[0:00] I greet you in the name of Jesus this morning. It has been very good to be here this morning. And it's been a lot of emphasis on our Lord and Savior and the songs we sang and appreciate the word that came thus far.
[0:24] You know, last Sunday talked a lot about the kingdom of darkness and remember in Deuteronomy that long list of things that God was saying that the heathen were practicing and were involved in.
[0:48] And then the next verses talked about, it was a prophecy of Jesus. And so I want to remind us today of the two options in life.
[1:05] You know, we looked at the kingdom of darkness and then after that, in that portion of Scripture, we have the prophecies of our Lord Jesus.
[1:18] And today I want to continue on with this. We will start in John chapter 8. You know, Merlin said that his word, his message is not complete.
[1:40] You know, I don't think we ever bring a message that is complete, that we cover everything that could be covered or that we don't miss something or don't say something that should maybe have been said.
[1:59] But we trust God that we will say what he once said today. In John 8, we have Jesus here. We will start in 31.
[2:18] John 8, verse 31. Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed.
[2:32] And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and we're never in bondage to any man.
[2:44] How sayest thou, ye shall be free indeed? How sayest thou, ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
[3:02] And the servant abideth not in the house forever, but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
[3:15] Jesus, Jesus telling the people and telling us today that the truth will set us free.
[3:29] You know, remember, and we will go there, but in Ephesians, it talks about being girded with truth.
[3:42] Talking about the weapons and our armor and being girded with truth.
[4:00] And then it goes on to the rest. And now here we have Jesus. Here we have Jesus. He's saying that if we continue in His word, His word is truth.
[4:18] Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. And if we continue in His truth, if we continue in His word, then we will know the truth, and the truth shall make us free.
[4:33] If we will yield to that truth, if we will yield to the word as it comes to us, when it comes to us, if we will yield to this word, it will set us free.
[4:49] If we will allow the word that we've heard this morning already, if we will allow that word to work in our heart, it will contribute to our freedom, to setting us free.
[5:03] If we will hear what God is saying, if we will take the word of God, if we will take the Bible, if we will take the message that is preached, if we will read the word and accept it and apply it to our heart, it will set us free.
[5:21] Jesus said, you know, they said, we were never in bondage. We were born free, and many Americans will say the same thing.
[5:31] We live in a land of freedom, but all men are in bondage to sin. And the only way to be set free is to enter into the freedom of our Lord Jesus as we surrender to him and to his word, to his truth.
[5:57] He says here, if the Son, therefore, make you free, ye shall be free indeed. And that's a freedom that the world cannot comprehend.
[6:09] It's a freedom that people cannot, you know, they would like to be free. They would like to enter in. But unless we surrender ourselves to him, then we will never experience true freedom.
[6:28] Now, let's go again to Ephesians. And here, here in Ephesians, I want to again read these few verses.
[6:42] In Ephesians 6, verse 10, Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
[7:00] For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
[7:15] Wherefore, take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day. And having done all to stand, stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, having on the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.
[7:42] Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto, with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.
[8:10] Now let's go back. Last week we talked much about truth and also about the kingdom of darkness and how we need to walk in truth that we can overcome and that we can be delivered from this kingdom of darkness.
[8:29] But as I was reading this and looking at this, let's notice that in this list we have truth as the number one.
[8:40] And I believe unless we are girded with truth, unless we have accepted the truth, unless we are walking in truth, then we can never have the rest of these.
[8:55] If you refuse truth, you will not have the breastplate of righteousness because righteousness comes from Jesus Christ.
[9:06] Our righteousness comes to us when we are born again. We receive the righteousness of our Lord Jesus. And unless we accept the truth of the gospel and unless we walk in the truth of the gospel, then we will not have righteousness.
[9:24] We will not have faith. We cannot have the rest of these. But they are all important. But they start with truth. You know, like they say, it starts with truth and it ends with truth.
[9:39] When you drift away from the truth of the word of God, when you deny some truth or you reject some truth or you fail to accept some truth, you will be starting to drift away and to be led away as we've already heard this morning.
[9:58] Our loins gird about with truth, having on the breastplate of righteousness.
[10:12] And I want to look here at our Lord Jesus. You know, we are so blessed in the songs this morning.
[10:25] You know, we sing. Do we realize the words of what we sing as we worship our Lord and Savior?
[10:37] We are so blessed in the song.
[11:07] We look at truth. And then what hinders us from having the righteousness of Jesus Christ? What hinders us from having the rest of the armor of God?
[11:21] What hinders us from walking in faith? What hinders us? Well, here he says in Hebrews 12, verse 1, Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doeth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
[12:09] For consider him, consider Jesus, him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds, ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.
[12:31] You know, we're all in this struggle. We're all in this battle. We all fight our enemy. And it is so important that our armor is in place, that we are girded with truth, and we have the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, and all of these, that they're so important.
[12:59] But he admonishes us here. He says, Lay aside every weight, every weight and every sin, the things that sidetrack us, the things that hinder us in this race, the things that hinder us from going on.
[13:18] You know, what will keep you? What will keep you from having that breastplate of righteousness? What is it?
[13:30] You know, anything that you value above our Lord Jesus will be an idol in your heart.
[13:42] Whatever it might be, whatever sin that you love, you love it more than Jesus. If you're not willing to crucify the flesh and do whatever it takes to live in victory, you know, he has given us power over the enemy.
[14:05] It is available to us. You know, the man with the one talent, it said he was slothful.
[14:17] You know, diligence is one of the greatest things things that we must add our diligence to what God has done and what He is doing in our heart.
[14:35] He says, Lay aside every weight and the sin, those things that sidetrack us, those things that keep us from going on, those things that steal the Word of God, those things that will take us the wrong way.
[14:54] And then he says, Looking unto Jesus. And I want to look, I want to look at a few things about our Lord Jesus. He says, He is the author and the finisher of our faith.
[15:08] And He is the one who shed His blood for us. He is the one that delivers us. And He is the one that will carry us through. He is the one that will empower us to walk in victory that we can overcome in this evil age.
[15:28] He is the author and He is the finisher of our faith. You know, many people start out, but they drift away and they get sidetracked.
[15:41] But if we will walk with Him and if we will love Him more than anything else, He will also be the finisher.
[15:52] He will someday present us faultless unto the Father. What does it say here about Jesus? It says, Who for the joy that was set before Him.
[16:07] What was that joy? What was He seeing? When He was there, He was looking straight at the cross. He knew He was going to go to the cross.
[16:21] And He cringed from that. But it says, For the joy that was set before Him. I believe that joy was you and me.
[16:34] It was the church of Jesus Christ. It was the church that He was going to purchase. That was the joy that was set before Him. And because of that, He endured the shame.
[16:48] He endured such contradiction of sinners. He endured it all for you and for me. He endured it gladly. Oh, hallelujah.
[16:59] Our Jesus, our Lord and Savior, He endured the cross. He endured the cross, despising the shame. And now He is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
[17:12] Consider Him. Consider Jesus. Consider Jesus. Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself.
[17:25] Why should we consider Jesus? Lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. You know, we're in the good fight of faith.
[17:42] We're in a continual battle against our enemy. A continual battle. But when you're tempted to get weary, consider Jesus.
[17:58] Consider what Jesus did for us. Consider what Jesus went through. He was mocked. He was spit upon. He was beaten. And they said, if you are the Son of God, why don't you come down off that cross?
[18:16] You can't even save yourself. You say you came to save the world, but you can't even save yourself. Such a contradiction. He had to die on the cross.
[18:30] And in dying and shedding His blood, He defeated our enemy. Hallelujah. Consider Him. Whenever you grow weary, whenever you're tempted to just quit, to faint, consider Jesus.
[18:50] Consider Jesus. Looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith. I want to look in Philippians, Philippians chapter 2.
[19:02] If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfill ye my joy, that ye be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind, let nothing be done through strife or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind.
[19:40] Let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
[19:52] Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.
[20:13] And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. You know, look unto Jesus.
[20:25] Look to Jesus. And he says, let this mind be in you. Let us be like Jesus. Let's have the same mind that Jesus did. We heard about walking in the Spirit, and if we walk in the Spirit, we will have the same mind that Jesus had.
[20:41] Let this mind be in you to humble himself. Jesus, the Son of God, he came to this earth, and he humbled himself to walk as a human being, as a man on this earth.
[20:59] You know, in Mark, Jesus said, he said, the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many.
[21:13] He came as a servant. He came as a servant. He humbled himself, and took the lowliest place. You know, I want to read a couple of those verses.
[21:29] Let me see. We were going to... It's in Mark 10. In Mark 10. You know, here we have...
[21:43] Here we have James and John. They came, and they said... They asked him. They said, Master, we would that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we desire.
[21:59] And he asked them, Well, what do you want? And they said, that we would, the one of us, sit on your right hand, and the other on your left, in your glory. And then Jesus...
[22:10] Jesus goes on, and he says here... He says, To sit on my right hand, and on my left hand is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared.
[22:24] Verse 42, Jesus called the disciples to them and said, Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles, they exercise lordship over them, and their great ones exercise authority upon them.
[22:41] But so shall it not be among you. But whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister. And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all.
[22:57] For even the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. Jesus, Jesus teaching his disciples, and teaching us today, that we do not exercise lordship over one another, but whosoever is great, let him be your minister.
[23:24] And whosoever will be chiefest, he will be servant of all. You know, how do we become great in the kingdom of God? Isn't it as we serve the body of Christ?
[23:36] Just like Jesus did. He was here on this earth, and he lived here, he walked here, and everything he did during those years of his ministry, was to serve the people, to heal the people, to meet their needs, and so on.
[23:57] And that's what we will do if we are led by the Spirit of God, if we have the mind of Christ. We will humble ourselves and be a servant to all, just like Jesus was.
[24:15] Hallelujah. Philippians, again, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. And we're just scratching the surface just a little bit.
[24:27] But Jesus, he came, not as a king, but he came as a servant. Next time he comes, he will come like as a king.
[24:38] He will be the king, yes, and he is the king of kings, and the Lord of lords. But when he came here, he came as a servant, and he served humanity.
[24:51] And that is, that is what we are to do today. We are to serve humanity. We are to serve the church of Jesus Christ, the body of Christ.
[25:03] And then we are to reach out and share the life of Christ to those around about us. Jesus, he was the son of God.
[25:18] He was equal with God. Before he came, and he is again. But verse 7, here in Philippians 2, he made himself of no reputation.
[25:34] He took upon him the form of a servant. And he was made in the likeness of men. You know, can we comprehend this?
[25:47] That Jesus, the son of God, seated at the right hand of the Father, but he left all of that, and all the glories and power of heaven, he left it all.
[26:03] And he came to this earth as a man. He humbled himself and became obedient unto death. Even the lowliest, ugliest death of all, the death of the cross.
[26:21] And because of this, God hath also highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name, that the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth, that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
[26:44] Wherefore, my beloved, oh, hallelujah, because of these things, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
[27:04] For it is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Hallelujah. Do all things without murmurings and disputings, that ye may be blameless and harmless as sons of God, without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.
[27:32] Oh, hallelujah. Our Lord Jesus, such an example to us, such an example, and he will. Notice what it says here. He admonishes us to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.
[27:50] You know, with fear and trembling, it seems to me I have a note here on that somewhere. Let me see if I can find it.
[28:03] In tender, tenderness of conscience, a tender conscience, in watchfulness, watchfulness, watching, watching lest we fall into temptation, to shrink away from anything that offends God or discredits our Lord Jesus.
[28:27] Yes. Yes, indeed. Hallelujah. Now, in Romans chapter 9. Romans chapter 9.
[28:40] Here we have, well, we'll just read some of this.
[28:51] He's talking to Israel. But I believe that a lot of the things that the Apostle Paul writes to Israel applies to us today.
[29:03] Why? Because humanity has not changed. Our old man is just the same. And we'll explain it, we'll explain some of that as we go through this.
[29:20] Romans 9, verse 30. What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, they have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness, which is of faith.
[29:34] But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore? Or why? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law.
[29:51] For they stumbled at the stumbling stone. That stumbling stone is Jesus. As it is written, Behold, I lay in Zion, a stumbling stone, a rock of offense.
[30:04] And whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. He's talking about Jesus, the chief cornerstone. He is a stone of stumbling to those who do not believe.
[30:20] Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
[30:36] For they being ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
[30:50] For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. We're talking about Jesus. We're talking about the one who came to this earth.
[31:04] He humbled himself and became a man and he gave his life for us. This same Jesus. That's who we're talking about here. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth.
[31:24] Now let's look here. What is he saying here? He's, in verse 2, he says, For I bear them record. He's talking about the Jews, but I believe that there's many people today that might not be physical Jews, but they come into this same category.
[31:46] They have a zeal of God. They go to church on a regular basis and they want to carry the name of Christian.
[32:02] They have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. And what is he saying here that these people are doing wrong?
[32:14] They being ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness, they have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
[32:31] Now let's pick this sentence apart that it's not confusing to us. So these people, they're ignorant of the righteousness that we receive through Jesus Christ.
[32:50] They're ignorant of the righteousness that we receive through our accepting Jesus Christ and being born again by the power of the Spirit of God.
[33:02] They're ignorant of that righteousness. And that is the righteousness that we need. That's the righteousness we're talking about this morning.
[33:14] The breastplate of righteousness. The righteousness that we receive when we become a new creation in Christ Jesus. But we have people that are ignorant of God's righteousness, but they know they need to be righteous.
[33:31] And so what do they do? They try to become righteous in their own strength. They try to become righteous. Just like the Jews, they were trying to keep the law of Moses so that they would be righteous, so that they would be accepted in God's sight.
[33:52] We have people today that they are trying to keep a law and trying to live a righteous life without the new birth, without submitting themselves to the righteousness of Jesus Christ, like he says here.
[34:13] They're ignorant of God's righteousness, and so they try to establish their own. But that always fails.
[34:25] That always fails. The only, you know, our own righteousness, it is as filthy rags. God will never accept the best that we can do in our own strength, the best that the carnal man can come up with, the best of the flesh.
[34:47] It's not good enough. It is only the righteousness of Jesus Christ that will make us righteous.
[34:58] because they're ignorant of God's righteousness, they try to establish their own, that they might be accepted in the sight of God.
[35:14] And because they try to establish their own, they become blinded, and they can't see the righteousness of God, which is freely available to all humanity.
[35:31] Christ is the end of the law. Christ paid for our sin. He paid the penalty of death. The wages of sin is death.
[35:44] Jesus paid that penalty that we can have eternal life. Oh, what a Savior. What a Savior. You know, the Pharisees, they made the outside perfect, but Jesus said inside, they're full of uncleanness, they're full of dead men's bones.
[36:09] The Pharisees, they could never live a life that would be acceptable to God. If the Pharisees couldn't, no one else could.
[36:24] In Matthew 3, when John the Baptist was preaching the kingdom of God, he said, he said, now the axe is laid to the root of the trees.
[36:41] You know, that old man, that old self-life, it can never please God. So, so instead of, like, like the Pharisees did, and like people do in our day, trying to establish their own righteousness, so, so they see some fruit that is not good, and so they trim that branch, and they get rid of it, and they try to become acceptable to God, but it will never work.
[37:11] Why? Because in the new kingdom, in the kingdom of God now, the axe is laid to the root of the tree, and it brings death to that old man, and then we're born again, anew and afresh.
[37:28] Oh, hallelujah. Born by the Spirit of God. You know, in, in, in John 3, Jesus told Nicodemus, he said, that which is born of the flesh is flesh.
[37:41] That which is born of the Spirit is spirit. That old flesh, it can never produce spirit. It can never produce spirit.
[37:51] It can never please God. So what hinders us from going on? What hinders us from going on? Well, one of the big things is pride.
[38:04] Another one is, is just plain self, and self-life, and selfishness, and unbelief. You know, and, and the, the list is endless, yes, but a lot of things come under those, under those headings.
[38:21] Pride. You know, pride keeps you from submitting. You know, if Jesus would have had a proud spirit, he would have never come.
[38:35] He would have never humbled himself. And, you know, the Bible has a lot, has a lot to say about pride, and I'll just run through part of this list here.
[38:50] You know, in, in Proverbs, Proverbs, oh, there's so many verses here. Pride goeth before destruction. The proud.
[39:05] Only by pride cometh contention. Pride goeth before destruction. He that is of a proud heart stirreth up strife.
[39:16] He that is of a humble spirit will obtain honor. In the multitude of words, transgression is not lacking.
[39:29] Another translator, I believe maybe the King James says, in the multitude of words, there lacketh not sin. The proud, they have forged a lie against me.
[39:41] False witnesses, the high look and the proud heart. God cannot tolerate. All of these things and a lot more.
[39:57] Oh, my. Pride will blind us from truth. Pride and arrogance, selfishness, unbelief.
[40:21] But we have the mind of Christ. Do we have the mind of Christ today? Christ in you, the hope of glory. Let's turn, let's turn to Colossians.
[40:39] Yeah, I want to, I want to get one verse here in Romans chapter 12, verse 3.
[40:52] For I say through the grace given unto me to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
[41:18] Not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think. What was that verse that we looked at in Philippians? To esteem every man higher than ourselves, I believe it was, or something like that.
[41:33] Let's go to Colossians in chapter 1. We'll start here in verse 26.
[41:53] He's talking about the mystery, the mystery of the gospel, and what is it? Even the mystery which has been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints, to whom God would make known what is the richest of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory, whom we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.
[42:33] Whereunto I also labor, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily. You know, let's just look a little bit at what the apostle's writing here.
[42:49] He talks about this mystery, and you know, truly to the man who is not born again. It is a mystery. He cannot understand.
[43:07] But the desire of our Lord Jesus is exactly this, that he would dwell in our hearts by faith, that we would give him our heart and life and allow him to come in and to bring that new life within us, that new life that is born of the Spirit of God, Christ in us, the hope of glory.
[43:41] It is only as we have him in us that we have that hope of glory. And then he goes on, he says, whom we preach, this is what we preach.
[43:54] In Corinthians, he said, he would know nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified. This is what, this is what he is preaching. This is what he is teaching.
[44:07] Warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, in all wisdom, in the comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God.
[44:22] Are we, are we gaining wisdom? Are we learning the purposes and the will of our God?
[44:33] We will as we walk with him. And then he says, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. Jesus. The Apostle Paul writing here, this is, this is his desire for the, for the people that he was ministering to.
[44:53] He was wanting to present them perfect in Christ Jesus. Now notice this last verse yet. He says, whereunto I labor.
[45:07] labor. This is what he labors for. This is his goal. This is what he is working for as he labors among the churches. And he says, he, he, he labors striving according to his working.
[45:28] Striving, you know, he is, the Apostle Paul, he is working and striving according to what? According to the working of the Holy Ghost in him which worketh in me mightily.
[45:44] He says here that the Holy Ghost is working through him mightily. Why? Because he was totally yielded to the Lord Jesus.
[45:55] And he, he was walking in this way and he allowed the Spirit of God to have his way in him. And so it was working through him mightily to the edification of the body of Christ to bring every man to that place of perfection in Christ Jesus.
[46:17] You know, and we heard this morning that it is not wise to compare ourselves among ourselves. but we do have, we do have one that we need to strive after and we have one that we can take as an example.
[46:37] And the Bible admonishes us to do that. To, to strive to be like Jesus. To be like him. Our perfect example.
[46:49] Hallelujah. Hallelujah. That's what the Apostle is saying here. He is striving and he is laboring fervently working to bring these people to that place of perfection in Christ Jesus.
[47:08] Jesus. Well, we won't read all of this but let's go down to verse 3.
[47:28] In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. He's talking about Jesus. and in Jesus. Jesus.
[47:42] It's all in him. It's all in him. The mystery of God and of the Father and of Christ. We should have read verse 2. But in him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
[47:58] And I say this, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words. For though I be absent in the flesh yet am I with you in spirit joying and beholding your order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.
[48:15] As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord so walk ye in him. How did we receive him? We received him by faith. And so we will walk in faith.
[48:28] You know having begun in the spirit that is how we will continue. That is how we will continue to walk in this way in this Christian life.
[48:39] It is a walk of faith. Yes. Rooted and build up in him. That is how we will continue established in the faith.
[48:53] as ye have been taught abounding therein with thanksgiving. Hallelujah. Isn't that a recipe for faithfulness to continue in our Lord Jesus rooted and grounded in him and build up in him and established in the faith abounding in it.
[49:20] But he warns us in verse 8 beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit after the tradition of men after the rudiments of the world and not after Christ.
[49:34] He warns them and he warns us there's men that will try to spoil us to spoil what we have and to steal what we have but let us continue on in the faith let us continue on in our walk with our Savior let us continue on walking in humility in that servant spirit yes beware lest any man spoil you and steal your peace and your joy verse 9 for in him in Jesus Christ dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily and we are complete in him we are complete in Jesus he is all we need if we have Jesus and we walk with him in full submission and allow him to fill us with his spirit and to live within us and to direct our life we are complete in him hallelujah we are complete in him which is the head of all principality and power
[51:05] Jesus is the head of all principality and power and those principalities and powers that we read about that come against us they are defeated by our Lord Jesus as long as we are in him we can defeat them we can overcome them if we are in our Lord Jesus oh hallelujah in whom also you were circumcised with a circumcision made made without hands and putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ that old man that old body is put off and now we live the new life in Christ buried with him in baptism wherein also we are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God who hath raised him from the dead so if we if we then are buried with him in baptism and we are raised in newness of life and we have the righteousness of our
[52:13] Lord Jesus Christ hallelujah what doth hinder us from going on what will you allow to hinder you from going on and fulfilling all the will of God he has made all provisions for us and he will take us safely through he will carry us through he will help us to live in victory and to overcome if we will yes if we will in first Timothy he gives us a list of things to flee from and then he says oh but thou oh man of God flee those things but follow after follow after righteousness godliness faith love patience meekness fight the good fight of faith lay hold on eternal life whereunto thou art also called and has professed a good profession before many witnesses fight the good fight of faith you know we we are in a fight we're in a battle we're in a battle each one of us individually is in a battle we're in a battle collectively as a church we're in a battle he admonishes us he says to fight the good fight of faith and to lay hold of eternal life and don't let it slip don't let anything don't let anything don't let any weight or any sin or anything distract you don't let anything come between you and your savior don't let anything you know it's worth everything it's worth it's worth it all to live a clean life to live a holy life it's worth whatever you need to sacrifice you know
[54:46] Jesus said if your eye offend thee pluck it out in other words if your eye is going to cause you to sin and go to hell it's worth it's worth plucking it out if your arm is going to offend you and take you to hell cut it off you know Jesus what he's saying is crucify that old man keep it under whatever whatever it takes to live this life and to win the victory over our enemy it's worth it all verse 14 that thou keep this commandment without spot unrebukable until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ in Ephesians it says that he wants to wash us and cleanse us that he might present this church a glorious a glorious church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing yes our
[56:05] Lord Jesus and he will if we will he gave himself he gave himself for us in Titus just a couple more verses here we don't have time to look into this much but there is so much here in chapter 2 in verse 10 not purloining but showing all good fidelity that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things I believe this is what our Lord Jesus would have of us that we adorn the doctrine that we adorn the doctrine of our God and our Savior you know if we live a defeated life we bring shame to the name of
[57:06] Christ but if we live in victory we adorn the doctrine we adorn the doctrine for the grace of God that bring us salvation has appeared to all men the grace of God it is what has brought us here it is what has worked in us and has brought us to the place we are at the grace of God that bring us salvation has appeared to all men teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lust we should live soberly and righteously and godly in this present world hallelujah so many today will deny that we even need to do this but he is telling us this is how we need to live denying ungodliness denying those worldly lusts living soberly and righteously and godly in this present evil dark world looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great
[58:26] God and our Savior Jesus Christ you know if we can keep this if we can keep this foremost in our mind that we will someday we will see our Lord returning for us and he will take us hallelujah the glorious appearing hallelujah of our Lord Jesus Christ who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works this is what he wants this is what he's looking for a people redeemed from all iniquity living above the iniquity of this world living above the powers of darkness purified not defiled by witchcraft not defiled by the kingdom of darkness truly a peculiar people why because we have God within us that makes us a peculiar people in this dark world hallelujah hallelujah our Lord
[60:05] Jesus are we submitted to the righteousness of Jesus Christ you know like we read there in Romans says these people trying to establish their own righteousness trying to live a godly life without having God in their heart that's how it is trying to live a life pleasing to God without the power of God in our heart is a futile attempt and it will fail every time but as we submit ourselves to the righteousness of God we can have that righteousness of Jesus Christ and he will make us holy he will make us righteous he will someday present us faultless before the presence of
[61:11] God almighty hallelujah hallelujah amen