I'd like for you to open your
Bibles this morning to the book of Colossians. I'm going to be
speaking to you from the first chapter of the book of Colossians,
and the title of our message is The Hope of the Gospel. The
Hope of the Gospel. Now, if you will, turn to Colossians,
the first chapter, and let me read about three or four verses
of Scripture. And as I read these verses, I
want you to listen for the word hope. the hope of the gospel. That's our subject, the hope
of the gospel. First of all, verse 3 and 5 of
Colossians 1, Paul says, we give thanks to God and the Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ for the hope which is laid up for
you in heaven, which you heard before in the word of the truth
of the gospel. I give thanks to God. for the
hope which is laid up for you in heaven, which you heard about
when you heard the gospel of Jesus Christ the Lord, which
we preached to you. Now verse 23, if you continue
in the faith, grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the
hope of the gospel which you have heard, the hope of the gospel
which you have heard. Now listen to it. Now verse 27,
of Colossians 1, 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, man is a religious creature
by nature. There's no question about that.
Where you find man, you're going to find a religious altar or
a religious shrine. or some type of worship. Where
you find a man, you're going to find some form of religion
because man is a religious creature by nature. There's several things
that are true of all men, practically all men. We just say all men
because it's 99% true. First of all, most every man
knows that God exists. James wrote, you believe in one
God or you believe there is one God, you do well. The devil believes
and trembles. And when Paul went down to Athens
to preach, he passed through their city and then he spoke
to them in this manner. He said, I perceive that you
are more religious than most people. He said, I passed through
your city and I saw all the different shrines and altars and idols
and I even found one shrine that had been erected to the unknown
God. So man is religious. Paul, talking
about the Jews of his day, he said, I bear them record. They
have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. In other
words, they knew there was a God, but they didn't know Him. They
believed there was a God, but they weren't acquainted with
that God. So man is religious by nature,
and nearly all men believe to some extent. that there is a
God, or a God exists, or they have a God. Now secondly, most
all men know that to some degree they have sinned. Most all men
know that. If any man say he hath not sinned,
he deceives himself. And all men aren't deceived in
this regard. They believe that they've sinned.
Some people believe they've sinned, but not much, you know. And some
people believe that they have sinned, but not as much as other
people have sinned. And then some people believe
that they have sinned, but now they've got religion and they
sin no more. And then some people believe
that they have sinned, they are sinned, they do sin, and they
will continue to sin as long as they live in the flesh. So
men believe this. They believe to some extent that
they are sinners. And then thirdly, Most all men
believe that one day they're going to die. Now nearly everybody
believes that. You won't find very many people
that do not believe they're going to die, because by experience
we're taught that every man one day will die. The scripture tells
us that. It is appointed unto men once to die. After that,
the judgment. And most everybody believes that
he will one day die, and there is a day of reckoning. There's
a day of accounting. There's a day of There's a day
of judgment. The scripture bears record that we shall all stand
before the judgment seat of Christ. Yes, we shall all. John writing
said, and I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God. The sea gave up the dead which
were in it. Death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them.
And they all stood before God and the books were opened. Now,
nearly everybody believes that. that there is a God and that
to some extent they've sinned against that God and that there
will be a day of accounting, there will be a day of reckoning,
there will be a day of judgment. And then most people believe
there's life after death. You don't find many folks that
do not believe to some extent that there is life after death.
Job asked this. He said, if a man die, shall
he live again? Yes. Yes, he shall live again. The Scripture teaches us that
some shall live forever. in God's presence, sharing God's
glory, enjoying God's peace and joy, and the rest will live forever
in darkness and sorrow and eternal despair. Now, most men believe
that. These are things that nearly
all men have in common because men are religious. They believe
there is a God. They believe to some extent that
they have done wrong. to embarrassed degrees. And they
believe there will be a day of reckoning, there will be a day
of accounting, there will be a day of judgment. And then they
believe that there's going to be a day after that day, there's
going to be an eternity, there's going to be a heaven, there's
going to be a hell. Now, here's the important part, and here's
what I want you to listen to. Here's the critical area right
here, here's the critical part. Most people entertain some kind
of hope of being among those who come out well in the judgment. Most men, regardless of who they
are in the pulpit and the pure in the world, entertain some
hope of being among those who live forever in God's presence,
in heaven, and among those who will be saved and secure and
forever happy. And they base this hope on different
things. And this is what's so important,
and I want you to listen very carefully now. So the word hope,
we use the word hope constantly, not only in our vocabulary, but
even in our experience and in our thoughts and in our plans. There's not many people listening
to my voice who plan to go to hell. There's not many. There's
not many people listening to me who do not plan on, at least
have intentions of, Spending eternity with God and with mom
and daddy and with their loved one, but they based this hope
on different things. Some based it on one thing and
some on another. Let me give you some examples.
First of all, the Jews of old, the Israelites, they felt that
they were secure. They felt that they were forever
blessed because they were Abraham's seed. They said as much. They
said, we have Moses. And Christ said, well, if you'd
have believed Moses, you'd have believed me. Moses wrote with
me. But that didn't shake them from their foundation. That didn't
shake them from their hope. They held to it. They said, we
have Moses. We're Abraham's children. And
our Lord said, well, the Lord's able to raise up, God's able
to raise up of these stones children unto Abraham. But that still
didn't shake them. Why it's impossible for us to
be separated from God, we're God's children, we're God's chosen
people, we're Jews, we're Abraham's seed, we have Moses and the prophets. And our Lord even spoke to a
whole Sabbath day congregation of them one day, hundreds of
them down in Nazareth. And he said, don't you remember,
I'll tell you the truth, don't you remember that in the days
of Elijah that there were many, there were many lepers in Israel
and God didn't heal one of them, not a one of them, but he went
over and healed a Gentile from Syria by the name of Naaman.
And he said, don't you remember in the days of Elisha that there
were many widows in the land of Israel and God fed none of
them? And he went over into the land
of the Gentiles and fed a woman who was a Gentile. Do you think
that made them think? No, sir, it made them mad. Do
you think that disturbed their confidence? Not at all. In fact,
it made them so angry they were going to throw him off a cliff.
Rather than examining the truth and examining their position,
examining their hope, they got angry. They said, we won't listen
to you. We'll murder you. I wonder how many listening to
my voice today are basing their hope for eternal happiness and
eternal joy and eternal life on the fact that they're Baptists. or Methodist, or Catholic, or
basing their hope on the fact that their mother and father
were Christians, and they were raised in the church, and they
were, as an infant, they were sprinkled, and catechized, and
confirmed, and grew up in the church. I'm being honest with
you now, as our Lord was honest with those people in His day.
It didn't do any good, because they wouldn't believe Him. They
wouldn't listen to Him. I hope you'll listen. No man is saved,
no man knows God because his daddy or mother was a Christian,
or because he's a Catholic, or a Baptist, or a Methodist, or
any other denomination. That's not a foundation, that's
no hope. And our Lord showed these people
that. Think of Judas. He was an apostle. I know a lot
of men think, well, it'll be well with my soul, I'm a preacher.
But Judas was an apostle. He didn't know God. And I could
give you so many other illustrations. Demas was a companion of the
Apostle Paul, and Paul said, he left me. He loved this world
more than he loved God. What's your hope? Let me tell
you, secondly, there were people back in those days that rested
their hope for eternal life on their morality, on their good
works. Our Lord said two men went up
to the temple to pray. One of them was a Pharisee, that
is, he was a preacher, a teacher, a theologian. He was a church
member, he was a man in good standing, he was a Hebrew of
Hebrews, he was a knowledgeable man in the scriptures, an orthodox
man. And he stood in the temple and
he prayed thus with himself, God, he said, I thank you I'm
not like other men. I'm not an adulterer, I'm not
an extortioner, I'm not an unjust man. I pay my tithes and I give
alms to the poor and I fast twice a week." This was his hope. He
was hoping, he entertained this hope that it would be alright
with him at the judgment and alright with him in death and
alright with him eternally because he did not do certain things
and did do other certain things. And our Lord said, now listen,
that same day there was another man in that same temple praying.
And this other man, he didn't claim any of these things. He
wouldn't even lift so much as lift his eyes to heaven, but
he smote upon his breast and he cried, oh God, oh God, be
merciful to me, the sinner. This was a publican. He wasn't
religious. He wasn't a moral man. He wasn't
a man who fasted or prayed. He was a man who knew he was
a sinner. And our Lord said he went home justified. Not the
other man. The other man went home condemned.
Is this your hope? There are millions today who
are basing a hope for eternal life on their good works and
on their morality and on the fact they're not as evil as somebody
else. But brethren, comparing ourselves
with ourselves and comparing ourselves with others is no game. We're going to be judged not
by the life of other men, but by the holiness of God, by the
holy, spotless, immutable, unchangeable law of God, the immaculate, pure
law of God, the character of God himself. And we've come short
of that glory. What's your hope? Well, I'll
tell you, another group of people during our Lord's earthly ministry,
they found a hope in circumcision. and in keeping Sabbath days,
and in keeping days of festivals and feasts and holy days and
church ordinances and ceremonies. And you say, well, how do you
liken that to us today? Well, men talk of being saved
today because they're baptized. I tell you this, and I tell you
with all the compassion of my soul, Water will not put away
sin. I don't care when it's administered,
or by whom it's administered, or to whom it's administered,
or how it's administered. It's the blood that maketh atonement
for the soul. God said, when I see the blood,
I'll pass over you. Without the shedding of blood,
there's no remission of sin. I know baptism has its place.
It's for believers. It's following salvation. It's
to confess Christ. It's identifying ourselves with
the Son of God. I'm not ashamed of baptism. I
believe everyone who's saved will confess Christ in baptism,
but I'm telling you this, if you're basing your hope of eternal
life on the fact that you've gone down beneath a body of water
and been brought up, my friend, you're in as much trouble as
that old Israelite who believed he's saved because he had circumcision,
the token of the covenant, and because you've been sprinkled
or anything else or confirmed or dedicated or anything else.
Some people believe because they've come to the sacrament or the
communion or to the Lord's table or to something along that fashion
that they've received salvation through eating the wafer and
drinking the wine. It doesn't come that way. It comes by faith,
by faith. Yes, we eat his flesh and drink
his blood, but not literally. We do it figuratively. The Lord's
table, the elements of the Lord's table, the bread and the wine
represent, these elements represent Christ's broken body and shed
blood. And I hope that there's no one listening to my voice
who, like Simon Magus of old, who was baptized, but then he
heard Peter say, your heart's not right with God. And then
in Matthew 7, I hope that none will be among those who stand
at the judgment and begin to plead, Lord, we've preached in
your name, and we've cast out demons in your name, and we've
done many wonderful works in your name, only to hear Christ
say, I never knew you. What is your hope? Men have a
hope. Well, Job said even the hypocrite
entertains a hope. Isn't that something? Even the
known hypocrite. That's what he says in Job 27.
What is the hope of the hypocrite? What is the hope of the hypocrite?
And my friend, it's tragic today. There are men who are making
merchandise of the souls of men. They're making a vocation or
occupation out of the ministry. It's a money-making proposition.
It's a money-making scheme. It's a way to gain fame and popularity
and followers and power and money and build great monuments to
themselves. put their names all over things,
that they build monuments with folks' Social Security checks
and things like that. They've got no conscience. They've
got no scruples. They've got no principles whatsoever.
What is the hope of such a man, such a hypocrite? Well, he's
got one. Yes, sir, he's got one. Job said,
though he gains, what's he going to do when God takes away his
soul? What's he going to do? Is there
hope? Can a fellow like me and a fellow
like you have a hope? I mean a good hope. I don't mean
the hope of a hypocrite or a false hope, but a real hope. Is there
hope for folks like us? Honest people who face themselves
as they are. Well, Paul said in 2 Thessalonians
2.16, God has given us a good hope. There's a good hope. A
good hope. All right, let me ask this question.
Is there a hope that won't put us to shame? that won't put us
to shame, that someday we'll come up and find out that this
hope won't hold water, that it'll fail. That's the way these hopes
I've been mentioning, they're going to fail. Well, is there
hope that won't fail, that won't put us to shame? Well, Paul wrote
in Philippians 1.20, according to my earnest expectation and
my hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed. I'm not going to
be ashamed that His coming I'm not going to be ashamed at his
unveiling. I'm not going to be ashamed at
the revelation of his son. I'm not going to be ashamed at
the judgment. I'm not going to be ashamed. In nothing am I going
to be ashamed. All right? Is there a living
hope? A living hope. a dead hope I have to go down
to the church to find every Sunday morning or every Easter Sunday
morning or every Christmas morning or every special Sabbath day. I want a living hope, a 24-hour
day, 7 days a week, 365-day-a-year living hope. Is there such a
thing? Well, he says in 1 Peter 1, 3, the Apostle Peter says,
God has begotten us unto a living hope. Well, what is it? Well,
I'll give you three things that We are to remember if we're going
to have this good hope, this living hope, this hope that in
nothing we shall be ashamed. First of all, this hope is not
in my merit. It's in God's mercy. Now, you
remember that. It's in God's mercy. The Lord's
sovereign. And you and I need to understand
this, and we need to understand it loud and clear that God doesn't
owe us anything. That's the first place you want
to come, and that's the first thing you want to get settled
between you and God. He doesn't owe you anything. God is not obligated to the creature. It says He took not on Himself
the nature of angels, but He took on Himself the seed of Abraham. That was God's sovereign choice. He chose men, not angels, but
men. And He left the angels in everlasting
chains in darkness reserved to judgment for that great day.
But he was pleased to visit Abraham's seed, the people of faith, with
mercy. All right. Secondly, the Lord
is righteous and holy. He must punish sin. Let's remember
this. He must punish sin. The judge
of the earth shall do right. God will in no wise clear the
guilty. The soul that sinneth, it shall
surely die. The wages of sin is death. So this hope, if we have a hope,
it's not in our merit, it's in God's mercy. God will be merciful. Thank God he will be merciful. He told Moses, I will be merciful. He doesn't have to. He's not
obligated to. He doesn't owe us anything. It's
strictly His mercy and His mercy alone. We cast ourselves on the
mercy of God's sovereign grace. We cast ourselves on the mercy
of God Almighty Himself. We say, Lord, you'll be right
if you damn us. You'll be just if you condemn
us. If you pass us by, it'll be all right. But Lord, if you
will, you can make me clean. Now let that be established.
First of all, this mercy, this hope is in God's mercy, not in
my merit. I don't earn salvation. It's
a free gift. The wages of sin is death, but
the gift of God's eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Secondly, this hope is not only in God's mercy, not in my merit,
but in his mercy. But secondly, this good hope,
this living hope, is not in my work. It's in the person and
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. For God so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him
should not perish, but have everlasting life. In the fullness of time,
God sent his Son into the world, made of a woman, made under the
law, to redeem them that were born under the law. He was made
sin for us who knew no sin. that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. And he of God is made unto us
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. In other words,
it pleased God to make you his people. That's what the book
of Samuel says, it pleased God to make you his people. He passed
by some, he passed by the angels, but he's going to have a people
out of every tribe and kindred and nation and tongue unto heaven.
He's going to have a people. And it pleased God that in Christ
should all fullness, and all righteousness, and all justification,
and all redemption. It pleased God that in Christ
it should dwell there, in Him. He's vested everything in Christ. Jesus Christ, our Lord, is our
representative. He's our substitute. Now watch
this. Christ came down here and lived on the earth. Most people
know that. The calendar tells you that.
I got amused the other day. I was listening to the radio,
riding along in the car, and it talked about it was Confucius'
birthday. He was born, you know, they claim
Confucius is God and so forth, but he was born 500 B.C. or 500 A.D. In other words, he
was born and his birthday was measured by the coming of the
Lord Jesus Christ into the world. Everybody knows Christ came.
The calendar tells you that. So many years BC, that's before
Christ. So many years AD and Old Dominion,
the year of our Lord. So Christ lived here on the earth
and he lived a righteous life and he died on the cross. Most
people know that. Josephus the historian. You folks
that don't believe the Bible, buy you a history book and you'll
find out Jesus Christ lived during the days of Caesar and he died
on the cross. Now, why? Christ was our example,
but that primarily is not why he came. He didn't come to set
an example. He came to redeem a people. He
said, the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.
This is a faithful saying, Christ came into the world to save sinners.
And so when he came, he came as our representative. You see,
God commands that men keep his law. We don't do it, but Christ
did. as a man in the flesh. The holiness
and justice of God demands that men who sin die under the wrath
of God, under the judgment of God, under the penalty of sin,
under the justice of God, the righteousness of God demands
that we die. Well, we can't die and live at
the same time. So Christ died for us, you see.
He is our substitute. He is our example, but that primarily
is not why He came. He didn't come to be an example
or a reformer, although He is an example and He by His grace
does reform me and He changes me. But Christ died on the cross
as a substitute and His life was lived as a representative.
So our hope is in Him. He put away sin with the sacrifice
of Himself. He was wounded for my transgressions. And by his stripes I'm healed.
So my hope's in the mercy of God, that he will show mercy
to me. And my hope is in the merits
of Christ, in the sacrifice of Christ, in the obedience of Christ.
I live because he lived. I'm saved because he died for
my sin. Thirdly, my hope must be drawn from the word of God.
Now this is important. He talked all the way through
this scripture I read a while ago, the hope which you heard
in the gospel, the hope of the gospel. This is the record God
has given us eternal life, this life in his Son. Now, we must
put no confidence in the flesh. A thing is not so because I say
it. A thing is not so because a famous person said it. A thing
is not so spiritually because the Pope said it. It's not so
because the superintendent or the bishop said it or the pastor
said it. It's not so because it was said
a long time ago. It's so because God said it.
And that's the only reason it's so. And our hope is based upon
the Word of God. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing
by the Word of God, not the words of men or the traditions of men
or the ancient fathers. The ancient fathers may have
been wrong. Buy your Bible and find out what God says. And I'll
tell you this, it's not so because we think it. My thoughts are
not your thoughts. It's not so because we feel it.
The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. It's not so because we've
always believed it. It's so because God said it.
That's our hope. Our hope is in the mercy of God,
in the merits of Christ, and in the Word of God. In the Word
of God. We know that the Son of God has
come and has given us an understanding. that we may know Him that is
true, and that we're in Him, and that is in Him that is true,
even in His Son Jesus Christ. This is a true God. This is eternal
life.