Dwelling Place

Announcer: Today, on the Dwelling Place.

Al Pittman: All forms of hyphenated Christianity is sin. If you are a Jewish Christian or or Baptist Christian or a black Christian or whatever, you are in sin because you have placed that your ethnicity or whatever, your background above Jesus Christ, and that's the way you lead. You only hang out with conservative Christians. You only hang out with liberal Christians. You only hang out with black Christians or white Christians or go to black churches, white churches. That is sinful, and God is against it. He said you shall not have You shall not have any other god before me.

Oh, I I don't I don't worship idols. That is an idol in your life. If you lead your life with that influence first, if you see yourself as that first, you are in sin and should repent of it.

Singer (Female): Dwelling place, dwelling place, dwelling place. You are my dwelling place, dwelling place, dwelling place.

Announcer: Thank you for listening to the Dwelling Place, a radio ministry from Pastor Al Pittman of Al Pittman Ministries. The purpose of this radio program is to encourage you, strengthen your walk with the Lord, and grow. To support this ministry financially or learn more about the ministry, visit us online at alpitmanministries.com. That's alpitmanministries.com. Your donations keep this radio ministry going. Thank you for partnering with us. Now, here's Pastor Al.

Al Pittman: If you have a Bible, please turn to the book of Colossians as we continue our study through Colossians. And while you're doing that, just a couple of announcements. On a personal note, if you would remember my wife in prayer, Norma has having knee replacement surgery tomorrow. And so, this is knee number two. Amen. And just pray for her her peace and for quick recovery and all. And also pray for Nathan. You heard that he is married, and he was married on Friday. Kind of Amen. Praise the Lord. We're happy about that. We have a a beautiful new daughter in the family.

Catherine is wife, and we're just excited for them as they start their journey off together. But with the good news came some a bit of bad news. He discovered on Thursday after examination that he has blood clots in both of his lungs. And so, he's being treated for that. He's not in the hospital right now. Amen. Nothing was going to keep him from the honeymoon. Amen. Anyway, but But he has a a follow-up appointment on Monday. But just pray for him, praying that God just dissolve those blood clots and So, through it all, Lord, through it all, I've learned to trust in Jesus.

I've learned to trust in God. And we're going to talk about that today as we continue our study regarding the supremacy of Christ. Colossians chapter one, we're looking at started last week. This is part two of a message I started last week. We started in verse 13 and got down to verse 17. And there we discovered in those verses, verses 13 to 17, four aspects of Christ's supremacy. In verse 13, we saw that Christ is our deliverer. And in verse 15, we saw Christ as the very image of God. In verse 16, we saw that he is indeed creator.

And then in verse 17, we saw that Christ is before all things. In him all things consist. Amen. And so, number five, there are seven aspects all together. So, we're at number five today as we pick it up here. In verse 18 where Paul the apostle writes as he is the head of the body. And he is the head of the body, the church who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead. That in all things he may have the preeminence. Amen. Christ. He is the head of his church. It is not the Pope. It is not Pastor Al.

It is not Billy Graham. It is Jesus Christ. He is the head of his church. The church is a body. Again, it's not a social club, but it is a body, a living, breathing organism here on earth. The body of Christ. The Greek word for church, many of you know, is ecclesia. That's where we get the word ecclesiastical. And it means a called out assembly. We are called out of the world, out of darkness into the kingdom of the son of his love, as we saw last week. Called to a kingdom of light. That's who we are as the church.

We don't come together to accomplish our agenda. We come together for the glory of Jesus Christ, for God's agenda, and for his purpose. That's why we exist here on the earth. Jesus, of course, was raised from the dead. And Paul says he was the firstborn in the church. In other words, Jesus not only established the church, but he was the first member of the church raised from the dead. Thus, Paul says even in verse 18 that he was from the beginning. In the very beginning, he was the leader of the church, the first member of the church.

And all of us who have followed him have been raised by the same power that raised Christ from the dead. The power of God's power raising breathing life into our lives as we have also now become members of the body of Christ, but remembering that Jesus began the church and he is the first member of his own church. Amen. He is the head of the church. And we who have been raised from the dead are members of that church, which is the body of Christ, the called out ones. Ephesians chapter two verse one says that and you he made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins.

The same power that raised Christ. Romans chapter six tells us raised Jesus or raised us up from the dead as well. And we are now members of that body, which is called the church. Thus, he is preeminent being the first. He is preeminent according to the latter part of verse 18 over all things pertaining to his church. Preeminent. Always tell people that we are not Kind of drives I know it drives the finance department crazy, but we are not budget driven, we are spirit led. We're conscious of budgets and all that, but we must be spirit led.

We must never be able to say to God, well, God is not in the budget. Because the just shall live by faith. God, what do you want us to do? This is your church. You show us. You direct and you guide us the way you want us to go. And you know, I'm not anti budgets or anything, but I'm always conscious of the fact that it's not Pastor Al's church. It belongs to the Lord. This is his church. The church belongs to him. He is the head. He is preeminent over all things. Preeminence. That word again, a Greek word.

The Greek word is port you all, and it means to be first in rank and influence. To be first in rank or influence. Port you all, I should have said to the port. I'm sorry. He is the first in rank and influence within the church. He is overall in rank. Amen. There's no one higher than Jesus, and he ought to be the influence of the church. In fact, this very morning as I'm speaking, we're all under the influence of something. Amen. Amen. And we're we're worried about things or whatever. Something's trying to influence you, but in God's house, not just in this building, but in our lives as believers, Jesus Christ ought to be the primary influence in our lives.

Christ as the head should be the supreme influence within the church and within our lives. Ephesians chapter one verses 22 and 23 says that he put all things under his feet and gave him God put all things under the feet of Christ and gave him to be head over all things to the church which is the body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. Amen. In this world, there's a lot of a lot of carnal distractions. And I think especially in this world that we live in today, so many special interests and all these things that are really ripping our nation apart.

Now, we have to be careful as believers that we don't get caught up in all these different things that are going on and make sure that Christ remains preeminent in his church and preeminent in our own lives. That he is supreme over all. It is essential for us to remember that our sole influence in everything that we do must be Jesus Christ. That's what he's called us to do. That's how he's called us to live in this world. My ethnicity, my political views, my religious upbringing uh should not be the impetus or the influence of my life, uh but Christ should be my life.

Amen. He is the influence of my life because he is the head of my life. We are Christ's followers first. Remember that. Remember that. You know, when it comes to your political views or whatever, you know, your actions are or whatever that Christ ought to be first in your life. In fact, Jesus said you need to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and then all these other things will be added. And if Christ is indeed first in my life, then I am not a black Christian. I am a Christian who happens to be black.

I am not a Republican Christian or whatever you want to say or a white Christian. You're a Christian who happens to be white or Latino Christian. You're a Christian who happens to be Latino. Jesus Christ must be first and foremost. Amen. If indeed Christ is ahead of your life, it is not my ethnicity, it is not my political views, it is not my religious upbringing, you know, what my daddy would have done or whatever. Jesus Christ is first and foremost in my life. He is the head of my life to govern all of my actions.

The Bible tells us that God makes a distinction that we are one in him. Galatians chapter three verse 28 says there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female. Amen. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. You see Peter was a Jewish Christian until Paul got in his face. You remember the story? Peter was hanging out with the Gentiles, and then the Jews came down. And when the Jewish brethren came down, he couldn't hang out with the Gentiles anymore, and he started hanging out being more Jewish.

All right? And Paul got in his face and said, what are you doing? You're representing Jesus Christ as being separated. Christ is not divided. And he got in Peter's face, in the face of the one who walked on the water. And Paul didn't care who he was or what his pedigree was. He said what you're doing here is wrong because Christ is not divided. And when we start dividing ourselves according to our ethnicity and all of this in the church, we are committing sin against God. He there is no division in the body of Jesus Christ.

There ought not to be. And so, Peter, he was confronted by Paul the apostle. And Peter was acting like a Jewish Christian, but then Paul said, you know, you need to be a Christian first and then a Jew. Amen. There's nothing wrong with your ethnicity. You should embrace your ethnicity. I'm I'm glad I'm praise God for who I am. By the grace of God, I am what I am. And and you know, like they used to say, say it loud. Amen. I'm black and I'm proud. Amen. I know who I am. I thank God for that.

And you're Jewish or or you're you're Irish or you're Italian, be proud of that. By the grace of God, you are who you are. But that should not trump Christ's influence in your life. Never. Christ is first and foremost. Peter had lost his head for a moment because he forgot who was ahead in his life. Jesus Christ first and foremost. Listen. We see it happening in our nation today, and it's seeped into the church, sadly to say. But when ethnicity and our political views or even our religious upbringing ex- are exalted above Christ, the house of God is always out of order.

Do you hear me? When your ethnicity and your political views or your religion trumps Christ, then the house of God is always out of order. Christ must be the prime influence and rank in the house of God and among the people of God. In fact, I will submit this to you, and I think I got scripture to back it up that all forms of hyphenated Christianity is sin. All forms of hyphenated Christianity is sin. If you are a Jewish Christian or or a Baptist Christian or a black Christian or whatever, you are in sin because you have placed that your ethnicity or whatever your background above Jesus Christ, and that's the way you lead.

You only hang out with conservative Christians. You only hang out with liberal Christians. You only hang out with black Christians or white Christians or go to black churches, white churches. That is sinful, and God is against it. He said you shall not have You shall not have any other god before me. Oh, I I don't I don't worship idols. That is an idol in your life. If you lead your life with that influence first, if you see yourself as that first, you are in sin and should repent of it. It is the worship of something other than Christ, and he is the head and not the tail of your life.

First and foremost. I don't know why you're so excited today. Amen. Because God is sick of that being in his house. It ought not to be mentioned among us. Say, oh, Pastor Al, you're overreacting. You know, that's kind of way you act. You know, you're you're black. We get it. You're kind of emotional. What did Paul say? Philippians chapter one verse 21 for me to live is Christ. For me to exist and to live is Christ. If this is not at the core of your life, I wonder whether or not you're born again. For you to live to be something else other than Christ, you're not even saved.

For me to live is Christ. And for me to die is gain. He must be the head. He refuses to be the tail of our life. For me to vote is Christ. For me to go to work on Monday is Christ. For me to go to the store is Christ. And all of my endeavors, it is to be Christ. For I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, but the life I now live I live by the power of God. So then, it's not me who lives, Paul says, but it is Christ who is in me.

That's radical Christianity. And that's what God has called us to. If Christ indeed is our head when Christ is our influence and identity, here's the deal. Then God can use us to tear down the walls of racism and bigotry. God can use us to bring unity and restoration in his house. God can use us as salt and light within the world. When Christ is the head of your life, because you then you're not hamstrung by the opinions and the influence of this world. I'll tell you this little story, my true story. I love my brother-in-law, my my my wife's oldest brother.

His name is Lonnie, and he's been here before, but this guy, he's never met an enemy. I mean, he just loves everybody. People just drawn to him. He just has that personality, always full of joy. But you know, he's a man's man. I mean, he's a guy that you know, does the black powder shooting with the guns and bow hunts and guts deer out in the field and you know, all this kind of rides a Harley all the way to Alaska and back. It's like, dude, when I grow up, I want to be like you.

He's just a man's man, but nicest guy. There's no pretense about him. Just what you see is what you get. He loves the Lord. He likes to go to gun shows. Several years ago, there's one over here at the city auditorium. And he's over there looking at guns and stuff and and he sees over in the corner there's a bunch of people around this guy or standing in line, shake hands with this guy and he thinks, oh, it might be a some politician or something. He said, I like to go meet the guy. So, he gets in line and people kind of looking at him and he's getting closer to the guy.

He gets up to the guy and people kind of looking kind of weird and shakes his hand and and he goes on. He gets to another table where some of his friends are at the gun show and he said, oh man, we're so sorry. Lonnie, we're so sorry, man. He said, what? He said, we didn't know they were going to be here. He said, who are they? He said, that's the KKK. And he shook hands with David Duke because he was void of any pretense. He was just filled with the love and the power of God.

And when you're filled with the love and the power of God, you can break through barriers of racism and bigotry and reach those very people that Jesus Christ died for. And you can shake your hand. That's what did he say? You anybody can love people who love you. If you you can love anybody that loves you. But to love your enemies, now you're being like your father in heaven. Amen. You can't do that. You can't do that if Christ is not the head of your life. Because Christ was his dad. He didn't see anything. He just walked up there you know.

Amazing. But what an example of God's grace and God's love and God's power. Cuz God is not intimidated by you. God is not intimidated by your little white sheets and your you know cross burnings and all that because he's powerful, supreme and God over all things. Amen. God has called us to be an influence on this world. Now, he's called us to engage our culture, to engage our culture our culture. Not to retreat from it. I know the temptation for believers is to retreat, but God has called us to engage our culture. In fact, the Bible tells us in Isaiah 58 verses six to nine, you can go back and read it later.

But he tells us to stand against all wickedness, to stand against social injustice. He calls us to stand up for the oppressed and for the poor. And the Bible says this is the fast that the Lord requires. And when you have done these things, you cry out to the Lord, and the Lord will say, here am I. In other words, he's called the righteous, those who are called by his name to stand up for what is right, for what is righteous, to engage our culture, to not run away from it, to be salt, yes, and to be light, to be an influence in the world.

But we can't do it if Christ is not supreme in our life. Jesus said, let your light so shine before men that your father might be glorified. Matthew 5:16. Again, it's impossible unless Christ is the preeminent head of our lives and of his church. Do we believe that? Paul says he is the head of the church. Here's the other aspect of his supremacy that we find here number six down to number six, and that is that he is the fullness of the church. Or he is the fullness rather of God, I should say. In verse 19, Paul writes here, for it pleased the father that in him all the fullness should dwell.

It pleased the father in him all the fullness should dwell. You know, people look to be filled all by other things, you know, other things. Everything and anything but God. They'll go from one relationship to another relationship to another relationship or one drug to another drug to whatever it is trying to find fulfillment, but the fullness is of God. He's the only one who can satisfy our soul. And so, folks seek to be fulfilled in other places. Even in nature, people go out in in you know, nature and they seek to go out and find peace and serenity and satisfaction.

And I love nature. I I love our state. We live in a beautiful state, you know, right here at the mountains and all of that is all beautiful. But some people have gone to the extreme. I was reading this article the other day, and here's the title of the article. Reads how to go eco sexual and embrace your love from mother nature. Close quote. Anybody ever hear of eco sexuality? That's a new one for me, and I think no one has because they just made it up. Eco sexuality is just another term for environmental extremists.

In this particular article I was reading, it was quoting these two doctors, doctor who have doctorates, PhDs, one with the last name of Stevens and the other with the last name of Sprinkle. Yeah, and I saw it okay, I don't need to read anymore. Dr. Sprinkle. Okay. And here's a direct quote from the article. And cuz I wasn't what is this eco sexual thing? And I quote, this is what they said. They said these two doctors said you you don't look at the earth as your mother, you look at it as your lover. Just like the bind of conventionally loving relationship, one makes a conscious commitment to connecting with and caring for something bigger than yourself.

In this case, the earth. When embracing an eco sexual lifestyle. Close quote. Thinking themselves wise, the Bible says they have become fools. But eco sexuality is nothing new. Really? Paul talked about it, how people rather worship the creation rather than the creator. Romans chapter one verse 25 says that they would exchange they had exchanged the truth of God for the lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator who was blessed forevermore. Amen.

Singer (Female): Dwelling place, dwelling place, dwelling place. You are my dwelling place, dwelling place, dwelling place.

Announcer: Learn more about Pastor Al and his ministry by visiting alpitmanministries.com. Also consider supporting us financially. You can send a check to Al Pittman Ministries at PO Box 50584 Colorado Springs, Colorado 80949 or visit us online. Thank you for your prayers and your support. Your generosity keeps this radio ministry going. Lastly, we would love to hear from you. You can contact us by emailing info@alpitmanministries.com. That's info@alpitmanministries.com. We look forward to hearing from you. Again, thank you for joining us, and we'll see you next time on the Dwelling Place. God bless.