So in Colossians chapter 2, the part of the chapter we look at there is in verse 6 where it says,
As he therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him, rooted and built up in him, established
abounding therein with thanksgiving.
So of course, he's saying there in verse 6, you know, the same way as you have received Christ,
you know, by faith, we are to continue to walk in him.
How did any of us therefore receive Christ?
You know, we didn't have any great proofs or anything like that, we simply reached and we believed it,
we were saved, the Holy Spirit came in, bore witness with our spirit that we are indeed the sons of God,
and we are, we know that by faith.
The same manner as ye have therefore in the same manner received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him.
You know, the Christian life does not end at salvation, it's only beginning at salvation.
He's saying once you get saved, you need to continue to walk in him, you need to make progress,
and he goes on and tells you in verse 7 to be rooted, to be built up in the faith.
So Paul's desire here is the desire that we shall have for ourselves is that we must be established in our faith,
and that's what I want to preach to you about tonight, being established in the faith, established in the faith.
See the Christian life, we have to continue to grow, we have to continue to be rooted,
we have to continue to be built up to the point where we are established in the faith,
we need to grow to that point where there is no doubt about what you believe,
where you cannot be shaken, where you cannot be moved, where there are certain things in your life
that have just become part of who you are, it's just what you do, and nothing is going to move you from that,
nothing is going to shake you, you're not going to falter, you're not going to waver, you're established in the faith.
That's what I want to talk about tonight. He says there, it's so walking in him,
he's talking about moving forward, you know the Christian life is a life of continual progress.
There's never going to be a point in this Christian life where you've arrived,
where we've figured it all out, where we've got it all down.
But there is a point, there are certain milestones along the way,
there are people, obviously people are more mature than others in their faith,
they've gone through different trials, they've gone through different temptations
that now younger Christians are going through.
And they've already faced those things, they've already established some things in their life
that maybe other Christians have not yet done.
And I'm trying to just make the point here that the Christian life is one of progress.
We're not going to nail everything down overnight,
but we need to continually keep pushing forward, continually keep walking in that direction,
and as you do that, as you go, as you move along in this life,
begin to establish things in your life that are just going to be, again, part of your life.
They're not going to change.
In order to walk in Christ, in order to progress, you have to be assured of certain things.
Now keep something in Colossians all night, we're going to look at several different things here.
But go over to Hebrews chapter 6, Hebrews chapter 6.
I mean, there's no, of course everybody's going to have doubts from time to time about certain things,
but there should be a continual state of doubt where we're always continually going back
and questioning the same things over and over, the same things over and over.
It's one thing to question something, get to the bottom of it and establish it, and then move on.
That's the progress.
We keep moving back and trying to re-figure something out about the first in the faith.
We keep revisiting things that we should have just gotten to the bottom of and moved on.
There are certain things that just we need to be established in the faith about.
Look here in Hebrews chapter 6, verse 11.
He said, Therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ,
and leaving it not in the sense of let's forsake it, let's cast it off.
Moving beyond that, going past this, leaving it, not laying again at the foundation of repentance from dead works.
He said, Therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection.
Now, when he says perfection in the Bible, he's not saying like a sinless perfection.
He's saying completeness, being entire, wanting nothing, being complete, being perfect, whole.
He's saying, look, let's go on to that.
Let's move towards that mark where we continue to develop and grow and we become more and more complete Christians.
And the way to do that is to what?
Leaving certain principles in the sense of growing beyond them.
Not forsaking them, just making them a part of who we are and they just come with us.
We don't have to keep coming back to this and going, oh, is this really what I believe?
Well, let me see if I can move on.
Oh, I'm still not sure about this. Let me visit this again.
You need to pick it up and say, this is what I believe.
I'm assured of this. I'm establishing this and it's part of who I am now.
Now I can move on to the next thing.
That's what he's talking about here.
Going on unto perfection, not laying again the foundation.
Going back and tearing the foundation up again.
Let's try this foundation one more time.
It's already been laid. It's already there. Let's be established and move on.
The foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God.
See, in order to become perfect, in order to become complete and entire, wanting nothing,
we cannot be relaying the same foundations repeatedly over and over and over again.
I mean, we think about that in the terms, as an example, you think about it in the terms of building a house.
You know, you hire a contractor to build you, you know, your custom home.
And if every week, you know, you show up the first week, hey, what'd you get done?
Well, we got the foundation laid. We're ready to go. Great.
Come back next week. What'd you get done?
Well, we laid that foundation again. Oh, was there a problem? No, we just, we weren't sure about it, so we laid it again.
Okay. Well, we're going to get it taken care of. Come back the third week.
What'd you do? I don't see any, where's the structures? Where's the walls? Where's the roof?
Why you got this thing roughed in yet? Well, we had to lay that foundation again.
I mean, you're going to fire that guy. You're going to be homeless.
You're going to be waiting forever for that house to be complete.
You're saying, hey, I've got pictures to hang. I've got furniture to move in.
I've got a family to raise in that thing. Can you get that foundation laid so we can get the house built?
That's the way it is in the Christian life. Once we lay that foundation, let's not, let's move on to the next thing.
Let's start working on the next thing and getting established in that, in our faith.
Not laying again some of these same foundations just over and over and over again.
And specifically in Hebrews 6, he's dealing with the subject of salvation.
You know, and that's one that some people have to keep revisiting sometimes.
And that's perfectly natural to have to go back and revisit, you know, am I saved?
You know, have doubts. People go through that.
But we should not be in this continual cycle of I'm saved, am I saved, I'm not saved, I'm saved.
Maybe I, you know, just always questioning, being assured one day, not assured the next.
And if you would, go over to Psalms 119. But salvation is one of them.
You know, having doubts about your salvation, that's something we should grow past.
And, you know, the Bible says in Romans chapter 8 that the Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit,
that we are the children of God.
And now, we don't, so here's what I want to just make this point, you know, before we move on to the next one, is this.
We don't need other people to confirm our salvation to us.
If you're saved, you don't need to come and ask, have other people tell you whether or not you're saved.
You know whether or not you're saved.
You don't need to go and visit, have some guy sit you down and examine your life and explain your plight and say,
well, I think you are or you aren't.
Look, if you're saved, you have the Spirit bearing witness with your spirit that you are saved.
And I deal with this a lot. We get emails, people ask, phone calls, people even in church come up and they express this.
And again, it's perfectly natural to doubt it.
You know, I'm not trying to put anybody down. I've doubted it.
I'm sure every Christian that's ever lived has doubted their salvation.
John the Baptist doubted it. I mean, the greatest man that was ever born among women doubted.
Now, we cut him some slack because of the fact that he was about to have his head cut off in prison.
You know, I don't know what we do, you know, causes us to doubt what great trial we're going through,
that we're so perplexed by our circumstances that we can't figure out whether or not we're saved.
But when people come and they express this, you know, I just say, well, what does it take you to say,
well, I believe, just got to believe. It's all by faith. And you're kind of like, yeah.
And they're like, well, I just don't know. I'm not sure. It's like, well, you know the answer.
If you're really not sure, then you know what to do. I remember I went through a season with this.
And I went to my pastor that time and I said, hey, you know, I'm kind of wondering.
He's just like, well, you know what to do, right? I said, yeah. He's like, well, then go do it.
If you're really having those serious doubts, go get saved. I was like, and you know what I determined?
I'm already saved. I said, well, I already know I'm saved. He's like, well, there you go.
It got, you know, problem solved. But again, that was something that I went through.
You know, if I went to my pastor tomorrow and did that, you know, there might be like, he might be like,
well, what? Excuse me? You know, how long have you been in church? How long have you said you've been saved for?
You know, this is something that we have to grow past. This is something that we just have to establish once and for all
that we're saved and nobody else is going to tell us different because we believe in the Word of God.
Why am I saved today? Because the Word of God tells me I'm saved.
And a lot of times, you know, the reason people are doubting their salvation is because they're doubting this book.
And that's the next thing I want to look at. What's another, what's another foundation that you need to lay in your life and just move on?
What's another just foundational truth that you just have to determine? This is true. I will not waver from it.
Nothing will move me. Nothing is going to convince me otherwise. It's the preservation of this book right here in the King James Bible.
The preservation of Scripture is a foundation, foundational truth in the Christian life that must be established.
The Bible says you're there in Psalms 119 and you say, well, prove it to me. Prove to me the Word of God is the Word of God.
I can only prove the Word of God by the Word of God. And that's circular reasoning. I know. I'm guilty.
But without faith, it is impossible to please Him. You know, we walk by faith and not by sight.
We believe this book because this book. We believe this book by faith.
And you have to just determine that in your life that I believe this is the Word of God.
And when you do that, then you begin to see things. Then you begin to understand that things make sense and you go,
wow, this really is the Word of God. This really is speaking to me. This really is molding me and changing me
and making me into the person I ought to be in Christ.
Look there in Psalms 119, verse 89. Forever, O Lord, Thy word is settled in heaven.
Look, God settled it. His word is written. It's done. It's settled in heaven.
Jesus said, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law to all be fulfilled.
These are the promises that we have concerning the Word of God.
Go over to Psalms 12. Look, this is a foundation that people struggle with.
Salvation and, you know, the inspiration of the Bible, the preservation of Scripture.
And it says here in Psalms 12, verse 6, the words of the Lord are pure words.
As silver tried in a furnace of earth purified seven times, thou shalt keep them, O Lord.
Thou shalt preserve them from this generation forever.
Is it really that hard to believe that God, that God, the God of heaven and earth,
who created everything there is and all that is therein, could just preserve a book?
To just put this together and just say, I've written this down. It's preserved forever. It's kept forever.
It's one jot, one tittle. Is it really that hard to believe that God could do that?
Look, if you were going to tell me a man was going to try and do that, yeah, I would have my doubts.
I would, you know, if you're telling me this is a book a man wrote, I would say,
well, then how do we know that's even accurate to what he originally wrote?
But that's not what we're saying. We're saying this is a book that God wrote,
that holy men of old spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
That's how we have the Scripture, through God, through the Holy Ghost.
We have to lay this foundation once and all in our life and move beyond it.
Make it a part of who we are and grow.
You know, start putting the walls up in our Christian life.
Moving on to the next thing. Moving on to perfection.
And really, these are very foundational truths, aren't they?
Salvation. You know, the preservation of Scripture. These are just basic truths.
But they're foundational truths, and that's why they're the most attacked.
That's why they're the most attacked. That's why we have to preach on them.
That's why people have doubts.
Because what does it say? You're there in Psalm 12. Go over to Psalm 11.
You know, many of us might already know the Scripture. Psalm 11, verse 3.
The most foundational truths are the ones that are the most attacked.
If the foundations be destroyed, it says in verse 3, what can the righteous do?
Look, if the devil has you chasing your tail about your salvation,
what else are you going to do in life?
What else are you going to accomplish for the Lord
if you're just constantly scratching your head and wondering whether or not you're even saved?
Nothing. I mean, that would vex me. That's all I would be able to do.
I wouldn't be able to do anything else until I figured that out.
What else are you going to accomplish for the Lord if you're constantly doubting this book?
That it's His. That it's true. That it is what it says it is. Nothing.
You're just going to keep trying to go down that rabbit hole and figure this out and figure that out?
Look, you need to just establish it in your life and say, this is the Word of God.
I'm saved. Nothing's going to change that. And move on.
Look, if we don't settle these things in our lives once and for all,
you will not accomplish what you otherwise could.
Because you're just going to be so busy trying to lay that foundation again, lay that foundation again.
And God's got all this lumber just piled up, right?
The basement's dug. And we're in Arizona. Nobody has no idea what a basement is.
But, you know, you've got the basement dug.
You know, the excavators are there waiting to backfill.
The landscapers are there wanting to spread the topsoil, get some grass going.
The interior decorator's there. She's got the color scheme laid out.
She's got the drapes, right? Get her over here.
She's got the furniture picked out. She's got this painting for this room.
You know, the wife's got all these plants.
And we're still there just trying to dig up the foundation again.
Digging up the foundation again. Relay the foundation.
Holding up the whole process. Holding up everything that God wants to accomplish.
Everything that God wants to do in our life.
Because we haven't established ourselves in the faith concerning certain things.
You're there in Colossians 2. Colossians chapter 2.
Again, keep something there all night.
In Colossians chapter 2.
Again, he said in verse 6,
As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him.
How do we walk? By faith.
Look, you're going to establish these things by faith.
That's how you're going to get established in your faith.
By just believing God. By just trusting his promises.
That's how you're going to move on.
And he says in verse 7,
Rooted and built up in him. You need to get rooted.
You need to put a root down in the earth and get a hold of something.
We have to have strong roots in our faith in order to withstand the attack.
In order to withstand the storms that are going to come.
Look, the devil wants to blow you over.
The devil just wants to tear us up and throw us down so that we can bear no fruit.
He wants you to just come in with a big huffing puffing and blow your house down.
That's why we need to get established in the faith.
That's why we need to get a root put down and get it down in the earth.
We have to have strong roots to withstand these storms.
The storms of doubt, as we just discussed.
The storms of doubt that come into our life.
And again, these storms often, they're just part of the Christian life.
They're just part of Christian growth.
Everybody questions their salvation.
Everybody maybe even has doubts about the word of God from time to time.
But those should become further and fewer and farther between to the point of where it really doesn't happen at all.
Because we've just gone through it.
I've already been over that. The devil comes.
Hey, you think you're really saved? Hey, I've already been through that.
I remember the last time you tried to trip me up with that.
I remember the last time this storm came around, you tried to blow me over.
And I remember how I got to the bottom of it then.
I don't need to go back again and go over all this again.
Get that root down in there.
The storms of persecution.
Go over to Mark chapter 4. Mark chapter 4.
You know, when people have a lot of doubts, it's when they start to face persecution.
People really start...
People who you thought were just rock solid, that were just rooted, built up, nothing.
They're just these stalwart bulwarks of the faith.
You know, nothing's going to move them.
And then a real persecution comes and some people just...
Those same people just fall right over.
And it goes back to what I was preaching about this morning.
You know, they weren't sincere.
You know, it was all, you know, just pretense that they put out there.
But look at Mark chapter 4. Look at the importance of having a root.
We know this passage.
Verse 16.
And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground,
who when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness.
They're glad. They hear it. They believe it. They're glad.
And have no root in themselves.
People who have not gotten rooted.
They endure but for a time.
Oh, they're there for a little while.
But because there's no root, when affliction or persecution arises for the word's sake,
immediately they are offended.
And it's just so easy to just see them.
Well, that's it. That's where I draw the line.
Oh, but they start out. Great.
Oh, man, this is great. I love the book. This is so amazing.
Did you see this? Oh, wow. That sermon. This sermon.
And they talk about the Bible and they love the Bible.
But then a persecution comes and it's like, oh, never mind.
I'll just go back to what I was doing before.
And they're out of there.
Why? Because they have no root.
Because they've not been established in the faith.
And I want to draw attention to a few words in this passage here in Mark 4.
It says in verse 17,
the problem with them is they have no root in themselves.
Let me just tell you something right now.
You can't use somebody else's root.
You have to have your own root if you're going to make it in the Christian life.
It has to become your faith.
It has to become your root.
You know, the kids, I've got to tell you,
I know I mentioned this the other night,
but your parents can only get you so far.
They can clear the rocks out.
They can dig the hole.
They can fertilize it.
Some of the kids are thinking, oh, they fertilize it.
Fertilizer is good.
They can do all that.
But look, you're the one that's got to get that root down in there.
You're the one that has to grow that root for yourself.
The preacher's only going to get you so far.
The preaching of the Word of God,
I can only get you so far in your Christian life.
I can't make anybody do anything.
Eventually you're going to have to decide for yourself,
am I going to stick with this?
Is this who I am?
Is this what I believe?
Is this what I'm going to do for the rest of my life?
Is this what's going to make up the fiber of my life?
The fiber of my being?
Or am I going to be moved?
Or when that storm comes, am I going to topple?
When the persecution comes, am I going to flee?
Or am I just going to live in a perpetual state of doubt about things?
You have to decide that.
You have to get the root in yourself.
There's only so much we can do as leaders.
We can lay foundations in people's lives.
Preachers, we can plot it out and say,
hey, here's the grade stakes.
Here's the hole you've got to dig.
This is how much cement you're going to need to pour right here.
But you've got to back up the truck.
You're the one who's going to break out the trowel
and make it smooth and put the rebar in.
You have to do that part.
I can get up and just scream and get all red-faced and frothing
and just tell you about how you need to read your Bible.
You know what? It's not going to make any difference if you don't sit down
and crack it open and start reading it yourself.
I'm not going to show up at your door because that would be weird.
You read your Bible today and check up on you.
Go over to 1 Corinthians chapter 2.
That's what Paul told Timothy.
He said, look, evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse,
deceiving and being deceiving and being deceived.
He said, look, Timothy, it's going to get worse.
And that's what I'm telling you tonight.
Hey, look, the doubts are going to come.
The persecution is going to come.
The devil is going to try and sift you with his wheat at some point.
The temptations are going to be there.
Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse.
There's going to be testings. There's going to be trials.
Mark it down.
All they that live in Godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
That's what it says.
But what did Paul tell Timothy?
He said, look, evil men and seducers are going to wax worse and worse.
Timothy, you might as well just throw in the towel.
Make it as far as you can.
But if you decide to just quit at that point,
if it gets just to be too much, Timothy, I understand.
Is that what he told him?
He said, but continue thou.
He said, continue in the things which thou hast learned
and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them.
He said, look, I got you so far, Timothy.
You know my manner of life.
You know the type of person I've been.
I've shown you what to do.
Now it's up to you to do it.
Continue thou in those things which thou hast learned and been assured of.
You know, Paul taught Timothy many things,
and he was a great example to him.
But it was up to Timothy to continue on.
At some point, Timothy had to make that decision for himself
to continue on when that trial would come,
when those evil men and seducers waxed worse.
Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 2, verse 4.
1 Corinthians chapter 2, verse 4.
He said in 1 Corinthians 2, 4,
And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of men's wisdom,
but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men,
but in the power of God.
You need to get established in the faith.
And you have to ask yourself, where is your faith standing?
Is it standing in the power of a man?
Is it standing in a movement?
Or is it standing in the power of God?
You've got to determine where that foundation is laid in your life.
And look, you need to lay it in the power of God.
And again, just going back to this thought that you have to get the root yourself.
You have to lay this foundation for yourself.
This has to become you if you want it.
The goal of every preacher, from Paul to Timothy and Paul to these Corinthians here,
the goal of every preacher is to establish you in the Lord and not himself.
Any preacher worth his salt wants to establish people in the Lord,
in the power of God and not in the power of man.
That's why Paul said, look, I didn't use enticing words of man's wisdom.
I didn't want you to be impressed with me and who I am.
I wanted you to stand in the power of the God, the power of the Lord.
And that's the goal of every preacher.
Let me just break it to you right now.
Every man will fail you in some way.
I don't care who it is. Every man will fail you in some way.
And if your confidence is in a man, prepare to be disappointed.
I've learned this because I wasn't always a member of Faithful Word.
I went to another church.
I'm careful because I respect my old pastor, but the man made some mistakes and some big ones.
I don't feel that I'm doing him any dishonor because he shouldn't have made any mistakes that he did
to even mention this in the pulpit.
Let me tell you something. The guy failed big time.
Why do you bring that up?
If my faith had stood in him, I'd have wavered.
If my faith was in the man and not the power of God, I would have said,
Well, so much for that. This is just a big show. This guy's a phony.
He's a hypocrite.
But thankfully, that's not where my faith stood.
And you'll want credit to him.
He helped me with that.
It kind of prepared me in a way.
To understand that, look, your faith cannot stand in a man.
It has to be established in the power of God if you're going to make it for the long run.
Because man will disappoint you, every single one of them.
Stick around. I'll prove it.
Probably already have.
We'll see what color these drapes turn out.
You know, when I finally get them up next church, ugh, if you ever want.
You know.
Anyway.
Go back to Colossians chapter 2.
Colossians chapter 2, he said in Colossians 6,
As he therefore has received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him.
Walk by faith, rooted and built up.
We want to build things up in our life.
You know, people, I don't know too many people that get into the Christian life and think,
Well, you know, I really like to live just a mediocre Christian life.
I would like to accomplish as little as I can for the Lord.
That sounds good to me.
No one, you know, builds that house and says,
You know what, let's just lay the foundation and just stop there. This looks nice.
You know, let's just bring everything in.
We don't need walls, we don't need a roof, we don't need rooms, we don't need plumbing.
We've got this foundation, that's good enough.
I'll just stretch out here on this 16 inch wide piece of concrete
and just, that'll be, this is my bed now.
No one lives their life like that.
They want to do what? They want to build up.
They want to add to the structure.
They want it to look nice.
And that's what he's saying here.
Look, be rooted and be built up in him.
But here's the thing, in order to be built up, you've got to be rooted.
You can't just skip the foundation when you're building a house.
You can't just say, concrete's expensive.
That's time consuming.
Digging? It's Arizona.
Forget it, man.
I don't want to lay a foundation, just build the house right there on top of the dirt.
Might look nice for a little while,
but then when things start to settle,
when the ground shifts a little bit, when there's an earthquake,
and now you've just got a giant, you know, crack in your wall,
one side of the house is just drooping, now it's not going to look so nice.
You know, take the time to dig down deep and lay the foundation,
but good night, lay the foundation, and then build.
Then start to build in your life.
We want to build. People should want to build.
Look, if you don't want to build, if you don't want to grow in the Christian life,
you're an odd duck.
I don't know what else to tell you.
It's a little weird, right?
We ought to want to build, right?
We would want that for ourselves.
But you have to be, you have to be rooted first.
You know, I try to think of an example of this,
and the first thing that came to mind is guys who want to pastor someday.
You know, and I don't know if there's any men here that want to do that,
but, you know, we get, I get contacted from time to time,
people write emails to the church, people, you know, come up,
young guys, they come up, oh, I want to pastor one day,
and I've seen guys express this to Pastor Anderson and others,
and it's great, you know, we need that, we really do.
We really need guys to step up to the plate and do that, I understand.
But it's, it's, it's, a lot of times it's these guys, they have,
they want to be built up, right?
They want to build, they want to grow, they want to do a great work,
and that's great.
But they want to dream, they dream of pastoring one day,
but they haven't met any of the qualifications.
Not one of them.
You know, guys that are, that are, you know, in a tough spot,
they say, man, I just really want to pastor a church.
It's like, okay, well great, what church are you going to now?
Oh, I'm not in church.
Let me get this straight.
You want to lead a church, but you're not in one.
How's that going to work?
It's not.
Look, you need to get a church, why don't you start there,
and prove yourself, lay a foundation,
and see what we have to work with.
And then we can come back and talk about pastoring.
Because here's the thing, you know, pastoring is a leadership position.
You have to lead people, right?
And where do you learn to lead?
By following.
That's where you learn to lead.
You learn how to be a pastor out there in a church.
Coming, showing up faithfully, day, you know, week in, week out,
month in, month out, year in, year out, decade in, decade out.
That's how you learn to lead.
And then you grow into that position.
You have to, we want to, it's great to want to build.
Look, I'm not against it.
We need to build.
Not as much as we need to put walls up in a building,
put a roof up and furnish it.
That's what everybody wants.
But you have to build being what?
Rooted. Rooted and built up in Him.
Rooted first, then the building, one before the other.
Don't put the cart before the horse.
He says there in Colossians 2, if you would, again in verse 7,
He's saying, look, be rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith
as ye have been taught.
How are we going to get rooted tonight?
How are we going to get established in the faith?
By being taught, by being instructed.
You see, the things that we're taught, not, you know, both,
yes, by instruction, by preaching, that's a big part of it, of course.
By reading and just, you know, reading the word of God,
hearing the preaching word, that's going to instruct us.
That's what's going to establish us in large part.
But there's also, you know, experience, just life.
You know, life is a great, you know, the phrase is life is the greatest,
or experience is the greatest teacher.
That's not true. The Holy Spirit is.
But that's not to discredit, you know, experience as a teacher because it is.
And, you know, let me just say this, that's why, you know, church attendance,
you know, getting regular in church, that's a novice achievement.
Well, I'm here, I made it to church faithfully for the last three months now.
I'm ready to pastor.
I'm ready for the laying on of hands after service tonight.
After all, I've been faithful to church.
Look, that's like beginner.
That's like level .01.
That's not even level one stuff, man.
Just getting regular in church.
That's foundational stuff that we have to establish if we're going to build.
You know, especially if we want to build in our children's lives.
You know, we need to establish things in their life.
How do you establish things in your children's lives?
By establishing them in your own.
You want your kids to be faithful to church, faithful to the Lord, love God?
You need to do it.
They're going to follow your example.
Go over to Ephesians chapter 4, Ephesians chapter 4.
You know, you're listening, you say, I want to be established.
I want to be rooted. I want to be built up tonight.
I want to get established in the faith tonight.
How are you going to do that?
By being taught, by being instructed.
Yes, by life, by experience.
But also by church attendance through the preaching and teaching of the word of God.
I mean, that's what this is here for.
Look, what we did this afternoon, that's for the unsaved.
Going out there, knocking on their doors, preaching in the gospel.
That's what's for them.
What's this for? Who's this for?
For the saved. For us.
So that we can be rooted.
So that we can establish ourselves in the faith and build something out of our lives for Christ.
It says in verse 11,
And he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and some teachers.
For what?
So they could listen to the sound of their own voice.
So they could be a somebody, right?
No, for the perfecting of the saints.
For the perfecting of the saints.
To make the saints whole, to make them complete.
To tell them the things that they need to add to their life, the things that they need to build.
To say, hey, I'm glad you got the foundation built, now build this wall.
Put this stick here, put this stick here, put this stick here.
Now put the OSB on.
And so on and so forth.
To lay out the plans, to show you the blueprint and say, look, this is how you build it, now go do it.
That's what the teachers and the preachers are for.
For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry.
You know, we need to lay these foundational things in our life and start to build something.
Why? So we can go get something done for God.
So we can accomplish something and not just keep chasing our tail about the same things over and over again.
For the edifying of the body of Christ, that's what it's there for.
Look at verse 14.
Well, we'll just keep reading, verse 13.
Till we all come into the unity of the faith, unto the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man.
Look, that day's coming, but we're not there yet.
There will be a day when we will have the mind of Christ.
When he appears, we shall be as he is.
But until then, we need church, we need instruction, we need teaching, we need to get established in the faith.
Until that day, till we come in the unity of the faith.
And that, in verse 14, that we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro.
That's what the church is for.
That's what the pastors and teachers are for.
To help us to grow, to help us to build, to get rooted, to get established.
That we be what? No more children tossed to and fro.
And carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight of men in cunning craftiness.
I mean, that's what he likens people unto.
And look, there's nothing wrong with being a babe in Christ. We all start there.
But we've got to grow beyond that.
And how do you do that? By getting established in the faith, by laying down certain things,
understanding that this is just the way it is, and growing past that.
And if you don't do that, what are you going to be?
You're going to be a child, tossed to and fro.
I mean, we play with our kids. How easy is it to toss a child to and fro as a grown man?
It's pretty easy.
And they love it. Or they get really scared.
Throw them up.
Moms get scared too when you do that.
But he's saying, look, that's what you're going to be spiritually if you don't get built up.
If you don't receive the instruction and just make this a part of who you are.
And establish these things. You're just going to be like a kid.
You know, the devil, the grown man, the devil is just going to come along and just
every wind of doctrine just blow you around.
Well, I'm not sure if I'm saved today. I think I'm saved tomorrow.
Well, I'm saved. I'm not saved. The Bible is the word of God. I'm not sure it is.
You're just, you're being tossed.
You got to establish these things once and for all and move on.
That's what this church, it's what church is there for.
And let me just say this, you know, without the instruction of God,
without the instruction of God-given ministers, we're going to remain children.
And look, we're not lacking that down here.
Tucson is not lacking a church that has godly instruction in it.
It isn't.
And neither are a lot of other places.
And look, it's not just this church. I'm sure there's other churches you could find in Tucson.
Or you could grow as a Christian.
Or you could establish your, get established in the faith.
I just happen to think this is the best one.
Yeah, you could say amen to that.
Because I believe it.
But let me just say this, people who can't get in church and stay in church will not grow.
They're just like that guy trying to relay that foundation.
Look, getting in church, that's a foundational truth.
It's just simple. It's just first base in the Christian life.
It's a grounder, right?
In baseball terms, it's just right there.
And if you can't nail that down, you're not going to grow.
You're just going to be tossed to and fro.
Because where else are you going to get all this?
Where else are you going to get the pastors and the teachers and the preachers?
Where else are you going to get that? Are they at the bus stop today?
Are they at the bar?
Well, maybe. I'm just kidding.
They better not be.
Are they down at the casino?
Are they at home in your living room?
They're not. This is where they are.
And church is like this.
And if you can't get in church, you're not going to get established.
And we'll wrap it up here. Go back to Colossians 2. You're probably still there.
He said, look, be rooted, be built up in him, be established in the faith as ye have been taught,
abounding therein with thanksgiving.
You know, something great happens in the Christian life when you just determine some things.
You just establish some things in your faith.
You say, I believe the Bible. I know I'm saved. I can't be shaken.
The Bible's the word of God. I'm going to be in church.
And you're in church, and things start to build.
What happens? You start to abound therein. Abounding therein.
You start to become fruitful.
And that's exciting.
Go over to Romans chapter 15. We'll close it there.
You abound therein with thanksgiving.
I mean, think about it. When you finally determine that this is the word of God,
you establish this in your faith.
And then you start to read it, knowing that, believing that.
And you start to read the things that are written and go, oh, that applies to me.
Oh, I'm going to, that's me.
When we see him, when he appears, we shall be as he is. That's me.
That I'm going to have the mind of Christ one day. That's amazing.
When we start to apply that, you're like, you know what you end up being?
You end up being thankful, don't you?
You start to thank God for the things that are written here.
Because why? Because you've established that they're written for you.
That they're yours. That these promises, they're not just maybes.
Well, maybe that is the word of God. Maybe it isn't. No, it is the word of God.
It's a promise that's written to you. You know what happens when you believe that?
When you establish that in your faith?
You begin to become thankful.
You start to go beyond the point of doubt and wonder and worry.
And you go, thank you, Lord, for this precious book.
Thank you for these promises that are written to me.
But that's not going to happen until you get rooted, until you get built up, until you get established in the faith.
We want to abound therein. We want to abound with thanksgiving.
We would want that for ourselves.
The Bible says in Proverbs chapter 28, a faithful man shall abound with blessings.
You want to abound tonight? You've got to get faithful.
If you want to abound with blessings, you have to be faithful.
You have to get in the house of God and stick with it.
And you have to get established in the Lord.
Your faith has to rest in the power of God and not man.
That's who you have to be faithful to.
That's what's going to make you thankful.
That's what's going to give you joy in the Christian life when you establish these things.
Look, there's nothing joyful about being tossed to and fro. Now, we know kids love it.
They love it as children to be tossed to and fro.
But even that gets old after all. They're like, okay, Dad, put me down. That's enough.
I'm pretty sure I have a slight concussion.
There's nothing fun about whiplash or arms coming out of socket.
Be careful the way you play with your kids tonight.
Public service announcement, right?
But look, there's nothing joyful about that.
We're not like, oh, I just love being tossed to and fro. It's just so much fun.
Let me just thank God. Let me just abound with thanksgiving because I'm just carried about with every wind of doctrine.
There's nothing thankful. There's no joy in that. There's no peace.
Where's the peace? Where's the joy? Where's the thankfulness?
It's in being established. It's in being rooted. It's in being built up in the faith.
And again, there's nothing wrong with starting out as a child spiritually,
but child, it isn't meant to last forever.
You know, sorry, Toys R Us lied to you. You do want to grow up.
You know, we do. And it's a fact of life. We're going to grow up, both physically and spiritually, and it needs to happen.
It's not meant to last forever. Look at there in Romans 15.
He says in verse 13, now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace and believing through faith.
Through faith. How is God going to fill you with joy and peace?
Through believing by faith, by getting established in the faith. That's what we're talking about tonight.
That you may abound in hope. There it is again. You want to abound in hope. You want to abound with thanksgiving.
First you have to be, you know, established. God has to fill you first through believing and through the power of the Holy Ghost as it ends there.
Look, God wants his children to have peace tonight. God wants you to have joy. God wants you to have hope in this life.
And he gives it through what? Through the power of the Holy Ghost, right? It's supernatural. God gives that.
He does that through the power of the Holy Ghost and through the reading of his word.
But if you're just going to continually be tossed to and fro, is this the Bible? Is this the word of God? Is this not the word of God?
That's never going to happen for you. You have to just settle that once and for all and say this is the word of God.
And then God will give you the joy, the peace, and the hope that passeth all understanding.
God wants to give all those things, right? God wants us to have those.
But our part is to believe. Our part is to have the faith and to be established in it.
Let's go ahead and pray.