Colossians Lesson 17

OK, I'm going to start in lesson 17 today. Everybody got a 17? Nobody has a 17. They're in the back. And it dawned on me that this is the 2nd of November and I've got till the end of December to finish. We're probably going to pick up the pace a little bit. I did read through the rest of the verses, and there's some things in Chapter 4 that we could probably do a dozen verses in a day. We're going to be moving. In other words, I'm not going to let Corkin teach again. Excuse me, how many? Three weeks or four weeks for the last lesson? Well, it's important. So somebody read chapter 3 verses 11-17.

Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, fond nor free, but Christ is all and in all. Put on, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, tender mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering, forbearing one another and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. Okay, I should have probably had you reach nine because you have put on the old man with his deeds and have put on, I'm sorry, put off the old man, put on the new man who's renewed in knowledge according to the image of him who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised, etc. So we're talking about location and we're talking about being in Christ, which we've talked about slowly, as Courtney says, for three weeks.

Why wouldn't there be any distinction between a Greek and a Jew, etc., in Christ? Now the distinctions are interesting. You know what the difference between a Greek and a Jew is? If you're a Jew, then anybody who's not a Jew is considered a Greek. But a Greek, there was something different about a Greek than just not being a Jew.

What would it be? He spoke Greek. That tells you more than you would think. In order to speak Greek, you have to be what? Greek. You have to be a little educated. So a Greek was someone who was determined to be somewhat educated. But in this case, we're just talking about race. If you're not a Jew, you're a Greek.

And then you separate it by circumcision and uncircumcision. What does that mean? Separate it by what? By what? No. Well, it's religion. Whether you're a religious person or not. Okay, so you have two distinctions now. If you're positioned in Christ, there aren't any Jews in there. And there aren't any Protestants in there, and there's no Catholics in there, and there's no circumcised or uncircumcised, and there's no Republicans either. How come? Actually, they're all there. What? They're all Republicans? What makes them so different? Why aren't they distinguished that way? Well, Christ is the catalyst, the catalyst. Also, it's like that. It's like that bumper sticker you see coexist. Yeah. He says that Christ is the catalyst that makes all the leaders one.

So I'm going to keep going down. What's a barbarian? How do you distinguish a barbarian from a Scythian? They didn't speak Greek and the Scythians were the worst kind of barbarians in the world. That's right. The Scythians were from Karma City. Or slave or free, that has to do with your social standing. What makes all of these folks standing in Christ eliminate any standing they had before? But Christ is all and He is in all.

Yeah. There is no distinction of any of these things for believers. None. None. And, you know, haven't you ever run into a Jewish person who became a Christian and said he's a completed Jew? No, he's not. No, he's not. I don't think we really appreciate what the new creation is. It is new and it is creation. And there are no distinctions that we are so used to in Christ. None. Okay. Everybody alright with that? Question two.

What does it mean to be chosen of God? He knew us in eternity past. He knew you in eternity past? OK. So knowing you means he chose you? Means that he knew ahead of time that I was going to accept Christ. How many of you think that God chose this man in eternity past? Picked him out and said, Russ, you're one of mine.

Let me see his jolly hands. How many aren't sure? Come on, you cowards, get him up. That's what he did. You know that booklet I gave you, did you all read it? You know that little interior to all thing that's in there is really cool, I think. Because it demonstrates who God is. That's the real purpose of that thing.

That back there in eternity, I don't know how you, I mean that in itself is an oxymoron. There is no back there in eternity, it's all now. Before anything had been brought into being, environed in the pure essence of divine love, light and life, in the mind of the Father, the heart of the Son, and the hands of the Spirit, by and for His love, God conceived you. You, thought of in eternity past, brought forth in time for eternity future, forever loved.

Everybody in this room fits under that heading. Everybody. In the secret place of the Most High God, in the bosom of the Father, before anything was created, the Father fashioned you. He didn't do it in Adam. He did it in Christ. Do you see that? Now how many people buy that? Well, you guys are a little slow getting up there.

Psalm 139.16 says, Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unformed, and in your book all my members were written, which in countenance were fashioned, but as yet there was none of them. So do you really think God created you in the Father back then? You really do, huh?

Okay. I'll take your word for it. Myles Stanford said, when the giver of the gift thinks and speaks, even in eternity past, it's done. It's done. How cool is that? So when you study the Word of God and you find out these wonderful things, God didn't just dream them up lately or 2,000 years ago. These are things that are done. So our faith is always based on a completed fact, something that's already done.

It's important to know that. Mike. So. So just for clarity. So we are chosen. So there's no word. Evangelists are not necessary or that we are. There's doesn't matter. We're selected beforehand. And I don't like Russ. So he's not. And that's the way it worked.

What do you think? You don't think I'm going to step into that, do you? You called us chickens? Well, I think about it. Would any of you ever have come to Christ if you weren't chosen? No. Huh? No. But because we're chosen, do we necessarily choose God? That's the question. What do you use your will for? What do you use it for? To believe, right? So what did God do?

He persuaded you via the Holy Spirit without interrupting or coercing you in any way. He wooed you. So that when the information came via the evangelist or the piece of paper or whatever it was, it wasn't a very difficult decision for you. You chose to believe.

Is there any merit in this? Christ is chosen as God's son in all the work that he did. So as I become a believer in Christ, positionally, I become chosen. So you're the cause? No, I'm not the cause. It's just that I believed, so at that point my position shifted and now I find myself in that work. Your history changes, yeah.

Well, I would say this, that if this was a pretty narrow door, let's say this was the door to heaven, and there's a big sign over the top of it that says, whosoever will may come. Does that exclude anybody? No. But if you exercise faith, and you walk through the door, there's a sign on the back of the door that says, chosen from the foundations of eternity. But this side says, whosoever will. You see that? So you're the one that exercises your will to believe. But you wouldn't have done it if you weren't chosen.

Is it okay that God just chose some and not others? Is that okay? That's usually the rub. Is it okay that he didn't choose Somebody in your family you really like? Is that okay with you? Helen's an honest woman. She shook her head no. Why does it say the God is not willing that any should perish? That's right. If some are not chosen. Some are not chosen. If some are not chosen, how can he do that if he's not willing and he should perish. Because he does it, the way he saves people is he orchestrates so that you're the one that exercises your will.

Let me put it another way. We get to the Great White Throne Judgment and by the way we're all going to be there. You're all going to look better than you do today. We're all going to be there and we're going to watch what happens. You think there's going to be anybody who wasn't chosen that's going to walk up before the Lord Jesus and say to him, hey, I need another chance. You think they'll say that? You know? What are they going to say? They're going to say, I hate you, God.

Yeah, I didn't want you then, I don't want you now, where's the door to hell? That's right. So, oh, but you were special, right? Because you had, what, something in you that God liked better than the guy who's going through the door to hell? No. When I said the other day, look at the person next to you, is your sin nature any better than theirs? No, not.

I would say divine election is an absolute certainty, or maybe say truth. It's uncomfortable. It goes against our very nature, but it's true. It's interesting. It seems like we're taking this whole decision out of the hands of God and putting it into the hands of man.

Oh, gee, that's a better deal, isn't it? We've never screwed anything up. No. So, but how does God work? You go from His divine decree to how does He do it? Well, He does it in myriad ways. It's like now, in John 15, He says He's convicting the world of sin. Why? Because they don't believe in Christ. Not because of their sin. Their sin of unbelief. Well, does that mean that every man on the earth knows who Christ is? Or the word about Christ gets to them? I have no idea.

Whose job is it to do that work? It's the Holy Spirit. I think I'll let him do his job. I'm not going to judge him how well he's doing or not doing. I know this, that the issue is going to be Jesus Christ. That is the issue. What do you think of this man? He is the issue. And why would he be the issue? Because he's the one that paved the way for salvation and grace. He's the one who did it. Wouldn't you make him the issue?

So I really don't have a lot of trouble with divine election. I'm thankful. Well, Mike, when I was reading that, I thought God created Satan, didn't he? No, he created Lucifer. That's a different guy. It is? I thought they were the same. But he didn't. He created Lucifer as the highest angel in the creation. How did he become Satan? Because God did something? Because he did something.

Yeah, so if I buy your premise, I buy the fact that God created evil. No he didn't. Well, I don't believe that he did. Go ahead. Well, Satan bothers me, you know. He picks on Courtney too. So if Satan suddenly decided he wanted to believe in Jesus Christ, he would be saved, right? What do you think? If he believed, he would have to be...

He's not a human. No, he doesn't have a choice. He's not a human, right? Somebody said something over here. Not a human being, so salvation wasn't offered to the angels. His will is locked in. The good angels also, same thing. Yeah, their wills are locked too. So they're not still deciding. One last point.

You read a lot about Predestination? So could I say that my buddy in the White House over here that isn't saved as of this point, he's predestined to go to hell? No. If you say no, you have to explain. Until he leaves the planet, there's always an opportunity if you believe. That's right. That's right. So, why isn't he predestinated, at least at this point, to go to hell? Let's say he dies tomorrow. Predestination has to do with believers only, right? That's right.

It's an important point. Whenever you read in the Bible about predestination, it's always talking about believers. You have been predestined as a believer to certain things. You've been predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ. Is there any possibility you won't be?

No, that seems quite peculiar. Why is it peculiar? Because it's so amazing. It just doesn't seem possible. Well, that's because you're studying your own navel. If you keep looking at yourself, it is impossible. This conformity is outside of you. It's Christ himself. It's Him and His glory that the Spirit of God does the conforming through that, to His very image. You see, that's why position and condition is so important, because if you spend all your life looking at your condition, what God says in His Word He's doing in your life is impossible. You think He's nuts. He'll never pull this off with me. Yeah, He will. Yeah, He will.

Okay, oh good, I got through two according to two. Now this one is going to be a hard one. Is it foolish to say that we believers should value nothing but Christ? Now those of you who are going to shake your head and say yes or no, I'm going to give you a hundred reasons why you value something other than him.

Yeah. I've got that. I think we should value the results of Christ in our lives. Okay. Which essence is Christ in us. Okay. Anybody else? Well, we should value other believers. Okay. We should value what He values. Which is? Who's He? Which He are you talking about? Christ?

What does He value? those who believe in him, the church, the good works he's prepared for us. You should value those good works? We should consider them important, valuable, because he's the one doing them. I was reading in the Hungry Heart that says concerning Christ, He paid it all, He gave us His all, He deserves our all, He requires all because He is our all. There goes the works. I put this question in here because I want you to understand that what the Spirit of God is doing is working so that Christ becomes the, he personally alone is the most valuable thing you know, have and possess. There's nothing other than him that's more valuable to you. Nothing, including your family, your spouse, your reputation, whatever. That he's it.

And I dare say that most believers that I've ever met, that's not true of them. And I'm not saying that critically. It's because we as believers really make Christianity all about us, don't we? Christ has done this for me and that for me and I'm under grace and I'm this and that. It's all about I. It isn't about I, it's about Him.

I'll read something to you. It is vital on us as Christians to value nothing but Christ. as Christ is all and in all, so we have to seek to act upon this always, only prizing in one another what is of Him. So if I look at you, the thing that I prize about you is Him. If I look at my wife, the thing that I prize about her is Him. If I love and prize Christ, such will be my feeling towards Christians.

Even as I shall want myself and all Christians to feel that Christ is the only thing worth our thoughts, affections, labor, and life, may the Lord Jesus and his word be more simply the object of our hearts in this evil day. I can't overemphasize enough how important it is for us as believers, through this word, to come to an intimacy with this one man, Jesus Christ, and that He becomes the most valuable thing in your heart ever, even above you.

You know what I'm saying? When I say that, I know you're going, is Christ more valuable to me than me? I mean, we say, well, self-preservation is such a strong... How about the Lord Jesus Christ himself? Why do you spend time in the Word? Why do you even read it? So that you can become a theologian? You can answer the questions? You can be better versed than you were before?

How about the idea that I get to hang out with Him? Him. I used to say to guys, when you're married and you have a wonderful marriage, why do you go home at 6 o'clock at night? Because your wife said so? No, because you want to be there with her. You want to hang out with the person you love. Don't you always want to hang out with the people you love?

So that's why I think this is really an important question for us to realize that the Spirit of God is working 24-7 to make Christ the most valuable thing to us there is, even above me. One of my favorite passages that teaches this is in 1 Corinthians, and it says, But of Him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness, sanctification. and redemption, that according as it is written, he that gloryeth, let him glory in the Lord. It's God that makes him that way. It's not that I choose to make him that way, God makes him that way. And I may choose it, because I want it, because I, you know, the Spirit determined it, sure. Yeah, that's right. Where is it, Roy? It's 1 Corinthians. Chapter 1, verse 29 through 31. Again, the consistency is we get kind of focused on verse by verse. Just what we went through at the beginning of chapter 3.

Therefore, since you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above where Christ is seated. Where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not things on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

Right there, it doesn't say look at yourself, it doesn't say look at the world, get rid of all that. He just told us that, and to set your mind on things above. So let's say you wake up tomorrow morning, drink a cup of coffee, pop open your Bible and you read those verses, and to be honest with God you say, you know what, that's not really what's going on with me.

What do you do? Go back to sleep. No. He would. What would you do? What do you do? Trust him to make that a reality in your life. That's exactly right. Because that reality in your life is his doing. What's he waiting for you to do? To trust him. So if you wake up tomorrow morning and you think, boy, you know, I don't have this intimacy with the Lord Jesus that I think I should have, I really wish, you know, what are you going to do about it? Well, if you engage in a series of exercises, you've just gone legal. But if you trust Him, you will find that, you know what, is there anything the Spirit of God enjoys more than revealing Christ to the believer?

No, I don't think there is. Now, I'll give you an example. I think I'm about three days out of surgery and my mind is paddling. I'm watching these little brass deals go up the wall, you know, and stuff. It dawns on me one night, or one day, I don't even know whether it was day or night, that this degree of intimacy I'd had with the Lord Jesus for a long time wasn't there.

And it was because of the drugs. You know? And this thing they call pump brain. When they put you on a heart-lung machine, they pump oxygenated blood into your brain to keep you alive while they're working on your heart. And they over-oxygenate it. So when they put you all back together and you wake up, your brain is going, ding dong, ding dong, ding dong, and it's like, wow, what's happening? And so that's why you see the little creepy things going up the wall, along with the drugs and the antibiotics they give you and all that kind of stuff.

But I was assured at that time that he would come back. And a couple of days later, he was back. What hit me about that was this. If I find myself in a stressful, depressing, anxious environment, and I go to the world for the solution, which is usually medication, guess what it costs me? Intimacy. That's what it costs me.

I'm to trust God, no matter what the circumstances are, because I know the Lord Jesus Christ, and I know who He is. And I know that He's going to work through it, and I don't need anything. Now, that doesn't mean you don't utilize what's there. But you don't buy into this, well, I've got a bottle full of pills, it's going to make everything okay. No, it's not. No, it's not.

So, with that in mind, as we look at question four, on what grounds are we to put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and rest? What are the grounds for that? We talked last time about how do you put on Christ, right? Come on, somebody has to remember how we did that. Well, if you're in Christ, you have all that stuff. So how do you put him on? You're right. How do you do it? By the Holy Spirit. By faith. You take him in his word. Just like you said, if he says you have him on, guess what? You got him on.

So along with him comes this heart of compassion, kindness, and these are whose moral qualities are these? They're yours? I mean, doesn't God have a gas station full of these different options and I can just pull in there and load up with a little compassion or gentleness when I need it? See, we assume that if I'm cranky, then all I need is gentleness to fix it. Right? If I've been rude to somebody, then the thing that will fix it is being kind.

What's wrong with that? thinking. Yeah, well we think that if I have a character flaw, if I can replace it with a good flaw, a good character trait, then I'm going to be okay. Is there a problem with that? What is the problem with that? And if I do replace it, We just assume that if I have a problem here then what will fix it is if I need more patience. If I'm impatient that more patience will fix it, right? What do you need in place of patience? You need Christ because he is all those things.

Do you see that? So when someone calls me up and says, I've been praying for patience, I say, boy, that's been a waste of time. And they say, why? And I say, well, why don't you pray to behold the glory of the Lord Jesus? Why don't you pray that, you know, why don't you believe Him and put Him on and rest in the position that God has already given you? Why don't you do that?

Rather than pray for something, you know, it's like the hymns we sing sometimes. We're always asking God to do something. He's already done it. You know, that drives me crazy when I see that. You know, oh Lord, won't you... and I think, no, he already did that. I don't need to ask him for it. So, yes sir? You know, just hearing the answer, my responsibility being faith, you know, it's true. It strikes me as being so simple, the same answer. But that's because God's grace is so powerful.

I mean, it's the resurrection, Ephesians 3.20. resurrection, life and power of God, the same power that rose Christ from the dead, He uses to live Christ in and through us. And our job is just to depend on Him. And that gracism is too big. It's too big. It's too big for our little egos to hold on to it. So what do we do? We reject it, really, is what happens. We look for some other formula. Well, I can't be growing this fast. Why can't you? Why can't you live like that? Because you already are that.

And grace is one of those things. Well, those of you who were in the grace class, when grace is showered upon you, how do you respond to it? Other people have been in the classroom before, so they got the pat answer now. What do you do when grace is showered on you? What do you do with it? Accept it. You accept it, you take it and you use it. You know why? Because you can never take all of it. Never. Grace is one of those things that is inexhaustible. It's unlimited. If God showers 45,000 gallons of grace on you and you say, oh, I'm going to take it by faith, I guess I took it all. No, no. You haven't even put a dent in a bucket.

Going back to a minute or so ago, it seems to me that my sin nature It just lifts when I beat myself up. When I say, you know, well I should be kinder, or that wasn't very nice, or whatever, I should be more patient. And kind of stay there and mull around and wallow in that stuff. And it kind of feels good to beat myself up.

But if I say to the Lord will, or if I just say to myself, you know, that's out of my Yeah, it's not who I am. And say, thanks, Lord, that you're not like me. And Adam, that's so cool. And it's that simple, it seems like. Keep going now. What's your relationship with Adam? You have none.

Well, he's dead, but he's over there. No, he's not dead. You're dead to him. I'm dead to him, but he's making a ruckus all the time. Yeah, he is. Why is he doing it? Because he wants you to pay attention. That's right. So that he can manifest all this wonderfulness through you. Yeah. Yeah. This may be totally wet. I don't know. Well, we'll tell you. Tell us. You'll be the first to tell me, I'm sure.

It seems to me that the qualities of Adam are pretty well defined. You know, they kind of have edges and grace just goes, you know, and you never can see the edge. So you don't think, oh, that's what I want. You know, because you don't see it. It just goes all the way around you and into eternity and everywhere and everything.

And I think it makes it easier not to focus on that's the thing I want. Yeah, you know it's interesting about what you're saying. Yeah, I hear what you're saying. I think that's why the Word of God wants us focused on the person of Christ. rather than on the grace, rather than on the blessing, rather than on what he can do for me, just him. Just him. Because when you're focused on him, what needs do you have? I mean that he isn't going to meet or hasn't already met. Now, to focus on him, Josiah is right.

One of the great elements of spiritual growth is the Spirit of God teaching you to be dependent. Because our dependency is going to be on, oh, I like to wallow in my self-pity or whatever. I like my, whatever is my deal. I've given you an example about the guy at Young Life. He told me his deal was golf. I said, well, I thought your deal was Christ. The Spirit of God creates an environment in the believer's life, as you grow, of dependence, where you begin to realize, there's nowhere else for me to go.

He's everything. And he may or may not fix my little wagon today when I'm complaining about something. But I know, one, he gave his life for me. Two, he's God. And three, he has nothing but blessing for me. So what I think might be blessing isn't the same thing he thinks what might be blessing for me.

And so I've got to get over this idea that I've got to dictate to him what's good for me. Because I don't know, really. And I'd only learn that through this process of dependence, and it takes time. It just takes time. But it's really cool, because at the end of the day, you wake up and find out that, boy, the Lord Jesus is really something. He deserves my attention.

Sometimes I think it's possible to be living your life and thinking, you know, I've got all these truths, I look at these people out here and they don't seem to be major nearly to me. And I think that's totally I don't mean I do that exactly. But I hope you don't because you're you're about to hit a ditch and you're not going to come out. An evil thing we sometimes do is compare ourselves to other people and think we're doing it.

Yeah, isn't that? And that's part of the talk from the old man, oh aren't you something? Well the Spirit of God has a way of dealing with that. If you're involved, like my experience with that is being a teacher. And, you know, you have a really good class, people come up in the afternoon and say, oh, what a great class that was. So halfway home, the Spirit of God says, hey, you did a great job today, didn't you? And you go, oh, it wasn't me, was it? Yeah. It's Him. It's always Him. It's never you. You may be the vehicle, but you're not the one who gets the credit and the responsibility. It's always Him. Always.

Notice too that putting on a heart of compassion and humility and gentleness, you do that not as children, but as the elect of God, holy and beloved. That's how you do it. You're not a child, you're elect and you're holy, you're separated under God and you're the beloved. So the goal is, as we're conformed to the image of Christ, is that we function really like the Lord Jesus functioned while he was here. We see things like he sees them. We react like he would react.

I don't think God would exhort us to put on these attributes if he hadn't already made provision for us positionally. He never says to us, go do this. because it will be good for you and you're going to accomplish something. He's always made the provision positionally beforehand and then he invites you by faith to believe that he has and you can put it on and it's part of who you already are because he took care of it. And it's also part of, from a practical standpoint, the work of the Spirit in you to make whatever that is practical in your life.

Like it says, gee, I would like to be more compassionate, kind, humble, gentle. I'd like to be at rest. That all comes with Christ. All of it. So, any questions? Mike, that's reiterated in Galatians on the fruit of the Spirit. Singular. Of all the same traits are exhibited by the Spirit.

That Galatians 5.22 and 23 are really important passages of Scripture because it spells out the characteristics of who the Lord Jesus is. He is those things.

So the next question says, how does one bear with another believer? How do I bear Roy? Because Roy, you know, every once in a while it gets a little heavy. How do we bear with one another? How do we do that? How do you bear with me? You know, what's interesting, some guy sent me an email yesterday, and I knew Courtney would love this.

This was called, When Insults Had Class. And these are all real things. A member of Parliament said to Disraeli, Sir, you will either die in the gallows or of some unspeakable disease. And Disraeli responded, that depends, sir, on whether I embrace your policies or your mistress. I'm going to give this to Courtney. He likes this game. Walter Kerr said he had delusions of adequacy. Anyway, they're pretty funny. The Fruit of the Spirit, back to question five.

How do we bear one another? How does that happen? Isn't it supernatural love? So if you make me angry, and I'm going, boy that Russ, he really makes me angry. What am I going to do? How am I going to bear him? Or he's got a burden, and I probably ought to carry it or help him. I really don't want to. What do I do?

Is it not walking in the fruits of the spirit? Do you walk in the fruits? While you're dealing with that, and that's the whole point. Mike, are you talking about bear? Are you talking about forgiving someone something? Or shouldering something? Or putting up with them?

We're admonished in Ephesians 4.32 to be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other just as God in Christ also forgave you. So forgiveness for the believer, what's the reason, and that's really question six, but I forgive you, why? Because I'm already forgiven. So that's pretty simple.

What I'm after here in this question, Galatians 5.22 and 23 spell out the fruit of the Spirit, right?

So the word bearing is a participle showing how the foregoing attitudes are to be expressed. Literally it means to put up with. That's what bearing means. It means to put up with. One might note that Paul does not speak of changing one another, but I'm to put up with Helen and she's to put up with me.

How do you do that? By realizing who they are in Christ and who you are. There you go. So is this just for believers? Is this just how we relate with other believers? Because that have a quarrel against any seems like it's anything. Well for the believer, yeah. And if at all possible be at peace with all men.

What I'm after here is I want to point out an element of scripture that we don't talk about often. There's a character about the Word of God, because it's divine, because it's God who did it, that it can never be mastered by your intellect alone. Understand what I just said? There's a character about scripture, because it's divinely inspired, because it is divine, that it can't be mastered by your intellect alone.

And I think in our society, we think that that's the end all of the end all. You know, if I can get to seminary and get a degree and get the chevrons going, and I'm a real student, and up two, three, four, and I've read every book, and I got all this knowledge, I got it mastered. But it always appeals to the affections and the conscience as well as to the mind.

I think it's important to understand that the word of God not only is objective truth, but it does appeal to your affections because it's divine, because it's of Christ. He's a person. God is a person. He's a lover. And that needs to come through in the word of God too. And it appeals to your conscience. as well as your mind. It needs the power of the Holy Spirit to connect it with Christ in order even then to feel, to judge, and to act right. All of those things have to be in place for me as a believer to bear your burden.

It isn't just here. It's got to be here. Because I can intellectually come up with a plan. And as soon as you're out the door, I'm gone. But if I'm conformed to Christ, and I know Him intimately, and I'm dependent on Him, when the bearing starts, it lasts until it needs not be there anymore. Do you see that? That's the second bell? Okay. Let's close.

Father, how we thank you for your Son, the Lord Jesus, who is our very life, and how we thank you that through your energy and your spirit that you are revealing him to us and conforming us to him that all of these things that you have asked us and told us that how we're to function as believers all are resident in the person of your son the Lord Jesus Christ and we pray in his precious name. Amen.