Morning. Look with me at Colossians chapter 1 and verse 24. Please stand for the reading of God's Word. Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations, but now revealed to his saints. 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. Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all His energy that powerfully works within me. For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments, for though I am absent in body, Yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ. This is God's Word. You may be seated. Well, there's so much to cover in this passage, but I think it's important that we take this chunk together to get the full meaning here. I'm going to split this into a two-part message. Pastor Matt said he'd let me preach next week, too. But this week what I want to look at is the content of what Paul is struggling for, what he is going after, which is the mystery of Christ. And then next week I want us to look at the topic of suffering, and suffering for the sake of the church, sharing in the afflictions of Christ for the spread of the gospel. And we'll focus on that next week, so we'll kind of skip a little bit of those themes that are in this text today. But today's message is simply a call for us to again see the centrality of Jesus Christ in the life of the church, in your life. I want us to see today that the same Christ, when we looked at the passage a few weeks ago, the same Christ that Paul exalts in the Christ hymn, that he is the image of the invisible God, this same Christ is the Christ whom you, saints, are united to. And it is this Christ that we enjoy in Him, that we enjoy all the benefits of being in fellowship with God. You see, Paul highlights here his suffering on the behalf of the church in order, one, to show them that he loves them, but also to show them the worth of the message, yea, the person for which he suffers. And so today, We will look at this message, this message which Paul says that he proclaims and that the church proclaims so that we may be presented mature in Christ. Without keeping Christ at the center, we will never reach maturity in Christ. Look here in verse 24, So Paul is suffering for the body. Christ's body which is the church and we'll cover that this verse length next week of which Paul became a minister according to the commission from God that was given to him for you. to make the Word of God fully known. This ministry that Paul is given as an apostle to preach the excellency of Christ, to proclaim the mystery of Christ, was given to him as a commission from God. He is commissioned by God as an apostle to speak with authority, and here in Scripture, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to declare to us the mystery of Christ, that we might reach the hope of glory, that we might have the plan of God. Now look, he says that it was the commission from God that was given to make the Word of God fully known. Quite literally, this could be translated to fulfill the Word of God. Paul and all the apostles and all of Christ's disciples that Jesus sent out, right? Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them, teaching them, right? In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. All disciples share in this ministry to fulfill the Word of God. Now, if you remember, we've got to go all the way back to chapter 1. Paul says in chapter 1, verse 5, of this you have heard before in the word of truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing, as it also does among you since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth." So Paul's ministry, in any ministry of the proclamation of God's word, where the gospel is preached with conviction that it is the truth of God, it is to fulfill God's plan through his gospel, Because the gospel is the power of God for salvation to all who believe, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile, right? Romans 1.16. And Paul's ministry is to fulfill the mission of God's Word. And it is the Word of God, it is the gospel of Jesus Christ that is the power of God, is the means by which God brings sinners to repentance and trusting in the Savior, Jesus Christ. And so, his mission, his goal, his purpose for his suffering, his purpose for his struggling on the behalf of the church, the purpose of these words that he writes to us, to the church, to all believers throughout time, is to fulfill the Word of God by making it known. And then he tells us what This word of God that he is making known this gospel is and he calls it the mystery hidden for ages and generations But now revealed to his saints Now this word mystery is an important word and I want to spend a little bit of time on it because it is very significant in the book of Colossians and also in the book of Ephesians and we saw the same word popped up in first Corinthians which was read this morning and this word mystery during the first century when Colossians was written, was a word in the Greco-Roman world that was understood to mean a secret or a secret rite or some kind of secret teaching. And it was used as a technical term. This term mystery was a technical term to pagans of What were these called these mystery religions see in the roman world there were official religions that everybody participated in together But then there were also these things called the mystery religions and these were secret religions kind of like maybe secret societies like the freemasons something like that and these secret mysterious religions had all these secret teachings that we have no idea what they were because they didn't write them down because they were secrets and they would initiate people into these truths and they were it was this private religion and these mysteries were all these secret initiations in these pagan ideas right so To the Gentiles, this word is a technical term to refer to secret practices in religions, things that could not be known unless they were given to you. Now, that's one background to this word, but another one that's important and is really significant for our passage here is how Paul is using the word in relation to its use in Daniel. See, in the translation, the Old Testament was translated into Greek, and that's the primary Bible that during Jesus' day and the Apostle Paul and the Apostles used was a Greek translation of the Old Testament called the Septuagint. And in the Septuagint, the book of Daniel, this word, the same Greek word, mystery, is used in that same passage that we read this morning. And if you look, now look at Daniel with me real quick. Turn to Daniel chapter 2 and verse 5. Or 25, sorry. Daniel chapter 2. So during the scripture reading, we read. Daniel's prayer and how he gave thanks to God for revealing this Knowledge to him of this dream that had been given to Nebuchadnezzar and he said how he reveals deep and hidden things He knows what is in the darkness and the light dwells with him then if you go down to verse 25 It says then Ariok brought in Daniel before the king in haste and said thus to him I have found among the exiles from Judah a man who will make known to the king the interpretation and The king declared to Daniel, whose name was Belteshar, are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation? Daniel asked the king and said, no wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers can show to the king the mystery the king has asked. There's the word mystery, that's the same word. But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream and the visions of your head as you lay in bed are these. To you, O king, as you lay in bed, came thoughts of what would be after this. And he who reveals mysteries may know unto you what is to be. But as for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because of any wisdom that I have, more than all the living, but in order that the interpretation may be known to the king and that you may know the thoughts of your mind." All right, go back to Colossians. All right, so mystery in the pagan world is this technical term used in these secret religions. But Paul takes up this word and uses it in a way to refer to God's secrets, to God's secret plans that only God can reveal. So we could even translate it here in Colossians as secret. Let's read it that way. I really want you to understand what mystery means, because mystery in our minds, we think of some kind of thing that is abstract, that you can't really grab a hold of, right? But the way Paul is using mystery is to refer to something that was hidden, that is unknowable to man, in his own reason, unless God reveals it, and God has revealed it. Look, he says, what was hidden for ages and generations, but now revealed to his saints. So a mystery for Paul is the secret plan of God, the working of God, of what he is going to accomplish in the world, in redemption, to make all things new. that these things were hidden, this eternal decree of God hidden for ages and generations, but it has now been revealed to His saints. So what exactly is the mystery that Paul is referring to? Well, first, he simply defines the mystery as Christ himself. Look in verse 2-3, he says, God's mystery, which is Christ. That the plan of God, not the, there was an expectation of the Messiah, right? But the full understanding of who the Messiah would be, that he would be the Son of God, the Christ, the Jesus of Nazareth, who Paul exalts in a few verses earlier, as the image of the invisible God who created everything. and who is the head of the church, who was crucified dead and buried and rose from the dead on the third day. This Christ is the mystery that Paul is referring to. He is the mystery, the one hidden for ages, the secret plan of God, the secret dispensation and how God would bring about salvation to all the nations is Christ. Second, he defines the mystery as the church's union with Christ. Look at verse 27. 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." We'll unpack that a little bit more in a minute, but one of the aspects of the mystery, the thing hidden for ages, is the church's union with Christ. The church's being one with Christ and having Christ as our representative. Having Christ dwelling in us and transforming us into His image more and more every day. Third, he defines the mystery as the reconciliation of all things in Christ. That is, that all things are being made new and right as a result of the person and the work of Christ. Remember we saw that a few weeks ago. That God is reconciling all things to Himself. Meaning that He is making all things new and that He has conquered all of His enemies through the work of Christ. Paul calls that the mystery in Ephesians 1, 9 and 10. And the last way Paul speaks of the mystery is he speaks of it as the unifying of Jew and Gentiles together into one body, the church. In Ephesians, he makes this explicit, saying that the mystery has to do with the plan of salvation, not only having to do with Israel and the Jews, but to bring in all the nations into Christ, and to make a one people of God. And he even hints at that here, saying that this mystery is made known among the Gentiles. So to summarize, the mystery that Paul refers to here is the plan of God to send His only Son in the incarnation of Jesus Christ, to redeem His church by His person and work, uniting all the elect to Him by faith, conquering all His enemies so that He might rule over all things and make all things right and new, so that He might make peace by the blood of His cross, that He might bring together Jew and Gentile, meaning people from every tribe and nation and tongue, into one person in the body of Christ. Put simply, the mystery of God is the gospel, the good news of Jesus. And it's the power of God for salvation to all who believe. Everyone here who trusts in Jesus, it is through the power of God which is proclaimed to you today, which is the gospel that Jesus has come to redeem you. And if you'll trust in Him, He will save you. The mystery is God's eternal plan from before the creation of the world. And now made known to you, his saints, that in Christ you may know the riches of the very glorious presence of God in Jesus Christ, who dwells in you by his Holy Spirit." So, one thing we see clearly here is that God's mystery is something that must be revealed to us, right? As we saw here, he said, it was not known, but now has been made known. It was hidden, but now it is made known. And whenever Paul uses this word mystery, he always uses it with also a word that has to do with revelation. That God is the one who has to reveal, to illuminate, to make clear, to show us the mystery of Christ. Turn to 1 Corinthians 2. He uses this word mystery again, and we read this passage this morning, but I want to highlight a couple things in it. Look at verse 6, "'Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age, or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away.'" Remember Daniel, Daniel talked about a mystery, right? And he said it wasn't by his own wisdom. that he came to understand the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, right? It was revealed to him by God. Same idea here. Yet among the insurer we do not impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age who are doomed to pass away, but we impart a secret, that's the same word mystery there, impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God which God decreed before the ages for our glory. Skip down to verse 14. For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ." So, this mystery of Christ, who He is in His glory, who He is in His work, must be made known to us by the Holy Spirit. It must be revealed to our hearts. It must be made known. Now you may ask, I thought that Christ is declared all through the Old Testament. He is. But it was not until His advent, until His coming, until His work, that now we can see how all of the Old Testament points to Jesus, right? Peter says that when the prophets They prophesied of the Christ to come. They didn't know the times. They didn't know how exactly these things would be fulfilled, and yet they hoped in the promise. But we have received the promise. And so now, we are able to see that all the work of God, the law, as we've been going through it, Pastor Matt, the feasts, and if you look at all the sacrifices, and you look at the work of God in delivering Israel out of Egypt, you look at all that God does in the Old Testament, all of it is there in outward ceremonies and outward pictures as a picture of the one to come, which is Jesus Christ. and we who have been enlightened by the Spirit to see the clear thrust of Scripture that the whole Word of God has to do with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We see that because it's made known to us, it's revealed to us by the Holy Spirit. You see, when Christ came, He made it clear that He was here to fulfill the Law and the Prophets. But even his people, the Jews of the day who had the Word of God, who had the Old Testament, could not see that he was the Christ because our sin blinds us to the truth. It's not that it's not there, but it's God's plan hidden in plain sight. And you know what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1? It's that God has chosen what is foolish in the world so that he might shame the wise. You see, we proclaim Christ and Christ crucified. We proclaim Christ, who is God's eternal Son, who created everything, and that everything exists because He holds it together. We proclaim Christ, who is the head of the church, who died for His body and rose from the dead. We're talking about the Messiah, who is God eternal, become man in the flesh, God in the flesh. who was crucified on a Roman cross, that is folly both. It's folly to the stumbling block for Jews and folly to Gentiles. God chose what an appearance is sounds foolish so that he may shame the wise. That we would be dependent upon the revelation of God. That we would know that the gospel is the power of God because God is the one who works through this message and has brought about a great redemption. And his redemption has been brought about in a way that none of us would have thought of. Augustine said the new is in the old concealed and the old is in the new revealed that is The Old Testament is pointing to the New Testament, but it's concealed without the New Testament But the New Testament reveals the old and how it all points to Jesus Christ was hidden, not in the sense of there being a messianic expectation. There was an expectation for the Messiah. The scriptures clearly pointed to it. But it was hidden that he was going to be the fullness of God in bodily form, and that he would reign and rule over all things, and that he would conquer through the blood of his cross. So, saints, There is no boasting because we can't boast in our merit. We have nothing good to bring. We cannot earn our way into God's kingdom. But even beyond that, we don't even have boasting in our knowledge. We cannot boast in our knowledge because in order to know Christ, it had to be made known to us by the will of God. Did you see that Paul said that there in Colossians? He said, that to them God chose, that's the same word for will, God willed to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery. It's God's will. Why? Doesn't that blow your mind to think that it's God's will to reveal Christ to you? To me? Who are we? We're dust. And not only are we dust, we're rebellious dust. And yet God loves us. And He has willed from before the foundation of the world that He would make Christ known. The second thing I want us to see here is that God's mystery is emphasized here as our union with Christ. Christ is the sum of the gospel, right? The good news is Jesus, his person and his work, who he is and what he has done. And we see here that Paul says that God had commissioned him to fulfill the Word of God, which was to make the mystery known that was hidden for ages but now revealed to his saints. Because God has chosen, willed 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. The doctrine of our union with Christ is a precious doctrine. It's the doctrine of the church's belonging to Jesus in such a way that we are called his bride, his very body over which he is the head. Here Paul says it in the reverse of the way he usually says it. Here he says it's Christ in us. And often you'll find him saying, in Christ. How many times have we already read in Colossians, Paul say, in Christ. Or in Ephesians, in Christ. Well there he's getting at this doctrine of our union with Christ. That if we... have trusted in Jesus, if we had the Holy Spirit been born again, that we are in a union with Jesus, that we belong to him, that he is our head, the head of the body. And so Paul can speak of the church as Christ's very body, just as your head is attached to your body, right? And the your fingers, and your arms, and your hands, your feet, all of you, is part of the body, right? It is attached. And there's an organic connection with the head. And the head gives direction, it sustains life, and all these metaphors that are used of the head, that is how Christ is related to his church. We are so, our relationship with Christ is one of of a union, of a oneness, that it is a oneness such that Christ is called the head and we his very body, we the members of his body. And this means that Christ is our representative. This means that all that He is, all that He has done for the human race is of benefit to us because if we are in Christ, we are His and all of His benefits belong to us. that because He is righteous, His righteousness belongs to us. Because He was risen from the dead and He was declared just before God, we have justification because we are united with the just one, with the one who is right, the one who's made atonement for our sins. We are called sons of God because we are united to the eternal Son of God. We are adopted through Him, through His person and His work. We are sanctified through our union with Christ. As Paul puts it when he speaks of marriage in Ephesians 5, Christ washes His body in the water of His Word that He might present us holy and blameless. Christ is purifying his bride through his union with us. This is a precious doctrine, saints, because this means that Christ is not a far-off. This means that when Christ descended at the right hand of God, He did not go and leave us alone. But He sent who? He sent the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit mediates the presence of Christ. And so if you have the Spirit of Christ, Paul said, we read in Corinthians, right? That we have the mind of Christ. That if we have the Spirit of Christ, we have the Holy Spirit, he calls Him, in Romans, the Spirit of Christ. And it's not that the Spirit is Christ, but the Spirit mediates the presence of Christ, and joins us to Christ, and applies all the work of Christ to us, His church. Calvin said this, as long as Christ remains outside of us, and we are separated from Him, all that He has suffered and done for the salvation of the human race remains useless and of no value for us. See, the Scriptures teach us that we must be in Christ. It's not just an intellectual knowledge of what Christ did. It's not knowing that a man named Jesus lived, that He claimed to be the Son of God, that He was crucified dead and buried, and that He even rose from the dead. Guess what? Satan knows that is true. The demons know that is true. When the demons encountered Jesus, they knew who He was, right? And they know that He rose from the dead because He conquered them on the cross. Okay, so even the demons know that Jesus rose from the dead. So it's not about what you know just in your mind. It's a new heart. And it's a trusting in Jesus. It's being joined to Christ. It's being in Christ. It's being engrafted into Him by the Holy Spirit. It simply means you must be born again. You must be born again of the Holy Spirit. You must be brought from death to life and have Christ's presence in order to know Him. And how do you know if Christ is in you? The signs of grace, of repentance, of trusting in Christ as the only hope of salvation, of forsaking all and following Jesus. That's not the work you do, that's the response. That's the receiving of the gift. That's knowing that you found the treasure in the field and so you're like, I gotta have this treasure. So you go sell everything you have, you buy the field, so you can have Jesus. That's the gospel. That Jesus is the treasure. And unless you sell everything and go follow Him, you don't have His life in you. Because you have to forsake the world to have Christ. And if Christ is in you, then all His benefits belong to you. And you are brought into the fellowship of God the Father and God the Son. You were made for fellowship with God. Do you know that? What is the chief end of man? To glorify God and to enjoy Him forever, right? We often leave that last part off. To enjoy Him forever. But that's just a summation of Scripture. We were created for fellowship with God. This is what we see in Genesis. God makes Adam and Eve. They're in the garden. God's presence is there. What does sin do? It separates us from God, right? They had to leave the garden. And God's plan of redemption From Abraham, to Moses, to David, to its culmination in Jesus Christ, bringing about full salvation, is all about restoring us into the fellowship with God the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This is what you were made for. This is what you were created for. It's forgiveness of sins, so that we can have fellowship with God. not just forgiveness of sins, forgiveness of sins and fellowship with God, being brought in as sons of God. Why? Because God is love. He loves us. He cares for us. He cherishes us because he loves us with the same love that he has for his son, Jesus Christ. Look, he said that he calls it the riches of the glory. Because as we already said that in verse 19, he said, for in him, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. And so Christ in you means the full presence of God. It means you have the fullness of fellowship with God. And so this is the riches of God's glory. It's the riches of God's glory dwelling in you. For in him the fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled, Paul says this in chapter 2 of Colossians, you have been filled in him. Christ is your life. He's the very presence of God. This is the same God who passed before Moses and said, He is the Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquities of the father and the children and the children's children to the third and fourth generation. And saints the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we have seen his glory Glory is of the only son from the father full of grace and truth Do you have Christ you have? fellowship with God and This was God's plan hidden for generations, but now made known to you You have been brought into this fellowship Next point, God's mystery. this belonging to Jesus has, this message has the power to sanctify. It has the power not only to save, but to sanctify. We often split off sanctification from salvation, right? But sanctification is just as much a part of salvation as justification. That means us being forgiven of our sins and brought into right standing with God is part of salvation. Without that, we have no fellowship with God. But those whom He justified, He sanctified. And those whom He sanctified, He glorified. We have been chosen in Christ to be conformed into His image, right? So sanctification, there is no salvation without sanctification. Right? There's no salvation without justification. There's no salvation without sanctification. There's no salvation without glorification. Because what God starts, He finishes. Right? Well, look at what Paul says here. Verse 28. Him, this Christ, who is the hope of glory, Him we proclaim. warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me." You see, Paul understands the depths of this knowledge of Christ, that it's the power of God to save, it's the power of God that he might present everyone whom he proclaims this message to mature in Christ. And so he sees the weight of this message, and he's willing to struggle for it. He's willing to be imprisoned for it. He's writing this from prison in Rome, likely. He struggles because he knows that through the proclamation of this mystery, which is Christ, the church will be brought to maturity. will grow in the knowledge of Jesus and be conformed to His image. In 1 Corinthians 2, In verses 1 and 2, Paul said, And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom, for I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. See, the same thing he says here. What is his message that he proclaims? His message he's proclaiming is the good news of Jesus and the life that is in Him who was crucified and rose from the dead. Christ is the power of God. And we'll really get into this when we get to verse 6 in Colossians, where he says, That we are sanctified through the work of Christ and the knowledge of Christ, just as we are brought into salvation, as we are justified through this knowledge. And look, this proclamation of the good news of Jesus includes warnings and teaching, right? He says, warning everyone and teaching everyone. It includes admonitions, warnings of the doom of not trusting in Jesus and the doom of departing from Christ, which he gets as we get farther in Colossians. If you depart from Christ or separate yourself from the head, then there is no hope. Remember we had last time, if you remain steadfast, grounded in the Gospel, these warnings are for us. There are warnings. The proclamation of the Gospels also includes the admonitions of repentance, right? No, but we just want our ears tickled, right? We don't want the admonitions to repentance. Just tell me the free grace. It is free grace. But listen, without repentance, there is no salvation. Did you know that? That without repentance, there is no salvation. How can I say that? I thought salvation is by faith alone. It is. Listen, repentance and faith are two sides of the same coin. You don't get one without the other. What does repentance mean? It means turning away, going a new direction. Well, guess what? That requires faith. Repentance is turning away from your old life, turning away from sin. So this is, when we come to Jesus, and this is how we're sanctified, right? Repentance, turning away from sin, and turning by faith to Jesus, and trusting in Him, and putting Christ on, and making no provisions for the flesh. by trusting in Jesus. The first word of the gospel is repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand. The first gospel message that Peter preached at Pentecost, when they said, how can we be saved? He said, repent and be baptized for the forgiveness. Repent and believe, trust in Jesus and be identified with him. Martin Luther says in the third thesis of the 95 Theses that there is no inward repentance that does not outwardly manifest in the mortification of the flesh. Meaning there's no inward repentance that doesn't manifest itself in the outward putting sin to death. and putting on Christ. And we do this by faith. In the Gospel, as we proclaim this mystery of Christ, it includes warning. Warning everyone. Calling everyone. He's preaching to believers here, right? This isn't a warning just for those who are perishing outside of Christ. This is the proclamation we give. This is the proclamation of God's Word that you get on Sundays, that you get when we gather together in small groups, that we're supposed to be giving to each other includes warnings. Warnings to repent, to hold on to Christ, to hold fast to the head. Repentance is making a true confession of our sins and holding fast to Christ, knowing that in Him is a full salvation. In Him is a full forgiveness of sins. And so there must be warnings, and they're not comfortable, right? I'm sure that all of us, if we let our flesh have its way, would rather have preaching that didn't have warnings. Because warnings make us uncomfortable. Warnings hurt. But we need preaching that has warning. And also, he says, teaching It includes instruction in the Word of Christ. To preach Christ is to teach God's people the knowledge of God's mystery, which is all that God has done and is doing in Christ. And it's to help God's people see that all of life is to be lived in reference to the risen and reigning Christ. It is the teaching of all that Christ is, and to teach God's people how to glorify Christ in everything they do, say, and suffer. How do we glorify Christ? How is Christ the center? And Paul knows, and so he struggles. And so all of us are to struggle with the same toil to proclaim Christ with warning and teaching so that everyone may be presented mature in Him. I don't have time to cover it right now, but I would have you write down in your notes, Ephesians 4, 11 through 16, and read that in reference to this passage as well, where we see that God has given the gifts of pastors and teachers who proclaim the word to you, that your elders and myself and Pastor Matt, we proclaim the scriptures to you so that we might equip you for ministry, so that together the body of Christ may be built up. love as we admonish one another teach Paul he also says this in Colossians chapter 3 16 You might want to write that down as well Let the word of Christ dwell and you richly teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom So it's not just the work of pastors. It's the work of pastors in one sense of the equipping but so that all the body will be instructing and teaching and admonishing one another so we might grow into a maturity in Christ and I want to get to this last point. The next thing we see is in verses 1 through 5. For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ." You see, Paul's struggle of proclamation of this warning and this teaching that he engages in and we're called to engage in. He does this for the Colossians. He says he does it for those in Laodicea, which is a further region from Colossae. And then for all those who have not seen him face to face. All this toiling is so that God's people may be encouraged being knit together in love. You see, this proclamation, this making known the mystery of Christ and all that He is for us, is with the goal of strengthening the inner being of God's people. This word, encourage, has the connotations of exhort, admonish, strengthen. And so, we must be convinced that proclaiming Christ gives God's people strength in the inner being, in the heart, to be able to live for God's glory. And with this one purpose he brings here of being knit together in love. we are admonished and strengthened in heart so that we may be anchored in Christ and be unified together as one body. See, the mystery of what God has done in Christ is to not only unify us with Christ, with God's Son, but also unifying us together. the unity of the spirit it's not a unity that we create right it's the unity of the spirit it's the unity that comes from the spirit that we are to maintain that we are to uphold that we are to protect because it's a precious It's a precious gift from Christ. It's part of the benefit one of the things that he accomplished in his work on the cross is Unifying his people together in one body and so as we proclaim Christ in this mystery of Christ bringing us together Jew and Gentile that is the Jews and every tribe and nation and tongue whom God has chosen among the nations all those that he's brought together in the one body that we might be knit together and in love, that there would be love for one another. And as our hearts are anchored in Christ, and as we love one another and have a unity of heart in Christ, It's so that we may reach all the riches of the full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery. We proclaim Christ with warning and with instruction so that as God's people are anchored in Christ and unified in love, we may have a certainty of a knowledge that comes from the understanding of who Christ is. And so, saints, we must endeavor to know Christ. We must endeavor to be instructed in the knowledge of God in Jesus Christ. And this means, opening the Word of God which proclaims Christ to us. This means gathering together and valuing the preaching of God's Word where Christ is proclaimed. Coming to hear God's Word expounded in the unity of believers together. It's gathering together in our small groups and admonishing one another from the Word of God to keep Christ at the center. It is in those friendships that you develop in the body, in those phone calls through the week, in the prayers for one another, that we encourage one another and instruct one another so that we may have a sure understanding of the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ. And because when you have a sure, a certain, a well-grounded understanding of who Christ is and the hope that you have in Him, then, he said, this is for the purpose that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. That you may not be deceived and brought into error and confusion. That you may not depart from the head, which is Christ. That you may have discernment. that you might have discernment to know the truth. We need to have an assured understanding so that we can have discernment in a world that is run by Satan, right? And wants to deceive us and distract us and draw us away from Christ. And so, saints, we must take our walk seriously, right? When we talked a couple weeks ago, as we were in Colossians, we talked about how we must watch how we walk. We must take serious our Christian walk, that we can't have a doctrine of the assurance of our salvation that allows us to be lazy. but that each of us need to, with zeal, want to know the depths of the knowledge of Christ. Maybe you're hearing this and you're thinking, I mean, I know who Christ is. What more do I need to know? Well, then you don't know the depths of Christ because the more you come to understand the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ, the more you realize you don't understand. I thought I understood this passage. this week. I really did. I was like, oh, it'll be pretty, it'll be a lot easier to prepare this message this Sunday. As I was diving into God's word, I was struck so many times with the depths of the mystery of the glory of Christ and that He is in us and we in Him and that He is paid for our sins completely. That there is a full salvation in Him. It's because in Him, in Christ, are hidden all the treasures of wisdom. and knowledge. And so, because we have Christ, and in Him is the treasure house of all the knowledge of God, all the knowledge, I mean, this is Christ we're talking about, right? The one that we read about in chapter 115, the image of the invisible God, who created everything. This Christ, that everything exists for. He's the beginning and the end, right? The beginning of creation and its goal. Listen, in Him, You can understand the purpose of all things of life. All of life needs to be interpreted. And I mean, that's what I mean is when you wake up in the morning and you're facing challenges at work and you're facing challenges with your children and the discipline in your children and the struggles with family life and in your marriage and the difficulties of your marriage and the working through issues and loving your wife and caring for her. and your friendships and the relationships in the body, all of that, all those difficulties that you face, all the questions that you have need to be interpreted in reference to Jesus Christ. And you need to discern what it is God would have you do in reference to the glory of Jesus Christ. What is going to bring Christ glory? What is in line with what God has done and is doing in Jesus Christ to redeem the world? So this isn't a doctrine, this passage isn't off in the clouds. This matters for your everyday life. You need to live all of your life in reference to Jesus Christ. In Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, all the knowledge of whose God is and what He has done. All that is expected of you in your walk with Him, in wisdom, which is how to apply that knowledge, how to live that knowledge, how to walk before God in many different situations. In Christ is all this treasure. And that means if you have Christ saints, it doesn't matter what's in your checkbook. You're wealthier than the Apple Corporation. You're wealthier than Elon Musk. You're wealthier even than President Trump. You have the riches of having this sure knowledge of Jesus Christ, because in Him is all we need to know God and to live a life pleasing to Him. In Him we have the hope of glory, the hope of eternal riches. And so, Be grounded in God's word, saints, so that you can discern every situation and every argument, every false teaching, every worldview. Media is filled with a certain way of looking at the world. The radio, the news, all of it is filled with a certain way of looking at the world. Political platforms, doesn't matter, Democrat or Republican, all have One thing in common, they are interested in the things of this world. But all arguments, all political platforms, all the desires of your heart, all the affections of your heart, every counsel that you get, every promise of fulfillment, every worldview must be discerned in reference to Jesus Christ. You must evaluate everything in reference to Him. And you must be aware that, yeah, we can learn things from others that aren't Christians, right? We can learn things about the world and about situations, but we cannot adopt their perspective because Christ isn't the center, right? This means that overcoming sin is not self-help. How is that going for you? Self-help, right? Self, trying to get yourself out of your... No, we need Christ, right? We need Jesus Christ. And we must interpret everything in reference to Him. So many things that could be said, but I want to close with these words from Ephesians chapter 3, verse 14. For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory, he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think according to the power at work within us. To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever. Amen. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you that you have revealed this mystery of Christ to us so that we might know you, so that we might have your glorious presence indwelling in us, your church, that we might know the hope of glory, and that we hold on to this with eager expectation. Now, Father, I ask for your people right now. I ask that each of us would be grounded in a sure knowledge of the mystery of Christ, a sure knowledge of your work that has been accomplished through your Son. Help us, Lord, to discern every situation in our life in reference to Jesus Christ. That every decision we make would be not for our own pleasure, not for our own good, not for our own glory, but for your glory and for your pleasure. And that then we will find, Lord, help us to know that then we will find that every joy, every pleasure, every hope that we have in our heart can only be fulfilled in you. Help us to treasure you above all things in our hearts. To know that the key to the knowledge of our situation, what we should do in every situation, is found in Christ. He is your wisdom. And you give your wisdom to us, that we may live rightly before you, glorifying Christ in all things, for he is worthy. And we thank you that you have blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. It's in his name we pray. Amen.