Unity in Love and Truth

athletics in his own day and the famous games that took place in that region and he uses that

frequently in his epistles. Athletics, wrestling, boxing, all of these energetic activities he finds

very useful in order to apply them as illustrations of different aspects of the Christian life.

Philippians 3 verse 13, remember they're thinking about straining ahead to the things that lay ahead

Philippians 3:13

and the imagery there is of the athlete coming to the final finishing stretch, reaching forward to

press himself through the tape in order to achieve the goal and you'll find the same thing here in

verse 29 of the first chapter where you find him using the words struggling and then in the first

verse of chapter 2 he uses the word struggle so the verb is there in verse 29 the noun struggle in

chapter 2 verse 1 and that's all to do with the effort that he is putting into the work that he's

doing as an apostle as a servant of Christ not just for these Christians in Colossae but also others for

whom he has a burden and responsibility and so that is repeated you can find yourselves different passages

that have similar sentiments 1 Timothy chapter 6 verse 12 where he talks there in 2 Timothy 4 verse 7

1 Timothy 6:12 2 Timothy 4:7

speaking of himself there as somebody who's coming to the end of his course I have kept I fought the good

fight I have kept the faith and so on you'll find the same in Luke chapter 13 where you find there an

Luke 13 · chapter mention

emphasis on on that same sort of imagery Luke 13 at verse 24 where you find words that are similar to

the apostle just to show that they're not just confined to the apostle Luke 13 and verse 24 where you find

the Lord saying someone said to him Lord will those who are saved be few and he said to them strive to enter

through the narrow door so you find the same imagery there make every effort put all your energy into

getting through the narrow door into the kingdom of God into salvation and then when you go to Colossians

Colossians 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4 you find verse 12 there very similarly to what you have here in verse 2 in chapter 2

chapter 4 verse 12 where we read that Epaphras who is one of you a servant of Christ Jesus greets you

always struggling on your behalf in his prayers and he's not saying they're struggling in prayer in

terms of not really being able to pray it's not struggle in that sense though some of us very much

are aware of that struggle there just means exactly the same as chapter 2 verse 1 here this energetic

effort putting his effort into this he's really struggling in prayer he's putting everything

into his prayer the effort he puts into his prayers for them and it's not surprising you find all of

these emphases especially in Colossians here because this is a letter written to a church that were

really having problems with false teaching and false teachers who were facing the kind of false teaching

about salvation that said to them look Christ is not enough you need something more than Jesus you need

more than the righteousness that's in Christ you need something more than what the apostle Paul taught

that we are justified through faith in Christ that everything we require is there in Christ as the

provision of God and that's where you find all of these kinds of references throughout Colossians

to false teaching using words probably borrowed from the false teachers themselves who had an idea that

Christ was not enough and you needed to build up different layers of experience and initiation rights

until you came to know God at last and of course that's how they themselves saw themselves they were the means

by which people were led by them so they thought into a proper knowledge of God and Paul is saying

don't listen to that put that away from you everything that you already need that you need has already

been given to you it's all in Christ Jesus as we'll see he mentions here that deposited in him are all the

treasures of wisdom and knowledge and of course that sort of teaching that sort of false teaching

is very unsettling heresy is always unsettling false teaching is always discouraging to congregations

discouraging unsettling to Christians which is why you find combined here not only the sufficiency of

Christ but the unity of God's people in Christ and it's a unity first of all in love and in the truth and we'll

see in these first few verses verses one to three how both of these aspects in relation to unity are so

important it's unity in love and in truth not just in love or not just in truth it's unity in love and

truth as these are inseparably connected together in the scheme of God in the Christians experience

so let's look at that first of all unity in love and in the truth and you notice this word

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

those who have not seen me face to face and some take the view that Paul had never met the Colossians

there's no record of him in the New Testament having been at Colossae or having established the

the work in Colossae others take a different view but there's no record of him having been there in any

case he's saying those have not seen me face to face I include them that their hearts may be encouraged

the purpose and aim of the apostles struggle for them and I'm sure he means struggle in the sense of

Epaphras's struggle in chapter four and in prayer as well all the effort that he's expending on their

behalf and remembering them and praying for them and writing this to them that it's all directed to this

that they might be encouraged that their hearts may be encouraged and the word encouraged there is

a word that's very very similar indeed the same root as the words in the New Testament in John

especially John's gospel for the Holy Spirit who is the encourager the comforter the person who comes

alongside literally means to come alongside and speak to us to encourage us so encouragement really

in the New Testament sense of it is something that has both comfort and fortification you get comfort

through the ministry of the gospel but you get fortification you are fortified through it as well

you're strengthened and all of that's built into what Paul is saying this is why I have this great

struggle for you so that their hearts may be encouraged you cannot look at any or read anything from

the apostle in terms such as these and fallen with those who thought that Paul was a very distant

character that he was a very harsh character the modern representations of Paul would see him as

somebody who was really pretty much a formalist kind of character he was just interested in theology

giving out these great schemes of theology and all these letters that have all this theology in them

but really was he somebody who could get close to was it somebody who was genuinely interested in

people's well-being yes he was this is no cold distant formalist this is a man who wants to get alongside

people this is a man who really seeks to understand where they're at what they're suffering why they're

suffering what they need in terms of teaching advice guidance support now of course a great

challenge to ourselves because from this passage itself you can actually just

detect the warmth and the heart of the apostle for these Christians at Colossae and it reminds

ourselves that whatever we place we give to theology and we give theology or should be giving to theology

a very important foundational place in our thinking

we have to have along with that this genuine warmth of affection and concern and prayerfulness and

struggle for people to develop in their faith to grow in their faith to have their lives built up

in God's truth so he's first of all saying it's to encourage them that they may be encouraged

but then he says being knit together in love so it's for encouragement but also connected with that

is that they are knit together in love in other words this is the unity that he's now introducing

the unity of God's people the unity of these Christians and Colossae and in that unity they must face the

heretics in that unity they must see to it that as they grow in grace and as they grow in knowledge

as they grow in understanding so they're growing also in closeness and in regard to each other

because that's how they must face the heretics that they must face the false teaching that wants to

just take them away from everything being already for them in Christ

knit together in love

this is no mere outward organized religion

all is certainly organized and wants people to be organized he's commending them as we see

in the later part here rejoicing to see your your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ

Paul is not about everything just being done loosely or casually or just come what may and people just

following their own inclinations no he has to have an order to his theology and an order to his

Christian life and an order to the congregation is writing to and that's an important facet of being

Christians together in this world our unity is not a disordered organization it is an ordered unity it's

having things in the right place as God himself specified or leads and you could follow that point

out yourselves but it's crucial that we see here this unity that he's speaking of being knit together

is being knit together in love in love

there is in fact no proper unity without love without Christian love

because without Christian love unity breaks down or isn't really there at all in any meaningful sense

but being knit together closely bound together in love love is is crucial

to our unity see what he's saying in chapter 3 and verse 14 if you uh just cast your mind forward to that

he's saying put on in verse 12 as chosen ones God's chosen one put on he's talking here the language of

clothing yourselves put on holy put on kindness put on humility put on meekness put on patience

bearing with one another and if anyone has a complaint against another forgiving each other as the Lord has forgiven

you and above all these put on love in other words he's saying these are the spiritual garments you put on as

Christians and there's a garment over and above all of them that really keeps them all together

that keeps them from being dissipated or losing their effectiveness

what is that garment that binds everything together in perfect harmony it is love

the love that's patterned on the love of God the love of Christ himself

so being knit together in love so you see the way the the argument is proceeding

I'm struggling for you I have this great energetic struggle for you and it's so that your hearts may be encouraged

and so that they'll be encouraged being knit together in love and then what what is the objective

what is he then saying all of this unity and of this uh of of of this um struggle that he has for them

that they be encouraged it's so that they will reach all the riches of fuller of full assurance

of understanding of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery which is in Christ

what a packed phrase I mean you'd need more than remaining 10-15 minutes to even

unpack um the main parts of that he's talking here about God's mystery which is in Christ and when Paul

speaks about mystery in this sense he always speaks about things which were hidden

in the old testament days or all the way through or partly or mostly hidden but now have been revealed

the mystery of salvation the wonderful truth of salvation which in part was revealed in the old

testament but waited until the coming of Christ the fullness of God's revelation in him

has now been revealed and he says this is what my struggle is for you and for those in Laodicea

that being knitted together in love to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding

and the knowledge of God's mystery which is in Christ God's revealed truth in Christ and you see

he's saying here they are deposited in Christ um in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and

knowledge doesn't mean here hidden in the sense of not not not seen at all or absolutely hidden out of

view what he means I think he's borrowing again the language of of um of these mystics of these false

teachers who themselves were saying well we can show you the mysteries we can show you the hidden

mysteries you need to follow our directions before you can come into knowing about God and knowing about

salvation and Paul is saying that's all deposited in Christ already and they are hidden in the sense of

deposited already in him it's all there in him

it's been essentially revealed by God now that's an important point in itself because there are no

essential truths from God out with Christ there are no essential truths from God that are to do with

God's salvation out with Christ Christ has himself he is himself the place where the wisdom where the

mystery where the treasure of wisdom or knowledge and knowledge are already deposited God's salvation

salvation in Christ he's saying to them this is what you need this is all you need this is really

the complete Christ and you are complete in him remember that remember that when other groups in today's

world will tell you you know you you people are very backward you should really add this or add that

add speaking in tongues add this that and the other to what you already experienced you've got something

already yes that's good but you need to add other things before you can go further in your

spiritual experience no the apostle is saying the bible is saying you already have everything in

Christ you already have the holy spirit in you if you're a believer and when you have the holy spirit

in you and you have the these treasures of wisdom and knowledge in Christ there is no essential truth

out with that it's all there for you already that's why the struggle that he has in prayer for them

is that they'll come to the full assurance and understanding of all of these things of the gospel and of the salvation

that is in Christ now you see how love and unity in the truth are combined together unity involves both love

and truth love for God and love for each other and truth that is to say the truth that God has revealed

in the gospel and we need to keep these together

in the gospel and we need to keep these together

because love needs to be given structure for it to be love in the biblical sense

and what is it that gives love structure it is the truth of God

if you detach love or the idea of love from the from the Bible from the truth of God

you've no longer got a structure to your love and love needs a structure and has a structure to it

because it's come it is it is the love that God is revealing to us that that Christians are to have

for him and for one another it's love that's embedded in the truth of God the truth is foundational truth to it

and that structure and purpose is given by the truth of God in other words if you go by Paul's by by Paul's teaching here

if you go by the whole of the Bible essentially it actually demolishes this daft idea that you have in the world today that love is love

what is that saying it's not really saying very much because love then is up to yourself how you define it

the structure that you give it is really nothing more than your own idea of what love is

and even if it's the most debauched thing in the teaching of the Bible and you call it love

love is love is what we're told well that of course is nonsense

there is no structure to that there is no basis to that

nothing living to that except people's own wishful thinking and all people's own prejudices or predilections

love is love only when it is love in the truth and love of the truth and love structured by the truth

and sadly our world and I'm not excluding aspects of the church in our world

no longer hold to this wonderful wonderful teaching of the Bible that love is as God himself defines it

or else it ceases to be love in that true sense

the ideology love is love is really love based on my truth my idea of truth what I make truth to be for myself

and that's just hopeless it leads to despair it leads to lifestyles that are simply completely out of control at times

and certainly out of sync with the Bible's teaching

so friends there is love and truth together and unity in love and in truth which is what we ourselves prize

not just unity for its own sake but unity in love a unity which begins in the heart

or which issues from the heart in love and a love which is structured by the truth of God

and has substance to it because of that

but secondly verse 4 briefly look at what he says here

this I say in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments

now he's been speaking of a unity in love and in the truth

and now he's moving to something connected to that unity threatened by plausible arguments

I am writing this to you in order that no one may delude you

and that really means to be deceived to be deluded or even to be self-deceived

because very often false teaching is very persuasive

and that's why he's calling here the misleading of the mind

the mind being actually led away from what it should be focused on

me saying being deluded with plausible arguments

heresy can be very very plausible

and those who present heresy to us can have very very plausible ways of doing it

they can sometimes sadly be much more friendly than genuine Christians trying to represent the truth as it is in Christ

but plausible arguments

are no substitute for knowing the truth

not that the truth need to be seen as an implausible or impossible to set it forth as a plausible argument

what he's saying is there is such a thing in heresy

such a thing in untruth such a thing in false teaching as plausible arguments

because error is so often appealing

and it's designed to catch the mind

that's why verse 7 there is so crucial

you see what he's saying there in verse 7

as you received Christ Jesus so walk in him

rooted and built up in him

and established in the faith

just as you were taught

he's saying there there's there's the faith

there's the truth of God

you are established

you're built up in the faith

that's your foundation

the truth of God

and so on the basis of that

you walk

you live out your life

you conduct yourself

and it's important for us all tonight

that we see to it that we are not weak

in our understanding of God's vital truth

because if we don't make the effort

if we don't try and keep filling our minds with God's truth

that's partly why we're here tonight

it's part of our worship

to actually receive

we trust a greater understanding of what the word of God is saying to us

the spiritual food for our souls

because if we're weak in that sense

if we just neglect feeding our souls spiritually and God's truth

then we're going to be open

to the plausible arguments

of heresy

or of the world

and that's why it's so important

to have a greater grasp of truth today than I had yesterday

because the more you have

strength and the more you have

this grasp of God's truth increasingly

the less likely it is

that plausible arguments will lead you away

from the truth as it is in Christ

I'm writing this

I'm saying this he says to you

in order that no one may delude you

with plausible arguments

whenever you find something

that just doesn't feel right to you

doesn't that doesn't seem to be just quite in accordance with it

where do you take it

you take it to the truth of God

you take it to the Bible

you measure it against the truth

as God has revealed it

and not just in in the Bible itself

but as countless generations of faithful Christians

and theologians through to Christ

have given the church the distilled wisdom that you find

in the church's creeds and confessions

and commentaries and so on

fill your mind with that

let that be the structure

that really brings stability to your hearts

to your lives

and then you'll be buttressed

you'll then be defended

you'll be built up against

the plausible arguments of heresy

that are designed to lead you away

remember heresy is always designed

to lead you away from the truth

doesn't matter what kind of heresy it is

that's what's at the heart of it

that's what the purpose of it is

heresy is ultimately from the enemy of the church

and even if there are many truths

along with the main untruth that's being presented

it's still hugely damaging

so unity threatened by plausible arguments

and he's saying

I'm saying this in order that no one may delude you

so that you will have this encouragement

so that you will be knitted together in love

or being knitted together in love

that you will reach full understanding

and assurance of the knowledge

of God's mystery

which is Christ

study Christ

study the gospel

study

everything that you see revealed

to do with your salvation in Christ

but then finally this

unity

is not just in love and in truth

unity threatened by plausible arguments

unity

is a cause of rejoicing

see what he's saying

finally in verse 5

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

Paul is not with them

in person

but he's very much with them

in mind and spirit

and as he's with them in spirit

in mind

that's why he's saying

this is my great struggle for you

I'm with you

I'm in support of you

I'm there to encourage you

I'm there to

give you the comfort

and the stability

that you need to go on

as you've begun

walk in Christ

as you began

in Christ

now he's using here

military terms

another favourite

metaphor of the apostle

along with athletic terms

was military terms

and when he's talking here

about good order

and firmness

he's borrowing that

from the military world

where you find

what you might call

closed ranks

against the enemy

an efficient army

under attack

will close ranks

they won't leave gaps

that's where the unity

comes in

but here he's saying

I rejoice to see

your good order

and the firmness

of your faith

in Christ

that you're maintaining

that you're maintaining

this unity

in love

and in truth

and the terms

that he uses

there

remind us

that

the greatest

threat

to the gospel

and to our own

spiritual progress

and to the well-being

of any congregation

of people

is always

from inside

the greatest threat

is always

from inside

that's where it begins

that's where disunity

begins

that's where heresy

begins

and so he's saying

be sure

that what you're doing

is like me

struggling

in prayer

putting all the effort

that you need

and have opportunity

for

so that you may be

encouraged

knit together in love

that you reach

all the riches

of full assurance

of understanding

and the knowledge

of God's mystery

which is Christ

this Christ

not any Christ

of human imagining

not the Christ

of the heretics

but this Christ

the Christ

in which God

has revealed

all the treasure

and deposited them

in him

of wisdom

and knowledge

and rejoicing

friends

we're blessed

with unity

nothing's perfect

no church

in the world

has a perfect unity

but we're blessed

with unity

we're together

we serve the Lord

we're together

we seek each of us

to contribute

to the overall

well-being

of the congregation

and indeed

of the wider

cause of Christ

and that is

cause for rejoicing

cause for thankfulness

yes we

we seek certainly

to be

defended

or defend ourselves

against

plausible arguments

that are heretical

that will lead us

away from the truth

but we rejoice

when God has blessed us

with good order

and firmness

with unity

in the things

of his salvation

and his praise

so may God

bless these thoughts

and Fstand

say

I'll stop

letting Him

tell

people

are

can't

in the

verse