Welcome to the Reign of Grace
radio broadcast. My name is Bill Parker. I'm the
pastor of the 13th Street Baptist Church in Ashland, Kentucky.
This program is sponsored by the members of Eager Avenue Grace
Church in Albany, Georgia, located at 1102 Eager Drive, Albany,
Georgia. I'll be bringing you a gospel
message of the sovereign grace and glory of God in the Lord
Jesus Christ from God's Holy Word. And now, the message. Welcome to our program. Now today
I'm going to be preaching from the book of Colossians, chapter
1. This is the epistle of Paul. to the church in a town called
Colossae. Colossians. This was thought
to be a small group of people that met in the home of a man
named Philemon. Later on there's a book that
Paul wrote, or a short letter rather, book of the Bible, that
Paul wrote to Philemon concerning a runaway slave named Onesimus. And it's a beautiful little letter
showing the truth of substitution and satisfaction and imputation,
the gospel truths. But here in Colossians chapter
1, the church, the New Testament church, and specifically this
church at Colossae, was being bombarded with false doctrine. Those who claim to believe in
the Lord Jesus Christ, but who crept in subtly with heresies,
the philosophies of men. legalism from the Judaizers or
those who were Jews who claimed to be Christian but could not
let go of the law because they imagined that their salvation
was in some way determined by and established upon their keeping
of the law rather than the grace of God in Christ. And Paul combats
that. He shows the preeminence of Christ
in all things as he opens the book of Colossians But here he
preaches Christ the hope of glory and what he is showing is that
salvation from its very beginning in eternity past in the electing
grace of God all the way to the redemptive work of Christ on
the cross is justifying his people by his righteousness charged
to them on the cross and then unto the new birth by the power
of the Holy Spirit regenerating grace, and then under their preservation
even unto final glory in heaven, which refers to an eternity in
heaven for the people of God, all of that salvation is by God's
free and sovereign grace in the Lord Jesus Christ, and it is
all based upon established in, upon, and determined by, and
secured by Christ and His finished work on the cross. In the book
of Colossians chapter 1 and verse 27 he mentions Christ in you,
the hope of glory. Now Christ is the sinner's only
hope of glory. Now what is a hope? Most people
when they think of hoping or hope They may think merely of
wishful thinking, something that you really desire in your innermost
heart to come to pass. But a hope in the scripture is
more than that. A hope in the scripture, specifically
the hope of the gospel, is a certain expectation. And what he's speaking
of here is the certain expectation of glory. In other words, those
who are in Christ, and those in whom Christ resides by His
Spirit and by His Word, and those who are looking to Christ alone
for all of their salvation, have a certain expectation of final
glory in Him. So Christ is the sinner's hope
of glory. Now, first of all, Christ crucified
is our hope. I heard a man say one time that
it speaks here, referring to Colossians 127, it says, Christ
in you the hope of glory. And he made this statement, he
said, notice that it doesn't say Christ for you the hope of
glory, it says Christ in you the hope of glory. And he was
indicating by that that it's not really what Christ did on
the cross for his people, that establishes their hope of glory,
but it's only what Christ does in them by the power of the Holy
Spirit. Now let me say this about that. First of all, this is one
scripture in the Bible, and you cannot build a doctrine on one
scripture. Now what this scripture teaches
is true, but the scripture has to be interpreted and weighed
with other scripture. This verse here is speaking of
Christ in and among his church collectively. We'll see that
in just a moment. But also the scripture, and this
scripture could easily speak of that, speaks of Christ dwelling
within the hearts of his people individually. And it says the
hope of glory, but this scripture does not deny other scripture
which teaches that the believer's hope of glory is founded upon
based upon and established upon and determined by the work of
Christ on the cross for him. For example, we go back to Colossians
chapter 1, and if you'll look at verse 3, Paul opens the letter. He says, We give thanks to God
and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,
since we heard of your faith in Jesus Christ, in Christ Jesus,
and of the love which you have to all the saints," and look
at verse 5, he says, "...for the hope which is laid up for
you in heaven, whereof you heard before in the word of the truth
of the gospel." Now there he's talking about a hope that is
laid up for God's people, Christ's sheep, in heaven. And that hope
that is laid up for them in heaven is the fact that Christ is already
there. He's the risen Christ, the ascended
Christ. He's seated at the right hand
of the Father, ever living to make intercession for his people.
He right now rules and reigns and disposes over all things
to make certain that all of the benefits of his death on the
cross are applied in time to each and every one of his sheep
in each successive generation by the power of the Spirit. And
then over in verse 19 of Colossians chapter 1, it says, For it pleased
the Father that in him, in Christ, should all fullness dwell. And
we're going to see in another message that that's the fullness
of salvation, it's the fullness of the Godhead, the fullness
of the Father, the Son, and the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
And it says in verse 20, 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, now that is his death on the cross,
to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in God's sight,
If you continue in the faith, that is the faith of the gospel
now, that's looking to Christ now, that doesn't mean believing
in yourself, it doesn't mean believing in your faith, it doesn't
mean having faith in your faith. If you continue in the faith,
it means you continue believing and hoping in Christ. understanding
and being assured that he has fulfilled all the conditions
of salvation and assured your final glory in heaven because
of what he accomplished at Calvary. And the if here is not a conditional
statement. In other words, he's not saying
you will be saved if you do this. This if here is an evidence of
those who are saved, those who are saved by the grace of God
in Christ give evidence that they're saved. And he says in
verse 23, "...if you continue in the faith, grounded and settled,
and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel." Now that
hope of the gospel is Christ and Him crucified. Christ, when
He died on the cross, He put away the sins of His people.
He bore them away. He satisfied God's law and justice. He paid their debt in full. He
died for them, for their sins charged to him. He was buried,
and he rose again the third day because of their justification,
and he is now ascended unto the Father on high, ever living,
to plead their cause, based on what he accomplished. So it's
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 goes on in verse 24, he says, "...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." And we'll look at that in just
a moment. Over in the book of Hebrews, chapter 6, and beginning
at verse 16, the apostle uses an example of men swearing an
oath. And he says in verse 16, for
men barely swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation
is to them an end of all strife. That is when men swear an oath,
they swear by something greater than themselves. So he says in
verse 17, wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto
the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it
by an oath. that by two immutable things,
in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong
consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope
set before us." In other words, God has sworn an oath and he
swore by himself because there's nothing greater than God. And
when you consider God's promise and God's oath, those are two
immutable things, that secure the entire salvation of all those
who have fled for refuge to Christ, who is the hope that is set before
us. And he says in verse 19, which
hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast,
and which entereth into that within the veil, whether the
forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus made an high priest
forever, after the order of Melchizedek. So that's our hope, Christ and
Him crucified. Yes sir, our hope is founded
upon and based upon what Christ has accomplished for His people. Christ fought us the hope of
glory, we could just as well say by other scriptures. We can
look over in verse 19 of chapter 7 of the book of Hebrews where
Paul writes, for the law made nothing perfect, that is the
law of Moses, didn't make anybody who lived under it perfect. But
he says, but the bringing in of a better hope did, by the
which we draw nigh unto God. Now what is the bringing in of
a better hope? That's the coming of Christ and
His fulfilling the law for His people. And then over in the
book of 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 3, we read these words,
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, or a living hope, by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead. So that our hope is founded upon
Christ's death and his resurrection from the dead. So our hope is
Christ Jesus, and He's the only hope you can have. So all the
promises of God are in Him, yea, and in Him. Amen. We sing a song
at our church that's one of my favorites and I quote it quite
often on this program. And it goes like this, My hope
is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus'
name. On Christ the solid rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand.
Now, we do not derive our theology or our doctrine from hymns. but
our hymns should reflect our theology and our doctrine as
we get it from the Word of God. Now, Christ crucified is our
hope. And then, secondly, Christ in
us is our hope. Now, first of all, go back to
Colossians chapter 1. We see that Christ dwells in
his church collectively. Now, when we speak of Christ
in us, individually, We're talking about the work of the Holy Spirit
in the new birth. Now, what does the Holy Spirit
in the work of the new birth do? Well, He gives us life, spiritual
life from God. He gives us knowledge, revealed
spiritual knowledge. It's a revelation from God. He
gives us ears to hear, eyes to see, hearts and minds to understand
and know and love God. He regenerates us. He converts
us by the power of the truth preached, heard, understood by
His power. He makes us willing to submit
to Christ in salvation and in obedience. He sheds abroad in
our hearts the love of God, the Scripture says. All of those
things. It is a resurrection from the dead. And what He does,
the hope that His people have in Christ on the cross, in His
work for them, The Holy Spirit takes that and He applies it
to them in time. In other words, He puts that
hope within us. And that's what He, this is part
of what He's referring to here when He says in verse 27, Christ
in you the hope of glory. But first of all, Christ dwells
in His church collectively. Look at verse 25. Paul speak,
or verse 24. Paul speaking of those who now
rejoice in His sufferings. 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. Now the church are
the redeemed, they're the chosen of God, the redeemed of God,
and the called of God. God chose them before the foundation
of the world, Christ redeemed them and justified them on the
cross of Calvary and the Holy Spirit comes in time in each
successive generation and regenerates them and converts them. He brings
them to Christ. He applies to each and every
individual member of God's church what God purposed before time
and what Christ purchased in time. You see, this life and
this hope that the Holy Spirit gives in the preaching, in the
knowledge, in the revelation, and in the life of the Spirit. It all comes from the Father
and the Son, Christ and Him crucified. And he says here, where have
I, Paul, 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 manifested to his saints." Now what he's talking about there
is the mystery of the church. It's the mystery of the church,
how God saves both Jew and Gentile and brings them into the church.
And he says in verse 27, "...to whom God would make known what
is the riches of the glory of the mystery among the Gentiles,"
you see there, "...which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." Now
some translators translate it this way, Christ among you, the
hope of glory. And that's as good a translation
as in the King James Version. And what he would be talking
about there is Christ dwelling in his church collectively. That's
a common theme throughout the scriptures. In the book of 2
Corinthians chapter 6, the Apostle Paul writes of it, he says, for
you're the temple of the living God. As God has said, I will
dwell in them and walk in them and I will be their God and they
shall be my people. Talking about his church, Christ
said, where two or three are gathered in my name, there I'll
be in the midst of them. The church is called the pillar
and ground of truth. It's the church of the living
God. So Christ dwells in his people collectively. He's the
head of the church. The church is his body. He's
the Bridegroom, the Church is the Bride. He is the Vine, the
Church is the Branches. But then also Christ dwells within
His people individually. He dwells in their hearts. Now
how does He do that? Now many people go all different
directions trying to explain this and we really can't explain
it except what the Scripture teaches us. That Christ dwells
in His people by His Holy Spirit and by His Word. Now, some people
in their zeal to portray or to preach the necessity of the new
birth, the necessity of the Holy Spirit's work in regeneration
and conversion, do so in such a way so as to diminish the person
and work of Christ, the work of Christ for us. But my friend,
that is a bad way to go. That is a heretical way to go,
actually. You see, the necessity of the
work of the Holy Spirit within does not diminish or lessen or
devalue the work of Christ on the cross, his blood and his
righteousness, you see. In fact, it is the work of Christ
on the cross of Calvary, what he accomplished and finished
and completed in redemption and justification and adoption at
Calvary, that actually demands the work of the Holy Spirit in
us and provides the work of the Holy Spirit in us. Christ said
to his disciples in John chapter 16 and verse 7, he said, if I
go not away, the Comforter will not come. You see, the Holy Spirit
must do his absolutely valuable, sovereign, and precious, and
necessary work in us not because the work of Christ on the cross
was incomplete, not because the blood of Christ is not enough,
not because his righteousness is insufficient. The Holy Spirit
must do his work within us because Christ's work was complete and
because it is powerful and because it is sufficient. And therefore
the Holy Spirit works in us. Now, Christ dwells in his people
by his spirit and he dwells in his people by his words. We can
read so much scripture on this. John chapter 6 and verse 56,
Christ said, He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth
in me, and I in him. Now there he says his people
dwell in him, for he is our representative, he is our substitute, he is our
redeemer, he is our surety, and he dwells in them. And he's speaking
here of faith. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh
my blood. He's not talking about cannibalism.
He's talking about looking unto Him by faith. Now who gives you
that faith? God does by His Spirit and by
His Word. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing
by the Word of God. If it weren't for the Holy Spirit's
work in you, you would have no spiritual hearing. You wouldn't
believe God's Word and you'd have no hope of glory. All for
whom Christ established hope at the cross will in time believe
in him and see that their hope is in him alone. And that is
Christ in you, the hope of glory. John chapter 14 and verse 17,
this speaks of the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive
because it seeth him not neither knoweth him but you know him
for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you. He's talking
to his disciples there. of that great day when they would
be baptized in the Holy Spirit in the New Testament Church at
Pentecost. In John 14 and verse 23 it says, Christ said, if a
man love me he will keep my words and my Father will love him and
we will come unto him and make our abode with him. The Father
and the Son dwells in his people. by the Spirit and by the Word. And then in Romans chapter 8,
verses 9 and 10, where Paul writes to believers, he says, you're
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. And if Christ be in you, the
body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because
of righteousness. In other words, the Spirit brings
life and applies life and is life because of righteousness.
Now, where is righteousness established? At the cross, when Christ made
an end of sin, finished the transgression, and brought in everlasting righteousness.
And then in Galatians chapter 2 and verse 20, Paul writes this,
he says, I am crucified with Christ. Now, when was he crucified
with Christ? When Christ was crucified. When
Christ died, not as a private person, but he died as a representative,
as a substitute. He didn't die for himself. He
died for his people. Somebody said, well, Christ had
to redeem himself first and then redeem his people. Oh, no. He
did not have to redeem himself. He had to redeem his people.
He went to the cross and he died one time. You know, the Old Testament
high priest had to go into the Holy of Holies two times. once
for himself. You see, he had to atone for
his own sins by the blood, and then that qualified him to go
in for the people the second time. But the book of Hebrews
tells us, and all over the book of Hebrews, but specifically
I'm thinking of Hebrews chapter 7, that Christ did not have to
go in twice, first for himself and then for the people, for
this he did once, the scripture says, for his people. So he says,
I'm crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ
liveth in me. Christ liveth in me. Paul is
saying here, I'm not the source of my life, I'm not the continuation
of my life, but it's Christ living in me. How? By His Spirit and
by His Word. So when we talk about Christ
in us, the hope of glory, that does not deny Christ for us,
the hope of glory. Christ is our hope of glory in
every way. He was our hope of glory in eternity
past. He was our hope of glory at the
cross of Calvary and is our hope of glory. He is our hope of glory
in the new birth. And my friend, He's my hope of
glory right now as God preserves me. and he'll be my hope of glory
when Christ returns to gather his church together and glorify
his people all together and take them to live in the new heavens
and the new earth." You see, this is a certain expectation.
Paul wrote this, he said, I know whom I have believed and I'm
persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've committed
unto him against that day. And Paul writes here in verse
28, he says, whom we preach, warning every man and teaching
every man in all wisdom that we may present every man perfect
in Christ Jesus, whereunto I also labor, striving according to
his working, which worketh in me mightily." You see there,
Paul did not set the work of Christ on the cross and the work
of the Spirit in the heart as opposites or as at odds with
each other. He saw them as one work of salvation
by the grace of God. He speaks of that which is according
to his working and that which worketh in me. Don't ever, don't
ever let anyone divert your eyes away from Christ because I want
to tell you something. If Christ is truly in you the
hope of glory, that's the blessed work of the Holy Spirit to turn
you and keep your eyes focused upon Christ and Him crucified.
the one who died for your sins, the one who justified you on
the cross, the one who keeps you, the one who blesses you,
the one who will come again, the one who intercedes for you
right now, our advocate, Jesus Christ the righteous, the one
who is coming again to take you to be with himself in glory.
You see, the work of the Holy Spirit in us is to turn our eyes
to look to Christ, Jesus, the author and the finisher of our
faith. So it is Christ the hope of glory. Christ for you and Christ in
you, the hope of glory. I hope that message has been
helpful to your understanding of the scripture. If you'd like
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Christ, the Hope of Glory. And I hope you'll join us next
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