[0:00] We can resume a public worship of God by singing to his praise from Psalm 32.
[0:12] Psalm 32 from the beginning down to the double verse marked 5. O blessed is the man to whom is freely pardoned.
[0:24] All the transgression he hath done whose sin is covered. O blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not his sin, and in whose spirit there is no guile nor fraud is found therein.
[0:37] When as I did refrain my speech, and silent was my tongue, my bones and wax adorned, because I roared all day long. For upon me both day and night thine hand did heavy lie, so that my moisture turned to us in summer's drought thereby.
[0:57] I thereupon have unto thee my sin acknowledged, and likewise mine iniquity I have not covered. I will confess unto the Lord my trespasses that I, and of my sin thou freely didst forgive the iniquity.
[1:15] And so on. Sing these verses, Psalm 32. From the beginning, O blessed is the man to whom is freely pardoned. O blessed is the man to whom is freely pardoned.
[1:40] All the transgression he hath done, whose sin is covered.
[1:55] Blessed is the man to whom is freely pardoned. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not his sin, and in whose sin there is no guile nor fraud.
[2:25] Blessed is the man to whom is freely pardoned. When, as I did whisper in my speech, and silent was my tongue, my bones then waxed, Oh, because I wrote it all day long.
[3:04] For upon me both may and night Thine-handed heavy lie So that my morn's church are biddes In summer's drought thereby I then upon have come to thee My sin acknowledged And likewise my iniquity I have not covered it
[4:12] I will confess unto the Lord My trespasses said I And of my sin Thou brilliance Forgive the iniquity Let us turn together in prayer Let's pray Gracious God as we Come into your presence And enable us to Come rejoicing At the Williness of The God Into whose presence we come To receive us And to Do so
[5:13] In and through the passion of your son Jesus Christ By whom Our way of access has been opened That we who Are Able to Able to acknowledge our sin To To confess it And to repent of it Know the wisdom Of coming To a God Who is Holy And yet willing to receive us Not because of our holiness Or Our righteousness Our lack of Sin Our Freedom From All that Too often ensnares Our sound Causes us to Feel shame Even With the limited knowledge That we have That we are still encouraged
[6:13] To come To our throne of grace And there To confess our sins In order to Receive Mercy and grace To help In time of need We pray for your blessing Upon our gathering This evening For all who are met with us With their varying needs While we may not know them We can come with them And solicit your help For them Thankful that Despite our limited knowledge That there is a God Who Who is Perfectly Acquainted With all our ways And we Confess that The things That are hidden From the eyes Of those Who are most Close to us Are not hidden From your eyes We bless you And thank you For your patience And your long
[7:13] Suffering To us Lord And that you Encourage us Nevertheless To avail ourselves Of the provision Made for sinners In the blood Of Jesus Christ Which cleanses From all sin We pray For your blessing Upon the Preaching of the word The proclamation Of truth That encourages All manner of sin To come And to come Earnestly And to come With Urgent haste For we cannot Defer Such an encounter With yourself Our God We may have Our strategies And our plans Like one of old Who had gone away From his father's house And who had Wasted all his living He was
[8:13] Down in the dust Having discovered His foolishness And yet When he Determined to return To his father's house He had A plan And he had A purpose Whereby he would Prepare In some meaningful way To To have that Encounter Which he feared And that is the way It is For so many When they Determined to Return to God That they Spend time Deliberating on What they will say And how they will say it When the truth is That there is Nothing that we say That need to be said Other than That we confess Our sins And that they are Exceeding great And that we Deserve
[9:14] Nothing but The The The anger Of a holy God To be Enleashed upon us That we give Thanks that you Despite your Lovedy Place In the Helms Heavens above Surrounded by Sinless angels And glorified Saints That you are Still Speaking to the Children of men In this Sin sick world So we pray for Your spirit to be Poured out upon us That we may Know of our sins How much we Need to know How much We need to Realize The True extent Of our Of our Dereliction of Durity How much We need to Appreciate What sin Is And how It Mires Our Humanity So that from
[10:14] The crown Of our head To the soles Of our feet There is no Wholeness To be found We confess Our need Of forgiveness And we pray For it That a day Of power Would be Once again Seen in A middle Mist Where sin Sick souls Would cry out To God What must I do To be saved Even including Those who have Discovered Your grace In Christ How much We need As a church To return To you To confess Our sins To repent Of them And to Fully Disclose Our Wanton Forgetfulness Of the Things That Are designed To enhance Our lives Here in This world Prayerfulness Studiousness With regard To the Scripture New
[11:15] Obedience Each day That we Live Lord help Us to Attain These things By your Grace We commit Our service To you This evening And ask Lord your Blessing To be upon The word That is Read The words That are Sung And that Are familiarly Upon our lips So often We may be Singing these Words And yet There is A Disjunction Between The words That are Upon our Lips And the Heart Which should Speak These words In truth A Disassociation With the Meaning of Them That leaves Us as if We are We are Singing words That have Nothing To say To us Or That have Nothing to Do with Us And the Reality is Far from That So help Us in Our Worship Help us
[12:16] In our Frailty May your Servant Who leads Us in The praise Be lifted Up in His own Soul So that As he Sings The words And as He is Joined In the Singing That together We would Know that We are Approaching A throne Even a Heavenly Throne And that The King Of Kings Is before Us Deciding To have The best Of what We can Offer We pray For your Blessing Upon the Truth That we May know That it Is your Word that Is true And that We may Contemplate It as Such And seek With your Help To apply It to Our lives We remember The preaching Of the Word the World Over Within Our Communities Here In this Island And Neighboring Congregations Congregations That make Up The various Congregations That speak
[13:16] The truth Of Christ Jesus And Turn Crucified May the Word That is Disseminated Be fruitful To the Glory of Your name Remember Our cities Our towns Our villages We see How much That declension Marks us Out as A church We see How much We are Backslidden As a nation And how Little relevance Is given To the Truth of God As something Upon which To anchor Our souls But you Encourage us To To Re-learn These truths And to Rediscover Long forgotten Truth that It would Enhance the Lives of Those who Submit to The word Of the Living God So here Is on Behalf of
[14:17] Our King His family The royal Household In its Extent Pray for The parliaments That represent Us And those Who would Seek to Be Lawmakers May they Be bound Up with God's Word So that In Coming to Frame these Laws That they Would Understand That the Truth must Underguild what Is done And only the Truth can set Us free We see So many Evidences Of Disaffection From the Word of God We see So much Hatred In the Lives of Those who Are Wrote about Us Where it Should Speak Of Of Filial Love And Familiar Love Where families Should be Integrated
[15:18] And Bound As one There is Friction And there Is Division And there Is so Much Evidence Of Society Disintegrating Because the Bonds That should Exist Are no Longer To be Found We pray Lord For An Awakening Of Interest In the Things Of God Remembering Our Nation As it Goes On As a Rudderless Ship On an Ocean That is In the Tempest Not Knowing Which Reef That this Ship Will Flounder On We pray Lord For Your Mercy For Your Deliverance Remember The Nations Of The Earth Especially The Parts Of The World That Know Discord Whether
[16:18] Wars Ongoing Some For A Short Duration Some Lost From Sight Which Have Been Ongoing For A Long Time The Numbers Of Those Who Have Died Are Hidden From Sight But Not Some Years We See The Suffering Of The Frail Infants Barely Formed In The Womb Torn From The Womb By Those Who Would Destroy Life Wherever It Is Found We We See The Infants That Are Born Left Destitute Hungry For What Would Sustain Life And Being Denied To See To To See The Elderly Cast Aside Left To Fend For Themselves How Terribly Wicked It Is As
[17:19] It Is Revealed To Us And Yet We Harden In The Face Of These Things Lord Be Merciful To Us That We Would Cry Out To Heaven Above That You Would Intercede On Our Beh So We Pray Lord For Your Blessing That We Would Know That You Are God Indeed Watch Over Us And All We Commit To Your Care And Keeping Those Amongst Us Who Are Unwell Aid Their Recovery Those Who Are Grieving And Sorrowful Behind Their Wounds Those Who Are Seeking Spiritual Nourishment And Not Knowing Where To Look For Guide Their Footsteps That They May Seek It In Appropriate Places We Pray Lord For Your Own Hand To Be Upon Us In Mercy For Giving Every Transgression In Jesus Name
[18:19] Amen We Going To Sing From Psalm 85 Psalm 85 Verses 1 Through To 8 O Lord O Lord To Thy Love Land Jacob's Captivity Thou Hast Recalled With Mighty Hand Thou Pardon Thy People Hast All Their Iniquities Thou All Their Trespasses And Sins Hast Covered From Thine Eyes Thou To Stove All Thine Eyre And Turn From Thy Wrath's Furiousness Turn Us God Of Our Health And Cause Thy Wrath Against Us To Cease Shall Thy Displeasure Thus Endure Against Us Without End Will Thou To Generations All Thine Anger For Extend And So On To Verse 8 Verses 1 2 8
[19:22] Psalm 85 O Lord Thou hast been favorable to thy beloved land O Lord Thou hast been favorable to thy beloved land Jacob captivity thou hast recalled recalled with mighty hand thou pardoned thy people hast all their in in quitties thou all their trespasses and sins hast covered from thine eyes thou took'st hast of all thy night and turns from thy wrath's furious nest turn us
[21:00] God of our health and cost thy wrath gainst us to cease shall thy displeasure thus endure endure against us without end will thou to generate the generous and shall thine anger fore extend that in thee may thy people joy will thou not us revive show us thy mercy
[22:16] Lord to us to thy salvation give I'll hear I'll hear what God the Lord will speak to his hope he will speak peace and to his saints but let them not not return to foolishness to see God's word as we find it in the New Testament scriptures Paul's epistle to the Colossians and chapter 2
[23:22] Paul Paul's epistle to the Colossians chapter 2 from the beginning for I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you and for them and for them and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh that their hearts might be comforted being knit together in love and unto all riches and to all riches of the full assurance of understanding to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God and of the Father and of Christ in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge and this I say lest any man should be kind with enticing words for though I be absent in the flesh yet am I with you in the spirit join and beholding your order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ as ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord so walk ye in him rooted and built up in him and established in the faith as ye have been taught abounding therein with thanksgiving 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 for in him dwelleth all the fullness of the God and bodily and ye are complete in him which is the head of all principality and power in whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ buried with him in baptism wherein also ye have risen with him through the faith of the operation of God who hath raised him from the dead and you being dead in your sins and in the circumcision of your flesh as he quickened together with him having forgiven you all trespasses blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us which was contrary to us and took it out of the way nailing it to his cross and having spoiled principalities and powers he made a show of them openly triumphing over them in it let no man therefore judge you in meat or in drink and or in respect of an holy day or of the new moon or of the sabbath days which are a shadow of things to come but the body is of Christ let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels intruding into those things which he hath not seen vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind and not holding the head from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered and knit together increaseth with the increase of God wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world why as though living in the world are ye subject to ordinances touch not, taste not, handle not which all are to perish with the using after the commandments and doctrines of men which things have indeed a show of wisdom in will worship and humility and neglecting of the body not in any honour
[27:23] to the satisfying of the flesh Amen and may the Lord at his blessing to a reading of his word and to his name be the praise We can sing now from Psalm 110 Psalm 110 from the beginning to verse 5, 5 stanzas The Lord did say unto my Lord Sit thou at my right hand until I make thy foes a stone where on thy feet may stand The Lord shall out of Zion send the rod of thy great power In midst of all thine enemies be thou the governor A willing people in thy day of power shall come to thee In holy beauties from morn swum thy youth like dew shall be The Lord himself hath made an oath and will repent him never of the order of Melchizedek thou art a priest for ever
[28:24] The glorious and mighty Lord that sits at thy right hand shall in his day of wrath strike through kings that do him withstand And so on These verses 1, 2, 5 Psalm 110 The Lord did say unto my Lord Sit thou at my right hand The Lord did say unto my Lord The Lord did say unto my Lord Sit thou at my right hand Until I make thy foes a stone Where on thy feet may stand The Lord shall out of Zion
[29:28] Send the rod of thy great power In midst of all thine enemies Be thou the God of the Lord The Lord shall not A willing people in thy day All power shall come to thee In holy beauties from morn swum Thy earth light you shall be
[30:29] The Lord himself hath made an oath And will repent him never Of the order of Melchizedek Thou art a priest for ever The glorious and mighty Lord Thou art a priest for ever The glorious and mighty Lord In his day of wrath
[31:30] Strike through kings That do him withstand When we turn back to the passage read New Testament Scriptures The Lord's epistle to the Colossians Chapter 2 And we can read at 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 For in him dwelleth all the fullness Of the Godhead bodily For in him dwelleth all the fullness Of the Godhead bodily
[32:32] Most of you who are here this morning We will remember that we were considering We were considering the angelic announcement Given concerning the birth of Jesus Christ The incarnation of God's Son Son I want this evening to continue with that theme Although we are obviously moving on Now when at this time of year A lot of people are taken up with the notion Of the infant Christ Jesus And they don't move away much from that Notional understanding of who the Lord Jesus was But as we saw in the morning
[33:35] The declaration made by God Through these seven angels Testified to who that infant was And what that infant was in the world to do And here in this epistle Paul highlights both the preeminence of that Christ And the sufficiency of Christ There is none greater than he And there is none other than he required For the salvation of sinners And Paul makes abundantly plain I think Unambiguously so That first of all
[34:36] Christ is divine That he is God That he is the Son of God And that this is something that needed to be so In order for him To be the saviour and the redeemer And the redeemer That this fallen world needed And secondly That all that needs to be true of him Is true of him So that his redemptive work Could be fully realised I would imagine Everybody here is Quite content To assert And maintain The doctrine Of the incarnate Son of God The Son of God
[35:37] You know that the scripture that you have heard Proclaimed in your hearing repeatedly Repeatedly Tells you And that some of you at least believe it That the Son of God Jesus Christ is the Son of God And that as the Son of God He is divine He is divine That he is The one of the triune God That Father, Son and Holy Spirit I would hope that everybody believes that To be true It's not Not something that's strange to you It's not something you haven't heard before And yet Paul is writing a lector To a church That is assailed
[36:39] By Those who are Bringing that teaching Into question They are Not only doubting The truth of what Paul Is saying But contradicting it And contradicting it so that What they believe Instead of it Leaves them clearly vulnerable To Their souls being In jeopardy If they believe What they teach Then they cannot On the basis of What they believe Expect to be Redeemed Now that was true in Paul's day And it is true In our day There are those who Belong to organized religions Who do not believe The Lord Jesus Christ
[37:40] To be divine The Muslim faith For example Are quite content To Teach That The Lord Jesus Christ Is a prophet But he is not divine As far as their teaching is concerned He is not God He is He has no place In Salvation If indeed they have a doctrine Of salvation That is worth Speaking about The Jehovah Witness Has A place for Christ In their teaching But Not as The Son of God Not as God Himself There are many other sects There are many other Organized religions Who may By reason of Of They can't but
[38:42] Acknowledge that Christ is a significant figure They'll give him A place But they will not give him His place And that is not new And in Paul's day Those That He was dealing with Head on Were those Who Contradicted The teaching Of The word That Paul preached By Suggesting That The Lord Jesus Was a significant Figure On the scene of time Even suggesting That he was A figure of Spiritual significance But That is as far As they went That Developed into The doctrines Of the Gnostics In short Space of time Where Emphasis
[39:43] Was laid upon Coming to Some kind of knowledge About Christ But having come to That knowledge That knowledge was to be Added to And that knowledge was to be Increased And it was The increase of that knowledge That was the foundation Of their salvation So You know Paul speaks In the chapter That we read Here Let No man beguile you Of your reward In voluntary humility And worshipping of angels Incruding into those things Which he has not seen Vainly puffed up By the By his fleshly Mind And so on The place that Jesus Had in their thinking Was Alongside The angels Who were spirits And they Occupied A realm
[40:44] Between heaven and earth And whatever role They fulfilled Between heaven and earth And earth Was An An An Elevated Spiritual life That had Some significance Although Who knows What it was But What we Find Paul See here Is simply This That Christ Is More Than that And that He is all That a person Requires For the salvation Of their soul Because He is Who He says He is And he has done What he came to do And God Appointed Him To do that The late Principal He is
[41:45] In a Description Of Of the Passion of the Lord Jesus Christ He says In Jesus Christ God Took our nature Passionately Entered The history Of fallen humanity And lived a life Which while fully And authoritative Authentically Human Shone with the glory Of the divine Of the divine And that's simply A statement of fact Concerning The The humanity Of Christ That he was clearly Human But He was at all times God And At times The glory Of his Godhood Or his Godhead Became open To view Now It was a statement Of the divine Now If we go back To chapter 1 And it is important For us to understand That the reason Why Paul
[42:46] Sees fit To emphasize This Is that If we lose Sight of who Christ is And if we are not Fully acquainted With what he came To do And how he was Equipped To do it Then we will not Appreciate Fully What he Engaged in On our behalf As sinners In need Of a saviour Go back to chapter 1 We find That not only Is redemption Described As being Through the blood Of Jesus What he says Emphasizes Emphasizes For us How the blood Of Jesus Came to be All that it is Meant to be Verse 14 Verse 14 In whom We have redemption Through his blood
[43:47] Even the forgiveness Of sins Who is the image Of the invisible God The firstborn Of every creature For by him Were all things Created That are in heaven And that are in earth Visible and invisible Whether they be Throns or dominions Or principalities Or powers All things Were created By him And for him And he is Before all things And by him All things All things consist And he is the head Of the body The church Who is the beginning The firstborn From the dead That in all things He might have The preeminence For it pleased The father That in him Should all Fulness Dwell You read that And digest it Contemplate it Work your Work it out Out in your head And see everything That is said There you are Brought face to face With the God
[44:49] Who became man He became man In order to shed his blood He shed his blood For the redemption Of sinners The same God Who is God Over all The same God Who was God In the beginning The beginning And who will be God Forevermore The description That you have Of him The image Of the invisible God The firstborn Of every creature These statements Stand alone And discern Our consideration And require of us To exert ourselves So that we grasp The truth That is Set before us This creator God Is none other Than Christ Jesus The Lord By him Were all things created That are in heaven That are in earth Visible and visible Whether they are thrones Dominions Principalities Powers All things created By him
[45:50] And for him And when The The resistance To the truth That elevates Something Or someone Over and above The one For whom All things were created By whom All things are created You see there An inconsistency You see there A truth That is perverse Presented As if it was The truth That needs to be Believed When we think Of the Lord Jesus Christ We may be Persuaded That he came Into this world Much against his will Because he was To do the will Of his father And what his father Wanted him to do Was to go to the cross And what the cross Involved for him Was to do the will Was inestimable Inmeasurable suffering
[46:52] So you would think That this would be Something that would be Much against his will But there is no place In the scripture Where you can afford To think like that He came to do The will of his heavenly father And Paul wants the reader To understand That Christ That Christ Resembles God To such a degree That there is Everything About him The second person That is true About the first person Although Although I suppose When divines speak Like that Theologians Present such a picture To us Of the nature Of the Godhead That father Son and Holy Spirit That they are one And that there is Equality Within the unity That is something That we need to Embrace and believe But to say that
[47:53] Christ is an exact copy Of the father Would suggest That there is That there is A lack on his part Because he insists That he himself Is one with the father Remember he insists Upon it You remember When he spoke His enemies Rose up with a venom Against him Because of what he said About himself I am the father And what we are one I am in the father And he is in me He who has seen me Has seen the father This was something That could not Be countenanced By those who Understood God To be one And God To be Jehovah Without Considering The spirit Or the son
[48:53] To be one with him And Christ Is to be understood Understood like that So Paul When he is saying here That this here Is resisting The arguments That are made Purely arguments They may well be They are Nevertheless An underestimate Of who Christ is To simply state In him Dwelleth all the fullness Of the Godhead Bodily Is a Significant Statement Everything That is true of God Is true of the son Except I think that part There Bodily Suggests to us Suggests to us Well what does it mean God is Incorporated God is spirit He doesn't have a body So how does the fullness Of the Godhead Dwell in him bodily
[49:55] Well clearly It tells us About his Taking to himself A reasonable soul A true body Recognizably so So that those Who met Christ Met A human being Yet divine So Paul Insists on that And so should you So should you Resist anything That Delimits the power Of Christ Anything That makes Christ Out to be Anything Other than Significant Significant As far as his Deity Is concerned That he is To be seen And understood As God The son Now the second thing That we have here Is this In him Dwelleth The fullness Of the Godhead
[50:56] Bodily Why does Paul Insist on that Why does he Want us to Grasp that Truth Well a simple Fact of the Matter is That the Temptation That he was Dealing with And the Understanding That he was Trying to Counteract Was A dissatisfaction With Christ That Christ Was not All That they Wanted him To be They considered As I said In their Heresy That there Was Greater Achievements Possible By attaining A greater Knowledge Whoever the Source of that Knowledge was And that it Was necessary In order for Them to Ascend To glory If they were
[51:56] Simply To come To believe In Christ That would Be insufficient For them And that Was a Clear Error on Their part Because They Underestimated Who Christ Was They Underestimated What is True About Christ And always Will be True about Christ Can summarize It in this Way To look Anywhere Else Than to Christ Is to Fail to Understand The significance Of what Paul is Teaching here For the Simple reason That everything That is True about God Is true About Christ Everything That God Requires Of us Can be Found In Christ Everything That we Need As sinners Can be Found By us In Christ We don't Need to Look anywhere Else
[52:57] We don't Need to Add to What we Have discovered In him We are All fallen Hell Deserving Sinners In need Of a Saviour And we Cannot Find that Salvation Anywhere Else That's Simple Truth You hear It often But Do you Believe it That is The thing Look at It like This You need Pardon You need Mercy You need To find It where Well only God can Pardon Your sins Because your Sins are Offense Against God Only God Can show Mercy To the Sinner Because he Alone Is the one Offended Against He is the Judge Who Who will At the Last Bring The soul That sins To Judgement What Encouragement Does the Apostle Give to Us What
[53:57] Encouragement Do we Find within The whole Scripture To seek Pardon And to Seek Mercy If not The Encouragement That we Are Given To look To Christ Remember The Apostle John In his Epistle He tells Us there If any Man sin We have An advocate With the Father Jesus Christ The righteous He is the Propitiation For our Sins And not For ours Only But also For the Sins of The whole World What does That say To us That tells Us that We do Have an Advocate With the Father We do Have somebody At the Right hand Of the Majesty Of God We do Have somebody Who is Equipped Who has In his Possession The wherewithal By which To intercede On behalf Of his People God
[54:58] Given And God Acquired Christ Alone Is the The One Who Is in That role We sang About The great High priest Melchizedek In the Order of Melchizedek His priesthood States of States to Us his Role As the Intercessor Of his People That's what The priesthood Does Stands Before God On behalf Of men Pleading The merits Of a Sacrifice Offered Christ Offered The sacrifice Christ Became The sacrifice Christ Intercedes Before God On the Basis Of that Sacrifice That's what's Contained In these Words In him Dwelleth The fullness Of the Godhead
[55:58] There is A plenitude There is More than Sufficient To meet Our needs You can't If you have A glass That's full You can't Put anything More in it It is Full It doesn't Require to Be talked Out Because this Christ Always By virtue Of who he Is Is always Full The picture That the Scripture Gives to Us Of the Divine Fullness Is Descriptive Of One That no Matter how Many Come to Him No matter How often They come To him The inexhaustible Resources That he Possesses Ensures That they Will not Be diminished At any Moment We think
[57:02] Of the National Grid We think Of the Power Sources Out of Which we Draw For our Heating For our Lighting There may Come a Point When These Will Be Exhausted These Will run Out These Will Require Being Filled Up again From Some From some Other Source There is A Depletion There is A Diminution There is A Wastage Nothing Can be Said Of God That Suggests That he Will At any Point Be Exhausted Deprived Of the Wherewithal By which To meet The need Of those Who are Coming To him And when It speaks Of the Lord Jesus Christ In Possession Of that Fullness The Same Truth Applies
[58:03] To him The Fullness Of the Godhead Is his And this Is the Saviour Of sin If we're Talking About Do you Not think That to be A Stupendous Claim For any Who are Not Divine Paul Tells us Frequently That The word That is Used Here And Elsewhere Reminds Us of The ongoing Capacity That Jesus Has Not just To Periodically Remember His own People Or Occasionally Think of Them This Is his Abiding Concern That whatever The needs Of that People Are That they Are Met At any Moment And on Any Occasion In him Dwelleth All the Fullness Of the Godhead
[59:03] Bodily That Fullness Is In The Present Tense Is used By the Apostle Telling Telling us That This Is the Way It Is Bodily He Is What He Was What He Came To Become He Remains What He Became He Continues To Be What He Be Be This Will Not After This Will Not Change His Relationship To His Own Will Not In Any Way Suffer Distraction Or Suffer Because Of What We Do Or What We Say Or Where We Go It Is Something That He Took To Himself On The Occasion Of His Incarnation The Second Person Of The Trinity Assumed Humanity
[60:04] And Is Forever God And Man In Two Distinct Natures And One Person Forever We Know That God Often Uses Phrases I Think It's John Piper Who Speaks Of It Like This When You Speak Of The Person Of The Lord God Jehovah He Speaks Of Himself As The Great I Am He Spoke To Moses Of Old Am I Am That I Am Was Speaking To Him I Am The Alpha And The Omega The Beginning And The End The First And The Last God The Father The Heavenly Creator Was The One Who Alone Had Access To These Words And Who Had Right To Use Them word in the Greek alphabet is omega but because God is God and God is triune and God the Father and God the Son are one and the same as far as their deity is concerned the same truth applies, all that God is he is so that the salvation that he has secured for his people is secure you're not having to go anywhere else, you're not having to think about well what can
[61:53] I do to be saved, what must I do in order that my salvation be more certain that's not a thought that enters into your mind I did hear somebody the other day say that there are some people and they don't for one minute contemplate the possibility that they are not saved it's a question that doesn't enter their mind whether it should or not they are superbly and supremely confident well so they should be if their relationship with Christ is one of faith if they have trusted their soul to Christ keeping if they have committed themselves to trust in him for time and eternity then they have every confidence to go on knowing that nothing will take them out of his hand but the problem
[62:59] I suppose that God confronts us is that what Paul says about Jesus Christ that we can believe in as truth not everyone believes in there was a minister who laboured in Edinburgh many years ago and he was quite renowned for his preaching abilities but one thing that concerned him was this and he worked he worked constantly amongst the poor and he said well if I go to a beggar and I offer the beggar bread because he is hungry he will take it if I go to a poor man and offer him silver because he is poor he will take it if I go to a sick man and I offer him health he'll take it if I go to an ambitious man and I offer him success he'll take it if I go to the man on the gallows and I offer him pardon he'll take it but if I offer a man salvation through
[64:16] Christ Jesus the one thing needful the only thing that they want he will not accept it and that is the way it is not always but that is the way it is for many as he went on to purity they will stoop down to the gutter to pick up a bit of gold but they will not get up out of the gutter to put a crown of gold upon their head by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ what Paul is saying this is only possible because of who he is in the first chapter one must look the same thing please the father that in him should all fullness dwell and having made peace through the blood of his cross by him to reconcile all things unto himself by him I say whether they be things on earth or things on heaven it pleased the father and
[65:23] Christ was that one by whom reconciliation is possible what do we learn from these words well we learn that gentle Jesus meek and mild born in infancy born into this world as a child babe in arms raised to adulthood died on the cross and because of who he was and what he was he lived his life as one who fulfilled all righteousness he died as a sinner without having sinned and because of his holy nature even that holy nature that was implanted within the womb of his mother that was the means by which salvation is possible for the sinner
[66:26] Paul says to us in him dwelleth all the fullness of the godhead where else can we go who else can we go to if this is the Christ that you have trusted in you have done what your soul requires may may god in his grace remind you of the awesome nature of who Christ is he was veiled in the flesh and that's the thing that often amazes us how he lived his life in this world and the flesh veiled his glory except when he chose to reveal it and yet that glory I think one of the divines tells us about the day that will come go to Titus for example or you go to Peter and they describe to you a Christ who will return again and he will return as a man but not the way that he left this world he will return with the glory of his deity unmasked so that his coming again we are told by
[67:56] Paul is a glorious appearing the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ amazing is it not is that not something that Paul still continues to speak about him as that God whose glory will be seen by all and that every eye and every knee and every tongue will confess him may God remind us of that let us pray oh Lord we give thanks that your glory is spoken of repeatedly a glory that is uniquely you and that we give thanks that you are the
[68:57] God who intercedes for us at the right hand of the majesty on high that as the great intercessor of his people that your word is heard and that you are listened to may we petition the heavens in your name that we may be found in that awesome provision that ensures that salvation is ours hear our prayers and pardon sin in Jesus name Amen of closing Psalm 116 Psalm 116 and we're going to sing from verse 7 to 12 four stanzas O thou my soul do thou return unto thy quiet rest for largely lo the Lord to thee this bounty hath expressed for my distressed soul from death delivered was by thee thou didst my mourning eyes from tears my feet from falling free
[70:03] I in the land of those that live will walk the Lord before I did believe therefore I speak I was afflicted sore I said when I was in my haste that all men liars be what shall I render to the Lord for all his gifts to me O thou my soul do thou return unto thy quiet rest O thou my soul do thou return unto thy quiet rest for largely thee O the Lord to thee his bounty hath expressed for my distressed soul from death delivered was by thee thou missed my mourning eyes from tears my feet from falling free
[71:30] I in the land of those that live will walk the Lord before I did believe therefore I spake I was afflicted soul I said when I was in my haste that open light eard be what shall I render tender to the Lord for all his gifts to me may grace mercy and peace from God the Father the Son and the Holy
[72:45] Spirit rest and abide with you all now and always Amen