We're in Romans chapter 11 again.
We want to take up at that portion of scripture where the Apostle
Paul was explaining to us the purpose for the fall of Israel.
And that's in that category of your outline. If you are using
your outline, you'll notice after the first division dealing with
the first 12 verses, the Apostle Paul says
in Romans chapter 11, Verses 11 through 13. Let me rephrase
this and lay it down again for us as we contemplate what we
started contemplating last week. I say, then, have they stumbled
that they should fall? And he's speaking about national
Israel. And the answer by the apostle is, God forbid. But rather,
through their fall, salvation has come unto the Gentiles in
order to provoke the ones who fail to jealousy. Now, if the
fall of them be the riches of the world and the diminishing
of them the riches of the Gentiles, how much more their fullness. And then the apostle says in
verse 13, for I speak to you Gentiles in as much as I am the
apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify my office. So verses 11 and 12
are an argument for a purposeful fall. a purposeful fall in the
language we dealt with two weeks ago. You may have forgotten.
It was a little bit tricky in that I called your attention
to verse 11, where it opens up verse 11, part eight. I say that
have they stumbled, that they should fall. And we recognize
that that term there meant to utterly fall. It is the Greek
word, Pipto. And it means to utterly fall. And that means to fall in a way
of damnation or fall in a way of non-recovery, a fall to death. And we looked at a number of
passages in relationship to that falling. One was John chapter
12, verse 24, where we saw that the Lord used the parable of
a seed. He said, except the seed go into
the ground and die, except a seed fall into the ground and die. That's our Greek verb, piptoe. The connotation is that when
that fall takes place, there is no recovery. There is a utter
fall. There is a total fall. There
is a complete ending to that motion. In the Bible, it talks
about falling. It uses the word fall in the
moral sense of what happens to a person when they fall into
what? Sin. We use that term concerning
Adam, that Adam fell, that Adam walked with God in what we call
probational righteousness, and that is God created Adam in a
state of righteousness, but that righteousness was probational.
What that means is Adam was in a contingency plan with God that
if he would have obeyed all of God's commandments, he would
have lived forever. That's a contingency plan. What
we call in theology, a probational righteousness. But Adam failed
and it didn't take long for him to fall. And when he failed,
he failed in a destructive way. The Bible says in Romans chapter
5, around verse 10 through 12, for by one man sin entered into
the world, and death passed upon all, for all have sinned. So that's the kind of fall that
Pipto is connoting in Romans 11, verse 17, part A. And we looked at other passages. I want you to go one more with
me so that I can nurture your mind. In fact, a couple, because
I want you to draw this. Go with me to 1 Corinthians chapter
10. In 1 Corinthians chapter 10,
the apostle Paul talks about falling again, and he uses this
same verb in 1 Corinthians chapter 10. Notice what he says, and
he's describing the history of national Israel again, as they
made their way through the wilderness. And he said over in verse five, but with many of them,
that is those who were in the wilderness, God was not well
pleased for they were overthrown. Do you see the phrase in the
wilderness? Now, these things were our example
to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as
they lusted. Neither be idolaters as some
of them as it is written, the people sat down to eat and drink
and they rose up to play. Neither let us commit fornication
as some of them committed. And what fail do you see that
that's our Greek verb to utterly fall. In other words, they fail
because when they committed fornication in a very crass and open and
irreverent way to God, God judged them. They didn't fall. Because
they were committing fornication they fail because of the judgment
of God God's wrath came upon them the Bible says 23,000 were
killed in one day in a plague that God sent upon Israel and
in total 24,000 died this was the last plague before Israel
would cross over into The wilderness this was your bail P or account
in numbers chapter 24 24,000 died in one day in 23 in one
day 24 over a couple of days They fail they utterly perish. They never made it into the promised
land. That's the connotation of this
word To fall in first Corinthians today go with me to Hebrews chapter
4 and I want you to see it again what I'm doing is Taking you
to different passages where the same word is used. And in the
context where these words are used, you can derive a sense
of the continuity of their application. Hebrews chapter four, verse 11. Again, we are dealing with national
Israel as well. And the writer to the Hebrews
is addressing the historicity of Israel in the wilderness.
And here's what he says over in Hebrews chapter four. I'll start at Verse nine, there
remains therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is
entered into his rest, he has also ceased from his own works
as God did from his. Verse 11, let us labor therefore
to enter into that rest. That's what we call a paradox. Let us, the exhortation is to
us, labor. The verb there is in our God,
it means to apply yourself. Let us labor, that's work, to
enter into that rest. Do you see the paradox? Labor to enter into God's rest. In other words, entering into
God's rest requires the labor of believing God. So let us labor to enter into
that rest, the Bible says, lest any man fall, there's our word,
after the same example of what? Unbelief. And so the writer to
the Hebrew says that these folks who were called out of Egypt
and led through the wilderness did not make it into the promised
land because while they were called and led, they didn't believe
God. And what hinders a person from
entering into the rest that's in Christ is unbelief. That's
a very simple but profound concept. And we'll be finding ourselves
being taught didactically by that truth as we deal with Israel
as an example. The reason why Israel did not
enter into the promises of God, even though they had all of these
external benefits and blessings, was because they did not believe
God. So unbelief will defraud you
of a true rest in Christ. So if you ask yourself, why don't
I rest? Why can't I find joy and peace and happiness and solace
in Christ? It's because you don't believe
him. It's just that simple. And amazingly, when people find
themselves toiling and laboring and struggling, and they want
to try to resolve that because it's driving you crazy, you are
anxious, you are paranoid, you are struggling, you are toiling. What people do when they're in
that state is they actually engage in more toil and struggle and
paranoia and anxiety by trying to find a way to work to get
right with God. When what God is saying to the
sinner who is really in need is to stop working and enter
into his rest. And you'll find the hardest thing
for you to do is to believe God. It's easier to do religious good
works than it is to believe God. It's easier to play church than
it is to believe God. It's easier to go through the
motions of self-righteousness than it is to rest in the free
grace of God in Christ. Do you believe that? Do you know
why? Because faith is a gift from God. And faith requires
humility. Faith requires you confessing
your total and utter inability to do anything to get right with
God. Faith requires being humbled.
And the sinner who doesn't have that gift of faith in his pride
will continue to toil to get right with God and he will miss
it every time. And this is what the Hebrews
did. This is what we're dealing with. They are the larger paradigm
of a people who didn't believe God. That's the whole problem
with Israel. And so the fall for them, as we'll go back to
our text now, the fall for them, go with me back to our text,
Hebrews 11, the apostle Paul says in verse 11, I say that
have they stumbled that they should fall utterly fall. He
gives us our answer in 11 part B and that is no, they haven't
totally fallen. We're going to do some development
of this passage today so that we can be clear on what's going
on. Paul says some things. And in the process of what he
says, it's very, very important for you to be clear on how he
says it in order for you not to be confused. He said, God
forbid. Now watch this and you'll see
what I'm saying by this. I send to have they stumbled
that they should fall. What's the answer? No, but rather
through their what they did fall. See, so what he's dealing with
is a term that is bracketed by qualifiers. They fail, but they
didn't fall in a way in which you might think an utter and
total destruction without any benefit whatsoever. That's why
I titled this portion of our text. There is a purpose to their
fall. I say then have they stumbled that they should fall God, God
forbid, but rather through their fall. That word is not piptoe. We've talked about that. Remember,
The word is Paratoma. Paratoma. And the word Paratoma
literally means to transgress, or to err, or to violate God's
commandments. It means to exceed your boundaries.
That's what it means. Go with me to Romans chapter
five. In Romans chapter five, Paul uses this word in a different
way. It's the same Greek word, but
he uses it in a different way. And we'll grasp the connotation
then. In Romans five, We read over
in verse Romans 5 verse 15. Now start
back at. I'll start at verse 14. Let me
start at verse 12 and go through the context so that you can see
it. Paratoma is a Greek word that means to transgress or to
trespass. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world,
death by sin, so that death passed upon all, for that all have sinned. For until the law, sin was in
the world, but sin is not imputed where there is no law. Nevertheless,
death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned
in the same way in which Adam's transgression. There's your word,
Paratoma, who is the figure of him that was to come. Now notice
it again. But not as the offense. See the
word offense? That's paratoma. But not as the
offense, so also is the free gift. For if through the offense,
the transgression of one, many be dead, much more the grace
of God and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ,
hath abounded to everyone. Is that what it says? To how
many? You see how important it is for
you to pay careful attention to when the preacher's reading?
I do that frequently with you because I know that what we do
in this society is we listen passively. You know what it means
to listen passively? Have heartedly and not carefully.
And you know what else we do passively? We read passively.
So you're reading the scriptures and you're not quite paying attention
to what they say. The text says that Jesus justified
many. He didn't justify everybody.
Do you see that? That's very important because
we'll be dealing with that down the line. Theology is so critical
today. The enemy only needs to get you to omit one word for
him to be able to deceive you. Or if you don't omit it, you
misinterpret it. But the phrase offense in verse
15 is the idea of falling, but falling not permanently, but
rather transgressing. And that's how the apostle Paul
is dealing with chapter 11, verse 17. Let's go back there. He says,
have they fallen permanently? Have they fallen without purpose?
Should they be utterly wiped out? Will they be devastated
in such a way that there is absolutely no redemptive connotation for
Israel? And the answer is, God forbid, but rather through their
fall, that is their transgression, salvation. Do you see that? Salvation. I say that because the verb is
come is not there. Through their fall, salvation.
Do you see that? through their fall salvation
unto the Gentiles. You guys see that? So the fall
of Israel resulted in the salvation of the Gentiles in the same way
the death of Christ resulted in the salvation of all of God's
elect from every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue. So the death
of Christ was purposeful and the fall of Israel was purposeful.
And that's what the apostle is saying. We're going to continue
to develop this. I want you to see it. through their fall salvation
has come to the Gentiles in order to provoke them to what. So it's so Paul is looking at
actually a reciprocating principle for redemption jealousy for redemption
jealousy is actually designed to create a reciprocating effect
that reciprocating effect is this Israel's fall or transgression
results in the salvation of Gentiles, which results in the Gentiles
witnessing to Jews, which result in the Jews being saved. Just
like the Gentiles were saved through the Jews, the Jews are
saved through the Gentiles. This is a reciprocating principle.
You guys see that? In other words, God has chosen
to see to it that the Jews understand that the Gentiles were saved
by grace and that they, the Jews themselves, also are saved by
grace so that all are on the same standing. Actually, if I
wanted to stop right here, I could tell you that Paul's whole objective,
right along with the whole theological premise of the Book of Romans,
is to make it clear that the Jews had no preeminence over
the Gentiles, and that the Gentiles had no preeminence over the Jews,
and that when the scheme of redemption is properly comprehended, the
reality is we all stand on the same foundation. Sinners in need
of mercy, finding grace only in Jesus Christ. That's the whole
purpose for which the gospel is being preached. Now I say
that because it's so critically important for the Christian in
the 21st century in America to understand how to witness both
the Jews and Gentiles. God doesn't have a special people
called the Jews in some other sort of unique and peculiar category
distinctly different from the Gentiles. I'll show you how this
works here more fully as we go down the line, but go with me
back to Romans chapter three. Paul alluded to this back in
Romans three. Now Romans is a, what we call
a treaties of the gospel. And that means that from Romans
one, one, all the way through Romans chapter 16, the apostle
Paul has been developing his argument for what man needs and
what God has. And back in Romans three verses
one through three, you'll see that this very, uh, This very
peculiar language concerning the Jews is appropriate and relevant
to Romans 11. What advantage then hath the
Jew? See what I'm getting at? Now Paul raised that question.
So now when your friends come to you and talk about Jews are
the special people of God and Gentiles are kind of like, you
know, stepchildren. Ask them to then respond to a
Jewish brother named Paul who raised the question, what advantage
then hath the Jew? See what I'm saying? What advantage,
then, does that have the Jew? Now, notice what he says. Or
what profit is there of circumcision? Now, here's what he says. Much
in every way, cheaply because unto them were committed the
oracles of God. For what if some did not believe?
Do you see that? Now, mark that word some. We're
going to be dealing with that right now. But watch this. What
if some did not believe? Shall their unbelief make the
faith of God without any effect. Do you see that? And then he
goes on to say, for God forbid, let God be true, but every man
a liar. The apostle Paul is bringing
the Gentiles and the Jews to a conclusion that we are all
equally in a state of need. Look down at verse nine. What
then? He's speaking to his Jewish brethren, aren't he? Are we better
than they? Do you see that? So here's your
second question. Not only did he say, what advantage
do they have? He says, are we better than the Gentiles? What's
the answer? No, and no whys. For we have
before proved both Jews and Gentiles that they are all what? Got it? Got it? This is Paul Holt's argument. And then he pulls out the scriptures
and goes to work and starts making everybody none. All right. We'll go back to Romans chapter
11. So, and we'll see that, see this here again, as we make our
way through Romans 11, see what Paul is doing is he's speaking
to the two categories of people in the Roman church, the Jews
and the Gentile. So sometimes he turns to the
Jewish constituency and, and, and deals with them. Then he
turns to the Gentiles and deals with them. Then he turns back
to the Jews and deals with them. And that's what he's doing now.
He's explaining to the Jews why they fail in the presence of
the Gentiles. Now he's getting ready to talk
to the Gentiles specifically about the purpose behind the
fall. And that's why we read in verse 13, look at it, Romans
11, 13. For I speak to you who Gentiles,
not that he wasn't speaking to them before, but he's speaking
to them more specifically now because he wants them to understand
the equanimity of the discourse. He wants them to understand the
balance of the discourse. He doesn't want them to fall
prey to a faulty sense of superiority. Gentiles can do that just as
he did not want the Jews to fall prey to a faulty sense of superiority,
particularly those who've been redeemed by God's blood. That's
obnoxious for redeemed sinners to fall into a sense of, uh,
of self superiority over anyone else when you are nothing but
an object of mercy and so he's trying to keep everybody on an
even keel and so he says over in verse twelve after having
given us the syllogism in verse eleven they didn't fall but they
did and their fall result in the salvation of the Gentiles
in order to provoke some of the Jews to jealousy now if the fall
of them here's what he's doing now is setting up what we call
and hypothetical. Now, if the fall of them be the
richest of the world and the diminishing of them, the riches
of the Gentiles, how much more their fullness? He's saying the
same thing from a different perspective. And what he's doing now is he's
using the analogy of, of, of, of benefit. It's a, this is a
business term. He says the fall results in the
richest, right? Of the world. the world now becomes
rich through their fall. Do you guys see that? If the
fall of them becomes the riches of the world and the diminishing
of them, the diminishing of them, that word it means to be minimized,
the riches of the Gentiles. Now, there it is. I want you
to mark that. This here also will help you in your theology,
particularly those of you who are sensitive to the arguments
or the discussions around universal atonement, which is a preposterous
concept. that Christ died for everyone
without exception. That is a preposterous concept,
but because we're ignorant of our Bibles, it sounds so good
to us that we buy into it. But what the text is teaching
in the New Testament all the time is that the word world is
not dealing with every single human being on planet earth from
the time of Adam to the end of the world. But the word world
in the New Testament particularly is the word synonymous to Gentiles. You guys got that? So notice
what it says in the text, and this is very important. If the
fall of Israel resulted in the riches of the world and the diminishing
of them, the riches of the what? This is what we call a parallelism
in statement. He's talking about the same group,
the world, the Gentiles, the riches, the riches. Now, how
much more their fullness? Whose fullness? Israel, the Jews. That's right. So the Apostle
Paul is saying once again, their fall resulted in the Gentiles
who were poor spiritually. They were poor in that they were
outside of the covenant blessings of God. They were poor in that
they had no part in the commonwealth of Israel. They were poor in
that they didn't have the promise of the gospel to them in a prolific
way. They were poor in that they didn't
have a relationship with the true and the living God. Everyone
who is lost and dead in trespasses and sins are poor spiritually. You guys understand that, right?
Poor spiritually. And so this is what it was talking
about. So many women live in the poverty of darkness and the
poverty of ignorance to the truth until the gospel comes in power.
The Bible describes the gospel as riches. It describes the blessings
of the covenant as riches. And so what the apostle is saying
is these riches that were uniquely given to the covenant people
within the framework and construct of national Israel from the days
of Abraham up to the coming of Christ, they were confined by
the 12 tribes, but not exclusively to the 12 tribes. but by and
large, the 12 tribes. And what we mean by that in this
language is so very important to comprehend. Even when we talk
about national Israel, historically from the days of Abraham, 2000
years before Christ, when we talk about national Israel making
its excursion through the world until the coming of Jesus, what
we must understand is there were always Gentiles inserted into
the lineage of Israel so that the gospel wasn't airtight confined
to only the blood descendants of Abraham. Am I making some
sense? I can tell you one person. I can tell you many, but one
who eminently experienced the blessings of God and the riches
of those blessings of which she took back to her own people.
And that was the queen of Ethiopia. Remember when she came to hear
Solomon's wisdom and to behold his glory. And she sat at his
feet. and she drew from his breast
the gospel, the redemption of Christ. She took it back home.
She was amazed. She was blown away. She said,
her spirit, she lost her spirit. She was as it were overwhelmed.
The half of what had been told her, she had not seen nor heard.
And she took it back home. This is true also for the Ethiopian
eunuch in the first century AD. This is what I've said to her
so many times. The gospel actually went to Africa first as a target
for evangelism. during the days that it was being
established among the apostles. So the diminishing of Israel,
that is, the diminishing of Israel was that God took the stewardship
from them and gave it to others bearing the fruit thereof. So
that now Israel is not the center of theological truth. No longer
do we say we must now go to Jerusalem to get the gospel. That's what
Jesus had said when he told his disciples, I'll meet you down
the road. I got to go through Samaria. There's a woman I got
to meet in Samaria. There's an elect child of God.
I got to meet in Samaria. She's my sheep. My father gave
her to me in the covenant of redemption. I've got to find
it. I've got to meet her at the well. In fact, she's going to
be at the well about 12 o'clock. So I got to go. I'll see you
guys later. Because, because, she would influence
the Samaritans with the gospel of God's grace. They would experience
those riches too. And so what I'm getting at is
that when we deal with the Old Testament covenant scheme where
God used Israel as a nation, as a conduit to bring Christ
in, never imagined this airtight entity that didn't allow for
the infusion of Gentiles. There were Gentiles all the way
through the process. Are you guys hearing me? All
the way through the process. Because God was alluding to the
reality that what would constitute the true Israel would not merely
be the physical blood descendants of Abraham, but men and women
from every nation, gender, tribe, and tongue. And this is why God
said to Abram, I'm changing your name from Abram to Abraham. You are not a father of nations,
but a father of many nations. You guys got that? Now that's
the true Israel of God. This is way back at the patriarch
Abraham. By the way, the patriarch Abraham
is Paul's argument, his beginning argument in Romans 4. Okay, you
guys trust in Abraham, Paul said to the Jews. You guys boast in
Abraham being your father. We have Abraham as our father.
Remember that? They said to Jesus. Paul said,
do you know when God called Abraham? He wasn't under the law. In fact,
the law hadn't been given for 430 years. Do you know when God
called Abraham? Abraham wasn't a Jew. Do you know Abraham was
never a Jew? Isn't that remarkable? Romans chapter four, he was a
Gentile. God called him, God saved him, God used him in uncircumcision. Why? So that once he circumcised
him and started his redemptive plan of bringing Jesus into the
world, Abraham would be the father of both Jews and Gentiles. So
the typology fits the paradigm. He's the father of a multitude
of nations. Where is boasting then? There
is none. You guys got that? So this is
the argument that the apostle is laying down. So now notice
what he goes on to say. I want to see if we can develop
this because what he's about to get into is a concept called
fullness, fullness, fullness, plat-ro-ma, fullness. Notice what he says over in verse
12, the latter part. And because of the diminishing
of Israel, the riches of the Gentiles, how much more their
fullness, their fullness. What is the apostle Paul talking
about when he talks about their fullness? The word fullness is
the Greek word pleroma. It's a word that is actually
consistently used both in the Old Testament and the New Testament,
the same way. Let's see if we can develop it
a little bit and we'll build upon it. I think it's Psalm 24,
verse one. Take a look at that. I wanna
make sure that I'm going to the right Psalm. I haven't been there
in a long time, but I think it's Psalm 24, verse one, where the
Psalmist plainly tells us in verse one, are you there? The
earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. Now listen to what he
said, the world and they that dwell therein. Now here's what
he says when he says uses that phraseology, the fullness, and
we're getting ready to develop that. The idea of fullness means
that God creates something with purpose. And then he furnishes
that thing he created with everything necessary to resource its purpose. So let's build the analogy. If
you buy a house and yet your house is empty, there's no fullness
to your house. Your house is empty. Until you
put all of the necessary apparatus in that home, in that house,
in order to make it functionable, your house is empty. Am I making
some sense? So the concept of fullness connotes
every resource necessary for that entity or that object to
actually fulfill his job at full capacity. Got it? Fullness then
means totally resourced to fulfill your calling. And so the idea
of Israel obtaining fullness because of the Gentiles embracing
the gospel, actually is fulfilling what God had always purposed
in Abraham, that he would be the father of a multitude of
nations. Let me see if I can drive that
home, particularly for you dispensationalists. Israel's fullness is not what
Israel will be down the line. Israel's fullness is what God
has done by bringing the Gentiles into the covenant right along
with them as God had purposed in Abraham. In other words, Israel
is not full until Israel is recognized as every nation, kindred, tribe,
and tongue under the covenant promise through Jesus Christ,
who is its head. You guys got that? That's what
the fullness is. So the apostle Paul is getting
to what actually will result in Israel's blessings. Israel
will become more than Israel could ever be, all by Israel's
self. You guys follow me so far? Okay,
so let's look in our Bible and deal with fullness a little bit.
I want you to see this. This is so important that we'll make
our way through our text. The first time we read fullness
of any significance is in John chapter 1 verse 16. Go there.
john chapter one verse sixteen i like this because the apostle
paul actually addresses not the possible but john he addresses
this when he opens up his gospel in the gospel of john he addresses
the issue of the deity of christ the gospel of john deals specifically
and primarily with the deity of jesus christ and and dot and
the gospel of john chapter one we read over inverse sixteen
these words and uh... what now he we are dealing with
his fullness over here i have back Dia ice. All of these are prepositions.
You guys see that? Ek dia ice. Ek means out of or from. And it has to do with source.
You guys got that? Source. Source. What is the source
of all fullness? God himself. Isn't that right?
What is the source of all fullness? God himself. Who is the source
of all fullness? God himself. You guys believe
that? God is the first cause of everything. You can never
have a proper theology until you understand that he is the
beginning and he is the end. He is the first and he is the
last. He is the one who creates, he
is the one who sustains, he is the one who preserves, he is
the one who perfects. If you misunderstand God in terms
of him being first cause, you do not have true theology. Keep
your hand here and go with me in your Bibles back to Romans
chapter 11. I want you to see it for yourself because when
Paul is addressing this issue that you and I are now contemplating,
he closes out Romans 11 worshiping like Paul does. If you read Paul
carefully, he breaks out in worship when he contemplates the glory
of God in Christ, particularly if the Spirit of God causes him
to wax eloquent. He starts worshiping. So in Romans
chapter 11, and I don't blame him, in Romans 11, this is how
he closes out chapter 11, verse 31 and 32. He's still dealing
with our subject. Even so, have these also now
not believed, that is the Jews, that through your mercy, that
is the Gentiles, they also may obtain what? For God hath concluded
them all, who, Jew and Gentile, where, and unbelieved, that he
might have mercy upon all, who, Jew and Gentile. You guys got
that? Now Paul's happy. Now listen to what he says. Oh,
the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of
God. How unsearchable are his judgment, his ways past finding
out. For who hath known the mind of
the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? This man is soaring,
isn't he? Who has been his counselor? Now
listen to this. or who at first given unto God so that it shall
be recompensed unto him again. Now, here is a maxim, an axiom
that all who are students of the scriptures must know. For
of him, do you see it? That's our preposition, out of,
or by him. For of him, and what? Through
him, and to him, are what? Some things. This is why we call
God the first cause. This is what we call a closed-loop
system. In mechanics, we had a thing called a closed-loop
system. And this is also done with computer technology, where
in the process of operating several components at once, you have
a starting computer base where it starts igniting different
sensors and different components in the engine. And once the engine
reaches a certain efficiency status, there's what we call
a closed loop. It closes the loop. It starts
at one point, goes through the whole system, and it closes out
back at its beginning point, and the car now is in full efficient
operation. It's a closed loop system. And
this creation is a closed loop system. And what that means is
it starts with God, it's sustained by God, and it returns to God.
God gives all the glory. We say that not only with this
creation, but we say this with salvation too. I don't believe
that God is so inconsistent as to create this universe, sustain
this universe, and perfect this universe, but leave salvation
up to man. I just don't believe it. I don't
believe that God created man out of the dust of the ground,
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and then told
man he has to figure out a way how to get saved. I believe that
God hunts him down, saves him by his grace, quickens him by
his spirit keeps him by his glory and providence and preserves
him unto glory through Jesus so that of him through him and
unto him gets all the glory even in the salvation of a sinner
that's what I believe and I think Paul believes that too and it's
so important for us to know that God is operating in creation
and the same way he operates in recreation. God is operating
in his sustaining of this world, the same way he operates in the
sustaining of redeemed sinners, the exact same way God does it
all. You guys got that? This is very
important to know. This is very important to know.
So Paul is rejoicing in the Gentiles being used by God for the furtherance
of the gospel to the Jews, who after all, the apostle Paul says,
they were, the first people whom God used to bring the gospel
to the Gentiles. So going back to verse 13, listen
to what it says, and I'll develop this more. I speak unto you Gentiles
inasmuch as I am the apostle of the what? I magnify my office. You know what he's doing now?
He's saying, I'm going to exalt my status. I'm going to honor
my position. I'm going to blow it up. I'm
going to take it from a 12 font to an 18 font. You know how to
do that? Just so I can get your attention. And I'm going to put
it in bold letters so I can get your attention. I am the minister
of the gospel to you Gentiles that in itself establishes the
construct for my argument. I am a Jew, a quintessential
Jew, born of God, called to preach the gospel to you Gentiles, by
which through my gospel you have become saved. Your salvation
then should redound to God's glory in doing the same to my
Gentile brethren that I've done to you. You see the reciprocating
principle. That's why he's blowing up his
office because he wants the Gentiles to remember the mercy of God
to them by sending a Jew in order for them to hear the gospel.
And so this is what he means by magnify my office. The Bible
is very clear. Ephesians chapter three tells
us he's a minister to the Gentiles. Acts chapter, uh, Galatians chapter
two, Acts chapter nine, God commissioned Paul and told him, I'm sending
you far away to the Gentiles. certainly they will hear me.
So Paul knows what he's doing as he is in the middle of this
whole experience of salvation. And then he moves on by saying,
verse 14, if by any means, now watch this, I may provoke to
jealousy them which are my what? This is quite interesting too.
I watched the apostle Paul do this. I watched James do this. And that's this. Sometimes the
apostles and they have the authority to do it. We have to be careful,
but they had the authority to do it. Sometimes the apostles,
when recognizing that there is a work that God has called them
to do in the salvation of sinners, they would be so committed to
that work that they would enter into the first person language
of the very work that really should be ascribed to God alone.
The text in the previous verse said, that the Gentiles would
be saved in order to provoke the Jews to jealousy. That's
a quotation out of Deuteronomy 28. God is provoking the Jews
to jealousy through the Gentiles. But Paul says, I want in on that
provocation. Do you see it? I want in on the
provocation of the Jews. And it's interesting because
you're reading your Bible, and I'm going to say this as a caveat,
particularly to those of you who study theology, and I say
this in our theology class, I want you to get this, never let reason
have preeminence over revelation. Never allow your thinking, your
ability to argue and to be rational and to lay out propositions and
assertions and concepts. Never let the fact that you enjoy
learning overcome the concept of divine revelation. God's word
must always have preeminence over your little peanut brain
if you want to be safe. Now I'm here to tell you that's
hard for people to do who come to find themselves becoming very
astute at study. And here's what I mean. While
we absolutely know that God has to do the saving, you know what
the Bible says? The Bible says, he that turns
a person away from his sin has saved a soul from death. James
chapter five. Did you hear that? Paul said
in 1st Corinthians chapter 9, I have become all things to all
men that if by any means I might save some. That's profound, isn't
it? That's 1st Corinthians chapter
9. Now can Paul save anybody? But do you see the passion and
the drive in his heart? You see how the Spirit of God
starts to bring into silhouette the purpose of God and the purpose
of man, when that man is in the hand of God, being used by God
for the very purpose of saving sinners. It is true that God
does the saving, but God uses means. It is true that God does
the saving, but God saves through the preaching. So John chapter
one says, in the beginning was the word, the word was with God
and the word was God. There was nothing that was made
that was not made by the word. And then the Bible says that
there was a man sent from God, And that man bore record of the
truth. He was not the light, but he bore record of that light.
God used him to bear record of that light. You know, God sends
a man in order for sinners to hear from God. That's the means
that God uses. He uses the foolishness of preaching
that people might be saved. So then the beauty and the privilege
of being able to preach the truth of the gospel in order that people
might become saved bears upon the conscious and the heart of
the person who is gifted to preach this grand, grand responsibility
to see sinners saved. Paul wants to see his brethren
saved. And so he's telling his Gentile brethren, don't you forfeit
that by an ignorance of what God is doing. Earlier, I said
I wanted us to deal with the concept of fullness, and I want
to make sure I do that before we move on to these next few
arguments. I said the source of our fullness
is who? God. Well, that's what John chapter
1 verse 16 says. And of his fullness, what have
we all received? You know what John 1, 16 said?
And grace for grace. John acknowledged that we only
receive fullness from the one who has the resources. And of
his fullness. Now watch this. Have we all received?
Did you receive anything? God gave it to you. You guys
believe that? And so John the Baptist said
in John chapter three, around verse 30, these words, a man
can receive nothing except to be given to him from heaven.
See, he understood that. So the source of our fullness
is God himself. And that fullness that you and
I receive, we receive through Christ. We receive it through
Christ. Go to Colossians chapter two.
I want you to see this. The book of Colossians is a book
that is devoted to the heresy of Gnosticism and Jehovah Witnessism. Is devoted to the heresy of Gnosticism
and Jehovah Witnessism in their subordination of the deity of
Christ. The Jehovah Witnesses will argue that Christ is a God,
but that Christ is not the true and the living God equal with
the Father and equal with the Spirit. They would argue that
that is an intellectual contradiction. But as I said earlier, when reason
trumps revelation, then you have to throw reason out the window.
There are what we call mysteries in the scripture. They are revelations
of divine truth that will never ever be fully comprehended, but
faith allows us to embrace them as such because God confirms
our heart in these things. He that believeth God hath the
witness in himself. He that does not believe God,
has made him a liar. And God has borne witness of
his son by the Holy Ghost in the hearts of those that believe.
I believe in the triune God. I believe in God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. I believe they have revealed
themselves sufficiently both in the Scriptures and in my own
life and in Providence for me to testify of this blessed triune
God. I believe that replete through
the Word of God is the concept of the Trinitarian plurality
of this glorious one God. The Lord our God is one Lord.
You know that. But He's manifested Himself in three persons. There's
no doubt about that. Jesus is not a nut. He's not
a schizophrenic. He's not a psychopath. When he
speaks to the Father in heaven, it's just because there's a person
up there to talk to. You ain't never seen Jesus in
a psycho ward. And then again, if Jesus was
a nut, then I'm going to tell you what, everyone that was around
him was a nut too, because when the heavens opened up and the
Father spoke, they heard something. See, you're worse than the person
you're calling a nut. If you hear the same thing they
hear, And yet you want to say he hearing things. So there are
three that bear record in heaven and there are three that bear
record on the earth. Are you hearing me? And so it's
so critical for the believer to understand that when God reveals
things to us in the word, it's not in order for us to have a
full and sufficient understanding, but that by faith we are able
to embrace it because it's revealed in scripture. In Colossians in
the book is devoted to the preeminence of Christ, As being equal with
the Father, we read in verse 15 of chapter 1, are you there?
Who is, that is Christ, the image of the invisible God, the firstborn
of every creature. Now listen to verse 16, for by
him were all things created. By who? Jesus. That are in heaven,
that are in earth, invisible, visible, invisible, whether they
be thrones or dominions or principalities, powers, all things were created
by him. Source, and for him goal. And he is before all things as
transcendence, and by him all things consist. That's mediation. So he created all things, ek,
out of Christ. By him do all things exist or
consist, dia, and to him, that is ice, all things return. Jesus created all things, Jesus
sustains all things, and all things will return to Jesus again. Do you guys believe that? So
the Bible says all through the New Testament, everything is
being gathered together in one and being brought to Christ right
now. Everything, everything is being brought together to Christ
right now. The apostle is saying this to
the church of Colossae because the church of Colossae had gotten
tired of the gospel. And then some crooks had come
in and started telling them that there are other experiences that
they should engage in. In fact, we can take you to a
place where with enough coaxing, you can begin to hear voices
and maybe even see angels, have visitations and realize that
through a special esoteric experience, you can reach higher heights
and higher levels of God consciousness. Ultimately, you yourself can
become a God. This is Mormonism. This is Mormonism. And so there's nothing new under
the sun. So what the apostle Paul says to the church of Colossians
is if you start contemplating anything other than Christ, you
don't have Christ at all. We tell people this all the time,
if you're not satisfied, if you're not satisfied with Jesus, it's
because you don't have him. It's the only way to put it.
I want you to hear me now. Sisters say that's a good way
to put it. That's the only way to put it. Look, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall
not won't. Isn't that what David said? And
he was talking about Jesus. When a man or a woman gets ahold
of Jesus and Jesus has gotten ahold of them and he's revealed
himself to them. Jesus said, come on to me, everyone that
thirst. Everyone that thirsts, come unto
me and I, I will cause you to drink waters, living waters that
will assuage your thirst for all eternity. If any man thirsts,
let him come unto me and drink. What was he guaranteeing? Satisfaction. He was guaranteeing satisfaction.
When a man actually gets a hold to the truth of the living God
and the person of Christ, you'll know it because they're satisfied.
They're not running around looking for other stuff. I know you don't
know Christ when you're doing that. Why do I say that? Look at verse nine. For it pleased
the father that in him who Jesus should all what fullness dwell. Park it. Remember, we talked
about fullness. Pleroma is the Greek term that
means all the necessary resources in order for that particular
object or apparatus to do its job. What Paul said is that God
has put everything into Christ so that whatever an eternity-bound
soul needs to get him through this world into glory, Christ
is the answer. You guys got that? God has deliberately
placed into Jesus' hand all authority, all power, all riches, all abundance,
all fullness. Christ is the treasure chest
of the Godhead. If sinners are going to get the
blessings of God, the fullness of God, they've got to go to
who? That's what Paul is saying. Now, look with me over in chapter
1, chapter 2, verses 1, 2 and 3. He says the same thing over
in verse 2 and 3 of chapter 2. For I would that you knew what
great conflict I have for you and for them at Laodicea. And
as for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, chapter
2, verse 1, chapter 2, verse 2, in order that their hearts
might be comforted, being knit together in love unto all riches
of the full assurance of understanding to the acknowledgement of the
mystery of God, and of the Father and of Christ. There's your Trinitarian
concept again. Now look at verse 3. For in Him
are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Got it?
That's called fullness. fullness. I've told you about
this before. The Old Testament is a foreshadow and prediction
and typology of the New Testament. Isn't that right? So that the
things that were written in the old time, they were written as
foretelling experiences and models and constructs of the coming
of Christ. Isn't that right? Lo, I come in the volume of the
book is written of me to do thy will. So when we read of Abraham,
or we read of Noah, or we read of David, or we read of Jacob,
or we read of Isaac, or we read of Joseph, we begin if we have
the Spirit's help to see the gospel latent in the life of
those men. Joseph was made to be second
in command. This is Genesis chapter 40. Pharaoh
lets him rule over everything in his house. And he tells the
whole world, if you need anything, you got to go to that man, Joseph,
to get it. Why? Because Joseph was given
the fullness of authority. And so to come to Joseph is on
a par to coming to Christ. in order to get what's necessary
for you to get through this life. This is why Jesus said in John
chapter 14 verse 6, I am the way, the truth, and the life.
No one comes unto the Father but by me. This is why he says
again, the Bible plainly says no one can come unto me except
the Father which sent me what? Draw him. So the Father is constantly
operating in the life of sinners to bring them to Jesus because
Jesus is the fullness of the Godhead bodily now here's the
next proposition if Jesus is the fullness of the Godhead bodily
and I'm in Christ guess what I'm complete chapter 2 verse
9 Colossians 2 verse 9 now notice what it says I'm gonna start
at verse 8 and go through verse 9 we got 15 more minutes beware
lest any man spoil you do you see that The verb there means
to plunder. And it has to do with the strategies
of the devil to come in and to trap you by false doctrine and
false teaching. Knocking on your door, telling
you they want to read you some Bible verses. And they want to
talk to you about heaven. All you have to ask them is,
who is Jesus? And as soon as they get Jesus
wrong, say, I'm through with you. and you shut the door and
you don't even say, God bless you. Because if you do, you've
sinned. Do you guys know that? How many
of y'all don't know that? Let me help you. I want to help
a few. Yeah, you got it. You got it. If you say God bless
you to a heretic, you are partaker of his evil deed. Keep your hand here to go with
me to second John. It's in the Bible. Show you what I'm talking
about. Go to the end of the Bible. This
here is to help you real syrupy Christians. Go in with the second John. This
is to help you real syrupy Christians. Second John is after first John.
Are we there? Because you know, your evangelical church today
has made a caricature out of God's love and have prostituted
God's love. And they have twisted the concept
of being loving and distorted the biblical... Are you guys
listening to me? Y'all got some of y'all listening? They have distorted the concept
of love. And as a consequence, you love
what God hates and you hate what God loves. Because the evangelical church
has bought into a very socialistic, humanistic ideology of love,
it has caused Christians to love what God hates and hate what
God loves. And the Bible says ye that love
the Lord hate evil. And the Bible says in 1 Corinthians
chapter 13, love does not rejoice in iniquity. See, so when the
love of God is shed abroad in my heart, I am taught by the
love of God not to rejoice in iniquity nor support iniquity. And the one thing that God hates,
with all of his being are lies because lies destroy the souls
of men. The depiction that the Bible
paints concerning false prophets and false teachers is a horrific
picture. God doesn't tolerate them. The
lowest of hell is reserved for false teachers and false prophets.
Jesus taught that himself in Matthew 23. Woe unto you! Woe
unto you! Woe unto you! Woe unto you! Woe
unto you! And the prophets in whom Jesus
was preaching in old times said the lowest parts of hell are
reserved for you who destroy my people through lies. You guys
got that? So now listen to what John said.
And remember John is the apostle of love. Remember that? John
is the apostle of love. Aren't you amazed when you read
1 John, this apostle of love? And he is so adamantly serious
about avoiding and watching out for false prophets, testing them. And then we get to 2 John and
here's what he says over in 2 John verse 9. Are we there? No, let
me start back in 2 John verse 7. This will help you. It gives
you the context. And by the way, if you want to know his definition
of love, look at verse 6. And this is love, that we walk
after his commandments. This is a commandment that as
you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in. Four, many
deceivers have entered into the what? Park it right there. How
do you know a false prophet, a false teacher? He loves this
world system. For many deceivers are entered
into the world who do not confess, who confess not that Jesus Christ
is come in the flesh. John in the first century was
dealing with the prevalence of what we call Gnosticism. Gnosticism
was a doctrine that Jesus was an apparition, but Jesus really
did not come in and assume a human nature. That was antithetical
and contrary to the ideology of the Gnostics with regards
to human nature. It was not possible for them,
as they say, for a true God, a real God, a holy God to inhabit
a house of flesh and be the preeminent God of the universe. And so they
deny the incarnation of Christ. Now to deny the incarnation of
Christ is to deny the possibility of justification, the possibility
of sanctification, and the possibility of redemption. If you deny the
fact that Christ assumed a human nature, you can't be saved. We are dealing with what we call
systematic theology in our class, aren't we? And in our systematic theology
class, what I shared with you is this. God taught his word
to us, precept upon precept, line upon line. Divine truth
upon divine truth upon divine truth. And Jesus said in John
chapter 10, the scriptures cannot be what? Broken. You can't take
a body of truth and break it here and break it here and break
it here and break it here and still have a consistent whole.
One truth reinforces and builds upon another truth. It's divine
revelation from the beginning of time until the canon of scripture
was closed. We have a body of truth that
is one broken whole. What that means is, you can't
say, I believe in Jesus, but deny his humanity. The doctrine
of Christ's incarnation, His hypostatic union, the combined
mystery of the God-man, the Anthropos, is essential to our salvation.
God alone can't save you. According to His scheme of redemption,
it requires a human nature. As man shed man's blood, by man
shall his blood be saved. As man is fallen, it requires
a man to save him. Our Redeemer must be a man. But
he also must be God in order to assume all the responsibilities
of dealing me, dealing or delivering me from God's wrath. A man can't
endure eternal damnation. Come out on the other side victorious
on his back, a whole host of redeemed sinners for whom he
is their surety to bring them into glory. Only the God man
can do that. Are you hearing what I'm saying? You deny them
the incarnation of God Almighty. You send people straight to hell.
Got it. If you don't believe that I am
he John chapter 8, you will die in your sins. That's what they
said. That's what he said to the Pharisees.
Whosoever does not confess that Jesus is coming to flesh. This
is a deceiver and an antichrist. I'll tell you what you do with
all of the false prophets. We know them. I won't name them,
that's politically incorrect, that hurts people. But I told
you, we're in love with false prophets today. But I'll tell
you what you do with all your false prophets, the ones that
you're in love with, ask them the germane questions about who
God is and what he did, and you'd find out they'll deny every point
of truth. Because what false prophets know
how to do is not say the truth while they're talking, leave
you to draw the conclusion for yourself. And because you like
the syrupy doctrines that they preach, because they make you
feel good, you actually don't want to hear the fact that they
aren't being clear and explicit and honest about the gospel.
Well, he didn't, he did not say it. Well, what do you mean he
did not say it? So now look what he says over
in verse eight. Look to yourselves that we lose none of those things
which we have wrought, but that we receive a what? You know what
he's saying? You better be diligent about
the gospel and you better be diligent to the end because this
race is not given to the swift nor to the strong, but to the
one that endures to the end. And the ministry of the gospel
is a ministry of preaching the straight truth of the gospel
from the day we start to the day we die. We want to see men
enter into heaven successfully. And all through our life, you
will see people start running this race and fall to the left
and fall to the right. Something in this world will
attract sinners away from Christ. That's why Paul is dealing with
every one of the churches, which he established because they are
all being infiltrated by heretics. He said to the Galatians, you
did run well. Who have hindered you from obeying
the truth? I'll tell you in the way the
law of statistical probability works is 10 years from now, half
of you won't be in the race. Are you hearing me? Not me, pastor. Well, you better run. Look at verse nine. Whosoever
transgresseth and abides not in the what? That's called the
gospel. Whosoever transgressive and abideth
not in the doctrine of Christ. Now watch this, he does not have
God. So what I was saying to you earlier,
if Jesus is not enough for you, it's because you never had him.
He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he has both the what?
And the what? That sounds like two to me. And if you'd have read 1 John
2, you'd know the reason why you abided is because of the
third person. Got it? Now look at verse 10. If there
come any to your front door with little pamphlets, or white t-shirts with badges
on, and funny little Bibles, and they're generally Caucasian. See, it's politically incorrect
to acknowledge that the Mormons were some of the greatest racists
and bigots in religion. It didn't start with them, but
they sustained it under this false sense of ethnic superiority. They got it from Charles Darwin.
So did Hitler. And so did many Jews. This is
why I told you before, racism is a delusion. There's only one
race. Different ethnic groups one race
of one blood did God make of every nation under heaven And
if any man be in Christ, that's right You got it It's so critical
to understand that you can't have Christ and ethnic superiority
to our Lord laid down his life to break that barrier and Do
you believe that he allowed his own people group to kill him
because he wouldn't acknowledge that they are the only ones Look at verse 10 if they're coming
to any you and bring not this gospel Receive him not into your
house Yeah, some of you folks you you think you've been kind
and holy by bringing them in your house They're gonna steal
some of your children Are they going to get your brother or
your sister who is not grounded in the truth? Are they going
to get your mom or your daddy or your wife or spouse because
you've been lallygagging when it comes to the gospel? And then
you're going to look up one day and you can find them in captivity
to these systems because you yourself hadn't done diligence
to learn the gospel so that you can teach your relatives what
it means to discern right from wrong. Am I making some sense?
I know it hurts. It's the truth. See, because the evangelical
church is slothful when it comes to truth today. You might as well do like Paul
Shepard does. He says, you see him coming down the street, you
cut the lights off and close the curtains and lock the door
and pretend you're not at home. And then when they leave, get
on your knees and pray because you have not stood for the truth
of the gospel. If there come any to you that
bring not this doctrine, do not receive them into your house,
neither bid him Godspeed. Got it. See, the concept of the
ecumenical movement, you know what the ecumenical movement
is? The ecumenical movement is a movement that embraces this
pluralistic ideology that everybody's truth and everybody's religion
is equally valid. This allows you to exercise a
faulty and an unbiblical love. But the Bible here plainly says,
don't even bid them Godspeed. for to do so is to be a partaker
of their evil deed. Isn't that what the next verse
is? And by the way, if you get caught
up in those cults and you decide to walk away because God gave
you mercy to see the hypocrisy and the error and the legalism
and the self-righteousness and the inconsistencies in their
system, I guarantee you they won't bid you God's fee. They
shun you. They make you feel bad. They
look down their nose at you. They cross the street. In order
to manipulate your weak conscience. Because you don't know the true
and the living God. Are you not as grounded in him
as you ought to be? Am I making some sense? See,
it's so very important for you to know the truth as it is in
Jesus. Very important for you to know. So this is the reason
why I took you to this portion of scripture just in case you
guys didn't know. Go back to Colossians chapter
2. I'm done. I'm going to read this verse that we need to see
and we'll close it out for today. Colossians chapter 2. I'm going
to start back at verse 8. I'm going to go through verse
9 and 10. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy.
Got that? See, there are a lot of people who really think that
they're sharp enough to negotiate with the devil in doctrine when
in fact of matter there is none apart from the Lord Jesus himself
who won't fall by the surreptitious devious wisdom of the devil only
the Lord Jesus can handle the devil you guys got that listen
to me I don't care if you learn all the Bible in the world Even
the Bible in your noggin, in your cranium, in your brain will
not keep you from being deceived by the devil because the issue
is in knowledge. The issue is propensity and inclination
and volition which is compelled by lust. So that if I'm driven
for self-glory, if I want to try to win some type of theological
battle, if I want to be able to have a notch in my belt, if
I'm driven by pride to say I can beat this man in an argument,
the devil will get you. Let me see if I can make this
good. So the devil came to my master, I'm going to be preaching
this on Sunday, when my master was driven into the wilderness
by the Holy Ghost. The third person drove the second
person into the wilderness because it was the purpose of the first
person. I'm teaching the Trinity, right? So in the wilderness,
my master is being tempted, not because he's not the master of
the universe, but because he's my surety and my substitute and
my representative. And in order for him to be a
faithful high priest, he has to be tempted in all points,
just like me. So when I go to crime to the father, the son
will say, father, I felt that I've been there. I've done that
cover him. Am I making some sense? Besides,
I couldn't win the battle if I wanted to, but Jesus won it
in the wilderness, didn't he? Now, how did Jesus handle the
battle in the wilderness? Did he go tit for tat in a philosophical
discourse with the devil, or did he say, it is written? Now,
for him, he could go, it is written, because he wrote the word, and
he is the word, and he was nothing but the word. Now, it's slightly
different for you and me. Are you hearing me? It's slightly
different for you and me. Now, you and I need to know the
word, and we might know a little bit of the word, but what you
got to know is what the word says about the deceitfulness
of sin. The heart is desperately wicked.
Above everything, who can know it? You hear me? The good that
I would, I do not. The evil that I would, not that
I do. The very thing that I said I wasn't gonna do when I opened
the door and let him in, I started doing. Why? Because my heart
is so deceitful and pride is resident in all of us that it
will drive me to actually act in a way contrary to the gospel.
Now, once I take my armor off, because I've been deceived, I'm
trapped. And it's only the mercy of God
that'll deliver you from those snares. Now, he's already told
us what to do. Don't even engage with them.
Well, how are you going to win them to Christ? You can't. Oh,
I'll tell you what you do. If you open the door, have a
cassette in your hand. No, I don't want that, but you
can have this. Got that? Shut the door. Vote it out. Listen to that. Got it? I say that, I say that because
a lot of you, again, and one of the reasons we're studying
systematic theology, I'm gonna close here, is because I want
you guys to be grounded in the rudiments of the gospel, the
fundamentals of the gospel, so that you can be aware of things
that you've heard, but you've never studied, time hasn't allowed
you to study, and those of you who've been in the Lord four,
five, six, seven years, you've just been lazy, you know, you're swimming
downstream, you're not swimming upstream. The Holy Ghost has
to help you swim upstream. Until you and I understand what
Jesus meant when he says, seek ye first the kingdom of God and
all of his righteousness, then all this other stuff will be
added. We'll constantly be unprepared to be able to deal with the darkness
that's out there. And so this is why we're doing
it. But the whole point is, is that once you begin to understand
the profundity of the truth of the gospel, you will realize
that the only thing that's going to save a sinner, religious or
not, is the message of redemption. For the gospel is the power of
God and the salvation to everyone that believe. To the Jew first
and also to the Gentile. For therein is the righteousness
of God revealed from faith to faith. As it is written, the
just shall live by faith. What does that mean? That means
you can sit up and argue with Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons
and all of these other cult coops all day long, but that doesn't
change their soul. Have you figured that out yet? It just doesn't. Now, when God's
elect who are in a lot of these groups are starting to be aroused
and become aware that there are inconsistencies in these legalistic
constructs, and they hear sound teaching around this, that helps
draw them. It gives them some objectivity
to be aware that they are dealing with a cultic environment. But
the power that's going to save them is not your ability to argue
down and deconstruct the Jehovah Witness system. but the proclamation
of the glory of God in Christ. What's saving people out of false
religion and from this world system is only the gospel. Are you hearing me? A whole lot
of brothers and sisters I deal with and know and love in the
gospel truth, they were drawn by me preaching the exclusivity
of Christ and Him crucified. And it bothered them that I was
preaching so adamantly about this one man. How can it be that
this one man is everything? And they couldn't help themselves
but keep listening until their false refuges started falling
apart. It is written, and they shall
all be taught of God. Everyone, therefore, that has
heard and learned of the Father comes to Christ. Got it? All
right, now notice what Paul says. I want to give you the verse. Don't be spoiled by the philosophy
and vain deceits of men after the traditions of men, the rudiments
of the world, and not after who? Not after who? And not after
who? Do you see how he makes a radical
difference between Christ and everything else? Now look at
verse nine. For in him dwelleth all the what? Of what? How bodily. In one man dwells all the fullness
of God. Now here's what he said, and
you are complete in him. Now, if you're complete, you
don't need a thing. Isn't that right? See, if you're full, I
know you're full, because if I set a plate of food in front
of you, you can push it away, right? But if you're not full,
when false religion comes, you'll start eating. You'll start eating. Let's pray. Father, we thank
you for this time. We thank you for your word. We thank you for
the Lord Jesus. We thank you for his grace. We thank you for
the gospel sound. We thank you for watching over
us when we don't watch over ourselves. We thank you for being a faithful
shepherd to go out into the world and get your sheep and bring
them back to your fold. We thank you. We thank you for
the simplicity which is in Jesus Christ. As we go our way, give
us troubling mercies. Take us home, Lord. Give us rest.
Prepare our hearts to worship you again on Sunday. Everywhere
your people call upon your name out of a pure heart honor that
worship. We pray in Jesus name. Amen God
bless you