Take your Bibles and turn with
me to Colossians. Colossians chapter 1, and this evening we'll
be looking at verses 15 down through verse 23. Colossians
chapter 1, verses 15 through verse 23. Let's
read verse 14 because it has reference to verse 15. And Scripture says, in whom?
In the Son. We have redemption through His
blood, even the forgiveness of sins. Who is the image of the
invisible God, the firstborn of every creature? Now behold now, the Apostle Paul
begins here to reveal to the church the glorious person of
the Son of God, in whom we have redemption, even the forgiveness
of sins through His blood. It is though the Apostle now
is focusing, is drawing our focus, our gaze, into the very heavens
to point us to the One that redeemed us, even the Son of God, His
person. I was reading earlier today of
Spurgeon, and he used an illustration of a telescope and how it was
invented. As a matter of fact, there was
a man who who made glasses for people. And a couple of children had
two of his lenses in their hands and they were playing with these
lenses and they found that if you put the lenses at a certain
distance, they could see the weather vane on the church building
at a great distance. And thus we have the invention
of the telescope. And so it is now, the Apostle
is using a lens, a telescope as it were, and he was bringing
together these things, the will of God, the mercy of God, the
strength of God, and thanksgiving to the Father for making us inheritance,
meet to be partakers. And now he focuses on this matter
of redemption, in whom we have redemption, and he now focuses
on the person. He magnifies Him. He is going
to magnify Him who has redeemed us. And so the Lord Jesus, our
Redeemer, our Redeemer has by His one offering purged our sins,
obtained for us eternal redemption because He bare our sins in His
own body on the tree. And God was pleased, so pleased
with His Son's sacrifice, that He who died was raised from the
dead, and now, where is the Son of God? Where is this Redeemer
of ours? He is seated on the throne of
glory. This Redeemer of ours is seated
on the throne of glory, waiting to make all His enemies His footstool. You see, all things have been
put under the Lord Jesus, but it hasn't yet appeared that way,
does it? It doesn't yet seem that way, but it is soon to be
manifest. It appears here that the Apostle,
in magnifying the person of the Lord Jesus in these texts, is
because Some vain philosophers had crept in, professing to be
Christians in this church. And they seemed to pervert the
doctrines and deny the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. These
men claimed that He was the Savior, and yet they were denying His
deity. They believed Jesus to be not
divine, but rather one of the angelic hosts Or the first created
being. And so the apostle here is going
to crush all of those doctrines. All of those false doctrines
of our Redeemer. Because our Redeemer is God. God. These men said that God sent
His Son as the highest created being to suffer for the sins
of His people. And then on the other end of
the spectrum, these men were claiming that he wasn't even
a real man. He wasn't deity, but he also
wasn't a real man, that he somehow feigned suffering. He appeared
to be a man. And the apostle here would crush
such vain and foolish thoughts of these men And by the power
of the Holy Spirit, He has painted for us a vivid picture of the
One who redeemed us. And it is my heart's desire that
you be comforted by this. By this picture that the Apostle
paints for us of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because
your redemption and my redemption is only as good as the person
who redeemed us. You get that? If the person is,
if he is not God or he is not man, either one, then our redemption
is of no value. Therefore, the apostle is going
to show us his deity. And this is what he says in verse
15. Who, this one who redeemed us, is the image of the invisible
God. image of the invisible God. In Hebrews 1.3, he said, Paul
said, he is the brightness and express image of the person of
God. Now the invisible God, here he
speaks of, is none other than the Father, which no man has
seen at any time, neither in the Old Testament nor the New
Testament. Why? The Father is invisible. The Father is not seen by man. And may only be seen of men by
faith and not by sight. And how is it that the Father
is manifest by faith to men only by the Lord Jesus Christ? The only way you're ever going
to know the Father is by the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith in Him. In Romans, the Scripture tells
us of the creation of God. In Romans 1, it says that all
men may know there is a God by creation. You may look around
you and see His power and His Godhead. You may know that there
is a God because of divine providence, which is our experience. But
John tells us in John 1, 18, he said, No man has seen the
Father at any time. But how may we know the Father?
How may you know the Father? Only by Jesus Christ. It is the
Son, the only begotten Son, John says, hath revealed Him. In every appearance of God in
the Old Testament, do you realize this, that it was the Son that
appeared to men? Always. Always. It was the Son
of God who appeared to Adam and Eve and told them of His redemptive
work. It was the Son of God who walked
when spoke to Abraham on the road to Sodom. It was the Son
of God who appeared to Manoah and his wife concerning Samson.
And it was the Son of God who walked and met with Moses on
the mount. It was always the Son of God. And you remember what Moses asked
of God, didn't you? He asked this. He said, show
me your glory. Show me your face. That's what he wanted to see.
And God knew this. He said, but you cannot see my
face. And so how did Moses, how did
God allow Moses to see his glory? He put him in the cleft of the
rock, covered him with his hand, and as he passed by, what did
Moses see? Nothing. Moses did not see anything. Matter of fact, there was no
image that he saw, but rather he heard. He heard. And this is the glory of God.
This is the very express image of God is what he heard. The
Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering
and abundant in goodness and truth. keeping mercy for thousands,
forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. There's the first part. You want to know who God is?
He's merciful. You want to know who the Father
is? He's merciful, gracious, long-suffering, abundant in mercy,
full and rich in mercy. That's the Father. You want to
know the Father? He's rich in mercy. Yet there's
another aspect of the Father that Moses heard, and will by
no means clear the guilty. In other words, God is merciful
and holy. God is just and God is forgiving. Behold the glory of God, His
mercy and His justice, His forgiveness and His vengeance. And where else is the glory of
God revealed except in the face of Jesus Christ? How can these
two exist? How can God be merciful and just
at the same time? The only way is in the face of
Jesus Christ. The only way you can reconcile
this, the only way it's seen is in the face of Jesus Christ,
who is the express image of the Father. He is the express image
of the Father. Because only in Him do these
attributes meet together. Psalm 85 and verse 10, it says,
mercy and truth have met together. What's the truth? The truth is
we're wicked. The truth is that we have no
means by which to clear our name. We are guilty. That's the truth.
You deserve hell. That's the truth. Mercy and truth,
righteousness and peace have kissed each other. What's the
mercy? It is only found in the Son of God. The only way these
two meet together is in the Son of God. For He is the express image of
the invisible Father. And here the apostle reveals
that the Son of God is one with the Father, yet distinct from
the Father." Remember, He didn't say, in your text, who is the
Father, who is the invisible God. He said He is the image
of the invisible God. In other words, He's showing
a distinction between the Father and the Son. He is the image of the Father. He is the very image and character
of the Father in His attributes. The Son who redeemed us is one
in will, in purpose, in power, in holiness, in justice, in omnipotence
and glory. Therefore, Jesus, the Son of
God, is Himself God, even as the Father and Holy Spirit are
God. In 1 John 3 and verse 5 declares
this out for us. There are three that bear record
in heaven. The Father, the Word, and the
Spirit. And these three are one. One God. Not three gods. One God and three distinct persons
in the Godhead. And John tells us, in the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Who's he talking about? He's talking about the Lord Jesus
Christ. He is the Word. Jesus is the
Word. The Word was made flesh. So he's speaking of Jesus' deity. You remember that Jesus, in John
chapter 10, declared to those Jews. He declared that the Father
gave Him a people and He was come to save those people. That
was his will. This was the will of the father,
that he should come and that he should lose nothing but raise
it up again at the last day. Told him that's the will of the
father. And then he said this, my sheep hear my voice and I
know them and they follow me. And listen, I give unto them
eternal life. So what's the will of the son?
The will of the son is the same will of the father, to save his
people. And he said, no man can pluck
them out of my hands, and no man is able to pluck them out
of my father's hands. Do you not see that they are
the same? They're one in will and purpose. Over in John 17, Jesus said this,
I finished the work you've given me to do. And he said, now, Father,
glorify me. With what? The glory I had with
you from the beginning. I had with you from before the
world was. Sinner, would you know God? Would you know God? Would you
know how God can be just and justify you, the ungodly? How is it that God can be both
just and merciful? How can He be holy and still
show grace in forgiveness of sins? Behold now the Son of God
who is the very image of the Father, one in nature with the
Father and Holy Spirit, yet distinct in His person and work. the Son
of God, who is God, very God, listen, He had His own work in
salvation. The work of the Father was this,
your election. That was the work of the Father.
He purposed your salvation. He loved you with an eternal,
unchangeable love. And yet it was the work of the
Son of God, who is the image of the invisible God, that He
should come into the world as a man. As a man. In order that He should be the
mediator between God and men. This One who has come as man
He didn't come like a man. He came as a man. He became a man. He became bone
of our bone and flesh of our flesh. Consider the condescension. Consider how low the Son of God,
who is equal with the Father, should come down and take our
very nature in Himself. I'm sure many of you are tired.
I'm sure many of you struggle with your bodies and with all
sorts of common troubles. Listen, our Savior came and endured
all of these things. He is touched with the feelings
of our infirmities and was in all points tempted, except He
was without sin. He was without sin. Go to Philippians. Philippians chapter 2. Philippians
2. See this in verse 6. It says, "...who, being in the
form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God." Listen,
that word form means nature. He was himself the image of the
invisible God and he didn't think it robbery to be equal with God.
but made of himself no reputation, and took upon him," look at that
word, form, of a servant. He took on the nature of a servant. and was made in the likeness
of men. And being found in fashion, in
nature, as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross." Our Lord Jesus came into
this world and He came as a man like unto us. Except His birth
was altogether different than ours. His conception. We were
conceived by Adam's fallen race, fallen seed, but he was conceived
by the Holy Spirit. He was born different. He was
born without sin. But in all accounts, he was a
man, a sinless man, even the God-man. And when he was in fashion
as a man, he humbled himself divested himself of all of his
rights of glory and praise, and as a man in humility, he did
something. What was it that he was doing?
He was obtaining for us eternal righteousness. Now then, consider this. How
righteous was his righteousness? who is the image of the invisible
God, came down into humanity and obtained righteousness by
His obedience. Now, how perfect then was His
obedience? How infinitely righteous was
His obedience to the Father, seeing He is the express image
of the Father. I tell you, we should receive
great comfort concerning His person. For by His faith He obtained
for us even the righteousness of God. And so perfect was His obedience
that He was willingly obedient to suffer the death of a cross
to obtain eternal redemption for all those that the Father
gave Him. And so, how infinite then was
the value of His blood? How precious! Matter of fact,
the Apostle Paul calls it in Acts chapter 20 and verse 28,
he says, it is the blood of God which He purchased His church. This redemption of ours was purchased by God. Not some created being, but the
exact image of the Father and Holy Spirit. Now second of all,
look at this. He's not only shown to be the
image of the invisible God, He says He is the firstborn of every
creature. Now the word firstborn does not
mean first created. We can tell this even by the
context of the next verse, for by him were all things created.
So this word does not mean he was a created being, but rather
it shows that he is the, I believe one translation means the first
parent. It's not the first child, but
rather the first parent or first creator of all things. He created
all things, whether in heaven or earth, visible and invisible,
whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created by Him
and for Him. And He is before all things,
and by Him all things consist. And the Word expresses the truth
that He is the only begotten of the Father. He is the firstborn
of the Father in this sense. Not created, not adopted, and
not by the resurrection of the dead, because we are all adopted
sons. He's not the firstborn of that,
but I tell you, it means His eternal sonship. That's what
He's talking about. Go over to Proverbs. Proverbs
chapter 8. In the picture of wisdom, our
Lord Jesus Christ here is speaking. In Proverbs chapter 8 and verse
22, He says, The Lord possessed me in the beginning of His way
before His works of old. This word possessed means begot. The Lord begot me in the beginning of His way.
When was the beginning of God's way? It's an eternal beginning. And so then this Son of God is
the eternally begotten Son of God. And listen, in verse 23
He says, I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning or ever the
earth was. Set up to do what? To be the
mediator. to be our Redeemer, to be our
Savior, the Lord Jesus who was possessed from eternity, begotten,
the eternal begotten Son of God. He was set up to be our Redeemer
from eternity. Listen, believer, are you troubled?
That's a rhetorical question, because I know you are. Are you
troubled in your soul? Are your circumstances dire and
your griefs, do they not flood your soul constantly? Sorrow
and trouble all around you. And listen, you should look to
your Redeemer. For He who has loved you saved
you, called you, and keeps you is the same Lord who created
all things by the word of His power. He is the only begotten
of the Father and was eternally set up to be your Redeemer. You
should look to Him. You should look to His person.
If you have any trouble at all, shouldn't you look to the One
who created all things? You should look to Him because He is your
Redeemer. He is your Savior. Are you troubled
by rulers and politics? Does that not trouble you? Does
not this country that we live in, is it not troubling to you? It's troubling to us. Then should
you not look to the One who created all principalities and powers
and dominions and rulers? Should you not look to Him? Yes,
look to Him. Does everything appear to be
in chaos so that you can't figure out how God is going to work
all things to your good? Then take your eyes off of the
events and put them on the Creator. Look to Him. Don't look to the
circumstances. This will cause only further
confusion. Rather, look to thy Savior and
thy Redeemer, for He alone created all things. And listen, all things
were created by Him and for Him. For Him. All things in heaven and earth,
time and eternity were created by Him. And listen, they're all
working according to the pleasure of His will. Why are you so upset? Why are you so troubled? Did
not our Savior tell us these things must come to pass? He
said, don't be troubled. These things must come to pass. Remember, all things work for
His own pleasure. What is His pleasure? What is
the pleasure of Him who sits on the throne of heaven? Is it
not the salvation of your soul? That is His pleasure. It is His
work. He said, I delight in the sons
of men. That's where His delight is. It was His pleasure to elect
you. It was His pleasure to redeem
you. It was His pleasure to give you the new birth and faith and
life. And listen, all of this was for
what reason? To the praise of the glory of
His grace. Isn't that what the Scripture
tells us in Ephesians over and over and over again? Flip over
to Ephesians. I want you to see the reason
for everything. Reason for everything. In verse 6, in verse 5, having
predestinated us to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
Himself, what did He do that for? According to the good pleasure
of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace. And in verse 9, having made known
unto us the mystery of His will according to the good pleasure,
His good pleasure, which He hath purposed in Himself. In verse 11, "...in whom we have
obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the
purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His
own will, that we should be to the praise of His glory." Do
you not see that your salvation and the glory of God are in union
together? Does this not bring you joy? Does this not bring you peace
and contentment to know that your salvation is tied to the
glory of God? that He had purposed everything
for Himself. Even your salvation was for the
praise of the glory of His grace. Therefore, as the righteous suffer,
as we are only a remnant of the fallen race, chosen, redeemed,
eternally loved of God, Yet why do we suffer the most? Is that
not so? I tell you, believers, we suffer
all the common ails of man, but we have one thing greater in
our suffering. We look to eternal matters, weighty
matters of the soul that other men don't look to. We're constantly concerned about
our souls. Whether we are in Christ, it
is incumbent upon us to know, am I in Christ? Do I have His
righteousness? Do I have that hope? And this
weighs on us constantly. Our sin weighs on us constantly. We are often downcast because
of our sin. We are often under the conviction
of our sin. We're often concerned about our
eternal state before God while the world is going on like nothing's
happening. Everything's all right. Look
at this religious world. They're just so happy, aren't
they? They just, they can get up on stage and they dance around
and they have so much fun. And we're just like, oh, woe
is me. Woe is me. Woe is me. That's
what the believer deals with all the time. He's often cast
out. Often suffering. And so the religious and the
false professors, they say, well, where's your God? Why are you
suffering so much? Where's your God? Even in the
midst of our suffering, what do we say? Our God is in the
heavens and had done whatsoever He had pleased. So what is all
things working for? It is working for Him. It's for
Him. Everything was made. And our
salvation was, it pleased Him. All things created by Him and
for Him. And as we keep Christ, our great God and Redeemer, in
view by faith, let us also see that by Him all things consist. You listen very carefully. All
things. All things. All things. consist by Him. In other words,
this universe still spins because He has it in the palm of His
hand and He moves it. So why is everything moving exactly
like it is now? Because it is according to His
will. By it, it still consists. Consider that Christ made everything
perfect. Principalities and powers and
rulers and all dominions. He made that. And it was perfect. And yet when Adam fell, it fell
under the curse. And it's been ruined ever since.
And yet why does it still consist? Why does it still move? Why does
God still allow this wicked world to continue? Because He has an
elect people and He's coming for them. He's going to save
them. That's why everything consists.
That's why everything moves. It's because God has an elect
people and all things in time and eternity move like clockwork
according to His will. Everything moves exactly according
to His standard and purpose. Everything. Man thinks he's in charge of
everything. Isn't that right? If you've got anybody you know
in public school, go ask them what they're teaching about environmentalism. That you can save the world. Man's ruined it by his pollution,
and you know if you put that cup into that recycle bin, you
just saved the world. No, you didn't. You see, this
world is going to continue whether you pollute it or not. It's going
to continue because God says it's going to continue. And it's
going to continue until He comes back and you don't have anything
to do with it. You can't sustain this world.
You can't even sustain your own life. How can you save this planet? It's impossible. Jesus said all
things will continue the same. As in the days of Noah, so shall
it be in the days of the Son of Man's coming. They shall be
eating and drinking and marriage and giving in marriage. Until
the day Noah entered into the ark, the same way is going to
happen when Jesus comes. Everything is going to continue
the same way it is. So don't even worry about that. This world
is going to continue to exist because Christ holds it together.
Believer Christ, consider that all things from the beginning,
from eternity, were purposed of God for His glory, so that
all that comes to pass in time by the will of the Savior is
for the salvation of His people. Listen, He said, I am God and
there's none else. It's as though God looked to
His left and looked to His right and He said, there's none beside
me. There's no God with me! I am God! declaring the end from the beginning.
And from ancient times of things that are not yet done, saying,
My counsel shall stand. You remember when Ezekiel saw
the vision of the wheels within the wheels? You know what that
is? That's the providence of God. It didn't turn to the right
and it didn't turn to the left. It went straight forward. And
that's the providence of God. It's going exactly the way God
purposes it. Have you ever seen a wheel? It
spins. the top becomes the bottom and
the bottom becomes the top and so on and so forth and so God's
providence spins one minute we're up the next minute we're down
it's the providence of God it's always the way it is I remember as a child taking
my bicycle and turning it over and I like to spin the wheel
And I just try to watch one spoke. You ever try to do that? Just
one spoke, just look at that spoke. And you go round and round
and round, and all of a sudden you start wobbling, you get dizzy.
Listen, believe me, if you're looking at one providence, and
you try to trace that providence back to God, you're just gonna
get dizzy. Don't do it. What is Paul doing here? He is
magnifying the Savior so that we should look at the only part
of the wheel that doesn't move. Christ. Everything stems from Him. You don't have to trace it. How
do we see it? Faith. Faith. The just shall live how? By tracing providences to God?
No. By faith. The just shall live
by faith. Keep your eye, instead of on
the providence, on Christ. And listen, Paul says this, verse
18, He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning
and the firstborn from the dead, that in all things Christ might
have or should have the preeminence. Now keep him in view in the midst
of all your troubles, who is the Savior and cause of all things,
who is your federal head. You should keep Christ in view
because he is your federal head. And as the body is attached to
the head, even so are you in union with him. You should keep
that in view. You should keep that in view. Jesus is not just the head of
some believers, but He is the head of the entire body, from
the newest of saints to the elders of faith. He is our head. He is our representative from
all eternity. He is our political head. He
is our king. He is our economic head in that
He supplies all that we need. He is our wisdom, our righteousness,
our sanctification, and our redemption. He's everything. He's everything. Jesus is the root and foundation
and cause of all of our salvation for time and eternity. We were
chosen in Him, we were redeemed by Him, and all spiritual life
flows from Him into our very souls by the Holy Ghost. As Eve
was taken from Adam, so are we taken from the Lord Jesus Christ. We are one with Him. Oh, the
joy of this truth. It should dwell in our hearts.
It should cause us to love and adore Him as preeminent. How would you feel if somebody
would like to come and take off your little finger? Now, you
don't use it much. Why do you need it? Well, you'd
say, no. Why? Because it's my body. And listen, the Lord Jesus Christ
is very particular about his body. He is going to save all
of it. He is not maimed. He will not
lose one of us. He is our head and we are His
people. There's joy of this truth that
our Lord is our head. Our Lord was made and voluntarily
took complete responsibility for our salvation. Do you get
that? He took responsibility to save
you. All of it. And so your salvation rests completely
where? On Him. On your head. And so Paul could write this,
so all Israel shall be saved. All Israel shall be saved. As
it is written, there shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and
shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. All Israel shall be saved,
because Christ is the Head and Deliverer of all Israel. And
He who was our Head, He was the Head from the beginning. That's
what Paul said. He is the Head of the body, the
Church, who is the beginning and the firstborn from the dead. After He purged our sins by His
own blood, our Lord was raised from the dead. He pleased God by His one offering
for our sins, and God raised Him up. What does this tell us? That God will also raise us from
the dead. This is our hope. Because death
is coming, isn't it? If he doesn't come back first,
it's coming. And so what is our hope when
we lie on our deathbed? This is my hope, that one day
this body shall be raised incorruptible. It'll be raised like unto that
of my head. It'll be raised like his incorruptible
body. Philippians 3 in verse 20, he
says, our conversation, our citizenship is in heaven from whence we also
we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus, who shall change our vile
body to be fashioned like unto his glorious body. Therefore,
what does the body of Christ have to fear? What do you have to fear? Not a thing. Not a thing. I always think about it like
this. You know, imagine you're out and you're wading out in
the water and you're swimming. You know, the whole body's underwater,
but as long as the head's above water, everything's fine. Listen,
my head is seated on the throne of God. Everything's fine, even
though I may be underwater. I may have everything rush in
on me. It doesn't matter. My head's
secure. I'm secure. You're secure. What
are we to fear? Our Savior's risen. Who can then
separate us from our head? Nothing and no one can separate
us. What can move Him to leave us? seeing that he was from the beginning
our head and now has risen for our justification. Who shall
thwart him from his purpose to present us holy? and unblameable
and unreprovable in his sight. Nothing. Why? He hath made peace
by the blood of his cross. That's why. I'm sure. I'm sure
of heaven as though I'm standing here. I am just as sure of heaven
as those people who have already been in heaven for years. I am
just as sure of it because he made peace by the blood of his
cross. and hath reconciled all things unto himself. The apostle
says, all things in heaven, all things in earth and under the
earth are reconciled to him. Verse 21, even you. Isn't that something? He made peace by the blood of
his cross and reconciled everything to himself. Even you, who were sometimes alienated
and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled
in the body of His flesh through death to present you how? Holy, unblameable, and unreprovable
in His sight. In other words, you listen to
this, Jesus was successful. Now as you look at him tonight
by faith, how do you see him? I see him sitting on the throne
of God successful in his work. successful in all his work to
redeem us to God. And who of his people shall he
lose? None of them. And even though
now we groan in this flesh, suffering and waiting until we are fully
delivered from the corruption of this flesh, Yet not only did Christ reconcile
us, He will also bring us to Himself. Listen in verse 23.
If you continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and be
not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you have
heard. How do I know He's reconciled
me? I just told you he reconciled
Israel. All Israel shall be saved. How
do I know if I am of Israel? How do I know if he's my head?
Yeah, I believe he's successful. How do I know he was successful
for me? Do you believe on the Son of
God? Oh, there's the evidence. There's
the evidence of the work of grace in the heart. And you know what
this faith is going to do? It's going to continue. Faith
now. I believe now. And I believe
now. And I believe now. And you know
how long I'm going to believe? Until the end. If your faith
is real faith, it will continue. Continue in what? Grounded and
rooted in Him who is the image of the invisible God. Him who
is the firstborn of every creature, created all things that is by
Him and for Him. He who is the head of the church.
He who has the preeminence. He in whom all the fullness of
salvation dwells, I believe in Him. Do you? If your faith is real faith,
it will continue. I'm glad for that. I'm thankful
for this promise that it will continue. I'm thankful that God has given
me such faith to believe. And my salvation is just as sure
as Jesus Christ's throne is. I'll close with this. I was listening to a man speak
of Scott Richardson. He said, those ships out in the
harbor have an anchor. They drop that anchor down into
the water. And when they're ready to go,
that anchor, they pull that back into the ship. He said, with
the believer, our anchor is in heaven, and he's gonna pull the
whole ship up to the anchor. That's my hope. That's my confidence,
no matter what happens here in this world. My hope is secure
because it's in Christ. I pray that yours is as well.
Let's stand, we'll be dismissed in prayer.