THE PASTOR’S POINTS
sermon ministry of
CEDAR LODGE BAPTIST CHURCH
Thomasville, NC
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July 5, 1992
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It’s just as important to the Christian faith to know why you believe, as it is to know what you believe. The evangelist George Whitfield was witnessing to a man, "What do you believe?" The man replied, "I believe what my church believes." "And what does your church believe?" asked Whitfield. "What I believe," replied the man. Undaunted, the evangelist tried one more time. "And what do you both believe?" "Why, we both believe the same thing!"
We study a book like Colossians because we must continually guard against new ways Satan will attempt to steal our sharpness as defenders of the faith...
To wit:
Is New Age really new? Are horoscopes, individualism and drug abuse merely contemporary problems?
Answer:
Not on your life! They’re new clothes for the same scams Lucifer used in Eden. Colossians undresses ’em!
A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO COLOSSIANS
The letter is from Paul, held captive in a Roman prison. If you’ve read the book of Philemon, you would be aware that both were written at the same time, and sent back to Colosse with Onesimus.
Ephesians may have also been in the same mail bag. Epaphras had been saved, evidently at Ephesus, and was instrumental in starting the church in his hometown of Colosse.
The occasion of this note is the danger that they were being led astray by some false teaching. They were being told to tone down their view of Jesus. It was okay to include Him in...just don’t get too fanatical about it! Paul didn’t spend a lot of words attacking the false teaching; he simply held up Jesus. Banks will train tellers to recognize false currency without ever showing them a counterfeit bill. They simply start them out with large stacks of real bills and say, "Count it!" After counting thousands of real bills, you know a fake instantly!
The Colossian church was being led to believe that Jesus was less than Lord of all. This is not Christianity; it is the kind of syncretism that says Jesus is OK - we’ll put him up on the shelf next to Mary, and Buddha, and money, and career, and the Daytona 500." Beloved, your Christology (what you believe about Jesus) determines your Christianity. As the old saying has it, "If He’s not Lord of all, He’s not [your] Lord at all!" Today, in this study of Colossians we will hold-up the real thing - Jesus as Lord! That’s what Paul did...He told them about Jesus. He told them first,
Faith in Jesus Brings Grace and Peace 1.1,2
Grace is that totally undeserved gift of God. It is what made Jesus come from heaven, allow Himself to be nailed, spread-eagle on a cross between two thieves on the town garbage dump. He died there for our sins. Grace cancels the brokenness of our sin. Paul called the people at the Colossian church "saints" [NIV translates "holy and faithful brothers"]. A saint is technically not "a very good person." Biblically, a saint is someone who, by faith, receives the grace of God on his own sin and brokenness.
To become a Hindu you have to stick metal rods through your cheeks, have wagons drag you through the street; you stick hooks in various parts of your body, and walk through fire. To become a Christian, you accept the grace of God in the gift of God - Jesus! Jesus has already suffered all the punishment it takes to satisfy God’s holiness. He did what we never could do. It is by grace we are saved through faith, and not of our own works - it is the gift of God! Grace cancels our brokenness.
Peace creates brotherhood. Is there anyone not in search of peace? Somewhere inside all of us is a "peace-shaped hole" that cries-out to be filled. At the end of WWII, General MacArthur said, "Today the guns are silent...the skies no longer rain death...the seas bear only commerce, men everywhere walk upright in the sunlight. The entire world is quietly at peace." We have all had times of stress that threatened to overwhelm....and then, came relief in some way...peace!
But, General Mac, that kind of peace doesn’t last very long. Soon there was Korea, Vietnam, Kuwait, and on, and on... But there IS a peace that is not tied to circumstances. It comes only through a relationship created by faith in Jesus. It comes from the brotherhood in Christ.
In the ’70’s we watched Alex Haley’s "Roots" as he traced six generations of his family back to Africa, and Kunte Kinte. In the opening segment the father, Omorro, holds his newborn son up facing the heavens and says to him, "Behold, the only thing greater than yourself." For those of you here this morning who have accepted God’s offer of peace in Christ, you know....you KNOW in your heart the peace that passes understanding. It only comes from a complete surrender of your life to Him. Faith in Jesus brings grace and peace. What else did Paul tell them about Jesus?
Faith in Jesus brings love for the saints 1.3-5
There is in this a rational sequence, and a related source.
RATIONAL SEQUENCE 1.3,4:
There is a principle of love that says: WE LOVE WHAT THE ONE WE LOVE LOVES Elizabeth loves going to the symphony. She is a "musical type." Before I wore her down and got her to marry me, it was my considered opinion that symphony orchestras were "instruments of torture." I’m learning to love it...BECAUSE SHE LOVES IT. (Shopping will take another 25 years, I’m sure!)
The rational sequence is that, when you love Jesus, you begin to love what Jesus loves. The Bible declares that God, in Jesus, loved the whole world enough to die for us. He loved the church. Do you? He loves giving, helping. The people of Colosse had their faith "in Christ." That is the place to be! And if we are "in Christ" we are to be in with Christ’s church. Do you know people who SAY they are "in Christ," but have nothing to do with His church? If you love Christ, and have faith in Christ, you will love His church (or hang around until He teaches you how.)
THE RELATED SOURCE:
Another principle - THE SOURCE OF LOVE IS THE ONE WE LOVE. Love has many reciprocals. There is giving and taking. But there is only one source. Love has its source in Christ (Col 1.5). Faith in Jesus brings love into our lives for all the saints. If you have trouble with the idea of loving the saints, you’d better double check if you really want to be a Christian at all. After all, heaven is a place where the saints will spend eternity TOGETHER! If you have no love for the saints, you’d better check your source.
Paul told the Colossian church that faith in Jesus brings grace, peace and love for the saints, and....
Faith in Jesus brings evangelism 1.6-8
Do you know believers who SAY they love Jesus, and have faith in Jesus, but never witness? Jesus was a faithful witness on every page of the New Testament. Paul told the church at Colosse of the fruitful results the gospel was enjoying all over the world (1.6). The main purpose a Christian has after he is saved, until the time he goes home to be with the Lord, is to take as many people with him as possible.
God is interested in fruitfulness. As such He is dependent on Faithful responders (1.7,8). You need to remember that Paul never saw Colosse. The church was not started by an ordained preacher. Epaphras got saved, and (not knowing better) went home and started witnessing faithfully for Jesus. He helped others get saved, and before long there was a church full of Gentiles that Paul needed to minister to.
Alexander Whyte was a big-time preacher in England in the late 1800’s. A salesman by the name of Rigby used to travel just to hear Whyte. One Sunday morning Rigby asked a fellow traveler to go to church with him. The man was reluctant, but he went, met Christ, and trusted Him as Savior. The next day Rigby called on Alexander Whyte to tell him how the acquaintance had been won. When introduced, Whyte exclaimed, "You’re the man I’ve wanted to meet for years." He went into his study and returned with a bundle of letters. Whyte read some excerpts to Rigby - letters of changed lives - men who had been brought to hear the gospel by this one salesman. Preachers may preach, but without the faithful response of dedicated lovers of Jesus in the pew, it will be just one more breeze.
Conclusion: Christology determines Christianity.
Is Jesus God? To you? Christianity is Jesus. The Bible is either right or wrong. Jesus was either the eternal God visiting this planet in flesh, or He was a lunatic. No other possibility! He was not just a nice man, or a great teacher, or philosopher. And Christianity conflicts too dramatically to say any other "faith" is just as good. Christianity excludes EVERYTHING else.
God is a jealous God. He won’t share His glory with anyone or any thing! Narrow-minded? Yes, thank God! Where do YOU stand?
In "Mysticism of the East" the author describes a scene where a Communist Commissar is addressing a crowd of 7000 Russian people. He tells them that religion is no longer needed. The state and science will provide all they really need. God is obsolete. He was persuasive, convincing. He was so certain of his argument he offered to answer any questions. An old priest from the Orthodox church, now outlawed, asked if he could speak. "Yes, but only 3 minutes," said the Commissar. The old priest walked to the platform, looked at the crowd, and said, "Christ is risen!" As one, the 7000 people shouted, "Christ is risen, indeed!"
Faith in Jesus will bring you grace, peace, love for the saints and a zest for evangelism. It’s a promise that doesn’t wither or fade; its forever!
