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And now if you turn your 
attention to the reading of 

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God's word, our Scripture 
reading from today comes from 

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great surprise, the book of 
Ephesians. 

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We are still there. 
Ephesians chapter 2. 

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We actually have the same 
scripture passage we had last 

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week. 
This week. 

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I'll do my best to to kind of go
and dive deeper into the 

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richness that are there. 
But we'll, we'll have our eyes 

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towards verse 10 for this week, 
but we'll read verses 4 through 

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10. 
But God being rich in mercy 

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because of the great love with 
which he loved us, even when we 

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are dead in our trespasses, made
us alive together with Christ. 

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By grace you have been saved and
raised us up with Him, and 

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seated us with Him in the 
heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

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so that in the coming ages He 
might show the immeasurable 

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riches of His grace and kindness
towards us in Christ Jesus. 

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For by grace you have been saved
through faith, and this is not 

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your own doing. 
It is the gift of God, not a 

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result of work, so that no one 
may boast. 

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For we are His workmanship, 
created in Christ Jesus for good

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works which God prepared 
beforehand that we should walk 

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in them. 
This is the word of the Lord. 

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Thanks be to God, you may be 
seated. 

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I think it's fair to say that we
could all agree that there is 

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quite a bit of public outrage 
these days. 

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Feels like you can't escape it 
before the next outrage comes 

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out. 
From day-to-day could be outrage

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over public speakers, moves by 
political leaders, outrage when 

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we feel like those who are 
called to represent us don't 

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embody what they feel they 
should embody. 

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Much ink could be spilled on the
subject. 

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But I think I think that this 
outrage occurs because it's a 

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collision of two very different 
ideals. 

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The first ideal is the ideal of 
individualism, individual 

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expression as a secular society.
As we move in that direction, 

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yes, even here in Texas, in our 
quest for knowledge, we have 

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also moved into this hyper 
individualism where the 

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individual has almost the divine
responsibility to create an 

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identity for themselves, believe
what they want to believe, value

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what they want to value. 
This ideal is in conflict with 

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another ideal that we actually 
still retain in parts even as a 

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modern society. 
And that is the idea of federal 

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representation, legal 
representation. 

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That is even in our increasing 
distrust of institutions, I do 

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think we are increasing in our 
distrust of institutions. 

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We has still retained some level
as a Society of representation 

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through others. 
Parents are legal 

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representatives of their 
children. 

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Lawyers are able to represent 
their clients and however good 

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or bad they may be, that is the 
verdict that is given. 

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Elected officials in our 
democracy represents their 

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constituents and our national 
governments. 

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Even if you don't vote for the 
president, you feel as if that 

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president represents you to the 
world. 

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We carry on this idea of a 
federal head, even if there's a 

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growing culture of distrust and 
we hold this idea of radical 

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individualism. 
I think this is perhaps the 

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reason for our outrage. 
They collide. 

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That's why we believe a public 
speaker at our university should

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represent all those of the 
university. 

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But we also can't handle it. 
Their opinion they hold, it 

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feels in conflict with something
we hold dear as individuals, and

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so we land on outrage. 
I bring up this idea because I 

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want God to use His Word to 
shape our lives, to shape us and

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to form us in light of the 
culture that we live in. 

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And I want us to see where His 
Word affirms, where His truth 

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affirms what the culture might 
believe, and also where it 

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critiques it. 
See this idea of someone 

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representing us beyond our own 
opinion of ourselves, that that 

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idea is extremely important. 
This dynamic of Ephesians one 

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and two, and really the whole of
the New Testament. 

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And from a more theological 
term, the theological term that 

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helps illuminate the truths here
in Scripture are Christ's union 

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with us, our union with Christ. 
This phrase in Jesus Christ was 

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all over our text. 
It's been all over our text. 

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We can't escape from our union 
with Christ. 

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So in this idea, our union with 
Christ commends society's 

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remnant belief of our 
institutions being able to 

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represent us as legal heads, 
federal heads. 

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We believe as Christians and 
federal representation because 

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without it we would be dead in 
our trespasses and sins. 

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Our union with Christ critiques 
secular cultures desire to say 

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that how we define ourselves as 
being the most important thing 

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about us because the most 
important thing about a 

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Christian is being in Christ. 
Our union with Him has granted 

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us everything we need for life 
and godliness in this age and 

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the one to come. 
Let's look at how our confession

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of faith teaches us to 
understand our union with Christ

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in the Shorter Catechism. 
Questions 29 through 32 really 

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do pertain to this topic. 
I'm just going to read questions

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29 and 30 to you all. 
It's a question and an answer 

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from our Shorter Catechism. 
This is question 29. 

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How are we made partakers of the
redemption purchased by Christ? 

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Answer. 
We are made partakers of the 

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redemption purchased by Christ 
by the effectual application of 

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it to us by his Holy Spirit. 
Simple enough, right? 

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How are we made to partake or 
share in these benefits and is 

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in Jesus Christ, in Jesus Christ
that He purchased for us, and 

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His cross and resurrection? 
They must be applied to us by 

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the work of the Holy Spirit. 
But how exactly does the Spirit 

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do this? 
That's the next question. 

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Question 30. 
How doth the Spirit applied to 

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us the redemption purchased by 
Christ? 

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The Spirit applies to us the 
redemption purchased by Christ 

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by working faith in US and 
thereby uniting us to Christ and

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our effectual calling. 
That is how we get from 

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Ephesians 1 to Ephesians 2, 
union with Christ. 

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Let me remind you, chapter 1. 
Go back just a little bit in 

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your Bibles, verses 18 to 20, 
having the eyes of your hearts 

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enlightened, that you may know 
what is the hope to which He has

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called you? 
What are the riches of His 

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glorious inheritance in the 
Saints? 

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And what is the measurable 
greatness of His power towards 

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us who believe according to the 
working of His great might, that

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He worked in Christ when he 
raised him from the dead and 

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seated Him at His right hand in 
the heavenly places. 

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This is a prayer, a doxological 
prayer of worship and 

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Thanksgiving. 
Paul is is making and it's all 

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about Christ. 
Christ was raised from the dead.

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Christ was seated at the right 
hand in the heavenly places. 

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And then chapter 2, verses 5 and
6, even when we were dead in our

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trespasses, made us alive 
together with Christ, by grace 

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you have been saved, and raised 
us up with Him, and seated us 

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with Him in the heavenly places 
in Christ Jesus. 

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This should blow our minds. 
What was true of Jesus in 

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chapter 1 is true of us united 
with Christ in chapter 2. 

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Remember, these are past tenses 
of the verbs. 

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This has already happened for 
believers. 

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You have been made alive. 
Do not forget it. 

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You have been raised, you have 
been seated, and this expresses 

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our union with Christ. 
But how are we to understand the

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nature of our being made alive 
together with Christ, being 

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raised, being seated with him? 
I think this is important 

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because we know, and we must say
because what the Scriptures tell

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us, Christ was literally dead, 
physically dead, and then was 

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made alive. 
His heart was beating. 

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Cycles could touch him and feel 
him. 

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He was alive and we also know 
Christ was physically ascended 

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into heaven. 
It was a physical act. 

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It was a moment of wow and 
amazement. 

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And we know that Christ is 
seated at the right hand of God 

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in heavenly places. 
We have been united to Christ 

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but are being made alive. 
Being raised and being seated in

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this earthly life is in the 
spiritual sense and in the legal

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sense. 
Because of our union with 

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Christ, we have been made 
spiritually live. 

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We've been spiritually ascended 
and spiritually seated with 

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Christ. 
His righteousness has been 

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imputed to us. 
It has been granted to us in the

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legal sense, in every sense of 
the term. 

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Because of His representation, 
we are called innocent. 

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We are called forgiven. 
We talked about last week how 

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Paul, he made-up these three 
verbs, made a new word using 

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some verbal conjunctions that 
the Greek, the original 

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language, allows him to do. 
Made alive together, raised 

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together, seated together in the
past tense. 

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He does so by adding the prefix 
sin syn. 

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We use that prefix in some of 
our English words still like or 

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the same. 
Paul has done this throughout 

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his letters. 
He does it in other writings. 

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And so these are the other ways 
in which he's made us together 

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with Christ. 
Galatians 220 we have been 

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crucified with Christ. 
Romans 64 We have been buried 

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with Christ and share with him 
in his death. 

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First Corinthians 39 and 
Philippians 2IN different parts 

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we work together with Christ. 
Pastor Rob mentioned that in our

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in our time of confession, 
Philippians 310 we imitate 

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Christ and are conformed to who 
he is. 

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Past tense of the verbs that now
makes sense of a present tense 

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reality of being Christ's 
workmanship. 

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Look at me Ephesians 210. 
For we are his workmanship 

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present tense. 
We are his workmanship created 

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in Christ Jesus for good works 
which God prepared beforehand 

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that we should walk in them. 
I think that first phrase of the

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verse, it enlightens much of 
what we're to gain from the 

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Scriptures today. 
We first person plural, not just

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Paul, not just an I, but a we. 
That is what has been given to 

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the church, to the apostles in 
the Apostolic ages, now made 

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true for all those who are in 
Christ. 

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We are present tense. 
It is real right now, and it's 

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not a it will be or when we're 
made perfect, but it's actually 

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right now. 
We are his workmanship, His 

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union with Christ. 
Again, we are His because he has

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made it so. 
Workmanship, the expression of 

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his work of salvation. 
It's the collective body of 

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Christ, exemplifying his glory 
on earth as it is in heaven. 

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This word for workmanship in the
original language is poema. 

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It's actually used only one 
other time in the New Testament 

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from the first chapter of 
Romans, and it's actually very 

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simply stated there that just 
things that are made. 

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It's used in terms of the 
general revelation, special 

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revelation topic of 1st and 
chapter 1 of Romans, things that

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are made. 
It's very simple noun. 

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00:14:05,320 --> 00:14:08,120
What makes the difference here 
and why it's translated 

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workmanship is the presence of 
the possessive pronoun His. 

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We are His thing that was made, 
but in a special way. 

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We are His workmanship. 
We're not just anything that was

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made, but we are His that was 
made. 

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00:14:26,800 --> 00:14:32,520
He who united us to Christ is 
also the one who made us. 

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00:14:34,600 --> 00:14:41,760
Created for good works in Christ
Jesus union. 

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Again, being united with Christ 
is the best work that God could 

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ever have prepared for us 
beforehand. 

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And also as we are to understand
this truth that is lived out, we

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see that God uses that plan for 
His glory here on earth. 

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I heard a beautiful, beautiful 
testimony this week from a 

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brother, a fellow member of our 
church. 

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He actually serves as a chaplain
in the hospital. 

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And as a chaplain in the 
hospital, he's often meeting 

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people in their worst moments in
life, a time when diagnosis are 

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given, the time where life 
actually ends. 

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He's often in the room with them
and always trying to assess what

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is the situation of the room 
that he's going into because he,

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he never knows. 
It's often the first time that 

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he meets them and that's when 
he's called to serve them. 

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This particular time recently, 
he was called as a patient was 

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getting ready to, to die and 
the, and the family was present.

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And so he didn't know what to 
expect. 

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What he entered into, though, 
was a time of worship. 

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This family knew that their 
loved one was united with 

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Christ, and that union was about
ready to be made more full. 

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00:16:11,800 --> 00:16:15,560
So how they expressed that was 
by singing hymns. 

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And the hymn singing lasted for 
probably 45 minutes straight. 

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This member of our church didn't
know what he was stepping into, 

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but as he walked into that room,
the hymns just began to come out

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of him. 
He didn't know what hymns they 

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were singing next. 
And he said he knew those hymns 

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because he learned them at this 
church. 

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He remembered being a part of 
the children's choir, and those 

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hymns were taught to him from a 
young age. 

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And so imagine the God that we 
serve that knew that this young 

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man, probably ages of five and 
six, was learning the hymns that

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would then be giving God glory 
many decades later as he's 

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serving him in the hospital in 
this room of worship filled the 

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air in this moment that could be
seen as a moment of sadness, but

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they were giving glory to God 
who is uniting this brother or 

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sister in Christ to him. 
This brother walked out of the 

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hospital room and said that the 
the doctors, the nurses, the 

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texts, they had never seen 
something like this before, 

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singing that did not stop for 
that period of time, and that 

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Matthew got to join him in that 
process. 

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God has prepared good works for 
us, and because He has prepared 

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those good works for us, which 
is ultimately that we are united

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with Christ and will be in the 
heavenly places. 

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We can wait for that with 
patience, with perseverance, as 

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we wait for being united with 
Him physically and fully 

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forever. 
I say that because I think the 

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encouragement that we have here 
from verse 10 is if we're being 

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honest in our following 
condition, we don't always feel 

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like the good works are being 
produced and we're tempted to 

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either feel bad or feel good 
about that truth. 

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The good works aren't always 
being produced or sometimes they

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might be there in parts and 
we're tempted to not see the 

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good works in Christ Jesus, but 
to see them for just what they 

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are, good or bad. 
We actually read in our Easter 

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Whitney today a little bit about
what happened to with Jesus and 

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how he angered. 
We use that phrase a lot for the

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words of John Christostum. 
Let me just read it one more 

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time. 
By descending into death, he 

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made death captive. 
He angered it when it tasted of 

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his flesh. 
It was angered for it was 

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defeated. 
It was angered for it was 

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mocked. 
It was angered for it was 

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abolished. 
It was angered for it was 

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overthrown. 
It was angered for it was bound 

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in chains. 
So as we think about being 

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encouraged about the works 
before us, want to remind us 

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that we are in a battle. 
We are in a battle with our 

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flesh. 
And I was reminded of my late 

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professor from seminary, Doctor 
Tim Keller, and how you used to 

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talk about this battle with sin 
before being in Christ and after

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being in Christ. 
And he often used the imagery of

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like a bear, a bear that was in 
the wild in our Easter Whitney 

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here today. 
That reminded me of this as 

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well. 
Doctor Keller would say before 

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our sin, it sort of lied 
dormant. 

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It sort of did what it wanted in
the wild. 

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It wasn't too bothered as it 
just roamed around. 

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And that was like our sinful 
nature before we were in Christ,

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because remember, our eyes had 
to be opened. 

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The Spirit had to renew our 
wills in such that we could 

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actually see our sin for what it
was, sin, and agree with God 

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that it was bad. 
But before that it was roaming 

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around like a bear in the wild. 
What happened though? 

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We became alive in Christ. 
It was like that bear was shot 

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with a gun. 
What happened? 

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It became angered, It didn't 
like it. 

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It became aware that it was sin 
and it tried to attack. 

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Doctor Keller would say that 
this is when the real battle 

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with our flesh ensues. 
Before we are numb to it. 

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We didn't have a category for 
it. 

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But now that we are alive to it,
we also have to realize that 

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it's been taken a shot at and 
the ultimate shot. 

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We know that Christ's death on 
the cross was the ultimate shot.

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It's nothing it can actually do 
to harm us. 

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But as we wait for our full 
reality of that, it's angry. 

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It's waging war against our 
spiritual nature. 

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Spiritual nature has its legal 
standing united with Christ. 

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There's nothing that can be 
separated from it. 

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But our flesh is angry. 
So I believe this message is for

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those Christians who feel 
discouraged in the battle. 

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They feel like they are losing 
it. 

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This is who Paul is writing to 
be reminded, dear brother, dear 

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sister, of the past tense nature
of reunion with Christ. 

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It is already happened and let 
us be renewed in our minds that 

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our good works are in Christ. 
There are results of reunion 

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with him, not on our actions 
here today. 

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The radical nature that we were 
dead and that he made us alive 

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00:22:16,360 --> 00:22:19,400
is meant to be an encouragement 
in our battle with sin to 

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confess, persevere and endure 
until Christ comes back again. 

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00:22:25,320 --> 00:22:30,960
Spiritual maturity is not purely
sinning less, but it's 

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shortening the amount of time 
between sin and confession, 

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00:22:34,920 --> 00:22:39,680
celebrating our union even 
quicker with Christ by going to 

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Him and talking to Him about our
battle with sin. 

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00:22:44,200 --> 00:22:46,280
But I also believe this message 
is for Christians who are 

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feeling overconfident in their 
battle with sin, like they have 

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00:22:50,360 --> 00:22:54,280
it under control. 
But I believe this is because 

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their good works are not in 
Christ Jesus, but are in the 

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00:22:57,720 --> 00:22:59,600
flesh. 
This is also who Paul would be 

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00:22:59,600 --> 00:23:03,760
writing to. 
If we are overconfident in our 

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00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:06,960
good works, it's probably 
because we think that we are 

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00:23:06,960 --> 00:23:10,360
earning something to God by 
doing them. 

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00:23:11,920 --> 00:23:15,480
If you heard these words today 
that God had prepared good works

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00:23:15,480 --> 00:23:18,800
for us, and you think about it, 
you say, wow, I must be really 

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00:23:18,800 --> 00:23:23,160
good at this. 
There may be a sense in which we

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00:23:23,160 --> 00:23:29,120
don't understand how dead we 
were, which is just dead, 

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00:23:30,520 --> 00:23:37,200
period, and how radical it was 
that God has imputed His 

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00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:43,000
righteousness to us. 
How we had to forsake His Son on

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00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:46,840
the cross to do it. 
And how even each week as we 

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00:23:46,840 --> 00:23:49,800
practice offering to God a 
portion of what He's giving back

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00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:53,200
to us, there's nothing that we 
can do to offer back to Him 

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00:23:53,600 --> 00:23:57,960
anything to make it equal. 
Celebrating our union with 

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Christ allows Christ best work, 
His work on the cross to shine 

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00:24:02,280 --> 00:24:06,640
in our lives and help us as we 
are tempted to be overconfident 

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00:24:07,160 --> 00:24:15,000
in our battle with sin. 
In my list of new verbs that 

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00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:18,000
Paul made-up with us, I left one
off the list. 

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00:24:19,280 --> 00:24:22,440
I think it's important to us as 
we close and as we look to the 

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table, and it comes from Romans 
816 to 17. 

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00:24:29,960 --> 00:24:33,320
The Spirit himself bears witness
with our Spirit that we are 

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00:24:33,320 --> 00:24:36,800
children of God. 
And if children then heirs, 

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00:24:37,560 --> 00:24:42,800
heirs of Christ, heirs of God 
and fellow heirs with Christ, 

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00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:48,280
provided we suffer with him in 
order that we also may be 

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00:24:48,280 --> 00:24:52,800
glorified with him. 
That's sin doxid, sin doxid. 

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00:24:52,800 --> 00:24:56,800
So that's that with glorified 
with him has that sin prefix. 

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And you hear that word that we 
say often in our Church of 

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00:25:00,200 --> 00:25:02,520
Doxazo. 
It's our what we use for our 

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00:25:02,520 --> 00:25:08,920
doxology means to give glory, to
give praise so that we will be 

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00:25:08,920 --> 00:25:18,600
Co glorified with Christ and all
of our battle with sin. 

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00:25:19,840 --> 00:25:22,200
Even though the simple nature 
persists, even though we have 

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00:25:22,200 --> 00:25:26,960
been united with Christ, because
we've been legally counted 

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00:25:26,960 --> 00:25:32,760
righteousness in Christ and all 
of that, God also tells us that 

351
00:25:32,760 --> 00:25:39,680
we'll also be glorified with 
Christ, the reigning Son of God 

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00:25:40,280 --> 00:25:44,920
and the ages to come. 
Let that encourage us as we 

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00:25:44,920 --> 00:25:47,280
March forward towards that 
reality. 

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00:25:48,120 --> 00:25:55,240
Let us pray God has become to 
the table. 

355
00:25:55,280 --> 00:26:00,320
And as we ponder Your word for 
us today, let us be reminded of 

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00:26:00,320 --> 00:26:05,000
these truths in a way that would
give you glory. 

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00:26:07,120 --> 00:26:13,920
God, our feeble minds are weak 
to comprehend and to respond to 

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00:26:13,920 --> 00:26:16,800
these beautiful realities that 
we see in Scripture. 

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00:26:17,280 --> 00:26:20,120
And so I thank you for any 
little bit of the Holy Spirit 

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00:26:20,120 --> 00:26:23,640
illuminating it to us and making
it real to us and applying it to

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00:26:23,640 --> 00:26:28,000
us and reminding us that we are 
yours. 

362
00:26:29,120 --> 00:26:34,160
It's in Christ Jesus that we 
come to this table, as in Christ

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00:26:34,160 --> 00:26:37,840
Jesus that we desire to live 
lives of honour and glory, 

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00:26:37,840 --> 00:26:40,160
giving thanks to you, our 
Heavenly Father. 

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00:26:41,200 --> 00:26:43,960
And it's in Jesus Christ name 
that we pray, Amen.