Transcription downloaded from https://sermons.heritagesermons.org/sermons/12012/colossians-quality-average/. Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions. Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt. [0:00] In the first chapter to the Colossians and the 28th verse, whom we preach, warning every man, teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man perfecting Christ Jesus. [0:28] But I would say this, that you cannot preach Christ without preaching his people. [0:42] For in salvation Christ and his people are the foal of the matter. [0:58] There were no people of God and the Lord Jesus would never have come to this world. This world was created for them because it pleased the glorious Trinity that he should create a creature capable of knowing him. [1:26] A creature capable of being brought into union with him. A creature possible of possessing him who is his person, is eternal. [1:49] That's what the world was created for. Not for different people to make fortunes. [1:59] Oh, the best that the world calls the best. And what about killing one another. Oh, what a sight it is. [2:13] Oh, selfishness of greed. Killing of innocent people. Violent men. And other sins. [2:26] But the Lord has a people that he has predestinated to the adoption of sons. [2:42] Blessed people. I wonder if we are one. Oh, my friends. [2:52] He does exercise us when we look at ourselves. For the most part through life, in the exercise of our souls, there will be two we should look at. [3:09] Ourselves and Christ. It will be a mercy if he looks upon us. And if he fulfills that scripture, And then he will regard the prayer of the destitute, And not despise their prayer. [3:36] And if he regards your prayer, He will regard your person. He can't regard your prayer without regarding you. And if he does not, You know, these are the things. [3:53] Much as we may speak of his mercies and his judgments, The psalmist did sing. He sang about both. [4:06] And we should know both. It's a very solemn thing for people. To which mercy has nothing to do. [4:22] So, they groan under his judgments. But the psalmist said, I will sing of mercy. [4:36] And not complain and rebel at judgment, But sing of judgment too. You see, the two fit. And they be made a fit By the wisdom of God in the covenant of grace. [4:51] And everything that Christ has brought with him, Which is a complete fullness. Everything fits a sinner. [5:02] It is of such a nature, In the wisdom of God, And that every grace, And everything that the Lord Jesus did, Fits a sinner, It's exactly what they need. [5:24] Whom we preach. In the Ephesians. Perhaps you've noticed, Perhaps you've noticed, That in the Ephesians, And especially in that first chapter, This whom is spoken of several times, Whom we preach. [5:46] In the Ephesians. In whom we have redemption, Through his blood, The forgiveness of sins. [6:01] In whom he also trusted, After that he heard the word of truth. In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, Being predestinated according to the purpose of him, Who works in all things, After the counsel of his own will. [6:31] In whom, In whom, In whom, Oh, this blessed whom, Everything's in him, And everything that a sinner can need. [6:46] Whom we preach. Oh, but it is solemn world. I have felt sometimes, And very wrongly, Very wrongly, I have felt sometimes, That an angel could preach better. [7:09] An angel that had never sinned against this God. But an angel couldn't preach. He knew nothing about sin. [7:24] He wouldn't need redemption. He wouldn't need a saviour. He wouldn't need the Lord Jesus to come to this world. [7:34] He wouldn't need his sufferings. His agony. It's a mystery. [7:48] What sin is done, Not only in the destruction, But also in salvation. [8:06] The salvation of sinners Is a greater act Than the creation of the world. But we do need the Holy Spirit to help us To say right things. [8:22] Things. And remember Whom we preach. And that should be the first thing, really. [8:34] Whom. That is, His person. Who he is. Before he condescended To take human nature. [8:48] He was one Of the Trinity. He hadn't a body. He was a spirit. [8:59] God is a spirit. And they that worship him Must worship him In spirit and in truth. But we are not spirits. [9:12] And the sins Of people Against God Could not be expiated By spirits. [9:22] It must be By the same nature That sinned. And therefore He said That children Being partakers of flesh He himself He himself Also Took part Of the same As love Love divine Whom We preach This person This person then Is infinite Of death It cannot beoften toy And It cannot be contained He cannot be [10:25] Contained He is inimitable, inimitable in his person and inimitable also in his ability, in his works, whom we preach. [10:52] The eternal Son of God. There is one thing very important to realize about God and that is he can know no necessity. [11:17] Nothing is necessary to him. He does everything according to his own will and the counsels and decrees and purposes of the covenant of grace, whom we preach. [11:41] He is to be preached. It is a method. Had it been his method, his purpose, he could have saved his people by the work of the Holy Ghost in their hearts without preaching. [12:02] There has been a minority of his people, a few, that have been called by grace apart from preaching. [12:17] But generally, and his purpose is, that he has connected preaching with salvation. And it makes the preaching of the word exceedingly important and difficult. [12:34] And a great responsibility to the one who speaks. And a great responsibility to those that hear. There are responsibilities among men and they should be rightly attended to. [12:50] I don't despise or wouldn't speak wrongly about the things of this world. God's put every one of us here for a purpose. [13:03] We have an object designed for us in the providence of God. [13:17] God's put every one of us in the providence of God. And whatsoever thy hands find to do, do it with thy might. All the millions of this world are appointed here for some purpose. [13:38] and one of the greatest of sins today is that that is denied not so much in word as in practice if a man will not work neither shall he eat but look at it look at the confusion in the industrial world and that terrible saying I could not care less oh men sinners whom we preach another man two heads around of two peoples the devil is the head of the unbelievers the Lord Jesus is the head of his church and the next thing that we would preach concerning this glorious Lord is that he in love to the people and that the Father gave him in love said lo I come in the volume of the book it is written of me [15:28] I delight to do thy will oh my God he delighted to do it and if you look at that account you will find that he said that after it was declared sacrifices thou wouldest not Nevitical sacrifices could do no good they were appointed of God they were types they were shadows they were for the time being that the conclusion of them year by year was a remembrance of sin and that the gospel speaks differently whom we preach we preach then his substitutionary work he came he came he came filled with everything that his people will need without one iota missing there's nothing missing in his fullness there's nothing that his people would ask him for that he hasn't got there's nothing that they need him to do that he cannot do and he came and he who feels immensity was contracted to a span whom whom we preach we preach then his grace he came with truth and grace he knew he knew the grace of our lord jesus christ that though he was rich yet for your sakes he became poor that you through his poverty might be made rich opposite me oh to be a mercy opposite me in us he doesn't come to people that is righteous like himself but he comes to make them as righteous as he is himself and that's the work of grace in the heart by the holy spirit a wonderful thing to get to heaven my friends it needs this glorious man and his merit his work his sufferings his ignominy to see who he was and those rude soldiers the communists of men spat in his face smote him with a reed put on him a purple common robe [19:29] took him in some by sight large took away his judgment and there he was and he could have dashed them all to death but he was led as a lamb to the slaughter you see them shearing a lamb there is no noise very beautiful to see the lamb sheared no they don't speak although they're thrown on their backs and their that word is cut from them there's no sound but you touch a pig and there'll be a noise and there'll be a noise whom have we preached and we preach his righteousness his righteousness is not as a righteousness of his own person he doesn't make his people righteous in his divinity he makes them righteous by going from beginning to end and working out in them by the spirit that complete salvation that he came to do and did and finished and cried it is finished when he cried it is finished salvation was done the victory was won his people were justified the work of grace in their heart was finished it's finished that his righteousness is done there's nothing in anything no flaw not a flaw oh I think it's a wonderful thing that ever this can be written in in the revelation in thing in the МУЗЫКА in the in wood now unto him that is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory, not faultless before a creature. [22:38] We are faultless before our fellow man, if we've done nothing that you can see amiss. We are faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory, majesty, dominion, power, both now and forever. Amen. [23:07] Whom we preach, He is to be preached, to be declared, to be lifted up as Moses, lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. [23:23] Serpents were the beasts that bite them, make a brass of serpent like them. [23:34] That's the way I choose to say. Whom we preach then, His righteousness. And also we preach, His immutability. [23:55] Of this He Himself says, I am the Lord, I change not. And because I am what I am, and nothing can alter me. [24:10] The sons of Jacob are not consumed. If I could change, you would be. Immutability is a blessed doctrine. [24:27] And it comes with Christ. It's one of His innumerable blessings, spiritual blessings. I feel unworthy to talk of these things, especially when I read just now, in the Ephesians, I really thought I ought to sit down. [24:53] And what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us, who are to believe according to the working of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead. [25:09] Here He works that same mighty power, the power of Christ's resurrection, in the case of every one that is called by grace. [25:20] And it is the direct effect of His resurrection. [25:31] And that direct effect of the resurrection of His people, through His resurrection, brings them into an eternal union with Him, that nothing can stable or dissolve. [25:53] then therefore they are in union with the Lamb, from condemnation free. What a people there. [26:07] How we want. Oh, my friend. I do need the Lord to confirm me. [26:18] You will want Him to confirm you. These things are so great, you can't take them to granted. [26:32] And the more so, as we see the day approaching, the youngest in this congregation may die before the oldest. [26:48] death, death, the only certainty in this life, and eternity. And by the Lord Jesus, that eternal life in Him. [27:06] And that we would speak of, whom we preach. We preach that He came that He came, that His people might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. [27:26] That is, a spiritual life, a spiritual mind, a spiritual conversation, spiritual walk, whom we preach. [27:42] Oh, what a person He is. we preach. [27:53] We preach also His omnipotent power. His power, His power, is beyond any other power. [28:13] It's omnipotent. There can be only one omnipotent. His kingdom, and His kingdom, this is His kingdom, we're speaking about. [28:30] And His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and nothing can move with. The second greatest kingdom is the kingdom of Satan, a mighty kingdom. [28:48] But whom we preach, this kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. It can never be moved. [29:02] The Lord Jesus is the king. His people are the subjects. And oh, how great is the goodness that He has laid up for them that fear Him. [29:23] If we're talking the truth, my friends, and then you see what I've mentioned before, that there is a connection between how we live and how we die. [29:41] Some people live just as they like, go where they like, do what they like, have what they like, and indulge themselves in everything that the flesh wants, and are religious, and think that the two things should go together, but they can't, you know. [30:06] Because the Lord Jesus, and by His Holy Spirit, will make Him such a necessity, and so precious, that the things of God revealed in the Scriptures, and brought into your hearts, and the view by faith, to see His beauty, so as that you look into the perfect law of liberty, and see such things there, as that you continue looking, you keep looking. [30:40] And if we had the eyes of faith to see, and greater faith, we should see more in the Word of God than we do. [30:52] But whom we preach, of warning every man, so that in preaching, there is warning, and we need it. [31:09] What a blessing it is, and to receive it. The reproofs there are through the Word of God, are blessings. [31:21] You take the Proverbs. Oh, I'm thankful for the Proverbs. I could encourage our young people to read the Proverbs. [31:42] It teaches you how to live. Marx has the power, what is good and what is evil. And it also gives a promise. [31:58] For those that are righteous, say ye to the righteous, it shall be well with him. It doesn't matter what it is like with him now. [32:14] He may be laying on a bed full of cancer. If he is righteous, it is well with him. Tell himself, say it. Say ye to the righteous, if he is stripped of all his God, and if he is misunderstood and his enemies surround him lively and strong, say to the righteous, it shall be well with him. [32:42] Heaven is before him. Christ is before him. He is an heir of heaven. Joint heir with Christ. Christ. [32:54] Come we preach warning every man and we've got to warn a man of this. the wages of sin is death. [33:12] The gift of God is eternal life. If we are lost, we earn it. The wages of sin is death. [33:26] Wages is a reward. It's a payment. You get what you work for. [33:39] But the gift of God without work in the righteousness of Christ is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. [33:54] And let's touch the whole population in two. there are sinners. [34:04] We are all sinners. Unbelievers. Enemies of God. their wages will be eternal there. [34:19] Those that love him are trying to find him. Oh, that I knew where I might find him. You drop everything and go. [34:31] I'm sure you would. You leave everything and go. There may have been a moment when some of these things you've experienced and perhaps I never experienced them again in the same way. [34:52] I remember decorating a room with the windows open and I felt that this world was nothing to do with me. [35:14] I I should love to have flown out of that window away from it all. Give it all up. You won't always be there. [35:31] And if you see him you will. If you taste that he's gracious. If the Holy Spirit speaks to you through his word. [35:43] and give you to read the 104th Psalm see what he's done in creation. His glory his beauty his perfection. [35:56] Look at that kingdom. The creation is a kind of a kingdom. The peace there is there no quarreling no wars it's only man that's vile. [36:13] man the head of creation is the only vile thing in this world. And yet he is to change that vile body and fashion it like unto his glorious body. [36:28] That's the objective. That's what's before the saints whom we preach warning every man. warning that no excuses will be acceptable. [36:54] No my friends we are either saved or lost. and there is this we are being saved or lost every day. [37:13] unbelievers who indulge themselves who ignorant and deny God who blaspheme his name are they are being lost every day. [37:43] But his dear people that love him that are seeking him are being saved every day. Now be saved to he brings them to heaven. [38:01] Whom we preach warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom. Now that's the kind of teaching and it's important to this there. [38:19] We read of it just now. but give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. [38:33] And that's the only knowledge that he saves. To give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. [38:49] If you haven't that kind of knowledge you are ignorant of him. You may read the Bible read about him read it as a history and my friend this sacred inspired book is for the salvation of his people is complete and that brings us to the end of the text that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus this perfection means complete that we should preach the whole counsel of God as so that their preaching when we finish or when one who has heard us die that they may be presented complete in Christ [39:50] Jesus and in the first in the second epistle it speaks of it ye are complete in him and accepted in the beloved you think of that and the Lord uses the preaching of the gospel that these things may take effect in the souls of his people and in the midst of all this there are tribulations losses diseases pains agonies grief his people are not exempt from these things but the [40:52] Lord uses them he brings them to weakness in order that they might know his power he brings them to know themselves as lost sinners they might know that he is a great savior that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus and that makes the preaching a very important and very solemn that we should so preach that in our measure and in the measure that you receive it you were made perfect in Christ and the perfect gospel have been preached that perfect spiritual doctrines have been preached that they have entered your heart that you were born again all that is born of the flesh is flesh and you can make nothing more of it you can educate it you can send a religious flesh to the college you can do what you like with it [42:18] I know I've made this illustration before but it is so important that I will repeat it upon this point if you go down the beach and take up a fairly big smooth stone that stone may have rolled about amongst the other stones for hundreds of years but the inside of that stone the water has never touched never touched so much as if it had never been in there the only difference it didn't make it smooth it outside a solemn thing to be like that to be under the preaching of the gospel like the stone in the sea associating with the [43:26] Lord's people and as it is in ezekiel come and sit before me as my people do and roll about for 40 years under the truth and be like that stone never touched inside you