1. For it pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell, and having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself. 2. By Him, I say, whether they be things in earth or things in heaven, and you that were once alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. If you continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature that is under heaven, of which I, Paul, am made a minister, who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church. of which I am made a minister according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you to fulfill the word of God. Even the mystery which hath been hidden from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints, to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory, whom we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. For this I also labor, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily. Shall we pray? Lord, bless your word, we ask, and grant us your grace this afternoon, as we have come together, that we may be edified in like faith, and through the word of God, that you may build us up in the most holy faith, that we ourselves may be faithful in every good word and work to the glory of God, Father, we thank you in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, I simply have entitled the afternoon message, A Mystery Now Revealed. We find that at the center of everything that Paul preached, of course, was the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And here we find not only mention the reconciling work of Christ, but various thoughts and considerations concerning the church, a mystery hidden from ages past. Of course the idea of a mystery isn't something that can't be known, we think of the common novels of today, you know, they're whodunit plots and something that is, you've got to figure it out. But no, the message of the mystery is something that was formally shrouded perhaps in a sense that was not fully known. But this mystery is something that would be unveiled, that would be revealed in the passage of time. From the very early times in the Old Testament, we find the gospel of God was preached. It began with the fear of God, which was necessary that one would come to the true knowledge and wisdom of God. And when we think of the gospel of God in the Old Testament, we think of Enoch who walked with God, or Noah who found grace in the eyes of the Lord, or Job who was a godly man and eschewed evil, Abraham, who believed God and it was accounted unto him for righteousness sake, and so forth. We find that with the fear of the Lord came also the knowledge of God. And though we find within the Old Testament account there is much given toward sacrificing because of one's sins, and it appears that very early after the fall, of course, Adam would begin to offer animal sacrifices, and in fact we see that the great conflict between Cain and Abel seemed to be upon that basis, that one offering was accepted but the other was not. One was in faith and the other one appeared to be other than faith. And Cain, of course, being jealous, rose up and killed his brother over that very issue. Well, religion has been at the kind of forefront of many conflicts, hasn't it? The Mohammedans, of course, have fought many wars in the name of religion. But we shouldn't blame them alone. There have been many other wars fought upon the basis of the Pope's decree. Even in Judaistic conflict in Israel, of course, many wars were fought as well. Where does the Gospel of Christ come in? Well, it was there in the Old Testament, but it was not fully revealed that it would be as it is today in the revelation of God to man. Christ was not revealed in his fullest sense. He is given by many prophetic statements in the Old Testament, of course. And we call them messianic prophecies, of course, and rightly so, because they do speak to us of Christ and his... atonement that he would finally make. And we often reference Isaiah 53, that he was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities and the chastisement of our peace was upon him and by his stripes we are healed. Well, this afternoon we're going to consider we are reconciled in the body of his flesh. Truly Christ did suffer and die in the flesh, and so we are reconciled. The idea of reconciliation, of course, is to be brought back into fellowship with God, to be reconciled to God. Secondly, the Gospel is a mystery hidden from ages past. It wasn't fully revealed, but it would be unveiled, it would be fully revealed in time. It wasn't something that could not be known, it was something that would be brought to pass as the Lord Himself was promised to come, the Messianic Hope, the Anointed One, even Jesus Christ would be revealed. And of course, thirdly, we now preach Jesus, wanting every man, teaching every man. It seems that Paul couldn't resist bringing all of this right into the epistles that he wrote in so many different ways. And we know that today that Christ is at the heart of what we do. And it's at the heart of what we teach and preach and it should be. So we're very thankful for that emphasis that we have. So first of all, the reconciling work of Christ in verse 20, and having made peace through the blood of the cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself by him I say whether they be things in earth or things in heaven. And so this idea of reconciling is of course to bring to heal this relationship between God and man. Of course, in the Old Testament, the priest was the mediator between God and man. A man brought a sacrifice, laid his hands upon the head of the animal, and the animal would be slain and so sacrificed. And the priest served as a mediator between God and man. that man may have a means whereby he could appease that sin which he himself perpetrated against God. And so reconciliation to restore to a right relationship. This estrangement that man had toward God, of course, must be dealt with, otherwise man would remain in his sin forever. And so the Old Testament offered up sacrifices, but the offering up of bulls and goats, according to the book of Hebrews, was not sufficient. There must be one who would come. and be the sacrifice for the sins of the world. And so when sin entered into the world, man became estranged. And then, of course, we find that not only man seems to be affected by sin, but angels. Angels did sin against God. But we have no indication that they will be reconciled to God. It seems that the idea of reconciliation with angels isn't in the scripture. Some are even reserved unto chains of darkness. In fact, what does it say in Jude chapter, Jude verse 6, and the angels which kept not their first estate but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. So it seems that angels are not included in this reconciliation. What about the animal creation? It seems that even the animal creation itself was affected by the fall and we find in the Book of Romans in chapter 8 and verse 19 to 21, for the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God for the creature was made subject to vanity, not willing, but by reason of him who has subjected the same in hope, because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God." So animal creation was affected by the fall and so at some point in time when God restores this creation, that will be changed. But the animal creation was affected. And so we know that the curse fell, as it fell upon Adam, it fell upon the ground. Adam would have to work by the sweat of his brow and so forth. And this evidence, of course, would be in the thorns and the thistles and the various kinds of things which we are subject to today, even in the animal kingdom. The animals themselves became at conflict with one another it appears. I don't know if prior to the fall, just how many dinosaurs were pets. But it seems that somewhere along the way there, I'm not just sure what happened there, but it's enough to know that the Book of Job talked about such creatures that were in the great deep, the sea, and we find that they were around. And so in the Book of Job, of course, We find that even Job mentions about the starry heavens, what does he say in Job 25? Five, because even the moon and it shineth not, even to the moon and it shineth not, yea the stars are not pure in his sight. How much less man that is a worm and the son of man which is a worm. So were the starry heavens corrupted in some way? Well, Satan, he seems like he's been pretty active, hasn't he? I will be like the Most High, and he wanted to, what was it, Isaiah chapter 14, he wanted to be like God and thought he was going to be able to achieve such a thing, but not so much. And we find in Hebrews chapter 9 in verse 23, it was therefore necessary that the pattern of things in the heavens should be purified with these. But the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these, for Christ is not entered into the holy place made with hands, which are the figures of the true, but into the heavens itself. now to appear in the presence of God for us, nor yet that he should offer himself often as the high priest enters into the holy place every year with blood of others. For then must he have often suffered since the foundation of the world. But now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment, so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many, and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. And so those who would believe in a universal atonement, if there is no such thing as universal, He came to bear the sins of many, not any, but many, and to all who repent and turn to the Lord shall receive of that reconciliation. So one of the purposes of the death of Christ was to make possible the reconciliations of you and I and those who would trust in God. In order to do this, of course, he had to remove the cause of enmity and alienation. This he effectively did by settling the sin question of God, God's entire satisfaction. And so we find that the scope of this work would be carried on through the cross of Christ. And having made peace through the blood of the cross by him to reconcile all things unto himself, by him I say whether they be things in earth or things in heaven. And so it appears that heaven and earth are both affected through the reconciliation of the blood of Christ. And I suppose we'll have many questions until we know in particular many things, but I always believe that God has given us enough information to believe what he has said. So though there may be many questions that we have, we have this. which he says. And that should be sufficient for faith and practice. Sufficient to trust Christ and to know that he by his own blood, through his own body and blood, has brought reconciliation that shall affect both earth and heaven itself. Secondly, the gospel is a mystery hidden from ages past, it is true, and you that were once alienated, so he goes on to say, and you who were once alienated, as we all were, and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled. And so this is the divine conclusion of the matter. God alone does the reconciliation through Christ our Lord. And we who were once alienated and have trusted in Christ, once were at enmity with God, but now consider him to be our true Savior and Lord. a friend as it were, but much more so a savior, we find that Christ has made possible this reconciliation. In verse 22, in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. And so we find that he reconciled them in the body of his flesh through his death. And of course, when we talk about the gospel of Jesus Christ, what do we say? It's the death, the burial, and the resurrection. Not that it doesn't include the blood of Christ. and all those things appertaining to the sacrifice which he made for us. But this general thought gives us a sense that the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Christ is the core of the message of the gospel and becomes a platform upon which we then make those full proclamations concerning Christ, that shedding of his blood was for the remission of sins, and that he is the full atonement for our sins. And by his blood we find that there is the true appeasement of the wrath of God, that the blood of bulls and goats could not do, Jesus Christ did. We find that full efficacy of Christ's reconciliation with regards to his people will be fully known to us in the coming day when he comes again, if you will, when he comes again. We know it now through scripture. We will be fully aware of those things when Christ returns. And so in verse 22, in the body of his flesh, through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. And of course, basically saying that our righteousness is Christ. We are unblameable and unreprovable because of Christ and of the reconciliation through him, not because of ourselves. So that's important that we we do understand that. In verse 23, he says, If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel. It's interesting that we keep coming back to that message of Christ and the gospel. One would think then that it is indispensable, which it is. we are to continue in the faith and grounded and settled and we are not to move away from the hope of the gospel, the death, the burial and the resurrection of Christ which ye have heard and so here is the proclamation of the scripture the preaching of the scripture we must tell others about Christ and which was preached to every creature that is under heaven of which I Paul made a minister. And of course this general statement is one that of course the apostles were sent to do. Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. They were sent to do that. And so here he is basically saying he himself as well has been sent to make this proclamation to preach to every creature that is under heaven. And so that ideal of which Christ made unto his own disciples was to go throughout the known world and to preach Christ. And of course the known world at that time Those areas being all around the Mediterranean, Israel, in Africa, and of course that began to expand into India and Asia Minor, which we know, and points beyond, of course. In time, the Gospel is literally being spread throughout the world. In today's world we get perhaps a greater sense of how that message can be shared so quickly and easily around the world. And that is a good thing that the gospel is preached around the world today. But of course there are a great deal of hardships in relationship to preaching the gospel and many of course have suffered for it. And so we find that the gospel of Christ being preached and being sent throughout the world is one which we know is necessary for this gospel to be known to all men, to all men. And that's in the heart of the apostles' words, for sure, that the gospel should be known unto all men. And verse 24, who now rejoice in my sufferings for you and Philip that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church. So he begins now to talk about his sufferings and afflictions and he mentions his body's sake, the church. That being the case, why we know that Paul had truly a heart to minister to all the various churches. And this one at Colossae, the other at Philippi, to Ephesus, and to the various other ministries that he was involved with, he had a heart to do this, to preach the gospel to everybody within the saved assemblies of these churches. for his body's sake, which is the church. That is the reason he suffered as he did, the reason he found in it such rejoicings in Christ and afflictions that we know that he suffered as well. And as many have suffered in the ministry. So the ministry committed was committed to Paul in these things. He called himself an apostle out of due time and an apostle to the Gentiles. And of course we know that in many of his epistles he uses that title, apostle. So the church. We might say these last six verses here give some description then of Paul's assessment here of his ministry in the church that he was sent to do, to suffer even if it meant afflictions and so forth in his body for the sake of preaching Christ and the church. for which I am made a minister according to the dispensation of God, which is given to me for you to fulfill the word of God. And so this dispensation, if you will, which he speaks about, sometimes the word dispensation is referred to kind of like a household of faith, a sense that This is a period of time that God uses for specific purposes. And so he mentions that this opportunity of preaching Christ was one that was given unto him, of which I am made a minister. He says I am made a minister unto this, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me. which is given to me, he says. So he believed that he was called unto that and that he was given this particular calling. A household, a ministry, an economy, a period of time, or a stewardship of ministry and of course Paul was trying to be faithful to that. His stewardship of this ministry of preaching Christ to the churches is one that he took very seriously. of which God was given, which is given to me, for you, to fulfill the word of God, to fulfill the word of God. And then in verse 26 he comes right out and says, even the mystery, mystery which hath been hidden from ages past. And so it wasn't, the idea of a mystery doesn't mean something that couldn't be known, but something that would be known in time. And so this idea of ministry or mystery of this magnitude was the thought that for a time the scriptures were silent upon it until Jesus should come, until the fulfillment of time. And so in the process of time, Christ of course was revealed. And the revealing of Christ then began this unveiling, this unveiling, if you will, and revealing of things that were formerly not fully known. The Church, Christ in you, the hope of glory, even the mystery which hath been hidden from ages and from generations, but now is made known or made manifest to his saints. But we think about the Old Testament saints and how many prophecies were given concerning the Christ, the Anointed One, and how they were waiting in the Old Testament for such a promised one. And then we come into what we would call the New Testament dispensation and such people as John the Baptist came out of the wilderness preaching Christ. And he came preaching the Lamb of God that would take away the sin of the world. He began to reveal more and more of this great mystery which had formerly been hidden. And then we find that Jesus himself was baptized and, if you will, the Holy Spirit descended upon him in such a way that it became evident that he was being chosen to carry this message and to reveal further this truth. And we notice even while Jesus was on the earth, he didn't come right out fully and expose everything all at once. He allowed that this should be revealed more slowly. for his own purposes, that he might show himself to be the Messiah, the true Christ, that Israel, that Judah might turn unto the Lord. But we know that man's heart being hardened as it was, they did not turn to Christ. Even in his triumphal entry, though there was great admiration for him. They began to, after that period of time, they began to turn away and actually they mistook him for who he said he was. They thought he would be some kind of a great political leader. when in fact he came to free his people from their sins. So even the mystery which had been hidden from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints. And so I suppose in a sense, as these early believers began to understand more fully what was being told to them, perhaps their joy was increasing greatly, considering that Christ is not only their Savior, but the one who was preached in the Old Testament dispensation. And now in the New Testament dispensation, this period of stewardship that the Apostle Paul was very much active in unveiling, was to be manifested unto those who were called to be saints, those who were called of God. And so in verse 27, to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory, of the mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. And so this mystery would be revealed unto a people that formerly were hated, really, despised. Because of the rejection of the nation of Israel, of the true Messiah of God, we find that the message of Christ and the hope of salvation would be revealed to a people that knew not God. The Old Testament saint was supposed to have known God. God was among them. He spoke to them. The prophets were there. The various miracles and signs and wonders were given to them. But because they did not fully embrace Christ, as they should have, it appears that God meant for a people to know this truth that did not know Him at all. They did not know Him. And so the mystery among the Gentiles, the Gentiles, the nations, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Christ in you. And so this verse indicating to us that the Church, being the body of Christ, all true believers, members of the body of Christ, and are destined to share in the blessings of Christ, we find that the nations, the Gentile people, would play a significant role in knowing the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Christ to the degree which it was necessary to take the message into the world. which is Christ in you, the hope of glory, he says. Of course, once one comes to know Christ, John 1.12, to be born again, to be born from above, we find that this hope that is within is one which becomes a true fire within the heart and lives of people to spread the gospel throughout the world. And of course that's what happened at the Day of Pentecost. We find that as Peter preached and as the gospel went forward, that every man heard the gospel in his own language and hearing the message of Jesus Christ in their own language, in their own tongue, we find that many thousands were saved. And through that Through that catalyst of hope and change, we find the message of Christ and the mystery of Christ in you, the hope of glory, began to be known abroad. He says, whom we preach, warning every man. Whom we preach, warning every man. So we preach Christ. We warn with the Gospel. And we tell the message of Christ in the hope of eternal glory and salvation. And so he said, warning every man, teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man, perfect or upright or mature, in Christ. That is, that they may come to true saving faith. The idea, of course, is to be brought to a finished end in Christ. And so that every believer that is trust in Christ should be fully and finally brought to the conclusion and finished end that they would be with Christ. They would be with Christ. Salvation isn't given to us that we might be lost halfway through. but that we might be fully saved and glorified in the Lord. And so when we talk about the gospel of Christ, we talk about these divine realities of things, not the kinds of mistakes that people make or the kinds of things that people sometimes get caught up with. No, we talk about the divine reality of them. The divine reality is that Christ came and died for the sins of the world. The divine reality of Christ and the hope of eternal life is that he was resurrected on the third day. He was victorious over sin and death. And so the death, the burial, and the resurrection of the Lord, the true sense of the realities of Christ and the hope of eternal life. And if one believes and calls upon the Lord Jesus Christ, these truths will be self-evident in the person who comes to faith in Christ, because Christ in you is the hope of glory. That inner working, the Spirit of God becomes that inner working in us and we find that he brings us unto that hope, the perfection of that hope which is in Christ. For this I also labor, striving according to his working. Paul says, I strive according to this working. which worketh in me mightily. It was the inner drive which drove him. He was truly a driven man because of his own salvation experience on the road to Damascus and of the hope of eternal life which he bore within him it was the thing that drove him onward unto faith and to honor the Lord. So naturally we are to proclaim Christ, we warn everyone concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, we teach people concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, we tell them about the hope of eternal things, the hope of heaven, And we tell them that they are to avoid the judgment of hell. Because we have hope in Christ. Because Christ is that one who can give the hope of eternal life and of salvation. And so this reconciling work of God begins with the Lord Jesus Christ. in his body, in his flesh, in his blood. And we find that because of Christ we have the church. The church becomes known as the body of Christ and Christ is the head. And because this message is meant to be taken to the world, then we are given the obligation to preach and to warn and to teach and to minister the wisdom of God over the wisdom of man, that every person may be presented perfect in Christ, may come unto that hope and full conclusion of their belief that Christ in them is the hope of glory. a mystery now revealed. Shall we pray? Loving Father, we thank you that you loved us and sent us your only begotten Son. We thank you, Father, for this great hope that we have in Christ. Thank you that this mystery once hidden is now revealed. Though it was there in the Old Testament, it wasn't fully known. But now that it is, Lord, we have this message to give. I pray that we will avail ourselves to every opportunity to give it, and give thanks and praise to you, Father, knowing that this message which Paul spoke was written unto believers. We have a great obligation to share our message and hope of Christ to edify other believers, as well as to take it to the unbelieving who are still alienated and enemies in their hearts and minds. Pray, Father, for your blessing in your word to our hearts. In Jesus' name, amen.