from the pulpit at Donnels Creek

DonnelsCreek.Church

DonnelsCreek.Church

DonnelsCreek.Church

DonnelsCreek.church

DonnelsCreek.Church

DonnelsCreek.Church

Blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy.

Lord's Day 14 2026, April 5 Easter Message from Matthew 5:6 and Luke 24. 

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. This is the reading of God's word.  

Date: March 22, 2026 Lord’s Day: 12 Series: Matthew in Seven Movements: MVT 2          Title: Meekness Is Not Weakness Text: Matthew 5:5, 38-48   3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic,[h] let him have your cloak as well. 41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42 Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you. 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers,[i] what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Donnels Creek Church Springfield Ohio Lord's Day 11 March 15, 2026 pastor Matthew Pittman Matthew 5:3-11, 17-20

Series: Matthew in Seven Movements Sermon: When Being Poor is Good Lord's Day 10 Text: Matthew 5:3 2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 4:1-11 12 Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. 13 And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: 15 “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,     the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— 16 the people dwelling in darkness     have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death,     on them a light has dawned.” 17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 11:1-6 When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities. 2 Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples 3 and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” 4 And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers[a] are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. 6 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

Matthew 4:1-11 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone,     but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “‘On their hands they will bear you up,     lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” 7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God     and him only shall you serve.’” 11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone,     but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “‘On their hands they will bear you up,     lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” 7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God     and him only shall you serve.’” 11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

That was a very important lesson learned.  A mistake that was not repeated, ever again.  To keep a fire going you had to have real wood.  You can get it started with twigs, but twigs are not going to keep a lasting fire. By the time we depart from this place I want this image to be engraved on your mind.  How do you keep the fire of your faith strong and burning for the Lord?  It is not with twigs.   We find that in our passage today in which Jesus finds himself driven to face a temptation. What does He use to sustain himself?  As we have read in our text Matthew 4:1-11 Jesus is going to face a temptation directly from the devil himself.  Before we dive into this text let us ask the Lord to bless our time together in His word. Prayer: We come to you in this moment, Lord, asking that you guide us through this text.  We are so grateful for the word that you have left for us.  It is the very word that Jesus, our Savior, relied on fully to sustain him in temptation.  Bless us in this moment.  Guide my thoughts as I present this text.  By Your Spirit, open our hearts to hear it and receive it.  It is in Jesus name we pray, Amen. The Testing of the Second Adam This text directly proceeds the baptism of Jesus.  It was at this scene that Jesus submits to the washing of John the Baptizer.  As he comes out of the water the heavens open and we see The Father, saying, this is my son in whom I am well pleased.  At the same time, the Spirit is descending upon Jesus. It is this same Spirit that we see in (4:1) led Jesus to the wilderness.  The language of Mark (1:12) says that the Spirit DROVE (ESV, LSB), IMPELLED, SENT (NIV), FORCED (AMP) him to the wilderness.  This is not to say that Jesus was resistant for Jesus was obedient in every way.  We should not get that implication.  There was an urgency here on the part of the Spirit.  There was no resistance on the part of Jesus.  Where God wanted the Son to be, the Son was happy to dwell.  “Delight yourselves in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” (Ps. 37:4) The purpose for this trip to the wilderness is to be tempted by the devil.  Jesus fasted 40 days and 40 nights.  This meant that he went without food for 40 straight days and nights.  A couple of things to observe here: Moses and Elijah did the same thing. Moses fasted (Ex 24:28) before the law was given.  Elijah fasted (1 Kings 19:8) while under the law.  Jesus is fasting here at the beginning of the gospel of grace. It states that at the end of the 40 days, Jesus was hungry (no duh!). For the first time God is experiencing hunger.  Do not forget that Jesus is fully God and fully man.  This was one of the lessons in our study of Colossians.  This can be a difficult thing to wrap our mind to understand but it is no less true.  God had not been hungry. It is important to understand what Scripture teaches regarding one of the roles of Christ.  He came as the second Adam. Turn with me if you will to Romans 5:12. We will be only touching on this briefly because someday, we will journey through the book of Romans.  But I have said this a few times and I have not specifically shown where this idea of Jesus as the second Adam is found. Federal Headship of Adam 12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men[e] because all sinned— 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. 15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. 16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. 17 For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. 18 Therefore, as one trespass[f] led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness[g] leads to justification and life for all men. 19 For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. 20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Scripture gives us insight on the mission of Jesus as the second Adam (Romans 5:12-21; 1 Corinthians 15:21-22). The disobedience of the first Adam was superseded by the obedience of the second Adam, Christ. As we go into these few passages it is important that we are reminded of something we have already considered before.  What Jesus is entering here is a period of testing.  The same type of testing Adam and Eve faced. Briefly, let me remind you the definition of sin is found in 1 John 2:16.  Sin is loving the world.  Loving the world more than loving our Lord. “For all that is in the world the desires of the flesh, and the desires of the eyes and the pride of life – is NOT from the Father by is from the world.” 1 John 2:16 This is ultimately the description of the fall of Adam and Eve.  This is exactly what happens in the Garden. Eve saw that the “Fruit would be good to eat” Lust of the Flesh “Gain wisdom so as to be like God.” Pride of Life Looked at the fruit and saw that it was pleasant to the eyes.” Lust of the Eyes   We have noted before how in the temptations Jesus faced the exact same temptations which resulted in the fall of first Adam.  “Turn these stones to bread” Lust of the Flesh “Prove that you are the Son of God” Pride of Life “Bow down and obtain all these things.” Lust of the Eyes   This much is true that Jesus is able “to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15) Please take note of the significant differences between the temptation of the first Adam and the temptation of the second Adam. First Adam Second Adam Plush garden with much food – excess food and luxury Judean wilderness that is one of the most desolate places on earth. Scorpions, spiders (Mark says he was there with wild beasts 1:13) Full and satisfied Empty stomach having fasted 40 days Enjoying companionship and not alone – could encourage each other Jesus fully alone and secluded with no encouragement   There is a stark difference here.  Exegesis 4:3 “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” Is this not an interesting statement?  Think for a moment, what was the last thing, according to our text, that Jesus hears before going to the wilderness?  “This is my son, in whom I am well pleased.” The first thing that the enemy did here, the deceiver, was to twist and cause doubt.  He will twist scripture here in a moment and he is causing doubt here. He did the same thing to Eve.  Did God really say you shall not eat of any tree?  His efforts here are to raise doubt.  Why would this raise a doubt? This is God and he is hungry.  Would it have been such a horrible thing for Jesus to turns stones into bread?  Have you asked yourself that question?  Why is this such a big deal?  Does not the Lord’s prayer (Matthew 6) teach, “give us this day our daily bread?” Who was it that brought Jesus to this place?  To whom was Jesus being obedient? There is nothing wrong with eating.  I would be in a LOT of trouble if there was something wrong with eating.  But in this moment, for Jesus, this is not the time for eating.  The Spirit had driven him here and the Spirit would sustain him. I can sum this entire sermon up here in Matthew 4:3 and 4.  This is profound.  As I was preparing for this, it moved me.  Chapter 4 verse 3 and 4 is the Cliff Notes to this whole section. RIGHT HERE - Jesus was fully OBEDIENT to the Lord and DEPENDANT upon the Lord. Jesus hears the request of the devil, “IF YOU ARE THE SON OF GOD. . . “and in return QUOTES GOD.  “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” APPLICATION How do you live Christian?  HOW DO YOU LIVE? Is it the bread?  Is it the casseroles? If that were the case, let’s have potluck EVERY week.  Let’s overload Ms. Jane and Ms. Linda and Ms. Iris and whoever else is involved.  That is not the answer though is it?   “In Him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28). How do you live?  How is Jesus living here? Do you think Jesus is doing this on His own?  Do you think Moses and Elijah were sustained because they had will power?  How did they make it 40 days without food?  It was God, period.  That is it. Jesus was brought there by God.  The Spirit drove Jesus there – this is not a throw away statement.  He was brought there to this moment and in this activity.  Was it comfortable?  NO.  Was it pleasurable? No.  Did God sustain Jesus? YES. Satan’s desire here was for Jesus to take over and sustain himself and reject being obedient.  REJECT OBEDIENCE.  He was trying to get Jesus to resist the Father’s will.  Our flesh can justify so many things.  Our flesh can really justify stuff.  I will tell you what my flesh would be saying here, well yeah, this is no big deal.  I will turn these stones to bread. I know this because the first reaction to reading this the first, second, 8th, 25th time is: why is this a temptation?  What is the big deal? I would have been questioning: Why am I going through this?  Why are you doing this to me Lord?  I do not understand? You prayed that?  Have you uttered those words?  If Jesus were to utter those words before long it sounds like the Children crying in the desert, Lord Give us food!  Have you brought us out here to kill us?  We were better off in Egypt!  You brought us out here to starve us to death.  Oh, how many times I have said that, just in different ways.  And I hate it.  I hate it that I don’t depend on God’s word! How often am “I NOT TRUSTING IN THE LORD, DWELLING IN THE LAND AND BEFRIENDING FAITHFULNESS” as our Psalm says today. Not Jesus.  There is nothing wrong with eating.  There is nothing wrong with a lot of things but often, it is just the wrong time to do them.  <let this sink in dude> Jesus resists the devil by standing firm on the truth of God’s word.  He withstands spiritual warfare by knowing Scripture.  We need to know Scripture.  We do not know Scripture. (general terms).   The issue of facing trials and strife in life.  The issue in facing the arrogance of our flesh and how it is distracted from righteousness can be traced to twigs.    We keep our fires going with twigs.  We are not using real wood.    We have 900 current and historical ENGLISH bible translations.  Bible Gateway (online) has more than 50 of the most prominent English renderings of Scripture.  You can read it, have it read to you, you can have celebrities read it to you dramatically, you can have it read to you with soft-playing classical music.  (THINK PS 1 HERE)   “Blessed is the one who does not walk in the counsel of the in the counsel of the wicked nor stand in the way of sinners nor sit in the seat of scoffers but his delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law he meditates day and night.”   Day and Night, meditating on this word.  Why?  Because it is wood.  This word is wood to keep the fires of your faith burning.    Too many smoke out and die.    It is not that one meditates on this day and night it is his delight!  Delight!    I can think of a WHOLE lot of things that I delight in!  Can you?  Is one of them His word?   The first thing Satan did was try to stir doubt in God’s word.  One of the last things Jesus heard was, “This is my Son in whom I am well pleased.” Then the first thing from the enemy’s mouth? “If you are the Son of God. . . turn these stones to bread.”   Jesus knew the word of God.  He had to learn that!  He was human.  He had to learn to read.  He had to learn an alphabet.  He had to memorize.    “Some of you are going to get to heaven and a guy name Obediah is going to come up and ask you how you liked the book he wrote . . .you will be clueless.  “   Memorize God’s word: “write it on the tablet of your heart.” Proverbs 3:3   Oh, pastor you are asking too much.  I can’t memorize.   I will prove you wrong.  Right here.  I will prove you can memorize.   John 11:35 “Jesus wept.”   Without the aid of your Bible, let us all say together what we just memorized: What is John 11:35 say? Jesus Wept.  You did it!   Don’t be silly right?  No.  I am not being silly.   How did you start to read?  There was a time when you could not read, how did you learn?  Did you start on day one reading Dostoevsky?  Did you start by reading Shakespeare? You started with Aa, Bb, Cc, Dd, Ee . . . See Stan run.  See Stan Jump.  Silly Stan! You want to keep the fire burning?  When you are in real need it is God’s word that will sustain you.  Jesus gives us the example right here.  He does not seek counsel with friends, he does not journal about it, he does not see what other rabi’s have done (theologians): Jesus is obedient to the word.  Nothing wrong with friendly counsel, we need it often.  Journaling is GREAT!  Seeing what other theologians have to say about certain Scripture is great. But first, foundational we need to know God’s word.  My experience is we do not spend enough time in it.  Me included.  Oh, what a beautiful example Jesus gives here!

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 3 God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. 6 And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters below from the waters above.” 7 And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above. And it was so. 8 And God called the above sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day. 9 And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. 11 And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so.  12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, the third day. 14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the sky to separate the day from the night. And let them be for seasons,[f] and for days and years, 15 and let them in the sky give light upon the earth.” And it was so.  16 And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17 And God set them in the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day. 20 And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds[g] fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” 21 So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23 And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day. 24 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. 25 And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 26 Then God said, “Let us make man[h] in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image,     in the image of God he created him;     male and female he created them. 28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”  And it was so.  31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. You would recognize this reading as the Creation Account from Genesis 1. This is a very well-known passage if you have just been in the faith for a short while.  As the first words of our Scripture open we see the Spirit of God hovering over waters and beginning to create.  As He created, it is as if He steps back and looks and says, “Good.”  Waters, land, sky = good; Plants, stars, seasons = Good; Creatures, birds, fish, animals = good. He gets to the end of day six, looks at man, the very created thing made in His image and likeness and considers all that He has created and says, “It was very good.” Then God places man in this Garden named Delightful.  I can also mean pleasure. That is the Hebrew word Eden: delightful, pleasure. It is not until we get to Chapter 2 and verse 18 that we see the first occurrence of the phrase, “It is not good.”   This, of course, is before the fall of Adam so we see in this statement, it had nothing to do with sin.  Sin was not a part of the world yet. So, we can have something that is not good and it not be related to sin.  And God made Adam fall asleep and when he woke up, Eve.  He said, “Woah man!”  That was Adam’s way of saying, “It is good!” (true story) Chapter 3 we all know it is the introduction of the serpent. Tempting Eve and causing her and Adam to sin was the plan of the enemy and he was successful. Eve saw that the three was good . . .for food and that it was a delight . . . to the eyes and she ate. Enter God.  This was not good.  So much was this not good that it brought the curse of death and separation from God. A String of Not Goods Then we get a STRING OF NOT GOODS.  There are decades, centuries of not good. After the sin of Adam and Eve and their removal from Eden, Adam had children, not in the likeness of God, but in the likeness of himself (Genesis 5:3). Through time God chose to work through and closely with those made in the image of Adam. These begin a very long string of failures of which today I will only hit the highlights.  These failures that were friends of God. Noah: It says (Gen 6:5) the deterioration of sin had gotten so bad that every inclination of the heart was always evil. God is pronouncing JUDGEMENT. The creation that was “very good” had become “very bad.” He chose Noah and had grace upon him and saved Noah and his family (Genesis 6:8).  Noah and family were only saved because God was gracious to them.  We see that in Noah, old habits die hard.  The earth was flooded, the water receded, and it is time for a second creation. Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth.  This Noah who had received God’s grace and was saved from the destructive flood acted like a drunken sailor, passed out and then was disrespected by his son Ham. Cursed! Abraham: An idol worshiper (Josh 24:2) was chosen by God to begin a new people.  T THE MAN OF FAITH THAT MOST OF THE TIME WAS FAITHLESS To save his own life he (potentially) sacrificed his marriage and life by lying who his wife was.  He also, in attempt to help God along with the promise He made, participated in a plot to impregnate his wife’s servant and this turned out really well. David: A shepherd boy who grew into a mighty warrior and great king.  We are aware of his sin and rebellion.  He stole a wife, impregnated her and to cover it, killed her husband. All to keep his sin hidden. These are the highlights.  There is a long history of failure, Judges, kings with shallow courage and faith, false prophets and grumbling citizens. These were NOT pleasing in God’s sight.  These were NOT GOOD.  A string of not good and more not good.  Then there is one who was chosen.  This one is different.  Isaiah lets us know of what this future chosen one is like.  God speaking through Isaiah we hear the word “delight” again.  Hope for the first time since the Garden, which was the last time anything GOOD was mentioned. Is 42:1, “Behold my servant, who I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit on him,” The Baptism of Jesus The water of the Jordan was the scene of John the baptizer. Person after person coming to repent of their sin and be symbolically cleansed.  (WE NEED THIS. We NEED WASHED.  WE NEED CLEANSED.  WE ARE REBELLIOUS.  We CAN’T GET OUT OF OUR WAY TO REBEL” Then arrives Jesus.  Can you imagine?  It’s like it is mid-sermon/mid-baptism. Jesus Baptism was covered in all four Gospel accounts.  John the Baptist and the baptism of Jesus, the feeding of the 5,000 and the Passion week of Christ are the only events that are found in each of the four gospel accounts.  JESUS was the one for whom John was looking. There is the uncertainty when we combine the texts from John and Matthew.  Matthew says that as a part of John’s preaching he was telling people - I AM NOT THE MESSIAH.  I am not the Christ.  He who comes after me, one I am not worthy to carry the sandals.  He is the Christ. There were people designated to carry sandals. They were lowly servants.  They were the lowest of servants.  Kings and people of status had these servants. John is essentially saying, “I am a servant of Christ, but I am not even worthy to be the lowest of servants.” So here in Matthew, John the Baptist is LOOKING for Jesus.  (John the Baptist and John the apostle and writer of John are two different people.  John (Johannes) is a popular name, kind of like Bubba in the south. There seems to be a partial recognizing here of Jesus (the Matthew account).  I say only partial because John seems to know who he is but it not fully certain.  We will find this later in Matthew 11, the last time we hear of John the Baptist.  He is in prison and he sends messengers to Jesus, “Are you the one?”   John says, “I did not know him but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on who you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptize with the Holy Spirit.’” (John 1:33)   John sees Jesus, “Behold the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.” (Jn 1:29) This is NOT just the sin of the Jewish people.  Not just the family of Abraham.  This is the sin of the Gentiles too.  The Passover lamb.  The lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world. (Rev. 13:8). The lamb that was to take away our sin. (Before Genesis 1:1)   This lamb comes to be baptized.   “Uh, no!” John says. “What are you talking about baptism?  Me baptize you?  No, You need to be baptize me!”   Jesus says, “John, I’ve got to do this.  It is fitting.  I have to fulfill all righteousness.”   These people lined up to be baptized.  Convicted and recognized their sin.  Feeling the need to be purified.  We are sinners.   Not Jesus!  He is not a sinner.   Jesus, pure, the second Adam (more on this next week), having never committed any offense and perfect in every way, righteous in every way.    I have to do this.   He was numbered with the transgressors (Isaiah 53:12).   Let’s put in this circle all the guilty.  Just lump them all here.  Transgressors ALL of them.  You know who is in that circle?  Jesus.  Numbered with the transgressors.   Even though perfect, he looked just like you and me.  He is God in the flesh: he has hands, legs, and feet.   He is NOT in the image of Adam.  He went into the waters as if He was.   This moment the sky opened and the Spirit . . . remember that Spirit that hovered over the waters at creation?  This is that Spirit that was creating back in Genesis 1?  He is hovering, once again, over water.  It descended upon Jesus at the waters of the Jordan.   There is debate on interpreting this concerning the dove.  Was it a real dove?  Many say, not really.  As he baptized Jesus, John saw something and the people saw something.    This something was the Spirit of God and it descended.  They could literally see the Spirit entering Jesus and it appeared like a dove.    Like the dove that returned to Noah?  A sign of new beginnings.  The dove that brings back the olive leaf?  There is life!  Here is proof.  And this Spirit descends up our peace, Jesus.   From heaven, the Lord said, “Very good!”  There is a theme here in Matthew where Jesus matches with Genesis.  “This is my son, in whom I am well pleased.”   Filling full the prophet Isaiah, “Behold, my servant, whom I have chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him” (42:1)   This is the first time since the fall that God has spoken and said this is good.  With Jesus, “I am well pleased!”   This is significant.  This is pivotal.   Jesus in the baptism, is humbling himself – though in the FORM of God did not consider equality with God a thing to hold on to but made himself nothing taking on the form of a servant and was born in the “LIKENESS” of sinful flesh.  But he is not a sinner.  Yet he takes on the image of a sinner.   He became like you and me in every way, but the sin.    Noah = failure Abraham= failure David = failure Every king = failure Every priest = failure   Jesus, “I am well pleased.”   What Does This Mean? There were many people APPEARING before John the Baptist to repent because there was a lot of rebellion, and this continues to be the case. I was praying earlier this week concerning our nation.  Much pondering to the rebellion that is happening.  Tina and I chat about, I just miss the old days.  But as I was praying I said to the Lord, Going back to the old days is not going to fix anything.  There was rebellion then, it just wasn’t as contentious.  It is more visible and in your face. It is so easy to idolize a time period and think that just a return to that and things will be fine.  Absolutely not.  There was sin in 1985. There was sin in 1971.  There was sin in 1950.  There was sin in 1800, 1700, 1492 and you just name the date, Jesus was always needed.  In Genesis there were four people and one of those committed murder.  25% of the Earth’s population was guilty of murder.  The people in John’s day felt the need to repent, to be washed and they were.  There were a lot then and there still remain a lot.  We have right here what many people need.  Not a lot of finger wagging and I told you so’s but Jesus, the Savior.  Jesus the righteous.  Jesus, the one in whom God is well pleased. He is the ONLY one in whom God is well pleased.  You think God is pleased because you come to assembly?  You think God is well pleased because you read Scripture occasionally?  You think God is pleased because you come from a family that has gone to church since Thomas Jefferson? He is well pleased because of Jesus.  And those who are IN JESUS, God is well pleased.   Jesus is the ONLY offering that is not filthy rags (Isaian 64:6) If we go back to the first part of this study on the Advent, we had Joseph.  He finds out that his wife to be in pregnant and he knows he is not the source of that pregnancy.  Joseph had every right to put Mary away! You know what he had the right to do?  He was fully and legally right to put her away.  But he did not. The angel came and instructed him about what was taking place.  He did not put Mary away, though he had the legal right to do. This made for an interesting public appearance.  In every way our Savior appears as fallen, yet He is the only one in Whom the Father delighted. THE HEBREW WRITER SAYS: He became like us much in every way, He was made like his brothers that he might be a service to God. For those of us in Christ, for those of us who are by faith in Jesus, this is how we stand before God.  We don’t stand before Him putting on our fig leaves to hide our shame. We appear before God in Christ.  This is the one in whom God delights.  I am with Him! In Him we are a new Creation 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.    Spirit hovering over us and sprinkling us with water Those in Christ are a new creation – old things have passed, the new HAS come!    

Date: January 4, 2026 Lord’s Day: 1 Series: Matthew in Seven Movements: Advent Title: New Beginnings Text: Matthew 1:1-17 Introduction Today is a first, and this is not only in reference to the first Sunday of 2026 but most likely you have never heard a sermon on this text which is just a family tree or a lineage.  I never thought I would deliver a sermon on this section of Scripture. A quick review of the travel logs for 15 years of moving showed we had done over 1400 moves of businesses and homes.  You show me a picture of a house and I can tell you how many bedrooms, floors and if it had a basement or not.  Ask me their names?  I would forget them mid move.  I have been horrible remembering names. There are many occasions when a text would come in and someone is moving again and they want help.  I will ask them for their last address and do a Goggle Earth Search or street view search so I can see the image of their house and then I would know who it was. (see if they were on the naughty or nice list) Most of us, if we do read it in our yearly Bible reading, whiz right by it or skip it entirely.  “All Scripture breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” 2 Timothy 3:16 and this is no less true here in this case. RC Sproul was sharing a story concerning a missionary with the Wycliffe Bible Translators who went into a land that had no written language.  All their communication was oral and the people could not read or write.  She had to first learn the language and then she developed it into a written form. This took many years and then she was able to teach it to the people and translate Scripture.  The first book translated was Matthew and because she was in a hurry these first 17 verses were left out thinking that it was not of big interest to them.  When the book of Matthew was delivered to the village it was a disappointment for the people had more interest in the truck that brought the Bibles than in the book itself. She was crushed for this whole process had taken 10 years and the people did not care at all.  In the second edition of her translation, it did include the genealogy of Jesus and the tribal leader was excited.  “You mean to tell me this Jesus you have been telling us about is a real person?” “Yes” she said. The tribal chief thought she was teaching about a mythical character.  It was only after he could see that Jesus came from real people, in real space and real time that many, including the chief, came to Christ. This is not a fly over text.   Even though this is a family tree there is A LOT here.  I think it will blow your sock off, so be prepared.  Bring high expectations here. The Thick Hebrew of Matthew There needs to be some review that was shared in the adult class last week as this series was introduced. The gospel of Matthew was written to the Hebrew or Jewish audience.  The purpose of this book is to prove that Jesus is the Messiah or the Christ. There was an “anointed one” introduced in the Hebrew Scriptures and Matthew seeks to prove that this Jesus is him.  How do we know this?  Is it because somewhere in the book of Matthew he says, “Ok, I have written this so you will know that this man called Jesus is the anointed one.”  Kind of 1:1. BUT also the MAKE UP OF THE BOOK. This must be understood that the people to whom Matthew was written had a HIGH literacy rate.  Matthew is reflecting on centuries of knowledge and this book is intelligently laid out.  What will be shared today, as said earlier, will amaze you but the readers would have picked up on it. I had to dig and find it.  Classes and books by Tim Mackie, Steven Bryan and Jacob Stromburg. The first readers of this gospel would not have needed that.  They would have automatically understood. Take for instance the progress of the book: Creation and Adam vs. Genealogy and creation of second Adam (Holy Spirit involved in both) Fleeing to Egypt for protection with Joseph vs. Fleeing for protection to Egypt with Joseph (and his dreams) The killing of the babies (Pharaoh) vs. The killing of the babies Herod The deliverance from Egypt to the wilderness vs. The deliverance from Egypt to the wilderness with Jesus Going through the sea with Moses vs. Jesus being going into the waters of baptism Going into the temptations in the wilderness 40 years vs. Jesus going through temptations in the wilderness for 40 days This would have been evident to the original readers of Matthew.  What we see in the first 4 chapters of Matthew is this unfolding.  We also see in the first 17 verses of chapter 1 a very similar unfolding.  It is a picture that Matthew is painting and he is saying- THIS IS THE SAVIOR.  THIS IS THE MESSIAH.  PAY ATTENTION! Gematria and Scripture Let us take a look at this list.  Matthew says, “Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.” (1:17) There is one other account of the family tree of Jesus and it is in Luke.  There are a couple of issues here that the Bible critic will quickly attack: The lists are mostly the same but do differ significantly There are A LOT of things Matthew leaves out. What do we do with this?  It appears to be a fallacy in Scripture and for those who have a high value on the reliability of Scripture, how do we resolve this? I want to introduce you to a term called Gematria.  It is the process of assigning value to a letter and then adding the letters together.  Our text in Matthew is FULL of this practice.  It is something that was FREQUENTLY done in the day of Matthew, not so much today. Example: A=1, B=2, C=3 and so on.  So my short name M=14, A=1, T=20, T=20 would be 55.  14+1+20+20=55 There is a really long Psalm, most likely you have read it or seen it in the book of Psalms.  It is Psalm 119, it is the longest chapter in the bible and it is an acrostic.  Turn to Psalm 119.  What you will see there before each section is the Hebrew alphabet.  The fist word in that section begins with that letter.  Aleph is the first letter and so that section begins with the letter Aleph.  The second section is Beth and that section has a word that begins with the Hebrew letter Beth.  This continues through each of the letters in the Hebrew alphabet.   Let us combine these two concepts here: the Gematria and the Acrostic: Jesus is of the line of David Matthew is proving through the genealogy that Jesus is of the line of David The Messiah will come from David’s family David’s name in Hebrew is spelled (Daleth, Waw, Daleth) Daleth = 4, Waw = 6, Daleth = 4 which totals 14. Let me be clear and repeat, this was a high literacy culture.  The symbolism would not be a mystery.  It would have been picked up on immediately.  When you and I do our family tree, we are careful to get every detail possible.  I am a direct descendant of the Hatfield family (on my father’s side, Hatfield and McCoy).  So one branch of my tree is very easy to follow and has been well researched.  As I recall I am third generation from Devil Anse Hatfield.  (Don’t mess with me!) The omission of names and generations is alarming to us.  We do not leave those things out.  We look over at the other genealogy in Luke and see differences and the critics who want to discredit the authority of Scripture immediately say, “There is a problem here.  Different names mean there is a contradiction.”  The reply is we live in a different culture.  Biblical authors employ numbers as vehicles of meaning.  This does not just apply to Scripture.  The practice holds up in literature outside of the Bible in the same period. Pythagorean used this device Euclid’s Elements used this device Very common in Egyptian, Greek and Indian culture It was used to convey deeper meanings Matthew was more interested in showing the David roots of Jesus.  Steven Bryan shows how this plays out in many ways in these first 17 verses in Matthew. Value of Name Position in Genealogy 41 Abraham 14 David 40 28th Jeconiah (last king in line of David) 41 Jesus (man) 42 Messiah (son of God)   Total 14+14+14=41?  Jesus the Messiah is the 42nd so in reality Jesus name is mentioned twice.  Once as his early name, second as the anointed of God, Messiah. Why the Differences? Last week we introduced the idea of the Gospels being written to difference audiences.  Matthew as stressed earlier, was written to Jewish audience.  It would emphasize specific things.  Luke was written to a different audience and his genealogy goes: Back all the way to Adam (not just Abraham like Matthew) Focuses on a different branch in the tree at David’s son Nathan not Solomon A Message of Hope Matthew begins this long list of names, and it takes us back to this message of HOPE.  Begins with Abraham in that God sovereignly binds Himself to the promises that He made and unfailingly kept them through a flawed people. Abraham among other things twice in fear asked his wife to misrepresent herself as his sister Isaac who did the same thing once Jacob whose name meant trickster His sons sold their brother into slavery, some wanted him dead David was not without his issues either and we see in here four women (unusual) Bathsheba whose name is not mentioned specifically but only David was with the wife of Uriah Rahab who was a sex worker but was redeemed by her faith Tamar who played the role of a sex worker to trick Jacob Ruth who put herself in a very vulnerable situation to trick Boaz How is this a message of Hope? We are like them.  We may or may not have committed the same trespasses but we bring our own baggage to this relationship.  We bring trespass, God brings redemption. We bring trespass, God brings redemption.  Don’t miss that. “When the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.” Galatians 4:4-5 LSB It was not a moment too soon and it was not a moment too late.  At the exactly right time.  God was weaving this tapestry, through time, through a flawed people to bring redemption.  That is why we do not skip over this list of names.  You and I are in there.  We received a NEW BEGINNING.  This is the NEW CREATION.  Brothers in Christ Do not allow culture to blind you from what happened here.  This says brothers . . .for a reason.  Even for you here who are my sisters in Christ.  This is about inheritance.  We are all, in this state, brothers in Christ.  We can see this throughout Matthew and it begins here in Matthew 1. 1:2 Jacob the father of Judah and “His brothers” ((off to exile) 1:11 Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers (off to the exile) No brothers in the 3rd set of names but Jesus used brothers in His ministry with the apostles 10:1-7 Simon Peter and Andrew (his brother) James and John (his brother) 12:46-50 “Who are my brothers? Whoever does the will of my Father is my brother, sister and mother.” Matthew 28:9-10 “9 And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!”And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.” Hebrews 2:11 “For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source, that is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers.” Romans 8:29 “Those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” Isn’t this beautiful?  Our elder brother Jesus was the first to rise from the dead.  He is the firstborn among MANY.  It includes us. You see this in our confession today.  We are adopted by God’s free grace into this family.  We are, by an act of God’s free grace, received into the number and have a right to all the priviledges, of the sons of God.  Oh what a beautiful reality!

Date: December 28, 2025 Lord’s Day: 52 Series: Matthew in Seven Movements: Advent Title: Hidden Signs of the Savior Text: Isaiah 7:10-17; Matthew 1:18-23   Apostles Creed on Christ I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord; Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary: Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried; He descended into hell. The third day He arose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven and sits on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; From there He shall come and judge the living and the dead.   Matthew 1:18-25 18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ[e] took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed[f] to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. XX 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” XX 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,     and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). XX 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus. XX Isaiah 7:10-16 NLT 10 Later, the Lord sent this message to King Ahaz: 11 “Ask the Lord your God for a sign of confirmation, Ahaz. Make it as difficult as you want—as high as heaven or as deep as the place of the dead.[e]” 12 But the king refused. “No,” he said, “I will not test the Lord like that.” XX 13 Then Isaiah said, “Listen well, you royal family of David! Isn’t it enough to exhaust human patience? Must you exhaust the patience of my God as well? 14 All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin[f] will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’). XX 15 By the time this child is old enough to choose what is right and reject what is wrong, he will be eating curds and honey. 16 For before the child is that old, the lands of the two kings you fear so much will both be deserted. XX The Reading of God’s word     There are days, seasons and moments when we feel overwhelmed.  Possibly there are periods of extended time where everything seems to be a challenge. Looking at this text in Matthew regarding Joseph and it is very easy to see that potentially Joseph is going through one of those times.  It gets buttoned up quickly, the resolution comes within a few words and sentences.  In 89 words Joseph went from: strongly committed man getting ready to be married to then learning that his fiancé was pregnant, to planning to end the relationship entirely To being informed that this was of God To getting married. That is a LOT of ground to cover quickly. This is not absent from our lives: On one front we can have health issues that arise. On another front we have a family conflict On a different front we can look at the moral issues and cultural issues of the day Wealth (or lack of it) management, bills, looking at the horizon of the future. The common reaction for most is that we only look horizontally for the answer.  ALL of Joseph’s reactions to what was happening was horizontal.  This will be the end of our relationship I don’t want to hurt her public perception, will do it in secret We will do it quickly It was the angel who corrected Joseph.  God is doing something here Joseph.  We have the luxury of the text.  We have the inside scoop, so it is easy for us to see God is doing something great here.  Joseph did not have that.  Given we were in a similar situation we would also be looking horizontally.  Pondering the situation and solving it with horizontal means. There is a very peculiar thing here that Matthew says to us regarding Joseph.  We get to 1:22-23 and we see Matthew, telling us, that everything took place with Joseph and Mary to fulfill what Isaiah had said. This will happen a lot in Matthew.  We are beginning this new series today looking at the book of Matthew.  It will be broken into 7 sections (movements).  This will be the content of the Sunday Sermon as well Sunday adult class. As you read through Matthew when it says, “This is to fulfill what  . . . said.”  Follow through. Look it up. “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet” “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel.” (1:22-23) Let’s go back and see what was going on with Isaiah.  This is the second text that we read today from chapter 7.  We picked up the story right from where this quotation was made so let’s look at the whole context and see why it was said. Going back to the beginning of Isaiah 7 we see this king from Judah, his name is Ahaz.  He is 20 years old.  Can you imagine that?  Being a king at 20? Ahaz is a brand new king, has not been around very long and his life is NOT absent of a lot of issues. Pekah the king of Israel and Rezin the king of Syria joined forces to go to battle against Ahaz and Judah When Judah and Ahaz realized this this was one of those very overwhelming moments and they were afraid Pekah and Rezin wanted Judah to join forces with them to fight Assyria (big power of the day) Assyria was whipping everyone and taking names There was panic because as king Ahaz and the people of Jerusalem looked around horizontally, there was a LOT to be feared.  Syria and Israel look HORIZONTAL: what do we have? There is a cut in our story right here.  The Isaiah version is the Readers Digest version of this event.  This is the second time this story was told and the first time had a few more details in between 7:2 and 7:3. 2 Kings 16 provides the details here. Ahaz took money from the temple and took it to the king of Assyria and said, “I am your servant and your son.  Come up and rescue me from the hand of the king of Syria and the king of Israel, who are attacking me.” (2 Kings 16:7) Horizontal cure – God said ISRAEL is my servant and my son. Isaiah meets Ahaz at this place called the Washer’s Field Says, everything will be fine, God will rescue you from Syria and Israel. Here is the interesting part, Isaiah says, “You want me to prove this?  Ask the sign, the Lord will give you a sign.” Ahaz says, “I do not want to put the Lord to the test, I do not want to weary him with this thing.” Now you see the importance of knowing the 2 Kings part of this story.  The reason Ahaz had no desire to seek a sign is because he had already made a deal with Assyria.  Ahaz had no fear because he found, what he thought was the most powerful thing to protect him (horizon). WhAT IS MORE POWERFUL THAN GOD? This is when Isaiah insists and gives him the sign anyway.  Here is the sign Ahaz that you do not need to worry about Syria and Israel” “14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.[h] 15 He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. 16 For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted.” Isaiah 7:14-16 Here is your sign Ahaz, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, his name will be Immanuel and by the time he reaches puberty these kings will have died.  This means in 12 to 14 years, this issue Ahaz was facing with Syria and Israel will be fixed. No need to fear these kings at ALL. In any way.  God is saying here, I got you. Don’t look horizontally.  This presents a problem.  Anyone see the problem?  This is a great message to Ahaz.  Is this not a great message to him it is also powerful. At face value this has nothing to do with a birth of Jesus 7:1 Army surround Jerusalem 7:2 All were afraid 7:6 Foreign king to replace Davidic king with someone else 7:3 Message at the Washer’s Field 7:4,11  Don’t be afraid 7:10 Offers a sign 7:14-15 Sign of eating Matthew is quoting Isaiah here.  “ALL OF THIS TOOK PLACE to fulfill (fill full) what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: Behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel.” I want to share briefly, in part, what I do when getting ready to share a message or teach a class. There is a thing called hermeneutics which is a very fancy word for interpretation.  There is interpretation for every literature.  My interest is Scripture interpretation, and it is very important.  We do not read a phone book like we do a Tom Clancey novel.  This applies all over Scripture because there is differing types of Literature in Scripture.  There are poetry and apocalyptic and story narrative and parable.  When we read in Psalm 50 that God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, we do not interpret that to refer to God as a cattle rancher.  We look at what type of literature it is and from there try to find meaning. This must be done when teaching.  The struggle is to look at what is written and do the best possible to find the meaning by considering the context in which a passage is drawn. One DOES NOT WANT TO PULL A READING OUT OF CONTEXT.  YET THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT MATTHEW DID HERE. Isaiah, meeting Ahaz at the end of the Washers Field and he says to him, “God has you.  No reason to fear.  The sign that you can be assured of this is, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and you shall call his name Immanuel, God is with us.” (God is with you – the child is a sign of that) The issue here is, Matthew is drawing a quote from Isaiah, “Behold the virgin shall conceive and bear and son, and they call his name Immanuel.”  Yet Matthew is pulling this completely out of context.  It is from Isaiah 7 and this has nothing to do with a future Savior Jesus, saving people from sin. So how do we handle this?  How do we resolve how Matthew pulls a quote that was a sign for king Ahaz and seemingly in no way pointed to a future birth of Christ? Matthew is an inspired writer of God Spirit and can use scripture in anyway he desires. And that is okay if you want to take that route.  It is God’s book, God can do what God wants to do.  There is nothing wrong with this resolution.  Matthew is drawing from a larger pattern in the book of Isaiah. Fast forward to chapter 36 of Isaiah and we see a repeating pattern.  Almost exactly with what happened to king Ahaz.  Now it is with a different king, Hezekiah. The city of Jerusalem is shaking and quaking and so is Hezekiah.  Why are they afraid?  The big boys on the block, Assyria are after them and their army surrounds the city. The foreign king wants to replace the David king with someone else.  (explain here what is taking place with Rabshakeh. 7:1 Army surround Jerusalem 7:2 All were afraid 7:6 Foreign king to replace Davidic king with someone else 7:3 Message at the Washer’s Field 7:4,11  Don’t be afraid 7:10 Offers a sign 7:14-15 Sign of eating         36:1 Army surround Jerusalem 36:21,37:1 All were afraid 36:14-17 Foreign king to replace Davidic king with someone else 36:2 Message at the Washer’s Field 37:6, 30  Don’t be afraid 37:30 Offers a sign 37:30-32 Sign of eating     The constant solution is vertical.  Matthew’s book is written to Jewish people.  As we look at the gospel accounts, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, they retell the story of Jesus.  They are written accounts of the life of Christ. Each are written to a different people.  Matthew written to the Jewish people. Matthew is looking back a whole entire sections of scripture and showing Christ in the Old Testament.  This is where Christ is.  Matthew, when he quotes this passage in Isaiah 7 is giving a nod to all of Isaiah.  He is seeing a pattern.  This first account of Christ’s birth is, quit looking horizontally rather, look vertically. Rather than seeing the words, “The virgin shall be with child . . .“ the Matthew quotation reflects a way of seeing Israel’s story as a resource of repeated patterns with Jesus as the culminating climax of all the patterns.  Matthew is seeing the entire view of Isaiah and see Jesus as the fulfillment. THE DELIVERER FROM THE ENEMY – God with us! What can be seen in Ahaz and in part his son Hezekiah is this horizontal view that is absent of God. What is the application for our lives today? What is the so what here? The answer to all of our issues in life is vertical.  There is a greater work of God. He began painting this picture in the book of Isaiah and pulling out and seeing the MACRO view is God is in control. Christmas Eve we touched briefly on the fact that the circumstances of Christ’s birth followed him through his life.  The accusations of him possibly being a child conceived in sin. Why would the Father do this?  Why would the Father have him born in such substandard circumstances.  The filth of a barn and a manger.  Is not Jesus king?  Why God, Why would you do this? In the hour of our deepest lack of understanding, He calls us not to simply looking at our horizons but to look vertically. Matthew is saying, there is this greater work of God going on – I want you to pull back and see how He has been working salvation.  It is in Jesus – Immanuel God with us.  Just as much as he delivered the sinful, rebellious king Ahaz and the arrogant self-depending Hezzekiah, He deliverers us in redemption.

18-Date: December 24, 2025 Lord’s Day: Christmas Eve Series: Matthew in Seven Movements: Advent Title: Hope Hidden in Plain Sight Text: Matthew 1:18-2:5a   Matthew 1:18-2:5a 18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ[e] took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed[f] to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,     and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus. Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men[a] from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose[b] and have come to worship him.” 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea The Reading of God’s word     The first Advent candle that we light was the candle of HOPE.  How do we define this hop? I was pondering that word hope when considering the Christmas message.  When I think of hope what comes to mind is that throughout life, I have placed my hope in a lot of things: Christmas break when I thought I was getting the new body style Ford Thunderbird (monte carlo like, then 79-82 grandpa car) HOW DO YOU DEFINE HOPE? When the Hebrew writer says, “We have this HOPE as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure,” (Hebrews 6:19) and he is referencing Jesus, what did he mean?  It sounds A LOT different that the way we use the word hope. The reading earlier is, in part, the Christmas story. If you have been a believer for even just a short time, this is well known.  But there were many HOPES in this story. Joseph’s Hope! 1:18 “Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed . . . This means she was engaged.  Joseph was hoping to wed Mary.  He was betrothed to her, a word that is fainting in our culture but still used occasionally.  In the time frame of Christ, this was a little different than being engaged in our culture.  If one decides not to marry, (UNCOMFY CONVERSATION) they simply break off the engagement and give back the ring. BETROTHAL - This was a legal status for the couple.  In order to break the engagement there was a formal “divorce” process.  The couple would not be living together because they were not married but this time period of betrothal several things were done: It lasted at least a year The man would go into negotiations with the father of the bride.   The families would get to know each other The man would be a house for the couple to live in once married It was during this time, while Joseph was doing all these things and they had not been together sexually, “she was found to be with child.” (1:18). This had to completely ROCK Joseph’s world – HOPES SHATTERED!  Oh I had really hoped I could marry you.  Can you imagine Joseph receiving this disheartening news.  Looking deeper into this text is reading it supernaturally.  There is no details of all that Joseph went through, but we have each suffered heart break (THE CONVERSATION).  Were there conversations between Joseph and his momma?  We are not privy to this sort of thing because it is not in the text but you know there were a lot of conversations happening. He pondered, what do I do?  Like any other person, he was thinking that Mary had been unfaithful to him and this could not stand. It appears from John 8 that this stigma surrounding His birth seemed to follow Him.  Joseph’s NEW HOPE Joseph  had hoped to spare Mary bad reputation.  He came up with an idea, “I will put her away quietly (in secret so as not to shame her) and resolved to do this quickly.” (1:19) But he was given a vision and instructed, “Jospeh, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.  She will bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus for he will save his people from their sins.” (1:20-22) The text gives us the inside scoop.  This was not normal conception.  When Mary asked THE ANGEL how she could give birth as a virgin, the angel replied that the power of God would overshadow her, meaning the Creator would create a child inside her, much as He created the first man in the Garden. Just as Adam had no human father, nor would Christ have a human father but would be created out of the womb of Mary by God. Mary was with child because of God.  Joseph did not know this.  Joseph then had, again, a different hope.  The Magi’s HOPE You know what the Magi were?  These were professional star gazers.  They were east of Jerusalem, which is couple hours walk away from Bethlehem.  These Magi hoped to solve a mystery. They had seen something in the sky.  Whatever they witnessed led them to believe there was a king involved and they came to worship him. In our nativity scenes there are typically 3 Magi but Scripture does not say how many there were.  It just mentions the 3 gifts that the Magi brought. I like to think there were A LOT.  I base this upon the text.  How else would an entire town become stirred. There was a stir in Jerusalem.  It says, “During the time of King Herod, Magi form the east came to Jerusalem and asked, ‘Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?’ We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When King Herod heard this he was disturbed and all Jerusalem with him” <LAST SLIDE> Herod’s HOPE Was a king and he hoped to retain his seat on the throne. We know from history that Herod was an Edomite who was force converted to the Jewish religion.  He saw an opportunity and $$bought$$  his was into power and this is how he was king.  He was so ready to protect his power and if there was any threat. His hope was in his seat as king.  That is the best he could do! Herod was known to have several assassination attempts taken upon him and this made him very unstable.  He had one of his ten wives and two of his sons (Alexander and Aristobulous) killed because he suspected them trying to plot against him and take the throne. Herod had placed all his hope in himself and his place upon the throne.  Isn’t it funny the things we HOPE in?  Isn’t it ODD how we define HOPE?  COMPLETELY DIFFERENT THAN HEBREWS 6 Jesus, All of this hope in the various people surrounding the life of Jesus.  Just like me, and my new college car the hope was NOT SECURE  NOT AN ACHOR.  I hope the car will increase my social status I hope I can keep my throne. I hope I can end this relationship with Mary and the public perspective not be destroye The Magi, I hope we can meet this new king. These do not define Hope like Hebrews What is the hope that the Hebrew writer had in mind when he spoke of a hope that is an anchor for the soul, steadfast and sure?  The hope of Christ Hebrews is strong. It is like it is a reality, because it IS. The hope of Hebrews is the Hope of promise in God’s word. The hope of Christ is the hope of Adam and Eve after they sinned.  God said, that the offspring of the woman would destroy our enemy.   It is then that God drove Adam and Eve out of the garden to a place.  This place is simply given the title, East of Eden. This is the same direction of The light of hope shining in the sky. It came from the east  It is in the birth of Christ that we have hope.  Why?  Because He came reversing the direction of the fall, uniting us back to the Father. One of the things that I find so fascinating about this time of year are how short the days become.  Christmas is almost on the shortest day of the year.  A day of darkness.  As is tradition, we surround our Christmas trees and decorations and string hundreds of lights.  Light in the darkest time of the year. In the darkest time of the year comes the light of Christ. In the darkest hour Jesus was born. The light of the world is our hope.  Jesus comes in the darkest of moments and becomes the greatest of hopes.  The most important part of this is how is this hope born?  Is He born in You? How differently this world will become as He is born more in this community.  When He is born into the Mayor’s building.  When He is born into the school as He is born in our homes and lives.  Our hope is the promise of God.  He was born into this world and born again in each believer.  It is hope hidden in plain sight.  Into darkness comes the light.  

1 Timothy 3:1-7 The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. 2 Therefore an overseer[a] must be above reproach, the husband of one wife,[b] sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4 He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, 5 for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church? 6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. 7 Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.   Titus 1:5-9 5 This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you— 6 if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife,[d] and his children are believers[e] and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. 7 For an overseer,[f] as God's steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, 8 but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. 9 He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound[g] doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.   This is the reading of God’s word   About a week ago a post came across my feed.  It was just some random person who, from the comment made, seemed to be a believer.  (Maximus Decimus Meridius)   He made a funny comment – it was in relation to a meme.  The meme is comparing two things that are extreme opposites. On one end were people who present at conferences (the R.C. Sproul’s, The John Pipers, The Paul Washers).  On the other end was this guy, who was simply saying he feels small.   I did chuckle – the post was funny but it was also sad.  I have been there.  I have admired leaders of congregations as if they were a step or three higher than me.    One such man, it is a part of my testimony, is Mark Driscol. Mark founded a congregation and named it Mars Hill in Seattle Washington.  Within 5 years it grew to a multi-site campus of about 10K members.  Little after that it grew to multi-state campus close to 25K members.   Mark targeted his message to men 17 to 35.  I was in that age range and his messages really hit home.  He saw that most males were not men.  He took the message of Christ and made boys into men.   I greatly admired Mark.  He had an awesome speaking skill and in a powerful way drilled the message right to the heart.   Mark’s downfall was very public.  In fact, if I mention a person by their name, most likely they have been very visible in the public.  You may not know the name Mark Driscol – but he ended up being accused of very harsh leadership, abusive leadership and he was put into church discipline.  He ended up leaving there and after a couple of years began a new church in Arizona.   Leaving behind a HUGE mess.  Mark was Mars Hill and Mars Hill was Mark.  From over 2K miles away I watched an enormous 25k member church break into crumbs.   About 3 years ago Mark Cosper did an almost 20 episode series called the Rise and Fall of Mars Hill.  It marked about the 6th year anniversary of the end of Mars Hill.   There were some issues I had with maybe 15% of the content of the series but the rest, was very eye opening.    Mark had made such a memorable impression upon me.  God had used Mark, there is no doubt or question. But that is my point of this story.  Mark was just a man.    I had come to a place where I wanted to teach or preach and pastor a congregation. I would pray, God, I would love to be just as effective as Mark.  And then the fall happened.  The news spread and the fall out that went on for years.   I really struggled for a short while with questions.  There was a distinct turn around in my life all those years ago in 2004 and 2005.  I was uncertain if Mark was even a Christian, that is how abusive things were.  My question was, is my new life legit?    Of course, I know the answer to that now.  I really struggled with this.  It was not until it dawned on me that God can use anyone.  He even used a donkey to get his message across.  And it is not the messenger; it is the message.`   That is why that guy’s meme was funny at first and then took a serious turn.  Those who lead large congregations and write books and attend conferences, they are just men.  Talented and gifted – and some (even most) remain faithful to the end.  But they are just vessels used by God through His Spirit.   I have lived long enough now to see many examples like Mark.  I am not referring to the Jimmy Swaggarts.  I am talking about men who preaching solid sermons for years and then it is found that they are involved in something.  Most often it is a sexual thing.   A few months ago, back in the summer, a picture came across my twitter feed.  It was a photograph of a conference from just a few years ago.  On that stage were 6 men who were pastors of congregations.  It was the Q and A session from that conference.    These were pastors who were a pretty big deal.  Of the six that were on the stage, four were no longer active pastors.  Each rocked by a scandal.   We have been in this topical series, Shepherding the Church for two weeks.  This is an examination of Elders, Bishops, Overseers and pastors; in short, church leadership.   The rock-solid foundation for the leaders of God’s church must be humble.  When a leader falls it totally rocks the boat for many.   It is one of the reasons why the qualifications are elders, pastors, bishops are mentioned given in the New Testament.  These qualifications are the character traits that a congregation is to look for in the leader.   We are going to touch on this briefly today.  We could literally spend several weeks on this.  It will wait until a future time.  I want to conclude this series today so we can begin Matthew next week and get into some advent lessons.   Before we begin, let us pray and ask a blessing upon the message. PRAYER Lord, we thank you for this time in Your word.  We are so grateful that you have left it for us to study, read, consider and from it pattern our lives.    We pray for Your church, the Bride of Christ.  The church you have said Jesus, would stand and the gates of hell would not prevail against her.    Open our hearts as we briefly look into this text this morning.  There is much here and we are just spending a little time, but help us by Your Spirit to understand what is being taught by Paul.   It is in Jesus’ name we pray, AMEN.   Introduction/Review As we close this short series this week my desire is to reveal the implications for the congregation here at Donnels Creek.   Quick review so we begin with all of us on the same page: There are some who look at the office/title of Bishop, pastor, overseer, elder as differing things. It is view more as a hierarchy of church leadership I argued last week that all of those titles were referring to the same office. This was based upon Paul’s writings in Acts 20, Ephesians 4, 1 Timothy and Titus. Presbyterian/Prebyterous (congregations) Elder, Overseer (episcope) and Shepherd (poimanien) were all used in the same contexts pointing to the same thing. Ephesians 4, we have the noun form (shepherd/pastor) of a verb (what shepherds and pastors do).   Because these several terms refer to the same office I will use them interchangeably.  In reality I will mostly just call these leaders of the church pastor or elder.    I would like to turn our attention to the qualifications of the elder/pastor and shepherd.  We find those in our texts that was read earlier in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus.   I am going to make 3 propositions today regarding Church Leadership (elder, pastor, bishop etc.).   Paul had selected Timothy and Titus to go from congregation to congregation and establish elder ships.  Evidence in Scripture supports strongly the plurality of elders.  (repeat that)   Proposition 1: There is strong Biblical example of a plurality of elders for each congregation Those congregations with a plurality of elders best represent what Scripture teaches.  This statement is based directly upon the words used and also the implications made.   Consider the following passages where a plurality of elders is stated directly: Titus 1:5 This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order and appoint elders in every town as I directed you. 1 Timothy 5:17 “Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching . . for Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,’ and ‘The laborer deserves his wages.’” This is in reference to those pastors who it is their job, the profession to preach and teach and lead a congregation. The word used there is elders.  This shows 2 things.  There are some elders who are not paid and there are some who are.  Some spend more time.  Paul is showing that there is a difference in the actual office of an elder.  Acts 14:23 this is the work of Paul and Barnabas when they were in the area of Lystra. “And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting, they committed them to the Lord in who they had believed.” Acts 20:17 a passage we mentioned last week. Paul had been in Ephesus 3 years.  It says in v. 17 that “from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him.” Philippians 1:1 in the greeting of the letter Paul wrote to the church/congregation at Philippi it says, “To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons.” James 5:14 in addressing members of the church who are ill it says, “Is anyone among you sick? Let them call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.” Therefore, based upon those passages, it is clear from Scripture that a congregation should have multiple elders.  One additional observation I would like to make before we move this does not mean a congregation is in grave error if they do not have multiple elders.  Titus and Timothy had a job given to them by Paul.  He labored them with the task of setting up elders in existing congregations of churches.  This means there was a time when these churches did not have elders and they were still Christian church gatherings.  Proposition 2: The qualifications of elder in 1 Timothy 3, Titus 1, 1 Peter 5 should be applied with wisdom and balance How do we know who the elders are?  We have here in 1 Peter 5, Titus 1 and 1 Timothy 3 some qualifications.  Before we go over these, and we will not be looking at them in detail because of time constraints, I want to point to some things to consider. I say using wisdom and balance because I have an extensive list here of all the qualifications.  There are 15 in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 and there are 6 in 1 Peter 5.  The list in 1 Timothy and Titus is mostly the same and 1 Peter 5 is completely different.  Titus and Timothy did not have our New Testaments – they were in two different areas.  They would have looked at their list, and their lists would have differed.  If we are to combine the lists and use them as a check marks (no one would be qualified) you would be doing something that Titus and Timothy could not do.  Wisdom and balance. Top of the list: Above Reproach. I believe this is the over-arching character traits and that everything else underneath compliments that phrase. But remember, I said, the qualifications should be applied with wisdom and balance. (This is a very serious matter on one end – understanding tO WHOM it was written on the other end) You would be able to find someone in Paul’s life that would say he is not above reproach.  That was old Paul, right?  He used to kill and imprison believers.  There are people who come to the Lord and grow in the Lord, and their lives look completely different than 5 or 10 or 15 years ago.  This would be just like Paul. Note that in this list is not a recent convert.  That is true.  There is no specified time given but this is a mature Christian.  This is what is meant to use wisdom and balance.  It says husband of one wife. That means that we are looking for a man.  An elder is a man.  This differs from deacons (I know we are not dealing with deacons but their qualifications are listed below).  A deacon is a position for man or a woman.  It differs in this area that it gives points to the women and says you are to meet these qualifications also.  It does not do that for elder. Being that it says husband of one wife does that mean he has to be married?  Remember wisdom and balance. There are congregations that look at this list as a check list.  I personally know of men who were appointed as elders and served as elders for many years.  These men lost their wife, and they resigned.  Why?  Because it says that an elder must be the husband of one wife.  This appears on two of the three lists. Is that proper?  Is this a good interpretation of what is meant here?  I say no. Here is why, Peter and Paul were elders.  They were apostles but they were also elders (Acts 15; 2 John; 3 John; 2 Corinthians 2:11-12; 1 Peter 5:1).  One of these men was not married.  Paul was not married. The proper English (2) interpretation here is a one-woman man.  These qualifications were written to a culture where it was not unusual for a man to have more than one wife.  Seeing that Paul was not married and was not just considered an Apostle but also a elder and pastor, it can be easily detected here there is nothing magical about a married man.  Another quality in Titus is says children are believers. This differs from 1 Timothy where it says “manages his own household well . . .children are submissive.” This is an instance where we get into the nuance of the Greek language.  If a man does not have believing children does that disqualify him?  We speak of children who are adult and seemingly have left the faith. Some look at this passage and say yes.  Others say absolutely not.  Titus 1:6   Greek word (pistos) + Sentence structure = word referring to BELIEVING children or Faithful children.   Relation to faith vs. relation to how the house was ruled   Translations –    place emphasis on faith (ESV, NIV, NASB) believers                                     Place emphasis on the house (KJV, LSB, CSB)   I lean house: Context – not accused of open rebellion, wild a riotous Crete – would have been difficult to find believing children This does not occur in Timothy’s list, but household behavior does Belief is the work of the Spirit Number of past pastors who had children who did not believe in   Among those who took this stance: John Calvin, Matthew Henry, John Gill, Charles Hodge, John Stott (single man), William Mounce (Greek scholar and teacher). Johnathan Edwards, George Whitfield, Charles Spurgeon, John Wesley and Martyn Lloyd-Jones all had at least one child who died unbelieving or lived for years as a prodigal.  No one in their day suggested this disqualify them.  This is more in reference to did this man have control of his house?  Did the children respect his leadership?  This is about leading a house.  Wisdom and balance. These are the most controversial of the qualifications.  But if you look through the list, everything that falls below “above reproach” clarifies what above reproach looks like.   This even bleeds over into the 1 Peter passage. Proposition 3: As we begin to grow Donnels Creek Church the leadership of the congregation must look more like the New Testament Church Currently the organization structure has: our Lord as the head of the Church.  This checks out.  The leadership team then the Moderator and then the   Here is the issue: that is not what Paul sent Titus and Timothy to do.  This is not what Peter was doing in the churches that he helped plant. This is not ME making a power grab.  Absolutely NOT! I am suggesting here that a PLURALITY of ELDERS pastor the flock at Donnels Creek, current and future.  THERE WILL BE NO LONELY ACRE! Elders are men of God,  mature in The Faith who are servant leaders within a congregation for the purpose of leading through teaching, protecting, and guarding the health of the church. The rest of the organizational structure remains.  The leadership team, the moderator, the finances, the secretary, all remain the same. The deacons remain the same. The elder’s responsibility: is to teach and govern.  They are the doctrinal guardians of the flock and the overseers of the life of the church, and they are responsible to God for the feeding and care and the ministry of the people. STEER THIS IN THE DIRECTION THEY (prayer, fasting, observation, study) think is right. They are the administrative head of the body. This is a serious business.  As we began this short series I had shared with you that this is a result of some ongoing conversations that Fred Circle and I have had dating back to the summer.  After some time had passed Fred was convinced and convicted that we should address this sooner than later.  I was already involved in the Colossians series and it was decided that we could address it after that was complete and here we are. The various ministries continue.  The various committees continue. But it is my firm conviction that this is the proper step. We can develop a path forward in the coming weeks and months.  Search and find men who are qualified to work with me.  They would be pastors just as much as me. Their role is different, but their authority is the same.  There is room for this in the teaching of Paul.  I labor in this.   

Acts 20:28-31 28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God,[e] which he obtained with his own blood.  29 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. 31 Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears.    1 Peter 5:1-4 So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight,[a] not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you;[b] not for shameful gain, but eagerly; 3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.   This is the reading of God’s word   Lord, You have given hope to a people without hope.  You have given peace to us, when we were without peace.  We thank you for this very gift of Your mercy.   We return our attention to the topic of how to shepherd the church.  As Your church, we are a people that You have purchased with Your own sacrifice.  Again, we thank you for this very gift of Your mercy.   Open our hearts as we look into Your word.  We remain hopeful that you will continue to bless us in Your mercy to understand Your word.    In Jesus’ Name Amen.     A few years ago, Tina and had been at a congregation for quite some time and I was really struggling through some things.  I am not going to mention the congregation because it is full of terrific people, it is led by a team of great elders and has two terrific teaching pastors.   Both of us were involved and plugged in. We were very active members.    I had been on the worship team for a long time and had even been approached to lead that team.  Tina was plugged in and serving, therefore, both of us were involved, going to class, men’s meetings and groups.   There were several key events that took place over a stretch of about a year that had given us pause:    Our son, Mason, was on an Uber food delivery, he was in a traffic accident in northern Columbus that resulted in his death. As you can imagine the nature of this really cut deep.   Several months after this event, there was a conflict within the worship team and rather than make a scene I decided to take a break for a while.  I kept it to myself; I shared only a little with Tina.    Then a couple months after that, the elders of the congregation took a very weak stance on a public issue.  Their stated goal had always been, to keep the main thing, the main thing.  The main thing in particular is Jesus.   This is a terrific policy, but sometimes public issues and Jesus will cross paths, and this was one of those issues.    I began to ponder our time at that congregation.  Tina and I loved the preaching.  Yet I had in many ways felt like we were on the outside looking in.    In less than a year our family had experienced a major life event, and our participation had gone from very high and visible to very low.  Not one visit.  Not one phone call.  Not one side conversation on Sunday.  Not one text.   I wrote my thoughts about it one day in the form of a small poem I entitled the “Lonely Acre.”  It is about being in this position where there are shepherds but one sheep that has seemed to wander away unnoticed and ponders if he had found a lonely acre, one that even the shepherd does not know and cannot find.   It goes in part . . .   Unknown and overlooked and no protection, No fence! Escaped without detection. Wanders again amidst the fray, Because, it’s so much easier to walk away!   As I was preparing for this series that moment in our life together came back to mind.  That short poem came back.    I really felt like we had found a lonely acre that the shepherd could not locate, and we had been lost on it.    We loved that church body.  We enjoyed being plugged in there.  But as the sheep that the shepherds were supposed to oversee, I just felt alone.  So, we walked away.   I want to put this in perspective for you looking back and reflecting on the message last week.    We looked at how serious David took his job looking after his father’s sheep. There was NO lonely acre for David.  He with great observation looked over his father’s sheep.   He was giving his resume to King Saul and recounted how, apparently on more than one occasion, had to wrestle lions and bears.    I was making the connection with Paul’s words in Acts 20 and the job of the pastor to shepherd the flock and to watch for wolves.    Paul has been in this place called Ephesus for 3 years training the elders.  He says, The Holy Spirit has made you overseers to care for God’s church.  He has obtained this church with his own blood.  He has died for this church.  You are to oversee it.  How?  Fierce wolves will come in among you.  They will teach twisted things.  They will twist the word of God.  Don’t let that happen.  Watch over the sheep.  Watch over this flock.   My addition here is watch over God’s flock like David did his father’s flock. When a wolf comes, protect the sheep.  Be in the know . . .be aware.  Be in prayer.  Be vigilant looking after the sheep, just like David.   Towards the Sheep, in the words of Peter from 1 peter 5, overseeing but not ovrbearing, not domineering gentle . . with care   It is like this staff, remember?  This staff can be used to look over the sheep but also be used as a weapon to keep away danger and harm.   I learned a lesson from that experience.  I began this story saying that I am not angry and that is true.  I harbor no hard feelings at all, I love those people, and I look forward to seeing them in eternity.  In preparation for this series I even had discussions with them because I had some practical questions.   They are not perfect; I do not expect them to be perfect. I am not perfect and will make mistakes as well.  I really just want to work hard to NOT make that mistake.    In that case the pastorate failed.  What I took away from that as a promise to myself to do everything I can to not repeat that mistake.   The shepherds of the church have a tremendous responsibility to care.  We began this topical study last week on the Shepherds in the Church.  This week we will get into more what the meat of this topic.   What does Biblical church leadership look like?  That is the key question.    There are three main types of polity (Church Leadership).  Each has not been made up out of nothing but, rather, lean on various Scriptures to support these ideas.  I do not want you to get confused because all three of these types resemble a name of a denomination.    Two of these three types are named after Greek words: Presbyterous which means elder.  The other is Episcope which means bishop.   Let us deal with this one now:  Episcopalian Church leadership.  It is defined from the word, episcope in Greek which means Bishop in English.    Lord / Archbishop / Bishop / Pastorate / Congregant or Laity.   This is a system where a bishop governs several local churches.  I have drawn some quick sketches to give you a mental image.  Think of The Roman Catholic Church, Anglican Church (Epsicopal in U.S.A.) and the United Methodist Church.   Under this system the justification in Scripture is found that Timothy and Titus (which we will be spending more time in next week) were to go from town to town establishing elders.    The Second is Presbyterian.  As you are already aware, this comes from the Greek word presbyterous, meaning elder or overseer.    This is where there are several elders who govern the affairs of the congregation.  But there is a regional assembly that governs several congregations.  The graphic here is one congregation but a plurality of elders.  This is done in the Presbyterian Church, Christian Reformed Church   Lord / Regional Elders / Congregation of Plurality of Elders / Deacons / Congregant   The last is Congregationalism: This is where a congregation governs itself.  They may have a single pastor, elder or plurality.  But there is no outside assembly that controls or governs that local congregation.   The sketch here is one congregation, either 1 or multiple elders.  Example of denominations that use this model (the one most often used) is Christian Church, many Baptist churches, Southern Baptist and independent, non-denominational congregations.   Lord / Elder(s) or pastor (s) / deacons / congregant   All of these look to the same passages of Scripture for justification.  The Episcopal, Presbyterian and the Congregational all together look at the same Scriptures and from this interpret this differently.   How? It really comes down to is how we define the words that we brought up last week from our various passages of Acts 20, 1 Timothy 3, Titus 1, Ephesians 4 and 1 Peter 5.  Those terms are Bishop, Elder, Pastor, Shepherd, Overseer.   Are all these words different?  Some think that they are.  They are different Greek words.  But are they referring to 5 different things?   I am going to argue that even though they are different words, they are all referring to the same thing.    Why Is This Important I am asking you to stick with me – this is important, and I think it is important for all the congregation.    As we prepare to grow again, I think this is highly important.  Why?  As we get new members, as this congregation grows, a STRONG ELDERSHP, STRONG SHEPHERD isthe best path to not find someone in a lonely acre.   Tina and I found ourselves in a lonely acre where the shepherd was (or seemed to us at least) far away.    Fortunately, we were strong.  I had been working as a chaplain for many years but what if we were not strong in the faith?  Where were these shepherds when we had lost a son?    Why did no one come to investigate? What if it we were straying?  No one was there to investigate, and I fear for that as a pastor of a church.    The Job of a shepherd is to be in Your business.  They will account for you on judgement day.   In a church with 200 members, with 2 teaching pastors, and 3 other pastors, why was there no one to check on us?  This could have been a disaster – it was not, praise God.    We are not just concerned with death and dying but marital issues and people who may find themselves caught in grievous sin.  The shepherd and pastor of a church is to look over the church just like David did with the sheep.   David faced lions and bears.  In many cases this is what the shepherds of the church are to do as well.    Proposition   Now, let us look at some passages here and I am going to make the case that Bishop, Elder, Pastor, Shepherd and Overseer (all different words not just in English but in the Greek text of New Testament) are all referring to the same office in Scripture and in the church.   Let us begin with our passage in Acts 20, our reading was from 27 through 31 but let us back up just a bit to 20:17. Paul is in Miletus and from here he called the elders of the Ephesian church to him.  He wanted to meet them.  So here in Acts 20:17 we see this, “From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders (presbuterous) to him.    Paul calls a group to himself; they are the elders.  They are the presbuterous.   Same context, you get to our reading in verse 28 and you find this. Paul is talking to them and he says, “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers (episkopous) to care (poimanein) <or shepherd> for the church of God, which he obtained with His own blood.”   POINT 1:  All the words were used by Paul referring to same office in Acts 20.     So here in one context we have Elders, Overseers and Shepherd all referring to the same group.  Three out of the five terms used to define the leadership of the church are all used here in one passage.    Now consider the qualifications for an elder.  These qualifications will be the focus next week but for now we can learn something regarding our study this week.   These texts are 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9. We are not going to read the entire text of these.  In this text there appears some character traits, some qualifications to look for in an elder of a congregation. Paul was instructing Titus and Timothy to set up elders in churches.  Here are the people you look for, they have these qualities.   He is giving Timothy qualifications of what to look for and is doing the same thing for Titus.  But yet he calls what they are looking for by two different names.  Same qualifications (mostly) but two different names.    1 Timothy 3:1 “If anyone desires to the office of overseer (episkopes) he desires a noble task.” Titus 1:5  “This is why I left you in Crete, that you might put what remained in order and appoint elders (presbuterous) in every town.”   After each of these Paul goes on to list what they are to look for.  They are all in reference to the same office.    POINT 2: Qualifications in 1 Timothy and Titus are mostly the same pointing to the same office.     Lastly, we see in Ephesians 4:11 a noun form of the verb that is used everywhere else for what elders do. The spiritual gift of pastor (poimen) (pastor-teacher) is what the Bishop, Overseer, Elder,is to accomplish.   He (the Holy Spirit) . . . gave the shepherds and teachers   Let us go back to our definition of Elder from last week.  I put it on the note section of your bulletin so you would have it.   Elders are men of God, mature in The Faith who are servant leaders within a congregation for the purpose of leading through teaching, protecting, and guarding the health of the church. Typically, the word pastor is used in reference to the person who delivers the sermons each week.  This is technically true.  But this is not the only thing that a pastor does. Next week in our time together I will show the differing roles that are found inside those who lead the church. My point today is to show that the chief Shepherd Jesus, who bought the church with His blood, has under shepherds.  Those whom, as we see in Acts 20:28, are designated by the Holy Spirit, to lead the church, protect the church, grow the church in holiness. The chief Shepherd Jesus tells us in John 10, the extended passage read from last week, that the sheep know the shepherd’s voice.  This is an example that the under shepherds need to follow.  To know what direction the congregation needs to go.  Where there needs to be correction.  Where there needs to be defense from error.  To look out for wolves. These men are men of the word, men of prayer and men who are serving in humility.  There is a view in some congregations that the body of Christ is a democracy.  Every person has a vote in the spiritual direction of the congregation. To be clear, every person’s voice is important. Every single soul in a congregation is of equal value in the sight of the Father.  But there are some BY THE GIFT OF THE SPIRIT who spend an extraordinary amount of time in Scripture and prayer and have been gifted in this area who are to be entrusted to lead the congregation. They have been burdened and moved by the Holy Spirit in this area.  When David gives his resume to King Saul – King Saul says, you can’t do this.  How am I going to send you to fight this Goliath.  David says, here is what I have done. I have considered his words.  David was not relying on David for his ability to wrestle the lion and bear.  He said, “The Lord who delivered me from the lion and the bear shall deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” (1 Samuel 17:37) David’s words were a complete abandonment of self and full acknowledgement to the Lord.  This is the heart of an elder. Drawing attention to David’s courage to fight for the sheep and then pointing to the shepherd of God’s people, the elders – is not putting a superman S on their chest. It is the opposite.  The shepherd of God’s people leads by submission to the Father.  All ability, all strength, all wisdom come from the Father. The Holy Spirit has worked in the heart of this shepherd that he knows this.  He humbly accepts his weakness and recognizes the source of his strength. We are going to dive into this next week.  I want to remind you to write down your questions, and you will be afforded an opportunity to ask them.  In our next time together, we will explore what are the qualifications for elders and we find those in 1 Timothy 3, Titus 1 and 1 Peter 5. 

Date: November 30, 2025 Lord’s Day: 48 Series: Call for Duty Title: What Is it? Text: Acts 20:26-32; Acts 20:26-32 The Reading of God's Word “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. XX 5 A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.7 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. XX 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. XX 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. XX 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” XX Acts 20:26-32 26 Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all,27 for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. 28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God,[e] which he obtained with his own blood.[f] XX 29 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. 31 Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears. XX 32 And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. This is the reading of God’s word XX   We come to you at this moment in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ, the righteous with thankful hearts that you have brought us together once again.  We are grateful for the time we have had this past week with family and friends.   Lord bless us in our study today and over the next few weeks as we look into the Elders, pastors and under shepherds.  Open our hearts to receive Your Scripture and please bless and guide me that I may teach properly.   In Jesus’ Name Amen.     So often is the case that we read Scripture, especially for those who have been in the faith for a long time (most of their life or grew up going to church), and the text does not grab us completely.  What I mean is, we read something and do not grasp the complete depth of what was stated.    Allow me to give an example:  1 Samuel 17, I want you to think of David.  In this text, he was a boy.  He was not an adult.   You have this army that represented the Philistine people.  They were on one elevated, hill named Socoh; then there was a valley of Elah and on the other side of that valley was another hill.  On that opposing hill was Israel.   Apparently, because I know how men area, there was some jawing going on back and forth between the two hills.  There was a challenge.    The Philistines said, rather than using both our armies to fight this out, we will choose one champion, and you choose a champion.  They will face each other The winner of the battle between these two champions will determine the winner of this thing between us.   Then they bring out their champion, Goliath. He was a brute. 9’9” Tall Armor 130-140# of armor Spear was 15-17# Spear 15 to 20 feet long (think telephone pole) In total weight between 600-700 # That is an amazingly huge man.  Think of Shack (at Staples display) and add 3 feet. This was the champion for the Philistines.   Israel had nothing.  The Philistines taunting them, day after day.  What do you have for us?  Israel had nothing.    They were worried.  Fear began to grow in the camp. What are we going to do?  We have no one to fight Goliath. Day after day the taunting and the fear. This went on for 40 days.   Then there was little boy David.  He was a shepherd of sheep.  His brothers were on the side of the hill looking at Goliath. David’s father had sent him with some food to give to the boys.    When David arrived he inquired what was going on and they brought him up to speed (no Walter Cronkite to bring everyone at home up to speed on what was going on in this war).   Without hesitation, David says, I will fight him.  Can you imagine that?    THE REACTION!:  Are you nuts little brother?  What do you mean you will fight him?  Why are you here, are there not sheep which need tending?  Get back to your sheep.  This is man’s business.  This is serious business!   The king Saul heard David’s words.  He had been worried.  We are in quite the pickle and who is this, someone has stepped forward to fight Goliath? Bring him here.   It is the boy David.  Fail.  We can’t use this boy.    RESUME:  David insists.  Gives his resume.  Here is David’s resume for why he should fight Goliath:   34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, 35 I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. XX   36 Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37 And David said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” 1 Samuel 17:34-37   I began this by saying, sometimes those of us who have been around Scripture, we read things and it does not jump off the page.  Here I am saying, don’t go too fast.  Stop there and consider what little boy David just said. I use to watch my father’s sheep.  There was a time when a lion or a bear would come around. When the lion took off with a sheep, I tracked him, gabbed him by the beared I whopped them.  Do you hear that? Think in your head Ricky.  I am not making fun of Ricky.  But I want to give you a visual.  Think of me, slightly bigger than Ricky.  What if I told you I fought a lion and a bear and I am here today to talk about it? Do not read passed this too quickly.  David did this while looking after sheep.  A job that many, maybe even 100% of the people, if they were watching the sheep today they would, if there appeared a lion or a BEAR, They would run! “Let’s see, it will take about 10 to 12 minutes for the lion to eat one sheep, that gives me a good head start.  Then off we would go running.  Get me out of here – “ No, not the shepherd.  Not a good shepherd.  A good shepherd looks out for the  sheep even when bears and lions appear.  They fight and protect them as if they were like family. This is an amazing Scripture.  “David, how do you think you are going to beat this giant?”  David says, “Well, God did this thing for me here with some lions and bears, I have faith that He will come through over here in this situation.” You know what the tools of shepherd are?  It is possible, even likely, David used a sling shot in his duty as a shepherd.  But in this case, no.  He wrestled this lion.  The tools at his disposal are the shepherds staff and himself. Jesus called himself, in our John 10 passage, the “Good Shepherd.”  He is a shepherd who comes in by the door and the sheep hear His voice and the recognize Him.  His sheep follow him.  He leads them out to a rich pasture. Not the thief.  Not the stranger.  These come to steal, kill and destroy. The Good Shepherd is not like the hired hand: the person hired to watch the sheep.  They do not love the sheep as much as the shepherd. The hired hand, when they see danger they run.  The hired hand, when they see the lion and the bear, and when the lion takes the sheep away, he does not go after the lion and wrestle him.  They do not care for the sheep the way the shepherd does. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.  Jesus here is foretelling what He is going to do for those whom the Father calls: He is going to lay down His life for the sheep.  For this Jesus reason is called by Peter (I Pt 5:4) the Chief Shepherd. Because we are His church, God’s called out ones from the world, “The Lord is our Shepherd.” (Ps 23:1) We begin a short topical series today titled, “Call for Duty.”  It is about the shepherds of God’s church.  Before we get into this series I want to share the genesis of this series.  It came about from several conversations that Fred Circle and I had over mid to late summer. As stated earlier, this is a topical series.  Most of my teaching is textual/exposition of Scripture but there are occasions where we will look at a topic.  This is one of those occasions and we will be looking at the shepherds of Christ’s church. Like David, one of the jobs of a shepherd is to look out for wolves, as Paul puts it in Acts 20:28.  Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you. There are wolves that desire to attack the body of believers and one of the jobs of the shepherds is to, like David, be on the look out for these moments and protect the sheep. I have this shepherd’s staff here and there is a reason that I bought this.  I want it to be the visual of a shepherd’s job in Biblical times, and really even today.  Sheep are not the smartest animals.  I do not know this from experience.  I have not raised any sheep. Fainting goats and sheep are great.  I can’t get enough videos of fainting goats.  But I have been told that sheep can fall into a ditch, feet in the air and they are stuck.  They do not know or are unable to get themselves out of that position.  This is where a shepherd will come up beside them and give them a gentle nudge.  Just enough to startle them and they wiggle and get back on their feet and off they go.  In that capacity the staff is gentle.  When the sheep begins to wander off from the others and is in danger of being alone and open to attack, the shepherd will use the hook to gently bring them back into the group.  This is a gentle. These are examples of this hook being used gently.  It is not used to beat the sheep.  In the life of Jesus, it is so very easy to see this imagery of the shepherd’s rod.  This rod has at least two purposes: Gently: To guide and take care of the sheep. In this capacity it is gentile in its use.  Like the example already given.  It is an image not of force but rather an image of gentle and careful persuasion. Forcefully: However, in moments of danger, when a wolf appears and desires to attack, the staff can be used as a weapon of force. To keep danger away and protect the flock from outsiders. Jesus did this.  There were times that, like David when a lion threatened, Jesus was quick to defend from danger.  John 8:44 with the Pharisees so confident in their own righteousness, Jesus says, “You are of your father the devil and your will is to do your father’s desires.  He was a murderer from the beginning and has nothing to do with the truth because there is no truth in him.” There are not many pastors in America today that would stand that strong against the enemy as Jesus did.  There are not many who stand up to the wolves (PAUL’S WORDS IN ACTS 20) and confront it and beat it with the staff because (in the words of the late Vodie Baucham) “Thou shalt be nice is the 11th commandment.” But Jesus often used harsh confronting words when they were needed to address enemies of truth. At the same time that Jesus, the Chief Shepherd, gently disciplines those whom were his own: After Jesus had fed the 5,000 the disciples went on ahead of him in a boat to the other side of the lake.  Jesus went up on a mountain and prayed .  Then when evening came he was alone and it says, the boat was a long way from the land.  It is here that fierce waves had began beating on the boat. They were in fear as the waves were really bad and then they see Jesus walking to them.  It is here that Peter asks Jesus, “Command me to come to you,” and Jesus does. You know this story.  Peter gets out and begins walking on water briefly.  He takes his eyes off the faithfulness of Jesus and places them on the unsettling waves around him and he begins to sink.  The Look of Faith became the Look of Fear. Jesus reaches in a gets him.  Does he yell at him?  It may appear that way.  In English it reads, “O you of little faith, why do you doubt?”  That is one reading we can read into that an angry tone. But in actuality, the original text gives a clue (“oligopistos”).  Oh, you of little faith, why do you doubt?  It is a gentle rebuke.  It is a soft reminder.  It is a loving word to Peter.  It is not the harsh beating given to the Pharisees.  It was a gentle nudge. As we spend time together in this series, you will see that these people I am calling shepherds are in actuality under shepherds who labor for the Chief Shepherd, Jesus Christ.  In the next couple weeks you will see how this plays out in Scripture. We will be looking at several texts: Acts 20, 1 Timothy 3, Titus 1, Ephesians 4, and 1 Peter.  We will be looking at the terms: Bishop, Elder, Pastor, Shepherd, Overseer and see what these terms mean?  All used in New Testament Scripture for the Church.  Are they different?  Are they the same?  We will be working with this definition and by the time we get to the last message in this short series, this will make perfect sense.  We will be working from this definition: Elders are Men of God,  mature in The Faith who are servant leaders within a congregation for the purpose of leading through teaching, protecting, and guarding the health of the church. Scripture reveals a way in which our Lord has provided leadership and protection for the church.  Our reading in Acts 20 comes as Paul is getting ready to leave Ephesus.  He has been there three years establishing this church.  He had been daily teaching and providing for those people and it was time for him to leave. The section we read were his words to the plurality of elders there. Pay careful attention to this body.  There will be trouble.  Protect the sheep.  I think of David.  I think of the courage that it took for David to do what he did for the sheep that were under attack by bears and lions.  This is the passion of the pastor and elder of the church. Would you not with great joy and confidence place trust behind a group who were looking after you like David looked after his sheep?  That they would have courage to gently lead and passionately protect! I am greatly looking forward to our time in this study and the implications that it means for Donnels Creek.

Colossians 4:2-4  Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.  At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.   Genesis 15:1-6 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” 2 But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue[a] childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” 4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son[b] shall be your heir.” 5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness. Praise be to God Introduction: Have them speak out of stories of the Bible that they love – why did it impress them as it did? Have you given a thought about this faith that we hold dear?  This faith that contains these mighty acts of God? I believe in these accounts found in Scripture`: God created the entire universe in 6 literal days Then later asked Noah and his family to build a boat with enough of the various species of animals to repopulate the earth as God destroys His creation with a flood. That there was a man who was swallowed by a fish, living inside the fish for three days and spit out later. There was a woman who, while never being with any man, conceived and birthed a child who did, among many other things, raised people from the dead, walked on water, fed thousands. He was killed and was resurrected and ascended into heaven. I believe those things.  I believe the stories you shared. I believe that they happened and I believe that they are as real as I am standing before you now. But a short while back a video came across my Twitter feed and there was a man who was profanely boasting on how insane it was that anyone would believe these things. In his words, those who believe that someone swallowed by a fish is not fit for society.  In fact, he went on to say very forcefully, that if we believe such things, it should automatically take away our right to vote on anything.  We are absolutely insane and should be shamed and rejected in every way possible. I was listening to him go on and even saved it.  These were the type of people that Paul was facing as he wrote Colossians.  Everyone had their expert opinion on this, that and the other. We are at the end of this letter, Paul is wrapping it up, saying goodbye and his final request came by him asking for prayer. His prayer for them to pray? He is asking, “Pray that God may open to us a door for the word to declare the mystery of Christ.” He says further, “that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.” Paul is praying for opportunity and ability to share the gospel. Give me an opportunity Lord . . .”and help me to speak clear.” This is the issue with Scripture.  It is not just a collection of random stories.  They are all connected.  They are all together and pointing in one direction.  This mysterious direction to which they point is in Jesus Christ.  All of Scripture finds its fulfillment in Christ. But, the problem in Colossae (Ephesus, Philippi, Rome. . . those places Paul was facing) is the same that we have in Springfield, Ohio: How do You know?  How do you know that this thing is precious to you is God’s word?  How can anyone know? Can you defend that?  Before we find and answer to this let us ask the Lord to bless our time together in His word. Adam, Colossae and Springfield There is an issue that ties Adam (from creation), Colossae and Springfield, Ohio all together. In Genesis 2 we have an early description of this issue.  The revelation of God, God’s very word was spoken to Adam.  This is a passage of which we are all well aware. Genesis 2:16-17, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but the tree of knowledge of Good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” This is the revelation of God.  God’s word.  And what was the first thing the first thing the enemy went after in the temptation.  The very first thing he said is, “Did God really say?” He does the same thing with Jesus in his temptations in the wilderness.  In our time together over the past several months in Colossians we looked at the similarities between the temptation of Adam and Eve and those of Jesus (the second Adam) in the wilderness.  They are identical (Lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh and the pride of life). But the enemy, as crafty as he is, as cunning as he is, he is not very creative.  He uses the same tactic on Jesus that he used on Adam and Eve.  “Did God really say?” With Jesus, he was in the wilderness, he had been fasting.  The last thing he heard before going to the wilderness was the Father saying, “This is my son, in whom I am well pleased.”  The first thing we see in Scripture is the enemy saying, “If you are the son of God . . . .” The enemy is big on getting us to doubt this word that Paul wanted to proclaim.  Ever since the fall man has suppressed the God’s word in unrighteousness.  When you leave today, I want you to leave here with a whole new perspective on the word of God.  I want you to see the power that it has.  It is unlike anything ever. So much that I want you to understand this that I am asking you to listen to this sermon again.  Go to my web site, I post the audio there or go to the church web site, the video is typically posted there. The reason I am asking you to listen to this again is that you may KNOW, deep in your heart, this is the direction of how this congregation will grow.  It may take more than one listen for this to fully set in.  This congregation will grow because of the power of the spoken Scripture.  That is it!  That is the only way the gospel goes.  Herein lies the issue with the unregenerated heart specifically when it comes to defending the faith: I was raised on an apologetic (defense of the faith) that was evidence based.  I was raised and felt like, you know the person who is not in Christ is in neutral territory and I must get on his level and if I can just explain it in a way that they understand and convince them, then they will become a believer. There is no neutral ground spiritually.  There is none.  There is zero. You are either in Christ or you are dead in sin and hostile towards Christ. Those are the two positions Scripturally.  These are the two descriptions given. “The preaching of the cross is foolish” to those of the world.”  They want nothing to do with it.    But to “us who are being saved it is the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:18   1 Corinthians 2:14 “The natural man cannot accept the things that are of God” Read that again, read it slow.  It is from Paul.  The same guy who wrote Colossians.  What does that mean?  What about Jesus’ words to the Pharisees in John 8:43, 47 “Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. . . 47 Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.” It is because for those who are outside of Christ, they “by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world,[g] in the things that have been made. XX So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” Romans 1:18-21 But we read that, “The heavens declare the glory of God,     and the sky above[a] proclaims his handiwork. 2 Day to day pours out speech,     and night to night reveals knowledge. 3 There is no speech, nor are there words,     whose voice is not heard.” Psalm 19:1-3 We see this, but those who are unrighteous suppress it.  They suppress the truth in unrighteousness.  They are NOT in neutral.  “7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”  Romans 8:6-8 What hope is there?  If this is the condition of man, what hope is there? It is in the word. The very word of God that the enemy, all the way back in the Garden of Eden, that word that he contradicted.  That word of God, the revelation of God that the enemy said, “Did God really say?” Abraham Take our friend Abraham here.  We read of him earlier.  God calls Abraham from the land of Ur (Joshua said idol worshipper) Says pack your bags Makes him three promises one of which is you will be a father (this is God’s word to Abraham. This is God’s word) Abraham is childless Abraham packs the bags and he and Sarah move, trusting in God’s word Abraham and Sarah have been trying to have a child, certain they have had many conversations over the promise God made God comes again to Abraham “Fear not I will bless you.” Abraham says, I am still childless, I do have this Eliezer in Damascus, not sure if that counts as my heir but so far you have not given me a child.” God said, “Eliezer will not be the heir. I will give you an heir. God took him outside and said, look at the stars (ever seen stars where there is no light pollution?) This will be your family (THIS WAS GOD’S WORD) Abraham believed. This is the picture of faith that Paul writes of in Romans 4 16 That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all,   XX 17 as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. 18 In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.”  XX   19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness[b] of Sarah's womb. 20 No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God,   XX. 21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22 That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” 23 But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord,   XX. 25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. Abraham believed the word of God.  God calls those things which are not into existence.  Why do you think at least one of the reasons it took so long for Abraham and Sarah to conceive? So that it was definitely from God. Do not doubt the word of God.  The word of God is what brought us to faith.  It was not cleaver argumentation.  It was not a sales pitch.  It was the word of God. “Faith comes by . . . .hearing and hearing through the word of Christ.” Romans 10:17 This is why I place so much emphasis on God’s word.  There is nothing like it.  It is the revelation of God and somehow, some beautiful way God works through this and it becomes living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword.  It pierces right to our hearts, and it convicts us. We have been in this study of Colossians since the beginning of June.  I called it the Mystery of Christ because that is the phrase used by Paul several times, even here in chapter 4 of our reading that he asked for prayers “that God may open to us a door for us to declare the mystery of Christ.” Colossians 4:3 This mystery is what God, through His Spirit has opened to us by the hearing of HIS word. This is not a teaching isolated to Colossians.  He says in 1 Corinthians 2 something very similar in, “7 But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. . . . 0 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.   XX.  12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.  “  (1 Corinthians 2:7, 10-12) There is nothing like this word of God.  The very thing that brought life to Sarah’s womb is the very same thing that called Lazarus to come out.  God’s word is powerful.  It is how the Spirit brings life to unbelievers. I look at the situation with the Colossian church.  I was pondering what are some similarities that Donnels Creek has with the Colossian believers.  I also considered what are some differences between us and them. After considering several things I found that there is one thing I can say that answers both questions. We differ in that they are a brand-new body of believers.  They were young believers.  They were a young church. We differ with them in this area.  Most of the people here have been believers for a long time.  Some of you can’t remember a time that you were not a believer.  Others who are here have been in the faith for decades. We also are a congregation that is over 200 years old.  Donnels Creek has been here a long time. So we differ in those areas.  Where we are alike is that we want to grow.  I am certain the Colossian church wanted to grow. Earlier I said, this may be a sermon you want to listen to again.  The reason I said that is I wanted to really emphasize the power of God’s word.  I want this church to grow.  I want it to grow in knowledge: I absolutely want you to gain and knowledge of God that is deep.  I want to lead you in this. I have found, the more I know of God, the greater my praise is of God.  There are moments that I learn something new and it moves me emotionally.  It deepens my faith and deepens my praise. But I also want this congregation to grow in number.  Not to pad statistics.  Not for pride.  I want Christ’s kingdom to advance.  This will only come by the preaching and teaching of God’s word.  This is how God works.  It is very simple really.  There are no tricks.  I am praying, like Paul for opportunities to speak clearly.  I will tell you, I work hard every week to be a better preacher.  And again, this is not about me.  It is not about getting a pat on the back.  Encouragement is great.  I love to hear how God has ministered to you through His word from me.  But it is not about me. God has gifted me with a craft.  I want to be the best I can at that craft.  Just like Paul desired to speak clearly.  This is what I want to do.  But this word is NOT dependant up on me.  It is not dependent upon any visual lesson I give when I preach.  It is 1000% dependant upon the working of the Holy Spirit to awaken dead hearts.  It comes through the WORD.  This is it. This is our prayer, and this is our mission.

Date: November 9, 2025 Lord’s Day: 45 Series: Colossians the Mystery of Christ Title: Eat, Sleep, Pray Text: Colossians 4:2-4; Genesis 32:22-31   Westminster Confession of Faith 21:3 Prayer with thanksgiving, being a special part of religious worship, is required of all people by God. That it may be accepted, it is to be made in the name of the Son, by the help of his Spirit, and according to his will, with understanding, reverence, humility, fervency, faith, love, and perseverance, and if vocal, in a known tongue.   This is the Reading of God’s Word Colossians 4:2-4  Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.  At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.   Genesis 32:22-31 22 The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 He took them and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had. 24 And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. 25 When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob's hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. 26 Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” 27 And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” 28 Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” 29 Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. 30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.” 31 The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip. Praise be to God Prayer: We come as a people into this moment asking that you guide my words and open our hearts to receive your word.  We are a people that believe in prayer but at the same time I ask you lead us into a deeper relationship with you.  Allow this text to speak to us. All this text to mold us.  It is in Christ name we pray, Amen     Introduction: We come to our passage in Genesis and become reacquainted with our friend Jacob.  He has a background story that leads up to our text that because of time I will only highlight. Jacob is a twin. His name means trickster, so this is not the kind of guy from which you want to buy a car.  Can you imagine?  You come to the car lot and out comes the man in the suit with a tie and says, “Hi there, my name is trickster, how can we get you in a nice vehicle today?”  You would reply, “We are at a car lot?  Oh my, how did we get here?  Thought this was the parking lot for the concert.” And then you would make your way out of there. Jacob’s father was Isaac was married to Rebecca.  When she was pregnant with Jacob and his twin brother Esau, it said they were jostling around inside her.  As she was carrying them around, they were wrestling in her womb, and it was uncomfortable.  It was so distressing that she prayed about this.  “What is going on inside of me?” The Lord replies, “You have two nations inside of you. . . the older will serve the younger.”  Interesting response.  Very mysterious, right? In time, she has the children and Esau, who is described as red and hairy (not a good combination is it?) comes out first.  But coming in at a close second place is Jacob who is holding on to the heel of his brother Esau. Earlier, I did say his name means trickster.  His name actually means “grabs the heel” but in Hebrew that is not a positive thing.  It means supplanter, which is also, not a word we use in English right?  It means to gain and advantage usually by trickery or deceit.  As the boys grow, Esau becomes a daddy’s boy.  He is red, hairy, masculine and ends up being a good hunter.  Trickster is a momma’s boy. In short time Jacob lived up to his name and tricked Esau out of being the first born.  Esau traded his birthright for a bowl of soup.  He was hungry.  But that trade was not completely final unless the father blessed it.  This was the next trick. A blind Isaac was near death he asked for one last meal and sent Esau out to get game.  After the meal was eaten, Isaac would bless Esau.  Rebecca overheard and quickly devised a plan.  She would cook a meal, Jacob would get in disguise, and to get the blessing. They put the plan into play, and you really have to think again about how hairy Esau was.  Jacob put on animal fur.  That is hairy man.  That is really hairy. He brought the meal to Isaac while in disguise and he was like, wow, already back? You got the game and cooked it, and you are already back?  The trick is on shaky ground.  Isaac thought something was up because the voice sounded like Jacob.  Come here and let me feel you.  He reaches out and sure enough, you smell and feel like the wild man Esau. He ate and then blessed Jacob, thinking it was Esau.  Knowing the outrage that this would cause, Rebecca tells Jacob to pack his bags and get out of Dodge: and this is what he does. Then Esau reappears and learns what has happened. He is broken up.  He is outraged. In tears. He begs for this to be fixed.  It can’t be fixed.  Jacob has left.  Esau leaves.  It is 20 years later as we come to our text.   Jacob is about to meet Esau.  The trickster devises another plan.  It is a pretty good plan and there is nothing ethically or morally wrong with this plan. He sits back and sends three waves of gifts.  Each wave as it reaches Esau are to say, “Here is a gift to you from Jacob.” I looked up the total for these gifts.  In US dollars at the very lowest end would be $31K.  Total, the amount of labor these donkeys and sheep would provide over their lifetime would equal almost $400k. The trickster is trying to soften him up.  He prays to God and says, “When I left home I had only a staff and what was on my back. Now I have all this.  You told me to go back to the land of my fathers, and that is what I am doing.  Please save me from my brother Esau.” This is what leads up to our passage that we read earlier.  That is a heavy prayer.  I am going out on a limb of faith here.  This is similar to Peter on the water, it really is.  Peter asks Jesus to command him to come to him and Jesus does and Peter steps out of the boat.  The wind gets to him.  The wind catches his attention, and faith begins to fail.  I get that.  I see that and I would most likely have never gotten out of the boat. LIKEWISE: For perspective, Jacob here is going out on a limb of faith.  God gives him the exact same promise that he gave to Abraham.  But also sends him back to the land of his fathers and must go through Esau to get there. Ok Lord, I will go back. You said I would prosper.  I have been avoiding this for 20 years.  I believe what you said.  I believe your promise.  I do need you to protect me from Esau. He sends the three delegations with the gifts to Esau.  He remains back.  This is where we are with the text that we just read.  He sends everyone, even his family, ahead across a River named Jabbok.  He is alone. Then it says, a man – out of nowhere, just in the middle of the thought there appears a man.  Verse 24 has two short sentences in our English: “And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day.”  What a peculiar thing. Jacob was alone. A man wrestled with him all night. I am floored by this. 1. The sheer strength that it would take to do this.  This is not easy.  I have spoken before about wrestling, and it is an exhausting experience.  Those who are in the UFC, boxing, wrestling, get short breaks.  There are rounds.  They can catch their breath momentarily. With wrestling it is three periods that are 2 minutes long.  That is it.  Two minutes and if you are not in shape that is the longest 2 minutes of your life.  It might as well be 2 weeks. Jacob did this all night long.  He holds on to this, mysterious man, until daybreak.  He wants to know his name.  I will not let you go until you bless me! And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.”28 The man said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” 29 Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” xx And there he blessed him. 30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.”    This is a Christophany.  What is a Christophany?  It is a term used to describe the incarnate appearance of Christ in the Old Testament.  This is an extremely important moment.  After wrestling all night with Jacob, this man just touched his hip – destroyed.  Jacob knew this was supernatural.  This is God.  I have seen the face of God. Jacob held on to this man until he blessed him.  I will not let you go until you bless me.  He wrestled with him until he got the blessing. This is a different Jacob.  He was used to tricking.  He had tricked Esau with a bowl of soup.  He had tricked his father with a furry suit.  He had tricked Laban, his cousin.  His days of trickery were over.  He was now – talking to God.  He was up all-night wrestling with God seeking a blessing. This story of Jacob wrestling at the Jabbok River has long captivated the Puritans because for them, this event symbolizes not just a physical combat but a profound spiritual discipline: fervent, persistent prayer where one grapples with God until He blesses the soul.  The puritans saw this as a model for believers facing trials, urging us to approach the throne of grace with tears, faith and an unyielding resolve.  “We are told by the prophet Hosea (12:4) how Jacob wrestled: he wept and made supplication; prayers and tears were his weapons.  It was a spiritual wrestling.” Matthew Henry Genesis 32:24-25  XX “Jacob kept his ground; though the struggle continued long, the angel prevailed not against him, this discouragement did not shake his faith, nor silence his prayer.” Thomas Watson wrote: “Jacob feared exceedingly (Genesis 32:7). His spirits were ready to faith, note that he goes to the promise. Lord, you have said you would do me good (Genesis 32:12). This promise was his food.  He got so much strength from this promise that he was able to wrestle with the Lord all night in prayer and would not let Him go till He had blessed him.”  All Things for Good Do you pray like this?  Have you prayed like Jacob?  Have you prayed all night long over a matter that distresses you? We come to our text in Colossians 4 and Paul is seeking the “steadfast prayer” of the Colossian church. ILLUSTRATION: Maybe your prayer has been like some of mine in the past.  I have a matter or maybe several matters on my heart and I go over here, and I begin praying (act out prayer – then distractions) The thought for some to pray all night is intimidating. Isn’t God going to get tired of hearing from me?  I can’t even make it 5 minutes.  Dear family, I am not implying that every prayer that we have must be this way. We are in the Lord’s army . . . even those who are in the military get a break.  They are not always on high alert.  I go to an extreme on purpose.  The rhetorical question for you to ponder, have you ever had a matter that you prayed all night long? For some you the answer is yes.  For most, the answer is I can’t make it past ten minutes. This is alarming.  Because you will spend all night worrying about the matter and failing to bring it to the Lord.  A matter will ROB you from sleep.  This matter will rob you of hours of sleep.  And you will dwell on it and maul it over in your head.  You will play out this scenario and that scenario and you will not give it 15 minutes of prayer. My child has . . . My job. . . My spouse . . . The doctor said . . . ILLUSTRATION: For many, not for everyone, but for many and maybe even most in the Christian faith, their view of prayer is like this wheel.  Now, when I say this, no one would come right out and say, this is how I view prayer.  What I am implying here is that this is our secret attitude of prayer.  We go to the Lord in prayer, and we do not follow through.  We do not “CONTINUE” in prayer.  We are not “STEADFAST” in prayer. We are not “EARNEST” in prayer.  We are not “DEVOTED” in prayer. The answer, or lack thereof, gets lost and we go on. TEXTUAL FOCUS What I want to do here is to look at Colossians 4:2, which is the beginning of our passage.  I want to break it down and then make some applications.  We are looking at one sentence.  Let’s look at that, see what it meant to the people there and then find some application for us today. Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. (Col 4:2) This is the idea. NASB, NIV, NLT, Legacy Standard: Devote ESV, NKJV: Continue AMP: Persistent and Devoted This is an imperative. It is plural that the church and congregation must do this. They are to stay alert. Be watchful. Look around. Keep head on swivel.  Seeking opportunities and occasions to pray. The word is in present, which also means it is not only something to be done right now but ongoing.  It is never to stop.  This is your life. Why does this apostle have them pray?  Does Paul not have an “in” with God?  Afterall, God stopped Paul on the way to Damascus with a bright light and converted him to the very thing he was persecuting.  Talking about having an “in” with God.  You imagine giving your testimony in the presence of Paul?  Well, this couple named Phil and Cora shared the gospel with me and after a few weeks of study I was just converted. I wanted to repent and live a new life.  How about you?  Who did your Bible study? (Paul would say) Well, I was on my way to kill some Christians and God, well, there was this bright light.  I was converted by God.  He stopped me, took away my sight.  But amazingly, I was more able to see when I was blind than at any time when I actually had my sight. This is Paul.  Supernaturally converted.  Yet he is asking these people to pray for him.  PAUL WAS NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO PRAYED – JESUS ALSO PRAYED.  THE SON OF GOD DEFINITELY WAS IN WITH GOD. HE PRAYED Application Let us look at the prayer life of Jesus. HE HAD AN IN WITH GOD   Mark 1:35 “And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.”   WE need to be about prayer If Christ needed to pray, how much more does Paul (and us) need to be about prayer. Notice here that Jesus was alone.  He went away.  He went to a place.  Got away from people that he loved and prayed.  The point here is not that we need to go and pray all night this week.  Jesus did pray all night (Luke 6:12).  But every prayer was not all night.  My encouragement is that we need to be willing, that it if it needed, there be no hesitation for us to pray alone (like Jesus and Jacob) and all night (like Jesus and Jacob).  The specific thing here is Jesus was alone. In your prayer life, you need to do this.  Every single day of the rest of your life is pray.  Spouses, leave room for your spouse to pray.  Find a place where you can be alone.  Guard that time. Keep the cell phone away.  Keep the distractions away.  Dad, give mom time away from the kids to pray.  This is more important than sleeping.  This is more important than eating.  Remember that Paul is in prison as he is writing this. Do you know what he did not ask them to pray for?  Get us out of here. God’s will be done! Have you ever prayed that God keep you in a tough situation that you are in?  Paul did not say, pray that I would get out of prison here.  We have had such a heavy prayer list since my arrival.  Buddy and Joanna Adams and their family.  There is A LOT going on there.  Phil and Cora with Kash and Kason. This past week, Phil Morrow sent me a photo of a before and after with baby Kason.  He needed surgery on his esophagus.  We have been praying for him and there is absolutely nothing wrong with praying that whoever needs healing, please heal them.  There is nothing wrong with that prayer. However, often it is the first and only thing we pray for.  In our text Paul is in prison.  Let’s pray for his release.  And then there is no other prayer than that.  Paul is in prison because God sovereignly placed him there.  What if there was a job for Paul to do while in there. You know what Paul asked for?  Open a door for me here to share the gospel.  Let that sink in.  He could have prayed for an open door of the jail cell. Do not misunderstand my point.  If you are ill and I hear word of it, I am going to pray that you be healed.  I want you to recover.  But that will not be my only prayer. That just like Jesus prayed in the Garden, “Lord if there is any other way, please let this cup pass from me . . . . but not my will Lord.  Not my will but Yours be done.” There were two prayers there.  One where an expressed personal desire is stated in two levels.  One, I would like this suffering to end.  But if this is your will – let’s go.  Can you pray like that? The power of prayer is that it changes you. It changed Jacob. Didn’t it change him? Absolutely it changed him.  How?  For the first time he did not try to trick to get a result.  His name was changed after this from Trickster to Israel.  Isn’t that amazing. This may be the most powerful part of prayer –The fact that prayer changes us.  We can get to a place where we are like, I trust you Lord – This is what I want, but I trust you.  Wherever you go, I will follow.   Prayer: One of the most difficult things for us to relinquish is control.  We want to be in the driver’s seat.  We want control – but yet at the same time, we recognize that you are truly the only sovereign. That you will work all things perfectly. I am asking that you lead us to conversate with you daily.  Speak to us through your word, and hear us as we speak to you in prayer. Change us – mold us just as you did Paul and Jacob. Mold us more and more into the image of your Son Jesus and it is in His name we pray, Amen.

Date: November 11, 2025 Lord’s Day: 44 Series: Colossians the Mystery of Christ Title: The Loving Order Text: Colossians 3:12-23 Apostles Creed I  believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; he descended into hell; on the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty; from there he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen. This is the Reading of God’s Word Colossians 3:12-23 12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.  15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.   18 Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them. 20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. 21 Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. 22 Bondservants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters,[f] not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,    Introduction A much younger version of me hiked a very good portion of the Appalachian Trail.  I was thinking about that several day ago and these thoughts popped in my head. Not everyone is a hiker.  In fact, I do not think I am a hiker any longer.  I enjoyed the freedom of it.  This led me to think, what could be done with hiking to make it more attractive?  Some of the first thoughts that came into my head were they could build some restaurants.  Can you imagine the outcry?  Can you imagine how silly that would be.  But yet, at the same time it is true.  If they built some Chick-fil-a’s, Popeyes, Applebees right on the trail, It may increase the number of people interested in hiking.  What if they built some Holiday Inn express or Hampton Inn and Suites?  The trail is 2200 miles long and goes through many cities and even very close to NYC.  So there are some hotels and places to eat along the way.  But there are 100 mile sections that are remote and have no access to a town. So what if on those stretches they put some places to eat and sleep?  The outcry would be loud and deserved.  One does not start a trip on the A.T. to get to McDonald’s.  Trips on the A.T. are to get away from these sorts of places.  It would be absurd to consider such a thing.  If this were to happen, at that moment it would no longer be the A.T.  It would just be any other place America. Yet this exact same thing happens in the Christian church.  Again, I speak in generalities with no specific accusation at Donnel’s Creek.  There are often people who desire to bring the things of the world into the church.  The desire (and the reality of what is happening) in what some are calling churches, is let us build things that are not in the word.  Allow us to erect some of these things that we like – things we don't want to let go of and change - and it is at that point that it ceases to be a church. This is the beauty of the word.  Our passage from Ezekiel 36 to which I often refer: This word is one method in which the Spirit works.  It turns our heart, a heart that is rock hard and resistant to God, into this soft substance in which it can be shaped. Those things that are of the world are fallen, corrupt and anti God.  These are the things for which we must be shaped. It is like this piece of play dough here.  I am taking this play dough and shaping it into a bowl.  I am the one shaping it.  It is my mind that comes up with this idea, I am going to shape you into a bowl or a cup or an ash tray (that is what most of our art projects from school ended up being).  Yet, what if this piece of play dough said to me, I do not want to be made into this.  Make me into a pitcher.  What if it said, make me into a book end?  This is the clay telling the potter what it wants to be.  It is absurd, yet there are scattered here and there through this country this morning this is absolutely is what is taking place. This is the desire I have for us with this passage today.  That in all things we all God’s word to shape us.  That we do not turn God’s word into what is attractive to our flesh.  I put this cactus out here this morning and you may think, why is this cactus up here on stage.  What crazy thing has Matthew planned for us. This was the mental image I had while working through this text.  I have not been here a year yet and some of you may have read ahead in Colossians and found this text.  Here we are. Wives submit. Slaves obey.  How is he going to handle this text.  This is why the picture of the cactus came to mind.  Because how do you handle a cactus?   How do you handle a cactus?  Carefully.  You will end up stuck and hurting.  Some just prefer to not hold the cactus at all.  We can skip right over this passage right? The answer to that is no.  If it is in the text we will address it.  We will not address the text as the world does.  Why be afraid of God’s word unless we have been building McDonald’s on the A.T.?  What is this text saying?  What does it mean when it says, wives submit to your husbands?  What is this about slaves?  Does this not make the Christian faith look archaic or place it in some very bad light?  Why doesn’t Paul encourage the readers of this letter to FLEE the slave owner? We will address all of these issues but first let us seek the Lord’s blessing? Slaves? My desire here is to go to the end of the passage first and address that because it will greatly aid us in understanding the first part of this passage. What did he mean here by slaves?  This passage, along with the book of Philemon and the companion passage in Ephesians is used by critics of the Christian faith. What we bring to the table in our culture when slavery is mentioned is the slavery that was in the early part of the country.  Does Scripture condone this? The answer is no.  The early abolitionists founded their argument against slavery in Scripture.  William Wilberforce, Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Adams, John Adams, John Jay, Thomas Paine and Fredrick Douglass were not just against slavery, they used Scripture to justify their position. There were different types of slavery.[1] I can list several here, some of them were good and some of them were ungodly.  We have briefly discussed these in the adult Sunday class in the past year so for some this is a repeat.  Types of slavery both good and bad: Employee & Employer – There are some people who have a knack with money. They are just naturally talented and gifted with investing and being at the right place at the right time.  They see a need and fill it and work hard.  Contrary to the socialist thieves of our day, they are not stealing anything or taking advantage of anyone, they just are gifted in this way.  In the past, a man may have seen that he does not have this gift and see that gift in another person and they make an agreement.  The one works for the other.  Today we call it an employee and employer relationship.  Abandoned – There would be at times unwanted children. Parents would take them to abandoned places such as garbage dumps and other remote areas and left exposed to die.  This was common in Roman time and it was called infanticide by exposure.  Philosophers and Christians were great critics of this.  Often, the government would raise these children and they would forever be owned by the government never to be free. Debt & Debtor – There were occasions where someone need a loan and it would be arranged. If there every came a time when the debtor could not pay the loan, they would make arrangements to work off the debt.  You even see this scenario play out in the Proverbs (22:7)”The ruck rule over the poor and the borrower is slave to the lende”  The debtor would simply make an agreement, I will work for you for such and so and when it is complete the debt is paid. Spoils of War – It was not uncommon after a victory in war to take those alive and put them to slave labor. This was frequently done. These are some of the examples.  There are others but not all slavery was bad.  Roman records indicate that almost half of the population were slaves.  They represented all professions and social classes.  There were household servants, laborers, teachers, doctors and managers who were slaves. It is simply untrue to say that Scripture supports what we had early in our history.  Exodus 21:6 says that the penalty for that type of slavery was death.  Maybe now you can see how the early founding  fathers mentioned previously used Scripture to support their position.  This slavery topic is not as cut and dry as it would seem to be.  We come to this passage in Colossians and view it in a whole new light.  Paul was not referring to what we had in early America.  Go back to 2:12, “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, bearing with one another, forgiving one another. Put on love, which binds everything together, let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts, let the word of Christ dwell, teaching each other, doing ALL things in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. . . .” Understanding The Context So here is the issue – my translation puts a title there, a heading.  It says, “Rules for Christian Households.”  What an interruption!  Right there in the middle of the thought. This is all one context.  This is not a new thought.  This is a continuation of a thought. Put on these things.  Here is how you treat each other and why.  As said before, Paul is writing to Christians instructing them how to be Christian.  “Whatever you do in word your deed to all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Here is an example of how I have misinterpreted this passage for decades.  Mainly because of this heading “Rules for Christian Households”.  It says something similar  in every translation.  (NKJV The Christian Home, NIV Instructions for Christian Households, NASB Family Relations) You may think I am making a big deal of nothing.  The title does not help because it makes it appear as if it was a new thought. I have looked at Col 3:17, “whatever you do . . .do all in name of the Lord” in 2 ways.  1. Life worship.  That worship is not just something we do here at the Creek on Sunday AM.  Your LIFE is to be worship.  I have also interpreted it as 2. Whatever your job is, teacher, welder, carpenter, farmer, gas man . . . do it in the name of the Lord Jesus.  That we are all working for the Lord. Even these headings which have been mentioned are proper, just poorly placed.  How you may look at that and say, “Those things are true.” Let me share this with you.  There is only ONE interpretation of a passage.  Now there are many APPLICATIONS.  There maybe a dozen or a hundred applications of the passage.  But when it comes to interpretation, there is only ONE.  That is it. Those two things I mentioned are applications.  They are valid.  They are true.  But it is not the interpretation of this passage.  The context is, slaves, because of putting on Christ . . chosen, loved, kindness . . forgiving, in peace . . because of this serve your masters.  Whatever you do in word or deed do all in the name of the Lord Jesus.  This is a continued thought.  Do not let the heading (added by the book publisher) throw you off.  He goes through this list: wives, husbands, children, slaves masters.  Because of 12 through 17 here is how it looks for you.  This is how it plays out. We can’t allow culture, who does not even believe in this Bible, has no regard that it is the word of God, to come in a cherry pick verses and stir up controversy. “How in the world can you Christians believe in slavery?  What about you women . . . submit?  What is this submission thing?  That is crazy talk!”  They have no idea what they are talking about.  If you come to this passage in Colossians and think it is a cactus passage, the you are unaware the impact culture has had on your thinking.   You are more prone to build McDonalds on A.T.  This is the result of the transgression in the Garden of Eden. The Beginning of the Issue Before the fall there was total unity. The case can be made that the perfect unity between the trinity was there at creation between Adam and Eve.  It was a perfect union.  Can you imagine that?  There was absolutely no strife.  This is not because the man was better than the woman.  This passage in Colossians 3 is not about man better than woman.  It is clearly a passage of God is molding us, God is shaping us and this is how it looks, husband, WIFE (not woman), children, slaves and masters. Can you see that in its framework?  Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge and in Genesis 3 we have the confrontation with our Lord’s judgement upon those guilty.  To the woman, he said, “I will increase your pain in childbearing. . . your desire shall be for your husband but he shall rule over you.”  (Genesis 3:16) The original language here (also used in Genesis 4:8) indicates that she will be in opposition of the male headship.  This will be an ongoing struggle.  This will result in damaging conflict in marriage. This rebellion that exists in marriage points all the way back to the Garden.  You most likely did not know this. Eve was not the only one affected by this.  Adam will also abscond his responsibilities as the leader of the relationship.  So does this play out?  Paul writes the same advice to the Ephesians.  Remember, Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians were all written at the same time as Paul was in prison.  “Wives submit to your own husbands as to the Lord.  For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church . . . Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” (Ephesians 5:22-23, 25) That is a heavy call.  Here is how I am like Adam, I would rather trade.  Loving your wife as Christ loved the church is a big hill to climb. I have stood between a man and woman as they get married.  I address this issue because it needs to be addressed.  Our culture wants to overlook it.  Let’s just skip this passage.  No, let’s look at it square in the eye because what woman, what sane woman, what Christian woman would hate it if her husband loved her like Christ loves the church?  Men, it is a high call.  It is far more difficult to live up to our task than for the women to submit.  But when we are loving like this, with the Spirit changing us, molding us, the roles in a marriage are much easier to accept. We have no issue with SUBMISSION in any other area in life.  We really don’t.  We understand that the boss is over us as a role.  Does not mean he or she is a better person.  Does not mean that he or she is a more valuable person.  We are equal.  They have a role, we have a role. We have no issue with parent to child.  This passage shows the relationship of parents having headship over the children.  Culture doesn’t look twice at this . . .but that word . . .submit.   Military, we have no issue there.  There are various ranks.  In God’s eyes is the private less important than the four star general?  No. Equal status as a human being.  However, we get to marriage and when headship or leadership has been assigned by God, from creation (this is a creation ordinance) there is a negative reaction.  Yet sin has invaded all relationships and this is undeniable. You may ask questions: What about abuse? (God absolutely does not want this) What about past injustices? (arrogance, credit cards/Ms. Elizabeth) My husband isn’t worth submitting to. (prayer/church/may be right) Sin has not just affected the marriage relationship, it has affected everything.  Men who draw back from loving their wives properly.  As Christ loved the church.  There is your standard.  Jesus submitted.  The call from Paul is for Husbands to be like Christ in their love and wives to be like Christ in their submission.   Jesus submitted and was equal with God.  Philippians 2:5-10 we are encouraged to have the mind of Christ “who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped by made himself nothing, taking on the form of a  . . .slave.” You see that? Jesus was equal with God, submitted to the point of a slave. It goes on to mention that Jesus submitted to the death on a cross.  This, men is the love we are to have for our wives.  Love her as Christ loved the church.  You would give your life for her. Isn’t this a beautiful passage?  My words are not directed at any one person Today.  I would never do that from the Pulpit unless absolutely necessary.  My words are encourage us to not  permit culture to remove the beauty of it.  Do not allow that to happen.  We take our cues, our direction, our affections from Christ and His word. [1] For further study on this topic John MacArthur has an outstanding book and sermon series entitled “Slave” on GTY.org.

Date: October 26, 2025 Lord’s Day: 43 Series: Colossians the Mystery of Christ Title: Peace Rule and the Word Dwells Text: Colossians 3:15-17, Luke 8:26-36   Westminster shorter catechism  Church, what is sanctification? Sanctification is the work of God’s free grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness. Colossians 3:15-17 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Luke 8:26-36 27 When Jesus[d] had stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he had not lived in a house but among the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.” 29 For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many a time it had seized him. He was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert.) 30 Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him. 31 And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. 32 Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. 33 Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned. 34 When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. 35 Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. 36 And those who had seen it told them how the demon-possessed man had been healed.  Through the years I have had the pleasure of taking most all of my family to an Ohio State game. So much has changed with the game and it is not the same, but the experience has remained the same. The experience is most likely the one thing that has kept me interested in college football.  When it gets to this time of year, the smell in the air, even when it is still warm, it ignites memories. It takes me back to the very first time I was able to go into Ohio Stadium.  It was the mid-1990’s and Ohio State was playing Bowling Green on a September Saturday.  I was able to get a ticket for $19.  This was when the track was still around the field. The sound of the band and the drums as they echo in the rotunda before they go on to the field.  Then you go to your seat.  When you come out of the tunnel and see that electric green grass on the field, oh, it just takes your breath away.  I am certain every fan of something like this.  (Cricket, baseball, rugby, soccer) I wanted to share this with family and friends.  Through the years, I have been able to take almost every family member to a game.  I took my father to see Ohio State play Marshall University.  I recall on that one praying the night before the game, “Please Lord, don’t put anyone around us that swears a lot.”  My father would have said something . . . I would have been the one having to defend it cause he was frail.  Anyway, one of the games that I took my son Hunter to was very special.  Before coming here to Donnels Creek, I was a chaplain and one person that I knew there where I worked was an Ohio State 1. alumni 2. band member AND3. “I” dotter.  He had gotten to a place where he could not go to the alumni games and he would give me the tickets every year.  The first year I decided to take Hunter.  The process of getting the tickets is not as cut and dry and paying for them and they mail them to you.  You actually had to meet someone and because of traffic (I had planned for traffic but this was different) we missed the pick up. Various people tried to help us.  They made calls and sent us here and then there but ultimately, there was no way for us to retrieve the tickets. I was very disappointed and brought Hunter up to speed and he was very gracious.  Told him that we would have to try again in the future and he accepted that.  We were making our way back to where we parked and we were going a little slow now and just taking in the scenes.  Out of a crowd of people a man emerged and he said, “You father and son?”  I said, “Yes” He said, “You have tickets?” I nodded no and was beginning to give a very short version of what happened but he quickly said, “Here are two tickets.  A father and son should experience at least one game.”  I told him I did not have enough $ to pay him and he was like, they are free.  We had these given to us, I am giving them to you. We were so thankful – he was just trying to hurry to get to his seat.  But problem solved right?  It was terrific.  Hunter and I got to enjoy the game after all for which we were so grateful.  But these events, the people get so worked up.  You even have fans who have season tickets, who also go to every away game and they wear the same out fit.  They end up on TV and end up signing autographs.  They are no athletes – but what they are known for is being a fan.  They are paid to go to events, “You can see Buckeye man”.  Fans of every sport get so worked up painting their bodies.  My son-in-law is a chiefs fan, he grew up in Missouri.  Even though he lives in Grove City, he works in Missouri in the family business.  The chiefs are a pretty good ball team.  He is a fan.  He went to one of the playoff games one year and it was some crazy temperature.  It gets to the third QTR and he takes his shirt off. He is a seminary student at Westminster Theological Seminary – he is taking his shirt off for the team when it is single digit cold with wind.  He is taking pictures and sending it to family. People do this.  People go wild and crazy and support their team. Painting faces, wearing jersey’s and yelling to give the home field advantage. We are so excited to be a part of things we don’t want to miss.  We are so excited.  We mark it on our calendar; I do not want to miss this and we go. It leads me to ask this question that I want you to really think about.  Do not answer it out loud, you can just answer it rhetorically.  How do you view the time here with your Church family?  Are you coming here because you can’t live without it or because it is a habit or obligation?  This is not about, do you like me or the other members here.  This is about if this is an event that you can’t miss.  I am not trying to guilt you into it.  Honesty is needed here because it directly relates to our text in Colossians 3:16. The Peace of Christ Last week we were in 3:15 “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.”  That word there for rule is the same word that means umpire, judge or arbiter.  It was an official position in the Olympic games.  Let the peace of Christ be the umpire in your hearts.  Let the peace of Christ call the balls and the strikes.  That is the picture Paul is painting here in this letter.  The peace of Christ should be the moderator in our hearts.  The peace of Christ should be overseer in our hearts.  This really changes how we process decisions.  We are at peace.  The reason we are at peace is Christ for us.  Now that we are at peace through Christ, let him oversee us.  How do we do that?  This is where we pick up today.  The peace of Christ rules, the word of Christ dwells.  3:16 It takes up residence in our heart.  This is a sanctification passage.  It is a beautiful sanctification passage and one that will introduce an idea which we have not considered yet.  We will get to that in a moment. I would like us to consider our friend that Jesus met at the tombs.  He was not at peace.  He was not at peace with God, he was not at peace with the people in the town where he lived and he absolutely was not at peace with himself. Can you imagine living like this?  He wore no clothes.  He was a wild man and not in a good way.  He had not lived in a house.  He was out of THE town at the tombs.  He was supernatural in a bad way.  So, it appears they tried to put shackles and chains on him and he would break them.  He was a prisoner and would have these fits and break off the chains and break free and go to the desert. He was possessed by a demon(s) and when they saw Jesus, just the sight of him, they come in order.  “Please, do not destroy us.  Do not send us into the abyss.” “What is your name?” Jesus asked.  “Legion, for we are many.”  The legion was a Roman military unit (1,000 soldiers).  SO the answer was, there are tons of us in here. Jesus sent them into the pigs and notice what happened.  “The people went out to see what had happened and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind and they were afraid. And those who had seen it told them how the demon possessed man had been healed.” Luke 8:35-36 Peace. Clothed and healed, sitting at the feet of Jesus For the first time in only God knows how long, this man had peace. He was not in the jail curious, when will the next episode hit?  I hate being like this and there is uncertainty when it will happen again.”  He was at peace.  The peace of Christ was ruling . . . and it ruled the demonic right out of this man’s life. How about us?  Our cosmic war.  Our cosmic treason.  How quickly we forget.  We get distracted by all those things in our lives. The very things that threaten to take away our peace (remember the rocks).  Distract us.  We forget that the war is over.  We are at peace.  This man is forever changed.  He will never be the same. This is what fuels me.  It really is.  I can not express enough how grateful I am Jesus for completely changing my life.  It is bittersweet for on the one hand I was not ignorant of the Scriptures.  I knew them in my head – I did not know them in my heart.  Scriptures were handy when needed but I could not let them get in the way of what I truly loved: myself, the world. There came a time when all that changed. This is in my life peace with Christ.  Can you remember a time in your life when you had no peace with God?  Compare that to now.  This man in the tombs, can you picture yourself there?  You were not demon possessed, this much is true.  But you were in a baren deserted place and you had no peace.  I was right beside you. This man would be forever changed.  Nothing else needed to be written of his story, we know how it ends. We should be just like him.  Forever changed.  Yet this is NOT the experience for most Christians.  Now that the peace of Christ rules in us we also see that the word of Christ should dwell.  Teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms, and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God. The word of Christ dwelling in us is sanctification.  The process of growing more holy. We have discussed this sanctification in this sermon series in Colossians.  Some months back we looked at the fact that sanctification is something that is instant and also something that is ongoing in the believer. We are to be growing in holiness.  This is a “set apart for holy use.” This is what it means.  We are to, as long as we have air in our lungs, forever to be growing in holiness.  Dwell In You Is the word of Christ dwelling in you?   That word for dwell is oikos.  Sound familiar?  It is not in reference to the Greek Yogurt.  Let the word of Christ be like Greek Yogurt?  No.  Oikos means dwell, inhabit to take heart.  How much time do you spend in this word?  Some may say, “Pastor I read through the Bible a time or two.  Is there anything else for me to learn?”  Another may say, “well we are not a teacher in the church and we are not a pastor, you are calling us to read this like you.” Dear friends, if I lived 500 years and read through this Bible every year twice- I would never plumb the depths of this word.  I am serious.  I am not just saying this.  There is nothing like God’s word.  Let me ask the question again: How do you view the time here with your Church family?  Are you coming here because you can’t live without it or because it is a habit or obligation?  I am certain the man who left completely free of a demon was motivated NOT by obligation but passion.  All head & little heart Often the world has more passion for the things that it loves than we do for Christ and His church.  They show love for teams and musicians and concerts and actors.  Even though there is nothing wrong with supporting your team, those in the world know more fully how to show love with all their heart. That same passion that causes the men who are fans of teams to take their shirts off when it is 9 degrees.  That is passion.  There is nothing wrong with liking your team.  Support the team.  Support the TEAM. But find a passion for Christ!  Find a passion for HIS church.   We have the OUTSIDE stuff down pat.     THE OUTSIDE STUFF IS WHAT THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS IN JESUS DAY HAD PERFECTED. Over the past few weeks a repeated though which is repeated in Dt 11:18 “You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.” This is God’s advising them with a picture.  By the time of Jesus in the Gospels, these frontlets were small boxes tied to the head.  Small passages were placed in these boxes.  What good does that do?  Is this how God was leading these people?  Is this the expectation? It is insane.  Yet that was the religious peer pressure of Jesus’ day.  Put the passages in the little box.  God was saying, “My word is so important, so life giving, so needed, so saving, so wise, so perfect, you need to put this word in you.” He says this painting a picture as if the word was tied to their head.  Know the word like this.  Have the word in you like this!  Plumb the depths of my word.  Let me lead you. And the Apostle Paul here was encouraging the people of the church in Colossae to know the word of Christ and to encourage sanctification. LET THE WORD OF CHRIST DWELL IN YOU RICHLY.  Teach and admonish one another with Psalms and hymns and Spiritual songs, singing and making melody with all your heart.  Have this in your heart.  Dwell (OIKOS) on it.  Then share it.  Share it with each other. God has sanctified you in Christ at salvation – You are continually growing IN Christ – and as a body of believers, this church is a part of your sanctification.  We are to be teaching and admonishing.  It is my job as a pastor, to shepherd this church and grow it, but I am not the only one.  You are here for each other.  What do you know with all your heart?  Do you know Jesus with all your heart? Dear friends, I do not want you hear if you are here because you feel obligated. (checking the box)  I want you hear because you want to love Jesus more.  I want you here because you can’t find anywhere else what you can find here.  I want you here because you want to help me grow.  You and I have the peace of Christ ruling in our heart, and we want the word of Christ to dwell within our hearts. Our praises will change.  The way we praise WILL change.    

Date: October 12, 2025 Lord’s Day: 41 Series: Colossians the Mystery of Christ Title: All You Need is Love? Text: Colossians 3:12-14, Mark 12:28-31 Colossians 3:12-15 12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.  Mark 12:28-31 28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”   Introduction: Recently I went with our oldest daughter and my two grandsons, Elam and Able, to the zoo.  Elam is 2 and Able is 8 months.  We had a great time but there was one thing I noticed with the two boys.  Getting them to focus on something is really hard. The focus to which I refer is not, focus on your classwork here, or pay attention to what I am saying.  It is getting them to see what is literally around them. I can give several examples, but this is the best one.  We were looking at the manatees.  These are 2-ton shrimp.  They are big, gray, with whiskers.  Enormous animals and because of the widow viewing area, there is not a lot of room for failure to notice them.  I was pretty much in charge of the youngest, Able. We are standing in front of this tank and it was feeding time so all the manatees were eating salad, floating near the top of the water. We are at the window this 2-ton creature is less than 6 inches from my face and Able did not see it.  He is focused on this tiny air-bubble that is coming up through the water.  “Able, look!  Right here buddy.”  I am moving his head with my hands pointing it in the right direction so he can see this animal.  Then he sees it.  Smiles and moves wildly like, “Oh yeah, where did you come from?” This happens all day long.  We are walking around the zoo and the animals are ready for the day having just woke up.  Moving and interacting with the people.  Oh, another one.  We were at the Aquarium.  All the lights are low in there.  Tons of fish swimming around and here comes this shark that is as long as these church pews.  Ol’ boy misses it.  “How can you miss that Elam?”  I was thinking, it is such a good thing we were on this side of the glass.  Oh, E would have ended up as an appetizer if we were in the wild.  I observed this all day long and it hit me: Part of the mission statement here at Donnels Creek is to love God and love others.  Great goal.  Sometimes, (or even often) DO I MISS what is right in front of my face?  Just like the boys, it’s right here in front of me, an opportunity I am distracted by other things and I do not fully love God and love others? How often have I missed an opportunity to love.  Opportunities that were as big as a manatee? Opportunities that were 6 inches from my face and I was just looking over here, looking over there.  Sometimes I was focused on this tiny air bubble that is floating. We have spent the last two weeks emphasizing the particulars of forgiveness and I want to go back to a phrase used in the last sermon.  My desire to was to turn attention to how to properly interpret this text in Colossians 3 and it was stated, “This was a letter written to Christ followers, teaching them how to love other Christ followers.” What is the central teaching here?  Love.  12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.  As believers we are chosen, holy, beloved:  therefore have a compassionate heart, be kind, humble, meek, and patient and bearing with one another.  These are ALL traits of love.  If there is an issue, forgive as you have been forgiven. The words of Paul are addressing Christians and telling them, treat each other like Christians. Here is a thought that really drives me on this text.  What if we are missing something?  There is the issue that we can be going through life, day to day and at the same time missing opportunities to love God and others.  They can be the size of a manatee and we not see it.  That manatee can be 6 inches away and we still not see it. Before we get into the meat of the text, let us pray and ask God to bless the message. <prayer here> In our second text Jesus was asked which was the most important commandment.  The response by Jesus was the Shema Israel, which is a summary of the law: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.  You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.  The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Many see this as quoting all of the commands in summary form.  You had the first half of the law, 1-4 how we are to love and honor God and then the second half, how to love and honor each other.  Those made in God’s image. In this culture it is very easy to assume the meaning of, “Love the Lord you God with all your heart,” and think of it in our own terms.  We have so many love songs, poems and sonnets, I love you with all my heart.    This is not how they conversed back in Jesus’ day.  If you wanted to communicate the same idea as Al Green, “I love you with all my heart” you would say it differently.  For them it would be kidneys or the liver.  Maybe you would say, “You make my liver quiver.” For in Jesus’ day, to say love the Lord your God with all your heart, it would be like saying, loving God with all your ability.  The heart was the seat of the entirety of a person.  Today we would say mind. All your thoughts, all your motives: this is the heart.  Love God with the seat of your life – the MOTIVE of your life. How are we to do this?  Jesus was quoting a passage from Deuteronomy 6.  If you look at the larger context of you find even deeper meaning:  6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. xx8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. They were to talk about this law of God at all times: while sitting, walking, lying down, rising, on the door posts, on the door frames and on the gates. Even more, the kings, when they take the throne, were instructed to write down a copy of the law.  It is said that this would be the copy they would read from daily. When they ruled as a king, they would read the law, the very law they had written. This is the MOTIVE.  IT WAS FUELING MOTIVE.  This becomes the thing that energizes the followers of God.  They would know and fear God and most of all, love Him.  Wisdom is God’s Commands For those of us who are doing the Proverb study, this week I discussed something that had occurred to me and I consulted some other puritan writers and found confirmation.  In Proverbs 6 can be found an almost identical statement from Deuteronomy 6.  In this scripture the father is giving advice on how to avoid an adulterous woman: “20 My son, keep your father's commandment,     and forsake not your mother's teaching. 21 Bind them on your heart always;     tie them around your neck. 22 When you walk, they will lead you;     when you lie down, they will watch over you;     xx and when you awake, they will talk with you. 23 For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light,     and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life, 24 to preserve you from the evil woman,     from the smooth tongue of the adulteress. ” Proverbs 6:20-24 It continues: obviously the main teaching is about avoiding an adulterous person.  However, that is not the deeper meaning.  This is an allegory.  The love of our life is God.  This God that you love, we must keep his word close to you.  Let it lead you.  Let it watch over you.  Let it be a light in your life.  This will keep you from sin.  This is the deeper allegorical meaning of the adulterous woman.  She is a distraction and she will keep you from the love of your life.  What we are finding with the words of Jesus in Mark, from the words that Jesus quoted from Deuteronomy and the wise words of Proverbs is, this life that we have, this life in Christ is not an emotion.  It is NOT TO BE WISHY WASHY.  It is the very thing that moves us.  All the issues of life come from this seat of our heart. This is the foundation of love.  This is the foundation from which everything is built in our lives.  And so often I miss it. Loving God and loving others.  We are to PUT ON this love.  (illustration with coats – old coat, new coat <coach old>) we are new we put this on Moreover, we are commanded to love God.  It is not just a suggestion.  How do I miss it?  If I love my Lord correctly, I will love other correctly.  How do I know God’s love?  I can look into the mirror of His word and see how it binds all things together! God is Love That we are to be like God, God is loving.  God loves.  We imitate Him in this trait. D.A. Carson in his book “The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God,” mentions  different ways the Bible speaks of God ‘s love. The Father for the Son (John 3:35; 5:20) and the son for the Father (John 14:31) The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand., I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. God’s “common grace”. (Matthew 5:45-46) For he sends the rain on the just and the unjust and causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good. God’s choosing and electing love (Dt 7:7-8; 10:15) It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples God’s conditional love (Exodus 20:6; John 15:10) But (I am) showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. . . 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love Sometimes what we put on can look like love Throughout Scripture our Lord has taken the thread of love stringing it in and through so many lives.  Doctrine is important.  Theology is important.  These are daily ingredients in my life.  But may they never come at the expense of failing to see God’s love.  The love which motivated our Lord to cover Adam and Eve.  This was not because they were indecent.  It was a foreshadow, that I will cover your shame.  I will give you garments of righteousness. Sometimes we can put on what looks like love, because we are missing it.  Like the boys at the zoo.  It is right there, but we just don’t see it. You know what looks like love?  Think of Joseph and his brothers. They really hated him.  Some of them wanted him dead.  At the right opportunity they got rid of him.  Eventually selling him into a caravan and he is taken far, far away. When they come back to Jacob, their father, they have a story and they have some evidence.  We did what we could.  Here is his coat.  I can say that as a church family, there is love here.  As we begin to rebuild this place, there is a good foundation of love.  But what is more important than our love for each other, is our love for our Lord.  Love God and love others is a perfect summation of Jesus’ answer in Mark 12.  Love the Lord your God, love you neighbor.  Jesus answer in our text takes us right back to a love for God that is tied with God’s word.  What binds everything together?  Moses, Solomon and Jesus give the answer to what binds everything together: Love God, love others. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. Col 3:14 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand Dt 6:8 My son, keep your father's commandment,     and forsake not your mother's teaching. 21 Bind them on your heart always Prv 6:20-21      

Date: October 5, 2025 Lord’s Day: 40 Series: Colossians the Mystery of Christ Title: Bold Faith Text: Colossians 3:12-14 This is the Reading of God’s Word Colossians 3:12-14 12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.  Introduction: I have to admit as I began to drill down into this topic of forgiveness and love, there came a point where I had to say, “How did I get here?”  I even asked myself the question, “Is this really necessary?” I revisited the text several times.  Considered the cultural climate. I debated mentally for a long time.  For days, while driving or random quiet times there was this back and forth in thoughts because I could leave this. Ultimately, as you will obviously see, the decision was to press down. In Colossians 3:12-14 we are instructed to be compassionate, kind, humble, meek, patient, loving and to be forgiving.  Last week, in dealing with this text in Colossians 3 and in light of recent cultural events we discussed the nuances of forgiveness. But there is an additional issue; we have the following passages which point the opposite direction.  Consider the following: For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;     evil may not dwell with you. 5 The boastful shall not stand before your eyes;     you hate all evildoers. 6 You destroy those who speak lies;     the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man. Psalm 5:4-6 3 The wicked are estranged from the womb;     they go astray from birth, speaking lies. . . 6 O God, break the teeth in their mouths;     tear out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord! Psalm 58:3,6 21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?     And do I not loathe those who rise up against you? 22 I hate them with complete hatred;     I count them my enemies. Psalm 139:19-22 Maybe you have not noticed these three Psalms as you, over time, have read through your Bible.  It is possible that your mind wandered and the full impact of these really did not set in. These are certainly from our Scriptures.  Which begs the question in light of our passage on forgiveness and being a forgiving people, how does this fit?  What are we to do with these very colorful descriptions, prayers and praises to God in what to do with our enemy? These are three examples of what we call imprecatory Psalms.  Imprecatory is a prayer for God to call harm or evil on someone. My first sermon here in February was from Isaiah 6:1-6.  One of the points of that sermon concerned the thrice repeated description of God, “Holy, holy, holy.”  This was a matter of emphasis, and it mentions specifically God’s holiness.  The description did not address God as “love, love, love.”  Nor did it express him as, “merciful, merciful, merciful.”  God is loving.  God is merciful.  God is forgiving. What the passage states clearly mention is God’s holiness.  God is “holy, holy, holy.”  He has a passion for that holiness. There are just 4 other Scriptural instances where something is repeated 3 times.  One of those is Revelation 8:13 where it says regarding the coming judgement of God, “Woe, woe, woe.” There is strong emphasis in American evangelism on the love of God, and So much so that it comes at the expense of the holiness of God. This has led to some having a misunderstanding of forgiveness.  This was the idea introduced last week.  For God so loved that he gave . . . to this we say “Amen!” We are grateful as we were unworthy and unholy and our gracious and merciful God made us holy. Underestimating God’s holiness and  misunderstanding of forgiveness it has weakened our ability to hate evil and  renders us logically unable to defend the faith from the enemy. (repeat – rest of what I say will clarify) My hope today is to return us to a bold faith. Speaking from the heart, I have watched the faith that I love get completely wrecked.  I have seen the country that I love get completely wrecked.  There has been an ongoing deterioration of faith and values that if I were to publicly state, from this pulpit, what is being said by others on similar pulpits, I might be able to keep my job but there would certainly be meetings.  There are things being said in pulpits at this very hour that is straight from Babylon and Sodom and Gomorrah. Similarly, there are acts of violence committed every day against believers in this country.  I was typing out something for Donnels Creek and my Attention Deficit kicked in. I thought to myself, I wonder how many people enrolled in the 31 Days reading have watched the video today. Y’all know I can see who has been looking right?  There was a sharp decline from day 1 to day 2 to day 3.  Anyway, I popped on over to the Tube and of course greeted with the home page of suggested videos.  There was one of five to seven people standing on a street corner, peacefully protesting an abortion mill.  Two of them had signs. They were approached by 5 people, one carry a club, three carry semi-auto rifles. They were in all black, masked from top of the head to foot.  They douse them with bear spray while the semi-auto stood ready to shoot if any dared to strike back. What about persecution worldwide?  This is not mentioned on any news channel.  (have photo) This is a photograph of a mass grave being filled.  September 20 (two weeks ago) more than 90 Christians were murdered by Islamist in Ntoyo Africa in eastern Congo.  No a whisper of this. On my shoulders to the right was bad Matthew.  To the left side was bad Matthew and those two began to fight it out.  “I hate those who hate you God.” How it typically goes for the Christian who loves Jesus is like this, They have been taught about forgiveness.  They know what Colossians says. They know the words of Jesus. If someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn him the other.  Love your enemy, pray for those who persecute you may be the sons of your Father who is in heaven.  For he makes his sun rise on the evil and the good and sends the rains on the just and the unjust.” What are we to do with these words of Jesus?  Do they make us sitting ducks; patsies? How do we reconcile this teaching of Christ with the imprecatory song and prayer of David?  Can we say, “Do I not hate those who hate you?” I look around me and there is an overwhelming rise of evil around us.  I am telling you; I hate watching this happen to our FAITH and our country.  We are in a time period where we are not shielded because we live in a small town.  Do we “Marcion” this tough Scripture in Psalm.  Just cut out what we do not like?  What does not seem to fit with the rest of Scripture?  So we can understand our text in Colossians: be kind, compassionate, forgiving, meek, humble and patient? Like our time with forgiveness, last week, there is a nuance which must be understood.  Application: From there to Here In order to interpret our texts properly we must understand the context AND the whole counsel of God.  What does our text say?  What does the rest of Scripture say?  How do we reconcile these two things? Think of a village.  We can call that the Village of Colossae.  Those are the people who read this text first.  These were the people to whom it was written.  It has an application over there and that application could be different than over here.  Picture a village over here, we will call it the Village at Donnels Creek.  It is a Village that is roughly 2,000 years and also nearly 6,000 miles away.  There is a body of water that is in between the two villages. The responsibility I have is to see what did the application mean over in that village and then build a bridge to connect the two.    We also carry a backpack – Like Dora the Explorer. We carry this backpack that is filled with the Whole Counsel of God.  This is what God has said to other villages. We use all this information to rightly handle this word. Last week we began our first look at this section of Scripture in Colossians, and our focus was on 3:13 and forgiveness. Of course, taking note of the current cultural climate with the recent events of Ms. Kirk forgiving her husband’s killer. Because we are chosen, holy and beloved we are to put on some things: compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience and forgiving.  As a forgiven people we are to be forgiving. There are two words for forgiveness used.  I mentioned this last week.  It is more of a painted picture than a word. First word is ALPHIEEMI- which means sent away, put over there, separated, removed. It is the word used here in Colossians  3:13 forgiving one another as the Lord has forgiven you.  Second word is KARIZOMAI- free, favor, a cancelled debt.  This is the word used in Matthew as we prayed the Lord’s Prayer last week. One word means something taken away.  The other word means something given. We had Ms. Kirk who said at her husband’s funeral, to her husband’s killer, “I forgive him.”  Then Stephen Miller who said of the same killer, “You have nothing, you are nothing and we are coming after you.”  We then explored how both of these can be a right response. Even though they are opposite each other, they can both be a Biblical response. After mentioning several instances in Scripture where just a blanket statement of “I forgive you” is not automatically provided we can list at least three categories. Personal Public (Magistrate) Pastoral On a personal level we are to be forgiving.  In the Church we are to be forgiving.  This is the context of what we are reading.  Jesus has given us grace/forgiveness and he has taken away our debt.  Let us imitate that. But when considering the while counsel of God, there are other texts which shed additional light on this.  Matthew 18 and an unrepentant brother is an example.  Also Jesus’ and Paul’s teachings bring further nuances.  If you missed last week, please watch or listen online. Remember, as we approach Colossians, we must understand that we are reading someone’s mail.  This is a letter Paul wrote to the church in Colossae.  This is written to a saved people and giving instructions on how to treat the saved.  He is not addressing the same problem here that was addressed in Corinth.  There were serious issues in Corinth, issues of heresy. Fortunately, the letter we are reading is addressing an issue where Paul is just saying, “Love each other and do the things that look like love” This would include patience, meekness, forgiveness, kindness and humility. If you apply this teaching to the heresy in Corinth it would make the response weak and ineffective.  The pastorate is to look out for the flock.  We will get more into this in our next series on leadership in the local church. The pastoral oversite is to watch for “savage wolves” (Paul’s words in Acts 20). Our passage appears in a time when I have been in many discussions over the current state of morality in our country AND our nation. What do we do?  Do we just keep identifying the problems, speaking about the problems and do nothing?  Then let us take the teeth from the Lion of Judah! Fighting on Our Terms. 480 BC (included map) Historian Heroditus   The book we are studying, Colossians, was written by Paul at the same time which Ephesians was written.  They were most likely carried by the same mail carrier as they were delivered.  We can find in Ephesians how to fight. 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic xx powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Xx 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you xx can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. Let us not be weak.  Let us be bold in our faith.  Let us not give an inch.  Let us, just like the Athenians and the Spartans fight on our terms. We face an enemy that is large.  We face an enemy that has tried to execute us throughout time.  Even in recent times as shared earlier, 90+ believers executed in one night.  We will not be meek with our enemy.  We will be forgiving and meek with each other.  But we will be bold and brave and fight the enemy in prayer.  We will hate that which the Lord hates and at the same time, at the VERY SAME TIME pray that all men everywhere repent.  Christian, I am calling your attention to the holiness of God and it is nothing to be weakened or trifled. We can be bold in our faith and we need to be. So many of us see on gravestones or hear quoted at funerals for those who died as believers that they fought the good fight and have defended the faith. . . yet most of us have seeded territory our whole life because we misunderstood how to live boldly. We have territory here.  Several weeks ago I mentioned that one of two avenues for growth in this church is the youth program.  Are you fighting for those kids? Are they in your prayers? God will bring people to where there is an ability for them to flourish. He will bring souls to a place where people will fight for them. In this culture, in this time when the faith is devalued and tread upon, this is a time where we understand that we must hate what God hates, love what God loves.  Let us pray for repentance and really believe that it can and will take place.  

Date: September 28, 2025 Lord’s Day: 39 Series: Colossians the Mystery of Christ Title: Forgiveness Text: Colossians 3:10-17; Matthew 18:15-20 Colossians 3:10-17 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. 11 Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all. 12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Matthew 18:15-18  “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.  But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.  If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.   Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.  When his mother bought the house next door he sold as quick as he could, moved into same town but near Blacklick creek that flooded basement frequently, one car garage, he had to rent another space to continue his home business.  All this because he did not want to live next to his mother.) I don’t know what she did.  I did not ask, I did not want to know.  Is forgiveness always warranted?  What is forgiveness? The past few weeks we have been dealing with this middle part of Colossians 3.  It states that we are to put to death what is earthly in us and then proceeds to give a couple of short lists which are in the negative.  As believers, we are to put OFF these things.  We approach the text where Paul turns his attention into the affirmative.  He makes a list of affirming things, positive things that we are to put on. Beginning with 3:10 we put on this new self that is in the EIKON of the Creator (Jesus).  We do this because we have been renewed.  Our OLD self has died. What are we to put on?  (3:12) He begins to make an affirmative list: compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness and patience.  We do this because we are chosen in God, we bear with one another and forgive each other. This text happens to come at a very interesting moment.  We had a high-profile memorial service where the wife, now widow, of a murdered man, in a very public way proclaimed forgiveness for the killer of her husband.  At Charlie Kirks memorial service you had two extremes.  You had the wife who not only forgave the killer, but she also quoted the words of Jesus, as he was on the cross just before he died.  Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”  Then you had Stephen Miller who said to the killer, “You are nothing, you have nothing, and we are coming for you.”  I found both of those very interesting statements.  That is loaded.  You have people who are Christian and non-Christian who say the Christian community has to chose one of those.  It can’t be both.   It doesn’t.  Before I am done today you will see why that both of those statements are valid Christian responses to the reaction to what has happened. For many Christians in America have been instructed in forgiveness sometimes in very dangerous ways. It is fortunate for us that this public display happened just as our study came to the topic of forgiveness in our text. What does the Bible have to say about forgiveness?  We have read our text and added the text of Matthew 18.  We have the words of Ms. Kirk as she quoted Jesus’ words on the Cross.  We prayed the Lords Prayer together which mentions it and then after we also have the words of Jesus just as he concluded the Lord’s prayer, “If you forgive those who trespass against you then your father will forgive your trespasses.  But if You do not forgive those who trespass against you, then your heavenly father will not forgive your trespasses.” Jesus also taught, love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you.  How are we to understand forgiveness in light of Jesus?  How does it apply in our text here in Colossians 3?  I will say that this will take a couple of weeks to fully unpack so please stick with me.  We are not going to break down every passage and parable on forgiveness, but we are going to give a thorough look at the topic.  The issue is, when we get this wrong it can be very dangerous.  The church, in general terms, has gotten this wrong more than it has gotten it right. There have been some cases, in public life and in the church, leaders have gotten this wrong and it has proved deadly, hurtful and dangerous.  It has caused some people to leave church doors to never return. Too often we look at forgiveness with a monolithic application.  Often is the case, the nuances is ignored and the whole counsel of God is bypassed.  Let’s start on the ground floor as we begin a comprehensive look at forgiveness. POINT:  So often is the case in this situation is forgiveness is more for the person doing the forgiving than the person receiving it. Defining our terms ILLUSTRATION: (heavy weights and balloons. The balloons = burdens/responsibilities we have.  Weights are the past unforgiven hurts we encounter. (in a bag or in front).Got t keep the balloons up as the weights increase.)  We bring them from day to day, and we really get no rest.  It is the release of that burden that someone put on us, that we are not going to get even and we are going to heal. From our two passages there are two different Greek words.  There is no one word for Forgiveness, but rather a context that paints a picture.  We will define this more next week. But here is the picture – it is releasing a burden. (Take the weights out of the backpack.) Are there passages that hint towards forgiveness not being automatic?  Yes.  Consider the following: Matthew 18:15ff:  Look at our second text.  (Matthew 18:15) “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you two alone.  If he listens, you have gained your brother.  If he does not listen, take two others.  If he refuses to listen to them, then tell it to the church. If he does not listen to all that, treat him as a Gentile and a tax collector.” This is the process of reconciliation between two people.  Jesus did not say: If a brother (sister) sins against you, tell everyone about it. Go to everyone else and talk about how awful that person is and how in the world could they do such and such.  If a brother (sister) sins against you, just forgive and forget. Just overlook it and move on because I forgave you and you should forgive them. He says, go to them and address it.  That does not fix it? Bring a couple of people.  That does not fix it? Bring it to the church.  That does not fix it? They are cast out.  This is a situation where they are not forgiven.  Something is being held against them, and it is whatever that offense is. Avoid, refuse to be with them. Adultery and Marriage: Another passage to consider is when adultery has been committed in a marriage or in the case of abandonment. Jesus mentions adultery and Paul mentions abandonment (1 Corinthians 7). These are cases where the offended party can leave the marriage.  If we are to monolithically apply forgive because we have been forgiven, then it would render Jesus’ teaching on divorce void.  A Believer who is in serious sin : I can provide one more example and it is with Paul in the Corinthian church.  There was a man who was sexually immoral (1 Corinthians 5).  This was going on and the church, up until Paul’s letter, was tolerating it. He explicitly says, remove this man from you. A little leaven leavens the whole bread.  A little sin will fester within that body and grow. He tells them, this man needs to go.  Do not associate with people who say they are brothers and sisters in Christ and are in unrepentant habitual sin.  Paul says, do not even eat with such a person. So, I hope you can better see that forgiveness is not just something Christians automatically dispense.  We are not instructed that 100% of the time we are to go from sin to automatic forgiveness.  The Christian community has most often been taught if they are sinned against it is universal and unilaterally automatic forgive. Here is the danger: there have been many cases where something happens in a congregation (sadly this happens more than you know).  The elders and leaders of that congregation are made aware of it and then they decide to handle this in house because we are supposed to be forgiving. IN HOUSE LEADERSHIP:  There have been MANY cases of abuse, sexual and physical, where the offended party has been coerced to forgive the offender because the offender said, “I repent” and Jesus says that we should forgive as we have been forgiven. This has been the source of A LOT of people who eventually leave the church angry, frustrated never to return.  They are hurt and betrayed.  Church, we need to understand this.  We have to get this right.  So how do we get this right?  What has been presented here are some situations that contradict the teaching that Christians are to blanket offer forgiveness to every situation regardless of the offender has done.  So how do we justify that which is contradicting?  How can we make these teachings line up? Categories & Definitions On the ADMINISTERING of Justice, Scripture provides three categories : Personal Magistrate Pastoral Personal Erika Kirk stated in her speech at the Charlie Kirk funeral that she forgave the killer.  She quoted Christ, “Forgive them they do not know what they are doing.” Did you know that most people who offend you, who sin against you, even when it is heinous sin, do not know fully what they are doing?  Do you think the killer thought about two baby girls growing up without their father?  I really doubt it. From the slightest sin committed against you to the worst sin that can be committed against you, it is safe to say the offending party did not know the complete impact of their sin. This position of Erika Kirk, if it is meant from the heart, is the best position to be in. Why? It is a release.  It is the beginning of release.  Forgiveness is a process of growth.  I would argue it is like our opening illustration; it is a release of a burden.  It is making a statement that you will not allow this thing that was done to you to control every part of your future. Public There is a public responsibility for these things.  The government holds the sword. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. . .  4 for he is God's servant for your good. . . . for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. Romans 13:1-2 & 4 The public servant, the government, is the servant (deacon) of God.  The government is to carry the sword and act out justice for those who are wronged. There have been many congregations whose leadership whose actions said, “We are going to force the member of our body to forgive a crime, and we are not going to let the government do its God designed job.” We also have judges who are not doing their jobs.  We have prosecutors who are not acting justly.  What happens in these instances? You cannot treat public enemies from a private method.  This is why I said, Erika’s response to the murderer is correct and Stephen Miller’s response to the murderer was correct.  It is not an either or.  It is both.  You have a young girl murdered on a Charlotte, NC subway train by a criminal who had been arrested and released 14 times. This is the result of treating public enemies from the private method. Pastoral The church brings the water, word, wine and the wheat (bread).  The church has a responsibility here as well.  They are to preach the gospel.  These are the tools of the church. When a congregation of a church has a matter which arises which is in the jurisdiction of the magistrate, the leadership is to allow the civil authority to address the matter.  They are not to simply sweep it under the rug.  The church is to pray for repentance of the offender.  The offender is to be addressed by the civil authority and the church is to pray for their salvation. Closing The issue for so many is, if they offer forgiveness when there is a sense that you are justifying what has happened against you.  This is not the case.  You are expressing a faith that God will handle this justly.  You are releasing your notion of getting even and allowing the proper authorities to enact justice. Think of the twelve apostles in the first century.  Tradition tells us, history tells us that they all suffered greatly.  Eleven of the twelve suffered death.  John was boiled in oil and lived only to be exiled to the island of Patmos. Do you not think these had a right to get even? How do you think the church prayed for those involved in the trial, imprisonment and execution?  I am certain that they prayed for them.  

Date: September 21, 2025 Lord’s Day: 38 Series: Colossians the Mystery of Christ Title: Bearing His Image Text: Colossians 3:9-10; Genesis 1:26-27 This is the Reading of God’s Word Colossians 3:9-10 Colossians 3:9 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.  Genesis 1:26-27 26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” 27 So God created mankind in his own image,     in the image of God he created them;     male and female he created them. Introduction: Edmond Rostand wrote the play Cyrano de Bergerac in 1897.  Anyone know what that is about?  The movie Roxanne was released 90 years later, in 1987 and it starred Stephen Martin and Daryll Hannah which was a loose modern bend on Cyrano de Bergerac. Cyrano had a very low opinion of himself because his nose was too large, and he had gained a love interest who was very beautiful.  His interest in this beautiful woman was not just a physical desire.  He cared for her completely, her mind, her heart, her likes, her dislikes.  Yet he would not allow himself to pursue her because of the possible rejection that he faced. There was another man who also was interested in this beautiful woman.  This man was extremely handsome.  He had all the outward marks of an attractive male, tall and strong but he was not in any way smart or intelligent.  Cyrano found his way to express himself and it was through this handsome man. He would write her letters and poems and send them to her with this other man’s name attached. There would be scenes in the play where Roxane, the beautiful woman in the play, would be on her balcony speaking to the handsome man at night and Cyrano would be hiding nearby, whispering words for him to say.  It is these very words that caused Roxane to develop a deep affection for this handsome young man. Cyrano continued to harbor his own affection for Roxane but remained hidden.  He did not want to be vulnerable.  He did not want to face the rejection.  He was ashamed. This came to mind while considering our passage here in Colossians 3.  Last week we introduced this idea of the old self and the new self.  We will be building on that idea this week. If we do not properly understand our relationship with Jesus and more importantly, OUR POSITION IN JESUS, we will begin to resemble Cyrano.  HOW? It is in the struggle between good and bad, righteousness and evil. When confronted with holiness, we will see our deficiencies. Within us, the Spirit begins to work and Jesus becomes precious to us.  He is no longer just a good teacher.  He is no longer just an old Rabbi.  He is precious and we love him. We want to read of him and learn from him.  But when we do not understand our position IN HIM, and we see our Spiritual life as totally dependent upon ourselves, it is a heavy burden.  When failure comes, and it will, we do not feel attractive enough to approach him.  Let’s just stay on the downlow.  There are others who are much more attractive than me to Jesus.  This position keeps us from fully experiencing Him. Loving him from far away.  Living with this notion that if we get too close, he will reject us.  Let’s not get too close. Textual Observations: 3:9 “Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices.” This section began in 3:5 that we are to put to death what is earthly in us.  As believers, here are our marching orders.  What are we to do?  It is an imperative. It is passive (according to the grammar). What does that mean?  We are commanded to perform a thing which we will be helped to perform.  You are not alone in this. Then there is a list of things and we dealt with those over the past few weeks. Sins of the flesh and sins of the mouth. Then he gets to 3:9-10 and says, we are to put these things away “seeing  that we have put off the old self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.”    We see this word appear again.  It is a word that we talked about way back on June first.  The sermon title was Iconic Jesus.  That word here for image is the Greek word icon.  Remember that Sunday?  I put up a bunch of icons on the screen and you had to guess the brand that the icon represented?  That same word is used here.  There is this statement about the OLD SELF and the that old self is being renewed in knowledge after the  of its creator.  Interesting isn’t it?  What does it mean? There is a lot going on there in that statement.  Let’s spend some time unpacking it. Created in the Image of God 26 Then God said, “Let us make man[h] in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image,     in the image of God he created him;     male and female he created them. On day six God made man, it was the pinnacle of His work.  How is this true? It says that man (which means humanity) was made in the image of God.  Here is our word.  Greek eikon was used to refer that man is in image of God.  The male is in the image of God and the female is in the image of God. How were we made in the image of God?  In what ways do we look like Him? What traits or characteristics do we have that are similar to God? There are what we call communicable and incommunicable traits of God.  The Incommunicable traits are ones that only God possesses such as this partial list would be what I call the Omni’s which means ALL or EVER.  God is omnipresent.  He is everywhere at once.  There is nowhere God is not. “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there” (Psalm 139:7-8).   THIS WOULD INCLUDE Eternality- God does not have a beginning or an end.  Hard to fathom this but it is true. “From everlasting to everlasting, you are God” (Psalm 90:2). God is Omniscient (all knowing).  God learns nothing.  There is nothing God does not know.  There is nothing you can do to teach God something.  He does not learn something new from you. “God is greater than our hearts and He knows everything” (1 John 3:20). I know most things, but not everything.  God is Omnipotent (all powerful).  God is all powerful. There is nothing outside of His power.  He does not need to sleep.  He does not need to work out.  “Nothing is too hard for me.” (Jeremiah 32:17).  I am not all powerful.  I get injured.  I get tired.    This would include Independent- It is said by some that God created the Universe and humanity because he was lonely.  There are variations of this but it is untrue.  I don’t know who started it but it is false and bad theology. Paul said in Athens, “God made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by man NOR is He served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives all men life and breath and everything.” (Acts 17:24-25)   These are a few of the attributes of God that He has that we do not have.  He alone has them.  Even Adam and Eve, before sin, did not have ALL the attributes of God. Communicable attributes of God.  These are things that God has that we also have.  It would include this partial list: Knowledge – God possesses all knowledge, but we do have some knowledge.  Some have more than others. Some are geniuses, most are not.  But all have an ability to retain and learn something.  Love - 1 John 4:8 says that God is love.  I can love.  I do not love like God, but I can love.  Everyone, even Hitler, loved someone and was loved by someone. Wisdom - We read that “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”.  God possesses all wisdom, but we have some too.  Again, like knowledge and love, some have more than others.  But everyone has some wisdom. So, you can see, this is a partial small list of the characteristics that God has, that we also have in our own lives.  In what way were we made in the image (the eikon) of God?  How do we resemble Him?  How do we reflect His image? It is in holiness.  How do I know this? From our passage in Colossians. “Since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being RENEWED in knowledge in the image of its Creator.” (Colossians 3:9-10) There was something lost in the paradise of Eden.  Something that happened that damages that reflection of God’s image that it needed to be restored. Holiness. That is it.  We still retain, at least some wisdom.  We have retained our ability to love.  Some to the degree that they love things more than God.  We love ourselves more than we do the Creator.  We are able to gain knowledge but, in the flesh, it is void of the author of knowledge. What was lost for humanity in Adam is holiness.  That which was lost can be regain in Christ Jesus.  Because of this, put off that which is earthly.  That ICON we regain IN CHRIST is Holiness.  We do not need to hide like Cyrano. Putting On - Application The motive for change is the new self Andrew Murray[i] says that Christians have 2 natures that are striving within them.  And they are striving against each other (Ga 5:17, 24-25; 6:8; Eph 4:22; 1 Pt 4:2).  The motive to achieve holiness is the new self, which is the life in the Spirit. If you want to dig deeper in this, I encourage you to read John Owen who wrote, The Death of Death in the Death of Christ.  Be prepared NOT to read one chapter at a time.  Be prepared to read one page at a time.  Be prepared to read this over the course of a year.  This is not a quick fix. But also, be prepared to grow deeper and deeper in love with Jesus.  Be prepared to see the work of Christ in your life from an entirely new perspective. John Owen says that this new nature is like turning on a lamp.  It is not simply knowledge.  We do not just gain knowledge, but we gain illumination.  We see ourselves differently. THE NEW NATURE SPEAKS We find with this light that we look in a mirror.  The mirror is Christ.  We begin to see things in this reflection that we want to change.  Things that do not look like our life. Do you remember, “Christ, is our life” Colossians 3:4.  As we go through this life, there are the two natures.  These are at war with each other. We put on this new clothing of righteousness the old will not feel right Throughout our time in this section, I have really wrestled with how to present it.  Here is my issue, because we have these two natures in us, I do not want to appear flippant and just proclaim, we are going to sin.  At the same time, I also do not want to appear too harsh because we are going to sin. It could be this is what John felt when he was writing 1st John when he said, “If you say you have no sin you are a liar and the truth is not in you.”  Yet a few words later he says, “But I am writing so you will not sin.”  Then next breath says, “If you do sin, we have an advocate who is faithful and just to forgive us.” There is this back and forth.  It is the struggle.  I want to encourage you to strive for holiness.  At the same time, it is not your striving that is saving you.  It is your striving that points to whom you belong.  You belong to the Savior, and it is His righteousness that will save you. HE IS THE NEW CLOTHING. I have an old t-shirt, grey in color.  I got it from Walmart about ten years ago. I bought about 5 of them, I often do this because when I like something I stick with it.  But out of the 5 I have one remaining; it was different than the rest and it is my most comfortable shirt.  I like to wear it.  It is growing thin, almost to where you can read through it.  It is still my favorite. You have any clothing like that?  Clothing that maybe you put on that you do not wear out of the house.  You wear it because it feels right, and you can relax in it.  You find out that I am coming over to visit with you and now disappointment because you have to change.  You were comfy, now uncomfy. This is life for the believer with these two natures, one in the flesh and one in the Spirit.  When you sin, it will not feel right.  It will not fit right.  You will not be satisfied.  You will want to get out of that as quickly as you see it.  Change is the constant While going through Colossians, we have looked at some of the original grammar.  It reveals more than often the English text provides.  However, I did find a translation of 3:10 that I really like: “Put on the new self, which is continually being renewed in fuller and fuller knowledge, closer and closer to the image of its creator.” Jewish New Testament This is progressive sanctification. This translation shows that this growth in Christ is not just a one-time thing.  Just as we have two natures striving in us, there is one nature, the one of the Spirit, that keeps lovingly and faithfully drawing us to the image of Jesus.  This is the eikon that has been restored.  The image and likeness of Jesus that we see in Colossians 2:15-20 is the eikon that has been given to us.  What was damaged in the Garden has been restored in Christ Jesus. Close Zechariah 3 there is this beautiful scene where the enemy brings Joshua in a court setting.  The enemy is the prosecuting attorney, and they are standing before Jesus. Joshua is said to be standing there guilty. The guilt is in his garments.  He was filthy.  It was then that Jesus commanded his garments be changed.  Joshua was to be clothed in clean and pure garments.  Jesus said to him, I have taken away your iniquity. Christ has robed us in righteousness.  What is our charge? Grow in Him.  Our image has been restored.  Grow in Him.  I want you to love Jesus.  I want you and this community to see Jesus, grab hold of Him and love Him.  To forsake ourselves.  To live for something more than our appetites. To taste and see that the Lord IS GOOD. Let us Pray     Prayer: You are the God of all grace.  In the name of Jesus, our Messiah, clothe us in righteousness.  You have given us this Savior.  May we strive to bear the image of Jesus.  Produce in us ta faith to live by Him, to make Him all our desire, our hope, our glory. Let us enter Him as our refuge, build upon Him as a foundation and conform ourselves to Him. May your dear Son preserve us from this present evil world, so that its smiles will never allure, nor its frowns terrify. We are so grateful for this new life in You.  As we leave this place, let our light so shine before others that they may see our good works and praise you. In Jesus Name, Amen.   Our blessing today comes from 2 Thessalonians May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by His grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word. God in the peace that Jesus has offered Himself for you and for me, may the peace of Christ be with you and on you.       [i] Andrew Murray, The Essential Works of Andrew Murray, Barbor Publishing, page 190.

Date: September 14, 2025 Lord’s Day: 37 Series: Colossians the Mystery of Christ Title: Old Self, New Self Text: Colossians 3:5-10; Matthew 26:41   Opening Remarks As a pastor, it is my desire to keep the main thing, the main thing.  The MAIN thing here is Jesus Christ, our Savior. There are certainly moments when SOCIAL matters find their way into the church body and when they do, it is wise for us to consider them and discern what we must do. This week past week is one of these moments.    On Wednesday I watched with great difficulty and sadness, as the events unfolded in Orem, UT with Charlie Kirk.  Because I watch very closely, every day, social matters, I have remotely followed Charlie Kirk and his organization Turning Point USA, from its very beginning. I say remotely because this organization has a focus on high school and college age people.  For those of you who are not aware, in about 13 years he grew this organization from an event that had 200 people to 14 events yearly that had 10,000 people. Charlie would respectfully take questions from audience attendees on a wide range of topics.  I admired him for he was incredibly knowledgeable, humble, respectful, thorough and above all, he represented Christ well. If I had to think of a modern-day Paul, from Acts, when he would go to the Areopagus and face opposition while standing for truth, it would be Charlie.  He has done this for years, going from campus to campus all over these United States. In these campus’ he would freely exchange ideas and defend the faith. As you may know, Charlie was shot Wednesday while doing one of these college events.   In my opinion, he was killed instantly and is now in the presence of our Lord and Savior. In the hours after this incident, I monitored many reactions. Most of that reaction was great sadness.  A significant portion is celebration and mockery. I wanted to address this with the congregation for several reasons: Firstly, the description of what happened to Charlie Kirk has been labeled an assassination. I do not agree with this.  Charlie held no political office, nor was he running for political office.  He did support various political candidates through the years.  He also discussed political matters in relation to faith, for so much of our political focus today absolutely bleeds over into morality and matters of faith. For this very reason, Charlie was not assassinated.  Charlie became a martyr. Charlie represented the faith and morality of Scripture, and it cost him his life.  There are many people who die as martyrs every day on this earth, but rarely do we witness one this public and in the United State of America. He absolutely, represented Jesus well and also Scriptural truths. Charlie was just a man. He was heard often confessing freely he was a sinner saved by the Grace of God. Just like you and me he was ONLY perfect in Christ. Every public moment I witnessed, He represented Christ very well.  Secondly, because of this, I want to pray for his family.  He leaves behind his wife, two daughters and a father and mother.  Because the internet is forever (as far as we know), the video of the husband and father to these children will forever be there for them to see. It is hard for me to fathom this.  Not only will they have to experience the remainder of their life without their loved one, the videoed events which unfolded Wednesday will be a constantly available reminder. Thirdly, Charlie did not leave this earth one second earlier than our Lord had planned.  God is sovereign over all things.  He is Almighty, Creator God. There are things regarding His rule that we do not understand and for me, this is one of those things. This has been hard for me to process. My prayers this week have sounded a little like Habakuk questioning God. But I trust in the Lord. I have faith in Him. Psalm 103:19 says, “The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.” And Psalm 135:6 states, “Whatever the Lord pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all the deeps.” As a congregation this is one of those moments where we must stand firm even when it is difficult to grasp; even when it does not make sense. I want to pray for the Kirk family and all those close to him; His wife, children, parents, siblings and others.  I also want to pray for this country and its leaders.  The fall out of this moment has an extraordinary possibility to expand into a much more serious matter. Would you please pray with me? Lord, we come today with humble hearts and heavy hearts.  The condition of the world around us and even in our own country has been stretched and strained. There are wars and conflicts abroad and at home and we long for peace. At this moment we pray for the Kirk family and the tragedy that they faced this week.  There is no emotional relief for them for some time to come as this event will play out in the media and courts and in the political arena for the foreseeable future. We pray for peace for that family.  As I voice this prayer, I do believe that Charlie is with you.  He had all the visible fruit of a devout Christ follower.  Because of this, we pray that you comfort his wife, children, parents, extended family and coworkers.  The visions of Wednesday will remain abundantly available.  We pray for those who were at the event Wednesday, the students and the attendees, that for those who have been traumatized by what took place, you would comfort them as only you can. We pray for the leaders of this country.  We pray that you, Jesus, as you reign as Lord, that you would act and bring peace.  Help us to trust in Your sovereignty. Strengthen us that You know best.  May your Church grow in number and influence.  May it grow here in Springfield, in America and in the World.  Isaiah says that of the increase of Jesus’ government and of peace there will be no end, that on your throne you will establish it and uphold it with justice and righteousness forever more.  That the zeal of the Lord will do this. We say Amen, come Lord Jesus. We turn our attention to this text in Colossians and ask your blessing on our time in Your word.  I sincerely ask a blessing upon myself as I deliver these thoughts.  It is in Jesus’ name we pray, Amen. This is the Reading of God’s Word Colossians 3:5-10 and Matthew 26:41 Colossians 3:5: 5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self[d] with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.  Matthew 26:41:  “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation” This has been the world of the Lord  I would like for you to think about Samson, the Bible character from Judges who was strong.  He had to take a Nazarite vow and his strength was in his hair.  As long as he did not cut his hair he would have miraculous strength. For just a moment, I would like you to picture in your mind what you think Samson looked like.  There are no wrong answers because we are not told and there are no pictures in the Bible, but just imagine what you think he looked like.  If you need to shut your eyes you can.  Alright, you have a mental image?  Does he resemble Arnold Swarzenegar?  Does he look like the Rock or Andre the Giant?  Is he really big and muscular? That was the image I had for most of my life.  When Samson came to mind I thought of a very large (the fit large) kind of man.  But when I consider it further, I don’t think so.  I think Samson looked like every other average man out there during his day.  If you remember the story Samson defeated Israel’s enemies the Philistines.  They were always trying to find a way to get him so there came Delilah.  Samson was sweet on her and she kept trying to trick him. What was she trying to find out?  What is the source of your strength Samson?  Please tell me, how are you so strong? If he were the Rock or Andre the Giant, there would be no doubt that Samson was strong on his own strength. There had to be a mystery as to the source of his power because they tried tricking him many times to get him to reveal what it was.  He was 100% dependent upon God for his strength. (Which is true if he were little or big I just think he was average or small because it baffled people as to how he was so strong.) Textual Observation We return to our text of Colossians 3 and we see here in verse 5 that we are to put to death what is earthly in us.  We have been on this section and this verse for several weeks. Today I want to address how can we put to death what is earthly in us?  There is the old self and this new self, what does this mean? From the beginning I would like to say, the source of the strength Samson had during his time is the exact same source of strength for us to put to death what is earthly in us. It is God!!!! In our text a list is made of what we are to put to death: Sexual immorality, Impurity, Passion, Evil Desire, Covetousness (which is idolatry. So the issue here is, is Idolatry pointed at covetousness or the entire list?  The answer is yes to both.  In one sense, the way the sentence is constructed, covetousness IS idolatry.  What is coveting? When you strongly yearn for something.  It is an unusual yearning.  It is not a yearning like, I would like to have a skyline hot dog.  I would like to have that Carhart shirt because it looks nice. To covet is to have such a desire to have a thing that you would sin to get it.  It places that thing FIRST.  Any affection that is before God is an idol. Therefore, The things that begin that list, sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire can be things that are coveted. Also Idols. Put away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, obscene talk and lying. The first list is sexual in nature. The second list is anger and speech related.  There is a righteous wrath of God judging these things.  There will be an accounting for these things. Except, for those whose lives are hidden with Christ in God (3:1-4).  What is true for those who find themselves IN CHRIST they are a new creation.  The old self looked like one thing, the new self looks like another. Now, I have some people who are going to assist me today.  What a beautiful day to have Milani baptized into Jesus.  She has symbolized today this new birth.  We have been given a visual presentation of what happens to the believer.  They are buried and raised just as Jesus was. I have asked her and some others to come up and help me today.  Point 1) Your greatest enemy is your sin: The flesh has desires.  This list that I just read is a reality.  Paul in this letter is telling the believers, put these to death.  HOW CAN THEY DO THAT? When we gain Christ, we are changed! We are “RENEWED IN KNOWLEDGE after THE IMAGE OF THE CREATOR.” (3:10) This Holy Spirit (Ezekiel 36:25-27) becomes a part of us.  Our affections change.  (Bring the “Holy Spirit” representative on stage who will be holding the Ezekiel passage) GOD AT WORK IN MILANI – Just like Samson This influences your whole life.  You begin to love all things Jesus (at this point put on her new sticky notes that represent the new Milani and separate her from the evil desires). The old Milani dead, the new Milani alive.  She is a new creation. We (She) are still here on this earth.  We are still in this body.  Our affections changed but we fight.  Christ is our righteousness.  When God looks at Milani He sees Christ. Point 2) Putting to death our sin (3:5) means there is sin to put to death.  Jesus died FOR our sin, we are to die TO our sins[i] Milani, and us, have these fleshly desires that just pop up.  They want to come in. “Hi Milani, can we talk?” NO “Hey there Milani, you know, if you and I hang out, you will become really really popular.” NO “Hey Milani. You want that promotion, if you just sow some lies and discord, you can get it.” NO “Hey there, did you see how wreckless that driver was going. You should roll your window down and give them a few words, that will teach them.” NO These are tongue in cheek but I know you are aware of how out of bounds our flesh can take us.  It is there. Trying to convince us, go this way!  Do this. But Paul says, “Kill it.  Put it to death.” Here is the picture of temptation: Jesus says, “watch and pray that you may not enter temptation.” Have you ever prayed that prayer?  Lord, do not let me be tempted today. Peter takes it one step further, he says the devil, your enemy, prowls like a roaring lion.  How many of us would go to the Cincinnati Zoo or the Columbus Zoo if there was a warning that the lion was out of the cage? No one would go.  Why? Because it is dangerous.  This is the image we need in our mind that for the believer we are to just avoid temptation. (Milani just turn away. Point your back to that which is trying to kill you. Point 3) The best way to kill sin is to starve it.  When something is getting fed, when it is receiving a steady diet it will live. Last week when I said I guard my heart, I meant it.  I was not bragging.  It was not false humility.  It is a statement of fact.  I do not want to feed anything that my flesh may want.  Part of this is gaining the wisdom that the flesh will whisper subtly. Before long, if left unchecked and unguarded, it will be screaming. The more mature you grow, the more the fleshly desires in your life will bother you.  “The greatest lie of Satan is this, you can have both Jesus and an unchanged life.” Derek Melton. You can’t kill sin without reading God’s word.  Find the time of day that works for you.  I don’t sleep much, I am up early.  My best time in early.  Not everyone is like me.  But dedicated the time of day that works for you and read everyday. Journal and write your thoughts on the passage. One regular practice of mine is this: I get my journal and write the passage.  I read the passage and while reading it the words or phrases that stick out I write down.  For whatever reason they stick out, write them down.  Then I write out a brief summary of what I just read. Then I put heart, mind, soul, strength and write out how this applies to me.  In light of this text, how can I love the Lord with my heart, mind, soul and strength. Take time.  Slow down.  Do not go fast.  Allow God’s word to lead you. Pray over it. You can’t kill sin unless you identify it.  Secret sin is the worst.  Maturity will reveal and open you to see your secret sin.  Immaturity will hide it from you. This is a matter of the old self and new self.  I am so thankful for Jesus and the work of God that reveals these things.  Oh the mercy and patience of God as He works for us and in us and through us. Let us pray.     Merciful Father, what a day we have had.  So thankful for Melani and her baptism.  Thank you For the family here at Donnels Creek.  Thank you for Your word. We come before you asking for a deeper holiness.  Grow us in Christ.  May we hunger and thirst for righteousness.  Point to us the things in us that are to die and continue to provide to us the things that give life. We pray these things in the name of Jesus Christ, our Messiah, Amen   The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord lift up his countenance[c] upon you and give you peace. Go in the peace that Jesus has offered himself for you and me.  May the peace of Christ be with you and on you.         [i] Michael Horton, The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims On the Way, p. 661

Colossians 3:1-10; Matthew 11:28-30 Reading of God's Word If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. 5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.  Matthew 11:28-30 “28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Introduction:   Four dogs – 3 pits and a Berm-doodle. Ellie May Scab kept picking Had to make a shirt so she could not get to it Mentally, while pondering this text this is the issue I kept trying to resolve. We are as believers saved by Christ.  This means our sins have been forgiven as Jesus has suffered in our place.  This is called substitutionary atonement.  Jesus was our substitute.  He stood in our place and atoned, paid for our sin. So, what now?  I have spent last few months going through Colossians 1 and 2 and it addresses how and why Jesus was able to atone for our sin.  We have discussed how new birth comes about as an act of God upon the believer.  As we opened Chapter 3, the discussion turned to how we are to put to death what is earthly in us.  And we will be addressing some of the more specifics on that today. You recall the “use to” part of our lives.  We USE to be this, but now we are in Christ, and we are a new creation, we are to be putting to death this sin. We talk a lot about sin in the church.  This thing that separates us from God.  We talk about what we bring to the table, and it always seems to be a negative.  We come to church, or we were raised in church, and we hear about this sin in our lives.  We hear sermons and teaching about sin and forgiveness of sin in Christ and how we can live eternally in the good place. We like this.  We have these things that we have done, said, thought and places we have gone.  We begin to feel this burden in our conscience and in our heart and we have this baggage. (illustration with suitcase full of things below) Oh yeah, I remember this. I should not have gone to this place That thing I should not have said I thought this was a good idea at the time, turns out, not so much I just wanted them/that person to accept/love me My heart was so full of anger and hate that I lashed out I felt justified because all that they/he/she did to me I am a red head, what did you expect? I am Irish, what did you expect? I am a man/boy with urges, what did you expect? My parents divorced, what did you expect? I knew it was wrong; I did it anyway. Do you mean Jesus will take this away?  Jesus will take this upon himself?  Oh, thank you Jesus.  We take that and receive that grace.  We are so thankful.  We continue to live and then we find in our bag that maybe we picked up some of those old things.  Maybe there are some items in there that are still there. Next, you have someone like me that teaches sanctification.  That there is instant sanctification, that you are instantly set apart, instantly set aside for holy use.  There is also continuing, ongoing sanctification.  That we are to progressively be made holy. That we are to grow in holiness.  That we spend our lifetime putting to death our sin. But this is the difficult part – it is like picking scab.  If I keep talking about our sin and how we need to grow, at what point will there be joy in our life as a believer.  At what point is the burden easy and light? We look in this bag and there is a never-ending supply of baggage.  The content just keeps coming. I am bringing this . . . again Lord, do you still love me? I have not grown like I wanted. . . Lord, do you still love me? I am doing better Lord, but I am still failing. . . do you still love me? I hope I die on a good day. . . or I hope the Lord returns when I am having a good day. We never get to a place where Jesus is seen as a light burden.  We are weary.  We are heavy laden.  Where is our rest?  How can we live out these words of Jesus?  How can we experience these words? If this is you, then you are missing it here.  You are missing it completely.  The enemy is sowing doubt and lies in your mind.  For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  (repeat)  Did you hear this?  Do you hear this?  How have we died?   Textual Observation: If we are raised with Christ (and we are) in what way have we died?  How were we dead?  If one is raised from, what are they raised? Previously we began to dig into this language here that there are these textual words that say we are dead in one sense and alive in another sense.  That we are buried in one way and raised in another.   What does it mean? When we are alive in Christ, we are ALIVE in Christ. I really want you to hear this.  Two weeks ago the sermon title was “The Happiest Funeral Ever.” I told you about Dr. Forbes, death just days away from 100. That was a happy funeral.  But it was not the happiest ever.  You know what the happiest funeral is/was? The day you died and rose with Christ.  Those who are raised with Christ, will never die. Not for one second.  Not for five minutes.  You will never die.  Two passages we will look at here. The first is John 11.  In this text we have the death of Lazarus.  Jesus comes to the house where Mary and Martha are.  They are having a funeral.  Martha comes to Jesus v21, Lord if you had only been here, Lazarus would not have died.    “Your brother will rise again,” Jesus says. To this Martha replies, “I know, I know he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”    Then there is this, John 11:25–26, Jesus is talking to Martha, the sister of the man who’s in the grave.   I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Yes, we die. The text itself says, “though he die, yet shall he live.” But no, we don’t die, because it says in verse 26, “everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” Lazarus’s body lay dead in the grave, but Lazarus was not dead. His body was dead. He was not dead. He had not died. Now here’s the other verse. This one is even more important. Jesus says in John 5:24,   Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life Believers in Jesus who keep his word have passed already out of death into life. They now have what’s called eternal life. Eternal life cannot, by definition, stop for a second. It cannot stop. You never lose it. It is eternal. There’s not a five-minute pause in the hospital or anywhere.   Repeat after me . . Christ . . . is . . . .my . . . life! (Now put to death what is earthly in you.)  Put it to death because it is not you anymore.  You do not put it to death because you are trying to gain eternal life.  You do not put it to death to prove that you are worthy for God’s grace.  (Let me clue you in, you are not worthy of your next breath.   You are not worthy of your next heartbeat, and neither am I) You are putting it to death because you are not that man anymore.   You are putting it to death because you are not that woman anymore.  You are putting it to death because you have a new love.  You are putting it to death because you have a new life. Now is it more clear how Jesus is not a burden?  Is it clear how Jesus’ yoke is easy?  He is it.  He is pulling the weight.  We are not picking scabs here.  When we get to verse 5 and it says, “Put to death what is earthly in you,” and then it begins to make a list.  That list can look A LOT like the things that were in that suitcase.  It will look a lot like what I brought to the table.  It includes this list and even more.  Paul was just making some examples. “Put to death what is earthly in you, sexual immorality.” Well that is a big one.  When I arrived here at Donnel’s Creek the decision had been made to not make any big changes for about six months.  During this time I would get to know you and you get to know me and I would get to know how things operate. I could observe what is working and what can be improved. As the sixth month date was arriving I began to work on a strategy of growing this body.  There are TWO avenues that can be a HUGE source of growth and one of them is the youth program. We have on this lower end of our body these kids that represent scores of more kids that could really be nurtured and matured.  Beth is has done, is doing and I am certain will continue to do a beautiful job with this program. But I want to give you some insight into what the youth of Springfield, New Carlisle and everywhere in between are facing. Adult content was something that in the recent past in which you wanted to consume, you had to go somewhere else and get.  Those days are over. This, sexual immorality covers a lot of ground.  The word used there in the Biblical language is pornea.  It refers to a wide range of things like adultery, fornication, immorality, unfaithfulness, prostitution and in general, any sexual sin. Paul is making an imperative here: “Put to death what is earthly in you.” Which MEANS that there are earthly things in them.  As a church, as believers in Christ, we are growing in holiness and we are putting to death what is earthly in us.  If we are doing that as a church, as those from the outside come in, they will ALSO be doing this.  What are some of the alluring things of the world that is attracting our children.  This is not as simple as counseling them to avoid the back seat on Friday and Saturday night.  Times have changed. Heard of Only Fans?  Only fans began in the twenty-teens for content creators.  That you can post videos on how to cook a specific dish.  You can start the conversation and invite behind a paywall and be taught. Content creators could be anything from mechanics to comedians. In 2020 blew up with adult content and if one says Only Fans, the two are paired.  As of today, 90% of the content is adult. I have consumed none of it.  I will make a pledge that I guard my heart very closely in this area.  I will not even look at a mannequin in a Vicotria’s Secret window.  It is not arrogance or pride, self-righteousness, it is not legalism, it is self-preservation.  I want to give nothing to the enemy. So much so, that as I explain to you a Tic Tock channel called Bop House, I would not look at it long.  These are fully clothed girls, 13+ that is headed by a woman named Sophie Rain. Sophie Rain claims to be a Christian.  She also claims to be a virgin.  She is an adult content creator on Only Fans.  There are young women all over the country, (14, 15, 17 years old) whose goal is to make it to Bop House in LA.  Why? It super charges their career as an Only Fans model.  It guarantees success. The girls, fully clothed, post videos on Tic Tock that on surface level just appear to be choreographed dances.  They are fully clothed but revealing at the same time. This is attractive.  The promise to make tens of thousands of dollars each month and some others flaunting millions of dollars each month is attractive. One such Bop House resident just recently turned 18.  After MUCH publicity, at 12:01 on her birthday she opened an Only Fans account and three hours had 1 million paying subscribers.  Do you not think that there are young women who will find this appealing?  That they can make major money selling themselves? There are 1.4 million women on Only Fans.  1.2 million of them are between the ages of 18 to 24.  There are only 10 million total women in the USA between ages of 18 to 24.  That means that 1 out of every 10 (10%) have content on Only Fans.  There are some models who have made millions.  One in ten girls Yet the average income for content creators is $180 per month.  Most are selling their soul for this. Who is consuming it?  There are 82 million men in USA. 90% of the subscribers are married.  68% are white.  The overwhelming average consumer is white, married male.  What is the attraction?  The allure. It is all a lie.  That is the definition of sin.  It is a lie.  It made big promises to Eve, but failed to deliver.  This is true in my life.  There was great hope in the promises sin has made and it has failed every time. What do we do with this? We want to grow as a church.  When I pray for this church I pray that we grow spiritually.  That we grow in knowledge.  That we grow knowing Jesus more, that it produces in us a reverent praise and a commitment to grow in our faith. But I also pray that we grow in number.  As we grow in number, I want to fill these seats.  I am serious when I can see a day when we have another congregation.  It is possible with God.  We can have one in east Springfield.  We can have one in Beavercreek.  We can plant churches all over the region. This means we will be bringing in people who are hurt by sin.  People who have been lied to by the enemy.  People who have scars.  People who need to put to death what is earthly in them.  People just like you and me.  People who need rest. Jesus says, come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. There are people who need this.  We must be a people ready to provide it. I want to repeat what I said earlier.  Paul is encouraging this people to put to death what is earthly in them.  This is a reality for them.  It is a reality for us and it is a reality for those who come to us. 

Date: August 31, 2025 Lord’s Day: 35 Series: Colossians the Mystery of Christ Title: How To Get Away with Murder Text: Colossians 3:1-5a    If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your[a] life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. 5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you Introduction:  What “used” to be.   Point: Our minds can be so tied to the past that we forget the present reality. It can be SO CLOUDED from the past to the point that it can CLOUD THE PRESENT. The focus of the mind can be ROOTED in the past and in what ONCE WAS that we fail to see the present.   Last week we opened our study of this third chapter of Colossians and the main thoughts surrounded the change in pattern here. The teaching of Paul in chapter 1 and 2 is the work of Christ, the work done outside of the believer.  But now, the focus turns: now that we are in Christ, what CAN we do?   What does Paul expect here?  We should kill sin! “Put to death what is earthly in you.”   Before we begin, let us seek a blessing for this message. Textual Observation: As we open up the text this morning I would like to bring your attention to the repetition.  There is a thought process applied here where essentially the same emphasis is mentioned four times.   1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.   2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth   v.3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God   4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you will also appear with him in glory   Notice the direction of our thinking! Seek the things . . . . . .ABOVE Set minds on things. . . ABOVE Life hidden with Christ . . . . . (in God) ABOVE Christ appears you will be . . .ABOVE   THEREFORE: An Imperative is used here.  This means, Paul is not making a suggestion.  As a result of this, because of this put to death what is earthly in you.    In Plain words KILL YOUR SIN.   I would like to build on a thought from last week.  We are in one of two camps, one of two realities:   Dead to Christ but Alive in the world.   Dead to the world but alive in Christ.   Those in Christ are DEAD . . . to the world.  How is this a reality?  IN what ways have we died to the world?  When it says in our text that we are raised in Christ what does that mean?   Raised with Christ I have here with me two certificates.  I was around for both events but only remember one of them.  I have a birth certificate.  It lists where I was born, what time I was born, my parents and my weight and height.  This is a certification that I was born.  If there is any doubt that I had a birth, I was given a piece of paper that documented that my birth was an actual event. This is an event that I have kept secret for a long time.  My first week here there was a Q and A and one of the first questions was when is your birthday? I was hesitant to give that information and one may wonder why. In previous years of my life I was associated with the world that likes to overindulge in alcohol.  Of my shortcomings, this was not, is not one of them.  I can’t stand the overindulgence of alcohol.  Yet at the same time, it is seen as very rude and insulting to refuse if someone wants to buy you a drink. The fix for this situation is no one ever knew when my birthday was.  I kept it to myself. Upon leaving that world, it was a habit that I never let go. So Tina QUICKLY answered in my place. It made me feel a bit awkward.  I was not offended; it is just that I have kept that information very private and right out of the gate, no one asked what my view of the Millennium was, or my theological stance on Melchizedek, or my view of transubstantiation or con substantiation. But have no doubt, I was born.  I have a second piece of paper here of another event in my life.  It is my baptismal certificate. It was given to me decades ago and it states when I was baptized, who did it and where it was done.  There are a lot of metaphors and analogies being used throughout Scripture that speaks of death and life.  It is said of the believer that they have been “BORN AGAIN”.  “New BIRTH” another term to describe Christ followers. Our text here it says that you have been raised with Christ which is certainly an allusion of death to life. Does this refer to these documents that I have right here? My brith = real, my baptism = real, is this text referring to ONE or BOTH of these?  Then you read down a little further it says that we have died, and our life is hidden with Christ in God.  How can we have death and life in the same sentence.  In one regard we are dead and in another we are alive.  This is an odd thing, isn’t it? I do not want you to forget the context we have here.  This is one issue with chapters and verses.  These are very helpful when we are all trying to get to the same place in our Bibles.  But they are are hindrance, often, to context.    Chapters and verses were added later to help with the ease of audience reading of texts.  What happens in many instances is we when we are reading Scripture and want to take a break from the text we get to a chapter and stop.    Even in as I have been preaching through Colossians, we had a hard break at the end of chapter 2 and beginning of chapter 3.  Yet there is still a context here.  Chapter 3 does start an ADDED THOUGHT, but the thought comes within the context.   The emphasis in chapter 2 was the new birth.  That our, “whole self was ruled by the flesh,” and that it was, “put off when we were circumcised by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism in which you were also RAISED with him through your faith in the world of God who raised him from the dead.” (2:11-12)   Is this referring to a literal baptism or figurative baptism? Not always in Scripture, when baptism is taught or referenced, is it a literal, being buried in the water.   Examples of figurative baptism: “And this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also – not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God.” 1 Peter 3:21. (This references baptism symbolically. It states that this is not about the literal water that removes dirt but a clear conscience.  This is a thing of the mind.)   “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.  He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior.” Titus 3:4-6 (Again, a washing that is figurative.  It was done to us, this passage gives a hard glance at Ezekiel 36.  But this washing was a metaphor of work done by God through His Spirit)   Is this what is being referred to here in Colossians?  When Paul states, “if you have been raised with Christ,” he is continuing the context from Colossians 2 about burial and raising of baptism. Is this literal or figurative?   ODG: Commentators and theologian are mixed. I think it can be both. There is a figurative reference to a circumcision done to our hearts.  A work done BY GOD.  This is not literal.  It is a reality. But it is not a surgery done on our hearts by God. It marks a moment we are forever changed.   The fact is, I have two papers here that signify that I was born.  I was born once in Adam and once in Christ.  I did nothing both times. I participated in neither birth other than just being. My baptism in water represented something already done in me.   It was God who raised Christ from the dead, the working of God.  It was God who raised me from the dead, the working from God.   “Having been buried with him in baptism in which you were also RAISED WITH HIM THROUGH FAIHT IN THE WORKING OF GOD WHO RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD” (Colossians 2:12)   This is our context.  “IF THEN you have been raised with Christ seek the things that are above.”   Mortify Sin We find the statement in v.5 “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you” in another place in Paul’s writings.  It appears in Romans 8:13. In English it sounds identical.  “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” Don’t those appear to say the same thing?  They do say the same thing but they are to be interpreted differently.  How so? Last week we revisited sanctification.  This passage that we are currently studying is a sanctification passage.  Sanctification means, being set apart.  In relation so Scripture, we are set apart by God for holy use.  We are set apart to be holy. The reason Colossians 3:1-5 is a sanctification passage is, now that we born again, set your minds on things above.  Think on things above.  Here is how we are to think.  Here is how we are to proceed. Regarding sanctification, it is a one time event in the believers life: “You were washed, you were justified, you were sanctified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ” 1 Corinthians 6:11 It is also a continuing activity. “We are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.  For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” 2 Corinthians 3:16 The action in those passages, the verbs are easier to see in English.  The verb in 1 Corinthians 6:11 is aorist which means it is a completed action done in the past.  It was an event. The verb in 2 Corinthians 3:16 is present tense.  Which in Greek means a present reality but also going on into the future.  It is a continuing thing. We find that same situation here regarding killing our sin: In our passage of Colossians 3:5 the verb is Aorist.  Means it was done in the past.  It was a single event.  Because you have been raised with Christ, because you life is hidden with Christ in God . . . put to death. . . One time deal. But in Romans 8:13, just like Sanctification is a ONE TIME and ONGOING thing, the verb tense there is present tense.  This is an act that you are presently doing and will continue to do.  IS this not a beautiful thing.  Don’t you just love God’s word?  We are going to come back to this next week and continue past verse 5.  But I want this to be an encouragement to you. How is this encouraging.  In both instances (Colossians 3:5 and Romans 8:13) these verbs are in passive tense.  What this means is the Spirit, within us, Is helping us bring this about.  We are bringing it about, but we are being helped to bring it about.  Oh how this makes me love Jesus more. I have had to put a lot of sin to death.  I say this not bragging.  I say this because I am like you.  I look back on my years past and I weep.  I hate what I once did.  I hate who I use to be.  I genuinely hate it. We are celebrating Labor Day this weekend.  Long weekend of work that has been done.  Let’s take a day off and smoke some ribs or fry some hot dogs or hamburgers and celebrate that we have worked. This passage in Colossians is a work passage.  The work of Christ FOR us.  The work of God in us.  The work we are to do in Christ.  Mortifying our sin.      

Date: August 24, 2025 Lord’s Day: 34 Series: Colossians the Mystery of Christ Title: Happiest Funeral You Will Ever Attend Text: Colossians 3:1-5   Introduction:   Clarence Forbes was born in 1901. Coming from a farming and snowy background in northern New Hampshire, he entered Bates College in Maine. For his freshman year he registered for five courses in Latin, Greek, German, French, and English, to the consternation of his classmates (who didn’t think he could survive such a rigorous schedule). He not only survived, but earned his Phi Beta Kappa key and became enamored of a lovely coed, Florence le Maire, from a French family in Maine.     In 1924 they began 63 years of married life, raising five children. Clarence always referred to his wife as “the Best of Maine.”   After his marriage, he received his master’s degree while studying under William Abbott Oldfather, the distinguished professor of classics at the University of Illinois. Clarence continued his graduate work and earned his PhD four years later. He then took a position in the Classics Department at the University of Nebraska. After twenty years at Nebraska, he moved to Ohio State because he feared that Nebraska was about to make him a dean. As he wrote at the time, “I just wanted to teach!” He remained at Ohio State as a faculty member until his retirement in 1971.   Calrence Forbes died in August of 2001, only a month and a half short of his hundredth birthday.  I was at that funeral in 2001 and I remember it as if it were yesterday. It was the happiest funeral I had ever attended.    You may ask, in what way was it happy.  Dr. Forbes was days away from being 100.  The wife he met in college was wearing a red sweater when they were first introduced.  After her death in 1987 every day he wore Santa Clause red socks, in memory of her. He had lived 14 years after the love of his life had died.  Additionally, he had outlived all of his friends.  He was ready to go and everyone knew it.    This was the happiest funeral I had ever attended.  There were some tears, he was a beloved family member.  But at the same time, there were many smiles.    We come to our text today and see a funeral that even tops Dr. Forbes.  How is this a happy funeral? “For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”  Yes, this is a most joyous reason to be happy.    We have spend much time in Colossians chapter 1 that sets up the foundation for this letter.  Then in Chapter 2 spells out the problem.  We discussed various theological matters along the way.   Specifically, I have shared all of the things that as believers we could not do.  We cannot earn our salvation.  That even the faith that it took for you to believe is a gift of God.  Last week we spent much time discussing how Christ filled you.  That you did absolutely nothing to save yourself.   Where does that leave us?  Do we continue to do nothing?  Are we continually passive?    Our passage today links the doctrinal portion of the letter to the practical portion of the letter.  There is a NEW NATURE that occurs in the believer and it becomes a motivating factor in their growth.   Let us pray before we dig into the text:   Back in 2012 I had a clean up job.  It was clearing out a unit and I came upon this baggie of goodies.    The owner of the unit was obviously a retired deputy as well as a fire chief.  It appears as if he had both jobs and this bag was full of his police and fire ID’s.    It took me back to when I was in high school and there was this show on NBC, Miami Vice.  If God would give me another life back then, I wanted to be Sunny Crocket.  Sometimes, even today, when we check in at a restaurant and there is a wait list, I will give them the name, Sunny Crocket.    Sunny Crocket was handsome, I was not.  Sunny Crocket drove a sweet car and dressed nice and had great hair.  What he also had on occasion was his police badge that he wore around his neck on a dog chain necklace.   Guess what was in the bag?  Oh yes, my chance to be a little closer to Sunny Crocket. I would put that on my neck and Tina would see it, “What are you doing?  Get that thing off before you end up in the clinker impersonating a police officer.” For a brief moment, I was Sunny.    Now, I ask the question, and I know the answer.  Does this badge make me Sunny Crocket?  Does this badge make me a deputy?  The answer is no, and in fact, if I were to pretend, in public, in anyway that I am a police officer, I have committed a serious crime.   Even though I have the badge I have no authority.  We give authority to certain people to uphold the law.  So much is this the case that in older films or on tv, during a police chase they would say, “Stop! In the name of the. . . .law.”   This is the authority that they have. Because these officers have gone through a process where they get trained and make oaths they become representatives of the law.   We begin to see this same principle in our text today.  We have spent much time in chapter 1 and 2.  We see the authority of Christ in these passages.  We have labored quite a bit on how our relationship with Christ began and there is NOTHING we can do.   Jesus fills the cup.  We don’t fill it at all.  He filled your cup and my cup from start to finish in this work in our lives.    But last week, for those who were here, you may have seen the glass of water and you heard my words.  You heard my deliberations in my head from 30 years ago. I have to do something in order to be saved right?  Do I not play a part?   In terms of salvation, new birth, regeneration, new creation, your life as a Christ follower, disciple of Christ, it began 100% without you.  It is by grace.  This is that which we have been discussing.    God says, in this new covenant, I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean.  He did it.  He says in this new covenant I will take your rock hard resistant heart and give you a heart that does not resist me.    See that?  Without the work of God we would resist Him.  I will put my Spirit in you and cause you obey me.   See that?  Without the Spirit, we have no desire, no ability to obey.  This is the work of God.  It is a beautiful work of God.  This is the jar filling the cup.  Bottom to top.   What about now?    “You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:11)   Sanctified.  What does that mean?  Set apart for holy use.  You were made holy.  Just like the instruments in the tabernacle were set apart for holy use.  They were sanctified.  God set them apart.   You have been sanctified.  In the name of the the Lord Jesus Christ.  There is your authority.    We come to our text,” IF then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.” (3:1)   Here is a switch.  It is something you can do.  Up until now we have been solely speaking in terms of what has been done for us. These opening 4 sentences reveal to us what we are now.   When you have been taken hold of by Jesus Christ himself, then at that very moment you:   Obtain faith and by that faith they receive Justification and the adoption as children (Rom. 3:22, 24; 4:5; 5:1; Gal. 3:26; 4:5) The Assurance of sonship by the witness of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:15–16; Gal. 4:6; 2 Cor. 1:22; Eph. 1:13; 4:30) Those who are called are also immediately, by faith, included in fellowship with Christ, buried & raised (Rom. 6:3ff.) Made alive with him (Eph. 2:1, 5) Conformed to his image (Rom. 8:29–30; 1 Cor. 4:15–16; 2 Cor. 3:18; Gal. 4:19). Christ lives in them and they live in Christ (Gal. 2:20). Since by his resurrection Christ was made a life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45; 2 Cor. 3:17) Has received the Spirit of Christ (Rom. 5:5; 8:15; 1 Cor. 2:12; 2 Cor. 11:4; Gal. 3:2; 4:6; 5:18), The Spirit lives in them (Rom. 8:11) They live in the Spirit and walk according to the Spirit (Rom. 8:2, 4–5, 9). By faith Christ or his Spirit is the author and origin of new life in those who are called (Gal. 3:2; 4:6)                         They are very different, new, and spiritual people. The old has gone; all things have become new (2 Cor. 5:17).              They have passed from death into life (Eph. 2:5; 5:14; Col. 3:1). They have been crucified to the flesh and to the world (Gal. 5:24; 6:14). They themselves no longer live, but Christ lives in them (Gal. 2:20). They are new creations (2 Cor. 5:17) God’s workmanship (Eph. 2:10). They walk in newness of life, are now temples of the Holy Spirit, and are led by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 6:4; 8:14; 1 Cor. 6:19; Gal. 5:25).   This is every believer.  You have been deputized.  You have been given authority IN CHRIST.  I can’t look at this and not get a little excited.    “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things that are above, no on things that are on earth. FOR YOU HAVE DIED . . .” (1:1-3a)   That old you is no longer you.  In fact the old you compared to the new you:                         Alive in the world but dead in Christ                         Alive in Christ but dead to the world   The is the happiest funeral you ever attended was when you died to this world.   Everything you could not do before Christ, you have been set totally free to do now.   

Date: August 17, 2025 Lord’s Day: 32 Series: Colossians the Mystery of Christ Title: Filled Text: Colossians 2:8-23   Introduction:  I recall many years ago someone taught me a lesson that too me another twenty years to learn.  I heard what they were saying but I did not completely understand it till much later in life.   I place before you a glass which represents the life of a potential believer.  We are going to define grace.  This can be a rhetorical exercise.  So, if this cup is the believer, water equals what has to be done to save you.    In other words, what do you bring to the table?  For instance, if you are 20% does God bring 80%?  Or if you are 50% is the remaining grace needed 50%?  How much does Christ fill?    At the time I looked and I reasoned, well I do my part and Jesus does His part and I am saved.  That was the tools I had been given to interpret Scripture from an early age on.  But is this reality?  Is this what Scripture teaches?   I focus on this a lot because I find that in church congregations and in individual Christian lives there are often one extreme or the other on this issue.    On the one end I will use this image to define it: Donkey from Shrek.  Have you seen Shrek?  It was a brilliant cartoon film that is now 25 years old.  Shrek and Fiona’s ugly children are now out of high school, out of college and in the work force.    In Shrek you had Donkey.  All he wanted is for Shrek to like him.  He did everything in his power to make Shrek like him.  He just kept hanging around, kept following him, everywhere Shrek went there was donkey.    Donkey tried to do things for Shrek to prove his worth.  He was trying to show Shrek that without him, he would not be complete.    Donkey was in awe of Shrek.  If Shrek had given Donkey the open arm of fellowship from the beginning, I do not know if that would have changed Donkey’s feeling of inadequacy.  He was constantly trying to impress Shrek with his importance.   Yet, there was another side of Donkey, another ego, another personality.  It was what he really wanted to be. (Shoe the white stead.)   The stead is the exact opposite of Donkey.  Donkey saw himself as slightly below average in looks, the stead is a 10 out of 10.  The stead is tall, donkey is short.  The stead is strong, Donkey is weak.  The stead is brave, Donkey was most of the time a coward.   The stead did not need a friend in Shrek.  Everyone would want to be friends with stead.  The stead being handsome would attract a beautiful mate that is thrilled to be with him, donkey was being pursued by and ugly very large dragon.    What I find in myself at times, in others, and in congregations are there are people that fill these roles.  There are times we just want Jesus to love us but we know us and we have seen our failures.  We know what we think sometimes.  We know what we have done, what at times we want to do and sometimes what we continue to struggle doing.    If I could just get myself in a position for Jesus to love me.  If I could just do my part.  Maybe if I just hang around Jesus A LOT, maybe if I just keep pushing what I am good at, maybe He will love me.  I just need to prove myself and be really good and show that I would be a good friend of Jesus.   Then the other extreme happens when we fail to see all the ways we fail.  Maybe there is not an outward failing.  But we fail to see that while we may not have said profane words out loud when we were in traffic or in a specific place, we certainly said them in our heart.  But we can overlook that right?  I did not say them out loud . . .and then with the same inward voice pray to God in our heart.  The same voice that yelled outrage or held anger or harbored wrong desire is the same heart that utters silent prayers.    For those who have been in church most of their lives, this can be true of them.  Jesus loses a little luster and we become a bit more the captain of our righteousness.  We become less like Donkey and more like the steed.    My hope today as that we get a very healthy look at Jesus.  I want us to see his deity, his authority and His sufficiency in our lives.    For Donkey, he is full of awe but lacks the seriousness of the situation.  For the steed, it is the reverse for he lacks the awe but understands the seriousness of the situation.   The woman who anoints Jesus understands both.  She is in awe of Christ and also gets the seriousness of his work and ministry.    What she realizes is what we must realize that we fill no part of this glass.  Jesus completely fills us.  Jesus (2:19) who is the head and holds us together, also fills us (2:10) but there were some (2:18) who were teaching that there was something they could do, apart from Christ, on their own, that would grow them.   Faulty Doctrine = Faulty Reality There were elemental spirits of the world (2:8, 20), demonic teaching that were causing the believers to take their eye off Jesus and begin putting it on themselves.  How so?   What can I do to fill my glass? Can I eat/not eat certain food to get me closer to God? Can I celebrate a certain holiday or feast and that get me closer to God? Can I fast/deny myself in someway to get closer to God?   In reality NONE OF THIS WORKS.  Jesus stated it best in Mark 7:1-8 that the heart of the problem is a problem of the heart.  Our issue is the flesh and none of these things just mentioned and will be mentioned again shortly, will fix a spiritual problem.    These things can help make you appear spiritual but at the same time, you become prideful and arrogant.  The only help is Jesus.  How so?   Our passage today points that proper doctrine produces a proper view of God’s work in our lives (2:8, 16, 18, 20-23).   Rather than look at self, our passage lists three things.  We will look at three pieces of Christ’s work in: The diety of Christ (2:10a) The authority of Christ (2:10b, 15) The Sufficiency of Christ (2:11-12, 13b-14, 17 and 19)   The deity of Christ (2:10a) points back to 1:15-20.  We spent several weeks in this passage working our way through how Jesus is fully God and fully man.    God was pleased to dwell bodily in Jesus.  He was pleased to dwell there, much more than an O.T. sacred building. This tabernacle pointed to Christ.   The sacrifices and the holidays all pointed to Christ.  Christ was the fulfillment of these things.   The influence that the Colossian church was receiving made promises that failed to deliver.  Jesus never failed and never fails.   His authority is profound.  The picture that is being painted here by Paul is so very powerful (2:15).  He disarmed the ruler and authorities and put them to shame by triumphing over them.   The picture here is what the Roman army would do in victory.  The conquered soldiers were stripped of their clothes and weapons.  Then they would march them in public.  Completely naked and disarmed they were shown to be in total defeat.    Compare this to what led up to Jesus’ darkest hour.  As he was mocked and put through sham trials, then beaten beyond recognition, stripped naked and made to carry a cross through the streets of Jerusalem.    Isaiah 52 says that He was so beaten that he did not even look like a man.  They gambled for his clothing.  When I read account of the woman who anointed Jesus with oil, this was just literal hours away from his crucifixion.   I have pondered the difference between cheap and expensive cologne/perfume.  Through the years Terrell, who has worked with me a lot, have had conversations about this.  We would find a scent that we like but it does not last.  Even if you can find a cheap version, let’s say Polo Black, which sells for about $100 for 6 oz. that you can find similar size with same scent for $15.  The difference, it does not last.   You can spray and it smells great but it only last a few minutes to a few hours.  He and I would say, what is it that the expensive one has that make sit last.  The pricey scent will last all day.   He found out the answer and it is because it has to ferment.  Like fine wine, it is not so much the ingredient but the process.  It has to sit in the dark for a period of time and then it can be sold because something happens during that time.   This woman brought expensive perfume and anointed Jesus with it.  How expensive?  A year’s wages.  An entire year wages is poured on him in a matter of seconds.    I have thought about this on many occasions.  Because it was expensive, maybe, just maybe there was a hint of aroma as he was paraded through the streets.  Maybe there was an occasion that remnants of that perfume she sacrificed for him could be detected as He was sacrificed for us.    As Jesus was being led through the streets being humiliated it was actually the beginning of the end for the demonic forces.   We are being led by Christ triumphal procession.  We are the aroma of Christ.  As he ascended on high, he took many captives (2 Cor. 2:14; Eph 4:8)   The deity of Christ, the authority of Christ and the sufficiency of Christ is no match for our measly efforts at spirituality.   

Date: August 10, 2025 Lord’s Day: 32 Series: Colossians the Mystery of Christ Title: Established Text: Colossians 2:8-15 Many years ago I was on an out of state move, driving and thinking.  I began to consider the long stretches of time I am away from home.  I thought, ya know, I could have a complete other family or marriage or relationship and the family and Tina would not know.  I am sure eventually it would come out, that is why we have Dr. Phil and Jerry Springer.   As I thought about it more I considered all the time that I spend going to estimates.  I have gone all over central ohio and as far away as Kentucky to do an estimate for a job.  Again, gaps of time where I am unaccounted.    One of the members of our family that you have yet to meet, and most likely won’t, is Loretta.  That name will get Tina’s attention pretty quickly.  She is not a fan of Loretta and you will know why as I explain her.   So I thought I would be cute.  When Tina would ask me where I was going I would say, “I am going to see Loretta.”. She would scowl.  On the way out the door if she did not ask, I would say, “Hey, Loretta and I are going to meet up.”   This became so catchy that even my son-in-law Matt began meeting with Loretta’s sister.    Now in reality, there is not Loretta.  I hope you know that.  But as time passed I began to consider what I was doing.  Sure, I was trying to be funny.  I was making efforts to be cute and keep Tina on her toes.  She would argue with me and I would just say, “You keep treating me like this, I will go live with Loretta.”   One morning a couple of years ago I was sitting in my office and I was thinking about Loretta.  In reality, I was making a joke out of something very serious.  In fact, it was so serious that in addressing it God made a commandment.   So I decided that maybe it was good for Loretta to disappear.  We have a family text that includes a bunch of people and all of them knew Loretta.  So the best way for Loretta to disappear is to announce it on there and this is what was written:   Loretta Smithereens, 29 of Timbuktu, Ohio Died peacefully in her sleep September 18.  At her side were a variety of stray cats that she attracted through the years.  Her passing was caused by a broken heart encountered when the love of her life reasoned that maybe joking around about breaking a commandment is not as funny as originally thought.  She leaves behind one child who will inherit all her prized collections including a full set of professional bowler Art Bigotti collected plates and various knock off  Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Burberry handbags.  The loss of Loretta comes as a sudden end.   Now, occasionally, remnants of Loretta laughter pops up and you may ponder why I open our time with her today.  It is because I wanted to focus on one particular part of my marriage to Tina (which isn’t joking about adultery).    Tina and I both met at Graces Garden at Schiller Park in the German Village area of downtown Columbus, Ohio.  Pastor Doyal Jackson officiated the ceremony and did a wonderful job.  As a part of that ceremony we repeated some vows of covenant commitment and then exchanged rings.   I can’t recall exactly what Doyal said but it is not uncommon for the wedding officiant to say something about the ring being a sign of marriage.  Sometimes they will say, the ring is round and never ending which is what our love should be for the other person. But that is the gist of the ring.    When you look on Tina’s finger and my finger you will see a ring.  These rings are a sign that we are married.  When you look on the hand of a woman or a man and you see a band on the appropriate finger, it means they were married (or widow(wer) were at one time married).   No person with their mental faculties would look at the ring and say, that ring IS the marriage.  The ring is a ring.  The ring can’t do anything.  It is just a ring.    However, the ring represents something.  It represents that this person is married.  They have taken vows of commitment to each other.   We come to an interesting passage today that builds on where we were last week.  We are looking at Colossians 2:8-15 and the center (where we will spend most of our time) is 2:11-12.   It is here that Paul mentions two things, circumcision and baptism.  Why would he speak on this?  How are they related?  They are both signs.   Just as my ring is the sign of my marriage to Tina, these two ceremonies are a sign of something.  This will be our focus today.    (bless the message)   Review: Last week we spent our time in 2:6-7, “As you received Christ, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.”.   How did we receive Christ?  Grace.  We are surrounded by fields full of plants.  When the farmers around us, all the way back in April and May, took to their fields, they planted seed.  We are seeing the result of that planting now.  Corn plants have grown all over.    The Corn is ROOTED.  It is rooted because it the seed was planted.  No brainer right?   That points to us.  As you received Christ, so walk in him.  God planted the seed.  If God had not planted to the seed we would not grow.  It is an act of His divine grace and mercy.    So the point last week was, as you received, so walk.  Receive by grace, grow by grace.    2:8 Then Paul continues: See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according the human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world and not according to Christ.   There were influences in that church that were pushing the “Christ AND” theology. It was happening then, it is happening today and it has happened through out time in between then and now.    I grew up in a denomination that taught Christ AND baptism.  We are going to address baptism today.  Let me be clear, baptism is a sign of saving faith not the source/case of saving faith.  Just like our wedding ring.  It is the sign. We are not baptized TO GAIN salvation.  We are baptized because we have received salvation.   This is the warning from Paul to the Colossian church.  Be careful of what teaching you hear.   Deceitful and harmful leading can come through enticing and deceitful words. He was teaching them, be careful.    The word here for Captive (NIV, ESV, NASB, CSB) is actually to take off as plunder, like in the spoils of war.  That is the word picture that Paul is painting. Don’t be captured.  Do you defend your faith like this?  I ask this not as an indictment but often is the case in my life I have not.  I would like to say that I take it a lot more seriously now.    Do you defend against the way the world reasons?  How does the world reason?   A coupe of weeks ago I went to the ATM and withdrew $500. I was going to take care of an obligation and big bills were perfect.  I chose, fewest bills and then the money dispensed and I drove home.  It was not until later that I realized that the ATM had given me $600.  It was $100 more than what I had punched in.    I opened the banking APP and made sure I did not miss key and sure enough it said, $500.  So I was like, well, Now I have an extra $100.   THIS IS HOW THE WORLD REASONS IN THIS situation.  What is the worldly philosophy for this extra $100.    It is the Bank’s error. God wants you to have that apple product you have had your eye on. The Bank has tons of them, they will never miss one. God blessed you with that $100. This is repayment for some good that you did at some earlier time (Karma)   A few thoughts went through my head but the chief thought was, If the ATM had shorted me $20 you know for a fact I would be at that bank the next day pleading my case.  If they had my $20, they are certainly going to want their $100.  I decided to take it back.   The next day came and I had on my chores, go take care of that obligation and then take the $100 back to Huntington Bank.  But much to my surprise when I was paying my bill, I gave them a stack and they checked to make sure I had not just printed these puppies up on the HP.  One of them showed counterfeit.   It was that extra $100.  Not certain what happened in the dispensing at the ATM but in some way, a fake $100 was undetected.  Fortunately, I was able to pay my bill and get on with the day.  But I called the bank and let them know the whole story.   Many of you may be aware of this fact already, but when they train agents to spot counterfeit money they do not deal with a lot of fake bills.  They have them study a real $20, $50 or $100 bill.  Agents spend 12 to 14 weeks in their training and then add to it on the job training.  They know what a real bill is and can spot a fake right away.   As believers, we are to defend against the counterfeit. The best way is to spend time in this word.  Not being led away as spoil of war.  We can detect when the enemy is infiltrating.  Spending time with Godly teachers and writers.   If this time, on Sunday is the only time you are being fed, be prepared to be deceived.  I say this not to shame you.  I say it to alarm you.  I say it to encourage you to take time every day.  (plug the 31 day Proverbs study here if they need help)   Here is the deal on our opening verse 8.  There is nothing wrong with philosophy.  The word is Philo (love, you know it as Philadelphia the city of brotherly love), and the other word Sophia (knowledge).  Love of knowledge.   Paul is warning against empty knowledge.  Deceitful knowledge.  There were those trying to lead the people astray with empty and deceitful knowledge.  Namely, that if they do certain things along with faith, they would be saved.  This is counterfeit.  This is wrong.  This is deceit. I absolutely love theology and studying theology.  This is no credit to me.  I grew up hating reading.  I could not stand books.  I avoided books as if they had a disease that would kill me.   When God saved me there was a progressive fire that began to burn inside of me.  I began to see the beauty of Christ in theology.  It drew me into the language – I hated to language.  I hated studying English.  I got by with Spanish.  Just enough to do the bare minimum.    The door opened to people like R.J. Rushdooney, Abraham Kuyper, John Owen, Herman Bavinck, Martin Luther, John Calvin and Greg Bahnsen and Gary Demar and the list goes on and on.  This is the work of God.  I will tell you without Him, I am lazy when it comes to study.   But you don’t have to love these things to be a believer.  Paul’s words to these people were not that they had to know all the weeds. I like the weeds because it gives me a great appreciation, awe and respect for God.  When I see how it all fits together.  It is a thing of beauty.    Here is the summary of the Gospel: Christ died for our sins, in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.  This is the Gospel.  This is it.    You don’t have to know philosophy, theology or psychology.  That is the gospel message and the basic kindergarten knowledge. You know this, you can spot a counterfeit.   They were being fed a counterfeit.  They were being told here is what saves you, Jesus AND. . . They were too young, they were too inexperienced to notice the counterfeit and if it was not for Epaphras who went to Paul and brought him into the loop, they would have remained unwise to this.   There were most likely Jews who were telling them that they needed to be circumcised to receive the Grace of God.  You need Jesus and circumcision.   This type of teaching says that the gift of faith in Christ’s atonement is not enough.  You have to add to it.  Which in reality means that if you are adding to it, then God owes you.  It makes God in debt.  God will never be in debt to no one.  But when you say, if you do _________ then you are saved.  Whatever goes in that blank is a act for which you have earned salvation.   Paul does not stop there.  He deals with this circumcision thing.  Which in our day we can’t understand why this is a repeated topic in the New Testament.  It is a private thing we should not talk about in church.  Why are they constantly bringing up this private issue.   So what was the beginning of circumcision?   God calls Abraham in Genesis 12 out of Ur. Tells him I will make you a great nation, I will give you a land and all the families of the earth will be blessed because of you.  Abraham and his wife Sarah did pack up and go but they had no children. After some time passed they still had no children which is a point of issue Abraham brought up before God. God reassures Abraham, you are going to have a child.   After a little more time passed a third time Abraham is told by God that he will have a child. This time a sign is given to Abraham that he and future generations were to partake.  That sign was circumcision.    All boys from infancy were to have this sign.  They were marked with the sign of being in the covenant community.  But why there?   Scripture does not say directly but does make implications which can’t be ignored:   Francis Turretin offers this observation: “It was fitting that the sign of the covenant be impressed on that part by which sin is propagated, to show that from generation to generation all are corrupt and need the grace of God. John Calvin emphasized the symbolism of marking the organ which the promised seed would come. He highlighted that the reproductive organ was intentionally chosen because it represented the covenantal promise of descendants. The physical cutting away was a vivid picture of the removal of sin’s defilement (Dt 10:16; Jer 4:4) It foreshadowed the work of Christ. The shedding of blood in circumcision pointed forward to the ultimate shedding of Christ’s blood which would totally cut away all sin (Col 2:11).  The circumcision made without hands is Christ work applied to every believer in regeneration.  Jesus was the promised seed.   This is how all the nations of the world were blessed through Father Abraham.  Yet there were those who put more faith in the act of circumcision than in what it represented.   We have a new covenant now and a new covenant sign. Every believer receives this circumcision of the heart.  This was the heart of the message last week.   Paul says, go back to the beginning.  As you received Christ, so walk in Him.    Each of us who are believers have this mark on our hearts.  It is an act done by God.  As Peter preached to the masses on the Day of Pentecost, they had this mark placed upon their heart.  How do I know?  They asked, what shall we do?  They understood the depth of their sin.  They felt this.  The Spirit had worked in them.   This is on of the Spirit’s works.  Hearts are convicted and turn to the Lord.  It is the circumcision made without hands.   As I look at this passage I pondered, is Paul referring to something metaphorical or literal?  My first take was, this was not literal baptism nor was it literal circumcision.  Like 1 Peter 3:21, it speaks of a figurative baptism.  (All the works in this passage are done by someone else and not the person to whom they are done.   2:11 the circumcision is done without hands (Spirit) 2:12 The faith and the raising is the powerful work of God 2:13 We were dead (not half dead like Princess Bride but fully dead) God made alive   All of these activities were done outside of the believer.    Looking at some other theologians I found that John Murray, A. Hodge, Douglas Moo and F.F. Bruce agree that this is not literal baptism.  However, John Calvin and Louis Berkhof and Herman Bavinck affirm that it is speaking of literal baptism.   I believe in this case, it can be both.  It is speaking about the literal reality of covenant signs and presents them in their metaphorical sense.  In this case it is possible to be both.   But most importantly is what does this represent.  I have a ring.  I look on my finger and there is a sign that I promised to love and be faithful to a woman.  Those in the world can look at that ring and see.    You and I have two signs in our covenant with God.  You have been baptized and your heart has received the circumcision of Christ, made without hands.   This is the Ezekiel 36 heart change.  You are not sinless but your life is forever changed in Christ.  There is no outward sign that will MAKE you a believer.  It is only a heart that God has so worked in that it begins to love Jesus and be so changed that obedience is first and foremost important.   It points to Christ who has taken our record of debt and cancelled it(2:14).  The picture provided here is this record of debt being nailed to the cross.   Two pictures here:  Those who were crucified typically had their charges nailed to a sign above them.  Jesus stated He was the king of the Jews.  That is what they put up there.    On your cross, the cross you and I deserved, our charges.  Jesus died for those charges.  He took the punishment we deserved.    Additionally, there is evidence that this was literally done in the time of Paul’s writing.  That when a debt was paid, the person to whom the debt was owed would drive a nail in the contract.  Sometimes they would cut it up but it was a public activity that it is known, the debt is paid.   Jesus paid our debt.  He was nailed.  He was the means by which we had our debt paid.     

Colossians 2:6-7; Luke 18:9-14

Quite possibly the first reality program was Gilligan’s Island.  Of course I know that it is a scripted television show and that is the opposite of what they tell us about reality T.V.  They tell us that it is unscripted but if you have watched any of these shows they place on set people who are opposites and then throw gasoline on the cast waiting for explosions. Consider if you will the cast on Gilligan’s Island. There was the Skipper, the head of the ship and his less than mentally capable first mate. Then the exceedingly rich couple, the brainiac scientist, an everyday girl next-door and a movie start. What are the chances of all these people being on the same boat?  Next to zero.  But it is okay because it is not real life. It is just a television show where, because of a storm, they all get shipwrecked on an island for years, upon years.  Then finally they are able to get off the island only to get placed back on the island because the less than mentally capable first mate cleaned the compass. When Gilligan cleaned the compass, he had removed all the magnets. The compass now does not work! I have had a situation where my “compass” did not work.  Today we all use smartphones for directions. Remember paper road maps?  Remember trip-ticks from AAA?  Remember book atlases? We sure smartphones now and before the current phone my old phone had something happen to it.  I do not know what it was but when using the map app (which in the moving business that is used often), it had me a mile away from my actual location. So I am driving down and interstate and it has me over in a field.  I am way out, way over there and the voice lady was not quite sure what to do.  She was on repeat telling me to follow the route (follow the route, please follow the route). I am following the route!  The lady in the phone has NO idea. In real life direction means everything. When one gets going in the wrong direction disastrous things happen. You see it in the fake television story of Gilligan’s Island but that reflects real life. This is our situation in Colossae. Paul, who has never visited this congregation and never met these people, is concerned about the direction of the church.  Paul, in the opening chapter was already setting the stage for his instructive words to the congregation.  He was laying a foundation in the following ways: He desired that they continue to be filled with all spiritual wisdom and understanding (1:9). This cannot be overstated. Far too many people get saved, come into the church and then shy away from growing more in Christ. This not only is addressed in the text out of chapter one but is also in our section from today’s reading. You must spend time in the word. You must spend time with godly teachers. (We will also see the value of this today as well.) You cannot shy way from walking with the Lord.  “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, or stands in the way of sinners or  sits in the seats of scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord and on this law he meditates day and night.  He is like a tree that is planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither.”. Paul is essentially saying in 1:9 that I want you to grow. You cannot get to know something unless you spend time on it (illustrate?). His desire is that they be strengthened with all power and able to endure with patience. (1:11) How can we be better at endurance? Short answer, knowing Him. Paul desired they have firm knowledge that they are delivered from one state, death and darkness, to another state, redemption and forgiveness. (1:13-14) Then Paul focuses on the nature of Christ: His nature as both creator and sustainer God and also the humanity of Christ that he died for the redemption of church and to be the head of the church. (1:15-20) The very people that were in the church are those who had no hope of salvation. (1:21-22) The foundation has been laid with those things. He wanted the readers of his letter to have this firm grasp on some important matters and then iIn our text today he is going to begin addressing seem issues that have crept into the Colossian church.  Here in is the heart of the letter.  This is why Paul was writing Colossians and the Loodiceans (2:1). Before we look into this text more specifically let us ask the Lord to bless our time together. He opens this section speaking about a struggle.  The word is agona  (ἀγῶνα).  Sounds like agony right?    This is the same word used regarding the Greek games (the Olympic games). Think of athletes who are pushing.  For those who have played sports you have been through the 2-a-days and the wind sprints and the conditioning.   I recall the first day of wrestling practice. The coach paired us up with people near the same size and gave us a small area on the mats and blew the whistle and we were the wrestle this person.   After what seemed to be ten minutes both of us were extremely winded, tired and weak.  The coach was like, what is up? You have been at this for 25 seconds.   This is the agony.  The long training sessions to gain the endurance.    This is the passion of Paul. I am in agony.  I am straining.  I am reaching out with all my strength and I want you to learn this?  With what is Paul concerned?   False teaching.  Paul is going to zero in on some of the issues at both Laodicea and Colossae.    There is a biblical history on this topic.  As the Hebrew people were coming into the land of Canaan, after they had left Egypt, the Lord gave them instructions.  He told them clearly, remove the people from the land, rid them completely for they will be a snare to you.  They will influence you to be unfaithful to the Lord.   Have you ever felt that for some person or some cause.  Maybe it is a family member or someone with whom you work or possibly someone at school.    For some reason you have real agony over their situation. They have been distracted by the cares of this world.   We have this in the church here in Colossians.  Some people came in and were influencing negatively.    This is not limited to Colossae. This was a constant struggle in the New Testament church.  Two thousand years later it is still an issue.    They were not struggling because they were a young church. That is usually what a pastor would say here.  This is a young church and they are struggling because there are influences that are not good.  Paul is going to address those as we continue in chapter two.  The stark reality is the teaching growth in Christ can come outside of Christ.  This letter is addressing that.  Galatians addressed that.  This issue caught Paul’s attention frequently.   In 1800’s America, there is this thought that the desire should be the first century church.  The dominate thought during this period was that the first century church had everything figured out and was perfectly pure and as time progressed the church became impure.    This is absurd.  Makes me wonder if they had read the New Testament.                 Acts and Romans issues between Jews and Gentiles in the church                 In Corinth there was accepted sexual immorality & drunkenness at Lord’s Supper                 Galatia was troubled with those teaching there needed to be submission to                                                    circumcision in order to be saved                 Thessolanica was plagued with thinking they missed Jesus’ second coming                 We have already discussed the issue with understanding the nature of Christ                 The idea that salvation came through secret knowledge harmed church for years So you see the idea that church was better in first century than now is not warranted.  As I have stated several times, we stand on two thousand years of theological things being worked out and debated.    But again, to say that the problems in Colossae was due to it being a young church is not warranted.  This congregation is nearly 217 years old.  We are not safe from being led astray.  It is the job of the pastorate to watch for wolves.  To watch for error.   Think of the church in general in the United States of America. There is a twitter feed (x) called Protestia.  It is an account which 90% of its content is serious things going wrong in the church.   Let me be clear here and I have said this before.  There are matters of first importance and matters of second importance.  There are matters of Orthodoxy.  I have described it several times as open hand and close hand issues.  I am not referring to open handed things here. When we get to the matters in Colossae, Paul is not referring to open handed things.    There are people who are meeting this morning who have perverted the Scriptures and are allowing and accepting sexual deviancies.  They think they are redefining marriage, but it can’t be redefined.   I am not kidding when I am telling you there is a church called Bethel Church in Redding CA which has ten thousand members.  There are more than a hundred stories that I could tell you about with this congregation.  One that comes to mind is they put gold colored glitter in the ventilation system.  During the Sunday assembly at the right time they let it fall out of the ceiling and the pastors were claiming that God’s presence was evident in that gold glitter.  The leaders knew that the glitter was in the ventilation system and they knew that it would be cued and it would fall and they told the people, God’s tangible presence is here, look at the glitter, look at this gold dust.   It is not limited to Bethel Church.  There are issues with other congregations like Elevation Church.  Maybe you are not aware of any of these things.  Maybe you wonder well why even bring it up because we will never visit those churches.   It is not that simple.  They all have their own worship music.  If you listen to what is called Christian radio you may have heard some of it.  Elevation worship, Bethel Worship, Hillsong Worship, Maverick City, all of these churches are teaching ungodly things.   As was written in the bulletin a few weeks ago looking into the future we are looking to add to the good stuff that is already here and taking place.  Talked to Nancy and we are seeking at some point to expand on the worship.   As a pastor of the church I have to be on guard.  I have to be looking for potential issues.  This worship music is troubling.  Not only must we watch what we are being taught but we can’t fund those congregations.  You use their music, they receive a royalty.  You use their music you are funding their heresy.   This is a serious issue.  The things that Paul is addressing in Colossae we still face today.  There are people who want to change the gospel of Christ and it is subtle.   I will be very frank with you here, I would not recommend any program on Christian Television.  None.  I have not watched it in years but when I did it was garbage.  Use rabbit ears on your television and they take up about 15 channels in central ohio and very little of what is taught is truth.   This is the state of the church in America.  There are some very wonderful congregations both small and large.  There are some very talented and gifted and theologically correct praise teams.   But this is a matter I take very seriously.  I have watched Christians get so caught up in the beauty of a song or a movie or television show and have not considered the content.   That is the hart of Colossians.  The people had been led astray and Paul was struggling to address this.  With all his energy he was trying to get their attention and correct where they had been led astray.   He did not want them to be diluted with plausible arguments (2:4). He did not want them to be taken captive (2:8) with a bad philosophy or empty deceit.   He wanted them to be wise IN CHRIST. (2.6-7)        

Colossians 1:24-29

Colossians 1:21-23

Colossians 1:16-22

Colossians 1:15-23

Colossians 1:15-20

Colossians 1:15-20

Colossians 1:13-20

Date: May 25, 2025 Lord’s Day: 21 Series: Colossians the Mystery of Christ Title: Delivered and Transferred Text: Colossians 1:12-14   A quick review from last week we were in Colossians 1:12-14 and we were dealing with the end of verse 13:   “12 giving thanks[d] to the Father, who has qualified you[e] to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”   The phrase, “of his beloved Son,” was our focus.  This is the mystery of Colossians, this word that appears frequently.  That what once was hidden, “created from before the ages for our glory.  That none of the ruler understood this mystery, for if they had they would not have crucified our Lord and Savior.”  (1 Cor 2:6-8)   Why did the Father love the Son so much?  What is the significance of this love?   We can look at the book of Matthew.  We see the genealogy of Jesus back to Abraham: After the birth of Christ, He was taken to Egypt because of crisis, likewise Abraham and Israel went to Egypt because of crisis The very next scene in Matthew is Jesus being baptized just like Israel was baptized into the sea (1 Corinthians 10:1-2) Right after baptism, Jesus was taken to the wilderness, just as Israel was taken to wilderness Jesus faced the temptations (lust of eyes, flesh, pride) just like Adam and Eve   The difference?  Abraham did not trust.  Israel did not trust.  Adam and Even did not trust.  Jesus, the begotten trusted, at every point where we were unsuccessful, Jesus was successful.  Jesus was obedient at every turn and trusted the Father.   How did we get in this position where we did not trust?  What happened to Abraham, Moses, the Israelites and even us today that we got ourselves in a position of not trusting, not having faith and in rebellion?   This is the significance of the next phrase that we will focus on today.  The beloved Son did something.  The actions of the beloved Son had consequences.  What were those consequences?  For us specifically:   “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom”    This is our phrase today that will gather our attention. We have been delivered; delivered from the domain of darkness and transferred to a kingdom.   What took place for this to happen?  What does this mean?  How, or in what way, are we delivered?   Before we begin looking into these questions on this phrase, let us ask for a blessing for the message.   PRAY   “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness.”  In what way did He deliver us?  What is the domain of darkness?   The word used there for dominion means authority, power or right to control or govern.  It can be a ruler, human or supernatural.    In our circumstance we were under control or governed by a force.  According to our text it was a dark force.  A domain of darkness.  A controlling governing authority of darkness.   But we must be careful in how we understand this.  There is in one sense a power of evil over us and in another sense that power was just a place holder.   I can explain it this way:   A number of years ago I purchased a property and I was super excited.  I made more than enough money at the time to own a home but I did not have the amount of down payment needed.    This particular individual had inherited the house from his parents, and he did not want anything to do with it.  He wanted to live in Florida, so we came to an agreement.  We agreed on the terms, the price and the money down needed.  We would enter a land contract and after 16 years the property would be solely owned by me.    I moved in (tell the story, history, renovations, plans).   Point: I had no power.  In reality, HE had let things go to the point that he had no power.  I was living in that property, and I could pay him thousands of dollars but he had no power.  He could not get me out of the situation that I was in.  He had taken a loan on a property I was paying on.  Of course, I was ignorant of what was needed legally for my protection.  I could do nothing but honor the sovereign over the property (the bank).  They are the ones to WHOM the debt was owed.   This is the situation here in our text.  We can go back to our Easter sermon and we briefly touched on this thing called redemption.    To whom was redemption owed?  To whom was redemption paid?  Many would answer that this “power of darkness”, this enemy of ours we call Satan, was the one to whom Jesus paid the debt.   Before being believers, we were absolutely in the DOMAIN of darkness.  We were in the area, sphere or jurisdiction of darkness.  But Jesus did not pay Satan for our redemption.   We use like words ransom and redemption in salvation.  These are true words.  We were redeemed and we were ransomed.   But when we think of ransom, what typically comes to mind is a kidnapping like situation.  To get the person that has been kidnapped we are asked to pay a ransom.   Thomas Hargrove was an American who worked for The Center for International Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) in Cali, Columbia.  He wrote the story of his captivity in the book Long March to Freedom in which, because of his badge (CIAT), he was kidnapped by the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia).   The FARC is always looking for ways to finance their operation.  Kidnapping is one and they thought they had a golden ticket in Thomas Hargrove.  They took him and demanded a $6 million ransom.   The United States government, because they do not negotiate with terrorist organizations (for good reasons), did not intervein.  The American company that Hargrove worked for but him lose and left him for dead.   He was in captivity for 11 months.  In the jungles of Columbia sleeping on the muddy floors of his hut with jail bars, he suffered malnutrition and illness as he endured the elements.    A hostage negotiator came in, paid for by his wife and family to begin negotiations of getting him released.  Eventually, the price was lowered to two payments and then they let him go.   This is typically what comes to mind when those words redeemed or ransomed are used.  In relation to the Christian faith, just like the ransom was paid to the FRC, it is seen as paid to our enemy the devil.  This is not the case.   The devil is not sovereign.  God is sovereign.  The sin of Adam was committed against God.  At the point of sin, the wage of sin had to be paid to God.  Satan’s only authority was he ruled over the domain of darkness.  The debt was not due to him.  He did not kidnap us.  We left willingly.   How do I place us in the sin of Adam.  Let’s see Romans 5 for the answer to our question: “8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned” (Romans 5:8 & 12)   We are included in this.  The prince of the air, as he is described in Ephesians 2, was our ruler.   “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” (Ephesians 2:1-3)   You and I were not half-dead.  We were as dead as Lazarus.  We were past four days and in the words of the KJV, “We stinketh”.    This is the result of the fall of Adam.  Being in the grasp of the devil, we, like him, were enemies of God.  We were children of wrath.  In the dominion of darkness.   Can you imagine if those alive knew that every unrighteous act they have committed they will be held in account?  For every violent thought, for every lustful fantasy, for every deceit that was both spoken and unspoken, for every vile notion, word and deed there will be an accounting before God.  For every single moment that you put your needs above God, when you have not loved him with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, for when you have put off that prayer, for when you came to assembly but you really rather stay away, there will be an accounting for that.   If this was known they would be beating the doors of this building to get in because the ONLY relief is in Jesus.  Jesus absorbs the wrath we deserve.    He justifies and God is just through the sacrifice of His beloved.    It is in Christ that we are transferred from this domain, this area of darkness to the kingdom of light.  In whom we have redemption and forgiveness of sin.  This is why we meet.  This is why we praise.  This is why we sing.  I want you to feel it.  I want you know feel the weight lifted.   Jesus, the beloved Son, paid the Father the price we owed.  Jesus was beloved, as we learned last week and also, as we began today’s time together, because as incarnate, born in “likeness of sinful flesh,” (Romans 8:3) he was fully faithful and believing.  He was a pleasing aroma to the Father and He took our place as a perfect lamb.   For every act of unfaithfulness in your life Jesus was faithful.  For all the times you had no idea you offended God, He was faithful.  He absorbed ALL the wrath due to you.    He has transferred you to the kingdom of righteousness.  That is where you are and that is the message we want to take to the community.    Do you believe that?  Do you believe that God can transform the mess around us?  Do you believe that God can transform the mess in your own family?  If you don’t maybe you have not fully experienced your own transformation.   The word is passive voice which means, you are not doing it.  He is doing it.  He has:   “qualified (us) to share in the inheritance of the saints,” (Colossians 1:12b) and is “delivering us from darkness and transferring us to the kingdom of his beloved son.” (Colossians 1:13)   I have seen what He has done in my life.  I see what He continues to do.  I am certain what is seen by me is only a fraction of a fraction, but it is enough to know.  As believers, you and I are forever changed.   Magnus Carlsen, the reigning world champion, who has showcased brilliant king-and-pawn coordination in numerous endgames. His ability to maneuver his king to shield a passed pawn and ensure promotion has been praised by chess analysts.   This is the process by which the king (the most important piece on the chess board) is used to protect and promote the pawn (the least important piece) to the other side of the board.  In chess, when a pawn reaches the other side, it can be taken off and replaced by another piece.   Most often the queen, who is the most aggressive piece on the board, if she has been taken, will relace the pawn.    From Pawn to Queen.  This is be taken from weakest to strongest.    This is the act of Jesus in your life.  King Jesus empowers us.