Why God’s Amazing Dynamic Deliverance Is Coming Your Way

In this week’s podcast, we are talking about God’s amazing dynamic deliverance from the standpoint of expectation. We know what to expect from the Lord when evil persecutes God’s own children. There is going to be a response. We can thank God for this response, ahead of time. We know what will happen. It’s a law in the universe. The farmer who plants certain seeds knows what to expect. He knows he will reap what he sows. He may not know exactly how many bushels of corn he’ll get to an acre, but he knows it will all result from the seeds he planted. That is an unbreakable law of nature: we reap what we sow, but we can never know exactly how much the harvest will be. This also holds true in the spiritual realm. We find immutable laws of sowing and reaping there as well. I know some people try to deny the existence of such a realm as the Kingdom of God. They are like moles who are ignorant of the existence of the sunlit world because they are blind.¹ Why God’s Amazing Dynamic Deliverance Is Coming Your Way, that’s our focus on this week’s Light on Life.

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You can view a basic transcript of this podcast at the bottom of this section.

Accept the Challenge

Each week’s podcast contains a call to action. The Word of God will not produce in your life unless you put it into operation.
This week’s call is:

Be encouraged. The Lord is on your side. God’s dynamic deliverance will guard and keep you in all your ways.

Join the Conversation

Testimony is vital to a believer’s life. We overcome by it (Rev. 12:11). Each week’s podcast also contains a question designed to encourage testimony.
This week’s question is:

Question: Share a testimony about how the Lord delivered you. Share your story in the comments section below.

Episode Resources:

We are currently teaching in the book of Second Thessalonians. You can click on the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

About Emery

Emery committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ over 47 years ago and has served as both a full-time pastor and an itinerant minister. He and his wife Sharon of 40 years emphasize personal growth and development through the Word of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is the focus and the hallmark of their mission. Read more about them here.

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If you enjoyed the podcast, please rate it on Stitcher Radio and leave a review. If you have a suggestion for a Bible topic, you would like to see taught, or if you have a question, please e-mail me at emery@emeryhorvath.com

Prayer

Let’s pray.

Father God, thank you today for your goodness and for your mercies to us. We thank you that you are righteous and true. A God that we can count on in times of difficulty. We obey your Word. Amid difficulty; we cast our care upon you in Jesus’ name. Thank you for your dynamic and marvelous deliverance, for we know you will indeed lift us up. Thank you for that in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Podcast Notes

The Evidence of God’s Deliverance: The Phrase ‘This Is Evidence’

2 Thessalonians 1:4–10 (ESV): – 4 Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring. 5 This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering— 6 since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels 8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, 10 when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.

In verse five of 2 Thessalonians, Paul talks about staying faithful despite persecution.
‘This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God,’ he says.
What is the evidence of God’s righteous judgment?
Shouldn’t that be what we ask of the text?
To answer this, it’s helpful to remember that there is an absence of punctuation in ancient Greek writing.
There were no lowercase letters.
The writing of first century Greek was all in capital letters. Commas, periods, semicolons, colons, question marks, exclamation marks, and dashes are absent in the original New Testament letter to the Thessalonians.
The same is true for the remaining 26 books of the New Covenant.
Translators had to depend on the Greek grammar for a lot of where sentences begin and end because of the capitalization and the lack of punctuation.
Sometimes they had trouble deciding because the grammar was not always entirely clear.
Now this is a rarity, mind you, but it occurs.
That’s the case with this word ‘evidence.’
Translators haven’t been able to say definitively if the word ‘evidence’ is a noun or a direct object.
What do you mean is it a noun or direct object?
I’m glad you asked that — let’s look at an example.
In the sentence, ‘Evidence was hurled at the judge,’ the word evidence is a noun and functions as a subject.
If you flip the sentence around, ‘The judge was given the evidence’ the word evidence is still a noun but it functions as a direct object.
The word ‘judge’ is the subject.
Evidence is a noun in both cases, but the grammar is different.
The same thing with the word ‘evidence.’
Be careful now as you read verses four and five.
Verse five is indeed a new sentence but, what does the word ‘This’ point to? – This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God,’
Does it point backward to verse four or forward to verse six?
Translators guessed at it and inserted the word ‘this’ in the sentence, making ‘evidence’ a direct object.
Let’s reread the verses.

This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering— 6 since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you,

The question we must ask and answer is ‘what is [the] evidence?’
Paul is getting to share with all us some facts about God’s righteous judgment.
Let’s look at the word evidence first and with that thought, here is the Definition of the Day.
The Greek Word evidence means proof, verification, or a plain indication.
The persecution of believers is a telltale sign that God’s righteous judgment is near.
Thessalonians [of course, the passage refers to us as well] you’re suffering now for your faith, but God is a righteous judge.
Your enemies are enjoying their time of waging war against you.
They think that their meanness is justified.
Some of them even think that God is on their side in this and that this persecution is some kind of holy war.
Here’s what you need to know about what you’re going through today.
Tomorrow is coming.
The books will balance.
Paul is saying your suffering today is proof, verification, or a plain indication of what is going to happen tomorrow.
Today is a sign of what is befalling your enemies in the future.
It’s a sure thing — a right thing.
It’s evidence — it’s predictive.
God will make you the head and not the tail.
Those who have mistreated you today will suffer the same fate — someone will mistreat them tomorrow.
Those who have inflicted unrighteous pressure will themselves be put in the squeeze box.

The Evidence of God’s Deliverance: The Law of Sowing and Reaping

God will have the last laugh.
He will not be mocked.

Galatians 6:7–8 (ESV) – 7 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. 8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

When Christians are persecuted and Jesus’ followers are ridiculed and mocked, know that God’s response is a prophetic happening.
It is part of the Law of Sowing and Reaping.
You can tell what’s going to happen in the future by what’s happened in the past — that’s because there is a universal law at work in the Universe.
Check out the book of Job on this.

Job 4:8 (ESV) — 8 As I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same.

Proverbs weighs in with the same concept.

Proverbs 22:8 (ESV) — Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity, and the rod of his fury will fail.

So you have sowing and reaping — bad produces bad and good produces good.
When wicked men heap bad upon the Lord’s people, they will also reap bad in the same manner.
In these cases, deliverance is inevitable.
You can expect it.
It will surely happen.
This Sowing and Reaping law is a reality that affects all realms.

Deliverance and Sowing the Word

The Sower sows the Word.
Jesus tells us as much.

Mark 4:13–14 (ESV) — 13 And he said to them, “ Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word.

In the next four verses, Jesus shares with us how that seed — that Word produces in the hearts of different people.
The hardhearted have the seed of the Word sown taken away from them.
That means it’s not the preacher’s fault that you didn’t receive.
Then you have the wishy-washy believers who are happy while the sun shines but whose entire perspective gets darkened by the clouds.
They believe the foreboding of the clouds more than they do the light of the Word.
That’s verses fifteen through seventeen.
Then you have the Word-chokers — these are the worry-warts, those who depend on their money, and their insatiable, unsatisfied urges.
They harvest little of the Word either.
Last, you have the good soil that bears fruit in different measures — thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.
So, the Word evidences the Law of Sowing and Reaping.
Sow the Word in the right soil and a harvest is the result.
If you want healing, sow the Word on healing.
Finances? — sow the Word on finances.
If you want peace, sow peace.
You can go on and on but you get the point.
Positive or negative, someone instigates the future.
An individual instigates destructive behavior — he will reap his reward.
And, with that thought, here is the Illustration of the Day.

Comedian and actor Chris Farley, of Saturday Night Live fame, was found dead in his downtown Chicago apartment on December 18, 1997. The Cook County medical examiner’s office later reported that he died of an opiate and cocaine overdose. According to Mark Caro and Allan Johnson in the Chicago Tribune, Farley’s problems with drugs were no secret, and his death at age thirty-three, though a shock, was no surprise to his friends. He had been in and out of various programs to clean up his life many times. In Farley’s obituary in the New York Times, James Barron quoted from a recent interview of Farley in a racy magazine: “I used to think that you could get to a level of success where the laws of the universe didn’t apply,” said Farley. “But they do. It’s still life on life’s terms, not on movie-star terms. I still have to work at relationships. I still have to work on my weight and some of my other demons. Once I thought that if I just had enough in the bank, if I had enough fame, that it would be all right. But I’m a human being like everyone else. I’m not exempt.” Sadly, his words proved to be prophetic.²

You reap what you sow in life.
If you sow to the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind, that’s Hosea 8:7.
Of course, you can one-eighty this principle as well.
You can sow to the wind and reap sunshine.
A child of God sows Kingdom principles — that good seed will produce for time and eternity.
Be encouraged not discouraged.
I have found that I must keep telling myself this.
It’s easy to walk by sight in these areas.
Take the Lord Jesus at His Word.

John 4:36–38 (ESV) — 36 Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. 37 For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’

Jesus is quoted Job out of the Old Testament.

Job 31:8 (ESV) — 8 then let me sow, and another eat, and let what grows for me be rooted out.

Jesus continues by saying.

38 “I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”

Keep sowing righteousness.
It’s all Kingdom business.
One sows — one reaps — we all win.
Glory to God

Deliverance and Finances

Here’s a scriptural example of sowing and reaping in the realm of finances.

2 Corinthians 9:6–11 (ESV) — 6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. 9 As it is written, “He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.” 10 He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.

The phrase “Give and it will be given to you” is a part of God’s dynamic deliverance.
Note again the thanksgiving portion.
The end of all matters is direct praise unto God.
Now, in the circles that I run in, there’s a heavy emphasis on this kind of sowing and reaping, but this law is not just confined to money.

Deliverance and the Resurrection Body

We’re already seeing how the judgment of God is predictable.
That it’s part of spiritual law.
You reap what you sow.
But, here’s another somewhat unknown area where this Law of Sowing and Reaping also occurs.

1 Corinthians 15:35–44 (ESV) — 35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” 36 You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. 38 But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. 39 For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 40 There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. 41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. 42 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

So, that’s a lot of words — what is Paul saying here?
You know, the Cliff Notes version of this?
Ashes to ashes — dust to dust.
Your natural body is as a seed sown in the ground.
That seed sown in the ground at your home going will harvest as your new resurrection body.
That’s a different take on sowing and reaping, wouldn’t you say?
Have you ever considered your physical body as a seed that bears fruit after your death?
You may not have but, the concept is thoroughly scriptural.

Dynamic Deliverance and the World’s Opinion of You

Let’s talk some more about these God haters who promote persecution for a moment.

1 Corinthians 4:10–13 (ESV) — 10 We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. 11 To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, 12 and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; 13 when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.

The Greek word ‘scum’ in the phrase “the scum of the world” [the KJV has it as ‘the filth of the world’] comes from the Greek word perikatharma, a compound of the words peri and kathairo. The word peri means around, and the word kathairo means to cleanse or to purify. The latter word depicts the removal of disgusting grime, like the dirty ring left on the sides of a bathtub when dirty water is drained.³
That’s how they treated people who declared that Jesus is the Way, and the Truth, and the Life.
Like scum — a dirty toilet ring.
Think of the believers who lived in the pagan Roman Empire and who faced injustice daily. They were constantly blamed for things they didn’t do. If the weather was bad, the Christians did it. They were responsible. If the empire was grappling with financial troubles, the Christians were at fault for people’s money problems. Nero blamed the Christians for the fire in Rome instead of taking responsibility. Early Christians were a threat to the devil and to the domain of darkness. So, from the beginning, Satan inspired people to hate believers and to blame them for many heinous deeds that had nothing to do with them. They became “scapegoats” [they became scum] that society used to blame for all their ills and problems.⁴
This is how the world thinks about you.
But, I’m telling you God will not put up with destructive behavior from the devil’s crowd for long.
Because of God’s nature, because of the Law of Sowing and reaping, you can already know what’s getting ready to happen.
As 2 Thessalonians 1:5 states, this is evidence of the righteous judgment of God. It’s time to delve deeper into God’s righteous judgement.

Dynamic Deliverance: God’s Righteous Judgment

God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us

God considers it a righteous act to repay — repay means to pay back.
What’s the payback? – it’s affliction.
God pays back with affliction — those who afflict.
You see again, that’s the Law of Sowing and Reaping.
Affliction is trouble that inflicts distress, oppression, or tribulation.
Someone has distressed you — that distress is coming to their door.
That oppression they use will boomerang back upon them.
Those who cause tribulation will themselves be on the wrong end of the same stick.
Here’s the other side — if you sow righteous, you will reap blessings from heaven.
It always pays to do the right thing.

Hosea 10:12 (KJV 1900): — 12 Sow to yourselves in righteousness, Reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground: For it is time to seek the Lord Till he come and rain righteousness upon you.

Do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do.
If you sow righteousness, you reap mercy.
If you sowed unrighteousness, well, you can fill in the rest.
God considers this right and just.
Righteous retribution is a well-known Go trait.
Listen to the saints in the book of Revelation.

Revelation 6:10 (ESV) — 10 They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”

You see, the saints in heaven are still in expectation of their blood being avenged.
You would think, “Wow they’re in heaven dancing up and down the streets of glory and having a high heel time.”
Why would they care?
In heaven, everybody walks in love and is full of peace.
There is no stress or anxiety.
So it’s not for anger or vengeance sake that these saints are crying out to God.

Revelation 6:11 (ESV) — 11 Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.

The Lord tells these martyred saints to rest a little longer.
God’s dynamic deliverance will become a reality.
Just wait, be patient, it will happen.
You see, we have evidence.

God’s Deliverance: The Ultimate Payday

Now all of this should provide a measure of comfort.
We know from these verses that God is going to be active.
That He is going to be moving.
We know that the God of Genesis is our God.

Genesis 1:1–3 (ESV) — 1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was [without form] and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

He’s an active God — that’s our God.
We can expect Him to show His Mighty hand and stretched out arm.
Getting back to our passage.

6 since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels 8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, 10 when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.

The Greek word relief means rest.
God will provide rest to his afflicted servants.
Remember what the Lord said to the saints in heaven.

Psalm 135:14 (ESV) — 14 For the Lord will vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants

Father God, thank you today. We know your dynamic deliverance is on its way. The books will balance and we will be at rest. We appreciate your universal laws of righteousness and truth. We bless your holy Name in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Why God’s Amazing Dynamic Deliverance Is Coming Your Way.
You guys have a great God week and we will see you next time for another edition of Light on Life.

Simple Yet Effective Directives for Living the Dynamic Jesus Life

__________
References:

AMG Bible Illustrations, Bible Illustrations Series (Chattanooga: AMG Publishers, 2000). ↩
Craig Brian Larson, 750 Engaging Illustrations for Preachers, Teachers & Writers (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2002), 525–526. ↩
Renner, Sparkling Gems ↩
ibid ↩

emeryhorvath.com

Equipping people to pursue God's glory

Why God’s Amazing Dynamic Deliverance Is Coming Your Way

Podcast: Light on Life Season Ten Episode Forty-Eight

by Emery Horvath

Listen to the Audio

Click to Listen | Right Click to Download |Subscribe to PlayerFM

Read the Notes

Accept the Challenge

Join the Conversation

Episode Resources:

We are currently teaching in the book of Second Thessalonians. You can click on the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

About Emery

Subscribe to the Podcast

Share the Love

Prayer

Podcast Notes

The Evidence of God’s Deliverance: The Phrase ‘This Is Evidence’

The Evidence of God’s Deliverance: The Law of Sowing and Reaping

Deliverance and Sowing the Word

Deliverance and Finances

Deliverance and the Resurrection Body

Dynamic Deliverance and the World’s Opinion of You

Dynamic Deliverance: God’s Righteous Judgment

God’s Deliverance: The Ultimate Payday

Listen to the Audio

Click to Listen | Right Click to Download |Subscribe to PlayerFM

Read the Notes

Accept the Challenge

Join the Conversation

Episode Resources:

We are currently teaching in the book of Second Thessalonians. You can click on the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

About Emery

Subscribe to the Podcast

Share the Love

Prayer

Podcast Notes

The Evidence of God’s Deliverance: The Phrase ‘This Is Evidence’

The Evidence of God’s Deliverance: The Law of Sowing and Reaping

Deliverance and Sowing the Word

Deliverance and Finances

Deliverance and the Resurrection Body

Dynamic Deliverance and the World’s Opinion of You

Dynamic Deliverance: God’s Righteous Judgment

God’s Deliverance: The Ultimate Payday

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