Col 1:24-27 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body (which is the church) in filling up that which is lacking in Christ's afflictions. Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations; but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 
	This morning we will look at two very key elements of our walk as the church of God, as His Beloved, for His sake and His Glory on this earth. We will consider the attitude that should be an integral part of our everyday, moment by moment life. We will also consider some of the very basic aspects of the mystery of Christ, albeit very briefly, with hearts which seek after the Lord to reveal Himself to a greater and greater measure, day by day.
For a long time, we, as the church, have been praying for a heart of thankfulness unto God to be established in a deeper and very direct measure within us, individually and corporately. When we approach life set in thankfulness to the Lord for all that He is, and is doing in our lives, we bring hearts before Him that bless Him. This is something that is to become the very nature of our beings as we learn to be content in all that we have in Christ. We should find ourselves in a continual attitude of thankfulness unto God, no matter what we are experiencing on this earth. Sure it is easy to thank Him when all is going well when we remember that He is our Benefactor. Deut 8:7-10 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing forth in valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; a land where you shall eat food without scarcity, in which you shall not lack anything; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. When you have eaten and are satisfied, you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you. 
But how about in those times of difficulty and strife, do we still thank Him or do we blame Him? I have had numerous people complain to me that what they are experiencing leaves no place for thankfulness unto God. How can we thank Him for the loss of our spouses, our children, our homes, our jobs, our health? 
What we need to do is to learn to thank Him for the fact that He so loves us, so cherishes our hearts that He is actively at work to show forth His Omnipotence, His Omnipresence, and His Omniscience in our lives. I agree, thankfulness for the circumstances is often seemingly difficult, if not impossible. But, that is because our eyes are focused on us, on our suffering, on how it affects me in the scheme of things. 
However, with a different viewpoint in our lives, it still should not be difficult to thank Him for the great Love with which He loves us, especially as He becomes the focus of our hearts through these hard times. It is when we realize that He loves us so much that He takes us through the trials and the tribulations in order to establish an eternal trust and faith in Him Alone in our lives, that we can give Him thanks. It is when we look to Christ, in the midst of the fiercest storm, that we can thank Him for being our salvation, our refuge, our anchor of hope even in the midst of all the despair buffeting against us. 
The Apostle Paul does so in our current passage of consideration. Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body (which is the church) in filling up that which is lacking in Christ's afflictions. He rejoices in his sufferings, he is thankful that he can help bear the burden for the sake of the church. In 1 Thess 5:16-18, he tells us Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Please note, we are to rejoice always. There is no exception. Even when we are in the midst of the most severe trials and circumstances, we are to rejoice in the Lord God Almighty. He is the only one, after all, who can do anything about those circumstances. 
We are to pray constantly. When we pray, we are in communication heart to heart and spirit to spirit with the Lord. We are not talking about those memorized prayers that we were taught. We are talking about the prayers that come forth from the heart unto God. And we are to give Him thanks, no matter what. We are to see His hand in operation and thank Him that He so loves us that He is effectively working to bring us into the conformity of the life of Jesus Christ. He chastises us because He loves us. We are His children and He is lovingly at work to establish Christ in us, no matter what. For such an all-encompassing love, we should always thank and bless Him.
	The Psalmist knew this as he indicates in several psalms of thanksgiving to God for the Love that He has showered upon the earth and His people. Ps 100:3-5 Know that the Lord Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving, And His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him; bless His name. For the Lord is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting, And His faithfulness to all generations. This is the heart that brings pleasure to God. We are to bless Him, bless Him in everything, every word, every thought, and every deed. That is the sincere outcome of a constant spirit of thanksgiving, which is the least of what we should be unto God.
	Ps 107:21+22 Let them give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness, And for His wonders to the sons of men! Let them also offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, And tell of His works with joyful singing. Joyful singing. That is what we bring to the Lord, but it shouldn’t be just on Sunday morning. It should be the songs of joy in our heart this day and every day as we walk with Him.
Ps 92:1-3 It is good to give thanks to the Lord, And to sing praises to Thy name, O Most High; To declare Thy lovingkindness in the morning, And Thy faithfulness by night, With the ten-stringed lute, and with the harp; With resounding music upon the lyre. 
Ps 50:14+15 "Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, And pay your vows to the Most High; And call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me." It should be with unspeakable joy that we recognize and live in the truth that God will deliver us in the day of trouble. He is our protector and our shield, our hiding place from the terror of this realm. In that, we, His people, should be offering up all the glory of our hearts unto Him. We should find ourselves with a thank you on our lips to Him constantly. After all, what do we have to fear in this world? 
In Christ, we have everything that we need. We should not spend our time frivolously seeking the things of this age. We are called to live lives that are pleasing unto God, a living sacrifice of worship unto Him. Phil 4:6+7 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. In earnest thanksgiving unto God, we will find that we are at peace in every situation and dilemma. We will not have to frustrate or stress or worry. We will know, as our faith in Him grows, that He has all things well in hand and we can thank Him for that! 
Again, in Col 1:11+12, we are …strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. Do you realize that it is God Who has made us His saints through the faultless sacrifice of His Only Begotten Son? In Jesus Christ, we are brought into a living relationship with God and we should think of that with ceaseless praises of thanksgiving.
Col 3:15-17 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father. Are we thankful for the Word of God which is our source of guidance and instruction in His ways? Are we thankful that, as we endure the trials of this age, we can lose ourselves in the Word, in the recounting of the faithful ones with hearts after God? Consider Hosea, Daniel, Ruth, David, Esther, Abraham, Moses, Paul and Peter, to name but a few. Are we thankful that we can learn, in life, the person of Christ through His Living and Glorious Word?
	Eph 5:18-20 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father;… Are we thankful that we have the Holy Spirit indwelling us, guiding us, bringing life to us through the Word? Has it dawned on us that when we face anything in this world, we are not facing it alone? We have the very Spirit of God at work within us to bring forth only that which will please the Father. Have we come to appreciate the ministry of the Holy Spirit as He opens up the continual truth of living by the faith of Jesus Christ in order to face every day in the power of His resurrection? Is our heart settled in the truth that we are alive because He reigns in us and we are being brought, by the Holy Spirit, into the surety of that reality, moment by moment, day by day? 
	In an intense spirit and heart of thankfulness, the Apostle then goes on to declare that God has now revealed the great mystery that was hidden for ages and generations, the mystery of Christ in us, the hope of glory. Obviously, we can not exhaust this truth, because all of eternity will not be sufficient to learn all that God has instituted in our inclusion and indwelling by Christ. We can, however, begin to look at a few elements this morning with thanksgiving in our hearts. 
	As the Apostle writes concerning the church, after he has stated that he rejoices in his suffering for the sake of the church …Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations; but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. There are many different aspects to the mystery of Christ. The word translated here as mystery, according to the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia …refers to a mystery of divine nature that remains hidden from human beings because their normal powers of comprehension are insufficient. Nonetheless, these mysteries are intended for human beings and when known prove profitable to them. Not only do they heal people's afflictions and provide successes in their life endeavors, but they also assure them of a blessed immortality. End Quote (from International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, revised edition, Copyright © 1979 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. All rights reserved.) 
	The mystery of Christ in us, the hope of glory is completely incomprehensible to the natural human mind. It is only as we are indwelled by the Holy Spirit, as our living relationship with Christ is established in our hearts, as we seek Him Alone, yielding our lives unto His Lordship, that we begin to see, to have our spiritual eyes opened to this mystery.
	As we read in 1 Cor 2:6-11 Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; but we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; but just as it is written, "Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard,  And which have not entered the heart of man, All that God has prepared for those who love Him." For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man, which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. 
The things of God are exactly that, the things of God. Without His indwelling Spirit, we are unable to know all the heavenly treasures that God the Father has lavished upon us in Our Lord Jesus Christ. This is why, when we try to explain Christ in us, to the natural man, those who are spiritually dead in this world, they cannot comprehend what we are talking about. No matter how succinct we are, no matter how persuasive our words might be, no matter how basic we make it in trying to explain what it means to live by Christ, they will not get it until they have turned, with all their hearts, to the Lord Jesus Christ. 
	God’s plan and purpose required that this relationship of Christ in us remained hidden from the elements of this age. It is so because He will brook no interference to the gloriousness of the Lordship of His Son. Eph 1:9+10, He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fulness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things upon the earth. 
God’s intent has always been the inclusion of the Gentiles in Christ. The Jews selfishly desired to keep themselves separated from the Gentiles. Paul had to publicly deal with Peter in his actions of exclusion toward the Gentile believers. That brought to the forefront the attitude of exclusiveness that festered in the Jews. Not so with God. 
Even in the Old Testament, the prophets announced that God’s people would be a light to the world, that God’s purposes were to gather together all those who would respond to His love. This was part of the mystery, as so declared by Paul in Eph 3:1-6, For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles - assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. When you read this you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; that is, how the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. 
	Another aspect of the mystery of Christ, as declared by the Apostle Paul, is the fact that it is through what Christ has accomplished in creating and washing the church that all of creation will be witness to the splendor of the great love with which he loves us. Eph 3:8-10 To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God, who created all things; in order that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. The wisdom of God will be in evidence to all of creation in the presentation of the bride of Christ to her betrothed. We will radiate, not our glory, but His glory unto all of those who witness the miracle brought into being by the death, resurrection, and Lordship of Jesus Christ.
	It is in Jesus Christ that God has hidden all the true issues of life. As He lives, so do we have life. As He reigns, so do we have refuge, and peace, and joy. He is our wisdom, because He is the very Word of God. Col 2:2+3 …that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God's mystery, that is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 
	In 1 Tim 3:16, the Apostle takes us even deeper into the mystery. That mystery is Jesus Christ Himself. And by common confession great is the mystery of godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh, Was vindicated in the Spirit, Beheld by angels, Proclaimed among the nations, Believed on in the world, Taken up in glory. 
	Next week, Lord willing, we will deal more fully with the mystery of Christ in us, the hope of glory as we continue with our Colossian text. Please take these things before the Lord for Him to validate that which is of Him. We must count on Him to open, in life, in our hearts, and in our spirits, the absolute truth of the mystery of Christ. Our hope is built on nothing other than Him. Eph 4:4-7 There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. 
Let us together seek to have the measure of Christ increased within us as His Body. Let us learn to be thankful in everything, if for nothing else, than that we are saved by Christ’s death and resurrection. As that resurrection power is alive in us, we will find that we are evermore living unto the glory of God. We will discover that we are alive by the indwelling Holy Spirit and the active Word of God as we see more and more clearly that mystery of Christ in us, the hope of glory.
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body (which is the church) in filling up that which is lacking in Christ's afflictions. Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations; but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Amen

Today’s benediction is found in 1 Peter 1:14-21 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy." And if you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each man's work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay upon earth; knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. Amen