SPEAKER_00: Colossians, chapter number one, verse 15.
SPEAKER_00: This week is the talking about Jesus being preeminent.
SPEAKER_00: And we'll get into that.
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus being preeminent.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 15 of chapter 1 of Colossians is also up on the screen if you don't have your Bible.
SPEAKER_00: This is the ESV, so yours may be a little different if you have a different version.
SPEAKER_00: So Colossians chapter 1, verse 15.
SPEAKER_00: He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
SPEAKER_00: So before I go any further, the He is Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Very important that we understand that the He is Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: He is the image of the invisible God.
SPEAKER_00: That's why Jesus kind of like, you know, they asked the disciples asked him to show us the Father.
SPEAKER_00: And he said, What do you mean, show me the Father?
SPEAKER_00: Have I been with you this long?
SPEAKER_00: And you're asking me to show you the Father?
SPEAKER_00: If you've seen me, you've seen the Father.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: So he is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
SPEAKER_00: For by him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him.
SPEAKER_00: And look at this last three words.
SPEAKER_00: And for him.
SPEAKER_00: You ever thought about you were made for God?
SPEAKER_00: That it's by him, through him, and for him?
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
SPEAKER_00: You thought your mom and daddy was all about that.
SPEAKER_00: No.
SPEAKER_00: You hear because God wants you to hear it.
SPEAKER_00: And he is before all things.
SPEAKER_00: And in him all things what?
SPEAKER_00: Hold together.
SPEAKER_00: And he is the head of the body.
SPEAKER_00: What body?
SPEAKER_00: He tells you.
SPEAKER_00: The church.
SPEAKER_00: He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead.
SPEAKER_00: That in everything.
SPEAKER_00: Look at your neighbor and say everything.
SPEAKER_00: Everything.
SPEAKER_00: Say with some feeling in it.
SPEAKER_00: Say everything.
SPEAKER_00: There you go.
SPEAKER_00: Everything.
SPEAKER_00: He might be preeminent.
SPEAKER_00: Preeminent.
SPEAKER_00: For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.
SPEAKER_00: And through him, I mean this is some, I mean, we could spend weeks on just these verses here, okay?
SPEAKER_00: And through him, through him, not through Buddha, not through Krishna, not through, you know, just being a good old boy or a good old girl, uh-huh.
SPEAKER_00: Through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
SPEAKER_00: How's peace made?
SPEAKER_00: How are we made at peace with God?
SPEAKER_00: He tells us.
SPEAKER_00: By the blood of the cross.
SPEAKER_00: For the wages of sin is death.
SPEAKER_00: And your sins had to be paid for.
SPEAKER_00: And if your sins wasn't paid for, you couldn't go to heaven.
SPEAKER_00: So Jesus died.
SPEAKER_00: He who knew no sin became sin.
SPEAKER_00: So that we might be called the righteous of God.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: It's important.
SPEAKER_00: I know I'm going a little here, a little there, but we've got the gravity.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: That that's why he's preeminent.
SPEAKER_00: He is preeminent over all things.
SPEAKER_00: We're going to get into this word some more now because we read the scripture and we're going to get back in it.
SPEAKER_00: He is preeminent in everything.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 18, and he is the head of the body of the church.
SPEAKER_00: He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.
SPEAKER_00: That word, and I'm going to try to say some Greek words, but hey, they're not going to be pronounced just exactly right.
SPEAKER_00: You can look them up and sound them out perfectly if you want to.
SPEAKER_00: But it's proto-eel.
SPEAKER_00: P-R-O-T-E-U-O.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: One word used once in all of Scripture about one person.
SPEAKER_00: That word is used nowhere else in Scripture about any other situation or person.
SPEAKER_00: Not one time.
SPEAKER_00: It's only here.
SPEAKER_00: That's interesting, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00: It should be because he's making a point.
SPEAKER_00: God, the Holy Spirit, inspired Paul to put it here for a purpose.
SPEAKER_00: In all of Scripture, this is used only about Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Now think about this.
SPEAKER_00: Paul here, amen.
SPEAKER_00: He's the firstborn of the dead.
SPEAKER_00: In this verse, he says, so that in all things he might have preeminence or be preeminent.
SPEAKER_00: That is a verb.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: The verb behind that have preeminence is what I just tried to pronounce, that proto-eo.
SPEAKER_00: But directly on the root of that is protos.
SPEAKER_00: It's the original Greek word for first.
SPEAKER_00: Hear me now.
SPEAKER_00: It means to hold first place, to rank first, to be chief.
SPEAKER_00: Not just in order, but first.
SPEAKER_00: Not just in origin, is what I mean to say.
SPEAKER_00: Not just in an origin sense, but in rank.
SPEAKER_00: In rank.
SPEAKER_00: There's over 5,000 or roughly 5,400 Greek words in the New Testament.
SPEAKER_00: Did you know that?
SPEAKER_00: That's a lot.
SPEAKER_00: To me, it's a lot.
SPEAKER_00: It's a lot of words.
SPEAKER_00: And this is the only time this one shows up.
SPEAKER_00: And it's about Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And what's interesting here is that it is a verb, it's not an adjective.
SPEAKER_00: Because a lot of times English wants to turn this into a title.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: He is preeminent.
SPEAKER_00: But the Greek here keeps it active.
SPEAKER_00: He holds first place.
SPEAKER_00: Preeminence is something Christ actively occupies, not a compliment that I put on him.
SPEAKER_00: It's not like I'm just saying, okay, God, I come, you know, you're preeminent, you know, you're awesome.
SPEAKER_00: No, he is first.
SPEAKER_00: It's not something that I ascribe, it's just something I agree with or deny.
SPEAKER_00: It's true whether I agree with it or not.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: But if I agree with him, amen, then I understand who he is and his position.
SPEAKER_00: Prominent means noticeable.
SPEAKER_00: Preeminent means nothing rivals Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Think about that.
SPEAKER_00: Prominent means something you notice.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus ain't just prominent.
SPEAKER_00: He's preeminent, which means nothing rivals him.
SPEAKER_00: I said, okay.
SPEAKER_00: That's great to know.
SPEAKER_00: No, but do we live that way?
SPEAKER_00: Do we live the way that Jesus is preeminent in everything?
SPEAKER_00: First things first, right?
SPEAKER_00: Is he preeminent in everything?
SPEAKER_00: Last week we talked about giving him our time, our talents, our energies.
SPEAKER_00: Giving it to him first.
SPEAKER_00: Well, the reason why he deserves our first is because he's first.
SPEAKER_00: Or supposed to be.
SPEAKER_00: What do you mean by supposed to be?
SPEAKER_00: Well, it doesn't mean that he isn't.
SPEAKER_00: It means that we may not have him in the correct position.
SPEAKER_00: Have you ever gotten anything out of the correct position?
SPEAKER_00: We talked a little bit about this last week on the floor, but have you ever had, maybe you were in school or something, and and you know, if you've if you know anything about sports, you know, positions matter.
SPEAKER_00: The Southern prep that we've, you know, we try to support the church and different ones in the church, and Brother Ryan and them works there and does a great job, and we're we're proud to have those young people come when they can.
SPEAKER_00: You know, they they they play football, Realtown does, all these places do, right?
SPEAKER_00: It matters what position you're in.
SPEAKER_00: If if they if the center lines up in the quarterback position, how many of you think it's gonna go very well?
SPEAKER_00: It's not gonna go very well.
SPEAKER_00: If the punter decides he's gonna be a lineman, typically speaking, a punter is not gonna be a very good lineman.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I'm not meaning it mean, I'm just saying, right?
SPEAKER_00: And a lineman ain't gonna be a very good punter.
SPEAKER_00: Can you imagine?
SPEAKER_00: Big, you know, whatever, 250, 260 out there, you know.
SPEAKER_00: No, it's not gonna work too well, right?
SPEAKER_00: The position matters.
SPEAKER_00: You say, well, that's just in football, that's just in sports.
SPEAKER_00: No, no, no.
SPEAKER_00: It's true in anything that you do, amen.
SPEAKER_00: If it gets out of order or in the wrong position, it's not gonna work real right.
SPEAKER_00: And when our lives are not in the order that Christ is preeminent in everything, amen, we are out of order in anything out of order, as we said last week.
SPEAKER_00: Amen is chaos, is is awkward, is not where it should be.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: If we look at it, it says, where he himself, amen, he himself might be the firstborn, right?
SPEAKER_00: That he is the beginning, he is the firstborn of the dead.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: He is not just firstborn, he's not firstborn talking about where it is, you know, it's in rank, not origin, because a lot of times when people think about firstborn, they think, well, like in the natural sense of us, that that, okay, well, my brother Kevin is firstborn, he was the first son, you know, and that's what he's talking about.
SPEAKER_00: No, no, no, no, that's not what he's talking about.
SPEAKER_00: When he talks about Jesus, he's talking about rank, his priority, his preeminence.
SPEAKER_00: So, how do I put God first, put Jesus in the primary, permanent place in my life at all times and always, amen, so that I bring him glory and I submit under his authority, amen, so that I might be used in a way that brings him the pleasure and the and the and the priority, amen, that he wants in my life, that people might see him.
SPEAKER_00: How do I do that?
SPEAKER_00: How do I practically do that?
SPEAKER_00: Well, Paul said he died daily.
SPEAKER_00: He says it's no longer me that lives, but it is Christ that lives in me.
SPEAKER_00: And the life I now live, I live by faith, the Son of God who died for me and loved me and gave himself for me.
SPEAKER_00: He understood that it was not about him.
SPEAKER_00: And the first thing that we got to make sure if we're going to make him preeminent is that we don't think of ourselves first, but him.
SPEAKER_00: What do I mean by that?
SPEAKER_00: Well, one would, you know, we hear the saying, and I know it's come and gone and come and gone, and I don't mean this as a theological statement, but truly we need to think on what would Jesus have us to do in every situation, but not only do, but who he is.
SPEAKER_00: You see, my direction from God is not merely directional, amen, in the sense that I look to him for only direction, but I look to him because he's worthy to be looked upon and to be worshipped and to be adored.
SPEAKER_00: I heard it said recently, uh a brother was letting me watch a video the other day, amen, and a woman was saying that uh she was talking to another man and she was saying, you know, I love to worship Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And she said, No, he said, Oh, you like worshiping?
SPEAKER_00: She said, No, I I don't just I don't just like it.
SPEAKER_00: She says, I love it.
SPEAKER_00: It is the reason I'm here.
SPEAKER_00: She said, I just can't make it without it.
SPEAKER_00: I just can't make it without spending time with him.
SPEAKER_00: I just can't make it without making him, you know, all that I can, just worship him and spending time with him.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not we're I'm not wording it all perfectly because of the story.
SPEAKER_00: My memory's not the great on that.
SPEAKER_00: But what I wanted to bring out of it was this at the end of that, the man was touched, he was blessed, and then the man found out, guess what?
SPEAKER_00: She had stage four cancer.
SPEAKER_00: She had all these other issues going on, and you would have never known it if you'd have talked to her.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because all she talked about was Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: She talked about Jesus, how she wanted to worship Jesus, how she loved Jesus, how he was everything to her.
SPEAKER_00: Everything she talked about was Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: You want to know how to make him preeminent?
SPEAKER_00: That means he's your focus.
SPEAKER_00: That means that he's first.
SPEAKER_00: That means you don't think about what you get out of it.
SPEAKER_00: You think about what you can do to bring glory to him.
SPEAKER_00: You see, if I live a life, amen, that is about me, then it's not going to glorify him.
SPEAKER_00: But if I live a life that is about him and deny me, amen, then he will receive the glory, amen, and I will be blessed.
SPEAKER_00: That ain't why we do it, it's just a reason that it will happen.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Because when I bless him, when I glorify him, he will always bless you and me.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because it's an order.
SPEAKER_00: It's an order.
SPEAKER_00: I got all kinds of papers and stuff up here.
SPEAKER_00: So why should we constantly and consistently make sure that Christ is preeminent in our lives?
SPEAKER_00: Because as humans and as those that are yet to make heaven our home, our flesh and the enemy is always trying to put him anywhere but first.
SPEAKER_00: You say, Well, if I'm a Christian, I don't have to worry about the flesh.
SPEAKER_00: Well, you're you're better than Paul then.
SPEAKER_00: Paul said, What I would do, I I don't do and what I don't want to do.
SPEAKER_00: That's what I do, and and and who's going to be able to deliver me from this body of death?
SPEAKER_00: And I love, I saw a note on this.
SPEAKER_00: I've shared this before, but uh, this is what some said.
SPEAKER_00: Take it, leave it, I don't know, but they said this body of death was referencing back in that time when kings would take over other kings, that they would take a dead corpse of the of the one of the soldiers and they would tie it on the back of that other king and wrap it around so that the weight of that dead body would slowly weigh them down and kill them.
SPEAKER_00: And that was the imagery that Paul was using that who's gonna be able to deliver me from this body of death, from this sin that destroys and kills.
SPEAKER_00: Thank God He didn't put a He didn't put a period there.
SPEAKER_00: He said, Thanks be unto God through Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: That's why he's preeminent, because he deserves it, because he came and died, because he lived the life I couldn't live, he died the death that I should have died, and he raised up through the resurrection, victorious over death, hell, and the grave.
SPEAKER_00: He is preeminent because he deserves it.
SPEAKER_00: You say, Well, I know you just said my my flesh and the enemy and all that, so how how do how do I get above?
SPEAKER_00: How do I get ahead of that?
SPEAKER_00: He said, Well, walk in the spirit, walk in the spirit, and you will what?
SPEAKER_00: Not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
SPEAKER_00: If I walk in the spirit and with the spirit, he's never gonna lead me to sin.
SPEAKER_00: Why do you think the Lord's prayer lead me not into temptation?
SPEAKER_00: But what?
SPEAKER_00: Deliver me from evil.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: For thy, amen.
SPEAKER_00: We forget, amen.
SPEAKER_00: God will help us.
SPEAKER_00: He said that he wouldn't ever put nothing upon us but that which we could bear.
SPEAKER_00: And with the temptation, what?
SPEAKER_00: He provided a way of escape.
unknown: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: That's who we worship, that's who we adore.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because he deserves it.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: When we think of deserves, that means he is worthy of what we give him.
SPEAKER_00: And not only is he worthy of what I give him, he is worthy of much more.
SPEAKER_00: He's worthy more than I could ever give him.
SPEAKER_00: So why is it that some people are willing to leave their homes as our missionary friends do and sell everything?
SPEAKER_00: Because if you didn't know, they have to sell everything.
SPEAKER_00: They can't, you know.
SPEAKER_00: They may correct me after church, but the other missionaries I've talked to, they basically got rid of everything.
SPEAKER_00: You know, take your kids, all this stuff, and hope and pray that the churches and the district and the offices will support like they say they will.
SPEAKER_00: And, you know, and then you got to deal with all the other stuff over there in the other countries and all the other challenges and everything.
SPEAKER_00: And you know, they don't, I, you know, they can correct me after church, but I'm sure there's places they go that don't have air conditioning.
SPEAKER_00: He's smiling, she's smiling, so it must be true.
SPEAKER_00: And they probably got them big old insects over there in some of them jungles that we don't have around here, huh?
SPEAKER_00: And it could be real easy to say, Lord, Lord, Lord, why am I him?
SPEAKER_00: But I know that they ain't been there nine years if it wasn't for them knowing that Jesus is first.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is first, he's preeminent, he is first in rank and deserves all of our praise.
SPEAKER_00: When we ever just fall and say, God, whatever you want, wherever you want, whenever you want, God will use you.
SPEAKER_00: We'll say it again.
SPEAKER_00: When we fall and say, God, whatever you want, wherever you want, however you want, whenever you want, God will use you.
SPEAKER_00: There's a little girl at the church, and I'm I'm getting somewhere, but not here.
SPEAKER_00: It's another church I heard this story, but it's true because they use it all the time.
SPEAKER_00: And this little, they was the preacher had been preaching on, you know, giving, you know, putting your, you know, saying yes to God and being obedient to God and and everything, which is great.
SPEAKER_00: And so this little, I think they said she was nine years old at the time.
SPEAKER_00: She she came down and she prayed, she got back up and went back.
SPEAKER_00: And I don't know if it's the pastor or parents, whoever it was, that asked her and said, Well, you know, what did you what did God tell you to do?
SPEAKER_00: She said, Well, I don't know yet.
SPEAKER_00: She said, but I just went up there and put my yes on the table.
SPEAKER_00: Come on.
SPEAKER_00: She's like, I don't know yet, but I'm just going ahead and telling him yes.
SPEAKER_00: Whatever it is.
SPEAKER_00: There you go.
SPEAKER_00: Huh?
SPEAKER_00: Because why?
SPEAKER_00: He's preeminent in her life.
SPEAKER_00: He should be preeminent in all of our life, and that his he is the priority.
SPEAKER_00: He is first in rank and in value, he is the reason.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Paul said we we forget so many so many times that it's in him that I live and move and have my being.
SPEAKER_00: I would be lost without him.
SPEAKER_00: So I want to ask you this morning: is Jesus Christ preeminent in your life?
SPEAKER_00: Is he the first?
SPEAKER_00: Is he most important?
SPEAKER_00: Is he the one you look to in every area first and foremost, with everything of yourself?
SPEAKER_00: Do you have your yes at the table?
SPEAKER_00: Do you say, God, whenever, whatever, however?
SPEAKER_00: In every way, God, it's up to you.
SPEAKER_00: I will say, be careful when you say it.
SPEAKER_00: Not in a not in a just not in a bad way, but he's gonna do something and he's gonna tell you something.
SPEAKER_00: Well, I, you know, I just don't know if it's time.
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus said, don't say four more months until the harvest.
SPEAKER_00: For the fields are already ripe under harvest.
SPEAKER_00: I pray that the Lord of the harvest will send laborers into his labor field.
SPEAKER_00: I mean to his harvest field, excuse me.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: So many times people say, Well, I just need God to direct me.
SPEAKER_00: Let me tell you something.
SPEAKER_00: I understand we need the Spirit of God to direct us, but so many times we use that as an excuse for not being obedient and doing what he's already told us to do.
SPEAKER_00: We already know he told us.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus said it.
SPEAKER_00: Go out to the highways and the byways and what?
SPEAKER_00: Compel them to come in.
SPEAKER_00: We don't have to have the Holy Spirit to tell us again.
SPEAKER_00: Now, how we do it, the words we use, the moment that we say it, maybe there's a lot of times there are strategic things that he leads us in.
SPEAKER_00: But amen.
SPEAKER_00: But if we have to wait for a five-step program of the Holy Spirit to share Jesus Christ, we got problems.
SPEAKER_00: We got problems.
SPEAKER_00: If he's preeminent in your life, you want to tell people.
SPEAKER_00: I guarantee you, Nelson and Bree are so proud of their babies, and the one they just had, all three of them.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, we didn't have to ask them, would y'all mind, you know, letting everybody see the baby or giving us showing some pictures or if we stop by, you know, we didn't have to beg them.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, come on by, they said, come on by.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: They were happy to share their children.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes more than others, right?
SPEAKER_00: You don't help us out.
SPEAKER_00: No.
SPEAKER_00: But they were happy.
SPEAKER_00: Sister Amy.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, she's proud of all them babies she brings up here.
SPEAKER_00: She don't mind help either, y'all.
SPEAKER_00: Is that right to say?
SPEAKER_00: Help you in church.
SPEAKER_00: She's proud of them.
SPEAKER_00: When you're proud of something, when you love someone, when you love somebody, you're not having to push somebody to show off.
SPEAKER_00: You want to show them.
SPEAKER_00: You want to tell about them.
SPEAKER_00: You go on Facebook, you'll see people here.
SPEAKER_00: Look at my grandbabies.
SPEAKER_00: Ain't nothing wrong with it.
SPEAKER_00: Look at my grandbabies, look at my babies, look at my child.
SPEAKER_00: Look at their dog.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I got my dog, I like my dog, but look at my dog.
SPEAKER_00: Ain't she pretty?
SPEAKER_00: Okay, great.
SPEAKER_00: But are we that excited about sharing Jesus Christ?
SPEAKER_00: Do you wait for the Holy Ghost to tell you to share your dog?
SPEAKER_00: No.
SPEAKER_00: You share them because you're happy to share of them.
SPEAKER_00: You're happy because you love them, or you want to tell people about them.
SPEAKER_00: I love Jesus because he first loved me.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm going to tell people because he first loved me before I ever loved him.
SPEAKER_00: And he is first in my life.
SPEAKER_00: There's not a single gift, a single blessing, a single anything that I have that didn't come from Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: It's the very least I can do is put him first in everything.
SPEAKER_00: Because he loves you and me.
SPEAKER_00: He is pre-eminent.
SPEAKER_00: I want to ask you and challenge you today to let the Holy Spirit show you if he is or if he isn't.
SPEAKER_00: Please don't help your neighbor out with this.
SPEAKER_00: Don't lean over and say he's not with you.
SPEAKER_00: Don't do that.
SPEAKER_00: Let God do that.
SPEAKER_00: Even if you write, it ain't your place.
SPEAKER_00: Unless the Lord specifically tells you to do that, and it better be Jesus, not your, you know, well, I know you ain't praying God in prayer, but remember yesterday?
SPEAKER_00: No.
SPEAKER_00: Right, okay.
SPEAKER_00: But we want to put him first.
SPEAKER_00: What happens?
SPEAKER_00: What happens when he is first?
SPEAKER_00: God does amazing things, but I think that's what I'm saying.