Faith Lesson 20 Week 2
Courtney Hemenway · Nov 22, 2015
Faith, No. 45
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://www.hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/492652137744

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

Alright, we are on Lesson 20, Faith Class Lesson 20. We rocketed to partway down the first question. Actually, I wanted to just throw in a couple different things. I was reading this the other day and I thought it was really apropos to our class. It was The Hungry Heart for November 21st or 11-21. I'll read it just because I think it hits on a lot of things that we've been talking about. First of all, it starts with the intimacy, which I don't know, is Debbie here? Is she in the nursery? Some of the things she brought up I want to talk about, too, last week. This is her regard from 1121. This is on the intimacy part.

Since we are morally colored by the human company we keep, whether high or low, think of the importance of continually associating with the Lord Jesus on high and having Him as the center of our love and interest. I thought that was a great way to start. You know, you're colored by the people you know or by the people you associate with. How about associating with the Lord? You're colored by that.

As babes in Christ, we are left for a season in the old surroundings because the time is not yet ripe for us to know our high calling and the discipline needed for the heirs of God. The Father waits for his babes until they are weaned and able to bear the detachings from the things necessary at first. Many chafe over the long years of training. They know not for what cause. The souls who are yet under tutors and governors need sorely to learn how to wait for the Father and rest in His will.

Let us remember the circumstances are planned by Him. to fit us for the calling he has in view for each of us in the economy of his purpose. Let us wait until we know his pattern for our life lest in our impatience we seek to throw aside the very things permitted of him to fit us for some special service in his vineyard.

Multitudes of believers are sick and tired of trying to be good. Paul rests our feet on the right path of goodness. He had learned from experience that goodness is not caught by pursuit, but by association, not by struggling to obey laws and rules, but by living in the Lord Jesus' presence. By steadily looking at Him, we are changed into His likeness.

Our Father will not deliver us from bondage unless we want Him to. How about that? Our Father will not deliver us from bondage unless we want him to. Therefore, he must permit pressure to come upon us in one way or another so as to bring us to the point of asking him to do for us what he's been ready and able to do all the time.

You know, that's where I started thinking about rejoice, exult in our tribulations. What? But that's what he's told us to do. How long do we want to fight? He's ready and able, willing, ready. It's when we want to. When we say, okay, I understand. These trials and sufferings are meant for my good. and your purposes. I just thought that was really good. Well that was.

As far as what we're going through in our trials and things. The other one which I, you know, maybe for Debbie I was, you know, one of the other that I pulled up She brought out last week, which I'm putting together a whole bunch of stuff, and part of it is on the intimacy with God. And Debbie brought up last week, I always love the passages that say about Abba Father, and Vern translates that and all, it's Daddy. We can address the God of the universe as Daddy.

And as I was studying this week, The two verses are in Romans 8.15, For you have not received a spirit of slavery, leaving a fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons, by which we cry out, Abba, Father.

And then the other one, Galatians 4.6, Because you are sons, God has sent forth the spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. I looked at those, and again, that's telling us that we have the ability right now to cry out to the God of the universe who created everything, who holds everything together, we can cry out, Daddy. The other part that I just, when I was just pulled this up, we talk about the union we have with the Lord and the intimacy that we have with the Lord, and John 17 that says we have the same union, he with the Father, we with the Father, we with him, all that. The other passage that came up was Mark 14, 36, the Lord speaking, and he was saying, Abba, Father, all things are possible for you.

Remove this cup from me, yet not what I will, but what you will. See how he addressed the Father? Abba, Abba, Father. We have the exact same ability as the Lord Jesus did. we can address him the same way that the Lord does. Does that go back to the union that we have and all the things he's told us about, how we have the same union, he wants we are one, all the things that go in John 17? He addresses the Father as Abba, Father.

We do the same thing. I just thought that was from the intimacy part that we have. Moving on. We had gone through on question one the three good reasons why we should rejoice in tribulations. The first was because God allows it. The second was because we are appointed to trials. Remember the first Thessalonians 3, 1-3 passage. So then the third one was because God's eternal purpose is to share his glory through the trials.

So because we're appointed to it and because he allows it and now he's saying because he wants to share his glory through the trials. So going back through Romans 5, Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we exalt in the hope of the glory of God."

And not only this, but we also exalt or glory in our tribulations, and then it goes on. So, interesting part of this is the word for exalt or glory in the Greek is in the present tense, which means it's a continuous action going on. So it's not a one and done, it's continually, continually done, glorifying and him giving us the glory and his glory being presented through these trials. It's a middle voice too. We participate in it. That's an interesting thing. We participate in the sharing of the glory. And then it's an indicative mood which is fact. It's a fact. So I just think it is to reveal His glory.

So the third reason we look in the text in verse 3, not only this, but we glory in tribulations knowing. If you look at the verb knowing there, it's the particular word oida. It means to know factually. Knowing the fact that God's eternal purpose of sharing his glory with us is being accomplished through the trial, through the suffering. That's the knowing. That God's eternal purpose of sharing his glory with us is being accomplished through the trial or through the suffering as we walk by faith. So, that's the third purpose in trials.

So, again, just the thoughts of I think the number one thing in a trial, I think, that gives the fruit of the Spirit is God allows it. God allows it. That, I think, is what, if you understand that, that gives you a peace through these trials and suffering. And even more than God allows it, God planned it, right? Yeah.

He's allowed all these things to happen for His purposes, which is ultimately the end purpose, which is to glorify. To glorify Himself through these trials. We are to glorify Him through these trials. I'm just curious, a while, years ago there was a, like a train and this guy got on there and shot all these people. So I was just thinking, that guy killing all those people wasn't part of God's plan.

In other words, he didn't really plan, he allowed it. He allowed it, yeah. He knew what was going on and he allowed that. He allowed that to happen. And that's what we were saying last week, I mean with the Paris and all the different things. Again, he allowed that to happen. And as I say, I don't know all the methods, but the purpose is ultimately to glorify him and to bring people to his son.

So I rest in that fact. It's a tragedy from an earthly standpoint. From an earthly standpoint, it's a tragedy. But as I said, if there were believers in there, they're home with the Lord. How many people, as I was saying last week in Paris, all the desperation of, if you don't know this, how do you rationalize that? If you don't know that God is in control and he's using it for his purposes.

It's a very dark world. So I think he uses that for his purposes to draw people to him. Because you look at the world and there's no out. There's no rest. There's nothing the world can offer to answer those questions. And so I think in these tragedies he uses it, well I know he uses it for his purposes.

And then, I think, I don't know, is that God knows who is going to come to him. So it's not like, oh if they would have lived another year they would have come to Christ. It's like God knew that they weren't ever going to. Well, yeah. We got slowly into that last week.

You're trying to draw in that, you know, whether there's knowing in this and all those different things. You know, he is, until your dying breath, he's trying to convince and convict you of who the Lord Jesus is. And whether he knows that you're not going to do it, so I'm going to bump you off, I don't know. I don't agree with that.

I think he is going to allow things until... And he's going to use you for his purposes. For as long as... That's the other thing. All these works he's planned for us, once we're done with all the works that he has planned for us, How long do you think he's going to keep us around? I don't know. Well, that sounded cheery back there. How long? No, I mean, that's, but that's, you know, so I don't want to get in that argument. I don't think, I don't believe that. I don't believe that. I think he's, he is, the Holy Spirit's trying to convince everybody until their last dying breath. And he's, he's going to use you for his purposes until, your last breath.

Well, what about that scripture that says the rain will fall on the just or something like that? The just and the unjust. Yeah. Well, I think, you know, I think, maybe help on this, mine is that I think he will use and bless and do to an unbeliever, he may do whatever. pour rain on it, so your crops come up too. I mean, I think it's an Old Testament reference. It's basically, whether you're a believer or not, it's going to rain. But he's still in control of all that.

I think it's what, I believe that's kind of what that is. So, yeah. So, I mean, it's like, why do unbelievers, you know, become a billionaire or do wonderful things? But they're not a believer. God's using them for His purposes. But, you know, He's blessed them with earthly things. All right, question two. If God's purpose in our trials is to share Christ's glory with us, will you now rejoice in trials and suffering? Okay, raise your hands. Come on. There you go. There we go. We got one. No, this is, you know, it really I, you know, I keep trying to pound the table, how this is, you know, and that's why that, the hungry heart there, Red, is that, you know, how long are we going to do, you know, wait?

Well, our Father will not deliver us from bondage unless we want Him to. We're going to cling on to all these things. We're going to do it and not believe Him until we decide, by faith, to believe Him. You can struggle all you want. The truth is still the truth. So I thought that was good. How long are we going to struggle? And that's why I say it doesn't remove the issues or whatever.

It just gives you that peace that surpasses all understanding in a trial. I think that's what this is going to. That you may not understand why this happened to you, but there's an underlying peace throughout that trial. That you understand that God's in control. lost in this but underneath I just understand you're in control and that gives me an understanding and a peace, the fruit of the spirit, peace, patience, joy, all the things. So I think that's really what we're getting at is that, you know, it's in the midst of a trial you have that peace that the world does not have or does not understand. Do you think God could accomplish the three purposes In question one, any other way? I would say no, because that's the way he did it and he has the best plans. Think about it. How else could he accomplish what he's after? I don't think there's any other method that would do the job.

If we look through the Bible and examples, my good buddy Nebuchadnezzar, He's blessed him, he's done everything, it's all great and all great. He wasn't looking at God for anything, until what? He's eating with the cows. Job, prosperous, everything going. He's, from a worldly perspective, he's the man. What did he do? What does he end?

And I read that passage. last week about, in the end, I know that you're in control. I know that you are God, and my ways are not your ways. But again, I don't think he could have come there. I think the process is there. I guess he created us, he knows us. He knows what we do in blessings, only blessings.

You know, to share his glory with us sounds like a wonderful thing. But the sin nature is of such a character that it's going to try to take as much credit as it can. He has to put us in a position where the sharing of his glory is separated from my old man. Otherwise I'm going to grab it and use it for myself. Yeah, and I think that's, you know, knowing that we still have two natures. I think that's, it's, the trials are meant to separate, separate from that a little bit more, to identify, well, identify our old man.

And you're trusting in him or you're trusting in me? Sure. I'm going to show how much they don't know the Bible. But, you know, the all is vanity, which one is that? And that was David? No, it was Solomon. Oh, it was Solomon. Like, didn't he have everything?

And he was blessed in every way, but it still came down to, you know what? It's all just vanity anyways. It's all just temporary. All these riches, all these cows I have, all these... everything I have, it still ends up coming down to, you know, it's just here on this planet, and it doesn't mean anything.

If I can find this verse. Yeah, that's the one I'm looking at. I think it's 12 here. Everything is basically worthless outside. Exactly. Here it is. And that's the one I use for that. Because here's Solomon, the smartest guy ever, whatever, wisest, and all that. Not smartest, wisest. What? Not smartest, wisest.

In the end, in Ecclesiastes 12, in addition to being a wise man, the preacher also taught the people knowledge, and he pondered and searched out and arranged many proverbs. The preacher sought to find delight in words and to write words of truth correctly. The words of wise men are like goads, and masters of these collections are like well-driven nails. They are given by one shepherd.

But beyond this, my son, be warned. The writing of many books is endless, and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body. The conclusion, when all has been heard, is fear God. So all the wisdom, all the things, everything, the last thing is fear God. And basically that's respect, it is not like cowering this, it is God is the one who is all-knowing, all-powerful, all this.

All the wise words that you hear, you go to the bookstore and you find the best books you can find. Everything else that you can pick up. Or Google. Wikipedia. Anything like that, it comes back to God's Word and who God is. Understand Him. Trust Him. Wisest man ever. In the end, it's God. Yeah, what's so beautiful about that? It doesn't matter how much education or money or anything they have, we're all on one level.

Like, you know, again, I go back to Job, why is all this, and those speeches, the three speeches to Job, you know, where were you when I created, where were you, what were you doing when I was doing, where, what's your great plan? You know, in the end, he just, in Zachlod the Nash, says, you know, I'm insignificant, I am, I cannot thwart any, you are God. So. In the Old Testament, Where, now I can't, whoever you were talking about just then. Solomon? Job? Job.

When he says, I know that my Redeemer liveth. Well, was he talking about Jesus in the Old Testament? I think, you know, many of the references point to him. I think it is. Yeah, I think it is. At that point, he is referencing that, even though not by name. You know, I think the Lord shows up in different ways, I think, in the Old Testament, but not named. It was that last... I'm trying to find the one in those verses I read. Oh, yeah.

In Job 42, 1 and 2, after all the speeches, then Job answered the Lord and said, I know that you can do all things and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted." After all the speeches and all the things, you know. And again, he needed trials to come to that point. They took away his family, took away everything, took everything away. And in the end, I know that nothing of yours can be thwarted.

The verse that has puzzled me now always is, he said, though the worms eat this flesh, you know, yet I ate this body, yet in my flesh will I see God. So I couldn't understand the word using flesh. I don't know if we'll have flesh. We'll have bodies and new bodies.

So yeah. I will be like him. But it won't decay. We won't have any decay there. What fascinates me about the Old Testament saints is that none of them are family. They're men of God and women of God and they recognize God for who He is and they're impressed. And they know about a Redeemer. But then you get to Paul's epistles like this Romans 5 passage that we're looking at. And it's a totally, I mean totally different game. We are not Old Testament saints. But that's not fair. We're families. That's not fair. Fair has nothing to do with it.

Thank you. But we're family and I think a lot of times we study Paul's epistles and we try to put ourselves in an Old Testament mindset rather than in a family mindset. of the favor we enjoy as being sons of God. Sons not in title, but in absolute organic offsprings of the God of the universe, not created, but in the likeness of Christ. And we don't grab a hold and believe the grace that God has extended to us, because one, we know we're not worthy. Look, there's the three reasons we've already picked on. And that God intends to share his glory with us for all eternity. as sons, family.

I go back to where in the Old Testament do you see John 17? You don't. Where do you see that? You don't. We are in a different category. We have been placed into him. And you don't see that in the Old Testament. Going back to the Old Testament, Galatians 3, 23, 24, whatever it is, that the law was a tutor to point us to Christ. Christ has come. We have no longer need of the law. Again, we're now in Christ. It's totally different than in the Old Testament. Totally different. You don't see John 17. You don't see any of those things.

And, you know, this intimacy, just as I was saying about Abba Father. Well, I'll repeat it for you now as you hear the... Do you ever see Abba Father? by the individual in the Old Testament. Anybody saying, they couldn't even say Yahweh, they couldn't even... Couldn't say his name. Couldn't say his name. So how are we now?

What I was sharing was... I was saying, based on what you said last week about Abba Father being the intimacy and what that means. And so I was looking back at it in Romans 8.15 and Galatians 4.6 is where it tells us about us saying Abba Father. But the other part that I, when I pulled some of this up was in Mark 14, 36, that's where we're Christ speaking.

And he says, all he was saying, Christ, Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me, yet not what I will, but you will. He says the exact same terminology to the father is what he's told us we can. So we have the exact same relationship. to the Father as Christ. Christ said it the exact same way. Abba, Father, Daddy, if it's your will, remove this cup.

We have the exact same ability, the intimacy to have that same relationship. It's phenomenal. Anyway, okay, moving on. Where are we? I'm two now. We're still on two. No, no, we're still there. We haven't even, we haven't broached that yet. Let's see. God's purpose in our trials is to share Christ's glory with us. We now rejoice.

So I said first look at the Greek word for rejoice in Romans 5.3.

It's... We're never going to get there. Oh, you're the one who encouraged this number too. What you said, Abba Father, take this cup for me if it's your will. I think that shows how even getting to the point of rejoicing is growth. I think it's all growth, yeah. So you might not start off like, oh, thanks a lot Chris, I'm happy about it. It's like, take it from me if you can.

And the Hungry Heart one that I read too, it's in the beginning when you're a new believer. Remember, we've talked about that a lot of times, he'll take you out of the trial quickly. Because you don't know these things. But as you grow, he'll leave you in those trials and grow to glorify himself. through us. And learning to, sort of learning, growing, expanding to be able to rejoice in them. Yeah, it's the growth and it's this conforming to the image of Christ. And we start as a babe, you know, again, A newborn can't do calculus. You know, you grow and you go through and you get to the point.

Well, maybe I shouldn't use calculus. Maybe a lot of you don't do calculus. This is the engineer in me. Basic math. You know, you grow. And that's this whole process. So, anyway, let's go on. Well, when I think of rejoice, I think of... So, I said, Maybe not rejoice, but trust. So that would be...

Everybody has enough trials that pretty soon you just know, this has been the hardest thing for me to learn, that I am not in control. Yeah, he's the one. And you know, it's the best place for you to be. Very best place for you to be. Because once you realize it's not you, it's him, then guess what? You have peace in that. You start to understand through that trial that, you know, he's allowing this, and like I said, it's the underlying peace in anything that happens with you.

You know, and looking at the Greek word for rejoice in Romans 5.3, from Strong's Concordance, it means boast, glory, joy, or rejoice. Zodiates put it to boast, glory, exult, both in good and bad sense. It may be the boast in your trial. It may be the joy in the trial. It may rejoice in it.

It's basically the faith trusting that he's the one in control. And that's where I think, as I said last week, that's where the spirit is working this, and you get the joy, singular, or the fruit of the spirit, which is joy, peace, rest, all those things. Because the Holy Spirit is convicting and convincing you that God's allowed this. Okay. I just have a different way to approach things. Because I understand that it's His purposes. As I said, I'm not jumping up and down.

Yes, Lord, I love this burning building I'm in. I've learned so much here. I'm so grateful to be in this church. But I wouldn't have learned anything if I hadn't gone through... I'm sure everybody feels that way. If I hadn't gone through and continue to go through that... I keep asking myself, if you're going to have another class, maybe it should be about peace.

Well, hopefully this faith class will get you there. You know what? And I think of this too. Guess what? He's taking you all through your life and allows you to get right here. Right. I went through a bunch of stuff and I think how I got here. And it was painful in a lot of ways. I could go through it. It was very painful. But at the end it's like, well, duh. Thank you, Lord. I thank Joseph. I always equate it to being like Joseph.

When he was down in the bottom of the pit, when his brother threw him in the pit, you think he's doing the happy dance? what, 20 years later, 30 years later, whatever it was, I don't know how many years it was before he, you know, then he's in Egypt in the position of authority and saving his brothers and his family. He knew along the way that God was using, what is it that, what man meant for ill, God meant for good. At the time, you may not understand it, but as you proceed, oh, that's what you were doing.

And I'll get to some other verses on that. So anyway, we're moving on to? Okay, questions I had about rejoicing in our childhood. Does this sound crazy now? Yes. No. Honest answer? That we're to rejoice? Not crazy. It sounds... I don't have a word for it. You know what this class has kind of taught me and this is like a kindergarten kind of an idea.

But it's that just like we all believe in Jesus and our friends think we're nuts for doing that. We also believe that God's word is literally true and every word is true. And so all these things we're learning, we can count on them. And like I've got an atheist friend who said, you're a fool. How often has God talked to you and tell you everything's going to be fine?

Or whatever. I just have to believe, because I've gotten to the point where I believe in Jesus. I can also believe, regardless of my outward circumstances, that everything is totally fine and right and lockstep what God's doing. That's it. And what is the process by how you get there? By faith. Believe. Trust. Remember faith is the things of God. It's Him. The underlying base rock thing is that it's of God. And then we get down to our personal faith is believing those things of God. It's true.

And so, you know, my next question is, does this sound crazy? So, if it's crazy, are we supposed to ignore these verses? Is this snip and clip? Quickly go over these verses. Oh, that sounds painful. We can't possibly mean that. Let's move on. Thoughts.

So what are we supposed to do then? believe it. Well, I think that the trials and stuff that we go through, whether they're of our own making or, you know, from outside, you know, something that we weren't involved in starting, that, you know, where it says that we have peace with God, that's a position, right? But then the condition, the peace that's a condition comes from really laying hold of what God says and believing that it is for the good. Yeah. But another thing, too, that I believe that I don't think it's, you know, Mike says a lot, it's not all about us. You know, it's about God and His glory.

But I think as a body, it goes, the trials that each one of us goes through in this body, we grow as a body. I grow from your trials, you grow from my trials, and God, you know, in the Spirit, we pray for each other. And I think that there's growth there just as a body. And there are verses on that, and I'll get to some of those too, about the body concept. But each one, because each one, we're all not feet in the body of Christ. We're all not hands, we're all not arms, we're all not... So, He's forming us in different ways, shapes, and forms.

Individually, you. And your circumstances are not my circumstances. What he needs to do for you is completely different than what he needs to do for me. And that's a beautiful thing. That's that intimacy between him and you. He knows you. He created you. He knows me better than me. great position to be in.

And see, that's the whole bedrock of this, intimacy with Him, understanding Him, and then the faith. As I've gone through this, I'm amazed how much faith comes into all these things. It's believing. Do you believe it? And if you do, then you're conforming to Christ's image.

That was interesting what you said, I never thought of that, that the fruit of the Spirit is part of the position, right? Not a condition. Well, now it's a conditional, but it is, you know, I think... The fruit can be a condition. I don't know if it's a position, really.

I guess it is, because the Holy Spirit is indwelling you in that, so that would be it. I guess it's in our position, we have the Holy Spirit, which gives us all that. But then in our condition, do we believe it? Well, is it the Holy Spirit gives us that, or that we already have it and we're just I think we already have it. We have it. It's just whether, yeah, reckoning it or understanding it. All these things, you know, again, I go back, it's by faith, by faith, by faith, by faith, by faith.

We should have a class on that. I know. That would be neat. It would be kind of fun. I was just going to say, there's been some things that are going on in my mind about, you know, we talk about just believing And I think some of us in the back of our mind are saying, well, okay, I'd like to get to that point with this thing or that thing.

And so, just to kind of unravel that a little bit, I was thinking about what is the opposite of unbelief? Or, I'm sorry, belief. We think of it as unbelief, but if you think about the position of the mind that you have to be in in order not to believe something in God's Word, You go back to the very first episode in Genesis, and you say, well, God said this. I'm not ready to believe it. And you think that's some kind of neutral, safe ground. Like, I'm going to get there one day. But what that really is, it's a place of judgment over God. And it's a place of saying, I know better than you about this circumstance.

I don't need to be rejoicing because I know better than you that this is not a good thing and that you don't know what you're doing. I think it's important for us to put that clarity in our brain about how we're thinking when we're not operating by faith, because the opposite of operating by faith is operating as a judge over God.

Yeah, you don't believe Him. That's right. It's not even just, I don't believe Him, I know better than you. Well, yeah. It goes deep. Yeah, the deeper part of that is that, yeah, I don't believe it, it's the Job. Yeah, it's Job, absolutely. You know, I know better than you, what are you doing to me? It's like Adam and Eve. Yeah, it is, and that's the point.

And I think it's important for us as we wrestle with truths in these ways that we not be, we not kind of sweep our place of unbelief under the rug and say, well, hopefully I'll get there one day. But you recognize where you actually are standing over God in that matter. See, I think that's the spiritual growth. He brings us through that to understand those very truths. that by rejecting these or not believing in, it's rejecting him and saying, yeah, I know better. It's a process. It is. I would love to say, and I think you know that it's wonderful and I just snap my fingers and this happens. It doesn't. It's a process.

My point is, how long do you want to fight it? That's mine, it's that one, how long we want, whatever it was, our father will not deliver us from Bajin unless we want him to. Unless I keep fighting him, he's going to keep me and keep trying to get me out of that position or that area he's working on. When do I say, okay, I believe you, I trust you, you know better than I do.

I think about the atheist friend and the arrogance that is required in order to stand over God and say, you know, how many books has your friend read that exist? I mean, what amount of knowledge does a person need to know that God doesn't exist and His word is not true? And the amount of just sheer judgment and arrogance that's required in order to make those statements is mind-boggling. As believers, we submit to an all-knowing, all-loving, and so forth, God. That's the essence of faith, is who He is and His qualities. It just really... It gets me fired up to think about how arrogant a person is.

And we still wrestle with those same sentiments because we're in the world and we still grab hold of that judgment over God and we apply it to areas of growth and faith, not His existence, but whether or not this trial is really useful to my glory, not being glorified in Him at all. And so we take some of those arrogant, you know, things that we see in the world against the Lord, and we still carry those out in our smaller ways. And it needs to be called what it is in your own heart, so that you can take it before. And it seems like it goes back to the garden when it says, when you do this, you'll die and you'll be like gods.

And I think that's the arrogance right there. It's like you think you're your own god. That's right. I just have the whole thing according to what I've learned. Not a bread. And anyway, my kelatism tanned up into a big bubble. I would appeal to that. What did she say? Mikey wants to talk.

I have a question. Based on these verses in Romans 5, Is there any other way? We study doctrine, objective truth, and then we also study how God intends to do things, how he's going to carry them out, the principles he's going to use. Is there any other way to God's glory than through suffering? No, that's what we're saying.

I don't think so. I think there is. There is, he said? There is not. Oh, is it? Yeah. I mean, Christ is the example. What if Christ would have saved the world by coming in, I'm king and everything's great and now y'all are saved. Christ suffered. Well, there's a lot.

I mean, you know, it says we're appointed to trials. So the point being that that is the only road you can travel. And then here's the issue about rejoicing in your sufferings. If you know the end game, and so you have the knowledge about what God is intending to do, and then he says not only is that the end game, but here's how I'm going to get you there through trials and sufferings. Then you begin to understand, well, yeah, that's kind of cool.

If that's the way we're going, then let's go that way. And then the Spirit comes in. Peace, joy, all those things. It all comes together. And that's the thing. If we put it all together and, by faith, believe Him, you're conforming to His image. I think it starts from when we're little types. Look how long it takes for you to learn to walk. You fall down, you get up, you fall down, you get up.

Like I said, how long do you want to keep struggling? That's what I just keep asking myself. How long do I want to fight these truths? How many times do I want to black this section out because I really don't want to say, yeah, you're bringing this trial on me. God uses this process to share His glory with us because His character is approved and revealed through each trial. In His grace, our position, our walk of faith in Him, our condition, reveals His life in us.

Wow, we got to question two. By this time, we'll get to the end of the thing by January of next year. Well, we'll start on question 3 next week, and we'll move quickly through these. And the last 3 or 4, it'll go very quickly. The 8, 9, 10, 11 will go very quickly. Alright, let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you. Again, we thank you just for all these truths.

And we just rest in the fact that you're in control. Again, we just many times fight you and think our ways are better than your ways. And that is just total rejection of you. and what you've said in your word and again we just pray that we will rest in the truths first in the knowledge that we know these facts and then we'll rest in them by faith and again we just we pray again working in each and every one of us just to realize that you're in control and that you love us and that you have appointed us to trials And it is not to be mean, not to be cruel, not any other thing, but to take us through to where we can reveal your glory. And when we understand these things, what a position you put us in. What an awesome position you put us in, to go through a trial and many of the verses that we'll get to about why, not only for our growth, but for others.

And we thank you again for just the position we have in Christ and what that means. And again, we just thank you again that you just haven't left us alone. You've left us with your word and the indwelling spirit. And we just thank you for that. We do just uplift and run in the next meeting just to accurately give us the word and just prepare our hearts to receive it. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.