Hardened to (not by) the world

mukk_in

Yankees Fan
Supporter
Oct 13, 2009
2,852
3,872
53
Vellore, India
✟664,706.00
Country
India
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Celibate
Dear saints, I hope that the Lord has been blessing all of you abundantly. It’s good to be back with all of you.:) A saint has to be hardened to (not by) the world. The world is obstinate, stubborn and inflexible. It despises God Almighty and everything about the Lord (John 15:18). The world will not accept the Lord and His message (John 1:11). However, the Lord still intends to deploy us His children as witnesses unto Him and against the world (Acts 1:8). How can a saint take on a world that’s hardened by sin?

Please turn with me to Ezekiel 3:7-9. This narrative describes the encounter that the Prophet Ezekiel had with the Lord. Israel had backslidden and had become hardened by sin and rebellion against the Lord (Ezekiel 2:3, 4). So what was God’s remedy to confront Israel? He hardened His prophet to be just as obstinate, stubborn and unyielding as the Israelites. There was, of course, an eternal difference. Ezekiel was hardened, unyielding and uncompromising about upholding God’s word and holiness, while backslidden Israel was literally hell-bent on disobeying God’s word and call. The Prophet had to be just as obstinate and remorseless while preaching the word of God and testifying to the Lord. The more shameful that Israel’s behavior was (Ezekiel 7, 8) the stronger and more resolute the man of God had become (Ezekiel 3:9). This is quite relevant to us in this day and age, saints. The more this world tries to shut the Lord out, the more resolute God Almighty will make us, His children.

Now, I’d like to draw a parallel with the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus Himself. In Luke 9:51 and Mark 10:32 we see the Lord Jesus walking purposefully and powerfully ahead of His disciples who were astonished and some were frightened. Some translations say in Luke 9:51 that “knowing that His time was near, Jesus set His face as flint”. This is an aspect of the Lord’s ministry and personality that most people don’t seem to comprehend. The Lord was just as resolute to uphold God’s holiness and save humankind as Satan was to destroy it (John 10:10), even if it meant death on a cross. The more belligerent the Pharisees became the more He asserted His Power and Authority (Mark 12:38-40, John 8:58, John 2:19). The Lord met the devil’s brute strength with raw and overwhelming Power. These are times when the saint is empowered and emboldened in ways that they couldn’t imagine (Acts 4:13) was possible to take on the devil and his world.

I’d like to end with the life and ministry of the Apostle Paul. Here was a man who was shipwrecked, beaten, starved, imprisoned and suffered unimaginable pain and yet endured (2 Corinthians 11:25). I pray that none of us would ever have to go through what he had. This is a testament not only to the Power of the Holy Spirit in him, but also how he had been hardened and made combat ready. Those of you who were (and are) in the military probably understand what I’m talking about. When I was in middle-high school my dad used to kick me out of the house every summer (and I hated him for that…LOL) to attend the NCC (National Cadet Corps) camps in India (think of it as the junior army or ROTC). Early morning drills, combat exercises, and come evening more drills were the norm. Boy did they rough me up good! The training and physical conditioning that God Almighty put Paul through made his body so hard and tough that even when people left him for dead after he was stoned, Paul simply got up and walked away (Acts 14:19-20)! It was as if his bones were unbreakable and made off carbon fiber!

The world is hard, obdurate, obstinate and wants to destroy God. However, God wants to make us tougher, harder and more durable and take His love to it. Will you let Him train, harden, toughen and then deploy you saints? I hope that you will. Amen.

Dear friends, I’m quite certain that all of you are sanctified, Holy Ghost baptized saints. Should there be any among you that don’t know the Lord yet, I pray that the Lord of the Universe will set you free from sin and disobedience into His glorious light and freedom. Amen.

Finally friends, my intention in this writing was only to illustrate some concepts and not incriminate anybody in anyway. I apologize if some or all of this content offended you in anyway, as my intention was quite the opposite

PS: Thanks for taking the time to read my scribble saints. If you find a lot of similarities between this writing and those of Rev. Oswald Chambers, that’s because the late Rev. Chambers is my mentor. “To he who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life which is in the paradise of God (Revelation 2:7)”. Amen.
 
  • Like
Reactions: nChrist

Little Lantern

Be encouraged! Christ has overcome the world!
Supporter
Sep 14, 2017
2,774
3,153
USA
✟223,578.00
Country
United States
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
The world is hard, obdurate, obstinate and wants to destroy God. However, God wants to make us tougher, harder and more durable and take His love to it. Will you let Him train, harden, toughen and then deploy you saints? I hope that you will. Amen.

Yes and amen, @mukk_in. Great post. The darker the world gets, the brighter the Light of Christ shines through us. Let us cleanse our vessels that people will be able to clearly see Him in us and be drawn to His Light!
 
Upvote 0

Homer Les

Member
Dec 7, 2017
21
23
Kingston
Visit site
✟16,425.00
Country
Canada
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
Dear saints, I hope that the Lord has been blessing all of you abundantly. It’s good to be back with all of you.:) A saint has to be hardened to (not by) the world. The world is obstinate, stubborn and inflexible. It despises God Almighty and everything about the Lord (John 15:18). The world will not accept the Lord and His message (John 1:11). However, the Lord still intends to deploy us His children as witnesses unto Him and against the world (Acts 1:8). How can a saint take on a world that’s hardened by sin?

Please turn with me to Ezekiel 3:7-9. This narrative describes the encounter that the Prophet Ezekiel had with the Lord. Israel had backslidden and had become hardened by sin and rebellion against the Lord (Ezekiel 2:3, 4). So what was God’s remedy to confront Israel? He hardened His prophet to be just as obstinate, stubborn and unyielding as the Israelites. There was, of course, an eternal difference. Ezekiel was hardened, unyielding and uncompromising about upholding God’s word and holiness, while backslidden Israel was literally hell-bent on disobeying God’s word and call. The Prophet had to be just as obstinate and remorseless while preaching the word of God and testifying to the Lord. The more shameful that Israel’s behavior was (Ezekiel 7, 8) the stronger and more resolute the man of God had become (Ezekiel 3:9). This is quite relevant to us in this day and age, saints. The more this world tries to shut the Lord out, the more resolute God Almighty will make us, His children.

Now, I’d like to draw a parallel with the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus Himself. In Luke 9:51 and Mark 10:32 we see the Lord Jesus walking purposefully and powerfully ahead of His disciples who were astonished and some were frightened. Some translations say in Luke 9:51 that “knowing that His time was near, Jesus set His face as flint”. This is an aspect of the Lord’s ministry and personality that most people don’t seem to comprehend. The Lord was just as resolute to uphold God’s holiness and save humankind as Satan was to destroy it (John 10:10), even if it meant death on a cross. The more belligerent the Pharisees became the more He asserted His Power and Authority (Mark 12:38-40, John 8:58, John 2:19). The Lord met the devil’s brute strength with raw and overwhelming Power. These are times when the saint is empowered and emboldened in ways that they couldn’t imagine (Acts 4:13) was possible to take on the devil and his world.

I’d like to end with the life and ministry of the Apostle Paul. Here was a man who was shipwrecked, beaten, starved, imprisoned and suffered unimaginable pain and yet endured (2 Corinthians 11:25). I pray that none of us would ever have to go through what he had. This is a testament not only to the Power of the Holy Spirit in him, but also how he had been hardened and made combat ready. Those of you who were (and are) in the military probably understand what I’m talking about. When I was in middle-high school my dad used to kick me out of the house every summer (and I hated him for that…LOL) to attend the NCC (National Cadet Corps) camps in India (think of it as the junior army or ROTC). Early morning drills, combat exercises, and come evening more drills were the norm. Boy did they rough me up good! The training and physical conditioning that God Almighty put Paul through made his body so hard and tough that even when people left him for dead after he was stoned, Paul simply got up and walked away (Acts 14:19-20)! It was as if his bones were unbreakable and made off carbon fiber!

The world is hard, obdurate, obstinate and wants to destroy God. However, God wants to make us tougher, harder and more durable and take His love to it. Will you let Him train, harden, toughen and then deploy you saints? I hope that you will. Amen.

Dear friends, I’m quite certain that all of you are sanctified, Holy Ghost baptized saints. Should there be any among you that don’t know the Lord yet, I pray that the Lord of the Universe will set you free from sin and disobedience into His glorious light and freedom. Amen.

Finally friends, my intention in this writing was only to illustrate some concepts and not incriminate anybody in anyway. I apologize if some or all of this content offended you in anyway, as my intention was quite the opposite

PS: Thanks for taking the time to read my scribble saints. If you find a lot of similarities between this writing and those of Rev. Oswald Chambers, that’s because the late Rev. Chambers is my mentor. “To he who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life which is in the paradise of God (Revelation 2:7)”. Amen.

Excellent post. Certainly God has told us that as we follow Him He will 'strengthen us and harden us to difficulties.' To be able to resist the onslaught of 'self' and satan one must be hardened, progressively, to the trials and tribulations that go with the life of real faith. Ain't easy. This hardening is essential in the days ahead because the 'self' nature of man is growing exponentially. We need to become much stronger in our faith if we are to be victorious.

Jesus never promised us that this life of faith would be easy. In fact His very life, as our prime example, was one of hardship but He overcame. We will too if we follow Him in complete obedience. He promised us that He will always be with us in the fire and our testimony is proof of that. For those of us who have lived through 1 Corinthians 4:9-13 we know what these trials are. However, we have come out hardened and strong. We will not bend to the will of 'self' or satan any longer!

Thank you for this post and God bless!

Homer Les and Wanda Ring
 
Upvote 0