Sermon Nuggets week of Nov 23 2009
Sermon Nuggets Mon Nov 23
Theme Lethal Laws
Verses-
Col 2:16-23
16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.
17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.
18 Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions.
19 He has lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.
20 Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules:
21 "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"?
22 These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings.
23 Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.
Lethal Laws
One of the books required to read in my college psychology class was written by Eric Berne entitled, "Games People Play". He describes ways many people mask or seek to cover up their feelings. It is quite threatening being open and honest so people often substitute psychological games in place of living in intimacy and vulnerability. A typical example of one game he identifies is "Why don't you?...Yes, But"
In order to play this game you must have a problem with a friend, teacher, employers, or spouse. Several other people will try to give you suggestions how to solve your problem. That's the "Why don't you.." part. But each time they suggest something you say, "Yes, but.." then you shoot down that suggestion with as many reasons you can think of why it won't work for you. Of course the person really doesn't want help. She just wants to play the game for attention or sympathy. Finally the person feels the winner because nobody else can think of any more solutions for her vexing and most complicated problem. Therefore she doesn't have to work on a solution.
I bought a similar book called, "Games Christians Play" written by Judi Culbertson and Patti Bard. In a humorous and satirical way they show how some Christians play religious games which keep them from a vital real relationship with Christ or other Christians. Again the goal is seeking attention, finding excuses, or wanting sympathy. Let me give you an example.
Mary Verily wanted to be spiritual and she would too except for her husband. He was an atheist and flatly forbade her to darken the sanctuary door. Sunday morning while he listened to some rock tune, he set out mow the lawn. She would sit on her chair and sulk. "If it weren't for you.. I could be a real Christian. "If it weren't for him" she would tell her sympathetic Christian friends, "I'd bake cakes for the church socials. I'd teach Sunday school, or sing in the choir", and so forth.
One day it happened. Mary Verily's husband had been converted and worse yet he wanted to work in the church with her. But she really didn't want to at all. The prospect of standing up before anyone to teach or sing made her break out in hives. Other work in the church she felt was just a waste of time.
Another illustration is “My Bible is more underlined than yours.” One only needs colored pencils or a pen and underline more passages in his Bible and conveniently show his neighbor how holy he is by the outward impression of study. It didn’t make any difference how much he learned, but that he looked the part of a Bible student and compared himself to others so he can be in his mind, “the winner”.
Now the Paul used to be very good at those religious games. Before his own conversion he out did most people to show he was more holy. Maybe that was why he recognized it so quickly when the Gnostics were trying to get the church plant of Colossae to play some of these religious games along with false doctrine. Paul warned them against it. I dare say we need to look at ourselves closely lest we become Christian game players when it comes to our relationship with the Lord and others.
There are lots of games religious people can play to make them appear as if they are winning in spiritual pride. That is the subject of this week’s devotionals from the above passage.
Do you recognize religious games in others? Can you recognize it in yourself when you are trying to excuse or impress others with your piety?
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Tues Nov 24
Verses- 16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.
17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.
Judging based on Religious Rituals
In almost every letter Paul condemns legalism which threatens to cut the heart out of The Christian gospel. It seems that the Gnostics had as one of their games “I can follow more Jewish laws as a Christian than you can.” There were rituals that were ingrained in their religious culture. They were instructed by God to observe Holy days as well as the Sabbath. They had rituals as to how to dress, how to eat, who to eat with, how to worship and more. They heard about faith in Jesus Christ, but since you can’t judge one another based on what was going on inside, it was much easier to see piety based on the religious rituals if they were followed or not.
The rituals practiced on certain days and how you observed certain feasts could be observed if you are a really spiritual Christian. In fact legalistic rules are the means to judge yourself and others. Without those rituals we cannot compete very well in this game.
Part of these rituals came from their misguided belief that anything related to your body or material world was evil. Whatever is righteous is derived from good works.
Are rituals bad? I have a ritual every morning of having devotions and sharing devotions on the internet. I have a ritual of going to church every Sunday. Something is missing inside if I don’t practice worship. (of course it helps to be paid to come to church as the pastor.)
I was visiting a church where the pastor was guilting his people in coming to prayer meeting on Christmas day which happened to fall on a Wednesday night. The ritual was to have prayer as a church on Wednesdays. Rather than offer a different day or time he went on for a number of minutes telling them how coming to that meeting divided the good Christians from the carnal Christians. What better way to judge your spiritual life than come to a prayer meeting according to the rituals of Wednesday night prayer? People would cancel plans to be with family from out of town in order to please their pastor.
There was a couple visiting us from out of town. Their home church practiced door to door witnessing every Thursday night for one hour. When 7 pm came they asked to be excused and went in our area door to door witnessing. Is there anything wrong with that activity? No. But the ritual was to be reported when they returned home. This becomes a man made religious ritual.
But what about my practice of going to worship wherever I am on a Sunday morning? Is that different? There are some who are upset that the times of worship have been changed because it doesn’t follow their ritual? To whom do I have to report or show my piety if I am in church or not on a particular Sunday? God? Family? Other Christians? When does a ritual encourage my walk with the Lord and when does it take on pride that I have accomplished some rule?
Who are the self appointed judges? How do we determine what is of God and what isn't?
Someone might ask, "Aren't some of these observances given to us by God to remind us of truth? Isn't there some value to mental or physical health to be gained by following them?"
Paul gives us answer in v. 17 These rituals he declares are a mere shadow of the things that were to come, the reality however is found din Christ. Once the reality has been realized shadows are of no value whatsoever. Shadows are like pictures, given in advance, designed to prepare us for something. But if you have found Christ, you do not need the shadow any more.
According to the Old Testament, God had established festivals and laws in order that people might realize their need for a redeemer who can save them from their own unholy and sinful hearts. The law was given to prepare the way for Christ and his grace. Much of what happened years previous were types. The Gnostics looked at the shadows of performance. Jesus looks at the heart.
Many honest seekers do not go to church today because they could not keep up with the rituals expected of them.
Next week from chapter 3 we are going to talk about sinful natures and ways we yield to temptations that destroy us and keep us bound. I do not believe Paul is saying break the laws of God, but do not think that man made rituals are going to save you or give you are better standing with God. The grace of the Lord has nothing to do with the works of man.
It is easy to time how long your prayers are in public and if you use the right words, but have no way to judge if your heart is really talking to God. So it is easy to see if you are practicing the festivals, saying grace before meals and how much money you give, than if you love the Lord with all your heart. The motive behind legalism is judging one another. God wants your heart not your performance.
God told Peter “What I have made clean is clean.” Don't play the game of judging one another by our religious rituals. That is God’s job. Only He knows the heart.
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Weds Nov 25
Verses: Col 2:18,19 Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions.
19 He has lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.
Judging based on Religious Revelations
A couple of weeks ago we talked about how Paul warned the Colossians against emotional experiences. Part of the problem was special revelations and messages they claimed came from angelic visitors. With the popularity of New Age influences many in our society are very interested in spirit guides and angels. The paranormal has often been the focus of mystery, intrigue and attraction. There are many books on angels from various perspectives.
The Gnostics were all excited about angels. They believed since the physical and material was evil we had to go through emanations or spiritual visions like angels to get to God. That is why they felt Christ couldn't be God. He was probably one of the higher angels.
Because they couldn't believe He could be holy and in a human body at the same time, they did not possibly believe he could be God in human form. But as Paul observes this view is also false humility. Here is the reasoning "I am not good enough to come directly to God, so I will start with one of the angels." That is idolatry too.
Idolatry is when anything at all takes the place of God or the worship of God. God wants us to come to him alone. You cannot go through a minister, your parents, your church, a saint who has died, Mary, angels, or another other living or dead being.
The Bible says 1 Tim 2:5-6 "For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, Who gave himself as a ransom for all... "
Many people claim to have special spiritual revelations making them seem as if they have inside information on what God is saying. The result is a new set of laws and rules that must be obeyed, followed, or adhered to. Such revelations are the very thing that grows cults. Some claim to have received a special message by an angel.
Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormons, claimed the angel Moroni visited him with a special message and gave him this book and told him he could interpret it with two seer stones as eye glasses, the Urim and Thummim. Assuming a new divine authority people follow his teachings. They have a new set of laws.
The game of Spiritual revelations is "I know something you don't" therefore I am more spiritual than you. It gives the feeling that those who don't have theses special messages from God are inferior in the faith. Therefore we should follow the leader who has special divine revelations.
Once again we read a clear directive from the New Testament. Heb 1:1-2 In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, But in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe." or Gal 1:8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!"
We need to be warned about spiritual revelations. Are they of God? Are they Biblical? Is someone trying to gain a following by setting himself up as an authority?
I was reading a news article how 1,000s were leaving Jehovah Witnesses because of over 30 different predictions were given as to when Christ was to return to earth. Of course, they have all proved false. The leaders spoke from special revelations.
Many will credit the Holy Spirit to be their guide and come up with bizarre and unusual visions that are not of God. John 16:13-14 says, "When the Spirit of Truth comes, he will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it unto you." The job of the Holy Spirit is to glorify the Son, Jesus Christ, not himself. However if one is talking about Jesus and the Scriptures, be assured it is of God. If not, then beware for even revelations can be given for the wrong reason.
2 Cor 11:13-15 says; "For such men are false apostles, deceitful workman, masquerading as apostles of Christ and no wonder for Satan himself masquerade as an angel of light. It is not surprising then if his servant masquerade as servants of righteousness. There end will be what their actions deserve."
People will always seek more revelations and mystical experiences. They are never at rest. The more one seeks to find some supernatural experience, the more they find empty disappointment.
Do you remember Oral Roberts vision of a 900 foot vision of Jesus who told him to build a hospital in Tulsa Oklahoma? Unless people send him four and half million dollars he was going to die. Now this vision of God is no longer in operation. It has lost more than 10 million a year before it closed. It turned many people away form Christian truth.
These things are fascinating but not satisfying. As exciting as visions and dramatic as revelations are stick with what you know, and who you know, in Jesus Christ.
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Thurs Nov 25
Verses Col 2:20-23 Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules:
21 "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"?
22 These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings.
23 Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.
Judging on Religious Restrictions.
Since the Gnostics viewed the body and physical world as evil they also taught a form of asceticism. This is the view that you deny yourself many of the common desires that God has given to you. Do not eat, do not touch. Don't get married. People who followed this to an extreme were monks. Shakers lived like this too. They tried to live a life of denial.
I once visited a monastery which had formerly housed people who lived under strict religious rules to gain favor with God. They slept no more than four hours at a time. Their beds were planks of wood without pillows. They also had very thin blankets so as not to get comfortable. They had required two hour prayer times in the middle of their night. They would live on a vegetarian diet. They had long periods of fasting and remained silent on special days.
1 Tim 6:17 "Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.
We have Christians today who would not practice extreme separatism as the monastery, but greatly restrict any activity or social contact outside their religious group. To be separate from the world is interpreted to have as little contact and possible with anyone who does not believe like they do.
The Bible tells us God created everything and made it good. Man misuses it. You can make a piece of steel and construct in such a way to be a sharp knife that exercises cancerous tumors under the guidance of a skillful surgeon. You can take the same steel knife and in the hands of a murderer to slit someone's throat.
You can have a relationship between a husband and a wife and God gave the expression of intimate and loving physical relationship from which a child can be conceived. The miracle of birth gives glory to God according to his plan. But you can take that act of sex and turn it into a lustful dirty and sinful act of shame and impurity.
Jesus often broke the traditions of man, yet without sin. Jesus was often confronted by the Pharisees regarding the laws and prayers, and ceremonies and traditions.
Do you ever feel like you can never measure up?
Beware of all false religious practices that have nothing to do with real faith or commitment to Jesus Christ. Beware of any church, pastor, or spiritual leader than imposes man made rules, ritual restrictions and revelations and makes you follow them to have greater grace of God than what is already given to us in his Christ.
When Paul met Christ he found the inner peace he was looking for. He found freedom. He found faith. He found salvation based on grace. As we will see next week, he sought to live to honor the Lord, not impress others.
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Nov 27
Verses- Col 2:17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.
Col 3:1-4
1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Judging on a Real Relationship
It was in the real living relationship, not with religion, that Paul found freedom from guilt, joy, life more abundant. He no longer had to worry about how many steps he walked on Saturday lest he offend God. That was no longer important. He didn't worry about if hair covered his ears, or how many inches from the knee the women’s dresses were.
He didn't have to concerning himself about eating a pork chop in Colossae, or if he would eat with a Gentile, for Paul was free in his love relationship enjoying the person presence of Jesus Christ. His actions came from a heart of love not a fear of doing something wrong.
That caused him to reject those rules, regulations, revelations and restrictions. He didn't worry about what others said he needed to do to be acceptable before God once he knew Jesus Christ. True religion begins with a personal relationship. He found he didn't need to add more rules to his life, he needed a heart change and nothing he could do could accomplish that. But when he let Jesus in to take over his life, Christ did the rest making him free from the consequence of all sin. Christ can do that for you today.
When I was growing up in Detroit the neighborhood kids would often gather in the street or parkway of our block. It wasn't long before some game was invented, or passed down by older brothers or sisters. It might be war, or kick the can, or hide and seek, or freeze tag, or goose and fox, or blind man's bluff. When the code is complete and the sides are chosen woe to the child who breaks the rules of the new game. There are cries. "You can't do that. It is against the rules." If something happened that most of us didn't like we'd create a new rule and say from now on that is against the rule. Rules of those games allowed us to compete fairly and have fun in a needed organized manner.
We govern our land by rules. We buy and sell products according to rules. We drive cars according to rules. We succeed in business by applying various rules of success. Although it is increasingly unpopular churches need to have business meetings according to the rules of the constitution to function properly and orderly. Is it any wonder then to think we must come up with rules to better serve God? We must look at God's rules and stop imposing stuff on ourselves and one another than are man made.
For you see when we are in a loving relationship with Jesus we want to obey not perform. Performance is for ourselves and for others, Obedience is for God. One is based on relationship the other on religion. How can you know the difference?
Susan Maycinik gives some ideas: Obedience is seeking God with your whole heart. Performance is having devotions because you'll feel guilty if you don't. Obedience is finding ways to let the Word of God dwell in your richly. Performance is quickly scanning a passage for you can check it off your Daily Bible reading plan. Obedience is inviting guest to your home for dinner. Performance is feeling anxious about if every detail of the meal will be perfect. Obedience is doing your best. Performance wants to be the best. Obedience is saying yes to whatever God asks of you. Performance is saying yes to whatever other people ask of you.
Living in religion is performance. It will wear you down until you want to quit. Living in a relationship is rewarding and enriching. It will spur you one to love God more and others.
With a renewal to God this season recommit yourself to the one who loves you the most and will sustain you when others will judge wrongly. He alone knows your heart and by the Word of God and power of the Holy Spirit will help you grow in love and less in performance.
Pastor Dale
Friday, November 27, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
Complete in Christ Colossians 2:8-15
Sermon Nuggets Mon Nov 16
Theme -Complete in Christ
Verses Col 2:8-15
8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.
9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form,
10 and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.
Complete in Christ
I had to admit I was surprised when I went into a friend’s house and saw in one of their rooms the poster of the signs of the zodiac. Although my friend was a Christian she would faithfully read her horoscope and take some precautions based on what the statement said.
When I first set up my computer to automatically open to personalized home page a few years ago I could pick some personal data and interests so Yahoo would open with some national, world and local new headline news. I found out how to click one button and get the latest Cambridge weather, Minnesota professional ball team scores but it automatically included other information for your-health news, and generally how the stock market was doing and a horoscope. After a long time I figured out how to eliminate some stuff I didn’t want.
Although it is right in front of me I have never once read my daily horoscope on the internet. There are people who guide their decisions based on what celestial sign they were born under. Some people date others they think their signs are compatible. To read one's horoscope out of curiosity and amusement may be innocent to some. But there are far more that get their guidance for life from the stars. Star gazing is nothing new. In fact it permeated the cultures surrounding Israel and when the Gentiles started coming to faith in Jesus Christ some of them carried over old pagan customs.
Part of the theme of Colossians is to tell the truth from falsehood and making believers beware of how other teachings can mislead them and shipwreck their faith in Christ.
Last week we were talking about the problem of cults and authority in life. We looked at this passage of Scripture and throughout this chapter Paul warns them about making emotional experiences their authority, He warns them about making liberalism or humanism or personal intellect the ultimate authority in life. He cautions them against traditions. Jesus Christ and his word is the only reliable authority for truth. As cults are going around us there are many voices that call us to determine our decisions and use as our direction a variety of sources.
Paul wanted to meet this problem head on in the church. He already made his position clear in his hymn on the supremacy of Christ 1:15-20. Now he applies this truth to details of the false teaching in Colossae. We confronted with evil teaching, most of us attack it and try to point out what is wrong with it, but here the apostle does not do that. He reviews for the Colossian Christians what they already have in Jesus. He calls them back to the truth and sets it before them.
We do well remembering the important truth that we are Complete in Christ.
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Tues Nov 17
Verses Col 2:8-11
8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.
9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form,
10 and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.
11 In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ,
Christ is Complete in Truth
As we remind ourselves of the fullness of Christ, Paul pointed out how Christ more than supplied their needs. Not only could Christians find fullness of life in Christ but Christ also made sacramental rites obsolete and swept away all legalistic demands and took on all the spiritual forces of the enemy. We don’t need other things from us to complete the work of Jesus.
The Christians were in danger then and in danger now when false doctrine creeps into our thinking. Too many groups will seek salvation from Jesus AND something else. It usually includes some legalist requirement to add to the works or words of Jesus.
It is in horror that we are reading and hearing about a young child named Shaniya Davis who was allegedly kidnapped and used for child sex trafficking in North Carolina. People she trusted abuse her and left her for dead.
Much less publicity is given of spiritual kidnappers who take innocent people and lead them to false doctrines and beliefs which keep them in spiritual death. There are many spiritual kidnappers out there taking the unprotected and enslaving them in spiritual bondage and blindness and in the end leave them dead to the Lord. Many uninformed believers fall into falsehood. Many Christians are led astray looking for something more exciting too their faith,
Some of the Spiritual cults make people think something is missing and the Jesus isn't enough. Certainly we want to grow in our understanding of truth revealed in the Bible. We want to experience a closer walk with the Lord. But there is no new truth that we don’t already have, it may be seeking to understand it better. Many teach a different gospel or looking for an inner experience to add to faith in Christ. Dissatisfaction with our spiritual lives causes folks to add to their beliefs and seek things that are new. When someone says there are secrets to ultimate happiness who doesn't want to know the secrets?
A general belief in Paul’s time was that spiritual beings frequently associated with planet and stars -controlled every man's future. This ancient astrology, along with the ideas that secret knowledge enabled man to control the power of these things seemed to creep into false teaching of the Gnostics in Colossae. You don't need the stars when you know the maker of the stars.
Paul shows us that all fullness dwells in Christ. Christ is complete. When you have Jesus you have all of God. We have all of the Holy Spirit. He may not have all of you, but what more do you need? What more can anybody add to that? What new experience, what other additional divine person can you receive than what you have already received when you have Jesus? It may be that we need to discover more of what it means to have Christ in our hearts. That is a lifelong process. We shall always be growing in appreciation and understanding of what it means to have Christ, but the point is -You do not need anything more than you already have in Him. You merely need to understand more of what you have received.
I preached a sermon once entitled “more of Jesus and less of me”. Trying make one point, I was confusing the doctrine that we are complete in Christ. We take too often the me centered faith instead of the Christ centered faith. We do need to take up our cross daily and follow him. We need to give to him our sin and remove those barriers to spiritual intimacy. We may need maturity, but we have been given all things in Christ.
Jesus is complete in truth. There is not more truth spiritually that you need. The Philosophies of this world, the elementary principles are false compared to the truth that is found in Jesus.
When Jesus said "I am the truth." He could say that because He was God. He was the creator. John 2 say in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. vs. 24 the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld the glory, glory as of the only begotten of the father, full of grace and truth. Because Christ is the creator and upon all power and principles rest there is nothing else that serves as our authority.
Dr. V. Elving Anderson on the nations leading geneticists from the University of Minnesota. and on the board of regents for Bethel for many years, had written a few articles. Many people of the past worshiped the sun, moon or stars, but the Bible teaches that only God is worthy of worship. Pagan worshipers sought "supernatural" explanations for phenomena such as weather, but the Bible demythologizes nature. In our sophisticated age there is still a temptation to indulge in nature worship. Silence about God in nature will end in the deification of nature, and pseudo-religion under the disguise of science which will take the place of religion."
He is making the distinction between science (the discovering of God's world), and scientism, (the faith that says all that exists is natural.) Many make science their religion to explain not how things work, but why they work as well."
Don't be captive by hollow and deceptive philosophy. Paul said it. Dr. Russell Arndt, a retired Chemistry professor at St. Cloud University, said in his writing on Creation and evolution "The evidence clearly points to a creator. Philosophies that exclude Christ are vain and empty. True wisdom must begin with God at the center of the world and explanation stem from Him."
Don’t let the popular New Age phenomena or empty religious fads be something that must be ADDED to your faith. There is completeness in the truth of Jesus through the Bible.
Pastor Dale.
Sermon Nuggets Weds Nov 18
Verses Col 2: 9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.
Christ is Complete in Character
Not only is Christ complete in truth as we mentioned yesterday, He is complete also in character. He is the fullness of all deity. I've heard it said by Jehovah Witnesses that nowhere in the Bible does it say that Christ is God, nor does He make any such personal claims. That shows they do not study the Bible. Either they are trying to deceive knowingly or they are ignorant of the many places the divinity of Jesus is stated and implied.
Most versions translate verse 9 “all the fullness of deity lives in bodily form”. Some translate fullness of Godhead which is the same thing. Jesus could not be just a good teacher without accepting Him as the Son of God. He used that term of Himself. To make those claims as C.S. Lewis suggested, would make Jesus a liar or crazy. Who would consider a liar or crazy man a great teacher?
Jesus claimed “I am the son of God”, he said, “before Abraham was born I am" not "I was" or "I will be." but "I am" meaning there never was a time when I ceased to exist.
God said, "this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." Other statements Jesus said of Himself were these: "I have the power to lay down life and I have the power to raise it up again." Jesus said "He who glorifies me glorifies my father," "He that hates me, hates my father. He that loves me, loves my father. I am my Father are one." "He that has seen me has seen my father, he that rejects me rejects my father." "I am the only way to God." "I have all power and authority in heaven and on earth," No human has all authority on earth, not to mention heaven. But He has all power in heaven and on earth. He is the fullness of deity in bodily form.
As the sinless son of God He is complete in character. All the claims God made of himself in the Old Testament are made of Christ in the New Testament: the good shepherd, the way the truth the light; why else did the demons shutter in fear when they were in the presence of Jesus? Fullness means the sum total of all that God is and all His being and all His attributes.
If you want to find one main area with which cults differ from us it is in the understanding of who Jesus Christ is. Most will deny his deity. Most will argue that others are equal or superior authorities. Most will take his view and incorporate other views with them.
Protection against false teaching begins with a realization Jesus Christ is all in all. Christ is complete for salvation. We don't need anything else to have a right relationship with the Father. Jesus conquered all evil on the cross. When we identify with Jesus in his death and burial and resurrection we are completely clean before God. He disarmed Satan and the demons and made a public spectacle of them exposing their deceit and vileness. He triumphed over them and disgraced and defeated them v. 15.
There is nothing else you can add to your salvation. It is not Jesus and something else. It is Jesus alone. It is not Jesus and the church, Jesus and baptism, Jesus and performance. It is not Jesus and a special revelation. It is Jesus alone who saves and believe in his works is enough to save you. All fullness is in Christ.
There is nothing else you need. Christ is complete in truth complete in character and complete in salvation.
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Thurs Nov 19
Verses- Col 2:11-14
11 In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ,
12 having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.
13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,
14 having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.
Christ is Complete in Forgiveness
When Gods' Spirit comes into our lives we are made complete the way God intended us to be. We were dead to the Lord and now by faith in the works of Jesus Christ we are made alive. All our sins have been forgiven. We are complete in him because he dwells in us and has that power to bring us spiritual life.
Christ is complete in forgiveness. We are forgiven from all the past. Because of that, we are complete in Christ.
The Gnostic legalists said that Jewish laws could help the believers become more spiritual if they were circumcised and follow certain days and practices- they would be part of the Holy Elite. Paul uses the illustration of circumcision to point to the past.
Circumcision in the Old Testament is when the Jews had the foreskins from the male organ delicately removed. It was an early sign of belonging to God. Paul explains this was a sign of putting off the sinful nature and being in the family of God by means of the covenant.
Thus when our Lord was crucified the sin that he assumed on our behalf was removed. That is the point. The foreskin of the flesh is a symbol of the fallen nature, the flesh, within us. When we become a Christian the past works of the flesh are revealed for what it is, worthless in God's sight. So the figure of uncircumcision represented sin. Uncircumisized lips meant unholy and vile words and lies, gossip, slander. Uncircumcised heart was sinful and corrupt hearts. A circumcised heart was a heart that was seeking Gods' righteousness and holiness not man's fleshly way of doing things.
In a symbolic manner, Christ is the one that circumcises us. He uses some contrasts with a priest when it comes to the past. The Jews had an external surgery. Believers have an internal surgery of their hearts. the Jews had part of their bodies affected, the believers have their whole body of sin removed; the Jewish was done by hands, the believer’s baptism is by Christ through the Holy Spirit. The Jew found no spiritual help in conquering sin; but spiritual circumcision overcomes sin. Christ circumcises us by putting off our sinful nature. He cuts off our fleshly way, or our human way, of doing things.
Sin is no longer an issue in our relationships with God. It may affect our fellowship, but not our relationship. He has fully dealt with it. Our sins have been nailed to the cross so they no longer condemn us. We are freed from the power of evil.
There are many cults and teachings that you have to pay for your sins, or do penance. Some folks never have that assurance of freedom from guilt. But all our sins have been forgiven because our lives have been holy before God in Christ Jesus
The Bible also uses the figure of baptism to symbolize our new life with God. Baptism is that physical and visible form of identifying with Christ and his people. There are similarities of the two symbols. Just as circumcision was outward this didn’t necessarily affect the inward life, so baptism can be an outward action that may not necessarily affect your inward life. Baptism was the sign of knowingly and deliberately leaving one's way of life and beliefs for another. It was a voluntary conscious and deliberate act of the will. But what is points to is the work of the Spirit of God in given us new life from above.
If you have been saved baptism is a matter of public testimony of your new faith in Christ. We are complete in Jesus because of the present relationship we have. We walk with God. Jesus is with us wherever we go. We don't go to church to find him, he is within us. He does not leave us comfortless. We have what we need in this personal and close relationship with the living Lord. This is the abiding with Christ that makes our life an adventure.
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Fri Nov 20
Verses- Col 2:11-15 In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.
13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.
15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.(NIV)
Christ is Complete in Victory
Because in Christ there is complete forgiveness we have hope in the complete victory of Christ over Satan.
Our culture has changed dramatically in the last few years. With many other cultures coming in there are many non Christian religions-Buddhist, Muslims, Hindus, as well as influences of New Age beliefs. The thing that is lacking in non Christian religions is eternal hope. All other religions are mans' way of getting to God. The Bible shows that salvation comes through Christ’s works on the cross as God comes down to man to seek and save the lost. It is not by our striving, but faith in accepting the gift provided by our Lord.
All groups hope they will go to a happy place after death, but do not know for sure. They believe some cosmic force or god will determine if their works were good enough.
Paul gives us confident hope because Jesus took on the very battle against Satan himself. He went to the cross in order that our sins can be canceled and forgiven. Jesus took the worse thing that Satan could throw his way- suffering and death. That is all he can do. But by the power of the Almighty Jesus was able to have Satan play right into his hands. For the grave could not hold him, now no grave of a believer can hold him. That is hope we have at funeral services.
Jesus striped Satan of his power over our lives. v. 15 He disarmed them. We have the power of God to withstand the fiery darts of the evil one. If we understand who we are in Christ and what we have in him, there is no need to be weak, faltering, or failing. The true Christian has been made complete in what Christ has done for us. He has a whole new basis of living.
Paul was not afraid of the truth. But the greatest truth is Jesus Christ. When people are saying you need something more to add to your faith in Christ, beware.
This hope is explained an this passage in three ways. First it is a resurrection from the dead. A dead person cannot help himself. Christ comes and makes one alive. They are now alive to God.
The second figurative expression is canceling the written code. It is paying the debt, or eliminating the IOU. It is paying the price of our bill.
If someone walked into the bank and gave the money for your mortgage the house now is yours free and clear. You owe nothing more. By nailing our debt to the cross we have been purchased by our Lord. We are free from the bondage that Satan had upon us.
The third picture of salvation is like a military victory or triumph over the enemy. Jesus sees His death and resurrection a triumph over the enemy of evil, Satan and all his demons. He won the war over our soul and over Satan's power over us. After a great conquest in that day the king would ride back into his city with his army and behind them bound would be the parade of prisoners on display as defeated for all to see. This is the disarming of the powers and authority and made public spectacle of them.
Christ is complete in his victory and that hope is available to all who believe and receive Jesus is their Lord and Savior. We are complete in Christ.
Pastor Dale
Theme -Complete in Christ
Verses Col 2:8-15
8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.
9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form,
10 and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.
Complete in Christ
I had to admit I was surprised when I went into a friend’s house and saw in one of their rooms the poster of the signs of the zodiac. Although my friend was a Christian she would faithfully read her horoscope and take some precautions based on what the statement said.
When I first set up my computer to automatically open to personalized home page a few years ago I could pick some personal data and interests so Yahoo would open with some national, world and local new headline news. I found out how to click one button and get the latest Cambridge weather, Minnesota professional ball team scores but it automatically included other information for your-health news, and generally how the stock market was doing and a horoscope. After a long time I figured out how to eliminate some stuff I didn’t want.
Although it is right in front of me I have never once read my daily horoscope on the internet. There are people who guide their decisions based on what celestial sign they were born under. Some people date others they think their signs are compatible. To read one's horoscope out of curiosity and amusement may be innocent to some. But there are far more that get their guidance for life from the stars. Star gazing is nothing new. In fact it permeated the cultures surrounding Israel and when the Gentiles started coming to faith in Jesus Christ some of them carried over old pagan customs.
Part of the theme of Colossians is to tell the truth from falsehood and making believers beware of how other teachings can mislead them and shipwreck their faith in Christ.
Last week we were talking about the problem of cults and authority in life. We looked at this passage of Scripture and throughout this chapter Paul warns them about making emotional experiences their authority, He warns them about making liberalism or humanism or personal intellect the ultimate authority in life. He cautions them against traditions. Jesus Christ and his word is the only reliable authority for truth. As cults are going around us there are many voices that call us to determine our decisions and use as our direction a variety of sources.
Paul wanted to meet this problem head on in the church. He already made his position clear in his hymn on the supremacy of Christ 1:15-20. Now he applies this truth to details of the false teaching in Colossae. We confronted with evil teaching, most of us attack it and try to point out what is wrong with it, but here the apostle does not do that. He reviews for the Colossian Christians what they already have in Jesus. He calls them back to the truth and sets it before them.
We do well remembering the important truth that we are Complete in Christ.
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Tues Nov 17
Verses Col 2:8-11
8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.
9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form,
10 and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.
11 In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ,
Christ is Complete in Truth
As we remind ourselves of the fullness of Christ, Paul pointed out how Christ more than supplied their needs. Not only could Christians find fullness of life in Christ but Christ also made sacramental rites obsolete and swept away all legalistic demands and took on all the spiritual forces of the enemy. We don’t need other things from us to complete the work of Jesus.
The Christians were in danger then and in danger now when false doctrine creeps into our thinking. Too many groups will seek salvation from Jesus AND something else. It usually includes some legalist requirement to add to the works or words of Jesus.
It is in horror that we are reading and hearing about a young child named Shaniya Davis who was allegedly kidnapped and used for child sex trafficking in North Carolina. People she trusted abuse her and left her for dead.
Much less publicity is given of spiritual kidnappers who take innocent people and lead them to false doctrines and beliefs which keep them in spiritual death. There are many spiritual kidnappers out there taking the unprotected and enslaving them in spiritual bondage and blindness and in the end leave them dead to the Lord. Many uninformed believers fall into falsehood. Many Christians are led astray looking for something more exciting too their faith,
Some of the Spiritual cults make people think something is missing and the Jesus isn't enough. Certainly we want to grow in our understanding of truth revealed in the Bible. We want to experience a closer walk with the Lord. But there is no new truth that we don’t already have, it may be seeking to understand it better. Many teach a different gospel or looking for an inner experience to add to faith in Christ. Dissatisfaction with our spiritual lives causes folks to add to their beliefs and seek things that are new. When someone says there are secrets to ultimate happiness who doesn't want to know the secrets?
A general belief in Paul’s time was that spiritual beings frequently associated with planet and stars -controlled every man's future. This ancient astrology, along with the ideas that secret knowledge enabled man to control the power of these things seemed to creep into false teaching of the Gnostics in Colossae. You don't need the stars when you know the maker of the stars.
Paul shows us that all fullness dwells in Christ. Christ is complete. When you have Jesus you have all of God. We have all of the Holy Spirit. He may not have all of you, but what more do you need? What more can anybody add to that? What new experience, what other additional divine person can you receive than what you have already received when you have Jesus? It may be that we need to discover more of what it means to have Christ in our hearts. That is a lifelong process. We shall always be growing in appreciation and understanding of what it means to have Christ, but the point is -You do not need anything more than you already have in Him. You merely need to understand more of what you have received.
I preached a sermon once entitled “more of Jesus and less of me”. Trying make one point, I was confusing the doctrine that we are complete in Christ. We take too often the me centered faith instead of the Christ centered faith. We do need to take up our cross daily and follow him. We need to give to him our sin and remove those barriers to spiritual intimacy. We may need maturity, but we have been given all things in Christ.
Jesus is complete in truth. There is not more truth spiritually that you need. The Philosophies of this world, the elementary principles are false compared to the truth that is found in Jesus.
When Jesus said "I am the truth." He could say that because He was God. He was the creator. John 2 say in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. vs. 24 the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld the glory, glory as of the only begotten of the father, full of grace and truth. Because Christ is the creator and upon all power and principles rest there is nothing else that serves as our authority.
Dr. V. Elving Anderson on the nations leading geneticists from the University of Minnesota. and on the board of regents for Bethel for many years, had written a few articles. Many people of the past worshiped the sun, moon or stars, but the Bible teaches that only God is worthy of worship. Pagan worshipers sought "supernatural" explanations for phenomena such as weather, but the Bible demythologizes nature. In our sophisticated age there is still a temptation to indulge in nature worship. Silence about God in nature will end in the deification of nature, and pseudo-religion under the disguise of science which will take the place of religion."
He is making the distinction between science (the discovering of God's world), and scientism, (the faith that says all that exists is natural.) Many make science their religion to explain not how things work, but why they work as well."
Don't be captive by hollow and deceptive philosophy. Paul said it. Dr. Russell Arndt, a retired Chemistry professor at St. Cloud University, said in his writing on Creation and evolution "The evidence clearly points to a creator. Philosophies that exclude Christ are vain and empty. True wisdom must begin with God at the center of the world and explanation stem from Him."
Don’t let the popular New Age phenomena or empty religious fads be something that must be ADDED to your faith. There is completeness in the truth of Jesus through the Bible.
Pastor Dale.
Sermon Nuggets Weds Nov 18
Verses Col 2: 9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.
Christ is Complete in Character
Not only is Christ complete in truth as we mentioned yesterday, He is complete also in character. He is the fullness of all deity. I've heard it said by Jehovah Witnesses that nowhere in the Bible does it say that Christ is God, nor does He make any such personal claims. That shows they do not study the Bible. Either they are trying to deceive knowingly or they are ignorant of the many places the divinity of Jesus is stated and implied.
Most versions translate verse 9 “all the fullness of deity lives in bodily form”. Some translate fullness of Godhead which is the same thing. Jesus could not be just a good teacher without accepting Him as the Son of God. He used that term of Himself. To make those claims as C.S. Lewis suggested, would make Jesus a liar or crazy. Who would consider a liar or crazy man a great teacher?
Jesus claimed “I am the son of God”, he said, “before Abraham was born I am" not "I was" or "I will be." but "I am" meaning there never was a time when I ceased to exist.
God said, "this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." Other statements Jesus said of Himself were these: "I have the power to lay down life and I have the power to raise it up again." Jesus said "He who glorifies me glorifies my father," "He that hates me, hates my father. He that loves me, loves my father. I am my Father are one." "He that has seen me has seen my father, he that rejects me rejects my father." "I am the only way to God." "I have all power and authority in heaven and on earth," No human has all authority on earth, not to mention heaven. But He has all power in heaven and on earth. He is the fullness of deity in bodily form.
As the sinless son of God He is complete in character. All the claims God made of himself in the Old Testament are made of Christ in the New Testament: the good shepherd, the way the truth the light; why else did the demons shutter in fear when they were in the presence of Jesus? Fullness means the sum total of all that God is and all His being and all His attributes.
If you want to find one main area with which cults differ from us it is in the understanding of who Jesus Christ is. Most will deny his deity. Most will argue that others are equal or superior authorities. Most will take his view and incorporate other views with them.
Protection against false teaching begins with a realization Jesus Christ is all in all. Christ is complete for salvation. We don't need anything else to have a right relationship with the Father. Jesus conquered all evil on the cross. When we identify with Jesus in his death and burial and resurrection we are completely clean before God. He disarmed Satan and the demons and made a public spectacle of them exposing their deceit and vileness. He triumphed over them and disgraced and defeated them v. 15.
There is nothing else you can add to your salvation. It is not Jesus and something else. It is Jesus alone. It is not Jesus and the church, Jesus and baptism, Jesus and performance. It is not Jesus and a special revelation. It is Jesus alone who saves and believe in his works is enough to save you. All fullness is in Christ.
There is nothing else you need. Christ is complete in truth complete in character and complete in salvation.
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Thurs Nov 19
Verses- Col 2:11-14
11 In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ,
12 having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.
13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,
14 having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.
Christ is Complete in Forgiveness
When Gods' Spirit comes into our lives we are made complete the way God intended us to be. We were dead to the Lord and now by faith in the works of Jesus Christ we are made alive. All our sins have been forgiven. We are complete in him because he dwells in us and has that power to bring us spiritual life.
Christ is complete in forgiveness. We are forgiven from all the past. Because of that, we are complete in Christ.
The Gnostic legalists said that Jewish laws could help the believers become more spiritual if they were circumcised and follow certain days and practices- they would be part of the Holy Elite. Paul uses the illustration of circumcision to point to the past.
Circumcision in the Old Testament is when the Jews had the foreskins from the male organ delicately removed. It was an early sign of belonging to God. Paul explains this was a sign of putting off the sinful nature and being in the family of God by means of the covenant.
Thus when our Lord was crucified the sin that he assumed on our behalf was removed. That is the point. The foreskin of the flesh is a symbol of the fallen nature, the flesh, within us. When we become a Christian the past works of the flesh are revealed for what it is, worthless in God's sight. So the figure of uncircumcision represented sin. Uncircumisized lips meant unholy and vile words and lies, gossip, slander. Uncircumcised heart was sinful and corrupt hearts. A circumcised heart was a heart that was seeking Gods' righteousness and holiness not man's fleshly way of doing things.
In a symbolic manner, Christ is the one that circumcises us. He uses some contrasts with a priest when it comes to the past. The Jews had an external surgery. Believers have an internal surgery of their hearts. the Jews had part of their bodies affected, the believers have their whole body of sin removed; the Jewish was done by hands, the believer’s baptism is by Christ through the Holy Spirit. The Jew found no spiritual help in conquering sin; but spiritual circumcision overcomes sin. Christ circumcises us by putting off our sinful nature. He cuts off our fleshly way, or our human way, of doing things.
Sin is no longer an issue in our relationships with God. It may affect our fellowship, but not our relationship. He has fully dealt with it. Our sins have been nailed to the cross so they no longer condemn us. We are freed from the power of evil.
There are many cults and teachings that you have to pay for your sins, or do penance. Some folks never have that assurance of freedom from guilt. But all our sins have been forgiven because our lives have been holy before God in Christ Jesus
The Bible also uses the figure of baptism to symbolize our new life with God. Baptism is that physical and visible form of identifying with Christ and his people. There are similarities of the two symbols. Just as circumcision was outward this didn’t necessarily affect the inward life, so baptism can be an outward action that may not necessarily affect your inward life. Baptism was the sign of knowingly and deliberately leaving one's way of life and beliefs for another. It was a voluntary conscious and deliberate act of the will. But what is points to is the work of the Spirit of God in given us new life from above.
If you have been saved baptism is a matter of public testimony of your new faith in Christ. We are complete in Jesus because of the present relationship we have. We walk with God. Jesus is with us wherever we go. We don't go to church to find him, he is within us. He does not leave us comfortless. We have what we need in this personal and close relationship with the living Lord. This is the abiding with Christ that makes our life an adventure.
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Fri Nov 20
Verses- Col 2:11-15 In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.
13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.
15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.(NIV)
Christ is Complete in Victory
Because in Christ there is complete forgiveness we have hope in the complete victory of Christ over Satan.
Our culture has changed dramatically in the last few years. With many other cultures coming in there are many non Christian religions-Buddhist, Muslims, Hindus, as well as influences of New Age beliefs. The thing that is lacking in non Christian religions is eternal hope. All other religions are mans' way of getting to God. The Bible shows that salvation comes through Christ’s works on the cross as God comes down to man to seek and save the lost. It is not by our striving, but faith in accepting the gift provided by our Lord.
All groups hope they will go to a happy place after death, but do not know for sure. They believe some cosmic force or god will determine if their works were good enough.
Paul gives us confident hope because Jesus took on the very battle against Satan himself. He went to the cross in order that our sins can be canceled and forgiven. Jesus took the worse thing that Satan could throw his way- suffering and death. That is all he can do. But by the power of the Almighty Jesus was able to have Satan play right into his hands. For the grave could not hold him, now no grave of a believer can hold him. That is hope we have at funeral services.
Jesus striped Satan of his power over our lives. v. 15 He disarmed them. We have the power of God to withstand the fiery darts of the evil one. If we understand who we are in Christ and what we have in him, there is no need to be weak, faltering, or failing. The true Christian has been made complete in what Christ has done for us. He has a whole new basis of living.
Paul was not afraid of the truth. But the greatest truth is Jesus Christ. When people are saying you need something more to add to your faith in Christ, beware.
This hope is explained an this passage in three ways. First it is a resurrection from the dead. A dead person cannot help himself. Christ comes and makes one alive. They are now alive to God.
The second figurative expression is canceling the written code. It is paying the debt, or eliminating the IOU. It is paying the price of our bill.
If someone walked into the bank and gave the money for your mortgage the house now is yours free and clear. You owe nothing more. By nailing our debt to the cross we have been purchased by our Lord. We are free from the bondage that Satan had upon us.
The third picture of salvation is like a military victory or triumph over the enemy. Jesus sees His death and resurrection a triumph over the enemy of evil, Satan and all his demons. He won the war over our soul and over Satan's power over us. After a great conquest in that day the king would ride back into his city with his army and behind them bound would be the parade of prisoners on display as defeated for all to see. This is the disarming of the powers and authority and made public spectacle of them.
Christ is complete in his victory and that hope is available to all who believe and receive Jesus is their Lord and Savior. We are complete in Christ.
Pastor Dale
Friday, November 13, 2009
Christ and the Cults - Colossains 2:1-9
Sermon Nuggets Mon Nov 9
Theme CHRIST AND THE CULTS
Verses- Col 2:1-9
1 I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally.
2 My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ,3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
4 I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments.
5 For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how orderly you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.
6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him,7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.
9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form,
Believer, Beware
All around us there are voices of deception. I am shocked by the ways people are mislead into believing all kinds of things under the pretence religious meaning. On national news recently was exposed the violence and coercion of the Scientology church made more popular by followers, John Travolta and Tom Cruise. Even some of the leaders have now left the organization to the threat of personal attack by the craze leader, David Miscavige.
The 50th anniversary of Rev Sun Myung Moon of the Church of Unification brought 1000s of couples in a united arranged marriage that was made public recently. He has been teaching for years he is the Messiah.
Within the Christian tradition many churches and pastors have sprung off into cult like teachings where their insights, and visions, and special interpretations lead folks away from Biblical teaching, including established groups like Jehovah Witnesses, and Mormons.
The health and wealth TV preachers who bilk 1000s out of their offerings allowing them to live lavish life styles resulted in many people reject all religion and give up on the Christian church.
Someone can might say, "What a minute, Christians believe in a man who came back from the dead. He ascended to heaven. He claimed to be the Son of God. He invites me to leave everything and even my family if necessary to follow him and join a community of believers. He invites me to take up my cross. The Lord tells us not to be surprised when people make fun of us or think we are foolish. He calls me to die so that I might live. And then he tells me he is coming back for me so I can join him in paradise the next level.”
I can ask how can so many New Age teachers and followers be so foolish? But there are people asking that of those who take the following of Jesus Christ seriously. We need to look at the differences of the claims of Christ and compare them to the claims of other voices saying there is a different way.
From the beginning of time people have been deceived from the truth. Satan did what he does best which is to lead people into lies. He takes the word of God and the relationship that people have with Him and distorts and confuses people into focusing their faith into other things than what is revealed. We have had members of our church visited by cult members who promise them personal attention and Bible study. With a certain amount of Bible twisting they are very good as taking new or uninformed Christians and winning them over to their group which denies the divinity of Jesus Christ.
The Bible even tells us in the last days there will be a multitude of deceivers who will do everything to keep people from faith in Jesus
Throughout the next three weeks as we study from chapter 2 we will be looking at many of the warnings from the Bible that cause people to be held captive with lies. Just because someone says they are teaching from the Bible do not believe it. Read it in context for yourself. I have said many time do not take my word for things, also check them out in the Bible.
This last weekend while I was at the Minnesota Baptist Conference Annual meeting in Duluth, the Hispanic church planter gave his testimony. He said some that although I didn’t like, it was true. He said, “Most people will seldom read the Bible. Instead they will find out and believe what the Bible says through their pastors.”
I frankly stopped listening to him since I spend my time pondering those words. People seek truth more through other people than through looking at the Scriptures themselves. If they follow a leaders who teachings something is from the Bible, they seldom check it out. Most do not feel confident enough to understand the Bible so leave it up to those who are better trained. But unfortunately it leads folks to follow those who are more articulate and have charismatic personalities.
Paul warns the Colossians about deceptive authority that misleads them from the truth of Christ.
Believer, Beware! If something seems fishy, check it out!
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Tues Nov 10
Verses- Col 2: 1 I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally.
2 My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Beware of the Emotions of Experience
Paul wants his reader to be encouraged in their hearts and united in love. Those are emotional parts of our being. When we worship God we do worship Him in spirit and in truth. Many Christians are afraid of emotion. They are afraid of expressing their love or praise to God from their heart lest they be looked upon in our setting as out of control.
Our area, with strong Swedish roots, folks tend not to show much emotion. But of course that is changing as our culture changes. Our older churches and folks have a harder time showing their feelings in worship, whither by crying or laughing, or shouting, or clapping. That is not so in the South, or Latin American countries, or among some other ethnic groups. The showing of emotions can be a cultural thing.
It can also be a doctrinal thing. We are not what people call a charismatic church. Nor are we a liturgical church where every prayer and all responses are carefully scripted out before any service begins. A charismatic service generally implies lots of emotion which can include shouting, hand raising, clapping, and usually speaking in tongues. Sometimes it can include healings and anointing, fainting, dancing, visions and prophecies they say are from impressions from the Lord. Each church and pastor may handle those manifestations differently.
The fear of being emotional can also cause some people to quench the movement of the Spirit of God. There are many verses which speak of raising hands as expressions of praise to God. But you should see the looks on some faces when some people desire to raise their hands or clap with the music! True praise can exhibit itself in many forms. It can include musical instruments and also be without instruments; with organ or with drums. God wants to have people tell him they love him.
But there is also a warning that we need to take to heart. For some emotions of experiences take precedent over the revealed truth of God. He speaks about this also further v.(18-19) I will be writing on this later, but there are people who are having emotional experiences who take their trust and faith in the experience over the truth. Personal visions or tongues speaking become more important than being grounded in the Bible. Worship of angels apparently became an issue in Colossae. Their new messages based on those experiences were lead some astray.
Some people judge spiritual reality based on feelings or emotions. Some people question others salvation if they haven’t experienced tongues or some other feeling or emotion or revelation. Some people do not feel forgiven or not feel that God loves them, which goes against what the Bible says. If you are sincere in confession of your sins God is faithful and will forgive you. That is a faith based on fact not feeling. If you put your faith in Jesus Christ to save you that is fact, not feeling.
When Peter was on the Mount of Transfiguration, who wouldn't have enjoyed that experience of special revelation of Elijah and Moses and Jesus? Peter wanted to stay there all the time. "Let’s erect shelters for each and stay here" Jesus was not a made up story. The transfiguration was not a cleverly devised tale. But notice what Peter said in 2 Peter 1:19-21 he spoke of something being made “more sure”. What could be more sure than something he had witnessed in person? Nothing could be any more sure than what he personally experienced. Yet Peter said, “so we are even more confident of the message proclaimed by the prophets.”
In others words Peter was saying there is something even more trustworthy that what he saw and heard himself-namely the words written by men who were guided by the Holy Spirit of God. Then he says the Bible is not a matter of private interpretation. It is not a matter of human will. It is God breathed as men recorded it.
Apparently in Colossians some people had experiences of worshiping angels. Maybe someone met an angel and that experience is causing everyone to want to experience angels. There are supernatural things that happen beyond other explanations you know. Some want that same experience. We see crowds running all over to see a vision of the Madonna; people going to the other side of the globe to some water or some miracle rock or some woman who saw a vision. There are people wanting the experiences of speaking in tongues, or jumping in the spirit or laughing in the spirit or ecstatic behavior. Whether people worship angels, or take pride in some special revelation. There is the problem. It actually diverts one away from Christ, the rightful "Head of the body" - Co 2:19 The apostles saw it as wrong to be worshiped and so did the angels. Only God is to be worshiped. Only God is to be prayed to, not saints or angels.
There is a danger of emotional experiences that lead us away from truth to trust many spiritual leaders who claim God spoke to them in a vision, dream or even in a personal manifestation. Their faith is in the experience and not in facts of what Jesus Christ did and believing in Him.
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Nov 11- Happy Veteran’s Day.
Verse- Col 2: 4 I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments.
The Lures of Liberalism
Paul gives another warning again addressing man made philosophies. He warns them against fine sounding arguments. There are many who move the attention from Scriptures to use for one’s basis of authority what makes sense. I want to look at the Lure of Liberalism as one example. It is the philosophy of man, that is, man centered and filled with intellect. Whatever does not make sense according to the sciences and man’s view is simply discarded. There are many religious leaders that take the fine sounding principles that appeal to the sense of mankind but take away all the miracles, all the wonder of the eternal. Since it doesn't make sense that Jesus can be both God and man they have fine sounding arguments how he was a good prophet.
The lure of liberalism is that we recreate the Bible and the stories of Jesus to fit our preconceived ideas of what is true. We are the judges.
I was in a seminar with one well respected minister who was liberal. He presented various views how it makes sense that everyone is saved. I asked him about the Bible teachings on Hell. He simply dismissed them without any qualms as being myths. Why? He explained it doesn't fit with a loving God. When challenging him about the consistency of Paul's teaching how a loving God is also just God he simply writes Paul off as misguided Rabbi.
Many people determine to make their intellect their fine sounding human authority. Common sense becomes the final means of authority for religious beliefs. If it seems logical to me, then I will believe it.
Many love to argue the philosophies of atheism and evolution theories as if they are facts. How can anyone know there is no God? That seems to be an extreme position of pride that their wisdom and intellect is so superior it is above spiritual insight they know there is not God.
The entire history of human race is a reminder that man continually
uses poor judgment. Mankind seldom has the ability to make right decisions.
Liberal teaching may have some religious activities of helping others and working for peace and justice, but much of Scriptures are only considered an anthropological and sociological commentary on the uneducated and un-enlightened people of that day.
The Lord Jesus himself had to cope with this kind of thinking. In Mark 12 the Sadducees refused to believe in the resurrection based on reason. v. 24 Jesus analyzed their reasoning. They were wrong because they knew neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. Were they really searching for truth when they came to Jesus? No. They were asking Jesus questions so they could display their superior knowledge.
Liberals today have denied the deity of Jesus, the resurrection. They have eliminated much of Scripture as being fables and stories that cannot be believed as literally true.
Paul knew that the proclamation of Jesus would be a message that is nonsense to liberals. For what seems to be God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom and what seems to be God's weakness is stronger than human strength.
Now Christian faith that is honestly explored is definitely not anti-intellectual. Far from it. Paul had the most brilliant and highly educated minds of his century. He accused mankind not of having too much wisdom, but rather too little. He taught if they had enough wisdom they would not have crucified Jesus. If the Spirit of God understands the thoughts of God He is the only way to understand them.
Have you received the Spirit of God? It is impossible for a person to find God through his own intellect it comes down to a matter of the will.
While in Russia I read a most interesting book by Dr. Greg Boyd, Letters to a Skeptic. This was a series of letters back and forth between his father who had completely rejected Christianity, and Greg. Greg has a great mind and attended Ivy League schools and his father could not believe he could be a Christian and an intellectual. So the book was the correspondence of all the questions that his father had as to why he did not believe. Each one was answered by his son.
Finally Greg challenge his day, "It is like being in a house and someone outside house fire. You can choose to believe him or not to believe him-and you weigh the evidence carefully (do you smell smoke? Do you see flames? etc. ) You can choose to believe and risk looking foolish for running out of your house if it's a joke, or you can choose not to believe and risk being burned up. If you choose to suspend judgment you risk the same thing.”
God gave to us wisdom that is from above. To ignore it is to decide against Jesus. Satan is sly and wants to lure people into liberalism. Beware of how it moves it focus from Jesus to self.
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Thur Nov 12
Verses- Col 2: 5 For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how orderly you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.
6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him,7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.
The Trappings of Traditions.
There is a firmness in faith that delights Paul when he thinks of the church at Colossae. He gives them a further challenge to continue to live in Christ. Be rooted and built up in him. There were teachings that they needed to hang onto.
We have heard of struggles, especially recently between traditional and contemporary ways of doing things. There is cartoon where leaders of a contemporary church were discussing decisions for the following week and one objected, ”We never did it that way last week.”
One of the strengths of Stanchfield is it’s stability. When new ideas or thoughts emerge folks are not exactly going to give up what is tried and true to take on a new doctrine, teaching of spiritual fad. That is to the compliment of maturity.
Traditions based on truth of what we believe and how things are laid down orderly and firm is strength of church when it is Biblically based. The goal is developing strong roots so when opposition comes the plant or tree with strong roots is not blown away. That illustration is true for Christians. Knowing what you believe will prevent cult leaders from persuading someone to jump from doctrine to doctrine, church to church, and idea to idea.
But in verse 8 Paul warns against the hollow and deceptive philosophy which depends on human tradition and basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. It is to be our warning that we need to look at what is the core of things that are of Christ and what are the things which we hang onto that need to discarded or through repeated practice start getting in the way of the movement of the Holy Spirit.
Not only do some people trust their experiences over Scripture and their own intellect with liberal leanings, Paul also warns against the traditions of men. Traditions can be very meaningful. Someone in the past decided that a particular teaching or custom or ceremony should be repeated again and again. For that person, that teaching, or custom or ceremony was extremely important. It had to be preserved. It must not be forgotten.
Often, however the deep heart-meaning of the tradition can get lost. Or it what also happens is the form becomes more important than the substance. It is observed as dead ritual and calls for no real heart commitment.
I am told of one true story of a church in Europe where for years people would come into the church and pause before a west wall. When asked why people did not know why? It was a custom, a tradition. Many people tried to reflect as to the original meaning but it was something people had done for years. When the church was to be renovated they scrapped off paint from the wall and discovered a painting of the Madonna with child. For 25 years before people would genuflect in front of the picture, but when the picture was covered with paint people still kept coming to the wall until folks forgot why.
In the Bible days there were lots of illustrations of traditions that get in the way of truth. The disciples broke traditions by failing to wash their hands in a certain customary way before eating bread. But Jesus pointed out they were ignoring a more important matter of breaking one the 10 commandments of not honoring their parents.
Man's activities cannot become the final source of truth.
As an outsider in the Russian Baptist Church it was interesting to see the richness of choir and fervency of prayer. The preaching had something to be desired. It was tradition that 3 men of the church be asked that day to speak in 10, 20 and 30 minutes sermons. With lack of preparation and trainer that tradition in my opinion weakened the effectiveness of communicating the word of God.
I was talking to one young man trained by the Americans in preaching. He tried to preach in a more understanding manner using illustrations and objects to get the Bible message across. In the privacy of his home he told me he was called before the deacon board who forbid him to do that. They said there are some privileges granted to the Bishop that is not granted to the preacher and some privileges granted to older preachers that are not granted to younger preachers and privileges granted to Americans that are not granted to Russians. Traditionalism says you must follow our custom and our style.
The songs, the style, the 2 hour service an even the way they are allowed to speak has nothing to do with effective communication, or meaningful worship. They are guided by traditions that have and will hamper the effectiveness in a society that so alienates the society from outward observations that many unsaved will not want to listen to the message. The trappings of traditions can get in the way with Gods’ movements. What we do and how we do that needs to be examined based on the Scriptures, not man’s traditions.
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Fri Nov 13
Verses- Col 2: 6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him,7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
Completeness in Christ.
The false prophets of this world claim they have the answers. They have the answers in the psychic hotlines. They have the answers in alcohol and drugs. They have the answers in money and material possessions. They have the answers in illicit sex with many partners. They have the answers in empty rituals, in idols. In times of trouble, these false prophets of this world are nowhere to be found. Jesus Christ claims to be the way, the truth, the life. He claims to be God. Jesus proved His claims. They were validated by God Almighty when He rose from the dead on that glorious Sunday morning!! Know Jesus, grow in Jesus. May He be your teacher, your friend, your power, your wisdom your life.
If there is one main clear and simple way to see if most religions are on target or off target is get right their teachings about Jesus. Is salvation found only in Jesus or other ways to God? Is their teaching that Jesus is the Son of God fully human and fully divine, or do they teach he was a good prophet or teacher? Is their understanding of Jesus that he died on the cross to redeem mankind from their sins or is their other teachings of what Jesus Christ came to do and say? Do they see his works as fables or believe in the reality of his works and teachings. Are his words authoritative for faith and for practice?
I am so glad that the Bible was given to us by God to become the plumb line by which we can judge truth from falsehood. I have heard lots of arguments that people can prove whatever they want through different Bible verses. Look at all the different teachings by Christian churches. How is anyone able to know what is right?
I have found most people who say such things to me do not read the Bible or they would know better. There are major differences and minor differences. Most of the differences fall into the minor categories not the major ones. If you want to determine which camp people fall into basically ask this question. "How does one find salvation with God?" You will get basically three answers.
One it is by good works. Another is by baptism into the church; or thirdly it is because of faith that is placed in the works of Jesus Christ.
Now the Bible is again very clear about those things. Eph 2:5,6 It is by grace that you are saved through faith it is a gift of God lest anyone should boast, 1 Cor says simples if God did not call me to baptism but to preach the gospel. If salvation is found in baptism certainly God called him to baptize and not preach the gospel. But every book in the new testimony except 2 and 3rd John speak of faith, Most books in the New Testament do not say anything about baptism. You figure it out.
When you read the Bible, read it in context, what goes before what goes afterwards and what do all the verses teach when you are looking at a subject. Many times the writing of one letter or one teaching is addressing a particular point and not give you full understanding of that passage. And let the clear and plain passages help you understand the difficult ones and not the other way around. What is said repeatedly and plainly believe strongly and where there is one verse or confusing ideas form an opinion but allow for freedom of various interpretations.
Paul is saying don't look to other people for your authority, look to Jesus and His word alone. There will be people who will want you to follow emotional experiences, Beware. There are people who will want you to follow the lures of liberalism, beware, and there are people who will want you to be trapped by traditions, beware. Focus on Jesus Christ. Be firm in your faith so false authorities will not betray you. Know what you believe.
Though these "philosophies" and "traditions of men" may possess a lot of truth, it is the error in them that can lead one away from the pure and simple doctrine of Jesus Christ! We need to keep in mind that in "Jesus Christ" are found ALL the treasures of wisdom and knowledge - and in "Jesus Christ" is to be found the FULLNESS of the Godhead bodily - Co 2:9
Just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord continue to live in Him.
Pastor Dale
Theme CHRIST AND THE CULTS
Verses- Col 2:1-9
1 I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally.
2 My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ,3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
4 I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments.
5 For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how orderly you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.
6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him,7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.
9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form,
Believer, Beware
All around us there are voices of deception. I am shocked by the ways people are mislead into believing all kinds of things under the pretence religious meaning. On national news recently was exposed the violence and coercion of the Scientology church made more popular by followers, John Travolta and Tom Cruise. Even some of the leaders have now left the organization to the threat of personal attack by the craze leader, David Miscavige.
The 50th anniversary of Rev Sun Myung Moon of the Church of Unification brought 1000s of couples in a united arranged marriage that was made public recently. He has been teaching for years he is the Messiah.
Within the Christian tradition many churches and pastors have sprung off into cult like teachings where their insights, and visions, and special interpretations lead folks away from Biblical teaching, including established groups like Jehovah Witnesses, and Mormons.
The health and wealth TV preachers who bilk 1000s out of their offerings allowing them to live lavish life styles resulted in many people reject all religion and give up on the Christian church.
Someone can might say, "What a minute, Christians believe in a man who came back from the dead. He ascended to heaven. He claimed to be the Son of God. He invites me to leave everything and even my family if necessary to follow him and join a community of believers. He invites me to take up my cross. The Lord tells us not to be surprised when people make fun of us or think we are foolish. He calls me to die so that I might live. And then he tells me he is coming back for me so I can join him in paradise the next level.”
I can ask how can so many New Age teachers and followers be so foolish? But there are people asking that of those who take the following of Jesus Christ seriously. We need to look at the differences of the claims of Christ and compare them to the claims of other voices saying there is a different way.
From the beginning of time people have been deceived from the truth. Satan did what he does best which is to lead people into lies. He takes the word of God and the relationship that people have with Him and distorts and confuses people into focusing their faith into other things than what is revealed. We have had members of our church visited by cult members who promise them personal attention and Bible study. With a certain amount of Bible twisting they are very good as taking new or uninformed Christians and winning them over to their group which denies the divinity of Jesus Christ.
The Bible even tells us in the last days there will be a multitude of deceivers who will do everything to keep people from faith in Jesus
Throughout the next three weeks as we study from chapter 2 we will be looking at many of the warnings from the Bible that cause people to be held captive with lies. Just because someone says they are teaching from the Bible do not believe it. Read it in context for yourself. I have said many time do not take my word for things, also check them out in the Bible.
This last weekend while I was at the Minnesota Baptist Conference Annual meeting in Duluth, the Hispanic church planter gave his testimony. He said some that although I didn’t like, it was true. He said, “Most people will seldom read the Bible. Instead they will find out and believe what the Bible says through their pastors.”
I frankly stopped listening to him since I spend my time pondering those words. People seek truth more through other people than through looking at the Scriptures themselves. If they follow a leaders who teachings something is from the Bible, they seldom check it out. Most do not feel confident enough to understand the Bible so leave it up to those who are better trained. But unfortunately it leads folks to follow those who are more articulate and have charismatic personalities.
Paul warns the Colossians about deceptive authority that misleads them from the truth of Christ.
Believer, Beware! If something seems fishy, check it out!
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Tues Nov 10
Verses- Col 2: 1 I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally.
2 My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Beware of the Emotions of Experience
Paul wants his reader to be encouraged in their hearts and united in love. Those are emotional parts of our being. When we worship God we do worship Him in spirit and in truth. Many Christians are afraid of emotion. They are afraid of expressing their love or praise to God from their heart lest they be looked upon in our setting as out of control.
Our area, with strong Swedish roots, folks tend not to show much emotion. But of course that is changing as our culture changes. Our older churches and folks have a harder time showing their feelings in worship, whither by crying or laughing, or shouting, or clapping. That is not so in the South, or Latin American countries, or among some other ethnic groups. The showing of emotions can be a cultural thing.
It can also be a doctrinal thing. We are not what people call a charismatic church. Nor are we a liturgical church where every prayer and all responses are carefully scripted out before any service begins. A charismatic service generally implies lots of emotion which can include shouting, hand raising, clapping, and usually speaking in tongues. Sometimes it can include healings and anointing, fainting, dancing, visions and prophecies they say are from impressions from the Lord. Each church and pastor may handle those manifestations differently.
The fear of being emotional can also cause some people to quench the movement of the Spirit of God. There are many verses which speak of raising hands as expressions of praise to God. But you should see the looks on some faces when some people desire to raise their hands or clap with the music! True praise can exhibit itself in many forms. It can include musical instruments and also be without instruments; with organ or with drums. God wants to have people tell him they love him.
But there is also a warning that we need to take to heart. For some emotions of experiences take precedent over the revealed truth of God. He speaks about this also further v.(18-19) I will be writing on this later, but there are people who are having emotional experiences who take their trust and faith in the experience over the truth. Personal visions or tongues speaking become more important than being grounded in the Bible. Worship of angels apparently became an issue in Colossae. Their new messages based on those experiences were lead some astray.
Some people judge spiritual reality based on feelings or emotions. Some people question others salvation if they haven’t experienced tongues or some other feeling or emotion or revelation. Some people do not feel forgiven or not feel that God loves them, which goes against what the Bible says. If you are sincere in confession of your sins God is faithful and will forgive you. That is a faith based on fact not feeling. If you put your faith in Jesus Christ to save you that is fact, not feeling.
When Peter was on the Mount of Transfiguration, who wouldn't have enjoyed that experience of special revelation of Elijah and Moses and Jesus? Peter wanted to stay there all the time. "Let’s erect shelters for each and stay here" Jesus was not a made up story. The transfiguration was not a cleverly devised tale. But notice what Peter said in 2 Peter 1:19-21 he spoke of something being made “more sure”. What could be more sure than something he had witnessed in person? Nothing could be any more sure than what he personally experienced. Yet Peter said, “so we are even more confident of the message proclaimed by the prophets.”
In others words Peter was saying there is something even more trustworthy that what he saw and heard himself-namely the words written by men who were guided by the Holy Spirit of God. Then he says the Bible is not a matter of private interpretation. It is not a matter of human will. It is God breathed as men recorded it.
Apparently in Colossians some people had experiences of worshiping angels. Maybe someone met an angel and that experience is causing everyone to want to experience angels. There are supernatural things that happen beyond other explanations you know. Some want that same experience. We see crowds running all over to see a vision of the Madonna; people going to the other side of the globe to some water or some miracle rock or some woman who saw a vision. There are people wanting the experiences of speaking in tongues, or jumping in the spirit or laughing in the spirit or ecstatic behavior. Whether people worship angels, or take pride in some special revelation. There is the problem. It actually diverts one away from Christ, the rightful "Head of the body" - Co 2:19 The apostles saw it as wrong to be worshiped and so did the angels. Only God is to be worshiped. Only God is to be prayed to, not saints or angels.
There is a danger of emotional experiences that lead us away from truth to trust many spiritual leaders who claim God spoke to them in a vision, dream or even in a personal manifestation. Their faith is in the experience and not in facts of what Jesus Christ did and believing in Him.
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Nov 11- Happy Veteran’s Day.
Verse- Col 2: 4 I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments.
The Lures of Liberalism
Paul gives another warning again addressing man made philosophies. He warns them against fine sounding arguments. There are many who move the attention from Scriptures to use for one’s basis of authority what makes sense. I want to look at the Lure of Liberalism as one example. It is the philosophy of man, that is, man centered and filled with intellect. Whatever does not make sense according to the sciences and man’s view is simply discarded. There are many religious leaders that take the fine sounding principles that appeal to the sense of mankind but take away all the miracles, all the wonder of the eternal. Since it doesn't make sense that Jesus can be both God and man they have fine sounding arguments how he was a good prophet.
The lure of liberalism is that we recreate the Bible and the stories of Jesus to fit our preconceived ideas of what is true. We are the judges.
I was in a seminar with one well respected minister who was liberal. He presented various views how it makes sense that everyone is saved. I asked him about the Bible teachings on Hell. He simply dismissed them without any qualms as being myths. Why? He explained it doesn't fit with a loving God. When challenging him about the consistency of Paul's teaching how a loving God is also just God he simply writes Paul off as misguided Rabbi.
Many people determine to make their intellect their fine sounding human authority. Common sense becomes the final means of authority for religious beliefs. If it seems logical to me, then I will believe it.
Many love to argue the philosophies of atheism and evolution theories as if they are facts. How can anyone know there is no God? That seems to be an extreme position of pride that their wisdom and intellect is so superior it is above spiritual insight they know there is not God.
The entire history of human race is a reminder that man continually
uses poor judgment. Mankind seldom has the ability to make right decisions.
Liberal teaching may have some religious activities of helping others and working for peace and justice, but much of Scriptures are only considered an anthropological and sociological commentary on the uneducated and un-enlightened people of that day.
The Lord Jesus himself had to cope with this kind of thinking. In Mark 12 the Sadducees refused to believe in the resurrection based on reason. v. 24 Jesus analyzed their reasoning. They were wrong because they knew neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. Were they really searching for truth when they came to Jesus? No. They were asking Jesus questions so they could display their superior knowledge.
Liberals today have denied the deity of Jesus, the resurrection. They have eliminated much of Scripture as being fables and stories that cannot be believed as literally true.
Paul knew that the proclamation of Jesus would be a message that is nonsense to liberals. For what seems to be God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom and what seems to be God's weakness is stronger than human strength.
Now Christian faith that is honestly explored is definitely not anti-intellectual. Far from it. Paul had the most brilliant and highly educated minds of his century. He accused mankind not of having too much wisdom, but rather too little. He taught if they had enough wisdom they would not have crucified Jesus. If the Spirit of God understands the thoughts of God He is the only way to understand them.
Have you received the Spirit of God? It is impossible for a person to find God through his own intellect it comes down to a matter of the will.
While in Russia I read a most interesting book by Dr. Greg Boyd, Letters to a Skeptic. This was a series of letters back and forth between his father who had completely rejected Christianity, and Greg. Greg has a great mind and attended Ivy League schools and his father could not believe he could be a Christian and an intellectual. So the book was the correspondence of all the questions that his father had as to why he did not believe. Each one was answered by his son.
Finally Greg challenge his day, "It is like being in a house and someone outside house fire. You can choose to believe him or not to believe him-and you weigh the evidence carefully (do you smell smoke? Do you see flames? etc. ) You can choose to believe and risk looking foolish for running out of your house if it's a joke, or you can choose not to believe and risk being burned up. If you choose to suspend judgment you risk the same thing.”
God gave to us wisdom that is from above. To ignore it is to decide against Jesus. Satan is sly and wants to lure people into liberalism. Beware of how it moves it focus from Jesus to self.
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Thur Nov 12
Verses- Col 2: 5 For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how orderly you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.
6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him,7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.
The Trappings of Traditions.
There is a firmness in faith that delights Paul when he thinks of the church at Colossae. He gives them a further challenge to continue to live in Christ. Be rooted and built up in him. There were teachings that they needed to hang onto.
We have heard of struggles, especially recently between traditional and contemporary ways of doing things. There is cartoon where leaders of a contemporary church were discussing decisions for the following week and one objected, ”We never did it that way last week.”
One of the strengths of Stanchfield is it’s stability. When new ideas or thoughts emerge folks are not exactly going to give up what is tried and true to take on a new doctrine, teaching of spiritual fad. That is to the compliment of maturity.
Traditions based on truth of what we believe and how things are laid down orderly and firm is strength of church when it is Biblically based. The goal is developing strong roots so when opposition comes the plant or tree with strong roots is not blown away. That illustration is true for Christians. Knowing what you believe will prevent cult leaders from persuading someone to jump from doctrine to doctrine, church to church, and idea to idea.
But in verse 8 Paul warns against the hollow and deceptive philosophy which depends on human tradition and basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. It is to be our warning that we need to look at what is the core of things that are of Christ and what are the things which we hang onto that need to discarded or through repeated practice start getting in the way of the movement of the Holy Spirit.
Not only do some people trust their experiences over Scripture and their own intellect with liberal leanings, Paul also warns against the traditions of men. Traditions can be very meaningful. Someone in the past decided that a particular teaching or custom or ceremony should be repeated again and again. For that person, that teaching, or custom or ceremony was extremely important. It had to be preserved. It must not be forgotten.
Often, however the deep heart-meaning of the tradition can get lost. Or it what also happens is the form becomes more important than the substance. It is observed as dead ritual and calls for no real heart commitment.
I am told of one true story of a church in Europe where for years people would come into the church and pause before a west wall. When asked why people did not know why? It was a custom, a tradition. Many people tried to reflect as to the original meaning but it was something people had done for years. When the church was to be renovated they scrapped off paint from the wall and discovered a painting of the Madonna with child. For 25 years before people would genuflect in front of the picture, but when the picture was covered with paint people still kept coming to the wall until folks forgot why.
In the Bible days there were lots of illustrations of traditions that get in the way of truth. The disciples broke traditions by failing to wash their hands in a certain customary way before eating bread. But Jesus pointed out they were ignoring a more important matter of breaking one the 10 commandments of not honoring their parents.
Man's activities cannot become the final source of truth.
As an outsider in the Russian Baptist Church it was interesting to see the richness of choir and fervency of prayer. The preaching had something to be desired. It was tradition that 3 men of the church be asked that day to speak in 10, 20 and 30 minutes sermons. With lack of preparation and trainer that tradition in my opinion weakened the effectiveness of communicating the word of God.
I was talking to one young man trained by the Americans in preaching. He tried to preach in a more understanding manner using illustrations and objects to get the Bible message across. In the privacy of his home he told me he was called before the deacon board who forbid him to do that. They said there are some privileges granted to the Bishop that is not granted to the preacher and some privileges granted to older preachers that are not granted to younger preachers and privileges granted to Americans that are not granted to Russians. Traditionalism says you must follow our custom and our style.
The songs, the style, the 2 hour service an even the way they are allowed to speak has nothing to do with effective communication, or meaningful worship. They are guided by traditions that have and will hamper the effectiveness in a society that so alienates the society from outward observations that many unsaved will not want to listen to the message. The trappings of traditions can get in the way with Gods’ movements. What we do and how we do that needs to be examined based on the Scriptures, not man’s traditions.
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Fri Nov 13
Verses- Col 2: 6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him,7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
Completeness in Christ.
The false prophets of this world claim they have the answers. They have the answers in the psychic hotlines. They have the answers in alcohol and drugs. They have the answers in money and material possessions. They have the answers in illicit sex with many partners. They have the answers in empty rituals, in idols. In times of trouble, these false prophets of this world are nowhere to be found. Jesus Christ claims to be the way, the truth, the life. He claims to be God. Jesus proved His claims. They were validated by God Almighty when He rose from the dead on that glorious Sunday morning!! Know Jesus, grow in Jesus. May He be your teacher, your friend, your power, your wisdom your life.
If there is one main clear and simple way to see if most religions are on target or off target is get right their teachings about Jesus. Is salvation found only in Jesus or other ways to God? Is their teaching that Jesus is the Son of God fully human and fully divine, or do they teach he was a good prophet or teacher? Is their understanding of Jesus that he died on the cross to redeem mankind from their sins or is their other teachings of what Jesus Christ came to do and say? Do they see his works as fables or believe in the reality of his works and teachings. Are his words authoritative for faith and for practice?
I am so glad that the Bible was given to us by God to become the plumb line by which we can judge truth from falsehood. I have heard lots of arguments that people can prove whatever they want through different Bible verses. Look at all the different teachings by Christian churches. How is anyone able to know what is right?
I have found most people who say such things to me do not read the Bible or they would know better. There are major differences and minor differences. Most of the differences fall into the minor categories not the major ones. If you want to determine which camp people fall into basically ask this question. "How does one find salvation with God?" You will get basically three answers.
One it is by good works. Another is by baptism into the church; or thirdly it is because of faith that is placed in the works of Jesus Christ.
Now the Bible is again very clear about those things. Eph 2:5,6 It is by grace that you are saved through faith it is a gift of God lest anyone should boast, 1 Cor says simples if God did not call me to baptism but to preach the gospel. If salvation is found in baptism certainly God called him to baptize and not preach the gospel. But every book in the new testimony except 2 and 3rd John speak of faith, Most books in the New Testament do not say anything about baptism. You figure it out.
When you read the Bible, read it in context, what goes before what goes afterwards and what do all the verses teach when you are looking at a subject. Many times the writing of one letter or one teaching is addressing a particular point and not give you full understanding of that passage. And let the clear and plain passages help you understand the difficult ones and not the other way around. What is said repeatedly and plainly believe strongly and where there is one verse or confusing ideas form an opinion but allow for freedom of various interpretations.
Paul is saying don't look to other people for your authority, look to Jesus and His word alone. There will be people who will want you to follow emotional experiences, Beware. There are people who will want you to follow the lures of liberalism, beware, and there are people who will want you to be trapped by traditions, beware. Focus on Jesus Christ. Be firm in your faith so false authorities will not betray you. Know what you believe.
Though these "philosophies" and "traditions of men" may possess a lot of truth, it is the error in them that can lead one away from the pure and simple doctrine of Jesus Christ! We need to keep in mind that in "Jesus Christ" are found ALL the treasures of wisdom and knowledge - and in "Jesus Christ" is to be found the FULLNESS of the Godhead bodily - Co 2:9
Just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord continue to live in Him.
Pastor Dale
Friday, November 6, 2009
Christ in You Col 1:24-2:5
Sermon Nuggets- Mon, Nov 2
Theme - CHRIST IN YOU
Verses- 24 Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.
25 I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness--
Our Mandate for Ministry
As we have reviewed before there have been Paul had a dramatic change in the Apostle Paul’s life. There was a vast difference between a religion to which he was committed, and a relationship with the person of Jesus Christ. The first was in his head, the second was in his heart.
Although we will look more closely at vs. 24 a bit later, Paul was thinking about his ministry while he was imprisoned. He wrote this letter to the church at Colossae while under arrest. He had suffered for the cause of sharing Jesus Christ in a hostile world. He was not sorry he did so. He was willing to suffer and be in prison if the good news of Jesus Christ could be spread. Being a Christian in a non-Christian world meant that he had to accept suffering. He did so because of the mandate that He received from God.
But he wants them to know more about this ministry to which he was called. "I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness."
We are reminded how Paul hated Christians at first. He was so zealous to the Jewish traditions that he did all in his power to arrest, persecute and martyr followers of Jesus.
When I was in Russia awhile ago, I became aware how strong the traditions of the Orthodox church were. They had the power to influence the political government to stop and limit missionaries from coming into the country. They enforced the policy that no new religions or denominations would be allowed, only allowing those churches and denominations which had already established and registered during the communist control. They saw anything else as being a sect.
Truth was not allowed to confront traditions. Paul had traditions, but it wasn’t until his trip on the Damascus road that he met Jesus Christ in a personal way. After meeting with Ananias Paul had the commission, the mandate of God, to go and preach Jesus. Paul was especially chosen in a special manner for a special purpose to present the word of God in its fullness. Paul knew that he must never compromise on the word. He sought to be faithful to his charge that came not out of intellectual interest, or curious debate, or reading of many books, but it came from a face to face encounter and call from God that was life changing. Because of this Paul was ready to change roles from persecutor to being persecuted, from inflecting arrest to being arrested, from a profaner of the gospel to a proclaimer of the gospel.
God intends for all the world to hear about Christ and message will not spread unless people are dedicate to spreading it. You and I have a mandate also from God and it is similar. We are to be about making disciples. Go into all the world and preaching the gospel, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus says as recorded in the first chapter of the book of Acts. "Ye shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Samaria, Judea, and other parts of the world.
The disciples were weak in faith too, until they saw the living Lord. Saul was opposed to Christianity until he encountered the living Lord. They can philosophize, intellectualize debate, theorize, and have discussion sessions all night in their seminaries and college dorms but when one meets the living Christ it puts things in a far different perspective.
Yesterday, Sunday morning, Dr. Lou Petrie told us how he was invited to preach in the prison at Souix Falls, S.D. The chairman of this unusual church in prison was a man who has lots of zeal for the Lord. When Lou saw the effectiveness of this man he mentioned to the chaplain that he hoped he could stay for awhile to help fellow prisoners. The chaplain laughed and said “It’s more than you think. This man has four life sentences he has to serve without any possibility of parole.
The serious crimes committed by this individual in the past required justice to be paid in prison. But while there he met the Lord and changed his life from darkness into day, from the old self into the new self, seeking to carry on the mandate to see other men come to know the freedom that lasts eternity by making Jesus Christ Lord of their lives. He understood the mandate. It is a joy for him to carry it out.
And for Paul even his prison did not stop him from sharing the good news that we can read thousands of years later.
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Tues Nov 3
Verses- Col 1: 26 ..the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints.
27 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Our Message for Ministry
Paul had a mandate, a calling, to go and spread the good word. We also have a message. Paul came to realize there was a message that was hidden and kept secret from the people in the Jewish faith for 4,000 years and now it is revealed. He had the privilege of telling God's mystery to the world. The interesting thing with people is that they listen to what is whispered more than what is shouted.
I was in a room and almost laughed one time when someone wanted to speak to me in confidence. He began to speak in a very low voice. Do you know what happened? Everyone in the room stopped talking. It was so quiet, you could have heard a pin drop. They all wanted to know what was being whispered.
One person was dying to find out something said to his friend by another. He kept pumping his friend to tell him. Finally the friend said, "Can you keep a secret?" "Why, Of course."
"Well, So can I" he responded.
This message of Christ isn't so much a secret as it is a mystery. God had given people clues in the Old Testament but the time was not right to reveal the whole picture. He wanted folks to trust him by faith not by sight. Look at some of the clues. A lamb that was sacrificed; a serpent on a pole keeping people from dying; Manna from heaven; A messiah who would both suffer and reign forever; Then Jesus Christ came to earth. He was rejected by His people and was crucified. He rose again and returned to heaven. Did this mean God's promised kingdom for Israel was now abandoned? No, God had initiated a further understanding of his plan- His mystery which was not fully explained in the Old Testament prophets.
The mystery is that today God is uniting Jews and Gentiles into one body. The Gentiles were no longer excluded from the glory and riches of God's grace. The mystery is the Message for all mankind. Jesus fulfills the requirements set down by His Father in Heaven. God's plan is that Christ dwells in us. That is our hope of glory. In Jesus are hidden all the knowledge and wisdom to guide you into all truth. That is the power of the gospel message. God does not dwell in tabernacles, or temples any longer. Nor is he far from the sinful man, but makes us sinless through the blood of Jesus and dwell among us within our own hearts and souls.
The Colossians and Gnostics were concerned about knowledge and philosophy and theology and teaching and learning various new ideas that were going around. We don't need a teacher, nor do we need someone to give me more knowledge went it comes to my soul. It is not enough that Jesus be a great teacher of morals, what I need is a savior to free me from my bondage to sin. I need someone to tear down the barrier that is between me and God. I need love. I need forgiveness, and need to feel worthwhile. That is the mystery message: Christ in me, my hope of glory. Christ can be in you and be your hope of glory. He is a personal Lord and Savior for Jews, Gentiles, and for all people. God is in Jesus Christ reconciling us to Himself.
Every character attribute of Jesus Christ is now in you in the new birth. Our humanity is in conflict with our new nature. We have a new potential to love to demonstrate gentleness, to exhibit patience, and display peace. The reason so many people do not have that result is they are not claiming the promises by faith. The Message is the gospel of Jesus Christ who will live in every life who will repent and receive him.
Is He your hope for all eternity?
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Weds Nov 4
Verses- Col 1:24 Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.
Col 1:28 We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.
29 To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.
2:1 I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally.
Our Method for Ministry
The Method of sharing this message as Paul reveals it is unusual. First Christ in us must be seen, by responding to situations in powerful ways so that people will know that something is different and special about Christians.
Look again at vs. 24. Paul is suffering and rejoicing for "filling up in his body that is lacking in regard to Christ afflictions for the sake of the body."
When I was a chaplain at General Hospital I was part of a group of four who met daily for study and evaluation. There was the supervisor, who I would describe as a liberal. A catholic priest who was home from a missionary assignment from the Fuji Islands and the third member was sister Brigitta, a catholic Nun, from a down town parish. I was the fourth member, an evangelical Baptist. What an interesting class!
We obviously discussed the topic of physical suffering often. The catholic theology was different than I imagined. They believe this verse means that when we suffer physically we have a divine purpose as Christians. In our suffering we are identifying with Christ on the cross. The cross was the beginning of redemption. But we humans are completing redemption of the world by taking some of Jesus sufferings upon ourselves which completes what is needed for salvation. They rejoice in suffering because it means redemption for both themselves and others.
The Bible teaches there is nothing we can add to Christ's suffering. It is complete in and of itself. He paid the price. As a sinful man I cannot suffer for the redemption of the world. But I can suffer in order than the world might know the Gospel and come to believe it.
Sometimes I would hear people say who are suffering with a disease that it would be worth it if some people could get saved as a result of the witness. I pray this prayer will be answered. I pray that people will see the faith that is real in us in our suffering situations to bring people to himself, whether in miraculous healing or faithfulness in suffering. But out suffering cannot complete what Jesus did on the cross.
Christ suffered for two reasons. He suffered for our salvation on the cross to complete the righteous requirements payment for our sin. Christ did that alone. Secondly Christ suffered because righteous godly people will be persecuted in a sinful world. That is also the experience for Christians often in this world.
Stephen suffered so others could hear. Right now we are praying for the persecuted church. There are many giving their lives so others can hear the gospel. Every time I pick up this Bible remember there are people who gave their lives to have it translated and produced.
Religious freedom is an item of discussion while Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visits many of the Middle Eastern countries. Christians seem to be most often the target of violence because Satan hates Christ. Truth cannot be stopped even with suffering. All the disciples of Jesus suffered persecution that the church might be established.
Acts 5:4`1 said "The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for His name." Mark 13:9 Jesus said "You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils flogged in the synagogues, On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witness to them. And the gospel must first be preached to all nations."
Paul said this is being completed because the whole world must know, and the command to go and preach is being completed. This will not be completed until Christ returns.
The methods of spreading the message also include proclamation and admonishing, and teaching everyone with all wisdom.
To this end Paul writes, "I labor, struggling with all energy. He gives his all in perching and teaching and warning and writing.
How can we get the message out in our community? Are we willing to accept the methods the Bible says are necessary?
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Thurs Nov 5
Verses- Col 1: 28 29 We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.
29 To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.
Our Means for Ministry
We looked at the methods Paul used to spread the message. His suffering and proclamations, his admonishing and teaching was in wisdom that came from God with the main purpose to bring people to wholeness in Christ, to be perfect by His grace. It was to elicit change into Christ likeness.
This spiritual activity is not possible without the power of Christ working in him. Paul had supernatural filling. He knew how to teach. He knew how to admonish; he know how to proclaim the torah and teachings of the Rabbis when he was a respected Pharisee, but he did not know how to change hearts, only enforce legal restrictions. Now he saw the power of God changing hearts and bringing insight into truths and mysteries not understood before Christ’s fulfillment of the prophecies.
The means of his ministry is the Holy Spirit's power. He is the vessel of the work of Christ in him. Christ is doing the work through Him. How can 25,000 people a day profess Christ in an Asian country where it is outlawed to preach the Gospel? It doesn’t happen with the best laid plans for evangelism. It happens when people are obedient to the word of God by the power of the Holy Spirit. Certainly there is teaching; Of course there is discipleship and training. People need to know truth, but it isn’t until the Spirit of God moves that anything of importance happens beyond human efforts. Paul saw God at work.
The director of the Bible school in Russia where I taught for two weeks told his story that was raised in a Christian home. His father was told that he would be taken away if he taught his children about Jesus Christ. Why would he risk losing his whole family for such a stupid thing? This official asked him. He continued to teach Michael and his sister about Jesus Christ because the power of the Holy Spirit is more powerful than the hand of Russian government.
How is it that John Wesley in the age 80 and 90 was able to speak three sermons a day, and write volumes of Christian helps? Because of the power with him, that is Christ in you. It is possible to work in all human activity, but that is our work not Christ. Spiritual revival is only possible when we are clean and holy, usable for His service.
But whenever there is blessing there is also a battle. Where there is growth spiritually, there is also Satan with the temptations and situations that want to hinder us. That is why we need the protection and peace that comes from above. Discouragement is so easily an arrow of the evil one. He makes active ministry and witness almost impossible. But we do not minister for Christ, rather we let Christ minister through us. That was Paul's means of ministry. He was obedient letting God use him.
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Fri Nov 6
Verses Col 2:1-5 I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally.
2 My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ,3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
4 I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments.
5 For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how orderly you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.
Our Motive for Ministry
Chapter 2 also talks about what I will call the purpose or motive for Paul which is to encourage the church and unite them in love and relay the complete understanding to know Christ, who has all wisdom and knowledge. He wants them grounded in truth so they not be deceived by false teachers. His motive for ministry is love for God and all people. He experienced love from Christ who dwells in him by the Holy Spirit.
The aim of seeing people mature in their devotion to the Lord excited him. It was not just to get them as members to get their name on the dotted line, but to bring them to a point of being discipled. He prays for them. He prays for their encouragement of heart. We all need encouragement.
While I was in India we had a travel guide who was very poor in riches, but very rich in faith. He would get up early and pray. He would fast before some speaking engagements. He traveled long distances on foot to villages to share the good news of Jesus. For lengths of time he was away from his wife and daughter. I asked him about rest. His response was "I am pleased I can do this for my Lord, for He has done so much for me."
Another believer I had the privilege to meet here in the U.S. was a man named Marcus from Sudan. As a business man he came to find salvation by faith in Jesus. He got a hold of the Jesus film by Campus Crusade and felt the Lord was calling him to go to villages and show the film. Indeed, many came forward to repent of sin and trust Christ. He began discipleship groups. While doing so he would take some from that first group of believers and go to another village and repeat the process. The principles of multiplication took place. In time thousands responded to Christ by faith. I asked him about danger. He looked at me somewhat surprised and said, “God told me to go, He never said anything to me about safety. If He says go, I go. What else He chooses to do is in His hands.”
Paul said, "For me to live is Christ and to die is gain."
Marcus, although very shy and quiet, is living Paul. He has the Mandate, the call to share. He has the Message to share Christ in you. His Method of spreading the Word was proclaiming even if by film. The Means is with the power of the Holy Spirit. His Motive is that people might know and be saved and become mature in Jesus Christ.
I have been with people who are willing to give their lives if need be for this great commission. They are examples of commitment to me. How about here? Are you are willing to go wherever He leads you?
Pastor Dale
Theme - CHRIST IN YOU
Verses- 24 Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.
25 I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness--
Our Mandate for Ministry
As we have reviewed before there have been Paul had a dramatic change in the Apostle Paul’s life. There was a vast difference between a religion to which he was committed, and a relationship with the person of Jesus Christ. The first was in his head, the second was in his heart.
Although we will look more closely at vs. 24 a bit later, Paul was thinking about his ministry while he was imprisoned. He wrote this letter to the church at Colossae while under arrest. He had suffered for the cause of sharing Jesus Christ in a hostile world. He was not sorry he did so. He was willing to suffer and be in prison if the good news of Jesus Christ could be spread. Being a Christian in a non-Christian world meant that he had to accept suffering. He did so because of the mandate that He received from God.
But he wants them to know more about this ministry to which he was called. "I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness."
We are reminded how Paul hated Christians at first. He was so zealous to the Jewish traditions that he did all in his power to arrest, persecute and martyr followers of Jesus.
When I was in Russia awhile ago, I became aware how strong the traditions of the Orthodox church were. They had the power to influence the political government to stop and limit missionaries from coming into the country. They enforced the policy that no new religions or denominations would be allowed, only allowing those churches and denominations which had already established and registered during the communist control. They saw anything else as being a sect.
Truth was not allowed to confront traditions. Paul had traditions, but it wasn’t until his trip on the Damascus road that he met Jesus Christ in a personal way. After meeting with Ananias Paul had the commission, the mandate of God, to go and preach Jesus. Paul was especially chosen in a special manner for a special purpose to present the word of God in its fullness. Paul knew that he must never compromise on the word. He sought to be faithful to his charge that came not out of intellectual interest, or curious debate, or reading of many books, but it came from a face to face encounter and call from God that was life changing. Because of this Paul was ready to change roles from persecutor to being persecuted, from inflecting arrest to being arrested, from a profaner of the gospel to a proclaimer of the gospel.
God intends for all the world to hear about Christ and message will not spread unless people are dedicate to spreading it. You and I have a mandate also from God and it is similar. We are to be about making disciples. Go into all the world and preaching the gospel, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus says as recorded in the first chapter of the book of Acts. "Ye shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Samaria, Judea, and other parts of the world.
The disciples were weak in faith too, until they saw the living Lord. Saul was opposed to Christianity until he encountered the living Lord. They can philosophize, intellectualize debate, theorize, and have discussion sessions all night in their seminaries and college dorms but when one meets the living Christ it puts things in a far different perspective.
Yesterday, Sunday morning, Dr. Lou Petrie told us how he was invited to preach in the prison at Souix Falls, S.D. The chairman of this unusual church in prison was a man who has lots of zeal for the Lord. When Lou saw the effectiveness of this man he mentioned to the chaplain that he hoped he could stay for awhile to help fellow prisoners. The chaplain laughed and said “It’s more than you think. This man has four life sentences he has to serve without any possibility of parole.
The serious crimes committed by this individual in the past required justice to be paid in prison. But while there he met the Lord and changed his life from darkness into day, from the old self into the new self, seeking to carry on the mandate to see other men come to know the freedom that lasts eternity by making Jesus Christ Lord of their lives. He understood the mandate. It is a joy for him to carry it out.
And for Paul even his prison did not stop him from sharing the good news that we can read thousands of years later.
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Tues Nov 3
Verses- Col 1: 26 ..the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints.
27 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Our Message for Ministry
Paul had a mandate, a calling, to go and spread the good word. We also have a message. Paul came to realize there was a message that was hidden and kept secret from the people in the Jewish faith for 4,000 years and now it is revealed. He had the privilege of telling God's mystery to the world. The interesting thing with people is that they listen to what is whispered more than what is shouted.
I was in a room and almost laughed one time when someone wanted to speak to me in confidence. He began to speak in a very low voice. Do you know what happened? Everyone in the room stopped talking. It was so quiet, you could have heard a pin drop. They all wanted to know what was being whispered.
One person was dying to find out something said to his friend by another. He kept pumping his friend to tell him. Finally the friend said, "Can you keep a secret?" "Why, Of course."
"Well, So can I" he responded.
This message of Christ isn't so much a secret as it is a mystery. God had given people clues in the Old Testament but the time was not right to reveal the whole picture. He wanted folks to trust him by faith not by sight. Look at some of the clues. A lamb that was sacrificed; a serpent on a pole keeping people from dying; Manna from heaven; A messiah who would both suffer and reign forever; Then Jesus Christ came to earth. He was rejected by His people and was crucified. He rose again and returned to heaven. Did this mean God's promised kingdom for Israel was now abandoned? No, God had initiated a further understanding of his plan- His mystery which was not fully explained in the Old Testament prophets.
The mystery is that today God is uniting Jews and Gentiles into one body. The Gentiles were no longer excluded from the glory and riches of God's grace. The mystery is the Message for all mankind. Jesus fulfills the requirements set down by His Father in Heaven. God's plan is that Christ dwells in us. That is our hope of glory. In Jesus are hidden all the knowledge and wisdom to guide you into all truth. That is the power of the gospel message. God does not dwell in tabernacles, or temples any longer. Nor is he far from the sinful man, but makes us sinless through the blood of Jesus and dwell among us within our own hearts and souls.
The Colossians and Gnostics were concerned about knowledge and philosophy and theology and teaching and learning various new ideas that were going around. We don't need a teacher, nor do we need someone to give me more knowledge went it comes to my soul. It is not enough that Jesus be a great teacher of morals, what I need is a savior to free me from my bondage to sin. I need someone to tear down the barrier that is between me and God. I need love. I need forgiveness, and need to feel worthwhile. That is the mystery message: Christ in me, my hope of glory. Christ can be in you and be your hope of glory. He is a personal Lord and Savior for Jews, Gentiles, and for all people. God is in Jesus Christ reconciling us to Himself.
Every character attribute of Jesus Christ is now in you in the new birth. Our humanity is in conflict with our new nature. We have a new potential to love to demonstrate gentleness, to exhibit patience, and display peace. The reason so many people do not have that result is they are not claiming the promises by faith. The Message is the gospel of Jesus Christ who will live in every life who will repent and receive him.
Is He your hope for all eternity?
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Weds Nov 4
Verses- Col 1:24 Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.
Col 1:28 We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.
29 To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.
2:1 I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally.
Our Method for Ministry
The Method of sharing this message as Paul reveals it is unusual. First Christ in us must be seen, by responding to situations in powerful ways so that people will know that something is different and special about Christians.
Look again at vs. 24. Paul is suffering and rejoicing for "filling up in his body that is lacking in regard to Christ afflictions for the sake of the body."
When I was a chaplain at General Hospital I was part of a group of four who met daily for study and evaluation. There was the supervisor, who I would describe as a liberal. A catholic priest who was home from a missionary assignment from the Fuji Islands and the third member was sister Brigitta, a catholic Nun, from a down town parish. I was the fourth member, an evangelical Baptist. What an interesting class!
We obviously discussed the topic of physical suffering often. The catholic theology was different than I imagined. They believe this verse means that when we suffer physically we have a divine purpose as Christians. In our suffering we are identifying with Christ on the cross. The cross was the beginning of redemption. But we humans are completing redemption of the world by taking some of Jesus sufferings upon ourselves which completes what is needed for salvation. They rejoice in suffering because it means redemption for both themselves and others.
The Bible teaches there is nothing we can add to Christ's suffering. It is complete in and of itself. He paid the price. As a sinful man I cannot suffer for the redemption of the world. But I can suffer in order than the world might know the Gospel and come to believe it.
Sometimes I would hear people say who are suffering with a disease that it would be worth it if some people could get saved as a result of the witness. I pray this prayer will be answered. I pray that people will see the faith that is real in us in our suffering situations to bring people to himself, whether in miraculous healing or faithfulness in suffering. But out suffering cannot complete what Jesus did on the cross.
Christ suffered for two reasons. He suffered for our salvation on the cross to complete the righteous requirements payment for our sin. Christ did that alone. Secondly Christ suffered because righteous godly people will be persecuted in a sinful world. That is also the experience for Christians often in this world.
Stephen suffered so others could hear. Right now we are praying for the persecuted church. There are many giving their lives so others can hear the gospel. Every time I pick up this Bible remember there are people who gave their lives to have it translated and produced.
Religious freedom is an item of discussion while Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visits many of the Middle Eastern countries. Christians seem to be most often the target of violence because Satan hates Christ. Truth cannot be stopped even with suffering. All the disciples of Jesus suffered persecution that the church might be established.
Acts 5:4`1 said "The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for His name." Mark 13:9 Jesus said "You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils flogged in the synagogues, On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witness to them. And the gospel must first be preached to all nations."
Paul said this is being completed because the whole world must know, and the command to go and preach is being completed. This will not be completed until Christ returns.
The methods of spreading the message also include proclamation and admonishing, and teaching everyone with all wisdom.
To this end Paul writes, "I labor, struggling with all energy. He gives his all in perching and teaching and warning and writing.
How can we get the message out in our community? Are we willing to accept the methods the Bible says are necessary?
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Thurs Nov 5
Verses- Col 1: 28 29 We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.
29 To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.
Our Means for Ministry
We looked at the methods Paul used to spread the message. His suffering and proclamations, his admonishing and teaching was in wisdom that came from God with the main purpose to bring people to wholeness in Christ, to be perfect by His grace. It was to elicit change into Christ likeness.
This spiritual activity is not possible without the power of Christ working in him. Paul had supernatural filling. He knew how to teach. He knew how to admonish; he know how to proclaim the torah and teachings of the Rabbis when he was a respected Pharisee, but he did not know how to change hearts, only enforce legal restrictions. Now he saw the power of God changing hearts and bringing insight into truths and mysteries not understood before Christ’s fulfillment of the prophecies.
The means of his ministry is the Holy Spirit's power. He is the vessel of the work of Christ in him. Christ is doing the work through Him. How can 25,000 people a day profess Christ in an Asian country where it is outlawed to preach the Gospel? It doesn’t happen with the best laid plans for evangelism. It happens when people are obedient to the word of God by the power of the Holy Spirit. Certainly there is teaching; Of course there is discipleship and training. People need to know truth, but it isn’t until the Spirit of God moves that anything of importance happens beyond human efforts. Paul saw God at work.
The director of the Bible school in Russia where I taught for two weeks told his story that was raised in a Christian home. His father was told that he would be taken away if he taught his children about Jesus Christ. Why would he risk losing his whole family for such a stupid thing? This official asked him. He continued to teach Michael and his sister about Jesus Christ because the power of the Holy Spirit is more powerful than the hand of Russian government.
How is it that John Wesley in the age 80 and 90 was able to speak three sermons a day, and write volumes of Christian helps? Because of the power with him, that is Christ in you. It is possible to work in all human activity, but that is our work not Christ. Spiritual revival is only possible when we are clean and holy, usable for His service.
But whenever there is blessing there is also a battle. Where there is growth spiritually, there is also Satan with the temptations and situations that want to hinder us. That is why we need the protection and peace that comes from above. Discouragement is so easily an arrow of the evil one. He makes active ministry and witness almost impossible. But we do not minister for Christ, rather we let Christ minister through us. That was Paul's means of ministry. He was obedient letting God use him.
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Fri Nov 6
Verses Col 2:1-5 I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally.
2 My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ,3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
4 I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments.
5 For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how orderly you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.
Our Motive for Ministry
Chapter 2 also talks about what I will call the purpose or motive for Paul which is to encourage the church and unite them in love and relay the complete understanding to know Christ, who has all wisdom and knowledge. He wants them grounded in truth so they not be deceived by false teachers. His motive for ministry is love for God and all people. He experienced love from Christ who dwells in him by the Holy Spirit.
The aim of seeing people mature in their devotion to the Lord excited him. It was not just to get them as members to get their name on the dotted line, but to bring them to a point of being discipled. He prays for them. He prays for their encouragement of heart. We all need encouragement.
While I was in India we had a travel guide who was very poor in riches, but very rich in faith. He would get up early and pray. He would fast before some speaking engagements. He traveled long distances on foot to villages to share the good news of Jesus. For lengths of time he was away from his wife and daughter. I asked him about rest. His response was "I am pleased I can do this for my Lord, for He has done so much for me."
Another believer I had the privilege to meet here in the U.S. was a man named Marcus from Sudan. As a business man he came to find salvation by faith in Jesus. He got a hold of the Jesus film by Campus Crusade and felt the Lord was calling him to go to villages and show the film. Indeed, many came forward to repent of sin and trust Christ. He began discipleship groups. While doing so he would take some from that first group of believers and go to another village and repeat the process. The principles of multiplication took place. In time thousands responded to Christ by faith. I asked him about danger. He looked at me somewhat surprised and said, “God told me to go, He never said anything to me about safety. If He says go, I go. What else He chooses to do is in His hands.”
Paul said, "For me to live is Christ and to die is gain."
Marcus, although very shy and quiet, is living Paul. He has the Mandate, the call to share. He has the Message to share Christ in you. His Method of spreading the Word was proclaiming even if by film. The Means is with the power of the Holy Spirit. His Motive is that people might know and be saved and become mature in Jesus Christ.
I have been with people who are willing to give their lives if need be for this great commission. They are examples of commitment to me. How about here? Are you are willing to go wherever He leads you?
Pastor Dale
Friday, October 30, 2009
Amazing Love Col 1:21-23
Sermon Nuggets Week of Oct 26 Col 1:21-23
Sermon Nuggets Mon Oct 26
Theme- Amazing Love
Verses: Col 1:21-23 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.
But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation--if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
Amazing Love
When I attended Bethel I became introduced to on of the great hymns of the faith, “And Can it Be”. I was surprised that I never heard it before, but it was a moving experience to hear the various parts sung in a testimony of praise of a large student assembly in the field house turned into a chapel. That song seemed to me to be best suited for a mass choir.
The wonder of the grace of Almighty God that would save him, a sinner so overwhelmed Charles Wesley he penned these words shortly after his conversion:
“And can it be that I should gain an interest in the Savior's blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain for me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be, That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
'Tis mystery all: th'Immortal dies: Who can explore His strange design?
In vain the firstborn seraph tries to sound the depths of love divine.
'Tis mercy all! Let earth adore, Let angel minds inquire no more.
He left His Father's throne above. So free, so infinite His grace-
Emptied Himself of all but love, and bled for Adam's helpless race:
'Tis mercy all, immense and free, for O my God, it found out me!
Still the small inward voice I hear, that whispers all my sins forgiven;
Still the atoning blood is near, that quenched the wrath of hostile Heaven.
I feel the life His wounds impart; I feel the Savior in my heart.
No condemnation now I read; Jesus, and all in Him, is mine;
Alive in Him, my living Head, And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach th'eternal throne, and claim the crown, through Christ my own.”
The questions he asks in his song are reflections on the truths in the passage we will think about this week. How can it be that the shedding of Jesus’ blood 2000 years ago is relevant to me today? How was it possible for the Son of God to have died for me? Why should our Lord empty Himself of all His divine glory and become a man, in order to save Adam’s helpless race?
Charles Wesley was the younger brother of the famed preacher, John Wesley. He has been ordinate into the clergy and was pastoring a church for three years before he joined his brother on a missions trip to America. He was quite disillusioned and returned home a year earlier than John. He had taken ill was recuperating in a home of people whom seemed to have a personal relationship to Jesus Christ. This testimony of the inner witness of the love of Christ seemed to elude him.
He was reading his Bible. The words became life to Him as the Spirit of God spoke to Charles of his need for confession, repentance and faith in Christ’s works on the cross. On May 20, 1738, around midnight, Charles Wesley was saved. His journal reads "I now found myself at peace with God, and rejoiced in hope of loving Christ..... I saw that by faith I stood, by the continual support of faith.......I went to bed still sensible of my own weakness....yet confident of Christ's protection." On the following day, Charles strength began to return. He also commenced what proved to be the one of the first of some 6,000 hymns! He found the assurance of salvation that he never had before. It was the difference between a religion he followed, and a savior whom he now knew in a personal way. It is amazing that God would stoop to save each of us!
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Tues Oct 27
Verses Col 1:21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.
Alienation
In a Peanut’s cartoon Lucy addressed Snoopy: “There are times when you really bug me, but there are also times when I feel like giving you a hug.” Snoopy replied, “That’s the way I am, huggable and buggable.”
We all have our huggable days but we may have more buggable days. Did you ever alienate anyone with your buggableness or by bugging them?
One of the thoughts that we were looking at yesterday was the way in which Charles Wesley saw his sin and his need of a savior. He know about Christ, but did not have a personal relationship with him. When he repented things changed dramatically. He was overwhelmed by God’s great love for him.
Paul also was aware of the life he lived apart of Jesus. In fact all people start there.
A couple I was visiting was trying to get some insights in the differences of their church backgrounds. After describing the importance of making a commitment to Christ, the man wanted to summarize what he heard as a difference between the two churches. He drew a box that he called “salvation” and a person outside of that box. He understood me to say in effect we start outside the box and need to make a commitment and confession before we are “in the box”. Whereas at this other church we start in the box as a baby and much make some decision or action that moves us out of the box.
I had not heard it shared that way before. I told him I couldn’t answer for the other pastor, (without getting into the argument of the age of accountability) I said we do begin with a sinful nature that separates us from a holy and righteous God. IT is only by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ whereby we are made clean from sin and acceptable to Him. When we apply by faith His work for us on the cross can we be born again.
All of us were alienated from God. We were his enemies. Alienation sometimes happens between people because of some action or words that were shared that resulted in people no longer having a relationship together. People are no longer friends. Some have become enemies.
It could be that you have done something against another person whereby they no longer want to have anything to do with you. Did you ever know someone that just irritated you to the point where you couldn’t stand to be around them?
We are all alienated God with our minds and actions. We all have sinned and do sin. And because God is totally holy and cannot sin, it’s hard for Him to be in our presence. We have alienated Him with our sins and sinful nature. But that’s where everybody starts out before the cleansing blood of Christ is applied. Can you imagine sinful people presented God as Holy? There is something in the Greek that we don’t see in the English there is an intensifier on the word now. You once where far away from God but now…it’s different – but now through God’s amazing grace you’ve been given a new position – now you’re not far away from God but you’re in Christ.
Paul wants us to catch the gravity of our plight that we once were headed for doom, but through Christ we are headed for eternal bliss. If Christians could catch the vision of where they were headed and where they are now it would change the whole perspective of our Christian life. You were once hell bound. You were lost without any hope because you aliened God by your sin. You can justify yourself all you want, but until you saw your situation of standing condemned you will have a hard to appreciation the extent to which God went to change your direction. You once were doomed but you’ve been saved. You were not saved from loneliness, or hopelessness; you were saved from God’s wrath.
Even as believers we sometimes decide to live apart from Gods’ grace and truth and wonder where God is. We may be saved, but do not have the closeness nor love that we once had. We can again.
I think the opposite of alienation is united in friendship, close in love. That is God’s plan for you and me.
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Weds Oct 28
Verses – Col 1:22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation-
Reconciliation
Some of the thoughts for devotions on this passage have been with the help of Pastor Steve Shepherd’s sermon “The Cleaning Process.”
The teacher was checking her student’s knowledge of proverbs. “Cleanliness is next to what?” she asked. A small boy replied with real feeling: “Impossible.” Sometimes cleanliness does seem nearly impossible. I’m talking about soul cleanliness. Why does it seem impossible at times? Because sin is so strong, so never-ending. It appears that even once we are cleansed from sin it comes right back. It is so very hard to overcome certain sins: greed, lust, ill will, anger, gossip, etc. It is a never-ending battle. As a father came home from his work he saw his little daughter who had been playing in the mud. He said to her, “Honey, you’re pretty dirty.” In her childish way she replied, “Yes, I know daddy, but I’m prettier clean.” And we all are prettier when we are clean!
When Paul realized his lost condition there was nothing he could do about it. He was among the most zealous of religious men. He did all he could to be right with God but his sin separated him from God. But by God’s grace he was met in a dramatic manner on the road to Damascus and was reconciled with God by faith in Jesus Christ. We hope and pray that people will get reconciled to God through Christ death on the cross. Christ died to make it possible to come into God’s presence and have fellowship with Him. Christ died to cleanse us and make us pure in God’s eyes and unite us with Him.
One New Year’s Eve at London’s Garrick Club, British dramatist Frederick Lonsdale was asked by Seymour Hicks to reconcile with a fellow member. The two had quarreled in the past and never restored their friendship. "You must," Hicks said to Lonsdale. "It is very unkind to be unfriendly at such a time. Go over now and wish him a happy New Year." So Lonsdale crossed the room and spoke to his enemy. "I wish you a happy New Year," he said, "but only one." That’s not exactly what we would call full reconciliation. However, there may be some people that want that kind of reconciliation with God. I mean they may not want full or complete reconciliation and only want minimal fellowship with God and His church.
Frankly, some people just don’t want to get too close to God and go to church very much. Maybe they would be afraid that God will spoil their fun and plus it will cost them some money as well. Some people just don’t want to get too religious!
True reconciliation means that we believe in Christ and trust in His death on the cross to save us from our sins. We believe, we trust and we surrender by faith and obedience. We do what Christ asks us to do: repent, be baptized, seek His will in life, and commit to serve Him. And some people don’t want to do these things. Some people don’t want that kind of reconciliation or commitment.
The cross of Jesus brings us together with God for all eternity. With reconciliation also comes cleansing from all our sins, or reconciliation would not be possible.
Pastor Dale
Sermon nuggets Thurs Oct 29
Verse- Col 1:23 “If you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.”
Perseverance
Paul speaks of becoming holy in V. 22 and then he says, “If you continue in your faith…” Continuance is vitally important. Perseverance is part of being saved. Real faith is always a faith that is tested. This is not to be misunderstood as works salvation. It is rather the fruit of faith.
When Abraham was justified by faith there was nothing he did to earn grace. God initiated goodness upon him. But it is a mistake to think the path of obedience is without struggle. He was called upon to give God commitment of heart, mind, soul and spirit. He was tested through obedience to give up his only son, Isaac, as a sacrifice. God provided a substitute. Abraham did not put something of lesser value on that altar than what God told him. His walk was a faith walk believing that God would do what is best. It is active trust, not passive trust. Do we really believe?
Reconciliation came at a price. Christ’s physical body went through suffering and through death. What Paul is saying here is that salvation; even though it’s free it came at a great cost. Faith is the opposite of what health and wealth preachers teach. Instead of demanding more from God we are pleased to follow wherever and however He leads and that path will be through the valley of the shadow of death. That death will not only be physical in order to gain the glories of heaven, but it is the death of ego, self, greed, lusts, pride, desires that are focused on the counterfeit pleasures of this world.
Abraham was rich. But yet the Bible said he possessed nothing. There was nothing that was his, it was all God’s and so he could freely give up anything since it wasn’t his anyway.
I get very upset over the teaching of liberal pastors. Ralph Milton helps many pastors in his writings and teachings. Concerning the sacrifice of Jesus he wrote, “I don’t pretend to understand the Hebrew sacrificial system. The whole culture seems to have been living with a huge sense of guilt. Maybe we could do with a bit of that – a sense that we do carry the blame for what is happening in the world especially the suffering from several diseases and starvation n Africa. And I’m quite sure, if we really wanted to, we could find a better solution than killing an animal or a human, even if the human was Jesus of Nazareth.”
He teaches pastors that the cross was really a faulted system. When we bear the guilt of not feeding Africa, guilt is appropriate, but not the guilt that most of us carry for sinning against our brothers and sisters and against God.
Ignoring the poor is corporate sin. Discrimination is corporate sin. Pollution is corporate sin. All of which should be addressed in individual ways, but lying, stealing, sex outside of marriage, covetousness, ignoring God’s lordship in our personal lives are individual matters that also required the death of Jesus in order to be cleansed from all unrighteousness. Now we need to continue in order to “take up your cross daily and follow me.”
When God called Paul to go to preach in unreached lands there was persecution, hardships, beatings, hunger, and discouragement. But the gift of this pearl of great price was so valuable that his passion was to share it at no personal advantage to himself from an earthly perspective but amazing value to his heart and soul in relationship to God and in the strengthening of his faith. He was full of joy in jail. He was full of praise in prison. He was singing in suffering. He was persevering in persecution.
Why? He tells us in II Tim. 4:7-8 “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”
The lies of Satan are to give up. The strength of the Spirit is to look up. If you are going through hardships, difficulties, discouragement then exercise the faith given to you. Trust in the one who promises to sustain you in your obedience.
The hymn writer said it well. “Trust and obey for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey.”
Pastor Dale
Sermon nuggets Fri Oct 30
Verses- Col. 1:22 “But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation.”
Glorification
Do we understand that from which we have been saved?
Last Tuesday at the Grindstone semi-annual meeting, Pastor Ivan Fiske spoke on the importance of two paths, two people, and two destinies from Matt 7:13-14 "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
There is a broad path. The gate is popular; it is pleasurable; it is man-pleasing. There is a narrow gate that is hard, difficult, and unattractive from an earthly point of view.
There are two types of people- The many and the few. Multitudes of people follow the wide path. They seek the journey that is easy. It has little demands and little responsibility. It is self fulfilling. It is about the good life and uses religious ways to accomplish that. The are not many who are willing to give up the control and priorities of their life to another, Jesus Christ. They want to decide what to do and when to do it for the Lord and the concept of servant hood is unattractive. There are those who love sin and others who seek holiness. Those who want God and live however they want, and others who love God and delight in pleasing Him in all they do and say.
But the bottom line is destruction, devastation, and eternal suffering. You cannot sugar coat hell. It is real and it is where most people go. The second destination is heaven with glory and pleasure, peace and fulfillment forever more.
We tend to lose those eternal truths when only half of the story is told. When people find this journey is hard, they quit and go down the wide path. When people see the destination as heaven and hell and the unbelievable difference, there is joy and peace in the security knowing they are bound for glory and all their sin and condemnation has been taken away by the blood of Jesus. We are not holy and without blemish. There is no reason of holding anything against us for Jesus saved us from damnation.
The destiny of everyone who has put his or her faith in Christ has now been radically changed. Our salvation came at a high cost. Now you are presented to the father as a bride prepared for her husband, pure and holy in his sight. It is a love commitment in which there is joy and fulfillment forever more.
Now there are a lot of things you could accuse me of and rightly so, and not only that but the devil is the accuser of all Christians. But because of Christ death on the cross I have been acquitted of all charges, and no accusations will hold up. Now there awaits us the joy of our salvation. By grace we inherit all that God has prepared in glory. This truth so excites Paul that many commentaries say much of what he is writing is a hymn of praise for the hope that is our in Chirst. Glory is a place of great reward. It is that hope that kept him going. It is also ours, all because of God’s amazing love!
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Mon Oct 26
Theme- Amazing Love
Verses: Col 1:21-23 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.
But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation--if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
Amazing Love
When I attended Bethel I became introduced to on of the great hymns of the faith, “And Can it Be”. I was surprised that I never heard it before, but it was a moving experience to hear the various parts sung in a testimony of praise of a large student assembly in the field house turned into a chapel. That song seemed to me to be best suited for a mass choir.
The wonder of the grace of Almighty God that would save him, a sinner so overwhelmed Charles Wesley he penned these words shortly after his conversion:
“And can it be that I should gain an interest in the Savior's blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain for me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be, That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
'Tis mystery all: th'Immortal dies: Who can explore His strange design?
In vain the firstborn seraph tries to sound the depths of love divine.
'Tis mercy all! Let earth adore, Let angel minds inquire no more.
He left His Father's throne above. So free, so infinite His grace-
Emptied Himself of all but love, and bled for Adam's helpless race:
'Tis mercy all, immense and free, for O my God, it found out me!
Still the small inward voice I hear, that whispers all my sins forgiven;
Still the atoning blood is near, that quenched the wrath of hostile Heaven.
I feel the life His wounds impart; I feel the Savior in my heart.
No condemnation now I read; Jesus, and all in Him, is mine;
Alive in Him, my living Head, And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach th'eternal throne, and claim the crown, through Christ my own.”
The questions he asks in his song are reflections on the truths in the passage we will think about this week. How can it be that the shedding of Jesus’ blood 2000 years ago is relevant to me today? How was it possible for the Son of God to have died for me? Why should our Lord empty Himself of all His divine glory and become a man, in order to save Adam’s helpless race?
Charles Wesley was the younger brother of the famed preacher, John Wesley. He has been ordinate into the clergy and was pastoring a church for three years before he joined his brother on a missions trip to America. He was quite disillusioned and returned home a year earlier than John. He had taken ill was recuperating in a home of people whom seemed to have a personal relationship to Jesus Christ. This testimony of the inner witness of the love of Christ seemed to elude him.
He was reading his Bible. The words became life to Him as the Spirit of God spoke to Charles of his need for confession, repentance and faith in Christ’s works on the cross. On May 20, 1738, around midnight, Charles Wesley was saved. His journal reads "I now found myself at peace with God, and rejoiced in hope of loving Christ..... I saw that by faith I stood, by the continual support of faith.......I went to bed still sensible of my own weakness....yet confident of Christ's protection." On the following day, Charles strength began to return. He also commenced what proved to be the one of the first of some 6,000 hymns! He found the assurance of salvation that he never had before. It was the difference between a religion he followed, and a savior whom he now knew in a personal way. It is amazing that God would stoop to save each of us!
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Tues Oct 27
Verses Col 1:21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.
Alienation
In a Peanut’s cartoon Lucy addressed Snoopy: “There are times when you really bug me, but there are also times when I feel like giving you a hug.” Snoopy replied, “That’s the way I am, huggable and buggable.”
We all have our huggable days but we may have more buggable days. Did you ever alienate anyone with your buggableness or by bugging them?
One of the thoughts that we were looking at yesterday was the way in which Charles Wesley saw his sin and his need of a savior. He know about Christ, but did not have a personal relationship with him. When he repented things changed dramatically. He was overwhelmed by God’s great love for him.
Paul also was aware of the life he lived apart of Jesus. In fact all people start there.
A couple I was visiting was trying to get some insights in the differences of their church backgrounds. After describing the importance of making a commitment to Christ, the man wanted to summarize what he heard as a difference between the two churches. He drew a box that he called “salvation” and a person outside of that box. He understood me to say in effect we start outside the box and need to make a commitment and confession before we are “in the box”. Whereas at this other church we start in the box as a baby and much make some decision or action that moves us out of the box.
I had not heard it shared that way before. I told him I couldn’t answer for the other pastor, (without getting into the argument of the age of accountability) I said we do begin with a sinful nature that separates us from a holy and righteous God. IT is only by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ whereby we are made clean from sin and acceptable to Him. When we apply by faith His work for us on the cross can we be born again.
All of us were alienated from God. We were his enemies. Alienation sometimes happens between people because of some action or words that were shared that resulted in people no longer having a relationship together. People are no longer friends. Some have become enemies.
It could be that you have done something against another person whereby they no longer want to have anything to do with you. Did you ever know someone that just irritated you to the point where you couldn’t stand to be around them?
We are all alienated God with our minds and actions. We all have sinned and do sin. And because God is totally holy and cannot sin, it’s hard for Him to be in our presence. We have alienated Him with our sins and sinful nature. But that’s where everybody starts out before the cleansing blood of Christ is applied. Can you imagine sinful people presented God as Holy? There is something in the Greek that we don’t see in the English there is an intensifier on the word now. You once where far away from God but now…it’s different – but now through God’s amazing grace you’ve been given a new position – now you’re not far away from God but you’re in Christ.
Paul wants us to catch the gravity of our plight that we once were headed for doom, but through Christ we are headed for eternal bliss. If Christians could catch the vision of where they were headed and where they are now it would change the whole perspective of our Christian life. You were once hell bound. You were lost without any hope because you aliened God by your sin. You can justify yourself all you want, but until you saw your situation of standing condemned you will have a hard to appreciation the extent to which God went to change your direction. You once were doomed but you’ve been saved. You were not saved from loneliness, or hopelessness; you were saved from God’s wrath.
Even as believers we sometimes decide to live apart from Gods’ grace and truth and wonder where God is. We may be saved, but do not have the closeness nor love that we once had. We can again.
I think the opposite of alienation is united in friendship, close in love. That is God’s plan for you and me.
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Weds Oct 28
Verses – Col 1:22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation-
Reconciliation
Some of the thoughts for devotions on this passage have been with the help of Pastor Steve Shepherd’s sermon “The Cleaning Process.”
The teacher was checking her student’s knowledge of proverbs. “Cleanliness is next to what?” she asked. A small boy replied with real feeling: “Impossible.” Sometimes cleanliness does seem nearly impossible. I’m talking about soul cleanliness. Why does it seem impossible at times? Because sin is so strong, so never-ending. It appears that even once we are cleansed from sin it comes right back. It is so very hard to overcome certain sins: greed, lust, ill will, anger, gossip, etc. It is a never-ending battle. As a father came home from his work he saw his little daughter who had been playing in the mud. He said to her, “Honey, you’re pretty dirty.” In her childish way she replied, “Yes, I know daddy, but I’m prettier clean.” And we all are prettier when we are clean!
When Paul realized his lost condition there was nothing he could do about it. He was among the most zealous of religious men. He did all he could to be right with God but his sin separated him from God. But by God’s grace he was met in a dramatic manner on the road to Damascus and was reconciled with God by faith in Jesus Christ. We hope and pray that people will get reconciled to God through Christ death on the cross. Christ died to make it possible to come into God’s presence and have fellowship with Him. Christ died to cleanse us and make us pure in God’s eyes and unite us with Him.
One New Year’s Eve at London’s Garrick Club, British dramatist Frederick Lonsdale was asked by Seymour Hicks to reconcile with a fellow member. The two had quarreled in the past and never restored their friendship. "You must," Hicks said to Lonsdale. "It is very unkind to be unfriendly at such a time. Go over now and wish him a happy New Year." So Lonsdale crossed the room and spoke to his enemy. "I wish you a happy New Year," he said, "but only one." That’s not exactly what we would call full reconciliation. However, there may be some people that want that kind of reconciliation with God. I mean they may not want full or complete reconciliation and only want minimal fellowship with God and His church.
Frankly, some people just don’t want to get too close to God and go to church very much. Maybe they would be afraid that God will spoil their fun and plus it will cost them some money as well. Some people just don’t want to get too religious!
True reconciliation means that we believe in Christ and trust in His death on the cross to save us from our sins. We believe, we trust and we surrender by faith and obedience. We do what Christ asks us to do: repent, be baptized, seek His will in life, and commit to serve Him. And some people don’t want to do these things. Some people don’t want that kind of reconciliation or commitment.
The cross of Jesus brings us together with God for all eternity. With reconciliation also comes cleansing from all our sins, or reconciliation would not be possible.
Pastor Dale
Sermon nuggets Thurs Oct 29
Verse- Col 1:23 “If you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.”
Perseverance
Paul speaks of becoming holy in V. 22 and then he says, “If you continue in your faith…” Continuance is vitally important. Perseverance is part of being saved. Real faith is always a faith that is tested. This is not to be misunderstood as works salvation. It is rather the fruit of faith.
When Abraham was justified by faith there was nothing he did to earn grace. God initiated goodness upon him. But it is a mistake to think the path of obedience is without struggle. He was called upon to give God commitment of heart, mind, soul and spirit. He was tested through obedience to give up his only son, Isaac, as a sacrifice. God provided a substitute. Abraham did not put something of lesser value on that altar than what God told him. His walk was a faith walk believing that God would do what is best. It is active trust, not passive trust. Do we really believe?
Reconciliation came at a price. Christ’s physical body went through suffering and through death. What Paul is saying here is that salvation; even though it’s free it came at a great cost. Faith is the opposite of what health and wealth preachers teach. Instead of demanding more from God we are pleased to follow wherever and however He leads and that path will be through the valley of the shadow of death. That death will not only be physical in order to gain the glories of heaven, but it is the death of ego, self, greed, lusts, pride, desires that are focused on the counterfeit pleasures of this world.
Abraham was rich. But yet the Bible said he possessed nothing. There was nothing that was his, it was all God’s and so he could freely give up anything since it wasn’t his anyway.
I get very upset over the teaching of liberal pastors. Ralph Milton helps many pastors in his writings and teachings. Concerning the sacrifice of Jesus he wrote, “I don’t pretend to understand the Hebrew sacrificial system. The whole culture seems to have been living with a huge sense of guilt. Maybe we could do with a bit of that – a sense that we do carry the blame for what is happening in the world especially the suffering from several diseases and starvation n Africa. And I’m quite sure, if we really wanted to, we could find a better solution than killing an animal or a human, even if the human was Jesus of Nazareth.”
He teaches pastors that the cross was really a faulted system. When we bear the guilt of not feeding Africa, guilt is appropriate, but not the guilt that most of us carry for sinning against our brothers and sisters and against God.
Ignoring the poor is corporate sin. Discrimination is corporate sin. Pollution is corporate sin. All of which should be addressed in individual ways, but lying, stealing, sex outside of marriage, covetousness, ignoring God’s lordship in our personal lives are individual matters that also required the death of Jesus in order to be cleansed from all unrighteousness. Now we need to continue in order to “take up your cross daily and follow me.”
When God called Paul to go to preach in unreached lands there was persecution, hardships, beatings, hunger, and discouragement. But the gift of this pearl of great price was so valuable that his passion was to share it at no personal advantage to himself from an earthly perspective but amazing value to his heart and soul in relationship to God and in the strengthening of his faith. He was full of joy in jail. He was full of praise in prison. He was singing in suffering. He was persevering in persecution.
Why? He tells us in II Tim. 4:7-8 “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”
The lies of Satan are to give up. The strength of the Spirit is to look up. If you are going through hardships, difficulties, discouragement then exercise the faith given to you. Trust in the one who promises to sustain you in your obedience.
The hymn writer said it well. “Trust and obey for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey.”
Pastor Dale
Sermon nuggets Fri Oct 30
Verses- Col. 1:22 “But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation.”
Glorification
Do we understand that from which we have been saved?
Last Tuesday at the Grindstone semi-annual meeting, Pastor Ivan Fiske spoke on the importance of two paths, two people, and two destinies from Matt 7:13-14 "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
There is a broad path. The gate is popular; it is pleasurable; it is man-pleasing. There is a narrow gate that is hard, difficult, and unattractive from an earthly point of view.
There are two types of people- The many and the few. Multitudes of people follow the wide path. They seek the journey that is easy. It has little demands and little responsibility. It is self fulfilling. It is about the good life and uses religious ways to accomplish that. The are not many who are willing to give up the control and priorities of their life to another, Jesus Christ. They want to decide what to do and when to do it for the Lord and the concept of servant hood is unattractive. There are those who love sin and others who seek holiness. Those who want God and live however they want, and others who love God and delight in pleasing Him in all they do and say.
But the bottom line is destruction, devastation, and eternal suffering. You cannot sugar coat hell. It is real and it is where most people go. The second destination is heaven with glory and pleasure, peace and fulfillment forever more.
We tend to lose those eternal truths when only half of the story is told. When people find this journey is hard, they quit and go down the wide path. When people see the destination as heaven and hell and the unbelievable difference, there is joy and peace in the security knowing they are bound for glory and all their sin and condemnation has been taken away by the blood of Jesus. We are not holy and without blemish. There is no reason of holding anything against us for Jesus saved us from damnation.
The destiny of everyone who has put his or her faith in Christ has now been radically changed. Our salvation came at a high cost. Now you are presented to the father as a bride prepared for her husband, pure and holy in his sight. It is a love commitment in which there is joy and fulfillment forever more.
Now there are a lot of things you could accuse me of and rightly so, and not only that but the devil is the accuser of all Christians. But because of Christ death on the cross I have been acquitted of all charges, and no accusations will hold up. Now there awaits us the joy of our salvation. By grace we inherit all that God has prepared in glory. This truth so excites Paul that many commentaries say much of what he is writing is a hymn of praise for the hope that is our in Chirst. Glory is a place of great reward. It is that hope that kept him going. It is also ours, all because of God’s amazing love!
Pastor Dale
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)