If you'll take your Bibles now
and turn to Colossians 2, we'll be looking at verses 5-7. Last week we talked about the
minister's conflict. His conflict is that Christ be
formed in his hearers. He wants to see Christ formed
in them. He wants to see Christ become
their hope. and become the object of their
faith. And the gospel he preaches, he wants for that to be received
and believed and obeyed. And he has a conflict in his
heart over these things. That his hearers enter into the
full assurance of understanding. And that they not only acknowledge
the mystery of God in the gospel, but that they benefit from it.
Lots of folks acknowledge it who never benefit from it. And
to be a partaker of it and to find comfort in it. Let's look
here at verse 5. For though I be absent in the
flesh, yet am I with you in the Spirit, joying and beholding
your order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ. The
eye of the preacher is always on the work that he knows that
God does in believers. That's what he looks for. It's good to hear folks confess
things. It's good to hear folks profess
things. It's good to hear that. I hope
you do. But my eye is not on that. My
eye is on that work that I know follows true faith and repentance. It's always toward the work of
God in the hearts of those who are His concerns. And so Paul
uses this phrase, beholding your order. Your order. Their order was how they conducted
themselves. That's one of the meanings of
it. how they conducted themselves, their submissiveness to the commandments
of Christ. Order has to do with regulation. It has to do with direction. It has to do with the will. Their attendance to the gospel
ordinances, their assembling of themselves together, their
submission to God's minister and His message and His leadership. Paul had a genuine interest in
these people that he wrote to. And he expresses that in this
letter. He had a genuine interest in
their spiritual welfare, and he prayed for them. He prayed
for them. He agonized with God over them. He could see their weaknesses
and hear about their faults. He knew those things, and he
prayed for them. And he recommended to them a
faithful man. And he wrote to them about these
things that we're reading about here this morning and studying
in this book of Colossians. All true ministers of Christ
know that only God can do this work. I know that. There's not
a doubt in my mind. You can't do the first thing
that God requires of you to do unless God works in you. You
can't do it. This work is the work of God.
It's the work of God that you be willing. It's that very first
work. You know, when Paul wrote to
these Colossians, or I believe it's the Philippians in verse
6, he said, This is my confidence, that he which hath begun a good
work in you will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ. He knew
that this thing was all of God. Does that mean that a person
won't be willing and not see himself as willing and not feel
himself? No. No. But he'd never be willing
apart from the work of God in him. And it's how he's made willing. He hears the truth. He hears
the truth. It's a heart work. Our Lord said, I'll take away
the stony heart. Isn't that what He said? I'll
take it away. And I'll give them a heart of
flesh. I'll give them a heart that can
be touched. I heard Brother Mahan say one
time, the tears of a beloved mother couldn't melt the hearts
of their own children. Could not melt those hearts.
But God can. God can. With a word. With a
word. He says man looks on the outward
countenance, but God looks on the heart. Salvation is not just
an escape from judgment and everlasting punishment, but deliverance from
the power and influence of sin. Most people, when they think
about sin, think about the bad things they've done in their
lives. It usually has to do with drunkenness, or adultery, or
thefts, or bi-language, or rebellion, or something they think on. And all of these things are sins. They are sins. But sin goes a
little deeper than that. Sin has to do with what's on
the inside. Sin has to do with what you are.
And sin reigns over everything that you do. It reigns over your
thoughts. Reigns over your thoughts. God
looked down from heaven upon men back in the days of Noah
and said that every imagination of the thoughts of their heart
was only evil continually. So that even his thoughts of
spiritual things are twisted and corrupt. Sin reigns over
the affections. Christ said, I know you that
you have not the love of God in you. Sinners love sin. They've got
an appetite for it. They have an affection for it.
The Bible said the priests prophesy lies, and the people love to
have it so. They have an appetite for it.
There's no affection for God, for God's Word, or for God's
people. And if you were of the world,
our Lord said, the world would love its own. But you're not
of the world. where I've chosen you out of the world, therefore
the world hateth you. You know, I read that scripture
a long time ago. I joined a church and turned
over a new leaf, whatever you want to call it, made a profession
of faith. And I used to wonder, I'd read
that scripture and I'd wonder, and some of the other scriptures
that talk about the resentment toward the children of God and
an animosity toward the children of God. And I couldn't understand
nobody was upset with me. I joined the church. I accepted
Jesus as my personal Savior. I walked down the aisle. I did
all those things. I identified with the church.
I was baptized. Why ain't they upset with me?
Was that just for that day or what? What do those scriptures
mean? Then I found out the truth. And
it's a whole different ball game. Now I understand what this is
talking about. Now I understand. I've experienced
this animosity. I understand what this is saying.
If you was of the world, if you was in agreement with them, if you
had some common ground with them, why, they wouldn't hate you.
They wouldn't hate you. But we don't. And therefore,
they hate us. It rains over their affections,
and sin rains over their will. You will not come unto me that
you might have life. Natural man is in bondage to
sin. He gathers his straw, and he
makes his bricks, and he serves in that evil kingdom. He walks
according to the prince of the power of the air. And sin is a strong man armed,
our Lord said. It keeps his house and his goods
are secured. And salvation is when one's stronger
than he overcomes him and takes his house from him and spoils
his goods. And ministers know that. They
know that this is the work of God. And so when he starts talking
about beholding your order, that's what he's talking about. There
is an order that comes with faith. comes in this new creation. God
must do the work. It's God who worketh in you,
Paul said, both to will and to do of His good pleasure. And
then secondly, all true ministers of Christ know this, that God
has ordained means to accomplish this end. He has certain means. What are these means? Well, first
and foremost is the person and work of Christ. God's not going to save any man
apart from the redemptive work of Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
primary means whereby chosen sinners are redeemed and justified
and sanctified. We've got nothing to offer for
ourselves. What have you got that God would be interested
in? Huh? He said, if I was hungry, I wouldn't
tell you. You don't have anything to offer
Him. Sinners have nothing God wants
or needs. Sinners are filthy beggars. They're
lepers. They lost everything in Adam. Ruined by the fall. In order
to save God's elect, He must appoint one for His people. A
federal head, a representative, a substitute, a savior. One to
live for Him and die for Him and be raised for Him and intercede
for Him in glory. And He alone is their hope of
glory. He alone is their righteousness
and their propitiation, their sanctification, their wisdom,
their justification. He's all things. Jesus Christ
the Lord is the primary means by which chosen sinners are saved.
And then secondly is the Holy Spirit of God. Man not saved
until the Holy Spirit of God enters into him and abides in
him. He is not saved until the Spirit
of God reveals the truth in him. In him. And those who are not saved,
talking about natural men who will not bow to the thing, here
is what he said, the natural man receiveth not the things
of the Spirit of God. When the Spirit of God moves
upon a man. He moves in concordance with
the means and the things that God has ordained to save him.
It's ridiculous that when God sets an order, that's what Paul's
talking about here. He looked at them and he looked
for that order of God that God establishes in the hearts of
His people. I don't care how much Scripture
he can quote. I don't care how wise he is in
doctrine. I don't care how well read he
is or whose church he was raised in, except a man be born of water
and of the Spirit, he cannot perceive, that is, understand,
or he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. He must. That's a big
word, isn't it? He must be born again. By His mercy, Paul said, He saved
us by the washing of regeneration and the seed of renewing of the
Holy Ghost. Paul never talked about having
confidence in himself. His confidence was in the presence
and power of God. And then thirdly, the means of
salvation includes also the preaching of the gospel. Self-willed, self-taught,
and self-ruled men are doing everything in their power to
do away with this. They get on their soapbox on
the Internet all the time and deny this very thing. Daily trying
to overthrow what God has ordained and blessed to the calling out
of His elect. There are three things that God
has chosen to save His elect. The Lord Jesus Christ, first
and foremost. The Holy Spirit of God. and the
preaching of the gospel. If those three things are not
present, if that order does not appear, God's not in it. God's not in it. You can just
write it off. And these three things have been the object of
Satan's attack from the very beginning. It pleased God. That ought to
be enough for us, shouldn't it? It pleased God through the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. Paul said, I'm watching
your order. I'm listening to your minister's
testimony concerning your submission to God. Let me ask you something. When you go out here in the yard
and you look up at the heavens, do you not see an order to God's
old creation? Is there not an order there?
What holds the sun up there where it is? What keeps it right there? If it went further away, we'd
freeze to death. If it moved closer, we'd burn
up. But that sun stays right where God put it. If the earth
turned too fast, the gravity would kill us. If it turned too
slow, we'd fall off. We'd just float off into outer
space. If the moon wasn't in certain places, the tides and
all those things that are controlled by it wouldn't work. There's
an order. You can't see what holds it there. And there's natural laws in this
order. There's gravity and revolutions
and the spinning around of things. Everything, there's an order
to it. There's an order to it. And you
can't help but walk out there and see that. And Paul said,
when you look up at creation, it declares to you the eternal
power in Godhead. That's what you see in that.
You see God's order. You see God's work in this. And the same thing goes for the
spiritual part of man. When God does that work, there's
an order. Wherever God works, there's an
order. And God's preacher is not looking to see how long you
wear your dresses, or you men, how long you wear your hair,
or you women, how short you cut your hair. They're not looking
for that. I'm looking for order. I'm looking for that which evidences
the work of God in you. That's what I'm looking for.
And that's what Paul was looking for. Now with this in mind, listen
to what he says here in verse 6. As you have therefore received
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him. How does the believer
receive Christ? Well, first of all, it's a gift.
You couldn't receive what's not given to you. We receive Him
as the gift of God. God so loved the world that He
gave His only begotten Son. Isn't that what the Scriptures
say? Peter stood up and told them
this. He said, God has exalted Christ to His own right hand
as a Savior and Prince to give repentance and remission of sins
to Israel. To give it. To give it. He's
the gift. God gave His only Son that whosoever
believeth in Him should not perish. He was sent of the Father to
be a propitiation for our sins. And He's given through the Gospel
and through the gift of faith to all for whom He died. By grace
are you saved through faith. Isn't that what the Scripture
said? And that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. And those
who have truly embraced Christ know it was the gift of God.
It was unmerited. It was undeserved. It was pure,
sovereign grace. You can't find another reason,
can you? You can't find another reason
why God chose you. His sovereign grace. And that's how we walk. We don't
walk high and haughty, but we're like beggars who've been shown
favor. Old blind Bartimaeus, God gave
him his eyesight. You think he went then down with
the Pharisees and got in with them and walked all high and
haughty? I don't think so. I'll give you
a better example than that. What about old Mephibosheth?
I thought he was going to his death. David ushered him in,
and he said, from now on, the rest of your days, you're going
to eat at my table and live in my house. You think he walked
all high and haughty after that? I don't think so. I think he
sat at that table with tears in his eyes every time he sat
down to eat. As you have received Christ Jesus
the Lord, so walk. You received Him as a gift. And
we're mindful of that every day we live on this earth. And we
walk in thanksgiving, we give thanks to God. They walk in the
righteousness of Christ. Found us in the highway in the
hedges and gave us a part in the marriage supper of the Lamb
and clothed us with His own wedding garments. We're clothed in the
righteousness of Christ and we walk that way. We don't walk
in self-righteousness. I don't have any. All my righteousnesses
are as filthy rag. My prayers are the same as Paul's,
that I might be found not having my own righteousness, but the
righteousness of God, which is in Christ. We have on His garments,
and we know we're there by the sovereign grace of God. And we
walk in the blood of Christ, which cleanses us from all sins,
confessing our sins, aware of our sins, and repenting of our
sins. And we look to that blood. We
look to that death as satisfactory to take those things away. And
we rest in the full assurance of faith, believing on and rejoicing
in the Lord Jesus Christ. And then thirdly, the believer
receives Christ Jesus in the power of the Holy Ghost. Our
gospel came not in word only, that's what Paul said to the
Thessalonians, but in power. Now what did he say? In power
and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance. Salvation is
a new creation. It's a new creation. It takes
those things which are immovable and move. You know what he liked
in the ministry of John the Baptist? His ministry was to come and
to make this gospel clear, to make that way clear. And he said
he came to move mountains and to fill in valleys. That's an
impossible thing, isn't it? You can't fill up a valley. So,
you drive up over those mountains coming into Washington, D.C.,
up there in Virginia, and you look out there, as far as you
can see, nothing but a big valley. Faith fills it up, fills it up,
makes it level, moves those mountains out of the way. Powerful thing, powerful thing.
It's a new creation. Everything in that old creation
stays where God put it and obeys His sovereign commands and finds
its place in the purpose of God. So this new creation, though
there be no visible bonds, you can't see them. You can't see
them. Yet there is a divine order within and He walks in the presence
and power of God. Verse 6, as you have therefore
received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him. Verse 7, rooted
and built up in Him, established in the faith as you've been taught,
abounding therein with thanksgiving. And that's what believers do.
They abound in thanksgiving. Believers walk in gratitude,
seeing others swept away in lies, seeing others swallowed up by
sin, and seeing others refusing to bow to the Lord, they give
thanks. They give thanks. Oh, thank God. Thank God He broke this heart.
Thank God He stopped this sinner. Thank God He intervened in my
life. I was running as fast as I could
go into hell. I was on a downhill run as fast
as I could go into hell. And all the words and all the
things that people told me just rolled off me like water off
a duck's back until God said, that's enough. And He pulled back on the reins
and He stopped me right there and began to work in me, turn
me, cause me to hear. did something in my heart. And
I tell you, I'm thankful for it. Not as thankful as I'd like
to be, but I'm thankful for it. And I'm more thankful for it
when I look around and see others who have no interest in it. I'm
even more thankful. I could be right there. I was
at one time. How many times does Paul say
that in the Scripture? Huh? You hath equated who were
dead. Huh? He did this work in you,
and at one time you disliked him. That's where he found you. He found you over there with
those heathen idolaters. Huh? You thought you were worshiping
God. You were waving your hands and
going through the motions. I tell you, you're thankful now,
aren't you? You think, well, God put a halt
to it. God put a stop to it. And Paul
said, that's what I'm looking for. I'm looking for that work
of God. I'm looking. There's an order
in this new creation. And Paul had his eye on it. He's
looking at what he's looking for. He's looking for that work
of God and the evidence of it.