COLOSSIANS 1-2 WHAT I HAVE IN JESUS2019 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Colossians 1-2 What I Have In Jesus

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2019. Well, this evening we are going to be in the book of Colossians chapter 1. You can turn there with me, Colossians chapter 1.

And we left off last week kind of in the middle. We were trying to work our way through the end of Colossians chapter 1 and we didn't quite get there. But we're going to try it again. And starting in verse 24 this time of Colossians chapter 1, work our way through the end of the chapter and Lord willing through a few verses into chapter 2 as well. But we'll see if the Lord allows for that. So let's start out the reading verses 24 through 29 together here in Colossians chapter

We continue to look at the subject of our foundations in our Christian life and the foundation that God has provided and focusing here in the book of Colossians on Jesus and how complete we are, which is we are fully complete in him.

And so God's going to continue to speak to us regarding all that we have in Christ and the complete status that we have as a result of our faith in Jesus Christ. As we continue on here in Colossians chapter 1, starting in verses 24 through 29, here's what it says. Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ for the sake of his body, which is the church.

Verse 1.

Warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. To this end, I also labor, striving according to his working, which works in me mightily.

Here as we continue our journey through Colossians here in chapter one, I titled the message last week and we'll stick with the same title, What I Have in Jesus. And last week as we began looking at this idea of all that we have in Christ, again the focus is, the emphasis is on, well, I have everything. I am complete in Jesus. And I'm going to talk a little bit about that.

And the completeness that I have, the complete status that I have is not based on me. I'm not complete because, well, I do all these things and so therefore I am complete. I am complete because of Jesus. That because of who Jesus is, because of all that Jesus has done, because of what he provides, no matter what I do and no matter how much I lack, Jesus is enough to complete me.

Of course, there is that famous quote from that old movie. It's not really that old, but it seems old, right? You complete me, right? There's that concept of this romantic relationship, this person that I have an affinity for, that that person completes me.

And there's some elements of truth to that in the sense that, you know, there is that filling of gaps and the strengths and weaknesses that we have. And God does use people in our lives to bring us a sense of completion. But the reality is no person can do that.

That if you're not complete in Christ, no person can complete you, right? The only way a person can complete you is if that person is in Christ and you are in Christ and Christ has ordained for you to be together to fulfill his will, that then there is that completeness. But

But no person can complete you. No career can complete me. No amount of money can bring completion. You know, that cannot happen through religious rituals or activities or dedication or devotion. My completeness is in Jesus. I am complete in him.

And we spent some time considering that last week in the first part of Colossians chapter one. We looked at these three points last week, and I'm not going to reteach them, but just to kind of recap them briefly. In Jesus, I have redemption. I've been purchased by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. I've been bought out of my life of slavery. I was enslaved to sin on the road to death.

but I've been purchased out of that and delivered from that. Now, as you consider what I have in Jesus and the redemption that I have, it's important to note, I cannot be more redeemed than I already am in Jesus. It's important to be reminded and to remind ourselves that we don't add to the redemption that Christ provides for us. I cannot be more redeemed than

Even if I do this or do that or follow this or follow that or fast this or fast that, I cannot be more redeemed. I am redeemed in Christ fully and completely. In Jesus, I have completion was what we looked at in verses 15 through 18. And again, the point is important to note that I cannot become more complete. I am complete because of who he is. He, God who became man, is with me.

He's in me. I have Jesus. He completes me. And there's nothing that I can add to that. I can't become more complete by adding to what Jesus has provided and offers. The completion that I have in him speaks of my purpose. I'm created by him for a purpose, with purpose. And I'm never more complete than when I'm walking in the purpose for which he created me. In him, I have completion. In him, I have provision.

That's part of my completion as well because he's made me a part of the body of Christ. And I'm attached to you and you're attached to me. And there is these relationships and the promise of resurrection. There's all of this that we need that is provided in Christ. We're complete. We have everything that we need in him. Well, then we went on to verses 19 through 23 and saw that in Jesus, I have reconciliation. And that speaks of that restored relationship.

that reunion with the Father, that we have full access to God. The relationship is fully healed and restored, that we are brought back into right standing before God. Pastor David Guzik pointed out that in the work of reconciliation, God did not meet us halfway. God meets us all the way and invites us to accept it.

He doesn't say, you come this far and then I'll fill in the gap. He says, I'm coming all the way. You just accept what I have done for you in the work of reconciliation. So again, I cannot be more reconciled. As I look at my completeness in Jesus and all of these things, I have redemption, I have completion, I have reconciliation. It's a work that Christ has done for me that I cannot improve upon. I cannot add to, I already have full reconciliation.

with God by faith in Jesus Christ. I already have full completion. I already have full redemption. And now as we continue on, we're going to look at verses 24 through 27, and we're just going to keep along flowing with the point. So here's point number four. In Jesus, I have Christ in me. I know that's kind of redundant, right? In Jesus, I have Christ in me. But

Paul will make this point here in these verses. Let's read verses 24 through 27 again. He says, I now rejoice in my sufferings for you and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ for the sake of his body, which is the church of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God, which was given to me for you to fulfill the word of God, the mystery that was hidden from me.

Paul says there's a great mystery.

And this mystery was hidden for all the ages until now. And now it is revealed. Now it is uncovered. And this mystery is that in Christ, you have Christ in you. That is, believing in Jesus Christ not only is a restoration of your opportunity to know God the Father and have relationship to the Father and approach the Father and have right standing before Him.

But there's also something very personal that happens between you and Jesus. That is Christ in you. It's the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles. This is a glorious thing, Christ in you. And Christ in you also is the hope of glory. Not hope with an uncertainty, but with the promise of

of glory. That you have a connection to Christ and a relationship with Christ that establishes you with a firm guarantee and confidence in the promised glory because Christ is in you. But he starts out going back to verse 24 for a moment. He says, "...I rejoice in my sufferings for you and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ for the sake of his body, which is the church."

Paul here is declaring that he has suffered for the Colossians. Now remember that he has not seen the Colossians. He's not been to Colossae. He's not the one who planted the church there.

but he's speaking in general of the Gentiles. He's speaking in general of how the gospel at first came to the Jewish people, but God used Paul as the one who went before everybody else and brought the gospel and paved the way for the gospel to go out into all the world. And Paul says, as a result of this, I've suffered greatly, but I rejoice in my sufferings. It's worth it is what Paul is saying here.

What Christ provides for Gentiles as well as for Jews, but what Christ provides in that message of the gospel, it's worth suffering for. It's worth even rejoicing in my sufferings, Paul says. And so I fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ. Now, some people wrestle with this a little bit because of the way it's worded that Paul is perhaps saying that Christ did not suffer enough.

But this isn't what is being addressed here. Paul is not saying that Christ lacked in afflictions. Notice it goes on to say, for the sake of his body, which is the church. What Paul is expressing here is that, you know, Christ resurrected to the Father, but we, the body of Christ, we really are the body of Christ, and we still suffer because

And so we're continuing on the suffering of Christ when we suffer in Christ or for the name of Christ. Think about it this way. Remember back when the Apostle Paul wasn't the Apostle Paul, back when he was Saul of Tarsus and the Lord met him on the road to Damascus as he's on the way to cause people to turn away from Christ and denounce the name of Christ there in Damascus. And in Acts 9, verse 4 says,

As the Lord is speaking to Saul, Saul falls to the ground and he hears the voice of God saying, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Saul is not persecuting Jesus directly because Jesus was already ascended to the Father. But Saul was persecuting the church.

And earlier in the chapter, it says that he wrecked havoc in the church. Like he brought great devastation to the church and persecuting the church. And Jesus takes that very personally because the church is the body of Christ. He says, why are you persecuting me? When the church suffers, Jesus feels it because we are his body. We are the body of Christ. Pastor Warren Wiersbe says, the sacrificial sufferings of Christ are over.

But his body, the church, experiences suffering because of its stand for the faith. The head of the church in heaven feels the sufferings that his people endure. So Paul says, I rejoice in this. I'm suffering the sufferings of Christ, the afflictions of Christ. As a member of the body of Christ, furthering the cause of Christ, when I suffer, I'm suffering the afflictions of Christ for the sake of his body. Just like Jesus suffered for his body, I'm suffering for his body.

He says in verse 25, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God, which was given to me for you to fulfill the word of God. This is my ministry, he says. This is a stewardship that I've been given. Now, sometimes we think of stewardship in the sense of, you know, financial stewardship. And there is that element of stewardship, which is finances. But the ministry is also a stewardship.

the call. And every one of us has this ministry that God has entrusted to us. And it's a stewardship. It's a matter of stewardship for us to make sure that we fulfill it, even if it requires suffering. He says, it was given to me for you to fulfill the word of God. He says, it's a mystery, verse 26, that has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to his saints.

Now, when the Bible uses the word mystery, it's not like a murder mystery or a whodunit type of, it's not describing a novel or a book or a movie or that kind of thing, right? The idea of a mystery used biblically is something that was previously unknown and could only be known by revelation, right?

So that's not something that could be discovered. It's not something that, you know, you could study and figure out. A mystery biblically is something that you could only know it if God revealed it. If God, you know, supernaturally, directly brought forth this revelation, then it's a mystery. And so what Paul is saying is throughout ages before and the generations before, there was this hidden plan of God.

It wasn't a new plan that was just introduced, you know, when Jesus was born or right before Jesus was born. It was a plan that God always had, but it wasn't known. Now, it was known that God wanted to reach the Gentiles, even though the Jews were confused about that. But the extent to which God desired to reach the Gentiles was the mystery that Paul is referring to here.

That is, Gentiles previously had to convert to Judaism to be able to walk with God. And there was this great distinction between Jews and Gentiles. But God's plan all along, verse 27, to them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We went through this in a lot more detail back in the book of Galatians.

and also somewhat in Ephesians, but there is a new creation. There's a new man from the two, Paul explained earlier, that there is the body of Christ, and Jews and Gentiles now have access to God the same way, that there is no distinction in the sense of how we are saved. There's no distinction in what part we can play in the work of God and in the plan of God. The mystery is that Christ's,

would dwell within us and give us the hope of glory, whether we're Jews or Gentiles, because he completed the work. And it was not on the basis of us keeping the law or us following some rules or rituals or traditions, but on the basis of what Christ has done for us, that by faith in Christ, Jews and Gentiles have Christ within them. There's this deep and personal and very real relationship with Jesus that we have today.

by faith in him. Pastor David Guzik says, this is the Christian's hope of glory. It isn't our own hard work or devotion to God or the power of our own spirituality. Instead, it is the abiding presence of Christ in you. The abiding presence of Jesus. Christ in you. He's in you. He's with you. You have him. He is there. This is something that we have as believers in Christ.

In Jesus, I have Christ in me. I know it's kind of silly, but yesterday Disney Plus was released, right? That video streaming service. And oh man, I'm so excited. I had paid for it like months ago. I was ready. I'm just excited. Great library of... Anyways, so...

One of the things that I do while I work, and it's kind of strange, but while I'm working, I am more productive and effective if I have something like faintly in the background that I can kind of tune out and tune in and every once in a while. So I like to work with movies. And so I'm writing code and I have movies playing in the background. And so Disney Plus came out. So I'm just watching The Great Mouse Detective. Oh man, that's a classic good one, right? One of the movies that I ended up watching yesterday was Hercules. Hercules.

And it's not biblical theology, so don't watch it for that. But I was thinking about how Hercules had to go to Mount Olympus, right? In order to connect with Zeus, his father. All this is fake, you know, just not teaching right at this moment, right? But just the idea that that

He had to go, you know, he had to travel to a specific place in order to connect with the so-called God, right? That there was this remote place and there was this limited occasions to connect. And what we have in Christ is so different than that. We have Christ in us, the ever-present God in our lives, in our hearts, with us continually and completely, right?

And it's meant to be, it's intended to be for us to have that close connection and fellowship with Christ continually. Jesus put it this way in John chapter 15. He said,

I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit. For without me, you can do nothing. Usually as I think about John chapter 15 and abiding in the vine, I just think about that one side of it, me abiding in Jesus. But tonight the Lord wants to remind you, but Jesus also abides in you. Yes, you abide in Jesus, but Jesus also abides in you.

And there is this, he's the vine, we're the branches, we're plugged into him, but he's also part of us. And we have this nourishment, this fellowship, this connection to the Lord directly and continually. And as we walk in that, as we, in Jesus, have Christ in us, we bear much fruit, Jesus says. And so in Jesus, I have Christ in me. Great reminder, important truth here.

We don't just abide in Jesus, but Jesus abides in us. Well, moving on to verse 28 and 29, we get point number five for this evening, and that is, in Jesus, I have clear direction. Check out the clarity that Paul has here in verse 28 and 29. He says, "...him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus."

To this end, I also labor, striving according to his working, which works in me mightily. Him we preach. Oh, did the computer go to sleep? Oops. I'll fix that later. Him we preach. There we go. We preach Jesus, Paul says. He has a strong clarity, a real sense of direction. He has, there's no confusion here. What do we preach? You know, sometimes people might ask, you know, what do you believe?

And we could take that a hundred different directions. But Paul had this clarity, this focus, this precision. What do we preach? We preach Jesus. Now, sometimes we can get distracted and preach church or preach Bible or preach love or preach. We could preach a lot of things, right? And certainly all those things are part of Jesus, but we must never lose sight of the focus of

Him we preach. Who do we preach? We preach Jesus. He's the one that we are to talk about. He's the one that, well, he is the message. There is no other message. It's not Jesus and, right? Him we preach. And then also we talk about all these other things, right? It's him we preach. Everything that we preach is found in Jesus, right?

Pastor Warren Wiersbe says, there is no need to add anything to the person or work of Jesus Christ. To add anything is to take away from his glory. To give him prominence instead of preeminence is to dethrone him. Think about that. To give him prominence instead of preeminence is to dethrone him. We can make this mistake. And this is what the Colossian heresy was

was teaching in those days. The people who were teaching the false doctrine around the region of Colossae, there was the teaching of how prominent Jesus was, but then they were kind of adding on to what Jesus and these other things. To go further, you need a little bit more than Jesus. Jesus is prominent. He's important. Oh, we love Jesus, right? The false teachers would be able to say all of those things, but there's a difference between prominence and preeminence, right?

He's not just prominent. He's not just really important. He is salvation. He is what we preach. Everything is in Christ. He's the full solution. Again, this is why we're focusing on the completeness that we have in Christ. Because we don't preach Jesus plus this and that and this and that. The whole message, everything that God has for us, it's found in the person of Jesus Christ.

It's found in our relationship with him. It's found in our connection to him. It's found in our walk with him. Everything that God has for us, everything that we need, it's found in Christ. Him we preach. He goes on to say, warning and teaching, or warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect, notice, in Christ Jesus. So notice the direction, the clear direction, the precise focus that Paul has. I preach Jesus, right?

And I do all this other stuff, warning, teaching, so that, here's the purpose. Here's the reason why I do all this. To present people perfect in Christ. To bring them to maturity. That word perfect is the idea of completion. Maturity. Not perfect in the sense of like, you know, presenting people that never sin. But bringing people to that place of completion. Maturity. This is what I'm focused on, Paul says.

And so I preach to that end. That's my objective when I preach. That people may mature in Christ. That people may be complete in Christ. Here's why I warn. Because my goal, my objective is for people to be presented perfect in Christ. Here's why I teach. Here's the reason behind it. Here's the objective behind it. I teach so that people may be complete and perfect in Christ Jesus. Everything is about that.

this end goal, this focus on Christ. He says in verse 29, to this end, I also labor. So I do these things for this end, for this objective, for this result. And he says, I labor striving according to his working, which works in me mightily. I work hard at this, but I don't work hard in my own strength. I work hard with him working hard in me.

And he works mightily in me and I'm working hard to this end. Again, he has this clear, everything about his life, everything about his ministry, as he referred to it as a stewardship earlier, right? Everything that was entrusted to him. He's doing everything that he can with all his power and all the power that God gives him to reach this goal, to preach Jesus and bring people to completion in Jesus Christ. Now we all have different callings, right?

And the way that we serve God for each of us is different. So we don't have the exact same ministry as the Apostle Paul. And yet at the same time, we all have the same clear direction. For every one of us, our objective is to know Jesus and to fulfill whatever it is that he has called us to do.

So that we might be able to present those that he's called us to minister to in whatever form or capacity, but so that they might become complete, mature, perfect in Christ. This, we need to have this kind of clarity in the direction of our lives. This kind of clarity, as we think about what is it that God has called me to do? And it will take various forms that will look different for each one of us.

But the direction is the same. The objective is the same. That others would know Jesus. That we would work in what Jesus provides. That he would work in us mightily as we work for his purposes so that others would know him, would be mature and complete and perfected in him. In Jesus, I have clear direction. Real purpose, meaning, and great clarity.

Well, we're going to move on into chapter 2 now, work our way through the first five verses, but the first three verses give us point number six for tonight, and that is, in Jesus I have all wisdom and knowledge. Let's read verses 1 through 3. It says,

that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Here as we move on into chapter 2, Paul's continuing his thought. You can see that with the very first word there in verse 1. For I want you to know what great conflict. Look, he's saying, I'm working hard to fulfill the ministry of Jesus, to present everyone perfect. And I want you to know the great conflict that I have for you. And for those in Laodicea, this area, these two cities that Paul had not been to, but he says, you haven't seen my face in the flesh yet.

But I'm fighting hard for you because I want your hearts to be encouraged, being knit together in love and attaining to all the riches of the full assurance of understanding. Paul's saying, look, there's a battle that's going on. He talked about, just a few moments ago, we talked about the afflictions of Christ that he suffered, right? There's a battle, there's a great conflict that's going on.

for the Gentiles in Colossae, for the Gentiles in Laodicea. And Paul is in prison as he's writing this for his ministry to the Gentiles. And he's encountered much opposition and persecution and difficulty as a result of his ministry to the Gentiles and standing for the gospel, that they would be able to hear the message of

that they would be able to receive all that God has for them through faith in Jesus Christ. Pastor Warren Wiersbe says, Had Paul compromised with the Jews and stopped ministering to the Gentiles, he could have been spared a great deal of suffering, but he could not abandon his calling just for personal safety and comfort. So I want you to know, look, this is a fight. It's a battle. It's a great battle, but I'm fighting for you so that you can be encouraged.

so that your hearts could be knit together in love. Again, these are people that Paul had not met personally, but you get the sense that Paul wished, like he greatly desired to be there and to individually go around the church and say, you can have great assurance and full confidence. And then, you know, come to the next one and you can have assurance and full confidence. And he wanted to bolster their faith and to encourage them.

that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ. He's laboring, he's suffering, he's fighting for them to have the right to be encouraged and in fellowship and to have full understanding, that full assurance of understanding. There is an assurance that comes. There's a stability that comes

A foundation that comes from understanding who we are, who God is, and what we have in Christ. Pastor David Guzik says, many lack full assurance about the character of God and are unconvinced that he is really good and loving. Others lack full assurance of their salvation and wonder if their Christian life is for real. Great freedom and confidence comes when we come to this full assurance.

When we have full assurance, there is a foundation, there's a stability that is provided because we've dug down deep and built our house upon the rock, who God is, who Jesus is, and what he has done for us. And Paul points out there at the end of verse two, both of the Father and of Christ. This understanding and knowledge of the mystery of God includes both the Father and Christ.

And there's both aspects to what we have in Christ. There is access to the Father. There is reconciliation with the Father. There is that peace that we have with the Father. But then there's also that aspect of Christ, that you have Christ in you, as we've just been talking about, and that personal relationship, that constant connection. As there is the triune nature of God, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, the full assurance of understanding impacts both our relationship with Jesus and

as well as our relationship with the Father. And when we're lacking in one or lacking in the other, it breaks down that foundation and there is not that full assurance. But in Christ, he goes on to say in verse 3, "...are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." In our relationship with the Father and with Jesus, we have all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

this idea of hidden doesn't mean that they're hidden from us and that they're inaccessible. The idea is that they're stored up. All those treasures, everything, all the wisdom and knowledge we need, they're hidden in the Father and in Jesus. And so what we have the privilege of doing is discovering those treasures of wisdom and knowledge by relating to, by knowing, and walking with, and conversing with the Father and the Son. Real treasure is

was not hidden in secret books. That's what the false teachers were saying. There's this secret knowledge. You can only get it from us. There is no secret knowledge that you can only get from somebody else in regards to the things of Christ. There's a lot of secret knowledge that you can chase down, but it's not related to Jesus. It's not related to a real relationship with God. It's not related to what he offers you. What we need, it's all found in

in our relationship with the Father and the Son. Now, as I think about these things, I like to be reminded, because of course I know that he has all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge in regard to spiritual things. That's easy, right? That's familiar. That's of course. But I'd like to remind us tonight that in him are hidden treasures of wisdom and knowledge, not just for things that take place within these walls,

Or not just that take place, you know, for things that take place, you know, conversations that happen regarding the Bible. But of course, that's covered too, right? We have the spiritual insight and knowledge and wisdom that we need. It's all found in Christ. So we don't have to chase out other things or pursue other ideas or pursue other doctrines. Like we need to pursue Jesus and we will get the treasures of wisdom and knowledge that we need.

For our relationship with the Lord. And for spiritual things. But a lot of times that's a given. And we forget about the rest of our lives. And I would just take a moment to remind you. That there's wisdom and knowledge that you need. For other aspects of your life. Wisdom and knowledge that you need. As perhaps some of you.

in the workplace or as a parent or in investments or in decisions that you're making and directions that you might go. There's wisdom and knowledge that you need. And the wisdom and knowledge that you need, it's hidden in Christ. Today, as we're reading through the Bible in three years, we started the book of Daniel.

And so if you haven't been going along with us, it's a good opportunity. Daniel chapter 1 today. It's not too late. You can read it and be caught up, right? Daniel chapter 1. We saw Daniel as he's first brought to Babylon and brought into the service to the king of Babylon, King Nebuchadnezzar. And Daniel and his friends are examined after a season. There's like an education time period, a boot camp in a sense of educating these young Jews in the ways of Babylon, right?

And as they're brought before the king to be examined, we find in Daniel 1, verse 20, it says that in all matters of wisdom and understanding about which the king examined them, he found them 10 times better than all the magicians and astrologers who were in all his realm. I was thinking about this this morning as I was reading this. I was like, wow, that's kind of interesting, right? 10 times better than

Now, as Nebuchadnezzar is talking to them about matters of wisdom and understanding, again, he's not asking them to quote Bible verses they memorized, right? Like, he's talking about military strategy. He's talking about, you know, the things that he needed to govern. He's talking about social issues. He's talking about, you know, things that matter to him as the king of Babylon who had no relationship with God and wasn't seeking that out. And as he examined these guys, he found them 10 times better than

Not that this is like the standard that should be met or that must always be met or anything, but just to reflect on it for a moment, like your boss brings you in and examines you. It's your annual review. Are you 10 times better than the rest of the people around you who do not know God at all? I mean, that's a pretty significant difference, right?

The magicians, the astrologers, everybody in his realm, like the best of the best that were already there in his realm, these guys are 10 times better. I mean, this is pretty radical, right? Where did they get all of this wisdom and understanding to be 10 times better, to stand out so greatly? Well, back a few verses in Daniel 1, verse 17, it tells us. It says, as for these four young men, God gave them knowledge and skill.

in all literature and wisdom. And Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. Now the visions and dreams, that's what we're used to in the idea of like, you know, wisdom and knowledge and that hidden secrets in Christ, right? Like we're used to that. That's normal for us. But God gave them wisdom and knowledge and skill in literature, in matters of state, in social affairs. God gave them the wisdom that they needed to be 10 times better in

than all the rest. It wasn't a matter of, you know, they had five-hour energy so they could study longer than everybody else, right? It wasn't a matter of, they worked hard, but it was a matter of their relationship with God that resulted in their exceeding knowledge and wisdom. I think it's really important for us to remember this, guys. We have a lot of things that we deal with in life,

Some of them are directly related to the scriptures and directly related to what we would refer to as spiritual things. And so we know to seek the Lord for those things, but then we fail to seek the Lord on other things. But let's be reminded, listen, the secrets, the hidden knowledge and wisdom of JavaScript, it's found in Christ.

Like that's where I need to go, right? And I pray continually writing code. It's not a separate thing, right? It's not like, okay, now I'm doing spiritual things, but no, no, no. Now, Lord, what do you want to say through this? And how do you want to direct me through this? And as I'm evaluating problems and working, you know, writing code in my head around them, I'm praying. I'm seeking the Lord. This is something that needs to be a part of us continually. In Jesus, I have all wisdom and knowledge, right?

For whatever decisions I have to make, for whatever things that I face, for whatever he sets before me and allows me to walk through. In Jesus, I need to run to him. Now, that doesn't remove the potential for seeking counsel, right? It doesn't remove the potential for an education. Again, Daniel and these guys, they went through the education program

but they kept a strong connection to God and made God a part of their lives. And, you know, going back to their meals and, you know, they were devoted. They were not going to defile themselves with the things of the world. And so they stayed close to the Lord. And so staying close to the Lord through their education, it produced results that were noticeable and impactful. And I think the same is for us. We need to be seeking the Lord, not just about spiritual things.

But in all things, keep the Lord close. In Jesus, I have all wisdom and knowledge. Now, finishing it up for tonight, we're going to move on to verse 4 and 5. Here's the seventh point. In Jesus, I have deception protection.

Verse 4 says, Paul says, look, in Christ, we have all wisdom and knowledge. The treasures of wisdom and knowledge are all hidden in Christ. And I tell you this, Paul says, so that no one deceives you with persuasive words.

You need to know that all wisdom and knowledge are found in Christ because there are people who will come with persuasive words, who will be very convincing, and they will seek to convince you that there's extra wisdom and knowledge found in these other things. Paul says, I want you to know, go back to this reality in him.

We have all wisdom and knowledge. It's all hidden in him. And getting to know him and walking with him and loving him and worshiping him and talking to him and hearing from him, that is where we need to be to have all the wisdom and knowledge that is necessary. Paul says, I want you to know this, lest anyone should deceive you. Let me ask you to consider this. Who is vulnerable to deception? Who is it that

Deception is a threat to them. Is it new believers? Are they vulnerable to be deceived? Is it unbelievers? Are they vulnerable to be deceived? Mature Christians, those who have grown up in the church, are they vulnerable to be deceived? The reality is, yeah, all of the above. All of us are vulnerable to deception.

And you might think, you know, the early days, right? New believers were uneducated in Christ. And so we're vulnerable to deception because we don't know better. And we could easily think that those who have known the Lord for a long time, that they're not going to be deceived because they've known the Lord for such a long time. But the reality is we are all vulnerable to deception, not just when we are uneducated, but when we are vulnerable to deception.

but also when we are unsatisfied in Christ. When we don't know that all wisdom and knowledge are found in Christ, when we don't know how complete we are in Christ, when we don't know how fully he redeems us and completes us and reconciles us, when we're not holding fast to that understanding of all that we have in Christ, we are vulnerable to deception.

We're open to that suggestion of there's something more that you can have. You can advance your spiritual life in this way. You can get closer to God or be more pleasing to God. And we're vulnerable to being led astray when we are unsatisfied in Christ or when we are uneducated in Christ. And so Paul says, I'm telling you these things because I want you to be protected against that kind of deception. People will be persuasive and convincing and uneducated

Yes, even those who have known the Lord and read the Bible and continue to read the Bible can be deceived when we don't know how much we have in Christ. Pastor David Guzik says, it might sound simple, but deceivers are deceivers. They won't announce their false doctrines as false doctrine and will often be similar enough to the truth to be dangerous.

the lure of hidden and deep wisdom and knowledge can be both strong and deceptive. We need to recognize the danger. And the way that we protect ourselves from this deception, well, it's very simple. It's running to Jesus. In Jesus, when I'm satisfied in Him, when I find my fullness and my value and my purpose in Him,

I'm protected against deception. I'm not tempted to chase after things because I'm unsatisfied. I'm not tempted to go after this because I think I need something more. I'm lacking something. And if only I was closer to God, if only I knew this prayer, if only I had this information, then I would really know. It's when we do not know what we have in Christ and we're unsatisfied in Christ that we're vulnerable. Paul says, I want you to know these things.

so that you won't fall prey to those with persuasive words. Verse 5, for though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ. Here we see a difference between the church at Colossae and the church of Galatia, right? The churches of Galatia, they fell hook, line, and sinker for the false doctrine, and Paul said, I can't believe you're so quickly turning away from the faith. It was a different false doctrine, but

Boy, they just bought it, hook, line, and sinker. They weren't satisfied in Christ. Here, Paul writing to them says, look, I'm reminding you of these things because I don't want you to be led astray. Even though I'm not there, oh, I'm rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ. You're holding fast so far. And so I'm writing these things, I'm reminding you of these things so that you would be mindful of, that you would remember, that you would be protected against these false doctrines.

understanding what you have in Jesus. In Jesus, I have redemption. It's complete. I can't add to it. There's no more redemption to be done. He's done it all. In Jesus, I have completion. And it's a complete completion, not a partial completion. It's a full completion, right? It's fully complete in him that I have nothing to add to that. I have reconciliation in Christ. I have Christ in me. And I can't do more to, you know,

to negotiate more of Christ in me, right? I have full access to the Lord, to the Father through Jesus and Jesus abiding in me and me abiding in Jesus. I have clear direction, clear path. The focus of my life is Jesus. The focus of my ministry is Jesus. In him, I have all wisdom and knowledge, everything that I need for life and for godliness. It's found through the knowledge of him. It's through a relationship with him.

And so in Jesus, I have deception protection. I won't go off chasing all these other things. I won't go pursuing these weird things or weird experiences or things that are not part of the things that God has provided in search of trying to fulfill, trying to satisfy something that I feel is lacking because I already have everything that I need, everything that I want, everything that I thirst for and crave and long for.

It's found in Christ. And when I find myself thirsting and craving and desiring, I need to remember what I have in Christ and seek Him for those thirstings and longings and cravings. Seek Him for what He provides. What I have in Jesus is a total completeness. I'm not lacking anything. Let's pray. Lord, we thank You for Your provision towards us.

and your work in our lives and how complete it is. And Lord, we get to work together with you, but there's no part of it that we have to add to what you have done because it was not sufficient. Lord, it is sufficient. Remind us of these things. Help us, Lord, to hold fast to these truths that we would run to you with every thirst, with every craving, with every desire, with every longing, with every lack, with every failure. Help us to run to you.

to find our completeness, to find our satisfaction, to find all that we have and the purpose for our life, to find you. It's you that we need the most. We pray that you would help us to fix our eyes on you. In Jesus' name, amen. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of his word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.