Every Man Complete in Him, Col, 1:28-29
Colossians 1:28-29 · Vern Peterman · Sep 19, 2004
Ephesians & Colossians, No. 36
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://www.hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/4826231384439

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

Moving into Colossians, chapter 1, verses 28 and 29. As we do that, one thing to take note of here, this passage does not contain the word mystery, so I'm just preparing you ahead of time. There'll be no mooses in this one, okay? So anyway, just thought I'd let you know. All right.

As we look at this passage, what we're going to do is we're going to break it down verse by verse. So we're going to begin with verse 28 and kind of look at it, Get done with that and then move into verse 29. It happens to work pretty well with this particular passage, so that's the way we'll handle it.

One of the things you note as you look at this, this is a passage where it is just without doubt Paul's emphasis. He keeps, you know, every, every, every, all. He's got the superlatives in here. So this is a focus that he's bringing us to. The other thing is this verse both starts and ends. with a focus upon Christ. We proclaim Him, Christ, and in the end, complete in Christ. The very beginning and the end, both being focused upon Him. One of the things that comes out as we look at this, there's a pattern that starts to show up. We proclaim Him as about Christ, complete in Christ as about Christ, obviously. The lines in between break naturally into three lines here. There's a verb, admonishing, teaching, present. and then following the verb is every man. And then in the one in the middle, there's a particular addition with all wisdom.

So we see a pattern here, it's called a chiasm. So it kind of reflects on itself, reflecting on the middle line there. And so it has a kind of a poetry pattern built into it. Now, one of the things we brought up in times past is there was a group that was working itself into the church in Colossae, and that's one of the reasons that apparently stirred Paul to write this letter, and that's this teaching called Gnosticism. The Gnostic teachers focused on this idea.

They said, we have some unique knowledge to share with a very special few of you. This is an elite group now, so we don't want to tell everybody. As a matter of fact, when we tell you, you have to swear not to tell anybody else. We want to get you apart from the rest because you're special and you know when you get done with these things that we tell you that you'll be special and you'll be better than the rest of the people.

And so that was a part of the Gnostics' approach to things. An elite group, special, unique knowledge. Once a person had gone through their program and you'd gone all the way through this special, unique knowledge, was they would say, now you're mature and complete, and they would use this word teleos to describe the person who had gone completely through their program. We're going to revisit that word, so keep track of it here. The Gnostics, interestingly enough, some of them taught that human beings are little light fragments captured, imprisoned in pieces of matter. That was their philosophy. Sounds kind of spooky and weird to us, That was their thought, and that's what they would teach.

While the Gnostic teachers would focus on their special knowledge, and it would create sort of an us-them mentality, thus dividing the body of Christ, Paul made an emphatic focus the other direction. The focus was not upon special knowledge, but special relationship that anybody who had placed their trust in Christ could have. It wasn't proclaiming of a special knowledge to an elite group. It was instead a broad proclaiming to all of a relationship with Jesus Christ. Important contrast there. Now, let's step our way through this verse. We'll go one little bit at a time. This word, we, first you say, well, we, what's so important about that? Here's what's going on. When he says that, he's not only including himself.

You know, I, Paul, have had a ministry of proclaiming these truths, but also you've been brought the word through this fellow Epaphras that we've seen in Colossians 1-7, and we'll see him again in 4-12. He's also mentioned in the brief book of Philemon. He was from Colossae, from the evidence we have there, and it seems that he also brought the gospel to Laodicea and Hierapolis. So he's saying we. all the group that's with me, myself, Epaphras, and so all of us who are involved in spreading the gospel here.

He says, what do we do? We proclaim. This word proclaim, okay, preach in the King James. Katangalo is the word there. It was a word that was used for official proclamations. For example, when they proclaimed some announcement from the king or for some royalty, any other public announcement, this word would often be used. We have in more recent centuries kind of the preface, hear ye, hear ye, anything that was announced by a town crier. Similar idea.

This is something that would be publicly proclaimed, unlike the Gnostic teachers who would say, we're going to tell you in secret and don't tell anybody or you'll die. Paul says, we're going to tell everybody so that nobody has to die spiritually. So it was a word very fitting, and it put Paul in sharp contrast with the Gnostic teachers. This is a word that in the New Testament only occurs in Acts and Paul's letters, so it's a unique word, special in that way. We proclaim Him, Christ, and then he uses this word admonishing, warning in the King James. It's a very special word.

This is a word that means to place in the mind, or lay down in the mind. The word had the idea of this, we're going to put a foundation in somebody's mind. That's this word that he uses that's translated admonishing or warning. We're going to put a foundation that isn't there. It's not there now, but we're going to lay it as we communicate the truth and warn people. That's what's going to be spread out here.

This word has the idea of placing the truth in the mind of another. It specifically has that word mind built into it, putting it in the mind of another. It is warning or admonishing because it's placing a thought in the mind that wasn't there before. You need to know this because you didn't know it before, but we need to tell you now. So he's laying a truth in the mind in order to warn and admonish someone who is perhaps off the track in some way. or needed to be warned so that they didn't get off the track. Notice the focus we brought to your attention before.

Every man. Every, every, every boy. I mean, he's being emphatic. I looked at several different English translations. I found one where they said that's too many times and they pulled a couple out. Well, that's not right. He's making an emphasis on purpose, okay? We don't take his emphasis away. He says every man, every man, every man for a reason. He certainly does. This is anthropos, pos-anthropos. It is certainly being placed there for emphasis. We don't want to strip that out. This word anthropos refers to persons, not just an ear. It isn't just a male-only thing. So it means absolutely everybody, everyone.

He is going the opposite extreme from the Gnostic teachers who want to get just an elite special group and say, okay, we're just going to tell you these secret truths. He says, we're teaching every single person, and to be emphatic, he says it three times. Now, then he's got this word teaching. We are teaching, admonishing, yes, but also teaching.

This is the word didosko. It's used throughout the New Testament. It's a common word. It describes the conveying of truths, whether from Christ or the apostles, and yes, it's actually used for false teachers as well. So it's a general word for teaching. The sequence that he has here in Colossians, we have the first one here in verse 28, begins a series.

In 2.7 and in 3.16, he's got some additional things that he says about teaching. Look at the sequence. I think it's more than accidental. The sequence goes like this.

We teach every man. Paul, those that are working with him, Epaphras, who has gone to you, and to the neighboring cities of Laodicea and Hierapolis, we teach every man, every single one. We don't have a special elite group. Everybody who is willing to learn, we're glad to teach them. That's our purpose.

From there, he says in verse 2-7, you have been taught. Through the ministry of Paul and Epaphras was obviously one who received that, the truths have been conveyed to you. It is evident that he probably spent some time with Epaphras talking about, well, did you teach him this? And you went over this, right? So he has made it clear that these people have been taught the truth.

They have been taught the whole counsel of God. It is like the elders were told in Acts 20, the Ephesian elders. Paul told them, I gave you the whole counsel or the whole purpose of God. I gave you the whole thing. The same kind of thing is being conveyed here. Epaphras has spent time with these people, teaching them the truth.

So we teach every man, we don't look for some special group that we're going to pull out. You, those there in Colossae have been taught, and this is a you plural. When I was down in Texas, they would have said all y'all, but here he's just saying all of you, plural. And finally, you teach one another. So, we teach, you've been taught, you teach one another. See the sequence there? So he's looking at this thing coming full circle and that's what this sequence is all about here. It proceeds from we teach to you turn around and teach one another. That's the logical sequence that follows here.

Now, this admonishing when we put these things together, and the King James warning is a correction of wrong or simply avoidance of error. Notice that as we look through Scripture, the correction of wrong isn't just to come down hard on somebody because that's something that seems like the thing to do. It's to restore one to a place of correct understanding, to place, remember, in the mind, to lay a foundation for what is true. That's the intent.

It's constructive. even though it has a negative shade to it, okay? It's the negative aspect of input into the life of the believer, the warning. And that's why we certainly don't spend all of our time here, but we will from time to time warn about this is a possible problem. We're cautioning you about this doctrine. Be careful about those who teach this. It's not the intent to be negative. We want to do exactly what he spells out here. We want to warn. We want to make sure that people are avoiding the error. and if need be, to correct something that's been in error.

And then the positive side of that is the teaching aspect. You're going to lay down the truths, the positive statements of what is true. He puts both of these together. Based on what's revealed in Scripture, there are many positive things to teach, and that's what we're doing in great part here this morning, isn't it? We're laying down the things that are positively true, the truth, and spelling those things out clearly. Finally, there's the role of the input of believers for both admonishing and teaching. Both of those things are a part of what's involved in ministry to believers.

Titus 1.9, it's interesting. Titus gets a letter from the Apostle Paul, and one of the first things he does, he says, you're going to Crete, and there's one thing you need to do. I sent you there to appoint elders. And notice at the end of the list of qualifications that he says, These elders must behold fast the faithful word, which is in accordance with the teaching."

Notice it's specific and singular, okay? It isn't just some kind of teachings that are sort of Christian, kind of, sort of, a little bit, mostly, okay? Instead, it's specifically holding fast the faithful word, and it consists of the teaching. It's founded on what is true.

And he says, "...so that," there's a purpose in this, "...they will both be able to exhort in sound doctrine, make positive statements about what is true, and to refute those who contradict. This is the warning and admonishing aspect of it. That's the capability that is necessary in an elder, and it's a part of what he's passing on to them, the same message here. Now, the next thing he says, all wisdom, there's another one of these superlatives that he puts out, with all wisdom.

This word wisdom, sophia, was a word that We need to make a distinction about he's pointing out specifically to godly wisdom Because there is this word is also applied to worldly wisdom Obviously, it's godly wisdom here. But as we pointed out earlier when we look at this word wisdom there is Wisdom and these are the passages you have it in your handout on page two These are the passages that refer to the wisdom of God. There are also passages fewer a number of they refer to the wisdom of the world. So between the two of them, we have this word wisdom used in both ways. The predominant message in Scripture, and this is, I think, an important balance, is the focus is upon the wisdom of God. Some warning, but the focus is upon the wisdom of God. Now, this word wisdom shows up in Colossians. Notice he uses it at least once each chapter. It's a thread that he weaves through the fabric of the book. Every chapter has it mentioned at least once. In this case, it's the second time we've seen it in chapter one.

The word wisdom is an important word. Why? Because it's one of the things the Gnostic teachers are trying to sell. They're saying, hey, we've got wisdom, and we want to convey our wisdom to you. So Paul's saying, look, you want wisdom? We're talking about Jesus Christ. That's wisdom. And it's not something for a special few. in some special corner where people are sworn to an oath of secrecy, it is instead something we teach every man, every man, every man, with all wisdom.

We mentioned before that the book of Philippians has this phenomenon we call bookends, that is, words that are used at the beginning of Philippians are used again at the end of Philippians. This was one of about three slides that we put together that shows you the correspondence between words used in the beginning and at the end of the book. In some cases, the word only shows up in the book of Philippians. And so that bookends pattern, where a theme is revisited, is a very definite and identifiable pattern.

Guess what? We run into it again in Colossians. Chapter 3, what's he going to say? Let the word of Christ, there's the focus on Christ again, He says, "...richly dwell within you with all wisdom, teaching and admonishing." See that again? He uses both in English and in the Greek the exact same words. He's revisiting the theme. Why?

Because the first part was, here's where we teach you and admonish you with all wisdom, right? And now, he says, okay, the things that we taught you and admonished you about with all wisdom, Now, then he says that we may present. I know you need to clarify something here. It's not present. You're not going to present every man, it's present. This para-histemi. Histemi means to stand and para means alongside.

So stand alongside, that's the idea. And you've done it yourself, where you go and introduce someone to somebody else, you stand alongside them and make the introduction. Quite often, if we have someone speaking in public, they will have an introducer, someone who comes initially to introduce the person who speaks. This word is used like that. It's standing alongside in order to announce or present somebody.

That's where the word comes from. It's used in 2 Corinthians 11-2 and Ephesians 5-27, speaking of presenting a bride to the husband. bride to the husband. In both those contexts, it's presenting the church as the bride of Christ to Christ, the husband.

In 2 Timothy 2.15, it's used of Timothy presenting himself approved to God as a workman rightly dividing the word of truth. So here is another instance of presenting before the Lord. It's a word that's repeatedly used for presenting before the Lord.

Every man complete. Now, this is the word we pointed out earlier. This is teleos, complete or perfect in the King James. Teleos, remember, was the word that the Gnostic teachers would use to describe the person who's gone all the way through their rituals and teachings. When you're done, then you're teleos. And so what's Paul saying?

No, we preach the truth to every person. and the goal is that they come to a place of maturity every single man, every single woman, every person. That's the focus. Unlike the Gnostic teachers, where we have this elite, secret, special group, and you can't be a part of it. So instead, he's putting very much the opposite focus on this. Yes, we're looking for maturity, we're looking for you to have a complete introduction to all these truths, but the point is definitely not to come up with an exclusive group that makes an us and a them.

Here's how we can picture it graphically, and you have this in complete form in your handout. Let's step through it. The person who is coming to faith in Christ, and then coming to a place of having input into his life as a believer so as to grow spiritually, and then at the end of that person's life coming to a knowledge of the Lord, goes through the steps, the sequence that's been spelled out here in Colossians 128.

We proclaim Him. We proclaim Christ publicly, openly, so that all who believe, all whosoever believes may come. Whosoever believes may put their trust in Him. The focus is on belief. It's the initial part. We proclaim Him. Admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom so that we may, and here's the point where he's talking about those who are believers, that they need to be taught, that they need to be admonished, that both those inputs take place with all wisdom. The idea is that this is the growth stage of those who have come to belief. And finally, presenting every man complete in Christ, every single one complete in Christ. to be with the Lord. So we have unbelievers and believers in this stage here.

We've seen it before, and I'll present it, and this isn't in your handout if you want to write this underneath there. The first stage is the Lord is saving us from the penalty when coming to the cross, so that connects up with the cross, saving us from the penalty upon belief of sin. And next, from the power of sin, the believer learns that they are no longer under the absolute tyrannical rule of the sin nature. Therefore, delivered from the power of sin, and finally with the Lord to be delivered from the presence of sin. So those three are presented there.

Now, let's switch to verse 29. Here, he's kind of turning a corner because he's talking initially in verse 28 about This is our ministry and the way it's carried out. Verse 29, he says, this is the direction I'm aiming. This is my purpose. This is what I'm aiming for. And he spells it out this way.

Interesting, as you look at here, he puts in several words that have to do with power and effort and the work that goes into it. And these words get focused. Power and energy. One gets the idea with his, again, after a verse in verse 28 where there's every, every, every, all, all those superlatives, now we come to words repeatedly focusing on power and work and energy. They're emphatic.

What's interesting is the translators come to this, they kind of scratch their heads and they say, man, he's saying power and energy and work so many ways, how do we carry that across into English? As a matter of fact, there's some things that's very hard, but we'll get some insights just shortly here. He says, for this purpose, so there's an intent that he's aiming for. What purpose? The one he spelled out in verse 28.

In verse 29, it says, Paul's specific role in the church is to support this three-phase process described in Colossians 1.28. There's direction, purpose, and intent in what Paul is doing. He is not just going out there and saying, let's do a sort of an apostolic sort of thing. He isn't saying, let's go out there and be apostles, whatever that is.

This is what we are aiming to do, and we see that as very important, very necessary for every single believer, and so we are going to put all of our purpose and focus and intent upon that. For this purpose, I labor! This word labor, kapi'a'o, rather than the idea of just working, but there's an intensity to it. It is laboring to the point of exhaustion. For this purpose, I really work hard. I labor to the point of exhaustion. This is not mild work. This isn't work where you go at the end of the day and you go, huh. This is work that is, when you're done, man, has that been a huge output of effort. It's that kind of work.

Luke 5.5 and Matthew 11.28 have examples of that. We worked hard all night. Or, come unto me all you who are weary. That's the word, showing up again. It is working at an extreme to the point where one is exhausted at the end of the effort. That's the word he uses. To this end I labor to the point of exhaustion. That's the effort that he puts forth. Here's Paul, he's out there preaching and teaching during the day or night, if that's what works out.

He's also taking time to carry on his trade of tent making, continuing to do that. He is also having to deal, as we've looked at before, multiple instances of severe hardship. both what's imposed by persecution as well as just difficulties from dangers of various kinds. And then now, especially while now he's in prison, there's opportunity to write, because he's so busy with things otherwise, he doesn't seem like he has time to put that in. But now that he's in prison, which is where he's writing both Ephesians and Colossians, he is writing as well. Now, so what does he do? I labor, and now he begins to describe the character of that labor. I labor striving, and that word here, I've got to slide out, there we go, agonizomai. Agonizomai. This is a verb used in athletic competitions and training. Agonizomai. And the English word agonize or agonizing comes from the same Greek root.

It conveys the idea of intensity. Paul doesn't say, I labor a little bit, but I'll take about three or four tea breaks in the morning and I'll be fine, and then stop for lunch for an hour or two. This isn't something he does lackadaisically or lethargically. He really puts effort into it. It is an intense effort.

If we were to get the idea, we had the Olympics here not too many weeks ago. If you have some of these Olympic athletes, you've noticed if you've watched any of that or either seen in action or in still pictures, oftentimes the intense look upon their face. Those intense looks express this word agonizamai. So you get the idea, enlarge one of them. Here's the weightlifter, see that?

It's a hard effort, an agonizing effort. That's where we get the word agonize, from that intense Olympic-level effort. So what is he saying? He is carrying on an Olympic-level effort in order to convey the gospel. That's the level of his effort. But it's interesting, this word is translated by some as contending for a prize or even struggling like an athlete. He says, I labor to the point of exhaustion, struggling like an athlete with intense effort. All right?

Now, we previously pointed out that Paul is using athletic terms, and this is one of them, as he writes through the book of Colossians. We've already encountered a part of it, and we'll see some more here. And it's interesting, as you go through some of the artifacts of that time, you continue to see a lot of athletic themes on a lot of the pottery and the statues and things of that sort. We pointed out before that in verse 124, that he said, on behalf of his body. And that was an expression of, I am competing on behalf of. this city or this state. And I put the words across there because these guys have almost not a stitch on. Let me show you. See? Anyway, okay.

Anyway, so and then if there was an event that they could have in one still area, sorry about that, in one still area here, they would have events like wrestling and boxing and things like that. They could have in one location. They would have that locally. And then the track events and chariot racing and things like that would be more, you know, something that has to be arranged over an extended length of roadway. But that was an example.

When we get into the next verse here in Colossians 2.1, he's going to use two words.

He's going to use this word struggle, agon, see the relationship to agonizami. And then again, on your behalf, that is, competing on your behalf. So, real interesting. He continues to use these athletic themes. In 315, he uses a term that means athletic official or umpire. And in 412, here's Epaphras, we've mentioned him before, who is laboring earnestly, that is, agonizomai, here's the word that we're using here in this passage, in prayer. How about that? He is contending with an Olympic-level competition in prayer.

Wow, this is intense. But notice, the striving is not our best efforts, Paul describes it personally, according to, that is consistent with and measured by, his power. Let's take a look at this word power here. That word is energeia, you can probably recognize the relationship to our word energy or energize. and you break the word apart, the root there is in-working. This is putting an ability into action.

You might compare it to our car. It's nice to have the car, they're sitting out there, we've got cars out in the parking lot. Right now it's just potential energy, isn't it? This word here is the idea of the engine's running and you've got your foot on the gas pedal. This is effective energy. It is really doing something. It is active.

Therefore, it always means the placing into action of the ability that's already there. Here's examples from the culture. This word energeia is used in some of the Greek secular literature about a mill that's in working order, it is effective, it operates. Or, it's also used of a full number of military ships in a fleet that are in active service. They're all working, they're all effective. That's how it's used. It's also used in medical writings of the time to say that a drug was effective. It works. It does what it's supposed to. It's having effect.

And finally, it was also used of the Roman military siege engines. They would have one like this is in the drawing here or in the picture here. They would move it with soldiers up against a wall and carry on their assault from there. When the engine was pushed up against the wall and the soldiers were able to act, They would use the word Energeia to describe the effective working of that siege engine. For this purpose also I labour, striving according to his power which mightily works within me.

This word mightily is dunamis. The idea of ability is what mainly comes across, not flashy power. Dunamis, as we pointed out in the past, is the source of our word dynamite. It doesn't mean, however, that Paul is intending to explode. Okay? And previously I had a picture with some dynamite blowing up and I couldn't get it to stop, so I'm not going to use that this time. But anyway, you get the idea. All right.

We saw in Philippians 3.10, the same word was used when Paul wrote of knowing Him and the power, dunamis, okay, of Christ's resurrection. So the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the standard, that is the measure of power that Paul is referring to and points also to the power which is the source of the power, which is God Himself. This power which mightily works within me. Guess what?

We come to a related word to energeia, and that's the verb energeio, okay? And it also, in breakdown, comes from to work in, to work in. So, it means full effectiveness in full-on action. fully effective working to full capacity, we would say with our engine that the engine is wide open, full throttle, pedal to the metal, and all those other terms.

The idea is this is really working full out. That's how Paul is describing his carrying on of this ministry. Now, we've got to ask a question here. This word that he uses for I labor, that's first person, okay? Active voice. That means I am the one doing the work. I am the one laboring.

So, does Paul deserve an award for his extraordinary efforts? We'll get him a walnut plaque with a nice brass plate, and give him an award, and he'll love getting this award, right? Because of his extraordinary efforts. He would be delighted with that, right?

No. Why? Look at the words that he has chosen. I labor, yes, to the point of exhaustion, but look where the source of the labor is. Power is in work. It's working in. Energeo, okay, that word works in working, again, is the source. And then, just so you don't miss it, he says, it works within me.

Three times he keeps underscoring the idea in this verse I labor to the point of exhaustion, but it's not me doing it, it is the power working within me. He is absolutely clear on this. Three times in verse 28, he said, every man, every man, every man. Three times in this verse, he says, in, in, in. See the emphasis? He's got a pattern going here, and it's not accidental.

It is not Paul's doing it, much though he labors to the point of exhaustion. It is the Lord, and He wants to make very clear that that's where the source of it is. So, this is not God's design. God doesn't come up to us and say, okay, here's the stuff I want you to do, and how I want you to do it.

Just read these books, follow the directions, I'm confident you can pull it off. When life's all done, when you're all finished, I'll check back with you, we'll see how you did, and then we'll reward you accordingly. I'll see you when you're done with the assignment. Good luck! God." That's not how it's done. God doesn't just say, here, here's your stuff, I'll meet you there. He is very intent. His power, His life, His working in us, nothing less, nothing else. Paul makes it abundantly clear.

Now, I want to tell you a spiritual story about a chainsaw. Some years ago, there was a logger who had been cutting trees with an axe and with two-man handsaw. And he kept hearing stories about chainsaws, people cutting with these chainsaws, newfangled things. So finally, after hearing several stories, he went down to the store where they had these chainsaws. And he says, I keep hearing about these things.

I suppose I ought to buy one. And the guy says, hey, if you buy this thing, man, you will have immense improvements in productivity. How many trees do you cut a day? Oh, probably about a hundred. He says, several times that easy. Well, the guy says, well, I got to have one of these.

So he buys the chainsaw, lays out his money, takes it out. The next day he goes out, man, he works with this thing, didn't even cut what he used to. Oh, he is ticked. He is really mad. He gives it two more days. and does no better. He doesn't even cut what he used to with this thing. He comes back. He is really just piping mad. He lays the chainsaw really hard down on the counter. He says, I've had it. This machine doesn't work. It doesn't do what you say. I want my money back. And the salesman says, well, I don't understand.

Here, let me see it. Ring-a-ding-a-ding-a-ding-a-ding. What's that noise? And you see, a lot of Christians can very easily be like that. We're surprised. You mean there's another source of the power besides my effort? There's something else that's supposed to be going on? And yet, Paul makes it abundantly clear to these people, I labor to the point of exhaustion, but it is not my effort. It is entirely God's power within. Sorry about the chainsaw joke. Okay. The life energy and power that that truth that it is within us because the Lord is frequent throughout the New Testament. We have an example here in Colossians 1 night 29, but it is one of many.

It's his life and his resources and not one that we come up with. His truth and not this world's wisdom. So he spells that out in this passage. It's his conforming us to his image and not us trying our very best to act like Jesus Christ. The Christian life is not an acting career. It's not like asking the question, how would Jesus act? It's not that at all. So what does God want? What does God have in mind here? God is not looking for a glorious performance from us. He is instead looking for a glorious person in us. Key difference. No one more and no one less and no one else.

Galatians 4.19 says, My children with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you.

You see what Colossians 1.28 brings to focus here is there is a growing process in the life of the believer. And one of those things brings forth this point.

There is both a moment-by-moment dependence upon the Lord, and that's moment-by-moment, and that's why the fellow wrote that song, by the way. He heard the song, I Need Thee Every Hour, and he says, that's not enough. So he wrote moment-by-moment. There is, in addition to that, a conforming process, and we need to recognize that both take place. God is the one who empowers us moment by moment as we rest into trust upon Him. He is also the one that does the conforming. It is not our job to do. It is entirely His to do. He is in charge of the process, and He had that in mind from the very beginning. It's a part of His eternal purpose.

Isn't this a marvelous passage? Very challenging, also very relieving. Let's pray. Lord, as we look at this passage, what wonderful things You have done. What marvelous things. We give You thanks. And we look to You moment by moment and thank You for the process that You have in place to prepare us for that wonderful eternal time when we will stand before You face to face. In Jesus' name, Amen.