United With Christ Colossians 2:8-12

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August 22, 2021 morning service Faith Bible Church, Sacramento, CA United with Christ - Colossians 2:8-12

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Well, good morning and welcome to Faith Bible Church. It's good to see you all here
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You made a notice when you came in the door we have a bulletin now praise God and thank you
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Jack Keaton and for that It's got the order service and some announcements in there.
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So what a blessing that is It's been a it's been a long road since we've not had this just like we had
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Communion last earlier this month and we're gonna continue that on back to back to a normal mode of Doing things.
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So thank you Jack for that and those others that were involved in that We're gonna be upgrading updating the the church directory.
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So that'll be available soon so we're getting some old names off and some new names on and so you can
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Kind of this is church family, you know, and it's good to have that handy and accessible And I think that's about it for in the way of announcements, so I was thinking this week that it isn't it wonderful that we're able to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ We're kind of talking about that this morning with during a
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Bible study. Thank you pastor Ilgen for for your study I think it's been really rich and for I speak for myself, but I think
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I speak for everybody That it's it's been a tremendous blessing. So thank you for that But it's it's not a ritual it's not it's not a act of works
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It's not something you have to work for to do or to try to do It's not something you gain and then lose
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Once saved you're always saved if it you're saved if you've confessed your sins and accepted
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Christ as your Lord and Savior So there's you don't need an intermediary and John 15 5
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Jesus tells us directly I am the vine You are the branches Whoever abides in me and I in him he it is that bears much fruit for apart from me
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You can do nothing and to abide and looked it up and known this but to abide is to live to continue or remain
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So to abide in Christ is to live in him or remain in him like you're yoked together you know just as a stock of vine and a branch you're you're connected and When a person saved here she they're described as being in Christ, we say it all the time
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We just kind of get used to saying some of these things. Yeah, I'm in Christ in Christ in Christ Well, what does that mean? You're held secure in a permanent relationship.
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Nothing can separate you from the Savior So abiding in Christ is not a special level of Christian experience or you know,
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I I became I'm in Christ So I became but it's only for a few rather it's for the position of all true believers
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That's that's your God's gift to us. So as we worship this morning, let's remember that worshiping
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Christ is something intimate It's something personal and that we have the privilege of abiding in the
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Creator the Savior of the universe That's pretty powerful. So let's keep that in mind as we worship together this morning.
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So Let's go to the Lord in prayer Father we thank you so much for gathering us here today
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This is such a special time a blessed time to be set apart set aside that we can worship you
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Corporately together as believers that we can raise our voices We can hear the truth of your word that it just is a special time to to grow in our faith father
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We pray that for those that are home sick that are ailing we pray for healing for them father
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We pray for those that are away from our church family this weekend or traveling God May you bless their activities in there there whatever they're doing and going through father that they would be mindful of you in the process that And remembering who they serve father.
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We pray for those that that are still tentative about coming back Lord I pray that you would impress on their hearts to to consider coming and fellowshipping and joining with us father because that is
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Your greatest desires for the Saints one of them to to to corporately gather together father
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We pray that you would equip us and challenge us today we pray that you would teach us and Just inspire us that we might learn more of who you are and what a precious
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Lord and Savior you are God bless our time this evening or the excuse me this this service and That we would honor you and all that we do father and bring you glory.
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We pray in Jesus name. Amen David well, good morning and be strong and courageous
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Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go
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And let's stand Romans chapter 6 1 through 11
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Romans chapter 6 verses 1 through 11 What shall we say then shall we quit kidding sin that grace may brown?
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God forbid how shall we that are dead and sin the very longer they're in Knowing now that there are so many of us
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As were baptized in Jesus Christ were baptized to his death Therefore we are buried with him and by best of men into death
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Not like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father You know, so we should also should walk in newness of life
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For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also You know,
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I guess of his resurrection Knowing this that our old man is crucified with him that the body of sin might be destroyed that the henceforth
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We shall not serve sin For he that is dead is free from sin
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Now if we be it be dead in Christ, we shall we believe that we shall also live with him
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Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead as death no more Death has no
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No more dominion over him For in that he died he died unto sin once when bringing that he liveth
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He liveth unto God Likeness record ye also Yourselves be to be dead indeed unto unto death sin, but alive with Unto God through Jesus Christ our
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Lord May the Lord have mercy to read his word Amen Please turn with me to Colossians chapter 2 verses 8 through 12
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Colossians Chapter 2 verses 8 through 12
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Beware Lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit according to the tradition of men according to the basic principles of the world and not according to Christ For in him dwells all the fullness of the
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Godhead bodily and you are complete in him Who is the head of all?
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principality and power in Him you are also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ Buried with him in baptism in which you also were raised in Which we were also raised with him through faith in the working of God who raised him from the dead
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This is the word of the Lord Let us pray Father we are so thankful for this concept of union with Christ unity with Christ God we pray that this reality would not be just some any kind of fact but this reality would hit us hard and we would
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Always remember in our minds what glory and wonder we have by being united with your son
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For what he has done on the cross in Jesus name. Amen ever since the beginning of Christian teaching
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The threat of false teaching has always been around in this text
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After telling us what the correct Christianity is our reliance on the
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Lord Jesus Christ Paul warns us against false teaching
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One of the most gruesome cases it does is the
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Jonestown Massacre in the 1950s a guy named
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Jim Jones was a communist Who was frustrated with the lack of popularity of the communist movement the
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Communist Party USA? The government was cracking down on the party and the party just did not have the drive to succeed
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He wondered how can I demonstrate my Marxism the thought was to infiltrate the church
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The church warmly welcomed him as a leader, even though they knew he was a communist he didn't start with Obviously dangerous messages he started working with faith healers and gained more followers
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He called for racial integration. He called for the adoption of children
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Great things that Christianity should and have supported His group was called the people's temple in the late 1960s he started injecting his false teaching if You're born in capitalist
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America Racist America fascist America, then you're born into sin But if you're born in socialism
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You're not born in sin Instead of all of us born into sin, which the
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Bible proclaims According to Jim Jones only Non -socialists were labeled sinners
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Instead of Jesus being the only Savior Socialists socialism became the only
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Savior By this time he outright said he did not believe in the
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Bible or the God of the Bible yet He remained widely accepted by politicians
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Harvey Milk Former California governor Jerry Brown the first lady Rosalynn Carter However, this group was eventually driven out to Guyana, South America Do you know what drove
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Jim Jones and the people temples away from the United States? It was not the correct teaching of the church that drove him out
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It was the media attention that uncovered physical and sexual abuses that this group practiced
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They moved to South America and when Jim Jones knew that the group wouldn't survive he convinced the whole group to commit a mass suicide 909 followers of them 304 children died of cyanide poisoning
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We're here we see here that although Jim Jones's false teaching started out gently
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It had a devastating end In the end all false teachings lead to death
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Because no teaching outside of Christ can truly save how do we protect ourselves?
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against false teaching and And that leads to my main point we guard against false teaching
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Because we are fully united with Christ through faith We guard against false teaching because we're fully united with Christ through faith
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Now what must we do as the body of Christ That leads to my first point we guard against every teaching not according to Christ We guard against every teaching not according to Christ After Paul encourages the church to firmly hold on to Christ right be rooted in him be established in him
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He warns us not to budge from that position Not to move
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Verse 8 beware lest anyone cheat you Beware means to watch out
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Pay attention The word for cheating here is more graphic than being duped or defrauded
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It is in the context of the enemy Taking you captive capturing you
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Paul is saying the false teachers who when they deceive you they're taking you as plunder as The enemy force would when they conquer your city
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This is a serious warning Your lives are at risk
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Paul then describes what to look out for by using the next four phrases
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First Paul tells us the methods which the false teachers used to take you captive through philosophy and empty deceit
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Philosophy means love of wisdom Paul here is not saying we do not seek wisdom, right?
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The Bible treasures wisdom But he is warning against the false type
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The empty deceit shows what kind of philosophy is involved here It looks attractive
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But the content is empty It seems intelligent
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But it is worthless It does not fill us spiritually it does not build us up unlike the word and wisdom from God False teaching returns empty results.
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It is fruitless and dry This is in contrast with Christ Whom Paul claims in verse 3 of chapter 2 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge
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While the false teachers give a fancy box with nothing inside Christ offers all the treasures
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That you could even imagine the second phrase describes the source of false teaching
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According to the tradition of men the tradition of men means the empty teaching comes from men and Therefore not
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God this may remind us of Jesus's encounter with the religious leaders the
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Pharisees in Mark 7 when some of Jesus disciples start
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Eating without washing their hands the Pharisees question Then verse 5 reads.
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Why do your disciples not walk in accordance to with the traditions of the elders?
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But eat their bread with unholy hands defiled hands impure hands
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To the Pharisees it was more important to hold on to the tradition of the elders man
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Then to follow the commandments of God Hence Jesus sarcastically remarks in verse 9
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You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition
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God did not place a commandment to wash hands before eating. Then.
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Why do you judge other man? According to the man -made standard the third phrase shows us the spiritual context of the false teaching according to the basic principles of the world the word basic principles or elements in certain translations or higher spiritual beings
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Such as demons and angels in pagan worship context the word basic principles or elements
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Shows that these are the basic necessities such as what we eat and what we drink
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And it also conveys the elements of the universe Like the stars the
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Sun and the moon Which were often worshipped as heavenly beings false gods and In the ancient cults people try to connect these basic things together
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Like food drinks and physical rituals to the spiritual things the
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Sun the moon and the stars and the angels And in fact, we actually see this in many religions today
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Islam forbids pork because they're unclean and Allah is the moon
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God after all what is their symbol a crescent moon
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When does the month of Ramadan start at the sighting of the new crescent moon
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Mormons forbid alcohol and hot caffeinated drinks What do they inherit if they're good enough whatever that means planets good
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Mormons They believe that they inherit planets in which they are worshipped these false religions over -spiritualized physical things and place extra burden on their followers
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They tell them that you have to practice these things if you want a fuller experience of God If you want to please
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God you got to do these rituals These teachings clearly imply that Christ is not enough
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You must add things to Christ The rituals which the Colossian heretics encouraged the church to practice
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Were for the principalities and the powers the heavenly beings the higher spiritual authorities the angelic hosts the dietary restrictions the
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Sabbath observance and various rituals were according to the standard of these elemental spirits and the last phrase
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Summarizes it all clearly all and not according to Christ This means if the church is adding any cleansing rituals or dietary restrictions to appease some angelic powers
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That is not according to Christ if The church is holding any man -made standards on their congregants
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Such practices are not according to Christ trying to experience more of God through human tradition is
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Like fastening your seat belt in a crashing plane No matter how much you tighten the belt it won't save you
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Don't rely on things that are powerless Don't rely on your own strength your rituals your good works
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Only Christ has the power to bring us to God This is important today because the church is
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Constantly under attack by such empty teachings according to the traditions of men for example some cults elevate the baptism at the same level as salvation
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So if a believer is not baptized the cults would consider him not saved
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This begs the question who truly does the saving then is It Christ who died for the person's sin on the cross or the act of baptism, which is done unto the person
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Christ Complaining complete atoning work on the cross for our sin
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Cannot be diminished by our state of baptism
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Note how the focus moves away from Christ Facing the judgment for our sin on the cross
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That we deserved to a ceremonial action baptism Make no mistake.
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I endorse baptism. I Celebrate when a believer wants to get baptized and it's a beautiful Public declaration of the inward reality their faith in Christ their allegiance to Christ However, if baptism becomes the standard by which
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We judge a believer's salvation It is a dangerous practice and it is not according to Christ but according to the traditions of men
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It is not the baptismal water that washes away our sin and Purifies me white as snow it is the precious blood of Christ That shed for me on the cross
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So that we may be presented righteous before the King of Kings It is only because Christ took my place on the cross and faced the wrath of God that I've earned
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That we are made clean This cannot be done through baptism after all
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This planet does not contain enough water to wash away any of our sins now
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Why do we avoid every teaching not according to Christ? Because we find the fullness of God only in Christ Because we find the fullness of God only in Christ in Contrast to the false teaching
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Paul tells us where we can truly find the fullness the truth and that's
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Christ verse 9 for in him dwells all the fullness of the
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Godhead bodily in Christ the full deity of the Godhead dwells physically and in reality the fullness language directly opposes the
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Colossian heresy Paul just described their false teaching as empty deceit and according to the traditions of men
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Now, how is Christ described? the full deity Dwells in Christ the fullness in Christ Directly contradicts the emptiness of the
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Colossian heresy Paul is saying if you want a full experience with a living
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God Don't seek the empty philosophy but seek
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Christ Don't take in their deceitful teachings, but receive
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Christ Verse 10 tells us that it is possible for us to experience such fullness in Christ and You are complete in him who is the head of all principality and power
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The verb complete can be literally Understood as full you are full in him.
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The fullness dwells in Christ and you're full in him You're filled in him
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Paul wants to convey that Christians find fullness in Christ alone
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Not in empty teachings of the false teachers Christians get the full experience of the true living
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God in Christ alone Here Paul emphasizes
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Paul Christ Preeminent the supreme position who is the head of all?
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Principality and power. He's greater than the angels And why does he do that?
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Because he is fighting against the false teaching that taught that the heavenly elements like the stars and angels were to be worshipped
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Paul repeats What he has told us in Colossians 1 16 thrones or dominions or principalities or powers are created through him through Christ and for him those heavenly beings that these heretics worshipped are
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Still below Christ Christ has not only created them, but he rules over them.
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He is the head The implication here is massive
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Church if you received Christ who is higher and better than every heavenly beings combined
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Why accept the teaching that submits you to worship any of the lesser beings for example nowadays
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Astrology is in vogue again It's popular Astrology depends on the alignment and positions of stars to manipulate people's actions and thoughts
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They say a certain planet is in retrograde and and they're teaching that there's going to be a cosmic shift
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The universe will move New changes are coming into the world They claim different generations and different star signs like horoscopes will be affected by such motion differently according to scripture your relationship
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With stars and planets do not matter Star alignment and planetary movements do not guide our lives
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They do not affect our lives We must not put any weight nor emphasis on stars and planets
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Just like the Colossians he did However your relationship with Christ totally matters after all the fullness of God dwells in Christ and he has full authority over all the stars and planets and their spiritual hosts
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What are your lives going to be ruled by? The unpredictable movements of stars and planets or the one who holds all of them in his grasp.
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How will you live? seeking some vague empty star secrets or being filled by Christ who is the revealed mystery of God and Thus experiencing the fullness of God in Christ Now the question is how can we experience
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Participate in the fullness in Christ. How is that possible? We're united with Christ through faith
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We're united with Christ through faith Paul tells the church that we participate in Christ's fullness in union with him in Him you are also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands
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By putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ Buried with him in baptism in which you also were raised with him through faith in the working of God Who raised him from the dead?
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Here Paul uses two metaphors To describe what that looks like our union with Christ First is that of circumcision in the
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Old Testament? Circumcision was an outward symbol With a covenant with God outward symbol of this inward relationship with God Which meant it outwardly showed?
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That you belong to God Also similar to what
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Paul is doing the Old Testament Authors do use the term circumcision as a metaphor to describe
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Israel's allegiance and Relationship to their God their identity in God Here is what
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Moses tells the Israelites after receiving the Ten Commandments in Deuteronomy Deuteronomy 10 verses 14 through 16
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To the Lord your God belong the heavens even the highest heavens the earth and everything in it
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Yet the Lord set his affection on your ancestors and loved them and he chose you their descendants above all the nations as it is today
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Circumcise your hearts Therefore and do not be stiff -necked any longer.
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Now. This is not taken literally as They did not perform major heart surgeries on all the
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Jews Circumcising your hearts is a metaphor to describe the spiritual reality
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Inward it was it showed that every aspect of one's life
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Reflects the relationship with God When Paul is talking about how we have been circumcised with circumcision not made by hands
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It is also metaphorical It shows that we have been made as God's people we have been made a new the phrase not by hands
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Shows that it is not something any humans have done To us, but it implies that it is
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God who qualified us to be his people It is not our rituals or what food we eat or avoid but God who has made it possible
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We are his people not because of what we do, but what God has done for us
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Paul then describes how God has made us his by putting aside the body of the flesh
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What does flesh mean here? Are we literally removing our physical skin in?
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In his letters letter to the Romans Paul uses the same word flesh to mean our sinful nature our old self our sinful self our innate natural desire to rebel against God and Our natural desire to disobey
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God Flesh illustrates the fact that we are all born into sin
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Everything we do everything we think everything we say is soaked in sin
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We can't avoid it and we cannot escape it because it is our nature
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How many times have we heard someone and apologized saying I won't do it again Only to do it again later
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Sin is irresistible and inescapable for those who are in the flesh
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The biggest problem, of course is that God opposes sin and sinners
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Because God is so holy. He is nothing like us and he's so just he has to deal with every instance of sin
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Anytime we disobey God we are openly rebelling against the King of Kings.
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It's treasonous Anytime we wrong someone We ultimately sin against God Why because that person was made in the image of God?
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you defiled his image and nothing escapes the unsleeping eye and No one will escape the judgment to come the full wrath of God precisely and correctly
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Given to all the sinners who rebel against him Now, how can the
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Holy God Make sinners like us Into his holy people.
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This means in order for God to make us his he removes our sinful nature and As the next phrase says it is done by Christ by circumcision of Christ.
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It is Christ who takes us People of God it is who who makes us into his people it is
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Christ who removes our flesh our sinful nature and He does it precisely by taking our place on the cross
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Instead of you on the cross facing the full wrath of God the judgment that we deserved
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Christ chose to take your place So that God could deal with sin our sin in Christ Christ was the substitute for your sin
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He faced the judgment of God so that you would not have to He experienced the full wrath of God poured down on him so that you would be declared righteous in him
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Precisely on the cross Christ dealt with our sin and No longer are we enslaved to sin when we believe in Christ and Paul continues the to elaborate our
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Unity in Christ how God makes us his people by using another metaphor baptism
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Paul says that in Christ we are buried with him in baptism in which you
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Also were raised with him through faith in the working of God who raised him from the dead
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The language here suggests that it is not talking about a physical baptism, but rather a spiritual baptism
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Paul redefines baptism from just a cleansing ritual of the Jews to a spiritual baptism of an experience of dying with Christ and Then rising with Christ it is our union with Christ Our conversion a new membership in God's family
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This text is not saying you have to be baptized in order to be saved But it's using baptism metaphorically to illustrate what salvation looks like We're first united with him in Christ's death
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Through Christ's death our sins are forgiven With Christ's death on the cross cross
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Christians die to sin with him We're no longer loyal to our former sinful selves our former sinful nature
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Just as the water closes over your head over your body when you're baptized When you're submerged during baptism
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You have been buried with Christ the tomb closes over you however, you're not kept in the grave
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You're not you don't stay under the water Because as Christ resurrected you also rise with Christ we rise above the water and everyone is cheering
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We're born again to a new reality new identity No longer.
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Are you enslaved to your former sin nature, but under the Lordship of Christ as Christ arose from the dead.
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We also arise with him This is the picture of what it means to belong to God's people from death to life.
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We are united with Christ and And Paul highlights that it is through God's power not ours through faith in the working of God who raised him from the dead our unity with Christ is through our faith
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Which is powered by? God Your experience with God does not depend on what rituals you perform
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How many years you've been to the church how many hours you serve and volunteer
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Our unity with Christ is through faith alone. You believe in what
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Christ has done for you you believe in the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, which purchased our forgiveness of sins and Paul tells us that faith is not dependent on our strength
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But it is dependent on God's power What kind of power you may ask?
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It's the working of God Who raised Christ from the dead? God does not skimp out on When it comes to uniting his people to Christ It is the same power that raised
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Christ from the dead that is working in you right now to raise your life from the sinful self
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So that we may participate in union with Christ So that we may fully experience
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God in Christ That is how we fully participate in Christ as Harold mentioned earlier in Christ is
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Not just something we say to be Christian ease It has a huge implication of our
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United States with Christ We're in union with the very living God and union with Christ is crucial for Christian life this is the starting point of our salvation and We continue to be united with him.
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We're saved because we are united with Christ in his death and resurrection
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When Jesus was on the cross he took our sin and experienced the horrible wrath
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That we deserved in Christ. You have forgiveness of all sins past present and future
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In Christ, you are a child of God in Christ you are made pure in Christ you will be resurrected physically into an incorruptible and imperishable
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Complete body no more aching body and Christians.
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That is our new identity in Christ you're dead to sin and alive in Christ.
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In fact, that is how God the Father sees you right now No longer dead men or women walking in sin but righteous men and women in Christ this means
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We do not find our identity in sin You're not an addict
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You're not a fornicator. You're not a thief. You're not a liar You're not a gossip and we put off those sinful ways.
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We do not live according to our former nature We do not even find our identity in our health conditions.
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You're not a disabled man You're not a depressed woman You're not a bipolar woman
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You're not a crippled man, we do not use those words to describe ourselves
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You're a Christian You're a child of God and also we do not use
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Our jobs or our Family relationship to describe our identity.
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You're not a nurse You're a Christian who happens to be a nurse
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You're not just a mom You're a Christian who has been tasked to steward and disciple your young kids
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That is what it means to live united to Christ We have to see ourselves differently
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You're a child of God you're the child of The only true living
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God who sits in the heavens with thousands of angels surrounding him who keep on saying holy
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Holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty Who is like the
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Lord and how can we settle for so much less
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When the reality is that we're united to none other than Jesus Christ himself
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In whom the fullness of God dwells Let us pray.
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Father we're so Thankful and overwhelmed by the reality that we're united with none other than none other than God himself
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Because of what Jesus willingly did for us on the cross and God we pray that as we go out
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We would not settle for any other identity whether it's bad or good God we pray that we would stick to the best and God we pray that it would be a constant reminder that we would saturate our minds with who we are in Christ So that we do not live in any other way
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We pray that your spirit would continue to work in us to unite us with Christ in Jesus name.
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Amen so just a couple items before we
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Dismiss everyone many of you are that are aware that the Canes are down south with their
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Saying so long to their daughter Johanna Temporarily as she goes to school
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It's a very emotional time. It's very difficult time and we just would ask that you would be praying for them
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Some of us have been through that before and so it's it's pretty tough They're gonna be coming back to a new normal now
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The Canes have plans Have their excuse me their the Canes plans have always been to help transition our church
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To a new pastor and we think they have done that Amazing job with grace and love in that process and we can be thankful to the
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Lord For them and I know we're all very pleased with our transition both with the chose wonderfully extending themselves to everyone here at Faith Bible Church and Likewise how the brothers and sisters of faith have welcomed and loved and brought the chose into our church family
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And we're very grateful John experienced the ability God gave him to help minister to churches
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Plus being one of them and continues to have a heart to perhaps serve in these types of challenges elsewhere in the days ahead
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Praise God that through our need he saw fit to equip a faithful servant for his purposes and blessing elsewhere
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This is a new season for the cane family and it's our turn to encourage them in their new beginning so let's remember that just keep them in your prayers, okay, and Victor Chose are coming up right now and pastor said
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Shouldn't we be also be members of Faith Bible Church, and we said yes And I just I just say a word about he's covered salvation very good this morning and I want to say
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When you accept Christ as your Savior The Holy Spirit takes you and places you into the body of Christ Becoming a member of Faith Bible Church.
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This local body doesn't save you It's when you accept Christ it saves you but we encourage you to become members of this local body of Christ To say
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I want to identify with this body. I want to be one of you and if you desire to do that, we would encourage you to call pastor
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Ilgen or Myself Victor or Harold and we would
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Explain to you. We won't take you in a firing squad or anything like that but our
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Constitution says we want to hear Your testimony to know that you are saved and that you're not going to depend on your church membership as your salvation
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But we want you to be a member of the local body of Christ We see that the
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Lord has the body of Christ which we say the universal body of Christ but he also see through the scripture that he establishes local churches and We encourage you if you're not a member come to one of us and say
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I'd like to be a member so with that said the Constitution also says that we need to hear the testimony of You to know that you're saved
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You along with us heard their testimony you remember that About how the
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Lord has led them in many ways to lead them to Christ and they have accepted
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Christ and been baptized So then it's our duty as elders to we say we as elders
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Believe that they are depending on Christ that they're saved even though he's pastor
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He said we got to make sure everything's right, right? And so that's then we as elders present
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Ilgen and Lauren to you and ask because we are a
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Congregational government Then we say do you want to accept them as members?
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And if you want to accept them as members you can say amen So you might just Say it's a hard thing.