Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Counsel from a Concerned Christian Msg 510 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living
Transcript
- 0:01Speaker 1: One of the important works of the Spirit of God
- 0:04Speaker 1: is to enlighten us with understanding. It's called the ministry
- 0:10Speaker 1: of illumination. The Word of God has been revealed. That's revelation,
- 0:17Speaker 1: God giving his truth to various people who would write it.
- 0:23Speaker 1: And then that meets directly with inspiration for those who
- 0:28Speaker 1: are Recipients of the revelation write his word without error.
- 0:34Speaker 1: It is called an inerrant document, the original text of scripture.
- 0:43Speaker 1: So there's revelation, there's inspiration. Both of those have ceased.
- 0:50Speaker 1: There is no further divine revelation and there is no
- 0:55Speaker 1: further inspiration as we know it revealed in the scriptures,
- 1:03Speaker 1: but there is regularly illumination. For example, if perchance today
- 1:10Speaker 1: you discover, you learn, you realize, you observe something from
- 1:17Speaker 1: the scriptures that you had not known or seen or
- 1:22Speaker 1: learned before, you have been illumined. If it weren't for
- 1:27Speaker 1: the work of the Spirit, that could not take place.
- 1:33Speaker 1: That explains why some are completely bored when the Word
- 1:38Speaker 1: of God is taught and others are on the edge
- 1:40Speaker 1: of their seat. If you are here without Christ, you
- 1:45Speaker 1: haven't the Spirit of God. That's not meant to be insulting.
- 1:50Speaker 1: It's meant to be accurate. And without the presence of
- 1:54Speaker 1: the Spirit in your life, the Word of God is
- 1:58Speaker 1: just another ancient book black print on white pages that
- 2:04Speaker 1: sort of meanders from one subject to another without much
- 2:08Speaker 1: to say. And so I would say to you who
- 2:11Speaker 1: live with those who have never trusted Christ, be patient.
- 2:18Speaker 1: There will be a time by the grace of God
- 2:20Speaker 1: that they will come to Christ. And when they do,
- 2:23Speaker 1: the whole work of the spirit will begin to take
- 2:26Speaker 1: place and there will be illumination even in their lives. Now,
- 2:31Speaker 1: we're learning these days about the letter Paul wrote to
- 2:35Speaker 1: the Colossians. Colossians, not to be mistaken with Galatians or
- 2:43Speaker 1: the little letter of Philippians. This is Colossians. And we're
- 2:47Speaker 1: in the second chapter in our study, looking at verses
- 2:51Speaker 1: 1 through 12 today, which I would like to read
- 2:55Speaker 1: for you from the New Living Bible. And as you
- 2:59Speaker 1: find your place to Colossians 2, please join with others
- 3:04Speaker 1: in standing for the reading of the scriptures. Colossians 2 begins,
- 3:14Speaker 1: I want you to know how much I have agonized
- 3:16Speaker 1: for you and for the church at Laodicea and for
- 3:20Speaker 1: many other believers who have never met me personally. I
- 3:24Speaker 1: want them to be encouraged. and knit together by strong
- 3:30Speaker 1: ties of love. I want them to have complete confidence
- 3:34Speaker 1: that they understand God's mysterious plan, which is Christ himself.
- 3:42Speaker 1: In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
- 3:50Speaker 1: I'm telling you this so no one will deceive you
- 3:54Speaker 1: with well-crafted arguments. For though I am far away from you,
- 4:01Speaker 1: my heart is with you. And I rejoice that you
- 4:04Speaker 1: are living as you should and that your faith in
- 4:09Speaker 1: Christ is strong. And now, just as you accepted Christ
- 4:15Speaker 1: Jesus as the Lord, you must continue to follow him.
- 4:20Speaker 1: Let your roots grow down into him and let your
- 4:24Speaker 1: lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow
- 4:28Speaker 1: strong in the truth you were taught and you will
- 4:32Speaker 1: overflow with thankfulness. Don't let anyone capture you with empty
- 4:39Speaker 1: philosophies and high sounding nonsense that come from human thinking
- 4:46Speaker 1: and from the spiritual powers of this world rather than
- 4:51Speaker 1: from Christ. For in Christ lives all the fullness of
- 4:56Speaker 1: God in a human body. So you also are complete
- 5:02Speaker 1: through your union with Christ, who is the head over
- 5:06Speaker 1: every ruler and authority. When you came to Christ, you
- 5:11Speaker 1: were circumcised, but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed
- 5:16Speaker 1: a spiritual circumcision, the cutting away of your sinful nature.
- 5:23Speaker 1: For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized
- 5:26Speaker 1: and And with him you were raised to new life
- 5:31Speaker 1: because you trusted the mighty power of God who raised
- 5:35Speaker 1: Christ from the dead. Our hope is that we will
- 5:40Speaker 1: be illumined with an understanding and also realize the practical
- 5:45Speaker 1: application of these 12 verses as we live our lives
- 5:49Speaker 1: these days. You who stood earlier, I would like you
- 5:54Speaker 1: to remain standing and the others of you Please be seated.
- 6:03Speaker 1: Join with me for a few moments of prayer. How
- 6:09Speaker 1: grateful we are, our Father, for this land in which
- 6:12Speaker 1: we live. For most of us, our homeland, the place
- 6:19Speaker 1: of our birth, the place where we were first loved
- 6:24Speaker 1: and trained and taught. For the freedom that has been
- 6:29Speaker 1: ours as we have enjoyed throughout our lives liberty and
- 6:35Speaker 1: the pursuit of your will. How grateful we are to
- 6:42Speaker 1: have been privileged to live in this land. How thankful
- 6:48Speaker 1: we are for the men and women who stand among
- 6:52Speaker 1: us today for what they represent. The grief and the
- 6:58Speaker 1: loss of a loved one who once wore the uniform
- 7:03Speaker 1: of our country. And those who served faithfully and well.
- 7:11Speaker 1: Who completed their calling and live today with the memory
- 7:17Speaker 1: of the things learned through the hardship of the training
- 7:24Speaker 1: and in many cases, the combat. How beautiful is this
- 7:31Speaker 1: world around us. How delighted we are to be able
- 7:37Speaker 1: to enjoy the beauty because of the liberty that has
- 7:43Speaker 1: been provided for the beauty of the earth, for the
- 7:47Speaker 1: glory of the skies, for the love which from our
- 7:51Speaker 1: birth over and around us lies. Lord of all, to
- 7:57Speaker 1: thee we praise. We give you this prayer with gratitude today.
- 8:06Speaker 1: Our gifts are yours and rightly so because you own
- 8:10Speaker 1: it all. And we trust you to use these gifts
- 8:15Speaker 1: to disseminate the good word of God to places that
- 8:20Speaker 1: have heard before and rejected and to those places that
- 8:23Speaker 1: have never for the first time heard of Christ. Give
- 8:29Speaker 1: courage to those who represent you in difficult places and
- 8:33Speaker 1: protection for those in dangerous places today. And give us
- 8:40Speaker 1: an overwhelming sense of gratitude because of the privilege we
- 8:45Speaker 1: have to worship freely without interruption. Because of the courage
- 8:56Speaker 1: and the faithfulness Of heroic men and women. And ultimately
- 9:03Speaker 1: because of your grace. In the name of the Savior.
- 9:08Speaker 1: We give you our thanks. And our gifts. Everyone said. Amen.
- 9:15Speaker 1: Please be seated. We need each other. We really do.
- 9:21Speaker 1: I need you and you need me. You need the
- 9:27Speaker 1: person near you, sitting around you, beside you, living with you.
- 9:38Speaker 1: How much we need one another. There was an adolescent
- 9:42Speaker 1: period in my spiritual growth where I went through the idea,
- 9:47Speaker 1: heretical though it was, that I really didn't need anybody.
- 9:50Speaker 1: I knew Christ. I was able to read his word.
- 9:56Speaker 1: I was engaged in the study of the scriptures. I
- 9:59Speaker 1: had a wife who loved me, and I had a
- 10:02Speaker 1: future that seemed fairly bright. Good parents, and now they
- 10:08Speaker 1: had played their part, and I was now on my own.
- 10:11Speaker 1: What a stupid way to think that I don't need
- 10:15Speaker 1: anybody else. The Wall Street Journal came out several years
- 10:19Speaker 1: ago with a great list. It begins, how important are you? Well,
- 10:24Speaker 1: more than you think. A rooster minus a hen equals
- 10:29Speaker 1: no baby chicks. Kellogg minus a farmer equals no cornflakes.
- 10:36Speaker 1: If a nail factory closes, what good is the hammer factory?
- 10:41Speaker 1: Paderewski's genius wouldn't have amounted to much If the piano
- 10:45Speaker 1: tuner had not shown up, a cracker maker will do
- 10:49Speaker 1: better if there's a cheese maker. The most skillful surgeon
- 10:54Speaker 1: needs the ambulance driver who delivers the patient. Just as
- 10:59Speaker 1: Rogers needed Hammerstein, you need someone and someone needs you.
- 11:08Speaker 1: You may not be convinced of that because you, like
- 11:10Speaker 1: I used to be, are an independent thinker. You'll make
- 11:14Speaker 1: it on your own, thank you. So I need to
- 11:17Speaker 1: warn you. That's a dangerous way to live. Psychologically, it's dangerous.
- 11:24Speaker 1: And it may be dangerous physically. Philip Zimbardo, when he
- 11:28Speaker 1: was professor of psychology at Stanford University, wrote a piece
- 11:33Speaker 1: in Psychology Today titled... The Age of Indifference. He puts
- 11:40Speaker 1: his finger on the problem. I know of no more
- 11:43Speaker 1: potent killer than isolation. There is no more destructive influence
- 11:51Speaker 1: on physical and mental health than the isolation of you
- 11:55Speaker 1: from me and us from them. It has been shown
- 12:00Speaker 1: to be a central agent in the etiology of depression, paranoia, Schizophrenia, rape, suicide,
- 12:12Speaker 1: mass murder, and a wide variety of disease states. Check
- 12:19Speaker 1: it out. Next time you hear of a mass murder,
- 12:26Speaker 1: chances are good the one who did the murdering has
- 12:30Speaker 1: been alone and isolated, living unto himself or herself alone.
- 12:36Speaker 1: Far too long. What an unhealthy way to live. And
- 12:41Speaker 1: by the way, we seem to promote that whole concept.
- 12:47Speaker 1: No longer are we a share and share alike people.
- 12:50Speaker 1: Moving to a home, one of the first things we
- 12:52Speaker 1: do is build a fence to keep the barbarians at bay.
- 12:57Speaker 1: We are independent cogs in complex corporate structures. We wear
- 13:04Speaker 1: headsets as we jog or do our lawns or walk
- 13:08Speaker 1: to class or eat in cafeterias. Our watchword is privacy.
- 13:15Speaker 1: Our commitments are short-term. And haven't you been at restaurants
- 13:20Speaker 1: where nobody at the table is talking to the other person?
- 13:24Speaker 1: They're all thumbing their texts to somebody somewhere else that
- 13:28Speaker 1: ought to be talking to somebody. And they're all lost
- 13:33Speaker 1: in their silly little phone. How valuable is that little phone?
- 13:39Speaker 1: How did I ever get along without it? Very well.
- 13:42Speaker 1: Very well, honestly. The Lone Ranger, once a fantasy hero,
- 13:47Speaker 1: is now our model, mask and all. Listen to the
- 13:54Speaker 1: admission of a man who became a pastor. I was
- 14:00Speaker 1: raised in the Jesus and me privatized, individualized Christianity of
- 14:07Speaker 1: the fundamentalism of the 60s and 70s. No one knew
- 14:13Speaker 1: my father and mother. I mean, really knew them. No
- 14:19Speaker 1: one had a clue what was going on in our home.
- 14:24Speaker 1: No one helped my father to see through the blindness
- 14:28Speaker 1: that allowed him to live a double life of skilled
- 14:32Speaker 1: deception and duplicity. No one knew how troubled my mother
- 14:38Speaker 1: was beneath her encyclopedic knowledge of the scriptures. No one knew.
- 14:49Speaker 1: We were a Christian family in active participation in a
- 14:52Speaker 1: vibrant church, But what we were involved in lacked one
- 14:56Speaker 1: of the primary and essential ingredients of healthy New Testament Christianity,
- 15:06Speaker 1: a trained, mobilized, and functioning body of Christ. For much
- 15:16Speaker 1: of my Christian life and a portion of my ministry,
- 15:19Speaker 1: I had no idea that my walk with God was
- 15:23Speaker 1: a community project. I had no idea that the Christianity
- 15:30Speaker 1: of the New Testament is distinctly relational from beginning to end.
- 15:38Speaker 1: I understood none of the dangers inherent in attempting to
- 15:41Speaker 1: live the Christian life on my own. I had no
- 15:47Speaker 1: awareness of the blinding power of remaining sin. I had
- 15:54Speaker 1: no idea that I was living outside of God's normal
- 15:59Speaker 1: means of sightedness, encouragement, conviction, strength, and growth. I had
- 16:08Speaker 1: no idea. I honestly fear on occasion when we emphasize
- 16:18Speaker 1: the importance of studying the Word and And becoming stabilized
- 16:22Speaker 1: in the scriptures. That we leave the impression. Just you
- 16:28Speaker 1: and God and you're on your way. Don't bother with
- 16:31Speaker 1: the others who aren't in league with where you are.
- 16:36Speaker 1: What an unhealthy way to think. And frightening way to live.
- 16:42Speaker 1: If it's any comfort to you. The great apostle Paul.
- 16:47Speaker 1: Astute theologian. brilliant mind, surrounded himself with people. His letters
- 16:58Speaker 1: are filled with names unfamiliar to us, very familiar to
- 17:03Speaker 1: him because they were his friends. He ends the magnificent
- 17:08Speaker 1: doctrinal treatise of Romans with one name after another, after another,
- 17:12Speaker 1: after others and others and others that you find nowhere
- 17:16Speaker 1: else mentioned in the Bible because they're his friends. Matter
- 17:22Speaker 1: of fact, when we get to the second chapter of Colossians,
- 17:27Speaker 1: we find him writing words of love and understanding and
- 17:31Speaker 1: compassion for people he's never met. The only way he
- 17:37Speaker 1: knows them is through a friend named Epaphras, who is
- 17:40Speaker 1: mentioned more than once in this little letter. But he
- 17:44Speaker 1: cares about them. Which reminds me, you remember that litany
- 17:48Speaker 1: of suffering and sorrow and hardship that he lists in
- 17:52Speaker 1: 2 Corinthians 11? You remember in the deep shipwrecked, many
- 17:58Speaker 1: times beaten with rods, on other occasions left to die
- 18:03Speaker 1: under a pile of stones and on and on. And
- 18:06Speaker 1: he comes to the very end of this list, which
- 18:09Speaker 1: is heartbreaking. Verses 23 through 27. He comes to the
- 18:15Speaker 1: end in chapter 11 of 2 Corinthians by adding, and
- 18:19Speaker 1: besides all this, there's the care of the churches. Besides
- 18:24Speaker 1: all the things I was going through, I couldn't get
- 18:28Speaker 1: off my mind the people that I had ministered to.
- 18:36Speaker 1: I'd built into their lives, and I'm concerned about them.
- 18:43Speaker 1: If nothing else, I hope you will pick up from
- 18:46Speaker 1: this message today that people matter. Your relationship with others
- 18:53Speaker 1: is far more important than anything other than your relationship
- 18:59Speaker 1: to Christ. We need each other. Paul begins this second
- 19:08Speaker 1: chapter of Colossians By the way, the letter runs on
- 19:12Speaker 1: without chapter breaks, as all of you would realize. There's
- 19:15Speaker 1: simply a letter that starts at the beginning and runs
- 19:18Speaker 1: all the way to the end. There are no chapter
- 19:20Speaker 1: breaks anymore than there are chapter breaks in letters you write.
- 19:24Speaker 1: So continuing with the thought of Christ's power that works
- 19:27Speaker 1: within me, he says a personal word at the beginning
- 19:31Speaker 1: of chapter 2, I want you to know how much
- 19:34Speaker 1: I've agonized for you and for the church at Laodicea.
- 19:40Speaker 1: He doesn't even know the people. By that I mean
- 19:44Speaker 1: he's not sat with them. Been in their homes. They've
- 19:49Speaker 1: not sat with them. in his tent. They've not known
- 19:54Speaker 1: each other face to face. But he says, I've agonized
- 19:59Speaker 1: for you. Agonize. Agon is the Greek word. I've been
- 20:07Speaker 1: in agony thinking about what you're going through. In other words,
- 20:10Speaker 1: I care about you. My heart is touched knowing what
- 20:15Speaker 1: you're going through and will realize what that is in
- 20:18Speaker 1: a moment. I've agonized for you and the church at Laodicea.
- 20:23Speaker 1: As far as we know, he was never there. Only
- 20:25Speaker 1: a few miles from Colossae. He mentions toward the end
- 20:30Speaker 1: of the letter, Hierapolis, another church, another location. And as
- 20:35Speaker 1: far as we know, he wasn't there. but he cared
- 20:38Speaker 1: about them. In fact, look how he writes, I've agonized
- 20:42Speaker 1: for you and for the church at Laodicea and for
- 20:44Speaker 1: many other believers who have never met me personally. We
- 20:49Speaker 1: don't know each other face to face, but I pray
- 20:53Speaker 1: for you. I have you on my heart. And he continues,
- 20:58Speaker 1: I want them to be encouraged and knit together by
- 21:01Speaker 1: strong ties of love. Look at those words. I don't
- 21:08Speaker 1: know them personally, but I long for them to be
- 21:11Speaker 1: encouraged and to know what it is to have loving
- 21:14Speaker 1: arms around their shoulders. I hope they're not trying to
- 21:18Speaker 1: make it on their own. We need each other. He continues,
- 21:23Speaker 1: I want them to have complete confidence that they understand
- 21:26Speaker 1: God's mysterious plan, which is Christ himself. In him lie
- 21:32Speaker 1: all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. By the way,
- 21:36Speaker 1: it's a slap in the face of the cult. of
- 21:38Speaker 1: the Gnostics. Not a cult in our day, not by
- 21:42Speaker 1: that name, but in that day there were those who
- 21:45Speaker 1: spoke of the great emanations that came from the heavenlies.
- 21:49Speaker 1: And among the emanations that came from the heavenlies was Jesus.
- 21:53Speaker 1: You can name him among them. And there were many others.
- 21:56Speaker 1: And this higher knowledge, this great understanding of the light,
- 22:03Speaker 1: I mean, it smacks of new age. In fact, this
- 22:09Speaker 1: is a great time for me to add, anytime you're
- 22:11Speaker 1: engaged in a teaching that demotes or decentralizes the person
- 22:18Speaker 1: of Christ, you're in error. Christ is the supreme one.
- 22:25Speaker 1: In him are hidden all the fullness of the Godhead bodily,
- 22:31Speaker 1: as we will read. But the cults come and they
- 22:35Speaker 1: let you have your Jesus, if you want to talk
- 22:38Speaker 1: about Jesus. Remember, they use our vocabulary, but they don't
- 22:44Speaker 1: use our dictionary. Same words, but when they say light,
- 22:51Speaker 1: they mean something different than when we say light. When
- 22:55Speaker 1: they refer to Jesus, they mean someone different than when
- 22:59Speaker 1: the Bible refers to him in whom are hidden all
- 23:04Speaker 1: the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Now you're getting a
- 23:10Speaker 1: hint as to why he's concerned, why he's agonized over them.
- 23:15Speaker 1: Verse 4 tells us, I am telling you this so
- 23:22Speaker 1: no one will deceive you with well-crafted arguments. The terms
- 23:30Speaker 1: well-crafted convey the idea of persuasive. We call it smooth talk.
- 23:37Speaker 1: You've seen it. We often attribute it to a salesperson.
- 23:43Speaker 1: Watch out for him. He's a smooth talker. Or don't
- 23:47Speaker 1: let her talk you into something that you don't really
- 23:49Speaker 1: want to go to or you want to buy. That's
- 23:53Speaker 1: the term used here. I'm concerned that no one deceive
- 23:58Speaker 1: you with well-crafted arguments. It's a great time for me
- 24:01Speaker 1: to pause and say, those who want to seduce you
- 24:04Speaker 1: into false teaching won't do so by insulting you. Oh,
- 24:10Speaker 1: that would attract no one. They'll tell you how valuable
- 24:14Speaker 1: you are and how concerned they are that you're missing truth,
- 24:20Speaker 1: a higher truth than you'll ever get from between the
- 24:24Speaker 1: bindings of a book called the Bible. Watch out for
- 24:28Speaker 1: folks like that. Smooth talking. If you can't think of
- 24:34Speaker 1: another analogy, just think of a politician. That'll work. They
- 24:39Speaker 1: say all kinds of things. Most of them don't mean
- 24:43Speaker 1: a bit of it, but it gets them elected. And
- 24:47Speaker 1: you look back and go, what was I thinking?
- 24:50Speaker 2: The fact is, you weren't. You believed them. How do
- 24:56Speaker 2: you know they're lying? Their lips are moving. Paul says,
- 25:03Speaker 2: watch out for people like this.
- 25:06Speaker 1: Wake up. I care about you. just as you would
- 25:10Speaker 1: care about the kid you send off to college, knowing
- 25:13Speaker 1: that he or she is a little weak. And they're
- 25:16Speaker 1: stepping right into those classes, and you know the prof
- 25:19Speaker 1: takes great delight in shattering their faith. Years ago, I
- 25:24Speaker 1: knew of an individual who told me that. He said
- 25:28Speaker 1: there were several profs on our faculty who had one
- 25:31Speaker 1: great desire, and that was to shatter the faith of
- 25:33Speaker 1: the freshmen. You care about your freshmen. Paul cares about
- 25:39Speaker 1: these people living in Colossae. He said, I don't want
- 25:43Speaker 1: anyone to deceive you with their well-crafted arguments. For though
- 25:46Speaker 1: I am far away from you, my heart is with you.
- 25:50Speaker 1: Those are words of love, by the way. I'm not
- 25:53Speaker 1: near you, but man, I've got you on my heart.
- 25:59Speaker 1: I rejoice that you're living as you should and that
- 26:01Speaker 1: your faith in Christ is strong. I want it to
- 26:04Speaker 1: stay strong. I don't want it to get weak. I
- 26:10Speaker 1: don't want you to hear the siren song of some
- 26:14Speaker 1: false teacher who says, let me tell you what you're
- 26:17Speaker 1: missing by that kind of narrow thinking. Christ isn't all
- 26:25Speaker 1: you cracked him up to be. Let me teach you
- 26:30Speaker 1: what you're missing. And they come with their smooth talk.
- 26:36Speaker 1: In fact, while I'm on the subject of a warning,
- 26:38Speaker 1: let me have you mark some warnings. Verse 4, so
- 26:42Speaker 1: no one will deceive you with well-crafted arguments. Verse 8,
- 26:47Speaker 1: there's another one. Don't let anyone capture you with empty
- 26:52Speaker 1: philosophies and high-sounding nonsense. The word capture is to take
- 26:57Speaker 1: you captive, to march you into their place where they
- 27:05Speaker 1: will hold you captive. captive. It's like an addiction. You
- 27:11Speaker 1: can't get free of some of the calls. Sometime your
- 27:15Speaker 1: life is in danger. Look at verse 16. Don't let
- 27:19Speaker 1: anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink. Or
- 27:24Speaker 1: for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies
- 27:28Speaker 1: or Sabbaths. That's a list of legalistic things that the
- 27:31Speaker 1: leader is saying you need to start doing or stop doing.
- 27:35Speaker 1: If you don't, you won't know the pleasure of God.
- 27:40Speaker 1: They give you the list. That's their list, not a
- 27:42Speaker 1: biblical list. So he warns them about falling in the
- 27:48Speaker 1: trap of a legalist. Some of you have lived there.
- 27:52Speaker 1: You could stand and speak on your own to tell
- 27:54Speaker 1: others around you what you went through, not only trying
- 27:58Speaker 1: to live up to the list, but when you decided
- 28:01Speaker 1: to break free from it. You were shunned, you were ostracized,
- 28:07Speaker 1: and perhaps still are. This is still going on. Look
- 28:12Speaker 1: at 18. Don't let anyone condemn you by insisting on
- 28:17Speaker 1: pious self-denial or the worship of angels. This The whole
- 28:22Speaker 1: asceticism that he's emphasizing. Don't let anyone rob you of
- 28:28Speaker 1: your prize or disqualify you. You see now why we
- 28:33Speaker 1: need one another? What if Paul weren't there to warn them?
- 28:36Speaker 1: They'd fall into the trap. It's very appealing. In case
- 28:43Speaker 1: you don't know, cultists don't wear a little badge that says,
- 28:49Speaker 1: I represent a cult. They don't do that. I'm being facetious, obviously.
- 28:57Speaker 1: They're very attractive people. And my, can they sell you
- 29:03Speaker 1: on their doctrine. And how attractive they can make it. Oh,
- 29:08Speaker 1: you'll think, how could I have missed this? In fact,
- 29:14Speaker 1: it reminds me of 2 Corinthians 11. Go back to that.
- 29:17Speaker 1: Will you do that, please? Right quick. 2 Corinthians 11,
- 29:20Speaker 1: beginning at verse 2. To show you something about the
- 29:25Speaker 1: beauty of simplicity of Christ. 11.2. I am jealous for
- 29:31Speaker 1: you with the jealousy of God himself. I promised you
- 29:34Speaker 1: as a pure bride to one husband, Christ. But I fear.
- 29:39Speaker 1: Not often you hear Paul admitting a fear. But I
- 29:43Speaker 1: fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ
- 29:49Speaker 1: will be corrupted. Just as Eve was deceived by the
- 29:53Speaker 1: cunning ways of the serpent. Remember the scene in the
- 29:59Speaker 1: Garden of Eden? Here's the serpent, not crawling on his belly.
- 30:05Speaker 1: That happened after he was cursed. The serpent is a
- 30:08Speaker 1: very attractive animal created by God. And having turned against
- 30:14Speaker 1: his creator, he's now engaged in the subtle drawing of
- 30:19Speaker 1: thinking minds to his own teaching. And so he says
- 30:23Speaker 1: to Eve, look at this. You could be like God.
- 30:33Speaker 1: You'd know what God knows. And she took it. She
- 30:40Speaker 1: gave to Adam. Look, Adam. Yeah. That looks good. She's deceived.
- 30:51Speaker 1: Adam's dumb. He just bites right into it. How could
- 30:57Speaker 1: these people do that, having been given the garden and
- 31:00Speaker 1: all the things beautifully? Because they moved away from the
- 31:03Speaker 1: simplicity of the rules. Don't eat of that fruit. You
- 31:10Speaker 1: don't have to know Hebrew to understand what that means
- 31:13Speaker 1: in Genesis. You don't need to know an original language.
- 31:18Speaker 1: It means exactly what it says. And so Paul says,
- 31:22Speaker 1: I'm concerned that somehow Your pure and undivided devotion to
- 31:26Speaker 1: Christ will be corrupted. There it is. Say, I just
- 31:30Speaker 1: really believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Stay there. Stay there. Well,
- 31:36Speaker 1: it's a pretty simple belief. Stay with the simple. It
- 31:40Speaker 1: has depth that you've not become aware of, but your
- 31:45Speaker 1: commitment to Christ... In fact, look at what he goes
- 31:49Speaker 1: on to say. You Corinthians happily put up with whatever
- 31:52Speaker 1: anyone tells you, even if they preach a different Jesus
- 31:55Speaker 1: than the one we preach. Keep reading. Or a different
- 31:59Speaker 1: kind of spirit than the one you received. Or a
- 32:01Speaker 1: different kind of gospel than the one you believed. Why
- 32:05Speaker 1: are you going there? Because they're deceived. They're sucked into
- 32:11Speaker 1: this subtle seduction. Look across the page. Let me show
- 32:20Speaker 1: you what those deceivers look like. Verse 13. These people
- 32:26Speaker 1: are false apostles. Don't you love it that he calls
- 32:30Speaker 1: it what it is? It's because he's not politically correct.
- 32:33Speaker 1: That's why we like Paul. One of my heroes. There
- 32:38Speaker 1: aren't many left. These people are false prophets. They're deceitful workers.
- 32:45Speaker 1: They disguise themselves as apostles of Christ. Of course they do.
- 32:52Speaker 1: Of course they do. They're appealing. They're attractive. They're deceitful
- 33:02Speaker 1: workers who disguise themselves. But I'm not surprised even Satan
- 33:08Speaker 1: disguises himself as an angel of light. So it's no
- 33:13Speaker 1: wonder that his servants who disguise themselves as servants of
- 33:16Speaker 1: righteousness get away from the old medieval idea that the
- 33:23Speaker 1: devil is.
- 33:23Speaker 3: This little red creature that sits on his shoulder going,
- 33:30Speaker 3: I got this pitchfork and I'm going to jam this
- 33:33Speaker 3: in your ear and make you listen.
- 33:36Speaker 1: That's not the devil. He loves it if you think that.
- 33:42Speaker 1: He is the most winsome, attractive, gorgeous, appealing creature you
- 33:47Speaker 1: could ever meet. Sweep you off your feet. Plus, he's
- 33:53Speaker 1: been at it long before you were even born. He
- 33:57Speaker 1: knows every cheek in your armor. Why, with a little
- 34:04Speaker 1: bit of deception, you get sucked right into it. It's
- 34:09Speaker 1: like a vortex. A current that you can't fight. Now
- 34:19Speaker 1: you see why you need other people. You need to
- 34:22Speaker 1: be accountable. Those people that have the right to ask
- 34:28Speaker 1: you the hard questions. You know, I'm concerned about what
- 34:31Speaker 1: you're starting to read. I'm troubled that it takes those
- 34:38Speaker 1: pot shots at the things you've been taught to believe.
- 34:43Speaker 1: And I know it sounds attractive, and I know he's
- 34:45Speaker 1: got several letters after his name. I realize there are
- 34:49Speaker 1: a number of people that follow him, but wait, wait, wait, wait.
- 34:55Speaker 1: I'm concerned for you. If I'm living an isolated life,
- 35:00Speaker 1: chances are great that I'll be sucked right into it.
- 35:04Speaker 1: You check it out. You check out those that get
- 35:07Speaker 1: drawn into cults. They're often isolationists. who've gotten a little
- 35:13Speaker 1: bit disillusioned in life. And this new teaching sounds very attractive.
- 35:21Speaker 1: Now back to Colossians 2. So no one deceive you
- 35:25Speaker 1: with well-crafted arguments. I rejoice that you're living as you
- 35:30Speaker 1: should and that your faith in Christ is strong. Isn't
- 35:33Speaker 1: that affirmation fabulous? Don't you love that? He says to them,
- 35:37Speaker 1: I commend you for living as you should, and your
- 35:41Speaker 1: faith in Christ is strong. Notice how he puts it.
- 35:44Speaker 1: Your faith in Christ is strong. Each of these is
- 35:46Speaker 1: a slap in the Gnostic's face. They're not hearing that
- 35:50Speaker 1: their faith in Christ is important. They're hearing the opposite.
- 35:54Speaker 1: It's not really that important. Oh, the apostle says you're
- 35:58Speaker 1: strong because your faith in Christ is strong. Never get
- 36:01Speaker 1: far from the person of Christ. When you do, you're
- 36:04Speaker 1: headed for trouble. Now, having affirmed them, he gives the
- 36:11Speaker 1: basic rudiments of Christianity. Look at them in verses 6
- 36:17Speaker 1: and 7. You talk about verses worth memorizing. There they are.
- 36:22Speaker 1: Colossians 2, 6 and 7 should be on the lips
- 36:26Speaker 1: and in the mind of every believer in Christ. Those
- 36:30Speaker 1: are two verses that are worth your memorizing. Listen to them.
- 36:36Speaker 1: And now... Just as you accepted Christ Jesus as the Lord.
- 36:44Speaker 1: That's salvation. That's the new birth. Christianity begins for each
- 36:50Speaker 1: individual by our putting our faith and trust in Christ.
- 36:55Speaker 1: By our accepting him, the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the
- 37:02Speaker 1: first part. Now notice further on. You must... He uses
- 37:08Speaker 1: the word, you must continue to follow him. Just as
- 37:13Speaker 1: you have trusted in Christ, given him your soul for eternity,
- 37:19Speaker 1: so you must begin to walk with him. It's just
- 37:23Speaker 1: like life. We're born little infants, little tiny babies. We
- 37:30Speaker 1: can't walk. We can't talk. We can't feed ourselves. We
- 37:34Speaker 1: don't even have teeth. We are totally helpless. We're little babies.
- 37:39Speaker 1: And as we get a little older, we start to
- 37:41Speaker 1: grow teeth. We bite. And we can begin to crawl.
- 37:47Speaker 1: We like to sit up. Before long, we like to walk.
- 37:52Speaker 1: But it's called toddlers because they walk like this. And
- 37:56Speaker 1: they're stumbling around and they're falling, getting back up and
- 37:58Speaker 1: they're falling, getting back up. A toddler never says, that's it.
- 38:02Speaker 1: I am never going to walk because I cannot walk now.
- 38:06Speaker 1: Toddlers keep at it. They stay at it. Drive mothers
- 38:09Speaker 1: and dads crazy. Why did you go off the coffee table?
- 38:12Speaker 1: Hit their head and start to bleed. You patch them up.
- 38:15Speaker 1: They get right back up, right toward the coffee table again.
- 38:18Speaker 1: They're learning how to walk. That's the Christian life. Continue
- 38:23Speaker 1: doing it. Don't quit because you fell. Everybody falls when
- 38:28Speaker 1: they're learning to walk. Continue on. Stay at it. Stay
- 38:33Speaker 1: at it. That's why we need other people. They hold
- 38:35Speaker 1: us up. Please ask these chapter four, nine through 12,
- 38:40Speaker 1: two are better than one. That when you read the
- 38:43Speaker 1: whole section, three are better than two. We need each other.
- 38:49Speaker 1: So keep on walking, continue to follow him. Now there's more.
- 38:55Speaker 1: As you begin to master this walking, you begin to
- 38:58Speaker 1: put your roots down. Isn't this fun? Isn't this great?
- 39:02Speaker 1: You're beginning to walk. You have now been birthed. You
- 39:05Speaker 1: have now begun to walk So you grow in Christ
- 39:09Speaker 1: and you begin to deepen your roots. Let your roots
- 39:12Speaker 1: grow down into him and let your lives be built
- 39:16Speaker 1: on him, not on some high-sounding philosophy, not on some
- 39:22Speaker 1: slick wording that you're going to pick up from the
- 39:24Speaker 1: false teacher. Don't be mesmerized because there's a big following.
- 39:31Speaker 1: If we go by big followings, the cults are winning.
- 39:36Speaker 1: Don't be afraid of minorities. Don't be afraid of being
- 39:40Speaker 1: a part of the minority group. Don't be afraid of
- 39:44Speaker 1: being the only one in your company or neighborhood. It's okay.
- 39:49Speaker 1: It's okay. You're walking with Christ. You're growing stronger in
- 39:53Speaker 1: the truth that you were taught. And now look at
- 39:56Speaker 1: the ultimate. You begin to overflow with thankfulness. Isn't that
- 39:59Speaker 1: a great couple of verses? We're birthed. We begin to walk.
- 40:03Speaker 1: We put our roots down. And then we start to produce.
- 40:07Speaker 1: And what do we produce? Thankfulness. Got your pen ready?
- 40:10Speaker 1: I'm going to give you a verse of scripture to
- 40:12Speaker 1: put in the margin of Colossians 2, 6, and 7.
- 40:14Speaker 1: It's Hebrews 13, 15. Hebrews 13, 15. Listen to it.
- 40:23Speaker 1: By him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise
- 40:26Speaker 1: to God continually. That is the fruit of lips giving
- 40:30Speaker 1: thanks to his name. By him, none other than the
- 40:35Speaker 1: Lord God, let us offer the sacrifice of praise continually.
- 40:40Speaker 1: The fruit of lips giving thanks to his name, naming
- 40:44Speaker 1: the name, the name of Christ. giving thanks to his name.
- 40:50Speaker 1: And right on the heels of that, there's another warning.
- 40:56Speaker 1: That's why we need each other. We need people who
- 41:00Speaker 1: warn us. Look at it. Don't let anyone capture you.
- 41:04Speaker 1: That is the idea of lead you away captive with
- 41:08Speaker 1: empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking,
- 41:14Speaker 1: from the spiritual powers of this world. It is a
- 41:17Speaker 1: subtle reference to the demonic powers. Cults are fed by
- 41:22Speaker 1: demonic power. False teachers get their energy from false gods.
- 41:29Speaker 1: There's a whole system of demonic authorities that operate in realms,
- 41:36Speaker 1: all of which are invisible and insidious. You cannot see them.
- 41:43Speaker 1: You will not hear them. Unless they're speaking through the
- 41:46Speaker 1: vocal cords of a false teacher. He speaks of them
- 41:52Speaker 1: as those that come from human thinking and spiritual powers
- 41:57Speaker 1: rather than what? Look. Look at the end of verse 8.
- 42:01Speaker 1: Rather than from Christ. Here we are again. Stay with Christ.
- 42:06Speaker 1: Keep him in the center. He is supreme. He is
- 42:10Speaker 1: our all in all. rather than from Christ. For in Christ,
- 42:14Speaker 1: and he decides he will just go a little deeper
- 42:17Speaker 1: and test their mettle when it comes to the ability
- 42:20Speaker 1: to grasp, in Christ lives all the fullness of God
- 42:25Speaker 1: in a human body. That'll keep us busy for a while.
- 42:30Speaker 1: Look at it. In Christ. In no other. Or he
- 42:36Speaker 1: would have told us there are others, but in Christ
- 42:39Speaker 1: alone lives the fullness of God in a human body,
- 42:46Speaker 1: and to make it even better, verse 10, you are
- 42:50Speaker 1: complete through your union with Christ, who is the head
- 42:54Speaker 1: over every ruler and authority, referring again to the demonic realm.
- 42:59Speaker 1: He is head over all of that. By having Christ,
- 43:03Speaker 1: you have the fullness of God. Oh. One man put
- 43:09Speaker 1: it this way, it represents the essence of God undivided
- 43:14Speaker 1: in its whole fullness dwelling in Christ in his exalted
- 43:19Speaker 1: state so that he, Christ, is the essential and adequate
- 43:23Speaker 1: image of God. How magnificent must have been the experience
- 43:29Speaker 1: of the disciples who walked alongside the one who was
- 43:34Speaker 1: full of grace and truth. John admits We beheld his glory,
- 43:42Speaker 1: the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,
- 43:46Speaker 1: full of grace and truth. No wonder their lives were transformed.
- 43:55Speaker 1: No wonder they lost interest in fishing in Galilee and
- 43:59Speaker 1: selling or involved in taxing others. Everything focused on the
- 44:07Speaker 1: fullness of what they had in Christ. You are complete
- 44:15Speaker 1: through your union with Christ. Will you never forget it?
- 44:20Speaker 1: You don't need more if you have Christ. You're not
- 44:25Speaker 1: missing anything because with Christ you have the very essence
- 44:29Speaker 1: of God. You represented him in human flesh. through your
- 44:35Speaker 1: union with Christ, you have him. I like the way
- 44:43Speaker 1: Kent Hughes describes this from his book on Colossians. Listen
- 44:48Speaker 1: to this illustration. My wife and I once stood on
- 44:52Speaker 1: the shore of the vast Pacific Ocean. Two finite dots
- 44:59Speaker 1: alongside a seemingly infinite expanse. As we stood there, we
- 45:07Speaker 1: reflected that if I were to take a pint jar
- 45:13Speaker 1: and allow the ocean to rush into it, in an
- 45:18Speaker 1: instant my jar would be filled with the Pacific, the
- 45:24Speaker 1: fullness of the Pacific in that jar. But I could
- 45:29Speaker 1: never put the fullness of the Pacific Ocean into my jar.
- 45:36Speaker 1: Thinking of Christ, we realize that because he is infinite,
- 45:40Speaker 1: he can hold all the fullness of deity. And whenever
- 45:44Speaker 1: one of us finite creatures dips the tiny vessel of
- 45:47Speaker 1: our life into him, we instantly become full of his fullness.
- 45:51Speaker 1: How great is that? That'll take up your lonely nights
- 45:57Speaker 1: and fill it with thoughts like you've rarely had. When
- 46:01Speaker 1: you have Christ, you carry within you the very essence
- 46:06Speaker 1: of the living God. And that's how the Lord sees you.
- 46:12Speaker 1: Complete in Christ. Complete. Nothing lacking. Before I'm through, I
- 46:22Speaker 1: need to get into verses 11 and 12, even though
- 46:25Speaker 1: they're a little delicate. Because they use a word that
- 46:29Speaker 1: is not usually used in public. and rarely, if ever,
- 46:32Speaker 1: from a pulpit. This is a word that appears in
- 46:37Speaker 1: medical places, or eight days after birth among the rabbis
- 46:42Speaker 1: who were trained to do the work of circumcision. But
- 46:47Speaker 1: he isn't referring to a physical circumcision. Think. Read. Listen.
- 46:56Speaker 1: When you came to Christ, you were, quote, circumcised. But,
- 47:01Speaker 1: and he quickly adds, not by a physical procedure. Christ
- 47:08Speaker 1: performed a spiritual circumcision, the cutting away of your sinful nature.
- 47:17Speaker 1: What does that mean? Stay with me. It means this.
- 47:22Speaker 1: When I turn to the Lord Jesus Christ by faith
- 47:25Speaker 1: and I trust him and him alone for eternal life,
- 47:29Speaker 1: at that moment, Sin no longer dominates my life. Until
- 47:35Speaker 1: I came to Christ, I couldn't say no. Every temptation
- 47:39Speaker 1: was just a matter of time before I yielded. But
- 47:42Speaker 1: now that I have Christ and the fullness of God
- 47:46Speaker 1: within me, I can say no. Because the power of
- 47:50Speaker 1: Christ working through my mind and through my life enables
- 47:54Speaker 1: me to resist. The old nature was circumcised. in the
- 48:00Speaker 1: sense that it lost its power it once had over me.
- 48:03Speaker 1: Now let's read on. For you were buried with Christ
- 48:07Speaker 1: when you were baptized, and with him you were raised
- 48:10Speaker 1: to new life because you trusted the mighty power of
- 48:13Speaker 1: God who raised Christ from the dead. Remember Galatians 2.20?
- 48:18Speaker 1: I have been crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet
- 48:22Speaker 1: not I, but Christ lives in me. And the life
- 48:26Speaker 1: that I now live, I live by the faith of
- 48:28Speaker 1: the Son of God who loved me and gave himself
- 48:31Speaker 1: for me. I've been co-buried, co-resurrected, co-ascended with Christ so
- 48:42Speaker 1: that I am now complete in him, having the same
- 48:46Speaker 1: power he had over sin, I have it within me.
- 48:51Speaker 1: And because of that, he becomes all-important to me. Now
- 48:59Speaker 1: how does all of this apply? What could we say
- 49:02Speaker 1: that could give you something to walk away with and
- 49:04Speaker 1: remember you've listened so carefully and it hasn't been an
- 49:08Speaker 1: easy section to explain but I think you began to
- 49:11Speaker 1: get it. Let me give you three thoughts. One has
- 49:15Speaker 1: to do with something you will do once a week
- 49:20Speaker 1: The second has to do with something I'll suggest you
- 49:22Speaker 1: do every day. And the third has to do with
- 49:26Speaker 1: something you do several times a day. Here we go.
- 49:33Speaker 1: Once a week, affirm and encourage someone you love. Just
- 49:41Speaker 1: like Paul tells them, you are strong and I rejoice
- 49:46Speaker 1: with you because your faith in Christ is strong. Affirm
- 49:52Speaker 1: at least one other person every week. That's one more
- 49:58Speaker 1: than you've affirmed for a long time. So I realize
- 50:01Speaker 1: it's a new thought. But how valuable it is. By
- 50:07Speaker 1: the way, when you affirm someone, You may want to
- 50:10Speaker 1: write them something. Don't send them a text. Don't put
- 50:19Speaker 1: it on a computer. You've got fingers. Write it with
- 50:25Speaker 1: your own hand. Something happens when it's a handwritten statement
- 50:30Speaker 1: of affirmation. I'll risk a little inside part of our lives.
- 50:36Speaker 1: Every once in a while, I'll send Cynthia a love note.
- 50:40Speaker 1: What it says is none of your business. But I
- 50:45Speaker 1: work on it. And I put the wording together in
- 50:49Speaker 1: just such a way that I want her to remember
- 50:52Speaker 1: it and I'll write it. And then I usually don't
- 50:55Speaker 1: have to sign it. I used to sign it Chuck Swindoll.
- 50:58Speaker 1: But she realized she knew the handwriting and so I
- 51:01Speaker 1: don't have to sign it. But let me tell you
- 51:03Speaker 1: what's funny. It's when the kid, every once in a while,
- 51:06Speaker 1: he'll take one of my love notes and put it
- 51:08Speaker 1: on the mirror in the bathroom, which we share, big
- 51:11Speaker 1: old mirror in front of our sink, and there it'll be.
- 51:16Speaker 1: And I'll read it, and yeah, I remember writing that.
- 51:18Speaker 1: But what's funny is when the kids walk in, oh, sweetheart,
- 51:22Speaker 1: you mean so much to me. How wonderful, Dad, that
- 51:26Speaker 1: you would write that. Those kids have no business reading
- 51:29Speaker 1: love notes that I write to my dear wife. having
- 51:34Speaker 1: a little fun with you. But I urge you to
- 51:36Speaker 1: write a love note, not just to your partner. Pick
- 51:41Speaker 1: someone you really love in the family. One of your kids.
- 51:45Speaker 1: You may add a little glycerin tablet because it'll shock
- 51:48Speaker 1: them almost to death when they get it, because some
- 51:51Speaker 1: of you can't remember the last time you affirmed the kids.
- 51:53Speaker 1: After all, you've been given to criticize them. Really? I
- 51:58Speaker 1: can't find that in the Bible. How about being remembered
- 52:02Speaker 1: for Your affirmation and encouragement. How about the kids when
- 52:08Speaker 1: you're finally gone saying the thing I miss most are
- 52:12Speaker 1: the notes he used to send me. Or it might
- 52:15Speaker 1: be a phone call. You're on your way somewhere or
- 52:19Speaker 1: maybe you are a long ways away. Just thinking of
- 52:23Speaker 1: you today, I want you to know how much you
- 52:24Speaker 1: mean to me. How grateful I am for whatever. Once
- 52:29Speaker 1: a week, once a week, affirm and encourage someone you love.
- 52:34Speaker 1: Here's the second, once a day. Once a day, think
- 52:39Speaker 1: of something for which you are grateful and tell the
- 52:43Speaker 1: Lord thank you. Once a day, think of something for
- 52:52Speaker 1: which you are grateful. Something will prompt you to think
- 52:56Speaker 1: of that. Happened to me today when I drove onto
- 53:00Speaker 1: the church property It was 10 minutes until 7 this morning.
- 53:05Speaker 1: I drove on. There was another car or two here,
- 53:09Speaker 1: but I saw three American flags flying. I hadn't asked
- 53:14Speaker 1: anybody to put up the American flags on all three poles,
- 53:19Speaker 1: but our very thoughtful custodial staff planned ahead, and they
- 53:23Speaker 1: put a big flag on this end. Did you notice?
- 53:25Speaker 1: If you didn't, you need your eyeglasses changed. It is huge.
- 53:31Speaker 1: And I saw the flags and I said, thank you, Lord,
- 53:36Speaker 1: that I live in this country. Thank you. It may
- 53:42Speaker 1: be a little thing. Bruce Martin wrote, sometimes when I
- 53:47Speaker 1: consider what tremendous consequences come from little things, I'm tempted
- 53:52Speaker 1: to think there are no little things. Before you let
- 54:00Speaker 1: your head now sunk into the pillow for a night's sleep.
- 54:06Speaker 1: Find a reason to say thank you, Lord, for and
- 54:10Speaker 1: tell him. This passage says you'll be overflowing with thankfulness.
- 54:17Speaker 1: Every day, several times every day, here's your third assignment,
- 54:23Speaker 1: little simple project. Through the hours of the day, pause
- 54:27Speaker 1: on occasion and remind yourself I am complete in Christ.
- 54:36Speaker 1: Tell yourself that. I am complete in Christ. I'm fully
- 54:46Speaker 1: accepted by you, dear Father, because of Christ. I'm freed
- 54:51Speaker 1: from the domination of sin's control because of what he
- 54:54Speaker 1: did for me on the cross. I'm absolutely secure now
- 54:58Speaker 1: and forever in my salvation because of Christ. I'm complete
- 55:03Speaker 1: in Him. Got it? Let's see how your week looks
- 55:09Speaker 1: about a week from now. Bow with me, would you?
- 55:18Speaker 1: So much fun to be together, Lord, and it's such
- 55:21Speaker 1: a delight to open this magnificent book as we see
- 55:28Speaker 1: black print on white pages. we realize it isn't just print.
- 55:35Speaker 1: It's just truth to live by. Truth, if necessary, to
- 55:40Speaker 1: die for. Deliver us from a frivolous, shallow, indifferent spirit
- 55:51Speaker 1: in a day in which all of that is so popular.
- 55:57Speaker 1: Give us someone to care for, to care about, Free
- 56:02Speaker 1: us to say so. Catch us up short when we
- 56:10Speaker 1: resist being vulnerable with words like, I love you. I
- 56:17Speaker 1: need you. You're important to me. And finally, Lord, thank
- 56:24Speaker 1: you for Jesus who loved us. And gave himself for us.
- 56:35Speaker 1: Thank you. He is our all in all. We need
- 56:42Speaker 1: nothing else but him. When it comes to eternal life.
- 56:48Speaker 1: We worship him now. In his great name. Everybody say. Amen.
- 57:00Speaker 4: The preceding message, Council from a Concerned Apostle, was copyrighted
- 57:05Speaker 4: in 2014 and 2022, and the sound recording was copyrighted
- 57:10Speaker 4: in 2022 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights are
- 57:14Speaker 4: reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is
- 57:19Speaker 4: strictly prohibited.