Colossians, chapter 2. Colossians, chapter 2. If you were hoping that I was
going to preach from Isaiah 6, at least we read it. But you'll see why we read that,
I hope. Let's just begin immediately.
Colossians 2 verse 1, the Apostle Paul said, I wish that you knew
what great conflict I have for you and for them at Laodicea
and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh. Paul said he had a a real struggle,
an inward struggle going on. I know how he feels,
but he said, I have a constant inward struggle, hoping, wishing,
wanting so much, he says, for you, for them to have something. And this is what he wants for
them, in verse 2. Constant desires for them, verse
2, that their hearts might be comforted. That their hearts
might be comforted. Because that's, at heart, are
the issues of life. The heart is the inward man. Most of us are very comfortable
outwardly. Most of us have, if not all of
us, have all the comforts of this life. Right? Our bodies, except for occasional
ache and pain and sickness, are very comfortable. Paul said,
I want you to be comforted, that your heart might be comforted. But our hearts are troubled all
the time, aren't they? Even if our bodies are comfortable,
our hearts get troubled. Our hearts are full of fear and so forth. And
so he says, I want you to be comforted in your heart. And
he's going to tell us what's going to comfort us. The things
which give comfort, inward comfort. All right, now look at verse
two. It's the only verse we're going to deal with. He says that your hearts might
be comforted being knit together in love. Did most of you gather with your
families on Thanksgiving? Most of you did. I did. My earthly
family. There's a lot of comfort in an
earthly family. There really is. If your parents
are still living, if you have children, if you have relatives,
there's a lot of comfort. You get around the family there. I'll tell you this about family. You feel very comfortable around
them, don't you? Well, that's a good word to describe a family
relationship. Very comfortable. Well, you can
do anything. Yes, you can feel comfortable.
You can be at ease around them. So to speak, let your hair down.
You can be yourself. Believers have that relationship,
even if they don't have children or don't have a husband or wife
or don't have parents still living, they have that relationship with
one another. You see, when I say things like this,
that don't look for a church, you
know, look to Christ. Well, that's subtle, you know.
When you come to Christ, we need to seek Christ first. But you
know, when you marry Christ, you get a big family to go with
him. And they truly become family.
A family, really, that sticks closer than flesh and blood. And a family
you'll never lose. In a family you can feel comfortable
around. You can let your hair down if
you have any. You can let it down. You can
cry on their shoulder. You can laugh with them. You
sure do eat and drink with them. And be merry. Right? Family. This is the thing about
families. They know you, don't they? Mother, father, husband, wife,
brother, sister, boy, they know you, don't they? They can look
right through you. They still love you. So it is family of God, God's
people, God's church. That's just love, you see. He
said that your hearts might be knit together in love. He's talking
to believers. This is the tie that binds. Blessed
be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love, the song says.
The tie that binds, that knits us together is love, number one,
love for the gospel. God's people, you know what this
group, this assembly here this morning, What we are here is
a bunch of sinners in need of mercy and grace. This is a hospital
of sinners. You've heard me say quite often,
I'd love to put a sign on the top of this building. No good
people need to apply here. When I was a boy, we had a clubhouse,
you know, and we'd put a sign outside. No girls allowed. I think that's still on some
so-called church houses. But here I'd like to put no good
people allowed. Sinners only. That's exactly what Christ said.
I didn't come to call the righteous but sinners. This is a hospital
for the worst. For the worst. Why, we receive
women that have been married five times and living with a man that's
not her husband. Don't we? Christ did. This is the tithe of mine, the
love for the gospel. This is our one need. This is
why we all come here, isn't it? I hope. I believe most everyone
in here, this is why we come here, isn't it? to hear about Christ. Love for
the gospel. And this love that says here,
being knit together in love, this love, talking about and
we sung about God's love for us in Christ, that will make
us love one another. God's mercy. We hear the gospel
of God's mercy to us in Christ. That will make you merciful.
Well, we hear of God's grace to us, all given to us, that
makes you generous. We hear of God's longsuffering
to us, and not only ought to, but it
will make you longsuffering with others, put up with others. We
hear about God's kindness to us, we'll be kind to others,
and so on. Well, Paul says, here's the conflict
that I have. I have a conflict, and I have
a constant struggle for you all, he said. That you all might be
knit together in love. That this would be so with everybody,
just not some. And look at this, look at the
next line. That your hearts might be knit together, comforted and
knit together in love unto all riches of the full assurance
of understanding. Riches. When you're rich, what
does that mean? Very simply. You have a lot of
something, a lot of money. That's what most people think
of, rich. Well, our Lord said it's deceitfulness of riches.
That doesn't make you rich. As a matter of fact, that only
makes you want more. Right? He said, the Scriptures talk
about true riches. And here Paul says, I have a
great contract, this is what I want you to know, this is what
I want your hearts to be comforted with and be full of, the riches of the full understanding. Full assurance, I tell you, full
assurance of understanding. Not full understanding. Full
assurance of understanding. All right, stay with me. This
should comfort you. It's a Bible message, all right? What does understanding make?
You talk to your children, or anybody for that matter, and
you have something urgent on your mind, and you want them
to understand, don't you? Would you understand? You're
talking to them, and they might seem like they're not listening
to you. They might seem like they just don't get it. And you want to understand. Do
you understand what I'm saying? I don't think you do. Do you
understand? Understand means to really believe
it's fact. It means to listen to this. Understanding
means to lay hold of with your mind. Have you ever done that? Sure
you have. Something's told to you over
and over again until finally, I understand. Your mind actually
grasps it. All right? Paul said, I want
you to have full assurance of understanding. Full assurance. If you understand something,
it's going to give you full assurance. Now, this assurance now. Assurance of what? Assurance
means to be sure of. That's what assurance means,
to be sure of. To be absolutely persuaded of something,
and can't be convinced otherwise. It means to be confident. All
right, he says, something, if you understand something, you'll
be full of assurance. What assurance of what? Will
you have assurance? See if I can illustrate that.
If I'm assured of my wife's love for me, I won't worry about losing her. Understand? I'll be, I'll have
assurance and I'll have no fear, I'll have no unrest, I'll have
no worry. And this full assurance he's
talking about, of heart, peace. If you understand something,
it'll give you peace. You won't be, like Paul said,
like a raging sea tossed, and you won't just, when something
happens, just, oh, you'll be torn all to pieces. You'll have
peace. You need that. Now, he said you'll have rest. Everyone here sleep every night?
I mean, all night? Why? Worry. Right? Or if it's not
whatever, something physical, it's generally you're
thinking about something. And this rest that we can have
is of mind, of conscience, at rest. Free from fear, free from
worry. Go to sleep. Rest. Job's finished. You rest. Remember you telling me about
building a house, and how it just stayed on your mind all
the time. You laid awake thinking about angles and all that, but
when the job was finished, Did you sleep? Alright, there's something you
can understand, and you have rest. Full rest. Real rest. And nobody can bother
you. Some of you getting it? Alright,
and security. How you don't need work? Relaxation, joy. This is something,
full assurance will give you joy. All right, what is this secret
thing? Have I made anybody want this? Has this enticed anybody here? What is this secret thing that
will make us rich with joy and peace and rest and security and
contentment and all that? Peace, joy, love. Gentlemen,
what is this secret thing? you know it is a secret. Look at it. Look at verse 2.
All right? That you'll be rich with a full
assurance of understanding to the acknowledgement of the mystery
of God. It is a mystery. It is a secret. All right? He says, now, are
you with me? He says, I want you to acknowledge
this mystery, this mystery of, look at it, three things, God,
of the Father, and of Christ. If you do so, you'll have an
understanding and it'll give you full assurance that yes,
you'll be rich and you'll be full of love. You can read that
backwards. All right, it is a mystery, though.
And the first step in understanding is to acknowledge that it is
a mystery. Did you hear that? The first
step in understanding is to acknowledge that it is a mystery. This is what the scripture says.
I mean, just listen to me as I read. I won't have you turn
much this morning, but listen as I read from 1 Corinthians
chapter 2. It says this, natural man received,
if not the things of God, the things of the Spirit of God,
their foolishness unto him, neither can he know them. Can't know
them. they're spiritually understood. He said before that, you remember
Stan where he said, you don't know what I'm thinking unless
I tell you. And we don't know what God's thinking unless he
tells us. Right? What man knows the things of
a man, say the spirit of man. Even so, knoweth no man the things
of God, say the spirit of God. And understanding is to acknowledge
its mystery. You remember me telling you about
that woman that told Brother Marvin, I want to know the truth. That's the first step. That's
the first step to say, to acknowledge, I don't know. I don't know. And people, you
know, this is one of the most difficult. I confess, I'm guilty, guilty,
guilty. This is one of the most difficult
things for a human being to do is say, I don't know, or I'm
wrong, or I thought I knew, but I was wrong. I don't know. Would somebody tell me? Do you remember the Ethiopian
eunuch riding back, reading the scriptures? Do you remember what
he said to Philip? I said, do you understand what
you're reading? What'd he say? How can I? Let somebody show me. Did he
understand Stan after it was over? He sure did. That's the
first step. You see, and this is practically
unheard of today. men, women, even young people,
approach God's Word, they know all about it. They know all about it. I lay the blame on preachers,
because they simplified God. You hear what
I'm saying? They have simplified God. They've made him understandable.
They've made him like a man. Do you understand what I'm saying?
Do you understand that? The difference? There's a first
step in knowing and understanding Job said this, now listen to
Job, he said, can a man by searching find out God unto perfection?
His ways are past time and after. God said this of himself, he
said, as the heavens are higher above the earth, so are my thoughts
and my ways above your thoughts and ways. Do you understand the
star? How much less do we understand
God? I love what Charles Spurgeon said one time. He said, I don't
want a God that I can understand. Because that would make him no
higher than me. That would make him like me. So the first step in understanding
the mystery of God is that God is a mystery. I don't know God. I'd like to
know God. Hey, that's a start. Now listen to this. Listen to
this. Those who do know Him, those who do understand Him,
something of the mystery that is God, they'll quickly tell
you, I sure don't know much about I don't know anything as of tonight. All right, the mystery of God. He says three things here, and
that's all I want to deal with very quickly. Are you with me? He says, I want your heart to
be full of love and be rich, full of assurance, of understanding,
to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God, of the Father,
and of Christ." God, Father, and Christ. All right? God, the mystery of God. You
should understand. And the first thing we do to
understand God, turn back to Isaiah 6. Who is God? What's God like? The whole world,
people, the whole world has got a wrong notion of God. You know what the world will
say if you ask them, What's God like? Almost to a man, they will
all say, What? Well, here in Isaiah 6, we're
going to see the first chief, complete attribute of God, what
God is really like here. Isaiah said, I saw him. And he
said his glory filled the temple. The post of the door moved. And he said, and there were seraphims,
there were angels around his throne, and this is what they
were crying. You get—God gave these angels one thing to say,
one word to describe God. God told these angels one word
to describe Him. They're going to declare what
God is like in one word. What was it? Look at it. Verse 3, "...one cried unto another,
and said, Holy, holy." Holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole
earth is full of his glory. Glory of his holiness. Three
times in verse three. Holy. Now listen very carefully,
all right? Everything is a mystery if you
just think of God as being love. You cannot answer There are so
many questions that cannot be answered if you only think of
God as love. God is love. Then why do we suffer? Why do we die? Do you wish the death of your
loved one? Why do calamities disasters, wars, sicknesses,
diseases happen if God is love? Can you answer that with love? Well, think about it. Why? Why? Why? There are many questions
you could ask in light of God is love, can't you? Why? And I hear preachers all the
time, you do too, say, well, God didn't want that to happen.
Well, then why? Didn't it do something? Well, God loves you. Strange
love. But you can answer all these
questions. when you say God is holy. Hmm? Do you follow me? Are you with
me, Dan? Sam? I'm speaking to people, persons. Earlene? Mine. And here's the only answer
that—and this is all I'm going to say about false preachers, The only answer preachers can
give when you say, why, why, why? God is love, then why? Well,
they'll say, what's your fault? You don't let him. You didn't
let him. You didn't cooperate. Right? Is that not what they say? You
didn't cooperate. God wants to do something, but
it's your fault. You didn't have enough faith, or you didn't let
him save you, or you didn't let him have his way, and so forth.
That's absolute, not only is it blasphemy, it's absolute foolishness. It's absolute foolishness. How
can God be God if man has to let him? Would you answer that question
for a minute? How can God be God, but man has to let him be
God? Come on now, that's an absolute
insult to my intelligence. More than that, an insult to
God. If God—listen to me—how can God be creator when the creature
controls him? Come on! That's absolute foolishness. God is holy. That's why things
die. Sin. calamities, disasters, come from
the hand of a holy and just God, who will by no means clear the
guilty, who punishes, yes, punishes the inhabitants of the earth.
But wait a minute now. Would you hang with me just a
little bit? He doesn't punish his children. He chastens them,
but he doesn't punish them. And this will give you some assurance,
full assurance. Rest. Rest. All right? Okay. Holy, holy,
holy, he said. God is holy. But now look down
there. You still in Isaiah 6? Look down
at verse 9. He says, you go and tell all
those people, hear ye indeed, understand not. They don't understand.
He said, well, make their heart fat, make their ears heavy, shut
their eyes, lest they see with their eyes, hear with their hearts,
ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted and be
healed. It seems like God's hiding something from them. He does. It's a mystery. And Christ said
this. He hid these things from the
wiser people. Who he is. Who he is. All right, but now
wait a minute. Verse 13. But now wait. Now he says, But in all this
shall be a tent. There's going to be a remnant,
and it's going to return. It's going to turn to God. It's
going to turn from sin. It's going to understand. It's
going to see a remnant. They're going to hear. They're
going to understand. They're going to know I'm God.
All right? Now, the next thing, listen,
the next thing that Paul says, I want you to acknowledge the
mystery of God. I hope everybody in here, down
to the youngest person, understands that God is holy first. You understand
that? Down to the youngest person here.
You understand that? You listening? That's the first
step in knowing and understanding God. God's holy. You don't know his love until
you first know he's holy. That creates a fear of the Lord.
All right? The next thing, he said, I want
you to have the acknowledgement or the understanding to acknowledge
the mystery of God and of the Father. Wait a minute, this God who is
holy is also a Father. Turn to Ephesians 1, all right?
Ephesians chapter 1, this holy God is also a father with children. Okay? This is why some of them,
Isaiah says, are going to return. God just, He determined for them
to. He chose them to do so, to acknowledge
Him, understand Him. Ephesians 1, verses 4 and 5,
it says, "...according as he who God hath chosen us in Christ
before the foundation of the world, unto the adoption
of children." All right, this holy God determined to have a
family. Now, he always had one son. It's a mystery, really. How can
the son be God? A mystery. I acknowledge it. The world doesn't. They can't
figure that out. How can three be one, one be three? I don't
know, but that's what God says, and I acknowledge it. You notice
he doesn't say the full understanding. but full of assurance and understanding. To acknowledge the mystery that's
of God and of the Father. All right, this is a mystery.
God chose some to be his sons. Why it's a mystery. Predestinated,
yes, predetermined to have sons. And who would be his son? And
to adopt them, to adopt them, that's a mystery. The world doesn't even like the
sound of that word, predestination. That proves they're not sons.
You know that? That just proves they're not
sons. Those who have been love the sound of it. It's a joyful
sound, isn't it? Doesn't it make you frown, jaw,
or smile? I saw you. You smiled. Predestinated. If God hadn't predetermined to
have sons, He wouldn't have had but one son. I've told you how much I love
my daughter. She's been a pure joy to me from day one. And if I could have had several
children, I'd have had them all just like her. I'm in that. Well,
that's exactly what God did. That's exactly what predestination
is. God had one son with Him from
the beginning. Jesus Christ is His name. God
loved Him so much that He determined, Barnard said,
to have a whole bunch of sons just like Him. That's what predestination
is. A whole bunch of sons, he's determined
to have a family. He didn't need any. He didn't
need any more sons. I don't need any more daughters. But to the praise of God's glory,
and for our good, he's predestined, predetermined to have sons, a
family. That's his right, isn't it? Isn't
that his right? and says he did this before the
world began. It's a mystery, isn't it? It
really is a mystery. Now, had God predetermined it
before the world began, who would be his son? And yet in time,
you know, they've got to believe, they've got to repent, they've
got to... Well, I know why. Because God predetermined it.
But it seems like man's got to do something, doesn't he? He does because God predetermined
it before the world began. That's the only way he would
have. It's all his will, all his sovereign purpose, all his
predetermined will, we call that, which was before the world began.
And this is something that God teaches all his children. Listen
to this, my favorite verse. Isaiah 54 verse 13 says, All
thy children shall be taught of the Lord. Taught what? Holy. Holy. Holy. And great shall be the peace
of thy children. Christ said, He quoted that,
and He can change a little bit, can't He? It is written, John
6, 45, it is written, they shall all be taught of God, and every
man that heard and learned of the Father comes to be. All right, that's my next word
there, Christ. God, the mystery. Father, determined
to be a father to children. How's he going to do this? Christ. Are you with me? God. Do you acknowledge who He determined
to be a father? Many sons. He determined who
they would be. That's because He's God. So you've
got to acknowledge the first thing before you understand the
second. All right, how's He going to be a father, Joe? Christ. It's a mystery, isn't it, Jeanette?
It's a mystery. All right, let me see if I can't
Now, look at our text now. Look at our text. And we may
deal with all this chapter here either Wednesday or next Sunday. But very quickly, he says, Paul
says, Now I want you to understand and acknowledge the mystery of
God and of the Father and of Christ. And verse 3 says, In
whom are hid all the treasures. of wisdom and knowledge. And he says this, now he says,
now I'm saying this, verse four, lest anybody, lest any man beguile
you, trick you with enticing words. And you know four times
down through here he says, I don't want any man to spoil you, to judge you, to beguile you. He says that twice, a trick kid.
He said, because this thing's in Christ. That's what this whole
chapter of John, chapter two is about, that this thing's in
Christ, buddy. It's all in Christ. Paul talks
about the law. He says it's not in the law,
it's in Christ. Paul talks about touch not, taste not, handle
not, you know, what we do or don't do. He said that's not
where it's at, it's in Christ. That God doesn't, you're not
a son of God because you, Don't do this or do do that. It's because
you're in Christ. And he said, I want you to hold
on to that. Be steadfast. And he says, verse
8, Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy. Now,
they're just philosophizing. Well, he is in Christ, but. But me. Yeah, it's by grace, but. No,
no, no, no, no, no. My wife can say no real fast. No, no, no, no, no, no. She learned
that with me. But she can't. I want to say
that just as fast as I can. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Not grace, but no, no, no, no, no, no, no. It's grace. That's
salvation's in Christ. It's all in him. But stop right
there. Don't put a period there. Don't let any man you hear go
along. Shut your ears right after he
says that. This will give you four shots. If you understand that Christ
is all. Look at it. Look down here, verse
8, and I said they're going to try to spoil you. That means,
spoil means Take everything you've got. That's what it means. It's not after your salvation.
I said, we're not going to talk about it anymore. Well, Paul
is. He said, they don't want you,
they want what you've got. They want to chalk you up, not
you on their belt. He said, philosophy, vain deceit,
that is empty lies after the tradition of men. Denominational
rules and so forth. Look at this, rudiments, things
of the world. That which is flesh is flesh. Isn't that what God said to Sam
Park? That which is flesh is flesh.
Didn't he say that? Didn't he say, by the deeds of
the flesh, flesh shall be justified? Did he say that? He sure did. He said, they'll try to tell
you that it's the rudiments or the elements of this world. Look
up at verse 21, or verse 20. So if you're dead with Christ
from the rudiments of the world, why as though living in the world
are you subject to ordinances, touch not, taste not, handle
not? If you're dead, a dead man's not subject to anything, is he? Go talk to a dead man. Lie in
a coffin and say, hey, you better just straighten up here, man.
You're wearing your hair all wrong. You got the wrong clothes
on, man. Dead. You're not subject. Touch not, haste not, handle
not. These things, he said in verse 22, are going to perish.
Didn't our Lord say that which goeth into the mouth, that is
a pile of man. It comes out in a draft. He said what's in there
already. The commandments, verse 22, and
they make up all sorts of commandments and rules and doctrines of men,
men, men, not God, men. Jot this down. Go read Mark chapter
7 on your own. Mark chapter 7. Read that on
your own and see how many times the Lord says he rejected the
Word of God in favor of the commandments of men. Well, look at that. Look at verse
9. You want some assurance, John Davis? You want some assurance? This will give you full assurance. Verse 9. dwelleth all the fulness of the
Godhead bodily, and you are complete in him." Complete in what? Well, God predetermined for us
to be holy, didn't he? Now, we say about
his sons, you know what we read back in Ephesians 1? That they
should be holy and without blame before him in love? How? I've
tried. Haven't you? Have you tried? People, if wearing a beard make
me holy, I'm not going to shave again. I'm going to try to grow
as long as I can. If clothes would make me holy,
all you'd see is my eyes. Huh? Holy. What makes us holy? Your complete
in Him. Christ is made unto us. 2 Corinthians 5.21, one of my
favorite verses, is made unto us wisdom. We understand where
righteousness is. Wisdom, righteousness, sanctification. You've got to sanctify yourself.
Christ said, He said, I sanctify them. I do, didn't He, John? In John 17, I sanctify them. He makes us holy and unblameable
and unapprovable before God. He turns us into holy sons of
God. How? He puts clothes on us. But it's not filthy rags. It's His righteousness. Do you
understand that? This will give you assurance
when you fail miserably at trying to do. Believers do want to live
according to the Word of God. They do want to be like Christ.
But when they fail miserably, they still go to sleep. Why? They're righteous. They are holy. Why? In Christ. of Christ, you're complete in
Him, you're complete in Him, you're completely a son of God
in Him. In Him, by faith in Him. Preaching, now here, this is
where I really want to simplify it. Preachers have simplified
God, but I do want to simplify this thing, salvation. I surely
do. Because Paul said this, he said, Oh, I fear that Satan has he beguiled Eve through his
subtlety, so your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity
that is in Christ." Let me tell you where salvation is. It's
100 percent, completely, altogether in Jesus Christ. I just preached the gospel right
there. I just preached the good news.
to a sinner. Yeah, but, but, but. Don't but. Believe. Huh? Flawless assurance. We never
have assurance of ourselves. We'll never, Jane, we'll never
have assurance of ourselves. We're up, we're down, our faith's
strong, it's weak. Someday we got a lot of it. Someday
we don't think we have any. One day we love, the other day
we act to me as a snake. Some day, oh, we're walking straight.
Now, I've got, I've got, I've got the victory. Next day, you
fall flat on your face. You stumble at the slightest
little thing. You fall into the deepest temptation. What's your
hope? You see why Paul keeps saying,
don't let anybody fool you. Don't let anybody fool you. Oh,
he said, I want your hearts to be comforted. Get together in love. Does that
make you love Christ? Does that make you love Christ?
Does this make you love this gospel? It has to. That's all we do here. It's all
we do here. Stand up and say this same thing
every time. Just over and over again, don't
we? Why? Because sinners need to hear it. Tell me again. We
sang it, didn't we, Joe? Tell it to me again. Why? I'm a sinner. Tell me, Christ
Jesus makes me whole. He does, he really does. Yes,
he does. I'm just going to go home and sleep. Rest on that. Just going to rest on that. And
do like Brother Tim J. He said, you put a sign on your
heart's door that says, Do Not Disturb. And this preacher, whoever, yeah,
but you're not Just shut your ears. They'll tear you up. They'll
tear you up. You're not, you ought to be, look at you. You're
right. Look at yourself. Just look at
yourself. Oh, I'm there. Look at that. A true preacher
says, look at Christ. Oh boy, isn't that wonderful?
Huh? That's good news. Good to give
you joy and peace. Full of assurance, Dan. In Him,
that's where assurance is found. It's in Him. This is the most
important message you'll ever hear all of your life. I hope
somebody heard it. And come to Christ, but don't
move a muscle. Come to Christ. Trust Christ. Trust Christ. You're complete
in Him. All you need. All you need. All the religion you need. All
the righteousness you make. Complete. I'm going to say it
one more time. You're a complete event. 125. 125. Stand. Stand with me. you