Doctrine of Baptisms: Baptism of
Fire Part 2 – Role of Suffering
Greetings Sons of God:
1 Peter 4:12,13: Beloved, think it not strange concerning
the fiery trial which is to try you as though some strange thing happened unto
you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that
when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
We left off with this scripture
from the previous message and as you can see we will have trials and
tribulations that will happen to us but instead of panic and stress the
Scriptures tell us to rejoice because we are partakers of Christ’s sufferings,
his glory shall be revealed and we will have joy. Suffering is the way the Lord matures us to
transition our reliance on our soul to dependence upon the Spirit. Now if this sounds strange it is probably
because much of what we have been taught about suffering is that the devil is
attacking and Jesus will save you. No
this is the baptism of fire that the Lord administers to help you mature. Look at this Scripture:
Hebrews 5:8: Though he were a Son,
yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered.
So, Jesus Christ learned obedience
by the things he suffered. If this
happened to our Lord it shall happen to us and this is why the Lord tells us
not to think that some strange thing has happened but rejoice. It is time to
grow.
Romans 8:17: And if children, then
heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with
him, that we may be also glorified together.
We desire all of these great
things from God but we do not want to suffer and for Christ to be glorified, He
had to suffer. Now let me draw a line
here. The Baptism of Fire is not meant
to consume or kill you but to draw you closer.
When the trial is administered it is crucial to be able to recognize it
and this is where spiritual fathers come into play. For many people when suffering happens they
are quick to ask why is the devil bothering me or it’s the devil when it is the
Lord. When you struggle with this
recognition, your spiritual father should be able to recognize it and give you
counsel on what is going on and how you are to walk through the trial. Many times the trial will cause you to be
still and not try to manipulate or fix the problem. You trying to fix it is from the rationale of
the soul. We are not flesh but Spirit. We will see the glory of God manifested in
the trial because we yielded to the voice of the Spirit and not the voice of
the soul.
The baptism of fire is used to
help us transition our mentality from soul-dominance to Spirit-dominance.
Peace, Love and Grace,
Calvin Calhoun, Jr.
