Equipping Eve: A Blessed State of Affairs

Is the church today doing everything it can to provide women a firm foundation of truth in Christ Jesus?

Well, it's true, there's no shortage of candy -coated Bible studies, potluck fellowships available to ladies.

But beyond Sunday morning, are Christian women being properly equipped to stand against the same deceptions that even enticed

Eve in the garden? In an attempt to address the need for trustworthy, biblical resources for women,

No Compromise Radio is happy to introduce Equipping Eve, a ladies -only radio show that seeks to equip women with fruits of truth in an age that's ripe with deception.

My name is Mike Ebendroth and I'm pleased to introduce your host, Erin Benzinger, a friend of No Compromise Radio and a woman who wants to see other women equipped with a love for and a knowledge of the truth of God's Word.

Well, hello ladies, and welcome to Equipping Eve. I'm your host, Erin Benzinger, and this is the show that seeks to equip you with fruits of truth from God's Word so that you can stand strong and firm on that unchanging

Word in an age of deception. Welcome, I hope you all are having as good of a day as I am, and you know why

I'm having a great day? I'm having a great day because I just took a peek at my

You're Already Amazing calendar, which we like to refer to as the

Just Be Awesome calendar here at Equipping Eve, and I flipped through a few entries here, and I have to tell you ladies,

I didn't realize how awesome I am and how important I am until I read this calendar over the last few days, or the last few entries that I read all at once, so I'm on awesome overload right now.

This calendar is, as I've said many times before, the product of Holly Gerth, and it's based on a book that she wrote of the same title,

You're Already Amazing, and she says, oh, here's one thing that she says, she says that God wants us to love ourselves the way we love others in our lives.

That's nice to know. Then she says, it grieves God when we treat ourselves poorly, just like it would if we treated one of our sisters in Christ that way.

If someone were harsh or demanding with a close friend of yours, you would come to her defense. If she were exhausted or burned out, you would try to help her get some rest.

Sometimes we need to do the same for ourselves. It's all about you. Come on.

Oh, here's something that's kind of bordering on feminism here.

Telling women they're not allowed to receive is one of the subtlest and most dangerous tactics of the enemy.

I don't even know what that means. Who is telling women that they can't receive, and receive what? What is that?

But to me, this starts to smell a little bit of, hey, whoever's telling women that they can't do something is really of the enemy, and so is this now saying, hey, women should be allowed to hold all roles within the church.

I realize I'm stretching based on one sentence, but you can see how these things spiral into wackiness.

Let's see, she says, he, the enemy, might not be able to make us ineffective by falling into a major sin, but he can accomplish the same thing by driving us to become utterly empty and exhausted.

Again, don't know what that means. You are worth investing in, sweet sister.

You are a daughter of the king, a holy princess, a woman with a purpose in this world and a calling on your life.

You are of infinite value, and no one can take your place. Oh, and then here, here is where it gets good.

I peeked ahead. This is actually tomorrow's entry. She says, you're our one shot at what you have to offer.

God doesn't have a backup plan for you, so take care of yourself. You're blessing all of us when you do, and bring joy to the heart of God, too.

So there you go, ladies. It is all about you. You are fantastic, and the world needs you, and God needs you, apparently.

But you know, that cannot be backed by scripture, and that's precisely why there is no scripture included in these calendar entries, at least the ones that I just read to you, because they are narcissistic, conceited, self -centered, me, me, me, me, me theology.

Look, God created you. God, if you are a Christian, saved you.

He is using you to further his kingdom. He is using you to glorify himself, but he does not need you.

I hate to break it to you, ladies. God does not need us. It is by his grace that we were created.

It is by his amazing grace that we were saved, but he doesn't need us.

So get over yourself, and focus on Christ. Focus on God, the

Father. Focus on the Holy Spirit. Focus on our triune

God, and bring glory to him. It's about him, not about you.

I don't care what Holly Gerth says. She's wrong. Well, I happened to be perusing

Twitter today, and came across a tweet sent out by a pastor using the term very, very loosely,

Pastor Stephen Furtick of Elevation Church, in which he writes,

Blessed is not a state of affairs, blessed is a state of mind.

And then there's a hashtag called chain reactions. I don't know what that means. It must be some Elevation Church thing.

I'd prefer not to know. Ladies, if you're not familiar with Stephen Furtick, consider yourself blessed.

Stephen Furtick is the pastor of a church called Elevation Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. He is a teacher you will want to stay away from.

He's not the subject of this particular episode. If you go to DoNotBeSurprised .com and type in Stephen Furtick, you can see that I have written about him fairly extensively over the course of the past nearly five or six years at this point.

And his theology, talk about narcissistic, it is incredibly me -centered, and there are a lot of dangerous things going on at Elevation Church, including pastor worship, actually.

It appears that the members of the church there actually idolize,

I -D -O -L, Stephen Furtick. And so without going into too much detail here today,

I would warn you away from him, warn you away from his teaching, please test his teaching against scripture. And some of the articles there at Do Not Be Surprised should help you do that and help you get an idea of what he is teaching and how dangerous it can be.

And perhaps a little more close to home for some of you ladies, just an FYI, Lisa Turkust, who is an up -and -coming women's

Bible leader, author, teacher, she attends Elevation Church. Stephen Furtick is her pastor.

She has preached, she has preached, you heard me say that correctly, at Elevation Church in the past.

And so I would encourage you, I would command you to stay far, far away from her as well because that is where she is being taught and that is her influence, that's what she's being influenced by is the teachings of Stephen Furtick.

And so it is a very dangerous situation there. So that's my little discernment warning for the day, but I wanted to kind of springboard off of Furtick's tweet here.

And he said this on October 12, 2015, Blessed is not a state of affairs, blessed is a state of mind.

So here's the question, irrespective of the fact that Stephen Furtick sent the tweet, is the tweet, is the thought, is the point of the tweet accurate?

Is it true? So blessed is not a state of affairs, but a state of mind.

Now when I read this, I figure he's probably thinking, well, you know, just because you're down and out, you're in a trial, you're under financial strain or going through health issues, you know, that doesn't mean you're not blessed.

So blessed is a state of mind, it's all in your mind, it's all in how you think. So is that true?

So on a very low level, we could say the first part of that statement is true, blessed is not a state of earthly affairs, blessed is not a state of temporary affairs.

So if you are in a health trial, that does not mean that you are not blessed necessarily by God, but is blessed then a state of mind?

Is it subjective? Is the state of blessing dependent on our feelings?

Now some of you might already be getting a little twitchy with all of the talk of blessing, especially since I started with Steven Furtick, and just to put your mind at ease,

I do not agree with what Steven Furtick is saying here, and that's where we're going. But it's important, ladies, that we do acknowledge our blessing as Christians, blessing that comes from the

Lord. I think some of us are very hesitant to speak of blessing because of the prosperity movement, because of the prosperity preachers that just preach health and wealth, and name it and claim it, and God wants you to have all this money, and success, and big house, and fancy cars, yada yada.

That's not what we're talking about here, though, that is not what the Bible speaks of when it speaks of blessing, but the

Bible does speak of blessing, the Bible does speak of how God blesses His own, and so it's important that we have a right biblical understanding of blessing, and shock of shocks,

Steven Furtick gets it wrong. Is blessed a state of mind?

Is that what the Bible says? Is the notion of being blessed based upon our feelings?

Is it based upon our emotions? Charles Spurgeon has said, quote, you might as well hope to see with your ears or taste with your eyes or hear with your nose as to believe by feeling.

It is the wrong organ. After you have believed you can enjoy salvation by feeling its heavenly influences, but to dream of getting a grasp of it by your own feelings is as foolish as to attempt to carry the sunlight in the palm of your hand or the breath of heaven between the lashes of your eyes.

There is an essential absurdity in the whole affair. Moreover, continues

Spurgeon, the evidence yielded by feeling is singularly fickle. When your feelings are peaceful and delightful, they are soon broken in upon and become restless and melancholy.

The most fickle of elements, the most feeble of creatures, the most contemptible of circumstances may sink or raise our spirits.

Experienced men come to think less and less of their present emotions as they reflect upon the little reliance which can be safely placed upon them.

Faith receives the statement of God concerning his way of gracious pardon, and thus it brings salvation to the man believing.

But feeling, warming under passionate appeals, yielding itself deliriously to a hope which it dares not examine, whirling round and round in a sort of frenzied dance of excitement which has become necessary for its own sustaining, is all on a stir, like the troubled sea which cannot rest.

From its toiling and raging, feeling is apt to drop to lukewarmness, despondency, despair, and all the kindred evils.

Feelings are a set of cloudy, windy phenomena which cannot be trusted in reference to the eternal truths of God."

That is Charles Spurgeon on the notion of feelings, the notion of our state of mind, if you will, because our state of mind at any given moment is based on our feelings, how we feel about a particular thing.

And so, is blessed a state of mind, as some, like Stephen Furtick, would say.

I'd like you to turn, ladies, to Matthew 5, one of my favorite passages in all of Scripture is the

Sermon on the Mount, and I know I've mentioned it more than once here on Equipping Eve.

So, turn with me to Matthew 5, verse 3.

Here we have, as I said, the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus is beginning his public ministry, and he delivers the greatest sermon of all time.

Spurgeon was called the Prince of Preachers, but let's face it, Jesus Christ was the true Prince of Preachers, and I don't think

Spurgeon would disagree. Matthew 5, verse 3. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.

Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Ladies, the Beatitudes are describing the blessed man or woman of God.

The Beatitudes are characteristics of the one who has been saved.

They are not something that we pick and choose. Hey, I'm going to be the one who's merciful because I'm not typically the one who is persecuted or the peacemaker, but I can be the merciful one.

No, no. The Christian exhibits all of these qualities.

Jesus Christ is describing the one who has been truly saved, and he goes on and continues to describe this true believer in Matthew 5, 6, and 7, the

Sermon on the Mount, but that's a lesson for another day or days, but ladies, these

Beatitudes that we are so familiar with, I mean, these are the blessing passages, aren't they?

You know, you see the word blessed and you immediately think of the Beatitudes. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are those who mourn.

Blessed are the gentle. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Blessing, blessing, blessing, right?

So look at these verses. Look at these verses. On one hand, they might agree with the first part of Stephen Furtick's statement that blessing is not a state of affairs because, look it, blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

So no, blessing is not based on our earthly state of affairs, but is it based on our state of mind?

What do these verses describe? Do these verses describe something subjective?

Do these verses describe something that can fluctuate the way that our feelings, the way that our state of mind, to use that phrase, can fluctuate?

No. No, these verses are very definitive.

These verses are very objective. Blessing from God is objective despite your waning, changing state of mind.

Pastor Don Green, in his sermon entitled The Riches of Bankruptcy, says,

Jesus in the Beatitudes is not declaring how people feel. Happiness is a feeling. Jesus is not talking about feelings here.

Why would the eternal, listen to this quote, ladies, says Don Green, quote,

Why would the eternal Son of God talk about transitory feelings when he is emphasizing enduring character traits that build to a conclusion about eternal judgment?

Happiness cannot be the sum total of everything Jesus means here if you understand happiness to mean happy feelings.

It is so much more than that. Pastor Green goes on and says this term, blessed, refers to a person as the privileged recipient of divine favor.

When Jesus talks in the sermon about the people who are blessed, he is talking about people who are the privileged recipients of divine favor.

It is an objective statement, independent of the way that person feels at any particular point in time, end quote, independent of someone's state of mind.

Pastor Green goes on, he says, Beloved, are you in Christ today? No matter what else is happening, you are blessed.

God has shown his favor upon you by bringing you into his kingdom. The idea of being blessed relates to how

God has shown his favor to the citizen of the kingdom.

Ladies, those who have been brought to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, those who have been granted repentance by God, those who by God's enabling power, the

Holy Spirit, have come to trust in Christ alone for their salvation, those people are justified before God.

And so if you want to talk about a state of affairs, let's talk about the believer's eternal state of affairs.

Because that is blessing. Because blessed does depend on that eternal state of affairs.

If you have been saved, you are seen as justified before God.

It's done. You are being sanctified here on this earth, always being sanctified, always growing more and more like Christ, growing in holiness, growing in righteousness, pursuing holiness, actively pursuing righteousness.

But you stand justified before the God of the universe if indeed you have been saved.

That, ladies, if you are a Christian, is your state of affairs. And that, ladies, means that your blessing is dependent on your state of affairs.

Ladies, turn now to Romans 3, verse 21.

But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe, for there is no distinction.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom

God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate

His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed.

For the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Where, then, is boasting, it is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith.

For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the law. Where is

God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since indeed

God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith, is one.

God, who is the just and justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Shift your eyes over just a few verses, ladies, to Romans chapter 4, verse 5.

But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness.

Just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works.

Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven and whose sins have been covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the

Lord will not take into account. Is this blessing, then, on the circumcised or on the uncircumcised also?

For we say faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness. Ladies, if you have been saved, you stand justified before the

Lord, clothed in the righteousness of Christ, and therefore you are the recipient of divine favor.

Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven and whose sins have been covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the

Lord will not take into account. And that, ladies, is blessing based on a state of affairs, not a transitory, earthly state of affairs, but a heavenly one, but an eternal one.

Those who have been made righteous are richly blessed by God.

And so, understanding this, that the one who has been justified, whose state of affairs is one of justification before the

Lord, does receive blessing, is that blessing given by God from above, is that blessing dependent on your state of mind?

Because as we just read in the Beatitudes, ladies, your current earthly state of affairs could very well lead to a distraught state of mind.

Yes, I trust in the Lord, but oh dear, I'm being persecuted. Is our blessing dependent on our state of mind?

Our state of mind, which is so grossly affected by the world, by our own sin, is our blessing dependent on that?

Am I only blessed if I feel blessed? Am I only blessed if I think I am blessed?

If I say I am blessed? Now we are getting into prosperity, aren't we? No, no,

Stephen Furtick is wrong. Again, shocking. Our blessing is not dependent on our state of mind.

The reality of our blessing is, as we've just seen, dependent on the eternal state of affairs, the fact that we have been justified by faith in Christ, justified before God, who is the just and justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Do you see that? Do you see that your state of mind cannot determine your blessing?

Do you see, ladies, that your blessing may not actually be something you can see?

It may not actually be something that you feel. It may not be money.

It may not be health. It may not be a big fancy house. It may not be new clothes.

It may not be that promotion. What do the blessings of the believer look like?

Well, for just one example, ladies, and we could go through the entire scriptures and list many, many, many, many more.

But since we're running short on time, let's just turn to Ephesians 1. Turn with me to Ephesians 1, ladies.

And I'm going to read beginning in verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our

Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.

Do you hear that? Do you hear what the Apostle Paul just said? That God, the

Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.

It says right there, you have been blessed. Do you feel blessed? Is your state of mind telling you you're blessed?

No? It doesn't matter because if you've been saved, you have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.

Verse 4, just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before him.

Right there, there's a blessing. The fact that God chose us right there.

Sovereignty in salvation. In love, he predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the kind intention of his will.

Adoption as sons through Jesus Christ. Wow, that's a blessing. And hey, that's a state of affairs, isn't it?

Isn't it? Your position as a daughter of God.

Verse 6, to the praise of the glory of his grace, which he freely bestowed on us in the beloved.

In him, we have redemption through his blood. Redemption. There's a blessing. The forgiveness of our trespasses.

Forgiveness. There's a blessing. According to the riches of his grace, which he lavished on us.

There's a blessing. The riches of his grace that have been lavished on us in all wisdom and insight.

He made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his kind intention, which he purposed in him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times.

That is the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth.

In him, in Christ. Also, we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to his purpose, who works all things after the counsel of his will to the end that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, would be to the praise of his glory.

We have obtained an inheritance, an eternal inheritance, ladies. In him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, having also believed, you were sealed in him with the

Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of his glory.

There's a blessing. There's a blessing. The Holy Spirit given to us, sealed with the Holy Spirit, given to us as a pledge of the inheritance that we, that we will obtain for eternity.

Your blessing is dependent on a state of affairs, which is your justification in Christ.

And so your state of mind may not tell you you're blessed because you're not seeing material blessing or emotional blessing down here on earth today.

But ladies, if you've been saved, you've been justified in this, this here, this is yours.

What's another blessing, or perhaps better spoken, a promise to the one who has been justified?

Philippians 1, 6, for I am confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

A promise of sanctification and a promise that one day we will be glorified before him.

A promise, ladies, for provision. We see that in Matthew chapter 6, that God provides for his own.

Your blessing is dependent on your position in Christ.

Therefore, Stephen Furtick, you're wrong. Blessed is a state of affairs, state of eternal affairs.

Those who have been saved stand justified before the

Lord. And those who are his are blessed. They are blessed now.

They will be blessed. Go back to the Beatitudes, ladies. Go back to Matthew 5.

Verse 3 says, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Verse 10 is closing that passage, the second bookend, second part of that inclusio.

Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. So now we've got all these characteristics encompass the people who are citizens of the kingdom of heaven, and theirs is the kingdom of heaven right now.

But look at the Beatitudes in between. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

So we experience blessing now, even in this life, because God is good and gracious.

But ladies, look at the promises of the things that await us. Maybe these blessings don't describe your life right now, but they will describe your life for eternity, your eternal life.

And think back to Ephesians 1 and that eternal inheritance that we have been given. The Holy Spirit has been given to us as a pledge of that inheritance.

All those things that we will one day see come to fruition. And so ladies, we don't serve the

Lord because he blesses. No, no, no. He saved us and we serve him out of gratitude.

And we serve him because he has given us a new heart and new desires and a new mind. And we desire to serve him.

And then out of his abundant goodness, he blesses us on top of all of that.

On top of the fact that he's forgiven us and he has saved us and promised us salvation. He gives us these blessings because we are justified in Christ.

So is blessed a state of mind? No. No, because your state of mind will change with your circumstances.

Blessed is a state of affairs. It is based on a state of affairs, which is your justification in Christ.

Not an earthly state of affairs, but an eternal one. And when you understand that, you can go forth with confidence in Christ.

Confidence in the promises of God. Confidence in the blessings of God, regardless of your earthly state of affairs.

And regardless of your earthly temporary state of mind. God is so good, isn't he?

I mean, what kind of God would give all of these things to sinners who are totally unworthy?

God, who alone is good. That's who would do such a thing. And we are privileged to serve him.

So ladies, I encourage you, remember these things this week.

Remember these things each day and go out and pray that God would help you to serve him well.

So ladies, until next time, get in your Bibles, get on your knees, and get equipped.

Thanks for listening. You've been listening to Equipping Eve, a No Compromise radio production.

If you'd like to get a hold of Erin, you can reach her at equippingeve at gmail .com. Or you can check out one of our two websites, donotbesurprised .com