Paul had written to the Colossians
commending their faith, their hope, and their love, and that
it was genuine, it was real, it was not a pretense. They were
truly a work of God, as any church, any local church is. If it is a true church, it is
a work of God. And he speaks to them and writes
to them of the Father making them fit to be partakers of the
inheritance of the saints in life. The Father made them fit.
He's the one who makes us fit. We don't make ourselves fit.
He makes us fit. Salvation is the work of God.
Faith is the work of God. It's a gift of God. He's the
one who makes us fit to be in His presence. And he tells them
that the Father had translated them from the kingdom of darkness,
which all of us are born in. When we come into this world,
that's the place we were born, darkness, kingdom of darkness.
But God had taken them from the kingdom of darkness and translated
them into the kingdom of his dear Son, the kingdom of light.
And he spoke to them how that by Christ, God created all things
by him, the world, all that exists. God created all things by him.
and for him. Boy, if we could just get a hold
of that, the sooner the better. All things are for Christ. All
things are for Christ's sake. And it is through Christ that
he hath reconciled us to himself through the body of his flesh
through death. This is how God has reconciled
us. We didn't just sit down at a
table and come to some agreements and agree over some terms. We
are reconciled through the torment, the torture, the sufferings,
the death of the Lord Jesus Christ in our stead. That's how we are
reconciled to God. And then how the Christ in you
is our hope of glory. That's our hope of glory. It's
Christ in us by new creation, by new birth. Christ in you is
the hope of glory. Then he starts out here in chapter
2, and he says, I would, I desire, I greatly desire that you knew,
that you know this, what great conflict I have for you. In his
heart, in his mind, he wrestled with God for them in prayer. He prayed for them earnestly,
constantly. And for them at Laodicea, and
for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, he wanted
them to know how much they were on his heart. It's like you're
on my heart, and I'm on your heart, and we pray for one another. We take one another before the
throne of grace. There's nothing else that I desire more than
that. That you take me before the throne of grace, and that
I take you before the throne of grace. And we pray for one
another. We're on one another's heart.
And Paul's heart and love for them was like that of a father
to his children. That's how close-knit the family
of God truly is. We want the best for our children,
don't we? And you know we're not envious
of our children. We're not envious of our children. I want the best
for my two sons and my grandchildren. I want the best for them. I'm
not envious of them. Not at all. We want the best for them. And
we pray most for those who are closest to our hearts. And Paul
wants them to know his love for them is like that of a father.
They were constantly on his heart and he was praying for them.
You know, it's just like when Henry wrote me a letter here
a few months ago and said, we include you in our family prayer
every day. I thought, he has no idea how much that's worth
to me. Now, that's worth more to me than if he had sent me
a million dollars. Honestly. That right there. But anyway,
Paul knew. He knew that false preachers
were going to come in from all directions. Isn't that the concern
of parents? As parents, you protect your
children. You try to set them up as the
best teachers. You try to watch the company they're with. I mean,
your mind and heart's wrapped around them. It's just wrapped
around him. And Paul knew that these false
preachers were going to come in, and they were going to come
in from all directions. Satan's subtle. So subtle. And they were going to work hard
at drawing them away from Christ alone for salvation. He knew that. And so he prays
for them. And notice here what he prays
for them. He said, I pray for you that their hearts might be
comforted, listen, be knit together in love. This is the first thing
he prays for. That your hearts, your hearts
be comforted in the gospel, that all things are God, that God's
going to take care of his own, and that your hearts be knit
together in love, love to one another, love to God. He greatly
desired their comfort of heart. It says in Isaiah 40, comfort
ye, comfort ye my people, sayeth your God, speak ye comfortably
to Jerusalem. One of the things that I do desire
when I prepare a message, whatever the message, whatever portion
of scripture I'm coming from, I truly hope to comfort your
hearts before you leave here. I truly hope that you get some
comfort out of it. Something you can feed on throughout the
rest of the week. Because that's my responsibility. And I don't do it just as a responsibility. I do it because I love you. Like
I love my children. And you want them to be comforted.
And the gospel, listen, the gospel is set forth for the comfort
of God's people. So if I'm going to comfort your
hearts, If I'm going to seek the comfort of your hearts, I'm
going to preach the gospel to you over and over and over again. As Paul said to the Philippians,
to me it's not grievous, and for you it's safe to write the
same things to you, to stand here every week and preach the
gospel, to preach Christ crucified. That's not grievous. That's a comfort. I know there'll come a time,
it may not comfort you as much today, but there'll come a time
that it'll come home and it'll comfort you. Sometimes the promises
of God that we might read today may not affect us very much,
but in time something's going to come along and that promise
is going to mean something. God's Word is going to have some
real comfort to it. and give you some real strength.
And that's what Paul's saying here, that your hearts might
be comforted, be knit together in love. And the one thing that
does that is the preaching of the gospel. We hear of his redemptive
work. We hear of being justified in
him. We hear of peace with God with him. We hear of reconciliation
through him. And all these truths, all these
truths comfort God's people. I find them to be a comfort.
They're not cold, dry, dead doctrines to me, nor are they that way
to you. They're a source of comfort.
And he says here, knit together in love. What is it that will
absolutely bond people together? Is it commandments? It's love. Love. Love is what absolutely
bonds people together. The scripture said love is stronger
than death. It's strong. It's the strongest
bond there is. Having loved his own, he loved
them to the end. To the end. It's the bond between
God and his children, and it's the bond between the children.
It's love. We build each other up in love.
Hate and envy tears down, love builds up. We're going to look
at this in 1 Corinthians 13 this morning and the next message. Then he says here in verse 2,
and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding. Paul
prays that God would give them all the riches, all the blessings
that, listen now, that comes from a full assurance of understanding. to the acknowledgement of the
mystery of God and of the Father and of Christ." Who can measure?
Who can put a value? Who can put a value on the riches
of an assured understanding of the gospel? You cannot put a
value on that, to have an assured understanding, no doubts, no
wavering. but to have a strong and assured
understanding of the gospel, of how God saves sinners, of
the redemptive work of Christ, of the person of Christ. To have
an assured understanding. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which
I have committed unto him against that day. What's that worth?
You can't put a value on that. He says, unto all riches. of the full assurance of understanding.
Who can measure the riches of this understanding and the blessedness,
the blessedness of being fully assured of it with no doubts? Oh, what a prayer. What a prayer. He didn't pray that they would
have better homes, better jobs. Those things are good if God
gives them to them. I tell you this, if you have
this, if God gives this full assurance of understanding to
us, we could live in a shack and be the happiest people on
earth. You can, if God gives this to you. We are so assured, and this is
what Paul is saying, I want you to be so assured of the gospel
that you can acknowledge and enter into the mysteries, the
mystery of God, of God the Father, of the Son, the Holy Spirit,
the church, the work of redemption, that you can enter into this
mystery, that you understand how God saves
sinners. That's still a mystery to the lost. That's a great mystery
to this world. Christ crucified is a mystery
to this world. Being justified by faith in Christ
is a mystery to this world. Being justified by His righteousness
without anything on my part whatsoever is a mystery to this world. But
you and I understand it. God has given us, the Son of
God has come and given us an understanding. Oh, to thank God
for that understanding that you understand that. That you believe
it. That you literally, actually
believe it. That's of God. That's of God. Now, he says here in verse 3. Let me read verse 2 and then
read verse 3. That their hearts might be comforted,
being knit together in love, bonded together, 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. You see, this whole thing has
to do with the person. This whole matter of salvation,
this whole matter for the existence of everything has to do with
this one person, the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom are hid all the
treasures. That's what they are. That's
what they are, their treasures. Rich, rich treasures. In whom are hid all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge. God asked Solomon what he would
give him. What would you that I give you?
And Solomon had the wisdom to ask for wisdom. He had enough wisdom. God had
already given him wisdom. And he had enough wisdom to ask
for wisdom. And then God blessed him with all this other. Because
here it is. in whom are hid all the treasures."
I tell you, this wisdom of God, which is Christ, He is the wisdom
of God. To have Him is to have it all. All things are what? Yours in
Christ. All things are ours. Now, it's
the wisdom of our Father, how He deals these things out with
us as we go through this life, but I'm telling you, we are going
to be stunned stunned when this life is over and we stand in
his presence, what we have in him and what that's like, what
that life is. Everything here is so clouded
and we look through a glass darkly, but one day that's going to be
done away with and we're going to see and know him and these
riches, all that we have in him, in whom are hid all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge. You know, when the Jews looked
upon this man, Christ Jesus, they saw a carpenter's son. They said, we know you. You're
the carpenter's son. They didn't see God. They didn't
see treasures of eternal treasures. They didn't see any of that.
What they saw was a poor man. That's what they saw. They saw
nothing to be desired when they looked upon him. But in that
man is eternal life. In that man, now listen, it tells
us here, in that man is the fullness of God. In that man, dwelling
in that man in a bodily form is the very fullness of God.
All that God is is in that man. And that man is God. He's God. He is the storehouse, the Lord
Jesus Christ is the storehouse of all true wisdom. He is, and
listen, it's not that he has wisdom. You and I have wisdom
because it's been given to us. He is the embodiment of wisdom. He is the very embodiment of
wisdom. He's the very embodiment of grace.
We have found grace in his sight. We have tasted the goodness of
the Lord, but he is goodness. He is grace. He is righteousness. He is these things. He is the storehouse of all true
wisdom and knowledge. If we would know the mystery
of the gospel, if we would know it, If we would understand the
mystery of godliness, we must go to Him. Pharaoh said, go to
Joseph. You want something to eat? Go
to Joseph. If you and I would know anything
of God, if we would truly know anything of the mystery of the
gospel, we must go to Christ. We must go to Him. Now these treasures of wisdom,
I've heard our pastor Henry say this many times, and I've not
forgotten it. These treasures of wisdom and
knowledge, it says, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom
and knowledge. They're not hid from us, they're
hid for us in Christ. He's just telling us where they
are. All this treasure of wisdom and
knowledge It's bound up in this one person. And if you would
know it, if you would have it, go to him. Go to him. This I say, lest any man should
beguile you. This is the reason I'm writing
to you these things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. Lest any
man should beguile you with enticing words that may charm you, amuse
you, willfully divert you, or seduce you. Also, this is the reason I say
these things to you, these things concerning God the Father, these
things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. I say these
things, write these things to you so that you may be sound
in the faith. This is why we do this. We come
here to worship God. We come here to worship the Lord
Jesus Christ, to honor Him, to give unto Him the honor and glory
due unto His name. But we also come here to learn
and be taught and be instructed. God said, I'll give you pastors
that will feed you with knowledge, knowledge of God, knowledge of
Christ, knowledge of spiritual things. And Paul said, I'll write
these things that you may be sound in the faith, that you'd
be able to discern the gospel when you hear it, and you'd be
able to discern a lie when you hear it. And sometimes it's not very easy
to discern. Because he said, there'll be
some that'll come, and if it were possible, they would deceive
the very elect of God. That's how close it is. That
close. But it's not possible. God will not allow his sheep
to be totally deceived. Now, they may be duped for a
minute or two, but they are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. And sooner
or later, they're going to say, well, hold on a minute. Wait
a minute, something's not right here. God's not going to allow
it. He's not going to allow it because
the teacher is in them, the Spirit of God. It is easier, I thought about
this, it's easier to detect an enemy who's throwing rocks at
you than it is one who's patting you on the back and saying smooth
words. Enticing. That's what it means.
Enticing words are smooth. Charming. Well, listen, Satan
was the greatest charmer ever. In the Garden of Eden, he just
slithered in there and said, Eve. And just had such a conversation
with her. Nothing threatening about him
whatsoever. There was nothing threatening
about him. Converse back and forth. That's what he's saying. He said,
I want you to be aware of these kind of people. Because back
in this day, especially in this time, the Corinthians and the
Colossians and these people, they really prided themselves
on eloquent speaking. Smooth, enticing words. And Paul
said, don't fall for that. Don't fall for that. You remember
in one place Paul said, Paul was rude in speech. He's not
a good speaker. He's rude in speech, weak in
appearance. That's God's man. That's God's
man. God uses whom He will. And He
gets the glory out of it. He gets the glory. For though I'm absent in the
flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit. They had not yet seen
Paul. They had not seen him personally.
But he wanted them to be aware that he was aware of their case
and their situation. In his heart, he's saying to
them, my heart's with you. My body's here in Rome. He's
writing from prison. But my heart, my spirit's with
you. I don't have to be here for my
heart to be with you. I don't have to be here. I could
be on the other side of the earth and I could be thinking about
you I'm praying for you, concerned about you. My Spirit can be with
you even though my body is someplace else. Paul's in prison, but he
said I want you to know my Spirit's with you. My heart's with you. And he says here in verse 5,
For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the
Spirit. Joy in beholding your order and the steadfastness of
your faith in Christ. He rejoiced. Listen, he rejoiced
in their order. The way they conducted themselves. Far different than the way the
Corinthians were doing it. But he rejoiced in the way they conducted
themselves in the service of Christ and were steadfast in
the faith of Christ. John said this in the Gospel
of John, I rejoiced greatly, or not in the Gospel, but in
the Epistle of John. I rejoiced greatly that I found
of thy children walking in truth as we have received a commandment
from the Father. But he said, I rejoiced greatly
that I have found that I found thy children walking in truth."
Walking in truth. And Paul says here in verse 6,
"...as ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk
ye in Him." Walk in Him. How did you receive Him? By faith. So walk in Him by faith. Just as it says, "...shall live
by faith." Walk in Him by faith. Continue in the faith. How did
you receive Him? He's the one who reveals the
Father. My priest, my king, so walk in
him in these offices. Acknowledge them, recognize them.
He's our prophet, priest, and king. I received him as my all-in-all,
as you have, so walk in him as your all-in-all. As the fulfillment
of all promises, as the fount of all grace, So walking, walking
in Him, here's what it denotes. It denotes a continuation in
Him. It's not walk and stop, walk,
stop, go back, come back, walk. No, it's a continual walking
in Him. Rooted and built up in Him, established
in the faith, as you have been taught abounding therein with
thanksgiving. Rooted, a firm grasp. That's what Paul's praying
for them, that you'd have a firm grasp of the gospel of Christ. Nothing will protect you any
more than this, having a firm grasp and assurance of the Lord
Jesus Christ. You'll not be easily moved, not
at all. It's like a tree rooted deep
in the earth, and that tree draws all its nourishments, all its
nourishments from that dirt that it's rooted into. And it bears
fruit as a result of where it's rooted. Where you are rooted,
the fruit that you bear will be evidence of it. Where you're
rooted. That's why he's saying here,
even so, those who are rooted in Christ draw their strength
from Him and they bear fruit as a result of their union with
Him. They're fruit bearers. Love, joy, peace, longsuffering. If these are absent, it's evident
you're not rooted in Him. Built up in Him, He's the foundation
on which we are built. And we continually are built
up in Him. Established in the faith. Established in the doctrines
of Christ, the word of Christ, not wavering, not tossed to and
fro, but established in Him. Abounding therein, he says, listen,
with thanksgiving. Abounding with thanksgiving. To offer anything that the Lord
could give us has to be thankful. To have a thankful heart. Thankful
for His grace. Thankful for His righteousness.
Thankful for His blood. Thankful for His election of
us. Thankful for Christ. The gift
of God. We cannot reckon up in order
the blessings that we have been given in the Lord Jesus Christ. Can't do it. Can't do it. And
Peter says this in 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 10, if we give attention
to these things, we shall not fall away. If we give attention
to it. He said, you shall not fall.
And he means fall away. All right.