Book of Colossians - Ch. 1, Vs. 17-20 (01-17-1999)

Park Meadows Church

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Those of you that are just coming in, open your Bibles to Genesis 7, 16, please.

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And they that went in, went in male and female, all of the flesh, as God had commanded him, and the

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Lord shut the door. Now, I want you all to be aware of something.

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We've known ever since childhood that God teaches us by his word, by his written word.

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I want you to learn this morning that he teaches you also, not only by what is written, but by what is not written.

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You follow? There's some things that are not said. And we can learn by what is said, what is not said.

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Now go to John 3, 34. Apparently some people forget this fact, and they jump to some untimely conclusions.

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John 3, 34. For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God, for God giveth not the

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Spirit by measure unto him. In Genesis, the

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Lord shut Noah in the ark. Would you agree? The Lord shut the door.

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There is no mention made of the fact that when he shut Noah in, he shut everybody else out.

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But he did, didn't he? And we know that. In John, for God giveth not the

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Spirit by measure unto him, meaning Christ. What he did not say was that he does give it by Spirit to us, by measure to us.

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And he says that by what he says, and not saying what we had just said.

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Now, Greg, that ought to confuse you. But just know this.

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There are great truths in the Bible that are not printed in the Bible. But we're expected to learn the truth from what is printed.

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When he shut Noah in, he shut the others out. That's never mentioned in the Bible, but we know it to be a truth.

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Now, come to our lesson as founding Colossians.

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We're in the first chapter. And we had worked our way through verse 17.

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By the way, let me see the show of hands that would agree that God pays all his debts. Let me see a show of hands of everybody that considers themselves to be a sinner saved by grace.

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Come to Colossians 1, and let me back up to verse 16.

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For by him were all things created. We're talking about Jesus Christ. All things that are in heaven, that are in the earth, visible, invisible, whether they be thrones, dominions, principalities, power.

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All things were created by him and for him. And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

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And he is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from among the dead, that in all things he might have preeminence.

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For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell. And having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things.

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All things unto himself. By him, I say, whether they be things in earth or things in heaven.

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What I want to discuss this morning is the word reconcile connected with all things.

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Now by reading it, we can come to the conclusion that he has made all things.

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That all things include all things. And that he has made all things for himself.

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Isn't it good that he's only good, therefore Greg, it benefits us too. And he has reconciled all things.

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Now, what do we mean, or what does the scripture mean by the two words all things?

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Dennis? Richard, what does it exempt?

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Nothing. Well then Greg, I think we'd be fairly safe in saying that everything he not only made, but he reconciled it.

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Greg, help me out on the word reconcile again. I know we covered it last week, but tell me again.

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Alright. Now, what do you suppose was the former state of everything?

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Perfect. It was completely compatible with our

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Lord, was it not? Our Lord God. Then something must have happened.

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And in Genesis we find that something. In Genesis 3 .17,

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if you'll go there quickly please. And unto

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Adam he said, because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which

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I commanded thee, saying thou shalt not eat of it, cursed is the ground.

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So unto Adam he said, cursed is the ground for thy sake. In sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life.

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So here it says the ground was cursed. In other places we see where the entire creation was cursed in Romans 8 .20.

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For the creature, meaning creation, was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who has subjected the same in hope.

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So the entire creation fell because of the sin of Adam.

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So all of the creation is under a curse. It's less than it should be, or less than it was, and less than it will be.

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In John 1 .10, we have the words, he was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

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Now there's several words in the English, no there's several words in the

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Greek that are translated into the one word in English, which is our word world.

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Too many w's in there. So you have to be careful when you say world, that you understand the

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Greek word that is used. In this case, and in most cases where the word world is used, it's cosmos.

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K -O -S -M -O -S It means an orderly arrangement.

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The world in a wide sense or narrow sense, it can include the inhabitants.

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The first and primary meaning of the word cosmos is creation.

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All of his creation. It's very orderly, it's in an orderly fashion. So, he was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

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This word cosmos appears in the New Testament 188 times in 152 different verses.

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Now, he has by the blood of his cross. Now maybe we always thought that his death on the cross and his shedding of his blood on the cross pertained only to his people, you and I, to reconcile us to him.

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Well, it means that alright. But it also means that the blood of his cross reconciled everything, the entire creation.

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By his dying would make it possible for the creation to have a new body, just like we're going to have a new body.

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We don't have it yet, the creation does not have its new body yet, but there is a new one coming.

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So, I want you now, very hesitantly I say, to go to John 3 .16.

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I think before we read that, there's four other scriptures that I want you to turn to or to write down.

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Richard, you take Romans 9 .13. Debbie, you take Malachi 1 .3.

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Brother David, you take Psalms 11 .5. And Greg, you take

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Psalms 5 .5. Now the rest of you write down those, Romans 9 .13,

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Malachi 1 .3, Psalms 11 .5, and Psalms 5 .5.

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Now I don't want you to get up and walk out on me this morning, just stay with me. Not that you would do that, you'd see me later, but in Romans the 9th chapter and the 13th verse, what do we have?

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Who is Richard? Jacob, whom I love. But Esau, whom I hate. Jacob was a trickster, a conniver, a con man, everything that we would think was not

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Christian. So you see how inadequately we can judge?

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Alright, now Malachi 1 .3. We see again that God hated a person.

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Esau. We've always heard the term, God hates sin, but he loves the sinner.

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I defy you to find that in the Bible, it's not there. Now, Psalms 11 .5,

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and listen real close. The wicked he hates.

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The wicked people. The seed of Satan. Those that are habitually evil.

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He hates those people. Now Psalms 5 .5.

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Again, he hates the workers of iniquity. Now don't get upset with me, this is what the

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Lord says himself. Now come to John 3 .16.

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Now, Bill, since you just come in, there's some verses that you must have before I can read this next one.

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If you'll write them down, so you can have them.

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And they're Romans 9 .13. Malachi 1 .3.

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Psalms 11 .5. And Psalms 5 .5.

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Now, let me just briefly tell you what is in those verses. It simply states that there are some types of people in the world that our

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Lord hates. He hated Esau. He hates the workers of iniquity.

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These verses show us that. In Colossians 1 .20.

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We had just read. Having made peace through the blood of his cross by him to reconcile all things unto himself.

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Remember the world is under a curse because of what Adam did. The sin caused his creation, cosmos, to be less than it was.

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Think, while we're right there for just a moment. Back in Genesis where we read that,

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I've got to point out something else. I love Genesis more every time

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I study it. But, where is that verse?

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Genesis 3 .17. And unto Adam he said, because you hearken unto the voice of your voice.

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It wasn't because you ate the trees, it was because you listened to your wife. Thou shalt not, saying thou shalt not eat of it, cursed is the ground.

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The ground is cursed because of you. And it is for your sake.

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We've got to mention that as we go through this. The earth was cursed for the sake of Adam.

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Adam is cursed now. Brother David, I know this is catching you off guard maybe.

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Why did he say that? Adam's cursed and then he said, for the benefit of you

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Adam, I'm going to curse the creation. I think it's similar. Because for a fallen man, a sinful man, to live forever would be awful.

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And similarly, for a fallen man, a sinful man, to live in a blissful place where you don't have to toil.

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He'd probably be forward stiff. Because if it's sin, he wouldn't be able to just fellowship with God and enjoy living with the

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Lord. He would be miserable. That's exactly right. That's exactly right.

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It would be unbearable for a fallen man to live in a perfect environment.

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So, for the benefit of a fallen man, he cursed his creation. Alright? Exactly.

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Exactly. I'm glad you pointed that out. The Bible's full of that.

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Beg your pardon? Yes, yes, yes.

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The entire creation. Well, I've never seen any reference to that.

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That might be. I've never seen any. I haven't even thought of that. Alright, if I can hear it.

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Yes. Alright.

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There's another reference to Cain. And I apologize for not having the scripture, but it is said of Cain, to not be like Cain who was of the wicked one.

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Meaning he was a seed of Satan. Esau was a seed of Satan. The two seeds that are in the world, and the

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Bible's full of information concerning this, it is not passed on by heredity.

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The blood has nothing to do with it. In Genesis, those of you that are in the study of Genesis, and I'll have to, that'll have to dribble over into this class too, but we're just right at the point where we're going to see, in fact we're at the point where the seed of Satan is going to be introduced to us, and we understand then why it come, when it come, and everything about it.

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So, the seed of God is here, Ephesians 1, 4. He chose us before there was anything.

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We belonged to Him long before there was ever any creation. So, we know we existed in His heart and mind, and then there's another group of people which come in in Genesis after man sinned, and they are here also for a purpose, and that's to torment us so we'll grow.

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Because without agitation you don't learn much. So, you brought up a good point that I'll have to look at.

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I'd never even thought of it before. Thank you. Now, back to our word cosmos.

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In John 3, 16, someone read that or quote it to me, if you can quote it right. I grew up, as most of you, with the teaching that God so loved everybody that He sent

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His Son to die on the cross. Folks, that's not what that says. We've just seen where He is.

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There's some people He hates. There is a seed that He hates in this world, and that's the seed of Satan.

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In John 3, 16, He so loved the world. What do you suppose the Greek word for world there is?

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Cosmos. He so loved the cosmos. He so loved His creation that He sent

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His Son to die for those that had been lost.

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Well, since man's the only one that can sin, the creation become less, not willingly, but as a victim of man's sin.

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So He so loved His creation. Back in the beginning of Genesis, where you see

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God making everything, not after everything, but most things, and God saw that it was good.

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That means He was pleased with it. He liked what He had done and that it was perfect. So, Greg, He loved

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His creation. Now, He so loved

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His creation that the way of redeeming it, plus all of the people that belonged to Him, was for there to be a death.

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There had to be a death. God said so. Man didn't. When the first sin comes, and the

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Lord comes looking for Adam and Eve, and I'll have to use one of Brother David's terms, he played like he didn't know where they were when he did, but they realized, their eyes had come open, they realized they had sinned, and God demonstrated to Adam the art of sacrifice.

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The Lord slew two animals to get two skins to cover two sinners, and by slaying the animals,

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He shed the blood. So Adam understood. We're not told that, but we know he understood.

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He taught his children. And then when Cain and Abel come along, Cain didn't think it was necessary.

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He brought an offering of his hands, a Thanksgiving offering. Abel brought what

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Cain brought, but he also brought a blood offering. So here, for the creation to be reconciled back to God, it took the blood of Christ to do it.

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Am I confusing anybody? Are you with me? Anybody have a question?

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Well, think about it this way, because you probably will have, maybe during the week.

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So, search the Scripture. I've given you some references.

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There's lots more references. And all of that, we see very assuredly that it's true, because of what is said in verses 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20.

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It took the blood of Christ to reconcile everything. This creation is waiting on a, well, it says the creation is waiting, it says creature in the

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King James, but it's the creation, is waiting and groaning like a woman in travail, waiting on the rapture of the church.

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When his people, when we will be raptured, and that word rapture is never in the

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King James, it means a snatching away. So, when that occurs, then the creation will see when it's going to get a new body.

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Peter tells us that the very elements will melt. The English word, and it was, if they had followed the

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Greek, they would have called our atom, would have been called stacheion. That's what elements means in the

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Greek, in our language, stacheion. We call it atom. But just think for a moment,

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Richard, the very atoms are going to melt. That's pretty awesome to me.

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Everything will return to where it was in Genesis 1. All right, let's move on.

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Verse 21, And you that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled.

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So, he double emphasizes that we are included under the term all things.

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But he comes back and he says, so we will not be mistaken. He says, even you,

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I'm talking about you as being in the all things. He has reconciled you, talking to his people, not to the inhabitants of the world.

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In John 17, the Lord says, praying to the Heavenly Father, He says, I don't pray for the world.

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They're not my concern. I pray for those that you have given me. That's you and I.

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All right, and you, meaning you and I, that were sometimes, or at one time, you were alienated.

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Now, there's a $10 word. What's it mean, Debbie? All right.

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Not in your place. Jesse, what's alienated me? Someone tell me.

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What? All right. What you all said was exactly right.

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But if I can shake you loose from your answer, then you really don't know.

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So, we got to study it. Alienated, an alien, an enemy.

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You were not in my camp. You was in the enemy's camp. You were not part of me. We were, but we didn't know it.

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We were a servant of Satan. Never the seed of Satan. That's a different group of people.

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But at one time, because of what Adam did, we become servants of Satan. Enemies in your mind.

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You know in our mind is where everything takes place. Did you ever think this watch was first an idea in somebody's mind?

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The lights were first an idea in somebody's mind. Everything is first an idea.

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It all takes place in the mind. That's where the power is. So, he says that you were sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind.

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As far as you were concerned, you didn't want anything to do with God. But it was just in your mind now.

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Because really you belong to me. I just hadn't notified you yet. And you thought you didn't like me, didn't want anything to do.

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Talk about God. You didn't want anything to do with me. You hated me. You didn't want to go to church.

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You didn't want to read the Bible. If you did, you didn't know what you was reading. And you were alienated from this way of life.

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But something happened. And most of you can remember that state.

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And then you remember thinking that you wanted to go. You wanted to learn.

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You wanted to know something had to change. You were dead in trespasses and sins.

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Dead people can't vote. Well, they say they can. A dead cow cannot give milk.

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A dead person could not of himself decide he wanted to be saved.

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With a meaningful decision. It's impossible, Greg, because you're dead.

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So, something had to take place. Philippians 1 .29. Turn over there, please.

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David, read that. So, since I could not believe, he gave me the belief.

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He gave it to me. He regulates to whom he reveals himself.

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Paul, on the road to Damascus. All the way to Damascus, he was just hoping he'd get saved.

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He was looking for salvation. He was looking for Christians to kill.

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That was the furthest thing from his mind. Yet, something happened to him.

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And he knew immediately what it was. When God speaks, you don't have to say, huh?

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You know. So, in your mind, you were an enemy toward me.

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Now, he gave to us on behalf of Christ. Because what

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Christ had done. So, you see, Debbie, we're really saved by works. Do you know that?

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You did? By his works. Not by our works.

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We were dead. So, at the right moment, he notified

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Paul that he belonged to him. And Paul tells us later, when it pleased the Lord, it pleased

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God, or the Father. He said, when it pleased the Father to reveal his Son in me, he did.

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That's the same thing that happened to you, Richard. When it pleased him. When it was, he doesn't have time, he gave us time.

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But when it was right on our time, he notified you. Because it pleased him.

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That's all salvation is. You're just notified that you belong to him. You've always belonged to him, but you didn't know it.

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Now, all of that took place in your mind. What did the Lord say about a man that lusted after a woman?

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He's already done it. You're guilty of it.

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So, if that's true, which we know it is, because he said so, then, if you desire to do a good deed for your neighbor, or bake a cake and take it to a little old widow woman, and you're prevented from doing it, in God's sight, you're guilty already.

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You've already done it. Now, what was it,

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Debbie, that prevented you from taking the cake to her? Anybody? Yes, but there's a greater something that...

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What? No, you wanted to. You desired to. You even baked it.

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But there's something that prevented you from taking it. What? Circumstances?

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So, what really prevented you? God! He controls providence, circumstances, events, everything.

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So, if you really desire to do it to please the

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Lord, and that's what you want to do, you're guilty of doing it already. If it's true that you can lust after a woman, you've already committed it, then it's also true that the good deed has already been done also.

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He prevented it because of the circumstances that he controls. We think we control things, but, people, we don't.

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Now, we make decisions. In fact, we do what we want to do. But that's the only way he can be just in judging us.

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His sovereignty cannot let control of anything go to anybody else.

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Yet, we do what we want to. Therefore, he can judge us.

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We must stop here. We'll start with verse 21. Are there any questions or anything that we've overlooked?

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No one has a question. Then everybody understood everything I said. Took it all in.

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I think all we have to do is teach Greg how to cook. I think all we have to do is teach

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Greg how to cook. All right. Is that all you all learned today, that we've got to teach

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Greg how to cook? That's all he says he likes. That's all he likes, wasn't it?

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Do you know what I'm saying? I can't hear you. I said when you get to 316, you really have to reconnect to where we're at.

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That's right. You're right. That's right.

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That's right. But that's good.

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I think sometimes it is what you don't mean. That's right.

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The hard thing for us, all of us, is to reconcile.

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Well, we think we have a free will, but we don't. Think about it. It happened to be the way it was.

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It just happened to be. Why didn't you want to get it on the arm? God told you to get it on the arm. He said,

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I'm going to make it rain. He says, what's that? Yeah, he said, what's that? Well, most people, let me say this and we'll close.

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Most Christians outside of this church really believe that God loves everybody, that John 316 proves it, and they've hung their entire doctrinal belief upon John 316.

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Now, there's other places. Peter talks about that all would be saved, but read the context and you'll find out.

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My answer to them is this, if you are truly saved, now that's, yes, but if you're saved, you will do something.

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You will. And those that like to say, well, if that's true, then I don't have to do anything, they don't understand.

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I, they need a lot of help. All right.

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I was reading a sermon by Jonathan Edwards called Centered in the Hand of an Angry God. And in that sermon,

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Jonathan Edwards made it very clear that God doesn't love everybody. And they say that when he preached that sermon, which was primarily about hell, that people would literally grab the pillars of the church where they were sitting next to one another and hold on to it, feeling that they were about to fall into hell.

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But he made them understand. He never said one time in the sermon that God loves you,

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Jesus loves you, so you need to be saved. What he said was God hates you with a hatred, hatred that you can't even understand.

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And that's the kind of preaching that turned these nations around. That we don't have today.

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And that's why we don't have revival today. Because everybody's preaching God loves everybody. Jonathan Edwards preached

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God's wrath and anger towards you is so great, that you can't even understand how happy he is to be right this minute, just because you rejected his son.

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If God loves everybody, then he must truly be disappointed. Jesus must be frustrated.

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Well, I heard also when he gave that sermon, or when he first gave it, he just read it monotone, and it proved just the power of God that when people had nothing to do with him, it just had to do with the

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Word of God. I'm expecting truths like that to come out of this building.