I'd ask you again to turn to the book of Colossians as we continue our journey through this book. And probably of all of Paul's letters, Colossians is the most difficult to outline. In some respects, it's most difficult to get a handle on exactly what it is that the Apostle Paul is writing this letter for. It does appear to me that there is, like the book of Jude, a question of false teaching that he does address, but he doesn't get to it in a hurry. He gets to it deep into chapter two. And we have this whole extended section that begins the letter, beginning with a complex thanksgiving, that really it's hard to know where it stops. It just seems to go on and on and on. Because, you see, the subject of Paul's thanksgiving is the blessings of the gospel. It's the fact that the gospel had come to the Colossians through the ministry of Epaphras. They had received it. believed it. There was fruit that was being born in their lives, and Paul is overwhelmed with joy. And so this is a letter of thanksgiving that begins with thanksgiving. Interestingly enough, it's good that we're studying a letter that does begin with thanksgiving, as we have our thanksgiving celebration today. But as you're going to see, even in the morning message, it goes into the thanksgiving. He wants the Colossians to continue to know and experience themselves. So kind of like Paul wants to transfer thanksgiving from his own soul to their souls, so they would give praise to God and continue to give praise to God for all the riches of his blessings that are in the Lord Jesus. And of course, that brings him to focus in upon Jesus as the chief central factor of this gospel, the one who brings the gospel through his work of sacrifice and atonement for our sins and the one who reconciles us to God and so he expounds about Jesus and that hymn of praise that it goes from 15 to 20 and then he applies it to the readers and I really think all of this is really bound up in an introduction to the letter. He's going to get to what he's writing for He wants them to be aware of the dangers and he wants them also to be strengthened in the Lord against those dangers. You know, one of the things that false teachers do is they make, they want to prey upon dissatisfaction. They want to get in amongst God's people and say, well, you know, just like the devil coming to Eve in the garden and said, you know, I really have a better deal for you. If only you'd give me an ear. God really doesn't really, desire the best for you, and I'm going to tell you how you can get the best. I know more than God. I know that you won't die, first of all, and I know that God knows. In the day that you eat of the fruit, you're going to be like God, knowing good and evil. So God's looking to hold you down, keep you back, and deprive you of blessings that I'm the key to. So trust me. Trust me. That's how false teachers work. Your teachers really haven't given you the fullness of what the deal is, what the blessings of the gospel are. And I'm the one that's going to supplement your understanding and give you really understanding so that you don't trust these guys, but you trust us. And that's the That's the sale. That's what they're doing. First of all, they're appealing to greed. You can get more. More than it's in Christ. Now, Paul wants them to know, no, there's nothing more of any value or worth. It's not in Christ. It's all in Christ. Every needed gift and every needed blessing, every needed provision, God has already made in Christ. In Him, the fullness of the God that dwells bodily, and we are full in Him. Can't get better than that. Can't get better than that. And so it's when God's people come to the realization that what we have in Jesus is absolutely full and sufficient, and it's not in need of supplementation, it's not in need of addition, it's not in need of something better. There is nothing better than what you already have in Christ. Then you won't give ear to these people. What do they have to offer you? What they're saying is clearly wrong because what they're saying is not joined to Christ. It's not connected to Christ. It's not in relationship to Christ. It's in relationship to Old Testament commandments of laws. Do this, do that. Don't do this, don't do that. Keep this day, keep that day. Keep this dietary rule and regulation and the blessing will be yours." Well, how do you bind that into Christ? As you can see in chapter 2, these are all the shadows of the substance. Jesus is the substance. He's the fulfillment of all of that. That's really what Paul is doing. And so having applied the Christ hymn to his readers, he now is in the section, when I gave you the outline last week, where he's addressing the question of his own ministry in their midst. Of course, he has not come to Colossae personally. He's not seen these people face to face. He's gonna make mention of that in chapter two, He has concern for them and all who have not seen his face. Let me get my Bible open and get to that passage. Yeah, I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you. Chapter two and verse one. For those in Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged being knit together in love. In other words, that their hearts might not be discouraged and filled with the sense we don't have it all because Paul held something back, no. He wants them positively to have their souls rooted and grounded in the truth of the gospel. He spoke of the importance of being not shifting from the hope of the gospel in verse 23, to continue in the faith stable and steadfast. And then he speaks of his own place and situation in a prison, suffering for the sake of the gospel. And you might think, well, Paul can't be content. He wants us to be content, but he can't possibly be content. And yet he says, I rejoice in my sufferings. I'm not filled with complaints. I'm not filled with a heart of bitterness towards God or others, even my accusers, even my persecutors. I rejoice in the midst of my sufferings. and in my flesh, he says, I'm filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions. You know, I was reading the prophets, particularly Isaiah, and the whole section with the suffering servant, and leading into the suffering servant passages, you know that Israel is called the servant of the Lord, and you know that Isaiah is a servant of the Lord. And so the singular servant who was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities. He acts on behalf of the many, it says. So the servant acts so that many servants will be brought to God. And then as many servants are brought to God through the work of the singular servant, the one acting on behalf of the many, There are those special servants that God sets forth for the purposes of spreading the good news. Who has believed our report, Isaiah says, to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He mentions the tidings of good news that he's mentioned in chapter 40, mentions it again in 49, I'm sorry, 50, 51, where he speaks of upon the mountains, the feet of The beautiful feet of those that publish good tidings, that say to Zion, your God reigns. There's the messenger. There's the people God employs for the purposes of bringing the message of his gospel to others. So the servant acts to bring a gospel that has something to proclaim, and then God raises up servants to proclaim that message. and then he forms a church as a result of those labors. And all that stuff is bound up in the prophetic program of God through the prophets. And of course, that's how God always works. He works through men and not without men. He raises up his servants, my servant Moses, my servants the prophets. They're his servants. And Paul saw himself in that servant capacity, not the servant who dies for sin, but the servant who serves in the work of the gospel, so that the whole end of God will be fulfilled. And the whole end of God in the restoration of the world through the gospel takes place not only through the sufferings of the singular servant, that's the main the main factor, that we're reconciled to God through the death of his son. But Jesus says, as the Father sent me, so send I you. He says to the apostles that they are his instruments to bring his message to the world. And if they persecuted me, they will persecute you. In the world you will have tribulation. Fear not, I've overcome the world. He's constantly telling them of the troubles that gospel service brings. Now, Paul says there's that measure of ministerial affliction, not redemptive affliction. It's not to make reconciliation. It's to proclaim reconciliation. It's not to do what only Jesus can do. So Paul's not equating himself with the Son of God in terms of afflictions that bring redemption, but no. He is joined to Christ in the fellowship of his sufferings, part and parcel of what he is as a believer. He's bound up with the suffering servant to suffer for his sake that his name would be glorified and his gospel would go forward into the ends of the earth. He says, you know, that I know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable to his death. And he's not thinking, well, my sufferings are redemptive in any way or meritorious in any way. My sufferings are for the sake of the people I serve and minister to, that the gospel will go forward, and that God's elect would hear His word, and God's people would believe His word, and the church would be formed and founded. And if I'm in a prison for that, filling up what is lacking in the affliction of Christ so that at the end of God's work would be done, that a people would be formed, that the servant singular would have many servants through the work of especially gifted servants that go forth with the message of his gospel to the ends of the earth. I'm perfectly content to lay, to be in a prison. Perfectly content. I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake. That's why I'm here. I'm here for your sake. I'm here to, because I'm bringing the gospel to others. That's why I'm here. perfectly content in that. Because Paul says it's for the sake of his body. He's suffering for the sake of his body that is the church. Now only Jesus can purchase the church through his death. Only Jesus can give his life for the church in that sense of Ephesians chapter 5. But yet the afflictions that Paul engages in is for the sake of the maturation of the church, and the growth of the church, and the well-being of the church, that he would be amongst God's people as one who teaches the ways of Christ and truth. And he says of his ministerial sufferings, of which I became a minister, and that's the word for a deacon. Sometimes deacon has a specialized office, but that's a general word for ministry, that we're all deaconing. Whether you have an official title or not, we're all to be servants one of another. And there's a couple words in the Greek that are always used for the service that we bring. We recognize we're not our own, we belong to Christ and we serve him. and in proportion to the gifts that he's given to us. And this matter of ministry, for all of us really, but for Paul in particular, becomes a question of stewardship. He received a stewardship from God. So what he's doing is rejoicing in his sufferings. Going back to my outline, what he is, he's a minister according to the stewardship. He's a household manager to whom a task has been given and he's responsible to faithfully execute that task or lose his stewardship. It's required of a steward that a man be found faithful. He says in the Corinthian letter. And Paul is seeking to be a faithful steward, recognizing that this has been given him. He didn't volunteer for this. Christ has given it to him. And woe be unto me if I don't preach the gospel. I have the stewardship from God that was given me for you to make the word of God fully known. Again, if the apostles didn't go forth to the nations, people could speculate about what the death of Jesus was all about. They could try to reason from what they might have heard about what occurred in Jerusalem, but they wouldn't know for sure. There were 12 or 11, and Paul, who came under special tutelage. Jesus was with them, kept them with him for three years of ministry. to teach them and prepare them for the work that they were to do. They were there when he rose from the dead and he appeared to them. He appeared to the apostles and for a space of 40 days he went in and out among them speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God. And the church has always seen the apostles as the authoritative articulators of what Christianity is about. We go to them. They have been given this faith once for all delivered to the saints and we don't make it up on our own. There's a special authority given to these apostles and Paul's aware of that. It was given to me and stewardship for you to make the word of God fully known, to make it clear and apparent what this gospel is about and what this gospel means and how this gospel is to be applied and how we are to live in the light of it. And then he expresses the absolute need for such special servants to whom is given the word of God to proclaim authoritatively because what they're proclaiming is a mystery. What they're proclaiming is a mystery. Now, we think of mysteries in terms of detective novels that you're trying to find out the whodunit at the end. Well, God comes right up front and reveals the mystery. You don't have to go to the end. I read a mystery novel and I'm always tempted. Let me go to the end and see how it resolves and then read to see if it works out well. But I try to discipline myself not to. But I know the answer is going to come at the end. God's mysteries come up front because the mystery in Bible language is a hidden truth revealed. It's something you wouldn't know in any other way but by means of revelation that God has made it known. usages of an Old Testament word that gets translated by this Greek word, mysterion, came in the book of Daniel, when Nebuchadnezzar had dreams, and he wanted his wise men and the people in his court to tell him his dream. Not just what it means, tell me what I dreamt. Well, who could tell that? And then Daniel's tapped to do it, and Daniel says, well, to God belongs the knowledge of mysteries. Only God can disclose this. But God has given him the mystery. God has given him to explain the mystery, to open up. what could not have been known in any other way than by way of divine revelation. And so that's what a mystery is. And, you know, though there's much in the Old Testament that anticipates gospel truth and gospel reality, yet it presents it in ways that you can't really unravel it clearly. You think of all the people that were reading their Old Testament, they're reading their Hebrew Bibles before the coming of Jesus, how many of them got it right? They had speculations, but they could not know for sure. It is only as mysteries are unveiled and mysteries are made clear. You think of the book of Matthew in chapter 13. There is a grouping of parables. that in chapter 13 of Matthew is called the mysteries of the kingdom of God. And you ask yourself, well, what is that about? Well, it's those parables, they tell you something about the way in which the promises of God get fulfilled that you couldn't have known until the mystery is made known, until the mystery is declared. In other words, when Jesus came, people thought, well, If the kingdom of God is going to come, it's going to come in an instant. It's going to come in some measure of fullness and completion. And Jesus says, well, let me tell you about the mysteries of the kingdom of God. It doesn't really work that way. It's like a man going out and spreading seed. And the seed goes in all different places and then it begins to grow. And only after the seed grows do you know what the resolution of the thing is. It's going to take a while for this kingdom to come in. The mysteries of the kingdom is it grows not immediately but gradually. It's like leaven in a lump of bread. It's wending its way through. the totality of it. It doesn't it doesn't happen overnight. Maybe with yeast it might rise overnight. But generally speaking, this is something, this process, this is something that's going to take a while. I think the reason the Matthew is called the Mysteries of the Kingdom of God is that those aspects were not well understood. They thought Messiah is going to come, Romans are all gone, then David's kingdom is restored and nothing of this process stuff is going to go on. And then Jesus goes on to tell him, not only is there this matter of this time element that's going to happen, but there's going to be tares in the midst of the wheat that grows. And he'd be tempted to say, let's pull up the tares. And he says, no, not yet. Not until the end of the world. So this whole matter of the kingdom posits an idea of growth over time that culminates ultimately to the end of the earth, and that wicked and righteous are there till the end of the earth. Until the end of the, not the end of the earth, the end of the age. Till the end of the age, the wicked and the righteous go together. Now you need to realize that that's not speaking about the church, it's speaking about the world. Jesus says the field is the world. Our Presbyterian brethren take that as meaning the church and that means you have unbelieving children who are part of the church and unbelieving, you know, just don't discipline them. Just let them stay because you don't want to root them up because they're coming to church and they may get saved eventually. Well, they may get saved eventually, but it's not talking about the world. The church is talking about the world, that the wicked and the righteous persist until the end of the age. And then, The righteous shine forth as the son and the kingdom of the father. And then the wicked are sent into their own place. Not till then. And so those are mysteries. Those are things that could not be understood just from the Old Testament vantage point until, Jesus comes and explains it, and now says, this is how it's going to unpack. This is how it's going to be. Another part of mystery that you find in Paul's letters, and he's going to say something about this here, has to do with the inclusion of the Gentiles into the people of God. And that's in verse 27, how God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which here it's Christ in you, the hope of glory. There's another aspect of the mystery that has to do with the Gentiles. Well, it's definitely in Ephesians. When in doubt, turn to Ephesians, the companion letter. And in chapter three, Paul speaks of in verse nine, to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in Christ who created all things. So that, no, I got to back up. He uses mystery in so many different places. How the mystery, this is verse three, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation. As I've written briefly, when you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. There might've been a certain... hints of things to come, but not in this way. Not in this way that it's now been made known. And the mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. Now think about that a minute. In the Old Testament point of view, when you're reading the prophets and you're reading about Gentile inclusion, I mean, it's there in the Old Testament, how does it appear? Well, it appears in the way that Gentiles become Jews. You know, they come from the nations and they come to Mount Zion. They come to the temple. They come to learn the ways of the Lord from the Jews. From Zion goes forth the Word of God and the nations come into the people of God. It's coming from the world to the church and becoming Jews. That was the hope and expectation. If the Gentiles are going to be received at all, they're going to become Jews. But here, no. They're fellow heirs with the saints in the household of God. They don't have to be circumcised and keep the law of Moses. They don't have to become Jews to be the true people of God. The mystery is that those that are far off are now brought near by the blood of Christ. The mystery is that God now includes in a monk the covenant people, people from all nations and middle wall of division in the laws of commandments like circumcision and dietary restrictions and things like that are all taken away. And the mystery is that Christ is in you, the hope of glory, that there is God dwelling the hearts and lives of his people directly through the gospel, through his word, without reference to law-keeping and Faith receives the blessings. Faith receives the fullness that is in Christ. Again, you couldn't really know that for sure until Christ comes and the Gospels proclaim and the mystery of God becomes unveiled. So, is that kind of clear? Hopefully. Well, let's go back to the text in Colossians and follow Paul along. Paul is teaching the mystery. He's teaching the word of God to the people of God. He's seeking to make Christ fully known among the Colossians, the ways in which it could not be understood before Christ came. Now it can be understood, but the apostolic message to the apostles themselves, they're the inspired authoritative interpreters of the meaning of Christ's coming and how that applies to the needs of the church. So Paul becomes a minister, according to stewardship, in verse 25, to make the word of God fully known to them. What word of God is this? Well, part of it is the mystery hidden for ages and generations, but now revealed to the saints. Things you couldn't know before, now we can know. And why? Because Christ has come. To them, God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery. which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Hope of glory that we have in Christ and we have Christ in us bringing that hope near, bringing that hope made real to us in Him. So it's coming into a faith relationship to Christ that brings us into the fullness of the riches of the glory of the mystery, the fullness of the blessings the glorious hope that is before us is all bound up in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now we had our men's retreat focused in upon the subject of union with Christ and again my own sense of things is that Sometimes that is helpful. Sometimes, like when I was in school, one of the things we did is we took some of the things we were taught and we tried to bring it to, well, how does this apply to the Old Testament saints? So what did the Old Testament saints know of union with Christ? Well, again, it depends how you define it. It depends what you mean by it. Again, there is no New Testament word for union, but there's a bunch of prepositions that speak of relationship. that we're in Christ, with Christ, into Christ, under Christ. I mean, there's all kinds of these relationships that we sustain. And it does refer to the fact that everything that we possess as God's people is bound up in our participation or union in, or there's lots of words that you can use for this, our fellowship. I think that's an important one. Our fellowship with the Lord Jesus that we have this relationship with him that Old Testament saints didn't have as we now have it, but they did have a relationship with Israel's God, didn't they? Whom have I in heaven but you? There is none on the earth I desire besides you. You are the strength of my heart, my glory forevermore. You are the joy of my salvation. I mean, there's a deep, intimate bond that the people of Israel had with a God who walked in their midst. Again, it was through temple stuff, it was through sacrificial stuff, it was through lots of mediation and things, but yet they enjoyed it. They enjoyed fellowship with God. They enjoyed the blessings of a relationship with God. But it's not Christ who's in us. The revelation of God in Christ and the fullness of the Godhead dwelt bodily is now in us. I think that's what he wants his readers to understand. Whatever's on offer on the part of these false teachers can never exceed what you already have. This mystery, this glorious mystery, this riches of his glory, he says. Look, he uses the term glory twice. The riches of his glory in verse 27, the hope of glory, the hope of coming glory. We are possessors of that. Christ is in us. By his spirit, yes, but he is in us. There is a union and relationship and fellowship and nearness and intimacy that we have with Christ so that we know Him. The fellowship of His sufferings conformed to His death. We know Him. He's in us by the Spirit. And Paul says, is this Jesus? We proclaim. We proclaim. warning everyone and teaching everyone. It's interesting that those two terms in verse 28 of chapter two, chapter one, those two terms are in chapter three in verse 16, where he says, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, admonishing and teaching one another. So this is a matter of Paul being one who admonishes and teaches to the end that we all should admonish and teach one another. Everyone with all wisdom. And I think that is also back in chapter three and verse 16. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Let me read it to you. See how many of the words are, and 2.28 are found in 3.16, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another, the admonition comes after the teaching, in all wisdom, in all wisdom, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom. All those words are found again here in its context of Christian fellowship and worship within the people of God. But again, it's the apostolic teachers that come to set the stage for this life of the body. They're concerned to build his church, form his church, bring together a fellowship of believers that are bound in union with Christ, in participation in the blessings of Christ, that provide a community of believers in Christ, in which the common theme is we have a common glory and a common hope, a common instruction and a common And the end of the whole thing is to present everyone mature in Christ. To bring about in them spiritual maturity in Christ. And he says, for this I toil, work in hardness. And so going back to my outline, what's Paul doing? Well, he's rejoicing in a prison, even in the midst of suffering for the sake of the church. What Paul is, he's a minister according to the stewardship that was given to him. What did he teach? Well, the Word of God. He's making it fully known, the unveiling of the mystery that now has been revealed. And what he sought was that the church would be mature in Christ and it would be mature through admonition and through teaching and wisdom to present everyone mature in Christ. And the presentation of everyone mature in Christ may well have the view of presenting them in the day of judgment to God. Certainly that's the view of Ephesians chapter five, where he says that we present everyone blameless before him. That before him, we will present the people to him blameless, having labored and toiled with all energy for this end. Paul says what I've done in toiling and struggling with all energy has been a battle. Lots of things that come against it. Again, he's in a prison for the sake of the gospel. He can't be with them. They can't see him face to face, but yet he toils and struggles with all energy. One of the ways from prison he might've toiled and struggled for them is in chapter four, where we read about Epaphras. I'm sorry, not Epaphras. Yeah, Epaphras, that's the one. Verse 12 of chapter four, he's one of you. Again, he mentioned him in chapter one through whom The word of the gospel had come to the Colossians. He's a servant of Christ Jesus. He greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers. And that word struggle, we get the English word agony from. He agonizomai. He agonizes for the sake of the Colossians in his prayers before God, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God. There's another maturity again. It's to present everyone mature in Christ. That's a holistic end. Again, that's the end of the Great Commission, isn't it? Teaching them all things whatsoever I have commanded. The whole end is not just to get them saved, get them ready for glory, to get them ready for glory and the only right way that we can be ready for glory is to be mature. To work maturity in Christ through the word in the lives and hearts of the people of God. And he engages in this work with all his energy that powerfully works within me. Paul makes mention of the power of God at work amongst believers in terms of being resurrection power. You who is he quickened, who were dead in your trespasses and sins. He's made you alive when you were dead in your trespasses and sins. There's the power that works within us that he prays in Ephesians one, that the Ephesian Christians would know. And Paul utilizes this resurrection power that's available to believers because Christ has been raised from the dead and by his spirit, he powerfully works within us. to fulfill the work of the ministry, to fulfill the work that God has given us to do. There may be many reasons that we don't do well in ministry, but it shouldn't be the lack of labor. It shouldn't be a lack of toil. It shouldn't be a reluctance to work. Jesus said to pray the Father that he would send workers into his harvest field The servants of God need to be laborers. They need to be workers. I remember years ago, a guy came up to me and said, I'm really thinking maybe the Lord's called me to the ministry. How would I know? I said, well, okay, take eight hours and close yourself into a room and spend that time studying a portion of his word, praying over that word, looking up the meaning of the Greek and Hebrew words, engage in the labor, and you come out of that and ask, tell me, did you enjoy that? I'll have a sense of whether you're prepared for the ministry in terms of whether you're ready for the next eight hours or so to do something similar, because that's what the work of the ministry is. It's endeavoring to find out what the Word of God means. It's that the Word of God can be proclaimed for the good of the people of God. And so that involves labor. It's not for the lazy. Diligence, toil is necessary for this work. Struggling, agonizing with all of the energy that he powerfully works in me. Paul's labors and struggle, he goes on to tell them, is for the Colossians, yes, but also for the Laodiceans and all whom he says unto one have not seen me face to face. That their hearts may be encouraged. Again, these false teachers, they don't remain just in Colossae, they look to spread there are poisonous notions far and wide, that they being knit together in love would reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Someone comes along and says, well, I have some special avenue into the wisdom of God and the knowledge of God and the will of God and the word of God. And I know it all, and I'm more than happy to tell you all. You say, well, okay, well, how is Jesus connected to this whole matter of the things you think you know? Because again, my Bible tells me it's in him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. If you're coming along saying it's in you, well, we might have a bit of, authority problem here. I might have bowed to your authority on your say-so or might have bowed to the authoritative Word of God that tells me it's in Christ. I'm going to find hidden all the treasures of wisdom and of knowledge. And I hear of people who relate to servants of Christ who never have any sin to confess, never have any imperfection to acknowledge, think of themselves as just the beginning, middle, and end of all wisdom and of all knowledge. They never get it wrong. They never...you can't correct them. This is nothing to correct. You just have to think to yourself, who do they think they are? I mean, the reality is God uses imperfect man, fallible man, to do his work. And our only confidence is that it's in our Savior we find the fullness of the Godhead dwelling bodily. And by his spirit dwelling in us, we can tap into that infinite source. of knowledge and wisdom and of good that comes to us in the gospel. But we don't have it in its fullness. We don't have it. It's imperfect in every regard. In Jesus alone, perfection reigns. And he says, I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. Again, you know, much of the early church Heresies. A lot of people think that in the Colossae there was some manifestation of what was called Gnosticism. Gnosticism simply believed that they had some hidden knowledge that they got from, well, some source. They disclosed it to them. It's a complex thing. I've read books on Gnosticism. I've read Irenaeus and his Against Heresies, and I said to myself, Did they actually believe that stuff? I can't even grapple with what it is they're saying, never mind believing the things that these people say that they believe. And I think they like to make it intentionally profound, and you can't grab a hold of it, because then you can't really answer it. You can't really speak to the issue of where they're wrong, because you can't even know what they're saying half the time. But people come with their plausible arguments. Half-truths, but yet as they presented, it seems ever so right. But they're not under authority, and they're subject to the word of God. And again, even the apostle Paul recognized that in the Berean visit that he placed in Acts chapter 17, he was happy they heard him. But I think he was even happier that they went to the scriptures day by day to see whether these things were so. And then they believed. Then they believed when they got it all verified in their own eyeballs through the scriptures. Though I'm absent, he says, in body, I'm with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ. So, you know, there's a sense in which he's wonderfully encouraged, but he wants these people who have, given him encouragement by their faith and by their love and by the evidence of their good order and all these good things. He's heard to be in them. Knows to be in them. Hasn't seen it with his own eyes, but he's heard from it with Paphris. There's good reports about these Colossian people. But he also knows that there are the heiress at hand. There are the people who are seeking to bring their plausible arguments. He goes in chapter two later on, see that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit according to human tradition. according to the elemental spirits of this world and not according to Christ. So there's warnings about these false teachers that would do them ill. And they, again, the answer is understand the basis of the good that's come to you through the gospel. It's all wrapped up in Christ and the fullness of the God that's in Him, the fullness of wisdom and knowledge are in Him. Don't let anybody lead you astray. Say, we've got some greater light somewhere else. We've got some greater knowledge and understanding somewhere else. If they're not directing you to Christ, don't hear them. Don't listen to them. God's wisdom comes in Christ. The knowledge of God's will and God's ways comes in Christ. I heard a little bit of Joel Osteen the other day. Now, you know, we don't put down these people. We don't want to give time to these people. And I just wondered, if I listen more, Would I eventually get to Jesus somewhere online? And I tend to doubt that I would, because I don't think, unless it's to support his own notions and ideas, that he'll get very close to Jesus, at least not the biblical Jesus. And that's certainly not a good thing. So when I hear that, I have to back away and say, okay, got plenty of this guy, but he's not really reflecting much of, you know, the John the Baptist sense that he must increase and I must decrease. If I need Joel Osteen or I need anybody to be my guru, to guide me into the ways of the Lord, I mean, I remember back in the day, I got very antsy one time when a fellowship with someone who had been attending the church for a while began to be constantly hearing, well, actually somebody told me this, I didn't say it in my presence, but this person kept saying, well Pastor Gordon said, and Pastor Gordon said, and Pastor Gordon said, and Pastor Gordon... I mean, am I pleased with that? If you checked it out, if you checked it out, I might be pleased with it. If you want to say, well, Pastor Gordon showed us that God's word tells us, that's good. But I don't want to be anybody's authority. I don't want to be anybody's guru. I don't want to be the one everybody looks to. I mean, I know people do that. They look to their pastors, they look to their church leaders, but it's like being a parent and knowing that your influence upon your children are going to soon be reflected in them. And I remember the horror that I had one time when I realized I was about to discipline my son for something. And then I said to myself, wait a minute, wait a minute. What am I seeing? A mirror. I'm seeing me. I'm seeing words and attitudes that reflect things I've said and attitudes I've had. And he learned, he learned well. Not the good things in me, but the simple things in me. That's a horror when you see that. But again, you don't want people to make you the be-all and end-all. And so Paul tells them, as you receive Christ Jesus. It's interesting, he doesn't say as you heard from Papaphras, or as you received my ministry. That wouldn't be too bad because, again, follow me as I follow Christ. That's getting close to the source. But you really want to get to the source, don't you? You really want to get to the source of all of the blessings, the wisdom and knowledge, the riches are in Him, the fullness of Godhood in Him. You want to be in Him. And so these Christians came to believe in the Lord Jesus. And as you received Him as Lord, continue. in Him. So walk in Him. So structure your lives in accordance with the things of Christ that you've initially received. It's not like you get Jesus and you go on to some new thing. To me that's what's so incomprehensible about the second blessings doctrines is that in Jesus there's something inadequate and you got to go on from Jesus to a further thing or blessing. I mean, as if Jesus didn't give you the Holy Spirit. I mean, he promised he would, didn't he? Didn't he? I'll pray the Father and he will send you another comforter that he might be with you always. Was that just to the apostles? I think it's the common possession of all of the redeemed. Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ unto the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. That the Holy Spirit comes to all who believe in Jesus. So there are no blessings outside of Christ. We've been blessed with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. It's all in connection with him. Nothing's outside of Jesus. As you received him as Lord, so walk in him. He doesn't cease to be Lord. He continues to be Lord. And so he's, we'll see this morning, let the peace of Christ rule in your heart. Let him be the decider of everything. The word actually means let him arbitrate. Let him be the umpire. Put it in his hands. This is called the balls and strikes. To say whether it's good or bad. Put it in his hands. He's the one who rules. He's Lord. Live like he's Lord. Walk in him. rooted and built up in him, established in the faith, just as you were taught abounding in thanksgiving. So again, Paul's going back to what you've already received, how you've already been taught. And see in those things the fullness of sufficiency that'll lead you to abound in thanksgiving. And a bounding of thanksgiving isn't something you work up. It's something you experience as you understand just what you have. You got this treasure, right? You got this immense wealth, abundant riches, fullness of resources, untapped treasures of wisdom and of knowledge, all bound up in Him. And our problem is we don't see it. It's not that we don't have it, we do, but just we don't act as if we do. We don't live as if we do. We don't draw from the fullness of the reservoir of divine grace and blessing. It's like being the prince and living like a pauper. So again, Paul's gonna take on the false teachers, but he wants to take on the false teachers from the advantage point that they have nothing to offer you, because everything of real value is already bound up in Christ. You already have it in Him. And so don't let them prey upon you with the notion they got something to give you that your other teachers are hiding from you. Again, that's God's, that's Satan's argument in the garden. God's holding you back and keeping you for something that's really valuable. When God has actually given us everything richly to enjoy in every fullness of blessing that we have been freely given to receive. Just act as if it's so. Live in the light of it, I guess is the point of it all. And then, again, this whole matter of... Really, I'm going to give you an outline, God willing, next time we're together, that's going to cover Chapter 6, to really through the rest of chapter 3 and verse 17. We're going to do much of that work this morning in the morning worship and so I'll just need to allude to it, God willing, the next time we're together. But that's really a unit of thought that comes out of the opening exposition of the fullness of the blessings we possess in the gospel. You have it. Live as it's so. Walk in the light of it. And you don't need anything that these people are trying to sell. So turn a deaf ear to it, because it can add a bit to what you already possess so fully in the Lord Jesus Christ. So God willing, we're going to take that up next week. Any comments, questions before we conclude this morning? Tom, please go ahead. When you read verse 28 and 128, can we proclaim warning everyone, teaching everyone with all wisdom that we may present everyone mature in Christ. And you briefly touched on that presenting, maturity. So I word searched that word present and I went to both Ephesians 5.27. Yes. He might present the church to himself in spite of referring to Christ and his crucifixion and the life of husbands, wives, families, people, believers. But referencing Christ's presentation of the church to himself, maybe next week or some other time, could you briefly just go over that again? Is that the same idea, a different idea, complementary ideas of what Christ is presenting? Paul is presenting to bring to maturity. Yeah. Yeah, I did sort of allude to it, but yeah, I believe it is the same. I believe it is to present to everyone in the day of Christ. As he presents the church, that includes everyone he's ministering to. Again, the Ephesian letter gives you the wider picture of the universal church. here as well, but he's talking to people in the church. So it's to present you guys along with everyone else in the day of Christ, that you all will be presented holy and without blemish before him. Yeah, I think that is, that's the end game. And you have that language also in Ephesians one and verse chapter one, when he says, Blessed be the God and Father, I gotta go from the beginning, sorry. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ, even as he chose us in him before the foundation. And we go in all different directions, heavenly directions, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish before him, before him. I think that's also in his presence, being presented to him, in his presence, that that is the end game. I think that there is that consciousness of not only the blessings that were planned and the blessings now that are heavenly, but also the blessings which are eternal and before us in his presence. So yeah, the Christian life has lived within that framework of seeking the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God, but also being saved in hope of the future. So, yeah. So I do think that we may present everyone in maturing crisis looking at the future, looking at, I guess we can use the word, the eschatology, the end game of the Christian life of being presented before his presence in the day of judgment. I could say more about that probably next time, but maybe that's sufficient. I don't know. We'll pursue that more. Anything else before we conclude? Let's pray together. Father, we are thankful for the riches of your grace and kindness to us and our Lord Jesus. We're thankful for the fullness of grace that you have bestowed upon us and forgive us that we so often just live as if we were without resources and without aid from above and without any hope of your intervention in any way in our lives. And Lord, we definitely do sell short the the purposes of your goodness and love towards your children to not leave us without any needed thing. And so we pray that we would draw from you all that we need, that we would draw from our Lord Jesus, those treasures of wisdom and of knowledge, that we would be good students of your word, that we would be good and faithful members of your church and seeing that These blessings are given to your children, not in isolation from one another, but in relationship to one another. And we pray that the life of the body of Christ in this place would be helping each one to mature, that we would be presented as a chaste virgin in your sight in the day of judgment when we're brought before you without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. So we ask that you'd hear our prayers. We ask that you'd bless your people. We ask that you'd be pleased to, again, make this day our fellowship together, our worship together, our testimony together, to be filled with great joy and thankfulness of heart as we consider the abounding grace that you've given us. So hear our prayers and be pleased to crown our day together with your blessed presence in our midst. As we ask these things in Jesus' name, amen.