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Crosswords, Search and Find (Col 4:2-6)
40 Plays2 years ago
Colossians: The Preeminence of Christ
Sunday Message recorded 25 September 2023
by Pastor Victor Morrison
First Baptist Church -- Columbus TX
1700 Milam St.
Columbus, TX, USA 78934
Recommended
Transcript
The Supremacy of Christ: An Introduction
00:00:06
Speaker
Thank you, Marcia and team. It's good to see Mindy and Queenstar up here today. So thank you all so much for leading us in worship. You know, the theme of the Book of Colossians is the supremacy of Christ, how great he is. Chapters one and two lead us on this examination of his supremacy.
Expressing Supremacy in Daily Life
00:00:28
Speaker
And it's like a doctrinal study. They're lifting up Christ and saying, this is who he is.
00:00:35
Speaker
But then when you go into chapters three and four in this morning, we're going to be in chapter four. Can you believe it? We're already coming near the end of this wonderful book of the Bible called Colossians. But in chapters three and four, it's like, how do we express his supremacy in our daily lives? I think that's an important thing to consider.
Christ's Supremacy in Church and Family
00:00:56
Speaker
And so that's why when you get into chapter three, the first 17 verses would speak about displaying him
00:01:04
Speaker
to your church family. But then when you get into chapter three, verses 18 to 21, you would see how we can display Christ in our family.
00:01:16
Speaker
Then chapter three, verses 22, all the way into chapter four, verse one, how can I display Christ at work on the job?
Displaying Christ Through Words
00:01:25
Speaker
But today we're going to look at chapter four, verses two through six. And I believe we're going to look at how to display Christ through our words. Dear words, speak of the greatness of God. Dear words,
00:01:40
Speaker
lift him up and exalt him. Actually, you know what? It's not just the book of Colossians.
The Bible as a 'Crossword'
00:01:46
Speaker
It's the whole book of the Bible, the whole Bible, Old Testament, New Testament. It's all pointing to the greatness and the goodness of the Lord.
00:01:57
Speaker
You could almost call the Bible the crosswords because it's pointing to the cross. And once we go through the cross and through the resurrection, it's pointing back to the cross and saying, look what he did for us. And so that's what they're going to be singing about in heaven. But Luke had it right when he said that the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost.
00:02:21
Speaker
If you don't have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ today, I've got great news.
00:02:27
Speaker
He's looking for you. He's been searching for you. He loves you more than you can ever imagine. He went to the cross to die in your place, in my place. That's how greatly he loves us.
The Power of the Tongue
00:02:41
Speaker
But when I think about how to express his love, his greatness, his supremacy through my words, I think about the tongue, the tongue.
00:02:53
Speaker
Do you know that the tongue is actually mentioned in over 120 passages? I believe that learning how to control our conversation is a vital part of Christian growth and development.
00:03:09
Speaker
Sometimes we say, hey, I know Christ, I'm a Christian. But then you hear someone talk through the week and you're saying, I'm not sure you quite are growing in Christ just yet. But I was thinking about this whole idea of crosswords. And I thought, I wonder if Americans enjoy crossword games or word games and so forth.
Word Games and Taming the Tongue
00:03:30
Speaker
And I couldn't believe what I read.
00:03:32
Speaker
You know, just to keep our brains sharp, there's a Forbes article that was written May of this year that says one of three Americans play this word game called Wordle every single day. They average 12 minutes a day. If you put it all together, that'd be three full days every year they spend on that game. But it's not just that game.
00:03:56
Speaker
There's a variety of word games. There's all kind of apps like Wordscapes, Words with Friends, Pick the Word, Word Cookies, those of you who like to bake. There's Alpha, Omega, and then of course the old favorites, Crosswords, Gravel, Wheel of Fortune, and so forth. But you know what the greatest puzzle, the greatest word puzzle is? How can we get control?
00:04:21
Speaker
of our speech. You ever say something and say, oh Lord, I wish I hadn't have said that. I wish I could take that back. Well, I think that the Lord can show us how Jesus can tame the tongue.
00:04:34
Speaker
You know, the US Navy, a few years ago, trained a dolphin named Tuffy to deliver mail and to deliver tools to a sea lab. Sea lab two submerged 205 feet below the surface, just off the coast of San Diego. So they'd say, go take it down to sea lab. And he'd nod, and they'd give him the little bag that he'd take it down there. And I just thought, that's amazing.
00:04:59
Speaker
And then you think about a big animal, like let's say Brooklyn Supreme. Brooklyn Supreme was a 3,200 pound Belgian stallion that stood over 19 hands tall. But do you know what would lead Brooklyn Supreme around? A two pound bit in his mouth. Isn't that amazing? I want you to listen to what James under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit said about the mouth.
Christ's Power to Tame the Tongue
00:05:24
Speaker
He said, for we all stumble in many ways, and if anyone does not stumble in what he says, well, he's a perfect man, meaning mature man, able also to bridle his whole body. For every kind of beast and bird of reptile and sea creature can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil full of deadly poison.
00:05:54
Speaker
If there's anything that's needed this day and time, it's teaching and instruction, kind of strengthening the believers. How should we be speaking in this toxic world in which we're living? But did you notice who was missing from James's comment? James said, no human being can tame the tongue. He wasn't talking about Jesus. He wasn't talking about the supremacy of the Lord because
00:06:22
Speaker
The incompetency and the impotency of humanity does not limit the supremacy of Christ. Christ can tame the tongue. Maybe you've heard about a revival from the past. You know, Joshua's asking us to pray for revival in our community.
The Welsh Revival and Changed Lives
00:06:41
Speaker
But there was a revival in 1904, 1905 in a place called Wales. The Welsh revival was powerful. Holy Spirit was moving in such a great way men's lives were changing.
00:06:52
Speaker
As a matter of fact, the coal miners were changed so much, they had to get some new mules to help haul that coal out of there. You know why? Because those coal miners were no longer using profanity. They were no longer yelling at the mule. They were saying, come on now, mule, don't make me lose my temper now. I'm a Christian now. And they were wanting to lead those mules out of there, but they were saying, nope, I don't know who you are anymore.
00:07:18
Speaker
such a change in their lives. Well, I want you to look at Colossians 4, 2 through 6, and I want us to see how is it that we can have direction from Scripture on our conversation.
Colossians 4:2-6: Gracious Speech
00:07:31
Speaker
Would you stand in honor of God's inerrant, infallible word? It says in Colossians chapter 4, verses 2 through 6, continue steadfastly in prayer.
00:07:42
Speaker
being watchful in it with thanksgiving, at the same time pray also for us that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison, that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak, walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time.
00:08:10
Speaker
Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. Let's go to the Father in prayer. Lord, speak to us today. I think all of us struggle with our tongue. All of us have a struggle on how to manage our mouths. And so give us some direction today. Lord, use the word of God. It wasn't just written for Paul's day and James's day.
00:08:40
Speaker
Your word's written for our day as well. And so Lord, thank you for this. So give us some direction and we'll listen and we'll try our best to apply this with the help of your Holy Spirit and with the Lordship of Jesus Christ. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thank you. You may be seated.
00:08:57
Speaker
Well, I think this passage points the disciple of Jesus in the right direction with five directives. So let's look at those together real quick. The first directive is that we would use our words to watch and pray.
Choosing Prayer Over Grumbling
00:09:12
Speaker
to watch and pray. You know, verses two, three, and four, it mentions that word pray a lot. It mentions that word watch a lot. You know what comes natural? What comes natural is what the children of Israel did when God set them free from Egypt. When they were coming out of Egypt, when it got uncomfortable, when there were things they didn't like, you know what it says they did? They murmured. They grumbled. As a matter of fact, the word grumble is mentioned in Exodus six times and mentioned in Numbers
00:09:42
Speaker
eight times. Are you ever tempted to just grumble? But you're not praying, all you're doing is grumbling. Do you know that in John chapter six, I called that, I wrote in my Bible, this is the commencement from the school of complaining. And so some people got a degree in being disgruntled and they're saying, hey, I don't like it. And yet all the time,
00:10:04
Speaker
The word of God says in Philippians 2.14, do all things without grumbling and disputing. He's talking to us, to Christians, to those who have said, I'm gonna follow Jesus Christ. And so what is a better choice than grumbling? I would submit to you, it's praying. Pray, talk to the one who can do something about it. And so I thought, okay, let's see what he says. He says first, continue steadfastly in prayer.
00:10:33
Speaker
I think he's referring when he says, continue steadfastly in prayer. I think he's speaking about the priority of prayer. Do you know, one day, a long time ago, there was a man named Daniel, and he loved to pray, and there was a law, and they said, you know what, you're
The Importance of Steadfast Prayer
00:10:50
Speaker
outlawed. You cannot pray anymore. So he just opened up his windows the way he always did, get some fresh air in there, and he just got down on his knees in the privacy of his own place. He just kept praying.
00:11:01
Speaker
and they arrested him for it, but Daniel was devoted to prayer. The disciples were devoted to prayer. If you were to look in Acts chapter one, verse 14, Acts chapter two, verse 42, Acts chapter six and verse four, over and over again.
00:11:16
Speaker
What are they saying? They're saying they were devoted to prayer. Would you say that's how God would describe your commitment to prayer? Is prayer a priority for you? Or would you say, no, I'd rather go on social media and just vent. I would rather go on social media and just complain. I understand that. It's natural. But all God's word is trying to tell us, there's something better. There's something more effective to do with your mouth. And that is talk to God. He can do amazing things.
00:11:46
Speaker
You know, I think another thing it says here is being watchful in it. I think speaking about persistence. You know, if you ever said, I tried prayer, it didn't work. Did you keep praying? You know, that word being watchful means alert, awake, persistent. Jesus taught two parables on the persistence of prayer.
00:12:09
Speaker
You know, Luke 11 and Luke 18, they both have these parables where Jesus is saying, you know what? Prayer is like a friend. Someone comes to his house. They want to spend the night with him. He doesn't have anything to serve him. So he goes to his friend's house and he keeps knocking on the door. And the friend says, look, I'm already in bed. We've already shut down for the night, but he won't stop.
00:12:34
Speaker
He just keeps on knocking. So then there's another one in there in Luke 18 where it's this unrighteous judge. And there's this widow that keeps on coming and keeps on coming. And is God like that? No, He's not like that. And that's the whole purpose of it. Man is like that. Man can get stubborn, but God is not stubborn. As a matter of fact, there's a man named Richard Trench. Listen to what he says about prayer. Listen closely to each word. Richard Trench says prayer
00:13:03
Speaker
is not overcoming God's reluctance. Prayer is laying hold of his willingness. Isn't that something? Have you really stayed in there with prayer?
00:13:15
Speaker
If we stay in there with prayer, we would understand he is willing, but he's not a drive through window. We're wanting to spend one minute, two minutes a day. Hey Lord, I really need you. And God said, I want us to hang out. I want us to spend time together. I made you. I know the purpose that I have for your life.
00:13:33
Speaker
Sometimes we just need partners for prayer, and we see that right here as well. Look at verse three. At the same time, pray also for us that God may open to us a door for the
Prayer's Power to Open Doors
00:13:45
Speaker
Word. You see what he's saying? Paul is writing to the people in Colossae, and he's saying, look, I need your prayers.
00:13:52
Speaker
Have you ever, have you ever asked anyone to pray for you with all that heavy load that's coming down on your life? That's what the church family is for, is to pray for one another just like Esther. She didn't know if the door would be open.
00:14:08
Speaker
Whenever her uncle Mordecai was saying, go in there and talk to the king, and she's saying, if the king doesn't call me, I can't go see him on my own. And Mordecai says, well, the Jewish people are going to perish. And so she says, okay, if I'm going to go in there for three days, I want you all to fast and pray for me before I go in there.
00:14:29
Speaker
Have you got a big decision coming up? Is there something huge in your life, something that's overpowering you? You need God's power. And that's what I think is also clear in these words. Why should you pray? Why should you watch? Why not just go ahead and vent, you know, somewhere to somebody? Well, I'll tell you why, because God can open a door.
00:14:51
Speaker
It says here, pray, why pray? That God may open to us a door for the word. And so I'm thinking, thank you, Lord, for the power of the word. Do you know if you were to look in Acts chapter one, verse 14, there's 120 Christians gathered in a room. And you know what they're doing? They're praying. It says they're devoted to prayer. You know what happens in Acts chapter two, the very next chapter? 3,000 people.
00:15:19
Speaker
decide I'm going to follow Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. What happened between that? The power. The power of the Holy Spirit was poured out on the body of Christ that day. Why? Because they were praying. They were saying, God, we need your power. And God gave power. And man, it was amazing. I wonder how many people would be saved this year between now and the end of this year.
00:15:44
Speaker
If we prayed, if we prayed together, all of us, if we, rather than just complaining about things, if we said, God, I'm gonna talk to you about things, because you can open doors. Well, that's the first directive, but there's a second directive that I see here also in verse two. Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. How about that directive, thanksgiving?
Paul's Gratitude in Imprisonment
00:16:09
Speaker
You know, before we discuss how this guy was worshipping, how he was giving thanks, and so forth, I just want to remind you, where was he? What would be a description of his accommodations? Well, if you were to look in this chapter alone, you would say, oh, wait a minute, I forgot about that.
00:16:29
Speaker
In verse three, it talks about he is in prison. He said, I am in prison in verse three, right? If you look in verse 10, he says, Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner greets you. So he's also in prison. And then you keep on reading down there, and he says, at the very last verse, I, Paul, writing this greeting with my own hand, remember my chains.
00:16:54
Speaker
You see, he wasn't comfortable. He wasn't sitting in a coffee shop enjoying a cappuccino or a latte. He wasn't just hanging out and saying, you know what, life is so good. It was really tough on him. And yet in that circumstance, there he is. And he's saying, you know what?
00:17:12
Speaker
I think we ought to be thankful. And I'm thinking, wow, how did he do that? I believe that only happens through the power of God, the supremacy of Christ, through the filling of the Holy Spirit, through the word of God as we're reoriented to the way we're supposed to live. And we're thinking, oh, Lord, forgive me. I've been keying off of society. I haven't been keying off of your word. Because here he says, I need to keep alert in my prayer and be watchful with Thanksgiving.
00:17:42
Speaker
You know, just a reminder, okay? Do you remember the recurring gratitude in this letter? If you were to go back to chapter one, verse three, to chapter one, verse 12, to chapter two, verse seven, chapter three, verse 15, chapter three, verse 17, and now again in chapter four, verse two, six times, this man in prison, it's miserable in there. What is he doing? He's saying, God, you have been so good to me.
00:18:10
Speaker
You have been so gracious to me. I'm so thankful. Do you know that Revelation gives us, it's like it pulls back the curtains and it shows us what are they doing in heaven?
Giving Thanks for God's Supremacy
00:18:21
Speaker
What will we be doing in heaven? You know what it says in Revelation 7 12, we'll be doing in heaven.
00:18:27
Speaker
We're going to be giving thanks. We're going to be giving thanks in heaven. You know what we're going to be giving thanks for? The supremacy, the supremacy of the Father, the supremacy of the Son, supremacy of the Holy Spirit. We're going to be saying how great you are that all along you were great and you were working out your wonderful plan.
00:18:48
Speaker
I don't know about you, but I look at Paul's life. I look at the standard of scripture and I think to myself, you know what? It's pretty hard to gripe and to grumble and to complain and so forth to go through your life that way when you're centered
00:19:03
Speaker
on the greatness of God and the goodness of God and the grace of God and the glory of God. Whenever you're focused on those things, I think it's pretty hard to say, man, woe is me. Life is so pitiful. It's so hard. It's so difficult. There's a third directive.
00:19:23
Speaker
Before we look at it, I just want to say it is natural to want to give a zinger, isn't it? It's natural to not want to give thanks, to not want to pray. Maybe you've read in history about the British Prime Minister of the past named Winston Churchill.
00:19:41
Speaker
There was a member of the British Parliament named Lady Astor, and they had sort of an ongoing feud. You ever have an ongoing feud? It's like they say something ugly to you, you say something ugly back to them. Well, Lady Astor started this one by saying to Winston Churchill, if I were your wife, I'd put arsenic in your tea. Churchill responded, if I were your husband, I'd drink it.
00:20:10
Speaker
There's something that makes you feel good when you got a zinger like that one, you know. But really, we should keep giving God thanks and we should say, Lord, thank you so much. But what about speaking God's word out of your mouth? Has anybody ever heard you say a scripture? Has anybody ever heard you point to Christ? Has anybody ever heard you do what is called edify? You know that word edify, you know what it means?
00:20:38
Speaker
Edify comes from the construction field, and it's a term that means build up. It's a term that means establish. And Ephesians 4.29 says, you know what, I should let worthless words come out of my mouth. Ephesians 4.29, I shouldn't let worthless words come out of my mouth, but only words that build others up.
00:21:02
Speaker
only words that are constructive, not destructive. Wouldn't you agree that in our society right now, we need more constructive words than destructive words? Amen. Amen. We got an amen to that one. You know, we need to remember that the body of Christ is all about equipping.
Constructive vs. Destructive Words
00:21:21
Speaker
The body of Christ is all about edifying this building up. And 1 Thessalonians 5, 11 says, encourage one another, build one another.
00:21:31
Speaker
But what will close the door? He's saying, I'm praying God will open a door so that I can say something constructive, so that I can say something that God has written, so that I can say something that's going to make you stronger, not weaker in your life. But what kind of things close doors rather than open doors? All of us know what toxic people are like. It's hard out there in the real world. I'm not saying I'm pretending here. In the real world, you'll find people lying.
00:22:01
Speaker
You'll find people using profanity. You'll find people angry and yelling. You'll find people complaining and criticizing. You'll find people gossiping. But all I'm saying is that doesn't open a door. That doesn't build anyone up. What we are to be saying is, Lord, open a door so that I can say something that will redirect people toward the Lord Jesus Christ.
00:22:25
Speaker
But I know, I know it's hard, it's hard. Some people may not ever get it. Some people may be like this epithet that someone noticed in a cemetery in England. It was for a lady named Arabella Young. I don't know Arabella Young. I've never known her. She's already passed away. But here's what was written on her tombstone.
00:22:45
Speaker
Beneath this stone, a lump of clay lies Arabella Young, who on the 24th of May began to hold her tongue." Don't be like that, OK? Don't be like that where it's like, till your very last breath, I'm not going to tame my tongue. Let Jesus help you with that. There's a fourth directing, and that is supporting. What will support what you say?
00:23:11
Speaker
You know what I think it is? Our lives, our actions, our character. I think that those things will support whenever you've got a message to deliver. Just remember, it says right here in the context of how we use our words, it's saying walking wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time.
Actions Supporting Words
00:23:33
Speaker
I think that the basic truth here is that conversation
00:23:37
Speaker
is validated by character and conduct. Don't we say that your actions speak louder than your words? Yeah, that's exactly right. You know, if my words and my actions do not match, you know what the people around me in my life will believe? They'll believe my actions over my words. They won't believe my words. That's why all of us
00:24:02
Speaker
have got to edify one another. We gotta use our words to strengthen one another in the word of God and in the Lord Jesus Christ. We have to strengthen one another so that, so that our lives match what's coming out of our lips. That's powerful. That is huge. Christian living is a balance between the verbal and the behavioral. As a matter of fact, when I was looking at this, I thought, wow,
00:24:29
Speaker
There's two ways to strengthen our message. Our message is Christ, the supremacy of Christ that we wanna give Colorado County, we wanna give Columbus, wherever you're from, you wanna give it. So what strengthens it? Well, I see walk in wisdom toward outsiders, that's one thing, making the best use of the time, that's another thing. So what does he mean when he's saying walk in wisdom toward outsiders? I think what he's saying is, do you want your life to have an impact?
00:24:56
Speaker
Or do you not even care that your life has an impact? Do you say, I don't care if I influence anybody to follow Christ. I don't care if I influence anybody else to go to God's kingdom, to be in heaven, and so forth. But if you do care about that, then James chapter 3 verses 13 through 18 says, you need to know the difference between earthly wisdom and heavenly wisdom.
00:25:18
Speaker
earthly wisdom and heavenly wisdom. And right here in this chapter, Colossians 3, 15 through 17, I need to know the difference between before I started following Christ and the way I'm supposed to live after I follow Christ. Because my life is supposed to support and back up what I'm saying.
00:25:38
Speaker
That's why I think the second half, when he says, making the best use of your time, I think he's definitely talking about impact and influence, but I would say he's talking about what is the most important in your life.
Investing Time in Exalting Christ
00:25:51
Speaker
So you're going to have to choose to say, I'm going to use my time today. I'm going to use my time this week. I'm going to use my time the rest of my life to exalt the supremacy of Christ. I'm not going to waste my time on lesser things. And so I was thinking about, I thought, you know, God has given every one of us in this room the same exact thing.
00:26:13
Speaker
Yeah, he has. Do you know that every one of us in this room, every day, our Creator has given us 1,440 minutes every day. And so he says, there's your 1,440 minutes each one of us. So how are you going to invest? How are you going to spend those minutes each and every day?
00:26:36
Speaker
What if every minute represented a dollar? What if every minute of every day God gave you a dollar? Do you know that this year we've already had 267 days in 2023? And so I got to calculate, this is tough for a Tennessee board. We only use fingers and toes, so it was really hard. But I got my calculator out, and I thought, how many minutes would that be?
00:27:00
Speaker
You know what it would be? 384,480 minutes. That's what you've already been given this year. Everybody in this room has already been alive this year. At least that amount. 384,480 minutes. So if God were to give you that amount in dollars, I guarantee you'd be really careful how you spent those.
00:27:24
Speaker
But what about minutes, our time? That's the way we convey what's important to us. So my question is, how are you investing that? How are you investing each one of those minutes, each and every day, each and every week?
00:27:40
Speaker
Well, that's what he's saying. You ought to use it to back up what the message of your life is, your life, your lifestyle, the way you live, your attitudes, your actions, your character. All of that are to support what you're saying about the supremacy of Christ.
00:27:57
Speaker
Let me go to one last
Witnessing Christ Through Speech
00:27:58
Speaker
directive. The fifth one is to use our words to witness for Christ. You know, he says here, walking wisdom toward outsiders. Who are they? Listen, if you are not a member of First Baptist Church here in Columbus, we do not consider you an outsider. We're glad you're here.
00:28:15
Speaker
But you know what Jesus says? Jesus says that there are some people in this world who are not yet inside His kingdom. And so in Mark, I think it was chapter 4 verse 11, He said there are some people who are outside the kingdom and some people who are inside the kingdom. We want you, if you're still outside the kingdom, we want you to be inside the kingdom.
00:28:38
Speaker
If you were to go to 1 Corinthians and chapter 5 verses 11 through 12, you would see that there are some people who are outside the family of God. They're not a brother or sister in Christ, not yet. But they can be through Christ inside. And so that's our desire. We want you to come from the outside on the inside. That's truly our desire here at First Baptist Church. So if that's your desire to help other people know that,
00:29:05
Speaker
then how can we add something, just something to our speech so that people are sort of, at least then we're not gonna drive them away, we're gonna pull them forward toward Christ. Well, let me close with these last words in verse six. Let your speech always be gracious.
00:29:26
Speaker
seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. So here's the thing, why don't you add sweetness to your witness? He says that we should let our speech always be gracious.
00:29:42
Speaker
So add sweetness, but then add some seasoning, add some spice. He said, add seasoning to your witness. I think that's what he means by seasoned with salt, seasoned with salt. Salt brings out the taste. So you should be saying to people all the time, taste and see that the Lord is good. He is so good. So sweetness and seasoning, but also sensitivity.
00:30:07
Speaker
We're not going to win everybody the same exact way. Fishermen know this, right? Fishermen know you don't catch all kinds of fish the same way. What about with people? There's a different aspect of the gospel and the goodness of God that's surely going to connect with somebody out there, and you're the one that's standing there with them. Do you know that Jesus was a master? You know what I want to call these three things?
00:30:32
Speaker
Let's call them three dimensional witnessing, three dimensional witnessing because three dimensions refers to height and it refers to width and it refers to depth.
00:30:46
Speaker
So how about Jesus? He was a great one, wasn't he? He did a really good job when he was presenting the gospel, when he was trying to win others to follow him. In John chapter four, I think that Jesus used death in his witness to the Samaritan woman because most of the Jews had nothing whatsoever to do with Samaritans. That's why she was shocked. She was like, hey, look, I'm a Samaritan and I'm a woman. What are you doing talking to me?
00:31:15
Speaker
But you know what he did? He used some sweetness there when he said, I'm willing to reach across. And then there was not only John chapter four, there's John chapter eight. He added width to his witness to this woman called an adultery.
00:31:30
Speaker
And he added seasoning when he said to her, woman, who condemns you? And she looked around and all those guys that were going to throw rocks, they all dropped the rocks and walked away. And she said, nobody's left to condemn me. And you know what he said? He said, neither do I condemn you. But then he said something else, the salt.
00:31:48
Speaker
He said, go and sin no more. So her life was supposed to change because of that forgiveness, because of that, you know, change in her life. So John chapter 80 added not only depth in John 4, he added width in John 8, and he added height in John 9 when he added a special sensitivity
00:32:09
Speaker
to the man who was born blind. It was a man who was born blind and in his witness he was able to witness to that guy and draw him to faith in Christ.
00:32:19
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Listen, I need to use my words to pray.
Verifying Christ's Supremacy
00:32:23
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I need to use my words to give thanks. I need to use my words to edify. I need to use my words to validate and verify through my life and my lips the same message, the supremacy of Christ. And I need to use my mouth to bear witness to Christ. If you think about this life, if you think about eternity,
00:32:47
Speaker
What's the best use of words? What's the best thing you or I could do with our words? You know, once a man or a woman becomes truly convinced that Jesus died and rose again for them, I believe the best use of our words is to say, Lord, I'm gonna call on you. Lord, I need your help. I need you to save me. I'm not gonna make it into your family, into your kingdom. I'm not gonna make it into heaven on my own righteousness. So you just simply say, Lord, I'm calling on you.
Confessing Christ Openly
00:33:18
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But then once you call on Him, just like Hannah Kuncher, you need to say, I'm not ashamed of Christ. No, I'm going to confess Him before other people. Have you ever confessed Him before anybody?
00:33:31
Speaker
Well, the Bible says in Romans 10, nine and 10 and verse 13, all of these things are very important. It says that we should know in our heart that God raised Jesus from the dead. It says that we should be willing to confess with our mouth that Jesus is our Lord. It says that we should be willing to say, you know what, I'm gonna call on the name of the Lord and I'm gonna be saved. Did you see it three times in those verses up there? Three times it uses the word saved and rescued.
00:34:01
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God's going to answer. Luke records the personal encounter of one man that no other gospel writer included.
Zacchaeus's Life-Changing Encounter
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Only Luke. You see, there was a man named Zacchaeus, and he was a hated man in a place called Jericho. He was hated because he was not only a tax collector, he was the head honcho. He was a chief tax collector.
00:34:26
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But it says about Zacchaeus, he was seeking to see who Jesus was.
00:34:32
Speaker
Is that you? Are you like looking through the crossword puzzle of life and our society and you're thinking, it's so confusing. I need to know where he is. Where is the God who created me? Oh, the word of God will show you. You'll see it. It'll leap off a page. You've been looking at a whole lot of letters and then all of a sudden there it is, the crossword, the cross, the cross of Christ, the love of Christ, the grace of the Lord, the mercy of the Lord.
00:35:01
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And all of a sudden you realize it, and that's what happened when Jesus is standing below that tree that Zacchaeus had climbed up in. He said, Zacchaeus, you come down.
00:35:11
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I'm going to your house today." Can you imagine how he felt? He was trying to see him, and now Jesus is saying, I came here, Zacchaeus, for you, buddy. I came looking for you. Do you know God's looking for you? God wants you in his family. Zacchaeus made an incredibly bold confession that day. He said, you know what? I'm tired of ripping people off.
00:35:34
Speaker
I'm tired of that. Money is no longer gonna be my God. I'm gonna restore whatever I've defrauded other people of. And you know what Jesus said at the end? He said, for the Son of Man came to seek and to save, now which was lost. Yeah, that's what it's all about. Would you be willing today
00:35:52
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to say, Jesus, I need you to help me. I'm so lost in all my sin. I'm so confused. I just need somebody to guide me. That somebody is Jesus. He wants to help you solve life's crossword.
00:36:07
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And once he does that, you'll be surprised how he uses your witness for him. Let's stand together. I'm going to stand down front. We're going to ask the musicians to come again. And they're going to lead us in a closing song of invitation. And I'm just here not to manipulate anybody. I'm just here to give you an opportunity. Maybe you would say, I've never had a chance.
00:36:30
Speaker
to ask Jesus Christ to forgive me of my sins, to be my Lord and Savior. So that's why I'm here. We might not finish the conversation today. It may take another day. It may take us having an appointment this week. But whatever it is, would you respond to the Lord? Maybe as we've heard these principles from God's word, you're realizing, I followed Christ or I thought I did, but now I realize I'm not using my mouth for Him at all.
00:36:55
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Maybe it's the other direction. Doors are closing all around you because of, well, you're not lined up with Scripture.
00:37:03
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Today can be a part of returning to him. So let's pray together. Once again, I'll stand up front. I'd be glad to pray with you. Lord, thank you for this time to look into your word. Lord, it really does recalibrate us. Sometimes we need the redirection that comes whenever we get into your word. And so Lord, if we see today that we've been off track with our words, help us just simply confess it. You said if we'll confess our sins,
00:37:29
Speaker
that you are faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So help us, rather than using our words in some bad way, help us to begin to use them in a constructive way, to lead other people to Christ. We love you, we thank you, in Jesus' name, amen. This is a ministry of First Baptist Church, located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas.