Father, sometimes it worries us to think that you are unchanging, that you just don't change.
But Father, help us to understand this mystery of who you are.
And Father, we get a glimpse of it with this idea that you are unchangingly faithful.
That when you accept us as your son or daughter in Jesus, by faith in Jesus, that you never let us go.
Nothing can stop you from letting us go.
We thank you, Father, that you are a great God, that you are faithful, that you desire to know us and have us know you.
And so, Father, bring your word home and bring this truth home to us this morning.
And we ask this in the name of Jesus, your son and our savior. Amen.
Please be seated.
So, one of the challenges in courtship and in marriage is you meet somebody and, you know, you become interested in them.
And then you start to get to know them.
And that's the challenge.
Because as you get to know them, you start to realize there's things about them which you hadn't quite realized before.
And sometimes you find that endearing and wonderful.
Sometimes you find it shocking and upsetting.
And sometimes you just find it a little bit irksome.
And part of the whole process of developing a relationship is how you manage those things.
As you know, some of you maybe have dated somebody or you started to become friends with somebody.
It doesn't have to be romantic.
And then after a while you realize, no, I don't really think this is going to work.
I don't really think we can be friends.
This particular habit or this particular aspect of their personality, I just can't quite manage it.
People are angular, if you know what I mean.
In fact, it's one of the differences between imaginary friends and real friends.
Imaginary friends, I don't know, they always laugh at your jokes.
They always just go along with what you want.
Real friends don't always laugh at your jokes.
And sometimes they can be very irritating.
You know, one of the marks of the fact that God is a real God and not just an imaginary God,
a make-believe God, is that we Christians believe that the true God that does exist has spoken to reveal himself.
And he's revealed himself to us through his word.
And so what that means is that when we read his word, because he's not a make-believe God, an imaginary God,
there's times when we read his word and we go, ooh, really?
Really?
You say that?
And we cringe.
Now, you might think I'm being a little bit extreme.
And if you're a guest here, you're thinking, gosh, I know I shouldn't have come to an Anglican church saying such mean things about God.
That would never happen to me.
I'd like you to take your Bibles and turn to Galatians chapter 4.
And we're going to read verses 8 and 9.
And if you don't think that, imagine that you are going to, on Monday, tomorrow,
you're going to gather all of your co-workers together, and you're going to read this verse to them slowly,
these two verses slowly, all your co-workers.
The atheist, the agnostic, the spiritual person, the Muslim, the Buddhist, you're going to read this to them.
Galatians chapter 4, verses 8 and 9.
1.
Formerly, friends, when you did not know God, whoa, just don't go any further.
When you did not know God.
You're saying, the Muslim says, you're saying I don't know God?
The Buddhist says, you're saying I don't know God?
The spiritual person, you're saying I don't know God?
Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods.
But now that you have come to know God, that's he's talking to Christians.
Or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world
whose slaves you want to be once more?
Now, depending on your personality type, some of you might be saying, I'd love to read that text to my co-workers.
My boss.
My boss's boss.
And others would be saying, well, George, maybe you have a little bit of a point about sometimes there's things in the Bible
that just sort of make us get a little tiny bit uncomfortable.
Because for many of us, this would be a very, very, very awkward text to read.
In fact, you know, some of the times I say, well, if you know, if you actually know the original language or something like that,
it, you know, it says this or that, it softens this or makes it.
Actually, that doesn't happen here.
In fact, actually, even to make it more blunt, it actually literally says, when it says in verse 8, in my version of the Bible, it says formerly.
Literally, it says, however, then.
And however, then in the original language is emphatic.
In other words, if we were to try to be translating it more literally, it would just look tacky.
But you would bold it and make it all capitals because it's supposed to jump out of the page.
However, then, when you did not know God, and then you'll notice in verse 9, but now, and it's a direct contrast.
So, in fact, actually, the text is making a very, very, some very, very stark claims.
We're going to camp here for a second just to get our minds around it because you never know when somebody's going to ask you about stuff like this.
So, if you could put up the first point, Andrew, that would be very helpful.
And here's the claim that the text is making.
The true God exists and there are no gods.
And some of you might say, well, George, how does that fit in?
I mean, Paul wouldn't have known about Hinduism and he wouldn't have known about Buddhism
and he wouldn't have known about Islam amongst three things.
How would that have worked?
Well, just sort of one tiny little thing.
He probably actually did know a little bit about Hinduism because the church that was sort of the sending church for Paul was Antioch
and there's archaeological evidence that there was some contact.
There might even have been people of what we now call India in the congregation.
So, actually, he might very well have known a little bit about Hinduism and Buddhism.
But the fact of the matter is, is that the ideas of Hinduism and Buddhism,
either that all is God or that everything isn't God but the God is sort of in everything,
those actually were already Greek philosophers that thought about that.
So, Paul was familiar with it.
And Islam, of course, didn't develop for almost 700 years afterwards, so he wouldn't have known that.
But it would have some similarities to a type of radical Judaism, so he would have been familiar with that.
So, in fact, and here's where things get very uncomfortable.
And if you're guessed, you're going to be maybe a little bit shocked.
And hopefully, as we talk it through, you still might be very shocked,
but at least you'll maybe understand why we would say such a shocking thing.
The fact of the matter is, is that even in the presence of a billion Hindus and a billion Muslims,
this text would say that Allah is not a God.
And the Hindu gods are not gods.
They're not by nature.
They're not real.
That's what the text is saying.
The true God exists, and there are no gods.
Some of us might be thinking, that's really, really a very, very, very big claim.
And it might be all right, George, for us to talk about this right now,
when we're all sort of together.
But I'm also a little bit confused, George, because aren't a lot of people of other faiths,
and even those who have no faith at all, they don't believe in any God whatsoever,
aren't a lot of them a lot better than Christians?
And the answer would be, yes, they are.
But Christianity doesn't make any claim about people being better.
Read the text again.
And this is the problematic thing, because, George, you know, you're saying that they're enslaved.
But surely, don't you think they live better lives?
Like, some of you might even be thinking of, I don't know, a Christian,
and maybe an atheist, and you'd say to yourself,
George, I'd rather have the atheist as my boss, because they're a better person.
So, I don't know how they're enslaved.
Well, let's listen to the text again.
Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods.
But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God,
how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world,
whose slaves you want to be once more?
The text is very clear, making a big claim.
If you could put up the next point, that would be great.
Here's a way to start to understand it.
We will always be enslaved by what we worship,
unless we worship what we were created to worship.
You know, it's interesting.
As I was writing this, I had in the back of my mind a regular conversation partner that I have,
who's always trying to embarrass me in public.
And, but occasionally he gives me, I mean, it's sort of odd.
I mean, one week he can try to embarrass me in public by saying something in a really loud voice about,
so you worship a God who likes to kill people and cause people to holy war.
The whole restaurant, all of Starbucks goes quiet, you know.
And then the next week he'll say something sort of positive to me.
But, you know, in a sense, he would agree with that, up until the comma, he would agree,
we will always be enslaved by what we worship.
In fact, he'd probably say to me, George, if you just stop there, you hit it right,
they hit the nail on the head.
You hit a home run.
We will always be enslaved by what we worship.
In fact, not just my friend who's an atheist.
Many, many people who wouldn't necessarily call themselves atheists or agnostics,
they just say, you know, all religion, you know, it just enslaves you.
You know, like, why waste your time on Sunday morning going to a church, paying money?
Like, why don't you just sleep in, go to a nice restaurant for brunch,
and then just hang out all afternoon and watch some football games and drink a few brews?
Like, why bother yourself with anything big or mighty like that?
You know, it just enslaves you.
It just bends your life out of shape.
Just bends your life out of shape to serve this.
And Christians, you see, this is a, I think it's a very Christian statement.
We will always be enslaved by what we worship unless we worship what we were created to worship.
You see, at the very heart of the Christian faith is not just that the Christian faith is just like
what gives us a little bit of meaning in our life.
It makes us happy, gives us a sense of purpose.
And, you know, when we talk like that amongst our non-Christian friends,
they might think it's weird because they might think, you know,
like, why don't you get your meaning and all, I don't know,
like just from being centered, doing a little bit of yoga,
I don't know, volunteering occasionally or, you know, whatever.
It seems a bit odd and it leaves you to take odd positions on things like abortion.
But, you know, at the end of the day, if we say,
well, it just gives me some peace, it gives me some purpose.
And they say, well, you know, for some it's rock climbing, you know,
for some it's yoga, you know, for him it's church.
You know, for me it's a few beers, watching football all afternoon.
Like, whatever, you know, cranks, you know, whatever turns your crank,
like, that's all we say.
But Christians actually make a very, very, very deep claim.
We make a claim that we are creatures in a created order,
that there is a God who does exist,
and that God who does exist chose to create out of nothing.
And when he made human beings,
he made us to be in his image and likeness.
And he made us to know him and to be known by him
and to have fellowship, communication, community with him.
That's how he made us.
He made us to look out to him,
to love him, to be grateful to him,
just to rejoice in who he is,
just as in a sense, you know,
if you have a really, really great friend
and you just sort of rejoice in who they are and your friendship.
Like, you know, not all,
but you just have this sense of joy,
of having a really good friend
or, you know, somebody really important in your life like that.
And in a very real way, but to the nth degree,
because God is eternal, that for all eternity,
just sort of rejoice in God.
And God made us to sense,
to get our meaning in relationship to him,
to get our direction in relationship with him,
to have our sense of worth in connection to him
and to get our satisfaction in connection with him.
God made us to be the type of creature
that always looks out or goes out
to have meaning and hope and purpose
and satisfaction and direction.
And when, in Genesis 3,
we raised our fist at God
and said that we want to be equal with you at least,
and we turned our back on God,
when we did that,
it didn't mean that we stopped being human.
It meant that our backs are turned to God,
that we become far from God,
that we become lost, in a sense,
in our own imaginings apart from God.
But that part of us,
that we were made to look for somebody
or somewhere or something
or some idea or some principle
that will give some meaning to our life,
some purpose to our life,
some direction to our life,
some shape to our life,
some grounding to our life,
that part of us that continues to look out,
continues to look out.
It doesn't go away,
but what it means is that we will now look everywhere other than God.
To have meaning,
to have a sense of purpose,
to have a sense of direction,
to have a sense of being grounded,
to have some type of satisfaction,
of hope,
that will have to be now somewhere other than God.
And if you think about it for a second,
if we were designed in such a way
that we would find that in God,
and now we go somewhere else other than God,
that's actually being bent out of shape.
And the fact of the matter is,
is that much of what we give ourselves to
and find our meaning in
is even less than human.
Friends,
every single person you meet today,
it doesn't matter if you go for a walk down Rideau Street
and you meet the most broken down street person
that you've ever seen,
or if by chance you're walking down the street
and you get a glimpse of a billionaire
or you get a glimpse of the prime minister,
every single human being
will last longer than Canada,
will last longer than the United States.
Canada will come to an end.
The United States will come to an end,
unless Jesus comes first.
But human beings survive death.
Canada is not made in the image of God.
Every human being is made in the image of God.
The person will last longer than the nation,
the ideology.
And that doesn't even count the fact
that so many of us,
what we do to find meaning in our life,
even, you know,
we find meaning in our life from having gadgets,
but they're all less than us.
Like, why is it that we find meaning
for something that we make,
which is less than us?
I talk in my blog about,
if you look at it this week,
about, you know,
whether Hinduism and all
and the Buddhist type of idea,
you know,
and that in the Bible.
And at the heart of it is
all of these ideas
see ultimate reality
as fundamentally impersonal.
But in our day-to-day lives,
if something is making
more and more impersonal,
if we serve impersonal things,
that makes us less, not more.
And whether it's ideas
like Marxism or capitalism
or whatever,
if that becomes what drives us
and what motivates us,
we're giving ourselves
to something that's less to us.
And if we're giving ourselves
to that which is less than that,
us,
how can it not bend us
out of shape?
You see that the Bible here,
which is on one hand
talking about something
which is very, very, very,
very, very, very counterculture.
Let me tell you,
the counterculture in Canada
is not countercultural.
Galatians 4, 8 and 9
is profoundly countercultural,
which is why we would feel
so profoundly awkward
about talking about it
with our boss
and our boss's boss
and our co-workers.
But when you think about it,
there's profound wisdom.
We might be uncomfortable about it,
but there is profound wisdom.
If you could put up
the next point,
the not-by-nature gods
enslave people,
the true God,
died a slave's death
to redeem
and free us
from slavery
to not-by-nature gods.
You see,
what the Bible is saying here
is, like you might wonder,
is the Bible saying that
there's not other gods?
Like, that's a bit
of a more complicated thing.
The Bible sort of says
that they're not by nature gods.
In other words,
on one level,
they don't exist as gods.
But even this word
elementary principles,
there's three different ways
that can be translated in English,
all of them valid.
Elementary principles
and elementary powers
or elementary spirits.
If you look at Bible translations,
all three of them
will be present.
And the idea
in the original language
encompasses all three.
And, you know,
sometimes if you think about it,
what we give ourselves
to are principles,
ideas, capitalism,
Marxism,
queer theory,
like gender,
we give ourselves
to principles,
our ideas.
We also give ourselves
to fundamental forces.
We give ourselves
to sex
or our tribe
or we give ourselves
to power.
We give ourselves
to fundamental
sort of powers
in the world.
And the Bible also says
that sometimes
those things
which are worshipped
as idols or gods
are in fact demons.
That they're in fact
they're demons.
and in all of these cases
if we give ourselves
to them
and they're not
the real God
and we were made
to worship
and to know
the real God
to find our meaning,
our hope,
our satisfaction,
our grounding,
everything in the real God
who truly exists,
who creates all things
and sustains all things.
He's not a God
who made all things
and then went away.
He's a God
who made all things
and then sustains everything.
Every second of existence
is sustained
in existence by God
not by itself
but by God
and we were made
to know that God
and to worship that God
and if we go
either towards principles
or powers
or spirits
we are bending ourselves
and this idea
that is now
sort of being revealed to us
and is very profoundly
uncomfortable
to us as Canadians
this is not
it's so funny
that the way
we automatically
try to think of God
is that when we think of God
we think of him
like an elemental power
or an elemental principle.
We think of him
as an abstraction
which is what a principle is
or we think of him
as connected to a power
whether it's the power
that race holds
or the power
that money holds
or the power
that just our desire
for power holds
or we think of God
in terms of almost
really ways
that would be
the best way
to think of demons
as that God
is going to be a God
who just wants to
control us
he just wants to
enslave us
he wants to demean us
and we automatically
in our fallen state
tend to project upon God
these categories
because that's what
we're looking for
in the time
all in the world
and so when we hear
this thing about
the true God
we automatically
start to try to
think of him
in terms
of these categories
but they're not
by nature
God's enslaved people
but when we think
of God
how is it that
God has fundamentally
vindicated his word
and justified his word
and revealed who he is
he does it
through the cross
about a year ago
I was having a conversation
in a Starbucks
of all places
and I
and the person
was going on and on
about how
you know
God kills people
and it's just
it's going to hurt
like she
she was going on
and the other people
were all listening in
but this one person
was taking the lead
and talking about
how God relates
to people
and I
had one of those
Holy Spirit moments
somebody must have been
praying for me
keep praying for me
when I said
you know the God
that you believe in
kills people
puts people
to death
but the God
that I believe
in the real God
doesn't put people
to death
but dies for people
and all the person
could do
because they had
intellectual integrity
was say
I never thought of that
and then I had
a very brief
one minute
explanation
about how
Christians believe
that God
the Son of God
I didn't quite
use these words
I was more articulate
and hopefully more
at their level
but I just said
the very center
we believe that
God's Son
took on human flesh
and died on the cross
to free you
the not by nature
God's enslaved people
the true God
died a slave's death
because that's what
the crucifixion is
a slave's death
why
did Jesus come
why did he
become
like a slave
a servant
and die
a slave
or servant's death
he did it
to redeem
and free us
from slavery
to not by nature
gods
that's what Jesus did
you know it's
very interesting
I learned
this week
at synod
one of the speakers
was comparing
the final words
of Jesus
before his death
and the final words
of Buddha
before his death
the final words
of Buddha
before his death
was
strive without ceasing
the final words
of Jesus
before he died
it is finished
not I am finished
but it is finished
my task
to come
to die
a slave's death
to redeem
those enslaved
by not
by nature
gods
my task
my mission
has finished
some of you might say
okay
George
help me out
with something here
I thought God
knows everything
so how can it say
that he knows me
like I thought God
knows everything
how can it say
he knows me
look again at verses
8 and 9
you might have noticed
that 8 and 9
are important verses
and if all you remember
afterwards is 8 and 9
and not my points
then I have
the Holy Spirit
done a good work
in our midst
listen to verses
8 and 9 again
formerly when you
did not know God
you were enslaved
by those that by nature
are not gods
but now that you
have come to know
God
or rather
to be known
by God
if you could put up
the first point
the next point
that would be very helpful
when by faith
we receive the gospel
we become known
by God
as his treasured
child forever
that's what the text
is saying
when we by faith
receive
we receive the gospel
we become known
by God
as his treasured
child forever
if you go back
later on
and those of you
were here last week
and I didn't put to sleep
and you remember it
we talked about how
you know
it's so interesting
when you give your life
to Jesus
like when I
when I became a Christian
I didn't know
an awful lot
all I had
was this sense
that
there must be
something more
and that when I was
in the presence
of real Christians
who were singing
God's praise
and then I
saw them afterwards
I sensed that
there was something
more
and I knew
there was something
more
and I knew
it was connected
to Jesus
and I knew
I had to have
Jesus in my life
and I had a strong
long battle
before I surrendered
all I had
was this sense
that if I reached
out to Jesus
he would take me
and that there
was something more
and you all have
your own different
stories
but one of the
wonderful things
is that we
we just have
in my case
I just have this
sense that there's
something more
and you reach out
to Jesus
and he reaches
down to you
and takes you
and then you
start to realize
as you read
his word
all that happens
when he takes
you by the hand
like I didn't
really have
any sense
that when I
reached out
to Jesus
that when he
took my hand
what he was
doing is saying
George
this seals
the exchange
the doom
you deserve
was on me
the destiny
I deserve
is now on you
the shame
that is on you
is now on me
being able
to be in a sense
fully open
to God
is now on you
all the things
that you've done
wrong
that you deserve
punishment for
that's now on me
my perfect life
of obedience
that now
clothes you
I didn't know
those things
when I put out
my hand to
Jesus
I learned
them afterwards
maybe some of
you are just
learning it now
and one of the
other things
I didn't know
is that when I
put my hand
out to Jesus
and he reached
down and took
mine
I become
known by God
and not only
do I become
known by God
I become
God's
known by God
and his
treasured
child
and this is
something that
will exist
forever
just pause a
little bit
before I explain
a little more
about no one
you know
it seems
very very
unkind
and uncharitable
to say that
there are no
other gods
that exist
but this is
why it's so
important to
the gospel
to grasp
this
if there
are other
gods
or other
powers
that really
exist
that are
like God
that are
true rivals
to God
then one of
them could
elbow God
and he'll
let me go
one of them
can make an
accusation about
me to God
and God
will let me
go
one of
them can
grab me
themselves
and pull
me out
of God's
grips
and God
will let
me go
but when
we understand
that there
is in fact
only one
God
and there
are no
other
gods
then when
the Bible
says
that we
are known
by God
and he
will never
let us
go
nothing
can make
him
let us
go
because
God
has
no
rivals
he
has
no
rivals
this
if you
go back
and you
read
Galatians
4
and you
see all
this
language
about
the
son
you
understand
that
maybe
part
of
how
to
understand
how
it
is
that
God
can
know
everything
but
now
it
says
that
he
knows
us
in a
particular
way
because
now
what
it's
talking
about
it's
a
different
type
of
idea
than
just
mere
knowledge
it's
knowing
us
as
the
son
who
inherits
everything
which is
what we
talked
about
last
week
it's
personal
knowledge
in fact
if you
could
put up
the next
point
here's
the claim
I
cannot
know
God
unless
he
knows
me
first
I
cannot
know
God
unless
he
knows
me
first
what's
going on
in this
idea of
personal
knowledge
and God
knowing us
first
in some
way
imagine
you're
going to
this
church
for a
year
and
in
this
church
you
start
to
hear
a lot
about
this
other
person
a lot
of
different
people
they
talk
about
this
person
a lot
and
they
just
talk
about
him
or
her
and
they
tell
you
lots
of
stories
about
him
for
instance
he's
not
here
but
we
could
probably
all
tell
you
10
Daniel
Gilman
stories
he
wouldn't
mind
me
using
him
as
an
person
and
you
might
actually
say
who's
that
person
that's
Bob
that's
Bob
really
oh
gosh
that's
Bob
and
you
might
feel
like
you
know
them
because
you've
heard
so
much
about
them
but
you
don't
really
know
them
right
you
just
know
a
whole
lot
of
stuff
about
them
you
don't
know
them
and
then
maybe
you're
in
lineup
for
coffee
with
Bob
and
you
just
say
hi
and
it's
one
of
those
times
when
you
say
hi
to
Bob
there's
a
little
bit
of
a
click
or
you
have
a
sense
of
a
connection
between
the
two
of
you
and
then
before
you
know
it
you
decide
to
have
coffee
or
something
after
the
service
or
lunch
after
the
service
and
you
hit
it
off
and
in
the
days
and
weeks
ahead
you
start
to
spend
time
together
and
you
get
to
know
each
other
and
you
become
friends
and
in
that
personal
knowledge
what
happens
in
that
process
is
you
get
this
sense
that
you're
entering
into
their
life
in
some
way
they
now
know
you
and
you're
entering
into
their
life
and
at
the
same
time
you
have
the
sense
that
they're
entering
into
your
life
they have
a
bit
of
a
place
in
your
life
and
at
the
same
time
you
also
sort
of
understand
that
not
only
is
there
this
friendship
now
but
that
there's
going
to be
growth
into
the
future
that
it's
not
just
that
you
have
a
one
nice
conversation
but
you
have
this
sense
that
there's
a
friendship
and
it's
going
to
grow
like
there's
some
hope
or
future
or
legs
on
this
relationship
and
at
the
same
time
you
have
this
bit
of
a
claim
that
goes
and
Bob
said
well
actually
we're
not
friends
you'd
be
crushed
because
in that
type
of
personal
knowledge
there's
a
claim
and
not
only
a
claim
but
a
sense
of
things
going
on
in
the
future
and
you'd
be
crushed
now
that's
how
it
just
works
when
there's
just
two
people
and
we're
both
people
and
it's
a
little
bit
equal
but
let's
just
think
of
you
know
it's
hard
to
think
of
God
but
think
of
something
different
think
about
becoming
friends
with
the
Queen
of
England
I was
going to
use
either
Trump
or
Trudeau
as an
example
but
the
opinion
polls
might
not
make
that
a
good
example
in
terms
of
how
they're
doing
so
I
think
most
people
like
the
Queen
and
we
know
a
little
bit
about
it
some
of
us
know
people
who
are
fixated
about
the
Queen
and
we
think
it's
a
little
bit
odd
right
Queen
memorabilia
Queen
facts
and
stuff
like
that
by
the
way
I'm
talking
about
the
Queen
of
England
not
the
Rock
group
just
to
be
clear
about
this
in
case
some
of
you
are
a
little
bit
confused
and
but
and
you
know
the
way
it
is
with
the
Queen
how
on
earth
could
I
ever
become
the
Queen's
friend
I've
been
told
that
if
she
reaches
out
her
hand
to
you
can
take
it
but
you
don't
reach
out
your
hand
to
her
and
have
her
take
it
and
you
know
it
would
be
let's
say
you
have
an
honour
and
you
get
to
go
to
Buckingham
Palace
and
you
meet
the
Queen
and
you
know
you
might
think
I
think
there
was
a
bit
of
connection
between
me
and
the
Queen
and
your
friends
would
say
are
you
smoking
dope
like
get
over
yourself
there's
no
connection
between
you
and
the
Queen
but
if
the
Queen
phones
you
up
you
go
whoa
and
she
says
and
she
chats
with
you
for
a
few
moments
like
if
you
were
like
me
it
would
be
like
I
would
be
like
the
deer
in
the
headlights
right
you
wouldn't
know
what
to
say
and
then
she
invites
you
over
for
lunch
and
it's
maybe
not
a
thousand
people
but
just
ten
and
then
she
calls
you
and
she
invites
you
over
and
then
it's
a
private
thing
and
then
at
some
point
in
time
you
realize
you're
talking
on
the
phone
you're
actually
spending
time
with
each
other
the
Queen
knows
you
the
Queen
considers
you
her
friend
and
now
I
can
consider
the
Queen
my
friend
before
I
wasn't
allowed
to
even
touch
her
now
if
we
get
together
I
could
put
my
arm
around
her
I
think
she's
short
my
arm
around
her
and
I
wouldn't
have
guards
coming
and
arresting
me
she
could
put
her
arm
on
me
now
if
that's
how
it
works
just
with
the
Queen
that's
how
it
works
even
in
a
far
higher
degree
with
God
in
our
arrogance
and
pride
we
catch
for
God
but
in
reality
we
can't
know
God
unless
he
knows
us
first
and
when
he
knows
us
some
of
his
life
comes
into
us
and
our
life
goes
into
him
and
a
claim
is
made
by
God
in
our
friendship
and
the
possibility
of
growth
into
the
future
is
present
as
well
God
will
never
let
me
go
God
will
never
let
me
go
if
you
could
put
up
the
next
point
when
God
knows
me
he
knows
me
for
eternity
my
knowing
of
him
ebbs
and
flows
his
knowing
of
me
is
unfailing
and
here's
where
that
other
knowledge
of
him
is
very
powerful
if
I
got
to
become
friends
with
the
queen
at
some
point
in
time
I
might
start
to
worry
that
if
she
knew
a
little
bit
about
me
she
wouldn't
want
to
be
my
friend
or
it
might
be
that
in
a
couple
of
months
or
something
I
do
something
and
as a
result
of
that
she
won't
want
to
be
my
friend
but
God
knows
me
from
the
moment
of
my
conception
to
the
moment
of
my
death
he
knows
the
dreams
I
have
that
I
don't
remember
when
I
wake
up
he
knows
all
my
masks
he
knows
the
things
I'm
proud
of
he
knows
the
things
I'm
ashamed
of
he
knows
all
these
things
about
me
and
yet
he
chose
in
love
to
have
God
the
son
of
God
die
for
me
and
he
knows
me
perfectly
and
he
chooses
to
know
me
perfectly
deeply
eternally
unshakably
I
have
periods
of
rebellion
I
have
periods
of
doubt
I
have
periods
of
just
unbelievable
narcissistic
self
obsession
do I
hear an
amen
no
just
but
God
his
knowledge
of me
never
stops
he
knows
me
eternally
and
you
see
as
this
truth
begins
to
grip
us
there's
a
profound
type
of
security
that
starts
to
enter
into
our
life
that
religion
will
just
never
provide
because
you
see
religion
is
always
about
performance
it's
always
about
being
able
to
have
the
right
type
of
family
to
be
successful
at
child
raising
to
be
successful
in
friendships
to
be
successful
in
being
able
to
if
not
successful
at
least
to
mask
your
lack
of
success
and
make
claims
of
success
to
look
really
good
in
church
and
not
have
people
know
about
maybe
some
bad
things
going
on
in
your
life
bad
things
in
your
marriage
bad
things
in
your
friendship
bad
things
with
your
health
and
it's
all
about
always
trying to
have to
maintain
a front
and an
appearance
and
as
the
gospel
begins
to
grip
us
there
begins
to
be
this
type
of
basic
security
that
God
knows
me
he
knows
me
eternally
and
when
he
knows
me
eternally
he
knows
me
eternally
he
will
never
let
me
go
the
direction
is
going
to
go
into
all
of
eternity
the
new
heaven
and
the
new
earth
he
knows
me
he
will
not
let
me
go
I
can
hardly
bear
to
know
myself
because
of
some
of
the
things
I've
done
but
he
saw
it
and
he
died
for
me
he
knows
me
which
is
why
just
in
closing
if we
read
the
next
of
the
text
the
rest
of
the
text
we
start
to
see
some
very
important
things
look
at
verse
12
brothers
and
sisters
I
entreat
you
become
as
I
am
for
I
also
have
become
as
you
are
it's
the
first
command
in
the
book
of
Galatians
if you
could
put up
the
point
the
gospel
is
unbending
but
it
shapes
us
to
stoop
to
share
the
gospel
what
it
means
what
I
mean
is
this
what
Paul
is
saying
here
is
that
when
he
became
like
Galatians
he
lived
amongst
them
he
worked
amongst
them
he
ate
like
them
he
learned
how
they
thought
he
learned
how
they
talked
he
listened
to
them
in
compassion
he
went
to
them
he
spent
time
with
them
he
stooped
you
see
you
can
only
stoop
if
you're
secure
if
you're
consumed
with
pride
and
arrogance
and
you're
looking
down
on
your
nose
on
people
they
have
to
come
up
to
you
but
when
you're
secure
in
being
known
by
God
you
can
stoop
to
listen
and
try
to
understand
and
after
listening
and
understanding
and
compassion
be able
to
share
the
unbending
gospel
because
you
know
that
God
loves
them
and
wants
to
know
them
as
well
listen
to
verse
13
and
following
you
know
it
was
because
of
a
bodily
ailment
that
I
preached
the
gospel
to
you
at
first
what
has
become
of
your
blessedness
for
I
testify
to
you
that
if
possible
you
would
have
garged
out
your
eyes
and
given
them
to
me
have
I
then
become
your
enemy
by
telling
you
the
truth
as
we
are
gripped
by
the
gospel
we
are
shaped
to
be
used
for
God's
glory
in
the
midst
of
suffering
why
suffering
is
still
suffering
but
as
we're
gripped
by
the
fact
that
God
knows
me
and
my
identity
isn't
found
in
my
health
my
beauty
my
strength
my
ability
to be
used
by
God
is
also
not
defined
by
my
strength
and
my
beauty
my
ability
to be
used
by
God
is
shaped
by
the
fact
that
he
stooped
to
me
and
knows
me
then
even
in
weakness
God
can
use
us
just
as
Paul
brought
the
gospel
as a
result
of
weakness
and
one
final
thing
if you
could
put up
the
point
as I
start
reading
at
verse
17
they
make
much
of
you
in
other
words
the
false
brothers
that are
troubling
them
they
flatter
all
the
time
but
for
no
good
purpose
they
want
to
shut
you
out
in other
words
they
want
to
shut
you
out
from
Paul
and
the
apostolic
church
that you
may
make
much
of
them
that
you
might
be
just
in a
group
that
flatters
them
they
flatter
you
so
you
will
flatter
them
go
more
and
more
secure
you
are
freed
up
to
give
not
expecting
that
you
are
going
to
give
so
you
get
something
back
because
there
is
that
fundamental
psychic
security
in
religion
it's
always
inherently
competitive
and
who's
in
power
and
whether
you're
using
praise
songs
or
whether
you're
using
hymns
or
whether
it's
Anglican
or
whether
it's
Baptist
or
whether
it's
Roman
Catholic
or
whether
it's
this
and
as
long
as
these
things
exist
on
the
level
of
religion
you
can't
just
sort
of
do
something
purely
for them
expecting
nothing
in
return
but
as
the
gospel
grips
us
the
ability
to
give
expecting
nothing
in
return
is
one
of
the
implications
and
byproducts
of
the
gospel
please
stand
I
don't
know how
you'll
pray
as a
result
of
this
sermon
but
for
some
of
you
maybe
who
have
never
given
your
lives
to
Jesus
I
just
want
to
really
assure
you
nothing
in
your
life
is
a
surprise
to
God
nothing
that
will
be
in
your
life
in
the
future
is
a
surprise
to
God
knowing
you
perfectly
Jesus
died
for
you
and
he
died
for
you
so
that
God
when
you
trust
him
in
faith
that
God
would
know
you
in
such
a
way
and
if
you've
never
done
it
there's
no
better
time
than
right
now
to
just
call
out
to
Jesus
and
say
Jesus
be
my
savior
and
know
me
that's
all
you
have
to
say
Jesus
be
my
savior
and
know
me
be
my
savior
and
know
me
thank
you
that
you
that
you
to
say
that
in
your
words
father
thank
you
for
Jesus
thank
you
for
the
gospel
thank
you
father
that
you
know
us
first
thank
you
father
that
when
you
know
us
first
we
can
know
you
thank
you
that
you
communicate
that
through
your
word
thank
you
father
for
the
wonder
of
the
cross
and
what
Jesus
did
for
us
thank
you
father
how
that
reveals
who
you
are
and
your
heart
for
us
and
your
desire
for
us
to
free
us
so
that
we
aren't
enslaved
to
make
us
secure
knowing
that
you
know
us
father
thank
you
for
the
gospel
thank
you
father
for
this
father
make
us
disciples
of
Jesus
who
are
gripped
by
the
gospel
learning
to
believe
what
you
say
in
your
word
and
live
secure
lives
for
your
glory
and
all
this
we
ask
in
the
name
of
Jesus
your
son
and
our
savior
amen