Strength for the Journey
Colossians 1:21-29
If you got a letter from someone in prison a man you personally have never met and he stepped on your toes about surrendering to the Lordship of Christ how would you respond?
That’s exactly what happened here. Paul head led Epaphras the pastor of the church at Colossae to faith in Jesus and Epaphras started this church. Paul focuses in this first chapter on the Lordship of Jesus Christ. He pulled no punches on the supremacy of Jesus. He preached hard just as I did last week to you because he knew that there are many things that will deceive, distract and dilute the Christian into thinking that Jesus can be a church thing but not our everything.
He spends the next three chapters showing the reasons why Jesus has to be first in our lives. Chapter 2:1-10 he says philosophy can poison the mind of believers and dilute the lordship of Jesus. How many of our youth have gone on to secular universities and been deceived by philosophy?
Chapter 2:11-11-23 he says that legalism will creep in and distract the believer from the Gospel of Grace. How many of churches demand things of believers and cause hard hearts of legalism?
Chapter 3:1:11 he writes that carnality worldliness will slowly seep into the believer’s life and dilute the believer in their walk with Jesus and ultimately make them ineffective for the cause of Christ.
He ends the letter with the family and if you have faithfully made Jesus your Lord then and only then will we have Godly homes and impact the generations to come.
See if we are going to make it on this journey of faith in Christ then Jesus has to be everything we are. He’s the one who provides Strength for the Journey. So Paul reminds them and us of that here in our text today he explains that by making 4 statements concerning them and himself notice them with me.
I. What you were (v.21a)
If you were saved as an adult you probably understand this truth better than those of us who were saved younger. You understand what your life was like before Jesus. And then that day came when you knew you needed Him
But if you were saved young imagine with me today, please think for a moment where you would be and what you would be like without Him. What would our lives look like without Christ?
The Bible says we were alienated. Estranged from God and separated from spiritual blessings. Why? Notice two truths:
A. Because of position
We were separated from God because of sin.
When the now-famous poet Elizabeth Barrett became the wife of Robert Browning, her parents disowned her because they disapproved of the marriage. Their daughter Elizabeth, however, wrote almost every week, telling them that she loved them and longed for a reconciliation. After 10 years, she received a huge box in the mail that contained all the notes she had sent. Not one had been opened! Although these "love letters" have now become a precious part of classical English literature, it’s really sad to think that they were never read by Elizabeth Barrett’s own parents. Had they looked at just one, the broken relationship with their daughter might have been healed. All of us are alienated from God because of sin, but God gave His son and wrote us this love letter His Word and He changed our position.
B. Because of practices
There is an enemy of the mind and that’s why the Bible says in Romans 8:7, “The carnal mind (mind of the unbeliever) is at enmity against God.” An unbeliever must Repent or change his mind in order to be saved.
The “wicked works” of sin comes from being deceived in the mind. This is true for the unbeliever and believers in Jesus Christ.
What’s difficult is to have people understand that the enemy is lying to them because they are deceived.
How many people are still angry and bitter of a past hurt from parents, or lived ones and fail to forgive. They now write someone off if they fail one time. The enemy has the ensnared and they must see the deception.
In the book The Bait of Satan John Bevere states, “If you are offended and in unforgiveness and refuse to repent of this sin, you have not come to the knowledge of the truth. You are deceived, and you confuse others with your hypocritical lifestyle. No matter what the revelation, your fruit tells a different story. You’ll become a spring spewing out bitter waters that will bring deception, not truth” (The Bait of Satan Bevere, pg. 19).
We must change our minds and forgive. Then we can become who God wants us to be.
I. What you were
II. Where you are (v.21b-23)
Once we trust Jesus and accept Him as the Savior of our sins then we are reconciled to God. If you have trusted Jesus you are placed on this journey of faith in Him because of His work on the Cross. That’s what the phrase means in v.22 “the body of His flesh.” His death brought us new life. Notice first of all:
A. The Plan of Reconciliation (v21b-22a)
Reconciled means to bring into agreement and harmony completely. It’s a change of state, a balance of the books. It means we were bound for hell but now we’re headed to heaven. This speaks of Positional holiness.
Because of Jesus we stand in a position with God that is in Christ holiness. Christ likeness His very image and nature has been placed into the lives of believers.
**v.22b-23**
B. The Purpose of Reconciliation (v.22b-23)
We will be presented to God position ally holy because of Jesus, blameless before God. But v.23 tells us how to live here the verse tells us of Personal holiness...our character:
You here me talk a lot about character because I know how important it is as a pastor and as a parent. I can’t go anywhere in this county without realizing people are watching me and ad folks people are watching us.
Why is this so important. Paul writes here in v.23 that if we continue in faith, grounded and steadfast then we will not move away from God. The Lord Jesus must be first or we are drifting away from Him and we cannot be all that God wants us to be.
John Morley said, “No man can climb beyond the limitations of his own character." John Morley
The purpose of reconciliation is to set us on this journey and sustain us through the journey. We have to cultivate our character along the way.
In the book The 7 Habits Of highly Effective People Stephen Covey states, “Habits are powerful factors in our lives. Because they are consistent, often unconscious patterns, they constantly, daily, express our character and produce our effectiveness…or ineffectiveness” (46).
How effective is our testimony? Our effectiveness for God is measured in the character we possess. Our character position ally and personally is what we are.
I What you were
II What you are
III. Why we do it (v.24-28)
Here is the Apostle Paul introducing himself and telling why he and Epaphras their pastor are in the ministry. Really all of us need to see this because this is also the reason for service within the body of Christ. This is why we are saved in the first place.
Paul says I rejoice in my sufferings. He’s in jail and praising Jesus for the fact that he is in jail for the Gospel. Why?
I’m here look at v.24, he says I’m here for you.
He’s telling them the Christian life is all about others. If Paul wouldn’t have shared the Gospel with Epaphras then these folks reading this letter would still be bound for hell.
Paul wrote in Philippians 2:4, “Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.” (KJV)
But there’s another reason why we serve for the Church body. He’s saying I’m willing to suffer imprisonment, ridicule even death so the church can flourish.
Ladies and gentlemen the church is not the opinion of 1, 10, or 100 the church is the body of Christ that Jesus died for. Its His church because He’s the one who died for it. That’s why we serve Him in the church.
But Paul also said that we serve because God willed that Christians know the riches of His glory and that is…Christ in you V.27
Man that’s my heartbeat. I want you to know who you are in Christ and wonderfully blessed you are.
I’m the most blessed man on the planet. I have the best wife anyone could ever have, 4 boys that I love to be with and I get the honor every week to stand up and preach to you wonderful people this glorious mystery that Jesus Christ would die for me and for you.
He gives a 4th reason to serve in v.28. That we can present the church family Perfect: that word means Lacking nothing for completeness. That every Christian will comprehend that they are totally complete in Jesus Christ. You don’t have to be a star athlete, beauty queen, have a PH.D, drive a SUV, have an ATV, or possess the patience to wait at the DMV...you are complete in Jesus.
**29**
IV. How we do it (v.29)
Paul writes that he has a realization of how he is in the situation he’s in. He knows why God has placed him into the ministry, his call is mapped out and the mission set before him is crystallized in his life. Here’s how he does it, Paul realizes two truths ITS:
A. His work
Jesus is working through Paul for the sake of His kingdom. We serve others because that’s what Jesus has called us to do. Paul tells us how to work...that word labor means to the point of exhaustion. Working means God or superhuman (satanic)
I watch my friend Dale Cassells the man’s a machine when it comes to labor. He worked on my house one week from before sun up to beyond sun down. Now he does that at their school that God has called them to do and he knows its God’s work.
Folks when we realize the call God has placed on our lives and that its His work we are doing we ought to work to the point of exhaustion; Why?
Paul tells us see that word “striving” in v.29. It means we have entered into a contest with our adversaries to contend and to struggle. We better remember church family, called out ones that we are in a battle with a real enemy.
So how can we do it if it’s that important? BY
B. His power
That word works is different in the Greek than the word working. Works means to come to the aide or power from one to another. The word mightily means in a fixed position, settled in time and place.
I’ll say it this way. When we come to the realization that we’re called by Him doing His work in His time we are absolutely settled and nothing on Earth or in hell can move us from that place.
God knows here this Christian, God knows what you need and when you need it and His power is settled in Heaven and Earth.
Conclusion:
If you and I are going to arrive safely through this journey of life here on Earth we better realize What we were, What we are , why we serve, and How we serve.
We better understand that its not how well we start or how good we are that its us staying close to Jesus by relying on His Lordship in our lives. That He has the right to our entire being on this journey.
So how do we succeed? I mean I have seen so many already damage their testimony, how do we finish well on the journey?
Steve Farrar was a pastor now author and men’s conference speaker. One of his books Finishing Strong is my favorite book besides the Bible. Another book he’s written is called Point Man.
In Point Man, he tells how we dads are the ones in the battle walking point for our families. He writes these words on how we succeed; “The major battle in spiritual warfare is the mind. The mind is the line of scrimmage in the Christian life, and whoever controls the line of scrimmage controls the game. The mind is where the enemy seeks to control us. If he can influence our minds, he can influence our behavior.”
**V.21** Don’t let the enemy influence your mind to do wicked works. **v.23** Stay on the journey headed for our hope.
**v.29** Your family is His work, your job is His work, do them in His power and you’ll have Strength for the Journey.
PRAY
