Alright, let's take our Bibles
now and turn to the book of Colossians. We need to remember as we study
the epistles of the New Testament, that the promised Redeemer and
Messiah had already come, and in His coming had ushered in
a new age. It was nothing like the Old Testament
economy. It was not a priesthood, but
a spiritual priesthood. You are a royal priesthood, Peter
said. This priesthood was no longer
incorporated in the Levitical tribes, but this priesthood had
been fulfilled. And this new age had come in.
And the Jews themselves were no longer to be considered as
the children of God. but as they were a type and figure
of the children of God. And this Old Testament economy
had come to a close, and the days of the temple and priesthood
and ceremony of worship had all been fulfilled. Everything that
they were given for was made complete. And natural Israel
had been brought into light, and as the mystery of the Gentiles
was revealed, so the Israel of God now come into view. And this
is the subject here in Colossians chapter 1, as Paul moves through
these things, talking about our justification and so on. And
then down in verse 24 and 25, he begins to talk about these
things. This gospel age, and John the
Baptist, the last of the Old Testament prophets. And now began
the age of the apostles. And the apostles would finish
out the full canon of Scripture. And they were gifted accordingly.
They were gifted to ratify them or to show themselves as what
they were, as apostles of Christ. They were given gifts to raise
the dead. to speak in any known language,
wherever they were, whoever gathered there. They had gifts of discernment,
gifts of healing, gifts of tongues, all kinds of gifts. And these
gifts were given to them for the same reason God did miracles
through His Son on this earth, is to mark them out as His servants,
these apostles. And these apostles would finish
out the full canon of Scripture. They'd lay the foundation concerning
worship, New Testament worship, and the ordinances of baptism
and so on, and the assembly of the saints. So that when Paul
speaks of his ministry here in Colossians, he's not just talking
about his office as a preacher, but rather his office as an apostle. in the full scope of his ministry
as an apostle, which was given to him for them, he says. For them, according to the Word
of God. Now, in particular here, when
he says, according to the Word of God, he is talking about his
ministry as the apostle to the Gentiles. Up until this point,
this was a mystery. The Old Testament Jews never
dreamed of and would not have this new mystery that Paul and
Peter and these men were preaching about Gentiles being sons of
God. All through the Old Testament,
the Gentiles were considered sinners, aliens from the commonwealth
of Israel and so on. But God's Israel would be composed
of men and women called out of every nation, kindred, tribe,
and tongue under heaven. Now watch this here in verse
26. Even the mystery, which hath been hid from ages and generations,
but now is made manifest to His saints. So let's just talk about
this for a little bit. What is or who is the Israel
of God? God has an Israel. He has an
Israel. He tells us in the book of Romans
that of these Israelites, that these Israelites were those to
whom the promises were given and the covenants were made. Who serve as the fathers, the
prophets, the very prophets who wrote the Old Testament. And
all the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses,
Jeremiah, Isaiah, all these men in the Old Testament, every one
of them Jews. Every one of them Jews. So there is an Israel of God.
God made promises to Israel. But He tells us there in Romans,
He says, so what then? Is the Word of God made of none
effect? Because these Jews now, you claim Christ to be the Messiah,
you claim Christ to be the promised seed of Israel, and He's come
and the Jews are rejecting Him. So now is all these things made
of none effect? No, he said, because not everybody
that's in Israel is Israel. You see, this was a mystery. And this mystery was being made
known. It was given to the apostle Paul
in particular as the apostle to the Gentiles. This is one
of his main reasons for going out all over the world, is because
now God is going to reveal this mystery of who His true Israel
is. Turn with me to Matthew chapter
8. Let's look at a few passages here and let me show you something. Over in Matthew chapter 8, a
Roman centurion came to the Lord. A Gentile centurion. A Roman centurion. And he came
there to ask for mercy and help for his servant, which was more
than likely a Jew. And more than likely, how he
come to know who Christ was and how to come and seek Christ. And his servant was ill, and he came to the Lord
and beseeched Him for mercy concerning his servant. And the Lord commended
him and said, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. I haven't found anybody in Israel
who believes like this man believes. Now watch this. Matthew 8, verse
11. And I say unto you that many
shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with
Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the
children of the kingdom..." Who's that? That's the Jews. "...the
children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing
of teeth." And then here's another one over in Romans chapter 2.
Our Lord on many occasions pointed this out. to those Jews who hounded
him, that Sanhedrin and those Pharisees. Over in Matthew 2,
verse 28, he said, For he is not a Jew
which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is
outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew which is one inwardly. And circumcision is that of the
heart in the spirit Not in the letter, whose praise is not of
men, but of God. And then look with me again in
Romans chapter 9. Over here Paul makes intercession
for his kinsmen. I mentioned this to you a few
moments ago. His kinsmen according to the
flesh whom he calls Israelites. And he talks about all these
things, the service of God and all these things that were given
to Him, the priesthood and the tabernacle and the sacrifices
and all these things. And then he comes down here in
verse 6, and he said, Not as though the Word of God had taken
none effect, for they are not all Israel, which are of Israel. That is, of Jacob's sons. These are not all the sons of
God. Neither because they are the seed of Abraham are they
all children, but in Isaac shall thy seed be called." And Isaac
was the promised seed. He was the promised one. Verse 8, that is, they which
are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of
God. But the children of the promise
are counted for the seed. And then let me uncover another
big piece of this mystery over in Galatians chapter 3. We're
talking about the Israel of God. God's Israel. Israel was Jacob's name. He said, thou shalt no longer
be called Jacob, thou shalt be called Israel, a prince. He's
the prince of God. And Israelites are His sons. All through the Scriptures, He
calls them Israel. Just simply meaning that they
are sons of Jacob. A lot of times He calls them
sons of Jacob. Now watch this here in Galatians
chapter 3 and verse 16. Now to Abraham and his seed were
the promises made. He saith not, and to seeds as
of many, but as of one, and to thy seed which is Christ. That's the seed. But the natural
Jew, he took that when he talked about the seed, the promise given
to the seed, he took that as talking about all the physical
sons of Abraham. And so that's what they believed
and that's what they taught. And then if you'll just bear
with me, we'll look at another passage over here in Philippians
chapter 3. And in this chapter, Paul warns
them about the hierarchy of the Jews and these legalists who
were coming around in these congregations and insisting upon circumcision,
legalism. And he calls them dogs. He said,
beware of dogs and of evil workers. The concision, he calls them. That word means mutilators of
the flesh. And then he tells us here in
verse 6, For we are the circumcision which worship God in the Spirit,
and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the
flesh. We are the circumcision. We have
been circumcised, Paul said, with the circumcision not made
with hands. This circumcision is in the heart.
It's in the heart and not in the flesh. So the natural Jews
stood as both a picture of God's elect and at the same time a
picture of deceived religion and religionists who have an
empty profession and a form of godliness but deny the power
thereof. And all God's sons are born.
They're all born. John 1.13, not of blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor
the will of man, but of God." They are born of God. You weren't
willing when you were born. You didn't know anything about
your birth. None of those things apply to
you when you are born of God. It's not of the will of man.
It's not of the will of other men. And it's not of your will,
but of God. Now let's look at one more passage,
and I'll move on. Galatians chapter 6. Galatians
6, verse 15. For in Christ Jesus, all those
who were chosen in Him, put in Him, called to Him by faith,
all those in Christ Jesus, in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision
availeth anything. If you circumcise or if you're
not, it doesn't avail anything. Nor uncircumcision, but a new
creature. A new creation. That's what avails. And as many as walk according
to this rule, peace be on them and mercy, now listen, and upon
the Israel of God. This new creature, this new creation
in Christ Jesus is the Israel of God. And to Him is peace. To Him is peace. And to Him is
mercy. upon the Israel of God. So this
is the mystery Paul's talking about to the Colossians, a great
mystery, hid from ages and generations, but now manifested to his saints. Nobody else understands it. Our
government acts a lot of times with a bias toward Israel because
they still believe Israel to be the children of God. And other
nations, Egypt's one of them. God put His print so hard on
Egypt when He stepped on them back there under Pharaoh that
they still fear Israel. They talk bold every now and
then, but they still fear Israel. And a lot of the other nations
respect Israel because they have a bias believing them to be children
of God. But you're plainly told in the
Scripture that's not so. Are there sons of Jacob who are
included in God's election? Well, sure there is. Sure there
is. But Paul tells you over there
in Romans 11 what Paul said about that. He said they had been like
Sodom and Gomorrah except God had reserved a remnant for Himself
out of them. They had been just like Sodom
and Gomorrah. They had been gone. Now watch this here in Colossians
1 verse 27. To whom God would make known
what is the riches of the glory of this mystery, among the Gentiles,
which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." What does that mean,
Christ in you? What's he talking about? Christ
in you, the hope of glory. Paul wrote to the churches of
Galatia and he said, he travailed in his soul as a woman in birth
till Christ be formed in them. What's he talking about? Paul prayed for the Ephesians
that the Father of glory would give unto them the spirit of
wisdom and revelation and the knowledge of Him, the eyes of
their understanding being opened to know the hope of His calling.
Christ in you is a spiritual revelation. It's a spiritual
understanding. It's understanding who He is.
Why He came, what He did, and where He is. It's a perception,
a spiritual perception and understanding. And it's not just a mental one,
but it's an experiential one. And we as sinners come to know
Him as our Redeemer. We come to know Him as the revelation
of God. The revelation of God's glory
is in Christ. We see in Him that. We see those
attributes manifested in Him. especially those of His mercy
and grace. It's to know Christ as your Lord
and Savior both mentally and experientially. It's to see Him
as God has set Him forth in His Word. Creator, Lord, Sustainer
of the universe, Mediator, Savior, Redeemer of the Israel of God. As the substitute, the righteous
representative of His sheep, as the reigning victorious King
of glory. It's to know Him as He is. And to perceive that in your
heart. To understand that there's no righteousness except the righteousness
of Christ. There's no redemption except
by His blood, through His death, that atonement. Faith is about
knowing Christ. You remember last Sunday I preached
to you about coming to Christ. We come to Christ because that's
where life is. He that hath the Son hath life.
He that hath not the Son of God, whatever else he hath, he doesn't
have life. Now watch this, Colossians 1
verse 28, whom we preach, warning every man and teaching every
man in all wisdom that we may present every man perfect in
Christ Jesus. True preaching has a threefold
objective. First of all, I have a message
to every man, woman, and child, whoever they are, whatever they
know, who pass through that door or listen to me via the Internet
or ever how they hear. I have a message for them of
warning. Warning. That's what Paul said.
He's warning every man. We preach him, he said. Whom
we preach. warning every man. What is he
warning men about? He is warning men about their
false ideas and concepts about this Christ. He just went through
10 or 11 verses here telling you who this Christ is. He is
the reason and cause of creation. He is the Lord of glory. He is
the Redeemer. He is the Mediator of God. He
is God come into the flesh. He is the Living Word. He is
all in all. He's the Christ. And we warn
men about this. We warn men about these things.
I know what they preach because I've been out there. I've sat
under them. I've listened to them. I've been
a partaker with them of their idolatry. I know what it is they
teach. And salvation is not in coming
down an aisle. It's not in shaking somebody's
hand. It's not in making a decision. It's not in exercising your so-called
free will. Your will goes one direction.
Down. It all goes toward sin. It all
goes toward darkness. It all goes toward evil. So we warn men. We warn men about
this. That there's false prophets out
here. Where they at? Everywhere. On
every corner. Isn't that how Solomon pictured
them over there? Sure he did. On every corner. You know how
you can tell who they are? They've got the best house. The
biggest and the best house. That's what He says. And then secondly, we preach
Him, we warn men that Christ is the only way. There is no
other way. Christ in you is the hope of
glory. There is no other way. Jesus
spoke to Thomas. And to those other troubled disciples,
they said, well, we don't know where you're going, and how can
we know the way? He said, I am the way. Isn't
that what He said? There's just one way. And Christ
is the way. John 10, verse 1, He said, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, he that entereth not by the door into
the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way the same as a
thief and a robber. But he that entereth in by the
door is the shepherd of the sheep. The porter opens to him alone,
and his sheep hear his voice alone, and his sheep are called
out by name. And his sheep follow him, and
they're protected by him, and he giveth his life for the sheep.
And these are men in free will decisions that men are talked
into making is not just a bad doctrine or a misunderstanding
on their part. It's a wolf in sheep's clothing. That's what it is. And they're
out there to devour the sheep. False religion is not just men
and women with a little bit of error. They're vipers. Isn't
that what John the Baptist called them? Vipers. You handle a viper
long enough, you're going to get bit. You hang around them
long enough, you're going to get bit. Worldly religion is not just
a bunch of well-meaning folks with a bad understanding. They're
blind leaders of the blind. And the result of it is you both
wind up in the ditch. God the Holy Spirit uses the
worst of terms to describe these men. He calls them as a whole,
looking at them as a whole in the book of Revelation. He calls
them the great whore. That's a nasty term, isn't it,
for a preacher, for deacons, for priests. Our Lord said they're worse than
sodomites. That's what He said, isn't it? He said, your end will be worse
than those in Sodom and Gomorrah. He says they are unclean and
an abomination before Him. So we warn men and women to flee
these things. And then secondly, our ministry
is to call out the elect of God. I am looking for God's elect.
I don't expect every man that hears me to believe. I don't
expect every woman who hears me to believe. They say, well,
boy, that sounds good to me. No, I'm afraid I'm biased a little
in the other direction. I expect men to not believe.
And that's a horrible thing on my part, but that's been my experience. We teach every man, He said,
in all wisdom, showing to them the perfection of Christ and
hoping to present them all perfect in Him. And then thirdly, we
preach to enlightened saints, saints made meat by the Holy
Ghost. to be partakers of their heavenly
inheritance. We preach to them. Our Lord said
to Peter, He said, Peter, He said, do you love Me? He said,
Lord, thou knowest all things. You know I love you. He said,
feed My sheep. He asked Him that three times.
All three times He said, if you love Me, feed My sheep. We show
to them the mysteries, declaring to them the heavenly treasures,
setting before them the morning bread and the evening meat and
the water of life. To them, Paul said, it is given
to know the deep things of God. Isn't that what he said over
there in I Corinthians chapter 2? I have not seen nor ear heard,
neither have entered into the heart of man the things which
God hath prepared for them that love Him. But He hath revealed
them unto us by His Spirit, yea, even the deep things of God. given to them to know these things. And to them is revealed the will
of God, and the worship of God, and the way of God. Now look
here in Colossians 1 verse 29, Whereunto I also labor, striving
according to his working, not something that Paul could work
up, It's not something you can go back in a corner and get off
by yourself and get yourself all revved up. It don't work
that way. But He said, I labor striving
according to His working, which worketh in me mightily. These things are a revelation.
And I'm telling you, you can wear the pages of that Bible
out and come away empty. Come away empty. And yet you
can go in there sometimes and think you're empty, and God will
just fill your heart with wisdom. Because it comes by revelation.
By revelation. And all preachers called of God
work according as God works in them. And the mysteries of God
are revealed, and they cannot be known any other way. And whatever
wisdom we have is God-given, not self-achieved. And he alone
opens effectual doors and closes them when he sees fit. And when
he does, it's always manifested in his preachers. And this is
a little-known and misrepresented truth in our day. Gospel preaching
and gospel preachers are necessary means to an end. Why are they
necessary? Because God made them necessary. That's the only reason. No other
reason. God's sovereign. Why did God
choose a people before the foundation? He could accomplish the same
thing without doing that. Just in time, He could have regenerated
you and brought the gospel to you and did all those things.
Why did God choose a people? Because it pleased Him. It pleased
Him to do it that way. It pleased Him through the foolishness
of preaching to save them. It pleased Him. Our God does
what He pleases. David, where's your God? He's
in heaven. Well, who is he? He does what
he pleases. That's who he is. Who should I tell Pharaoh that
sent me, Moses said? God said, tell him I am. I am. And the great I am does what
he pleases. All of God's elect will hear
the gospel. They'll all be brought to repentance
and faith. And their faith will be sustained
that way and preserved that way. Preachers preach because God
ordained it. That's why they do it. And preachers
preach because they understand the necessity of it. And preachers
preach because that's how God's sheep are fed.