Grace For Your Day December 17

Donald Grey Barnhouse was the pastor of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from the years 1927 until 1960. Once, he was asked what would happen if Satan took over his city. He said:

If Satan took over Philadelphia, where I live, all the bars would be closed, pornography would be banished, and the streets would be clean. The people would be polite and full of smiles. There would be no swearing.

The children would say, 'Yes, sir,' and, 'No, sir.'"

And the churches? Well, the churches would be full every Sunday and Jesus Christ would not be preached.

Donald Grey Barnhouse’s point is that the devil does not care if you are religious just as long as you leave Jesus out of it because He is the only thing that can save you.

A man is not saved by his morals and he is not saved by his manners. He is not saved by his cleanliness and he is not saved by his conduct. He is not saved because his children say “Yes sir” or “no sir” and go to church because the only thing that will do it is the Son of God who died for our sins which is what we are currently talking about this Christmas in the Book of Colossians.

In order to continue our series, this Sunday, we are going to look at the next part of the book. Colossians 1:26-29 says:

This is the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints . . . which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.

Paul says here that it was his goal in ministry to “proclaim” Christ because He is the only thing that can make us complete. In Paul’s mind, the entire Christian message could be summarized in Him because it is all about knowing Christ and following Christ. It is about believing in Christ and worshipping Christ. It is about obeying Christ and loving Christ. It is about serving Christ and pursuing Christ because He is “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (verse 27).

A key phrase in this expression is the word “in you” because it means that, when someone is born again, Jesus does not just dwell outside of them but inside of them which gives them “the hope of glory” or the assurance that one day they will go to heaven. How do you know you will go to glory? The answer is Christ. How can you be sure that you are saved? Because He lives within you which is what we are going to talk about this week at Grace Fellowship Church.

This Sunday morning, we are going to talk about what it means to proclaim Christ or the one who “rescued us from the domain of darkness” (Colossians 1:13) and gives us “redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (1:14). He is also “the image of the invisible God (1:15) and “by Him all things were created” (1:16). “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together (1:17) and “He is also head of the body, the church” (1:18). “In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (2:3).

Paul’s point is that it is not difficult to find things to talk about when you consider Christ. It is the easiest thing in the world because He is a never-ending subject which make the task of “proclaiming Him” so enjoyable. It should also make this Sunday enjoyable because it is Christmas Eve which means that it is the time of the year when we highlight Him and put Him on display. He is the reason for the season because “when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, [to be] born of a woman” (Galatians 4:4).

Please join us as we talk about that together over the weekend. The service will begin at 9:30 on Sunday morning and the sermon will be recorded and placed on our You Tube Channel afterwards for all those who cannot make it in person. We will also have our Christmas Eve Service at 6 p.m. to finish the series in Colossians.

- Jeremy Cagle