Colossians Chapter One Vs. 1-18

Before I start with verse 1,
let me point out a few interesting things about this book. First
of all, it was written to the church at Colossae around 28
years after our Lord died on the cross, about 60 A.D. This book was written. Paul wrote
it, and he wrote it from prison. He was in prison in Rome. and
he wrote the book of Colossians about the same time that he wrote
the book of Philippians, which we have just completed in our
Wednesday night studies. Also he wrote at this time the
book of Ephesians. These are called by some the
prison epistles. Now the second note about this
book of Colossians Who brought the gospel to Colossae, we do
not know. When the gospel was taken to
this city, we do not know. Paul didn't preach to them. The
reason we know that is he said in chapter 2, verse 1, that they
had never seen him. They had never seen his face
in the flesh. So Paul never preached to these
people at all. They never saw him. And this
city was destroyed by an earthquake about six or seven years after
Paul wrote this epistle to the church at Colossae. It was later
rebuilt, but it was completely destroyed in the year 66 A.D. Now the third note before we
get to the first verse is this. The reason for the writing of
this epistle Now this man in verse 7, whose name is hard to
pronounce, I always had trouble with it, Epiphas. Epiphas, I
think that's the way you pronounce it. Some people think it's the
same man. Over here in Philippians that
Paul calls Epiphaditus. I do not know, but this man Epiphas,
who had preached to the church at Colossae, he had ministered
to them. And he came up to Rome while
Paul was in prison. and told Paul about this church. He told Paul about their faith
in Christ and their love for the other believers, and he told
Paul also about the danger they faced from false teachers, same
problem they had at the church in Philippi. False teachers had
come among them, and so Paul wrote this letter to the church
at Colossae. He wrote to confirm them in the
gospel. He wrote to warn them of false
teachers. He wrote to exhort them to a
discharge of their duty, their duty toward God, their duty toward
men, and their duty toward one another. Now let's begin at verse
1. Verse 1 and 2, I'm going to not
try to cover each phrase. You either have to teach a book
one of two ways. You either have to go through
it. reasonably fast, or you have to just dwell on every word and
every statement and every sentence. Well, I'm going to move rapidly
through this first chapter and then let you go back and study
it at your leisure. But verses 1 and 2 we call the
salutation, or the greeting. Tells us who wrote it, to whom
it is written, and the word of greeting. Paul, an apostle of
Jesus Christ, by the will of God and Timothy, our brother.
Paul wrote it. Now when I say Paul wrote it,
I meant Paul is the human instrument. We know, turn to 2 Timothy, 2
Timothy chapter 3. We know that the scripture is
given by inspiration of the Holy Spirit. God used men to write
the Bible. He used men to write these books
which bear their name. But they wrote what the Holy
Spirit inspired them to write. I believe in the verbally inspired
Word of God, the verbal inspiration of the Scripture. I believe more
than the thought was inspired, I believe the wording was inspired.
It says here in 2 Timothy 3, verse 16, all Scripture is given
by inspiration of God. All Scripture is God-breathed. And all Scripture is profitable
for doctrine, reproof, correction, instruction, and righteousness.
Now turn to 2 Peter, chapter 1. 2 Peter, the first chapter,
and verse 20 and 21. Listen to this. Knowing this
first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in
old time by the will of man, But now the next sentence tells
us how it came. Holy men of God spake as they
were moved by the Holy Ghost. That's how the scripture was
written. Holy men of God spake, or wrote, what the Holy Spirit
inspired them to write. You'll find their personalities
in the book. You'll find phrases that are
characteristic of these men. But you'll also find that the
word is infallible and unbroken and does not contradict itself,
therefore it is God-breathed. God does not work apart from
personality. God uses means and personalities
and characteristics and these things to accomplish his purpose. Paul is writing this to the saints
and faithful brethren, and these are the same people. All believers
are saints. I got down to concordance today
when I was preparing this message, and I was going to pick up a
few verses to show you proof of the fact that every believer
is a saint. Well, I found that the believers
are referred to in the New Testament as saints hundreds of times,
hundreds of times. Saints are not a special order
of believers. All believers are We are sanctified
by the Father, we are sanctified by the Son, we are sanctified
by the Holy Spirit, we are sanctified by the blood, we are sanctified
by the Word of God. And every person, the lowliest
believer, the weakest believer, the youngest believer, the oldest
believer, every believer is a saint. Christ hath made us kings and
priests and saints. And now, let's take the next
portion of the book. verses 3 through 6. And in these
four verses, you have Paul's prayer of thanksgiving for this
church. Paul begins in verse 3. He says,
we give thanks to God. All things are of God. When Epiphas
came up here and told Paul about this little group of believers
down in Colossae, about their faith and their love and their
hope and all of the the good things that were present in that
church, first thing Paul did is thank God for it. Because
God is the author of not only our faith and our love, but our
entire salvation. Anything that we are or have
spiritually is by the grace of God. It's a gift of God's grace. Paul said that, I am what I am
by the grace of God. And David wrote that in Psalms
103. He said, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within
me. Bless his holy name. Bless the
Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. He forgiveth
our iniquities. He healeth our diseases. He redeemeth
our life from destruction. He crowneth thee with loving
kindness and tender mercy. He satisfies thy mouth with good
things. It's all of God. So when this
man came to prison to visit Paul in Rome and sat down there in
Colossae, there's a group of people who love one another and
who love Christ and who believe on Christ, and Paul lifted his
eyes to heaven and said, thank God. Thank God. We give thanks
to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And we pray always for
you. I pray for you, Paul said. Now
brethren, this is a weakness of ours. We need prayer. We ought to pray for one another.
Paul felt the need of prayer. He said, Brethren, pray for me.
Pray for me. Every one of us ought to pray
for one another. We're commanded in the scriptures
to pray for all men. We're commanded in the scriptures
to pray for the president, for the king, for magistrates, for
those in authorities, for preachers, for missionaries, for one another.
And I have found this to be true. I read this years ago. I don't
remember where, but it filed away in my mind and came back
to my mind today when I was thinking about my weakness in this particular
area. It is impossible to feel anger
toward a person for whom you're praying. It is impossible to
feel any malice toward a person for whom you're praying. It is
impossible to feel any hatred toward a person for whom you're
praying. It is impossible to do anything but love a person
for whom you're praying. And we ought to pray for all
men. Try it sometime. Think about the person that,
for whom you have the least regard. Think about the person with whom
you're having the severest conflict. Think about the person whom you
feel has done you the greatest wrong. Try it. and then bow your head on your
desk or on your knees beside your bed and pray for that person. And I promise you, under God,
that you cannot harbor any ill will toward that person if you
can pray for them. If you can't pray for them, you
need to be prayed for. Isn't that right? If I can't
pray for somebody, I need prayer myself. I need it anyway. But
I need it desperately. I need a work of grace. And then
he goes on down here in verse 7 and 8. I'm skipping a little
bit. But he said, I learned of Epaphras,
our dear fellow servant, who is for you a faithful minister.
He declared unto us your love. Now go back to verse 4. The reason
I went down to 7 and 8, I'm trying to show you how Paul learned
this. He said, I heard of your faith in Christ Jesus. I heard
of the love which you have to all the saints, not just to your
best buddies, but to all the saints. And I heard about the
hope which is laid up for you in heaven." Now they have the
three things there, faith, love, and hope. Faith in Christ Jesus,
love for all the saints, and the hope of eternal life. And
this will bring forth fruit. Look at the next verse. "...which
is come unto you, as it is in all the world, and bringeth forth
fruit." What brings forth fruit? This brings forth fruit. What
fruit are we talking about? The fruit of the Spirit. Turn
to Galatians, back here to Galatians 5. Now here's what we're talking
about. We're talking about the fruit of the Spirit. In Galatians
5.22 it says, The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, that's humility, temperance. Against such there is no law.
That's the fruit of the Spirit. And Paul says, this which is
come to you as it has in all the world, and brings forth fruit. What is this? Faith in Christ,
love for the saints, and hope of heaven. Now about it, these
three, faith, hope, and love. Paul says, I've heard about it.
I've heard that it exists in your church. It doesn't exist
everywhere. It doesn't exist in all men.
But Paul lifted his eyes to heaven and thanked God that it existed
in that church. Faith in Christ, love for the
brethren, and hope of eternal life. And our citizenship in
heaven motivates our behavior on the earth. Now that's so,
and that's what Paul says here. It brings forth proof. When these
things abide, where they abide, and where they reign, and where
they're prevalent, it brings forth proof. It brings forth
fruit to the glory of Christ our Lord. Now let's look at verse
9 through 11. Here are three verses, and we've
just read Paul's prayer of thanksgiving. He said, I thank God for you.
I pray for you. Ever since I've heard of your
faith and your love and your hope of eternal life and the
fruit that it's produced, I pray for you. Now then, here's a prayer
of petition, this is what he prays for them. Now this is most
interesting here. For this cause, verse 9, since
the day I heard it, about your faith, hope, and love, I don't
cease to pray for you. First of all, I desire that you
might be filled with the knowledge of his will. Now that's my first
petition to God for you. I want you to be filled with
the knowledge of his will. in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. What is God's will? We're not
talking here of the secret will of God. We're talking of the
revealed will of God. Paul said, I want you to be filled
with the revealed will of God. I want you to be filled to a
larger measure with the knowledge of the will of God. Well, let's
go to John chapter 6, and I believe we can find our definition right
here. John 6, beginning with verse 38. John 6, 38. Now listen to the Master. John 6, 38. I came down from
heaven not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent
me. And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that
of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but raise
it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that
sent me, that every one that seeth the Son, and believeth
on him, may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up
again at the last day." This is the revealed will of God.
God has a covenant of grace. God has a people given to Christ. Christ came to this earth and
redeemed those people, fulfilling every type and every ceremony
and every shadow and every picture. He was buried and rose again,
and there at the right hand of the Father he intercedes for
them, and he will come again. And all that by the power of
the Holy Spirit see him as the Christ, as the Messiah, as the
Redeemer, and believe on him, those given him by the Father,
he shall not lose a one of them. That is the revealed will of
God. And Paul said, I want you to
be filled with a larger measure of the knowledge of that will.
in all wisdom, seeing in Christ the wisdom of God and the power
of God, with spiritual understanding, how God can be just and justify
the ungodly. And then the second petition,
that you might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, that
you might walk worthy of the Lord, being fruitful in every
good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God. What is
it to walk worthy of the Lord? Paul has a threefold petition
for these people. Epaphras came up there and told
him about them, their faith, their hope, their love, their
fruit. So Paul makes petitions. Paul prays for three things.
One, that they might be filled to a large measure with a knowledge
of God's will in redemption in Christ. And secondly, praise
that they might walk worthy, worthy of the Lord, worthy of
the name which they bear, worthy of the King who is their Father,
worthy of Christ who is their Savior. I believe it includes
five things. What is it to walk worthy of
the Lord? Number one, it's to walk by faith. It's to walk by faith. trusting Him for all things. That's the first requirement
of walking worthy of the Lord. We walk not by sight, the scripture
says, we walk by faith. Turn to Matthew 6, just a moment,
the 6th chapter of Matthew. Let's begin reading at verse
25 of Matthew 6. To walk worthy of the Lord is
to walk, first of all, by faith, that God will supply not only
my spiritual needs, but my material needs, my physical needs, my
family needs, my emotional needs, my mental needs, just keep on
going. Faith in Him. Not murmuring, not complaining,
not finding fault, not criticizing God's providence, but walking
by faith. of Matthew 6, I say unto you,
take no thought for your life, what you shall eat, what you
shall drink, nor yet for your body, what you shall put on.
Your life is more than meat, your body than raiment. Look
at the birds of the air. They don't sow, and they don't
reap, and they don't gather in barns, and your Heavenly Father
feedeth them. Aren't you better than they?
Which of you, by taking thought, can add one year to your life?
That's cubit to your stature, which is year to your life. And
why do you take thought for clothing? Look at the lilies of the field,
they grow, they tar not, they don't spin, and yet Solomon in
all his glory was never clothed like one of these. If God clothes
the grass of the field, which today he is, and tomorrow he
is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you?
O ye of little faith! To walk worthy of the Lord is
to walk by faith. Not complaining, finding fault,
murmuring. To walk worthy of the Lord is
to walk in church fellowship, practicing the ordinances of
the Word and worshiping the Lord. Paul said, forsake not the assembling
of yourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhort
one another, and encourage one another, and assist one another,
and help one another. To walk worthy of the Lord is
to walk in church fellowship, boldly, publicly declaring your
identification with Christ Jesus and with His people. Thirdly,
what is it to walk worthy of the Lord? It's to walk in honesty. It's to walk in truthfulness.
It's to have a good report of those that are without. It's
to conduct your business in an honest manner. It is to live
your life in a truthful manner. It is to have a good report and
a good reputation with the people with whom you do business and
with whom you work. What is it to walk worthy of
the Lord in the fourth place? It is to walk producing the graces
of which he's the author. Producing the graces, I read
them to you a moment ago, the fruits of the Spirit. It's producing
that love and that faith and that gentleness and that meekness
and that temperance and that long-suffering and these things
of which our Lord is the author. It is to walk in such a way as
we might produce the fruits or graces of which he's the author.
Others see these fruits and they say, well, these men have been
with Christ. No man could do these miracles
except Christ be with him. And then in the fourth place,
turn to 1 John 3. Now I want you to read this and
underscore it in your Bible. I've underscored it a long time
ago and ask God daily to remind me of it. In 1 John 3, verse
22, 1 John 3, 22. And whatsoever we ask, we receive
of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are
pleasing in his sight. And this is his commandment,
that we should believe on the name of his Son, Jesus Christ,
and love one another as he gave us commandment. To walk worthy
of the Lord is to walk in his commandments. And his commandments
are that we love God with all our hearts, mind, soul, and strength,
and our neighbor as ourselves. Now back to Colossians. Here's
the third request. He said, I pray that you might
be filled with the knowledge of God's will. I pray that you
might walk worthy of the name which you bear, of the Lord pleasing
him. Thirdly, and here's the third
request, that you might be strengthened with all might according to His
glorious power. Now we're weak in ourselves.
We're insufficient to do these things that are commanded. We're
insufficient to bear any fruit or grace of ourselves. We stand
in need of strength from above. Paul said, I can do all things
through Christ who strengtheneth me. So when Paul prayed that
these people might be filled with the knowledge of God's will,
and that they might walk worthy of the name of the Lord, he prays
also that they might be strengthened from above to enable them to
do just what he's prayed. You see these words here? Patience,
verse 11, the last statement. Patience, longsuffering, and
joy. That's not easy. So Paul prays
that they might be strengthened with all might according to his
power, that they might produce these very things, patience,
long-suffering, and joy. Now then, the next few verses,
I say 12 through 14. Paul is giving thanks again to
the Father. He says, I give thanks unto the
Father who hath made us meet. Now that word meet is qualified
or completely sufficient. That's what it means. Read it
this way, I give thanks to God who has made us sufficient or
qualified to partake of the inheritance of the saints in glory. We were beggars on the dunghill,
but now we're princes, sons of the king. We were bankrupt and
head over heels in debt, now all is paid. We were defiled
and filthy and naked, and now we're clothed and washed and
sanctified in the blood of Jesus Christ. We're now robed in his
perfect righteousness, so we are perfectly qualified and totally
sufficient to inherit what God has for us in glory. And our
sufficiency is Christ. Verse 13, He hath delivered us
from the power of darkness. What is this power? It's the
power of Satan. Turn with me to Acts 26. In the
26th chapter of Acts, verses 17 and 18, Paul is talking about
his call to the ministry, and he says in verse 18, God sent
me, Acts 26, 18, to open their eyes, to turn them from darkness
to light, from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive
forgiveness of sin, and inheritance among them which is sanctified
by faith, that is, in me." The power of darkness is the
power of Satan. He hath made us sufficient to
inherit the glory of Christ with all the saints. He hath delivered
us from the power of darkness. Now the latter part of verse
13. He has translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son.
Now this is the kingdom of grace over which Christ reigns as prophet,
priest, and king. We are in His care. We are under
His rule. Christ hath conquered us and
put away our sins and put away our enmity. We are indwelt by
his Spirit, we are robed in his righteousness, and he represents
us at the throne of the Father. We are translated into the kingdom
of God's dear Son, over which he is prophet, priest, and king,
for whom he is the representative and federal head, for whom he
intercedes for whom he has conquered sin. We are in the care of Christ,
delivered from the power of Satan and darkness to the kingdom and
care of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are his subjects, and he is
our reigning monarch. Now verse 14, in whom we have
redemption. Now this, John Gill said, is
the excellent and wonderful blessings of the kingdom in which we are
now place by God's mercy. This is the excellent and wonderful
blessing of the kingdom of God's dear Son. What is it? Redemption. Redemption. Full and free redemption. Redemption from all sin, all
sin, actual sin, original sin, from its penalty, from its power,
from its practice, and someday from its presence. We are redeemed
totally and completely from all sin. And then I found this outline
of verse 14. Look at verse 14 again. In whom
we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of
sin. Here's the outline. The author
of redemption, him, Christ Jesus. He's the author of redemption.
He's the author and finisher of our faith. The subjects of
redemption, we, us, men. The means of redemption, his
blood. We have redemption through his
blood, the blessings of redemption, the forgiveness of sin. Now, verse 15 starts a new division. The Apostle in the next five
verses enlarges on the character and excellence of Jesus Christ,
who is the author of our redemption. Now look at verse 14 again. in
whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness
of sin." Now, in the next five verses, he talks about this one
in whom we have redemption, by whose blood we are bought. He
says, first of all, in verse 15, now listen to this carefully,
he is the image of the invisible God. What does that mean? It means this. He is the exact
likeness of the unseen Father. It means this. He is the visible
representation of the invisible God. No man hath ever seen the
Father any time. No man hath ever heard his voice.
When any voice is heard in the Scripture belonging to God, it's
the voice of Jesus Christ, Old and New Testament. When any image,
any shape is seen It is the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is
the visible representation of the unseen and invisible Father. Co-equal, co-eternal, co-existent. Now here's the next line, it's
a real toughie. He is the firstborn of every
creature. Now, this is difficult to handle.
Christ was not created. He's not a creature. But Scripture
refers to him as the only begotten of the Father. Begotten, brought
forward. About the only thing you can
say about this right here are the following two things. Number
one, before God created anything, He revealed himself. He revealed
himself in the person of Jesus Christ. He is the only begotten
of the Father. He is the firstborn of all and
every creature. Now John Gill says this, and
I couldn't follow him at all. I tried, but he lost me. In a
sense, he's right. He says he's the first parent
of all creation and of all creatures, and that's true. He is the first
parent. All things were made by him, through him, for him.
But that's not what that says. That says he's the firstborn
of every creature. He is the firstborn. And what
I'm saying is this, and I don't know a great deal about the Trinity.
I do know that Jesus Christ is the express image the brightness
of His glory, that no voice except the voice of Christ was heard,
and no shape except the shape of Christ is seen. And God is
revealed, He that hath seen me, Christ said, hath seen the Father.
So in some way, you'll just have to take this and be satisfied
with it till we get to glory. Before God ever created anything
in the beginning And God said, Let us make man. So before all
things existed, there was Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But before
all things, in some measure, in some way, Jesus Christ revealed the Father. He's the
firstborn of every creature. For it says in verse 16, For
by Him, by Christ, were all things created that are in heaven and
earth. Visible and invisible. Well,
we know the visible things. What are the invisible things?
Well, souls and spirits are invisible. Angels are invisible, as far
as our eyes are concerned. He created all things, visible
and invisible. He created thrones. What are
these? These are the thrones of kings
and monarchs and rulers of nations. Satan's throne, I guess you would
say also. Dominions. Smaller rules, someone
said, principalities and powers, this is any authority. All things were created by him
and for his pleasure and for his glory and for his purpose.
And verse 17 says, and he, Christ, we're talking about the one in
whom we have redemption, And he is before all things, and
by him all things consist. That is, he upholds all things
by the word of his power. We're talking about the one that
died on the cross. We're talking about poor little Jesus boy here. You see how that, and I hate
to keep mentioning this, but you see how that this little
weak Jesus that's being preached today doesn't fit this description
here. This little frail Jesus who wants
to and can't, who wills to and is not able, who waits on you
to let him perform things, that's not the Christ of whom we're
speaking here. It says here that he is the visible image or representation
of the invisible God. He is the firstborn of every
creature. By him all things were created,
even Satan's power. Satan's dominions and the demon's
dominions and principalities and powers and all things, and
he's before all things, and all things by him are held together. The pillars of this earth are
held together by Christ Jesus, the angels of heaven consist
in him, the elector in his hands, the whole frame of nature in
his hands, all mankind is in his hands. He said, I have authority
over all flesh, that I should give eternal life to as many
as thou hast given me. He said, I have all authority
in heaven and earth. There's nothing weak about him. By him all things consist. In
verse 18, and he, now we're talking about the one in whom we have
redemption. We're talking about Christ. In verse 18, and he's
the head of the body, the He's the head of the church,
and this church here is not the local church. This is the universal
or invisible church. This is every believer, every
child of God, is in the body of Christ, is in the church of
the firstborn, the church for which he gave his blood. And
he is the beginning. He's the firstborn from the dead. He was the first one resurrected.
Why are we saying all this? That in all things, all things,
whether it be the flapping of an angel's wing, whether it be
the oration of a prophet, whether it be a hymn of praise, whatever
it might be, that all things, whether it be the salvation of
a sinner, whether it be the judgment of a rebel, that in all things
he might have the preeminence. I wonder what would happen next
Sunday in all the churches if this Jesus were preached, this
conquering King, this Creator, this firstborn of every creature,
this first forgotten from the dead, this One in whom all things
live and move and have their being, by whom all things are
held together, and by whom all things consist, the Head of the
Church, who is the beginning, the Alpha and Omega, the beginning
and the ending. that in all things he might have
the preeminence. Then in verse 19 it says, It
pleased the Father that in him, in Christ, should all fullness
dwell. What does that mean? Well, I'll
give you three things, and this covers the whole, as A. Riley Copeland used to say, divine
panorama. Here it is. First of all, the
fullness of divine power dwells in Him. All the attributes of
God, all the perfections of God, all of the power of God is in
Christ Jesus. Secondly, dwelling in Him is
the fullness of grace. Of God, He has made unto us wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification and redemption, all I need. Thirdly,
dwelling in Him is the fullness of glory. the fullness of glory. Heaven is Christ. Paul said,
I have a desire to depart and go to heaven. No, sir, he said
to depart and be with Christ. For to be with Christ is heaven.
For heaven is to be with him, heaven is to be like him, and
heaven is to be worshiping him. He is heaven. I wish I had the
vocabulary, I wish I had the wisdom, I wish I had the ability
and the power to exalt and magnify the name of Jesus Christ like
I'd like to. But I don't believe an angel
could do it. Give him the preeminence and the glory that is his. I
do know that we're not even measuring up to what we could do. It pleased
the Father that in him, in him, should all fullness dwell. And in his presence all worldliness
and all vanity and all fame and all human glory and all pride
and all selfishness and all self-righteousness and all these things just melt
away and confuse nothing. It's all Christ. It's all Christ. And now verse 20. Here's another
division of three verses. And having made peace through
the blood of his cross, sin brought God's wrath condemnation, sin
put enmity in our hearts, but Christ in his death put away
that wrath and put away that enmity and made peace with God
for men. And by him God reconciled all
things to himself. God was never reconciled to us
because the elect were always in the love of God, but we were
reconciled to God. God put away the enmity between
man and God. men in God. God satisfied in
Christ's blood and righteousness, satisfied the justice of God
and the law of God and the holiness of God, and reconciled us to
himself. He reconciled us to himself.
Now watch this. He reconciled all things to himself,
whether they be in earth or heaven. Who's that talking about? Well,
when Christ died, there were some people that already left
this earth and gone to heaven. Looking forward to his death,
the family of God in heaven and the family of God on earth were
all reconciled by the blood of his Son. And you, verse 21, you
who at one time were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked
work, he reconciled you in the body of his flesh through death,
that he might present you, oh listen to this, holy, unblameable,
and unreprovable in his sight. And there's not a word there
about your faith, not a word there about your works, not a
word there about your cooperation, not a word there about your decision.
It says he did it all. He made peace with God. He reconciled
us to the Father. He put away our sins. in the
body of his flesh through death. He did it all in order that he
might present you to God, holy, unblameable, and unreprovable.
Not in men's sight, in God's sight. Verse 23, if you continue in
the faith. Now brethren, this blessing of
eternal life does not belong to any man who draws back. It
does not belong to any woman who draws back. for those who
draw back, proved by their desertion that they never knew him. They
never knew him. He said, these blessings are
yours. Christ made peace through the
blood of his cross. He reconciled us to God. He will
present us holy, unblamable, unreprovable, if you continue
in the faith. And that's throughout the Bible.
Grounded and settled, listen, and be not moved away from the
hope of the gospel. A man who has saving faith will
continue in the faith. A man who has godly repentance
will continue in repentance. A man who knows Christ will die
in Christ. John said if they had been of
us, they would have continued with us. The fact that they departed
from us proved that they never were of us. Now verse 24, Paul
said, I rejoice in my sufferings for you. Paul endured a lot of
sufferings. Turn to 2 Timothy 2. But he could
rejoice in them. You know why? I'll tell you why.
Look at this, 2 Timothy 2, verse 10. He was, in verse 9, he says,
I suffered trouble. And he did. He was stoned and
shipwrecked and beaten and everything in prison, but he said, verse
10, I endure all things for the elect's sake. 2 Timothy 2.10, that they may
obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal
glory. That's the reason he said in
Colossians 1 verse 24 here, I rejoice in my sufferings, because my
sufferings have been used of God for his body's sake for the
church. And I made a minister of God,
verse 25, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for
you to fully preach his word. Even the mystery And about four
times in this book of Colossians, and I'll get to this next Wednesday
night. So verse 26, Paul talks about the mystery of the gospel.
Verse 27, he talks about the mystery of the gospel. Colossians
2.2, he talks about the mystery of the gospel. And Colossians
4.3, he talks about the mystery of the gospel. And I'll get into
that next Wednesday night. I don't want to get into it right
now. But you know, Brother Barnard said one time, A man said he
preached the gospel so simple that a little child could understand
it. You ever heard that? He preached the gospel so simple
that a little child could understand it. It's impossible to preach
the gospel so that anybody can understand it apart from the
Holy Spirit. It's a mystery. It has to be revealed. You don't,
by natural wisdom, understand the gospel. It's a mystery. And
if you do understand...

Colossians Chapter One Vs. 1-18

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

Joshua

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Music

Recent Comments

About

Legal

Subscribe

Account

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Recent Comments

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Collections

Music

About

Legal

Subscribe

Colossians Chapter One Vs. 1-18

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

More from Henry Mahan

Related Sermons

Same Scripture

Articles by Henry Mahan

Books by Henry Mahan

Joshua

Where this book stands in the tradition

Plato

Augustine

The Western Christian Tradition

This Book