Hearts Formed into the Likeness of Christ - Tim Robinson

good morning it's good to see you all today it is my privilege to introduce our speaker dr tim robinson dr tim robinson serves as assistant professor of pastoral ministries and also as the liaison for dts europe which is an initiative of serving students in european countries he comes from belfast northern ireland you will pick that up as you listen to him he is married to carrie whom he met as a student here at dts between the years of 2004 and 2008 and together they have been blessed with three children hannah abigail and caleb prior to joining the faculty of dts tim served for three years in a para church discipleship ministry in the picturesque north coast of northern ireland and then served for nine years as a local church pastor in northern ireland's capital city belfast during these years he enjoyed a weekly preaching ministry led a movement of young adults called extend and initiated city-wide outreach programs seeking to impact thousands of lives for christ across belfast tim and his family have recently moved to dallas as a member of the pastoral ministry department his deepest desires not only to encourage students to preach the word with truth clarity relevance and interest but also to see the hearts of students formed into the likeness of christ for the glory of our great god because of what i am privileged to do i get to many times see individuals in their environment and on a couple of occasions i had an opportunity to spend time with him to see his heart to watch him shepherd and to see him love people well we're so thrilled to have him and kerry and their family to join the campus of dallas seminary to be right here in dallas texas and so it's privileged to have him speak to us today forgive him for his accent he'll soon sound like a texan soon enough would you please join me in welcoming dr tim robinson today well good morning dts it is wonderful to be here with you today i have to be honest when i saw the chapel schedule did anyone get one of these bookmarks for the chapel schedule and i saw yarbra swindoll bailey and robinson i i thought to myself there must have been some mistake for my name to appear on that list and i think i figured out what the mistake was i think chaplin joe and his office thought they were booking hardin robinson to come and speak today so i apologize if you're here to hear haddon he's in glory uh all i could do was was get tim robinson and i also hope that you can understand me because you've probably worked out from the introduction and from my accent i'm not from west texas i've been practicing my y'all but it just doesn't sound right i'm from uh i'm from a weak country called northern ireland and i love to tell the story i shared this with some of you last term last semester i remember when i moved here in 2004 as a student and i moved into lincoln hall which was an old dorms across the the road here of haskell and my very first night in america as a student the guy said to me in the dorm they said are you from ireland i said yeah i am they said would you say a few words now normally in christian context in northern ireland when they say would you say a few words it means would you bring us a word brother would you bring us a word of exhortation and i thought i've only just landed here and they want me to preach but but sure so so i said i said to them what would you like me to say and they said no no would you say these words they're magically delicious [Applause] and they thought i was a leprechaun right out of the lucky charms commercial and you might think that too so i've been praying that you would understand me and that as we open up god's word he would speak so clearly to us this morning i'm told there's actually translation rooms built into the chapel if anyone needs uh needs the heat of a translator today so well today is the 31st of august 2021 and it was on the 28th of august 1963 when one of the greatest speeches the world has ever heard was was made it was on that day that martin luther king jr climbed the steps of the lincoln memorial building he approached the microphones and he said these nine famous words i have a dream i have a dream that one day the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will one day sit down together around the table of brotherhood i have a dream i have a dream that one day the great state of mississippi a state sweltering with the heat of oppression and sweltering with the heat of injustice will one day be transformed into an oasis of freedom and of justice i have a dream i have a dream that one day my four little children will one day grow up in a country where they will no longer be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character this is my dream and i have a dream today what a dream and i want to ask you this morning as you start another academic year at dts or you look ahead to the years you have left here at this incredible institution what's your dream i looked up webster's dictionary to define the word dream as king uses it here's how he defines it listen to these words it's a deeply desired goal one overarching longed for purpose what's your deepest desire for these years at dts what's your great goal going to be what's going to be your one overarching longed for purpose in these years of ministry preparation well i got to tell you as a faculty of dts we have a dream for you as students and it's a deep desire that's been stirring in our hearts and it's a great goal that we have found ourselves praying over you in faculty meetings or departmental meetings and it's the one overarching long for purpose that we dream of you latching on to and giving your heart to during these years of study and here it is listen carefully we have a dream that not only would your heads be filled with content but your hearts would be formed into christlikeness we have a dream that your hearts would be formed into the likeness of christ by the power of the holy spirit because heads being filled with content is important but hearts being formed in the christ-likeness is indispensable see i've got a friend back home a great friend of mine who when he was 21 he was absolutely brilliant an influencer in our church incredible communicator of the word and so when he said he was going off to bible college for three years we were delighted this will be wonderful for you we said and he went off to bible college for three years and he began to throw himself into his studies and i mean he began to throw himself into it he couldn't get enough content world-class biblical and theological content into his heads and he graduated with a first we would say a 4.0 highest honors and two months after his graduation i kid you not he sat in my car and looked at me in the eye and he said tim i may have graduated with the highest honors but something happened behind the scenes in my second and third year my heart began to grow cold my heart began to grow distant with jesus it came out later that during his second and third year he'd been slipping into dabbling with sin and he looked at me in the car two months after graduation and he said i need to take a break from church and 10 months later this is now 12 months after graduating he announced with his life and with his lips i need to take a break i'm walking away from walking with jesus and i wept head full of content but a heart that had not been formed into christ's likeness i don't want you to be that student and you don't need me to tell you of one pastor after another pastor after another pastor who blow through seminary or theological education and they're incredibly impressive highly intelligent may even be fast-tracked through theological formation so that they can get into an influential position but because they've ignored the condition of their heart and there's pride in there or there's arrogance in there or there's selfish ambition in there or there's a lust of sensuality in there it leaks out and there is carnage in their life and carnage in their ministry i don't want you to be that pastor oh we've got a dream that not only would your heads be filled with content which is important but that during these years at seminary your hearts would be formed in the christ-likeness which is in fact indispensable and so this morning i just want to look at this dream that's that's on the screen the dream of hearts being formed into the likeness of christ by the power of the holy spirit and i just very simply want to break the stream down into three parts i want to talk to you about your heart biblically and theologically i want to then talk about hearts being formed into the likeness of christ biblically and theologically and then lastly as we consider what this might look like during our years at seminary i want to mention to you that biblically theologically this must be and can only ever be by the power of the holy spirit so if you've got a bible let's turn to proverbs chapter 4 i invite you to turn to proverbs 4 and we're going to look at the heart biblically and theologically together i'll give you a few seconds to find it proverbs 4. it's a wonderful striking proverb here that i want to read to you proverbs 4 verse 23 and as you're turning there i just want you to note that your heart is the core and the control center of your life your heart is the core and it's the control center of your life look at what we read in proverbs 4 verse 23 my translation says this above all else guard your heart for from it everything else flows above all else guard your heart for from it everything else flows the word here for heart above us guard your heart as you know is life it's new testament equivalent is cardia and sometimes we think of the heart we you know we just think about valentine's day or love or emotions or warm fuzzy feelings and it is that it is a place of emotions and love and feelings but it's so much more than that biblically you know when you study this word the heart and scripture and the old testament then in the new testament it means your core it means the very very center of your inner life who you really are in the depths murray couple has written a book called the heart is the target and he has designed a little diagram which i've put up on the screen here here's who you really are in your core this is your heart it's your deepest thoughts and your beliefs it's your will and your worldview it's your conscience and your convictions it's your emotions and your passions jonathan edwards talked about your affections or your loves that's who you are in the depths your heart is the core of who you are but this proverb says it's also the control center see that in this verse above your above all else guard your heart for from it everything else flows maybe your translation says it's the water source or it's like a wellspring of life the picture here in the hebrews of a of a source of water shooting out water and controlling everything and that's what the writer of proverbs wants you to know that whatever it is you have in your heart whatever your deepest thoughts and beliefs are whatever your will and worldview is whatever your conscience and your convictions are whatever your emotions and passions may be it has the power to control you control your thoughts your attitudes the direction of your feet the direction of your life and men and women you know this by experience right you've experienced moments in your life where there's been something in your core that has captivated you or or controls you and as a result your whole thinking and your whole words are controlled because of what's in your core i'll never forget the very first time i laid eyes on my beautiful wife carrie morgan as she as she was then in 2004 i was a new student here she was a new student and i remember standing over in swiss tower uh swindle tower and i was talking my buddy was talking to me and he was really really excited about this story that he was talking and i was listening and then all of a sudden the doors opened and in walked the most beautiful girl i'd ever seen and something happened in my heart it's like i was consumed it's like i was captivated it's like my heart burst out in my chest and i still remember what she was wearing she was wearing this beautiful dress and these high heels and these beautiful earrings and it was like an angel walked into the room it's almost like she was just floating across the floor and my heart was like bursting out of my chest and my buddy could see what was happening because he was still talking but i had stopped listening and i kid you not he said to me tim you've got no chance he said look at her she's beautiful look at you you're just a we irish leprechaun [Applause] and i thought i feel like quoting some scripture to you right now because in seminary you know we quit a lot of scripture and i thought to myself i feel like couldn't get behind me sitting and with my heart bursting out in my chest i was straight over there my feet were following my heart was in control and i was working in my northern irish chat up lines with kerry and she was the only girl who laughed at my jokes and i thought i got to marry this girl and but you and i know you and i have been there man you've been there the very first time you laid eyes on that woman of your dreams something happened in your heart the core of your heart you were captivated and it was controlling you you couldn't stop thinking about it you couldn't stop texting you couldn't stop telling the world about her and ladies you've been there you remember the very first time you laid eyes on that pair of shoes up at up in north park mall or that pair of earrings so that dress and you for captivity and you were like where's the credit card i need to get those whatever's in your core whatever's in your heart has the power to control you the joking aside maybe for you it's anxiety you know many students are gripped by anxiety in their core and it controls them do you know many students are gripped by fear do you know many guys are gripped by lust in their core and it's controlling them or maybe for you it's deeply held insecure thoughts over who you are what you think you're worth maybe in the past words were spoken over you which were deeply hurtful or your parents walked out on you in some way and you have got these deeply held insecure thoughts in your core and they're controlling you the writer of the proverb says here your heart is the core and it's the control center and so the call of this proverb the great call is look at it in the text above all else guard your heart be careful what you let in there be careful what you let build up in there because if you let something destructive dwell there it will control you but the truth the truth friends of the scripture is that we have not controlled our hearts we've opened up the gates we've let the world in and our hearts have been completely contaminated and corrupted by sin jesus says this in in mark chapter 7 listen to these powerful sobering words for it is from within out of a man's heart that evil thoughts come sexual immorality theft murder adultery greed malice deceit lewdness envy slander arrogance and folly all these evils come from inside and defile a person your heart is the core and it's the control center of your life yet it has been contaminated by sin but there is a dream in the pages of the scriptures there is a beautiful magnificent dream of hearts being formed into the likeness of christ and so i invite you to turn to galatians chapter 4 because i find there this stream of hearts being formed into the likeness of christ most beautifully described and most beautifully documented by the apostle paul in his letter to the galatians galatians chapter 4 verse 19 and 20. paul writes in galatians 4 19 my dear children for whom i am again in the pains of childbirth until christ is formed in you oh i wish i could be with you now and change my tone because i am perplexed about you there it is there's the dream multiple passages throughout the scriptures that speak about this dream but i find this little section here that you'd almost miss if you were passing through the text here's paul with a passionate dream a great goal for the galatians that their hearts would be formed into the life and likeness of christ by the power of the holy spirit and it's beautiful now you remember the context of galatians right you remember that paul is writing to the galatians here he says in in verse 20 that he wishes he could be with them because he's a part for them i believe he's an antioch and he's writing back to these galatians and the galatians that he met and knew during his first missionary journey i believe and he's perplexed about them why because he's really really concerned about the influence of the judaizers one of my mentors in doctoral studies at talbot school of theology used to summarize it this way and i've never forgot what he said he said to us he said man remember in galatians paul is really concerned about the galatians because the judaizers have come and have said that paul is right about justification being by faith but he's wrong about sanctification being by faith and they're saying you've got to go back to the law and so paul writes this letter to the galatians and in the first two chapters he defends his apostleship as you know on his gospel and in the next two chapters in chapter three and four he begins to define his gospel that leads to the reception of the spirit and he begins to define his sanctification his theology of sanctification that is only ever realized by the spirit and then in the last two chapters in five and six he directs this gospel and this teaching on sanctification into the lives and asks them to apply this and live a sanctified life by the spirit and so right there in the middle of the letter in chapter four right here in the heart paul dives into this deeply personal appeal of galatians 4 verse 12 to 20 and he pleads he pleads with the galatians to receive him again for a couple of verses and then he warns them of the judaizers and their threat and then in that context he writes these words verse 19 my dear children for whom i am again in the pains of childbirth until christ is formed in you notice the words here my dear children just care and compassion here you're my children and i long to be with you you're my spiritual children and i love you but notice also that maybe perhaps your translation or some translations many translations have my dear little children that's because as you probably know there's a number of manuscripts which has paul using the word technia which is a diminutive form of the normal word for child means a little child it can also mean a stunted child a child that should have developed and grown and and flourished but because of circumstances or because of something that's gone wrong they have been stunted in their growth and if that's true that is striking longnecker and timothy george side with this translation and i do too because if that's true that's striking paul is saying oh my dear spiritually stunted children i'm in the pains of childbirth for you and over here what does that mean do you ever stop and look at a text and say what what are you on about paul i mean isn't it a bit weird for paul a man to be saying i'm in so much pain that i feel like a woman in childbirth well here's what's happening paul is agonizing over the galatians he's in pain so much pain that the only thing he can liken it to you is a woman in the pains of childbirth and mothers i hope for an amen here we all know the pains of childbirth is painful right because the truth is i'm a i got to tell you i'm a bit of a pain whimp when it when it comes to pain when i have a runny nose or a sore throat or or a head cold man flu we would call it in northern ireland i don't know if they have it here it's it's a potentially lethal disease i keep telling my wife but but i got to tell you when i get monthly i just i can't handle pee and i just say lord i can't handle this anymore take me to heaven right now i just just relieved of being but when i think of the the agony that my wife went through in giving birth to our three children in the ulster hospital of belfast northern ireland oh my goodness that's that's agony we actually laugh we have these funny stories that we remember of the times when we went into the hospital the three occasions for carrie to give birth to our three kids it was some funny things that happened i i remember this one you know the way women get these weird cravings in the midst of pregnancy does anyone ever experience that i mean my uh maybe that's just women in northern ireland but but this is even no one's resonating but i'm told that women get weird cravings in the midst of pregnancy when my mother-in-law was pregnant she got these cravings for mcdonald's hamburgers and i was thinking about it i get those cravings all the time for mcdonald's hamburgers me being pregnant so um but anyway i'm sure my my mother's in law is watching on i'm sure she's delighted that i've told you that part of her life but um we're in the hospital and carries in in the pains of childbirth and she looks at me and she grabs my arm and she says tim i need a banana and she told me later that that she just wanted some energy but but i thought well this is a bit of a weird craving to have a banana but whatever works love i'm i'm going to go get your banana so i sprint down this corridor to this kitchen at the end of the corridor in the ulster hospital and i this nurse stops me says are you okay are you okay i say yeah i'm okay my my wife's in the paints of childbirth and she's in agony and she said i need a banana and the nurse looks at me and says you better get a banana and i open up this door into the kitchen and in this kitchen let me tell you the kitchen was designed it was supposed to be for these mothers who had just given birth to go and rest and get recuperation and have food toast and a cup of coffee and i open up the door and there's no mother inside it's all filled with these traumatized dots and i hear one that's saying how was it for you and the other dad is saying oh it's tough to watch and i grabbed this banana and i sprint down the corner and i handed to kerry and she says thank you thank you thank you thank you so much and the number of hours later she is nigh in the pains of childbirth and she's in agony and she's on the verge of screaming and then this doctor walks in and administers this pain relief what we would call an epidural and i mean within two minutes she has got instant relief and the next thing i know is i love this the next thing i know is she was propping herself up and she's turning to the midwife and i hear her sharing the gospel with the midwife and i thought look at my superhero wifey she's in the pens of childbirth she gets relief and she's now sharing jesus praise the lord for my wife but there's no relief here for paul there's no one bringing him a banana there's no one administering pain relief to paul no he's in the midst of agony he's in the pains of childbirth you know what i think is happening here i think paul is in prayer now that's not in the text that's that's the tim robinson niv the northern irish version but this is from what i know of the life of paul you pauline scholars 2 corinthians 11 sleepless nights and then very next breath he says i have the daily concern and anxiety of the churches you study his prayers where he pours out his prayer passionately i picture him here on his knees in tears with his hands clenched crying out in agony over the galatians and their spiritually stunted state and what is his prayer what is his deep desire what is his constant one overarching longing for these galatians here it is can you see it in the text that christ would be formed in them there it is the word here for formed is is actually a medical term which was used to describe the growth of a fetus we would say baby in the depths of a mother's womb over time the development the growth the flourishing that took place that process that journey that's what this word means here paul is in the pains of childbirth praying over them i believe agonizing over them that in the depths of their heart the life of christ would grow like a little baby grows and it would flourish and it would develop and over time despite the growing pains the life and likeness of christ and the depths of their hearts would flourish it's not beautiful so parents you remember when you went when you were expecting your child and in those nine months of preparation you went for your first scan do you remember this and you looked on the little screen and you saw a little outline of of a little head or arms little legs and you thought wow isn't that incredible and then you went back a couple of months later and the head's a little bit more formed than the arms are a little bit longer and the legs are a little bit longer and now there's a curve of a little spine on the back and maybe there's little features on the face and then you go back a couple of months later and by this stage the mother's ready to pop she's like let's do this thing and on the screen now when you're getting the scan you see a fully formed head and you see fully formed eyes and ears and nose and mouth and you see longer arms and legs and you see toenails on the feet and fingernails on the end of the fingers and a fully formed spine and you think there is a fully formed baby in there and that is magnificent and paul says this is my dream for the galatians that in the depths of their heart there'll be a little bit of the love of christ and then over time there'll be a little bit more of the love of christ and then over more time there'll be lots and lots and lots of the love of christ or maybe it's the faithfulness of christ or the purity of christ or the self-control of christ or the courage of christ or the commitment of christ and over time there's a little bit more and over more and more and more time there's lots and lots and lots of the life and likeness of christ in the depths it's beautiful and that's paul's dream here that their hearts would be formed into the likeness of christ this on the screen here is one of my heroes he's a man called mike williams who is was the leader of a ministry called staros back in northern ireland it was a ministry that ministered to recovering alcoholics and recovering drug addicts and they would seek to introduce them to the lord and disciple them and let them break free from their past life and mike's a big man you can't really tell it from the screenshot he's a big strong ex rugby player has anyone ever seen rugby yes praise the lord aaron bless you my friend in the name of jesus uh he's a big strong stropping x rugby player big tough guy and you know what rugby is right i just should pause you know that rugby's kind of like american football but rugby is a real man's sport in rugby there's no pads there's no helmets and there's certainly no tights in ireland only our woman we're tight so um anyway now that i've all offended you let me bring you back um mike's a big strong tough ex-rugby player and do you know what he told me he find himself doing in the middle of the night in the dead of winter a couple of years ago he find himself getting up in the middle of the night i'm walking down into his garage where the car was parked and he'd close the door because he didn't want to wake up anyone else in the house and he put his willy hat on because it's cold in there in northern ireland in the winter and he put his coat on and zip it up and with his two fists he'd walk around the perimeter of the car in his cars and with his two fists clenched like this and tears coming down his cheeks he'd begin to cry out in prayer for these recovering alcoholics and these recovering addicts and this was his prayer lord would you transform these friends of mine into the image of christ lord would you go to the depths lord would you set them free lord would you bring down strongholds lord in the depths of their hearts would you ship them into the life and likeness of christ that's a posture and that's paul here agonizing for their hearts to be formed into the light and likeness of christ oh your heart is the core it's the control center of who you are it's been corrupted by sin but there is dream most beautifully documented and described by paul there's a dream in the new testament and in the pages of scripture that hearts would be formed into the life and likeness of christ and this is our dream for you that your hearts the deepest part of you would be formed into the likeness of christ i'll never forget one of my first faculty meetings here on the campus just a few months ago after we moved from northern ireland and dr yarber had had led us in a wonderful time of sharing prayer requests and needs for the students for all of you here and then dr yarber asked dr burns dr lanier burns to pray and i'll never forget what dr burns prayed i actually wrote it down to remember it he said lord we as a faculty of dallas theological seminary have no greater privilege than to pray for our students and he began to pour out passionate prayers that you would be formed into the life and likeness of christ but in the time we have remaining i just want to ask the question why in what way and in what manner would this take what would this look like for your heart to be formed into the life and likeness of christ here's here's what i want you to note lastly the number one way that god is going to seek to form your heart into the likeness of christ is through the word and by the spirit that's what he's going to do if i understand this book correctly and even surveying church history here's what i think he's going to do this semester this term these years he's going to want to form your heart into the likeness of christ through the word and by the spirit a couple of verses in passing there's many verses we could expand here but here's just two never forget these verses 2 thessalonians 2 verse 13 paul says we ought always to thank god for your brothers and sisters loved by the lord because god chose you as first fruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the spirit through belief in the truth never forget that sanctification is by the spirit never forget that he is the agent of change you don't try to fix yourself you don't leave a class and think i've got to form myself or i've got to muster up the energy to try harder you don't fool yourself into thinking that you don't need the spirit no no you need the spirit of god and he is on a mission to transform your heart into the image of christ so you participate with him but here's how he's going to do it remember jesus said in john 17 verse 17 sanctify them by your truth conform them transform their lives and their hearts by the truth your word is truth jonathan edwards put these two things together beautifully this thought of the spirit of god ticking the word of god to imprint it into the depths of man's heart and he used the example i was sharing this in one of my classes last week he used the example of the printing press and he held out his hand and said look at this this is like a blank piece of paper and this is the printing press this is a machine with ink on it and words on it and here's how the words get onto the the blank piece of paper the machine comes closer and closer and closer and closer and closer and it makes contact with the blank piece of paper but it doesn't just make contact it is pressed down onto the blank piece of paper so that the ink and the words is transferred but it's not just transferred it begins to seep to the depths it begins to go to the very very depths it begins to be imprinted in the depths of this piece of paper so that when you take it away there's been a transfer and the words have been imprinted in the depths of this piece of paper and so he said it is with the spirit of god taking the word of god to minister it into the depths of your heart he said god the spirit takes the word and he moves it closer and closer and closer to your heart and he moves it closer and closer and closer and he makes contact with your heart but he doesn't want it just to make contact he begins to minister it deeply into the depths and he begins to imprint it and it seeps into the depths so that now when you take the word away nigh in your heart the word of god by the spirit of god has been imprinted in the depths and the life and likeness of christ is written all over your core isn't that incredible that's what god wants you to do so i urge you every time you open up the word of god open up your heart this semester every time every class every time you're in the library every time you do an exegetical every time you open up the word open up your heart open it up your core your control center the bit that has been corrupted by sin your stunted spots here it is lord i'm not going to hide from you and every time you open up your heart open it up to the spirit and to the spirit alone you don't try to fix yourself or form yourself or fool yourself you cry holy spirit would you take this word and minister it to the depths and every time you open up your heart to the spirit let him know when he fill your heads with content but imprint the word into the depths and in so doing he will form your heart into christ's likeness let the word sit in the depths of your hearts let it sink into every area and let it spread and in so doing you will live this dream because martin luther king had a dream you know and so do we that your heads would not just be filled with content which is important but your hearts would be formed into christ's christ-likeness which is indispensable it is our dream that during these years of seminary study your hearts would be formed into the likeness of christ let's pray together thank you lord so much for your incredible word and your incredible spirit which ministers into the depths of who we are here we are we don't want to hide we don't want to cover up our hearts we don't want to carry on like nothing is wrong deep down there no we turn to the spirit of god and we pray that during these years of seminary study you might form us deeply into the image of christ for your glory and all god's people said amen amen

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Length: 41min 33sec (2493 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 01 2021