The Unique Features of the Church Age

Colossians 2:18-19

COL-453

We continue in our study of the active and true and powerful Word of God in "The era of angelic worship," number 11, in Colossians 2:18-19.

The Lord Jesus Christ was often grieved by the negative volition which was directed toward Him by the people whom He was teaching the Word of Life. The parable of the sower and the seed illustrates the dire consequences of negative volition to the Word of God, and to the will of God as revealed in Scripture. This teaching is, basically, what is delivered in our time, in the church age, through the ministry of the local church.

We have seen it there four soils in the parable of the sower in the seed. The first soil was the negative volition of indifference to the seed of grace salvation, so it fell uselessly by the wayside. It was trampled upon indifferently by people, and the birds, which signified Satan, came and ate it up.

The second soil was negative volition to the seed of the gospel – a response of a shallow sin nature, an emotional response lacking genuine trust of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ the Savior.

This is what is focused upon in Christendom today. This is American religion. Play it on the emotions. If there isn't emotions, then people are not interested, and it's not a religious experience. That is one of the great deceptions of Satan.

The third soil was a negative omission of the seed of the gospel being choked out by the worries of life, and by the deceitfulness of seeking wealth, and by the greed for things. People who are oriented to material things do not find themselves developing a desire to be born again.

Now, the final planting is the fourth soil. Let's go back to Luke 8. This parable is found in three gospels, the synoptic gospels: Matthew; Mark; and Luke. We go back and forth, picking up the record from all of them. The fourth soil is referred to in Luke 8:8: "And the other seed fell into the good soil." Remember that the seed is the Word of God, as we were told. It's always good. It's always right. It's the soil that's not good. This time, we have good soil. We have a hearer here with positive relish in response: "And the other seed fell into the good soil, and grew up and produced a crop 100 times as great."

"As He said these things, He would call out: 'He who has ears to hear, let him here. And in the book of the Revelation, in those letters to the various churches. This is the repeated call of God: "Listen. Pay attention. You have ears capable of learning. Do it." And that's what it takes, but it's not only enough to have ears that can hear. You have to hear something that is worthwhile hearing: worth hearing. And the only thing that's worth hearing is the mind of God.

So, this seed, a good seed, the gospel of the grace of God, falls on good soil. This soil has been prepared by the Holy Spirit to understand the grace salvation gospel.

In Matthew 13:23, we read, "And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the Word and understands it – who indeed bears fruit, and brings forth: some 100; some 60; and, some 30." These people, who are the good soil, because they're receptive to the Word of God, they are born again, and they produce a life of divine good works.

In John 16:7-11, this is the preparation of the soil to accept the gospel: Jesus said, "But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Helper (which is God the Holy Spirit) will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you. And when He comes, He will convict the world." That's a term which refers to unsaved people: "He will convict unbelievers concerning three things: sin; righteousness; and, judgment." These are the only three things that God the Holy Spirit does for an unbeliever. This man is spiritually dead, and therefore, he needs to be able to have spiritual perception on one thing, and that is relative to the gospel of grace salvation. And the Holy Spirit clarifies to him what his problem is, and brings conviction (awareness) on these three items: concerning sin, in verse 9, because they do not believe in Me. They have moral guilt. They cannot remove that moral guilt. They can't do anything to save themselves. That sin problem is in there, and somebody else has to solve it for them. The only person who can do that is Christ. The only way they can do that through Christ is by believing His promise, that He has covered their guilt.

In verse 10, the second thing is concerning righteousness: "Because I go to the Father, and you no longer behold Me." The other thing that He not only makes clear to a person that he is dead in sin, and his moral guilt is there. Somebody else beside himself has to remove it. He has also shown that he has to be as good as God – absolute righteousness, to go to heaven. And Jesus said, "You saw that in Me. You saw that in Me as a God-Man." You saw what it was to walk around and to live as the very righteousness of God." That's what you need to go to heaven. You never can get that on your own.

Then, in verse 17, is the third thing concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. The ruler of this world is Satan. And God makes it clear to an unsaved person that he is not only guilty of sin, but that he needs the righteousness of God to be permitted to enter heaven. He is also reminded that the world of Satan has been defeated. Satan has been defeated on the cross, and this ruler of this world has been judged. Satan's destiny is settled, and consequently, the unbeliever doesn't have to be a slave to Satan anymore. You don't have to continue being a slave to Satan. Now it is possible to be free of that.

So, this good soil has been prepared in this way by God the Holy Spirit. The issue has been clarified. Now, the person is given the gospel, and he is told what he must do with it: to believe that Christ has covered his sins by His Own Death, and paid the price. Then the individual makes the decision: yes; or, no.

So, the one who receives the Word of God – this seed is received by an honest and good heart, meaning positive emotion. And he holds it fast. That means that when he gets it, he believes what his eyes have been opened to understand, and he believes unto salvation.

In Luke 8:15: "And the seed in the good soil." These are the ones who have heard the Word in an honest and good heart – receptively. They hold it fast. They believe it. And then the life is capable of bearing divine good fruit – to divine good works, and they can do it with perseverance.

So, this soil represents a person who is spiritually born-again now. By the Holy Spirit's empowerment, he is able to serve God, and produce divine good fruit. He bears spiritual fruit with a steadfast perseverance in God's vineyard. He is not working to be saved. He is working because he is saved, and he perseveres unless he's out of fellowship. Once he's out of touch with the Holy Spirit, and once he's out of communication with his Heavenly Father, then he is not interested. He can be exactly like the rest of these seeds falling by the wayside. But when he is in fellowship, God the Holy Spirit continually guides him in Christian service, and enables him to do it right.

Now, depending upon the quality of the believer's, spiritual maturity and his dedication (his stewardship), he will produce a crop of good works from the one good work that God has done for him in salvation, that will be multiplied 30 times what he received; 60 times of what God gave him; or, 100 times. This tells us, again, that not all rewards will be the same in heaven. Not all rewards of the Judgment Seat of Christ will be the same.

Mark 4:20: "And these are the ones on whom the seed was sown on the good soil. They hear the Word, and they except it. They bear fruit: 30-; 60-; or 100-fold.

Now in Jesus day, many people followed Him with genuine faith, and trusted in Him as Savior. They were committed to His Word, and to a godly lifestyle, regardless of the cost. And they produced a crop of divine good works. They produced converts. They produced Christian character in themselves and others. They showed people how to live a godly life by their own example. And they were ready to support God with their possessions. These people were on the line in divine good production. And that's why, in a very short order, before the end of that first century, the gospel had been permeated in the far reaches of the Roman Empire, as far away as Spain. The Word of God went out because everywhere the Christians went; they talked the talk; and, they walked the walk.

Now, there are, of course, spiritual principles in all this. That's what a parable is all about. And, of course, the winner in this is the good soil – those who are receptive, and willing to be taught. It takes two things to be able to learn the Word of God, at least. It takes somebody who is there to teach the Word. And it takes your presence to hear it and to learn. And then you can go from there.

The difference in the results in the seed sown, of course, is not due to the seed. It is the Word of God, and it is good every time. It is the type of soil into which it fell. The good soil brought salvation. But all four of these are illustrative of what we, as Christians, also face as believers. Salvation is a secure thing, but the lifestyle and the consequences of that life – we can do the same thing: trampling the Word underfoot, and being carried away by an emotional jag in our religious life. And that's the only way we respond, and nothing is done. Or we're so carried away by worry, and what can happen, and the security of our financial means, and having things that we think we need to have. This seed was the genuine divine viewpoint of the Word of God. It was good news every time. It was how it was received that made the difference.

There are three types of soil represented with negative omission. And that's where we began. The hazards (the enormous danger) of negative evolution toward the Word of God. And three of these soils were negative volition hearers toward God's seed as Scripture. One type only represented positive volition to the gospel seed. And this one took off and multiplied blessings in time, and rewards in eternity. The difference was always those who listened. The difference is always in those who heard.

Now, your heart must go out to so many people in Christendom today. They have no idea what they should be hearing in church. They don't have the foggiest notion why they should go to church. So, they go, and they get all kinds of nothing. They think that they're learning something, and having experience with God, and they remain babies all their lives.

Well, how much can a baby do? How much can a baby accomplish? Not much. How much can even a teenage-level maturity Christian do? A lot more. But until, you get to super-grace adult living, you cannot maximize your Christian life, and the enjoyment of that Christian life now. And a majority of the hearers, three soils out of four, were negative volition in soil. They did not believe the gospel, and they were lost. 75% of those who had an opportunity in this parable did not make it.

This is why we can understand what Jesus said in Matthew 7:13-14: "Enter by the narrow gate, for the gate is wide, and the way is broad, that leads to destruction. And many are those who enter by it. For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it." 75% were in verse 13 – that wide gate and that broad road down to eternal destruction in the lake of fire. 25% of the parable were in verse 14. They found the small gate, which is Jesus Christ. They found the narrow road, which is Jesus Christ. And they found the way to eternal life in heaven.

And we cannot press this parable to say that only 25% of humanity will be saved. It is not saying that. We're simply observing, that in this illustration, that is the case. The majority of hearers were negative soil. However, any Christian today who exercises negative volition, indifference, and rejection toward God's Word, as it applies to the church age, and the instruction that he gets, will lose the prize of his grace-age heritage. It is a unique time in history in which we live, and if you return to legalism, which is what Colossians 2:18 was warning us about: "Let no man keep defrauding you of your prize, and robbing you of your heritage by going back to legalism of the Mosaic Law, and operating on the sin nature." That is a loser game. The apostle Paul warns against the hazards and the potential loss in Colossians 2:18 by negative revelation.

The prize, as we've been learning, is 8 relationships, at least. Positions in the church age were never contemplated or experienced in the Old Testament, under the Mosaic Law of Judaism – having a complete canon of Scripture, including both the Old and New Testaments, inherently. Christ is living in every believer. God the Holy Spirit is living in every believer. Every Christian is his own priest – part of the priesthood of Christ. Every Christian is related to one another as part of the family of God. Every Christian is the ambassador who speaks for God.

Isn't that interesting, that we read clearly in the Word of God, about we Christians being called to a royal priesthood? But the pope says that he's the vicar of Christ. He only speaks for God. And only the priests can direct us to God. That is not so. We are our priests. But we have to know the guidebook (the Scripture).

So, this is the prize – all of these relationships and associations. Any return to legalism as a way of life, such as in the Mosaic Law is going to result in your abandoning the power system of the church age (the spiritual power system), and the system for victory over sin, and for fulfilling your mission of service, and for earning rewards in heaven. It's a legalistic way of life. It will not lose your grace salvation. But, boy, it will lose your blessings on earth, and it will lose your rewards in heaven. That is what Paul is talking about – a prize to be protected.

Furthermore, the distinction in the New Testament – the contrasts between relationships to God of Christians, and the contrasts to the relationship of Jews to God in the Old Testament, are presented to us on certain figures which portray our unique relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ. Every single one of these was unknown in the Old Testament.

Christ as the Good Shepherd, and Christians as His Sheep

Christ as the Chief Corners, and Christians are Building Stones

Christ is the High Priest, and Christians are His Priests

Did you ever think what it might be like if you were a Roman Catholic, and some of you have been. You had to go into that confessional booth, and then hear that door slide open, with that screen where the priest can't see you, and you can't see him. He asks you, "When was your last confession?" And you tell him when it was. And then you tell him your sins. Why do you do that? Because he's a priest, who can represent you before God, and without him, you cannot receive temporal fellowship. So, he listens to all the sins you've accumulated, which, for some of you, would probably be quite a while in reciting. Others of you are sweeter, so it wouldn't be. But at the end of it, he then says, in Latin: "I do absolve you of these sins, and I assign this penance." You have this penance given to you. It is something you have to do. You have to say so many "Hail Marys;" you had to recite "Our Fathers" so many times. You have to do this good work; or, you have to do that good work.

You have to sit there, and to recite your personal sins. And usually they don't understand that the worst of sins, as the Bible says are mental attitude sins. Well, you don't do that in the church age. You didn't do that in the Old Testament. Your sins are between you and God and that's why we talk about the privacy of the priesthood. We don't ask you to stand up in church, and let us have to go through your dirty linen. That is a problem to straighten out between you and God, and there are means for doing that.

So, it's great that He is our high priest. He's always praying for us. And He always intercedes for us, even before we need that intercession, and before we know that we need somebody going to bat for us before the throne of God, to protect us from something that Satan is planning to do to us.

Christ is the Head of the Church, and We are His Body

Christ is the Lord of that New Creation, and Christians are Members of that Creation

Now, there are two more figures we haven't looked at. The first one is in 2 Corinthians 5:17. This is the figure that Christ is the Lord of the new creation, and Christians are members of that creation. What is the old creation? The old creation is Adam. What is the condition of that old creation? It is death and destruction. And when we are saved, that's what we're taken out of. And we become a new creation in Jesus Christ.

In 2 Corinthians 5:17, all the old life is put behind. It's out of the mind and the sight of God. He dismisses it: "Therefore, if any man, and you are, is in Christ, he is a new creature, or a new creation. The old things pass away. Behold, new things have come." Sometimes Christians think "these old things" mean my old bad habits – my things that I do that are just sinful things. Now, that's not what he's talking about. What he's talking about here is that you become a new creation out of that dead creation of Adam. The old things that passed away are all of that enslavement to Satan, in Adam. The new things are what Paul is saying: "Don't let anybody rob you of: the ability for you to walk tall, and straight, and firm as a child of God, and as a member of royalty (His spiritual royalty), with all these privileges appertaining there to.

In Galatians 6:15, Paul alludes to this again: "Neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision." Religious rituals are nothing. They don't mean anything with your relationship to God: "But a new creation." Now, that's something.

So, here's another marvelous association – that God has made us a new creation. That means that, instead of the stench of death and of sin, when He associates you, you've got Esther Lauder all over you. You come up smelling like roses. You are the joy of His heart, because you're completely a new creation in Christ.

Christ is the Bridegroom, and We, His Church, are His Bride

Ephesians 5:25: "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself up for her." And the love that's called for here "agape" love. This is the love that God the Holy Spirit creates in you. And this is the way it should be, because if you used the word "philos" love here, you could get in trouble. Some people get married to people that they discover are really monsters to live with. And all of a sudden, the warmth of great affection and closeness wears off. But nevertheless, in God's order, you have committed yourself, and that's your life – till death do you part. But here it is Christ saying that you need to love even someone who may not be as easy for you to love. "Phileo" is emotion. "Phileo," again, is that quality of how you emote and feel?

Well, sometimes that can cool off. But nevertheless, there's always that appreciative "agapao" love, which is a love of self-sacrifice; a love that would not do any harm; and, a love which is godly goodwill.

So, husbands – you love your wives in this way, because this is the way Christ loved us. When we were unlovely, He maximized His love for us – His mental attitude love so that He might sanctify her (the church) having cleansed her by the washing of the water of the Word." This is why you should read the Bible regularly, because it's spiritual water. And when you read the Bible, it washes away the contamination of the world system that you and I pick up every day. It is very important to be a Bible reader. And it is really wise if you have those "Daily Bread," and those little booklets that "Back to the Bible" publishes. Those are a great guidance through the Word of God. They have a lot of information, and they are always interesting to read. And fathers, with small children, here is a built-in way to have a devotional period with your children that has significant meaning, especially as they grow older.

So, reading the Word of God with one of those guide booklets like that – you have a winning combination: "And that sanctifies us (sets us apart), so that He might present Himself (Christ might present Himself) the church, His bride, in all her glory, having no spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, but that she should be holy and blameless." Brides walk down the aisle in a white garment. Wouldn't it be terrible if she was trying to open a bottle of black India ink, just before the ceremony, and she spilled it all over the front of her?

That's what he says: "My bride – I'm protecting her from any discoloration at all." When we stand before our Heavenly Father, we're clean, all the way. And there is nothing unholy, or anything can be blamed for.

So: "Husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He loves his wife, loves himself." You are, after all, one unit now, in marriage. So, to love your wife is just the same as taking care of yourself: "For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church." The Lord Jesus Christ takes care of us in every way: on the physical level; on a spiritual level; on the social level; and, on the emotional level: "Because we are members of His body." We are a unit with Him. He is head, and we're the body. And this brings us into a bride and bridegroom relationship.

In verse 31, then, interestingly enough, quotes the Old Testament Genesis passage: "For this cause, a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is great, but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church." Nothing can be more intimate than the sexual union of one flesh of husband and wife. And here, that is compared to Christ and his individual believers, who compose His bride.

"Nevertheless, let each individual among you also love his own wife even as himself." And the wife that is not told the love her husband. The next sentence says, "And let the wife see to it that she respect her husband." And do you know what the Greek word means? Fear: "Let the wife fear her husband."

Well, what do the Scriptures say are should be our attitude toward God? "The beginning of wisdom is to fear God." That is not a cowering, cringing panic. The word "fear" means that we don't want to deal with God as if He was just some nobody. We have great respect for Him. We have wisdom to esteem Who He is. And we know that to walk out of line is to bring destruction upon ourselves.

So, the wife – yes, she does have a place. Her husband is her head. He is the guide, as Christ is the Head of the church. He is the one that she should consult with to be her guide, and to make her decisions. And this quality is described at the very dawn of creation. It was always that way: Therefore, that is the way that women are today. If they don't have male leadership – either their husband or the pastor-teacher, the instruction that one or the other gives, they will go far astray. They will go way off. And they'll do it every time.

Also, remember that when it says, "To respect your husband, and have a healthy attitude of respect toward him," one of the curses put upon Eve was remember that she would try to bend her husband to her will. The Hebrew is that "teshuqah" quality – that she would lie like a lion, watching, crouching, and waiting to pounce upon him. That's the result of sin. This is what you're going to have to bear.

The same word was used after Cain killed his brother. And God said, "If you do right, you have nothing to fear. But if you do wrong, sin ("teshuqah") lies as a threatening prey at your door." God told Cain, "The reason you have done what you've done is because you let the devil pounce upon you. He was always there, waiting to do it. And he was always there, waiting to do it to us. That's why a wife should esteem her husband. That's not easy to do sometimes, if he is not trained in the Word of God. If he's just a spiritual bumbler, this is really hard to do, especially if a wife has got some real spiritual smarts.

Nevertheless, there is always that desire to lead that man by your pressure upon him, rather than going to the Lord and asking Him to make the adjustments. What does the Lord Jesus Christ do with us? We go to Him. We are His bride. And we find out what we need to do. We respect Christ, our bridegroom. And we let him guide us in how we should conduct ourselves in that position. The same thing applies on the human level.

2 Corinthians 11:2 also refers to the bride and bridegroom relationship of Christ in the church: "I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy," Paul says. "For the Christians, I have betrothed you to one husband – to Christ. Then I may present you as a pure virgin." Paul says, "I have a godly jealousy for all you converts." And I have betrothed you to one husband – Christ, in the spiritual realm. He is your bridegroom. And I brought you to Him, and said, "Here Lord: Sam and Suzie are part of Your bride.

Then Revelation 19:7-8: "Let us rejoice and be glad, and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready. And it was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean, for the fine linen (get this), in which the bride clothes herself, and prepares her wedding dress, is the righteous acts of the saints." It is her divine good, godly character and service.

That's going to be kind of interesting. The marriage to Christ, our Bridegroom, takes place in heaven following the rapture of the church. Seven years later, we return with Him at the Second Coming. He comes to the earth, and He finishes off all the enemies of God – those who are gathered for the final battles at the field of Armageddon. He brings about the final destruction of all the false religions of the world, and everybody who is not saved, who is still alive on the earth, are at that point executed. In a moment of time, there will be Christians in their glorified bodies. They are sinless. And then there will be people (Christians), who are still in their physical bodies, many of them Jews, who have converted. But they will still have a sin nature. But they will all be born again. And the whole world will begin the millennium with everyone born again.

What happens for the church is that it is now celebrating this principle of Christ as the bridegroom, and the church as His bride. And they have the wedding supper of the Lamb. They have the constant celebration of a relationship. That's what you do at a wedding reception. Except this one lasts for 1,000 years. The whole millennium is one magnificent glorifying to God, and exalting the relationship of Christ and his church.

The bride has made herself ready. How? Well, she has prepared her bridal garment out of the material that had been issued to her from her divine good service; from her godly righteousness; and, from all the fulfilling of the mission to which God has called her in life.

So, the garments are going to be different. It is the experiential righteousness that is performed on this earth, not just her righteousness of justification. And she will be preparing her garments, fine linen, out of the righteous acts that she has done.

So, all of this, again, is accountability time. This is the prize – these various relationships. This is what you can lose if you go back to living by the numbers of the Mosaic Law.

So, the Christian is told in Ephesians 2:18: "Protect your prize. Don't let anybody defraud you of it. Don't anybody take this away from you." There is always that spiritual danger that confronts the Christian. Satan and his demons are constantly on the prowl, attacking the Christian – some Christian who is positive to doctrine, and moving into spiritual maturity. Satan is never going to give up.

1 Peter 5:8 reminds us of that: "Be of sober spirit. Be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." Well, who does he want to devour? He wants to devour some Christian – some operational, serving Christian. Well, we can all sit down, and we don't have to go too far down memory lane, and remember this fella; that lady; this person; and, that person. What a prince! What a princess they once used to be among us. But the prowling lion – they let down their guard. They got careless about attending church services. They got careless about reading the Word of God on a regular basis. They got careless in having a prayer life. They got careless about confessing their known sins. They're constantly making excuses for things that they should be condemning. And the result was that they lost their protective covering. And Satan got into them. Some of them were wounded so terribly. Oh, yeah, they're going to go to heaven. But they were wounded so badly that they just drift off from the things of the Lord. Every now and then, we hear about these people. They're off doing this, or off doing that.

We had a man one time who did a very great service – a service which is ongoing. And all of you would recognize it immediately. One day he came, and said, "Listen to these tapes." He had dropped out of attending for a while. The tapes were as heretical as you could imagine. I'm wondering: "This man who has made an ongoing impact of an investment in the Berean ministry, with his life, talents, and skills. And now he's off into a cultist group?" It can happen. This is what it's all about, when Paul says, "Don't let anybody rob you (to defraud you) of your spiritual heritage. And if you give up the church-age way of life, that's exactly what happens.

These Christians are Christians who are producing divine good. They're paying attention to Ephesians 2:10 that says, "God has preordained a mission in life for them." And they're seeking to carry it through. Their works are very much under Satan's observation. Do you know why? You should be aware of that – that every time you are faithful in service to God with your calling; your means; your talents; and, your time, you're making Revelation 20:10 come closer and closer for Satan. This is his ultimate end: "And the devil who deceived them (the whole world) was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone." This is what we call hell. This is not Hades: "Where the beast, the antichrist, and the false prophet (his religious leader) are also. And they will be tormented day and night, forever and ever."

The beast and the false prophet – these are human beings. They're not going to be much of a welcoming committee here in the lake of fire. They got put in here 1,000 years before this. Even Satan has been under incarceration for the 1,000 years of the millennium. He comes along, and he joins these two people whom he had empowered so tremendously in the tribulation era. Every time you and I do something that fulfills the will of God, or that performs that godly service – that divine good work that He enables us to do, we bring Satan's day of being thrown into this lake of fire closer and closer. And he tries to head us off at every turn of the road.

One of the ways that he does this, as my friend did, who one time was here, and made such a great contribution to the British ministry, is that Satan pretends that he's talking for God. 2 Corinthians 11:13 says: "These men (they're false apostles – they're deceitful workers) disguise themselves as apostles of Christ. They are not speaking for God. They claim they are." Then in verse 14, Paul says, "It's no wonder that even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light." He comes on like a really nice, moral person. Anybody who is deceived by that person, by Satan, is just reaching up in a room of enlightenment, and he's switching the light off of the enlightenment of God, so that he's left to stumble through his days. And this can happen to a Christian.

Your religion, and your expression, can be based heavily on emotions. And I'm not decrying emotions. Those of us who know the true Word of God, and those of us who know the great works of God, as we carry out our mission here at Berean Church – we are always on a high of appreciation of the victory that God gives us in the devil's world, and of the great things that He's achieving. It is highly emotional. But those people who are playing the emotions of the sin nature are very arrogant. And these great emotional meetings that people have (groups) – they're very arrogant. They think they're in the know. And Satan, then, is playing them for fools all the way.

So, it's no small thing when we're told: "Be on your guard. Satan is a prowling line. If you give him a chance, he'll rob you of your capacity to serve God, and to get you out of temporal fellowship. And instead of storing treasures in heaven, we will be stumbling around on this earth, wasting the years of your life. Only so many allotted. Why would you do that?

Dr. John E. Danish, 1995

Back to the Colossians index