Well, tonight we'll continue
our journey and we'll be in verse 27 tonight in Colossians. Verse
27 tonight in Colossians. The name of the message is the
hope of glory. The hope of glory. But I'd like
to read verse 27 in context. So let's start in verse 25 and
we'll read the verse 29. The hope of glory. Wherefore,
I am made a minister according to the dispensation of God, which
is given to me for you to fulfill the word of God, even the mystery
which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now
is made manifest to his saints, to whom God would make known
what is the riches of the of the glory of this mystery among
the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory, whom
we preach, warn in every man and teach in every man in all
wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.
Whereunto I also labor, striving according to his working, which
worketh in me mightily. Now last week we looked at verse
26, and we looked at the mystery. The mystery which has been hid
from ages, from ages, and from generations. and is now made manifest to His
saints. And it's made manifest to God's
saints in the Gospel and in the Lord Jesus Christ who the Gospel
is all about. I was reading a book this week
and the gentleman was talking in the book about how, and I'd
like to just preface the message tonight with this, about how
the culture in the Colossian world and in the world that Paul
was in, There was thousands of gods. Thousands of gods. So here comes Paul and the apostles
and the Christians and they're preaching that there's only one
God. And He is the true God. Now remember,
they lived in a society where everybody didn't mind you having
other gods. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?
Sounds very familiar. where people didn't mind what
you believed, as long as, you know, no waves getting made,
everybody just get along and sing Kumbaya, right? That's how
our society is right now, too. It's the same way. So what Paul
taught actually was counter-cultural to what the world that they lived
in. So I wanted to preface that tonight. And the guy went on
to say it was counter-cultural what he was teaching and preaching,
which it is, and it's the same for us today even. Society looks
at us and thinks, who are these folks? But the guy brought out
a really good point. He said, here they are going
forward, preaching the gospel, and John, you'll appreciate this
as a soldier, when he's writing the epistles, he's also fighting
a rearguard action. against anyone behind who's springing
up within the churches, and they're teaching error already. They're
teaching error. So he's fighting a rearguard
action, and they're going forward with the gospel too. So let us
remember that as we read this. This is why Paul is magnifying
the supremacy of Christ, because they believe in all these different
gods, these people, cultures. There's thousands, literally
thousands of different gods. But they're all false gods, of
course, we know that, because they're the gods of people's
imaginations. So I just wanted to preface the message with that
tonight, just to give us kind of a historical background to
the writing of the letter to the Colossians. So we'll be in
verse 27 tonight. And again, I pray as always that
the Holy Spirit will illuminate the Scriptures for us and teach
us of Christ. This is what we want to know.
We want to learn about our Savior. We want to learn about our King.
More and more about Christ, less and less of ourselves. And now
in the world that we live in, we live in a world where there's
very little hope amongst young people. Young people and sometimes
amongst people in general. Very little hope. They see things
that are going on and the future is extremely uncertain and they
don't have any idea. And no hope. I talked to my daughter.
I said, does any of the kids in your generation, do they have
hope? And she said, no, a lot of them have no hope at all.
She's not saved. And she even said that. She goes,
they don't have any hope. And I said, well, we as believers,
we have hope. We have hope. Look at verse 27.
To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory
of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope
of glory. We have a hope. We have a hope that other people
don't have. See, the world can look like
it's going to chaos and we have a peace that passes all understanding
and people don't understand that. How do you guys not get worked
up? Well, we get a little anxious sometimes, yeah, but we just
have to constantly remind ourselves that God is upon the throne.
That's what I have to do. I get anxious and I get worked
up and I just have to go, Wayne, God's in control. Like Brother
Newell said, if we really focused on who God is, if we really got
that in our minds, oh, but we battle the flesh every day. We battle the flesh. So the believer's
hope is the Lord Jesus Christ. As Brother Newell said too, without
Him we don't have any hope. We have no hope outside of Christ.
None at all. He is our hope. He's our hope.
He's the believer's hope. Now some folks have deluded themselves
with false hopes. With false hopes. Some folks
hope in their strength. They're strong. They hope in
their strength. But as they grow old, their strength
lessens. Their strength lessens. And they
find out, usually too late, that this was a false refuge. It was
a false refuge. And they enter into a Christless
eternity. Oh, there's hope and riches. But this is also a false
hope. They put their trust in what
they have and their material possessions or their riches,
and they die and someone else gets it all. Someone else gets
it all. Someone else inherits the riches
and they enter into a Christless eternity with the riches not
helping them at all. And scripture says this, for
what shall profit a man if he shall gain the whole world? If
he'd be as rich as Bill Gates. Look at that guy who owned Apple.
He went into a Christless eternity. All that money he had. into a Christless eternity. For
what shall a prophet a man if he shall gain the whole world
and lose his soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his
soul? Mark 8, 36 and 37. Now money
is, we use money to live and to, I'm not saying that, but
I'm talking about people who trust in those things. They trust
in those things. Others hope in their supposed
good works. We all know people who are like that. They trust
in their supposedly good works to get them to heaven, to gain
them favor with God. But as we looked on at Sunday
morning, these are nothing but broken cisterns, aren't they?
They won't hold any water. And God will not accept our works.
Not at all. There's only one work that He'll
accept. Only one. And that's the Lord Jesus Christ
and Him alone. So there's only one hope. Only
one hope for sinners, and that is Christ. And without Him, we
have no hope. So let's go back to our text.
To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory
of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope
of glory. To whom God would make known
what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles,
which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Now let us remember
that this was the mystery spoken of here was concealed from all
eternity. It was concealed from all eternity. Therefore, it existed. It existed
from eternity. It existed from eternity. Therefore,
it was not an invention of the Apostle Paul. Turn, if you would,
to Acts chapter 17. It wasn't an invention of the
Apostle Paul, and it wasn't an invention of the Apostles. The
Athenians called it a new doctrine. But oh, what
Paul preached to them is an ancient gospel. An ancient gospel. Look at Acts 17, verses 19 and
20. And they took him and brought
him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine? Whereof thou speakest? But thou
bringest certain strange things to our ears, and we would know,
therefore, what these things mean. Now the gospel to the Athenian
ears was strange, was a new doctrine. But it was eternal, beloved.
It's the eternal gospel. It speaks of the One who shed
His own precious blood for the everlasting covenant. So the
Gospel might indeed sound new in the ears of the Athenians.
However, it was not new. It's eternal. Turn, if you would,
to Hebrews 13. Hebrews 13. It's an everlasting
covenant. It's a covenant made in eternity
by God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And Christ ratified
that covenant with His own precious blood. With His own precious
blood. Look at Hebrews 13, verse 20.
In light of what the Athenians said to them, Paul, look at this
now, the God of peace, verse 20. Now the God of peace that
bought again from the dead, our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd
of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant.
Oh, this gospel was purposed and planned by God in eternity. in eternity. It's the everlasting
covenant. And it pleased God. It pleased
God that it should be concealed for ages and generations. It
pleased God. But now it's made manifest to
the saints. How? By the preaching of the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. By the preaching of the gospel.
Let's look in our text. Look at this. To whom God would
make known. To whom God would make known.
Remember, it's concealed. From ages and generations, the
verse before says, and in our text says, here to whom God would
make no one. Remember on Sunday how we looked
at Christ as the fountain of living waters? He's the fountain
of living waters. And that a fountain springs from
its source, right? A fountain springs from its source
here before us. We have the spring or cause of
the manifestation of the mystery spoken of in the preceding verse.
Here it is, to whom God would make known. Here's the source. Here's the fountain. Oh, this
mystery has been hid from ages and generations, but now it's
made manifest to the saints. Look at verse 26. Even the mystery
which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now
is made manifest to the saints. And then to whom God would make
known. To whom God would make known. This mystery was manifested and
it was not discovered or bought forth by our labors. It was not discovered or bought
forth by our labors, but it was manifested by God to His saints. to His saints. And our verse
tonight tells us that the source of this mystery of the Gospel
is the Lord Jesus Christ, is God. He's the source of the mystery
of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And He who makes it known,
it is He who makes it known what is the riches of the glory of
this mystery to His people. And unless God who concealed
it, unless God who concealed it had not revealed it, No man
would have known it. No man, because no man would
have sought the Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. But oh, God
who concealed it, reveals it to His saints. I ask you, Saint of God, aren't
you thankful? Aren't you thankful? It's humbling,
isn't it? It's humbling. Turn, if you would, to 2 Corinthians
4, verses 5-7. We read this same truth. We read
this same truth in 2 Corinthians 4, verses 5-7. Oh, that God would make known
to you. If you're here and you don't know Christ, that God would
make known to you the mystery. The mystery. Look at 2 Corinthians
4, verses 5 and 7. For we preach not ourselves.
The preacher doesn't preach himself. We preach Christ. We preach Christ. 2 Corinthians 4, verses 5 and
7. For we preach not ourselves,
but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus'
sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness,
has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, that we have
this treasure on earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power
may be of God and not of us. God beloved. Remember our text,
to whom God would make known? Think of that in light of what
we just heard. God commands the light to shine out of darkness.
Oh, it's marvelous. It's marvelous. How does He do
it? Through the preaching of His
Gospel. And God commands the same light to shine in our hearts.
To shine in our hearts as well. He makes known to all of us what
are the riches of the glory of this mystery. God does not call
His people with a holy calling according to anything in us. Nothing in us. But it's all according
to His mercy. Look at our text again. To whom
God would make known. It's all according to His mercy. All according to His grace. And
when did He purpose this? For His people. Before the foundation
of the world. There was nothing we could do
to prepare ourselves to receive the Gospel. As we do not seek God in our
natural state, we do not understand God. There's none of us who are
in our natural state. God will accept none of us in
our natural state, in our unregenerate state. We're dead in trespasses
and sins, but He will accept those who are in Christ. Oh, and what does it do? It shows
us our desperate need for Christ. God doesn't look down through
time and see who would choose Him, as there's none who would
seek Him. We've heard that lie before from
false preachers. You can destroy it by saying
no one would seek Him. No one. None righteous. We are saved, beloved, we who
are saved. We who are saved to whom God
would make known. We who are saved are saved by
the pure and free and sovereign grace of God in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Plus, absolutely nothing else. It is He who must reveal this
wonderful mystery to us, or we will never know Christ. We who believe are redeemed by
the Lord Jesus Christ, who is God in the flesh. He is God incarnate
in the flesh. God incarnate in the flesh. This
is why we all say, grace preachers always say, don't look to me,
look to Christ. Look to Him. I'm just a sinner saved by grace,
preaching to the One who can save all who come to Him. And His people will come. His
people will come. We are redeemed by the Lord Jesus
Christ who is God in the flesh, saved by the power of God, regenerated
by the power of the Holy Spirit, and kept by the power of God
And one day, we who believe will be glorified by the power of
God. We will see Christ face to face. Turn, if you would, to Matthew
chapter 11. Matthew chapter 11. So in this little saying here,
this little part of the verse where it says, to whom God would
make known, we can conclude that salvation is of the Lord. It's
of the pure and sovereign and good will and good pleasure of
God to save His people from their sins. Look at Matthew 11, verses
26 and 27. Look at this. It's God's will to save His people,
and He saves whomever He pleases. Look at this. Verse 26-27, Even
so, Father, for it seemed good in Thy sight. All things are
delivered unto Me of My Father, and no man knoweth the Son but
the Father. Neither knoweth any man the Father
save the Son, and He to Whomsoever the Son will reveal Him. God must reveal Christ or we
will never ever know Him. And God manifests Himself to
whomever He pleases. He's pleased to do. And it's
based upon nothing in us again. And we can't get puffed up with
the fact, we who are saved, we can't get puffed up that we're
saved. Because we're no more deserving
than anyone else. We're saved by the pure mercy
and free and sovereign grace of God in Christ. His mighty power has been manifested
in our lives and He's chosen to reveal Christ to us. So it's God who has made known
unto us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure,
which He had purposed in Himself. And this is all done according
to His sovereign will. Folks got the wills mixed up.
Man's will is bound to his nature. God has an absolute free and
sovereign will to do whatever he pleases with whomever he pleases,
whenever he pleases. He's God. He's God. And the same will of God, which
is the cause of the concealment in which the Gospel was hidden
from ages, the same will of God, which is the cause of the concealment
in which the Gospel was hidden from ages and generations, is
the reason the Gospel is now revealed to His saints. Because it's the will of God. It sure makes you grateful. We
who are saved. We who are saved. Turn if you
would to Luke chapter 10. Luke chapter 10. Luke chapter 10 verse 21. The
will of God is the reason The cause of the concealment of the
Gospel and the mystery which was hidden from ages and generations,
but it is also the reason the Gospel is now revealed to His
saints. Look at Luke 10, verse 21. In
that hour, Jesus rejoiced in spirit and said, I thank Thee,
O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou hast hid these
things from the wise and prudent and has revealed them unto babes.
There it is again. Revealed them. The Gospel, beloved,
is a revelation to his people. Even so, Father, for it seemed
what? Good in thy sight. Why was the Gospel revealed to
me? Why was the Gospel revealed to
you who believe? Because it seemed good in the
Father's sight. What a precious salvation. And
this takes everything away from anything we can do, don't it?
And it just makes us so grateful for what we have, for what we
have in Christ. So we can conclude that the manifestation
of the mystery which was concealed for ages and generations is now
made manifest to God's saints, and it is all the good pleasure
of God to do that. So our text continues. What is
the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles? Here
in our text, the riches of this mystery among the Gentiles. What
are some of the riches of this glorious mystery? Paul is here
again continuing to build upon the supremacy of Christ. You
see? He's doing that rear action. Right into the Colossians. And
he is contending for the faith. building upon the supremacy of
the Lord Jesus Christ, which we've seen all through this chapter.
And here he proclaims the riches of the glory of this mystery.
Now, what are some of the riches? What are some of the riches?
And we can find great comfort here as believers. What are some
of the riches of this glorious mystery, which are more precious
than gold? You could have all the gold in
the world, and all the silver in the world, and all the precious
gems in the world, and they are not as valuable as these riches
that are in Jesus Christ our Lord. Because they're all going
to fade away. What are some of the riches?
The rich blessing of justification before God. The sinner, black with his sin,
is justified before God just as if I never sinned. All because
of the sacrifice of Christ. The rich blessing of a full pardon of all our sins. Not just some of them, Do you see how all the riches
in the world cannot compare to this? Because all the riches
in the world couldn't buy you into heaven. The riches of reconciliation,
peace with God. How? Through the great peacemaker,
the Lord Jesus Christ. We looked at that earlier, eh? The riches of adoption. The riches of adoption and being
made an heir of eternal life, which is in Christ Jesus our
Lord. Adoption. Adopted into the family of God. It's incredible. The riches of
eternal life. Eternal life. We may die here,
but we who believe will live forever with our great King because
of what He's done. Because of what He's done. Because
He's redeemed our eternal souls. The riches of wisdom, the riches
of righteousness, the riches of sanctification, and the riches
of redemption. the believers bought and paid
for. How? By the precious blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. You could pack all the silver
of the world, all the gold of the world, all the jewels of
the world, all the paper money of the world, and it can't hold
a candle to what we have in Christ. To what we have in Christ. Let us remember, if it were not
for this wonderful electing grace which is in the Lord Jesus Christ,
all would have perished. But God has chosen to save a
people in Jesus Christ our Lord from eternity. This is why we
preach and proclaim the Gospel. God does the saving and He does
the drawing. We proclaim Christ. He's the
only way. He's the only way. Now, Paul
here pens the glory of this mystery. What is the riches of the glory
of this mystery among the Gentiles? Paul pens the glory of this mystery. Nothing so suitably shows forth
the divine glory of God than the manifestation of the grace
of God in the Gospel and the Lord Jesus Christ to His people.
It manifests God's grace. Here before us in the Gospel,
God manifests His compassion towards His people, His justice
towards sin, His holiness, His righteousness, His wisdom, His
mercy shines forth in the pardoning of His people by the sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary's cross. as their substitute. All
these magnificent things shine forth. They shine forth. God has manifested His grace
and goodness in the saving of His people through the Lord Jesus
Christ. And Christ is the riches of the
gospel, the riches of the divine perfections. which the Gospel
more clearly displays than the works of creation or providence.
His grace is manifest like nowhere else at Calvary's cross. His love is manifested like nowhere
else at Calvary's cross. Oh, these riches are all in Christ. He is the fullness of them. And the Gospel reveals that he
who was rich became poor. Why? To make us rich with these
riches of these marvelous Gospel truths. The riches of the glory
of this mystery. He who was rich became poor.
And the rich promises of the Gospel are all found where? In
Christ. They're all found in Christ.
And they're all in Him, yea and amen. All of them. And these
rich promises relating to this life. Turn, if you would, to
Ephesians chapter 2. And then put your finger on chapter
3. These rich promises relating to this life and that which is
to come are manifested to God's saints, both Jew and Gentile.
How? Through the preaching of the
Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The mystery which has been hid
from ages and generations is now manifested to His saints. Look at Ephesians 2, verse 7,
that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of
His grace and His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. And
then turn over to Ephesians 3. These riches are unsearchable.
What is the riches? The glory of this mystery among
the Gentiles. Our text says, well, look at
Ephesians 3, 8 and 9, whereof I was made a minister according
to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual
working of His power. Unto me who am the less than
the least of all saints is this grace given that I should preach
among the Gentiles. What? The unsearchable riches
of Christ. the unsearchable riches of Christ. So when we think on the author
of this mystery, and on the subject of this mystery, and the efficacy
of this mystery, we stand amazed having this treasure
revealed to us in the Lord Jesus Christ. Because it's all in Him. It's all outside of Christ. None
of this. But in Christ, we have the mystery
revealed to us. Look, it also says among the
Gentiles. This was not only manifested
to believing Jews, but also among the Gentiles. Look at our text
again in verse 27. To whom God would make known
what is the riches of the glory of this mystery The Gentiles. Among the Gentiles. Now remember
this. We would be considered Gentiles. We were aliens from the Commonwealth
of Israel. Enemies in our minds. Enemies in our minds by wicked
works. Poor, blind, miserable, with
no hope. And one day, God revealed this
glorious mystery. Do you remember before we were
saved? We didn't have a clue, did we? Now we love Christ. Now he's the only one we want
to hear about. We desire to grow and learn. And in Christ Jesus our Lord,
we who believe are redeemed by His precious blood. Pardoned
again for all our sins and iniquities, all because of what Christ has
done. All because of what He did upon the cross, dying in
the room and place of sinners. Paying the price that God demanded
for my sins. And if you're a believer, you
can save for your sins. You see the riches, the riches
of this mystery? How did we hear this wonderful
news about the Lord Jesus Christ? By the preaching of His Word.
The Holy Spirit revealed to us Christ, made Him manifest to
us. And we were made willing in the
day of His power, and we ran to Christ. And our prayer is
that if you're here, or if you listen through the internet,
or later on as it goes out on the internet, that if you're
not one of Christ, that He'd make you willing, that the Holy
Spirit would make you willing and draw you to Christ, show
you your need. And that's our hope and prayer.
Look at our text again. "...to whom God would make known
what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles,
which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." So our text continues
with Christ in you, the hope of glory. Christ Himself is the
treasure of spiritual riches. It's Christ. He's the treasure of spiritual
riches, which we've looked at so far. He bestows those treasures
upon us, right? Justification. Redemption. Pardon. Eternal life. They're all gifts from God. They're all part of the riches
of the mystery. Christ dying on the cross for his people.
Look at Colossians 2, 3, just one chapter over. One chapter
over from our text. Look at this. In whom are hid,
what? All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. They're all in
Christ, beloved. They're all in Him. Think of this. Christ is the head of the church,
right? He's the head of the church. And as from a fountain, a fountain
springs life, right? All life comes from Him. He's
the fountain. And it feeds the lens, right?
It feeds the limbs. Christ is the glory of the Gospel.
He's the author and the subject. He's the author and the subject
and He's the finisher of the Gospel. And it's full of the
glory of His person. And full of the glory of what
He's done. See, religion tells you what
you have to do. The gospel preacher tells you
what Christ has done. He did it all. He redeemed our
soul, didn't he sister? He did it all. He did it all.
It's all Him. It's all by His doing. He's the
only begotten of the Father. He's the sinner's substitute.
He's the only mediator between God and man. He's the only Redeemer
of our eternal souls. The glory of God is manifested
in the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and it is manifested
to His saints. Manifested to His saints through
the Gospel, taught to them by the Holy Spirit of God, by whom
we are born again, and we flee to Christ. We flee to Christ. In the Gospel, we see the glory
of His wisdom. His power, His truth, His faithfulness,
His justice, His holiness, His love, His grace, His mercy, His
salvation, His redemption. In every other perfection, they
are exceedingly held forth in the Gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. of which Christ is the subject. Christ is the object. What He's done for His people. Turn, if you would, to Ephesians
chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4, verses 11
to 13. Oh, I got the wrong verses here. I'm sorry. I'll read this. Wherefore, remember that ye,
being in pastimes Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcised
by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands, that
at that time ye were without Christ. Without Christ. You were without Christ. being
aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from
the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the
world. But now in Christ Jesus ye who
sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ."
That's chapter 2, verses 11-13. Let's look there again. Chapter 2. I had the wrong chapter
there. I'm sorry. Chapter 2, verses
11-13. Wherefore, remember that ye,
being in times past, he's writing to believers, Gentiles in the
flesh who are called uncircumcised by that which is called the circumcision
in the flesh made by hands, that at that time ye were without
Christ. We were without Christ. Being aliens from the commonwealth
of Israel and strangers from the covenant of promise, having
no hope. We're just like everyone else, weren't we? And without God in the world,
But now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off are made
nigh. How? How are we made nigh? How are we bought near? By the
precious blood of Christ. By the precious blood of Christ.
By his redeeming blood. You see, it's not our doing. It's about what He's done. It's
about what He's done by the precious blood of Christ. In our unregenerate
state, we were without Christ. We had no hope and we were without
God. But now in Christ Jesus, you
who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ."
And what does the believer say? Praise His mighty name. Praise
His mighty name. He gets all the glory and all
the honor and all the praise. This is why we want to give it
all to Him. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
believer's hope. The believer in Christ hopes
in nothing and no one else for the salvation of their eternal
soul. Turn, if you would, to 1 Timothy 3. The believer in
Christ has a hope which only has one object, and that is Christ
Jesus alone. The Lord Jesus Christ is God
manifested in the flesh. And the believer in Christ believes
this and rests in this, and it's not up for debate. It's not up
for debate who Christ was. Look at 1 Timothy 3.16. It's
not up for debate. Scripture plainly declares, and
without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God
was manifest in the flesh. Christ was God. justified in
the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on
in the world, received up into glory. Look at that. And without
controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifested
in the flesh. Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. God incarnated in the flesh.
And the believer in Christ believes that Christ was God. And yet
man, he's the God-man who is the believer's redeemer, the
believer's mediator, the believer's savior. And what do we do? We live a life of entering into
the rest of Christ. We live a life of that, don't
we? I remember Joe Terrell telling me, Wayne, the hardest thing
for a believer to do is just rest in Christ. And he told me
that many years ago, and now by experience I totally know
what he means. That's why we have to keep reminding
ourselves, I just need to rest in Christ. I just need to rest
in Him. God has forgiven us for Christ's
sake in and through the sacrifice of Himself by the shedding of
His own precious blood. John 15, verse 5 says this, I
am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me and I in
him, the same bringeth forth much fruit, for without me ye
can do nothing. All who have been taught of God
shall come to faith in Him. They are regenerated by the Holy
Spirit of God and they're made willing to flee to Christ. And true followers of Christ
will believe the record that is set forth in this book." Or believe it. God was manifested in the flesh.
I believe it. Lord Jesus Christ shed his blood
for my sins. I believe it. I believe it. Because this book tells me. Because
God, the Holy Spirit has been pleased to reveal the mystery
that's been hid from ages and generations to we who believe. It's incredible. And we believe
it because this book says it. And this book is a hymn book. It's all about Him. It's all
about Him. All about Christ. True saving
faith rests only in Christ. True saving faith only rests
in Christ. Who He is? God incarnate in the
flesh. The God-man mediator. True saving
faith rests only in Jesus Christ and what He has done. He's redeemed
His people from their sins. The believer says, He's redeemed
me from my sins. My sins. True saving faith rests
only in what He has done, not in anything we can do. Only in
what He has done. True saving faith rests only
in the Lord Jesus Christ and where He is right now. Seated
at the right hand of the Father in majesty and power. And all
of His promises, all the promises of God are in Him, including
His promised return. He will come back. He will. You came as a lamb and you'll
come as a lion. The lion of the tribe of Judah.
And you'll come to take us to our heavenly home. Either in
death or on that great day. And He is where our sure hope
is. He is where our sure hope is. The One who loved us and
gave Himself for us. The exalted Christ of God. The Lord Jesus Christ. The believer's
mediator who is seated at the right hand of the Father in power.
He is the exalted Christ of God in all His glory. I ask you,
believer, is this not a glorious hope that God has set before
us? What a glorious hope that dwells
in the heart of every believer. We know we're sinners, but oh,
what a Savior we have. What a Savior. What a King. The Lord Jesus Christ. And our
text says, Christ in us, the hope of glory. Are you hoping
for heaven? Oh, it's only because of what
Christ has done, isn't it? Only because of what He's done.
And the believer says, praise His mighty Name. We'll give Him
all the glory. Let's go, Lord, in prayer. Heavenly
Father, thank You for tonight in Your Word. Oh, thank You for
manifesting Yourself to we who believe that You manifested Christ
to us. The mystery that's been hid from
ages and generations. And we know, Father, that it's
You who reveals it to the believer by Your precious Holy Spirit
and points us right to Christ, regenerates us, we're born again
of the Holy Spirit of God, and we flee to Christ. Oh, we pray
that if it's Your will, if it's Your will to Bring one of Your
lost sheep to Thee, we pray that You would, through the preaching
of Your Word. Oh, use the preaching of Your
Word to build up Your saints and to draw in Your lost sheep,
we pray, if it's Thy will. And we'll give You all the glory
and honor and praise. In Jesus' name, Amen.