Colossians 1:1-2

Well, last week we concluded our verse-by-verse exposition of Mark's Gospel account.

! And this week we're going to begin our study of Paul's letter to the church at Colossae.

! So if you will, please with me, turn to the book of Colossians.

Know that I say this often, and I say it because I mean it, but also for the sake of

those who haven't heard me say it before, I'm immensely thankful to be part of a church

that values verse-by-verse exposition. It has value for a number of reasons.

Firstly, we need to hear all that the Word of God has to say to us. It is His inspired,

sufficient, authoritative Word, and none of it's unimportant. All of it is incredibly important.

I think it's helpful in our study verse-by-verse to help you better learn how to study the Bible

for yourself. Me and others that help here, taking week-by-week and helping you place in context

various texts of Scripture. We hope in doing so that we're looking at in a broad sense what

other parts of the Scripture have to say. So as we're going through a New Testament epistle,

for example, to pull in the Old Testament references and speak of them well, I know it's good for me

because it keeps me from having pet topics that I preach upon all the time or being able to skip

over hard things in the Scriptures, which I so very much want to do some weeks, but yet the schedule

is before me and the task is at hand. And so just to reiterate to you the value and importance of that,

as we're about to begin another verse-by-verse exposition of a book of the Bible, in this case,

Colossians. I want you to know that my singular goal in today's sermon is to get you excited

about what God would have to say to us in our study of Paul's letter to the Colossian believers,

that it has relevance and meaning bearing on our lives as we work through this in the coming months.

Colossians, as part of God's holy writ, has a great deal of significance for us today.

But in order for us to fully appreciate that significance, we must rightly understand the

original intent. So we'll begin our study by asking a series of questions of the letter.

Question number one. Who wrote Colossians?

Now in the very salutation in verse one, we see that the letter was written by Paul. Paul,

an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy, our brother. Some people say that

Colossians was written by Paul and Timothy. It's possible that Timothy was the scribe, the one who

was actually writing down a secretary, so to speak, as Paul spoke the words to him. But certainly,

we see the use of plural pronouns, we, throughout the text. It is a proper assumption to think that

Paul is referring to himself and Timothy when he says we, but also much use of the singular pronoun

I. It was right to understand that Paul himself is the ultimate author of this text. Colossians 4.18,

he says, I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. So potentially, the very closing of it, he

himself wrote out to emphasize that it was, in fact, a letter from him. Now there are some arguments

against Paul's authorship, but they're so very weak that they're not worth mentioning in this setting

and at this time. You are welcome to study that. I have some books you can borrow on it if you would

care to, but they're incredibly weak arguments. Church history, certainly contained within the text

itself, is the name of Paul, the context in which he writes, the way that your scriptures actually are

organized as has to do with who they believe wrote this letter. If you like with me, turn to your table

of contents in your copy of God's Word. For those of you who don't know, your scripture is not arranged

chronologically, but rather categorically. In the New Testament, it's hard to find that table of contents,

isn't it? Probably a good sign. It means you know your Bible if you can't find your table of contents.

If you look at your table of contents, we have in the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke,

John. These are the gospel accounts. They're historical accounts of the life, death, resurrection,

ascension of Jesus Christ, and then the book of Acts, which is also, some people rightly call it the

acts of Jesus Christ or the acts of the Holy Spirit, but also a historical narrative of the things that

happened after Jesus' ascension and the sending of the Holy Spirit. You then can see Romans,

down through 2nd Thessalonians. These are Pauline epistles, letters that Paul wrote to specific

churches. The church at Corinth, the church at Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, Colossae, Thessalonica.

Then you have the pastoral epistles, also written by Paul, 1st and 2nd Timothy, letters written to

Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. And then Hebrews, which is a letter written to Jewish believers, but we're not

sure who in fact authored it. Some believe that Paul did, some do not, and no one can quite agree

on this, and we're all okay with that. So we stick it there. It's kind of the dividing point after

Paul's writing, the book of Hebrews. And then from there on you have other epistles by various apostles,

and then finally the book of Revelation by John. So that's why it's organized in this fashion,

and how Colossians finds itself in the midst of the Pauline epistles. And it's important for us to know,

to rightly understand the book itself. Who wrote it? Paul wrote it. Clay said for us very well last

week, so I won't get into all of the details of it, but when we believe that the Word of God is the

inspired Word of God, that it was written by God Himself, that it's breathed out, that it's exhaled out

by Him, that God did not circumnavigate the personalities and the context of the writer

himself. So we've got to know who Paul is, and why he would have written in the particular way that he

wrote as he was being carried along by the Spirit. So who wrote Colossians? Paul. Secondly, when and where

was Colossians written? When and where? And you might wonder why I ask it in that way. When and where?

The question of when is largely dependent on the answer to the question where. Colossians is a

prison epistle. It was written from a prison cell, from a sentence that was given to Paul. Imprisonment is

mentioned in chapter 4, verse 3, and chapter 4, verse 18, as well as some form of suffering, but we can

rightly assume the suffering in a prison mentioned in chapter 1, verse 24. So the debate about when

really has to do with which imprisonment. Paul was imprisoned a number of times, and we have to know

which imprisonment it was to rightly set the field for when, in fact, it was written. The wide scholastic

agreement, and again, there are some varying arguments, a little stronger than some of the

arguments against Paul's authorship together, but there's some other arguments, but again, not worth

getting into. The wide scholastic agreement is that it is most likely written during Paul's Roman

imprisonment, which dates the letter at approximately 62 AD, which had been around the same time that the

letter to the Ephesians and to Philemon were written, right? So AD 62, from Roman imprisonment some

thousand miles away from Colossae. So when and where, written in Roman imprisonment around AD 62.

Thirdly, to whom was Colossians written? A little easier off the top, we can answer fairly quickly the

church at Colossae, chapter, or excuse me, verse 2, chapter 1 of the salutation, to the saints and

faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae, but it's good and important for us to understand a few

things about this city before we proceed in our study. Colossae was located in the Lycus River Valley

of West Central Asia Minor, and if you want to later look at a map, this is in modern-day Turkey,

approximately in the center of modern-day Turkey. It's important to know that Paul did not establish

the church at Colossae, but it was likely the fruit of his three-year ministry in Ephesus,

Ephesus being about 120 miles west of Colossae. The text tells us in chapter 1, verse 7, that Epaphras

was the one who came and spoke the Word of God to the people of the Colossian church. So it's presumed

that Epaphras traveled to Ephesus, became a convert to Jesus Christ while he was there, and then,

as a proper disciple of Jesus Christ, went home and made disciples and founded a church back in his

hometown of Colossae. Colossae, at one time, before Paul's time, was a very significant city. In fact,

it had become famous for a particular high-quality dark red wool that was actually known as Colossian

wool, and you can find references to that in other historical works. It was located at the crossroads

of two major highways going through the region. But before Paul's time, the Romans moved the road

to pass through Laodicea, which was 12 miles to the west of Colossae, and Heropolis, which was 15 miles

to the northwest. They built a bypass, so to speak, and sort of left Colossae off the map, and so it had

declined in its prominence. In fact, it was a rather insignificant city altogether in the days of Paul.

J.B. Lightfoot, this rather famous commentary on Colossians, wrote,

Colossae was the least important church to which any epistle of St. Paul was addressed.

So, a rather insignificant church as regards the spread of the gospel, because the city itself was

rather insignificant. Those of you who live in Dahlonega and Dawsonville, even though 400 rips right

through the middle of Dawsonville, may be able to relate to this. Those of you who live in Gainesville

have no idea what's being talked about, because it is the chicken capital of the world.

Really, all fairly insignificant in the large scheme of things.

And our little church can feel that way at times. Rather insignificant, hidden behind the hill on the

side of Highway 60 South, with a deteriorating sign, which is going to be fixed very soon.

Who are we that we should even have the Word of God put before us, that God might speak to us from this

letter today. All the same, even though the church at Colossae seemed fairly insignificant,

note Paul's care for them as a church, and for all the churches for that matter. Colossians 2,

Colossians 2:1

verse 1 and 2, he says,

For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea,

and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit

together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge

of God's mystery, which is Christ. He has a great struggle, a contest, or a battle, because he has

great concern for any who claim the name of Jesus Christ. His suggestion by all of this is that there is

no insignificant extension of God's redemptive work in the world, that if you are a body of Christ,

then you are His, and therefore very significant. The city itself, because of the region in which

Colossae was located, would have been primarily Gentile. And for those of you who don't know, this would

just simply mean not Jewish. This area particularly would have been Greek. But there was also likely a

significant Jewish population. Josephus, a Jewish historian in antiquities, said that Antichius the

Great settled 2,000 Jewish families in the area in 213 BC. So a little over 200 years ago, a massive

number of Jewish families were moved and settled in the area. So it was likely also a very Jewish

populated region. So both a mix here of Jew and Gentile in the area. So that's who it was written

to, the Colossians. Number four, why was Colossians written? Why was Colossians written? Now the letter

itself makes no explicit claim about its purpose. However, the warnings contained within make it clear

that it is intended to encourage the Colossians to resist some kind of erroneous teaching that's going

on at the time. The actual teaching itself is not stated. We don't know for sure. And there's a lot

of conjecture about that. There were a number of heresies floating around in that day. An example of

one would be Gnosticism. Certainly there seems to be some Gnostic elements in the heresy, but we can't say

for sure that it was the Gnostics that were teaching in the area. So there's this mix of

heresy going on, and Paul seems to be writing to correct those things. Many people believe that,

as we know, Epaphras is with Paul at the writing of this letter. You can see that in chapter 4,

that Epaphras has actually traveled to see Paul in Rome, where he's in prison but in a house arrest

kind of a situation. So he's able to go and see him, and Paul, hearing about the trouble that's

happening in this church, writes them to help do away with some of these heresies. Due to the

population of Colossi being made up of both Gentiles and Jews, it is no surprise, or it shouldn't be,

that this heresy contains both Jewish and pagan elements. I'll tell you what I mean. Firstly,

the pagan elements, the false philosophy of the Greeks. The Greeks loved knowledge. They worshipped

knowledge. And they prided themselves in the sophistication of their philosophical systems.

If you study philosophy, you're going to study the Greeks as college students. They actually believed

that the Gospel was too simplistic. It was too easy. It wasn't worthy of believing in because it wasn't

complex enough. Some evidence of that is in Paul's writing in 1 Corinthians 1, 22 and 23.

For Jews demand signs, and Greeks seek wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified, right? The simple

message of the Gospel. Christ crucified. A stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles. It was so

simple that it was silly in their thinking. Colossians 2, verse 4. Paul says, I say this in order that no one

Colossians 2:4

may delude you with plausible arguments. And in chapter 2, verse 8, see to it that no one takes you

captive by philosophy and empty deceit according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits

of the world and not according to Christ. So you've got this false philosophy of the Greeks. You also have

this Judaistic legalism happening as well. The Colossian heretics embraced elements of Jewish

ceremonialism. They taught that circumcision was necessary for salvation. They also taught rigid

self-denial and harsh treatment of the body. Things like keeping the Jewish dietary laws and observing

holy days. Chapter 2, verse 16. Paul writes, therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food

and drink or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. And verse 18, let no one disqualify

you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in details about visions puffed up without

reason by his sensuous mind. So both radical groups suggested that salvation necessitated Christ plus

something else. And we'll get into the details of what those something else's were in our coming study

together. But all of them were saying Jesus Christ crucified was not enough. You must have Christ

plus something else. And this is what Paul seeks to set straight. So question five, what does Colossians

teach? What does Colossians teach? What is the overarching theme of the letter? Because certainly it teaches

many things. But thematically, what is Paul trying to communicate to the Colossian believers and us

today? The sufficiency and supremacy of Jesus Christ.

The sufficiency and supremacy of Jesus Christ. Says it in this way, this kind of perfectly sums it up.

Christ is all. Christ is all and in all. Chapter 3, verse 11. He is God. Chapter 2, verse 9. He is the creator.

Chapter 1, verse 16. Jesus is the savior. Chapter 1, verse 20 and 2, 13 through 14. He is the head of the church.

Chapter 1, verse 18. And kind of wrapping it all up in chapter 1, verse 18. That in everything, Jesus Christ

is supreme.

Chapter 1 has much to do

with the vision and mission statement

of Christ's family church,

desiring that in all things,

Jesus Christ would be shown as supreme.

So the sufficiency and the supremacy

of Jesus Christ.

That He is all and in all.

That He is enough.

So last question,

how does Colossians pertain to us?

We've got some background settings,

some general broad understanding

of the book itself and the writer,

the people that were receiving it.

So how does it then pertain to us?

What is the relevance for us today?

Because certainly we don't deal

with the exact same heretical teachings.

No one's coming into this congregation

and suggesting that you must be circumcised

to be a Christian.

The heresies of our day

are much different,

but the doctrines taught in Colossians

speak to all of our falsehoods as well.

We live in a day

when science seeks to explain away

the very existence of God.

A day when the deity of Jesus

is widely questioned.

When the truth of God

is being laid aside

for a false unity

amongst the religions of the world.

We live in a day

when grace is peddled cheaply.

We live in a day

when followers of Jesus

think they don't need the church

or that it is acceptable

to merely show up

to a congregational meeting

to consume a presentation

rather than being a part of the life

of the body of Christ.

We live in a day

when the definition or role

of the family

is being redefined

and redistributed.

And Colossians speaks

to all of these things

and some more.

It's timely for us

because it answers

all of these

with absolute authority

as Paul's letter

to the church at Colossians

is Scripture

and should be treated as such.

This is the word

of Almighty God

for us.

And with all of that in mind,

I'm now going to read

the entirety of the letter to you.

Now,

I know that some of you

may be already going,

oh my word.

It only takes ten minutes.

It's a rather short epistle.

It contains within it

some phenomenal truth

for how short it is.

It certainly has had

more impact on the church

for its length

than probably any other

of Paul's epistles.

It is important

that we publicly read

the Scripture.

After today,

certainly no one can say

that we don't read

the Word of God

in our meetings

together.

Remember that the way

this would have been received

would have been a letter

on a piece of parchment

and it would have been read

to a congregation

meeting much the way

we are today.

Many people

would have been illiterate.

They definitely wouldn't have

had a copy of it

in front of them.

I'm going to read

from the English Standard Version.

If you have a copy

and you'd like to follow along,

feel free.

If you don't,

it might be better

for you just to listen

to what's being said.

To imagine yourself

in that day

living in a time

with much heresy

running around

and trying to hear

what it is Paul has to say

to set all of that

straight.

This would have always

been taken together

and sometimes

we're so damaging

to the Word of God

because we piecemeal it up.

Because we pull excerpts

from here,

we pull excerpts from there,

and we ignore

the greater context

of what's happening.

And so there's some value

in us seeing it

collectively together

this morning.

So here we go.

I'll do my best

to read it well to you

so you can follow along.

Colossians 1.1

Paul,

an apostle of Christ Jesus

by the will of God

and Timothy our brother

to the saints

and faithful brothers

in Christ

at Colossae,

grace to you

and peace

from God our Father.

We always thank God

the Father of our Lord

Jesus Christ

when we pray for you

since we heard of your faith

in Christ Jesus

and of the love that you have

for all the saints

because of the hope

laid up for you in heaven.

Of this you have heard before

in the word of truth,

the gospel,

which has come to you

as indeed in the whole world

it is bearing fruit

and growing

as it also does among you

since the day you heard it

and understood the grace

of God in truth

just as you learned it

from Epaphras,

our beloved fellow servant.

He is a faithful minister

of Christ on your behalf

and has made known to us

your love in the Spirit.

And so,

from the day we heard,

we have not ceased

to pray for you

asking that you may be filled

with the knowledge

of his will

and all spiritual wisdom

and understanding

so as to walk

in a manner

worthy of the Lord,

fully pleasing to him,

bearing fruit

in every good work

and increasing

in the knowledge of God.

May you be strengthened

with all power

according to his glorious might

for all endurance

and patience with joy,

giving thanks to the Father

who has qualified you

to share in the inheritance

of the saints in light.

He has delivered us

from the domain of darkness

and transferred us

to the kingdom

of his beloved Son

in whom we have redemption,

the forgiveness of sins.

He is the image

of the invisible God,

the firstborn

of all creation.

For by him

all things were created

in heaven and on earth,

visible and invisible,

whether thrones

or dominions

or rulers or authorities,

all things were created

through him

and for him.

And he is before all things

and in him

all things hold together.

And he is the head

of the body,

the church.

He is the beginning,

the firstborn from the dead,

that in everything

he might be preeminent.

For in him

all the fullness of God

was pleased to dwell

and through him

to reconcile to himself

all things,

whether on earth

or in heaven,

making peace

by the blood

of his cross.

And you,

who once were alienated

and hostile in mind,

doing evil deeds,

he is now reconciled

in his body of flesh

by his death

in order to present you

holy and blameless

and above reproach

before him,

if indeed you continue

in the faith,

stable and steadfast,

not shifting from the hope

of the gospel

that you heard,

which has been proclaimed

in all creation

under heaven

and of which I,

Paul,

became a minister.

Now I rejoice

in my sufferings

for your sake

and in my flesh

I am filling up

what is lacking

in Christ's afflictions

for the sake of his body,

that is,

the church,

of which I became

a minister

according to the stewardship

from God

that was given to me

for you

to make the word of God

fully known,

the mystery hidden

for ages and generations

but now revealed

to his saints.

To them God chose

to make known

how great among you Gentiles

are the riches

of the glory

of this mystery,

which is Christ in you,

the hope of glory.

Him we proclaim,

warning everyone

and teaching everyone

with all wisdom

that we may present

everyone mature in Christ.

For this I toil,

struggling with all his energy

that he powerfully works

within me.

For I want you to know

how great a struggle

I have for you

and for those at Laodicea.

For all who have not seen me

face to face,

for their hearts

may be encouraged,

excuse me,

that their hearts

may be encouraged,

being knit together in love

to reach all the riches

of full assurance

of understanding

and the knowledge

of God's mystery,

which is Christ,

in whom are hidden

all the treasures

of wisdom and knowledge.

I say this in order

that no one may delude you

with plausible arguments,

for though I am absent

in body,

yet I am with you

in spirit,

rejoicing to see

your good order

and the firmness

of your faith in Christ.

Therefore,

as you receive Christ Jesus

the Lord,

so walk in Him,

rooted and built up in Him

and established in the faith,

just as you were taught,

abounding in thanksgiving.

See to it that no one

takes you captive

by philosophy

and empty deceit,

according to human tradition,

according to the elemental

spirits of the world,

and not according to Christ.

For in Him

the whole fullness

of deity dwells bodily,

and you have been filled

in Him

who is the head

of all rule

and authority.

In Him also

you were circumcised

with a circumcision

made without hands,

by putting off

the body of the flesh

by the circumcision

of Christ,

having been buried

with Him in baptism,

in which you were also

raised with Him

through faith

in the powerful working

of God

who raised Him

from the dead.

And you

who were dead

in your trespasses

and the uncircumcision

of your flesh,

God made alive

together with Him,

having forgiven us

all our trespasses

by canceling the record

of debt that stood

against us

with its legal demands.

This He set aside,

nailing it to the cross.

He disarmed the rulers

and authorities

and put them

to open shame

by triumphing

over them in Him.

Therefore,

let no one pass judgment

on you in questions

of food and drink

or with regard

to a festival

or a new moon

or a Sabbath.

These are a shadow

of the things to come,

but the substance

belongs to Christ.

Let no one disqualify you,

insisting on asceticism

and worship of angels,

going on in detail

about visions,

puffed up without reason

by His sensuous mind

and not holding fast

to the head

from whom the whole body,

nourished and knit together

through its joints

and ligaments,

grows with a growth

that is from God.

If with Christ you died

to the elemental spirits

of the world,

why,

as if you were still alive

in the world,

do you submit to regulations,

do not handle,

do not taste,

do not touch,

referring to things

that all perish

as they are used,

according to human precepts

and teachings?

These have indeed

an appearance of wisdom

in promoting self-made religion

and asceticism

and severity to the body,

but they are of no value

in stopping the indulgence

of the flesh.

If then you have been

raised with Christ,

seek the things

that are above,

where Christ is,

seated at the right hand

of God.

Set your minds

on things that are above,

not on things

that are on earth.

For you have died

and your life is hidden

with Christ in God.

When Christ,

who is your life,

appears,

then you also will appear

with Him in glory.

Put to death,

therefore,

what is earthly in you,

sexual immorality,

impurity,

passion,

evil desire,

and covetousness,

which is idolatry.

On account of these,

the wrath of God

is coming.

In these you too

once walked

when you were living

in them,

but now you must

put them all away,

anger,

wrath,

malice,

slander,

and obscene talk

from your mouth.

Do not lie to one another,

seeing that you have put off

the old self

with its practices,

and have put on

the new self

which is being renewed

in knowledge

after the image

of its creator.

Here there is not

Greek and Jew,

circumcised and uncircumcised,

barbarian,

Scythian,

slave,

free,

but Christ is all

and in all.

Put on then

as God's chosen ones,

holy and beloved,

compassionate hearts,

kindness,

humility,

meekness,

and patience,

bearing with one another,

and if one has a complaint

against another,

forgiving each other

as the Lord has forgiven you,

so you also must forgive.

And above all these,

put on love

which binds everything together

in perfect harmony.

And let the peace of Christ

rule in your hearts

to which indeed you were called

in one body,

and be thankful.

Let the word of Christ

dwell in you richly,

teaching and admonishing

one another in all wisdom,

singing psalms and hymns

and spiritual songs

with thankfulness

in your hearts to God.

And whatever you do,

in word or deed,

do everything in the name

of the Lord Jesus,

giving thanks to God the Father

through Him.

Wives,

submit to your husbands

as is fitting in the Lord.

Husbands,

love your wives

and do not be harsh with them.

Children,

obey your parents

in everything

for this pleases the Lord.

Fathers,

do not provoke your children

lest they become discouraged.

Slaves,

obey in everything

those who are

your earthly masters,

not by way of eye service

as people pleasers,

but with sincerity of heart,

fearing the Lord.

Whatever you do,

work heartily,

as for the Lord

and not for men,

knowing that from the Lord

you will receive the inheritance

as your reward.

You are serving the Lord Christ.

For the wrongdoer will be paid back

for the wrong he has done,

and there is no partiality.

Masters,

treat your slaves

justly and fairly,

knowing that you also

have a master in heaven.

Continue steadfastly in prayer,

being watchful in it

with thanksgiving.

At the same time,

pray also for us

that God may open to us

a door for the word

to declare the mystery of Christ,

on account of which

I am in prison,

that I may make it clear

which is how I ought to speak.

Walk in wisdom

toward outsiders,

making the best use

of the time.

Let your speech

always be gracious,

seasoned with salt,

so that you may know

how you ought to answer

each person.

Tychicus will tell you

about my activities.

He is a beloved brother

and faithful minister

and fellow servant

in the Lord.

I have sent him to you

for this very purpose,

that you may know

how we are

and that he may encourage

your hearts.

And with him,

Onesimus,

our faithful and beloved brother,

who is one of you,

they will tell you

of everything

that has taken place here.

Aristarchus,

my fellow prisoner,

greets you.

And Mark,

the cousin of Bartimus,

concerning whom

you have received instructions,

if he comes to you,

welcome him.

And Jesus,

who is called Justice,

these are the only men

of the circumcision

among my fellow workers

for the kingdom of God,

and they have been

a comfort for me.

Epaphras,

who is one of you,

a servant of Christ Jesus,

greets you,

always struggling

on your behalf

in his prayers,

that you may stand mature

and fully assured

in all the will of God.

For I bear him witness

that he has worked hard

for you

and for those in Laodicea

and in Heropolis.

Luke,

the beloved physician,

greets you,

as does Demas.

Give my greetings

to the brothers

at Laodicea

and to Nympha

and the church

in her house.

And when this letter

has been read among you,

have it also read

in the church at Laodicea

and see that you also

read the letter

from Laodicea.

And say to Archippus,

see that you fulfill

the ministry

that you have received

in the Lord.

I, Paul,

write this greeting

with my own hand.

Remember my chains.

Grace be with you.

So this is how

it would have been read

originally

to the church

at Colossae.

And this is God's

word to us

written for His glory

and our good.

We would all do well

to listen to it

in order to believe

its promises

and obey

its commands.

Let's look in conclusion

at the first two verses

in just a bit more detail

and then we'll close out

our time

together.

Let me read to you again

Colossians 1, 1, and 2.

Paul,

an apostle of Christ Jesus

by the will of God

and Timothy, our brother,

to the saints

and faithful brothers

in Christ at Colossae.

Grace to you

and peace

from God our Father.

A very familiar salutation.

Most of Paul's openings

were very similar

to this.

He establishes first off

that he is an apostle

of Christ Jesus

by the will of God.

And I believe he

intends to do two things here.

Firstly,

that this is an expression

of his entire

theological perspective

that all things happen

by the will of God.

You remember that

Paul was once Saul,

a very zealous persecutor

of the church of Jesus Christ.

That he had every intention

of imprisoning

all that he could

who claimed to follow Jesus.

He was on his way

to do this very thing

when Jesus encountered him

on the road to Damascus.

You can read about that

in Acts 9, 1-9.

Took hold of him.

Changed his very personhood

in these moments.

According to Paul,

God works all things

according to the counsel

of his will.

It's Ephesians 1, 11.

I believe he's trying to say

his entire theological perspective

that if things come to pass,

they come to pass

by God's will.

I would not be an apostle

of Jesus Christ.

I would not be a follower

of Jesus Christ

if it had not been

for God's intervention.

I would not stand before you

this morning

caring at all

about what Paul had to say

to the church at Colossae

if it were not

for God's intervention

in my life.

If God had not turned me

from an enemy

to a friend

by the will of God.

We are what we are.

Secondly,

he needed to make very clear

to the Colossians

and to us

their and our obligation

to listen to him.

He was an apostle.

Capital A Apostle.

A sent one.

Sent directly from Jesus Christ.

Had spent time with him.

Had been taught by him.

This is a special category

in church history.

There have not been apostles since.

Little A sent into the world,

but not capital A.

Falling in this lineage

of Jesus' apostles and Paul.

He was set apart

for missionary service

by the Holy Spirit.

Acts 13.2.

Commissioned with this calling.

He authored the vast majority

of the New Testament.

He has the authority

from God

to speak to us.

So Paul,

an apostle of Christ Jesus

by the will of God.

And then in verse 2,

he greets the saints

and faithful brothers.

And these are not

two distinct groups.

He's kind of piling up

description

of the people

at the church

at Colossae.

They're merely qualifiers

of the same group.

Saints,

the Greek word,

refers to separation.

These are people

who have been

set apart from sin

and set apart

to God.

These are people

who have been changed.

No longer sinners

in need of a Savior,

but people who have

received a Savior.

They are now

in a new category.

Saints.

And the fact that

they're faithful brothers

notes the source

of that separation,

which is saving faith.

They had believed

in the person

and work

of Jesus Christ.

This is the way

and the only way

in which God

saves mankind.

The great issue

with mankind

is that we're separated

from God

because of sin.

Our activity

says to Him

that we hate Him

and His ways.

And we must

have somebody

pay the price

for that sin

on our behalf.

That is the person

of Jesus Christ.

All of this

is also by

the will

of God.

Paul writes

in Ephesians 2

Ephesians 2:8

verses 8 and 9,

For by grace

you have been saved

through faith.

And this is not

your own doing.

It is the gift

of God,

not a result

of works,

so that no one

may boast.

We are saved

by grace alone,

through faith alone,

in Christ alone.

If you don't know

that to be true

of yourself this morning,

please heed

the warning.

You are being

swept downriver,

surely to be taken

over a large waterfall

that will crush you

at the bottom

if you were not

saved

saved by Jesus Christ.

Galatians 6.14,

Paul says,

But far be it

for me to boast

except in the cross

of our Lord Jesus Christ,

by which the world

has been crucified

to me

and I

to the world.

Paul,

saved by the will

of God,

set apart,

commissioned as an apostle,

wrote this book

to the Colossian believers,

and it has been canonized

now as an inspired work

of the Lord God Almighty

for us to receive

in these coming months.

So we have a background,

a summary,

and a theme

for Paul's letter

to the Colossian believers.

And we have

some bearing

on the salutation.

I hope that you

will join me

with your mind

and with your heart

in these coming months

by praying for our study,

praying for one another

as we receive

God's Word to us,

by attentively listening,

by being active listeners,

taking notes,

really applying your mind

to the text

that's before us,

and then taking that truth

and taking it

from this place

and living

by it

for the glory of God.

Let's pray together.

Amen.