We'll read a few verses around that point in the chapter from verse 24.
Colossians 1 at verse 24.
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,
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.
It's really significant to note during the early centuries of the New Testament church
how some of the great statements of faith were in response to heresy.
If you take the creeds of the church, for example, back in the first few centuries,
such as the Nicene Creed in 325,
where the church council came to formulate that great creed,
along with others that you find in these early centuries,
what you'll find is that they were in response to particular heresies, heresies of the time,
whether it was to do with the Trinity or with the person of Christ or with the Holy Spirit.
The response was that the church at the time,
they came together in these councils and formulated these great statements of theology of faith
to form the creeds that we have since then.
And of course, that led on in later years to statements such as confessions of faith
that you have in the Westminster Confession of Faith
and other confessions of faith that came to be formulated as statements of the,
or a summary of the truth of scripture itself in a more comprehensive way than the early creeds did.
And you find the same thing in Paul's letters as well,
because what we're looking at this evening as part of the letter to the Colossians
is something that is Paul's response to the heresy or the false teaching
that was current in his own day,
because he was here encouraging or assuring the Colossians
as they faced that false teaching,
especially when they were facing the kind of ideas
that taught that there were upper levels of Christian experience
that they as Christians in Colossae had not yet reached,
and that they would have to go through various degrees of advancement
using certain rituals or whatever
in order to come to a more full and comprehensive understanding of the truth
and of Christian experience as well.
So, of course, that's been something the church has faced
down through the years since then as well.
And what Paul is doing,
knowing that these false teachers could very easily discourage
and perplex and cause Christians in the church in Colossae,
all these places, to defect or to just become wearied in the faith
or be so perplexed with the false teaching
that they would begin to fall in with what was taught there,
Paul is emphasizing, especially in Colossians here,
two things that are really important for ourselves.
They're not going to be our two headings for the sermon tonight,
but there are two things that run right through the letter to the Colossians.
The first is the completeness of Christ.
How Christ is complete as the Savior of sinners.
Through all that he has done, through his person and work, he is complete.
There is nothing required other than Christ has done.
There is nothing to be taken back from what Christ has done.
He is absolutely complete in addressing the needs
and providing for the needs of lost sinners like ourselves.
And the second thing alongside of that is the completeness of believers in Christ.
That's to say that when we are in Christ,
we are complete or made complete by God.
Not that there isn't still a stage of redemption to be experienced,
to be finalized in glory.
But nevertheless, in terms of our acceptance with God,
in terms of God treating us and regarding us as his people,
we are complete in Christ.
We don't need to work ourselves into any higher levels of acceptance with God.
Everything is in Christ, and in Christ we are already complete as far as God is concerned.
And that goes a great way towards countering the kind of false teaching
that the Colossians faced, that the apostles faced,
that you face in your own experience in this present day as well.
Every time you meet with something that appears to be false teaching,
different to what you find in the New Testament or in the Bible,
ask yourself the question,
is this presenting a complete Christ to me?
Is this teaching, does it entail the sufficiency of Jesus Christ as my Savior?
And as well as that, ask,
well, is this actually saying to me I need something or need to be something
other than what I am in Christ?
Do I need to have something added to my identity in Christ
as somebody that God has accepted and brought into sonship by adoption
and become part of his believing family?
These are the two great issues that we always need to confront,
and you'll always come to Paul's letters especially,
and you'll find the answer in the completeness of Christ
and your completeness in Christ.
So now he comes to assure these Christians in Colossae
that this, in fact, is what is already true of them.
He says,
Well, there's,
a whole lot of things woven together there,
and there are so many things that you need to open up
and would really bear study just to have
a couple of these phrases themselves opened up.
But let's try and keep them together.
He's talking here about this mystery,
the mystery hidden for ages,
the mystery of the riches of the glory of this mystery,
how great it is among the Gentiles.
He's obviously concerned that these Gentiles,
these non-Hebrew Christians who,
in Colossae,
came to know the gospel
and to know Jesus through the gospel.
They're not in any way behind
those of Israel,
those of the Jewish people
who had come from a long history
of God's revelation to them
to actually come to now know Christ as the Messiah.
But he's now saying these Colossian,
former Colossian Gentiles,
non-Jews,
have exactly the same level of acceptance
with God as the Jews did,
as the Christian Jews did.
And he talks here about this mystery.
What does he mean by this mystery?
The word Paul uses elsewhere as well.
We use the word mystery nowadays
in the ordinary sense of it
to indicate something that is unknowable.
It's a mystery.
You just can't understand it.
The word mystery has that meaning to it
as we normally use it.
But the word mystery in Paul's theology,
in Paul's letters,
the word mystery doesn't mean
something unknowable,
but something that was unrevealed,
but has now been revealed in Christ.
The mystery really essentially
is God's saving purpose,
God's plan of salvation,
which incorporated the Gentiles.
That's really so much an integral part
of what Paul calls the mystery,
the plan of God,
that the Gentiles were always included in the plan.
Though in the process of time,
only after Christ
and after the Holy Spirit
had come into the church,
only then were the Gentiles
incorporated through the gospel,
but it was always within God's plan.
That is the mystery.
That is the previously unknown,
but now known
and made known,
revealed by God.
In other words,
Christ himself
really is the center
of that mystery,
that now revealed plan
of God.
And you see,
it's important
that he says here
that he chose
to make known
to the saints,
the mystery hidden
for ages,
but now revealed
to his saints.
When you go back
to the Old Testament
and look at the book
of Jonah,
a great question there.
Why did Jonah
run away
from God's command
to go to Nineveh
and preach repentance
to them?
Why did he turn away,
find a ship
going in the opposite direction?
Why did he not obey
that command of God
there and then?
Well,
the answer to that
really basically
is that
for Jonah
at that time
in God's revelation,
way back
in those times,
Jonah could not
get his head
around the fact
that these heathens
in Nineveh
were going to be part
or could possibly be part
of God's plan
of salvation.
How could they be?
They were enemies
of Israel.
They weren't within
the covenant
that God made
with Israel.
How could it possibly
be that he was
being asked,
that Jonah was being asked
by this covenant
God of Israel
to go to Nineveh,
the capital of Assyria,
these cruel heathen people
and preach repentance
to them?
But that's really
the key to
God's teaching
of Jonah
that the likes
of Ninevites,
heathen people,
Gentile people,
were also part
of God's great plan
of salvation.
And as we come
to Colossians,
Paul is actually
here saying
it's to his saints
that God
has now revealed this.
That's important.
By saints,
he doesn't mean,
of course,
as we've seen already
different times,
he doesn't mean
perfect people,
he doesn't mean
unblemished Christians,
he doesn't mean
people who are just
now at the point
of going to glory
and have been made
perfect.
By saints,
he means those
sanctified in Christ,
those who are in Christ,
therefore set apart
to be God's people
in him.
and God
has made known
to them
this mystery
hidden for ages
but now revealed
to his saints.
Why is he saying that?
Because these false
teachers are saying,
you know,
you're not yet
amongst the elite.
You haven't actually
come to graduate
into the kind
of mysticism,
the kind of mystical
understanding
that we have
of what salvation is,
of how we actually
proceed into
the knowledge
of God.
That's for
a small elite group.
You have to work
your way towards that.
You have to graduate
into this small group.
No,
Paul is saying,
don't listen to that
because every single
Christian,
everybody in Christ,
all the saints
of God,
God has revealed
this mystery
to them.
They're already
incorporated
into the church
of God
in this life
and all those
have the spirit
of God,
are the saints
of God,
they have this
privilege.
And then he moves
on to speak about
the mystery
that's now revealed
but he now goes
on to speak about
the riches
of the glory
of this revealed
mystery and that's
really adding
another layer
of teaching for us.
Here he is
and he's saying
God has already
revealed this
to his saints.
There are people
who were Gentiles
who did not belong
to Israel
but now have
the same privileges
and indeed now
understand more fully
than ever before
the plan of God
and how it involved
Jew and Gentile alike.
One church,
one salvation,
one God,
one saviour.
But what does he mean
here by the glory
of this mystery?
He's not just saying
he has revealed
this mystery
and he's saying
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.
Christ
in you
is the heart
of this
mystery,
this revealed
will and plan
of God
but there are
riches to that,
riches of the glory
of this mystery,
a glory
to this mystery,
there's a glory
to it because
Christ is central
to it
because it's the
person of Jesus
that stands
absolutely foursquare
in the middle
of all of this,
everything revolves
around him,
everything's based
upon him
but he's now saying
the riches
of this glory
is Christ
in you
the hope
of glory.
Now Paul as you know
more often
than not uses
to be in Christ
is a more
frequent phrase
in his usage
than for Christ
to be in his people.
To be in Christ
is to be saved.
But here he's talking
about the other side
of things,
Christ
in you.
You go to the likes
of Galatians,
remember that wonderful
passage
where Paul
deals similarly
with Christ
in you
or Christ
in him,
Galatians 2
and verse 20
where he says
there through the law
I died to the law
that I might live
to God,
I have been crucified
with Christ,
it is no longer
I who live
but Christ
who lives
in me
and the life
I now live
in the flesh
I live
by the faith
in the Son of God
who loved me
and gave himself for me.
It's no longer
I who lives
but Christ
who lives in me.
whatever else
that means,
it means that the life,
the spiritual life
that Paul possesses
that has come about
through the knowledge
of Christ,
through Christ's blessing
of him
is now
Christ
in him
is at the center
of this
spiritual life
that he possesses.
That's through everyone
here tonight
and it's an amazing thing,
it's an astounding thing
in itself.
You'll find that Paul
also prays
for example
to the Ephesians
for the Ephesians
rather
in chapter 3
verse 17
of the letter
to the Ephesians
and it's
praying 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 depth
and height
and to know
the love of Christ
that surpasses knowledge
that you may be filled
with all the fullness
of God
but you notice there
he's saying
that Christ
may dwell
in your hearts
through faith.
This is what he's
praying for
for these Ephesians
same for the Colossians
here he's saying
this is the mystery
this is the glory
of this mystery
how great among
the Gentiles
is
are the riches
of this glory
which is Christ
in you.
which is the greater
privilege do you think
that we should be found
in Christ
or that Christ
should live
in us
well they're both
I would think
on the same level
the one's
impossible
without the other
isn't it
it can't be
in Christ
without
through the Holy Spirit
Christ taking up
residence
in us
in his heart
in each of us
believing
people
not just
amongst his people
as a gathered group
or as a church
this is talking about
Christ in us
Christ in each one of us
Christ actually
occupying
the life of his people
the soul
of his people
that's the astounding
truth that's set
before us
similar to the way
that
Jesus himself
taught in John 14
that
the father
and himself
would come
and take up
residence
or make their
abode
with the person
who believed
in Christ
who kept
his word
and that's
one of the things
I for one
fail really
so often
even to think
about properly
to dwell my mind
upon properly
the great
privilege
that it is
both to be
found in Christ
and to have
Christ in us
to have Jesus
occupying
your own life
as a place
in which he dwells
as a home
that he has made
for himself
that's really
what he's saying
to these Colossians
you know he's saying
don't feel
in any way
inferior
to the false
teachers
don't feel inferior
or as if something
is absent
from your life
when they say
you've not yet
quite made it
however much
you feel
about yourself
however much
you're still aware
of your sins
how much
you're aware
of your failings
how much
you're aware
of how far
you have to go
as far as you
can see
in terms of
your holiness
of life
Paul is saying
to you
think about this
from the moment
that you're in Christ
by faith
Christ in you
is the hope
of glory
his home
is in your heart
you're not inferior
to any false
teacher
or any heretic
that's out there
that suggests
you haven't yet
made it
you're complete
in him
and the complete
Jesus
is in you
it's so important
to hang on to that
against all
that would tend
to contradict
it or want
to contradict
it in your own
experience as well
and you know
he's saying here
the riches
of the glory
of this mystery
well this mystery
this plan
of salvation
has a glory
to it
and a glory
of course
is Christ himself
Christ in you
the hope of glory
Christ himself
is central
to the glory
of this salvation
as something glorious
and something
in which glory
has such a basic part
the Old Testament
you remember
had its own
presence of God
above the mercy seat
within the Holy of Holies
in the tabernacle
in the sanctuary
in the temple
then afterwards
and
the privilege
was given
to the high priest
alone
to go into
the Holy of Holies
once a year
the folks
on the outside
couldn't see
the cloud
the shekinah cloud
the glory cloud
above
the mercy seat
in the Holy of Holies
they knew
it was there
they were meant
to value
that presence
as the very indication
of God
being amongst them
God
in you
you might say
in the Old Testament
the hope of glory
the hope
anticipating the coming
of the Lord
well here it is
it is Christ in you
the hope of glory
the one who came
and tabernacled
among us
and we beheld
as glorious
John said
the glory
of the only begotten
of the Father
full of grace
and truth
that's the glory
centrally
in the New Testament
church
that's the glory
centrally
in the plan
and the scheme
of God's salvation
but you see
it's in you
it is in you
this Christ
is in you
and as Christ
is in you
so in you
is the hope
of glory
and I think
Paul is
counteracting
an idea
that may have been
we can't be sure
exactly what the form
of this false teaching
was but
it looks as if
there was some
kind of perfectionism
about it
that they've already
made it
and we're saying
to these
genuine Christians
in Colossae
you really haven't
quite made it yet
you're not like us
but Paul is saying
well
it's not yet glory
for those
who are in Christ
yes they are
complete in him
they're accepted
in him
but it's not yet
glory for them
glory is still
to come
and it doesn't
belong to this
world
belongs to the
state of glory
to the next
world
to heaven
and Paul is
saying
the hope
of that
the hope
of glory
is Christ
in you
and the Christ
in you
is the one
in whom
all the riches
of God's
salvation
already dwell
and he's in you
he's in your heart
he's in your soul
you have him
he resides
there
no one can
take him
from you
how rich
are Christians
how rich
is your
very special
salvation
how rich
are you
in Christ
well
you are as rich
as Paul is saying
here
the riches
of the glory
of this mystery
which is Christ
in you
the hope
of glory
it's not yet
possession
of glory
but it very much
is a promise
of it
that's secure
because as Christ
is already
in the hearts
of his people
so that itself
is the guarantee
that his people
will yet be
fully with him
glorified
together with him
but you see
thirdly
I want to just
mention this
before we finish
it's not just
the mystery
that's now
revealed
that had been
hidden
and it's not
just the riches
of the glory
of this mystery
which is Christ
in you
the hope
of glory
he also talks
about this
glory
being presently
active
in our present
sufferings
because all the
way through
here
in this
epistle
he talks
about
the sufferings
that are being
endured
by those
Christians
in Colossae
and
it's important
that that
hope
that we
possess
the hope
of glory
Christ
in us
is active
now
in this
world
in which
we face
tribulations
and it's
right to say
that
the sufferings
of God's
people
of the saints
of God
are unique
now that
doesn't mean
that other
people don't
go through
the same
kind
of sufferings
but it
does mean
no other
people have
these sufferings
given such
a place
in their
experience
as God
gives to
them
because he
uses them
towards their
final glory
and that's
not true
of anyone
that isn't
a saint
in Christ
and a
saved
sinner
in Christ
and that's
why Paul
is saying
that he's
rejoicing in
my sufferings
for your
sake
and
in verse
24
we already
saw in
Philippians
for example
how Paul
can rejoice
even in
prison
as he's
writing to
the Philippians
you have
the same
here
in the
epistle
to the
Colossians
as well
how can
he say
he's
rejoicing
what does
rejoicing
mean in
those
circumstances
well it
does mean
an element
of gladness
or happiness
if you like
but you
must never
leave it
at that
level
because
when Paul
uses this
word
rejoicing
as he
is here
there is
built into
it an
element
of
confidence
an element
of a
sense of
security
in Christ
if you
like
I rejoice
in my
suffering
for you
sake
he's
able to
say
I
have a
sense
of
security
through
these
sufferings
because
they're
part
of
the
sufferings
of
God's
people
and as
I belong
to that
group of
God's
people
I understand
he's saying
that my
sufferings
and your
sufferings
are not
different
in many
respects to
what God's
people have
always gone
through
and you
see this
amazing
phrase
he's
using
I
rejoice
in my
sufferings
I have
confidence
in my
sufferings
and in
my flesh
I'm
filling up
what is
lacking
in
Christ's
afflictions
for the
sake of
his body
that is
the church
now how
can he
say I
am
filling up
what is
lacking
in
Christ's
afflictions
what is
lacking
in
Christ's
affliction
how can
he mean
something
is lacking
when he's
talking about
the afflictions
the suffering
of Jesus
himself
but you
see he's
saying here
he's taking
Christ
and the
church to
be one
entity
his body
he's the
head
his people
are his
body
spiritually
and what
he's saying
here is
that that
one
entity
that one
a body
and a
head
together
have
if you
like
a
totality
of
suffering
allocated
to them
over the
course of
time
in other
words you
can't take
the
sufferings
of Christ
out of
the
sufferings
of his
people
altogether
neither
can you
take the
suffering
of his
people
as detached
from the
sufferings
of Jesus
so what
he's saying
is there
are still
some
afflictions
and will
be to
the end
of time
that will
be added
to what
the church
along with
Christ
the head
has already
suffered
and experienced
and when
that totality
is complete
the sufferings
of Christ
and his
people
together
the sufferings
of
what is
lacking
in Christ's
affliction
that is to
say the
church
will be
complete
in other
words
Paul is
using the
word
Christ
really
essentially
for the
church
itself
as
connected
to
Jesus
and all
through the
course of
time
there are
certain
afflictions
that belong
to the
church
as united
to Christ
joined to
his afflictions
as well
and Paul
is saying
that's why
I rejoice
in my
sufferings
for your
sake
because I
recognize
this is
what the
sufferings
belong
to
this is
the entity
that these
sufferings
are part
of
and therefore
I can
say
that I
rejoice
in them
that I'm
confident
that they
belong to
the saved
people of
God
so there's
the mystery
it's been
revealed
we know
what it
is
it is
that
the
Gentiles
along with
Jews
make up
the church
of God
it's not
the church
of the
Jews
and the
church
of the
Gentiles
it's
God's
church
of Jew
and Gentile
together
Ephesians
2
has that
even more
graphically
portrayed
but the
riches
of the
glory
of this
mystery
the
wonderful
riches
that belong
to being
in Christ
to being
the people
of God
and how
that is
experienced
presently
in our
present
sufferings
and through
them
we
come
to
rejoice
to
have
confidence
that as
far as
God is
concerned
and what
God is
doing
it's all
part
of his
great
plan
of
redemption
God bless
these
thoughts
on his
word
now let's
conclude
this evening
we're
singing