Now as we begin book 41 we hope you will take your Bible and search these things out and line me up against the Scriptures. And anyone else who teaches and preaches God’s Word should be lined up with the Scriptures. If you find that I don’t line up with Scripture then you have a right to question me or anyone else, because after all this is where we have to draw the line, "What does the Book say?" It doesn’t matter what Les Feldick says, or anybody else says, but rather what does the Book say, which we believe is the inspired Word of God.

Now we want to get right back to where we left off in the last lesson, Colossians chapter 1, and we actually got through 16, but I’m going to go back to verse 15 for a few more comments because repetition is the mother of learning. I’ve had comment after comment to "keep repeating." It takes a long time for some of these to soak in, especially for folks who have never heard this before. And I’ve got folks sitting here in this room who know what I’m talking about. For example when I come down to verse 15 and 16 and show that Jesus Christ, the One Who went to that Roman cross, was the Creator of everything - that just blows people away.

I will never forget the first time I taught it way back in the early 70’s in that home Bible study. And almost to the last person, they were so shocked when I taught that Jesus Christ was the Creator of Genesis 1:1 and they almost drove me into the corner with "Are you sure? Where do you get this?" I said, "Well, I’ve shown you." And here is just one of various New Testament verses that show so clearly that the God of Genesis 1:1, Who created every thing, was in the Person of Jesus Christ the Son. And that’s why I’m going to repeat these verses again for just a moment.

"Who (speaking of the Son up in verse 14, in whom we have redemption through his blood. So you know that has to be God the Son) is the image of the invisible God, (in other words, Jesus Christ was the visible, physical, manifestation of that invisible God that we’re going to be looking at quite often in the book of Colossians) the firstborn of every creature."

Now let’s go on to verse 16, and again.

"For by him (God the Son) were all things created, that are in heaven, and that in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things (today we would say EVERYTHING) were created by him, and for him."

Now before we go into the next verse that shows how He is also the glue that holds the whole universe together, I always like to show all the verses that pertain to His Creatorship. And of course, I’m going to take you back to John’s Gospel for a moment. John’s Gospel chapter 1, verse 1. I think that everybody knows and for some reason or other it escapes them that this is the Person of the Godhead Who called everything into being. And He did it with the spoken word. And that also enlightens us when we get into Revelation chapter 20, that it will be by the spoken word that He will destroy the nations at the Battle of Armageddon. It’s by His spoken word that He accomplishes His power. Now let’s look at John’s Gospel, chapter 1 and we’ll just read verse 1.

"In the beginning (same three words that Genesis 1:1 begins with) was the Word, (capitalized and I always emphasize, what are words used for? To communicate. So I’ve got to the place where I call Christ the Communicator, because He’s the One Who speaks the Word. And so regardless of whether He’s communicating with the invisible things that will become visible, or whether He’s communicating to the human race today, it’s always God the Son Who is the Communicator) and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2. The same was in the beginning with God. (And now verse 3 makes it so plain) 3. All things (everything) were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made."

And then to confirm that we’re talking about God the Son, or Jesus of Nazareth as we know Him back in His earthly ministry, let’s look at verse 14 and it puts the frosting on the cake.

"And the Word was made (what?) flesh and dwelt among us. (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."

See how plain that is? The Word, the Communicator, that Person of the Godhead Who created every thing was made flesh and dwelt among us. And John says, we beheld his glory and the glory as of the only begotten of the Father.

Come on over now to Ephesians chapter 3. And I do this so that all of you out in television, if you’re teaching one on one or a Sunday School class or a men’s group or whatever, will be able to show them these verses – that this is what the Word of God says. Now Ephesians 3 and dropping down to verse 9.

"And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery (or secret) which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, (the God of Genesis 1:1) who created all things (how?) by Jesus Christ."

In other words, yes, the Triune God was involved in creation. The Triune God came together before anything was ever created and delegated the work of creation to the second Person of the Trinity, as we many times refer to Him, to God the Son. And so the whole Trinity is involved in creation, naturally. But it was God the Son, Jesus the Christ, Who spoke the word of creation and every thing, whatever it is, made its appearance. Okay, so much for review then.

Now if you’ll come back to Colossians chapter 1, we will move on in to the next verse, verse 17. And I’m sure every one of you has wondered like I have – you stand outside on a beautiful starlit night and maybe you’ve just read something in National Geographic, or some other magazine, about the wonder of the universe. And how it’s still expanding. There are still "bangs" taking place, and new stars are being formed. I stand there and I look up at that and I have to wonder, "Now why hasn’t some scientific journal ever recorded that they’ve seen evidence of stars banging into each other." Have you ever read anything like that? I never have! Nothing ever bangs into each other out there. Everything is just like clockwork. And they’re all in their particular places and if people would just stop to think – ACCIDENTALLY? Well, then they would be banging into each other wouldn’t they? But everything is in such perfect order and such perfect timing, none of it is exploding out of order. And so Who is in control? The same Person of the Godhead, Jesus the Christ, God the Son. Now let’s look at verse 17.

"And he (since He is the Creator) is before all things, and by him (by the word of His power) all things consist." (The better phrase for consist is "held together")

Everything is held together by His power. And if ever He would relinquish His power, then yes, you’d have worlds in the universe in collision. But it doesn’t happen because He’s in total control. Now, I certainly don’t claim to be a scientist, and I know science has come a long way since I was in chemistry 101 and physics 101. And I know that they’ve learned a lot more about the atom than what my professors even understood. But I did read an article not too long ago that they haven’t come that much further, except when I was back there they thought there were only two particles in the nucleus and that was the neutron and the proton. Now, of course, they’ve found many other particles in the nucleus, but the consensus is still the same. Why don’t these particles break out of the nucleus and create fission? Well, there’s something that I don’t think even the scientists today can explain. And my old chemistry professor just simply called it nuclear glue. Well, that stuck with a little old freshman. I never forgot it. And I know I’ve got scientists that are listening and if they can correct me, I’m ready to be told. But something is still holding the whole atomic structure of the universe together. And they haven’t really got the answer, but I do! The answer is, the power of Jesus Christ! And He is the One by Whom all things consist, or held together.

Now then, we’ve established that He’s the Creator. He’s the sustainer of the universe, but for you and I as believers, He’s even something greater than that. He is the Head of the Body, what Paul calls, the Church. Now I’m always emphasizing that nobody but Paul refers to the Church as the Body of Christ. You won’t find that term anywhere else in Scripture. Only in Paul’s letters. And so it is uniquely insulated from all the rest of God’s dealings with the Old Testament and that which is still ahead of us after we’re gone. And that is that the Body of Christ is so unique in that we are attached to our Head Who is in heaven, just like our physical body is attached to the head here. And you know how long we’d last without the head. Well, it’s the same way with the Body of Christ. It just couldn’t function without the Head.

And so this is one of the basic doctrines of the Apostle Paul, that every believer becomes a member of the Body of Christ and He is the Head. And from the Head, then, everything flows to keep the body functioning. And that’s why the Body of Christ is not just another organization. You don’t just draw up a Constitution and a bunch of By-laws and say you’re going to establish a Body of Christ. Now you can establish a church as an organization, but you can’t establish the Body of Christ, because it is a spiritually driven thing and it has its livelihood, it has everything that makes it a living organism, connected to the Head, which is in heaven.

And this is what makes it so uniquely different. Everything that pertains to our spiritual life is, by virtue of the headship of Christ, Who is in heaven. Now, I’ve also made the statement over the years, and so far nobody has made a big deal about it, and I say that Christ, in Paul’s teaching, is never called King. He is not the king of the Church. Now He will one day be King of Kings and Lord of Lords, but He is not the king of the Body. And I’m always making the definition as such. If He was the king, then I could not have that functioning between the head and a member of the Body because I would be under His kingship, I would be a subject. And oh, what a difference. But see, as members of the body of Christ, we’re not subjects to some higher authority, we’re part of it. Do you see the difference? We’re part of that headship, which is in heaven.

And that is what makes us totally different from anything that even Israel has ever hoped for in the past or can hope for in the future. Yes, they’re looking for the King. They were looking for the King. He came and they rejected Him. But they’re still looking for the coming King. I’ve always, more than once, put the little analogy on the program and I say this with tongue in cheek, because I know where our Jewish friends are coming from. They still can’t recognize that Jesus of Nazareth was the promised Messiah. They just say, "Yes, He’s coming, but He has not been here before."

Now I always like to use the anecdote of this Christian clergyman who was arguing with his Rabbi as to whether He’d been here before. The Rabbi said, "No, He’s never been here before, but He’s coming." They kept arguing and finally the Rabbi came to a good conclusion. He said, "I’ll tell you what. Let’s just wait until He gets here and then we’ll ask Him, "Have you been here before." Well, that is a good view of the Jewish mentality. But, they’re looking for His kingship, rightly. He is going to be the king. But for us, as the Body of Christ, no, He’s not a king. He’s the Head of the body. And that makes us, as Romans chapter 8 makes it so plain that "therefore we are joint-heirs with Christ." What’s His is ours. Naturally, because we’re hooked up, we’re together. Now verse 18.

What’s the Greek word always translated ‘church’? Ecclesia! And I was reading again last night in a little Greek New Testament, and every time the New Testament word ‘church’ comes up, it is always ‘ecclesia’ in the Greek. And the word ‘ecclesia’ meant a called out assembly. Separated from the mass. So we always have to determine, then, what called out assembly are we dealing with? We’re not dealing with that same called out assembly that made the nation of Israel in the wilderness, a church, according to Acts chapter 7. We are not part of that called out assembly, I don’t think, on the day of Pentecost. Now, whenever someone disagrees with me on that, I say that’s fine. That’s not going to determine your eternal destiny. Now when it comes to that, yes, then I have to get my hackles up and say, "Now wait a minute." Because eternal destiny is in view. But some of these other things, I can live with people who disagree and that’s one of them. If they want to think that the Church, which is the Body is in Acts chapter 2 and they can find it there, well so be it. I can’t find it because I just can’t find any church language in Acts chapter 2. But that’s not that big a deal. But that word "ecclesia" is simply translated "church" in Acts chapter 2. Whereas I feel it should be translated "assembly" because it was a separated group of Jews from the main body of Israel and they were an ecclesia, or a called out assembly. But they are never called the Body of Christ. Paul reserves that for his converts and I think Scripture is clear on that. So here is another instance where the assembly that Paul is talking about is that which he refers to as the body of Christ. Now reading on in verse 18.

"And he is the head of the body, the church: (He is again, a reference to his eternalness, to his creatorship) who is the beginning, (He comes from eternity past) the firstborn from the dead:…"

Now here is where I always have to qualify. I maintain that resurrection never happened until Jesus Christ arose from the dead. Now you had people who were raised from the dead back in the Old Testament, but they weren’t resurrected. They were simply brought back to life and they died again. Lazarus, the Lord Himself called him forth from the tomb, but that was not resurrection. Lazarus died later. So this is why the Scripture makes a point that no one had ever been resurrected from the dead until Jesus Christ. He is the first to have ever been resurrected, never to die again. And here the verse makes it so plain, that He is the beginning, He is the firstborn from the dead. That’s why I taught way back when we were in Acts that the term, "the only begotten Son of God" does not mean His birth in Bethlehem, but it means that He is the only one that was resurrected from the dead. The Scripture makes it so plain that that’s what the term refers to. And here again, He is the firstborn from the dead, He is the first to have experienced resurrection power and here again is the reason, in the last part of verse 18.

"…that in all things (in everything) he (Jesus Christ) might have the (what?) preeminence. (He’s above everything. Now verse 19 which puts the cap on it.) 19. For it pleased the Father (the whole Godhead has been involved in everything that Christ has done) that in him should all fullness dwell:"

Now I may use the verse a little later, but for now, just come back with me to Isaiah chapter 9. And this fits right in with what Paul is saying over and over here in Colossians, that Jesus Christ is the visible manifestation of the invisible Godhead. And the Godhead of course is the whole Trinity. And here we’ve got them in Isaiah chapter 9 way back in the Old Testament. And so it isn’t just a figment of Paul’s imagination, it’s something that fits with all of Scripture.

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: (Who are we talking about? Jesus of Bethlehem) and the government shall be (future) upon his shoulder; (here’s the part that I like) and his name shall be called (when He once again sets up His rule and reign) Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. (These are all terms concerning Jesus of Nazareth and Bethlehem) 7. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this."

And when will all this happen? When He comes and sets up His kingdom and establishes His throne where David’s was on Mt. Zion in Jerusalem. And until that time, as we’re going to see the word "peace" a little later in the chapter, the world will know no peace. My goodness, we like to pride ourselves for the last several years at least since World War II and the Korean & Vietnam Conflicts, we’ve been at peace. Well, maybe we in America have been fortunate enough, but I’ll tell you what. At the millennial turn, I think I read in our daily paper, that there were 40 + wars raging on the planet. Oh, not great big world war type things, but for those people involved, it’s war. It’s misery. It’s heartache. It’s losing everything.

And the world does not have peace tonight, nor will it have until this point in time when His peace will be without end as He rules upon the throne of David. Now, the other verse I’m sure comes to your mind is John 14, and you know it as well as I do. I doubt that there’s very many people in my whole listening audience that don’t know this chapter. Let’s come down to verse 8, after Jesus has said all these things and then Philip responds.

I know that leaves people hanging by a thread but you come back to Colossians and Paul clarifies it. That Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified Christ, is the physical, visible manifestation of that invisible Godhead. And we have to take it by faith. We can’t understand it. I can’t understand a three person Godhead that can function as one. But the Bible teaches it. And so we take it by faith and one day we’ll understand it, I’m sure we will, but for now, we just take it by faith – that Jesus Christ is the Creator of everything, He is the visible manifestation of the invisible Godhead and that in Him, verse 19 again says, that it even pleased the Father. And I think that would also include by implication, the Holy Spirit.

Now, how can you argue with that. How can someone say, "Well, I can go another way. I don’t need the Gospel of Jesus Christ." Because, as I pointed out in our last program, there isn’t another religion on the face of the earth that can claim the Creator as the core of it’s belief system, but we do and we do that by faith.

As we begin this lesson, remember that Colossians was written to a congregation of which Paul did not have a part in founding himself. No doubt it was some of his converts from Ephesus who had gone over to the city of Colossi, which is not to far south and a little east of Ephesus, and the same way with the city of Laodicea. So Colossians is a letter written by Paul to people whom he had never met personally, but the admonitions in these chapters are just as real as in any of his other letters. I also want you to be aware that a good share of Paul’s writings were not only to teach us the plan of salvation, and how to live as Christians, but to also warn us of the dangers that are constantly besetting Christianity.

In fact when I look back at history and the paganism of the Roman empire, and all the religious differences that have permeated the human race, I have to come away with the thought that, except for the Grace of God, Christianity would have never survived. It’s absolutely amazing that it has survived, but it did, and so now we read these little epistles with all that in mind. Yes it’s bringing forth the plan of salvation, it’s teaching us how to live, but it’s warning us what we are to be aware of all around us. Now verse 20, and we’re still speaking of God the Son as we did in the last lesson.

"And, having made peace (with sinful mankind) through the blood of his cross,…"

Now I’m going to have to stop there for a moment for that word ‘peace.’ When the world thinks of peace what do they think of? Absence of war. Absolutely they do. The world is always talking about peace. Peace in the Middle East, peace or in Africa, or wherever there’s turmoil, that’s where you find the world politicians talking about peace. They’re not talking about a relationship between God and men, they’re talking about the absence of warfare between human being. But the word ‘peace’ here is talking about God’s relationship with sinful men.

Several programs back I made mention of Hebrews 9:22? That verse gives us the requirement of blood in the Scriptures.

At that time I called that verse an absolute. There is absolutely no way of being restored into fellowship with the Creator God short of the shed blood. It’s an absolute. But getting back to the peace with God let me bring you back to Romans chapter 5 we’ll follow up on this peace with God that Paul uses quite freely in his writing. Now the secular world out there is not at peace with God. They’re His enemies and we’ll show that in just a moment. But for you and I who believe we are at peace with God. We’re not in a spiritual warfare against Him, but rather we have peace with God, and this verse shows that so clearly.

"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: (now since we’re justified and have peace with God) 2. By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand,…"

See you can’t separate salvation from Grace. None of us deserved salvation, none of deserved what Christ did for us, but it’s all of Grace! And it’s amazing how few believers understand that. Another place where Paul uses this "peace with God" is in the Book of Philippians, and we looked at that not too many weeks ago. And in this portion of Scripture it’s in relationship to our prayer life as we make request. We’ll begin with verse 6. These are my two favorite verses when it comes to prayer.

"Be careful (or worry) for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made know with God."

There’s no strings attached to that verse. That is a free access into the Throne Room of God to let all of our supplication and request be know, but with thanksgiving, but now verse 7. Regardless how God answers our request, and He may not spare our loved one who may be terminal, He may not grant healing to them. He may not save a financial empire, or a marriage that we think needs to be saved. He may not answer the way we think that He should, but this verse 7 is the answer to every prayer.

"For they that are after the flesh (in other words the lost world around us) do mind the things of the flesh; (that’s all they can think about) but they that are after the Spirit (the believer. They mind) the things of the Spirit. 6. For to be carnally minded (constantly wrapped up in things) is death: but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. (that same peace with God) 7. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God:…"

Now do enemies have peace? No. They’re in a constant warfare whether it’s nations or communities, or whatever. So there is no peace between God and the lost individual because he is carnal and he is an enemy against God. Now reading on in verse 7.

"…for it (the carnal mind) is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be."

There’s nothing that is compatible. Nothing! They are totally separated, and that’s why in a little bit when we get back to Colossians we’re going to see the word, "reconciliation" But here there is no reconciliation between God and the lost person because they fleshly minded and have no interest in the things of the spirit.

But do they like to pray? Oh you bet they do. My when they’ve got an need, they pray. Well do you think God is interested in their prayers? No, because they’re enemies. He’s not going to answer the prayer request of an enemy, as they’re not His children. I’ve always made the statement - yes, when a lost person cries out for salvation, God hears him. Absolutely He does! Before he even calls the Book of Isaiah says. But in everyday, mundane things when the lost person prays, God doesn’t hear him, he’s an enemy.

You know I’ve used the illustration that if your neighbors kid come us to you and says, "I want a new bike, will you get me one?" I think it would be a rare individual that would says, "well come on son, I’ll buy you one." No, rather we’ll usually say, "Well that’s your dad’s job, that’s not responsibility to buy you a bicycle." And the reason we won’t buy one is he’s not our kid. Well you see that’s just normal. That’s not being mean spirited or anything like that, but just simple good economics. You can’t buy bikes for all the kids up and down the block. Now God doesn’t treat the human race much differently. If there is no love for Him and they’re His enemies, He’s not going hear their prayers, until of course they call for salvation, and then He becomes the God of EVERYTHING! Verse 8 again.

Then for sake of time come on down to verse 13, and this will wind up this little dissertation of people who are still in the flesh, who have never been saved.

"For if ye live after the flesh, (the things of this world is your concern, and you have no concept of eternity) ye shall die:…"

You know Iris and I travel and see the highways packed with people and we can’t help but wonder, "How many of these people that we’re meeting on these freeways and highways ever for a moment consider eternity?" How many ever stop to think of something of the Spiritual? For the most part I don’t believe it ever enters their mind. Now I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t believe it does. They’re so wrapped up in the things of this world. So this is their future, that if all their living for is the flesh, these homes, cars, and credit card bills that are beyond their budget, and all the pressures of the world, they’ve got no time for God, and the Spiritual things and Paul says if that’s you lifestyle, "ye shall die spiritually. You have no hope for eternal life." But verse 13 continuing is the flip side.

So it becomes then an option. Are you going to live for the flesh and die for eternity, or are you going to live Spiritually here and maybe miss out on a few of the things that the world thinks they have to have, and live eternally? That’s quite an option, but it’s mankind’s choice. Now back to Colossians. I guess I can finish the next half hour on the next word can’t I Jerry? Reconcile. I mean these are doctrinal terms that too many people never consider, but they are so basic to our faith. Now reading on in verse 20.

"And having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him (the One Who finished the work of the cross) to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven."

In other words again, where does that put Christ? In the preeminence. Everything is under His control. Everything as you saw back in one of these earlier verses were created for His pleasure. You and I were created for His pleasure, so the whole idea of the work of the cross was to grant us justification to give us peace with God, and to reconcile us to Him, and we call that reconciliation.

Now the true Greek meaning is to turn from something totally in the opposite direction. Now a lot of times we speak of reconciliation in married couples who may have marriages simply on the rocks. But hopefully if you can bring that estrange husband and wife back together we call that reconciliation. They’ve turned from their direction going apart from each other and have turned 180 degrees and come back together. Well that exactly what God has done with us. Everyone of us as a believer has been reconciled to God. We were going away from Him, we had no thought for Him or no love for Him, but there came a time when all of a sudden the power of God just literally hooked us didn’t it? He brought us to Himself, and in the process of that He reconciled us to Himself. The best portion of Scripture to define that is found in II Corinthians chapter 5, and let’s begin with verse 17.

Why? Because He’s the Creator of everything. You know we’ve been studying about Joseph of Egypt in a couple of our classes here in Oklahoma the last several nights. I’ve seen it before but it never struck me quite so hard as it has this time, that all those bad things that happened to young Joseph. What did Joseph tell those brothers over and over. "God was in it!" See, this is what we have to realize even for as believers today, not one moment of our life is without God’s awareness and control. We’re in His control. God is above everything and this is what we have to understand. Even the bad thing, God is in it, to fulfill His own purposes.

Now in the story of Joseph of course, it was so evident. Had Joseph not been sold into slavery, had not ended down the second man in Egypt, Jacob and the other sons wouldn’t have had the opportunity to go and cash in on the granaries of Egypt. But since Joseph was there and had the grain, the family survived. And that’s why Joseph said, "You didn’t do it. God did it!" Now that’s hard for us to comprehend isn’t it? You’ve heard me say before that one of the hard things to comprehend is that when God began this whole system of the human race, and He set Adam and Eve out of the garden with a free will, and He did the same thing with the nations. And so men and nations have been coming through human history making their own decisions pretty much. There is no puppet on a string involved whatsoever. And yet, here we are 6,000 years removed and where are we in God’s timetable? Right on the minute! The whole world, after 6,000 years is exactly where God blueprinted it. And yet He never took away the freedom of men and nations to pretty much do as they thought they wanted to do. It’s amazing isn’t it? Now, it’s the same way here.

Now don’t ever stop and try to tell me, "Oh, there’s too many people for God to keep track of." Listen, there are more stars out there, as I mentioned last half hour, and none of them ever bump into each other. There are far more stars to keep track of than there are people. And that’s why the Scripture can even bring it on down that he knows the number of hairs on the head of every individual. So don’t ever limit God. Don’t ever say, "Well He doesn’t know about me." Oh yes He does. Now reading on.

"And all things are of God who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given us the ministry of reconciliation." In other words as we were going away from God, He in His mercy and grace just literally brought us back to himself.

I had an elderly gentleman who was well into his 70’s, call and say, "Les, I have just all of a sudden, as a result of your program, gotten a hunger for the Word. It’s the first thing I do when I get up in the morning and the last thing I do before I go to sleep. To think that I wasted all those years with no interest in the spiritual thing." I said, "You know you remind me, (and I’ve shared it with some of those people in the last week) of something that Winston Churchill said. You’re going to smile because you’re going to remember when he said it. He said, "Youth is wonderful. But what a pity that it had to be wasted on young people!" Now isn’t that exactly what we’ve done? They waste all those good productive years just simply spending them to satisfy the flesh and then when they get older they suddenly realize that, "Hey, this is far better. Why couldn’t I have experienced this for the last 40 years?" Well, it’s one of the questionable things, I guess, of the human experience. Well, let’s go on.

"….who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ (It doesn’t stop there. As soon as we are reconciled what has God given us?) and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation."

In other words, we are to help others be reconciled. And there’s no more thrilling thing you can do. Like I’ve already mentioned, if you can bring an estranged husband and wife together, and maybe there’s some little kids at home that are torn between all this, is there anything more thrilling than to reconcile those two people and save the home and recreated a joy and happiness? That makes you feel pretty good. Well, it’s the same way if you can do this with a lost person. If you can be instrumental in bringing that person to a knowledge of salvation and to be able to say, "I’ve reconciled, or have had a part in reconciling someone to God." And this is our ministry, that we are to be reconciling lost people to their Creator God. Now let’s go back to Colossians, chapter 1 and verse 20b.

"….by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. 21. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he (Christ Jesus) reconciled."

We want to thank you for your letters of encouragement, and sharing with us how the program and the Word of God is making an impact on your lives. We also want to thank you for contributing to the ministry as the bills have to be paid. And for those who only send a small gift, don’t apologize for that. Don’t ever apologize because the Lord looks at the heart and that $5.00 gift means just as much to Him as a $5,000.00 gift from the heart of somebody else. So don’t feel obligated to give more than you can afford. And if you’re strapped in your income with bills to pay, then don’t feel obligated to send anything to us. Just keep watching and studying.

I think we’re ready to go back to where we left off in Colossians chapter 1. We’re going to take it verse by verse and now we’ll start with verse 21. Remember in our last lesson we were talking about reconciliation, how that God when He justified us, redeemed us, and forgave us, He also brought us back into that relationship with Himself which we call of course reconciliation.

"And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies (see people don’t like to think of the lost in that light. But the lost person is an enemy of God, and we were also before salvation. So this is the thing that we have to keep uppermost, that the lost person, the unregenerate person is so far as God is concern an enemy. And as a result of a person being lost their works are wicked) in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled."

Let’s go back to the Book of Galatians and look at the works of the lost person. In chapter 5, we get a good picture of how we were at one time or at least we had that potential. I know a lot of us came from good homes and are not guilty of all these things in the activity of our daily life, but nevertheless potentially everyone us were capable of doing all these things. These are basically the things that the Scripture refers to when they talk about the things of the flesh.

Those are all the things that are the acts and works of the flesh, and the spirit wants us to realize that. Now back to Colossians again. So this is what we were all capable of whether we actually did it or not is moot, we were capable of it.

And of course when Paul wrote to the Colossians that’s what they had just came out of. These Colossians people didn’t have the wherewithal to come from Christian homes like a lot of American do. Remember they were pagans, and idolaters, and all the attendant vice that was with that lifestyle. For us of course like I’ve already said, it merely means that we’re capable of it, but most of my American listeners at least have been raised in a Christian environment to some degree. At least we have not been out there in a home that practice paganism and idolatry, so always redeemer that these early believers, that’s what they came out of and we’ll see that again when we get to the Thessalonian letters. Now verse 22.

Now what kind of believers were the Corinthians? Carnal! They were not a spiritual group of people. They had all kinds of problems, and so even to those carnal believers at Corinth who had still not totally removed themselves from all the excesses of their pagan background, they were still experiencing immorality, they were still experiencing divisiveness in the congregation, but yet Paul writes the Corinthians were blameless. Now that’s not license but rather GRACE, and that’s what it says. And the reason for that is because the work of salvation is so complete. Now back to Colossians again.

Now some people are going to jump on this word if in verse 23 here and say, "well that means you can lose it." No I think Paul merely puts the thought here that we are dealing with something that is so precious that we’re not to take it lightly.

"If ye continue in the faith (how?) grounded and settled,…"

In another place he says, ‘not driven about with every wind of doctrine,’ And that’s what a lot of people have been guilty of. We get letters all the time where they have jumped from this group to that group and ended up just totally confused. They’ve gone with every wind doctrine. What just say, "Well this is what the Book says."

Now that’s quite a statement isn’t it? Now I’m not taking away from the need to send missionaries to foreign places. But over and over the Bible tells me that people have already been given enough that they’re going to be held responsible. Now that’s shocking I know. Let me show you what I’m talking about. Come back with me to John’s gospel chapter 1. And don’t ever construe this as an excuse for not going to the mission field because there is a dire need for missionaries in many many places around the world. But on the other hand when Paul writes in Romans chapter 1 that one day these lost benighted souls will stand at the Great White Throne and here their condemnation and Paul says, "they are without excuse." Well how can they be if they have never heard the Gospel before? Well evidently they have. Look at John’s gospel chapter 1, verse 6.

"There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. (the Baptist) The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, (a reference to Christ, the Light of the world) that all men through him might believe. 8. He (John) was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. (now if that doesn’t grab you I don’t know what does.) 9. That (speaking of Christ) was the true Light, which lighted every man that cometh into the world."

That’s what it says, and whom am I to argue with it. Every many in the world have received a certain degree of Light and consequently then "they are without excuse." Let’s look at that verse over in Romans 1, verse 20. In fact we really should read verse 19 also.

"Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. (the whole human race) 20. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, (created) even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they (the whole human race) are without excuse:"

That’s also what it says, and I’m sure that the Lord will say to them when they come up before Him at the Great White Throne judgment. I know they’ll say, "I never had a chance, I never heard," And I’m almost confident that He’s going to come right back and quote John 1:9. "I was the Light that came into the world. I Lighted you at one time." Now we don’t understand how this is possible, at least I sure don’t, but the Scripture is true, let God be true, these people are going to be held responsible. It’s just totally beyond my comprehension but I’ve got to go by what the Book says.

Now back to Colossians chapter 1. Here again Paul uses that same connotation that every human being has somehow or other been made aware of the Gospel. Let’s look at Romans chapter 2, verse 16. I’ll bet this is a verse that 9 out 10 professing Christians don’t know is in here, and yet it fits with what we’ve just been saying.

"In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my (Paul’s) gospel."

Isn’t that something? Now what does that mean? At judgment day there at the Great White Throne the masses of the whole human race are going to be confronted with Paul’s Gospel even though it was only preached from Paul’s time on. Don’t ask me to explain that because it’s beyond me. But again let God be true. Every human being will stand before the judge absolutely without excuse because somehow or other the Light of the Gospel has appeared to every man. In Titus chapter 2 he says basically the same thing.

"…which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven: (now we know there are areas in South America that are practically uncivilized. And we have to say, ‘they’ve never heard.’ So let’s just leave that in God’s hand.) whereof I Paul am made a minister;"

That’s what made me think of Romans 2:16 that said, "they will be judged by Paul’s Gospel. And what is Paul’s Gospel? I Corinthians 15:1-4 and Romans 10:9-10 explains his Gospel perfectly, and by believing Paul’s Gospel is the way to have eternal life.

And again that goes back to all the physical suffering that the Apostle Paul went through for the sake of the Gospel. My goodness he could have just thrown up his hands and given up and gone back to Jerusalem, and lived high on the hog couldn’t he? But he didn’t do that. He continued on and counted the things of this world as trash, things that was worthless so that the Gospel might continue throughout the Roman empire.

"Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh (his own sufferings that we have read about so often) for his body’s sake, which is the church:"

See there again the Apostle Paul is making the distinction that the Church he refers to is the Body of Christ. Do you see what a difference that makes? Always remember that no where else in Scripture do you see that. You don’t see it in the four gospels, or the Book of Acts, but only from the Apostle Paul’s pen do you find the Body of Christ, the Church. This is uniquely Pauline see? That Body of Truth as we’re going to see in a little bit he refers to constantly as the revelation of the mysteries. So he says, everything that he’s gone through is for the sake of the Body which is the Church.

"Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you,…"

Now remember, what kind of a congregation was Colossi Jew or Gentile? Well it was Gentile. Oh there may have been a smattering of Jewish believers, but it was primarily a Gentile congregation. And look at his language in that verse.

"…according to the dispensation (or administration) of God which was given to me (Paul) for you. (It was for the benefit of these Gentiles, and for us today) to fulfil the word of God."

And this is why we have to differentiate that God dealt differently with Israel then He deals with the Church. And the only place we can differentiate is that Paul writes to the Church where the rest of Scripture writes to Israel. Now come back to Ephesians and he uses almost identical same language, and remember repetition is for emphases. This is why I’m sure the Holy Spirit caused him to write it. I don’t think Paul set there beating his head, and wondered how he could repeat this. No the Holy Spirit just caused him to dictate it or however he did it, and that’s consequently the inspiration of the Scriptures.

"For this cause (because of what he wrote in those first two chapters) I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for (what people?) you Gentiles."

Now don’t miss that. It is specifically directed to the Gentiles. Now we know that everything from Genesis chapter 9 up through the four gospels accounts and early chapters of Acts were all directed to the Jews. Let me show you for example in the Book of Acts chapter 2 so you can see the difference. This is just for comparison sake, and let’s just start with verse 22. Now watch this real careful because I’m going to throw you a curve.

"Ye men of Israel, (and all you Gentiles. See it doesn’t say that. Everybody thinks it should, but it doesn’t include a Gentile no how, but rather) Ye men of Israel, hear these words;…" Now come on over to chapter 3 and you’ll see this isn’t just a misprint. Just as clearly as Paul says, "to you Gentiles," Peter says "to you Jews." Verse 12.

Do you see how Peter qualifies who he is speaking to. And then come on down to verse 13.

"The God of Abraham, and of Isaac and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, (Peter is speaking to Jews)

Now in Ephesians and we find that Paul is going the other direction and he says, "I am the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles." And in Romans 11:13 he tells us who he was sent to minister to.

"For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles;…" Now back to Ephesians 3 and look at verse 2.

"If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:"

Now the part I really wanted you to see was the last part of that verse which is identical with Colossians 1:25. What’s the process? God revealed this whole body of truth to this one man, this Apostle of the Gentiles, and he was instructed that he was to take this message to the Gentile world. Now granted he tried to go to the Jew first and then to the Gentiles, but when the Jews rejected his message he would end up with his greatest results among the Gentiles. And that’s the way God intended it as this is the age of Grace with God dealing primarily with us Gentiles. Now coming back to Colossians and let’s read verse 25 again.

Let’s go all the way back to the Old Testament to see how it all fits together. Come back to Isaiah chapter 42, and then we’ll have a couple of others that we can look at. Oh my goodness you mean we only have a minute left? Ok Isaiah 42 and maybe this will suffice.

"Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: (who are we talking about? The Messiah.) he shall bring forth judgment (rule) to (what people?) the Gentiles." See God had forgotten about the Gentiles. Verse 6.

"I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, (Israel) for a light of the Gentiles;" That was Israel’s prospect. Now chapter 60.

Now let’s get back to where we left off in Colossians chapter 1, and verse 26. To fulfill the Word of God coming out of verse 25, and this is all part of fulfilling.

Does that mean what it says? Yes it means what it says. This whole body of truth that’s coming out of Romans through, especially the little letter of Philemon, is truth that was never ever revealed before to the human race. Oh the background for it had been, of course. Paul says that himself, "that all of this was built on the prophets and the apostles, but so far as the doctrinal truths that we find in Romans through Philemon, this was hidden from human understanding until it was revealed to this apostle of Grace. That’s why so many times when people write or call with questions especially concerning the Book of Acts. Well the first thing that I will tell them is look, there is no Pauline doctrine of such in the Book of Acts, because Acts is the in between Book that moves from the Judaism system into the Church Age or into the Age of Grace. But when it comes to Church doctrine you have to go by what Paul says. And it was to him that these mysteries were given.

Now some of you are going to say, "Oh no not again." But let’s go to Deuteronomy chapter 29 and look at it. Now this is for the benefit of new listeners who are probably just catching us in the last few days for the first time. This is Moses writing to the nation of Israel, but like I showed you in the closing moments of the last half hour, God has always been the God of the whole human race, not just Israel and not just Gentiles, but each in their own segmented period of time. First He dealt with Israel, and now He’s been dealing primarily with the Gentiles. And this portion of Scripture just falls right in with what Paul says.

"…but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever, that we (as far as Israel is concerned) may do all the words of this law."

God is dealing on that same basis with the Gentile world. He has kept all these revelations that come through the apostle Paul a secret. Jesus never betrayed any of these secrets in His earthly ministry. Jesus never made mention of anything about the Body of Christ, and the saving of Gentiles outside of Judaism. He never did any of that. Why? It was not time to reveal it, and He was not about to betray that Sovereign attribute until He wanted it revealed. I personally think that the secret of understanding Scripture, is that God didn’t not reveal everything all at one time. As He came up through Scripture, even dealing with the nation of Israel, He didn’t tell them everything from start to finish, it was a progressive revelation.

Then you come to the ministry of Christ and again even that’s a progressive revelation. But when we come finally to Acts chapter 9 and the appearance of the apostle Paul, out comes these revelations of secret things. Paul is always referring to them as the mysteries. And remember the word mystery in the Greek is "musterion." It is the word translated usually as mystery, but also at times is translated secret. So the two words are synonymous. If it’s been a mystery kept in the mind of God, it was a secret, and that’s what Paul is constantly referring to then as this body of truth that he calls the mysteries. Let’s come back to I Corinthians chapter 4, and these are all verses that we’ve looked at in days gone by but let’s look at least some of these reference.

"Moreover it is required in stewards, (managers, or overseers) that a man be found faithful."

Now when you go all the way back to Genesis when Abraham was being promised a son and none was forthcoming and he was almost getting frustrated.

Well, what did he mean? Eliezer was the manager of Abraham’s possessions. It was more than what Abraham could handle himself, so he had this hired manager or steward. Now, it stands to reason, if you’re going to be faithful to the owner of the estate and you are now at the second tier of management, if you’re going to be all that you should be, you will be what? FAITHFUL! Because the name of the game is to do all that you can to enhance your master’s estate. Now Paul is bringing this same idea down to the revelation of the mysteries, this revelation of secrets that you and I as believers are put in a place of responsibility as a manager over a business. We are to be faithful in passing these things on to those who have never heard. It’s our responsibility. And you’d better know what you’re talking about because this is what the world is hung up on. Confusion and deception, and we have to come with that which is pure truth. The revelation of things that had been kept secret. And the Apostle Paul is the only one who is over and over referring to that very same concept.

Alright, you’re still in I Corinthians, aren’t you? Come on over to chapter 15, and dropping down to verse 51. And here again, I’ve made it very plain on the programs, as long as I’ve been on the air, that I am a proponent of a Pre-tribulation out calling of the Church, the Body of Christ, which is the Rapture. And a lot of people are all shook up by it and can’t understand it. Well, it’s because they don’t understand the mysteries that were revealed to Paul. Granted, there is never anything else in Scripture, in the Old Testament or the Gospels, or Acts, or Revelation or any of these others, that even alludes to what we call the Rapture. Why? Because it’s a Pauline revelation. Now, when I say Pauline, I mean Paul in the other extent. It’s a Pauline revelation and here he calls it what it is. But all the other writers when they speak of the Lord’s return, they’re speaking about His Second Coming at the end of the Tribulation and not the Rapture of the Church just before the Tribulation begins.

"Behold, I shew you a (what?) mystery: (a secret) We shall not all sleep, (die) but we shall all be changed."

Paul says he’s going to reveal a secret. This is something that’s never been revealed before. Never! And what is it? That there’s coming a day, and Paul thought it was a lot closer than it was, and maybe we think it’s closer than it will be, and I think it’s getting close, but there’s coming a day when all of a sudden there’s going to be a great resurrection of the believers who have died and at the same time we who are alive shall be changed into a new body. We’re not going to die if we as believers are alive when this event happens. Now verse 52.

"In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump:…" Not one of the angelic trumpets in Revelations. This is a singular trumpet in God’s hands.

That’s a revelation of a secret. It’s never been revealed before. The Lord never talked like this. The Lord talked of resurrection, but He never talked of a group of people who would be alive at the time. And so here we have a revelation of a mystery. Now, I’m not going to have time for all of them, but if you’ll come on over with me to Ephesians chapter 3 where this whole period of grace was unknown to the whole human race. Jesus never referred to it. Peter couldn’t have referred to it. But Paul is the one that God, by grace, used to reveal these secrets to the whole human race. And what is it?

"For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles. 2. If ye have heard of the dispensation (or administration. Just as Eliezer was the administrator of Abraham’s estate. And it was a viable thing, so also is this administration) of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward."

Listen that’s never been held before the human race before. If you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward and here it comes.

How that by revelation (what’s the other word for revelation? A revealing) he made known unto me the mystery…." (secret.)"

And what’s the secret? This whole body of Pauline truths, how that the work of the cross completed every thing that the human race needed for salvation. We don’t have to do a thing. God has done it all. But you don’t find that until you get to Paul. And this is the whole revelation of that which was kept secret. Now reading on in chapter 3 of Ephesians. We looked at this a few weeks ago when we were in the book, but now verse 4 & 5.

"Whereby, when ye read (Paul’s epistles) ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ. (a secret) 5. Which in other ages (generations) was not made known (see how plain that language is when you understand what we’re talking about. Don’t forget Deuteronomy 29:29 which says, "The secret things belong to God." He’s Sovereign. And He doesn’t have to reveal it until He’s good and ready. And that was when the Apostle Paul was sent to the Gentiles) to the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit."

And remember Paul had others that followed in his footsteps. I think Barnabas could be considered one and maybe Timothy and some of those. But here was the whole concept that was never revealed before. Now verse 6.

"That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs (not just subjects of Christ’s kingship like Israel will be, but Gentiles are to be brought into that position of joint heirs of Christ. You can’t find that anywhere else in Scripture except Paul’s epistles. It’s just not in there. You can look, but here it is.) and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel." Now let’s go on down to verse 9, which we used a couple of programs back.

"And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery (secret) which from the beginning of the world hath been (what’s the next word?) hid (see how plain that is?) in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ."

All the way through Paul’s epistles you have this word popping up - "the mysteries." That it was revealed only to Paul. Now a verse just comes to mind. Poor Peter, bless his heart. And I don’t put him down one iota but let’s come back to his second epistle, chapter 3 and we’re going to start at verse 15. We haven’t used these two verses in a long, long time. But now, remember, Peter didn’t have the mysteries revealed to him. Only Paul did. But as Paul began to preach these mysteries and the Gospel that was Paul’s Gospel and the appearing of the Body of Christ, Peter just stood there, I think, from the outside looking in. Let’s read the verses first and then I’ll comment. And remember Peter writes these little epistles about the same time Paul is writing the prison epistles. It think the two men were probably martyred within a year of each other. And so this is at the end of Peter’s ministry. Shortly before he’s martyred.

"And account (understand) that the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation; (of course. That’s the main theme of the whole Bible) even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him (by the revelation of the secrets) hath written unto you. 16. As also in all his epistles, (from Romans through Philemon) speaking in them of those things (the things that pertain to salvation) in which are some things hard to be understood, (That’s Peter writing by inspiration.) which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest (twist) as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction."

Do you see what the man is saying? That when Paul reveals these mysteries that had been kept secret it was such revelation, such breaking of new ground, that even good old Peter couldn’t grasp it all. It was beyond him. And I can see why. Because Peter was steeped in Judaism. He was steeped in legalism. He was steeped in the Christ of His earthly ministry. And so when the Apostle Paul comes along and presents all this to the Gentile world, like I showed you in the last program, who did Peter address in Acts chapter 2 & 3? "Ye men of Israel, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers", and then all of a sudden have these things promoted among the Gentile world. I can see why Peter couldn’t comprehend it. And I don’t believe he had a full understanding of it right up until the time he was martyred. It was just something totally beyond him.

And so when Paul speaks of these mysteries, for goodness sake don’t just shove it off and say you just can’t understand what he’s talking about. He’s merely telling us that he is being used of the same God that called Abraham, that called the twelve disciples up there in Galilee, but the same God is now revealing to this apostle a whole new concept of things that had never been heard of before. One of which is that we are joint heirs with Christ. Another one is that one day the trumpet will sound and we’re going to be gone. Now I know that’s hard for a lot of people to swallow, because it’s not in the rest of the Scriptures, but it’s only in Paul’s writings. It is part of the revelation of the mysteries, and then it’s not hard to comprehend. So now coming back to verse 26.

"Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages (thousands of years God kept it secret) and from generations, (all the generations of Israel) but now is made manifest to his saints:

The world doesn’t know what we’re talking about, and a good percentage of Christendom don’t know what we’re talking about. Do you know why? Because they avoid Paul’s writings like the plague, they won’t come into Paul’s writings if they can possibly avoid it. I had a gentlemen tell me the other day, "Les I’ve been keeping track, every Sunday morning for the last three months, our sermon has been out of the Book of Matthew." Why would this be? Now I have nothing against Matthew, it’s the Word of God, but when you spend 100% of your time in Matthew, you’re missing the revelations of the mysteries.

You’re missing justification by faith alone, you’re missing this whole concept of the Body of Christ, as it’s not in Matthew or the four gospels. You’re missing this whole concept of the Grace of God, it’s not in Matthew. You’re missing the whole concept that you’re sins are already forgiven. You’re missing the whole concept about the blessed hope as Paul writes to Titus that one day the Great God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ will appear for us in the air. See that’s not in Matthew. And there are just countless others that you’re missing including Paul’s Gospel by which is the way we have eternal life. That was only given to Paul. So when you leave Paul’s writing out of your study you’re missing out on all the good things that God wants us to have.

I’ll never forget years ago, I hadn’t been in Oklahoma very long and I had a doctor come to my class. He would sit right in front of me. And oh he would almost sit there like a starved bird and would say every so often, "Les why haven’t we been taught these things before? Fifty years I’ve been going to Church and now I can see they’ve been cheating me." Well I’m afraid that’s too often the case, and you know why? Because they will not study the mysteries, and this is where it’s at for us Gentiles. And I say this kindly. You have to understand the revelation of the mysteries to understand God’s dealing with Gentile world. Now moving on.

"To whom (the saints, the believers of the Church Age) God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles;…"

Now I’m not leaving the Jewish people out of this, but I’m going to say what the Scriptures says, that this is directed primarily to the Gentiles. I know I have many Jewish believers in the listening audience, I know I do. We stay with a Jewish Christian couple when we go up to Minnesota, and we can revile in these things, but for the most part the Jew can’t except the fact that Jesus has already come the first time. So this secret in particular that’s he’s talking about here is for the Gentiles.

"…God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, (by the person of the Holy Spirit) the hope of glory:"

That’s what we’re living for. We’re not living for this world. Oh we all have our ambitions and I’m just as ambitious as anyone. I love my cattle herds and my ranching as much as anybody, but hey this isn’t the end. Glory is the end, but that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy these things in this earthly sojourn.

"Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect (or spiritually mature) in Christ Jesus: 29. Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily."

As we begin this series of the next four lessons, I must let our television audience know that we’re finally in our new studio here at channel 47 in Tulsa. When Lesea sold the old building and bought this new one we had to put up with that makeshift studio, which was more cramped, with no room for tables, while they built this whole new addition. Anyhow I certainly want to thank the Lesea people and their president Pete Summerall for this state of the art studio.

Now we’re ready to start our study for today, and we’ll begin with Colossians chapter 2, and verse 1. I was going to put the timeline on the board again, but I think I’ll refrain until we finish Colossians. It’s been a while since we’ve had it up there, and it helps so many people to understand their Bible better. But before we go into the Thessalonian letters I will again review some of those things. I hope you do realize that we have new listeners everyday, and we have to keep reviewing these things so that they also know where we’re coming from and what we’re talking about.

But for now we’re in Paul’s little epistle of Colossians, which was written to a little congregation east and south of Ephesus. Then, almost due north of Colossi was the other little city in Asia Minor or western Turkey called Laodicea. So when Paul makes mention that the Colossians should pass this letter on to the Laodicean people, it was just that they were a neighborhood congregation. And as I mentioned in one of the earlier programs, Paul himself had nothing to do with starting that Laodicean church. They were probably begun by some of his converts in the Ephesus Church. He makes mention that he’s never met them face to face, but he has such concern for them because false teachings followed the apostle everywhere he went, and consequently it disturbed him. Now he writes beginning with verse 1.

"For I would that ye knew what great conflict (struggle) I have for you,…"

He was struggling with the fact that these people were left with no written Word. Never forget they didn’t have any New Testament until Paul’s letters started coming, which was in about the early 60’s or late 50’s and he’s already been out establishing churches for 15 or 20 years, so you can see his concern. So he says I just want you to know what a great struggle I have for you.

They had never seen the apostle Paul personally. So he didn’t have a direct part of establishing these two little congregations. Now for the time being let’s just go on into verse 2.

Now this is why I teach. So many Christians have made a profession of faith, they joined the Church, they get active in the social aspect, but they know nothing of the Scriptures, and I’m sure you’re all aware of that. But you see Paul’s hearts desire was that even these people in his day, who had come out of idolatry and paganism and knew nothing of even the Old Testament, could maintain their Christian experience with no more background than they had. So his concern was that they had a full understanding.

Now those of you who have been with me for ever so many years, you know I’m always stressing the mysteries that were revealed to the apostle Paul. In fact just in the last week I don’t know how many people have called and said, "I’ve never even heard the word mystery before." Well that doesn’t shock me too much, because I think as I look back that I probably didn’t either. Remember Paul was the only one given the mysteries, and since most preachers and teachers don’t bother with his writings then most people don’t know about the mysteries either. But the heart of Paul’s gospel is this revelation of these mysteries. Now let’s look at some of them, so come back to Romans chapter 16:25.

"Now to him that is of power (that’s another one of Paul’s favorite words. The power of God, The power of His resurrection, The power of His Spirit) to stablish (or root) you according to my gospel, (not Jesus’ gospel that He and the twelve preached, but rather Paul’s gospel that had been given to him only) and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery,…"

Not the preaching of Jesus Christ according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, but the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery, these secrets. If I remember correctly in our last program, I went all the way back to Deuteronomy 29:29 and found that "the secret things belong unto the Lord our God." What does that tell you? In His Sovereignty, He doesn’t tell us everything all at once, and He doesn’t have to. But He says, "Those things which are revealed belong to us and our children."

So you always have to look at this whole concept of the revelation that Paul talks about are these secret things that God did not reveal to the Old Testament writers, or to Peter and the eleven, but rather He waited until Saul of Tarsus was converted, and He sent him down to, I think, Mount Sinai and poured out at least a good portion of the revelation of the mysteries.

God kept this whole package of truths secret, and never gave anybody an inclination of what was coming until it was revealed to this apostle. The other night I woke up in the middle of the night, and the thought hit me of this verse that we’ve looked at many times in Peter. And let’s look at it again, because Peter didn’t have any concept of what Paul was going to have revealed to him, these things that are called the mysteries.

As I was lying there, two things struck me in particular. First, Peter is recognizing that the Gospel for this period of time came from the epistles of Paul. The second point was Peter puts Paul’s writings as Scripture, which meant that Paul letters have just as much authority as Moses, Isaiah, Matthew, John or Peter, or any one else, because His words are Scripture. Before we read I want to remind people of when these things were written. Peter is writing this shortly before he’s martyred, at the end of his life. He’s not writing this way back there 20-30 years ago. This is at the end of his life, and probably in the middle 60’s shortly before the temple is destroyed.

"And account (or understand) that the longsuffering (the patience) of our Lord is salvation; (that’s the whole purpose of this Book. Whether it’s Old or New Testament, it’s to bring mankind into a knowledge of salvation, whether it was under Law or the Kingdom economy, or now under Grace. God’s heart is for the salvation of lost mankind.) even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;"

Now you’ve got to remember, what group of people is Peter addressing? Jews of the dispersion, and he tells us that in I Peter 1:1. So even to his own Jewish people he is admonishing them to go to the letters of Paul. Now Paul’s earliest epistles had only been out there 7 or 8 years, and his later epistles had only been out there probably a year or two. But Peter is admonishing his fellow Jews to go those letters of Paul for instructions. Now verse 16.

"As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; (that is salvation as we now understand by faith alone through the Grace of God) in which are some things hard to be understood,…"

Now most people read right over that, and don’t even realize what the man is saying. But here Peter is admitting that this revelation to the apostle Paul was hard for good Jews to comprehend. Why? Because it was totally, totally different. It was completely removed from temple worship, it was completely removed from the covenant promises of Israel, and here was the offer of salvation to these pagan idolatrous Gentiles that if they would just simply realize their lost estate, and believe the Gospel of I Corinthians 15:1-4, God will bring them into Himself. Hey, that’s hard for a good Jew to comprehend. Now finishing the verse.

"…which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, (twist) as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction."

So what’s Peter doing with Paul’s epistles? He’s lumping them in with the rest of the Bible. They are Scripture! They’re the inspired Word of God! Now isn’t it amazing that men just ignore this, and almost refuse to go into Paul’s writings? I don’t know why, but I can see it over and over that they just almost ignore them purposely. "Willingly ignorant," as Peter says concerning the flood in his little epistle. Well anyway, this is all part and parcel of this revelation of what Paul calls his Gospel, and that is God in Grace. Now of course as we’re going to see a little further on in Colossians the mysteries are in several different categories. We’ve got, for example, the mystery of what I call the Rapture or the catching away of the Church. It’s a mystery we find in I Corinthians.

"Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed." Another mystery was that the Gentiles would come into the Body of Christ on equal basis with the Jew.

"Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:"

Hey, that had never been revealed before, so it was a mystery. Now here in Colossians we’re going to see that this particular mystery is a revelation of the Godhead in a way that the Old Testament never explained it. This is an explanation of the Godhead the likes of which Peter and the apostles couldn’t even preach or comprehend.

But now it’s revealed to this apostle, that this Godhead, and that’s the term Paul will use a little later in this chapter. It’s that composition of the Three Person and yet One. See, this throws a curve at so many people. I had a phone call early this morning, and the person was hung up on this very same thing. They could not believe that Jesus was God! And the term that throws so many people is the "Son of God." Which means that God procreated Him. It’s absolutely unreal what people are being taught. But you see they can’t conceive of the fact that God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are all three co-equal. There is no One of them that is above the other, and yet they operate as One. I can’t understand it, I can’t describe it, but I sure believe it, because it’s in the Book. Now here it comes in verse 2 of Colossians chapter 2.

"That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, (and what is God? Well at least in most of the translations, the mystery of God is this composite of all the persons of the Godhead,) and of the Father, and of Christ; 3. (that in this Godhead of the Father, the Son and the Spirit) in whom are hid all the treasurers of wisdom and knowledge."

Now we’re in a technology explosion today aren’t we? I was just reading to Iris a little article last night that in the next 5 years we’re going to see more technology exploding around us then we’ve seen in the last 50 years. Now goodness sake we’ve had a lot of technology in the last 50 years. Then the author of the article went on to explain that the fiber optics, for example, had just sort of been laying dormant. But the Lucent Company has just suddenly brought in such technology for the fiber optic system that it just blows your mind. But you know what? Every time they discover or invent a new technology God smiles and says, "Hey I created it." Well if He created it, then He knows the deepest secrets of every electrical formula, and all the steps of physics, He created it, so He has the knowledge of these things before they’re ever discovered.

When God speaks of His wisdom and knowledge, I always have to think of poor Job. And when I say, poor Job, I’m not referring to him that way because he lost all of his daughters, and livestock, but rather Job lost his pride. Oh, the Lord must have made Job feel, as we would say today, not worth two cents. Let’s go to Job 38, and everyone won’t agree with me, but I think Job’s basic problem was pretty much like today. He was proud. Proud of his what? His humility. He was proud of the fact that he was blessed of God, that He was a righteous man, he loved God, and I don’t take any of that away from him. But when you come through the whole Book of Job and then come to chapter 38, and I feel sorry for the poor old fellow. My, when the Lord got through speaking to him, he must have felt like crawling into a rat hole. Just look at what God says.

"Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? 3. Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me." Now Job is on the spot isn’t he? Oh he’s on the spot. Now look at what the Lord says in verse 4.

"Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare; if thou hast understanding." What did Job say? Nothing. I mean, he’s helpless, he’s wordless, he doesn’t get a word in edgewise.

Do you get what I’m driving at? What is God imparting here? That Job thought he knew it all. In so many words God says, "Ok Job if you are so smart – and this is exactly what God could do with our scientists today. Oh, He could take the greatest brain from Silicon Valley and put him in front of Him and say, "Ok where were you- If you’re so smart tell me." God could bring things into their thinking that they have not even yet considered as He’s doing here with Job.

And one of the verses that I was really thinking of when I saw this in Colossians was verse 22. Which of course now in our technology even our little grade school kids know this from fourth and fifth grade science I guess. But back in the ancients they didn’t have the microscopes and so forth. But look what God says here to Job.

Well what’s He talking about? That even in a tremendous blizzard there’s no two snow flakes alike. Did Job know that? No. Then come all the way up to verse 31.

"Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, (or what we call the seven sisters I think) or loose the bands of Orion? Job can you control the stars in their orbit? Can you control the constellations?

Do you get what I’m talking about? And with every question He just puts Job lower and lower, lower, and finally Job has to realize that he doesn’t know anything. Now as time has expired I guess we’d better come right back to Colossians and looking at verse 3 again. It’s this same God that confronted Job and reveals all the knowledge of those two chapters of Job 38 and 39. He is the One -

Now in this lesson we’ll pick up our study in Colossians, chapter verse 4. I’m going to pretty much skim over these verses 5, 6, and 7 because verse 4 and verse 8 I’m going to tie together. But I’m going to wait till we get to verse 8 before I teach verse 4. They both teach about deception, about being beguiled so we’ll put them together.

A verse just comes to mind that we need to look at. Like I just told Jerry, a lot of times I don’t intend to start chasing Scriptures, but we trust the Holy Spirit has a reason for prompting me. Come back with me to II Corinthians chapter 11, because I’m sure this is exactly what’s on the apostle’s mind as he writes. Now remember the Corinthian letters were written several years before the prison epistles, and here he’s rehearsing his sufferings.

"In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. (and I even skipped the verses about his beatings and stoning, and shipwrecks, and being robbed so often) 28. Beside those things (the physical sufferings) that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the Churches."

I mean the man was just constantly burdened, wondering how that Church in Philippi was doing? How are those folks over in the Colossi Church? How are the members over at the Ephesus Church? See, all of this was on his mind constantly, and it was a daily concern for him. Now coming back to Colossians chapter 2. I can’t help but feel that those Churches were on his mind as he wrote verses 5, 6, and 7. Now I’m going to come into verse 8, and tie that up with verse 4. And what’s the first word of verse 8? Beware! Look out, because there’s danger ahead. And what’s the danger? False teachings.

You know I’ve often said, I know with God, He’s Sovereign and He saw to it that the Church survived. But have you ever stopped to realize what a miracle it is that Christianity ever survived? I mean it’s a miracle. Here we have little groups of believers that have just come out of paganism, they had Paul and one of his helpers for a few weeks, and then they moved on to another congregation. They had no printed Book to leave with them, an