If God Almighty has given you
life and faith in Christ Jesus, if God has saved you by His matchless
free grace, forgiven you of all sin, may you meet to be partaker
of the inheritance of the saints in light, no matter what your
present circumstance is. It is well with your soul. God give me grace ever to remember
that and rejoice in it. Let's turn today to Colossians
chapter one. I'll give you the title of my
message when I get done. While you're turning to this
first chapter of Colossians, let me give you a little bit
of background to this epistle. The letter to the church at Colossae
was written by the Apostle Paul when he was a prisoner at Rome. I don't know about you, but in
my mind, that gives it great significance for a man in prison,
in prison for preaching the gospel, to spend his days caring for
the souls of others to the extent that he wrote numerous epistles
to the churches while he was in prison. That gives this significant
importance. It was written by divine inspiration,
but written by a man who cared deeply for God's church, for
the souls of men, and the glory of our Redeemer. This epistle
was written about 30 years after the Lord Jesus died as our substitute
at Calvary. He wrote this epistle about the
same time as he wrote the books of Philippians and Ephesians. We're not told in scripture who
it was that first brought the gospel to these folks in this
area of Colossae, but Luke tells us that some years earlier, he
and Paul went through this region preaching the gospel. You can
read about it in Acts 16 and in Acts 28. While preaching in
the area, Many were converted by the grace of God among the
Gentiles and turned from their idols. They were religious people,
like your neighbors and mine, like your family and mine, religious
people, people devoted to religion, but their religion was pagan
idolatry. nothing but will worship, nothing
but works religion to the satisfying of the flesh. And when they heard
the gospel of God's grace, these folks believed God and turned
from their idols to worship and serve the living God. After Paul
had sown the seed of the gospel, Satan sowed his tares among the
wheat, tares which threatened to choke out the good seed of
the gospel. As it is now, so it was then,
and so it will be tomorrow. Wherever Paul preached the gospel
of God's free, sovereign grace in Christ Jesus, workmongers
quickly crept in to the churches, coming behind him preaching freewill
works religion. When the pastor of this church
at Colossae, Brother Epaphras, He is called in Philippians Epaphroditus. He's the same man. When he came
to visit Paul in Rome while he was in prison, he told Paul about
the faithfulness of God's saints at Colossae and of his great
concern for their souls. Concern because of the heretics
who sought to corrupt them from the gospel and turn them away
from the simplicity that's in Christ Jesus. These heretics
came in the name of Christ. I don't know why that seems surprising
to anyone. Heretics wouldn't be dangerous
if they told you they came from hell representing the devil.
They wouldn't be much trouble. They came in the name of Christ,
pretending to be the servants of Christ. But they were in reality,
as Paul tells us in the book of 1 Corinthians, messengers
of Satan. Judaizers came and tried to mix
law and grace, mingling Moses and Christ, teaching that works
somehow, after all, must play a part in religion. Hear me well. All Judaizers, past and present,
Mixing works and grace are heretics and would turn you away from
the simplicity that's in Christ. Others came and sought to corrupt
the gospel by mixing vain philosophy with the revelation of God. Teaching
for doctrine, the commandments, superstitions, and doctrines
of men. Some, even in this early age,
Taught the veneration. That's a pretty word for worship.
Taught the veneration, the worship of angels and saints. Taught
that we ought to pray to the angels and pray to the saints
as if they could do you some good. And taught for mortification,
the punishing of the flesh. They taught that in order to
mortify your souls, in order to humble yourselves before God,
you ought not eat pigs and you You ought not smoke tobacco and
you ought not drink wine and you ought not to have salt with
your beans and you know, the stupid things people come up
with. Torture your flesh and God will
smile at you. That's not what mortification
is about. Mortification is the humbling
of your soul before God. acknowledging your sin before
God, seeking mercy and grace in Christ alone. Still others
crept in among God's saints, teaching the proud Gnostic notion
that salvation is to be attained by knowledge, teaching that men
arrive at the knowledge of Christ and God's salvation by the things
they learn. I've told you this before, I
was 21, 22 years old. I looked a lot older. Everybody
thought I was a much older fellow. I won't get into that. But I
was born looking old and had a back set. And that's an advantage
if you start pastoring when you're 21 years old. It helps a little.
But I was preaching at a Bible conference in Charleston, West
Virginia, where Brother Bob McNeil was pastor. And a fellow preached
in front of me, and he was talking about his reformed, learned Calvinism. And he made this statement. I
can remember his words precisely. He said, in order to really be
a Calvinist, I don't care for the term, but that's what he
used, you've got to have some gray matter. You've got to be
smart. This, he was implying, is the
religion of the learned. And by the time he got that said,
I didn't hear anything else he said. And I got up after him. And I said this first, in order
to know God, his grace and his salvation, you've got to be a
sinner needing a substitute. There's a vast difference. Salvation
is not attained by learning. It is attained by faith in Christ
and that by the revelation and gift of God's free grace. and
still others came around, and they all preached righteousness. All religious folks teach righteousness. All of them do. When Mr. Romney was running for president,
say what you will about that, I held my nose and voted for
him, but I did hold my nose real tight. I found out that Mormons
have a righteousness of various kinds. was raised a Mormon, you
know they wear special underwear. Never allowed to take them off.
And it has to do with righteousness. Now we laugh at that. We laugh
at that. And you ought to laugh at it
if you don't cry. It's sad and hilarious for men,
brilliant, smart men, men who are learned, well-trained, educated,
think that by wearing a certain kind of underwear you can get
close to God. eating the bread and wine at
the Lord's table, or by being baptized, or by not going here,
or not watching that, or not going to a picture show, or having
a television, or having electricity in your home, or wearing britches
that button rather than britches that zip up, you can be righteous. What foolishness. What foolishness. You see, all religion teaches
righteousness. Some kind of righteousness for
you to perform. The papists have this idea that
if you are really a saint, you can actually be righteous enough
that some of your righteousness will count for somebody else. Works that just exceed what you
really need to get to heaven. All such religion is heresy. It's damning to your soul. It's
contrary to the gospel of God. It is another gospel, a false
gospel. Paul wrote this epistle to establish
God's saints in the faith, urging them to continue in the faith,
he says in verse 23, grounded and settled and be not moved
away from the hope of the gospel. With that, I come to you to bring
you the message Paul gives in this first chapter. Let's begin at chapter 1 and
verse 1. May God, the Holy Spirit, be
our teacher. As is common, Paul begins with
a very gracious salutation. And the salutations are very
important. When you find them in scripture,
if you're typing a letter on a computer and you use one of
those form letters, you have lots of salutations you can choose
from that just sounds good and looks good on the letter. You
do that in business, but not in the things of God and not
when you're writing to someone you care about. The salutation's
important. How you address them. How you
speak to them, about them, and your relationship with them.
Paul began saying, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will
of God, and Timotheus, Timothy, our brother. The apostle refers
to himself here as an apostle. Not the apostle, but an apostle. One among many, and there were
12 apostles, Judas, by divine purpose, being the son of perdition,
fell from the apostleship and perished. Peter and the fled
the folks in Acts chapter 2 to cast lots to roll some dice to
draw straws to see who would replace Judas in his apostleship
and they Chosen Apostle God didn't choose by the name of Bartimaeus
and we never brought Bartholomew and we never hear anything about
Bartholomew afterwards He was not the Apostle God had chosen
Paul is the apostle born out of due season, the apostle chosen
and ordained of God to be God's messenger to the Gentiles distinctly. And this man, Paul, though he
wrote the bulk of the New Testament, doesn't rank himself in any way
above all the other apostles. He's just one among many. Understand
this. In God's church and kingdom,
God's servants are co-laborers in the gospel. Co-laborers in
the gospel. Sometimes I go places to preach
because the pastor has asked me to come and he is having some
Difficulty and understanding of the gospel, but God's given
him some light and I go to preach there with a different attitude
Somewhat than I do going down to Sylacauga, Alabama to preach
brother Larry Larry is established in the gospel and if I go there
I go there specifically to help him in the labor God's given
him and to help that church with him in the cause of Christ we
are co-laborers in the gospel. I had the privilege of being
his pastor for 35 or 36 years, but we are co-laborers in the
gospel. That's not just true of all faithful
men. It is true of all God's people. Timothy was not an apostle. And yet Paul includes him in
this salutation because Paul wants, as it were, to take Timothy
by the hands that are... Brother Rene, I want you to meet
this man. He's a faithful man. He's a faithful laborer in the
cause of Christ. Yes, Timothy was a preacher,
but not an apostle. There were only 12. There are
no apostles today. They ceased when the last apostle
died, and all their signs and gifts ceased with them, so that
those who today pretend to have those miraculous signs of the
apostles, they're not apostles, and they don't have those signs.
They're just fakes. They're charlatans. They're religious hucksters seeking
to sell themselves and to sell themselves to you. But Paul takes
Timothy and says, I want you to know Timothy. I understand
he is a faithful man. He too is a faithful gospel preacher.
But that's not all. We together are co-laborers in
the gospel. I happen to be put here by God's
order as your pastor, being given gifts for the ministry to feed
you with knowledge and understanding. Not because of any superior abilities. I know full well I don't have
any. I'm fully aware and I do not
speak with a false modesty. I'm fully aware that most of
the folks to whom I preach here and elsewhere are much smarter
than I am. I'm fully aware of that. But
God's gifted me with understanding in the scriptures and to preach
the word of God to you as your pastor. That doesn't make me
bigger than you or more important than you. We, you, men and women,
my fellow laborers in the gospel are laborers together in the
cause of Christ. Let us ever understand that. I refuse to be called reverend
or doctor or any of the things, the titles that people have because
I don't want even the implication of any superiority. You call
me Brother Don, that's just fine, or Brother Fortner, that's just
fine, even Brother Pastor if you want to. But back yonder
is Brother Merle, and there's Brother Bobby, and there's Brother
Don, and we are equal in Christ, brethren in the kingdom of God.
Let us always understand that. Now notice what Paul says, I'm
an apostle by the will of God. by the will of God. Would to
God I could communicate this to every man who considers thoughts
of the ministry. If God doesn't put you in the
work, you can't do the work. I don't care how many titles
you've got. I don't care how well learned you are. I don't
care how well you're trained. I don't care what school you
graduate from. If God doesn't put you in the
work of the ministry, you can't do it. All you do is beat the
air. You may, you may fill the office
for 40 years and retire with a good pension. But all you do
is beat the air, nothing else. An apostle by the will of God. Look at verse two. To the saints
and faithful brethren in Christ, which are at Colossae. Grace
be unto you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now he tells us in the first
verse of chapter two that many of these folks had never seen
his face Yeah, I've never seen you. I don't know who you are
now All I know is that according to your pastor Epaphras You have
professed faith in Jesus Christ and taking you upon your professed
faith this I declare you are saints sanctified by God the Father
in eternal election, sanctified by God the Son in effectual redemption,
sanctified by God the Holy Spirit in the new birth. Saints, God's
holy ones. You, my brothers and sisters,
are God's saints. God's saints. Babies do not become
saints or angels when they die. And men do not get elevated to
sainthood after they've been dead for a day or two or year
two or a hundred years No, no. No you get to be saints when
god saves you by his grace He makes you holy giving you a holy
nature by his grace putting christ in you And god's saints all of
them are faithful faithful God's people are faithful they don't
count themselves such. We use the word very loosely.
We say, well, he's faithful to church. That means he comes regularly. Or he's faithful in business.
That means you can count on him in business. That's not how the
term's used here. Faithful means full of faith. Faithful means living by faith. Faithful means people who live
with God faithfully. And God's saints are faithful.
Faithful to God. Faithful to the gospel. Faithful
to one another. All of God's saints are faithful.
And they're brethren. Members of one family. With one
father. With one common inheritance.
with one elder brother, brethren in the family. Something special
about that, isn't there? Something special about that,
brethren. Brethren. Oh, my brethren. How sweet to
be with the family. This is my family. Remember how
Lord on one occasion was ministering to his family and his disciples
said your mother's looking for you He said behold my mother
and my father and my brother and my sister. I Have family
lives down in North Carolina, and I love them dearly. I love
them dearly But they're just blood kin They're just blood kids This is my family, forever. To the saints, God's chosen,
anointed ones, these faithful brethren at Colossae. Why are
they called saints? Why are they brethren? Why are
they faithful? They're in Christ. Now watch
this. Grace be unto you and peace. First grace, then peace. Believers,
brethren, seek that which is best for one another and truly
wish one another well. I have three sisters. One of
them had been upset with me for a long, long, long time. Have no contact really except
when we're compelled to by God's providence. And I'm sorry. Most
families have such. I'm very sorry. But there's nothing
under the sun I wouldn't do for her. Love her dearly. Love her dearly. Nothing I would do. I want nothing
but the best for her. Now hear me, my family. I want
nothing but the best for you. I want you to enjoy God's grace. All grace and peace. The peace that follows grace.
Grace saves us. Peace is knowing it. Grace is the root of every blessing. Peace is the flower that makes
life sweet and fragrant. Oh, God, give you grace and peace
through our Lord Jesus Christ. We give thanks to God, he says,
because of this grace and peace and faith and love and all things
pertaining to salvation. These are the gifts of God. Look
at verse five, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth
of the gospel, which is come unto you as it is in all the
world and bringeth forth fruit as it doth also in you since
the day you heard of it and knew the grace of God in truth. If I know the grace of God in
truth. It brings forth fruit in my life. I don't mean the kind of fruit
that men do. I used to hear folks say, well,
we can't look at a man's heart, but we can inspect the fruit.
No, you can't either. What you call fruits really just
tears. What you look at and say, that
ain't fruit. That ain't fruit. No, I'm talking
about faith and love and hope. Faith in God. love for the brethren,
and hope. We are created in Christ Jesus
unto good works. And if you read this book, just
read it once and look for what it teaches. Those good works
have absolutely nothing to do with what you put in your mouth,
what you put on your back, or what you put on your feet. Those
good works have nothing to do with the tone of your voice or
things that men can see. No, no, no. Those good works,
Alan, always have to do with love and kindness and forgiveness
and forbearance and gentleness with other people. Read the book. Read the book. So that those
Things that men call good works that make them severe and judgmental
and harsh are the very things that are contrary to faith and
love and hope. Faith toward God, love for the
brethren, to all the saints and hope, hope that frees us from
this world and enables us to live for eternity. Grace teaches
us. to honor our brethren, to cover
their faults. God, give me grace to bridle
my tongue and let no ear hear me speak an evil word about one
of your saints. How I pray you'll do that for
me and you. Grace extols the virtues of others. Grace forgives offenses. Grace helps. It offers a helping hand. It
picks up the fallen. It restores the brother overtaken
in a false. It did me good to read in these
opening verses how Paul speaks of Epaphras, and Epaphras speaks
of the church at Colossae. Paul speaks in glowing terms
about a path, this man who's a faithful minister of Christ
to you. Recommending him and commending him and and a pastor
spoke of God's saints and their faith and hope and love in glowing
terms to the apostles that he said the the saints of Colossi
I know I know you've never been to visit our congregation and
and I but I know you got some connection with them in years
gone by I've heard about your trip here with Luke and and how
how God blessed you and from the result of that God's raised
up this church and let me tell you let me tell you oh What a
blessing it is to be part of that family What a delight it
is to be part of that congregation. And Paul writes to them and says,
let me tell you how Paphras speaks of you. Let me tell you what
a faithful man he is to you. That's how grace teaches believers
to walk in love. Now, in verses 9 through 14,
the Apostle Paul here declares that our God has by the mighty
effectual operations of his grace Made everyone who believes on
the Son of God. Every chosen, redeemed, called
sinner. Everyone who trusts the Lord
Jesus Christ. Paul says, He has made you fit
for heaven. I never get over the wonder of
that. There you sit. Sometimes not
fit to live with yourself. That's true. Much less with anybody
else. Sometimes not fit for anybody's
company. But fit for heaven. Fit for heaven by God's free
grace. Fit for heaven by the work God's
done for you and in you in Christ Jesus. Look at verse 12. Giving
thanks unto the Father which hath made us meet The word is
fit or worthy to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints
in life. Oh, rejoice, my brother. Give
thanks, my sister. Sing praise to God. He's made
us fit for glory. Nothing will change when we leave
this world except the dropping of this flesh and the body of
the flesh. Nothing else. Now, let's go back
to verse nine. For this cause also. We also,
since the day we heard of it, do not cease to pray for you
and desire that you might be filled with the knowledge of
God's will and in all wisdom and spiritual understanding,
that you might walk worthy of the Lord and do all pleasing,
being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge
of God. Strengthen with all might according
to his glorious power unto all patience and long-suffering with
joyfulness Paul says since I heard heard
a path first speak of you. I I haven't been able to stop
praying for you I've been thinking about you ever since and he writes
this letter it is this what I desire from God for you that you might
be filled with the knowledge of his People often in religious circles,
Shelby and I were young folks in Bible college, everybody talked
about knowing the will of God. I can't tell you how many sermons
I heard when I was in college about knowing God's will. And what they meant by that is,
well, would the Lord have me to marry Shelby or marry somebody
else? Is it God's will for me to go
to China as a missionary or to go pastor First Baptist Church
in New York City? I want to know God's will. And
folks are serious. I was involved in it. That's
not what he's talking about. He's talking about knowing God's
will, knowing God's will, knowing his revealed will in the book,
knowing his providential will, knowing what God's doing, working
all things after the counsel of His own will, knowing His
purposed will, His will of divine predestination, being settled
with this full understanding. My Father has predestined all
that comes to pass, knowing His redemptive will, the accomplishment
of redemption and the salvation of His people. Paul prayed not
only that they might have knowledge of these things, but that they
might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and
spiritual understanding. Not just acknowledging the fact
of these things, but guided in wisdom by these things so that
the knowledge of God's will orders your path and orders your life. And the knowledge of God's will
gives you comfort and peace and joy as you walk in this world. That you might walk worthy of
the Lord unto all pleasing. Brother, that's just impossible.
That's just impossible. And yet Paul says, this is what
I pray for you. While you live in this world, you will not walk
worthy of the Lord and do all pleasing. But oh, what a goal
to set for your life. Walk by faith in Christ and seek
in the totality of your life to live as a man, as a woman
who believes God and loves Him. Not to show anybody anything. Not to not to let him as well. Oh, look at Brother Fortner.
He's such a dedicated man. He's such a fine preacher. He's
such a such a good man. No, no. He if there's ever anybody
that really lived for God, there was Don Fortner. God keep me
from desiring that. No, that's not it. That's not
it. What's he talking about? Walking
worthy of the Lord. Live for God. And I want to tell you something.
People can't see that in you. People cannot see that in you.
Your husband can't see it in you and your wife can't see it
in you, much less your neighbor. People cannot see that in you.
That's not something that's demonstrated. It's just something that is.
It's just something that's done. Now, I do urge you to behave
uprightly, but lost men behave as uprightly as you do, sometimes
better. I know men who have no knowledge
of God at all, who are much more patient than I am. Don't you?
That's what we're talking about. I know men who have no knowledge
of God at all, who are devoted to various things. They don't
have any knowledge of God. Oh, but that's Godliness. No,
no. I know folks. I know folks who have no knowledge
of God at all, who are very strict in their diet. Oh, man. Somebody,
a friend of mine said to me the other day, he said, this has
got no glutens in it. I said, what on earth is a gluten? But
I know folks who don't know God at all, who are very strict about
those things. Very strict about those things.
Oh, you're so, so disciplined. That's not Godliness, Lindsay.
That's not it. What is the walk worthy of God,
the Lord to all pleasing? It is to live by faith in Christ
for Christ and eternity. That's all. So I just want people
to see Jesus in me. But the Tim James said years
ago, people didn't see Jesus in Jesus. They sure ain't going
to see him in you. That's not what happened. All they see in
you is religious activity they approve of or disapprove of.
That ain't it. Children of God, oh children
of God, hear your pastor now. If you would live peaceably,
joyfully, with some measure of satisfaction in this world, live
for Christ. That's all. That's all. Being
fruitful in every good work. Strengthened, he says, with all
might, according to the glorious power, the glorious power of
God. How can a man do this? How can
men do this? Paul said, whatsoever state I
am, I've learned to be content. He said, I can, I can live with
much, not live with little. In fact, I can do all things
through Christ, which strengthens me. Now back to verse 12 again,
giving thanks unto the father, which has made us meet where
they fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in
light by nature. We're fit for hell. Grace has
made us fit for heaven so that we are in Christ who is made
of God and to us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.
In verses 13 and 14, he tells us how he did it. How is it he
made us fit for heaven? He delivered us from the power
of darkness. We walked according to the course
of this world, groping about in darkness like
blind men, with no light, stumbling here and there, stumbling into
this and that, like men who have no eyes and can't see. We were
groping in the darkness until God stepped in and caused the
light of the glory of God to shine in our hearts, giving the
light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus
Christ. He's translated us now into the
kingdom of his dear son, into the son of his love. And in that
knowledge of Christ, we have redemption through his blood,
even the forgiveness of sins. He delivered us from the power
of darkness, giving us new life in Christ. And this is how he's
made us fit for heathen. Christ redeemed us with his blood
by whom we have perfect righteousness. And Christ has come and taken
up residence in us, giving us a new nature so that now looking
to Christ, we're convinced of our sin and a perfect righteousness
in him. And judgment passed forever.
We're going to heaven. I'm on my way to heaven, David.
I'm on my way to heaven. And I keep praying that nothing
much here will get my attention. When I've been away from home,
of course, these days, Shelby travels with me, so home is wherever
I am. But when I've been away from home, I was away from my
wife and daughter. for a few days when I started home, generally
I didn't stop except just get gas and get some coffee and come
on home. I've many times driven 20, 25,
26 hours just right straight through. How come? I want to
get home. I want to get home. Did you see
this? I wasn't interested. I wasn't
even looking. I wasn't even looking. I was just going home. I was
just going home. Oh, God teach me to live in this
world that way. Having just mentioned God's great
grace and God's great salvation in Christ Jesus, Paul seems to
go off on a tangent. I sat down and read this chapter
again this morning, and if you could read the chapter in its
structure, it just reads almost like Paul's pen was on fire.
Let me say this, let me say this, and he just speaks gloriously
of our Redeemer. He was inspired by God the Holy
Spirit to extol, magnify, honor, and praise the Lord Jesus, our
all-glorious Savior, in verses 15 through 29. Now, I don't even
have any hope of expanding them. Let me just call your attention
to some highlights. Verse 15. Everything here is
he, he. I listened to Diane play that
piano and she plays so beautifully. And I noticed she plays with
both hands and all 10 fingers, just up and down the keyboard.
Even uses those things, I don't want pedals or four, but use
those things down there on the floor and plays that thing beautifully.
Paul played a more beautiful symphony than you ever heard
with just one chord. It was he. Just that little C. Christ crucified. Everything
in the rest of this chapter is talking about the Lord Jesus.
Listen to what it says. Who is the image of the invisible
God? Jesus Christ is God. The firstborn of every creature.
The beginning of the creation of God. Verse 16. For by Him
were all things created that are in heaven and that are in
earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions
or principalities or powers. All things were created by Him.
Everything created by Him. But don't miss the next words. And for Him. Everything created by Him. He
is the eternal creator of all things, and all things that are,
have been, and shall be, were created for Him. For his praise,
yes. For him to be a stage upon which
he works out the marvelous drama of redemption, yes. For him to
be tools by which he builds his kingdom and saves his people.
All things were created by him and for him. And he is before
all things. And by him all things consist. He is the eternal God Upholds
all things by the word of his power verse 18 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
He's the head of the church the beginning of all things the upholder
of all things And all of it that he might have the preeminence
in everything in covenant, in the scriptures, in heaven, in
the church, in preaching, in worship, in our hearts. In the
end, Christ shall have preeminence everywhere. Verse 19, for it
pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell, all
the fullness of God. all the fullness of grace, all
the fullness of glory, all the fullness of divine mercy. It's
in Christ. Verse 20. And having made peace
through the blood of his cross, not having tried to, having made
peace by him to reconcile all things to himself. God's pleased
giving Christ permanence everywhere. Had he made peace through the
blood of Christ to reconcile all things to himself by him
that is by Christ I say Whether they be things in earth or things
in heaven sooner or later Everything shall redound to his glory verse
21 and you That were sometime alienated in your mind by wicked
works and Not really alienated from God. That never was. Bill,
we were reconciled to God and his son from eternity. Reconciled
before we went astray. But we didn't know anything about
it. We lived like hell. We lived as rebels against God.
But he came by the power of his spirit and conquered our hearts
and turned us to the Savior. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power and by the power of his grace He reconciled
us to himself in Christ Jesus verse 21 verse 22 rather In the
body of his flesh through death. What's this? He's reconciled
us in himself in the body of his flesh through his death to
present you as holy and unblameable and unreprovable now it would be wonderful oh
it would be wonderful for me to live holy and unblameable
and unreprovable before Joseph all the days of my life I'd like
to do that but that would be easy compared to this, in his sight. The Lord Jesus
will present you soon, holy, unblameable, perfectly holy like God, not to be blamed for anything. Unreprovable. Not to be reproved
for anything. No, that's not it. David, not
worthy of blame for anything. Not worthy to be corrected or
reproved for anything. Oh, that's where we're going. That's what we live for. That's
the end. Verse 23. So here's a condition. If you
continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and be not moved
away from the hope of the gospel, which you've received, which
was preached to every creature, which is under heaven, where
have I, Paul, and made a minister? He says, now this is going to be your
end if you continue in the faith, if you persevere. He that endureth
to the end shall be saved. You gotta persevere. And that's
true. That's true. But I'll tell you
something about perseverance. We persevere in faith because
God perseveres in grace. We are preserved, and preserved
by grace, we persevere. Our security is not our hold
on God, but God's hold on us. Rex and I were talking about
our grandchildren. He's got one about to graduate
from high school. I got one three years to graduate from high school.
I remember when they were tiny little folks. And I used to torment
my daughter to death. I'd take all the grace and will
and take them by the hand and just swing them here and there
and swing them all around. And she, oh, it just tore me
and her to death. She's scared to death I was going to hurt
them, break an arm, pull it out of the socket, drop them. And
those kids would hold on to me with their little old heads,
would hardly, wouldn't even wrap around one of my fingers. They'd hold
with all their might, but they couldn't possibly have held on.
That wasn't their security. I was holding them in these hands.
And that was their security. And they never thought about
falling. Never thought about me dropping them. Never thought
that somehow something might happen and my grip might slip.
They never dreamed of such a thing. That's our security. I've given
to them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Neither can
any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave them
me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out
of my Father's hand. No man. Well, I recall years ago I heard
somebody say, well, that means nobody else can do it, but you
can pluck yourself out of his hand. Well, that would work, except
for one thing. I'm included in man. No man is able to pluck
them out of my father's hand. God's requirements are God's
gifts. He requires that we persevere
and assures us that we shall. Now watch this, verse 24. I'll
wrap this up quickly. who now rejoice in my sufferings
for you and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions
of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church.
Oh, what's lacking in the sufferings and afflictions of Christ? Nothing,
nothing. But the results aren't in yet.
Paul says, I'm giving myself being made of God, a preacher
of the gospel to the blessed work of the gospel. for the gathering
in of God's elect to fill up his body, the church, whereof
I am made a minister according to the dispensation of God, which
is given to me for you. It's this gift God's given me. It's for you to fulfill the word
of God. Even the mystery which hath been
hid from ages and generations, but is now made manifest to the
saints. Oh, what is that? Look at verse 27. Christ in you,
the hope of glory. This is eternal life. This is
salvation. Christ in you, the hope of glory. Verse 28, I'm laboring to this
end, that I may present you every man, every man in Christ, perfect
in Christ Jesus, whom we preach. Whereunto I also
labor, striving according to his working which worketh in
me mightily, mightily. I told you I'd give my title
when I got done. There was a couple from America visiting England
many, many years ago when C.H. Spurgeon pastored one part of
town at Metropolitan Tabernacle and down the road a little ways
a fellow by the name of Joseph Parker pastored. Both were well,
well-known men. considered a very academic, refined
theologian, commentator. Folks highly praised him. In the morning, the couple went
to hear Mr. Parker. And when they came out,
the man said to his wife, what a great preacher. That night,
they went to hear Mr. Spurgeon at the tabernacle. And
when they came out, the woman said to her husband, What a great
savior. That's my title. Oh, what a great
savior Jesus Christ is. May God make him yours this very
day. Amen. Brother David, if you don't mind,
David Coleman, come up here and sing Christ is all. Will you
do that for me? And you listen carefully. It's one of my favorite
hymns. This will be our benediction.
Christ is all.