WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF OFFENCE? (Luke 17:1)
√ The right vessel is refined in challenges (Is 48:10)
√ God’s candidate matures in the face of opposition (1 Sam 17:42-43)
√ God’s power is made manifest during an attack (Dan 6:20-22) (Dan 3:22-25)
4 DIFFERENT RESPONSES WHEN A CHURCH IS FACING TRIALS;
√ The wayside soul
~ Sons of darkness openly against God’s interest in church
~ Their purpose is to hinder the ministry of God’s Word (Acts 13:8)
√ Lack of revelation (2 Tim 4:3)
~They run with what they hear with no understanding.
~ No time to research the truth
~ No prayer to reveal the Mind of God
~ Time to seek God’s Mind (Dan 9:2)
√ The distracted soul (Luke 8:14)
~ Their faith is dependant on what worries them
~ Their faith is swayed by their economic state
~ Their faith is affected by what’s trending in the world
~ The Word excites them only when things are ok.
√ The diligent soul (Matt 13:23)
~ They seek to understand facts; not hearsay
~ They are quiet & shun gossip (Prov 11:13)
~ The search out a matter to establish God’s Mind (Rom 11:33)
~ Great inventions are products of this category (Facebook, Google, Medicine)
~ They focus on work which results in productivity (1 Thess 4:11)
DANGERS OF CARELESS TALKING (Job 42:7-8)
√ Careless words can terminate your grace before its time (1 Kings 19:4) (1 Kings 19:14-16)
√ Opens one to spiritual warfare (Prov 6:2) (Luke 20:20) (Eccl 10:20) (Acts 23:2-5)
√ Opens one to judgment by hell fire (Matt 5:22) (James 3:6) (Matt 12:36)
√ They grieve the Holy Spirit (Eph 4:30-32) (Col 4:6)