Colossians 1:16 Christ the Creator
Sermon Notes

ANY theme which exalts the Savior is precious to the saints.

This is one in which the preacher cannot hope to do more than to show how vastly his theme is above him.

All things were created by God and for him, yet by Jesus and for him, because he is truly God and one with the Father.

I. CONSIDER THE STATEMENT ITSELF.

1. Heaven itself was created by and for Christ Jesus.

There is such a place as well as such a state, and of that place Jesus is the center. Enoch and Elijah in their bodies are there, Jesus as man is there, and there all his people will be. God, as a pure Spirit, needed no such place, nor angels, for everywhere they would see God.

It was created for Jesus and for the people whom he will bring there to be one forever with himself.

It exists by Jesus and for Jesus.

Everything in heaven prepared by Jesus. He is the designer of it.
Everything in heaven reflects Jesus. He is the soul of it.
Everything in heaven praises Jesus. He is the King of it.

2. The angels. All their ranks were made by him and for him.

To worship him and glorify him with their adoration.

To rejoice with him and in him, as they do when sinners repent.

To guard Christ's people in life and bring them to him in death.

To carry out his purposes of judgment, as with Pharaoh, etc.

To achieve his purposes of deliverance, as Peter from prison.

3. This world was made by him to be:

A place for him to live and die upon.

A stage for his people to live and act upon.

A province to be fully restored to his dominion.

A new world in the ages to come to bless other worlds, if such there be, and to display forever the glories of Jesus.

4. All the lower creatures are for Jesus. "And that are in earth."

They are needful to man and so to our Lord's system of grace.

They are illustrations of Christ's wisdom, power, and goodness.

They are to be treated kindly for his sake.

5. Men were created by and for Christ.

That he might display a special phase of power and skill, in creating spiritual beings embodied in material forms.

That he might become himself one of them.

That he might himself be the head of a remarkable order of beings who know both good and evil, are children of God, are bound to God by ties of gratitude, and are one with his Son.

That for these he might die to save them, and to make them his companions, friends, and worshippers forever.

That human thrones, even when occupied by wicked men, might be made to subserve his purpose by restraint or by overruling.

II. REVIEW THE REFLECTIONS HENCE ARISING.

1. Jesus, then, is God. "By him were all things created."
2. Jesus is the clue of the universe, its center and explanation. All things are to be seen in the light of the cross, and all things reflect light on the cross. For him all things exist.
3. To live to Jesus, then, is to find out the true object of our being and to be in accord with all creation.
4. Not living to Jesus, we can have no blessing.
5. We can only live for him as we live by him, for so all things do.
6. It is clear that he must triumph. All is going well. If we look at history from his throne, all things are "for him." "He must reign." Let us comfort one another with these words.

What an honor to be the smallest page in the retinue of such a prince!

Words of Homage

Colossians 1:13 Deliverance from the Power of Darkness
NO. 3366
PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, AUGUST 7TH, 1913.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
ON THURSDAY EVENING, NOV. 29TH, 1866.
“Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness.”—Colossians 1:13.

Darkness is used in Scripture to express a great many things. Sometimes it represents sorrow. “A night of weeping” is a common expression among us. We speak, too, of “walking in darkness, and seeing no light.” We commonly say to one another, that our minds are in a dark and gloomy state when we are surrounded by the fogs and mists of sorrow. Taking it in this sense, how often might we say of our heavenly Father, that he “hath delivered us from the power of darkness”? He has helped us in our temporal difficulties and circumstances, or he has whispered, “As thy days so shall thy strength be,” and he has turned our night of weeping into a morning of gladness, put away the sackcloth and ashes, and given us the oil of joy. Blessed be his name for all this! Let us not be ungrateful, nor forget the many times when he has turned our mourning into dancing, and our sackcloth into scarlet and fine linen.

But darkness frequently signifies, too, in Scripture ignorance. We were once so in darkness that we were ourselves blinded. “The God of this world” hath blinded our eyes, lest the light of the glorious gospel should shine in upon us. “We who were sometimes darkness, are now light in the Lord.” Christ’s mission had for one of its many gracious purposes and ends the taking away of the darkness of human ignorance, and the pouring of light upon the intellect of man. I thank God that many of us, though we know comparatively but little, do know that, whereas we were once blind, now we see. We do know something of ourselves, so as to be humbled, and we know, too, something of the gracious God, so as to rejoice that we are saved by him. God has, therefore, delivered us, in that sense, from the power of darkness. Let us be thankful for that. Pant for more knowledge, but oh! believer, be grateful for what you have. Remember that the little you already know of saving truth is inestimably precious, for to know Jesus Christ is eternal life; and if, on this side of the grave, you never learn any more, yet you know that which should set your tongue eternally in holy motion with a rapturous song of thankfulness to him who has taught you such priceless truth. Yes, “he hath delivered us from the power of darkness.”

Darkness, too, frequently represents Satan, and the mysterious spiritual influence which he exerts upon the human mind. He is called “the prince of darkness.” Darkness seems to be his element. God is the “Father of Lights,” but Satan seems to be the father of the gloom and the dark.

Two elements are now at war in this lower world: Christ, the Light, the true light, and Satan—sin—thick darkness, a darkness which may be felt, the Egyptian darkness in which we are naturally born, and out of which we are not delivered, except by the supernatural power of God, exhibited through the plan of salvation by his grace. Beloved, we still are tempted by Satan, but we are not under his power; we have to fight with him, but we are not his slaves. He is not our king; he has no rights over us; we do not obey him; we will not listen to his temptations. By the grace of God, we mean, notwithstanding all his opposition, to fight in his very teeth, and to win our way to heaven. He “hath delivered us from the power of darkness.” Oh! what a mercy this is—that man, such a poor creature as he is, should be able to escape from the power of that master-spirit Diabolus, Satan, the destroyer! That was a wonderful moment when, according to Bunyan’s description, Hopeful and Christian found that the key was turned in the lock and that they could get out of Giant Despair’s castle. That was a wonderful moment, I say, when, according to Master Bunyan, the key turned in the great lock which locked the iron gate. To use John Bunyan’s own words, he says, “That lock went damnable hard.” In all the new editions of “Pilgrim’s Progress,” it is put, “That lock went desperate hard.” That is the more refined way of putting it, but John Bunyan meant just what he said, and implied that there was a sense of the wrath of God upon the soul of man on account of sin, so that he felt as if he were near even to perdition itself. And yet, at such a time, the key did turn in the lock, and the iron gate was opened. You recollect that just at the moment old Giant Despair woke up, and was going to pursue the pilgrims, and lay hold upon them, when he was seized with one of his fainting-fits. Oh! what an escape from Giant Despair! And yet this is little compared with escaping from Satan! Satan is the prince of the power of the air, and human despair is but one of his servants, one of the black officers in his infernal regiment. To escape from Satan himself!—oh! let it be sung in heaven! Let angels who have never fallen help us to sing in triumph over those fallen spirits from whom we have been rescued by divine grace. “He hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of God’s dear Son.”

I prefer, however, tonight, as we cannot talk about all these things, and the field is so very wide, to consider the word “darkness” here, in the restricted meaning of sin. Sin is a tremendous moral and spiritual darkness, which has overspread the human mind, but we are told in the text, and we have felt it in our personal experience, that “he hath delivered us from the power of darkness.”

Let us speak, first, of the power of darkness, from which we are delivered; secondly, upon the statement here made concerning it; and thirdly, of the inferences which inevitably flow from the statement.
First, then, let us speak a little upon:—

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I. The Power Of Sin, From Which We Have Been Delivered, as it is here set forth, under the suggestive image of “the power of darkness.”

What is “the power” of darkness? I suppose everyone will admit that it is a power which tends towards slumber. It is a composing power. God has given us the night in which to sleep. Whether or not there be any absolute power in darkness to engender sleep I do not know, but I do know this, that it is much easier, when reclining on your bed, to sleep in the dark than it is to sleep in the full glare of the sun. There seems to be some sedative influence about darkness, something which assists a man to fall into a state of inaction, which we call “sleep.” Now, beloved, look upon the race of men. They are under the Power of darkness, and in consequence they sleep. Does not the apostle say to us who are delivered from that power, “Let us not sleep as do others”? “They that sleep,” saith he, “sleep in the night,” that being the proper time for sleep—the night with its raven-wing seeming to engender sleep—”but let us that are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of love.” If you look abroad in the world, I say, you will see men, under the soporific influence of sin, given to slumber. Do you believe that men would go on to sin as they do, if it were not that sin stultifies them, prevents their using their reason, drowns their conscience, and will not permit them really to judge accurately concerning things that differ? Why, can you imagine that a man would run the risk of everlasting misery for the sake of a few days of carnal delight, if he were not, by some means or other, besotted, and made a feel of, by sin! Can you conceive that a man would hear the tidings of pardoning mercy through Jesus Christ, and be solemnly assured that if he turned from the error of his ways, God would accept and receive him, and that then he would treat that message with levity, and go his way, even to ridicule it, if it were not that sin has made him so unreasonable, even in these matters, and made him, if not an idiot, a madman, so that he will not think? He willfully chooses his own mischief, ruins himself, and that with a sort of Satanic malice against himself, as well as against God, choosing rather to inherit eternal misery than to give up the poor delights of time, choosing rather to feast upon the empty husks of this world, than to come and sit down at the table of mercy, and cat and drink of the grace which God has provided. So, then, it is very clear-observation shows it to us, and we also have felt it in ourselves—that sin has a soporific, a drowsing, a sleep-giving power. It makes men careless and indifferent. Makes them say, “I’ll chance it! I do not care what the future may bring.” It makes a man go right to the very edge of perdition, with his eyes blindfolded, and his heart like Nabal’s heart, which was turned to stone—careless even of the “terrors of the Lord,” and of “the wrath to come.”

But blessed be his holy name! “he hath delivered us from the power of darkness.” I hope we do not sleep. “Oh, Christian! if you are careless, if you are asleep, if tonight your heart is heavy and dull, I should like to come and whisper this right into your soul, “He hath delivered us from the power of darkness.” We are now to be active, earnest, zealous, and full of devoted life. If they sleep who are unconverted, they only act according to nature. They are in the dark; they, therefore, sleep. What can they do otherwise? But you are in the light, you know that you are saved, you rejoice in Jesus Christ. Oh! sleep not, my brethren, but seeing that there are but a few hours in your day, work while the day lasts, and make it your pleasure and your delight to spend and to be spent in the service of him “who hath delivered us from the power of darkness.”

A second power of darkness lies in concealment. It is the power of darkness to hide things. What a darkness we had last night! Trying to get home from ministering abroad, I thought I never should be able to find my way. One could hardly see one’s hand in that dense fog, which encompassed one. Houses and trees that one would have known in a moment, and that would have told one where one was, were all concealed. One could see nothing. It would be a very small world, indeed, if it were no larger than what could then be seen. Darkness hides things. No matter how glorious yonder landscape may be as you stand upon the mountain’s brow; if the sun has gone down, and if night has spread its wings over the whole, you can see nothing. It may be very well for the guide to tell you that yonder is a silver lake, and there the Black Forest, and that far away are the brows of mountains covered with their eternal snows, but you can see nothing; night has effectually blotted it all out. Now, the power of sin is just like that. It hides from the human mind what that mind ought to see. The man is lost, but he does not know it; he cannot see the rocks that are just ahead. The man has soon to stand before the bar of God and receive his sentence, but he does not know it; I mean his heart does not know it. He trifles on, caring for none of these things. As for the plague that is in him in his ruined state, he does not believe it. He hears the truth that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, but he is indifferent to it, and as to the dear and precious things of the covenant of grace, he does not care for them. No matter how rich may be the mercy, nor how pure the consolation, he knows nothing at all about them, for he is in the dark. It is all dark, dark, dark with him, amid the blaze of noon.

I think I may honestly and humbly say that I do try to speak as plainly as any man can speak, and care nothing about mighty fine words, and yet I do not doubt but that scores come into this house and go out of it, saying, “Well, I do not understand it!” How could they? They are under the power of sin, which makes the plainest truth perplexing, and hides from their eyes that which the merest babe in grace can plainly see.

But, beloved, “he hath delivered us from the power of darkness.” Now we can see, blessed be his name! The first sight we had so alarmed us that we almost wished we could not see; it was a sight so terrible; but when, afterwards, we looked to Jesus upon the cross, and found there was life for that look at the Crucified One, and when since then we have learned to look continually to him, and to find in his wounds our healing, and in his death our life—oh! I hope we are thanking God every moment of our existence that “he hath delivered us from the power of darkness.”

Now we can see in him our Father, who was once to us “the unknown God.” Now we can see in Jesus, to whom we were once strangers, our own dear Elder Brother. Now we can look at the river of death without being alarmed at it, for beyond it we can see the turrets and pinnacles of the new Jerusalem, glittering with jasper and with carbuncle, and we are anticipating the happy day when we shall sing with the saints above. Sweet thought is it that, with these eyes of ours, we shall see our Savior! Yes, he hath delivered us from the concealing power of darkness.

In the third place, darkness has a depressing and an afflicting power. Are you not all conscious, if you are shut up in a dark room, that your mind seems to sink in the dark? Why, our little children, who are the simplest specimens of humanity—and let us know the truth at once—can hardly be punished more severely (though I hope we never do so punish them, for it would be very wicked to do so) than by being shut up in the dark. They cannot bear it, cannot endure it, and at first when the little one even goes to bed in the chamber alone in the dark, it feels afraid. What must not those persons have suffered who were shut up in the dungeons at Venice—dungeons below the wager-mark of the canal, where not a ray of light, perhaps, ever did come, except the warder’s candle—shut in there, hour after hour, unable to know the day from the night, but finding it one long and dreary night! The cruel oppressor would not have thought of it unless he had known that the darkness was so uncongenial to us, that it depresses our spirits. Now, when some men have eyes given to them, and are made really to see, sin is like darkness to them. Of course, it is not to some of you. A blind man sees as well in the dark, as he does in the light, but as soon as ever you get eyes, God begins to deal with you till you feel that sin is a darkness to you. Oh! what a darkness is this! Well do some of us remember when we walked in the darkness of our sin. We tried to kindle a fire, and to light ourselves with the sparks of our own good works, but we failed in every attempt, and we should have been in the thick Egyptian night even until now, if it had not been that he delivered us from the power of darkness. Now, we know that we still, alas! sin; but it does not fill us with despair, because there is an Advocate with the Father, even Jesus Christ the righteous.

Now, we come to our Father every night, and, bowing low in reverence before him, we mourn that we have sinned during another day, but we do not mourn with a hopeless sorrow, for we remember that:-

“There is a fountain filled with blood
Drawn from Emmanuel’s veins,
And sinners plunged beneath that flood,
Lose all their guilty stains.”

We know that when we were plunged into that fountain our foulest stains were cleansed right away, and now we give thanks unto the Father, who hath delivered us from the depressing power of sin. Oh! Christian, if you are downcast tonight about this, if you cannot say the text in this sense, go to your heavenly Father, pray to him, and ask him to enable you to look to Christ, just as you did at first. Perhaps you have too many good works of which to boast, and that is why you are so depressed. Throw them all away, and come now, as a poor, empty-handed sinner, having nothing to which to trust, but the finished work of Christ. You may depend upon it, that doing this, your peace will yet be like a river, because your righteousness, being Christ’s imparted to you, will be like the waves of the sea. Then shall you sing, “Thanks be to him who hath delivered us from the depressing power of darkness.”

I cannot dwell upon these points, though they are all interesting, but must now notice, fourthly, that there is what I may call the fascinating power of darkness. It is strange, but it is true, that there are many who love darkness. I said just now that this was contrary to nature, and so it is in one sense. Unfallen nature could not bear darkness, but fallen nature loves it. Hear what God says about it, “Men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil.” Night is the time of the world’s merriment. Then the thief steals out to do his deeds of ill. “They that be drunken, be drunken in the night,” and then is the time for “wantonness and chambering.” As the apostle saith, it is the hour of evil. Darkness seems to be attractive to some men. Strange is it, but it is so. The fascinating power of sin is just like the fascinating power of darkness. I have sometimes thought that sin might well be compared to those serpents which fascinate their prey. It may be some poor little animal; the snake looks and looks, and the little creature, instead of running away, looks at those’ bright, sparkling eyes, till the poor hare, or rabbit, or whatever it may be, instead of escaping, stands as though it were a statue, perfectly tranquil and fascinated with the glare of the serpent’s eyes, and then in a moment the snake darts at it and devours its prey. So is it with sin, and there are some here, perhaps, who are under its fascinating power to-night. They know, for they have often been told, that sin is their deadly enemy, and yet it is so pleasant, it is so enchanting, so enticing. As they picture the wizard as being able to strike men into stone, or able to make them do his will, so does sin seem to do, and then at last it destroys the man who once found pleasure in it. It is a cup-bearer to you, and comes with smiling face, and holds out the sparkling goblet and says, “Drink, my Lord! See the beaded bubbles sparkling on the rim! Drink! for it moveth itself aright and sparkleth. Drink! and it shall put a flush into your veins, and make your blood tingle and leap, and let you know a thrill and a joy you have never known before.” And when you get the cup to your lip, you may not be able to take it away again, though, as you drink, it will scald the lips and throat, and burn the very vitals. And as you drink on, especially if you drink of the cup of lust, you shall feel another thrill that shall make the very bones to rot, and the very marrow to decay, till you wish you had never been born, and curse bitterly the day in which you came into this world. to be partaker of a poison so terrible, so loathsome, so like an ante-past of hell. Oh my God! grant that if there be any young man here who has already drunk of that cup, that by God’s help he may dash it down, once and for ever. But it is fascinating, fearfully fascinating, and when once a man begins to drink of it, it is seldom that he stops, until he drains the very dregs of eternal ruin. But thanks be unto God, for “he hath delivered us from the power of darkness.”

It cannot fascinate us now. I know thee! thou fair witch! I know thee, thou painted harlot! Though mightest have deceived me once, but I know thee now! My Savior has shown me superior charms. He has taught me the mischief that comes from loving the world, and the things thereof, and now thou temptest me in vain! I hope there are many here who can say, “He hath delivered us from the fascinating power of sin, from the power of darkness.”
It cannot stop on this point, however, but must notice the fifth thing. There is about darkness an emboldening power to some men. Darkness makes the child afraid, but it makes the bad man bold.

It is in the dark that the lion comes out after his prey, and all the beasts of the field go forth to get their food. The sun would frighten them, but boldness comes to them with the darkness. And oh! there is a wonderfully emboldening power to some men in sin. Perhaps, my dear friend, you have come in here tonight, but you have said this afternoon that which you would not have said ten years ago! Ah! young woman, you have already done that which you would have shuddered to have done only one twelve months ago! Ah! merchant, you have already entered into a doubtful transaction which you would have scorned some months back. You see, you did wrong by little, and as you did one wrong, you got courage to do another, and another, and another. There is the darkness of sin over your minds; you have grown more bold in sin, but that is a poor courage which depends upon the darkness; it is, in fact, the darkness of Satan. It is because of his supreme darkness of mind and spirit, that Satan is the boldest of all spirits in contending with the God of heaven and earth. Beware of the brow of brass! It is a grand thing for a Christian to be like a pillar of iron against evil, but it is a mark of reprobation to become like an iron pillar against God and against truth: and some men do become such. They sin until habitude engenders a second nature. At first, when sin catches us in its net, it is with the tiniest spider’s cobwebs, that can scarce be seen; and they seem as though you could break from them in a moment. Then they become silken bonds: then firmer still, until a man seems to be enveloped in a tangle of cables, and every cable hardens and becomes as iron or triple steel until at last there is no escaping, for sin gathers daily force until it getteth a monstrous power over men. Men will now say and laugh at a thing which once made them shudder, and do an action and then wipe their mouths and say, “Aha! aha!” An action which once he would no more have thought of doing than trying to mount without wings above the skies. Hazael said, “Is thy servant a dog that he should do this thing?” And yet, dog or not, he did the very thing he thought it impossible for him to do. Now, I do trust, if we have been delivered from the power of sin in this respect, that we are no longer to be found doing wrong, and that if we have done wrong, we are humbled on account of it. Then should we be contrite and broken in spirit, and instead of boasting, snapping our fingers, and saying, “It is nothing,” we should go to our beds ashamed, or go to our Father’s face blushing, and mourning, and weeping, and saying, “God be merciful to me a sinner.” What a blessed thing it is to have a broken heart! Thank God for a tender conscience, and if you have one, never tamper with it. Oh! young man, never tamper with a tender conscience! It is such a blessing to have it. Oh! cultivate it, and pray the Lord to make your heart more and more tender concerning sin, that you may hate it with a perfect hatred. He hath delivered us from the power of sin.

Once more, and I shall leave this point. Darkness seems to have about it a kind of prophetic power. If we were not warned by our astronomers when an eclipse was coming, I have no doubt that half the world would be dreadfully frightened as soon as the sun became darkened. People would say to one another, “The judgment is coming.” That is their general thought. If the day gets unusually dark, they think something horrible is going to happen, and they want to know whether this is not the time when the judgment may be expected, and so on. Darkness seems to be a prognostication of evil. Such is sin. My dear hearer, if thou hearest the voice of sin, it tells thee in thy sober moments—it cannot help telling thee—that there is a judgment to come. “Be sure your sin will find you out.” “God will bring every work into judgment.” For every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give an account at the last day. But the Christian knows that to him the darkness of sin prognosticates nothing of the kind. He stands beneath the cross of Christ, and he knows that sin spent itself upon Jesus upon that cross, so that it might not touch for a single moment the soul that believes in Jesus. Now, notwithstanding everything, the Christian can say, “I am forgiven; I am a monument of grace: I am a sinner saved by blood: I rejoice that for me sin has been put away, and I am, therefore, saved.” Thus, “he hath delivered us from the power of darkness.”

Now, I shall want your attention for a little upon the second truth found here, which is:—

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II. The Statement Here Made Concerning The Power Of Darkness.

Observe that, in the first place, it is a statement full of assurance. “He hath delivered us.” Paul does not say he hopes so, but definitely asserts, “who hath delivered us.” Brethren and sisters, can we speak in the same positive manner? Let us not be content unless we call, for if we have believed in him, “he hath delivered us.” If, indeed, our trust be in his finished work and perfect righteousness, then he hath delivered us. It is not a matter of argument, or a thing about which to raise a debate; it is so: it must be so, for every soul that is in Christ, he hath delivered from the power of darkness, and translated into his own kingdom.

Observe, again, it is a statement full of intelligence. The Person who uttered it knew what he was saying. He was a sound divine, for he says, “Who hath delivered us.” He does not say, “We have got out of it somehow”; but “He hath delivered us.” I wish some persons could have much clearer notions than they have about who it is that saves. If salvation comes of man—well, say so, and if sinners save themselves by all manner of means, give them the credit, the glory, the praise of it, but if it be God that saves, then let him have the sole and perfect honor of it. “Salvation is of the Lord.” Sinner, you should not try to save yourself. You cannot do it. If you could, why did Christ come to save you? Your salvation does not rest in your hands. “It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.” All the matter of salvation rests with the eternal Father, through Jesus Christ. He is the Alpha and the Omega of our salvation. The person who wrote this verse, then, it seems, was a sound divine, for he ascribes the glory where it ought to be ascribed. “Who hath delivered us.”

Then, next, it is a statement full of gratitude. If you look at the connection, you find it says, “Giving thanks unto the Father.” What a delightful grace gratitude is! It is such a heavenly thing to be thankful. I wish we spent a little more time about it, being dissolved by God’s goodness, looking at all that he has done for us, and at all our demerit, which renders that love the more wonderful. What joy is there in gratitude—to fall speechless at the foot of the cross, and feel the thanks we cannot speak, or to stand up and sing, “Blessed be his name,” or to tell out to others the loving kindness of the Lord, and to say, “He hath dealt graciously with me, and he will deal graciously with me.” Brethren, be much in the sacred and holy palace of gratitude. You cannot have anything that will more strengthen you for service than holy thankfulness to God for his favors. We might have said a good deal more upon that last point, but we leave you to say it to yourselves, and so we will close with the third truth that shines here, namely:—

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III. The Inferences That May Be Drawn From This Statement.

The first inference is a doctrinal one, but as I have already touched on this, I only briefly hint, and then leave it. Here it is. Deliverance from the power of sin is as much the work of God as deliverance from the guilt of sin. Where we look for justification, there also must we look for sanctification; for as we are justified through Jesus Christ, we must expect to receive sanctification from a heavenly source also. We cannot receive the one blessing through the spirit, and the other through the flesh. We would infer from the text, speaking doctrinally, that in order to our sanctification, and our deliverance from the power of sin, we must look to our heavenly Father, altogether and alone.

The next evidence is experimental. “He hath delivered us.” Now, then, I ought to feel in my soul that I am so delivered, and if I do not so feel, I ought to be wretched until I do feel it, because this has been the experience of every true Christian sooner or later. He hath delivered us from the power. We may be in darkness sometimes, but it shall not have power over and enslave us. Sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law, but under grace. Let the experimental inference then be “I am resolved to be happy: yet I will-I will—rejoice in God, for he hath delivered.”

The next inference is practical. If we are delivered from the power of darkness, do not let us put ourselves under its power again, and do not let us temporise with it. You would fancy, from the actions of some professors, that they were not delivered from the power of darkness at all, but were only helped to keep away from some conspicuous sin. When I hear some people talk about. Fox-hunting Christians, card-playing Christians, Christians who are never at prayer-meeting, Christians who have no zeal for souls, it seems to me that they might just as well talk about angels who are not in heaven, or angels who never obey the voice of God! Why, these are sham Christians; they are not genuine Christians; they are of the world, and do the things of the world. We may conclude that their hearts and natures are worldly, for if they were spiritual they would love spiritual things, and their hearts would be engaged in spiritual exercises. Brethren, the grace of God has not come into us merely to keep us away from some few notable vices, but to deliver us altogether from the power of darkness, and if I can sometimes go into sin—just occasionally by way of pleasure, it proves that I am a stranger to the deliverance which Jesus Christ gives to his really called and regenerated people.

And now the last inference is a hopeful inference. If he hath delivered us from the powers of darkness, he will deliver us all the way through. If he has done this great thing for us, what will he not do for us? If he hath delivered us from the tremendous power of sin, he will certainly deliver us from the power of death. If sin is taken away, why need we fear? Has he delivered us from the power of darkness? Then he will certainly help us in our daily-troubles. Did he give his own dear Son to put away our sin, and will he not give us bread and water? If he has covered our souls with the beautiful robe of righteousness that Christ has woven, will he let us want for ordinary raiment? Oh! let us be of good cheer. The good God of Grace cannot be a bad God of Providence. He who feeds so well on heavenly broad cannot starve us for lack of bodily bread. He hath delivered us. We have already received the greatest mercy, and you may be quite sure of the smaller ones. When Sir Francis Drake was overtaken by a storm in the Thames off Greenwich, “What,” said he, “afraid of a storm? Been round the world three times, and afraid now of being drowned in a ditch? No!” And surely we who have circumnavigated a whole world of discipline and trouble, over whose heads the waves and billows have rolled, we do not mean to be drowned in this present trouble. Do you, my dear friend? You shall not perish in this ditch: you shall get safe home. He who has delivered you from the power of darkness will never withdraw his hand and help until he brings you within the pearly gates, puts the crown on your’ head, and the palm-branch in your hand, the stow-white robe upon your shoulders, and the new song of everlasting joy into your mouth, even praise for evermore. Be of good courage, then.

And then there is this inference for some of you who are not converted. If God has delivered us, why should he not deliver you? Why, some of us who have been delivered seemed very unlikely-ever to be delivered. We did not want to be. We loved darkness rather than light, and yet he delivered us from it. We were, some, of us, very hard-hearted. Some of us had plunged very deep into sin. There are some here who are wonders of divine grace. They were once wonders of sin, and yet the love of God looked them up, and brought them out—fetched them from the bar of the gin-palace, fetched them out of the theater, brought them even from the brothel, some of them, and washed and cleansed them, and made them sit among God’s people, and love his ways, and rejoice in his dear name. And why should not God do the same with you? I know twenty reasons why he should not, but I will bell you one thing he has said, “Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out.” So if you come to him, he will not cast out even you. The way to come to him is to trust him. That is, trust Christ to save you, and it is all done, and you are saved. That is the great work. When a soul, sensible of sin, sees that Christ, by his blood, made atonement, and comes and throws himself upon that sacrifice of the cross, then sin is pardoned. Then because the sin is pardoned, the forgiven sinner is grateful, and he says, “I will not go on in this sin.” So he puts it away, and he is led into a life of holiness, by the mercy of God. Oh! that we could all say in the words of the text—and if we cannot all say it to-night, I hope we shall soon be able to do so—”Giving thanks unto the Father, who hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, and hath delivered us from the Power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.

Colossians 1:16 Christ the Creator
NO. 3180
A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, JANUARY 13TH, 1910,
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON,
ON LORD’S-DAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 7TH, 1873.
“All things were created by him, and for him.” — Colossians 1:16

There can be no mistake, as to the Person concerning whom Paul is writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit; it is Jesus of Nazareth, the incarnate Son of God, who was crucified on Calvary; for, writing concerning the same Person in the 14th verse, the apostle says, “In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.” It is, therefore, that Savior whose blood was shed for his people’s redemption who is here declared to be the Creator of all things, and by whom all things consist.

The first verse of the Book of Genesis tells us, that “in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth,” so someone may ask, “How do you reconcile that statement with Paul’s declaration that all things were created by Christ, and for him?” No reconciliation is needed, for the two statements are identical, as Jesus is God, and “in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” Jesus said, “I and my Father are one,” and so they are. We know not how it is, but the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are distinct personalities, yet there are not three Gods, but only one, as the apostle John writes, “There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one.” The one God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the Father, Son, and Spirit, three in one and one in three.

The subject I have to speak about is the honor and glory of the second Person of the blessed Trinity, even our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and it is so vast a theme that the preacher, at the outset, confesses that the task is too great for him to accomplish he staggers beneath the weight of his theme, which seems to him too great for the human mind to compass or for human lips adequately to express. All I can hope to do is to be lost in my subject that Jesus Christ may be All-in-all.

The text tells us that all things wore created by Christ, and for him, so we will, first, consider Paul’s statement; and, secondly, we will review the rejections arising from it.

—————

I. First, then, let us Consider Paul’s Statement: All things were created by him, and for him.”

So, first of all, heaven itself was created by and for Christ Jesus. Then, there is such a place, as well as such a state, and of that place Jesus is the center. There is such a place, for Enoch is there. “Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.” God took him bodily to some place, and that place is heaven. Elijah also is there; the horses of fire and the chariot of fire took not merely his spirit, but the entire Elijah, and he is in heaven. Our Lord Jesus Christ, who has gone back to heaven, went there in his own body. When he passed into the skies, he went up into the heavenly places, as well as into the heavenly state; and there he lives at the right hand of God, even the Father, enthroned in the new Jerusalem, the holy city of God.

“See how the Conqueror mounts aloft,
And to his Father flies,
With scars of honor in his flesh,
And triumph in his eyes.

“There our exalted Savior reigns,
And scatters blessings down;
His Father well rewards his pains,
And bids him wear the crown.”

God, absolutely considered, as a pure spirit, needed no such place as heaven. God is everywhere; long ago he asked, “Do not I fill heaven and earth?” The idea of there being needed any celestial court or place of abode falls short of the true idea of the omnipresent Jehovah. Neither do I suppose that it would have been necessary to have a place for angels, for everywhere the holy spirits would have been able to behold the face of God; wherever they might be, there they would see God; and, consequently, no special place would have been needed to be set apart for them. But it was ordained, in the eternal purpose of God, that there should be created a race of beings who should not be pure spirits, but who should have bodies made of material substances; and it was resolved by Jesus Christ that he would become one of these beings, that he would take upon himself their nature, and would become, in fact, a man. Now, when a spirit becomes linked with a material substance, it must have a place in which to dwell; and, therefore, heaven was created both for Christ and for his people. When the Son of man shall come in his glory, he will say to those on his right hand, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world,” prepared, that is, with this view, that there might be a special central place for the display of Christ’s glory, and that all his people might be there with him. These are his own words: “Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory.” They are not merely to be, as he is, but to be with him where he is; and, therefore, heaven was created, by him, and for him, and for his people who are vitally united with him.

O beloved, when we get to heaven, we shall see that everything there glows with the glory of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! The print of his pierced hand will be upon everything. The city of pure gold was created by him, and created for him. The foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones by him, and for him; the jasper, and sapphire, and emerald, and beryl, and all the rest, and the gates of pearl are all for him, all shall be to his glory. For him each harp of gold, each palm of victory, each shout of victory, each Song of adoration, all heaven shall ring with the praises of Jesus. Heaven shall be, as it were, set with mirrors, in every one of which you will be able to see a reflection of the glorious person of Jesus Christ, even as in every dewdrop you may see the image of the sun. Everyone in heaven will feel it to be his bliss be praise Jesus; towards the august throne of the Most High this anthem will triumphantly ascend, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing,” with the variation of which! John tells us in the Revelation, “Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and ever.”

There will be nothing in heaven that, will be derogatory to Jesus, but everyone and everything there will be to his praise and glory. I cannot believe that any one of his chosen people will be missing on the last great gathering day. No David’s seat will be empty there, no Thomas will be absent then. I cannot conceive of one whom he has purchased with his precious blood being lost. Not one sheep or lamb will be missing from the great Shepherd’s flock; in the day when, they pass under the hand of him that telleth them, they shall all be there. The army of the great Captain of our salvation shall be complete there; when the muster-roll is read, they shall all answer to their names; and all who are gathered there will owe their salvation to the Lamb that was slain. There will not be one Pharisee there to boast, “God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are.” There will not be one atheist there blasphemously shouting, “There is no God;” nor one Unitarian seeking to drag Christ from the throne that is rightly his; but all will be adoring and magnifying, and delighting to adore and magnify him by whom and for whom heaven itself was created.

“All the chosen of the Father,
All for whom the Lamb was slain,
All the church appear together,
Wash’d from every sinful stain.”

Next, all angels were created by Jesus, and for him. However great, and strong, and swift they are, there is not one angel that ever flies from Jehovah’s throne that was not created by Christ. Read the whole verse from which our text is taken: “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him.” If there be rank upon rank of blessed spirits, “that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word,” all were created by him, and for him. Gabriel was sent to foretell Christ’s coming to earth, angels announced his birth at Bethlehem, others of them ministered to him in the wilderness and in Gethsemane, watched over his empty sepulcher, and joyfully attended him as he retuned to heaven as the victorious King of glory. It is written that he was “seen of angels,” and it must have been with awe and wonder that they gazed upon him from the manger to the tomb. We read also, “which things the angels desire to look into,” and there must have been many mysteries which even their lofty intelligence could not comprehend until he explained them. They delight to praise and worship him, and they help to swell the mighty chorus of adoring homage that is ever ascending to him.

“Bright angels, strike your loudest strings,
Your sweetest voices raise;
Let heaven and all created things
Sound our Immanuel’s praise.”

Angels were created by Christ, and for him, not merely to admire and adore him, but actually to serve him. Truly did the psalmist write, “who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire;” and Paul reveals a most important part of their service when he asks, “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” We will not enter into any speculations about their battles with evil spirits on our behalf, though we believe that this is one of the many ways in which they minister for us. We cannot describe all the service that these heavenly messengers render to the Lord’s own people. I remind you of how one of them smote a hundred and eighty-five thousand of Sennacherib’s army in a single night, and of how the prophet Elisha, besieged by the Syrians in Dothan, saw the mountain full of horses and chariots of fire for his protection. You will recall many other instances of angelic interposition, and you know, too, how it is written, “He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.”

As for the fallen angels, who rebelled against God, and who have sunk for ever into hopeless alienation from him, even these were created by Christ, and for him; and though they hate him, they shall be compelled to obey him, and to own that he is Lord over all. Even their malice against the people of God shall only draw out his love toward them, and manifest his vigilance, and wisdom and power on their behalf. In the wilderness the Son of man met “the prince of the power of the air” in mortal conflict. Evil stood there endowed with all the attributes it could desire to have upon its side; evil hoary with long and varied experience, evil backed up by a powerful angelic intellect, evil with ferocious malice glaring in its eyes, evil with diabolic cunning tempting the Son of God to sin. There, too, stood the Prince of life, alone, yet undaunted, the incarnation of holiness and love. Three times they wrestled, foot to foot, but the tempter had to retire, beaten; and when he came again, hoping to take the Son of God and Son of man at a disadvantage in Gethsemane, when he was full of anguish, and was shortly to die in still greater agony on the cross, it was again a desperate struggle, but the Master flung him to the ground. Our Samson rent the old roaring lion as if he had been a kid, and left him prostrate and defeated, while he passed on to complete the great work of his people’s redemption, and to conquer all the powers of darkness ere he gave up the ghost. Glory be to Jesus, he hath gotten glory to himself out of the devil and all his angels!

And even hell itself, terrible as it is, was created by Christ as a necessary part of the moral government of the universe so that sin might not go unpunished. Even there Christ reigns, his sovereignty is supreme down to its lowest, depths. He has the keys of hell and of death; and when the appointed time comes, he will send an angel with the key of the bottomless pit, and bid him, lay hold on “the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil, and Satan,” and bind him for a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit; and then, after the millennium, and Satan has been again loosed for a little season, he shall be “cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” Christ is King even over that dark sad part of his domains, and amidst all the confusion and tumult of the pit his enemies shall “confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

The verse from which our text is taken, also reminds us that this world was created by Christ, and for Christ. “By him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth.” John tells us that “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him: and without him was not anything made that was made.” The eternal Logos was the Creator of this lower world as well as of the realms on high. There is neither hill nor valley, sparkling fountain nor foaming sea which he hath not made. “The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.” Truly is he the Creator of this earth, and it was formed for him as well as by him.

It was specially made to be the place of residence for his people, the place on which they would fall through sin, and the place on which they would be restored through the redemption accomplished there by Christ Jesus on the cross of Calvary. This world was created by Christ as the place where he himself would live and labor, and suffer, and die. He would be laid as a baby in an earthly manger, as a boy and a man he would walk through the streets and lanes of this world, he would fare as human beings fared, and suffer as the dwellers upon the earth suffered, though never through any sin of his own. I might truly say that the whole world was created for Calvary. “Why leap ye, ye high hills?” That little mound outside Jerusalem’s gate, explains your very existence. The world itself was created that Christ might die on Calvary. This earth was to be a sort of stage upon which Christ was to take the principal part in the greatest drama that the whole universe has ever witnessed. The world was made by him, and for him, and it will remain until his great purpose of love and mercy is fully accomplished.

We must not forget that even the lower orders of creation were made by Christ, and for him. They were needed by man, and man was necessary to the completeness of Christ’s plan of salvation, so the lower forms of creatures are links in the chain that could not be spared. There is a wonderful sympathy between, the various portions of creation, as the apostle Paul tells us, “for we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.” Treat all creatures kindly, then, so far as you can, for the great Creator’s sake. I would not have a sparrow needlessly killed, nor even a worm trodden on that might be spared. My Lord and Master made them all; and when I look at them, I see traces of his wonderful wisdom and power; and when I see how bountifully he provides for them, I note the tokens of his goodness and care. He opens his hand, and satisfies the desire of every living thing. There is not a little bird that picks up a seed by the roadside that was not created by Christ, and for him; and perhaps answers its end better than some of you who lift your brows to yonder heaven only to defy your Maker. There is not an ass upon the common, nor a lion in the forest, nor a fish in the sea, nor a fowl in the air that was not made by him, and that does not in some way promote his glory.

And to come to ourselves, men were created by Christ, and for him. Perhaps the Creator resolved to manifest his power and skill in a new order of created beings. He had made pure spirits, and he had made material substances; he had created various forms of life, rising from the vegetable to the animal; but he resolved that there should be a spirit created that should be affiliated with materialism, and that this spirit should, in the end, when it had passed through all its graduations, become the most wonderful creature in the whole universe, a creature that should know evil, not merely by report, but by actual personal experience; — a creature that should, after that, be delivered from the power of evil, and so should be bound to God by ties of gratitude so strong that it should never revolt from him again. This creature, knowing evil and knowing good, strengthened by divine grace, should, of its own free will, cling to the good and eschew the evil, and should be for ever God’s best ally against all revolt in his dominions; for this creature, though it had known evil, was to become a child of God, and to be a partaker of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. These creatures, partly spiritual and partly material, were to have at their head Christ Jesus, who was to be the model of them all, and they were to be like him, and to be his companions for ever; and to be to him more than companions, to be his friends, with whom, he might hold familiar intercourse; and to be to him even more than friends, to be united to him in conjugal relationship, to be so completely one with him that they should be “members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones,” that his life should be their life, and that their life should be derived from him.

What a wonderful creature a man will be when he gets to heaven with his body, and soul, and spirit all complete, No other creature will be so near to God as man will be through his union to the God-man, Christ Jesus the Lord. Yet this glorified man will never presume upon his position, but will always keep his proper place; he will have been so, trained and educated by his falls, his regeneration, and his redemption that he will be ever humble, and yet will rejoice that he is a son of the Most High who may say to him, “Abba, Father.” I do not know how such a creature as a perfect man could have been made by God except through the fall in. Eden the birth of Christ at Bethlehem, and his death on Calvary. In making man, God had produced a new type of being, that in him Jesus Christ might find an opportunity of displaying his wondrous condescension in taking upon; himself man’s nature, and his wondrous grace in taking upon himself man’s sin, and dying in his room, and place, and stead. Through glorified men becoming Christ’s companions, friends, and faithful servants by reason of his mysterious union with them, a new race of beings has been created who can have greater sympathy with God than any others of his creatures can have. Devils can have no sympathy with God, for they are only evil. The holy angels cannot have as much sympathy with God as man who has fallen by sin, and then been saved by grace. It is of those who have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, that it is written, “Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth upon the throne shall dwell among them.” He will be our God, and we shall be his people, he will be our Father, and we shall be his children for ever and ever.

But, oh, if you reject the Savior; if you turn the wondrous opportunity of immortal glory, which God presents to you in the gospel, into the dread alternative of eternal wrath; if you are resolved that you will not he among those privileged beings who will be next to God himself; if you spurn the dignity that is held before you; then, notwithstanding that, you will have to glorify Christ. Even in this life, and against your own will, you shall scarcely know how, you shall be made to subserve Christ’s purpose; and at the last, he will make you realize how terrible he is as he breaks you in pieces as a potter’s vessel. If you will not touch his silver scepter of mercy, you shall feel the weight of the iron rod of his inflexible justice. If you will not lie at his feet as a penitent, you shall be driven from his presence into the outer darkness where there will be weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth for ever. God grant that none of you may ever know experimentally what this means!

“Ye sinners, seek his grace,
Whose wrath ye cannot bear,
Fly to the shelter of his cross,
And find salvation there.”

—————

II. Now I must pass on briefly to Review The Reflections Arising From This Statement: All things were created by him, and for him.”

And the first clear reflection from this declaration is, then, Jesus is God. If all things were made by him, and for him, how is it possible for us to get away from the conviction that he is indeed God? I will not attempt to argue about the matter, but, whatever others may say or do, as for me, Jesus of Nazareth is my Lord and my God, and I will love, and adore, and worship him for ever and ever.

The second reflection is that Jesus is the clue of the universe, its center and its explanation. Creation and history are enigmas which can only be understood in the light of the cross. When we look at the planets, their motions seem irregular from our standpoint; but if we could stand in the sun, we should see the planets revolving in their orbits in an orderly manner around it. Calvary is the sun of the universe. Stand there, believe in God making propitiation for sin by the death of his Son, and you can understand everything in the light that streams from Calvary. Get away from that great center, and you understand nothing. The great question to ask concerning everything is, — Will it glorify Christ? How will it affect his infinitely wise designs?

Try, beloved friends, wherever you are, to see all things in the light of Christ. I think this will teach you not to look with scorn upon any of the things that are around you. See how the Lord Jesus hath purged all things for his people so that they shall no longer be common or unclean. That lovely river, those fertile valleys, that dense forest, yonder snow-clad Alps, and everything else that Christ hath created, you need not say, as some have done, “I will not gaze upon the beauties of nature, lest they should take my thoughts away from my Master.” Scorn not his works, lest you should also scorn the great Maker of them. His are the mountains, and the valleys his; sun, moon, and stars all shine to his praise and glory. Go up and dawn, then, in the world, and be not troubled by many things that now disquiet you. Say, “I do not know how this will glorify Christ, but I am persuaded that, in some mysterious way which I cannot yet fully comprehend, his eternal purposes are being accomplished.” See Christ in everything, and see everything in the light of Christ.

And, beloved, another clear inference from Paul’s declaration is that to live to Christ is to live as we ought to live. If he made us for himself, then we who live unto him have found out the true object of our existence. Put a thing to a wrong purpose, and it is a failure; but use it for the object for which it was made, and it will answer that end. Christian, Christ made you for himself, yea, he hath twice made you for himself; therefore lay yourself out for him, body, soul, and spirit, spend all your time, and all your strength, and all your means for him and him alone. So you will be in accord with the great object of your creation.

If we do not live unto Christ, we have to make the sorrowful reflection that we are out of gear with all things that he hath made. Although, by the mysterious working of his divine power, he will get glory out of us, yet we are not consciously in harmony with Jesus, and all discords must have an end. All opposition to omnipotence must be futile, and must also be transient. However long he may suffer evil to continue, there is an end even to his longsuffering patience; and then, woe be to those who are still at enmity against the Almighty!

Another reflection from the text is that we can only live for Christ as we live by Christ. We cannot glorify him except as he gives us the grace to do so; if we attempt to do it by our own power, we shall most certainly fail. Wait at his cross, beloved; cry to him to give you the aid of his almighty Spirit, and then, through the effectual working of the Holy Ghost, you shall be able to live alone for Jesus, by whom and for whom you were made both at your first creation and also when you were created anew in Christ Jesus.

And, lastly, it is clear from all this that Christ must triumph. Some of us have been almost breaking our hearts as we look around at the follies of the generation in which we live. They are going on pilgrimages to the shrines of their idols, the gods that are no gods; they are bowing down to their priests, and confessing in their ears the sad stories that should be told to God alone; they are setting up the calves and images that their fathers worshipped, and turning away from the only living and true God. All this we mourn and grieve over, but let us not imagine that Christ’s true kingdom is suffering loss. Beneath the dark clouds that hide the sun we mourn the absence of the great orb of day, but think how brightly the sun is shining above those clouds. Borrow an eagle’s wings, and soar above the clouds, and then you shall see the sun shining in his strength. So is it with Christ, the Sun of righteousness. Get away, by faith, from this poor earth, and you shall see him shining in his glory, whether it be day or night, summer or winter. Christ must reign.” The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his appointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us;” but it is still true, “Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion;” and he shall reign for ever and ever, and let all his people say, “Hallelujah!” and again and again cry, “Hallelujah! “

He must reign. What power is there that can stand against him who created all things? What arm can dare to be lifted up against his almighty arm? Be of good courage, ye soldiers of the cross; dream not of defeat, nor think for a moment of flying from the foe in terror. Victory must come to the Lamb that was slain. He shall come from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah, his apparel shall be red, like the garments of him that treadeth in the winefat, for all his enemies shall be trodden down in his wrath; and Home, the harlot church, the chief of all his foes, shall be hurled down like a millstone into the flood, and sink to rise no more.

“He shall reign from pole to pole, With illimitable sway; He shall reign when, like a scroll, Yonder heavens have pass’d away: Then the end; — beneath his rod, Man’s last enemy shall fall; Hallelujah! Christ in God, God in Christ is all in all.”

Happy is he who is the lowliest page in the retinue of such a King. Happy is he who shall be privileged to sprinkle a few drops of water to lay the dust in the road over which our conquering King shall ride. Blessed is he who shall spread his garments in the way, or wave a palm branch in honor of the royal Victor in his triumphal procession. Happy shall he be then who has been laughed to scorn for Christ’s sake, or who, has been lying in a dungeon till the moss has grown on his eyelids, or who has been burned at the stake, and his ashes cast to the four winds of heaven, because he would not deny his Lord. Oh to be wholly on his side now, that we may be among his faithful followers on that day! Here we are, O thou glorious Son of David, take us, and all that we have, and make us more than ever thine from this time forward, and unto thee shall be the glory for ever and ever!

Colossians 1:27 CHRIST IN YOU
DELIVERED ON LORDS-DAY MORNING, MAY 13TH, 1883,
BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
“Christ in you, the hope of glory.” — Colossians 1:27

The gospel is the grand secret: the mystery of mysteries. It was hidden from ages and from generations, but is now made manifest to the saints. To the mass of mankind it was utterly unknown; and the chosen people, who saw something of it, only perceived it dimly through the smoke of sacrifices and the veil of types. It remained a mystery which wit could not guess nor invention unravel; and it must for ever have continued a secret had not God in his infinite mercy been pleased to rev alit by the Holy Ghost. In a still deeper sense it is even yet a hidden thing unless the Spirit of God has revealed it to us individually, for the revelation of the gospel in the word of God does not of itself instruct men unto eternal life: the light is clear enough, but it availeth nothing till the eyes are opened. Each separate individual must have Christ revealed to him and in him by the work of the Holy Ghost, or else he will remain in darkness even in the midst of gospel day. Blessed and happy are they to whom the Lord has laid open the divine secret which prophets and kings could not discover, which even angels desired to look into.

Brethren, we live in a time when the gospel is clearly revealed in the word of God, and when that word has its faithful preachers lovingly to press home its teachings, let us take care that we do not despise the mystery which has now become a household word. Let not the commonness of the blessing cause us to undervalue it. You remember how in the wilderness the Israelites fed upon angels’ food until they had enjoyed it so long, so constantly, and so abundantly that in their wicked discontent they called it “light bread.” I fear me that many in these times are cloyed with the gospel like those who eat too much honey. They even venture to call the heavenly word “common-place,” and talk us if it were not only “the old, old story,” but a stale story too. Are not many hungering after novelties, longing for things original and startling, thirsting after the spiritual dram-drinking of sensational preaching, dissatisfied with Christ crucified, though he is the bread which came down from heaven?

For us, let us keep clear of this folly; let us rest content with the old food, praying from day to day, “Lord, evermore give us this bread.” May it never happen to us as unto the Jews of the apostles time, who refused utterly the word of life; so that the truth became to them a stumbling-block, and those who preached it were compelled to turn to the Gentiles. If we despise the heavenly message we cannot expect to fare better than they did: let us not incur the danger of refusing him that speaks from heaven. If there be life, rejoice in it; if there be light, walk in it; if there be love, rest in it. If the Lord God Almighty has at length set open the treasures of his grace, and put eternal bliss within your reach, stretch out the hand of faith, and be enriched thereby. Turn not your backs upon your God, your Savior for in so doing you will turn your backs on eternal life and heaven. God grant that none of you may do this.

In our text we have in a few words that great mystery with which heaven did labor us in travail, that mystery which is to transform this poor world into new heavens and a new earth; we have it, I say, all in a nutshell in the seven words of our text: the riches of the glory of this mystery may here be seen set out to open view — “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

By the assistance of the divine Spirit, I shall speak upon this mystery in three ways: The essence of it is “Christ” the sweetness of it is “Christ in you”; and the outlook of it is “the hope of glory.” The words read like a whole body of divinity condensed into a line, — “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

I. The eternal mystery of the gospel, The Essence Of It Is Christ.

I hardly know what is the antecedent to the word “which” here whether it is “mystery,” or’ “riches,” or “glory”; and I do not greatly care to examine which it may be. Any one of the three words will be suitable, and all three will fit best of all. If it be “ the mystery,” Christ is that mystery: “Without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh.” if it be the word “glory,” beyond all question our Lord Jesus wears a “glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” Is he not “the brightness of the Father’s glory”? if we take the word “riches,” ye have often heard of “the unsearchable riches of Christ,” for in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Oh, the riches of the grace of God which it hath pleased the Father to impart unto us in Christ Jesus! Christ is the “mystery,” the “ riches,” and the “glory.” He is all this; and blessed be his name, he is all this among us poor Gentiles who at first were like dogs, scarce accounted worthy to eat the crumbs from under the children’s table, and yet we are now admitted into the children’s place, and made heirs of God, joint-heirs with Christ Jesus. Riches of glory among the Gentiles would have sounded like a mockery in the first ages, and yet the language is most proper at this day, for all things are ours in Christ Jesus the Lord.

The essence of this mystery is Christ Himself. In these days certain would-be-wise men are laboriously attempting to constitute a church without Christ, and to set forth a salvation without a Savior; but their Babel building is as a bowing wall and a tottering fence. The center of the blessed mystery of the gospel is Christ himself in his person. What a wonderful conception it was that ever the infinite God should take upon himself the nature of man! It never would have occurred to men that such a condescension would be thought of. Even now that it has been done it is a great mystery of our faith. God and man in one person is the wonder of heaven, and earth, and hell. Well might David exclaim, “What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?” The first thought of the incarnation was born in the unsearchably wise mind of God. it needed omnipotent omniscience to suggest the idea of “ Immanuel, God with us.” Think of it! The Infinite an infant, the Ancient of days a child, the Ever Blessed a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief! The idea is original, astounding, divine. Oh, that this blending of the two natures should ever have taken place! Brethren, the heart of the gospel throbs in the truth. The Son of the Highest was born at Bethlehem, and at his birth, ere he had wrought a deed of righteousness or shed a drop of blood, the angels sang, “ Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will toward men,” for they knew that the incarnation had within itself a wealth of good things for men. When the Lord himself took our manhood it meant inconceivable benediction to the human mace. “Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given,” and in that child and son we find our salvation. God in our nature can mean for us nothing but joy. How favored is our race in this respect! What other creature did the Lord thus espouse? We know that he took not up angels, but he took up the seed of Abraham; he took upon him hum an nature, and now the next being in the universe to God is man, he who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death is the day crowned with glory and honor, and made to have dominion over all the works of Jehovah’s hands. This is the gospel indeed. Do not sinners begin to hope? Is there one in your nature who is “Light of lights, very God of very God,” and do you not perceive that this must mean good to you? Does not the “word made flesh” dwelling among men arouse hope in your bosoms, and lead you to believe that you may yet be saved? Certainly, the fact of there being such an union between God and man is the delight of every regenerated mind.

Our Lord’s person is at this day constituted in the same manner. He is still God and man; still he can sympathize with our manhood to the full, for he is bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh; and yet he can help us without limit, seeing he is equal with the Father. Through manifestly divine, yet Jesus is none the less human; though truly man, he is none the less divine; and this is a door of hope to us, a fountain of consolation which never ceases to flow.

When we think of our Lord we remember with his person the glorious work which he undertook and finished on our behalf. Being found in fashion us man he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. he took upon himself the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of sinful flesh, because we had failed inn our service and could not be saved unless another did suit and service on our behalf. The heir of all things girded himself to be among us one that serveth. What service his was! How arduous! how humble! how heavy! how all-consuming! His was a life of grief and humiliation, followed by a death of agony and scorn. Up to the cross he carried all our load, and on the cross he bore, that we might bear, his Father’s righteous wrath. Oh, what has not Christ done for us? He cast our sins into the depths of the sea: he has taken the cup which we ought to have drunk for ever, and he has drained it dry, and left not a dreg behind. He has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us; and now he Inns finished transgression, made an end of sin, and brought in everlasting righteousness and gone up to His Father’s throne within the veil, bearing his divine oblation, and making everything right and safe for us, that by-and-by we may follow him, and be with him where he is. Oh yes, brethren, Christ’s person and finished work are the pillars of our hope. I cannot think of what he is, and what he has done, and what He is doing, and what he will yet do, without saying, “ He is all my salvation and all my desire.”

My brethren, every one of our Lord’s offices is a well-spring of comfort. Is he prophet, priest, and king? Is he friend? Is he brother? Is he husband? Is He head? Every way and everywhere we lean the weight of our soul’s great business upon him, and he is our all in all. Besides, there is this sweet thought, that he is our representative. Know ye not that of old he was our covenant head, and stood for us in the great transactions of eternity? Like us the first Adam headed up the race, and stood for us — alas, I must correct myself — fell for us, and we fell in him; so now hath the second Adam taken up within himself all his people and stood for them, and kept for them the covenant, so that now it is ordered in all things and sure, and every blessing of it is infallibly secured to all the seed. Believers must and shall possess the covenanted inheritance because Jesus represents them, and on them’ behalf have taken possession of the estate of God. Whatever Christ is His people are in him. They were crucified in him, they were dead in him, they were buried in him, they are risen in him; in him they live eternally, in him they sit gloriously at the right hand of God, “who has raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” In him we are “accepted in the Beloved,” both now and for ever; and this, I say, is the essence of the whole gospel. He that preaches Christ preaches the gospel; he who does not preach Christ, preaches no gospel. It is no more possible for there to be a gospel without Christ than a day without the sun, or a river without water, or a living man without a head, or a quickened human body without a soul. No, Christ himself is the life, soul, substance, and essence of the mystery of the gospel of God.

Christ himself, again I say, and no other. I have been trying to think what we should do if our Lord were gone. Suppose that a man has heard of a great physician wino understands his complaint, he has traveled a great many miles to see this celebrated doctor; but when he gets to the door they tell him that he is out. “Well,” says he, “then I must wait till He is in.” “You need not wait,” they reply, “his assistant is at home.” The suffering man, who has been often disappointed, answers, “I do not care about His assistant, I want to see the man himself: mine is a desperate case, but I have heard that this physician inns cured the like; I must, therefore, see him. No assistants for me.” Well,” say they, “he is out; but there are his books; you can see his books.” “Thank you,” he says, “I cannot be content within his books, I want the living man and nothing less. It is to him that I must speak. and from him I will receive instructions.” “Do you see that cabinet?” “Yes.” “It is full of his medicines.” The sick man answers, “I dare say they are very good, but they are of no use to me without the doctor: I want their owner to prescribe for me, or I shall die of my disease.” “But see,” cries one, “here is a person who has been cured by him, a man of great experience, who has been present at many remarkable operations. Go into the inquiry-room with him, and he will tell you all about the mode of cure.” The afflicted man answers, “I am much obliged to you, but all your talk only makes me long the more to see the doctor, I came to see him, and I am not going to be put off with anything else. I must see the man himself, for myself. He has made my disease a speciality; He knows how to handle my case, and I will stop till I see him.” Now, dear friends, if you are seeking Christ, imitate this sick man, or else you will miss the mark altogether. Never be put off with books, or conversations. Be not content with Christian people talking to you, or preachers preaching to you, or the Bible being read to you, or prayers being offered for you. Anything short of Jesus will leave you short of salvation. You have to reach Christ, and touch Christ, and nothing short of this will serve your turn. Picture the case of the prodigal son when he went home. Suppose when he reached the house the elder brother had come to meet him. I must make a supposition that the elder brother had sweetened himself, and made himself amiable; and then I hear him say,” Come in, brother; welcome home!” But I see the returning one stand there with the tears in his eyes, and I hear him lament, “I want to see my father. I must tell him that I have sinned and done evil in his sight.” An old servant whispers, “Master John, I am glad to see you back. Be happy, for all the servants are rejoiced to hear the sound of your voice. it is true your father will not see you, but he Inns ordered the fatted calf to be killed for you; and here is the best robe, and a ring, and shoes for your feet, and we are told to put them upon you.” All this would not conte