Job asked this question one time. He said, if a man die, shall
he live again? If a man die, shall he live again? And he continued. He said, there's
hope for a tree. If you cut a tree down, there's
hope that it will sprout again. When the root or the stump looks
like there's no life in it at all, the tree's been cut down.
Yet if water gets to the root, it may grow again. But he goes
on and he says, but when man dies, he wastes away. He goes back to the dust. Life
is gone. Will he? Can he live again? If a man dies, will he live again? Well, the Word of God plainly
teaches that we will live again. Listen to some of these scriptures.
Isaiah 26, 19. Isaiah said, The dead shall live. The dead shall live. Together
with my dead body shall they arise. Daniel, Daniel chapter
12, says, Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall
awake, some to everlasting life, and some to everlasting shame
and contempt. In the book of Acts, the apostles
said, there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just
and the unjust. So the Bible says that man will
live again. And then when our Lord Jesus
Christ was walking on this earth, he raised three people from the
dead. He raised Lazarus, who had been
dead several days. He raised Jairus' daughter, And
he raised the widow's son. And then, of course, Christ himself
arose from the tomb. When the disciples went, or the
women went, that morning to anoint the body of Christ, they were
met at the open tomb by an angel who said, Why seek ye the living
among the dead? He's not here. He's not here. He's risen. And if Christ, Paul
said, if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say
some among you there is no resurrection of the dead? But I say unto you,
if Christ be not raised, then the dead rise not. If Christ
be not raised, our preaching is vain, and your faith is vain. And we're false witnesses of
God, and those who've perished trusting in Christ will never
live again. But Christ is raised. I know,
I'm certain, I'm positive that we shall live again. We don't
die like animals. We're going to live again. The
scripture says that God breathed into man the breath of life and
he became a living soul. Now the body gets disease and
the body dies and the body goes back to the dust from which it
came, but the soul goes back to God who gave it. God made
man from the dust of the earth. and he breathed into that shell
or body or whatever you want to call it, the breath of life,
and man became a living soul. And he's going to continue to
be a living soul. His body may die and be buried,
but his soul goes back to God who gave it. And the resurrection
of the dead is no problem with me at all. That is not the problem. That's not what I'm discussing
this morning. I believe the dead shall rise. I think most of you
do. But what concerns me in this hour is this, what will be my
state in the day of resurrection? What will be my state? What is
my hope of having part in that first resurrection? That's what
I'm interested in. Paul said that. He said that
if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the
dead, I want to be raised. And I want to be raised in His
likeness. And I want to be raised to His
glory. And I want to spend eternity
in His presence, not separated eternally from God. Do I have
a good hope? I'm talking to myself, and I
hope you're asking yourself. Examine yourselves, whether you
be in the faith. Give diligence to make your calling
and election sure. The resurrection doesn't concern
me. My part in the resurrection concerns
me. I believe the dead shall be raised.
I believe the dead shall live. I believe, like Isaiah and Daniel
and Amos and all the rest of them, that there's going to be
a day of resurrection, that the sea will give up the dead and
death and hell will deliver up the dead and all men shall live
again. But I want to have a blessed hope of being raised in his likeness. I want to know that he's going
to change my vile body into the likeness of his glorious body.
Now, really, in all honesty, Is not that the goal of all religion? Whatever the religion is, is
not that the goal of all religion? To live forever in happiness
and eternal glory. Is that not the goal of all religion?
And then tell me honestly, is not that the end of all faith?
Isn't that why we believe? I know we believe God and we
believe Christ, but life after death, is that not why we believe
free from disease and free from pain and free from death and
free from darkness and free from separation? Is that not the end
of faith, the salvation of our souls? That's what Paul said,
receiving the end of your faith or the goal of your faith, the
salvation of your soul. I'll admit it freely, in honesty,
that's the end of faith. I want to attain, if possible,
the resurrection of the dead. I want, if possible, to be like
Christ. I want, if possible, to live
forever in His presence. I want, if possible, to be a
joint heir with the Son of God, if at all possible. Is not that
the reason for searching the Scriptures? Is that not why we
read the Bible and preach the Gospel in order to lay hold on
eternal life? Isn't that what Paul said two
or three times in his writings to Timothy? Lay hold. Lay hold
of eternal life. Lay hold of eternal life. Don't
let go of eternal life. Is not that your reason for listening
to this program this morning? It's probably something more
entertaining, I'm sure. But is that not your reason for
listening? If we died like animals, if we
ceased to exist, would there be really any point to life at
all? Now, be honest with me. Would
there be any use even continuing without any hope of eternal life. Would there be any use? Why not
put a gun to your head and end it all if there's not any hope
of life eternal? If only in this life we have
hope. Paul said, we're of all men most
miserable. I'm interested in that. Well,
where can we find some answers? I want some answers. I want some
for myself. I want some for the church of
which I'm pastor, I want some for you who listen to this telecast,
I want some answers. Where shall I look for light,
hope, help, assurance? Where shall I look? The answer
comes back, look to God. Look to God. God is the source
of light. God is life, light. In Him there's
no darkness or death. All right, look to God. But how
shall I look to God? Where shall I find God? Well,
you say, the heavens declare the glory of God. I know the
heavens declare His glory, but not His grace. Well, you say,
look to God. The firmament shows His handiwork.
I know that, but not His redemptive work. When I look at the firmament,
when I look at the earth, when I look at all things around,
I see the marks of death, not life. I see what I see in myself,
a dying person. I see dying trees and dying flowers
and dying people. Well, God is understood by the
things that are made. I know that, true, His eternal
power and Godhead, but not His saving mercy and covenant grace.
I got to look somewhere else. Where shall I find the answer?
You say, look to God. All right, I'll look to God,
but where am I going to find God? I'll tell you where to find
God. There's no other place to find
God, and that is in His Word. In His Word, you'll find the
answer to every question regarding life, judgment, death, eternity. You'll find the answer to every
question regarding redemption, righteousness, and resurrection.
You'll find the answer to every question concerning salvation,
security, and sanctification. It's all right there in His Word.
And I'm telling you this, that's the only certain place. That's
the only sure place. That's the only infallible source.
Any other source, voices, visions, or dreams, feelings, emotions,
or sentiment, even people, preachers and teachers, will deceive you.
God won't deceive anybody. He has no reason to. It's not
in His character to deceive. He said, I am the Lord. I change
not. I am the Lord. He's holy, the same yesterday,
today, and forever. He never changes. And the prophet
said in Isaiah 8, 19, direct the people to the Word of God.
Direct the people to the Word of God. Where shall people go
to find their God? Shall they go to wizards at Pete?
Shall they go to fortune tellers? Shall they go to those who read
the mind and the palm? Direct them to the Word of God.
And if the preacher who's preaching is not preaching in accordance
with the Word, listen, Isaiah 8.20, it's because there's no
light in him, no dawn and no morning. The rich man in hell. Our Lord said he lifted his eyes
and he cried, Father Abraham, send Lazarus to the earth to
warn my brothers lest they come to this terrible place. And Abraham
said to him, on the authority of the master, they have Moses
and the prophets, they have the Word of God, let them hear the
Word of God. Oh, but he said, Father Abraham,
they won't hear the Word of God, but if someone arose from the
grave and appeared on earth, they'd repent, they'd hear. And
Abraham said, if they hear not the Word of God, they will never
be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. Lazarus was raised
from the dead. I don't read of any great revival
taking place in Bethany, where he lived. Jairus' daughter was
raised from the dead. I don't hear of any great revival
in Capernaum, where she lived. The widow's son was raised from
the dead, but I don't read of any great revival taking place
there in the funeral procession as they pass down the road to
bury a man who wasn't dead. Our Lord arose from the grave,
and the very men who had cried for his death paid the soldiers
to lie and say that he was not raised. To the Word of God. Direct the people to the Word
of God. That's where we'll find some answers. My friends, if
we would have a hope, A good hope, a true hope, a sure hope
of eternal life, we must go to the Word of God. This is where
it's found. I go to Colossians 1.27. If you
have your Bible, turn over there. This is Paul's subject, a hope.
A good hope. What is your hope? That's the
title of this message. What is your hope? What is your
hope? And Paul says this, listen, Colossians
1.27, Christ in you. That's the hope of glory. This
is the hope of glory. There is no other hope. Other
foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, Christ the
Lord. There's none other name under heaven given among men
whereby we must be saved. This is our hope. Christ is our
hope. This was Job's hope. Job is said to be the oldest
book in the Bible. I don't know. But Job said this,
those many, many years ago, I know that my Redeemer liveth. And
he shall stand in the latter days upon this earth, and I shall
see him. Myself not another these eyes
the worms destroy this body. I'm going to see my Redeemer
That's my hope a person and this was David's hope. He said the
Lord is my shepherd Yea, though I walk through the valley of
the shadow of death. I'll fear no evil He's with me his rod
and staff comfort me He prepares the table before me in the presence
of mine enemies my cup runneth over Surely goodness and mercy
shall follow me all the days of my life and I'll dwell in
the house of the Lord Forever. Forever. The Lord is my shepherd. This was Simeon's hope when he
held a child, Jesus, in his arms there in the temple in Jerusalem.
He lifted his eyes to heaven and he said, Lord, now let us,
thy servant, depart in peace. These eyes have seen your salvation. Christ, that's the hope of glory. This was John's hope. He said,
when he shall appear, we shall be like him. Beloved, what hope,
what love that we should be called the sons of God. It does not
yet appear what we shall be, but when He shall appear, when
He, our hope, Christ, we shall be like Him. And he that hath
this hope in him purifieth himself." This was Paul's hope. My text
says in Colossians 127, "...to whom God would make known what
is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles,
which is, Christ in you, the hope of glory. Now, if you have
the time, I wish you'd take it. If you have the interest, I hope
that you do. If you have the patience, we'll
carefully weigh these words in our text, and we'll see if we
can find out what Paul's talking about. Paul spoke with such confidence.
He spoke with such assurance. He spoke with such strong dogmatism. Christ in you, the hope of glory. Let's see if we can find out
what he's saying. First of all, he says the hope of glory is
Christ. It's not a religious profession.
It's not the law. It's not my good work. It's not
human merit. It's Christ. He is the hope of
glory. Now, let's go back a few verses.
Take your Bible, Colossians chapter 1. Just back up a few verses
while Paul identifies this person, Jesus Christ. We don't want to
be found placing our hope in another Jesus, but we don't want
to be found trusting the Jesus of some man's imagination. We
don't want to be found trusting a Jesus that they've got hanging
on the walls everywhere. It looks like Wild Bill Hickok,
you know. We want to be trusting the Christ of the Bible. Let's
see what the Bible says about it. First of all, back in verse
13, this Christ, who is the hope of glory, this Christ, He says
in verse 13, he's God's dear son. He's God's dear son, or
he's the son of God's love. We're not speaking of a mere
man. We're not speaking of a mere prophet. We're not speaking of
a mere messenger. We're talking about God's dear
son, the son of his love. This is my son, God said. This
is my son. Not only that, but look at verse
14. He's not only God's dear Son, but He's our Redeemer. Listen,
verse 14, "...in whom we have redemption, He bought us back."
What do you do when you redeem something? Well, you go down
and pay the price, whatever the price is on that object. You
pay the price. You buy it. It's yours. You ransom
it. You give the man the money, and
he gives you the object that you bought. Christ redeemed us.
He bought us from the law, which had a claim on us. He bought
us from the justice of God, which had a demand on us. He bought
us. out of bondage, paid the debt. You're not your own. You're
bought, he said. You're bought with a price. He
redeemed us. Not only that, through His blood,
but we have in Him the forgiveness of our sins. That's who we're
talking about. Christ in you, the hope of glory.
This Christ is God's dear Son. This Christ is our Redeemer.
And not only that, but look at verse 15. This Christ is the
image of the invisible God. He's not Joseph's son. He's not
the illegitimate son of a German soldier like that fellow wrote
years ago. He's the virgin-born Son of God
who is the image, the very likeness, the exact likeness of the living
God, the visible revelation of the invisible God is Jesus Christ. The disciples said, show us the
Father. And he said, he that has seen
me has seen the Father. Jesus Christ. I make no bones
about it. is God Almighty in human flesh.
He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the
world knew Him not. 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 of grace and truth. The exact image, the
exact likeness of the living God walked on this earth. That's
who we're talking about. And then verse 18, verse 70,
He's the Creator of all things. Heaven was made by Him. and all
its powers, visible, invisible. The angels were made by Him and
worshiped at His feet. The world was made by Him, for
Him, through Him, by Him, and by Him all things consist. All creatures were made by Him.
He's the Creator. And not only that, verse 18 says
He's the head of the church. And, my friends, by the church
there is meant all the redeemed of all ages. He is the beginning
of the church. He is the root of the church.
He is the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He might
have the preeminence. Not the pastor, and not the bishop,
and not the cardinal, and not the priest, and not the pope,
and not anybody else. Jesus Christ, the head of the
church. The church only has one head. That's Christ. And that's
Christ the Lord. He's the head of the church.
And the church is the body. And you're all brethren. Don't
call any man master, he said. Don't call any man rabbi. Don't
call any man father. You're brethren. One is your
master, and one is your father. And we pray to him, our father.
We don't call anybody else holy father. There ain't but one holy
father, and he sits on the throne of glory. And Christ is the exact
image and likeness of the heavenly father. And not only that, verse
19, it pleased God that in Him should all fullness dwell. All
life, all truth, all grace, all love, all righteousness, all
things are in Christ. By the decree of God, by the
design of God, and through His death on the cross, all that
comes from God to men, all that God will do for men or make of
men is in Jesus Christ. That's where it is. God put it
there. God put it there. It pleased Him to do it. Verse
20, we're talking about this Christ who's the hope of glory.
Through His obedient life, verse 20 said, He imputes to us a perfect
righteousness. Through His sacrificial death
on the cross, He reconciled us to God. There's peace with God
in Christ. Therefore, being justified by
faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. He hath reconciled us to God
by his death. And of God are you in Christ,
who has made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. Outside of Christ, none of those
things are available to any son of Adam. It's all vested in him. You'll come to Christ, or you'll
never come to God. You'll find Christ your refuge
and your rock, your strength and your hope, or you'll never
know the living God. He that hath the Son hath life.
He that hath not the Son of God shall never see life. Verse 23,
if you're in the faith of Christ, if you continue in the faith,
this is what verse 23 says, He's reconciled us to God by His blood. He hath presented us holy and
unblameable through His cross, if, that's a big little word,
One of the biggest little words there is, just two letters, but,
oh, how weighty. He hath reconciled us to God.
He hath presented us to God in His body, through His blood,
holy and unblameable, if you continue in the faith. That's
what it says. And be not moved away from the
hope of the gospel, which hope is Christ. The gospel of Christ,
the hope of glory, The person of Christ, the hope of glory.
But now, wait a minute, I can't quit till I get to this little
two-letter word. There's a very important little
two-letter word right on in our text, Colossians 127, Christ,
I-N, in you, in you, the hope of glory. It's not Christ in
the covenant that's the hope of glory. Stay with me. Will
you listen? There is a covenant. Any man
who wants to know anything about redemption has got to know something
about covenant mercies. You study theology, which is
called the study of God, and you've got to study covenants.
God made a covenant with Adam. He made a covenant with Noah.
He made a covenant with Abraham. He made a covenant with Moses.
He made a covenant with Israel. He made a covenant with David.
And he talks in the book of Hebrews about the surety of the everlasting
covenant, the blood of the everlasting covenant. There's a covenant
of mercy. This is my blood in the new covenant.
This is my body in the new covenant. Talking about the last will and
testament or covenant is only in force after a man dies. But
it's not Christ in the covenant. There is a blessed everlasting
covenant in which Christ Jesus, the Lord, has been given a people,
and of which he's the surety, and his blood is the payment.
But it's not Christ in the surety that you're in the covenant that
you're hope of glory. And it's not Christ in the Scriptures.
I know Christ is in the Scriptures. Moses wrote of Him. Abraham saw
His day. He's the theme of Scripture.
But it's not Christ in the Scriptures. It's my hope. Though without
Christ in the Scriptures, I'd have no hope. It's not Christ
in the manger. Though He was born of a virgin,
though He was made flesh, though He dwelt among us, though He
walked on the earth, it's not Christ in the manger that's my
hope of glory. It's not Christ in the world,
though He lived a perfect life, obeyed the law on our behalf,
secured for us a perfect righteousness, nor is it Christ on the cross
that's my hope of glory. Though He was wounded for my
transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities, and the chastisement
of our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we're healed.
But it is not, my friend, Christ on the cross that's my hope of
glory. He is on the cross, and He died
for somebody. He redeems somebody. He's going
to have a people. It's not Christ in the tomb,
my scapegoat, that's my hope of glory. It's not even Christ
on the throne, though there's one God and one Mediator between
God and men, that's the man Christ Jesus. But it's not Christ on
the throne who is the hope of my glory, my hope of glory. My
hope of glory and your hope of glory, if it is a sure hope and
a certain hope and a good hope, is Christ in us, the hope of
glory. Christ has always been in the
covenant. He's in the covenant whether God saves or damns. Christ
has always been the Creator. Christ has always been the virgin-born
revelation of God. Christ has always been the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. But my friend, if
I have a hope of life eternal and a hope of resurrection and
a hope of being made like Christ, there's going to have to be a
life of faith, a heart of faith, a reception of Christ by faith.
He's got to come in here. He's got to dwell in here. That's
what the Scripture says. Paul said, God who separated
me from my mother's womb and called me by His grace was pleased
to reveal His Son to me, no sir, in me. What is Christ in you? What has Christ believed in the
mind? I believe the record God has
given concerning His Son. I believe it. It's a revelation
God has made. He doesn't work apart from the
mind. I know faith is by the heart and through the heart,
but not apart from the understanding. God has given us an understanding.
Christ has come, and this is the true God, and this is eternal
life. I believe Christ in the mind, and then I receive Christ
in the heart. To as many as received Him, to
them gave He the privilege of becoming the sons of God. Oh,
how one day, Men may scoff now, they may laugh now, they may
ridicule now, but oh, how one day they wish they could hear
a sermon, a truthful message from the Word of God that would
carry with it some hope of glory. When all glory is gone and all
hope of glory is gone, and like the drowning man reaching out
for just anything, even a straw, how we'd long to hear a sermon
that tells us something about the hope of glory. It's Christ
received by faith in the heart. And it's Christ loved in the
soul. If any man loved not our Lord Jesus Christ, let him be
anathema, let him be accursed. It's Christ experienced in his
power, the peace of Christ, the joy of Christ, the rest of Christ
that floods the person. Somebody said you could cut into
a believer's mind, you'd find thoughts of Christ, you'd cut
into his heart, you'd find love for Christ, you'd cut into his
will, and you'll find a submission to Christ. And then this Christ
in you is Christ followed in perseverance. He is our love. He is our life. He is our hope.
We're under new management. We're new creatures in Christ
Jesus. We belong to Him. Christ in you. It's not Christ
in your denomination. It's Christ in you. Not Christ
in your creed. Christ in you. That's the hope
of glory. I have two messages on this tape.
I have a message entitled, Hiding from God, which I brought last
Sunday. And then this one this morning on the hope of glory.
If you're interested in these two messages, they're on one
cassette tape, two messages on one tape. If you'll write to
us, the address will be given to you by the announcer. If you'll
send $2, that's the cost of producing them and mailing them out, a
$2 contribution will send you the tape with these two messages.
Until next Sunday at 11 o'clock, may the Lord bless you very much.