Thoughts from a Crosseyed Jesus Freak

Colossians 4:7-18

• Colossians 4:7-11
• 7 Tychicus, our dearly loved brother, faithful minister, and fellow servant in the Lord, will tell you all the news about me. 8 I have sent him to you for this very purpose, so that you may know how we are and so that he may encourage your hearts. 9 He is coming with Onesimus, a faithful and dearly loved brother, who is one of you. They will tell you about everything here. 10 Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, sends you greetings, as does Mark, Barnabas’s cousin (concerning whom you have received instructions: if he comes to you, welcome him), 11 and so does Jesus who is called Justus. These alone of the circumcised are my coworkers for the kingdom of God, and they have been a comfort to me.
  • The list of names at the end of this chapter is a list of heroes of the faith. We must remember the circumstances. Paul was in prison awaiting trial: and it is always dangerous to be a prisoner’s friend, for it is so easy to become involved in the same fate as the prisoner. It took courage for his friends to visit Paul in his imprisonment and to show that they were on the same side. Here’s what we know about these men
    • Tychius
      • He came from the Roman province of Asia and was most likely the representative of his church to carry its offering to the poor Christians of Jerusalem (Acts 20:4). To him also was entrusted the duty of bearing to the various destinations the letter we know as the letter to the Ephesians (Ephesians 6:21)
      • There is one rather interesting thing here. Paul writes the Tychicus will tell them all about how things are going with him. This shows how much was left to word of mouth and never set down in Paul’s letters at all. It was natural that the letters could not be very long, and they dealt with the problems of faith and conduct which were threatening the churches. The personal details were left to the bearer of the letter to tell. Tychicus, then, we can describe as Paul’s personal messenger
    • Onesimus
      • Paul’s way of mentioning him is full of courtesy. Onesimus was the runaway slave who had somehow reached Rome, and Paul was sending him back to his master Philemon. But he does not call him a runaway slave: he calls him a faithful and beloved brother. When Paul had anything to say about anyone, he always said the best that he could
    • Aristarchus
      • He was a Macedonian from Thessalonica (Acts 20:4). We get only fleeting glimpses of Aristarchus, but from these glimpses one thing emerges—he was clearly a good man to have around in a tight corner
      • He was there when the people of Ephesus rioted in the Temple of Diana, and was so much in the forefront that he was captured by the mob (Acts 19:29). He was there when Paul set sail for Rome as a prisoner (Acts 27:2). It may well be that he had actually enrolled himself as Paul’s slave in order that he might be allowed to make the last journey with him. And now he is here in Rome, Paul’s fellow prisoner
      • Clearly Aristarchus was a man who was always on hand when things were at their grimmest. Whenever Paul was in trouble, Aristarchus was there. The glimpses we have are enough to indicate a really good companion
    • Mark
      • Of all the characters in the early Church, Mark had had the most surprising career. He was so close a friend that Peter could call him his son (I Peter 5:13); and we know that, when he wrote his gospel, it was the preaching material of Peter that he was using
      • On the first missionary journey, Paul and Barnabas had taken Mark with them to be their secretary (Acts 13:5); but in the middle of the journey, when things got difficult, Mark quit and went home (Acts 13:13). It was a long time before Paul could forgive that. When they were about to set out on the second missionary journey, Barnabas wanted to take Mark with them again. But Paul refused to take the quitter again, and not his issue he and Barnabas parted company and never worked together again (Act 15:36-40)
      • Tradition says that Mark went as a missionary to Egypt and founded the church at Alexandria. What happened in the interim we don’t know; but we do know that he was with Paul in his last imprisonment, and Paul had once again come to look on him as a most useful man to have around (Philemon 24; II Timothy 4:11)
      • Mark was the man that redeemed himself. Here, in this brief reference, there is an echo of the old, unhappy story. Paul instructs the church at Colossi to receive Mark and to give him a welcome should he come. Why? Doubtless his churches looked with suspicion on the man whom Paul had once dismissed as useless for the service of Christ. And now Paul, with his habitual courtesy and thoughtfulness, is making sure that Mark’s past will not stand in his way, by giving him full approval as one of his trusted friends
      • The end of Mark’s career is a tribute at one and the same time to Mark and to Paul
    • Jesus called Justus
      • We know nothing but his name
    • These were Paul’s helps and comforters. We know that it was a rather cool welcome that the Jews in Rome gave him (Acts 28:17-29); but there were companions with him in Rome whose loyalty must have warmed his heart
• Colossians 4:12-15
• 12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. He is always wrestling for you in his prayers, so that you can stand mature and fully assured in everything God wills. 13 For I testify about him that he works hard for you, for those in Laodicea, and for those in Hierapolis. 14 Luke, the dearly loved physician, and Demas send you greetings. 15 Give my greetings to the brothers and sisters in Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her home.
  • So Paul continues this roll of honor
    • Epaphras
      • He must have been the minister of the Colossian church (Colossians 1:7). This passage would seem to mean that he was, in fact, an overseer of the churches in the group of three towns, Hierapolis, Laodicea, and Colossi. He was a servant of God who prayed and worked heard for the people over whom God had set him.
    • Luke
      • The beloved physician, who was with Paul to the end (II Timothy 4:11). Was he a doctor, who gave up what might have been a lucrative career in order to treat Paul’s thorn in the flesh and to preach Christ?
    • Demas
      • It is significant that Demas’ name is the only one to which some comment of praise and appreciation is not attached. He is Demas and nothing more. There is a story behind the brief references to Demas in the letters of Paul
        • In Philemon 24, he is grouped with those who are described as Paul’s fellow workers. Here in Colossians 4:14, he is simply Demas. And, in the last mention of him (II Timothy 4:10), he is Dams who has forsaken Paul because he loved this present world. Surely we have here the faint outlines of a study in degeneration, loss of enthusiasm, and failure in the faith. Here is one of the men who refused to be remade by Christ
      • Nympha
        • And the church that met in her home in Laodicea. We must remember that there was no such thing as a special church building until the third century. Up to that time, the Christian congregations met in the houses of those who were leaders of the church
        • There was the church which met in the house of Aquila and Priscila in Rome and Ephesus (Romans 16:5; I Corinthians 16:19). There was the church that met in the house of Philemon (Philemon 2)
        • In the early days, church and home were identical; and it is still true that every Christian home should also be a church of Jesus Christ
• Colossians 4:16
• 16 After this letter has been read at your gathering, have it read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea.
  • Here is one of the mysteries of Paul’s correspondence. The letter to the Colossians has to be sent on to Laodicea, and a letter is on the way from Laodicea to the Colossians. What was this Laodicean letter? Here are four possibilities
    • It may have been a special letter to the church at Laodicea
      • If so, it is lost, although, as we shall see shortly, an alleged letter to the Laodiceans still exists. It is certain that Paul must have written more letters than we possess. WE have only thirteen Pauline letters, covering roughly fifteen years. Many letters of his must have been lost, and it may be that the letter to Laodicea was one of them
    • It may be the letter we know as Ephesians
      • It is more or less certain that Ephesians was not written to the church at Ephesus but was a general letter meant to circulate among all the churches of Asia. It may be that this letter written for circulation had reached Laodicea and was now on the way to the Colossians
    • It may actually be the letter to Philemon
    • For many centuries, there has been in existence an alleged letter of Paul to the church at Laodicea
      • As we we have it, it is in Latin; but the Latin is such that it has every sign of being a literal translation of a Greek original. This letter is actually included in the Codex Fuldensis of the Latin NT which belonged to Victor of Capua and which goes back to the sixth century
      • This alleged Laodicean letter can be traced even further back. It was mentioned by the biblical scholar Jerome in the fifth century, but Jerome himself said that it was a forgery and that most people agreed that it was not authentic
      • The letter appears as follows
        • Paul, an apostle, not by men neither through any man, but through Jesus Christ, to the brothers who are at Laodicea. Grace be to you and peace from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ.
        • I thank Christ in every one of my prayers that you remain steadfast in him, and that you persevere in his works, awaiting his promise on the day of judgment. Let not the empty words of certain men seduce you, words of men who try to persuade you that you should turn away from the truth of the gospel which is preached by me
        • And now by bonds which I suffer in Christ are plain for all to see; in them I delight and joy. And this will result for me in everlasting salvation, a result which will be brought about by your prayers, and by the help of the Holy Spirit, whether by my life or by my death. For me to live is to be in Christ, and to die is joy. And may he in his mercy bring this very thing to pass in you, that you may have the same love, and that you may be of the one mind
        • Therefore, by best-beloved, as you have heard in my presence, so hold to these things and do them in fear of God, and then there will be to you life for eternity; for it is God who works in you. And do without wavering whatever you do.
        • As for what remains, best-beloved, rejoice in Christ; bear of those who are sordid in their desire for gain. Let all your prayers be made know before God; and be you firm in the mind of Christ
        • Do the thins which are pure, true, modest, just, and lovely
        • Hold fast what you have heard and received into your heart; and you will have peace
        • The saints salute you
        • The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit
        • Cause that this letter be read to the Colossians, and that the letter of the Colossians be read to you
      • Such is the alleged letter of Paul to the Laodiceans. It is clearly made up mainly of phrases taken from Philippians, with the opening introduction taken from Galatians. THere can be little doubt that it was the creation of some pious writer who read in Colossians that there had been a letter to Laodicea and who proceeded to compose what he thought such a letter should be. Very few people would accept this ancient letter as a genuine letter of Paul
    • We cannot explain the mystery of this letter to the church at Laodicea. The most commonly accepted explanation is that the reference is to the circular letter which we know as Ephesians
• Colossians 4:17-18
• 17 And tell Archippus, “Pay attention to the ministry you have received in the Lord, so that you can accomplish it.” 18 I, Paul, am writing this greeting with my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you.
  • The letter closes with an urgent encouragement to Archippus to be true to a special task which has been given to him. It may be that we can never tell what that task was; it may be that our study of Philemon throws light upon it. For the time being, we must leave it at that
  • To write his letters, Paul used a secretary. We know, for instance, that the person who did the writing of Romans was called Tertius (Romans 16:22)
  • It was Paul’s custom at the end of the letter to write his signature and his blessing with his own hand—and here he does just that
    • “Remember my chains”. Again and again in this series of letters, Paul refers to his chains (Ephesians 3:1, 4:1, 6:20; Philemon 9). There is no self-pity and no sentimental plea for sympathy
    • Paul finishes his letter to the Galatians, “17 From now on, let no one cause me trouble, because I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.” (Galatians 6:17)
    • The 19th century Dean of Canterbury, Henry Alford, comments movingly: “When we read of his chains we should not forget that they moved over the paper as he wrote. His hand was chained to the soldier that kept him.” But Paul’s references to his sufferings are not pleas for sympathy; they are his claims to authority, the guarantees of his right to speak
    • It’s as if he said; “This is not a letter from someone who does not know what the service of Christ means or someone who is asking others to do what he is not prepared to do himself. It is a letter from one who has himself suffered and sacrifice for Christ. My only right to speak is that I too have carried the cross of Christ.”
    • And so the letter comes to its inevitable end. The end of every one of Paul’s letters is grace. He always ended by commending others to that grace which he himself had found sufficient for all things

Colossians 3:1-13

• Colossians 3:1-4
• So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
  • The point Paul is making here is this. In baptism, Christians die and rise again. As the water closes over them, it is as if they were buried in death; as they emerge from the water, it is like being resurrected to a new life
  • Christians must rise from baptism as different people. Their thoughts must be set on the things which are above. They can no longer be concerned with the trivial passing things of earth; they must be totally concerned with the eternal truths of heaven
  • Paul is certainly not pleading for an other-worldliness in which Christians withdraw from all the work and activities of this world and do nothing but contemplate eternity
    • Immediately after this, Paul goes on to lay down a series of ethical principles which make it quite clear that h expects Christians to go on with the work of this world and to maintain all its normal relationships
    • But there will be this difference—from now on, Christians will view everything against the background of eternity and no longer live as if this world was all that mattered
  • This will obviously provide a new set of values. Christian will no longer worry about things which the world thought important
    • Ambitions which dominated the world will be powerless to touch them. They will go on using the things of the world, but they will use them in a new way
    • They will set giving above getting, serving above ruling, forgiving above avenging. The standard of values for Christians will be God’s, not the world’s
  • And how is this to be accomplished? The Christian life is hidden with Christ in God. There are at least two pictures here
    • Christians regard baptism as a dying and rising again
      • When someone was dead and buried, the Greeks very commonly spoke of that person as being hidden in the earth; but Christians had died a spiritual death in baptism, and they are not hidden in the earth but hidden in Christ. It was the experience of the early Christians that they very act of baptism wrapped them round with Christ
    • There may well be a word-play here which a Greek would recognize at once
      • The false teachers called their books of so-called wisdom apokruphoi, the books that were hidden from all except from those who were initiated. Now the word which Paul uses to say that our lives are hidden with Chris in God is part of the verb apokruptein, from which the adjective apokruphos comes
      • Undoubtedly, the one word would suggest the other. It is as if Paul said; “For you, the treasures of wisdom are hidden tin your secret books; for us, Christ is the treasury of wisdom, and we are hidden in Him”
  • There is still another idea here. The life of every Christian is hidden with Christ in God
    • That which is hidden is concealed; the world cannot recognize Christians. But Paul goes on; “The day is coming when Christ will return in glory—and then the Christians, whom no one recognized, will share that glory, and it will be plain for all to see.” 
    • In a sense Paul is saying that some day the verdicts of eternity will reverse the verdicts of time, and the judgements of God will overturn the judgements of this world
  • In verse 4, Paul gives to Christ one of the great titles of devotion
    • When Christ, who is your life…Here is an idea which was very dear to Paul’s heart
    • To the Philippians he, he said “For me, to live is Christ” (1:21); Years before, when he was writing to the Galatians, he said “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” (2:20)
    • As Paul saw it, Christ is the most important thing in life; more, He is life. For Christians, Christ is their life
    • And here we come back to where this passage started—that is precisely why Christians set their minds and hearts on the things which are above and not on the things of this world. They judge everything in the light of the cross and in the light of the love which gave itself for them. In the light of that cross, the world’s wealth, ambitions, and activities are seen at their true value—and Christians are enabled to set their hearts on the things which are above
• Colossians 3:5-9a
• 5 Therefore, put to death what belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, God’s wrath is coming upon the disobedient, 7 and you once walked in these things when you were living in them. 8 But now, put away all the following: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and filthy language from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another,
  • Here, this letter makes the change that Paul’s letters always make; after the theology comes the ethical demand. Paul could think more deeply than anyone who ever tired to express the Christian faith; But always at the end of his letters he turns to the practical consequences of it all. He always ends with an uncompromising and crystal-clear statement of the ethical demands of Christianity in the situation in which his friends are at the moment
  • Paul begins with a vivid demand
    • Put to death what belongs to your earthy nature. He uses the same line of thought in Romans 8:13 “because if you live according to the flesh, you are going to die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” 
    • It is exactly the same line of thought as that of Jesus when He demanded that people should cut off a hand, foot, or tear out an eye when it was leading them into sin
    • Christians must kill self-centeredness and regard as dead all private desires and ambitions. In their lives, there must be a radical transformation of the will and a radical shift of the center. Everything which would keep them from fully obeying God and fully surrendering to Christ must be surgically removed
  • Paul goes on to list some of the things which the Colossians must cut right out of life
    • Sexual immorality and impurity must go
      • Chastity was the one completely new virtue which Christianity brought into the world. In the ancient world, sexual relationships before marriage and outside of marriage were the norm and accepted practice. The sexual appetite was regarded as a thing to be gratified, not to be controlled. That is an attitude which is not unfamiliar today
      • The Christians ethic insists on chastity, regarding the physical relationships between the sexes as something so precious that indiscriminate use of it in the end spoils it 
        
    • There is lust and evil desire
      • There is a kind of person who is the slave of passions and who is driven by the desire for the wrong things
    • There is greed
      • Pleonexia is one of the ugliest sins; but, while it is quite clear what it means, it is hard to find a single word to translate it. It comes from two Greek words; The first half of the word is from pleon which means more, and the second half of the word is from echein, which means to have
      • It is basically the desire to have more. The Greeks defined it as the desire which cannot be satisfied, and said that you might as easily satisfy it as you might fill with water a bowl that has a hole in it. They defined it as the sinful desire for what belongs to others
      • It has been described as ruthless self-seeking. Its basic idea is the desire for that which we have no right to have. It is a sin with a very wide range
      • If it is the desire for money, it leads to theft. If it is the desire for prestige, it leads to evil ambition. If if is the desire for power, it leads to sadistic tyranny. If it is the desire for a person, it leads to sexual sin. It is the opposite of the desire to give
    • Paul calls such a desire idolatry
      • The essence of idolatry is the desire to get. People set up idols and worship them because they desire to get something from them. Idolatry is an attempt to use God for man’s purposes, rather than to give oneself to God’s service. The essence of idolatry is the desire to have more
      • Those whose lives are dominated by the desire to get things have set up material possessions in the place of God—and that precisely is idolatry
  • Upon all such things the wrath of God must fall The wrath of God is simply the rule of the universe that we will reap what we sow and that no one ever escapes the consequences of sin. The wrath of God and the moral order of the universe are one and the same thing
  • In verse 8, Paul says that there are certain things the Colossians must put away
    • The word he uses is the word for taking off clothes. There is a picture from the life of the early Christians. When they were baptized, they took off their old clothes when they went down into the water, and when they emerged they put on new, pure white robes
    • They got rid of one kind of life and put on another. In this passage, Paul speaks of the things of which Christians must rid themselves, and in verse 12 he will continue the picture and speak of the things which Christians must put on
  • Let’s look at these things one by one
    • Anger and wrath
      • There are two words here, and the difference is this. One is  a blaze of sudden anger, which is quickly ignited and just as quickly dies. The Greeks likened it to a fire in straw, which quickly blazed and just as quickly burned out 
      • There is anger which has become engrained; it is long lasting, slow burning anger, which refuses to be pacified and nurses its wrath to keep it warm
      • For Christians, the burst of wrath and the long-lasting anger are both forbidden
    • There is malice
      • It really means that viciousness of mind from which all the individual vices spring. It is all-pervading evil
    • There is slander and filthy language
      • The word for slander mans insulting and slanderous speaking in general. In this context, it is slanderous talk against other people
      • The word for filthy language could well mean obscene language
  • The last three forbidden things all have to do with speech. And when we turn them into positive commands instead of negative prohibitions, we find three laws for Christian speech
    • Christian speech must be kind
      • All slanderous and malicious talk is forbidden. The old advice still stands which says that before we repeat anything about anyone, we should ask three questions. “Is it true? Is it necessary? Is it kind?” The NT is unsparing in its condemnation of gossiping tongues which poison truth
    • Christian speech must be pure
      • Christians should never forget that they will give an account for every idle word they speak
    • Christian speech must be true
      • It is easy to distort the truth; an alteration in the tone of voice or a meaningful look can do it; and there are silences which can be as false and misleading as any words
    • Christin speech must be kind, pure, and hones to everyone everywhere
• Colossians 3:9b-13
• since you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self. You are being renewed in knowledge according to the image of your Creator. 11 In Christ there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all. 12 Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a grievance against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you are also to forgive.
  • When people become Christians, there should be a a complete change in their personalities (can’t expect it to be overnight). They leave the old self and put on a new self, just as the those baptized removed their old clothes and put on the new white robes. We very often evade the truth in which the NT insists that a Christianity which does not change people must be regarded as imperfect
  • Further, this change is progressive. This new creation is a continual renewal. It makes people grow continually in grace and knowledge until they reach what they were meant to be—full humanity in the image of God
  • One of the great effects of Christianity is that it destroys the barriers. In it there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free 
  • The ancient world was full of barriers. The Greeks looked down on the barbarian; and to the Greeks anyone who did not speak Greek was a barbarian, which literally means someone who says “bar-bar”. The Greeks were the aristocrats of the ancient world, and they knew it
  • The Jews looked down on every other nation. They belonged to God’s chosen people, and the other nations were only fit to be fuel for the fires of hell
  • The Scythians were notorious as the lowest of the barbarians; more barbarian than the barbarians, the Greeks called them; Scythians were little short of wild animals. The Jewish historian Josephus speaks of them as being proverbially savages, who terrorized the civilized world with their bestial atrocities
  • Slaves were not even classified in ancient law as human beings; they were merely living tools, with no rights of their own Their masters could beat, brand, maim, or even kill them at a whim; they didn’t even have the right of marriage. There could be no fellowships in the ancient world between slaves and those who were free
  • In Christ, all these barriers were broken down
    • It destroyed the barriers which came from birth and nationality
      • Different nations, who either despised or hated each other, were drawn into the one family of the Christian Church. People of different nationalities, who would have leaped at each other’s throats, sat in peace beside each other at the Lord’s table
    • It destroyed the barriers which came from ceremony and ritual
      • Circumcised and uncircumcised were drawn together in the one fellowship. To the Jews, people of any other nation were unclean; when men and women became Christians, every man or woman of every nation became a brother or sister
    • It destroyed the barriers between the cultured and the uncultured
      • The Scythians were the ignorant barbarians of the ancient world; the Greeks were the aristocrats of learning. The uncultured and the cultured came together in the the Christian Church. The greatest scholar in the world and the humblest laborer can sit in perfect fellowship in the Church
    • It destroyed the barrier between class and class
      • Both slaves and free came together in the Church. More than that, in the early Church, it could, and did, happen that a slave was the leader of the church, and the master was the humble church member. In the presence of God, the social distinctions of the world become irrelevant
  • Paul moves on to give his list of the great graces with which the Colossians must clothe themselves. We must note two very significant things
    • Paul begins by addressing the Colossians as “God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved”
      • The significant thing is that every one of these originally belonged to the Jews. They were the chosen people; they were the holy nation; they were the beloved of God
      • Paul takes these three designations and gives them to the Gentiles. Thereby he shows that God’s love and grace have gone out to the ends of the earth, and that there is no “most favored nation” in His plan
    • It I significant to note that every one of the graces listed has to do with personal relationships between individuals
      • The great basic Christian virtues are those which govern human relationships. Christianity is community. It has on its divine side the amazing gift of peace with God, and on its human side the triumphant solution of the problem of living together
  • Paul begins with compassion
    • If there was one thing the ancient world needed it was mercy. Christianity brought mercy into this world. It is not too much to say that everything that has been done for the elderly, the sick, the weak in body and mind, animals, children, and women has been done through the inspiration of Christianity
  • There is kindness
    • The ancient writers defined it as the virtue of those whose neighbors’ good is as dear to them as their own. It is the word used when Jesus said “My yoke is easy”. Goodness by itself can be stern; but this is the goodness which is kind, that type of goodness which Jesus used to the sinning woman who anointed His feet. Christians are marked by a goodness which is kind
  • There is humility
    • It has often been said that humility was a virtue created by Christianity. In classical Greek, there is no word of humility which does not have some suggestion of servility; but Christian humility carries no sense of cringing in submission. It is based on two things
      • First, on the divine side, it is based on the awareness of the creatureliness of humanity. God is the Creator, men and women are the creatures, and in the presence of the Creator the creatures cannot feel anything but humility
      • Second, on the human side, it is based on the belief that we are all children of God; and there is no room for arrogance when we are living among men and women who are all of royal lineage
  • There is gentleness
    • Long ago, Aristotle had defined this as the happy mid-point between too much and too little anger. The person who has gentleness is someone who is so self-controlled, because of being God-controlled, that anger is always expressed at the right time and never at the wrong time. Such a person has at one and the same time the strength and the sweetness of true gentleness
  • There is patience
    • This is the spirit which never loses its patience with others. Their foolishness and their unteachability never drive it to cynicism or despair; their insults and their ill-treatment never drive it to bitterness or wrath. Human patience is a reflection of the divine patience which tolerates all our sinning and never casts us off
  • There is bearing with one another and forgiving
    • Christians bear with and forgive; and they do so because those who have been forgiven must always be forgiving. As God forgive them, so they must forgive others, for only the forgiving can be forgiven

Colossians 2:8-23

• Just a reminder, we looked at an overview of this entire section last week, and tonight we’ll be going into more detail. The false teachers in Colossae wanted to impose certain things on the Christians there. They wanted to teach people an additional philosophy; they wanted people to accept a system of astrology; they wanted to impose circumcision on Christians; they wanted to lay down rules and regulations for self-denial; they wanted to introduce the worship of angels
• Colossians 2:8-10
• 8 Be careful that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit based on human tradition, based on the elements of the world, rather than Christ. 9 For the entire fullness of God’s nature dwells bodily in Christ, 10 and you have been filled by him, who is the head over every ruler and authority.
  • Paul begins by drawing vivid picture of the false teachers. He speaks of anyone who will take you captive. The word used here could be used of a slave dealer carrying away the people of a conquered nation into slavery
  • It was an amazing and tragic thing that people who had been liberated could contemplate submitting themselves to a new and disastrous slavery (although the Israelites did the same thing coming out of Egypt)
  • These false teachers offer a philosophy which they declare is necessary in addition to the teaching of Christ and the words of the gospel
    • It is a philosophy which has been handed down by human tradition. The Gnostics were in the habit of claiming that their special teaching had been given by word of mouth by Jesus—sometimes to Mary, sometimes to Matthew, and sometimes to Peter. They said there were things which Jesus never told the crowd and communicated only to the chosen few
      • The charge Paul makes against these teachers is that their teaching is a human creation; it has no basis in Scripture. It is a product of the human mind, and not a message of the word of God. To speak like this is not to drift into fundamentalism or submit to a tyranny of the written word, but it is to hold that no teaching can be Christian teaching which is at odds with the basic truths of Scripture and with the word of God
    • It is a philosophy which has to do with the elements of this world. This is a much discussed phrase, of which the meaning is still in doubt The word for element has two meanings
      • It means literally things which are set out in a row
        • For instance, it’s the word for a line of soldiers. But  one of its most common meanings is the letters of the alphabet not doubt because they form a series which can be set out in a row
        • Because elements can mean the letters of the alphabet, it can also ver commonly mean elementary instruction in any subject. We still speak of learning the ABC’s of a subject when we mean taking the first steps in it. It is possible  that this is the meaning here
        • Paul may be saying: “These false teachers claim that they are giving you knowledge which is uninstructed and undeveloped because at most it is knowledge of the human mind. The real knowledge, the real fullness of God, is in Jesus Christ. If you listen to these false teachers, far from receiving deep spiritual knowledge, you are simply slipping back into the most basic instruction which you should have left behind long ago
      • Elements has a second meaning. It means the elemental spirits of the world, and especially the spirits of the stars and planets
        • There are still people who take astrology seriously. But it is almost impossible for us to realize how dominated the ancient world was by the idea of the influence of the elemental spirits and the stars
        • Astrology was then the queen of the sciences. Even men as great as Julius Caesar, and Augustus, as cynical as Tiberius and as level-headed as Vespasian would take no step without consulting the stars. Alexander the Great believed implicitly in the influence of the stars
        • Men and women believed that their whole lives were fixed by them. If someone was born under a fortunate star, all was well; if someone was born under an unlucky star, that person could not look for happiness; if any undertaking was to have a chance of success, the stars must be observed. People were the slaves of the stars
        • There was one possibility of escape. If the right passwords and the right formulas were known, then it might be possible to escape from this fatalistic influence of the stars; and a great part of the secret teaching of Gnosticism and of similar faiths and philosophies was knowledge which claimed to provide the followers with a means of escape from the power of the stars
        • In all probability, that was what the false teachers of Colossae were offering. They were saying; “Jesus is all very well, he can do much for you; but he cannot enable you to escape from your subjection to the stars. We alone have the secret knowledge which can enable you to do that.” Paul answers; “You need nothing but Christ to overcome any power in the universe; for in Him is nothing less than the fullness of God, and He is the head of every power and authority, for He created them.”
  • The Gnostic teachers offered an addition philosophy; Paul insisted on the triumphant adequacy of Christ to overcome any power in any part of the universe. You cannot at one and the same time believe in the power of Christ and in the influence of the stars
• Colossians 2:11-12
• 11 You were also circumcised in him with a circumcision not done with hands, by putting off the body of flesh, in the circumcision of Christ, 12 when you were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.
  • The false teachers were demanding that Gentile Christians be circumcised, for circumcision was the mark of God’s chosen people. All through the history of Israel, there had been two views of circumcisions. There was the view of those who said that in itself it was enough to put someone right with God. It did not matter whether an Israelite was good or bad; all that mattered was being an Israelite and being circumcised
  • But the great spiritual leaders of Israel and the prophet took a very different view. They insisted that circumcision was only the outward mark of someone who was inwardly dedicated to God. They used the very word in a more imaginative sense. They talked of uncircumcised lips, of a heart which was circumcised or uncircumcised, or of the uncircumcised ear. To them, being circumcised did not mean having a certain operation carried out on the body but meant having a change brought about in life. Circumcision was the mark of a person dedicated to God; but the dedication lay not in the cutting of the fish but in the cutting out from life of everything which was against the will of God
  • That was the answer of the prophets centuries before, and that was still Paul’s answer to the false teachers. He said to them; “you demand circumcision, but you must remember that circumcision does not mean simply the removal of the foreskin of a man’s body; it means the putting off of that whole part of his human nature which sets him at odds with God.” He continued; “Any priest can circumcise a man’s foreskin; only Christ can bring about that spiritual circumcision which means cutting away from a person’s life everything which prevents an individual from being God’s obedient child.”
  • Paul goes further. For him, this was not theory but fact. “That very act has already happened to you in baptism.”
  • Baptism is three things
    • It is adult baptism (meaning old enough to make the decision)
    • It is instructed baptism (You understand what you are doing)
    • It is total immersion
  • Therefore, the symbolism of baptism is clear. As the waters closed over the head of the one being baptized, it was as if the individual died; rising up again from the water, it was as if the individual rose to new life. Part of the person was dead and gone forever; a new individual had risen to new life
  • That symbolism could become a reality only under one condition. When people believed intensely in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It could only happen when they believed in the effective working of God which had raised Jesus from the dead and could do the same for them. Baptism is a dying and rising again, because we believed that Christ has died and risen again and that we are sharing the experience of our Lord
  • Paul basically says; “You speak about circumcision. The only true circumcision is when a person dies and rises with christ in baptism, in such a way that it is not part of the body which is cut away but the whole sinful self which is destroyed, and that person is filled with newness of life and the very holiness of God.”
• Colossians 2:13-15
• 13 And when you were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive with him and forgave us all our trespasses. 14 He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it away by nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; he triumphed over them in him.
  • Paul uses a series of pictures to show what God in Christ has done for us. The intention is to show that Christ has done all that can be done and all that need be done, and that there is no need to bring in any other intermediaries for our full salvation
    • We were dead in our sins
      • They had no more power than the dead either to overcome sin or to atone for it. Jesus by His work has liberated all people both from the power and from the consequences of sin. He has given them a life so new that it can only be said that He has raised them from the dead
      • Further, it was the old belief that only the Jews were dear to God; but this saving power of Christ has come even to the uncircumcised Gentiles. The work of Christ is a work of power, because it put life into those who were as good as dead; it is a work of grace, because it reached out to those who had no reason to expect the benefits of God
    • He erased the certificate of debt
      • He wiped out the charges which set out all of our self-admitted debts based on the law. There are two Greek words that we have to understand to get the full picture
        • The word for certificate literally means an autograph; but its technical meaning that everyone would have understood, was a note signed by a debtor acknowledging his indebtedness
          • It was almost exactly what we call an IOU. People’s sins had piled up a vast list of debts to God, and it could be said that they acknowledged that debt
          • More than once, the OT shows the children of Israel hearing and accepting the laws of God and calling down curses on themselves should they fail to keep them
          • In the NT we find the picture of the Gentiles as having no the written law of God which the Jews had, but the unwritten law in their hearts and the voice of conscience speaking within
          • People were in debt to God because of their sin—and they knew it. There was a self-confessed written accusation against them, a certificate of debt which they had signed and admitted as accurate
        • The word for erased is a Greek verb
          • To understand that word is to understand the amazing mercy of God
          • The substance on which ancient documents were written was either papyrus, a kind of paper made of the pith of bullrush, or vellum, a substance made of the skins of animals. Both were expensive and certainly could not be wasted
          • Ancient ink had no acid in it; it lay on the surface of the paper and idd no soak into it like modern ink does. Sometimes to save paper, a scribe used papyrus or vellum that had already been written on. When he did that, he took a sponge and wiped the writing out. Because it was only on the surface of the paper, the ink could be wiped out as if it had never been
          • God, in His amazing mercy, banished the record of our sins so completely that it was as if it had never been; not a trace remained
        • Paul goes on. God took that written accusation and nailed it to the cross of Christ
          • It used to be said when a law or regulation was cancelled, it was fastened to a board and a nail was driven right through it. But it is doubtful if that was the case or if that is the picture here
          • Rather, on the cross of Christ, the charge that was against us was itself crucified. It was executed and put completely out of the way, so that it might never be seen again 
          • Paul seems to have searched human activity to find a series of pictures which would show how utterly God in His mercy destroyed the condemnation that was against us
          • Here indeed is grace. And that new era of grace is further underlined in another rather obscure phrase that this certificate of debt had obligations that were against us and opposed to us
            • Before Christ came, people were under the law, and they broke it because no one can keep it perfectly. But now, law is banished and grace has come. We are no longer criminals who have broken the law and are at the mercy of God’s judgment; we are sons and daughters who were lost and can now come home to be wrapped around with the grace of God
    • One other great picture is seen here. Jesus has disarmed the rulers and authorities, and disgraced them publicly, triumphing over them
      • The ancient world believed in all kinds of angels and in all kinds of elemental spirits. Many of these spirits were out to bring ruin. They were completely hostile. Jesus conquered them forever
      • He disarmed them. The word for disarm was the word for taking the weapons and armor from a defeated enemy. Once and for all, Jesus broke their power. He put them to public shame and led them captive in His triumphant procession
      • The picture is that of the triumph of a Roman general. When a Roman general had won a really notable victory, he was allowed to march his victorious army through the streets of Rome, and behind him followed the kings, leaders, and people he had defeated. They were openly branded as his spoils
      • Paul thinks of Jesus as a conqueror enjoying a kind f cosmic triumph, and in His triumphal procession are the powers of evil, beaten forever, for everyone to see
  • Paul sets out the total adequacy of the work of Christ. Sin is forgiven and evil is conquered; what more is necessary? There is nothing that Gnostic knowledge and Gnostic intermediaries can do for men and women—Christ has done it all already
• Colossians 2:16-23
• 16 Therefore, don’t let anyone judge you in regard to food and drink or in the matter of a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day. 17 These are a shadow of what was to come; the substance is Christ. 18 Let no one condemn you by delighting in ascetic practices and the worship of angels, claiming access to a visionary realm. Such people are inflated by empty notions of their unspiritual mind. 19 They don’t hold on to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and tendons, grows with growth from God. 20 If you died with Christ to the elements of this world, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations: 21 “Don’t handle, don’t taste, don’t touch”? 22 All these regulations refer to what is destined to perish by being used up; they are human commands and doctrines. 23 Although these have a reputation for wisdom by promoting self-made religion, false humility, and severe treatment of the body, they are not of any value in curbing self-indulgence.
  • This passage has certain basic Gnostic ideas intertwined all through it. Paul is warning the Colossians not to adopt certain Gnostic practices, on the grounds that to do so would not be progress, but rather going backwards in the faith. Behind it lie four Gnostic practices
    • There e is Gnostic self-denial
      • There is the teaching which involves a whole host of regulations about what can and cannot be eaten and drunk. In other words, there is a return to all the food laws of the Jews, with their lists of things that are regarded as clean and unclean. The Gnostics considered all matter to be essentially evil. If matter is evil, then the body is evil If the body is evil, then two opposite conclusions may be drawn
        • If the body is essential evil, idc does not matter what we do with it. Being evil, it can be used or abused in anyway, and it makes no difference
        • If the body is evil, it muse be suppressed; it must be beaten and starved, and its every impulse chained down. 
      • Gnosticism could result either in complete immorality or in rigid self-denial. It is the rigid self-denial which Paul is dealing with here
      • In effect, he says; “Have nothing to do with people who identify religion with laws about what you may or may not eat or drink.”
      • Jesus had said that it made no difference what people ate or drank. Peter had to learn to stop talking about clean and unclean foods. Paul rephrases what Christ had said Himself. He says they are destined to perish by being used up. Jesus meant the same thing when He said that food and drink are eaten, digested, and then eliminated from the body
      • Food and drink are so unimportant that they are destined for decay as soon as they are eaten. The Gnostics wanted to make religious into a series of regulations about eating and drinking; and there are still those who are more concerned with rules about food than about the charity of the gospel
    • There is the Gnostic and Jewish observation of days
      • They observed yearly feasts, monthly new moons, and weekly sabbaths. They drew up lists of days which specially belonged to God, on which certain things must be done and certain things must not be done. They identified religion with ritual
      • Paul’s criticism of this stress on days is quite clear and logical. He says; “You have been rescued from all this tyranny of legal rules. Why do you want to enslave yourself all over again? Why do you want to go back to Jewish legalism and abandon Christian freedom?”
      • The spirit which makes Christianity into something bound by regulations is not yet dead by any means
    • There are the Gnostic special visions
      • The Gnostics prided themselves on special visions of secret things, which were not open to the eyes of ordinary men and women
      • There is always danger when people begin to think that they have attained a height of holiness which enables them to see what other people—considered to be inferior—cannot see; and the danger is that people will so often se not what God sends them but what they want to see
    • There is the worship of angels
      • The Jews had a highly developed doctrine of angels, and the Gnostics believed in all kinds of intermediaries. They worshiped these, while Chrisitans know that worship must be kept for God and for Jesus. Paul makes four criticisms of all this
        • He says that this kind of thing is only a shadow of truth; the real truth is in Christ
          • That is to say, a religion which is founded on eating and drinking certain kinds of food and drink and abstaining from others, a religious which is founded on such things as Sabbath observance, is only a shadow of real religion; real religion is fellowship with Christ
        • He says that there is such a thing as a false humility
          • When they talked of the worship of angels, both the Gnostics and the Jews would have justified it by saying that God is so great, high, and holy that we can never have direct access to Him and must be content to pray to the angels. But the great truth that Christianity preaches is that the way to God is open to the most humble and most down to earth among us
        • He says that this can lead to sinful pride
          • Those who are meticulous in their observance of the special days, who keep all the food laws, and who practice abstinence are in very grave danger of thinking themselves especially good and of looking down on other people. And it is a basic truth of Christianity that those who think that they are good are never really good, least of all those who think themselves better than other people
        • He says that this is a return to un-Christian slavery instead of Christian freedom, and that it does not free people from fleshly lusts but only keeps them on the leash
          • Christian freedom comes not from restraining desires by rules and regulations but from the death of evil desires and the springing to life of good desires by virtue of Christ being in Christians and Christians in Christ

Colossians 1:24-2:23

• Colossians 1:24-29
• 24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I am completing in my flesh what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for his body, that is, the church. 25 I have become its servant, according to God’s commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. 27 God wanted to make known among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 We proclaim him, warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 I labor for this, striving with his strength that works powerfully in me.
  • Paul begins this passage with a daring thought. He thinks of the sufferings through which he is passing as completing the sufferings of Jesus himself. Jesus died to save His Church; but the Church must be increased and extended; it must be kept strong, pure, and true; therefore, anyone who serves the Church by widening its borders, establishing its faith, saving it from errors, is doing the work of Christ. And if such service involves suffering and sacrifice, that affliction is filling up and sharing the very suffering of Christ. To suffer in the service of Christ is not a penalty but a privilege, for it is sharing in His work
  • Paul sets out the very essence of the task which has been given to him by God. That task was to bring to men and women a new discovery, a secret kept throughout the ages and the generations, now revealed. This was that the glorious hope of the gospel was not only for the Jews but for all people everywhere. Pal’s great contribution to the Christian faith was that he took Christ to the Gentiles and destroyed forever the idea that God’s love and mercy were the property of any one people or nation
  • So Paul sets down his great aim; to warn everyone, to teach everyone, and present everyone complete in Christ
    • The Jews would never have agreed that God had any use for everyone; they would have refused to accept that God was the God of the Gentiles. That idea would have seemed incredible and even blasphemous
    • The Gnostics would never have agreed that everyone could be warned, taught, and presented complete to God. They believed that the knowledge necessary for salvation was so involved and difficult that it must be the possession of the spiritual elite and the chosen few 
    • It has always been the case that there has been open or sometimes unspoken agreement that wisdom is not for everyone
  • The fact is that the only thing in this world which is for everyone is Christ. There are gifts that some will never possess; there are privileges that some will never enjoy; there are heights of this world’s attainment that some will never scale; but open to everyone is the good news of the gospel, the love of God in Christ and the transforming power which can bring holiness into life
• Colossians 2:1
• For I want you to know how greatly I am struggling for you, for those in Laodicea, and for all who have not seen me in person.
  • Here is a brief lifting of the curtain and a deeply moving glimpse into Paul’s heart. He is going though. Struggle for these Christians whom he had never seen but whom he loved
  • He associates the Laodiceans with the Colossians, and speaks of all those who have never met him. He is thinking of the Christians in that group of three towns in the Locus valley, Laodicea, Hierapolis, and Colossae
  • The word he uses for struggle is a vivid word; it’s agon, where we get our word agony
    • Paul is fighting a hard battle for his friends. We must remember that he was in prison in Rome awaiting judgement and almost certain condemnation. What was his struggle?
      • It was a struggle in prayer
        • He must have longed to go there himself. He must have longed to face the false teachers and deal with their arguments to bring back those who were straying from the truth. But he was in prison. There had come a time when there was nothing left to do but to pray; what he could not do himself, he must leave to God. So Paul wrestled in prayer for those whose he could not see. When time, 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
      • It may well be that there was another struggle going on in Paul’s mind. He was a human being with fears and emotions like anyone. He was in prison, awaiting trial before Nero, and the outcome would almost certainly be death. It would have been easy to act like a coward and abandon truth for the sake of safety
        • Paul knew very well that desertion would have disastrous consequences. If the young churches knew that Paul had denied Christ, the heart would be taken from them and it would be the end of Christianity for many. His struggle was not only for himself; it was also for those whose eyes were fixed upon him as their leader
        • We do well to remember that in any situation there are those who are watching, and that our action will either confirm or destroy their faith. Our struggle is never for ourselves alone; the honor of Christ is always in our hands, and the faith of others is always in our keeping
• Colossians 2:2-7
• 2 I want their hearts to be encouraged and joined together in love, so that they may have all the riches of complete understanding and have the knowledge of God’s mystery—Christ. 3 In him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I am saying this so that no one will deceive you with arguments that sound reasonable. 5 For I may be absent in body, but I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see how well ordered you are and the strength of your faith in Christ. 6 So then, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk in him, 7 being rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, and overflowing with gratitude.
  • Here’s Paul’s prayer for the church, and in it we ascertain the great marks which should distinguish a living and faithful church
    • It should be a church of courageous hearts
      • Paul prays that their hearts may be encouraged. The word he uses sometimes means to comfort, sometimes to exhort; but alway behind it there is the idea of enabling a person to meet some difficult situation bravely and with confidence
      • One of the Greek historians uses it in an interesting and thought provoking way. There was a Greek regiment which had lost heart and was utterly dejected. The general sent a leader to talk to it to such purpose that courage was reborn and a body of dispirited men became fit again for heroic action. That is what encouraged means here. It is Paul’s prayer that the church may be filled with that courage which can cope with any situation
    • It should e a church in which the members are united 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 I love for God and for one another in community. When love dies, the church dies
    • It should be a church equipped with every kind of wisdom. Paul uses three words for wisdom in this passage
      • In verse 2 he sunesis, which is translated as understanding
        • This is what we might call critical knowledge. It is the ability to assess any situation and decide what practical course of action is necessary within it. A real church will have the practical knowledge of what to do whenever action is called for
      • He says that in Jesus are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Wisdom is Sophia, and knowledge is gnosis. These tow words do not simply repeat each other; there is a difference between them
        • Gnosis is the power, almost intuitive and instinctive, to grasp the truth when we see it and hear it
        • Sophia is the power to confirm and commend the truth with wise and intelligent argument, once it has been intuitively grasped
        • Gnosis is that by which people grasp the truth
        • Sophia is that by which people are enable to give a reason for the hope that is in them
        • So the real church will have the clear-sighted wisdom which can act for the best in any given situation; the wisdom which can instinctively recognize and grasp the truth when it sees it; and the wisdom which can make the truth intelligible to the thinking mind, and persuasively commend it to others
          • All this wisdom is hidden in Christ. The word he uses for hidden is a blow aimed at the Gnostics. It means hidden form the common gaze, and therefore secret
          • We have seen that the Gnostics believed that a great mass of elaborate knowledge was necessary for salvation. That knowledge they set down in their books, which the called “hidden” because they were barred to ordinary people
          • 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 to hidden in unintelligible books; it is hidden in Christ and open to all men and women everywhere.”
          • The truth of Christianity is not a secret which is hidden but a secret which is revealed
      • The true church must have the power to resist arguments that sound reasonable
        • It must be able to resist those who would deceive it with persuasive arguments. This was a word of the law courts; it was the word used for the seductive power of a lawyer’s arguments, which could enable the criminal to escape from a just punishment. The true church should have such a grip of the truth that it is unmoved by such arguments
      • The true church should have in it a soldier’s discipline
        • Paul is glad to hear of the order and strength of their faith in Christ. These two words are military words
          • The word order means a rank or an ordered arrangement. The church should be like an ordered army, with every member in his or her appointed place, ready and willing to obey the word or command
          • The word strength means a solid defense, an immoveable formation. It describes an army set out in an unbreakable square, solidly immoveable against the impact of the enemy’s charge
        • Within the church, there should be disciplined order and strong steadiness, like the order and strength of a trained and disciplined body of troops
      • In the church, life must be in Christ
        • Its members must walk in Christ; their whole lives must be lived in His conscious presence. They must be rooted  and built up in Him
          • Rooted is the word which would be used of a tree with its roots deep in the soil
          • Built up is the word which would be used of a house built on a firm foundation
        • Just as the great tree is deep-rooted in the soil and draws its nourishment from it, so Christians are rooted in Christ, the source of their lives and their strength. Just as the house stands fast because it is built on strong foundations, so the Christian life is resistant to any storm because it is founded on the strength of Christ. Christ is both the source of the Christian life and the foundation of stability for all Christians
      • The true church is established in the faith
        • It never forgets the teaching about Christ which it has been taught. This does not meant a fixed and rigid orthodoxy in which all creative thought is heresy. We have only to remember how in Colossians Paul strikes out new lines in his thinking about Jesus to see how far that was from his intention. But it does mean that there are certain beliefs which remain the foundation and do not change. Paul might travel down new pathways of thought, but he always began and ended with the unchanging and unchangeable truth that Jesus is Lord
      • The distinguishing mark of the true church is an overflowing gratitude
        • Thanksgiving is the constant and characteristic not of the Christian life. The one concern of Christians is to tell in words and to show in life their gratitude for all that God has done for them in nature and in grace. Christians will always praise God, from whom all blessings flow
• Colossians 2:8-23 (overview)
• 8 Be careful that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit based on human tradition, based on the elements of the world, rather than Christ. 9 For the entire fullness of God’s nature dwells bodily in Christ, 10 and you have been filled by him, who is the head over every ruler and authority. 11 You were also circumcised in him with a circumcision not done with hands, by putting off the body of flesh, in the circumcision of Christ, 12 when you were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 And when you were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive with him and forgave us all our trespasses. 14 He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it away by nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; he triumphed over them in him. 16 Therefore, don’t let anyone judge you in regard to food and drink or in the matter of a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day. 17 These are a shadow of what was to come; the substance is Christ. 18 Let no one condemn you by delighting in ascetic practices and the worship of angels, claiming access to a visionary realm. Such people are inflated by empty notions of their unspiritual mind. 19 They don’t hold on to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and tendons, grows with growth from God. 20 If you died with Christ to the elements of this world, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations: 21 “Don’t handle, don’t taste, don’t touch”? 22 All these regulations refer to what is destined to perish by being used up; they are human commands and doctrines. 23 Although these have a reputation for wisdom by promoting self-made religion, false humility, and severe treatment of the body, they are not of any value in curbing self-indulgence.
  • There can be no doubt that this is one of the most difficult passages Paul ever wrote. But for those who heard it or read it for the first time, it would be crystal clear. The trouble is it is packed from beginning to end with allusions to the false teaching which was threatening to wreck the Colossian church. We do not know precisely what that teaching was. Therefore the allusions are obscure, and we can only guess. But every sentence and every phrase would go straight home to the minds and the hearts of the Colossians
  • We’re going to look at the main themes of this section tonight and then go into more detail through them next week. The one thing that is clear is that the false teachers wanted the Colossians to accept what can only be called additions to Christ. They were teaching that Jesus Himself is not enough, that He was not unique, that He was one among many manifestations of God, and that it was necessary to know and serve other divine powers in additions to Him
  • We can distinguish five additions to christ which these false teachers wanted to make
    • They wanted to teach people an additional philosophy
      • As they saw it, the simple truth preached by Jesus and preserved in the gospel was not enough. It had to be filled out by an elaborate system of pseudo-philosophical thought which was far too difficulty for ordinary people e and which only intellectuals could understand
    • They wanted people to accept a system of astrology
      • There is a doubt about the meaning; but  it is thought most likely that the elements of the world were the elemental spirits of the universe, especially of the stars and the planets. It was the message of these false teachers that men and women were still under these influences and needed a special knowledge, beyond that which Jesus could give, to be liberated from them
    • They wanted to impose circumcision on Christians
      • Faith was not enough; circumcision had to be added. A mark in the flesh was to take the place of, or at least be an addition to, an attitude of the heart
    • They wanted to lay down rules and regulations for self-denial
      • They wanted to introduce all kinds of rules and regulations about what might be eaten and drunk, and about what days must be observed as festivals and feasts. All the old Jewish regulations and more were to be brought back
    • They wanted to introduce the worship of angels
      • They were teaching that Jesus was only one of many intermediaries between God and mankind, and that all these intermediaries must receive their worship
  • It can be seen that here there is a mixture of Gnosticism and Judaism. The intellectual knowledge and the astrology come direct from Gnosticism; self-denial and the rules and regulations come from Judaism. We have seen that the Gnostics believed that all kinds of special knowledge, beyond the gospel, were needed for salvation. There were Jews who joined forces with the Gnostics and declared that the special knowledge required was none other than the knowledge which Judaism could give. This explains why the teaching of the Colossians’ false teachers combined the beliefs of Gnosticism with the practices of Judaism
  • The one thing that is certain is that the case teachers taught that Jesus and His teaching and work were not sufficient for salvation 

Colossians 1:15-23

• Colossians 1:15-23
• 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For everything was created by him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and by him all things hold together. 18 He is also the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile everything to himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. 21 Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds as expressed in your evil actions. 22 But now he has reconciled you by his physical body through his death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before him— 23 if indeed you remain grounded and steadfast in the faith and are not shifted away from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become a servant of it.
  • This is a passage of such difficulty and of such importance that we will have to spend considerable time on it. We will divide what we must say about it into certain sections, and we begin with the situation which gave birth to this passage and to the whole view of Christ which Paul sets our in the letter
  • The Mistaken Thinkers
    • It is one of the facts of the human mind that people think only as much as they have to. It is not until we find our faith opposed and attacked that we really begin to think out its implications. It is not until the Church is confronted with some dangerous heresy that it begins to realized the riches of orthodoxy. It is characteristic of Christianity that it can always produce new riches to meet a new situation
    • When Paul wrote Colossians, he was not writing in a vacuum. He was writing, as we have already seen in the introduction a couple of weeks ago, to meet a very definite situation. The Gnostics, which more or less means “the intellectual ones” were dissatisfied with what they considered the unrefined simplicity of Christianity, and wanted to turn it into a philosophy and to align it with the other philosophies that were popular at the time
    • The Gnostics began with the basic assumption that matter was altogether evil and spirit altogether good. They further held that matter was eternal and that it was out of this evil matter that the world was created. Christians believe in creation out of nothing; the Gnostics believed in creation out of evil matter
    • God was spirit; and if spirit was altogether good and matter essentially evil, the Gnostics said that God couldn’t touch matter, and couldn’t be the agent of creation. So the Gnostics believed that God put forth a series of emanations, each a little further away from God until at last there was one so distant from God that it could handle matter and create the world
    • They went further. As the emanations went further and further from God, they became more and more ignorant of Him. And there was not only ignorance of God but also hostility to Him. To Gnostics came to the conclusion that the emanation who created the world was both ignorant of and hostile to the true God, and sometimes they identified that emanation with the God of the OT
    • This has certain logical consequences
      • As the Gnostics saw it, the creator was not God but someone hostile to Him; and the world was not God’s world, but the world of a power hostile to Him
        • That is why Paul insists that God did create the world, and that His agent in creation was no ignorant and hostile emanation but Jesus Christ, His Son
      • As the Gnostics saw it, Jesus Christ was by no means unique. WE have seen how they put forward the belief in a whole series of emanations between the world and God. They insisted that Jesus was merely one of these emanations. He might stand high in the series; he might even stand highest; but he was only one of many
        • Paul meets this by insisting that in Jesus Christ all fullness dwells, that in Him there is the fullness of the godhead in bodily form. One of the supreme aims of Colossians is to insist that Jesus is utterly unique and that in Him there is the whole of God, the fullness of God
      • As the Gnostics saw it, this had another consequence in regard to Jesus. If matter was altogether evil, it followed that the body was altogether evil. It followed further that He who was the relation of God could not have had a real body. He could have been nothing more than a spiritual fantom in bodily form. They completely denied the real humanity of Jesus
        • That is why Paul uses such startling phraseology in Colossians. He speaks of Jesus reconciling men and women to God in His physical body; he says that the fullness of the godhead dwelt in Him bodily. In opposition to the Gnostics, Paul insisted on the flesh and blood humanity of Jesus
      • The last of human beings is to find their way to God. As the Gnostics saw it, that way was barred. Between this world and God, there was this vast series of emanations. Before the should could rise to God, it had to get past the barrier of each of these emanations. To pass each barrier, special knowledge and special passwords were needed; it was these passwords and that knowledge that the Gnostics claimed to give. This meant two things
        • It meant that salvation was intellectual knowledge
          • To meet that, Paul insists that salvation is no knowledge; it is redemption and the forgiveness of sins. The Gnostic teachers held that the so-called simple truths of the gospel were not nearly enough. To find its way to God, the soul needed far more than that; it needed the elaborate knowledge and the secret passwords which only Gnosticism could give. So Paul insists that nothing more is needed than the saving truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ
        • If salvation depended on this elaborate knowledge, it was clearly not for everyone but only for the intellectuals. So the Gnostics divided pole into those who were spiritual and those who were earthly; and only the spiritual could be truly saved. Full salvation was beyond the scope of ordinary people
          • It is with that in mind that Paul wrote 1:28, “We proclaim him, warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ.” Against a salvation possible for only a limited intellectual minority, Paul presents a gospel which is for all, however simple and uneducated, however wise and learned they may be
    • These were the great Gnostic doctrines; and all the time we are studying this passage, and the whole letter, we must have them in mind, for only against them does Paul’s language become intelligible and relevant
  • What Jesus Christ is in Himself
    • In this passage, Paul says two great things about Jesus, both of which are in answer to the Gnostics. They had said that Jesus was merely one among many intermediaries and that, however great he might be, he was only a partial revelation of God
      • Paul says that Jesus is the image of the invisible God
        • Here he uses a word and a picture which would waken all kinds of memories in the minds of those who heard it. The word image can be two things which merge into each other. It can be a representation; but a representation, if it is perfect enough, can become a manifestation. When Paul uses this word, he declares that Jesus is the perfect manifestation of God. To see what God is like, we must look at Jesus. He perfectly represents God to men and women in a form in which they can see, know, and understand. But it is what is behind this word that is of such enormous interest
          • The OT and intertestamental books have a great deal to say about Wisdom.
            • In Proverbs, the great passaged on Wisdom are in chapters 2 and 8. There, it is said to exist in eternity with God and to have been with Him when He created the world. Now, in the Wisdom of Solomon, image is used of Wisdom; Wisdom is the image of the goodness of God. It is as if Paul turned to the Jews and said: “all your lives you’ve been thinking, dreaming, and writing about this divine Wisdom which is as old as God, which made the world and gives wisdom to men and women. In Jesus this Wisdom has come to us in bodily form for all to see.” Jesus is the fulfillment of the dreams of Jewish thought
          • The Greeks were haunted by the idea of the Logos, the word, the reason of God
            • It was that Logos which created the world, which put sense into the universe, which kept the stars in their courses, which made this a dependable world, which put a thinking mind into human beings. This very word image is used again and again by the Hellenistic Jewish writer Philo on the Logos of God. He calls the invisible and divine Logos, which only the mind can perceive, the image of God
            • It is as if Paul said to the Greeks, “For the last 600 years, you have dreamed, thought, and written about the reason, the mind, the word, the Logos of God; you called it God’s image; in Jesus Christ that Logos has come plain for all to see. Your dreams and philosophies have all come true in Him.”
          • In these connections to the word image, we have been moving in the highest realms of thought, familiar to the philosophers. But there are two much simpler connections which would immediately flash across the minds of those who heard or read this for the first time
            • Their minds would at once go back to the creation story in which God said, “Let us make man in our image”
              • Human beings were made that they might be nothing less than the image of God, for the word in the Genesis story is the same. That is what men and women were meant to be; but sin came in, and they never achieved their destiny. By using this word of Jesus, Paul infect says “Look at this Jesus. He shows you not only what God is; He also shows you what you were meant to be. Here is humanity as God designed it. Hess is the perfect manifestation of God and the perfect manifestation of what it is to be human.” There is in Jesus the revelation of godhead and the revelation of true humanity
              • But we come at last to something much simpler than any of these things. And there is no doubt that many of Paul’s readers would think of this. Even if they knew nothing of the Wisdom Literature, of Philo, and of the Genesis story, they would know this
                • Image was the Greek word which was used for a portrait. It is the nearest equivalent in ancient Greek to our word photograph. But this word had still another use. When a legal document was drawn up, such as a receipt or an IOU, it always included a description of the chief characteristics and distinguishing marks of the contracting parties, so that there could be no mistake
                • The image was a kind of brief summary of the personal characteristics and distinguishing marks of the contracting parties
                • So Paul is saying: “You know how, if you enter into a legal agreement, there is included an image, a description by which you may be recognized. Jesus is the portrait of God. In Him you see the personal characteristics and the distinguishing marks of God. If you want to see what God is like, look at Jesus.”
      • The other word Paul uses is in verse 19. He says that Jesus is the fullness of God. This is the word which is needed to complete the picture. Jesus is not simply a sketch of God, or a summary and no more than a lifeless portrait of Him. In Him, there is nothing left out; He is the full revelation of God, and nothing more is necessary
  • What Jesus Christ is to Creation
    • According to the Gnostics, the work of creation was carried out by an inferior god, ignorant of and hostile to the true God. It is Paul’s teaching that God’s agent in creations is the Son; and in this passage he has four things to say about the Son in regard to creation
      • He is the first-born of all creation
        • We must be very careful to attach the right meaning to this phrase. In English, it might mean that the Son was the first person to be created; but in Hebrew and Greek thought the world first-born has only very indirectly a time significance. There are two things to note
          • First-born is very commonly a title of honor. Israel, for instance, is the first-born son of God as a nation. The meaning is that the nation of Israel is the most favored child of God
          • First-born is a title of the Messiah. In Psalm 89:27, as the Jews themselves interpreted it, the promise regarding the Messiah is; “I will also make him my firstborn, greatest of the kings of the earth.” 
        • Clearly, first-born is not used in a time sense at all but in the sense of special honor. So, when Paul says of the Son that He is the first-born over all creation, he means that the highest honor which creation holds belongs to Him 
      • It was by the Son that all things were created
        • This is true of things in heaven and things in earth, of things seen and unseen. The Jews themselves, and even more the Gnostics, had a highly developed system of angels. With the Gnostics, that was only to be expected with their long series of intermediaries between human beings and God. Thrones, lordships, powers, and authorities were different grades of angels having their places in different spheres of the seven heavens
        • Paul dismisses them all with complete indifference. He is in effect saying to the Gnostics; “You gave a great place in your thinking to angels. You rate Jesus Christ merely as one of them. But, far from that, He created them.” Paul lays it down that the agent of God in creation no inferior, ignorant, and hostile secondary god, but the Son Himself
      • It was for the Son that all things were created
        • The Son is not only the agent of creation, He is also the goal of creations. That is to say, creation was created to be His, and in its worship and its love He might find His honor and His joy
      • In Him all things hold together
        • This means not only that the Son is the agent of creations in the beginning and the goal of creation in the end; but also, between the beginning and the end, during time as we know it, it is He who holds the world together. That is to say, all the laws which govern and sustain order and not chaos in the universe are an expression of the mind of the Son. The law of gravity and the rest, the laws by which the universe hangs together, are not only scientific laws but also divine
    • So, the Son is the beginning of creation, the end of creation, and the power who holds creation together, the creator, sustainer, and the final goal of the world
  • What Jesus Christ is to the Church
    • Paul sets our in verse 18 what Jesus is to the Church and he distinguishes four great facts in that relationship
      • He is the head of the body
        • The Church is the body of Christ; the organism through which He acts and which shares all Hi experiences. But the body is the servant of the head and is powerless without it. So Jess is the guiding spirit of the Church; it is at His bidding that the Church must live and move. Without Him, the Church cannot think the truth, cannot act correctly, cannot decide its direction. It is the privilege of the Church to be the instrument through which Christ works. If we neglect or abuse our bodies we can make them unfit to be the servants of the great purposes of our minds; so by undisciplined and careless living the Church can make itself unfit to be the instrument of Christ, who is its head
      • He is the beginning of the Church
        • The Greek word for beginning has a bit of a double meaning. It means not only first in the sense of time, as for instance, A is the beginning of the alphabet and 1 is the beginning of the series of numbers. It means first in the sense of the source from which something came, the moving power which set something in operation. We will see more clearly what Paul is getting at if we remember what he has just said. The world is the creation of Christ; and the Church is the new creation of Christ. Christ is the source of the Church’s life, being, and the director of its continued activity
      • He is the first-born from among the dead
        • Here Paul comes back to the event which was at the center of all thinking, belief, and experience of the early Church—the resurrection. Christ is not merely someone who lived and died and of whom we read and learn. He is someone who because of His resurrection is alive for evermore and whom we meet and experience. Christ is not a dead hero or a past founder, but a living presence
      • The result of all this is that He has the supremacy in all things
        • The resurrection of Jesus is His title to supreme lordship. By His resurrection, He has shown that He has conquered every opposing power and that there is nothing in life or in death which can bind Him
    • So there are four great facts about Jesus Christ in His relationship to the Church, which we can now put in order. He is the living Lord; He is the source and origin of the Church; He is the constant director of the Church; and He is the the Lord of all, by virtue of His victory over death
  • What Jesus Christ is to All Things
    • In verses 19-20, Paul sets down certain great truths about the work of Christ for the whole universe
      • The object of His coming was reconciliation
        • He came to heal the rift and bridge the chasm between God and humanity. We must note one thing quite clearly and always retain in our memories. The initiative oin reconciliation was with God. The NT never talks of God being reconciled to the world, but always of the world being reconciled to God. God’s attitude to men and women was love, and it was never anything else. It was God who began the whole process of salvation. It was because God so loved the world that He sent His Son His one object in sending His Son into this world was to woo people back to Himself and, as Paul puts it, to reconcile all things to Himself
      • The medium of reconciliation was the blood of the cross
        • The driving force behind reconciliation was the death of Jesus. What does Paul mean? Exactly what he wrote in Romans 8:32, “32 He did not even spare his own Son but gave him up for us all. How will he not also with him grant us everything?”
        • In the death of Jesus, God is saying to us; “ I love you like that. I love you enough to see my Son suffer and die for you.” The cross is the proof that there are no lengths to which the love of God will refuse to go in order to win human hearts; and a love like that demands an answering love. If the cross will not waken love in our hearts, nothing will
      • We must note that Paul says that in Christ God was reconciling all things to Himself
        • The point is that the reconciliation of God extends not only to all persons but to all creation, animate and inanimate. The vision of Paul was a universe in which not only the people but also the things were redeemed
        • There is no doubt that Paul was thinking of the Gnostics. They regarded matter as essentially and incurably evil; therefore the world is evil. But, as Paul sees it, the world is not evil. It is God’s world and it shares in the universal reconciliation. This is God’s world and it is a redeemed world, for in some amazing way God in Christ was reconciling the whole universe of humanity, living creatures, and even inanimate things to Himself
      • The passage ended with a curious phrase
        • Paul says that this reconciliation extended not. Only to things on earth but also to things in heaven. How was it that any reconciliation was necessary for heavenly things? Here are some of the explanations
          • It has been suggested that even the heavenly places and the angels there were under sin and needed to be reconciled to God. I.e. Job
          • Origin, the third century theologian  and universalist, thought that the phrase referred to the devil and his angels, and he believed that in the end even they would be reconciled to God through the work of Jesus Christ
          • It has been suggested that, when Paul said that the reconciling work of Christ extended to all things in earth and in heaven he did not mean anything definite but was simply using a phrase in which the complete adequacy of the reconciling work of Christ was set out
          • The 5th century Bishop of Cyrrhus, Theodore, said that the point is not to have the heavenly angels reconciled to God, but that they were reconciled to human beings. The suggestion is that the angels were angry with men and women for what they had done to God, and wanted to destroy them; and the work of Christ took away their wrath when they saw how much God still loved humanity
    • God’s aim was to reconcile all people to Himself in Jesus Christ. The medium by which He did so was the death of Christ, which proved that there were no limits to His love—and that reconciliation extends to all the universe, earth and heaven alike
  • The Aim and Obligation of Reconciliation
    • In verses 21-23, the aim and the obligation of reconciliation are set out
      • The aim of reconciliation is holiness
        • Christ carried out His sacrificial work of reconciliation in order to present us to God consecrated and blameless It is easy to twist the idea of the love of God and to say: “Well, if God loves me like this and desires nothing but reconciliation, sin does not matter. I Can do what I like and God will still love me.” The reverse is true. The fact that we are loved does not give us complete freedom to do as we like; it last upon us the greatest obligation in the word, the obligation of being worthy of that love. IN one sense, the love of God makes things easy, for it takes away our fear of Him and assures us that we are no longer criminals awaiting judgment, certain of nothing but condemnation. But, in another sense, it makes things agonizing and almost impossibly difficult, for it lays upon us this ultimate obligation of seeking to be worthy of that love
      • Reconciliation has another kind of obligation, that of standing firm in the faith and never abandoning the hope of the gospel
        • Reconciliation demands that through sunshine and through shadow we should never lose confidence in the Leo of God. Out of the wonder of reconciliation are born strength of unshakable loyalty and the radiance of unconquerable hope

Colossians 1:1-14

• Colossians 1:1-2
• Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will, and Timothy our brother: 2 To the saints in Christ at Colossae, who are faithful brothers and sisters. Grace to you and peace from God our Father.
  • Dedicated Christians cannot write a single sentence without making clear the great beliefs which underlie all their thinking. Paul had never actually been in Colossae, and so he has to begin by making clear what right he has to send a letter to the Colossians
  • He does that in one word; he is an apostle. The word apostolos literally means one who is sent out
  • Paul’s right to speak is that he has been sent out by Bod to be His ambassador to the Gentiles. Moreover, he is an apostle by the will of God. That position is not something which he has earned or achieved; it is something which has been given to him by God. Here, at the outset of the letter, is the whole doctrine of grace. We are not what we have made ourselves, but what God has made us
  • With himself, Paul links Timothy; and he gives him a great title. He calls him our brother, a title which is given to Quartus (Romans 16:23), to Sosthenes (I Corinthians 1:1), and to Apollos (I Corinthians 16:12). The fundamental necessity for Christian service and for Christian responsibility is fellowship and goodwill to others
    • The first requirement of Christian service is the ability to get along with all kinds of people. Timothy is described not as a preacher, a teacher, a theologian, or an administrator, but as our brother. Anyone who stands detached from others can never a real servant of Jesus Christ
  • Another interesting and significant fact is that this opening address is to God’s dedicated people and to the faithful brothers and sisters in Colossae
    • In the matter of opening addresses, Paul’s practice changed. In his earlier letters, he always addressed the letter to the church; I and II Thessalonians, I and II Corinthians, and Galatians are all addressed to the church of the district to which they are sent
    • But beginning with Romans, his letters are all addressed to God’s dedicated people in such and such a place. It is so in Romans, Colossians, Philippians, and Ephesians
    • As Paul grew older, he came more and more to see that what matters is individual people. The Church is not a kind of abstract body; it is individual men, women, and children. As the years wen on, Paul began to see the Church in terms of individuals, hence this style of greeting
  • The opening greeting closes with a most significant placing of two things side by side
    • He writes to the Christians who are in Colossae and who are in Christ
      • Christians always move in two spheres. They are in a certain place in this world, but they are also in Christ. They live in two dimensions. They live in this world, whose duties they do not treat lightly; but above and beyond that they live in Christ
      • In this world, they may move from place to place; but wherever they are, they are in Christ. That is why outward circumstances make little difference to Christians; their peace and their joy are not dependent on them
      • That is why they will do any job wholeheartedly. It may be menial, unpleasant, or painful; it may be a job far less distinguished than they might expect to have; its rewards may be small and its praise non-existent; nevertheless, Christians will do any job diligently, cheerfully, and without complaint, for they are in Christ and do all things as if they do them for the Lord
      • We are all in our own Colossae; but we are all in Christ, and it is Christ who sets the tone of our living
• Colossians 1:3-8
• 3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints 5 because of the hope reserved for you in heaven. You have already heard about this hope in the word of truth, the gospel 6 that has come to you. It is bearing fruit and growing all over the world, just as it has among you since the day you heard it and came to truly appreciate God’s grace. 7 You learned this from Epaphras, our dearly loved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, 8 and he has told us about your love in the Spirit.
  • Here we are presented with the essence of the Christian life. The fact which delights Paul’s heart and for which he gives God thanks is that he has been told that the Colossians are showing tow great qualities in their lives, faith in Christ and love for they neighbors
  • These are the two sides of the Christian life. Christians must have faith; they must know what they believe. But they must also have love for others; they must turn that belief into action. It is not enough simply to have faith, for there can be an orthodoxy which knows no love. It is not enough only to have love for others, for without real belief that love can become mere sentimentality
  • Christians have a double commitment—they are committed to Jesus, and they are committed to other people. Faith in Christ and love shown to others are the twin pillars of the Christian life
  • That faith and that love depend on the hope that is laid up in heave. What exactly does Paul mean? Is he asking the Colossians to show faith in Christ and love for others only for the hope of some reward that is going to come to them some day? There is something deeper than that here
  • Loyalty to Christ may involve us in all kinds of loss, pain, and  suffering. There may be many things to which we have to say goodbye. They way of love may seem to many to be the way of a fool. Why spend life in selfless service? Why not use it to achieve personal gain by the worlds’ standards? The answer is because of the hope that is set before us
  • The Christian hope is that God’s way is the best way and that the only real peace, joy, and true and lasting reward are to be found in it. Loyalty to Christ may bring trouble here—but that is not the last word. The world may laugh contemptuously at the folly of the way of love—but the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom. The Christian hope is the confidence that it is better to stake one’s life on God than to believe the world
  • The Essence of the Gospel
    • Verses 6-8 are a kind of summary of what the gossip is and does. Paul has much to say about the hope which had already come to the Colossians, to which they have already listened and which they have already accepted
    • The gospel is good news of God
      • Its message is of God who is a friend and lover of the souls of men and women. First and foremost, the gospel sets us in a right relationship with God
    • The gospel is truth
      • All previous religions could be entitled “Guesses about God”. The Christian gospel gives us not guests but certainties about God
    • The gospel is universal
      • It is for all the world. It is not confined to any one race or nation, nor to any one class or social status. Very few things in this world are open to absolutely everyone. The message of the gospel is is open to everyone without exception
    • The gospel is productive
      • It bears fruit and increases. It is the plain fact of history and experience that the gospel has power to change individuals and the society in which they live. It can change sinners into good men and women and can slowly take the selfishness and the cruelty out of society so that all its members may have the chance that God would wish them to have
    • The gospel tells of grace
      • It is not so much the message of what God demands as of what He offers. It tells not so much of His demand from us as of His gift to us
    • Thee gospel is humanly transmitted
      • It was Epaphras who brought it to the Colossians. There must be a human channel through which the gospel can be communicated. And this is where we come in. The possession of the good news of the gospel involves the obligation to share it. That which is divinely given must be humanly passed on. Jesus needs us to be the hands, feet, and lips which will bring His gospel to those who have never heard it
• Colossians 1:9-11
• 9 For this reason also, since the day we heard this, we haven’t stopped praying for you. We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, 10 so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, so that you may have great endurance and patience, joyfully
  • It is a very precious thing to hear the prayers of a saint for friends; and that is what we hear in this passage. It may well be said that this passage teaches us more about the essence of prayer’s request than almost any other in the NT
  • From it we learn that prayer makes tow great requests. It asks for understanding and insight into God’s will and then for the power to perform that will
    • Prayer begins by asking that we may b filled with an ever-growing knowledge of the will of God. Its great purpose is to know the will of God. We are trying not so much to make God listen to us as to make ourselves listen to Him; we are trying not to persuade God to dow what we want but to find out what He wants us to do. It so often happens that in prayer we’re trying to change the will of God  instead of saying “Your will be done”. The first object of prayer is not so much to speak to God as to listen to Him
    • This knowledge of God must be translated into our human situation. We pray for spiritual wisdom and understanding. The Greek word for spiritual wisdom could be described as knowledge of first principles. The Greek for understanding is what the Greeks sometimes described as critical knowledge, meaning the ability to apply first principles to any given situation which may arise in life.
      • So when Paul prays that his friends may have wisdom and understanding, he is praying that they may understand the great truths of Christianity and may be able to apply them to the tasks and decisions which meet them in everyday living. It is possible to be an expert in theology and a failure in living, to be able to write and talk about the eternal truths and yet helpless in applying them to the things which meet us every day. Christians must know what Christianity means not in a vacuum but in the business of living
    • This knowledge of God’s will and this wisdom and understanding must result in right conduct.
      • Paul prays that his friends may conduct themselves in such a way as to please God. There is nothing in this world as practical as prayer. It is not escape from reality. Prayer and action go hand in hand. We pray not in order to escape life but in order to be better able to meet it
    • To do this, we need power. Therefore, Paul prays that his friends may be strengthened with the power of God
      • The great problem in life is not to know what to do but to do it. For the most part, we are well aware in any given situation of what we ought to do; our problem is to put that knowledge into action. What we need is power—and that we receive in prayer. If God merely old us what His will was, that might well be a frustrating situation; but He not only tells us His will, he also enables us to perform it. Through prayer, we reach the greatest gift in all the world—knowledge plus power
  • The Three Great Gifts
    • What we might call the asking part of Paul’s prayer ends with a prayer for three great qualities. He prays that his Colossian friends may have great endurance, patience, and joy
    • Endurance and patience are two Greek words which often go together. Fortitude is hupomone, and patience is makrothumia. There is a distinction between these two words. It would not be true to say that Greek always rigidly observes this distinction; but it is there when the words occur together
      • Hupomone (Endurance) does not mean patience in the sense of bowing our heads and letting the tide of events flow over us. It  means not only the ability to bear things but the ability, in bearing them, to turn them into glory. It is a conquering patience. Hupomone is the ability to deal triumphantly with anything that life can do to us
      • Makrothumia (Patience) has a basic meaning of patience with people. It is the quality of mind and heart which enables us to cope with people in such a way that their unpleasantness, malice, and cruelty will never drive us to bitterness, that their folly will never drives us to irritation, and that their unloveliness will never alter our love. Makrothumia is the spirit which never loses patience with, belief in, and hope for others
      • So Paul prays for endurance which no situation can defeat and the patience which no person can defeat. He prays that Christians may be such  that no circumstances will defeat their strength and no human being will defeat their love. Their endurance in events and patience with people must be indestructible
      • Added to all this, there is joy. The Christian way is not a grim struggle with events and with people; it is an radiant and sunny-hearted attitude to life. The Christian joy is joy in any circumstances. It is easy to be joyful when things go well; but Christian radiance is something which all the shadows of life can never quench
  • So the Christian prayer is: Lord, make me victorious over every circumstance; make me patient with every person; and give me the joy which no circumstance and no one will ever take from me
• Colossians 1:12-14
• 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light. 13 He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves. 14 In him we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
  • Paul turns to grateful thanksgiving for the benefits which Christians have received in Christ. There are two key ideas here
    • God has given to the Colossians a share in the inheritance of God’s dedicated people
      • There is in this whole passage a very close correspondence with Paul’s words in Acts 26:18:  “to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’”
      • The first privilege is that there has been given to the Gentiles a share in the inheritance of the chosen people of God. The Jews had always been God’s chosen people, but now the door has been opened to all people of every race
  • The second key idea lies in the phrase “transferred us into the kingdom of the Son He loves”
    • The word which Paul uses for transferred in the Greek is a word with a special use. In the ancient world, when one empire won a victory over another, it was the custom to take the population of the defeated country and transfer every man, woman, and child to the conqueror’s land. Thus the people of the north kingdom were taken away to Assyria, and the people of the southern kingdom were taken away to Babylon. So Paul says that God has transferred the Christians to His own kingdom.
    • That was not only a transference but a rescue, and it meant four special things
      • It meant a transference from dearness to light
        • Without God, people hesitate and stumble as if walking in the dark. They do not know what to do; they do not know where they are going. Life is lived in the shadows of doubt and in the darkness of ignorance
        • When Thomas Blimey, the 16th century martyr, read that Jesus came into the world to save sinners, he said that it was like the dawn breaking on a dark night. In Jesus, God has given us a light by which to live and by which to die
      • It meant a transference from slavery to freedom
        • It was redemption, and that was the word used fro the liberation of a slave and for the buying back of something which was in the power of someone else. Without God, we are slaves to our fears, to our sins, and to our own helplessness. In Jesus there is liberation
      • It meant a transference from condemnation to forgiveness
        • Human beings in their sin deserve nothing but the condemnation of God; but through the work of Jesus they discover God’s love and forgiveness. We know now that we are no longer condemned criminals at God’s judgement seat but lost sons and daughters for whom the way home is always open
      • It meant a transference from the power of Satan to the power of God
        • Through Jesus, we are librated from the grip of Satan and are able to become citizens of the kingdom of God. Just as an earthly conqueror transferred the citizens of the land he had conquered to a new land, so God in His triumphant love transfers us from the realm of sin and darkness into the realm of holiness and light

Defending the Faith

Apologetics is quite literally defense of the faith; the Greek word apologia means “defense” as a lawyer gives at a trial. In every generation, people face the challenges, questions, and concerns of the gospel message of the Christian faith. 

Let’s define a few things before we get started. 

Definitions:

Religion—a system of worship and service for a deity or deities.

Denomination—a group within a religion that bonds together because they share some beliefs and practices that are distinctive from other members of the religion.

Cults—a group that claims association with a religion but does not fully share the religions views regarding the identification of its deity and sacred writings.

11 characteristics of a cult

New truth; New interpretations of scripture; a non Biblical source of authority; * another Jesus; rejection of orthodox Christianity; Double talk; non Biblical teaching on the nature of God (trinity); changing theology; strong leadership; salvation by works; false prophecy

In this session, we are going to explore a few different world religions that you are likely to face at some point. But before we actually look at one major reason there are so many different religions and beliefs in this world. I believe that this has something to with the different world views that are found around the world.

Can anyone tell me what a world view is? 

There are so man differences in how people view different issues throughout the world. These differences are the result of competing world views. Everyone has a unique set of beliefs that influence their interpretation of the world. Minor beliefs are far too many to catalog (for example, weather, coffee with or without cream, morning person vs. night person). Major beliefs are ideas that are more central to the overall makeup of humanity (THESE WOULD BE OUR WORLD VIEWS). These include philosophical viewpoints (do we really exist), Religious viewpoints (theistic, atheistic or pantheistic), language/culture structures (each culture has its own language structure to describe its experience) and personal factors (a person born blind will perceive the world differently than a person who has had sight). 

World views are like the lenses of sunglasses. What do you think I mean by that? Think about it this way. If you have a pair of sunglasses that are tinted red, everything you see through those glasses will tend to have a red tint. If they are yellow, everything you see through those glasses will have a yellow tint…etc. So if your world view is like the lenses of sunglasses, then world views color your perception of the universe. World views examine the questions that must be answered about life and the human experience.

Leo Tolstoy saw six essential questions that must be answered:
1. Why am I living (origin)
2. What is the cause of my existence and that of everyone else? (theology, biology)
3. Why do I exist (purpose)
4. Why is there a division of good and evil within me?
5. How must I live (morality)
6. What is death (How do I save myself)

The way you answer these questions determine what world view you have. 

Sireʼs Definition of “Worldviews” – “ A set of presuppositions (assumptions which may be true, partially true or entirely false) which we hold (consciously or subconsciously, consistently or inconsistently) about the basic make-up of our world.” 

o Worldviews have “presuppositions”—Assumptions upon which our beliefs are built. 

o Presuppositions are like the foundation blocks upon which a house is built. 

o They may be “true, partially true, or entirely false.”
o Worldviews are held “consciously or subconsciously” – Every rational creature  has a worldview…even if he doesn’t know it.
o Worldviews are held “consistently or inconsistently.” 

o Worldviews reflect the “basic make-up of our world.” 

o Worldviews do not reflect a personʼs entire belief system, but their core beliefs (most important beliefs). 

o If all of our beliefs were put into a worldview system, then every personʼs worldview would be different because no two people have exactly the same beliefs. 

There are also four different major types of world views. They are Theistic (believing in a god or gods), Non-theistic (not believing in a god or gods), Mystical views and Postmodernism. 

Overview of Worldviews

I. Theistic views 

a. Christian Theism 

i. Belief in an infinite theistic power (i.e., God).

ii. “Christian”—the Christian form of God-belief

b. Other Forms of Theism: Judaism, Islam, Etc. 

c. Deism 

i. Belief in God as Creator and Moral Being. 

ii. “Clock-Maker God” – God does not interfere with this world 

d. Theistic Existentialism 

i. Stresses the personal decision associated with faith. 

ii. “Leap of Faith” – One cannot understand religion, so each person must make a choice to believe without understanding.

II. Non-Theistic Views 

a. Naturalism (i.e., Secular Humanism) 

i. Denies the spiritual – All that exists is nature. 

ii. Survival of the Fittest –Back to Nature.

b. Nihilism 

i. An outgrowth of Naturalism 

ii. Nihilists say there is no value, meaning, or truth to life

c. iii. Life is absurd, and after life there is nothing

d. Existentialism (Atheistic Existentialism) 

i. An outgrowth of Nihilism 

ii. The only meaning in life is what each person creates for themselves

e. iii. Stresses the present, the personal, and individual freedom

III. Mystical Views

a. Eastern Pantheistic Monism 

i. Eastern – It had its origin in the East. 

ii. Pantheistic – Everything is God (God and the Universe are one).
iii. Monism – Everything can be boiled down to one thing (i.e., all is god).

b. Animism/Occult 

i. Both hold strongly to a belief in spirits and spiritual involvement in our world. 

ii. Animism – Believes spirits of all kinds are in all things (i.e., trees, lakes, mountains, etc., etc.). 

iii. Occult – Believes spirits of all kinds can be conjured up for specific answers to life and activities. 

c. New Age
i. Stress the “unity” of the cosmos and the need for harmony with “Mother Earth.” 

IV. Postmodernism 

a. A reaction to the assume certainty of the scientific or rational efforts to explain reality. 

b. Items of Emphasis: 

i. Subjective Truth (i.e., there are no absolute truths). 

ii. Post Structuralism – language cannot express objective truth. 

iii. Deconstructionism – History is not a record of objective facts. 

iv. All “truth-claims” are actually power cover-ups. 

v. Toleration of individual choices in morality, religion, lifestyle, etc.,

Now that you have a basic understanding of world views, we can start talking about different world religions. 

Mormonism: 

Mormons: 

Over 50,000 missionaries worldwide (62,000+ as of 2022)
5 billion dollars in tithing per year
Brigham Young University—40,000 students on two campuses
Avenging angel—member of the church that will kill those who are adulterer, murderer or leave the Mormon church
Promote family living
Mormons sale themselves not through doctrine but pragmatism
Joseph Smith—12-23-1805—6-27-1844
Born in Sharon, VT and died in Carthage, IL
Raised in upstate New York near Manchester, NY
No church affiliation and was the 4th child
Claims to having some very strange visions
James 1:5 first vision 1820

5 Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God—who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly—and it will be given to him. 

“Peep Stone Joe”
1823 at the age of 18 is the second vision—Moroni was beside him and in another book it was Nephi. He was told about the location of “Golden Plates” buried in Cumorah hill in Palmyra, NY.
1827 finds the plates but will not let anyone see them
Moved to Harmony township, PA
There is a statement signed by 62 members of Palmyra, NY basically refuting everything that Smith was claiming. 

Plates are supposedly written in “Reformed Egyptian” which does not exist.

Oliver Cowdery, Martin Harris, and David Whitmore were known as the “three witnesses” that witnessed the translations. Later in Mormon history all three of these men said that this was all a joke and that they didnʼt want to be a part of it anymore 

1829 Peter, James and John sent John the Baptist to Joseph Smith to congratulate him 

Fayette, NY in 1830 the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was officially formed.

Between 1831-1844 Joseph Smith claims to have received 135 direct revelations from God.
Kirtland, OH in 1831; Independence, MO; Nauvoo, IL; Carthage, IL

June 27, 1844 over 200 townspeople storm the jail, drag Smith and his brother Hyrum and shot them to death in the middle of the street. 

Mormon Apologetics
Moroni 10:4
“And when you shall receive these things, I would exhort you that you would ask God, the eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if you would ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you by the power of the Holy Ghost.”

Apologetics will not allow a self justifying claim.

The book of Doctrine and Covenants
They believe it is a book of direct revelations of Joseph Smith and consecutive presidents of the church.

1890 President Wilford Woodruff the Mormon church no longer sanctions polygamy. 

Alma 3:6-9 that the black race was cursed by God; by Joseph Smith—June 9 1978 president Spencer Kimball states that blacks are now excepted more openly in the church and now for the priesthood.

The Pearl of Great Price
A collection of ancient inspired writings and a few inspired writings by Smith 

Physical nature of God
They believe that God literally has flesh and bones.
Eternal progression; an exceptionally good Mormon will eventually become a god and given a planet.

The Trinity: Hierarchical trinity found in II Nephi 31:21 and Alma 11:44; God the Father is superior of Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

Baptism:
Require immersion for the forgiveness of sins.
The only salvation in the world today is through baptism in the Mormon church. 

Baptism for the dead…Mormons can be baptized in the place of their dead relatives who died without having the opportunity of hearing Smithʼs teachings.
Based on I Cor. 15:29 and I Peter 4:6 

29 Otherwise what will they do who are being baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, then why are people baptized for them?; 6 For this reason the gospel was also preached to those who are now dead, so that, although they might be judged in the flesh according to human standards, they might live in the spirit according to God’s standards.

Lordʼs supper: Every week but they usually use water 

Kingdom of Heaven: Three levels of Heaven 

1. Celestial 

a. The best of the best of the best of Mormons

b. Participated in a celestial marriage

c. Remained in good standing with the Mormon church

d. Spend eternity in fellowship with Elohim and Jesus

2. Terrestial 

a. Other Mormons

b. Good protestants

c. Good Roman Catholics

d. Jesus will regularly visit this level

3. Telestial 

a. Other protestants

b. Other Roman Catholics

c. Unbelievers who lived decent lives

d. Holy spirit and angels will regularly visit

All of this comes from II Cor 12:2 

2 I know a man in Christ who was caught up to the third heaven fourteen years ago. Whether he was in the body or out of the body, I don’t know; God knows.

Hell:
Reserved for Satan and his angels
Only the most wicked and incorrigible people will be sent there. 

Jehovahʼs Witnesses: 

Blue collar religion
Charles Taze Russell (2-16-1852—10-31-1916)
Raised in Pittsburgh PA and by the age of 25 he was the manager of several menʼs stores
Started a Bible Study group in 1870 and started reading Daniel and Revelation. Predicts the second coming in 1874. Second prediction of the second coming is 1914. 

1876—International Bible Students
1881—Zionʼs Watchtower and Tract Society 

C.T. Russellʼs status with Jehovahʼs Witness groups today:
Jehovahʼs Witnesses have tried to distance themselves from C.T. Russell over the past 50 years.
C.T. Russell advertised and sold “Miracle Wheat”
Russell divorced his wife on grounds of adultery 

Claimed he could read Greek and Hebrew under oath and then could not do it. 

Joseph Rutherford “Judge” (1869-1942)
Followed Russell as the leader of the Watchtower and tract society
Why Serve Jehovah? Rutherford claims that he is Godʼs mouthpiece for this generation and everything he says is divine revelation.
1914 Jesus was crowned Lord of all Creation. Satan got mad and was cast out of Heaven to earth and thatʼs why WWI started.
1931 Rutherford changed the name of the group to Jehovahʼs Witnesses.
Nathan Knorr became leader after Rutherford died. (42-74).
His 2 new policies 

1. Only writings published after 1942 should be considered authoritative.

2. All future writings representing JW would be published without identification of the author.

Henschel 

Don Adams 

JWʼs headquarters is in Brooklyn, NY 1898. 750,000 members in the United States 

JWʼs authoritative writings
The New World translation 1955 Difficulties 

1. Qualifications of translators cannot be traced

2. John 1:1 JW states “In the beginning was the word and the word was a god”,
when our translation was “In the beginning was the word and the word was God”.

3. Colossians 1:16; For everything was created by him,

in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—

all things have been created through him and for him.

4. if you want to understand the Bible correctly you have to use the other publications along with the Bible.

Beliefs and Practices:
Denial of the trinity…the focus of your worship should be on Jehovah not Jesus. 

Arian Christology—Arius (250-336)
Jesus was Michael, then Jesus and is now Michael again Holy Spirit is not a divine person or part of the trinity Godʼs work on earth 

Two Flocks: 

1. Revelation 7:1-8—144,000 (Heaven) 

After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, restraining the four winds of the earth so that no wind could blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel rising up from the east, who had the seal of the living God. He cried out in a loud voice to the four angels who were allowed to harm the earth and the sea, 3 “Don’t harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we seal the servants of our God on their foreheads.” 4 And I heard the number of the sealed: 144,000 sealed from every tribe of the Israelites: 5 12,000 sealed from the tribe of Judah, 12,000 from the tribe of Reuben, 12,000 from the tribe of Gad, 6 12,000 from the tribe of Asher, 12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali, 12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh, 7 12,000 from the tribe of Simeon, 12,000 from the tribe of Levi, 12,000 from the tribe of Issachar, 8 12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun, 12,000 from the tribe of Joseph,

12,000 sealed from the tribe of Benjamin.

2. John 10:16—144,001ff (Paradise on Earth) 

16 But I have other sheep that are not from this sheep pen; I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. Then there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life so that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have the right to lay it down, and I have the right to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”

The Second coming
One final chance to accept Christ after death. 

Miscellaneous:
Believe in immersion
Lordʼs Supper once a year
Lay Ministries:
140+ hrs. per month—“Special Pioneers” ($)
96+ hrs. per month—“Pioneers”
15+ hrs. per month—“Publisher”
Not allowed to have any thing to do with the Roman Catholic or Protestant churches No association with secular government 

Donʼt vote or serve in military 

Miscellaneous comments about JW:
Refuse to take blood transfusions
No Christmas trees—Jeremiah 10:3-4: for the customs of the peoples are worthless. Someone cuts down a tree from the forest;

it is worked by the hands of a craftsman with a chisel. 4 He decorates it with silver and gold. It is fastened with hammer and nails, so it won’t totter.

Will not celebrate birthdays—Genesis 40:20-22 and Matthew 14:6-10 

20 On the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, he gave a feast for all his servants. He elevated the chief cupbearer and the chief baker among his servants. 21 Pharaoh restored the chief cupbearer to his position as cupbearer, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand. 22 But Pharaoh hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had explained to them.

6 When Herod’s birthday celebration came, Herodias’s daughter danced before them and pleased Herod. 7 So he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. 8 Prompted by her mother, she answered, “Give me John the Baptist’s head here on a platter.” 9 Although the king regretted it, he commanded that it be granted because of his oaths and his guests. 10 So he sent orders and had John beheaded in the prison.

Do not believe that Jesus died on a cross.
Prohibited vaccinations up until the 1950ʼs
Prohibited transplants of organs up until 1967

Philippians 4:8-22

• Philippians 4:8-9
• 8 Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy—dwell on these things. 9 Do what you have learned and received and heard from me, and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.
  • The human mind will always set itself on something, and Paul wanted to be quite sure that the Philippians would set their minds on the right things. This is something of the utmost importance, because it is a law of life that if we think of something often enough we will come to the stage when we cannot stop thinking about it. Our thoughts will be quite literally in a groove out of which we cannot jolt them. It is of the first importance that we should set our thoughts upon the fine things—and here Paul makes a list of them
    • There are the things which are true
      • Many things in the world are deceptive, promising what they can never preform, offering a false peace and happiness which they can never supply. We should always set our thoughts on the things which will not let us down
    • There are things which are honorable
      • The Greek word here is difficult to translate. It is the word which is characteristically used of the gods and of the temples of the gods
      • When used of an individual, it describes a person who moves through life as if the whole world were the temple of God
      • The word really describes that which has the dignity of holiness upon it. There are things in this world which are flippant, cheap, and attractive to those who never take life seriously; but it is on the things which are serious and dignified that Christians will set their minds
    • There are the things which are just
      • The word (dikaios) is defined by the Greeks as a person who gives to gods and to other people what is their due. In other words, it is the word of duty faced and duty done
      • There are those who set their minds on pleasure, comfort, and easy ways. The Christian’s thoughts are on duty to other people and duty to God
    • There are the things which are pure
      • The word describes what is morally uncontaminated. When it is used ceremonially, it describes that which has been so cleansed that it is fit to be brought into the presence of God and used in His service
      • This world is full of things which are sordid, shabby, soiled, and smutty. Many people develop a way of thinking that soils everything. The Christian’s mind is set on the things which are pure; the Christian’s thoughts are so clean that they can stand even the scrutiny of God
    • There are things which are lovely
      • It might be paraphrased as that which calls forth love. There are those whose minds are so set on vengeance and punishment that they cause bitterness and fear in others. There are those whose minds are so set on criticism and rebuke that they bring out resentment in others
      • Christians set their minds on the lovely things—kindness, sympathy, patience—so they are lovely people, whose presence inspires feelings of love 
    • There are things which are commendable
      • It is not easy to get at the meaning of this world. It literally means fair speaking; but it was especially connected with the holy silence at the beginning of a sacrifice in the presence of the gods. It might not be going too far to say that it describes the things which are fit for God to hear
      • There are far too many ugly, false, and impure words in this world. On the lips and in the minds of Christians, there should be only words which are fit for God to hear
    • If there is any moral excellence
      • The Greek here is one of the great classical words, but Paul usually seems to deliberately avoid it, and this is the only time it occurs in his writings
      • In classical thought, it described every kind of excellence. It could describe the excellence of the ground in a field, the excellence of a tool for its purpose, the physical excellence of an animal, the excellence of the courage of a soldier, and the virtue of an individual
      • It has been suggested that with this word, Paul calls in as an ally all that was excellent in the non-Christian background of his friends. It is as if he were saying; “If the idea of excellence held by the religions in which you were brought up has any influence over you—think of that. Think of your past life at its very highest, to spur you on to the new heights of the Christian way.”
      • The world has its impurities and degradations, but it also has its fine qualities and its brave actions, and it is of the high things that Christians must think
    • Finally, if there is anything praiseworthy
      • IN one sense, it is true that Christians never think of the praise of others, but in another sense it is true that every good individual is uplifted by the praise of good men and women. So Pauls says that Christians will live in such a way that they will neither conceitedly desire nor foolishly despise the praise of others 
  • In this passage, Paul lays down the way of true teaching
    • He speaks of the things which the Philippians have learned
      • These are the things in which he personally instructed them. This stands for the personal interpretation of the gospel, which Paul brought to them. 
    • He speaks of the things which the Philippians have received
      • The Greek means to accept a fixed tradition
      • This stands for the accepted teaching of the Church which Paul had handed on to them
    • From these two words, we learn that teaching consists of two things. It consists of handing on to others the accepted body of truth and doctrine which the whole Church holds; and it consists of illuminating that body of doctrine by the personal interpretation and instruction of the teacher
      • If we would teach or preach, we must know the accepted body of the Church’s doctrine; and then we must pass it through our own minds and hand it on to others, both in its on simplicity and in the significances which our own experiences and our own thinking have given to it
    • Paul goes further than that. He tells the Philippians to copy what they have heard and seen in himself. Personal example is an essential part of teaching. Teachers must demonstrate in action the truth which they express in words
    • Finally, Paul tells the Philippians if they faithfully do all this, the God of peace will be with them. It is of great interest to study Paul’s titles for God
      • He is the God of peace
        • This is his favorite title for God. To a Jew, peace was never merely the absence of trouble. It was everything which makes for a person’s highest good. Only in the friendship of God is it possible to find life as it was meant to be
        • But also to a Jew, this peace led especially to right relationships. It is only by the grace of God that we can enter into a right relationship with Him and with one another. The God of peace is able to make life what it was meant to be by enabling us to enter into fellowship with Himself and with other people
      • He is the God of hope
        • Belief in God is the only thing which can keep us from the ultimate despair. Only the sense of the grace of God can keep us from despairing about ourselves; and only the sense of the providence of God which rules over all things can keep us from despairing about the world. The hope of Christians is indestructible because it is founded on the eternal God
      • He is the God of patience, comfort, and consolation
        • There are two great Greek words here
          • Patience (hupomne), which never means simply the ability to sit down and bear things but the ability to rise up and conquer them. God is the one who gives us the power to use any experience to lend greatness and glory to life. God is the one in whom we learn to use joy and sorry, success and failure, achievement and disappointment alike, to enrich and to ennoble life, to make us more useful to others and to bring us nearer to Himself
          • Comfort and consolation are the same word (paraklesis). It is far more than soothing sympathy; it is encouragement. It is the help which not only puts an arm around someone but sends that person out to face the world; it not only wipes away the tears but makes it possible to face the world with steady eyes. It is comfort and strength combined. God is the one in whom any situation becomes our glory and in whom people find strength to go on gallantly when life has collapsed
      • He is the God of love and peace
        • Behind everything is that love of God which will never let us go, which puts up with all our sinning, which will never cast us off, which never sentimentally weakens but always vigorously strengthens us for the battle of life
  • Peace, hope, patience, comfort, love—these were the things which Paul found in God. Indeed, our competence is from God
• Philippians 4:10-13
• 10 I rejoiced in the Lord greatly because once again you renewed your care for me. You were, in fact, concerned about me but lacked the opportunity to show it. 11 I don’t say this out of need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I find myself. 12 I know how to make do with little, and I know how to make do with a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content—whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. 13 I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me.
  • Here we find one of scriptures most misapplied and taken out of context verses.
  • As the letter draws to an end, Paul generously expresses his gratitude for the gift which the Philippians had sent to him. He knew that he had always been vey much on their mind, but up until now there had been no opportunity to show their concern for him
  • It was not that he was dissatisfied with his own state, for he had learned the gift of contentment. He uses one of the great words of Greek and Roman ethics, which means entirely self sufficient. Self sufficiency was the highest aim of Stoic ethics; by it the Stoics meant a state of mind in which an individual was absolutely independent of all things and of all people. They proposed to reach that state by a certain pathway of the mind
    • They proposed to eliminate all desire.
      • The Stoics rightly believed that contentment consisted not in possessing much but in wanting little. Socrates was once asked who was the wealthiest man, and he answered that it was he who is content with least, for self-sufficiency is nature’s wealth. They believed that the only way to contentment was to abolish all desire until a stage had been reached when nothing and no one was essential to life
    • They proposed to eliminate all emotion until all people had reached a stage when they did not care what happened either to themselves or to anyone else
      • They suggested looking at broken personal items, pain in a pet, or even yourself, and saying I don’t care. The thought was that if you go on long enough, and you try hard enough, you will come to a stage when you can watch your nearest and dearest suffer and die, and say; “I don’t care” The Stoic aim was to abolish every feeling of the human heart
        • What a miserable way to live
    • This was to be done by a deliberate act of will which saw in everything the will of God
      • The Stoics believed that literally nothing could happen which was not the will of God. However painful it might be, however disastrous it might seem, it was God’s will. It was, therefore, useless to struggle against it; it was necessary to steel oneself into accepting everything 
    • In order to achieve contentment, the Stoics abolished all desires and eliminated all emotions. Love was rooted out of life, and caring was forbidden. The Stoics made of the heart a desert, and called it peace
    • We see at once the difference between the Stoics and Paul
      • The Stoics said; “I will learn to be content by a deliberate act of my own will.”
      • Paul said, “I am able to do all things through Him who strengthens me.”
    • For the Sonics, contentment was a human achievement; for Paul, it was a divine gift. The Stoics were self-sufficient; But Paul was God-sufficient. Stoicism failed because it was inhuman; Christianity succeeded because it was rooted in the divine. Paul could face anything, because in every situation he had Christ; those who walk with Christ can cope with anything
  • Verse 13 is not about doing well on a test, or achieving something great in athletics. It’s about contentment. It’s about being able to handle any situation, no matter the outcome, because you’re content in Christ.
• Philippians 4:14-20
• 14 Still, you did well by partnering with me in my hardship. 15 And you Philippians know that in the early days of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving except you alone. 16 For even in Thessalonica you sent gifts for my need several times. 17 Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the profit that is increasing to your account. 18 But I have received everything in full, and I have an abundance. I am fully supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you provided—a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. 19 And my God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. 20 Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.
  • The generosity of the Philippian church to Paul went back a long way. In Acts 16-17, we read how Paul preached the gospel in Philippi and then moved on to Thessalonica and Berea. As far back as that, the Philippian church had given practical proof of its love for him. Paul was in a unique position with regard to the Philippians; from no other church had he ever accepted any gift of help
  • Paul says a fine thing
    • “It is not that I desire a present from you for my own sake, although your gift touches my heart and makes me very glad. I don’t need anything, for I have more than enough. But I am glad that you gave me a gift for your own sake, for your kindness will stand greatly to your credit in the sight of God.”
  • There generosity made him glad, not for his own sake but for theirs. Then he uses words which turn the gift of the Philippians into a sacrifice to God
    • A fragrant offering—That was a regular OT phrase for a sacrifice which was acceptable to God. It is as if the smell of the sacrifice was sweet in the nostrils of God. Paul’s joy in the gift is not in what it did for him but in what it did for them. It was not that he did not value the gift for its own sake; but his greatest joy was that it was that it and the love which prompted it were dear to God
  • In a last sentence Paul lays it down that no gift ever mad anyone poorer. The wealth of God is open to those who love Him and love their neighbors. Those who give make themselves richer, for their own gifts open to them the gifts of God
• Philippians 4:21-22
• 21 Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me send you greetings. 22 All the saints send you greetings, especially those who belong to Caesar’s household. 23 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
  • The letter comes to an end with greetings. In this final section there is one intensely interesting phrase
    • Paul sends special greetings from the Christians who are in Caesar’s household
    • It is important to understand this phrase correctly. It does not mean Caesar’s family. It was the usual phrase for what we would call the imperial civil service; it had members all over the world. The palace officials, the secretaries, the people who had charge of the imperial revenues, those who were responsible for the day-to-day administration of the empire—all were Caesar’s household
    • It is of the greatest interest to note that, even as early as this, Christianity had penetrated into the very center of the Roman government. There is hardly any sentence which shows more how Christianity had infiltrated even into the highest positions in the empire. Already the first signs of the ultimate triumph of Christ were to be seen
  • Ad so the letter ends. “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.” The Philippians had sent their gifts to Paul. He had only one gift to send to them—his blessing. But what greater gift can we give to others than to remember them in our prayers?