"THOSE WHO WILL APPEAR WITH CHRIST IN GLORY"
October 10, 1999 pm
Michael F. Blume
Colossians 2:20 Wherefore if ye be
dead
with Christ…
Colossians 2:12 Buried with him in baptism,
wherein also ye are risen with him…
Colossians 3:1 If ye then be risen with
Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on
the right hand of God.
Colossians 3:2 Set your affection on things
above, not on things on the earth.
Colossians 3:3 For ye are dead, and your life
is
hid with Christ in God.
Colossians 3:4 When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
God planted a Garden one day.
Genesis 2:8 And the LORD God planted
a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
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After going into some explanatory detail of what we just read in that verse,
we read this reiterating that basic thought of putting man in a Garden.
Genesis 2:15 And the LORD God took the man,
and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
Man was put into the Garden to be a HUSBANDMAN.
Form that statement we realize that the duty of a husbandman is to KEEP
whatever he is given authority over.
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This idea of man being a husbandman is continued throughout the entire
Bible.
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It is so often repeated that we know there is a MAJOR issue we are dealing
with when we refer to a Harvest and the Fruit the Lord desires to obtain.
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God put a husbandman in the Garden in order to see that husbandman produce
in that Garden what God intended it to produce.
The Bible tells us that Christians are to bring forth fruit.
Jesus referred to this principle in a parable:
Luke 13:6-9 He spake also this parable;
A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought
fruit thereon, and found none. Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard,
Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find
none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? And he answering said unto
him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and
dung it: And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt
cut it down.
Jesus ministered to Israel for three years and in the last year, He bore
down hard on the Jews to repent of their sins and serve God in faith.
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In that fourth year they crucified Him.
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Israel never did bring forth fruit to God.
Jesus said the identical thought Paul noted in Colossians.
John 15:1-3 I am the true vine, and
my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit
he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that
it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which
I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot
bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except
ye abide in me.
In Christ we are complete.
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We must stay in Him, or ABIDE IN HIM, to bear fruit to Him one day.
Will we as individuals produce the fruit that the Lord seeks us to produce,
so that we will be ready when the day of Harvest comes.
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The Church will do it as a whole.
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But the question is, Will you be a part of that Church? and part of the
ones who render fruit to God?
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Every single one of us must concern ourselves with whether or not we will
bear fruit to the Lord.
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As Jesus said in John 15, he is the vine and we are the branches.
If we do not bear fruit we will be cut off and cast away.
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I WANT TO BEAR THE FRUIT THAT HE WANTS ME TO BEAR.
What is the fruit for?
We are in the Garden.
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The master seeks to obtain His fruit.
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Phil 1:11 Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are
by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.
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The fruits are righteousness which come by Jesus Christ.
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They give glory to God.
Song 7:12 Let us get up early to the vineyards;
let us see if the vine flourish, whether the tender grape appear, and the
pomegranates bud forth: there will I give thee my loves.
Where we produce fruit for the Lord, there is where God grants us wonderful
depths in the Spirit and heavy anointing.
John 15:8 Herein is my Father glorified,
that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
This is talking about FRUIT THAT BRINGS GLORY TO GOD.
A life that brings total praise and Glory to God and God alone is a
life that is bearing the fruit that He is coming for.
Don’t miss that point!!
This is the whole point of telling us we MUST bring forth fruit.
It is FRUIT OF GIVING TOTAL GLORY TO GOD.
The reason Jesus said we must ABIDE IN HIM so that we will bear much fruit
is because the GOSPEL was set in such a way as to totally give glory to
God if you obey it.
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There is not one jot or tittle that allows you to glory in yourself in
the Gospel.
Ephesians 2:8-10 For by grace are ye saved
through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Not
of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained
that we should walk in them.
We spoke last week and this morning about the need Adam had to KEEP THE
GARDEN.
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What God did in the Garden was very good.
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All that the Lord provided for Adam was all that Adam would ever need.
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He made the trees good for food and pleasant to the sight.
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Adam was complete in the Garden.
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And He simply had to KEEP it that way.
Satan came along and offered Eve a tree’s fruit that not only was good
for food and pleasant to the sight, like the others trees God provided,
but also had one additional ingredient.
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It was able to make one wise.
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Satan tempted Eve to ADD to what God provided for her and Adam.
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But God told Adam to KEEP it the way God made it.
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Satan knew that by ADDING one small addition to what God provided, man
would lose out with God.
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IT WOULD ROB GOD OF PRAISE.
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That single addition was something that would cause man to exalt himself.
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And every addition to what God has provided to his people will be additions
that cause us to remove glory from God onto ourselves.
Being GODLY glorifies God.
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But being gods, glorifies ourselves.
God wanted us to be GODLY, not to become GODS.
The Gospel is set up in such a way by God that all glory will go to
Him if we get saved AND KEEP IT THE WAY GOD SAVED US.
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As Adam was to KEEP the Garden, we are to KEEP OURSELVES.
If we keep the Gospel the way it is, then we will not have to worry about
being one who gives glory to God when he comes.
When you are saved, there is no more work to be done so far as being
saved goes.
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You cannot be more saved than what you were when first saved.
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You can lose that salvation, but you cannot become more saved than being
saved.
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Your robes are white as snow when you are saved.
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You are as righteous as Jesus Christ, because He gave you His righteousness
when you were saved.
BUT YOU HAVE TO KEEP IT THAT WAY.
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DON’T THINK THAT YOU HAVE TO BECOME RIGHTEOUS after you are saved.
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You have been fooled to ADD to what God did.
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The only changing there will be after we are saved, is simply ESTABLISHING
OURSELVES IN WHAT GOD DID FOR US, so we cannot be convinced to add anything.
You have been given the same instructions that God gave Adam.
Right before Paul told about how we are saved by grace, he said:
Ephesians 2:5-7 Even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are
saved;) And hath raised [us] up together, and made us sit together in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the
exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ
Jesus.
In the ages to come after this age is over, God will display us who gave
glory to Him alone, and through our lives, all angels and all beings will
see a side of God they never knew existed.
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We will glorify God.
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HIS GRACE will be shown to be so exceedingly rich.
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All will see that THROUGH THE KINDNESS TOWARD US THROUGH JESUS.
But we have to live lives down here that give glory to Him.
Genesis 2:15 And the LORD God took
the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
Paul made his mind up to preach the Gospel that alone gives Jesus glory.
1 Corinthians 2:2 For I determined
not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
THAT GIVES GLORY TO GOD IN SAYING CHRIST’S DEATH ALONE SAVES YOU.
We are God’s HUSBANDRY.
1 Corinthians 3:9 For we are labourers
together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building.
As Jesus is both the Good shepherd, the lamb of God and the door to the
sheepfold, we are the husbandmen and the husbandry.
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Paul said we are both a husbandry and a building of God.
1 Corinthians 3:10-11 According to the
grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid
the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed
how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that
is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Paul said that there needs to be concern over what is built upon this foundation.
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There is the FOUNDATION and then the UPPER STRUCTURE.
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THE UPPER STRUCTURE MUST COMPLEMENT THE FOUNDATION.
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The house that is built must have a foundation.
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If it doesn’t, then all the church-attendance and all the Bible reading
(UPPER STRUCTURE OF THE HOUSE IS SUCH THINGS) is going to be tainted with
worship of self.
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Because there is no foundation beneath us of CHRIST CRUCIFIED.
James said that with patience we, like husbandmen, WAIT FOR THE COMING
OF THE LORD.
James 5:7-8 Be patient therefore,
brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for
the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he
receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts:
for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
After the seeds are sown and the field is planted, storms will come.
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The fruit and vegetables you have in your home, came from plants that have
weathered the storms and finally produced.
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Their farmers had long patience for those fruit to come.
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They tended those fruit and made sure that nothing that would damage those
fruit would occur to them.
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They safeguarded that fruit.
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They fertilized it.
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They are the products of SUCCESSFUL HUSBANDMEN.
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James addressed persecutors who killed the just, when he then turned to
the believers and told them to be patient.
James 5:10-11 Take, my brethren, the prophets,
who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction,
and of patience. Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard
of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord
is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.
The harvest is a while after the sowing has occurred.
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We will reap if we faint not.
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PATIENCE.
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We will face storms, but we need to keep tending our gardens no matter
what.
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We need to look ahead to the great day of the Harvest and stay encouraged.
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Don’t let the enemy sidetrack your mind away from that more important issue.
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Don’t look at the storm, look at the future harvest.
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And when James said be patient, he said ESTABLISH YOUR HEARTS FOR THE COMING
OF THE LORD DRAWETH NIGH.
Jeremiah 4:1-4 If thou wilt return, O Israel,
saith the LORD, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations
out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove. And thou shalt swear, The
LORD liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations
shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory. For thus saith
the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground,
and sow not among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away
the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem:
lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because
of the evil of your doings.
Why circumcise your hearts?
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Because that is accomplished through baptism into Jesus and that is obedience
to the Gospel (Rom. 2:29)
Romans 2:29 But he is a Jew, which is one
inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not
in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
It gives glory to God and it causes praise from God and acceptance from
God.
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Man might not praise me up for being saved, but God highly honours it.
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And I’d rather please God than man.
Get rock-solid on the rock.
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The upper structure of the houses on Rock complement the foundation.
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We are saved and on the Rock.
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We must CONTINUE IN THE faith (Col. 1:23) with a determination that complements
the foundation you are on.
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Rock Solid faith on a rock solid foundation.
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The walls that we must throw up around us on the this rock are walls that
withstand fire and heat.
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GOLD, SILVER AND PRECIOUS STONES.
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These cannot burn.
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They’re not ORGANIC – FLESHLY.
1 Corinthians 3:12-14 Now if any man build
upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it,
because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's
work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon,
he shall receive a reward.
We died with Christ.
Colossians 2:20 Wherefore if ye
be dead with Christ…
We are buried with Him.
Colossians 2:12 Buried with him
in baptism,…
And risen with Him.
Colossians 2:12 wherein also ye
are risen with Him through the faith of the operation of
God, who hath raised him from the dead.
Colossians 3:1 If ye then be risen with
Christ…
We are more!
Seated with Him!
Colossians 3:1 seek those things which
are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
AND MORE!
Colossians 3:3 For ye are dead,
and your life is hid with Christ in God.
WE ARE HID WITH CHRIST IN GOD. Colossians lists all these things
we have experienced WITH CHRIST.
1. Dead with Him.
2. Buried with Him.
3. Risen with Him.
4. Seated with Him.
5. HID WITH HIM IN GOD.
But there is something that we have not yet experienced with Him, and
we must make sure we do experience with Him.
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· It has not happened yet, so we have not experienced it yet.
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· But when it does, so long as we are STILL WITH HIM AND IN HIM
we will experience this also with Him.
Colossians 3:4 When Christ, who is
our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him
in glory.
WE SHALL APPEAR WITH HIM. We are hidden with Him now in God.
But that state of hiding is going to change.
We are hidden from the world’s view as being RIGHT.
They laugh at us, and wonder if we’re right and some of them join us and
believe we are right in the Gospel.
But FOR THE MOST PART, WE ARE HIDDEN.
Our true identity in Christ is hidden.
The world thinks no more of us than any other religion right now.
But all that will change.
When Christ APPEARS, and is REVEALED to all the world, WE SHALL APPEAR
WITH HIM.
The world will then KNOW JESUS IS the WAY.
We shall appear with HIM IN GLORY.
Be preserved blameless… KEEP THE BLAMELESSNESS that we received when Christ
first saved us, until the day the Lord comes when He is revealed.
Paul told the Thessalonians in the second letter the same point.
2 Thessalonians 1:10 When he shall
come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that
believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.
He will come and be glorified in the lives of the saints.
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The lives of those He comes for will be a total giving of glory to God.
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The rapture is not simply occurring because of our need to escape the world.
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About the same time as the rapture occurs, we will appear with Jesus to
all the world as we return to this world with Him.
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And the ones with Him will be those who dedicated their all to Him.
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Everyone they knew in the world knew they glorified God.
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They put God first.
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They refrained from sin for the sake of being people whose lives glorify
God.
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And Jesus will be glorified even more when He appears WITH THEM.
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Do you think He is going to have people at His side when He appears who
were hypocrites and liars and half-hearted christians?
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NO.
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The ones who were dedicated to Him will be at His side.
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The ones totally committed to Him.
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Those who did all He asked them to do, and took every opportunity to help
the church go forward in this world will be the ones whose lives were known
to be godly in this world.
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And when they appear with Him, people will recall these people’s lives.
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And people will remember their lives as they see them with Christ.
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And they will remember the dedication these people had, and WILL KNOW THAT
JESUS IS INDEED HOLY as these people really said He was.
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And God will be glorified in them.
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They ensured they KEPT what GOD DID and did not add to it anything that
would remove glory from God.
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They knew God provided all they would ever need in Christ when He first
saved them and put them in Him.
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And they established themselves in that fact.
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Paul sought to present every person he preached to perfect in Christ.
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Rooted in Him.
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Persuaded that God alone did the work necessary to saving them.
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And as a minister, I have a tremendous responsibility of preaching truths
that will be like RAIN AND LATTER RAIN to you, the crops that must produce
fruit.
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I have to make sure I preach messages that will cause you to remove any
glorying you might have in yourself.
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To repent of self-glory and live lives that praise Jesus alone.
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And THAT type of preaching will establish you in the faith that God did
all the work.
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The faith of …
Colossians 1:13 Who hath delivered us from
the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom
of his dear Son:
Colossians 1:14 In whom we have redemption
through his blood, …
Colossians 1:17 And he is before all
things, and by him all things consist.
Colossians 1:20 And, having made peace
through the blood of his cross,
Colossians 1:21 yet now hath he reconciled
Colossians 1:22 In the body of his flesh
through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable
in his sight:
Colossians 1:23 If ye continue in the faith
grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel,
The True Thanksgiving Day will be the Day when Jesus appears and our lives
have been totally based upon WHAT HE DID to save us, and a refusal to add
to anything that He did.
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We did not yield to the temptation to USE JESUS to show ourselves off,
as though we were so good and so holy.
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We hated the very thoughts of WANTING people to glory in us since it is
that much glory that will be removed from Jesus.
Philippians 3:7 But what things were gain
to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
We will have brought forth fruit of total glory to Jesus.
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THAT is the fruit of the harvest He is coming for.