Cross Examined 8 | Open Up

Good morning to you. Welcome to Cross Connection. Would you mind standing with me and opening your Bibles to the book of Colossians, specifically Colossians chapter 2 in the New Testament, just after the book of Philippians? If you don't have a Bible, you can raise your hand, and one of our ushers will bring you one.

Colossians chapter 2 begins at verse 5. The Scriptures say in the Psalms many times, "Oh, that men would praise the Lord," and "Oh, give thanks to the Lord for His mercy endures forever." Repeatedly, we are reminded to give thanks to the Lord. We are also told that it is good to give thanks to the Lord. This week and next weekend, we will take some time to look at the Scriptures as they relate to the topic of giving thanks.

The Apostle Paul is the author of Colossians. He reminds us that God is stronger. We just sang that. It is a reminder, Lord, that death could not even hold You. Through Your mighty and awesome strength, Your outstretched arm, You have rescued us and redeemed us from the power of death and the power of sin, making us new creations in You. All the old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

God, help us to have that firmly fixed in our minds as Your people, as those who are going to fulfill the commission this week to go into all the world and declare Your good name in the gospel. Lord, help us to have it firmly fixed in our minds that we have been rescued and redeemed by You.

The one who is stronger than death is the one who can keep you down. Nothing can hold you back. As we looked at in the scriptures just a week or two ago, you are the one who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens.

So, God, we pray that you would work in our lives, opening our minds, our ears, and our hearts so that we may receive from you today, from your Word, which is living and powerful. If there is a needed rebuke or correction today, we ask that you would correct our way of thinking, and that our way of thinking would change the way we live and glorify you. We dedicate this time to you this morning and ask for you, by your Spirit, to guide us through the scriptures and instruct us in this topic of giving thanks. As we prepare for a holiday here in our nation, Thanksgiving, Lord, remind us of who you are and how great you are. We ask this in Jesus' name, and all those that agree said, Amen. You can be seated.

As I was looking over the schedule for teaching here as we close out the year 2014, I realized that we would be covering the seven churches of Revelation. I noted that we would end on the date we did last week, and then I considered the rest of the year, thinking about Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up. I wanted to take this week and next to begin to focus on the topic of Thanksgiving to promote a theology of gratitude among us.

I think it is an awesome thing that we live in a nation where there is a day set aside for national Thanksgiving, even if it gets overshadowed by turkey and football, and now it is almost completely overshadowed by Black Friday. So much so that now Black Friday for a number of retail establishments begins on Thursday night at 8 o'clock. People are leaving half turkey comatose, which is probably dangerous on the streets, just by the way, to go to some store to get ready for some good deal that seems like the most important deal. They spend money they don't have to buy things they don't need for people they don't really need to impress.

As we move into this time of year, it is so easy to get distracted. I thought it would be good, at least for me, and I hope for you as well, to reset our focus and our minds on this idea of Thanksgiving.

Because it is exceedingly important for the Christian, a national holiday dedicated to giving thanks acknowledges the fact that there is a God. If there is no personal, loving, benevolent God, there is no need for a holiday like Thanksgiving. The fact that our culture promotes this idea, even if many people do not have a good understanding of it, is a recognition that there is someone to whom we are giving thanks. If there is no God, if there is no one from whom every good and perfect gift comes, there is no need for a national day of giving thanks, because to whom are you giving thanks?

I recognize that there are some people in our culture, and maybe some in your own sphere of influence—family members, friends—who say they are agnostic or atheistic and do not believe that there is a God. Yet, they celebrate Thanksgiving and express gratitude because it is good to be thankful for whatever you have. But what are you being thankful for? Who are you acknowledging in your giving of thanks? Some might say, "the universe." Well, that's misguided. The universe did not just manufacture gifts and pour them out to you. The Bible declares that every good and perfect gift comes from God. Amen? It all comes from Him.

When we set aside time to give thanks, we are acknowledging that He is, and that He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. It is good to do that. Therefore, we are going to take this week and next to look at a theology of gratitude.

I find it interesting that there have been a number of both religious and secular studies conducted on the idea of gratitude and giving thanks. They have found that happiness is rooted in gratitude. Many people think it is the other way around—that gratitude is rooted in happiness, that you are happy, something good happens, and then you are thankful. However, when you peel back the layers and examine how we work, how God actually created us, you will see that our satisfaction, joy, and happiness are rooted in our gratitude. The happiest people in the world are the most thankful people, not because happiness came first, but because gratitude seems to produce joy and happiness to a greater extent. This is one of the reasons why I believe it is commanded in the Scriptures.

God's people should be grateful and thankful. God deserves our thanks and gratitude; He is worthy of that kind of praise and rejoicing in Him for the things He has given us. He commands us to be thankful because He desires that the height of our joy would increase through our giving of thanks. As His glory increases through our gratitude, our joy increases as well.

I talked about this a few years ago in a series called The Key to Unlocking Joy, which is connected to this idea. A theology of gratitude is very important for the people of God. Since I assume that most of you gathered here today believe that there is a God and that He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him, as stated in Hebrews chapter 11, we should be the most thankful people—not just on one day a year.

It is good to express gratitude on Thanksgiving, the last Thursday in November, but if you are a believer in God and His rewards for those who seek Him, then we should be compelled to give thanks constantly and consistently throughout our lives. I am approaching the text in Colossians, as well as the one we will look at next week in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, with the intention of heightening our gratitude. I believe that elevating our gratitude will also elevate our joy.

This is the time of year when we should experience joy. I love this time of year; it makes me happy. I assume that for most of you, that is probably the case as well. I realize some people do not like the holidays, but I am one of those who absolutely loves them. When you go to Costco and see the aisles filled with Christmas items, some people may be bothered by that, but I think it is wonderful. I love it.

This should be a time when our joy is heightened, and I believe our joy is connected to our gratitude. In Colossians chapter 2, the author is the Apostle Paul, who is writing to a church he had never visited before. He is addressing a group of people with whom he had not had the opportunity to gather, worship, or break bread together.

But it's likely that this church started in some way through the fruit of his ministry. The church that existed in the city of Colossae, which actually came up in our study last week as we were finishing the series in Revelation, was just 10 miles to the east of the city of Laodicea. Laodicea was the last of the churches that Jesus writes to in Revelation chapter 3. Paul actually mentions the city of Laodicea twice in this letter that he writes to the Colossians. He says to them, "Hey, when you're done reading this letter there in Colossae, take it over to the Laodiceans and read it there." The things that are written in this letter will encourage them and serve as an exhortation to them as well.

This should clue us into the fact that even though we live 2,000 years later, the things written in this letter, although they were targeted for the people who lived in the city of Colossae, are also applicable to the people who lived in Laodicea. They are applicable to us today. God is speaking to us today, and it is relevant to our lives. We are going to look into the text today and see how it speaks to us living in the 21st century. Although we have medical, technological, and scientific advancements, we are not all that far removed philosophically from the people who lived in Colossae 2,000 years ago.

God wants to speak to us about the concept of gratitude, which He reveals is very important in this text. When Paul writes this letter, he is nearing the end of his life. He is a grateful person and speaks a lot about being grateful and giving thanks. Yet, the conditions under which Paul was living at this moment seem to be the kind of things that do not promote thanksgiving. At this moment, when he writes this letter, he is in prison in the city of Rome, facing the day of his execution for crimes he did not commit. He did not do anything wrong other than be a bold witness for Jesus, which upset some people in his day. It will upset some people in our day if you are a bold witness for Jesus as well.

Here he is in prison, writing letters to the Colossians, to the Philippians, to the Ephesians, and to all these different gatherings of Christians. In many of these letters, he encourages them to give thanks. He shows how, in spite of his circumstances, he is still grateful. He seems to have joy and happiness in the midst of that. You can see that his joy and gratitude are not dependent on his circumstances, which is really encouraging to me. In our nature, in our flesh, and due to our natural sinful tendencies, our gratitude is severely dependent on our circumstances, isn't it?

But Paul says there's a higher level that we can live in Christ, a different plane on which we can exist in Jesus. He writes to this gathering of Christians in the city of Colossae, and he says to them in verse 5 of Colossians chapter 2, "For though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am present with you in the Spirit."

This was a common idiom 2,000 years ago, just as it is today. If you're writing to someone, you might say, "I'm not able to be with you in person, but I'm with you in heart. I'm with you in spirit." Sometimes, people will say about a deceased loved one that they know that person is not with them physically, but they are there spiritually. Theologically speaking, that's not exactly something you can support scripturally. However, we understand the sentiment behind the expression of being present in spirit.

It's interesting for the Apostle Paul to address this church in Colossae because this was a group of people he had never visited before. He didn't plant the church personally, and he had never been to their city. But he had heard about them and the things going on there among those Christians. He says, "I'm not with you in the flesh, but I'm with you in the Spirit. I've heard some great things."

Look at the next thing he says in verse 5: "I'm rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ." He rejoices because he has received news about them. Chapter 1 of Colossians tells us that Paul received news about the Christians in Colossae, and ever since that day, he has been grateful and thankful.

Turn to Colossians chapter 1; it's just one chapter to the left. Look at verse 3. Paul says to this church, to the saints that live there, which is just an expression of the church. If you're a Christian today, you're a saint. He addresses the saints, the faithful brethren, as it says in verse 2. Then in verse 3, he states, "We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you."

He expresses gratitude to God for them, which is very similar to what he says in chapter 2, verse 5: "We rejoice because we've heard some things about you." He continues, "I'm giving thanks to God because of you and praying always for you since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all the saints because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven."

He comments on three things that were identified in the Christians who lived in Colossae. As he heard the news about them, he learned that they had these three essential and important aspects of Christian living: faith, hope, and love. These qualities are characteristic of Christians, believers in Jesus, throughout the New Testament. They have faith, they have hope, and that overflows into love for other people.

Paul speaks about the importance of faith, hope, and love in 1 Corinthians chapter 13. He states that the greatest of these is love. The overflow of my faith in Jesus and my hope in the future resurrection because of my faith in Jesus should result in a display of love in this world. My faith in Jesus and the hope that I have of the resurrection and rising to be with Him forever is set in stone. But how does that affect my life here and now? It should overflow in love.

The most important characteristic for the world to see in the life of a Christian, a follower of Jesus, is not their solid faith or their steadfast hope, although those things are important, but their love. This love needs to be expressed in the way they live. This is exactly what Jesus said in the Gospel of John. If you are a Christian today, Jesus says that the world will know you are His followers, His disciples, by the love you have for one another. That is the defining trait that should be evident in our lives.

This is why Paul, the apostle, in his letter to the church in Galatia, talks about the evidence of God in our lives, which he calls the fruit of the Spirit. He states that the fruit of the Spirit is love. Therefore, the evidence that God is in you and in me, if He is in you today, will be that expression of love. It is the overflow of our faith in Jesus and the hope that He gives us, and how that manifests in this world. The world needs to see that.

So Paul says to the Christians who lived in Colossae, "We have not ceased to give thanks for you since we heard the news about you, that you have faith, that you have hope, and that you have love." This love is being expressed through you in that area, in the region of Asia Minor, because of the hope that is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word, the truth of the Gospel.

In Colossians 1:6, Paul notes that the Gospel came to you, even though he was not the one who brought the Gospel to them or planted the church. He emphasizes that the Gospel came to you as it has also in all the world.

So it's been going throughout the world in fulfillment of the commission of Jesus: "Go into all the world and make disciples." The Gospel came to you, and it's bringing forth fruit as it is also among you since the day that you heard it. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. You knew the grace of God in truth.

Now notice this, verse 7. As you also learned from Epaphras—underline the name Epaphras there. We are going to be teaching through the book of Colossians in the new year, about the middle part of next year. This is kind of like a prequel to Colossians. Paul says you heard the Gospel from this guy Epaphras. He was apparently the church planter, and Paul knew him. Maybe he was connected as a disciple of Paul's ministry when Paul was ministering in the city of Ephesus, which is described in Acts chapter 19, the history book of the Bible.

He says, "You heard about it, and we heard about your faith through Epaphras, our dear fellow servant who is faithful—a faithful minister of Christ. He's a servant of Jesus on your behalf, who also declared to us your love in the Spirit." In Colossians chapter 2, Paul says in verse 5 that we've been rejoicing. We've been praising God and giving thanks. That's all built inside that word "rejoicing." We've been rejoicing to see or to hear about your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.

So he says we are rejoicing in God because of the testimony about you. We received that testimony from Epaphras, who is the one who apparently brought the Gospel to the Christians there. The result of the Gospel going to them is fruit, and the fruit is love in the Spirit. Paul says we rejoice in that. We rejoice in that.

He rejoices in two newsworthy things that he speaks of in Colossians chapter 2, verse 5. There are two things that were existent in the Christians in Colossae that Paul says are newsworthy. Notice it there with me: Colossians 2, verse 5 again. "For though I am absent in the flesh, I am with you in the Spirit, rejoicing to see, number one, your good order, and number two, the steadfastness of your faith in Christ."

The two things that were newsworthy were their good conduct and their strong faith. Understand that your strong faith will be represented in your life by your good conduct.

In a little book in the New Testament called the Book of James, it was written, interestingly, by James. It didn't get really interesting with titles back then; it was just James. So, James says, "Faith without works is what?" Many of you know the answer: "Faith without works is dead." Your strong faith will be evidenced by your good conduct. If there is no good conduct, if there's no expression of your faith, then how do we know whether or not you truly have faith?

Now, in Paul's letter to the church at Rome, the longest letter that he wrote in the New Testament, Romans is an awesome book. We studied through it here a year or so ago. In Romans chapter 1, as Paul is opening this letter, he's writing to a group of Christians that he had never visited before. He says in Romans chapter 1, verse 8, "Your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. You have newsworthy faith."

I suggest to you that the only way our faith becomes noticeable is through action. A lot of people think of faith as something private, something we keep in our hearts or minds, and it's something that no one else sees. However, the only way for your faith to become noticeable to the point that people start talking about it—so Paul could say to the Romans, "Your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world"—is that your faith becomes active. It becomes works. The outflow of our faith in Jesus should be good conduct. For the Romans, that was the case. Paul says, "I'm hearing about your faith throughout all the Christian world. Everybody's talking about you there in Rome."

To the Colossians, he says the same thing: "Listen, I have heard about your steadfastness of faith. You have strong faith, and it is evidenced in your good conduct." He says that is newsworthy. I believe that we should endeavor to have newsworthy faith. That newsworthy faith should be evidenced in the way that we live; it should be seen.

So, point number one on your outlines: Be newsworthy in faith and faithfulness. I think that there are some Christians today who have a hard time with the idea of being newsworthy in their faith and faithfulness because of a misinterpretation of what I think is not the best teaching on the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew chapter 6, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus cautions his disciples.

We should all take notice of the cautions of Jesus in the Scriptures. In Matthew chapter 6, He says to His disciples, "Don't be like the Pharisees," who were a group of hyper-religious people in Judaism in the first century. He explains what they are like. He says they fast, and when they fast, they make their faces look all sad, saying, "Oh, I'm fasting," so that they can get the praise of men. Jesus states that they have their reward.

Then He says, "When you pray, don't be like the hyper-religious who love to pray out in the street corners with loud prayers." They pray with big, eloquent words and very long prayers so that they may be seen by men. He tells us that they have their reward. But when you pray, pray in secret before your Father, who sees in secret. How many of you remember that passage?

Next, He says, "When you do your good works, don't do it like the Pharisees, who would have a herald go before them, announcing, 'Look at what Heresy Bob is doing.'" If your name is Bob, I'm not picking on you. They would draw attention to their actions, saying, "Look at what he's doing. He's giving to the poor." Jesus advises against this, saying to do your good works before your Father in secret so He may reward you openly.

Here's the problem: some Christians have taken this to mean that nobody should ever say anything good about their good conduct, because then they have lost their reward in heaven. That is such a bad teaching and a poor interpretation of that passage. What Jesus is saying is that if your motivation is to receive the praise of men, that's the problem. If you're doing this merely to get people to sound your name, you've got an issue. It's a motivational issue.

What we see in Romans and also in Colossians is that we should have newsworthy faith and newsworthy conduct. People should be talking about that church in Escondido or those believers in North County. They should be saying, "Look how faithful they are to Jesus through the things that they do. Look at the expression of love in their lives." We should want our faith to be well spoken of in the world.

I think this mindset may be connected to the work of the enemy, who has seduced us into thinking, "Oh no, we can't ever let anybody know what we're doing," because "don't let the right hand know what the left hand is doing." No, listen. People should see our expression of faith to the glory of God. Jesus says, "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."

He wants your good works to be seen by this world. He does not want James Bond Christians—no 007 covert Christianity. None of that. It needs to be lived out loud. So, I'm going to tell you Christians to come out of the closet as a Christian. You know what? It is less politically correct in 21st century America to do that than to come out as a homosexual. That's pretty startling how quickly things change. It is less politically correct to be an overt, open Christian than to be an overt, open person practicing sin. Striking.

We should be newsworthy in our faith and our faithfulness. How? Well, again, you're in Colossians. Turn just one book to the left to the book of Philippians. Philippians chapter 1 was written right around the same time that Paul wrote this letter to the Colossians. Paul was in prison when he wrote it. The Philippian church, which Paul planted, was near to his heart. They loved Paul, and Paul loved them. His love for them is seen in this chapter and in this book.

He says to those who lived in Philippi, in Philippians chapter 1, verse 27, "Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ." He instructs Christians to conduct themselves in a way that is worthy of the gospel of Christ. Another way to read that is that your life should represent the gospel well. That's what it means to walk worthy of the gospel of Christ.

So, let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ so that whether I come to you or am absent—whether I'm with you in the flesh or only with you in the spirit—I'm not there. This is the same sort of idea as in Colossians chapter 2. Whether I'm with you or not, I may hear of your affairs, your good work, that you stand fast in one spirit, maintaining unity within the body of Christ, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel, for the works of the gospel. You're working hand in hand for the gospel and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you salvation, and that from God.

So, Paul says to the Philippians, Christians, live in such a way that you represent the gospel well so that it's newsworthy. If I'm not with you, I want to hear about it. I want you to live in such a way that I hear how strong of a Christian you are.

Well, this week I was at a table at a banquet with a group of people, and I met this guy across the table.

He works with a ministry here in San Diego, and I know a guy who's connected with that ministry. I said, "Hey, do you know so-and-so?" He replied, "Oh yeah, I know that guy." He just started gushing about how strong in the faith this guy is. He loves the Lord, serves the Lord, and has integrity on a college campus here in San Diego County. He mentioned that this is not something you normally see in a young man. He went on and on about the steadfastness of this guy's faith.

I thought to myself, that's how it should be. When I meet a mutual friend of yours or you meet a mutual friend of mine, and you say, "Oh, do you know so-and-so?" They respond, "Yeah, I know that guy," and then start talking about how strong he is in his faith and faithfulness. That's the way it should be. Notice the integrity in this: whether I'm with you or absent, I may hear about your steadfastness of faith. Paul says you don't need apostolic oversight to live out your faith. You don't need another Christian standing right next to you constantly to ensure you'll do the right thing.

For example, when the person at the cash register gives you too much change, the right thing to do would be to say, "Hey, you gave me too much change." I have had that happen. I once went back to a place to make sure, "Hey, I was here about a week ago." The cashier remembered me and I said, "You gave me too much change back, and I wanted to make sure you got it back." He looked at me and said, "Are you serious?" He gave me the strangest look. I replied, "Yeah, well, I wanted to make it right." As I was leaving, I heard him talking to his friend who works there, saying, "That guy just came and gave me the change back. Why would he do that?"

That should be the way we live our lives. I'm not saying this so you think, "Wow, that's great integrity, Pastor." No, I'm saying that's how we should live. We ought to be newsworthy in our faith and faithfulness, and there is great integrity in that.

He says to the Christians there in Colossae, "I'm rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness of your faith, your good conduct, and your strong faith that you have in Christ." Your faith in Jesus is not private; it should be evident in the way we live. As we move through this, I will make the case that one of the primary ways this should be evident is through thanksgiving.

In verse 6, he says to them, "As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him." I want to unpack this verse a little bit because, although there are not a lot of words, it carries significant meaning.

In verse 6, there is a lot of meaning, a lot of deep things that speak to us in applicable ways. Notice first that he says, "as you have received." The tense could not be more clear. You don't need to study the original language to get the idea that this is something they took possession of in the past. "As you have received" indicates that this thing, which you possess, was received back then.

If you were to look at it in the original language, the tense indicates an action that took place in the past. It is simple: you took possession of something that wasn't yours, but then, on that day in the past, it became yours. He says, "as you have received him." Even in these words, there is a challenge for us to ask the question: have you received him? He is talking about Jesus and pointing in that direction. So, the question comes to us: have you received him?

If you are a Christian today, if you are a follower of Jesus, you should be able to point back to a time— even if it's not a specific date, time, and location—some period in your life where there was a turning point. There was something that happened, and you can say, "I took possession of him. He became mine at that moment."

Some of you can point back to a specific location, time, and place. You can say it was on this date, at this time, that you were born again. Perhaps you were in someone's living room, or you were on the floor of Jack Murphy Stadium, and Greg Laurie was up front. Maybe you were driving in your car, listening to the radio, and you happened to scan through stations. Suddenly, something came up on K-Wave, and you remember that turning point. It was on that day, and you were in that place.

For some of you, that's not the case. For me, that's not the case. I don't remember the specifics. I had the privilege of growing up in a home where we went to church from my earliest memories. My time was spent going to church, and so I don't have a definite period of time. However, I do know, being raised in the Lord, that there were certain turning points. I think every Christian should have that awareness to be able to point back and say, "There was a turning point then, at that time."

So, the question comes to us: have you received, in the past, an action where you took possession of the Lord? Let me illustrate it in this way. How many of you have gone and bought a new car from a dealer? Lift up your hand high if you have bought a new car. Isn't that a wonderful experience? Such a joyful, wonderful experience! If you're a car dealer today, God bless you. If you've had that experience, you know what it's like to be in the market for a new car.

You want to buy a new car. So, you start watching some things here, and there are constant advertisements. You go down to the auto park in Escondido and walk around a couple of places. It's always a very scary thing to walk around those lots. They are doing a better job trying to be less intimidating.

You might decide, "Okay, I want an SUV or a midsize vehicle." You have an idea of what you want. Then, you finally zero in on a make and a model. You go and test drive that one, and you think, "Yes, this is the one." After that, you decide on the color and the features you want.

Now you're sitting down in the office, going through the negotiation phase, which could take a while. You might order a pizza because it’s going to take some time. Finally, you reach the point where you’ve made the decision. Now, you’re just filling out paperwork, signing over your life. Everything is finally taken care of, and you go through all the different departments along the way. Registration is done, and all the necessary paperwork is completed.

Then, all of a sudden, they hand you the keys. Boom! You’ve taken possession of the keys. You get into the vehicle, turn on the car, and as you leave the parking lot, you have now taken possession of the vehicle. I’d say it’s yours, but technically, it’s probably not really yours; however, it feels like it is. You have received the car.

Prior to that, when you were just signing the paperwork, it was yours on paper, but you had not taken possession of it. Once you get in that car and drive away, you have received the car.

Now, that illustration breaks down because what we’re talking about here is not about buying anything. Receiving Christ Jesus the Lord has nothing to do with you paying for anything. You didn’t buy it, and it has nothing to do with you meriting it either. You didn’t get it because of something you did. It is merely by grace, as we see as we go through this passage.

This idea of having received implies a gift; it implies that He has given it to you. But notice also, if you caught it when I said, "as you have received," I skipped a word. He says, "as you therefore have received." That word "therefore" changes the whole idea of having received Christ Jesus the Lord because it implies a responsibility.

You could read it as, "because you have received Christ Jesus the Lord." So, it’s perfectly fine to take it as, "as you therefore have received Christ Jesus."

Because, Christian, you have in the past received and taken possession of Christ Jesus the Lord, you have a responsibility. The responsibility he mentions here, which we'll get to in a moment, is to walk in Him.

Let me go back to our previous illustration. Imagine that you didn't go to the car dealer, but one day you're sitting in your living room and you hear a knock at your door. You go to the door, and there's someone standing there. Maybe it's a friend, a family member, or just a stranger. They say, "Listen, I have something for you." You ask, "What do you have for me?" They hand you some keys. You respond, "What's this?" They say, "Come outside; I want to show it to you."

You walk outside, and in your driveway is a Tesla Model S. Now, some of you might think, "Well, I don't want one of those. I want a Ferrari or something." But for me, I wouldn't mind a Tesla Model S. You walk outside, and there it is—a cool car, an electric vehicle with lots of horsepower that can go a long distance. It's yours. They give you the keys; it's in your driveway. You've taken possession, and there are no strings attached. It's a gift to you.

Now, because you have received the Tesla Model S, you should drive it, right? To just leave it there and say, "Yeah, I got it. I don't know what to do with it," while continuing to drive your 2001 Ford Escort would be foolish. Because you have received the Tesla Model S, your proper response is to drive it. This is not just your response; it's also your responsibility. The gift giver might ask, "What's wrong with you? Do you take for granted the gift that I've given to you?"

You see the connection here? If you're a Christian today and you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, then here's your proper response and responsibility to Him who has given this gift. As you have therefore received Him, what is it that you have received? Well, he says, "You have received Christ Jesus the Lord." There is so much in that phrase "Christ Jesus the Lord" that we need to start breaking it down.

So, let's start with Christ Jesus. If you're a Christian today, you have received a gift, and that gift is a person, which might seem odd to you because you can't buy people.

You shouldn't buy people. eBay says it's against the law and against their policy to sell people on their platform. Praise God, I'm glad to hear that.

Now, you have received a person as a gift. There are some people who think that they are a gift. Jesus actually is a gift because He is Jesus Christ. What does that mean? Well, the word "Christos" means the anointed one. It could rightly be translated as the Savior. It points back to the Old Testament to a Hebrew word, "Mashiach," or the Messiah.

In the Old Testament, there are multitudes of prophecies surrounding the one who is the Messiah. There are a number of things in Isaiah, Jeremiah, and other Old Testament passages that speak about the Messiah. The Messiah brings with Him salvation, peace, forgiveness, justice, righteousness, joy, wisdom, might, counsel, understanding, and knowledge. All of these things describe the Messiah in the Old Testament prophetically.

This means that when you, Christian, in the past took possession of Christ Jesus, all of that is yours. Salvation, peace, wisdom, joy, counsel, understanding, and so many other things are yours in Jesus. I don't know a person alive who doesn't want those kinds of things: peace, wisdom, joy, and eternity. As you have received Christ Jesus, you have received all of that in the person of Jesus.

But not only does He say, "as you have received Christ Jesus," He also says, "you have received Christ Jesus, the Lord." This introduces a difficult problem for some Americans. The idea of "Lord" is clear; the word simply means master or ruler. We are cultured in America to say, "There ain't no one ruling over me." We're a nation built on some of our founding principles of individual independence, and so the mindset that no one is over me is how we rule our lives.

Some Christians in America have a hard time with the concept of Jesus as Lord, ruler, master, and king over our lives to whom we are to subject and submit ourselves. There is a way in which, to the American mind, some evangelical Christians have somewhat altered the way they present the gospel. They make it seem that you can receive Christ Jesus but not necessarily sign on the dotted line for Lord Jesus. People may say, "I'm going to take reception of Christ, Savior, Messiah," and all these things that are within Him, but they might hesitate and wait to see how this whole thing goes. It becomes a sort of lease-to-own arrangement to determine if they are ready to embrace the whole Lordship of Jesus.

This presentation of the gospel creates a bifurcation, a separation, between Jesus the Christ, the Savior, and Jesus the Lord. Some individuals will honestly admit that they are not really ready to submit to the Lordship of Jesus. There is a problem with that mindset. While it may not pose a cultural issue for Americans, it presents a significant theological problem.

I am here to tell you today that you should desire the Lordship of Jesus. Why? Well, the great 20th-century philosopher Bob Dylan was right: you’ve got to serve somebody. The chorus states, "You may serve the devil, you may serve the Lord, but you're going to serve somebody." How many of you remember that song? You have to be of a certain age group to recall it. I had to go on YouTube and listen to it yesterday because I knew the lyric but had never heard the song.

The reality is that, whether you are an American with individual independence as the underpinning of your philosophy, you are going to serve somebody. Therefore, because you will serve someone, I say you should desire the Lordship of Christ. Why? Because the Lord alone is described as the master who is merciful, gracious, patient, abundant in goodness, and forgiving of iniquity, transgression, and sin, among many other attributes in the Scriptures.

He is the only Lord that is described in those ways, and every other Lord is a harsh taskmaster. Every other thing that you could submit yourself to in this world is a harsh taskmaster. Paul speaks in these terms in the New Testament, in the book of Romans, where he says, "To whom you submit yourself as a slave, you obey." You are that one slave whom you obey. So, you're going to serve somebody, and you're going to be the slave of something. For most people in the world, they are the slave of sin. Sin is a harsh taskmaster who only brings about death.

When we talk about the Lordship of Christ, you should want the Lordship of Christ because He is gracious, patient, abundant in goodness, and ready to forgive. He embodies all of those wonderful qualities, and He alone is a Lord like that. That's the kind of Lord that you want to be submitted to, to have rule over your life.

Now, one final thing on why you should want the Lord Jesus is because you cannot have Savior Jesus without Lord Jesus. You cannot have one without the other.

Point number two on your outline: receive Him all or nothing. You cannot receive the Savior Jesus and not the Lord Jesus. In Acts 2:36, on the great birthday of the church, the apostle Peter stands up and says to the Jews he was speaking to, "This Jesus whom you crucified, God the Father has made Him both Lord and Christ." He is Lord and Christ. There is no division between those two essential aspects of His nature. He is Lord and Christ, and you cannot receive Him as Savior, with all that entails, and not as Lord. He is either Lord of all or He is Lord not at all. Therefore, we receive Him all or nothing.

Paul says, "I rejoice because you there in Colossae have received the Lord Jesus Christ." Because you have received the Lord Jesus Christ, the response and the responsibility is simple: walk in Him. This is the proper response and the right responsibility—to walk in Him.

But what does it look like practically? He describes it in verse 7: "So walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him, established in the faith as you have been taught, abounding in it, the faith, with thanksgiving." Paul gives five things about what it looks like to be walking in Jesus.

It's point number three on your outline: letters A through E. There are five things to consider. The first one, A, is to be rooted in Him. B is to be built up in Him. C is to be established in the faith. D is to abound in the faith. And E is to do all with thanksgiving.

Let’s break some of these down quickly. To be rooted in Him brings to mind a picture of a plant or a tree. It is planted in the ground, in the dirt. As it stands there, there is more to that tree than meets the eye. Above the surface is just a small part of it; down below the surface are roots that extend into the dirt. Those roots provide the necessary support for the tree. Without the roots, there is no support. Without the dirt around the roots, there are no nutrients and no water. The tree gets its life from the ground in which it is planted. It gains its stability from that same ground.

This picture of being rooted in God is seen throughout both the Old Testament and the New Testament. In Psalm 92, verse 13, the psalmist says, "Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of God." Paul, in Ephesians chapter 3, describes those who are rooted in love, and God is love. Those who are rooted in Him will comprehend the width, the length, the height, and the depth of the love of God. They will be filled with all knowledge and everything that comes from God.

To be rooted in Him is the place you want to be if you are a Christian because you receive your sustenance and stability from being rooted in Him. Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law, he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in season. His leaf does not wither, and whatever he does shall prosper. This is found in Psalm 1.

So, be rooted in Him. Being rooted in Him conveys a sense of steadfastness.

So you're not going to be rooted anywhere else. You're not going to be uprooted. You're stuck in Him. He is the only source, the only supply, and your only stability. You're rooted in Him. One of the outgrowths of walking in Him is to be stuck in Him alone and to grow where you are planted.

Next, He says to be built up in Him. This changes the picture; now the image is of a building or house being constructed. To be built up in Him means having Him as the bedrock, as the foundation. Every structure needs a strong, enduring, and steadfast foundation. If you're a Christian and you're going to walk in Him, then Jesus needs to be your foundation.

Jesus talks about this in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 7. He says that he who hears His sayings and does them shall be like a house built upon the rock. When the storm came, the rains fell, and the floods rose, they blew and beat against that house, but it did not fall because it was founded on the rock. Therefore, if you're going to be walking in Him, the superstructure of all that you are needs to be built upon Jesus, laying a good, strong foundation.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 3, verse 11, Paul states that there is no other foundation; He is the only foundation. He goes on to say that you need to be established in the faith. Those who are rooted in Jesus and built up in Jesus will ultimately be established in their faith. They will be steadfast and strong in their confidence in the Lord because they have only one foundation and are supplied from one ground. Their confidence in the Lord is sure and steadfast as well.

Paul also talks about being steadfast and immovable in 1 Corinthians 15, always abounding in the work of the Lord. We need to be established in our confidence and trust in Jesus. The only way for that to happen is if you build on one foundation and dig deep into one ground.

So, be built up and then abound in faith. Abound in your confidence, your trust, and your steadfastness in Jesus. Jesus said in John chapter 10 that He came to give life and that more abundantly. I don't know a person alive who doesn't want a life more abundantly. That abundant life is found in being rooted in Him, built up in Him, and established in your confidence and trust in Him.

And then you begin to abound in the faith. Lastly, he says, "with thanksgiving." I believe thanksgiving is the ultimate essential outcome of this whole process. The ultimate outcome of walking in Him, being rooted in Him, being built up in Him, and being established in the faith is the giving of thanks.

The word "thanksgiving" here is the Greek word "eucharistia." Some of you come from a more traditional faith background in Christianity, a more liturgical Christianity, and so you've heard this word before: eucharist. How many know that word? Have you heard that word? Eucharist. It speaks of the Lord's Supper, particularly if you come from a more liturgical tradition of Christianity. Partaking of the bread and the cup, the eucharist, is connected to this idea of giving thanks, eucharistia.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 11, verse 24, when Paul recounts the story of the eucharist, he says, "Jesus, on the night that he was betrayed, took bread and gave thanks." He, eucharistia, gave thanks. He broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take, eat; this is my body which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me." It is in that giving of thanks that His body was broken and His blood was shed for us. This is where the word is connected to the eucharist.

We need to be those Christians who are giving thanks. If you are rooted in Him, built up in Him, established in the faith, and abounding in the faith, then the characteristic that will dominate your life is eucharist, thanksgiving. This is what people will see on the outside. How can someone know if you are rooted, built up, established, and abounding in Him? The overflow will be thanksgiving. If it is not present in your life, then we do not have a right concept of our salvation. We do not have a proper understanding of what we have in Jesus, the Lord Jesus Christ, if the expression of our lives is not gratitude. This should be a dominating characteristic in our lives.

Next week, we will look at some things in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 that point to the reality that our greatest measure of satisfaction will be found in this kind of gratitude. That is why God says we need to do it. The fact is, we need to give thanks. The fastest way for us to give thanks is to remember, to think on, and to ponder the things that God has done.

Ponder anew what the Almighty can do. What is that? It's remembering what He has done in the past and considering who He is and what I have being rooted in Him. Being built up in Him. Being established in my confidence and my trust in Him. Abounding in Him.

What do I have? I have all this stuff. I have salvation. I have forgiveness. I have redemption. I have mercy being given to me. I have wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. All these things are poured out onto me through the Lord Jesus Christ. All of this is my possession. How could I not be thankful?

Thanksgiving as a holiday is absolutely great. I say yes and amen. We should have a Thanksgiving holiday. But it is only right that we who have an understanding of reality, because God has opened our minds through the truth revealed in Scripture, should be the most grateful, gratitude-filled people in the world. It should be evident in our lives.

So my exhortation to you today is to be thankful. You might say, "Well, I didn't have a very good morning. I have nothing to be thankful about." Really? Maybe you need a time out. One of the things we've been doing with our kids is something I do with my daughter Evangeline all the time. Evangeline is the most wonderful little girl around, but she has two poles: the world is all good, and I do it all by myself, and I'm mad. When she gets mad, she can't do anything.

So I pull her aside and say, "Evangeline, take a deep breath." It's amazing. She's almost three, but every time, for the last year, when I say, "Take a deep breath," she could be in absolute hysterics, and she will stop. I say, "Evangeline, take another deep breath," and it's like a reset. It just came to me one day when she was having a fit, and I said, "Evangeline, take a deep breath." She looked at me like, "What? You're talking Martian." But she did it with me, and there was a reset.

Listen, if you're grumpy today and think you have nothing to be thankful for, take a deep breath. Remember that God gave you that deep breath. We should be the most gratitude-filled people on the planet, which means we should also be happy.

Because gratitude and happiness are connected, we're going to see that next week. I think it's really important, even though we're taking just a couple of weeks for this, to reset our minds on a theology of thanksgiving. I, and I'm assuming you as well, have been a little bit distracted from gratitude.

Would you stand with me as we ask the Lord to keep us mindful of these things?

God, thank you. Thank you for your good word. Thank you that you are the Lord Jesus Christ. You have brought salvation, forgiveness, joy, redemption, and all these things to our lives. You have also brought steadfastness and stability through your rule in our lives.

I pray that this week you would bring to our remembrance the things that you've done in and for us. Through that, may gratitude begin to well up within us. We can't manufacture it, but in doing these things, it becomes our response.

So God, may gratitude be the characteristic that defines our lives as we go about our day. Make us a thankful people. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.