351 lines
16 KiB
Plaintext
351 lines
16 KiB
Plaintext
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FULFILLMENT
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by Cornelius R. Stam
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THE NEED FOR FULFILLMENT
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There is a great outcry these days for fulfillment.
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Psychology professors and psychiatrists, most of whom show little
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evidence of having themselves found true satisfaction in life,
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keep emphasising man's need for fulfillment. As a result, the
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younger gereration is presently engaged in a frantic search for
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this precious commodity. They want fulfillment, physically,
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intellectually and spiritually - mostly in that order.
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The reason for this latter is that godless "intellectuals"
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in our institutions of learning have placed such heavy emphasis
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upon the sensual that a truly lost generation of young people has
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been brainwashed into supposing that if only man's physical
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desires, his sensual passions, can be satisfied, the realization
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of intellectual and then spiritual fullment will follow
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naturally.
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Actually, the very opposite is the case: it is spiritual
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fullment that straightens out all the rest and brings into proper
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perspective. What man needs first and above all else is for his
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spirit to be filled and satisfied with all the peace, assurance,
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joy and victory that God's Spirit alone can bestow. Referring,
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doubtless, to the influence of the Spirit of God upon the human
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spirit, our Lord rightly said:
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"It is the Spirit that quickeneth [giveth life]; the flesh
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profiteth nothing" (John 6:63).
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In Galations 6:8 the Apostle Paul declares:
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"He that soweth to the flesh, shall of the flesh reap
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corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit
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reap life everlasting."
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In Romans 8:6 he states this same truth in even stronger
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language:
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"For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually
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minded is life and peace."
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Some translators have rendered this passage: "the mind of
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the flesh... the mind of the spirit," but the preceding verse
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seems to indicate beyond doubt that the Apostle is speaking of
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having one's mind on the flesh, or on the Spirit. to have one's
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mind on the flesh, he says, is "death," but to have one's mind on
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the Spirit is "life and peace."
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Significantly, it is since America has departed so far from
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God, since men in the pulpit have so largely stopped teaching the
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Bible, or even giving credence to it, that all this cry for
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"fulfillment" has arisen.
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Thousands of clergymen are telling lost souls what they ought
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to do and how they ought to live, simply because they themselves
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are unregenerate men who merely went to seminary to prepare for
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the ministry, but do not know Christ. These unsaved clergymen
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know nothing of the riches of God's grace in Christ that their
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hearers so sorely need. But, alas, even men of God, who know
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Christ and believe the Bible, are in many cases failing to teach
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God's Word, to "feed the flock" with those precious truths that
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could so greatly enrich their lives. Hence this spiritual
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starvation, this deep hunger on the part of so many, even
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religious people, who do not know exactly what it is they lack.
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These should know that the Bible, and particularly the epistles
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of Paul, show us the way to glorious fulfillment.
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The orderly, satisfied, victorious lives of those who do
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experience spiritual fulfillment, springs from their recognition
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of the truth of God's declaration that, "man shall not live by
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bread alone, but by every Word of God."
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The Bible has much to say about fulfillment, espically in
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the epistles of Paul, but also in the writings of John, who wrote
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long after Paul was raised up to make known to mankind how much
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Christ accomplished for us by His death at Calvary.
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ENJOYING TRUE FULFILLMENT
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Paul had been a very religious man, very zealous of the
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traditions of the fathers, but there was an emptiness in his life
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and he became progressively more bitter until he came to know
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Christ. Only then did he find true fulfillment - and then this
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was all he could talk and write about!
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Picture him before Agrippa, standing there in chains in a
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crowded courtroom, his very life at stake. He does indeed speak
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in his own defense, but as we read the record this almost seems
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to be secondary. He appears to be preaching to those assembled.
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He preaches with such power that Festus interrupts him, shouting:
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"Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning doth make thee
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mad", but Agrippa says: "Almost thou persuaded me to be a
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Christian", whereupon Paul replies:
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"I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear
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me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am,
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except these bonds" (Acts 26:29).
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The Apostle, even in chains, experienced true fulfillment.
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Hence his mind was not upon himself. He saw Festus and Agrippa
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and all those assembled in that courtroom as poor lost souls,
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needing Christ, and the fulfillment that He alone can give.
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To these who sat in judgment upon him, the Apsotle said in
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effect: "I wish you could all experience the satisfaction that I
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enjoy!" And he did not speak thus, merely, as a zealot at a
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public trial. To his Christian friends he wrote from his prison
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in Rome about sitting "in heavenly places (Lit., the highest
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heavens) in Christ," blessed with "all spiritual blessings"
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(Ephesians 1:3). To the Philippians he wrote, triumphantly:
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"...the things which have happened unto me have fallen out
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rather unto furtherance of the gospel;
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"So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace,
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and in all other places;
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"And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by
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my bonds, are much more bold to speak the Word without fear"
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(Phillipians 1:12-14).
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"Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, rejoice!" (4:4)
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Paul had indeed found fulfillment and, bless God, there are
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thousands upon thousands of us today who have found this same
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fulfillment in Christ. We have the same assurance of sins
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forgiven, of complete justification before a holy God, and, like
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Paul, rejoice in our position and blessings in the heavenlies in
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Christ.
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But now let us proceed to the doctrine of fulfillment as we
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find it in the Word of God.
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THE DOCTRINE OF FULFILLMENT
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To make this as uncomplicated as possible we will consider
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but one root word, which the Bible uses far more than any other
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to express fulfillment. It is the Greek noun pleeroma and its
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grammatical derivatives.
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This word is used in several passages in John's writings,
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where it is indicated that God would have His people enjoy rich,
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full lives, regardless of outward circumstances.
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Our Lord closed His famous discourse on the Vine and the
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Branches by saying:
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"These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might
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remain in you, and that your joy may be full" (John 15:11).
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Later, instructing His disciples as to how they should pray
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in His absence, He said:
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"Hitherto have ye asked nothing in My name: ask, and ye
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shall recieve, that your joy may be full" (John 16:24).
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In the opening verses of his first epistle, the Apostle John
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likewise writes:
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"And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be
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full" (1 John 1:4).
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And those who trusted Christ, even in those early days
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before the dispensation of grace, did find full-fillment. John
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the Baptist, who heralded the coming of the King and introduced
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Him to the people of Israel, declared:
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"And of His fulness have all we recieved, and grace for
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[upon] grace" (John 1:16).
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This ful-fillment was not marred by adversity, for
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consistently in the Acts record we find the persecuted apostles
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and disciples joyful and victorious. After having suffered a
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cruel beating and bitter threats from the Sanhedrin, we read in
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Acts 5:41 that "they departed from the presence of the council,
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rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his
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name."
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Again, in Acts 13 we find a church born in the midst of
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strife and persecution, yet of these persecution believers we
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read:
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"And the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy
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Ghost" (Verse 52).
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"FULFILLMENT AND THE MYSTERY"
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But it was to Paul that the risen, ascended, exalted Lord
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revealed Himself in what the Apostle calles "the mystery," a
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secret hid from previous "ages and generation." Not only did this
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"mystery" involve a program, God's great purpose concerning this
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present dispensation of His grace; in the "mystery" our Lord also
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revealed Himself and His glorious, all-sufficient work as the
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secret of all the riches of grace which are ours in Christ.
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Had the Lord Jesus Christ remained in heaven, aloof from us
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sinners, we could have known only condemnation and judgement, but
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He came to be with us, yes, to become one of us, true man as well
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as true God, to pay our debt of sin, so that by faith we might be
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fully justified and find fulfillment in Him.
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If the Spirit-inspired apsotle makes anything clear and
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emphatic it is that fulfillment can be found in the rejected but
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glorified Christ alone, by an intelligent understanding and
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believing appropriation of His person and work in our behalf.
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Col. 1:19: "For it pleased the Father that in Him should all
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fulness dwell."
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Col. 2:9: "For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the
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Godhead bodily."
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Col. 2:10: "And ye are complete [made full] in Him..."
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Restless soul, you will never find complete satisfaction
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until you find it in Christ, for the simple reason that all
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fulness resides in Him. He is the fount of every blessing, the
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Source of all supply.
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What do you want that is of any real and lasting value?
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What do you want that will truly fill your life? Forgiveness?
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Justification? A free Conscience? Peace? Assurance? Liberty?
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Joy? All - every bit of it - is to be found in Christ alone.
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Read the epistles of Paul and see how "all spiritual blessings"
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are to to found only "in Christ." Read the above passages from
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Colossians again, thoughtfully and prayerfully. "It pleased the
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Father that in Him should all fulness dwell...in Him dwelleth all
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the fulness of the Godhead bodily, and ye are complete [made
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full] in Him."
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But God wants us to see that all this blessing and joy, all
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these riches of grace that reside in Christ, can become ours only
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as we place our trust in Him. In Romans 15:13 the Apostle
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writes:
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"Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in
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believing..."
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How I wish you could see, my dear unsaved friend, that god
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simply wants to be believed, just as you want other to believe
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you. He knows all about your sins but He Himself has settled all
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the claims against you and now He wants you to leave the whole
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matter with Him and accept salvation as "the gift of God through
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Jesus Christ our Lord." Believe what He says about christ dying
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to pay your debt and rising again in power to prove that your
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debt is fully paid. Take Him at His Word, and He will "fill you
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with joy and peace in believing."
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In Ephesians 3:17-19 the Apostle, divinely inspired, urges
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you to let Christ "dwell in your heart by faith." And then,
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"rooted and grounded in [His] love," he would have you measure
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"what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height" of all
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that Christ has for you and can be to you, as it is revealed in
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the wonderful "mystery," the sacred secret made known through
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him. And why would he have us "measure" these riches of grace
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and glory? Listen:
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"...to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge,
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that ye might be filled with all fulness of God" (verse 19).
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How can we leave this passage without quoting the blessed
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benediction that brings it to a close:
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"Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above
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all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in
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us,
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"Unto Him be glory in the Church, by Christ Jesus,
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throughout all ages, world without end. Amen" (verse 20,21).
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Do you see how believers are "made full," find fulfillment,
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in Christ? Do you see how Paul had much more than material
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matters in mind when he wrote to the faithful Philippian
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believers:
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"But my God shall supply [Lit., fully fill] all your need
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according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Philippians
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4:19).
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FULFILLMENT FOR CHRIST
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Perhaps the most profound and amazing aspect of the mystery
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revealed through Paul is the divine truth that as we are "made
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full" in Christ, so He is "made full" by His Body, the true
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Church.
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Not only would the Apostle have us understand and enjoy the
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riches of our inheritence in Christ; he also prays earnestly that
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we might comprehend "what is the riches of the glory of His
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inheritance in the saints"! (Ephesians 1:18).
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In Ephesians 4:10 we read that our Lord "ascended up far
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above all heavens, that He might fill all things," but Chapter 1,
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Verse 23, we are told that the Church is...
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"...His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all."
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As Eve was given to Adam, and the two became "one flesh",
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God now calling their name Adam (Genesis 5:2), so in a spiritual,
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yet very real sense, believers are given to Christ as His blood-
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bought possession, that we might be one with Him, the members of
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His Body. And as we find fulfillment in us, whom He loved, for
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whom He died and upon whom He joyously bestows all the riches of
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grace which He purchased for us at Calvary. Think of it! We His
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inheritance, and more - His fullness, His completeness. What and
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evidence of His loving character is this! He would not be
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complete in heaven without us any more than Adam would have been
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complete or happy alone in the Garden of Eden. Christ needed the
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love and companionship of His creatures. His divine capacity for
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compassion and understanding and mercy and love needed
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opportunity for expression.
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How much that Blessed Book, the Bible, has to say about
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fulfillment and satisfaction and joy - and most of all in the
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epistles of Paul. In discussing this subject we have cited many
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occurrences of one Greek word for fulfillment: pleeroma, along
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with its grammatical derivatives, but there is much, much more to
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be found in the synonyms and arguments used, espically by Paul,
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to show how rich believers are in Christ and, indeed, how rich He
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has become since His love sent Him to Calvary to die in shame and
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agony and blood for us! What joy will fill His heart, as well as
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ours, when through the ages of eternity we finally love and adore
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Him as, in our present state, we are unable to do!
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We are deeply conscious tha only with "stammering tongue"
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have we endeavored to place before you what God's Word says about
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"the peace that passeth understanding" and "the joy that passeth
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knowledge," but one fact is unmistakably clear: such fulfillment
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can be found in Christ alone.
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Have you recieved and acknowledged Him as your Lord and
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Saviour? If not, will you do so now, without further delay? It
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is His desire to fill with peace and joy, but you must recognize
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your need of Him and acknowledge that you are the sinner for whom
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He died, asking Him to save you. Be wise. Cast yourself upon
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Him right now.
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"For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek;
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for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him.
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"For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be
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saved" (Romans 10:12,13).
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From The S.O.N. BBS, WI
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