I’ll Take HIM!!!!
Colossians 2:1-5
In the days of
the Roman Empire, a certain wealthy senator became estranged from his son.
A) When he died
unexpectedly, his will was opened, it read - ‘Because my son does not appreciate what I’ve
done, I leave all of my worldly possessions to my loyal slave, Marcellus,.
‘However, because I am a man of grace, I bequeath to my son ONE of my
possessions of his choosing.’
B) ‘Sorry,’ said the
testator to the son. ‘You can only take one of your dad’s possessions. Which
will it be?’ The son replied - ‘I take Marcellus,’
1) Smart by taking
Marcellus – he got everything else !!!
C) Well that is precisely
the idea that Paul is wanting the believers in the Church of Colosse to CATCH
1) When you take Jesus Christ, you get all the treasures of wisdom
and knowledge thrown in !!!!
D) When you open your
heart to Him, you find everything you need. It’s all in Him.
The occasion for this
epistle that Paul wrote to the Colossians was that there were MEN who had
entered into the church, and they were undermining people’s confidence in Jesus Christ.
A) They readily admitted that Christ was important,
but they also stated that there was more
that was needed.
1) So in essence, they were saying that Christ was
not sufficient for everything that they needed in order to live a godly life.
B) They were also saying , "You are not
complete in Christ. – Listen to and follow us and we will help you become
complete.
1) So Paul
wrote this epistle to combat these men.
Now the theme of this epistle to the Colossians could be
easily, "The sufficiency of
Christ",
A)You see that is what Paul really drives home over
and over again in this letter, that Christ is sufficient,
B) that Jesus Christ is all that we need as God’s
people in order to live a life that will glorify God here on earth.
C) Well it is here in Chapter 2 that Paul begins to
address the different deceptions that were being thrown at his Colossian
friends –
1) note v.4
again 4 Now
this I say lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words.
D)
Paul was wanted to keep them from getting ripped off
!!!!
When Evan Wickham our JR. High Pastor addressed the
graduating 8th grade class this past Thursday – ( awesome Job) –
A) He began by saying I have some good news and some
Bad news for you today which do you want first – They picked the Bad –
B) This is what He told them – THE WORLD IS AFTER YOU
Now
the good news is that GOD IS ALSO AFTER US !!!!
C) But It is
True the world is after us – Entice us – Stumble us – Distract us – Destroy us
– the world is after us –
1) That is Paul’s concern here in the book of
Colossians – and that believers would not be ripped off by the deceptions of
the day
D) That
their faith would be undermined & they would become shipwrecked by these
men who would come into the Church to deny the Sufficiency of Christ w/ their Persuasive
deceptions
E) The very thought of it was
killing Paul - For
I want you to know what a great conflict I have for you and those in Laodicea,
and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh
The Greek word that’s translated conflict in our version
here, is the word from which we get our English word, to agonize.
A) And the word originally referred to athletic
competition, the athletes competing against one another, striving with one
another.
B) Here in this context Paul uses it to describe his
prayer life, as he prayed for the Church in Colossae / It was a conflict. It
was a striving. It was a battle!
1) Griffith
Thomas had something quite appropriate to say in regard to prayer as conflict.
He said: "Prayer
regarded as a conflict includes the two things: toil and strife.”
C) The toil
of prayer shows us that actual work is involved in it. Prayer can be labor
intensive – can be like delivering a baby – Long and hard
D) Sometimes, we hear the statement, ‘if
you can’t do nothing else, you can pray,’
1) as though prayer was the easiest of all types of
Christian service. And our last RESORT.
E) In Reality Prayer should be our first resort
but prayer in not the easiest of our Christian disciplines but in reality it is
the HARDEST – Labor intensive
The strife involved in prayer implies opposition, a struggle
against unseen foes, the forces that above all want to thwart our petitions.
A) The apostle Paul knew by actual spiritual
experience that to pray was to arouse against himself a mighty opposition.
B) And it was this malignant force that made his
prayer life such a great conflict."
C) QUESTION – Do you
agonize over people or do you get angry at them ?
1) Do you complain get Critical when you see someone
going astray / messing up / falling off track or do you go to battle in Prayer
!!!!
D) Paul was one who Battled in Prayer !!!!
Now in the coming weeks we will explore some of the false
teachings that were being thrown at these believers in Colossae –
A) But in the
remainder of our time today I want to consider Paul’s 4 fold plan for avoiding
deception – seen in what he prays
B) Keep
connected / Keep Climbing / Keep Committed / Consumed
C) Keep
Connected V. 2 that
their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love,
The word (encouraged) is parakaleoô
in grk = “to call alongside.”
A) Because a person can be called alongside for many purposes, the word has a
wide range of meanings.
B) Called along side to
Help / to comfort / to exhort / to motivate
1) In the present context, it could be translated
“strengthen” because the Colossians were beset by false teachers & needed
strengthening
rather than comfort.
C) Commentator William Barclay cites an example of parakaleoô from
classical Greek that parallels its usage here.
There
was a Greek regiment which had lost heart and was utterly dejected. The general sent a leader to talk to them in
hopes that courage would be reborn and a body of dispirited men would
become united and fit again for heroic
action.
D) That is what [parakaleoô] means
here. It is Paul’s prayer that the Church may be filled with that courage which
can cope with any situation.
1) And part of that strengthening happens when they
are KNIT TOGETHER
E) The word Knit – speaks of Connection – A
rope that is intertwined
1) Connecting strands of a garment together and all
of them being connected to the whole !!!!!
What
this means is that part of our protection against spiritual predators is living
our lives in community.
A) This was important to Paul
– Phil 1:27 Only
let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and
see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one
spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel,
B) Important to JESUS – JN 17
Jesus prayed
that his disciples would be one as He and the Father were one
C)
Jesus & Paul stressed staying CONNECTED because one of the first things the
devil will do is to try and isolate you.
1)
Because he knows that an isolated Christian will never come to maturity in the faith.
D) There is a direct link w/ being involved w/ a
body of believers and growing in maturity in Christ / as well as experiencing
all that Christ has
1) Just like – my hand is
useless in less it is connected to the Body – so too the Christian needs
to be connected – Satan knows that !!!
E) And so he
will do everything in his power to keep you from the fellowship of the saints.
He wants to keep you away from other believers, because
when you’re with other believers, what happens?
A) You get encouraged. You get comforted. You get
consoled. You get exhorted. { COALS IN
A FIRE – together hot / isolated cold
B) And so part of Satan’s campaign against you, he
will try to keep you from fellowship.
1) He will try to keep you from gathering together
with other believers.
C) I am sure
that you have had those experiences where – you are planning lets say to come
to Bible study on Wed nite or Home fellowship on Fri
1) Horrible day everything goes wrong / Traffic /
tired worn out
D) Then you get into a fight with your wife / CONDEMNED
/ everything that can go wrong goes
wrong –
1) But later in the week – when you’re going to the movies / Padres – you have a great day
every thing comes together - Why is
that ?
E) Satan doesn’t care if you go to the movies / or the Padres
– but he doesn’t want you to be in fellowship
1) He doesn’t want you to stay connected to other
believers – he would love to see you become a LONE RANGER
We’re reminded of the importance of being vigilant when it
comes to fellowship. In Hebrews Chapter 10, 24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up
love and good works,25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as
is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you
see the Day approaching.
A) See that’s what fellowship is all about. It’s
about exhorting each other. It’s about encouraging and comforting each
other / Correcting
in error
B) It’s about sharing the love of Christ with one
another. It is about STIRRING ONE ANOTHER UP TO
LOVE & GOOD WORKS
1) And you see, as I hear your experiences with the
Lord,& as you hear mine,& as we pray for one another, we’re building
each other up in the faith.
C) Listen that type of fellowship and connection is
stuff that happens beyond the Sunday morning experience .
1) / Home groups / men’s and women’s fellowships
D) Not connected to a small group of believers who
can encourage you in that way – I highly encourage you to get connected to a
small group .
So we see the importance of Staying connected / Next we see
that we need to KEEP CLIMBING !!!
A) Plague at
the foot of the Alps – He died CLIMBING –
that is Paul’s heart here when he says
and
attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the
knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ,3 in whom are
hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
B) God doesn’t just want to see us connected – Knit together
in love – He wants to see us ATTAINING –
1) Word Attain means to Apprehend
–laying a hold of something – Picture on the MT Climber – keeps Scaling
- determined to reach the top/
C) This is his
desire, that they might attain to all riches.
Now what are some of the riches that Paul might be talking
about here?
A) I’m sure there are many things that we could think of. But two things that
stand out to me, would be the riches of joy and of peace.
B) Now we use those terms a lot. The Bible uses them
over and over again. But this is the question. Do we really have joy and peace?
1) They are indeed riches. You know why? Because they’re
rare. It is rare to find a person who truly has joy.
C) You see, it’s one of the riches because of its
rarity. It’s available in Christ. 1) And It can’t be found anywhere outside of Christ.
D) There’s no
joy in the world. You have fleeting moments of happiness in the world. But
Happiness is contingent on circumstances.
1) Now once in awhile, people’s circumstances work
to make them happy.
E) But joy is a permanent sense of satisfaction, a permanent
sense of thrill and excitement, because of what God has done. There is no joy in the world. 1) There’s joy in
Christ, but unfortunately many Christians don’t experience it - And the same is true with peace.
There’s no peace in the world. People aren’t at peace with
each other. They’re not at peace with themselves.
A) And again, unfortunately there are many
Christians who don’t experience peace. Why?
B) The reason is this the Riches of Peace and Joy
are a result of something which results from something else. Paul makes this
clear here
C) The riches are a result of a full assurance, or it could be
translated, complete confidence.
1) The riches are a result of full assurance, or
complete confidence. And complete confidence is a result of thorough
understanding.
E) A thorough understanding of the Mystery of Christ
– Which Paul has already cleared up for us – Ch.1:27 Christ
in you is your hope of glory
But here is the sad thing - there are many people in the
church today who do not have complete confidence in Jesus Christ.
A) They don’t have the full assurance that Jesus is
all that they need. – Because they really don’t Believe that Christ is in them
/ With them
B) They know nothing of being led by the Spirit – to
walk in the Spirit
1) New Covenant life – Responding to God’s Spirit in
their hearts – to lead them -
C) They walk w/ the Lord / they serve the Lord –
they try to be good Christians – all in the energy of their Flesh
Eph 3:20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above
all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,
D) Paul says
that all the treasure of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ – Not hidden
from us in
Christ – like it is a game
of hide & seek
1) Hidden for us in Christ – ready to be discovered –
the more that we seek Him – the more that we consider Him / Yield to Him !!!!
So Keep Climbing – keep digging into the treasure Chest of
truth concerning Jesus – Result – understand how rich you are –
A) Result in a confidence in the Lord
B) Next Stay Committed v.5 For though I am absent in the flesh, yet I
am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness
of your faith in Christ.
C) Now here
were two
things that Paul rejoiced over in regards to these saints.
The first was their GOOD
ORDER - The
Greek word that Paul uses here is actually a Military term that referred to
a marching formation.
A) Speaks of discipline
- connected to the 2nd which is the steadfastness of their
faith.
B) The
picture here is of a
flowing river, constant, steady, always moving forward.
1)
Speaks of endurance { Staying the Course -
C)
What Paul is
excited about here is faith that was in for the long haul.
D) Greg Laurie likes to say, “it’s not how high
you can jump that
matters, but how straight you walk when you hit the ground.
1)
That’s the kind of faith that Paul rejoiced over.
Keep Connected/ Climbing / committed / Lastly Consumed
6 As you therefore have received Christ
Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,7 rooted and built up in Him and established in
the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.
NKJV