0:01
Speaker 1Coming coming on in. We're going to stand and sing hymn number one zero four. Maybe we'll send sing some folks in from the vestibule. Oh worship the king all glorious above and gratefully sing his wonderful love our shield and defender the
0:24
Speaker 2ancient of days are a billion in splendor One more round. Yeah. Great is thy faithfulness oh God my father there is no shadow of turning thou changes not thy compassions they fail not as thou hast been that forever will be great is thy faithfulness great is thy faithfulness morning by morning new mercies I see all I have provided harvest. Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above. Join with all nature in manifold witness.
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To thy great faithfulness mercy and love great is thy faithfulness great is thy faithfulness morning by morning new mercies I see thy hand has provided thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide, strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow. Blessings online with 10,000 beside great is thy faithfulness great is thy faithfulness morning my morning new mercies I see. All I have needed thy hand hath provided. Great is thy faithfulness,
4:31
Speaker 1Got a few announcements this morning. We have normally the connect hour and that's a good one. This morning, we had a congregational meeting between the services. I see a couple of faces that said, oh, forgot about that one. Next week, it'll be back to the normal connect hour.
4:47
I can say that during the congregational meeting, we approved the church budget for 2017 and we elected one new elder coming on, Mark Hull, came on to replace several that were going off. There's no set number of elders that we have to have and so Mark is coming on while three or four are going off. And we also elected new positions for the Board of Trustees coming on too. So, we did a covenant ceremony and welcomed quite a few new members this morning in the first service. But connect hour happens next week at the normal time.
5:21
Monday nights at first B happens at 6PM and it is serious business. Monday nights are serious business. This morning when they showed up, Renzi and Carl had on exactly the same shirt and so Carl went home and changed clothes. But not before we could snap that photo and I think Renzi's got the next announcement.
5:38
Speaker 3I do. That's a great picture. We look shorter and wider in that picture. So, if you could fix that, I'd appreciate Like
5:44
Speaker 1a Chinese movie.
5:45
Speaker 3Officially, the talent show is this next Saturday. So if you are excited to just join and watch all of the fun things that will hopefully happen on the stage Saturday night. It's at 6PM but there's also the sign up sheet in the back too. There's one in the back by the sound desk and there's one on the bulletin board over by the fellowship Hall. So, if you would like to perform or do something at the talent show, make sure to sign up so that I can start putting together And if you need anything, also, there's a spot on that sign up sheet that says, like, you need a microphone or you want a guitar amp or you need a ventriloquist dummy or something like that.
6:28
Something I can provide. If you need Ray to maybe change out an alternator for you, something like that. We can make that happen. Just sign up on the sheet. So, anyway, just want to give one last blast before that happens this Saturday.
6:41
It's going to be six until it's over. So, if there's only a few people that sign up, it'll be a short show. If there's a lot of people, we might be here on Sunday.
6:50
Speaker 1Okay. So, it starts at six and it goes until. Alright. Men's retreat is happening February 24 through the twenty sixth. That's a snowmobile retreat for the cost of room and board.
6:59
It's $100. If you want to have a snowmobile, that'll be on top of that. It'll be additional for usually people rent for snowmobiles just for Saturday. We have a church service up there on Sunday morning. So, twenty fourth through the twenty sixth and we've been advertising this for several weeks now and I'm hearing that there is a ladies snowmobile retreat that's in kind of formation.
7:19
It has not been announced yet until just now. But it... I don't know when it is and I don't know how much it'll be, but I'm hearing it's gonna happen. So that... If you wanted to do that, see Kyle Knutson for more info or you can talk to me and I'll get you what you need.
7:31
The Truth Project is starting this coming Wednesday. That's February 8 and it's gonna be, not 06:30 but 06:45 in the fellowship hall. 06:45 in the fellowship hall. And it'll be for the next twelve weeks on Wednesday night. 06:45 in the fellowship hall starting this week.
7:52
Now, this is what we are trying to do is update our directory and our pictures on the wall out there heading down the hall. So, that's a lot of text up there. This is gonna happen for the next two Sundays. How many of y'all have a smartphone? Okay, most of us have smartphones.
8:10
If you have a smartphone, will you please bring it to church and send us a picture of you and each person in your family? Give us as much information as you will. Names of people in the family, address of everyone in the family, email, phone numbers, all of that. Anniversary, birthday, whatever. All of that stuff we have traditionally included in our but it takes us forever to get to all of y'all and get you to send this stuff in.
8:35
So we're gonna try to do it in the next two weeks, bring the information with you and email it to assistantfirstbjackson dot org and I'll remind you of this for the next two weeks. I want you all that come to church. It helps if we know who we all are. So, we're going to put together directory based on the results from this. Alright.
8:54
Congregational meeting, I told you we did pass the budget and we did vote in all of those new members and we praise God together for the great year that he gave in 2016. It's pretty amazing. If you weren't here, one of the things that, looking at a budget that's very near $600,000 and seeing the line item that we were 99.91% of income came in. So we were 508.55 short of the guess that we made at the beginning of the year last year. That's amazing, first of all.
9:24
And then Steve Landis came into my office this morning and said, we were down in the missions meeting and we just discovered that in our haste, we try to always spend all the missions money that comes in and everything we allocate in the budget goes out. And he said, we accidentally missed $520. So we were lacking $508.55, so we ended up almost $10 ahead. So that was pretty good. It is amazing and there was a surplus on top of that.
9:49
It's just amazing the way that that works. So, check your bulletins for all other announcements and would you stand and greet one another and we'll bring you back together with a song. That's the second finish. That's fine. Perfect.
11:30
I remember learning, you know, I I shared last week how I remembered revive us again was really nasal and southern. I learned to play guitar playing. God is so good and amazing grace and I remember it more like this. God is so and I played it like that for about six months but because he lives. Yeah.
11:54
Because he lives.
12:48
Speaker 2Because he missed all fear is gone because I know he holds the future I can face tomorrow because he lives all fear is gone because I know he holds a future life is worth the living just because he lives
15:16
Speaker 1Y'all can have a seat. Now, I'm going to invite the frontline team to come forward and thank you all for your service. And would you pray with me? God, we thank you for the fact that we serve a living savior. He's in the world today.
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We know that he's with us no matter what men say. God, I thank you for the way that you provide. Thank you for your great faithfulness, summer and winter and springtime and harvest, sun, moon, and stars and their courses above. Join with all nature and manifold witness to thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love. God, I'm amazed by you and I love you and I want for everyone to know you and to love you.
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And so God, would you take all that we are and all that we have and express that to this world, your love to this world through us? Right now, as we acknowledge that you are the giver of every good, perfect gift and we put resources in these plates, Lord, would you bless and multiply and expand your kingdom's influence on this world. Expand your kingdom in this world. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you.
18:41
The whole family. Very good. Good idea, Brianna. So, I, this morning, it was great to have Don here last week. Don Young was here preaching last week but the week before, I went through the first eight verses of the book of Colossians.
19:00
So, it was Colossians one one through eight. We covered that and I said, next time I preach, we're going to, alright, take that back. I went one through 14 and so I said, next time, I'm going to overlap and come back and remind you of nine through 20 and I wanted to say what we're going to talk about today, not my Email from 4 fourteen twenty twelve but kind of in a way because if you all remember, some of you are here, a lot of you have seen new faces that are here just new for the first time this Sunday, but from my email to myself, I emailed myself on 04/14/2012. And I had a the other day when I was looking through, as Don was coming here, was trying to find contact information, so I was looking through all this, stuff and I found my emails from the 04/14/2012. Now I was being voted on on the 04/15/2012.
19:55
So, we're already here in Jackson and I thought I had the, I don't know if it was the presence of mind or what to say, I am scared to death. You know, I'm completely afraid that they're going to elect me to be the pastor of this church. And this was where we were. I I'm I'm I'm out of my depths. I don't know how I'm going to do this but I thought if I were to do this, if they say yes and they do vote me in, what is it that I want them to know?
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Because I've never done this before and the blank slate, the blank canvas was kind of scary to me and so, as I was praying, I I I looked through those Emails. I think I had four or five of em that day. One was from me to myself and it was this. The next ones were from my professors in seminary just kind of saying, hey, we're praying for you. Just want to see how things are going and the content of that Email, it didn't say anything about being scared.
20:43
It didn't say anything about remember this or anything. It was just a word document of Colossians one nine through 20. That's what it was because if I'm going to do this, I need to have some grounding. You know, I need to have something that is appropriate and as Paul was looking towards the Colossians, he had a prayer for them which I have for y'all and I had it from the first day and then, he grounded that prayer in the truth and so, I want to go from there and that's what we're going to get to but before I do that, I've got a little bit more story to tell. So, this is a print and because of the snow load on our roof and and shaking stuff off, our camera projectors are slightly off this morning.
21:31
So they're a little bit off. Blind monks examining an elephant. Have you all heard this old fable? It's an ancient Indian fable. Blind monks examining an elephant.
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It's an 1888 Ukiyo e print by Hanabusa Ichiko. I don't know him from any other previous work, but this was pretty cool. These are a bunch of monks that are examining an elephant. Now, they're blind monks and so they are feeling of what this thing is and one of them is feeling of the tusk and saying, oh, an elephant is very much like a spear and another one is has stumbled and fell up against the side of it and he said, woah, this thing is really strong. It feels like a wall.
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It's this hard, tough thing and then, another one says, but it's round like a tree. Another one says, but this thing is more like a fan. I don't know what any of you are talking about. One of them has them by the trunk and says, it's like an enormous snake. I can't see how you get a wall from this.
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And so the point in Jainism or in Hinduism is that perception of reality is reality. Now, I don't think that they're... I don't think they pressed their metaphor far enough. Each one of those guys was right about what he was feeling, but he didn't have the whole experience. And so I've actually got a poem this sermon.
22:57
This time, I'm gonna read it. This is an eighteen hundreds English poem. It was six men of Indostan, who learning much inclined, who went to see the elephant, though all of them were blind, that each by observation might satisfy his mind. The first approached the elephant and happening to fall against his broad and sturdy side at once began to bawl, God bless me, but the elephant is very like a wall. The second feeling of the tusk cried, Ho, what have we here?
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Some very round and smooth and sharp to meet is very clear. This wonder of an elephant is very like a spear. The third approached the animal and happening to take the squirming trunk within his hands, thus boldly up and spake, I see, quote he, the elephant is very like a snake. The fourth reached out in eager hand and felt about the knee. What most this wondrous beast is like is mighty plain, quoth he.
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'Tis clear enough, the elephant is very like a tree. The fifth who chanced to touch the ear said, even the blindest man can tell what this resembles most, deny the fact who can. The marvel of an elephant is very like a fan. The six no sooner had begun about the beast to grope than seizing on a swinging tail that fell within his scope. I see, quote he, the elephant, is very like a rope.
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And so these men of Endostan disputed loud and long, each in his own opinion, exceeding stiff and strong, though each was partly right and all were in the wrong. Moral, he has for the last stanza, is so often theologic wars, the disputants, I wean, rail on in utter ignorance of what each other mean and prayed about an elephant, not one of them has seen. So nice little English turnaround to that but this is a drawing. Now, there was right next to this little rendition. There was another drawing.
24:50
I'll tell you about towards the end of the of the service. So these are Tibetan prayer flags. Y'all know that I got a chance to go to Nepal in November 2015 and in November 2014 also, And I'd never been there. I'd heard about Hinduism. I'd heard about this kind of pluralistic religion thing before.
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In the country of Nepal, there are about 33,000,000 people. So 33,000,000 people, and then if you ask people in Nepal how many gods there are, they will say, give you a range. They'll say anywhere from about 800,000 named gods that they apparently worship and then, you know, lesser gods and greater gods but there are 800,000 or you might get up to 34,000,000 is what they would say. Now, the reason for that being each one of those people has their own perception of who God is but they're touching of the elephant, okay? So, every single person plus 800,000 named gods, 34,000,000 gods.
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Tibetan prayer flags, you see more of these in Jackson than you do steeples? Do you? You see them on the trail? You see them all around? This is kind of the just in case.
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Just in case. These are for whatever gods may be out there and you put em up and they become ragged in the wind. These are new and they were for sale at the Buddhist Monkey Temple up on top of a hill. You can buy those and then string them up wherever you like. This is that Buddhist Monkey Temple in Kathmandu.
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You see this little boy, Buddhist monk, starting out. This is the Peace Fountain and that's a Buddha in the middle there. And the Peace Fountain was algae ridden and stagnant. There was no fountain. There was no life there.
26:44
And the pea was falling off of the peace and may peace prevail on earth and to me, as a Baptist pastor, I just had to take a picture of that. The World Peace Pond. If you're going up ascending the stairs and you know, shedding sins as you go ascending the stairs. You see, all of these different trinkets for a favorable life or for good fortune or to gods, this is a god, this is a god, this is a god. You know, these are these gods and they try to manipulate us.
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You may see the swastika there. That's actually a giantess symbol from way, way, way back that Hitler co opted for his causes later. He was seeking power anywhere he could find it. And so anyway, you see this multiplicity of gods and each one of them, according to the old legend, is no more correct than the other. It's only about perception and how you see it.
27:47
Well, this is actually one of the old... Oldest little religious statues in that part of Kathmandu. And when the Muslims came into town, they are strong monotheists. There is one God. That's the mantra, right, from Islam.
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So, they broke the heads off of all of these other little gods that they could get their hands on. This is a series of little temples where you can offer oil and blood sacrifices. And if you stand at one end and look through, it looks like you're looking into a mirror and it's going back and forth just because of the engineering of how they built these temples. It's a cool little thing to see. It looks like you're looking to a mirror that's bouncing back and forth except for you can't see yourself.
28:35
So you lose yourself in the eternity of these mirrors. It's an engineering feat, but really it's just a bunch of buildings set up there. Shaken in the earthquake. Right next to the river right here where they burn, they're dead. This struck me as funny.
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That is a monk with an iPhone taking a picture of a monkey. The monkey's right there. Monkey business and this is that's a picture of the monkey just sitting up on one of the roofs there. They don't do anything to clean up after these monkeys and they don't do anything. They run free and it's pretty filthy, quite honestly, straight up.
29:14
And how many of y'all remember real slide shows where you're actually turning slides on a turntable? You all remember the upside down slide? There was always an upside down slide. So I put it in there. That's upside down.
29:24
This is Babcock's granddaughter Rachel with her eyes closed and one of her best friends and the taxi driver does not trust me. My head's rubbing the ceiling of that little taxi. But that was the trip to Nepal. And this is what those Tibetan prayer flags look like. And they're waving in the breeze over this Buddhist temple up at the top of the hill.
29:43
So that brings me back to Colossians one nine through 20. Our society believes that our society, not us as a people, the body of Christ, but our society believes that whole thing about the elephant as far as the giantess did, that your perception is your perception, mine is mine, and there's no real way to tell everybody's reality is dependent on who they are. Can you witness to seeing the society around us and say, all roads lead to heaven, don't religions teach the same thing anyway? In our society, that's the way that it goes. Paul will not stand for that.
30:21
Paul gets it back to, there is an elephant, people. There's a whole elephant. Yes, you might be touching one part of it but there is it does say, there is an elephant. Your understanding may be limited but it can grow and so he's going to pray for these people, a pertinent prayer. It's directed.
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It's directed to God almighty and it's based on Christ's preeminence and so that's what we're going look at today. I know I've already covered nine through 14 but I'm going to cover it again. Specifically, thinking about my coming here, it hits me again how strong this is and so from the day we heard, from the day that Tanya and I heard that we were being considered for this, we have not ceased praying for y'all and I mean that. So, from the day we heard, now from what had Paul heard, this is verse nine, we have eight before that. What had he heard about the Colossians?
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He'd never been there, remember? This this church was founded or it was founded of course on the foundation of Jesus Christ but it was planted by Epaphras. So, what had he heard? Verse four says, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus. So, since he heard about them being Christians and so from the day we heard that you and Colossians are Christians.
31:34
That's who he's writing to as Christians. So, remember that when I'm speaking to y'all, I know I'm speaking to a church when I knew for that vote that I was coming out. It was to a church and I knew I'd be primarily addressing believers who come gathered in Jesus name. Not so much just a crowd of people that were gathered. It's gathered in Jesus name.
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So, knows they're Christians. Being is incredibly important to be a Christian, to believe the gospel, and to be brought in by grace through faith is important. So, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you. He feels a strong connection with him. I felt a strong connection.
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Tanya did too with y'all. We've not ceased to pray for you but what is it that he's praying for them and I'm praying for you? Paul was asking that you may be filled, Colossians and I'm asking that you may be filled people here at First B today. Asking that you may be filled with what? The knowledge of God's will.
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So, knowing God's will important. Being a believer in Jesus is incredibly important but it doesn't stop with just believing, knowing God's will is important and that's what Paul's praying for him. The knowledge of his will and he goes on to say, in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, not just the fan of the ear and not just the wall of his side and not just the rope of the tail but in all spiritual wisdom and understanding. Have a more complete vision of who God is because there is the capital R reality and the capital T truth that we're reaching for even if we are groping in the darkness to begin with. In all spiritual wisdom and understanding, I want for you to grow.
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But not just stopping there. It doesn't stop with being and it doesn't stop with knowing. Paul says, the next step after you're knowing the will of God is so as to walk in a manner that's worthy of the Lord. Fully pleasing to him. Knowing God's will is great.
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Doing God's will is very very important. The book of James says, to know, to do good, and to do it not is sin. That's not just doing something bad, right? That's not doing something that you know you should do. So, to know to do good and do it not is sin.
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So, knowing God's will and doing God's will is a natural outgrowth of that. So, Paul's praying that you'd be filled with all knowledge of his will and that you may walk worthy of the Lord. Bearing fruit in every good work. So, if we are knowing God's will and doing it, then he'll produce the fruit. Jesus said to his disciples in that upper room discourse, he said, you didn't choose me, I chose you and I chose you to bear fruit and it'll be fruit that will last unto eternity.
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How does the gospel spread? By people who know it, who are Christians, who know it, and who act in obedience and share it and then other people have that opportunity too and that fruit is fruit that will last. Increasing in the knowledge of God. So, we have this cycle from knowing God's will and doing God's will and the more that you do God's will and the more you experience that whole elephant, the better equipped you are and the better actually if I want to be real technical about it. It says, knowing that not filled with the knowledge of God or knowing God more rather than just knowing his will.
34:51
You know more and more of what that whole enchilada, the whole elephant is like in your experience of having done God's will. Does that make sense to you? Okay, you're moving around and getting a little bit more of a clear picture of what this ultimate reality is and that's what Paul's praying that he that people would have an increasing understanding of God. And not just stop because if you feel like, well, this is just one way or a way and then theirs is a way and theirs is a way and you stop right there. That's where the parable, the fable, Indian fable stops that no one can go above that.
35:26
Paul will say, yes, you can. Being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy. I covered this last week. I'm going to go through rather quickly for the next couple verses. Given thanks to the father.
35:43
So, this is not a bootstrap religion where you have to do everything to shed yourself from sin, acetic practices, climbing, mountains, beating yourself, burning yourself, washing in a certain way at a certain time. Giving thanks to the father who has qualified you. He qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. Was it because you deserved it? Otherwise, it would not be grace.
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I'm saved by grace. God's unmerited favor poured out for all who will accept it. To share an inheritance of saints of light, he has delivered us from the domain of darkness. So, it's God who has done it and he did it. Past tense, it's done.
36:31
There's no doubt about it and he did it. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness. I like Eugene Peterson as a pastor. I love him. He wrote the message by what's a paraphrase and it's great but it's a paraphrase, you know.
36:43
So, I don't usually use the message but I love this verse. God rescued us from dead end alleys and dark dungeons. The domain of darkness. That's what he's saying. The dead end alleys and dark dungeons.
36:55
The dark end of the street. He saved us from that and he transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved son. Amen. His beloved son, in whom we have redemption. Now, redemption, Paul goes on to define for us.
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He says, redemption is equal to something. He has an apostative phrase next, the forgiveness of sins. So, if all of the other religions say, you can do something to shed yourselves of sins or you have, there's a way that you can, yourself, pay for your or sins, kinda, hopefully, maybe. Christianity doesn't say that. Redemption is available and it is the forgiveness of sins and it is based on Jesus, his death on the cross.
37:43
I got this far last week. Redemption is the forgiveness of sins. That is what is being offered and that is what's being offered today. If you don't know Jesus, you haven't ever accepted him. That's what's still being offered.
37:55
God has already done what is necessary. Your acceptance of that fact is what's necessary for you to become a child of God, to be moved from the domain of darkness into marvelous light. So, I got that far last week. Now, we go forward. Jesus, he, Jesus, is the image of the invisible God.
38:16
So, for those monks that are reaching and grabbing and trying, Jesus, the other picture I was told you I was going to tell you about. Jesus is sitting there. All of the monks are reaching up to the elephant. It's this, it's that, it's this. And Jesus is sitting there and he goes, it's an elephant.
38:32
It's an elephant. There is a greater truth that you're all not seeing. The image of the invisible God which people have never seen. Jesus said, no one has seen him at any time but if you've seen me, you've seen the father. He's the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
38:48
Now, the word firstborn has caused problems especially in English for a long time. If you see firstborn and you go, oh, Jesus is born. He's not God. He's not been here forever. He's firstborn.
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It says born. Let's go start a cult. That's how cults get started. Firstborn, the word is preeminent. The firstborn son would have the lion's share of the inheritance and it would be something to say, the status of this one is the firstborn.
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He'll go on to say he's the firstborn from the dead but this firstborn right here is about the preeminence of Christ. He is above all. The name that is above every name. As Philippians says, the firstborn of all creation. For by him, that's Jesus, all things were created.
39:35
Remember John, the prologue of the gospel of John? First 18 verses talking about the divine logos. In the beginning, was the word. The communication of God. God communicates himself by him.
39:51
All things were created. In heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. I had a professor in seminary, the all things up there. He said, never, never, never in your sermon say, I have three things that I want to tell you about today. It can be three points or it can be three questions or three instructions or three interrogative.
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It could be anything but not things. Don't say things. Never say things. It just that that's an automatic F right there. Don't say things.
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But when it's all things, you going to list them all? No, it's all things. So, he says it twice. He says, for by him, all things were created. In heaven, on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things reiterates.
40:42
We're created through him and for him. Through him and for him. So, we have an Adam, our federal head, and he sins. Sin enters into the world and everyone of us since him has sinned not just by nature but by our own choice except one and that is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ had that same unbroken line that Adam started with, direct All things were created through him and for him.
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Through him. He's the agent of creation. We see that in Genesis. We see it in John. We see it here.
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He is the agent creating ex Nihilo from nothing. He creates all things. Absolutely everything. It's an elephant, okay? There's a bigger reality and it's all things are included.
41:44
He sees every aspect. He is preeminent above all things. They're created through him and for him. That is for him also. So, ultimately, all things will bring glory to Jesus Christ.
42:00
He is before all things. So, that says, he is eternal. So, the firstborn, if you get confused with that in English and you want to start a cult, look to verse 17. He is before all things. He is the agent of creation that created all things.
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He is God and in him, all things hold together. We'll see later on in the book. In him, we live, move, and have our being. Everything is upheld by Jesus Christ. Verse 17.
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18 says, and he is the head of the body, the church. I say a lot that Christ, you're building your church. Would you use these tithes and offerings to advance your kingdom? You do it. He promised, I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.
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He is the head of the body, the church, he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead. So, the other people that were raised in the Bible died again. You know that? Like the people in the Old Testament and the the girl that Jesus raised in one of the in the gospels. They died again.
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Lazarus was resurrected but died again. Jesus will never die again. He's the firstborn from the dead. That in everything, absolutely everything, he might be preeminent. The greatest.
43:17
He is before all things. He is preeminent. He is, I would say he is the elephant. He's even bigger than the elephant, alright? And it is hard to have a hand on him and just feel a little bit of what's going on but take yourself back to that prayer.
43:34
Knowing what you know of God and then acting on that experience and moving around and finding and discussing with people and pulling in more and more information and Paul is saying, this is what you need to know to get a well orbed understanding. For in him, all, all of the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. For in Jesus, all of the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. The divine God man, Jesus Christ and through him, Jesus, to reconcile to himself, God, all things. Everything.
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All people, dominion, rule, authority, everything was made to be reconciled to God through Jesus. Now, will it happen that way? Will they all come to him? Will all people come to Jesus? No.
44:35
If we keep going, whether on Earth or in heaven, this is the goal. Whether on Earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. He did that. Now, if I back up to right here, see that might? That in everything he might be preeminent.
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Everything else that is spoken of is spoken of absolutely. God did this. He made provision. He has done it. He has done it.
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He has done it. He has done it. But right there, it says, so that he might be preeminent. That's a subjunctive and it's based on what, Bob? The will.
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The volition. It's based on your will. Now, he has made every opportunity available. So that Christ would be preeminent. He is preeminent.
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Paul has said it multiple times in multiple places but right there, so that he might be. In your life is Christ preeminent. For in him, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. He's the full orb's picture of truth and reality. Good.
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And through him to reconcile himself all things whether on heaven or earth or in heaven, He's making peace by the blood of his cross. I I couldn't help but take that picture and put it up there with the peace with the pea falling off of it in a stagnant pond with no fountain because Christ says, rivers of living water. They're bubbling up and will flow out of you. You will never thirst again. Peace is what's available by the blood of his cross.
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That's a very different picture, right? It's not a decrepit looking thing with monkey feces everywhere. It is, it comes back down to at least the message of the cross. There are a lot of folks, your neighbors, your friends, society that will tell you that you have no greater claim on truth than any other religion or any other person and politically and in civil discourse in a country like this, I understand where they're going. Multiculturalism is the rule.
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I'm not trying to force what I believe on anybody else. It must be free, freely offered, and freely accepted in order to be true anyway. So, politically, I don't mind that we have to compete. I believe that this is the truth. Paul states it as truth.
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I believe we have a full orbed picture of the whole elephant. To those who are perishing, it's mere foolishness to say that. To say that the cross makes a difference that what a first century Jew in ancient Palestine did makes any difference today in my life or for the future and eternity. That's foolishness but that's to those who are perishing. According to the first part of first Corinthians eighteen nineteen chapter one.
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But to those who are being saved, progressively growing in the knowledge of God, doing his will, and knowing his will, and doing his will to those who are being saved. It's the power of God and that puts you in the place that you can know God's will and do it. So I think that's the last slide. I probably will come back next week and go through fifteen to seventeen again and layer this because Colossians is so so good and so dense. It's not a long book but we're going to come back and kind of savor this for a while.
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Florine, would you come up? And would you all stand with me as we sing? Have thine own way, lord. Knowing God's will and doing it. So, we're asking God that he would show us his way and we're saying that we will do it.
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Amen. Now, I almost never do this but we are ten minutes shy. Is there anybody who has a word today that they wanna share that it's just burning a hole in you? You cannot help but share it. Silent.
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Thank you. That is not where I was going with that. Jack, yes? Rachel is getting married July 17. Rachel, who was in that picture, who was a missionary in Nepal, is getting married on July 17.
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June 17. Rachel Babcock. And her twin sister too, right? No dual wedding but they are getting married. Very good.
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That's good. Anybody else have a word for the morning?
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Speaker 2Always ready for Sundays.
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Speaker 1Yes.
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Speaker 2Because I love to be here with you, honestly.
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Speaker 1Praise God. Alright. So, the benediction today, I'm just gonna read one nineteen through 20 again and dwell on this if you would this week. As you consider how you are and why you are and who you are as a Christian. For in him, Jesus Christ, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell and through him to reconcile to himself all things whether on earth or in heaven making peace by the blood of his cross.
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That's how he makes peace is through the blood of that cross. It is not by your goodness. It is not by anything except for the preeminence of Christ humbled, humbled to death on a cross, and that obedience that makes it available, redemption, the forgiveness of sins for us and those with whom we share that story. In Jesus' name, would you go in peace today? Amen.
