Welcome to this edition of PowerPoint with Jack Graham. A few. If you're under 30 and you're single, I know you know what DTR means. Now some of Now, that's what young adults do today. They have these talks, you see, after they've been going out a while or hanging together for a little bit. They have these conversations in which they try to figure out if our friendship is becoming a relationship.
Is this going anywhere or is it going somewhere or is it going nowhere? Are we just hanging out or are we just hanging out? Are we just friends or is this something else? Is this something more? Are we really a couple?
Are we really committed? DTR. Define the relationship.
It is a call for relational clarity. Now the very mention of DTR will make some young guys twitch. Because you see, there's no such thing as having just a little DTR. It's a big deal when you define the relationship.
If you talk it out, talk it through and discover if you are committed or not. Well I believe this is a good time for all of us to have a DTR. A spiritual DTR to define the relationship. Because you see, Christ is constantly calling us and compelling us to commitment.
He is always pressing us for a decision regarding that relationship. You don't have just a little DTR with Jesus. People didn't enter the presence of Christ and have a conversation and walk away the same and say, oh well that was a nice talk with Jesus. He was constantly inviting people, imploring us to define the relationship.
He would say things like, are you for me or are you against me? Once after feeding the five thousand, the multitude, those who had come for the great miracle, had been blessed by the presence of Jesus and yet when the miracles ended, they walked away and Jesus looked at those who remained, just a few, his disciples and he had a DTR with them. He said, will you also go away? That was when Simon Peter said, Lord to whom will we go? You have the words of eternal life. Later when Peter denied the Lord and failed him miserably, Jesus went to the cross, he died and rose again and then he made the disciples there by the Sea of Galilee and once again, Jesus had a DTR, this time personally with Simon Peter.
So much of the focus is upon this man who had failed and the recovery and the restoration of his life and Jesus sits him down and they have a DTR. Simon, do you love me? Lord, you know I love you. Simon, do you love me? Lord, you know I have this fond affection for you. Simon, do you love me? Lord, you know all things. You know I love you. And then Jesus called him and commissioned him again.
Jesus is always defining the relationship, both at the outset of our relationship with him and throughout our days. Constantly he is saying, define where you are with me. Follow me. Come after me. Do you love me?
Are you seeking me? Again, if you are serious about your relationship with God in Jesus Christ, then there are times in which you must sit down before him and define that relationship. Over and over again, Jesus is saying, follow me. Pick up your cross.
So today let's just have a DTR with Jesus. Take your Bibles and turn to Colossians chapter 3. I often take passages of Scripture and put them to memory.
And I'm endeavoring to memorize the third chapter of Colossians. It's a passage that he is driving home to my heart in these days. I could have called this message in Christ alone because that is the content of this passage of Scripture. Look at verse 1. If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above. Where Christ is seated at the right hand of God, set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on the earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
And then scan down to the end of verse 11. But Christ is all and in all. Christ is all. Christ is our life. The strength of our life. The sustenance and the satisfaction of our life. The sufficiency of our life. He is the security of our lives. Christ is our life.
Now, can you say that? Can you say Jesus Christ is my life? Life is what you are alive to. If you talk to a little child about ice cream, that child will come alive.
If you talk to a sports fan, that sports fan will come alive. I mean, what we are alive to, that is our life. And if we are alive in Jesus Christ, who is our life, we are living in him.
We will live in him. Paul said this kind of thing often. He said, for to me to live is Christ. Jesus, of course, introduced that whole thing to us when he said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. And no man comes to the Father except by me. Jesus said, I've come that you might have it.
And that you might have it more abundantly. And this is eternal life. To know the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. You see, Christianity is not believing certain things about life, but receiving Jesus who is life. The Christian faith is Christ. And if you don't have Jesus, you don't have life. You can know about God. You can have your head full of facts about Christianity, the Christian faith, and even Christ. You can have knowledge about Jesus and not know Jesus. You know life.
You're just existing. Christ is our life. All in Jesus. And Jesus is all. And Jesus is the one who elevates us and motivates us.
He is our aspiration and inspiration in life. And I don't mind telling you that it is my prayer and passion in life that I can say Christ is my life. Jesus is my life. Jesus excites me.
Jesus thrills me. He is my all in all. In Christ alone we stand. And if we say Christ is all and in all, then what we read in the first two verses will be absolutely true in our lives. There are two active verbs in the first two verses that I want you to note. Verse two, if you have been raised with Christ, and actually the if there is a sense then you have been raised with Christ because this is true. You have in your position in Christ been raised in Him.
Then what? Seek the things that are above. Note that verb seek. And this is an active seeking. It is an intense seeking. It is a continual seeking. Keep on seeking the things that are above.
Where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. And then in verse two there is another verb. And that verb is set. Set your minds on things that are above not on things on the earth.
Once again active and continuous. Seeking and setting. Seeking has to do with our aims in life. Our ambitions in life. And setting our affections upon things above has to do with well our affections in life.
Our desires. If you then be raised with Christ, seek those things which are above. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and today's message, Defining the Relationship. When you set aside daily time to connect with God, He'll give you the ability to live a godly life and fulfill His plans for you in the coming year. And we'd like to help you walk even more closely with the Lord in the year ahead by sending you Pastor Graham's 180 day devotional Moments in the Word. It's our way to thank you for your gift today to help proclaim the gospel to more people around the world through PowerPoint.
This is the last week of this offer. So call today. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 313131.
Text PowerPoint to 313131. And don't forget to visit Jack Graham.org where you can shop our e-store, give a gift online, or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily email devotional. Our website again is Jack Graham.org. Now let's get back to today's message, Defining the Relationship. This is in contrast to seeking those things which are above and not those things which are below. Now earlier in this magnificent letter to the Colossians in chapter 2 we see some of the things that are below.
And I want to just mention these to you briefly this morning. This is in contrast to seeking those things which are above. For example, in verse 8 of Colossians chapter 2, look at it. See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy. An empty conceit according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.
This refers to the elitism, the intellectualism of the world. Philosophy without Christ is foolishness. There's no way of life.
There's no viewpoint that this world offers apart from Christ. This is our life. And yet we live in a generation as in most generations in which man seeks to know more and more about less and less. And certainly intellectually we are brilliant in our times and we see the advances of technology and otherwise, science and so on. And yet we're still facing the ultimate problems of life that we cannot solve. And so what do we do?
We get in circles and we have conversations. And so often we're simply repeating. Now listen to me. We are repeating what the world says rather than what the Word says. And millions of people are sucking up the ideas and the ideologies and the philosophies and the reasonings of this world. And the Scripture says if it's not in Christ it's foolishness.
Don't subject yourself. Don't seek after the things of this world but seek after Christ and Christ alone. But then He speaks of the ritualism of this world. Down in verse 14 for example. By canceling the record of death that stood against us with its legal demands. Now you have to really pay attention on these verbs.
We're going to go down deep and stay down a little while on this. By canceling the record of death that stood against us with its legal demands this He set aside speaking of Christ nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphant stopping over them. There's a reference back in verse 13 to the circumcision of the flesh and the uncircumcision of the flesh and so on. He's talking about religious rituals. Many miss Christ because they simply go through the motions. They sit, they stand, they kneel, they pray, they genuflect, they walk in church and walk out of church the same way they came in.
They have a form of Christ but deny His power. Look at all of these rituals that are referred to in this passage of Scripture. These religious expressions.
Paul says they're like chasing shadows. Look at verse 16. Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink or in regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.
These are shadow, a shadow of the things to come but the substance belongs to Christ. In other words so much of religious ritual and religious expression is not the reality of that relationship. There is a place for ritual and tradition in our faith but never as a substitute for the reality of that relationship. Then he speaks of mysticism or asceticism down in verse 18.
Look at verse 18 of chapter 2. Let no one disqualify you insisting on asceticism and worship of angels going on in detail about visions and puffed up without reasons by His sensuous mind and not holding fast to the head from whom the whole body is nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments as it grows with the growth that is from God. Paul was dealing with an ancient religion known as Gnosticism. That was the religion in question here. It was a style of mysticism and even New Ageism, a worship of angels and so forth. It was a very worldly religion. And Jesus came to liberate us, to set us free from religion without Him. And any religion that is absent of the person of Jesus Christ, hear me, is a false religion.
Why? Because Christ and Christ alone is all. And He is all. And then He says don't seek intellectualism. Don't seek ritualism. Don't seek mysticism, asceticism. And then He said don't seek God through legalism. That's what verses 20 to 23 are about. If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why is it as if you were still alive in the world do you submit to regulations?
What regulations? Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch, referring to things that all perish as they are used according to human precepts and teachings. These indeed, watch this, these indeed have an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. Now do you want to be closer to God? Walk closer to Christ?
How are you to go about that? I have a new set of rules that I'm going to keep. Touch not, taste not, handle not. Which the scripture says is really a show of wisdom. It is a false humility. It is not worship simply to say I don't do this and I don't do that. That may satisfy my flesh, but it doesn't honor God. If all you have in your religion is a list to live on, I don't do this, I don't do that.
I keep certain laws, I keep certain rules. Maybe you've got sort of a dirty dozen and you live by this. I don't cuss and I don't use profanity and I don't commit adultery and I go to church and whatever it may be on your list. That won't make you one speck more like Jesus Christ if all you're doing is living off the list. That's what Paul is saying. That's what the scripture is saying. That the Christian faith is not legalism.
The devil doesn't care what you seek as long as it isn't Jesus. And let me tell you, you don't become more like Jesus Christ by what you don't do. Now, certainly there's some things that we don't do because we are believers. And there are commandments to keep.
And there are principles by which we should all live. But if all you have is what you do, if all you have is rules, you're nothing but a Pharisee if you don't have the life of Jesus Christ. You see, it's not a legal relationship that we have in Christ.
It is a love relationship. What did Jesus say about following him? John 14, 23, Jesus answered and said to him, if anyone loves me, if anyone loves me, he will keep my word. So the way to get closer to Jesus is to fall in love with him. To have a passion for him. To love him with all your heart, mind, soul and strength. And to follow him as he calls you then to obedience. We fall in love with Jesus and then live in obedience to Jesus as he enables us. So if you want to live a Christian life, if you want to be strong in your faith and grow up in Christ this year, then forget about the intellectualism of this world.
Forget about the rituals of this world and the asceticism and the mysticism and yes, the legalism of life. And you say, Christ, you are my all. You are my passion. You are my purpose. You are my love.
You are my life. Seek those things which are above. Set your affection on things which are seated there with Christ. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all of these things will be added unto you. Just as a compass always points north, the direction of the believer is always pointed towards him. Take a plant and put it by a window and watch that plant bend toward the sun.
As the light fills that plant with life. May we have a defining moment today to define our relationship with Jesus Christ. So ask yourself, am I in Christ or not? Ask God, Lord, do we have a relationship? Are we just hanging out? Am I just hanging out? Am I just, some of you are just sort of, you know, you date God on Sundays when you feel like it.
But do you have a relationship that is real, that's going somewhere? That's what we need. And we want to help you do that by sending you Pastor Graham's 180-day devotional Moments in the Word.
Moments in the Word is our special thanks for your gift this month. This is the last week of this offer, so call today. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 313131. Text PowerPoint to 313131. And don't forget to visit Jack Graham.org where you can shop our e-store, give a gift online or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily email devotional.
Our website again is Jack Graham.org. Pastor, what is your PowerPoint for today? Today is a good day for you to have a spiritual DTR, Define the Relationship with Christ. In fact, I believe every person who calls themselves a Christian should take stock and evaluate where they are with Christ on a regular basis. The Apostle Paul said, Examine your own lives. Jesus is constantly calling us to commitment, to define our relationship with Him. He wants to know, as He has often said, Are you with me or are you against me? Do we really have a relationship or do you want to just date me on Sundays?
Am I just a friend with benefits or do we really have something that's real, something that's relational, something that is forever? So many people treat God as though He's a distant relative rather than a vital part of their lives. But Jesus refuses to let us get away with that in our relationship with Him. You know when people in the Bible came face to face with Jesus, they didn't walk away the same. They were dramatically transformed, some for good or some for bad, some received Christ, some rejected Christ. But everyone who came into contact with Jesus was powerfully influenced by Him. You can never escape the person of Christ. That rich young ruler had a DTR with Jesus when Jesus called him to follow Him fully. But that man went away sorrowfully with a storm in his soul rejecting Christ because he couldn't handle the commitment.
So what about you? Is it time that you have a DTR with Jesus Christ that you define your relationship with Him? Are you a follower of Christ or not? Just like Jesus asked the disciples after He fed the multitudes in John chapter 6, He's asking you, are you with Me?
Are you willing to walk with Me every day of the week, not just on Sundays? It's my prayer that you will define your relationship with Jesus today, that you will commit your love and your life to His Lordship, to His will and to His ways in your life. And that is today's PowerPoint. Remember, when you give a gift to PowerPoint, we'll send you Dr. Graham's 180-day devotional, Moments in the Word, as our thanks. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 31313. Text PowerPoint to 31313. Join us again next time when Dr. Graham brings a message about the most important question you can ask and the answer. That's next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministries.
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