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Showing posts from January, 2007
The Certainty of Our Sanctification – Romans 8:28-39! By Pastor Lee Hemen January 28, 2007 AM I remember the old comedy TV show Hee Haw where they would sing that uplifting song: “Gloom, despair, and agony on me! Deep dark depression, excessive misery! If it weren’t for bad luck I’d have no luck at all. Gloom, despair, and agony on me!” Sadly, there are Christians that go through their lives in Christ with much the same view. They often see the light at the end of the tunnel as an oncoming train instead of a ray of hope. When being blessed by God they wonder when the other shoe of God will drop and He will use them for His own personal footstool. Paul relates that believers do not and should not live their lives in this manner. In fact he relates to us the certainty of our sanctification. Our holy lives in Christ are not dependent upon how we feel, circumstances, or our status in life. Our salvation is something God has planned all along. Yes, predestination is alive and well whether w
Our Goal for Sanctification! - Romans 8:18-27 by Pastor Lee Hemen January 21, 2007 Most people in our day and age do not like to wait for anything patiently. If we do not get what we want, when we want, and in the way we think we should have gotten it all along, we will fuss, moan, and gripe about it until we do. We live in an age when adults act like children all their lives and are encouraged to. This convoluted thinking has infected the Christian church as well. Gone are the days of self-sacrifice. Gone is the call to placing others first. Gone is the teaching that we are to be working to establish the kingdom of God here on earth, before He returns. Gone is the call to live holy lives for the Lord. Rather, we live in an age where we seek first our kingdom, our way of living, and our a happiness and to heck with anything that gets in our way, even our faith! Christianity has become a self-serving concept, instead of a life-changing revolution. Christians have forgotten what they are
The Dynamics of Sanctification! - Romans 8:1-17 by Pastor Lee Hemen January 7, 2007 The question that logically arises when we as believers are faced with sin or temptations that overwhelm us is: “Must we as Christians spend our whole life frustrated by ongoing defeats to sin in our life?” We learned what Paul wrote on this issue last time when we looked at Romans 7 and came away with the answer that there is a power provided to achieve victory in the life of a believer – Jesus Christ! It is a fact that children always want to know if they are protected or not. In reality, if the physical or psychological protection a child receives is hindered in any way, they usually grow up emotionally stunted in some way. The same is true for the children of God when they do not grow in the Lord and remain spiritually stunted to their sin. In chapter 8, Paul describes for us the ministry of the indwelling Holy Spirit of God who is the source of divine power for sanctification and the secret for sp