The Reformative Love of God | 1 John 4:11-13

ThornCrown Covenant Baptist Church

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Good morning, everyone. Happy Lord's Day Go ahead and turn with me in your

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Bibles to first John chapter 4 We'll start in verse 11 today first John chapter 4 verse 11

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God says Beloved if God so loved us We also ought to love one another no one has beheld

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God at any time if we love one another God abides in us and his love is perfected in us

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I'm sorry. I skipped over. No one has beheld God at any time if we love one another if we love one another

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God abides in us and his love is perfected in us by this We know that we abide in him and he and us because he has given us of his spirit

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Amen so We can this these

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This passage here has been really Packed full of good stuff. And so I've been wanting to take some time to unpack it some of the the big themes here regarding the excellencies of God's love

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That I've been preaching on the past couple weeks so We're seeing how

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There are at the very least four excellencies of God's love Described in this passage.

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There is his redemptive God's redemptive love his restorative love his regenerative love and his reformative love right and We saw too that God's redemptive love and restorative love correspond to His justifying love to our justification its forensic or synthetic legal external objective

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God's love is manifested for us by sending his son to die for our sins.

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That's what John 1st John in part says and There is a very important redemptive love axiom in Scripture That you cannot have

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God's love unless God's wrath has been satisfied through his son Whom he sent to be the propitiation for our sins.

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Amen. That's what he said earlier in the passage there is also

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God's regenerative and reformative love which is a sanctifying love

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It's renovated or transformative Internal subjective behavioral that kind of thing and These excellencies of God's love in many ways actually correspond to the order of our salvation

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I've preached on this before the order of our salvation in the Latin is called the ordo salutis and And They are basically the doctrines of salvation that we go through that we undergo

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Because we are united to Christ in union in union with Christ God himself who is love and by his love

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He regenerates us Justifies us adopts us sanctifies us glorifies us and much more

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Right, this is the order of salvation

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All of those different aspects turn with me now to 1st Corinthians chapter 1 verse 30 we'll get more of a glimpse of of this of God's love for us and how it corresponds to The order of our salvation 1st

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Corinthians chapter 1 verse 30 God speaks to us and says

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But by his doing Who's doing by the father's love?

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You are in Christ Jesus united to him who became to us wisdom from God and righteousness and sanctification and redemption

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So that just as it is written let him who boasts boast in the

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Lord. Amen Right. So this is talking about the many aspects of God's love

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God in Christ became to us wisdom Righteousness holiness

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Sanctification so their transformative benefits and excellencies of God's love regenerative and reformative as Well as redemption

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God's redemptive love his restorative love Makes us righteous declares us righteous in his son

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All of those excellencies are beautifully laid out in this passage as well the excellencies of God's love these for ours are powerful special aspects and expressions of His love for us it's a love that he asked for nobody else

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God's love for his people is a special love that he doesn't have for those

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Who are not chosen for those? Who are reprobate? It's a special love not even it doesn't even not even the angels have this kind of love because the angels never fell

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Right the angels don't experience God's redemptive love or his

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Restorative love or his regenerative love regenerative love or his reformative love because they never fell

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This is a very special Kind of love that God has for us these aspects of God's love are applied to us and perfected in us

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Throughout the various stages of our salvation the order of our salvation

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All these aspects of God's love are applied to us and are perfected in us throughout the various stages of our salvation

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So it is God's redemptive restorative regenerative reformative

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Love for his people accomplished by him alone and apply to us by his grace alone and for his glory and For his glory.

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Amen. I Love how question 14 of the Baptist larger catechism that we read says

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That God's decrees are the wise free and holy acts from the purposes of his will whereby from all eternity he has in himself and for his own glory

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Unchangeably foreordained whatsoever comes to pass in time particularly concerning angels and men

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That's an awesome phrase there in himself and for his own glory It's by his grace and for his glory so This is powerful.

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This is amazing stuff that God's love is just incredible how How many how

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Expressive it is in all of these different ways How it is shown to us and so in many more ways in one way than just one way so It's important for us to understand that the order of our salvation is a result of is the consequences of God's love being poured out richly on All of us who have been chosen by him

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To be loved by him with this special excellencies of his love it is it is all

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God's gracious gift to us all of it because God is love

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God is love. Amen God is the source of love of true love

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Like first John 4 8 says now, so Get this carefully every time

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Every time you see the biblical phrase or expression that God abides in us that God abides in us and We and him by extension

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Such as the anointing as well that first John earlier talks about that is an expression of God's Reformative love for us.

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Okay, that's an expression of God's reformative love for us

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Let's go back to our main text and and reread that in light of this understanding

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So first John chapter 4 verse 11 We will see What the

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Apostle is telling us in first John chapter 4 verse 11

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Beginning verse 11, which says beloved if God so loved us

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Loved us We also then ought to love one another This is a this is an aspect of God's loving us

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Which in turn causes us to love one another because it's a reformative love No one has beheld

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God at any time if we love one another It's because God abides in us

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God remains in us abides and remains in us this is

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God's reformative love and his love is perfected in Us it's made complete in us.

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I covered this last time that word the word for perfected That the layo many which is the same word that Christ used on the cross the tell us die it is finished

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God's love is fulfilled perfected made complete in us Because it is a reformative love it transforms us and conforms us to his holiness to God's Son and It's perfected in us visibly visibly

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Verse 13 by this we know that we abide in him and He in us because he has given us of His spirit, so that's the connection there that the

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Apostle told us earlier How his love is perfected in us how his reformative love works

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It's because he has given us his spirit and we didn't earn it ourselves

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It's nothing that we did it's what God gave us in his spirit in and through his spirit so this is a

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Really important stuff Reformative the reformative love of God After because after regenerating us

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God's love continues to mold us continues to rebuke us continues to chase in us continues to discipline us

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Continues to conform us to the image of his glorious Son Right because whereas God's regenerative love

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God's regenerative love initially initially Regenerates us recreates us causes us to adjust our course and walk in newness of life as New creations, that's the starting point the initial point of our conversion and regeneration so God's reformative love

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Continues to work in us to love him and others

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With God's love and to become more Christlike To walk in the light and so on like many of the things that the

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Apostle tells us amen, so This is how God's love is applied to us and his reformative love continually sanctifies us and We saw this already in verse 9 right in 1st

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John chapter 4 verse 9 God's Word says by this the love of God was

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Manifested in us or for us in our case in our favor That's God's restorative love that God sent his only begotten rather or his unique one -of -a -kind son into the world

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That's his redemptive gospel love so that we might live through him so that for the purpose of us living through him through Christ This includes

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God's regenerative love, but especially God's and ultimately

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God's reformative love whereby he transforms us and renews us continually for the rest of our days on this earth and There's there's a similar passage in the previous chapter in 1st

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John chapter 3 verse 2 We see a similar Expression here from from John's letter

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Beloved now we are children of God. Amen. Now we are children of God that's his redemptive and restorative love and it has not been manifested as Yet what we will be

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What we will be we know that when he is manifested Christ We will be like him because we will see him just as he is

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Just as he truly is This is the already not yet that we are

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Under that we are experiencing as believers on this earth This is the path

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That we believers are currently on the already not yet We are justified already.

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We are children of God already, but we have not yet been fully perfected and glorified right, so The pet this is the path of God's Reformative love it's the path of God's Reformative love which refines prunes and perfects us

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It refines prunes and perfects us Turn with me to Romans chapter 8 verse 16 as we

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Dig deeper into this notion of God's reformative love and We read here from the legacy standard

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Bible Which is it's similar to the New American Standard One of its one of the better Translations in English that we like to use so Romans chapter 8 verse 16 the spirit himself

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Testifies with our spirit that we are children of God Now just like first John says and if children also heirs

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Heirs of God and fellow heirs joint heirs with Christ If indeed we suffer with him if indeed we suffer with him

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That's his reformative love So that why so that we may also be glorified with him

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So that we may also be glorified with him For I consider that the sufferings of this present time

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Are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us

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Amen We got something to look forward to right? we have so much better things to look forward to as Good as God has been to us now.

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We have so much better to look forward to With what awaits us in him

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Now I need to lay out a very a very important axiom a

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Very important axiom for us today that this axiom is that God's reformative love?

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Also sanctifies us and is perfected in us

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Like first John 4 12 says and it is perfected in us through what? One of the means is through suffering through suffering however

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Not as those who are without God and without hope in the world

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Okay, I'm gonna repeat this this is very important God's reformative love also sanctifies us and is perfected in us through suffering

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Through suffering trials afflictions tribulations But not as those who are without God and without hope in the world

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Amen Suffering sanctifies us Turn with me to Romans chapter 5

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To see this more clearly laid out for us Romans chapter 5

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Beginning in verse 1 God's Word says

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Therefore having been Justified by faith.

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That's God's redemptive love right there. We have peace with God Now through our

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Lord Jesus Christ Amen Through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand even now and we boast in the hope of the glory of God and Not only this beloved get this carefully

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But we also boast in our afflictions Knowing that affliction brings about Perseverance and perseverance proven character and proven character hope and hope

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Does not put to shame Because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the

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Holy Spirit who was given to us and That gives great cause for God's people to shout.

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Amen Amen our suffering

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God has ordained for ordained our suffering Just like that.

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We read in the Catechism question. He has for ordained our suffering to produce virtue and hope in us

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Because our suffering Sanctifies us through faith and hope in God's Word Through faith and hope in God's Word his law and gospel of love our suffering produces virtue like the virtues laid out in Romans 5 here and Hope in us

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It sanctifies us through the hope and faith that we have in God and his word his law and gospel of love

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Powerful stuff. This is amazing stuff Now this brings us to the very obvious and Imminent reality that many of us may be facing and that is

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Difficulties, trials, afflictions, tribulations, sin

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Hardships Many of us are going through these things have been going through these things

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But the Bible says we but we not only We not only endure them, but we boast in them

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We boast in our afflictions Knowing we know we have to we have hope and we have truth that God is using those things all of those things good bad ugly and otherwise for our ultimate good

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It produces virtues and hope in us

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That is an amazing love that God has for us that God even uses the evil that may befall us

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To sanctify us and produce Christ likeness in us You know

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Many of you may have heard the story of An individual Who thanked

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God for the fleas? It's a famous story of a certain woman

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That thanked God for the fleas this was during Hitler's Germany and Obviously there was persecution going around particularly after the

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Jews and They were being Herded like cattle into concentration camps and This woman was placed into one of them

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And needless to say the conditions were absolutely horrendous if you read about these accounts they were absolutely ungodly horrendous circumstances

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Torture and famine and a lot of the things that the Bible describes as afflictions were being done to these people in the camps but in this camp this woman was

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That there was an outbreak of fleas Because it was filthy they had no they couldn't really shower

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Cleanse themselves it was filthy and so there was a lot of fleas But these fleas

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Ended up keeping the guards away from the prisoners

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From the captives So so this woman realized

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That those fleas were a blessing from God because it kept the cards away so that they could pray for each other and do

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Bible studies and things like that pretty amazing story, and that was a very real

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Situation from the life of Corrie ten Boom very fascinating story Thanking God for the fleas and Always remember beloved when something hard hits you remember it could always be worse.

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It can always be worse But even the bad that we go through it is ultimately

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Ultimately for our good we may not understand it fully at the time

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We may not have all the answers in this life But it is ultimately for we can take hope and comfort that God who is sovereign who is omnipotent who is love himself

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Does this these things for his people? Whom he loves for his good amen

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Likewise then likewise God's Adoptive love for us is our

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Heavenly Father disciplines and reforms us It disciplines and reforms us

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Let's turn now to Hebrews chapter 12 to see how this is revealed in the words of God Hebrews chapter 12 verse 5

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God's Word speaks to us and says and Have you forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as?

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sons My son, this is God's restorative love He brings us into his family

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He adopts us into his family Do not regard lightly the discipline of the

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Lord the discipline of the Lord Nor faint when you are reproved by him or Rebuked by him for those who meet the

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Lord loves He disciplines Though as many as I love

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I rebuke I chasten I discipline and He flogs every son whom he receives

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That's his reformative love Right there black and white it is for discipline that you endure

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God deals with you as with sons for what son is there whom his father does not discipline

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But if you are without discipline of which you all have become partakers Then you are illegitimate children and not sons

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Furthermore we had earthly fathers to discipline us and we respected them Sean shall we not much rather be subject to the father of spirits and live and live in Christ because of God's reformative love and Live for they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them to our fathers our earthly fathers

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But he disciplines us for our benefit for our benefit so that We may share his holiness

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So that we may share his holiness That we may experience

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God's reformative love for us in All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful

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But to those who have been trained by it Listen to that For those who have been trained by it for those who have been reformed by it

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In other words reformed by God's love afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness

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The peaceful fruit of righteousness of the spirit of those virtues that Romans 5 also talks about right

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This is the peaceful fruit of righteousness That is produced in us by virtue of God's reformative love training us training us perseverance endurance proven character hope and the fruit of the spirit love joy peace patience gentleness meekness

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Self -control Amen So this is very

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Wow, this is just so clear in God's Word God's reformative love

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Let us see now how God's reformative love How I mean,

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I'm sorry how not just his reformative love but all four excellencies of God's love

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Let us see how they are all described majestically in Ephesians chapter 2

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Beginning in verse 3 turn with me to Ephesians chapter 2 verse 3 and we will see

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The glorious revelation of God's redemptive restorative regenerative and reformative love

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Ephesians chapter 2 verse 3 we all all of us also formally

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Conducted ourselves in the lust of our flesh in the lust of our flesh

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Doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind and were by nature children of wrath

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Take note of that Children of wrath. What is wrath the opposite of think about that?

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We were by nature children of wrath even as the rest

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But God being rich in mercy because of what

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Because of his great love With which he loved us restorative love

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Even when we were dead in our transgressions made us alive together with Christ That's his regenerative love amen and By grace you have been saved that's his redemptive love and Raised us up with him again his regenerative love and restorative love and Seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

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That's a beautiful picture of God's restorative love he restores to us titles of sonship kingship queenship sons and daughters of God So that in the ages to come he might show the surpassing riches of his grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus Redemptive restorative love

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For by his grace you have been saved through faith again amazing love

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God's redemptive love and this is not of yourself. It is the gift of God.

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It is God's gift to us his redemptive restorative gift of love

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Not of works so that no one may boast for we are his workmanship

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We are his workmanship We are the objects of his reformative love which trains us unto holiness and righteousness

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Prepared beforehand So that we could walk in them in God's reformative love his transformative love

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Therefore Remember that formally you the

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Gentiles in the flesh Who are called? Uncircumcision by the so -called circumcision which is performed in the flesh by human hands

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Remember that you were at that time without Christ alienated from the citizenship of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise

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Having no hope and without God in the world you were

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Without hope and without God in the world but now in Christ Jesus you who were formerly

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Were a far -off have been brought near By the blood of Christ and That beloved is a beautiful summation of God's redemptive restorative regenerative reformative love for us

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What an amazing picture of God's love for us God's love for his people is all of these things and more and more

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It is God's law and gospel of love it

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Is the whole counsel of God's love for us that in many ways is the story of redemption

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The story of redemption is the story of God's law and gospel applied to us his people

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God's law and gospel of love is a redemptive restorative justifying love as I mentioned earlier and furthermore, it is also a regenerative and ongoing reformative sanctifying love

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That disciplines us unto holiness To make us more like his precious unique son

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So that we may share his holiness like Hebrews 12 10 says

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Amen, I Love so amazing So divine that it encompasses both law and gospel to us and God accomplishes and applies his law in gospel to us

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To his vessels of mercy like Romans 9 23 says in a special way

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That he does not apply or Yeah that he does not apply to anybody else

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Seeing that his divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness

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Through the full knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and excellence

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For by these he has granted to us his precious and magnificent promises his gospel promises

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So that by them You may become partakers of the divine nature of the divine nature

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Having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust there you see especially

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God's reformative love which Sanctifies us out of that corrupting lust that is in the world that we all used to partake in as unbelievers a

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A second Peter chapter 1 verses 3 through 4 his divine promises are for us are given to us and instantly legally

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Grant us and restore to us redeem us and restore to us a sinless and perfectly righteous state before God we are reckoned perfectly righteousness with the with the righteousness of Christ and But he doesn't just leave it there and his

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Reformative love Continually works in us in us now

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Until the day when he ultimately glorifies us Including through our afflictions and our suffering in this life all because of him

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Remember that beloved it is not your doing That you have these benefits and this love from God you did not earn it you could not earn it it is impossible a sinner can do nothing before God's Holy Throne and presence that is why

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God had to redeem us and Restore us and regenerate us because we were dead in sin and Trespasses and we walked in the lust of our flesh in the world but God's love also transforms us

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With his reformative love that sanctifies us disciplines us prunes us conforms us to holiness and to his son to the image of his son so That is an amazing summation of God's love for us

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God's law and gospel both sanctify us in particular ways

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Because they are both God's Holy Word Amen the law and gospel that is both

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God's Word and And some people misunderstand this they say well we're sanctified by grace, but not by the law as If the law was somehow a bad thing

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No, what did Paul say is the law is the law evil? No, it is the law is holy righteous and good.

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It is we who are evil the law exposed The law is holy righteous just and good, which is why it's a mirror that exposes our sin

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It brings a mirror to us and reveals us how sinful we are apart from God's Redemptive restorative regenerative reformative love

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We need all of those loves the love of God though all of those acts aspects in order

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To be what God has called us to be and his law That commands us to be right

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Remember the words of our Lord Jesus in the gospel of John 1717

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Sanctify them your people your chosen ones that you have given me father

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Sanctify them by the truth What is truth? What is truth like Pilate said?

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We're not like Pilate. We know what truth is Your word is truth

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God answers the Jesus answers the question plainly your word is truth and your truth

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Sanctifies us Sanctifies us God's truth is

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All truth and all of God's truth sanctifies us It's not like people say all truth is

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God's truth That's that's sort of true, but it's not stated correctly

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God's truth is all truth and if Your truth quote -unquote contradicts

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God's words God's words. Guess what? It's not true Because God's Word is true and every man is a liar.

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Amen so oh man

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God's Word is something else What is Jeremiah 23 28 says turn with me there

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Let's get a powerful image of God's Holy Word Of the power of God's Word in Jeremiah 23 28

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God speaks and says The prophet who has a dream may recount his dream

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But let him who has my word Speak my word in truth alone

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In truth because God's Word is true So to speak it in such a way as to twist it with lies is an abomination in God's eyes

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Which is why God was condemning the false prophets of Israel there What does straw have in common with grain declares

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Yahweh is not my word like fire Declares Yahweh and like a hammer which shatters a rock

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Man oh man that is the power of God's Word is Not my word like fire like a hammer which shatters a rock

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It shatters lies it shatters Sin it shatters all of the things that contradict and oppose

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God and God condemned and Sentenced to death those false prophets that would speak his word

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But without the truth, which is a contradiction. There is no such thing as God's Word without the truth and that truth of God's Word Shatters everything that opposes it and that hammer is the hammer that God uses to sanctify us and reform us as A loving father who disciplines us by his grace and His law and for his glory however however

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It is not so much. We need to understand a careful distinction here It is not so much our obedience to the law that sanctifies us

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Okay, it is not so much our obedience to the law that sanctifies us because our growing obedience to the law is the fruit of Is the result of our sanctification of God's reformative love?

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God's reformative love produces obedience, but our obedience to his law is not

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Directly what sanctifies us It is primarily our growing understanding of God's Word of God's law and gospel

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Including his law by his means of grace Which sanctifies us?

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What are the means of grace remember? the primary means of God's grace word and sacrament and God's Word especially the preaching of the word reading studying meditating on God's Word and especially the preaching of the word and Sacraments baptism and the

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Lord's Supper Which are and prayer? All of which are sanctifying primary sanctifying means of God's reformative love

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There are other means as well secondary means like suffering Like I just we just saw in God's Word Those are secondary means of God's Sanctifying love but it is but Unbelievers face afflictions as well.

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Does that mean they're being sanctified? No, because they don't have faith and hope in Christ.

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They don't have the Spirit of Christ. That's why that's the difference It's a full

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It's a full outpouring of God's love in our hearts that includes all of these things not just some of them

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So this is it is

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That is what sanctifies us primarily Our understanding of God's law by means by his means of grace which sanctifies us it is his word that sanctifies us primarily

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Because his divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to everything pertaining to life and godliness

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Holiness sanctification Through the full knowledge of him knowledge

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Everything that we need for life and godliness is provided through God's power Through the full knowledge of him like 2nd

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Peter 1 3 says and that Listen carefully here. We need to connect the dots and the full knowledge of him includes being taught

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Everything that Christ has commanded us to keep in his word Which were the last words he said to the

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Apostles at the end of the Gospel of Matthew the Great Commission Teaching them to observe

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Everything that I have commanded you and lo behold. I'm with you always even to the end of the age, right?

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so This knowledge includes a knowledge of God's Word of God's law and how to apply

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God's law Because there are many laws in the Bible and we have to rightly distinguish and apply them in our

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Time in our new in the new covenant of grace that we are now in Christ under under the law of Christ under the moral law of Christ so That sanctifies us beloved the law of God sanctifies us not so much by obeying it but by Growing in our knowledge and understanding of it which the

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Spirit works in us through various means as well suffering all of these things marriage suffering and the means of grace to bring out the fruit of righteousness the fruit of our sanctification which is obedience to God's law

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Okay so to sum it all up God's Holy love

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Transforms us By his holy law his holy gospel and his holy spirit

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Amen God's holy love transforms us

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Reforms us by his holy law his holy gospel his holy spirit

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For by this we know that we abide in him and he and us because he has given us a portion of his spirit like 1st

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John 4 13 says beloved and with that beloved we can rejoice and Say amen

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Let us go ahead and bow our heads with a word of prayer Our gracious precious

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Lord and heavenly Loving Father we thank you so much for your amazing

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Excellencies of your love Lord your reformative love that transforms us it sanctifies us it disciplines us it prunes us it conforms it conforms us to the holiness of your precious

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Son Lord For we are your workmanship father you have prepared beforehand all the good works you have given us to fulfill by means of your grace

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Your law and your gospel your word of truth father Help us to deepen our knowledge our understanding of these things knowing that this sanctifies us

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Lord Because we believe in Your word which is all truth father

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We thank you for your manifold blessings These manifold excellencies of your love father and how every one of these blessings of your love gives us

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Something that we could never provide for ourselves on our own for the only thing that we could ever offer up is sin unrighteousness condemnation and Nothing else but by your precious love alone by your precious

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Redemptive Restorative regenerative reformative love

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We are redeemed we are restored in holiness and As new creations new creatures and are being reformed this very hour this very day this very moment up until You finish the work that you have

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Completed that you have began in us to completion and that ultimate day of glory when we are fully finally

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Be made like him like your glorious son Glorified into perfection

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We thank you Lord for these things and we ask these things and Lord Please help us that as we endure suffering in this life

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Remind us Lord and help us because the truth of your word that sanctifies us we have hope That knowing knowing that suffering trials afflictions

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Sickness disease all of these things produce the fruit of righteousness in us Lord and sanctify us

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They renew our minds and bring us closer to you and to the truth of your word

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By your means of grace Lord by your law and gospel of love. We thank you father when we ask this in Jesus precious name

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Amen Thank you for listening to the sermons of thorn crown

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Covenant Baptist Church Where the Bible alone and the Bible in its entirety has applied to all of faith and life

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We strive to be biblical reformed historic confessional loving discerning

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Christians who evangelize Stand firm in and earnestly contend for the Christian faith

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If you're looking for a church in the El Paso, Texas area or for more information about our church Sermons and ministries such as Semper Ephraim on the radio and thorn crown

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Network podcast Please contact us at thorn crown ministries calm and may the mercy peace and love of our triune