Turn with me, if you would now,
to Colossians chapter two. Colossians chapter two. Based on the things that the
apostle Paul was inspired to write, It is clear that he was
a man who very much loved God's people. Very, very much loved
God's people. It's obvious that he deeply cared
about the people that he preached to. Don't you see that as we
read Paul's writings to people? He deeply, deeply cared about
the people he preached to. No one preached God's will in
salvation. Like Paul did salvation is of
the will of the Lord, who is going to be saved. It's whoever
the Lord wills to save salvations of the Lord. Nobody preached
God's will in salvation and God's work in salvation. You know,
men and women, starting with me, the flesh, all flesh has
the impossible task of trying to understand God's work alone. And it cannot be done until the
spirit reveals it. It's the work of God alone. It's
the work of God alone. We don't add our work to it.
We don't put any kind of final stamp on it. It's the work of
God alone, start to finish. His will, his work, who's going
to be saved? Whoever God wills to save and
does the work of saving. So nobody preached God's will
and salvation, God's work in salvation, God's election of
his people. We read through the, through
the, uh, epistles and he's talking about the elect the election.
No one preached God's full redemption of his people who he saved. He saved. No one preached God's
irresistible call who he willed to save and who he saved. He will call and they will come. Salvation being completely, totally
of the Lord. Start to finish. Nobody preached
that as clearly as Paul did. He knew that God's chosen people
were going to be saved. All right. He knew God had a
people and they were going to be saved. All of them, none will
be lost. They're all going to be saved.
All right. But here's the thing about the apostle Paul. He didn't
know exactly who they were. God has a people that he has
chosen. And Paul preached that and preached
to people, but he didn't know exactly who they were. He had
to preach the gospel, just like the rest of us. He had to preach
the gospel, gospel to people, and then he had to wait to see
what the Lord did. He did not have the ability to
impart faith to people. Some miracles were laid on the
apostles and they could do some amazing things, but imparting
faith to believe on Christ was not one of them. And he couldn't
cause anybody to believe his message. He had to preach it
to them. And then he had to just wait on the Lord to see what
happened. And as he waited and as he continued to preach to
people. We can read in his writings that
his heart hurt for the people he preached to. He knew God had a people. He
knew God saved them. He knew they were gonna be saved.
He knew God was gonna call all of them. But his heart hurt for
the people that he preached to, hoping that as he preached to
people, they were among the ones that God had chosen to save. He said that his heart's desire
and prayer to God for Israel, his nation, His nation was that
they might be saved. I can enter into that. I can
enter into that. I want me to be saved and I want
you to be saved. I want us to be saved. I want us to, with the ransom
in glory, sing the praises and the glory of Christ forever.
I want to be with him. I mean that. We're not playing
games when so many people are playing games. Religion is a
game that men and women are playing. and we're not playing games,
and my heart hurts for myself, and it hurts for you, and it
hurts for our children. I want us to be saved. I don't
assume on my own salvation. There are many, many people who
assume on their salvation. I don't assume on my own salvation,
just like the Apostle Paul didn't assume on his own salvation.
He said, I am begging God that after I have preached to you,
I won't find myself to be a castaway. And I don't want to find that
for myself. I mean this. I want us to be
saved. I want us to be saved. I want
to be saved. I want you to be saved. Now I tell you that because that's
the attitude that the apostle Paul had when he wrote this right
here, look with me, if you would, at Colossians two verse one,
he said, for I would that you knew what
great conflict I have for you. And for them at Laodicea, that
was a city right next to Colossi. And for as many as have not seen
my face in the flesh, that their hearts might be comforted being
knit together in love and unto all riches of the full assurance
of understanding to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God and of
the father. and of Christ, in whom are hid
all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. In whom are hid all
the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. He said, I wish that you knew
what great conflict, that means what great care, what great fear,
What great urgency, conflict, what great fight. He said in
another place, I'm not as one that beat at the air. I'm not
shadow boxing. He said, I wish you knew what
great desire I have for you to be comforted in your hearts.
I have been honestly begging our Lord for something all day.
And it's this, would you, cause I can't do it. Would you comfort
the hearts of your people tonight? Would you please feed your people,
speak to your people? Because I can't do it. And I'm
one of them. Would you please comfort my heart
tonight? Would you speak to me tonight?
He said, I wish you knew what great conflict and desire I had
for your heart to be comforted. He said, I wish you knew how
great my desire was for you to be knit together with God's people in love. In Christ, in his love. He said,
I wish you knew how greatly I desired for you to have the full assurance
of understanding to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God. There
is a mystery in this book. To the acknowledgement of the
mystery of God and the mystery of the Father and the mystery
of Christ. And what is that mystery? The
end of chapter one, verse 27 says, Christ in you, the hope
of glory. You in Christ, Christ in you. I want you to be in Christ and
I want Christ to be in you and I'm a you. Paul said, I fight this conflict. I fight, I wrestle, I struggle,
I war with great care for you to have that comfort. He said,
I fight, I endure the conflict for you to be knit together in
that love. He said, I fight for you to have
the full assurance of that understanding to know that Christ is in you,
to know that Christ is in you, that you're in him and he's in
you, you have him. Because he said in chapter two,
verse three, in him, is hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge,
wisdom and knowledge. To put it this way, he's saying,
I pray that God's spirit might confirm this to you. I pray that the spirit of God
might be with you because if he is, he will bring comfort
to you. He will bring the love of Christ
to you. He will bring the assurance of
the understanding of this mystery to you, the mystery of God and
of the Father and of Christ. And what that means is the mystery
of the Spirit, the Father, and the Son. Paul is telling us over
and over again throughout this book of Colossians, The fullness of the Godhead is
in Christ. He keeps telling us everything
is in Christ. In whom? It's all in Christ. If the Spirit comes to us, we're
just saying come Holy Spirit, heavenly dove with all of that
quickening power, spiritual life quickening power. If he comes
to us and comforts us and knits us and assures us He will do so by bringing that
knowledge to us. He will say, in verse three,
he will say, in Christ are hid all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge. That's what he'll say. The mystery
of the Spirit, the Father, and the Son, it's all hid in Christ. And he goes on to say, later
on, we're hid in Christ. Everything is hid in Christ.
That's where the treasure of wisdom and knowledge is. It's
all in Christ. It's not in the law. Wisdom and
knowledge, it's not in the law, it's in Christ. It's not in our
works, it's in Christ. The treasure of wisdom and knowledge
is not in wisdom or knowledge. He said he hid these things from
the wise and prudent and revealed them unto people like me, babes. It's not in wisdom or knowledge,
it's in Christ. It's in Christ. Salvation is
in the blood of Jesus Christ. It's in the blood of Jesus Christ.
That's what comforts us. That's what comforts us, the
wisdom and the knowledge of the cross of Christ. That is what
knits us together. Blessed be the tie that binds. The blood of Jesus Christ is
the tie that binds us together. That's where our assurance lies. Do you have assurance that you're ready to go meet
God in the blood of Christ? Yes. Full assurance. If I'm covered head to toe in
the blood of Jesus Christ, I have full assurance. Our assurance lies in the mystery
of the fact that God dealt with us in Christ and God dealt with
Christ in us. That's the knowledge and the
understanding that the Spirit brings to us. And I wanna show
us why That is what He brings to us. And then I want to show
us a beautiful example of that very message that He brings. Verse three says, in whom are
hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. All of it is in
Him. Now, why is that the Spirit's
message? Turn with me, if you would, to
Romans 8. Romans 8. Last Sunday morning in our Bible
study, we read from John 14, John 15, and John 16, where our
Lord said, I will send the comforter to you, who is the Holy Spirit. And when he comes to you, you
will know it's him because he will tell you about me. He will tell you about everything
being in me. Look right here at Romans 8,
verse 1. It says, There is therefore now no condemnation to them which
are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after
the Spirit, capital S, Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of
life in Christ Jesus. That's who He is, and that's
why He brings the message He does. It's because he is the
spirit of life in Christ Jesus. He hath made me free from the
law of sin and death by bringing this message of Christ Jesus. Look at verse nine right here.
Romans eight verse nine says, but you are not in the flesh,
but in the spirit, if so be that the spirit of God dwell in you. Now, if any man have not the
spirit of Christ, he is none of his. That's who he is. He is the spirit of Christ. He is the spirit of Christ himself. You say, well, it says right
there, he's the spirit of God. Exactly. If any man have not
the spirit of Christ, he's none of his. Look with me at Philippians
1. Philippians 1 verse 19 says,
for I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your
prayer and the supply of the spirit of Jesus Christ. He is the very spirit of Jesus
Christ. He said in the book of Ezekiel,
he said, I will put my spirit in you. My Spirit in you. Christ in you is the hope of
glory. How is Christ literally in his
people? His Spirit. His Spirit is in
them. The very Spirit of Christ himself.
Turn over to 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter 1 verse 9 says, receiving the end of your faith,
even the salvation of your souls, of which salvation the prophets
have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that
should come unto you, searching what or what manner of time the
Spirit of Christ, which was in them, did signify, When it testified
beforehand, the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should
follow. It was the spirit of Christ who
testified to all the prophets of the old Testament, the sufferings
of Christ and inspired them to write up the sufferings of Christ.
He was the spirit of Christ in the old Testament. He's the spirit
of Christ in the new Testament. He's the spirit of Christ right
now, and he will forever be. the Spirit of the Lord Jesus
Christ in His people. Christ is called the Word. That's His name. Revelation says
His name is the Word, the Word of God. This is the Word of Christ. It's through the Word that the
Spirit comforts us. Isn't it through this Word? It's
through the Word that we find this bonding love that we have. It's through the Word that we
receive our assurance. It's through the Word that we
receive our understanding. Go to 2 Peter, turn over to 2
Peter 1. 2 Peter 1 verse 20 says, Knowing this first that no prophecy
of the scripture is of any private interpretation. No individual
man wrote this verse 21 for the prophecy came not in old time
by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were
moved by the Holy ghost. The Holy spirit of Christ himself
is the writer of these words. And in these words, he comforts
us by assuring us of the fact that all things are in Christ
Jesus. All things, all wisdom, all wisdom is in Christ. If we have Christ, we have all
wisdom, all knowledge. If we have Christ, we have everything
we need to know. Everything that God is, everything
that God has for his people, everything we need, all of it
is in the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the message of wisdom
and knowledge. That is the treasure. That's
the treasured message that comes to God's people. And it's in every mysterious
word of this book. every mysterious word of this
book. Now, let's read together an example of this message that
the Spirit of God sends to his people. This is a beautiful example,
one of my favorite ones to read. Turn with me to Ephesians 1. This is the treasured message. May the Spirit speak it to us,
open it up to us. Ephesians 1 verse 1 says, Paul,
an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God to the saints
which are at Ephesus and to the faithful in Christ Jesus, Grace
be to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ. Verse three says, blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. If the Spirit of God ever burns
that into our souls, it will comfort us. Every spiritual blessing
that God has for his people, It's all in Christ. That will
assure us, that will bind us to the love of God. Verse 3.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ, according as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation
of the world. that we should be holy and without
blame before him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption
of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good
pleasure of his will. to the praise of the glory of
His grace wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved, in
Christ, in Christ. Verse seven, in whom we have
redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according
to the riches of His grace, wherein he hath abounded toward us in
all wisdom and prudence, having made known unto us the mystery
of his will, according to his good pleasure, which he hath
purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness
of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ,
both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in him. in whom also we have obtained
an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him
who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will,
that we should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted
in Christ." And I've always loved that. God the Father is the very
first one who ever trusted in Christ. He gave him a work to
do and he trusted, you'll finish it. And we do the same. Verse 13 says, in whom you also
trusted, after that you heard the word of truth, the gospel
of your salvation, in whom also after that you believed, you
were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest
of our inheritance. Until the redemption of the purchased
possession unto the praise of his glory He said that faith
and that hope and that love in the knowledge of that Savior
That is the down payment From God's Spirit to you. That's the
down payment. That is the earnest if you want
to go buy a house You put earnest money down And
when you do that, what you're saying is, I promise I'll buy
this. I promise I'll buy this. Now,
don't you know that that's non-refundable? Here's my earnest, I'll buy it. I'll buy it. Verse 13 says, in
whom you also trusted after that you heard the word of truth,
the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that you believed,
you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. which is the
earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased
possession unto the praise of his glory. That faith, that looking,
that is the promise of God to us that we have him and we're
in him. That's God's earnest to the child
of God. And what he's saying is, I promise,
I bought you, you're mine. I will come back to redeem my
purchased possession. I will come back for you. Let
not your heart be troubled. I will come again and receive
you to myself." Now, Paul finishes Ephesians 1. So many times I
read Ephesians 1 and stop at verse 14. Paul finishes the rest
of this chapter, and this is what he's saying. He's saying,
I love you all so much. And I pray that the Spirit of
God will comfort you. And I pray that he'll give you
peace, peace with God through the blood of Christ and the work
of Christ and the righteousness of Christ. I pray he'll give
you peace and assurance and rest in everything that he has done
for you in Christ. Verse 15, he said, wherefore
I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and love
unto all the saints, Cease not to give thanks for you making
mention of you in my prayers that the God of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the father of glory may give unto you the spirit of wisdom
and revelation in the knowledge of him. He said, this is what
I'm praying for you. He said, this is what, who God is and
what he did for his people. And he said, I am praying that
he will give to you this spirit of wisdom and revelation in the
knowledge of him. Verse 18, the eyes of your understanding
being enlightened. And I want to pray this for myself,
and I wanna encourage each person here, pray this for yourself.
Lord, open my eyes that I may see. Open my eyes that I may
see the truth. The eyes of your understanding,
being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his
calling. Not my works, his works. Me in him, him in me. And what
is the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
the riches, the treasures that are in him. Verse 19 and what
is the exceeding greatness of his power to us word who believe. according to the working of his
mighty power, which he wrought in Christ when he raised him
from the dead and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly
places. Far above all principality and
power and might and dominion, and every name that is named,
not only in this world, but also in that which is to come, and
hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the
head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness
of him that filleth all in all." He's the treasure. He is the
treasure. In him is all the treasure. Paul
said, I wish you knew, I wish you knew how greatly I desired
for that knowledge to lay hold of you and for you to lay hold
of that knowledge. He said, I pray that God will
make that to be the comfort of your heart. I do, I pray that
God will not allow, in his mercy, he won't allow the glorious declaration
of what Christ has done to fall on deaf ears. or to say, I have
no need of these things. I pray it won't be a savor of
death to any of us. Pray it'll be a savor of life.
Pray God will make that to be a comfort to our hearts. I pray
that will be the bond of our love. That bond will last forever. And I pray that that'll be the
assurance of our understanding. May God reveal that to us through
his spirit. that all the treasures of wisdom
and knowledge, all of them are in the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ. All right, let's all stand together.