The Mystery of God

Well, good morning, everyone. Are we doing okay? Yeah, great to see you this morning.

Thank you so much to Fiona and band and everyone who's contributed to our service thus far.

Maybe you want to grab your Bibles and turn back to those verses that Kat read for us in Colossians chapter 1.

Colossians 1 · chapter mention

And God has so much to teach us this morning through his word.

I've been so blessed just to study this passage this week.

And it's my prayer that God, by his spirit, would speak to us and challenge our own hearts

as we come to hear what he has to say to us this morning.

So with that thought in our minds, let's turn to the Lord and let's pray

and ask that he would help us this morning.

In Psalm 119, the psalmist writes this.

Your statutes are wonderful, therefore I obey them.

The unfolding of your words, it gives light.

It gives understanding to the simple.

And so, Heavenly Father, we would want to make it our prayer this morning at the outset of our time together

that that would be our experience, that we would know how wonderful your word to us is.

And Father, would we leave here this morning with a greater picture of your son, Jesus Christ.

We can only do that if your spirit comes and helps us.

And so we pray that he would come now and be with us.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Amen.

Well, to get us thinking this afternoon, here's a quiz question for you.

What do Charles Dickens, Woody Allen, Muhammad Ali and Prince Charles have in common?

Anybody? Anybody?

So just when you... Anybody?

They're all the four.

They're all the four.

Okay, no, not that one.

Just when you thought Prince Charles couldn't get any cooler,

all four of them were or are registered amateur magicians.

Did you know that?

Registered amateur magicians.

And what do they say about a good magician?

Never reveals his or her secrets.

Ironically, I went on Google this week and I asked Google who the first person was to coin that phrase

and it would appear that it is a mystery.

Well, with those verses in Colossians in our minds, turn there,

what we're going to see is that there is a mystery that's right at the heart of these verses.

Now, you'll see Paul mention it three times, verse 26 and 27 of chapter 1 and verse 2 of chapter 2.

There's a mystery right at the heart of these verses.

But here's the difference.

Unlike our magician friends, when Paul talks about a mystery,

he's not talking about something that will be forever kept from us,

something that only a certain level of person will be allowed into.

He's talking about something that has been once kept hidden

and has now been disclosed for the world to see.

You see, in English, a mystery, and I looked this up, the Collins English Dictionary,

a mystery is something that is difficult or impossible to understand.

That's what a mystery is, is we understand it.

So you think about the secret recipe to Coke.

It's a mystery.

You think about what goes on in Area 51 out in the desert in Nevada.

That is a mystery, despite what Independence Day the film would teach us.

It's a mystery.

Remember, as a child being fascinated, anyone else do this,

by the mystery machine in Scooby-Doo.

Do you remember that?

The mystery machine in Scooby-Doo.

The van that somehow had everything that the gang would ever need in it

for any given occasion and any given challenge,

but no one quite knew how it all fitted in that tiny little machine.

It was a mystery.

But in Greek, you see, a mystery is something quite different.

The Greek word mysterion, which you can see how we got our word mystery,

is a secret that was once kept hidden and now has been revealed to the world.

Something that was once hidden, now it's out there for everyone to see.

So this is a lot more like the Apple XS launch in September that's just gone.

Okay?

Plans that were once hidden from public view,

plans that only a certain amount of people were being let into,

but now they've gone public.

Now it's on show for the world to see,

and it's on show for the world to see so that they can get in on this.

There's a mystery that's right at the heart of these verses today.

Now it would appear that Paul has chosen his word quite deliberately there,

because what's most likely going on in the background to these verses

is that these false teachers,

remember we saw them in our first couple of sermons,

they claim to have access to some kind of spiritual secret knowledge,

they claim to be in on a mystery that the rest of you ordinary Christians in Colossae

that you're not in on, you're missing out.

And Paul says that's nonsense,

because God's put his mysteries on show for the world to see.

And what he wants them to see in these verses, Paul,

is that this mystery is the reason for his ministry.

This mystery is the reason why he does what he does.

If you look at it there, this is why he endures suffering.

Do you see it?

He rejoices in it.

Not that he enjoys hardship,

but he rejoices in the why he's going through what he's going through,

and the what it means,

and that he's in chains.

The only reason he's in chains is because he's proclaiming Christ,

and because he's proclaiming Christ,

more and more people are coming to know Christ,

and so he says,

I rejoice in what I'm going through.

And boy, did Paul suffer for proclaiming Christ.

Shipwreck, imprisonment, abandonment, beatings,

all because he proclaimed Jesus Christ.

Just look how he presses it home in these verses here,

filling up in the afflictions of Christ.

That's what he says.

Do you see it?

Not that there's anything lacking in what Jesus has done on the cross.

Let's be very clear about what he's not saying there.

It's most likely, I think, a reference to the truth,

that if Jesus has given his life for his people,

if that's what he's done for his church,

then why would the servant of God expect anything less for his or her life?

This is the reason why he toils.

This is the reason he struggles with all the energy that God gives him.

It's the reason why he prays.

It's the reason why he gets up in the morning.

It's the reason why he speaks.

It's the reason why he lives.

Because this mystery is so life-transformingly good

that it's become the very reason that Paul does what he does.

And that's probably the point, to stop and to ask you

to consider why you do what you do in life.

Why do you do what you do in life?

You know, as I see it, if the events of the last few weeks have taught us anything,

it's that life is vapor.

Life is here today and it is gone tomorrow.

It is short.

It's not true that death is the great taboo subject of our generation.

Oh, sure, we try and cover up in language,

but there's something of the sobering reality of it

that we're faced with every time it happens,

that we are here today and gone tomorrow.

That life really is like a game of Monopoly,

if you remember playing that when you were young.

I don't know, maybe you still play it.

You can own all the hotels on the board,

or you can own one little house on Old Kent Road.

But at the end of the day,

all those pieces are going to go back in the box.

And we're all the same.

Now, we were down at Burrow Muir SU Group on Wednesday

and we were looking at the parable of the rich young fool

as we find it in Luke chapter 12.

Luke 12 · chapter mention

And we were looking at it together

and somebody piped up at my table and said,

come on, Jesus, that's a very morbid thought.

And somebody on the other side of the table pipes up and says,

yeah, but isn't that reality?

Reality.

Love it when somebody else does a lesson for you.

It's great, isn't it?

But isn't that reality so true?

Friends, why do you do what you do in life?

Why do you do it?

What's going on?

Here's my favorite news story from this week.

Anybody see this guy in the news?

Pumpkin Man, as I like to call him.

Did you see him this week?

He sailed down the river Ouse

in a giant pumpkin that he'd hollowed out.

Do you know why he did it?

Because he wanted the Guinness World Record

and how this mind works, I don't understand, right?

How he looked at the Guinness World Records

and thought there's a record there to be had, right?

He looks at the Guinness World Records

and he thinks there's not somebody in there

who's got a record for the largest pumpkin boat.

Friends, why do you do what you do in life?

Surely a big reason why Paul tells

these Colossian Christians what he's doing

is not just so that they'll understand

what's going on in his mind.

Surely he wants them to see

that this mystery, if you get it,

if you see Jesus Christ here,

then this is the only thing that's worth living for.

This is the only thing that's going to endure.

This is the only thing that gives you purpose

in life and meaning.

And so simply as we try and wrestle

with what Paul is saying here,

I've got two questions for us this morning.

Two questions I want us all to think about.

Okay, two questions.

Here's the first one.

Have you grasped the heart of the mystery?

Come with me to verse 26.

Paul writes this.

The mystery that has been kept hidden

for ages and generations,

but is now disclosed to the Lord's people.

To them God has chosen to make known

among the Gentiles

the glorious riches of this mystery,

which is Christ in you,

the hope of glory.

C.S. Lewis once said of the Bible,

I have been reading poems, romances,

vision, literature, legends and myths

my whole life.

I know what they are like.

And I know that none of them are like the Bible.

See, Lewis recognized that there is no story

quite like the story that the Bible tells.

It's why if you look closely,

and we can talk about this afterwards if you want,

you'll find that many of the most loved stories

that we love as a people,

they actually have echoes of the Bible story in them.

God created the world.

He created it good.

He created Adam and Eve,

the very first few beings in his image,

beautifully and wonderfully made.

And it was very good.

The creatures were living in harmony with their creator,

but Adam and Eve,

they rebelled against God.

They sinned against him.

And sin entered the human equation.

I remember being young,

growing up in Sunday school,

I remember,

somebody explaining to sin to me as,

sorry God,

I'm in charge,

no to your rules.

Sorry God,

I'm in charge,

no to your rules.

Sin entered the human equation.

Adam and Eve sinned,

it separated them from God.

Separated them from God.

And their sin,

if you like,

didn't just cause upward chaos.

Their sin caused inward chaos.

I mean,

if you read Genesis,

Genesis 3,

4,

the Bible begins to use words

that it never used before,

like shame,

and fear,

and guilt.

As if to show us that sin has broken

their very core beings.

It's broken it.

And it's caused outward chaos as well.

The relationships with one another,

the relationships between human beings

are broken.

And since then,

sin has affected and infected

the entire human race.

Friends,

I've been a Christian for about 16,

going on 17,

18 years,

something like that.

One of the reasons I became a Christian

is because the Bible,

when I read it,

began to make too much sense.

Too much sense.

That what this was telling me,

and of course,

that's what you'd expect

from the Creator's Word,

isn't it?

Something of what this was telling me

was resonating with what I was seeing

in here,

and what I was seeing out there.

I remember studying Macbeth at school.

If you grew up in Scotland,

that was kind of what we always did.

And there's that scene,

isn't there,

where Lady Macbeth,

after she's committed murder,

she's sleepwalking through the castle.

What she's doing is she's

rubbing her hands together.

Do you remember that scene?

She's rubbing her hands together,

trying to get that spot,

trying to get that stain out of her hands.

And she just can't do it.

She keeps on rubbing.

She keeps on rubbing.

She cannot get the stain out.

That's what the Bible is saying

about sin.

It's done in our lives.

That's a problem.

Do you see it summed up

in that world that Paul

brought out last week

in verse 21?

In our natural state,

we are alienated from God.

All of us,

alienated from God.

But,

God's plan,

gloriously,

was to make a way

to reconcile us

to himself.

You see,

God's mystery,

and this is where we begin

to get into the mystery,

is not an if.

It's a how.

How is God

going to achieve that?

Because he certainly

can't do it

through mankind's efforts.

Well,

the Bible's a wonderful story

about how he chose

a people

through whom he would

accomplish it.

He raised up servants.

He raised up prophets.

He raised up kings

who spoke about

how God was going

to do this in part.

God's plan to win

for himself

a worshipping people,

not just of Jews

who are privileged

to the works of God,

but of Gentiles,

that is,

non-Jewish people.

That's us.

They were strangers

from the promises of God

and about how God

was going to take

this people

and not just watch

over them,

but dwell with them.

Live with them.

And by consequence,

make the impossible,

make the two

become one.

See,

the mystery of the Old Testament

is how is God

going to do that?

And remember,

these Colossian Christians,

Paul's writing here

something like

only 30 years or so

after Jesus has died,

has risen,

and has ascended

into heaven.

Paul says this mystery

is one that is not

hidden anymore.

It is out in the open

for all to see.

How has God done it?

Do you see in the verses?

Christ.

One word.

Christ.

He is the center

of this mystery.

He is the one

through whom God

is going to reconcile

all things in heaven

and on earth

to himself.

He is the one

who has come

to reconcile

sinful people

to God,

to cleanse us,

to make us whole,

to forgive us.

Friends,

I wonder if you need

to remember

the forgiveness

that is offered

through the blood

of Jesus Christ

this morning.

Isn't it wonderful

that our sins are many,

but his mercy is more?

that my sins are abounding,

but his grace

super abounds?

And Christ is going

to present us to God

wholly in his sight.

The heart of this mystery,

friends,

is that you and I

can know God.

The lyrics of that song

we'll sing later on.

Your blood has washed

away my sin,

Jesus,

thank you.

The Father's wrath,

that's his anger

against my sin,

completely satisfied,

Jesus,

thank you.

once your enemy,

now seated at your table,

Jesus,

thank you.

Thank you.

And as if that were

not mind-blowing enough,

see what he says next

at the end of verse 27.

And this is where

all those hours

doing prepositions

at school

will come

and pay dividends.

Remember doing prepositions

in French class

at school?

Here's the only thing

I remember in French

class, right?

Le chien est sous le tableau.

Yeah?

Dog is under the table.

Prepositions really matter.

Here is where

those finally pay off.

Where is Christ?

Do you see?

He's not over you.

He's not beside you.

He's not behind you.

He's not under you.

Where is he?

He's in you.

Do you see it?

God in Christ

and through his spirit

lives,

dwells,

occupies

the hearts

of his people.

The same Christ,

and I think this is

where the flow

of the letter goes

who Paul has described

for them

at verses 15 to 20.

That Christ,

the Christ who blew

our minds,

the Christ who's bigger

than we think he is.

He lives in us.

Now.

Today.

Here.

Now.

What a glorious foretaste

you see of what

will one day

we will know in full

when we stand in glory.

Verse 28.

Paul gives himself

to what?

To telling others

this whole mystery

about Christ.

This whole mystery.

Friends,

let me ask you,

how are you doing today

at proclaiming,

at telling others

about Jesus Christ?

Big challenge,

isn't it,

when we see something

like this?

The man who's made

it his mission

to tell others

about Jesus Christ.

Because it's only

through faith in him

that we can know God.

What a privilege.

It's hard,

is that everybody

would hear about

and put their faith

in Jesus Christ

and go on to what?

Do you see?

Maturity.

Maturity.

Nourished on the

truths of the faith.

This is what he wants

for these believers.

Growing in their love

for the Lord.

Delighting him

with every word and deed.

That's the goal

for every Christian.

Maturity.

That we would grow.

And I've had the privilege

over the past few weeks

of being involved

in two Thanksgiving services

for the lives

of dear sisters

here at the church.

And let me just tell you

what a joy

and privilege that was.

See,

to research the lives

of two seasoned saints

who I only knew

for a couple of years

was tremendously thrilling.

And I read about

their lives

and man,

had they gone through

some stuff

that I had no idea about.

Losing husbands,

caring for children,

dealing with physical pain

in their own bodies

to the extent

I'm reading this

thinking I have hardly

lived through

anything in my life.

But what struck me

most about both of them,

I'm talking about

Elma and Margo,

dear sisters here,

both of them,

was their unwavering

love for the Lord,

their service of his people,

and the focus

on the future.

As I was at the graveside

with the family on Monday,

someone,

as he reflected

on Margo's life,

read the words

of Psalm 112.

Surely the righteous

will never be shaken.

They will remember forever.

They will be remembered forever.

They will have no fear

of bad news.

Their hearts are steadfast,

trusting in the Lord.

Friends,

that is Christian maturity.

It's not about age.

It's not about the number

of rings that are on the tree.

It's not about the things

that you've lived through.

Christian maturity

is about being about

being fully persuaded

that throughout every storm,

throughout every trial,

throughout every tear,

pain,

and question

that God is good.

And he's good for his word.

We can trust him.

And it's why I'm so grateful

for a wide church family.

And it's why I'd encourage

those in a younger generation,

trying not to look at

anyone on here,

to get to know

the older generation.

Because you will learn

so much about

what a life of Christian

maturity looks like.

And it's why I'd encourage

the older generation

to get to know

the younger generation

because you have

so much wisdom.

Experiences that you can

pass on to help others

in that battle for maturity.

Isn't it not incredible

that God in his almighty wisdom

has given us each other

to walk this Christian life with?

That we can minister

to one another, friends,

because his spirit lives in us.

Verse 29,

For this I struggle and toil

with all the energy

that God so powerfully

works in me.

Do you see?

He loves doing this.

It's a privilege.

God has called them

to this role

and God will give them

the power to carry out

this role

to present these

Colossian Christians

mature in Christ.

I wonder,

you're here today

and you would describe

yourself inwardly,

maybe not outwardly,

but as a maturing Christian.

Are you growing

by God's grace?

Friends,

have you grasped

the heart of the mystery?

Have you grasped

the heart of the mystery?

And here's the second question

that's a lot shorter, okay?

Second question.

Has this mystery

grasped your heart?

Verse 1 of chapter 2,

why does Paul struggle

for those at Colossae

and those Christians

nine miles down the road

in Laodicea

who clearly they have

got a relationship with?

Why does Paul work so hard

for these Christians

who he has never

just seen his own words?

He'd never met them

face to face.

Because he loves them,

that's why he loves them.

Now he's not conjured

that up by himself.

Something of God's heart

for his people

is in Paul.

Paul's kingdom heart

for brothers and sisters

the world over

really shines through

in this little section,

doesn't it?

He just loves them.

He loves them.

As brothers and sisters

in Christ,

he loves them.

So I'd encourage you

to get stuck

into that prayer card.

Come to the prayer meeting

on Wednesday night

and get stuck

into that prayer card.

It's a wonderful chance

to pray for brothers

and sisters around the world

who we will never meet

face to face.

Now I've been praying

for the last couple of months.

I don't know about

some of you guys in here,

but I've been praying

for that lady in Pakistan.

All over the news this week,

hasn't it?

I've been praying

for Asia Bibi

facing the death penalty

in Pakistan

because she stood tall

for Jesus Christ.

And boy,

did my soul rejoice

the other day

when the news came out

that the Supreme Court

in Pakistan

had found her not guilty.

Joyous occasion,

wasn't it?

Just felt that joy

inside of my soul

for her

because I've been praying

for her.

She's my sister in Christ.

It's incredible.

And the news

in the last few days

that she's still greatly

in need of her prayers

and so are all the Christians

that live in Pakistan.

Paul loves these Christians.

He loves them

who he's never met

face to face.

He's got a kingdom heart

and he labors

for three things.

Do you see?

First,

that they'd be encouraged

in heart.

Encouraged in heart.

Remember,

the heart in this culture

is not so much

about emotions

as it is in ours.

It's about the very core

of a person,

the thing that drives them,

their will.

In other words,

the heart is not just

about how one feels,

it's about how one thinks

and acts and wills.

Paul works that

these people

would be strengthened

in the deepest part

of their inner being.

Friends,

oh that that would be

why we come to church

on a Sunday.

To encourage

one another

deep in our souls

and hearts.

Secondly,

they would be

knit together in love.

It's a wonderful metaphor,

isn't it?

Picturing their unity

in Christ.

Knit together.

Remember when our first

little girl was born,

Chloe,

the first thing

they put on them,

don't they,

in the hostels,

is they put on

a wee knitted hat.

A wee knitted hat.

Remember thinking,

looking at it thinking,

that looks flimsy.

And then I took it off

and I tried to pull it.

Boy,

is that not flimsy.

Because it's been

knit together really well.

It holds,

it keeps the heat in.

That's what Paul's

picturing here,

isn't it?

Knit together.

You're not going to

come apart.

Knit together.

I remember singing

in church when I was young,

bind us together,

Lord,

bind us together

with cords

that cannot be broken.

Bind us together,

Lord,

bind us together,

bind us together

in love.

That's his heart,

isn't it,

for this church.

Was the false teaching

in the background here,

was it putting the unity

of this church

in jeopardy,

perhaps?

Or could it just be

that the devil

would love to disrupt

the unity

of any gathering

of believers?

Paul strives,

he works hard,

he prays,

he gives it his all

for the unity

of the church.

And it's a great challenge

to think about,

isn't it?

And I asked myself

this week in my own heart

whether I am doing

the same.

I can so often

get lazy,

can't we,

with our words

and with our thoughts,

we can get careless

with our moods

and our actions.

So much so,

the little loose threads

begin to emerge

in terms of our relationships

with one another.

Let's be on our guard

against that.

Don Carson,

New Testament commentator,

writes this,

we will see profound

spiritual renovation

if by God's grace

we make it our commitment

not to put anyone down

except on our prayer list.

Paul labors

that they would be

knit together in love

and thirdly,

that they would get

to know Christ better.

To get a greater appreciation

of what he's done,

to get a greater grasp

of their identity in him,

to get a bigger picture

of God's cosmic purposes

that he's working out

through Christ

and to understand

the enormity,

the grandeur

of what is ahead of them.

Notice the words he uses there,

riches, wisdom,

knowledge, treasure,

as if to say,

guys,

get your head around

how good this is.

If you remember,

and this is just

the stage of life

we're at

and the things

that we watch on TV,

do you remember

Abu's face in Aladdin

when he sees

the cave of wonders?

That's what he's

picturing here,

isn't it?

Just so good.

He wants our souls

to be so satisfied

with Christ.

He wants them

to be convinced

beyond any shadow

of a doubt

that Christ is everything

that they will ever need.

And so don't be deluded.

Do you see the warning?

Don't be deluded

by those who would

seek to derail you

in your pursuit

of Jesus Christ

by claiming

in plausible arguments.

Do you see that?

Plausible?

That there's something

beyond Christ

to see and experience

and know.

People trying to convince you

that somehow

you are missing out.

What does he say?

Remain firm.

Maintain your good order.

Stay rooted

in Christ.

Friends,

as we close,

a good magician

may never reveal

their secrets.

But God's mystery

is not something

that's hidden

and it's not something

that's difficult

to understand.

In fact,

it's out in the open

for all to see.

Jesus Christ.

Here is the mystery

that explains my ministry,

says Paul.

Here is the reason

why Paul does

what he does.

Let me take you back

as we close

to Pumpkin Man.

I was trying to picture him

this week

sitting in his armchair

with his

Guinness World Record

in his hand.

He's slurping

some pumpkin soup

and he's tucking

into some pumpkin pie

and he's sloshing

it all down

with a pumpkin spice latte.

And he's looking

at his pumpkin.

Give it a week, friends.

That pumpkin,

his life's best achievement,

will be rotting,

decomposing

in front of his eyes

and like it was

this week at our street,

he will simply take it

and put it on the curb.

Friends,

why do you do

what you do in life?

Contrast Pumpkin Man

with the words

of Christian Missionary

C.T. Studd

and with this we close,

who wrote a prayer

for his life

and it went like this.

Give me, Father,

a purpose deep.

In joy or sorrow

thy word to keep,

faithful and true

whatever the strife

pleasing thee

in my daily life.

Only one life

till soon be passed.

Only what's done

for Christ

will last.

Friends,

have you grasped

the heart of the mystery?

And has the mystery

grasped your heart?

Let's pray together.

Heavenly Father,

we would thank you

so much for today.

Thank you,

dear Father,

that you are a God

who speaks.

and we pray

that your spirit

would be working

amongst us

even now

as we reflect

on what your word

has challenged us

with this morning.

Father,

we know our own hearts,

we know our own proneness

to wander

and so it's our prayer

that you would bind us

to yourself,

that you would teach us

wonderful things

from your word,

that you would help us

grant something more

of the all-surpassing

premise of Jesus

better than anything else

that this world

could offer us

and that you would help us

have our eyes fixed on him.

Father,

thank you so much

that you love us.

Thank you that your spirit

lives in us

and we pray that you

would help us now

as we continue on

in this service.

In Jesus' name,

Amen.