Will you turn with me in God's Word to Colossians chapter 1? Be reading from Colossians chapter 1, beginning with Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, By the will of God and Timothy, our brother, to the holy and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae. Grace and peace to you from God, our Father. We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you. Because we have heard of your faith in Christ. And of the love you have for all the saints. The faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you all over the world. This gospel is bearing fruit and growing just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth. You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, and who has also told us of your love in the Spirit. For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order, that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way, bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, So that you may have great endurance and patience and joyfully giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of His Son, the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, for by him all things were created. Things in heaven and on earth, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities, all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together, and he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all this fullness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood shed on the cross. Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil deeds. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight. Without blemish and free from accusation. You continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven and of which I, Paul, have become a servant. Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, his body, which is the church. this is the mystery this is the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations but is now disclosed to the saints verse 27 to them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery which is Christ in you the hope of glory We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end, I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me. I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea. And for all who have not met me personally, my purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. This is God's word. Let us pray. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you, Father, for your spirit. Thank you for giving us this understanding, Father, that our Lord Jesus is all and in all, all that we need, Father. And how grateful we are that this brings to light the knowledge, the treasure we have in him. Lord, please open our hearts and our minds to your word this evening, and let us glorify you, for we ask it in his name. Amen. Well, years ago, as a new pastor just out of seminary, the Sunday school children were giving a Christmas program in our church in the evening service. That was in Glendale. And our first son, Glenn, was not quite three years old at the time. And he was up in front with the other children. And the program was about ready to begin and everything was very quiet. And Carol and I were sitting out there as proud parents, anxious. Glenn spotted me. And he yelled out from up there. He said, Hi, Daddy. And all decorum just kind of evaporated. Well, I have to tell you that, like my son, I have a desire right now to wave to many of you out there and call out your names. Lucky for you, decorum restrains. Being here and seeing you brings back memories of love, friendship, fellowship. We first worshipped here with you in 1971. We were displaced Presbyterians, and we had moved down from Glendale. And there was no Evangelical Presbyterian church in the area at that time. And you graciously took us in. You adopted us. Our sons attended, Calvin, and I served on consistory. And they made me clerk before I knew what hit me. I walked right into it. I had to learn to spell things like Reforma Mev de Kerke. Of course, I enjoyed having them call me Jungus. Was it Jungus? Now I enjoy that more than ever. But I did cause a little bit of division in there. Some of them wanted to call me Gallowaysma, and others said it was Vandergal. So, well, we worshipped with you for almost 14 years, and then you were between pastors. After Pastor Harzile retired, the New Life Presbyterian Church began meeting in Central School across town. and our Presbyterian friends invited us to come and be of help in that new church. Now, that was 16 years ago. That means it was some 30 years ago since we first worshipped with you. That means that some of you out there that I was going to wave to, I hate to say this, but you're starting to get a little older. Now, it's always good to come to these joint services to renew that fellowship. But you know, it's much, much more than just fellow feelings, isn't it? The friendship, the fellowship. It's much, much more than that. In verse 4 of our text, Paul remarks that he had heard of the love of the Colossians, that the love that Colossians had for all the saints. It was remarkable. And my purpose here this evening is to stir us up, Lord willing, to a remarkable love like that for all the saints. In particular, God willing, I want to focus our attention on the precious privilege, I believe the precious privilege we have, we share here in our joint worship services together every fifth Sunday. Here we are, Grace Bible Church, Escondido United Reformed, and New Life Presbyterian Church. Members gathering together to worship. Now at this point, some of you are wondering, how does our joint service come out of Colossians? After all, this was a small church somewhere out there between Ephesus and Laodicea. And the English commentator Bishop Lightfoot said, without a doubt, Colossae was the least important church to which any epistle of St. Paul was addressed. It was near Laodicea, and Paul asked them to send this letter to Laodicea after it was read in Colossae. The occasion for the letter and the reason he asked it to be sent on was that the churches in the area were being troubled by those who were saying Jesus isn't sufficient for our needs. There were people out there stirring up the churches at that time saying you need more. And Paul proceeds to expose their foolish blindness, and after the introductory verses of verse 1 through 14, he proclaims Christ as creator, creator of all things in heaven and earth, and there is no help available or needed from things in heaven. Verse 16, as you see it there, on earth, visible or invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities, because all things were created by him and for him. Well, the apostle then shows that all the help we need is provided in Christ. In verse 20, he declares that Christ the Creator is also Jesus the Reconciler. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him. And through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood shed on the cross. And that's the help we need. That's the help that we need. We, like sheep, have turned astray, turned against God as sinners. And in verse 21, you see, we were alienated from God and were enemies in our minds because of our evil behavior. And the Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all. But those of you who have turned by the grace of God from sin, believing the gospel, now He has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in His sight. Well, it pleased God to have all His fullness dwell in Him. He, Jesus, the creator of all things, the first with supremacy over all. And it pleased God through him to reconcile us by grace through faith. And he is the head of the body, the church, the reconciled. And in verse 18, you see that the reconciled, we are the body of Christ. This is the privilege we share. And this is the stirring up here together as the Colossians to see that they had no need for anything else, no need to look elsewhere. Because God, in creating through Jesus, also reconciles us as one and one body. But why is the Apostle Paul concerned? Why did he go to the effort? He tells us in beginning in verse 28, We proclaim him admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom so that we might present everyone perfect in Christ. And he says this is the purpose. To this end I labor. This is my purpose, he says, struggling with all his energy which was so powerfully works in me. I want you to know how much I'm struggling for you and for those in Laodicea. In verse 2 of chapter 2. My purpose, and again this is where he states it, my purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Colossians, he is in all you. He was saying to them, Colossians, he is all you need. And people of God, he is our treasure of wisdom and knowledge. In verse 2 again, there you see at the beginning of chapter 2, it says, Again, my purpose is that they may be encouraged, united in love, knit together in love. Forget looking anywhere else. Your strength lies. He tells them, but he tells us. Forget looking anywhere else. Your strength lies in a harmony of spirit. Knit together in love for all the saints, holding fast to your treasure in Christ. Our joint service is in the background of all of the discussion here. He says to the Colossians and to us, there is no help for our souls besides Christ Jesus. He says our helper is Christ. And he encourages us to then see ourselves in the reconciled body of Christ, the church. To have our hearts knit together in love. Our joint service is an opportunity for that. But what is this love? When you think about it, what is he asking of us? it is greater than our ability to comprehend and we know some things about this love for all the saints we know one thing that it is more than fellow feelings we know that it is not optional and three we know that it is not the most important thing you know we are encouraged to love one another we are encouraged to love all men and to be servants and obviously Unfortunately, God has asked us to do that, but that's not the most important thing. Unfortunately, some people get locked up in that. And they would see that ministry to others, ministry to family, ministry to friends is their life. And that's the end of all things. But we know it's not the end of all things. We know it's not optional. And it's not the most important thing. First, on the night in which Jesus met with the disciples, to see that it's more than fellow feelings, he took precious time to instruct them about the love he wanted them to have for each other. We're always impressed with last words, aren't we? The words that are spoken at a farewell are taken very seriously. And in his valedictory address to them, Jesus, at the Last Supper, took a towel and a basin and he washed their feet. He gave this as an example. This is preferring others, serving more than friendship. It's more than just friendship, more than just fellow feelings, but it's that sacrificial serving and loving that we're called to. So we know that about the love that is here. But second, we know that it's not just optional. It's not just something that we can take or leave. He had told them, if you love me, keep my commandments. That evening he told them, a new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. And he prayed to the Father for our unity, for our being knit together in love, That we might be one. And third, we know it's not the most important concern. It's meant to serve the concern of highest importance. You see what I said there? It's important, but it's meant to serve the highest concern. What does this mean in terms of Colossians and our joint service? If you turn to Isaiah chapter 6, this is that scene, as it's called, the throne scene before God. And in chapter 6, verse 1, Isaiah, it says, In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted. And the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty. The whole earth is full of His glory. There's a little phrase there. And they were calling to one another. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty. That little phrase. The whole earth is full of His glory and it's just one little word in the Hebrew. It's that little word, I think it's zeh, and that means one another. They were calling to one another to worship the Lord Almighty. Holy, holy, holy. The point is that we're called together, not as individuals, but we're called together. Calling to one another to stir each other up to the most, to the highest concern, to worship Him. What a privilege we have together as churches to come and unite our testimony to do that. Now, there's that throne. That's calling out to one another to worship. Holy, holy, holy. Now, if you'll turn in the history of redemption, we go to the end of the Bible in Revelation. If you'll turn to Revelation chapter 3, verses 14 and following. Revelation chapter 3, verse 14. It says there, and this is just again an extended part of God's word, to bring us into this understanding that together we worship. And that's the purpose we're called for. That's our calling, our privilege. And as people of God, meeting here in our week to week, in our lives together, we come, we worship, and how it pleases God that we can raise together a common testimony. The churches in that area were called, and now we'll see he's calling out to the churches, the churches, to the angel of the church of Laodicea, that church again, Laodicea, write, these are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other. So because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I'm about to spit you out of my mouth. You say I am rich, I have acquired wealth, I do not need a thing. But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire so that you can become rich. don't lose your place keep that place in the Bible it's interesting the church there many times we relate it to ourselves and we think of how we get so absorbed in our routines in our daily lives thinking that's the most important not recognizing they're meant to serve the highest of importance the highest important concern last evening had an opportunity to take an excursion down to the bay, to the harbor. And there's a ship tied up there. It's called the Infinity. Perhaps some of you have seen it. And this ship, it's incredible. It must be, I know there are 12 stories, 12 floors. You can go up in the elevator. And it's as long as a city block. And you go inside and it's palatial. It's just unbelievable. Just palatial. and it's quite interesting to see the engineering involved. It just is staggering to imagine what's all involved in the size of it. It's just immense, and you marvel at it. You just are, I'm at a loss for words to describe it. I wish you could have seen it. Just palatial, beautiful. At one end of the ship, they have the dining area, and we went, the reason we were on the ship is because Carol is a travel agent and she was with others. We were going aboard just to see the ship. They let us come aboard for a special evening. And we had dinner there. And the dinner was just incredible. It was a gourmet seven-course dinner. And there were hundreds of us there. Beautiful. And then the ship, again, the opulence, just amazing. But you go to the other end of the ship and they have a spa, and the spa is intended to help people take weight off. And now that doesn't seem to go together, does it? Either end of the ship seems to be a contradiction. But it's just all of that incredible wealth there. And you know, the interesting thing is that it just underscores how minuscule that all appears when we compare it to what is truly eternal, What is valuable? What is real? What is holy? And to recognize that God is calling us to a reality, to wealth, that is far beyond that. The wealth that is indicated here in Laodicea says that they were intent on acquiring wealth, and they were intent on acquiring everything, but they said that they were wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. And he says, I counsel you to buy of me gold refined in the fire. The gold here that you can become rich. And then it goes on, white clothes so that you can cover your shameful nakedness and salve to put on your eyes so you can see. Those whom I love, I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Here I am. I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him and he with me. To him that overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne. Just as I overcame and sat down with my father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. It goes on in chapter 4. After this, and this is what I'm coming to. This is the second scene of a throne, chapter 4, verse 1. After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this. At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of Jasper and Carnelian. A rainbow resembling an emerald encircled the throne. Surrounding the throne were 24 other thrones. And seated on them were 24 elders. You see the picture that it's the church called to worship. Not just an individual, but we together complete each other as we come before the throne to worship. The four and twenty elders, they were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God. Also before the throne, there was what looked like a sea of glass, as clear as crystal. In the center around the throne were four living creatures and they were covered with eyes in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, and the fourth was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around. Even under his wings, day and night, they never stopped saying, and here it is again, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come. Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives forever and ever. The 24 elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. And it says they lay their crowns before the throne and say, You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power. here refers again for you created all things and by your will they were created and have their being the call to the throne to worship the excitement that should be ours as we anticipate Lord's Day to Lord's Day of course worshiping here in your place we in our place but then each of us in our congregation but then what a joy what an anticipation to please and glorify God together that he enjoy and hear our praises what a privilege it is now because it will be our calling then as we gather and sing and praise that's the purpose we have for our very being We were created for his glory, to enjoy him forever. And he is to be glorified in hearing our praises and our worship. Just a deep, dear desire to, with you, think about how each time we can come together, we should bring others with us and come together that it will exalt the Lord, anticipating that time when we'll be before him. Let's bow in prayer now. Lord Jesus, how grateful we are that you, by your blood on the cross, redeemed us from our sins, reconciled us. How grateful we are that that reconciliation is not just for us, not just for us alone as individuals. Not just for us as a group, but Father, it is for you, for your glory that we were created. And you have called us together, reconciled us, and are calling us to be holy, completing us, conforming us to the body of Christ, that we might be like him, be his image. Lord, how grateful we are when we pray for eyes and hearts to see through the years, through the ages, and to see, Father, that time coming when we will really shout your praises, seeing and hearing and glorying, enjoying, Father, together. We pray that even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly. Amen. Thank you.