Ephesians 3:13
13 Wherefore [dio] I desire [aiteo] that ye faint [ekkakeo] not
[me] at [en] my
[mou] tribulations [thlipsis] for [huper] you, [humon] which [hostis] is [esti] your [humon] glory. [doxa] KJV-Interlinear
13
Therefore I ask you not to lose heart at my tribulations on your behalf, for
they are your glory. NASB
Faint, ‘ekkakeo,’ means
to cower, to become a coward, to waiver, to lose ones courage, to be
fainthearted, to doubt.
Paul was under great
pressures and sufferings due to his teaching of scripture. His primary adversaries
were the traditional Jews who opposed his teaching of grace, salvation by
faith, the end of the Levitical offering system, and so forth, and he was doing
this to the gentiles, ‘of all people.’
The Jews were disgusted and insulted and tried to quiet him, just as the
attempt to rid the world of Jesus was done decades before.
Therefore Christianity,
the ‘new’ thought of the day, was being explained as the original intent of the
scriptures all along, and not new at all.
But the prevailing
thought of the day was that the scriptures presented a Messiah who would come
and rid the world of gentile oppression, and set up the Jews in Gods Kingdom,
as they presumed they had a right.
But not so.
And here Paul was
teaching salvation and blessings and eternity and so forth for everyone, and
yet he was a living example of suffering.
So, what of this ‘new’ faith where there seemed to be only suffering and
no blessing?
And today, far too many
folks believe that if you are suffering, your life is somehow unblessed, while
if you are successful, then your life is blessed of God. The general expectation of society is that
God blesses and relieves the sufferings of people, and if your life is full of
pressures, then you must be doing something wrong or this Christian stuff just
does not work.
And in some cases where
there is true rejection of truth, then there is suffering – India, China,
Africa. And, where there is a foundation
of truth, then there is blessing and prosperity – USA and many other countries.
However, this does not
mean that evil people cannot be prosperous, for the world is full of prosperous
evil types.
And, this does not mean
that spiritually advancing people cannot suffer, for one of the primary and
fundamental principles of learning and spiritual growth requires some form of
suffering, just so you can learn and see life from all aspects and
perspectives. Often times you cannot
understand until you have experienced. And
that too is grace from God. Hardships
are often times the best teachers.
If you are spiritually
negative, then your economic or physical or social status, be they good or bad,
are all irrelevant, for they cannot gain you anything for eternity.
If you are spiritually positive,
as legitimately defined by the scriptures (not by your own definition), then
your economic or physical or social status, be they good or bad, are all still irrelevant. For, again, it is your spiritual status that
determines your future, not your worldly status.
It was Lazarus that was
poor and destitute and died at the gate of the rich man. Lazarus went to Paradise, the rich man went
to Torments. So, you cannot judge anyone
by their external presentation.
Likewise you cannot lose
heart, or faith, because the world drops the stinky stuff all over you. People will lose their health. People will lose their jobs. People will lose their business. People will lose their homes. People will lose their marriage. People will lose their family.
This is the devils world
and all evil, all wickedness, all bad things regardless of what they are, are
due to Satan, never God.
The Garden was perfect,
life was perfect. Satan brought in temptation
and then sin and that started all of the deterioration of the human existence,
including, but certainly not limited to, death, genetic defects, disease,
handicaps of all sorts, and on and on and on.
So, Paul teaches us here,
‘Do not lose heart.’ Regardless of your
situation, your faith is far more powerful than your circumstances and
certainly more powerful than what people might think of you.
It is far better to lose
everything in this life, and maintain your faith, and end up for all of
eternity as a winner as a result of your faith.
It is a terrible loss to
lose faith, lose everything and never have anything ever.
Faith is the key and
power, and faith is maintained by wisdom and wisdom is developed on
understanding, and understanding is centered on knowledge, and knowledge must
be learned, and learning comes by a daily study of the word of God.
Faith is not by accident or
wishes or magic. Faith is constructed bit
by bit, systematically by means of doctrine.
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