WEBVTT 00:00:01.400 --> 00:00:05.040 That sounded like two of you playing that. Nicely 00:00:05.040 --> 00:00:07.219 done. Would you stand please? Let's make sure 00:00:07.219 --> 00:00:09.320 everyone senses a warm welcome this morning. 00:00:09.779 --> 00:00:11.580 Would you reach around? Some of you will remember 00:00:11.580 --> 00:00:15.279 that a few weeks ago I went to my high school 00:00:15.279 --> 00:00:19.239 class reunion. Longer ago than I like to think 00:00:19.239 --> 00:00:21.920 about, I graduated from high school. And part 00:00:21.920 --> 00:00:24.339 of our reunion involved going through the old 00:00:24.339 --> 00:00:28.059 high school. We could still make it up the stairs 00:00:28.059 --> 00:00:31.370 and into the building. They're doing a lot of 00:00:31.370 --> 00:00:33.549 remodeling there. One of the places that's changing 00:00:33.549 --> 00:00:37.649 is the gymnasium. In those days, I had the opportunity 00:00:37.649 --> 00:00:40.929 to play basketball on that team. So we went into 00:00:40.929 --> 00:00:45.189 that gym that is no longer a gym, which is having 00:00:45.189 --> 00:00:47.670 a floor being put into the middle of it so that 00:00:47.670 --> 00:00:50.670 it will not even be recognized any longer as 00:00:50.670 --> 00:00:54.590 a one -time gym. It was almost as though I could 00:00:54.590 --> 00:00:57.329 hear the old resounding war cries as we came 00:00:57.329 --> 00:01:00.850 down the court. We could hear the crowd singing 00:01:00.850 --> 00:01:04.810 the song that cheered us on to sometimes victory. 00:01:05.930 --> 00:01:09.109 We are the dragons, the mighty, mighty dragons. 00:01:10.689 --> 00:01:12.790 You see, we were the dragons. Now, sometimes 00:01:12.790 --> 00:01:17.349 we didn't act much like dragons. On those occasions, 00:01:17.549 --> 00:01:20.310 the coach would get us into the locker room and 00:01:20.310 --> 00:01:24.140 we'd have a little talk. And among the other 00:01:24.140 --> 00:01:25.959 things that he would say, some of which wouldn't 00:01:25.959 --> 00:01:28.060 be repeatable in your presence this morning, 00:01:28.120 --> 00:01:32.340 I'm sure, he would remind us that we were the 00:01:32.340 --> 00:01:36.099 Dragons. We were the basketball team of that 00:01:36.099 --> 00:01:39.640 high school in Kansas. And that when we got out 00:01:39.640 --> 00:01:41.519 there in the second half, we'd better remember 00:01:41.519 --> 00:01:44.620 who we were and begin to play like it. And you 00:01:44.620 --> 00:01:46.760 know, that did something to us. Because when 00:01:46.760 --> 00:01:50.200 we realized who we were, it made a difference. 00:01:51.140 --> 00:01:58.040 It always does. Who are you this morning? You 00:01:58.040 --> 00:02:01.739 might answer that by saying, well, I'm a teacher. 00:02:02.859 --> 00:02:09.639 I'm a homemaker. I'm an accountant. I'm a farmer. 00:02:10.360 --> 00:02:15.139 I'm a student. And on one level that does describe 00:02:15.139 --> 00:02:18.199 who we are. It tells at least about what we do 00:02:18.199 --> 00:02:23.490 and how we're plugged into society. But I wonder 00:02:23.490 --> 00:02:29.370 on a deeper level, who are you? Well, if you're 00:02:29.370 --> 00:02:31.789 a child of God, because you have placed your 00:02:31.789 --> 00:02:34.830 faith in Jesus Christ, there is a special word 00:02:34.830 --> 00:02:38.050 of the New Testament that tells us who we are. 00:02:38.050 --> 00:02:40.569 And I invite you to open your Bible to Romans 00:02:40.569 --> 00:02:44.550 chapter 1, where the Apostle Paul introduces 00:02:44.550 --> 00:02:47.370 himself to these people he had never yet met 00:02:47.370 --> 00:02:52.080 face to face. As he writes the letter to them, 00:02:52.139 --> 00:02:55.699 he says, Paul, a bond servant of Christ Jesus, 00:02:57.039 --> 00:03:01.259 called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel 00:03:01.259 --> 00:03:04.879 of God, which he promised beforehand through 00:03:04.879 --> 00:03:08.659 his prophets in the holy scriptures. He goes 00:03:08.659 --> 00:03:11.599 on to say this gospel is concerning his son, 00:03:12.460 --> 00:03:16.000 who was born of a descendant of David, according 00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:18.620 to the flesh. That says something about him, 00:03:18.620 --> 00:03:22.430 doesn't it? Jesus Christ was born of the seed 00:03:22.430 --> 00:03:27.150 of David, who was declared the Son of God with 00:03:27.150 --> 00:03:29.990 power by the resurrection from the dead according 00:03:29.990 --> 00:03:34.250 to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, 00:03:35.409 --> 00:03:39.409 through whom we have received grace and apostleship 00:03:39.409 --> 00:03:43.030 to bring about the obedience of faith among all 00:03:43.030 --> 00:03:46.469 the Gentiles for His name's sake, among whom 00:03:46.469 --> 00:03:52.580 you also are the called of Jesus Christ to all 00:03:52.580 --> 00:03:56.500 who are beloved of God in Rome called saints. 00:03:57.840 --> 00:04:00.300 There's the word I want you to latch onto today. 00:04:01.400 --> 00:04:06.680 We are called saints by God. In answer to that 00:04:06.680 --> 00:04:10.219 question, who are you? I would hope that as a 00:04:10.219 --> 00:04:13.060 Christian you might eventually be able to say, 00:04:13.919 --> 00:04:19.079 I'm a saint. Now it's important to understand 00:04:19.079 --> 00:04:23.360 what a saint is. Because there are some today 00:04:23.360 --> 00:04:26.920 who believe that saints are a special class of 00:04:26.920 --> 00:04:29.819 people who've lived before on the earth and who 00:04:29.819 --> 00:04:32.579 through their good lives and their meritorious 00:04:32.579 --> 00:04:36.379 acts even after they are dead and supernatural 00:04:36.379 --> 00:04:39.779 intervention in the lives of men still living, 00:04:40.339 --> 00:04:45.259 they have now been declared to be saints. But 00:04:45.259 --> 00:04:47.379 I want you to know the Word of God says that 00:04:47.379 --> 00:04:51.779 we are not canonized as saints. We are called 00:04:51.779 --> 00:04:56.959 saints. Furthermore, He is talking not about 00:04:56.959 --> 00:04:59.019 people who are already in heaven. He's talking 00:04:59.019 --> 00:05:01.899 about people who were alive that day in Rome. 00:05:03.259 --> 00:05:06.199 He says that they are those who belong to Jesus 00:05:06.199 --> 00:05:14.500 Christ. They are those who have come out from 00:05:14.500 --> 00:05:20.240 among the Gentiles, that is, the pagans, to belong 00:05:20.240 --> 00:05:24.720 in a special sense to Christ. And because of 00:05:24.720 --> 00:05:27.779 that, he says, you are saints. You see, a saint 00:05:27.779 --> 00:05:31.879 is not someone who has arrived at some heavenly 00:05:31.879 --> 00:05:36.279 position. A saint is not someone who lives perfectly 00:05:36.279 --> 00:05:41.160 in this world. A saint is very simply someone 00:05:41.160 --> 00:05:48.939 who has been set apart for God. That's all. So 00:05:48.939 --> 00:05:52.300 we need to get the bad definitions of saint out 00:05:52.300 --> 00:05:55.279 of our minds and understand that the New Testament 00:05:55.279 --> 00:05:59.639 says that all of us who have trusted Jesus Christ 00:05:59.639 --> 00:06:04.579 as Savior and Lord have been set apart by God 00:06:04.579 --> 00:06:08.819 from the rest of the world to be His. and therefore 00:06:08.819 --> 00:06:14.300 we are called saints. When we understand who 00:06:14.300 --> 00:06:17.459 we are, it makes a difference how we live. Dr. 00:06:17.560 --> 00:06:20.819 Neil Anderson says, no person can consistently 00:06:20.819 --> 00:06:24.699 behave in a way that's inconsistent with the 00:06:24.699 --> 00:06:29.100 way he perceives himself. You see, that's why 00:06:29.100 --> 00:06:31.779 the coach back in the locker room got on our 00:06:31.779 --> 00:06:36.639 case when we had played a bad first half. because 00:06:36.639 --> 00:06:39.600 we were perceiving ourselves at that point as 00:06:39.600 --> 00:06:44.379 losers. And he knew that we could not play as 00:06:44.379 --> 00:06:48.160 winners until we perceived ourselves as winners. 00:06:50.720 --> 00:06:55.860 No one can consistently behave in a fashion that 00:06:55.860 --> 00:06:58.920 is inconsistent with the way that he perceives 00:06:58.920 --> 00:07:01.819 himself. How do you perceive yourself today? 00:07:03.339 --> 00:07:08.920 Do you perceive yourself? As a sinner? Even as 00:07:08.920 --> 00:07:13.959 a sinner saved by grace? Well, let me tell you 00:07:13.959 --> 00:07:16.579 that the best way to perceive yourself as a child 00:07:16.579 --> 00:07:20.420 of God is not as a sinner, but what you are in 00:07:20.420 --> 00:07:25.360 truth, a saint. One who has been set apart by 00:07:25.360 --> 00:07:29.939 God's special action. One who belongs to Jesus 00:07:29.939 --> 00:07:34.199 Christ in a wonderful and personal relationship 00:07:34.199 --> 00:07:38.959 with Him. We learn about saints in the book of 00:07:38.959 --> 00:07:43.860 Romans that saints have a new nature. We're not 00:07:43.860 --> 00:07:47.379 the same people we used to be. Over in chapter 00:07:47.379 --> 00:07:53.420 6 and verse 6, He says, knowing this, that our 00:07:53.420 --> 00:07:59.399 old self was crucified with Christ. What is He 00:07:59.399 --> 00:08:02.360 saying there? He is saying that that person that 00:08:02.360 --> 00:08:06.300 we used to be, that sinner that we used to be, 00:08:07.389 --> 00:08:12.290 was put to death with Jesus Christ in the mind 00:08:12.290 --> 00:08:18.589 of God. We were crucified with Christ and executed, 00:08:18.709 --> 00:08:21.370 as it were, on the cross of Calvary with Jesus 00:08:21.370 --> 00:08:25.790 Christ so that we are no longer who we used to 00:08:25.790 --> 00:08:29.610 be. We're new people. If any man be in Christ, 00:08:30.129 --> 00:08:34.750 he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. 00:08:35.279 --> 00:08:40.600 All things have become new, says the Apostle. 00:08:41.379 --> 00:08:46.159 Saints are those who have a new nature. Dr. Anthony 00:08:46.159 --> 00:08:51.720 Hokema says, you are new creatures now. Not totally 00:08:51.720 --> 00:08:56.379 new, to be sure, but genuinely new. And we who 00:08:56.379 --> 00:09:00.759 are believers see ourselves in this way, no longer 00:09:00.759 --> 00:09:04.799 as depraved and helpless slaves of sin, but as 00:09:04.799 --> 00:09:09.799 those who have been created anew in Christ Jesus. 00:09:10.519 --> 00:09:15.960 Paul says that before our salvation we were by 00:09:15.960 --> 00:09:21.220 nature the children of wrath. That is, because 00:09:21.220 --> 00:09:24.940 we were sinners, we lived like sinners, and we 00:09:24.940 --> 00:09:32.039 were under the judgment of God. But when we trust 00:09:32.039 --> 00:09:34.600 Jesus Christ as our Savior and our Lord, something 00:09:34.600 --> 00:09:39.840 happens to us. We are dramatically changed. We 00:09:39.840 --> 00:09:42.500 are no longer seen as sinners in the eyes of 00:09:42.500 --> 00:09:47.259 God. He sees us now as His saints, those who 00:09:47.259 --> 00:09:50.019 belong to Him, no longer cut off and alienated 00:09:50.019 --> 00:09:54.500 from the life of God. We now share the very nature 00:09:54.500 --> 00:09:58.340 of God. Not that we are deity. Not that we're 00:09:58.340 --> 00:10:02.389 eternal like God is. But in 2 Peter chapter 1 00:10:02.389 --> 00:10:07.710 it says, we have been made sharers of the divine 00:10:07.710 --> 00:10:15.149 nature. God plants within us His very life when 00:10:15.149 --> 00:10:20.309 we are born again. How do you see yourself today? 00:10:21.450 --> 00:10:23.830 If you're a child of God, if you've trusted Christ 00:10:23.830 --> 00:10:26.669 as your Savior, please don't say that you see 00:10:26.669 --> 00:10:30.000 yourself as a sinner. even as a sinner saved 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:33.700 by grace. Use the New Testament language which 00:10:33.700 --> 00:10:37.059 says that you're a saint in the eyes of God. 00:10:37.620 --> 00:10:40.379 You have a new nature. You're a new person. You're 00:10:40.379 --> 00:10:44.720 not who you used to be. You have been crucified 00:10:44.720 --> 00:10:49.860 with Christ. And yet you live. And yet it's not 00:10:49.860 --> 00:10:54.460 the same you. It's a new you. It's Christ living 00:10:54.460 --> 00:11:00.279 in you. Saints have a new nature. Saints have 00:11:00.279 --> 00:11:04.600 a new choice. In Romans 6 and verse 12 he says, 00:11:05.259 --> 00:11:08.980 because these things are true, therefore do not 00:11:08.980 --> 00:11:13.399 let sin reign in your mortal body that you should 00:11:13.399 --> 00:11:18.419 obey its lusts. And do not go on presenting the 00:11:18.419 --> 00:11:23.179 members of your body to sin as instruments of 00:11:23.179 --> 00:11:27.480 unrighteousness. but present yourselves to God 00:11:27.480 --> 00:11:32.080 as those alive from the dead and your members 00:11:32.080 --> 00:11:36.379 as instruments of righteousness to God. Saints 00:11:36.379 --> 00:11:39.899 have a new nature. Saints have a new choice. 00:11:41.879 --> 00:11:45.899 Before we trusted Jesus Christ, sin was expected 00:11:45.899 --> 00:11:50.519 in our lives. We were sinners by nature. That's 00:11:50.519 --> 00:11:57.960 who we were. That was our identity. Sin was inevitable 00:11:57.960 --> 00:12:03.299 because we live out who we are on the inside. 00:12:07.019 --> 00:12:10.059 When we trust the Lord Jesus Christ, we get a 00:12:10.059 --> 00:12:14.039 new nature, a new heart. We're new people. We're 00:12:14.039 --> 00:12:17.379 new in our identity before God. We're saints. 00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:22.460 And now we have a new choice. Now we can choose 00:12:22.460 --> 00:12:28.179 to present ourselves to God. to obey Him, to 00:12:28.179 --> 00:12:32.299 live righteously. We can choose to do that. Before 00:12:32.299 --> 00:12:36.059 we had no choice. We were sinners. Now we're 00:12:36.059 --> 00:12:40.940 saints. God gives us the freedom to choose. He 00:12:40.940 --> 00:12:43.840 says, don't go on yielding yourselves to sin. 00:12:45.279 --> 00:12:51.299 A saint can choose to do that. A saint can sin. 00:12:53.740 --> 00:12:58.419 We still have the capacity to sin because sin 00:12:58.419 --> 00:13:00.919 still dwells in our mortal bodies, but we don't 00:13:00.919 --> 00:13:03.980 have to listen to it anymore. We don't belong 00:13:03.980 --> 00:13:07.580 to sin. We're saints. We belong to God. And now 00:13:07.580 --> 00:13:12.879 we can choose to live in obedience to God. That 00:13:12.879 --> 00:13:15.519 was not a choice before. Now it's a choice. We 00:13:15.519 --> 00:13:20.220 have a new choice. We have a new identity because 00:13:20.220 --> 00:13:24.070 we have a new nature. And that new nature allows 00:13:24.070 --> 00:13:27.350 us to make a new choice, to give ourselves an 00:13:27.350 --> 00:13:30.950 obedience to God. Saints have a new power to 00:13:30.950 --> 00:13:36.509 do that. Look over in chapter 8, verse 1. He 00:13:36.509 --> 00:13:39.470 says, There is therefore now no condemnation 00:13:39.470 --> 00:13:43.450 to those who are in Christ Jesus. That's good 00:13:43.450 --> 00:13:49.669 news, folks. Are you a saint who sins? Well, 00:13:49.750 --> 00:13:53.659 all of us on earth do. because sin still dwells 00:13:53.659 --> 00:13:56.740 in us. Nonetheless, there is no condemnation 00:13:56.740 --> 00:14:00.600 to those who are in Christ. No condemnation. 00:14:01.200 --> 00:14:04.899 He says, the law of the spirit of life in Christ 00:14:04.899 --> 00:14:09.399 Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and 00:14:09.399 --> 00:14:13.940 death. You see, we have a new law that's operating 00:14:13.940 --> 00:14:17.940 inside of us. We have a new power. I've used 00:14:17.940 --> 00:14:20.299 this illustration before, but I think it gets 00:14:20.299 --> 00:14:22.519 to the point so well I want to use it again. 00:14:24.039 --> 00:14:28.379 We live in a world that is controlled in part 00:14:28.379 --> 00:14:32.460 by the law of gravity. And we depend upon that 00:14:32.460 --> 00:14:37.019 law for living. As you run down the soccer field, 00:14:38.960 --> 00:14:41.700 you depend upon gravity to keep your feet firmly 00:14:41.700 --> 00:14:46.049 planted on the earth. As you sit in that chair, 00:14:46.190 --> 00:14:48.409 you expect to stay seated. You don't expect to 00:14:48.409 --> 00:14:51.389 float up. As you drink water, you expect to be 00:14:51.389 --> 00:14:53.730 able to drink the water and have it go down your 00:14:53.730 --> 00:14:57.730 throat. We live according to the law of gravity. 00:14:57.769 --> 00:14:59.610 We don't even realize it because it's such a 00:14:59.610 --> 00:15:05.730 natural part of the world. But a few decades 00:15:05.730 --> 00:15:09.490 ago, there were a couple of fellas down in North 00:15:09.490 --> 00:15:12.679 Carolina that invented an airplane that took 00:15:12.679 --> 00:15:16.100 advantage of a new set of laws, the laws of aerodynamics 00:15:16.100 --> 00:15:19.940 and those laws have now been understood better 00:15:19.940 --> 00:15:22.399 and put into better use so that today we have 00:15:22.399 --> 00:15:26.320 airplanes. My wife laughs at me but sometimes 00:15:26.320 --> 00:15:30.580 sitting out on our deck in the evening I see 00:15:30.580 --> 00:15:33.200 jet planes going over and I say there goes a 00:15:33.200 --> 00:15:38.240 747 and it's bound for London. Boy I'd like to 00:15:38.240 --> 00:15:42.399 be on that plane. I think those planes are beautiful 00:15:42.399 --> 00:15:45.379 to behold. And I know about when that flight 00:15:45.379 --> 00:15:48.840 goes over. So I just imagine myself flying off 00:15:48.840 --> 00:15:52.240 to Europe on that plane. Then it comes along 00:15:52.240 --> 00:15:54.779 a DC -10. I don't like them as well. They've 00:15:54.779 --> 00:15:57.279 only got three engines. I like four. Another 00:15:57.279 --> 00:16:00.720 spare, as far as I'm concerned. But I watch that 00:16:00.720 --> 00:16:03.720 plane take off. Maybe it's to Finland, to Helsinki, 00:16:04.179 --> 00:16:07.139 to Oslo. I think, boy, wouldn't it be nice to 00:16:07.139 --> 00:16:09.830 be on that plane. Now, what keeps those planes 00:16:09.830 --> 00:16:14.929 up there? It's the law of aerodynamics. But what 00:16:14.929 --> 00:16:18.750 about gravity? Well, you see, there's a new law 00:16:18.750 --> 00:16:22.129 that has superseded the law of gravity. And it 00:16:22.129 --> 00:16:27.090 allows those planes to take off and to fly to 00:16:27.090 --> 00:16:29.129 a destination on the other side of the world 00:16:29.129 --> 00:16:34.750 and then land. You and I have operating within 00:16:34.750 --> 00:16:39.090 us still the law of sin. It's operating in the 00:16:39.090 --> 00:16:45.450 members of our body. We face temptation. We have 00:16:45.450 --> 00:16:50.330 lust. Lust that comes from within us. Temptation 00:16:50.330 --> 00:16:53.929 that comes from outside of us. That law is operating 00:16:53.929 --> 00:16:58.590 there seeking to bring us into obedience to sin. 00:16:59.350 --> 00:17:03.440 To perform what it wants us to do. Now before 00:17:03.440 --> 00:17:06.400 we were Christians, that was the only law operating 00:17:06.400 --> 00:17:10.740 in us. That was it. But now we have a new power, 00:17:11.119 --> 00:17:14.019 a new law. He calls it the law of the Spirit 00:17:14.019 --> 00:17:18.440 of Life. Notice the capital S on Spirit because 00:17:18.440 --> 00:17:22.160 it's talking about the Holy Spirit. The Holy 00:17:22.160 --> 00:17:26.819 Spirit now is also operating within us. And the 00:17:26.819 --> 00:17:32.690 Holy Spirit enables us to live above the law 00:17:32.690 --> 00:17:38.789 of sin and death. We don't have to be held down 00:17:38.789 --> 00:17:42.569 by that law anymore. We can overcome the law 00:17:42.569 --> 00:17:45.769 of sin and death because the Holy Spirit enables 00:17:45.769 --> 00:17:52.650 us to say no to temptation. Christians have temptations 00:17:52.650 --> 00:17:58.170 just like everybody else in the world. But Christians 00:17:58.170 --> 00:18:05.160 have the capacity To say no. And that no can 00:18:05.160 --> 00:18:08.640 be enforced by the power of the Holy Spirit who 00:18:08.640 --> 00:18:14.059 lives inside of us. The law of the spirit of 00:18:14.059 --> 00:18:18.480 life supersedes the law of sin. And you and I 00:18:18.480 --> 00:18:22.059 can take advantage of that power and choose to 00:18:22.059 --> 00:18:28.460 say no to sin. Saints have a new nature. Saints 00:18:28.460 --> 00:18:31.980 have a new choice. Saints have a new power that's 00:18:31.980 --> 00:18:35.400 operating within their lives. I hope that describes 00:18:35.400 --> 00:18:39.019 you today. That when you think about who you 00:18:39.019 --> 00:18:43.480 are in your deepest identity, that you can honestly 00:18:43.480 --> 00:18:51.400 say, I am a saint. I'm not perfect. I haven't 00:18:51.400 --> 00:18:54.220 been canonized by the church. People don't pray 00:18:54.220 --> 00:18:59.500 to me. But I'm a saint. because I've been called 00:18:59.500 --> 00:19:04.680 by God to belong to Jesus Christ. And God has 00:19:04.680 --> 00:19:08.819 set me apart when I trusted the Lord Jesus. And 00:19:08.819 --> 00:19:12.660 I'm a saint now. And because that's who I am, 00:19:13.880 --> 00:19:17.920 that's how I want to live. I don't want to sin 00:19:17.920 --> 00:19:23.220 anymore. I still do. I still choose sometimes 00:19:23.220 --> 00:19:28.950 to obey temptation when it comes my way. But 00:19:28.950 --> 00:19:32.029 in my deepest heart, I don't want to. I want 00:19:32.029 --> 00:19:35.890 to choose to obey God. I want to use the power 00:19:35.890 --> 00:19:38.789 of the Holy Spirit to live the kind of a life 00:19:38.789 --> 00:19:43.670 that's pleasing to Him. If you're not a saint, 00:19:43.829 --> 00:19:47.730 you can become a saint today, right now. You 00:19:47.730 --> 00:19:49.289 don't have to wait until after you die and some 00:19:49.289 --> 00:19:51.829 people vote on you and then you get voted into 00:19:51.829 --> 00:19:54.210 that celestial category. That's not the way it 00:19:54.210 --> 00:19:58.599 works, folks. We become saints right now in this 00:19:58.599 --> 00:20:02.299 world. When we hear the call of God in our hearts 00:20:02.299 --> 00:20:05.680 and we sense that conviction of sin, and we feel 00:20:05.680 --> 00:20:09.980 guilty about our lives and we're ashamed, and 00:20:09.980 --> 00:20:11.859 we know that we're under God's judgment, but 00:20:11.859 --> 00:20:15.940 we also know that God loves us and provided His 00:20:15.940 --> 00:20:20.059 Son Jesus Christ as the sacrifice for our sins. 00:20:21.559 --> 00:20:25.200 And when we trust in that Savior, and believe 00:20:25.200 --> 00:20:27.960 that He died in our place and took our punishment, 00:20:28.720 --> 00:20:33.019 then we can be transferred from being sinners 00:20:33.019 --> 00:20:40.700 to saints. Let's pray together. Father, this 00:20:40.700 --> 00:20:43.059 morning all of us gathered in this room are one 00:20:43.059 --> 00:20:46.759 or the other. We're either sinners or saints. 00:20:48.660 --> 00:20:52.000 My prayer would be that There are those today 00:20:52.000 --> 00:20:57.299 who hear the call of the Lord and who are under 00:20:57.299 --> 00:20:59.920 the conviction of their own personal sin before 00:20:59.920 --> 00:21:04.259 you that they would understand the gospel and 00:21:04.259 --> 00:21:08.740 would trust the Lord Jesus today and be saved 00:21:08.740 --> 00:21:12.779 from being a sinner and be given this new identity 00:21:12.779 --> 00:21:18.039 as one of your chosen ones, a saint. And Father, 00:21:18.039 --> 00:21:22.390 I pray that all of us Who call ourselves saints 00:21:22.390 --> 00:21:26.950 may live that way and May make the new choice 00:21:26.950 --> 00:21:30.210 to obey Christ using the new power of the Holy 00:21:30.210 --> 00:21:33.029 Spirit that is in us because we have a new destiny 00:21:33.029 --> 00:21:39.230 the glory of heaven Father fill us with the anticipation 00:21:39.230 --> 00:21:41.390 of that glory that is to come when your work 00:21:41.390 --> 00:21:45.309 will be complete and Give us patience with ourselves 00:21:45.309 --> 00:21:50.950 now when we fail and teach us to get up and to 00:21:50.950 --> 00:21:55.210 walk on as saints. Father, there are some who 00:21:55.210 --> 00:21:56.930 are gathered here this morning who are really 00:21:56.930 --> 00:21:59.109 in the midst of battle and struggle in their 00:21:59.109 --> 00:22:04.569 lives. Reassure them today that if they've trusted 00:22:04.569 --> 00:22:07.670 Christ, they're yours and that you're looking 00:22:07.670 --> 00:22:11.369 after their best interests. And may they sense 00:22:11.369 --> 00:22:14.769 today the wonder and the hope and the joy of 00:22:14.769 --> 00:22:20.740 being a saint of God. As I pray in Jesus' name, 00:22:21.299 --> 00:22:24.380 Amen. Would you stand together with me please? 00:22:26.660 --> 00:22:28.940 If you today are struggling in your spiritual 00:22:28.940 --> 00:22:31.240 life and you'd like to have someone pray with 00:22:31.240 --> 00:22:35.180 you, even for a few seconds, I want to invite 00:22:35.180 --> 00:22:37.039 you to slip out and just come here to the front. 00:22:37.079 --> 00:22:39.180 We'll have some staff and elders who will be 00:22:39.180 --> 00:22:42.140 here, and they'll be glad just to spend a moment 00:22:42.140 --> 00:22:45.019 and pray with you regarding your concern and 00:22:45.019 --> 00:22:47.940 need today. And if there are others who are in 00:22:47.940 --> 00:22:49.880 line in front of you, just be patient and wait 00:22:49.880 --> 00:22:53.119 a moment. They'll be able to get to you and spend 00:22:53.119 --> 00:22:56.980 a moment in prayer, asking God to minister in 00:22:56.980 --> 00:22:59.019 your life. Thanks for being here and God bless 00:22:59.019 --> 00:23:01.980 you. Greet one another as you go and go in the 00:23:01.980 --> 00:23:05.400 joy that belongs to God's saints. We're dismissed.