Let's turn to Colossians chapter
2. Colossians chapter 2. I would that you knew what great
conflict, what great care, what great burden I have for you and
for them at Laodicea and for as many as have not seen my face
in the flesh. This man who wrote this epistle,
this preacher, this apostle, carried in his heart, in his
soul, and in his mind a constant heavy burden. He expresses it
as the care of the churches. Faithful men do. Faithful men
do. I have recently said to someone,
I've forgotten who it was now, I have the blessed privilege
of really enjoying everything I am expected to do as a pastor. preacher. I enjoy studying. I enjoy writing. I enjoy visiting
with folks. I enjoy preaching the gospel.
I enjoy the sweet fellowship of God's saints. All of those
things I'm expected to do. I enjoy rejoicing with you. And there is a great sense in
which I even find satisfaction, perhaps joy is not the word,
in weeping with those who weep. It's a great privilege and having
your life so meshed with other people that they are part of
you and you're part of them. But it involves a care, a heavy,
heavy burden. For this congregation particularly,
I can't really speak from much experience because I've never
had any significant difficulty. in my family. I never had any
significant trial or heartache or trouble in my family, so I
can't speak from that experience. But I can honestly say that there
is nothing that weighs so heavily upon my heart and soul other
than my own relationship with God as the care of this assembly
and others where God is worshipped, the care of the churches. Paul
says, I want you to know what great care, what great burden
I have for you, for you and your brethren at Laodicea, for you
who have never seen me face to face. We're one in Christ, and
I have great care, constant concern for you. And this is the concern,
that their hearts might be comforted comforted Nothing gives comfort
to the heart Like the knowledge of God in Christ Jesus revealed
in the gospel That their hearts might be comforted being knit
together in love love to God love to the Savior and love to
one another and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding
You ever notice how often Paul speaks of that? How often the
scriptures speak of full assurance. Full assurance of faith. Full
assurance of understanding. Full assurance of the knowledge
of his will. Full assurance of hope. Paul
says, I want you to have this comfort. Full assurance of understanding. That is to the acknowledgement
of the mystery of God. The acknowledgement of the revelation
of the gospel. of God making us new creatures
in Christ, of God making His people scattered among all the
nations of the world, one with Christ the Lord, Christ living
in us and us in Him, and of the Father and of Christ. Now, perhaps
a better translation would be even of the Father, even of Christ. He's not suggesting that there's
a distinction between God and God the Father. and God the Son
in persons, but rather he's telling us that God, the Father, Christ,
I want you to know this mystery. In whom, that is in God, the
triune God, our Savior, particularly in Christ, our mediator, are
hid all the treasures, all the riches, everything worth having
of wisdom and knowledge. I want you to know him in whom
everything worth knowing and having is. I want you to know
him in whom are hid all the rich bounty of wisdom, wisdom and
knowledge. Wisdom to execute things exactly
as they ought to be. Knowledge, absolute knowledge
of all things. And this I say, lest any man
should beguile you with enticing words. As you are given this
blessed assurance of understanding in the wisdom and knowledge of
God, in the mystery of God, of his free grace, this will keep
you from being subject to the beguiling influences of Satan
and those who speak for him. For though I be absent in the
flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, always with you, always
with you, never out of my mind, never out of my heart, never
out of my care. I'm with you in the spirit, loving
and beholding your order and the steadfastness of your faith
in Christ. He's saying to these Colossians,
and I say to you, You are never out of my mind, never out of
my heart. You, your husbands, your wives,
your sons, your daughters, your children, your grandchildren,
never out of my heart, never out of my mind, always throughout
the day, every day with you in spirit, loving and beholding
your order. Your order in the faith of Christ. Your order, your behavior, your
conduct as the sons and daughters of God Almighty. As Epaphras
spoke to Paul about this church at Colossae, I can call on everyone
who knows me, so I speak of this assembly wherever I go with terms
of adoration, cherishing, Love for you and for that which God's
given us in this place. I've been around a good bit and
I visit a lot of places. God's given us something very
special and I cherish it. I hope you do. I know you do.
And the steadfastness, the steadfastness of your faith, unmoved from the
hope of the gospel. As you have therefore received
Christ Jesus, the Lord, So walk ye in Him. You continue to live
trusting the Lord Jesus, looking to Him for everything. What's
that mean? Rooted and built up in Him. Deeply rooted in Him. Built up
on that precious foundation stone and established in the faith.
Firmly fixed in the doctrine of Christ. firmly fixed in the
faith of the gospel. Paul says, I want you to know
the gospel and be firmly established in this doctrine. There are countless
doctrines everywhere, countless doctrines on all sides, and most
people Have no idea what they believe, and if they believe
anything with regard to spiritual things, it's apt to change tomorrow
with the newest thing that comes out in a book or on television,
with the newest trend of the age. Don't be beguiled by such
things, but be established in the faith. I don't think Brother
Ranieri will mind me telling you this. Shortly after he and
his family moved here, he came back to the office one night
and brought me a book and said, Brother Don, I want you to take
this and read it." And he had it marked. I forgot even what
it was about. You remember this. He said, this is horrible. This
is horrible. Look at this. And I said to him,
I said, Don, you're new here and you haven't learned this
yet. I don't read garbage. I just, I don't read the garbage.
I quit chasing rabbit trails a long time ago. I don't need
to know everything folks believe and everything folks teach unless
it concerns this congregation and our souls. I'm just not interested
in it. I only read that which is good
and profitable to my soul. Paul said, I want you established
in the doctrine. And the way you're established
in the doctrine is to read and study this book, to hear and
understand the word of the gospel of his grace. I come here and
preach to you. I don't often talk about other
things, cults and other heresies and so forth, except as they
directly affect you and the folks you associate with. Why? We don't
need to be distracted with them. Having your hearts and minds
established in the faith, in the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the gospel of God's free grace. Now watch this. As you have been
taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving, ever giving thanks
to God. Shelby and I went to bed last
night, late, very late. And as we laid in the bed, I
was getting ready for her to come to bed, she was washing
her face, and I flipped through the channels and happened upon
Mr. Swaggart, and give him credit, he can sing. He can sing. And then he started in his nonsense
and turned the television off, started to turn the lights off,
and Shelby said, we could have been there. We could have been there. Give thanks to God continually. You have not been beguiled by
such nonsense. Read on. Beware. Children of God, beware. Always
be on your guard. Lest any man spoil you through
philosophy and vain deceit. After the traditions of men.
After the traditions of men. The traditions of men are those
things that are commonly received by men from generation to generation
without validity, without foundation in the Word of God. How often
have you heard folks mention something as being gospel truth? And you think to yourself or
you say, where do they get that? Where do they get that? They
got it from their daddy. They got it from their mama.
They got it from their grandpa or they got it from their neighbor.
the traditions of men, not from the word of God. He says you
beware of being beguiled by philosophy and deceit after the traditions
of men, after the rudiments of the world. the elements of the
world. And he uses that word rudiment. Paul does throughout the New
Testament, referring to the carnal ordinances, the outward exercise
of legal religion, the carnal ordinances of the law, the carnal
ceremonies of religion. These are the rudiments of the
world and not after Christ, not after Christ. Now, here is the
solidity. Here is the firmness of the gospel. Here is the thing on which we
must be established. For in him, in Christ, dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. When you think of Christ,
rejoice to know that he is a man of like passions with yourself.
Touched with the feeling of our infirmities. And rejoice always
when you think of Christ. To know that He is God. Jesus Christ is God. And don't receive any doctrine,
any notion, any teaching that in any way diminishes or detracts
from absolute deity, absolute Godhead in that man, Christ Jesus. Anything that suggests weakness,
anything that suggests a lack of control, anything that suggests
a lack of sovereignty, anything that suggests failure, anything
that suggests that he's anything less than God, you walk away
from it. This is not true. In him dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And here is the other
thing by which we are established, established in the faith. Learn
this and you have learned all the revelation of God. I'm just waiting for you to take
it in. That's a mouthful. Learn this and you have learned
all the revelation of God. In Christ dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. That man Christ Jesus is God
and you are complete in him. You are complete in him. This is my subject. This is the
title of my message. This is my outline. Ye are complete
in him. The Spirit of God seems to have
but one object in giving this sweet sentence. His purpose is
to cause every believing soul to look to Jesus Christ, the
Lord, with the confident joy of faith, seeing clearly That
is all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in him. So all the fullness
of Christ is yours. And you are complete in him. As all the fullness of the Godhead
dwells in Christ. Is there anything God is that
is not in him? Is there anything about God that
is not in him? Is there anything that God possesses,
thinks, or does that is not in him? Nothing, preacher. In him
dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily and by God's
marvelous free grace. So this is declared. And you,
in exactly the same way, are complete in him, so that there
is nothing in him, nothing about him, nothing possessed by him,
nothing done by him that is not yours in him. Ye are complete in him. All right, let's look at this
text word by word. Ye. You who believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, All of you. The youngest and the oldest.
The most inexperienced and the most experienced. The weakest
and the strongest. The one that shines brightest
and the one that no one sees. Ye, every one of you, are complete
in him. You who were dead in trespasses
and in sins. You, who in time past walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air. You, who were by nature children
of wrath, even as others. You, who once were without Christ,
aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the
covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the
world. You who labor and toil and vex and perplex your hearts
continually because of the indwelling sin in you that you hate. You
who groan continually under a conscious sense of the body of sin and
death that's in you. You who are loved and chosen
of God in Christ. redeemed by his precious blood,
justified and sanctified by his grace, born again by his spirit,
robed in his righteousness, clothed with the garments of salvation,
you, all you who believe on the Son of God are complete in him. Now, the next word, are, are. Oh, that's sweet. The scriptures
plainly declare That God's elect had been complete in Christ from
eternity That's that's written in bold-faced letters in the
Word of God in Romans chapter 8 and Ephesians chapter 1 We
were complete in him Before God ever made the world complete
in him before ever we were stripped and emptied in our father Adam
complete in Christ from eternity And we look forward to that blessed
day as brother mark prayed just a little bit ago When we shall
be complete in christ in the perfection of regeneration I
love the way he stated that in the perfection of regeneration
that is in the resurrection glory when these bodies themselves
are regenerated from the grave and we're brought in the perfect
union of everlasting life in christ jesus in resurrection
glory What a blessed day that shall be when we shall see him
We shall be like it, for we shall see him as he is. Oh, sweet hope. But this text says indescribably
more. Paul is talking about the present
blessedness of every sinner who believes on the son of God. He
does not say you shall be complete someday when your faith is stronger,
when your love is more mature, when your works are better, when
you see more clearly. No, there are no conditions,
no qualifications for us to meet that we might be complete in
Christ. Paul says presently, right now, this moment, ye are
complete in him. Everything here is free grace,
unconditional, unqualified grace. The Spirit of God is not exhorting
us to be complete. He is not telling us how to be
complete or what we must do to make ourselves complete. No,
he states a fact. He affirms a reality of divine
revelation. He announces a work that's altogether
finished. A work to which nothing can be
added and nothing can be taken away because this is God's work. are complete in Him. Right now,
this moment, do not imagine, oh my soul, cease from thinking. Cease from the thought that there's
something lacking, that there's something missing, that there's
some deficiency that I must make up, something you must complete.
Paul is saying, know this and rejoice. You are full, complete,
and perfect in Christ. Being one with Him, in union
with Him, His firmness, His completion, His perfection is your firmness,
your completion, and your perfection. This is the glory of faith. Faith. All true saving faith. We use that word faith so commonly
these days. People talk about, well, he's
a man of faith. She's a woman of faith. He has
such great faith, such marvelous faith. Faith, as it's spoken
of in this book, that's the only kind of faith that makes any
difference. Faith looks to Christ alone and gives Christ the glory
alone for everything. Faith leaves all works behind. Faith leaves all that is personally
done behind. It finds all perfection in Christ
and works by love, not to get perfection by them, but to glorify
Christ in whom we are perfect and complete. And that which
is the glory of faith is the comfort and joy of faith. Oh, Paul says, I want you to
be comforted. I want you to be comforted. Here
is the comfort. Here is the joy of faith. Christ is everything. And all that Christ is, is mine. And I am in him. Now, look at
this next word. This third word I'm going to
spend a little time on. Complete. It's one of those words that
we use so commonly that we tend to overlook it simply because
we use it so often. But this word is bursting with
meaning. As it's used here, it describes
something about God's children that's accomplished for us without
our aid, without our assistance, something about which we are
totally passive. I don't mean to say we are passive
about it, really. Oh, no, no, no, no. You learn
it and you'll never be passive about it. It's the most exciting,
exhilarating, delighting, soul cheering thing in this world.
But we're passive all together in the accomplishment of it.
Our perfection, Rex, our completion, Our fullness in Christ is something
accomplished all together for us by Christ, not by our hands,
not by our efforts. We are passive in its accomplishment. But what does this word mean?
Complete. I had been warned since I was
just a young man that I carry things too far. I carry things
too far. When I was just a young man,
I was told frequently, you've grown to seed on sovereign grace.
And my response is, is how come somebody did? But I want you
to understand something. You cannot carry any declaration
of God in this book too far. You can't stretch it too far.
You can't go beyond what's said. That which God states in the
book, we rightly understand only when we have carried it to the
farthest extent of the words by which God declares gospel
truth. What does it mean when he says
complete in him? Let's turn back to some scripture.
Let's look at three or four passages. Turn to John chapter one. John
chapter 1 We will for the sake of time Limit our understanding
of this word complete to the way it is used in the book We
will carry it no further than God uses it in the book and we
will take it to mean nothing less than God Indicates by its
use in the book John chapter 1 verse 14 And the word was made flesh and
dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the father. Full. Merle, you know what the word
is? Complete. We beheld his glory, the glory
as of the only begotten of the father, complete with grace and
truth. How full is Christ of grace and
truth? He's completely full of it. He's
completely full of it. Read on. John bare witness of
him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I speak. He that
cometh after me is preferred before me, for he was before
me. And of his fullness. The word, Tom, is completeness.
Of his completeness. of his absolute completeness,
who is full of grace and truth, have we received grace heaped
on top of grace. First Corinthians chapter one,
first Corinthians chapter one, chapter 10, rather first Corinthians
chapter 10, look at verse 28. First Corinthians 10, 28. If
any man say unto you, this is offered in sacrifice unto idols,
eat not for his sake that showed it. Somebody that takes something
and shows it to you, this is offered in sacrifice to idols.
What they're doing is trying to see if you will comply with
their idolatrous religion. Paul says, don't eat of it for
his sake and for conscience sake. Now watch this. For the earth
is the Lord's. There's that word again, David,
and the fullness. the full, the completeness thereof. What part of this earth belongs
to God? A preacher, all of it does. That's
the idea. That's the idea. All right. Look
at Ephesians chapter one, Ephesians one. The first time I read this text
and had some understanding of its meaning, I thought this is
impossible. I just, this just can't be. And I wouldn't dare believe it.
God hadn't stated it in his word Ephesians chapter 1 verse 22
God has put all things under Christ's feet and Gave him to
be the head over all things to the church The church what's
that? That's his body. He would make
all God's elect which is the Completeness the completeness of his body,
the completeness of his body. I know a good many folks around
the world who have lost limbs, some just a little finger, some
like by the puncher about always here, a lost leg. I've got lost
limbs. Their bodies are no longer complete. They've lost members of their
body. which they will never have again
until the resurrection day. Their bodies are incomplete.
If the Lord Jesus should lose nothing but me, just the tip
end of his little toe, then he's not complete. You who are God's elect, you
who are chosen, called, blessed, saved by God Almighty, you are
the fullness of Jesus Christ. The fullness of Him. As a mediator,
as our surety, as the Christ of God, He can not be complete
if even one member of His body is missing. You are the completion
of him the firmness of him to watch this That completes Of
him that feels everything Christ Jesus feels all things everywhere. He he's the fullness of everything
and in that same sense you are complete in him now look back
at Colossians chapter 2 Colossians 2. Look at the sentence just before
our text. For in him dwelleth all the fullness,
all the completion of the Godhead bodily. All that God is. in the triune, infinite being
of God. The incomprehensible God. God in whom we live. God the infinite. God who cannot be measured. God who cannot be comprehended. All that God is, is in Him who
sits on the throne who redeemed us. That's the word, complete. So you are complete in Him. So obviously when the Spirit
of God says you're complete in Him, the word means a good many
things. First, it means complete. Without
limit, without condition, without qualification. of any kind. Whatever we are in Christ, we
are completely. Whatever we have in Christ, we
have completely. In all matters concerning our
spiritual welfare, in all things regarding our soul salvation,
we are complete in Christ Jesus. Complete without any supplement
of any kind. This is precisely what the Apostle
is dealing with in this passage. Back up to verse 6, Colossians
2, 6. He says, As you therefore have
received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him, rooted and
built up in him, established in the faith, as you have been
taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any
man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit as if something
is missing as If something is lacking that you must make up
Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit
after the traditions of me and after the rudiments of the world
and not after Christ For in him dwelleth all the fullness of
the Godhead bodily and ye are complete in him Now listen carefully. I've written this out, bold-faced
it, and underlined it twice. Nothing can be added to faith
in Christ without making the thing added, the object of faith. Not your knowledge, not your
experience, not your works. Nothing can be added to faith
in Christ without making the thing added the object of faith. You ask people their hope. What's the basis of their hope?
And. Almost immediately. Almost immediately, they will
betray the falseness of their faith. Unless they speak with
guarded tongue. They'll say, well, I believe
in Christ and I remember what happened. The end became the
object. I believe in Christ and I've
been baptized. The end became the object. I
believe in Christ and I know that a change took place. The
end became the object. I believe in Christ. It had been
no day like that. The end is the object of faith. What's your basis of hope? I
believe Christ. That's all. That's all. As you
therefore have received Christ Jesus, the Lord, so walk ye in
him. Nothing can be added to the gospel
of Christ. Nothing can be added to the gospel
of Christ without making it another gospel. Those who seek to improve
the gospel only efface it. One of the greatest evils of
our day is the attempt of men to rationalize God's revelation
of himself, thereby obscuring the simplicity of faith in Christ. We know whom we had believed,
and we are complete in him. Oh, my soul rejoice in this. Be ashamed, my heart, of every
reluctance to believe what God states in His Word. Blush, O my soul, to be reluctant
to believe what God declares. Let our admiration be fixed upon
this delightful privilege. Arise, my brother. Arise, my
sister. Shake off all fears and doubts
by which Satan would bind you. And behold yourself as God declares
you to be. Complete in Christ. Complete
in Christ. Don't let your sins shake you
from your faith in Him. Don't let your sins or even your
unbelief cause you to question His all-sufficiency and His all-sufficient
grace. You are with all your depravity
and sin, with all your feebleness, forgetfulness, frailty, fearfulness,
and fickleness in yourself. Complete in Him. Look on your
nothingness and be humbled. But don't let your realization
of your nothingness in any way eclipse this reality. Ye are
complete in Him. You remember Happy Jack's little
song? I am a poor sinner and nothing
at all. but Jesus Christ is my all in
all. Second, this word complete means
fully supplied. Having Christ, we have all that
we can possibly need. Having Christ, we have all that
we can possibly need, all righteousness, All forgiveness, all pardon,
all acceptance, all justification, all sanctification, all salvation. Having Christ, we have all that
we could possibly need. All the blessings of grace, all
the blessings of providence, all the blessings of eternity.
Having Christ, we have all that we could possibly need. And should
the question ever be raised, as our Lord raised it with his
disciples, let ye anything that our hearts respond immediately
with joyful confidence, nothing, Lord. Nothing, Lord. What does God require? What does
God require? That's what we have in Christ.
What does God give? What can God, what a question,
what can God bestow upon you? That's what you have in Christ
Jesus. All fullness, all completion,
full of supply. What an infinite, boundless storehouse
of mercy there is in Christ. A storehouse of mercy that is
completely undiminishable. Now I suspect that's a word I
just coined. I doubt you'll find it in a dictionary,
but I couldn't think of another way to express it. Undiminishable
fullness. So that we draw from His fullness. Constantly draw from His fullness. Every day, every hour, every
moment, every second, we draw from His fullness. Oh, I've been
drawing from His fullness. Living upon His fullness continually
all these years. And you too. And all God's elect,
through all time, drawing from His fullness. And there's still
just as much fullness in him as if nobody had drawn anything.
Undiminishable fullness. You remember that barrel of meal
that just continually was supplied by God's miracle? And that poor
woman went and got the meal. And you know when she quit getting
any meal? When she quit going to the barrel.
That's all. It was full. So we are fully
supplied in Christ Jesus. And I haven't begun to expand
the text. The word complete not only means
fully supplied, it means filled. Do you know what it is to be
empty before God? To be empty in your soul, to be empty in your heart, to
be empty, empty, empty, nothing, nothing to refresh, nothing to
satisfy, Nothing to quench your thirst. Nothing to quench your
hunger. Empty. Empty. And you tried every way under
the sun to get full. Some men try it with business. Others try it with a bottle.
Others try it with a needle. Some folks try it with learning
and education. Many folks try it with religious
experience and they dabble in this thing or that. They run
to the papist and then run to the witchcraft and then run to
the workmonger and then run to some Hindu philosophy and you
try for some fullness. And nothing fills. You come away
just as empty as before. But Christ is fullness. Fullness so that having Christ
you want nothing else Having Christ you want nothing
else filled with him as Waters cover the sea the grace of God
and the fullness of Christ floods our souls Where there was once nothing
but sorrow, now there's fullness of joy. Where there was once
nothing but terror, now there's fullness of peace. Where there
was once nothing but emptiness, now there's fullness. Where there
was once nothing but frustration, disappointment, and pain, now
there are pleasures forevermore. Whether John Davis and Rocky
Mount Last time he was here, sang this song for us. Complete
in thee, no work of mine can take, dear Lord, the place of
thine. Thy blood hath pardon bought
for me, and I am now complete in thee. Complete in thee, though
this I own, I am a sinful wretch undone. Yet by thy blood and
grace so free, I am complete, complete in thee. Complete in
thee each want supplied and no good thing to me denied Since
thou by person Lord will be I ask no more Complete in thee dear
Savior when before thy bar all tribes and tongues assembled
are Among thy chosen I shall be at thy right hand complete
in thee Now look at the last two words inhale This completion is in him. By virtue of our union with him,
not in our experiences, not in our knowledge, not in the church,
not in our devotion, not even in our faith, but in him. By virtue of our union with him,
one with Christ from everlasting. Joseph Irons, the old English
preacher, once made this statement. I am as sure as I am of my own
existence that wherever God the Holy Spirit awakens the poor
sinner by his mighty grace and impart spiritual life in his
heart, nothing will ever satisfy that poor sinner, but a believing
assurance of eternal union with Christ. Unless the soul obtains
a sweet and satisfactory consciousness of it in the exercise of living
faith, it will never enter into rest this side of eternity. Because I am one with Christ,
because you, my brother, because you, my sister, are one with
Christ, Ye are complete in Him. Complete in Him. No condition
out of heaven itself can be more blessed than that which is produced
by a God-given assurance of our eternal, everlasting union with
Christ, one with Him. So that as he is and what he is in all his being
as the God man, our mediator. See him yonder on the throne. That's what we are in him. Oh, wondrous, wondrous, wondrous
grace. Amen.