“And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, 22 yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach— 23 if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister. 24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions. 25 Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, 26 that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, 27 to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. 29 For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.”
In the construction of my past several sermons I have made my breaks somewhat differently than I think is the traditional approach to these verses. From verse 13 through verse 20 the overarching theme is the preeminence of Christ, and some might include verses 21-23 in that also. I have made my divisions slightly different in order to get a slightly varied angle on the same truths that must be taught from Paul’s words here.
So as we come to verse 21 and see that he says we ‘were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds,’ that is a helpful reminder to us that apart from Him we are lost, helpless, entirely unable to comprehend spiritual truth or come to God in any way.
But, he says, ‘He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach’ and we find in this the whole picture of salvation; our need for it, His provision of it, and our eternal profit in it.
This is a theme that runs through these verses now to the end of the chapter and I’d like that to be our point of focus today.
PREACHING THE WORD
Beginning in verse 24 Paul begins to describe his calling as a minister of God’s Word, and the way he goes about it falls in a strange way upon our 21st century patterns of thinking.
He says he rejoices in his suffering for the sake of his readers and talks about doing his share in fleshly suffering, again, on behalf of the church, and only then goes on to talk about his having been made a minister and given a stewardship and having a duty to preach the Word of God.
Frankly, if I was writing I would prefer to just jump right in to telling you how much I delight in the ministry that I was called to, and I might declare my duty to be a good steward of the Word of God and talk some about how very much I love preaching. In my self I would never be inclined to connect these things with the idea of suffering.
That is because I have never had to suffer for preaching. Others might suffer on occasion as I preach, but I have never been imprisoned for it, I have never been beaten for it, I have never been censored or ridiculed for it.
Now that may be due to some area of faithlessness on my part or it may be that by God’s blessing I have so far done all of my preaching in a friendly atmosphere.
But there are many who have suffered for their preaching and many who suffer today for their faithfulness to preach the Word even in the face of opposition and adversity. Paul was one of the first of that noble company.
He is not masochistic. He is not gleaning some perverse pleasure in suffering so he can get attention and consolation from believers around him.
He is saying that since the hardship he is undergoing is because of the gospel, then it is for their sakes that he is in this position and his rejoicing stems from seeing the Godly result in them; that is, the growth and strengthening of the church.
Now this next statement always needs some clarifying. When Paul says ‘…in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body (which is the church) in filling up that which is lacking in Christ’s afflictions”, he is in no way teaching that Christ’s suffering was incomplete or insufficient to purchase redemption.
J.S. Stewart explained, “What Paul refers to as being ‘lacking’ or ‘imperfect’, was not the sacrifice and suffering of Christ, but it was his own fellowship with that sacrificing and suffering”. J.S. Stewart, A Man in Christ” London, 1935
Stewart undoubtedly had Philippians 3:10 in mind as he wrote.
”…that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death”
In his commentary, F.F. Bruce reminds us that at the moment of his conversion Paul was engaged in making Christ suffer in the person of His followers, bringing the risen and appearing Jesus to ask, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?” Then he reminds us also that Christ later, in sending Ananias to Saul told him, “I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake”. Bruce continues his comments: “To suffer for the sake of the name of Christ and to suffer on behalf of His body which is the church are two expressions that mean the same thing. And as Christ Himself suffers in His members, this suffering of theirs may be regarded as a filling up of Christ’s personal suffering”. F.F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Colossians Eerdman’s Publishing, Grand Rapids, Mich, 1957
It is not to complete something Christ left unfinished, but to fellowship with Him in the sufferings inflicted by a world that still hates Him and therefore also hates those who are His.
So Paul is able to rejoice, and notice that he is also able to continue. A person might find a Spirit-inspired joy in his heart in recognizing that he was considered worthy to be persecuted for the name of Christ, but it is another matter to then say, ‘I will continue on in the work’, knowing it will doubtless bring further persecution.
But Paul had a stewardship handed to him; a precious trust, to carry out the preaching of the Word of God. And notice he says ‘fully’.
I wonder how much more dedicated today’s legitimately called preachers of the gospel would be, myself very much included, to fully preach it – that is, to be absolutely sold out to the charge of preaching the whole counsel of God and the doctrines of the faith without slacking, wavering or soft-pedaling – if we were being persecuted and in danger of physical harm or incarceration for doing so?
Some would stop preaching. That is the human nature. But the ones who continue I dare say would be fully committed and steadfast in the task. If you are going to pay a high cost for doing something, you’d be a fool not to do it right.
Now Paul is able to rejoice in these sufferings he endures for the sake of the gospel, but it is not the suffering itself that drives him. It is the glorious privilege of spreading the revelation of what he calls a ‘mystery’, hidden from past generations, but now made manifest. Think about that. The risen Christ has appeared to Saul and called him into service, and according to what we took note of earlier He tells him about the many things he must suffer for being Christ’s Apostle. I imagine this discourse taking place in the wilderness where He taught Paul after his conversion. But what is it that makes Paul so willing? What balances these revelations Jesus is giving him of future suffering in the course of ministry?
It has to be the understanding that he is now being set to the infinitely delightful task of revealing the facts of what has been wondered about for generations.
Peter was writing about this when in his first letter he explained:
“As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, 11 seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. 12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look.” 1 Peter 1:10-12
I want you to observe to whom this mystery has been revealed.
“…but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (vs 26b-27)
This was not just some general announcement to the public on CNN, folks.
God willed, God desired, to reveal to His saints, this mystery, now listen, among the Gentiles.
Paul is teaching here that in the Person of the risen Christ the mystery that the Prophets of Israel sought so diligently to comprehend has now been made known, not only to those of the nation who would believe, but also to the Gentiles who God has chosen to be His saints. And that mystery is that the same Christ who is glorified in resurrection is, if you are one of the saints, in you, and His presence in you confirms to you that in your future is this same glory He now has with the Father.
It is Christ in you, the hope of glory. That is the mystery, which is no longer a mystery to the saints. It is a mystery to everyone else. They cannot understand and they do not comprehend it. It is infinitely and eternally beyond them until the revealing and regenerating work of the Holy Spirit quickens their understanding and makes them saints.
But for you, believer, there is no longer any mystery. It is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
This is what Paul was entrusted with, this is why he said, “Woe is me if I do not preach the gospel”, this is why he was able to rejoice in suffering, this is the source of his undying dedication to fully preach the Word of God.
Why, oh why, would any preacher be satisfied with anything less?
PROCLAIMING CHRIST
Well, the preaching of the gospel is, of course, the proclamation of Christ. That is the gospel. He is the good news and He is the one who provided it, called us to it and applied it to us. So Paul isn’t moving on to some new topic here.
God willed to make the mystery of the ages known and did so through the cross of Christ and then appointed His ministers to preach the message of that cross. It is in response to that calling and as a good steward of that trust that Paul and his companions proclaim Christ.
He has been doing that so far in this entire chapter, hasn’t he?
He is the beloved Son of God in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is preeminent, He is above all things, He is head of the body which is the church, the first born from the dead. In Him dwells the fullness of deity. He made peace between God and the saints through the blood of His cross.
Paul is a minister appointed to this task. Now I want you to notice the repetition of this term ‘every man’, used three times in verse 28.
In this proclamation of the good news of Christ, there is admonition and there is teaching, and we’ll look more closely at those words, but notice it is for every man, and it is for the completeness of every man.
This does not mean every man as in ‘all men everywhere’ or ‘all people’ in general. We know this simply because his purpose is to present every man complete in Christ, and we know that only those in Christ can be made complete in Christ and we know that not all men are in Christ. If that was true then no one would ever die without Christ.
Many may go for most of their lives outside of Christ and believe in Him late, and others may believe early and live most of their lives for Him, but if every man was in Christ, at least since the resurrection of Jesus there would be no history of anyone dying outside of Christ. We know that is not the case.
So when Paul says ‘every man’, he means every saint, every true believer, every man brought by the Holy Spirit into the Christ-life by election and regeneration.
So the first thing I want to assert here is that this speaks of an equality among the saints. No Christian is better than other Christians by virtue of his eloquence or his knowledge of the Bible or his benevolence toward mankind or his seeming close spiritual walk with the Lord.
The Jewish believer is not better than the Gentile believer because his people first had the oracles of God. The Gentile believer is not better than the Jewish because of the Israelite nation’s rejection of her Messiah.
As Paul wrote to the Ephesians,
“For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, 15 by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, 16 and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.” Eph 2:14-16
An old adage is that the ground is level at the foot of the cross. If every man in Christ is absolutely and eternally acceptable to the Father because he stands justified, not by any merit of his own but in the righteousness of Christ alone, how can one be possibly less or more than the next?
So Paul’s interest is in fully preaching the whole counsel of God in the Word of Truth that was entrusted to him, so that through admonition and teaching every one of God’s elect will be brought to completion by the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit and in the final analysis, presented before the Throne, God’s purpose having been fulfilled in him to the uttermost.
Here is a verse you have heard recently. “I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus’. Phil 1:6
LABORING IN HIS POWER
It is significant that Paul says in verse 29 ‘For this purpose’, in other words, ‘to this end’, ‘with this goal in mind’, “I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me”.
Far too often in modern day evangelism the laboring is not going on in the power of God at all. His power is not working mightily in ministers because they do not even begin to seek to labor in His power rather than their own.
When the focus gets off-centered and off of the cross of Christ and His preeminence and His glory, and when it gets focused on numbers and the size of buildings and the acclaim of men His power is not going to be present and striving will be nothing.
Oh, there will be lots of noise and fanfare and applause, and you may see some men getting a lot of credit and strokes and selling a lot of books and all the trappings that go with celebrity these days, but in the end you won’t see men being admonished and taught and being made complete in Christ. Because He is the one who does the completing and if He is not in the work then the spiritual results will not be there and will not, therefore, be in evidence.
Let me show you some signs to look for to determine if the laboring is being done in His power and working through the ministers of His Word.
There is going to be preaching, and it is going to be full preaching. That means that it is going to be a complete message. It is going to begin with perdition.
“And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds…”
In his address to the crowds outside the upper room on the day of Pentecost, the newly Holy Spirit baptized Peter made this clear in response to their inquiry as to how they might be saved:
“Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins;” Acts 2:38
When Paul was brought before Felix and Drusilla, two people who were only together through adultery and who history itself tells us were exceptionally debauched and perverted people, they wanted to hear his account of this faith in Christ Jesus; apparently for their amusement and entertainment.
And Luke tells us in Acts 24:25 that he was ‘discussing righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come’. The result of that was that Felix became frightened and sent Paul away.
This is the beginning of evidence of a minister being faithful to the stewardship entrusted to him. He will preach perdition. That is, he will expose sin and the need for repentance and the dangers of Hellfire for the one who rejects the gospel of God.
The next thing you will see is that he will preach Christ and Him crucified for the propitiation of God’s righteous wrath against sin, and the purchase of redemption for all who will believe.
Verse 22 of our text:
“…yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach”
When Paul wrote his letter to the Corinthian church he reminded them that contrary to the Greek custom of the day to give great and loud oratory and to expound the wisdom of the philosophers and extol the glories of greatness, he was careful to come to them with one message and let God’s Word do God’s work among them.
“And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” 1 Cor 2:1-2
These are things that are lacking in much of present day preaching, and one will not accomplish God’s purpose without the other.
If we are afraid to preach perdition to people they will not be brought to realize their need for redemption, and if we speak glibly of a redemption that is really nothing more than an acceptance with God because He ‘loves them just like they are’, and the issue of the depravity of men in sin is avoided then Christ is not being preached; it is the wisdom and imagination of men being preached; and it cannot be a labor that is imbued with the power of God to save and to sanctify.
There is a third mark of evidence that follows the first two and we have witnessed it in these last two verses. It is a demonstrated heart-felt desire in the minister of God to see men growing in the grace and knowledge of their Lord.
Paul declared it to be his purpose. Why do we admonish and teach, even from prison although with joy; and why do we rejoice even in suffering to be made a steward of this gospel?
So that we might present every one of God’s elect complete. Sanctified, walking in holiness, spiritually mature and understanding this mystery that has been revealed to them, that no matter their present circumstances in this life, whether it be personal testings and trials or persecution against the church or hearing that their beloved teachers have been locked in prison, or whether it sometimes seems the world and those of the world have the upper hand, no matter… the truth is that the glorified Christ is in them, and therefore their hope of a future glory is assured.
Christian, this is the joyful message entrusted to a man called to fully preach the whole counsel of God, and it is what gives the called man his joy.
You were formerly alienated and hostile in mind and engaged in evil deeds. You needed a Savior because you were hopelessly lost and a slave of death and Hell.
Yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you holy and blameless and beyond reproach before the very Throne of Grace. You have a future in store that is glorious and eternal because of what Christ has done alone.
And it is my calling and duty today to admonish you and teach you and encourage you to walk in that hope, changed by His grace, being made more like Jesus, being willing to share in the fellowship of His sufferings, and laboring also in the power He provides so that in all things Christ will be preeminent in the church – and that is, in you.
Christ in you, the hope of glory.
