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Please turn in your Bibles to 
Colossians chapter 1. Colossians chapter 1. I'll just pick up reading in 
verse 15. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn 
over all creation. For by Him all things were created 
that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, 
whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. 
All things were created through him and for him. And he is before 
all things, and in him all things consist. And he is the head of 
the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn 
from the dead, that in all things he may have the preeminence. 
For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should 
dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, 
whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace 
through the blood of His cross. And you, who once were alienated 
and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled 
in the body of His flesh through death. to present you holy and 
blameless and above reproach in His sight. If indeed you continue 
in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the 
hope of the Gospel which you heard, which was preached to 
every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister. Amen. Let us pray. Father, we 
thank You for the Holy Scriptures and we just pray to You, our 
God and Father, that You would fill each one of us now with 
Your Spirit We thank You, Lord Jesus, that You have not left 
us as orphans in this lower world, but You have given another helper, 
even one just like Yourself. And we thank You for the ministry 
of the Spirit, so that You speak to Your churches even now. We 
pray, God, that You would forgive us and cleanse us from all sin 
and unrighteousness, that You would remove from us anything 
that would keep us from a proper understanding of this passage, 
And God, may these things promote in us a desire to worship and 
to serve You. And we pray through Jesus Christ 
our Lord. Amen. Well, remember that Paul 
has been speaking in categories concerning Jesus in verses 15 
to 20 that are glorious indeed. He speaks of Christ as the One 
who created, Christ as the One who is sovereign in providence, 
and Christ who is the Redeemer or Reconciler of God's people. And now Paul moves from galaxies 
and the glory of Christ's creation to a very small place in this 
world, specifically to the Lycus Valley where the Colossian church 
was. He moves from cosmic reconciliation, 
verse 20, to very particular and specific reconciliation in 
verses 21 to 23. And Paul uses a familiar way 
to highlight the work of God among these believers. We saw 
it at the outset of worship when our brother read from Ephesians 
2, what you once were and what you have now become. The before 
and after, if you will, of Christianity. Why is this important? Well, 
imagine if you were to have purchased a house, a fixer-upper, and you 
do the business of fixing it up, and then you invite everybody 
over, and they look at it and they say, boy, what an amazing 
job. It's certainly beautiful. And 
then you pull out some pictures of what it used to look like, 
and that just blows them away that much more. Wow! You made 
it look like this when it looked like that before? In many respects, 
to appreciate where we are in Christ Jesus, we mustn't ever 
forget where we've come from, where God has brought us out 
of. And Paul uses that same convention 
here. And you, he says, who once were 
alienated, And then he moves on to say, yet now he has reconciled. So there is a before and after 
picture here with reference to the Colossian church. In short, 
it tells us how they moved from alienation to reconciliation. And the larger structure of the 
passage is quite marvelous. I'm a firm believer that you 
should see the structure of a passage, just like you should look at 
a map from time to time. If you're traveling in a new 
city, you ought to look at a map to see where you're at. Well, 
the structure of this passage is quite beautiful. Paul begins 
with prayer for the Colossians. Verses 9-12a, prayer then begins 
to recede to the background as he gets into theological instruction, 
as he begins to set before them the glory of Jesus Christ and 
His redemptive work. Here in verses 21-23, he calls 
them to a bit of historical reflection, to consider what it is God has 
done in their lives and in their church. He will specify his purpose 
for ministry in verses 24 to 29, which all of this then sets 
the stage to confront the heresy that was plaguing the church 
in Colossae in chapter 2. So there is marvelous structure, 
there is marvelous order in the passage before us. Well, I want 
to consider four things with reference from alienation to 
reconciliation. We need to notice, first of all, 
their previous state in verse 21. Secondly, their present condition, 
verses 21 and 22. Thirdly, future destiny, verse 22b at 
the very end there. And then in verse 23, fourthly, 
their present duty. They move from the past to the 
present, to the future, and back to the present again. Hopefully 
you can follow that. It isn't too confusing, but it 
is important that the Bible doesn't minimize the place of the end 
times, but rather it uses the end times, specifically the judgment 
to come, as a motivator for our present conduct. Well, notice 
first of all their previous state, verse 21, "...and you who once 
were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works." Not 
a very pleasant picture, is it? Very grim, actually. very bleak 
and very dark. And in many respects, this contains 
for us the answer to the mess that exists in the world around 
us. When we see the kinds of things 
that go on on a daily basis, the injustices and the ungodliness, 
the unrighteousness and the acts of wickedness, the Bible has 
the answer as to why it is the case. The first thing Paul sets 
forth is that they were alienated from God. They were estranged 
from God. They were separate from Him. 
The passive form of the verb that Paul uses here does not 
mean primarily that we alienated God, but rather, God alienated 
us. Because of our sins, because 
of our waywardness, because of our wickedness, The Lord God 
kept us from Himself. We see a similar usage in Romans 
5 at verse 10. Now, I believe the Bible teaches 
that sinners keep God at arm's length. But the same Bible teaches 
us that God keeps sinners at arm's length as well. Romans 
5.10, For if, when we were enemies, We were reconciled to God through 
the death of His Son. Much more, having been reconciled, 
we shall be saved by His life. The thought is there that we 
were enemies of God. Now, the text will proceed in 
Colossians 1.21 to tell us that we treat God as enemies. But 
when he specifies here that we were alienated from God, he means 
that because of our sin and waywardness, God would have nothing to do 
with us. God didn't call us sons and daughters. God didn't call 
us friends. God did not invite us to pray 
and to fellowship and to commune and to enjoy with Him. Not that 
we would have anyways, but that's the idea here. A parallel thought 
is in the passage that Cam read in Ephesians 2, or at least the 
parallel word. Ephesians 2.12, Paul says that 
at that time, you were without Christ, being aliens from the 
commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, 
having no hope and without God in the world. The same idea there 
is alienation. But specifically here in Ephesians 
2, alienation that exists between Jew and Gentile. Though it had 
its effects upon these Gentiles, they were without hope and without 
God in the world. The primary matter in Ephesians 
2 is that Jesus has brought Jew and Gentile together as one new 
man in Christ. I believe more of a parallel 
is found in Ephesians 4 at verse 18. Notice in Ephesians 4 at 
verse 18, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from 
the life of God. being alienated from the life 
of God, being estranged from it, not having participation 
in it, not enjoying the glory and the goodness of God. That's 
what these Colossians once were. And if we are in Christ now, 
that's what we once were. We were alienated from Him. We 
had no interest in Him. We had no desire for Him. We didn't crave the knowledge 
or the understanding of God. We didn't want intimacy with 
God. It's a very bleak place. It's a very bad state. It's a 
very horrible position to maintain in this world. Paul goes on to 
describe them in Colossians 1.21. He says, we're once alienated 
and enemies in your mind. You see, you'll see that in the 
Bible. What we think about God always affects how we live for 
or against God. The mind here comes first. Paul 
will deal with wicked works, to be sure. But primarily, the 
seat of affections is the mind or the heart. The Bible uses 
those things synonymously. And what a horrible description 
here. You are alienated and enemies 
in your mind. Paul says that the thought process 
of the unbeliever is wrong. It is affected. It is darkened. So we look around us and we say, 
man just needs a little bit of help. No, it's not like that 
old house that just needs a bit of TLC. That analogy breaks down. That old house needs to be bulldozed. That old house needs to be obliterated. That old house needs to be devastated 
and remade. anew, and that's the glory of 
the Christian gospel. That's why Paul's argument in 
Romans 6 is that you died with Christ and you have risen again 
with Him. The old man has been crucified, 
the new man exists in Jesus Christ. He says, you are enemies in your 
mind. That is absolutely amazing, but 
it certainly causes us to make sense of the world. The preacher 
in Ecclesiastes 9.3 said this, this is an evil that is done 
under the sun, that one thing happens to all. Truly the hearts, 
and very often in the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the same 
word Paul uses for mind here translates the word heart. in 
the Old Testament. He says, truly the hearts of 
the sons of men are full of evil. Madness is in their hearts while 
they live. That's the description that Paul 
says was true of these Colossians. That's the description that is 
true of us if we are now in Christ Jesus. That's what we once were. If you are not in Christ Jesus 
right now, this is true of you. I realize you don't think you're 
mad. I realize you don't think that 
you're crazy. I realize that you don't think 
you're wicked and that God is your enemy and you are His. But 
whether you realize it or not doesn't change the fact. That's 
what happens when men sin. In Adam, we all die. We are plunged 
into depravity and this is the result. Remember that when Jesus 
healed that man that was plagued by the legion of demons? Remember 
that man who lived among the tombs? No one would get near 
him because he was such a wretched cause. He was such a strong, 
he would be able to break any chains that were placed upon 
him. He had his dwelling among the tombs. Let me just tell you, 
in Israel, you didn't purchase property near the graveyard. 
It was very unclean. You certainly didn't live among 
the tombs. You didn't spend your nights 
crying out and cutting yourself. Jesus comes and He casts these 
demons out of this man. And I love Luke's account of 
this healing. It says, then they went out to 
see what had happened, the people of the region. And they came 
to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had departed, 
sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind." 
See, up until that point, he had been naked and mad. He had 
been naked and nuts. He had been naked and so given 
over to his sin that he was described as being out of his mind. That's 
how the Bible depicts all men outside of Christ. It's not just 
reserved for a few psychologically disturbed people. It's not just 
a title reserved for those who have some chemical imbalance. 
The Bible sees that all men outside of Christ are mad. They are in 
sin. These people come along and they 
see this man now. He's sitting at the feet of Jesus, 
where a worshipper ought to be. He's clothed and he's in his 
right mind. And this caused the people there 
to be afraid. I mean, they were afraid of this 
man when he was demon-possessed and he would break chains. You 
would certainly think that they wouldn't be afraid any longer, 
except that he was now sitting with a stronger, a more mighty 
conqueror. One more powerful, more able 
to subdue, and that caused them to be fearful as well. You see, 
as Paul is describing these people, he says, you were once alienated 
and you were enemies in your mind. In Romans 1.21, in Ephesians 
4.17, we see the same thing. It's the mind, what we believe 
about God that affects our actions. This is why Paul has prayed for 
these Colossians. In Colossians 1.10, that you 
would be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and 
spiritual understanding. Why? So that you may walk worthy 
of Him. Fully pleasing Him. What we believe 
about God affects how we live for God. That's why doctrine 
matters. That's why teaching is important. 
That's why instruction from the Word of God takes a place of 
priority in the church. Because if we don't think right 
thoughts about God, we will never live for God. And that's what 
Paul goes on to say, you who once were alienated and enemies 
in your mind, buy wicked works. The mind produces action consistent 
with it. John Eady said, the apostle charges 
them not merely with spiritual and latent hostility to God, 
but with the manifestation of that hostility in open acts of 
unnatural rebellion. It is not a neutral alienation, 
but one characterized by positive enmity. It's not just a bunch 
of sinners walking around there hating God, but keeping it private. Keeping it a private, personal 
thing. No, it manifests itself. People walking around hating 
God manifest it. They manifest it in abortion 
clinics. They manifest it in theft. They manifest it through 
addictions. They manifest it through the 
way they talk to each other. They manifest it in the way they 
are entertained. They manifest it in the way they 
think. They manifest it. It comes out. What we believe about God comes 
out to play in our actions, in our activities. Turn to Romans 
1.21 for a moment. Romans chapter 1. Specifically, 
we'll look at verse 20 and following. Remember, in that section, Paul 
is highlighting the fact that all men everywhere are under 
sin. That's the summary statement of Romans 3. But this feeds into that. The 
universal condemnation of sin. He begins with the Gentiles, 
or what we might call the heathen, or the pagans in Romans chapter 
1. And notice what he says in verse 20. For since the creation 
of the world, His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood 
by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, 
so that they are without excuse. No one can claim there's not 
enough evidence. There's no sinner out there that 
can legitimately say, well, there's just not enough evidence to believe 
in the existence of God. Wrong. There is evidence. You just suppress that truth 
in unrighteousness. The evidence is everywhere. You 
just choose not to accept it. You just choose to try and argue 
it away. The doctrine of evolution is 
more pleasing to you, so you'll believe that. Not because of 
compelling evidence, but because of an axe to grind against God. So this is what Paul says. Notice 
verse 21. Because although they knew God, they did not glorify 
Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile, get this, 
in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 
Same thing, right? The mind, the heart, the thoughts, 
the inner man. comes first. When it's estranged 
from God, now notice what happens. Verse 22, professing to be wise, 
they became fools and they changed the glory of the incorruptible 
God into an image made like corruptible man and birds and four-footed 
animals and creeping things. Isn't that disgusting? We will 
change or exchange the glory of the incorruptible God so that 
we can worship those things our hands have made. What a sad and 
miserable indictment on the state of man. This doesn't just apply 
to the heathen in the bush who's worshipping his pole. It applies 
to the heathen in North America that's worshipping his money, 
who's worshipping his family, who's worshipping himself, who's 
worshipping his spare time, who's worshipping his entertainment. 
who is worshipping anything and everything that is not God. We 
profess ourselves to be wise, but we have shown ourselves to 
be idolaters. This is what Paul says. And because 
of this, verse 24, Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, 
and the lust of their hearts to dishonour their bodies among 
themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and 
worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who 
is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave 
them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged 
the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, 
leaving the natural use of the woman burned in their lust for 
one another. Men with men committing what 
is shameful and receiving in themselves the penalty of their 
error which was due. And even as they did not like 
to retain God in their knowledge, you see what a man thinks affects 
the way he lives. God gave them over to a debased 
mind to do those things which are not fitting. Being filled 
with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, 
maliciousness, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness. They are whisperers, backbiters. 
Haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, 
disobedient to parents, undisturbing, undiscerning, untrustworthy, 
unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful, who, knowing the righteous judgment 
of God that those who practice such things are deserving of 
death, not only do the same, but also approve of those who 
practice them." It's a bleak picture. Doesn't that bring into 
focus the glory and the majesty of our God. That's what we've been saved 
of. That's not just true of some heathen in the first century. 
That's true of you and me. Oh, well, I was never a sodomite. You were a hater of your parents. 
I was never a murderer. You were an adulterer in your 
heart. You know, when you put a ribbon 
on something that's disgusting, it's still disgusting. You put 
one slug into a nice garden salad, and the whole salad is affected. 
You may not have done a whole bunch of other things, but you 
did enough sin to find your place in hell forever and ever and 
ever and ever. But God, yet now, You see, the 
glory of the Gospel, it's about those buts. But God. It's about the neverthelesss. 
I love that time in Ezekiel's prophecy in chapter 16, where 
God gives them a history lesson. I came to you, Israel, and you 
were lying in your blood. I said to you, live, live. I 
decked you with ornaments. I put clothes on you. I treated 
you as one lovely. I gave and I gave and I gave. 
You plunged yourself into sin. You have found all manner of 
depravity. He uses some of the most vivid 
language in all of the prophets. So much so that most of our English 
translations shy away from giving the literal interpretation. He 
uses language that is offensive to our delicate ears. I often 
wish our sinning was as offensive to our delicate ears as that 
language is. God uses the language in Ezekiel 
16. He said, you spread your legs to every passerby to multiply 
your harlotry. And I'm sorry if that offends 
your delicacies, but that's God's indictment against covenant breaking. God says, you're not even like 
other people. Most men pay the harlot. He says, Israel, you got it all 
backwards. You're paying the man to commit 
harlotry with you. But you know what God does in 
there? Nevertheless. Nevertheless. Nevertheless, is the but God 
of the Old Testament. That's what Paul's doing here. 
That's why it's important for us to traverse some of this bleak 
ground. To consider what we were, so 
that we will see the glory of God in reconciliation. Reconciliation presupposes God's 
wrath. We don't need to be reconciled 
to friends, do we? No two people that have ever 
been getting along swimmingly have ever come to me and said, 
can you help us to get along? No, you're already getting along. 
Why would you need reconciliation? Reconciliation presupposes an 
axe to grind. According to this text, God's 
axe to grind with us and our axe to grind with Him. And that 
brings us to consider their present condition. Their present condition 
in Colossians 1.21. And you who once were alienated 
and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled. Isn't that amazing? Not only 
did this Christ make everything, not only does in this Christ 
all things consist, not only are galaxies set there by Him, 
but He's actually come to you in the Lycus Valley in the first 
century to a city that at one time was pretty popular, pretty 
big, and pretty prestigious, but now is just a two-bit town. 
Very, very insignificant at the time that this letter was written. 
He says, yet now He has reconciled. And that He here should be seen 
as God the Father. We've already seen that in verses 
19 and 20. Yet please the Father that in 
Him all the fullness should dwell. And by Him, we could read, it 
pleased the Father, to reconcile all things to Himself. God the 
Father is the One who is seen as reconciling. He does it through 
the means of Christ to be sure. But we ought to see in this particular 
instance, yet now He has reconciled. It is the God of Heaven. The One who at one time we held 
as our enemy, that God has now reconciled. He didn't just leave 
it there. He sought us out. I was just 
reading in 1 Chronicles 17, the rehearsing of the Davidic covenant. 
God, through the prophet Nathan, is speaking about his dynasty, 
speaking about how he's going to bless David's household. David 
returns thanks and praise and worship to his God. And he says 
in verse 21 of 1 Chronicles 17, And who is like your people Israel? The one nation on the earth whom 
God went to redeem for Himself as a people. I love that language. It almost looks like God left 
heaven, went on a journey to redeem them for Himself. And 
of course, we know that's the case in the Gospels, because 
Jesus left Heaven, came into this world to redeem us for Himself. The divine initiative and reconciliation 
must be appreciated. It wasn't like one day we woke 
up and we said, my, things aren't right with me in Heaven. Absolutely 
not the case. God said, things aren't right 
with you and heaven, and I'm going to reconcile you. I'm going 
to save you. I'm going to redeem you. I am 
going to take you for myself. Praise God for His pushiness. Praise God for irresistible grace. Praise God for His persistence. Praise God for His initiative. This is what you were in your 
strength. This is what God has done for 
you. He has reconciled you. He has 
brought you to Himself. And the means by which He has 
done this, according to our text, is in the body of His flesh through 
death. It is through the body of Christ, 
His physical body, contra His mystical body, which has been 
spoken of in chapter 1 and verse 18, which is the church. If the 
church in Colossae was being affected by some doctrine that 
Christ wasn't really a man, will Paul uphold the doctrine of incarnation 
here? And he is highlighting that it 
was a physical death on the part of the Savior that brought you 
to this place of reconciliation. You don't get out of that mess 
by your good works. You don't get out of that mess 
by moral reform. You don't get out of that mess 
by having a few new thoughts. You get out of that mess by one 
way, and it is the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son. The prophet 
Zechariah was not kidding. He said, there will be a fountain 
open for sin and uncleanness. And that fountain, as Calper 
would later write, is drawn from Emmanuel's veins. Sinners plunge 
beneath that flood, lose all their guilty stains. That's how 
we get out of the mess. That's how we got into this present 
condition. Man does not win his way back 
to the divine favor by either costly offering or profound penitence. God reunites man to Himself. He has not only provided for 
such an alliance, but actually forms and cements it according 
to John 80. Turn to Romans 5 for just a moment. 
Romans 5, we've already reflected on verse 10, but just to see 
the larger context and how it relates to this idea of reconciliation. Romans chapter 5 at verse 6, 
Paul says, we were helpless. Paul says in verse 8, we were 
sinners. Paul says in verse 10, we were 
enemies. See, this text is good. Helps us not to get puffed up. Helps us not to get proud. You 
know, there's that thought sometimes, you know, I'm doing pretty good. I don't yell at my wife. My kids 
are happy. I'm working hard. My lawn is 
cut. I've got a decent church. You know, whatever. I'm doing 
pretty well. That's because of God. It's not because of you. Here's what you are by nature. 
Here's what I am by nature. Verse 6 of Romans 5. For when 
we were still without strength in due time, Christ died for 
the ungodly. That's the helplessness. We were 
without strength. We in the Reformed community 
speak of total inability. We are totally unable to merit 
favor with God. We are without strength. We don't 
have the power. We don't have the ability. We 
are like those dead bones in Ezekiel 37. The spirit must breathe. The spirit must revive. We are 
like Lazarus rotting and stinking in the grave. The powerful voice 
of Christ must penetrate. There is nothing that man offers 
in terms of salvation, except as Luther said, the sin that 
he needs to be saved from. That's what we contribute. That's 
what we get. Paul says we were without strength 
in due time Christ died for the ungodly. He uses this argument 
for scarcely for a righteous man will one die. Yet perhaps 
for a good man, someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates 
His own love toward us, and that while we were still sinners, 
Christ died for us. Much more than having now been 
justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. 
For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through 
the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall 
be saved by His life. 2 Corinthians 5. 2 Corinthians 
5 opens up this doctrine of reconciliation as well. We see the divine initiative. God has reconciled us. We see 
the means of accomplishment in the body of His flesh through 
death. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 18. Now all things are of God, who 
has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has 
given us the ministry of reconciliation. That is, that God was in Christ, 
reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses 
to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 
Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were 
pleading through us. We implore on Christ's behalf, 
be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin. That's Christ. He made Him who 
knew no sin. He was holy, harmless, and undefiled. 
He always kept God's law. He always did what was pleasing 
to the Father. He always, always obeyed. And God made Him who knew no 
sin. To do what? To be sin. For us. Isn't that amazing? For us? How do we ever get proud? Convinced. The proudest of us 
are the most biblically illiterate of us. Because if we understand 
the truth, it should keep us in the proper place. Sitting 
at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in our right minds. He made 
Him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the 
righteousness of God in Him. Beautiful language from our brother 
Paul, telling the Colossians of their previous state, their 
present condition, and then he says thirdly, their future destiny. Verse 22, in the body of his 
flesh through death, notice, to present you holy and blameless 
and above reproach in his sight. The fundamental problem with 
biblical interpretation, if we don't understand the difference 
between a reason and a purpose, a reason and a purpose. Paul does not say he reconciled 
you because reason. You were holy, blameless, and 
without reproach. Paul says he has reconciled for 
a purpose in order to become holy and blameless and without 
reproach. Some would heretically teach 
that if we just conjure up some holiness, some blamelessness 
and some above reproachfulness, God will save us. No, God saves 
us in order to present us in this way. In Ephesians 1, Paul 
says God chose us in Him before the foundation of the world that 
we should become holy and blameless. Not because we're holy and blameless. You see that? Fundamental difference 
between reason and purpose. If I tell my wife, I'm going 
to give you this because you did this. It's a little bit different 
than, I'm going to give you this so that you'll just be incredibly 
happy. Wow. Purpose and reason. Man is about 
reason. Man is about, you do this, that 
and the other and God will reward you. God is about grace. God says, I reconcile you so 
that I can present you to myself, holy and blameless and above 
reproach. And I don't think Paul is meaning 
here for just right now. I think he has in view the judgment 
to come. I think he is envisioning that 
day when the whole church of Christ, who has been redeemed 
through precious blood, on that final judgment will stand before 
Him holy and blameless and above reproach. Not because they're 
good, but because Christ is good. Not because they've accomplished, 
but because Christ has accomplished. He made Him who knew no sin to 
be sin for us, that we might become what? The righteousness 
of God in Him. That's all talking about God's 
treatment of us. It's not talking about we have 
somehow become better people. Now, hopefully the Gospel promotes 
in us a betterness, but that's not what God is looking at on 
that day of judgment. We better hope not. We better 
hope all He's looking at is what Christ has accomplished. And 
so He takes the future judgment, that day when we shall stand 
before God, that day when all men will be summoned before the 
High King of heaven and earth. And Paul says, He has reconciled 
you so that on that day you will be holy and blameless and above 
reproach. That you, in your hearing, will 
hear Jesus say, Well done, good and faithful servant. Jesus is 
not going to say that because you've been incredible. He's 
going to say that because He's been incredible. It's all about 
imputation, babe. You learned that. You got it 
down. He made Him who knew no sin. It doesn't mean Jesus actually 
sinned. It's that we might become the 
righteousness of God in Him. It doesn't mean we actually have 
done all of the righteousness. It's been imputed. It's been 
given. It's been constituted. It's a legal declaration. That's 
one of the blessings of the Protestant Reformation. The Reformers said 
it isn't about God making us better. It's about God declaring 
us better. It's about not guilty, a pronouncement 
from the bar of heaven. And with that pronouncement, 
then we actually do want to live for His glory and for His honor. Praise God for forensic justification. Praise God that He'll look at 
us and see holiness. and blamelessness and above reproachness 
in us. It's amazing. So you see, Paul 
says, there's a reason here. And very often, Paul uses this 
day of judgment to spur the people of God on to holiness, to cause 
them to think through what they have in Jesus Christ. And then 
that brings us, fourthly, to consider the present duty based 
on these things. Based on what you once were, 
what God has now done in you, what you're going to be in the 
future, this then is how you ought to live. You see, biblical 
ethics is that way. We are to function and do because 
of what God has done. That's another thing very important 
to get. The Bible, unlike man, teaches the indicative, or what 
has been accomplished, and then the imperative, or what is to 
be done. See, man teaches the imperative. 
Go and do this, and then you'll get that. The Bible says God 
has already done this at Calvary. Now this is how you're supposed 
to live according to that. And this brings Paul to say, 
if indeed you continue in the faith. He moves from the future 
back to the present. Douglas Moos says, the future 
prospect of judgment is one that Paul holds before the Colossians 
in order to stimulate their continuing growth in the true gospel of 
God. This, if indeed you continue, 
is not to be seen as a negative thing. It's not as if Paul's 
throwing the dice and saying, I don't know about y'all, If 
indeed, I'm not sure. No, Paul has a confidence here. Paul says, if indeed you continue 
in the faith. The emphasis in this is on what 
we call the perseverance of the saints. Genuine perseverance 
in the Christian life gives the validity or the legitimacy to 
our faith, doesn't it? He's not trying to scare him. 
He's not trying to freak him out. He's not saying you can undo your 
reconciliation. No, he's saying, if you've been 
reconciled, you will do this. If you've been reconciled, you 
will continue in the faith. And this faith here is not their 
subjective hold of Christ, but it is the Christian truth. It 
is doctrine. It is the Christian faith. You 
continue in it. You don't apostatize. You don't 
turn away from it. You don't go, wow, it's getting 
hard, I'm going to go back to being a pagan. Wow, this is difficult, 
I want to go back to the city of destruction. Wow, I don't 
like how people are treating me now that I'm a Christian, 
so I'm going to stop. No, if you continue in the faith. 
If you continue in the faith, you will show that God has, in 
fact, reconciled you. This is not contrary to New Testament 
Christianity. This is not contrary to the Bible. 
This is consistent. This is the doctrine of the perseverance 
of the saints. God has reconciled you, so you 
will persevere. God has reconciled you, so you 
will move forward. God has reconciled you, so you 
will do this. And he's very specific here with 
reference to the particulars. If indeed you continue in the 
faith grounded and steadfast. I love that. We live in a namby-pamby, 
wishy-washy, feeling-saturated age. We need a big dose of grounding 
and steadfastness. Well, it sounds so contrary to 
the spontaneity of the New Covenant Christian. Grounded and steadfast. Jesus used this word grounded 
when he spoke about the man who built his house on the rock. 
He wasn't some namby-pamby builder that just wanted a good deal. 
He found rock and he put his house on it. Jesus says, this 
was founded on the rock. That's what God wants from His 
people. He doesn't want you to be the 
wishy-washy, feeling-oriented, experience-seeking, jellyfish 
Christian of 21st century North America. He wants you to dig 
in. He wants you to grab hold and 
not let go. That's what He wants. He wants 
you to be grounded in the truth. He wants you to understand doctrine. 
He wants you to apply your mind. He wants you to use your head 
more than just for box scores or more than just for whatever 
your desire is in life. Use your head, first and foremost, 
to be grounded in the truth. Oh, it's so hard. You know what? 
Just read. God's not calling us to massive 
performance. He's really not. He's calling 
us to a life of principled obedience. So be grounded, be steadfast, 
and are not moved away from the hope of the Gospel. You're not 
moved away. easily shake it. You are not 
going to go away. You're going to say with Luther, 
even if Jesus has a sword pointed at my head, I will still go to 
Him. Remember Peter in John 6, Lord, 
to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal 
life. You are not getting rid of me 
that easy. I realize there's tribulation. 
I realize there's trouble. I realize there's difficulty 
in the Christian life. I realize that not everybody 
is going to see me as their favorite person. But I'm not being moved 
away. I'm not going to go away. We're 
not fair weather fans. I don't root for God only when 
good things come. I'm not like Job's wife who says, 
curse God and die. We're like Job. Shall we accept 
the good from His hand but not adversity? You speak like one 
of the wicked women. We will accept adversity from 
God. We will say, naked I came into 
this world and naked I shall return. Blessed be the name of 
the Lord. That's the kind of Christianity 
Paul envisions here. That's the kind of Christianity 
we are calling people to. We're not calling people, oh, 
just say this prayer and get saved and just do whatever you 
want. Dig in, man. Get your Bible. Read it. Pray. Be in church. Be with the people 
of God. Use your mind for something other 
than what you used it for for all that time. You were alienated 
from God and you were enemies in your mind. You see, we're 
good at using our mind for those things we are interested in. 
I mean, something that just blew me away when I was stationed 
in England was people that would sit outside of the gates and 
they would have notepads and a pen and they would record tail 
numbers off the planes. Whoa, okay, whatever floats your 
boat, man. If that makes you happy, I just 
can't see it. Well, I heard that this had some 
rich heritage in train spotting. People would do this with trains. 
You would see a train, write it down, compare wherever you 
would compare to see where that train had been, where it was 
going, when it was made, all that. Well, they could do the 
same thing with planes. There's people who spend a lot 
of effort and a lot of money and a lot of their time on pursuits 
that, to me, just seem like, whoa. I'm not saying it's bad. I'm not saying it's evil. If 
you want to stand outside a gate and write down tail numbers, 
more power to you. What I am saying, brethren, is 
that to do what Paul says here takes a bit of effort. See, we're saved by grace through 
faith, not of words. We all get that. We all know 
that. We're all there. You know, when God saves us by 
grace, not of words, through faith so that it's all of him, 
he doesn't call us just to lay on the couch. You say, I'm saved. He says, get grounded. Be steadfast. Because there's a lot of attacks. 
There's a lot of rains and a lot of tempests and a lot of things 
that are going to beat against the foundation of your house. 
And if you're going to build on sand and you're going to be 
happy with the bare minimum, you're going to have difficulty. 
And you may show that you were never one of His to begin with. Paul says, if indeed you dig 
in, You get grounded. You're steadfast. You're not moved away. Someone's 
going to come along and say, oh, come with me. Let's go do 
this. I'm not moving away from the gospel. Are you kidding? 
I want you to come here. This is going to be great. No, 
I'm not moving. Not me, man. Oh, you're just so stubborn. 
Yes. Yes, when it comes to the gospel, I'm stubborn. That's 
fine. Okay. You can not like me. You can 
say whatever you want, but I ain't moving. I'm holding on. I'm always mindful of that scene 
of Polycarp, the early church father, who when he was martyred, 
I think he was like 82, they said, you ought to renounce your 
faith in Jesus Christ. They're going to burn him. They're 
going to burn him for his faith. He says, Jesus has never let 
me down for these two and 80 years. I am certainly not going 
to renounce him now. Praise God. How does Polycarp 
say that? Because he's faithful before 
that. Praise God for polycarpish faith. Praise God for Foxe's Book of 
Martyrs. Praise God for the Thomas Hoxes. 
Praise God for the heroes of the faith. What makes them heroes 
of the faith? They persevere. You know, one of the reasons 
we should love Spurgeon is not just because he preached and 
a lot of people got saved and came to his church. He maintained 
a faithful ministry for several centuries. That's why. See, because if we only look 
at what he did, we'll look at someone else who maintained a 
faithful ministry for several years, but didn't have quite 
as much blessing, and somehow would judge that Spurgeon was 
better. No, man. I can't tell you any more. A 
Christian who makes it to the end is a hero. A pastor who makes 
it to the end is a hero. And every time around us, or 
all the time, we can read, oh, this pastor fell into sexual 
sin, this pastor this, this Christian that, this person that. Let's 
not be moved away from the gospel. I'm going to have a big tombstone, 
because sometimes I say, I'd like to have that on my tombstone. 
Someone here is going to say, hey, he's dead. What did he want 
on his tombstone? Oh, he wanted that, he wanted 
that, he wanted that. What would be a good thing for our tombstones? 
They were not moved away from the gospel. Well, that doesn't have the pizzazz. 
He was not moved away from the gospel. Do you understand that? 
When so many are? When so many will compromise? 
When so many will just say, well, that's really not important? How can we not insist on the 
sinfulness of sodomy? Not because we hate them, but 
because God says it's wrong. How can we not insist upon an 
inerrant and infallible word when God says it's infallible 
and inerrant? How can we not insist upon those 
insistences that God made? That's what it means to not be 
moved away from the gospel. He says, the gospel which you 
heard, the gospel which was preached to every creature under heaven. 
You say, well, how is that the case here? Probably throughout 
the whole creation. The inhabited earth, the oikoumene 
of Paul's time. In Acts 2.5 we read that men 
from every nation were gathered on the day of Pentecost to hear 
the gospel. We see here in Colossians 1.6, which has come to you, as 
it has also come in all the world and is bringing forth truth. 
Does that mean that distributively every single human being has 
already heard the gospel? No, it means the gospel is being 
proclaimed. It has universal significance. 
This heresy that is plaguing the Colossian church is small 
and minute. The gospel of Jesus Christ, the 
glorious truth, is marching on through the ages and it will 
not stop. It will not go away. It will 
not be shut up. And then he says, of which I, 
Paul, became a minister. He highlights himself here. Why? 
Because he started off by saying Paul and Timothy. Now he is getting 
into this very specific purpose for his ministry and how he has 
been instrumental in the hand of God, specifically with reference 
to the Gentile churches. As Edy says, with reference to 
this statement of which I, Paul, became a minister, his solemn 
inauguration, his past course of active service, and the authority 
under which he had acted, this brief and distinct intimation 
forms a special introduction to the second section of the 
epistle and the warning against seduction by false teachers. 
So Paul, in a sense, is going to throw his weight around. You 
don't listen to those bums. You listen to me. You listen 
to one whom God has set apart for this particular reason. You 
don't go chasing these heretics. You don't get seduced to false 
doctrine. You don't play games with ideas 
that are damning because you will get hurt. He probably didn't 
have it that way in his mind. I sound a little bit harsher. 
Then I think Paul would have, but that's the whole point. Verses 
24 to 29, he's going to highlight what he's about, and then he's 
going to get into cautioning them very specifically in chapter 
2 against seduction to heresy. Well, brethren, hopefully this 
move or this blessed movement from alienation to reconciliation 
will be something you think on in your own life. Yes, I said 
there, there, there, there, but we could just as easily say ours. 
our former condition, our present state, our future destiny, and 
our present duty. Brethren, hopefully this kind 
of stuff promotes praise and worship and thankfulness. I mean, 
when we consider what we once were and what God has done with 
us, I mean, would you be as benevolent as God? Somebody was alienated 
from you by choice. Somebody was an enemy. Somebody 
looked at you as their enemy and somebody that engaged in 
wicked works. Would you be about reconciling them? Boy, if somebody 
looks at us wrong, we're ready to write them off our kindness 
list. Kind of something we talked about 
this morning. Somebody offends me, whoa, boy, don't ever offend 
me. I'm neat. You know what happens 
if you offend me? I'm going to treat you differently. 
I'm going to avoid you. I'm not going to say hi to you. When 
I walk around you, you get a little bent out of shape, we start treating 
everybody differently. God reconciled us through the 
blood of Jesus. Let that be a pattern for us 
in our dealings with one another. I like to see and hear the practical 
importance of eschatology. Eschatology is the big word, 
kids, that means the study of or the doctrine of the last things. What's going to happen then? 
It's not a thing just to satisfy our carnal curiosity, to put 
our posters up and our charts and all that sort of thing. It 
is to promote holiness. It is to promote watchfulness. 
I love John's words in 1 John 3. He says, everyone who has 
this hope in him, speaking about Jesus' second coming, purifies 
himself even as he is pure. If our eschatology is making 
us obnoxious, unkind, uncharitable, or otherwise ungodly, we're not 
understanding it the way the Bible teaches it. It is to promote 
in us a watchfulness, a holiness, a charity, and a genuine desire 
to do good to others because Jesus is coming. Thirdly, our 
present duty, perseverance. I know you like to come here 
and hear something shot in the arm. Go out there and just be 
happy. Go out there and be happy, but be grounded and steadfast, 
and don't be moved away from the gospel. Again, I was just 
thinking about this this morning. Why are the heroes of the faith 
our heroes? Because they persevere. I know that answer. I know it's 
simple. I know it's easy. But, man, it's hard. I was just 
reading in James 5 this morning. James uses Job this way. Not 
uses in a sinful way, but Elijah was a man with a nature like 
ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain. I'm sorry, 
let's just back up here. Where is Job? Oh, I'm sorry. Verse 9. Do not grumble against 
one another. James 5. Brethren, lest you be 
condemned. Behold, the judge is standing 
at the door. My brethren, take the prophets who spoke in the 
name of the Lord as an example of suffering and patience. Indeed, 
we count them blessed to endure. You have heard of the perseverance 
of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord. that the Lord is 
very compassionate and merciful. That's what makes Job a hero. 
What about Isaiah? He persevered. What about Hosea? He persevered. What about Habakkuk? He persevered. What about Paul? 
He persevered. That's what we're supposed to 
do. That's what it's about. Persevering. If indeed you continue steadfast 
in faith. are in the faith steadfast, are 
grounded in steadfast, not being moved away from the gospel. And 
finally, there is great hope in this section. Believers are encouraged in this 
passage to not be moved away from the hope of the gospel. 
If there's anybody here that does not know Jesus, I implore 
you to move toward the hope of the gospel. You talk about God's 
sovereign, reconciling, redeeming. He does, He does, He does. Well, 
what does that mean for me? It means great hope. I hate that 
idea that if we preach a sovereign God, we are making it difficult 
for man. No, if we preach a sovereign 
man, we are putting them in the grave. Because God is sovereign. Because God redeems. Because 
God reconciles. Because the Spirit causes the 
new birth. That is the foundation for gospel 
hope. You see, God actually likes to 
do this. God is about this. God is, as 
we saw in 2 Corinthians 5, reconciling the world to Himself through 
Jesus Christ. So if you're sitting here, you 
say, wait a minute, I don't know Jesus. Go toward the Gospel. Go to the light. Believe on the 
Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. This God who reconciled 
the Colossians, this God who has reconciled those in here 
that were just like what He said, alienated enemies, wicked works, 
that God will reconcile you through Jesus Christ. as well. That is 
hope. Well, let us pray. Father, we 
thank you for your word and for your grace, and we thank you 
for Jesus Christ and the blood that he shed at Calvary's cross 
so that we might know this reconciliation, this peace between heaven and 
earth. God, truly, we praise You that God and sinners are 
reconciled through our Lord Jesus Christ. We ask that You would 
go with us now. We pray that You'd help us to take these things 
to heart. And we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.