Colossians 1:23 - Not Moved Away From The Hope, Pt. 1

Living in Troubled Times and Returning to the Word of God

Good morning everyone. So good to see you all. We've got a lot of things going on in our country right now, don't we? Last month has been quite amazing to watch and I've seen a lot of stuff in my lifetime.

I'm pushing 70. I'm not there yet so I'm not 70 yet, but About the time of Jesus's birth. I will be which I think was around October 4th. Scholars scholars say which is also my birthday, but in case you want to send something it's October 4th.

And I'm gonna be 70, can you believe that I feel I was telling a group one time. We were speaking in a trade way meeting with a bunch of people in Dallas. And I said I feel 18 and some guy shouted out.

Yeah, you act like it too, whatever that means. No disrespect to our 18 year olds. I thought it was a good thing. But anyway, good to see all of you and So great to see Bethany Brown with us visiting today and her friend Walker.

Thank you so much for being here and and Russell and Ann's daughter, of course, and she and I had not seen each other in quite some time. We had to go. Okay, this is us.

She looks.

Adult and I look older. There we go. But we're us so that's cool. Time is a funny thing, isn't it? You know the thing that I've spoken to a lot of folks my age and they always agree on this the thing that helps us Know our age is watching our children, you know as they as they go through the changes and you go.

Wow, okay, so I must be older. Look at this. And so anyway, God's plan is a blessing is every single stage. I like being a grandpa. It's a lot of fun. Anybody else like that? Yeah, it's like it's one of the best parts of life.

I think.

Anyway, so glad to have you I mean I Needed to be at church today because sometimes I try not to read the news much. I have to read some of it. Because of trade way, I just have to keep up with what's happening in the markets, you know less of that now fortunately, but.

So I read you know what I have to read but you you read some of the political stuff going on out there and You know.

In.

In logic or debate if you can't keep up with the Argument, then you attack the person right? That's a strategy. It's actually cheating in debate. You're not supposed to do that. You're supposed to stay on point and deal with the subject, but We see a lot of ad hominem Arguments today where you just destroy the person because you don't agree with their policies.

Wasn't that way? Most of my life between Democrats and Republicans they actually both Could disagree on policy but still admire one another and get along and even get things passed and things like that.

That is long gone. I don't know if it'll ever come back, but it's long gone. It's very dangerous time we're living in so I'm sure you're aware of that, but Sometimes it actually can affect my mood. So it's good to get to church today.

We're not gonna we're not gonna read any political Stuff while we're here. We're just gonna read the Word of God and you know what? That's one thing that never changes. It stays the same it remains the same and it's our spiritual food and it's what gets us through.

Whatever times we live through I mean we study history. There were a lot of times worse than what we live in now weren't there think about the Dark Ages. Or think about living under any king and he just doesn't like you it says off with your head and that's the law and you're dead Right.

So we we still have the greatest country in the world and the most freedom of any other country. And I traveled pretty extensively I can tell you where we have the most freedom of any other country, but it's less and less every year.

Because there are certain political Creatures in our country who want us to be more like Europe in other words to be social Show so socialistic and to be under the rule of government and have less and less freedom and that's dangerous.

But that's where we're headed.

But you know what? I don't see the Apostle Paul worrying too much about the politics in Rome. Do you he didn't try to save Rome? He just tried to save Romans and Not that we can save people but we can sure give them the gospel of salvation.

That's our job. Well, let's turn to Colossian chapter 1 and So good to see each of you and be glad when Katie and Dave and And his parents get back. We always miss them if they're traveling and quite a few others traveling today.

But so good to have exactly who God wanted to be here here today. So Colossians 1 and 23 Let me pray and we'll get started Lord. Thank you so much for the service already the beautiful singing beautiful music and Beautiful lyrics and Lord, we just Ask you to speak to each one of us feed us with your spiritual food your words are spirit and they are life and Energize us Lord and help us to be salt and light as we go out into the world this week.

And we ask it in Jesus name. Amen. Well, let me tell you a little bit about where we are in context where we're starting because this verse the starting place today is Going to take some some bit of detail to study.

The Bible says to study to show ourselves approved and that doesn't mean just read the Bible. We have to read it. We have to be reading it but we also need to be meditating and we also need to be studying it and that means going down to the jot and the Tittle the cross the T and the dot of the I.

Everything that's in the Bible every little word like the word of can be very important. Every little word is important. And so the passage we're going to study today. We may not get past one verse.

Today.

But you're used to that. But the point is.

Really.

Fascinating. Subject we're gonna look at today to me. Fascinating and also something that many people are not equipped to deal with but you will be after today and it's important that we be equipped. Because we have so many friends and family that.

You know. There's a lot of winds of doctrine going around in this country and around the world today. That are anti Bible and against scripture and we need to be able to have answer. For why we believe what we believe and so I believe this will be a help.

I don't know how far into it will get but it's very important. So I think you'll like it, but let me let me get up to where we are if we started about verse 12 or 13. The main points that we've covered so far is the book of Colossians begins to talk about First the father but now it starts to talk about the eternal Son of God.

Who we now know his name is Jesus Christ, but even before his name was Jesus Christ. He was the eternal Son and this book that we're studying verse by verse through Colossians is huge on. Talking about exactly who Jesus is.

So here's what we've learned just in these few verses from verse 12 to where we are today. Number one who is Jesus? He is the king of God's kingdom. He is the king of Kings. No, and that's in verse 13.

Number two He is the image are a better translation the embodiment of the invisible God is all of the fullness of the Godhead in a body number three he is the firstborn from the dead of all creation and that's in verse 15 the last part of verse 15 and The next thing is he is the creator of everything that exists both in heaven and on earth.

Both visible and invisible. He is not a created being. He's not an angel. He is the creator of all things and The fourth thing and that by the way is in verse 16. Can't be said more clearly if the Holy Spirit wanted to say it more clearly even he couldn't say it more clearly than he did In verse 16 as far as Jesus being the creator of all things.

Therefore he is God and then the fifth thing we saw in verse 17 Jesus is before all things. That's another proof that he's God if you could go back to the beginning before anything was made in Genesis 1 1 Jesus is Already there.

It's kind of interesting because the grammar sounds funny in the verse. It sounds incorrect. It should say he was before all things but it says he is and it's on purpose. God put it in the Greek in the present tense because if you go back to Before Genesis 1 1 he already is is always existed is the point.

So he is God and then we see the the sixth thing. He holds all things together that's the last part of verse 17 of him all things consist he holds all the molecules and Atoms in your body together all the time.

Some people think God threw everything out there and created everything and then he just folded his hand arms and says well Let's see how this turns out. The God of the Bible says of him all things consist.

He is constantly every minute every second of every day holding you together. Holding everything you're the pew you're sitting on together holding this globe that you're traveling around At thousands of miles per hour together as it goes around the Sun.

He is holding everything together at all times. That's who Jesus Christ is the the seventh thing is he is the head of the church and he has all preeminence in the church. Modern American churches don't seem to know that because Humans think they are the heads of the church and they are not and the next thing I see is he is all of the fullness of the Godhead In a body and that's in verse 19 and then we see Jesus made peace through his blood.

Reconciling the entire cosmos. Everything he created was out of order after man's sin now He's put he died to put it back in order. That's what John 3 16 means, by the way. So in that little starting from there about verse 20 going down is what we talked about last time the fivefold Eternal security that God has given to us and we talked about that last time.

Those are in those final Little verses there. It's beautiful five different aspects of the fact that once you are truly born again You cannot lose your salvation. I mean, it's all through the Bible. I've got hundred.

I've got a trail through my little pocket. New Testament starts in the Old Testament. Tells me when the next verse is and next all the way through the end. So over 200 of them that prove eternal security is the truth.

There might be five verses in the whole Bible that when you read them at first they sound like it's not true. So I ask people quite often Do you think I need to change my 200 verses or do you need to maybe work on your five?

If they don't match all the rest of the scripture, maybe you're misinterpreting those five and that is the way it is. But I mean eternal security is is is is based on two things as we talked about last Sunday.

Can you remember what they are? I know you remember my sermons about as far as till you get to lunch, right? I mean, I'm the same way, right? I don't even remember what Ben taught for Sunday school this morning.

But anyway, it was great. No, I'm kidding. So so can you can somebody name the two things the eternal security is based on or even one of them the finished work? There's one of them very good. I don't have to quit because if I'm not apt to teach I don't fit Ben's rules that he talked about for the pastor this Morning, I'd have to quit.

All right, that's we got one of them. What about the other one person was the finished work of Christ? And and his continuing work right his like he's our intercessor in heaven. But what's the second one the big one?

That's the big one. But I mean the second equal one Has to do with God in general his nature. Sovereignty of God, right? Remember that this eternal security is based on God being sovereign if he's not sovereign.

You're not eternal. You're not eternally secure. Right. I mean these are doctrines people don't love anymore, but I love them. I think they're the most majestic doctrines in the Bible some of the most Majestic the Bible says for who he is in Romans 8 for who he foreknew and By the way, that doesn't just mean he looks out there and sees what people are doing.

This is what's taught by false teachers. He looks out and sees what people that's not what foreknowledge means in Bible language. It means it's an intimate love. Like Adam knew Eve and she got pregnant.

It's an infinite intimate love for us he knew us Intimately before he made anything and Of those who he foreknew it says he predestinated. And those he predestinated it says he called and that happens in time in your lifetime.

There's a calling when the Holy Spirit wakes you up and says look you're a sheep. You're hungry. You don't even know it. Jesus is your shepherd. There is look at him. He's got the food. What will you do with him?

That's called the calling. No one gets saved without that because we don't want him. We like us. We're God. We like that. I like to be in God up to the second Jesus the Holy Spirit woke me up and showed him to me and then I Didn't like it anymore and I said I want you to be my boss not me and it changed my life.

I was in my car driving to work one day when that happened. It was like last week. I'm kidding. It was like when I was 24 24 years old seems like last week. So those he called he also justified the same group.

Do you understand? It's the same people the ones he foreknew are the ones he predestinated the ones he predestinated the ones he called in Time and the ones he called it says he justified. What does that mean?

You know what? We teach our little kids in Sunday school. Justified means just as if I'd never sin. So Jesus blood Takes our sins away from us and from the father's viewpoint. We never have sinned never will sin.

And that's a fact of Scripture now. Jesus is in time with us He can see us and he'll whip us when we sin, right? Give us a whipping the Holy Spirit can make us feel really guilty. So he's in time also, but the father who is outside of time and space.

From from a place that's not a place where there is no time. He does not see your sins it anymore. That's not the Rapture. So don't worry about it because if it is we all missed it, but He doesn't know about your sins anymore, that's what justified means and then it says and those who he justified the same group.

Hath he past tense glorified now, don't you think glorified is a future thing? But it puts it in the past tense. So from the father's view, it's already it's already real from the father's view. It's already you're already glorified.

He sees you that way and that's a remarkable thing. But that's called the sovereignty of God and without that you have no eternal security if God doesn't if the father doesn't already see you as his and already saw you from our viewpoint as his.

Before he made anything and down through the ages when it came your lifetime He awakened you at one point showed you Jesus and made Jesus Irresistible to you because you were his and you weren't going to be lost because Jesus said of them I will lose nothing.

So if that hadn't happened you'd never been saved but there was never a chance you wouldn't be saved either because he always knew you. This is the truth of the scripture and you don't hear preach much anymore.

Now it's all about. Well, if you'll do this God will save you. But my Bible says you're not saved by works. Do is a work word, isn't it? You see that you see the problem in American Church. So we want to believe once saved always say but we don't want to believe God's in control.

We want to be in control, but the two don't go together so the rock the rock is the finished and continuing work of Jesus and The sovereignty of God. I said that one so two things the eternal security is based on number one the finished and continuing work of Jesus and number two Sovereignty of God.

God is in control. He is in fact sovereign. He is not a God who folds his arms and watches to see how it works out. Nothing will surprise him he's already told us how it's going to end and You cannot tell someone how it's going to end if you don't already have if you haven't already seen now it ends and been there.

And that is our God. So these are these are the things we talked about now. Let's let's go into this next verse because this gets pretty interesting, so I've got to. I've got to read a little bit of this for you, though.

Let's see. You see verse 21 here shouldn't have thrown that away already. So I'm gonna start with verse 21 and read up to verse 23. Now this is beautiful. I hate to go fast because this is I'm gonna start with verse 20.

This is so beautiful. This is some of the most beautiful passage in the whole Bible about your salvation and mine. Okay, look at verse 20 and having made peace through his blood. That is the finished work of Christ and what it brings is this thing called peace and the doctrine that that's called in the Bible.

And theology is is propitiation. It's something Jesus did for the father not for us. Although we benefit greatly from it because we don't go to hell. But but it was for the father and what it did was when he died with our sins in his body.

He propitiated God's wrath. Satisfied God's wrath and holiness and perfection and law and Justice so that his justice could also be free to show forth his love and that's what Jesus did on the cross. And so there's where it starts.

We have peace with a holy God and we are not holy because listen the moment you and I got saved it says why we were. Yet in our sins hath he quickened us. We were not wanting to be saved when we got saved now I know American Theology says oh wait, you just got to ask Jesus in your heart.

The problem is you don't want to you didn't want to yesterday. You didn't want to the day before you didn't want to the year. Your whole life. You didn't you'd like to be in God. So did I this is called the depravity of man?

That's just how we are. We're blind. We're deaf. We're dead Spiritually and he saves us when we're in that state. So obviously salvation is a work of God. It's called the operation of God. He saves us why we were in our sins hath he quickened us.

Who did that God did. How much did you play in it? That is not a trick question. You played zero in it. How much does a baby play in his own birth. None? Jesus said this is like being born. God birthed you now from that point.

Everything forward is an effect of it not the cause of it and all the reason we have all these denominations. Split up and hating each other some and somewhat is. Because everyone argues over these effects and says that some of those are the cause and none of them are.

They're all effects. You can talk about what they are. You know what they are. Anyway, so here we have God working in Our salvation from the moment Jesus died to bring peace to us. Having made peace through the blood of his cross by him.

That's Jesus. The Greek word is DIA means through the channel of Jesus like a pipeline. Through through what Jesus did through that is how we're saved and what he did was he died. He gave his blood to do what to reconcile all things unto himself.

Do you notice that's not just about us. John 3 16 has never been just about us, but the whole world thinks it is and they get it wrong. John 3 16 is about the cosmos being put back in order. Jesus died to do that.

Now. Does that include the elect those who will be saved? Absolutely puts us back in order too, but it's not just about us. He said he died to reconcile all things unto himself by him. I say whether they be things on earth or things in heaven.

So he's going to put it all back in order like it was before the fall in the garden. So then it moves on down and says in you that were once upon a time Alienated enemies in your mind by wicked works.

That's the depravity of man. You always have to put that before you put salvation stuff because no one can understand salvation unless they understand that we need it and We need it because we're dead deaf and blind and and and don't want God.

That's the state all humans are in when they come into this world. Cute as little babies are doesn't take them long to start showing that sin nature. Doesn't take long at all about it long before they're in the high chair.

They're already showing it and you who were sometime Alienated that means once upon a time. It doesn't mean sometimes it means all the time once upon a time in the Greek. You were enemies in your mind by wicked works yet now hath he what?

Reconciled made right with God restored a Good relationship with God by what the blood of Jesus Christ all of that Has been said now as you read through this you just don't see any stronger Eternal security stuff anywhere in the Bible look at verse 22 in the body of his flesh through death.

He is going to present you and me holy. That means doesn't mean perfect. It means different. It means different than the world more like God and less like the world. He's going to present us. Holy Unblameable means in the Greek unblemished like the little lamb without blemish.

So when the father looks at you you have no blemish you have no sin on you and he's going to present you Unreprovable that is a justice word. Which means I'm gonna go drag this person in to court because he broke the law and he's gonna be held accountable.

You're not gonna have to ever be held accountable. Think about that. Not not with regard to salvation. We'll be held accountable for our you know rewards and so forth. I understand that but this is a salvation passage.

And so we're gonna be held Unreprovable and then the last beautiful thing it says in God's sight. Wow, how can you how could you? Give a better five-fold Definition of what eternal security is all about then that passage.

Would you agree? Okay. Now look at verse 23 and tell me what the next word is.

What is it?

If does that bother you a little bit as a if you had a Baptist background, which I did I don't know what we are now. We're not we're part Meadows Church now. I don't know what we are now, but we're we're we're biblicist, right?

We like to go by the Bible, but does that bother you if you believe in eternal security a little bit? It should bother you a little bit. Because it's a verse that Church of Christ uses Methodist use Pentecostal Catholic.

Everyone that believes you can lose your salvation will pull this verse out of context and just read this verse. What do you what about wait a minute? Wait a minute says if. If you continue, let's read it if you continue in the faith Grounded so you've got listen to me it sounds like you've got five-fold promise of eternal security that you never lose your salvation if.

Now all of a sudden it sounds conditional. If you continue in the faith grounded and settled and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel. Which you have heard and which was preached in every creature, which is under heaven where have I Paul am made a minister.

How do you deal with that? Well, I will tell you why you have to deal with it is because if it means if. Like it does in English if it means you're only eternally secure if you through your own effort.

Remain grounded and settled. Half of us in this room are lost this morning. Because look at your week last week. Okay, if if means if you are lost this morning and maybe you could get saved next week.

But the problem with that is Hebrews chapter 6 says if you ever lost it, you can never get it back again. Check that out sometime at your leisure. It says if you lost your salvation. You could never get it back because you would have to recrucify Jesus in other words If his blood when he died once is not sufficient to save you forever.

Then you'd have to recrucify him if you lost it and put him to open shame, which means blaspheme God. All right, so so if it means that then the whole Bible falls apart. That's why we got to deal with it.

Now. Listen, I'll say again I would much rather deal with about five verses that seem to teach you can lose it than over 200 that I personally know. There's more than that. They're just the ones I found that teach you can't lose it wouldn't you.

So we're gonna deal with this one. Now this might take a month. Yeah, that's what I say brother. Amen. We all like studying for a month on one word. Do we not? All right. That's great. Okay. Anyway, so alright, so Let's talk about this first a little bit and the words in it and then later.

We'll talk about the word if a little bit, but then more importantly we're going there's about ten rules of proper Bible interpretation. We're gonna use one big time on this and that is let the other let this Bible interpret itself.

Let the Bible interpret the Bible so we're gonna look at some other parallel passages that also have the word if in it in context talking about Salvation and we're gonna look at those and see if they shed light on this one so we're gonna do the whole thing here with this because if you don't know how to answer this your neighbor is gonna Try to get you to join the Church Christ pretty soon right where you can lose your salvation.

And your whole doctrine you're all of your doctrine is going to just get blown up. This is a hugely important verse okay, so let's look at some of the words first of all where it says if you continue and In the faith grounded, let's look at this word grounded.

Well, one thing that's kind of interesting about it is it's in the passive participle perfect passive participle now perfect in Any grammar Greek or English it describes an action? Which has happened in the past?

Never did it have to be done again. Okay, that's what perfect means. When you say that it's perfect passive participle perfect in grammar means it's an action Which is viewed as having happened in the past or been completed in the past once and for all never needing to be Repeated.

Okay, you got that. So the word grounded is Also in the passive now, what is the difference in grammar between active and passive if it's active? Who's doing the work. The subject like so if this is talking about us.

If it's talking about the believer it is talking about the believer. Isn't it if you continue right if you continue to enter grounded, so if the believer Has to ground himself. It would be in the active.

Does that make sense? But this is in the passive now you can tell me what passive means. Someone bigger and stronger than you did it to you. So, let me ask you this if God promised fivefold eternal security in the previous verses in fact all the way back to verse 12 basically and that he is God and that he made everything of him all things consist so he controls everything and Here he says you got to stay grounded but grounded is in the passive.

Who is it that grounds you you or is it him? See see I've said so many times Greek is like math and if you know the math It will solve most arguments with your friends and family that have their doctrine messed up.

This one grammatical issue Proves that it's not talking about you. Keeping yourself grounded or else you lose your salvation because it's passive. It's something God does now. Would you say it would make sense that if God who you're for new he also?

Predestinated to be saved and knows he predestinated in time. He called him and woke him up. So they'd be saved and those that he woke up always get justified which means saved forever as if they never sinned and those are Already glorified in God's eyes and it's up to him to keep you grounded.

He says now let him slip. I'm gonna let that one go. Well, I'd love to tell my story again about what it's like to raise cows. Russell could tell it too. But but I will just say this my grandfather was a pretty mean dude.

And I kept his cattle for him till I went to college from the time was about eight me and another man one other man. And I will promise you when his bull got through the fence, which they always will and when they want to go visit the other cows.

My grandfather did not hold the bull responsible. He didn't say all well the bull, you know. If I went to him said well the bull exercise his free will and just decided to leave my grandfather would say yeah.

But you're responsible go get him and bring him back. With a few flowery words he would throw in there with it and then he would end with now. So whose job was it the shepherds job or the sheeps job to keep them in the right place?

You tell me is it up to the sheep to do that or up to the shepherd? Who will very good and who will be held accountable if the sheep is lost the sheep or the shepherd? Shepherd and who is the shepherd?

Who is the shepherd. Jesus Christ is the shepherd right. Who is God you got it, right? Y 'all need to be on the front row, but that's good. That's good. So so like like you you see this idea that you can lose your salvation is totally nonsensical.

When you know the Bible and the God of the Bible, but most Americans today don't so they're easily led astray. So now we got to the one two, three, four five six. We got to the seventh Number by the way.

We got to the seventh word and we've already destroyed the idea that this is teaching if or unless You do this you're gonna lose it, right? We already destroyed it, but we're still having fun. So let's don't stop there.

We're not done yet. What about this? You're supposed to be grounded and settled. Well, let's look at the Greek word settled now. What's interesting about the Greek word? Is that it is. It's not a noun and it's not a verb it's an adjective so you can't say it's perfect passive or whatever.

So It's just an adjective. But the word itself means sedentary or Immovable. Okay, so that's what it says. You're supposed to be grounded which is passive and Now this is an adjective. So it tells you what kind of grounded person are you and remember grounded is perfect Passive which means it's an event that happened in the past never to be repeated and it's passive which means God did it.

So do you think let me just stop it. It's not really a rabbit trail, but I got to make sure you get this. If you're gonna look at Romans 8 and you see the whole the whole Arena of salvation is named from before time started.

So you go to a time where there is no time in no place and it's only just God exists the Father Son Holy Spirit God exists. There is nothing. There's no time and he's perfectly pleased and happy because he has himself to love.

The father loves the son the son loves the father. Holy Spirit loves both and everything's fine, and he didn't need anything. Except for one thing. What is Genesis 1 1 through 5 teach about God? He is part of his character.

He is a creative being. He is creative so he needed Something I've heard preachers say well, he doesn't need us. How many of you heard that? I've said amen to that a million times, but the older I get the more I think well, that's stupid.

Do I not need Jenny? Do I not need Katie and Paul and Ben and Matt my children? Do I not need them and want them and desire them and be nothing without them and that's stupid. But I know what they mean when they say he didn't need it.

He could do what they mean is he could have existed in and of himself and been fine forever and in a sense. Yeah, because he's God but but let me ask you this though. Did he desire us? Obviously and did he have a need to be creative obviously so that's why everything is here everything that is is here.

So now when you look at this if you go back though before he did any creative acts when it was just God. No time no space just spirit pure spirit being you don't even know what that is. By the way, neither do I it's something you can't see though.

I can tell you that. So you go to that Time when there's no time the only way I can talk about it as a man is to say it's a time in the past our past go to that time and place and all of a sudden. This is exactly the place where it says whom he foreknew.

He also predestinated all of that happened outside of time where there where there is no time and space. So let me ask you this. Could you be correct as a theologian to say there's a sequence there then where first he looked out and saw everybody and then he Chose who'd be saved.

First and then can you say first and then if there's no time. Trying to get you to think a little bit. It's more fun if we go a little deeper. So can you say first he did this and then he did this if there's no time.

Can you have sequence if there's no time? Thank you. Thank you. Thank you sitting back there. I see where you're going. So so so that just happened. It is like you can't say God foreknew something first and then he predestinated and you can't say he Predestinated first and then he foreknew it just it's it's it's just there.