Good morning friends and family and welcome to part 14 of this series we have been doing from the book of Colossians called: Who Are We In Christ?
I have some exciting news to share with those who have been joining us on Skype and for those who take the time to read these sermon notes on a weekly basis from the many sites I share on. God willing, we will be sharing these sermons live on Pal Talk, starting next Sunday, February 8, 2015. I can't give you the particulars right now, but keep an eye on the main page of the J and L Ministries site. http://jandlministries.weebly.com/ Also on either of the Cross Roads Fellowship sites. http://4himalone.ning.com/ or http://4himalone2.ning.com/ I am also in hopes to add videos on U-tube of these messages, so that you can listen to them and view whatever discussion there might be. Glory be to God! It opens these sermons to a whole new world. Leanna and I ask that you please, please be in prayer. Prayer. Please turn to Colossians 3:10 and while you are turning to that verse, I want you to think about who are you in Christ. You are His possession, His child, His workmanship, His friend, His temple and His vessel. These are important for us to know. You are a co-laborer and His witness. You are a His soldier, ambassador, His building, His chosen, His beloved. Act like it! You are His precious jewel and His heritage. Because of our Lord Jesus Christ, you, my friends have been redeemed by His precious blood, set free from sin. Set free from Satan. Set free from the kingdom of darkness. You have been chosen before the foundations of the world and predestined to be like Jesus. Glory to God. Church, you have been forgiven of your trespasses, washed in His blood, given a sound mind, given the Holy Spirit, been adopted into God's family. Give God praise. Halleluiah! Friends, you have been justified freely by His grace, been given all things pertaining to life, been given great and precious promises. Glory to God! Catch this church, you have been given authority over the enemy. You have access to God and have been given wisdom for free. In Christ you are complete, totally in Him, free forever from sin's power, sanctified, fit for the Master's use and loved eternally. You are eternally kept in the palm of His hand, kept from falling, kept by His very power, and not condemned. You are one with Him, on your way to heaven, quickened by His mighty power seated in heavenly places. Am I preaching it? You are the head and not the tail, the light in darkness, a candle in a dark place, you are a city set on a hill, you are the salt of the earth, you are His sheep and a citizen in heaven, hidden in Christ in God. Glory!!!!! You are protected from the evil one and kept by the power of God. You are secure in Christ, set on a rock, more than a conqueror, and you are born again. You are a victor, healed by His stripes, covered by His blood, sheltered by His wing and hidden in His secret place. Church, praise Jesus!! Come on, give Him praise. In Jesus, you have access to the Father, a home in heaven, you have all things in Christ, a living hope, an anchor to your soul, a hope sure and steadfast, authority to tread on serpents, have power to witness and the tongue of the learned. You have the mind of Christ and the boldness and access. You have peace with God and faith like a mustard seed. Is the Holy Spirit talking to anyone? In Christ you can do all things, find mercy, come boldly to His throne, quench the fiery darts from the enemy, declare liberty to the captives, pray always, defeat and overcome the enemy. Thank you Jesus. You, in Christ are royalty of God, and rooted and grounded in Him. Friends, these words are not mine, but from passages in God's Word. When we take the time to open it and read and study from God's Word, we start speaking these promises out. They are not just head knowledge but sealed in our hearts. I pray these things spoke to your spirit and that each of us understand just who we are in Christ and Who He is in us. Praise God. Today I think we will finish up with chapter 3, but there are some key factors I want us to look at in the reaming part of chapter 3. For us, a true believer, we are united with Christ in a union which can never be broken. Catch that? Because of what Christ did for you and me by virtue of that union, we are justified, sanctified and yet to be glorified. Because of what Christ did. We are hid with Christ in God. Lets' get started with Colossians 3:11. Colossians 3:11 KJV Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all. I had to look up who the Scythians were, as I had never heard of them before and this is the only verse in the Bible where we can find them mentioned as this name. For those who like history, or just want to add to your knowledge, look them up sometime. What Paul is saying is, when we are saved, when we are born again, when we are redeemed, we are one in Christ. We just saw that in my opening. What the Bible is saying is there is no class level or distinction in redemption. God wishes no man perish. Doesn't make any difference in your skin color as some cults will argue. Whether a man is circumcised or not. That in itself could be a whole study. Man or woman, all can be saved if they come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior, confess they are a sinner and repent from those sins. Praise Jesus. Church, do we understand this? Colossians 3:12 KJV Put on therefore, as the elect (some Bible versions say chosen) of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; I want to look at some other verses that say about the same thing. You don't have to turn to them, but please mark them down so that you can see later for yourselves. Ephesians 1:4-7 KJV According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: (5) Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, (6) To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. (7) In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; 2 Thessalonians 2:13 KJV (13) But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: Church, very rarely do you hear me teach on healing, or even get into prosperity. Do I believe in these things? Absolutely. I do believe that God wants us whole. I do believe that He wants us to prosper, but I believe our hearts need to be right. It is why I feel led to teach on heart issues. When we look at Colossians 3 :12, what is Paul speaking about? Heart issues. It is our hearts, the deepest part of what we are that Paul speaks when he says to adopt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Amen? The same things that Jesus spoke of. Compassion. Col 3:13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. Do we hear this church? I am being spoken to right now as I am absolutely sure some of you are too. Thank You, Jesus! If we are compassionate and kind to one another, we will also be forgiving to each other. Mutual forgiveness leads to health in the church. This is a strong reminder to us that we are to be generous and forgiving just as Christ has been generous and forgiving toward us. We could spend all day on just this one verse. Colossians 3:14 KJV And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. OK, now comes the meat of this message, and I'm not sure if we will get through this chapter today, but that's okay, because some need to hear this. Glory to God? With all the things that we have looked at in this chapter and studied, most importantly we are to love. Let's look at John 3:16. We have all heard this verse over and over, but do we let it sink in? John 3:16 KJV For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. It was the love of God that sent the Son. It is the nature of love to sacrifice for another. John 15:12-13 KJV This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. (13) Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. So I ask you, do you love the man that just insulted you because you might be different? Do you love that family member that just attacked you because of your faith? What about that neighbor that just plowed snow in the middle of the road and now you have to go out for the 3rd time today to clean the mess that it caused in your driveway? That was meant for me, and yes I do. What about that landlord that is doing everything to make your move miserable and going against your rental agreement? Am I speaking to anyone? Now, one more question and we will move on and this is a big one. We just read " Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." Jesus had so much love and compassion for you and me, that He willingly died from a made-up, nonsense trial that the religious leaders set up. If you my friend were put in a position where you had to choose death because you chose to continue to believe in Christ and follow His ways, or live and denounce Him. Sounds awful, doesn't it? I tell you the truth, hundreds of families every day are seeing their moms, dads, and children brutally killed because of their faith in Jesus. Think about that. Every day this is happening around the world. If we love one another, we fulfill the law of God and we will also, catch this friends, be compassionate, kind, humble, gentle, patient with one another, and self-sacrificing. Philippians 2:3-5 KJV Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. (4) Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. (5) Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Church, when we are loving to one another, we will have unity. When we consider others more important than ourselves, when we are willing to sacrifice ourselves for others, we glorify God. This helps to bring unity, compassion and patience with one another in the body of Christ. Think about this. What do you suppose is the main reason we have so much division of the body of Christ? Maybe because we have not properly put on love? Colossians 3:15 KJV And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Here we go friends. I love this verse. If we are living as Paul is teaching, considering ourselves dead to sin, looking forward to the hope of the full redemption of our bodies upon the return of Christ, putting aside malice, turning from sinfulness, and putting on love, then we will have the peace of God living in us. Praise God! It is a natural result of living in the will of God. Jesus said in John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives Because we are redeemed, chosen of God, we are called to be in the one body of Christ. Colossians 3:16 KJV Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. Here we go, friends. This isn't brother Jim saying to be in the Word of God. Well, I read it, but Paul telling the church of Colosse and you and me, being led by the Holy Spirit. I believe that Paul is referring to what Jesus taught in the Gospels, but also the words He speaks through His apostles. Amen? I believe, because I have seen it happen in others' lives and my own, that when we are in His Word, we start speaking things of the Bible. We start praising Jesus and our whole demeanor changes. Glory to God. Also notice that thankfulness is expressed. It comes from the heart where God dwells and where the peace of God rules. Praise Jesus! One more verse and we will finish up. This verse I think most forget about as quickly as we read it. Colossians 3:17 KJV And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. All that you do, whether it be work, thought, speech, marriage, friendships, school, shopping parenting, preaching, recreation, and the list can go on and on. EVERYTHING you do, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus. This means that you do it as a work, as a ministry that has been given to you by God. It means you do it with honor before God and responsibility before man. Amen? Be thankful to God the Father through Jesus. 1 Timothy 2:5-6 KJV For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; (6) Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. Church, we must be mindful that God is always with us and sees and hears all that we think, do and say. He is not just in one location where He can only hear, or see this place and then scurries over to this next place to catch what is happening there and so on and so on. Amen? Friends, we didn't get as far as I thought, but that is okay. We looked at some important scriptures and some of those scriptures led to other scriptures. That is what studying the Bible is all about. I pray that someone got this message and it changes your life. Prayer. Communion.
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