Spiritual Gifts part 66. My afflictions are good, for in them I learn my Father's ways.

Pastor-Teacher
John Farley
Wednesday,
December 29, 2010

Spiritual Gifts Part 66: It’s good for me that I was afflicted, for that is how I learned my Father’s ways.

Son by nature (deity) though He was, He learned from the things He suffered—obedience!"

hupakoe is a specialized word that refers to the obedience of one who conforms his conduct to God’s commands.

The essence of our sonship to the Father is found in obedience.

Son of God by nature (deity) though He was, He learned from the things He suffered—obedience!"

1. Obedience is something that has to be learned by doing.

2. We must follow in Jesus’ footsteps and strive to obey the will of God because this is what it means to be a son.

3. You cannot be truly happy except through obedience to the plan of God.

4. Submission to authority is the mark of the mature son or daughter of God.

5. The obedience that the adult sons and daughters have to the plan of God cannot be learned except by suffering.

6. Perfect obedience under the mantle of intense suffering is what clinched the angelic conflict.

7. Obedience is never completely learned until a person is face to face with suffering and his character is put to the test.

We probably have more recorded in the New Testament about the failures of Peter than about those of any other figure in the Church Age.

To be a son is to be obedient.

To suffer is to learn.

Son of God by nature (deity) though He was, He learned from the things He suffered—obedience!"

The pattern is ABBA. Sometimes it is called chiasm because when it occurs in two lines of poetry it forms a cross.

Son, learned

suffered - obedience.

A group: To be a son is to be obedient.

B group: To suffer is to learn.

Son of God by nature (deity) though He was [A], He learned [B] from the things He suffered [B] —obedience! [A]"

The essence of sonship is obedience.

Psalm 119 is an acrostic poem. It has 176 verses. It is organized into 22 stanzas each with 8 verses.

In this acrostic poem, Psalm 119, each stanza is dedicated to one Hebrew letter, and they occur in order.

The remarkable thing about the acrostic poem is that each line, each verse in the stanza, begins with the Hebrew letter that is being featured.

Each verse in stanza 9 begins with the 9th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, teth.
And each verse in stanza 10 begins with the 10th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, yodh.

 


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