Chapter 2. We'll continue our
journey, as I like to say, through the book of Colossians tonight.
And tonight we'll be looking at verse 15, but I'd like to
read the context of the verse upward. We're going to go to
verse 6 and read to verse 15. The name of the message is, all
our enemies vanquished. All our enemies vanquished. I hope it's a blessing. It was
a blessing to put this together today and to see this marvelous,
triumphant, victorious Savior that we have, the Lord Jesus
Christ. Colossians chapter 2, starting
in verse 6, and we'll go to verse 15. As ye have therefore received
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him, rooted and built up
in Him, established in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding
therein with thanksgiving, beware, lest any man spoil you through
philosophy and vain deceit after the tradition of men, and after
the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him
dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and ye are
complete in him, which is the head of all principality and
power. in whom also ye are circumcised
with the circumcision made without hands, in the putting off of
the body and the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of
Christ, buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with
him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised
him from the dead. being dead in your sins, in the
uncircumcision of your flesh, hath He quickened together with
Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, blotting out the
handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary
to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross. And having spoiled principalities
and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over
them in it. So last week, we looked at the
debt that was against us. Remember the debt and how it
was a debt? A debt we could never pay. In
the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, that condemned
us, that said guilty as charged. was blotted out at Calvary's
Cross. Wiped away is one when one wipes
the chalkboard. Once you wipe off whatever's
on that chalkboard, you're never seeing it again. My goodness. That's enough to make us shout,
isn't it? Oh, and the handwriting of ordinances
that was against us Remember we looked into the Greek and
one of the underlying meanings was it's been obliterated. It's
been obliterated by the death of Christ upon the cross. The
believer is washed clean by the precious blood of Christ. Washed
clean. And the believer has all their
trespasses, the believer in Christ has all their trespasses and
all their sins forgiven. Every one of them. And it's all in and through and
by the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at Colossians 2, 13 and
14, beloved, and may we rejoice in this. In Jew. So Paul's writing
to the Colossian believers. He's writing to the saints of
God. Those who were chosen by God in eternity. Those who Christ
has redeemed with his own precious blood. And you, and this is even
to us, we who believe tonight. This is written to all believers
of all the ages. All who are born again of the
Holy Spirit of God. And you, being dead in your sins,
that was our natural state, in the uncircumcision of your flesh,
hath He quickened together with Him. We're born again by the
Holy Spirit of God. Heaven forgiving you, all trespasses beloved. There's nothing left. Blotting out the handwriting
of ordinances that was against us. The very writings that said
guilty is charged. Obliterating that. My goodness. That was against us and they
were against us. Which was contrary to us and
took it out of the way. Nailing it to his cross. And
here before us in these three verses, 13, 14, and 15, look
at this. Here we have three important
acts in which God grants to His children the joy of salvation. The joy of salvation. The three
being, number one, in verse 13, the forgiveness of sins, which
is by the death of Christ and Him shedding His precious blood
for our sins, for the remission of our sins. Number two, the
setting aside of the law. Because this our Lord did in
our place by His death upon the cross in verse 14. And the death of Christ was a substitutionary
death, and His life was a substitutionary life, fulfilling all that the
law of God demanded for sinners like you and me, for His people. And then the third important
act in which God grants joy to his children, the joy of salvation,
is in number three, is in our verse tonight. It's the disarming
of principalities and powers by the death of Christ. All our
enemies have been vanquished at the cross. He is a triumphant
king. Look at verse 15. And having
spoiled principalities and powers, He made a show of them openly,
triumphing over them in it. He's a conqueror! He's victorious! He's a successful Savior. Do
you see the whole difference between the God we believe in
and the Savior we believe in, compared to religion? My! And He did it all by Himself! all by Himself. So let us consider
these three things, the forgiveness of sins, that bring joy to the
child of God, and the joy of their salvation. The forgiveness
of sins in verse 13, the setting aside of the law, or the fulfilling
of the law by Christ for us, and the disarming of principalities
and powers by the death of Christ, and the fact that all our enemies
have been vanquished at the cross. Now let us consider this and
let us pray that God the Holy Spirit would teach us about our
great victor, our great king, our great redeemer, the one who
himself triumphed over principalities and powers on Calvary's cross
and he did it by his death. Remember he willingly went there and it is only found this victory
over our enemies is only found in the death of Christ and in
Him alone. Now who are these spoken of in our verses as principalities
and powers? Turn if you would to verse 16
of chapter 1. I'll have you turn to a couple
of different places here. Look at verse 16. These scriptures
will identify who they are and what they are. For by him were
all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth,
visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions
or principalities or powers, all things were created by him
and for him. Now turn if you would over to 2 Corinthians 4.4.
So the verse that we just looked at speaks of angels and powers
in this world. Look at 2 Corinthians 4.4. in whom the God, little g, of
this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not. And
this is speaking of Satan. Lest the light of the glorious
gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto
them. So turn over one more place to
Ephesians chapter 6. The God of this world that we
just looked at speaks of Satan the devil who has blinded the
mind of unbelievers. And remember, we've been translated
from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of His dear Son. Look at Ephesians 6. Paul is here speaking about the
armor of God. And look where he starts, verse
10-13. Finally, my brethren, be strong
in the Lord, and in the power of His might, put on the whole
armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles
of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh
and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers
of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness
in high places. Wherefore, take unto you the
whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil
day, and having done all, to stand." So the principalities
and powers spoken of in verse 15 is Satan and the fallen angels.
We see that from Scripture, measuring Scripture with Scripture. We've
identified the principality spoken of in our text is the devil and
his fallen angels. So let's go back to our text
in Colossians 2.15. And it says, in having spoiled
principalities and powers, we'll look at the beginning of the
verse in the middle of it here. In having spoiled principalities
and powers, he made a show of them openly. Our Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord Jesus Christ, by his
death upon Calvary's cross, has obtained a glorious victory. He's obtained a glorious victory
by triumphing over the powers of darkness. Now, in religion, I remember
thinking this way, and even speaking this way, and it was foolishness. But in religion, if you listen
to people, Satan has more power than God. That's not what the
Bible says. Our king is dry, and he always
was sovereign, and he still is sovereign. This is His creation. This is
His world. The devil and the angels are
His creations. He's the creator. And we're all creatures. He's King. But here, in our verse,
He made a show of these, the powers of darkness. He made a
show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. And the curse
of the law was against us. The power of Satan was against
us. The justice of God was against
us. Our own sins were against us. But Christ Jesus our Lord He's
triumphed over principalities and powers. He's triumphed over
the curse of the law being made a curse for us. He's fulfilled
the law and justice of God and turned away God's wrath from
us, extinguishing it by His perfect sacrifice, the sacrifice of Himself
and in Christ. All the believers in Christ have
all their sins forgiven. He's triumphed over our sins.
My goodness. What a God. He's redeemed His people out of the justice and law of
God which demanded Death for us. And our Savior dies in our room
instead. And by His death, we see here
in our text, He alone, the Lord Jesus Christ, beloved, He's led
captivity captive. The devil and all the powers
of hell were conquered. Our sins were conquered. The
law fulfilled. The wrath of God turned away
from us. My, what a Savior. The Lord Jesus Christ has led
captivity captive. The devil and all the powers
of hell were conquered and disarmed by the death of the Lord Jesus
Christ, our Redeemer. Turn, if you would, to Genesis
chapter 3. Genesis chapter 3. This was spoken of way back in
the Garden. This was spoken of in Genesis
chapter 3, that this would occur, that the Lord would triumph over
Satan. Look at Genesis chapter 3, verses
14 and 15. And the Lord God said unto the serpent,
Because thou hast done this, Thou art cursed above all cattle,
and above every beast of the field. Upon thy belly shalt thou
go, and thus shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. And I will
put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and
her seed. It shall bruise thy head, and
thou shalt bruise his heel." This is speaking of Christ. So let's go back to our text
and we see this fulfilled. We see what was prophesied in
Genesis chapter 3 verse 15 fulfilled in Colossians 2 verse 15 here.
We see it was fulfilled at Calvary's cross and heaven spoiled principalities
and powers. He made a show of them openly
triumphing over them in it. What a great sight we have before
us tonight in this verse. The Redeemer, the Lord Jesus
Christ has conquered the devil in all the powers of hell. His
crown of thorns, one commentator said this, I had to add this
in. His crown of thorns has turned into a crown of laurels. When
the Roman generals were in a triumph, they wore a crown of laurels. His crown of thorns has been
turned into a crown of laurels. which the triumph, as I said,
Roman generals would wear in their triumphs. Now when a Roman
emperor general won a victory against his foes, he rode through
the streets in a four-horse chariot. And the captive kings and warriors
stripped of all their armor, and their hands tied behind their
back in chains, walked exposed to public shame and disgrace. Beloved, Christ has disarmed
all the principalities and powers which were against us. Who shall
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who
is He that condemns? Can anyone condemn God's children?
Can anyone condemn God's elect whom he purchased with his own
precious blood? Who is he that condemns? It is
Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again. Who is even
at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for
us. The Redeemer, the Lord Jesus
Christ, has made an open show of principalities and powers. Beloved, He spoiled them. He broke their power. He has conquered them and made
a show of them openly to angels and to men. He's a victor. He's a great king. He's a great
conqueror. Turn, if you would, to Hebrews
chapter 2. Hebrews chapter 2. And then put your finger in Luke
chapter 11. Hebrews chapter 2. In Luke chapter
11. Now again, our verse. It just proclaims this great
victory. In heaven spoiled, Prince of
powers and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over
them in it. Never had the devil's kingdom such a mortal blow given
to it as was given by the Lord Jesus Christ when He died upon
the cross. It was a mortal, mortal blow. Look at Hebrews 2, verses 14
and 15. For as much then as the children
are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took
part of the same. He became a man. God became a
man. That through death he might destroy
him that had the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver
them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject
to bondage. Now turn over to Luke 11, if
you would. The Lord Jesus Christ, by shedding
His blood, has ransomed His people. He's purchased His people. He's ransomed His people from
He who was stronger than they were. Look at Luke 11, verses 14-23. And he was casting out a devil,
and it was dumb. And it came to pass, when the
devil was gone out, the dumb spake, and the people wondered. But some of them said, he casts
out devils through Beelzebub, the chief of the devils. And
others, tempting him, sought of him a sign from heaven. But
knowing their thoughts, see, he's God. He knows what they're
thinking. But he, knowing their thoughts,
said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is bought
to desolation. And a house divided against a
house falleth. If Satan also be divided against
himself, how shall his kingdom stand? Because ye say, I cast
out devils through Beelzebub. And if I by Beelzebub cast out
devils, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore shall
they be your judges. But if I, with the finger of
God, cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come unto
you. But look what he says in 21.
When a strong man, armed, keepeth his palace. Now the strong man
there, every commentator identifies as the devil. He's the strong
man mentioned there. When a strong man armed keepeth
his palace, his goods are in peace. But when a stronger than
he shall come upon him and overcome him, he taketh from him all his
armor wherein he trusted and divided his spoils. He strips him of all his weapons
and his armor. He that is not with me is against
me, and he that gathereth not with me scattereth Look at verse
22 again. But when a stronger than he is
come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armor
wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils. Now go back to our
verse in Colossians chapter 2, verse 15. Beloved, the Lord Jesus Christ
has done this to Satan. And having spoiled principalities
and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over
them in it. He was the stronger, the one
that he spoke of, but when a stronger than he shall come, that's Christ. You see the fallacy? When religious
people talk about Satan like he's sovereign, he's not. Do
you know, I remember hearing a grace preacher say this, and
when I came out of religion, I'd never heard anyone say this.
He said, you know, God, you know, Satan is God the devil? He can only do what he allows.
I had never heard nothing like that before. But, you know, as
a grace believer, I believe it. Yeah, because my God's sovereign. He's in full control. Everything
is under Christ. He's God. Do you remember in
the book of Job, even in the Old Testament, Satan had to come
and ask permission to do to Job what he did? He can only do what
God allows, and God said, you can do this to him, but you can't
take his soul. Beloved, our God is sovereign.
He's a great king. The Lord Jesus Christ has taken
the prey out of the hands of the strongman, and we were the
prey. He has bruised the serpent's
head, just like was prophesied in Genesis. He's demolished his
works. He's disarmed him. Just like
the scripture in Luke says, take from him all his armor wherein
he trusted. He crushed his power and defeated
all his schemes and designs against God's elect. And let us always remember this,
beloved, that he did this by himself. He did as much. He trod the winepress
alone. He was the one who the wrath
and justice of God fell upon. And of the people, there were
none with him. And Christ has triumphed over
his foes, beloved. He's triumphed over his foes.
He's triumphed over our foes. Christ hath prevailed. He's prevailed. So let's look at the latter part
again of this verse, which I've already hit upon a little bit.
The fact that our Lord has triumphed over His enemies. He's triumphed
over them. Look at the latter part. We'll
read the whole verse, but we'll focus on triumphing over them
in it. And heaven spoiled principalities and powers. That's the devil
and the fallen angels. He made a show of them openly,
triumphing over them in it. Triumphing over them in it is
that He triumphed over them at the cross. And here before us, in the latter
part of the text, our text proclaims what Christ has done to the principalities
and powers. Again, He made an open show of
them, both before men and angels. Now, before we get too cocky,
we're no match for the devil. But our great King, our great God and King, He's
conquered him. He's triumphed over Him. Oh my. Oh my. He's triumphed over Him. He's made an open show of Him
before men and angels in the fact that He's triumphed over
them by His death upon the cross. And Paul is here alluding to
the Roman triumph. How a general, which is again,
being honored, who's won a great battle, against the enemies of
his country would once again strip his enemies of all their
weapons and all their armor. And the leaders and the soldiers
would serve with the conquered enemy. They are chained up and made
to walk in shame. along with the conquering general,
with their hands chained behind their back, and it exposed them. They were screamed at, and then
they were taken at the very end of the triumph, and they were
slaughtered. Beloved of God, our Lord Jesus
Christ has conquered over the devil and his angels. He's conquered
over, again, Satan, the evil forces of darkness. He's conquered
over sin. He's even conquered over the
consequences of sin. He's conquered over hell. He's
conquered over death. They were all defeated by our
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And our great Lord has vanquished
all our enemies by His death upon the cross. He's vanquished
all His enemies by His death upon the cross. Psalm 68, verse
18 says this, Thou hast ascended on high, Thou hast led captivity
captive. Thou hast received gifts for
men, yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might
dwell among them. And Paul confirms that Christ
is the fulfillment of that prophecy in Psalm 68, 18 by saying this
about Christ. In Ephesians 4, 8 and 10, it
says, Wherefore, he saith, when he ascended up on high, he led
captivity captive and gave gifts unto men. Now that he ascended, what is
it but that He also descended first into the lower parts of
the earth. He that descended is the same also that ascended
up far above all heavens that He might fulfill all things.
He's seated at the right hand of the Father, beloved. Victorious. He's vanquished His enemies.
Oh, my. And let us always remember that
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was not a helpless victim. As some people like to portray
Him. He was not a helpless victim.
Brother Chet, He willingly went to the cross to die for your
sins. It's amazing. It's incredible. Brother Noel,
He willingly shed His blood to redeem you from all your sins. He's a willing Savior. He willingly
goes to the cross to purchase every single one of His people. He's not a helpless victim who
was trying to set up His kingdom on this earth. I remember when I was in religion.
And I used to believe this garbage. And that's what it is. I used
to believe that Christ came down, and since the Jews rejected him,
because, oh, if they hadn't rejected him, then it would have ushered
in the kingdom. And I believed that because I
believed the person who was teaching it, but it was me believing what
he was teaching. But that's the doctrines of man. And I used to believe that God,
well, he went to plan B then, and now the Gentiles are being
ushered in. And that's what millions of folks
believe. But our God is not like that. The God of the scriptures had
one plan. He's had this one plan from eternity. And if you're a believer, you
were included in that plan from eternity. Because that plan is all wrapped
up in Christ. And so are His people. One plan which was purposed by
God before time began. Before time even began. And absolutely no one nor anything can alter or change
what God has purposed. He does, beloved, as He pleases. And all the inhabitants of the
earth are reputed as nothing. And He doeth according to His
will. Man likes to boast about will. There is one will in this whole,
you know, our wills are bound to our nature. God's the only one with free
will. I remember hearing Donnie say, I believe in free will,
the free will of God. That's so true. He's the only one with free will.
We make choices based upon our nature. And he doth according
to his will. Where does he do this? In the
army of heaven. So in heaven, in everything that has to do,
all the things we see, all the things we don't see. And among the inhabitants of
the earth. So that means he does his will among the inhabitants of the
earth. And none. And none, not man's supposed free will,
not man praying a prayer, not some false preacher popping off. And none, none, N-O-N-E, none can stay
his hands. We're saying to him, what doest
thou? None. None. Rejoice, beloved. This is our
God. This is our God. This is our Savior. I had a guy
come in today, come to visit me, one of the guys. And we had
a little discussion about... He talked about someone he knew
was one of them eternal security guys. Well, there ain't no other
salvation but a salvation that's eternal. So needless to say,
we had a little discussion about that. Salvation is of the Lord, beloved. None can stay His hand. These people that say, God's
done all He can do, now the rest is up to you. I ask you, is that
not staying God's hand? So we know from Scripture, that's
a lie. None can stay His hand. Beloved
our God, our Lord and Savior, when He went to Calvary's cross,
no one was going to stay His hand and His purpose. He is a successful Redeemer.
A victorious Conqueror. None can stay His hand. Our Lord
and Savior is not a weak deity who is trying to save His people,
but is unable to do so because they won't let Him. No. No, beloved. Our God is sovereign. Our God
is sovereign. He's always been in control of
everything. He's always been in control of
everything. He's still in control of everything. And in eternity, He'll be in
control of everything. He's always worked, He's always,
and let us remember this. Brother, you said it, through
the good times and the bad, right? He's always worked all things
after the counsel of his own will. Now, in our life, things may
seem good, things may seem bad. But for God's people, he's always
working things for our good. But remember, no matter what
we see, no matter even what happens after the next election, He always works things after
the counsel of His own will. And beloved, He always will work
things after the counsel of His will. Turn if you would to Acts
chapter 2. Acts chapter 2. Look at verses 22 to 27. Acts
22 verses 22 to 27. And let us remember that our
God, He doesn't change. He's immutable. He never changes. He never changes. He's always
the same. Scripture declares yesterday,
today, and forever. And as I say, all things, He's
working all things after the counsel of His own will. Look
at Acts 2 verses 22 to 27. Ye men of Israel, hear these
words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved
of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which
God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know. Him, meaning Christ, being delivered
by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have
taken in by wicked hands, have crucified and slain." So scripture
declares right there before us that Christ was crucified according
to the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. See, it's not plan B. The crucifixion was all part
of the counsel of his will. Whom God hath raised up, having
loosed away the pains of death, because it was not possible that
he should be holding of it. For David speaketh concerning
him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on
my right hand, that I should not be moved. See, David's rest was Christ. Now, on our own we'll be moved,
won't we? But when we rest in Christ, we'll
not be moved in Christ. When we look to Him. Therefore did my heart rejoice,
and my tongue was glad, moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope. Our hope. Who's the one we hope
in? Christ. We rest in hope. We rest in Christ, in him alone. Because thou wilt not leave my
soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see
corruption. And that was speaking of Christ. God rose him from
the grave to show that he was satisfied. satisfied with the
sacrifice of Christ. And so our God does not change,
beloved. He has always worked all things,
always has worked all things up to the counsel of his own
will. All things. That's why after the Lord saves
you, history takes on a whole new meaning. Because you start
to read history and you're like, wow, all this was happening for
a reason that I don't know why, but It all happens according to the
counsel of his will. Because if it didn't, then he's
not sovereign. But our God is sovereign. He's
absolutely sovereign. And this is our King. This is
our Lord who went to Calvary's cross, willingly. knowing exactly
what he had to do. He must redeem his people from
their sins. And he did it, praise God. He
did it. He did it. God was manifest in
the flesh. The eternal everlasting God became
a man. The Lord Jesus Christ. And in
Christ all the fullness of the Godhead dwelt bodily. Look at
verse 9. For in Him, Colossians 2, 9.
For in Him, in Christ, dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead
bodily. His attributes didn't change. Christ the God-man. And in Christ
dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead. It proclaims to us that the one
who in verse 9, for in him dwelt all the fullness of the God that
died on Calvary's cross and rose again from the grave and he spoiled
principalities and powers, beloved. He made a show of them openly,
triumphing over them by his death and by his resurrection. Look
at verse 15 again. And heaven spoiled principalities
and powers. He made a show of them openly,
triumphing over them in it. Now let us remember that God
has quickened us. It's God who's done this. We're
born again by the Holy Spirit of God. We were dead in trespasses
and sins. We could not make ourselves alive. But we're born again by the Holy
Spirit of God. And He has come to us. God has
given us an understanding. Our understanding was darkened.
We had no clue about the things of God. We didn't know Him. We didn't know Christ. And He's
been pleased to reveal Himself to His people. God has been pleased
to reveal Christ to us. To us. He's enlightened us. He's given us an understanding.
Remember, scripture says there's none that understand. Well, God's
people are given an understanding of who God is, of who Christ
is, who is God incarnated in the flesh, of what Christ has
done for his people. And what happens when we grow
in grace? We just keep looking. We just
keep looking to Christ. And I know it's so for you all,
too. Aren't you more in awe of Christ
now than you were five years ago, however long the Lord saved
you? Think about that. Think about
that. Has he not just grown in majesty
before your eyes, as you grow in grace? It's marvelous. He's amazing. Oh, what a great
God. And he's revealed all that to
us. He's revealed. He's revealed himself to us,
to his people. God has revealed himself to us
in Christ. In Christ. In Christ Jesus, our
Lord. Who is God incarnate in the flesh? Oh, my. And our text before us
proclaims that the Lord Jesus Christ is our conquering captain. He's a conquering Redeemer. He's a conquering Savior who's
defeated His enemies and our enemies. And having spoiled principalities
and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over
them in it. Oh my. He can say to Satan, the strong
man, who holds us by his power, loose him and let him go. And Satan must release his hold
upon us. He must! The prince of darkness
must flee when God commands the light to shine in our hearts.
Go over to Colossians chapter 1. Look at this at Colossians
chapter 1. We looked at this in our study
of chapter 1, but I think it's very pertinent for this verse.
Colossians 1 verses 12 to 14. Giving thanks unto the Father
which hath made us meet, remember that's qualified us, qualified
us, made us qualified to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints
in light, who have delivered us from what? The power of darkness. That's what we were under before. That's what we came into this
world under. The power of darkness. And it
translated us into the kingdom of his dear son. Oh my, who did
this? Who did this for us? God! By his power, In Christ. Oh my. In whom, being Christ, we have
redemption. Oh. Forgiveness of sins, beloved. In whom we have redemption through
His blood. Oh, through the shedding of His
precious blood. God's blood. On Calvary's cross. Even the forgiveness of sins.
Oh, the Lord Jesus Christ has perfectly honored God's law for
His people. Perfectly honored it. He has
fulfilled the last demands of the law by laying down His life
for us. And Christ sets us free from
the bondage of the law, from the curse of the law, and from
the dead letter of the law. Our Lord Jesus Christ has delivered
us from the law, that being dead we're in, we were held. that
we should serve in newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness
of the letter, Romans 7.6. Our Lord Jesus Christ has the
right and power to set us free. And that's exactly what He does. That's exactly what He does.
He sets the captives free. This is the Gospel. This is the
gospel of Jesus Christ. This is the good news of the
gospel that Christ has redeemed His people from their sins. He's
redeemed His chosen people. He's purchased them with His
own precious blood. We are not our own. We are not
our own. As Christ has purchased us. And
on Calvary's cross, all our sins, were paid for, and all our enemies
were vanquished, who shall bring any charge to
God's life? Who? I remember hearing Henry again,
and I've mentioned this before, but it's worth bringing up again.
He said, he said, there'd be no judgment for God's people.
And how do we know that? Because scripture declares who
shall bring any charge to God's life. If we could be bought into
judgment, then there'd be a charge against us. But there's no charge
against us because Christ justifies us. This is wonderful. This is, this is good news. That's
good news. Good news for this sinner. I'll
tell you what, I don't deserve this. Not at all. We don't deserve
this mercy, this grace, but God bestows it upon His people. Those
very people that He chose according to the purpose of His will in
eternity. And His hand will not be stained. He shall save His
people from their sins, and He's done it, and He shall get every
one of His sheep beloved. Oh, and don't forget, we don't
know who his sheep are. That's why we pray for our loved
ones, don't we, who don't know him. And we'll keep praying until
they breathe their last breath. Oh my. God has quickened us. God has
quickened us when we were dead. God has forgiven us all our trespasses. God has redeemed us. The Lord
Jesus Christ, God incarnate in the flesh. He purchased us. And He has vanquished all our
enemies. Now think of this, beloved. What comfort and strength this
brings us tonight, but what comfort and strength this would bring
the Colossian believers too. The Colossian believers are in
conflict with false teachers who are telling them that they
must do something to be saved. That they must do something to
be saved. That they must have a secret
knowledge, to have a deeper understanding of who God is. In Paul, in these
three verses that we just looked at, Boy, oh boy, what great comfort
for God's people. It's all in Christ. You see how
He's just building and building upon the supremacy of Christ
and the all-sufficiency of Christ? No hope in the flesh. No hope
in the flesh. We only hope in Christ and Him
alone. And in the Lord Jesus Christ, we have the forgiveness
of all our sins. All. We have the forgiveness
of all our trespasses. In Christ Jesus our Lord, the
law has been fulfilled. The handwriting of ordinances
that was against us has been blotted out. In Christ Jesus, all our foes,
all our enemies have been conquered. And our great Captain, Our great
Lord, our great King, is the conqueror. He's the conqueror. He's the conqueror. And beloved,
He's reigning right now, right this second, and the next second,
and the next second after that, all into eternity. Oh my. He's the victor. May we as believers
rest and repose in this. May we just rest and repose in
Christ and Him alone. Our wonderful Savior. Our wonderful
Redeemer. Our wonderful God. The God of
our salvation. May He be exalted. May God be
magnified. May he receive all the glory,
because he's worthy of it. We saw that tonight. We see that
in every single message. He's worthy of all the glory.
He's worthy of all the honor. He's the one who's done all the
things we've looked at tonight for us. And he's done it by his own power.
What a great God. Oh, brethren, let us magnify
our Lord and Savior. May we praise His name. He is
the all-sufficient Savior. He is the Supreme One. He is
Lord of lords, King of kings, and Lord of lords. In His name,
we say, Lord Jesus Christ. Gracious Heavenly Father, we
come before Thy throne. Oh, so thankful. Lord Jesus,
we are so thankful. We who believe are so thankful
for what You've done for us. All our trespasses and sins are
forgiven by the shedding of Your precious blood, by You fulfilling
the law for us in our room and place. All the claims that the
law had upon us are blotted out. Oh, Lord, may we just marvel
at this and all our enemies have been vanquished. You are a conquering
king and you protect your people and watch over your people. Oh,
may we be quick to give you all the glory and we love you because
you first loved us. In Jesus' name, amen.