1 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:03,520 Amen. All right, turn in your Bibles 2 00:00:03,520 --> 00:00:08,000 tonight to Colossians chapter 2, if you will, Colossians chapter 3 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:11,680 2. And I'm not I'm we're only look 4 00:00:11,680 --> 00:00:16,120 at a few verses tonight as we move through this chapter. 5 00:00:16,120 --> 00:00:20,120 And now Paul is starting to get into some some weighty matters 6 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:23,760 and address some serious errors that were coming up there in 7 00:00:23,760 --> 00:00:27,400 Colossi. And it was this idea of 8 00:00:27,400 --> 00:00:29,800 Gnosticism. And I'm going to give you a 9 00:00:29,800 --> 00:00:32,479 little bit of an explanation about that and what it is. 10 00:00:32,479 --> 00:00:36,600 And it doesn't really mean as much to us anymore, but this, 11 00:00:36,600 --> 00:00:40,520 this idea of Gnosticism is still very much alive, even though we 12 00:00:40,520 --> 00:00:43,480 don't really call it that probably as much. 13 00:00:43,480 --> 00:00:47,520 But this is going to be a little bit of teaching to get us to 14 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:50,280 where we can understand where Paul was coming from and why he 15 00:00:50,280 --> 00:00:53,280 had to combat this as such a high level. 16 00:00:54,720 --> 00:00:58,080 Obviously, the the things that he's talking about make perfect 17 00:00:58,080 --> 00:01:00,840 sense to us from from our standpoint today. 18 00:01:01,040 --> 00:01:05,160 But it would have made even more sense to the Colossians and to 19 00:01:05,160 --> 00:01:08,680 the Laodiceans and to anybody else that read this letter back 20 00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:11,240 in their day because of the issues that were coming up and 21 00:01:11,240 --> 00:01:15,160 the the ideas, the doctrines. And that's exactly what they 22 00:01:15,160 --> 00:01:20,960 were that were were, you know, rising up amongst these churches 23 00:01:20,960 --> 00:01:22,080 there. They were getting these ideas 24 00:01:22,080 --> 00:01:25,120 from other places. And so God by the name of DM 25 00:01:25,120 --> 00:01:27,640 Panton, I don't know anything about him, but he studied out 26 00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:32,040 Gnosticism in detail and he wrote a pamphlet on this subject 27 00:01:32,520 --> 00:01:36,000 and really kind of outlined the main ideas of what Gnosticism 28 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:39,200 is. And so he he, he, this is what 29 00:01:39,200 --> 00:01:42,800 he wrote historically it absorbed and by it we're talking 30 00:01:42,800 --> 00:01:46,280 about Gnosticism. It absorbed non Christian 31 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:48,200 thought into the Christian faith. 32 00:01:48,600 --> 00:01:53,160 Philosophically, it lodged sin in matter and therefore 33 00:01:53,160 --> 00:01:56,080 repudiated the Creator as either impotent or evil. 34 00:01:56,600 --> 00:02:00,640 Practically numerous Gnostic schools prohibited marriage as 35 00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:05,280 multiplying incurable matter. Similarly, not numerous Gnostics 36 00:02:05,280 --> 00:02:09,639 prohibited the eating of certain foods as wine or meat as being 37 00:02:09,639 --> 00:02:13,240 inherently evil. Theologically, the Jehovah of 38 00:02:13,240 --> 00:02:16,760 the Old Testament was portrayed as the tribal God of Israel. 39 00:02:16,760 --> 00:02:20,000 He was denounced as an alien and hostile deity. 40 00:02:20,440 --> 00:02:25,000 Christologically, it separated Jesus from the Christ, denying 41 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:27,280 both the deity and the humanity of the Lord. 42 00:02:27,760 --> 00:02:32,320 Inevitably, he brings us to the conclusion It sank finally into 43 00:02:32,320 --> 00:02:35,760 irreparable apostasy. Apostasy is not merely 44 00:02:35,760 --> 00:02:39,640 corruption of the truth, it is a total change of the truth or a 45 00:02:39,640 --> 00:02:43,080 complete abandonment of the faith previously held. 46 00:02:43,440 --> 00:02:46,800 So the Gnostic heresy really at this time when Paul is writing 47 00:02:46,800 --> 00:02:49,360 this is just kind of in its infant stages. 48 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:52,800 It's just starting to make its way into the world stage, if you 49 00:02:52,800 --> 00:02:54,480 will. And it really didn't completely 50 00:02:54,480 --> 00:02:58,600 come around until the 2nd century, and that's when it was 51 00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:00,920 pretty much. But by that point, it had been 52 00:03:00,920 --> 00:03:03,840 professed in every part of the civilized world, which again, 53 00:03:03,840 --> 00:03:06,440 was not as as big as the world is today, obviously. 54 00:03:06,440 --> 00:03:11,600 But the schools that that really pushed and promoted this Gnostic 55 00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:15,640 theology and this not Gnostic doctrine where just as many as 56 00:03:15,640 --> 00:03:20,440 the Greek and you know, the academies of Greece or Asia even 57 00:03:20,440 --> 00:03:22,800 in their heyday. And that's obviously most of 58 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:24,200 this. And you'll understand this a 59 00:03:24,200 --> 00:03:25,440 little bit more in just a second. 60 00:03:25,640 --> 00:03:31,520 Most of this is all what we know, what we can grasp, but 61 00:03:31,520 --> 00:03:33,840 what we can understand. If we can't understand it, then 62 00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:36,120 it must not be true. That's kind of what this comes 63 00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:38,360 down to. So the word Gnostic comes from 64 00:03:38,360 --> 00:03:41,400 the Greek word gnosis, which means to know. 65 00:03:41,920 --> 00:03:46,520 And again, simply the, the, the, the Gnostics thought that they 66 00:03:46,520 --> 00:03:49,520 could, that they had special knowledge that could be revealed 67 00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:52,640 only to those who were initiated by their secrets. 68 00:03:52,800 --> 00:03:55,480 So if you were taught in one of their schools or if you were 69 00:03:55,760 --> 00:03:59,520 involved in one of their, you know, academies, if you will, 70 00:03:59,680 --> 00:04:02,560 then you had that special knowledge that was able to be 71 00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:05,280 passed down to you. Common people could think 72 00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:07,120 whatever they wanted to, but only those who had been 73 00:04:07,120 --> 00:04:10,480 initiated could get into this, you know, could get to the real 74 00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:12,320 truth. Sound like a cult. 75 00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:15,240 It is a cult. And that's exactly what was 76 00:04:15,240 --> 00:04:18,079 happening during that time. And that's why Paul is making 77 00:04:18,079 --> 00:04:20,480 such a big deal about it. And you'll understand, I think, 78 00:04:20,480 --> 00:04:23,120 a little bit more as we read into this once you have a little 79 00:04:23,120 --> 00:04:26,560 bit of a background with it. But that word gnosis inspired TH 80 00:04:26,560 --> 00:04:31,400 Huxley, who was actually very, very influential and very 81 00:04:31,400 --> 00:04:35,360 instrumental in helping Charles Darwin get his idea of evolution 82 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:40,400 out to the rest of the world. Huxley was known as as Darwin's 83 00:04:40,400 --> 00:04:42,400 bulldog. He was the one, you know, 84 00:04:42,400 --> 00:04:45,000 Charles Darwin was writing all of this stuff, but he was kind 85 00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:47,680 of more in the shadows. Huxley was one of these guys 86 00:04:47,680 --> 00:04:50,880 that latched onto this idea was very well spoken. 87 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:53,680 And so he was able to kind of push it out to the world and he 88 00:04:53,840 --> 00:04:56,840 became a champion for for Darwin's book and for evolution 89 00:04:56,840 --> 00:04:58,960 and everything else. But he was the one that actually 90 00:04:58,960 --> 00:05:05,160 coined the word agnostic, which is an agnostic is somebody who 91 00:05:05,320 --> 00:05:08,560 you know, would say that the existence or the non existence 92 00:05:08,560 --> 00:05:13,200 of God is is unknowable. You'd whether God so. 93 00:05:13,280 --> 00:05:16,320 So the difference between a gnostic or sorry, an agnostic 94 00:05:16,320 --> 00:05:19,560 and an atheist is that an agnostic says we don't know. 95 00:05:20,000 --> 00:05:21,800 We don't know if there's a God or not. 96 00:05:21,880 --> 00:05:24,920 He may be, he may not be. I'm open to the idea. 97 00:05:25,040 --> 00:05:27,000 I'm also open to the idea that there is no God. 98 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:29,560 Obviously an atheist is going to say there is no God. 99 00:05:29,560 --> 00:05:32,160 He's not even open to that idea. So that that's kind of the 100 00:05:32,160 --> 00:05:33,440 difference. But they're open to the 101 00:05:33,440 --> 00:05:37,600 possibility that there is a God. But for the most part, it's not. 102 00:05:37,720 --> 00:05:40,560 It's not what God says, it's what I say, it's what I can 103 00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:44,240 know. So a Gnostic is a man who says 104 00:05:44,240 --> 00:05:47,400 what he knows, and agnostic is a man who says what he doesn't 105 00:05:47,400 --> 00:05:50,400 know. Whatever you could know was 106 00:05:50,400 --> 00:05:53,400 true. Now this is where Paul gets to 107 00:05:53,600 --> 00:06:00,120 Colossians chapter 2 and verse #8 Beware lest any man spoil you 108 00:06:00,120 --> 00:06:04,000 through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of 109 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:07,480 men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. 110 00:06:07,680 --> 00:06:11,160 For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, 111 00:06:11,360 --> 00:06:14,280 and you are complete in Him which is the head of all 112 00:06:14,280 --> 00:06:18,160 principality and power. So whatever you could know was 113 00:06:18,160 --> 00:06:23,640 true philosophy, vain deceit, the tradition of men, the 114 00:06:23,640 --> 00:06:26,600 rudiments of the world. This is what Paul is attacking. 115 00:06:26,600 --> 00:06:30,440 Very specifically is this idea of the Gnostic doctrine. 116 00:06:31,200 --> 00:06:36,160 The cults claim at of being able to transmit this secret Gnostic 117 00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:38,840 mysteries is a, is a lot like what we see today with the 118 00:06:38,840 --> 00:06:42,000 Masonic Lodge. And I mean, obviously we're not 119 00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:43,320 going to get into that this evening. 120 00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:47,200 But you know, the, the Masonic order, you know, if you can 121 00:06:47,200 --> 00:06:50,680 offer secret knowledge to those people who are involved, you'll 122 00:06:50,720 --> 00:06:54,400 get a lot of people who come into it simply out of curiosity. 123 00:06:54,400 --> 00:06:57,520 And the the higher you get up, the more secrets you're given 124 00:06:57,520 --> 00:07:01,000 and, and the more knowledge you have and the more you have that 125 00:07:01,000 --> 00:07:02,280 the rest of the world doesn't have. 126 00:07:02,280 --> 00:07:05,800 And that's where the secret society really is tempting to 127 00:07:05,800 --> 00:07:08,440 people. Gnosticism was very much the 128 00:07:08,440 --> 00:07:11,600 same way in Paul's day. And, and really even as today 129 00:07:11,760 --> 00:07:15,080 again, though we don't really call it by that name as much 130 00:07:15,080 --> 00:07:16,640 anymore. And we're not going to look at 131 00:07:16,640 --> 00:07:18,840 this tonight. But really Paul takes the rest 132 00:07:18,840 --> 00:07:23,920 of this chapter in Colossians chapter 2 to unravel the five 133 00:07:23,920 --> 00:07:28,240 major errors, if you will, of these cults that were here in 134 00:07:28,240 --> 00:07:31,200 Colossae. And in chapter 8 and chapter 2, 135 00:07:31,200 --> 00:07:34,000 verse eight through 10, he he attacks the idea of this 136 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:38,600 intellectualism. Verse 14 through 17, I'm sorry. 137 00:07:38,600 --> 00:07:42,280 Verse 11 through 13, he attacks the ritualism that was part of 138 00:07:42,280 --> 00:07:45,320 this. In verse 14 through 17, he talks 139 00:07:45,320 --> 00:07:49,440 about the legalism, verse 18 and 19, the mysticism, verse 20 140 00:07:49,440 --> 00:07:52,640 through 23, the asceticism. All of those were things that 141 00:07:52,640 --> 00:07:57,600 were that were errors of these cults that were coming into 142 00:07:57,600 --> 00:07:59,400 Colosseum. We're going to talk more about 143 00:07:59,400 --> 00:08:03,000 that as we move through this chapter next week and and 144 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:07,600 probably even the week after. But Paul turns his attention to 145 00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:11,600 unraveling this cult by simply revealing who Jesus Christ was. 146 00:08:12,440 --> 00:08:16,320 If you can say this is who Christ is, everything else is 147 00:08:16,320 --> 00:08:20,280 not of Christ, then you're you basically, you don't have to 148 00:08:20,280 --> 00:08:23,040 know all the errors. If you know what truth looks 149 00:08:23,040 --> 00:08:26,760 like and you know what the truth is, then you know that this is 150 00:08:26,760 --> 00:08:28,880 not it, then all the rest of its errors. 151 00:08:28,880 --> 00:08:31,000 And that's essentially what Paul is exposing here. 152 00:08:31,160 --> 00:08:34,400 Now, he does get pretty specific with a lot of these things, but 153 00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:37,679 he is exposing error by turning their attention to Christ. 154 00:08:37,679 --> 00:08:39,559 And that's exactly what we want to do tonight. 155 00:08:40,280 --> 00:08:43,240 You ever watch Antiques Roadshow and we get in a hotel here and 156 00:08:43,240 --> 00:08:46,560 there and, and you know, it's, it happens to be on or whatever 157 00:08:46,560 --> 00:08:47,800 else. I think it's pretty interesting 158 00:08:47,800 --> 00:08:49,840 about the only show you can watch anymore that doesn't have 159 00:08:49,840 --> 00:08:52,960 anything in it, you know, that's inappropriate. 160 00:08:52,960 --> 00:08:54,960 It's just, you know, they're showing these antiques and 161 00:08:54,960 --> 00:08:57,560 everything else. And I remember seeing, you know, 162 00:08:57,800 --> 00:09:00,360 it, it always cracks me up, you know, these people that 163 00:09:00,600 --> 00:09:03,520 everybody has the same reaction on Antiques Roadshow when they 164 00:09:03,520 --> 00:09:05,560 find out how much this thing is worth. 165 00:09:05,560 --> 00:09:08,200 And I had no idea, you know, and blah, blah, blah. 166 00:09:08,200 --> 00:09:11,960 But I do remember this one, this lady had had gone to a garage 167 00:09:11,960 --> 00:09:15,920 sale and, and found a, a copper bucket, basically some kind of 168 00:09:15,920 --> 00:09:18,680 kettle of some sort. And she was using it to keep 169 00:09:18,680 --> 00:09:22,680 firewood in. And so she, I don't know what 170 00:09:22,680 --> 00:09:25,000 made her think that maybe this thing was valuable, but she 171 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:26,920 decided to bring it to the Antiques Roadshow. 172 00:09:26,920 --> 00:09:30,120 And, and, you know, it turns out that the kettle that she was 173 00:09:30,160 --> 00:09:33,360 using to keep wood in was worth over $2000. 174 00:09:33,840 --> 00:09:36,600 And I know it's not tons of money, but to keep, to keep wood 175 00:09:36,600 --> 00:09:38,440 in it. Obviously, you know, it's, it's 176 00:09:38,440 --> 00:09:40,640 something that, you know, she walked away and she said, well, 177 00:09:40,760 --> 00:09:43,320 Needless to say, I'm not going to be keeping wood in this thing 178 00:09:43,320 --> 00:09:45,040 anymore. I didn't realize how valuable it 179 00:09:45,040 --> 00:09:46,840 was. And I, and I think that's the 180 00:09:46,840 --> 00:09:49,280 same thing here. When we see Christ, you know, 181 00:09:49,280 --> 00:09:53,680 when we really get a look at the worth of Christ, when we really 182 00:09:53,680 --> 00:09:57,320 see him for who he really is, it should make us appreciate him so 183 00:09:57,320 --> 00:09:59,400 much more. And obviously the whole of the 184 00:09:59,400 --> 00:10:01,120 New Testament is all about Christ. 185 00:10:01,400 --> 00:10:06,280 But Paul's focus is pretty specifically in in really verse 186 00:10:06,280 --> 00:10:10,800 8, but especially verse 9 and 10 on the worth of Christ. 187 00:10:10,800 --> 00:10:13,760 And that's what I want to take a couple minutes, try to get this 188 00:10:13,760 --> 00:10:18,080 message of, try to get Paul's message across to us and try to 189 00:10:18,080 --> 00:10:21,040 understand the message that he was giving to us in these couple 190 00:10:21,040 --> 00:10:23,040 verses. So let's pray and then we'll 191 00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:26,720 jump into this tonight and see what we can learn from it. 192 00:10:26,720 --> 00:10:29,040 Father, again, we thank you so much for your goodness to us for 193 00:10:29,040 --> 00:10:30,640 an opportunity. We have to be here together 194 00:10:30,640 --> 00:10:32,120 tonight. I pray that it would help us and 195 00:10:32,120 --> 00:10:37,040 that we would see Jesus Christ in the worth of Christ and just 196 00:10:37,040 --> 00:10:39,760 exactly who He is, especially when you compare Him to any 197 00:10:39,760 --> 00:10:42,760 other religion, when you compare Him to any other philosophy or 198 00:10:42,760 --> 00:10:45,360 doctrine or anything else. What we have in Jesus Christ is 199 00:10:45,360 --> 00:10:48,960 so much more valuable and I pray that you'd help us to understand 200 00:10:49,160 --> 00:10:52,480 that that idea tonight as we look at these verses again, 201 00:10:52,480 --> 00:10:55,800 we'll thank you for all that you do for us in Jesus name, Amen. 202 00:10:56,760 --> 00:11:00,160 Now I don't plan to be long tonight and I know I say that 203 00:11:00,160 --> 00:11:05,200 sometimes, but I really don't we I I'm preaching for Pastor Andy 204 00:11:05,800 --> 00:11:08,680 their Bible conference and so we're going to leave after the 205 00:11:08,680 --> 00:11:11,360 service. So the let the longer I go, the 206 00:11:11,360 --> 00:11:15,400 later I get there this evening. So I don't really plan to be 207 00:11:15,400 --> 00:11:16,880 long, but these are important things. 208 00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:19,560 So write down these these couple points maybe tonight, if you 209 00:11:19,560 --> 00:11:21,680 will, you can even probably write them right there in your 210 00:11:21,680 --> 00:11:24,520 Bible because I'm just going to take one point from verse 81, 211 00:11:24,520 --> 00:11:26,160 from verse 9 and one from verse 10. 212 00:11:26,400 --> 00:11:30,800 And the first one is the doctrine of Christ verse 8. 213 00:11:30,800 --> 00:11:35,200 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain 214 00:11:35,200 --> 00:11:38,200 deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the 215 00:11:38,200 --> 00:11:42,760 world, and not after Christ. Paul's message was very 216 00:11:42,760 --> 00:11:46,040 different from the philosophy and the wisdom of men, and he 217 00:11:46,040 --> 00:11:49,720 was telling the Colossians here to beware that they didn't fall 218 00:11:49,720 --> 00:11:53,640 to these ideas. It was it's it wasn't about what 219 00:11:53,640 --> 00:11:57,280 we could know to be true. It's what God says is true. 220 00:11:57,960 --> 00:12:01,440 That's the difference between what faith is and what 221 00:12:01,440 --> 00:12:04,080 Gnosticism is. Well, I know this to be true. 222 00:12:04,080 --> 00:12:05,520 So this is something that I can believe. 223 00:12:05,720 --> 00:12:08,600 No, if, if God does not say that it's true, then it's not 224 00:12:08,600 --> 00:12:11,480 something that I should believe. And if it's if God says it's 225 00:12:11,480 --> 00:12:13,520 true, then it is something that I should believe, and that's 226 00:12:13,720 --> 00:12:15,360 that. That word spoil there. 227 00:12:15,440 --> 00:12:19,400 Beware lest any man spoil you. That word spoil means to rob 228 00:12:20,160 --> 00:12:23,360 and, and that's exactly what happens when we allow the, the, 229 00:12:23,560 --> 00:12:26,720 the philosophies and the doctrines of the world to come 230 00:12:26,720 --> 00:12:28,560 in. They're literally robbing us of 231 00:12:28,560 --> 00:12:31,840 the worth of Jesus Christ and they're robbing Christ of his 232 00:12:31,840 --> 00:12:34,280 real worth. They're taking away from who he 233 00:12:34,280 --> 00:12:36,760 really is. And that's where faith comes in. 234 00:12:36,760 --> 00:12:41,200 It's not it's, it's not faith if you know it to be true, right? 235 00:12:41,200 --> 00:12:45,120 If, if I, I mean, there's so many examples that we could use. 236 00:12:45,120 --> 00:12:49,120 I mean, if I've, you know, never been to the Grand Canyon, I'm, I 237 00:12:49,120 --> 00:12:52,080 mean, essentially I'm taken by faith that it's there, right? 238 00:12:53,000 --> 00:12:54,680 Taking somebody else's word for it. 239 00:12:55,040 --> 00:12:58,000 But if I've been to the Grand Canyon and seen the Grand 240 00:12:58,000 --> 00:13:00,480 Canyon, I'm not talking about it by faith anymore. 241 00:13:00,480 --> 00:13:01,680 I've seen it. I know it's there. 242 00:13:01,680 --> 00:13:05,880 I know it to be true, right? Everything that we believe about 243 00:13:05,880 --> 00:13:08,160 Christianity has to be taken by faith. 244 00:13:08,600 --> 00:13:12,280 And when we say I know God is real, I know Jesus is real. 245 00:13:12,280 --> 00:13:15,320 I've seen him do miracles. I've I've felt him work in my 246 00:13:15,320 --> 00:13:16,720 heart and all of those other things. 247 00:13:16,720 --> 00:13:20,240 But what you're saying is you have a very strong faith in him, 248 00:13:21,000 --> 00:13:23,440 but you still don't know it to be true because you've never 249 00:13:23,440 --> 00:13:25,560 seen God. You were not there when Jesus 250 00:13:25,640 --> 00:13:27,440 was born. You were not there when he died 251 00:13:27,440 --> 00:13:28,840 on the cross. You were not there when he rose 252 00:13:28,840 --> 00:13:31,560 from the dead. You were not, you know, you, 253 00:13:31,600 --> 00:13:34,840 you've, you've not seen heaven. You haven't seen all of the 254 00:13:34,840 --> 00:13:37,480 things that he tells us about in the Bible. 255 00:13:37,680 --> 00:13:40,480 We can say that God exists because of this reason or that 256 00:13:40,480 --> 00:13:42,800 reason, but it's still faith, right? 257 00:13:42,800 --> 00:13:45,360 And, and it's still strong faith, but it's, it's faith in 258 00:13:45,360 --> 00:13:47,920 what God says. We've never, we've never seen 259 00:13:47,920 --> 00:13:52,040 him, but we strongly believe it because of everything that we've 260 00:13:52,040 --> 00:13:53,840 seen him do in our lives and everything else. 261 00:13:53,840 --> 00:13:55,320 But at the end of the day, it's still faith. 262 00:13:55,800 --> 00:13:58,320 And everything that they, that these people believe really is 263 00:13:58,320 --> 00:14:01,600 by faith too. But at the same time, what Paul 264 00:14:01,600 --> 00:14:04,640 is talking about here is hey, that the faith that we have in 265 00:14:04,680 --> 00:14:08,280 Jesus Christ is faith. Just because you can't see it, 266 00:14:08,280 --> 00:14:11,480 just because you can't touch it, just because you can't feel it 267 00:14:11,480 --> 00:14:13,000 does not mean that it's not true. 268 00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:15,480 If God says it's true, it's true. 269 00:14:15,960 --> 00:14:19,080 The Gnostics are basically saying, if God says it's true, 270 00:14:19,160 --> 00:14:21,920 well then let me go test it and if I can see it, then I'll 271 00:14:21,920 --> 00:14:23,800 believe it and I'll say that it's true. 272 00:14:24,040 --> 00:14:26,400 And that's what Paul is. That's what Paul is combating 273 00:14:26,400 --> 00:14:27,920 here with the doctrine of Christ. 274 00:14:28,080 --> 00:14:31,320 The principles of the world are often very contrary to the 275 00:14:31,320 --> 00:14:33,840 doctrines of Christ. And Paul is saying, don't be 276 00:14:33,840 --> 00:14:38,480 taken, don't be robbed of the the worth of Jesus Christ and 277 00:14:38,480 --> 00:14:42,120 what you have in him by the philosophies and the vain 278 00:14:42,120 --> 00:14:45,680 deceits and and the traditions of men and the rudiments of the 279 00:14:45,680 --> 00:14:48,080 world. So you see the doctrine of 280 00:14:48,080 --> 00:14:52,160 Christ. But secondly, verse #9 is the 281 00:14:52,160 --> 00:14:56,200 deity of Christ. Try to wrap your mind around 282 00:14:56,200 --> 00:15:01,360 what verse 9 is saying. For in Him dwelleth all the 283 00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:07,000 fullness of the Godhead bodily, all the fullness of the Godhead 284 00:15:07,320 --> 00:15:11,840 is presently residing or dwelling in Christ. 285 00:15:12,440 --> 00:15:16,480 This takes completely they, they, they tried to separate the 286 00:15:16,480 --> 00:15:22,120 Gnostics tried to separate Christ Jesus from Christ, God 287 00:15:22,120 --> 00:15:23,840 and man. And, and they, they basically 288 00:15:23,840 --> 00:15:26,160 just say that they, there's no way that those could mesh 289 00:15:26,160 --> 00:15:28,960 together. But what Paul is, is saying very 290 00:15:29,120 --> 00:15:33,360 bluntly and very boldly is that all of God is completely in 291 00:15:33,360 --> 00:15:35,440 Christ. The Gnostics believe that that 292 00:15:35,440 --> 00:15:37,720 couldn't be done. They couldn't understand the 293 00:15:37,720 --> 00:15:39,600 Trinity. So it must not be true. 294 00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:42,440 If they can't explain it, it must not be true. 295 00:15:42,960 --> 00:15:45,520 And and that's, you know, that's that's where a lot of people get 296 00:15:45,560 --> 00:15:48,480 off on different doctrines. Well, I can't understand the 297 00:15:48,480 --> 00:15:51,600 Trinity and I can't understand eternity and I can't understand 298 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:53,280 this. And because I can't understand 299 00:15:53,280 --> 00:15:56,160 it, because I can't wrap my mind around it, then it must not be 300 00:15:56,160 --> 00:15:59,520 true. Human reasoning always airs 301 00:15:59,720 --> 00:16:01,560 concerning the person of Jesus Christ. 302 00:16:01,760 --> 00:16:04,360 And all you have to do is go look at most of the religions of 303 00:16:04,360 --> 00:16:06,640 the world. They get it wrong on who Jesus 304 00:16:06,640 --> 00:16:09,000 Christ is. If you can say that Jesus is not 305 00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:13,000 God, then you don't have, you don't have to believe that 306 00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:14,800 you're a Sinner or that he died for your sin. 307 00:16:14,800 --> 00:16:19,160 If Jesus was not God, then he couldn't have died for our sin 308 00:16:19,160 --> 00:16:21,840 because he was a Sinner himself. And it's no different than any 309 00:16:21,840 --> 00:16:24,760 other person dying on on a cross, or any other person 310 00:16:24,760 --> 00:16:26,480 giving his life for somebody else. 311 00:16:26,920 --> 00:16:30,320 But what happened at Bethlehem sets Jesus apart from all other 312 00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:31,960 men. The Bible says in John chapter 313 00:16:31,960 --> 00:16:36,960 one in verse #14 And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among 314 00:16:36,960 --> 00:16:41,800 us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of 315 00:16:41,800 --> 00:16:45,440 the Father, full of grace and truth. 316 00:16:46,200 --> 00:16:50,480 Turn over to Genesis chapter 1. What we find here in John 317 00:16:50,480 --> 00:16:54,520 chapter 1 is that deity was clothed in humanity. 318 00:16:54,720 --> 00:16:59,560 God came down to dwell among men and that can be said of no one 319 00:16:59,560 --> 00:17:02,440 but Jesus. There's no room for error in 320 00:17:02,440 --> 00:17:05,480 what the Holy Ghost says here. He's used, he used the most, the 321 00:17:05,599 --> 00:17:09,520 the most definite language possible to tell us the truth 322 00:17:09,520 --> 00:17:13,520 about the Lord Jesus Christ. When you look at Christ, there 323 00:17:13,520 --> 00:17:18,000 is none of God missing. Everything you would or could 324 00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:20,119 know about God is in Jesus Christ. 325 00:17:20,680 --> 00:17:24,760 And we talked about him being a triune God, three in one. 326 00:17:25,359 --> 00:17:28,840 It's it's not mathematical threeness or oneness. 327 00:17:28,840 --> 00:17:33,000 He's God. Genesis chapter 1 and verse #26 328 00:17:33,760 --> 00:17:37,600 The Bible says, and God said, let us make man in our image 329 00:17:37,920 --> 00:17:41,960 after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of 330 00:17:41,960 --> 00:17:44,600 the sea and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and 331 00:17:44,600 --> 00:17:47,120 over all the earth and over every creeping thing that 332 00:17:47,120 --> 00:17:50,760 creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own 333 00:17:50,760 --> 00:17:55,080 image, in the image of God created he them, created he him 334 00:17:55,240 --> 00:17:59,320 male and female created he them. But you see all the way back at 335 00:17:59,320 --> 00:18:02,040 creation and that's why the John 11 says in the beginning was the 336 00:18:02,040 --> 00:18:04,440 Word and the word was with God and the word was God. 337 00:18:04,640 --> 00:18:07,720 The word was Jesus Christ and he was there in the beginning with 338 00:18:07,720 --> 00:18:09,840 God. And then verse 2 says all things 339 00:18:09,840 --> 00:18:13,120 were made by him and without Him was not anything made that was 340 00:18:13,120 --> 00:18:16,520 made. Jesus was there at the beginning 341 00:18:16,600 --> 00:18:20,840 in the time of creation, and He was there in eternity past with 342 00:18:20,840 --> 00:18:22,200 God. But that's why he uses that 343 00:18:22,200 --> 00:18:26,320 plural word. Let us make man in our image 344 00:18:26,320 --> 00:18:30,360 because it's a plural. It's a triune God and again, 345 00:18:30,360 --> 00:18:33,720 it's one of those things that we can't wrap our minds around, but 346 00:18:33,880 --> 00:18:36,400 he says it's true. He says it's so and so we 347 00:18:36,400 --> 00:18:38,080 believe him. We take his word at it. 348 00:18:38,080 --> 00:18:40,920 We don't have to be able to understand it in order for it to 349 00:18:40,920 --> 00:18:43,240 be true. Turn over to 1st John chapter 5. 350 00:18:44,960 --> 00:18:48,240 Of course there's another, there's, there's a lot of verses 351 00:18:48,240 --> 00:18:52,360 that talk about the Trinity, talk about the fact that we 352 00:18:52,920 --> 00:18:56,320 serve a triune God. But here's another one that's 353 00:18:56,320 --> 00:18:59,520 about as plain as it could be in first John chapter 5. 354 00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:01,960 And we really got to talking a little bit about this during the 355 00:19:01,960 --> 00:19:05,960 Q&A around our Doctrine Matters conference. 356 00:19:05,960 --> 00:19:09,720 But verse #6 this is he that came by water and blood, even 357 00:19:09,800 --> 00:19:13,440 Jesus Christ, not by water only, but by water and blood. 358 00:19:13,720 --> 00:19:16,440 And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the 359 00:19:16,440 --> 00:19:19,480 Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear 360 00:19:19,480 --> 00:19:23,800 record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, 361 00:19:23,880 --> 00:19:27,800 and these three are one. And there are three that bear 362 00:19:27,800 --> 00:19:30,320 witness in earth, the Spirit and the water in the blood. 363 00:19:30,320 --> 00:19:34,240 And these three agree in one. Doesn't get any plainer than 364 00:19:34,240 --> 00:19:35,960 that. And I suppose that's why a lot 365 00:19:35,960 --> 00:19:38,600 of your modern versions take that verse out of the Bible. 366 00:19:39,120 --> 00:19:41,120 They don't want to for whatever reason. 367 00:19:41,120 --> 00:19:42,720 They don't want the Trinity to be true. 368 00:19:42,720 --> 00:19:44,600 They don't want this plain speaking. 369 00:19:44,800 --> 00:19:48,560 But the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost and these three 370 00:19:48,560 --> 00:19:51,120 are 1 doesn't get any plainer than that. 371 00:19:51,160 --> 00:19:56,320 All that God is, he is in the bodily form of Jesus Christ. 372 00:19:57,400 --> 00:20:00,760 And then I'm not trying to oversimplify or undervalue 373 00:20:00,760 --> 00:20:04,240 Christ, but I thought of this. I thought of this example. 374 00:20:04,240 --> 00:20:08,040 I thought of it in this way. I have a laptop that I use and 375 00:20:09,280 --> 00:20:11,520 actually I have, I have two, I have one that I keep here at 376 00:20:11,520 --> 00:20:13,160 church for all the stuff that we need to do here. 377 00:20:13,160 --> 00:20:17,760 And I have one at home. But rather than trying to put 378 00:20:17,760 --> 00:20:20,520 everything on a flash drive and bring it here and plug it in and 379 00:20:20,520 --> 00:20:24,040 everything else, I use OneDrive and it's basically just syncs 380 00:20:24,040 --> 00:20:28,360 all of your files, all of your documents across any of the 381 00:20:28,920 --> 00:20:31,480 computers. Or I have an iPad, obviously 382 00:20:31,480 --> 00:20:35,440 sync it across that I can open up my iPad and open a document 383 00:20:35,440 --> 00:20:37,240 that I'm working on on my computer at home. 384 00:20:37,240 --> 00:20:40,520 I can do any of those kind of things and essentially 385 00:20:41,640 --> 00:20:44,480 everything is there. I can access it from any 386 00:20:44,480 --> 00:20:50,840 computer that I want to, right? All of 1 is in another, and 387 00:20:50,840 --> 00:20:53,360 that's exactly what it is when it comes to God the Father, God 388 00:20:53,360 --> 00:20:54,800 the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. 389 00:20:54,880 --> 00:20:57,360 I can go to God and I can get everything that I need in him. 390 00:20:57,360 --> 00:20:59,440 I can go to Jesus, I can get everything I need in him. 391 00:20:59,600 --> 00:21:01,960 I can go to the Holy Spirit, I can get everything I need in 392 00:21:01,960 --> 00:21:03,320 him. They're all one. 393 00:21:03,320 --> 00:21:05,280 They're all the same. Now, they have different 394 00:21:05,280 --> 00:21:08,200 functions in different form, not forms, but different, different 395 00:21:08,200 --> 00:21:10,880 things that they do in different ways that they work in our 396 00:21:10,880 --> 00:21:13,280 lives, but it's the same. They're all the same. 397 00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:15,720 God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. 398 00:21:15,720 --> 00:21:19,800 The Bible says these three are 1 John 1030. 399 00:21:19,800 --> 00:21:24,640 I and my father are 1 John 14-6. Jesus saith unto him, I am the 400 00:21:24,640 --> 00:21:27,080 way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father, 401 00:21:27,080 --> 00:21:29,520 but by me. So many verses that talk about 402 00:21:29,520 --> 00:21:34,160 the fact that Jesus is God and that flies in the face of 403 00:21:34,160 --> 00:21:36,440 exactly what the Gnostics were teaching here. 404 00:21:36,440 --> 00:21:40,200 And that's why Paul was so plain and saying in verse #9 For in 405 00:21:40,200 --> 00:21:46,000 him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily God the 406 00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:49,680 Father, God the Son, God, the Holy Spirit, all of them in 407 00:21:49,680 --> 00:21:52,720 bodily form in Jesus Christ. What's the worth of Christ? 408 00:21:52,720 --> 00:21:56,560 He's completely God. And so we see the doctrine of 409 00:21:56,560 --> 00:21:58,200 Christ. We see the deity of Christ. 410 00:21:58,200 --> 00:22:01,800 And lastly, I want you to see this in verse #10 the dominion 411 00:22:01,840 --> 00:22:06,000 of Christ and ye are complete in Him. 412 00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:08,160 The Bible says Colossians chapter 2 and verse 10. 413 00:22:08,440 --> 00:22:12,760 You are complete in Him, which is the head of all principality 414 00:22:13,160 --> 00:22:16,480 and power. We are completed in Christ. 415 00:22:16,480 --> 00:22:19,720 He says that very plainly at the beginning of verse #10 ye are 416 00:22:19,720 --> 00:22:22,800 complete in Him. Something is missing until you 417 00:22:22,800 --> 00:22:26,080 are in Christ. Human philosophy, the world's 418 00:22:26,080 --> 00:22:28,400 religions, they don't know anything about that, and that's 419 00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:29,880 why they're constantly searching. 420 00:22:30,640 --> 00:22:33,600 You ever hear people say that? Anybody got any questions? 421 00:22:33,600 --> 00:22:35,560 Well, I do. What's the meaning of life, 422 00:22:36,200 --> 00:22:37,880 Right? That's people. 423 00:22:37,880 --> 00:22:40,600 People are constantly trying to figure out what's the meaning of 424 00:22:40,600 --> 00:22:42,440 life? What is, what's next? 425 00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:44,280 What am I? What am I searching for? 426 00:22:44,280 --> 00:22:46,600 What am I looking for? I don't know exactly what that 427 00:22:46,600 --> 00:22:48,080 is. And the reason why is because 428 00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:50,560 they're empty. They're missing the most 429 00:22:50,560 --> 00:22:52,880 important ingredient in their entire life, and that's Christ. 430 00:22:52,880 --> 00:22:56,680 That word for complete is pluru. It means to be made full. 431 00:22:57,520 --> 00:23:01,800 We're filled full in him. All of our fullness comes from 432 00:23:01,800 --> 00:23:04,280 his fullness. What was happening is that the 433 00:23:04,280 --> 00:23:08,120 cult at Colossae this this Gnostic idea, but even others 434 00:23:08,120 --> 00:23:11,080 that had started to spring up was offering to complete the 435 00:23:11,080 --> 00:23:14,120 Christian believers by initiating them into their 436 00:23:14,120 --> 00:23:16,320 secrets. Paul was making it very clear 437 00:23:16,320 --> 00:23:19,760 that none of these cults, none of these doctrines, none of 438 00:23:19,760 --> 00:23:22,360 these other things could give them what they were looking for. 439 00:23:22,520 --> 00:23:25,400 The fullness comes through Jesus Christ. 440 00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:28,600 That completeness only comes through Jesus Christ. 441 00:23:28,600 --> 00:23:32,040 God created, created Adam, and then he gave Eve to complete 442 00:23:32,040 --> 00:23:33,640 him. But they sinned, they died 443 00:23:33,640 --> 00:23:37,040 spiritually. He needed to be born again to 444 00:23:37,920 --> 00:23:41,480 complete again, to become complete again in spirit and 445 00:23:41,480 --> 00:23:43,760 soul and body. That completeness, that fullness 446 00:23:44,080 --> 00:23:46,200 comes in Jesus Christ. And boy, you start to read 447 00:23:46,200 --> 00:23:48,960 through the book of Hebrews and even in First Corinthians and 448 00:23:48,960 --> 00:23:51,840 you see some of the things that Paul is talking about, about the 449 00:23:51,840 --> 00:23:54,760 fullness, the fulfillment, all of that that comes in Jesus 450 00:23:54,760 --> 00:23:56,680 Christ. Lot that we could say about 451 00:23:56,680 --> 00:23:57,760 that. But I want to look at the 452 00:23:57,760 --> 00:24:01,560 second-half of this verse. It says which is the head of all 453 00:24:01,560 --> 00:24:07,000 principality and power. He is in complete control over 454 00:24:07,760 --> 00:24:10,200 everything. There's no greater power or 455 00:24:10,200 --> 00:24:13,360 authority. The Bible refers often to 456 00:24:13,360 --> 00:24:17,360 principalities and powers, the rulers of the darkness of this 457 00:24:17,360 --> 00:24:20,920 world. Angels, good and bad, are all 458 00:24:20,920 --> 00:24:24,560 created beings, and Christ is the head even of the angels. 459 00:24:25,560 --> 00:24:27,640 All the authority is given to Jesus Christ. 460 00:24:27,640 --> 00:24:31,240 In other words, we are complete in Him, and He is the head over 461 00:24:31,240 --> 00:24:33,440 all of those things. When we're in Him, we can have 462 00:24:33,440 --> 00:24:36,560 the victory that overcomes the world, but not until then. 463 00:24:37,280 --> 00:24:39,760 Only when we when we have him can we have that. 464 00:24:39,760 --> 00:24:42,080 What more could a believer want than that? 465 00:24:43,360 --> 00:24:51,200 Turn over to 1st John chapter 5. I want to look at one last verse 466 00:24:51,200 --> 00:24:54,320 and we'll be done. But as you turn over there, I 467 00:24:54,320 --> 00:24:56,120 want to tell you about a story that I heard. 468 00:24:56,120 --> 00:25:00,720 There was a wealthy man and his son that loved to collect art 469 00:25:01,240 --> 00:25:04,280 together. And, you know, I don't quite get 470 00:25:04,280 --> 00:25:06,920 it because to me, art is not interesting at all. 471 00:25:06,920 --> 00:25:09,320 I can't, most of the time, can't even tell what's going on in the 472 00:25:09,320 --> 00:25:11,560 picture. You know, just a lot of smears 473 00:25:11,560 --> 00:25:14,080 and people are talking about how wonderful this painting is. 474 00:25:14,080 --> 00:25:16,640 And I can't even tell if it's upside down or right side up or 475 00:25:16,640 --> 00:25:18,960 anything. So it doesn't mean a lot to me. 476 00:25:18,960 --> 00:25:22,880 But I know that people love art and you know, many times they'll 477 00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:26,600 spend money to go look at art, they'll spend money to buy art 478 00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:28,520 and everything else. But this man and his son, they 479 00:25:28,520 --> 00:25:32,520 love to, to collect art together, Picasso, Raphael, some 480 00:25:32,520 --> 00:25:34,360 of these other ones. And they had some very, very 481 00:25:34,360 --> 00:25:36,120 expensive paintings in their collection. 482 00:25:36,120 --> 00:25:41,360 And one day this, this the sun, right around the time of Vietnam 483 00:25:41,720 --> 00:25:45,520 that was going on and that conflict broke out and the sun 484 00:25:45,520 --> 00:25:49,040 went to war. And it wasn't too long after he 485 00:25:49,040 --> 00:25:51,760 had actually arrived in Vietnam. He was very courageous. 486 00:25:51,760 --> 00:25:56,520 And he died in battle, rescuing another soldier, a fellow 487 00:25:56,520 --> 00:25:58,440 soldier of his. Other people saw it. 488 00:25:58,440 --> 00:26:03,880 Everybody saw that he laid his life on the line for his his 489 00:26:03,880 --> 00:26:07,080 fellow soldier. And the father was notified 490 00:26:07,080 --> 00:26:09,320 about his son's death. And obviously he grieved very 491 00:26:09,320 --> 00:26:12,840 deeply for his son. About a month later, just before 492 00:26:12,840 --> 00:26:15,880 Christmas, there was a knock at the door and a young man was 493 00:26:15,880 --> 00:26:19,800 standing on this on this man's porch with a very large package 494 00:26:19,800 --> 00:26:22,240 in his hand. And so he invited him in and he 495 00:26:22,240 --> 00:26:25,240 said, I was with your son in Vietnam. 496 00:26:25,800 --> 00:26:30,400 He said, in fact, I was the one that your son was trying to save 497 00:26:30,400 --> 00:26:34,080 when he got shot and killed. And he said, I, I'm not much of 498 00:26:34,080 --> 00:26:36,800 A painter, but I do a little bit of a painting. 499 00:26:36,800 --> 00:26:40,320 And, and so I brought you a picture that I painted and he 500 00:26:40,320 --> 00:26:42,200 said, it's a it's a portrait of your son. 501 00:26:43,360 --> 00:26:46,680 An old man opened this picture up and he said that, you know, 502 00:26:46,680 --> 00:26:50,920 it's just amazing how this this man had captured on canvas 503 00:26:51,640 --> 00:26:54,360 really just the personality and the character and everything of 504 00:26:54,360 --> 00:26:56,120 his son. And it just, it brought tears to 505 00:26:56,120 --> 00:26:58,960 his eyes. And he loved the painting. 506 00:26:58,960 --> 00:27:02,120 And anytime somebody would come over, he would he would take 507 00:27:02,120 --> 00:27:05,240 them into the room and all these other fancy paintings that he 508 00:27:05,240 --> 00:27:06,800 had on the wall. But he would take him to that 509 00:27:06,800 --> 00:27:09,800 portrait of his son, that painting of his son, and just 510 00:27:09,800 --> 00:27:12,840 love to sit and admire it and have other people sit and admire 511 00:27:12,840 --> 00:27:16,720 it with him. It wasn't long after that that 512 00:27:16,720 --> 00:27:21,600 the father actually passed away. And so because he had no son to 513 00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:24,720 pass it on to, this was his only son that was killed in Vietnam. 514 00:27:24,720 --> 00:27:27,360 And really the only other one that cared anything about the 515 00:27:27,480 --> 00:27:29,640 paintings in his family was his son. 516 00:27:29,640 --> 00:27:32,440 And so he was going to have an auction. 517 00:27:32,840 --> 00:27:35,640 And he had stipulated in his will that he wanted all of his 518 00:27:35,640 --> 00:27:39,680 paintings to be auctioned off. And so many people knew about 519 00:27:39,680 --> 00:27:44,640 his collection and, and were anxious and eager to see the 520 00:27:44,640 --> 00:27:46,800 paintings that were going to be put up for sale, hoping that 521 00:27:46,800 --> 00:27:49,120 they would be able to get one of these paintings maybe a little 522 00:27:49,120 --> 00:27:51,840 bit less than market value because it was being sold at an 523 00:27:51,840 --> 00:27:55,200 auction. And so with all the anticipation 524 00:27:55,200 --> 00:27:58,200 around that, everybody sat down and they were waiting for the 525 00:27:58,200 --> 00:28:00,640 bidding to start in the auctioneer made his way up to 526 00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:04,080 the to the lectern and he started with the painting of 527 00:28:04,080 --> 00:28:07,920 this man's son. It was sitting right there on 528 00:28:07,920 --> 00:28:10,760 the little stage area that they had set up. 529 00:28:10,760 --> 00:28:13,440 And of course, nobody was there to see this painting. 530 00:28:13,440 --> 00:28:15,760 They wanted to see all the others and they wanted to bid on 531 00:28:15,760 --> 00:28:18,520 all of these other paintings. And so the auctioneer said, 532 00:28:18,520 --> 00:28:20,840 well, this painting has to be sold first. 533 00:28:21,440 --> 00:28:25,320 He said, this one is the one that I'm going to start the 534 00:28:25,320 --> 00:28:27,960 bidding who will start me off at $100. 535 00:28:28,600 --> 00:28:30,000 And it was just silence in the room. 536 00:28:30,000 --> 00:28:32,320 Nobody wanted this painting. And finally one of the guys in 537 00:28:32,320 --> 00:28:34,920 the back of the room said, can't we just put that at painting 538 00:28:34,920 --> 00:28:37,360 aside and get to some of the paintings that we came for? 539 00:28:37,440 --> 00:28:40,000 We want to see Rafael. We want to see Monet. 540 00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:42,240 We want to see some of these other paintings in the in the 541 00:28:42,240 --> 00:28:45,240 auctioneers to know, I'm sorry, this painting has to be sold 542 00:28:45,240 --> 00:28:48,040 first. He said, will somebody be 543 00:28:48,040 --> 00:28:50,760 willing to start me at $100? And you could just see the 544 00:28:50,760 --> 00:28:53,680 impatience in the room. Everybody was getting agitated. 545 00:28:53,680 --> 00:28:56,360 Why are we trying to sell the portrait of this man's son? 546 00:28:56,520 --> 00:28:58,920 Nobody in this room even knew the man's son. 547 00:28:58,920 --> 00:29:00,720 Why are we trying to sell this portrait? 548 00:29:00,720 --> 00:29:04,520 First of all things? Finally, from the back of the 549 00:29:04,520 --> 00:29:06,600 room, there was an old man that was sitting in there. 550 00:29:06,600 --> 00:29:08,960 And he said, well, I'll give you $10.00 for it. 551 00:29:09,400 --> 00:29:11,000 I'm not, I don't have much money. 552 00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:14,840 And turns out that this man was a gardener and knew the son that 553 00:29:14,840 --> 00:29:16,680 had actually gone off to war and been killed. 554 00:29:17,560 --> 00:29:19,680 He said, I'll give you $10.00 for the painting. 555 00:29:20,400 --> 00:29:22,080 The auctioneer said, all right, $10. 556 00:29:22,080 --> 00:29:24,120 Anybody give me $20.00 for this painting? 557 00:29:25,640 --> 00:29:29,920 Nobody said anything. He said, $10 going once, $10, 558 00:29:29,920 --> 00:29:36,200 going twice, sold for $10. And everybody was excited. 559 00:29:36,200 --> 00:29:37,880 They clapped. They said, all right, now we can 560 00:29:37,880 --> 00:29:41,040 get into what we came here for. Let's let's start with with some 561 00:29:41,040 --> 00:29:43,720 of these other expensive, some of these other fancy, some of 562 00:29:43,720 --> 00:29:46,680 these other well known paintings in the auctioneer said, I'm 563 00:29:46,680 --> 00:29:48,640 sorry to tell you this, but the auction's over. 564 00:29:51,000 --> 00:29:52,640 And they couldn't believe it. They said, what do you mean the 565 00:29:52,640 --> 00:29:55,000 auction's over? We came here to to buy the 566 00:29:55,000 --> 00:29:56,480 Monets. We came here to buy the 567 00:29:56,480 --> 00:29:58,040 Picasso's. We came here for all these 568 00:29:58,040 --> 00:29:59,880 paintings. What do you mean the auction is 569 00:29:59,880 --> 00:30:01,560 over? And he said, well, I couldn't 570 00:30:01,560 --> 00:30:04,360 tell you this before because it was part of the stipulation of 571 00:30:04,360 --> 00:30:07,800 the will. But the will said that whoever 572 00:30:07,800 --> 00:30:11,680 bought the portrait of the son not only got all the rest of the 573 00:30:11,680 --> 00:30:13,760 portraits, but they got the estate as well. 574 00:30:15,400 --> 00:30:17,720 To the man who bought the portrait of the son in the back, 575 00:30:17,720 --> 00:30:22,240 he'll get all of those paintings and he'll get the estate and the 576 00:30:22,240 --> 00:30:27,840 first John chapter 5 and verse 11, I think we see this idea 577 00:30:27,840 --> 00:30:30,080 that the man who takes the son gets everything. 578 00:30:31,560 --> 00:30:35,280 God gave his son 2000 years ago to die for us on a cruel cross, 579 00:30:36,440 --> 00:30:39,960 much like the auctioneer. That message is still whoever 580 00:30:39,960 --> 00:30:42,800 will take the Son gets everything first. 581 00:30:42,800 --> 00:30:46,720 John chapter 5 and verse #11 And this is the record that God hath 582 00:30:46,720 --> 00:30:50,760 given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 583 00:30:51,400 --> 00:30:55,640 He that hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son of God 584 00:30:55,640 --> 00:31:00,800 hath not life. What's the worth of Christ when 585 00:31:00,800 --> 00:31:05,160 you have Him and He has you? You have everything you need. 586 00:31:05,560 --> 00:31:08,280 You have all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. 587 00:31:08,280 --> 00:31:10,720 You are complete in Jesus Christ. 588 00:31:10,720 --> 00:31:12,480 It doesn't matter what the world says. 589 00:31:12,480 --> 00:31:14,240 It doesn't matter what the world thinks. 590 00:31:15,120 --> 00:31:17,520 It only matters what he says and what he thinks, and it should 591 00:31:17,520 --> 00:31:20,600 change the way you live. That's the message that Paul was 592 00:31:20,600 --> 00:31:24,240 trying to get across as he's starting to open up this idea of 593 00:31:24,240 --> 00:31:27,280 the fact that all of these other doctrines and all of these other 594 00:31:27,280 --> 00:31:31,000 religions are going to try to paint a phony picture of how how 595 00:31:31,000 --> 00:31:33,040 much they're worth. And they're going to try to tell 596 00:31:33,040 --> 00:31:37,520 you the value of what they have. But the value in the worth is in 597 00:31:37,520 --> 00:31:40,720 Jesus Christ. It's in the doctrine of Christ, 598 00:31:41,240 --> 00:31:44,640 it's in the deity of Jesus Christ, and it's in the dominion 599 00:31:44,640 --> 00:31:47,840 of Jesus Christ. Everything that we have, 600 00:31:47,920 --> 00:31:53,760 everything that we need, everything that completes us is 601 00:31:53,760 --> 00:31:58,440 found in Jesus Christ. Ye are complete in Him, which is 602 00:31:58,440 --> 00:32:01,280 the head of all principality and power. 603 00:32:02,520 --> 00:32:06,560 What's the worth of Christ? He's everything we have 604 00:32:06,560 --> 00:32:09,640 everything we need in Jesus Christ. 605 00:32:11,240 --> 00:32:14,480 The one that takes the Son gets everything. 606 00:32:15,880 --> 00:32:18,600 And because we know Jesus Christ is our Savior, and I trust that 607 00:32:18,600 --> 00:32:21,880 everybody in here does, because we know Jesus Christ is our 608 00:32:21,880 --> 00:32:24,880 Savior, we have everything we need in him. 609 00:32:26,280 --> 00:32:28,720 Don't ever forget it. Don't ever let it get old. 610 00:32:29,520 --> 00:32:31,040 Don't ever let it get old. Let's pray. 611 00:32:31,040 --> 00:32:34,000 Father, again, we thank you so much for your goodness to us for 612 00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:36,080 an opportunity. We have to just look briefly at 613 00:32:36,080 --> 00:32:39,040 this passage tonight. What a tremendous concept. 614 00:32:39,040 --> 00:32:43,360 What a tremendous idea. The man that gets the sun gets 615 00:32:43,360 --> 00:32:46,800 everything. When we took Jesus Christ as our 616 00:32:46,800 --> 00:32:51,680 Savior, we got everything. We got all the fullness of the 617 00:32:51,680 --> 00:32:55,360 Godhead bodily in Jesus Christ and we're completing him. 618 00:32:55,360 --> 00:32:58,800 May we never forget that. May we never lose sight of the 619 00:32:58,800 --> 00:33:03,400 value of Jesus Christ. Thank you again for all you do 620 00:33:03,400 --> 00:33:05,800 for us in Jesus name, Amen. If you stand at your.