Healing the Mind – Pt. 3

Ron Weinland

Feb. 20, 2010

We’re going to jump right into the sermon here today.  We’re continuing on in the sermon series entitled: Healing the Mind with this being Part 3 today.  And it is an incredible process we go through of different terminology that’s used in the Bible about the healing of the mind. In times past this has been seen in a very big way as something very physical – physical only and not understanding the spiritual content or application of what God is saying.  And with growth in time God has really blessed us mightily by being able to understand those things in a greater way on a spiritual plane and it is all about that which is spiritual.  Everything that is physical in that respect leads us to that which is a spiritual understanding as far as God is concerned – just as simple as the very family itself, as we’re talking about in this series.  When you start out with the family relationship God has given us as human beings – family!  ...so we can begin to understand a greater purpose that God has on a spiritual plane for His spiritual Family.  There are concepts and truths that God begins to give us and then teach us and shows us especially as we’re drawn into the Church and called to be able to understand what His purpose is for our very existence.

Over and over again God’s word reminds us of what our true nature is like.  We’re going to pick up in Romans 7 here where we left off.  But sometimes and as I’ve mentioned even often times we don’t really remember or ‘see’ spiritually that true nature.  It’s a very difficult thing for people to come to see their true nature.  In the beginning when God begins to draw us we begin to see a need to change, not that everyone receives that, but in the very beginning we begin to see a contrast with what we’re taught in the world and what we have grown up in our families or in our community learning about whatever the religion is in that particular area.  I don’t care where you go in the world...certain countries in the world, certain regions of the world, there is religion connected with it.  Some religious beliefs of some sort and whatever people grow up with that’s what they hold onto and when God begins to draw someone into the Church they begin to learn that what they were taught is wrong.  I don’t care where you look in the world, the world has not been taught God’s way of life and this is a very difficult thing for people to come to grips with and they begin to learn that the way of the world, the way of mankind has been one of a great lie, perpetuating lies through history.  Even nations – they write their own history.  People write their own history.  Through time they change it at some point, they want to revise it and they’ll actually go through... some have tried to wipe out history all together in some cases for different motives and different reasons; and that’s why it’s so difficult for God’s Church, to go back and find anything about our true history because God has allowed that to happen.  It doesn’t exist.  You can’t find it and some of it that’s out there is deeply hidden and only a few are even allowed access to the library in Rome because they’ve hidden it.  There are things of history and historical books and so forth that they don’t want; they don’t allow to even be looked at.  Amazing what has taken place through time and through history.

Going back to what we’re looking at here about ourselves.  When God begins to draw us and call us...one of the big battles in life is coming to understand our own mind, our own nature.  And God says quite candidly that we can’t.  He says, ‘The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.  Who can know it?’  And it takes conversion to come to acknowledge that and agree with that – that God is right, because human beings don’t see their heart that way.  People tend to think of themselves, in many cases, that they’re ‘good people’ and in a worldly standard – there are people who do good things, but not God’s good, not God’s truth, and not God’s way of life because where does that begin?  Well, it begins with the Sabbath day; and so people begin to find reasons why they can’t keep the Sabbath day, why they have to work on that day, as I mentioned last Sabbath I believe it was.  “Surely God would understand if I have to feed my family!  Surely He wouldn’t want me not to work on that day if my employer requires of it – that of me.  Surely God isn’t that harsh!  Surely God is... God is a loving God, I’ve read that!  God is a loving God and He would want me to provide for my family more than obey Him!” That but that’s what it comes down to.  No, God requires obedience and God will bless us and take care of us and so we’re tried in those things as to whether or not we indeed will put God first in our life.

To come to see our own human nature is a spiritual battle because we really don’t want to see everything and thank God He doesn’t show us everything in the very beginning, nor at any one moment in time.  We wouldn’t be able to contain it, bear it; we’d be so depressed if we really saw what we’re like from the very beginning – our true nature.  It takes time.  God shows us a little bit at a time because that’s all we can handle, that’s all we can take and slowly but surely we have a desire to change and we respond.  So our ability to see things on a spiritual plane about self, that true nature that we have is an ongoing battle, but we have to be able to see that true nature or at least begin to see it before we’ll every go before God in a humble spirit and ask for help to change.  Because if we don’t see those things, why would we go before God in humility asking for help to change?  That is the healing process.  In a nutshell, that’s what the healing process is about – that desire to change and have more of God’s mind, God’s character within us because we understand that’s the only true and righteous way of life. The only true and righteous character that we desire to have is that which comes from God, not from human nature, not from that which resists God.

Romans 7 - Through Paul God explains mightily what this healing process entails and it is an ongoing, lifeline healing process – the healing of the mind, to be able to become at one with God.  A constant battle fighting against our own nature and the way we think, coming to understand how we think is not an easy process.  Verse 14 - For we know, and as I mentioned last Sabbath that word means to ‘see, to be able to know’, has to do with ‘that which we see’.  And for us that’s a spiritual thing.  For we see that the law is spiritual: the world doesn’t understand that!  The world doesn’t comprehend that God’s law is spiritual! They see the 10 Commandments, as an example, as...in many cases, they refer to it as that old harsh law of the Father and that Jesus Christ came along to show us about love.  And they don’t understand – all of God’s law is based on love.  John says, ‘God is love.’  All the law is based on love, outgoing concern for others, toward God first.  That’s why Jesus Christ summarized the law when He was asked at different times and He said in essence – speaking of the law and how we should react and respond to others, that you should love first of all God, with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your being.  It was years after being in God’s Church that I came to ‘see’ and to understand no human being can do that.  There’s no human being that has the capacity or ability, except for one that lived on this earth, to love God with all of their heart, with all of their soul, with all of their being...because by nature we resist God.  That’s what Paul writes in Romans.  He says, ‘The carnal mind is enmity with God.  It is not subject to the law of God neither indeed can be.’  We resist God’s law and so that’s an important part of the beginning of understanding and growth and healing – to begin to understand our nature resists God, by nature. And so we’re always fighting a battle and Paul explains this so well, so incredibly well – inspired and led by God’s spirit to do so.

So, we see that the law is spiritual:  he went on to show how that... ‘And you shall love your neighbour as yourself.’  We all love our neighbours as our self?... No, we have a battle with that – whoever your closest neighbour is – might be your mate, might be your child, might be your parent...you do not love them as yourself in spirit and in truth.  We love self first.  That’s the way we are as human beings, we truly do.  And then that just broadens out more and more as we go through life.  And so Jesus Christ came to explain that which is spiritual, on a spiritual plane.  ‘You’ve heard that you shouldn’t murder.’ And He went on to say in essence, “and I tell you, you shouldn’t hate someone.”  Shouldn’t hate your brother and on and on it goes.

For that which I do... he says, for I am carnal sold under sin.  So he’s acknowledging here 25 years into his ministry, serving in the capacity that he did as God’s apostle to the Gentiles, explaining in a very powerful way... he said, I am carnal, and we have to be able to say the same thing about ourselves or we can’t be healed.  We’ve got to acknowledge those things on a regular basis.  When we go before God we have to acknowledge what we’re like.  We’re motivated by that which is carnal as far as human nature’s concerned and sold under sin.  For that which I do I do not allow: speaking of sin, speaking of those things that are motivated by the carnal mind.  And that which I would want to do, in other words we see something in God’s law, God’s way of life, relationships and so forth – family, marriage – that’s what we want that God shows us that’s right and good.  He says, and that which I would want to do that I do not; In other words, not that he never did it, but he sees that battle inside of him; that by his very nature he has a struggle there.  He says, But what I hate, that I do.  In other words, there are times when something is said; we find ourselves in those situations where we’ve said something to someone else and we realize we’ve just hurt them, by something foolish.  I didn’t want to say that... I’d choose not to, but I went ahead and I did it because of my carnal nature.  I spoke out or I spoke out in anger or responded in a wrong way or whatever it was and then we see ourselves.  Sometimes we don’t see ourselves.  Sometimes we just let it all out, let it keep coming out and saying things around people and to people and we don’t care and we can’t be healed if that’s the case because we have to constantly be vigilant and seeking to change.

And he goes on to say, If I then do that which I don’t want to do, in other words there are things in our life...and this is a growing thing, please understand.  I’m talking about from the very beginning of your growth all the way through.  I don’t care how long you’re in God’s Church; it just becomes more refined as you go along.  You’re able to come into a greater unity with God and live God’s way of life more, and bring self into subjection to God’s way and agreement with God’s way and live that way more.  But you’re still going to be making mistakes.  There are still going to be things in your life that you’re going to do wrong – at whatever stage you’re in.  It doesn’t matter.  Repentance is always going to have to be a part of your life as long as you’re in this human body and that’s what Paul is talking about.

This is an amazing thing that he says, If I then do that which I don’t want to do, he says, I consent unto the law that it’s good.  And this is good because what you’re saying is “I agree with God!  There are things I don’t want to do that I find myself doing!”  But because of that very thought process, what you’re doing in the mind, is saying, “I agree with God!  I don’t want to do those things!  I want to do what God has given me and shown me in His word.”  And so because of that Paul is saying here, ‘you consent to the law that it’s good, that it’s right.’  That’s a marvellous thing that’s said.  There’s a lot said right there, there really is.  Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwells in me.  And so we have to acknowledge that.  I don’t care how long you’re in God’s Church; you have to acknowledge you have sin in your life!  There are people in this world that have a difficult time acknowledging they have sin until they get caught.  They don’t have sin!  A  lot of righteous people, a lot of religious people that talk a good talk and talk about the ‘love’ of God, the ‘love’ of Jesus... they don’t talk about God, they talk about Jesus Christ and all this ‘love’ we’re to have and all this ‘love’ we feel for each other.  It’s a bunch of garbage, hogwash; it’s not true at all.

Verse 18 - For I know, Paul said, or ‘see’ in other words that same word, that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwells no good thing:  Incredible!  That’s good to see!  And that takes God’s spirit to be able to see something in our life because it’s something of the spirit.  To truly see something within ourselves, especially if we can say it to that degree – that; In my flesh dwells no good thing! Carnally speaking, speaking of the flesh, speaking of our own human nature – not speaking of that part that God has given to us in the mind of His way of life, that’s another matter that Paul addresses as we go along here.  So he separates the two.  But He’s saying, “In this body, in this self dwells no good thing.” That’s why Jesus Christ said, ‘Call no man good.  There’s only one that’s good.’ Incredible!  ...for to will is present with me; in other words there is that which I choose to do and want to do.  So that’s what he’s saying here, for to will is present with me; in other words to make a choice, that which I choose to do and want to do, but how to perform that which is good I do not find.  It doesn’t just naturally come out of us, in other words.  It isn’t just naturally there!  You have to fight for it!  It just doesn’t naturally roll out of you, God’s way and God’s love; and we come to learn later on that we don’t have God’s love, of and by ourselves.  We have to cry out for it, we have to be close to God, we have to seek God’s spirit because it comes through the power of God’s spirit living and dwelling within us.  Human beings can’t work up God’s love.  The Protestant world that talks about God’s love does not have God’s love because they don’t have God’s spirit and they don’t understand that.  That’s why it’s such a fake and false type of thing that’s spoken of when they talk about the love of Jesus Christ.  Because they don’t understand what it is, so it’s kind of this religious fervour type of thing that’s a feel good thing about self and things you do that make self feel good - like a food drive once a year before Christmas, but they don’t do it the rest of the year.  Well, if you’re going to do it, do it all year long because these people are hungry all year long!  If you’re going to do it and you’re being truthful then do it all year long!  ...if that’s what you believe.  But to do it once a year at Christmas time?  Incredible... But how to perform that which is good, I do not find.  For the good that I would like to do I do not do it: but the evil which I do not want to do, that I do.  In other words there’s this constant struggle going on in life that we find ourselves doing things that... wish I hadn’t of said that... wish I’d hadn’t of done that... wish I’d have thought...  whatever!  ...but I did!

That’s why I use an example sometimes: I think people sometimes feel by listening to me that I must be the worst driver on earth because in some cases because they don’t get what I’m saying.  Now, I don’t think I rank up there as number one because I’ve driven a lot and I see a lot of things out there to the point that I know that there are many drivers worse than me out there.  But anyway...  what I’m trying to get across when I use those examples is what hits us in something as basic and as simple as driving, and if we could all see that in ourselves then we can see if you have it in driving, you also have it everywhere you go in society.  And the larger the society in the sense of the numbers of people around you, the easier it is to sin because it’s not fun being in large crowds and people shoving and pushing and being obnoxious toward you and walking toward you and nobody gives way.  It blows my mind!  I mention this many-a-time; if there’s a sidewalk six people wide you’ll have couples coming together toward you; three couples there and they’re all talking to each other having a great time because they’re there to enjoy themselves, maybe somewhere on vacation and you happen to be there and if you’re walking down the sidewalk toward them – does any one of them try to get out of your way to make it easier to get by?  No, they want you to disappear!  This is their sidewalk!  I mean, that’s the mentality of people a lot of times and what does that do then to your attitude toward them?  It doesn’t stimulate love; it really doesn’t, you have to fight a battle then of an attitude toward them and you have to be careful then that you don’t sin.  Now to dislike what they’re doing, to dislike the selfishness of human nature and what you see in the world around you; yes – but you’ve got to be so careful you don’t cross that line and take it out on them in your attitude, because then you sin in your own mind toward them.

It’s an amazing thing!  Same way with driving down a freeway – things that people do.  And what is really dangerous then is if you’re going to show them for what they did... they just cut you off?  Carnally you might want  to speed up and catch up with them...and try to show them.  And you know why we might be able to laugh about this right now?  Because we’re probably all guilty of having done it.  We’re going to get up there and show them and get in front of them.  But people do stuff like that all the time in the world.  You see it on the highway.  I see people do things and I know exactly what they’re doing because I’ve done it, because I’ve been guilty of it in my past, because I have to fight my fight, because I don’t want to do things like that, but sometimes you get caught, you can get caught.  I’ll tell you what, the faster people... you go up to Detroit. I like to use Detroit as an example because they don’t stop for anything!  It’s the Detroit 500 up there.  In Cincinnati if there’s a little bit of a wreck or somebody’s changing a tire on the side of the road they all slow down to see what’s going on and these long lines are then created. I’ve never seen a place that stops like they do there.  But Detroit... you’re on your own and everybody is for their own, and it’s a different mindset; but you know what?  If you’re not careful, if you’re driving for a long time and you get in that environment, you get caught into it because if you don’t drive, in some cases, at the same speed as others, it can be dangerous too, so you have to be careful – always fighting in the mind.  I’m talking about simple practical things that happen to you day in and day out in life with crowds, around large numbers of people...people being selfish.  Do you see that much?  You see it every day and if you’re not careful it affects you, and if you’re not careful then you sin...and then you have to repent because you see something in yourself...  They don’t see these things in themselves and that helps us a lot.  If you can get a hold of yourself when you’re in situations and understand they cannot see themselves – they do not understand what they’re doing. They get caught up in something.  But we have the ability to see it.  We have the ability to see that it is a rotten attitude.  We have the ability to see that this isn’t good!  God doesn’t want this in us!  This isn’t how we’re to treat our fellow man.

And that’s what Paul is talking about here, (verse 20) - now if I do that I don’t want to do it is no more I that do it but sin that dwells in me.  Sin.  I have sin that dwells in me.  We all have sin and God’s desire for us is that we conquer that sin and that conquering takes a lifetime and it becomes more refined as time comes along.  We become more refined as time comes along.  God refines us and tries us and brings that dross to the surface in difficult times and hard times and skims it off so that we become purer and purer in nature. I find then a law, that when I would do good, evil is present with me.  It’s at work in life, it’s absolute.  ...when I would do good, evil is present with me. You want to do good, you want to do right, but you have something else inside of you that is struggling and battling because of our nature.

For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: this is a great expression of what Paul is using here because he’s talking now about that which is in the inward man, in the mind, that which God has given to us.  When God begins to draw us, when God gives us understanding of His way of life He communicates to the spirit essence that He’s put in all mankind.  That’s an awesome thing that God revealed to Mr. Armstrong beginning in the early seventies, because the first book he wrote had to do with that spirit essence and ‘The Incredible Human Potential’ if you remember the book.  And that book is where he first began to expound upon this process that God was revealing to him about how the animal kingdom, everything around us that God created besides humanity functions as a matter of instinct, as a matter of automatic response and reaction to certain things. It’s like programming something into a robot or a computer except there’s more life there and variety and so forth within that; but geese fly south for a reason.  It’s programmed in them.  There are things that God put in them in order to react and respond to things in nature and weather and things that man is still trying to comprehend and understand and can’t understand; but we try to learn from those things because the marvels of what God has put there in a spirit essence within those... but they don’t have the ability to think and reason about it – they just do it.  It’s a part of their life, they respond in a certain way.  You go out and you try to become friendly with grizzly bears...you can find out it can be a big mistake no matter how well you might know them or know their nature and that you think they know you.  When they’re hungry and they get disturbed about something they’re going to have a certain response.  You can have some beautiful lions or tigers onstage with you and they can be really nice and they look nice and cuddly and then one day something in the audience or something sparks something and all of a sudden you’re being ripped apart to the point of dying.  Well, how could that happen?  Hmmm....?!  I’m serious! I mean, you think about things like that that take place... Because there’s a certain instinct that God put within them of nature and they don’t think and reason about it; that I shouldn’t hurt my friend that’s been taking care of me... and they respond accordingly.  But man isn’t that way.

God revealed to Mr. Armstrong that there’s a spirit essence, a spirit in man that makes us different.  That’s why there were some ministers who became angry at that time with him because they said, “He’s trying to teach that we have an immortal soul!”  He never said that.  He said we have a spirit essence in our mind that God has given to all human beings that are born on earth, that give us the ability to think and reason, to be creative, to be in control.  He didn’t make us robots.  He didn’t make us to have instinct.  We can think about what we do.  We can learn and become distinct and individual, which is an awesome thing, a purpose in God’s plan.  We have the ability to say, “No!” to God, just like in the angelic realm.  He made it possible for angels as well. Angels were created with that capacity of thinking and reasoning.  They weren’t made robots to respond perfectly in all ways to God at all times – because He wanted them to be different.  What kind of a relationship can you have with a robot?  We see things in science... you can only go so far by programming...until something happens – and that’s what God did with human beings, with the angelic realm – He gave the ability to think and to reason.  And that’s why a third of the angelic realm finally rebelled against God.  They didn’t want what God offered.  They wanted something different!  Pride came in!

It is awesome what God gave to Mr. Armstrong about those things – to understand those things of pride...to be able to go back to the beginning.  Mr. Armstrong always did – to the beginning – Satan/Lucifer, the angelic realm, the one arch angel who was made more beautiful, given more gifts, blessings, ability than any of the others...and it went to his head as so often happens with human beings when we’re given something more in life and we think we have something more than others, or we’re better than others and we as human beings then have these battles oftentimes with human nature.  In a company, you can look at a company and there are people who know they should have had that job!  I know that I’m better than them!  And whether you’re right or wrong is immaterial but it’s the battle you go through in your mind and it’s happened in the Church over and over again...people being better than others, lifted up with pride, and it’s an evil thing – pride!  But you’re able to do that because God gave every individual, angel, and human being, the ability to think and reason on their own because we have to be free moral agents.  God doesn’t want robots in His Kingdom.  He wants those who choose His way of life by free choice, not by coercion and not by force.  Yes there are things that humble us in life, but we choose, and we make choices in life as to whether or not we want it.  And that’s the process God takes us through.  He lets us see something in His way of life that we learn and come to see spiritually – that this is good.  Isn’t that what we want?  Don’t we want families that are close?  So often in life we see problems in society and problems in families because they’re not receiving what they desire?

My wife and I saw a movie the other day of an individual that... there are some things that touch you deep in life... in this case it was a father and a son, and the son had been ostracised because the son had grown up and the things he did toward his father and the father toward him and this battle they had that the son got pushed farther away and the father felt farther away and finally there was this thing that finally united them, and their ability to come together and hug each other. Isn’t that what everybody wants?  That close family relationship in life that so often we’re not able to have in life because of human nature?  And everybody wants that!  Everybody wants to have a good marriage when they get married.  They don’t want to have to go through things later on where something’s going to happen because of infidelity or because of other kinds of selfishness that happened in life that all of a sudden it’s not as enjoyable as it was before you got married and what you thought it was going to be like.  Doesn’t everybody want to have a good marriage?  Doesn’t everybody want to have a good family life and children that grow up that respect their parents?  And that’s what God says He wants in His Kingdom and He shows us the way to have it; and we finally begin to see how to have it – what brings peace and what brings happiness.  The world can’t see that yet, but when God finally begins to call us He communicates with our mind and then we begin to make the choice of whether or not we want it.  And your desire to want it then... there are certain things that God begins to show you about self – seeing your own nature – and “Do I want to change?”  And only you can make that choice and in time, if we continue to choose God’s way and continue to choose to do the things that God shows us the mind comes to a point where it goes through a healing process that continues to heal stronger and stronger and stronger and we become more at one with God.  And so this is the entire process of what Paul is explaining here.

I find a law that when I would do good; evil is present with me; for I delight in the law of God after the inward man. And don’t we as a whole in God’s Church?  That’s why we’re here – we delight in God’s law, we delight in those things that God shows us that are true and good and right and we hunger for them.  We have a desire for God’s Kingdom to come to this earth because we understand man can’t govern himself!  No NATION can govern themselves!  This world is so filled with hypocrisy and evil when it comes to governments and how they treat each other and how sometimes they treat their own citizens in order to have ‘peace’, like WWII – Hitler wanted a piece of Poland and a piece of this and a piece of that – that’s his way of having peace – force it upon them.  You come under my government, the way I dictate, the way I rule and then we’re going to have peace.  And you think; that’s not the way you have peace.  And we want to ship our kind of peace all over the world too, our kind of democracy.  It doesn’t work!  You can’t give human beings peace toward each other because of all the prejudices that are there.  Even the Democrats and Republicans can’t get along because people think differently and their idea of peace is totally different – and so, the primary concept throughout the Bible is man cannot govern himself.  That was Mr. Armstrong’s message to all those world leaders and they understood that and they understood that language!  Man can’t govern himself!

We had the League of Nations. Where’d that go?  What happened to the League of Nations?  And then we started the United Nations and people commonly on TV talk about how it’s a joke, its hypocrisy.  And it is!  There’s no ‘United Nations’!  The words itself are a farce and the statue in front is a farce; because they used something that was prophetic out of God’s word – people beating their weaponry into plough shears and that’s only going to happen when Jesus Christ returns.  And so we have a desire, deep inside of us – we desire to see God’s Kingdom.  We desire to see Jesus Christ return because there are things that God lets us see and we long for, we want peace, we want justice.  There’s no justice in this world.  Sometimes... but not as a whole.  Man doesn’t know how to judge.  I’m so frustrated with this world!  The closer we get to the end here, I’ll tell you, the more frustrated it becomes because we see it, we’re so close... we’re so close to Jesus Christ finally being here and God’s government finally being established that it’s kind of hard to take some of the things of this world because God’s letting us see more and more what this world is like – in a greater way, and the more you see that...   And you have to deal with that carefully; you have to be careful about that, with what you see and what you’re given.

So he says, For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, there’s a battle that goes on. There’s that which is spiritual that God gives us that we agree with, that we love, that we want; and then we have this other battle going on because of our human nature.  It’s what he’s saying.  ...and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.  That’s why we have to repent on a regular basis, because we come into captivity again. And the whole story of the Exodus - for us, being led out of sin.  It’s a beautiful story.  It doesn’t happen when you’re first called and when you get baptized.  That’s just the beginning of the journey.  You’re just starting through the Red Sea.  You’ve got a long journey in front of you the rest of your life coming out of sin, coming out of Egypt.  They took Egypt with them up here in their mind – see?  And we do too.  It’s there, it’s here, we live around it, we live in it and we’re constantly growing and conquering and overcoming.  It’s a process.  A healing of the mind, another way of talking about it and saying it.

But I see a law in my members warring against the law in my mind bringing me into the captivity of the law of sin which is in my members.  O wretched man that I am!  And we have to come to where we see that and say that before God and know it!  They’re not just words!  Either we see it or we don’t and sometimes we forget.  That’s what I mentioned earlier in the sermon here, at the very beginning.  Sometimes we forget, or we don’t really think about it in those terms because by nature our carnal nature is sick, it’s wretched.  That’s what we want to change.  We don’t want to be selfish.  We don’t want to hurt other people.  We don’t want something to come out of our mouth that makes someone else feel bad.  We don’t want to do something walking along somewhere or somewhere at a business or driving or doing something that offends or hurts someone else.  We don’t want to do that.  We want to add to the world something that’s better, something that they can share in and taste of that’s better even if it’s for just a moment; but we’re not always able to deliver are we?

O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Why death?  Because that’s what sin requires; it requires the death penalty.  That’s why we have to continue to repent before God – repent of sin – to have that penalty continually being removed from us so we can continue to grow, so God will continue to dwell in us.  That’s what’s so beautiful about understanding things in a way the world doesn’t.  And the Protestant world doesn’t grasp and comprehend why Jesus Christ died.  To take away sins, yes. But why?  Because God will not dwell in sin.  And one of the most beautiful things that Jesus Christ ever revealed to human beings is in John 14.  He gave His life so that we could be forgiven of sin, so that God the Father and Jesus Christ could dwell in us, because when there’s sin they won’t dwell in us.  God will not dwell around/in sin; that’s why we have to constantly – when we know we’ve sinned – go before God and say, “Father forgive me.  Forgive me through my Passover Jesus Christ.”  And then God’s faithful and just to forgive us of those sins because we’ve entered into a covenant relationship with Him and He’ll continue to dwell in us and live within us.  It’s an awesome thing...and continues to heal us.  Healing doesn’t happen overnight, it takes a lifetime.

So he went on to show how this is accomplished in verse 25 - I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God;  in other words what we’ve chosen to do, what we strive to do, what we want to do – this is the direction I chose to live; have chosen to live and will continue to live.  ...but with the flesh the law of sin.  I know that there’s always going to be that battle there as long as I’m in this body.  I’m going to have to fight against it, fight against the sin that wants to take me back into captivity and keep me in captivity.  It’s like that example of the old man it talks about in scripture there, when you bury in baptism the old self and you’re to come up out of the water walking in newness of life, being a new person, and there are times you have to put your...something on the head, behind the neck of that old man/old woman (whatever), put them back down in the water on a constant basis.  Bury the old self and keep it buried.

Again, just to jot it down here if you want; we’re going to continue on with Romans 8, but I John 2:16 - beautiful scripture because this shows what we’re like.  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.  And that’s us!  That’s that part of human nature, the carnal self – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, because that’s how it enters into our mind as human beings.  That’s what seeks to rule and control us.  But God says no, we’re to control those things; we’re to bring them into subjection – our mind, because that’s what it’s about.  It’s about the human mind.

Going on with Romans 8 he goes on to explain, because man has put chapters in here but there’s really no chapter break and he’s continuing on with the same story about how he’s able to change.  He says, (7:25) - I thank God through our Lord Jesus Christ; so that when with a mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.  He says, There is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus, and to remain in Christ Jesus and Him in you means that we continue to repent of sin whenever sin comes to the surface, whenever we see sin.  There is therefore no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit.  And so that’s our desire, that’s our choice.  I don’t want to walk after the flesh, on the contrary, when I sin I want to repent of sin quickly, speedily, because the longer you don’t repent, the longer there’s certain things you allow to exist and you don’t go make things right, as an example going to a brother alone, or just saying to someone, “I’m sorry, I was wrong.” – because of our stubbornness and our pride and our lack of willingness to follow through and do what God says we need to do...then we’re walking after the flesh and sin can set in in a very powerful way and become harder to conquer and overcome.  The quicker we are about it the faster we’ll overcome, the more we’ll grow.  So we don’t walk after the flesh but after the spirit.  And so sometimes you give in and I give in and we walk after the flesh, we do something we shouldn’t do, we think something we shouldn’t think, we say something we shouldn’t say, we have some action or something that isn’t right with God...it isn’t right with God, and so we have to repent of that and that’s walking after the spirit because you understand, you want God’s spirit to remain in you.

I’ve lived through a time; I know what it’s like to fall asleep; I know what it’s like to begin to let down spiritually; I know what it’s like.  All of Laodicea lived through that.  We lived through the period of time where we experienced and we’re going to be very able because of greater conviction of what we’ve experienced and a witness of those things of what we went through to help people in the Millennium – to let people know what it’s like; that you’re going to have these battles.  Don’t let lukewarmness enter into your life and begin to drift and take it easy spiritually.  You’ve got to fight for this way of life whenever you’re in this body, as long as you’re in this human body.  You’ve got to fight!  Because, again, myself and several others in this room and listening today that lived through Laodicea before the apostasy occurred fell asleep spiritually; we let down spiritually and God says that isn’t good enough.  To be lukewarm?  To be complacent?  To kind of drift?  He says, “I can’t use that!  You’re either going to be hot or cold, nothing in between – that’s just going to be as bad as the cold.”  And He spewed us out of His mouth... and He brought some to repentance.  Amazing!  In time, His desire is to bring all of them to repentance, but that’s another story.

You must be after the spirit constantly – day by day – fighting for this way of life!  That’s why I’ve tried to cry out to all of you who are young in spirit and new in the Church in the last year and a half or so that have come along – to fight for this way of life!  You’ve got to fight for this!  It doesn’t just naturally come to you!  You’ve got to work; you’ve got to fight for it.  And that’s what it means here when it says, not walking after the flesh, because if you walk after the flesh you’re not going to fight, you’re going to take the easy way, you’re going to take what’s convenient and what’s more natural.  You’ve got to work for this way of life if you want it.  And that’s what God wants to know... Do you want this?  Do you want what He’s offering on the other side of this just a little over two years from now?  Amazing where we are!  Just a little over two years from now and to think that finally after 6,000 years...and some of us are tired of waiting... God has waited a lot longer.  We can’t even begin to comprehend how long, and the patience and the mercy of God because of His great plan.  And so we wait; in its proper timing.

For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus, says, ‘the law’ of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus.  If you’re IN Christ Jesus and you’re IN God the Father, they’re in you – you’ve been forgiven of sin. ...has made me free from the law of sin and death. We’re forgiven.  To be free of the law of sin and of death means that you’re forgiven; but again it goes back to how often then do we sin?  Often!  Often we say things and do things that we shouldn’t do or say to someone else, and so what is the answer?  You walk after the spirit, not after the flesh.  We’re different in God’s Church then; we’re supposed to be different then – meaning that we come to repentance quickly because we understand how dangerous that is to continue on and not repent of sin in our life and not to fight that fight.  If you’re not willing to fight for it God is not going to give it to you!  Just because you go to Sabbath services and just because you tithe and just because you go through the motions of keeping the Passover or the Holy Days – God does not owe us anything!  But sometimes, and I have seen it in God’s Church where people have felt that way, as though things are owed to them.  No it isn’t! No it isn’t!  You’ve got to fight for it – you’ve got to want it to the end, whatever that end is.  For some of you it’s kind of a beginning about 2 years from now – a new world, a new age, a new time, a new time to grow, a new time to share what you’ve been given and the head start that you were given – to help others, to be able to share with others in a very powerful way.  And then for others an incredible beginning...finally in God’s Family.  I’m deeply looking forward to that.  A big change is going to take place; all of a sudden you’re a spirit being for eternity...for all eternity in the future – speaking forward.  There’s only one who’s eternally existed and that’s God Almighty and we don’t understand those things, but that’s God.

Verse 3 - For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, What does that mean?  The Protestant world looks at that and says, “SEE! The law is done away with!  It’s weak! So just don’t live by it.”  Duh!  Jesus Christ didn’t come and do away with the law.  It’s just that the law cannot change human beings.  That’s something I had to come to address in the Church pretty early on. Because of what we went through in the Church we became very distrusting and understandably so because of what we experienced and so we began to have bylaws and different corporations in the Church and it’s like these bylaws are going to somehow make the Church work right.  No they don’t; because it comes down to individuals.  It’s the individual being right before God – and if you’re right before God, then God’s way of life will thrive and work.  But you can’t regulate God’s way of life by law.  It doesn’t work.  And that’s where the weakness is – not because the law is weak.  That’s what Paul is showing – it’s because of us – human beings.  That’s why... Isn’t it a marvel; beautiful, awesome, marvellous picture that God gives of the Holy Days – Pentecost.  What an incredible story – to understand that on the Day of Pentecost God gave the law to the children of Israel.  Awesome!  And the whole example of Israel – it wouldn’t have mattered what nation of people it was that God used, the example is not a good one, because human nature is not good.  And how did Israel respond?  It didn’t take very long; they’re out here making a calf as soon as they could, saying, “This is the god that took us out of Egypt.”  Moses is gone for a while.  “Let’s make us a god!  Something’s happened to Moses, he may not come back; let’s make us this god now.”  How dumb can human beings be?  But they did this and they were having a big party... party, party, party.  When Moses came down he broke the tablets and all the other things that took place.  It was on the Day of Pentecost and what is the lesson in all of it?  Simple.  Just because you have the law of God doesn’t mean anything because you can’t keep it.  Human beings, because of our nature; the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, cannot keep God’s law – can’t keep that way of life.  That’s their testimony.  That’s the witness of physical Israel, that they couldn’t keep the law.

The Jews came the closest to it of all; of all the tribes – Judah; one tribe out of all those tribes. Only Judah came the closest in that respect and they took it to an extreme in the sense of being so meticulous and self-righteous about it and about the Sabbath and when Jesus Christ came along and talked to the Pharisees like He did...He called them what they were; told them what they were and they didn’t like it.  Because they couldn’t keep God’s law according to spirit.  And so on the Day of Pentecost in 31 AD God gave the answer which is when the Church began.  He gave His holy spirit on the same day that He gave His law, as far as the Holy Day is concerned – to show, to reveal in a very powerful way, the only way that human beings can live God’s way of life and live by God’s law is by His spirit in them.  Man is incapable of seeing things on a spiritual plane, of seeing that the law is spiritual.  That’s why we started out these verses this way.  7:14 – for we see that the law is spiritual.  You only see that because of God’s spirit in you, because God’s drawn you to be able to have that vision, spiritually, and so we ‘see’ that the law is spiritual indeed and we have to walk in the spirit.  Our desire is to walk in the spirit – to be close to God because we know that’s the only way we can live this way of life - otherwise you’re going to be a slave to sin!  That’s what it is, a captive of sin; and that’s where the world is.  They’re still captive to sin – they’re not freed yet.  The world isn’t free yet.

(8:3) For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, in other words the written law cannot change us, but only show us a right way of life, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:  Incredible; lived a perfect life so that He could be a perfect Passover and die for all the sins of all mankind: That the righteousness of the law, see, the righteousness of the law.  The law is righteous; the law is spiritual...that the righteousness of the law, might be fulfilled in us, that we can live by it, that we can live God’s way of life and what an incredible thing here that Paul is being given to explain, to expound upon this process of healing that takes place in our mind and how it takes place.  That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit.  And so you have to choose to walk after God’s spirit.  That’s why you cry out to God, “Father!  Please, I need your spirit day by day.  Please forgive me of my sins...” and whatever those sins are.  You have to do that day by day.  If you’re around people, you’re going to sin.  If you’re in this world; if your hearts beating you’re going to have sin in your life to repent of before God – to be cleansed of and ask God to forgive you of attitude, of thought, of words, of action – whatever it is – and you don’t want to be that way because you want to walk after the spirit, you’re crying out to God for His spirit to remain in you and you to remain in God.

For they who are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; just filled with the world, the ways of the world, doesn’t see the world as being bad, doesn’t see the styles and the ways of man as being bad and those things that influence us; I mean it influences us just in things like that.  I mentioned that in times past; people so in awe sometimes of other people in the world.  They want their name on their clothes.  “This makes me feel better... and especially if it costs more and the name is supposedly a bigger name and everybody knows where that came from.  Makes me feel better about myself, you know, me, me, me”, and we’re in love with ourselves.  Incredible the mind of human beings, it truly is.  And so we want somebody else’s name on the back of our pants, or on the back of our back or on our shoulder or on our whatever; so we can feel better about ourselves.  There’s a lot of peer pressure out there.  Kids in school.  It’s amazing!  Because of where somebody’s clothes come from and kids know it.  I don’t know if it’s as bad today – I’m sure it is just as bad in places but it’s been that way since styles have come along like that that things have happened.  So if you mind the things of the flesh that’s what you’re going to be consumed with.  You’re going to be concerned about how other people think about you, how other people see you.  Now we should to a point, in the sense of not being offensive in this world.  We should groom, we should take care of ourselves, we should do those things as far as clothing and take care of our things the best way we can to whatever we can in life.  Mr. Armstrong talked about quality, as to whatever we can in this life.  We’ve talked about it when somebody comes to Sabbath services.  If all you have is a pair of overalls and that’s your best – wear your best pair.  That’s what Mr. Armstrong taught.  And then time goes on and your blessed and you can do better, then good, so be it, but do the best with what you have in life – that’s a principle in life.  And that goes over into every aspect of life – how we think about life, how we live life toward God.

Going on here, for they who are of the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the spirit the things of the spirit.  So, where’s our mind?  Where’s your mind?  Is it more concerned about the world and living your life in the world or is it more concerned about God and how God sees you and how you’re seen before God.  Everything you do – everything you think is an open book.  God’s there.  We don’t hide from God.  Adam and Eve thought they could hide from God walking through the garden.  Duh!  It’s God!  But how easily we forget and we don’t understand certain things; and that’s the way we are oftentimes when we don’t realize, no, God sees, God knows.  I don’t know how much the angelic realm sees, how much they know because they’re spirit.  Whenever I sin, I think of things like that – if it brings dishonour to God even through the angelic realm that angels have to see how we live and what we do or what we think and what we’ve done.  Nothing is hidden from God.  Incredible!

So we want to walk after the spirit; we want to live what is right, to honour God, to honour God’s name.  Isn’t that a beautiful thing about the commandments?  Don’t take God’s name in vain.  In the world, the most they can see by that is not cursing and using God’s name in vain because that’s all it means to them because it’s physical.  And they don’t understand – no... when God draws you and you’re called into His Church, The Church of God, because it’s God’s Church not somebody else’s Church – not Luther’s or somebody else’s – it’s God’s Church, The Church of God, and when you’re called into that Church you don’t want to dishonour that name.  We are part of the Body of Christ. We become a part of the Church of God.  We dwell in God and God dwells in us and we don’t want to take His name in vain!  And whenever we sin, that’s what we do.  You realize you break one commandment you break them all?  It’s a good study to go into to understand how you do that, to understand God’s spirit, to understand pride, to understand that if you break any facet of God’s law you break it all.  It’s incredible!  For to be carnally minded is death; because that means we’re more concerned about the world, we’re more concerned about self we’re not really concerned about God, we’re not really keeping focused on God and a right relationship with God.  But in God’s Church we want, we seek a right relationship with God, so we seek to walk after the spirit; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. So again, that’s our hope and what we seek.

Verse 7 - Because the carnal mind is enmity against God:  that is saying that the carnal mind is an enemy to God, it fights against God and so sometimes that’s a difficult thing for us to come to acknowledge and admit in our own lives – that our nature resists God.  Because if you go out and ask the Protestant world, of people who say they’ve been ‘born again’ they would say, “Oh, no, no, no, I don’t fight against God, I love Jesus.”  And they don’t...I’m not trying to make fun of them, I’m just saying something – they don’t understand.  It’s because they can’t understand what that means.  They don’t... because they don’t see something on a spiritual plane that all of us have to come to see.  So again, please don’t misunderstand me, I’m not making fun, I’m explaining something here as a difference in thinking.  That we are so blessed to receive from God that we can see something that the world can’t.  I look forward when everyone can ‘see’ through those things and understand the deception in that kind of thinking; when they’re able to finally come and ‘see’ God’s law and God’s way of life and understand what the love of God is all about.  And so the carnal mind does fight against God and we have to come to acknowledge that – that our mind resists God.  Every time you sin, you’re resisting God.  Every time you’re lifted up with pride, you’re resisting God because you’re putting something above Him!  It’s like lifting up an obelisk.  Every time you sin its spiritual idolatry!  Every time you sin its spiritual adultery!  That’s what it is!  ...because you’re doing something that is against God and the only way we can understand that as human beings is with God’s spirit.  To truly see that and understand that; to understand our minds...and so there’s the battle Paul talks about.  It’s not a matter of going out here and beating yourself up and feeling down and, “Oh, I’m so bad!  I heard the sermon today and I feel so bad about myself!”  Because there have been people who’ve done that in times past.  There are people who’ve quit God’s Church because they’ve said, “I’m so tired of hearing how bad a person I am, how bad I am that I just can’t take this anymore.”  And they’re missing something.  What is it?  God’s spirit.  It’s just an acknowledgement; yes, that’s the way; that’s the carnal side of me, but I delight after the law of God, after the inward man that God has placed in my mind.  That’s what I want!  That’s what I seek after!  And that’s  where the joy and the peace and the happiness of life is and so all I have to do is repent of the other whenever it happens and I’m free!  Because that’s what God says.  Every time I sin, I can go and kneel before God, pray to God and ask God for forgiveness and I can walk away free!  ...in spirit and in truth; I don’t have to carry that with me.  Jesus Christ did that and that’s a hard thing to come to understand that in the right balance and how we have to use that in our lives.  We’re totally freed of that.  We don’t have to carry it with us.  On the contrary, we know... you’re to leave there knowing you have a right relationship with God; His mercy and His patience and His love toward you and that you can continue on with His way of life and continue in it.

So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. If you walk after the flesh.  But you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if so be the spirit of God dwells in you. Over and over again this same language that Paul is using, ‘if the spirit of God dwells in you you’re not in the flesh but in the spirit.’  And how do you maintain that, how do you keep that, how do you have that always?  Through repentance; through what God has given to us – the ability to repent when you sin...because that’s walking in the spirit.  You’re walking after the spirit; you want God to stay in you; you want to stay in God.  It’s a healing of your mind then because God actually helps your thinking process, your thought processes and how you think about certain things and slowly but surely that which is wrong and in error and fights against God begins to be healed.  But there are other things because of your nature that you continue to fight and some things you’ll fight till it’s over with, but you don’t give up the fight.  There’s so much contained in that one right there.  You don’t give up the fight! It’s a battle!  It’s a war!  That’s why it’s referred to that way in the New Testament over and over again.  You’ve got to fight for this way of life and never give up; day by day.

Now if any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of His. If we don’t have God’s spirit – this says it all.  And there’s only one way to have God’s spirit.   And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; in other words buried in baptism and through continuing repentance.  Baptism is just the start.  You have to continue to repent.  ...but the spirit is life because of righteousness.  But if the spirit of Him who raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, I love these verses and also in John 14 and every once in a while you probably ought to go back there and strive to understand what it’s saying and understand the beauty of John 14.  The most awesome thing that God ever revealed to human beings is that God does not seek to dwell in a physical temple.  That’s what the story of some of the things in the Old Testament is.  He says, “Where is the house you’ll build for Me?”  David desired to build a house for God.  You can’t!  But he made a physical temple; God allowed his servant to make a physical temple and there was a certain worship service and so forth that was carried on there but that’s not what it was about; it was to lead to something that God was leading to later on through Jesus Christ, in Jesus Christ, in the Church of God, in the Body of Christ – that we could be in the Temple and a part of the Temple.  We’re actually a part of the Temple of God because that’s where God desires to dwell – in human beings.  And something that God revealed not too long ago, not too far back; I can’t remember exactly when it was, when finally came to see that and understand that – how beautiful it is – that it doesn’t stop when you’re changed into a spirit being.  God dwells in you more fully than ever before.  When you’re a spirit being you dwell in God and God in you in a very powerful way into eternity.  It’s a oneness with God that we’ll come to better understand as we grow and as we’re changed and when we’re changed.  It’s an awesome thing.  It doesn’t just happen when you’re in this physical life – God sustains all things through Himself, by Himself.  Everything has existence by God, by the mind and the being of God, and His Family is going to have existence in the same manner and we’re going to be fully at one with Him when we’re finally in His Family.  It’s an awesome thing.  We’re all going to have individual personalities about us, things about us, experiences in life that made us what we are and places within the Temple where we’re going to be but it’s an incredible Temple that God is building and that’s where He seeks to dwell – in that Temple.  It’s about a relationship, a great Family into the billions in the God Family for all eternity.  Something very difficult for human beings to grasp and comprehend.  It’s a reason for our existence; to become a part of God’s Family – above and beyond the angelic realm as it says in Hebrews.  We’re all to become far greater.

But if the spirit of Him who raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He who raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His spirit that dwells in you.  So not just when we’ve died to resurrect us, but yes, in time for that too, but now that mortal body, that body that’s been put under the watery grave and that life that He gives within us – that He dwells in us, He desires to live within us.  You have to have life for Him to dwell in you.  When you’re dead He doesn’t dwell in you and so we’re raised up and then eventually it’s spiritually for all eternity.  Therefore brethren we are debtors not to the flesh to live after the flesh.  In other words, this is the process, again, of being able to see spiritually and then to live spiritually because we have to see certain things in order to live the right way.  You have to come into agreement with God and agree that God is right in order to live it and do it – in things we say and how we treat others – going to a brother alone or being able to go to someone and say, “I’m sorry.”  To be able to tell your own child.  I’ve known of parents who can’t tell their own children, “I’m sorry.”  Its like, “I don’t have to admit that to my child!  They’re my child!  I tell them don’t do this and they shouldn’t do that!  And I don’t make mistakes!”  Yeah, we do.  We say things sometimes out of anger as parents.  Parents have said things out of frustration.  “You need a spanking just because it’ll make me feel better!”  ...type of thing...and then people are drawn to those things sometimes in life, in physical life and that’s not what life is all about, but sometimes we get caught up in those things.  So again, there’s certain things we have to see in order to live and God shows us that.

Let’s go on here in Romans 8:13 - For if you live after the flesh, you shall die:  that one hurts.  In the sense of I’ve known so many people, years and years in God’s Church since 1969 when I was baptized...that every year you can count on it from one Feast of Tabernacles to another – someone will not be with us who was with us before.  It’s always hurt me because I would like to see from Feast to Feast not only those who’ve been with us but added to the Body, but especially from what we’ve gone through in the Church, not only has that been diminished, but still there are people year by year who go by the wayside and I think of – especially of all times... this one really astounds me even more; especially because of where we are!  But you see they can’t ‘see’ that because they haven’t been after the spirit like they need to be – they haven’t been fighting for this way of life like they need to be.  But there are people who allow different things in family or job or just the pulls of the flesh pull them away.  I’ve known of people who have quit for the most insane of reasons and the majority of them are all physical because we want something that God says you shouldn’t have.  People get corrected about something from God or from me or from someone and they can’t take it because they’re going to do what they want to do.  I’ve known of people who’ve seen the truth, who know this is God’s Church without a doubt but because they want to commit adultery they will leave God’s Church by a choice and that blows my mind!  To throw it all away!  And to be in where we are right now... 1969... 41 years... it’s gone by fast and some can’t give up a few months and a few years to fight?  Then you don’t deserve to live in that age!  If you’re not willing to fight... if we don’t grasp what God is offering us... and that’s why it’s coming down the way it is.  People don’t want it, especially for the scattered nations of Israel, meaning if you live in those regions, not because of who they are, but because of what God is doing and how He’s doing it.  Peoples from all over the earth...  You know, I marvel at that.  In God’s Church today, to be able to see that so powerfully so – that all that God is training right now to do what they’re going to do in the next two years; as a whole, by an overwhelming majority of people, God is calling them in the countries that are Israelite.  He’s not calling Israelites in the sense of people who have to be of a specific blood line in any way.  Gentiles!  But it’s within these nations.  Why?  It’s an awesome thing if you understand prophecy and why things have to happen first in these areas of the world – Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, The United States...that’s where it’s going to happen... that’s where things happen first and that’s where people are being drawn first because of what God’s going to do in the next two years.  Because the vast majority of people are going to be drawn out of those countries.  All kinds of people from all over the earth.  So we know people from Asia that have had to go to, or their families have gone to Australia, or they’ve gone to New Zealand, or they’ve come to the United States, or they’ve gone to Europe...people who’ve come out of Africa, or people have come out of South America – it doesn’t matter where and God’s bringing them, has brought them to be dealt with, to be trained, to be moulded and fashioned within these nations.  And one day before too long you’re going to understand why that happened that way and why you’ve been called now...those of you especially who are new!  You’re going to come to appreciate a whole lot more when you’re able to look back and say, “Now I understand.  Now I understand why God’s doing it this way.”  Because we have to be able to understand that all those other parts of the world – they’re not going to be brought to humility and repentance until after Jesus Christ has returned.  See?  So there are places in the world that have a head start because of things that God works out in a specific way in an orderly fashion with great power.

We ought to be in awe of how God is doing it and what He’s doing.  When I see these things I am dumbfounded by it, I truly am... of seeing what God is doing and how He’s doing it.  It’s inspiring; it’s exciting to be a part of it.

Verse 14 - For as many as are led by the spirit of God, they are the sons of God.  So if we’re led by God, which means we’re following – because God leads us and we have to follow – we have to make the choice to follow.  Says, they are the sons of God.  In other words, we have to be begotten of God’s spirit; we’re God’s children in other words – begotten children.  For you have not received the spirit of bondage unto fear; but you have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.  It takes us time sometimes to come to see God as a father, as our Father with deep understanding, because of what Satan has done with families we don’t see things really well and a lot of things have to be taken out of our minds so that God can show us what He’s really like.  He wants a personal relationship with everyone.  That is an awesome thing to understand and that God can do that.  It used to boggle my mind, I’d think about it at times when I was early in the Church and thinking, “Now, this is a worldwide Church and there are people in Australia, there are people over in Asia, there are people in Europe and they’re praying to God at the same time I am and how does God hear them all?  And what if, in the future then there are going to be millions praying to God at the same time.  How does God receive all this information like this and it was like to me, it was like almost an impossibility.  And yet...that’s why we just don’t comprehend the might and the power of God – how great God is.  That’s why when Christ said He knows every hair in your head at any moment in time...God knows everything and everything in the universe is sustained by Him if we understand that.  Everything is sustained by God.  We cannot comprehend that.  We cannot comprehend God in that respect and that kind of power; that He could hear billions at the same time, answer, deal with, because we’re so limited by being physical... that’s why I love the book of John when it goes through and talks about physical things and human beings... that’s all we can see in the beginning.  We can only see things physical.  The woman at the well, “I want this living water – I don’t have to come back to the well and get the water.”  Things like that.  Jesus Christ, when He says, “You have to eat My flesh and drink My blood,” and it says a whole bunch of disciples quit following Him at that point because to them what could be worse – God says you shouldn’t drink blood and you definitely can’t be a cannibal – you can’t eat human flesh; it’s unclean.  So they quit following Him because it was just so contrary to their thinking and they didn’t get it.  But that’s how we start out and we’re that way as long as we’re in this body.  We cannot comprehend God.  We’re limited!  God only gave you so much capacity inside this skull and it’s not a whole lot in some respects.  Now, maybe we don’t use it the way we should. 

So it says, whereby we cry Abba, Father.  Beautiful scripture because God wants a relationship with us.  In time we grow in that relationship with God and how we think toward God and how we see Him and how we understand Him and He becomes more and more as time goes along, a Father.  A Father in ways that takes on a new definition and a kind of a definition that hopefully in time as we grow and as we’re learning through this sermon series as well – is that we seek to have in family – father and mother, sister and brother, parent and child.  All those relationships; that we learn how to do them better because we don’t do things real well.  We start to in the Church; we start to apply these things but I am excited because we’re at a point right now where God’s getting ready to take us to another plane, another level of ability to see and understand things about family – starting with man’s mind toward women and how man thinks and treats women –see?  A lot of big changes are going to take place that way, right there alone.  And then women as well and how women begin to understand and appreciate those things in a better way than they’ve even understood; because all of our minds have been affected by society and the world and especially Satan’s world and cultures.  I think of how long it’s going to take some cultures to be healed.  When you’ve been taught; when you have grown up that you’re to walk so far behind a man; when you’re to cover your whole body, your whole face except at home! I cannot comprehend the damage that has done in minds!  I know my own battles have been great enough coming out of the world and I wasn’t even religious in the world!  And yet people have to come out of Protestantism or other things in the world – whatever religion they had.  I wasn’t religious.  I thought if there was a God He had to use science to do what He did – you know, Darwin in there someplace – that somehow evolution has to be in there somewhere so God maybe used evolution... because we’re limited in our dumb thinking about God.  And then finally, God opened my mind and showed me how stupid I was and I began to see God and so God starts with us at some point.  We begin to see things that we otherwise couldn’t see.  Oh, the battles!

I keep getting off track here and I apologize for part of that but I guess there’s other things that we need to think about as well.  It’s always a battle, always fighting against self, always seeing that God is right and we’re wrong, always desiring God and what God has to offer and fighting for it, not giving up.

So it’s a matter of being led by the spirit, of yielding to God’s spirit and having a relationship with God that He desires us to have; to be able to call Him Father.

The spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:  The more we grow, the longer you’re in God’s Church, the greater confidence you have of who you are, of who God is, of what God says and what God gives...  that’s why I’ve talked so often about going back to 50 Truths that God has given; that the truth is your strength, because God gives you truth and the truth He gives to you is a spiritual matter and the more you have confidence in those things that God has given to you... it’s like when you begin to be drawn.  It’s a very simple process you go through in growth.  You begin to understand very early on that if you are able to ‘see’ any part of God’s way of life; the Sabbath and the 7,000 year plan and you ‘see’ that and it makes so much sense to you... you don’t have to have the verses in the Bible, it’s there and you’ve heard it and you believe it – it’s because God gives it to you.  You’re able to see it because God’s spirit communicating with you has given you the ability to see something that other people can’t see.  They may come to intellectually understand that the 7th day is God’s Sabbath.  There are millions who belong to 7th day groups in the world, but they do not see God.  There are still those who hold onto a trinity or hold onto other false beliefs – Christmas, Easter, whatever, that don’t come from God because they don’t yet ‘see’.  But you learn very early on as you begin to grow.  All of you who are new, I’d say every one of you has experience in this – after the first two or three months you tried to share this with somebody else, you tried to share the excitement of God’s Holy Days and God’s plan and you wanted to share with them some things about seeing things about Christmas and Easter and you saw how excited they were to learn all that!  And they weren’t excited!  People don’t want that!  But you see it and it’s so clear to you.  It’s an awesome thing!  Truly is an awesome thing to see that process we go through.

And so this is what is being shown through this process here.  There are those things we begin to see and we begin to understand and we grow in that the world can’t receive.  Constant healing of the mind.  The spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:  And so the truth you receive and the more you grow in that, the more you have, the more you know where it came from.  Had people sometimes questioning, “Well, I don’t know if I’m called of God.  I don’t know if God’s really working with me.”  And I ask them, “Do you see this, do you see...”

“Yes, yes, yes!”

“How on earth do you think you see it?  You go talk to your neighbour about it – do you think they’re going to see what you see?”

“Well no.”

“Have you tried?”

“Yes”

How are you able to see it?  It’s because God’s working with you.  God has given it to you.  It’s the only way you can see what is true!  That’s where people in the past have made some big mistakes because when you think you intellectually learn this truth...when you come to a point where you think you’ve intellectually, by opening a Bible, that you have some kind of special relationship with God and He’s shown you these truths...  that’s not how God works.

Verse 17 - And if children, then heirs; heirs!  The more you know you’re a child of God, you’re one of God’s children the greater confidence and boldness you have of who you are, of what you are and that relationship you have with God – the more you see God (something we grow in). And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, heirs!  We’re to inherit things – awesome things! ...and joint-heirs with Christ; can’t get any bigger than that – a joint-heir right along with Jesus Christ?!  ...and if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. So he’s making it very clear here it isn’t easy.  You’re going to suffer.  When you fight against this, self, you suffer, it’s hard and you just keep fighting it and you keep fighting against your own nature and slowly but surely some things are conquered and overcome and some things aren’t and you keep fighting, you don’t give up.  And some of it’s to see – do you stay in the battle?  Are you going to keep fighting?  Are you going to keep doing what’s right before God and striving to walk after the spirit?

Verse 18 - For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.  It’s hard for us to think that way sometimes as physical human beings because of the trial we’re going through.  Some hardship, some difficulty, some trial, especially now in society, because of the economy of the world and the way things are; maybe a job, or a cut back in hours, or all the things that are out here right now that are taking place that are getting harder and harder and more difficult and we see these things looming on the horizon and it doesn’t matter what we go through in life God says.  He said, I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared, What are we going to say that it’s just too much?  It’s too hard! ...which shall be revealed in us.  And yet that’s why everyone who ever quits quits; because something is just too hard.  It’s too much – see – it’s too much.  It’s too much to ask for.  It’s too much suffering, too much hardship.  I’d rather have this; I’d rather have the peace of mind having this...  And then when they have what they’re after – then they find out after a little while – that was dumb; but it’s too late.

Verse 19 - For the earnest expectation of the creature, that’s what’s in the Old King James but the word, is ‘creation’ in the Greek and this is a very specific creation it’s talking about.  For the earnest expectation of the creation, talking about the creation of mankind because this is what it’s all about!  It’s all about God’s Family – Elohim.  It’s all about why God created anything and everything!  There is nothing that exists, including the angelic realm, but that is not a part of the overall purpose that God has for that old Hebrew word – Elohim – the God Family.  Its how that God Family comes about – Him being by Himself for so long, into the ages of things we cannot begin to comprehend...has a desire to share, because that’s what life is about.  It’s in the sharing.  That’s what’s enjoyable in life – it’s in the sharing.  In family – sharing; and the only regrets that so often people have when it comes to a funeral is what they weren’t able to share, and what they did share that they wished they hadn’t of and so forth... that they wished things’d been better and they’d shared in various things and used this time or that time in a different way. Lost time.  Sharing!  And so God has an immense desire for a family in ways we can’t even begin to comprehend it.  That’s why His excitement is so great right now for what is almost here – that I hope that you’re feeling more and more because I know that I am as we get closer to this period of time.  Have you ever wanted something and you look forward to something big time; something that’s going to happen that you plan and prepare for and then all of a sudden it’s there, but the anticipation of that... not only the example of the experience itself, but the anticipation and you just can’t wait until that day or that time?  And we can’t even begin to comprehend what this is all about – and God Almighty has this anticipation – Jesus Christ Himself who’s been working there for 2,000 years with the Church, of those that He’s seen live and die in physical life. He lived a physical life.  He knows what it’s like!  And He’s had to watch many He’s loved live and die and He is so excited about being able to see them brought back to life again because He lived in them spiritually.  Amazing!  Everyone who’s lived in the Church since the Church began – Jesus Christ living and dwelling in them as God the Father lives and dwells in them.  And that excitement that He Himself has – let alone His Father!  For a time of seeing His family resurrected again; those who are a part of the 144,000.  We can’t comprehend that!  Some of us are going to comprehend that in time in different ways.  Because of your excitement for a time you look forward to, the closer it gets to the end of the 1,000 years and the closer it gets to the time of the 100 years...  talking about some who are going to be a  part of the 144,000, because you’re going to see your children live and die.  Every one of you who’s going to be part of the 144,000, you’re going to see your children live and die, your grandchildren live and die and you’re going to have an excitement for a time they’re resurrected in ways that’ll put new meaning into what I’m talking about for God the Father and Jesus Christ right now and the excitement they have for where we are in time – because they see things and have experienced things that we can’t understand fully.  We can strive to appreciate it.  But see, that’s why I know that excitement because I have been given that excitement more and more as we get closer and closer – that God is stirring us up more and more with, and a faster pace of things, more revelation of things, more understanding of things.

Just like this meeting we’re having next week in Cincinnati.  There was a time when I was asked, “Are there going to be a lot of baptisms during the time of tribulation.”

“That’s a dumb question! Of course not!”  I mean that’s how I thought, just to be real candid about it.  “How can we do that?  We’re going to be in great tribulation! DUH!”  And didn’t know things were going to work out the way they are.  Didn’t know that it wasn’t going to start with a big bang.  Didn’t know we were going to have this kind of time here.  Does it mean it’s not going to happen?  Absolutely not!  It’s going to happen in a greater way and a more beautiful way – the whole process.  The return of Jesus Christ?  Right on target, right on schedule!  See, it’s an amazing thing that God gives to us.

Last night we were talking and I’d made some comments at one of the elders meetings previously and there was a couple that were at the meeting... they were talking about maybe women are going to be ordained.  And I think the question was asked then of me and, “No, women are not going to be ordained!”  DUH! That was my thinking at the time.  Well, you know, God shows us, “You don’t quite understand yet, do you?”  And when the time comes He wants us to have understanding and He reveals something, He gives it to us and we say, “Yes Lord.  Thank you, that’s exciting, it’s inspiring.”  It’s not hard to say, “I was wrong.”  On the contrary I am glad that I was and that changes everything in life.  I’m dumbfounded by the doors that are being opened up just in this one area alone and what we’re getting ready to address next week.  Not just for family, not just for women and men and relationships, but for the Church and how there’s going to be a great Church made ready for the return of Jesus Christ – BIG.  And we get to be a part of that.  Every one of you sitting here, if you’ll continue on and fight for this way of life, you’re going to have opportunity to be a part of it one way or another; to be a part of helping others and working with others and bringing others and doing that job that God has for us.  This is why we’re called.  This is why we have these opportunities – to be a part of something.

So all through time God has had a plan and a purpose for people to share in and I think of the angelic realm, they robbed themselves – they didn’t know what they could be a part of... they didn’t ‘see’ because of pride – Satan/Lucifer, a third of the angels that rebelled with him, became demons on the earth.  Amazing that they didn’t grasp the importance of sharing.  All those who’ve been a part of the Church in times past who eventually went by the wayside, or gave up, or even turned against it...that’s astounding that there are people during the last 15-20 years that I’ve known of, that I know, that have committed the unpardonable sin, meaning that they have no desire to repent.  They do not want God’s way of life.  They don’t want it, they don’t like it.  So just like in the angelic realm, there are beings... God isn’t going to force His way upon us, we have the choice.

Verse 19 – For the earnest expectation of the creation waits for the manifestation of the sons of God. Because this is what it’s about; the creation, everything in it, the angelic realm, the earth, the vastness of the universe that was created first – and then man finally, after millions and millions... we don’t know how long... billions of years that some of the stuff has been out there?  We can’t comprehend.  When you look out here through Hubble and you see something that’s 14 billion light years away, meaning at the moment Hubble sees it it took 14 billion years; they call it light years – meaning how far light can travel in a year, that’s fast, but it’s slow because it took 14 billion years for the moment Hubble see’s something and some of those galaxies that are that far away – for the light to reach the Hubble.  I can’t comprehend that.  It’s astounding!  14 billion years and it finally got here.  How old is the universe?  It’s older than 14 billion years.  So how much more is out there?  Well, they’re trying to get the Hubble farther and farther and see farther out there so they can see where the edge of the universe is.  It’s just as stupid as when man tried to find out where the edge of the earth is.  Let’s sail and where’s the edge, where are we finally going to fall off?  And they had a hard time getting ships filled to go out there because people were scared; they’re going to fall off the edge of the earth.  We haven’t changed much.

For the creature/the creation, in other words, was made subject to vanity, an awesome bit of knowledge there, made subject to vanity, God made us physical for a reason.  He knew what we would do.  He knew what human beings made physical would do.  That’s why He made us this way!  ...so we could learn while we’re in a physical body, because see, if you’re created spirit, and you’re given certain things and you come to a point where you make a certain decision, it’s over with; but with what God’s offering for people to be a part of His Family, the God Family...as Mr. Armstrong pointed out – God’s going to ensure and know that anyone that comes into His Family is fully going to be at one with Him – will never sin, into eternity once you become a part, at one with Him.  And God gives us that ability to become at one with Him, and so it’s an awesome thing here of choices that we’re able to make, of choosing God’s way of life or not, and so this again – everything here about the creation, of man it says, was made subject to vanity.  So when you’re made physical, you’re a baby – what happens?  Doesn’t take long you before you learn that if you make noise you get some attention.  You grow up, you start getting a little bit taller, you make some noise and it might not be the attention the parent wants to give, but a child knows... and it’s not getting the kind of attention they think they want, maybe being noticed or whatever and they know how to get noticed, and it just goes on and on.  When you’re hungry you let others know it and certain things don’t go your way, you get older, you just become more... what’s the expression I might use... more professional at being selfish and how we act as human beings.

For the creation was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of Him who has subjected the same in hope... When God begins to call us we don’t have to stay this way and that we don’t have just a short temporary life, but we can continue on into eternity, but that’s not desirable unless it’s with right laws and right relationships.  I cannot comprehend what it’d been like to live till the time of the flood.  Some of those people that lived 700, 800, 900 years old?  God showing a big lesson in all that because of how corrupt they became.  The longer they lived the more corrupt the mind became.  They were truly professionals at being corrupt, evil – the nature of man.  And God wiped them off the face of the earth and brought a family through it – started all over.  And then his own sons who lived through it hated God.  They didn’t want God!  Noah lived, was it 300 – 350 years more?  Noah lived on that much longer.  Amazing!  And saw generation after generation reject his story of what happened, reject his own sons because they wanted a different way of life, they didn’t want God’s way of life.  It’s almost unfathomable to think that people can think like that.  You helped build the ark, you lived on it, you fed animals, and then when it was all over with, you had an attitude toward God for taking all your friends away?  And you had to start over?  Instead of understanding what God was giving you the opportunity of?

Made subject to hope.  Because the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.  And so God has a plan over 7,100 years to save man from slavery, from corruption, from evil – to bring us into oneness with Him, to live a way of life that is a matter of peace...that really everybody wants; just doesn’t know how to have it.  People want peace.  That’s why they formed the United Nations.  They didn’t want great wars on the earth anymore.  And since it was formed millions of people have been killed and most generally in the name of their religion.  Go back and look, just look a little bit at history, look at people, their religious ideas... I don’t care where they are; it’s because of their religious beliefs.  Catholics killing Catholics, Lutherans killing Lutherans, all in the name of god and it’s like a football game; it’s like whomever wins, “god was on our side.  Thank you god!”  Well what about the other team that was praying to the same god.  “Well, He just liked us more.”  Isn’t it sick?  Human beings?  Nations are the same way.

For we know/we see that the whole creation groans ad travails in pain together until now.  For 6,000 years man has suffered, the world has suffered, human beings have suffered.  Thank God we’re toward the end of the majority of that kind of suffering.  The majority of that’s going to be put aside, primarily because there’s going to be one Church in the world, one religion.  God’s not going to allow other religions to exist.  And if they don’t want to come up to the Feast of Tabernacles?  They’re going to learn pretty quickly early on it says, if Egypt doesn’t want to come up and keep the Feast of Tabernacles, they’re not going to have rain, they’re not going to have good crops, they’re going to go without some food.  And you know what?  It’s not going to get shipped into them!  They’re going to have to learn the hard way, and then God says if they won’t come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles, they start dying.  And people think... “Oh that’s harsh, that’s just cruel.”  No, it isn’t.  It’s a matter of love but people don’t understand that.  Just like the death penalty.  When someone murders someone else, it’s far better they be put to death as quickly as possible and not have to live in that environment and that existence for years and years and become worse and worse so that when they are resurrected later on back into a physical life, if they are, that they have the opportunity to repent and change: because not all will be.

And not only they, but ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body, and we do... we groan.  Sometimes that groaning can turn into complaining.  We have to be careful.  Because you know, it’s not easy.  This way is not easy.  This battle is not easy because the whole world is against this way.  Your teachers in your school, if you’re going to school, you want to share with them something about what you believe or whatever – forget that noise.  It’s not going to go over well.  I remember I had an art class.  I had to take another in college, in university.  In my senior year I had to take an art class so I took an art class that was being offered – got in there and so you have to talk about certain things that they give you as assignments and so they had these different pictures of different things there and some of them being nude and I told them what I thought of it.  I told them it wasn’t art; told them what it was.  I got a failing grade – surprise, surprise!  That’s not what they want to hear – they want to hear about what’s artful about it.  So when you try to tell the truth sometimes it doesn’t go over well – see?  And on the job, doesn’t go over well because of what you believe – the Sabbath and you take time off and your fellow employees, they’re not always excited that you get Saturdays off.  You know, “I want Saturday off too!  I want to keep the Sabbath!”  That’s their attitude; sometimes they say things like that and they mock you and make fun of you.  So we groan sometimes because this way is not easy.  Your relatives, your family, they don’t understand.  A lot of you who are new, especially because so many of you are younger – that God’s calling a lot of people who are younger right now and because when you’re drawn and called along and your family isn’t as excited about what you’re doing – they give you a hard way to go and you’ve got to decide, are you going to fight for this way?  You only have a little over two years to fight.  You going to put God first?  And as a whole, that’s what you’re doing.  Some of you have struggles with it, not very many as much, but sometimes you do - you get caught in that and you’ve got to be careful.  You’ve got to fight through it and keep fighting for God’s way of life.

And so this is a part of what it’s talking about. We groan within ourselves, we struggle, we battle, we fight and sometimes we become weary and we have to be careful that that weary doesn’t take us in a wrong direction and always looking to God that He’s the one that gives us strength and the power to continue on and to go through it.  And so that’s what it’s talking about here, this whole process of being healed because it’s a healing process and you’re not going to fully be healed until your change comes, until you’re no longer in a physical body.  But the world is about to get a whole lot better – 100% better.

Verse 22 - For we know/see that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now. We’re about to enter into the worst time of groaning, God says, in earth’s history.  See, it’s hard for us to comprehend some of the things that are going to take place.  When it talks about China and Russia uniting at the end here against Europe, the mainland of Europe and some of the war that’s going to take place in a WWIII where they’re not going to hold back on their nuclear weapons and what that does to the earth – and finally God says, “I’m going to destroy those who are destroying the earth.”  Because that’s how close they come.  God steps in on the very day that they would destroy everything on earth.  That means that they’re going to finally push the button because they’re losing – whomever is losing will not lose with that kind of nuclear weaponry and we have enough nuclear weaponry on the earth to destroy it many, many times over – not just once.  And that’s what God says, that’s exactly what the timeline is.  He’s going to intervene to prevent it from happening on the very day that it would happen.  Incredible to understand the power of God to bring everything, timely so, to that point in time through man’s own choices and decisions.  And so the whole earth groans and is going to have the greatest groaning and travailing if you will, like a woman in childbirth as it gives an example of, right up until the very end – the greatest on earth.

And not only they, but ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the spirit; even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.   We look forward to it and the more you’re in the Church, the longer you’re in the Church, especially in this age I’d have to say even above and beyond what’s going to be in the millennial age.  You’re going to have that desire in the millennial age, but I think that process, the desire is greater in the last 6,000 years when God’s called people because we’ve been able to see what the world is like in a greater way when you live in this age, so you understand what I’m talking about.  Others who live into the millennial period, they’re not going to have the same groanings, but they’ll have groanings, but not like we’ve had because of the way the world is.

But if we hope for that we don’t see, then with patience we wait for it. Likewise the spirit itself, it says, helps our infirmities, in other words, our weaknesses, because we’re weak as human beings and we struggle and we fight and that’s why we have to continue to cry out to God for help and for His spirit to give us the strength we need.  It says, for when we don’t see what we should pray for as we should, the spirit itself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.  Have you ever been in a time where you’re going through something in your own life and you just kneel before God and say, “God, I don’t even know how to pray right now.”  I’ve had that within the last month where I’ve gotten on my knees and I say, “I don’t even know how to pray right now.  I know that You know.  I don’t even know what to say for what I’m going through, for what I’m experiencing, and for the battle that’s here.”  You know, that’s what we go through at times and we just cry out to God and God knows what’s in our minds, what’s in our being and He gives us the strength we need to continue on and helps us with our battles, helps us through those battles.  So we all have battles.

Verse 27 - and He who searches the hearts knows/sees, God sees everything deep down inside of us.  One day you’re going to be so dumbfounded when you’re able to look back, the more you’re able to look back and see how God meticulously moulded and fashioned you.  Coming to understand that more and more – how God meticulously from the moment He calls us works with us, knows our mind, knows our response and reactions to things in life around us.  Knows the kinds of things that are good for us to go through when He says, “No, I’m not going to intervene for you on this one here.  No, I’m not going to give you this.”  Different things that God does at different times and then knows just when to intervene and when to help us with various things because He’s moulding and fashioning our minds because He’s placing us somewhere in His Family, in the Temple in a specific area within the Temple.  It’s hard for us to comprehend that, but God moulds and fashions things around us.  We have choices all the way through the process, but He moulds and fashions us because He knows us.  He knows what we’ll do.   And He works with that – to mould and fashion us – always free choice all along the way.

And He who searches the heart knows what is the mind of the spirit, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God, and we know, in other words, ‘we see’, that all things work together for good to them who love God, and the more you grow, the more you see that – that everything works together for good, no matter how difficult it might be at times.  You yield yourself to the process and you’re in God’s Church and God’s dwelling in you and you’re dwelling in God – you’re going to benefit from it, you’re going to grow as a result of it.  So we know that all things work together for good to them who love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.  And so as we are called we learn that it’s a special calling – that God the Father does the calling.  Jesus Christ doesn’t even do the calling.  It’s God that chooses people out of the world and gives us to Christ.  He brings us to Christ.  All those who are going to come out of this period of time in the United States, or Canada, or wherever it is... Every person as a whole, through time here, God’s going to choose and God’s going to call and draw them into the Church.  Those that are going to be baptized in spirit and in truth, because of their right response to God, and awesome things are going to take place here – into the millions as time goes along here.

Going on here it says, For whom He did foreknow, speaking of... what’s the context?  His creation, His purpose, all mankind.  Not individually.  Some people talk about predestination – they think that God has predestined every individual on the earth.  No, that’s not how it works.  God has a plan, He has a framework, He has a Temple He’s going to build and He brings different ones into it to mould and fashion them – at what stages, where He brings them along, how he moulds and fashions them, we don’t have the foggiest idea.  It’s God that does it; we just have the confidence to know that He is doing it, doing exactly what He says.

So it says, we are called according to His purpose, whom He did foreknow, speaking of... who did He foreknow?  Mankind; the God Family; sometimes it’s just the structure of the Family, the 144,000, but God’s going to fill in the 144,000.  ...He also did predestinate, and the word means ‘predetermined’ and if you understand this it means He predetermined – in other words He predetermined before time. Before the angelic realm was created God had a plan and it started with Jesus Christ because His plan was Elohim; and the first one to come into Elohim God determined that things were going to be made and created and that mankind was going to be worked with to be brought into that and before mankind there would have to be a Passover, there’d have to be a Messiah, there’d have to be one who would fulfill all the things that Jesus Christ has been fulfilling, is fulfilling, still fulfilling.  And so it says here, For whom He did foreknew, speaking of His creation, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, And so all of us, not individually, but God is saying He foreknew, He had a plan, He foreordained that every human being was going to be moulded and fashioned in this manner – conform to the image of His Son.  Jesus Christ had to come first.  And then He’s showing that we’re all going to be conformed to that same image, of that likeness, of God dwelling in us.  That’s why it’s such a beautiful thing when we come to understand that the word was made flesh, the mind, the being, the revelatory thought of God became a human being, was in a human being, became the Son of God.  Awesome!  And then in time, all of us have the opportunity of being begotten into that Family, but we already have many years of bad habits, very filled with human nature and so we’re able to drink in of that spirit, of that mind, of the word, of logos; we drink in of that and we hunger for it and we grow in it.  But He was born from the beginning with it – things that are awesome to understand.

For whom He did foreknow, again, speaking of mankind, He also did predetermine to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren, so it’s about a plan, a Family.  Moreover whom He did predetermine, speaking of mankind, them He also called: So God had a plan.  How’s He going to do it?  He’s going to call us.  So it’s not about specific individuals who are going to be called because God gives free choice to human beings – families and so forth.  There are times He’s intervened in certain families to make sure they had certain number of children, God was a part of some of those things that took place.

Moreover whom He did predestinate, mankind again, them He also called and whom He called, them He also justified: because it’s part of the process of salvation.  He was going to call, and He had to justify those whom He called – how? Through Jesus Christ: you had to be forgiven of sin for Him to dwell in us.  On and on this process of healing goes...  and it goes on to say here, beautiful scriptures... If God be for us, who can be against us?  And sometimes we can feel like there are a lot against us.  Those of you who are new, sometimes I know you feel that way – there are a lot against us; my family, my school, my job; and it’s hard...and it is.  It’s not easy!  You suffer and that’s a part of the growing process, but you suffer for the right reasons and God is with you and, If God be for you, who can be against you?  In other words, you’re going to win.  You keep fighting for this way of life and God gives you the victory – He does.  God is all powerful, all mighty.  It’s not going to happen today or tomorrow, but it’s going to happen, and frankly for us it’s happening pretty fast.  I’m very thankful that you don’t have to go on 41 years like I have in this body fighting the things I’ve had to fight in this society.  I’m very thankful for those of you being called right now – that you have a couple more years to fight and then you get to help forge a new world, a new society.  Not with all the garbage and the pulls and the sickness that’s out here in this world that’s being done wrong.  You get to change it; you get to be a part of the entire change.  It’s an awesome thing to understand.

If God be for us, who can be against us?  He who spared not His own Son, He let Him suffer.  He let Him die for Himself and for all of mankind.  He’s our Messiah because of that.  All power in heaven and earth has been given to Him because of what He gave Himself to and yielded Himself to – and He knew that.  And we, if we understand, then we comprehend what we must go through – so be it!  To get where we’re going?  Mentally, as a human being, there are things I’ve gone through ‘hell’ on this earth –mentally – battling.  When we went through and a lot of you can say exactly the same thing; those of you who went through some of the things that took place during the apostasy – looking back here... seeing individuals with us from the very beginning  here in Toledo, a family.  I think of some of the families there and some of the things that took place and the betrayals and things that happened.  Cut through to the heart.  Can’t tell you what it was like – you had to experience it, because it’s one thing to be stabbed physically – you either die or you’re going to heal from it, but when it happens on a spiritual plane, it’s hard, it’s difficult, it’s painful, and you go through those things and that’s what makes us who we are, and those things didn’t stop.  They have gone on and on and on and we’re not through it yet.  There are other things that are going to take place in the next two years.  Don’t know what it’s all going to bring – it’s not going to be a picnic.  It’s going to be hard, But if God be for you, who can be against you?  ...spared not His own Son, in other words, He had to suffer and we’re no different.  We must suffer too; but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God who justifies.  So are you more concerned about what the world says, or what our parents say, or what our boss says, or what somebody else says?  Let them say what they want to say!  I’m concerned about what God says.  My life’s in His hands and nobody has power over you except God allow it to be there and then if that’s the case, then you’re going to grow through the process, you’re going to benefit from it and you’re going to be able to benefit others later on because of your experience.

Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect?  It is God who justifies. (Verse 34) Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, yes rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.  You know, God’s there fighting...Jesus Christ is there fighting for us on a continual basis – things we don’t grasp and comprehend.   Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, oh that’s a good one to ask, distress, persecution, famine, I look at these things and I realize there are people within the last year that just didn’t allow themselves to fight like they should and didn’t fight for this way of life enough and began to let go and let down and finally doubt began to come in and went by the wayside.  You can’t give this way of life to anyone.  You can’t give it to anyone.  They have to fight for it.

...of famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?  What is it?  Going without?  Suffering?  ...a sword it says here... some of you may experience some things like that.  It’s not going to be a picnic in the future here, there are going to be some suffering at times.

Verse 36 - As it is written, For your sake we are killed all the daylong; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.  That’s what God’s way of life living in you is about – a willingness to sacrifice for the benefit of others.  Are we willing to sacrifice for the benefit of others, because that’s what this is all about.  We’re sacrificing for the world.  We fasted 2 days for the world – that’s just a small thing.  Every battle you fight, you’re fighting it because you believe and you’re confident of what God is doing in and through you and what He’s bringing to this world and the opportunities... How many people are you going to have the opportunity of helping to be a part of entering into God’s Family?  Hundreds?  Thousands maybe?  I’m excited by just the few hundred that have been called in the last year and a half, and added to the Body and I’m excited to be able to watch them grow and to realize I was blessed to have a part in that.  When you have a direct part in something and you’re able to be involved in it and you see people’s lives and they will look to you as well, different ones that come along, they’re going to have a special relationship and a special attachment to you because you were there with them... awesome thing.  You’re going to be able to talk about it in a new world, a new age...

Going on...It says, No, but in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded, are you?  ...that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, in other words, spirit beings, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  So, very powerful, exciting, inspiring words there that God gave through Paul about a healing process and a kind of confidence that God wants us to have in fighting against this carnal nature and fighting for what God offers us.

~~~end

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