Follow along as we read, for
those on the tapes and CDs, Colossians chapter 2, 1 through 13. For I would that you knew what
great conflict I have for you and for them at Laodicea, 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. And
this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words. For though I be absent in flesh,
yet am I with you, in spirit, joying and beholding your order
and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ. As you have
therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted
and built up in Him, established in the faith as you have been
taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any
man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the traditions
of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwells all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and ye are complete in him, which is
the head of all principality and power. in whom also you are
circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in putting
off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of
Christ, buried with him in baptism, wherein also you are risen with
him through the faith of the operation of God who has raised
him from the dead." Now direct your attention again to verse
10. That will be our principal point
of emphasis this morning. And ye are complete in him which
is the head of all principality and power. Now, this is another
place, let me say, in the Scripture, particularly in our New Testament,
where a new chapter does not necessarily mean that there is
an altogether new subject that is being discussed, such is the
case here. At chapter 2 and verse 1, it
is a continuation of verse 29 of chapter 1. At times the apostle
speaks would speak of those things, those struggles and those intense
battles that he fought for the purity of the gospel and which
the saint of God must fight. And he speaks of that great battle
and struggle that he endured for the purity of the gospel,
and for the welfare of the saints, or of the children of God. And he brings that over even
into chapter 2. And I would like to share with
you, before we go any further, an expanded paraphrase of verses
1 and 2 from the author J.B. Lightfoot, Joseph Barber Lightfoot,
a writer of days gone by. Here is that expanded paraphrase. See if it matches what Paul said. Quote, I spoke of the conflict
involved in my apostolic labors. I would have you to know that
my care is not restricted to those who are my own and direct
disciple. And I wish you to know of the
struggles and the concerns that this costs me. I am constantly
wrestling in spirit that the hearts of all such may be confirmed
as well as strengthened in the faith and brought to a perfect
knowledge of God's mystery." There is what Paul is saying
in verses 1 and 2. But he knew the danger that they
were exposed to. He knew that the truth of the
gospel was at stake by the false teachers that had come among
them. He knew that devious seducers
were among them and would seduce them away from the gospel if
they could. He knew that he was not there
in person, that he might withstand to the face those who came with
eras and with heresies among the people. So, he does the next
best thing. He avails himself of the next
best opportunity. That is, he writes this epistle. He puts his words down in an
epistle and sends them to them in lieu of him not being able
to be there among them in the flesh. And what does he do? As
he writes, he exalts the Lord Jesus Christ as the all-plentiful
and sufficient One. He exhorts them to know that
they have no spiritual need whatsoever. There is not a spiritual need
that they could mention or that others could mention which is
not met fully and supplied in the Lord Jesus Christ. Not a
spiritual need do they have. Not a thing do they need that
they must look outside of Jesus Christ for the obtaining it. That is because He is the very
image of God. He is, therefore, the one by
which they might know God, for He is the very image. Did their
philosophers wrestle with the origin of the world and the mysteries
of life and such like? Then know that Christ has created
all things. Would they unlock the mysteries
of the universe and of life? Then know that that mystery lies
in Christ and that it is revealed. Great and deep mysteries are
brought to light in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Things once hidden and not yet
revealed are made manifest in and through the Savior Himself. There are things that can only
and can only be known by the Lord Jesus. Only known as they
are revealed to us by the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, concerning
the wisdom of the Gnostics, they loved wisdom and the mysteries
of life. and their claim to an esoteric
knowledge, that is, they claim that there were but a few chosen
or elite ones that possessed this knowledge that they had
searched out. The apostle, in answering that,
uses one of their very favorite terms of the Gnostic, but only
in order that he might overthrow their favorite doctrines and
tear them down, and to see that the mystery dwells in the Lord. They boasted, and they wrote,
and they taught of knowing secret, hidden things known only by a
few of them. A few elite, they said, had the
knowledge of these mysteries of life and creation, and the
origin of evil and such like. And they imagined themselves
in that, chapter 1, verse 28, to be perfect or complete. They viewed themselves as being
privy to the treasures of hidden wisdom known only by a few, and
the secret teaching that were known only by them. But Paul, using their very own
terms, and very own word declares that true and full wisdom is
only accessible through Jesus Christ, God's only begotten Son. The very mysteries of wisdom
are hidden in Christ as we will see in a moment in the third
verse of our text. But the last half of verse 2
is somewhat difficult as seen by the fact that expositors don't
have a whole lot to say about it. But it expresses Paul's strong
desire for the saints of God. We see such words there as riches,
assurance, understanding, full knowledge, and mystery. Those
kind of words are used by Paul in this play. putting them all
in a sentence. And the sense or the meaning
is this, that you may attain to the unspeakable wealth and
wisdom which comes with a very firm conviction and understanding
of God's mystery, which is to be found nowhere but in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Paul desires that for them. that
they may understand this mystery of God, and this mystery of God
is revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ. For note the third verse
now, in whom, that is, in Christ, as mentioned in the end of the
second verse, in Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and
of knowledge. Would you know things? Would
you be wise? Then you know them in Christ.
Now these words are another affront to the Gnostic who fancied themselves
there in Galatians, possessors and dispensers of wisdom and
knowledge about life and the world and all those questions
that are raised from time to time in the minds of ignorant
men. But true wisdom and knowledge
are all summed up, Paul said, in the revelation made in and
through Christ. Would you note with me how Paul
stresses these two things? Wisdom and knowledge. He uses the word treasures or
riches. A treasure trove, he said, of
great value. An abundance. An exceeding amount
of wisdom. is to be found in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Paul, in writing his epistles,
was also fond of that word riches, meaning a full supply, a wealth,
a valuable bestowment of something upon another from God. In Romans 2 and 4, he writes
of the riches of His goodness, the treasures of His goodness. the overabounding riches of the
goodness of God. In Romans 9 and verse 23, he
writes of the riches of His glory. Again, in Philippians 4 and 19. The treasure house overflowing
with the riches of His glory. In Ephesians 1 and verse 7 and
2 and verse 7, he writes of the riches of His grace. the overflowing, abundant riches
of the grace of God. In Ephesians 3 and verse 8, he
speaks of the unsearchable riches of Christ. So deep and full are
His riches of grace and mercy and wisdom and such like that
they are unsearchable. They are past finding out. So there's a difference among
good men as to the reference of the first words that we meet
with here in Colossians chapter 2 and verse 3, in whom, as we
look at that. Note the margin might give you
the alternate rendering, in which, in which or in whom. The question being, is Paul referring
this wisdom and knowledge to be in Christ, or is it in the
mystery that is revealed by and through Christ? It may not be
worth our contention, since the great mystery of God, so long
hid from the world, is unfolded, manifested, and opened in Jesus
Christ. As we see in Colossians 127 and
Ephesians 3, especially the mystery that the
Gentiles would be partakers with the Jews equally of the grace
of God in Jesus Christ. And see that Paul says these
things are hid, H-I-D. Should we expect Paul to triumphantly
declare they are revealed, completely open, unwrapped, brought to view,
made plain unto all? Still he uses the word hid or
hidden. Paul also was fond of that word
hid, for we find it in his writing. The word means hid. Something
cancelled. It is something that is kept
secret. It is something that is kept
out of sight. Something not known, something
not seen, perhaps at one time and then revealed in another.
For example, In 2 Corinthians 4 and verse 3, he speaks, If
our gospel be hid, then it is hid to them that are lost. In
Ephesians 3 and verse 9, it was hid in God. God's purpose with
regard to the Gentile was for centuries hid in God. In Colossians
3 and verse 3, your life is hid with Christ in God. Hebrews 11
and verse 23, Moses was hid three months, not known, kept out of
sight. 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 7 speaks
of hidden wisdom, that wisdom which is hidden from the world,
but is revealed unto the people of God. Thus what is hidden from
the natural man may yet be clearly seen by the eye of faith. When the Lord takes the veil
off of our eyes, then are we able to see. Now, the great treasures
are hidden. They are laid up in God's eternal
purpose, which is executed through Jesus Christ, His Son, and our
Lord. And in verse 4 of our text, I
have a reasoned purpose in talking to you or telling you this. What I am telling you has a definite
intention, purpose, aim, and end. It is this, says the apostle,
that you will not be beguiled, that you will not be drawn off
a course, that you will not by in passing words of man's wisdom,
thee led aside from the truth of the gospel. I, says Paul,
just want to put you on your guard concerning these things. Verse 5, Though I am not bodily
present, yet I am with you in spirit, beholding your faith. Compare, if you might. 1 Corinthians
5 and 3, about the censure of the licentious man. Paul said,
I am absent in body, but I am present in spirit as to what
ought to be done. Verse 6 of our text says, As
you have received Christ the Lord, so walk in Him. That is, you have received Him
as God's Son, presented and declared in the gospel, Therefore, walk
in Him. I entreat you not to turn aside
or away from Christ. Verse 7, I exhort you to be rooted
and to build up in Him, confirmed in the faith of Him, adhering
soundly and continually to what you have been taught. and what
you have believed concerning the gospel. Then in verse 8,
a warning, beware, take heed, be on your guard, look about,
do not allow yourself to be taken prey by such things as philosophy,
or empty deceit, or by the traditions of men, for none of these things
are after or according unto Christ. None of these things are spiritually
profitable unto you, and what they proclaim is not the gospel
and is not the truth of Christ our Lord. None of these things,
says Paul, have Christ as their center or their aim or their
essence. They're not built upon or around
the Savior Christ. Therefore, as one author, John
Eady, did write, and I quote, they were contrary to his person
and his work, unquote. Those three things named philosophy,
vain deceit, and the traditions of man. Furthermore, it depreciated
the person of our Savior. It ignored his mediation. It
slighted his blood atonement made on the cross, it robbed
him of his deity that he is very God. In every way, those things
that were being brought among them detracted from Christ rather
than building up and edifying unto Christ. But now, our text
is principally verse 9 and verse 10 where, let me say, Paul crowns
his argument here. and draws his conclusion. Here in these verses, he makes
the proper application with regard to the warning and the exhortations
that have gone before. And if we look at it, it is really
twofold when we see his argument. First of all, in verse 9, the
fullness of God dwells in the incarnate Son. Say it another
way, the whole plenitude of divinity Christ incarnate was fully, fully
divine and dwelt in him the fullness of the Godhead bodily. We considered
this earlier in another study. That all the fullness of God
dwells in the Lord Jesus. And it pleased God that that
should be so. But the second point in verse
10, chapter 2, you are complete in Him. He wants them to know
that. In Him dwells all the fullness
of the Godhead And you are complete in Him, who not only is the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, but also is the head of all principality
and all power. He is the sovereign over all
things that His hands have made. in Him. Oh, should every Christian
recognize and grab hold of that? You are complete in Him. It would stop us from going hither,
thither, and yon, and being drawn away in useless ceremonies and
traditions to understand that we have a full completeness in
Him. You may look at your margin and
see that you'll find the Word sometimes rendered like this. You are made full in Him, sometimes
in the margin. You have been filled. You are full. You have all that
you need. A fullness of fullness you have
in Jesus Christ. Those who prefer, you have been
filled, see this connection in verse 9. He, Christ, is the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. And verse 10, and you have your
fullness from His fullness. It seems just as correct to say,
in Him you are or have been completed. You have been perfected. The
immediate sense is spiritually You have need of nothing which
is lacking in the Lord Jesus Christ. You have no need to go
outside of Him to fetch anything from any other place or source. You are complete in Christ. You have a fullness that satisfies
God. If you have nothing except Christ,
if you have Christ and Christ alone, You are sure for heaven
as a martin to his gourd. If you have Christ, the Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ, in the immediate context, there
is nothing lacking in Christ. That's Paul's point. That philosophy,
the traditions of men, are the elementary elements of the world. cannot supply anything to add
to what we have in Christ. Therefore, they are useless spiritually
or to the salvation of a soul. Nothing lacking in Christ, nothing
at all that needs to be supplemented from any other source, none whatsoever. If one have Christ, if one be
in Christ, in the biblical sense of the term, He has all. You never need look outside of
Christ to make up anything whatsoever. In fact, it were a huge slight
and a huge insult to Christ to seek one wit apart from His saving
work. Anything in addition to His saving
work sought from outside of Him is a slight and an insult. So now let's see how it is that
John 1, verse 16, in His fullness have we all received and grace
for grace. Get that. In His fullness, of
His fullness, have we all received grace for grace. Our Lord was
absolutely full of grace and truth. and we are full by and
through Him. What is the totality of our completeness
in Him? What is it that stands one complete,
needing nothing else beside what Christ has given? What things
are included in this completeness that we might rest more comfortably
in the Savior, our Lord? Now, remember that there are
two sorts of blessings. which we have in connection with
Christ our Lord. There are those before the world,
and there are those in time by His incarnation. Those from eternity. They're described in Ephesians
1, 3 through 6. Chosen in Him, predestinated
to the adoption of Son, made accepted in the Beloved. These
our God and our Lord did for us in eternity past. Secondly, those that are wrought
for us and applied by Christ as incarnate. And we want to
focus here upon the second sort. That which we have in Christ. because of His incarnation, His
perfect life, His suffering, His death, and His resurrection. What have we in Christ that fills
up the completeness? Let's name some. They are here
in the text for us to see. A. We have redemption. In whom we have redemption. That's in Ephesians 1.7. But
it's also in Colossians 1 and 14, "...in whom we have redemption
through His blood, even the forgiveness of sin." And Ephesians 1, 7 adds,
"...according to the riches of His grace." Now, the, "...in
whom," in Colossians 1, 14, is a reference to its nearest antecedent,
His dear Son. His dear Son, into whose kingdom
He has translated us." Colossians 1.13. In whom we have redemption,
consisting also in the full forgiveness of sin. Now, redemption is a
term which has the meaning theologically and scripturally of buying. It is the idea of buying or ransoming. ransoming and redemption. It
is to buy back out of bondage. It is to buy again. As when the
Scriptures declare, you are bought with a price. 1 Corinthians chapter
6 verse 20 and chapter 7 and verse 23. You are bought. You
are ransomed. with a price. Acts 20 and verse
28. He purchased the church, the
price being his very own blood. Now, redemption or ransom gives
the idea or intimates the idea of enslavement. For one is ransomed
or redeemed because they are in a bondage from which they
cannot be free. So it gives the idea of formerly
being enslaved. And in the Old Testament, during
the economy of that, many redemptions and ransoms there were, which
were the payment of a price. Money, silver or gold, such like. In 1 Peter 1, 18 and 19, for
as much as you know that you're not redeemed with corruptible
things such as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of
the Lamb of Christ, as of a lamb without spot and without blemish,
but with the precious blood of Christ. That is the payment. That's the ransom. That's the
price of our redemption. Money could buy a slave out of
the tyranny of a cruel, earthly master. With silver and gold,
that could be accomplished. But silver and gold could never
redeem a soul from its bondage to sin, to Satan and such like. It is good coinage for use in
the world, though they are valuable in the eyes of men, Yet never
can silver or gold redeem a soul out of bondage. The price of
that was always blood and is the blood of Christ. The price
of our redemption was not corrupt tender, for it was the blood
of the Lamb. And it was the blood of the spotless,
impeccable Son of the living God. Spotless without wrinkle. impeccable in every aspect. Notice that Peter used the word
precious, but with a precious blood of the Lamb. Now this has
various meanings. Valuable, costly, honored, esteemed,
beloved, even meaning held in high reputation. Precious blood
of the Lamb. The same word translated precious
In 1 Peter 1.19, is in Acts 5.34 translated, had in reputation. So and so was held in reputation. In Acts 20 and 24, it's rendered
dear. As Paul says, neither count I
my life dear or precious or valuable. In Hebrews 13 and 4, it is rendered
honorable. Marriage is honorable in all. That is, it is precious. It is
highly valued. It is treasured. James 5 and
7 speaks of the precious fruit of the field. Same word that
we have precious, 1 Peter 1 and 19. Now, the blood of Christ
is exceedingly dear and exceedingly precious and honorable. It is
held in very high reputation by the Heavenly Father. The Heavenly
Father looks upon the blood of Christ, counting it precious,
valuable, and highly esteemed. And it is reckoned to be sufficient
of the price of our redemption and ransoming from our slavery
into sin. It is the full price of our redemption,
paid to the justice of God, whereupon receipt of the price, God frees
His elect from bondage. Yes, in Christ we have redemption
and thereby forgiveness of sin. We are complete in Him first. We have redemption. What's more,
we have in Christ the revelation of the great mystery of God. Christ has made a revelation
of God unto us. The foolish Gnostic sought knowledge. How did he seek it? Through shadowy
mysticism and philosophy. And in Colossians 2.18, the worshiping
of angels and intruding into those things which he hath not
seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind." That's how the
philosopher or the Gnostic saws wisdom. Paul uses a word here,
look at it, intruding. This is an interesting word which
some do render invading. Entering and standing. Invading
or intruding. Their inquiring mind. sought
to pry into the unseen world to know its mystery. Edie put
it like this, they lost themselves in transcendental reveries. These they thought valuable. In their vivid fancy, they sought
to intrude into and stand in behind that curtain that blocks
out the unseen and the unknown world to us humans here in this
world, even seeking, they did, to make intercessors out of angels,
seeking to use them as intercessor. Now, this note about all of this
in our day. Methinks that if we look around,
we also can find that there is much of this even in our day. I find around funerals and such
like false esteem put upon the dead. As many times we have heard
people by the casket say or at the funeral say, oh, they may
be gone, but they are still with me. They are still here. They're
guiding me. A friend of mine said, Mother
is watching over me even yet. I feel that so and so is yet
still in my heart as if finding more comfort and more solace
in the deceased than they find in the very presence and the
grace of our Lord and of our Christ. The revelation of knowledge
of the things of God concerning salvation and of the world to
come. True revelation is in Christ. The true revelator is Christ. He has revealed the Father. God
has spoken in Him in these last days. He has heard of the Father
and has taught us. He has revealed the Father. He
has heard what the Father has said. And He has revealed the
Father unto us. And for our age, that is written
up in the Scripture. And may I tell you that what
is written up of Christ revealing the Father is a credible and
sufficient revelation unto Christian believers down to the end of
the world. The Christian believer ought
to be content with the revelation that Christ has made of the Father,
because there will be no more made in this life. There will
be no more revelation of the Father that is forthcoming. There
will be no more Scripture that will be inspired. The Christian
has the record here. Remember in John chapter 14,
as the Lord readied His disciples for His departure, I must go
away. And Philip said, I believe in
verse 8, show us the Father and it sufficeth us. Suffice, the word that is used
eight times in the New Testament is translated enough in Matthew
25 and 9, content in Luke. 3 and 14, be content with your
wages, John tells the soldier. But it sufficeth us, show us
the Father, and it will suffice us. What was the Lord's reply
to Thomas' request in John 14 and verse 9? His reply to that request is
this, He that has seen me has seen the Father. Thomas said,
show us the Father, we'll be satisfied. The Lord answers,
he that has seen me has seen the Father. And why, Thomas,
do you say, show us the Father? Christ had claimed, I am one
with the Father. Before the world, He claimed
that. And I came down from the Father.
And I and my Father are one, are the claims of our Lord. And
to repeat from Hebrews chapter 1, God has spoken to us in His
Son in these last days, and what the Son says is what the Father
says. What the Son said, what the Son
did, is written up in the Scripture. And again, they who believe not
the Scripture would not believe Christ in person. and repeat
the sin of Thomas, show us these things." The Holy Scripture are
all we'll ever have and all that we'll ever need to have the knowledge
of the mystery of God's sovereign purpose. One final thing mentioned
in our fullness in regard to Christ. Colossians 2 and verse
11, right, in our text. In Christ we have the true circumcision. In whom, that is, in Christ,
or the circumcision of Christ, or by Christ, or from Christ,
we have the true circumcision. No doubt this referred to the
insistence of the Judaizers on fleshly circumcision as a part
of Gentile salvation, as they did in Acts 15 and 1. It was one of the favorite tenets
of Judaism. They were even called the circumcision. Now Paul speaks of a different
and a superior circumcision, that of the heart, and he distinguishes
it by three things or in three ways. a. its character, b. its extent, and c. its author. As to its character, it was not
handmade. It was not made with hand. It did not come from the hand
of another. It was not performed with a knife. But as Paul says in Romans 2,
28 and 29, it is of the heart And it is in the Spirit, this
circumcision. The meaning is, in Christ, we
have the spiritual counterpart to Old Testament fleshly circumcision. And you know, by the way, even
the Old Testament speaks of this superior heart circumcision. Here are a couple of texts. I
won't go there. But Deuteronomy chapter 30. And
verse 6, Deuteronomy 10 and 16, Jeremiah 4 and 4, speaks of the
circumcision of the heart even in the Old Testament. As Nicodemus
should have known of spiritual circumcision, so the Jews should
have had a knowledge of spiritual or of heart circumcision, for
it was written up in their scripture. Thus the apostle tells the believers
in Colossae, you need not have fleshly circumcision, since in
Christ you have the true circumcision of the heart. There has been
in every regenerate one the cutting away. The removal of the mass
of sin that encircled and enshrined the heart. An operation that
needed no knife, nor shed any blood, nor cause any pain, nor
left any scar. That circumcision that is of
Christ. It is performed by Him, and it
marks one as a covenant child of grace. And the essence of
it is the removing of the old man, or the body of sin as it
is called. And let us not miss the point
that this part and partial of regeneration is. The circumcision
of heart is part and partial of regeneration. It is performed
as part, yea, the greater part of regeneration. Hear this quote
from an older writer in the 1800s, quote, The empire slew, which
encircles the spirit and enslaves it, is rolled off. Newness of
life is fell, and the believer no longer walks after the flesh
or does its deeds, unquote. Everyone in Christ is heart circumcised. as it suits male and female,
Jew and Gentile, and is appropriate for all of those in Christ. And it signifies a covenant status,
a heavenly inheritance. So the conclusion then, full
salvation is in Christ. Nothing is lacking, whether the
insistence of Paul's time or our time, Nothing is lacking
in Christ. Nothing needs to be mixed or
added to Christ to save the souls of His elect. And all additions,
by the way, are an insult to the Savior, to His blood, person,
death, and salvation. Of His fullness have we received,
and we are complete or full in Him. You are full and complete
in the Lord Jesus Christ. You do not need water on your
brow. You do not need the second blessing
of the Holy Ghost. You do not need to belong to
a certain church. You are complete in Jesus Christ. Let's stand, please, for prayer.