R1657 The Believer’s Determination

Do you lack determination in some area of your life? Today, Dr. Don Wilton's message is called The Believer's Determination. Everything changes as we become believers and followers of Jesus Christ. Today, Dr. Don Wilton, his message called The Believer's Determination is coming from Colossians Chapter 2, and as we open God's Word, we'll gain understanding on how God's Word is really designed to empower us to intensify our determination to be followers of Jesus. As we open the Word together, know that we're available for you, praying together 24 hours a day on this phone line, 866-899-WORD. Anytime, day or night, we love to pray with you and for you, or connect you with great resources like you'll find at www.tewonline.org. The phone number again, 866-899-9673, or meet us online at www.tewonline.org.

And now, Dr. Don Wilton. Well, I'm going to ask you to open your Bibles today to Colossians. We're going to be in the second chapter. I just want you to know God, and I shared this with our team this morning at our prayer time. The Lord is so blessing my own heart through this series as we try to understand what it is that God would say to us.

Colossians Chapter 2 and verse 6. So then, just as you have received Christ Jesus' Lord, continue to live in Him. Rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith, as you were taught and overflowing with thankfulness.

See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world, rather than on Christ. For in Christ, all the fullness of the deity lives in bodily form. And you have been given the fullness of Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. In Him, you were also circumcised in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with the circumcision done by the hands of men, but with the circumcision done by Christ Jesus. Having been buried with Him in baptism and raised with Him through your faith in the power of God who raised Him from the dead. When you were dead in your sins and in your uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive in Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having cancelled the written code with its regulations that was against us and that stood opposed to us.

He took it away, nailing it to the cross and having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. Therefore, do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink or with regard to religious festival, a new moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come. The reality, however, is found in Christ. Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize.

Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions. He has lost connection with the head from whom the whole body supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews grows as God causes it to grow. Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belong to it, do you submit to its rules? Do not handle it. Do not taste. Do not touch. These are all destined to perish with use because they are based on human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence. And I'm going to add the next two verses.

Just listen to this. Since then you have been raised with Christ, set your heart on things above where Christ is seated on the right hand of God. That is just a wonderful, powerful verse. The determination, a believer's determination. These people faced a predicament.

You're going to find these strangely similar to your and my predicament. What was their predicament? Number one, they were discouraged. They were just discouraged. The believers were. They lived in a world. They were being squeezed.

They were dealing with everything. They were discouraged. Number two, they were divided. Believers were.

Can you imagine that? Believers were. The church was divided. They were divided among themselves. There was no unity.

And you know, Paul's looking at him saying, what is this? Is Christ divided? They were discouraged. They were down in the dumps. They were divided.

Number three, they were disconnected. In verse three of chapter two, he says, my prayer, this is what God's going to enable us to do is to give you understanding. Understanding. We want you to know, to understand the full riches of the grace of God. We want you to know the mystery of God.

These people were disconnected. Number four, they were randomly deceived. You know that verse four that we read back in chapter two there.

I want to tell you these things so that nobody is going to come and deceive you. People, friends, believers, be careful who you listening to. Number five, their predicament was they were very disorderly. They were disorderly. That's what they were. They were experienced.

And Paul is counteracting this and he's saying to them right there in verse five, he said, I want you to know, I take great delight in your Christian orderliness. There's a discipline in this. Discipline. It's a dedication. It's a determination. And of course, number six, probably their greatest predicament was that they had become discombobulated.

I put that up there for you. That's a word just in case any of you are struggling with your Greek right now. Discombobulated. Anybody know what that means? Can I tell you what that means? It means confusion. There's a bunch of believers today, people who know Jesus, but you discombobulated in your faith.

You don't know what you believe and you're not giving enough time for that. So what is their determination? If that's their predicament, what is Paul saying to them? What's their determination? And he counteracts their predicament with six subjects and they are beautiful subjects and they begin with that little introductory phrase, so then. And that little word there as I've already said to you carries with it the idea on the basis of the encouragement and the unity and the understanding and the firmness of your faith. So then be determined. Number one, here it is. You ready? Number one, be committed.

And it represents a real discipline, doesn't it? Please forgive the interruption. We'll be back in just a moment with the rest of Dr. Newton's message, The Believer's Determination. But Dr. Dunn, once we let you know, we're here for you connecting on our phone line 24 hours a day at 866-899-WORD. That's 866-899-9673. And we'd love to speak with you, pray with you, connect you with great resources. You'll also find all of our resources on our website.

It's T-E-W online dot O-R-G. That's T-E-W online dot O-R-G. It's also the place you'll find great resources like this wonderful book from Dr. Don Wilson. I cannot begin to describe to you how incredible, what a privilege and an honor to sit at the feet of Dr. Billy Graham as his friend and pastor for so many years, right there at his home every Saturday. I've put that down in Saturdays with Billy. My thoughts, this relationship, never violating any confidences, just sharing the life of this extraordinary man that God touched and used across the world to reach so many people for Christ, friends of presidents and prime ministers.

You don't want to miss this opportunity. It is filled with personal anecdotes, but above all, the blessings that flow from the heart of God's servant, Dr. Billy Graham. Now, that's just one of many great resources on our website at T-E-W online dot O-R-G. It's a powerful resource as you gain insight on the relationship between Dr. Don and Dr. Graham. It inspires us all because Dr. Billy Graham is the most humble person I've ever met personally, and he continually reminds us that it's not just the Billy Grahams that changed the world, it's you and it's me doing our part, serving our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ.

Now back to today's message with Dr. Don. Here's the second aspect of their determination, be rooted. And he says that in verse six, continue to live it. Look at verse seven, rooted in him. And I love that word rooted. What Paul is saying is that our determination needs to go deep.

Go deep, man, be determined. Number three, be growing. Number one, be committed, be rooted, be growing. Look at verse seven again.

He said rooted, he uses the word built up. That word carries, that's a discipleship word there. It means to grow in the grace and knowledge and admonition of the Lord Jesus. It's the prime principle of Christian discipleship.

It's that discipline. It's that D group. It's doing soap together.

It's sending one another Bible verses. It's being in that ladies Bible study. It's being in Sunday morning life groups and weekday life groups.

It's being in that D group with our students on Sunday nights. It's what it takes. It's building the building. Some of you have got an awfully rinky dink building. You're building, yes, you may be 50 years of age, but you've spent no time building your building. So you're all kind of like wobbly in your faith. And all it takes is some little breeze comes through and you pitch a hissy fit and you leave. You're just shallow.

You major on minors. You constantly getting upset with everything. You're the problem. And it's time for you to take note what God's telling us. He's talking about the inner person here, living in him. He wants us to be strong and mature. Be committed, be rooted, be growing. Number four, be strengthened. Look at verse seven again, the second part of verse seven, strengthened in the faith as you were taught. That's a beautiful statement there.

Being strong in the faith. You know what? I'm so grateful for our young people. And man, I love being around them and I love what's going on. I love all the folks that pour into them. You parents that are so dedicated.

You know what you're doing? You're strengthening them. Listen guys, they're going to leave home one of these days and they're going to go off onto these college campuses and every kind of wind is going to come blowing through there.

Paul is saying, listen, be determined. And parents, I'm just telling you something. Some of you are feeding the weakness of your kids.

You're majoring everything. You're putting all your cookies in the wrong basket. You're chasing off to pipe dreams and rainbows. You're teaching your kids to place value in things that are not going to make them strong.

You're going to pay a very serious price for that. Now's the time to take action. Some of you are chasing around often nothingness and you're teaching your kids to do that. And it's time some of you parents stood up. I'm telling you by the time your kids get to 16, they're going to have their own mind.

It's not any easier. These are this determination here. This is in our world today.

Everything's moving. All the things going on, all the opportunities. They wonderful folks.

What a wonderful world. What a wonderful opportunity. Teach your kids to be good citizens and to work hard and strive hard and do the best they can in school and play ball and get on that team, man.

Get up in that stadium and cheer them on. I was so proud of some of our students. Kendall Parks this past Friday night, homecoming queen at Dorman.

What an incredible young lady, man. We just, we cheer our people. We thank God for them.

We're proud of them. What's he talking about here? This is the stuff. This is not pie in the sky. Pull yourself toward yourself.

Well, let's just get into church and say a few nice little words to each other. This is serious business. Be committed, be rooted, be growing, be strengthened. Number five, be thankful. Look at this last part of that overflowing with thanks.

The attitude of gratitude. Number six, be determined. Be determined. Verse eight, see to it that nobody takes you captive.

Excuse me. See to it. What are you watching, listening to? Who are you listening? See to it.

Nobody takes you away from who Jesus is. Now the question is this, and this is, this is so deep and it's so wonderful. How can this be accomplished?

May I just say to you, I don't know how to do this. I, I, I'm too busy. We got a wonderful life, man. We've got friends and family and grandkids and ball games. I mean, life goes, I mean, it's going, it's throwing everything at us.

Good and not so good, right? How can this be accomplished? And he, he gives to us amongst other things, the four anchors of our determination. Let me give them to you. Number one, the fullness of Christ is yours.

Verse nine and verse 10, he tells us, for in Christ, all the fullness of the deity lives in bodily form. Watch this next. You're ready for this?

Excuse me. And you have been given the fullness of God. Wow.

Me? Yep. That's a whole series in itself. What is the fullness of God? Everything that God is, you've been given through the Lord Jesus.

Wow. If you, if you go back to chapter one, verse 19, look at chapter 19, chapter one, verse 19, just to remind you, look at this chapter one, verse 19. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in Jesus. Jesus died for you. And Paul is now saying, Christ is in you.

How can I accomplish this? How can I live for Christ? Well, number one, the fullness of Christ is yours. Number two, the resurrection of Christ is yours. In verse 12, I mean, this is replete with it, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God who raised him from the dead. The resurrection of Christ is mine. I've been made alive in him. You've been made alive in him. All the fullness of God, everything about God is in you. Everything about the resurrection of Christ is in you, in me. That's our hope.

We've got hope people. Number three, the forgiveness of Christ is yours. It's not just the fullness of Christ. It's not just the resurrection of Christ, but Paul wants us to know that the forgiveness of Christ is yours. Look at verse 13 through 15 there, and I won't read it all to you, but he says that he forgave us all our sin. You get this, God is telling us that because Jesus died, was buried, and then was raised by the power of God. When we put our faith and trust in him, we become Christians, we repent of our sin, and by faith we receive Jesus into our, he forgives us for all our sins.

I don't know. It's just absolutely too marvelous. Therein lies my determination because I've been forgiven. Do you know the mar and the scar of sin will drag an anchor behind you everywhere you walk if you don't understand the fullness of the forgiveness that Christ has given to you? The burdens have been lifted at Calvary. You're not dragging that anchor behind you anymore because Christ has forgiven you.

And then finally, he says, not only the fullness of Christ is yours and the resurrection of Christ is yours and the forgiveness of Christ is yours, but the final point is powerful. The freedom of Christ is yours. You've been set free from verse 19 and verse 20.

I mean, look at verse 20 if I picked on a verse. Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why in the world do you still drag all this around as though you still belong to it? You've been set free.

You're not subject to all this stuff and this yada yada. Just not too long ago, I was in a taxi with my friend Sam Davis and the taxi driver was driving us to the airport and I began to witness to him and I just asked him straight out, would you like to give your heart to Jesus? He launched into assuring me what a good man he was. Well, I'm a very good man and I took care of my mother properly. I said, that's just wonderful. She died, he told me a couple of years and I really took, yes I know God, I took care of my mother.

Isn't that a wonderful thing that he took care of his mother? But that's not the way you get into heaven. He kept going on and on about all the good things that he's done and he was obviously a very fine man and I kept trying my best to tell him that in Christ it's all about Jesus that he's been set free. You know, Paul here is talking and he's looking at a people like you and me and he sees all the things. He says, believers, be determined, be determined, man. It's time to make some really transforming decisions. It's just time to do that.

Would you bow your heads with me today? And that begins with giving your life to Christ, you know? And from the beginning of this message, you've heard me invite you to do what I've done, what Christ has invited all people to do. Bible says that Jesus desires that no one should ever perish, but that all should come to know him. You can give your heart and life to Jesus right now. Trust him as Savior and Lord.

We'd love to be able to help you. We're going to have people in the worship services when I give you an opportunity in Genesis to come down from the top, down those steps and in celebration from the balcony and wherever you are, come and take one of us by the hand and say, you know, I'd like to talk some more about trusting Jesus. Maybe you're ready right now to trust you. Maybe this is what you've done. You've given your heart to Jesus.

It goes further than that, doesn't it? It's about our determination. Maybe today you've been saying, you know, I hear what the Lord is saying. I don't mind telling you, you know, I gave my life to Jesus at a young age and I wish that the spirit of spiritual determination had taken hold of my heart so much earlier than what it did for so many years. I think I suffered with spiritual shallowness. I just never rose above the level of mediocrity in my Christian faith.

You understand what I'm saying to you? I was a fine person in my family and my life and all, but as a believer, maybe today this is your day. Lord, I'm going to pray as people come right now, as they come down the aisles, as they make decisions that, oh God, you would have your way. We're waiting right now in Jesus' name.

Amen. It's been a wonderful day of Bible teaching from Dr. Don Wilton and our prayer is that you've heard more than just the wonderful South African brogue of Dr. Don Wilton, but instead you've also heard the Lord reminding you that God loves you. He has a plan for your life and he's using even this broadcast to draw you close to him. If you prayed along with Dr. Wilton moments ago to give your life to Jesus Christ or rededicate your life, Dr. Wilton has wonderful resources he wants you to have absolutely free if you'll call us. Our phone number is 866-899-WORD. Now that's 866-899-9673. We'd love to put these resources in your hands to pray with you and watch God grow you in your faith. You know, sometimes we just need a turning point. We need a shift of direction, a new beginning, and we'd love to pray you through that. Again, our number is 866-899-9673, but we're also connecting keyboard to keyboard on our website. It's T-E-W online dot O-R-G. I hope you'll come by and join us. A lot of resources there and of course the opportunity to talk and pray online at T-E-W online dot O-R-G.