 But today we're in Romans chapter 8. We're going to look at verses 12 through 18, and I'll give to you a little bit of a review of what we've gone through prior to verse 12, and then we'll move into verse 12 and go through verses 12 through 18 this morning. So let's begin reading at verse 12. I'll read to verse 14 and we'll begin our study. Romans chapter 8 verses 12 through 14. Paul writes, therefore brethren, we are debtors not to the flesh to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. Now Paul has been teaching concerning the fact that a person who walks in the flesh cannot please God. He had stated that in verse 8 of chapter 8, remember with me, he had said, so then those who are in the flesh cannot please God. So he's making it very clear that people walking in the flesh cannot please God. Now when he speaks of somebody walking in the flesh, he's referring to a person who has no inward motivation to be pleasing to God, and the reason why a person walking in the flesh has no inward motivation to be pleasing to God is because his mind, his will, his emotions, all the plans that he makes will always be related to himself. What he can do and what he can get for himself. So it's not going to be a life that is intended to bring pleasure to God or to be a worshipful offering to God. It's really simply a life that is lived for self. Now Jesus spoke concerning that in Matthew chapter 6 verses 31 and 32 where he said, therefore do not worry saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear? For after all these things the Gentiles seek for your heavenly father knows that you need all these things. What shall we eat? What shall we drink? What shall we put on? Those are the things that make up the commercials that we see every day whenever we watch TV. Where am I going to eat? What am I going to wear? When am I going to drink? Turn on a sports program and the main things you'll see are going to be hamburgers and beer. I mean, what shall I eat? What shall I drink? And so you'll also see different commercials related to what am I going to put on. Jesus said these are the things that those who don't know God are consumed by. These are the things that occupy their mind. It's all about me. What can I eat? What can I drink? What can I wear? He said these are the things that the Gentiles, these are the things that those who don't know the Lord are always putting their minds on. These are the things that they are constantly caught up with. So he made it very clear in verse 8 that a person who doesn't have a relationship with God is always seeking satisfaction for themselves and therefore will not be pleasing to the Lord. They're walking in the flesh. They'll never be pleasing to God. They will not and they cannot be pleasing to the Lord because they don't have faith in God. They don't trust in the Lord. And Hebrews 11 6 says this is without faith it is impossible to please him for he who comes to God must believe that he is and that he's a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. And so a person who walks in the flesh cannot please God because they don't exercise faith towards the Lord and therefore do not desire to be pleasing to him. Now in contrast to that person, Paul makes it clear that his readers can live with what we would call a spiritual confidence. He tells them they don't need to live according to the dictates of their sinful nature. That it is made possible to live in a way that pleases God by the Spirit of God. And so he begins to emphasize that in verses 9, 10 and 11. In verse 9 notice how he said you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. So when you've been born again you become the temple of the Spirit of God. Now he repeats that in verse 9, 10 and 11. Verse 9 again he says you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Verse 10 if Christ is in you. Verse 11 but if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you. And so he's emphasizing the fact that believers become what are called temples of the Holy Spirit. Now in the Old Testament God chose to meet with the people in some structures one called the Tabernacle the other one referred to as the temple. And so God would meet with man in these structures. That's where he chose to meet with men. But the bottom line is is in the New Testament people no longer go to the temple to make their offerings but in the New Testament God himself inhabits his own temple which is the human body. We actually become the temple of the Spirit of God. So the people no longer go to the temple so much as the temple begins to go out to the people. And so when you're saved when God comes to dwell within you when the Spirit of Christ is in you and the Holy Spirit is in you. When God himself is in you rather than us going to a certain location to make our offerings to meet with God God has now chosen to dwell in us and we have become the temple of the Spirit of God. This makes it different than religious practices because religious people will follow rituals and particular ordinances of their organized religious belief system. But a person can be religious without having a relationship with God. And the difference is somebody who is walking in the Spirit who has a spirit within them that's what constitutes that person being a Christian. That's why when sometimes you're talking to people and they'll share with you that they're a Christian no matter what it is that they're saying if the Holy Spirit is not dwelling within them they don't belong to the Lord. They are not Christians. The Bible says that God's Spirit dwells within those who believe in him. 1 Corinthians 3 16. Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 1 Corinthians 6 19. Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who's in you whom you have from God and you are not your own? 1 John 4 15. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God God abides in him and he and God. Well he said in verse 9 if anyone doesn't have the Spirit of Christ he's not his no matter what they say no matter if they want to argue with you all day long well I'm a Christian does the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now when Jesus was speaking about this in Matthew chapter 7 in what is called the Sermon on the Mount he was rolling to the conclusion of his message when he said in Matthew 7 verses 21 through 23 not everyone who says to me Lord Lord shall enter the kingdom of heaven but he who does the will of my Father in heaven many will say to me in that day Lord Lord have we not prophesied in your name cast out demons in your name done many wonders in your name and then I will declare to them I never knew you depart for me you who practice lawlessness but I did these things in your name I used your name when I did these works and God says Jesus says to them I never knew it's not as if we had a relationship and you stepped away we never had a relationship at all I never knew you you used my name you spoke in a religious sense but you and I never had fellowship you see and so that's something that Paul is emphasizing for us now that comment should cause every person to have a moment for introspection like Paul said in 2nd Corinthians 13 5 examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith test yourselves do you not know yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you unless indeed you are disqualified it should cause us pause for introspection am I the temple of the spirit of God and does the spirit of God dwell within me are you do you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the spirit of God dwells within you do you know that it's a very important thing to know you see he says in verses 10 and 11 if Christ is Christ is in you the body is dead because of sin while he's saying through Jesus we who are spiritually dead have been made alive because the spirit of life is now within us he says that in Ephesians 2 1 you he made alive who were dead in trespasses in sins but the spirit according to verse 10 is life because of righteousness so Jesus who was righteous for us died for us and he took upon himself our sin and in this according to verse 11 by his spirit he gives life to our mortal bodies so as he's been presenting that we are this the temple of the spirit of God and God has given us life and this God who raised Jesus from the dead now dwells in us he moves into verse 12 by saying therefore therefore brethren we are debtors not to the flesh to live according to the flesh so we are under obligation what is the obligation that I have as a Christian well I'm under obligation to live for God and not for my fleshly desire I'm under obligation because I know that God purchased me with the blood of Christ and because I know that that cost was immense that was beyond imagination it has caused me to humbly say to God I'm your servant it says in 1 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 20 you were bought at a price therefore honor God with your body and your spirit which belonged to God he purchased you he's saying we at one time we're in the marketplace of sin we are sold into bondage of slavery and slavery was sin but Jesus Christ came and Jesus Christ paid that price for us he ransomed us he purchased us with his own blood I was bought at a price the price the scripture says is the blood of Christ I was purchased by God Jesus Christ blood was the currency and he ransomed me and seeing that I am bought at a price I now have committed myself to God and I serve him with this body that was purchased by him so we honor God with our body and our spirit would belong to him and so he goes on in verse 13 to say for if you live according to the flesh you'll die but if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body he said you will live and so he's speaking of unbelievers an unbeliever will come under God's judgment because they haven't received the gift of eternal life they didn't become the temple of the spirit of God but when you get saved the spirit of God now is in you and and he says in verse 13 by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body and he said therefore you will live so being filled with God's spirit gives us strength to no longer live carnally feeding on the flesh this all is wrapped up in verse 14 when he says for as many as are led by the spirit of God these are sons of God we'll spend some time here looking at that phrase being led notice verse 14 as many as are led by the spirit of God these are the sons of God being led it speaks of a personal intimacy with the spirit of God now Paul was writing to the Corinthians in 2nd Corinthians 13 14 and he said this he said the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all amen now you can you can be a person you can go to a church where you learn this you can be a person who understands the grace of God and so he closes by saying the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ you can go and you can say I know what grace is grace is the unmerited favor that God has given to me it is by grace that I have been saved through faith that not of myself is a gift of God not by works less anyone should boast God has poured out his grace on me because because Moses brought the law but grace in truth comes through Jesus Christ and so God has given to me unmerited favor and I can have a relationship with God through the grace of God by faith and you can understand that and you can speak of that Paul has been writing about that all through Romans especially the last few chapters and has been emphasizing for his readers the the incredible amount of grace that God has given to us and so we can speak concerning the grace of Jesus Christ you're also capable of speaking of the love of God God is love the Bible tells us that God so loved the world that he gave us only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life but God demonstrated his love toward us and that while we were sinners yet yet while we were sinners Christ died for us Jesus said by this shall all men know that you are my disciples if you have love one for another john said he who loves not knows not God we could speak about the love of God all day long and how God has demonstrated how we poured it out on it how that the evidence that a person has been saved is the fact that he has the fruit of the spirit he has the fruit of the spirit and the fruit of the spirit is love and you can speak about the love of God how it was poured out into our hearts how it's been shed abroad and and all of that we can speak about the grace of Jesus Christ we can speak about the love of God and we can speak with understanding uncertainty but here's the problem not everybody can speak concerning the communion of the holy spirit there are those who can give great studies on grace and great studies on love but they haven't got a real understanding of the communion or fellowship or partaking of the holy spirit and that is what makes the difference in your life is learning to be led by the spirit of God that's what makes the difference it's not that I can conceptually understand things like grace and things like love it's the intimacy of fellowship with the spirit that actually is transforming my life it's learning to hear the spirit still small voice when he speaks through the word or when he begins to lead me within myself and gives me internal motivation and direction that I know lines up with scripture and that I can see is actually coming from the Lord it's an intimacy and a communion that develops over time several years ago now I was driving Marie and I were on our way to do some ministry in the Glendale area and I was driving in the fast lane but there's no traffic around me at all there's one of those miraculous moments on the freeway when you're basically the only car there and I was enjoying it there's nobody around nobody in front of us nobody behind us and we're just driving and we're visiting and as we're speaking for no reason whatsoever and I was in the fast lane for no reason whatsoever I felt a prompting to change lanes from the fast lane to the middle lane to the slow lane now I never going to the slow lane I have to be honest with you I don't drive in the slow lane unless I'm getting off the freeway I never drive in there because sometimes when people are entering the freeway they're not going fast enough and it can be dangerous I mean I'm going 150 miles an hour get out of my way I'm in the slow lane but as I'm as I'm driving I never go in the slow lane my dad was a truck driver and he taught me a long time ago stay out of the slow lane it's a dangerous lane say in the middle lane or in the fast lane so he taught me that years ago and that's what I practiced all my years of driving and so there's no reason for me to be in the slow none at all there's no traffic but as I'm driving for some reason I just decide to move into the slow lane and I'm telling you before the Lord as I moved into the slow lane not 30 seconds later coming in the opposite direction bursting through a chain link fence that was separating the freeway just a chain link fence comes a steak bed truck traveling about 70 miles an hour who blew through the chain link fence from his side and shot into the fast lane where I had just occupied and had I remained in that fast lane I would have encountered head on this particular truck that had had an accident of some sort and shot through that chain link fence and then moved on back and through the fence once again shot across and entered back onto his side of the freeway and I turned to Marie and I looked at her and I said whoa that's all I could muster up that was close holy spirit he'll move you sometimes you're not even realizing that he is moving you and you just sense like God is moving you I was in church on one Sunday before I was pastor in this church before I was actually in full-time ministry and I had gone to church and my cousin Ray was seated next to me during the services and the invitation came and when the pastor said for those who want to get right with God and receive Christ I encourage you to come forward and stand up here and and receive the Lord the spirit of the Lord began to speak to my heart but I didn't recognize him and and I thought you ought to ask Ray if he wants to go up and get saved and then I thought no no no I'd be just kind of pressuring him I'm just going to be pushing him no I can't do that this has got to be just my flesh this can't be the spirit so I didn't say anything to him and so we go home and he was living at my parents' house at that time and and we were seated across from one another and he looks me in the eye as we were there at my kitchen table my parents kitchen table and he says to me you know when the pastor gave that invitation to get saved today he said I was waiting for you to tap me on the shoulder and to tell me that you would go up with me because I wanted to get saved today and I said no you have to go to hell now for sure no I didn't say that I felt so bad I led him to the Lord there at the kitchen table but I have to tell you it's this was 38 almost 39 years ago but obviously I haven't forgotten that that the Holy Spirit will prompt you there are times in the Holy Spirit is prompting you we need to learn the voice of the Spirit I can speak to you all day long about the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and I can speak to you about the love of God but Paul said may the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you also the trinity working in unity within you the Holy Spirit leading you those who are led by the Spirit of God Paul says these are the sons of God so it's not the religious practice that I might have partaken in as a youth it is being born again being the temple of the Spirit of God who dwells within me and now begins to lead me in the paths of righteousness the Holy Spirit leads us in our daily lives through communion with him somebody once asked the question is it possible that a person might be a partaker of the Holy Spirit and not know it that they are filled with his light and love and not know it that they have the spirit of adoption by which they cry Abba father and yet know nothing of their personal relationship to God in a word that they fully experience the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit and not know it this is all as absurd as it is impossible you will know you will know does the spirit of God dwell in you you will know and if there's a question about that perhaps he doesn't which is why Paul said examine yourselves is the Lord Christ in you or are you simply going through the motions a great thing to ask because if you want all of the Lord if you have a desire for him if you want to know him it's a good a good indicator that you have a relationship with with him how do you know when it's the Holy Spirit leading you how do you know that you're being led by the spirit a friend of mine is a pastor Calvary pastor and he shares the story of how that on one Sunday his wife was seated in the congregation there and some young man approached his wife and said to her that he'd been praying since he first saw her he didn't know her from anybody he was relatively new to the church obviously and he said when I saw you I began to pray and God has led me to tell you that you're supposed to be my wife now he's saying that to the pastor's wife and so she said okay and she left the pastor and now they're off somewhere in Tallahassee Florida no I she said I'm sorry but I'm already taken the Holy Spirit already spoke to my husband years ago and so how do you know how do you know when it's the Holy Spirit and not salsa how do you know that have a warm burning sensation in my heart yeah you ate too much salsa how do you know the Holy Spirit is leading and not well basically this communion with the Spirit it comes through just spending time with the Lord in prayer spending time in God's Word and it's developed through having godly fellowship is through learning to wait on the Lord as you read your devotions not speed reading through the Bible not saying oh I'm going to read the Bible through in the year therefore I have to read these five chapters today of this and four chapters here it's taking your time as you go through the Word and finding a passage that speaks to your heart and then you close your Bible for a moment you meditate on that and you say Lord this is what you did in the life of Elijah this is what you did in David this is what you did with Saul this is what you did with with the Apostle Peter and Lord I'm asking give me some insight it's it's just working your way through Scripture and waiting on the Lord as he trains you up it's getting in the Word it's being in prayer it's seeking God's Spirit it's having godly friends that you speak to and have fellowship with and it's an awareness that the Spirit always leads you to obey God's Word that you may glorify Jesus Christ he will never lead you to a bar to get drunk with your friends so you can share Jesus with them I've had people say that to me well you know the Lord led me to go and have a few beers with my friends no he didn't no he didn't Coors did it or Heineken you might or maybe you're German you like Beck but whoever it wasn't the Spirit that's your flesh oh I I knew of somebody who went into strip joints to minister to the women I joined him a few times that's another story no I I'm just I'm just kidding line people live in the flesh and blame the Spirit it happens all the time God led me to do this God led me to do that and it's a sinful thing God led me to talk about you to somebody else because you need to be humbled it's a sinful thing so you you have to line it up with Scripture does the Word of God give you evidence that this is how God works you line it up in prayer Father I have a sense that you're speaking to my heart concerning this is this your will for us is this what I'm supposed to do it comes through godly wisdom that you can ask your friends and say listen I'm praying about this and I'm praying about that and seems that the Spirit of the Lord is leading you and this me and this but I don't want to do this without any advice that that perhaps you can give me so I can put it in the mix of my prayers and seek God in and that's how it works and it always is intended to bring glory to Jesus Christ always now notice how he says in verse 15 you did not receive the Spirit of bondage again to fear but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out Abba Father you didn't receive the Spirit of bondage bondage to sin results in a life filled with fear we pray and we say God give us this day our daily bread Father lead us not into temptation deliver us from the evil one Father guide us today and and you pray and and we say Lord but I do need your provisions God because I don't want to be anxious for Scripture says be anxious for nothing I don't want to be anxious because Jesus taught me that by worrying I can't change my my the color of my hair and and my own physical height I have to trust in you Lord and so bondage to sin results in a life that's filled with fear so we ask God to provide for our daily needs the necessities of our life and also somebody who doesn't have the Spirit of God can be in bondage to the fear of judgment final judgment they're never sure as to whether or not they're right with God they're always wondering whether or not they have actually committed themselves to God and they're always concerned about them now in the United States there's a general response to the question I'm about to ask and and it's this if I were to say to somebody here in in the States in California but this is true pretty much anywhere here in the States if I said can you tell me me the opposite can you tell me the opposite of love the average person would say that the opposite of love is what hate right all of us in this room right what is the opposite of love hate is that biblically true the answer is no that's not biblically true at all the opposite of love in scripture is not hate the opposite of love in scripture is fear how do I know that first John chapter 4 verse 18 there is no fear in love but perfect love casts out fear because fear involves torment he who fears has not been made perfect in love the reason that fear is the opposite of love is because a person who's committed to Christ has no fear of torment has no fear of the coming judgment see when I go home to be with the Lord and I if God gives to me opportunity to to die in a bed and and with people coming to say goodbye and all you're not going to hear me the person who visits me is not going to hear me saying I hope I get to heaven you're not going to hear that why because I have a relationship with Jesus Christ because my walk with God has been ensured by him and his spirit because by grace I've been saved and so I'll be saying my goodbyes but it won't be like oh I hope I make it through those pearly gates no I've got one waiting for me who said to me I go and prepare a place for you and if I go and prepare a place for you I'll come again receive you unto myself that where I am there you may be also that's a promise from God and see I can trust in that absent from the body present with the Lord absent that's why Paul said that he that he was he was desirous to be in a better place why he said to depart is far better why because he's going to be with Jesus Christ so any believer does not have to fear on their deathbed you and I have to lay there going oh I hope I make it because if you have that attitude you're not going to but I'm entering into heaven because not because I tried hard but because he succeeded he succeeded and so I trust in the one who succeeded I trust in Jesus Christ and therefore I have no fear of death oh death where is thy sting oh grave where is thy victory I don't have that concern because God has caused us to triumph in Jesus Christ you see and so perfect love casts out fear because fear has torment and he who fears has not been made mature or perfect in love so we have a relationship with the God of love who gives to us an awareness that our future is in his hands and that comes through the work of the Holy Spirit so we did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear we received the spirit of adoption by whom we cry out Abba father the word Abba is what is called a diminutive it speaks of not father but daddy it's a word that a child calls their their papa their daddy it's a it's a tender word and he's saying that we have the spirit of adoption we have been brought into the family of Christ he chose us he adopted us during the time of Christ when Romans would adopt they would adopt not children the Romans adopted adults they wanted to see how that person turned out before they called them their son and they would choose them once they were mature and showing forth the fruit of a life well lived in adoption the Holy Spirit God works within us and he calls us his own we have become his by his choice he chose us out of this world and he brought us into his family we were not naturally born children of God we were naturally born sinners in rebellion to him but through Jesus Christ he saved us and brought us through adoption into his family he chose us the little girl was playing with one of her cousins when her cousin says to her you realize of course that your mommy and your daddy are not your real mommy and daddy they adopted you and the little girl doesn't know what adoption is and she says what do you mean they adopted me no you were born to somebody else and your mommy and your daddy came and they they adopted you out of an orphanage and it just cut to the little girl's heart and she goes and speaks to her parents and and she says to her parents that her cousin has said she's adopted she goes what's that mean they say that you're not really my mom and my dad that I was born to somebody else and and you came and got me and so the father and mother who were planning on sharing with her that she was an adopted baby explained how much they loved her how they had gone to a home how they had seen her and how they fell in love with her and they made a choice to ask for her they went through the process of being able to adopt or brought her home and they said we brought you home we adopted you but we love you we chose you you belong to us you're our baby so the little girl could hardly wait to see her cousin again she went to see her cousin she said you know my mom and dad said that I am adopted and I am she says I'm adopted she said but you know what my mom and my dad chose me your mom and your dad are stuck with you I've always liked that story because it's it's mean but it's fun god adopted us and by his spirit we call him daddy when my father was going home to be with the lord he had a massive heart attack and I went to the hospital and as I was in the hospital he was in a lot of pain and so the nurse attending him in the emergency room there said to me your father's in a lot of pain but I cannot just give him a medication to relieve his pain without his permission and your father because he has tubes down his throat cannot respond to me and I'm not authorized to really ask it has to be somebody like yourself could you go and ask your father whether or not we can administer some pain medication and I went and I to his to his bed there and indeed he had these tubes and everything and running down his throat and and I put my mouth near my father's ear and my dad was in so much pain and and I whispered into his ear and and I said to him daddy they want to give you medication is it okay and my dad said he nodded a little actually blinked and and I say that to say this the word daddy is much more special and precious to me and that's what I called my father I didn't ever say father now some people do oh father you know but I I I never did that you know you know your child walks up to you oh blessed mother that you are may I you know that is so corny and not real but but or maybe some of you do maybe you like to call them mother you know I don't know and father I don't I don't do that you know I I've been around people who pray like that they'll be talking just like I am right now and before you know let's say would you say grace oh most heavenly father you know and I'm talking to man I mean you know come on he's daddy he's papa I mean but please you know the scripture tells me and this is something to get your mind around and it might help you a little bit in your relationship with God it may help you when you think of this if you had a father that you could call daddy some didn't I did but if you had a father that you could call daddy because of that love that you have for him your heavenly father is also your daddy and if you had somebody in your life that you never even wanted to call that well I would tell you that your God is daddy to you we have taken that word daddy and we have depreciated to such a point that people are almost ashamed to say that who's your daddy you know we do that and it causes people to take the word and and look at it as a garbage word and it's not it's a tender word it's what your baby calls you if you go to Israel and you're walking the streets of Israel you hear the little Jewish baby speaking to their father and they say Abba you'll hear him say it Abba and that's daddy and that's what he's saying here if we could get this in our heart it would change your lives he is saying he has given you the spirit of adoption whereby by his spirit you can call him daddy father now that is something worth being blessed about he's my daddy he's my father he loves me and on father's day of course we say to him we love you my father my daddy and so that comes through the spirit and he says in verse 16 the spirit himself bears witness with our spirit we are children of God and if children then heirs heirs of God joined heirs with Christ and indeed we suffer with him that we may also be glorified together for I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us the Holy Spirit has made us his so Paul is saying we are heirs of God all he is is now mine and joint heirs with Jesus Christ with Jesus has belongs to me now because I'm a son of God that's beyond comprehension I'm a co-heir with Christ therefore the sufferings that we go through he said they're not even worthy to talk about Paul you could have spoken a lot about suffering shipwrecked beaten stripes three times beaten with rods imprisoned stoned to the point where many commentators believe that he actually actually died but God resurrected him if anybody ever went through suffering it's the apostle Paul Americans don't understand suffering at all all you need to do is step out of the comfort zone of America step into India for a while I've spent a month in India go to the Philippines there are many neighborhoods in Mexico that you go through and you see the poverty and the pain Haiti there's so much pain throughout this world so much poverty so much suffering and then you have people say oh I'm really suffering for the Lord really what happened well my co-workers told me I'm a Bible thumper and it just hurts so bad oh really you poor baby poor baby I was in a church service in India and they have a time of sharing what did you go through this week what persecution did you endure I'll never forget the woman standing up her left eye was closed and bruised because she said my husband beat me up because I followed Jesus Christ there she is in church sharing others who'd been beaten others who'd been harmed so many and that is a daily routine so much so in the life of the believers of this particular church that they actually have testimony time where the pastor says what did you go through this week for the faith of Jesus Christ and here in the United States we say oh I'm just going through so much pain I'm going through so much suffering no we're not we don't know anything about it and we won't know anything about it until we go out into a mission field or we go into some city or we go into some place and sometimes even go and visit our own relatives who are going through so much pain and then we discover what suffering is that's when you discover it you know I grew up in a family I won't make a big long monologue about this but I grew up in a family where we used to go out regularly to go take care of my cousins and my mom's nieces because my aunt at that time was an alcoholic and she and her alcoholic husband didn't care for the family and we would go on a weekly basis and clean the house and take care of the kids because my aunt was so addicted to alcohol she couldn't take care of her kids one of her sons died of heroin overdose the other daughter was a heroin addict who went into had to go into a place to be dried up and we saw this I grew up seeing this when Marie came and met my family when she first met my family my parents went home and two cousins were there and as it was seated there in my in my kitchen table one of my cousins is telling me about her husband who's in prison for killing somebody and she's saying well he didn't really kill him they just said he killed him and I'm thinking oh welcome to the family Marie family of murderers and drug addicts and Marie is sitting I had just started dating her and I and I'm and I'm actually uneasy I mean this is my family I can handle it I know where they're coming from they're my cousins I love them but this woman here doesn't know them and I turn and I look at Marie like I'm doing welcome and and and she's crying Marie's crying for my cousins and the spirit of the Lord speaks to my heart and says this is the woman for you she cries for the hurt you need somebody like that in your life someone who knows how to cry and it doesn't become just a yeah I know but yes this hurts right suffering what do we know about it what do we know about it very little but Paul said the suffering of this age is nothing compared to what God has for us nothing compared to it we are co heirs with Christ and heirs of God and the spirit of God dwells in us what a life God has given to us yes we go through pain yes we hurt yes we grieve yes my mama went home to the Lord I'm blessed where she's at did it hurt me to bury my mother absolutely I have a picture of me holding to earn with her ashes as I'm handing it to the man to bury it hurt yes yes it hurt but she's with Jesus and that gives me joy joy beyond the grief joy beyond the pain she's with the Lord and that is what God's all about he gives you strength he gives you strength so we have the spirit who dwells in us we walk in the spirit we commune with the spirit we are sons and you are daughters of God if Christ's spirit dwells in you examine yourself whether that's so