Turn with me if you would to
Colossians chapter 1. Colossians chapter 1. The Lord willing, we will be
in Colossians 1 all day today. This is such a glorious chapter,
glorious book. I've just, we've been in it for
a little while and I've enjoyed it so much. But what I would
like to do is read verses 20 to 23 and look at verse 23 for our
Bible study right now and then look at verses 20 to 22 for our
message in a moment. Alright, so Colossians 1 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, 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." He declared this glorious news. Those verses just
speak for themselves. He declared this wonderful, wonderful
news. Of what Christ accomplished for
his people and he said this applies to you. If. He said it applies to you
if verse 23 says 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. Now I wanted to look at this
for our Bible study because there's something about this that we
need to learn and know. Everybody needs to learn this
and we need to know this. There was a point where I remember
just a certain period in my life where the Lord started revealing
the truth of verses of scripture like this to me and it was such
a help to me. And I pray that the Lord will teach us the truth
of this verse. He gives a very critical and
a very exact stipulation on who this applies to. He said, the
only way this can apply to you is if you continue in the faith,
that's the only way it can apply to you. If you continue in the
faith, grounded and settled and be not moved away from the hope
of the gospel, which has been preached to all the world, that
is a condition. All right, that's a condition.
He said this thing is conditional. Now that fact is stated many
times in the Word. It's stated over and over and
over again. Look with me at Hebrews chapter 3. Hebrews chapter 3. Verse 1 says, Wherefore, holy
brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the apostle
and high priest of our profession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful
to Him that appointed Him, as also Moses was faithful in all
his house, For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses,
inasmuch as he who hath built the house hath more honor than
the house. For every house is built by some
man, but he that built all things is God. And Moses barely was
faithful in all his house as a servant for a testimony of
those things which were to be spoken after." Now watch verse
six. But Christ, as a Son over His own house, whose house are
we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope
firm unto the end. If. Verse 7, Wherefore, as the
Holy Ghost saith today, if you will hear His voice, harden not
your hearts, as in the provocation, In the day of temptation in the
wilderness, when your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw
my works forty years, wherefore I was grieved with that generation,
and said, They do always err in their heart, and they have
not known my ways. So I swear in my wrath they shall
not enter into my rest. He said in verse twelve, Take
heed, brethren. And you know, we need to take
this seriously. This is the apostle Paul, God's man, God's servant,
God's minister, speaking to his people directly from God himself.
And he says in verse 12, take heed brethren, lest there be
in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the
living God. But exhort one another daily,
while it is called today, lest any of you be hardened through
the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of
Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto
the end. While it is said today, if you
will hear His voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.
For some, when they had heard, did provoke How be it not all
that came out of Egypt by Moses, but with whom was he grieved
forty years? Was it not with them that had
sinned, whose carcasses fell into wilderness?" What he's saying
is, he pulled them out of Egypt. He said, I'm going to deliver
you out of the hand of Pharaoh, and he did. But he said, they
ended up dying in the wilderness. They didn't enter into the promised
land. Verse 18 and to whom swear he that they should not enter
into his rest. Here's who it here's who it was
to them that believed not. Verse 19 says so we see that
they could not enter in because of unbelief. That's the reason
why unbelief they did not continue in the faith. Look at Hebrews
4 verse 11, it says, let us labor therefore to enter into that
rest. And that's what faith is. Faith
is, is rest. No more work. It's just stopping. It's just resting in Christ. Let us labor therefore to enter
into that rest. Lest any man fall after the same
example of unbelief. This is a critical warning. Look
at Hebrews 10 verse 38. Hebrews 10 38. Now the just shall live by faith. But if any man draw back, if
any man draws back from that faith. My soul shall have no
pleasure in him, but we are not of them who draw back unto perdition,
but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. So all of
these promises only apply to God's people if they continue
in the faith. Now that truth and that fact
ought to strike fear in every single child of God. And it does
strike fear in every single child of God. We read verses like this
and it immediately strikes fear in us. And the reason is because
every child of God knows that it is not within his or her ability
to keep himself in the faith. It's not within our ability to
continue in the faith. Now that's what God's Word says,
but it's not in our ability to do it. We know, God's people
know, that they did not put themselves in the faith in the first place. It was not in us to produce faith
in the first place. Therefore, it is not in us. It is not in our ability to continue
in the faith. Period. All right. Now, God said,
if you don't continue in the faith, you're out. And it is
absolutely not in our ability to continue in the faith. So
what hope does a child of God have? Here it is. HE WHICH BEGUN A GOOD WORK IN
YOU WILL PERFORM IT UNTIL THE DAY OF JESUS CHRIST. Ephesians
2 verse 8 says, Faith is not of yourselves, it is the gift
of God. Philippians 2.13 says, it is
God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good
pleasure. What does He want us to do? What
is it His good pleasure for us to do? Stop, rest, trust, look,
hope, believe, follow, hear. That's it. And it's God which works in us,
both to desire that and to do that. That critical stipulation
that the Apostle Paul gave, it is a critical stipulation. We
don't just throw it out. It's a critical stipulation.
It is a critical condition that applies to the promises of God. But this is what we must learn
and what we must know about this condition. All right, every time
you see an if, I mean every single time an if is laid on a child
of God. This is so comforting. Every
single time. The if is not the cause. The if is the evidence. The if is the result. It is a
condition. It will always be a condition.
But the condition is not on us. It's on Christ. It is totally
on Christ. This condition is completely
on Christ. It is a stipulation, but the
stipulation is not on us. It's on Christ. right here in
Hebrews 11 verse one says, now faith is the substance of things
hoped for. Without faith, there's no hope.
It's the substance of everything we're hoping for. It's, it's
what we have down here on this earth, but it says it's the evidence
of the things that we cannot say. Faith in Christ is the evidence
of the gift and the work of Christ. The gifts and the calling, they're
of God. They're totally of God. We are
complete bystanders in this, total bystanders. All right,
let's read some very important verses of scripture concerning
faith. Look with me at Romans chapter 3. Romans 3 verse 21, it says, But
now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested,
being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness
of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all. Alright, it's by the faith of
Jesus Christ unto all. That means it's a gift. given
unto all and upon all them that believe. That's how you know who God has
given faith to. They believe. It's not their
faith. It is given to them, but it's
not their faith. It's Christ's faith. God gives
it and they believe. Look with me at Galatians chapter
2. Galatians 2 verse 16 says, knowing
that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by
the faith of Jesus Christ. Even we have believed in Jesus
Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ. God's
people believe in the faith of while everybody's talking about
faith. Here's the difference in God's people and those who
are not God's people. Those who are not God's people
believe in their faith. They believe in the faith of
themselves. God's people believe in the faith
of Christ. They completely believe in His
faith. They are totally looking to His
faith. And that's what faith is. It
has nothing to do with self and everything to do with Christ.
So God's people believe in the faith of. I told you before that
we had these Cambridge Bibles reprinted. Some of the churches
went together and we had these Bibles reprinted. And the publishing
company, I appreciate them so much asking and being very diligent
because they listed four or five verses of scripture like the
ones we just read. Romans 3, 22, Galatians 2, 16
and some other ones. They said, do you want to leave
it like it was originally written talking about the faith of Christ? Or do you want to change it like
everybody else is now these days to faith in Christ? And we said,
don't change a word of it. I mean, that's the critical difference
between him getting the glory and me getting the glory. Don't
change a word of it. Verse 16 says, knowing that a
man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith
of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ. And
here's what we believe. that we might be justified by
the faith of Christ and not by the works of the law, for by
the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. Verse 20
right here says, I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live,
yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now
live in thee flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who
loved me and gave himself for me. Where does the responsibility
go? Where does the glory go? Who
is the work credited to? Him. Him. Him. Galatians 3 verse 22, it says,
But the Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise
by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. But before faith came, It comes
to a center. Before faith came, we were kept
under the law, shut up to the faith, which should afterwards
be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster
to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come,
we are no longer under a schoolmaster, for you are all the children
of God by faith in Christ Jesus. The gift of faith that will come
to all of God's people. That's the evidence that we are
the children of God. So go back to our text in Colossians
1. This glorious declaration that
we're about to look at in a moment, the Apostle Paul said, it applies
to you if you continue in the faith. If you continue, if you
continue and continue and continue in the faith. That gift of the
faith of Christ that he gives by his spirit, If that gift doesn't
fall away, a man wisely answered a question one time. Someone
asked him, do you believe so and so is saved? He said, well,
I don't know. Ask me again in about 30 years.
Time will tell. If the gift doesn't fall away,
you know, a sower went forth to sow seed, that seed goes out
and it falls on stony ground sometimes, falls on thorny ground
sometimes, sometimes it just shoots right up, you know, and
you just see people just on fire for the gospel and on fire for
this new doctrine that they've learned, but then it dies out. If the gift does not fall, just
slip right through our fingers. If you keep it and continue in
it, if you remain grounded and settled on it, and you be not
moved away, it says in verse 23, from the hope of the gospel,
which you have heard and which was preached to every creature
which is under heaven. And that's the evidence that
the gospel applies to you. and the hope applies to you.
Now, just like that gift is the evidence, the initial gift is
the evidence, just like that continuing in the gift is the
evidence. It is a condition, but the condition
is on Christ. It is totally on Christ. If we keep the faith then we
are being kept by the power of God. That's what Peter said.
Look with me at 1 Peter chapter 1. I'm almost finished. 1 Peter 1. Verse 3, it says, Blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according
to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by
the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance
incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved
in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God through faith."
Kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to
be revealed in the last time. Every soul that is being kept
will keep. If we are being kept on, we will
keep on. We will. So there's no room for
boasting in continuing in the faith. None whatsoever. And there's
no room for worry. All right? There's no room for
boasting. And when we read verses of scripture like our text, there's
no room for worry. If God gave it, He will continue
it. If he has given us a desperate
need for Christ, do you have a desperate need for Christ? Do you see him to be the only
hope you have of making it? Because you are so disgusted
by what you see in yourself. You just, there's so much inadequacy
in what you see in yourself and so much sinfulness and so much
wrong. Therefore He's all I have. I need Christ. If God has given
us a need for Christ, He will keep giving us a need for Christ. That's why life will never shift
over to easy street. It's God's mercy and God's goodness. He will not leave us to our happy-go-lucky
selves. He will keep giving us a need
for Christ. And if He's caused all of our
hope to be in the blood of Christ, He will continue that hope. All
right, I'm going to close with this. Go to Jeremiah 32. Jeremiah 32 verse 38 says, And they shall be my people,
and I will be their God, and I will give them one heart and
one way that they may fear me. This reverent, godly, holy, faithful
fear forever. for the good of them and of their
children after them. And I will make an everlasting
covenant with them that I will not turn away from them to do
them good. But I will put my fear in their
hearts that they shall not depart from me." He said, I'm going
to make a covenant to never turn away from them. I am going to
continue with them and I'm going to do something in them that's
going to cause them to do something in return. That's the if. That is the if. If you see them
not departing from me, then you are seeing me not departing from
them. If you see them continue, you're
seeing me continue. That's what you're seeing. You're
seeing me continue. You're seeing me grounding and
settling them. You're seeing me not move the
hope of the gospel away from them. That's good news. That's
good news, and that's comforting. I do honestly thank God for His
if. I thank God for this if. I pray
that He will give us a true, clear understanding of that if.
And in a minute, we're gonna see what His if truly means,
all right? You're dismissed.