Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayer for attention to Paul's epistle to the Colossians,
the portion that we read, chapter one, and reading for our text
as part of verse 23. The words in the middle of that
verse, the hope of the gospel, the hope of the gospel. The whole
verse reads, if ye continue in the faith, grounded and settled,
and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye
have heard and which was preached to every creature which is under
heaven, whereof I, Paul, am made a minister. Paul, writing to the Colossians,
exhorts them that they be not moved away from the hope of the
gospel. And so this evening I desire
to look at what is the hope of the gospel. when Paul was writing
to this church, which was probably founded by Epaphras, that was
referred to in verse seven, as he also learned of Epaphras,
our dear fellow servant, who is for you a faithful minister
of Christ. And he says, who also declared
unto us your love in the spirit, and no doubt also brought reports
that there were those that were teaching contrary doctrines and
turning them away from that hope of the gospel that they had received. We have in the first verse of
the second chapter the conflict that the Apostle had for them
and for them at Laodicea, and he tells us that they hadn't
actually seen him in the flesh. He is writing to them, but they
do not know him. They have not seen him in the
flesh. But his concern is that there
be a deliverance from those that would entice them. He says in
verse 4 of chapter 2, he says, lest any man should beguile you
with enticing words. He says, as ye have therefore
received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. Then in verse
8, beware. lest any man spoil you through
philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the
rudiments of the world, and not after Christ." And so with the
church here, and we know with those in Galatia, he warned them,
those that were trying to bring them back under the law, say
that they had to be circumcised. If they were not, then they would
not be saved. It's a real reminder to us that
where there have been those that have been called by the Gospel,
they have truly believed, and yet amongst them comes those
that are teaching error. And we are told that there must
needs be heresies among you, that is, real serious errors
concerning our Lord Jesus Christ, that they that are approved be
made manifest. And I believe that refers not
just to those that are approved in the ministry or those in the
congregations that will see these errors, and up to that time may
be that They've been a nobody in the congregation, in the church,
but when they see this error, they rise up and they testify
what the truth is. They stand against it and they're
made manifest. They're shown because of these
errors that come and they cannot be silent in them. But it is
also making manifest those that really are a true believer. The fire shall try every man's
work, of what sort it is. And the precious truth is, those
that are really converted, those that are blessed with faith in
Christ, will never perish, they will never turn back, they'll
never go away, because they will hearken to the warnings that
are given, like the Apostle gives the Colossian Church here, they
will take notice, take warning, and they will turn away from
error and evil and cleave to that which is true. Whereas those
that haven't the true work in them, those that are just a superficial
hearer, those that have just taken it in their minds but not
really been converted in their hearts, they will be drawn away
by these things. You know how it is when there
is a a controversy or something is going on, one person comes
along and they tell their version of it and you think, oh, I fully
agree with you there and in all what you're saying. And then
another comes, as the scripture says, his friend, another cometh
and trieth his words and finds out that they're not right. And you listen to the next one
and think, oh, that's plausible as well. That's right as well.
We can easily be dissuaded by every strong word and strong
opinion or strong defence of what they say is right. Tossed
to and fro upon every wind of doctrine is how the scriptures
speak of those that are not grounded in the Lord Jesus Christ. We
think of the man that was born blind and how the Pharisees,
they tried to take him off his faith, tried to take him away
from what good he would say concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. But he
says, one thing I know, whereas I was blind, now I see. And they
couldn't move him away from that because it was wrought in his
heart. It was a real thing. It had changed his life and he
knew it and no one would remove him from it. And that's what
we want. You want that which is what the
Lord has done for us and not be tossed about by what others
say. I remember many years ago over
in Australia, I can remember the part of the road driving
to work and it came into my mind reading the lives of seven of
the Lord's dear people and I felt really cast down. I thought I
haven't got this and I haven't had such a deep work at all and
it was really casting me down. Then the thought came into my
mind, Yes, I believe what they say is right, but I don't know
that. They could be making it all up
for all I know, but what the Lord has done for you, you do
know. And it is better to have one
thing that we know ourselves, that God has taught us from his
word, than to have many notions in our heads from other people. It's so vital. Reading recently
of the solemn case of what is termed in Scripture the disobedient
prophet, the prophet that came and pronounced against the altar
at Bethel. And God had told him that he
should not return by the way that he came. He should not eat
bread or drink water in that place, but go out another way. And he was going to do that.
But then there was another, an old prophet in that place that
so longed to have the company and to see this prophet, that
he sent to him, and he lied to him. And he said that an angel
spake to him and told him to bring him back. And the prophet
then went away from the word that God had told him and believed
what the other person had told him. And when they came back
to eat, then that prophet that brought him back had to suddenly
say to him that because thou hast disobeyed the word of the
Lord, Thou shalt not come to the sepulchre of thy fathers
in peace. And when he went from him, a
lion found him and slew him." It's a most solemn account. Both of those prophets, I believe,
were of the Lord. But the first prophet should
have obeyed the voice of the Lord to him and not believed
where someone else would tell him something different. We are
to cleave to what the Lord has shown us, where it is consistent
with the word of God. There are many that are holding
on to things that have no foundation in the word of God, and in fact
their exercise and their beliefs are contrary to the word of God,
and a grief to the church of God. We're not to hold on to
such persuasions like that. God will never tell us of things
that are contrary to his word, and that are sinful and that
lead to sinful actions in waiting for it to come to pass and expecting
the Lord to do those things. God is not the author of confusion
or the author of sin. But here the apostle has this
real concern for the Colossians, that they be not moved away from
the hope of the gospel. So what is then the hope of the
gospel? What is very interesting in the
letter that the apostle sends to them in the verses that are
before our text, really from verse 12, and leading up to the
text, we have ten very clear blessings and marks of the Gospel. So before he ever gets to warning
and even exhorting them to hold fast to that hope of the Gospel
and not be moved away from it, he's already summed up the hope
of the Gospel. He said it before them. And so
this evening I desire to look at what the Apostle has given
the Colossians and given to us through his letter to them by
the Holy Spirit, these 10 marks of the hope of the Gospel. What
is the hope of the Gospel that we are not to be moved away from? I want to begin with verse 12
and the first three of these concern the hope that is given
us from the father and then he leads to the fourth point in
his beloved son. So the first is and he begins
the verse by giving thanks unto the father. Now this is the first
then hope of the gospel, that hath made us meet to be partakers
with the inheritance of the saints in light. Made us to be meet,
made us to be ready, suitable, fitted to be partakers. You know, by nature, we are not
fitted. Heaven is a prepared place. for
a prepared people. Hell is a prepared place for
an unprepared people. But the Lord makes ready a people
for himself. And we have here, it is the Father's
work, and really it sums up the whole work of grace, the whole
blessed hope of the gospel, that he takes a sinner lost and ruined
in the fall and he so works in their hearts and in their lives
so that they are made right, fitted and ready, suitable to
have that inheritance with the saints in light. May we never be moved away from
such a hope as that. A gospel that is a preparing
gospel A gospel where we are summarised in this is in an overview
that in this first point looks over
many things that are to happen in that preparing, but says the
hope of this gospel will see a soul that is hoping in this
gospel with the saints in line. They will get there. They will
be found there. They'll be there at last. What
a solemn thing to move away from such a hope and never be found
amongst them. Can I bear the piercing thought,
what if my name be left out when thou for them shalt call, the
hymn writer says. Well, the hope of the gospel
is that the Father, he shall make This people, through the
gospel, meet to be partakers. And we're to cling onto that
hope. Under thy forming hands, O God,
give me the frame that thou likes best. Whatever is needful, whatever
is necessary, do, do in me. so that I do not come short and
are found at last with that abundant entrance into that heavenly kingdom
and with the saints in light. What a blessed hope he begins
with here. No wonder that he gives thanks
unto the Father, which hath made us made to be partakers. The second is found in verse
13, and so is the third point, but the second point is that
the Father hath delivered us from the power of darkness. A hope of the gospel is a gospel
that delivers from the power of darkness. John tells us in
his first epistle that Christ in him, there is no darkness. In him is light and no darkness
at all. In this chapel it is light, but
under the pews there is darkness. And it can't be said that there's
no darkness at all, but in Christ, all is light. But Satan, he comes
in as an angel of light. We're warned against him. Comes
as a roaring lion as well. But even when he comes as a angel
of light, he is not all light. And you will find that there
are parts of how he comes that betrays who he is. He might come
and he might come with the exact truths of the gospel. but in
a wrong spirit. And the Lord says, try the spirits,
whether they are of God or not. He might come in what seems to
be a right spirit, very humble, meek, lowly spirit. You know, this is what he was
warned of in the end of chapter two. and of those that are teaching
things, four commandments, but they just have, in that last
verse there, which things have indeed a show of wisdom in will,
worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body, not in any honour
to the satisfying of the flesh. And yet they be wrong things,
not holding their head, not of Christ, but of the world, of
the rudiments of the world that will perish. And yet many are
deceived because they seem to be choosing the cross and the
hard way and it's a humble way, but that doesn't make it right
doctrine or a right way. Some say If we're faced with
the choice of two ways in providence, we'll always choose the way that
you don't want to go, the way the flesh rises from, the hard
way, totally unscriptural, never follow that way. The Lord says,
thy people shall be willing in the day. of thy power. Yes, the way that we are made
willing to go may be a way of trial and difficulty, but we
won't choose it because it is a way of hard way. We'll choose
it because the Lord has made us willing and lovingly to walk
in that way. We're not just to, as it were,
live upon a religion that is afflicting the flesh. There's
many cults and things that follow along that path, but it's not
saving at all. I think of the Bible worshippers
that thought that their God would hear them when they cut themselves
with lances, the blood gushed out. What good did that do? So we have here the hope of the
Gospel, the hope in our Heavenly Father to deliver us, deliver
us from the power of darkness. Never underestimate the power
of darkness, principalities and powers, spiritual wickedness
in high places. We have no match and no might
against the enemy. But God has delivered us, and
we think of the promise in our Lord Jesus Christ, that thou
shalt bruise his head, and he shall bruise thy heel. But in
all the church of God, may, when the enemy feels that his time
is short, and it is short, and he's got less and less of the
Lord's people's attention on as well, that we be delivered
out of his hand. He seeks to wreck the Church
of God if he can, but what a promise. This is the hope of the Gospel
and where we may have troubles and trials and sorrows and see
where Satan is active, the hope of this Gospel is to deliver,
deliver. The Word is who hath delivered
us and every one that is called by grace and chosen of God has
already been delivered, has plucked from a bran from the burning,
has been given eternal life, has taken out from Satan's kingdom. This is the hope of the gospel
and right through our pilgrimage journey that we be delivered
from that power of darkness. Yes, Satan's sieve was used Satan
had desired to have Peter to sift him as wheat, but I have
prayed for thee that thy faith fail not. And Satan doesn't get
Peter. He doesn't get Job either, though
Job suffers very much at his hand. David numbered Israel as well. One account we read that It was
Satan standing up against Israel. Well, he didn't achieve much
because although there were 70,000 died of the pestilence, yet David
was blessed. The place of blessing was made
known and where the temple was to be built. And so Satan didn't
get the last word in that time either, nor will he for the people
of God. They hope Whatever gospel it
might propound to be that doesn't deliver from the power of darkness
is no hope and it is no gospel at all. We need an almighty God
and a gospel that addresses the powers of darkness. The third
The hope of the Gospel that is set before us here, before these
Colossians, is not only delivered from the power of darkness, but
that we are translated into the Kingdom of His dear Son. A Gospel that puts into His Kingdom. Not us putting ourselves in it
or someone else, but the Lord choosing his people and putting
them there, translating us. We read of how that Elijah was
translated, taken up into heaven. Enoch was translated, that he
was not seen, did not see death. He was changed. and taken up
into heaven, but one by grace here below, they also are translated,
they are changed. The grace of God makes a real
change in a man. The kingdom of God cometh not
with observation, it is within you, but the grace of God makes
a very big difference. And it is described here as translating
us into the kingdom of his Dear son, blessed thing to be part
of his kingdom, more happy but not more secure than glorified
saints above. The Lord's kingdom is like the
tribe of Manasseh in the promised land. Half of that tribe had
land one side of Jordan, half of it had the other side Jordan. At this present time, half of
that innumerable multitude that shall be complete in heaven at
the end of the world, typified like Ephraim that was all on
the other side, Jordan, the Church of God at the moment. Half are
yet in this world or yet to be born, and the other, they are
in heaven. Part one side, part the other,
but still, in the kingdom of God, and entrance into it is
by grace, by a call by grace, by the new birth, a spiritual
birth, and that is set before us here in this way, is translating
us into the kingdom of his dear son. That hope of the gospel,
we couldn't preach the gospel without that hope. How could
we preach the gospel if we didn't believe that that gospel was
able to make sinners meet to be partakers with the saints
in line, or that it couldn't deliver from the power of darkness
and couldn't put into the kingdom of God's beloved Son. But it
does, the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ does. And so no wonder the apostle
says of these Colossians, that they be not moved away from the
hope of the gospel, and rather that they continue in the faith. They're already in it, but continue
grounded and settled, not moved away from the hope of the gospel. Well, in this verse 13 then,
we read, had translated us into the kingdom of his dear son. And then from verse 14, is speaking
of the Father's dear Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. So in the fourth hope of the
Gospel, we have in verse 14, we have redemption through his
blood. There's two, I'll break it up
into two parts in this verse. The hope of the gospel is that
we have redemption through his blood. It doesn't just say we
have redemption. Redemption is to be set free
by the payment of a price. But what is emphasized here,
it is through his blood. We are redeemed not with silver
or gold, those temporal things, but with the precious blood of
Christ. That is what we are redeemed
with. That is what the church observes in the ordinance of
the Lord's Supper as often as we do it. We show forth his death
till he come. We show forth his broken body,
his shed blood. We're to remember the cost of
our redemption, that the church is redeemed, is set free. It is justly set free. It's not just wrenched from the
powers of darkness. It's not just taken, but full
satisfaction is made to justice. There is a full payment price. And this is the hope of the gospel,
that we are a redeemed people. The two on the way to Emmaus,
you know this was the point that made them so sad, having seen
Christ, die, shed his blood, yield up his life? They said,
but we trusted it should have been he that should have redeemed
Israel. They'd seen him do it, but they
didn't realise what it was meant. They thought it would be perhaps
in a literal kingdom. Wilt thou, they said, before
he is taken up into heaven, at this time restore the kingdom
unto Israel? But is not the times and the
seasons are not for them to know. that redemption, eternal redemption
through his blood, spiritual redemption, the redemption of
soul and of body in due time. And this is the hope of the gospel
we have. That is the gospel, isn't it?
There's not a might or maybe or who can tell that we have
those that are translated into the kingdom of his dear son.
They have these things. So this is in the Lord Jesus
Christ. We have redemption through his
blood. And then the second part of verse
14, our fifth point, fifth hope of the gospel, even the forgiveness
of sins, that's bound up with redemption. And what is bound
up with the forgiveness of sins is repentance, repentance and
he is exalted to give repentance and remission of sins unto Israel. If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. It is the work of the Lord Jesus
Christ to forgive sins. When he spoke to the man sick
with the palsy, and said, Arise, take up thy bed, and walk. Well, the first thing he said
to him, Thy sins are forgiven. And those round about, they all
rose up. Who is this? Only God can forgive
sins. Who is this that forgives sins? And he said that ye may know
that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins. He
saith to the sick of the palsy, Arise, take up thy bed, and go
to thine house. And he did, before them all,
rose up before them all. The forgiveness of sins is the
hope of the gospel. Sinner, do you hear that? Do
you? Do I? Our sins, which are so
many, so vile, so evil, so clinging to us, can they be forgiven? The disciple said to our Lord,
How many times shall my brother sin against me and repent and
I forgive him till seven times? No, till seventy times seven. We've forgotten to count then.
I never sinned that grace might
abound. Often we, we're very tried whether
we do that because we sin so often. But may it be in the way
of the apostle, the evil that I would not, that I do. The good that I would, I do not. And John's letter to the churches,
these things I write unto you, that ye sin not. May we always
remember that. The hope of this gospel, not
only the forgiveness of sins, but that we might hate sin and
mourn over it, knowing that we are redeemed with the precious
blood of Christ. The Lord died to put away our
sin. He was crucified, He was slain,
He suffered because of our sin. But what a message for you and
I as sinners. The hope of this gospel is that
our black, deep-dyed sins will be forgiven. they are forgiven,
even the forgiveness of sins. Well then he goes from verse
14 to verse 18, enlarges and speaks concerning our Lord Jesus
Christ, beautiful words concerning him, who is the image of the
invisible God, the firstborn of every creature, 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. And He is before all things and
by Him all things consist. He is lifting up. unmagnifying
the Lord Jesus Christ in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness
of sins. He said, this is whom we have
it. You see how high he is exalted. You see who he really is. And then in verse 18, we have
the sixth hope of the gospel, that he is the head of the body,
the church. The church made up of the individual
members. If we are a believer, a true
believer, part of that church, we're part of the body of Christ
and the Lord Jesus Christ is the head of that body. Paul, when he writes to the Romans
in chapter 12, he speaks of the church of the body and all the
members and, you know, Our head directs our members what they
do. If there's a pain in our little
finger, our head feels that pain, and we immediately take steps
to rectify what is making that pain, or to heal it, or to find
some way of alleviating the pain in that little member. And we
think, well, if Christ is the head of the church, Does he not
feel? Yes, he does feel what each of
his members bears. The sympathising High Priest
above, he knoweth our frame, he remembereth that we are but
dust. What a blessed position that
he is and what a hope of the Gospel it is that the Church
of God had been given such a head. You could add other things to
this. that he is an elder brother born for adversity, that he is
the captain of our salvation, but here is this beautiful position. The people that he's redeemed
and gathered and brought into his kingdom, he has set the head
over them. He's not delegated to someone
else, he is the head. The church's living head, it
doesn't belong to denominations, it doesn't belong to a minister,
to an apostle, it doesn't belong to the individual church members,
it is Christ's church and he's the head of it. Maybe you remember
that, what a hope of the gospel that is. You know we have on
earth, you have those that are over numbers of people, you might
have Presidents, you might have leaders of sects and leaders
of denominations and leaders of churches, but may we never
lose sight, the Church of God is under Christ. He is their
head. And yes, he is delegated under,
but dear Paul, the Apostle Paul, he says, be ye followers of me,
as I also am of Christ. If anyone purports to be a leader
and wants us to follow them, we must ask, are they following
Christ? And we test that by the scriptures. Only follow a man as far as he
follows Christ. So then we have the Sixth point. The church has this living head. The seventh is, and this is in
verse 19, that it hath pleased the Father that in him, that
is in the Lord Jesus Christ, that all fullness dwell. that
all fullness dwell. What does this mean for us? You
know, I really had this highlighted and I'm thankful to say that
it's been very seldom in my ministry that I've had so much ministering
that I've actually been called to preach and hadn't got a text. one occasion in my 25 years,
I think that this has happened. And this was the text I preached
from. Because I went into that pulpit
at that time and didn't have a text, already preached twice
in that day, and hadn't had time to properly prepare at all and
didn't have a text. And I never ever recommend that. I'm thankful that I have had
only that one time that that is the case. We are to diligently
prepare. But it was a lesson to me. I took my reading of the first
hymn that was given out, which was this reading, this chapter,
And the deacon then, he chose the hymns as he went along, and
he guessed, he thought my text was going to be this 19th verse. For it pleased the Father that
in hymns should all fullness dwell. So he gave out his hymn
on that. So that was my text. He chose
it for me. God chose it for me. And the
lesson I'll never forget. It was as if the Lord said to
me, you think, that you can have some fullness in yourself and
to come and to preach the gospel and to preach the word, well,
I'll teach you a lesson. It has pleased the Father that
in me that fullness dwells. That's where it is to be tapped
from. That's where it is to be drawn from. In the study, when
you're preaching, you're always to remember that it comes from
The Lord, how easy it is for a poor preacher to be lifted
up in pride, to think that they have some skill, abilities and
learning. If it doesn't come from Christ,
is not sought from Him and realise that they are utterly dependent
upon Him, it won't be any good. for the people at all. It hath
pleased the Father. The fullness is not in his ministers,
is not in his people, is not in the creature, but it is in
Christ. You know, with our children,
when they're young especially, the parents, each mealtime, they
give them their food. Do the children have a store?
Are the children able to go and buy the provisions? Do they have
it? No, they just rely upon the parent that when their need is,
then that's going to be given to them. And the fullness is
in their parent. And so the Lord doesn't just
at conversion give faith and give a whole stock of grace to
his people and say, right now, there you are, you use that. And I'm not going to top that
up. You don't come to me for it at all. You just must rely
on your own store as to how you do it. And some teach that with
the creation. They say God created the world
and gave it to man and then walked away and left man to look after
it. But in him we live and move and have our being. He is the
sustainer of all things. We forget that. Men forget that.
But in the way of grace as well. Don't be surprised if we feel
at times so empty, earthbound, cold, hard, lifeless, nothing
in self. Whether we are a private Christian
or whether you're a minister of the gospel, we're exhorted
to preach instant, in season and out of season. Whether we
feel in the spirit or not in the spirit, we are to preach
the word, but the fullness is not in us and sometimes we will
most painfully feel that. And this is a hope of the gospel
to empty sinners. You know, you think of those
miracles, you think of Elijah going to the widow of Zarephath.
She has got just one stick and a little bit of meal and oil
in the cruise. She says, I'm going to cook these
and eat them and die. He said, no, you make me a cake
first. For thus saith the Lord, that
that barrel of meal and that cruise of oil will not fail until
the Lord send rain again on the earth. And she has to go from
day by day, that multiplying of that oil and of that meal. so dependent upon the miracle. You know, we like to think we
like to have a nice bank balance, and we like to have a nice store,
and we like to see a nice provision all the time. We don't like to
live from hand to mouth all the time. But the Lord will keep
his people low and in a spiritual way. Why? Because that fullness
is in Christ. He'll have his people not walk
independent of him, but continually go and ask. and seeking of him
for thee. Give us this day, our daily bread,
and it is seeking this from the Lord. And so this is the hope
of the gospel is set before us in this, and may be a help to
any that feel so empty, destitute tonight, that in him, in Christ,
all fullness dwells. The eighth hope of the Gospel
is in verse 20. He hath made peace, and having made
peace through the blood of his cross. He hath made peace. Peace through the blood of his
cross. We read there is no peace for
the wicked. No peace at all. When Jehu was
coming to the kings of Judah and Israel, they sent and they
asked, is it peace? How can there be peace, says
Jehu, while these wicked whoredoms of the house of Israel and of
Judah at that time, that they were continuing, they must be
dealt with. And this was done, this is what
was done at Calvary, the peace-speaking blood of Christ, a wrath-ending
sacrifice. You know, when our Lord came
as a babe to this earth and the angels heralded his coming, the
message was, on earth peace, goodwill towards men, not peace
on earth, That will not be, but on earth, on this earth, there'll
be peace and every child of God blessed with the peace of God
that passeth all understanding will know what that means. When
the Lord rose from the dead, when he appeared to his disciples
in the upper room, how did he come? Peace. Peace I give unto
you, my peace I leave with you. In me you shall have peace, In
the world you shall have tribulation. And this is the hope of the gospel. And when we've known the troubles
that sin makes, nothing like peace then, to know that peace
that comes through the Lord Jesus Christ and through his blessing
and through that which he has done He has made peace, made
peace through the blood of his cross. The ninth hope of the
gospel is this, the same verse, that he's reconciled all things
unto himself. But more than that, it is that
you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind, By
wicked works yet now hath he reconciled. The gospel is a reconciling,
a bringing together what seemed to be at once. There's many things
that dear Old Testament saints found very hard to reconcile. Dear Job, he says, how can that
which is born of a woman be clean? He couldn't reconcile that. The
promised seed of the woman But how could there be a spotless,
a pure one? Solomon, he couldn't reconcile. He said, heaven of heavens cannot
contain me, how much less this house that I have built. And
it seemed that the two things didn't go together. Well, a sinner
by nature is not reconciled to God. He doesn't agree with God's
judgment of things, ordering of the world. He doesn't even
agree with the gospel. He doesn't agree with the word
of God. He finds fault with everything. But when God comes, when the
Lord comes, and through his precious blood, he brings about a reconciliation. And like the apostle Paul, Saul,
as he was, was not at all reconciled. Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ. But when the Lord met with him
on that Damascus road, a sinner made a child, reconciled, brought
to be one with all of the teaching of the Old Testament, completely
reconciled. And much of the apostles' ministry
was to take of the Old Testament and show to the Jews The Lord
Jesus fulfilled this. He is the Christ. He is the Messiah. He is the one that should come.
And it's a blessed thing. We're in the hearts, the souls,
the lives of the people of God. They're reconciled to God. The
apostle exhorts those that are called, who in a sense are already
reconciled, that they be reconciled to the Lord's judgment and ordering
of all things in their life. Even if we are born again and
saved by grace, we are exhorted that we seek that grace and blessing. This is the hope of the gospel,
that the Lord will reconcile us to his way. You think of when
the Lord was going to wash Peter's feet And Peter said, thou shalt
never wash my feet. And the Lord said to him, if
I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. And then Peter,
he wanted everything washed. But the Lord said, no, just the
feet. But Peter then was reconciled to submit to what the Lord would
do. And there's times in our lives
we need that. We need to be reconciled to the
will of the Lord and what he'd have us to do. And the Lord is
able to reconcile us and make us willing. But this hope is
in the gospel, in every aspect of it, to be reconciled by calling
and delivered from wicked works, and then reconciled in all the
way, reconciled to the will of God. Nevertheless, not my will,
but thy will be done. where the last hope of the gospel
really goes right back to the beginning. And that is in verse
22. The Lord Jesus Christ, in the
body of his flesh, reconciling us through death to present you
holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. The first thing
that we brought as the hope of the Gospel was that the Father
would make us mean to be partakers of the inheritance of saints
in light. And this tenth, this last one,
is that we be presented by the Lord. Behold, I and the children
whom thou hast given me, presented in what way? Holy, unblameful,
unreprovable. What, in man's sight? with the
sight of angels, yeah, in all of their sight, but in his sight,
his holy, holy, holy sight, to be wholly unblameable and unreprovable. That is the hope of the gospel.
It doesn't set short in any way. And for this message for sinners,
Sinners in themselves, nothing but sin and disgrace. What a
work, what a powerful work, what a blessed gospel that has a message
of salvation like this. Is anything too hard for the
Lord? The apostle says that he was
the chiefest of sinners. God had converted him, taken
him. You think your heart is unmanageable? Your heart is too hard for yourself?
Yes, but not for the Lord. How we need such a gospel that
can manage us, manage our heart, manage our feelings, manage our
rebellions, manage our ill will. And then at last to present us
wholly. What a blessed position to be
in. The Lord says, I will come again
and receive you unto myself that where I am, they may be also. You think of Joseph when he has
his father come to him and his brothers and he presents them
before Pharaoh, here are my brethren, Joseph in the position that he
is. And he presents all of his brethren. Now he doesn't highlight all
of their faults and failings and everything that he'd really
tried them with as he did when they came back and forth to Him
in Egypt, that time of that trial was gone for the time being,
as it were. He dealt with that and he presents
them to Pharaoh, not as evil men, but as his brethren. What a beautiful type that is
for us. No wonder The Apostle says that
he desires these Colossians, that they be not moved away from
the hope of the Gospel. These blessings that he's set
before them, these blessings are theirs if ye continue in
the faith grounded and settled. There's not a doubt, as we said
at the beginning, with God's true dear people. But that we
do endure is by God's grace. And that we do endure is that
we hearken to the word as we've had tonight and cleave to it
and are not moved away from this hope of the gospel to have hope
in something else. And what is the sum of this?
Where is the crown put? The crown's put on Christ's head. And the crown is put on God's
head, God the Father, God the Son. Salvation is. of the Lord. So may this word
be a help to us, blessing to us tonight, there's no doubt
it was to the Colossians. The hope of the gospel, be not
moved away from the hope of the gospel.