Shalom, everyone. I want you to turn with me, please, to the book of Colossians today. And we are reading from chapter 1, beginning at verse 21. Colossians chapter 1 and verse 21. And Paul is writing to the Colossians and he continues by saying this in verse 21: "And you, that were sometime alienated, and enemies in your mind, by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. If ye continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the Gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven.

"When I, Paul, am made a minister, who now rejoice in my suffering for you, and fill up that which is behind, or lacking, of the afflictions of Messiah in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church, for I am made a minister according to the dispensation of God, which is given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints, to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory, whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Messiah Yeshua, whereunto I also label, striving according to his working which worketh in me mightily." And I stop here at the end of chapter 1.

I've been so far, this is actually the continuation of what we have already covered in the last meetings together, and today, as we are moving on towards the end of chapter 1, we learn an important point here that our pastor Paul is continuing in his writing to the Colossians. First of all, do not forget that Paul never seen those believers. This is very important to understand. He, in fact, was in Bonn. He was not even there when he was writing to these believers, when the church was founded, or the assembly, or the congregation there at Colossi was founded. Paul was never there. He had never seen these group of believers.

But as we have already spoken about, he saw that there is a danger of falling into, as in the second chapter he said, a philosophy, vain deceit, tradition of men, and the rudiments of this world. And out of love for these brethren, out of love for these people, he's writing them a letter, and he's sending this letter in view of helping their spiritual progress. Like you and I are, in the same situation, always in a danger of finding ourselves being influenced by all kind of things which have not found in the Bible. He's writing to them, and he's instructing them. And you remember when we touched, the last time we have been together, we have really touched the verses before, verses 18, 19, and 20, which has to do with the preeminence of the Messiah.

He is above everything. He must have the preeminence. He said in verse 18 that he might have the preeminence. In verse 19 he says, For it pleased the Father that in him, in Christ, in the Mashiach, in the Messiah, all the fullness of the Godhead dwell bodily, as we have it actually also in the second chapter. The Father, the Son, the Spirit of God, all the Godhead, pleased the Father that will dwell in the person of the Lord Jesus the Messiah. This is so wonderful to know. When we sometimes feel that we are lacking something, that we don't have enough, or that we are insignificant, even as believers, we have to realize when we have the Messiah, we have everything because all the fullness dwells in him.

And when we are connected and associated with him, it makes us complete. We don't lack anything. And in verse 20, he used the word to reconcile. You remember we have said in our last meeting together, He had made peace through the blood of his cross by him to reconcile all things. You notice last time we have talked about reconciliation and reconciling all things. Now, what does that mean, all things? It says here, whether they be in heaven, things on earth, and things in heaven. In other words, he had to reconcile, as you remember I said, is an act of God, whereby God, through the Messiah's atonement on the cross, on the tree, brought everything, including men who are at odds against him, back to a relationship with himself.

And that's what happened with the ministry of the reconciliation. When the Lord Jesus the Messiah died on the cross, on the tree, what did he do? He reconciled everything that was against God. He has made a cessation of animosity. But it was on the basis of the work of the shed blood that he paid on the cross. You remember, have he made peace through the blood of his cross. Now, remember, Paul is writing to those believers, but they have never seen him, and he was in jail. And they perhaps could say, who is really that apostle Paul, that Shaul? What do we have to do with him?

He is in jail, a prisoner of the government. And how can we trust in what Shaul, in what Paul is saying? And you know, in the next verses, from verse 21 to verse 29, Paul set aside a little portion of his letter to show the Colossians certain things about himself. You see, he was so much engaged with the beauty of the person of the Messiah that he did not take the time to speak a little bit about himself. And so in these verses, verses 21 to 29, he shared with us the threefold ministry that God had given Paul towards the Gentiles. Threefold ministry. Threefold ministry. You notice three times he's using the word, I am a minister or I am a laborer.

You notice that? If you just jump to verse 23, at the end of verse 23, he says, I, Paul, am made a minister. Verse 25, the second time he says, I am made a minister. And in verse 29, the third time, he says of himself, I also labor or minister. You notice three times the apostle Paul, Shaul, take the time to write in this letter to the Colossians, to those Colossian believers, a little bit about himself. He was so engaged with the beauty of the Messiah, he was so engaged with the fact that the Messiah Jesus must have the preeminence, that he did not take the time to share and talk to those Colossians about himself.

So what does he do right now? He's showing to the Colossians the threefold ministry that God had given him. And you know, brothers and sisters, God had given us a ministry. Each and every believer has a ministry that God had given to us. You see, we have to remember that he did not only save us in order that we will go to heaven and be in heaven with the Lord Jesus. He also saved us that as long that he holds us down here in this world, that we will use the gifts that God had given to us and that we will have a service, a ministry to do here on this earth.

God gave Shaul, God gave Paul a ministry, a service to do. And he, showing to the Colossians, he says, Colossians, brethren, I want to show you, even though I'm in jail, even though I'm locked up, even though I haven't seen you, I want you to know that I have a ministry towards you, a service towards you. I'm not here in this world to serve myself, but I'm here to serve the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, towards you Gentiles in Colossae. And so notice now, the ministry, the threefold ministries of the Apostle Paul. First of all, in verse 21, 22, and 23, he has the ministry of sharing the gospel with the Gentiles.

Look at this. He's now showing the Gentiles that somehow they have been redeemed, they have been saved, but he, even though he was in prison, had part in this ministry. In order for them to be led to know the Lord. And notice what he's saying now. In verse 21. And you, this is the Gentile believers in Colossae. "You that were sometimes alienated, enemies in your mind, by wicked works, yet now he hath reconciled." He's telling to the Colossians to remember their past, in verse 21. To remember where they came from. Not only that he reconciled all things, in verse 20, but he also reconciled you, Colossians, who, and then he tell them in verse 21, "You were one time alienated." You know the word for alienated, in the Greek, comes from the word "a stranger." You see, the Gentiles at Colossae, who became believers in the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, they were strangers to the promises of God for the nation of Israel.

They were so far from ever entering into this unique relationship with God, they were strangers, they were alienated. They had to remember that. They were alienated. And he wanted to show them you were strangers from the privileges that Israel as a nation had, that the Jewish people had as the people of the covenant. But you, Gentiles in Colossae, have been alienated. Strangers. But not only strangers. Notice he says to them in verse 21, "And you were enemies in your mind." Can you believe it, beloved brothers and sisters, that men by nature have been an enemy of God? Enemies, and you notice he says enemies in your mind.

You know where all the animosity against God and against the Messiah, the Lord Jesus, come from? It's not only coming from Satan, who is hating God and God's people, but it's coming from the mind. The mind of man. You see, the mind is where the thought pattern, is the thinking, the natural man by nature is an enemy of God. That's what we were too. Do you know that? And it's not only the people, the Gentiles in Colossae, it's not only on the Gentile world, but it's also the Jewish world. By nature, we were all enemies of God. That's where we came from. An enemy is a person that simply is not favoring the one he is against.

He doesn't like that particular person. He doesn't want anything to do with him. And I remember this in my own life as a Jewish individual. I did not want the Lord Jesus to have anything to do in my life. In fact, even as a Jewish person, I didn't want God to do anything in my life. I just wanted to do my own thing. I didn't get up in the morning and thought about God. Neither did you. In fact, we wanted God to be a way from our life. We thought that he's only disturbing our plans. We have an agenda. We have a plan. We have things to do, places to go to, and all kinds of things, plans in our life.

God, we do not want you to interfere in our life. That's the way we were. That's the way the Colossians have been. They were alienated, and they were enemies of God in their mind. Listen. By wicked works. You know what we learn from the Scriptures? That the works of men is against the purposes of God. As long as the person is unsaved. That's our works is against the things of God. Why do you think there is in the world in which we live in today, there is so much hatred towards God? It comes out of the mind of men. And in fact, the book of Romans says the natural man is at enmity against God.

Enemies of God. Romans 5 teaches us that we were enemies against God. Enemies of God. You see, it's not that God was an enemy or God was against man, but man was against God. Man was against that. God is the one that wanted the best for man. God wanted man to be blessed, but man have chosen his own way and have gone further and further away from God. God, do you know that when Cain murdered his brother Abel, God was seeking for Cain? And he says, "Cain, where are you?" And remember what we read in the Bible about Cain? And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord.

We never in the Bible ever read that Cain ever turned back to God. He went out from the presence of the Lord and he continued away as walking with his back against God. "What reconciliation did is that now a holy God has been satisfied with the work of the Messiah, of the Lord Jesus on the tree, on the cross, that now God can turn his face towards man. And he is saying, come to me, be reconciled with God. Turn around. I am not against you. I have turned my face towards you because the Messiah, my dear son's blood has been shed on the tree. I have now been satisfied.

Now you turn around. Don't be my enemies anymore." The Colossians, Paul tell them, "You were alienated and enemies of God in your mind by wicked works." That's where they were. But you see what happened. As he has said to them in verse 21, "Yet hath he reconciled." When I just, even as I speak and I think about that, it gives me such a peace in my heart to recognize that I was like the Colossians and you too. We all have been enemies of God by wicked works in our mind. We were all and majority of us who are not Jewish have been strangers to the promises of God.

And through the work of the Messiah have been reconciled and had been brought into the relationship with the Lord Jesus. That's the past. That's it. Once we have accepted the Messiah, once the Colossians have accepted the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, that was in the past. That's why he said, "You were." It was in the past. It's done away with. Every person that had been redeemed by the blood of the Messiah became a child, a son, a daughter of the Father in a relationship with God never to be separated any longer. That's wonderful truth to understand. Colossians, you were alienated from God. You were enemies of your mind against the Lord.

I have this verse in Romans chapter 8 and verse 7 that I just want to read that. Listen to this. It's not only speaking about the Gentiles because it's every man. Romans 8 and verse 7. The carnal mind is enmity against God. Do you know that, beloved brothers and sisters, that the carnal mind is an enmity against God? Why do you think we needed a new birth? Because a natural man seeks not the things of the Spirit of God. Because the carnal mind is an enmity against God. Don't you ever forget for a moment, even if a person does not seem to say, "I hate God and I don't love God." But the carnal mind, a mind that is carnal, is an enmity against God.

Yes, even if somebody will say, "Well, I don't do anything wrong and I don't hate God." But the person that rejects God, the carnal mind, is an enmity against God. That's where we were before we became believers in Yeshua, the Messiah. But that's the past. See, Paul speaking about his ministry, first ministry or one part of his total ministry, is one thing he says is to share the message of the Messiah, the message of the Gospel. In verse 21, he's speaking to them of something that what they were. Verse 21a and verse 21b and verse 22, he tells the Colossians what they are right now in the present.

Notice he says, in Colossians chapter 1, verse 21b says, "Now," you notice that? Verse 21 in the beginning says, "Ye were," at the end he says, "Now." "Ye were in the past, now in the present, now hath he reconciled." And then verse 22, "In the body of his flesh through death to present you holy, unblameable and unreprovable in his sight." Now this is amazing. Now this is amazing. You know what? That's what the Lord Jesus the Messiah have done for you and for me and for the Colossians. He brought them out of animosity in the past, out of being strangers and enemies of God by their mind. He had reconciled them.

He had reconciled them. He had reconciled us. Why? In order that he, as it says in verse 22, "in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy, unblameable and unreprovable in the sight of God." Do you know when we are going to be presented before God? You know that we, God look at you and I today. You and I might look at each other, we see a lot of failure in each other. A lot of flaws. A lot of things that are simply doesn't fit, are simply not right. You know, we see all the mistakes we make, the sin we commit, the things that is not honoring to the Lord.

But do you know when God look at us through the person of the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, what does he see? He see a holy people, unblameable and unreprovable. Yes, you and I. Yes, the Colossians. Because the work of the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah was not only something that will one day, that he forgave our sins and he cleansed us and he took, remove our sins away. But he also wants to present us to the Father. What do you think he is going to present? He is going to present the holy people. The word holy, Kadosh, simply means set apart. In fact, he already called them in the first few verses to the saints, in verse 2 of chapter 1, to the saints and faithful.

To the set apart people, to the faithful people at Colossae. You have been set apart for God. And not only that they are to be presented holy, but unblameable. You mean, when God looks at me and says, "Well, there is no blame in Gideon." Well, let me tell you. If you are going to look a little closer into my heart, you will find out how much blame there is in Gideon. And if I am going to look closer into your heart, I will also find that there is blame in you. But through the bloodshed of the Messiah, God looked at us and he looked at the Colossians and he says, "You have been presented to God the Father holy, unblameable and unreprovable." Free from accusation.

You know, in the book of Revelation, in chapter 12, there is a scene of the tribulation period. In chapter 12, we see Satan, who is still right now in the realms of the heavenlies. He is not in the immediate presence of God anymore, but he is in the heavenly realms. He is cast down to this earth. And when he is cast down to this earth, we read in the book of Revelation that he is called the accuser of the brethren. The brethren in Revelation 12, of course, has to do with the Jewish brethren of the tribulation period. But do you know that Satan is accusing you and I every day?

You know, every time that I do or you do something wrong, Satan says, "Look at him. Look at her." I am accusing her and him because of what they have done. Look at his thoughts. Look at her action. Look at what he did. Look, he is accusing us every day. He is called the accuser of the brethren. But you know, through the blood that the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, had shed for us, he had made peace through the blood of his cross. He has not only set us as a holy nation, as a holy people, not only unblameable, but also free completely from accusation. But Satan can accuse us all day long.

And the Lord Jesus showed his hands and his side and his feet. And showing this to the Father, he says, "Father, for these sins I have died. Their sins have been removed. The nail prints on my hands and my feet. And the pierced side that the Messiah's side had been pierced when he was on the tree. The blood had been shed. The forgiveness and atonement had been made. And now he can look at the redeemed company. Holy. Unblameable. And unreprovable in God's sight. Why is it so important to accept the Lord Jesus as the Messiah, as the Lord and Savior? It's because how else we will be holy?

How else we will be unblameable? How else we will be unreprovable? It's not possible. Unless it's on the basis of the shed blood of the Messiah. And so, beloved, the past of the Colossians, they were alienated and they were enemies like you and I were. The presence of the Colossians, brethren, is that they are now have been reconciled and they are set apart to be presented to God the Father through the work of the Messiah as a holy, set apart, as an unblameable and unreprovable people. Paul wrote to the Ephesians in chapter 1 as well and he said in verse 4, For according as he has chosen us in him, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.

You know what? If there would be blemish in us, God would never have received us. He could never receive us. But on the basis of the work of the Messiah, all the finished work of the Lord Jesus had made us suitable to be in his presence as we have never sinned before. It's all because of the work of the Lord Jesus the Messiah. And that's why no other religion will avail. No other human religious views, no other man-made religion will avail before God because it will never make it. It will never do it. It can never change the inside of a person. It can never meet the need of a person.

No religious group can ever produce what the Messiah have done. No religious leader ever produce what the Lord Jesus the Messiah have done. So, they were alienated. They are reconciled presently. But now notice about the future. In verse 23, Paul is saying now, "If ye continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven, whereof I, Paul, am made a servant, a minister." Now, when you read this word, "If ye continue in the faith," it sounds like that if you will not continue in the faith, you will not have what you have in verse 22.

But let me just tell you, this is also important to understand doctrine and teaching. We know very clearly that salvation is not on the basis of works. We know clearly that salvation is not by any works which we have done. We can give you many verses. Titus teaches not by any works which we have done. Ephesians chapter 2 teaches us that by grace ye are saved through faith, and that is not of yourself. In other words, salvation is only on the basis of the work of the Messiah. So, what does he mean here when he says, "If ye continue in the faith"? Well, in the Greek actually, there is "if" and it is.

There is "if" and it's "maybe", and there is "if" and it is not. This is the "if" and it's "yes". The word for that is "since ye continue in the faith". You see, one of the evidence that we are really saved and belong to the Lord is an ongoing continuation in the faith. Yes, we stumble. Yes, we go astray at times. Yes, we are not always where we should be. But the proof that the person is a child of God and he is redeemed. There is a change that happened. There is a new life that he received is the evidence of his ongoing walk with the Lord.

And I want to encourage you, just like Paul is encouraging the Colossians. Continuing the faith. And being grounded. Being settled. You see why he is telling them to be grounded and settled? Why? You know why? Because they are already there. Young believers. Became believers in the Lord Jesus, the Messiah. Already there. Some came and started to teach them things. And they say, "Oh, what about the Apostle Paul?" The Apostle Paul, he is a prisoner of the government. He is there in jail. I mean, certain things that we want to teach you about other things that are not all what he says is the truth and so on.

And the things have been creeping in and coming in. And they began to have the inclination to be not grounded anymore. Not settled. You know, a person, a Christian that is not settled, is a Christian, is a believer that can be diverted to any direction. You know, when you don't have your two feet on the ground, you can fall, you can stumble, you can go in any which direction. Believers need to mature, to be grounded. You know, you see a tree that the roots are not grounded deep in the ground. This tree, when the wind comes, is going to fall. But the grounded individual is a person that he knows what the Lord has taught him.

Maybe he's not always obedient to what the Lord has taught him, and he needs, he, she, or needs to be obedient. But he knows what the Word of God teaches. And somebody can come and say, no, salvation is by other means he or she can have an answer. Well, I'm going to tell you what my Bible teaches me. I don't need you to tell me another way, because the Scripture is clear. A person who is grounded, who is also settled. You see a person who is not settled, he is never know where he or she going. One day he's there, the next day he's there.

I tell you, I know of individuals who are never settled in where do they go and what they do. You know, we need to be settled. We know what the Scripture teaches. And we need to settle it. To be already satisfied with the person of the Lord and to move on. Not to stay like babies all the time that need milk all the time. But already to mature, to be grounded, to start to be a help to others. Not all the time like babies need give me more, give me more. And when they don't get, they complain and they cry and not satisfied. Paul says, listen, you were enemies.

Now you have been set apart, holy, unblameable, unreprovable before God. Now move on towards the future, because since you continue in the faith, grounded and settled and be not moved away from the hope of the Gospel. What is the hope of the Gospel? The Lord Jesus is coming very soon. And he's going to take us to be with him at home. That's the whole story of the Gospel. Is to save a sinner and to bring him into a relationship with God and ultimately to be with the Lord Jesus, the Messiah forever. That's the hope. That's the hope. That's the future glory that is awaiting the believer.

And Paul wrote to Titus in chapter 2 and verse 13, he says like this. Listen to this verse. Looking for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior, Yeshua the Messiah. He's going to appear soon. He's coming. He's coming. On the one hand, he's coming, first of all, to judge this world, to restore the nation of Israel and establish the Messianic kingdom. But even before he's coming for that, he's going to rapture the church saints. We're going to meet him in the air. And you know, by the way, beloved brothers and sisters, according to the biblical clock, the next event is the rapture of the saints.

He may come today. He might come at any time. We might not finish the meeting today and he may come. We don't read in the Bible any date or time about the rapture of the saints. He might come at any time. You know what? Paul was looking in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. He was looking for the coming of the Messiah to rapture the saints already at his time. We are already 2,000 years since the Messiah came. We are so much nearer to the coming of the Lord. He might come today. He wants us to be grounded, to be believers that are settled and that not moving and waiting for the hope of the gospel which ye have heard and which was preached unto every creature which is under the heaven.

You see how it was preached to every creature which is under the heaven. You know, you and I would think, well, I don't know how many people have seen it. How much Paul could say, Paul, you were so limited. How much did you go to everywhere in the world? Every creature under heaven? No, he didn't. But when he shared the message of the gospel in the beginning, others have been exposed to it. And in turn, they have gone. And the others have gone. And they have shown. And others have gone. And others have gone. It's like a snowball. How do you and I became believers in the Lord Jesus, the Messiah today?

Somebody told us. Somebody talked to us about the Savior. Paul said at the end in verse 23, I am made a minister. I am a servant. He doesn't mean when he used the word minister, this is not today, this minister, that and minister, that. No. A minister simply means I am a servant. You don't need a title. You don't need to call yourself, I don't need to call myself with a title, Minister Gideon. A minister is a ministry that needs to be ministered, needs to be done. Go and minister. Go and serve. Go and do what God has given you to do. That's what Paul says.

I became. I was made. God has chosen me to be a servant for you, the Colossians, for the Gentile nations of this world. And so, beloved, you can see the first part of his ministry is the sharing of the Gospel. The telling false people the message of the Gospel. And so the Colossians past. They were enemies. Colossians present. They are reconciled. Reconciled. Colossians. Future is the future hope of the Gospel of the coming of the Lord. Now, notice, let's go down now. In verse 24, 25, 26, and 27, here is the second-fold ministry. Another part of his service and ministry that Paul had. The ministry of suffering for the Gentiles through the Gospel.

What kind of a ministry is this? Yes. Paul had received the ministry, the service, which I guess most of us would not like to receive that. The ministry of suffering for the sake of the Gentiles. Notice what he says. Verse 24. Who now rejoice in my suffering for you, and fill up that which is lacking of the affliction of Messiah in my flesh, for his body's sake, which is the Church. Whereof I am made minister, here again, using that word minister, servant. When I have made servant according to the dispensation or the stewardship of God, which is given to me for you, to fulfill the Word of God.

Verse 26. Even the mystery, which has been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints, to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ or Messiah in you, the hope of glory. In these verses now, beloved, what we see is we see the second ministry of Shaul, of Paul, is to suffer on behalf of the Gentiles. He said it a few times here. You notice he says to suffer for you in verse 24. He says to suffer for you of giving me to fulfill the Word of God for you in verse 25.

You notice he's speaking to the Gentiles at Colossae, to those believers at Colossae. And he tells them, listen, I got another ministry. And the second service, the second ministry that I have is the ministry of sufferings on behalf and for the Gentiles in order for them to become part of the body of Messiah. And first of all, he says in verse 24, he's rejoicing in suffering. You just pause for a moment and think about that. Are you or I ever rejoice when we are suffering? You just think about that for a moment and you will have to admit, Lord, when I go through trials and suffering, I'm not really rejoicing in it.

And many times the reason is simply that, is because we do not see it in the light of what God wanted us to learn through every trial, through every difficulties. Because we don't bring the Lord into the situation, because we just think of ourselves, we cannot rejoice in it. But Paul says in this verse, he is rejoicing in my suffering for you, and then he continues, and they fill up that which is lacking of the affliction of the Messiah. What he's taking us back and he says, you know what? When the Lord Jesus the Messiah in his life was here on earth, he received opposition from every person.

People rejected him. He's called, according to the prophet Isaiah, Isaiah 53, he says he's called a man of sorrows which have been acquainted with grief. What Paul is teaching us here is that he identifies with the rejected Messiah, even in his life. He does not say here that he is suffering in order to add what was lacking in the work of Christ on the cross. Not at all. When the Lord Jesus died on the cross on the tree, he says, it is finished. There is nothing that can be added by anyone. But you know what he's saying? He's saying he wanted the Colossians to see that the very fact that he is in jail, he's a prisoner because of simply identifying with Jesus the Messiah.

And so, in order that the gospel will continue to move forward. He didn't close his mouth, he didn't stop speaking about the things of the Messiah, of the Lord Jesus. He continued to share the message. And that put him in jail. And that locked him, that caused him to be locked. And you know what? This is exactly what you and I will experience if we are going to continue to share the message of the word. You will see what's going to happen. We are privileged to live in this country. But let's go to another country. And you begin to share the message of the Lord Jesus, the Messiah in other countries.

And you are going to see what's going to happen to us. We still live in this country such as Canada and we do not know how long time. Soon we will not be allowed to preach the Bible from the pulpit. Soon probably there is going to be limitation to what we can say, what we should say and what we shouldn't say. Soon enough, even here in this country, we may not have the privilege that we have today to speak the word of God as it is. Paul found himself locked as a prisoner because he was presenting the message of the gospel. But he was rejoicing in that.

He counted the privilege to suffer for the name of the Lord Jesus, the Messiah. In James, we read James chapter one. James is writing to the brethren. He said to them, brethren, James one and verse one. My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into diverse testing trials. Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. And let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect, mature, and entire, wanting nothing. You see, even James also have said, count it all joy when you go through various trials. You know how much we need such an exhortation for ourselves, how much help from the Lord we need to also count a joy sometime when we go through trials and sufferings.

Unfortunately, many times when we suffer, we suffer because we deserve to suffer. We do something wrong, and then we get punished for that, and then we call it suffering for the Messiah. Well, it's not suffering for the Messiah. We suffer for something that we have done wrong. Many times we say things we shouldn't say. We do things we shouldn't do. And then we pay, we've been disciplined or punished for that. And that we cannot say the suffering for Christ, for the Messiah. But Paul said in these verses that he rejoice in his sufferings for the Messiah. In verse 25, he continues, and he says, there is a responsibility that I have to fulfill.

And so he says in verse 25, I am made a minister according, verse 25, according to the stewardship or dispensation of God, which is given to me for you to fulfill the word of God. You see, he received a service to do. So he received a service. He's been faithful. He became a good steward to the ministry that God had given him to do. And he wanted to fulfill that ministry. And for that, he suffered. And you notice now in verse 26 and 27, he is now speaking about the mystery. It's mentioned twice here in these verses. The mystery which had been hid from ages, verse 26, and from generations, but now is made manifested to his saints.

Verse 27, to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles. You see, he's speaking about the mystery. Today, if you will tell somebody about a mystery, you will say, I have something mysterious that is secret and you cannot know about it. But this mystery in the scripture, in Colossians 1 and Ephesians chapter 3, mystery here is something that had been hid in the past and now revealed to the saints. That's what he is saying here. That's what he is saying here. What was hid in the past and revealed to the saints? You know what it was. The mystery here that he is speaking about that the Jewish people who received the favours placed in God's purposes and plans and the Gentiles, who have been far away from God, now can become united together in one body.

One body. It's called the body of Christ, the body of Messiah. This is the mystery. And it had been given to the Apostle Paul to preach to the nations in the world the mystery that now those that were far and those that were near by faith in the Messiah can become one body. You see why it is called a mystery because even the prophets of old did not know that. The Hebrew prophets of old only prophesied of the first coming of the Messiah and of the second coming of the Messiah. They prophesied concerning the coming of the Messiah to suffer, Isaiah 53, and they prophesied of the coming of the Messiah to reign, Psalm 24.

You know, as we have read today, Isaiah 11, the second coming of the Messiah, when the child will put his hands into the ass by a snake and he will not be beaten, where a little child will lead the lion, where there will be a time of glorious messianic age. That's what the prophet prophesied, but they never prophesied about the body of Messiah, the body of Christ. It was hid, as it says here in these verses. Let me reread again. Verse 26. The mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations. But now, when it is now, when Paul received the revelation of the body of Christ, the body of Messiah, but now is made manifest to his saints.

You see, beloved, I believe there are two problems that are existing today in misunderstanding of the scripture. On the one hand, and I've been long enough a believer in the Lord Jesus, part of the church. I have been often time taught and hear preaching about the church, the body of Christ, neglecting to teach about the future restoration of Israel. I've heard it. Since I became a believer in the Lord Jesus, the church, the church, we forget about Israel. And many times, many of the Christians thought that God replaced Israel by the church. It's not found in the Bible. That's the one side of the coin.

The other side of the coin is, unfortunately, even in our circles of the messianic movement, that is Israel. Israel, not the church. It is a continuation of Israel. Forget about Israel. Forget about the church. Forget about, you've got to be more Jewish. You've got to be more Israelite. You've got to be more this, more culture, more customs. And that is not found in the Bible either. We have to find the true balance in scripture. God is building the church with a composition of Jew and Gentile in this present day. But God has a plan for his people Israel in which he is going to fulfill it all the way through as he promised to the prophets.

And we read today, beloved, if you just allow me, please, one more time to read Isaiah 11, what we read today. Listen to these verses. Isaiah 11 and verse 6. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb. When? When the wolf will dwell with the lamb. It's not now. It's 2000 years past since the Messiah came. We don't see any wolf and any lamb ever dwelling together. You put a wolf beside a lamb and a lamb beside a wolf. Leave them for a few minutes. You're going to come back. You're going to find a wolf and no lamb. But in the future, a wolf and a lamb will dwell together.

Look what it says here. The leopard shall lie down with a kid and a calf and a young lion and a fattling together and a little child will lead them. When would you have a little child ever leading a young lion or a fattling or a calf and so on and a leopard? It's not happening today. It's going to happen in a future messianic age. Notice verse 7. The cow and the bear shall feed. Where you ever see a cow and a bear feeding? It's not happening now. No cow and bear ever feed together. Because if they're going to feed together, they will not remain together.

One will remain and the other will either disappear or something is going to happen there. The young one shall lie down together. The lion shall eat straw like the ox. Lion eating straw? You put a lion. Lion looking for meat. He's looking for someone to chew on. He's not looking for straw. In verse 8. A suckling child shall play in the hole of an asp. And a weaned child shall put his hand on a crocodile den. I mean, a little child put his hand, as it says here, on the crocodile den, on a vipers den. It is not happening today, beloved brothers and sisters. This is what the prophets of Israel were looking forward in the future messianic age.

In this present age, it's a mystery that was hid in God. You can read Ephesians 3 on that. And is now revealed to the prophets and to the servants of God in this present day. And you notice it says in verse 27. To whom God would make known what is the richest of the glory of his mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ or Mashiach in you, which is the hope of glory. Do you know what happened right now? We have Christ, the Messiah, in us, in the believer. Presently, you remember when the Lord Jesus said, before he left Jesus, I will never leave you nor forsake you.

And he said, he that has seen the Son, has seen the Father. The believer today have Christ in them, which is the hope of glory. Messiah in you, the hope of glory. So you see, beloved, here's the second ministry of the Apostle Paul. First of all, he is the responsibility to share the message of the Gospel, verses 21, 22, and 23. Secondly, he has the ministry, the service of suffering for the sake of the Gentiles, as he continues to share the message of the Gospel. Let me quickly, to close with the last two verses. And the last two verses are the ministry of teaching every man. Here again, he used the words serve, or labor, or ministry.

Verse 28 and 29. Whom we preach, warning every man, teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man mature in Christ Jesus, in Messiah Yeshua. Where I am, or where unto I also labor, or minister, as a minister, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily. Here he's telling now the Colossians, the third-fold ministry that he had, and that is the ministry of teaching. Teaching, and again teaching, and teaching. Paul was teaching in wisdom. He was teaching all men. Whom we preach, warning every man, teaching every man in all wisdom. Teaching them. And again teaching. You know, teaching, you cannot stay away from teaching.

Teaching is very important. Don't let anybody say to you, well we don't need teaching. We don't need to be taught. We are saved, and we don't need to be taught anymore. We need to be taught. That's why we have Bible studies. That's why we have Bible classes. That's why we have meetings. That's why we meet. We meet in order to be taught from the Word of God. Teaching is important. Teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man mature in Christ Jesus. The word for perfect should not be there perfect. It should be mature. Perfect, we are already perfect. We don't need to be presented to be taught in order to be more perfect and more perfect.

We are already perfect positionally. But we are not mature practically. That's why teaching is important. To be taught every day. We need to be taught because, you know, we go astray. We need to grow. We need to develop our spiritual life. And then in verse 29 he says, "Whereunto I also labor, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily." Notice the striving of the Apostle Paul is according to his working. The Messiah works through him. The Messiah works through him. So he's striving in accordance with the strength that the Messiah gives, that the Lord Jesus gives him to do his service. That's why in anything that we do in serving the Lord, we need to strive, we need to be diligent, but not to trust our own energy, but to trust the energy, the power that he gives us.

He gives the power, the working of the Lord through us. The Lord Jesus wants to work through us. He works in Paul mightily and he can work in us mightily so we also will be used by the Lord. And so, beloved, here we have the conclusion to the first chapter of the book of Colossians. And he just paused. He talked about the Lord. He take the moment to speak about himself. "I am sharing the gospel. This is one part of my ministry. I am suffering for your sake, Gentiles in Colossians. It is another part of my ministry. And I am teaching through the power that God gives me.

This is the third-fold ministry and service that God had given the apostle Paul to do." And so, beloved, you and I as well today, may the Lord help us also to strive with the power of the Lord to serve him in whatever sphere or service he has given you to do. Can we say amen today? Amen.