I actually had two texts marked
out for the message today, but primarily I'm going to be preaching
from Colossians chapter 2, verses 2 through 10. So let's turn over
there and I'll read those verses to you. In John chapter 14, our Lord was about
to go to the cross. He was saying his goodbyes and
leaving comforting promises to his apostles. And he said, let
not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. For in my Father's house are
many mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will return and receive you unto myself that where I
am, there you may be also. That's my second text. But my
first text is here in Colossians chapter 2. Let's go ahead and read the first
two verses also. For I would that you knew what
great conflict I have for you and for them at Laodicea, and
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. That mystery of God, he's talking
about the mystery of the Holy Ghost and the Father and of Christ. In whom are hid all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge. This I say, lest any man should
beguile you with enticing words. Though I be absent in the flesh,
yet am I with you in the spirit, enjoying and beholding your order
and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ. As you have
therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. rooted and built up in him and
established in the faith as you've been taught, abounding therein
with thanksgiving. Beware. There's something to
be feared. Beware lest any man spoil you
through philosophy and vain deceit after the tradition of men, after
the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him
dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and ye are
complete in him which is the head of all principality and
power. You will turn back with me now
to Colossians chapter 2. I want to preach this morning a
word to a troubled soul. I received a call from a man
I've known for many years. He told me he was in trouble. Big trouble. He said, I'm desperate to find
comfort for my troubled soul. And my heart goes out to him.
I've been where he is. It's a terrifying experience,
and it leaves you in a darkness like that of Egypt, a darkness
that can be felt. And I did my best to offer him
some words of comfort, and he thanked me for taking the time
to talk to him. And I mentioned to him our upcoming
Bible conference, and he said, I can't do it. He said, I'm too
terrified to hear the gospel. And as I sat there at my desk,
I wondered just how many men and women suffer from that same
problem. No feelings of joy within, no
hunger to hear, no interest in the things of God, just an emptiness
of heart and a soul that leaves you wondering if God has turned
you over to yourself. He has some. He has some. He has a very real fear. There's
real reasons for these things. But here's my question as I deal
with this thing. How does a person get into such
a fix as this? How is it that a person finds
a good hope by grace, goes on for some time, and then awakes
to suddenly find themselves feeling abandoned by God? How is it that
a man or a woman finds reason enough to trust their soul into
the care of Christ and then suddenly find themselves having no confidence
in his work at all. And that's what it is. Perfect
love casteth out all fear. The only way fear can come in
is when that love is extinguished. There are many reasons for these
things, but let me concentrate on three main reasons this morning. It's my hope and prayer this
morning that the Comforter Himself, He's the one who can comfort
a troubled soul. I have words that I've been taught
by God to say, but if the Spirit of God doesn't take those words
and cause them to come alive in your soul, They're just words. They're just words. So it's my
hope and prayer this morning that the Comforter himself will
go forth in this message and work in him and in anybody that's
suffering from these things. How do we get into such a fix
as this? What brings this about? Believers got a good hope, a
good hope in Christ. This world doesn't have a hope.
They have a hope, a hope, a hope. It's like, well, I hope it don't
rain tomorrow. No foundation. We have a good
hope. We have a good foundation. We
have every reason to rejoice. So what causes us to get into
such a fix as this? Well, first of all, by neglecting
the assembling of ourselves together. That'll bring it about. In Hebrews
10, verse 23, it says, Let us hold fast the perfection of our
faith without wavering. For He is faithful that promised. What is it that we're not going
to waver from? Him. His faithfulness. His Word, His promise, His finished
work. Let us hold fast the preparation
of our faith without wavering, for He is faithful that promised.
What did He promise? Life, immortality, redemption,
reconciliation, justification, sanctification, even our perseverance
were kept by the power of God through faith. If he didn't preserve us, we
wouldn't persevere. It's his preservation that causes
us to persevere. He said, I'll never leave your
forsaken. He's faithful but promised. And
let us consider one another to provoke unto love and good
works. My friend, you can't do that
unless you're together. How are you going to do that?
Somebody's not here. How am I going to provoke you
to love? You're not here. You're somewhere
else. Encourage one another. Express
your love and concern for one another. Offer whatever assistance
you can to relieve one another's burdens. Now watch this. Here's the very next verse. Not
forsaking. the assembling of yourselves
together as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another. And
so much the more as you see the day approaching. Now we're living
in a day described in detail as being near to the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ. Perilous times is what he calls
them in the scripture. What's that talking about? That's
talking about people perishing is what that's talking about.
Perilous times. Times of great falling away,
2 Timothy 3, 2. For men shall be
lovers of the moon seas. You know, the other day that
hurricane was coming through. Somewhere I was at, it might
have been the teller or whoever it was, I asked them if they
had known anybody or had anybody close to them in that region
where that thing was going to hit. And they said, no, but it's
the coming of the Lord's coming to pass these hurricanes and
these volcanoes and these... Let me tell you the sign of the
time, the attitude of men. That's the sign. This day shall
not come. That's how he began 2 Thessalonians
2. This day shall not come until there comes a falling away first. Folks are always pointing to
the weather of some disaster and call that signs of the times.
But the real sign is the attitude and conduct of men. He says they're
without natural affection. That's what he calls them. Truth
breakers, false accusers, and on and on it goes. Heady, high-minded,
lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God. Surely our Lord's second coming
is near. Now this was written some 2,000
years ago. And he told them, be not troubled
in your mind or in your spirit about these things. The Lord's
not coming right now. There's going to be some time. There's going to be some time
passed by. And there's going to be a great
falling away before that terrible day of the Lord comes. As it was in the days of Noah,
every imagination of the thoughts of their heart will only be evil
continually. Is that not in our day? And what
he's talking about here, these imaginations of the thoughts
of our hearts, he's talking about who God is. That word image comes from imagination. We've got one image of God, that's
Christ. He is the express image of his
person. And religion with all of its
deceit and lying wonders is devouring this world on an unprecedented
scale right now. You can't hardly talk to anybody
who don't go to some church and don't know God. Now, let me ask you something.
If you truly believe that a disaster was about to fall where you live,
coming to Genoa, coming right down County Road 18, you going
to run off and hide by yourself? You going to get everybody you
know and love together, and you're going to say it's coming. It's
coming. Is that not what the apostles
taught men? That's exactly what he's talking about. So much more
as you see the day approaching. There's a disaster coming. An
eternal disaster. God's going to burn this place
up. He's going to destroy everything as is, except his elect. So much more. We gather together. Don't forsake the assembling
of yourselves together, but exhort one another, and so much the
more. Do it more than you're doing now as you see that day
approaching. Don't forsake the assembling
of yourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhort
one another and so much the more. And in our text here in Colossians
2, Paul expresses his desire for all those called of God that
their hearts might be comforted being knit together in love. What does that mean? You ever
seen anybody knit? Get them needles and thread and
just go. It's all one piece, isn't it?
It's all hooked together. Their hearts are knit together
in Christ. And they're knit together in
love and unto all riches. Now listen to this. Of the full
assurance of understanding. Understanding what? to the acknowledgement
of the mystery of God and of the Father and of Christ. Assurance
comes by way of hearing and understanding. Pastors are pastor teachers.
They're not just administrators, they're pastor teachers. And
although they do administrate, their main function is to teach. Why? Because we need understanding,
that's why. And here he calls it the full
assurance of understanding. Understanding what? Understanding
who God is, and what God's doing, and how He's chosen to do it,
and everything about God's mysterious. Is it not? It must be because
most of the people I meet don't know God. Everything about God is mysterious.
The Trinity of His persons. One God. Three persons. One work. Yet three people doing
different works. It's mysterious, isn't it? Each work attributed to each
of the persons. And Paul said we preach the wisdom
of God in a mystery. Well, what is this mystery? The
mystery is who does the saving. And who does the sinning? That's
the mystery. The mystery is who does the saving
and why he would save anybody at all. Isn't that a mystery? I tell you, once you learn what
you are by nature, by choice and by practice, that's the first
thing that's going to come. I don't see why God would save
anybody. You're going to get on God's
side in this thing of condemnation. I can tell you that for sure. The mystery is how he saves sinners. And the full assurance of understanding
is that God does the saving, and because he's God, he cannot
fail. Because he's God, his work is
all wise. Makes no mistakes. He's all wise. Nothing surprises him. He's all-powerful,
nothing can resist Him, and He's always effectual. And this understanding comes
through preaching, hearing, and believing. Faith cometh. It didn't say faith came, it
said faith cometh by hearing. And hearing by the Word of God. Now, let me say something here.
I cannot guarantee that if you assemble yourselves with God's
saints, that God will give you this understanding. But I guarantee
you if you don't, you'll never have it. Is that right? That's exactly right. Faith cometh
by hearing. How are you going to hear without
a preacher? I didn't say that. The Holy Ghost said it. I'm just
repeating what He said. How are you going to hear without
a preacher? Maybe you've got the answer to that. I've never
heard one. His church, he said, is the pillar
and ground of the truth. Where are you going to go to
find truth? Wherever his church is. He said to them, you're the light
of the world. You're a city on a hill. You think of that. Is there any
light out there? I don't see any. Well, why do folks forsake the
assembling of the signs? Well, here's what James said.
He said, every man's tempted when he's drawn away of his own
lust, his own desire. He has another desire. He has
another place he'd rather be. Lovers of pleasures more than
lovers of God. That's what the scripture said. He's tempted when he's drawn
away of his own lust, now watch this, and enticed. Something
entices him, whatever it is. The most needful thing for your
soul is to gather with God's saints and take advantage of
God's ways and means. If you have any understanding
that you must be saved, that you're a sinner, boy, the last
place you want to be is out there. You're not going to hear from
God out there, not with a word of peace. Why would they forsake this assembly? John 3.21 says, He that doeth
truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest,
that they are wrought in God." What's he talking about? He's
talking about their faith, their repentance, their love, their
hope. They go where the light is. Why do they go? Because they
want to know if this work is wrought in them, whether or not
it's of God or them. That's why. You think you're
going to determine that out there? Not going to happen. You're going
to determine it right here. Right here. So here's one of the reasons
why folks get into this spiritual state of doubt and fear. They
forsake the assembling of themselves together with the saints of God. And then secondly, they find
themselves in this awful state because they're looking somewhere
other than Christ. You can't look at Christ and
see Him in His glory and doubt. No, you can't. I'll tell you
when you doubt, when you do this, you look over here instead of
looking at Him. Is there? You can't see Him. Life's in the look to Him. That's
life. Look unto me, he said, all ye
ends of the earth, and be ye saved. Not be ye damned, be ye
saved. You can't look at him and doubt.
You doubt when you look away from him. When you look, where
do you look? You look in here. Oh, I tell
you, you talking about a cesspool of iniquity. Just look inside.
You want to lose all hope, all assurance? Look inside. There's
nothing in there to generate hope. Everything in there generates
doubt and fear. Everything. You can't pray right. You can't give enough. It all leaves you without any
hope. If you're terrified to hear the
gospel, you may not be hearing the gospel. The gospel's a person. Oh, be careful. Be careful when
you preach about stripping men of their hope. The whole reason
why you're preaching is to establish that hope, not take it away.
Not take it away. Now, you might want them to drop
that false hope, but I want you to look to Christ. You won't
even know it's a false hope until you look to Him. The gospel is a person, a representative
person, a person appointed to do for you what you cannot do
for yourself. I'm too terrified to hear the
gospel. What do you mean? That's where your hope is. That's
the reason why you're in this fix. We look somewhere other than
Christ. Everything else in the salvation of sinners is secondary
to Christ. I don't care what it is. He's our surety. He's our guarantor. He said, of God are you in Christ
Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. All provision is secured in his
person. I tell you why I have a hope
of salvation, because my Savior sits at the right hand of God.
That's why. Be ready to give a reason for
the hope that's in you. He's on the throne. Why is He
up there? Because God justified His people,
accepted His work. God was appeased in Him. My reconciliation
is accomplished in Him. My redemption is accomplished
in Him, my salvation is in Him, and He is at the right hand of
God. In Colossians 1.18 it said, And
He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He might have
the preeminence, for it pleased the Father that in Him should
all fullness dwell. Nothing in the salvation of sinners
rests on them. That's where you get in trouble.
Am I? Do I believe enough to be saved? No. No, you don't. But He gives you faith. I love
what He told the disciples. He said, if you have faith as
a grain of mustard seed, What could you do? Accomplish some
mustard seed work? Now, you could say to that mountain,
be you removed, and that mountain would move. Why? Because that little grain of
faith has as its object Christ, who's omnipotent. None of these things rest in
you. Nothing in the salvation of sinners
rests on them. It's all resting in the person
and work of Christ. That's why God could rest after
he created the world, knowing what was to come. He first trusted
in Christ, in whom he also trusted after you hurt. What did you
hear? That God trusted in him. If God
can trust in him, that's a pretty good recommendation, isn't it? Any doubt as to the salvation
of God's elect is ultimately a reflection on our trust in
him. And this distrust, now listen
to me, this distrust is the very point that he uses to convince
us of sin. Is it not? He said, when the
Holy Spirit's come, he's going to convince the world of sin. How's he going to do it? Because
they believe not on me. Boy, we just, we preach the law,
man, throw the hammer down, preaching the law, trying to convict sinners.
You'll never convict a sinner preaching the law to him. That
preaches Christ to him. Oh, when he discovers that there's
nothing in him to destroy. No reason for him not to trust
in Him, and yet he sees his unbelief. Now he's beginning to awaken
to what sin really is. I know we want to cry about our
this and that, but salvation's not resting in this or that,
it's resting in Him. In Him. God chose us in Him,
our adoptions in Him, secured us by an eternal covenant union
whereby He's the surety. Everything of ours become His
and everything of His become ours. What is it of ours that become
His? Our sin debt become His. The Lord, it said, hath laid
on him the iniquity of Saul. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him. Wounded for our transgression,
bruised for our iniquity. And we preach reconciliation
by substitution and representation. There's no other way for you
to be saved. Hear what the Scripture says.
Boy, there's the biggest controversy that's been running now for years.
For he hath made him, it doesn't say to be, it says, for he hath
made him sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. Did God really punish him and
pour out his wrath on him because of our sins? Yes, he did. He
that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all. God reconciles chosen sinners,
not charging their trespasses unto them, but unto our appointed
substitute. And he died, Scripture said,
the just for the unjust. Do you understand that 100% of
the salvation of God's elect was committed unto Him? That
all provision that God made for chosen sinners rests in Him? Do you really understand that
when He came, He accomplished the will of God? The redemptive
will of God is accomplished, fulfilled in every jot in Him. We were studying one of them
jots this week. Even the jocks and tittles, the commas, the
exclamation marks, even those are inspired by God. We're talking
about that woman. Christ said, it's not me to give
the children's bread to dogs. And she said, yeah, Lord. Huh? But the master's dog. Oh. She eats from the master's
table, the scraps. All these things accomplished
in Christ, and so much so that Paul said when he was raised
up from the dead, we were raised up with him. When he awakened from the dead
in that time, we awoke with him. Think about it. Found himself
in great clothes. He didn't have them on when he
died. They put them on him. And so he didn't rip them off.
He just took his time and took them off, folded them neatly
and left them on the stone where they lay. He raised us up with him. He
showed us to the world in him. He was delivered for our offenses,
raised again for our justification. He showed him alive. unto over
500 brethren at one time. He stayed on this earth for another
month after he raised from the dead. And then what? Then he stepped
onto a cloud with angelic messengers and was escorted into glory where
his crown came. But guess what Paul said? We
raised up with him. We ascended up with him. And
when God patted that chair, I said, sit here. Sit right here next to me. We
shall seated with Him in glory. My friend, there is no hope for
any son of Adam apart from the Gospel of Christ. The gospel
is the good news that God has made provision for chosen sinners
and by way of His Son, by way of His person and work, our salvation
is secured in glory. So much so that He, as our High
Priest, He's not going to enter in under the veil. He entered
into heaven itself and personally makes intercession by His person,
His presence before the Lord. Scripture said we're begotten
again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, now
listen, that fadeth not away. Now if any man draw back My soul
shall have no pleasure in him. But listen to this promise. We're
not of them who fall back under perdition,
draw back under perdition. We draw back, but we don't draw
back under perdition. But we're of them that believe
to the saving of the soul. How can that be? Because we believe
in the living Savior. Faith is not your work. Righteousness
is not your work. The new birth is not our work. And whatever understanding we
have has been given to us by the Holy Ghost and God's chosen
servant sent to us by God Himself. Why is it that we find ourselves
in such a strait as this? Because we're looking somewhere
other than Christ. That's why. You can't look at
him and not rejoice. Man told me one time, he said,
preacher, I have no assurance. And I said, you mean you don't
believe that Jesus is the Christ? Oh, he said, I believe that. I said, well, you mean you don't
think his death was sufficient to put away sin? Oh, he said,
I believe his blood put away sin. I believe that. What do you mean that you don't
believe he rose from the dead? Oh, absolutely, I believe he
rose from the dead. Well, you don't really believe
that he finished the work and accomplished the redemptive will
of God? Oh, he said, I believe that.
I said, that's assurance. Huh? That's what assurance is. It's the full assurance of understanding. Assurance is not confidence in
your confidence. Assurance is confidence in Christ.
Otherwise, the Thessalonians, in his first letter, could not
have had strong assurance. But they had it right off the
bat. In him are hid all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge. Look unto me, and be ye saved.
This is the will of him that sent me, Christ said, that every
one that seeth the sun, and believeth on him, may have everlasting
life. And I raise him up at the last
day. We leave the means of God that
he set in place, and we go into this present world, and then
wonder why we lose assurance. And we take our eyes off the
Savior and look within, trying to determine if we're saved.
He said Christ in you is the hope of glory. Everything else is just a black
hole. It's an empty sack, a broken cistern. And then lastly, here's
the third reason. I hope you're writing these down,
and I hope you'll give them some thought and look into the Word
of God. We find ourselves in this ungodly squandering because
we've been listening to some poor man who don't know what
he's talking about. That's the reason. And that's
generally the reason. I was holding a meeting up in
Kentucky one time. I was invited to Thanksgiving
dinner. When I got there, I was informed
that an unexpected guest was coming. He wanted to talk to
me. He had some questions he wanted
to ask. He'd been coming to the meeting.
And so after we ate, we went over aside from the table. And I said, I was told that you had
some questions you wanted to ask. So he started in. He didn't
have any questions. He just started then telling
me what he believed and how he learned the gospel and all these
things. And he just went on and on and
on with these things. Just one thing right after the
other. I'm just guessing 20 minutes. It might have been 45. I don't
know. But it was a long time. Finally, I just said, whoa, whoa,
whoa, whoa. I said, I've been listening to
you now for however long it's been. And you haven't said one
thing. that I believe. Not one. How can a man talk that much
and not know anything? Not one thing. Not one thing
he said had any foundation in the scripture. It was all in
his experience. It was all about what he felt,
about what he thought he knew. He got this idea, this vision
in his head. He went into the Word of God.
That's what men do. They go in there with some kind
of preconceived notion, hunt around and see if they can't
find a verse to back it up. Look here in Colossians 2, verse
7. Is that verse 7 or verse 4? I can't
read my own writing. He said, and this I say, lest any man should beguile you
with enticing words. I think I can say the same thing
about what I'm telling you this morning. Oh, Satan has his ministers,
and they're so clever. They're so deceitful. They're
so subtle, unnoticed. Nobody even notices and they
come in. That's what this man had done. He come into that congregation
unnoticed. And they bring with them, the
scripture said, damnable heresies. Boy, this ain't about whether
grape juice or wine. These are damnable heresies.
Denying the Lord that bought them. denying the sufficiency
of his work, the satisfaction of God's justice, the effectual
intercession of his presence and glory, denying his sovereign
rule. And many, listen to this, many
shall follow their pernicious ways, and by reason of whom the
way of truth shall be evil spoken of. Oh, that's a cult meets over there. Who's he telling that to? People
who follow the pernicious way. My friend, gospel preachers understand
the mystery of God and they preach salvation altogether as the effectual
work of God. God the Father who chose us in
His Son, God the Son who redeemed us by His blood, and God the
Spirit whose mighty work brings men unto a new birth, regenerates
them, converts them, Brings them to bow under the authority of
King Jesus. Shows them something about what
spiritual death is. And gives them a good hope through
grace. And he said, beware, lest any man spoil you. What's that
talking about? Like spoiling an apple? No. He's
talking about taking from you what God has given you. That's
what he's talking about. Paul told the Galatians, you
had a good beginning, what happened? They'll take from you what God's
given you, half, through philosophy, ideology, ideas, notions, theories,
tenets, principles, schools of thought, speculations, and vain
deceit. What's that mean? Things that
are empty. They're empty. No foundation. After the tradition
of men, what's that? Pagan religion. That's what that
is. Might as well dance around the
totem pole. Might as well, same thing. And the basic rudimentary
principles by which most men reason. Beware, they'll fool
you. They'll fool you. All of these
things are not after Christ. And every one of them will say
the same thing. Look within for evidence of salvation. Oh, I'd like to know how many
times I've been pressed to that. Sitting listening to a preacher
who don't know God. He don't know what he's talking
about. Here's the only evidence you
need. God was manifest in the flesh. Huh? Lived a perfect life
and then was crucified on the cross to pay our sin debt. Do not substitute feelings and
emotions for the person and work of Christ. Martin Luther wrote this poem
years ago. I've heard that first verse many
times, but I had to look it up for the rest of them. I couldn't
remember. Feelings come and feelings go, and feelings are deceiving. My warrant is the word of God,
not else's worth believing. Though all my heart should feel
condemned, that's what he was telling me, for want of one sweet
token. That's what he wanted, just one,
just give me one sweet token. There is one greater than my
heart, whose word cannot be broken. I trust in God's unchanging word
till soul and body sever, for though all things shall pass
away, his word shall stand forever. Isn't that something? Where do
these fears come from? From forsaking the ways and means
of Christ, from looking somewhere other than Christ, and from listening
to men who don't know what they're talking about. Listen to this
hymn writer, Edward Mote. I just read his story yesterday. Oh, what a story. Born in the
1700s, late 1700s. Was saved sometime around 1810
or 1815, sometime around in there. He was an apprentice carpenter
working in a cabinet shop over in London, England. And the master carpenter told
him, the apprentice, pretty much did whatever he said, and he
said, you need to come to church with me this week. He said, OK. He went down to that chapel,
and God saved him. He heard the gospel. Later on,
he become a Baptist preacher, Edward Moat. What did he write? He wrote this
hymn. He sat down in his little cabinet shop years later and
he penned this hymn. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frown. Oh, for that feeling. I love the feeling, don't you?
Oh, I love it. I love that experience of grace.
I love it when the Lord sticks His finger through the hole into
my heart. I love that. I dare not trust
the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. And listen
to this verse. When darkness veils its lovely
face, then what? I rest on His unchanging grace. In every high and stormy gale,
my anchor holds within the veil. His oath, his covenant, his blood,
support me in the whelming flood, and when all around my soul gives
way, he, then, is all my hope and stay. Might be that the Lord's
stripping you for that very reason. When all around my soul gives
way, he then. That's what Paul said. He said,
when I'm weak, then am I strong. I'm not strong, I'm weak because
now my strength is all Christ. It's all Christ. On Christ the
solid rock I stand, all other ground is sink and sand. All
other ground is sink and sand.