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e good evening welcome back uh to free Grace Baptist church for our evening worship um really it's Hardy any point going over the announcement ments other than uh important one is that this coming Wednesday Wednesday night Pastor Butler will be taking that off that this Wednesday off and uh we'll resume Bible study again uh the following Wednesday so don't show up here at the church on Wednesday uh you'll be by yourself in the dark if you even get in the doors uh that'll be a challenge too so um other than that let's uh let's be in worship uh this evening please turn with me your Bibles to uh Psalm 148 148 I'm sorry 149 we read 148 this morning I was looking at and familiar 149 beginning at verse one praise the Lord sing to the Lord a new song and his praise in the Assembly of saints let Israel rejoice in their maker let the children of Zion be joyful in their King let let them praise His name with the with the dance let them sing praises to Him with the timberl and harp for the Lord takes pleasure in his people he will beautify The Humble with salvation let the Saints be joyful in glory let them sing aloud on their beds let the high praises of God be in their mouth and a two-edged sword in their hand to execute Vengeance on the Nations and punishments on the peoples to blind their kings with chains and their nobles with Fetters of iron to execute on them the written judgment this honor have all his Saints praise the Lord amen well please turn with me in your hym books to the first hymn hymn 42 we'll be singing it to a different tune but the number is 402 I'll ask you to please stand [Music] Church forever and Earth ex ofor eternal toest is sing all for the bless to here the glory ever GL to to the to the to the and ever might Glory let's go to God in prayer and ask his Blessing to be upon our evening here this evening our night of worship let's pray our gracious and our loving Heavenly Father we know that the scriptures are true and they said uh that they were glad when they went into the house of the Lord father thank you for the privilege as ours to come here again a second time on this Lord's today to uh to to to bookend our day in as it were a day of worship beginning of the day and at the end of the day and how we praise you father you given to us this place this building to Worship in but even greater than that father you've given us the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ truly as we were reminded this morning in the preaching uh of What A Savior what a what a glorious gospel we have in the person of your son the Lord Jesus Christ that you determined in time past to send your son your one and only son to to come to this world world to uh to to assume his his manhood or humanity and uh to to live a perfect life die in a perfect as as a perfect sacrifice so that he would uh pay the penalty for our sins and thank you Father we truly have been justified in uh the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ thank you the Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead that he rose arose Victorious and he is at the father's right hand and uh there to make intercession for his people for his children father truly we we enjoy so much from a spiritual perspective when we consider all the spiritual enjoyments all the spiritual privileges that we enjoy because of your son the Lord Jesus Christ and we are thankful for these things father we come with with with Full Hearts this night to bring our praise and bring our worship before you for you truly are worthy of all worship and all praise and all adoration father we do confess our remaining sin we pray that you'd be pleased to cover us aresh this night in that precious blood of your son the Lord Jesus Christ we thank you Lord that you do take our sins and you do remove them from us as far as the East is from the West you you remove them from us and put us put them into the deepest part of the ocean for these things father we truly are grateful that we are that we are covered by that precious blood of Christ so Lord help us this night to be worshippers of you to to have but but uh but but consideration of but one and that is you the the Thrice holy God this evening cause us Lord to not think of the of the things in the week ahead or perhaps in the week past but to be here uh completely immersed in in in our worship of of God most high and we pray we we praise you father that you are that you have promised that where two or three are gathered together there you are in their midst and father you we we know that you have a special place uh for the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ as well that when the church meets you have promised to be uh there uh with your lampstand and how we praise you father that you are with us this evening and cause us to to leave this place edified built up if any would be unsaved that Lord you would have dealings with their heart and cause them to see the wonders of of a loving savior the Lord Jesus Christ and we pray they would that they would be given that gift of faith to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and to and to uh to to to reckon his uh uh his sacrifice on on the cross for for their sins and that they would leave here rejoicing as the angels in heaven would rejoice as well we thank you for Steve and Mike who are going to be baptized next Lord's day we praise you father for that for the for the gift of Salvation that uh as as children uh grew up in the the church and become Youth and and young young adults we thank you Father that you do a work of Grace in in hearts and lives and how we pray Lord that you would be pleased to bless them in the in in the uh next Sunday as they as they take that step of obedience we pray Lord that it would do much much uh good in their lives that that they would continue to grow in Grace and grow in knowledge and we do pray Lord that you would have your hand upon their lives and cause them to to to enjoy uh the the fruits of of of knowing that they are in Christ Jesus to know that they're their names are written in the land's Book of Life and for that we truly give you our grateful thanks and praise you that they can evidence that that inner work that you have done uh by the by the outward expression through the waters of baptism so Lord we rejoice in these things and pray that you would be pleased to continue with us cause us to be a church that is growing uh whether it be in numbers or not but that we be a church that is growing spiritually in our own uh personal lives that father we would that we would put on the Lord Jesus Christ each day as we go into this world that we would grow in in in godliness grow in Grace and that uh father you would demonstrate uh your kindness your goodness in the way in which we would live our lives uh in the world around us Lord we thank you that you have given us instruction from your word we thank you for the instruction that we were given this morning we pray Lord your blessing upon cam as he brings the word this evening that father we' be further instructed in the word of God that we might live our lives For Your Glory uh we do pray forgive us again of our sins father cleanse the fresh this night and cause us to to Rejoice together in the in the in the in the Glorious Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ it's in his precious name we pray amen well please turn with me in your uh hym books once again to 319 319 I'll ask you to please [Music] stand oh glor us Sal Jesus CHR please turn with me in your Bibles to Deuteronomy chapter 13 Deuteronomy chapter 13 as you know we're reading through the book of Deuteronomy this chapter acts as a ultimately I guess as a warning we might say so that the the people of God would know how to behave when they enter into the land uh that they were that they were about to to enter into here and you know ultimately we we know that because God is a holy God that's why you know the Theology of this chapter which may upon first reading or blush it might seem a bit severe but we must keep in mind that that is why it is severe because God is a holy God and uh and we serve a holy God he expects uh Holiness espec especially when it comes to idolatry which is something he he cannot bear and that's what this chapter is is ultimately warning the people of God that they would know how to behave and the the number one thing is that they would not follow after other gods obviously that's the that's the natural inclination of all of our hearts is to wander uh from from the god that we know the god that we love and so there is a warning to the people of God that we can take in the new test as well God's the same God of the Old Testament as of the New Testament he is a holy God and uh and he he abhor those who would who would who would F leave him in order to go after whatever that other God might be whatever that other Idol uh might be so as I say it's a it's a it's a it's a warning uh and uh it's a tough theology in this chapter but nevertheless it is God's word so let's begin with verse one of chapter 13 if there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams and he gives you a sign or a wonder and the sign or the Wonder comes to pass of which he spoke to you saying let us go after other gods which you have not known and let us serve them you shall not listen to the words of that Prophet or that dreamer of dreams for the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul you shall walk after the Lord your God and fear Him and keep his Commandments and obey his voice you shall serve him and hold fast to him but that Prophet or that dreamer of Dreams shall be put to death because he has spoken in order to turn you away from the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage to entice you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk so you shall put away the evil from your midst if your brother the son of your mother your son or your daughter the wife of your bosom or your friend who is as your own soul secretly entices you saying let us go and serve other gods which you have not known neither you nor your fathers nor your fathers of the Gods of the people which are all around you near to you or far off from you from one end of the Earth to the other end of the Earth You shall not consent to him or listen to him nor shall your eye pity him nor shall you spare him or conceal him but you shall surely kill him your hand shall be first against him to put him to death and afterward the hand of all the people and you shall Stone him with stones until he dies because he sought to entice you away from the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage so all Israel shall hear and fear and not again do such wickedness as this among you if you hear someone in one of your cities which the Lord your God G gives you to dwell in saying corrupt men have got have gone out from among you and entic the inhabitants of their City saying let us go and serve other gods which you have not known then you shall inquire uh search out and ask diligently and if it is indeed true and certain that such an Abomination was committed among you you shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword utterly destroying it all that is in it it and its livestock with the edge of the sword and you shall gather all its plunder into the middle of the street and completely burn with fire the city and all its plunder for the Lord your God it shall be a heap forever it shall not be built again so none of the accursed things shall remain in your in your hand that the Lord may turn from the fierceness of his anger and show you Mercy have compassion on you and multiply you just as he SW swore to your fathers because you have listened to the voice of the Lord your God to keep all his Commandments which I command you today to do what is right in the eyes of the Lord your God Amen well let's pray father we thank you for this very sober piece of scripture and it is a reminder father of the fact that you do uh demand uh obedience to your holy law and father we know that we cannot give complete obedience we need that righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ and for that we truly are grateful father that you that you have imputed that perfect righteousness to us uh from your son the Lord Jesus Christ our our imputed sin to him and his his imputed righteous righteousness to us and we are grateful F father for that that you are good God a kind God cause us to love you this night with all of our heart soul mind and strength bless the preacher as he brings your word this night we pray Lord that we would have a uh a a a United um uh effort in terms of praising you in terms of worshiping you uh through your word as it's preached give to us that proper understanding that reverence of a holy God with whom we've come to deal with this night and we pray Lord that you would be pleased to multiply your word in all of our lives this night cause it to not be like the man who looked at the mirror and when he walked away he soon forgot what he looked like but father cause us this night to see ourselves and and to to ultimately uh to to to put on the Lord Jesus Christ to take the the the the uh the the warnings to take the the the heeds to take the the encouragements that all these things father might be for your honor and For Your Glory bless cam as he brings that word give to him your Holy Spirit hedge him in and cause him Lord to speak truth uh from your holy word this night we thank you for him we pray your blessing upon him and we we ask your blessing upon the rest of our service now for it's in Jesus name we pray amen well please turn with me in your hym books to the last hymn before we go to preaching and that is 291 291 I'll ask you please please stand his my gracious master my [Applause] to the is we thee his glor to his like broken heart might for Jo to the GL good evening to everyone you can turn in your Bibles with me to Colossians chapter 1 Colossians chapter 1 I'll read the entirety of the chapter and our Focus will be on verses 13 to 20 and then verses 28 and 29 this is the word of God from Colossians chapter 1 Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God and Timothy our brother to the Saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are in colasse grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ we give thanks to the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ praying always for you since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints because of the Hope which is laid up for you in heaven of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the Gospel which has come to you as it ALS as it has also in all the world and is bringing forth fruit as it is also among you since the day you heard it uh since the ex pardon me since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth as you also learned from apaas our dear fellow servant who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf who also declared to us your love in the spirit for this reason we also since the day we heard it do not cease to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding that you may walk worthy of the Lord fully pleasing him being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God strengthened with might according to his glorious power for all patience and longsuffering with joy giving thanks to the father who has qualified US to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in the light he has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the son of his love in whom we have Redemption through his blood the Forgiveness of sins he is the image of the invisible God the firstborn over all creation for by him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth visible and invisible whether Thrones or dominions or principalities or Powers all things were created through him and for him and he is before all things and in him all things consist and he is the head of the body the church who is the beginning the firstborn from the dead that in all things he may have the preeminence for it pleased the father that in him all the fullness should dwell and by him to reconcile all things to himself by him whether things on earth or things in heaven having made peace through the blood of his cross and you who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by Wicked Works yet now he is reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and blameless and above reproach in his sight if indeed you continue in the faith grounded and steadfast and are not moved away from the hope of the Gospel which you heard which was preached to every creature under Heaven of which I Paul became a minister I now rejoice in my sufferings for you and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ for the sake of his body which is the Church of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you to fulfill the word of God the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from Generations but now has been revealed to his Saints to them God will to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles which is Christ in you the hope of glory him we preach warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus to this end I also labor striving according to his working which works in me mightily amen well let's ask our God for uh his blessing upon the preaching of the word let's pray Heavenly Father we thank you for this opportunity we have in worship to come before you in spirit and in truth to worship father Father Son and Holy Spirit the one and only living and true God and we thank you that we can rejoice in the gospel we thank you for that the Gospel of Jesus Christ Our Savior we rejoice in him we rejoice in the Perfection of his saving work and do help us as we examine as we study as we open up this passage might you fill us with your spirit that we might all the more know the blessings of Jesus Christ Our Savior and it's in his name that we pray amen well we uh have been St studying in our Saturday theology classes a book on the person of Christ a a well-written book in a in a you know easy to read book that sets forth the the doctrine of Jesus Christ and um additionally we just started a study in the confession of Faith at chapter 8 which is the chapter that has to do with Jesus Christ and we've been noting both in the Saturday theology study as well as just starting today in our study in the confession on chapter 8 we have been recog recognizing that there are contemporaneous issues contemporary issues that we have in the professing church that touch upon the necessity to know our Christ well to know our Christ better and to be inoculated against pervasive errors that are going on today in the church and there is no new thing um since the outset well since the outset of Creation with the opposition of the devil there has been opposition to truth of course but if we speak with regards to the New Testament Church there has from its outset always been those who have sought to bring as it were Christ down from his throne to a lower and a less dignified place than he ought to hold and that he does hold as the one who is the Son of God and incarnate for us men and for our salvation and it's it's no different today than it was essentially in the early church as the the early church fathers used to say we we in using the the symbology of that that Hydra Serpent of old that was a multi-headed serpent if you lopped off one of its heads two would grow in its place the heresy is that way it's we come with the sword of the spirit we we Lop off one head and two heads can grow in its place there's always opposition to the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ and we are as the people of Christ as the Saints of Christ to be constantly inoculating ourselves against pervasive error in Colossians 1 we have a a treasure Trove we have a a treasure Trove of christology we have this these uh blessings upon blessings true statements upon true statements that set forth who Christ is to us we noted this morning that the most important question that has ever been asked in the history of questions being asked was asked by Jesus Christ and that question was given to his disciples who do Man say that I the son of man am the most important question ever asked and we as Christians know the answers to that question the answer to that question but it's good for us to always rehearse always to fill our minds with the knowledge of Christ that we may on the one side rejoice in that Christ and on the other side inoculate as I've said ourselves against pervasive errors that seek to bring Christ down as it were from his throne of course that can never be done the context of Colossians here the context of the the letter as a whole is that Paul is dealing with a number of Errors concerning the Lord Jesus Christ concerning the uh the errorists that were in the midst of the the colossian Christians that were seeking to as we've said bring Christ down as if he was simply just one of uh one among a number of other other luminaries religious luminaries that were to be observed in religious worship the Apostle Paul as we can see as we read here he exalts Christ up to that proper place his proper position in the minds of Believers this letter was written at the same time as around the same time as Ephesians and Philippians right around the year a60 while Paul was imprisoned in Rome and Gil writes with regards to the purpose of the letter um uh they were in danger uh they were in danger uh from false teachers that had got among them who were for introducing the philosophy of the Gentiles the ceremonies of the law of Moses and some pernicious tenants of the followers of Simon Magus and the gnostics upon which the Apostle writes this epistle to them to inform them in the faith of the Gospel as one W were to if one was to read through the book of Colossians you can see Paul coming across these errors or dealing with these errors and always answer on always answering them with the supremacy the majesty and the sufficiency of the Lord Jesus Christ well we're going to look at 1 Corinthians 13-2 and then closing off with verses 28 and 29 and under three heads don't worry not seven this evening just three um and those three are simply these first a concise statement of the power of God unto salvation secondly an expansion upon the champion of that salvation and then thirdly the proclamation of that champion as the intent of Revelation so first a concise statement of the power of God unto salvation notice at verse 13 He that is God the father has delivered us from the power of darkness and con conveyed us into the kingdom of the son of his love in whom we have Redemption through his blood the Forgiveness of sins what a what a blessed encapsulation of the Christian me message with regards to the saving work of the Lord Jesus Christ that Christians are as we noted this morning the blessed and undeserved recipients of the grace of God the Father conveying us or transferring us from out of darkness and into the kingdom of the son of his love and what is or or what is the mechanism by which what is the means by which he does that it is through his son and specifically the shedding of his blood the crosswork as we'll see later in verse 20 the the crosswork of Christ is in view as that which brings peace between God and sinners so two things under this concise statement of the power of God unto salvation first Divine Deliverance Divine Deliverance he has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the son of his love this is to bring before our eyes the reality of sin ignorance and unbelief in part with regards to this language the kingdom of darkness hopefully you can remember that time uh you know that uh as the Bible says the The Rock from when you were heun and the the the hole of the pit from which you were digged prior to Amazing Grace coming to you prior to God saving you and pulling you up from out of that Darkness the Bible the Bible doesn't paint a pretty picture of the condition of man outside of Grace of the condition of the Christian prior to Grace coming we're dead in our trespasses and sins we are of our father the devil and the desires of our father we want to do we are marked by sin by iniquity by transgression we are marked by the love of Darkness remember as Pastor Butler's been preaching through the Gospel of John that's the language that Jesus himself uses with regards to Sinners who stand under condemnation they love the darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil they do not want to come to the light lest their deeds be exposed they they love Darkness they love their father the devil they love to engage in all manner of iniquity this kingdom of darkness has that in View and then of course as a as Jim has mentioned previously with regards to uh some of those purpose statements of the Incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ or the Incarnation of the Son of God he came to destroy the works of the devil who is that Prince of the power of the air the the Lord of Darkness and so this blessed language then comes to us that the the father has not left us in darkness which is our due he has not left us in darkness but he has delivered us from the power of that darkness and he has then transferred us unto salvation he has conveyed us unto the kingdom of the son of his love this sees salvation wisdom and belief as those things which answer sin ignorance and unbelief that salvation wisdom and belief does not come on the part of uh Of Human Action of course it comes on the part of amazing and Victorious Grace you know this is whenever the apostles rehearse salvation that's that's always what they're rehearsing they're not rehearsing our goodness they're not rehearsing our Perfections and our Deeds but they're rehearsing the power of God unto unto salvation they're rehearsing the fact that uh that we have been brought from out of that darkness and unto light also in view is the this transfer from condemnation to peace we'll see that language of Peace later but with respect to Darkness we've been transferred from that position under the wrath of God deserving of condemnation and now under the favor of God by virtue of Christ and justification opposed to condemnation we have this legal before we had a legal Declaration of condemnation guilt for having violated the law of God now under Christ and by Grace we have this legal de Declaration of justification justified by virtue of the Perfection of the work of Jesus Christ Our Savior we've been transferred from Power guilt and condemnation to the power of Christ and his Spirit to the joy of forgiveness and the joy of Christ's righteousness imputed whe whenever we rehearse this language how glorious is it he has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the son of his love what a glorious truth we have in that secondly under the concise statement of the power of God unto salvation notice the Blessed means of divine Deliverance in whom that is in Christ the son of his love in whom we have Redemption through his blood the Forgiveness of sins this is the Blessed means of divine Deliverance again it doesn't come from us it doesn't come from any one else it does not come from Angels it does not come from some repository of the saints that somehow can be applied to us by the Roman magisterium it comes to us by virtue of the Perfection of the work of Jesus Christ Our blessed savior being conveyed from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of the son of his love depends upon the work of that son of the Father's love it depends upon the perfect work of Jesus Christ and that blessed means is the shedding of his blood upon calvary's cross for the Forgiveness of sins it's something you know that uh that the the Christian church does well to often come back to and I I believe though we're imperfect we do that well here is that Pastor Butler always brings us back to and always touches upon and always sort of moves the the the movement of preaching to reflect upon the glor of Christ in the Perfection of his saving work that's what the church at large needs that's what the church in throughout the world needs it needs a reflection upon this glorious one who shed his blood for guilty Sinners and not just a man as we'll see in a moment and as we know as Christians but the very Son of God equal with the father who condescended in his assuming of humanity to to save guilty sinners from their sins what a blessed thing we have we are are purchased we are uh bought through the blood shedding of the Lamb of God that's the language that the Bible uses we've been bought with a price or we've been purchased with the price We Are The Blood Bought sons of God by virtue of Jesus Christ secondly then an expansion upon the champion of that salvation so what the Apostle Paul does here is that he elaborates upon the identity and the work of the son of his love verses 13 and 14 is this concise statement and then 15 to 20 we have an elaboration upon the identity and the work of Jesus Christ so an expansion upon the champion of that salvation first off we want to note his essential Divine Majesty notice in verse uh in verse 15 he is the image of the invisible God that's a that is a that's a significant statement and we need to we need to distinguish here that that's not referring to that Genesis creation language where man is created after the image of God there's a very important difference here he is the image of the invisible God we are created in the image of God there is a an infinite distance between those two things Jesus Christ is or we should say the Son of God is uh but we can say Jesus Christ he is the exact representation of the nature of the father his essential Divine Majesty is first seen in that that he is of one substance with the father it's interesting the hymn that we sang uh I don't I was it the last hymn or the second I think it was the last hymn um the last stanza of that hymn 402 is L and honor to the father L and honor honor to the son law in honor to the spirit and then help me out here what's the rest of the language there I'm going to turn there 402 I thought I could remember but as we're seeing here I clearly can't but I'm going to arrive at the tune in 3 2 1 L in honor to the father l in honor to the son l in honor to the spirit ever three and ever one now the language we have in our hym books is one in might and one in glory while unending ages run the original hymn In the ancient Latin we've sort of changed it here in in this uh more Modern English but this is an ancient Latin hymn that uh as you can see there at the bottom left a 7th Century Latin hymn the last stanza was actually originally rendered uh ever3 and Ever One consubstantial co-eternal while unending ages run so the ancient Church were okay with using the language consubstantial and co-eternal we we have we have transferred uh that um to to our English year but but we ought not to shy away from that language I wish that we can all just scratch that out it's wonderful language but right uh consubstantial co-eternal while unending ages run the the Apostle Paul here is saying that Jesus Christ is consubstantial with the father that he is of one substance with the father that he has sameness of Nature and Perfections as Gil says the he is the image of the invisible God as the same Apostle would write elsewhere in the book of Hebrews he is the exact representation of his nature that's the language that that Hebrews passage carries in chapter one he is the everything that the father has or is the son is everything that the father is the son is save for the fact that the son is eternal eternally begotten of the father all the Divine Perfections though that the father has the Son and the spirit have also so he is Christ is the son is of one substant with with the father sameness of Nature and Perfections his essential Divine Majesty is also seen here in that he is the eternally begotten Lord over creation notice the next Clause the firstborn over all creation this isn't to carry the land language of actually created in time this is to carry the it can have the language of air of all things as the language is used in Hebrew so he is sort of the the um the the king who has been the the inheritor of all things in fact uh that's the language that Christ uses in that Great Commission that we noted uh this morning in uh our study on the doctrine of Christ all authority uh has been given to me in heaven heaven and on Earth but it probably carries the weight of Eternal generation the doctrine that the son's relation is to the father eternally is that he is eternally generated or eternally begotten of the father and he is therefore by virtue of that fact being the image of the invisible God and being eternally generated uh by the father he is then Lord over all creation his Divine Majesty his essential Divine Majesty as Paul is writing here is also seen in that he is Sovereign Creator notice the language here for verse 16 for by him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth visible and invisible whether Thrones or dominions or principalities or Powers all things were created through him and for him now think about try to think about the context here if we can put our minds back into first century colos where these Heretics these errorists are coming in and they're trying to propagate this notion that Christ is a created super beinging uh you know one amongst other luminaries that ought to be venerated and worshiped well Paul comes with a strong answer here he's not he's not just some created you know created Divine luminary of some sort he's not s simply some sort of Super Angel to be revered or venerated but rather he is himself the creator of angels He is himself the creator of all things he is the one who has brought all things into existence and and as if to as if to you know as if the statement that in him all things were created wasn't enough he goes on to elaborate upon the extensiveness of his creating power whether in heaven heaven or on Earth visible or invisible whether Thrones or dominions or principalities or Powers all things were created through him and notice and for him this language is is often used to argue for the reality that creation serves the purpose of uh of setting forth the reality of Christ and the salvation of his elect why why was the universe created why was the world specifically created why were all things created they weren't simply as we noted this morning to stop at and to glory in the creation though we are to look at creation and see in a sense its created Glory by virtue of the glory of the one who created it and we are to move beyond that creation to the Creator in praise and in glorying and in honoring the purpose of creation serves the Redemptive purpose there is a if we can say a subservience to Creation it serves the Redemptive plan of the Triune God to in time and in history save a multitude of Sinners that no man can number by virtue of the perfect work of the Incarnate Son of God creation serves that purpose all creation was by Christ the son of God and all creation was for him Son of God and Son of God incarnate so we have this this extensive language that exalts the Lord Jesus Christ above the created order because he is himself the Creator he has created all things and all things without exception notice as well his Divine his essential Divine Majesty is also seen in that he is before All Creatures notice what the the language says here uh at verse 17 and he is before all things so he has a preeminence he has an exalted position Above All Creatures as well yes of course because he is Creator yes of course because he has the image of the father because he is eternally begotten of the father and therefore of one substance with him but also by virtue even of his Incarnation he has been given authority over all things as the exalted incarnate mediator he has authority over all things he is before all creatures in dignity and with respect to his very existence and lastly under his essential Divine Majesty as Paul uh mounts true statement upon true statement to exalt Jesus Christ we see that his essential Divine Majesty is seen in that he is he is the upholder of all creation verse 17 and he is before all things and in him all things consist do do we ever Ponder this that you know the very the very fabric of the universe is held together by Jesus Christ by the Triune God of course but the emphasis here is speaking with regards to the Sun that you know the the the the order that we have in the world is not simply by virtue uh of uh of an order that was set in motion and then God transcendently departed and it just happens to to move in order the way it moves no in him all things consist the same apost would write in Hebrews 1 um that he upholds all things by the word of his power and so yes uh the Son of God is the creator of all things but he is also the sustainer of all those things created when we think about the fact that this this Pulpit all of the the molecules that are bouncing around and off of each other to form this particular Pulpit that's held together by the Son of God that Paul is is putting forth here hopefully you don't kind of yeah okay whatever preacher that sort of stuff it is that's what the Bible is telling us in him all things consist he upholds all things by the word of his power what an amazing thing that we have in Christ not some uh not some low christology does our Bible set forth but a very high christology moving on then we want to notice under this expansion upon the champion of our Salvation we want to notice his mediatorial kingship his mediatorial kingship and we see this first or his mediatorial kingship is seen in his headship over the church notice what we see in verse 18 and he is the head of the body the church uh isn't it wonderful to have Christ as the head of the church and not a man not the pope of Rome thank God Almighty that the pope of Rome is not the head of the church Church our confession is clear on this not only does it call the Pope the Antichrist but it says that he is not the head of the church but will be judged and cast into hell with the brightness of the Lord's coming Christ is the head of the church and our confession asserts this because the Bible asserts it clearly here who is the head of the church it is no man it is Christ Jesus the Lord pastors of churches are his unders sheeper they are not the heads of the churches we have one head and that head is Christ Jesus the Lord and this language is not simply in colasse but the entirety of the church that's Paul's point in 1 Corinthians 12:12 Christ is the head of the entire church globally and that's who we want as head this this captures or this sort of comprehends a number of things one of the things is in etern uh in eternity with respect to the Covenant of redemption that he would be the head of the church and savior of the elect so this is something that was true with respect to the Eternal decree that Christ would in due time be the mediator of God's elect and the head of the church it comprehends his spirit and grace and the fact that he rules in the hearts of his people we have Christ as the head of the church and he Rules by by Grace by Mercy by his Spirit he governs us he has our hearts in his Sovereign grip and he he rules our hearts not as some sort of tyrannical head not as some sort of tyrannical leader but as that blessed savior whose yoke is easy and whose yoke is light who loves his people who loves even his Brethren they're called in the book of Hebrews so he is the head of the church and he is such by his spirit and Grace isn't isn't it a blessed thing that we have Christ ruling our hearts and not other people you know it's it's Christ that rules us the government is not the ruler of our heart you know the state is not the ruler of our heart other people are not the rulers of our hearts there is one ruler of our hearts Father Son and Holy Spirit and in view here particularly is the son of the Father's Love he is the head of the church and he particularly according to his meting ioral kingship is the head of the church the father this is you know something unique to the Son of God the the Trinity did not assume Humanity the divine nature did not assume Humanity it was the son of God who has the divine nature that assumed Humanity so the father is not mediatorial King and the spirit is not mediatorial King it is the Son of God by virtue of the Union of humanity to Divinity who is the mediator Al King and who has mediatorial kingship he writes the law Upon Our Hearts and enable us enables us to cheerfully comply this is what he does in the service of the church as head he writes his law Upon Our Hearts redemptively and enables us to cheerfully comply and this is what we ought to see obedience to the law as as Christians it's not a covenant of works that we must obey in order to be you know welcomed into the Bliss of Heaven the law is something that comes to the Christian and it's something that uh is used in our sanctification and we don't come begrudgingly to this to this law but we come cheerfully to obey this law because the lawgiver be or the law maker the lawgiver became the one who came to this lower Earth who obediently uh who who obeyed that law at every jot and tit and who saved us unto the fact that we might glorify by him in joyful and cheerful obedience it's a wonderful thing that in Christ in his mediatorial kingship he can enable us by his Spirit to cheerfully comply this is something that we ought to pray we're not saved by our our obedience to the law we're saved by Christ's obedience to the law that he rendered substitution arily in our place but we love that law that's an identifier of Christians according to the Apostle in uh uh John in his Epistles um first uh 1 and 2 and third John th those are identified as Christians who are such that love the law of God and Jesus Christ himself said if you love me you'll keep my Commandments but the economy if you will of the Law's obedience is such that after having been saved by amazing and Victorious Grace we are then enabled by the head of the church by virtue of the sending of his Spirit to cheerfully to joyfully comply with with the law and he protects and defends us as the head of the church we have a protector and a defender in the exalted king of kings and Lord of lords what what a blessed thing as Steve often says to to rest our head upon our pillows at night with isn't that wonderful as we close off to sleep h a a a blessed reflection would be to reflect upon the fact that Jesus Christ the exalted King protects and defend ends his people his mediatorial kingship is also seen in that he is the Chief Cornerstone notice this language in verse 18 and he is the head of the body the church who is the beginning and this this beginning probably has to do not with again being created in time of course not because the Son of God is eternal um and it probably doesn't have to do necessarily with his Incarnation but it has to do with the fact that that he is the foundation or ground of the Church of whom he is the head uh as Gil writes he is the beginning of the Church of which he is the head as Eve was for Adam so is the church from Christ you see what you see the the connection that he's drawing there Eve uh Eve was uh was created by God from out of the rib taken out of Adam we see a relationship or an analogy there with ECT to the church Christ is the head of the church in a similar fashion we are from him he is the Chief Cornerstone the apostles and Prophets uh the apostles and Prophets are the the foundation and then we are being built together uh in that particular building of the Church of Christ it's also seen his mediatorial kingship in his forerunners ship as Victor over the grave notice the language here and he is the first born from the dead he's the first born from the dead you know it's an interesting statement because there have been others prior to Jesus who have been raised from the dead in the Old Testament um but there's an an obvious distinction that we need to draw and G gil on this the the first that rose from the dead by his own power and an immortal life for though others were raised before him and by him yet not to a state of immortality the path of life to an immortal life was first shown to him as man and who also is the first fruits of them that sleep and so the pledge in Earnest of the future resurrection of the Saints and is both the efficient and exemplary cause of it the resurrection of the Dead will be by him as God and according to his own as man isn't that a beautiful statement at the end there because the Son of God being very and eternal God assumed our Humanity the reality of our future Resurrection is grounded upon Christ and his power as God and the pattern laid forth by him first in his resurrection from the dead as man he is the firstborn from the dead that is the first to resurrect the first to be raised and we would want to draw of course a Redemptive connection there that he is the firstborn to be raised from the dead as that future pattern for all of the Saints who will likewise be raised from the dead and that is the hope of Christians remember from 1 Corinthians 15 that's the hope of Christians that why would you deny the resurrection of the Dead Paul writes when Christ himself was raised from the dead if you reject the Resurrection The Future resurrection of the dead then Christ is not raised but since Christ is raised we have hope upon hopes and the the a hope that is sure and certain that our family will those in Christ our friends will those in Christ and that we will in Christ be raised from the dead in that uh on that blessed day so he is seen as the for uh his mediatorial kingship is seen in his forerunners ship as Victor over the grave and then lastly under his mediatorial kingship we want to note that it's seen in his Primacy of place in creation and the church notice verse 18 again and he is the head of the body the church who is the beginning the firstborn from the dead that in all things he may have the preeminence and this is Paul driving you know as if the the previous propositions haven't but this is Paul driving a nail into the coffin of uh the the error that was there in colasse the pervading error in colasse in all things the Son of God is to have preeminence you're not to you're not to to to worship these angels you're not to to worship and venerate particular religious luminaries you're not to exalt Saints unto a particular position where where we pray to them where we engage in some measure of a religious service to them we're not supposed to engage in any religious veneration or worship to anyone save for Father Son and Holy Spirit and particularly again in view the the Incarnate and the the Incarnate Divine Messiah and mediator of the Covenant so we have this blessed one who has Primacy of place and we noticed that this morning in a sense didn't we where we introduced Psalm 19 by talking about the scope of scripture being Christ that in all our search after the mind of God in the Holy scriptures we are to manage our inquiries according to Christ to borrow again the words of Nehemiah Cox so he is uh he has essential Divine Majesty he is the medi ioral King and notice lastly his Redemptive Excellence under this particular head it's seen in his possession of all spiritual blessings to be depense dispensed upon his people verse 19 for it pleased the father that in him all the fullness should dwell it pleased the father that in him all the fullness should dwell this doesn't pertain to his deity uh verse 9 of chapter 2 does where you can see there the uh the language for in him dwells all the fullness of the godhead bodily but this passage here in verse 19 for it pleased the father that in him all the fullness should dwell it pertains to the dispensation of spiritual blessings to his people in fact there's something that our confession touches upon in uh chapter 8 at paragraph 3 on the do doctrine of Christ notice the language here after speaking of his Incarnation we read the Lord Jesus in his human nature thus United to the Divine in the person of the son was Sanctified and Anointed with the Holy Spirit above measure having in him all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge in whom it pleased the father that all the fullness should dwell so this language has to do with his assumed Humanity the the bestowing of the spirit upon him without measure and then the subsequent glorious dispensation of saving gifts to his people what a wonderful thing we have in Christ then that it pleased the father that in Christ all the fullness of salvific blessings would would dwell to pour out upon his people his Redemptive Excellence again is first seen in that this possession of all spiritual blessings will be dispensed upon his people and we are the again the Blessed undeserved recipients of that isn't it a wonderful thing to to read those passages such as Ephesians 1 that um you know blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the in the Heavenly places in Christ we have every spiritual blessing in the Heavenly places in Christ Our Minds can't fully comprehend that of course but we are to dwell and reflect upon it what are these spiritual blessings what are these things that we have by by virtue of Christ we have we have regeneration we have the fact that we've been brought we've been conveyed from the power of Darkness to the kingdom of the son of his love we have justification adoption that justification we have been the the recipients of God's Declaration of Innocence based upon the Perfection of Jesus Christ we have adoption we're no longer the sons of the devil we're no longer the sons of sin and iniquity but rather we are the sons of God by virtue of our Union with Lord the Lord Jesus Christ we have the blessing of sanctification we have the blessing of faith and repentance given to us that we can now unlike before Grace came to us we can now believe in the one who has created all things believe in the one who sustains all things and believe in the one who redeems elect Sinners by amazing and Victorious Grace he has Christ has the possession of the fullness of salvific blessings to dispense upon his people secondly and lastly his Redemptive Excellence is seen in the Perfection of his reconciliatory crosswork notice verse 20 and by him to reconcile all things to himself by him whether things on earth or things in heaven having made peace through the blood of his cross as Pastor Butler has said many times it's a very interesting ju deposition or statement at the end here having made peace through blood it's we don't normally think that way I mean certainly very often it's necessary through War and the shedding of blood to arrive at peace just a necessary War but we usually don't necessarily think about uh about blood and peace in the same sentence or that blood brings about about peace but we have this wonderful language here that Christ has made peace through the blood of his cross what a wonderful thing that we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ by virtue of the shedding of the savior's blood you know this is something that we are to remember it's a passage like this Christ having made peace through the blood of his cross passages like this are to fill our minds when we come to the Lord's Supper as we again meditate in the Lord's Supper not upon ourselves not Upon Our Own good works but the perfect works of Jesus Christ we don't uh reflect and you know sort of metaphorically self- flatulate ourselves because of guilt and absent ourselves from the Lord's Supper we should quickly fly to the one who is king of kings and Lord of lords who has shed his blood through the Peace of the Cross now if at the Lord's Supper you are dealing or not dealing with unrepentant sin then Paul says you are to absent yourself but all this to say that at the Lord's Supper don't be stolen away and taken away by self-loathing Christ has died for sinners you are to come back to passages like this have the joy of your salvation return to you and reflect upon the the fact that Christ has made peace through the blood of his cross his Redemptive Excellence is seen in the Perfection of his reconciliatory crosswork and notice some interesting language here and by him to reconcile all things to himself by him whether things on earth or things in heaven it's an interesting Clause there things in in heaven um there is a reality that uh with respect to the saving work of the Lord Jesus Christ where he has confirmed elect angels in their Holiness by virtue of his saving work um you you I can point you to some resources on that particular Clause that Christ reconciled things to himself things in heaven as it touches upon um even our early uh particular Baptist forbears who dealt with a particular heretic and argued that Christ died to confirm elect angels in their Holiness but of course it was only man who sinned and it was only for man that Christ shed his blood we have this blessed reality of the Redemptive Excellence of the Lord Jesus Christ our divine magistrate our mediatorial King and notice as we close here thirdly and lastly and very briefly the proclamation of that champion as the intent of Revelation notice in verses 28 and 29 with all that we've covered in a in a very short time in view him we preach warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus to this end I also labor striving according to his working which works in me mightily this Christ who has unmitigated Divine Majesty this Christ who has mediator kingship this Christ who rendered Redemptive Excellence it is him that we preach and it is him that we confess and it is him that the church ought to be preaching Sunday upon Sunday not a not a low and a denigrated Christ that is being propagated even amongst our own ranks in the Reformed Church but a high and lifted up Christ who has again unmitigated Divine Majesty equality with the father who is infinity Eternal and unchangeable in all of his glorious Perfections just like father and spirit because they are of one Essence eternity and power and he is the one who assumed our Humanity as we think about the the the reality of God and his immensity his immutability the fact that he is a most pure Spirit without body parts and passions he is most glorious uh you know not even as the as Solomon would say the not even the heavens of Heavens can contain him the the Blessed God that we confess this God in the person of the son condescended to assume our Humanity that language we we use a lot it's very important language but the Incarnation Is So Glorious because without the Incarnation without his taking on of our nature we are not saved we are outside of Salvation and you'll see the writers in the New Testament dealing with a particular error that rejected that Christ Has Come In the Flesh that's a damnable heresy according to the Bible and so our blessed contemplations our sweet Recollections about Christ always have to do of course with his deity and then we move in gloring to the fact that that one who is infinite Eternal and unchangeable assumed our Humanity came into this lower shame and saved his people from their sins we are to preach this Christ him we preach he is the center sum and substance of proper Christian Proclamation he is the content of wholesome instruction he is the one in whom and to whom we are conformed notice the language here in verse 29 uh or excuse me verse 28 warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus this like language it doesn't pertain to sinlessness uh or you know that you know a sinless uh Holiness it has to do with maturity it has to do with being complete uh it has to do with being instructed in the context with regards to the knowledge of Christ we are as Christians to seek to be perfect again not sinlessly perfect because that won't come until the escaton until we we go to emanuel's land but that language is used by the apostles uh in Hebrews 5 and we'll we'll this will be the last Bible verse that we read and then we will close but notice as Christians as we have tonight reflected upon the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ in only a brief time we want to be such as who are complete or mature in our knowledge of Christ notice Hebrews 5 beginning at verse 12 the Apostle Paul deals with this for though by this time you ought to be teachers you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the Oracles of God and you have come to need milk and not solid food for everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness for he is a babe but solid food belongs to those who are of full age that is those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil this language of solid food belongs to those are of full age is a a a synonymous match if you will of this language of being presented perfect in Christ Jesus we are to know this Christ we are not to be stolen away by these colasse Heretics if you will who are seeking to bring Christ down as if it could be possible from his throne but we are to observe to recognize to glory in a high and exalted Christ who is very God and very man the only mediator between God and man let's glory in our precious savior as we go go into a season where sometimes you know the spiritually ambiguous out there in the world seem to have their minds drawn to this babe wrapped in swaddling cloth lying in a Manger let's fill our minds with the doctrine of Christ a knowledge of Christ so that we can speak to them the good things of that Christ the truth concerning the King of Kings and the Lord of lords let's pray Heavenly Father we thank you for your word to us we thank you for your Revelation to the sons of men we rejoice in what discloses concerning our savior the Lord Jesus Christ we do pray help us to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of him our savior we pray that you would help us to uh to cheerfully and joyfully approach the scriptures uh unto the end that we might might know more of our savior do help us in this by your spirit help us now to go into this week I I pray that you'd help us to uh to live our lives in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ having been saved by Amazing Grace help us to shine as lights in this crooked and perverse generation and to hold forth your word of truth it's in the name of Jesus Christ that we pray amen well uh you can uh uh I switched I did I switch the hymn this morning I just noticed that now okay so this evening then we can sing the doxology 568 let's sing 568 Praise Him All Creatures PR him praise Father Son and Holy now may the God of Peace who brought up our lord Jesus from the dead that great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the Everlasting Covenant make you complete in every good work to do his will working in you what is well pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom be glory forever and ever amen well please be seated we'll have a brief time of prayer and then you're dismissed after the piano is finished