Complaint

Christ in You

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SN110506

Christ In You

Colossians 1:24-29

In the past few years and months I have heard of sermons having to do with growing in your suffering, rejoicing in your suffering and such as that. Paul was writing from a place of suffering, and he was suffering for the cause of Christ and the cross. Can we or should we rejoice in suffering?

If we are to rejoice in suffering; how is that possible? It does seem that while Paul was suffering from imprisonment in a Roman prison he was rejoicing in Jesus our Lord and Savior. He has voiced words of approval of the people of Colossae, so we see he was not bitter. He did not complain. You hear nothing but contentment, and peace in his words.

Just how is it we can rejoice in suffering? Does this rejoicing include all suffering, such as sickness, financial hardship, family problems – marriage or having to do with children? It seems that we can rejoice in suffering, and in all forms of suffering.

There is a “Mystery” revealed in this passage of Scripture which gives us reason to believe that we can suffer and rejoice in the suffering as well. It is the mystery of “Christ in you, the hope of glory”.

OUTLINE –

I. REJOICING IN THE SUFFERING OF AFFLICTIONS OF CHRIST (v. 24). See MacArthur
II. CALLED TO FULFILL THE WORD OF GOD (vv. 25-26).
III. THE MYSTERY REVEALED AS ‘CHRIST IN YOU, THE HOPE OF GLORY’ (v. 27).
IV. THE PREACHING, THE PRESENTATION, THE PERFECTION, AND THE POWER (vv. 28-29).

In verse 23 Paul states that he is a “Minister of Christ”, and in verse 24 “And now rejoice in my sufferings for you”. Paul was REJOICING IN THE SUFFERING OF AFFLICTIONS OF CHRIST (v. 24). How can Paul do this? The word for “Rejoice” here means “to be full of cheer”. Cheerful and suffering just do not even seem to belong in the same sentence little lone the same life together.

What would the word “Cheerful” mean if we had no suffering? Would the word or the condition even exist? That goes with the words of a song of several years ago which says, “If I never had a problem, how could I know that God could solve them?”

Here are some thoughts from John MacArthur on why suffering is a cause for joy,

“First, suffering brings believers closer to Christ.” (Philippians 3:10). “Second, suffering assures the believer that he belongs to Christ.” (John 15:18; Matthew 10:24; 2 Timothy 3:12; 1 Peter 4:14). “Third, suffering brings a future reward.” (Rom. 8:17-18; 2 Cor. 4:17). “Fourth, suffering can result in the salvation of others.” “Fifth, suffering frustrates Satan. He wants suffering to harm us, but God brings good out of it.” The above quotes by John MacArthur are from The MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Colossians/Philemon pg. 75.

In suffering for Christ, Paul was fulfilling the will of God and Jesus Christ in his life. For every child of God that suffers for the faith, Christ is glorified and exalted above all. Thus, suffering for Jesus fulfills the suffering of Christ for the Church. This has no redemptive purpose, but is due to redemption.

Paul saw his ministry to the church as being one CALLED TO FULFILL THE WORD OF GOD (vv. 25-26). There were many things that had been hidden in mystery (a secret hidden in the past, but now revealed) concerning grace, salvation, and the church. These things were not even seen in the law, but were there. Such things as having a “Heart of stone” and it becoming “Heart of flesh”;

“And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:” Ezekiel 11:19.

“A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:26 (KJV).

The only way this kind of change is possible in an individual’s life is through the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Word of God is fulfilled when these wonderful things have been made plain. They are now revealed, and open for all to see, hear, and receive. To some, whose eyes may be darkened to the light of the Gospel, it will remain a mystery, and only by the power of God will they ever see. That is the only way it ever came to be in the first place.

There is a glorious thing about all of this, and that is THE MYSTERY REVEALED AS ‘CHRIST IN YOU, THE HOPE OF GLORY’ (v. 27). This is a wonderful, glorious thing. Our hearts should be full to overflowing to think, to know that Jesus Christ is in us. He is in us individually, and as a corporate body of believers when we are gathered together.

How can sinful people have the essence of holiness living within them? It is by the grace of God. How can we as the people of God – made so by grace – continue to live in our own power, and not rely on the One who lives, who abides within us?

The answer to the problem of the “Mystery” is “Christ in you”. You will not find that in the law, or in the Old Testament. Jesus Himself is “The Hope of Glory”. He is our hope of being with Him in glory ie., heaven. He is though, far more than just a hope. He is our salvation. He is our joy. He is our strength. He is our Savior. He is our Lord. He is our Master. He is the One in whom we trust. He is Creator, and our creator. He is Sovereign. He is All-present. He is All-powerful. He is All-knowing. He is God. He lives in those who confess Him as their personal Lord and Savior, whose lives He has changed.

Jesus did say to us, “Abide in Me…” (John 15:4). To abide in Him is to have Him abiding in us. The two go together “Abide in Me, and I in you.” O, the things we must give unto Him to make His life and presence revealed to this lost and dying world. Wherever we go do others see “Christ in you, the hope of glory”, or do they just see the ordinary? May God help me to have others see Christ in me, the hope of glory for others.

THE PREACHING, THE PRESENTATION, THE PERFECTION, AND THE POWER (vv. 28-29). Why did Paul suffer for the cause of Jesus Christ? Why did he rejoice in his suffering? He gives us the answer in these two verses.

He desired to present to Christ in that day a people who were complete in Christ. It is not a work to be left to the disciples own doing. The individual disciple of Christ is ultimately responsible for their own growth in Christ, but only after they have been taught the way; you might even say, after they have been taught to feed themselves.

All those who are in Christ will have presentations to make before Christ. The ones we have led to faith in Jesus will be there for that presentation. Do you desire that they be complete? That should be a strong burden for every Christian, ie., to see the newborn to faith in Christ grow from a babe to full grown adulthood.

The only way we can accomplish this, of course, is through the power of God – Christ in us, the hope of glory. We have no power, but His. We have no Word, but His. We have no spirit to accomplish this task, but His.

CONCLUSION –

I. THERE IS REJOICING WHEN WE SUFFER FOR THE NAME OF CHRIST, AND IN HIS NAME.
II. AS CHRISTIANS WE HAVE BEEN CALLED TO FULFILL THE WILL OF CHRIST IN OUR LIVES.
III. LET THE TRUTH OF ‘CHRIST IN YOU, THE HOPE OF GLORY’ NO LONGER BE A MYSTERY.
IV. GROW IN LOVE AND BE BURDENED TO SEE OTHERS GROW IN GRACE AND KNOWLEDGE OF JESUS CHRIST; THAT YOU MIGHT PRESENT THEM COMPLETE BEFORE JESUS AT HIS COMING.

-Tim A. Blankenship

When… In The Cave

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“I cried unto the LORD with my voice; with my voice unto the LORD did I make my supplication. I poured out my complaint before Him; I shewed before Him my trouble.” Psalm 142:1-2 (KJV)

Maschil of David; A Prayer when he was in the cave.  That is the title most Bibles place over this Psalm.  This would be the cave David hid from king Saul in, and cut off his “skirt”, and his men sought to kill Saul, but David prevented them (1 Samuel 24:1-8).

Caves are dark.  If you have no light, and are back far enough in them  you cannot see your hand in front of your face; and that is not just a cliche’.  It is a cool, damp place as well.  It would be a comfortable place to go during a heat wave.  For David, however, it was a place of hiding.

Was David afraid of king Saul?  I do not think so.  He was afraid that if he was around him too much, that he might have to kill him; and that he did not desire to do.  Saul was God’s anointed king, and David would not lift a hand against him.

Like David we must trust the LORD to hear our voice in our darkest moments.  When we are in the caves of despair, or fear, that is the time to bring our complaint to Him.  One thing I have noticed as a Christian is that, when I take my complaints, my heart aches, my hardships to the Lord, then no one else will hear about them.  If they do it is more in how God worked to resolve them.  Giving God the glory.

A Prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed, and poureth out his complaint before the LORD

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“Hear my prayer, O LORD, and let my cry come unto Thee.” Psalm 102:1 (KJV)

The title of this post is the title of the Psalm.

Have you ever prayed the above prayer?  I have.  I am fairly certain that many Christians have prayed it, and not just one time.

In times of affliction.  In times of sorrow.  In times of need.  In times when we feel as though God may not be listening our cry goes out “Hear my prayer, O LORD…”

If you are feeling afflicted today, overwhelmed, rejected, neglected, then pour out your prayer, your complaint to the One who alone can hear and answer your prayer and  your need.

Remember that God loved you so much that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever would believe in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Day 24 – Worship of a Good Thing

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This post today will probably be much shorter than usual.

My reading this morning covered 2 Kings 7 – 20.  There was mention of many kings.  Still none of the kings of the Northern kingdom “pleased the LORD”; only one got close yet not sufficient and that was Jehu.  There were some of the kings of the Southern kingdom who “pleased the LORD”, but not like David their father and example.

I want us to look at one king of the Southern kingdom whose name is Hezekiah, and one of the exploits he did in Judah; named in 18:4,

“Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign.   Twenty and five years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name also was Abi, the daughter of Zachariah.   And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father did.  He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.”  2 Kings 18:1-4 (KJV)

The brasen serpent is first mentioned in the book of Numbers.  The people had grown to complaining, and GOD sent poisonous serpents into the camp, biting the people, then they were dying; and began to cry out to Moses, and Moses called out to the LORD,

“And the LORD said unto Moses, ‘Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.’  And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.” Numbers 21:8-9

In the days of Hezekiah the people had began to worship the serpent on the brazen pole, bowing down to it evidently, even burning incense to it – “That thing of brass”.  It had lost its real significance, and had become an idol.  Originally when those bitten had looked upon it they would live.  It is a symbol of the cross of Christ; even a shadow of the cross; where all our sins were placed on the perfect sacrifice for sin – the sinless, perfect, holy Son of God – and the wrath of God was poured out on Him and His blood was shed for our redemption, and He bodily arose from the grave giving all who will believe in Him eternal life in glory.

What is the problem with “Nehushtan”?  Worshipping a good thing is not proper worship; and God despises our worship of anything except Him.  Jesus said, “They that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24).  To worship God in spirit is to have a redeemed spirit through the shed blood of Jesus the Christ.  Any other worship is not a “Good thing”

-Tim A. Blankenship