Seeking the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to Colossians, Colossians chapter
2, and reading from our text, verse 6. As ye have therefore received
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. And it is the Last two words
there that are upon my spirit. In him, that is in Christ, how
vital that we be found in him. The Apostle, when he wrote to
the Ephesians, he tells them in the first chapter that they
were chosen in him. In verse 4 he says, according
as he had chosen us in him before the foundation of the world that
we should be holy and without blame before him in love. Chosen us in him. And then He tells the Philippians
in the third chapter of what Christ is to him. He says in verse 7, But what
things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. You know, doubtless, and I count
all things but loss. For the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss
of all things, and do count them but done that I may win Christ,
and then he says this, and be found in him. Not having mine own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. This is what the apostles' desire
was, to be in Him, to be in Christ. In whom he says in verse 3 in
chapter 2 of Colossians, where the text is, in whom are all
the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. So in our text he says of the
Colossians that they have received him as he had therefore received
Christ Jesus the Lord so walk ye in him. There's a real question with
us If we are to speak of this word in him, do we know that
we are in him and what that means? Have we received Christ Jesus
the Lord? We think of the days of our Lord's
flesh when there were many that did not receive him. And yet we read about as many
as received him. To them gave he power to be the
sons of God, even to them which believe on his name. Receiving
him is the same as believing on his name. Those that said
that he was the imposter, that he was the prince of devils,
they didn't receive him. They didn't receive what he said
that he was, the son of God. They didn't receive that the
father was his father. They didn't receive his word. They didn't receive his teaching. But there were some that did
receive it. The Lord says, regarding his servants, Whoso receiveth
you, receiveth me. and he that receiveth me, receiveth
him that sent me. There's a lot that is bound up
with receiving, embracing, acknowledging, and especially the Lord Jesus
Christ, the true Messiah, the true Christ, the only name given
among men, whereby they must be saved. And the Apostle speaks
to these Colossians, they had received Christ. The Apostle had come preaching
to them, and they'd received his word. They believed his word. Our Lord said to the Jews in
John 8 that believed on his name or that received him. He said
to them, if you continue in my word, then you shall be my disciples
indeed. You shall know the truth and
the truth shall make you free. There was a following on from
receiving him with further direction. and teaching from our Lord, that
specifically was to continue in his word, to make a disciple
indeed, a true disciple, true follower of the Lord. The Lord
said, whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him
shall I be ashamed before the Father and the angels. So now text, there's a following,
as well. As ye have therefore received
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. And very often there
is a proving of the reality of what has been done by the effect,
by what follows, by the actions that are actually taken Where there is a true belief,
then there will be those things that accompany salvation. The Lord said that be ye doers
of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. That is a fruit of believing
and receiving of the word. And so we have here The emphasis
of Paul, and this is what really is on my spirit, is in Christ. It is not just walking, but walking
in him. Think perhaps of an illustration
about being in Christ. It can be had with Noah's ark. The ark is a type. the Lord Jesus
Christ. We know that when the ark was
built, then the Lord said, come now into the ark. The Lord was
already there and they were bid to come. Then we have that very
vivid picture of Noah, his family and all the animals that were
in that ark. And the Lord shut him in. And then we have all around the
ark. All of those outside of the ark. You might say all outside of
Christ. When the floods came, they all
perished. Those floods, they bear up the
ark. The ark felt the flood. But those
that were safe in it, they were sheltered from it. They couldn't
even see the destruction around about. And in that ark, they had enough
food for a year and ten days. They had everything that they
needed was in that ark. And this is the picture of in
Christ, the world that lies in wickedness round about, the world
that shall be destroyed by fire next. And we have in Christ, And there
is safety, and there is a provision, and there is that ring safely
over the flood, the other side. We think of the other picture
of the church in the wilderness, going from Egypt to the promised
land. We read that they drank of that
spiritual rock that followed them and that rock was Christ. They had also the manna from
heaven to feed them and they had the fire by night, the cloud
by day to guide them. Everything was centering in Christ. They had the tabernacle, which
is a type of Christ. They had the ark, which is a
type of Christ. They had the altar, the sacrifices,
which were types of Christ. Christ was the center in everything. There was a looking unto Him,
guided by Him, feeding upon Him. Our Lord said, except you eat
the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man, Man, he had
no life in you. And so that being in Christ,
or in him, a very close union, a very vital doctrine, beginning
with being chosen in him. When chosen, it was chosen not
in ourselves, but in the Lord Jesus Christ. Behold, I and the
children whom thou hast given me. Why? We cannot tell, we do
not know. All we know is there is nothing
foreseen in us, no good in us, no reason at all why we were
chosen and others were not, if indeed we are chosen. All is
of God, the sovereignty of God. Joined to this afternoon at four
points from this chapter beginning with our text and the exhortation
to walk in Him. There's four things where we
have in Him. In verse six we have the Exhortation,
so walk ye in Him. In verse 7, we have rooted and
built up in Him. And in verse 9, we are told that
in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And then
in verse 10, ye are complete in Him. which is the head of
all principality and power. And of course the Apostle had
already said before them in the first chapter, verse 19, for
it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell. And then he goes on in this chapter,
they set forth that fullness in Christ and what is in him. So I want to look first at the words
of the context of the text itself. As ye have therefore received
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. I believe there's a right joining
together of the receiving of walking,
as he hath therefore received Christ, so walk ye in him. The way the people of God receive
the Lord Jesus Christ will affect their walk. If they receive him as just a
man, receive him as having no authority, then their walk will reflect how they
have received him. But if we receive him, and we
receive who he is, and how he has been set before us in the
scriptures, then that is how we are to walk. in him. If the Lord has shown us and
set forth the Lord Jesus as the great eternal God from everlasting
to everlasting, then we will have that mark. God is greatly
to be feared in the assembly of the saints to be had in reverence
of all them that are about him. because we perceived him in that
way. But then if we have been led
by the Spirit to view like the eunuch that in his humiliation
his judgment was taken away, that he was led as a lamb to
the slaughter and sheep before her, sheer as his dome, so he
opened not his mouth. And like Paul says before the
Philippians, that he was at first with the Father, but then humbled
himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross, wherefore God hath highly exalted him. And we've seen that
humility, willing humility of the Lord. Then that is also how
we will walk, to be as an imitator of him, The Apostle Paul says,
be ye followers of me, as I also am of Christ. And how the Lord acted here below. We shall never walk perfectly,
our righteousness that we must stand in is in Christ's righteousness. But as we view him, and the Lord
says, learn of me, take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for
I am meek and lowly in heart, ye shall find rest unto your
souls. And it is as we have received
the Lord, and that then will affect how we actually walk. The disciples, they said, they
took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus. There's
some of the spirit and grace of the Lord that rested upon
them. When the disciples were with
the Lord and the Samaritans did not receive him, the disciples
said, shall we call down fire from heaven and consume them
as Elias did? But the Lord said, You know not
what spirit you are of. The Son of Man came not to destroy
men's lives, but to save them. And the Lord reproved as he was
with them. They were not of his spirit,
not in what they were saying. That being with him, they had
to learn by experience, and no doubt they never forgot what
they learned, what they were going to do. but what Christ
did. And it is in this way, as we
receive of the Lord Jesus Christ, that then each step regulates
our walk and our conduct. Maybe the Lord has made precious
to us that we have been saved by grace. By grace you're saved. John, he says, of his fullness
have all we received, and grace for grace. The Lord's given a
spirit of grace and supplication. And as we pray, then he's given
us further helps and deliverances. And as we receive that as the
free unmerited favor of God. So that is how we walk in a gracious
walk. not an ungracious war, but reflecting
what we have received of the Lord. Remember the Lord's parable
of the man that had been forgiven 500 bands, frankly forgave them
all. But then he went and he took
his fellow servant by the throat. And the Lord was angry with that
man. He said, I forgave thee all thy
debt, because thou desirest me. And good as thou art not thou,
have forgiven thy servant, thy brother, that debt. And the Lord's
inference was, that man had known the mercy and grace and forgiveness
of the Lord. And he was to walk in that same
way. Not forgiving. as greater debt,
but even a lesser debt, a small one, that he is to walk in that
way that he himself had tasted and received of the Lord. That is why Paul says here, as
ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in
him, walking actually in his Spirit, walking in that covenant,
walking as in that way that he is set to be. In John, in the
beautiful time as the shepherd, when he put forth his sheep,
he goeth before them. What do sheep do? They walk after
him. They follow after him. And he's
in that way, in him, in the footsteps of the flock. In the way that
he went, or as the hymn says, in the way the saints of old
went. That's a great blessing. If we
have that forerunner, his track I see, the narrow way I'll pursue,
till him I view. When we view that our faith comes
from Him and is kept alive by Him, Peter had to prove this. I have prayed for thee that thy
faith follow not. And he was never to forget the
dependence upon the Lord to keep alive his faith. Peter started
off in pride, but the Lord knew how to deal with that pride.
And so how he walked then, was in that humble way, depending
upon the Lord. We may ask ourselves then, and
especially if we may question, have we really received Christ
Jesus the Lord? You might say, well, in a way
we've been a bit like Timothy, that had known the scriptures
from his youth, from a child, to the Pilgrim Home on Thursday. One of the dear friends there,
she's in her 90s, she said, you know, I was taught to read from
the scriptures when I was five. Ever since she was read, she
learned to read in the family through the scriptures. I said
to her, well, you can say with Timothy, or say what Paul said
of Timothy. We've known the scriptures from
a child. And a great blessing not only
to know them, but to be blessed through them as well. But sometimes
when we have been brought up, then we can be greatly tried. Have we really been changed?
Have we really been converted? Do we really know the Lord? Or
is it just because I've been brought up? under the sound of
the truth. Well, he gives a token of that. Those things that we have received, do we walk in them? Those things
that we have seen through the lattice of the scriptures as
they've been preached to us, might seem a little bit there,
and a little there. And it's been of a light in the
dark place. And it's had that effect of affecting
how we walk and what we do. There is a true token that is
here. As we have therefore received
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him. Paul's directing the
Colossians in that way. And it is an exhortation to us. There's also a token where we
can look back and we say, yes, that has accompanied those things
that I have received. It has affected my walk and my
conduct. And maybe sometimes the Lord
will bring to remembrance, the Holy Spirit bring to remembrance,
maybe one point, one particular time, one particular time, The
mind goes back to that chapel, back to that sermon, or back
to that passage, and you can't deny the effect that that's had. Something you stopped doing,
or began to do, and it was because of what you saw in Christ. In heaven, may we then fulfill
this work, that we walk in him. Maybe we've seen the beauties
of his death, his resurrection. I know when the Lord favoured
and blessed my soul. And reading in. It's actually the lunch hour
at work. Cheering words. What think ye,
humble believer of the bread and wine, blessed memorials of
Christ's dying love. Why do you hesitate if I take
of them? And I knew what I thought of
them because it was being made so precious in the recent blessing. That was what I thought about
the exercise of walking in the ordinances of his house. That's
comprehended here, isn't it? Those that walk in baptism, the
Lord's Supper, is because they've received Christ, has died for
them and risen again for their justification. Their hope is
solely in the precious blood that was shed for them at Calvary. And therefore they're walking
here. We mentioned the eunuch and that
was the very first effect that the preaching of the Lord Jesus
Christ and as he received Jesus of Nazareth, as Jesus being the
Son of God, he desired to be baptized. So walk ye in him. The second point is that which
you'll find in verse 7. Rooted and built up in him, and
established in the faith as ye have been taught, abounding therein
with thanksgiving. There's really two illustrations
The first one is rooted, the second is built up in him. When I was young I did work for
my father in the nursery, and he did those two things. He used
to grow roses, which we had the rootstock, which was a very strong
root, no flowers or anything, it was just a straggly, pluck,
pluck, pluck. And that would grow for a year
or so. And then that would be cut off
and a bud from whatever rose we wanted it to be would be cut
into that stem. There'd only be two inches or
so sticking above the ground And we cut a T-slot in it and
slipped the bud in and then we bound it up with budding tape.
And that would then grow into the rose that that little bud
was. But it was grafted in to that
rootstock. And that rootstock had already
got a good hold. It wasn't just a little sapling. It had got a great big root structure
already. And so then it thrusts up that
The barn, a very strong rose for the second year, which was
then sold. And then many things like that
was done with the fruit trees as well. And the idea is rooted
here, is that which is a real establishing, real firm, not
going to be tossed about, not going to be pulled down to the
ground, It is already established. It is already. The foundation
of God standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them
that are his. And we mentioned at the beginning
that God's children are chosen in him. The faith of the people
of God is not something that just begins at the moment that
they believe. That is, as it were, the tip
of the iceberg. That is, just as it were, the
bud that is coming out. But it goes right back. We read
in Jeremiah 31, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love,
and therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee. And the idea
of this what is done for the people of God, they have a Real
root, real foundation. The other illustration here is
as a building built up in him. There is a foundation. Other
foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Christ
Jesus, the Lord. And the Church of God and every
individual member in it, they are built up in him. They're not tossed to and fro
in every wind of doctrine. They're put on that which is
already the rock of ages. Already that which countless
thousands of the people of God have tried and proved their long
cloud of witnesses as Hebrews 11, that they all have been in
Christ. You know, Paul, he speaks of
those believers that were in Christ before me and They are
found in him or found resting on that foundation or joined,
united to that foundation. Whether it be the illustration
or plant, it is so that that bud becomes part of the plant. You can't separate it. It grows
into it, grows in one to another. It's part of it. With the building,
the walls are joined to the base. It's part of it. It becomes part
of the one building. It's not two buildings, it's
one little building. And so with Christ, rooted and
built up in him, and established in the faith. It is so vital
that we have those things, like the man that was born blind.
They tried and tried to move him off the fact of the blessing
of the Lord and who he was. But he said, one thing I know,
whereas I was blind, now I see. If this man were not a God, he
could do nothing. Why, herein is a marvellous thing
that he hath opened mine eyes. And the Lord had given him, right
at the very beginning, those things that had given him more
of a foundation and an anchor than any of those that came against
him. And here's a lesser thing, that
that should be so. And where it is so, then there's
a building up in him. Not a restarting, not going another
way, but being taught line upon line, here a little and there
a little. Paul, he has a very sad word
to those in the Hebrews. He views them that have been
a long time in the way. But he said, you have need of
milk and not strong drink. He said, you should by now be
feeding upon more solid food. You think of a child that when
it is built up it has milk and that first, but then it moves
to solid food. If it never did, there'd be something
wrong. And so with the things of God
as well, it's not just the foundation truths, but to know
a little deeper of the things of God, to be built up in Him,
established in the faith. Now off we drive around the roads,
especially where there's been a new motorway done, or new road,
and they've planted up all the trees, and you see all of these
little tubes around the plant. The whole idea is that those
small saplings, they have time to get established, time to get
strong enough to stand on their own. And it's expected that they
will grow. Well, here is the picture as
well. Established in the faith. As you have been taught about
their end with thanksgiving. So the wording, Verse 8, beware
lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit. Comes
very close really. My own nephews, made profession,
baptised, member. And then he studied philosophy
at university. Cast away all his faith. Completely
gone away from the faith. No solemn, solemn thing. And
we should heed such a warning here, beware. You might think,
oh, we couldn't be spoiled. We couldn't be turned aside.
We couldn't go after these traditions of man, rudiments of the world,
not after Christ. But there are those that have,
and we've seen it. who never believed in seeing
their profession, hearing their prayers, that ever they would
have turned aside. It's vital that we be kept. Vital
that the building up and the establishing is in him and not
something else growing up beside. You know, sometimes there can
be those Things that threaten the growth of a plant, and they've
got to be pruned away, cut away, that it be the plant as intended
that grows up, and not some thing that will take the life of it
away. So that's the second. Exhortation. Rooted and built up in him, established
in the faith, The third thing is the beautiful
statement in verse 9. For in him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. In him. In the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord had a body just like
you and I. A soul just like you and I. And in that body and in that
soul there was the fullness of the Godhead bodily. It's a mystery
to him. Now God contracted to a span,
incomprehensibly made man, says the hymn writer. The great is
the mystery of godliness, God manifest in the flesh. Emmanuel,
God with us. Solomon, he says, the heaven
and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee, how much less this
building that I have built thee. And will God indeed dwell upon
the earth? He did. Our Lord Jesus Christ
in heaven dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Well,
what is all the fullness? of the Godhead, what is actually
meant by that. We think of God as having attributes,
having things that belong to him. And there are some of those
attributes which cannot possibly be given to anyone else. When John says, of his fullness
have all we received, He doesn't mean that we've received so that
we, like him, is eternal, from everlasting to everlasting. He
doesn't mean that we could be immutable, that we never ever
change. Or that we're omniscient, that
we're all-knowing or omnipresent in everywhere and every place.
God is that, but we cannot be. nor omnipotent or powerful, we
cannot be like him in that way. His blessedness, his glory, those
things that belong to God, God alone and no man, no creature
will ever have those things. It's not of that fullness that
we receive or that fullness that is designed here for the people
of God. It is those things he does communicate. The holiness of God. Peter says, be ye holy, for I
am holy. That is what the Lord is saying.
The grace, we've spoken of the grace. The apostle Paul knew
of that. The grace of God, by grace you
are saved through faith and not of yourselves. And when, with
the thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan debuffered him, my grace
is sufficient for thee. And there was communicating the
grace of the Lord to Paul. He says, I labored more abundantly
than them all, yet not I. but the grace of God. By the
grace of God I am what I am. I've been communicated from Christ
to him. His righteousness, this is the
name wherewith he shall be called the Lord our righteousness. And
as a church, this is the name wherewith she shall be called
the Lord our righteousness. The righteousness that is communicated
is not that which belongs to God, that cannot be given, but
that which belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ, the true and living
God, but that is wrought out for his people and made to be
given to his people. He that hath two coats, let him
give to him that hath none. Without a seam, says the hem-writer,
his garments wove bequeathed everlasting love to be a royal
robe to cover thee. And we do not have any righteousness. We do not have that coat, none
of our own. All our righteousness is those
filthy rags. But the Lord gives us that. He
gave to Adam a clothing of the skins from the animals that had
been slain. And so it is that we also receive
of that fullness of righteousness for his people. He hath received
of his goodness for the poor. And the Lord communicates to
his people that goodness, and that they also reflect that.
He communicates the love. By this shall all men know that
ye are my disciples indeed, in that ye love one another. We
know that we have passed from death to life, in that we love
the brethren. Why? Because of something in
ourselves? Something just stirred up? Something
that was actually there and needed to be exercised? No. We love Him because He first
loved us. And that is communicated to us. God begins first with us and
gives us that love. We spoke before of the mercy
and received and showed mercy to another. It is another thing
that is bestowed by the Lord. Be merciful for your Father which
is in heaven is merciful and that we are to receive of his
fullness. The compassion that the Lord
has to us, we show also that compassion one to another as
well. The long-suffering of our Lord
Jesus Christ You're also to have that. And the tribulations and
the trials that we go through, you've heard of the patience
or endurance of Job, says James. Where did that come from? Not
from Job, but communicated by God to him. And we also need
to receive that from the Lord. The faithfulness of God. God's
children that are called also to be faithful, and that is again
communicated by the Lord. Every grace and every favour
comes to us through Jesus' precious blood that has received gifts
for men, yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might
dwell among them. For in him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and he is partaking of him, as our Lord
said, except ye eat the flesh and drink the blood. For the
Son of Man, ye have no life in you. All that the Church has,
she has as a free gift from the Lord. Then we have in verse 10, And ye are complete in him, which
is the head of all principality and power, all perfect in him,
lacking nothing in Christ. Having Christ, we have everything. There is nothing that we shall
need. It's a beautiful illustration,
isn't it? Being an inheritor with him.
Inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, reserved in heaven forever. Like
Ruth when she married Boaz. All Boaz's riches was hers. No longer a gleaner. No longer
a poor widow. that one with Him, married to
Him. Himmreiter says, Partner of my
throne shalt be. It's a wonderful thing that the
Eternal God, the Eternal Son, should desire to have with Him
on the throne. Father, I will that they whom
thou hast given me, be with me where I am, that they may behold
my glory. that here below we receive of
that glory of what the Lord has for the Church of God and there's
nothing lacking. Everything a poor sinner can
need is to be found in Him. It's no wonder the hymn writer
said, I could from all things part of me, but never, never,
Lord, from Thee. Jesus is the one thing needful
I without him perish last. And he's receiving day by day
that provision from him. And he is proving that union
in him. As in this passage again and
again, in him, in him, in him, in him. May that word remain
with us. Himmler says, once in Him, in
Him forever thus the eternal covenant stands. The beginning
was chosen in Him and all the way along the way makes it the
sinner to be their privilege and that which is their vital
need to receive everything from Him. May the Lord add His blessings. Amen.