EXPERIENCE
And not only so, but we glory in tribulation also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
And patience, experience; and experience, hope.
Experience:--test, by implication trustiness, experience, proof, trial.
For my post today I take experience to be something learned through the preceding patience. And this patience has to do with tribulation and all the spiritual trials and testing it brings.
All of us will have different experiences. For the most part they will be carnal and have little to do with the spiritual. It is the spiritual experience Paul is addressing by mention of tribulation and patience.
The word is not used that many times in the Bible. The first is with Laban and Jacob.
"And Laban said unto him, I pray thee, if I have found favor in thine eyes, tarry: for I have learned by experience that the Lord hath blessed me for thy sake" (Gen 30:27).
Experience here is learning something by observation. Laban learned that God was with Jacob and God was working it so Laban prospered so Jacob would prosper. Laban saw this. The experience he had was personal and he used what he learned to keep himself out of trouble with God and with Jacob. Laban is now seeking Jacob to recognize him and give him favor. That is, show him kindness. Experience here humbled Laban. He who had the blessings of God was to be honored and Laban was no fool. If God honored a man he would not dishonor he whom God honored. Laban learned by experience both his place and also his source of blessing. If Jacob had not come into his life, he would have remained a poor herdsman with a meager existence. Experience taught him to honor whom God had blessed. Laban would not rip off Jacob. His experience taught him Jacob's God would not allow this.
More.....
And not only so, but we glory in tribulation also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
And patience, experience; and experience, hope.
Experience:--test, by implication trustiness, experience, proof, trial.
For my post today I take experience to be something learned through the preceding patience. And this patience has to do with tribulation and all the spiritual trials and testing it brings.
All of us will have different experiences. For the most part they will be carnal and have little to do with the spiritual. It is the spiritual experience Paul is addressing by mention of tribulation and patience.
The word is not used that many times in the Bible. The first is with Laban and Jacob.
"And Laban said unto him, I pray thee, if I have found favor in thine eyes, tarry: for I have learned by experience that the Lord hath blessed me for thy sake" (Gen 30:27).
Experience here is learning something by observation. Laban learned that God was with Jacob and God was working it so Laban prospered so Jacob would prosper. Laban saw this. The experience he had was personal and he used what he learned to keep himself out of trouble with God and with Jacob. Laban is now seeking Jacob to recognize him and give him favor. That is, show him kindness. Experience here humbled Laban. He who had the blessings of God was to be honored and Laban was no fool. If God honored a man he would not dishonor he whom God honored. Laban learned by experience both his place and also his source of blessing. If Jacob had not come into his life, he would have remained a poor herdsman with a meager existence. Experience taught him to honor whom God had blessed. Laban would not rip off Jacob. His experience taught him Jacob's God would not allow this.
More.....
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