IMC Bible Study Col 3

Click here for the audio IMC Bible Study Col 3:1-2
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Living life for another age.  We have been raised for Christ now everything must change.  Our hearts and our minds must be set on Heavenly things.  What does that look like? - 

Here are the notes:

1. If then you have been raised with Christ  - Paul often set up his letters with the theological at the front and the practical near the end - this is the turning point of this letter.
2. • We have gone over this - we died with Him - we ARE RAISED - it says this in the PAST tense - resurrection at work in the human soul - there is NEW LIFE flowing into your being RIGHT NOW - 
   • He says, if that is the case, and it is, then it should change things - resurrection life HAS an effect - if there is no effect is there really life??
   • 1b Seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God
   • • Your desires will shift - Jesus said it like this Luke 12:34 - where your treasure is there your heart will be also
     • Christ is our treasure - if he is the death of our sin and the life of our soul then he is our treasure.  Our attention and our passion ought to be focussed there.
     • Is Christ your treasure??? - is he the highest longing and desire of you soul?
     • "The things above” - WHAT ARE THEY? - Listed throughout the next chapter in both positive and negative forms - lets list the positive
     • • vs10 - the new self,
       • vs10 - the knowledge of God,
       • vs12 - compassionate hearts,
       • kindness,
       • humility,
       • meekness,
       • and patience
       • vs13 - long suffering,
       • a forgiving spirit,
       • vs14 - ABOVE ALL - - LOVE
       • vs15 the peace of Christ,
       • gratitude
       • vs16 the indwelling of the Word of God
     • Living for another age - Col 3:17 - WHATEVER YOU DO - in Word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord giving thanks
     • • Hear THIS - Your life should not be about HERE and NOW - your life should be about the age to come.
       • • Leonard Ravenhill “This is just the dressing room for eternity"
       • Rom 8 says we are destined to be conformed to the image of Jesus
   • How would YOUR LIFE change if you honestly pursued the character and nature of Christ?
   • It sounds pretty to say - “All I want is more of YOU!”  It is not pretty getting from here to there.  It looks like the cross.  No matter what we say to ourselves, and to the Lord, there are idols firmly in place in our hearts and the process of seeing them removed is painful and difficult
   • • and in the process do NOT FORGET that it comes by GRACE (an undeserved gift) through FAITH
3. Set your minds on things that are above NOT on things that are on earth -
4. • SET YOUR MINDS - the fight is in our SOULS our Mind, will, and emotions
   • Where is your treasure??? - Luke 12:34!!!

IMC Bible Study Podcast - Col 2:15-20

Click here for the audio - Col 2:15-20
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Here are the notes from today's study:

Vs 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities

1. • Satan is the accuser of the brethren - we see him in this role at the beginning of Job - where he accuses Job
   • • He had reason to accuse us.
     • He had a case against us that was correct and appropriate and now it has been answered!
   • 15b and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in HIM
   • • All of the ones who stood against us have been defeated and shamed by the cross!
   • Do BATTLE with this reality in your soul when the accuser speaks - they have no right to accuse you - they have no right to control you - they are disarmed!!!
   • Remember Romans 8!!  There is now NO CONDEMNATION!!!

Vs 16 Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in question of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath

1. • These are specific to the Jewish ceremonial law and were probably specific examples of the ways Judaizers were speaking to people in the new gentile churches
   • notice that other things are not listed here like murder or sexual misconduct etc which are contrary to love - we are held to a higher reality - the law of the spirit of life

Vs 17 things which are a shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ

1. • In the Old covenant we got two things - 
   • • The Law -
     • • the perfect unbendable standard before which all things must be measured
       • before which all of us are found lacking
       • the law cannot save - that is not its job
       • the law can instruct but only by showing us our error and our need - it often would make things worse rather than better.
       • the law cannot make you better - it cannot help you - only condemn you
     • The Sacrificial System
     • • the answer to the unbendable law
       • you cannot measure up so here is the stop gap
       • all the ceremony and sacrifice which would never truly be enough
       • paying a price every year over and over and only through a mediator
   • In the New Covenant we received the substance to which all before was a shadow
   • • The fulfilled Law -
     • • not written on tablets of stone but on human hearts
       • the Holy Spirit forming us into the image of Christ
       • Holy Empowerment to be perfectly loving to God and man
       • the renewing of our mind by the washing of the water of the word
       • we learn and we grow and the end of this process is assured 
       • resurrection set loose in the human heart
       • HE is our sabbath - the rest from our work!!!
       • He is our new moon - our fresh start
       • He is all our feasts - 
       • • passover - the lambs blood makes the angel of death pass over us
         • unleavened bread - his sinless life (leaven is a picture of sin) and he is the bread that comes down from heaven
         • First Fruits - he is the first fruit of the resurrection - and the promise of a future harvest of the resurrected to offer to God
         • Pentecost - the coming of the Holy Spirit and the bringing in of the gentiles
         • trumpets - this happens after the end of the harvest and points to the wrapping up of history before the second coming of Christ
         • Day of Atonement - the second coming and the salvation of the Jewish remnant
         • tabernacles - behold the dwelling of God shall be with man 
     • The Finished work of the Cross
     • • The law once and for all satisfied by the perfect life and undeserved death of Christ
       • the ritual and the every year price forever paid
       • Jesus met and exceeded the standard - he GIFTS US that righteous standard through faith

Vs 18 There are gonna be lots of cooky people out there with visions and ideas etc - don’t let them steal from you - if it isn’t about Jesus its worthless!

Vs 19 He is the head and all life flows through Him!

Vs 20 all the way through 23

1. • we have died in Christ
   • vs 23 - the appearance of wisdom - "in self-made religion and self abasement” they look like they should help but they are, “of no value against fleshly indulgence"
   • you CANNOT EARN RIGHTEOUSNESS in this way!  
   • stick to the book
   • stick to the Spirit
   • don’t try and make yourself better than other by self imposed behavior modification
   • unless it flows from the influence of the Spirit upon the human heart it is not helpful

Us V Them - Think Differently sermon from Sunday Morning

Here is a link to the video - 

http://vimeo.com/118626165

Here are my notes from Sunday

John 17:14

14I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.^a 16They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17Sanctify them^b in the truth; your word is truth. 18As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.

Eph 6:12 - we do not wrestle against flesh and blood

Welcome to Super Bowl Sunday ladies and Gentlemen!

I have noticed a trend - around this time of year a whole bunch of people who are not fans of any specific team start rooting for a team they never cared about before.

I have to make a confession…. I am not a sports fan…. at all…. I had to ask my wife who was playing in the Super Bowl this weekend - I simply don’t have room in my head along side all those Star Wars facts for stuff like this!

But I have noticed a trend!  The culture begins to align themselves on one side or another. 

People who have never before cared about a team all of a sudden take up a side.

Think Differently about sides. Not sports teams but ideas themselves 

The Culture all around us has taken a side and that side is against the church.

judgemental - holier than thou - irrelevant - close minded - self righteous - small - old fashioned - DANGEROUS

The Church has taken a side and it is against the world...

we rant and gossip about the evil of those who do not know or love Jesus - WHAT DO WE EXPECT?

we fume at politicians who do not agree with us or who pass unjust laws - we should hate the laws but weep for those who passed them

So…. what do we do? When the World takes its side against us? - John 17:14-18

1. They are not of the world just as I am not of the world (he says it twice in 3 verses)
2. • realize that we have been called to think differently! - we cannot respond to the world the way the world responds
   • Christ is our example
   • • in the face of anger, accusation, and persecution - joy, humility, and self sacrifice
     • in the face of sin - mercy and grace 
     • in the face of self-righteousness and the spirit of religion - anger and violence
     • in the face of need - compassion and rescue - there is no place in Christ that says “they made their bed now they can lie in it” is that what Jesus did for you?
3. I do not ask that you take them out of the world
4. • He said this on purpose!!! - Jesus had no desire that we be taken out of the world
   • the church has always wanted to build a wall around itself and retreat from the world we must understand that Jesus has no desire for that kind of behavior in his people - Matt 5:14-15 - a city on a hill - the lamp belongs on the lamp stand 
   • • recognize fear and renounce it - 2 Tim 1:7
     • recognize self-righteousness and renounce it
     • • if you EVER at ANY TIME feel like you are BETTER than another human being - you have been convinced of a lie.
       • Pastor Ron said it right last week - “Humility and repentance are the keys to change” both in ourselves and in the world.
5. "But keep them from the evil one"
6. • we do have an enemy - but the WORLD is not the enemy Eph 6:12 we do not wrestle against flesh and blood
   • there is a danger that we will be influenced by the world and not the other way around.  We need to be aware and careful of that.
   • Sanctify them in truth - YOUR WORD IS TRUTH
7. "As you sent me into the world so I have sent them into the world" - the "iplan"
8. 1. Intercede, Invest, Invite, Include
   2. This week is the star of Intercede - get your cards they are in the bulletin and the ushers have them.
   3. 1. Start praying FOR them not ABOUT THEM
      2. 1. ask to love them
         2. ask to be given opportunities to display Jesus love to them and the courage to do it!
         3. ask that the blinders would be removed from their eyes 2 Cor 4:4 the god of the age has blinded them

IMC Bible Study Podcast Col 2:11-14

Here is the link to the Audio Podcast - IMC Bible Study Col 2:11-14
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We are buried and raised with Christ and resurrection has been released in us and we have been called to cooperate with it.  Releasing resurrection in and through us sometimes even through the simple but costly act of forgiveness.

Here are my notes for this portion of our study:

• 11 in him you were circumcised…
• • every requirement of the law was fulfilled in Christ.  
  • we have no need to adhere to things that are old covenant realities (sacrifices, feasts, etc) they were the shadow of the real thing
  • 11b "by putting off the body of the flesh"
  • circumcision was a sign that the flesh would be mortified (killed) as was sacrifice
  • Death and sin are still at work in our physical bodies, but our flesh died in Christ that it may be resurrected.  
• 12 having been buried with him in baptism
• • buried in baptism - baptism is not a necessary thing for salvation but it is an EXPECTED act of obedience to the example of Jesus both in his water baptism AND in his death and burial
  • 12b in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead
  • through faith in the powerful working of God our resurrection has already begun!  It is IN PROCESS!!
  • Faith is the way we enter into and cooperate with the resurrection process - LEAN IN!!!
  • that is why our problem is NOT what GOD needs to do but what WE need to do - learn, and believe.  Our enemies are ignorance and unbelief.
• 13 And you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh
• 
  
  • you were dead - "A corpse is insensible. It sees not, and hears not, and feels not. The sound of music, and the voice of friendship and of alarm, do not arouse it. The rose and the lily breathe forth their fragrance around it, but the corpse perceives it not. The world is busy and active around it, but it is unconscious of it all. It sees no beauty in the landscape; hears not the voice of a friend; looks not upon the glorious sun and stars; and is unaffected by the running stream and the rolling ocean. So with the sinner in regard to the spiritual and eternal world. He sees no beauty in religion; he hears not the call of God; he is unaffected by the dying love of the Saviour; and he has no interest in eternal realities. In all these he feels no more concern, and sees no more beauty, than a dead man does in the world around him. Such is, in "fact," the condition of a sinful world. There is, indeed, life, and energy, and motion. There are vast plans and projects, and the world is intensely active. But in regard to religion, all is dead. The sinner sees no beauty there; and no human power can arouse him to act for God, anymore than human power can rouse the sleeping dead, or open the sightless eyeballs on the light of day. The same power is needed in the conversion of a sinner which is needed in raising the dead; and one and the other alike demonstrate the omnipotence of him who can do it.” Barnes
  
  
  • in your trespasses - "may signify the slightest deviation from the line and rule of moral equity, as well as any flagrant offense” Clarke
  • and the uncircumcision of your flesh - the flesh had not been broken off of them.  They were still controlled by and in marriage with the flesh.
  • 13b God made alive together with Him
  • • Resurrected as we talked about above…  ONLY the power of God can raise the dead - only the power of God can save a soul and make it ALIVE again after it is gone
  • 13c Having forgiven us all our trespasses
  • • forgiven - given grace for - the only word here is “charizomai” grace - he has “graced” us those trespasses - it makes more sense once we start in on the next verse.
    • trespass (transgression) - a false step - a mistake
• 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us
• • by canceling - wiped out, erased and obliterated
  • we have a record!  you and I have a real record - real things we “owe” for.  They are not just offenses that can be forgiven without cost.  They must be PAID
  • 14b with its legal demands - there are decrees made against us - honest, correct, accurate legal demands set against us - we have transgressed against the worth and the glory of God - it is the ONLY eternally worthy thing - therefore transgressions against it are the ONLY eternally punishable offenses!
  • If God had just forgotten we committed these crimes he would devalue his own worth - he cannot do that!  He WILL NOT SO...
  • 14c this he set aside, nailing it to the cross - he paid the price.  He could not just forget it but we could not pay it so he paid it himself.  He meted out the punishment that was DESERVED just not to us.  To His own son.  In this way he preserved the worth of His own glory AND undid all the work of Sin in creation - he began the resurrection explosion that we call the kingdom and is manifest first and most powerfully in the human race!

Col 2:10-11 - New Podcast

IMC Bible Study Col 2:10-11
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In this Podcast we talk about having BEEN made complete in Christ and to understand and believe that this is a past tense reality and learning to walk in it.

The only barriers between you and fullness are:
ignorance and unbelief

Post on the Podcast

Check it out here:
The Supremacy of God...again

My new website and Podcast

As a pastor I am constantly creating content.  In this age of the internet it is probably a good idea to bring all that content together in one place online.

I have changed the address of this blog to

www.pastorjoshhawkins.com

you might call me egotistical or narcissistic (I would MOST DEFINITELY call myself that) but I still think its a good idea.

I do have a podcast that has been going out into the world now for a couple years.

It's here if you'd like to listen and or download it.

Also I often preach in the First Assembly Sunday Morning Service and we are blessed to video record all of our services you can find that link here

I will be posting links to each individual thing as they happen.

Thanks so much!
Josh