Comprehensive Insight into the Ways and Purposes of God
March 08, 2020      |     By: Jonathan Brickley      |      Category: Sermons      |      Location: El Dorado
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Colossians 1:28-2:3 (NIV)
28 He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ.
29 To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.
2:1 I want you to know how hard I am contending for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally.
2 My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the
 mystery of God, namely, Christ,
3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

1) Encouraged in Heart
2) United in Love
3) Come to have the Full Riches of Complete Understanding
4) That we may Know God’s mystery - namely Christ in whom are Hidden all treasures of wisdom and knowledge

We proclaim HIM

Only By Faith can He be known
Only By Faith can His power be experienced

Hebrews 11:6 (NIV)
6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Psalm 141:5 (NIV)
5 Let a righteous man strike me—that is a kindness; let him rebuke me—that is oil on my head. My head will not refuse it, for my prayer will still be against the deeds of evildoers.

Psalm 23:5 (NIV)
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Psalm 92:10 (NIV)
10 You have exalted my horn like that of a wild ox; fine oils have been poured on me.

Proverbs 6:23 (NIV)
23 For this command is a lamp, this teaching is a light, and correction and instruction are the way to life,

1 Samuel 16:13 (NIV)
13 So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David. Samuel then went to Ramah.

1 Samuel 25:20-39 (NIV)
20 As she came riding her donkey into a mountain ravine, there were David and his men descending toward her, and she met them.
21 David had just said, “It’s been useless—all my watching over this fellow’s property in the wilderness so that nothing of his was missing. He has paid me back evil for good.
22 May God deal with David, be it ever so severely, if by morning I leave alive one male of all who belong to him!”
23 When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey and bowed down before David with her face to the ground.
24 She fell at his feet and said: “Pardon your servant, my lord, and let me speak to you; hear what your servant has to say.
25 Please pay no attention, my lord, to that wicked man Nabal. He is just like his name—his name means Fool, and folly goes with him. And as for me, your servant, I did not see the men my lord sent.
26 And now, my lord, as surely as the Lord your God lives and as you live, since the Lord has kept you from bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hands, may your enemies and all who are intent on harming my lord be like Nabal.
27 And let this gift, which your servant has brought to my lord, be given to the men who follow you.
28 “Please forgive your servant’s presumption. The Lord your God will certainly make a lasting dynasty for my lord, because you fight the Lord’s battles, and no wrongdoing will be found in you as long as you live.
29 Even though someone is pursuing you to take your life, the life of my lord will be bound securely in the bundle of the living by the Lord your God, but the lives of your enemies he will hurl away as from the pocket of a sling.
30 When the Lord has fulfilled for my lord every good thing he promised concerning him and has appointed him ruler over Israel,
31 my lord will not have on his conscience the staggering burden of needless bloodshed or of having avenged himself. And when the Lord your God has brought my lord success, remember your servant.”
32 David said to Abigail, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent you today to meet me.
33 May you be blessed for your good judgment and for keeping me from bloodshed this day and from avenging myself with my own hands.
34 Otherwise, as surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, who has kept me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, not one male belonging to Nabal would have been left alive by daybreak.”
35 Then David accepted from her hand what she had brought him and said, “Go home in peace. I have heard your words and granted your request.”
36 When Abigail went to Nabal, he was in the house holding a banquet like that of a king. He was in high spirits and very drunk. So she told him nothing at all until daybreak.
37 Then in the morning, when Nabal was sober, his wife told him all these things, and his heart failed him and he became like a stone.
38 About ten days later, the Lord struck Nabal and he died.
39 When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Praise be to the Lord, who has upheld my cause against Nabal for treating me with contempt. He has kept his servant from doing wrong and has brought Nabal’s wrongdoing down on his own head.” Then David sent word to Abigail, asking her to become his wife.

2 Samuel 2:4 (NIV)
4 Then the men of Judah came to Hebron, and there they anointed David king over the tribe of Judah. When David was told that it was the men from Jabesh Gilead who had buried Saul,

2 Samuel 5:3 (NIV)
3 When all the elders of Israel had come to King David at Hebron, the king made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed David king over Israel.

Oil of Anointing - Victory, Promotion & Goodness in the midst of my Enemies

God brings enemies into your life as an opportunity for your promotion

Enemies help expose wrong heart motives we cannot see

Will You Receive the Gift of Rebuke?

Result?
- Oil (Victor, Promotion, Goodness) on your head
- Wickedness / Wrongdoing (an end of violent deeds) - on your enemy’s head

If you “descend toward” your enemy, you’re on your way to a Loss (even if you “win”)

A) Pause and Listen to wisdom (v24)
B) Acknowledgment - what THEY did was foolish (v25)
C) Acknowledgment - what YOU want to do is foolish (v26)
D) Receive the Gift (v27, 35)

Promises!
- You fight the Lord’s battles - not yours
- No wrongdoing will be found in you
- Your life will be bound securely in the bundle of the living
- Your enemies he will hurl away
- When the Lord fulfills his promises and promotes you - Then you won’t have a “staggering burden” of avenging yourself