Colossians chapter 2. In our last lesson, we looked
at how God works in the sinner, enabling him to do what he's
commanded to do. He said, it's God. Work out your
own salvation. Reason these things. Listen to
these things. Consider these things. That's
what Paul's telling these people. But he saw the evidence of God
working in them, and that's how he saw it. Because they were
enabled to do those things. They were enabled to submit.
These things are miraculous things and are contrary to natural men.
So we looked at that, how God works in the sinner, enabling
him to do what he's commanded to do. And this week I want us
to look at verses 14 through 16 on this subject. Lights. in a dark place. Let's look together
here at verse 14 of Colossians chapter 2. Do all things without murmurings
and disputings. What things? What's he talking
about? I'm sorry, Philippians. What
did I say? Colossians? Philippians. Do all things without murmurings
and disputings. What things? What's he talking
about here? Well, all of the things which
God works in us both to will and to do. Our God uses means
which He has ordained to recover His banished. He has means that
He put into place. He works in them to prepare them
for a hearing. God has to prepare men to hear. Natural man is not going to listen.
He's not going to hear. His mind is enmity against God. It's not subject to the law of
God. Neither indeed can be. You can't just drag a man aside
and just start pouring arguments over him and expect to explain
this thing or educate him into the kingdom of God. It takes
a divine work in him. God uses these means. Work may
vary in individuals, but the result is the same. I'm talking
about his work in them to prepare them for hearing. God worked
in the life of that Ethiopian eunuch. How do I know God was
working in him? Because he made plans to travel
halfway across the known world to Jerusalem to seek these things
and to know these things. He made preparation. It was a
great expense. And he went all that way to hear.
And yet, there was nothing to hear. He found nothing out in
the ceremonialism of natural Israel. But then when he was
on his way back, God prepared him all this time. He was reading
the Scriptures over there in Isaiah, and God sent Philip out
there to preach to him. And he went out there and he
said, do you understand what you're reading? He said, how
can I? except some man proclaim it to me." God prepared him for
a hearing. And he was ready. He was ready
to submit. Sometimes God does that in men
and women, that He leads in religion, and then He stirs their hearts,
and they begin to understand that these things that they're
hearing is not just right. These things are not in harmony
with the Word of God. And He begins to work in their
hearts. God prepares me. And then preaching. How shall you hear without a
preacher? Paul wrote to the church at Corinth and said, Now we have
received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is
of God, that we might know the things that are freely given
to us of God. This is 1 Corinthians 2 and verse
13. Which things also we speak, not
in words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth,
comparing spiritual things with spiritual." That is, God the
Holy Spirit, working in conjunction with the minister of the gospel,
reveals the things of Christ to the hearts and minds of His
elect. That's what He's telling them
there. But He said, the natural man receiveth not these things.
He doesn't receive these things. He won't bow to the man. He wants
something else. He wants to go out on the lake
and look at the mountains. He wants all the conveniences
of some kind of a club or a clique or something in society. He wants
this and that, and he wants to be catered to, and he wants to
be the object when he comes in. He wants to be the object of
the service. He wants a part in it, all of
these things. But that's not how God works.
God works in the hearts and minds of His people. preparing them
to hear, and then sending them a preacher who teaches them.
And when He does teach you, He teaches you through this book
and through that gospel revelation. And He gives it to you, and He
shines that light in you, and He enables that light to be understood
and perceived and rejoiced in. And then faith. What is faith?
Faith is the gift of God's sovereign grace which is the result of
this man's hearing. Faith is a godly persuasion in
the hearts and minds of chosen sinners to look to and believe
on and rest in the Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation of their
souls. That's my goal when you come
in here is to point you to Christ. I want you to turn from all natural ways and turn
to Him who is the way. That's my goal. And this is what
the Holy Spirit is sent to do. When He's come, He's not going
to speak of Himself. He's not going to glorify Himself. He could. He's God. He deserves the glory, but that's
not His mission. Christ said His mission is to
take the things of mine and show them unto you. And that's what he does. It's
a godly persuasion in the hearts and minds of chosen sinners to
look to the Lord Jesus Christ. 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. And that persuasion
includes who he is. That persuasion includes what
he's done. And why He came and where He
is now. Ever liveth. I was telling somebody
this morning about that passage we were discussing that He ever
liveth to make intercession for us. And He's able to do that
because He's seated at the right hand of God. And then repentance. What is repentance? Repentance
is the result of faith. Believing God's testimony concerning
our sinful condition and the curse of this fallen world in
our Father Adam. You're not going to repent. You're
not going to turn from your old ways until you discover what
they are. When you see the sinfulness of
those things, when you see the deceit of those things, and the
subtlety of Satan who convinced you of those things, then you're
going to turn from them. And you're going to lose all
confidence in the flesh. That's what Paul said. You're
a true Jew, he said. You rejoice in Christ Jesus and
have no confidence in the flesh, none whatsoever. He'll reveal
to you your own ignorance in these matters. But you'll never
turn from what you are and what you're doing until you see the
exceeding sinfulness of your sin. Bob Coffey and I were fishing
down in Louisiana years ago. We were coming into this, I guess
it used to be an old stone quarry or something out in there, and
there was sand and water and lakes and things all back in
there, and you had to hike back in there to fish, and we didn't
have a boat, so this was a great place. Had seven or eight little
lakes formed, and beavers had built dams and different things,
and we were back in there, and we fell off into something very
near to quicksand. And we just went up to our armpits,
I mean, just like stepping off into water. And then the suction
from that stuff just nearly broke our backs trying to pull each
other out of it. And we finally realized where
we were at, and we began to backtrack and get out of there. We turned
from that place because we understood the danger of it. We understood
the deceit of it. The leaves had fallen. And there
was little trees, I forget what they're called, but they grow
out in the swamp. And the roots had traveled on
top of that mud and give you the idea that you could walk
on it. And then there was leaves about
this deep in the fall. And we just thought we were on
solid ground. But all the while, we were walking on top of this
mud. And then once we realize that,
we turn from it. And that's the way it is with
the sinner. What he has confidence in, where he's boldly walking
and going, he thinks it's good. He thinks it's a good thing.
He thinks he's doing something right. And everybody else is
doing it. So why isn't it right? And he
goes on until the Lord shows him. Until the Lord shows him
what it is. And then the fear of God comes
into his heart. And he turns from those things.
to that which God has revealed to us. Man is a prisoner of his
fallen nature and is bound in chains of ignorance and darkness
under the curse of the law, under the condemnation of God. And
if he continues on in his present path, he'll perish under the
wrath of God. We're commanded to love one another.
Here's another thing. He is saying, do all things.
What things? Well, here is one of those things.
We are commanded to love one another and assemble ourselves
together and submit to the preaching and teaching of God's pastor.
We are to encourage one another and edify one another and help
one another. And we are to do all of these
things without murmurings and without disputings. Murmuring
and arguing and disputing is not the way of grace. That's
not the way of grace. And God's people are saved by
grace. And this grace is bestowed upon
chosen sinners, sinners who don't deserve the grace that God has
extended to them. They're undeserving of this.
They're ill-deserving. And grace is the blessings of
God where cursing is merited. We merit to be cursed. God's
right in our cursing. And if you ever see that, you'll
justify God, and you'll get on His side in your own condemnation. Grace is the blessing of God
where cursing is merited. It's the filling up of empty
vessels. It's the heavenly treasure in
clay pots. By grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of
works. lest any man should boast." Now
listen to me. Once a man or a woman has been
shown their ignorance, once they recognize how easily
and thoroughly Satan deceived them, once they see how much
damage they did with their lies and hypocrisies, they're not
prone to argument anymore. They're not prone to debate anymore. Their mouths have been stopped.
Isn't that what that says there in Romans 3? Our mouths have
been stopped. Their wisdom has been proven
foolishness to them. Their standing has been established
as that of a beggar. They quietly wait for God to
give them what they need. You can't take it. It's not on the shelf. You can't
just run and pick it. Well, one of these days when
I get a little older and I'm not so busy, I'm going to go
down and join the church. You might join an assembly, but
you're not going to join His church. He has to put you in
His church. Once we see these things, God
has made this man, this man whom He's done this work in, He's
made him submissive and humble and easy to teach. And God's
means are accepted by Him. What's He care? Men want to argue
about election. Well, election's not fair. If
you were a dying sinner, you'd see election as that open door,
the only door, only way out. If God don't choose you, you're
never going to choose Him. This is an open door. But you
can't see it. You see it as a closed door.
Because you don't have eyes to see. You see what I'm saying?
How different the perspective of things is between a man who
has no light and a man who has light? It's a totally different
perspective. And that's what Paul's talking
about here. He recognized this work of God in men. Once they see how much damage
they did. Oh, how much damage. Not prone
to argue and debate about things anymore. God has made this man
submissive, humble, and easy to teach. And God's means are
accepted by him. He's okay with it. He's alright
with it. God wants to choose the people.
God can't do wrong. You mean you have a God that
can do wrong? What kind of God do you got? Our God can't do
wrong. We don't blame Him when our babies
die. We don't blame God for these
things, these unexplainable events that happen in our life. We don't
blame God for those things. God can't do wrong. We're pronged
to it. That's all we can do. Everything
we do is wrong, but nothing He does is wrong. Listen to this, 1 Corinthians
2, verse 14. The natural man, that man and
woman in whom God is not working, He receiveth not the things of
the Spirit of God, and he continues to be foolishness. He looks at
these things and they just continue to be foolishness unto him, and
therefore he cannot be saved because faith is spiritually
discerned. It takes the power and presence
of God to save sinners. That's just so. And he has in
him, that sinner has in him, the Scripture said, a strong
man armed, ready to defend all comers. He's armed. He has the
sword drawn. He's able to defend against all
comers until one stronger than him comes in and takes him down. And that's what happens in the
salvation of a sinner. That man has in him a stubborn
will. Stephen said to the Jewish High
Council, you stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears,
you do always resist the Holy Ghost. You see what Paul is saying
here? Do all things without murmurings
and disputings. Why? Because it is not the way
of grace. And this is not the experience
of grace, and this is not the means of grace. So when we begin
to do all these things, know this, you're doing something
contrary, contrary, dishonorable to God in all these disputings
and arguments. Let's look at these two terms
for just a minute. Murmurings. What is that? What is it to murmur? Murmurings
is discontentment. I'm not content. We murmur. Murmur, murmur, murmur about
everything. Murmuring is an expression of
dissatisfaction. Not satisfied with the way of
grace. Not satisfied with the means
of grace. Not satisfied with the results
of grace. Israel murmured about the manna.
My soul. They were starving to death.
They were in a wilderness. There was nothing to eat. God
rained manna down, gave them manna. And what'd they do with
it? They murmured. Murmured about it. Our soul loatheth
this library. What'd they do when they ate
the manna? They sat there and reflected back on the flesh pots
of Egypt. Now, when they're talking about
flesh pots, they ain't talking about roast beef, mashed potatoes
and grapes. They're talking about, I can't
even imagine what those Egyptians would have fed those slaves.
I can't imagine what those flesh pots were. But they looked at
those old nasty flesh pots and saw something in that greater
than that matter. And they murmured. They murmured. They murmured about the manner,
and they murmured about the way, and they murmured about the authority,
and they murmured about the leaders, and they murmured about God's
motives, and, oh, you just brought us out here to kill us in the
wilderness. Murmuring is the way of unsaved men and women,
and murmuring resulted in their carcasses being left in the wilderness. God said, these 10 times, I've
listened, I've put up with you, and they're not going to be a
number 11. Your carcasses, as sure as I am God, your carcasses
are going to fall in the wilderness. So Paul tells us that these things
are contrary, and so do all things without murmurings. And then
secondly, do all things without disputings. Disputing something
is to publicly contradict something, or even worse, to do it in secret,
to dispute. It's sometimes to just subtly
call somebody aside and dispute certain things that were taught
in the church. This is not the way of God. That's
not the way of God. The way of grace or the way God
saves sinners. Brethren, we can't make unbelievers
believers. You can't educate men into the
kingdom of God. It's the work of God and it's
the work of grace. And when these things are done,
they are done in such a way as to glorify God. He is going to
be glorified in this. Not you. He is. He is. And murmurings and disputings
is not how He does it. Alright, look with me back here
at Philippians 2 verse 15. That you may be blameless. and
harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked
and perverse nation, among whom you shine as lights in the world."
Disputings and murmurings are harmful. That's what he's telling
you here. It's harmful. We don't want to
take blame for those things. We don't want to be... I don't
want to stand up here and give offense where offense is not
justified. I don't want to do things contrary
to the Word of God. I want to do things in harmony
with the Word of God. And I want to do these things
for the good of your soul. They are harmful. It's not just
an expression of your opinion, but it's harmful to seeking sinners. Be careful what you say. Here's
what Paul said to John. He said, study to be quiet. Do
that. You want to study something,
study that. Study to be quiet. Study to be ready to hear. Study to listen. Study to learn. Study to be quiet. We do these things, it's not
just an expression of your opinion, but it's harmful. It's harmful. It casts doubts and aspirations
not only on God's ministers, but on God's promises. Listen
to this here in Ecclesiastes 5, verse 1. Talking about gathering. Just as we came in that door
this morning and gathered here for this Sunday school lesson,
listen to what he said. Keep thy foot when thou goest
into the house of God. And be more ready to hear than
to give the sacrifice of foes. Now listen. For they consider
not that they do They don't think they're doing
evil. They think they're doing God a service. But they're not. They're doing evil. And he said,
you keep your foot when you go in there. I've got my means. I've got my man. And he's answerable
to me, not answerable to you. He's answerable to me. And I'll
justify him, and I'll justify what he says. You just keep your
foot. For if they consider not that
they do evil, And these murmurings and disputings, they're evil,
they're harmful, and they're ungodly. Don't practice these
things and do not tolerate others who do. Just avoid them. And
he tells us why. That you may be blameless and
harmless, the sons of God. Not blameless in the sense of
the righteousness of God, but blameless here as the ministry
of the church. Blameless here as members of
His body. And this ministry that we're
sent to perform. And without rebuke. God will
rebuke you. If you're His child, He'll chastise
you. It just does. And we're in the
midst, you remember this at all times, we're in the midst of
a crooked and perverse nation. This world is crooked and perverse. They walk in perversion. Their
doctrine is perverted. Their worship is perverted. Their
understanding is perverted. There's none that understandeth,
Paul said, and none that seeketh after God. They walk in the way
of the world, and according to the prince of the power of the
air, their morals are perverted. Their teaching is perverted,
and their motives are perverted. Well, you say, now wait a minute.
What is there here this morning, 20 people? So you think you 20
are doing the will of God, and everybody else out there not.
Is that what you really think? That's what John said. He said,
we know. Who's he talking about, we? He's
talking about the children of God. We know that we are of God
and the whole world, not the Roman nation, the whole world,
he said, lieth in wickedness. Now that's the Word of God. That's
the testimony of God through His servant John. That's not what we look at though.
We grew up in the United States and the majority is always right.
Really? Really? You shine as lights. The only
source of light is that light of Christ which is put in his
church and in his elect. You are the light of the world,
that's what he told us. You shine as lights in the world.
And then look at verse 16. Holding forth the Word of life. What in the world is he talking
about there? There are two things I want you to see here. First
of all, that we hold forth as the foundation and source of
all our hopes and expectations, the Word of God. We hold that
forth. And we had a man visited here
one time, and he wanted to do some debating and arguing after
the Sunday school lesson. And I told him, I said, well,
we got one more service. And after that, if you want to
sit and talk and ask questions, I'll answer them. But I said,
here's the foundation of everything I have to say right here. If you're going to go beyond
this, I've got nothing for you. I'm not going to waste my time.
I'm not going to sit here and consider the light of the philosophers
and the light of deceived men. We're not going to go there.
We're not going to go into all these other religions and give
them some sort of, like they did there on Mars Hill, and raise
some kind of a statue there. We're not giving them any recognition
whatsoever. We'll deal with these things
out of this book, or I'm not going to deal with them at all.
Well, he had nothing to say. Nothing to say. The Word of God
is our rule for faith and practice, and we look no further for evidences
and sources. We hold this Word forth to this
world. And then secondly, we hold forth
the Gospel, which is the message of this book. The Gospel is the
testimony of God. To Him give all the prophets
witness. You want to know what the prophets
had to say? Read the book of Acts. He'll tell you right there. To him give all the prophets
witness. Through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness
of sins. Our Lord said, these are they
which testify of me. And my friend, our lives also
have a direct bearing on what we preach. Suppose for a minute
that the ambassador of the United States showed up wherever he
was scheduled to be at one of these big conferences overseas,
and there's a big disturbance there, and we send our ambassador
down there to represent us, and he shows up over there and cut
off jeans. And he's got this old torn sweatshirt
on with no sleeves in it, and he's chewing tobacco, and he's
got him a little can there, and he's spitting in that can, and
he's got this big boom box on the other side, and it's, you
know, he's just jamming. He's coming in there with all
this. You reckon anybody's going to even give him the time of
day? You reckon anybody's even going to listen to what that
man had to say? We're ambassadors for Christ
as though God did beseech you by us. And it matters what you
wear. It matters how you act. It matters how you live. All
of these things have a direct bearing on the word of the gospel
that we preach and on that station to which we're called as a church
of God. All of these things. You see
what I'm saying? We're ambassadors. Ambassadors. Suppose that man was reported
in the local paper as being arrested down at some brothel or charged
with being a public drunk and resisting arrest. How much stock
do you think these nations put in his message? None. None. We're ambassadors for Christ
and we represent the living God before men and it's unthinkable
we should let our lifestyles interfere with this great and
honorable service. And that's what he's dealing
with here to these men. And then quickly, look at the
last part of verse 16. Colossians 2 verse 16. Holding
forth the word of life that I may rejoice in the day of Christ
that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain. We watch
and pray for the souls of them that we minister to, and we have
confidence that God will finish the work that He's begun, if
indeed He's begun the work. But even when we're done, even
when we've done the best we can do, there's always going to be
some who are going to be a disappointment. Demas, He said, hath forsaken
me. He's forsaken me. All that work and conversation
and teaching and fellowship that I had with Demas, all in vain. All in vain. May the Lord be
pleased to do such a work in us and for us that would enable
us to be lights in this crooked and perverse world. And to do
it in such a way as to glorify His great name.