have Peter Tranvik teach us the Word of God. Now, it's a special privilege for me to have Peter come and teach. I was part of Clarissa Bible Church, which Peter was the pastor of when I was 19 until I was 22. And so during those super formative times of my life as a young man. The instrument that God used to point me to my Savior and encourage me to think principally was our guest speaker this morning. So with great pleasure, I have to introduce to you Peter Tranvik this morning. Good morning. I don't know if it was Sean who said it or not, but probably he talked about the curse of sin one time. He goes, the curse of sin really is ugly, isn't it? And so my wife sent me this A quote from Corey Tenboom, who certainly has experienced the ugliness of sin surviving the Holocaust. He's thinking about Jill, obviously. And Corey said this, The wonderful thing about praying is that you leave a world of not being able to do something. and enter into God's realm where everything is possible. He specializes in the impossible. Nothing is too great for His almighty power. Nothing is too small for His love. And so it's good to be here this morning. but not under the present circumstances. Actually, I started tearing up in the back and actually started weeping. Precious Brother Mike said, let's go in and pray. He prayed at length regarding the things of the Lord and Jill. So I'm hoping my time of weeping is over with so I can clearly communicate the Word of God here this morning. Would you bow your hearts with me in prayer? Thank you, Father, that your Word tells us our hearts can be knit together And that's around the love of Christ. That love has been poured out to each one of us by the power of the Holy Spirit that indwells us. And again, we just bring Sean and Jill before you as well and family. Thank you for this precious body of believers that we know that tremendous love that Christ demonstrated for each one of us can be experienced in their lives right at this time, knowing that their life is hid, Lord, before you in Christ Jesus. And they would keep abiding in that love, allowing the love of Christ to constrain them, compel them, to empower them to keep on keeping on, and then direct with the whole aspect of their Physical circumstances, Lord, give him much wisdom in all those areas as well then. Direct with my speech now, it would be pleasing to you and the saints could be built up in the things of, that it could be built up together in the things of your Son, for his honor and glory in Christ's name we pray, amen. So, last time I spoke here, I spoke on the book of Romans. So we're going to continue on in the book of Romans. If you could open up your Bibles to Romans chapter 4. Romans chapter 4. In Romans chapter 4, we'll have it on the slide as well, we have verses 4 and 5. It says, So this passage here is giving us a clear understanding that salvation is not of works, but by God's grace. And we read before Romans chapter four, in bringing us to our understanding of Romans four, starting in Romans chapter three in verse 21, it says, now the righteousness of God, apart from the law, apart from the law works system, is revealed being witnessed by the law and the prophets. That righteousness of God, verse 22, is through faith in Jesus Christ. And righteousness then is imputed to all and on all who simply believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. For there is no difference. All individuals can be declared righteous. Because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, all need to be declared righteous and be justified apart from the law. Verse 24, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Verse 27, whereas boasting then is excluded by what law? Of works? No, because if we were to boast in our law works, we would then say, according to Romans chapter four, right here, that we have up on the screen, we'd be saying, God, you owe me salvation. You owe me to be declared righteous. And that's obviously not the case, is it? Because salvation is not of the law works system. It is by grace. So if we're going to contrast here Romans chapter 4 and verses 4 through 5, and I know I'm kind of picking it up pretty quick here, but I know that you're very familiar with the book of Romans. The last time I spoke, we got up through Romans chapter 1 through 5. We got to a couple verses in chapter 6. We'll do a couple reviews on those and move on in chapter 6 today and 7. And if we get to chapter 8, I'm not sure. So here we can diagram this contrast here in Romans 4, verses 4 and 5. When we think of the Lord Jesus Christ, some people think, well, I know the Lord Jesus Christ, and he's done maybe some of the work, or we use the percentage like 80% of the work, but you have to do your, what percentage? You have to do your 20%. Or we understand when it comes to Jesus Christ saying, He did all the work, which would include what percentage of you then? And so you would say, of course that would include 0% of me. And so when we think of Jesus Christ, 80% plus something that you can add to His work, some 20%, you never know if you've ever done your 20%. So you would say this equals a hope-so salvation in terms of, well, I think I might be going to heaven. I hope that I'm going to go to heaven. But we know that the individual who places his faith in Christ alone and his salvation is by grace, he is able to say, I have a no-so salvation. And so the two are contrasted here. When we understand Jesus Christ did 100% of the work, we understand who his person is. He's the unique God-man, he's fully God and he's fully man. God couldn't die on the cross, but only God could take upon the sins of the world. Man had to die, and so the penalty or the wage of sin is death. And so Jesus Christ, in his humanity, paid for that sin and died on the cross for you and me. This is what we talk about when we talk about Jesus Christ's work. It's 100% finished. That's the satisfactory payment or he is the propitiation for our sins. This hope self-salvation is a process. You can never know for sure. It's always a process whether or not you can say, I know I have eternal life. The no self-salvation is you say, I know I have salvation. One system is the system of works where God is indebted to you to give to you eternal life or declare you righteous. And praise be to God, we have an understanding of his unmerited favor, his grace. And so moving on from Chapter 4, we're going to move into Chapter 5, and you can pick it up with me and start in Chapter 5, Verse 1. And we'll read Chapter 5, Verses 1 through 11. Therefore, having an understanding that I'm saved by grace, apart from the law, it's not of works, I am justified or declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance, and perseverance, character, and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint. Why? Because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For when we are still without strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet perhaps for a good man some would even dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more than having now been justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his son. Much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. So if we're going to diagram or show an understanding of Romans 5, verses 1-11, we have our understanding that God's love has been demonstrated or manifested towards you and me, or towards mankind. And how is that? The fact that the Lord Jesus Christ died for us. He was the one who took upon himself all of our sins and cried out, it is finished. He was buried and he arose again to give us life. But what did we just read in chapter five, verses one through 11? We read things that were before our salvation and things that we read about after our salvation. So before we're saved, we're unjust. After we're saved, we can say that we are justified. Before we are saved, we have no peace with God. After we are justified, we have peace with God. Before we're saved, we don't have access to God. Now we can go boldly before the throne of grace to find mercy and grace in time of need, access to God. Before we were saved, we were outside of God's grace. Now, we are in God's amazing sphere of his grace, in his Son, in the Beloved One. Before we were saved, we could say we have no future hope, but now I've got the future hope of glory. Praise God. That as a body of believers, we can say confidently, Jill has the future hope of glory. The hope now and the glory later. Before we were saved, we had no love of the Holy Spirit, no understanding of that unconditional love that Christ demonstrated for you and me. We didn't have the Spirit of God in us to reveal, to animate, to actualize that love of Christ in our hearts. Now we can say, I have that love of Christ moving in me by the power of the Spirit of God making Christ so real in my daily thinking. Before we were saved, we were under God's wrath. After we're saved, we can say I'm saved from God's wrath to come. His wrath has totally been poured out on our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Before we were saved, we were enemies of God, now we're friends with God. We've been reconciled, brought back into a harmonious relationship with our awesome God. We've been delivered from death to eternal life. Those are the benefits of being justified. Now imagine a body of us, or even thinking of Jill, being her on the left side of the slide. Wow. Nothing there is there for her. Now think of her on the right side. And as we pray and we bring her before the throne, she's justified. She has peace with God. She has access to God. She's in God's grace. She has the future hope of glory. She has the love of the Holy Spirit. She's saved from God's wrath. She's reconciled to God. She's got life through Christ. These are the things we can bring before the Lord to strengthen her heart and her soul, no matter what the circumstances are. And then we move on into Romans chapter 6, but I'd like to put up a little slide. I know you've seen it before, and so I like to think in terms of a wordless theology for us to understand some truths about the Christian life. So here is you and me walking in this world, and we have the cross, we have the sun, moon, and the stars. We have the angel on the right, that's Satan, and the triangle represents God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. The Lord Jesus Christ was lifted up on a cross. He was buried in a rose again, and now he's seated right there, right now in the heavenlies. One of my favorite quotes from Corrie Tenbow, to get her through the holocaust in Ravensbruck concentration camp. She said, we knew our lives were hid with Christ in God. Wow. That lifts you out of this present evil age, doesn't it? Lifts you right up into the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. Someday we know the Lord Jesus Christ is going to return. The next event on God's timetable is the rapture. Kind of interesting that there's a prophetic conference going down in Georgia and what a time to teach prophecy in light of what's going on in Israel, huh? Who knows when the rapture is going to occur. Then we know that we'll be before the judgment seat of Christ to see if the things that we've done in our body were worthless or worthwhile. But there is you and I identified with Christ on the cross. I couldn't help that last song that we sang, what was the name of it? To Live Day by Day. That's these truths right here that we're showing. That truth that we read in the song was Romans chapter 6. With some other eloquent words surrounding it. But there is you and I right now, we're hid with Christ and God. That's where Sean and Jill live in the heavenlies in that sphere right now. Someday when the rapture occurs, all of you and I are going to be able to go home to be with the Lord. Maybe as we're all being raptured away, we'll look at each other and say, I must be dreaming. Wow! We just got delivered up into the heavenlies to spare ourselves from the wrath to come and be with our blessed Savior. And then we'll be at the judgment seat of Christ. Folks, these are glorious truths that radiate in our thinking. And how is that? By what power within us? The power of the Spirit of God within us can cause these truths to radiate or to be so vivid in our minds that this is where we see the victory by faith, as we see the Holy Spirit animates or makes these truths real, which are found in Romans 6, 7, and 8. So what do we do? We take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, allowing these truths to be our reality. And then the Lord says, are you ready for some directionals, for some commands in your life? Are you ready after you're so enamored with Christ, past, present, future? Justification, sanctification, glorification, that's what our wordless theology, our picture is up there. Are you ready then to respond, to obey some commands in the word of God? Are you ready? Are you ready for a therefore? Amen. And so what are some of those areas that the Lord wants us to respond in? Well, one area is to human government. Another area is our family, our wives, our husbands, our children. The other area we respond to because of the love of Christ is the one in others. Is that a reality right now? the saints, the dear saints here in the Laughlin family? Is there a response to one another's? What's the main thing that's gone out before the Lord right now in the one another's? What's the main thing? What has been, what's been happening? Prayer, right on. And then of course I know you're going to help them out physically or do whatever you can to minister and all that. What an opportunity for the body of believers to be in prayer. In a situation that we can't control. And then there's been opportunities that may owe for the lost, right? Those people that are on their way to the everlasting lake of fire. Then there's those areas of response to the employee-employer relationship. Those are the five areas that you'll read about that you can respond to in your daily Christian life as a result of the love of Christ working in and through you and responding to all the therefores in the New Testament epistles. So now let's put some words to it, those that would rather have words. I live by faith in the Son of God in the present. I know my life is hid with Christ in God. In light of what he's done for me in the past, all at the cross of Christ, in his death, burial, and resurrection. And this is our future hope, right? The rapture and going home to be with him in glory. We rest our hope fully upon the grace that will be brought to us at the revelation of Christ. How does a believer get through trials in Romans chapter 5 verses 3 and 5? You rejoice in what in the end? Your future what? Your hope. And because of that you have perseverance and that develops character and that character then brings out that greater understanding that I got a future hope. So now I'm in a ready condition of mind to respond in character as a result of these awesome truths as I conduct myself in this present evil age. I live above the fray of this world system, folks. All the circumstances because of all that I have centered around Christ. Christ is preeminent in our lives. developing character in our lives as we conduct ourselves in this present world system, as the Lord uses us in our sphere of influence in our lives. And then the last time we looked at Romans chapter 6 verse 4 in terms of the first verse that I wanted to bring out in Romans chapter 6. And this is review, thank you. Therefore we are buried with him through baptism in the death that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we should walk in newness of life. When we think of the glory of the Father, we think of all of his attributes. There is the triangle representing the Father at the top. All of His attributes, which I know that you're very familiar with. What an opportunity to take heed to all those attributes of God in this time of sorrow in your family and the family of believers. From the dead by the glory of the Father. What glorious aspect of the Father raised Christ from the dead? His omnipotence, wasn't it? It's really powerful, folks, that somebody was raised from the dead. You don't read about people being raised from the dead on social media. You find your victory outside of this world's philosophies and information world. It's found in the person of Christ who was raised from the dead. That's the glorious power of our Heavenly Father. And so notice it says at the end of verse 4 that we walk in newness of life. 2 Corinthians 5, 17. All things have become new. We're new creations in Christ. And where is this newness of life found? It's found there, united with Christ in the heavenlies, living above this world system. Above all principalities and powers of this world. Spurgeon says it's natural for man to look up. And we have a supernatural understanding of why we look up into the heavenlies in Christ. So when it comes to sanctification, we can say I'm saved from the old life and all that I identified with, to now my identity is found where? New life in Christ Jesus. This is powerful truths of the resurrection. And you and I are just gonna keep beholding, beholding, and beholding our Savior. Not to be dominated by this world system. We see it's so reasonable to keep walking by faith in the Son of God. And then Romans chapter six, verse 11, it says, after the knowing, you've all heard it before, know, then what? Thanks. Appreciate that. No reckoning. What's the third one? Yield, right? Thanks. Numbers 33 says this. If you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall be those whom you let remain shall be irritants in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall harass you in the land where you dwell. My wife and I just moved from Arizona and you get all kinds of thorns and pricklies all over the place. And when you get thorned in the thumb or whatever, this is what it looks like and it becomes infectious. And it's just kind of irritating. And this has happened to one of the believers when he was visiting down there. And so it was kind of irritating when he was around us because his thumb was always bothering him. He started to irritate us too. But all those little irritants, all those little things that harass you, Father, that can harass you, that can come out, and because your sin nature, your flesh, just allows it to keep you more irritable and harassing you in your life, you can say, you know what? I'm dead to that. I died with Christ to that empowerment in my life, because I've got something better than all the irritants of this world. And I know in a much greater way we can say, in light of the situation, you know, I'm dead to being dominated by whatever in this life. And so I can focus on what really needs to be focused on, which is what's bringing us together in a greater way, isn't it? This trial. To annoy us. And so we're dead. We died with Christ. We died to the sin nature. We died to the world and the flesh and the devil. We died to allowing circumstances to dominate us. One author says, one great cause of feebleness and backsliding is the power of circumstance. You know what circumstance, circumference, standing? I'm gonna stand in that circumference. We don't stand. In the things of the world to dominate our thinking, we've been delivered from those things. We stand in Christ Jesus. That's where our victory is. So there's a secular song called, A Million Miles Away. And this describes man at his best trying to get out of this world's circumstances. When they're down. There was a time looking through myself, wanting to pretend if I escaped, I could fill myself. I don't think you can. Been far and wide, but that hole inside never really leaves. When I went away, what I really left, I left behind was me. You can image and dream all you want as an unbeliever to try to escape from this world's circumstances. Actually, the only thing an unbeliever can really do, which would be sad, to escape from this world's circumstances to commit suicide. There's a lot of depression out there today and a lot of suicidal people. Maybe you know somebody or maybe you've even personally had those thoughts. You've got something better as a believer. Or if you're an unbeliever, take heed to the loveliness of Christ and find you can be delivered from this evil age and find great satisfaction through the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Maybe you are a believer and you're not enjoying this wonderful life of being hid with Christ and all the spiritual blessings that you have in Him. And so this song, from a Christian perspective, says this. So Romans 6.11 says, Likewise, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. I downloaded a little book the other day, or a few weeks ago or months ago, by Spurgeon's commentary on the book of Colossians, but he says this about your life in Christ Jesus. He says, live in thy Father's love. That's where we live. Unconditional love, unconditional acceptance in Christ Jesus. Victory from the power of sin in the world and the devil. That's why Jude 121 says, what do we do? We keep abiding in this love. Keep yourselves in this love that has been poured out in your hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit. Notice it says we're alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. This is an understanding of the power of the resurrection right here. In fact, I told you last time, I was blown away when Brent Nazareth taught in Romans back a couple years ago. The first command in Book of Romans, this is it right here. First command. Likewise, you add up in your minds yourselves to be dead to sin, and I add to the world and this world system, but I'm alive to God, where? In Christ Jesus our Lord. I love what Ryrie says about being alive in him, he says, the resurrection power is dependent upon being alive in Christ. See, I've asked myself before, I've asked myself, like, there's a lot of unbelievers that believe in the resurrection. Why does it not have any impact on them? Because they're not what? Somebody's gotta help me out. They're not, right, you are one of my faves here this morning, that's good. They're not what? They're not alive in Christ. They're not identified with Christ Jesus. They have no understanding of the love of God. They're still trying to work their way to heaven. How could you understand the love of Christ, the unconditional love, when you still have to think in terms of working to gain His approval? You're only free in Christ when you totally understand that you're in the heavenlies by what? Works or by? Are you there in the heavenlies by His grace? Amen, right? Are you free then from yourself? and the sin nature in the world? Amen. The resurrection power is dependent upon being alive in Christ. You know what the cool thing is? This is Ryrie's commentary on John 15. To abide in Him, he understood that in the future, to do something, without me you can do nothing. How can you do anything apart from understanding the power of the resurrection in your life and being alive in Him? You still be dominated by self. You need to be free from self, don't you? Romans 6. and alive in God, in Christ Jesus. So for years, I was part of a church in Duluth until my confirmation and my parents said I didn't have to go anymore and I never went after that, eighth grade. But this is downtown Duluth in Superior. It's a Lutheran church. And this is probably the most visible form of truth in Duluth, Minnesota. And I would even say in many, it's a huge etched in stone on the front of this Lutheran church. And it says, I am the resurrection and the life. And hundreds of thousands, probably millions of people are driven by because it's on Superior Street on your way up the North Shore. He says, I'm the resurrection and the life. I walked into that church doors for years. And you'd think I'd think about it. Not me. I was much more concerned about goofing around in life. Unbelievers pass this all the time and they're blinded by what? They're blinded because when they go through the doors, is he the resurrection and the life? No. He is not the resurrection and life. He's the resurrection. I'm trying to say the definite article. Is he definitely the only one for the resurrection? No. You need to add your works to it and you go through their doors. It starts out with infant baptism. You're a child of God. That confirmation and you know the routine, right? It's a system of works to keep you blinded from the awesomeness of the resurrection and the life. What's the next word that we want to get to in Romans? Let's see, no... We're there already in reckon. What's... Yield! Wow, that's great. No reckon and then what? That's Romans chapter what? Chapter 6, verse 13. All the yield is the same as present, right? Now what do we do once we know and we've added up in our mind that we're dead to the sin nature and alive in God, that's extremely powerful to know that's where we live. Now in Romans 6, verse 13, do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to that sin, but yield yourselves to God. How do I do that? As what? You've already added up in your mind as being alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. What moves your bodily members here? What's gonna move your bodily members? What truth here? I'm alive from the dead. I've been resurrected with Christ. That's powerful. You'll find nothing like that on this world system. I'm identified with the resurrected Savior. So you think of a figure skating routine and you think of the music that plays. Can you ever watch those things without any music behind them? It's like not very moving, is it? It's the music of Christ, friends, that moves us in our daily life. It's the sweet music of Christ, his love for us, that's been demonstrated for you and me, that moves our bodily members to pray. To help out physically whatever way we can in this situation. That's what moves us. It's the sweet music of Christ. So, I have an illustration. It's a John Deere illustration. Is that alright? So an advertisement for John Deere says, seasons change. So one time it's summer, another time it's winter, But the ad then says, seasons change, but what doesn't change? True character. And what's the ad all about? Well, the ad is about this guy on his John Deere, and this John Deere is revving him up with all the gears and knobs that it has, and the engine, and you know, whatever. I'm obviously not a motorhead, so. But what's moving this individual is the sounds of the John Deere, the engine, and everything. And so true character doesn't, what has he done? He's just gone over and mowed his neighbor's lawn, right? And what was really moving this man, what was really moving his character, God help me out, was really, what was it? The John Deere, right? You ever been that way, guys? You ever have a hard time coming in at night because you're on your whatever? And, oh, I'm getting a couple taps on the shoulder by the wife, okay. Actually, I used to own one of these John Deeres, and I gladly, seriously, I won't go into, I gladly would do the neighbor's snowblowing, because it had this, it was a John Deere, now I'm getting into it, it was a John Deere 216. Josh probably knows about it, because later on, Sean got it. And the illustration falls apart, because the thing was falling apart, wasn't it, when I gave it to Sean? Everything in this world falls apart, doesn't it? But what will never fall apart for you and me? He'll never leave. The love of Christ, He'll never die again. John Deere's die out. Anything that mojo's you on earth here is all going to die out, folks. It's all vanity to pursue it. Who do we want to keep pursuing? The one who never dies again. The one who has given us that future hope. The love, the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. So the quote is, wow, you've outdone yourself. What are neighbors for? And what's going on behind his mind? John Deere. What is it that causes us to outdo our normal thinking of what we would naturally want to do and please ourselves in this present evil system? What is it that moves us to say, I want to outdo myself in prayer right now for Jill and the family? The love of Christ. I'm so enamored with Him. that I know that I died with Him and I was raised with Him. I'm going to add these truths to be... I'm identifying so much with my Savior right now. Lord, here am I. Use me, my bodily members. No reckon, present, or yield. And then Romans chapter 6, 17, the illustration now comes with the master-slave relationship. For us to catch on to something, we have this understanding here now of a master-slave relationship. But God be thanked that though you were slaves of that sin nature, you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. So now you're already kind of saying, you know what, I'm probably catching on to what this verse is already about, because I just got done reading chapters 6, 1 through 14, up through 16, and you're thinking, I'm picking up what this verse is saying here, but let's go through it. God be thanked that though you were slaves of that sin nature, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. Let's take some time on this verse. Form, Greek word, tupos where we get type, or typewriter. You know what a typewriter is? You do? Wow. You know what a typewriter is, do you? You young folks know what a typewriter is, that's good. So the illustration that I use will help out, you'll be able to relate to it. Okay, cool. That form, Here's what this commentary says about the word form. Properly means a model or pattern or mold into which clay or wax was pressed that it might take the figure or exact shape of the mold. You have obeyed from the heart that mold or that type of doctrine to which you were delivered. Doctrine is teaching, right? So form or mold, and so obviously here's a simple illustration. Here's a Jell-O mold. So this individual is pouring the ingredients into the mold. I know it's a simple illustration, but can she trust the mold to form the Jell-O? I just need a, yeah, right, okay. Can she trust the form to mold the Jell-O? Right on, thank you. Is she obeying or he? Try to be correct, right? From the heart. Are they loving to pour this into the jello mold? Are they loving to loving to do it, right? Right. You got it? Are they trusting the mold to do its thing? Does Jill pour her life into the mold? Amen. Is she trusting the Lord in that mold? Has she poured her life into the things of Christ? Isn't that what the teaching surrounds, right? Isn't that the doctrine that you hear? Isn't that what we're surrounded in our thinking? Just to add to illustrate, what comes out of this mold? Good. Jell-O. How about fruit? Right? Pour your life into the mold, you see fruits in people's lives. You pour your life into Christ, what fruit does he want that we can all express for the Laughlin family right now? Prayer, right? Prayer is a fruit, isn't it? It's a fruit of Christ molding you and forming you. Is that good character? Seasons change, don't they? Sometimes we abound in life, don't we? Is your body of believers being abased right now? But your character doesn't change, does it? Why? Because you have a savior, a mold, somebody who'll never die, who's alive, who brings you the future glory, where we'll all be together, free from the ugly curse of sin. One author says this, a cheerful and hearty obedience. So this understanding of obeyed from the heart, the form of doctrine, what is this form of doctrine? What's the mold that we're being taught? What book are we in, anybody? Romans. What chapter are we in? The teaching, it's right in the guts of Romans chapter 6 right here, this understanding, this doctrine. What is that form of doctrine to which we are delivered? Here's what one author says in his commentary about this form, beginning with this word doctrine. Now the word doctrine, which is employed here, has in the lapse of years since the authorized version was made, narrowed its significance. At the date of our authorized translation, doctrine was probably equivalent to teaching or whatever sort it might be. So, just change in your mind the word doctrine with teaching, right? You get taught here regularly, right? So you come and listen. You want to be told about the form as a dominant message in the teaching. So the author goes on to say, since then it has become equivalent to a statement of abstract principles that is not at all what Paul means. See, it's not a bunch of nebulous, puzzling principles, syncretized with human religion or philosophy. It's simply truths. As he goes on to say, he does not mean to say that his gospel was a form of doctrine in a sense of being a theological system, but he means to say that it was a body of teaching, the nature of the teaching not being defined at all by the word. So you don't just say doctrine, you need a body of teaching to understand what this mold is. That form of doctrine is the body of teaching. And maybe you've heard body of truth before. Body of teaching is a good way to express it. I like what this author has to say. What's the body of truth, the body of teaching that you're holding on to, particularly right now, in what book, in what chapter? Romans chapter six, the book of Romans. Beloved, exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once delivered to the saints." The body of teaching is the faith, the definite article there. That's what's been delivered to us and that's what Paul is saying right in Romans 6 here. What form of doctrine can we obey from the heart? It's found right in chapter 6. The guts of it. The skeleton, the body of teaching that we find victory in. The entire book of Romans, obviously. And then all the epistles that have an understanding of where is our life found in the heavenlies. We're heavenly people, aren't we? We have how many spiritual blessings there to dwell on? All of them, right? For victory. Past, present, and future are the things of Christ. But God, we thank that though you were the slaves of that sin nature, you have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which you were delivered. Here's what Newell says about that doctrine that's been handed over to you and me. Believers have been handed over, delivered by God, these mighty facts. Not only that their guilt put away on the cross, Romans chapters 3, 2nd Appeth 3 and 4. But as they connected with Adam, died with Christ, Romans chapter 5. That their history with Adam is they're entirely ended before God. We have the before and after, don't we? And that now they share in the risen life of Christ and are before God is a risen one, chapter 6. And we could even include 7 and 8. And all believers are comprehended in these great truths, whether they apprehend them or not. I had to look up comprehended. Must be an old way of saying something, so I did. And so, all believers are embodied in these truths, or these are substantially real. God has comprehended these truths to you. He has embodied you. These are substantial, real truths that God has delivered over to you and me. Whether they are realized or not. See, when you think of the doctrine, you think of these great truths, right? And you think these are facts. Romans chapter 6 is, are facts, aren't they? Romans 7 and 8 are facts, aren't they? But who's going to make those facts what? Glorious. Your own willpower? Try that in Romans 7, right? How can these facts be glorious to you? Meditate on these words, behold them, allow the spirit of what? The spirit of life, chapter 8. I don't think I'm going to get chapter 8 today. The spirit of life is going to make these truths of Romans chapter 6 so real to you that you can say with Corrie ten Boom, no matter what, we knew our lives were aware. hid with Christ in God. So we can pray spiritually for the Laughlins that their soul be so thrilled with these things of Christ. And then continue to pray for wisdom in all these situations physically, right? And for her to be able to come back if the Lord wills. So we saw earlier that the word form is the Greek word tupos, where we get type, where we understand about what typewriter. I gotta tell Sean, these guys are really on the ball. So the font Courier was designed in 1955 by a guy that worked for IBM. And here's what he says, you can't read it there, but I put, This is just an illustration, again, to keep you going on the attention factor, okay? So he says this when he invents the courier type for typewriters, IBM. A letter can be just an ordinary messenger or it can be a courier which radiates. So what's the, a type impresses you, it impresses a piece of paper, right? And you say, there's a cool impression. And what's the coolest font in the font world? You got to agree with me right now. What's the coolest font? Courier, right? If you want to impress somebody, you type in Courier. That would be 1955. I know. I'm not even doing it. And the Courier. is it relates facts, but it is to radiate the glorious facts. We have the form, the type of Christ, his mold, that we can say, what is the best thing to impress me regarding real life living Christ? So I'm going to move on with the illustration one more time, is that okay? Can I keep going with the courier thing? You're just being nice to me, you want to move on, don't you? So when Paul came to Corinth, and the false teachers were, you know, they had their PhDs from Harvard and they're all eloquent speakers and everything, right? And they're so impressive externally. Paul says, when I came to Corinth, what letter, what epistle was written in your hearts? Clearly you are a letter of Christ ministered by us. Does the illustration flow now? It does? No confusion? What's this body of believers? Who keeps coming out in what is preeminent in this body? What keeps coming out preeminent in Sean and Jill's life? Christ. And when he ministered to you, in your hearts is that letter of who? Christ. Written in your hearts. Because you're getting preached Christ here. All believers are comprehended in these glorious truths whether they apprehend them or not. So what truths are comprehended have been delivered to you and me? The fact that we have glorious truths, past, present, future. Romans 6, 7, and 8. How do you apprehend them? The Spirit of God within you allows or makes true those truths so real in your mind that you can say, I'm living above this world system. I'm looking, I don't, the things going on in Israel right now, like Andy Wood said a few years ago, these are exciting times. Who can only say that? Who can say that these are exciting times? The believer who has a future hope of glory, right? Who knows the end can say these are, I don't have to protect myself. What about my future in my Whatever, right? I was planning on... I like what Schofield says, you sit lightly on the things of this world. Why? Because you've got something better. Whether they're apprehended or not, you quench and grieve the spirit of God when you don't apprehend these truths. But God be thanked, he says. What's that form of doctrine, that mold that we have been delivered to us? It's the things of Christ, particularly right in chapter six here. What do we obey then? What do we obey? I know something, I add it up, I reckon it, and I what? With my body and the members. Yield, that's the obedience. What kind of obedience is it? A cheerful, what kind of obedience? From the where? From the heart. But God be thanked, this is really neat. When does the next time Paul say, I'm so thankful for God, in the book of Romans? End of chapter seven. What does he say? After being so what? Miserable. thinking, what can I do to make this Christian life work in my own resolve, in my own purposing, in my own willpower? What can I do to make it work? And he says, oh what, that I am. Wretched man then, what's his next thought? I what? I thank God for the form of doctrine that's been delivered to me centered in the person and work of Christ in Romans chapter six, seven, and eight. I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Then he goes on to see that it's the Spirit that animates this reality in his life. Romans 8 is making Romans 6 your reality. Not your own willpower. You know, we don't know what the news will be ultimately coming out of Mayo, do we? See, there's the paradoxical Christian life. Our hearts are at unrest, humanly speaking. There is an unrest in our thinking. Was this ever true of the Apostle Paul? Yes. He wanted to hear how the Corinthians were doing at one point when he wrote them a letter, and he wanted to hear back from Titus. And he never heard from Titus, so he said, I'm stressed. Can there be stress in the Laughlin family right now? Yep. But what did Paul do after he realized that Titus wasn't coming and he was stressed, humanly speaking? The next thing he goes to in his mind is, the person of Christ, but he's so thankful for this. He says this. Right next verse after 2.13, he's about Titus not being able to see him, he says, Do you always have victory in Christ? Even though there's these issues and these sorrows going on? That's the paradoxical Christian life, isn't it? What kind of truths are these? These are glorious truths. You know, I mentioned that we have all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus, and then you read the rest of chapter 1. You know what phrase is repeated three times? To the praise of His glory. One time it says, to the praise of the glory of His grace. When we think of glory, maybe you want to replace it with the word awesome. These are such awesome truths for the Spirit of God to make real. To the praise of His glory. And again, it's because of, to the praise of the glory of His grace, found three times this phrase in our understanding of where do we live our Christian lives, where do we live them? Above where? In the heavenlies, finding victory in Christ, always triumphing there. Remember, it's a cheerful and hearty obedience. One last question before I'm done. How can it be a cheerful, hearty obedience in Romans 6, 17, where is the heart mentioned in a positive way nearest in the book of Romans? Where is the heart mentioned? How can we have a cheerful, hearty obedience? Obedience sometimes has this, ugh. The obedience in Romans 6 is I'm being obedient to knowing, wrecking, and yielding. Why would I have a cheerful, hearty obedience? Because what's been shed abroad in my heart, what? Right on. The love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Thank you, let's pray. Father, thank you for these awesome truths regarding this form of doctrine, this body of teaching is centered around your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Spirit has caused us to be able to say this love is such a reality that now it compels me, it constrains me, it moves us. It moves us, Father, to Think in terms of how we can now yield our members to you, and specifically thinking of prayer for the Lachlans, the situation. Thank you for this body of believers that we can keep on keeping on in your love, whether we're being abound or abased. But we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us, and we just pray these things now in Jesus' name, amen.