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Voddie Baucham - A Glorification · Voddie Baucham Sermons

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Romans Chapter eight, and I really we need to read. We need to
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read the whole chapter. We're going to concentrate on the penultimate paragraph there verses
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twenty six to thirty, but we need to back up and look at the
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whole chapter. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ,
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for the law of the Spirit of Life has set you free in Christ
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Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the
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law, weakened by the flesh, could not do, by sending his own
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son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for our sin. He condemned
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sin in the flesh in order that the righteous requirement of the Law might be
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fulfilled world in us who walk not according to the flesh, but according to
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the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on
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the things of the flesh. But those who live according to the Spirit,
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set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind
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on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is
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life in peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile
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to God, for it does not submit to God's law. Indeed, it
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cannot. Those who are in the flesh can not please God. You,
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however, are not in the flesh, but in the spirit. If,
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in fact, the Spirit of God dwells in you, anyone who does not
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have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is
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in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is
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life because of righteousness. If the spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the
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dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ, Jesus from the dead,
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will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells in you.
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That's a key. That's a key. Our union with Christ through the
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spirit is the key to our salvation. It's the key to our perseverance.
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It's the key to our glorification. Again verse eleven. If the spirit of
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Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ,
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Jesus from the dead, will also give life to your mortal bodies through
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his spirit who dwells in you. Verse twelve. So, then, brothers,
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we are debators, not to the flesh, to live according to the
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flesh. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die.
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But if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body,
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you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are
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sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall
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back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons by
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whom we cry Abbah Father. The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that
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we are children of God. And if children and heirs, heirs of God
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and fellow errs with Christ, provided we suffer with Him in order that we
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may also be glorified with Him. There's our glorification again verse eighteen. For
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I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the
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glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager
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longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected
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to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it. In
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hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and
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obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know
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that the whole creation has been groaning together and the pains of childbirth until now
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and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits
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of the spirit grown inwardly, as we wait eagerly for adoption as suns,
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the redemption of our bodies, again a reference to glorification, for in this
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hope we were saved. Now, hope that is seen is not hope,
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for who hopes for what he sees. But if we hope for what we
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do not see, we wait for it with patience. Now our text.
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Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know
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what to pray for as we ought, But the Spirit himself intercedes for us
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with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is
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the mind of the Spirit. Because the Spirit intercedes for the sa paints according
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to the will of God. And we know that those who love God all
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sorry. And we know that for those who love God, all things work
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together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose, for
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those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his
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son, in order that he might be the first born among many brothers.
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And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he
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also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. Will keep the
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last paragraph for later, But this is a picture of glorification. Will look
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at a number of aspects of glorification. First, from whence does this glorification
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arise? Where does it come from? What is its source? And we
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see that in verses twenty six through twenty eight. Look at it again.
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Likewise, the Spirit helps in our weakness, for we do not know what
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to pray for, as we ought, But the Spirit himself intercedes for us,
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with growning too deep for words. He who searches hearts knows what is
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the mind of the Spirit. Because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to
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the world of God. And we know that for those who love God,
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all things work together for good. For those who are called according to His
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purposes, the Spirit interceeds for us. This is God's sovereign work. We
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see the work of the Father and the work of the Spirit. But we've
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already seen in the first part of the chapter the work of the Son,
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in conjunction with the Father and the Spirit, to bring about our salvation,
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not just our justification, not just our adoption, not just our sanctification,
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and not just our glorification, but the whole thing, from beginning to end.
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And we see here the spirit's intercession as an important part of this process.
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We saw that the mind set on the Spirit versus the mind set on
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the flesh was portrayed in verses one through eight, but specifically in verses six
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through eight. Hear it again, for to set the mind on the flesh
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is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
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For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God,
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for it does not submit to God's law. Indeed, it cannot last phrase,
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those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You can't do this
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apart from the Spirit of God. You can't work hard enough, you can't
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try hard enough, you can't do enough good in the flesh. Apart from
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the Spirit, you cannot please God. So we require not only the spirit's
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intercession, but we require the spirit's regeneration, the indwelling power of the Spirit
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of God in Romans eight nine to eleven, adoption by the Spirit of God
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in Romans eight twelve to sixteen, and in the preserving work of the Spirit
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of God. We see here likewise, the spirit helps in our weakness.
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We don't even know what to pray for like we ought to. Amen.
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We don't even we don't even have sense enough to know what to pray for,
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not only how to pray, we don't even know what to pray for,
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because we don't see everything like the sovereign God does. In many ways,
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we are like children. You bring children to the table to eat,
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and if it were left up to them, oh, what their diets would
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be like, Amen, there are certain things our children would just never eat
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unless we made them. However, that is because they don't know what we
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know. They don't understand that these things here that they may not want are
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absolutely essential to their health. They don't even have sense enough to know what
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to crave for food. And you and I are the same way when it
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comes to prayer. We don't even know what to pray for. How many
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things have you gone through that you would never have asked for, but in
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the end you praise God that he brought them your way. Amen. The
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pain of the loss of that first love, Oh how it hurts. You
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never would have wanted that pain, But now you look back and you say,
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Lord, thank you. I didn't even know what I didn't know.
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Amen, somebody, the Spirit intercedes for us. This is essential. Why,
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because we are on a journey to glorification. This is not about our
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temporary satisfaction in the here and now. This is about our ultimate conformity to
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the image of Christ. The Spirit intercedes for us with groanings too deep for
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words. This is not even This is not even the spirit prompting you to
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pray the right things. This is the Spirit interceding for you in ways that
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you cannot comprehend and in ways that you cannot even articulate. It's interesting people
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you know, go here and they say, well, see this is a
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reference to praying in tongues. Right, You don't know what you ought to
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pray for, so you have to pray in tongues so your spirit can pray.
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This is not your spirit praying. This is God's spirit praying. Amen.
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The Spirit intercedes for us. The Spirit of God intercedes for us with
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grownings too deep for words. This, Paul, is not saying here that
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your spirit that your inner man knows things that your outer man doesn't. So
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you need to turn off your mind and allow your inner man to pray in
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ways that you're outter making no, No, a thousand times no. That
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is not what this text is teaching. This text has nothing to do with
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your spirit praying. This text has everything to do with God's Spirit interceding,
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because you and your spirit don't have sense enough to even know what to pray
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for. That is sheer mysticism. Somehow there is a secret part of you
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that knows what the rest of you doesn't know. That's theological nonsense, that
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is not biblical truth. The intercession here that is unutterable to you is the
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intercession of the Spirit of God himself. Here's a newsflash. If your spirit
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was wise enough to get you to heaven, you would need his spirit to
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intercede. Amen. We also see not only the spirit's intercession, but the
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Father's will. This is the Triune God at work to get you from lost
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to saved, to get you from justified, adopted, sanctified to glorified,
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to see you through. This is the Father bringing your salvation to pass.
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There are a couple of other doctrines at work here. One we've already alluded
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to our union with Christ. We are in Christ, one with Christ,
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and it's because of that union with Christ that we can look forward to our
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glorification. Our union with Christ will not be broken. But the second one
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that is implied here is our perseverance in Christ. We will persevere, we
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will stay saved. Now there's a way people like to say this, and
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you can tell what somebody's doctrinal presupposition is by the way that they phrase this.
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If they believe in the doctrines of grace, if they believe in the
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sovereignty of God and salvation, if they have a monargistic view of salvation monegism
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right one person working, they will refer to this doctrine as the doctrine of
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the perseverance of the Saints, the doctrine of perseverance, or the perseverance of
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the elect God saves us from beginning to end, and none will be lost.
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Jesus makes this clear. We've been put in his hands and in the
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Father's hands, and none is greater than the Father. Amen. So we
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have a double fisted promised. When Jesus saves us, he gives us what
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kind of life eternal life? Eternal life by definition does not end. If
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you could possibly lose your salvation, then that would mean Jesus didn't give you
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eternal life. He gave you the potential for eternal life, but that's not
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what he said. He says he gave you e turn no life. You
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cannot believe on the one hand that Jesus gives eternal life and on the other
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hand that it can be lost. Amen. But if you don't believe in
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monistic salvation, but you believe in synergistic salvation, God and man working together.
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God does the majority of it, then you have to do your part.
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If you believe in the Armenian approach to salvation, you don't talk about
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the perseverance of the saints. You use phrases like once saved, always saved.
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Now that phrase is meant to prejudice you. Once saved, always saved
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goes a little something like this. You walk down the aisle and you pray
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the prayer. You can live anywhere you want. You're going to heaven.
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Nobody believes that. Nobody believes that. But there is a difference between saying,
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once you walk down the aisle and pray the prayer, you're done,
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and saying those whom God saves, he saves completely. But that's why you
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need union with Christ. You need to be in Christ repent of your sins,
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place your faith in Christ. Be one with Christ. I've been crucified
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with Christ. Amen, in union with Him, in communion with Him.
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And then the intercession of the Spirit. But look at that according to the
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Father's will. The next phrase, the Spirit intercedes for the saints, according
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to the will of God. Why don't you know what to pray for?
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Because you don't know the will of God. How can you know? And
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if you did know the will of God, you would probably run from it.
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Amen, Oh don't sit there, And no, no, not me.
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I'm hardly If God would have told me his will, I would walk
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to it. No, No, you wouldn't. No, you wouldn't.
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Jonah go to Nineveh. Amen, somebody Jonah go to NINEVH. No,
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not me. I would go wherever it get. How many things in your
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life have you had to go through that you thought would absolutely bring and even
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after you came through them on the other side, you wanted nothing to do
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with them while God was healing you from them. You mean to tell me
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that if He had told you in the beginning this is where you're going and
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this is what you're going to go through, that you would have gladly said,
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let's do it. No, No, even Jesus, when he looked
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at the cross sweat drops of blood, and said, if there is any
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other way, let this bitter cup pass from me, even Jesus, the
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son of God himself. Yes, he came to his Nevertheless, not my
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will, but yours be done moment. But remember this is the son of
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God. You don't know the will of God, and it's good you don't,
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because you couldn't handle it. You couldn't comprehend it, you couldn't understand
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it. If the spirit interceedes for you, he interceedes for the saints,
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and he intersiges according to the will of God. That's how you get there
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from here. You don't keep yourself. You can't keep yourself like a little
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child. I love it when them walking with little ones. You know,
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when you're walking with a little one, they'll tell you they're holding they're holding
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daddy's hand. Amen, you're walking with a little one in a crowded place,
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so you're walking with a little one across a busy street. They'll say
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they're holding daddy's hand. And you'll even tell them hold daddy's hand. But
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you and I both know you're not trusting them to hold your hand. They're
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doing the best they can, but you're the one who's doing the holding.
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Amen, the hand is not big enough to hold yours. You're the one
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who's doing the holding. Yes, God keeps his saints, but not because
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we hold on to him, but because He by his spirit holds on to
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us, so that even when we don't know what to pray, Your prayers
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can't get you from here to glory, but the intercession of the Spirit of
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God can and will. He intercedes according to the will of God. That's
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why we can say we know that for those who love God, all things
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work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.
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By God's grace, it does. We also see the picture here the father's
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love for and commitment to his son in verse twenty nine. Look at verse
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twenty nine. For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed
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to the image of his son. Do you see that he predestined you not
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just to be saved. He predestined you to be justified, adopted, sanctified,
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and glorified. Now shorthand for that is to be conformed to the image
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of His son, Where does that conformity find its end in glorification, which
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means that He predestined you for salvation from beginning to end? Because your conformity
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to the image of Christ doesn't find its fulfillment until glorification, which means that
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God predestined you to be saved completely. How ridiculous would it be for God
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to predes you to be justified and then leave it up to you to see
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whether or not you're going to be adopted, sanctified, and glorified. I
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believe the best response to this came from John MacArthur. John MacArthur said it
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best when he said, if you could lose your salvation, you would amen.
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And if you're honest, you know that, be honest about who you
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are on the inside when no one is looking. Be honest. We don't
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even have to go far. Saints. Be honest with how faithful you are
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to read your Bible. You can't even be faithful to read your Bible every
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day. You think you can get yourself to heaven. If you can't say
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amen, you ought to say ouch. If you could lose your salvation you
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would. However, those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to
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the image of his son. This is about the This is about the father
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and the son. This is about the cognitive redemption that we started with in
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John seventeen. And you know, in John seventeen, Jesus talks about him
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being glorified and sharing that glory that he has had with the Father from the
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beginning with us. When we are glorified, he is going to see it
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through. He's going to see it through. Not only that, but he's
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the firstborn among many brethren. It's interesting. I've depending on people's language and
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where they come from, some people when they talk about their children, they'll
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say, you know, this one is my oldest, right. But I've
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noticed here that people generally don't say this is my oldest child. So they
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say, this is my firstborn. You know, firstborn implies something. Firstborn
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implies that there's others born after. Amen. It makes no sense to be
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a first born if there's no second. If there's no second, you're not
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firstborn. You're only born. Amen. Follow with me. Jesus is the
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first born, which means that the intention was always that there would be others
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born after. Not only others born after, but he's the first born of
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many brethren. Not only are there others born after, but there are many
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born after, myriads upon myriads born after the first born of many brethren.
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This takes us back to the doctrine of adoption, but not just the doctrine
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of adoption. Do you think that God is going to adopt his children to
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abandon them? No, it says, if not only children, but what
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airs airs? You're only in air at the end, Amen, you don't
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get your inheritance. Now you get your inheritance in glory, which again points
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to the guarantee of our glorification. Secondly, not only do we need to
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understand where this comes from, but we need to understand the hope that glorification
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brings. Glorification brings the hope of new life in heaven, the hope of
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new life in heaven, sayings, We're going somewhere, Amen. First Corinthians
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fifteen fifty one to fifty three. Behold, I tell you a mystery.
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We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment,
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in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, For the
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trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised. Imperishable, and we
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shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and
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this mortal body must put on immortality. Amen, hallelujah, Praise the Lord.
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The doctrine of glorification, it's connected to our hope of heaven. This
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is not our home. Christ is returning for his bride, and he will
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take us where he is. This is precious news. Saints. You have
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a loved one who has preceded you in death. This is good news because
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for those who have died in Christ, they're not lost. We'll see them
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again. For those facing death themselves, For those at the end of life.
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If you've ever been at a bedside when someone has been on that final
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phase of the journey to glory, there is a huge difference when they are
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holding on to Christ and their union with Him. For those who are attaining
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greater years and recognizing that there are more years behind than there are years ahead,
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Amen, somebody, everybody who's holding onto all this gray. Of course,
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none of us knows how many years we have. But there comes a
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time in every person's life, if they live long enough, when they realize
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that the days are short. The doctrine of glorification gives us hope in those
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latter days, for those that during injustice, hopelessness, pain and suffering,
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This doctrine gives us something to hold on to, not only a new life
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in heaven, but a new body Philippians three twenty one, who will transform
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our lowly body to be like his glorious body by the power that enables him
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even to subject all things to himself. You know you don't have to get
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too old to recognize that you don't want to spend eternity in this body.
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Amen, Aches and pains and places that you didn't even know you had.
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Places decay that time when you can't keep hair on your head or ears to
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be honest. As we age and our bodies break down. If eternity was
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just continuing to go on like this, most would opt out of eternity.
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But that's not our hope. Our hope is that the perishable would put on
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imperishability, and that our bodies themselves will be changed, will be glorified,
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not only that, but a new nature one John three to two. Beloved,
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we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet
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appeared. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him,
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because we shall see him as he is a new nature. As any
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of your children ever ask you this question. We began to talk to them
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about doctrine, and we began to talk about heaven, and all of a
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sudden they go, Okay, wait a minute. I learned about Adam,
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and he was in the garden and he was created, perfect and innocent,
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and then sin came into the world and we fell. And now look at
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this mess, right, So now when we get to heaven, what's to
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stop us from doing what Adam did and starting the whole thing all over again.
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The answer glorification. Adam was innocent but not glorified. Three Latin phrases
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or four Latin phrases, A number of Latin phrases. I know you didn't
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come here for a Latin phrase, lesson, but the first one is posts
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a non percare It's possible for him not to say Adam was created posting no
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percary. Then after the fall, all of us are non posting, non
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pricari not able not to sin because we're born in sin and utter under Adam's
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federal headship. And then we are regenerated and it's posted percary posting non percari,
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it's possible to say possible not to sin, But in glorification we go
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to non posse percari, not possible to sin. Our glorified bodies, with
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our new glorified nature, will be beyond the possibility of sinning because we will
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be like Christ, in whom there is no sin and can be no sin.
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We get a new nature. Finally, the difference glorification should make quickly
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for the sake of time. Number one, conformity to Christ. We see
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that in Chapter eight, verse twenty nine. Conformity to Christ like a child
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growing up in a home and learning those ways conforming. If we are truly
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saved, we will conform to Christ. We will become more and more like
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Christ. If we have been justified and adopted and are being sanctified, we
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are becoming more and more like Christ. We are moving toward glorification. There
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ought to be conformity in us because of this doctrine of glorification. Secondly,
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confidence in Christ verse thirty. Those whom he predestined, he also called those
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whom he called. He also justified those, And he justified He also glorified.
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Our glorification is not a contingency, it's a guarantee. This ought to
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give us confidence in Christ. God is in charge of our glorification. Our
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work does not bring it about. That's good news, Saints Amen. Secondly,
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our glorification is the last link in an ongoing chain. It is part
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of the overall process of our salvation. So our confidence ought to come from
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the fact that the God who justifies us, and we know that because we
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heard the Gospel and believed it and are saved. Amen. The God who
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adopted us and is sanctifying us. We know that because we are growing in
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our conformity to Christ. That same one who has done those things that we
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now see has also promised to do the thing that we cannot see. And
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we trust him because of the things he's already done. This gives us confidence
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in Christ. Our glorification also means that nothing can derail us. Remember that
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part of the text that I said we were going to say for later,
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that last paragraph in chapter eight. We'll read it. Now, What then
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shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can
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be against us? He who did not spare his own son, but gave
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him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give
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us all things. Who shall bring any charge against God's elect It is God
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who justifies who is to condemn Christ. Jesus is the one who died more
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than that who was raised, who is at the right hand of God,
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who indeed is interceding for us. So you have the Spirit interceding for us
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within us, the Son interceding for us, seated at the right hand of
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the Father, who shall separate us from the love of Christ. Shall tribulation
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or distress, or persecution, or famine or nakedness, or danger or sword,
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as it is written, for your sake, we are being killed all
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the day long. We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. No,
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in all things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For
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I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers,
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nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor heights
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nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us
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from the love of God. In Christ, Jesus, our Lord, our
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glorification means nothing can separate us. Nothing can separate us. Ah. But
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before you say, won't this lead to laziness? Won't this lead to lawlessness,
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not in those who are saved. First Corinthians fifteen fifteen to fifty eight.
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Now we read already part of this text, But what about the rest
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of it? What about the last verse? There's a therefore, when we
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understand that the trumpet will sound, and those who are dead in Christ will
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be raised, and those of us who are alive will meet them in it
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this doctrine of glorification that gives us hope. Does that hope mean that we
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just live any kind of way. No, because we've been justified and adopted
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and are being sanctified by the power of God. It makes no sense our
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glorification and the doctrine of glorification doesn't lead us away from righteousness. Be toward
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it Verse fifty eight. Therefore, my beloved brothers, therefore because of what
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therefore, because of our hope that is to come. Therefore, my beloved
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brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always in the work of the Lord,
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knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain, but love it.
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This automotivate us toward righteousness, not away from it. Automotivate us toward
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godliness. And our associations. We looked at the first Peter at the Philippians
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three passage. But what about back in verse seventeen, at the beginning of
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the paragraph, Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on
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those who walk according to the example you have in us. For many of
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whom I have often told you, and now tell you, even with tears,
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walk as enemies of the Cross of Christ. Their end is destruction,
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their God is their belly, their citizenship there and they glory in their shame,
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with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven,
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and from it we await a savior. It doesn't lead us to godlessness.
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It leads us to godly associations, and finally, it leads us to pure
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lives. We looked at first John three, but let's look at three one
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through three. So what kind or see? What kind of love the Father
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has given us? That we should be called children of God? And so
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we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it
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did not know him beloved. We are God's children now, and what we
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will be has not yet appeared. But we know that when he appears,
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we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is and
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everyone who thus hopes in Him purifies himself as he is pure. All of
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the passages that remind us of our hope because of the doctrine of glorification also
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point to our godliness. That is the only thing that makes sense in light
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of our glorification. Far from leading to laxness, laziness, godlessness, a
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proper understanding of the doctrine of salvation leads us, motivates us to godliness,
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and reminds us that we have everything that we need in order to live in
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the godliness that has been commanded of us. So the questions again, are
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you a Christian? The answer most often is yes. Why all of those
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wrong answers, why why? Why why are you a Christian? There is
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only one answer, and the answer is because of the person and work of
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Christ. The answer is because Christ died for sin once for all the just,
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for the unjust, in order that he might bring us back to God.
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God made him who knew no sin, to be sin on our behalf,
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so that we might become the righteousness of God in him. Why why
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am I a Christian? I am a Christian because when I was still lost
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in my sins, God demonstrated his love for me, and this Christ died
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for me. I am justified, declared righteous because of the double imputation Christ
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righteous life that was imputed to me in my sinfulness that was imputed to him.
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I am adopted and made a child of God because of the love that
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the Father has for the Son and the Spirit has for the Father and the
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Son. I have been redeemed and brought into the family of God and adopted,
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and I am a child and heir. I am being sanctified through the
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presence and power of the Spirit who intercedes from me with groanings too deep for
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words, in accordance with the will of God, who is preserving me according
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to that will. And I will be glorified because the God who predestined me
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also called me. He justified me so that I might be conformed to the
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very image of His Son. And that conformity will only find its fullness and
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its fulfillment and my glorification in heaven, where my union with Him that is
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real here and now will be consummated there. And then that is the answer
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to the question why are you a Christian? And no other answer will suffice
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answer that has you and your actions or your religious ceremonies, or your this
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or your that as its source is the wrong answer and deprives Christ of his
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rightful glory. We are saved through the person and work of Jesus Christ,
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through none other and through nothing else Christ and Christ alone. Let's pray,
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Gracious God, our heavenly Father, Oh, how we are humbled by your
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mercy and kindness toward us. How we are humbled by the salvation that you
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give through the person and work of your son. God, How we are
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humbled by the way that you preserve us and keep us. Grant by your
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grace that we might live in hope, hope in the person and work of
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Christ. Father. I pray for those under the sound of my voice who
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have come into this room trusting in anything other than the finished work of Christ.
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Grant that their eyes might be opened, their heart of flesh might be
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changed to our their heartes stone might be changed to our heart of flesh,
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that they might be made alive with Christ and united with Him through repentance and
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faith. Grant this we pray for Christ's sake and in his name. Amen.
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And if you have come into this place trusting in anything other,