Skip to content Guest Speakers: Transformed Into His Likeness Sep 5 · 46 min ...more
Guest Speakers: Transformed Into His Likeness
September 5, 2021 · 46 min
Speaker: Jon Gaus
Series BRAVE Church September 5, 2021 · 46 min · BRAVE Church
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Pastor Jeff Schwarzentraub serves as president of Pastor Jeff Ministries, a national and global ministry designed to equip believers and challenge them to take
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0:01 Amen. Well, church, would you join me in welcoming this morning our Broomfield and online campuses with a warm welcome.0:16 Well, saints for our teaching this morning, we're gonna start in Romans chapter 8. That's our main passage. We have 2 supporting passages that we are gonna turn to. The first 1 will be in second Corinthians chapter0:28 12 and then we're gonna be also heading to Hebrews chapter 12. So while you're turning there, let's ask God to do a supernatural work through his word0:40 in us and among us. Let's pray. Father, we love you and we give you all praise and honor and glory this morning and we pray and Lord that you were pleased and you were glorified0:52 and you were blessed by your church, your people, your children reflecting your glory back to you this morning through worship in song. We thank you so much for the1:04 Holy Spirit, Jesus, that you didn't leave us in this world alone, but you sent us the comforter to always be with us, never leaving us, never forsaking us. Thank you for the Holy Spirit.1:16 Holy Spirit, we worship you this morning and we testify that you are the perfect teacher. So we ask you to teach us your living active word, feed1:28 our spirits, feed our souls, fill us with your word, stretch us and prune us where necessary. I pray Holy Spirit that when we walk out of here today, each 11:40 of us will look more like Jesus and we'll be more filled with your spirit and more filled with your power and your peace and your joy and the people we come into contact with1:52 this week will know that we are people who are spending time with Jesus. Thank you for saving us. Thank you for calling us to be your ambassadors to a lost and2:04 dying world in Jesus' powerful name and all God's people said, amen. Well, let me start this morning with a quick survey question. How many of you who wear corrective lenses2:16 remember the very first pair of glasses you ever had? I think we all do because that's a really important day. That's a big day when you get your first pair of glasses. Now for me, it was back in fifth2:28 grade. It was in fifth grade where my world started becoming blurry and fuzzy and really hazy. And I'll never forget when the eye doctor handed me my first pair of2:39 glasses. And when I put them on, it was like a whole new world. I could see everything much more clearly. I could sit at the back of the classroom and actually read2:51 the board for a change. I could look out the window and I could read signs across the street. I could look across the room and I could actually see people's faces and recognize who they were. I mean, was a3:03 game changer. Well, the passage we're gonna look at this morning, just 5 verses, it's like the Holy Spirit is taking a pair of glasses and giving them to us. We'll call them kingdom3:14 vision. And if you and I put on this kingdom vision that the spirit wants to give us this morning, it's gonna make it much clearer what God's purpose is for our3:26 life. And if we leave these lenses on, it's gonna save us a lot of disappointment in this life. It's gonna save us a lot of discouragement in this life and it's gonna3:38 save us from doubting God's goodness even when we go through really hard times. Okay. We're in Romans chapter 8. We're gonna begin at verse 28.3:51 The Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul says, starting in verse 28, and we know that God causes all things to4:03 work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew, he4:15 also predestined to become conformed to the image of his son. So that he would be the first born among many brothers and sisters and these whom he4:26 predestined, he also called and these whom he called, he also justified and these whom he justified he also glorified. What then shall we say to these things?4:38 If God is for us, who's against us? He who did not spare his own son, but delivered him over for us all, how will he not also4:50 with him freely give us all things? Okay church, Paul sets the stage and the foundation for these great promises with5:02 the first 3 words in verse 28. When he says, and we know. It's interesting he didn't say and we guess, and5:14 we surmise, and we conjecture, and we're pretty sure that this is true. Now he says, and we know that God causes all things to work together for5:26 good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose. Now, he chose an interesting Greek word there for know. The Greek word that he chose for know literally5:38 means a perfect and deep anchored certainty. So what Paul is saying is when he says, and we know, he is saying saints, we5:49 don't care if the earth passes away and the mountains melt into the sea, we will be anchored in this truth for eternity, God's goodness in all things in our6:01 life. And we know and we cannot be budged from that. What he is saying is, no matter what trouble you're experiencing in this world right6:13 now, and Jesus said, we would experience trouble. No matter what storms are coming against you, no matter what heartbreak you may have in your life, no matter what trials you're walking6:25 through, no matter what deep tragedy you're going through, I'm talking about those deep tragedies that you never thought would happen in your life. They happen to other people, but they're happening to you right now.6:36 No matter what deep tragedy you're experiencing, deeper yet is the goodness of God. It is holding us up and we are absolutely anchored in6:48 it. And someday we will see that God causes all things to work together for good for those who love him.7:01 Well, church that leads to biblical truth number 1, right off the bat. Biblical truth number 1, my life is securely anchored in7:12 God's goodness. My life is securely anchored in God's goodness. Now, we can't always see that. When you and I are in the midst of a deep7:24 trial and you may be there right now, it's very hard to believe that I know God's gonna work all this out eventually for my good. We're probably sitting in this deep trial with these hard issues going7:36 on in our life wondering, God, how could even you make something good out of what I'm going through? It's at that time that our heavenly father lifts our head and he says, don't focus7:48 on your circumstances, they're always changing, they can't be trusted. Don't focus on your circumstances, focus on me, focus on my character and focus on my8:00 promise that I am causing all things to work together for your good because you love me and you've been called according to my purpose.8:12 It's powerful that King David emphasized the same truth back in Psalm 23 when he said, surely goodness will follow me in mercy all8:23 the days of my life. That you and I cannot get away from God's goodness because we're his redeemed sons and daughters. Surely goodness will follow me all the8:35 days of my life. Now, it's interesting, there's a secondary application to that verse and that is this, whatever circumstance in life that God calls me8:47 into, his goodness goes with me. So whatever circumstance he calls his sons and daughters into, it could be a major conflict. It8:59 could be a hornet's nest. It could be family drama. It could be a situation where there is gossip and backstabbing going on and what God is saying is when I send you in9:11 there, I'm sending my goodness in with you. And the circumstances are about to change in that situation because you are second Corinthians 2 15, the9:23 very fragrance of Christ. So God in this life is going to trust us as his sons and daughters and he is going to send us as ambassadors into some really hard9:35 situations. Lots of conflict, lots of gossip, backbiting. Do these sound like familiar situations from your current life? The reason God has sent you in there9:46 is because wherever you go, the goodness of God goes with you and you are the very fragrance of Christ and that starts to to to change the whole atmosphere. Now, this reminds9:58 me of this fragrance of Christ truth about us, reminds me of back when I was in tenth grade. Back when I was in tenth grade, my friends and I started getting into10:10 wearing cologne because we heard the girls like cologne. And way back then, the cologne of choice was polo in the green bottle with the10:21 gold cap. Anybody remember that? Oh, you are old. Okay. You're you are old as I am. And so I'll never forget when I got my first bottle of cologne. I thought, okay, if10:33 girls like guys that wear cologne, if I wear a lot of it, then they'll like me a lot. And so I I I really put it out liberally. Well, I've got 310:45 older sisters who love to keep me humble. And they would say to me, John, how much of that stuff are you gonna put on? We can smell you 5 minutes before you get10:56 here and we can smell you 5 minutes after you leave. That's what it means to be the fragrance of Christ. Wherever God sends11:08 us, he sends us with his goodness and with the fragrance of Jesus. And the situations, it might be a hornet's nest, it might be backstabbing, it may be major conflict, but he11:20 is sending his sons and daughters in because wherever we go, the goodness of God shows up and the fragrance of Christ shows up. Amen? I think that was worth coming for this morning right11:31 there. Okay, church. The last part of verse 28 says, those who have been called according to his purpose. So what11:43 is God's purpose for us? It's right there in the next verse, verse 29. Take a look. For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to become11:55 conformed to the image of his son. That's it. So that he would be the first born among many brothers and sisters and these whom he predestined, he also called and these whom he12:06 called, he also justified and these whom he justified, he also glorified. So what Paul wants to make sure is that we realize from12:18 eternity past, God's plan has been to save us through Jesus Christ and then to conform us into the likeness of12:30 Jesus Christ. That's been God's plan and purpose for us from all of eternity back, that we would be saved through Jesus Christ and then that he would conform us into the12:41 likeness of Jesus Christ through the daily process of sanctification. Now, Paul uses a powerful word here for conform. It's the Greek word,12:53 Sumorphus. Do you hear an interesting syllable in there that you recognize? Sumorph us. Now, if you're familiar with morphing13:04 software, you take 2 pictures of completely different people and you put them in the morphing software and what happens is, the face of this individual gradually morphs13:16 into looking exactly like the face of this individual and that's exactly what the spirit is doing in our life day to day. He's conforming you and I13:28 more and more to look more like Jesus Christ in every part of our life. He is to morphing us to looking like Jesus.13:41 Okay. Biblical truth number 2. We learn from this passage. God is using all things in my life to conform13:53 me into the image of Christ. God is using all things in my life to conform me into the image of Christ because he said back in verse 28,14:05 all things work together for good, for those who love God have been called according to his purpose. And the purpose is he is conforming us every day to look more and more like14:16 Jesus. Okay. So now we're in the real world. This is real life where we live. So what are some of the awesome tools that God is using day to day in your14:28 life, in my life to shape us, mold us, form us, prune us to look more and more like Jesus? How about truth number 3?14:40 God uses our seasons of life to conform us into the likeness of Jesus. Whatever season of life God has called you into, he's called you into14:52 it so that he can conform you into the likeness of Jesus. Whether it's marriage, singleness, parenting relationships, or your current work situation,15:04 God has called you into that season of life primarily to conform you into the likeness of Jesus. Well, let's take marriage for example. Now, you and I know that marriage is a good15:16 gift from God. We know that marriage is a picture of Christ and his bride, the church and we know that marriage can bring lots of happiness if it's done God's way15:28 through the power of the Holy Spirit and all married couples said, amen. But the primary reason that God called us into marriage is not to make us happy,15:40 it's to make us holy. Because that's his primary purpose in our life, to conform us into the likeness of Jesus. And though marriage can bring lots of15:51 happiness, its primary purpose is to make me and my wife more and more holy, more and more conformed into the likeness of Jesus.16:04 Now, you don't have to be married very long to realize that if you don't if you don't start surrendering to the Holy Spirit and letting him form you and shape you and prune you, your marriage is16:16 headed for a train wreck. If you believe that I got married so that she could make me happy, that's primarily why I got married. You're missing God's purpose. Now we're putting on kingdom lenses16:28 and we're like, oh, now this makes sense. Now I understand why the first 5 years of my marriage was so hard. I thought her role was to make me happy. That was her primary role.16:39 That's what marriage was about. Marriage offers lots of happiness if done God's way, but its primary role is to make us holy. 2 believers16:52 dying to self, looking more and more like Jesus every day. Let's take your current work situation. God has called you into your current work17:04 situation to conform you into the likeness of Jesus. Yes, you need to earn a paycheck, you need to support your family, you need to work as unto the Lord, but the primary reason that17:15 you're in the job that you're in right now is God is using it to conform you into the likeness of Jesus. Wow. That's an eye opener. Okay. With these kingdom lenses on, this is17:27 starting to make sense now pastor John because now I understand why God has me working with all these ornery people. He's trying to conform me into the likeness of Jesus. It makes a lot17:39 more sense now that my eyes have been opened to his purposes that I'm around all these hard to love people at my job because the primary purpose I'm there right now is to be conformed into the likeness17:51 of Jesus and it makes sense now that God hasn't given me a new job. I've wanted a new job, I can't stand my current job but God has not done with me there yet. I'm still in a season where there18:03 he is conforming me into the likeness of Jesus. He's shaping me, molding me, humbling me, pruning me and when that season is perfectly complete, he will give me a new job.18:16 I've often challenged believers that if you want a new job, you go to your job tomorrow and on the way there you say, give me a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit. Jesus, I am here to work18:28 as unto you and I'm gonna do the best job I can and I'm gonna submit to the Holy Spirit and I'm gonna flow in the fruits of the Holy Spirit. If you do that, it's gonna be amazing18:40 how quickly God gives you a new job. Because he's been trying to get us to that spot before he'll move us to the next greener pasture. The primary reason you're in the job you're in, I'm18:52 in the job I'm in, is to be conformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ. Okay, saints. Another tool God uses to shape us and mold us is number 4. God19:03 uses trials to conform us into the likeness of his son. Now, our heavenly father loves us so much, he does not want us to be ambushed. He loves us so much in19:15 his word, he warns us, he tells us ahead of time. In this life, I am gonna take you through trials. But they're never random, they're always sovereign.19:27 And I'm gonna use these trials to conform you more and more into the likeness of my son. I'm gonna use these trials to some morphus you to look more and19:39 more like Jesus. Listen to what James 1 verses 2 through 4 said, consider it all joy my brothers and sisters when you encounter various19:50 trials. Why? Because you're being conformed into the likeness of Christ, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let20:02 endurance have its perfect results so that you may be perfect and complete lacking nothing. Now, no believer is exempt from going20:14 through trials in this lifetime. That's what God's word has told us. He's prepared us for it. He's warned us. He told us the purpose of it, but no believer is exempt from going through deep20:25 sovereign trials in this lifetime. In fact, God's word gives us several examples of what it looks like when believers go through trials and that it happens to every believer. I wanna20:37 show us 1 of these situations in living color in second Corinthians 12. Turn over 2 books to the right. Second Corinthians 12. No believer is exempt from20:49 deep trials in this lifetime and they're never random. They're never coincidence. They're never fate, karma or bad luck.21:01 They're sovereignly chosen by our heavenly father. Second Corinthians chapter 12, here's the context. The Apostle Paul21:13 is sharing with the church at Corinth that the Holy Spirit has taken him up to the third heaven. Now, the third heaven in the21:24 Hebrew mindset, they had 3 levels of heaven. For the Hebrew, the first level of heaven was the atmosphere surrounding the earth, know, like the clouds and the rain. That was the first level of heaven.21:36 The second level of heaven in the Hebrew mindset were the stars and the planets and the galaxies. But when they mentioned the third level of heaven, that means the spiritual supernatural21:48 realm where the very throne of God exists. And Paul was taken up in the spirit to see things and to hear things in the third22:00 heaven that were so miraculous, the Holy Spirit says, you cannot share these with anyone. Okay. Now we're gonna pick it up in verse 7 because he's gonna talk about his deep22:11 trial. Verse 7, because of these extraordinary greatness of the revelations, for this reason to keep me from exalting myself,22:23 there was given to me a thorn in the flesh. A messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from exalting myself. That word thorn in the Greek is the Greek word22:35 scallops. It means a wooden stick that's been sharpened on 1 end. It's kind of what you would use if you were growing a tree a sapling and you might pound it in the ground to tie the tree to. It's that kind22:47 of thing and Paul is saying, it feels like I'm being stabbed by that every day. Now, he doesn't give detail exactly what the thorn in the flesh is. It's just always with him.22:59 It's a messenger from Satan and it's extremely painful. Why didn't Paul tell us exactly what it is? Because no matter what trial we're going through right now or will go23:10 through, that may be extremely painful and it's with us every day. We can completely relate to Paul's situation. Verse 8, concerning this,23:22 I pleaded with the Lord 3 times that it might leave me. And he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you.23:34 My power is perfected in weakness. Most gladly therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may dwell in23:46 me. Therefore, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in distresses, in persecutions, in difficulties, in behalf of Christ for when I'm weak, then23:58 I'm strong. Church, don't you think if anybody should be able to pray their way out of a trial would be the apostle Paul? I mean, he was God's number 1 missionary man. The Holy24:10 Spirit used him to write 13 books of the New Testament and he was taken into the throne room of God. Yet, Paul is here saying, I've tried 3 times to ask the Lord24:22 to take this away from me, but I understand why he has said no 3 times because he's using this trial to conform me into the likeness24:33 of Jesus. In my weakness, Christ is made strong. Now, here's some great news. Earlier in this letter in second Corinthians 4 17, Paul said,24:45 for our momentary and light afflictions are producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison. Another24:57 great benefit of our trials in this world. The truth is, our trials are gonna end very soon and they're gaining for us an eternal glory25:09 that far outweighs anything that we could imagine with a presence in Christ. Now, saints a common picture that God's word uses for a trial is25:21 the picture of being in a fire. We see this in the old testament and the new testament. That's a common picture that God's word uses to describe what it's like to be in a25:32 trial. Listen to Isaiah 43 2. When you pass through the waters, I'll be with you. And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire,25:45 You will not be scorched nor will the flame burn you. And and it's interesting in God's word, we see the picture for fire represent being in a trial or being in the midst of tribulation.25:57 There are different kinds of fires and purposes described in God's word. Here's the first 1, a fire that purifies. In God's word, that's often called the26:08 refiner's fire. Isaiah 48 10 says, behold, I have refined you but not as silver. I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.26:20 The purifying fire, that can occur when you and I grab back onto 1 of our sin habits of old And the Holy Spirit convicts us as he26:32 does to the sons and daughters of God that let that go, repent of that, that's gonna destroy your soul and we don't pay any attention to the conviction of the spirit. We stay in the sin habit and we don't26:44 pay any any attention to the conviction of the word of God and we keep holding on to this habitual sin habit while our heavenly father loves us way too much to see us destroy our soul with it.26:56 So often he will put us in the refiner's fire and that fire while we're in at this great trial on every side that's really heated up, first of all, will reveal to us that we're holding on to27:08 this sin habit. And then through the heat and through the circumstances, we let go and the impurities will surface and go away. That's the whole idea of the refiner's fire.27:20 Now, it's interesting, Amy Carmichael who was a missionary last century to India, in her book, Learning About God, she reports that 1 day she's in the marketplace and she27:32 comes up upon a goldsmith in India And he was doing things the old way and he has a refiner's fire going to purify the gold and she watches him and he stokes the heat27:44 up, so that the impurities start raising up out of the gold to the surface and then he scoops them away. And then he heats it up some more and more impurities surface and then he scoops them away and27:56 she sits there and watches him for some time and then she finally asks him, how do you know when the gold is pure and it's ready to be taken out? And he says, I look down into the gold and28:08 when I can see my reflection of my face, I know it's time to take it out of the fire. That'll preach, won't it? That'll preach. That's exactly what God does when he puts us in a fire.28:20 A purifying fire. He's refining out of us any sin habits we have held onto for dear life. We haven't listened to the conviction of the Holy Spirit. We haven't listened to the conviction of the word28:32 and because our father loves us way too much to let us destroy our soul and our family, he often puts us in the refiner's fire, conforming us more and more into the likeness of Christ.28:44 In addition to a fire that purifies, the bible speaks of a fire that strengthens, that prepares us for future calling. We may not be28:56 doing anything wrong, we may not be living in habitual sin, but God puts us in a fire to strengthen us for future ministry. Listen to first Peter 1 7,29:08 so that the proof of your faith being more precious than gold, which perishes though tested by fire may be found to result in praise, glory and honor29:20 at the revelation of Christ Jesus. You know, a TV show that I've often watched over the last 5 years on the history channel is called Forged in Fire. Any other guys watch that Forged29:32 in Fire? It's addicting and, the whole promise is they bring these bladesmiths together and they give them some random hunk of steel and then they have a contest. They have a time limit to29:44 see who can make the best, most durable, sharpest, long lasting knife out of this hunk of steel. So the first thing they do is they all put it in their forges in the fire and they heat the29:56 fire up And this is a big determining factor on the success of the knife that they're making. Because if they leave that steel in the fire too long, it becomes brittle.30:08 And they can make the most beautiful knife but when it comes against resistance, it's gonna shatter. If they take the steel out of the forge too soon, that steel is not as strong, it does not have the30:20 tensile strength that it could have. So when the Holy Spirit takes you and I and he places us in a fire to strengthen us for future ministries. He does not remove us30:32 a day early because we're not as strong as we could be in that fire but he never leaves us in a day late because he doesn't wanna destroy us. He doesn't want us to smash into30:43 1000000 pieces. The Holy Spirit is the perfect goldsmith. When he leads us into a fire of purifying, of strengthening, how long oh Lord will I be in here30:56 until the spirit's work is complete? And we won't be out a day early and we won't remain in there a day late. God's timing is that perfect. There's a third31:07 kind of fire. The bible speaks about a fire that brings intimacy with Jesus. As we heard in Isaiah 43, when you walk through the fire, I will31:19 be with you. There are times when you and I become too busy to spend time with Jesus. There are times when we start loving the gifts31:31 over the giver. There are times in our walk when we become self focused and self sufficient. It's at times like this, the spirit may lead us into a fire and it's a31:43 fire to produce in us a new intimacy with Jesus. Because we're running down a bad path, we're not running closer to Jesus in our walk, we're running further from him.31:55 We've become enamored by the things of the world and because our heavenly father loves us so much and that's not a place he wants his children to run, sometimes to bring us into this fire to produce more intimacy with32:04 Jesus. And we get into this fire and it's a very hard trial and we become desperate and we drop the things and the idols that we were loving and all of a sudden, all that's left in the32:16 fire is us and Jesus. Because we're never in the fire alone, he's always with us. And we become desperate and we lean into him like never before, like32:28 Jesus, if you don't get me out of this, I have no prayer. And we're in this trial and it's so painful we think to ourselves, I certainly could not make this another day.32:40 And then it's another week and we're still in it. And then it's another month because the refining and what God wants to accomplish has not been accomplished yet, but at just the right time when32:52 we have been reintroduced to the savior and seen more of his beauty and more of his righteousness and we treasure him over even the greatest gifts that he's ever given, God brings us out of the fire. And it is33:04 so common to speak to a believer who's been in that kind of fire to develop intimacy with Jesus. They'll often say this, I never wanna go through that again. I wouldn't wish that on anyone. It was so painful. It was so33:15 hard, but you know what? I've never been closer to Jesus. That's the fire of intimacy. Sometimes God will lead us through that. Okay. Truth number 5, another tool God uses to33:27 form and prune us is number 5, God uses loving discipline to conform us to the image of his son.33:39 There's a powerful description of this. Let's flip over to Hebrews chapter 12. 1 of the tools God uses to continue to conform us to the likeness of his son at times33:51 is loving discipline. When you and I have really crossed the line out of God's calling, when you and I are headed toward bad places, when you and I are starting to34:03 do real damage to our soul, sometimes the father will use his loving discipline in our life to bring us back and hopefully to teach us we never wanna go there34:14 again. Hebrews 12 verse 5, listen to how the writer of Hebrews describes this. My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the34:26 Lord nor faint when you are punished by him For whom the Lord loves, he disciplines and he punishes every son34:38 whom he accepts. It's for discipline that you endure. God deals with you as with sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you34:50 are without discipline of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children, not sons. Furthermore, we all had earthly fathers who discipline us and we respected35:02 them. Shall we not much more be subject to the father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but he disciplines us35:14 for our good, so that we may share his holiness. For the moment, all discipline seems not to be pleasant but painful. Yet to those who have been trained by it,35:25 afterward, it yields the peaceful peaceable fruit of righteousness. Many times, the tool God will use to conform us more and more into the likeness of Jesus, if we're35:37 wandering, if we're destroying our soul with something is loving fatherly discipline. And it's interesting that we do that if we love our children,35:49 we do the same thing. We will not let them go in dangerous places. We will not let them do things that will continue to endanger their soul. Now, I have to tell you, I've got a great dad,36:01 he's 87 and he loves Jesus and he loves me. And he was very faithful in this truth. And the time that it36:12 really hit home with me was back when I was 14. When I hit my teen years, my mother and I got into some real world war threes. Okay. Canadian bonding relate to that. Don't leave the pastor hanging up36:24 here. Thank you for being real. The a in brave is authentic. Okay? So when I hit 14, the teen years, I thought I knew way better than my parents and certainly way better than my mom. So her and I36:36 started going through this season where I was debating her and we were arguing and the tension was building and my ego was getting bigger and I was starting to rebel. And it was a Wednesday night, we were getting36:48 ready to go to church. This is what makes this so ironic. And my mom and I are standing in the hallway and we are going at it and she is making me more frustrated and frustrated because she's trying to exhort some37:00 authority over me like she's a parent or something. And I'll never forget this, I was going down a bad path and I said something to her that was very damaging to my soul. I said, mom, shut37:12 up. Yeah. That's that's the feeling. And my dad, because he loves me, took immediate action. By the time the word37:24 up was out of my mouth, he had sprung into action. Now I'm not gonna get into all the gory details of how he lovingly disciplined me, but I'll just tell you my dad is old school.37:36 He didn't believe in the time out, he believed in the knockout. Okay? And you know what? I I have to tell you, it's what's amazing is in in the 44 years since,37:48 I have never been tempted to say, shut up to my mom 1 other time. So what he did was loving and it kept me from danger. Alright, church. Let's flip back to Romans 8. There's 138:00 final amazing promise back in Romans chapter 8. 1 final amazing promise. We'll start at verse 31.38:17 Paul says, after going through all that you just went through, he said, what then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who's38:28 against us? What Paul is saying is, since eternity past, God has loved us and he foreknew us and he predestined us and he38:40 called us and he justified us through Christ and he's conforming us now through Christ and 1 day very soon when he calls us to heaven, we will be completely glorified and we will38:52 look exactly like Jesus. This is God's eternal plan for every believer. Paul says, look at this. The God of the universe has put this and unfolded39:04 this into motion. Who's gonna come against that? Who's gonna come against that? World circumstances, they can't come against that. There is no power in the seen realm or the39:16 unseen realm. There's no demon, Satan, nobody who can get us off God's purpose for our life. Psalm 1 38 8 says, the Lord will fulfill his39:27 purpose for me. Job said in Job 42 2, no purpose of the God of God can be stopped. So no matter what's going on in the world today, what events are goingShow more
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