And when you turn with me now in a slightly ridiculous direction, you will find that the portion of scripture read. First chapter, the first chapter of Colossians, and we can read version 28 of the chapter. Home we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we will present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. Dispassionate in his words hung the Prince, warning every man, teaching every man, and all worshipped him. It was the Apostle Paul who wrote this epistle to the believers that constituted the church of Jesus Christ at Colossae. He had heard that they had grown in grace from a dear servant, a papyrus, a dear servant and a faithful minister of Christ. What a test to refer to the apostles as a dear friend, servant, and a faithful minister of Jesus Christ. He commends, of course, the Colossian Christians for their faith and for their love for all the saints. And he thanks God for that. And he reveals them of his praise. And he prays that they might have grace and peace. And when you see him, when he said, when Jesus regarded them, that he commended them for their faith, they must have had great faith, and for their faith and for their love. Not just for some of the saints, but for all the saints. They had much grace, they had much love. but he fears that they would have much more. That is very clear from the chapter. Now, we could consider to search, first of all, after the apostle and the apostle's preaching of the gospel. the subject matters a bit. And secondly, the duty of the apostles and of all the ministers of the gospel, whoever they are, whatever they are, if they've been called or sent forth by Christ for the gospel, they have a duty and won't be tried if they will not be faithful to that duty. And of course, the duty of those who are here, who have the privilege of hearing the gospel, the glad tidings of salvation. We're going to look at that. And finally, I'm teaching everyone in all this stuff. preaching the gospel, apostles, on whom has been called to preach the gospel. The glad tidings of salvation, the incisive religious of Christ. The subject matter is a passion, a passion, a pain with a difference. And that pattern is none other than the sin of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. He was, and He is, the center point, the theme of gospel preaching. And that's one of the reasons why the gospel is referred to by the apostles as the glorious gospel. It couldn't be otherwise. when the subject matter of the gospel is to be preached as the glorious path of the Son of God. And you remember what John said with his message. No man, John said, hath seen God at any time, but the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared, yes, a glorious passion, indeed, God's own indiscretion under the sea. This glory is uniquely, uniquely and peculiarly As the Son of God, He is God alone and blessed forever. That was the spirit of the preaching of the Gospel. And they weren't ashamed of it either. They were ashamed to do the Gospel. So God came into this world in the fullness of time, as God promised him to come, and he came as God promised. God manifested in the flesh. God manifested in the flesh, and in our behavior, without sin, he revealed from time to time's glory, and at the same time think of seeing that glory in our nature. Do you remember what Paul said to the Hebrew Christians for the garden? Without respect he said to them, yes, but he was the brightness of the Father's glory and the express image of his mercy. And, of course, the Apostle in this chapter itself, in verse 15, he brings that before us, his aspect, and refers to Christ as one who is the image of the invisible God the firstborn of every nature. And in verse 9, look at the chapter and listen to it. In their nature, for it pleased the Father that in him all the world is twelve. And in chapter 2 and verse 3, for in these words, in whom and all in him, and hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. A glorious, unendingly glorious passion, indeed, that was the seventh humanity, and that is the seventh humanity, and that is the theme of the gospel. And they proclaim this glory, not only as the Son of God, and as God baptized into the flesh. Right? They declare this glory in all their offices. All his offices. These offices are mediators. There is only one mediator between God and man, Christ. The man Christ Jesus. And these offices are subordinated unto the priest and us again. And he executes these offices as he did in the state of humiliation, he executes them in the state of exaltation. What a mediator! What a prophet! What a priest! And what a king! the King of Kings, King of Kings. And of course, they preached Christ and Him crucified. They preached Christ and Him crucified. Just think of the one that they preached, that was crucified, that was crucified. And when they preached Christ, they preached every step of humiliation. His being born into this world in a low condition, being conformed to the law and made under the law, And we obeyed Him till the death, even that of the cross. And if that was true, if that were not so, if that were not so, all that was, I just said it was, what was true of Him, He could never be a demon. He could never be a saviour. Salvation from sin could never be offered to someone if that were not true. And all that was true. Is there anyone that knows that the apostle himself said that this God will get Yes, beautiful words. God forbid that I should glorise it, save in the trust of the Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world was christened unto me, and I to the world. It gloried, it christened him, and I christened him. But whether they preach Christ, or whether they preach that it's sad, that it's sad, that you have to cut the wire and press the horn, and the people there are stood with them. Now this is a glory too, that people have seen in a man. And people do see this glory in a man. John said this again, but he said, we beheld, he said, but he wasn't speaking just for himself, he was speaking for Christians, for the disciples who were with him, and for Christians to the end of time. We beheld what is glory, as the glory of the Holy Spirit of God, full of grace, full of truth. They beheld it. And you can behold it different. If you believe it, you have to believe it before you see an inner measure, or before you can pertain to the measure of the glory that He is. Yes. And you remember how the Apostle puts this as well, from the Septuagint to the Corinthians, God, he said, who commanded to light, who commanded the light to shine on the darkness, has shined in their hearts. To give us, he said, the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, where? In the face of Jesus Christ. or it just be in the case of Jesus Christ. Only you will see His face by faith, and that implies His person as the God bound. You must see Him as a personal Redeemer, a personal Savior, and the salvation itself. for your soul. Yes, they preached a passion. And of course, I'm just afraid to be part of this, you know, this event. I just scratched the surface of the subject of the gospel which they were preaching. Yes. Just scratched the surface. And of course, again, to their duty as teachers of the world. Of course, their duty was, they had to, they had to warn. That's the word that was used. They had to warn, to acknowledge, to warn. And they had to warn even preachers. And even Christians. And of course, those who weren't Christians. Those who were still dead in trespasses and deserts. That was the Jewish And that was the privilege, to warn preachers. And all the time, if they didn't warn, preachers would hear it. You remember what it was, Ezekiel reads before us in chapter 3 and verse 19. I can read verse 18 as well. When I say unto the wicked, thou shalt surely die, and thou givest him not wise, nor speakest to one the wicked from his wicked way. To save his life, the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at your hand. Death in the war of the wicked, and eternal from his wickedness. not from this wicked way. He shall die in his iniquity, but thou shalt, but thou hast delivered my soul. Wasn't the Apostle Paul, sir? What? Yes. But he didn't shirk his duty at all. He warned him, Timotheus, his own son. What did he say to Timotheus? He said to him, to take heed to thyself, and, he said, to thy daughter. So really, you can see that Christians too have to be warned, just as well as preachers have to be warned. Christians are to be warned One with regard to the stairs that must be in their way, they are one to watch and to pray lest they fall into temptation. Oh, the Christian man and woman, young and old, They have to watch, to be on guard, and to pray, lest they fall into temptation, fall into temptation. You remember Simon Peter, how Satan, through an inmate, bestirred with his whisper, through denying his Lord and Master, If he had been warned, you would think that he would be on his guard all the time, but Christ said to him, Satan, Satan, Satan has decided to harm you, that he may sin against me, but I have prayed for you. And yet, notwithstanding that he was warned by Christ himself, He fell into the traps of the great adversity of souls. So, just Jesus' few words reminds us very clearly, without going any deeper, that the picture of self is warned, must be warned. And so, to believe us, we must be on guard by day and by night. And you remember the disciples of Christ, when they fell asleep, when He took them into the garden of Gethsemane, He went forward, away from them, a distance, but He commanded them to watch and to pray. Look at how they would have strengthened him. Look at how they would have comforted him in his oral agonies if they had obeyed his precept to watch and to pray. Yes. as the duty of the preachers of the world. Yes. And of course, to warn sinners. Sinners have to be warned. Yes, they have to bear in mind that they are sinners by nature and practice. And not only that, that they are dead in trespasses and sins. and that they are even dead to the fact that they are sinners. Maybe you don't believe in it, but that's a fact. You are you in comparison to the Word of God, that you're dead to the fact that you are a sinner, and that you're dead to the fact that you are dead in trespasses by their sins. And you are warned as well to what sin has exposed you to. Do you ever think of what sin has exposed you? Sin has exposed you and everyone else, and listen to it, to all the mysteries of this life, when you seek it. We know little about the mistakes of this life, but there are people in the world who know much about the mistakes of the life, to death itself and to the claims of hell and fire. That's what sin has exported. And they must be warned that the wages of sin is death. But if this is not then, then the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. And we must remind them, and let's remind you here tonight, that you are my soul. Do you ever think, do you know that you are a part of me? Nobody suggests that, but do you ever think it's a fact that you are my soul? Are you my soul? There's going to live forever. And then to live forever in heaven. If you go to heaven, or in hell, if that's where you go, is to live forever. For that is a lot of respect. Oh, you're a lot. You're a soul. And a soul probably comes to be accountable. to God, to God, and to a just and to a righteous God. You won't fall then into the hands of a simple man, but into the hands of a totally holy and just God, just God. Yes, you must remind that you are the soul. And you must be warned that there is a heaven to gain, and that there is a hell to shunt. Yes, warned. Remember what Christ said, himself, with regard to the soul of man. from his lips. What he said said a prophet of mine, he said. Yes, what said a prophet of mine? That's a legend to me, the prophet. What said a prophet of mine? He said, go and gain the whole world, and lose his own soul. Now that's all I will lose it. And did you not say to him, what can a man give in exchange for his soul? You've been warned haven't you? Yes. Not just tonight, but before now. And you've been warned too. So I'm just going to warn you today about It's a fearful sin. It's a fearful sin. The sin of sending the day of privileges away. But what privilege do you have? Well, isn't it a great privilege that you have a measure of health and strength? And isn't it a great privilege to God? You have heard the gospel. Yes, that you have the word of God, that the gospel has been preached to you, that you have the means of grace, and that you can come, as I said, as we must all come, to the throne of grace, to God, for mercy and the graciousness of Christ, in your time of need. And that is always our time. But we need grace, even if we have grace. And that will be better. And much more is at your time, if you haven't, as yet, believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. If you've been warned, just guess. Just think of it. Be brought on board in a Christian community. Yes. Be paid for by Godly parents, mothers and fathers. Yes. And paid for by Elohim. Yes. And I will be serving the day of Christ. There have been all kind of revolutions whatsoever, and I must admit that whatsoever. Where the world shall not die, neither shall the fire be quenched. What a fearful place, what a fearful thought. How can one change it with such sensitivity? Yes, you've been warned. And that's what the apostles did. Write into the Hebrews, remember Paul once said, Ah, what a wonderful world. What a wonderful world the world of God is. There's nothing like it, you know. Write into the Hebrews, there's something like this to them. And listen to it. Chapter 2, verse 1, Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. For if the words spoken by angels were steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received And just to convince of the word, how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? How shall we escape? It's like we don't escape. And it doesn't say about how shall we escape if we neglect, if we despise or reject. but so great salvation that they would exact it. Yes, that's what you're doing, you're exacting so great a salvation. What a hero, what a soft thought that is. With whom we preach, warning everyone, But it doesn't stop there, teaching every man. That is his strength team. Everybody, just believe in that. It's strength team in all of us, in the fear of God. And we know from Crossword that the fear of God, that is the beginning. which is sort of the beginning of the story. And that is what is accurate, that the fear of God is only the beginning of the story. And that was the end of the teaching as well. in all wisdom. In other words, in all knowledge. Because no one can have the fear of God which is the meaning of wisdom. The person who knows that there is a God, who believes in God, and God knows that God is a living and a true God. But I am going to give you these words, and don't think for a moment that I brought them down for you, but just the moment. You know, this is what God blesses. It's only what we say about the things, but what God blesses, this is all about. I remember saying to one minister, who is no longer with us now, and a great preacher of the world he was indeed, I said to him when I was a young Christian, a young man, I think you said that there are too many drops of truth, of quotation of truth in my preaching. You can't see the depth. You can't tell the depth of God's Word if you're preaching. And there's nothing like it. But it's the Word that God has blessed. Firstly, I said this to you before. You know when you're with preachers at the pulpit, and they're preaching, and it's happening, and I said, I feel as well, when a preacher tells a Lord, and a Lord that passes the speaker, and when you hear the particular clock, and there's silence, complete silence. But you know this, I have never met a person yet who is a Christian who has heard of a person who has heard from another Christian that he has departed himself, that he became concerned about his soul by a note. God bless us. It's all right. It's all right. I'm going to use the truth and leave it to the Holy Spirit to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, warning every man, teaching every man in all his time, what to do with early poverty, even warning people, and the poverty of teaching.