Col No.4 Four Gospel Movements

He's standing before a king who is interested to hear why this man has spent such a long time traversing the Roman Empire, proclaiming a philosophy which to the king was completely new. We'll read together the first 23 verses and perhaps you'd come in on the even numbered ones. Acts 26, Paul before Agrippa.

Then Agrippa said unto Paul, thou art permitted to speak for thyself. Then Paul stretched forth the hand and answered for himself. Especially because I know thee to be expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews, wherefore I beseech thee to hear me patiently.

Which knew me from the beginning if they would testify that after the most straightest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee. Unto which promise are 12 tribes instantly serving God day and night hope to come, for which hope say King Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews. I verily thought with myself that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

I punished them often in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities. At midday, O King, I saw in the way a light from heaven above the brightness of the sun shining round about me and them which journeyed with me. And I said, who art thou Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest, delivering thee from the people and from the Gentiles unto whom now I send thee.

Whereupon, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision. For these things, for these causes, the Jews caught me in the temple and went about to kill me. That Christ should suffer and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead and should show light unto the people and to the Gentiles.

Amen. I read to you from Colossians chapter 1, verse 9 to verse 13 inclusive. And if you don't have a Bible with you, then the 12th and 13th verses, let me point out, are on the church bulletin which you should have received as you came into the tabernacle.

Colossians 1, 9. For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all might according to his glorious power unto all patience and long suffering with joyfulness, giving thanks unto the Father which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son. We'll go on to the 14th verse. In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.

I think I made reference some weeks ago to a rather delightful act that I recall happening when I was a lad in Sunday school. I would be about seven or eight years of age and on one occasion one of the faithful Sunday school teachers gave me a little present. It was of a nut, a walnut, and inside that walnut was not a kernel but rather was a little piece of paper wrapped up like a mini scroll and on the scroll was contained the words of John 3 verse 16.

For God so loved the world he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. And the little gift was entitled on the box outside before I opened it, The Gospel in a Nutshell. The Gospel in a Nutshell.

And there are many statements in the New Testament which in effect are a précis of the message of Christianity. John 3 16 well that's the classic but there's Romans 1 verse 16 also. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation to the Jew first and also unto the Greek.

And here I argue in these 13th and 14th verses of the opening chapter of Paul's letter to the church at Colossae there is another instance of the gospel in a nutshell. Here within this short passage of scripture which spans only relatively few words are distilled the great doctrines of the Christian faith. In one sense one could argue that if you fully understand the 13th and 14th verses of this particular chapter you need go no further.

You have a grasp. You have entered into the rich teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Here I say in summary form is all that needs to be not only known but acted upon so that a person shall pass as this verse says from darkness into the kingdom of light.

Those of you who stay the course of our bible meditations on a Sunday morning and come therefore week by week will appreciate that these particular comments that we have been reading follow from the apostle Paul having made a prayer on behalf of the Christians in Colossae. He has you remember from the 9th verse through to the 12th verses offered prayer in four different directions for these believers. He has prayed that they may have a godly knowledge and then he has coupled to that prayer in the 10th verse that they might walk worthy that their disposition that their manner of behavior day by day shall complement the knowledge that they have of the message of salvation.

He has prayed in the 11th verse that they may be strengthened with all might to the godly knowledge to the worthy walk. He wants mighty power and then in the 12th verse you recall from our concluding remarks last week he asked that they may have a praising heart to give thanks unto the father which has made them to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. Now possibly under the direction of the spirit it was that allusion to the father which causes the apostle having offered prayer for the Christians at Colossae to make this pronouncement this theological pronouncement as to what the purposes of the father are and how they have been applied in the experience of the Christians in Colossae and indeed how the son of God the Lord Jesus has joined together with the father in bringing about the express will of the triune God.

It's interesting I think as you read these two verses to relate them to the passage of scripture which we read earlier from Acts 26. There you recall Paul was on trial he was standing before a gripper and he was telling this man who was interested about Christian things just what had happened to him on the Damascus road. Years ago King Agrippa I was stopped by Jesus of Nazareth.

Oh yes Paul what did he say to you? Well he gave me a gospel and he said that this gospel applied to me. He humbled me with the gospel. I was going to persecute Christians in Syria but by the time I reached Damascus I myself had embraced the gospel.

But more than that says the apostle he gave me a mandate. What was that mandate? Well it was to take the gospel and the fact of a spiritual inheritance to take that news to the Gentile community. He said I was commissioned to turn people from darkness to light to show them the way into the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ.

So when the apostle here makes this theological pronouncement about the essentials of the gospel he's being very personal. This is not some abstract philosophy. This is something that has transformed the lifestyle, has transformed the life of the apostle himself.

This he has experienced and so in the 13th verse he refers not just to the Colossians themselves those who believe in Jesus but he embraces his own testimony and he says that this God has delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of his dear son. Now if you can accept that by way of introduction I think you will find that the way ahead for us this morning is a very easy one and a very interesting one. I claim to find here four great movements which are essential to anyone who claims to belong to the Lord Jesus Christ and at the risk of oversimplification I have put some headings to these movements which will help you to recall them in the days that are to come.

The first movement that is here is obviously one of rescue. Speaking of the father, verse 13, who hath delivered us from the power of darkness. I say that that is an active of rescue but here following on it is the concept of removal and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear son, moved us from the place where we were, shifted us, translated us, removal.

But then this has come about through a cost being being paid in whom we have redemption, a reference being made to ransom and then finally there is the thought of remission, the forgiveness of sins, the wiping clean of the slate of our guilt. Well then let us follow these things through very simply so that we shall be able to recall the teaching of the apostle here as he gives this summary of the Christian gospel. Not only that we shall be knowledgeable but as Christian people we shall be praising our God more for a greater understanding of the depths of the riches of his mercy and maybe there are some here, indeed I am convinced that there are, who are not Christians at this point, who have never given their complete allegiance to Jesus Christ.

Well here I say is an ideal opportunity, respond to the gospel message as you hear it simply recounted under these particular movements. First then the rescue. God the father hath delivered us from the power of darkness.

What is meant by the power of darkness? That's a singularly interesting question for us to lead off as we explore the first movement. Well the bible does not apologize particularly in the new testament for describing this world, the scene of time, the society in which you live, the society of every generation in terms of blackness, darkness, ignorance. When the Lord Jesus was commencing his public ministry you remember that this was prefaced by a series of conflicts that he had with the devil in the wilderness and one of the temptations which the devil dangled in front of him was the occasion when he lifted the saviour onto some high pinnacle in palestine where he could see many of the surrounding countries and the devil significantly said all these will I give you if you will bow down and worship me.

I say that that's a very interesting passage of scripture. Why? Because you see here is the devil presuming upon his authority on this earth and not only presuming but he could give an ample evidence of the fact that his power and his evil devices have been embraced largely by humanity and they're being enacted out over against the purposes of God. When the Lord Jesus was coming towards the final conflict of his life on the cross he is arrested.

You remember the scene it's in the garden of Gethsemane. The temple police come along, the Roman authorities and we read in Luke 22 and verse 52 they apprehend the carpenter. Then Jesus said unto the chief priests and captains of the temple and the elders which were come to him be ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves when I was daily with you in the temple ye stretch forth no hand against me but this is your hour and the power of darkness.

Go on into the letter that Paul writes to the Ephesians. Here are a group of Christians they have given themselves to the Lord Jesus but the apostle recaps upon what they used to be like and he speaks about the allegiance that they give they gave to the prince of the power of this world. Now you may not like the description not in this sophisticated 20th century that the world is under darkness but this is clearly what the Bible determines and I would go so far as to say that supportive evidence for this could be given from our newspapers from the national situation and the international situation.

There are areas in this world where humanity seems to have gone completely as they would say in my in the blunt colloquial language of Yorkshiremen stark raving mad. There are things that are happening which just fill us with absolute despondency. How do you explain them? These are not rational things that are taking place.

Well the Bible says that they are to be understood in these terms the whole world lieth in the lap of the evil one and that comment was made by one of the most sensitive loving disciples even John in the last word of the first letter that he wrote which is incorporated into the New Testament. Well then here back to Colossians we find that this first move the gospel the first fact that it has upon the individual is it lifts him it rescues him from the power of darkness. Now he doesn't come willingly he doesn't come voluntarily no the the idea in the original language is of a conflict.

Here were men and women who were in in conflict with God and yet the Lord came and he shone his light upon them and the of the gospel won them. There was opposition but nonetheless they came and believers prior to the were not only without the knowledge of God they were against God but when the gospel shone into their hearts it caused them to have the power to respond to the rescue work of the Lord Jesus Christ and that's how the rescue was accomplished. God sent his son into the world God so loved the world John 3 16 Galatians 4 verses 4 and 5 God sent his son into the world to do what to rescue men and women.

So a Christian by simple definition is a person who has been rescued by God the Father sending his son to achieve a work on his behalf but coupled to this thought of rescue is the equally important one of removal. He has lifted them from one strata of society and placed them in a different section who has delivered us from the power of darkness and has translated us into the kingdom of his dear son. The idea is not just of translation but transplanting.

I remember looking at a poster on a hoarding in one of the tube stations in London and it gave the photograph of a man who was said to be the greatest cover-up agent in the world and actually he had a clinic whose objective was to restore hair to those who had lost it and presumably the technique is to take hair from the back of the head and plant it on the top of the head where men folk in particular tend to lose it as the years go by. Not just removal but transplanting and the thought is here you see in this movement of the gospel. What happens? Well the Lord Jesus rescues the person yes but he does more than this.

He removes them from one level of existence to a much higher nobler level. Now this obviously is not a geographical move. The apostle John in this letter refers to these saint faithful brethren.

Verse 2 in Christ which are at Colossae. You remember I emphasized those words three Sundays ago. They were in Christ at Colossae.

There was something that differentiated the Christians from the rest of the community in this Greek city. What was it? Well they were in Christ. They lived geographically in Colossae but their center of gravity was in the Lord Jesus.

He transplanted them from one lifestyle to another and this is what has happened to all those who put their trust in Jesus Christ. The idea of transplanting of moving one community somewhere else was was not novel to the ancient world. It was part of the strategy part of the political theory of say the empire of Persia.

The Persians came down you remember and they conquered Palestine. What did they do with the Jews? Well Daniel will give you the answer. Daniel finds himself out there in one of the the courts of a pagan king.

Why is he there? Well he's been transplanted. The whole Jewish community apart from a few elderly infirm people were lifted out of the promise and taken into exile. Now that was not a very pleasant experience for the Jews.

But you see in New Testament parlance here is the reverse side of this and this is pleasant. This is exquisite. Here are people living in this world and they have been transplanted not geographically but spiritually.

They have been rescued by almighty God through an act of uncommon grace and they have been lifted spiritually out of this world. They're in it but they're not of it. They're at Colossae so to speak but they're in Christ Jesus and nothing I say is more wonderful than for us to recognize this that in this world in this universe in this sphere there are two classes of people not the rich and the poor not the ignorant and the wise but rather there are those who have been redeemed by Jesus Christ rescued by him and there are those who remain in their sins in their rebellion accomplices to ambassadors of servants of the prince of the power of this world.

So then we see the significance of this great theological statement of the apostle Paul. What has the father done? This father who has caused us to have the inheritance of the saints in light. Well he has rescued us.

He has removed us. But there's another thought that must be applied here and Paul is extremely logical in his argument and it's the thought of cost of price in whom we have redemption through his blood. You see all this was not easily achieved.

The Israelites were transplanted from Egypt to the promised land and this required the amazing miraculous intervention of God to take these people from bondage into freedom to create much more pleasant circumstances and to do this you remember how he opened up the Red Sea. He caused manna to fall from the heavens water gushed out of the rock a whirlwind to thrust back the enemies of the Jewish people but all that I say was easy on the part of God compared with this compared with what transplanting men and women from the sin of this world and from the power of the prince of darkness into a new community into the kingdom of his dear son. It cost a lot.

Here is omnipotence at its greatest. Here is the most spectacular act of almighty God. Stand back ye historians and listen.

Shield your eyes you angels and reflect. Here is God moving in a way that is unique in this world. He is going to transplant to people.

He is going to rescue these people. He is going to call unto himself a number which no man can calculate and the cost to do that beggars human description. He has achieved it by his own dear son agreeing with his purposes in whom we have redemption through his blood.

Now the critics will say that that little phrase through his blood is not in the received text and that it's probably a copyist error from some scribe who was inserting into Colossians 1 and verse 14 that which is also found in Ephesians 1 7. Well they can have it if they like. Let the critics make that comment. It makes no difference to us.

Why not? Well you see the very word redemption indicates a price that is paid and verse 20 which most certainly is in the received text makes reference to the blood of the Lord Jesus being spilt on the cross having made peace through the blood of his cross. So I say that it's clearly evident from the context and from the rest of scripture that when the word ransom here the word redemption is used it refers to that spectacular act where Jesus gave his life on yonder Roman gibbet for the sins of believing mankind and the Lord Jesus was not ignorant of that fact himself. He speaks of the purposes of his ministry in Mark's gospel in chapter 10.

The son of man came not to be ministered unto but to minister and to give his life a what? A ransom for many. You never come across that Greek term whether it's in the noun or whether it's in the verb sense apart from the context of commercial transaction the purchasing of something through the expenditure of something else. The apostle Paul in his preaching refers to Jesus purchasing the church through his blood as he takes his leave.

You remember the apostle from the Ephesian elders. The apostle Peter does exactly the same thing. He refers in language of commerce to the great offering of Jesus on the cross of Calvary for the sins of believing a mankind.

So then here is a third movement. God the father has rescued us, has caused a removal on the part of those who believe in Jesus, has ransomed us by paying the price, the sending to the cross of his dear son and what follows from that. Well the last part of this gospel movement the forgiveness of sins, the remission of sins.

There's no sweeter word in my ears than that biblical word forgiveness. Praise God for the fact that when he meets us in Jesus he annuls our sinfulness. As far as the east is from the west, so far says the psalmist, hath God removed our sinfulness from us.

Jesus Christ, God's agent, has come into this world to do what? To heal the sick. Well yes that was one of his objectives but it was secondary to his immediate purpose of forgiving sin. Here is a paralytic man, a poor spectacle of humanity if ever there was one.

There's a crowd around Jesus, there always was. He's in a house, access is not easy. So what do the friends of this paralytic do? They hoist the man up onto the roof and they tear away some of the rafters from that primitive style of housing and lovingly and carefully they lure the paralytic into the very place where Jesus is standing and what does the Christ of God do? Immediately heal him? No first of all he says thy sins be forgiven thee and immediately that causes consternation amongst his critics.

Who is this man who forgives sins? Only God can forgive sins and they were dead right. Only the one who is sinned against can forgive. But you see Jesus was God and Jesus came into this world with the purpose of releasing men and women from the bondage from the tyranny of sin and so he deals not only with the physical condition of this man but with a look towards Calvary he deals with his spiritual condition and he forgives.

Here's a woman taken in the act of adultery hoisted in front of Jesus by men who should have been ashamed and eventually as they melt into the background as Jesus exposes the sewage that is within their own minds and in effect brings them face to face with their own responsibilities morally speaking. He then addresses the woman and he forgives her. Neither do I condemn thee go thy way and sin no more.

You see the final sweep of the gospel movement is always the remission of sin. I say there could be the idea of rescue and removal and ransom unless it culminated in the remission of sin. Then it would be to no avail.

I cannot stand before a holy God if I have iniquity in my heart. I cannot come into his place for he is holiness deified and he is repelled by sinfulness. But on the cross of Calvary and this is the spectacular aspect of the gospel message Jesus not only dealt with sin in his own body but he caused it possible as a consequence for forgiveness to come to all those who believe in him.

My sin oh the bliss of this glorious thought my sin not in part but the whole is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more. Blessed rest blessed hope of my soul. It's all there you see all in this little letter that the apostle Paul writes to these saints who were in Colossae.

Verse 13 of the second chapter or rather verse 14 of the second chapter speaking about the matters that I have referred to and reflecting on the death of Jesus. What did that death do? Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us which was contrary to us and Jesus took it out of the way nailing it to his cross and having spoiled principalities and powers he made a show of them openly triumphing over them. Well you see how simple this message really is how easy it is to comprehend what has God done he has rescued he has removed he has ransomed he has remitted our sins and yet you know my friends you could have listened for the last 20 odd minutes or so and not be profited one whit if all you have done is accepted what I have said here I am not out simply to get your comprehension I'm out by the Spirit of God to get your allegiance and your commitment to the Christ of God.

These people were saints in Colossae not simply because they heard Paul preach but rather because there had come that mystical union in their own hearts whereby they had been linked up with the Son of God. We are told in these verses in the 14th verse that we have redemption in the Lord Jesus not by the Lord Jesus. You say what's the difference? The difference is all it has all the importance in the world it means this that when I put my trust in the Lord Jesus Christ I am so to speak linked up with him.

This is why he sends his Spirit the Spirit is in these verses by implication reference has been made to the Father and to the Son but it's the Spirit who applies the work of Jesus in my heart so that I am incorporated into the very body of Christ on this earth in whom we have redemption through his blood even the forgiveness of sins. I'm translated you see transposed from the life that I was living and I'm lifted spiritually and I am placed in the orbit where Jesus has control. God the Father sent his Son into this world when the Son was received back into glory he sent his Spirit.

What has a Christian received? The gospel yes intellectually but more than this experimentally he's received the Spirit of God and through the Spirit of God we are linked up in union with the Son. So the apostle makes reference to the kingdom of his dear Son. Thank God we're citizens of the kingdom.

I hear in the news about a republic in Iran now they've got rid of the Shah we don't want a republic as far as we're concerned not in the spiritual dimension we want a kingdom for we have a king and we have received the inheritance the citizenship which is ours by what Jesus has done on the cross of Calvary and the inheritance is ours now and it's got a future fulfillment it's got greater blessings still in front those who belong to Jesus Christ those who are saints in Worthing those are saints in the United Kingdom or around the globe have a tremendous program in front of them why because they have been incorporated into this gospel movement the Father has sent his Son he has engaged in a rescue work he has removed us from the center or the specific gravity here of worldliness he has delivered us from the power of the darkness of this world he has lifted us he has ransomed us he has remitted our sins and we're incorporated indissolubly into the body of Christ to share the inheritance that the Father has made over to the Son these are the riches that are ours by Christ Jesus surely then of all people we should in this world be the most happy and the most content may God bless his word to you all this morning amen and Father not on the basis of our emotion nor on the basis of our collective singing but on the authority and the authenticity of your word we make that deduction and we bless you forevermore that it is well with our soul Father as we in a moment come around this table and recall the cost that it was to you to bring about the remission of our sins make us even more sensitive and give us even greater a thanksgiving heart for Jesus sake amen