You'll turn back with me now
to Colossians chapter two. We each one have a soul. This fleshly tent, sometimes
referred to as a tabernacle in the scripture, is going to go
back to the dust from which it was taken. It's just a material passion as God would have it
to be. But it's going back to the dust,
but not your soul. Your soul is going to stand before
God. And each time we gather in this
place, we gather not only to worship God, but we gather here and I preach to you and labor
to get things said just so-so, because you have but one soul. And that soul is eternal. And
if things are going to be done for you to save that soul, it's
going to happen through the preaching of the gospel. And so this time
becomes not just a time of rejoicing, but a time of seriousness. And
you just need to tune things out, know why you're here, and
listen. Maybe God will do something.
Maybe he will. Now last week I labored to set
before you the objects of faith, and the necessity of faith, and
the miracle of faith, and the perseverance of faith. This week
I want to add to this study what it is to walk in faith. Faith walks. There is no such
thing as a faith that floats or faith that is like a statue
and is frozen. Faith walks. And the goal of our preaching
is to see men and women called of God to receive the gospel
of Christ and Christ be formed in them. That's what he tells
us up here in the latter part of chapter one of Colossians.
Christ be formed in you, Christ, the hope of glory. And Paul speaks of the riches,
he begins this chapter and speaks of the riches of the glory of
this mystery as it's manifested under the Gentiles, which is
Christ in you, the hope of glory. There is no salvation apart from
Christ. Now let that sink in what I just
said. Coming here is not salvation. Taking a part in this service
is not salvation. There is no salvation apart from
Christ. Christ is why we come here. Christ
is the object which we worship and he's the one I'm pointing
to at all times when I'm speaking to you. I'm pointing to Christ. I want you to receive the gospel
of Christ and for Christ to be formed in you. And there's no
salvation apart from Christ. First of all, there's no calculation
of sin. I hear men talk all the time
about, well, you preach the law for so long, and then when a
man gets under conviction, he gets convinced of sin, then you
preach the gospel to him. Hogwash. You better hear what I'm saying.
There is no calculation of your sin apart from looking at Christ
dying on a cross. Here's your sin right there.
God has made him to be sin for us who knew no sin. This is God's wrath upon you
being poured out on him. You can't calculate sin by what
you feel. You can't calculate sin by what
you think. Sins calculated as we look at
our dying savior on that cross. Why must he die? Because he's
bearing our sins in his own body on the tree. If mankind's savable, if he has
something in him, if he's born with something, if he's savable, If he has any potential to reconcile
himself to God, there'd be no need of Christ to die on a cross. There'd be no need of God to
come into the flesh. There'd be no need of a covenant
of grace or the appointment of assurity. He came to save sinners, vile,
wicked sinners. And the reason he came is because
his coming was necessary. There's nothing more necessary
in eternity than his death on that cross. Actually, if you read Colossians
1 carefully, you'll see that he has the preeminence in all
things. All things. because it pleased
the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell. Fullness
of wisdom, salvation, everything, even creation. The saving work of Christ is
the purpose actually behind creation. If God had not purposed to save
a people for His name's sake, Through the salvation accomplished
by his son, there wouldn't have been no reason to create anything.
You ever think about that? He's the reason behind creation. He's the reason behind providence. Why does God do this and God
does that? People ask me all the time, I
just don't see God's purpose in that. You don't have to, just
know that it's so. Just know that it's so. Every good and perfect gift coming
down from above, all purposed in Christ. He's the firstborn
of all creation. He's the sustainer of all things. He's the head of the body of
the church who is the beginning. And the crowning work of Christ
is the salvation of His elect whom He put in union with Himself
and lived and died and rose from the dead to accomplish their
redemption and then ascended into glory and received power
over all flesh that he should give eternal life to as many
as the Father has given unto him. He's reigning in glory,
arranging his providence, arranging all things, working in the hearts
of men, sending his spirit into the world, all of these things
to save his people. So I hope you understand what
I'm saying when I say there's no salvation apart from Christ.
None other name under heaven given among men whereby we must
be saved. He said, I am the way, I am the
truth, and the life, and no man cometh unto the Father but by
me. All right, so What does the glory
and necessity of Christ have to do with the walk of faith? Look with me at our text. Colossians
2 beginning with verse 6. Now he states all through Colossians
1 who Christ is, his preeminence, Christ in you, the hope of glory,
all of this he states emphatically in Colossians chapter 1. And
then he gets down here and he tells us in the beginning of
chapter two, he tells us that all the riches of wisdom and
knowledge, they're all hid in Christ. They're hid in Christ.
He's the revealer of God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. Now in verse six he tells us,
as ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk
ye in him. Rooted and built up in him, established
in the faith as you've been taught. Abounding therein with thanksgiving. All right, now here's the first
thing. How do believers receive Christ Jesus the Lord? How do believers receive Christ
Jesus the Lord. There can be no doubt from the
word of God that Christ exists. His existence is eternal. He
actually came into this world. We have witnesses abounding of
his person, of his work, of his resurrection. Had men standing
on the brow of the hill watching as he ascended off into glory.
These things are not the speculation of somebody who went out in the
desert and had a vision. These were men and women. He
was seen after his resurrection of above 500 brethren. He was
here for almost a month after his resurrection. But how do we receive him? How do we receive him? We know
why he came. We know who he is. We know what
he did. Now how do I, the sinner, how
do I receive him? Well you receive him first of
all through the word of truth. You don't receive him because
you feel certain things or because you felt this warm Oh, I just
want to go to church and come away all warm and fuzzy. Boy,
I hope you never leave here like that. I just think a man ought to leave
feeling better than when he come. Not necessarily. I hope he goes
out the door with his tail tucked between his legs, saying there's
no hope for me but Christ. We receive him through the word
of truth. And I'm gonna quote you something
over here in Ephesians chapter one. He said, in whom ye also
trusted, after that you heard the word of truth. What is that? The gospel of your salvation. You can't call on Him in whom
you've not believed. You can't believe in Him of whom
you've not heard and you can't hear without a preacher. Philip asked the eunuch. He was
over there reading from the book of Isaiah. The New Testament
had not been written. He was reading there from the
ancient scrolls and he was reading in the book of Isaiah. And he
said to the eunuch, He said, you understand what you're reading?
He said, how can I except some man should guide me? How can I? The same God who purposed
our salvation and appointed his son as our savior has ordained
the means to bring us to Christ. in the wisdom of God. Now listen
to this. After that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not
God. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. The world lying in the
darkness of God's condemnation It did not take God by surprise,
but it was according to the wisdom of God. Isn't that what that
verse is saying? In the wisdom of God, after that
in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased God through the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believed. So we receive Christ
Jesus the Lord through the word of truth. Paul said he called
you by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Now walk that way. Walk that
way. Make hearing the gospel a part
of your walk. Make attending, forsake not the
assembling of yourselves together as the manner of some of you.
Don't do it. I'm telling you that for the
good of your souls. Faith walks continuing to hear
the gospel. If you read Ephesians chapter
four, he'll tell you that's exactly why he gave to the church ministers. has to do with Christ being formed
in them, and them being rooted and grounded in Christ, which
is what he told us to do here. Walk that way. Being rooted and
grounded in Christ, and walk being taught of God, and seeing
more and more of your Savior as you have received Christ Jesus
the Lord, so walk in him. We received him. by the word
of God, now walk in him, that same way. Secondly, we received
him by the grace of God. Those who know the truth know
that there's no reason in man for God to save him. You go back
to Colossians 1, he'll tell you there. He made us meet to be
partakers with the enlightened saints. He did, God did. There's nothing in us. Isaiah
said, we are all as an unclean thing. All our righteousnesses
are as filthy rags. There's none that calleth upon
thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee. There's
none. Man at his best states altogether vanity. If God will
save any, their salvation will begin and end with him. And that's
what I'm talking about when I talk about the grace of God. By grace
are you saved through faith. This faith came as the gift of
God, not of works lest any man boast. And how often have I heard
that in the services of false religion, men standing up on
a Wednesday night testimonial, they call it, and standing up
and telling them about the time and the place and what they did
for God. Salvation begins and ends with
the Lord. The carnal mind is enmity against
God. The natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God. And what makes it even worse
is there's no man born of Adam who knows anything about God. But boy, they'll sure explain
Him to you if you talk to them. Well, I just believe. Why? Why do you believe that? A man told me one time, he said,
even Christ makes mistakes. If he does, you're a goner. And
he's not the Christ if he does. Let me read you something over
here in Matthew 11. Matthew 11, beginning with verse 27. He said,
all things are delivered unto me of my father. And no man knoweth
the son save the father, neither knoweth any man the father save
the son, and he to whomsoever the son will reveal him. Men
don't know God. Here's these Pharisees. They're
as religious as you can get. They could quote the Bible front
to back. They could tell you if a comma was out of place.
These were Pharisees. These were men who knew the Old
Testament scriptures. And they said, we have God to
our father. You know what the Lord told them? He said, you
know neither me nor my father. Now that's just the truth. And you can get as religious
as any man can get. That don't mean you know God. Natural man knows nothing of
the attributes of God. If he did, he wouldn't talk about
God changing his mind, and God changing his purpose, and things
taking God by surprise. Everything that God has purposed
to save his elect is by the sovereign, eternal, unchangeable grace of
God. Every epistle that Paul wrote
to the saints He began by saying, grace be unto you and peace from
God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace. Grace. Our election is an election of
grace. Our Savior is grace incarnate.
The gospel we hear is the gospel of the grace of God. The faith
we are given is God's gift of grace. And Paul sums up our eternal
union with Christ by saying, by grace ye are saved, Ephesians
2.5. We have received Christ Jesus
the Lord by the grace of God. Now walk that way. Walk that
way. Understanding that you are what
you are by the grace of God. You know what you know by the
grace of God. The believer's walk is a walk
of grace, and I mean by that that he cannot walk a perfect
walk. He can't do a perfect deed or
think a perfect thought. He walks as a sinner saved by
grace. He don't want to sin, but he
sins. Remember what Paul said, the
thing that I want to do, I can't do. The thing that I don't want
to do, that's what I do. How does a man walk? He walks
by the grace of God. Many of the writers I read interpret
Romans 5.21 where it says that as sin hath reigned unto death,
even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life
by Jesus Christ our Lord. And they say that the reign of
grace is manifested in the righteous deeds of the saints. I beg your
pardon. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone that believeth. The text don't even read that
way. It says grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life
by Christ Jesus the Lord. So whose righteousness is he
talking about here? He's talking about that righteousness
of Christ which is imputed to us. It reigns through his righteousness
which allows our less than perfect life to be accepted of God. Does that make sense? It reigns by seeing His all-sufficient
grace providing for us a way in which fallen sinners can have
communion with the Holy God. And it walks that way, prays
that way, speaks that way. Every slip of the tongue, every
trip of the foot, and every weakness of the flesh has a provision
of grace, a gracious justification, and a perfect righteousness,
and a new nature. We received him by grace. Now
walk that way. Walk that way. And then thirdly,
we received him as the word made flesh. Jesus Christ is God come
into the flesh. And you cannot simply read the
testimonies of God in the abstract and come away with some assurance
that God loves you. Now you can read it in the abstract
that God is love, but you can't get out of that that he loves
you, can you? You can read in there, God's
sovereign. That don't mean that his reign
is effectual in you. He's God come into the flesh
and you can't just simply read the testimonies of God in the
abstract and then come away with some assurance that God loves
you or will be gracious to you or is willing to commune with
you. To see those things, you must see the glory of God in
the face of Jesus Christ. Only in Him can you have the
assurance that God will receive you and speak with you. Huh? Am I missing something? You must see these things in
Christ. Demonstrated in his daily life and communion with his disciples,
manifested in his suffering and death and made known by his faithfulness
to do the will of God. We know, John said, that the
Son of God has come and given us an understanding that we may
know him that's true. Who did that? Christ did that. And, he goes on, that we're in
him that's true. Well, you won't find that outside
of Christ. This is the true God. This is
eternal life. What are you trying to say, preacher?
I'm trying to say that Jesus Christ is not a step in the right
direction. He is the direction and the destination. Christ is all. He's all. Jesus Christ is not just a point
of doctrine, He's the Word made flesh. God manifested His love toward
us while we were yet sinners. Christ died for us. That's the
only place you can see it. And I know that he loves to commune
with us, as our Lord demonstrated that constantly in his communion
with his beloved disciples. He's God come into the flesh,
mercy and grace and love incarnate, justice and righteousness, exalted
in his person, manifested in his person. Believers don't have to wonder
about how God communes with his people. He's already manifested
that in the life of his son. God hath in these last days spoken
unto us in son. You can just lift that he is
out. They put that in there. It's
not in the original. He has spoken to us in these last days in son. We receive Christ Jesus the Lord
as God come into the flesh. Now walk that way. Do you really
believe that Christ is God come into the flesh? Huh? Then why do we fear so many
things? Huh? We don't have to believe
it. But it's so, and we wouldn't
have any confidence at all apart from it. I wish I could believe
it like I see it. I wish I could manifest that
faith like I know that it's so. This is God. Jesus Christ is
God. He sits on the throne. He rules
and reigns. We're fellow heirs with him.
We're of the household of God. Boldness. I love that word in
Hebrew. We have boldness. How can a poor,
worthless sinner have boldness to enter into the throne room
of God? In Christ. In Christ. Back during the Civil War, it
was drawn to a close and men and women were trying to just
take the broken pieces of their lives and put them back together. And during these frustrating
times, there was a soldier who had been falsely accused of a
crime and desperately trying to get in to see the president
to get these things taken off his record. But he couldn't get
in. And finally, exhausted and broke,
and he sat down on one of the White House benches. And he just
put his head in his hands, and he was weeping. And playing nearby was this young
little boy, and he seeing this grown man weep, he came over
to him and he said, say, mister. He said, what's the problem?
Why are you weeping so? What's your trouble? And sobbing, the man began to
tell the boy all of his trouble in the events of the day. And
the boy said, well, is that all? He said, I think I can get you
in. He said, I think I can help you out. And he just insisted. He tugged
on the man's hand. The man got up. And that little
boy just walked right up to the front door of the White House,
and the guards that were standing there just stood there, and the
little boy just took that man by the hand, walked right between
the two guards, and walked in, and here's Secret Service was
all over the place. And this little boy just had
him by the hand, he walked him right down that big long aisle,
and then came up to the President's office, and just marched him
right in the President's office, and nobody said anything. And
he said, Dad, That was Todd Lincoln, Abraham's son. This man needs
some help. Boldness to enter into the throne. Boldness to walk right in. Freely. Unobstructed. Bring your petitions before God. If we could even believe half
of what this truly means. We'd never fear anything. Jesus Christ is Lord. You believe
that? He's Lord. You believe that your
Savior sits in glory at the right hand of God? And everything He
asks of His Father, He gets? And He's there for the intention
to intercede for us. You believe the Father's given
him power over all things? Oh, listen to this, Colossians
2.9. Don't you let anybody fool you. Don't you do it. Don't you let
them beguile you. You know what that word means?
Some of you young girls gonna figure out what it means here
pretty soon. That's when a young boy takes his car and pulls up
and says, hey babe, wanna ride? Opens his door, talks real sweet,
till he get you inside. That's beguile. Don't you let anybody beguile
you from Christ with their sweet talk. Honey on the Word. Oh my soul. In Him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily and you're complete in Him which is the
head of all principality and power. And if you've received
Christ Jesus the Lord over all, He's Lord over all. He's the
Creator and Sustainer of all things, Lord of the dead and
the living. Walk that way. Walk that way. Stop your complaining. There's a purpose in whatever
it is you're wanting. There's a purpose in it. And
God will fulfill it in His time. Walk as children of God and heirs
together with your Savior. Walk without fear of the world.
The world's nothing but your servant in Christ. Paul said,
don't you know that the world is yours? All things is yours
in Christ. He's Lord even over the minds
and hearts of men. The scripture said the preparations
of the heart in men and the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.
He's even Lord over your thoughts. Now walk that way. And then lastly,
if we have received Christ Jesus the Lord, we received him as
the light of life. He's the light of life. Our text
speaks in verse two of believers' hearts being knit together in
love unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding and
to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God and of the Father
and of Christ, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge. And this I say, now watch this,
lest any man should beguile you with enticing words. There's
nothing beyond Christ. Christ is all. He's all. And you beware lest any man's
full youth of philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition
of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
Well, you know you have to keep the Sabbath, Russell. Everybody
does. The Christian Sabbath, they call
it, Sunday. You can't find a Christian Sabbath
in the scripture. For just one Sabbath, that was
Saturday. But Christ is our Sabbath. He's our rest. We rest in Him. That's why I call all false religion
Antichrist. If it's contrary to Christ, it's
Antichrist. If it gets beyond Christ, it's
Antichrist. If it adds anything to Christ,
it's Antichrist. In him are hid all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge, but men say, come over here. I got
something new. I don't want anything new. I want Christ. Find the old paths, that's what
the prophet said, and walk in them. This is condemnation. Now listen
to this. Light has come into the world
and men love darkness rather than light. Is Christ the light of the world?
Says he is. Says his life was the light of
men. Is Christ your light? This is God's light, he's the
light of the world. Then walk that way. Walk that
way. As you have therefore received
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him. Root it and build up
in him. Establish in the faith as you've
been taught. And when you are, you abound. You abound in your heart with
thanksgiving. because you could be just like
them in the world, but for the grace of God, and but for the
son of God, who loved us and gave himself for us, that he
might bring us to God. May the Lord add his blessing.