Sunday Sermon
IT'S MORPHING TIME
Date: April 27, 2008
Speaker: Pastor Gerry Gregoire
Scriptural Reference: Galatians 4:19; 2 Corinthians 3:18
Listen to Audio Sermon

GALATIANS 4:19 AND 2 CORINTHIANS 3:18
19My little children, for whom I am again suffering birth pangs until Christ is completely and permanently formed (molded) within you,

18And all of us, as with unveiled face, [because we] continued to behold [in the Word of God] as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfigured into His very own image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another; [for this comes] from the Lord [Who is] the Spirit.

A FEW YEARS AGO, THE DOMINANT INTEREST OF MANY YOUNG KIDS IN THE U.S. WAS A GROUP OF TEENAGER SUPERHEROES CALLED, “THE MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS.” THE KEY TO THE SHOW’S APPEAL WAS THE CHARACTERS ABILITY TO “MORPH.” WEBSTER DEFINES MORPH AS THE ABILITY TO TRANSFORM THE SHAPE OR CHARACTER OF. THESE YOUNG TEENAGERS WERE NORMAL ADOLESCENTS, BUT AS THE NEEDS AROSE COULD ACCESS A POWER BEYOND THEMSELVES TO BECOME MARTIAL ART HEROES FOR JUSTICE.

THEY’RE RALLYING CRY IN TIMES OF CRISIS WAS “IT’S MORPHING TIME.” THEY WOULD THEN BE TRANSFORMED WITH THE ABILITY TO DO EXTRAORDINARY THINGS. THIS SHOW WAS SUCH A HUGE HIT THAT THE TERM “MORPH” HAS BEGUN CREEPING INTO MAGAZINE ARTICLES AND EVERYDAY CONVERSATIONS.

OF COURSE, IT’S NOT JUST YOUNG KIDS THAT LOVE TO “MORPH.” THE DESIRE FOR TRANSFORMATION LIES DEEP WITHIN EVERY HUMAN HEART. LARGE PEOPLE WANT TO BE SMALL, SMALL PEOPLE WANT TO BE LARGER FOR CERTAIN SPORTS. SHORT PEOPLE WANT TO BE TALL AND TALL PEOPLE, (ESPECIALLY GIRLS) WANT TO BE SHORTER. PEOPLE ACTUALLY GO TO SUPERHERO MOVIES AND EMERGE WANTING TO FLY OR CLIMB WALLS VERTICALLY. THEY SEE THEMSELVE AS BRAVE SOULS SAVING THE DAY FROM INFAMOUS BAD GUYS OR SUPER VILLANS. PEOPLE IN ALL WALKS OF LIFE WANT TO CHANGE FROM THIS TO THAT AND VISE-VERSA.

IF YOU HAVE A HARD TIME BELIEVING THAT, LOOK AROUND AND YOU WILL SEE, BEAUTY PARLORS CHANGING THE WAY PEOPLE LOOK, GYMS CHANGING FAT TO MUSCLE AND RECOVERY GROUPS AND SELF-HELP BOOKS ALL AIMING TO TRANSFORM YOU INTO WHATEVER YOU WANT. PEOPLE BUY LOTTERY TICKETS WITH A HOPE OF CHANGING THEIR LIFESTYLES

THERE IS A BOOK THAT IF YOU FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS REAL CAREFULLY YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE FOR THE BETTER. YOU CAN ACTUALLY BE INVOLVED IN SUPERNATURAL ACTIVITIES. THIS IS WHAT THIS GUY NAMED PAUL TELLS US IN GALATIANS 4:19 19My little children, for whom I am again suffering birth pangs until Christ is completely and permanently formed (molded) within you,

THIS GUY IS SAYING THAT IT IS POSSIBLE TO HAVE THE PERSON OF JESUS CHRIST ACTUALLY FORMED IN YOU. NOW THAT’S MORPHING! LOOK WHAT THIS GUY PAUL SAYS IN 2 COR 3:18. 18And all of us, as with unveiled face, [because we] continued to behold [in the Word of God] as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfigured into His very own image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another; [for this comes] from the Lord [Who is] the Spirit.

HE HAS THE AUDICITY TO SAY THAT IF YOU SPEND ENOUGH TIME IN THIS BOOK CALLED THE BIBLE THAT THE SAME GLORY THAT JESUS HAD CAN ALSO BE IN US! THAT HIS BEAUTY WILL ACTUALLY REFLECT IN OUR LIVES.

LET ME ASK YOU SOME QUESTIONS, DO YOU THINK THIS CAN HAPPEN TO YOU? DO YOU THINK THAT IF IT DID HAPPEN IN YOU WOULD THAT END ALL SUFFERING AND PAIN IN YOUR LIFE?

LET ME SAY THIS , NO THOUGHTFUL PERSON CAN QUESTION THE FACT THAT, FOR THE MOST PART THE CHRISTIAN LIFE AS IT IS GENERALLY LIVED, IS NOT ENTIRELY A HAPPY LIFE. A KEEN OBSERVER WAS ONCE HEARD TO SAY, “YOU CHRISTIANS SEEM TO HAVE A RELIGION THAT MAKES YOU MISERABLE. YOU ARE LIKE A MAN WITH A HEADACHE THAT DOES NOT WANT TO GET RID OF HIS HEAD, BUT IT HURTS TO KEEP IT.”

IF THAT IS TRUE THEN YOU CANNOT EXPECT OUTSIDERS TO SEEK EARNESTLY FOR ANYTHING SO UNCOMFORTABLE. IT IS TIME TO WAKE UP AND REALIZE THAT THE RELIGION OF CHRIST OUGHT TO BE AND WAS MEANT TO BE, TO ITS POSSESSOR, NOT SOMETHING THAT MAKES THEM MISERABLE, BUT SHOULD BE SOMETHING TO MAKE THEM HAPPY.

THE REASON WE HAVE SO MANY MISERABLE, UNHAPPY CHRISTIANS WALKING AROUND IS BECAUSE THEY WANT TO MORPH OR TRANSFORM UNDER THEIR OWN POWER AND NOT LET GOD BE INVOLVED. THEIR CONFIDENCE IS IN THE FLESH. PEOPLE GET SAVED AND TRY TO CHANGE THEIR OWN LIVES TO BECOME THE PERFECT CHRISTIAN. IT WAS NOT DESIGNED TO WORK THAT WAY.

LOOK AT ROMANS 12:2 2Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you].
FURTHER PHILIPPIANS 2:5 SAYS 5Let this same attitude and purpose and [humble] mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus: [Let Him be your example in humility:]

WE NEED TO HAVE THE SAME PURPOSE, ATTITUDE, MIND AND HEART OF JESUS. WHAT DO WE FIND IN THE WORD THAT WOULD TELL US WHAT JESUS’ MIND WAS LIKE? AFTER GOING THROUGH THE SCRIPTURES WE SEE THAT JESUS WAS CONFIDENT, THANKFUL, PATIENT, TRUSTING, OBEDIENT, AND HAD MERCY AND FORGIVENESS. ALL THESE ATTRIBUTES CAME FROM BEING CONFIDENT IN HIS FATHER BUT I ONLY WANT TO LOOK AT ONE AND THAT IS OUR CONFIDENCE. PEOPLE TRY TO BECOME THESE THINGS BUY THEIR OWN VOLITION. THEY TRY TO BECOME ALL THESE QUALITIES BY THEMSELVES, FLESHLY CONFIDENCE.

LETS LOOK AT HOW WE ARE TO MORPH INTO GOD’S CONFIDENCE. YOU WILL NOT BE TRANSFORMED BY JUST SITTING AROUND. THERE ARE THINGS YOU MUST SAY AND DO TO HAVE THE SAME CONFIDENCE THAT JESUS HAD AND IT’S AN IMPORTANT KEY TO RECEIVING ALL THE OTHER ATTRIBUTES OF HIS ATTITUDE OR MIND.

WHEN WE FAKE IT, SELF CONFIDENCE, AND HAVE NOT REALLY BEEN TRANSFORMED IS WHEN MISERY SETS IN BECAUSE YOU CANNOT MEET THE STANDARD THAT GOD HAS ESTABLISHED FOR HIS PEOPLE. ONLY AFTER SUCCESSFUL MORPHING CAN WE LIVE UP TO GOD’S EXPECTATIONS. LETS LOOK AT HOW SUCCESFUL MORPHING HAPPENS IN THE LIVES OF TRUE BELIEVERS.

I. FACE UP TO YOUR WEAKNESSES. DON’T HIDE THEM, ITS WHAT GOD WANTS TO TRANSFORM FOR YOU AND THE FIRST STEP IS TO FACE UP TO THEM. LOOSE YOU SELF-CONFIDENCE.

A. I DON’T BELIEVE THAT TRUE CONFIDENCE CAN BE ACHIEVED UNTIL WE FACE THEM AND ASK GOD TO HELP US TO NOT BE STOPPED BY THEM.

1. TRUE CONFIDENCE DOES NOT COME FROM PERFECTION.
2. TRUE CONFIDENCE DOES NOT COME FROM HAVING NO FLAWS.
3. TRUE CONFIDENCE MUST BE IN GOD.

B. GOD DOES EVERTHING ON PURPOSE

1 COR 1:24-29
24But to those who are called, whether Jew or Greek (Gentile), Christ [is] the Power of God and the Wisdom of God.25[This is] because the foolish thing [that has its source in] God is wiser than men, and the weak thing [that springs] from God is stronger than men.
26For [simply] consider your own call, brethren; not many [of you were considered to be] wise according to human estimates and standards, not many influential and powerful, not many of high and noble birth.27[No] for God selected (deliberately chose) what in the world is foolish to put the wise to shame, and what the world calls weak to put the strong to shame.
28And God also selected (deliberately chose) what in the world is lowborn and insignificant and branded and treated with contempt, even the things that are nothing, that He might depose and bring to nothing the things that are,29So that no mortal man should [have pretense for glorying and] boast in the presence of God.

IT MAY SEEM FOOLISH AT FIRST BUT GOD DOES CALL PEOPLE WITH WEANESSES. MAKE NO BONES ABOUT IT, GOD WANTS ALL THE GLORY AND WE ARE TO HAVE NONE FOR WHAT HE HAS DONE, IT IS HIS PLAN,

C. 2 COR 12:9 9But He said to me, My grace (My favor and loving-kindness and mercy) is enough for you [sufficient against any danger and enables you to bear the trouble manfully]; for My strength and power are made perfect (fulfilled and completed) and [a]show themselves most effective in [your] weakness. Therefore, I will all the more gladly glory in my weaknesses and infirmities, that the strength and power of Christ (the Messiah) may rest (yes, may [b]pitch a tent over and dwell) upon me!

GOD HAS NO PROBLEMS WITH YOUR WEAKNESS.

1. GOD KNEW MOSES DID NOT SPEAK WELL, YET HE CHOSE HIM TO LEAD HIS PEOPLE OUT OF EGYPT
2. GOD KNEW WHEN HE APPOINTED DAVID KING THAT HE WOULD COMMIT ADULTERY AND MURDER. GOD CALLED HIM BECAUSE OF HIS HEART.
3. JESUS KNEW THAT PETER WOULD DENY HIM, YET HE WAS ONE OF THREE IN HIS INNER CIRCLE.
4. GOD KNEW THAT TIMOTHY WAS ONLY SEVENTEEN WHEN HE CALLED HIM.
5. GOD KNEW THAT GIDEON WAS FROM THE POOREST CLAN IN MANASSEH AND THE LEAST IN HIS FATHER’S HOUSE, YET GOD CALLED HIM A MIGHTY MAN OF VALOR.
6. GOD KNEW THAT PAUL AND BARNABUS WOULD NOT GET ALONG WHEN HE SENT THEM OUT TOGETHER.
7. GOD KNEW THAT PAUL HAD BEEN A PERSECUTOR OF CHRITIANS WHEN HE CALLED HIM TO WRITE TWO THIRDS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.

D. GIVE GOD ALL THAT YOU ARE ESPECIALLY GIVE HIM ALL THAT YOU ARE NOT.

E. MARK 9:21-24 21And [Jesus] asked his father, How long has he had this? And he answered, From the time he was a little boy.22And it has often thrown him both into fire and into water, intending to kill him. But if You can do anything, do have pity on us and help us.
23And Jesus said, [You say to Me], If You can do anything? [Why,] all things can be (are possible) to him who believes!24At once the father of the boy gave [an eager, piercing, inarticulate] cry with tears, and he said, Lord, I believe! [Constantly] help my weakness of faith!

THIS MAN BROUGHT HIS SMALL FAITH TO THE LORD. HAVE YOU DONE THAT?

II. BE YOURSELF.

A. 1 SAMUEL 17:37-39 37David said, The Lord Who delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the paw of the bear, He will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said to David, Go, and the Lord be with you!38Then Saul clothed David with his armor; he put a bronze helmet on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail.
39And David girded his sword over his armor. Then he tried to go, but could not, for he was not used to it. And David said to Saul, I cannot go with these, for I am not used to them. And David took them off.

1. DAVID COULD NOT DEFEAT GOLIATH WITH SAUL’ S ARMOR.
2. HE HAD TO CHOOSE HIS OWN WEAPONS.(FIVE SHINEY STONES AND A SLING SHOT)

B. 1 COR 15:10 10But by the grace (the unmerited favor and blessing) of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not [found to be] for nothing (fruitless and without effect). In fact, I worked harder than all of them [the apostles], though it was not really I, but the grace (the unmerited favor and blessing) of God which was with me.

PAUL KNEW THAT IT WAS NOT HIM BUT GOD AND HE WAS NOT IMPRESSED WITH HIMSELF.

C. DON’T COMPARE YOUSELF WITH OTHERS AND DON’T COMPETE WITH THEM. JUST BE YOURSELF.

III. HOLD ON TO YOUR CONFIDENCE IN GOD AND LOOSE YOUR CONFIDENCE IN YOURSELF.

A. CHECK THIS OUT CONCERNING JESUS.
LUKE 4:18-21 18The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon Me, because He has anointed Me [the Anointed One, the Messiah] to preach the good news (the Gospel) to the poor; He has sent Me to announce release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send forth as delivered those who are oppressed [who are downtrodden, bruised, crushed, and broken down by calamity],
19To proclaim the accepted and acceptable year of the Lord [the day [l]when salvation and the free favors of God profusely abound.20Then He rolled up the book and gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were gazing [attentively] at Him.21And He began to speak to them: Today this Scripture has been fulfilled while you are present and hearing.

1. JESUS WAS CONFIDENT ABOUT WHO HE WAS AND WHAT HE WAS SENT TO DO AND WHO SENT HIM. HOW ABOUT YOU?
2. AS PASTOR I HAVE TO KNOW AND BE CONFIDENT THAT I AM CALLED AND THAT I NEED TO DO THE BIDDING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
3. I CANNOT BE DOUBTING AND SECOND GUESSING MY DISCISIONS.
4. I CANNOT LET FACIAL EXPRESSIONS AND RESPONSES MAKE ME FEEL INSECURE AND LOOSE CONFIDENCE.

B. PHILIPPIANS 3:3 3For we [Christians] are the true circumcision, who worship God in spirit and by the Spirit of God and exult and glory and pride ourselves in Jesus Christ, and put no confidence or dependence [on what we are] in the flesh and on outward privileges and physical advantages and external appearances—
THERE CAN BE NO CONFIDENCE IN THE FLESH. YOUR CONFIDENCE HAS TO BE IN GOD AT ALL TIMES.

THE PROBLEMS THAT ARISE WHEN WE DO NOT HAVE TOTAL CONFIDENCE IN GOD ARE.
1. YOUR POTENTIAL IN CHRIST IS NEVER REACHED.
2. FEAR RULES AND PEOPLE LIVE IN TORMENT.
3. IT LEADS TO FRUSTRATION.
4. YOU CAN BE CONTROLED AND MANIPULATED BY OTHERS.
5. THE HOLY SPIRIT IS GRIEVED.

MORPHING INTO THAT CHRISTIAN THAT YOU WANT TO BE IS NOT ACHIEVED BY JUST STANDING AROUND AND WAITING FOR THE CHANGE TO TAKE PLACE. YOU NEED TO HAVE CONFIDENCE THAT GOD WILL DO IT ALL WHEN YOU YIELD. I SUPPOSE WE CAN SAY THAT CHRISTIANS MORPH BY TOTALLY YIELDING THEIR MEMBERS TO GOD AND START ACTING AS THE HOLY SPIRIT LEADS YOU.

COL 3:5 5So kill (deaden, deprive of power) the evil desire lurking in your members [those animal impulses and all that is earthly in you that is employed in sin]: sexual vice, impurity, sensual appetites, unholy desires, and all greed and covetousness, for that is idolatry (the deifying of self and other created things instead of God).