Good evening again. Tonight we'll continue our study
in Colossians Chapter 3. Colossians Chapter 3. But again, I want to read the
context again. So we'll be reading from Colossians
2.20 to Colossians 3.4. The name of the message is, Hid
with Christ. Hid with Christ. It ties in with
the song that we sang, He Hideth My Soul. Colossians 2, verse
20 to Colossians 3, verse 4. Wherefore, if ye be dead with
Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living
in the world, are ye subject to ordinances? Touch not, taste
not, handle not. which all are to perish with
the using after the commandments and doctrines of men. Which things
have indeed a show of wisdom and will, worship and humility
and neglecting of the body, not in any honor to the satisfying
of the flesh. If ye then be risen with Christ,
he's writing to believers, seek those things which are above
where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection
on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead. Here's our text. For ye are dead. And your life is hid with Christ
and God. This is a reality. For ye are
dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who
is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him
in glory." So tonight, we'll continue our study in chapter
3. And this has been a wonderful
study as we've looked at the preeminence of Christ in chapters
1 and 2, Paul setting that forth. before the Colossian believers
in contrast to the false preachers and the false teachers, and he's
setting forth the preeminence of Christ, and he also is setting
forth the all-sufficiency of Christ, how we're... If we could
just get a handle on this, we're complete in Christ. Complete. If I could just get a handle
on that. Oh, my. Complete in Christ, beloved.
We are. It's a fact. It's a fact. And as I mentioned
before, this whole chapter can be divided into five sections.
Verses 1 to 4 deals with our attitude towards the material
world and towards spiritual things. Verses 5 to 9, our attitude towards
sin. and toward the flesh, toward
the old man, the body of sin that we carry around, and towards
his deeds. In verses 10 to 15, we have our
attitude toward other people. In verses 16 to 17, our attitude
towards the Word of God, and towards worship, and toward the
ministry of the Word. In verses 18 to 25, our attitude
towards those to whom we are joined to in human relationships. Whether it be at home or in the
church or just friends. And two weeks ago we looked at
how we are to set our minds upon Christ, right? We're to set our
minds. Verse 1, if ye then be risen
with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ
sitteth on the right hand of God. We're to set our minds.
We're to be continually seeking the things of Christ. And remember
we talked about, what's that? Well, that's the hearing of the
gospel, right? Seeking the things of Christ. Fellowshiping with
his people. Fellowshiping around the word
of God. It's wonderful. Where's the one place I want
to be above everywhere else? Right here. Right here with all
of you. With God's people. It's wonderful. And then think of this. We're
going to spend eternity together in heaven. My goodness. This
is just a shadow of what we're going to have for eternity. My. And in and in verse 2 we're to
set our heart so our mind and our heart upon Christ upon him
And tonight is the Holy Spirit teaches us. I pray that we're
learned about how we died with Christ We died with him and how
our life is hid in Him, hid in Christ, hid with God in Christ. So let's consider verse 3 tonight.
Pray that the Holy Spirit will illuminate for us. And we'll
see good reason tonight why we should set our affections on
things above, as verse 2 said. We'll see good reason why we
should do that and not on the things of the earth. So look
at verse 3. For ye are dead, And your life
is hid with Christ in God. Now in the context of this, right,
he's talking about we're dead to the law. We're dead to the
ordinances. Remember? We saw that in the
preceding verses in the context that we read. So the apostle
here adds before us another reason why the believing Colossians
should not be earthly-minded, but why not only them, but we
should set our mind and our hearts upon Christ and Him alone. Now, they were dead at one time. They were dead not physically,
but they were dead spiritually, weren't they? Just like we were.
Just like we were. When they were born into this
world, they were dead to the things of Christ, dead to the
things of God, just as we were. We were in the same position
as them when we came into this world, dead to the things of
Christ. Now, we're born again. And at
one time, when we were dead, We had enmity with God, didn't
we? We had enmity with God. And we loved the world and the
things of the world. And we know when Adam fell, we
fell with him, don't we? We know that. He's our federal
head. But in Christ, who is the second
Adam, we are made alive. And we're hid in him. We're hid
in him. Hid with Christ in God. So here
in the context, Paul is speaking of how we are dead to the things
of the world because we're born again by the Holy Spirit of God.
They don't have the allurement that they once had for us. They
don't have the grip upon us that they once had. The false teachers,
too, were using ordinances and things that you had to do. And
remember, Paul says these are things that are going to perish.
They're going to perish with the using, aren't they? Touch
not, taste not, handle not. But we're dead to all that blood
in Christ. And that's what Paul's saying
here. He's saying you're dead. You're dead to the law. You're
dead to the ordinances. You're dead to touch, not taste,
not handle. Now, it doesn't give us a license
to go crazy, and we know that, don't we? We know that, right?
Because the Holy Spirit teaches us, like Brother Norm said, the
love of Christ constrains us. Constrains us. See, people will
take words when you say that, and they'll say, well, I can
just go and do whatever I want. No, then you're to show that
you're not one of Christ. Because we're sinners, yes we
are, but we hate sin. We hate sin. So Paul is here
contrasting what you have to do, do, do with the false teachers. to the freedom that the believer
has in Christ. And beloved, false teachers of
our day right now use these same tactics. Touch not, taste not,
hand not. You can't do that. Really? Stand fast in the liberty
for what Christ hath made us free. We're free in Christ, beloved. We're free in Christ. We're dead
to the law. Why? Because Christ has fulfilled
the law in our place. In our place. All that the law
demanded was poured out on our substitute. Was poured out upon
him when he died upon Calvary's cross. all that the law demanded
and living everything perfectly to the law, which we could never
do. You are complete in Him. He did it all. This is honey
for God's people, eh? For our souls, isn't it? Because
we know that we're sinners. We're dead to the ordinances.
All the ordinances, they're fulfilled in Christ. They were shadows.
They were shadows, but Christ is the substance. He's the substance. We are dead to the rudiments
of the world. All the ordinances, all the ceremonies and types
were fulfilled In Christ. In Christ. We're free from the
requirements of all of us. See, but what were the false
teachers doing? Yoking people with that stuff. We're free. Stand fast, beloved. Stand fast
in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made you free. Christ and
Him alone. We are redeemed. In Christ we're
redeemed. We're redeemed from the curse
Redeemed from the covenant. He fulfilled the covenant that
God demanded. Redeemed from the condemnation of the law. Why
would we want to return to shadows and types when we have the substance? Flee to Christ, right? Seek Christ. Keep looking to Christ. Turn, if you would, to Ephesians
chapter 2. Do you know, beloved, when Christ died, we died with
Him? We were in Him. When Christ rose,
we rose with Him. Just as when we were in Adam,
we fell. And we fell in Adam, didn't we? Do you know why? I was looking
at this today. Do you know why we fell in Adam?
Because he was our federal head. And we were in Him. Who's our
head? Christ. We're members of his
body. When he died, we died. We were in him. We were in him
just as we were in Adam when we fell. All were made alive
in Christ. Scriptures declare that we are
seated in heavenly places right now. Why? Because we're in Christ. Because we're in Christ. He's
our head and our representative. Look at Ephesians 2 verses 4
to 7. And look at this. Now we know that from verses
1 to 3, my goodness, dead in trespasses and sins. But look
at this marvelous little word, these two words, but God. who is rich in mercy. For His great love wherewith
He loved us." Oh, what a great love. A love from eternity. His love, if you're a believer,
His love was set upon you in eternity. What a great love. Like Paul writes here, What a
great love. For His great love wherewith
He loved us, even when we were dead in sins. There's our birth.
There's how we come into this world. Hath quickened us together
with Christ, born again by the Holy Spirit of God, right there.
By grace ye are saved and hath raised us up together and made
us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Our heads in
heaven, beloved. We're seated in the heaven. that
in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of
His grace and His kindness towards us through Christ Jesus. Now
remember, God knows the end from the beginning. He made us sit together in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus. So, we were once dead in sin,
but we who believe on Christ have been regenerated. We're
born again. Born again by the Holy Spirit,
we're made alive. We're dead. We're dead to the
things. We're dead to the law. We're
dead to the ordinance, but we're alive in Christ. We who were born dead spiritually
are now spiritually alive in Him. And as I mentioned earlier,
we were dead with Christ in His death. We died with Him in His
death. We were in Him. We were crucified with Him as
members of His body. We're buried with Him by His
death. Scripture says, He's raised for our justification. We were
in Him when He rose from the dead. We raised with Him as members
of His body. And now, Ephesians declared,
we're seated in the heavenly places as members of His body. It's wonderful. It's absolutely
wonderful. Romans 5.10 says this, For if,
when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death
of His Son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
Turn a few wood there. Brother Marcus was texting me
today. We were texting back and forth
and he asked about this verse here and got me digging. Look at this. For if when we
were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son,
much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. Beloved,
we're saved by our wonderful substitute. We're saved by our
wonderful substitute. Romans 5.10. The Lord Jesus Christ,
He's fulfilled the law of God in our place. Think of this perfectly. There's nothing left to be done.
That's why he cried, it's finished. There's nothing left. The work
is complete. And it's his work. It's his work. He died in our place. We are
redeemed by the shedding of his blood. We are justified by his
blood. We are reconciled to God by his
death. And now, beloved, we have peace
with God. We have peace with God. And don't
we joy in that? Don't we joy in that? It's marvelous. And it's through Christ and it's
by him and him alone that we've received the atonement. We can't save ourselves, but
oh, we rest in the one who has redeemed our eternal souls with
his own precious blood. And we who are his sheep are
regenerated by the operation of God the Holy Spirit, born
again and granted faith and repentance. What comes first again? Regeneration
or faith? Regeneration. You must be born
again. It's an operation of God. And
then we are granted faith and repentance. And we flee to Christ. We run to our Savior. Oh my. And we are saved as a result
of His wondrous work. Of His wondrous work. Which He
alone did. Saved by His life and saved by
His death. We have forgiveness of all our
sins, beloved, and it's all according to the riches of His grace poured out upon His people. in
and through Christ. Rejoice, beloved. Rejoice. And as Brother Norm mentioned,
our Savior, our Lord, our God, He gets bigger and bigger and
bigger as we grow in grace. He just becomes more and more
marvelous. He never becomes less, does He?
He always becomes greater. And as He reveals Himself to
us through the preaching of the Word and through the studying
of His Word, we marvel that He had grace upon a sinner like
me. My, what a Savior. What a Redeemer. Our text continues, For ye are
dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. Note the words
here before us. Your life is hid with Christ
in God. Brother Henry Mahan comments,
As far as this world is concerned with its riches, honor, temporary
glory, fame, pleasures, and relationships, ye are dead. As I said, the allurements which
once held us are not the same. We're dead, dead to the things
of the world. And think on this, beloved God,
we who are born again by the Holy Spirit of God, we have a
new life. We were spiritually dead and
now we're made alive in what is our interest, Christ. Just tell me about Christ. Preach
to me about my Redeemer. Tell me about the one who loved
me before the foundation of the world. Tell me about the one
who is the fairest of 10,000 to my soul. My, what a Redeemer. Oh, we desire the things of God.
We desire the things of Christ. We want to hear Christ preached
and proclaimed. We want to hear of His perfect
righteousness, which we're clothed in. We want to hear of how He
shed His blood for our sins. And, beloved, we want to hear
of one day, one day soon for all of us, we will be in His
presence. Beholding Him face to face. And note, it's all because of
what He's done. And we're hid in Him. We're hid
in Him. Now this is grace. This is marvelous
grace. Note that we who believe are
hidden Christ. Hidden Christ. Hid with Christ. Here we see the secrecy of it. Natural man does not understand
it unless it's revealed to him. I remember that state. I had no clue about who God was.
And then I had a religious experience, and as Brother Norm and I were
talking this week, and I said, Brother Norm, I had manufactured
a God in my own mind. A God who couldn't do anything
unless I let him. And I said, it was not the God
of the Bible. But praise be to God, He revealed
Himself to me. And now I am hid with Christ.
And if you believe, you're hid with Christ. So we see here the
secrecy of it. And also note the safety of it.
We shall never perish if we are hid with Christ in God. Look
at that. That's security, beloved. We're
hid with Christ in God. Natural man cannot understand
the things of God. They must be revealed. We must
be qualified for Heaven. We must be born again by the
Holy Spirit of God. Christ must seek us or we're
never ever seeking Him. Turn, if you would, to Colossians
1.25-28. We looked at this truth that
Christ has revealed to His people through the preaching of His
Word. We looked at this in Colossians 1. And this is why it is absolutely
vital that we preach Christ and Him crucified. Look at Colossians
1.25-28. Where have I 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. Oh, it was hid from us at one
time, beloved. and from generations, but now
is made manifest to His saints. That's we who believe. Made manifest. To whom God would make known
what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles,
which is Christ in you, the hope of glory, whom we preach, warning
every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we might
present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. Note verse 26, the mystery which
has been hid from ages and from generations. It must be revealed, but now
is made manifest to His saints. And as a result of that, His
saints are hid in Christ. Hid in Christ. The believer's
life is bound up in Christ. And we are hid in Him. Now ponder
this. Beloved, the sheep of God were
chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. Look at Colossians
3, verses 12 to 13. Look at this. Put on, therefore,
as the elect of God. Now, we know from Ephesians 1,
4 when the elect were chosen in Christ, and it was in eternity. Paul here is telling the Colossian
believers that they are the elect of God. And this is by inspiration
of the Holy Spirit of God. Put on, therefore, as the elect
of God, holy and beloved, vows of mercy, kindness, humbleness
of mind, meekness, longsuffering, forbearing one another and forgiving
one another. If any man have a quarrel against
any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do you. Oh, if we have
a quarrel against a brother or someone, we think of how much
Christ has forgiven us. Even as Christ forgave you, so
also do ye. Oh, and think on this, beloved. We are chosen in the specially
beloved one, which is Christ. Which is Christ. The one who
is chosen of God, Christ. Turn, if you would, to Luke 23,
verse 35. The one who is the chosen of
God, Christ, He is the one who is proclaimed as the chosen of
God, the only begotten Son incarnate in the flesh, chosen to be our
Redeemer, chosen to be our mediator, chosen to be our Savior. We are
chosen in Him to be recipients of God's amazing grace. Look
at Luke 23, 35. And the people stood beholding.
And remember, they're derating Him here, right? But there's
marvelous truth contained in this verse, beloved. Deep, deep
marvelous truth. There's a deep truth proclaimed
here. "...And the people stood beholden,
and the rulers also with them derided Him, saying, He saved
others, let Him save Himself, if He be Christ, the Chosen One." These cruel mockers. These cruel mockers proclaim
deep truth and they didn't even know it. He saved others. Let him save himself if he be
Christ the chosen of God. And he was redeeming a multitude
that no man can number. The chosen of God. The one in
whom God would save His people. Turn, if you would, to Isaiah
chapter 42, and put your finger in Psalm 89, 19. Isaiah 42, verse
1. In Psalm 89, 19, the Old Testament
proclaims Christ as the Chosen of God. He's the Chosen of God. Isaiah 42, 1. Whom I uphold, mine elect, chosen. Whom my soul delighteth. I have
put my spirit upon Him. He shall bring forth judgment
to the Gentiles. He is God's elect. We're chosen
in Him. Look at Psalm 89, 19. The Psalms
speak of Him. Then now speakest in vision to
thy holy one and saidest, I have laid help upon one that is mighty. Oh, he's so mighty. He's so mighty. He's the mighty one of Israel.
He's a mighty Savior. He's the mighty God incarnate
in the flesh. I have exalted one chosen. That's Christ, beloved. That's
Christ. And we are chosen in Him. And
He is the God-Man-Mediator, fully God and fully man, humanity and
divinity so intertwined. The perfect man. The God-Man-Mediator,
God incarnate in the flesh. And He is to the believer the
cheapest of 10,000. My Beloved is white and ruddy,
the cheapest among 10,000. Is that what He is to you? That's
what He is to me. And this is who the believer
is hidden. What security we have, beloved.
What security. God's people have in Christ Jesus
our Lord. We are united with Christ as
the vine and the branches. We are hidden in Him. He's the
head or the body. He's the head or the body. And
all spiritual blessings, all spiritual blessings that we have
are in Him. Nowhere else. No. God shows us favor in Christ. Nowhere else. Nowhere else. God's grace is poured out, bestowed
upon us because of Christ and Him alone. No other reason. Oh my. We are united with Christ. All spiritual blessings are in
Him. All that a sinner needs is in Christ. He is our wisdom. He is our righteousness. He is
our sanctification. He is our justification before
God. In Him, we have the forgiveness
of all our sins. All. What a wonderful, wonderful Savior. In Christ, we have peace with
God. We who were at enmity with God
have peace. We've been reconciled. And it's all found in Christ
alone. Nowhere else. And the more we
are made aware of our union with Christ, the more we grow in the
grace and knowledge and truth of God, the more our minds become
set upon Him. The more we hunger to hear about
Him. The more we desire to rest And the more we see this world
in its passing vanities, we're just passing through, beloved.
We really are. Our life is like a vapor, just
like a vapor. Turn, if you would, to Psalm
87. Psalm 87. I discovered this today in study.
Look at this. Psalm 87. Do you know that all
our springs are in Christ? All spiritual blessings, right?
All our springs are in Christ. They're only in Him. They're
nowhere else. They're all wrapped up in Christ. All the promises of God, all
the blessings of God, Look at this, Psalm 87, verse
7. Look at this. As well the singers
as the players on the instruments shall be there. All my springs
are in thee. They're all in Him. One of the
commentators bought out, all the fullness of grace dwells
in Christ. Hawker bought this out. He said
all the fullness of grace dwells in Christ. All of it. It's nowhere
else. Which means my springs are all
in Thee. He is the spring of all our joy,
isn't He? You know when a spring bubbles
out of the ground? And if you're thirsty, you're
thankful for that spring, aren't you? And it's pure water, usually,
that's bubbling out of there. Well, he's the spring of all
joy for his people. He's the spring of peace with
God for his people. He's the spring of all comfort
for his people. He's the spring of everlasting
life. And he's the fountain which we must drink from, Christ, in
Christ alone. All the wells of salvation are
in him, in him alone. And both grace and glory are
from Him. He is the spring of all grace. He's the spring of
all grace now for us. And He's the fountain of all
our happiness and glory. All in Christ. All in Him. He's our life, our food, our
sustenance, our strength, our support. One commentator said,
yea, He is the fountain of all the believer's life. Christ. So let's look at our
text again. For ye are dead, and your life
is hid with Christ in God. The spiritual life spoken of
here is not only hid with Christ, but with Christ in God. Hawker comments here before us,
we have a bottom of mystery unfathomable. We can't even plumb it. Our lives are hid with Christ
in God. My. So let us consider this marvelous
truth this week. Your life is hid. Your life is
hid with Christ in God. Our Lord said this in light of
that right there. Your life is hid with God. Our
Lord said this in John 17 in his high priestly prayer. That
they all may be one as thou. Arden me, and I in thee, that
they also may be one with us. Just rest. Oh my. What security the believer has
in Christ. Christ in God. Christ is in God. The Father is in the Son. The
Son is in the Father. They are one in nature. One in
power. One in glory and union between
them is unbreakable. And this is the foundation of
the security of all the elect, right here, your hidden Christ. God is the source and the spring
of eternal life, which is only found in Christ. And that goes
right against the grain of false teachers, such as were in Colossus,
telling the Colossian believers you had to do this and you had
to do that, and Paul says you are completely And beloved, when false teachers
come and tell us the same thing, we say, no, I'm complete in Christ. I'm complete in my Savior. Our
spiritual eternal life is in Christ alone. He's the spring
of it. It arises originally from Him. It was purposed in Him.
It was promised by Him. And we were chosen in Christ. Salvation is through Him. And
He is the fountain of it. Therefore, because we are in
Him, the saints can never perish. The saints can never perish and
need not fear any enemy. We who are born again, we have
a new life, beloved. We seek a better country, as
I mentioned earlier, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of
God. We'll be there one day, by God's grace and mercy. And
don't you long to be home right now? Don't you long to be in
glory with the Lord? As I get older, and as my promotion
time draws nearer and nearer, I know this is true for every
believer. We're made aware by the Spirit of God just how vain
this life is, aren't we? The things of this world, as
I said, have less and less attraction to us. as we grow in the grace and knowledge
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Is it so with you? Do you long to behold our Savior? Do you long to see Him face to
face? And we pray that God will give
us grace and strength, don't we? For each day that we're here
upon this earth. Because we know that this world
is not our home. It isn't. It isn't, beloved. And that becomes more and more
evident every day. Now, we who believe on Christ,
we give all the glory to God. We give all the glory to God
in the fact that this scripture says, and your life is hid with
Christ in God. We give glory to God for the
fact that that's true for us, true for me who believes. We
give Him all the glory and all the honor. No. If He had not sought us,
we never would have sought Him. And we believe and proclaim like
the Apostle Paul did in Galatians 6, for God forbid that I should
glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the
world is crucified unto me and I unto the world. Jesus Christ and what he has
accomplished for us through his perfect life of obedience unto
death, too. Remember that. It was a perfect
life of obedience unto death. He must die, the sinless one,
for sinners. Perfect life of obedience unto
death, even the death of the cross. And this is what all of
God's people should glory in. who we who believe should set
our hearts and minds upon, Christ. It is Christ who we should rejoice
in, not in anything we've done, not in anything we've done, not
in anything we're doing, and not in anything we might do.
We rejoice and we proclaim, Christ has redeemed my soul. I didn't deserve it. So again, we see Paul pointing
to the Colossian brethren, and we who are studying this tonight,
pointing us to Christ. Let us remember as our text proclaims
here, for ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God. Let us remember. Consider this.
Meditate on this this week. on this, what safety we have. What safety we who believe on
Christ have in Him. What security the believer has
in Christ, Jesus our Lord. We're dead to the law. We're
dead to sin in Christ. We're dead to the power of sin.
We're dead to the penalty of sin. We're not dead to the presence,
but one day One day, soon, we'll be hid from
the very presence of sin and glory. And we will be with our blessed
Redeemer. And we will sing along with the
other blood-washed saints in glory. Thou art worthy. Thou art worthy to take the book
and to open the seals thereof, for Thou hast slain and has redeemed us to God by
Thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation,
and has made us unto our God, kings and priests. And we shall
reign on the earth, and we will sing with a loud voice one day,
beloved. Worthy is the land. Worthy is
the Lamb, and we're singing it sinless. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain
to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and
honor, and glory, and blessings. And God's people will say, Amen. And we'll rejoice. We'll rejoice. Oh, gracious Heavenly Father,
we thank Thee as we look at this marvelous Scripture tonight that
we're hidden, hidden Christ. And we know, Father, that it
is You who has purposed this from before the foundation of
the world. That we who are undeserving sinners We're chosen in Christ. And that He came to this earth,
left the glories of heaven, and bled and died on Calvary's cross
for our sins. May we never ever get over that,
Lord. And I don't think we will as we're singing with the saints
in glory. Worthy is the Lamb. Worthy are
You, Lord Jesus. Oh, let us think upon this this
week, the security and the safety which we have in You, Lord Jesus.
And we love You and praise You. In Jesus' name, Amen.