Colossians 1:1-4:18 | "Christ Is All"

This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

The Book of Acts tells us that the Apostle Paul spent about three years in Ephesus, reasoning daily, that is, in the hall of Tyrannus, to such great effect that Luke could write that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

However, about 400 years before Paul was in Ephesus, Colossae was a bustling city of exciting activity and good industry.

You see, the city sat at the intersection of two important highways.

That is, until the Roman government moved the interstate 12 miles west to Laodicea and Colossians began to look more, or sorry, excuse me, Colossae began to look more and more like a little town the world forgot.

But remember how all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord.

That includes Colossae.

And some years later, when Paul was imprisoned in Rome, accompanied by a man from Colossae named Epaphras, and a runaway slave also from Colossae named Onisimus, Paul wrote a letter to their church in that little town.

It's short.

The letter is about half as long as one of our sermons here at Faith.

And my assignment, you guys laugh.

But it is.

I counted the words.

But my assignment for you this morning that I did not choose for myself, and I'm still excited to do it.

Don't hear a complaint in that.

But my assignment for this morning, and you get to all come with me on this, is to preach the entire book of Colossians to you.

And so for better or for worse, I've decided to read the whole thing to begin.

Just like Tychicus, or maybe even Philemon, or perhaps Archipus, would have read the whole letter to the church in Colossae before they passed it on to the church at Laodicea to be read there.

So would you turn that with me and take a deep breath?

Colossians chapter 1, verse 1.

Colossians 1:1

Follow along with me as I read.

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, because 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 increasing, as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth.

Just as you learn it from a pathrist, our beloved fellow servant, he's a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, and has made known to us your love and 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, being 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 the preeminent one, 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 were who were once alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has 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'm filling up what's 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 the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, your 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, 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, 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'm with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.

Therefore, as you received 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 empty and deceitful philosophy, 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 and 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 stripped 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, oh it's beautiful, 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're 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 mind 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.

And 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, and in these two you 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.

Don't lie to one another, seeing that you've 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, 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.

Let the peace of Christ dwell 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.

So wives, submit to your husbands as is fitting in the Lord.

Husbands, love your wives, and don't be harsh with them.

Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.

Fathers, don't provoke your kids, lest they become discouraged.

Bond servants, 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.

Ask 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 wrongdoor will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality.

Masters treat your bondservants justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a master in heaven.

And 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, that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

Tychicus will tell you about all my activities.

He's 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 and with him Onisimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you.

They will tell you everything that has taken place here.

Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, greets you, and Mark, the cousin of Barnabas, concerning whom you've 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've been a comfort to me.

The Paphras, 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 Hieropolis.

Luke, the beloved physician, greets you, as does Demas.

Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea and to Nympha in the church in her house, and when this letter has been read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans, and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea, and say to Archipus, 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.

Amen.

The word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

It's also my turn this week to lead our time of prayer together.

I thought it'd be fitting to do that now, after we read the letter.

So would you bow with me as we pray and seek God's help for what's before us and to carry one another before the throne?

Let's pray.

Oh Lord, we take up great and magnificent, transcendent themes from your word this morning.

Please safeguard us from error.

Father, forbid it that we should lead ourselves astray by empty or deceitful philosophies according to our own traditions and not according to Christ.

So we pray now for one another.

We ask that we may be filled with the knowledge of your will and all spiritual wisdom and understanding.

So that when we leave, as people of conviction, we can walk in a manner worthy of you.

For you, Lord God, are great.

And you are greatly to be praised.

If we were to give you every thought, every word, every action, and surrender them totally unto your praise, you would still deserve more.

Higher than the highest heavens is your glory, for you created all things.

And you and you alone will make all things new again.

It was you, Father.

It was you who delivered us from the domain of darkness.

It was you who transferred us to the kingdom of your beloved Son.

Oh, you've done such majestic things, Lord.

And yet all of our ways are known to you.

You sit enthroned above the heavens, yet the hairs on our heads are numbered.

Lord, you set up kings and tear down kings, and you still invite us to cast our cares upon you, promising us that you care.

The voice of the one who spoke light into existence, words of such power, promise, promise compassion to us.

How could you be compassionate?

But how how dare we question it?

Because you've proved it.

You've proved it so magnificently in the incarnation and the death of your son, taking on flesh to die for our sins.

And so we do trust and believe that you are compassionate, Lord.

And we do have many cares.

We're concerned about a great many things.

And so we lay some of them at your feet, trusting them to your sovereign care.

Father, it seems like our world is in a bit of turmoil.

Many in our fellowship have been let go from their employers.

Others are, I'm sure, feeling more and more constrained financially.

Please, Father, provide for us.

We know that you do, but it it burdens us with care, and so we cast it at your feet.

Others amongst us face severe medical situations.

Dire, dire things that some we fear are even terminal, Lord.

Oh, we thank you for the testimony of those who suffer well amongst us.

Please, God, strengthen their faith.

Cause them to be strengthened with all power according to your glory and your might, for all endurance, for all patience, for all joy.

But forget not also, Father, those who care for them.

Because those who care for their loved ones have a burden of their own and they need your strength as well.

We pray for our church, our fellowship.

It's so easy for churches to grow impatient with one another, Lord.

To pass judgment on each other about earthly stuff, what we eat, what we drink, how we dress, where we spend our time, all these things.

We can be so quick to gossip, slander, to whisper cowardly about one another instead of speaking the truth and love to each other.

Father, help us to put away anger.

Clothe us with compassionate hearts.

Help us to forgive one another as you've forgiven us, for Christ is all and in all.

And finally, Lord, I tremble before the task you've given me.

Please open to me a door for the word to declare the mystery of Christ.

On account of which I'm before these people whom I love.

Lord, may I make it clear which is how I ought to speak.

May my speech be gracious, seasoned with this all for the sake of Christ's glory.

And may he be glorified.

For it's in his name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

What does it mean?

What does it mean to follow Jesus?

To walk with him?

Does it mean being part of a local church?

Does it mean reading your Bible every day for 15 minutes before breakfast?

Does it mean following Jesus means ceasing from your sins?

Okay, maybe just the really bad ones?

Okay, how about just the obvious ones?

Maybe that's it.

Or maybe following Jesus means that the sins you knew before are gone, and so if the sins of your old life still haunt you, maybe you're not, maybe you're not following him.

Maybe you're not a Jesus follower.

Or does it mean, does following Jesus mean making one or many bold proclamations about your faith, telling everybody how you've decided to follow Jesus?

Or is it observing a strict holiness of life, abstaining from alcohol, maybe, or honing your diet down, no gluten, no excess sugars?

Is that what it means to follow Jesus?

Or does it mean laying it all on the line?

Selling out for Christ, being a Jesus freak, right?

And embarking on great feats of good works, like building orphanages in war-torn countries.

That's what it means to follow Jesus.

Or maybe it's bearing your cross and marching into downtown San Francisco on a Friday night to proclaim repentance and faith from the street corners.

Is that?

Is that what it means to follow Jesus?

Maybe you've only been a Christian for a few months or a few years now.

Your sin still troubles you.

Are you doing it right?

Maybe you've been a Christian for half a century or more, and getting old ain't for wimps, and you're looking back on your life, wondering what you'll say as you face death.

Have you done enough?

Have you been really following Jesus this whole time?

What will the Lord say about your life?

What does it mean to follow Jesus?

What does it mean to walk with him?

What's the secret?

What's the code?

What's the mystery, maybe?

Life is still so hard.

Are we missing something?

Are we missing something?

My friends, these are natural questions, normal questions, healthy questions, even.

And I think Colossians has answered them for us.

So look with me.

Chapter 1, verse 3.

Let's see how the apostle begins his letter.

We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you because, not since.

I get what sense means, but it's not sense.

It should be because.

Because we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints.

He thanks God because he's heard of their faith.

And so Paul begins with apostolic authority on his pen, assuring them that he is confident in their faith enough that it's genuine to give God thanks for it.

The apostle's concern to assure them right off the bat that they're Christ followers indeed.

Christ followers indeed, to strengthen them.

But not only their faith, he also points to the fruit, the evidence of their love for all the saints.

So both their faith and their love both stem from, as verse 5 could be translated, both of these things stem from the hope laid up for you in heaven.

It's a hint at what's to come already, here in the first five or six verses.

Paul is confident that their lives are bound up with, united into, and hidden with Christ in God, so that when Christ appears, they will appear with him in glory.

This is a young.

And small church that's being hard pressed on every side.

But Paul says their faith was strong and in good order.

He's concerned to encourage them.

But see how Paul says more.

He tells them how the gospel they believe in is the true gospel.

Because it's spreading, it's bearing fruit and increasing throughout the whole world.

You're believing the right thing, guys.

It's working.

We're going.

And hear the assurance in this verse.

Paul reminds them that the same gospel that's bearing fruit throughout all the world is bearing fruit among them as well.

Since the very day they heard it and understood the grace of God in truth.

For that's the gospel, is it not?

That God is gracious, truly.

It's the opposite of the serpent's liar to Eve in the garden.

Eve believed for just so long that God was stingy and withholding and manipulative because the snake whispered his blasphemies in her ear.

But the good news is that God is gracious.

Truly.

Do you see that?

Paul wrote that right there in verse 6.

The report that Epaphras gave.

Oh, thank God for Epaphras, right?

The report that Epaphras gave of the Colossians must have been glowing enough, sincere enough, and convincing enough that Paul doesn't even hesitate.

Paul doesn't even hesitate to give God thanks for the Colossian church.

And so, because Paul is confident on the basis of Epaphras' testimony that the Colossians are sincere, cherished children of God, from the day Paul heard about them, Paul and Timothy both, excuse me, they've not ceased praying.

But what do they pray?

What do they pray?

Also, there's a good plug for the Pray For Me campaign, right?

You know where to sign up.

But what do they pray?

Glorious things, to be sure.

First, he requests one thing of God.

A request.

For one reason.

But first the request.

Verse 9, right?

That you may be filled with the knowledge of God's will and all spiritual wisdom and understanding.

We'll take each word quickly.

Filled.

That is totally bursting at the seams of heart, mind, and soul and spirit with the knowledge of God's will, but don't get distracted.

Paul doesn't have in view God's particular and specific will for every detail of life, like which seat to take in the middle school cafeteria at lunch.

That's not what Paul's after.

That's not what he intends.

He's more after the revealed will of God that established Paul as an apostle of Christ Jesus in verse 1.

Or the will of God that Epaphras prays they would know in chapter 4, verse 12, or as 1 Thessalonians puts it, even better, Paul says, This is the will of God.

Your sanctification that you abstain from sexual immorality, dot, dot, dot, and give thanks in all circumstances.

For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Not just the knowledge of God's will, though, but wisdom with it.

Friends, the demons know the will of God and they hate it.

They gnash their teeth.

But wisdom knows the will of God and lives accordingly.

Spurgeon said, Knowledge may be the horse, but wisdom is the driver.

So stick with the logic, though.

Because Paul is glad to hear of their genuine faith, he prays, he asks that God would fill them with the knowledge of his will.

But to what end?

That's our reason, right?

And here in verse 10, we see our question for the whole morning already.

Paul says, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord.

What does it mean?

What does it mean to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him?

But that's what the request was, right?

That's what the request was.

That God would give them that knowledge with wisdom and understanding so that they would walk in that manner.

And notice how crucial knowledge is in all of this.

Knowledge first of God's will.

We've seen that already, but also verse 10.

Also, verse 10, increasing in the knowledge of God, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God.

That's it.

That's the whole letter.

Paul will flesh it out so much more, don't you worry.

But that's the whole letter right there.

What does it mean to follow Jesus?

How do we walk in him?

It starts with knowing who he is, what he's done, and what he wants, and bearing fruit in it with wisdom.

Because, brothers and sisters, you can't follow a God.

You don't know.

You'll just be making it up.

But from there, it's like Paul just can't take it anymore, right?

He just goes.

He takes off, right?

He says, the Father, giving thanks to God, the Father who's qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints and light, delivered us from the domain of darkness, transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son.

His Son.

Have you heard of His Son?

Verse 6, verse 15.

The image of the invisible God, Jesus Christ, incarnate God in the flesh, glory clothed in humanity, firstborn of all creation, not a created being, nor the first thing created, but the heir of all things, the one for whom all things were made.

That he would have an inheritance of nations, King of kings, Lord of lords.

All things were created by him in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible.

That means, guys, Jesus is the highest one, the greatest one, the everlasting one.

Jesus is who he is, the eternally uncreated creator.

Moses is Yahweh, before Abraham was.

Jesus is, and he is before all things.

And in him all things hold together.

Hebrews 1:3.

Hebrews 1:3

He's the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature.

He upholds the universe by the word of his power.

Who can challenge?

Who can challenge the Lord our God?

To whom will he give an account?

Not even righteous Job could stand before the whirlwind without throwing his hands over his mouth.

Moses, even, the mightiest of God's prophets and leaders, had to take cover behind a rock.

He had to duck and cover when the glory of the Lord went by.

Will you pray to Mary?

Will you beseech the apostles and saints to intercede for you?

Can a so-called guardian angel ever do anything apart from the decree of Jesus Christ?

Why seek any other counselor but the Lord?

You have Jesus Christ, why seek anyone else?

He and he alone is head of the church.

Verse 18, head of the church, his word, her mandate and guide, firstborn from the dead to lead a host of captives.

He's the beginning of the redeemed people of God.

The church needs no pope.

For she has a husband already, and he's preeminent over all things, because in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.

He's preeminent because he's God.

The fullness of God dwelt in Jesus like it dwelt in the smoke and the fire on Sinai and the tabernacle in the temple, like that thick darkness that consumed Jerusalem the day God hung on a Roman cross, reconciling all things to himself.

And that reconciliation, that redemption is just as sure as the creation for the same God who spoke the cosmos into being shouted in a loud voice, it's finished.

And it was.

It really was.

And that includes you.

Even you.

Look at verse 21.

And you who were alienated and hostile in mind.

Like the demons who know God but hate him.

Doing evil deeds.

You name it, friend.

You name it.

The pages of scripture showcase God's mercy extending to people far worse than any of you.

You think you're beyond rescue.

Manasseh burned his sons with fire in his idolatry and God redeemed him.

You think you're an adulterer, the like of which God has never seen?

Has your adultery led you to murder like David's did?

Or maybe you're a hater of God.

Maybe you laugh at the church of God and reject all you've ever heard of him because it's just your parents' thing.

No, you're not beyond God's reach.

For the very apostle who writes here had Christians stoned to death in his rage at their message.

You, you, alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, can be reconciled in Christ's body of flesh by his death, wider than snow, that you can be today.

Because Jesus wants to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him.

Do you believe it?

Do you believe that God can really be that gracious?

Because he is.

What good news, though.

Most of you have heard that good news before and love to hear it told again, I trust.

But Paul loves it so much in verse 24, he suffers for it.

He sits imprisoned for it.

He lives, he breathes, he writes letters like this to make the word of God fully known.

Verse 25.

And it was Paul's ministry, renowned throughout all of Asia, right back in Ephesus, extended through a Paphras that brought the riches of the glory of this mystery to the Colossians.

The mystery hidden for ages but now revealed to his saints.

Christ in you, your hope of glory.

And Paul is emphatic.

He doesn't just carry this ministry of God's mystery, which is Christ.

He doesn't just carry it around lightly.

Paul has a great struggle for the Colossians specifically, their sister church 12 miles to the west in Laodicea.

But also for each one of you in this room.

Each one of you in this room, chapter 2, verse 1.

And for all who have not seen me face to face.

And then the apostle gives his purpose statement.

The reason for the apostle's concern.

Chapter 2, verse 2, Paul writes, He has a struggle for the Colossians, the Laodiceans, and each one of us, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love and to reach all the riches of the full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ.

And whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge?

Connect the dots with me.

Chapter 1, verse 9.

I should have them both there for you.

What does it mean?

Excuse me.

The apostles' confidence in their faith leads him to pray that they would be filled with all the knowledge of his will and all spiritual wisdom and understanding.

And where is that knowledge he prays for hidden, friends?

But in chapter 2, verse 3.

In Christ.

In Christ.

So bring it back to our question for this morning.

What does it mean to follow Jesus?

What's the secret?

What's the code?

You've been a Christian for a few years, but sin still haunts you.

Are you doing it right?

Life is still hard.

It didn't just get fixed.

What am I missing?

The answer?

The secret?

The mystery?

It's Jesus.

You've had it all along.

You've had it all along.

You've had everything you need since the very beginning when you first received Christ.

Allow me quickly to summarize Paul's explosive first point.

Why was everything made?

Back in verse 15 of chapter 1.

Because of Jesus.

For whom does the church exist?

None but Jesus.

How could the Colossians be reconciled with God by the death of Jesus?

Why is Paul in prison for the glory of the mystery of Jesus?

And what does Paul want for the Colossians, the Laodiceans, and us?

The knowledge of God's mystery, which is Jesus.

Oh, I want to be more like Paul.

He soars to such heights of praise and transcendence, but he doesn't get lost up in those clouds like I almost did.

He doesn't get lost up there.

Why did Paul write all of that?

Why did Paul just take off back in chapter one?

Look at verse 4 of chapter 2.

I say this, all of this, I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments.

Paul unloaded all of that glorious doctrine about Christ to protect them and you from the deception of persuasive speech.

Paul's the apostle to the Gentiles.

He has a great concern for them.

It was Paul's gospel that came to them, but Paul's not there.

For though I'm absent in body yet I'm with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.

Notice, though, how Paul ties this whole section up with a bow.

And this is just the end of his first point.

The apostles', or my first point, rather, the apostles' concern.

Paul is concerned to assure them that they're on the right path.

And he nails it down when he says, rejoicing to see your good order and the stability of your faith in Christ.

Paul is convinced that these Colossians are really Christians.

And he's concerned to strengthen them in their assurance of that fact.

He thanks God for their faith in the opening line, and he rejoices over it here.

But Paul's primary method of assuring them of the faith and safeguarding them from error is telling them who Jesus really is.

It's just that simple.

Which isn't anything they haven't heard before, is it?

Right?

Chapter 2, verse 6.

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

Friends, this is the beating heart of the whole letter.

This is it.

This is the center, the nucleus, the axle upon which the wheel turns, whatever you want to call it.

But if you don't understand something, you go home and say, Webb messed something up.

I'm convinced of it.

You don't get something in the book of Colossians.

Take that thing you don't get and these two verses and connect the dots.

For these two verses in six and seven, they're the bridge between the first half and the second half of the whole letter.

The second half will find its foundation and what went before.

And what went before was there for what's coming in the second half, but it all has to go across the bridge of verses six and seven.

And we come again right here to the heart of our question for this morning.

What does it mean to follow Jesus?

What does it mean to really walk with him?

Your English Bibles have added a word to make this sentence smooth.

Either the word so or maybe continue.

But Paul actually writes, therefore, just as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in him.

Walk in him.

Both translations are great.

They're helpful.

But it's even balder than that.

Paul just says it.

Therefore, just as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in him.

And the the the word walk means to keep going.

Right?

What does it mean to walk with Jesus?

It means we should carry on.

Persevere.

Press on.

Don't give up.

Endure.

Or maybe as we've sung, wait.

More than the watchman waits for morning.

Wait upon the Lord.

Whatever it meant to receive Christ.

Following Christ.

Looks the same.

But how?

How did they receive Christ then?

That's the next natural question, is it not?

And Paul will get there in just a second, but he starts with a sharp warning.

Here's my translation of verse 8.

See to it that nobody will take you captive through empty and deceitful philosophy.

The language here makes you sit up straight.

It's sharp.

It's pointed even.

Paul's been so nice up till now.

And then he says, see to it, see to it that nobody, not anyone, will take you captive.

That is, will carry you off a prisoner through empty and deceitful philosophy.

And note, Paul doesn't list two different things, as if philosophy and empty deceit would lead you to believe it's just one thing: empty, deceitful philosophy.

That's according to human tradition.

According to human tradition.

According to human tradition, like that of the Pharisees who let go of the commands of God to hold on to their human traditions, right?

This is an idolatrous picture, Paul's painting.

Paul describes a belief system, an empty and hollow and deceitful belief system made with human hands, just like those idols of wood and stone.

This empty and deceitful philosophy promotes a man-made worship that cannot be tolerated, for it gives God no glory, for it's idolatrous.

It's according to human tradition, but it's also according to the elemental spirits of the world.

And I'm convinced that these refer to angelic or demonic spirits for this reason.

Back in Acts chapter 19.

Acts 19 · chapter mention

You can turn there if you'd like.

Luke tells us of Jewish exorcists, men who went around engaging in magical practices to expel demons from people.

Jewish men acting like tribal shamans, casting invocations upon people and the names of various angels, like Michael or Gabriel.

Different angels, of course, for different demons.

They have a whole book.

In time, many of them, these exorcists, began to use the name of Jesus, like Paul was doing, because it seemed to work.

They'd use as if he was the highest angel, his name and the most powerful incantation for the worst kind of demonic presence.

It did not go well for them.

Did not go well for the sons of Skeva in Acts chapter 19 when they tried this.

Acts 19 · chapter mention

Because, because this empty and deceitful philosophy is not according to Christ.

He's not an angel.

He's not an elemental spirit of the world, for in him the fullness of deity dwells bodily.

People have said from the very earliest days of our faith that God couldn't really take on flesh.

Surely not.

Jesus of Nazareth was just like an extension of God, or maybe a temporary manifestation of God, or an emanation, if you will.

People have said things like this.

I'm not saying this.

They'll say, okay, fine, he was really God, but he wasn't actually human, maybe.

Or they say he wasn't really on earth at all.

He just appeared like this extremely vivid vision God gave to, well, 5,000 people, and the Apostle Thomas's index finger.

No, Paul says, it's nonsense.

He was truly God, the fullness, not just most of it, the fullness of deity.

And he was really a human being, for God dwelt bodily.

And you have been filled in him.

Paul writes.

The implication, as we've seen already, why beseech Michael for help if Christ is in you?

Remember chapter one?

That mystery hidden for ages, Christ in you.

But now how did that happen?

How did that happen?

How were the Colossians filled with him who himself is filled with the fullness of God?

Verse 11, they were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands by putting off the body of flesh by the circumcision of Christ.

One commentator writes, this points to a unique and sovereign act of God in the lives of the believers.

The made without hands.

I have hands.

God doesn't necessarily have hands.

So it's not according to human tradition, right?

It's not idolatrous.

A unique and sovereign act of God in the lives of believers.

And another writes, Paul clearly uses circumcision as a metaphor for the transition from the old life to the new life.

And he keeps going to clarify, but first, Paul implies you have no need.

You have no need of ritualistic practices to control your flesh.

For if you're in Christ, you've already put it off.

You've been crucified with Christ.

The flesh has already been circumcised as God circumcised your hearts.

That's the picture.

Baptized, spiritually immersed into the death and new life with Christ, united to him by faith.

The powerful working of God took you, who were dead.

Lifeless and the corruption of your trespasses and the uncircumcisions of your flesh.

God took you, sold in slavery to sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness.

God made you alive by uniting you with Christ.

Through faith, that's the spiritual reality the water represents.

Attaching yourself to Christ and his death and burial.

And then by God's power, raised again to new life in Christ Jesus your Lord.

If with him you die, crucifying your flesh and its sinful desire.

That is mortifying them, killing them upon the wrath of God, exposing your flesh to the light of his holiness.

God has forgiven us all our trespasses by canceling the record of debt, setting it aside, nailing it to the cross and crucifying our condemnation.

As he did so, he disarmed the rulers and authorities.

Here I am in verse 15.

Those same elemental spirits, the demonic spiritual powers, the ones, the sons of Skeva, went around peddling with their magical practices.

Paul says that God disarmed them, or better yet, stripped them of their power and put them to open shame.

Why concern yourself, little Colossians, with demonic forces?

When Christ has conquered them already, and you have been filled with Christ.

Filled.

Again, that is topped up to the brim completely.

The word for you have been filled with him in chapter 2, verse 10, shares the same root as the fullness of deity in verse 9.

You, when you were circumcised of heart by God, baptized into death and raised to new life.

When that happened, you were filled all the way up with Christ.

You cannot get more filled with Christ.

You cannot be more united to Christ.

You cannot be more indwelt.

Hear me, friends.

If you are in Christ, you are in Christ all the way.

For your God does not cut corners.

You do not need, you do not need verse 16, Jewish festivals, Sabbaths, Passover satyrs, or foot washing ceremonies, all that stuff pointed to Jesus anyway.

And you have Jesus.

You've been filled up with him, and the substance belongs to Christ.

Verse 18, you don't need extra bonus religious practices.

You don't need to have extended visions or prophetic words.

You don't have to speak in tongues or be able to spontaneously write a worship song.

No.

If you have Christ, you are in Christ.

Those things don't make you any more full.

But let's shoot at some harder stuff, huh?

About what it means to follow Jesus.

Remember my list from the beginning?

What does it mean to follow Him?

Ask yourself now, do you let people say that you're maybe not a Christ follower or that somebody else maybe isn't a Christ follower because of these things?

I'm about to read them.

Or maybe more pointedly, though, would you say that somebody is not a Christian if they are not an active part of a local church?

If he or she isn't reading his Bible every day for 15 minutes before breakfast?

What if he isn't ceasing from his sins?

Okay, maybe just the really bad ones or just the really obvious ones.

Maybe that's it.

Maybe that's what it uh.

Maybe you would say that somebody isn't a Christian if the sins of his former life still haunt him, still tempt him, still trip him.

That probably means such a guy's not a not a Jesus follower.

What if your brother in Christ doesn't make proclamations bold enough for you about the faith?

What if the person too pews up doesn't observe a strict holiness of life like you think he should?

Abstaining from alcohol, maybe, maybe a more modest diet, or, you know, like I said before, no gluten, no excess sugars, maybe it's a haircut.

I don't know.

I don't know what the guy needs.

But would you say that for those kind of things?

He's not a Christ follower?

Or does following Jesus, right, mean laying it all on the line, selling out for Christ, being a Jesus freak, embarking on great feats of good works, such as the only people who really follow Jesus, who are really Christ followers, who are really in Christ, build orphanages in war-torn countries or take up their cross and march into San Francisco, right?

If we pass judgment, that's the word I'm working with.

If we pass judgment or disqualify people from the faith for any such thing, we rob Christ of his glory because we say their their feeling by him is of their works.

We may hint, we think it's about ours.

Let me do it once to show you how ridiculous it sounds.

Being an active part of a local church makes you a Christian.

Now, I trust none of us would really say that.

But it's so easy to get close, isn't it?

What does it mean to follow Jesus?

What's the secret?

What's the code?

What's the mystery?

Life is still hard.

What am I missing?

Look at verse 19, that's another clue.

Paul tells us what's gone wrong with people, namely the guy in verse 18, who've gone off the rails here with such judgments.

And I think this is a stern warning to us when we're tempted to judge a brother or sister.

It's easy to get puffed up without reason.

But if we flip verse 19 over and chop the negative off, remove the knot, it's a beautiful picture of what following Jesus looks like.

Following Jesus looks something like holding fast to the head.

That is, that's Jesus.

Look back at verse 10.

Holding fast to Jesus, the head, from whom the whole body nourished and knit together grows through its joints and ligaments.

Grows with a growth that is from God.

Guys, following Jesus cannot be reduced to any set of rules and practices.

You're not a good enough lawyer to do that.

There's no secret code.

There's no extra hidden mystery.

And hear me, I'm not saying that we shouldn't concern ourselves with such things or care about our brothers and sisters and encourage them to good works.

I'm not saying that.

I'm talking about passing judgment, writing them off.

There's no such secret code to really being a real Christian.

There's no magical doctrine, there's no higher life.

Don't try to create one.

You'll just mess it up.

And you might mess it up for somebody else too.

And why would you?

Why would we want to do that?

If with Christ we died, verse 20, if with Christ we died to lies and temptations of earthly things, why would we live as if why would we live as if we hadn't died and submit again to dead stuff?

Why would you turn from dead idols to a dead law, Paul says?

Or backwards, from a dead law to dead idols.

You guys, this stuff looks good.

We hear it all the time.

People say, you want to really follow Jesus, then you need to unlock the secrets of devotional life through fasting.

Or they'll say, if you want to really follow Jesus, consecrate yourself, dedicate your life to Jesus, sell all your possessions and get involved in world missions.

That's that's the spot.

Or maybe they'll say, all Christ followers, the true ones at least, listen to X, Y, or Z Christian music or hymns.

Here's another.

Confession as a discipline is the secret to conquering all sin and following Christ.

We hear these things all the time, don't we, friends?

I've said those things.

Oh, be careful.

Oh, be careful.

These things only promote a self-made religion.

And they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

We think they will.

And for a time, hear me, for a time, you may find freedom from some sin or another.

But don't sell freedom from a particular sin for slavery to a false gospel.

Don't do it.

Flee from such empty promises.

And chapter three, seek Christ.

Flee from such empty promises and seek Christ.

He is at the right hand of God, not your visions.

Jesus is at the right hand of God, not your secret disciplines.

Jesus is at the right hand of God, not you.

Not you.

Set your mind on him, for you have died, and your life is hidden with him.

Your life is hidden with him, friends, because you were raised with him.

Compare chapter 2, verse 20, and chapter 3, verse 1.

If with Christ you died to elemental spirits, don't submit to them.

Chapter 3, verse 1.

If you've been raised with Christ, see the parallel?

Seek the things that are above, where Christ is.

And when Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

That's what it means to follow Jesus.

Set your mind on him, not on yourself.

Set your mind on him, not your insights, not your wisdom, not your holiness, not your boldness.

Set your minds on Christ, not your sins.

Not your insecurities, not your past, not your mistakes.

Set your minds on Jesus.

Look up from yourself.

And when you do that, when you set your mind on heaven where your life is, then death will come to earthly things.

Set your mind on heavenly things, and death will come to earthly things.

Verse 5, sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, covetousness.

Why?

Because all that stuff is idolatry, that whole string.

It's the stuff you used to walk in: anger, wrath, malice, slander.

And people who love Jesus put earthly things to death.

But be careful.

Putting off the flesh is now not some new secret wisdom for you to walk in.

It's the same thing you've always been doing.

It's what you did at first, back in chapter 2.

Verse 11.

When you were circumcised of heart by putting off the body of the flesh, just like you received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in Him.

We don't walk by sight.

We walk by faith.

Right.

The Colossian church and all Christians are saved as they come to saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Think about chapter 1 again, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth.

Here it is again in verse 10.

How is the new self being renewed?

In knowledge, after the image of its creator.

You can't follow a God you don't know.

And you first put off the old self when you first heard and understood something about Jesus.

So, walking with Jesus as it relates to putting off sin is hearing more, understanding more, loving Him more, and putting to death the stuff that's earthly.

Learn more about Jesus.

I promise there's more to him than you realize.

It's good.

It's good.

And as you do that, get to work.

You've set your mind on the things above, and what do you see there?

When you look upon Christ in the heavens, do you see, verse 10, a compassionate heart?

Do you see kindness, humility, meekness, and patience?

Tell me, Christian, does Jesus bear with you?

Yes.

Does that mean you should, does that help you to bear with your brother?

When full forgiveness meets your gaze, like we've just sung, can you not forgive your sister?

Look to Jesus, see his love for you.

Verse 14, and put on love.

Let his peace rule, let his words dwell richly among you.

Memorization surely is commended here, but more so, I think, just a personal thing, but it's scripture.

More than memorization, I would say, is singing.

For nothing, I shouldn't say nothing, few things cause Christ's word to dwell among us as richly, as songs that are rich in his word.

Guys, that's almost the only criteria for a good hymn.

A good hymn makes scripture beautiful.

That's it.

There's other stuff we could talk about, but the whole thing stands or falls there.

A good hymn that makes scripture beautiful will in time, no matter what, fill your heart with thankfulness if you love Jesus.

But do you see how this whole letter progresses?

I hope I've driven home that this letter is about Christ and his sufficiency for all that you need for life and godliness.

But hop back to chapter 1.

There's one thing I haven't touched.

Where did Paul start in chapter 1, verse 3?

He said, We always thank God.

How did Paul conclude his prayer for the Colossians in verse 12?

Walk in a manner worthy of Christ of the Lord, dot, dot, dot, giving thanks to God the Father.

Go now to the beating heart of the letter, chapter 2, verse 6.

What do you see?

What does it look like to follow Jesus?

Right at the end, abounding in thanksgiving.

Chapter 3, verse 15, let the peace of Christ dwell in your hearts to which indeed you were called in one body, and be thankful.

And whatever you do, verse 17, or rather, before that, 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.

Even your thanksgiving goes through Jesus.

Say thank you more, huh?

It's all the way through.

When Paul says whatever you do in verse 17, he really, really means it.

And he really means to do it in the name of Jesus.

Or rather, do things as Jesus would.

He means it for wives in verse 18 who submit to husbands like Christ did to his God.

He means it for husbands who love to the point of sacrifice like Christ did for his church.

He means it for kids who obey their parents like Jesus did his earthly and heavenly fathers.

He means it for dads who should encourage their kids, like Christ did the apostles, especially Peter.

Do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

He means it for slaves, and he certainly does not condone slavery here, but he does call them to work with sincerity of heart, as Jesus did the carpenter's craft, and really frankly, sincerity of heart upon the cross.

Notice how Paul points to the slaves enduring wrongdoing, wrongs done at the hand of wrongdoers.

Who else suffered at the hands of evil men?

Besides all that, Onisimus is carrying the letter, Philemon's runaway slave.

Whatever you do, masters, do it in the name of Jesus.

Whatever you do, whatever it is, masters, do, do it justly and fairly.

Just as your master in heaven dealt justly and fairly with you, as Jesus died to pay your debt and free you from slavery.

No, Paul certainly does not condone slavery here.

What does it mean to follow Jesus?

Set your mind on Christ and everything you do.

And do everything in his name, whatever it is.

And you've been raised with Jesus, and if your knowledge of him is increasing because your mind is set on him, you'll be blown away.

How far that gets you.

But it's just what you've always been doing, friends.

And that feels like such a good spot to stop, doesn't it?

But Paul doesn't stop there.

And I like that he doesn't stop there because of what he says next.

We'll take the last part quickly, I promise.

The rest of the letter says, keep going.

Keep praying.

Keep giving thanks.

Keep praying that the gospel would bear fruit, and don't worry about me, I'm in here for good reasons.

I'm in prison for good reasons, Paul says.

Keep laboring with the false teachers and unbelievers that's walk in wisdom toward outsiders.

For years I've read that evangelistically.

But reading this whole letter, I think Paul has those false teachers in mind a bit more than the jailers who watch over him.

Sharing the gospel with unbelievers is simple compared to battling the false teaching the Colossians have to face.

It's almost like Paul says, don't spend too much time with those guys, but still be gracious to them and answer them well, nonetheless.

Then he gives this fantastic report of all that's going on at his mission efforts.

Keep laboring, keep working.

Verse 16, pass this letter around.

Keep reading.

Keep learning.

Keep increasing in knowledge.

Keep keep reading, keep knowing.

And I love this in verse 17.

Say to Archipus, a man who's also named in the letter to Philemon, see that you fulfill the ministry you have received in the Lord.

Keep going.

Keep going.

And grace be with you.

Let's pray.

Oh Father, please forgive us for the times when we pass judgment on our brothers and sisters, disqualifying them because of our empty and deceitful philosophies according to our traditions.

Only you know these things, Lord.

Help us to put off the old self, to put to death the things that are earthly in us, to set our minds on Christ and to follow after him.

Thank you, Lord, for Jesus.

In him we have all we need for life and godliness.

We want to be more like him.

Just as we believed at first and put to death, sin, repenting of it, and turning to him by faith.

Father, help us to do that still more.

For when your son said repent, he didn't mean to repent once and call it good.

No, he meant that the whole life should be a life of repentance.

To cause us to seek after him, turning towards him through faith, glorifying him in all we do, and giving you thanks with every breath.

We love you, Lord.

We thank you for your son.

And it's in his name we pray.

Amen.

That concludes this sermon from Faith Evangelical Free Church.

Our mission is to declare the Word of God and disciple believers into mature, devoted followers of Jesus.

You can learn more by visiting our website at faithfree.com.