Go with me now, if you would,
to Colossians chapter 1. Colossians chapter 1. We are going to pick up this
evening with verse 24. And we're going to look down
through verse 27. But let's begin reading where
the sentence starts. Okay, this is mid-sentence. Let's
go to the beginning, which is in verse 21. And you that were sometime alienated
and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and
unblameable and unreprovable in His sight, if you continue
in the faith, grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the
hope of the gospel, which you have heard and which was preached
to every creature which is under heaven, whereof I, Paul, am made
a minister." who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and
fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ
in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church, whereof
I am made a minister according to the dispensation of God, which
is given to me for you. to fulfill the word of God, even
the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations,
but now is made manifest to his saints, to whom God would make
known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the
Gentiles, which is Christ in Christ. you the hope of glory. In our Bible study this morning,
we saw in verse 23 what He meant by, if you continue in the faith. He gave that stipulation. He
gave that contingency. If you continue in the faith. Faith is not of ourselves. It is the gift of God. If we continue in the faith,
it is God who is continuing us. It's God who works in us both
to will and to do of His good pleasure. So if we continue in
the faith, it's the will of God, it's the work of God, God is the one who is continuing
us. And that continuing is the evidence
of the fact that the promise and the work, all these promises
and all the work that is declared, it's the evidence that Christ
accomplished it for us. If you continue in the faith. Faith in His work. is the evidence of the fact that
He accomplished the work for you. Faith in His work, as opposed
to faith in my works. Why do you think you're gonna
go to heaven? Well, because I, and because I, and because I,
because He, and because He, and because He. Faith in His work
is the evidence that He accomplished the work for us. That was the
Bible study. In the message this morning,
we saw what the work was, what it actually was. Verse 20 says, And having made peace through
the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto
Himself, by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth or things
in heaven, And you that were sometime alienated and enemies
in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in
the body of his flesh. through death to present you
holy and unblameable and unreprovable in His sight. That is, I'm just
as amazed tonight as I was this morning. It just gets me again
tonight like it did this morning. That's amazing. There's a song that we love and
some of the lines in the song say, against the God who rules
the sky. The very ones who fought with
hands uplifted high despised the mention of His grace, too
proud to seek His hiding place. For those very ones, thus the
eternal counsel ran. Almighty love, arrest that man. Arrest him. Arrest that man,
arrest that man, arrest that woman, arrest that woman. He made peace. He made peace
through the blood of His cross. He ended the war by bringing
the war to His cross. That's what He did. He reconciled
all of His people, His chosen, elect, pre-loved, foreordained
loved people back to Himself and to His Father by offering
His body and offering His blood in death. And through that, because
of that, He is now able to present all of His people to His Father
wholly Now why is he able to present
them holy and unblameable and unreprovable? Well, it's because
they felt sorry for what they did and they cleaned up their
act. No, sir. It's because he shed his blood. He gave his body. God was so
satisfied with him. The payment was made so in full. The slate was wiped so clean. You've never seen a slate so
clean. And because of what he did, he's
able to, here they are, Father, present all of them wholly unblameable,
unreprovable, unchargeable in his sight. All right. Now that
was this morning. In the verses we're going to
look at tonight, the apostle Paul says, God has called me
to be a preacher of these things. He has called me to the ministry
of these things. And Paul said, I am so glad he
has. I am so thankful for the fact
that he has. I'm overjoyed for the fact that
he's called me to the ministry of these things. The end of verse
23, he said, whereof I, Paul, am made a minister."
That word minister means a servant. It literally translates, when
you look it up in the concordance, it literally translates a waiter. He said, God made me to be a
waiter. I stand and I wait. I serve. Anybody need anything else? And he said, Oh, what a high
honor it is. What a high honor it is. What a high honor it is
to be able to serve the heavenly bread and the living water to
the table of God's people. It's a calling that brought so
much affliction and so much suffering to Paul. We read about it over
and over in so many scriptures. So much pain. But he said, he
literally said, we just read it, he said, I rejoice in it.
I rejoice in it. Verse 24, Who now rejoice in
my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the
afflictions of Christ in my flesh for His body's sake, which is
the church." He said, I gladly suffer these things for you.
I would gladly suffer the persecution and the affliction to have the
high honor of serving His table one more time. Just one more
time. Paul said, I love to tell the
story. Oh, the honor of serving His
table, His body, His church. And I'll tell you, it's an honor.
It is an honor. It's an honor and a privilege.
Such a privilege. Look with me if you would at
Acts chapter 20. Acts 20, verse 17, it says, And
from Miletus Paul sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the
church. And when they were come to him, he said unto them, You
know from the first day that I came into Asia, after what
manner I have been with you at all seasons, serving the Lord
with all humility of mind, and with many tears and temptations
which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews, and how
I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have
showed you and have taught you publicly and from house to house,
testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance
toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And now behold,
I go bound in the Spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things
that shall befall me there, save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth
in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me, but
none of these things move me. Neither count I my life dear
unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and
the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify
the gospel of the grace of God. Paul was not the only one who
considered the witness of the gospel of Christ to be the greatest
honor and the greatest joy that this life could give. He was
not the only one who felt that way. Look with me at Acts chapter
5. Acts chapter 5, I have a heading
at the top of my page and it says, The Apostles Imprisoned. Verse 27 says, And when they
had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high
priest asked them, saying, Did not we straightly command you
that you should not teach in this name? And behold, you have
filled Jerusalem with your doctrine. And that's what I'd like to do
with Kingsport. I really would. I would like to fill this city
with the doctrine of Christ. Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
Verse 28, saying, Did not we straightly command you that you
should not teach in this name? And behold, you have filled Jerusalem
with your doctrine and intend to bring this man's blood upon
us. Oh, may His blood be upon us.
That's exactly what we intend. May His blood be upon us and
upon our children. Verse 29, Then Peter and the
other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than
men. The God of our fathers raised
up Jesus, whom you slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted
with His right hand to be a prince and a Savior, for to give repentance
to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are His witnesses
of these things. And so is also the Holy Ghost,
whom God hath given to them that obey Him. When they heard that,
they were cut to the heart and took counsel to slay them. Then
stood thereupon in the council a Pharisee named Gamaliel, and
that was Saul of Tarsus' teacher. That's the man that the Apostle
Paul sat under and learned all of his false religion from. Verse
34, Then stood there up one in the council a Pharisee named
Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, had in reputation among all the
people, and commanded to put the apostles forth a little space.
He said, put them over there and let me talk to you for a
minute. Verse 35, And he said unto them, Ye men of Israel,
take heed to yourselves what you intend to do as touching
these men. For before these days rose up
Thudias, boasting himself to be somebody, to whom a number
of men, about four hundred, joined themselves, who was slain, and
all as many as obeyed him were scattered and brought to naught."
It just came to nothing. After this man rose up Judas
of Galilee in the days of the taxing, and drew away much people
after him, he also perished, and all even as many as obeyed
him were dispersed. And now I say unto you, refrain
from these men and let them alone. For if this council or this work
be of men, it will come to nothing. But if it be of God, and we can
find some real comfort right here. Verse 39 says, but if it
be of God, you cannot overthrow it. lest happily you be found
even to fight against God. And to him they agreed and when
they had called the apostles and beaten them, they called
them back over and they beat them and they beat them and they
beat them and they beat them and they beat and beat and beat. Verse 40, to Him they agreed,
and when they called the apostles and beaten them, they commanded
that they should not speak in the name of Jesus and let them
go. And they departed from the presence
of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer
shame for His name. And daily in the temple and in
every house they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ."
So along with these men, the Apostle Paul said, this is the
highest honor I know. This is the highest honor I know. And all of us, all of us have
been made to be a part of God's ministry. We are all His witnesses
and His servants if He put us in Christ. If He put us in Christ. And all of us say the same thing,
don't we? We all say the exact same thing. Every man that has
been called to preach says, Oh, what a high honor it is to preach
Him. Him. Not just preach. Preach Him. And every man, woman,
boy, and girl that has been called to hear says, oh, what a high
honor it is to hear Him. What an honor. Paul told the
Romans, the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to
be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us as joint
heirs with Him. He said to the Corinthians, For
our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for
us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. So back in our
text, if you go back to Colossians 1, the end of verse 23 says, Whereof
I Paul am made a minister, who now rejoice in my sufferings
for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions
of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church. Whereof I am made a minister
according to the dispensation of God, which is given to me
for you, to fulfill, and I have a center margin in my Bible,
and it says, fully to preach the Word of God. He said, God
gave me a dispensation, and that word means a stewardship. God gave me a stewardship of
His Holy Word, and He said, I'm so honored and I'm so humbled
by the fact that He would give me this stewardship of service
to Him. He said, I'm going to preach
every word of it to you. Every single word of it. I'm
not going to hold back one word of it. Look with me at Ephesians
chapter 3. Ephesians 3 verse 1 it says,
For this cause I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ, for you Gentiles,
if you have heard of the dispensation, the stewardship, of the grace
of God which is given me to youward, how that by revelation he made
known unto me the mystery, as I wrote afore in few words, whereby
when you read you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of
Christ, which in other ages was not made known unto the sons
of men, as it is now revealed unto His holy apostles and prophets
by the Spirit. that the Gentiles should be fellow
heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of His promise
in Christ by the gospel. Whereof I was made a minister,
according to the gift of the grace of God, given unto me by
the effectual working of His power, unto me who am less than
the least of all saints." That's a preacher. Boy, preachers are
really high on themselves these days. Self-righteous. Paul said, unto me, here this
is God's apostle, wrote half the New Testament, he said, unto
me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace
given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable
riches of Christ, and to make all men see what is the fellowship
of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been
hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ." Paul said,
I am so humbled, so humbled by the fact that God would allow
me, who am less than the least of all saints, to preach the
mystery of His glorious news, this unsearchable riches. What are the unsearchable riches?
What is this great mystery? He keeps talking about this great
mystery. What is it? Look back at Colossians
1 verse 25 says, Whereof I am made a minister
according to the dispensation of God, which is given to me
for you to fulfill the word of God. even the mystery which hath
been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his
saints." This mystery of the gospel is hidden until God reveals
it. I want to repeat that. This mystery
of the gospel is hidden until God reveals it. It must be revealed. It must be revealed. Man cannot
figure it out on his own. He's not smart enough. The truth
is He's not alive enough. He's just too dead. He's just
too dead. He must be quickened to it. God must open His eyes to it. But when He does, when God quickens
a sinner to His mystery, When God reveals the mystery, God
makes known, verse 27 says, to whom God would make known what
is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles,
which is Christ in you. the hope of glory. The mystery of the gospel is
how a holy God can join Himself to a sinful man and join a sinful
man to Himself. That's the mystery. How can God,
who can have nothing to do with sin, Can't touch it? How can God join Himself to a
sinful man and join a sinful man to Himself? How could God
do that? Only in the God-man. Only through the God-man. Christ the Lord. The hope of
glory. If anyone is going to make it
to glory, that's what it means. If anybody has any hope of going
to glory, The hope of glory is in the fact that God put us in
Christ and Christ in us. That's it. He is the mediator. He is the joining component. He is God and sinners reconciled. Us in Christ, and see if this
makes sense. Us in Christ, we know what happened
to Christ. Us in Christ paid all of our
debt and put away all of our sin. Us in Christ, what happened
to Christ? God slew him on a tray. That
put away all of our sin, it paid all of our debt, us in Christ.
And Christ in us makes us holy and unblameable and unreprovable
in His sight. When God looked at Christ, He
saw us in Him. And when God looks at us, He
sees Christ in us. That's a mystery, isn't it? Oh,
that's riches. That's the glory of riches. Us in Christ and Christ in us,
that's what makes us accepted in the Beloved. In us, everything
that He is, is in us. In us, with Him, Christ in you,
that's the hope of glory. Him in us, everything that He
is, is in us. Chapter 2 verse 3 says, In whom,
speaking of Christ, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom
and knowledge. If all the treasures of wisdom
and knowledge are in Him, and He is in us, then that ought
to bring the hope of glory to us. That ought to give us some
hope. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter
1. 1 Corinthians 1 verse 30. It says,
But of him are you in Christ Jesus. How does a sinner get
in Christ? God puts him there. Of him are
you in Christ Jesus, who of God, Christ of God, is made unto us
wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.
He is wisdom. And He is righteousness. And He is sanctification. And He is redemption. So if He
is in us, wisdom is in us. Righteousness is in us. Sanctification
is in us. And redemption is in us. That ought to bring the hope
of glory to us. He is the hope of glory. If we want to put it in a nutshell
and summarize the whole thing, Christ is the hope of glory. If we have Him, we have glory. If we have Him, we have glory.
Paul said, I am so honored to preach Him. I'm so honored to
preach Him. I'm so honored to preach the
riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles. Christ in
us, us in Him, and Him in us. That's the message. Absolute
union with Him. That's the message. Absolute
union with Him. That's the hope of glory. That's
salvation. I want to close this message
with what the Apostle Paul said at the end of Ephesians 3. Go
one more time to Ephesians 3. Ephesians 3 verse 14, He said,
For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
that He would grant you according to the riches of His glory, to
be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man,
that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that you, being
rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with
all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height
and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, that
you might be filled with all the fullness of God. Now unto
him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we
ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto
him be glory in the church, by Christ Jesus throughout all ages,
world without end. Amen. All right, let's all stand
together.