It's difficult for us to realize
this in the light of the fact that it seems like every time
you turn around, somebody is coming up with some new notion
of what they think is new with regard to religion, God, grace,
salvation, such as that. And that makes it difficult to
realize. that within the first century after the death of our
Savior, within the first century, the first century, every heresy
that we currently have to deal with, every heresy, none accepted,
was prominent even in that first century. Within the first century,
there were those who professed to be believers. who professed
to be Christians, who professed to worship God, who denied that
Jesus Christ is indeed God. There were many who denied that
salvation is altogether the work of God's free grace, many who
denied God's absolute dominion as God. And the New Testament
epistles were written in great measure to give believing men
and women instruction in the faith of the gospel so that we
might be steadfast and unmovable in that faith. The book of Colossians
particularly was written for that purpose, not only to instruct
sinners in the way of faith, but also to instruct believing
sinners in the way of faith. In the first chapter, the Apostle
Paul writes by divine inspiration and teaches us something. And
it's just a great chapter. Great chapter. You're not going
to begin to grasp it all. But even with that said, he teaches
us just a little bit about the greatness and glory of Jesus
Christ, our God and Savior. You see, the whole fabric of
faith, the whole building of grace, the whole of divine revelation
stands or falls with the great glory of Jesus Christ as our
God, our Savior, our Redeemer, and our Lord. Then in chapter
2, the apostle takes up the matter of God's great grace bestowed
upon us in Christ Jesus. In chapter 3, he deals considerably
with the matter of faith in Christ, God's great gift of faith. And he continues that through
the end of the book in chapter 4. Faith in Christ is meaningless. Now listen to me, listen carefully.
Faith in Christ is, perhaps I should say would be, utterly meaningless. if the grace of Christ was not
infinitely full and effectual. And the grace of Christ would
be utterly meaningless if Jesus Christ was not himself indeed
God over all, blessed forever, and almighty, effectual Savior. With those things in mind, let's
look together today at Colossians chapter 2. Now, Paul tells us
in the opening verse that there were many in the region of Phrygia,
where the churches of Colossae and Laodicea were located, who
had never seen his face or heard his voice. And it seemed unlikely
now that they would. Paul was a prisoner in Rome.
He knew that his end was near. But this apostle, this messenger
of God, this preacher of the gospel, dearly loved God's people. He was more concerned that they
know the name of Christ than that they know his name. He was
more concerned for their souls than for any matter of earthly
concern to himself. And he's very concerned for their
spiritual welfare, for many had crept into the church who denied
the gospel, and with great subtlety, with great deceit, with great
cleverness, with great pretense, endeavored to turn the people
of God away from the simplicity that is in Christ Jesus. In verses
1 through 15, the apostle communicates his concern to these Colossian
believers and instructs them to be steadfast in the faith
of Christ. Now the instruction Paul gives
here is most applicable to you and me in this present day. Many
would turn us away from the simplicity that's in Christ. The simplicity
that's in Christ means two things, the singularity that's in Christ
and the simplicity that's in Christ. You see, in the faith
of the gospel, in true Christianity, the only thing that really matters
is Christ. And Christ, the gospel of God's
free grace in Christ, is presented in Holy Scripture with such simplicity. That the only way you can avoid
seeing what God teaches about His Son is to cover your eyes
and stop up your ears on purpose. It's not deep, profound, mysterious. It's not some secret that you
have to search out. This is not something that you
have to sit down and study in great detail. Now, study it by
all means. It's wonderful. It's majestic. It's glorious, but the message
of the gospel is utter simplicity, and we must not be turned from
it. You see, in these days, folks tell us that we must have more
than Christ. I can't tell you how many times
I've heard folks say, well, there's more to Christianity than Christ.
I wonder what more. There's more to the gospel than
Christ. There is. What might it be? They tell us
we must do more than simply trust Christ. We must experience more
than the mere grace of God in Christ. We must seek more than
the fullness that's in Christ. I'm concerned for you in these
days. Any doctrine, any doctrine, I
don't care who teaches it, any doctrine, that turns your eyes
away from Christ. Any doctrine that focuses your
mind and your attention upon yourself, your experience, your
doings, or anything else other than Christ is damning doctrine,
and it will take you to hell. Did you hear me? Well, what do you do with that
kind of doctrine? You ignore it. You leave it alone. Don't subject yourself or your
family to it. Stay away from it. Flee from
it like you would the plague. That doctrine that turns you
away from Christ will land your soul in hell. Now look with me
at verse 1. I would that you knew what great
conflict... The word is fear. care, concern
I have for you. Oh, how I wish you knew how concerned
I am for you." In the current religious philosophy,
not just current, it's always been this way, I recognize that
I am a poor excuse for a pastor. I'm not a religious tradesman.
I'm not a religious huckster. I'm not a nursemaid. I don't
try to be. I spend my life, I spend my life seeking. the message that your
soul needs from God right now. You understand that? I would that you knew what great
conflict, fear, care, concern I have for you. My concern is
that your hearts might be comforted. Comforted. Comfort ye, comfort
ye my people. The Word is strengthened, sustained,
soulless, being knit together in love and unto all riches,
watch this there, of the full assurance of understanding to
the acknowledgement of the mystery of God and, that is, both of
the Father and of Christ. I want you to know God. Oh, I want you to know the living
God as He is revealed in Jesus Christ, His Son. If you know
Christ, if you are in Christ by faith, all is well. Did you get that? If you know
Christ, if you're in Christ by faith, all is well. No matter what. But if you miss
Christ, nothing is well. Everything is ill. No matter
what. Verse 3. In Him, in Christ, are
hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Do you have any idea just how
profound a statement that is? You don't know anything right
unless you know Christ. All the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge are in Him. God Almighty has put all the
riches of His grace and glory all the treasures of divine wisdom,
all spiritual knowledge in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. So that if you look for mercy,
grace, righteousness, and life anywhere except in Christ. If
you look for peace, satisfaction, and strength anywhere except
in Christ. If you look for help for your
soul anywhere except in Christ, you'll never have it. Turn over
to 1 John 1, chapter 5. Hold your hands here in Colossians
2. I'll be right back. I want you to see two texts. 1 John 5. In the opening verse, John says,
He that believeth on the Son of God hath everlasting life. What a simple statement. Well,
but there's got to be more to it than that. No, that's it.
He that believeth on the Son of God. He that believeth that
Jesus is the Christ hath everlasting life. Look at verse 12. He that
hath the Son hath life. I don't have much, but I got
Him. What do you mean don't have much? I've got everything. He
that hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son of God
hath not life. Verse 20. We know. We know that the Son of God has
come and has given us an understanding that we may know Him that is
true. And we are in Him that is true, even in His Son, Jesus
Christ. This is the true God and eternal
life. Now, that's what Paul's talking
about back here in Colossians 1, 3. In Christ are hid all the
treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Look at verse 4. And this I say,
lest any man should beguile you. Beguile you, trick you, deceive
you, cast a spell on you, put you under a spell of witchcraft.
Lest any man should beguile you with enticing words. You see,
that which is false is always appealing to the flesh. That which is false is always
appealing to the flesh. It wouldn't have any influence
if it wasn't. And Satan, wherever Christ sows the gospel of his
grace, wherever he plants his word, Satan is sure to sow seeds
of error. His messengers never, never openly
deny Christ in salvation by grace. They wouldn't be that foolish.
Rather, they mix the work of Christ with the works of men.
They mix law and grace. They get you to look to Christ
with one eye and look to yourself with the other. They would have
you to trust Christ for grace and trust yourself for grace.
Trust Christ for salvation and trust yourself for salvation.
Now, they wouldn't quite put it in those words. Oh, no, no,
no, no. We're saved by grace and faith
in Christ alone. But it just stands for reason
your works count for something. That just stands for reason.
It just stands for reason that a man must look to his own experiences
for something. We know that Christ is salvation,
but you can't have any assurance unless you have experienced or
done or felt. Beguiling you with enticing words
of man's reason. If He can get you to look to
yourself, to trust your works, your experiences, your feelings,
your emotions, even your knowledge, if He can get you turned aside
from Christ for anything, even a little, He's won the day as
far as your soul is concerned, and you're going to perish. If any man be circumcised, Christ
shall profit him nothing. Nothing. That means, Bobby Estes,
if you and I endeavor to do anything by which to commend ourselves
to God, if we do anything to make ourselves accepted with
God, We've missed Christ altogether and fallen from grace. It's called
justification by works. Now look at verse 5. Though Paul
was absent from them physically, his heart was with these people,
God's people. Their orderly manner of life,
their orderly worship, their steadfastness in the faith of
Christ gave him great joy. These folks hadn't yet been turned
away from the hope of the gospel. And Paul was concerned to do
what he could to promote their continued steadfastness. His
instructions are simple, clear, but vital. Verse 6. A preacher,
how do we live in this world? How do I live for God's glory?
A few years ago, I was asking a
Bible conference, a preacher on the subject, living in grace. And I took this sixth verse from
my text. This is how you live. As ye have
therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. How did you first come to Christ?
How did you first receive him? What did you have to offer? What
did you bring to him? You had no experiences. You had
no feelings. You had no emotions. You had
no works. You had no goodness. You had
no worth. Preacher, I first came to Christ a bankrupt, naked,
helpless, cursed, condemned, doomed, damned, worthless worm,
slipping fast into hell with no hope but Him. That's how you
walk in Him. That's how you walk in Him. As
you receive Christ Jesus the Lord. So walk ye in Him. If you ever grow above a sinner
who needs God's mercy in Christ. If you ever grow above a sinner
whose only atonement for sin is the blood of Christ, if you
ever grow above a sinner whose only righteousness is Christ,
you have grown right out of God's kingdom. How do you live in this
world? Trust in Christ. That's all.
Continue living by that same faith. As a sinner, trust in
Christ. We don't begin with Him and then
go on to perfection and the strength of the flesh. But rather, we
begin in faith, we live in faith, we die in faith, looking to Christ. Only Christ. Trust in Christ.
Only Christ. From the gates of hell until
we've entered into the gates of glory. And there we continue
praising Him for His grace. Now look at the next verse. Verse
7, rooted, rooted, rooted. Some of you folks know what it
is to plant little saplings, little seedlings. Take them out. We planted them all over here
on this windy hill. But unless you can get them to
take root, you may as well throw them away as soon as you get
them. Stick them in the ground. I don't care how good the soil
is. I don't care how. how well you
water it, you've got to have them rooted. Rooted. Else there is no life. Rooted. And built up in Him. Established. Firmly fixed in the faith. There's only one. As you have
been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Like a tree
deeply rooted in the ground, faith takes hold of Christ, draws
all strength from Christ, all nourishment, all life from Christ,
and bears fruit by the constant supply of His grace. This building,
none of you can see it, but if you can see down underneath the
ground, there's a foundation. You know what a foundation looks
like? It's in exactly the same shape as this building. The building
is built on the foundation and is formed according to the foundation. And the believer is built on
the foundation rock, Christ Jesus the Lord, and is molded in the
image of Jesus Christ by the grace of God. Never look for
any source of comfort, any source of hope, any source of strength,
any source of assurance except faith in Christ. Look at verse
8. Beware lest any man spoil you
through philosophy or vain deceit after the tradition of men, after
the rudiments of the world. Now watch this. A man whose religion,
whose doctrine, whose message is built upon sustained, strengthened,
fortified in any way by human philosophy, be it religious or
otherwise, whose religion, whose doctrine, whose message is in
any way dependent upon deceit, tricking you into something,
whose religion, whose doctrine, whose message is in any way dependent
upon the traditions of men, no matter how noble the traditions
may be, whose religion, whose doctrine, whose message is dependent
upon the rudiments of the world, that is, the works of the law,
does not have that religion, that doctrine, that message which
is after Christ. You got that? Have you got that? What's the authority of what
you believe? You're holding it in your lap.
That's it. But what do the philosophers
say about that? I don't give a flip what they
say. But what do the church fathers say about that? I don't care
what they say or don't say. But what do our Baptist fathers
say about that? My Baptist fathers are not my
authority. This book is my authority. Nothing else. But what do the
historic creeds say? I don't care what they say. Don't
misunderstand me. I'm aware what they say. I read
them. I'm well aware. Sometimes I get
letters from folks. Sometimes even comments. And
you know, they think since I'm from North Carolina and they
live in Kentucky, I'm dumber than a box of rocks. I've never
read anything. I am aware. I just don't care. I just don't
care. What's he talking about here?
He's telling us that we must never allow anyone to bring us
in any way to subject our faith in Christ in any sense to traditions,
history, additions of men, or rudiments of the law. Now look
at verse 9. How come? Is that enough? Is it enough? to believe what
God says about His Son. Is it enough to trust Christ
alone for everything? Is it enough to worship God,
believing His Son? That's it. Is that enough? Let's see. For in Him dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Now, I tried my best to preach
on that. I don't know how many times. And every time I try to preach
on it or even comment on it, I feel like I'm going to just
confuse the issue. In Christ resides permanently
all that God is, the infinite, incomprehensible, triune God. All that He is. All that is. All that is. In Him resides permanently
all the fullness of God in a body. That man who assumed our nature
2,000 years ago, who lived in righteousness as our substitute
and died as our substitute under the curse of God's holy law,
being made sin for us, who rose again the third day, who's seated
now on the throne of God and makes intercession for us, is
able to save us because that man is God in human flesh. All that God is. Now look at
the next line. Is it enough to have Christ? Is it enough to trust Christ
alone? Is it enough to believe Christ? Can I with reasonable confidence
trust my soul to this God-man, the incarnate God, the main God
who sits in glory? Yes, I can. For you are complete
in Him, which is the head of all principality and power. That man, who is God, who sits
yonder on the throne of universal monarchy, listen to how he's
described. He's the head. He's the head. That means he's the boss. That
means he's in control. That means he's the one who calls
the shots. That means he's the one who gives direction. That
means he's the one whose orders are always followed. He's the
head of what? All. All principality and power, just
name what you will. Just name what you will. All
principality, all authority, all power, all strength, all
government, all rule, he's the head of it all. The Father has
given to the Son power over all flesh, and He exercises that
power with absolute dominion at all times, that He should
give eternal life to as many as the Father has given Him.
Now look at this next thing. And you're complete in Him. Complete in Him. complete in Him. Oh, God help you to believe on
His side. I never knew anything like completion
in my life. I've never really completed anything
in my life. Everything I've ever done, the
best I've ever done, when I got done with it, I should have. I wish. I've never completed
anything. But I want you to look here.
Look here. Look here. Right here. You're looking at
a man who lacks nothing. I'm complete. Because God made me complete. Can you get hold of that, David?
Complete. Complete. What on earth does
it mean to be complete in Christ? Well, to be in Christ means lots
of things. But in this passage before us,
this is what Paul's talking about. When he says you're in Christ,
he's saying, verse 11, you've been born again. That's what
circumcision is talking about. You've been born again. Circumcision
was the work made in the sons of Abraham, a sign given to Abraham
back in Genesis 17, by which God Almighty visibly and permanently
identified himself with Abraham's sons, and by which Abraham's
sons had sealed to them all the covenant that God made
with Abraham. Now, that's got nothing on this
earth to do with baptism. Nothing on this earth to do with
baptism. It's talking about the new birth. When a man born again,
God the Holy Spirit is given to him as the seal of the covenant
by which God Almighty pledges to this sinner, I am your God,
and seals to me all the blessings of covenant grace given me in
Christ before the world began. This circumcision implies faith
in him. Verse 12, he says, you were buried
with him in baptism. Wherein also you have risen with
him through the faith of the operation of God who has raised
him from the dead. Now, baptism is associated with
faith. What's he talking about? We are
buried with him in baptism. Thirty-five years ago, I took
my place in a watery grave. Buried. That means I died when
Christ died. I rose when Christ rose. I live
in hope of everlasting resurrection glory. I'm His. I'm His. Buried with Him in baptism, and
it's an act of faith. It's an act of faith. It's not
a mere ritual. No, no. It's an act of faith.
Follow my Lord and believers' baptism as a matter of obedience,
and hereby I confess my faith in Him. This is how believers
confess faith in Him. Baptism doesn't wash away sins
except symbolically. Baptism doesn't cause forgiveness.
When the apostle says, repent and be baptized, every one of
you, for the remission of sins, he's repent and be baptized because
of the remission of sins. Because it's done. How did Grace,
her granddaughter, brought her report card and showed it to
us a few weeks ago? She got these marks for these things. Now,
she didn't get the report card and get these marks in order
to achieve these things. She got these marks because of
these things. And when we confess Christ and
believe His baptism, it is not that we might obtain the forgiveness
of sins, but rather it is the declaration that our sins are
forgiven. And this is how it's done through
Jesus Christ, our substitute, with whom we died, were buried,
and rose again. And this faith It's not something
you conjure up by your imaginary free will. It's not something
the preacher talks you into. I was preaching one time years
ago. As a matter of fact, it was on Mother's Day. I just happened
to think about that. And this gal was in visiting
and I preached the gospel and she met me at the door. She was
just all upset and she said, She said, Brother Don, that was
a good sermon, but I don't understand. You didn't give anybody a chance
to get saved. I said, huh? You didn't give
anybody a chance to get saved. You didn't have an altar call.
You didn't give an invitation. I said, I forgot her name now,
just as well. I said, a couple of things you
need to understand. Salvation is not by chance. And
the altar is not down here. The altar is Christ Jesus the
Lord, and the only way you can get to him by faith. And the
invitation is the proclamation of the gospel. And she looked
at me like a calf looking at a new gate, didn't have any idea
what I was talking about. Faith is the gift of God. It
doesn't depend on telling stories and stirring illustrations. It
doesn't depend on singing the right verse at the right time.
It doesn't depend on psychologically massaging and maneuvering people
into making a profession of faith. Faith is the gift of the operation
of God by the power of God, the Holy Spirit, through the Word
that's preached to you. To be in Christ. Look at verse
13. To be in Christ is to be born again. It is to believe
on the Son of God, to be in Christ. is to be the object and recipient
of God's immutable saving grace in him. Verse 13. You being dead
in your sins, that's where he found us, and in the uncircumcision
of your flesh, in the filth of your flesh, hath he quickened,
made alive, together with Christ, Now this is what he says, when
he came to you, gave you life, gave you faith in Christ, having
forgiven you, not in order to forgive you, having forgiven
you all trespasses, watch this, blotting out the handwriting
of the ordinances that was against us. Which was contrary to us, would
have sent us to hell and took it out of the way. and having spoiled principalities
and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over
the minute. The Lord Jesus Christ took our
sins in his own body on the cursed tree, and he blotted out the
handwriting of the ordinances. That is to say, everything written
in the book of God's holy law against us, he blotted it out. He took away every offense. He took away every transgression.
He forgave you all your trespasses. And he made a display of his
power over all the hell, because he took the serpent, banded him
in his chain, and cast him into the pit. The Lord God has freely,
completely forgiven us, my brothers, my sisters, of all sins, past,
present, and future, through the blood and righteousness of
His Son. He has forgiven us in complete
accordance with His own holiness, having satisfied His own justice. And now, in Christ, He's raised
us up. I was dead. He gave me life. And you're complete in Him. Complete. This word complete means entire. Finished. Made full. Perfect. Lacking nothing. Essentially,
it's the very same word used in verse 9 where it says, In
Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. So that
as all the fullness of the eternal God is Christ. Now I'm not looking for words,
I just want you to listen. Oh, this is astounding grace.
As all the fullness of God, David Burge, is in Christ. All the fullness of Christ is
in you. It's yours. It's yours. If I am complete in Christ, that
means I have in Christ everything that God Almighty requires of
me. Of him are ye in Christ Jesus,
who of God has made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification,
and redemption, that according as it is written, he that glorieth,
let him glory in the Lord. The law of God required three
things of me. The law required complete satisfaction
for my sin. The law required Perfect righteousness. Perfect obedience. And the law
required a holy nature. That's what the law required. It shall be perfect to be accepted.
That which is without are liars and thieves and whoremongers
and anything that defiles. That means if there's anything,
anything, in me, about me, that might defile anything or anybody,
I take it to glory. I've got to have complete atonement,
which means my record must be expunged. My record not only
completely cleared, but perfect righteousness, so that I stand
before God having this laid to my account, that I have obeyed
God perfectly from start to finish, beginning to end. And I've got
to have a new nature. I've got to be holy. And I can't
do any of it. Neither can you. Christ did. He put away my sins. He made
me holy. And He came and gave me a new
nature, that holy thing that's born of God. What is it to be
complete in Christ? It means I have everything that
God requires of me. And it means I have everything
that God Almighty can give me. Everything. Everything. We can't do this. We can't, we
just can't do it. There's no way to make a comparison. I say to my daughter, give you
everything I've got, it's yours. When my wife and I got married,
I gave her everything I had. Little did she know how little
it was, but I gave her everything I had. Everything. And she still
got it. Well, not quite. Because I had
to give some to my daughter. Had to give a little to my son-in-law.
Got to give a little to the grandbabies. Give a little bit to you too.
Can't possibly give them everything. Can't possibly do it. But God's
not me. God Almighty has given to all
His children from all eternity in Jesus Christ everything that
God has to give. Everything. Blessed be the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as
He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before Him, in love, having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, wherein
He hath made us accepted in the Beloved. To be complete in Christ means
I have everything God can require of me. It means I have everything
that God can give me. And it means I have everything
I need for time and eternity, forever. It means that I have
in Christ all that's needed to carry me safely through this
world. and bring me into heavenly glory
no matter what. It is written, he giveth power
to the faint, and to them that have no might he increases strength. The Lord knows how to deliver
the godly out of temptation and to reserve the unjust into the
day of judgment. I don't know what may lie ahead.
I don't know. I don't know what temptations.
I may face. I don't know what trials I may
have to endure. I don't know what need may arise. But this I know. My God will
sustain me to endure the trial. He will give me grace to escape
the temptation. And He will give me everything
I need. I don't know how. I may fail
Him tomorrow, sin against Him today, or dishonor His name before
I'm done preaching this message. Fail Him I often do, but fail me He never shall. Never. He'll pray for me when
I'm tempted. He'll lift me up when I fall.
He'll plead for me when I sin. He'll preserve me and keep me
to the end. And He'll bring me to heaven
at last. And hell itself can't stop it,
or hinder it, or slow down the process. How can that be? How can you be sure of that?
Because He's promised it. This is what He says, I will
not turn away from them. to do them good. But I will put
my fear in their hearts that they shall not depart from me. Once more, give me attention
for just a couple of minutes and I'll wrap this up. Being complete in Christ, I shall
have everything I need to satisfy my heart and my soul in the world
to come. Turn to Proverbs 10, verse 24. Proverbs 10, verse 24. The fear of the wicked, it shall
come upon him. That which you fear, that which
terrifies your soul night and day, that which your conscience
screams in you in the lonely watches of the night when nobody
is here but you and God. that which strikes utter consternation
in the depths of your heart, that which shakes you to the
very fabric of your being, and you try with all your might to
cover up, that's going to come to pass. That's going to come
to pass. But the desire of the righteous
shall be granted. What do you desire?