All right, if you'll take your
Bibles now and turn them into Colossians. Colossians chapter
2. Colossians chapter 2. And I'm really going to do somewhat
of a survey of this chapter as I'm going to preach through this
chapter to you tonight. But if I had a text, it's definitely
going to be found in verse 10. And I'll tell you this, if you
don't get anything else tonight, please get this. Verse 10, speaking to believers,
to you who are in Christ. Now you pay attention. This is
what God says to you. You are complete in Him. You are complete in him which
is the head of all principality and power." And the title of
my message tonight is, The Mystery of Completion. What a mystery! What a mystery! When you look
in the mirror, do you see completion? Do you feel complete? You know, we always thought that
if we just had this, we'd be complete. If I just had this,
I would be complete. And when we got that, we always
had something else we lacked, something else we needed. But
listen to me, you are a believer in Christ. Right now, you need
nothing. You have everything. You are right now complete in
Christ. You are complete. You lack nothing. You lack nothing. You are complete
in Him. Now, let's go back to the beginning
of this. We're going to come down to this and we're going
to go past it, but I want you to see this. Paul, at the beginning
of this chapter, he has a heart's desire as every pastor. Every
pastor has the same desire Paul said. In verse 2, he said, This
is my desire, that their hearts might be comforted, being knit
together in love. unto all riches of the full assurance
of understanding." Full assurance. My desire tonight is that you
be comforted. My desire is that your hearts,
all of your hearts, all of our hearts be knit together in love,
that we should love one another, and we should love this message,
we should love this gospel, we should set our affections on
Christ. Tonight, we should knit together
and that every one of you should have full assurance." Now, what
believer does not want full assurance? Are you sure you're complete
in Him? Would you like to know that you
are complete in Him? Would you like to have full assurance?
Imagine what kind of attitude we would have if we had full
assurance. How bold we should be if we had full assurance.
How humble we should be. How loving we should be. How
gracious we should be if we had full assurance. Every believer
likes to have full assurance. But listen, the minute you seek
assurance, you've lost it. You've lost it. If you have it,
you're not seeking it, right? If you start seeking assurance,
it's because you've already lost it. And the way to have assurance
is not by seeking it. How then can the believer have
full assurance of understanding? How can you be fully assured
that you are complete in Him? It is simply by faith in Christ. It is by understanding and acknowledging
the truth of the gospel, regardless what you think, regardless of
what you feel, regardless of what your situation is, it is
by faith embracing the gospel in understanding. It is by acknowledging
the mystery of God, and it is a mystery. It is a mystery. He said that. Look at that. You
have. He wants you to have full assurance of understanding. Listen
to the acknowledging of the mystery of God. Mystery of God. What is the mystery of God? It
is the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the mystery of God. Now,
the gospel of Jesus Christ The gospel of Jesus Christ is not
as religious people and self-righteous men suppose. Religion supposes
the gospel is self-evident. If you were to ask most religious
people why the gospel is not being preached and why they're
preaching morality and finances and so forth and not preaching
the gospel, not even their, quote, gospel, they don't even preach
that anymore. Because they believe it's self-evident. Everybody
in America knows the gospel. That's what they assume. But
that's not true. It is not known, nor can it be
known or received by natural man. Go to 1 Corinthians chapter
2. Paul talking about this gospel.
He said in verse 2, I don't determine to know anything except Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. That's the gospel. And He said,
When I came to you, I didn't come in the wisdom of men. He
said, I came in weakness and trembling. Verse 4, My speech
and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom,
but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith
should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. He came preaching the gospel,
demonstrating the power of God. What's a demonstration of the
power of God? Your faith. You believe is a demonstration
of the power of God. You believe that is the power
of God. Paul says in verse 6, he says,
Howbeit we speak wisdom to them that are perfect. Listen, what
did Paul just say in the other book? He said you are complete
in him. You're perfect. So who am I preaching to? Perfect
people. You who are made perfect. I'm preaching to you that are
perfect. Yet not in the wisdom of the
world, the prince of this world that come to nothing. We speak
the wisdom of God, what? In a mystery. even the hidden wisdom which
God ordained before the world unto our glory, which none of
the princes of the world knew, nor had they known it, they would
not have crucified the Lord of glory." Paul says our gospel
was a mystery, hidden wisdom of God. And he said the most
Understanding people. The best that Adam could produce
was those Pharisees in our Lord's day. They were the most learned
people concerning the law. They were the most moral practitioners
of the law that ever existed. And yet they could not understand. They could not know Christ. It was a mystery. Verse 9 and 10, "...but it is
written, I have not seen nor ear heard, neither entered into
the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that
love Him." Because why could they not see it? Why is this
gospel a mystery? Why is it a mystery? Why do you
understand the gospel and other men do not understand the gospel? Simply put, in verse 14, he explains,
but the natural man, listen, here's the natural man's will,
the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God.
He won't receive them, for they are foolishness unto him. Listen, neither can he know them,
because he is spiritually discerned. Natural men cannot receive the
things of the Spirit of God. This gospel of completion, this
gospel of perfection is a mystery. It's a mystery. And he can't
receive it because he's spiritually judged. He's condemned. Spiritually
dead. He cannot come to Christ except
by divine power, except God quicken him to life and open his eyes.
He cannot see it. He cannot perceive it. He cannot
know it. He will not receive it. He despises
the gospel of Jesus Christ. You know, a man will take anything
for free except grace. I mean, you offer a man a cup. You know, say, hey, we're giving
out free cups over here. And he'll drive a hundred miles
to get a cup. It's just a little plastic cup.
It doesn't matter. It's free. He can do anything
for something free except salvation. He cannot, he will not come to
Christ. Only by the power of God Can
we have faith and knowledge only? Then can the mystery of God be
revealed? Look what he says in verse 10
of the 2nd chapter of 1 Corinthians. He said, But God revealed it
unto us. I'll tell you the gospel. I sat
on the gospel most of my life and I thought I knew it. I thought
I understood it. But it was a mystery. Until the
Spirit of God revealed it to me. It's revealed by the Spirit. He says in verse 12, But now
we have received, not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit
which is of God, that we might know the things that God, that
are freely given to us of God. We know these things. It's not
a mystery to us because our understanding has been opened Now, listen,
our gospel is not hid because of its complexity. I want you
to know this is not a mystery because most people say, well,
the gospel is complicated. No, it is not complicated. Matter of fact, any natural man
with a limited education could understand everything that I'm
saying. It's not complex to the natural
mind. It is not a mystery. It's not complex. As a matter
of fact, the things that were done Christ did, He did not these
things in a corner. These things weren't hidden.
These weren't mystical things. He did them openly. He fulfilled
these things in the open. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4
and verse 3, he says, If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them
that are lost. In whom the God of this world
hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light...
He blinded them unless what? Unless the light comes. The light
of the knowledge of the glory of God, who is the Christ, who
is the image of God, should shine unto them. The clarity of our
gospel we preach, not ourselves, but Jesus Christ the Lord. Our gospel is clear. You know,
it's always my desire, it always is, to be as plain and as simple
as I possibly can. I never want men to misunderstand
what I'm saying. And here's the mystery of the
gospel that no man can or will receive. except by the power
of God the Holy Spirit. Here it is. Go back to your text.
Look at this in this mystery of the gospel. Here it is. Verse 3. Let's finish reading
verse 2. He said, "...the mystery of God,
and of the Father, and of Christ." Christ. "...in whom are hid all
the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." Verse 6, "...as you have therefore
received Jesus Christ the Lord." You want to know the mystery?
There it is. Jesus Christ the Lord, and in
Him is hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. All
that assurance that a man needs to be accepted with God is found
in a man Jesus Christ. It's in Him. The Lord Jesus Christ. Now, when Paul talks about, back
over in 2 Corinthians, when he talked about this, he said, but
we speak the wisdom of God in the mystery, even the hidden
wisdom of God, which God ordained before the world. This gospel,
this gospel was ordained of God before the world began. Before
the world began, God in grace, God loved a people with an eternal
love and purposed to save them. Can you misunderstand that? Were any of those words too complicated?
Now, men may not like it, they may disagree with it, but don't
tell me it's complicated. Before there was anything, God,
in an eternal decree, chose a people for Himself, loved them, purposed
to make them complete, holy. Scripture says that Blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ,
according as He hath chosen us in Christ before the foundation
of the world. That, here's His purpose, that
we should be holy and without blame before Him. Here's His
motivation. In love, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children. Here's how He's going to do it,
by Jesus Christ to Himself. according to the good pleasure
of His will, the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He
hath made us accepted in the Beloved." None of those words
are too complicated for people to understand. Yet I'll tell
you this, when God decreed these things, no one knew it but God. When God was there and He created
the angels, none of the angels knew it. When God created the
world and He created Adam in his perfect estate, Adam did
not know it. This thing was hidden, wasn't
it? It was a hidden wisdom, a hidden mystery. Our Father loved a people. and
He gave them to His Son. He purposed that His Son should
save them, that the Son of God voluntarily, in love, took these
elect people to His own and agreed to be their surety. A surety
is someone that is the guarantor, the one who takes responsibility. Jesus Christ in eternity took
responsibility for the completion of all His people. Hebrews 7.22 says He is made,
Jesus was made a surety of a better covenant. A better covenant. Let me tell you something about
these elect people. They were no different than anyone
of Adam's race. There was nothing about them
that made them special. They were all born of Adam's
fallen race. All of the elect were first represented
by Adam and fell in him. They died in him. When Adam sinned,
he represented all of his race, including those that God had
chosen. And they all died in him. But
you know, the fall of Adam did not surprise God. Matter of fact, it was ordained
of God. It was purposed of God. Why? That He should display grace. That He should display His grace. In that verse in Ephesians, to
the praise of the glory of His Grace. God was willing to show
forth grace and display it so that He should be praised for
it. When the angels fell, was there
grace displayed there? No, justice was displayed. Matter
of fact, they are still reserved in chains of darkness with no
hope, no Savior. But when Adam fell, what did
God do? God came to Adam and revealed
the mystery. He revealed the mystery that
had been hidden. The seed of the woman shall crush
the head of the serpent. He came to Adam and revealed
his purpose to save his elect. He told him of Jesus Christ. He told him how the Son of God
should come and how they should escape the corruption of their
fallen nature. How Christ should come and not
be the seed of Adam, but the seed of the woman. And God specifically
described how He would destroy the works of the devil. He said
He shall crush his head. Specifically how? By the bruising
of his heel. And then what did he do? He gave
them a picture. He took that innocent animal
and slew it and gave them the skin to cover their nakedness. He showed a picture of what should
happen to his son in order to cover the sin and nakedness of
his people. He revealed the mystery of the
gospel to Adam, how Christ should come by the cross and remove
our sin. Thus, from that time the mystery
began to be preached, that in Christ all the treasures of wisdom
and knowledge are to come. So then all the law and the prophets
from that time forth began to speak more and more to this mystery. more and more to this mystery.
As time went on and drew closer to Christ's coming, could you
not see that the prophecies were getting clearer? They were getting
more vivid? I mean, Adam and Eve had a very
small view of the gospel, didn't they? But you know what? After Abel, you got a bigger
view. After Noah, you got a bigger
view. After Moses, you got a bigger
view. And so on, and the prophets began to expound more clearly
those things concerning Christ, so that when Christ comes, you
couldn't mistake Him. You couldn't mistake who He was
and what He should do. Christ came to be the fulfillment
of all the Old Testament types and shadows. So in our text now,
go back to your text. So Paul then, seeing this, he
desires the full assurance of his of his fellow believers concerning
the gospel, the mystery of God, which is Christ Jesus and whom
are all hidden, all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. But
he he warns them. He says this, I say, lest any
man should beguile you enticed with enticing words. For though
I be absent in the flesh, I am with you in the spirit, joying
and beholding your order and steadfastness, your faith in
Christ, as you have therefore received Christ Jesus, Lord,
so walk in him. He warns them of men who with
enticing words to seduce them away from the Christ. He warns
these men that through philosophy and vain deceit, they would try
to draw them by the traditions and rudiments of the world. This
is always the way with the religion to appeal to the flesh. One thing
about, I hope you always notice, about our service, we're not
appealing to the flesh. I'm not trying to appeal to the
flesh. I'm not trying to entertain.
That's not our purpose here. I would hope that God, by the
power of His Spirit, would give life and faith and comfort and
joy in the inner man. We're not here to entertain.
But this is the way with religion. And I want you to know that this
is seducing to us. Paul warns about it because it's
necessary for us to be warned so that we're not seduced by
these things. These religious men, they would
try to mix the ceremonies of the law and the ordinances of
the church. Have you noticed that with the
church? They take the Old Testament ordinances
of circumcision, of the Passover, and they combine them with baptism
in the Lord's Supper. And what does that breed? Confusion.
That breeds confusion. That doesn't help anything. It's
an unholy mixture of works and grace. It's confusing. "...and make their ceremonies
and rituals either salvation or in addition to salvation." All those who disregard the Word
of God for the traditions of man are Antichrist. Doesn't matter
who they are. Anyone who believes that man,
either by the power of his will or the obedience of his flesh,
has, listen, any part, any part in his salvation, that person
is Antichrist. Any part. Therefore, you who
are believers in Christ, you who do understand the mystery
of God, who have this, receive the Lord. You have received Him,
haven't you? You received Him as what? All. He is all our salvation. You received Him by faith in
Christ. Paul says, don't be seduced by
these things. But as you have received Him,
how did you receive Him? You received Him by faith. When you came to Christ, isn't
that how you first received Him? And then Paul says this, continue
to receive Him that way. We continue to receive Him by
faith. He said, even as you received
Him, so walk ye in Him. How are you to walk? By the law? No. By faith. The just shall
live by faith. By faith. And He says of this
faith, verse 7, rooted and built up in Him and established, what? In the faith. Rooted, built up,
and established in the faith as you have been taught through
the preaching of the gospel. You've been taught this. You've
received this mystery of understanding through the preaching of the
gospel as you have been taught. abounding therein with thanksgiving. Be rooted and built up in the
faith. And friends, what is the object
of our faith? What is the object of faith?
Is faith the object of our faith? I'll tell you, if our faith is
the object of our faith, you've got faith in nothing. Your faith How is it? Is it solid? Is it something
you can stand on? No. The object of my faith is
Christ is the object of our faith. Look at verse 9. For in Him dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Christ is the object
of our faith. We believe in Christ in whom
dwelleth the fullness of the Godhead bodily. By faith, we are rooted and built up in
Christ. And our faith rests in this,
that He who is God, very God, dwelt bodily. He came as a man. The root of our faith is this. Jesus Christ is both God and
man. That is a root of our faith. Without that, we have no salvation.
We need someone who can touch God and us. We need a mediator,
someone to stand between us and God. We need a high priest. And
the high priest was only taken from among men. Therefore, we
need a high priest better than those in the Old Testament. We
need one who is truly God. and man." That's what John says,
the Word was made flesh. The Word in the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and
the Word was made flesh. Now, if you are ever to be complete
and whole, you must hold to this, that Christ is God and man. He is God and man. There is one
mediator. between God and men, the man,
Christ Jesus. Why must we be rooted and grounded
in this? Because we needed a man to establish
righteousness for us. We needed righteousness that
we could not establish for ourselves. Therefore God came down and in
human flesh, so that he might represent us as a man and obtain
righteousness for us. I told you that Adam himself
was already a representative. When Adam sinned, you and I weren't
there. But I'll tell you this, we were
there. We were in him. When he sinned, you sinned. When He died spiritually, we
died spiritually. That's a reality, friend. Wherefore, as by one man sin
entered into the world, and death by sin, so death passed upon
all men, for all have sinned. Well, how do you know that's
true? When you came forth, you came speaking lies. That's how
you know it's true. You were born sinners. Born sinners because of a representative. You see, what we need was another
representative. Someone who can obtain righteousness
by His obedience. The Scripture says in Isaiah
42, verse 21, it says, the Lord, speaking of Christ when He comes,
the Lord is well pleased for His righteousness' sake. For He shall magnify the law
and make it honorable. See, God had purposed that Christ
should be all the righteousness of His elect. All the righteousness
of His elect. We could not merit righteousness,
but Christ came, and by His own faith as a man, by His own obedience,
He merited the righteousness of God. In Romans chapter 3,
in Romans chapter 3, in verse 21, it says, But now the righteousness
of God. Listen, that's the kind of righteousness
I need. I don't need a righteousness
that you can produce. And I don't need a righteousness
that I can produce. I need the righteousness of God
to be accepted with God. And so that's what Paul's talking
about. He says, Even the righteousness of God. Listen, without the law. I don't need the law to obtain
righteousness. That's what religion tells you.
You need the law in some measure. You need the law in some minute
detail. Yes, some of that's past, but
you need some of it. No, I need righteousness of God
without the law. And Paul said, look, it's manifest.
It was witnessed by the law and the prophets. Even the righteousness
of God, which is obtained how? by the faith of Jesus. By the faith of Jesus. And then
what? How does it get to me? Unto all
and upon all them that believe. Do you believe on the Son of
God? You see, You have the righteousness
of God. Now do you understand why you're
complete in Him? Because you have the righteousness
of God imputed and imparted to you because Christ merited it. But not only did He merit righteousness,
He by His one offering for sin upon the cross forever removed
our sin from us. Okay. You know, I hadn't even committed
a sin yet when Christ died. I wasn't around. None of us were
around when He died. Yet God, in omnipotent wisdom
and understanding, taking all of our sin, imputing it to His
Son, made him to be sin for us who knew no sin. And in strict
justice punished Christ in our stead. What happened to your
sin? It was punished. You know that? Your sin has already
been punished in Jesus Christ. He removed our sin from us as
far as the east is from The West. Hebrews chapter 10. He said in verse 9, Lo, I come
to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, he
may establish the second. By the which will? Christ said,
I come to do thy will. Paul said, By the which will?
His will was to save you. His will was to obtain righteousness.
His will was to redeem you. And He said, by the witch will,
you are sanctified, made holy through the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ once for all. Now, in the law, every man, the
priest, standard daily ministering, offering the same sacrifices,
never take away sin. You can do it as many times as
you want to. Never take away sin. Never take away sin. I don't care how much religion
you want to do. You can do as much religion as
you want to. Nothing we do can take away sin. The only thing
that can take away sin is what he did. But this man, after he
had offered one sacrifice for sins forever. He sat down because it's done.
He's our Sabbath. When God finished His work, He
sanctified the seventh day. He sanctified it. He set it apart. Why? Because
it was a picture of somebody else who was going to be our
Sabbath. Christ, when He finished the work, Our Sabbath sat down,
he rested from his work, henceforth expecting till his enemies that
he made his footstool, for by his one offering he hath perfected..."
Oh, there's that word again. Perfected, perfected, completed
forever. Them that are sanctified. And back in your text, Paul gives
two illustrations of this. He gives an Old Testament illustration
and he gives a New Testament illustration. He gives the illustration
of circumcision in verse 11. He said, "...in Christ you are
circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, and putting
off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of
Christ." You know, circumcision is a very picturesque thing.
It's cutting away of the flesh. See, when Christ came, He cut
away your flesh by the offering of Himself once for all. Took away your sin. Chopped it
off. Put it away. It's dead. It's gone. And then
by the circumcision of the heart, He gave you a new nature, a new
heart. A heart that feels its need of
Christ. See, circumcision was a picture.
It's a picture of something that God does. And then he used the
picture of baptism, buried with him in baptism, wherein you also
are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God
who has raised him from the dead. Baptism is a picture too. When
you stand in the water, you're identifying with him. You were
one with Him when He stood upon this earth, and when He died,
you're saying, I died with Him. When He was buried, I was buried
with Him. When He rose again from the dead,
I rose with Him. I'm in union with Him. He's my
salvation. That's what you're identifying
with in baptism. There's a picture, a picture of you when you were
actually baptized in Him. You were with Him, buried with
Him. And here's our experience. And
you being dead in your sins, and the uncircumcision of your
flesh, hath He quickened together with Him, having forgiven all
your trespasses, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances
that was against us and was contrary to us, and took it out of the
way, nailing it to His cross. We by nature were dead, and by grace and power, you were
quickened. You were quickened. You were quickened together with
Him, and now you have all of your sins forgiven. Alright,
believer, who needs forgiveness? That should be an easy answer.
Sinners. Sinners. We're sinners. And we need forgiveness. And
you know what you have? You have forgiveness. You have
forgiveness. Having forgiven. That's past
tense. He's already forgiven you. How many of you are trespassers? How many? How many sins do you have? How many times have we trespassed against our loving Master, and yet he says, The Lord hath already put away
thy sin. You are forgiven. He said blotting
out the handwriting of ordinance that was against us. What was
against you? That's the law, wasn't it? I
think of that Belshazzar when he had the hand writing on the
wall. You are found in the balances and wanting. That's what the
law says to us. That law was against us. And not only against us, it was
contrary to our nature. We not only would not obey the
law, we could not obey the law. It was contrary to our nature. But he says this, he blotted
out the handwriting of ordinances. He blotted it out with His own
blood. And what did He do? He took it
out of the way, nailing it to His cross. And what's the result
of His being nailed to the cross and having spoiled principalities
and powers and made a show of them openly, triumphing over
them in it? Was Christ successful? He came to do the will of God.
Did he do the will of God? What was the will of God? He
said, This is the will of Him that sent me, that of all He
hath given me, I will not lose one. That's a bold speech, isn't
it? If you give me a hundred pennies,
I'm probably going to lose one. A hundred pennies ain't worth
anything. But I'm most likely going to lose one. He said, I
won't lose one. That's the will of Him that sent
me. I came to do the will. And He triumphed over it. He
said, therefore, don't let no man judge you in meat and drink
and respect of Holy Day and New Moon and Sabbath. I don't care
what day you come to church and worship. I don't care what kind
of meat you eat. Don't let no man judge you in those things.
That's silliness. Foolishness. Which are a shadow
of things to come. But the body is of Christ. Let no man beguile you of your
reward, involuntary humility, worshiping of angels, intruding
into those things which they have not seen, vainly puffed
up by fleshly mind, Not holding the head. You see, we are the
body of Christ. And I've got to ask you this,
if Christ is our head, and we are his body, is there anything
in the body of Christ that's not complete? No. He has blotted out your sins
as a thick cloud, and therefore, listen, You who believe, here's
a mystery, you are complete in Him. Do not let men rob you of
that. Paul asked that question, who
shall separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus? Who, who, who can in thy presence
stand and match omnipotence, unfold the grasp of thy right
hand and pluck the sinner thence? Who? No one. My friends, in fact the law of
God demands your acceptance. You got that? The law of God
justly demands your acceptance. Why? Because it accepted the
offering of your substitute. It accepted the offering of Christ once forever. Therefore, Paul can boldly say,
you, you who understand the mystery of the gospel, if you want assurance,
It must be obtained by faith, believing this. You are complete
in Him. So where does your faith need
to be in order for you to have any assurance at all? In Him. In Him. I pray that God would
give you such comfort and assurance through the understanding of
His gospel, this mystery. I'm so thankful for it. Let's
stand and be dismissed in prayer.