Perseverance | Jay Greiner

In this encouraging message, perseverance is explored through a deep study of Romans 8, revealing that true endurance comes not from human determination alone, but from the power of the Holy Spirit. Drawing on examples from sports, everyday life, and personal testimony, the message emphasizes living Spirit-led, trusting God as a loving Father, maintaining a strong prayer life, and keeping an eternal perspective. Listeners are reminded that they are called, empowered, and deeply loved by God, and that no challenge, setback, or opposition can separate them from His purpose or His love.

Transcript

Prayer For Healing And Strength

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Raise our hands real quick and say a quick prayer. Father, we just thank you for my mom and dad, our pastor and and first lady of this church. And Father, we just thank you that they are filled to overflowing with supernatural strength right now in Jesus' name. And Father, I just thank you. We uh we first of all we rebuke this sickness in his lungs, the that crud in his lungs, we command it to dry up right now in Jesus' name. We thank you for free breathing, that he has all of the oxygen that he needs. And Lord, I just thank you that this is an all you're setting him up to have an awesome week in you, in Jesus' name, to start the month of June off right. And hallelujah, that that uh this is the year of new things, and our pastor is stepping in himself into new things in Jesus' name. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.

Why Perseverance Is The Message

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So I just want to talk a little bit about perseverance tonight. Perseverance. And it's kind of a uh, I just was reading my Bible, I think it was Thursday morning, and I was in my backyard, and the Holy Spirit led me over to Romans chapter 8. And how many of you enjoy Romans chapter 8? You know what Romans chapter 8 is all about already. And so I was, I got all the way down to uh verse 25, and um let's see, I've got to open my own Bible to that. Romans chapter 8. And so God, the Holy Spirit, long story short, the Holy Spirit just showed me we're gonna have like more of a Bible study tonight of Romans chapter 8. Is that all right? We're gonna, I'm not literally gonna change, turn to any other scripture, and if we make it through the whole thing, that's great. And if we don't, I'll I'll go really quickly, maybe, and and uh at some times. But in 20, verse 25, um it says, but if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. And when I got to that per the word perseverance, and I'll explain to you later in context of what this means, the Holy Spirit's like, that's a message. And so I began to write down a message, and I didn't know when I'd get to preach it, but the next day, you know, here I am filling in for my dad.

Grit Stories From Sports And Life

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And uh, and but you know, I I started thinking, you know, in the natural, I was gonna use, you know, I I was I was having a conversation with Mo Alexander last week about Mike Tyson and how he really knew how to how to punch, but he knew how to take a punch. And so he he began to tell me how that's that he's a whole different man. He's been saved. And and uh and he has no more fight in him for people. He just fights the devil, of course. We always were fighting uh from victory, not for victory, but he knows he's just a lover of people now. And he did he that left him, that that mean, angry, you know, the the rage that he had to win all those battles. And then uh I didn't write her name down, but there's a lady right now that's fascinating to me. She's rowing in a boat that's a little bit bigger than a kayak, but she's rowing from uh California to Hawaii, the first person to cross the ocean, first female solo. Does anybody know her name? Anybody see her on the news? This is news to everybody but me. Okay. Um, and and I just thought it was fascinating. I've been following her on Instagram, and she's misguided. You know, she's doing it for some some, you know, to save the whales. I just hope she doesn't get eaten by a whale. Maybe she was supposed to go to Nineveh. And she's uh not the next Jonah, I hope. But uh, but anyways, it was she was at she, I think she's like day 11 here, but on day eight or nine, she it was so hard to get off the coast. And she was like at day eight, and a huge storm came and blew her almost back home, and she had almost had to start over again, and she's just in tears. And and uh, but the next day, uh another that she picked up the westerly wind, and she's like moving at like two and a half knots an hour, and she's well on her way to Hawaii. And I hope she makes it. I don't know, she even though I don't really care the purpose. Uh I mean I do, but you know what I mean, God cares, but just um misguided perseverance, right? But still perseverance. Some, you know, she's not getting that grit and determination out of her spirit that I know of that I could that I could witness. Again, I'm not speaking against her. Uh, but then the Kuntzes walked in, and and we have Katie Koontz back with us, and she's a track star and uh and from Tulsa University. And what are your two races that you're running? The 3,000-meter, what is that called? Steel Chase. And then your other one, don't you run like a 2,000-something? No? A 5K, I'm sorry, thank you. I should know this these things. But grit and determination. So when so when she finds that, you know, um, when it's nearing the end of the race to dig down deep, and no matter what the wind, she was running into a headwind and her last win, and she dug down deep. And what causes her to have that strength on the inside, she's not getting, yes, her legs are strong. Yes, her lungs are filled with oxygen, but it's her spirit man that's giving her supernatural strength to overcome in every arena. And that's what I wanted to talk today about.

Seeing Perseverance In Our Pastor

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Uh, but then I was sitting there thinking, and there's no greater person, when I when I said that this morning after baptism, I started talking about I was uh being in awe of the anointing and watching my parents this morning from the tub, like looking into their eyes, but also seeing my dad preach a message, knowing that yesterday he had no energy, he could barely talk, his lungs were full of crud, you know. Can't can I say crap? I can't say crap. Okay, crud. And so uh, and so here he is today preaching his guts out, and it was so anointed. And you could put that message in the top of any of his other messages for 30, whatever, however many, 40 years, however long he's been preaching, and uh it was so good, but perseverance, grit, determination, endurance. You know, um uh Webster says that it's the ability to get hit and keep on going. You know, the the storms of life, you know, we can get uh you know hit in the face by a wave and we just keep going. We keep paddling, we keep, we keep on trucking, right? And uh it also means the continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties or failures or opposition. And so um let's just go down through Romans chapter 8, but read it with the idea of perseverance in uh in every way,

No Condemnation And A New Law

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right? And so right away it says, there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. So if we pause for a second, the Pastor John Osteen that's still in me, it says, uh therefore, what is it therefore? And you so you back up to uh all of Romans chapter 7, especially from verse 13 on, is saying exactly what Pastor preached this morning about the old covenant, the old law, the old law of bulls and goats. It could not save us from sin. It could not save them from sin, it just covered their sin. It did not rescue them and bring freedom from sin the way Jesus' sacrifice did. And so now there is therefore now no zero, no means zero, right? Condemnation, but for who? To those, to everybody, no, but to those that are in Christ, who do not walk according to the flesh, but instead walk what? According to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ has made them free, made me free from the law of sin and death. So the law of sin and death has no more power over me. Sin has no more power over me. I'm not dominated by sin. I'm not dominated by my flesh, but I live under a new spiritual law that did not, that not that did not exist before Jesus. You see that, right? That God created just like gravity. All of a sudden, God created gravity and we're we're sure footage, right? We're not just floating around in the air. We have with a natural law of gravity. Then you have the law of lift, right? We can get in an airplane and I could take you up. It's been many, many years since I've flown as a pilot, but somewhere in my wallet is a is the pilot's license that says I'm supposed to be able to fly. And uh maybe I could get it back off the ground, but be getting back on the ground might be the issue. Um, because it took me a lot of landings to figure that out. But uh, you know, the there's a new spiritual law, and it's more powerful than any natural law that's in existence. And it never was in existence before, and it's the law of the spirit of life in Christ. So uh that's my number one. We persevere through the law of the spirit of life in Christ that's lifting us, right? And so uh the power of sin, like I said, cannot dominate you, and we operate under a new law, right? And so we keep reading verse 3 for what the law could not do, the old law, the law of sin and death, not uh uh could not do in that was weak through the flesh, God did by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin. He conquered sin in the flesh. What is this saying? It's saying that Jesus conquered sin in a state that was just like me and you, in the in with the same flesh that we have, with the same mind that we have, with the same strength that we have, he conquered sin forever. And so now sin has no more rule over us. And so, verse 4, that the righteousness requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit.

Staying Spirit Led In The Mind

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Where is the might? Is the might on God's side, like Pastor just said this morning? No, it's on our side. There's a might in there, right? There's lots of ifs in this chapter. There's lots of mites, maybe not lots of mites, but there's lots of conditional things that we need to do, decisions that we need to make. When you see an if, that means there's a decision there, right? And we make the right decisions. Verse 5, for those who live live according to the flesh set their minds on things of the flesh, but those who live according to the spirit set their minds on the things of the spirit. So it's a spirit thing, right? God has not given us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, spirit of love, and a spirit of a sound mind. So it's a spirit thing that your mind thinks for uh and let's see if I can grab my number two. And all of these verses think of this point. We persevere by staying in the spirit. We walk in the spirit, we speak in the spirit, we operate and we're led out of our spirit, and we think out of our spirit. God requires our brain, our mind. Our mind is important to God, but verse 6 uh for to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life in peace. Do we want to have life? We do. Do we want to have peace? We do. Did you know that you can live in perfect peace whose heart is stayed on the Lord, right? So our heart is focused and stayed on Him. We can have and live in perfect peace. Verse 7, because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can it be. Um it cannot be subject to the law. Okay, sorry. Um I want to make this point and I want to make it clear that uh when you're living in your flesh, the carnal mind, so so your flesh also has a mind, right? It can, you know, if you're living out of the flesh, you have carnal thinking, and that carnal thinking is enmity, it's enemies with God. It cannot be subject to the law of the spirit of life in Christ. I want you to see that. That we live in a new under a new spiritual law, that carnal thinking is not going to get you there. Your regular IQ separated uh away from God is not gonna get you there, right? It's not gonna get you anywhere. So, so then, verse 8, so then those who are in the flesh cannot please God. So if so, what is our duty on earth is to please God, right? It's to walk in his will, it's to walk in his way, and it and he needs us in order to fulfill the calling of God on each one of our lives. We need to please him in every way. That means we please him in our bodies, we please him in our minds, and we please him because we're walking and talking and living out of our spirit. Amen. We are a spirit, we have a mind, and we live in a body. And we're quickly going to get to this in a few verses that they're all connected to our spirit, living out of our spirit. Amen. Amen. So, uh, but you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if indeed the spirit, verse 9, uh, if indeed, if, there's another if, indeed the spirit of God dwells in you, now if anyone does not have the spirit of Christ, he is not his. In other words, if we don't have the spirit of Christ, we don't belong to him. And it says, and if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness. And so our body, so step one, it really does have a lot to do with dying, doesn't it? Dying to our old ways, dying to our old flesh, and living unto his spirit. And so that's exactly what happened in the death and the burial and the resurrection of Jesus. We just saw that uh portrayed in baptism this morning, didn't we? How many of you have been baptized? You've been water baptized? You've been baptized in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues, amen. I'm in a church full of tongue talkers, amen. So we're filled with and controlled by the Holy Spirit, right? And so um, hallelujah. So we persevere by staying in the spirit, and so uh, and if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, but the spirit of life be uh be uh because because of righteousness. Verse 11. Pastor Joseph, you want to shout out at me if I'm ever gonna skip one of these verses. But if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give you life or give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells in you. So there you go. We're alive to Christ and our mortal bodies. This, I'm talking about this, you know, squeeze your arm right now. This, this mortal body has been given life through the spirit who dwells in you. Amen. Uh, the same spirit that raised Jesus, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives in you and it operates in you, and it gives life to your flesh. And so if it gives life to your flesh and it gives thoughts to your mind, then you're fully persuaded that you're controlled by the Holy Spirit, aren't you? Amen. You see that? Right in line, boom, boom, boom, boom, that all goes together.

Sonship, Adoption, And Abba Father

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That's why it's real, it's good sometimes to just read the Bible in context, right? You're gonna get like exactly what Paul meant. Boom, boom, boom. And this is uh next we're gonna move into sonship through the spirit. Verse 12. Therefore, brother, we are debtors not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh, there's another if, you will die. But if by the spirit you put to deep 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. Our pastor preaches about this a lot, doesn't he? And he turned gets to turn that around. He says, For those that are sons of God are led by the Spirit of God. And that that is so true, right? Verse 15, for 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. As we continue, that leads me to our number three, which is we persevere because we know God takes care of us in grand style. In other words, we know who our God is. Our God is our heavenly, our heavenly Father, our Abba Father, and He takes care of us. He's not up there with a baseball bat ready to hit us and smack us in the face when we mess up. No matter what that sin is, no matter what mistakes you have made, he is not there to punish us or bloody our noses. He's there to receive us, he takes care of us, he loves us. So, so other scriptures obviously, and especially the message from this morning, from Pastor, was encouraging us to keep short accounts. And when we mess up to turn to God. And when when we turn to him, he turns to us, he meets us right where we're at. And so the whole per point of coming as you are to church, you know, we've had all kinds of different people come inside these doors. You know, one time we had the head of the gang task force of HPD here in the building, and he's he came for on and off for several months, maybe even years. Um, but he came to our security team one time and he said, Hey, you got one of the Southside gangs, the head of the South, you know, one of those Southside gangs is sitting in the back and he pointed them out just so we'd be watching. But what was he doing? Was he here to cause trouble? No. He was here to enter in, he was here to receive. Amen. So we are a regional center. We have that kind of the those God sends us those type of people. The doors of the church are open. You know, we uh I remember in the Seventh-day church, we we're not Seventh-day at Venice, but we did rent their building for four and a half years as part of our church history. But I remember there for a long time we had a stripper coming to church with her uh bandito 1% boyfriend. And Claire would minister to her and she would cry, and and she began the deliverance process, but just didn't quite get over, you know, her past and uh didn't stay. But you know, uh we have power, the power of the Holy Spirit is here, and so God brings us all kinds of different people uh through this church, and God takes care of us. God knows how to speak through us, and uh we persevere because we know that God takes care of us, amen? And that we we're not returning, there's no reason to return again to the bondage that you once had. There's not a bondage that that uh that hell has created that the devil has in store for you that can hold you compared to the blood of Jesus. The blood of Jesus is enough, it's powerful enough, and our God, by the love of our Father and the obedience of His Son, Jesus Christ, He sent the Holy Spirit to dwell on the inside of us, and we don't have to stay bound any longer. Amen. So we're not we we didn't receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you receive the spirit of adoption. He's taken us into his family. Verse 16. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. So therefore, the devil can't talk you out of being an heir. He, we, everything that God put into Jesus, he put into you. And you wait a minute, that'll blow your mind. Every single thing that God poured into Jesus, he poured into you by the blood of Jesus. That's why his sacrifice is so special. It's worth honoring in every way, it's worth respecting in every way. We don't just take it for granted. We don't just show up at church and to check a box, right? But everything we do is because of that sacrifice that Jesus made, we can look different, we can sound different, and we can speak faith because we are heirs of his promises. Every single promise it belongs to us. Amen. Verse 17 and if children then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ. Christ. Again, that means everything it gave to Jesus, it gave to us. I didn't make, I'm not making that up. It's right there. Read it. Hallelujah. If indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified together.

Suffering, Glory, And Future Hope

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What's that word suffering? Is it cancer? No. Is it car wrecks? No. Our pastor just preached that this morning. Amen. It's uh it's um persecution. Thank you, Miss Gwynn. She's a better preacher than me. No, I'm just kidding. It's uh persecution. And so uh this leads us to verse 18. And we persevere because we keep our eye on the prize, our heavenly crown. Amen. And it says in verse 18, Paul says, 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 and through us. In other words, there's not one thing that we suffer on this side that makes up for the glory that was gonna be on the other side. Amen. It's worth it, amen. That one one day we're gonna receive a crown and we're gonna be able to throw that at the feet of Jesus, amen. For for your obedience, for your service. And and then and your service is through his service, right? And it's it's through, it's nothing that you've earned, it's through his sacrifice. Verse 19, for the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God, for the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it in hope. Because the creation itself was also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now, not only that, but we also who have the first fruits of the Spirit, everybody say that's me. Even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption and the redemption of this body. You know, one day this body is gonna turn into a glorified body, amen? And we're gonna be in heaven together, right? And so um we're we're in in the light of this, we're keeping in mind that we, at verse uh my number four point, we persevere because we keep our eye on the prize, right? And so we're we're gonna make it to heaven, we're gonna be in heaven rejoicing together one day. It might be in five minutes, it might be tomorrow, it might be in five years, but we're gonna be there together. Amen. Verse 24, for we were saved in this hope. But hope that is seen is not hope. For why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. We're overcomers, amen. We're overcomers in every area. No matter what the devil throws our way, we we're overcoming, amen. We have grit, we have turn determination, but it's not a mindset, it's our spirit, and our spirit receives strength from the Holy Spirit,

Praying Through Weakness With The Spirit

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amen. And it's out of that that we're able to live and move and have our being, right? So verse 26, likewise, the spirit also helps in our weaknesses. I wanted to cover that. Um so I've heard this preached many different ways. So I looked it up today in the Greek, and it does mean multiple things, but one of the meanings that hit me so hard is in our soul. So it's in our mind, our the weakness. We're talking about weaknesses. Your mind can become weak. Your mind can you can become tired in your thinking, you can become tired and weary in your mind. And um, so this leads me to my number five point. We persevere through our prayer life. Amen. So we have the Holy Spirit who's praying over us and um and interceding for us, but that word weakness in the Greek, it's of the soul, and it says want of strength and capacity to bear trials and troubles. So sometimes we we're tempted to faint in our mind and give in to that trial or give in to that trouble. You know, when your back's up against the wall, instead of giving in to that trial, instead of giving in to that trouble, know that the Holy Spirit has your back. What does it say? For we uh likewise, the spirit also helps in our weaknesses, for we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And so um the Spirit makes intercession. He makes intercession. So when you feel like your back is against the wall, be strengthened to know that the Holy Spirit Himself is praying for you. He's interceding on your behalf. And so you don't have to faint in your mind. You can just lean on the Holy Spirit. And that's why it's so good to have a prayer life, to be able to pray in tongues. Pray in your prayer language. It builds you up on your most holy faith, the book of Jude says. And so when you pray in the Holy Ghost, it changes everything. And so when you're praying in the Holy Ghost, and the Holy Spirit is over there interceding and praying, uh, boom, there's a connection that happens in the spirit, and you're uplifted, and the Holy Spirit is not afraid of any mess. And he can grab a hold of your elbows and just yank you right out of that mess. Amen. You don't have to stay in that mess. You don't have to stay in that weakness. You can receive supernatural strength right now. It's not complicated, it's not something that's impossible, it's not something that you have to beg for for hours and hours and hours, but just lean back. I like the way I say this every time I preach. Selena makes fun of me. But uh the the Amplified Classic Bible says, leaning back our whole entire human personality back into Him. And that, you know, uh I relate to that so much because sometimes my human personality needs a dose of the Holy Ghost, right? I can be a little bit uptight sometimes. I can take some things a little personally sometimes. And so, uh, but but uh me apart from the Holy Spirit, I I can't get anywhere. I wouldn't, I wouldn't be 99% of what you know, 100% of who I am is because of the anointing. It's because of the Holy Ghost. And it's because of of uh of his IQ that I'm borrowing to be to be smart. It's the Holy Spirit that makes me smart. I don't mind saying that. That's not any any uh, you know, I was I had I was I tell this story sometimes. I was a couple years ago, I was having lunch with another minister, and he said we were just talking about dumb things people do. And he's like, I think even aside from the Holy Ghost, I could make it a lot further than most of these people around here. And so I'm like, no, I don't I'm so glad I don't have to do it without the Holy Ghost. I'm not going five seconds without the Holy Ghost. Amen. Verse 27. Um uh now he who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is. We're talking about, remember that we're talking about the Holy Spirit interceding for us. So he who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is because he makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. So not only that, God is, I mean, the Holy Spirit is praying the perfect will of God over you because he knows the perfect will of God. We don't, we might not know how to pray as we ought, but the Holy Spirit is interceding for us, and we just lean back into that prayer, right? And allow that prayer to take us. But and we do that through the power of us speaking in tongues, right? We can't just do that because we can't just decide to do that in our brain or in our flesh. No, it's a spirit thing, and it happens through the power of the Holy Spirit.

All Things Work For His Purpose

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Verse 28, and we know that all things, all things work together for good to those, what's the you know, there's not an if here, but it's it is conditional. All things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to what? His purpose. It's all about his purpose, it ain't about your purpose, it's about his purpose, and so we do love God, which gives brings me to point number six. We persevere because we are called. Everybody say this: I am called, I have a purpose, I'm fulfilling your purpose, Lord. In me. I live in you so that you can live through me. There we go. Amen. Amen. Because we love God, we lit, we are called, and we're it's a bit according to his purpose. Uh verse 29, for whom he foreknew, this this trips up a lot of people. This this next little little verse. Also, it's it's in Ephesians a lot about being predestined. People get caught up on that in that word because they don't know what it means. It just means that he knew everything ahead of time. Why does that scare us? He knew every decision you'd ever make, good, bad, indifferent, whatever. He knew all your doubts, all your fears. He knew exactly where you'd get to, and he's cheering you on, anyways. He knows exactly where you're gonna end up, and you're we're serving him, and we're on uh we're we're called to fulfill his purpose in our life, but it's it's been predestined. It's been set up for us ahead of time. But that's a good thing, it's not a bad thing. We're not afraid of it, right? For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he predestined, these he also called, whom he called, uh he also justified, and whom he justified, these he also glorified. Amen. Amen. So um, so we're called, we're justified, and we're glorified. And he in Jesus, talking about Jesus too, that Jesus was all these things, and everything that he put inside of Jesus, he put inside of us. And so we are carriers of his glory, amen.

God Is For Us In Real Crises

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Now we're shifting, we're talking about uh uh that God of God's everlasting love, and that leads me to number seven, that we persevere because God is for us. God is for us. So let's read about it. Verse 31. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own son but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him, also freely give us 25% of things? No, all things. Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? Is it God who justifies? Who is he who condemns? Is it Christ who died and furthermore is also risen? Who is even at the right hand of God who also makes intercession for us? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? As it is written, for your sake we are killed all day long, we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter, yet in all these things we are conquerors? No, we're more, more than conquerors, through what? Through him who loved us. Great is his love. Amen. And I'll I'll finish this point in just a second. But if God is for us, who can be against us? I like to say it this way, since God is for us, because we know he is, there's no really if, God being for us, he is for us. So who can be against us? I think, you know, um, there are so many examples that I could use, but I started this afternoon. Um I was going over my notes, and uh maybe later off recording we can pray over this person. But there's a person right now that's uh that's a pastor that's all in the news, he's going through a divorce, and we would all know him if I said his name, and maybe later I'll say his name. We can pray over him, but it's just terrible because it's dragging his whole church and his whole family and the legacy of that church down, and um, and people don't really know what the truth is. I don't know, nor do I care what the truth uh is of his marriage. I just know that he's hurting and his wife is hurting, and they need our prayers way more than they need any judgment coming from us. So if God is for him, then who can be against him? And so we pray a hedge of protection, we plead the blood of Jesus over his ministry and over his future ministry, and whatever comes out comes out, but um, but God has a plan and God has a purpose for his life. And uh I've gotten to witness several times now uh how Pastor Mark and Trina handle things like that, and it's really changed, it's marked me the generosity, but how um I better be careful who uh uh how I say this, but um you know, one man in particular had his whole family turn against him. He became an alcoholic. And Pastor Mark didn't run from that situation, he ran to him and he began to call him and he began to love on him. And he said, Hey, I'm having some meetings. Why don't you come out? And so he came out, and instead of throwing rocks at him, he's he uh he came, he got him to come up and he prayed over him, and then he handed him the microphone. Are you kidding me? Handed him a microphone in that situation, he said, Hey, tell us a little bit of your testimony. And I'm telling you, that person is completely restored to this day. He he is completely restored, and his he's back with his family, they're back in fellowship, and it is an awesome story. And that's not the only one. I've witnessed this over and over and over again, how some how the rest of everybody is talking bad about this person or that person or that pastor, and they're struggling, and Mark and Trina just pull them up close and say, How can we help? How can we pray with you? How can we kick the devil in the teeth with you and and help restore them? You know, uh uh being a minister, people really don't understand. Even uh Morris, what's his first name? Dallas? Uh Robert Morris, even Robert Morris, you know, he's a child molester. You don't know, you don't know what he's I just see the fruit. I see the fruit of a man who served in ministry for decades, and I don't know every detail. I don't, I know what the news said, and I know what we'll never know what happened behind the scenes. And we sure will never know his heart towards the Lord. Whether his, I mean, we will, we'll we can be, you know, see the fruit of it in the future, but I'm just saying, um, we're not God. You're not God. And so I just think of in all these situations, I happen to see an Instagram post that was really positive about him. Like the people were actually quoting the word, talking about the spirit of life in Christ, you know. You he's he is it is it does it mean the same for him? Is he uh exempt from that scripture? Uh does Jesus have to come back and die again for him because he messed up 30, 40 years ago? However long it is? And so uh I better be careful what I'm saying, but but uh before I name too many names, but people like they go so far outside just to judge on themselves, on you know, and and and spread so much vile hatred against their own body. Don't they realize that we're we're one body and that we're called to love, and we're called to if if somebody gets off, you're called to restore them, not speak against them. It's different if they're a false prophet now. That's a whole different thing. And uh, and so we do name names in that department, don't we? And so by we we mean our pastor mostly. And so um, but I'm just telling you, if God is for us, who can be against us? We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us, and He loves us with such a great love, and that leads me to my last point eight.

Nothing Can Separate His Love

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We persevere because God loves us. Uh Verse 38, for I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God. Where is that love of God? Which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. He loves us so much. Great is his love for us. I'm telling you, um, we made it through the entire chapter, praise the Lord. But his love is so great for you, and it's so great for me. And he has a plan and a purpose for us. Let's just bask in that love for a little bit longer. Hallelujah.

Closing Prayer To Persevere

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Father, that we just thank you that we persevere through anything that's thrown at us. Lord, that we have grit and determination that comes from you, that we're strengthened in our inner man, like the Ephesians prayer says. Lord, that it's a supernatural strength, it's not a natural thing, strength. And so, Lord, I just thank you. We look at uh people like my mom, that despite all of the things that are thrown at her, she continues to live, she continues to breathe, she continues to walk, and she continues to fight the devil. And Lord, she's not fighting for victory, she's fighting from victory, from a standpoint of victory, because she has victory on all sides. And so, Lord, we just thank you for the for the prayer warriors uh that we're grateful for those people that intercede, but mostly for the Holy Spirit that intercedes, that sees each and every one of our weaknesses and knows that that weakness sometimes can come in the form of our mind. So, Lord, we just thank you that through our spirit we're strengthened in our mind, that we can think your thoughts. Lord, that that we're strong in our thinking. Lord, we're strong in our confession. Lord, that we're strong in every area of our lives, Lord, that we refuse to give in to any doubt that would tell us to quit, that would tell us to pull back, that would tell us uh that our time is over, that it's time for a rocking chair and sit on the side of a mountain. No, we're we've got our hand on the plow, doing your will, doing your ministry, loving on the people that we come in contact with. Each and every one of us are called for your purpose, and we're achieving your purpose in our lives. Lord, we're ministers of your gospel. And Father, we just thank you that everywhere we go, we're a witness of your faithfulness, of your goodness, that we're carriers of your glory. We're carriers of your glory. I say we're carriers of your glory, and your glory is your manifested presence, but it's also your goodness. It's also your mercy. Lord, that we can have mercy over the ones that we have come in contact with. Lord, that people need to see your mercy. Lord, they need to be come in contact with your miraculous power. Lord, that healing is your dinner bell. And Lord, we're hungry and thirsty for the supernatural to move in our midst in this church. And Lord, that's gonna send in the hungry and the thirsty and the sighing, crying, dying humanity. Lord, and we're not waiting on them to show up. Lord, we're out on in the streets. We're preaching, we're teaching, we're we're sharing your love with everyone that we come in contact with. We're quick to invite them to come in. Lord, to sit in your presence and to be changed. And Lord, when we when they get here, we have a supply. We have a supply because you are our supply, that we don't lack in anything. Lord, that we are with the right people working arm in arm to reap the harvest in our in our lives that you have in front of us. And Lord, we persevere in every area. I say we persevere in every area because we have your heart, because we have your strength, because we have your character on the inside of us. Lord, that we're abounding in every good work. We're abounding in every good work in Jesus' name, in Jesus' name.