Reading: Colossians chapter 2 verses 1-5.
Ill:
A new student won first prize at a recent Science Fair.
• In his project he urged people to sign a petition demanding;
• Strict control or total elimination of the chemical “di-hy-dro-gen mon-oxide.”
And for plenty of good reasons, since it:
• Can cause excessive sweating and vomiting.
• It is a major component in acid rain.
• It can cause severe burns in its gaseous state.
• Accidental inhalation can kill you.
• It decreases effectiveness of automobile brakes.
• It has been found in tumours of terminal cancer patients.
He asked 50 people if they supported a ban of the chemical:
• Forty-three said yes, six were undecided,
• And only one knew that the chemical was……………… H20 (water).
• The title of his prize-winning project was,
• “How Gullible Are We?”
The apostle Paul is writing to Christians who are encountering false teaching:
• He is encouraging them not to be gullible, not to swallow it hook, line and sinker;
• But instead to avoid additional ‘mystical’ teaching and hold on to Jesus Christ alone!
Note:
• Last week you no-doubt saw Paul the preacher:
• Sharing the gospel through this letter(chapter 1 verses 21-23).
• You would also have seen Paul the prisoner;
• Willing to suffer prison for the sake of the Gentiles (chapter 1 verses 24-27).
• This morning we will meet Paul the prayer-warrior;
• Striving in prayer for the spiritual health of these individual Christians in Colossae.
Now let me inform you or remind you that Paul has never met these Christians:
• Everything he knows about them he learned from a man called Epaphras.
• You will have already met Epaphras in the first chapter of this book called Colossians:
• He met Paul during his stay at Ephesus,
• And it was through that encounter that he had been led to Christ.
• When he returned home to Colossae;
• He shared this good news with friends and family etc.
• And as a result a Church was born in Colossae (Chapter 1 verses 7-8).
• Epaphras who founded the Church was a Church leader an evangelist/pastor type person.
Now Paul had never visited this Church:
• They were an unknown people, in a small town.
• That is until Epaphras left Colossae and went to visit Paul in Rome:
• Paul was at this time had been imprisoned for his faith,
• And was confined to a small cell.
Epaphras tells Paul all about the Christians at Colossae.
• And concerned for their welfare;
• (And knowing that Epaphras will be absent for from Colossae for quite a while.)
• The apostle Paul has written for them this letter;
• And it has been hand delivered to the Church by two men called Tychicus and Onesimus.
Now although Paul has never seen these Christians face to face:
• He has met them but only through the words and descriptions of Epaphras;
• And as a result Paul has developed a great love for them.
Ill:
• Many of us follow the work of missionaries abroad;
• Although we have never met those that they work amongst personally.
• We know about them through letters and magazines;
• And have a concern and love for them and their contacts and work.
As I have studied this passage – I think Paul gives them:
5 key words to inspire the Christians on:
(1). Exertion or Struggle (Verse 1):
“I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally”.
• If you are wondering why Paul associates the Laodicaeans with the Colossians
• It is because of their geographical positions.
Ill:
In the valley of the River Lycus,
• Near where it joins the Maeander, there once stood three important cities:
• Laodicaea, Hierapolis (Hira-pol-is) and Colosse.
• They stood almost within sight of each other.
• Epaphras was the man who founded the church in Colossae
• And it would seems likely (chapter 4 verse 13) that Epaphras;
• Had also founded churches in Laodicea & Hierapolis (Hira-pol-is).
As the apostle Paul pictures these three cities in his mind's eye:
• The word ‘struggle’ or ‘great conflict’ describes his feelings for them.
• In the Greek text the word translated ‘struggle’ or ‘great conflict’ is a vivid word;
• It is the Greek word ‘agon’,
• From which we get the English word ‘agony’.
Ill:
• The word is actually an athletic term.
• Referring to the strenuous effort put forth by a runner to win a race.
• Paul exerted his spiritual muscles;
• The way a Greek runner would exert himself in the Olympic games.
Question: What then was his struggle?
Answer: I suggest it was a struggle in prayer.
• Paul must have longed to go to Colosse himself.
• He must have longed to be able confronted the false teachers ‘eye to eye’;
• And deal with their arguments and eradicate their false teaching once and for all.
• But he was in prison, confined within four walls, unable to physically help them!
He was at a point when there was nothing he could do but to pray;
• Quote: “What he was unable to do himself, he was able to leave with God.”
• So Paul wrestled in prayer for those whom he could not see.
I think it is good to remember that:
• When time and distance and circumstance separate us from those whom we long to help,
• There is always one way left to help them and that is the way of prayer.
Ill:
• William Carey changed the history of missions and the face of India 200 years ago.
• Yet few know of William Carey’s sister.
• She was paralysed and bedridden for 50 years.
• For much of that time she was even unable to speak.
• With great effort and much discomfort;
• She allowed herself to be propped up in bed.
• Where she wrote long encouraging letters to her brother.
• And she prayed for him several hours per day for 50 years!
She had learnt the important lesson:
• That when time, distance & circumstances separate us from those whom we long to help,
• There is always one way left to help them and that is the way of prayer.
Question: Who are you praying for?
(2). Encouragement (verse 2a).
• N.I.V: “My purpose is that they may be ENCOURAGED in heart”
• K.J.B: “That their hearts might be COMFORTED”
The Greek word which Paul uses in this verse (‘parakalein’) carries the idea of:
• Enabling a person to meet some difficult situation,
• With confidence and with gallantry.
Ill:
One Greek historians recalls the story of a battle:
• There was a Greek regiment which had lost heart and was utterly dejected.
• The general sent a leader to talk to it;
• Such was the effect of his words that courage was reborn;
• And a body of dispirited men became fit again for heroic action.
• He enabled his troops to meet a difficult situation,
• With confidence and with gallantry.
That is what Paul is praying for these Colossae Christians in this verse:
• He wants the Church to be encouraged;
• To face up and cope with any difficult or adverse situation it might encounter.
Application Every Christian needs encouragement!
Ill:
The Duke of Wellington,
• The British military leader who defeated Napoleon at Waterloo:
• He was not an easy man to serve under.
• He was brilliant, demanding, and not one to shower his subordinates with compliments.
• Yet even Wellington realized that his methods left something to be desired.
• In his old age a young lady asked him what, if anything;
• He would do differently if he had his life to live over again.
• Wellington thought for a moment,
• Then replied. “I’d give more praise,” he said.
Ill:
HOW to HUG.
(2). Endearment or Love (verse 2b).
• N.I.V: “United in love”
• K.J.B: “Being knit together in love”
Without love there is no real Church.
• Methods of Church government and ritual are not what matter.
• These things change from time to time and from place to place.
• The one mark which distinguishes a true Church from all others;
• Ought to be love - love for God and for the saints.
Quote:
“When love dies, the Church dies”.
Ill:
• In a Peanuts cartoon Lucy demanded that Linus change TV channels,
• Threatening him with her fist if he didn’t.
• “What makes you think you can walk right in here and take over?” asks Linus.
• “These five fingers,” says Lucy.
“Individually they’re nothing but when I curl them together like this into a single unit, they form a weapon that is terrible to behold.”
• Linus responds: “Which channel do you want?”
• Then turning away, he looks at his fingers and says,
“Why can’t you guys get organized like that?”
God wants his people to be ‘organised’ into fellowships characterised by love!
• We do not need friendly Churches!
• We need Churches where people discover friends! There is a big difference.
• In friendly churches you get a nice warm welcome and that is it.
• Bye! See you next week.
• What we really need are Churches where people discover friends;
• Friends who will give them time, practical help and support!
• We can talk about love and unity all the time;
• But true love is only seen when it is actually being demonstrated!
(3). Enrichment or Wisdom (verse 2c).
• N.I.V: “So that they may have the full riches of complete understanding”
• K.J.B: “Unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding”
• Paul mentioned the ‘riches of Christ’ earlier in this letter (Chapter 1 verse 27).
• Too many Christians are living like paupers when they could be living like millionaires.
Ill:
Hetty Green has gone down in history as “America’s Greatest Miser,”
• Yet when she died in 1916, Hetty Green left an estate valued at over $100 million.
• She ate cold oatmeal because it cost to heat it.
• Her son had to suffer a leg amputation,
• Because she delayed so long in looking for a free clinic that his case became incurable.
• She was wealthy,
• Yet she chose to live like a pauper.
• Too many Christians are living like paupers when they could be living like millionaires.
• If they only realised they had the riches of Christ at their disposal.
When you became a Christian:
• Emphasise “When”.
• NO-one is automatically born a Christian, it’s a decision you make.
• When you were ‘born again’:
• You were actually “born rich” - you became a spiritual millionaire.
• Too many Christians have never “read their spiritual bank books”
• To find out the spiritual wealth that God has put to their account through Jesus Christ.
Ill:
• They are like the late newspaper publisher, William Randolph Hearst,
• Invested a fortune collecting art treasures from around the world.
• One day Mr. Hearst found a description of some valuable items that he felt he must own,
• So he sent his agent abroad to find them.
• After months of searching, the agent reported that he had finally found the treasures.
• They were in Mr. Hearst’s own warehouse.
• Hearst had been searching frantically for treasures he already owned!
• Had he read the catalogue of his treasures, He would have saved himself a great deal of money and trouble.
Paul wanted the Christians at Colossae to realise:
• They did not need ‘extra’ experiences and ‘extra’ knowledge.
• That the false teachers the ‘Gnostics’ were teaching.
• Everything they need and we need is found in Jesus Christ.
• That is where we should be searching for more of Christ, not elsewhere.
(4). Enlightenment (verse 2-3).
“In order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, 3in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge”.
Amplified Bible:
“That they may come to have all the abounding wealth and blessings of assured conviction of understanding, and that they may become progressively more intimately acquainted with and may know more definitely and accurately and thoroughly that mystic secret of God, [which is] Christ (the Anointed One).
In Him all the treasures of [divine] wisdom comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God) and [all the riches of spiritual] knowledge and enlightenment are stored up and lie hidden”.
Note:
• We think of the word ‘mystery’ as ‘a puzzle’:
• In the New Testament it means something quite different.
• A ‘mystery’ in the New Testament is something God had hinted at in one way or another,
• But now he has clearly revealed it.
Ill:
• Remember Luke chapter 24;
• Where two discouraged men were walking on the road to Emmaus.
• A stranger joined them,
• And they started telling the stranger about the death of Jesus their Messiah.
• Then the stranger (who was the risen Christ)
• Said to them;
“How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” 27And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.”
The mystery of Jesus in the Old Testament:
• Is that he is there all the while;
• Great little book; “Christ in all the Scriptures” by A. H Hodgkin.
• The ‘mystery’ of the Messiah is something God had hinted at in one way or another,
• But now he has clearly revealed him for all to see.
Ill:
Possible Quote:
Question: What is this mystery?
Answer: The mystery is Christ!
• The whole of the Old Testament was and still is pointing forwards to him.
• Christ is the key to unlocking its treasures and understanding the big picture.
These verses tell us that God wants his children to have three things:
• “Understanding”.
• “Wisdom”
• “Knowledge”.
These three words used by Paul:
• Were actually being touted about by the ‘Gnostics’ the false teachers:
• But here Paul takes them and gives them their true meaning;
• And sources them not in experiences and extra religious writings;
• But in Jesus Christ.
All this true wisdom, says Paul, is ‘Hidden in Christ’:
• The word he uses for hidden is ‘apokruphos’.
• His very use of that word is a blow aimed at the Gnostics.
• ‘Apokruphos’ means hidden from the common gaze, and therefore secret.
• The ‘Gnostics’ the false teachers taught they had secret knowledge.
• Knowledge that the ordinary person in the Church could never understand.
• This hidden knowledge was barred to the ordinary person.
By using this one word Paul is saying,
"You Gnostics have your wisdom hidden from ordinary people; we too have our knowledge, but it is not hidden in unintelligible books; it is hidden in Christ and therefore open to all men everywhere."
• The truth of Christianity is not a secret which is hidden for the select few!
• But a secret which is revealed for the ‘whosoever!’
Ill:
Discussion with a Jehovah’s witness.
• If a man picks up a New Testament in a hotel in the western world and reads it;
• That man will become a Christian not a J.W.
• If a woman picks up a New Testament in a bookshop in a third world country & reads it;
• She will become a Christian not a J.W.
They would ONLY become J.W.’s if they read your literature alongside it.
• The truth of Christianity is not a secret which is hidden,
• But a secret which is revealed in the Bible.
(5). Endure or Stand firm (verse 4-5).
“I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments.
For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how orderly you are and how firm your faith in Christ is”.
• The true Church must have the power to resist seductive teaching.
• It must be such that men cannot beguile it with enticing words.
Ill:
• There was a pastor of a local Church,
• Who was concerned about some unsavoury business outside his local school:
• His protests finally led to a court case,
• And the opposing barrister tried to do everything he could to discredit the pastor.
• “Are you a pastor?” the lawyer asked.
• “Yes” came the reply.
• The lawyer continued, “Does the word pastor mean shepherd?”
• The minister replied “Yes it does”.
• The lawyer then said;
• “If you are a shepherd , why are you not out taking care of your sheep?”
• The pastor replied;
• “I am caring for the sheep by fighting the wolves”.
Paul was very aware that enemies were attacking the Church at Colosse:
• And so Paul offered them some encouragement and advice,
• If they heeded his warning the Colossians could overcome their enemies.
• Ill: Now a sheep would never be able to scare off a wolf,
• But a sheep protected by and in the company of the Good Shepherd can!
Paul the caring shepherd warns this flock of sheep (Church at Colossae):
• To be wary of those who use deceptive or enticing words.
• The Greek term used here is taken from the law-courts;
• It was a word used for the persuasive power of a lawyer's arguments,
• Which could enable the criminal to escape his just punishment.
• The true Church should have such a knowledge of Christ;
• That they will be unmoved by fine sounding, seductive arguments.
Verse 5
• Paul uses a military illustration to help them.
• He tells them and us that the true Church should display a soldier's discipline.
“For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how orderly you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.”
• The words “Order” and “Firm” or “Stead fastness” are military terms.
• They describe an army that is solidly united against the enemy.
Ill:
• Order describes the arrangement of the army in ranks,
• With each soldier in his proper place.
• Not everybody can be a five-star general,
• But •the general could never fight the battle alone.
Ill:
• Standing firm or steadfastness pictures the soldiers in battle formation,
• Presenting a solid front to the enemy.
• Christians ought to be solid in their faith,
• Just as soldier is on the battlefield.
So Paul tells these Christians to stand firm (endure):
• The need to be on guard against seductive teaching & enticing words.
• All they need is found in Jesus Christ.
Ill:
A Red Indian (Native American) walked into his bank,
• Looked the bank manager in the eye and said:
• “Sheep ill, grass gone, waterhole dry”.
• Without speaking the manger of the bank took him into the back room,
• The room where the safety deposit boxes are kept.
• He opened a box belonging to the Indian;
• It was full of golden nuggets that he had panned in the river.
• Once again he looked the bank manager in the eye and said:
• “Sheep good, grass green, plenty of water”.
• Now his circumstances had not changed,
• But he realized that he had more than enough resources to cope.
