Listen Again: In Christ Alone - Part 1

This is Stu Epperson from the Truth Talk Podcast, connecting current events, pop culture, and theology, and we're so grateful for you that you've chosen the Truth Podcast Network. It's about to start in just a few seconds.

Enjoy it, and please share it around with all your friends. Thanks for listening, and thanks for choosing the Truth Podcast Network. This is the Truth Network. Do you feel like you're on a religious treadmill? Do you feel like Christianity is just a system of rules and regulations?

I can do this, but I can't do that. Do you feel like your efforts to reach God, find God, and please God are futile? Do you feel like your faith is dead or alive? Today, Pastor Russ Andrews will walk us through Scripture to answer these questions. Join us on Finding Purpose, a local triangle ministry glorifying God by helping men find their purpose for living. For more information and to connect with Russ Andrews and Finding Purpose, you can visit us online at findingpurpose.net or connect with us on Facebook. Now, let's listen to Russ Andrews as he teaches us how to be a Christian without being religious. Russ Andrews.

Lights, camera, action. All right, let's go to the Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father, thank You for this day. Lord, thank You for the gift that You gave Michael English, and I thank You, Lord, that You rescued him from the dominion of darkness and brought him into the kingdom of the light, into the kingdom of Your Son. And Lord, I thank You for the men who are gathered here tonight.

I thank You for all the people who are listening via live stream. I pray, Lord, that You would penetrate everyone's mind and heart and soul with Your words, with the truth and wisdom that come from You alone. And Lord, we thank You for coming into this world to die for us that we might know You. You are the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through You. Lord, we live in a very fallen world.

We need You more than ever before. And so I pray tonight, Lord, that You will impart wisdom to each one of us according to Your will and for Your purpose. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Okay, if you will, take your Bibles and open up to Colossians chapter 2.

I've entitled tonight's message, In Christ Alone. Michael English, in case you didn't know this, Michael English, in case you didn't know this, was born on April 12, 1962 in Keninsville, North Carolina. He was raised by his parents, Auburn and Grace English, in a town called Northeast, which I've never heard of.

Anybody heard of Northeast? North of Wallace. Is it the same thing as Wallace?

Okay, anyway, near Wallace. And so Michael English performed in his family singing group known as the Singing Samaritans from 1972 until 1980. And then for the next several years he was involved in a couple of other Christian groups, much to his father's chagrin. His father never wanted him to leave the family singing group. In 1985, he joined the Gaither vocal band as their new lead singer, where his fame just soared. Bill Gaither, who probably you've heard of, encouraged English to pursue a solo career, which he did, and he signed his first recording contract with Warner Alliance in 1991. On May 6, 1994, at the age of 32, English's music career abruptly came to a halt just one week after the 25th GMA Awards, the Gospel Music Association Awards, where he had received four Dub Awards and Artist of the Year and Male Vocalist of the Year. He was on top of the world, and then his world came crashing down.

So what happened? English learned that Meribeth Jordan, with whom he had been having an affair, was pregnant with his child. At the time, both English and Jordan were married to other people. English was pressured by Warner Alliance to make a public apology, and he was eventually dropped by the label. The sales of his records collapsed as Christian radio stations pulled his songs off the air. He also returned his Dub Awards to the GMA. He and his wife Lisa, who had been married for 11 years and had a daughter, divorced, and his life continued a downward spiral to the point where he became addicted to pain pills.

He lost everything he owned, and he was homeless. The song that made Michael English famous is the one that we just listened to, In Christ Alone, which he first recorded in 1991. In Christ alone, I place my trust and find my glory in the power of the cross. In every victory, let it be said of me, my source of strength, my source of hope is Christ alone.

So what happened to Michael English? Well, he obviously did not heed the message in his own song, but God had not written the last chapter in his life. So stay tuned, as Paul Harvey says, for the rest of the story. And that brings us to Colossians chapter 2. In this chapter, man, I want to share with you four blessings that believers and believers alone have in Christ, and here's the first one. In Christ alone, believers have received all wisdom and have all wisdom available to them.

Look at verses 1 through 5. Paul writes, and again to these believers in Colossae, he says, I want you to know how much I'm struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, about 10 miles west of Colossae. 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.

Did you hear that? 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. I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine sounding arguments, for though I'm absent from you in body, I'm present with you in spirit and delight to see how disciplined you are and how firm your faith in Christ is. If only Michael English had been in a Bible study like this one and could have read these warnings in Colossians and in Hebrews, for that matter.

His walk with Christ would not have been derailed more than likely. So men, the first step towards remaining firm in your faith, who wants to remain firm in your faith? The first step begins with wisdom. Wisdom is what the world needs now more than ever before, and wisdom comes only from one source, God. God is the source of all wisdom, and God has made His wisdom available to mankind through two primary sources. First, one source is Jesus Christ Himself, who is the living Word and who is the embodiment of all wisdom. And then the second source is the Bible, which is the written Word and contains the very mind of God. And we touched on this last week, but I want you to take your Bibles, men, and turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 2.

Okay, will you turn there? 1 Corinthians chapter 2. It's just before 2 Corinthians, right after Romans.

Find Romans, it's 1 Corinthians next. The Bible is just full of God's wisdom. Psalms, proverbs, so much wisdom. But these two chapters right here really address in the New Testament to the most important.

I'm talking about 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and 1 Corinthians chapter 2. They tell us all about the wisdom of God, and I want to pick up in chapter 2 in verse 6 where Paul writes, he's talking about we believers. We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age who are coming to nothing. Now we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it.

And guess what? None of the rulers of our age seem to understand it. For if they had back then, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. And if the rulers of our age understood it, they would be putting forth the Lord Jesus Christ as the solution to our problems. However, as it is written, no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed it.

What is the it? Wisdom. God has revealed wisdom to us by who?

His spirit. And then verse 16 says, For who has known the mind of the Lord that He may instruct Him? Well, we can come to know the mind of the Lord by doing what?

Reading the Bible. And then you guys want to say, but we have the mind of Christ. Where's the mind of Christ? It's contained in this book right here from Genesis 1 all the way back to Revelation 22. We see the mind of Christ. Now what do we learn from these verses right here that I just read in 1 Corinthians? First, listen, we cannot understand spiritual matters by simply observing the things of God like the Bible with our natural senses. Why? Because wisdom is spiritual in nature.

Did you hear that? Wisdom is spiritual in nature. The only way to understand spiritual truth is by the Holy Spirit. Remember, I think it's in John 16 13, Jesus said, I'm going to send you the spirit of truth, the Holy Spirit, and He will what? Guide you into all truth.

This is what the new birth is all about. The Holy Spirit must live within you. You must be indwelt by the Holy Spirit before you can understand the mysteries of God. That's why the man without the spirit in verse 14, 1 Corinthians 2, the man without the spirit does not accept the things that come from the spirit of God, for they're foolish to foolishness to him.

And guess what? He cannot understand them because they're spiritually discerned. So the natural man, the non-believer, many of your friends, they can't understand what you're talking about. They don't get why you're coming to a Bible study.

Why is that? Because they're not indwelt with Holy Spirit. It sounds like you're talking Greek to them. It's like trying to get a one-year-old to understand that one plus one is equal to. That baby can't see it yet.

They can't see it yet. Second, when a man has been truly born again, then and only then does the supernatural take place. And that's when the spirit begins to take the Word of God and unveil these hidden truths, these hidden treasures in the Bible.

It's like an Easter egg hunt. Every time you open up the Bible, behind every verse is another truth. Third, the more time a man spends in the Word of God, the more he begins to take on the mind of God. Then and only then can he make judgments about a few things, all things. He makes judgments about all things. By the way, this is another sermon, but this thing that we're not supposed to judge is totally false. We're not supposed to judge hypocritically. But we're supposed to make judgments about everything. We have to discern truth from error.

We have to be able to discern good fruit from bad fruit. You've got to be to sit in and listen to me and know if what I'm saying is the truth. And I want you to. I don't want to say anything that's false, anything that doesn't line up with Scripture. And as I've said many times in the last 18 years, if you hear anything, man, that doesn't sound right to you, don't interrupt me.

But come up, this is really bad. Come up here afterwards and say, Russ, I just don't believe that's true. You've got to show me that in Scripture. If I can't back it up in Scripture, what am I going to do next Tuesday night? I'm going to correct it. I'm going to say, Jeff came up here and told me I was wrong and he's probably going to be right. I'm going to listen to Jeff. The more we read the Bible, the more we take on the mind of God and then we can begin to judge all things.

Why? Because our worldview has changed. When you read the Bible, it changes your worldview. Now we begin to see culture through the lens of Scripture. We begin to see the prevailing social issues from God's perspective. And we begin to make choices that have eternal consequences.

And we begin to make wise choices. Flip over to Psalm chapter 1. It's in the middle of the Bible. Psalm chapter 1. The psalmist writes in the first three verses, blessed, y'all listen to this, blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, who you're spending time with, or stand in the way of sinners. Kip, did y'all have a bunch of sinners up there?

You did, but they were a bunch of believers, weren't they? So you were not standing in the counsel of the wicked, you were standing in the counsel of the godly. But his delight, a man who's fallen Christ, his delight is the law of the Lord. And on his law, the law is just basically the Bible. And on his law, he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season. Whatever he does, prospers. Let me ask you, do you want to be a blessed man? Do you want your life to prosper? Now I'm not talking about the prosperity gospel, so don't even think about that. I'm talking about prospering in your soul. If he prospers you financially or with health, that's up to God.

And he can do that, obviously. If you want to prosper in life, men, in everything that you do, it doesn't mean that you won't have difficulties. It doesn't mean that you won't get sick. We live in a fallen world. We're going to experience pain and suffering. But if you want your life to prosper by God's definition of prosperity, then it begins by making wise decisions, right choices. Making right decisions comes from a lifetime spent meditating on the word of God and walking with Jesus and talking with him in prayer and asking, Lord, guide me with this decision of God coming. Help me, Lord, to make the right decision. Lord, I don't even know how to pray.

Will you pray for me? That's what it means when the Holy Spirit says he groans with words that we can't even understand. The Holy Spirit's praying for us when we don't know how to pray. Sometimes the Bible just says, be still and know that I am God.

If you don't know what to do, what should you do? Be still. True wisdom comes in knowing God, and we come to know God when we come to know Christ and Christ alone. Jesus said, I'm the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. He is the truth.

He is the life. He's the one who wants to show us the way, and He does that with His Word by giving us wisdom so that we know how to... When we come to a fork in the road, Isaiah 30 21 says, you will hear a voice behind you saying, this is the way, walk in it. That's just supernatural wisdom that the Holy Spirit will give you. Have you come to know Christ alone for His wisdom, or are you still living by the principles and philosophies of the world? Second, in Christ alone, we receive strength and power to stand firm in the faith we profess. Look at verses six through eight. So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives 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. Now, I'm going to read verse eight again.

It's so important because this is what's taking place in our country right now, and I'm going to address a very difficult issue in a minute. 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 who? Christ and Christ alone.

Christ and Christ alone. We've already learned that the Christian life is difficult because we have an enemy whose name is Satan, and he's always trying to come after Christians to cause us to stumble, to trip us up, to lead us astray. That's what happened to Michael English. Satan got hold of him, and it can happen to anybody. No one is beyond Satan's influence, although we have someone in that who's greater than Satan.

Never lose sight of that. So how does Satan work? He works through people. First John 5 19 says, we know that we are children of God and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. Did you realize that the world system is under the control of Satan and his demonic forces? God has allowed Satan to have limited control of the world system that that stands in opposition to everything that is holy and good and right. And Satan uses the world system, which he controls, to let as many people as he can down the wide road which ends in the destruction of those billions of souls that are following him down this wide path. How does Satan work? He works through men and women who often speak eloquently and often appear gentle and kind, but they are often wolves dressed up in sheep's clothing. Second Corinthians 11 verses 13 through 15 says, for such men and women are false apostles, deceitful workmen masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising then if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve. Right now, Satan is infiltrating the world system he controls with deceptive philosophy that is based on human wisdom and the basic principles of this world.

How's he doing this? Through the media, through our politicians, and even through many ministers, Satan is pushing an evil agenda into our schools, into all over social media, and in many churches. It's an old theory known as critical race theory or CRT.

What is CRT? Well, I got a really, this, you know, there are, you can go, you can google and find all kinds of articles, but I like to get something that's coming from a Christian perspective. Standard reason is a Christian think tank put out, put out an article entitled thinking critically about critical race theory. Now listen, some of what I'm getting ready to say may make you a little uncomfortable. When we talk about racism, it is uncomfortable. But I want you to hear me all the way through before you make a judgment call. And before I begin, I want to quote a black pastor friend named Mal Williams.

Jim, you know him. He said, our problem is not a skin problem, but a sin problem. And that's the truth. Our problem, and I want you to keep this in the front of your mind as I'm sharing with you what CRT is. Our problem is not a skin problem. It's a sin problem.

Here's what this article says. Critical theory divides the world into two groups, the oppressors and the oppressed. Those groups are made up of smaller cultural groups defined by race, sex, sexual preference, gender identity, and so on. When this world view focuses on race, it's called critical race theory, CRT. It divides people into groups by race, the white oppressors and the oppressed non-whites.

According, this is where it's a little uncomfortable, but I've got to get this out, okay, since you understand this theory. According to CRT, the fundamental problem with America is its whiteness, its caste system based on skin color. The lighter your skin, the closer you are to the top of the system. Since the United States was formed by white men, racism has been woven into the tapestry of the American experiment from the beginning, and it continues to corrupt every aspect of American life. Our original sin then, according to CRT, is whiteness. It goes on to say, a culture salivation from that fall begins when the oppressors become woke. When they see and, I didn't know what woke was, but that's what it means, and when they see and repent from their own sins as oppressors and begin to dismantle the inherently oppressive structures of the culture. Since whites can't see their own racism, according to CRT, they need to learn to see the world through the CRT lens. Only then will racial equality be possible.

Now, I want to say this right here. In every ideology, even evil ideologies, there are always elements of truth, but they're underlining there's some errors of falsehood, untruth, and what Satan does, he covers that error with truth so that those who are gullible, who don't really understand, will buy into it. And it's that, it's that error of falsehood that he used to destroy, and he is using to destroy our country. Ultimately, critical race theory is rooted in a blend of two world views that have been around forever. Marxism, this is where the oppressor oppressed element comes from, and secular humanism, the belief that humanity is capable of self-fulfillment and rescued by self-effort apart from God. Marxism and secular humanism are totally opposed to God and everything the Bible stands for. And listen, once God is removed, so is any objective standard defining what it means to live a fulfilled moral life. The article goes on to say there's a better alternative to critical race theory.

Do you know what it's called? Christianity. Christianity says our fundamental problem is sin. True original sin places all humanity on equal footing. Red, yellow, black, white, rich, poor, we're all sinners.

No one is exempt. This is why, listen, this is why your world view is so important. What do you believe about the world? What is your source of truth?

How do you make decisions about life? What's right? What's wrong? What's good?

What's evil? As followers of Jesus, the Bible provides the lens through which we see everything. So when you're reading the newspaper, listen to the news. Listen to a minister. Listen and look through this book right here. It's like a pair of glasses.

You just look through. Everything flows through Scripture and you determine you reject error and you hold on to truth. So what does the Bible say about the human condition and the real problem with our world? First, Romans 3 23. We are what? Sinners.

Racism and bigotry are egregious sins. I grew up in east North Carolina. I worked with, I worked with more black men than I did white men and we never had a racial problem. We were out there working together and we loved each other.

We loved each other. I played on a basketball team that was primarily black and I can remember there were some racial problems in Greenville and one time I was in the locker room and it was me and about five black players and they got around me and said, Russ, the first black brother comes up there and touches you, we got you covered. I said, right on brother. Racism and bigotry are evil and that's an element of truth in critical race theory. And yes, oppressors are sinners but so are the oppressed in different ways. Second, Christianity provides the best reason to believe that oppression is wrong. Every human being is made in the image of who? God.

Black, white, red, yellow, Jew, Gentile. We're all creating God's image. Genesis 1 27 says, so God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him. Male and female, he created him. And so third, we're all equal in God's sight because each one of us is created in the very image of God. It's not the color of our skin or any other physical characteristic that gives people value, worth, and dignity. Rather, being made in the image of God is the great equalizer.

This is where racial unity must begin, that we're made in God's image. By the way, I was driving into my office one morning this week and I was listening to Fox News and they had on there William Bennett. Remember him, the former Secretary of Education for the United States? And he mentioned Raleigh on Fox News. Do you know why? Apparently critical race theory is going to be taught in Wake County public schools.

And I got news for you. It will make the race issue worse. It will drive a wedge between black students and white students.

It'll make both sides feel bad. So if CRT is not the answer to racism, what is? The Bible.

That's right. The gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul tells us exactly what needs to be done in Ephesians chapter 2 verses 14 through 16 where he writes, for He, talking about Jesus Himself, is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, abolishing in His flesh the law with His commandments and regulations.

His purpose, that is God's purpose, was to create in Himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross by which He put to death their hostility. So what are we to do? How are we to respond? We're to stand firm in the faith. We're not to get sidetracked and tossed back and forth by the waves and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we're to share the good news of the gospel with all men, black and white, red and yellow, rich and poor. And I hate the fact that I'm looking at out here with the exception of one gentleman back there, all white people. This is not the way it's going to be in heaven. So you know what I want to do for next September? I want you all to try to invite one black friend to come and join us.

Okay? So when I look out here, it's close to 50-50. That's the way it's going to be in heaven. In fact, we should have Mexicans in here and Italians and I mean everybody. There you go, Lufusilla. We've got one Italian here.

I'm getting tired of looking at a bunch of old white men anyway. But here's what we're to do. We're to keep the main thing the main thing. What is the main thing? The gospel of Jesus Christ. It's only the gospel can bring down this dividing wall of hostility, first between God and man, and then between man and man. Pastor Russ would also like to extend a special invitation for you to join him and over 300 other local triangle men to study God's Word together every Tuesday night at 7pm in downtown Raleigh. Find out more at findingpurpose.net. This is the Truth Network.