The Incomparable Christ Pt 2

We also want to welcome those of you who are joining us online. Would you join me in prayer? Father, we thank you for this opportunity on another Sunday morning to come and gather to worship and study your word, to fellowship one with another as we fellowship with you, Lord. Be glorified, we ask, Lord Jesus.

Would you stand?

In the midst of thee is mighty. He will save thee where rejoice. Over thee with joy. And he'll rest in his love and joy over thee with singing. Amen? God is good. God is good. We praise you, Lord Jesus. We thank you. Thank you for the blood, Lord Jesus. Lord, we've been singing about your glory and the fact that your blood was shed for us, Lord God. Oh, what a wonderful thing you were willing to do for us on that cross, Lord.

We were without hope. But through you, we have hope and assurance of going to heaven when we depart, whether in rapture, or death. We are yours, Lord, and we thank you. Surely, Lord, we know we don't deserve any of this. But it's by your grace, Lord, your unmerited favor, and your mercy, not giving us what we deserve. Thank you, Jesus. Jesus, Lord, a countless love.

Amen? Countless love.

Well, to do so, would you stand with us on this last song?

Jesus, bless my Savior all the centuries. We're stretched in, in Joseph's tomb,

Messiah's tomb.

Praise you, Lord Jesus. We thank you, Lord.

Now, Lord, as we study your word, fill us afresh with your Holy Spirit, Lord. Empower us to live for you and anoint Pastor Ryan to bring forth your word with your power, Lord, your anointing. And we thank you in Jesus' name. Amen? Let's have some fellowship.

Go over some announcements.

Welcome to Calvary Chapel. I'm glad that you're here. I'm glad that you've joined us. Is it possible to get these lights up just a little bit? There they are. Oh. Right? I should have done that while it was happening. That would have been fun. Okay. A few things to take note of in your bulletin over on the left-hand side are the things that go on throughout the week.

I would ask you and encourage you to make sure that you're involved in something there. Over in the middle section of your bulletin, I realized this this morning as I'm looking at the bulletin, pretty much dominated by one thing. Vacation Bible School. I was like, wow, every announcement's about that. No men's breakfast this month because there's just way too many things going on

in life this month. Yeah, because of VBS. So fellas, if you show up next Saturday for breakfast, you're on your own. So if you can get in the building and make something, I guess that's on you. But I won't be here. Okay, a couple things to take note of about VBS though. A reminder about the fact that it's coming up and if your kiddos aren't signed up or you know some kiddos

that need to get signed up, remember that. That little tab is right there. Also, if you have signed up to help with Vacation Bible School, there is a quick stand-up meeting right after church down at the other end of the hall in the Agape room. It should be quick, but it's after second service. And then also, there is a VBS workday today from two o'clock to four o'clock.

And she has wanted me to emphasize that it is for all skill levels. You don't have to be good at things. I know because they put me to work, right? And if they put me to work doing anything artsy and craftsy, then you don't have to be good at it because I can't even cut scissors straight or cut paper straight with scissors. I can't cut scissors either with paper.

It never works. Meanwhile. Okay, so those are the things that are going on. Oh, wait, Elaine. I need to have Elaine come up and announce something real quick. So come on up, Elaine.

Here, give it a try down here. I bet we can do it. I bet you'll be okay. Ian, Ian, can you hear me? Am I doing this right? Okay. Hey, ladies, I am looking forward to a Bible study I'm going to offer in my home beginning July 9th. It is Experiencing God. It's an old study that started in the 1990. It was the most powerful study I've ever been through personally.

And it was so powerful, I went through it twice. And I'm looking forward to doing it a third time. This study for me and for anyone, Experiencing God was by Henry Blackaby. And then now it's been revised twice. His son, Richard, and now his grandson, Mike, are all involved in leading this. And the study's the basic as it's always been. But Experiencing God is really about

God does not want us just to believe in him. He wants a true love relationship with us. It's hearing when God is speaking to you. It is identifying God's unmistakable activity in your life. And look at how nervous I am. And it teaches us when God speaks to us. And then we have to make adjustments in our life. And you know, Ryan, you set a really good example last week

when you were telling us how the Lord, of course, had led you to ministry. And then you thought you were going to get the opportunity to be a youth minister. In a church someplace in Kansas City, Missouri. Didn't work out. Well, that's because God called him here. And he had to make an adjustment, as did his wife, to move here. And then look how the Lord has used him.

So that's kind of how the Lord works. Sometimes he tells us what he's going to do. And then we have to adjust our life to him. And this study helps teach us and show us how that works. But it's through scripture. So the teacher is not me. The teacher is, really, the Holy Spirit, as you work through the book. So the Holy Spirit and then the black bees will be doing this.

And I'll just facilitate. It is a 13-week study. We will start on July 9th. And I'm going to have it in my home from 1030 to 1230. It is 13 weeks. What have I said? What? Oh, Tuesday. Thank you. On Tuesdays. And I have this right here on my note. I need to practice. On Tuesdays. I will have a sign-up sheet out there for anyone who wants to sign up. So thank you.

Here's the workbook. This is the workbook. This is what will guide you through experiencing God. So you do have to do it. There's five lessons a week. Some will take you 10 minutes. Some may take you 30 minutes.

Thank you so much. Okay, and then along those lines, also, we are getting ready to start like a training for those that are wanting to host a small group in the community. And it was supposed to start today. But that training has been put off to the end of the month. It's going to start on the 30th due to some things that are coming up over the next couple of weeks.

So if you are still interested in getting involved in leading one, you can still see Rick Hawkins about that. So, all right. Those are the things that are going on. If you would make sure that your mobile device is silenced. And for our responsive reading this morning, we are going to be in Psalm 99. Psalm 99. Psalm 99. And for this part, of course, looking at the New American Standard,

so we hopefully all sound the same. If you need a copy, there should be one around you. And as you are turning to Psalm 99, if you are able, please stand in the honor of the reading of God's Word.

I will read the odd verses if you will follow along with my good friend Glenn and the even verses. Psalm 99. The Lord reigns. Let the peoples tremble. He is enthroned above the cherubim. Let the earth shake. The Lord is great. He is great in Zion. And he is exalted above all the peoples. Let them praise your great and awesome name. Holy is he. The strength of the king loves justice.

You have established equity. You have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob. Exalt the Lord our God and worship at his footstool. Holy is he. Moses and Aaron were among his priests. And Samuel was among those who called on his name. The Lord is great in Zion. And he is exalted above all the peoples. They called upon the Lord and he answered them. He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud.

They kept his testimonies and the statute that he gave them. O Lord our God, you answered them. You were a forgiving God to them and yet an avenger of their evil deeds. And read verse 9 with me. Exalt the Lord our God and worship at his holy hill for holy is the Lord our God. And Father, we do praise you for who you are and we do want to thank you for your grace.

And we do want to exalt you, Lord, because you are holy far above our finding out and yet you make yourself known to us through your son. And so, Father, draw us close to you this morning. Help us to see more clearly what it is that you want to speak to us through your word by the power of your Holy Spirit. In Jesus' name, amen. You may be seated.

And if you would open up in your Bibles to the book of Colossians chapter 1. Colossians chapter 1.

In full disclosure, please be patient with me this morning. Not only is it early service, but this is my fourth message in five days to teach. And so, my head is a little bit cloudy. And so, I'm going to do the best I can to keep all of the things straight. I sat down to start studying last night. And did you ever just hit that point where you got a mental block

and you're like, my brain actually won't function right now. Like, I can't take in new information. And so, I decided to go for a run, which is usually how I clear my mind. Only it was 11 billion degrees last night. And because I went about 6 o'clock and I was like, this is the dumbest thing I could have done. This is the dumbest thing I could have imagined doing.

Like, I just, I might die now. And that's not awesome. I don't want to do that right now. And so, anyway, I've just, I've been a little foggy here lately. So, there it is. Colossians chapter 1. So, we've been talking about the incomparable Christ. As a matter of fact, this is part 2 of that message. That's what I've entitled it, The Incomparable Christ, part 2.

And we said that there were a handful of things that he was going to teach us starting in verse 13 through the end of the chapter about Christ. Because we said that the issue, the issue in the church in Colossae is that they had begun to give in to false doctrine. False doctrine that was perverting the truth of Christ. And honestly, whatever false doctrine is that you fall into, the only way to get yourself back on course is to get back to a true or a pure view of who Christ is.

And that's exactly what he does for us in chapter 1. And so, he painted for us a picture of the incomparable Christ by presenting him as the preeminent one. The creator of the heavens and the earth. The preexistent. The eternal God. The one who reconciles us to himself. And so, the first thing that we looked at last week was Christ as the preeminent one. Well, there's two things we're going to look at today.

We're going to look at Christ as our reconciliation. And we're going to look at Christ as the hope of glory. And so, we start off in chapter 1, verse 21. And this is what it says. And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet now he has reconciled you in his fleshly body through death in order to present you before him

holy and blameless and beyond reproach. If indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven and of which I, Paul, was made a minister. He started this conversation about the reconciliation of Christ in the last section when the last thing that we learned is that he is the one who reconciles us. He is the one who brings us back into harmony with himself.

But he expounds upon that idea and I think it's an important thing for us to take time to look at how he expounds upon this idea of reconciliation. And he gives us three statements underneath this heading of our reconciliation. The first thing he tells us is who you were. He tells us about who you were. He says, and although you were formerly number one, alienated.

You were alienated. That word alienated means transferred to another owner. And that's exactly what happened to us on the day that you and I on the day that Adam and Eve gave in to sin. We were transferred to another owner. We had been under the headship of God under the headship of Christ and when man sinned we were transferred to the ownership of Satan. And we became slaves to sin.

And we were underneath of that slavery and we displayed that that was who our owner was through the wicked deeds that we did. Through the evil things that we did. Through the sin that we committed. We were alienated from Christ. And the second thing he tells us is that we were hostile in our minds. We were hostile in our minds. That word hostile means hateful

or odious. Isn't that a great word? We don't use that word enough. His behavior is odious, right? It's really hateful. It's hostile. I think this is a good time for us to camp out for just a moment on this word. Because this word hostile I think is really important for us to pay attention to because first of all that's who you were before you came to Christ.

You were hostile in your mind. What were you hostile toward? You were hostile towards the things of God. Oh, it may not have always shown outwardly. You may have seemed like a pretty friendly person on the outside but every time that conviction of God came into your life and you know as well as I do that before the day that you came to know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, conviction came

into your heart and mind. Do you remember how it made you feel? Probably the same way it makes you feel today. You kind of get a little bit angry about it, right? And you get angry at the people who maybe brought that conviction into your mind because you were hostile in your mind towards the things of God. Well, maybe you were the type of person who was still

kind of friendly on the outside but still hostile when conviction came into your heart but there are many in the world and maybe you were one of them who weren't just hostile on the inside they're hostile on the outside. The hostility that they have in their mind shows in the way that they live their lives. You see, they were alienated from God sold into the slavery of another transferred to another's ownership and now they are hostile towards the one who originally created them and that hostility shows in the way that they live their life. This is why I think as believers in Jesus Christ, we have got to stop being shocked that the world hates the things of God.

Because that's who you were you were hostile in your mind towards the things of God and that's the way the rest of the world is right now. They are hostile in their minds and right now in their actions towards the things of God and that reminds me of the month that we're in right now. Now, I didn't bring this up last week but most of us know this because I think you have to not actually dwell in society to know this but June 1st starts Pride Month, right? Pride Month began in the month of June.

And listen, all of us, we view the homosexual community in almost the same way. And this is an area where I really feel like the church has failed. We view the homosexual community the way that they view us. We view them in hostility because what they are doing is they're being hostile towards the church and they're being hostile towards the things of God and we go, can you believe the way they're acting?

And then they call it pride and pride is the greatest sin. And I agree, pride is the greatest sin. And I agree that they are hostile towards the things of God. And I agree that they are hostile towards us but we have to remember, so were you. So were you. You were hostile towards the things of God before you got saved. And this is why every year at Pride Month

and this is the first year I forgot to do it in the past several years. I always say on that first Sunday of Pride Month, this is not the month for us to protest. This is not the month for you to make snide remarks on social media about straight Pride Month. This is not the month to do that. That's not the way we should handle this as believers in Jesus Christ.

What should our response be to Pride Month? Well, number one, you should stand up for what's right. You need to declare the truth. You need to declare the truth that God has created the male and female and his intention for humanity is that one biological male and one biological female would join together in a marital relationship for life. Like we need to hold on to that truth, right?

There's nothing wrong with that. We should stand on that truth. But we should not hate those who are not following that truth. Our job is to pray for those who are not following that truth. Just like I am for the person who's addicted to drugs. Just like I am for the person who's addicted to alcohol. Just like I am for the person who struggles with pornography.

Just like I am for the person who struggles with any aspect of pride in their life. I don't look at them and say, they are my enemy. I look at them and say, they are law. And my job is to pray for them because you know who I used to be? I used to be someone who was hostile in my mind towards the things of God. And that's who they are now. And that's who Jesus is in the business of reconciling.

I shared this with a group of people this weekend. Do you guys remember the nightclub shooting that took place down in Orlando? The gay nightclub that got shot up several years ago down in Orlando? Do you know how many homosexual people got saved because of that? Do you know how many testimonies, there are of people who, when that gunman came in, cried out to God and said,

if you will save my life, I will follow you with all of my heart because they knew the life that they were living was wrong, which by the way, is why we are hostile towards the things of God because we know the life we're living is wrong. And now some of those men are now marching in freedom parades instead of gay pride parades. Do you know that? Because that's what the gospel does.

It changes the lives of people because it takes those of us who are alienated, who are hostile and absolutely transforms us. And in this month of all months, we need to remember that that is what the grace of God wants to do. You were alienated. You were hostile in your mind. And then number three, you were engaged in evil deeds. You were engaged in evil deeds that were deeds,

means practices. In other words, the way that you lived your life was evil. That's who you were before Christ. And then comes the next phrase that we need to pay attention to. Yet now. Isn't that great? I always love those transitions in scripture. The yet nows, the but nows of God, right? Notice what it says in verse 20, or excuse me, verse 22. Yet now. He has,

reconciled you in his fleshly body through death in order to present you before him holy and blameless and beyond reproach. Yet now he has reconciled you. Yet now he has reconciled you. Remember that word reconcile means to bring back into harmony. You were hostile. You were alienated. You were separated. You were separated from God. And now he has brought you back into harmony with him.

He has brought you back into relationship with him. He has brought you back home where you belong. Back home where you were always intended to be. And how did he do that? Take note of the next phrase. He reconciled you in his fleshly body through death. Now he uses kind of a redundant statement there. In his fleshly body through death. Why does he do that? Why does he take time to use that phrase fleshly body?

Well, because remember, the root of the heresy that was coming in at this point in time was a Gnostic heresy. And the Gnostic heresy taught that the flesh was evil, the spirit was good, and Jesus never actually came in the flesh. That he never actually came in a human body. He was just a spirit that existed, right? And so he indicates that it was a true, fleshly body that was crucified.

Let me put it to you in the most simple terms that I possibly can. It was a real man who was crucified on a real cross in real time. And I think this is, again, one of those things that we really need to stand on. Because for us, because we weren't there when it happened, and we're so far separated from when it happened, it still can almost be a story in our minds.

It still almost can just be this story that we've been hearing for some of us since, well, our earliest memories. We started hearing this story about Jesus who died for us, but he was a real man who died on a real cross in real time for us. And that was how he reconciled us back to himself. You see, the only way that we could be transferred back to the ownership of God is if the purchase price was paid.

And the only purchase price that God would accept is death. That's why, that's why, that's why, that's why, that's why, when Jesus died on the cross, the last thing he cried out was that word to tell us die paid in full because he paid the ransom so that you and I could be reconciled, brought back into harmony with him. And not only has he reconciled us, notice what it says at the end of verse 22, in order to present you before him wholly. Holy and blameless and beyond reproach.

Let's look at those three words really quickly because they're very important words. The first word is holy that he might present you, but actually let's first look at the word present because it's the same verbiage that would be used of a priest presenting a sacrifice, which is kind of interesting because in Romans chapter 12, we are told to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. So when he says this, he says that God is now, or the, the Jesus is now presenting, us to God as a sacrifice. And first of all, that sacrifice is holy.

That word holy is hagios. It means set apart. It means completely separate from sin. And the idea is something that has been viewed and has been set apart from the common. It is now something that can only be used for the sacred. He says that he may present you as number one, holy. The second phrase that he gives us that he's going to present us as, is that he is going to present us as blameless blameless.

That word blameless means without spot or blemish. Perhaps some of your translations even say spotless again, carrying with it the idea of the sacrifice that was to be brought to the Lord. The sacrifices that were to be brought to the Lord were to be spotless. In other words, when God looks at you, because of the way that you have been, presented because of the reconciliation of Jesus Christ that he did for us on the cross, he doesn't look at you and see all of the stains.

You see, when we look at our lives as we dwell on this side of eternity, we still see the stains, don't we? I can still see the stains from my sin. I can know that they're forgiven. I can know that they've been put under the blood, but I can still see those stains on me, right? I can, I can still see that, that I've been marked by these certain things. But when God sees me,

that's not what he sees. He sees the brand new copy of Ryan that is completely and totally spotless, that he may present you wholly set apart unto him spotless without any blame being, being put upon us. And then the last phrase that he uses is beyond reproach. And I love the way that Kenneth Weiss translated this unchargeable before his penetrating and searching gaze.

Isn't that great? Let me read that again. Unchargeable before his penetrating and searching gaze. Let me tell you how amazing that is. Back in the book of first Samuel, when they're trying to choose a new king because Saul had failed, God told Samuel, you need to go, you need to go to the household of Jesse because one of his sons is going to be the next king.

So he goes to Jesse and he says, Hey, one of your sons, it's going to be the next king. Can you start presenting them to me? So he brings out the oldest good looking tall kid and Samuel goes, that's got to be the right one because he looks just like a king, right? And God says, not that one, not that one. You know why? Because man looks at the outward appearance,

but God looks at the heart. In other words, God's gaze can penetrate past all of the games that we put on. God's gaze can penetrate, penetrate past all of the fronts that we put up in front of each other, all of the things, all of the, the, the right stuff that we put up in front of each other, because listen, that's what we do as humans, right? As humans, we put on the right face as humans.

We put on the right look and all of the right things. But you see, God peels all of that stuff away and he sees what's at the heart only because of the reconciling work of Jesus Christ. When he peels back all of the stuff and his penetrating gaze and he looks directly into the heart. In other words, he looks past all of the things you do and sees the motive of what you do.

He doesn't see anything he can bring a charge against. He says, I've looked as deeply as I can. He's guilty of nothing. And I don't know about you, but when I look at myself, I don't go, he's guilty of nothing. When I look at me, I go guilty as charged. But you see, it's not because of who I am that I'm guilty of nothing. It's because of the reconciling work of Jesus Christ.

That I am guilty of nothing because that's what his reconciling work does. And I am reminded over and over and over again that the greatest thing that I can do is to tell people that if you will lay your sins at the feet of Jesus, if you will lay your life at the feet of Jesus, then you will be guilty of nothing. He says that he may present you before him. Holy and blameless.

And beyond reproach. And it sounds so amazing until we come to verse 23. If. If. It's not just a fun kids movie that's out. It's a really important word in scripture. There's a lot of ifs in scripture. Have you noticed that? And they keep us grounded. They keep us grounded because when we hear about the amazing work of God's grace, when we hear about how beautiful God's grace and his love and his reconciliation is,

our flesh will want to go, well, then I can probably get away with some stuff. Because if he looks at me and sees me as not guilty and his blood continues to cover all of my sin, maybe I'll give it a little bit more sin to cover. And so God is so gracious to include the if in there, right? This is not so that you can take God's grace in vain. These things are true if,

and notice what he says, if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast and not moved away from the, from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven and of which I, Paul was made a minister if, but what's the if? So you and I think of the if, and we start thinking about the works that we need to start doing, right? We think if I'm a good enough person, if I do everything correctly, if I make sure I read through the Bible, if I make sure that I'm taking communion on a consistent basis, if, and we fill in the blank here, right? But that's not the if that God gives us here, is it?

That's not the if that God gives us through the writings of Paul here. He says, if indeed you continue in the faith, not moved from the hope of the gospel. Why does he say that? Because they were starting to be moved from the hope of the gospel. Why were they being moved from the hope of the gospel? Because they were being given a false message about who Jesus is.

They were being given a false message about who Jesus is, that Jesus, requires works that Jesus looks a little different than they thought. And so they were being moved away from the hope of the gospel and into a mystical legalistic asceticism sort of teaching. And he says, listen, these things are true. If you continue in the faith, brothers and sisters, it is our tendency to move away from the hope of the gospel.

It's what we do. Sometimes we'll move away from the hope of the gospel through our licentious living. Just like I said, and we say, well, you know, Jesus has forgiven me. I may as well get my money's worth, right? And we may not say it out loud, but, but it's still a little bit of an attitude of our heart because we excuse sin in our life. Because after all,

I'm covered by grace. After all, I'm covered by the blood. I've been reconciled to Christ. I've got freedom to live how I want to live. I am amazed at what we've done with freedom in the church today. I don't think you understand that word, right? Because freedom seems to mean licentiousness. I was listening to Jay Vernon McGee this weekend and he was talking about a

Bible teacher that was very licentious in his teaching. And somebody that went to his church said, but he uses all the same words that you do. And Jay Vernon McGee, in the way that only he can said, I'm afraid he has my vocabulary, but he doesn't have my dictionary. And that's, and that's what happens to us sometimes, right? We say the right words, but it's not what we really mean.

And so sometimes we can be moved away from the hope of the gospel. Through licentious living. But a lot of us get moved away from the hope of the gospel through legalistic thinking. And now we turn the gospel into a series of works. And as long as I'm checking all the boxes, I'm really confident in my walk with Jesus Christ. But that's not what he says. He says,

if you continue in the hope of the gospel, that's why every day, the best thing that I can do is go to Jesus. I can go to Jesus and I can confess my sins and I can be reminded of the blood of Jesus Christ that continually covers my sin because the grace of God that brings salvation is also the grace of God that teaches us. Amen. So he says, don't be moved away from the hope of the gospel.

You need to continue in the faith. And he said of this gospel, I became a minister. And that's what segues us into the next section, which is the hope of glory. Notice what it says in verse 24. He says, now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake. And in my flesh, I do share on behalf of his body, which is the church in filling up what is lacking in Christ's affliction.

Again, as he thinks about this gospel, the hope of this gospel, that they're not to be moved away from, he will segue into the next section, which is the hope of glory. But the backdrop of him talking, about this hope of glory is his thinking about the ministry that God has given him, that God has given him. Remember Paul sitting chained to a Roman guard right now. He's in prison because of the message of the gospel.

And as he's thinking about this hope of glory, he's reminded that the hope of glory is the whole reason he's in prison, right? Because he was made a minister, a minister of the gospel of the hope of Jesus Christ. And as he, he reminisces a little bit and sort of, you can picture him doing this, right? Paul, most people feel like dictated most of his letters.

So there was probably someone there writing down everything that he had to say. And you can picture him just like the rest of us do. He went off on a little bit of a tangent and he's sitting there going, as long as you're not moved from the hope of the gospel, this gospel of which I became a minister. And then all of a sudden the flash of all of the things he'd been through in ministry, went through his mind.

You know, it's kind of a, it's amazing when Paul first came to faith in Jesus Christ, uh, he was blinded, literally blinded by the light. It's okay. Take a second. Think about that song. He was literally blinded by the light. And as he went into the town that he was supposed to go to, he just had this like veil over his eyes. Right. And, and a man was sent to pray for him.

And when God called this man to go pray for him, this guy was like, Lord, that's a great idea and everything. I don't think you realize who we're talking about here. I want to make sure we're talking, we're talking about the same Paul. Now this guy kills Christians, right? He really does. He's not a big fan of us. He is hostile in his mind towards the things of Jesus.

Matter of fact, I'm not a real big fan of this guy, Jesus. I really don't like this guy at all because he really hates us. And I feel like maybe we need to rethink this one. And God says, no, I know exactly who I'm talking about. And I've already begun to show him, the great things he must suffer for the sake of the gospel. Isn't that great? From the word go,

Paul knew suffering was going to be a part of his ministry. And so when he comes now towards the end of his ministry, as he is in the midst of being in prison, not totally knowing what that's going to mean. He says, I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake. Now, I'm not one that really likes to rejoice in my sufferings too much. I, I actually try to avoid them at all costs.

Perhaps you're like me because I live in 2024 and I've been told I don't have to have difficult things in my life any longer because technology will take care of it. Modern medicine will take care of it. There should be no more suffering in life. And what I'm finding is the brochure has lied because there is suffering in life. And Paul says, I rejoice in my suffering.

He doesn't rejoice because of his suffering. He rejoices in the midst of his suffering. Why does he rejoice in the midst of his suffering? Because he knows why he's doing it. I rejoice verse 24 in my sufferings for your sake. And in my flesh, I do share. I do my share on behalf of his body, which is the church and filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions.

He knew why he was doing it. And he was doing it for people outside of himself. He could rejoice in his suffering because he had been, as we're told in second Corinthians compelled by the love of Christ and therefore compelled by the love for people. You see the love of God had been poured into his heart. And as the love of God was poured into his heart, not only did he have a distinct love for the one who purchased,

just him, but he had a distinct love for the people that God had purchased. And it's a whole lot easier to suffer for people that you love than to suffer for people that you do not. Every war movie in the world will tell you that. I shared with you before. I really liked watching movies like that because I love to see the camaraderie of the brother. That's why I really loved that show.

Band of brothers is because that's exactly what those dudes were. Right? Right. Right. Right. Right. And when it came right down to it, they didn't fight for anything other than each other. And they were willing to sacrifice for each other. Why? Because they had formed a bond of love. Do they irritate each other? Sometimes you doggone believe it, but they still loved each other and they fought for each other.

And so Paul said, I can rejoice in my sufferings because I know who I am in Christ. And I love the body of Christ because Jesus loves the body of Christ. And I am in my own body, filling up the affluent, that which is lacking in the afflictions of Christ. We have to understand something about that phrase. The word afflictions in scripture is never tied to atonement.

It is always tied to service. While Jesus was on earth, he had affliction in his ministry. But now that he physically is no longer here, he continues that affliction in ministry through you and I, when we suffer for him, when we suffer for the body of Christ, in that way we are very much tied to christ when suffering comes into our lives and in that way you and i can also rejoice in suffering because not only is it because we love the body but it's because we realize that we get to be just like our savior he says i rejoice in my suffering for you and of this church the church of christ verse 25 i was made a minister according to the stewardship from god bestowed on me for your benefit so that i might fully carry out

the preaching of the word of god paul said i was made a minister of the church now i always love the word minister and it's a it's a word that is not always used in its proper context today matter of fact many foreign countries the leaders are called ministers have you noticed that the the minister of defense or you name the thing they're they're ministers but do you know what that word minister actually means that word minister actually means servant paul said of this church i was made if we just translate it literally i was made a a servant i was made a servant and that reminds me of something that reminds me that you and i are supposed to be the same way we are supposed to be ministers

of christ we are supposed to be servants of christ now i'm just going to be really honest sometimes servants are sort of lacking in the church today i know ryan all those churches not just in those churches out there sometimes we're just lacking hearts of servants today because sometimes things get hard and we go oh i don't know if i want to serve because that's going to be hard look if you're not going to serve because it's hard then i don't think you really understand serving and i don't think you really understand jesus because remember what jesus constantly told his disciples you know they're arguing over all the time they're always like who's going to be the greatest i think

God will sit at your right hand and he will sit at your left hand and we will rule with you. And Jesus says, that's great. If you want to rule with me, awesome. No, it's going to cost you your life. As a matter of fact, if you want to follow me, you need to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me. As a matter of fact, all the lords, all the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them.

It shouldn't be that way among you. If you want to be great in God's kingdom, then you have to learn to be a servant of all. And a slave of all. Essentially, Jesus said, you need to learn to be a minister. And that's something that's lacking in the 21st century Western culture church. We, all of us, the church in general, has relegated all of the ministry to the people that are on staff at the church.

To the people that are the elder board of the church. They're the ones that do the ministering. That's not true. We are all supposed to do the ministering. We all have been given a stewardship. A stewardship from God. Do you know that? And you know what one thing is required of stewards, we're told in scripture, is that they be found faithful. And that's who we're all supposed to be.

I would love it if I could just work myself out of a job here, right? Because everybody else is doing all the serving. And the one thing I have to do is show up and teach a message. Because everything else is completely taken care of. And that's the way it's supposed to be. That's the way God has intended for it to be. Is that there is not one person. Who is doing a lot of work.

The body is filling all of the needs. And Paul says, I was made a minister of this church. And he says, I was made a minister of this church through the stewardship that came from God. In other words, God blessed him with a responsibility. And the biggest thing that we as Christians need to pray for is to ask the Lord to show us what's my responsibility. And the biggest thing that we as Christians need to pray for is to ask the Lord to show us what's my responsibility.

What's my responsibility? Because when we start viewing it like that, it's not something we can have somebody else do. It's mine. It's what God's given me to do. Whatever happens to me in my life, wherever I end up going, I know that I will always have one responsibility. And that's to teach God's word to people. Because God's told me that I'm supposed to do that.

As a matter of fact, when I'm sitting around a group of people, and I hear them talking about the Bible, and I hear them talking about it in unfortunate ways, I can't help it. I have to look at my wife and say, can't keep quiet on this one. And I have to have a conversation with them. Because it is my responsibility to teach God's word to people. That's what God has given me the responsibility to do.

What's God given you the responsibility to do? Because whatever it is, only you can do it. Only you can fulfill your responsibility. But we need people in the church today that will fill their responsibility. The stewardship that God has given them. The stewardship that God gave to Paul was to be a minister of the gospel to the churches of Jesus Christ. He says,

So that I, into verse 25, might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God. Now he goes into detail about this word, about what this word of God is. He refers to it as a mystery. Verse 26, Mysteries are not like what you and I think of a mystery as now. It's not trying to figure out who the culprit is. A mystery in biblical terms is something that has been hidden in ages past and has now been revealed.

Can you imagine being a writer of the Old Testament? Can you imagine being one of the prophets writing this stuff down and going, I have no idea what any of this means, right? And God's like, write it down. You're like, okay, that doesn't make a ton of sense to me. That's why Daniel had to constantly be told, hey, you should write this down. And Daniel's like, I want to know what this means.

And God's like, it's not for you. Not for right now. In the ages in the future, they're going to understand this isn't for you right now. And can you imagine doing that? They were writing down the mystery in scripture. And then Jesus came and the mystery was explained. That's why guys like Paul, once they understood Jesus, they were just like, oh my gosh, I've got to tell everybody now because I just, it's like,

it's like that one little pin came together and the whole picture opened up, right? It's like they found the one key and when they turned the key, just everything lit up and they were like, oh man, now I can see how it all fits. That's what Paul says. I'm a minister of the mystery. And what is the mystery? It's a mystery that's been hidden from past ages and generations,

but now has been manifested to its saints. So what's this ministry that brings us to the next point? Christ in you, the hope of glory. Notice what it says to whom God will to make known. What is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the glory. It's such a small phrase, isn't it? It's a lot of big words. It's a lot of big words.

It's a lot of big words. We sold up for a very small phrase, but there is so much packed into that small phrase. The first thing that we take note of is that it's a mystery that's been made known to the Gentiles. Now listen, Paul is writing to probably a mixed church at this point in time, Jews and Gentiles. And one of the most fascinatingly new ideas in the church

is that God had put the Gentiles on the same plane as the Jews because of the grace of God. That was one of the mysteries that was revealed. You mean to tell me the people I hated more than anything else in the world can get saved in the same way that I can? Can get saved in that exact same way? You mean to tell me that the same God who created me and I thought created the Gentiles to stoke the fires of hell

is saying that we're going to be the same because of Jesus? Yeah, that is mind-blowing. That's why God has such a sense of humor and that he called Paul to be the minister to the Gentiles because Paul was a Jew among Jews. And if anybody would have hated Gentiles, it was Paul. And God was like, Paul, I know that you hate the Gentiles. Why don't you tell them about me?

God's kind of funny like that, isn't he?

And so it's a mystery because the Gentiles were never thought of in that way. It's easy for someone to think that finally the understanding of salvation came in this to the Jews. That's perfect. But when you throw the Gentiles in, that's a whole other thing. He says, and he has made known to me the mystery that was hidden from, or excuse me, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches

of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles. And this is it, Christ in you, the hope of glory. Again, because we've heard it a lot, we don't always think about how amazing it is, but Christ has made his home in each one of us that are believers in Jesus Christ. Each one of us that have put our faith in Christ, God actually comes and dwells each and every one of us.

It actually tells us that in the gospel of John. He says, he who believes we will come and we will make our, our home in you. I hear people say sometimes, stop telling people to ask Jesus into their heart. That's not what Jesus does. I'm like, that's not what it says in John says in Johnny comes and makes his home inside of us. Kind of like asking Jesus into your heart, right?

That kind of what he does there feels like a biblically accurate statement to me. He comes and he dwells inside of us. How does he dwell inside of us? Well, he dwells inside of us through the power of the Holy spirit or through the indwelling of the Holy spirit. Now, I want you to think about something we described Jesus in that first section of Colossians chapter one verses 13 through 20 that he rescued us,

that he redeemed us, that he's the in the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, the creator of the heavens and the earth. We were created by him. We were created for him. All the fullness of the Godhead bodily dwells in him. And now he dwells in you at epicness of the preeminent Christ, the incomparable Christ has come and made his home inside of man,

which is why no matter what happens in life, I'm never alone because the indwelling Christ is always with me. Now, why is that important? That's Christ in you. But how is that the hope of glory? Well, if you were to go back to the book of Ephesians, you don't need to do that right now. Let me just tell you what it says. We are told that the Holy spirit has been given to us as an,

as an earnest of the future. That is to come that, that he was given to us as a down payment. The word can also be translated an engagement ring, right? That's what he's been given to us as, as an engagement ring, as a promise of a future fulfillment. My wife went and visited her family this weekend, her and my daughters and my niece, they all went and saw Tim McGraw this weekend.

Somebody said, you didn't go. I'm like, really? So I do like to live where the green grass grows. Don't get me wrong. Anyway. So they, they go up, they go up and see Tim McGraw. So she spends the night with her parents and, and she starts sending me pictures, right? They must've been having like, like a photo album night or something like that. And she sends me a couple of pictures from the night that we got engaged.

And, and my daughter, my daughter's getting on the phone and like, dad, what happened to you? Like, what, what do you mean? She goes, well, I mean, I mean, all I'm saying is you used to kind of be fit. That's all I'm saying is, I'm like, ouch, that one, that one hurts. Like, let's go to the gym next week. Right? So, so, so I'm looking at this picture and I'm like,

isn't that amazing? In that picture, it was taken in September of 2003. We got engaged on September 12th of 2003. And in that picture, I look and I'm like, in that picture, there was a promise that was made, a promise that was made that was shown to be true because of a ring that I put on her finger. And I said, that ring is the guarantee, the guarantee of a future promise to be fulfilled.

And on May 1st of 2004, the promise was fulfilled because I made a vow to her and she made a vow to me that we would be married to each other for the rest of our lives. And that's the same idea that's given to us about Christ dwelling in us as our hope of glory. You see, he comes and dwells inside of us through the presence of the Holy Spirit and the presence of the Holy Spirit does an innumerable amount of things. But, but one of them is that he gives us hope because he is our guarantee.

He is our earnest, our down payment, the engagement ring to say that one day I'm coming back to get you, which is what we're looking for, which is why the church is called the bride of Christ. And when he takes us home to be with himself in the rapture, which I believe has got to be coming sometime soon, then he will ultimately fulfill the promise that he made when he put the engagement ring on our fingers, because Christ in you is the hope of glory. Is that not amazing? Is that not epic?

The very Jesus who created the heavens and the earth is now made his home and you, and it is the promise that this place is not it. You have a hope of glory. And Paul says, I am so glad to be a minister of the church that I get to reveal to everybody the mystery. And the mystery is this, that Jew and Gentile alike have the same hope. And that is Christ in you,

the hope of glory. Is he not truly the incomparable Christ? He goes on from there to say, and we proclaim him admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom so that we may present every man complete in Christ. For this purpose also, I labor striving according to his power, which, which mightily works within me. And I love the beginning of verse 28 because he says,

and we proclaim him. And listen, that should be the statement that all of us as believers in Jesus Christ make is that we proclaim him. This is why you have to be careful not to get caught up into, into weird doctrines, right? You have to not get caught up into all of the controversies and all of the things that the worst thing in the world. I hate hearing from people is,

are you a Christian? Yes, I'm reformed. Are you a Christian? Yes, I'm an Arminian. Are you a Christian? Yes, I'm a Calvinist. Are you a Christian? Yes, I'm a Baptist. Are you a Christian? Yes, I go to Calvary Chapel. Stop it. You're a Christian because you're in him and we don't proclaim Calvary. We don't proclaim the Baptist church. We don't proclaim reformed theology.

We don't create, proclaim progressive theology. We definitely don't proclaim progressive theology. We don't proclaim, proclaim any of that stuff. We teach him. And if I ever stop doing that, pull me off the stage. Because if I ever stop giving you Jesus, then I'm useless. I am a sounding brass and a clanging cymbal, and I do not deserve to teach God's word.

And I'm here to tell you right now, there are some men and women throughout the country that need to get pulled off the stage. Because we are to proclaim him. And what do we do in the process of proclaiming him? We admonish and we teach with all wisdom. Why? So that we can present every man as complete. Do you know what the word complete means? Mature. Ah, that's what we want people to be.

That's what I want you to be. I want you to be a mature believer in Jesus Christ. A mature believer in him. So that you are not swayed with every new thing that comes along. So that you are not swayed with every new idea that comes along. So that every time something crazy happens in the world, you don't go out and reload your gun. Because you are mature in Christ.

And you know that he's your greatest protection and provision in everything else. Because you're mature. Because right now what the world needs to see is not a bunch of Christians running around like chickens with their heads cut off. They need to see a bunch of Christians who are confident in their faith. Who are confident in the fact that God is in control.

Who are confident in the fact that God is in control. Is the economy falling apart? Probably. Is inflation keep going up? Definitely. Is the election going to end weird? Probably. Are there going to be riots after it? I mean, I'm thinking. I don't think it matters which way this thing goes. Something funky is going to happen afterwards. Is Trump going to become president?

I have no idea. Is Joe Biden going to become president? Is he now? Anyway, I don't know how any of these things are going to work out. But God does. But God does. And we need to be Christians who are mature. And are not swayed by all of these things. And Paul says, For this purpose I labor and I strive according to his power which mightily works within me. Brothers and sisters,

Jesus is truly the incomparable Christ. He's the preeminent one. He is our reconciliation. And he is our hope of glory. Amen. Let's all stand.

And if you'd bow with me. Lord, we come to you now. And Lord, I thank you for another Sunday that we have to gather together. And as always, Lord, my prayer is let only the things of you remain. And the things of me, let them fall by the wayside. And Lord, I want to pray that you would give us grace to know you more. And to make you even more the center of everything that we do.

Lord, that we. That we would, as I mentioned last week, turn our eyes upon Jesus. So that all the things of the earth will grow strangely dim in the light of your glory and grace. And Father, I want to lift up everyone who is trapped in the lifestyle of the LGBTQ community. Lord, I know that you love them so much. Lord, I know that they're lost. And Father, they need to come to know you as their Lord and Savior.

And so, Father, I pray that you would give us as the church wisdom to know how to minister. To know how to speak the truth in love. And Lord, that you would open hearts. That you would open minds. And that you would open eyes to the truth. Father, do the work that only your Holy Spirit can do in a generation that is very lost. And Father, use us as you see fit to do it.

And so, Father, be with us as we go out from here. In Jesus' name. Amen. Be blessed.

Pass. Either rapture. Or death. Lord, you can use us. And it's for your glory, Lord. We want to serve you, Lord. Give us the strength. Give us that desire by your Holy Spirit to just live for you. We give you praise in Jesus' name. Amen. Have a great week. Amen.