Thank you for coming to this workshop. This is Pastor Jeff Anderson, who you heard speak yesterday. He's going to be talking about preaching the gospel of hope. And so excited to hear that topic myself. I've known Pastor Anderson for several years. I met him actually out in Colorado Springs on a trip eight or nine years ago. And I've just appreciated his ministry since then. Getting to know his family. You get to know somebody a lot by their children. I appreciate getting to know Brandon and Alyssa and Ashley. And so just hope that you will open your heart to what he has for us this afternoon. I'll pray, and the rest of the time will be Pastor Anderson's. Let's pray. Lord God, we thank you today that you have promised us that you will never leave us or forsake us, and that though our circumstances and our feelings about those circumstances fluctuate so often, that you are a God who is completely trustworthy, and that promise that you've made is as real as the ground we stand on. Lord, help us this afternoon to open our hearts. Help us to understand what you are saying to us and help us to be able to use it in our own lives and for those around us for your honor and glory. Thank you, Pastor Anderson. Please bless him by your spirit as he speaks today in Jesus name. Well, it's good to see everyone. I'm glad we can be in a little bit more intimate setting and be able to share the Word of God together. This afternoon, the topic is Preaching the God of Hope. And someone had asked me, they said, is it alright for girls to come to this? And I said, certainly, because we're all ministers together. And really we're talking about ministering a message of hope. So this isn't just a lecture, it's not just a session about how to preach or prepare a message. We're actually going to be doing an exposition that comes from Colossians chapter 1. So please turn with me to Colossians chapter 1. You're familiar with the phrase, we preach Christ in you, the hope of glory, whom we preach, warning every man, teaching every man. Well, that's what we're going to talk about. The book of Colossians is a book that is about the Lord Jesus Christ as being the center of our hope, and so we're going to spend some time here. Where I'd like to begin this morning, or this afternoon, is Colossians 1, verse 9. Let's stand, please, with reverence for the Lord and His holy word. I'm going to read through the rest of the chapter from Colossians 1 verse 9. strengthened with all might according to His glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness, giving thanks unto the Father which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, or His dear Son, in whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins, who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over every creature, For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and earth, whether visible or invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, all things were created by Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the Church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He might have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell. and having made peace through the blood of his cross by him to reconcile all things unto himself, by him I say whether they be things in earth or things in heaven, and you that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now he has reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. If you continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven, whereof I, Paul, am made a minister, who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church. Whereof I am made a minister according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God. Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints, to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. whom we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus, whereunto I also labor, striving according to his working which worketh in me mightily. This is the word of the Lord, would you please be seated. The great news about a passage like this is that this is a passage that definitely has application to everyone. It's not just for pastors, it's not just for preachers. This is given to every Christian, because every Christian is given ministry, and every Christian is given the command to go and make disciples of all nations. You see, the command to minister, and the command to minister the message of hope, Christ in you, the hope of glory, that's given to all of us. The one thing that I want to come with a message to bring clarity and encouragement to you is, yes, it's true that there is a tremendous need for those who will be full-time laborers to go into the harvest because the harvest is great. We all know that is the prayer request that we are to come to the Lord with. We're to pray the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers into His harvest. But I do want you to remember and to consider That God sends each of you out into a harvest, whether that's a call to missions, or whether it's a call to church planning, or whether it's a call to pastoring, or whether it's a call to serve as a lawyer, or a businessman, or a teacher, or a construction worker. It doesn't matter what it is that God has called you to do, God has called you to go and to be into His harvest. One of the things that I've been most struck with is that in Colorado Springs, some of the people who have the most effective ministry are people who will go into places that I never have an opportunity to go into. And if they recognize that the Lord has called them, yes, the Lord has called them and equipped them to maybe be a politician. But as politicians, they are to be salt and light in that arena, and they are going to serve the Lord in that place. And so, please, I want everyone here to recognize that God is not calling all of you to vocational ministry. He hasn't gifted you. He hasn't called you. He hasn't called you necessarily to a pastorate, but He has called you to serve Him. and to represent Him well, and so He has called you to go and to preach to all of the nations, to preach to all people, to minister to them, and take them a key message, and that is Christ in you, which is the hope of glory. So I'm hoping that that is consistent with your understanding, and hopefully freeing for some of you as you're debating and wondering, what is it that God's called me to? What is the will of God in my life? It is the will of God for you to be salt and light wherever it is that He places you. And I hope that this message today will be encouraging to recognize the stewardship that God has given to you. The text that I am addressing is really dealing with Paul's preaching and his attitude toward his preaching ministry. When in verse 23, he starts talking about preaching to every creature which is under the heaven. He talks about how that I, Paul, am made a minister. And then throughout the rest of this passage, he addresses his philosophy and his approach toward preaching. Everyone that is familiar with Colossians knows that this is a book about the supremacy of Christ, the preeminence of Christ. Preeminence means that He has first place, and to have first place is not only going to be presented in this passage, it's going to be modeled. See, the Apostle Paul, along with all of the early church fathers, recognized that there is a priority that they are to give themselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word. The Apostle Paul doesn't just say that you should give yourself to the priority of prayer and the ministry of the Word. He does that, and he does it in chapter 1 of Colossians. Colossians is a model of prayer and the ministry of the Word, prayer and his preaching. And his praying begins in the passage that we started with, verse 9. And so, he begins with a supplication. And within that supplication, he's praying for them to have Christian wisdom. He prays for them to have a Christian walk, that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him. He prays for them that they might have a fruitful work. And so their Christian wisdom, their Christian walk, their Christian work, all of these were the petitions that he was making. But that prayer is not only supplication, that prayer was also thanksgiving. Bible reminds us that we should give thanks and everything, and when you can't think of anything to give thanks for, well, come to verse 12, where it says, giving thanks to the Father who has made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the light. If you start thinking about the blessings of family, the blessing of inheritance, you start thinking, man, there are so many blessings that we have, and we can begin with a thanksgiving that we are receiving this inheritance that is incorruptible and undefiled, that fades not away, reserved in heaven for us. So we think of the blessings of family, but we also think of the blessings of freedom. That's described for us in verse 13, He has delivered us from the power of darkness and has translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son. There's a prayer within this that is the thanksgiving for the freedom that we are no longer under the tyranny of darkness and tyranny of sin, but now we are members of the kingdom of Christ. If you need a little bit of help counting your blessings and giving thanks, then thank God for the blessings of forgiveness, verse 14, in whom we have redemption through His blood and the forgiveness of sin. So the Apostle begins by praying. His prayer is filled with petition. It's also filled with thanksgiving. But his prayer leads to this climax, and the prayer is leading to a climax of adoration and praise. And that adoration and praise is found in verse 15 and following where it says, Christ, the one who forgives us of our sin, is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation or of every creature. For by him, all things were created in heaven and on earth. And within his adoration, he's praying Christ for two key things. He's praising the Lord Jesus Christ and adoring Jesus because of who he is and because of what he does. For who He is, He talks about Him being the Supreme One. He is the One who is far above all principalities and powers. He's above all creation. And He describes Him as being supreme, first of all, when He says that He is the image of the invisible God. The image of the invisible God is telling us that Christ is supreme in eternity. And the reason that He's supreme in eternity is because He is the eternal God. In John 1 we're told about who this Jesus is when it says that in the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God. It tells us that all things were made by Him and without Him nothing was made that was made. He was in the beginning with God. So He is the eternal self-existent God and as such Christ is to be adored. He's supreme in all eternity. But He's also supreme in creation. To be supreme in creation means that He's above every creature. And the reason that He's supreme over all creation is because He is the Creator, the One who made heaven, the earth, the visible and invisible, thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers. All things were created by Him and for Him. He is indeed supreme over everything. He is to be adored and honored and worshipped because He is first place. His first place continues because He's not only supreme in eternity, supreme over creation, but He's supreme over His church. And to be supreme over His church is now getting to some of the application that we're going to be making this afternoon. To be supreme over His church when it says, He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He might have the preeminence. Is there anyone here, by the way, who has ever run into a Jehovah's Witness? And talking to a Jehovah's Witness, there are going to be people who say, no, no, no. Jesus is not the Creator. He is not necessarily the Eternal God. He is certainly not Jehovah. He is some sub-deity. Maybe you talk to a Jehovah's Witness, or maybe you'd even encounter a Mormon. Some of you are getting ready to go to the West on a Western missions trip, and you're going to encounter Mormons. And if you go to the Mormon temple in Salt Lake City, and if you go to their huge convention center, there's going to be a picture that they're going to show you, and they're going to say, all right, this is the Father, and this is the Son, and we're making it very clear. These are different beings. that Jesus is a sub-deity. And the reason they would say that is because they say, see, He's the firstborn of creation. They say the firstborn of creation means that He is the first created being from which everything else came into existence. Does anyone here recognize a problem with that? The problem with that is that it is a restatement of an ancient heresy known as Arianism. And Arianism would say that Christ was a created being, that He is somehow less than equal with the Father. And in this passage of Scripture, it can become confusing because you say, well, what does it mean that He is firstborn of creation? Here's what I want you to know. The statement of firstborn of creation has nothing to do with time, meaning that He is the first created being from which everything else comes. Instead, it has everything to do with rank. He is firstborn over all creation, meaning He ranks over all creation. Why is He firstborn over all creation? Because He is the Creator. He's the eternal, self-existent God, the one who never had a beginning, the one who never came into being, He always existed. And Jesus, as the eternal Jehovah God, being one with His Father, He is firstborn over all creation. Let's think about this phrase, firstborn. Is it possible for firstborn to mean something more important than just time? It definitely is. If you go back to the Old Testament scripture, you think of Abraham. Abraham had a firstborn son by time. Who was his firstborn son by time? Well, Ishmael was born first in time, 13 years before Isaac ever came into existence. But who was the firstborn? Who's the one who inherited all of his promises? Who is the child of promise? Who is truly the firstborn? The firstborn came 13 years later. He was the first in rank and Isaac was preeminent over Ishmael because he was the chosen one. He was the exalted one. This firstborn over all eternity is not just describing someone who comes first. from which everything else is in existence, is telling us that Christ ranks over, that He is first place over all creation. And the reason is, is because He is the Creator. This gives us a trust in who Christ really is. Not a sub-deity, not a lesser being, but instead, He is the eternal, self-existent God. This is going to become very important. Bear with me in just a moment, we'll get to that. Beyond that firstborn of creation, we have not only the example of Abraham with his sons, but we also have the example of David. I have to ask you a simple question. Was David the firstborn of Jesse? Well, by time, no. By time, there were other brothers. When the prophet had come to anoint David as being the king, or to anoint one of the sons of Jesse as the king, he started with the oldest, and he said, oh, this must be the one. He's the one who's big and tall and looks the part, and he's the first by time, this must be the one. But God came to him and said, no, you're looking on the outward appearance. And man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart. And this is not the one I've rejected. This one is king. So they brought the second born and he wasn't received in the third and the fourth. And it continued down until finally they got to the youngest. And the youngest was David, and David ended up being the firstborn of Jesse. And the firstborn had nothing to do with time, it had everything to do with rank. And I'm going through all of this to help you in an apologetic way to know that when you're witnessing to someone who believes that Jesus is somehow less than the eternal self-existent God, they don't have any biblical grounds for doing so. Instead, we recognize that Christ is the one who is supreme in eternity because He is the eternal God. He is supreme in creation because He is the Creator and He is supreme in His church. And to be supreme in His church is now coming to a very important portion. Not only are we finding an example in Colossians 1 of a minister praying, but we also find an example of a minister preaching. And when we find the example of the minister preaching, we're finding now this priority by which he comes and he says, I am preaching this gospel to every creature under heaven. I have been appointed to this. I have been made a minister. And he repeats that twice. I am made a minister, verse 23. I am made a minister, verse 25. And he says, this is the dispensation or the stewardship of God, which is given to me. If you're taking notes, even if you may have been paying attention to some other things as I've been setting a context here, if you're taking notes, I really want you to begin right now by paying attention and recognizing that preaching hope, ministering hope to people is, first of all, it is a God-given stewardship. Within a God-given stewardship, he says, God has made me to be a steward. God has made me to do this. In other words, the ministry that we are called to in proclaiming Christ isn't something that you're elected to by popular vote. It's not something that you strive toward by political action, or by schmoozing certain people, or by even seeking a particular position. I do believe that God's calling to leadership within the church includes a desire to be a bishop or the desire to be an elder, a desire to be a deacon. And I believe that that desire is for a God-given work. And I think that there's a desire that God gives you. But listen, ministry that he's describing is not something that you pursue. It's not something that you achieve. It's not something that you campaign for or that you're elected to. Instead, it's a God-given stewardship. And within that God-given stewardship, it helps us to a couple of things. Number one, it helps us to rejoice, and it also helps us to suffer. That stewardship is a reminder to me of a couple of things. It reminds me of the story of the stewards, the men who are given certain talents. A certain man was getting ready to go on a journey, and he had three stewards, and he gave one five talents, and he gave another two talents, and another one talent. That means that ultimately, God's selection of your opportunity, God's selection of your gifts and abilities, God's sovereign direction of where you're going to be, you can't control whether you get five, two, or one. All you can control is whether you are faithful to what God has given to you. The first one had five talents, and he was faithful. He reproduced. And when the master came back and held him accountable, he said, well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over that which is few. You're going to be faithful over much. And he gave him twice as much. The same with the one who had had two. He was faithful to what God had given him. But the one who had given only one, he said, ah, you know what? There's only one talent. It's really not that important. I'm going to go and bury it. And when he was giving an account of that, his master comes back to him and he says, you wicked and lazy servant. I gave this to you and you should have been faithful with it, but instead you're going to lose that which is given to you. Now, all of you need to know that you are given a stewardship. You're given the stewardship of the gospel. And that stewardship of the gospel is a God-given stewardship by which He is sovereignly directing you and appointing you. And it's not something that you seek election in. It's not something that you can be discouraged and say, well, you know what? I haven't been appointed to this task. No one's recognized me. No. God has given you roommates. and you have a stewardship with a roommate. God has given you people on your hall, and you have a stewardship with people on your hall. God has given you relatives, and there's a stewardship with them. There's a God-given stewardship, and within that God-given stewardship, that allows us to rejoice. Notice what the apostle says in this. He said, in this I rejoice. Now, to rejoice in this stewardship, the only way that you ultimately rejoice in this is if you remember that my stewardship is to come under the preeminence of Christ, that He is first place. And the preeminence of Christ, the first place where Christ would possess, delivers me from self-promotion. Is everyone please understanding this? If Christ is preeminent, that means that the only name that really means anything is the name of Jesus. If Christ is preeminent, if He's first place, then the only thing that we really promote or preach or proclaim, the only one who has any solution for the people around us, is Christ. That means that I have a stewardship, and my stewardship isn't to come up with all of my own solutions and answers to help people. Instead, my stewardship is to bring people to Christ. He's the one who has the real answer for them. Did you know that as obvious as it seems to us that Christ is preeminent, that it becomes a problem in the church because according to the epistles of John, there was one named Diotrephes who loved the preeminence. That means he loved the first place in the church. He loved everyone looking to him and following him. And the disease of Diotrephes is something that had gone before with the scribes and the Pharisees that Jesus ministered to. And those scribes and Pharisees loved to be recognized in the streets. They loved the way that they dressed. They loved the positions that they had. And ultimately, what I'm trying to tell you is that you lose joy in ministry to other people when you are somehow trying to promote your own preeminence and you forget emphasizing the preeminence of Christ. You see, if Christ is preeminent, then you view ministry as being a privilege. But if you were preeminent, well, you started viewing ministry as being a privilege. Well, as something that you are entitled to. You start viewing an entitlement rather than a privilege to be able to serve Him. If Christ is preeminent, well, then I can be a servant. I can be a steward. I can promote Him. But if I'm preeminent, well, I've got to make sure that I am lording it over the people, and that steals all of my joy. If Christ is preeminent, I don't care if anyone knows who my name or what my position is. Instead, if Christ is preeminent, He must increase and I must decrease. But if I'm seeking preeminence, well, I become frustrated when people don't know me, when I don't get the positions that I want, when I don't get the promotion that I want, when other whatever it may be. You see, when Christ is preeminent, when we recognize that our ministry of the gospel of Christ is a stewardship, then we start recognizing that there's a joy that comes. And that joy comes in allowing Him to be first place, and we take the lower place. That also allows us to suffer. And within this, He indicates that there will be suffering in ministry. And that suffering, as He describes it, is filling up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ. Wait a second. Is there anything that the suffering of Christ did not accomplish? Is there anything that we have to fill up? Is there any gap? Is there anything that Christ didn't satisfy? Well, if you're familiar with a payment that Christ made, then you remember that on the cross, He made a statement. He said, it is finished. And that word, totalitize, describing that it was paid in full. That means that He paid it completely and there was nothing lacking. So he's certainly not describing that our suffering as humans, our sufferings as ministers, that somehow fills up in an atoning way, it contributes anything to the atonement of Christ. The atonement of Christ is paid in full, it's complete. Is everyone tracking with me and understanding? Our suffering doesn't contribute anything to that work of Christ. Instead, the suffering that he's talking about is that the suffering on behalf of Christ's body means a suffering that is now contributing to the proclamation of Christ in other places. For instance, a man named David Livingston. David Livingston decided that his stewardship was to take the gospel of Christ, the message of Christ, and to preach him to every creature under the earth. And to preach to every creature meant that he would need to go to Africa, the deepest, darkest part of Africa. I've come to really appreciate David Livingston because what David Livingston had worked for, labored for, even left his heart in Africa for, his whole purpose was to take the gospel to the headwaters of the Nile River. And the headwaters of the Nile River are now Lake Victoria. It's near Uganda. I had a privilege of doing a conference a couple of years ago with 25,000 pastors and church leaders right near the headwaters of the Nile. As I stood with all of these people who are so hungry for the gospel, I recognized we are standing on the shoulders of someone like David Livingston, someone who is willing to be mauled by a lion and lose use of his shoulder because he wanted to fill up what was lacking in the sufferings of Christ. Christ had paid a full atonement, but now it was his privilege to go to ends of the earth and to suffer for the name of Christ and for the sake of the body to take the gospel so he would suffer being mauled by a lion. He would be suffered by being gored by a rhinoceros and he would suffer unrelenting fever and sickness and illness and eventually when he was killed they took out his heart and they buried it in Africa because his heart was so much for the people of Africa. And now we have the privilege of being able to go and minister to a church that's being established, being able to minister to people that have heard the gospel. The spread of the gospel is happening in such a remarkable way across Africa, and all of that is because of a man who is willing to fill up. He was willing to suffer for the body of Christ, the believers that would come eventually. And now, recognizing that I have a stewardship from God, a stewardship from God means that David Livingston might have had the privilege of pastoring a larger church or having a better life or an easier life by staying in England or wherever he may have been. He could have promoted himself, but when he recognized that I'm a steward and that God is the one who calls me, and if God has called me, then I'm going to go wherever he is sending me. And that stewardship allows me to endure suffering with joy because I am serving the Lord. He's the one who called me to this particular position. That stewardship, my friends, is something that I want you to grasp. It's something I want you to take hold of, because your stewardship might be a youth ministry, and your stewardship might be a mission field, but your stewardship might be practicing as an attorney. And the Lord knows we desperately need Christians that are committed to what the Bible says about law and order. We need them to function in the United States. Why in the world should we allow the practice of law to go to all of the godless liberals that are out there? So that may be the stewardship that God calls you to, but to recognize that I am a steward of Christ and wherever it is that I go, maybe I'm going to be in accounting and I have an accounting life, but even my accounting ministry is a stewardship of God by which I'm serving Him. Have you ever considered that maybe God's going to use your love for sports and your knowledge of basketball and maybe you're going to be a coach? And there's going to be a stewardship that says, I am now a coach who is not just trying to teach kids to dribble a ball and take a shot and be able to win games, but my stewardship is to proclaim the gospel of Christ, to proclaim Christ to these people, to see my life as a stewardship. And to some, there's five talents, and some two, and there's some one, and we need to stop comparing ourselves among ourselves and just recognize that our ministry and the ministry of trying to bring hope to a hopeless world, our ministry is a God-given stewardship. But it goes beyond a God-given stewardship. There's a second phrase that is given in this passage, and that means that our preaching of Christ, our ministry, is not only a God-given stewardship, it is a Christ-centered hope. Take a look at verse 27, where it says, "...to whom God would make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." When he speaks about the mystery that is here, that mystery is something that had not previously been revealed or made known. And that which had not previously been revealed or made known is Christ indwelling of us and the newness of life that Christ is with us. It's what I talked about yesterday when I said salvation is not only forgiveness of sin and a home in heaven and an escape from hell, but salvation is newness of life and it's the life of Christ in you so that If anyone is in Christ, he's a new creature. Old things are passed away and all things become new. Christ in you. That was a mystery. It hadn't been previously known or anticipated. They knew justification in the Old Testament. Anyone who'd ever been justified is justified by faith. But this kind of concept of regeneration or newness of life, this is something that had been a mystery. And now we have the privilege of knowing life in the Spirit. So there's a mystery, something that hadn't previously been known, but here's the mystery, Christ in you. And that is the hope of glory. The hope of glory is now coming to us and saying that we come with a message to a world around us that they can have Christ within them and that Christ will bring transformation and change. And here's what I want you to know about this Christ-centered hope. When he speaks of this Christ-centered hope, he says, Christ in you is the hope of glory, and in verse 28 he says, whom we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom. The warning of every man is found in chapter 2. The teaching of every man about Christ is in chapter three and four. And so now we have the whole rest of the message of Colossians. Because here's what I want you to know about this message, Christ in you, the hope of glory. I want you to know that not only is Christ supreme, but I also want you to know that Christ is sufficient. He is enough. Everyone take a look at Colossians chapter 2 with me, please. And in Colossians chapter 2, I want you to see a key point of this in verse 6, when it says, as therefore you have received Jesus Christ the Lord, so also walk in Him. It says, "...as you have received Him." To receive Him is the simplicity of faith, that there is no one else that you need. You receive Christ and you receive Him alone. But here's what He also says, "...so you should walk in Him." And everyone, please grasp this, that when it comes to hope, when it comes to transformation and change and direction, I want you to all know that there will be plenty of people who will tell you it's fine to believe in Jesus. But after you believe in Jesus, we're going to give you something else that you need in addition to Him. And that's where I want to spend most of the rest of our time this afternoon, because I want everyone here to be convinced and be reminded yourself that Christ is enough, that Christ is sufficient, that you don't need anything else in addition to Christ. I heard a story about a about a dog, and that dog had a bone, and he was truly satisfied with his bone. He kind of walked around the whole neighborhood, and his tail was wagging, and his head was up, and he was really satisfied with the bone. He wanted everyone to see his bone and admire him, and he thought it was really great, until he walked by a body of water. And I'm not sure if it was a little river, or a little lake, or what it was, but he walked by a body of water, and he looked down, He saw a reflection, he didn't know it was a reflection, he just saw another dog, and when he saw that other dog, it seemed to him that that other dog had a bone that was bigger than his bone, and suddenly, he was dissatisfied with what he had. Instead of being so happy and content with what he had, he looked at someone else and started comparing, and when he looked at that other dog, he snarled at him because he wasn't happy with what he had, and of course, the other dog snarled right back at him. Then, he started showing his teeth, and as he showed his teeth, the other dog showed his teeth. There was this competition that went on until finally, he became so discontent with what he had that he opened up his mouth and he reached for that other dog's bone. As you can imagine, he just lost his bone into the water, because he thought he was getting something more, but what he thought was going to be more ended up being far, far less. It was just a facade. It wasn't something that was true at all. He thought he was going to get something more, but he got something far less. And that is what we need to warn people about, according to chapter 2, that if there's ever anything that someone's trying to offer you in addition to Christ, you're never getting more, you're always getting far less. Can anyone say amen to this with me? Help me know? The sufficiency is that Christ is the hope of glory. Christ is all the hope that we need. Christ is the only message that we need. And there's some warnings that are found in chapter 2. Take a look, please, at chapter 2, verse 1, for I want you to know what a great conflict I have for you. And within that conflict, he's talking about a warning of them, and he says this in verse four, this I say, lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words. He gives more warning in, let's see, he gives us more warning in verse eight, beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit. Then he gives another warning when he says in verse three, let no one judge you in food or in drink. He also says in verse 18, In all of these passages, he's saying, don't let anyone cheat you, don't let anyone deceive you, don't let anyone steal from you or judge you. And when he warns them about all of these different things, he's now going to get some detail and he's going to say, these are the kind of things that people will give. And as they are giving something in addition to Christ, don't let anyone cheat or steal or rob you or lead you away from the simplicity that is in Jesus. The first thing that he warns us about is found in verse eight when he says, beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit. Now, those of you who are in philosophy classes here at school know that there can be a love of wisdom. An ultimate love of wisdom should be found in the scripture. It should take us to Proverbs and we should be seeking out wisdom. So philosophy in and of itself isn't bad. The problem is, is there's human tradition. And according to the tradition of man, there's certain philosophies that people will try to add, and they'll say, all right, receiving Jesus, that's just fine. But we're going to give you something more, because if you really want victory in your life, then we're going to add this. Kinham all this week has been warning us about adding the tradition of human philosophy such as secularism or secular humanism. And secular humanism becomes intimidating to many people as Christians. They'll say, okay, it's fine to trust in Jesus and believe in Jesus. But somehow, we've got to make the Bible conform to the whole human philosophy of atheism and evolution. And so, we're intimidated by these traditions. And since we're intimidated by these traditions, we say, yeah, it's good to believe in Jesus, but in order to really round out and fulfill yourself, you also need this tradition and need to figure out how you can embrace secular humanism and certain elements. The one I really want to warn you about, though, is not humanistic evolution. What I want to warn you about is humanistic psychology. By humanistic psychology, I'm talking about people who will come and they say, all right, now look, trusting and believing in Jesus, that's fine. And Jesus is good, but it's only beginning. And if you really want victory over addiction, If you really want victory over some abuse that you've endured, if you really want victory, then, well, we're going to be able to help you with psychology and psychological philosophy. And as you probably know, the problem with humanistic psychology is it's not just in secular environments, it comes into the church. You can go to churches all over America where they're going to try to implement humanistic psychology. You can go to some churches and they're going to implement hypnosis. And they say, okay, believing in Jesus is fine, but in order to get over this particular barrier, we're going to use hypnosis and try to convince you of how you can walk in victory. I'd even heard of one, it's going to seem ridiculous to you, but there had been a process that they had called rebirthing. And it's so traumatic for you to be born as a child that now we're going to kind of put you through this whole process again and we're going to cover you up with blankets or maybe even put you into a bathtub where you'll be in warm water and like you're in the womb. And you're going to get in the fetal position, and out of that fetal position, you're going to kind of go through the trauma of being rebirthed. And so we're going to make it difficult, but you're going to have to push through. And as you go through this rebirthing process, that somehow you'll be able to overcome that trauma in your life, and you'll be able to be a new person. And you laugh at it, and you say, man, that is absolutely ridiculous. What's really ridiculous is that they do it in churches. There was one church, a liberal church, that had done this very thing. Because they put someone into a bathtub to be rebirthed, they held them under too long and they became responsible, liable, because they killed a person in a bathtub. And what's tragic is not only did they kill them, but they're leading so many people away from the simplicity of Christ. And so anyone who gets all Oh, arrogant and academic and said, all right, believing in Jesus, that's great. But that's too simple. What you really need to overcome is you need this human philosophy. And this passage is warning us that there is nothing in addition to Jesus. There's nothing that is an improvement upon Christ and the transformation that he brings in your life. Humanistic psychology adds nothing. So not only humanistic psychology that he warns us against and humanistic philosophies, but he goes a little bit further and he says, let me also warn you about this. Take a look please at verse 11. In him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh of the circumcision of Christ, buried with him in baptism in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God who raised him from the dead. There are two specific rituals that are mentioned there, and they're kind of put in some combination with each other. He talks about circumcision, and he talks about baptism. And I want to talk about this as really being what I'm going to call true legalism. Everyone wants to come to you as Bob Jones University students or graduates or faculty, and they say, oh, that's a legalistic place. Listen, Just because you have rules and regulations and you have standards as an organization doesn't mean legalism. True legalism are people who are adding something in addition to Christ that they think is necessary for salvation and spirituality. Such as, in the early first century church, people would come and say, hey, believing in Jesus is just fine. You go and accept Jesus. But if you really want to be acceptable to God, you also have to become a Jew. And so these Judaizers said, yeah, believe in Jesus, follow Him, but you need to be circumcised. And then you need to follow these dietary codes and you need to be able to worship on a certain day of the week. And they said that they were adding to Jesus by bringing in all of these legalistic codes and rituals that were there. And my friends, what I want you to know is that for today, baptism, by baptism I mean water baptism, the water baptism that represents the spiritual union of you being united with Christ in His death, burial, resurrection. Water baptism cannot contribute anything to the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. and the day that you may worship, and the other rituals that you may have. Any ritual adds nothing to Christ, so that you need to be on guard, lest you come away from the simplicity of faith in Christ alone, and Him being the hope that is in you. Don't add humanistic philosophies, the traditions of men. Don't add these rituals, such as circumcision, or the legalistic effort that is there. And the other thing is, don't add mysticism. Now, everyone take a look. Go all the way down, please, to verse 15. It says, he has disarmed principalities and powers. Go a little bit further and take a look at, oh, verse 17, I think it is. It might be verse 18. I have to be honest with you, man. My eyes are bothering me, and I'm not able to see this. But it says, let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things that he has not seen, vainly puffed up by the fleshly mind. This is a very strong warning. I've got to give you very real warning that there are people who are going to come to you and they're going to tell you, all right, receiving Jesus, that's all well and good. But if you want to come to the deeper truths of spirituality, then we're going to give you some new age techniques. And we're going to help you find a spirit guide who will be able to guide you in truth. And then we're going to teach you certain things, like we're going to teach you how to channel the scripture. And instead of reading the Bible and letting God speak to you in the Bible, we're going to let you just kind of gaze at this word and think about this word. And as you gaze at the word and think about the word and come off into some sort of daydream way, then you have a mystical revelation by which God will reveal himself like the angels are coming to you. There are some people who would even say, see, this is just, this is just, This is just meditation. The Bible tells you that you need to meditate. Isn't meditation a good thing? But then they have a totally different word for definition of meditation. So there'll be people who would come to the whole idea. They say, well, you need to get into a position where you're sitting. maybe in Indian style. And as you're sitting Indian style, you kind of open up your posture and you maybe even have a voice, a soothing voice you'd have like, om. And as you're going into all of these transcendental meditation type of things, then somehow the spirit realm will come in and guide you in truth. And listen, this isn't something that just happens in Hollywood. It's not something that just happens with Star Wars, using the force and all that kind of stuff that is there. Don't think, feel. This is something that comes into the church. Now, it's not primarily coming into fundamental churches that hopefully most of you are part of, but it's coming into churches all around that are now coming and saying, all right, we're going to have a weekend. And this weekend is going to give you the key to spiritual victory. We are going to have a spiritual warfare conference. And if you want real victory in your life, then come to our spiritual warfare conference. And we're going to teach you how to chase out the devils and how to rebuke this spirit and rebuke that. It goes all the way back to Colossians. It says they're acting as if they're adding something more, but they're not adding something more, they're adding something that is far less. Hold fast to the simplicity that is in Christ. Christ in you, the hope of glory. This is what we preach, and we do this warning every man. There is nothing in addition to Christ. Instead, it's far, far less. Is everyone kind of understanding a little bit, or am I missing you entirely this afternoon? Are any of you familiar with these type of ideas that will come? I've been, let's see, I'm gonna get kind of specific. I was raised in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and I was really blessed by a ministry there that was huge into discipleship. I went through all kinds of scripture memory through them. I did basic Bible studies with them. It was enormous. But later, they've kind of gotten into this mystical spirituality. And soon the mystical spirituality was emphasizing some channeling and it started emphasizing things that they talked about, prayer walk. I thought walking is good, praying is good, but their idea of a prayer walk was something entirely different. And in their prayer walk they were again trying to get into a mystical knowledge by which they're communing with the spirit world directly. Biblical meditation has nothing to do with that. In Psalm 1, when it says, Blessed is the man whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and night. My friends, please listen. Biblical meditation is not emptying your mind to make it open to the spiritual world around you. Biblical meditation is focusing your mind. focusing your mind on what the scripture says, bringing application of that, cross-referencing it, and asking God to make this clear and how this works in my life. Biblical meditation is not emptying your mind, it's focusing your mind. And do not think that somehow mysticism contributes anything to Christ. Beware lest you be deceived. Beware lest you are cheated. There's one other thing that he adds. Take a look all the way down, please, to verse 20. According to the commandments and doctrines of men, these things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but they are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh." The word that is properly used here is the word asceticism. We're not talking about rules and regulations as being quote-unquote legalism. I've already told you, legalism is adding something other than Christ to being necessary for salvation. Within this, he's talking about asceticism, by which he says, do not touch, do not taste, do not whatever it may be. And he's now adding rules and regulations as if, now you've been saved, But after you've been saved, let's tell you how you can be really spiritual. You prayed the prayer, but now we're going to tell you what length your hair has to be, and what kind of clothes you can wear, what length your skirt must be, and the do not touch, do not taste, and all of those other things that come in. Now, there is nothing wrong with a commitment to holiness, but what I'm telling you is holiness cannot be produced with outward rules and regulations, according to this passage of Scripture. And these rules and regulations add nothing to the sanctifying work of Christ. What you really need is you need to embrace Christ in you, the hope of glory. You need to learn to live. with Christ in you and the transformation that he brings from the inside out. But Jesus was the one who warned the Pharisees and said, you're washing the outside of the cup and the platter with all of your rules and regulations. But on the inside is filled with dead men's bones. On the inside is still filled with death. And all I want you to know is that you can come to Bob Jones University and never get a demerit. You can follow all the rules and regulations and still not have any real heart that's been transformed. I can remember a time when I was here as a student. I can remember meeting students who said, hey, I'm good. I don't buck the rules. I don't get into any trouble. Everything is good with me. They don't have any kind of hunger for the scripture. They don't have any evidence of love for the lost. They didn't have any kind of conviction of the Holy Spirit and humility concerning what they, but they thought that because they kept the rules, they were okay. It's entirely possible to keep all the rules, regulations, do not touch, do not taste, do not whatever, and still abandon the simplicity that is Christ. Now, I'm not telling you to rise up in rebellion against rules and regulations. We all know rules and regulations at an organization like this, they're necessary, and there's a structure and a guideline that is there, but keeping the rules doesn't make you spiritual. As a matter of fact, keeping the rules doesn't even have any power to overcome your flesh. The only thing that has power to overcome the flesh is walking in the Spirit. If you live in the Spirit, let us walk in the Spirit. And he says this in Galatians, he says, walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. So I'm coming to tell you again to hold fast to the simplicity that is in Christ. If we have a Christ-centered hope, And if our ministry is a God-given stewardship, then this Christ-centered hope is holding fast to Christ and recognizing He is my hope, He is my strength. We've got to continually exalt the Lord Jesus and His gracious work that's within us. Don't think that adding any of these other things contributes anything to Him. So he says, we preach Christ warning every man, that's the rest of chapter two, teaching every man, that's chapter three and four. And you say, Jeff, are you seriously going to go through chapter three and four? No, here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to encourage you to read Chains into His Image, because Mr. Berg, has given us a wonderful teaching of how to be Christ-like and how to be changed in the image of Christ as he goes through Colossians chapter 3 and talks about putting off the old man and putting on the new man and being renewed in the spirit of your mind. So go through change into his image if you haven't already seen it. I've gone through Warning every man, that's chapter two, teaching every man is going to be something such as what Mr. Berg talks about and changed into his image. And I'm not going to address it any further, except that the process of sanctification that is so beautifully laid out in that book. I appreciate it so very much. Let me say one more thing about hope. Everyone take a look at Colossians chapter one about Christ in you being the hope of glory and go a little earlier than where we actually began our reading. Go back to verses 3 through 8, where it says, He said, it also has come to you as it is in all the world, bringing forth fruit as it is also among you since the day you heard it. Know the grace of God in truth. Here's what he's saying. He's saying, I know your reputation. I never met you in person, but your reputation is that you are known for your faith. You're known for your love. And then he said, you're known for your hope, the hope which is laid up for you in heaven. Now, The hope that he's referring to is the word of the truth of the gospel. So the hope, Christ in you, the hope of glory, is the hope of the gospel message. Christ died for our sins, he was buried, he rose again according to the scripture. Christ is now indwelling you and you're a new creature because Christ is in you. And within that he comes and he tells us that this gospel and this hope are so closely tied together. And he tells us that this is a true hope because it's a true gospel. He said, this is the word of truth of the gospel. This isn't some sort of fanciful thinking. It's a true hope because the gospel is true. It's also an eternal hope, and it's an eternal hope because it's an eternal gospel. It's laid up for you in heaven. This isn't just hope for your best life now. This isn't just hope to somehow get through your marriage or to have family problems dealt with. This is an eternal hope because it's an eternal gospel. It's a true hope because it's a true gospel. He also tells us that this is a fruitful or productive hope. It's bringing forth fruit, as it is in all other places. And in addition to all of that, he's now coming to me and saying it's a universal hope because it's a universal gospel. This is the best way that I can explain it. The universal hope of this universal gospel means this, that if God gives me a privilege to go minister to pastors in Africa, that this book, this Bible, is just as meaningful and real and true to people that are living in Thastrua of Hudson, Africa, as it is to us, because this is a universal truth. That means I don't have to change my message because I go to India, but if I'm preaching the Word of God, and if I'm preaching Christ in you, the hope of glory, then Christ transcends culture. And if we're preaching and ministering this book, then this is the universal hope that is good for all men everywhere. And that means that for you guys, this generation, whatever it is that they're calling you now, whatever it is for you guys, you have the same hope because it's the same gospel. And we don't somehow have to reinvent ourselves for a new generation. because everyone everywhere has the same basis of hope. It's a universal hope, a universal gospel that says this book is what transcends culture. The one reason that I have become so committed to expository preaching, well, besides the fact that I just love the Bible and God has spoken to us through his Bible, but the reason I've become so committed to expository preaching is because this is the only thing that I know that is effective wherever you go. You can go to Hawaii and preach Christ in you, the hope of glory. You can give yourself to the exposition of the scripture and it transcends the culture. And it's useful in Hawaii. It's useful in India. It's useful in China. It's useful in Africa. It's useful in New York. It's useful in the South. It's useful in Australia. It's useful with any age that is there. It's a universal hope because it's a universal gospel. And that's why we preach Christ in you, the hope of glory, warning every man and teaching every man. All right, so when we're talking about preaching the God of hope, that preaching, that ministering, that message that we're proclaiming to people is not something that can be supplemented by anything else. Hold on to the simplicity that is in Christ. It's a God-given stewardship, it is a Christ-centered hope, and it is a Spirit-empowered labor. The Spirit-empowered labor is described for us in the last two verses. He said, we preach Christ, warning every man, teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus, whereunto I also labor, striving according to his working which worketh in me mightily. When he talks about laboring, striving, his working which works in me mightily, it comes down to the power of the Holy Spirit, and that power of the Holy Spirit is what is working in us to where we would agree that it's the Spirit that gives life and the flesh profits nothing. We're recognizing that it's not by might, it's not by power, but it's by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. That means that since I can't do anything to add to the work of Christ, since I can't in my flesh contribute anything in my ministry, I'm not in any way convinced that through my labor and toil and my discipline and through my discipleship and teaching and training, there's not anything that any of my labors can do. It's gotta be the Spirit of God who does this work. Can anyone agree with what I'm talking about? Have you ever tried to help someone in your hall change? And you figure out that, man, I can talk all day long, I can give them books, I can do everything I can, try to provide them accountable, but only God is gonna be able to change this person. Let me verify this to you. There's something that teaches you the need for Holy Spirit, for God to do the work within you. You know what it's called? It's called parenting. The book of Psalms says this, unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it. And I believe that, because I can have children, and I can try to raise them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. I can try to provide an example for them, but ultimately, I cannot change their hearts. Do any mom and dad out there say amen to this? Ultimately, I can't change their heart, and if I can't change their heart, then I labor and I can toil, I can give everything, but it's gotta be His working that works in us mightily, and ultimately I start recognizing through parenting. Parenting is the one thing that taught me to pray desperately for the power of the Holy Spirit to bring transformation and change. If it's not parenting, let me tell you something else that teaches you to pray desperately for the power of the Holy Spirit, pastoring. Pastoring is one of those things that you can preach and labor and organize and disciple, and you can do everything you can, but ultimately you cannot change the hearts of people. It's got to be God who's able to change. It's got to be Christ in you, the hope of glory. It's got to be His Spirit that is working in people mightily. There must be an unction from on high, there must be power of the Spirit of God who takes His Word and brings transformation and change. There's got to be His working that works in us mightily, but this is key. But because He works in us mightily, and because we're convinced that Christ is the answer, Christ is the solution, Christ in you is the hope of glory, then my friends, that's something that is worthy all of my labor and toil and effort. That means that when I come into the ministry, I'm not coming into the ministry looking for the cushy 30-hour-a-week job. I don't think that somehow, well, I'm going to be a pastor. And if I'm going to be a pastor, that means that I can study the Bible and read books for 30 hours a week, and then I get up and preach, and really, it's just not that hard. I can kind of coach the rest of the week. And there are some times that people come out now, and they think that somehow the ministry is just going to be cushy, and they can just study a little bit, and no. No, no, no. According to Paul's example, he says, I labor and toil and strive. I tell people regularly this. If you think you're going to study 30 hours a week and just prepare your messages, which, by the way, in my opinion, you should be, especially if you're in a preaching ministry. You should be committed to studying 30 hours a week to study and prepare. Show yourself approved under God, a workman who does not need to be ashamed. But if you're going to do study 30 hours a week, then you better also be shepherding, organizing, teaching, meeting, caring for people 30 hours a week. I come into the ministry recognizing that, man, this is more than a 40-hour work week. This is something that includes all of my life, and there's a reason that I labor and toil. And the reason I labor and toil according to His working that works in me mightily is according to this passage where it says that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. To present everyone perfect in Christ Jesus is now coming back to another phrase, another model, another example of what it's doing. And here's the picture that is given. To present people is the idea of, well, it's the picture of a father who's getting ready to present his daughter as a bride to a groom. So I'm just gonna use this room as an example. We don't have a middle aisle here, so we have another aisle, and just like our church at home, we don't have a middle aisle, so we have to have the bride and her father walk in one way, and then the bride and groom walk out a different way. But imagine, the day's coming fairly soon, in which I am going to be walking down an aisle, and there's gonna be a beautiful bride on my arm, and I'm gonna be walking her down into this place, and as I walk her down, I'm going to be presenting her to a bridegroom. Now, in my case, I'm going to be presenting her to some worthless, good-for-nothing guy who's going to try to take her out of my life, all right? So he's not going to be worthy. But I started looking forward to the idea that someday I'm going to present her. And right now, I want to labor and toil and do everything I can to present her a spotless bride, a beautiful bride, a prepared bride. I want to do everything I can to protect her and nurture her and see her, because someday I'm going to be presenting her. The image of that is easy for us to recognize that we, as ministers of the Lord Jesus Christ, given a stewardship from God, needing the power of the Holy Spirit, by the work of Christ in you being the hope of glory, we are going to be part of presenting people. He says that we may present you spotless, that we may present you perfect in the day of the Lord Jesus Christ. That means that certainly Christ is preparing for Himself a bride, and I'm not ignoring that fact. But it's also true that our ministry, our stewardship, our calling is the presentation of a bride of the Lord Jesus. And the greatest wedding that you can be preparing for is not just preparing for the earthly presentation of your daughter to a man. The greatest preparation is presenting the bride of Christ. And that is worthy of our labor and our toil. We can't contribute anything to what Christ is doing. No, it's true. There is no mysticism. There is no rules or regulation. There is nothing that contributes. Christ is enough. But because Christ is enough, I want to labor and toil. I want to be willing to suffer and sacrifice and fill up that which is lacking in the suffering of Christ. I want to be willing to go to Africa, if that's what the call is. I want to leave the security of a position. Everything I'm talking to you about today is not just pie-in-the-sky stuff for me, it's real. Just recently, the Lord's allowed some circumstances by which it became clear that my ministry of 25 years at Grace Bible Church has come to a conclusion. And when I resigned, and by the way, resignations like that aren't always easy. And even now, man, there's some circumstances that are difficult, but those circumstances are just things that I knew God was saying, your time at grace is finished, and it's time for you to do something else. But did you know that I step away from a regular paycheck? I think some of you pastors could recognize that. It's not a big one. But it is regular. All right. It's not a big one, but it is regular. And you start developing a certain kind of security, a certainty that is there. But for years I've been wondering and questioning and saying, all right, Lord, when you're calling on my life and your stewardship that you're giving to me, God, you're allowing me to minister the word of God to tens of thousands of pastors in Africa. You've opened this door before me. And the only problem is, it's an awful lot of work to be able to raise money and do those conferences and to pray and labor. And I'd much rather just stay in my security, my secure zone where I am. Is there ever a time when you want me to leave Grace Bible Church and that security and you want me to go to International Bible Conference? The answer became so clear. The answer that became so clear is, yes, you absolutely need to go. And I'm sitting in a place right now where I don't have the security of a paycheck. I don't even know what's going to happen in the next little while. All I know that there are tens of thousands of pastors that need Christ in you, the hope of glory. There's tens of thousands of pastors that need to be warned and taught. They need to be warned about all the counterfeits and they need to be held to the sufficiency of Christ. And so I'm in a place where I have to make a choice and say, I'm going to leave this security and go somewhere else. And I'm just honestly telling you guys today that within that uncertainty, I come into it with a hope. And that hope is the confident expectation that faithful is he who calls you who will do it. I come in not knowing what all the future is, but I come into it knowing that there is a hope. I'm talking to people today who have uncertainty. A lot of you are getting ready to graduate, and you don't have your position fulfilled yet, and you don't know exactly where you're gonna go, but wherever it is that God's gonna go, can I tell you that if you respond to a God-given stewardship by which He is gonna place you, and you just wanna be faithful, if you go there with a Christ-centered hope in which you're going to preach Christ and Him alone in the life of people that are there, can I just tell you that if you go and labor according to His Spirit that is there, that you are fulfilling exactly what God has called, and you're doing this, with a vision that is far more than just comfort. It's a vision with eternity that says that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. Man, that is our goal. That's what we strive for. That's what we want to do. All right, is there anyone who has any comment, question, anything that you want to add to or supplement or anything that you want to clarify that I may have said? Raise your hand good so that I can see you, because I already told you I can't see here. I'm going to ask my wife. Is there anything, Nancy, that I missed? Or did I kind of cover it? Thank you, Nancy, for telling me that I covered it. Is there anybody else out there? Comments, questions? Anybody need clarity on anything? Pastor friends that are here, is there anybody? Is there anything? All right, let's pray and let's be dismissed. Thank you, Lord. Thank you for Christ being sufficient. Thank you that the word of God is everything that we need that pertains to life and godliness. There's no doubt that these men and women are going to be tempted to try to add something. There's gonna be cheats, there's gonna be liars. They need to be beware, and I'm asking, Lord, that as they are being on guard and as they are aware, I pray that you'll protect them from any counterfeit. They would hold fast to Christ in you, the hope of glory. I pray, Lord, for their stewardship, and I pray that we would all be found faithful in the stewardship that you have given to us. I would ask, Lord, that you'll continue to teach us through this Bible conference. Minister, your word to us. May we be absolutely convinced that what this world desperately needs, this world needs the message of Christ. He is the only message of hope. He's the hope that this world desperately needs. In Jesus' name we pray. Before you're dismissed, I mentioned yesterday that there is a book that I'd like you to have, and if you're able to contribute, great. If not, I still want you to have it, and it's on Romans, Chapter 8. It'll be available again after the session tomorrow morning, but yesterday, people were asking, where in the world do we get it? Well, we have it available. If you would like to stop by and see it, please pick it up and get to know a little bit more about that. I'll be up here, and I'll be happy to interact with you if you want to come up and talk a little bit. Bless you, you're dismissed.