The Miracle of Transformation

I'd like to thank the ensemble for that very special music. That was beautiful. I really appreciate that. And also, I'd like to thank our sound crew today, who do a tremendous amount to make sure things go smoothly. And I don't know if you noticed all the crates in the back, but there are like 20 of them, big crates that have been hauled in here with all this type of equipment and set up. And I just hope you really appreciate what goes on behind the scenes. And if you'd like to help out, I'm sure they're always looking for men with strong backs or anyone who's willing to learn. So you can talk to Ken Jafet or to Brian Tinkler. I'm sure they would love to get a little more help. So I really do appreciate the work that they do behind the scenes. And they haul a lot of equipment from the home office every time we have an annual Holy Day like this, or most every time. And we certainly appreciate them a great deal. I also appreciate Mr. Werner filling in today and giving the sermon that he did a fine job with just five or six days notice. Mr. Antion just wasn't feeling up to coming and being able to give a sermon with the issues that he's been facing. So please remember him in your prayers. We appreciate him very much as well. Brethren, every year we witness a miracle that God built into creation. Winter leaves the world brown, drab, in a sense lifeless, but then almost suddenly spring arrives. Grass turns green, especially down south where you have Bermuda grass that goes completely dormant. The grass turns green, the trees bud, the flowers burst forth, and the world becomes vibrant again. What a transformation. Every single year we kind of take it for granted. Now this realization hit me again a few weeks ago as I was driving along. I was going on 275 on the interstate and I was noticing all the changes that were happening. The bushes were beginning to sprout leaves. The gorgeous yellow daffodils were the first flowers to begin the transformation. The flowering tulip trees and then the red buds were not far behind. The lovely purple flocks is now very noticeable in many flower gardens. Green is now everywhere. This golf course obviously is beautiful. Some weeks ago much of this country was brown. It wasn't green. And as I said, it's even more true down south where things really go dormant. Now this physical transformation is seasonal from winter to spring, but it may also be used as a powerful spiritual symbol. So every springtime we should also consider the spiritual symbolism of this wonderful miracle. God uses the physical world to teach spiritual lessons. Springtime, especially around the Passover, and the days of 11 bread picture repentance. They picture renewal. And most of all, they picture transformation. Today we will explore how God takes a spiritually brown and drab life and transforms it into something beautiful, vibrant, and alive. We, you and I, are in the process of spiritual transformation. So the title for the sermon is The Miracle of Transformation, and we'll use the physical to some degree to talk about the spiritual transformation. What is it all about?

First of all, know that God designed us for transformation. He designed you to be transformed.

Let's go to Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2. And notice what Paul writes here. He's talking to the brethren in Ephesus. And he says, And you he made alive, who were once dead, you were dead in trespasses and in sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, verse 3, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

Verse 4, But God, who is rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us, God does love us very much and is proven in all that he does. Even when we were dead in trespasses, he made us alive together with Christ, and by grace you have been saved, or you are in the process of being saved, and raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. It does take faith. We do need to have faith. We need to trust in God and look to him, and that not of yourselves, because faith in itself is a gift of God. God even gives us the faith that we need, not of works, lest anyone should boast. So make no mistake, it's not because we're so good or we do so many good works that we're saved, but these works are important. They just won't save us. For we are his workmanship, and that's where the emphasis needs to be.

We are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. So once we were dead in our sins, but once we accepted Christ as our personal Savior, once we repented of our sins and were baptized, our sins were washed away in the blood of our Savior, Jesus Christ. And we're reminded of that every single year, at this time of year, at the Passover and days of Unleavened Bread.

In Romans chapter 3 verse 23, and you don't need to go there because I'm just going to refer to something that we all have heard many times, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We've all sinned and fall short of the glory of God, but notice in Romans chapter 12. Let's go to Romans chapter 12. In verse 1 it talks about how we are to be a living sacrifice, how we are to give of ourselves, which is holy and acceptable to God, something that we ought to do because of God's great love for us.

But notice verse 2, and do not be conformed to this world. Yes, Satan is the God of this world, but we are not to be conformed to this world, but be transformed. This is the word metamorphu, which we get the English word metamorphosis, and it is talking about how a larva or pupa becomes a beautiful butterfly. That's one of the uses of metamorphosis. Sermons have been given about that very topic.

That's not where we're going to go today, but that is the word that's translated transformation here. And metamorphosis is the process of transformation from an immature form to an adult or mature form of life. So once we were very immature physically, spiritually, we were immature, but we are in the process of maturing. God is helping us to spiritually mature.

We are in the process of being transformed. In 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 17, 2 Corinthians, let's go there and read a verse or two. 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 17. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. He has been made new. He's repetitive as old ways, and he has been made new. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. So we are in the process of being renewed, of being transformed. Transformation is not optional. It's not optional. It is the Christian calling. It's something that we're all in the process of doing if we've been baptized, if we've decided this is the way that we're going to go spiritually.

It is not an option. We are being transformed. So that is the first point. Know that God designed us for transformation.

Secondly, realize that only God can change or transform the human heart and mind. Only God can do this. You're not capable of really doing this. It's God working in you that can make this happen. In Jeremiah 17, and I know we're familiar with Jeremiah 17, many of us are anyway if we've been around for long. And it's quoted quite often. But I want to go and look at the context here of Jeremiah 17 because it fits well with the message I'm giving today. Jeremiah 17, and we're going to start reading in verse 17. Blessed is the man or the woman who trusts in the eternal and whose hope is in the Lord or the eternal. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters which spreads out its roots by the river and will not fear when heat comes, but its leaves will be green and it will not be anxious in the year of drought. It's going to flourish anyway, nor will cease from yielding fruit. It will continue to yield fruit even through a drought.

Then it transitions into verse 9. The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? God says, I the Eternal search the heart. I test the mind even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings. Yes, it does matter what choices we make in life, but the heart is naturally deceitful, it is desperately wicked, and only God can really change that. So once we were dead in sins, now we have become alive because Christ lives in us. In Philippians 2.5 it says, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Jesus did not have a mind that was deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. He had a pure mind and a pure heart as the Son of God, and we are to develop his mind. We are to be transformed into having that type of mind. So that is a process that we all must go through, and it is something that we need to yield to. We need to humble ourselves and yield to God and to Christ and let Jesus Christ live in us. So we have a long way to go, but thankfully with God we know all things are possible, and God is the one that will perform this miracle in our lives. Without God, our spiritual landscape is barren. Without God, our spiritual landscape is barren. Thankfully, God is for us, and if God is for us, who can really be against us? God is far more powerful, and he desires to give us his kingdom. So we can count on that. We can have faith and believe and trust, because that's really all we have. We have God. That's plenty. That's enough, but humanly it isn't so easy to surrender. And that's what will really bring a transformation about, is when we learn to surrender ourselves. Surrender our minds that are twisted and perverted in certain ways, and surrender that to God and develop the mind of Jesus Christ. So it's all about learning to be willing instruments. We need to be willing instruments in God's hands. And if we can just yield ourselves to God and surrender to him, then he will use us in a way that will be very pleasing to him and will be very helpful for everyone around us. We do need to become dependent upon God, totally and utterly dependent on him. And that isn't easy from a human perspective, but God is in the process of transforming us so that we will learn to be dependent and humble ourselves.

A third point about transformation is that it is God who initiates spiritual change and renewal. It is God who initiates the transformation. Thankfully, we can count on God.

In John 6, and we're going to read starting in verse 41, because again, I want us to get the context. I was just going to read, no one can come to me unless the Father draws him, that God initiates and draws us. But let's look at the context here, because it's very much Dayzum 11 bread oriented. John 6, verse 41. John 6, verse 41. The Jews then complained about Christ, about him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. They just did not get that.

They did not get it at all. And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know, how is it then that he says, I have come down from heaven?

Jesus therefore answered and said to them, Do not murmur among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up at the last day, at the resurrection, at the return of Jesus Christ. Christ will raise up his children.

It is written, verse 45, in the prophets, And they shall all be taught by God. Therefore, everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father, except he who is from God. He has seen the Father. Jesus Christ has seen the Father. He was with him from the very beginning. Most assuredly I say to you, he who believes in me has everlasting life.

I am the bread of life. He is the unleavened bread that came down from heaven, that nourishes us on a daily basis. And yes, it is best if we can eat unleavened bread every single day during the days of unleavened bread. If it's all possible, we should strive to eat unleavened bread. It pictures putting Christ in us, and we all need that desperately. But remember, it is God who initiates spiritual change and renewal. It is God who initiates your transformation into something spiritually beautiful for an eternity.

Now, God says unto the New Covenant in Ezekiel chapter 36. We'll read a few verses back in Ezekiel chapter 36 starting in verse 26. Ezekiel 36 verse 26. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. This is the one who became the Christ who has inspired this and is saying this. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. It is God that can change our heart, change our minds. I will give you a new heart. I will put a new spirit within you. I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh, something malleable, something, a heart that's teachable and is willing to yield. And I will put my spirit within you, and I will cause you to walk in my statutes. You know, you've been walking in God's statutes by being here today. This is a cabanid assembly, and we're here because we are walking in these statutes of God. And you will keep my judgments, and you will do them. Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I, I will be your God. So we can have faith in that. That is a promise. God wants and is your God. He wants to be your God. He wants to be your father. And he is the one that initiates the transformation in our lives. A fourth point regarding transportation is that God grants repentance, and that is the first green chute in a spiritual springtime. God is the one who grants repentance. Jesus, we know, died in the springtime. He died this time of year. He was crucified for us. He lived a beautiful life without sin. But now he's dead. He's crucified.

Of course, the grave could not keep Jesus Christ. He was resurrected during these days of Unleavened Bread. He was changed back. He was transformed back to the life that he led previously before he became born of flesh. On Pentecost, when the people realized that they had killed the Christ, Peter gave a powerful sermon. They were convicted in their hearts, many of them, and they asked, What can we do? And Peter answered, Repent and be baptized. Every one of you Repent and be baptized. That's what it takes if you want to be in the family of God forever. That decision needs to be made when the time is right.

Repent and be baptized. And then in Acts chapter 3 verse 19, Acts chapter 3 verse 19, going along with what Peter said earlier in Acts 2 verse 38. Now in verse 19 of Acts chapter 3, Peter says, Repent therefore and be converted. Be converted, changed, transformed. It's not metamorpho here, but it means essentially the same thing.

Repent and be converted that your sins may be blotted out so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord and that he may send Jesus Christ, who is preached to you beforehand, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things which God has spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. Repent therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out. So God is the one that grants repentance. We are to seek God, but he is the one that grants that repentance. Repentance is the first sign of spiritual spring in a person's life. In 2 Timothy, it shows that it is God who grants repentance. It's not something that we work up on our own. God grants us repentance. He looks on our heart. He sees that we have the capacity to follow him, to be led by him, to be led by a spirit. He chooses, as he deems, when he calls a person. In 2 Timothy chapter 2, 2 Timothy chapter 2 verse 24, Paul writes, Flea also youthful lust, but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. So I'm in chapter 2 verse 23 now. But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel, but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient. Yes, it does matter how we live our lives in humility, correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance. It is God who grants all of us repentance, and we would want him to grant other people repentance as well, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil. Yes, we should want that for everyone, that they would come to realize that God is the answer, Christ is the answer, and that they need to escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.

So it is God who grants repentance. Acts 11 verse 18 also shows this to be the case in the instance of the centurion, Cornelius. When God called Cornelius and poured out his Holy Spirit even before baptism, he was clearly calling Cornelius at this time. And in Acts 11 verse 18, when Peter is explaining that the Holy Spirit fell upon Cornelius even before he was baptized, Acts 11 verse 18, when they heard these things, they became silent, because he had reiterated what God had done. And they glorified God, saying, then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life. So it is God who initiates repentance. He's the one that grants repentance. And that is something that we need to consider this time of year. You know, those of us who have already made that commitment, we recommit ourselves every Passover when we sit and we wash each other's feet and we take the bread, the unleavened bread, symbolic of Christ's broken body for us, and we drink the wine, which is symbolic of his blood, shed for us. So God is the one who grants repentance. And that's the first green shoot, in a sense, in the springtime of our lives when we're changing spiritually and being transformed. A fifth point in regard to transformation is that the Holy Spirit is God's transforming power. It is the Holy Spirit. It's God's Spirit dwelling in us and working with us and changing us. Even before we're baptized, we make a lot of changes. You know, God's Spirit is powerful. It doesn't have to be living in us for us to begin to make changes and for us to be decent people who live God-fearing lives. So some of you who are not baptized, you've been doing that. And in due time, you will be baptized. You will make that decision. But God's Spirit is working with you, and He's beginning to transform you and bring you to repentance. So it is the Holy Spirit that is God's transforming power. Upon repentance and acceptance of Christ as our Savior, the Holy Spirit is given to those who are being called and are chosen by God.

Romans 8, verse 11. Romans 8, verse 11.

Romans 8, verse 11. 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 life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit that dwells in you. It is God's Spirit, Christ's Spirit. It's the same Holy Spirit. It's the divine essence and power of God working and living in us that will transform us.

In Galatians chapter 5, some very practical fruits that are born by someone who is being transformed. Galatians chapter 5. Yes, it does make a difference in a person's life because these characteristics, they are the fruit of God's Holy Spirit working in a person. Galatians chapter 5, verse 22. Galatians chapter 5 and verse 22.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love. So that should be something we are known by.

He's a loving person. She is really a loving, loving, caring person.

The fruit of the Spirit is love. It is joy. They are joyful people. This is a joyful group here. You're a happy, joyful people. You should be.

Another fruit is peace. Yes, we have trials, we have tribulations, but behind all of it is a peace that God gives us. It's the fruit of His Spirit. You are being transformed because you are learning to be more peaceful. You are learning to be more loving. You're learning to be more joyful, more patient, willing to suffer long. That's you. You are learning to be kinder, to be gentler in your approach toward others. You're learning to be good and to have the very goodness of God Himself. God is good, and it's Christ living in us that allows us to be good. You know, Christ said there's none good but one. That's God. It's God living in you that can produce that kind of fruit. We need God living in us. We need Christ living in us so that we will have the characteristics of our Heavenly Father. Faithfulness is another characteristic. You have a measure of faith. That's why you're here. You're here because you believe.

You have faith, gentleness or meekness. We're learning to be meek. We're learning to be there. I'm not saying we're there yet. I'm not quite there yet. Sometimes I'm better than others. But humble and meek, the Mel-ego is a powerful thing.

Meekness, self-control, learning to control the self. That's a full-time job, isn't it?

Learning to bring every thought into captivity, unto the obedience of our Savior Jesus Christ. That is a high and a holy calling. And the only way to get there is God working in you, living in you, dwelling in you, changing you, transforming you, so that you learn self-control. And against such, there is no law.

Of course not. God wants us to be that way. There's no law against that.

The Holy Spirit is God's transforming power.

It is the Spirit, God's Spirit, that brings life and growth. The Bible reveals that the real mystery of the ages is that we who are in the flesh may become Spirit in the same way as our Savior Jesus Christ. We may become just like Him. And we are in the process of being transformed to be like Him now, to be more and more like Him right now. We don't have to wait.

Now, we're not going to be exactly like Him in the flesh. That's something to strive for, to run that race, to stay faithful, to endure, to look forward to. It is Christ in us through the power of the Holy Spirit that will ensure a resurrection to eternal life for all of us. God the Father will also resurrect us as He resurrected His Son, but only if we allow Christ to live in us, because we've truly accepted Him as our Savior. Jesus Christ is our Savior. We are saved by the graciousness of God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. In Colossians chapter 1, 26, it talks about the mystery of the ages.

Good book was written about the mystery of the ages many years ago. If you've never read it, I would recommend it. There might be a few things in there that should be rewritten. But in many ways, it was inspiring to me when I read it. God was calling me at the time, and I thought this was awesome. The mystery of the ages, what God is doing in people's lives. Colossians chapter 1, chapter 1, verse 26. I'm going to break into this. This is one of Paul's long sentences. He says, Paul came to understand this mystery. This is the mystery of the ages that Jesus Christ will live His life in you.

And He is the hope of glory. Christ living in us. That is the hope of glory. That's what will ensure that we will be glorified at His return. Christ dwelling in us, living in us.

Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man and all wisdom that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. This is our goal, is to be perfect, to become perfect, become you therefore perfect even as my Father in heaven is perfect, is what Jesus said. That is the goal that we strive for. And when we slip, as Mr. Werner mentioned in the sermon at, we get back up and we ask God to forgive us. And we have faith that God is forgiving us, and the righteousness of our Savior, Jesus Christ, is imputed on our behalf, and our sins are surely forgiven. We can have faith in that. We can believe in that. I'll tell you, I wouldn't be here.

52 years, this is my 52nd Days of Unleavened Bread. I wouldn't be here if I didn't believe that.

To this end I also labor, striving according to His working, which works in me mightily. Verse 29.

We are to labor, we are to strive, we are to do our part. It won't save us, but it will ensure that God will give us that gift of eternal life. God does look on the heart. A sixth point in our transformation is that Jesus Christ is spiritual sunlight, and He's spiritual rain. He's spiritual sunlight, spiritual rain, and His Word is like that for us.

What is it that really begins to make the difference from winter to spring? Isn't it the temperature starts warming up, getting warmer? And we love that, don't we? We look forward to it. We love these sunny, beautiful days.

It is the sun that makes the real difference as the earth tilts more toward the sun.

The days are getting longer, the earth is warming up, things are beginning to heat up, at least in this part of the world, and God designed it this way. From a spiritual perspective, Christ is the light of the world. He is the light of the world.

He is the Son of God, S-O-N, Son of God, but He's also the creator of the sun, S-U-N.

How much do we depend on the sun? People started worshiping the sun because they were so dependent on it. Can you imagine not knowing who God is? Being a pagan, and it starts getting colder and colder, and you want the sun to come back. I can understand why they would start worshiping the sun. They worshiped the creation rather than the creator, because man turned against God. They did not obey and follow God. It's interesting that a person cannot look directly at the sun.

Don't try it. It's not healthy for your eyes. People cannot look at God in all of His glory, in all of His power and strength. We can't look at the sun either. God created the sun.

It's powerful. In Matthew 4, verse 4, Christ says, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. Christ is the living word of God, and we have the Bible. We have an instruction manual. We have this book, and we should be students of this book. We should be perpetual students of the Bible. This is not something we will ever master. It's something we always need to be studying and trying to write these laws in our hearts and in our minds.

In Psalm 119, verse 105, Your word is a lamp to my feet.

It is a light to my path. It shows me the way. It shows me where to put my next step.

The most important step is the next step. It shows me where to put that step.

God's word nourishes us. It nourishes our spiritual growth. It helps transform us. We have to study it. If you want to change, if you want to grow, why would you neglect the reading of God's word?

Why would you not make it a top priority in your life? No matter who you are, no matter how busy you are. There's nothing more important than spending some time in the Bible each and every day.

God's word nourishes spiritual growth. It helps change us. James chapter 5 verse 7 says, Therefore be patient, this is the brother of Jesus Christ, therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord see how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and the latter rain. In many respects, Jesus Christ is the early and the latter rain. Water makes a big difference. If there's no water, things go brown again. If there's water out on the golf course, it flourishes. It gets even greener.

We need the water that comes from knowing Jesus Christ. He is the early and the latter rain. Rain helps us grow. It certainly helps plants grow and blossom and flourish, and it helps us grow and flourish. Another point regarding transformation is obedience. This is a seventh point. Obedience. And obedience is the fruit of a new life. You know, if we're living a new life, we are learning to be more and more obedient, more and more faithful. Acts 5, 32 says that God gives His Spirit to those who obey Him. It's important that we obey God. It shows that we love Him. If you love Me, keep My commandments, Jesus said. Keep My commandments. His brother James and my brother, his brother James in 1 verse 22, James chapter 1 verse 22, says, Be doers of the word.

Not hearers only. But do it. Follow it. Make those choices in your life. Choose to obey. Choose to follow. God in us gives us strength to obey. God in us helps us overcome and grow spiritually. To He who overcomes will I grant to sit with Me on My throne. Over and over it says we are to be overcomers in the book of Revelation. We must learn to stay with it. To be faithful, to overcome, to grow, to change, to be transformed. And you're doing that. You are doing that. You are changing. You are growing. Even though you may be discouraged at times, never give up. Because I assure you, you are going in the right direction if you are not in the process of backsliding.

Because the Bible also shows that a person can backslide. If it's not important enough to you, you will backslide. Be good to yourself. Go forward. Don't allow yourself to go backward.

And if you do quickly repent, that's really all it takes is to have a heart to change. And God sees that heart. And God grants repentance. And you get up and you get going again, moving in the right direction. So the seventh principle or point about transformation is to produce the fruit of a new life. Be obedient. An eighth principle is, know that trials, trials are God's, it's God's way of pruning us so that we will have greater growth in the future. And I know that may be difficult to really appreciate during the midst of a trial, but it is true. And that's what the Bible teaches us in John chapter 15. John chapter 15, verse 1.

Christ says, I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine dresser.

Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away. Yes, God expects us to bear fruit.

And if we are being changed, if we're, if we're being transformed, we will bear fruit. So don't be too hard on yourself. You are producing fruit. This is a bunch of good people I see in front of me.

Good with quotes. A bunch of fine people, God-fearing people.

He bears, he prunes us so that we may bear more fruit. Verse 3, you are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in me and I in you. Now we read this every year at the Passover. Abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. So we abide in Christ, Christ abides in us. Christ lives in us. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him, bears much fruit.

You are bearing much fruit. You could be a lot worse. Trust me. You are bearing fruit.

For without me, you can do nothing. Without me, you can do nothing. So we are helpless without God. We are strangers, and we do need God's help, and we need to learn to rely upon Him and trust in Him.

Trials refine and strengthen us from a book entitled Secrets of the Vine, Breaking Through to Abundance, written by Bruce Wilkinson. I'd like to just summarize a few points that he makes, and there's a whole lot more to this, so you might want to look up the check out that book. Bruce Wilkinson's Secrets of the Vine, Breaking Through to Abundance.

Once a barren vine starts to bear fruit, it holds the promise of more abundance to come.

Once it starts to produce. If the branch looks pretty with lots of green leaves, the vine dresser prunes it. You can either have beautiful leaves or abundant large grapes.

You can look good or you can be good. This is how you go from a partially filled basket of fruit to a full basket of fruit. You prune it. It produces more fruit and better fruit.

God is not so interested in the outward appearance. He's interested on the inside, what he sees inside. The divine dresser's secret is more is less, in a sense.

More is less. You have to go against the plant's natural tendency to get fruit. The disciples understood grapes and vines. They knew grapes like Columbians no coffee or Englishmen no tea. Vineyards had been an example of God's abundance and provision for years. This purpose is for you to trim away unnecessary commitments and immature priorities. Yes, we should trim those things away. They're not healthy for us. If you scroll for hours on this thing, probably not helpful. If you go to X and you find yourself scrolling, probably not the best use of your time. You should put the thing down and pick up a Bible. Better use of your time. So cut out the unnecessary commitments, the immature priorities. The nature of pruning is that overgrowth of vines will block out the sun.

If you've got too many vines full of leaves, they'll block out the sun. The grapes need a lot of energy to grow. They need the sunlight, and that energy needs to be channeled into the fruit instead of unnecessary leaves. This is necessary because of the grapes' natural tendency to grow vigorously. Left to itself, a new plant will always favor new growth over more grapes.

From a distance, it looks like a beautiful plant, but up close it is an underwhelming harvest. The fruit is not there. Pruning is the most powerful tool that the vine dresser has. Without pruning, we can only live up to a fraction of our potential. If you're asking to become more like Christ, then you're asking for the shears. Prune me. Please help me grow. Trials must be faced just like weeds in the garden must be faced and removed. That's going on to another point. We all have weeds that we have to get rid of, right? We have to cut them out. We have to destroy them, get rid of them. There are certain things that you need to cut out of your life.

And don't go back there because they're unhealthy. They're not good. They're not good.

And once weeds are cut down and removed, then others will sprout to take their place. So it takes vigilance to get the weeds out, to have a flower garden that really looks good. It takes work.

We learn and we grow spiritually as we face all of life's trials in a godly manner, letting Christ live in us and showing us the way to produce those fruits of God's Holy Spirit so that we'll have peace in time of trial, that we'll even be joyful in time of trial, that we'll be patient, that we'll be kind, that we'll be meek even during times of trial.

So that is an eighth principle. I see I am running out of time, but we can wrap this up very quickly. Point number nine, community. You are all the garden of God's people. You're God's garden. He's interested in you. You know, we should not forsake the assembling of ourselves together. We do need to fellowship together, and we need to learn to serve one another. That's what we've been doing throughout this day. We grow better together. We are family. We're God's family. We're no longer strangers. We are God's family in that sense. We are God's garden. Let us flourish together. And then the last principle, the ultimate transformation is glorification, and eternal spiritual transformation is a miracle. It is a gift of God to be glorified, to be changed. It's miraculous. Yes, it's more miraculous than what we see happening around us, because that's physical. We're talking about you and me becoming spirit, becoming eternal, no longer sinning. That's a much greater miracle than the grass starting to grow, and the bushes starting to leave out, and the flowers popping up. It's much more powerful, much more miraculous, but that is exactly what's happening. In 2 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 18, but we all with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, we are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the spirit of the Lord. It is God's spirit that's transforming us from glory to glory. Yes, this is the greatest creation that God has made, man. For us to be able to move around, to talk, to do all that we do, that's a miracle. We're the pinnacle of His creation. In a way, we're glorious, as lousy as we are. But we're going to be much more glorious when we're transformed into spirit.

1 Corinthians chapter 15 verses 52 and 53. We'll want to read that together, and I'm just about ready to wrap this up. 1 Corinthians chapter 15, 52 and 53. 1 Corinthians 15, we know this is the resurrection chapter. Verse 52. Verse 51, Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep. We shall not all die, but we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption. This mortal must put on immortality. And so when this corruptible has put on incorruption and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. There will be no more death, no more sorrow, no more crying, as we heard earlier. In Philippians chapter 3 verses 20 and 21, here it says, Paul says, For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body, that it may be conformed to his glorious body, according to the working by which he is able even to subdue all things to himself. God can do this. Only God can do it. He can subdue all things to himself so that we may be glorified, so that we may be changed, that we may be transformed, and the greatest transformation occurs at Christ's return. So the conclusion is transformation is happening right now. But it is also coming in a glorious way at Christ's return.

There is a new heavens and a new earth that's coming as well, and that will be glorious.

And remember what Paul says about God in Philippians chapter 1 verse 6, He who has begun a good work in you will complete it.

It doesn't really depend on you. It depends on you being that vessel that God can work with, surrendering yourself, humbling yourself, and depending on God to do what needs to be done.

Yes, we need to continue to do all that we talked about today if we are to be transformed.

There is—this is a call to action. Ask God to reveal any winter areas in your heart that are dormant or dead, and let Christ's mind be in you. Yes, commit yourself to daily prayer and Bible study, and fast regularly because that's a powerful spiritual tool, and humbly seek the Holy Spirit's power to change. God living in you, Christ living in you through the power of the Spirit, and engage in worship. Keep coming back here. Keep fellowshiping. Keep serving with humility and sincerity, and look forward to your ultimate transformation at Christ's return.

We have so much to be thankful for.