Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Tuesday, June 10th. When you have Jesus, you can trust Him to fill every gap. But you have to trust Him to do it in His way and in His time. We'll turn there beginning in verses 6 through 10. Here is a tremendously important admonition, something for us to remember, something for us to be aware of that Paul the Apostle says, writing to those Colossians that is so apropos for us today. So we want to read Colossians chapter 2 beginning in verse 6 and read through verse 10.
And notice how he says this. He says, So walk in Him, that is the way you received Him, walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed and overflowing with gratitude. See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception according to the tradition of man, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to those principles that we find in Christ.
For in Him that is in Christ, all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form and in Him that is in Christ, you have been made complete and He is the head over all rule and authority. What Satan wants to do is to lure you away from your dependence upon the Lord Jesus Christ to meet your need and tempt you in any and every way possible to get you to start attempting to meet your needs in your way without Almighty God. And if Satan can do that, he knows he can't tamper with your soul. That is, he can't tamper with your spirit.
He knows that if you trust that Jesus is your Savior, you're saved. He can't tamper with that. What he can tamper with is your influence and your usability by God.
If he can tamper with either one of those and render you ineffective, no influence in your life, and he doesn't care whatever else happens to you. That's what Satan's after. He's after you attempting to get your needs met in your way without God in your timing. And once he does that, he has you heading direction he wants you to go in. You see, here's Satan's underlying message.
His underlying message is this. If you really want to get your needs met, Satan says, I'll show you how to get them met. We've all got needs.
God made us that way. Need to be loved, the need to love many needs, material, physical, spiritual, emotional, we all have needs. The question is, do I believe that Jesus Christ is adequate to meet all my needs?
Or am I going to be led away by the rationalization and the lying, deceitful, empty promises of the world that my needs can be met and can only be met through what they have to offer? Listen, you name the problem, the ultimate underlying factor is I wanted to get my needs met now other than God's way of doing it. You know that you have needs and it may be that you're standing at the door of temptation at this very moment. Satan has offered you a quick fix to your need. He says, all you've got to do is just take a right turn.
All you've got to do is take a left turn. You can get it met now. You're saved. You know that you're saved.
You want to get your emotional, all you got to do is get married. This guy's waiting for you. Look at him. He's successful. Now he's not a Christian, but he's a successful. He can take care of your needs and drag your spiritual life into what will be hell on earth for you.
Listen, let me tell you something. If Satan is the father of all lies, do you think he's going to tell you the truth? Listen, if all the lies originate with him and Jesus said, he's the father of all lies, do you think he's going to tell you the truth?
He'll never tell you the truth. Empty deceit, cunning lies, the rationalization of the world. Here's the way, the underlying factor is, the question is, is Jesus Christ, the son of God adequate to meet all of our needs?
And the answer is yes. And I want to show you that in the scripture. Listen to what he says in Galatians 2 9, in him that is in Christ, all the fullness, all the fullness of deity, that is the Godhead, dwells in bodily form. That is, it's all to be found the person of Jesus Christ. In him that is in Christ, you have been made complete.
Perfect passive, which means in the past, Jesus Christ became all you'll ever need. In your present life, he is still all you'll ever need. Jesus assumes responsibility for meeting all your needs. And if you have him, you have them all, it's a matter of claiming them by faith in God's timing in God's way of providing those needs. Now listen to what he said, in him that is in Christ, you have already been made complete. And he is the head over all rule and authority.
That word is used in the Greek to picture a big sailing vessel loaded down, ready to sail, anchor hoisted, and the captain is at the helm, ready to sail, fully loaded. He says that you are fully loaded. Christ Jesus, your living Lord is living within you. He says that we're in him and he's in us. You cannot name a need this morning that Almighty God through his son, Jesus Christ, listen to me, has not already provided and the truth of it is within you. Now let me show you simple verses that little boy can understand. Let's begin in John chapter 6. He says in chapter 6 verse 35, Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life.
And that was the staff of life. He who comes to me shall not what? Hunger. He who believes in me shall never what? Never thirst.
Listen to what he says. He says, I'm the bread of life. You will never have, you'll never have a need that Jesus Christ cannot satisfy.
No physical, no emotional, no material need that the Son of God, he says, I am the bread of life. He says you'll never hunger. Now we all have hungers and thirst. For example, you get hungry for a certain type of food. And you thirst maybe for water or you want something else to drink. You have thirst. We have spiritual hungers.
Blessed are they that what? Hunger and thirst after righteousness, they shall be filled. But those who hunger and thirst after other things are not going to be filled because the world can't satisfy that hunger and thirst. He says, Listen, he says, I'm the bread of life.
When you have me, when you have me, you have your needs met. Because Christ Jesus, who's the bread of life is he's within you. First of all, I've got to believe that I've got to appropriate that I've got to apply that to my life, Jesus, you said you're the bread of life, you know, the hungers of my heart, you know, the thirst of my life, you said you'd satisfy God Almighty is committed. He is committed through the teaching of this book to meet the hungers and thirst of your life.
John chapter seven, we just go right through john john chapter seven. Last day, that great day of the feast, listen to what he said. He says he stood and cried out saying, If any man is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture said, from his inner most being, listen, not from without from his inner most being shall flow a trickle no rivers of living water.
Doesn't the world say look, if you want to have a good time and you want and you want to be fulfilled in your pleasure, here's what you do. God Almighty says that every single thirst within you will be quenched by the presence of Jesus Christ in your life. While people led astray by all kinds of rationalizations and empty the seats of the devil because they listen, they allow Satan to convince them and persuade them that Jesus Christ God's only begotten Son, who said of himself, I am the water of life. They said, No, he can't quench my thirst. And so we go to the world's way to get fed and our thirst quenched.
They can't do it. There is only one person who can do that. And his name is Jesus Christ, the bread of life and the water of life.
Everything else is going to leave you disappointedly empty and futile in your search. Listen to what he says chapter eight, he says in this passage, he says, not only is he the bread of life, not only is he the water of life, but he says he is the light of life. Look in verse 12. Again, therefore, Jesus said, spoke to them saying, I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but you'll have the light of life.
Listen, the Bible says very clearly that those who are unsaved are walking in darkness. Let me ask you a question. What happens when you walk in the dark? I'll tell you what happens. You stumble, and you fall and after a while you become fearful and very sensitive. You're going to stumble and fall again. Do you know why this crazy age in which we're living in is so insecure? I'll tell you why they're so insecure. They don't know where they're going.
They're walking in darkness. He says, I'm the light of your life. It makes no difference where you're going. He says, I'm going to lighten and brighten your path. You will know, listen, I may not know what tomorrow holds, but one thing I do know. When I get there, the light of Jesus Christ will shine upon the reality of what's happening.
I don't know what's around me. He says, the beacon of your life is within you. Jesus Christ, the son of the living God. He says, he's your light. Chapter 10, same book, John chapter 10.
Listen to what he says. He says it twice here right together. Verse 11. He says, I'm the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. Verse 14, I am the good shepherd and I know my own and my own know me. Verse 27, my sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me. I give unto them eternal life and they should never perish. Now think about this.
Isn't this amazing? Listen, you can take a lost man who's hell bound, living in sin, get him in trouble and get him in trouble and think he's going to die. What does he want you to do? Call the preacher. Would you quote me the 23rd Psalm? The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want.
Oh no, that doesn't work. The only person who can say the Lord is my shepherd is the person who has taken the first step and received by faith Jesus Christ as their Savior. That's the only person who can say. My friend, if you're in trouble today and you want somebody to quote that, you can forget it. It may be emotionally comforting to you, but it has no application except for those who have accepted, listen, the shepherd as their savior for their sins. Only people who can quote that passage. He says he's the good shepherd. Listen, Jesus says I'm the good shepherd.
You know what that means? A good, what does the shepherd do? A shepherd provides for his sheep. He protects his sheep and he guides his sheep. Did you know that you have the guider within you? You have the provider within you? You have the protector within you? Jesus Christ the living Lord.
He's living within you through the Holy Spirit. Let me ask you something. Can you name me anything the world can offer you today that Jesus Christ the good shepherd cannot give you? I'll tell you some things he won't give you.
Do you think a shepherd would feed his sheep poison? Under no condition. He's a protector. He's a provider. He's a guide. And listen, Satan comes along and offers you something.
You say, well, you know, I've never experienced that before. You need to ask yourself the question, is that uplifting and building or is that poison to my system? What do you need besides the good shepherd? Turn to John 14, three things in this verse. John 14, you can take the gospel of John with your children and go through these passages and just bless them to no end.
Look at this. What Jesus said, you know this in my heart. Jesus said, I am the way. You know what that means? That means that I have the promise that Jesus Christ will always guide me in the right way.
What does he say? Trust in the Lord with all thine heart. Lean not to thine own understanding of the understanding of the world. In all thy ways, acknowledge him, depend upon him, trust him, look to him, wait for him, listen to him, wait for him, listen to him, and he shall direct thy path. He's our way. You see, he points the way and we're to follow.
Listen, here's the wonderful thing about being a Christian. I don't have to follow somebody who's going to be 40 miles ahead of me. He's living within me. I'm following. Listen, the compass is within me. The dynamic is within me. The power is within me.
Christ Jesus is our life. And he says, I am your way. The next thing he said in that passage is he says, I'm the truth. Do you want the truth? You see, the problem is that most folks don't want the truth.
They want what satisfies for the moment. I want to tell you something. If you are deadly honest, you want the truth. If you don't want the truth, then you are going to find yourself stumbling in the darkness, stumbling in the darkness and wrecking and ruining your life. If you want the truth about your life, you ask God about the truth. Jesus said, I am the truth.
That is, Jesus isn't going to mislead you. When Jesus says to you, don't marry that girl. She's lost. She's not a Christian. She'll pull you down. You'll say, but oh God, she needs my help. I'm a strong Christian. I'm going to change her.
I'm going to do this. God says, don't do it and you do it anyway. What you're doing is denying the truth of God. Everything Jesus Christ said and everything He lived is divine truth, irrevocable, and inerrant. It cannot be changed.
It is without error. It is the truth. Anytime you and I have sinned against God, we have walked away from a truth that Jesus Christ has given us. Then He says one last thing about who He is. He says, I am the life. He didn't say, I am the He didn't say, I'm a life. He says, I am the life. If you died tomorrow and you may, do you know that you have life beyond this one?
That's going to be absolutely wonderful. Jesus said, when you're facing death, He said, I'm the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead yet, shall he live how long?
Forever. Let me ask you something. You have a need, we all do.
Which need do you have that's not been covered? He says, I'm the bread of life. I'm the water of life. He says, I'm the light of life. I'm the shepherd.
He says, I'm the way, the truth, and the light. You don't have any needs that Jesus Christ has not already deposited to your account. Listen, if you will close your ears to the lure of the world, close your eyes to what they have to offer. And look to Jesus Christ in His perfect timing. He will meet every single need of your life. And when you allow Jesus Christ to meet your needs, let me tell you something, friend.
Listen, when He starts meeting them, the way He provides them, you know what happens? There's something about the fulfillment and the contentment and the overwhelming indescribable joy and fullness in your life. When you allow God to meet your needs in your circumstance, whatever they may be, when you allow Him to do it His way and His timing, there is an indescribable joy about that. But the first time you decide you're going to do it your way in your own timing, you're headed down every single time.
The bottom line is this. As a believer, am I going to get my needs met the way I want to? Or am I going to let God do it His way? If I am rooted and grounded and being built up, established in the truth, instructed in the Word of God, abounding and overflowing with thanksgiving to Almighty God, it's going to be tough, devil, to get that junky stuff into my mind when I am so happy in Jesus.
You're going to have a hard time getting that to me. But I want you to think about so many people today who have been saved who are not instructed, haven't applied the truth. And I want to say to you, my friend, if you've never trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior, you can keep on living the way you're living. Keep on going the way you're going.
But I want to tell you, you can mark this down. One of these days you're going to die. You're going to stand in the judgment of Almighty God and you're going to have to tell Him, Lord, God Father, I rejected your son, Jesus Christ. I chose my own way. I took the world's way. I took the devil's way.
I thought it was a better way. I wrecked and ruined my life. And yes, I realize I deserve to go to hell. That's the only choice you've got. What I'm offering you is not from me, my friend, but from Jesus Christ, the Son of God that says, whatever your need is at this moment, the Christ of this book can meet your needs. If you will, first of all, if you will, first of all, place your trust in Him for the forgiveness of your sin, tell Him that you're accepting His death on the cross as payment for your sin. Ask Him today, Father, save me through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
And my friend, He will come into your life. And if you'll tell Him, Lord Jesus, I've blown it. I've messed it up. I've fouled up my life.
I've made a wreck of it from this moment on. I'm trusting you to meet my needs in your way. And God, I will follow as you lead. And I want to tell you, my friend, that's the way God operates. Father, we thank you for making it so simple and plain to us.
We love you for loving us and being patient with us. And Father, today, in Jesus' name, I pray. For that's somebody who is lost, who's tried it all, who knows in his heart or her heart, when they get real honest, it's not working.
It's not going to work. It can't work because they're violating the precious Word of the living God. I want to invite that somebody, Father, today to trust you right here and now as their Savior and their Lord. Somebody who is under great temptation. Somebody who is under terrible temptation.
Fiery darts of Satan, being thrust at them time after time. I pray in Jesus' name, you grant them the courage to walk away, to turn a deaf ear to Satan's rationalization. Turn their eyes from Satan's appeal and simply make the confession, Lord Jesus, I'm trusting you to meet my needs, all my needs in your own way. And Father, I pray that you'll grant to somebody today a great victory. I don't know who it is, but God, somebody needs victory today. And I'm trusting you for that right now in Jesus' name. Thank you for listening to today's podcast titled When You Have Jesus.
