"I'm An Heir", More Than Conquerors Part 4 | Rev. Dr. Howard-John Wesley

0:00 As we prepare to hear a word from the Lord, won't you bow with me in prayer as we prepare our hearts and our minds to receive what God would plant into our lives and our living. God, we thank you for the gift of your word, a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. In a day and time which we need you to direct us, in a season which we need light in the midst of darkness, I pray now, oh God, that your word would guide and enlighten us, that we might be faithful to the call of Christ, in these days in which we live. God bless the reading, the proclamation, the hearing, and the living out of your word. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

0:42 Beloved, for the last few weeks, within all of September, we have been sermonically studying, searching, and scaling the Mount Everest of the Bible, Romans chapter 8. In the same way Mount Everest takes us to heights no other place can on this earth, I believe that Romans chapter 8 lifts us to some extreme heights that we need to be reminded of in these dark and difficult days in which we live. In this time when it seems like things go from bad to worse, from George to Ahmaud, from Ahmaud to Brianna, from Brianna to Jacob, from Jacob to Dion, in the times in which we live when it seems as if we've been in this prolonged journey through the valley of the shadow of death. From Kobe to John Lewis.

1:35 From John Lewis to Chadwick. From Chadwick to Dr. Fay. From Dr. Fay to Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg. And these times when it seems like things just continuously get worse, when it seems like victory is right in front of us, and then the hate-mongering begins. The fear tactics kick in. The false and fake promises of a premature vaccine are given. A rush to nominate and confirm a new Supreme Court justice mobilizes and motivates a base, and now poll numbers are closing. In a day and a time like this, it is so important that we be reminded that all things work together for the good of them that love the Lord. That we encourage ourselves that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

2:33 That we understand what we mean when we declare that if God be for us, who can stand against us? And most importantly, that we embrace the fact that we are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ who loves us. In the same way that Mount Everest takes us higher than any other mountain, it's also the most difficult to navigate. Likewise, the book of Romans and Romans chapter 8 is not easily digestible. It's difficult to navigate. That this letter, which is Paul's masterpiece, is also arguably his most complicated writing. that it takes us high, but it also establishes some doctrinal depth. That in the book of Romans, Paul is doing what no other Christian has done up until this moment, putting pen to paper and laying a systematic theological foundation to understand the work of God in Jesus Christ and its practical implications in the life of a believer.

3:45 Particularly in Romans chapter 8, Paul is centered and concentrated on the working of the Spirit of Christ that dwells within us. A spirit that frees us from the penalty and the power and the possession of sin, because now, therefore, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. A spirit which makes us alive in Christ as we deepen our faith, as we live in the dualities of discipleship, as we walk with the assurance of our final victory, knowing that the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead will also give life to our mortal bodies. Today, as we continue on in our journey, I would that you hear the reading of verses 12 through 17 in the new revised standard version of God's holy word.

4:44 Romans chapter 8, beginning in verse number 12. Listen for the word of the Lord. So then, brothers and sisters, 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 all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, Abba, Father, it is that very spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.

5:46 If in fact we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. Romans 8 reminds us that we're free. Romans 8 reminds us we are alive. And in this segment, do me a favor, touch yourself and say, I'm an heir. I'm an heir.

6:11 Within these verses that I've just read, Paul makes allusion to one of the most beautiful and the deepest components of salvation that is arguably one of the most neglected. Within these verses, Paul makes mention of the pneuma weothasea, the spirit of adoption. And what Paul argues in no uncertain terms is that when we accept Christ into our lives, God has literally adopted us and brought us into his family. to understand the pneuma we oath to see it to understand the power and the beauty of the spirit of adoption i need you to understand what adoption meant in ancient roman civilization the same way we understood no condemnation by looking at the roman judicial system in order to really understand the beauty and the depth and the power of what paul means when he says we've been adopted, I need you to understand some things about Roman adoption. Remember, correct study of the Bible suggested if we want to understand what something means, we must first understand what it meant. Let me share with you what adoption meant to the Christians Paul writes to in Rome. It may surprise you to find out that adoption in ancient Roman civilization was more common then than it is now.

7:49 One of the reasons adoption was so prevalent and popular was because life expectancy in ancient Rome was so short. As a matter of fact, at its lowest, life expectancy was 25 years. At its greatest, it was 50. The average Roman man lived less than 50 years. Part of the reason life expectancy was so short was because disease was prevalent and medical treatment was scarce. And with the prevalence of disease and the scarcity of medicinal treatment, not only was life expectancy short, But sadly, many women died in childbirth and infant mortality rates were skyrocketing. This was a deathly and a deadly society. And because life expectancy was so short, one of the things that became urgent for men was that they had an heir to whom they could pass on their estate and their legacy.

8:57 No man wanted to amass wealth and own property only for it to turn over to the hands of the Roman government. He needed an heir, but that heir had to be a son. Roman laws of inheritance prohibited and prevented daughters from inheriting their father's possession. And so because life expectancy was short and inheritance was critical, and because infant mortality rates were high and women died in childbirth, those who did not have a male son struggled to find out who they could pass their possessions on to to be their legal heir. And so if a man did not have a son and because he knew his life would be so short and because he wanted to pass his property on, it was common for men of wealth and stature to approach poor families and make them an offer to adopt a child, a male child of their choosing. Watch this. They would go to a poor family and they would say, I'd like to adopt that son. And in order to make the adoption valid, a tremendous amount of money was put on the table.

10:17 The wealthy would offer tremendous sums in order to adopt a son to be an heir to pass on their living legacy. Now you probably say, why would a family accept that? Well, remember a poor family was also struggling to take care of their other children. And so if they accepted the offer of adoption and the tremendous amount of money that was put on the table, not only were they able to take care of their other children, but they were able to ensure that the adopted child would now live a better life than the life they could provide. It was a win-win scenario that if a man who knew his life was coming to an end did not have a male son, and because he could not pass on his legacy to a daughter, and because women died so much in childbirth, he would approach a poor family and say, I want to adopt that child. He would put a tremendous sum of money on the table. The family would say yes so that that child could live a better life. And the minute the adoption was done, the child became the legal heir and immediately was the one who would receive the living legacy of the man who just adopted him. I want to make certain you catch this, that because life expectancy was short and because men wanted to pass their estate on and they could not do it to their daughters and because their wives died in childbirth, it was common for a wealthy man to approach a poor family, offer them a tremendous amount of money to adopt a child they chose, and that child would then live a better life and become the heir of the wealthy man who just adopted him. Paul says that in our salvation, that is exactly what has happened.

12:14 That God has adopted us into his family. That God has chosen us and now we live a better life with God than we did without God. And that God has adopted us so that the legacy of his life and his love would continue in the earth. God has adopted us. Now you got to understand those who originally heard this, they would shout right here. And I want to give you the three reasons they would shout. It's not the meat of the message, but it's the shout of the sermon. Let me get through them real quick. Here's why you ought to shout about being adopted. Because number one, God did not have to adopt you. Remember, one of the reasons a Roman man would go into adoption was because his life expectancy was short. Part of the motivation for adoption was knowing he was going to die. Well, I got news for you. God is immune from human mortality, that God does not die.

13:22 God is from everlasting to everlasting. There never was a time when God wasn't, and there'll never be a time when God isn't. God is eternal. And since God does not die, God is not hard-pressed to adopt anyone. Can I push it? Not only does God not die, but God already has a male son. God already has an heir. His name is Jesus. And because God does not die, and because God already has an heir, that simply means that your adoption, my adoption by God, is an act of God's grace. That in saving us and adopting us, God has done for us what God did not have to do. Salvation is an act of grace, which is why Paul would say to the church in Ephesus, for by grace are you saved, that it is God's offer to us to do for us what God is not obligated to do.

14:35 God has adopted us even though God doesn't have to. Can I push it? And just as a wealthy Roman man would put a valuable amount of money on the table to sweeten the deal, God has paid an extraordinary price for your adoption. That price is the death and crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Beloved, if you want to know how valuable you are to God, if you really want to know what God thinks about you, if you really want a valuation of how much God loves you and is endeared to you all you need ever do is look at the cross don't look at your garage don't look at the wall with the degrees don't look at the bank account when you really want to know how much God values you look at the cross can I push it God has adopted you even though God doesn't have to God has paid a price for you, and that price is Jesus Christ. But here's the amazing gift of grace, that in adopting you, God has chosen you. Hear me, beloved, we get salvation wrong. Salvation is not primarily you choosing God. Salvation is accepting the fact that God has chosen you. Let me say that again.

16:03 Salvation is not you walking down the aisle and saying, yes, God, I'll choose you. No, salvation is you accepting the fact that God has already chosen you, that God looked out and God deemed you worthy of salvation. And God said, I want you as ratchet as you are, as low down as you have been, as mistakenly prone as you are, as many times as you failed and let God down. God yet looks at you and says, I choose you. And I declare to you that if you would walk around declaring to yourself, God chose me, it'll change your sense of security. It'll change your sense of valuation. It'll change the way you walk in this world. That whatever you do, you look at yourself and declare, God chose me. God has adopted us. And because of that adoption, because we have the pneuma weothesea, the spirit of adoption, Paul argues in a way that you need to hear today that that spirit of adoption has done three things you need to be aware of.

17:11 Three things that have happened because we've been adopted by God, that we've been brought into God's family, that God has paid a price for us, that God has chosen us. Number one, here's what Paul argues, that in our adoption, we have entered into a new relationship with God. That when we are adopted, when we say yes to Christ, when we give our life to the Lord, we enter a new relationship with God. I want to slow down here and make sure you understand we are entering a new relationship. You are not entering a relationship. You are entering a new relationship. Why?

18:04 Because you've had a relationship with God even when you didn't believe in God. You've always been in relationship with God even when you didn't trust God. You've always been in relationship with God even when you didn't give your life to God. Watch this. because believing in God is not a prerequisite for God being God. Let me go on and say that again. Believing in God and trusting in God and talking Christian and going to church is not a prerequisite for God being God. God's been God even when you didn't believe him. God is a God over the atheist, even if the atheist doesn't believe that there's a God. God doesn't stop being God just because you don't believe. God isn't God just because you don't trust. God is always God, even when you've been in rejection.

18:58 God is the God of the sinner and the saved. God is the God of the atheist and the believer. He's the God of those who trust and those who disobey. He's the God of those who accept and those who reject. It doesn't matter what you think about God or what you believe about God. God has always been God. So you've always been in relationship. God has always reigned over your life. But when you say yes to God, when you give your life to God, when you accept salvation in Jesus Christ, Paul says we enter a new relationship. And that new relationship is symbolized in our ability, watch this, to call God Abba.

19:53 What lets us know we are children of God is that when we pray, we can call God Father. Paul says, here it is, watch this, I gotta teach Bible, that the sign that you are in a new relationship with God is that God allows you to call him Abba, Father. Mark, Abba is an Aramaic term. Abba is the Aramaic term that Jesus uses every time he talks to God. Abba. Abba is an Aramaic term, and it may blow your mind. Abba is an Aramaic term that is used by children and babies. It's the term children use in describing their father. And so a more literal translation of Abba is not necessarily father. Or more literal translation of Abba is daddy or papa, pawpaw.

21:00 That when we use the term Abba, it's symbolizing a familiarity, a intimacy, a closeness with God. And to understand the power of it, you need to know that this was dramatically different than how the Jews referred to God. That in Christ, we have a familiarity and intimacy with God that did not exist under the first covenant. For you will find that the Jews had very formal names for God. They referred to God with that prefix el, el, which means the most high, el, el-yan, el-shaddai, el-ohim, the most high. They referred to God as Jehovah, Jehovah Yahweh, Jehovah Yaira, Jehovah Nisi, Jehovah Tiskanu, that there were these formal names. As a matter of fact, the most formal name for God that we use very lightly, Yahweh, is this term in Hebrew called the Tetragrammaton.

22:06 And the Tetragrammaton, the four letters, YHWH, were so holy to the Jews, you don't even say that name. You will not find a self-respecting Jew ever using the term Yahweh because that's disrespectful to the holy God to call him by his formal name. they had a formal relationship with God. But Paul argues that when God has adopted you and when God has paid the price of the death of Jesus for you and God has chosen you and brought you into his family, that we now have the ability to have not a formal relationship with a God who just reigns over us, but an intimate relationship with a God to whom we can go to every day, kneel down without formality and holler, Father, I stretch my hand to thee. No other help I know. I'm in an intimate relationship with the sovereign creator of the heavens and the earth.

23:07 Now, somebody, you haven't found your amen yet. You haven't shouted hallelujah. Let me see if I can make it clear. This past week in Can I Push It? I had the opportunity to interview one of the most profound and progressive theological minds of our time, Kelly Brown Douglas. For those who watched it, I hope you enjoyed that conversation. Kelly Brown Douglas is a bad somebody. As a matter of fact, I can tell you how bad she is by the titles that precede her name. Kelly Brown Douglas, This is her formal title. You ready? The Very Reverend Canon Dean Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas. That is her formal title. Don't miss this. The Very Reverend Canon Dean Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas. She's not just the reverend, she's the very reverend, which means she has senior status in the Episcopal Church. Not only does she have senior status as the very reverend, she is the Canon. Canon simply means she has authority over a specific body. She's the very Reverend Canon, but she's also dean of Columbia Seminary, and she's got an earned PhD. She's a bad sister.

24:23 She is the very Reverend Canon Dean, Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas. Because I knew I was interviewing a bad sister like that with all those titles, when she got on before we began recording, I said, Dr. Douglas, it's so nice to have you. Tell me how I should address you because you are the very Reverend Cannon Dean, Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas. I want to make certain that people respect you. So I'm going to call you the very Reverend Cannon Dean, Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas. She said, Howard John, I know I know that I'm the very Reverend Cannon Dean, Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas. but she blew my mind. She said, do me a favor. Just call me Kelly. I know I'm the very reverend. I know I'm the canon. I know I'm the dean. I know I'm the doctor, but do me a favor. Just call me Kelly. And it blew my mind that somebody with that kind of title, the very reverend canon dean, Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas gave me permission to call her Kelly. Can I tell you what Paul says when he references that we've been adopted by God, he says that God is looking at you and saying, listen, I know I'm the sovereign creator of the earth.

25:39 Just call me daddy. I know I made something out of nothing. Just call me daddy. I know from everlasting to everlasting, I am God. Just call me daddy. I know I'm El Elyon. I know I'm Jehovah Jireh. I know I'm the most high God. I know I'm he who was and is and never shall be. But when you look at me, just call me daddy. I have the ability in my adoptive state to enter into a new relationship with a God who invites me into intimacy to call him daddy. Paul says, we've entered into a new relationship with God. And I know who needs to hear this, but you don't need to be scared when you pray. You don't need to get caught up in formal language when you pray. You don't need to learn all the religious cliches when you pray. All you've got to do is bow down and say, Daddy, I need some help.

26:35 Daddy, I need you right now. Daddy, I need you to walk with me. Father, talk with me. Father, hold me that God has invited us into an intimate relationship that does not require formality. Praise be to God. I'm in a new relationship with God. But that's not all Paul says, that when we've been adopted, not only have we entered a new relationship with God, but watch this, we've now entered a new relationship as brothers and sisters in Christ. That when God adopted us, not only did we enter into a new relationship with him, But now we must accept that we are in relationship with one another as brothers and sisters. Follow the easy logic, if you will.

27:32 God has adopted us, which means we all have the same father. And because we all have the same father, we are brothers and sisters. You are my brother in Christ. You are my sister in Christ. And you know what, Angie, that helped me because as a child, growing up in Little Dill Progressive Missionary Baptist Church, I never understood why we called each other Brother Johnson and Sister Williams. In a real church, we never called each other Mr. and Mrs. There was no Dr. This and Honorable That. we called each other brother and sister. That was brother Johnson. And that was sister Williams. And it was an understanding that we have the same father. And because of that, we must accept that we have inherited some sanctified siblings. Come here. I want somebody to hear this.

28:33 There are no only children in God. You are not God's only child. I know somebody needs to hear that because only kids can act certain ways. They can act a little arrogant. They can act a little conceited. They can act a little lifted up, but you got to remind yourself that you are not an only child in God, that when you've been adopted, you have been brought into a community of faith where you are connected to other brothers and sisters in Christ. You can't choose your family, but you got to love your family. You can't choose your brothers, but you've got to love them. You can't Choose your sisters, but you've got to love them. We are brothers and sisters in Christ. Now, I want to tell you, as a parent with two children, the thing that breaks my heart the most is to see my two sons fighting. What hurts my heart the most is to see them being rude to one another and ugly to one another and mean to one another and nasty to one another.

29:40 I believe it breaks God's heart when God sees the way we sometimes treat each other. How ugly church can be. How mean Christians can be. How nasty we can be with one another. We need to be reminded that we are brothers and sisters in Christ. And you know what really messes me up? when I see them fighting over something I brought them? How y'all gonna fight over something neither one of you could have gotten without me? How are you gonna call each other names? How are you gonna lift yourself up when everything you have, I gave you? I came about to tell you some of the reasons we need to be reminded that we are brothers and sisters in Christ is because what the body of Christ needs most is a dose of humility to be reminded that we are children of God, that without God, we are nothing, that everything we have, God gave us.

30:40 So whatever title you hold on to, I want you to know God gave it to you, which means this, your PhD is no better than my GED. It reminds me that your GS-13 is no better than my job at Target, that your 401k is not better than my food stamps, that your Mercedes-Benz is not greater than my MetroCard because in the eyes of God, we are all the same. We are all children of God who've received what we have by the grace of God. By the grace of God, I am what I am. And because of grace, I am no better than anyone else. We are all siblings in Christ. Can I push this a little bit? I want to show you the amazing gift of grace. Paul messes up the ancient reader who reads Romans because he begins verse 12 by addressing, watch this, brothers and sisters.

31:47 When Paul writes, he addresses brothers and sisters, men and women. sons and daughters. Now, the reason that would mess them up is because you forgot daughters cannot inherit anything from their fathers. According to Roman law, daughters could not be inheritors. And yet here Paul is addressing sons and daughters as a reminder that in God, not only are men adopted, but women are adopted at the same level. Woe to all of y'all who want to close the door on sisters in ministry. Woe to everyone that has gender oppression in the body of Christ. Woe to you that think that men should not be reigned over by women and women should have no authority over a man in church.

32:46 Woe to all of you because daughters have become inheritors just like sons. Which means this, and I feel it right here, that when God adopted and God named daughters as inheritors, that God literally broke Roman law when he adopted and gave women the same authority that God gave men. That when God adopted us and made us equal, that God literally has broken Roman law in order to bless us. Beloved, I came by to preach right here that when God blesses you by grace, grace is not simply God giving you what you don't deserve. There's a shout right there. Yes, there is. God gave me what I don't deserve. But that's not all grace is.

33:40 Grace is not simply God giving you what you don't deserve. Grace is also God blessing you with what others said you don't deserve. God doesn't just give me what I don't deserve. God will bless you with that which other folks said you don't deserve. And I don't know who I came to preach to today, but there ought to be somebody getting ready to throw your laptop up and take a lap around your house because you know that when God put his hand on you and when God decided to be good to you by grace and when God blessed you, that God did some things in your life that other folks said should never happen. You should never live like that. That could never happen to you. That would never be your destiny. But by the grace of God, God broke some laws. God told some folk off. God changed some expectation. God did for me what other folks said could never be done. Is there anybody there who knows that when God blessed you, God broke someone else's expectation because God broke the law to bless you?

34:50 Oh, I'm so glad that I'm in a new relationship with God. I'm so glad you're my sister and my brother in Christ. But here's the third thing Paul says, and I'm done. He says, not only have we entered a new relationship with God, and not only have we entered a relationship with one another's brother, sister, and Christ, but watch this. He says, and we are joint heirs with Jesus. Don't run by that. Don't run by that. There's a shout there. We are joint heirs with Jesus. Mark, this made me want to shout, made me want to shout, I'm a joint heir with Jesus. Me, Howard John, from the South Side of Chicago, I'm a joint heir with Jesus. Me, with all that's on my resume that I don't want you to know, and all the mistakes I made this morning before I even got here to church, I'm a joint heir with Jesus?

35:53 Can I tell you what that makes me shout? Because if I'm an heir, that means I'm inheriting something. I got something coming. And if I'm a joint heir, that means I've got the same thing coming you do. So here's why I shouted on verse 17. because if I'm a joint heir with Jesus, that means that whatever Jesus is getting, I'm getting. Y'all, that made me stand up this morning. Whatever God has given to his son, God is also gonna give me. So if Jesus has all authority in heaven and earth, that means I've got power to make some things happen. If Jesus has a name that causes everyone to bow, that means I can tell a mountain to get out of my way. If demons shake and tremble at the name of Jesus, that means my enemies ought to be afraid of who I am.

36:49 If Jesus is the author and finisher of my faith, that means that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I am a joint heir with Jesus. And then I kept on reading. And I realized my praise was premature. And before you prematurely praise on being a joint heir, I want you to keep on reading and see what it is we inherit. According to Paul, to be a joint heir with Jesus means that we inherit his suffering.

37:27 That being a joint heir with Jesus literally means I suffer with him. See how quiet you get? See how quiet it got all around you? The shouting stopped. Ain't no chatting going on right now. To be a child of God, to be adopted by God, means that I've inherited the right to suffer, to suffer with Jesus, which means whatever happened to him is bound to happen to me. since he was betrayed I'm going to be betrayed since he was abandoned by his disciples I'm going to be abandoned by my friends since he was lied on by the Sanhedrin I'm going to be lied on since he was persecuted I'm going to be persecuted since he was ridiculed I'll be ridiculed since he had enemies I'm going to have enemies since he suffered I'm going to suffer since he struggled I'm going to struggle. Beloved, don't think it's strange when you suffer. Suffering is the sign that you've been adopted. Suffering is the sign that you've been adopted. Struggle doesn't mean God has abandoned you. Pain doesn't mean you're not in the right place. Persecution doesn't mean there's something faulty with your faith. It simply means you've been adopted by God. Many are the afflictions of the righteous. And part of the reason we suffer, part of the reason we struggle is because we do it with him. Watch the language. We don't suffer like Jesus. We suffer with Jesus. With implies that we are together. And the reason we suffer is because Christ is in us.

39:29 The reason we struggle is because Jesus is with us. The reason the world hates you is because Christ is in you. That's why Jesus pulls his disciples together one day before he departs. He says, listen, don't count it strange when they hate you. They hated me. Don't think it's strange when they reject you. They rejected me. Do you think somehow you are above that, that if Christ is in you, the same suffering he endured, you and I are going to endure because you cannot say yes to Jesus and get close to the Lord and be liked by everyone. The closer you get to the Lord, the more persecuted you'll be. Listen, you can't be serious about God and be the most popular person on your job. You can't be committed to walking with Jesus and be invited to every party.

40:26 the closer you get to the Lord the more the Lord is with you the more you will struggle struggle and suffer because the world hates Jesus and yet he's inside of you Paul says we inherit his suffering but here's the good news and I'll deal a lot with this next week we also inherit his glory that when we suffer with him. We will share in his glory. Let me give you a little preview for next week because someone needs to understand that glory is not some material blessing. Glory is not some bank account filled with money. Glory is not some new house on the hill. Glory is literally the redemption of our suffering. So what I inherit in Christ is a God who will redeem my suffering, a God who will turn it around, a God who will use it for my good, a God who will use it to prepare me for something greater. Here's the shout, that wherever there is suffering, there will be some glory. Praise me to God, that suffering is not all I see in verse 17, but suffering and glory go together, that wherever God allows suffering, God will also usher in glory. You know, beloved, I got to go. I know y'all tired. I need you to know I'm not a big, big fan of most contemporary gospel music. It's not that there's much wrong, but I'm a traditional guy. I like Walter Hawkins. I like Thompson Community Choir. I like old school gospel. And I found that some new school gospel has some theological inaccuracies that I don't appreciate. But allow me to share with you one new contemporary gospel song that resonates in my spirit. It's by J.J. Harrison. And the song simply says, there will be glory after this. And when I heard that, it began to resonate in my spirit, and I believe that God sent me here today to text someone two words, after this, that no matter what

42:34 you're going through, you've got to declare after this. I know I'm sick now, but after this. I know all hell's breaking loose after this. I know things don't look good now after this. I know the elections are coming after this. I know Black Lives Matter, but after this, God always has an after this. Somebody shout after this. After this, there will be glory. After this, there will be victory. After this, there will be redemption. After this. God always has an after this because I'm an heir of God and a joint heir with Jesus. Won't you pray with me?

43:22 God, I thank you that in grace you have adopted me. That you paid the price that I might be brought into your family. and live a better life. Lord, I thank you that I'm in a new relationship with you. I thank you that I'm in a relationship with my brothers and sisters in Christ. And I'm grateful that although I suffer with Christ, after this, there will be glory. Lord, I pray now for someone who's not made that decision to accept you, that they would realize they're saying yes to you. It's simply them saying yes to the fact that you've already chosen them. God has already chosen you. All you've got to do is say yes. And when you do, you are an heir of God and a joint heir with Jesus Christ. I'm an heir. In Jesus' name, amen.