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I'll never forget a sermon illustration that my

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late mentor, Dr. Stephen F.

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Olford, applied to Romans 8.28. Romans 8

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.28 declares, And we know that all things

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work together for good to them that love

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God, to them who are the called according

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to his purpose.

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Stephen Olford said the following.

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He said he had a relative in London.

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It was either a brother-in-law or

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an uncle.

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I don't remember exactly, but he said this

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relative was a London druggist.

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And one day, Dr. Olford went to visit

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him in his drugstore, and he found him

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in the back room standing over a table

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with jars of white powders and vials containing

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colorful liquids.

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And this chemist would take a little of

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this jar's powder and sprinkle it into a

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mixing bowl and then pour green liquid in

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and stir it all together, and out would

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come a powerful medicine that would cure the

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sick.

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And Dr. Olford made the following observation as

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it relates to our text in Romans 8

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.28. He would say, Now, this is what

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God does in our lives as we pass

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through the trials of life.

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He takes a little of this adversity and

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a little of that trial, mixes them all

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together for good to them that love God,

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to them who are the called according to

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his purpose.

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And God is like a divine alchemist, mixing

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a little of this and a little of

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that to make us more like Jesus Christ

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according to his divine purpose.

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I like that illustration, friends.

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And that's the title of my message today,

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The Divine Alchemist.

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And my text is Romans 8.28. You

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may turn in your Bibles there now.

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I have looked up the definition of alchemy,

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and when I read it, I was floored.

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It floored me because it sums up the

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divine operations of God in a person's life

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better than I could put into words.

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Here now is that definition of alchemy.

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Alchemy is defined as the process of taking

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something ordinary and turning it into something extraordinary,

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sometimes in a way that cannot be explained.

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Did you hear that, friend?

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Is this not what God does in our

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lives?

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Does he not take something ordinary, which is

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us, and turn it into something extraordinary for

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his use, usually in a way that cannot

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be humanly explained?

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I like to think of D.O. Moody

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in regard to this.

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Here was an ordinary man whom God used

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in an extraordinary way.

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Moody could hold the attention of 10,000

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people at a time for a month at

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a time in major cities like London, Edinburgh,

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and Glasgow.

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One day, Moody was walking down the street

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with a minister, and the minister asked him

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what he thought about all the attention he

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was getting.

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Moody did not reply, but simply bent over

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and started to dig in the ground with

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his fingers until he had a handful of

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dirt in his palm.

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Then Moody rose and held his handful of

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dirt before the minister's face and exclaimed, D

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.O. Moody is nothing more than this dirt.

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Listen, friend.

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Think of your own life.

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Think of where you once were as an

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unsaved person.

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Think of your former behavior and the former

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life.

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Before you found Christ, God performed a supernatural

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work in you by taking a heart of

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stone and making it a heart of flesh

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through the act of regeneration.

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That in itself is a miracle by the

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hand of God.

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Now think of all the troubles you have

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encountered along the way.

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Think of all the trials you've been put

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through, the storms that blew suddenly into your

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life, the many adversities, the griefs, the sorrows,

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the losses.

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Now picture God with a mixing bowl, which

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represents your life, friend.

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Here is God taking a little bit of

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this and a little bit of that, and

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he mixes it all together for our good.

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The divine alchemist is continually working in our

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lives with our best interests at heart.

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Let's look at a biblical example of this

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found in our Bibles.

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Keep your thumb in Romans and turn in

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your Bibles over to Genesis in chapter 50.

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I'll be reading in verse 15.

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Let me read it to us now.

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And when Joseph's brethren saw that their father

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was dead, they said, Joseph will, peradventure, hate

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us and will certainly requite us all the

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evil which we did unto him.

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And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying,

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Thy father did command before he died, saying,

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So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I

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pray thee now the trespass of thy brethren

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and their sin, for they did unto thee

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evil.

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And now we pray thee, forgive the trespass

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of the servants of the God of thy

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father.

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And Joseph wept when they spake unto him,

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and his brethren also went and fell down

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before his face.

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And they said, Behold, we be thy servants.

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And Joseph said unto them, Fear not, for

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am I in the place of God.

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But as for you, ye thought evil against

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me.

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But God meted unto good to bring to

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pass, as it is this day to save

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much people alive.

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God had a divine purpose that he was

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bringing forth, friends, through his servant Joseph, and

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that was to feed a nation and to

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save much people alive.

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But Joseph had to endure great hardship and

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suffering for this to come to pass.

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He was betrayed by his brothers, sold into

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slavery.

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He knew what it was like to be

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in a pit and to be locked in

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a prison and forgotten by men.

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But God did not forget Joseph.

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The divine alchemist was at work through Joseph,

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carrying out his plan and purposes, which was

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much larger than Joseph himself.

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And you, friend, in your current trial, your

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current suffering, God has not forgotten you.

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God is with you in your dire circumstance.

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He is there with you in your grief.

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He's there in your trial, and he's mixing

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in a little of this and a little

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of that into that mixing bowl of your

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life, and out will come something fantastic.

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Remember our definition?

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Let me read it to you again.

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Alchemy is defined as the process of taking

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something ordinary and turning it into something extraordinary,

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sometimes in a way that cannot be explained.

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Listen, friend.

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God will take you through the current process

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that he has you in.

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He will carry you through to the other

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side.

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Daylight is around the corner, but right now

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it's like you're sitting on a train and

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you're going through a tunnel, and it is

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dark, and you cannot see clearly.

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But remember this.

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God is the conductor of the train, and

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he will bring you through the tunnel of

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darkness.

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Your job is to stay on the train.

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Stay on the train.

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Keep your eyes on him.

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When the disciples were rowing on the Sea

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of Galilee, and a storm arose, and they

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were in great danger, struggling in the night

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without making any progress, Jesus was on the

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hillside all the while watching them in their

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struggle.

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He waited until the fourth watch of the

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night, between 3 a.m. and 6 a

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.m., to come to their rescue.

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And God is the God of the fourth

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watch.

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He will place us at the very end

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of our extremity until we are emptied of

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all human resources, and all hope is gone.

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That's when God steps off the mountain and

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steps onto the Sea of Supernatural Deliverance.

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And what emerges from the fire will be

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a more pure commodity than what went in.

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All the dross from the silver will be

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removed.

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You may be in the midst of a

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severe trial, friend, a personal fire right now,

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but remember this, God is the silversmith, and

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when a silversmith places silver into the fire,

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he never takes his eyes off the silver.

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God's purpose will be realized in your life,

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friend, even through the present pain.

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I know of which I speak.

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It seems for the last decade or so,

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I've gone from one trial to another, and

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I've been to the place where all human

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resources are gone, and hope is a tattered

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thread blowing in the wind.

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I have a plaque I keep on the

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mantle above my fireplace that reads, Faith is

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not knowing what the future holds, but knowing

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who holds the future.

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God holds the future, and His ways are

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always the best way for us, no matter

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how painful it seems at the time.

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And remember this, friend, the divine alchemist is

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at work in your life.

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Think of the apostle Peter, boastful, prideful Peter,

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who was always sticking his foot into his

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mouth.

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When Jesus looked at Peter, he did not

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see the Peter in the courtyard denying him

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as much as he saw the Peter of

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Pentecost preaching him.

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When Jesus looks at you, He doesn't see

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you as you are now in your troubles,

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in your failings, but He sees what you

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will become in Him.

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Every failure, every stumble, every pain, every grief

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has a place in that mixing bowl.

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God mixes in a little of that and

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a little of this, and out comes something

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quite extraordinary.

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And there's no explanation other than God did

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it.

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He must get the glory.

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So our text today from Romans, and we

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know that all things, did you hear that,

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friend?

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All things work together.

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Did you hear that?

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Work together in that mixing bowl for good

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to them that love God, to them who

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are called according to His purpose.

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Did you hear that?

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According to what?

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His purpose.

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I want to read you Matthew Henry's Bible

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commentary on Romans 8-28 before I close,

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and as I read it to you, think

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of that mixing bowl in the hands of

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the divine alchemist at work in your life.

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Here now are Matthew Henry's comments.

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We see believers compassed about with manifold afflictions,

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but in this the Spirit's intercession is always

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effectual, that all this is working together for

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their good, merciful providences, as well as afflicting

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providences.

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They are all for good, either directly or

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indirectly.

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They work together as several ingredients in a

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medicine concur to answer the intention.

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There it is again, friends.

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This mixing of a little of this and

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a little of that into the mixing bowl

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of our lives as God the divine alchemist

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performs what is necessary to produce the spiritual

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fruit of our lives to bring Him glory.

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All things working together, no matter how painful,

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how trying, how disappointing, He will bring something

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extraordinary out of it for our good and

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His glory.