Colossians 2:1-7 Paul's Struggle for the Church

Well, church, this morning we will be in Colossians chapter 2.

Colossians 2 · chapter mention

And today we will be looking at verses 1 through 7.

Colossians chapter 2, verses 1 through 7, which is all about Paul's struggle, his conflict for the Colossian church.

Colossians 2:1–7

So if you remember from our previous studies, Paul is writing to the church in Colossi because they were being bombarded by false teachings.

So they lived in a culture that was trying to adopt every religion possible.

So he writes this letter because he knows that they're vulnerable.

In chapter one, he prays for them, he thanks God for them, he reminds them of who Jesus is, and at the end of chapter one, he shares his ministry philosophy with them.

So here in the beginning of chapter two, Paul is now going to explain why he is struggling so aggressively for them.

Why would Paul, who by the way, had never met these Christians, continue to pray, send letters, literally go to prison and suffer persecution on their behalf.

Who does that?

His intense labor, it requires explanation.

And so this is similar kind of to parents.

My parents would always talk to me about, you know, finding a good spouse, abstaining from drugs, don't drink and drive, pursue a good career.

And as a kid, I'm always like, why do you care so much?

You know, why are you so adamant about these things?

Get off my back.

Well, in the same way as parents, Paul is struggling for this church because he wants them to spiritually succeed.

He wants the very best for them.

And he wants them to be aware of the enemy's tactics, the consequences of compromising, and what's at stake.

And so that is what chapter two is all about.

And so that is his heart in verse one, when Paul 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.

So there is a great struggle going on for the Apostle Paul.

He hears that false teachers are trying to influence them, and that disturbs him.

His heart is shaken.

And even though he is in prison, he's motivated to stand up and do something about it.

He's doing all that he can to nourish and uplift this struggling church.

So in a world full of passivity and apathy, we have something to learn here right off the bat.

We are not called to sit back, kick up our feet when other believers are in danger.

We are called to stand up, encourage, and expose lies.

As Bonhoeffer once said, to remain silent during evil is evil itself.

To not speak is to speak.

To not act is to act.

But what specifically is Paul laboring for?

What is he trying to promote in these believers?

Well, in verses two through three, he shows us three things.

And the first is this encouragement.

The second is unified love.

And the third is assurance in Jesus Christ.

This is what he emphasized because he knows that our tendency is to do the opposite.

It is to become discouraged, to fight and divide, and to begin doubting our assurance in Christ.

So starting with the first point, Paul says in verse 2 that their hearts may be encouraged.

This is what Paul is striving for in these believers, encouragement.

Because he knows probably more than anyone else how easily we can become discouraged.

You know, in Christ we have everything, but we still live in a fallen, broken world.

There's fatigue.

We're just worn out, emotionally exhausted, tired of the daily grind.

We're overwhelmed.

We're sick and tired of the punches of life.

There's frustration.

Things don't go our way.

People betray us.

We can't ever catch a break.

There's failure.

We keep going to that same old stupid sin.

And our best laid plans crash and burn, or no one shows up to the event.

Then, in addition to all this, we have the devil who is constantly whispering in our ear, and we grow weary of his lies.

Does God really love you?

Are you truly a child of God?

And our natural response to all this is what?

Discouragement, despair.

And what this leads to is vulnerability.

It can cause us to find comfort and sinful pleasures.

It opens the door to the I give up attitude and can cause us to be spiritually ineffective.

It ruins our prayer life, our scripture reading.

It crushes our spiritual energy, our involvement in the local church, and even worse, it is contagious and it weakens the faith of those around us.

But God doesn't want us discouraged.

In fact, he commands us not to be.

In John 14, verse 1, Jesus says, do not let your hearts be troubled, meaning discouraged.

John 14:1

He doesn't want your emotions to be dictated by circumstances.

God wants our hearts to be uplifted and comforted in his promises.

Have we forgotten that God has given us his Holy Spirit, whose name is the comforter, for this very reason.

So this is Paul's struggle for the church: encouragement.

And it's my struggle for us as well.

No matter the diagnosis, no matter the situation, no matter the hardship or the season you are going through, if you are in Christ, there is encouragement at hand.

According to Romans 15, God is referred to as the God of all encouragement.

According to 2 Corinthians 1, he is referred to as the God of all comfort.

When we feel stuck in the mud, sometimes we just need that simple reminder that we have access to God through Christ.

And he wants to encourage us through his spirit, through his word, as we rest in his promises and presence.

So for those in the room who are weary, stop looking at your circumstances, stop focusing on your feelings or the state of this world, and go to the God of all comfort.

Now, next, Paul tells them another reason why he is laboring so fervently for them again in verse 2.

He says that they would be knit together in love.

Okay, so the idea here that Paul is implying is the biblical idea of unity.

So he wants this church to be unified in love because the church is never better together when they're unified.

And love mentioned here is the key ingredient.

Love is the cement, if you will, that holds the body together.

And so Paul labors for this because he knows that our tendency is to fight, okay, to bicker and complain, to hold grudges, to not resolve conflict, to gossip and backbite and eventually divide.

That's human nature.

So I don't need to give examples, really.

Just look at our culture, look at the government, read social media.

And false teachers, by the way, they prey on this.

Okay, in fact, this is their ministry.

They introduce heresy, they create divisions, they wait for groups to isolate, then they seek out the weaker party.

They divide and conquer.

So persecution has never killed a church.

A church always dies from within, either from one, poisonous doctrine that spreads like gangrene, or two, aggressive disunity that eventually ends in the church shutting down, or at the very least, a church split.

So the antidote then is humble love.

Ephesians 4 says, be completely humble, be gentle, patient, bearing with one another in love.

Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

Philippians 2, 2 says, make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of mind.

We see later in Colossians 3, Paul saying, Bear with each other and forgive one another.

If any of you has a grievance against someone, forgive as the Lord forgave you.

And over all these virtues, put on love which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Church, do you see how important this is?

So if we desire at all to mature as a healthy church, our hearts must be knit together relationally, diversely, and doctrinally.

You can't love someone very well whom you just simply don't know.

There must be meaningful relationships.

And you can't express agape love if you only love those who like you.

Jesus teaches that on the Sermon on the Mount.

There must be diversity.

You must be able to love your enemies, those who hurt you, those who aren't like you.

And love isn't love unless it is rooted in God's truth.

There must be shared convictions.

So many people today think that doctrine is what destroys unity.

They say, let's lay aside our doctrinal differences so that we can unify.

But the interesting thing about that in Ephesians 4, it tells us the exact opposite.

It says unity is only achieved when we agree with what Scripture says.

Obviously, not on every point, but on the essential points.

There's always room for disagreement on minor issues.

Rick and I disagree on things, even though he knows I'm right.

So the question then is: are we doing this?

Are we seeking out meaningful relationships here at Proclamation Church?

Or are you just sitting back at an arm's length?

Are you seeking to know people who are different than you?

Or are you just surrounding yourself with people who make you feel comfortable?

Are you seeking to wrestle with doctrines together, to open the word together in Bible study, asking the pastors tough theological questions, reading our statement of faith to see if we can really truly lock arms together?

Or are you just an isolated theologian?

This all goes back to Rick's messages on membership.

That process alone breeds meaningful commitment, love, and unity.

And so lastly, Paul reveals his final reason for his labor for them at the end of verse 2 into verse 3.

He says, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

So this is a loaded statement.

To put this simply, Paul wants these believers to be fully convinced of Jesus Christ and his sufficiency.

And from that confidence to experience the full pleasures and riches that are found in Christ, he wants them fully convinced and fully satisfied in Jesus.

So most of our problems in the Christian life stem from some form of unbelief.

For example, if I am not fully convinced that all pleasure is found in Christ, then I'm going to find it elsewhere.

If I doubt God's faithfulness, then I'm not going to trust Him with my finances.

I'll control it.

If I question Christ's atonement on the cross, then I'm going to establish my own righteousness.

If I'm not fully convinced about the gospel of Jesus Christ that was established by the prophets and the apostles, then I'm going to have an open ear to false teaching.

Do you see the connection here?

And so Paul wants us utterly convinced that Jesus is who he says he is, and therefore we don't need to look any further to anything in life to give us hope, purpose, power, identity, or life.

This goes beyond just agreeing with biblical facts.

It is believing on a heart level that Christ has paid for our sin.

He purchased us in his love and that he is, in a singular sense, the way, the truth, and the life.

And so there's a lie out there that you can't really know.

You can't really know 100% if Christ has really saved you.

You can hope for it.

You know, and when we die, I guess we'll find out.

Friends, that is a bold-faced lie and a denial of Scripture.

In 1 John 5, 13, John tells us, these things I have written to you so that you may know.

And that Greek word know there means without a shadow of a doubt that you have eternal life, and that you believe on the name of the Son of God.

And so the false teachers during this time, they were known as the Gnostics.

They taught that Jesus was helpful, but there was more revelation outside of him.

And they love to use these phrases like secret knowledge, deep mysteries, hidden treasure.

And so Paul uses their own phrases to prove a point here, and he says, all riches, treasure, wisdom, knowledge is found in God's mystery, Jesus Christ.

Jesus simply knows all things, and he knows God perfectly.

None of his judgments about anything is ever mistaken.

He teaches the way of God with infallible truthfulness.

He is the mediator between God and man.

In him we have every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms.

In him we have adoption, the freedom from the penalty and the power of sin.

In him is abundant life, eternal life with God.

Friends, what more do you need?

As Jonathan Edwards once said, he who has Christ has all he needs and needs no more.

This doesn't mean that there isn't, you know, anything of learning value outside of Christ.

There are great books and resources and teachers and podcasts that are really spiritually helpful.

But the point that Paul is trying to make is this that he, Jesus, is the source of all salvation, truth, and life, and nothing is equal to or needs added to Jesus Christ our Savior.

So Paul wants the church encouraged, he wants them knit together in love, he wants them fully assured and satisfied in Christ alone.

But why is this important?

Because he knows that there is a great danger.

There are demonic influences out there, people out there who are trying to deceive us.

Look at verse 4.

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

Paul, in essence, is saying, I strive for your encouragement, your unity and assurance, because I know that there is a great danger out there.

There are wolves in sheep's clothing.

People who are crafty, they're smart, they're subtle, who are introducing poisonous teachings that, if accepted, will ruin you.

And Paul is brutally honest.

He says they present plausible arguments.

In other words, they're not stupid.

Plausible here means well-constructed, reasonable, seemingly logical arguments.

So false teachers do not burst through our doors with Ouija boards and pitchforks saying the Bible isn't true.

According to Jude in 2 Peter 2, they sneak in.

They play church well.

They know Christian lingo.

They're very likable.

They have great personalities.

They gain trust.

And they craft bad doctrine in a very acceptable way.

They add a lot of truth to it.

They use the same words we do, although they redefine meanings.

They use seemingly logical conclusions.

If A is true, then B must be true.

And they use scripture as support, usually verses taken out of context.

And it seems plausible, probable, believable, but their goal is what?

Deception.

That is what the word delude here is talking about.

It's deception can be defined as a whole lot of truth with just a little bit of error.

It presents something that looks good with the promise of life, but it contains poison.

It's the same tactic that the serpent did in Genesis 3, presenting to us a fruit that looks good to accept, pleasing to our eyes, desirable for gaining wisdom, but it is deadly.

So this is why Paul strives for encouragement, unity, assurance in Christ, because he knows how easily we can drift from God's truth and how convincing false teachers can be.

And if you're thinking to yourself, you know, I've been a Christian for decades, I know theology well, I would never be deceived.

Beware of such a prideful attitude.

There's a reason that false teaching is mentioned in almost every New Testament letter.

And many men today who embrace heresy at one point condemned it.

So to him who thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall.

So after warning them of this danger, Paul next shares his confidence in their response in verse 5.

He says, For though I am absent in the body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Jesus.

So after warning them, Paul gives them confident hope that they will respond appropriately.

Confident that you will make the right decision, that you will choose Christ over deceptive, plausible arguments.

We live in a day and age where we expect the worst in others.

We don't give people the benefit of the doubt.

And even worse, we anticipate their failure.

And we do this because we try to guard our hearts.

We don't want to set the bar too high because when people don't measure up, we become disappointed.

But that isn't Paul's attitude, is it?

You know, I work with a lot of men in addiction.

I used to be a drug addict myself.

And one thing that I've learned in the last 10 years of ministry is that most men do better when there are people in their corner saying, In Christ, you can do this.

But if they're told, you know, you're probably just gonna go right back, you'll never change, you'll probably fail, they do fail.

Why?

Because they already don't believe that they can change.

So if someone else doesn't hope for them, what's the point?

But if someone is in their corner saying, you can do this, I'm rooting for you, I know through Christ you are capable of overcoming and fighting and resisting, they do a lot better.

Because now they have external hope and confidence that eventually cultivates in them personal hope and confidence.

And that's this is exactly what Paul is doing here.

He's saying, look, I'm not with you in person, but I'm with you in spirit.

I will rejoice in advance, he says, with the expectation that you will put things in order and continue to stand firm in your faith.

That's uplifting, that's motivation for them.

And we would be wise to have the same mindset for others, especially for other believers whom we know God is dealing with.

Not that we set such a high bar and that we demand perfection and when they fail, they feel all the worse.

No.

But rather, we are hopeful for others with the expectation that they will make the right decision.

And if they don't, we continue to encourage and uplift, believing that he who began a good work in them will continue to do so until the day of full redemption.

So after warning them and now encouraging them, he ends with a command in verses six and seven.

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

So Paul is doing everything he can on his end to uplift these believers.

He's praying, encouraging, unifying, reminding them of Jesus.

But now he shifts gears and he tells us what we should be doing on our end.

What is our responsibility?

What should we be doing so that we're not swayed by wolves or begin departing from Christ?

And the first is this it is to walk in Christ.

And so walking in Christ implies this idea of continuance.

You don't just meet Jesus and you say thank you, and then you sit down and you go on with life.

No, you then follow him.

It goes beyond just this one-time acceptance.

Instead, it involves an ongoing commitment to trust and obey and continually grow in him.

And so merely acknowledging Christ in the past is insufficient.

The key is to persist in repentance and belief.

If you claim to have accepted Christ, it is not a past event, but a present reality.

And so when I was a little kid, my dad used to take me hunting, and we would go early in the morning in the winter, and there was ice on the ground, and you had to be quiet walking into the woods so that you didn't spook any deer.

And I remember my dad telling me, he said, son, I'll go before you, and wherever I step in the snow and the ice crunches down, walk in my footsteps.

And that is exactly what Paul means here.

Walking with Christ is a present, active, following and obeying.

Many Christians encounter difficulties because they view Christ as someone they received in the past, forgetting that he is your life now, today, and in every fleeting moment.

Secondly, this includes being rooted and built up in him and established in the faith as you have been taught.

So a tree with strong roots can weather a storm.

A house that has a strong structure is like less likely to collapse.

Faith that is established and not pending is less likely to be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine and crafty argument.

So the idea here is growing stronger roots in your faith and obedience.

Continuing to grow in your knowledge of Jesus, in your love for Him.

And so God wants us to have a strong faith.

When we first became Christians, our faith might have been the size of a tiny mustard seed.

But it should grow.

Over time, the goal is that we would bear lots of fruit, that our spiritual root system would extend to the ground and receive more nutrients.

Just like a plant in a garden, the soil needs to be tilled, weeds need to be rooted out.

The plant needs watered.

At times the plant needs pruned to bear more fruit.

And in the same way, God has provided endless spiritual graces for us to grow.

Submitting to the local church, sitting under good biblical teaching, meeting with other believers, personal discipleship, engaging in the spiritual rhythms of prayer and scripture reading.

This is what 2 Peter 1 is all about, when Peter says, add to your faith goodness, and goodness knowledge, and knowledge self-control, and so on.

And this is what Paul means in Philippians 2 when he says, work out your own salvation with fear and with trembling.

Church, do all that you can to establish and grow and nourish your relationship with the risen Lord.

Pray, read scripture, commit wholeheartedly to the local church, turn on worship music in the car, listen to good podcasts, join a Bible study, meet with a spiritual mentor, sing spiritual songs.

As much as the Spirit of God dwells in you, do all that you can to build yourself up in the faith, because it is the most valuable thing you have in life.

And so what a tragedy it is when Christians remain immature, spiritual infants for years, in a state of spiritual doubt, indulging in the same level of sin, wondering daily about their identity in Christ, in a stagnant state of spiritual immaturity, always needing milk.

God wants us to be strong in Him.

His goal in our sanctification is to make us mature saints who are becoming more and more fit for the kingdom.

And thirdly, I love this last little overlooked phrase here, but be abounding in thankfulness.

When we are waking up each day saying, God, thank you for your salvation.

Thank you for saving me.

Thank you for giving me every good gift.

Thank you for your promises.

We are posturing ourselves with the mind of Christ.

Gratitude in the Lord helps us to interpret our day, to view our circumstances through the lens of God's mercy and grace.

And it's very pleasing to the Lord.

It is ingratitude that gets us in trouble.

When we're not thankful and we're complaining all the time, it's evidence that we're not satisfied in God.

We want more.

I'm not content.

And when this is the case, you best bet that I am liable to discouragement because I see everything in a dark light, and I am liable to disunity because I criticize everything and every one.

Sometimes the best defense is to always be on offense.

What can Satan do, my friends, to a man or a woman that is walking with Christ, they're growing in their faith, they're delighting in his commandments, they're saturated in his word, and they're walking around rejoicing and singing spiritual songs all the day long?

What can he do?

What kind of warfare could he possibly command that would prevail?

Church, what can the enemy do to someone who is walking with Christ all day long?

What can demons do to someone who is rooting themselves stronger in Christ through prayer and scripture reading and fellowship with the body?

What can they do to someone who is walking around all the day long, praising God, simply thanking Him for the breath in their lungs, for His immeasurable grace?

Where is the hole in that kind of spiritual armor?

These three things are a good gauge for us, good questions to ask ourselves when we are spiritually depressed.

Just last week, I'm just being honest, as I was preparing for this sermon, I was having a pretty miserable day.

And as I was studying this passage, I was confronted with the passage.

Am I walking with the Lord?

Did I wake up today saying, Lord, I just want to delight in you?

My life's at your disposal.

I hadn't.

Then I was confronted again.

Am I doing all that I can to root and build myself up in the faith?

Or am I just filling my time with empty entertainment, using my free time to indulge and be lazy?

Just viewing my spiritual disciplines as a checklist rather than a divine privilege.

Then I was confronted again.

Am I thankful?

Am I simply awestruck in joy for all that the Lord has done for me?

Or am I just complaining?

Looking at all the bad, seeing everyone else's failures, always looking at what I don't have instead of being thankful for what I do have.

So, church, our conclusion this morning is simple.

May we be a church of encouragement.

May we seek encouragement from the Lord, from others, as we seek to give encouragement to other believers and to other churches.

And may we be a church of unity, constantly forgiving, esteeming other people higher than ourselves, locking arms tighter as we agree more and more in biblical truth.

And may we be a church that becomes more convinced and satisfied in the Lord Jesus Christ.

And may we be a church that recognizes and rejects deluding, plausible arguments when thrown our way.

And may we be a church that hopes for the very best of other Christians or churches that are struggling.

And may we be a church that is defined by walking with the Lord, using every divine resource available to us to strengthen and mature and increase our faith as we overflow with thanksgiving.

Church, let us pray.