Intro: “The seductive allure of the counterfeit has confounded men throughout the ages. Homer, in his mythological tale The Odyssey personified the perils of deception in the story of the Sirens – mythological ½ women, ½ bird creatures who lived on an island in the Mediterranean Sea. Their beautiful, melodious songs were so enchanting that passing sailors strayed from their chartered course and crashed their ships on the rocky shoreline. The short-lived appeal of the Sirens’ song quickly gave way to the horrible reality of a painful death as the creatures came down from the rocks and devoured the flesh of the shipwrecked sailors.
2 men overcame the powerful enticement of the Sirens but in very different ways. Ulysses was warned of the fatal songs yet remained fascinated with the prospect of hearing the beautiful sounds with his own ears. He plugged the sailor’s ears with beeswax and then had himself lashed to the ship’s mast. As the ship sailed past the Sirens’ rocky home, the sailors were unaffected by the sweet-sounding songs while Ulysses was physically restrained from acting on the desires that stirred within him.
Orpheus was a musician of legendary renown and he took a different approach to escape the Sirens’ snare. When the Argonauts sailed into the treacherous waters surrounding the deadly isle, Orpheus began to lay and sing. The beauty of Orpheus’s music was so genuine and compelling that the Sirens no longer held any appeal for the crew.
False teaching is a lot like the Sirens. It is purposely made to sound sweet, enticing, and alluring. It is deceptive and dangerous.” (Max Anders – Holman NT Commentary).
Now Paul, a prisoner or a better term may be captive was under house arrest most likely in Rome writes a letter to the church in Colosse to help them navigate their way thru some false teaches. This letter stands like a lighthouse amidst the jagged edges of false teachings.
This letter is easily divided for us with chapters 1-2 detailing a theme of Christ is Lord. While chapters 3-4 provide instruction for living like Christ is Lord of our life.
The letter was written probably in the early 60s A. D. but, Epaphras it is believed, started the church in Colosse. We know that Paul did not start it for in Col 2:1 he states, For I want you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf and for those who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not personally seen my face. A comment like that tends to make us lean towards the decision that they had not met the Apostle.
We begin our journey thru Colossians in vs. 1
I. God’s Grace and Peace in the Christian’s Personal Life Comes From Knowing the Power of the Gospel (vs. 1-2).
This great letter begins with an address stating who the letter is from. Today we place our greetings at the end of the letter. During this time, most letters of length would have been written on a scroll of varying length [bring out scroll] thus if you placed your name at the end you either had to un-roll the scroll or wait until you reached the end.
A. From Paul the Apostle (vs. 1). Paul begins right off the bat stating he is an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. [Read vs. 1] It is important for him to make this statement of authority because there was a false teaching that was growing and it threatened to uproot the strong foundations that had been built on Christ.
The reason Paul wrote this letter was to combat some conflicting and false teachings. The sufficiency of Christ is the core conflict going on in Colosse and Paul writes to them to set them straight.
So, Paul wrote with the authority of an apostle. Apostolos means “sent one” and in the New Testament is used as an official title of the men God uniquely chose to be the foundation layers of the church and the receivers, teachers, and writers of His final revelation—the New Testament. The apostolic duties were to preach the gospel (1 Cor. 1:11), teach and pray (Acts 6:4), work miracles (2 Cor.12:12), build up other leaders of the church (Acts 14:23), and write the Word of God (Eph. 1:1; etc.). MacArthur’s Commentary on Ephesians.
He is not simply a messenger, but an official representative of the One who sent him. What he writes in this letter is not merely his opinion, but God’s authoritative Word. We do not call people apostles today – probably the closet we might have would perhaps be a church planter, but even then they are not apostles.
I want to make an additional note and not for the purpose of putting me or any other pastor on a pedestal: when preachers stand in the pulpit, they are standing there as a representative of God. Therefore, they must make every attempt to ensure what they say is accurate; that the word of God is accurately handled. The difference is that what a preacher says is not and does not become God’s authoritative word. There is no new revelation from God as His Word is final. We are not writing another Bible. Preachers are human too and from time to time mistakes will be made. One of our jobs is to help the church understand what the Bible says how the Bible applies to your life today.
This first verse ends by stating that Timothy is with the apostle. He is not saying that Timothy is the co-author of this letter, but simply that Timothy is with him and in agreement with him. Vs. 2 tells us who he is writing to. [vs. 2a]
B. To the Saints (vs. 2a). To the saints and faithful brethren. Some people think of old statues on an old church as being the saints. Those are not who Paul is talking about. These are not the saints of the Catholic Church. This is the text in Greek: Hagios kai Pistos adelphos.
Let me break this funny Greek sentence down for you. Hagios is a word also translated as holy. It means to set apart. Peter quoted from OT in 1Pete 1:16 “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY. Friends, you are to be Holy and God gave you the Spirit to help you make right choices to be holy.
Kai is the 2nd word. This is a word linking what appear to be 2 groups – saints and faithful brethren. It is a conjunction. You may remember the old school house rock – Conjunction junction what’s your function… This word has various meanings such as and, also, but, even; that is, and namely.
Pistos means faithful, reliable, also translated as believe, believers, faithful etc…
Finally adelphos means mostly brother; at times translated as fellow believer; fellow countryman, fellowman
When we put this together We probably should read this as, to the ones set apart namely the believing or faithful believers.
I broke that down to help you understand what that means. What this means is this: This letter is equally for you being a faithful believer. When you are a faithful believer, you are a saint. You are to live a holy life, set apart, not away from the world and not isolated. We are not to be influenced by the world, but we are to influence the world.
The Bible tells us that you, Christian are to be set apart and any time you are not perusing holy lives we are not living out our Identity in Christ – we are living contrary to Jesus Christ. The truth about God’s gospel is that it sets you free and it sets you apart – it allows you to become holy.
C. The City (vs. 2b). But, the first audience was to those at Colossae. Colossae is a city in what is today the country of Turkey. It was a rather small town located about 120 miles east of Ephesus and 7 miles away from the city mentioned in Revelation of Laodicea. The spiritual health of the city sounds much like almost any city in America today by that meaning that there was a hodge-podge of beliefs – a pluralistic society. Probably the majority of people could be described as animists.
They believed in the reality of the gods and goddesses as well as in the pervasive influence of good and evil spirits. It is thought because of some finds in the ancient city that they believed in many different gods – the Ephesian Artemis, the Laodicean Zeus, the local moon god Men, the lunar goddess Selene, and others. It was also common of the time to blend many of the different beliefs into a new belief – the word for that is syncretism.
We still have this today. When you someone says they believe that truth is found in all religions that is syncretism. While they may not openly say it, that thought is the beginning syncretism. This thought is dangerous to Christianity because it directly contradicts what Jesus taught. When people think this way it belittles the supremacy of Christ. There is more on this later in the book.
Listen to what Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” (Jhn 14:6). Jesus is not a God of Buddhism, Islam or any other belief system so in their belief, He is not their way. But, He is the Way – the only way, He is the Truth – the only truth. He is the life – only He provides the way to eternal life.
Jesus provides eternal life thru salvation grace. However moving back into the opening of this letter Paul mentions grace, but this is not salvation grace.
II. The Church Must Administer Grace to Everyone (vs. 2). Paul began many of his letters with this salutation and here we find two vitally important words for the Christian [read vs 2]. These 2 words sit like a golden nugget for everyone to find.
Illustration: While living in Alaska, Jacob and I went gold panning. We had a shovel, pan, and bucket to catch the larger rocks. Not knowing what to do or where to look we attempted to pan the best we could. I would shovel a pile into the bucket that had holes in the bottom of it. The water and the smaller dirt would fall into the pan. Then you begin swirling the pan around and around because gold has a certain weight, it falls a certain way in the water and in the pan. All we found was little bits of gold dust – no flakes and no nuggets. All that work for just dust.
Not so in the opening of Paul’s letters. We find nuggets right from the get-go. The first is Grace.
This Greek word charis has the meaning of kindness and mercy. Paul is wishing upon the believers kindness – that God would be kind towards them. This is what is called common grace. This is not salvation grace. Salvation grace would not make sense since he already mentioned that they were faithful believers. Common grace is the grace of God by which he gives people innumerable blessings that are not part of salvation. The word common here means something that is common to all people and this grace is not restricted to believers.
Illustration: Philip Yancy tells the story told to him by someone who works with the down and out in Chicago. In his book, “What’s so Amazing About Grace?” he writes, “A prostitute came to me in wretched straits, homeless, sick, unable to buy food for her 2 yr old daughter. Through sobs and tears, she told me she had been renting out her daughter – 2 years old! She made more renting out her daughter for an hour than she could earn on her own in a night. She had to do it, she said, to support her own drug habit. I could hardly bear hearing her sordid story. For one thing it made me legally liable – I’m required to report cases of child abuse. I had no idea what to say to this woman.
At last I asked if she had ever thought of going to a church for help. I will never forget the look of pure, naïve shock that crossed her face. ‘Church!’ she cried. ‘Why would I ever go there? I was already feeling terrible about myself. They’d just make me feel worse.’
What struck me about the story is that women much like this prostitute fled towards Jesus, not away from Him. The worse a person felt about herself, the more likely she saw Jesus as a refuge. Has the church lost that gift? Evidently the down-and-out, who flocked to Jesus when He lived on earth, no longer feel welcome among His followers.
There are a lot of good organizations out in the world that do a lot of good things. You don’t have to be a Christian to build houses, feed the poor, or heal the sick. What is it that makes the church different? Grace! Grace is the difference. The world cannot offer grace. This is why we sing the hymn – Amazing Grace how sweet the sound.
The world is hungry for Grace. People all around are looking for it and long for it. Yancy also writes, “Grace is Christianities best gift to the world, a spiritual nova in our midst exerting a force stronger than vengeance, stronger than racism, stronger than hate. Sadly, to a world desperate for this grace the church sometimes presents on them more forms of ungrace.
Every institution runs on un-grace and the insistence that we earn our way. By that I’m saying that we reward those who do right and work hard. Airline frequent flyers, sports teams rewards those who complete passes, throw strikes, or make baskets – there is no place for those who fail. Have you ever seen the list of the 500 richest people in the world? Have you ever seen a list of the 500 poorest people? Of course not, because our society rewards success – we do not operate on grace. God bestows grace on whomever He chooses. God said to Moses, “I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION.”
Illustration: There was a woman brought before Jesus caught in the act of adultery. The Pharisee wanted her to be stoned as the Law commanded. They wanted to trick Jesus, they wanted to find fault with his teachings. He bent over and began writing in the sand and one by one the men disappeared. Then Jesus said, go and sin no more. Do you know what that is? That is grace. It is undeserved love from God.
A young girl was tired of her parents strict rules; they were keeping from having fun. So one night she has an argument with her father, “I hate you!” she screams. Later that night she decides to run away. She made it to a big city and met a man who buys her lunch, arranges a place for her to stay, and gives her some pills to make her fell better. She decides this is the good life.
The good life continues for a month, 2 months, a year. The nice man, she calls him Boss – teaches her how to do things that men liked and since she is underage men pay a premium for her. In turn he allowed her to live in a nice penthouse apt, orders room service as she pleases. Occasionally she thinks about her life back home – her parents, how her golden retriever would run out to greet her, but that life is a long way away.
Before she realizes what is happening she is out on the street addicted to drugs and needing a fix. One night as she laid covered with newspapers over her coat she realized she is no longer a woman of the world – she is feels like a little girl, lost in a cold and frightening city.
“God why did I leave?” She says to herself. The pain stabs her heart. “My dog back home eats better than I do now.” She is crying now and realizes that more than anything else she wants to go home. She calls and leaves a message on her parents answering machine – I want to come home, I’m taking a bus and I’ll be there in 3 days around midnight. If you’re not there, well, I guess I’ll just stay on the bus unit it hits Canada.
On the trip home she is thinking about what she will say – if they are even there. She rehearses in her mind the scene. The bus finally arrives. The driver calls out “15 minutes is all we have here.” She has 15min to decide her life.
She walks into the terminal not knowing what to expect. There in the concrete-walls-and-plastic-chairs of the bus terminal stood a group of 40 brothers, sisters, aunt, uncles, grandparents, and parents – all wearing funny party hats and blowing noise makers. She stares thru the tears quivering in her eyes like hot mercury and begins her memorized speech, “Dad, I’m sorry. I know…”
Her dad interrupts her. “Shhhh child. We’ve got no time for that. No time for aplogies, were late for the part party. A banquets waiting for you at home.” In life, we are always looking for a catch, but in Jesus’ stories there isn’t one. In the story of the prodigal there is unconditional love called grace.
Grace comes free of charge to those who don’t deserve it, and I am one of them. The church is supposed to be God’s administer of grace. Grace is the church’s great distinctive. It’s the 1 thing the world cannot duplicate, and the 1 thing the world craves above all else – for only grace can bring hope and transformation to a jaded world.
I want to close with the 2nd nugget Paul gives us. It is peace.
III. Peace Is The Product of Grace. When we have been blessed by God’s salvation grace and common grace it brings us peace.
John MacArthur writes, “Grace is the fountain of which peace is the stream.
Because we have grace from God we have peace with God and the peace of God, “which surpasses all comprehension” (Phil. 4:7).”
We have peace with God and it gives us peace with ourselves. God’s anger no longer burns against us and we also should not have any fear. God’s peace produces a joy that cuts thru all of life’s circumstances and boundaries. It is God alone who offers and gives salvation grace and peace for all people.
It is God and His institution that is to administer grace to everyone. Once a climate of forgiveness has been established and once people know that they are loved, then they begin to open up and allow bridges to be built.
Conclusion. When Billy Graham was driving through a small southern town, he was stopped by a policeman and charged with speeding. Graham admitted his quilt, but was told by the officer that he would have to appear in court.
The judge asked, "Guilty, or not guilty?" When Graham pleaded guilty, the judge replied, "That’ll be ten dollars -- a dollar for every mile you went over the limit."
Suddenly the judge recognized the famous minister. "You have violated the law," he said. "The fine must be paid--but I am going to pay it for you." He took a ten dollar bill from his own wallet, attached it to the ticket, and then took Graham out and bought him a steak dinner! "That," said Billy Graham, "is how God treats repentant sinners!"
Grace is not a cover for sins. Sin must still be dealt with. You still need to confess to God and ask for forgiveness. If you have never done that, I urge you to ask God right now to forgive you, then come forward and seek accountability.
