Podcasts about infinite journey

Our journey on the fear of being seen continues! Today we discuss stepping out of your protective shell and embracing your fullest expression. Delve into "overcoming" fears of visibility, childhood wounds, and societal pressures that lead us to hide and dim our light — the same light that is our only hope for healing and transforming the world.

In this episode of 'Out of the Box with Christine,' host Christine Blosdale welcomes special guest Karen Cheong of Spherical Luminosity.  Together, they delve into the transformative power of frequency work, emphasizing the importance of self-awareness and releasing distortion patterns to elevate one's life.  They explore the concept of scarcity, distinguishing between general scarcity and 'absolute scarcity'—a sense of lacking stemming from a disconnection at a spiritual level. The episode also explores resonances and vibrations, and how altering your frequency can lead to profound changes in your reality.  #transformation #spirituality LINKS MENTIONED:  http://www.sphericalluminosity.com FREE MEDITATION - https://sphericalluminosity.com/quietyourmind http://www.ChristineBlosdale.com -------------------------- 00:00 Introduction and Host's Reflections 00:19 Welcome to Out of the Box with Christine 01:07 Meet Karen Chong: Catalyst for Consciousness 03:00 Karen's Journey to Frequency Work 05:46 The Profound Impact of Frequency Work 11:45 Understanding Scarcity and Consciousness 18:54 Navigating Life's Challenges with Frequency Work 29:43 The Infinite Journey of Frequency Work 30:12 Embracing Human Imperfection 30:38 Life as a Glorious Ride 31:14 The Power of Meditation 31:34 Quieting the Mind: A Special Gift 32:11 The Center of Your Zero Point 33:22 Witnessing Without Absorbing 34:00 Sharing the Gift of Centering 34:15 Final Thoughts and Farewell

Listen to Donovan Duke of Infinite Journey talk about the first time he was ever told he sounded like Steve Perry! Be sure to catch the entire episode! And don't miss Infinite Journey at the Granbury Opera House this Thursday-Saturday

Our guests on this episode are Mike Cooper and Donivan Duke from the band Infinite Journey! Infinite Journey has been wowing audiences since 2012 with their spot-on renditions of Journey's greatest hits. Based in Dallas, Texas, this five-piece band has built a reputation for its authentic performances, capturing the soaring vocals, intricate guitar solos, and powerful rhythms that made Journey a rock legend. When you close your eyes, you'll swear Steve Perry and the gang are right there on stage. So, Granbury, get ready to rock! Infinite Journey is coming to the Historic Granbury Opera House August 1-3, and they're bringing the heart, soul, and spirit of Journey with them! To support our podcast: patreon.com/granburytheatrecompany For tickets: www.granburytheatrecompanyorg

Let's explore the benefits of reading habits for genealogists and historians. Do you have good reading habits? Join me and discover how broadening your literary spectrum can enrich your understanding of history and aid in building a personal library that supports your intellectual journey. Genealogy Clips Podcast  https://ancestralfindings.com/podcast Free Genealogy Lookups https://ancestralfindings.com/free-genealogy-lookups Historical Postcard Giveaway https://ancestralfindings.com/postcard-giveaway/ Genealogy eBooks https://ancestralfindings.com/ebooks Follow on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/AncestralFindings Support Ancestral Findings https://ancestralfindings.com/donation

On today's Equipping You in Grace show, Dave talks with Andy Davis about how Scripture memorization can help us in our Christian life and ministry, the relationship between meditation and memorization, tips for starting to memorize the Word, along with his book, How to Memorize Scripture for Life: From One Verse to Entire Books (Crossway, 2024).What you'll hear in this episodeHow Scripture memorization can help us in our Christian life and ministry.How Scripture memorization and meditation can help us with applying the Word.Some of the main hindrances to people memorizing the Word and what they can do about it.Some of the results of ignorance of Scripture in the Church today.The benefits of memorizing extended Scripture passages.Tips for someone starting to memorize the Word of God.About the GuestAndrew M. Davis is pastor of First Baptist Church of Durham, North Carolina, and a visiting professor of church history at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. A member of The Gospel Coalition, Davis has written articles for TGC's popular website and has spoken in plenary and breakout sessions at TGC's national conference. He is the author of The Power of Christian Contentment, Revitalize, and An Infinite Journey, named by Tim Challies as one of the top ten books of 2014.Subscribing, sharing, and your feedbackYou can subscribe to Equipping You in Grace via iTunes, Google Play, or your favorite podcast catcher. If you like what you've heard, please consider leaving a rating and share it with your friends (it takes only takes a second and will go a long way to helping other people find the show). You can also connect with me on Twitter at @davejjenkins, on Facebook, or via email to share your feedback.Thanks for listening to this episode of Equipping You in Grace!

For every Christian, God set two infinite journeys: the external journey of spreading the Gospel worldwide and the internal journey of moving from sin to perfection in Christ. The post Sanctification: An Infinite Journey appeared first on Two Journeys.

For every Christian, God set two infinite journeys: the external journey of spreading the Gospel worldwide and the internal journey of moving from sin to perfection in Christ. The post Sanctification: An Infinite Journey appeared first on Two Journeys.

For every Christian, God set two infinite journeys: the external journey of spreading the Gospel worldwide and the internal journey of moving from sin to perfection in Christ. The post Sanctification: An Infinite Journey appeared first on Two Journeys.

For every Christian, God set two infinite journeys: the external journey of spreading the Gospel worldwide and the internal journey of moving from sin to perfection in Christ. The post Sanctification: An Infinite Journey appeared first on Two Journeys.

We're back with Part Two of Sailormoon Crystal Season 3. Sailor Saturn is here and ready to rip ship apart with the Silence Glaive. Join as as we discuss parenting, sacrifice, and rebirth.  This episode covers season 3 episode 8 until the end of the season (Act.34 Infinity 8 "Infinite Labyrinth" 1 up to Act.38 Infinity 12 Infinite - Journey). BIG SPECIAL THANKS TO SANRIXIAN AND WARREN DUDSON FOR THIS IMAGE OF US AS MAGICAL GIRLS! --- Eliana's twitter: https://twitter.com/arhythmetric Eliana's reddit account: https://www.reddit.com/user/glass_table_girl Eliana's blog: https://themanyfacedblog.wordpress.com/ Chloe's twitter: https://twitter.com/liesandarbor Chloe's blog: www.liesandarborgold.com Intro: "Glitter Blast" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The Infinite Journey: Past Lives and the Cycle of ReincarnationAired Tuesday, 13 June 2023 at 4:00 PM PST / 7:00 PM ESTThis week on Miracle Guidance for Everyday Life, Dr. Harra discusses the infinite journey of your soul.Do you feel like you're an old soul? Have you ever met someone you swore you knew before? We've all been here before, under different disguises and circumstances: chances are your friends, family, and even adversaries were present in your past lives, and they've returned to fulfill certain karma with you. Most importantly, what you experienced in former lifetimes determines your mission and course in this lifetime. So why did you return? Dr. Harra will teach you about the incredible process of reincarnation and show you how to recognize a soul you've known before. She'll take your calls and help you understand your spirit's cycles.Tune in to Miracle Guidance for Everyday Life Tuesday at 7pm ET and discover the truth about coming back.#PastLives #MiracleGuidance #CarmenHarraSubscribe to our Newsletter https://omtimes.com/subscribe-omtimes-magazine/Connect with OMTimes on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Omtimes.Magazine/ and OMTimes Radio https://www.facebook.com/ConsciousRadiowebtv.OMTimes/Twitter: https://twitter.com/OmTimes/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/omtimes/Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/2798417/Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/omtimes/

On today's episode, Erica talks about the process of finding truth within this 3D reality and how it is impossible to discover it ALL within one lifetime.  She also shares a clip that explains how our responsibility on this planet is to shine our light and to live by the wisdom within our hearts. Care to play a game with the youniverse? Ask the universe the episode you would most benefit from hearing next and click positivehead.com/game.  Download The Golden Key audio or e-book at GoldenKey.Gift with the Code: POSITIVEHEAD Text Brandon to receive regular golden nuggets of wisdom at 310.564.0750

  Welcome back to The 10,000 Heroes Show with your host Ankur Shah Delight.   The goal of this podcast is nothing short of the total evolution of society, so get settled, it'll take a while.   Our best guess at how to do that is through individuals. Specifically, helping each one of us align our external actions with our internal sense of mission and purpose, so we gain energy every moment from that which we used to call “work”.   And that, of course, is our definition of a hero. Or, to put it another way, A Hero is someone for whom just being their best selves is the biggest contribution they can make to the world.   In this episode, I interview Alida Miranda Wolff. There's a lot that's impressive about Alida, from her career trajectory to her recent book to her art. But what I really love about her, and this interview, is her transparency about her own journey, and her relationship with vision.   Alida interacts daily and intentionally with her sense of vision and purpose. It wasn't until this conversation that I realized the degree of entitlement many of us (including myself) have around vision, as if we just Deserved to know our purpose in intimate detail, or a divine figure would reveal it to us fully formed.   So here's the challenge: take her advice and run the experiment.   Of course, we do something pretty similar in Momentum Lab, our coaching program.   The important thing to me is not the specific actions or methodology, but rather the practice of keeping that vision alive and at the forefront of our consciousness. Every month, every week, every day.  Show Links: Voicemail:  https://www.speakpipe.com/10khshow Email: info@10kh.show Twitter: @10khshow   Guest References: Alida's book: https://alidamirandawolff.com/book/ Alida's newsletter: https://alidamirandawolff.com/newsletter And @AlidaMw on Twitter and on LinkedIn!

The phenomenal Sylvia High graces the space for a profound conversation about the power of purpose, prayer, transformation & so much more! Join us for a thought provoking discussion that's sure to inspire reflection and change. Sylvia High is the founder & CEO of Aiming High, Inc. Author, Master Coach, and Training/Development strategist with nearly 30 years of experience and success, Sylvia has led transformational workshops all over the world. To learn more about Sylvia's upcoming trainings, Supercharge, Infinite Journey to I AM: Journey to Greatness, and the I Am Woman 2022: Believe, visit www.aiminghighinc.com and pick up a copy of 'The Little Book of Big Questions: A Journey in Self-Discovery' on Amazon. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/intentionalhealingandwellness/support

The Eleusinian Tournament comes to an exciting and unexpected end.    This episode of World of Tomorrow is written and directed by Benjamin Lancaster. Tim Less......Brian Ballance Eve Moore......Callie Wills Pauline......Katherine Jenkins Dina......Rin Wallace Beau......Jerry Skids Grant......Craig Wallace Morris......Jake Ramos Rick Russo......John Saccheri Annie Moore......Isa Jones Alastair Eastman......Jason Blackwater Julia Io......Jenna Browne Flunky......Barry Wallace Bonnie......John Saccheri Swift......Chris Colon Special Guest......Jan Welch Tournament Announcer......Lou Mongello ACIP Voice......Ron Schneider Chime Voice......Jaclyn Thomas Associate Producer, Naomi Addison Music by trash-chan, Zsótér Zita Creator, producer, and showrunner, Benjamin Lancaster This episode is sponsored by Gravity Well Theater - https://www.gravitywelltheater.com/ Magic Our Way Podcast - http://magicourway.com/

What do AIs dream? Tim and Pauline are about to find out. This episode of World of Tomorrow is written and directed by Benjamin Lancaster. Tim Less......Brian Ballance Eve Moore......Callie Wills Pauline......Katherine Jenkins Dina......Rin Wallace Beau......Jerry Skids Ringmaster......John Saccheri Dragon......Bill Meeks Annie Moore......Isa Jones Morris......Jake Ramos Spirit of Tomorrow Protestor......Chris Colon Dr. Knoll......Nate Begle Professor Feng......Teresa Hui Weather Assistant......Bill Meeks Rick......John Saccheri Tournament Announcer......Lou Mongello ACIP Voice......Ron Schneider Chime Voice......Jaclyn Thomas Associate Producer, Naomi Addison Music by trash-chan, Zsótér Zita Creator, producer, and showrunner, Benjamin Lancaster This episode is sponsored by Quest for Infamy - https://www.infamous-quests.com/

Kerrie Highcock has worked in the field of autism for 18 years and has recently gained her Masters of Education, in Autism, from the University of Strathclyde, and is currently working on her Doctorate.   She is passionate about elevating the voices of and learning from autistic people.   Before her 13 years (so far) with NEAS, she worked in schools and nurseries with specialist autism provision.   Kerrie is also the author of her first book The Infinite Journey, which outlines her journey working in the field of autism.   Ian & Kerrie discuss; What we can do to raise awareness for autism Taking an active approach What is autism? Myths about autism Statistics on autism Acceptance Diagnosis of autism Masking Making reasonable adjustments Challenges autistic people face How to support autistic people Kerrie's book – The Infinite Journey    North East Autism Society Industry Angel Twitter Industry Angel Website Podcast Sponsors;- Far North Sales & Marketing Carpeway MrFarrar.com

In an attempt to find Beau, Tim, Dina, and Pauline head deeper into the Eleusinian Tournament's mainframe, with someone encountering a ghost from their past... This episode of World of Tomorrow is written and directed by Benjamin Lancaster. Tim Less......Brian Ballance Eve Moore......Callie Wills Pauline......Katherine Jenkins Dina......Rin Wallace Translator Program......Teresa Hui Search Program......Barry Wallace Parrot......How Bowers Alastair Eastman......Jason Blackwater Julia Io......Jenna Browne Albert Last......How Bowers Orange County Deputy......Jake Ramos Security Guard......Chris Colon New AI Variable......Jacklyn Thomas Professor Feng......Teresa Hui Number Variable......Professor Dan Miller Annie Moore......Isa Jones Morris......Jake Ramos Tournament Announcer......Lou Mongello ACIP Voice......Ron Schneider Chime Voice......Jaclyn Thomas Associate Producer, Naomi Addison Music by trash-chan, Zsótér Zita Creator, producer, and showrunner, Benjamin Lancaster This episode is sponsored by TouringPlans.com - https://touringplans.com/ Prototype World of Tomorrow Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/prototypeworldoftomorrow

Team 28 is down one team member and up one talking armored dinosaur as they head deeper into the game. This episode of World of Tomorrow is written and directed by Benjamin Lancaster. Tim Less......Brian Ballance Eve Moore......Callie Wills Pauline......Katherine Jenkins Dina......Rin Wallace Beau......Jerry Skids Grant......Craig Wallace Team Member......Disney Dan Tournament Announcer......Lou Mongello ACIP Voice......Ron Schneider Chime Voice......Jaclyn Thomas Associate Producer, Naomi Addison Music by trash-chan, Zsótér Zita Creator, producer, and showrunner, Benjamin Lancaster This episode is sponsored by Gravity Well Theater - https://www.gravitywelltheater.com/ Magic Our Way Podcast - http://magicourway.com/ The Further Adventures of Walt's Frozen Head - https://youtu.be/cj0qwTmn0Ic

The game begins! Tim, Beau, Morris, and Pauline head off into the Primeval World. This episode of World of Tomorrow is written and directed by Benjamin Lancaster. Tim Less......Brian Ballance Eve Moore......Callie Wills Pauline......Katherine Jenkins Dina......Rin Wallace Morris......Jake Ramos Beau......Jerry Skids Alastair Eastman......Jason Blackwater Julia Io......Jenna Browne Spirit of Tomorrow Protestor......Chris Colon Dr. Knoll......Nate Begle John......Jeff Evans Rick......John Saccheri Bill......Bill Meeks Luge......How Bowers Tournament Announcer......Lou Mongello ACIP Voice......Ron Schneider Chime Voice......Jaclyn Thomas Associate Producer, Naomi Addison Music by trash-chan, Zsótér Zita Creator, producer, and showrunner, Benjamin Lancaster This episode is sponsored by RetroMagic – A 50th Celebration - https://www.retrowdw.com/events/retromagic-50/ Quest for Infamy - https://www.infamous-quests.com/

Today the guys discuss the book 'An Infinite Journey: Growing Toward Christlikeness' by Andrew M. Davis. They give a big picture on the book as well as talking in particular about loving what God loves, hating what He hates, & more.Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/aUaiSv0-SzoView the book here - https://www.eden.co.uk/christian-books/personal-life/an-infinite-journey-growing-toward-christlikeness-9781620202364/Follow us on instagram! - https://www.instagram.com/officialordinarypodcast/Music - Bloom & Day One by Shopan and Blue WednesdayIn the Space Between (Feat. Joseph Whettam) By Sxxnt.

Tim and Beau prepare for a video game tournament that will take them deeper into themselves than they thought possible. This episode of World of Tomorrow is written and directed by Benjamin Lancaster. Tim Less......Brian Ballance Eve Moore......Callie Wills Morris......Jake Ramos Beau......Jerry Skids Pauline......Katherine Jenkins Annie Moore......Isa Jones Alastair Eastman......Jason Blackwater Julia Io......Jenna Browne Grant......Craig Wallace Jeeper......Chris Colon ACIP Voice......Ron Schneider Chime Voice......Jaclyn Thomas The executives are Theresa Hui and How Bowers with additional voices by Callie Wills, Barry Wallace, Nick Espazeto VIII and Brenden Babcock. Associate Producer, Naomi Addison Music by trash-chan, Zsótér Zita Creator, producer, and showrunner, Benjamin Lancaster This episode is sponsored by Gravity Well Theater - https://www.gravitywelltheater.com/ Magic Our Way Podcast - http://magicourway.com/ The Interesting Podcast - https://www.brianballance.com/podcast

On today's Equipping You in Grace show, Dave and Andy Davis consider why errant views of heaven are popular today, the danger of near-death experiences, how heaven helps us process grief and loss, the resurrection, and his new book, The Glory Now Revealed (Baker Books, 2021). What you'll hear in this episode Why we are so eager to look into the future. Why errant views about what heaven is and what it will be like have developed. The problems we run into if we speculate too much about heaven. Why we can't trust near-death experiences to describe what heaven is and isn't. What we can learn about our resurrected bodies from Jesus' resurrected body in Scripture. Advice to a Christian who has lost family and friends who weren't saved. How heaven helps us process grief and loss. About the Guest Andrew M. Davis is pastor of First Baptist Church of Durham, North Carolina, and a visiting professor of church history at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. A member of The Gospel Coalition, Davis has written articles for TGC's popular website and has spoken in plenary and breakout sessions at TGC's national conference. He is the author of The Power of Christian Contentment, Revitalize, and An Infinite Journey, named by Tim Challies as one of the top ten books of 2014. Subscribing, sharing, and your feedback You can subscribe to Equipping You in Grace via iTunes, Google Play, or your favorite podcast catcher. If you like what you've heard, please consider leaving a rating and share it with your friends (it takes only takes a second and will go a long way to helping other people find the show). You can also connect with me on Twitter at @davejjenkins, on Facebook, or via email to share your feedback. Thanks for listening to this episode of Equipping You in Grace!

Billy & Will talk with Donovan, lead singer of Journey tribute, Infinite Journey!

In this episode we discuss the flow of self from spirit -> baby -> conditioning -> fitting in to survive -> awakening -> etc. Questions Answered & Healings Guided during Channeled Chat LIVE Experience Psychedelic Drugs Fertility + Sacral Chakra Creation Healing How to tune into most authentic self Aligning with your right path healing If you'd like to request healing or ask questions about your spiritual self development journey join next week's Channeled Chat LIVE Experience where we will be discussing Self Love, an Infinite Journey. As always, take what you need, leave what you don't And may you flow in the rest of your day with Peace in your Mind, Love in your Body, and Strength in your Soul. Song Credit During Healing: Music Of Wisdom --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/carolynhealings/message

Episode Notes The annual Eleusinian Tournament is coming to Progress! Tim and Beau are fielding a team while Astute is organizing a hostile takeover of the video game competition and Eve uses her hacked Jeeper to figure out what Julia Io is hiding. Support the show by becoming a patron at the Visitor to Progress level! - https://www.patreon.com/prototypeworldoftomorrow Only $3/episode and you'll receive the episode a week before everyone else and ad-free, with exclusive commentary.

LEARN MORE ABOUT MOIRA AND COACHES THAT CARE! Use THIS LINK to buy Moira's book and at the same time assist the mission of Coaches That Care. MORE ABOUT INFINITE JOURNEYInfinite Journey is an invitation to gently embrace the mindset shifts that empower more joy, more peace and higher levels of satisfaction and success in all areas of life. Shifting perspectives can transform your experience of life from one of chaos and confusion to one of connection, resilience, and optimism.The authors integrate best practices from several coaching modalities and psychology research in order to bring powerful strategies to readers for navigating the most challenging life terrains with confidence and optimism. They draw on concepts from both spiritual and semantic traditions that have proven to have forward moving potential in the structures of business, philanthropy, family, and corporate group dynamics. These principles also serve individuals simply seeking a more fulfilling path towards contributing to the creation of a better world.The dynamic world circumstances of uncertainty, social upheaval, and chaos often bring confusing challenges to our sense of clarity and purpose. Amidst a plethora of options for coping, there are simple ways of maintaining direction and focus even as distractions rise around us. The strategies shared in this book draw from the fields of professional coaching, positive psychology and spirituality with universal principles that transcend any specific assignment.Infinite Journey takes readers on a trip through 4 concepts, or principles, of Inspired Living. They are the principles of Curiosity, Clarity, Courage and Congruence. Each principle is expanded with 6 different associated qualities that serve to build skills for incorporating these principles into one's way of being. The authors have infused each chapter with courageous stories, inspiring quotes, and fun exercises to enliven and support the journey. A rich and diverse resource section allows for further discovery as concepts are explored.Readers are encouraged to embrace a notion of travelling with others, thus moving from a comparative perspective about life to a more generous collaborative one. As we embrace this perspective, a quality of synergism begins to develop along with fresh creative strategies that are inclusive, less judgmental, and infinitely more satisfying.Letting go of the construct of a game, with rules, boundaries, limitations, successes, and failures, allows for the emergence of new dynamics to play with. The authors challenge us to explore the realm of “what else is possible” with no constraints impeding the process of discovery. Curiosity becomes infused with courage as the point of the journey becomes to “see what comes next”. Energy can be put into clarification of values so that choices can be made from a place that serves to strengthen the soul and enable joy in greeting the challenges that appear along the way.In the midst of the interesting times of modern living, this process, while it requires focus and effort, can also bring relief as coping skills increase and ease of experience emerges.This is a book that will be easy to incorporate into a book club adventure or group training experience and which will expand participants' sense of possibility and hope. It is one which you will find yourself referring back to frequently and sharing with those around you.

(English below) Jez Alborough ist Autor zweier Bücher, die abgehen wie Kanone: The Story of 'You' & The Infinite Journey. Beide Titel sind Teil der Reihe 'Life Beyond Personality', das sich als Thema durch das Werk von Jez Alborough zieht. Jez ist bekannt für seine Kinderbücher, die sich millionenfach verkauft haben. In unserer Folge 09 geht es aber nicht um seine Berühmtheit.... Jez ist auf Facebook aktiv: https://www.facebook.com/lifebeyondpersonality/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/lifebeyondpersonality Auf seiner Website: http://jezalborough.com/ Und als Musiker, wie im Intro zu hören: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zalwe8RK1Ao&ab_channel=JezAlboroughMusic Der Song am Ende dieser Folge ist von unseren Freunden Philip und Silvia. Ihr findet ihn hier: https://backtobed.bandcamp.com/track/thats-why-im-alive Unser guter Markus Prummer wird im Jahr 2021 noch die beiden Bücher auf Deutsch übersetzen, bzw. zumindest beginnen zu übersetzen. (ENGLISH) Jez Alborough is the author of two books that are shooting through space like a cannon: The Story of 'You' & The Infinite Journey. Both titles are part of the 'Life Beyond Personality' series, which is a theme running through Jez Alborough's work. Jez is known for his children's books, which have sold millions of copies. But our episode 09 is not about his fame.... (skip to minute 10.00)

This will be the final episode of the Infinite Journey, but not the final podcast. What does that mean? Find out in this wonderful, warm and heartfelt Thanksgiving episode of the Infinite Journey podcast! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/paul-james-caiden/support

What would you think, if you were given a piece of information and told that it was absolutely true? But then, what if someone else were given another piece of information, from the same source and told that it was the absolute truth? Strangely, this seems to be happening in our world today more times than not. Trusted sources giving out contradictory information to various peoples. Why is this happening, and why is it important for us to know all of the ins and outs of what is happening here? We'll delve into this topic in this latest episode of the Infinite Journey.. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/paul-james-caiden/support

In this episode we will talk about the Infiniti Journey of the soul, and what really matters as we make our way back to the Supreme Source of all life. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/paul-james-caiden/support

Listen to great interviews and get the latest info on concerts in and around Dallas - Ft Worth from Ric Hare, host of the CONCERT CONNECTION, sponsored by PMC Entertainment. Ric’s guest for this show is Donovan from the tribute band Infinite Journey - The Music of Journey Follow the show on your favorite podcast networks like Apple Podcasts, iHeart Radio, Spotify, TuneIn, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spreaker and we have been added to the largest podcast network in Europe, Deezer. Subscribe to the YouTube channel. Subscribe to the IN THE PIT WITH RICK and CONCERT CONNECTION Roku channels. SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!! We now have a AMAZON FIRE TV channel also! Check it out. If you want your concert, movie, event etc., featured on a future episodes, contact Ric at on the Concert Connection Facebook page or email him at ConcertConnectionRic@gmail.com. The Concert Connection is recorded at the largest musicians rehearsal facility in Texas, the PLATINUM MUSIC COMPLEX. Contact Duane with PMC Entertainment, at 469-735-5313 to get your rehearsal space today! Produced by BlytheWhitaker Media

Listen to great interviews and get the latest info on concerts in and around Dallas - Ft Worth from Ric Hare, host of the CONCERT CONNECTION, sponsored by PMC Entertainment.Ric’s guest for this show is Donovan from the tribute band Infinite Journey - The Music of JourneyFollow the show on your favorite podcast networks like Apple Podcasts, iHeart Radio, Spotify, TuneIn, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spreaker and we have been added to the largest podcast network in Europe, Deezer.Subscribe to the YouTube channel.Subscribe to the IN THE PIT WITH RICK and CONCERT CONNECTION Roku channels.SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!! We now have a AMAZON FIRE TV channel also! Check it out.If you want your concert, movie, event etc., featured on a future episodes, contact Ric at on the Concert Connection Facebook page or email him at ConcertConnectionRic@gmail.com. The Concert Connection is recorded at the largest musicians rehearsal facility in Texas, the PLATINUM MUSIC COMPLEX. Contact Duane with PMC Entertainment, at 469-735-5313 to get your rehearsal space today!Produced by BlytheWhitaker Media

Andy Davis gives a brief introduction to the new podcast series. For a more comprehensive study of the topic of sanctification, please see Andy's book "Infinite Journey."

Andy Davis gives a brief introduction to the new podcast series. For a more comprehensive study of the topic of sanctification, please see Andy's book "Infinite Journey."

How do we glorify God throughout our lives? Dr. Andrew Davis joins me to talk about Christlikeness and his book, "An Infinite Journey." Plus: Is there a way out and through transgenderism for those struggling with it and for their family members? Denise Shick, founder of Help 4 Families, joins me to discuss it and her book, "It is Well With My Soul." That's on Thursday's JANET MEFFERD TODAY.

Introduction Sermon Illustration Turn in your Bibles to James 3. You'll be looking this morning at the text you heard read for us, James 3:1-12. In the year of 2012, I went on a mission trip to Nepal, fulfilling a dream. For many, many years, I'd wanted to go to Nepal, prayed for many years for an unreached people group there, and yearned to be able to share the Gospel there in Nepal and had the opportunity in 2012. At one point, we were driving along a road that was alongside on the verge of a raging river swollen by a month of rains, torrential downpours. The river had a brown muddy look to it. It was not attractive at all, but I had never seen such a rushing torrent in all my life. It looked like a stampede of bison back in the Old West. Not that I've ever seen that but what I imagine it would look like. A stampede of muddy bison. It was rising and falling and roaring and undulating with peaks and troughs, and unspeakable power. It was terrifying just to drive alongside it, wondering if at any moment, it might leap out of its boundaries, and swallow up the very road that we were driving on. It was ugly, it was powerful, it was threatening and dangerous. I feel certain if anyone were to have fallen into it, they would immediately be swept to their death, or pulled down under and drowned. So these words are in my mind as I think about that image. Dirty, dangerous, powerful. So as we come to this passage this morning, James 3:1-12, that picture's in my mind. An overwhelming force, a rushing torrent, a deadly power, able to sweep away whole villages in a flood and swiftly bring death. But look at what we're actually talking about today, we're talking about the tongue. That little muscle behind your teeth that has no bone to it, but how powerful it is. James zeros in on the tongue as it seems like a weapon of mass destruction. I think James wouldn't have known that expression, but if he understood it, he would say, yes, that's exactly what it is. The human race speaks an almost immeasurable torrent of words every single day. We Speak Many Words Every Day Estimates put the average ration of words for you as between 18 and 25,000, some of you more, some of you less. Seven and a half billion people. I know a percentage of those haven't learned to speak yet, but they will. So we're talking about approximately 150 trillion words every day spoken by the human race, and God listens to every one of them, remembers all of them, but what's really terrifying is not the sheer volume of human words, but what the Bible says about how evil many, if not most of them are, and that's exactly what James 3:1-12 is addressing, the absolute necessity of we Christians, who James calls again and again. “My brothers, my brothers. We Christians have to tame the tongue by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Now in context we've just passed through what I call the theological center of the Book of James. James is a very practical book. It seeks to address how Christianity is actually affecting your life. What's actually going on with you now that you've heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And he's seeking to instruct Christians on what genuine faith looks like in the real world. Now he's just made it plain at the end of James 2, that faith without works is dead. If your faith isn't actually affecting what you do, then it's a dead faith, a useless faith, a demon faith. But immediately after that, he addresses the tongue because there is such a powerful connection between the heart and the tongue. Who you really are as a person and what you say, and James wants his readers to know that the transformation of the tongue is essential to genuine salvation. It may be the single greatest proof that you really are a Christian, how you use your tongue. So we're going to draw out from the text today six reasons why all Christians must tame the tongue by the power of the Holy Spirit. I. Because By Our Words We Will Be Judged The Tongue is a Clear Reflection of the Heart Reason number one, “Because By Our Words We Will Be Judged.” Because by our words, we will be judged. Look at verse 1, “Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.” Now for me as a teacher of the word of God. I must read that with fear and trembling. I was sitting over there in the seat just like all of you, were sitting in your seats but I have to get up and walk up here and talk, and I have to do so with fear and trembling because it says that “not many of us should be teachers,” and the NIV puts it, “presume to be teachers.” I think that's to take that honor on yourself. Many of you should not do that. Why? Because we who teach will be judged more strictly, more severely. Why is that because of the great danger of hypocrisy, of saying one thing with your mouth, and living a different way with your life. Richard Baxter in his classic, Reformed Pastor, said this to his brother pastors, "Take heed to yourselves lest you live in those sins which you preach against in others, lest you be guilty of that which daily you condemn. Will you preach God's laws, and then willfully break them? If sin be evil, then why do you live in it? And if it be not, then why do you dissuade men from it? If sin be dangerous then how dare you venture on it? But if it be not then why do you tell men so? If God's threatenings be true, then why do you not fear them? And if they be false then why do you needlessly trouble men with them and put them into such frights without a cause?" That's very convicting for me. “Let not many of you presume to be teachers because you're going to be judged more severely if you get up in front of people and talk about God's word, and then you don't live it out in your own life.” We're going to be judged. James says more severely, but on the other hand, God has ordained the teaching office as essential to the completion of the salvation of the flock of Christ. So what am I supposed to do? The talents, the Parable of the Talents, five talents, two talents, one talent, the one with the five went out and put it to work and gained five more, the one with the two went out and put it to work and gained two more. But then there's that one with the one talent that was afraid of the master because he's such a severe judge and he's harsh, and unfair, and so he takes his talent, hides in the ground and he's called a, “wicked lazy servant.” So, I'm hemmed in by the word of God. It says in Romans 12, if your gift is teaching, then teach. And so those of us that have the gift of teaching, we need to venture forward and teach but this passage stands as a warning to be certain that we understand that we are going to be judged more severely even as we teach week by week. What is this link then between the tongue and judgment? Jesus Clearly Links the Heart to the Tongue Well, it's because there's a clear link between the tongue and the heart. Between the tongue and the heart. We're going to be judged, evaluated by our words, and Jesus made this link very clear. You remember when he was driving out demons and his enemies claimed that it was by Beelzebub, the prince of devils that he was driving out demons? That's a filthy statement. Well, they made many filthy statements about Jesus. And at one point Jesus zeros in on that. Talk to his blasphemous enemies, and he said this in Matthew 12:33-35. “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, make a tree bad and it's fruit will be bad for a tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good. For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him. And the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.” So that's why there's this link between what we do with our tongue, and Judgment Day. Out of the overflow or out of the fullness of the heart, the mouth speaks. The heart then really is the issue, the heart is the storage receptacle of all manner of things. The heart does many things, biblically. There are many verbs attached or connected to the heart, biblically. So what you ponder, you ponder in your heart, what you delight in, you delight with your heart. What you ruminate over, what you fantasize about. What you covet, what you lust after, what you desire and pursue, what you love, what you hate, what you choose, what you reject, what you consider, what you plan for, the heart does all of these things. It's the core of your being. Now the Bible makes it plain, the basic nature of the unregenerate heart is wickedness. Jeremiah 17:9 it says, "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” That's where all of us starts, with a deceitful wicked heart. Do you not see the supernatural grace of salvation? Jesus said, "Make a tree good and its fruit will be good.” That's the one thing we cannot do, we can't make ourselves good, we can't make our hearts good. And so, as the Gospel has unfolded so clearly and so powerfully and in great detail in the Book of Romans, the first section of Romans unfolds the universality of sin. And it culminates in this crescendo in Romans 3 saying there's, “no one righteous, not even one, there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God, all have turned away, they've together become worthless. There is no one who does good, not even one”, now, listen to the next words, “their throats are open graves, their tongues practice deceit, the poison of vipers is on their lips, and their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” That's four straight statements about the mouth. The poison of our unregenerate mouths. The tongue therefore, is a clear tattletale to the state of the heart. What's really going on in your heart? Jesus Says, “By Our Words We Will Be Judged” And Jesus says, “by our words we will be evaluated.” As he continues there in Matthew 12:36-37. “But I tell you that men will have to give an account on the Day of Judgment for every careless word you have spoken. For by your words, you will be acquitted and by your words, you will be condemned.” That's an amazing statement. The tongue is such a sure-fire reflection of the state of the heart that all Jesus, the Judge of all the Earth will need, is a full catalog of your career in words and he'll know exactly the state of your heart. Now, he'll look at more than that, but I'm just saying that all he needs are your words if he has a 100% catalogue of the words. Now, does he? Does God keep track? Oh, he does. I remember sharing the Gospel with somebody, and I came to that verse. It’s a very useful verse in witnessing. You'll have to give an account on the day of judgment for every careless word you have spoken. Well this individual who had the great misfortune of sitting next to me on a four-hour flight, and I said, you're going to have to give an account on the day of judgment for every careless word you have spoken. He said to me, “But I don't remember everything I've said.” What would you say next to that? “That's okay, God does. He's got it all written down. Every single word.” Job said, "Oh that my words were recorded. That they were written on a scroll. That they were inscribed with an iron tool on lead or engraved in rock forever.” Don't you want to say to brother Job, be careful what you wish for? Everything has been written down. God has a perfect record, an accurate record of everything that we've ever said, and we're going to have to give an account on the Day of Judgment for all of it. Therefore we ought to tame our tongues, brothers and sisters. What is the Tongue Capable Of Doing? Now what are the different things the tongue is capable of? It's remarkable the catalog of corruption linked to the human tongue. There are so many different ways that we can sin. James says in verse 2, "We all stumble in many ways.” What a self-reflective, open, honest statement that is. He's saying, “I'm not a perfect person. All of us stumble in many ways.” Alright, but when it comes to the tongue, how many different ways can we stumble? It's remarkable. When I was writing my book on sanctification, An Infinite Journey, I actually cataloged the sins of the tongue alphabetically. You're ready? Here we go: Arguing, blasphemy, boasting, coarse speech, complaining, cursing, deceit, disrespect, exaggeration, false doctrine, filthy joking, flattery, foolish talk, gossip, insults, lies, mockery, rebellion, sarcasm, seduction, slander, threats, words of unbelief. And that's just a partial list. If you're thinking, what about this or what about that? Come and tell me afterwards, I'll make the list longer and more detailed for the second edition of that book. And for all of these verbal sins, God is going to bring people into judgment, and his record of our words is perfect. Do you not see how much we need a savior? Thank God that God sent his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to die in our place under the wrath we deserve for such a catalog of corruption. And I'm pleading with you, be certain that Jesus is your savior today. Don't leave this place unconverted. You don't want to stand before the perfect judge with this catalog of your own words and have to give an account for everything you've said and you don't have a savior to intercede for you whose blood was shed on the cross, to save you from your sins. So come to Christ and trust in him. On Judgment Day our words will be a perfect reflection of the state of our heart and our souls. II. By Taming the Tongue We Control Our Whole Bodies Control Your Tongue, Control Your Life Secondly, we need to tame the tongue because by taming the tongue we control our whole bodies. By taming the tongue we control our whole bodies. Look at verse 2, “We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.” So what James is doing is he's telling us that controlling the tongue is a key step to controlling your whole life. James has already said if you don't bridle the tongue, your religion is worthless, you're deceiving yourself. He said that in chapter one, But conversely if you want a genuine salvation, you have to start really with the tongue, bridling the tongue will enable you to control your whole life. “Now, if you're able to do that, if you're never at fault in anything you say, you are a perfect person,” James says. Now, we will never be perfect in this life. We will never be perfect. There is only one man who ever perfectly controlled his tongue and that's Jesus Christ, but he did perfectly control his tongue. He made it through his whole life in this world without once saying something wrong. And never failing to say the right thing that the situation called for. I think about Proverbs 25:11, which says, “a word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.” Jesus had almost a countless number of those. Saying exactly the right thing to the person, what was needed for that situation. He knew how to deal with broken-hearted sinners who felt there was no hope for them. “The bruised reed, he did not break. The smoldering wick he did not snuff out,” he knew how to lift up a weeping sinner and give him or her hope of forgiveness. He also could speak like a lion to self-righteous, arrogant religious leaders who needed to have someone speak to them like a lion. He did both. Now James is not in any way implying that we can be perfect, but it is the goal of sanctification. After justification, after our sins have been forgiven and we've been born again, to seek perfection every day. So what do you say we start with just the rest of the day. For the rest of the day that we will be perfect in speech. What a goal. Wouldn't that be sweet, if you could put your head on the pillow tonight and say, from the time that the pastor said that on, you didn't say anything wrong. But then Monday will come, and there's another day in which you can be perfect in your speech. The Tongue Determines the Spiritual Course of Your Life Now, the point that he's making here is the tongue controls the course of your life, actually. Look at verse six, "The tongue is also a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body, it corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire and is itself set on fire by Hell." James literally says that the tongue sets the whole course of his life on fire when it's used for evil. It's interesting. The word that he uses here is the word wheel, like the wheel of fate, or the hinge of fate, that kind of thing. For us, we might think of a steering wheel, that kind of thing. But the whole course of your life is set in motion or in direction by how you use your tongue. Now, for the unregenerate person, James, I think is speaking in verse 6 of the evil that seizes his or her tongue and sets that tongue on fire, even as though it were set on fire by Hell. The direction of that kind of life, that type of talking is Hell, eternity in the Lake of Fire. That's what he's saying. It's a terrifying direction to be on. If you want to know, "Am I on the broad roads that leads to destruction?", look at how you talk. Conversely and positively, when he rescues you from that highway to Hell, and brings you to that straight and narrow gate, he's going to affect by the Spirit the way you talk. So, if you want to grow in grace in the knowledge of Christ, if you want to be more and more conformed to the perfection of Christ, the way he used his tongue, then ask Christ through the Holy Spirit to change the way you talk, to control your speech patterns. So, to weed out the bitterness and complaining you reveal in trials. The way you don't consider it pure joy, but you actually start to complain and murmur against God, start there. Or perhaps kill the gossip or the slander by which you assassinate the character of people who are not even there with you, behind their backs, the things you say about them. Or putting lies and deceitfulness to death. To put an end to the exaggeration that you use when you tell that story about what you did, and you end up the knight in shining armor and the other person, the villain in the dark hat. We all do this, we twist the truth, it's malleable and we make it say what we want. To kill the habit of flattery by which you manipulate people. You say things you really don't believe good things about them, so that you can bring them in your thrall, you can control them, manipulation, that flattery. There is so much work to be done, isn't there brothers and sisters? There's so much to be done. It's like, "Oh God, I want to be a sanctified man, I want to be a sanctified woman." The Holy Spirit is saying to us through this text, “Then control your tongue. You get control of your tongue, your body will follow.” Two Illustrations He uses two illustrations to prove this point. The bit in the horse's mouth and the rudder of the great ship. Look at verse three and four, when we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example, although they are so large, and are driven by strong winds, they're steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. So the bit in the horse's mouth is a clear illustration of how this whole powerful animal can be turned by a little piece of metal. I mean, the horse outweighs the rider by 10 to 20 times. The horse, I don't think is getting up in the morning, saying, “I really want to plow your field for you.” Can I pull your wagon? Think of a wild bronco. Like, “I really am just looking for someone that will ride me. I'm just yearning to have a human being get on my back.” But instead the horse has to be broken, and then the bit has been developed somewhere along the line by horse trainers, to say, this is the way you make it turn left or right. Tiny piece of metal. James also speaks of the rudder. Think about a massive ship, all of the steel and all of the weights and all of this, and it's turned by this very tiny portion of metal left or right, whatever direction the pilot wants to go. And so, what he's saying is, the tongue is like that for you. If you can control your tongue, you can turn your whole body. If you can control your tongue, the whole ship is steered. III. Because the Tongue Has a Powerful Effect on Others Alright, thirdly, because we have to control our tongues because the tongue has such a powerful effect on others. Verses 5-6, likewise, “the tongue is also a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark, the tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire and is itself set on fire by Hell.” So the tongue makes great boast, because it has great influence. It has great power. The Tongue “Makes Great Boasts” Because of Its Great Power For me, I cannot help but think about eschatology, about the end of the world and about the Antichrist that is coming. And Daniel 7 makes it plain that he's characterized more than anything by great boasting. The little horn made great boasts, boast even up to Heaven. He's going to set himself up in God's temple declaring himself to be God and accepting worship. He's like the quintessential unregenerate human. All of us are that if it weren't for Christ. We would want to be that person, to be set up in God's temple and be up on a throne and be worshipped and making these boasts that claim up to Heaven. Or think about politicians that have used the power of rhetoric, the power of the tongue. I think about Adolf Hitler and his ability to just capture the heart and soul of the German nation with these nighttime rallies, like at Nuremberg, where he would use a light show and all that, and he said that the will of the people can be more easily controlled at night. And then you look at videos of his speeches and how powerful and how boastful and arrogant they were and how the entire nation was swayed by his tongue. There are so many examples of this, of politicians that have been able to capture the moment, for good or bad. Think about the Gettysburg Address, which is so short and Lincoln was able to just zero in on the issue of slavery. Yes, but the issue of representative government and will government of the people, by the people, for the people, even survive or will it break into factions and keep breaking apart and breaking apart? Or you think about Winston Churchill, what it'd be like to become prime minister in May of 1940, and have to galvanize the English nation against the kind of tyranny that had taken over all of Europe, Western Europe. And be able to say with words, we're going to fight on the seas and oceans, our goal is victory at all costs lest we submit to slavery. See, I'm not Churchill or else I couldn't do it, but I could do it right here. But that kind of passion, that speaking that galvanized the nation, the whole nation gathers around one man's tongue. And so, James likens the small tongue and the damage it can do to a spark that sets a whole forest on fire. A Spark Starting A Forest Fire So I didn't know that much about the history of forest fires in the United States. Do you know the deadliest forest fire in the history of the United States? It was the exact same time as the Chicago fire, but it was a different fire. It was in the upper peninsula of Michigan and in Wisconsin, killed 1,500 people. You don't see 1,500 people dying in forest fires, they usually flee, they have time to get out. But it was just a weird combination of winds and a storm front that came down and the people were trapped and they died. The exact same time as apparently, Mrs O'Leary's cow kicked over a kerosene lantern. We've been told it's a myth, but it's really good for illustration for this sermon, right here. So, one cow and one kerosene lantern and the whole city burns up that kind of thing. But it was a myth. Anyway, preacher's story, but where I think the point's made. Tiny spark. One idea can get in and ruin everything, can destroy it, and people can be swept away. IV. Because the Tongue is Set on Fire by Hell The Satanic Origin of the Fire Fourth reason: Because the tongue is set on fire itself by Hell. The Satanic origin of this evil fire is clear. Look at verse 6 again, “the tongue is also a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire and is itself set on fire by Hell.” This may be the single most devastating verse in the entire Bible on human speech. Layer upon layer of the damage the human tongue can do. “It's a fire,” it says, “burning up, destroying much good.” He calls it interestingly, a world of evil. It's a system of evil. There's a logic to the things we say. They take root in the minds and they persuade hearts, they sway wills toward evil. There's a logic to it, there's this world. I think about the tragedies of Shakespeare and how clear words are powerful. But one in particular, I remember this one struck me more than any of them, the tragedies of Shakespeare and that's Othello. And in that we have the power of slander. And you have Othello and he's got a friend who really isn't a friend, an evil guy named Iago who whispers in his ear that his, Othello's wife, Desdemona is committing adultery, is unfaithful to him. It's not true but he's able to turn his heart against his own faithful wife. And we know that she's faithful for the way that Shakespeare writes the play, but it's all the power of whispers into the ear and the heart can turn and he ends up killing Desdemona and then committing suicide. All of that from Iago's tongue. So James says the tongue directs the whole course of someone's life in evil. And Satan uses the tongue to do his work. Think of the role of the tongue in the crucifixion of Jesus. Think about that. The people that got together and plotted many times to kill Jesus. The way that Judas told where Jesus would be that night. The way that they slandered him when he was on trial and gave false witnesses against him. The way that they persuaded Pontius Pilate who wanted to set him free to kill him. V. Because the Tongue is So Wild More Wild Than Untamed Beasts The fifth reason that we need to control the tongue is because the tongue is so wild. Look at verses 7-8, "All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the Sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil full of deadly poison." So James likens the tongue to a wild animal, barely, it's just untamable. Now, every kind of animal has been tamed. Some of you have actually been to the circus. I remember when we were first here, 20 years ago, we got tickets to the circus in Raleigh. And it was quite remarkable what the animal trainers could do to lions and elephants and the things that they could make them do. I remember a number of years ago, I went to Sea World in Orlando, And there was a woman there with a bucket of fish attached to her belt and she's got all these hand signals and all that, and she's making Orcas, I mean they are at the top of the food chain in the ocean, making them jump and do ridiculous things. The Orcas, like do you have any self-respect? Like the untrained Orca coming along and saying, "Because of a few sardines you're jumping through a hoop? Have some dignity, have some self-respect." But here's this skillful animal trainer able to make this massive animal do whatever she wants it to do. But the real question the text would ask is, “Yeah, but what does she talk like after the show's over?” She's able to control this massive Orca but she can't control the way she talks and neither can any of us. But No Man Can Tame the Tongue Now when it says, "No man can tame the tongue." you might say then, "What's the point? Why are we listening to this sermon? Just so we can all go home and feel bad?" No let me tell you what I think is one of the most important verses concerning our salvation. It's the first beatitude, blessed are the spiritual beggars for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. God doesn't want you to bring your capabilities and your abilities and all of this stuff to him and say, what a great person I am. He wants you to bring your brokenness and your sinfulness and your corruption to him and say, "Would you please heal me, fix me?" Jesus said “it's not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous. I'm not calling on perfect people to talk so we can all know how perfect they are. I'm calling on broken sinners to bring me their brokenness and they're sinfulness and I will heal you, I will save you.” So that's what we're supposed to do with this. We're supposed to bring our brokenness and our tongues to the Lord. And then you're going to start praying differently about your tongue. You're going to say something like this, "Set a guard over the door of my mouth, keep watch over the door of my lips, O Lord." Psalm 141:3. Guard Your Mouth I live in Butner, near the federal facility up there. What a gentle word for that, “federal facility.” Alright, it's got spiral razor wire and big towers and searchlights and guards. And a whole system by which you can get in if you have the permission to get in, no one can get out. It's you're like, "Well is that what my mouth is like?" Yes, yes. Can you imagine like Amnesty Day, once a month, there at Butner. Just letting everyone out, just get out in the community, and we'll get them all back. And it's like, "No, please don't." I don't want those murderers and those folks out because of the damage they'll do to me and my family, etcetera. Well, think about your mouth like that. Say, "Lord, would you please dispatch an angel and set the angel over the door of my mouth and set guard so that nothing harmful gets out of my mouth." You probably need to slow down your speech as we talked about earlier. Quick to listen, slow to speak. Used to be true, I don't know if it's still true, the FCC had like a seven-second delay so they could beep out things that shouldn't be said. I don't know if they still do that anymore, they should. There are some things that get said that I don't want to hear. But alright, whether they do it or not, why don't you do it? Seven second delay. I'm going to wait, wait a second or seven seconds before I say something to my wife or my husband, some of you, alright. I'm going to be careful. I'm going to be slow to speak. VI. Because the Tongue is Given to Praise God Six, because the tongue is given to praise God. “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father and with it we curse men who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing, my brothers this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brother's can a fig tree bear olives or a grape vine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.” Well, here's the thing, our changed nature should result in praise and worship to God. It's the best thing you can do with your tongue. You know you will be doing that with your redeemed tongue in Heaven. Your tongue will be glorified in Heaven. You will shine like the sun in the kingdom of your father and you will talk only perfect words in Heaven. Isn't that encouraging? Think about that. But now, we should be consistently praising and glorifying God. Now, when we fell into sin our tongues fell with us. You remember the first sin that Adam committed after eating the fruit? Do you remember? God confronted him. “The woman you put here with me, she gave me some of the fruit.” So he's taken a swipe at both God and his wife. But when we have been redeemed, genuinely redeemed, we're going to speak to one another with “psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.” We're going to sing and make music in our hearts to the Lord. We're going to always give thanks to God the Father through our lord Jesus Christ, Ephesians 5. That's the redeemed tongue. We're going to worship God. So our tongues show our redeemed nature. Now, the question he's asking here is how can you praise God one moment and then do that the next moment. How can we sing, in a few moments we're going to sing a closing hymn, how can we sing that closing hymn praising God and then get in the car and say this or that to each other. How can you do that? How can a fresh spring produce salt water or vice versa? But let's speak positively. You've been redeemed, there should be good fruit flowing from your life, not bitterness and not wickedness. So out of your mouths, you should be praising God and out of your mouths you should be blessing others and not speaking in this way. So let your mouth show your transformed nature. VII. Application Evaluate Yourself in Light of God’s Law Alright, applications. This should make all of us repent. We're looking in the mirror of God's word, the perfect law that gives freedom. We're looking in it. How do we look, how do we look? So we should be convicted by this. Start with your family life, without joking at all, just start with your marriage. How do you talk to your spouse? It could be that some of you husbands have some things you need to ask forgiveness for as soon as you can. Ways that you've spoken perhaps even this morning, this very morning to your wife. Some of you wives may need to do the same thing to your husbands. Ways that you've talked to him that show disrespect or sin. We need to look in the mirror of God's law and say, "How am I actually talking to my kids? What do they hear when they hear me speaking? Do they hear a redeemed person?" and you kids, you teens, how do you talk? How do you talk to each other? How do you talk to your parents? You're looking in the mirror of God's law now, what is it saying about the way you're actually using your tongue? And what about specific occurrences? Let's go back to the one I mentioned. Affliction comes in your life, you're hurting, something is happening whether great or small. Is your nature to praise God and trust him and speak those words or do you complain? Do you murmur? It's a very common sin, but it's still a sin. “O God set a guard over the door of my mouth when I'm hurting. I don't want to question you.” What about the issue of gossip or slander. How do you talk about someone who is not there? Gossip about other people in the church can hurt their reputation. It can affect the way other people think about them. Do you do it? Do you have a reason to repent, a reason to ask forgiveness? What about lying? What about exaggeration? Tell you what, next time you tell a story about yourself in which you believe that you did well, put that seven-second delay in there and make sure you tell the truth. Don't exaggerate the truth, don't go beyond what the truth is. What About Your Language? What about filthy language, course language? My brother-in-law lives in Amish Country, Pennsylvania. Like what are you going to do with that? Alright, well, I'll tell you. For about a year he had a job in New York City and he would commute from Amish County, Pennsylvania, up to New York City. The closer and closer he got to the Big Apple, he noticed, not just a change in accents, but a change in vocabulary. Unbelievable, the things that were said. But woe to us, if we ever think the sin is just out there, are there coarse words that come out of your mouth, false speaking? Learn therefore to be quiet in God's presence. Start in your prayer life. I would start by getting into the presence of God and just being quiet. “The Lord is in his holy temple. Let all the Earth be silent before him,” Habakkuk. Let's be silent before God and then say, "Lord, would you please teach me what to say and how to say it?" I love this mouth filter that I've used before, Ephesians 4:29, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs that it may benefit those who listen." So that weeds out the bad, it allows the pure water through. I have a whole house water filter, changing that cartridge is quite a moment. Actually, we had a year in that house before I put one in. I'm like, "What did I drink for that year?" The nasty color of that pure white cartridge that I put in there, it's not pure white anymore. It's a combination of reddish-orange from that clay that we have here in North Carolina and something black, and I'm not sure what that black is but the filter has caught it out. Well, set that filter over your mouth. Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs that it may benefit those who listen. So you think about World War I, that gas mask thing, with the big cartridge in front of the mouth like that, that's to protect you from what you're breathing in. It'd be nice to have one for what goes out. But boy, would that look weird? There's a lot of people wearing masks now but imagine a mouth filter. Say what's that, what's a mouth filter? What does it do? Well, it doesn't let any unwholesome talk come out of my mouth but only what is helpful. Well, you don't have to physically wear one. Clean out your heart, clean out your heart. Start there. Say, "Lord, what is in my heart?" I love Philippians 4:8, “whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, praiseworthy, think about those things.” You think about those things and that will come out of your mouth. That's one of the reasons I love to memorize scripture. When I'm going through, what I'm doing now is the Gospel of Mark, when I'm doing Mark to and from work when I'm getting over it and saying it over and over, it's amazing the amount of Mark that's coming out of my mouth. It's just Mark all the time. And so, fill your mind with the Word of God. Friends, we have a challenge in front of us, don't we? We have the rest of this day, let's resolve to be holy by the power of the Holy Spirit for the rest of this day. Prayer Close with me in prayer. Father thank you for the clarity of the Word of God. We thank you for the warning tone that it strikes for us. We thank you that you have not left us as orphans, but through the Spirit of Christ, you are in us if we're redeemed. Oh God, I pray that you transform our tongues. Help us to say only those things that will bless and benefit first our spouses then our kids, our parents, our brothers, sisters at home and then our neighbors, our co-workers, Lord, our fellow church members. Help us to use our mouths for what you designed them to do, which is to praise and exalt your glory and your goodness. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.

What role should family worship play in discipling our children and creating a Christ-centered household? We'll get some thoughts on it from Dr. Joel Beeke, president of Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary. Plus: How do we glorify God throughout our lives? Dr. Andrew Davis joins me to talk about Christlikeness and his book, "An Infinite Journey." That's next time on Thursday's JANET MEFFERD TODAY.

Bassist Mike Cooper joins DC to talk about Journey Tribute Band, "Infinite Journey."

Bassist Mike Cooper joins DC to talk about Journey Tribute Band, "Infinite Journey."

Three Key Questions I'd like to ask that you turn in your Bibles to the text that you just heard read, 1 Corinthians. This morning we're looking at 10:23-11:1. Now, as I have opportunity to share the Gospel, I frequently have recourse to ask questions of the individual, questions that I think all of us have to face. Especially if someone's coming from an atheistic background or from not a spiritual background, there's just certain big picture worldview questions that all of us have to face, and I found it a helpful approach to the Gospel. And I want to begin this sermon by those questions, questions of origin. Where does everything come from? Why is there something rather than nothing? And specifically for us, how did I come to exist in this world that I see with my eyes? Secondly, a question of purpose. Why did everything come into being? Why do I exist? What is my purpose in life? And then thirdly, the question of destination. Where is all of this headed? Where are we going with all of this? What's our destination? What's my destination in particular? Now, everyone has to face these three questions. In 399 BC, the Greek philosopher, Socrates, at that time on trial for his life, said this famous statement, "The unexamined life is not worth living." What he meant is just to simply exist and never face deeper questions is worthless. However, I fear that many live exactly that kind of life, an unexamined life. They don't really think about these three questions much. They don't address the question of origins. They just look around at the universe as they experience it and they accept it as what it is and they don't really ask where it all came from. The question of purpose, they live for one purpose and that's to feed their own desires and pleasures. Whatever makes them sensually happy or feel good at that moment is what they live for. Paul spoke of people like this, Philippians 3:19. He said, "Their god is their stomach." So they're living for immediate, sensual gratification, or if they have a little more philosophical outlook, for a long-term sensual gratification, able to defer pleasure for now so they can have more pleasure later. But they're still... Their god is their stomach. And then the question of destiny. They don't really think about tomorrow. They make plans as far as it suits them to get ahead in life to achieve temporal success, money, power, pleasures, prestige, the various things the world has to offer. And so they either just are immediately looking for those kinds of pleasures. I think about, sadly, the number of college students that are addicted to playing video games and don't even go to class. And so they're addicted to whatever makes them immediately happy even if they have to drop out of college. But then there are others that have the discipline not to do that and get excellent grades so he can get into a graduate programming and become some high-powered executive for the exact same reason, so they can satisfy their sensual pleasures. It's not really a difference. For such people, feeding their lusts and desires and appetites, is in fact, their central purpose in life. As Paul will say later in 1 Corinthians 15, this philosophy is summed up with this phrase, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." We don't have a long time here in this world. We got to get all the pleasure we can while we can before we die. Now, Peter said of false teachers who by their false doctrine exchange the grace of God for a license, you do whatever you want, to live a life of sensual pleasure, this is what he says about them, 2 Peter 2:12, "They are like brute beasts, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like beasts, they too will perish." So there's just a kind of a physical, sensual way of living that Peter says is very much like a brute beast, creatures of instinct. And as creatures of instinct, they live what Socrates would call the unexamined life. They don't really seek to answer these three ultimate questions that I put in front of you, the question of origin, how did all of this come to be, a question of purpose, why did all of this come to be, the question of destination, where is all of this headed? But praise God, Christians are uniquely blessed by the revelation of God in Scripture to answer these three questions. We would be no different than any of them if it were not for the grace of God. We would still be in darkness. We would also be creatures of instinct. But the Bible has spoken into our dark minds, into our dark foolishness and told us the truth. God's word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path, Psalm 119:105, and it tells us the truth about all of these things. So the question of origin, you don't have to wait long in the Bible to find out that one. Questions of Origin The very, very first verse of the Bible, Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." That's how everything came to be. That's why there's something rather than nothing. God created all of it. The Bible teaches that the universe is a special creation of the hand of God flowing from the mind and heart of God. I love Psalm 8:3. It says, "When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers…" Think about the skillful craftsman. For, "When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place…" And not only that, the Bible makes it plain that we ourselves are created especially by his hands. God knit each one of us together in our mother's wombs. Psalm 139:13-14, "For you created my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I'm fearfully and wonderfully made." That's a question of origin. You are not some cosmic accident of time plus chance, you are a special creation of the fingers of God. Questions of Purpose Secondly, the question of purpose. Why did God make all things? Well, the answer is consistent in the Bible. He did it for his own glory. God created all things for his own glory. Psalm 19:1, "The heavens declare the glory of God. The skies proclaim the work of his hands." God did not create the universe out of emptiness and need like he's lonely. The Triune God, Father, Son, and Spirit, had perfect, harmonious fellowship. God created the universe out of generosity, out of fullness, not emptiness. He wanted to give himself to us. And so he created the universe and created us in the universe that he might give himself to us. And so, we ourselves are created, first of all, as displays of God's glory. We put God on display. We are created in the image of God. Genesis 1:27 says, "God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him male and female, he created them." We were created in the image of God. If you can imagine an artist that wants to do a sculpture, a bust, let's say, or a full statue of someone, why would they make an image? It's so that the people can remember the person that's being honored by that piece of artwork? Same thing with a portrait. Why would somebody sit for a portrait? Why would somebody else pay for it and all that? Why would they hang it up? So we can remember that person whose image that is. Then why did God make seven plus billion images of himself? The world, the universe is not about us, friends. It's about him. I think about the ego of Alexander the Great leaving 23 Alexandrias everywhere he went, alright? And the most famous is in Egypt, but there are a bunch of others. We should not ever imagine, however, that God suffers from ego. He is a full being. He doesn't need anything from us. He wants to give himself. And so he creates 7 billion of his own images, and every time you look at a human being, you're looking at the image of God. But not only that, in redemption, God did it for his own glory. Isaiah 43:6-7, says this, "Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made." So we're created to be displays of God's glory, but we're also created to be enjoyers of, tasters of the glory of God, students of it. We're supposed to receive it in and know it and study it and marvel at it. We're supposed to taste and see that God is glorious. And so I like the idea of students. It says in Isaiah 6:3, the seraphim cried to one another, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty, the whole earth is full of his glory." We're not going to put any glory there. It's already there, woven in every lily of the field, every creature, every mountain range, every ocean. It's just, displays the glory of God. Our role uniquely is to study it and know it, having been crafted by God. And so it says in Habakkuk 2:14, "The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea." We are created to be students of the glory of God, to appraise it and marvel at it. That's what we were made for. Sadly, however, we fall into sin, and in that sin in Adam, we often sin in Adam, and we ourselves confirm to Adam's bad choice by making bad choices of our own, and we exchange the glory of God for darkness. Romans 3:23 says, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." So we don't display God's glory as we should and we don't appraise God's glory or enjoy it as we should. We became corrupt. We sinned then became corrupt, and instead of delighting in the glory of God, we have become idolaters. We worship and serve the creature, the created thing rather than the creator who's forever praised. Amen. For this reason, God sent his son the Lord Jesus Christ into the world. He lived openly every moment for the glory of God. He never disobeyed his heavenly Father at any moment. He was sinless, and he displayed the glory of God in all of his works, his mighty works, loving miracles that put God's nature on display. So you look at Jesus, you behold the glory of God, all of the healings that he did. He healed the sick. He raised the dead. He fed the hungry. He stilled the storm. He put God on display. Hebrews 1:3, "The son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being." He just put God on display. He was able to say to his own disciples, "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father." You're looking at the radiant glory of God when you look at Jesus, and especially he died on the cross as an atoning sacrifice so that we idolaters who exchanged the glory of God for creature things, that that wrath of God that we deserve for that exchange got put on his own son and he died in our place, and God raised him gloriously from the dead on the third day. And now the Gospel of Jesus Christ stands ready to transform our darkened hearts. God is ready to speak light into darkness of unregenerate lost people, 2 Corinthians 4:6, "For God who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness, made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.'" And so that's what happens when we're born again. That's what happens when we're redeemed. We see the glory of God in Christ and we love it. That's a new creation work. And so by faith in Christ, all of our inglorious sins, our dark sins, have been atoned for by faith in Christ. We are transformed from darkness to light, and now we are called on to live every moment for the glory of God. We're to see God's glory in the world and in life's every moment, and we are to delight in the glory of God. We are to see even in the tiniest moments, even in something as simple as eating and drinking, we are able to see the glory of God in it. Look at Verse 31, "Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." We're able to savor it and also to display the glory of God, to put God on display by our good works, that others may see our good works and glorify God who's in heaven, so we are able to shine. That's the question of purpose. We have a very important purpose, don't we? To both see and enjoy the glory of God and to put God on display ourselves. Questions of Destination Thirdly, destination. Where is all this headed? I'm just going to say one word: Glory. We are headed for glory. It's like the small amount of glory that we display and that we see, it's as nothing compared to the world we're headed to. We are going to a new heaven and a new earth. We're going to a new Jerusalem, a radiant city, and it says of that new Jerusalem, Revelation 21:23, "The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb [that is Jesus] is its lamp." And the most glorious thing there will be in eternity, will be the bride of Christ. Nothing in all of all that he creates or has ever created, brings him as much glory as the perfected bride of Christ, the new Jerusalem, the radiant city of God where he will dwell, the radiant bride of Christ. And I love... One of the angels said to John, who is right in the Book of Revelation, I love this, Revelation 21:9-11, "Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the lamb." Don't you wish you have been John? See what she's going to look like when God is done, when Christ is done making her holy and purifying her and getting her ready, "And he carried me away in the spirit to a mountain great and high and he showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, and it shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal." That's what the church is going to look like. That's what the bride of Christ is going to look like when all is said and done. It's going to be radiantly glorious, and if you're a child of God, if you're a Christian, you'll be part of it. You'll be shining like the sun in heaven and so will your brothers and sisters, and you're going to enjoy seeing the glory of God in them, and seeing the glory of God in the new Jerusalem, seeing the glory of God in the new heaven and new earth. That's where we're heading. That's where we're going. Now, whatever work we can do now to bring that about will not be wasted. Our labor in the Lord is not in vain. Even the smallest thing, even eating or drinking, we can do for the glory of God and we can store up treasure in Heaven. We can live every moment for that future. We can be so filled with hope, and boy, does the world need it. The world is so sad and hopeless, wrapped up in its idolatries and its wickedness and its sin, and it needs the church to shine. I. The Context of 1 Corinthians 10 Well, that's all preamble. Now, we have to understand the context of this statement. 1 Corinthians 10:31 can, with, I think, out much harm, be taken out of context and just used. And so I've mostly done since I've been talking, but now I want to set it in its context. Now, we're finishing a three-chapter unfolding of an actual church problem that the Corinthian church was having concerning eating meat sacrifice to idols. If you've not been with us and you heard the Scripture read, it's like, "Meat market? What is that?" And we end up... We go from the meat market to the glory of God. We have to see this thing in context and try to understand what Paul's doing with 1 Corinthians 10:31. So for three chapters, he's addressing this topic of, "What about meat sacrifice to idols?" Remember, the Corinthians were a pagan people. They were a Gentile people who had pagan worship involving animal sacrifices that were offered to gods and goddesses to idols made of stone and metal and wood, and the Apostle Paul came and preached Jesus Christ and him crucified and resurrected, and some of the Corinthians came out of darkness into light, and they became part of a new work of God, the Church of Jesus Christ there in Corinth. But there was still an ongoing issue of, "Well, can we eat the meat that's been offered to idols?" And some people understood the doctrine that Paul had laid on them, that an idol is nothing. It's nothing. And the gods and goddesses that are celebrated by the idols don't actually exist and that meat is just meat, and Jesus said, "All things, all foods are clean." And so, Paul himself probably said the slogan we've heard again and again, "Everything is permissible," or, "All things are lawful." He said that. "Look, you can eat any food you want." Meat doesn't have a spiritual contagion, or virus to it, it was just meat. Well, the problem was that some of those Corinthians had understood that, accepted it, and moved ahead, that that's right. And they were just flaunting their freedoms in front of some new perhaps converts or those that had not come along sufficiently in the doctrine, and they were wounding them because they were saying, "Look, I think we need to have nothing to do with that life. Even the meat, we're not supposed to even eat the meat." So those were the weaker ones. And so, Paul gave us a principle in Chapter 8 of love limits liberty. Limit your freedoms if you're going to damage your brother or sister in Christ, or someone else. So yeah, it's just meat, yes, they're just idols they're nothing, but you better be careful with your freedoms; love limits liberty. Then in Chapter 9, he gives himself as an example, sites varieties of examples how he limits his own freedoms, and specifically when it came to eating and drinking and what he wore and how he carried himself in amoral things, things that didn't matter, just a matter of culture. He would shift and fit into whatever culture he was trying to reach with the Gospel. To the Jews, he became like a Jew to win the Jews. To the Gentiles, he became like a gentile to win the Gentiles. "I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means, I might save some." He's using himself as an example, and that's how this whole section ends in 11:1. Follow my example. He's presenting himself as an example. But then at the end of Chapter 9, he transitions. He said, "Now, concerning the actual pagan rituals and the meat and the temple prostitutes, and that whole scene, it is actually very dangerous. It's dangerous to your souls, oh Corinthians, and it's dangerous to my soul. And so I actually beat my body and make it my slave, lest after having preached to others, I myself may be disqualified, so I want to be very careful about how I live. I got to be very, very careful of paganism, and about temple prostitution, and about the whole meat thing, there is a spiritual danger there. And I'm very careful with myself concerning this, because," on into Chapter 10, "I don't want you to be ignorant about what happened with the Jews." Now, they as a Gentile people, might not have known Jewish history, but the Jewish nation was brought out of a pagan idolatrous system in Egypt and they had been infected by that. They go across the Red Sea, and Paul uses language almost like they're Christians. They were baptized into Moses in the Red Sea and they ate the spiritual food and drank the spiritual drink, so he's using language like the Lord's Supper, and he's saying, "But look what happened to them. Most of them never made it to the promised land. Their bodies were scattered all over the desert." Now, those stories were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages, has come. We have got to be careful. They were killed because of idolatry, they were killed because of sexual immorality, they were killed because of worldly mindset, that's why they didn't make it in the promised land, they didn't trust God enough to enter the promised land of new Joshua. And so, they died and their children entered instead of them. And so he said, "Be warned. If you think you're standing firm, you better take heed, you better beat your body and make it your slave. Because we are still under temptation. Now, look, "no temptation has seized you except what is common to man, but God is faithful. He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you can bear but with the temptation, will make the way of escape so you can stand up under it." "So you better watch yourself, you walk, you Corinthians, you walk by the temple prostitutes, you walk by, you can smell the meat, you walk by it every day. You are still in danger, you better watch out." And so, he tells them in Verse 14, "Flee from idolatry…" "Flee, run from it, don't think you can mix Christianity together with the old paganism. Don't say, "Look, hey, I know it's a lie, I know it's false, but you know my family, they still do it, there's still these high festival days, and my bosses or my co-workers, whatever, they'll be offended if I don't partake so I know it's false, but I'm going to... '" He said, "Don't do it. Flee idolatry. It's a danger." Why, Paul, is it a danger? Is it because idols actually are something? No, they're nothing. And the gods and goddesses don't exist, but I'll tell you what does exist. Demons, fallen angels. Demons exist and they have power. And they're alluring and they're dangerous, and you cannot participate spiritually with demons and also participate with the Spirit of Christ with Jesus Christ. You've got to break off from that whole system, and never do it again. II. Guiding Principles on Christian Liberty Alright, so that's the context. Now, we're at the final phase of the argument, and he's going to talk about some other issues. What about meat sold in the meat market? Okay, and what if an unbeliever invites you to your home? He's just dealing with some case studies here and we're going to walk through this. And these practical guidelines are very helpful, but vastly more importance is the one supreme purpose to our lives. Verse 31, "Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God," so whatever you do, you should think I want to do what it's maximally for the glory of God here, whatever it is. That's how it fits in context. Now, let's look at some guiding principles. And I love... John MacArthur gives us some good headings on this. I didn't steal his sermon. I want you to know that. I don't do that, but I just want to give him credit because he is so good at headings. And the first heading here is edification above gratification. Edification Above Gratification Edification above gratification. Building up the church is more important than gratifying your taste. Paul returns to that slogan that they probably got from him. "Everything is permissible or all things are lawful." It's always in quotations in the English translation. It's like, alright, as you say, or that's the slogan, "Everything's lawful," so I can eat any meat I want, right? Well, all things are lawful. Yes, that's true, but not everything is helpful or beneficial. All things are lawful. Okay, true. Not taking that back. If meat is meat, you can eat whatever you want. But not everything edifies or builds up or is constructive. Now, here, we need a very strong image in our mind that I've returned to again and again in my preaching, that there is a great building project going on in the world, spiritually. Christ is building his church, and he's building this spiritual structure out of living stones. 1 Peter gives us this image, Ephesians 2 gives us image. You've heard it many times before, it's a great image. There is this spiritual structure rising to become a dwelling in which God lives by his spirit. And 1 Peter tells us that we are living stones. We have been quarried from Satan's dark kingdom and we are brought in to be a spiritual temple. So, this edify language is not everything helps with that construction project. Edification is building other people up for the glory of God or building up the church of Jesus for the glory of God. Either way, individually or corporately, edification. Edification then above gratification. Gratification is doing what you want to do, what your desires and tastes and preferences are. What do you like? What do you enjoy? Look, edification is more important than gratifying your taste and your desires. Your liberty is restrained by your higher commitment to edify or build up the Church of Christ. Others Above Self Second heading, "Others above self." Look at Verse 24, "No one should seek his own good, but the good of others." This is the basic call of the Christian life, following Christ's pattern of denying ourselves for his sake, for his glory. Matthew 16: 24-25, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." And again, Paul says in Romans 15:2-3, "Each of us should please his neighbor for his good to build him up, for even Christ did not please himself…" Christ didn't come into the world to please himself. He came into the world to save lost people. Don't think, "What do I like to eat or what do I not like to eat?" That's not important. Others are more important than you are. We are so selfish. Do you feel it? Do you feel that relentless drive to make you happy? It is so powerful, so strong, fanatical commitment itself. From infancy, we've been like this. We have to, by the power of the Spirit, say no to ourselves, and bless others. The question I want to ask you, this is a question that's been searching my heart. What have I given up that I have the right to do, so that I can bless someone else, either non-Christian or Christian? What have I given up, said no to, that I have the right to do, so I can bless another person? We have to live a new life, not a consistent life of asking, "What's in it for me? What's in it? What do I get out of it?" It's not the question. "How can I bless another person for the glory of God?" That's what we're asked. We live in a selfish world, and we've got that same heart. Philippians 2:21, it says, "For everyone looks out for his own interests, not those of Jesus Christ…" God calls on us to imitate Christ in putting others' needs and benefits ahead of our own." Philippians 2, 4 and 5 says, "Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitudes should be the same as that of Christ, Jesus." He's our role model, as we'll see at the end, 11:1, "Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ." Liberty Instead of Legalism Third heading, "Liberty instead of legalism." Liberty instead of legalism. The principle of freedom still does exist. Meat really is just meat, dear friends. There is no spiritual contagion on the meat. And so you can eat as long as some things are addressed. Case Study #1: The Meat Market And we're going to look at these case studies. Case study number one, the meat market. Look at Verse 25 and 26, "Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, for the earth is the Lord's, and everything in it." Let's try to understand this context. At the temple, animals were sacrificed. The priest would get to eat some of it, but he wouldn't eat all of that. These were big animals, and so the residual would go to the meat market, and would be sold there at the meat market. But other meat was also sold at the meat market, the whole thing was mixed together. And so, just a farmer, let's say, that raised cattle, that's where he would sell it for profit. The whole thing's all mixed together. And so the meat vendors would not usually keep track, like have a special table for the meat that was just offered to Aphrodite or Apollos or Zeus. And then the meat that just came straight from the vendor. It's all mixed in. What Paul's saying is a Christian can go and just find a cut of meat that you want, you want to serve it tonight to your family, just buy it and don't ask any questions about it. Don't raise the question of conscious, "I need to know." There's no need for you to know because there's no possibility of a spiritual contagion as long as you don't raise the question. And why is that? Well, he says, "The earth is the Lord's and everything in it." Psalm 24:1, "God made meat, in this case, to be enjoyed." 1 Timothy 6:17, "God… richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment." But don't ask the meat vendor where it came from. Once he tells you, "Oh, this came right from the temple of Aphrodite," you can't eat it at that point, it's been marked with a story. It doesn't have any spiritual contagion, but now it's an issue between the two of you. You've had that conversation, then don't buy it, don't eat it. Maybe you say at that point to the meat vendor, "Do you have any meat that you have no idea where it came from?" "Eat that." So "I'm not eating that." It'd be a good witnessing opportunity. "Why can't you eat the meat?" "Well, let me tell you." It'd be a gospel opportunity, but don't eat it once it's been stuck with a flag coming from a god or goddess. Case Study #2: Eating at an Unbeliever’s Home Alright, case study number two, eating at an unbeliever's house. This, again, is a key issue. The Corinthians were there to be light in a dark place, they're there to witness. Hospitality is going to be part of it. Eating, sharing meals together, that's going to be a big part of it. Either you have some people over to your house, or in this case, some unbeliever asks you to go to their house. You can imagine people with scrupulous conscience will say, "I can't go eat. Who knows what they're going to serve us?" He said, "Don't do that." Look at Verse 27-29, "If some unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put in front of you without raising questions of conscience." It's the same principle, just whatever they serve, just eat it, enjoy it, make sure you thank the host and hostess. Be good-mannered, but don't ask where it came from. But Verse 28, "If anyone says to you, '[Oh by the way] this has been offered in sacrifice,' then do not eat it. Both for the sake of the one who told you and for conscience' sake." Now, Paul has to be very careful, Verse 29, "The other man’s conscience…not yours." Your conscience shouldn't be bothered by it at all. We covered that. It's just meat. But the other person seems to have a problem with it. They raised it, so you got to be concerned about their conscience. That's what he's saying. Where that inside information comes from, I don't know. Maybe it came from the host or hostess themselves. Maybe there's another brother or sister Christian that's come. And they say, "By the way, I recognize that wrapper for the meat. That comes right from the temple of Apollo." It's like, "What did you have to say that for? It looked so good. We could have enjoyed it but now look what you did." Don't say all that, alright. But just say, imagine it's a brother or sister in Christ from your church that's there, and say, "Look, you need to know where that meat comes from." They bring it up. Then don't eat it. You've been brought to a fork in the road ethically at that point. You're going to have to offend somebody, there's nothing you can do. Interestingly, he said, "I would rather have you offend your host and hostess than offend your brother in Christ." Isn't that incredible? You have to explain that the hostess perhaps worked really hard on that meal, you have to say, "I can't eat it." That's going to be extremely awkward, but it's more important to maintain unity horizontally with your brother or sister in Christ. Put their conscience ahead of even the good manners of that situation. And again, it will be hopefully a good witnessing opportunity, "Let me explain why. It doesn't have anything to do with your... I'm sure you did a wonderful job cooking, but just we need to explain why." And that's a ministry opportunity. Look at Verse 32-33, "Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews or Greeks, or the church of God." Paul has in mind other Christians that are there. "Even as I try to please everybody in every way, for I'm not seeking my own good but the good of many so that they may be saved." Now, here we have to make a final statement about legalism. Liberty over legalism. We can't be ruled by other people's consciences. They need to come up to the strong position, not stay down in the weak position. All you weak conscience Christians, you need to get up to a strong place where you recognize idols are nothing, and meat is just meat. You need to get with the program and get there for the good of the church. Look at Verse 29 and 30, he says, "Why should my freedom be judged by another person's conscience? If I take part in a meal with thankfulness, then why am I denounced because of something I thank God for?" You could imagine, behind that kind of a little bit belligerent statement. Now, the Judaizers that wanted Christians to still maintain kosher and didn't seem to act like they knew Jesus had declared all foods clean. And Paul says, "It is for freedom that Christ has set you free. Stand firm and don't let yourself be bound by a yoke of slavery." Legalism. So behind... Like no meat on the table. We're not even doing meat right now, we're talking doctrine. Meat is just meat. Alright, let's learn that lesson. That's what he's saying here. God’s Glory Above All Now, above all of these things is the glory of God. This is the final principle just as it was for us today, the first principle. Look at Verse 31, "Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." Smallest details of life can be elevated to the level of the eternal glory of God. How do I eat for the glory of God? Well, in context, it's just, my eating and drinking is not that important. Winning other people to Christ, now, that's important. That's a central way of understanding that. But another way is just simply, we can enjoy delicious foods, knowing that God made them for your taste buds. The variety of flavors is staggering. I was in Harris Teeter just the other day, and I couldn't believe the variety of cold cereals. I was overwhelmed, I didn't know that there were five different versions of Life cereal. That's quite remarkable. But even more, just think about vegetables, fruits. A well-stocked produce area is remarkable. Think of the different flavors that God has made, and God made them so that you would enjoy them. For the earth is the Lord's, God is so good. Even eating a peach or some grapes or a salad made from some fresh... All of those things, God made for your enjoyment, you can eat it to the glory of God, if you recognize the divine origin of even simple blessings like that. And the same thing with drinking, you can drink even a cup of cold water and say, "Thank you God for refreshing me on a hot day," just being extremely God-centered at every moment and extend it to just the menial chores of life. You can do laundry to the glory of God. You can study for your midterm exam for the glory of God. You can make your bed for the glory of God. Every single moment can be lived for the glory of God if you do it in a God-centered way. God, thank you that you've given me this opportunity to do this right now. It's a beautiful thing. III. The Power of Example Paul ends with the power of example. "Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ." Now, you may wonder, why are we going over into Chapter 11:1? I don't know. Some monks somewhere decided where to divide the chapter. And I think the chapter and verse divisions are helpful. And we generally follow them, but here we are in 11:1. But it just seems to fit with what we just got done talking about. Paul had been presenting himself as an example on all this. Let's follow Paul's example. He is a man who presents himself again and again as an example. He said "Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me or seen in me, put it in practice and the God of peace will be with you." Wow, what a statement. Don't we need that from godly men and women? Don't we need godly men, discipling men, and women, discipling women, to say, "Follow me as I follow Christ." And Christ is the ultimate example of the word became flesh and made his dwelling amongst... He taught us how to eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners, and not sin. He showed us how we can win the lost in those kinds of settings. He is our role model. IV. Applications Alright, what applications can we take from this? Well, first, more than anything, and I was thinking about this this very morning. Come to Christ, come to Christ. I pray that God would bring some lost people to hear this. Just ask yourself the three basic questions. Why am I here, why do I even exist, what is my purpose in life and where is all of this going? And if you have no answers to those questions, come to Christ, he'll give you those answers. But come, especially because up to this point, if you've not been a Christian, you've been living for your own appetites and your own desires. And the Lord wants to forgive you, Jesus died on the cross for all of those sins. Come and trust in him, and find forgiveness and find purpose and meaning, and just realize, the Bible tells you, you're going to a glorious place if you do, a place of glory. Secondly, for you Christians, are you willing to give up some of your freedoms and preferences to benefit other people, especially lost people? How are you willing to be inconvenienced, so that lost people can be brought to faith in Christ? What foods are you willing to eat that you don't like? What practices and amoral things are you willing to do just to win lost people? What are you willing to do? What are you willing to give up? And the same is true within the church. How are you willing to be inconvenienced to edify and to build up the body of Christ? We are so selfish in our lifestyles. Finally, how can we take every moment and see the glory of God in it? When I was writing the book, Infinite Journey, I was thinking about this image. You know how in 1 Corinthians 3, it talks about gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay and straw? And I was thinking, everyday experiences just seem like so much wood, hay, and straw. But they're not. 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, "Every moment of every day, I could store up treasure in Heaven." I was reminded of a creepy children's story that I read years ago of a miller who was boasting to a king about his daughter, and she had the power to spin straw into gold. She didn't, but he boasted, the king was interested, of course, put her in some dungeon room with bales of its straw, and a spinning wheel. And told her to get busy or she would face some dire consequence the next day. Well, she's weeping. She don't know what to do. And suddenly, this creepy dwarf shows up, and offers, through a series, this happens over multiple days. Ultimately, if she'll give her first-born child to him...I mean, these are children's stories. Who okayed this? And what does he need with her first-born child? If he's got the ability to spin straw into gold, he should... Well, that's another issue, but I'm just finding problems with the story. This is the creepy story of Rumpelstiltskin. But here's the thing, if you really believe 1 Corinthians 10:31, you can spin straw into gold every day. You can take the moments of everyday life and by being God-centered, say, "Oh, God, I want to glorify you right now. All I want to do is to live for your glory. How can I eat for the glory of God? How can I drink? How can I do dishes? How can I study for a test? How can I go to work for the glory of God? How can I drive my commute for the glory of God? What can I do, that you would be put on display as a radiant, glorious God?"

Futurist, author, and lecturer David Passig met up with Michael and Greg at the second Global LiFi Congress, June 2019, to follow up on his talk; The Prospect of the Future on LiFi Technology. Artificial intelligence will exceed a person in 2040, and will exceed the humanity as a collective by 2060 and the future depends on us being able to integrate information into the human experience and understanding. They also discuss transhumanism, paradigm shifts, the nature of consciousness, the singularity, and building the future like science fiction authors.

On today’s Equipping You in Grace episode, Dave Jenkins and Andrew Davis discuss the place and importance of contentment in the Christian life and ministry along with his book, The Power of Christian Contentment: Finding Deeper, Richer Christ-Centered Joy (Baker, 2019) What you’ll hear in this episode What Christian contentment means. How to fight for contentment in the Christian life. How the gospel helps Christians to grow in contentment and train their new desires and affections towards contentment in the Christian life. How Christians learn to find contentment even in the most difficult and challenging or in the mundane of life. How pain factors into Christian contentment. How fear and anxiety rob Christians of joy in Christ and what Christians can do to fight against anxiety and fear and for contentment in the Christian life. Why we are more discontent even though we have more advancements than ever from modern medicine to revolutionary technology. How parents and spouses can model Christian contentment. The dangers of Christian contentment and how to fight against complaining in the Christian life. How Christians attain contentment and protect it in their lives. How Pastors can grow in contentment as they minister to difficult, hurting, and struggling people. About the Guest Andrew M. Davis is pastor of First Baptist Church of Durham, North Carolina, and a visiting professor of church history at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Chairman of the governance committee of the Gospel Coalition, Davis has written articles for TGC's popular website and has spoken in plenary and breakout sessions at TGC's national conference. He is the author of Revitalize and An Infinite Journey, named by Tim Challies as one of the top ten books of 2014. Check out his work at  http://twojourneys.org/ Subscribing, sharing, and your feedback You can subscribe to Equipping You in Grace via iTunes, Google Play, or your favorite podcast catcher. Ifyou like what you’ve heard, please consider leaving a rating and share it with your friends (it takes only takes a second and will go a long way to helping other people find the show). You can also connect with me on Twitter at @davejjenkins, on Facebook or via email to share your feedback. Thanks for listening to this episode of Equipping You in Grace!

This is a must listen to!! Curtis has had an amazing journey. He comes from a great family and had many successes in his life. He had also had a massive fall from grace that lead to this new adventure. Here Curtis and Candice explain the reason behind the Infinite Journey!!! @cj_infinitejourney https://youtu.be/ek-KQf9r7Dg https://youtu.be/O1v2ZizsGuc

Jared and Anne Ladyem (anneladyem.com) have finally reached the current end of Sailor Moon Crystal. We discuss the Season 3 finale, overall thoughts on the season and the series as a whole, and what we think the forthcoming movies that will depict the fourth arc will be.

Welcome to the ninety-eighth episode of Equipping You in Grace. On today's episode, Dave Jenkins interviews Andrew Davis: Revitalize: Biblical Keys to Helping Your Church Come Alive Again. What you’ll hear in this episode: Andy's life, marriage, and ministry. The most common signs of a dying church. Causes of a church going into a downward spiral and how pastors can identify and avoid it before it happens. Andy's definition of revitalization. The importance of prayer to the revitalization of a local church. The role the nine marks of a healthy church play in church revitalization What it means to be a visionary leader and why this is important to revitalization. Andy's encouragement to pastors facing opposition from members while he is trying to revitalize the church. What a pastor should say to a member or members who show resentful and opposition to revitalization. How regularly reading church history can help pastors and ministry leaders.. How pastors and ministry leaders fight against discouragement in ministry. About the Guest: Andrew M. Davis is pastor of First Baptist Church of Durham, North Carolina, and a visiting professor of church history at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Chairman of the governance committee of the Gospel Coalition, Davis has written articles for TGC's popular website and has spoken in plenary and breakout sessions at TGC's National Conference. He is the author of An Infinite Journey, named by Tim Challies as one of the top ten books of 2014. Subscribing, sharing, and your feedback You can subscribe to Equipping You in Grace via iTunes, Google Play, or your favorite podcast catcher. If you like what you’ve heard, please consider leaving a rating and share it with your friends (it takes only takes a second and will go a long way to helping other people find the show). You can also connect with me on Twitter at @davejjenkins, on Facebook or via email to share your feedback. Thanks for listening to this week’s episode of Equipping You in Grace!

CC and Ashley feel all the feels as they cover episode 39 of Sailor Moon Crystal: "Infinity 12, Infinite–Journey" -- the final episode of Sailor Moon Crystal (thus far). In this episode: Are the Outer Senshi essentially just the Crystal Gems? Is Sailor Saturn a Grey Warden? Is there any sight more horrifying than a poorly drawn horse's reflection in a mirror? Your hosts parse these questions and celebrate the flawed yet delightfully gay world wonder that was Sailor Moon Crystal season 3. Thanks for listening! We'll miss you! Podcast theme: “Skrillex Moon Crystal” by Astro_Kid: soundcloud.com/astro_kid Listen to more animestep at soundcloud.com/astro_kid/sets/animestep Logo by Rachel Weiss: twitter.com/rachelvice Podcast Hosts: Carolynn Calabrese and Ashley Gallagher A part of the Pomecast Network: pome-mag.com/category/pomecast

Guest Band Infinite Journey About the Band: Infinite Journey is Texas' premier Journey tribute band based in Dallas, Texas, playing high-energy shows in and around the Dallas/Fort Worth area since 2012. This five piece delivers a musically immersive Journey experience, focusing on the overall sound, solos, and most especially the soaring vocals that make Journey so iconic. Infinite Journey is in high demand at local venues and festivals, capturing the opening slot for rock and pop legends, Loverboy and Kool & the Gang, at the City of Richardson Wildflower Festival as well as performing several dates at the House of Blues Dallas. The key to their spot-on sound is capturing the unmistakable voice of Steve Perry, and this is just one of the band's strengths. Easily conjuring Journey as you know and love them, the music is note for note, without the use of any vocal or instrumental backing tracks. Fans often tell them they close their eyes and truly believe that Journey is in front of them, and they continue to grow a devoted following every time they play. For the band, it's a labor of love. As far as the fans are concerned, the name says it all: it is truly Infinite Journey. Visit them at www.infinitejourneyband.com The opinions expressed during this radio/podcast broadcast are for inspiration, information and entertainment purposes. This show is a production of Atlanta Life Radio and to learn more visit us at www.atlantaliferadio.com

On the season finale, Mako-chan laments about the major change in the ending, as well as some other edits to the episode. the hosts discuss the timeline yet again, and find another discrepancy between the manga, crystal, and classic when it comes to SuperS/Dream Arc. Seiya brings up a point about the outer senshi and Sailor Saturn. Predictions and discussions as to what teh hosts are looking forward to in the Dream Arc... And how is Yaten going to be able to watch SuperS?

AFTERBUZZ TV -- Sailor Moon edition, is a weekly "after show" for fans of Sailor Moon. In this episode hosts Markeia McCarty, Megan Salinas, and Emma Fyffe with guest host Xander Jeanneret and special guests Lauren Landa & Sandy Fox discuss episode 13. ABOUT SAILOR MOON: Usagi Tsukino was a normal second-year middle school girl whose own life changes one day when she encounters a black cat. The cat's name is Luna who can talk and bears a crescent moon on her forehead. Luna tells Usagi that she is the chosen guardian of justice with the power to transform into Sailor Moon. Usagi now has a new responsibility which is a mission to find the Illusionary Silver Crystal as well as the other chosen guardians to protect the Moon Princess. During her mission, she must deal with various enemies sent by Queen Beryl who is also after the Illusionary Silver Crystal. Follow us on http://www.Twitter.com/AfterBuzzTV "Like" Us on http://www.Facebook.com/AfterB

Alright. For the second week, we get to look at a magnificent text of scripture. The supremacy of Christ is our theme this morning. Could there be a better one? Could there be a greater theme to occupy our attention this morning than this one, the supremacy of Christ? And there was a phrase in particular that arrested me last night as I was looking over the text and thinking about it again. And I was reading also a Charles Spurgeon sermon on the same passage, and it really struck me, look at Verse 19, speaking of Christ, "For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him." Now, "fullness" is already a perfect and complete word, isn't it? Fullness, the fullness of God. The fullness of Him who fills the entire universe. “Even the highest heavens cannot contain God.” It says in Jeremiah, "'Can anyone hide in any secret place and I not see them? Do I not fill heaven and earth?' Says God Almighty." The fullness of God, an infinite topic. But Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, thought it insufficient, so he added another word, "For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in Him." A double infinite blessing for us, therefore, to meditate on this today. Think about fullness. When you think about fullness, what do you think about? Maybe some of you inclined toward eating, think about Thanksgiving maybe, with a table laden with every kind of food you could want and six desserts besides, and a house filled with family and friends to enjoy it with you, a picture of completeness, of fullness. And sleepiness, too, afterwards. But there it is, a picture of fullness. For me, more historically, I think about Spanish galleons in the 16th century coming from the New World, laden up to the scuppers with gold and silver and with precious stones taken from the mines of the New World. Imagine yourself a captain of one of those ships, surrounded by an armada of ships of the line, and you're going back to your reward. You're going to give all of that stuff to the king and queen, and they may give some of it back to you, and you might actually be established in a position as a noble there in the court, a feeling of fullness. Or perhaps, maybe you're a pioneer traveling across the West, maybe across Death Valley or some other arduous place, four or five months from the Gateway City, Saint Louis, until finally you cross the Sierra Nevada mountains and you go down into the delicious climate of California, you see the rich soil, you see fruit trees, you smell the breeze, and you know that your family is going to be fine there. You're going to establish your farm there and you're going to live there for the rest of your lives, a feeling of fullness. Now, I could go on and on, but God has given little pockets of fullness to our lives, but I tell you that nothing we experience in this world compares with the truth behind this verse, in Verse 19, that “God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in Christ." And what's so amazing is that this is the exact same fullness that he intends to give to us, for because of sin, because of Satan's work in this world, we have been fully acquainted with emptiness, haven't we? Christ’s Supremacy as God’s Visible Image (vs. 15) One Bible for Life class is studying the Book of Ecclesiastes, it begins, "Vanity of vanities." “Everything is vanity or meaningless, an emptiness.” And you have to understand that book in context, but basically it's everything done under the sun really apart from a sense of eternity and the work of God through Jesus Christ on the cross. That's what life would be like if it weren't for Jesus, utter meaninglessness. You live a short time and then all the things you labor on, they go over to dust or to nothingness. That's life apart from Christ, and we are freed from it. This book, Colossians, is a book of fullness, isn't it? It's a book of completeness. I was looking at this, I was intrigued, and I said, "I think there's more than just this one verse." Look at Verse 25. The Apostle Paul said, "I have become the church's servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness." So that's part of my joy, I get to present the fullness, the richness of the word of God. Or then, again, in Chapter 2, Verse 2, Paul's purpose and ministry, "My purpose," says he, "is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding." Again, fullness, that you might have the full riches of complete understanding. And then best of all, in Colossians 2:9 and 10, "For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority." Amen and amen. The exact same fullness that God has poured out into Christ, he desires to pour into the empty spaces of our hearts and our lives. He intends to fill this universe with his glory. He intends to fill your life with the glory of Jesus Christ. And so we'll get there in due time, but I just thought, "What a meditation." All the fullness of God is in Christ. My prayer for this morning is that through our meditation on this scripture, we would have a sense of that fullness. What does it mean that all the fullness of Deity, of God, was in Jesus in bodily form? This is the supremacy of Christ. And for the second week, we get to look at it. Last week, we saw Christ's supremacy as God's visible image, look again at Verse 15, "He is the image of the invisible God." The image of the invisible God, so if you're looking at Christ, you're seeing God. Christ’s Supremacy Over the Spiritual and Physical Universes We saw also last week Christ's supremacy over the physical universe. Verses 15 and following, “He is the image of the invisible God,” it says, "the firstborn over all creation. For by Him, all things were created." And so we saw Christ's role as creator of the universe, Christ's role as firstborn, established in a position of authority over the universe. We said that the universe was created by Christ. The universe was also created for Christ. And we said in a very mysterious way that the universe is, moment by moment, dependent on Christ for its very existence. That in Him all things hold together, and so that God, through Christ, created a needy universe. It needs Jesus, and so do you and I. And we see the supremacy of Christ, we saw it last week in his rulership over the spiritual universe as well. Again, the Colossian heresy was that Jesus is a created being, not fully God, and not fully human. Because matter, physical stuff, is evil, so they said. The Earth, the physical world, is evil, so God would never have taken on a human body. And actually salvation, they said, was to be liberated from this physical stuff and brought into an out-of-body, pure spiritual experience. And the way that that happened is if you had fullness given to you through special philosophies, that they alone could teach you, and by asceticism and legalism and various harsh treatments of the body, so that you could be liberated from this physical world and go into that pure spirit world. Well, fundamentally it's flawed, right at the very beginning with its consideration of who Jesus of Nazareth was and is. And so Paul refutes it by saying that Christ actually is supreme over the spiritual universe. He created it, he sustains it, “whether thrones, or powers, or rulers, or authorities, all things created by him and for him, and in him they all hold together.” I was talking with someone this morning and they're saying, "What a deep thought and how difficult it is to conceive of Jesus continually holding Satan's being together for his own mysterious purposes." But that's the universe that Colossians teaches. And so we saw Christ's supremacy last week. Now, we're going to see Christ's supremacy concerning the church. Christ’s Supremacy Over the Church We're going to see his supremacy over the church presently, and we see his supremacy in what he did so that the church would be blameless and free from accusation before God. We will see the supremacy, therefore, of the cross of Jesus Christ today. Now for myself, I yearn to preach the cross every week. I yearn to proclaim Christ so clearly, Christ crucified so clearly, that anybody who came and listened, not knowing Christ as their personal Savior, that they would hear the gospel plainly and clearly, and that they would be able to be saved. They wouldn't walk away saying, "What do I have to do to be saved?" They would know. Furthermore, following Charles Spurgeon, I expect and trust and hope that God brought someone like that here today. Maybe it's you, I don't know. I don't know who you are, but I want to speak to your heart if you're that person, that you don't know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, today, this morning, you will hear everything you need to be saved today. So listen carefully and it could be, while you listen, that God the Holy Spirit will kindle faith within your heart and God the Father, seeing that faith, will justify you forever and you will be righteous in his sight for eternity. It could be that'll happen this very morning, and I have prayed for it to happen. Christ is the Head of the Church So let's look at the supremacy of Christ over the church. Look at Verse 18, speaking of Christ, "He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead so that in everything, he might have the supremacy." So Christ here is presented as the head of the church. Now, many different analogies are used for the church, the people of God, in the Bible. The body analogy used here is only one of them. There are actually many different ones. There's an image in 1 Peter 2 of the church as a holy temple and we, like “living stones, are built together into that holy temple.” We're offering spiritual sacrifices constantly to God, a sacrificial image, and we're the temple and we're offering also, as the priesthood, the sacrifices to God. In another sense, we are like a family of God. Jesus, like an elder brother, and “he's not ashamed to be made like his brothers so that in everything he might share with us, even being tempted like we were yet was without sin.” So there's a sense of a family of God with God as our Father. Or a royal kingdom, a sense that we are part of a royal kingdom. He, the king, and we, kings and queens, under Him, rulers under His highest authority. We are a vineyard in another place. We are a flock with a shepherd tending us. We are a bride heading toward the day of our wedding. But this image of the body is used in a number of places, used in 1 Corinthians chapters 12 through 14, a picture of the body, the church like a body. It's used in Romans 12, and it's used here in Colossians, and also in Ephesians. Christ is the head of the body. Now, if the church is a body, what that means, as Christ as our head, is that He rules over it, he directs its movements. And all functions in the body exist to serve the head and the head governs all. The heart beats when the signals go forth from the head. The lungs breathe when the signals go forth from the head. Christ is the head of the church. Christ is the Source of the Church The scripture here also says that Christ is the source of the church. The word "arche" means beginning or source, so you think about the source of the river. If the church is like a river, then Christ is the source or the headwaters of the river and the church flows forth. Now, we believe that God ordained the church in His mind before the creation of the world. It says in Ephesians that we were “chosen in Christ before the creation of the world,” and so therefore it is in Christ that we exist. Christ is the arche, the beginning of the church, because before the creation of the world, before there was any time, God the Father saw us in Christ. We could also say that in space and time and the fullness of time, Jesus Christ, having taken on a human body, died on the cross, shed His blood for us. God raised him from the dead on the third day, He sent the Holy Spirit through the Son, and that is the beginning of the church. The day of Pentecost founded on the work, the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross, the empty tomb. In that way also, in history, Jesus is the beginning of the church. There wasn't a church before Jesus came and did that work. And so Christ is the source of the church. Christ is the Firstborn from the Dead He is also, it says, “the firstborn from the dead.” Though Christ was not the first to be resuscitated after death, actually, many others, He himself raised people from the dead, yet Jesus is still “the firstborn from the dead.” We say this in two senses. First of all, He is in the position of preeminence. He's the greatest of all that have been raised from the dead, but also, temporally in time, He's the first and, at present, the only one with a resurrection body. Lazarus died again. The little girl that He raised from the dead, she's dead now, physically separated from her body. All of the people that Jesus raised, all the people, the apostles raised from the dead, all of them are dead now. But Jesus lives. He lives forever, and He will never again be separated from that body that God gave Him on the third day. He is in a resurrection body, and so He is “the firstborn from among the dead.” And there will come a time that “a great multitude, greater than anyone can count, from every tribe and language and people and nation will stand around the throne” also, all of us, in resurrection bodies, He will still be the firstborn from among the dead. He will be in the position of preeminence, even when we have our resurrection bodies. And, by the way, that is the only perfect healing there is in this universe, the only healing there is for AIDS, the only healing there is for cancer, for diabetes, for all of these dreaded illnesses. It is a resurrection body given you by God. Amen? And that is the future. That's where we're heading, free from all death, and mourning, and crying, and pain, with Jesus as the firstborn from among the dead. That is our hope, and we yearn for that, everyday brings us closer. Be happy. Don't worry about aging. Do what you need to do, but don't worry about aging because everyday brings us closer. Christ is Supreme Over All Things for the Church It says also that Christ is supreme over all things for the church. And from this, I got my sermon title over the last two weeks, this week and last week. "So that in everything," Verse 18, "He might have the supremacy." We should be falling down in awe before Jesus Christ. And it's only because of the dullness and the dimness of our faith that we don't. Someday we will. “Every knee will bow, and we will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord” and we'll be glad to do it. And we will fall down before Him as the 24 elders, and we'll cast our crowns before Him, and we will honor Him because, in everything for the church, He has the supremacy. No human being can take that role from Him. It is His. He earned it. For He's the only one who shed His blood for the church, and how many human beings in history have forgotten that? I was raised Roman Catholic. It is appalling some of the things that Catholic theologians say about the role of the Bishop of Rome called the Pope. It's amazing the statements they make. For example, Pope Leo the XIII, in an encyclical letter in 1894, he said this, "We, Popes, we hold upon this Earth, the place of God Almighty." Or this one, "The Pope is not only the representative of Jesus Christ, he is Jesus Christ himself, hidden under the veil of flesh." Do you believe that? No, no, no. "So that in everything, he might have the supremacy." Jesus said of the scribes and Pharisees that “they like to walk around in the marketplaces with flowing robes and to be greeted and given titles of honor and the most important seats at the banquets and the synagogues, and to be called rabbi with these important titles.” But he said, you're not to be called rabbi for you're all brothers and you have one master, one teacher, Christ. But it isn't just the Catholics, even in some Baptist churches or other Protestant churches, some human beings arrogate to themselves positions of honor that are inappropriate. Pastors can be that way, taking a tyrannical view of their own authority. So also can lay leaders or even committee chairs. It can happen. We forget who we are. We forget that, “in everything, Christ might have the supremacy.” They think too highly of themselves. But I tell you it is impossible, it is impossible to think too highly of Christ. You can't do it. You cannot do it. There's not a man or a woman or a child in this sanctuary today that is presently thinking too highly of Christ. Though I've been preaching about 10 minutes about the supremacy of Christ, and perhaps you think more highly of Jesus than you did before you walked in this room, you still don't think highly enough of Jesus. And so therefore, in sanctification and growth and holiness, it's always a yearning that we think more and more and more highly of Jesus. “Oh, magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt His name together,” make Him greater, make Him greater. And that's what this meditation is all about, that Christ, in everything, may have the supremacy. Christ’s Supremacy in Our Reconciliation God’s Pleasure in Our Salvation He is supreme over the church, but He's also supreme over the actual process of our reconciliation. God ordained the salvation plan where He gets all the glory and we get all the joy. Isn't that wonderful? Are you willing for that agreement? He gets the glory, we get the joy. We get to be in heaven forever. We get to enjoy all of these rich blessings. We're just stripped of our pride in the process. Are you willing for that? I'm willing. We enter through the narrow gate, we stoop, we're stripped of all of our good works and all of our pride, and God, in His wisdom, ordained that He would get the glory through His Son, Jesus Christ. And therefore, He gives glory to Christ here through the Apostle Paul. Look at Verse 19 through 23, "For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross, once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now, He has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation, if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant." Christ's supremacy, in our reconciliation, is proclaimed in these verses. He is supreme in that process. But notice how it begins. It begins with the pleasure of God the Father in all of it. Do you see it in Verse 19? "For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him." God was pleased, though the focus here has been on Christ, yet it was the plan and purpose of the Father to set in motion the salvation of the church through His Son, Jesus Christ. And God was pleased to have it. This whole thing, the whole salvation process, pleases God the Father. It brings Him joy. Ain't that wonderful? Meditate on that. God is a pleased being. Otherwise, would you want to spend eternity with Him? Think about that. Enter into the joy of your master. I want to go where there's joy, don't you? Eternal joy. Well, that's in God's presence, at His right hand. God is a pleased being. "Our God," it says in Psalm 115:3, "is in heaven. He does whatever pleases Him." I guess that means He doesn't do anything that irritates Him. He only does those things that please Him, those things that were down to His glory, that display His nature, that's what he does. Christ spoke so beautifully in Luke 12:32 of the delight of the Father in giving us the kingdom. I love the KJV in particular here. "Fear not, little flock, it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom." Meditate on that. God enjoys doing this. He really does. He enjoys saving people “from every tribe and language of people and nation.” He enjoyed saving you. And as a matter of fact, the scripture reveals that there was more joy in heaven over your salvation than over the sustaining work of grace and a hundred other people that didn't need it. You see? He celebrated the day you came to faith in Christ and the angels, saying, "Oh," they reacted and celebrated, too. We should never think the angels precede the Father in anything. The angels responded to God's joyful celebration. It is God's good pleasure to save you. It's His good pleasure to give you the Kingdom. Well, here in these verses, God's pleasure extends to every detail of reconciliation. God was pleased, first of all, to have all His fullness in a human body, in His Son. He was pleased also to reconcile us through Christ's death. Yes, pleased. And we'll talk more about that in a moment. He was delighted to welcome us even though we were hostile enemies, enemies in our minds as displayed by our evil behavior. He is pleased to present each one of us to Himself holy and blameless, free from any kind of accusation. All of these things bring Him pleasure. God's pleasure extends to the entire salvation plan. Christ’s Incarnation Look at the first part, Christ's incarnation. "For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him." Christ is full of God. He's full of God's power, full of God's mercy, full of God's compassion, full of God's love. He is full of God. God didn't hold anything back from His own Son. He fully reveals himself to His Son. He didn't just reveal Himself, He poured Himself into His Son. All of His fullness dwelling in Christ, even in bodily form. Now, this is a point that Paul makes again in Colossians 2:9 and 10, we've already quoted it, listen again, "For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form. And you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority." The Colossian heretics denied that Jesus was human. They denied that He had a body. Jesus had a body, He has a body now. So therefore, if you had been walking along one of those dusty roads of Palestine, you could have shaken His hand, you could have put your arm around His shoulder, you could have looked Him in the face, you could have touched His beard. All of these things were part of His physical presence, and God was delighted for the incarnation. It is also foolishness to some people, isn't it? As we mentioned last week, foolishness to Thomas Jefferson, foolishness to so many unbelievers that God could take on a human body, but God was pleased to do it. God’s Plan for Comprehensive Reconciliation Secondly, we see also God's glorious plan for a comprehensive reconciliation. Verse 20, "And through Him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven." The word "reconciliation" is potent, isn't it? It has to do with broken relationships. It has to do with things that were together that are now blown apart, and the most explosive power there's ever been in the universe is sin. Greater than any fertilizer bomb that blew up half of a building somewhere. You've seen the pictures like in Oklahoma City and all that, the effects of a bomb like that, that is nothing compared to what sin has done in the universe. Nothing. All of the broken relationships there's ever been, all of the wars, all of the conflicts, and that bombing included in all of that, all of that part of sin. And it's amazing, therefore, the healing and the pulling together work of Jesus on the cross, taking these particles that have been blown apart and drawing them back together to be reconciled to God, reconciled and brought back into a right and sweet relationship with God. How wonderful is that? The universe itself, the physical universe was cursed, estranged in some sense from God's original pattern, subjected to frustration by human sin. And so the present creation is groaning, it says, "as in the pains of childbirth until it can be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God." So the physical world needed to be reconciled, so also human beings. God's marvelous plan, therefore, is to reconcile all things back to himself. Now, don't misunderstand. This is not teaching universalism, it's not teaching that Hell will be empty, it's not in any way teaching the reconciliation of Satan and God, they will not be reconciled, but rather reconciliation of all categories of things, both visible and invisible. All of these things are being brought back together through Christ's work on the cross under one head, God. And so it says in 1 Corinthians 15, "Then the end will come, when He,” Christ, “hands over the Kingdom to God the Father after He has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” “And when He has done this, then the Son Himself will be made subject to Him who put everything under Him, so that God may be all in all." Do you see how Christ is pulling everything back together? The opposite of the image of the Big Bang. All of these things pulled back together in Christ's redemptive work and handed back to the Father, then Christ Himself subject to the Father “so that God may be all in all.” And that is powerful. Christ’s Blood Atonement The most powerful work in history, therefore, is the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. And we see it in His blood, look at Verse 20, "Through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross." The marvelous plan of God, therefore, is blood atonement. We'll never get tired of speaking about the blood, we'll never get embarrassed about the blood. We must speak of the blood because this is the way that God humbles us, the way that God shows us our role because it was through human sin that this explosion happened, and therefore, since the wages of sin is death, it is only by the death of a man, Jesus, the bloodshed on the cross, that all of this reconciliation can come about, and so it's through the bloodshed on the cross. And therefore, let's go back to the beginning, God was pleased to shed the blood of His Son. This is holy ground, friends. I don't fully understand this. The things I'm about to say over the next two or three minutes, I don't fully understand them. I believe in my heart that they're true, but I don't fully understand it. How can God the Father be pleased to shed the blood of His own Son? How does He find pleasure in that? Most fathers would rather die than see their own sons die. They'd take the place of their sons, they don't want to bury their children. They face great threats and great danger to save their children from death. Speaking of this, some time ago I heard a story of a father who was with two other men and his teenage son fishing in Alaska, and their seaplane took on some water, frigid waters, and the three men made it to the shore, but the young man was not able to swim, his limbs were so stiff, so the father swam back out to be with his son. He didn't think he'd be able to rescue him and in the end he didn't, but he'd rather be with him than live without him. Now, I can understand that. I can understand that, I'm a father of five children. I can understand a father that will sacrifice or lay down his own life to save his children. I don't understand a father that would act to kill his children except as a monster. I heard another story, and I've related it to you. I love reading work by Voice of the Martyrs and reading martyr stories, even modern martyr stories. And some time ago, I read this story by Richard Wurmbrand of a Romanian pastor, Pastor Florescu, who was arrested by the communist forces before the fall of communism and was being beaten and tortured in the cell that he would give up the names of his church members, who were the men and women that came and worshipped with him, and he wouldn't give in. And they would beat him, they would cut him with knives, they would bleed him, and then they'd put them back in his cell, and they would force large rats into his cell through a drain pipe at night so that if he tried to sleep, they would gnaw on his flesh. So he basically had to beat the rats off all evening long, standing up the whole time. This went on for two weeks. They're beating him down, beating him down, but he still won't give up the names, until they bring in his 14-year-old son Alexander and they start beating him. And it's pretty clear that they mean to kill him, there's no question about it. And at this point, this man, Pastor Florescu, is just crazed with fatigue and pain and agony, mental anguish of watching his own son, who was a Christian, getting beaten probably to death. He said, "I can't take it anymore. Son, I've gotta tell them what they want to know." And his son, I'll never forget this, he said, he said, "Father, don't do me the injustice of making me the son of a traitor to our Lord Jesus Christ." And so he held back while his son was tortured to death, blood spattering the walls and the ceiling, tortured to death. I can understand a father like that, but a father who will do the torturing, I don't understand. And yet, this is what the scripture says. Isaiah 53:10, it says, "The Lord was pleased to crush him and cause him to suffer. And though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand." Here's the thing, Jesus died on the cross. As He saw the cross coming toward Him, it was for the joy set before Him that He endured the cross despising its shame. There was nothing in the process that He delighted in, it was in the product that He delighted in. And so also I understand the Father's pleasure in crushing His Son. There is no pleasure in the thing itself, but there is eternal pleasure in what it produced in your life and mine. The Lord was pleased to do it. He was pleased to shed the blood of His Son. He was pleased to pour out His active wrath on His own Son. He was pleased to go through the process of having His only begotten Son cry out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" He was pleased to listen to that, being omnipotent still not exert any power toward rescuing His Son, but only pour on the wrath more until Jesus spoke the words ending it, "It is finished." And then it was done. And God was pleased to do it. Not the process my friends, but so that you and I could stand before Him blameless, and unafraid, and unashamed of His coming, that we might spend eternity in His presence. We, sinners. We, who are, at one point, alienated from Him and hostile enemies in our minds, because of our evil behavior, we were the ones He rescued and He saved us. The Infinite Journey of Our Reconciliation Like I said, it's holy ground and I cannot fully understand it, but it's what the scripture teaches. And I think you and I ought to spend time meditating on the infinite journey of our reconciliation. “We were, at one time, hostile to God. We were dead in our transgressions and sins.” We weren't basically good people. I know you said you were, "I'm basically a good person." No, you aren't. No, you weren't. You were dead in your transgressions and sins, and so was I. But we are the kind of people that he saved. We are the ones, look what the text says, Verse 21, "Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior." "The mind of the flesh," it says in Romans, "is death." We displayed this internal hostility to God by disobeying his commands. We broke all of the Ten Commandments. Whether you actually murdered someone or not, whether you actually committed adultery or not, Jesus said that if you have been angry at someone, you've murdered them in your heart. If you have looked lustfully to a woman, you have committed adultery in your heart. Jesus said these things. We've had other gods besides God. We have coveted. We have lied. We have stolen. We have broken the Ten Commandments. And we have broken the two great commandments, the summary of all of the law. We didn't “love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. We did not love our neighbors ourselves.” “We were alienated from God.” We were enemies. And through the blood shed on the cross, He has reconciled us fully to God. And how sweet is that? But now, He has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation, if you continue in your faith. He has reconciled us, reconciled us fully. And what does this mean? It means we're without blemish. Nothing's wrong with God's eyes, by the way. He still sees well. Even though he's the Ancient of Days, He still sees as well as He ever did. His eyes are still pure to look on evil. He can't look at it, and yet He gazes on you and says, "My beloved." How does He do that? It's the intervening blood shed on the cross for you. It's the perfect righteousness with which you are now clothed. You have been reconciled to God, fully reconciled, and you are free from accusation. Satan's going to be quite busy on Judgment Day, trust me. He will not have any time to fling accusations your way. You are free forever. Who shall bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? “It's God who justifies, who dares condemn?” We are free from accusation. The Ongoing Ministry of the Gospel: “IF you continue…” "If," does that word bother you, by the way? If. There's a condition to all of this, “if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out.” If you continue. You say, "Well, now wait a minute, Pastor, I thought you were one of those that believes in once saved always saved. I thought you can't lose your salvation. You mean I have to kind of keep doing things?" But it does say, "If," doesn't it? If you continue, I say, then you have been saved. That's the way I look at it. If you continue. Some people look on salvation, I was saying to the new member class this morning, look on salvation like one of those acrylic dried flower paperweights. Eternally beautiful, never changes, beautiful purple flowers inside an acrylic casing. They look on their faith that way. That is not biblical. God has given you a plant, it needs nourishment, it needs sunshine and water, or it will die. All he's saying is that what the plant needs it will get. He will nourish your faith until the day you need it no longer. When faith becomes side and “you don't need faith anymore, you will see Him face to face.” He will nourish it because He who began that good work in you will, what, He will carry it on to completion. So you must continue. You must keep coming to church. You must keep reading your Bible. You must keep praying. You must keep obeying and following the indwelling Spirit as He leads you. You must, if you want to be finally saved in the end. Application Now, what application do we take from all of this? First of all, have you trusted in Christ? Did God bring you here today as the answer to my prayer? Lord, please bring someone here who is not saved. Please bring someone here who needs to hear this gospel. I told you you would hear everything you needed to be saved. You've heard it today. Jesus is the Son of God. He died on the cross. He shed His blood under the wrath and curse of God Almighty to free us from all of the guilt that we deserve for our transgressions of His law. You've heard all of that. There is ample free grace available for you. Trust in Christ. Trust in Him. All you need to do is turn to Jesus right now in your heart and say, "Jesus, I can't survive Judgement Day without you. Please save me from my sins. Save me now that I might have eternal life." For those of you who have already made that commitment, you're in the "if" stage now, if you continue. Are you continuing? Are you continuing to feed your faith with the Word of God? Let's start here. Thank God for the reconciliation we heard about today. Thank God that it was His pleasure to save you. He enjoys saving you. Thank God for it. Feed your faith, and talk to yourself. Preach to yourself. Preach to yourself, say "I'm forgiven. I am forgiven. I'm reconciled. God is at peace with me. I stand in the righteousness of Jesus right now. I can't be more righteous in God's sight than I am right now in Jesus. He has forgiven me. On judgement day, I will stand blameless and unafraid. I am forgiven." Say that to yourself and thank God for it, and then feed your faith. Learn to trust Christ for more and more in the future. Step out in faith. At the end of this, he says that he has become a servant of the gospel. Step out in faith and become a servant of the gospel. There are people surrounding us right now who are not reconciled to God. Do you have a ministry to them? Do you open your mouth and say anything about these wonderful truths we've been looking at today? Do you have a ministry? It was a great week at First Baptist Church this week. A wonderful new ministry called Jobs For Life started. You may have heard about it. We have some wonderful dedicated servants that have worked hard to make this thing happen. We had our first time on Thursday evening. It's a Bible-based curriculum, helping people to get and keep jobs based on teaching a scripture. These are unbelievers that are coming into our church on Tuesdays and Thursdays to be trained by some wonderful people, members of this church, on how to get and keep a job, and there's a promise of some companies out here that are eager to hire graduates of this program. That's the attraction to them. We're hoping they'll find an even greater attraction though. Jesus. We want them to find Christ. What would it profit a man or woman to get a job and lose their soul? Alright? Yes, they need a job and we want to help them with that. It's Christ-like to minister to temporal needs. But we need some laborers for that harvest field, friends. We had 14 students on Thursday evening, nine women and five men. And we need mentors who will build relationships with these folks and help them through the first few months, many months perhaps, of their job, and more than that get to know them in Christ and lead them to faith in Christ perhaps, and disciple them after they've come to faith in Christ. I'd like to see some of them baptized right up here. If that ministry doesn't appeal to you, that's fine. Alright? One part of the body is a toe, another a hand, another an eye. We have different functions. You should care, and pray, but what is your ministry? Are you a partner with Christ in the gospel? The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost. Are you involved in that? Are you a partner, a sharer in the gospel ministry? Close with me in prayer.