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Counsel from a Concerned Christian · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: One of the important works of the Spirit of God
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Speaker 1: is to enlighten us with understanding. It's called the ministry
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Speaker 1: of illumination. The Word of God has been revealed. That's revelation,
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Speaker 1: God giving his truth to various people who would write it.
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Speaker 1: And then that meets directly with inspiration for those who
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Speaker 1: are Recipients of the revelation write his word without error.
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Speaker 1: It is called an inerrant document, the original text of Scripture.
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Speaker 1: So there's revelation, there's inspiration. Both of those have ceased.
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Speaker 1: There is no further divine revelation, and there is no
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Speaker 1: further inspiration as we know it revealed in the scriptures,
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Speaker 1: but there is regularly illumination. For example, if perchance today
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Speaker 1: you discover, you learn, you realize, you observe something from
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Speaker 1: the scriptures that you had not known or seen or
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Speaker 1: learned before, you have been illumined. If it weren't for
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Speaker 1: the work of the Spirit, that could not take place.
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Speaker 1: That explains why some are completely bored when the Word
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Speaker 1: of God is taught and others are on the edge
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Speaker 1: of their seat. If you are here without Christ, you
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Speaker 1: haven't the Spirit of God. That's not meant to be insulting.
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Speaker 1: It's meant to be accurate. And without the presence of
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Speaker 1: the Spirit in your life, the Word of God is
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Speaker 1: just another ancient book black print on white pages that
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Speaker 1: sort of meanders from one subject to another without much
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Speaker 1: to say. And so I would say to you who
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Speaker 1: live with those who have never trusted Christ, be patient.
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Speaker 1: There will be a time by the grace of God
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Speaker 1: that they will come to Christ. And when they do,
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Speaker 1: the whole work of the spirit will begin to take
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Speaker 1: place and there will be illumination even in their lives. Now,
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Speaker 1: we're learning these days about the letter Paul wrote to
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Speaker 1: the Colossians. Colossians, not to be mistaken with Galatians or
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Speaker 1: the little letter of Philippians. This is Colossians. And we're
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Speaker 1: in the second chapter in our study, looking at verses
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Speaker 1: 1 through 12 today, which I would like to read
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Speaker 1: for you from the New Living Bible. And as you
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Speaker 1: find your place to Colossians 2, please join with others
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Speaker 1: in standing for the reading of the scriptures. Colossians 2 begins,
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Speaker 1: I want you to know how much I have agonized
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Speaker 1: for you and for the church at Laodicea and for
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Speaker 1: many other believers who have never met me personally. I
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Speaker 1: want them to be encouraged. and knit together by strong
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Speaker 1: ties of love. I want them to have complete confidence
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Speaker 1: that they understand God's mysterious plan, which is Christ himself.
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Speaker 1: In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
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Speaker 1: I'm telling you this so no one will deceive you
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Speaker 1: with well-crafted arguments. For though I am far away from you,
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Speaker 1: my heart is with you. And I rejoice that you
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Speaker 1: are living as you should and that your faith in
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Speaker 1: Christ is strong. And now, just as you accepted Christ
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Speaker 1: Jesus as the Lord, you must continue to follow him.
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Speaker 1: Let your roots grow down into him and let your
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Speaker 1: lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow
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Speaker 1: strong in the truth you were taught and you will
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Speaker 1: overflow with thankfulness. Don't let anyone capture you with empty
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Speaker 1: philosophies and high sounding nonsense that come from human thinking
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Speaker 1: and from the spiritual powers of this world rather than
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Speaker 1: from Christ. For in Christ lives all the fullness of
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Speaker 1: God in a human body. So you also are complete
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Speaker 1: through your union with Christ, who is the head over
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Speaker 1: every ruler and authority. When you came to Christ, you
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Speaker 1: were circumcised, but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed
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Speaker 1: a spiritual circumcision, the cutting away of your sinful nature.
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Speaker 1: For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized
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Speaker 1: And with him you were raised to new life because
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Speaker 1: you trusted the mighty power of God who raised Christ
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Speaker 1: from the dead. Our hope is that we will be
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Speaker 1: illumined with an understanding and also realize the practical application
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Speaker 1: of these 12 verses as we live our lives these days.
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Speaker 1: You who stood earlier, I would like you to remain
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Speaker 1: standing and the others of you Please be seated. Join
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Speaker 1: with me for a few moments of prayer. How grateful
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Speaker 1: we are, our Father, for this land in which we live.
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Speaker 1: For most of us, our homeland, the place of our birth,
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Speaker 1: the place where we were first loved and trained and taught.
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Speaker 1: For the freedom that has been ours as we have
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Speaker 1: enjoyed throughout our lives liberty and the pursuit of your will.
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Speaker 1: How grateful we are to have been privileged to live
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Speaker 1: in this land. How thankful we are for the men
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Speaker 1: and women who stand among us today. For what they represent.
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Speaker 1: The grief and the loss of a loved one who
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Speaker 1: once wore the uniform of our country. And those who
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Speaker 1: served faithfully and well. Who completed their calling and live
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Speaker 1: today with the memory of the things learned through the
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Speaker 1: hardship of the training and in many cases, the combat.
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Speaker 1: How beautiful is this world around us. How delighted we
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Speaker 1: are to be able to enjoy the beauty because of
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Speaker 1: the liberty that has been provided for the beauty of
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Speaker 1: the earth, for the glory of the skies, for the
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Speaker 1: love which from our birth over and around us lies.
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Speaker 1: Lord of all, to thee we praise. we give you
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Speaker 1: this prayer with gratitude today. Our gifts are yours and
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Speaker 1: rightly so because you own it all. And we trust
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Speaker 1: you to use these gifts to disseminate the good word
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Speaker 1: of God to places that have heard before and rejected
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Speaker 1: and to those places that have never for the first
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Speaker 1: time heard of Christ. Give courage to those who represent
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Speaker 1: you in difficult places and protection for those in dangerous
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Speaker 1: places today. And give us an overwhelming sense of gratitude
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Speaker 1: because of the privilege we have to worship freely without interruption.
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Speaker 1: Because of the courage and the faithfulness of heroic men
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Speaker 1: and women, and ultimately because of your grace. In the
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Speaker 1: name of the Savior, we give you our thanks and
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Speaker 1: our gifts. Everyone said amen. Please be seated. We need
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Speaker 1: each other. We really do. I need you, and you
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Speaker 1: need me. You need the person near you, sitting around you,
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Speaker 1: beside you, living with you. How much we need one another.
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Speaker 1: There was an adolescent period in my spiritual growth where
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Speaker 1: I went through the idea, heretical though it was, that
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Speaker 1: I really didn't need anybody. I knew Christ. I was
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Speaker 1: able to read his word. I was engaged in the
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Speaker 1: study of the scriptures. I had a wife who loved me. me,
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Speaker 1: and I had a future that seemed fairly bright. Good parents,
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Speaker 1: and now they had played their part, and I was
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Speaker 1: now on my own. What a stupid way to think
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Speaker 1: that I don't need anybody else. The Wall Street Journal
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Speaker 1: came out several years ago with a great list. It begins,
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Speaker 1: how important are you? Well, more than you think. A
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Speaker 1: rooster minus a hen equals no baby chicks. Kellogg minus
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Speaker 1: a farmer equals no cornflakes. If the nail factory closes,
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Speaker 1: what good is the hammer factory? Paderewski's genius wouldn't have
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Speaker 1: amounted to much If the piano tuner had not shown up,
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Speaker 1: a cracker maker will do better if there's a cheese maker.
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Speaker 1: The most skillful surgeon needs the ambulance driver who delivers
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Speaker 1: the patient. Just as Rogers needed Hammerstein, you need someone
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Speaker 1: and someone needs you. You may not be convinced of
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Speaker 1: that because you, like I used to be, are an
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Speaker 1: independent thinker. You'll make it on your own, thank you.
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Speaker 1: So I need to warn you, that's a dangerous way
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Speaker 1: to live. Psychologically, it's dangerous, and it may be dangerous physically.
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Speaker 1: Philip Zimbardo, when he was professor of psychology at Stanford University,
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Speaker 1: wrote a piece in Psychology Today titled, The age of indifference.
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Speaker 1: He puts his finger on the problem. I know of
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Speaker 1: no more potent killer than isolation. There is no more
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Speaker 1: destructive influence on physical and mental health than the isolation
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Speaker 1: of you from me and us from them. It has
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Speaker 1: been shown to be a central agent in the etiology
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Speaker 1: of depression, paranoia, schizophrenia, rape, suicide, mass murder, and a
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Speaker 1: wide variety of disease states. Check it out. Next time
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Speaker 1: you hear of a mass murder, chances are good the
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Speaker 1: one who did the murdering has been alone and isolated,
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Speaker 1: living unto himself or herself alone. Far too long. What
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Speaker 1: an unhealthy way to live. And by the way, we
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Speaker 1: seem to promote that whole concept. No longer are we
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Speaker 1: a share and share alike people. Moving to a home,
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Speaker 1: one of the first things we do is build a
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Speaker 1: fence to keep the barbarians at bay. We are independent
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Speaker 1: cogs in complex corporate structures. We wear headsets as we
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Speaker 1: jog or do our lawns or walk to class or
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Speaker 1: eat in cafeterias. Our watchword is privacy. Our commitments are short-term.
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Speaker 1: And haven't you been at restaurants where nobody at the
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Speaker 1: table is talking to the other person? They're all thumbing
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Speaker 1: their texts to somebody somewhere else that ought to be
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Speaker 1: talking to somebody. And they're all lost in their silly
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Speaker 1: little phone. How valuable is that little phone? How did
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Speaker 1: I ever get along without it? Very well. Very well, honestly.
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Speaker 1: The Lone Ranger, once a fantasy hero, is now our model,
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Speaker 1: mask and all. Listen to the admission of a man
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Speaker 1: who became a pastor. I was raised in the Jesus
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Speaker 1: and me privatized, individualized Christianity of the fundamentalism of the
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Speaker 1: 60s and 70s. No one knew my father and mother.
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Speaker 1: I mean, really knew them. No one had a clue
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Speaker 1: what was going on in our home. No one helped
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Speaker 1: my father to see through the blindness that allowed him
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Speaker 1: to live a double life of skilled deception and duplicity.
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Speaker 1: No one knew how troubled my mother was beneath her
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Speaker 1: encyclopedic knowledge of the scriptures. No one knew. We were
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Speaker 1: a Christian family in active participation in a vibrant church,
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Speaker 1: But what we were involved in lacked one of the
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Speaker 1: primary and essential ingredients of healthy New Testament Christianity. A trained, mobilized,
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Speaker 1: and functioning body of Christ. For much of my Christian
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Speaker 1: life and a portion of my ministry, I had no
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Speaker 1: idea that my walk with God was a community project.
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Speaker 1: I had no idea that the Christianity of the New
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Speaker 1: Testament is distinctly relational from beginning to end. I understood
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Speaker 1: none of the dangers inherent in attempting to live the
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Speaker 1: Christian life on my own. I had no awareness of
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Speaker 1: the blinding power of remaining sin. I had no idea
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Speaker 1: that I was living outside of God's normal means of sightedness, encouragement, conviction, strength,
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Speaker 1: and growth. I had no idea. I honestly fear on
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Speaker 1: occasion when we emphasize the importance of studying the Word
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Speaker 1: And becoming stabilized in the scriptures. That we leave the impression.
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Speaker 1: Just you and God and you're on your way. Don't
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Speaker 1: bother with the others who aren't in league with where
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Speaker 1: you are. What an unhealthy way to think. And frightening
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Speaker 1: way to live. If it's any comfort to you. The
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Speaker 1: great apostle Paul. Astute theologian. brilliant mind, surrounded himself with people.
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Speaker 1: His letters are filled with names unfamiliar to us, very
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Speaker 1: familiar to him because they were his friends. He ends
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Speaker 1: the magnificent doctrinal treatise of Romans with one name after another,
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Speaker 1: after another, after others and others and others that you
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Speaker 1: find nowhere else mentioned in the Bible because they're his friends.
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Speaker 1: Matter of fact, when we get to the second chapter
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Speaker 1: of Colossians, we find him writing words of love and
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Speaker 1: understanding and compassion for people he's never met. The only
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Speaker 1: way he knows them is through a friend named Epaphras,
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Speaker 1: who is mentioned more than once in this little letter.
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Speaker 1: But he cares about them. Which reminds me, you remember
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Speaker 1: that litany of suffering and sorrow and hardship that he
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Speaker 1: lists in 2 Corinthians 11? You remember in the deep shipwrecked,
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Speaker 1: many times beaten with rods, on other occasions left to
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Speaker 1: die under a pile of stones and on and on.
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Speaker 1: And he comes to the very end of this list,
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Speaker 1: which is heartbreaking. Verses 23 through 27. He comes to
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Speaker 1: the end in chapter 11 of 2 Corinthians by adding,
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Speaker 1: and besides all this, there's the care of the churches.
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Speaker 1: Besides all the things I was going through, I couldn't
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Speaker 1: get off my mind the people that I had ministered to.
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Speaker 1: I'd built into their lives, and I'm concerned about them.
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Speaker 1: If nothing else, I hope you will pick up from
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Speaker 1: this message today that people matter. Your relationship with others
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Speaker 1: is far more important than anything other than your relationship
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Speaker 1: to Christ. We need each other. Paul begins this second
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Speaker 1: chapter of Colossians By the way, the letter runs on
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Speaker 1: without chapter breaks, as all of you would realize. There's
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Speaker 1: simply a letter that starts at the beginning and runs
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Speaker 1: all the way to the end. There are no chapter
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Speaker 1: breaks anymore than there are chapter breaks in letters you write.
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Speaker 1: So continuing with the thought of Christ's power that works
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Speaker 1: within me, he says a personal word at the beginning
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Speaker 1: of chapter 2, I want you to know how much
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Speaker 1: I've agonized for you and for the church at Laodicea.
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Speaker 1: He doesn't even know the people. By that I mean
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Speaker 1: he's not sat with them. Been in their homes. They've
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Speaker 1: not sat with them. in his tent. They've not known
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Speaker 1: each other face to face. But he says, I've agonized
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Speaker 1: for you. Agonize. Agon is the Greek word. I've been
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Speaker 1: in agony thinking about what you're going through. In other words,
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Speaker 1: I care about you. My heart is touched knowing what
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Speaker 1: you're going through and will realize what that is in
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Speaker 1: a moment. I've agonized for you and the church at Laodicea.
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Speaker 1: As far as we know, he was never there. Only
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Speaker 1: a few miles from Colossae. He mentions toward the end
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Speaker 1: of the letter, Hierapolis, another church, another location. And as
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Speaker 1: far as we know, he wasn't there. but he cared
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Speaker 1: about them. In fact, look how he writes, I've agonized
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Speaker 1: for you and for the church at Laodicea and for
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Speaker 1: many other believers who have never met me personally. We
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Speaker 1: don't know each other face to face, but I pray
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Speaker 1: for you. I have you on my heart. And he continues,
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Speaker 1: I want them to be encouraged and knit together by
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Speaker 1: strong ties of love. Look at those words. I don't
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Speaker 1: know them personally, but I long for them to be
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Speaker 1: encouraged and to know what it is to have loving
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Speaker 1: arms around their shoulders. I hope they're not trying to
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Speaker 1: make it on their own. We need each other. He continues,
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Speaker 1: I want them to have complete confidence that they understand
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Speaker 1: God's mysterious plan, which is Christ himself. In him lie
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Speaker 1: all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. By the way,
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Speaker 1: it's a slap in the face of the cult. of
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Speaker 1: the Gnostics. Not a cult in our day, not by
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Speaker 1: that name, but in that day there were those who
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Speaker 1: spoke of the great emanations that came from the heavenlies.
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Speaker 1: And among the emanations that came from the heavenlies was Jesus.
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Speaker 1: You can name him among them. And there were many others.
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Speaker 1: And this higher, higher knowledge, this great understanding of the light.
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Speaker 1: I mean, it smacks of new age. In fact, this
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Speaker 1: is a great time for me to add, anytime you're
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Speaker 1: engaged in a teaching that demotes or decentralizes the person
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Speaker 1: of Christ, you're in error. Christ is the supreme one.
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Speaker 1: In him are hidden all the fullness of the Godhead bodily,
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Speaker 1: as we will read. But the cults come and they
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Speaker 1: let you have your Jesus, if you want to talk
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Speaker 1: about Jesus. Remember, they use our vocabulary, but they don't
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Speaker 1: use our dictionary. Same words, but when they say light,
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Speaker 1: they mean something different than when we say light. When
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Speaker 1: they refer to Jesus, they mean someone different than when
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Speaker 1: the Bible refers to him in whom are hidden all
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Speaker 1: the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Now you're getting a
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Speaker 1: hint as to why he's concerned, why he's agonized over them.
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Speaker 1: Verse 4 tells us, I am telling you this so
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Speaker 1: no one will deceive you with well-crafted arguments. The terms
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Speaker 1: well-crafted convey the idea of persuasive. We call it smooth talk.
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Speaker 1: You've seen it. We often attribute it to a salesperson.
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Speaker 1: Watch out for him. He's a smooth talker. Or don't
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Speaker 1: let her talk you into something that you don't really
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Speaker 1: want to go to or you want to buy. That's
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Speaker 1: the term used here. I'm concerned that no one deceive
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Speaker 1: you with well-crafted arguments. It's a great time for me
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Speaker 1: to pause and say, those who want to seduce you
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Speaker 1: into false teaching won't do so by insulting you. Oh,
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Speaker 1: that would attract no one. They'll tell you how valuable
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Speaker 1: you are and how concerned they are that you're missing truth,
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Speaker 1: a higher truth than you'll ever get from between the
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Speaker 1: bindings of a book called the Bible. Watch out for
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Speaker 1: folks like that. Smooth talking. If you can't think of
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Speaker 1: another analogy, just think of a politician. That'll work. They
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Speaker 1: say all kinds of things. Most of them don't mean
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Speaker 1: a bit of it, but it gets them elected. And
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Speaker 1: you look back and go, what was I thinking? The
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Speaker 1: fact is, you weren't. You believed them. How do you
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Speaker 1: know they're lying? Their lips are moving. Paul says, watch
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Speaker 1: out for people like this. Wake up. I care about you.
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Speaker 1: just as you would care about the kid you send
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Speaker 1: off to college, knowing that he or she is a
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Speaker 1: little weak. And they're stepping right into those classes, and
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Speaker 1: you know the prof takes great delight in shattering their faith.
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Speaker 1: Years ago, I knew of an individual who told me that.
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Speaker 1: He said there were several profs on our faculty who
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Speaker 1: had one great desire, and that was to shatter the
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Speaker 1: faith of the freshmen. You care about your freshmen. Paul
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Speaker 1: cares about these people living in Colossae. He said, I
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Speaker 1: don't want anyone to deceive you with their well-crafted arguments.
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Speaker 1: For though I am far away from you, my heart
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Speaker 1: is with you. Those are words of love, by the way.
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Speaker 1: I'm not near you, but man, I've got you on
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Speaker 1: my heart. I rejoice that you're living as you should
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Speaker 1: and that your faith in Christ is strong. I want
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Speaker 1: it to stay strong. I don't want it to get weak.
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Speaker 1: I don't want you to hear the siren song of
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Speaker 1: some false teacher who says, let me tell you what
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Speaker 1: you're missing by that kind of narrow thinking. Christ isn't
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Speaker 1: all you cracked him up to be. Let me teach
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Speaker 1: you what you're missing. And they come with their smooth talk.
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Speaker 1: In fact, while I'm on the subject of a warning,
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Speaker 1: let me have you mark some warnings. Verse 4, so
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Speaker 1: no one will deceive you with well-crafted arguments. Verse 8,
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Speaker 1: there's another one. Don't let anyone capture you with empty
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Speaker 1: philosophies and high-sounding nonsense. The word capture is to take
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Speaker 1: you captive, to march you into their place where they
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Speaker 1: will hold you captive. captive. It's like an addiction. You
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Speaker 1: can't get free of some of the calls. Sometime your
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Speaker 1: life is in danger. Look at verse 16. Don't let
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Speaker 1: anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink. Or
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Speaker 1: for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies
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Speaker 1: or Sabbaths. That's a list of legalistic things that the
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Speaker 1: leader is saying you need to start doing or stop doing.
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Speaker 1: If you don't, you won't know the pleasure of God.
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Speaker 1: They give you the list. That's their list, not a
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Speaker 1: biblical list. So he warns them about falling in the
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Speaker 1: trap of a legalist. Some of you have lived there.
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Speaker 1: You could stand and speak on your own to tell
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Speaker 1: others around you what you went through, not only trying
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Speaker 1: to live up to the list, but when you decided
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Speaker 1: to break free from it. You were shunned, you were ostracized,
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Speaker 1: and perhaps still are. This is still going on. Look
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Speaker 1: at 18. Don't let anyone condemn you by insisting on
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Speaker 1: pious self-denial or the worship of angels. This The whole
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Speaker 1: asceticism that he's emphasizing. Don't let anyone rob you of
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Speaker 1: your prize or disqualify you. You see now why we
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Speaker 1: need one another? What if Paul weren't there to warn them?
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Speaker 1: They'd fall into the trap. It's very appealing. In case
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Speaker 1: you don't know, cultists don't wear a little badge that says,
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Speaker 1: I represent a cult. They don't do that. I'm being facetious, obviously.
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Speaker 1: They're very attractive people. And my, can they sell you
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Speaker 1: on their doctrine. And how attractive they can make it. Oh,
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Speaker 1: you'll think, how could I have missed this? In fact,
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Speaker 1: it reminds me of 2 Corinthians 11. Go back to that.
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Speaker 1: Will you do that, please? Right quick. 2 Corinthians 11,
29:20
Speaker 1: beginning at verse 2. to show you something about the
29:25
Speaker 1: beauty of simplicity of Christ. 11.2, I am jealous for
29:31
Speaker 1: you with the jealousy of God himself. I promised you
29:34
Speaker 1: as a pure bride to one husband, Christ, but I
29:38
Speaker 1: fear not often you hear Paul admitting a fear. But
29:43
Speaker 1: I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to
29:48
Speaker 1: Christ will be corrupted. Just as Eve was deceived by
29:53
Speaker 1: the cunning ways of the serpent. Remember the scene in
29:59
Speaker 1: the Garden of Eden? Here's the serpent, not crawling on
30:04
Speaker 1: his belly. That happened after he was cursed. The serpent
30:08
Speaker 1: is a very attractive animal created by God. And having
30:13
Speaker 1: turned against his creator, he's now engaged in the subtle
30:18
Speaker 1: drawing of thinking minds to his own teaching. And so
30:23
Speaker 1: he says to Eve, look at this. You could be
30:31
Speaker 1: like God. You'd know what God knows. And she took it.
30:39
Speaker 1: She gave to Adam. Look, Adam. Yeah. That looks good.
30:48
Speaker 1: She's deceived. Adam's dumb. He just bites right into it.
30:57
Speaker 1: How could these people do that, having been given the
30:59
Speaker 1: garden and all the things beautifully? Because they moved away
31:03
Speaker 1: from the simplicity of the rules. Don't eat of that fruit.
31:10
Speaker 1: You don't have to know Hebrew to understand what that
31:12
Speaker 1: means in Genesis. You don't need to know an original language.
31:18
Speaker 1: It means exactly what it says. And so Paul says,
31:22
Speaker 1: I'm concerned that somehow Your pure and undivided devotion to
31:26
Speaker 1: Christ will be corrupted. There it is. Say, I just
31:30
Speaker 1: really believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Stay there. Stay there. Well,
31:36
Speaker 1: it's a pretty simple belief. Stay with the simple. It
31:40
Speaker 1: has depth that you've not become aware of, but your
31:45
Speaker 1: commitment to Christ, In fact, look at what he goes
31:49
Speaker 1: on to say. You Corinthians happily put up with whatever
31:52
Speaker 1: anyone tells you, even if they preach a different Jesus
31:55
Speaker 1: than the one we preach. Keep reading. Or a different
31:59
Speaker 1: kind of spirit than the one you received. Or a
32:01
Speaker 1: different kind of gospel than the one you believed. Why
32:05
Speaker 1: are you going there? Because they're deceived. They're sucked into
32:11
Speaker 1: this subtle seduction. Look across the page. Let me show
32:20
Speaker 1: you what those deceivers look like. Verse 13. These people
32:26
Speaker 1: are false apostles. Don't you love it that he calls
32:30
Speaker 1: it what it is? It's because he's not politically correct.
32:33
Speaker 1: That's why we like Paul. One of my heroes. There
32:38
Speaker 1: aren't many left. These people are false prophets. They're deceitful workers.
32:45
Speaker 1: They disguise themselves as apostles of Christ. Of course they do.
32:52
Speaker 1: Of course they do. They're appealing. They're attractive. They're deceitful
33:02
Speaker 1: workers who disguise themselves. But I'm not surprised even Satan
33:08
Speaker 1: disguises himself as an angel of light. So it's no
33:13
Speaker 1: wonder that his servants who disguise themselves as servants of
33:16
Speaker 1: righteousness get away from the old medieval idea that the
33:23
Speaker 1: devil is this little red creature that sits on his
33:26
Speaker 1: shoulder going, I got this pitchfork and I'm going to
33:32
Speaker 1: jam this in your ear and make you listen. That's
33:36
Speaker 1: not the devil. He loves it if you think that.
33:42
Speaker 1: He is the most winsome, attractive, gorgeous, appealing creature you
33:47
Speaker 1: could ever meet. Sweep you off your feet. Plus, he's
33:53
Speaker 1: been at it long before you were even born. He
33:57
Speaker 1: knows every cheek in your armor. Why, with a little
34:04
Speaker 1: bit of deception, you get sucked right into it. It's
34:09
Speaker 1: like a vortex. of current that you can't fight. Now
34:19
Speaker 1: you see why you need other people. You need to
34:22
Speaker 1: be accountable. Those people that have the right to ask
34:28
Speaker 1: you the hard questions. You know, I'm concerned about what
34:31
Speaker 1: you're starting to read. I'm troubled that it takes those
34:38
Speaker 1: pot shots at the things you've been taught to believe.
34:43
Speaker 1: And I know it sounds attractive, and I know he's
34:45
Speaker 1: got several letters after his name. I realize there are
34:49
Speaker 1: a number of people that follow him, but wait, wait, wait, wait.
34:55
Speaker 1: I'm concerned for you. If I'm living an isolated life,
35:00
Speaker 1: chances are great that I'll be sucked right into it.
35:04
Speaker 1: You check it out. You check out those that get
35:07
Speaker 1: drawn into cults. They're often isolationists. who've gotten a little
35:13
Speaker 1: bit disillusioned in life. And this new teaching sounds very attractive.
35:21
Speaker 1: Now back to Colossians 2. So no one deceive you
35:25
Speaker 1: with well-crafted arguments. I rejoice that you're living as you
35:30
Speaker 1: should and that your faith in Christ is strong. Isn't
35:33
Speaker 1: that affirmation fabulous? Don't you love that? He says to them,
35:38
Speaker 1: I commend you for living as you should, and your
35:41
Speaker 1: faith in Christ is strong. Notice how he puts it.
35:44
Speaker 1: Your faith in Christ is strong. Each of these is
35:46
Speaker 1: a slap in the Gnostic's face. They're not hearing that
35:50
Speaker 1: their faith in Christ is important. They're hearing the opposite.
35:54
Speaker 1: It's not really that important. Oh, the apostle says you're
35:58
Speaker 1: strong because your faith in Christ is strong. Never get
36:01
Speaker 1: far from the person of Christ. When you do, you're
36:04
Speaker 1: headed for trouble. Now, having affirmed them, he gives the
36:11
Speaker 1: basic rudiments of Christianity. Look at them in verses 6
36:17
Speaker 1: and 7. You talk about verses worth memorizing. There they are.
36:22
Speaker 1: Colossians 2, 6 and 7 should be on the lips
36:26
Speaker 1: and in the mind of every believer in Christ. Those
36:30
Speaker 1: are two verses that are worth your memorizing. Listen to them.
36:36
Speaker 1: And now... Just as you accepted Christ Jesus as the Lord,
36:44
Speaker 1: that's salvation. That's the new birth. Christianity begins for each
36:50
Speaker 1: individual by our putting our faith and trust in Christ,
36:55
Speaker 1: by our accepting him, the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the
37:02
Speaker 1: first part. Now notice further on. You must He uses
37:08
Speaker 1: the word, you must continue to follow him. Just as
37:13
Speaker 1: you have trusted in Christ, given him your soul for eternity,
37:19
Speaker 1: so you must begin to walk with him. It's just
37:24
Speaker 1: like life. We're born little infants, little tiny babies. We
37:30
Speaker 1: can't walk. We can't talk. We can't feed ourselves. We
37:34
Speaker 1: don't even have teeth. We are totally helpless. We're little babies.
37:39
Speaker 1: And as we get a little older, we start to
37:41
Speaker 1: grow teeth. We bite. And we can begin to crawl.
37:47
Speaker 1: We like to sit up. Before long, we like to walk.
37:52
Speaker 1: But it's called toddlers because they walk like this. And
37:56
Speaker 1: they're stumbling around and they're falling, getting back up and
37:58
Speaker 1: they're falling, getting back up. A toddler never says, that's it.
38:02
Speaker 1: I am never going to walk because I cannot walk now.
38:06
Speaker 1: Toddlers keep at it. They stay at it. Drive mothers
38:09
Speaker 1: and dads crazy. Why did you go off the coffee table?
38:12
Speaker 1: Hit their head and start to bleed. You patch them up.
38:15
Speaker 1: They get right back up, right toward the coffee table again.
38:18
Speaker 1: They're learning how to walk. That's the Christian life. Continue
38:23
Speaker 1: doing it. Don't quit because you fell. Everybody falls when
38:28
Speaker 1: they're learning to walk. Continue on. Stay at it. Stay
38:33
Speaker 1: at it. That's why we need other people. They hold
38:35
Speaker 1: us up. Please ask these chapter four, nine through 12,
38:40
Speaker 1: two are better than one. That when you read the
38:43
Speaker 1: whole section, three are better than two. We need each other.
38:49
Speaker 1: So keep on walking, continue to follow him. Now there's more.
38:55
Speaker 1: As you begin to master this walking, you begin to
38:58
Speaker 1: put your roots down. Isn't this fun? Isn't this great?
39:02
Speaker 1: You're beginning to walk. You have now been birthed. You
39:05
Speaker 1: have now begun to walk So you grow in Christ
39:09
Speaker 1: and you begin to deepen your roots. Let your roots
39:12
Speaker 1: grow down into Him and let your lives be built
39:16
Speaker 1: on Him, not on some high-sounding philosophy, not on some
39:22
Speaker 1: slick wording that you're going to pick up from the
39:25
Speaker 1: false teacher. Don't be mesmerized because there's a big following.
39:31
Speaker 1: If we go by big followings, the cults are winning.
39:36
Speaker 1: Don't be afraid of minorities. Don't be afraid of being
39:40
Speaker 1: a part of the minority group. Don't be afraid of
39:44
Speaker 1: being the only one in your company or neighborhood. It's okay.
39:51
Speaker 1: You're walking with Christ. You're growing stronger in the truth
39:54
Speaker 1: that you were taught. And now look at the ultimate.
39:56
Speaker 1: You begin to overflow with thankfulness. Isn't that a great
40:00
Speaker 1: couple of verses? We're birthed. We begin to walk. We
40:03
Speaker 1: put our roots down. And then we start to produce.
40:07
Speaker 1: And what do we produce? Thankfulness. Got your pen ready?
40:10
Speaker 1: I'm going to give you a verse of scripture to
40:12
Speaker 1: put in the margin of Colossians 2, 6, and 7.
40:14
Speaker 1: It's Hebrews 13, 15. Hebrews 13, 15. Listen to it.
40:23
Speaker 1: By him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise
40:26
Speaker 1: to God continually. That is the fruit of lips giving
40:30
Speaker 1: thanks to his name. By him, none other than the
40:35
Speaker 1: Lord God, let us offer the sacrifice of praise continually.
40:40
Speaker 1: The fruit of lips giving thanks to his name, naming
40:44
Speaker 1: the name, the name of Christ. giving thanks to his name.
40:50
Speaker 1: And right on the heels of that, there's another warning.
40:56
Speaker 1: That's why we need each other. We need people who
41:00
Speaker 1: warn us. Look at it. Don't let anyone capture you.
41:04
Speaker 1: That is the idea of lead you away captive with
41:08
Speaker 1: empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking,
41:14
Speaker 1: from the spiritual powers of this world. It is a
41:17
Speaker 1: subtle reference to the demonic powers. Cults are fed by
41:22
Speaker 1: demonic power. False teachers get their energy from false gods.
41:29
Speaker 1: There's a whole system of demonic authorities that operate in realms,
41:36
Speaker 1: all of which are invisible and insidious. You cannot see them.
41:43
Speaker 1: You will not hear them. Unless they're speaking through the
41:46
Speaker 1: vocal cords of a false teacher. He speaks of them
41:52
Speaker 1: as those that come from human thinking and spiritual powers
41:57
Speaker 1: rather than what? Look. Look at the end of verse 8.
42:01
Speaker 1: Rather than from Christ. Here we are again. Stay with Christ.
42:06
Speaker 1: Keep him in the center. He is supreme. He is
42:10
Speaker 1: our all in all. rather than from Christ. For in Christ,
42:14
Speaker 1: and he decides he will just go a little deeper
42:17
Speaker 1: and test their mettle when it comes to the ability
42:20
Speaker 1: to grasp, in Christ lives all the fullness of God
42:25
Speaker 1: in a human body. That'll keep us busy for a while.
42:30
Speaker 1: Look at it. In Christ. In no other. Or he
42:36
Speaker 1: would have told us there are others, but in Christ
42:39
Speaker 1: alone lives the fullness of God in a human body,
42:46
Speaker 1: and to make it even better, verse 10, you are
42:50
Speaker 1: complete through your union with Christ, who is the head
42:54
Speaker 1: over every ruler and authority, referring again to the demonic realm.
42:59
Speaker 1: He is head over all of that. By having Christ,
43:03
Speaker 1: you have the fullness of God. Oh. One man put
43:09
Speaker 1: it this way, it represents the essence of God undivided
43:14
Speaker 1: in its whole fullness dwelling in Christ in his exalted
43:19
Speaker 1: state so that he, Christ, is the essential and adequate
43:23
Speaker 1: image of God. How magnificent must have been the experience
43:29
Speaker 1: of the disciples who walked alongside the one who was
43:34
Speaker 1: full of grace and truth. John admits We beheld his glory,
43:42
Speaker 1: the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,
43:46
Speaker 1: full of grace and truth. No wonder their lives were transformed.
43:55
Speaker 1: No wonder they lost interest in fishing in Galilee and
43:59
Speaker 1: selling or involved in taxing others. Everything focused on the
44:08
Speaker 1: fullness of what they had in Christ. You are complete
44:15
Speaker 1: through your union with Christ. Will you never forget it?
44:20
Speaker 1: You don't need more if you have Christ. You're not
44:25
Speaker 1: missing anything because with Christ you have the very essence
44:29
Speaker 1: of God. You represented him in human flesh. through your
44:35
Speaker 1: union with Christ, you have him. I like the way
44:43
Speaker 1: Kent Hughes describes this from his book on Colossians. Listen
44:48
Speaker 1: to this illustration. My wife and I once stood on
44:52
Speaker 1: the shore of the vast Pacific Ocean. Two finite dots
44:59
Speaker 1: alongside a seemingly infinite expanse. As we stood there, we
45:07
Speaker 1: reflected that if I were to take a pint jar
45:13
Speaker 1: and allow the ocean to rush into it, in an
45:18
Speaker 1: instant my jar would be filled with the Pacific. The
45:24
Speaker 1: fullness of the Pacific in that jar. But I could
45:30
Speaker 1: never put the fullness of the Pacific Ocean into my jar.
45:36
Speaker 1: Thinking of Christ, we realize that because he is infinite,
45:40
Speaker 1: he can hold all the fullness of deity. And whenever
45:44
Speaker 1: one of us finite creatures dips the tiny vessel of
45:47
Speaker 1: our life into him, we instantly become full of his fullness.
45:51
Speaker 1: How great is that? That'll take up your lonely nights
45:57
Speaker 1: and fill it with thoughts like you've rarely had. When
46:01
Speaker 1: you have Christ, you carry within you the very essence
46:06
Speaker 1: of the living God. And that's how the Lord sees you.
46:12
Speaker 1: Complete in Christ. Complete. Nothing lacking. Before I'm through, I
46:22
Speaker 1: need to get into verses 11 and 12, even though
46:25
Speaker 1: they're a little delicate. Because they use a word that
46:29
Speaker 1: is not usually used in publicly. and rarely, if ever,
46:33
Speaker 1: from a pulpit. This is a word that appears in
46:37
Speaker 1: medical places, or eight days after birth among the rabbis
46:42
Speaker 1: who were trained to do the work of circumcision. But
46:47
Speaker 1: he isn't referring to a physical circumcision. Think. Read. Listen.
46:56
Speaker 1: When you came to Christ, you were, quote, circumcised. But,
47:01
Speaker 1: and he quickly adds, not by a physical procedure. Christ
47:08
Speaker 1: performed a spiritual circumcision. The cutting away of your sinful nature.
47:17
Speaker 1: What does that mean? Stay with me. It means this.
47:22
Speaker 1: When I turn to the Lord Jesus Christ by faith
47:25
Speaker 1: and I trust him and him alone for eternal life,
47:29
Speaker 1: at that moment, sin no longer dominates my life. Until
47:35
Speaker 1: I came to Christ, I couldn't say no. Every temptation
47:39
Speaker 1: was just a matter of time before I yielded. But
47:43
Speaker 1: now that I have Christ and the fullness of God
47:46
Speaker 1: within me, I can say no. Because the power of
47:50
Speaker 1: Christ working through my mind and through my life enables
47:54
Speaker 1: me to resist. The old nature was circumcised in the
48:00
Speaker 1: sense that it lost its power it once had over me.
48:03
Speaker 1: Now let's read on. Remember Galatians 2.20? I have been
48:18
Speaker 1: crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not I, but
48:24
Speaker 1: Christ lives in me. And the life that I now live,
48:27
Speaker 1: I live by the faith of the Son of God
48:29
Speaker 1: who loved me and gave himself for me. I've been co-buried, co-resurrected,
48:40
Speaker 1: co-ascended with Christ so that I am now complete in
48:45
Speaker 1: him and having the same power he had over sin,
48:49
Speaker 1: I have it within me. And because of that, he
48:53
Speaker 1: becomes all important to me. Now, how does all of
49:00
Speaker 1: this apply? What could we say that could give you
49:02
Speaker 1: something to walk away with? And remember, you've listened so
49:06
Speaker 1: carefully and it hasn't been an easy section to explain,
49:10
Speaker 1: but I think you began to get it. Let me
49:12
Speaker 1: give you three thoughts. One has to do with something
49:17
Speaker 1: you will do once a week The second has to
49:21
Speaker 1: do with something I'll suggest you do every day. And
49:25
Speaker 1: the third has to do with something you do several
49:27
Speaker 1: times a day. Here we go. Once a week, affirm
49:36
Speaker 1: and encourage someone you love. Just like Paul tells them,
49:44
Speaker 1: you are strong and I rejoice with you because your
49:48
Speaker 1: faith in Christ is strong. Affirm at least one other
49:55
Speaker 1: person every week. That's one more than you've affirmed for
49:59
Speaker 1: a long time. So I realize it's a new thought.
50:03
Speaker 1: But how valuable it is. By the way, when you
50:08
Speaker 1: affirm someone, You may want to write them something. Don't
50:14
Speaker 1: send them a text. Don't put it on a computer.
50:21
Speaker 1: You've got fingers. Write it with your own hand. Something
50:27
Speaker 1: happens when it's a handwritten statement of affirmation. I'll risk
50:33
Speaker 1: a little inside part of our lives. Every once in
50:36
Speaker 1: a while, I'll send Cynthia a love note. What it
50:41
Speaker 1: says is none of your business. But I work on it.
50:46
Speaker 1: And I put the wording together in just such a
50:49
Speaker 1: way that I want her to remember it, and I'll
50:53
Speaker 1: write it. And then I usually don't have to sign it.
50:56
Speaker 1: I used to sign it Chuck Swindoll. But she realized
50:59
Speaker 1: she knew the handwriting, and so I don't have to
51:02
Speaker 1: sign it. But let me tell you what's funny. It's
51:04
Speaker 1: when the kid, every once in a while, he'll take
51:07
Speaker 1: one of my love notes and put it on the
51:08
Speaker 1: mirror in the bathroom, which we share, big old mirror
51:12
Speaker 1: in front of our sink, and there it'll be. And
51:16
Speaker 1: I'll read it, and yeah, I remember writing that. But
51:19
Speaker 1: what's funny is when the kids walk in, oh, sweetheart,
51:22
Speaker 1: you mean so much to me. How wonderful, Dad, that
51:26
Speaker 1: you would write that. Those kids have no business reading
51:29
Speaker 1: love notes that I write to my dear wife. having
51:34
Speaker 1: a little fun with you. But I urge you to
51:36
Speaker 1: write a love note. Not just to your partner. Pick
51:41
Speaker 1: someone you really love in the family. One of your kids.
51:45
Speaker 1: You may add a little glycerin tablet because it'll shock
51:48
Speaker 1: them almost to death when they get it. Because some
51:51
Speaker 1: of you can't remember the last time you affirmed the kids.
51:53
Speaker 1: After all, you've been given to criticize them. Really. I
51:58
Speaker 1: can't find that in the Bible. How about being remembered
52:02
Speaker 1: for Your affirmation and encouragement. How about the kids when
52:08
Speaker 1: you're finally gone saying the thing I miss most are
52:12
Speaker 1: the notes he used to send me. Or it might
52:15
Speaker 1: be a phone call. You're on your way somewhere or
52:19
Speaker 1: maybe you are a long ways away. Just thinking of
52:23
Speaker 1: you today, I want you to know how much you
52:24
Speaker 1: mean to me. How grateful I am for whatever. Once
52:29
Speaker 1: a week, once a week, affirm and encourage someone you love.
52:34
Speaker 1: Here's the second, once a day. Once a day, think
52:39
Speaker 1: of something for which you are grateful and tell the
52:43
Speaker 1: Lord thank you. Once a day, think of something for
52:52
Speaker 1: which you are grateful. Something will prompt you to think
52:56
Speaker 1: of that. Happened to me today when I drove onto
53:00
Speaker 1: the church property. It was 10 minutes until seven this morning.
53:05
Speaker 1: I drove on, there was another car or two here,
53:09
Speaker 1: but I saw three American flags flying. I hadn't asked
53:14
Speaker 1: anybody to put up the American flags on all three poles,
53:19
Speaker 1: but our very thoughtful custodial staff planned ahead and they
53:23
Speaker 1: put a big flag on this end, did you notice?
53:25
Speaker 1: If you didn't, you need your eyeglasses changed. It is huge.
53:31
Speaker 1: And I saw the flags and I said, thank you, Lord,
53:36
Speaker 1: that I live in this country. Thank you. It may
53:42
Speaker 1: be a little thing. Bruce Martin wrote, sometimes when I
53:47
Speaker 1: consider what tremendous consequences come from little things, I'm tempted
53:52
Speaker 1: to think there are no little things. Before you let
54:00
Speaker 1: your head now sunk into the pillow for a night's sleep.
54:06
Speaker 1: Find a reason to say thank you, Lord, for and
54:10
Speaker 1: tell him. This passage says you'll be overflowing with thankfulness.
54:18
Speaker 1: Every day, several times every day, here's your third assignment,
54:23
Speaker 1: little simple project. Through the hours of the day, pause
54:27
Speaker 1: on occasion and remind yourself I am complete in Christ.
54:36
Speaker 1: Tell yourself that. I am complete in Christ. I'm fully
54:46
Speaker 1: accepted by you, dear Father, because of Christ. I'm freed
54:51
Speaker 1: from the domination of sin's control because of what he
54:54
Speaker 1: did for me on the cross. I'm absolutely secure now
54:58
Speaker 1: and forever in my salvation because of Christ. I'm complete
55:03
Speaker 1: in Him. Got it? Let's see how your week looks
55:09
Speaker 1: about a week from now. Bow with me, will you?
55:18
Speaker 1: So much fun to be together, Lord, and it's such
55:21
Speaker 1: a delight to open this magnificent book as we see
55:28
Speaker 1: black print on white pages. we realize it isn't just print.
55:35
Speaker 1: It's just truth to live by. Truth, if necessary, to
55:40
Speaker 1: die for. Deliver us from a frivolous, shallow, indifferent spirit
55:51
Speaker 1: in a day in which all of that is so popular.
55:57
Speaker 1: Give us someone to care for, to care about, Free
56:02
Speaker 1: us to say so. Catch us up short when we
56:10
Speaker 1: resist being vulnerable with words like, I love you. I
56:17
Speaker 1: need you. You're important to me. And finally, Lord, thank
56:24
Speaker 1: you for Jesus who loved us. And gave himself for us.
56:35
Speaker 2: Thank you.
56:37
Speaker 1: He is our all in all.
56:41
Speaker 3: We need nothing else but him. When it comes to
56:45
Speaker 3: eternal life. We worship him now. In his great name.
56:55
Speaker 1: Everybody say. Amen.
57:00
Speaker 2: The preceding message, Council from a Concerned Apostle, was copyrighted
57:05
Speaker 2: in 2014 and 2022, and the sound recording was copyrighted
57:10
Speaker 2: in 2022 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights are
57:14
Speaker 2: reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is
57:19
Speaker 2: strictly prohibited.