Open your Bibles, if you would,
to Colossians chapter 3. Colossians chapter 3. The aim
of the message is, what a hope in Christ. I ask you, who are
here with us today and anyone who will listen to this message
as it goes out on the internet, do you have a hope? Do you have
a hope for eternal life? Who is that hope in? Is that hope in something you
do? Or is that hope in someone who's
already completed the work of salvation, and there's nothing
that you and I can add to it? Well, if you answered yes to the first statement, then
you're on the broad road to destruction. Because if you trust in yourselves,
in anything you do, it'll take you right to hell. But all who trust in the Lord
Jesus Christ shall be saved. All who trust in the Lord Jesus
Christ, the God-man, who perfectly, completely finished the work
of salvation 2,000 years ago. Completely finished it. Nothing to be added by any one
of us. So when the gospel preacher gets
up and preaches the gospel, we're merely telling God's people and
his lost sheep what Christ has already done for them. And the Holy Spirit regenerates
us. Rebels at heart who shake our fists at God in our natural
state. And He brings us to bow down
before our great God and King. And to proclaim Him Lord. To
acknowledge His Lordship, not to make Him Lord, because He's
already Lord. but to acknowledge his lordship
and to acknowledge that we are but needy sinners with a desperate
need for Christ. Now today in the current situation
which we are coming out of, for the last year there is fear affecting
our everyday lives. Someone says, well, I'm not afraid.
Well, turn the news on. Because the news, I don't find much use for the
news as much as I used to. You know why? Because it's all
about fear. It's all they're trying to do, work people up. Get my mind off Christ by telling
me what's going on over here. I'm not going to let that happen
anymore, Lord willing. You know, because when I open
the scriptures or put a sermon on, what do I find? Comfort. Great comfort. Knowing who's
in full control. Whether someone's reading the
scriptures to me or whether I'm hearing a sermon, oh, what comfort. What comfort fills my soul when
I hear about Jesus. Is it so for you? When I hear
about our sovereign king, Paul penned these words here
that we're going to look at in Colossians chapter 3. He penned
these words by inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God. And he
gives a remedy for the believer. No matter what situation we find
ourselves in, whether we're in a hopeless situation, whether
we're going through a time of trial, whether we're being afflicted
by something in our lives, whether it's a health situation or just
an everyday situation where we're struggling with something, Paul
gives us a remedy, beloved. He gives us a remedy in those
situations. to we who are the people of God and this is to look to Christ
who's our hope to look to him Colossians chapter 3 look at
verses 1 to 4 if ye then be risen with Christ. So Paul's writing to born-again,
blood-washed believers, and he says, if you then be risen with
Christ, seek those things which are above. Don't seek the things
down here. They're all temporal. Now we
use them in our everyday lives, right? Things. But don't seek
those things. God will give you whatever you
need, right? And I'm not talking about word
of faith, name it and claim it. False stuff. I've seen it in my life. God
always provides what we need. Not always what we want, because
we always want more, right? But he always gives us what we
need, beloved. Always. Think of how blessed
we are. We have food on the table. We
have clothes on our back. We have people who love us. We're
so blessed. We're loved by the God of all
the universe. We're so blessed. So seek these
things which are above. And you know what? If we seek
these things which are above, we'll not be focusing on what's
going on down here, right? If we got our eyes on Christ,
we won't be focusing on what's down here. Someone else said
you can be too heavenly minded and no earthly good. I don't
believe that. I really don't believe that. I can't think enough
about Christ, do you? I'm ashamed of how much I think
of them, how little I think of them sometimes. Are you? Oh,
if my mind could be just filled with thinking of them all the
time. But I'm a sinner. So this is instruction for you
and I as believers. He says to seek these things
which are above, where Christ, what? Sitteth on the right hand
of God. Christ is sitting there right now, right this second. You know what he's doing? He's
interceding for you and I, and he's ruling. He's on his throne. He's already there. He's ruling
over everything. This is his kingdom. This is
his domain. Not just this earth, but all
the heavens, and everything, and things we don't even see. We just get a little glimpse
of the galaxies, right? We don't even know how vast this
is. If he controls all that, how
big is he? As I said in Sunday school, if
he controls all that, how big is he? And is it hard for him
to take care of us as believers? Oh, no, if he can hold the stars
in their place and control every atom and molecule, ain't nothing
for him to keep us, is it? Oh, ye of little faith, right?
Lord, help my unbelief, right? That's me. Oh, it's so true. Then look at
this. Set your affection on things above, not on things in the earth. So we're to seek those things
which are above. Now he says, set your affection. That's your
heart. Set your heart on things above,
not on things on the earth. Why? Because everything on this
earth is temporal. It's all temporal. It's all going
to fade away. And then, look, he gives us the
reason why, too, though, scripturally. For ye are dead. Who are we dead in? Well, we
died on Calvary's cross with Christ, right? We were in him.
I'm crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ
liveth in me. In the life that I now live,
I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave
himself for me. Look at this, for ye are dead
and your life is hid with Christ in God. Our life is hid in Christ. John Gill says we're
the hidden ones. safe and secure in Christ, hidden in Christ, in God. When Christ, who is our
life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
When he appears, we'll appear with him. We'll appear with him in glory.
Every one of his sheep, every one for whom he died for, will
be in heaven. will be in glory. There won't
be one missing. So if you're a saint of God such as I, we
can say, I won't be missing in glory by the grace and mercy
of God. It's wonderful. And we serve
and worship the one true living God. We saw that Sunday school,
right? Even the devils acknowledge that there's one true God. We
saw that scripture this morning. They acknowledge it. They know
there's not multiple gods. And even in the scriptures we
looked at, they acknowledge Christ to be the Son of God. So there's
only one true and living God. Other gods and men have cooked
up in their imagination, but they're not true gods. They're
false. And our God is right now ruling
and reigning, right now. Whether people believe it or
not, He's ruling and reigning. And every virus in this world,
every atom, all things visible and invisible are governed by
him. They're all governed by him. Everything. By his almighty power, he can
release it and he can restrain it. He can even do that with
us, do you know that? He can either, a friend of mine
used to say, he can restrain us from sin or he can release
us to sin. You can do whatever he pleases. So what hope then the believer
has in Christ when we look to our risen Savior, knowing that
it is He who has saved us. It is He who left the glory and
splendors of heaven to come to this sin-cursed world to save
my soul. And each believer can say, He did that for me. You
know He did it willingly. He willingly died in our place. He willingly gave his life for
us before we were ever, ever were. And he knew that we would
be born shaking our fists at him. And yet he still went to that
cross. He set his face like a flint to Jerusalem and went to that
cross. And they took those nails That's
probably a burly Roman soldier. Took those nails and just drove
those nails into his hands. And the blood ran out of those
wounds. That blood was for us. That's the redeeming blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's precious blood. That's
the blood of the God man. and took that hammer and they
put his feet together and he nailed that right through his
foot, his feet, right through the bones. And he suffered, beloved, he
suffered. And yet without sin, what would
we have said? What would we have cried out? Would we have cursed the man
who did that to us? He's God. He's the perfect, sinless, spotless
Lamb of God. And He's having this done. He's willingly
allowing them to do that. Because He must. He must redeem
His people from their sins. That's love. That's a love like
I don't know on this earth. He loved us so much that he allowed
them to do that. He was the one who made the tree
that he was hung upon. He was the one who made the ore
that the nails were crafted from, the hammer. They were all made
by things that he created. And you know, he could have said,
he could have He could have knocked them all down with a word of
power. He could have taken them all
out with a word of power. And yet he didn't. He was silent
as a lamb led to the slaughter. You know why? Because he's the
silent suffering substitute. And he must die in the room and
place of his people. He must redeem his people from
their sins. And this is the one Paul's saying,
set your mind upon Him. He's risen now. He's in glory. God the Father has accepted His
sacrifice. The justice of God is fully satisfied. That was against you and I. This gives us much cause to rejoice,
doesn't it? Much cause to rejoice. You mean
that all that justice of God that was pent up against me has
been fully extinguished? And against you who are a believer,
it's been fully extinguished? How can that be? By the sacrifice
of the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ. You mean the law of God no longer
has a claim on us? The scripture says that the handwriting
of ordinances that were against us, and think of this, in our
lifetime, how many sins have we committed? And those are like
ordinances that are against us written on a piece of paper. That's what it's talking about
when it says he blotted out the handwriting of ordinances that
was against us, that was contrary to us, and he took it out of
the way, nailing it to his cross. Oh, this is good news! This is the one who we're to
look to. The risen, exalted Savior. And when we look to Him, the
things of this world just fade away. The worries and concerns
of this world just fade away. I was talking to a brother this
morning, and he said he's heard preachers say, well, this is
my church. You know what I'm going to tell
you? This is not my church. This is the Lord's church. This is his work. I'm called
here to pastor and to lead, and that's a great honor. But this
is his church. You are his people. I am one
of his people, too. were bought with a price. You
know what that price is? That precious blood that was
shed when those nails were hammered into his feet and his hands.
When the spear pierced his side and the blood flowed. That's the purchase price blood.
When God saw that perfect blood. When he saw the blood of the
lamb, the blood of the innocent one dying for sinners. He's satisfied. He's satisfied. It's amazing. And then he was
raised for our justification. This is why Paul tells us to
not set our minds on things on the earth, because Christ has
risen, beloved. He's in glory. And we are to set our minds to
where he is. A lot of people treasure things
on this earth. And the Lord said, don't lay your treasure up here
on this earth. You know, everything we accumulate
is going to go to someone when we die. It really is. It's true. It's going to go to
someone. Can't take anything with us. Not saying we shouldn't leave
stuff for our family members and to help them out when we're
gone. But there's a lot of stuff we
leave behind that they don't even want. Right? But to us, it was important.
We can't take none of that with us. That's why the Lord said,
don't set your mind on things down here. He'll take care of us, doesn't
he? We always have what we need, always. God is able to do that which
man cannot do. Now, man may kill the body, right?
Scripture says this, and fear not them which kill the body,
but are not able to kill the soul, but rather fear him which
is able to destroy both body and soul in hell. Fear the one true living God. Now we who are the people of
God, we fear him, not in a slavish fear, but in a reverent fear,
don't we? We now know who he is. And we only know what he's
revealed to us. And that's just a little bit,
isn't it? See, that's why we can't get
hot even with what we know, because what we know is just so little. Norm Wells says, all we know
about God is revealed in this book, but what else is there
to him? We don't know. We know he's perfect and holy
and righteous. We know that he saved our eternal
souls. And we'll be forever grateful,
won't we? So we're to set our minds upon the one who has all power.
See, that's the other thing, too. If you're not him who can
Kill the body, but fear him who can kill both body and soul in
hell. Fear him who has all the power.
And that's where the reverend fear. In awe of who he is. He's God. He is not like us at
all. Not at all. Should not man fear he who is
able to hurl all the wicked into hell, into the lake which burns
with fire and brimstone forever? Should not he be the one we should
fear? Should he not be feared and dreaded?
Yes, he's the only one to be feared, right? But there's so
many things on this earth that make us fear. But they shouldn't, should they?
When we think about him who is in full control of all things
in this universe, what happens to that fear that we have? It
just dissipates. It just fades away. God alone should be feared, chiefly
and principally, because he alone has power over life and death.
It's in his hands, the power of life and death. So what hope a believer has then
in Christ, now we who are the people of God, we fear him with
irreverent fear, don't we? Knowing why? Knowing that we've
received mercy. We didn't get what we deserve. Isn't that incredible? We don't
get what we deserve, which would be hell. But God's people don't
get that. They get eternal glory. They
get to be in the presence of the Lord forever, to worship
Him forever. Why? Because it pleased God to do
so. That's remarkable, isn't it?
To know that God has loved me with an eternal love. What else could we do but serve
Him after that, right? What else can we do but willingly
desire to know more about him? We love him. So what a hope the
believer has then in Christ. Turn, if you would, to 1 Thessalonians
chapter 5. I like us to look at this. There's a little portion
here. that is just absolutely amazing. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. We are
declared righteous only in and through the Lord Jesus Christ
and Him alone. Look at this though in 1 Thessalonians
chapter 5 verses 8 to 11. Again Paul is writing to The
saints at Thessalonica, now they're suffering for their faith. They're
going through a lot of suffering for their faith. They're being
persecuted by their own countrymen, we find out earlier in the epistle. And they're being persecuted
really, really hard for their faith. And yet, they just keep
glorying in the Lord Jesus Christ. So much so that their faith is
heard of abroad. And Paul said, I don't even need
to mention Lord, because you've already talked about them and
it's spread all over the year. So of course he did keep speaking
about the Lord, but he said they already knew in different places, because their faith was spoken
of abroad. Look at this though in First
Thessalonians 5, 8 to 11. But let us who are of the day
be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for an
helmet the hope of salvation. So what a hope we have Who's
the hope of our salvation? Christ. Scripture talks about the breastplate
of righteousness. Who's our righteousness? Christ. So the armor of God is
Christ. And then it goes, for God has
not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord
Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep,
we should live together with him. Wherefore, comfort yourselves
together and edify one another, even as also you do. And it's the Lord Jesus Christ
who we trust our eternal souls to, isn't it? It's Christ in
him alone. And I say behold the Lamb of God, behold the Lord
Jesus Christ, behold the second person of the Trinity, the Word
of God. He's the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world for the people of God. Behold Him, look to Him, He's
the only Savior of sinners. And Lord Jesus Christ was not
any ordinary man. He was God incarnate in the flesh. And He came down from heaven. Why? To save us. To save His
people from their sins. So behold Him, behold the sinless
one, behold the despised one. Behold the one who's rejected
when he was upon this earth. And yet all that time he's weaving
a perfect coat of righteousness for us, obeying the law of God
perfectly. Behold him. He established the
perfect righteousness for his people. And then behold the Lamb
of God dying on Calvary's cross. His visits so marred that you
can't recognize him. bleeding, dying, bearing the wrath of God
in our place. Marvel at the sinless sacrifice. Marvel at the love that's on
display. Marvel that he had set his face
like a flint to Jerusalem because he knew he must die. And what's a result of that?
Look again, 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. Look at verse 9 and 10. For
God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation
by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we
wake or sleep, we should live together with him. Look at that.
He has not appointed those he chose in Christ. He has not appointed
us to wrath. That's what the scripture says
there. When did he do that? In eternity. In eternity. Look at that. Let these words
just warm your heart. For God hath not appointed us
to wrath. That's written to believers. Well, I know that now. But again, when did that happen?
Well, that happened in eternity. But to obtain salvation by our
Lord Jesus Christ, you mean God has appointed us not to have
the wrath of God fall upon us, and he's appointed us to obtain
salvation? Yes, that's exactly what the
verse says. Is not this mercy? What do we deserve? The wrath. What don't we deserve? Salvation
in Christ. What do we get? No wrath. Salvation in Christ alone. All appointed by God. Who died for us. When he died on that cross, Paul's writing to believers and
he's saying, Christ died on that cross, he died for us. Isn't that wonderful? Isn't that the greatest manifestation
of love you've ever seen? One who commits no sin. One who's
perfect in thought, word, and deed. dies in the room of those who
are full of sin. We're so full of sin that everything
we think, everything we say, everything we do has sin in it. But God has not appointed us
to wrath. Hallelujah. Praise His mighty
name. That's mercy. That's undeserved
mercy, but he's appointed us to obtain salvation. How? Not by anything we do! Because
the scripture says, by our Lord Jesus Christ. That means nothing
we can do can make us fit to be in the presence of God. It's
mercy from the start, it's mercy and grace from the start, and
it's mercy and grace all the way to the end. And it's all God's mercy. What
a hope we have. What a hope we who are the people
of God have. He has not appointed the born-again,
blood-washed child of God to wrath. Because you know why? Because he's appointed that wrath
that was deserving us to fall upon Christ. Because that wrath
has to be satisfied, right? Divine justice must be satisfied.
either in the substitute or the sinner. It has to be, it must. God would not be a just judge
if he didn't punish it. So the sinless one dies for sinners. My, who died for us, that whether
we wake or sleep, we should live together with him by faith. We live by faith. Faith in Christ
Jesus and him alone. Behold the Lord Jesus Christ.
They lay them in the tomb. But you know what? Death could
not hold him. Death could not hold our Savior.
Death could not hold the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. And he
rose from the grave by the power of God. And the scripture says
he is raised for our justification that we would be declared righteous. That sinners as we are and thought,
word, and deed would be declared righteous before God. That's why Paul wrote, he said,
you're qualified for heaven when he said, you're made meat for
heaven. We're qualified for heaven in
Christ Jesus our Lord. Nowhere else. And we see that
so clearly here, right? Who died for us, but to obtain
salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, he is put in a tomb, but
death couldn't hold him. Couldn't hold him. He's perfect.
He's spotless in his life and in his death. Death couldn't
hold him. No. Couldn't hold the sinless one.
And he rose from the grave to show us, to manifest to we who
are the people of God, that God was fully satisfied with the
sacrifice of Christ. And that's what him rising from
the grave shows us, that God was absolutely satisfied with
the sacrifice of Christ. Does that mean there's anything
left for us to do? Nothing. There was nothing in the first
place for us to do, was there? We just look and live, don't
we? Lord, I believe. Help mom believe. Remember the Pharisee? Oh, I've
done all these things. I've done this, and I've done
that, and I continue to do all these things. And there's the
publican, like you and I, who are God's people. God, be merciful
to me, the sinner. And that man went home justified,
right? The Pharisee there, he's just
full of self-righteousness. Behold, behold the risen lamb. What a hope the believer has.
Christ fulfilled the law of God in our place. He paid for our
sins. He extinguished the wrath of
God, which we saw. God has not appointed us to wrath.
He's appointed that wrath that was due us to fall upon Christ. And he's appointed us to obtain
salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. So what a hope we have. For us,
for we who are the people of God, death's just a doorway,
beloved. Think of how many doors you go
through in a day. Think of that. We go through doors all the time.
We go through doors at work. We go through doors at home, right?
Ever before us is a picture of the gospel. You ever think of
that? Christ is the door. Go through
one door, walk in my house, go through one door, getting in
the house, go through another section that's cut out, go into
the living room, walk up the stairs, go into the bedrooms.
The door is always there before us. The gospel, a picture of
the gospel is ever set before us. Christ is on the door. I'm the door. It's like Brother
Brian read there, I'm the way, the truth, and the life. No man
cometh unto the Father but by me. Behold the risen lamb. Behold the lamb of God. Behold
the great unchangeable I am. That's who Christ is. He's the
one who spoke to Moses in the burning bush. He's the one who
said, I am that I tell them I am sent you." That was Christ. He's the one that appeared to
Joshua as the captain of the Lord's host. And Joshua said,
are you for us, against us? And he said, nay, but as the
captain of the Lord's host, I'm here. Sit down, Joshua. I'm going to battle, he said.
What happened to them walls of Jericho? Down they went. And some people
say, well, that's so hard to believe. That's just so hard
to believe that God could do that. Is it hard for the one who created
the universe and all the stars and holds everything in its place?
Is it hard for him to knock down some walls made of clay or concrete? It's nothing, is it? If he said, let there be light,
what? And there was light! Those walls are nothing to him. Nothing. If Christ is God, and
he is, and he has saved us, then we
have a hope that cannot be shaken, beloved. Things go on in this world, we
get shooken up. But when we get looked to Christ,
and we acknowledge who he is, and we say, Lord, you're in control,
when we come to my right mind, after being in a tither about
something, and realize, Lord, you just put me through that
to bring me to you again, and to help me acknowledge that you're
king, and that you're in full control. Turn, if you would,
to Psalm 24. Psalm 24. Christ is the great
I am. Do you know he told some Jews, he
said, verily, verily, before Abraham was, I am. In the book of John. And they knew
exactly what he was saying. They knew he was saying he was
God. And they picked up stones to stone him. But it wasn't his
time. Look at this. Who is our King?
Look at this. Psalm 24, verse 7. Lift up your heads, O ye gates,
and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors. Verse 7 of Psalm 24. And
the King of glory shall come in. That's our Lord. He's not
just some king. He's the King of glory. He's
the King of kings, and He's the Lord of lords. Have you trusted
Him? Oh, I pray that God would give
you grace to trust him, because all those he saves, they shall
never perish. Look at this. And be ye lift
up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come
in. Who is the King of glory? Who is he? Well, he's Jehovah,
strong and mighty. He's Jehovah, mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates.
Even lift them up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory
shall come in. Who is this King? And every time you see Lord there,
it's Jehovah like that. The Jehovah of hosts, the self-existent
one. He is the King of glory. And
then you see Selah. Just pause and be silent. Contemplate
that truth. Meditate upon that truth this
week. The one who saved us is the King of glory. Who is he? He's the one strong
and mighty. Is there anyone stronger than
the Lord? No. Is there anything too hard for
the Lord to do? No. Nothing. Remember, someone came in to
John Newton who penned that song. John Newton was a slave trader
and the Lord saved him and someone came in to him told him that
their notorious drunk had been saved in town. He said, can you
believe it? Isn't that incredible? And he
said, no. He goes, what do you mean? He
goes, you're not shocked? He goes, no. He goes, if the
Lord saved me, he can save anyone. Isn't that true? He saves all who come to him,
doesn't he? By faith. Oh, my. Behold the Lamb of God. Behold the Word of God incarnate,
sinless in eternity, perfect, holy, the Word of God, the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world, sinless in His life
as the willing substitute of His people, fully God and yet
fully man, absolutely sinless and spotless, the perfect Lamb,
the Lamb of God. Remember those lambs that were
offered up? They were without spot and blemish, weren't they? And whose sins were they slaughtered
for? The people of Israel, right? But they just pointed, they could
never take away sins, though. But they pointed to the one who
would take away all sins of his people, and that being the Lord
Jesus Christ. He is the Lamb of God. Again,
when that blood was flowing out of him, that blood's being shed
for you and I as believers. And oh, how he suffered on the
cross. Yet that victorious cry, it is finished. Who cried that? God incarnate in the flesh. Who
cried that? The great I am. Who cried that? The captain of the Lord's host.
Who cried that? Elohim in the flesh. The strong
and mighty one. That's who cried that. And if you're a believer, that's
who saved you. So we can say what a hope we
have, eh? What a hope. If you see something, are you
hoping for it? No, if you see something, you
don't hope for it, right? Because you either have it. See, we haven't
seen Christ yet, right? We hope in Him, don't we? One
day, though, our hope will become sight. Our faith will become
sight. And we'll see Him face to face.
We'll see He who is our hope. He who is our Redeemer, He who
is our Savior, He who is our God. And we will worship Him forever.
Why? Because God has not appointed
us to wrath, but to obtain salvation in and through the Lord Jesus
Christ. Praise His mighty name.