Grace Fellowship Church Pastor / Teacher James H. Rickard Thursday, June 5, 2008

Memory Verse 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

The Upper Room Discourse John 13-16; John 13:17, Sharing the Happiness of God

Principles of Sharing the Happiness of God: The Beatitudes Mat 5:3-12

Three main sections a) God's Plan of Salvation and the new believer, b) Advancing in the Christian way of life, c) Undeserved suffering of the mature believer.

C. The mature believer who undergoes undeserved suffering.

Verse 10, Happiness comes to the believer who is faithful while under stress. Theirs is a reminder of the eternal reward and bliss they have already been promised.

Verse 11, Happiness comes to the believer who is verbally abused. The believer is reminded that it is not he who is insulted and persecuted but Christ in him.

Verse 12, We are commanded to be exceedingly joyful in our soul and body with a personal sense of destiny…

... when, due to our kinship with the Lord Jesus Christ, we continually receive persecutions, and, based on our advance in God's Plan, we may come under various attacks.

MAKARIOS would not be possible without the Word and Spirit. The Spirit is the teacher of Bible doctrine, which is the source of true happiness.

Summary: 1) Vs. 3 = Salvation 2) Vs. 4 = Rebound 3) Vs. 5 = Humility 4) Vs. 6 = Intake of the Word

Summary: 5) Vs. 7 = Forgiving others 6) Vs. 8 = Walking with God 7) Vs. 9 = Ambassadorship

Summary: 8) Vs. 10 = Suffering for blessing Stage 1; (Providential Preventative Suffering at Spiritual Self-Esteem)

Summary: 9) Vs. 11 = Suffering for blessing Stage 2; (Momentum Testing at Spiritual Autonomy)

Summary: 10) Vs. 12 = Suffering for blessing Stage 3; (Evidence Testing at Spiritual Maturity)

Suffering acts as a guardian or parent in life because of what your parents did for you in childhood, suffering does for you as an adult.

Suffering does two things:

Suffering does two things: 1) It restrains us from sin, human good, and evil, just as our parents restrained us.

Suffering does two things: 2) It challenges us to advance in the Plan of God, just as our parents challenged us to grow up.

Suffering is a warning that we're doing it wrong, or it is a means of greater blessing.

Suffering is an authority designed to challenge the believer to grow in grace, by the proper use of the Portfolio of Invisible Assets to fulfill God’s Plan.

Suffering provides acceleration and momentum to reach spiritual adulthood while glorifying God.

There are two reasons and five categories of suffering in the spiritual life.

1) Punitive suffering

1) Punitive suffering a. The law of volitional responsibility. Making bad decisions brings bad results to our lives.

1) Punitive suffering b. Divine discipline. A warning from God to get you back on to the path of righteousness.

2) Suffering for blessing

2) Suffering for blessing a. Providential Preventative Suffering (PPS).

2) Suffering for blessing a. Providential Preventative Suffering (PPS). b. Momentum Testing (MT).

2) Suffering for blessing a. Providential Preventative Suffering (PPS). b. Momentum Testing (MT). c. Evidence Testing (ET).

Each stage of spiritual adulthood has a comparable category of suffering for blessing;

Grace Fellowship Church Thursday, June 5, 2008 Tape # Sharing the Happiness of God, Pt 3 Suffering for Blessing, Pt 1 Upper Room Discourse, Pt 183 John 13:17; Matt 5:3-12 James H. Rickard Bible Ministries 2008