Transcription downloaded from https://sermons.gracespringfield.com/sermons/40803/concluding-thoughts-on-prayer/.

Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions.
Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt.


[0:00] And I assume you're in the book of Ephesians. And we'll be looking at chapter 1, verses 3 through 14.

[0:15] Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.

[0:27] Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.

[0:40] In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.

[1:04] In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished on us.

[1:20] In all wisdom and insight, He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention, which He proposed in us, with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times.

[1:41] That is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens, and things on the earth.

[1:53] In Him also, we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose, who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, would be to the praise of His glory.

[2:20] In Him you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory.

[2:56] Well, needless to say, that is quite a jam-packed passage, and it is just absolutely loaded. With the spiritual benefits and blessings that God has poured out upon us, based upon what Christ accomplished for us.

[3:12] So, we're going to just kind of draw to an end some of the thoughts that we have been sharing with you, the subject of prayer. And I would be the first to admit that prayer is a very simple thing, in that, in reality, it is nothing more than communication with the Almighty.

[3:33] At the same time, it's an extremely complex thing. And that which makes it most complex, of course, is that one with whom we carry on a conversation, the Almighty.

[3:48] God has complexities about Himself that we cannot even imagine. And prayer is one of those things that we are commanded to do.

[4:00] Men ought always to pray, and not to faint. Now, that doesn't mean that you go around muttering a prayer all day long to the distraction of other responsibilities that you have.

[4:11] But I think the meaning of it there is that there ought not to be any situation enter our life that is exempt from the subject of prayer. And any decision that we are to make or any course of action that we are to take, we need to do so with consideration of what the Lord may have in mind.

[4:34] So, prayer is the designated vehicle of communication. We talk with each other and we get a kind of an exchange. I can say something to you and you can respond by saying something back.

[4:47] And in reality, God does the same thing. But He has already said everything that He wants us to know in His Word. So, when we talk to Him, that is our part of the conversation. And when we get into the Scriptures and see what God has put there for humanity, that is His part of the conversation, essentially.

[5:06] I look upon those who are always receiving strange information from the Lord and strange impulses and so on as sometimes being terribly misguided.

[5:17] And I know of a number of instances where tragic circumstances have come as a result of that. Actually, I'm thinking of one right now that I had not planned on bringing, but it is probably too illustrative to pass up.

[5:33] It was a boy meets girl thing and this boy had a terrific crush on this girl and he wanted to pursue her with the idea of perhaps eventually engaging in a marriage relationship relationship with her and he approached her and convinced her that God had been speaking to him and that God had told her, God had told him that he was to marry that particular girl.

[6:04] Well, I don't know if she was flattered or confused or whatever. Her most appropriate response, I think, would have been, well, that's strange.

[6:14] God never said anything to me about that. But, being as naive as she was and as innocent as she was and as wanting to please the Lord as she was and as insistent and as positive as he sounded, she thought, I don't want to be disobedient and if God has really told him that, then, and of course, they got married.

[6:37] And the rest of the story is a disaster because it was one of those things that should have never happened. So, when people think that they are getting some kind of special revelation from God like that, and I'm not saying it cannot happen, but I'm saying if it does happen, it will not be in contradiction to the principles and the truths that are recorded in the Word of God.

[7:02] It might be a confirmation of that, but it will not be foreign to that. And that you can count on. So, prayer is a designated vehicle of communication and we are told that prayer acknowledges human weakness and divine strength.

[7:21] Every time you go to God in prayer, you are automatically admitting that you are dealing with an issue, a situation, or something wherein you need divine assistance because you know you're not up to it.

[7:34] You know you cannot handle it. You know that it's over your head. You know you cannot do what it is you're praying about because if you could, you'd do it. And by the way, sometimes that's the course of action that needs to be taken rather than prayer.

[7:49] Sometimes when you know the right thing to do, don't bother praying about it. Just do it. Because God is not going to give you a different answer in prayer if it's already the right thing to do.

[8:00] And then there are times when we come to the Lord and we are confused, like Paul said in Romans chapter 8, for we know not what to pray for as we ought.

[8:14] And that's simply an admission of our weakness and of our lack of perspective and we just need to deal with that. It's okay. We're just human beings. We're not supposed to know everything. It's not part of our job description, but it's certainly part of his.

[8:27] So we are to simply acknowledge that there is so much that we don't know and that we often do not know how to pray. I can't tell you how many times I've been in situations where as a pastor I didn't know how to pray for certain situations or certain people and certain things.

[8:48] I had a limited perspective as to what I thought maybe ought to be done, but there were times when that turned out to be completely different from what actually happened, that God provided a solution, and it was something that never even occurred to me.

[9:06] You realize, of course, that God is infinitely creative when it comes to solving problems. I mean, he has solutions that we cannot even imagine. And prayer not only acknowledges human weakness, it acknowledges God's strength and ability.

[9:23] Prayer is to be accompanied with thanksgiving. We are to come before him, let our requests be made known before him, with prayer and thanksgiving. and that simply means that we are to be in a position, an attitude of gratitude continually.

[9:42] For whatever it is that God allows to come into your life, it ought to be with thanksgiving. That's what Paul meant when he said giving thanks in all things.

[9:54] And prayer should reflect affirmation rather than resignation. and this is a really important item.

[10:05] I want to spend a few moments with it. And I want to give credit where credit is due and I came across this original thought from the pen of Paul Little.

[10:16] He was at the time the president of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and he wrote a little pamphlet, just like a little eight-page pamphlet called Affirming the Will of God.

[10:28] And I've never had anything open my eyes to the subject of prayer and God's sovereignty more than that little six- or eight-page pamphlet.

[10:40] And the distinction that he made in it was just really eye-popping to me. The difference between affirming the will of God and resigning yourself to the will of God.

[10:55] The latter is what most of us do. been there and so have many of you. When you resign yourself to the will of God, it means that you are in some kind of situation, some kind of predicament, some kind of problem that you're dealing with and you don't know how to solve the thing.

[11:22] You don't know how to overcome it. Kind of like Paul was with his thorn in the flesh. and we ask the Lord to remove it and he doesn't.

[11:33] We ask him again to remove it and he doesn't. And maybe it was a visit to the doctor who says something like, well, really, we don't have a cure for this situation.

[11:46] We can medicate it, we can treat it, but we can't cure it. You're just going to have to learn to live with it. Okay, now you've got that on the authority from the doctor.

[12:01] So, the natural thing for us to do in our flesh and in our humanity is say, okay, I will just resign myself to that.

[12:12] I'll just buck up and bite the bullet and grin and bear it and resign myself to it because that's going to be my lot.

[12:23] that's a typical response, a very human response. But all the while, what you were thinking is this. God hasn't answered my prayer regarding this, just like he didn't answer Paul's prayer.

[12:42] And God obviously is not going to provide some kind of medical cure or breakthrough or something to relieve me of this condition.

[12:52] So, as the doctor said, I'm just going to have to live with it. I will resign myself to that. But, if I could change it, I would right now.

[13:12] That's resignation. That's second class. God is to do. I don't think Paul resigned himself to that thorn in the flesh at all.

[13:27] I don't think he said to himself or to the Lord, okay, that's the way it is. I'm just going to live with it. But in God saying that his grace is sufficient for him, Paul was able to do something that is so hard for all of us to do.

[13:44] And that is to affirm that as God's will. And when you affirm it, you are effectively seconding it.

[13:59] That's a whole different thing. That's a whole different thing. When you affirm something and you are seconding it, you are effectively saying, I accept this as my present assignment.

[14:18] It is nothing that I would choose, but it is obviously what God has chosen for me or has chosen to remain in me, and I'm going to second it.

[14:30] I'm not going to resign myself to it. I'm going to accept it and affirm it. First thing that will do is it will change your attitude entirely.

[14:41] if you look upon that as your present assignment, and it doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be a permanent assignment, but it does mean that it's your assignment for now.

[14:52] It's TDY. It's temporary duty. And by the way, all of our duties are temporary anyway, because we're all temporary. We're all moving toward that other land. But this can make a huge difference in your life if you can see whatever it is you're facing as an affirmation of God's will.

[15:14] It doesn't mean that you don't have a preference. Did Jesus have a preference when he was in the Garden of Gethsemane when he prayed, Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me?

[15:33] Don't you think Jesus was expressing his preference? Certainly he was. There's nothing wrong with that. And as Paul said in Philippians, that we are to let our requests be made known to God.

[15:50] And the peace of God will keep our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. So Jesus had a preference, and his preference was that this cup passed. What was a cup anyway?

[16:01] It was the cup of suffering, the cup of separation that he was being called upon to drink to its bitter dregs that would result in his being separated from his father, an event that had never happened.

[16:17] That was the cup. And then Jesus followed with this, nevertheless, not my will, not my preference, but your preference be done.

[16:29] will give whatever grace is needed when you are affirming his will. And as difficult and as painful and as gut-wrenching and heartbreaking and everything else as it was, for Jesus Christ to go to that cross, to carry that cross and go to that cross and die on that cross, that is all something in an inexplicable way that we cannot enter into.

[16:57] That was all something that God, his father, enabled him to do. In the same way that he provided grace for Paul to deal with that thorn in the flesh.

[17:10] God will always make a way for you to do his will. But when it's your will that you are pursuing, there can be some really rough bumps ahead.

[17:22] God will never call you to do anything that he wants you to do without empowering you or an enabling you to do it. That was true in Paul's case with the thorn in flesh, and it was true in Christ's case, and it's true in the lives of so many of us.

[17:37] And our major problem with Romans 8.28, let's turn to that quickly if we may. Our major problem with it is a time issue. We don't have that much difficulty in believing what the text says, but we do have real consternation sometimes with God's timetable.

[17:56] It doesn't say when God is going to work all things together for our good, at least not in that verse, but it does say in the subsequent verses, and I dare say that I think many a times these verses that follow verse 28 have been utilized as proof texts or to build a case for some kinds and different flavors of Calvinism that I do not think were written into the text.

[18:27] And what these verses are actually saying, if we keep them in the context, because the verses that follow are buttressing and explaining and providing the explanation for God working all things together for our good, and it is quite in depth, really.

[18:48] When he says, we know that God calls us all things to work together for good, to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose, for, or we could render that because, because, whom he foreknew, he also predestined to become conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

[19:15] Do you realize that verse 9 is proof positive to what has been stated in verse 28? And more is going to be added to it in the verses that follow.

[19:27] And the truth of the matter is, even though it is really difficult for us in our humanity to accept this, that God works all things together for our good, I'm going to say something now that's probably not going to register with some of you the first time, it may just go right over your head, but I want you to think about it.

[19:45] And the way that we know that God does work all things together for our good is that he's already done that. He has already done that.

[20:07] And you're probably thinking, well, how is that? How is that? Paul is explaining God working all things together for our good from his perspective, not from ours.

[20:24] And from his perspective, he has already worked everything to our ultimate good and it's over and done with. That's why all these verses are spoken of in the past tense.

[20:36] They are all related from God's point of view. Look at them, if you will. for whom he foreknew, that's past tense, he also predestined, that's past tense, to become conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the first born among many brothers.

[20:51] Do you realize in God's point of view, you already are? You're already conformed to Christ. And whom he predestined, you're already predestined.

[21:03] Then he also called, you're already called. And whom he called, these he also justified. You're already justified. And these he glorified.

[21:16] You're already glorified. That's the absolute ironclad guarantee that God works all things together for our good. Because this glorification is the end game.

[21:29] And God is announcing the results of the end game because from his point of view, it's already done. It's already over with. We consider ourselves in process.

[21:41] And we think in terms of when are these things going to work for my good? How long do I have to wait? You only have to wait until you're glorified. And when you're glorified, this all becomes a reality.

[21:55] And that means all of the ugliness and all of the weakness and all of the everything is already gone. It's all past. It's all over with. Now for us who live in time and space, we have to deal with the reality of the pain, the disappointment, the heartache, whatever it is that we're coping with right here and now.

[22:13] And we are hoping against hope that maybe somehow, maybe next week, this thing will turn around and be for my good. It is being for your good even while you are in process, even in the midst of the pain, even in the midst of the disappointment, the heartache, and everything else that comes into a life that is negative and hard to deal with.

[22:34] you are already, as far as God is concerned, you're already a finished prophet. You're already glorified in him. Now we know we live in this veil of flesh and this body that enables us to exercise a volition, to do right things and wrong things, and all of the things that we do that are positive and negative, they are all going to come out in the wash, in the glorification, and that will be the ultimate outcome of each and every one of us.

[23:11] What it simply means is, it is then when we are glorified. That's why all of these things are mentioned in the past tense.

[23:22] They are all presented as God's proof texts. words. It includes the predestination, the calling, the justification, and the glorification.

[23:37] And what then shall we say to these things? What's our response to that? Paul says, just this. If, and that's not a good translation, it should be since.

[23:53] Since God is for us, who is against us? Nobody is against us. Nobody can be against us with any result that matters, simply because God is for us.

[24:08] He, who did not spare his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how will he not also with him freely give us all things?

[24:19] When is he going to do that? That's part of the glorification. What do you want, the all things now? Well, yeah, we probably do, don't we? We probably do.

[24:31] He who gave us his own son, will he not also with him freely give us all things? Everything else. Do you think that's for now? No, of course not.

[24:45] Not intended to be for now. Hey, in case you never realized it, this is not heaven. And it's not supposed to be. The package that is being presented here is an ironclad guarantee that God is only kindly disposed toward us, even in regard to your orneriness and sin and disobedience and everything else.

[25:12] God still loves you with an undying love in the same way that a father loves a wayward child who is disappointing him by his disobedience and his behavior that does not lessen the father's love for him in any way, shape, or form.

[25:27] And God is going to see to it that everything, everything works together for your ultimate good. Now, the word ultimate isn't used here.

[25:39] But it is spelled out in the verses that follow. It's included in the justification, the calling, the glorification, everything. That's all part of it.

[25:51] I must confess, we've gone through Romans. I think we spent years ago, we spent eight years in the book of Romans. Some of you were here for that time.

[26:01] And it was rich and it was a real growing process for me as a young pastor. It was a real growing process for me.

[26:12] But I never saw this before. What I'm sharing with you this morning is new to me as of just a few weeks ago. And it has already had an impact in my life.

[26:26] So, how do we know and when do we know that God is working all things together for our good when you're glorified? Well, what before that?

[26:39] What until then? That's your present assignment. Whatever that present assignment is, it will lead to your being a finished product.

[26:52] And when that glorification comes, it will be when these bodies of weakness are fashioned like unto Christ's glorious body. then we will have the ultimate.

[27:08] Now, let's be honest. We want the ultimate now, don't we? Of course we do. Of course we do. We want to be released from the difficulty now, from the pain now.

[27:21] The text doesn't say anything about that. It just assures us that so far as God is concerned, we are already a finished product.

[27:35] As far as we are concerned, we are in progress and in process. We are engaging in this thing called life. And while we are in it, we are being conformed to the image of Christ through pain and through pleasure.

[27:51] We are being conformed to the image of Christ. But you will not be a finished product until you have a body like that of Christ.

[28:03] That's the glorification. God says, it's already done. You see, with God, there is no past or future.

[28:15] Everything is a present right now. That's the way he views it. And you must understand this passage that this is related truth from God's perspective, not from ours.

[28:29] It doesn't work for ours. It only works for his. But after all, the scripture is supposed to be God's perspective as opposed to ours anyway. We won't know the results soon, at least in our lifetime, so we can benefit from it now.

[28:50] But I can promise you this. When we reach that stage of glorification and it's over and said and done with, that will be the basis for, would there be any tears, they'll be wiped away.

[29:03] Any regrets, they'll be gone. Anything else negative will be gone. And we will have, we will have a mind like the mind of Christ.

[29:14] And we will see things from God's perspective as opposed to our perspective. So how can we be sure it is true? It's because it's already happened.

[29:26] Have you ever really stopped to think about the kind of being that our God is? In connection with all of this, how many people are there now on this planet?

[29:40] What? Six billion? That's with a B. Six, seven billion? Something like billion throughout the earth?

[29:51] And how many of these people are addressing the true God of heaven? I have no idea. How many people are coming to God in prayer? No idea. And they come with all kinds of things.

[30:03] And you think God is able to hear all of those? You think God is able to sift and sort? You think God ever gets anybody mixed up? Can God actually deal with people as individuals when there are so many?

[30:18] What kind of a being could that be? What kind of a mind must the Almighty have to be able to be in tune with billions of people communicating with him, praying to him, crying out to him?

[30:43] Does he hear all of that? Or does some of it escape him? We are assured that this God is an infinite God.

[30:56] That means a being without limitations. He's a God that has no parameters, no borders to him.

[31:08] Can't, we just can't get into that, can we? Of course not. That's part of our being human and part of his being God. God, he is able in an infinite capacity, he is able to hear, to address, to answer, to care for, to provide for, to cause to happen.

[31:30] And he never misses a beat. We just can't imagine that. That's, that's the God of the scriptures. That's the God, that's the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

[31:43] Christ. And that's the one to whom he appealed when he was in the garden. Just, this spirit being God.

[31:58] Every one of us has one of these things called a spirit, a human spirit. And we're told that God is spirit. And we appreciate that and we believe that, but there isn't one of us that understands it.

[32:13] Because everything we have to do with is related to physicality. That's where our limitations are. But God doesn't have any of these limitations imposed upon him.

[32:24] And God is spirit. And that's how he can be here with each of us in this congregation. And by the way, you realize that that, that verse in, in John's gospel where Jesus said, where two or three are gathered together, there I am in their midst.

[32:43] That too is for a previous administration. That's not for today. We don't have to have two or three gathered together. All we need is one. Just one.

[32:56] Just wherever you are, the spirit of God is there with you. The spirit of God dwells in us. Our body is a temple of the spirit of God.

[33:09] And we all have the spirit of God in us if we are in Christ. And yet, the spirit of God is not divided. Now, figure that out. That means he is not apportioned out in fractions so that everybody has a little bit of the spirit.

[33:29] Everybody, every human being in Christ possesses the spirit of the living God dwelling in them. And yet, there is but one spirit.

[33:43] There's one Holy Spirit. And he indwells all believers. And he isn't apportioned out so that somebody has a little bit and somebody else has a little bit more.

[33:56] And when the Bible talks about being filled with the spirit, it doesn't mean, it doesn't mean that you have more of the spirit than this person because he's only half filled.

[34:09] No. When you are filled with the spirit, it simply means that you are spirit dominated or spirit controlled.

[34:20] filled with the spirit. In the same way that a person can be filled with anger, filled with hatred, filled with animosity, filled with resentment, you can be filled with the spirit.

[34:34] That simply means that your life and your person is consumed and focused upon this person. It isn't that it isn't that you have more of the spirit.

[34:49] It's that the spirit has more of you. So he isn't to be portioned out in little quantities and you don't get more of the spirit if you pray more. No, no.

[35:00] No. Each and every one of us possesses the spirit of God in person in his wholeness. And yet, there is but one spirit.

[35:11] And I don't understand that either. But that's what the scriptures teach. And what we're discussing here, of course, is something that is far over the heads of all of us. But I'm going to take just a moment and see if you have a question or comment regarding prayer.

[35:26] Okay, Rachel? A roving mic up here, please. Up here in the front. Okay, I'm going to try to ask this in a way that makes sense.

[35:46] Okay. Because I don't want to sound like, you know, being someone who is saved, you know, you're still going to have those, you're still going to struggle with the flesh and how it feels.

[35:58] And so until our glorification, like you were talking about, what we have to deal with, the reality is that we still have situations here that we have to deal with.

[36:10] One way or another. And being human, sometimes I know our feelings can take over. But when Paul says his grace, that God's grace is sufficient, was that maybe kind of an answer on how to, on a human level, deal with situations?

[36:29] Because, you know, I can personally say for myself, you know, that human nature just takes over sometimes. And you have all those feelings and you don't know how to deal with situations.

[36:41] You know, because you have God's word and obviously that's the place that you need to look to it. But sometimes, for me, that just isn't the first place and your feelings take over.

[36:54] So, on a human level, is it the Holy Spirit then that is what helps you humanly deal with situations?

[37:09] Or is this just, is this just a growing process, I guess, from the beginning of your life till the end? I don't know if this makes sense of how I'm asking this or not. I think I have a little understanding of what you're dealing with.

[37:22] And it's really a conflict, I think, between the flesh and the spirit. And the natural thing to do is to act out of the natural man, which is the flesh.

[37:33] Paul said, if we walk in the spirit, we will not fulfill the desires of the flesh. So, does that mean then that we're, that when those human feelings are taking over more or that's the first thing that comes to your mind that you're not allowing or the spirit isn't in the place in your life where he should be?

[37:57] I mean, it's not going to automatically, I mean, is it going to automatically happen if you're in a right standing? Well, your question, is very good and I would just recommend, I think it's volume, maybe the first two volumes in the Marriage on the Rock that deals with the flesh-spirit thing because the thing that the flesh always wants is that which appeals to self-centeredness.

[38:30] That's what the flesh is. It's the ego, the fallen nature. And, and when we walk in the spirit as opposed to walking in the flesh, we do that with our volition.

[38:45] We do that as a decision of our will. And, the, the sixth chapter, the sixth chapter of Romans really goes into great detail about that and it talks about yielding your members as instruments of righteousness unto God rather than unto sin.

[39:07] How do you do that? You do that with your will. You do that with your volition. You do it as a deliberate act. And yet, and this is, this is going to be very abbreviated and if you want to get the Marriage on the Rock, I think it's spelled out in a lot more detail.

[39:26] But, the distinction needs to be made between the fact that the will, the will to walk in a way that is pleasing to God is ours.

[39:39] The power for doing that is not ours. And, there is a careful distinction to be made there. God provides the power. This is what Paul meant when he wrote to the Galatians and said, I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me.

[39:55] The life I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. So, the power to be pleasing to God is not ours.

[40:09] We don't have that power. He provides us with the power, but we provide the permission for him to use the power. And this is the only illustration I can think of that explains what I'm trying to say, and it's not a good illustration because there isn't any good illustration for this.

[40:26] But, think in terms of a firearm. Alright? Let's think in terms of a pistol. You're holding this pistol in your hand, and when you pull the trigger, the hammer makes contact with that cap, and it creates an explosion.

[40:44] And the explosion forces that projectile down through that barrel and out through the muzzle. Was the power yours? No.

[40:56] No. No. It's not your power. It's the power of the explosion. The power of the gun. Well, what did you do? You pulled the trigger.

[41:10] With what did you pull the trigger? With your will. You decided to pull the trigger, and you pulled the trigger. You set in motion the release for the power.

[41:23] power. You didn't provide the power. The explosion provided the power. This is the Spirit of God working and acting in the life of a believer.

[41:34] if you do not want him to do that, you have the power to prevent him from doing that. You can deliberately, with your will, walk in the flesh, serve yourself, and be totally absorbed with what you want, regardless of whatever.

[41:53] You can do that. But if you choose not to do that, and to walk in the Spirit, then the Spirit of God will provide the power, but only when you provide the will.

[42:11] This means no one is spiritual automatically. This is a complex issue, and I've been through it time and again, and I suggest that you might want to get those first two or three that deal with, it's about marriage, but it's also more about relationships in general, and it talks about the conflict that arises, and all conflict is caused by the same thing.

[42:40] I don't care if it's conflict between nations or between individuals, all conflict is caused by the same thing, and that is an offense that is committed that is not resolved.

[42:51] conflict. And this so frequently happens in marriage, and in churches, and in schools, and in workplaces.

[43:02] We offend one another, and the offense creates an emotional distancing. We move away, we're not comfortable with that anymore. And in the case of a marriage, when the emotional distancing becomes so great, it develops into a physical distancing, and it's called divorce.

[43:25] And it's all because of the same thing. In every case, it is always due to same thing, it's the flesh winning out over the spirit.

[43:37] If a husband, for instance, if a husband is where he belongs with the Lord, if the wife is where she belongs with the Lord, guess where they're going to be with each other?

[43:50] It's automatic. If either one is out of kilter, in the flesh, that sets up the stage for the conflict. And I would encourage you to get those.

[44:01] They might be helped. I wish we had more time we could develop this further, but if anybody has questions, feel free to submit them in writing, and we'll do our best to treat them. Now we're going to ask you to stand, and we'll ask the Craig family if they will come forward.

[44:17] Wow.

[44:34] Hi. Well, this is a happy occasion to be able to welcome all of these folks into our fellowship.

[44:54] We appreciated their being with us so much, their musical contributions, but even more than that, the family relationships that we see lived out here before us in a living way.

[45:06] It's been a real joy. We really look forward to the class that you're going to be conducting, and I hope that you all will pass the word and let folks know that this class is going to be available and that there's no registration needed.

[45:21] There's no fee to be paid. All they need to do is be here, and they'll get some really excellent content that relates to family dynamics and rearing godly children.

[45:31] And I can't tell you how excited I am about the class being held. The other class videos will continue on here for those who want that. And if some of you want to peel off and go to the other class, we want you to be wherever you're going to be benefited the most.

[45:46] So enjoy that. The Lord bless you. Thank you. Thank you for being here. Thank you. Thank you.

[45:57] Thank you. Thank you. God bless you. Okay, South Pole. Thank you all.

[46:09] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Move over to the wide leg. You're in a real wide angle, huh?

[46:22] Okay. Thank you. We're now. Okay. Now, as many of you as are members, would you just feel free to come right up and why don't you come around the outside aisle and that way you can come right through?

[46:35]  Okay. Okay.