The Lord's Prayer - Our Sanctification

OK. Lesson week nine. Still didn't make it through all that far. I think we got to question eight nine. How far did we get? Oh no. We did not. So one of the things that struck me last week as I was finishing up, is there anything more difficult than trying to explain what union with Christ is? I mean how do you do it? What do you say that would indicate where we can get a handle on what that really is. We are so united to Christ that we are one with him and he's prayed for that in John 17. We don't think that way, do we? We think, well I'm my own individual entity. If I'm married, the closest I ever got to another human being was my spouse. But we don't think about oneness with Christ and what that is.

But that's in fact a reality that's already true of everybody who's a believer. And mentioned in Christ's prayer to the Father that they might be one. So as we move along in this, I keep thinking about, boy, I'm united to Christ, I'm one with him, and the Spirit of God, I think He's the one that's got to reveal, at least give us a sense of what that is, because you can talk about it, but if you don't get your arms around it, turn it on. Get your arms around it a little bit. Union with Christ is something that is just verbiage. We talk about identification because that's what it is. What does that mean? And this is important. I think you always say, well, come to this. We have to trust more to come to this. Yeah. Yeah. That's right.

Through this lesson and through 17, I kept I kept going back. I mean, believing that, you know, you just have to believe that the information and all the stuff that's in that read through 17, 17. As he said, it blows you away when you think about it. I mean, do you really believe that?

Yeah, if you just sit and read it, read it from the standpoint that, well, it's not a bunch of pious Christian doctrine. This is something that Christ has this conversation with his father and he lays out these things that he desires. and that are realities and there's something, the things in there you would never, you'd never come up with something like that. You'd never read it in a novel any place.

It's only in the word of God and it's all the way back in John 17. So, yet union with Christ is the deal, so to speak. It's the thing. It is the thing, the one thing that separates every other human being that ever existed from us who are members of the body of Christ. There's no talk of union like this with the Jewish nation, never. Oneness with Christ, the millennial kingdom saints and all that's going to happen after we're out of here, there's no talk of this kind of union. Question 10. There are consequences flowing from our union with Christ.

Look up these verses and indicate them. The first one I gave you was John 20, 17. Stop clinging to me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father. But go to my brethren and say to them, I ascend to my Father and your Father and my God and your God. This is Mary when she discovers or recognizes who the Lord Jesus is and it appears like there's a relationship there. But he says, no, don't cling to me. It doesn't mean stop hugging me. That's not what it means. What do you think he's saying to her here? Don't keep me here. What's that? Don't keep me here. Kind of like that.

Think about this in terms of union with Christ. Up until this time, what was Mary Magdalene and the apostles and all those people's relationship with Christ? What kind of relationship did they have with him? They were disciple students. They thought that he was maybe the Messiah of Israel. They had a relationship with him that was arm's length. from a Jewish standpoint.

And what Jesus is telling Mary here, this is a whole different thing now. Don't have a relationship with me that you're used to. He says, stop clinging to me. Don't try to identify yourself with me based on everything you know me to be. But here's what I want you to do. I have not yet ascended to my father.

Why is that important? Why is that little phrase really important? Beholding is in the mirror the glory of the Lord. We Christians have the privilege of beholding the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ in the word of God. Do we have that privilege? Is he glorified yet? Here, in John 20?

No, he's not. So why would he say, don't cling to me, I haven't been glorified yet. You see how important the timing is here? That I don't want you to identify yourself with me or behold me until I'm glorified. Does that make sense? Because the new relationship between us, this new union, is me being glorified. I go tell my brethren and say to them, I ascend to my father and your father and to my God and your God." Interesting. They wouldn't have any trouble understanding that he was their God, but Father was a whole other thing. Again, it points to this union.

Romans 8.17, heirs of God, fellow heirs with Christ. So this points up a relationship.

How do you get to be an heir? If you wanted to inherit my 57 Pontiac and my 10-speed Schwinn, what would you have to do? You'd probably have to be a member of my family, wouldn't you? So what's happening here? Heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ. In order to be an heir with Christ, it isn't just like being in the same fraternity. You've got to be in a family. You've got to be one with the inheritor. Do you see that?

Ephesians 2.18 For through him we have both access in one spirit to the Father. Now, what's the privilege that union gives you with Christ? Access to the Father. Okay, so you have access to the Father. Do you get to sneak in the back door? Walk right in and what's the nature of the relationship you have with the father? Papa. Papa.

It's exactly the same relationship Christ has. It's exactly the same. So there isn't any impediments or barriers. The great thing about, one of the big reasons that we rejoice over a saint going home to be with the Lord like hell, is that this is what he's experiencing right now.

This is not He's not earning his way, you know, up the pews to get to the front. Yeah, it kind of ties back to the Romans when I can think about that when we're heirs. We get it two ways. We get it by birth and by adoption, which not only gets us into the family, but the adoption part basically says we go to the point where we're already heirs, where you're going to have to go through a certain amount of time to inherit. We not only by birth, But the adoption character pushes us to the front of the line as far as heirs. We don't have to wait a certain amount of time. In the Jewish culture, you had to be a certain age. But we have it not only by birth, but adoption makes it immediate.

Everybody understand what the oriental or the ancient ceremony of adoption was? If you don't, raise your hand. Adoption was not like what we do now where you go down to some place and try to adopt a baby. Adoption was a ceremony when a young man was of age in which he became the heir of his father right then, 12, 13 years old. He was entitled to all the rights, privileges, and property of his father right then. He didn't have to wait until the father died. That's what adoption means in the ancient sense.

The best example I know of... Have you guys ever seen the movie Ben-Hur? Ever seen that movie? You remember in the movie when Ben-Hur was... because he was tried, convicted of something he didn't do and he was sentenced to row boats for the... the legions, the generals boat and then they got into a war and he saved the generals life or the centurions life or whatever that guy was.

And because he saved his life the next scene is here they are in Rome and they are having this big huge party and this guy, Ben-Hur, now his name is Arius, he is now an adopted son of the guy who he saved his life. So later on in the movie he goes back to Jerusalem and he announces himself to the to the Roman guy who was there as the son of Arius and sent in the ring. And of course the guy that he sent the ring into was really surprised to see it really was Ben-Hur but he was adopted. So he really was the son because he was adopted. Well every one of us have gone through by our new birth this adoption ceremony. Every person in this room is an adopted son of the Most High God.

Let's see, so you have privileges because of your union, Ephesians 2.18, 1 John 4, 12, 13, and 16.

If we love one another God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in him and he in us because he has given us of his spirit. And we have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love and the one who abides in love abides in God and God abides in him.

So what does union with Christ afford you when it comes to or confers upon you when it comes to love? By the way, every time this word is used here, it's the word agape. It means that if you share the life, you share the love. It's interesting, if you start to read these verses from the viewpoint of your being united to Christ, they have to do with, verse 16 says, God is love, that's what he is, and the one who abides in love abides in God. You see the oneness there? And God abides in him. A union.

1 Corinthians 13.12 Then I shall know fully, just as I also have been fully known. What does that verse mean? This describes Hal Malloy again. At some point there is going to be a time when you shall know fully just as you are known.

Now probably the best question to ask is how are you known? How does God know you? You know, some little sort of struggling person in Denver trying to make it. Is that how he knows you? How does he view you? Who are you? United with his son, Jesus Christ. Does he see us perfected? He does, doesn't he? So who's the ignorant one here? God or you? You are.

We only know in part. So we only know in part now. That's right. We only know in part. But it's interesting when you are face to face with the Lord, it's going to be a big revelation to you that you've always been a fully orbed son of God. A fully orbed son of God. So like Courtney says, that's a pretty good one for faith. Believe that one. Because that's who you are.

John 1.16. the source of enjoyment, for of his fullness we have all received grace upon grace."

It should read, of his fullness we're going to receive if we do lots of spiritual push-ups, right? No, we've already received it. The fullness of who? You get 98% if you're a Presbyterian, 67% if you're a Baptist, 12% if you're a Catholic, You get 100% if you're at Holly Hills Bible Church. That's what fullness means, right?

The point is that we are, because of our position in Christ, entitled to the enjoyment of the fullness of Him. And notice how it describes it grace upon grace. Grace is one of those things, we're studying it on Tuesday, grace is one of those things that's unlimited, unmerited, and totally based on the work of Christ. Well if it's unlimited, how would you best describe it, grace upon grace? Grace upon grace, I mean that's a really good description of what grace is. Grace means that God is coming at you full on blessing you positionally all the time. And way more than you ever thought you needed.

All the time, never stops. And it's all based on, it all ratchets back to this prayer in John 17 where the Lord Jesus talks to the Father about what he wants. I've always been intrigued that you look at that and with a sinful doubtful mind you think, I wonder if God would ever say, well I'll give you six out of seven.

Would he do that? No, that's not how grace works. So, any questions so far? Verse 21, that they may all be one, even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us. that the world may believe that thou hast sent me." So do you think that his praying for a union to be created that didn't exist or the realization of one that already existed? Do you understand the question?

I probably could have phrased that better. I don't think he's praying for a union to be established between his people and himself, which didn't exist before. The union was always in the mind and purpose of God. The problem was it wasn't manifested yet. Now, understand something. If there's a purpose in the mind of God, it's done. Do you see that? Because the mind of God functions in eternity, and eternity doesn't have this time There's no timeline. That's right. That's right. If God thinks it, it is.

Even though we, you know, 2,000 years ago, his son died, this prayer was, John 17 was recorded, but here we live 2,000 years later. But, you know, the Word of God says that he's always known us in Christ. Always. So, The Lord's Prayer is not the origin of the union in which he speaks of, or a cause of it, he's just saying, repeating what is already arranged or true of him and the Father. You see that? And us. So, what's the highest blessing? What's the highest blessing that God can bestow on us? What's number one? His glory.

Not bad. How about a Mercedes? I mean you think about this. The God of the universe has determined In grace to bless us, so we would all get together and think, what would be the one thing that we, you know, you're all trying to buy Christmas presents for people you love now, so what are you thinking about? Gee, what would be the perfect gift for the person that I love? What would I buy? Free movie tickets.

So, God decides what's the greatest blessing I can give to those who will believe in my son. How about I make them one with him? Pretty cool, huh? Pretty cool. I mean, the God of the universe has decided that all of us are to be in union with him. In union with him.

No Jew ever got that privilege, nor will they have it. To be one with the God of the universe. You have everything that he has except you're not deity. But you've got all the privileges, all the relationship, and all the intimacy, and all the power that goes with it. Isn't that something?

Union with God in Christ is more than all the grace and more than all the glory, because all grace in time and all glory in eternity will flow out of that union. We are going to manifest the grace of God to all of creation for all eternity, but there wouldn't be any manifestation of that glory if there wasn't a union. There are discussions in Colossians and other places that in Christ dwells the fullness of the Godhead. Hebrews 1 talks about the fact that He is the exact representation of who God is in the flesh.

Guess what? In glory, that same is going to be true of you and me. We will manifest the glory of God just by standing there. All based because Christ prayed to the Father that they might be one Father as we are one. No fair complaining about not having privilege.

So if we're in Christ then, we are related one to another in him. Is this closer and more lasting than your earthly relationships? Absolutely it is. The oneness that we have in Christ which translates into the oneness we have with each other is much closer than any human relationship, much closer than children and parents or spouses. Because there's no dualism. Do you know what I mean by dualism? We think dualistically, meaning you're a person and I'm a person and we interact. This oneness with Christ is as if we're one in Him. There isn't any of this dualism stuff.

We share a life. Different person manifesting your characters, but it's the same life. Courtney and I have human life, but it's our own separate life. In Christ we share his life. It's oneness. I think in a marriage, it's supposed to be one flesh. That's hard enough for us to figure out, let alone one life in Christ. It's one of those things where trying to figure out marriage is one thing, and one flesh. We're supposed to be one flesh, and now we have one life, and that's a whole different thing.

That's exactly right. That's why when you leave this planet, the marriage relationship is over. But the oneness in Christ isn't. You see that? Now that you and I are one in Christ, that intimacy and that oneness is forever. I don't know what it's going to be like in eternity when I'm standing next to Donna. She's one with Christ and I'm one with Christ, but that's going to be really cool.

There won't be any sense of, well I just want to hang out with my buddies from Holly Hills. Some of those Presbyterians are going to be there too. That's right, especially the ones that didn't contribute. And you know what's interesting about that oneness with those Presbyterians?

There will be the same intimacy and love to and from them as and you and Christ be the same because that life functions that way all the time. I'm just sitting here thinking and that oneness in Christ where I know for me that I'm probably closer to Ben and I don't know Ben nearly as well as I am with family members who don't know Christ. You know and it's like that oneness is not just shared between me and in my marriage and that kind of a thing but when you have that oneness then that oneness is like our church body. There are people in this church body that I'm like I know you way better and have a deeper connection with you because of that life than I do with family.

I think everybody in this room experiences that. I come from a big family, you know, six brothers and sisters. The relationship I have around here is much more intimate than I have with any of them. Any of them. It's just as neat to see how that life that we have is, you know, just... It goes beyond all human criteria. It really does.

I remember after I'd been a believer three or four years, I think we might have been at Holly Hills by then, but before I was a Christian, I was like, man, I only hung around with really cool people. And when I became a Christian, a lot of the people I was hanging around with, they were kind of nerdy. I discovered I loved them all, and they loved me, and they weren't cool, and that was alright. You understand the mindset there?

So it's amazing what this oneness does in terms of your heart, and in terms of your relationship with people. Not that they don't upset you now and then, that kind of thing, but there's a... a glue there of life that's unexplainable to people who don't know what it is. And it isn't because we all belong to the same fraternity. When we go to Boy Scout meetings we do a pledge of allegiance to the flag that unites us, right? That's a great point, thanks.

There are two agencies mentioned in the Gospel of John whose testimony and witness in the earth are to result in conversion or conviction of all mankind. The first one, did I give you the verses here? John 16, 8. The first one is, and he when he comes will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.

Who's the he? The Holy Spirit. Concerning sin, because he doesn't believe in me, because they do not believe in me. Concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer behold me. And concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.

Now it's interesting. This has to do with, we're talking about the glory. If you study the discussions in John between the disciples and the Lord Jesus and he's describing the Holy Spirit and that he's going to come, but he makes it very emphatic that unless he goes the Spirit won't come. And the reason goes back to this issue of the glorified Christ, the same issue with Mary at the resurrection. Don't hang on to me in the relationship that we have now. You go tell my disciples I'm going to my father and their father.

The thing is that our whole relationship with Christ is the glorified Christ. That's a really key point. And so the Spirit of God comes after Christ has been glorified. So our growing intimacy and union with Christ is with the glorified Christ, not with the Jewish Messiah. Do you understand that? And so the Spirit of God comes, and it's interesting, what's the premise on which he convicts the world, according to this verse. Because of all of the really bad things that they've done. What's the conviction?

The sin. What's that? The sin. What is the sin? It's in nature. No, read the verse. What's it say? Righteousness to nature. Disbelief. That's right. The issue is they don't believe in me. Isn't that something? Trust me, I have no idea how the Holy Spirit pulls this one off because there's lots of discussion about the salvation message being spread all over the world and how many people on this planet don't even know the name of Christ. There's a lot of them. I don't know how he does this, but it's his job to do it.

And the bottom line issue with all human beings will be, what do you think of this man? They're going to die in their sins, non-believers, but the real issue is, who is this Christ? Who is he? And do you believe in him? That's where condemnation comes in. And the reason is, is because what's the deal with sin? What's the deal with the sins of the world? They're all paid for, right? Even the guy who isn't a believer, his sins have been paid for. So sins are not the issue anymore. Christ is now the issue. Does that make sense? In John 17, verse 21, this is an incredibly interesting verse to me.

And that they may all be one, even as you Father are in me and I in you, that they also may be one in us, purpose, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. How does that work? He says look I want them to be one in me as you and I Father are one in each other and the purpose for that is so that the world can know and see that you sent me. Now how would that work? How would that work? Mayor Hickenlooper could come in here and say I can look around and I can tell that Jesus has been sent because I see this oneness in all of you.

Is that right? What do you think? How does that, give me the mechanics of that, how does that work? We all have people in our life that are non-believers that we're praying for or we're around like in work or something that we would like to see them come to Christ and we're always talking, trying to figure out a really cool phrase that will just tip them over the edge. But here there's a discussion about the fact that the oneness between the father and the son that's in us and identifiable will prove to the world that the Lord Jesus has been saved. How does it do that?

How does that happen? So they will know it's different. It's kind of what we were talking about on Tuesday. The word I was saying, I'd rather see a sermon than hear one any day. They will know us by we're different than the world. That's how they'll know. There's something different about us and that will draw them. This goes to one of Hal Malloy's favorite verses in 2 Corinthians about we're all epistles of Christ. You may be the only Bible that anybody ever gets to read. And you know what's great about an epistle or a letter? You know what's cool about that? It's a non-verbal communicator. If I send you a letter, you don't hear my voice. I send you an email, you read it, right? And it communicates information to you non-verbally.

If you and I are epistles of Christ and we're going and doing wherever our sphere of influence is, The point is that this oneness that is described here is manifested to the world. That oneness could not have happened if Christ had not come. So it manifests to the lost world that Christ has been here and certain human beings are united to him and people can see it. People see not by what you say but by what you are.

So, it's interesting because so many times we're checking the fruit, you know, to see how it's going, when our focus is to be on Christ. As our focus is on Christ, the epistle gets read. And you don't know who's reading it. You don't have a clue. You're hoping. But if our focus is on union and intimacy with Christ, Then it's manifested.

Saturday we're going to have a memorial service for a guy who manifested Christ and had a great influence on a lot of people. Why? Because he had a catalog in his house and he made sure? No, he just talked with the Lord. That's it. I'll flip over to next week.

What would you say is the source and the spring from which all blessings flow to us? I'll make you a copy. The answer is your union with Christ. That's where it all comes from. Because the blessings flow. from him, through him, and in him. Because you're united to him, guess what? Paul can easily say in Ephesians 1 that you've been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus, all of them. What has Christ bestowed upon us that was given him by the Father according to John 17?

Glory. Isn't that cool? Bestowed. What's glory? What is glory? God's essence. God's essence? His whole being. His whole being. People have described it as the sum total of his intrinsic attributes, his holiness, his omniscience, his righteousness, all of that. So God has intended to manifest his glory to and through us. Because that's why he does everything, is to glorify himself. You get to be the vehicle, which is kind of cool. And the only reason you are a vehicle is because you are one in Christ. It isn't because you are such a Rudy Gazzuti guy. It's because you are in Christ.

Is there something beyond glory? Is the ultimate glory? It's kind of a hard question. Well, couldn't the Old Testament say, see God's glory? Some could. Most did, sure. But we have something beyond what they did. Because people don't just see the glory, we intrinsically have that glory in Christ. The only reason I ask this question is because I ran across this quote from a guy named Samuel Rutherford, who was a really old brethren guy.

I'll read what he said. We have been in the habit of regarding glory as the end and the ultimate climax of all that grace and love of God can do for us and cause us to attain unto. If such has been our idea, we are altogether wrong. I like it when a guy tells me I'm wrong.

Here we are taught that there is something beyond glory, even union with the God of glory, and that the glory given to Christ has been given by Christ to his people as a means and a qualification for the realization, the enjoyment and the manifestation of our union with the Father. So what he is saying is that union is even a greater thing than glory because union is the thing that allows the glory to be manifested. See that? That's why I asked the question.

I ran across that quote and thought it was kind of cool. So what then is the glory he has given us? Did I give you Ephesians 2, 6-8 there? Or Philippians 2, 6-8? Did I give you that verse? I didn't? Philippians 2, 6-8. who, although he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a bondservant, and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in the appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross."

So guess what? Our union with Christ also includes this. You see that? So the glory of God that was in Christ, Christ set it aside when he came here. For what purpose? So that he might identify himself with us and die. So for us to think that Living the Christian life is a life of, now that we've got this union thing down, it's going to be easy street from here on out. Union with Christ, especially while we're here, is union with the life of one who was a suffering servant, as described in this Philippian passage, even to the death of the cross.

So Christ came to do what? He came to serve. That's the whole reason he was here. So, the hallmark of a believer who is in union with Christ that manifests his glory is what? Service. Service. And not any service for self-aggrandizement, just sacrificial service. Because that's the nature of the life that we have while we're here. That service and that sacrifice will demonstrate the glory of God.

Because only God can do that. Only Christ could do that. He could separate himself or put his glory in such a position that he would become a humble servant and die at the death of the cross. Only Christ could do that. And only Christians know how to suffer. And only Christians know how to die. Nobody else does.

Some of the other verses that I use for this manifestation of some of the glory, all the fruit of that infinite sacrifice which has satisfied God's justice and actually glorified the law and commended the love of God. Romans 5.8 says God demonstrated his own love towards us that while we were yet sinners, what happened? Christ died for us. Our union with Christ has that same attitude now, sacrificial. All the fruits of his conquest of death and hell in the world and the flesh. The believer, as he walks here, lives above death.

Understand what I mean by that? I mean in a sense, if you read Romans chapter 6, what does it say that's already happened to you? You already died. So when it comes time for you to check out of the planet, what happens? Paul describes it as sleeping. You just move from here to Christ. Death doesn't have dominion over you anymore because death has no dominion over Christ. So your union with him includes all of that.

All the glory redounding from this he has given to us, Romans 8.29, for those he foreknew He also predestinated to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. It's interesting.

The process of spiritual growth is really conformity to Christ. Does that make sense? We are positioned in him and the way God looks at us and the way we are positioned, we are fully orbed in Christ, positionally. So spiritual growth is really the Spirit of God working in us to manifest in and through us what is already true of us positionally.

And that's described as being conformed to the image of Christ. And that's a predetermined goal, and I shouldn't use the word goal, a predetermined outcome that God has already decided about. Everybody in this room who is a believer will be absolutely and perfectly conformed to the very image of Christ. And it's all based on what? Oneness with him.

And it's designed so that the Lord Jesus is the first born of many brethren. In other words, all the brethren are going to be just like the first born. It's like the first fruit. The crop is just like the first fruit. Karen doesn't get 98% conformity and 2% Karen. It doesn't work that way. It's total conformity to Christ. And that process began, conditionally, the minute you were saved.

How does that process happen? What's the method? How do you get conformed to Christ? What's the method? How does he do it? Baptism of the Holy Spirit. That's how it starts. How's this conformity process? Through faith. What do you do? What's the key word? Believe, yeah, but there's another word there. Behold. Behold. What do you behold? The glory of the Lord.

In 2 Corinthians 3.18, as you're beholding, what happens? You're transfigured or transformed from one state of glory to another state of glory. Who's doing it? The Spirit of God. You see that?

So it's not how I always remember him describing from glory to glory is not from zero. It's from one stage of glory to another. It's you're already in glory. That's right. which came as quite a surprise looking around. Yeah, or looking in the mirror. Isn't that interesting? It isn't from flesh to glory, it's from glory to glory, because you're already in it. I remember that too. I had the same reaction.

Wow, that's really right, isn't it? So the conformity process goes on. Now when you check out of this planet, to be absent from the body is what? Face to face, guess what? Instant total complete conformity. Because the beholding is unobstructed at that point. And no reflection. See that? No reflection. Face to face. Let's see.

All the fullness of grace has been received in order to be communicated to us. Christ is the center and focus of all of God's grace and it goes right through him to us. There's no holding it up until you're qualified because we're all qualified by our position in Christ. So all the glory given by the Father to Christ and laid up in Christ is intended for us.

Isn't that something? I mean we have this fleshly mindset that we have to be better today than we were yesterday so that God would bless us more, give us more glory. Who we are, I complain, not complain, but make this statement all the time. The problem with Christians is they don't know who they are. They absolutely don't know who they are, and they don't know what they have, and they don't know where they are. If you had all three of those in place, you would rest. Because what could you add to any of that? Nothing.

So, is the Lord's request only for strong and deeply taught Christians? that they may all be one, even as thou, Father, are in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us." That's only for the really spiritual guys, right? All. All. Father, that only the really spiritual ones may be one in us, as you and I are now. So it's not for the strong or the deeply taught believers only, but for the weakest and the feeblest and most unlearned of all the redeemed family.

Don't you find it interesting? that the newest, weakest brother has exactly the same position in Christ that Hal Malloy has. Exactly the same. When I was a young believer and first getting acquainted with the word of God and kind of getting, not a handle on this, but seeing a little of this, one day it dawned on me, you know, my thought process is, here's the Apostle Paul, Here's the other 12 guys, and then through history there's these really high powerful cursing, and I'm way down over here someplace. The thought was, wait a minute, there isn't that hierarchy in the body of Christ. We're all the same.

So why wouldn't I expect God to bless me to the same degree that he blessed the Apostle Paul? I should. That's all he tells me. You should too. You should expect God to reveal the fullness of Christ to you, just like he did to the Apostle Paul, and maybe even more. Because you have the benefit of what Paul did. Do you see that? And a lot of times I think believers sort of look at this intimacy with Christ and say, you know, I'm kind of a slug, I'm a Christian, God is nonsense.

By faith, step up and possess what's yours. The way you deal with grace is you take it and use it. you just take what God has for you, which is oneness in Christ. Pretty big step to take. The weak and the strong in one glorious bond of union by the Spirit through the Savior to the Father.

We're not all going to go to heaven and you're going to say, there's that Doyle in the back. Miles Stanford was teaching a class one time, and I tell this story a lot, And some guy thought he could get brownie points with him and said, you know, Miles, what a terrific Christian you are. When we get to the beam of judgment, you're going to be right down the front. The answer was, I'm just going to be happy to be there. All the moms get to be in front. And the reason is, is that they just did what God called them to do. Be a mom. OK, we'll pick up there. Maybe we'll get through. Dear Father, how we thank you for your word and your spirit that teaches us and shows us and reveals to us our oneness and our union with your son. How thankful we are and can't express it enough. We pray in his precious name.