six categories:

 

1. Clothing:  The crown of liferighteousness and the uniform of glory.

 

2. Insignia of Office:  The most noble order of the Morning Star and the grant of a coat of arms.

 

3. Office: Rulership over a nation in the millennial kingdom.

 

4. Rank:  A new name of aristocracy.

 

5. Privilege:  Access to the tree of life; presentation at court; and sitting with Christ on His throne.

 

6. Honor:  Membership in the Paradise Club; inscription of his new title into the Book of Life; his achievements sculpted on a stela in the Temple; and entrée into the New Jerusalem.