Wednesday, February 15, 2023 PM

Sunnyside Baptist Church

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I shared with you, I shared about the glorious adventure of the

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Christian life out of 2 Corinthians chapter 3 and chapter 4.

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As we behold the glory of the Lord, we are transformed into the same image from glory to glory.

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And then in chapter 4 verse 6, for God who said, let there be light, has shown in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

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This transformation is called in systematic theology, sanctification.

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And Peter, the Apostle Peter, he describes it this way in 2

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Peter chapter 3 verse 18, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our

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Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Grow in the grace and knowledge of our

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Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Now there's two things about this. Sanctification means to grow in holiness and Peter makes it clear that this growth is a growth in Christ, grace and knowledge in Christ.

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It also points to the fact that it's something that we should do, okay?

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He says to us, grow in the grace and knowledge of our

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Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Two important things about sanctification are here brought out.

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One, most importantly, this growth is in Christ himself.

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And two, it's something that we can do. If you'll remember in Philippians chapter 2 beginning at verse 12 and into verse 13, work out your own salvation for it is

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God who works within you both to will and to do His good pleasure. You see, it is a collaborative effort.

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God works within us to make us by His Spirit, okay, to make us after the image of His Son.

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And we are to cooperate in every way as He does so. And this has been the plan for a long time as described in Romans chapter 8.

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If you'll remember, I'm sure you'll remember verse 28, right? Romans 8, 28. All things work together for good to those who love

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God, to those who are called according to His purpose. And what is that purpose?

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Well, it's the next verse, verse 29, for those whom He foreknew He did predestinate to what?

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Be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers.

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And so we see that this sanctifying work is a collaborative effort between God and us as we cooperate with Him, okay, to make us after the image of His Son, okay?

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And most importantly, it is a growth in Christ Himself that's important.

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Those are the two truths I want you to fully understand tonight. As we grow as a

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Christian, it's a process that goes on throughout our whole life. In Colossians chapter 2,

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I think it's verse 6, it says this,

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Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him, and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

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Now notice this here, this sanctifying work, okay? Just as you received

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Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him. You see, the reception of Christ, that's the beginning of this sanctifying work, okay?

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And then we are to walk in Him, be rooted in Him, and built up in Him.

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You see, this sanctifying work is all of Christ, okay? The aim, the goal, the purpose, alright, is to be built up in Christ, rooted in Christ, to walk in Christ.

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And so, in a very real way, this sanctifying work can be described thusly.

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To get to know Christ, to become like Christ, to act like Christ, to take up the characteristics of Christ, the mannerisms of Christ, the customs, the habits of Christ, to become

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Christ -like. A very good description of this is in Ephesians chapter 4,

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Ephesians chapter 4. The work of ministry, the work of ministry by the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, in verse 12, is to, that's

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Ephesians 4, 12, to equip the saints, that's us, for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the

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Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

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You see, we are growing into Christ, to mature manhood, to the measure of the fullness of the stature of Christ.

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That we may no longer be children tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

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Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him, that is

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Christ, who is the head into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part, that's you, that's me, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

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Again, I hope these scriptures make it very clear that this sanctifying work is to make us like Christ in every way, to get to know

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Him, okay? If you'll remember from the last time

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I shared, okay, this transformation from glory to glory is a face -to -face encounter, person -to -person.

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This growth, likewise, is a person -to -person situation, to get to know

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Christ, to become like Him in every way.

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First step, okay, first step, who is this person, who is this person, who is this person that we are to be transformed into, into the image of?

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The big picture, get the big picture here, okay? After God made everything, except for man,

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He made man, the last thing He made, and He made man in His own image, and in the next chapter came the fall.

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The image is now broken, marred, okay? It's broken, and not only the image is broken, okay, all of creation begins to crumble, okay?

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But the image is now broken, okay, and from that point on, okay, the image is to be restored.

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And so, this sanctifying work could also be classified as restoration.

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You see, the image, you see, if we're going to be made into the image of Christ, okay, Christ is the image of God.

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We're made in the image of God, He is the image of God, and if we're going to be made in the image of Christ, you see, the image from the very beginning will be restored.

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That's the big picture, okay, you know, front to back. So this person that we are to get to know, okay, and that we are to be transformed into, who is it?

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You know, that's the first step, okay, first step. This person is, as Peter reminded us in 2

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Peter 3, 18, grow in the grace and knowledge of the

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Lord Jesus Christ.

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This is the person. This is the person. First of all, he's

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Lord. You know, this is the person, the Lord Jesus Christ. This is who he is, okay?

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What does it mean? First of all, he's Lord. This is capital L, okay, Lord, you know, it means master, right?

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It means master. A good synonym would be king, okay?

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That's why it's capital. I mean, there are lords, lowercase l, okay, and uppercase

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L, Lord. Now notice the other letters are lowercase, okay?

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But the first letter's capital. That's because every knee shall bow.

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He is Lord of lords, king of kings. First of all, this person, okay, this person, okay, is

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Lord, and what does it mean? It means we owe him our, first of all, obedience, right?

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Obedience. And more than that, our very lives.

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But first of all, we owe him, because he's Lord, we owe him obedience. Let me remind you, okay, from his own lips, okay, from his own lips,

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Matthew chapter 7, verse 21. Not everyone who says to me,

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Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

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On that day, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, cast out demons in your name, do many mighty works in your name?

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I call it religious activity, okay? It's not the goal.

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It's not the aim, okay? And then will

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I declare to them, I never knew you. You depart from me, you workers of lawlessness, workers of iniquity, okay?

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Wow, I don't want to hear those words. I want to hear, enter the joy of your Lord. Isn't that what you want to hear?

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You don't want to hear this, believe me. Verse 24, everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock, the rain fell, the floods came, the winds blew, beat on the house, but it did not fall because it was founded on the rock.

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And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand, and the rain fell, floods came, the winds blew, beat against the house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.

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Now what's the point of this parable? It has nothing to do with foundations.

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It has nothing to do with the house. It all has to do with obedience.

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You know, these two houses are like two men, one heard and obeyed, one heard and did not.

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Or as James would put it, be ye doers of the word and not hearers only.

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He's just quoting Jesus, okay? He is Lord, expects to be paid attention to, expects to be obeyed, okay?

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So this person that we're to get to know, first of all, is Lord, Master. And that's

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Matthew 7, 21 through, well let me read the next two verses, 28 and 29.

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When Jesus finished these things, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority.

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Now let me ask you, how much authority does he have?

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All. Yeah, that's a good answer. That's why it's capital, okay?

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All authority. Okay, this person that we are to get to know and to become close to, to let our roots go down deep into, to be built up into, he is

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Lord and expects to be obeyed. Next, he is

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Jesus. This speaks of his humanity.

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The word became flesh and dwelt among us, John 1, 14. The word became flesh and dwelt among us.

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He became one of us, just like us, except for one thing.

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And what is that? Sinless.

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No sin. In every way like us, except sinless, yes.

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Hebrews chapter 2, okay, Hebrews chapter 2, starting at verse 14.

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Since, therefore, the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.

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For surely it is not to angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham.

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Are you offspring of Abraham? You see, when the

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Jews look back at Abraham, he is the father of the circumcised.

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When the apostle Paul looked back at Abraham, he says, he is the father of the faithful. Don't you get it?

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But he helps the offspring of Abraham, that's us. Therefore, he had to be made like his brothers in every respect.

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Remember, we're going to be transformed into the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers, okay?

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He had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God.

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To make propitiation for the sins of the people, for because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

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You see, he was tempted like we are tempted. He suffered like we suffer.

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He bleeds when he's cut. He gets tired.

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He gets weary. He's just like us.

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He's a one -person support group.

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Maybe you've been associated with a support group, okay? One of our children,

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Rachel, she was born with a cleft lip and a cleft palate, okay? And we discovered right away that there was a group of people, okay, in a likewise situation that met together regularly just to share and support one another, okay?

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Jesus is like that. He can do that. He's one of us, okay? Absolutely, he's

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Lord of all creation, but he's just like us. He's Jesus, who is born of Mary.

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His father was a little different. We'll get to that in a minute.

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He became a man that he might die in man's place and forgive man.

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He became a man so that he could die in our place, so that he could die in man's place.

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He became like us so that he could identify with us, so he could be a faithful high priest because he ever lives, okay?

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For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are yet without sin.

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Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace. That's where he is, right?

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Right next to the throne of grace. Ever living to make intercession for us.

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Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace with confidence, okay, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

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He knows our every need. He's made in every way just like us, except without sin.

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That's Jesus. And he is Christ. He is

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Christ. This speaks of his mission. There came a time basically when the father said to the son,

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I've got some work for you to do. I want you to go down and save these people.

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I want you to go down and give your life for these people.

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The reason for that was because of love.

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You see, God is love. The father loves the son. The son loves the father. And the overflow of that love,

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I mean, this is not a love that's stingy.

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This is a love that gives and gives and gives again.

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For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, his only son.

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He gave the best that he had, okay? I want you to go bring these people to,

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I want you to go and bring these people to us. Read John 17.

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He's going to bring us to himself and make us one. I mean, just as the father and the son are one, we're going to be one with them.

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That's the long range plan. Wow. So the second person of the

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Trinity goes on the mission. You see, the word

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Christ, that's an English word, but it comes from the Greek word.

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The Greek word comes from the Hebrew word Messiah, and Messiah means anointed one.

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When Aaron became the high priest, he was anointed to be the high priest.

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When David was to be king, he was anointed by Samuel to be the king.

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And as, let's see, who hasn't read the scriptures? Was it Daryl? Did you read the scriptures last

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Sunday night? Okay. I remember when he read the scriptures, it was about Elisha.

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It was about Elijah. I get them mixed up. And God told

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Elisha as a prophet. You see, people were anointed to a position, to a function, to a job, okay?

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A prophet, a priest, a king, okay? The Son of God was anointed to go be the

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Savior of mankind. That's why he's Christ. And, you know, this business of anointing, let's see, you do it with oil, right?

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I mean, when you anoint somebody, you pour oil on them. You know, it sort of sounds kind of messy.

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I mean, really, okay? But, you know, that's the way it is, okay?

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Maybe it was just a few drops. I don't know. Depends on the size of the job, maybe.

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But you see, this oil anoints this person to this job, to this function, okay?

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In every case, okay, this is not something that's man -centered, okay?

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It originates with God. Who told Samuel to anoint David? Who told

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Moses to anoint Aaron? Who told Elijah to anoint Elisha?

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God. It starts with God, okay? It starts with God. I've got a job for you.

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Pour a little oil on you. You're ready to go. The oil represents the spirit.

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The spirit empowers you to do the job, to get the work done, okay? And when

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Christ came, guess who came with him? When the second person came, the third person says,

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I'm going too. He needs help. And so, each of us is empowered by the

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Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, the

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Spirit of Christ. In Romans 8, it says, You're not in the flesh. You're in the

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Spirit. If the Spirit of God dwells in you, okay?

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If the Spirit of God dwells in you, anyone who does not have the

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Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. You see, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ. I mean, you read

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John 14, 15, and 16, you find out really quick, you know, the work of the Spirit is to reveal the

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Son. That's why he's called the Spirit of Christ, because whatever he does, Christ is revealed.

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And so, Christ is anointed, if you will, the second person of the

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Trinity, anointed with the third person to come and rescue mankind. That's Christ.

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That's his work, okay? That's the person, the

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Lord Jesus Christ, the one who gave his life for us.

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As Paul said in Galatians, some of you probably memorized this.

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Galatians chapter 2, verse 20, I've been crucified with Christ.

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It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life

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I now live, I am alive, okay? I've been crucified with Christ, yet I'm alive, okay?

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And this life that I'm now living, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me, okay?

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This is the person that we're to be transformed into. This is the person that we're to get to know.

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This is how you grow in holiness. This is how sanctification works, okay?

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Getting to know Christ in a deeper way, day by day, from glory to glory, okay?

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First point, it's all of Christ. That's where we're headed.

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He is the person, okay, that we are to spend time with. I've got a couple of more minutes.

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I'm going to tell you this. This is what I tell the guys at the

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Grace Rescue Mission, okay? Listen, when a person is born, okay, he begins to grow.

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That's the plan. That's just the way it works. And what does he become like, this person that's born?

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Our other daughter, Anna, okay, you know, most people, when you have a child, you go to the hospital and bring them home.

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We went to the airport to get Anna, okay, because she's from Korea. And when she was about one year old, she didn't fly.

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A nurse brought her, okay, to Will Rogers Airport, okay?

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As a matter of fact, there were two other families there that were going to receive Korean children, okay?

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And that part of the airport, that gate, was loaded with families of those three people, okay?

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And, you know, we were all just waiting for that plane to land, waiting for them to come up off the gate, you know, and meet our new child, okay?

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Anna was born in Korea. Now, if you're born in Korea and you grow up in Korea, Korean, why?

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That's all you hear. You know, you grow up in a Korean home. Let me tell you, you learn to eat

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Korean food. You learn to speak the Korean language. You learn Korean customs, okay?

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When she was one year old, she came to America. Now, guess what language she learned to speak? She didn't speak

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Korean. She didn't know one word. She grew up speaking

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English. Why? Because she spent time with English American. Let me rephrase that, okay?

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American parents, okay? And believe me, we spoke American in our home. We didn't speak

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Korean. So this child begins life and takes on the characteristics of the people they spend time with.

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It's just so simple. That's fundamental, right? If you spend time with this person, guess what language you speak?

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Hebrew, right? You know what I'm talking about. You take on the characteristics of Christ.

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You take on the characteristics of Christ. Point number one, we are to become like Christ.

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Point number two, okay? And that's the focus right there. Don't get sidetracked.

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That's crucial. That's the focus of sanctification is Christ himself.

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Whenever you read the scriptures, you know, if you read the scriptures through every year, at the end of the year,

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I did it again. I'm going to start again. I'm going to read them again. That's not the goal. Christ is the goal.

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Whenever you read the scriptures, ask God to show you more of the person of Christ.

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Okay, point number two. You are part of this labor to make you like Christ.

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You can do it or not. It's your choice. Do you believe that?

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Do you think some people grow faster than others? Do you think some people don't grow at all for a long time?

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You have a choice in the matter. Work out your own salvation for it is

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God who works in you both to will and to do.

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His perfect pleasure. It's his delight to work in you and make you after the image of his son.

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Wouldn't you like to cooperate in every way as he does so? And take up some habits, or take up some activities, or activate some aspects of your being that he has put within you for a purpose.

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Remember, as we grow in Christ, okay, as we mature, if every part does its part.

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Remember from Ephesians chapter 4, and you're one of the parts. So what should you do?

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Find out what your part is. You know, you might be a foot, a hand, an eye, an ear.

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You know, that's what Paul says, we're the body of Christ. Find out what your gift is.

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Look at Exodus chapter 32 and read about Bezalel and Aholiab, the first people that were filled with the

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Spirit. That's it. Point one, we're to be made after the image of Christ.

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That's the goal. Point two, you have a part in that plan. Thank you.

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We're going to pray now. We're going to pray. So let's take some prayer requests.