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Now, let's dive into today's teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig. Have you ever heard of something called bots, dots? You probably haven't heard the name, but you know what they are. Those are those raised. Dots on the freeway.
that when you veer off course And you hear that Okay, those were developed by a guy whose last name was Bots. He was he worked for Caltrans, California Transit Authority, back in the nineteen fifties and figured out a way that when people fall asleep on the roadway and they get off center, we want to put those dots in the freeway to wake them up. And I tell you, those bots, dots have helped me. When I was in college and I used to drive back to my parents' home on the weekend on the San Bernardino Freeway, and I was just so tired after doing studies and interning and all sorts of heavy schedule, I started to nod off. Time and time again until I hit those bots, dots, and I got jarred to my senses and got back in the middle of the road because.
I was dangerously close to on one occasion a cleft. About 50 feet down to the other oncoming traffic.
So thank God for bots dots. What does that have to do with the book of Colossians? Colossians is. The equivalent of bots dots To A minister by the name of Epaphras. And the church he is pastoring in the town of Colossi.
It seems that they have gotten off course. They have swerved from the center line. which is Jesus Christ. And they are being infiltrated with a belief system that is very dangerous. And so Paul.
Wants to bring them back. On center. Through the book, through the letter of The Colossians It's the bots dots. For that church located in the Lycas Valley, a picture of the modern city with the mountains is. Um behind me I have never been to Colossi.
And honestly, You never would have even heard of the town of Colossi. Because it really wasn't a big deal. The only reason you have heard of it, and I have heard of it, is because there's a letter in the New Testament that Paul wrote to it. And so, for that reason, there is significance, and of course, the message is highly significant. But the core theme of this book is getting back on target.
With Jesus Christ and Jesus only. We did a series on a Sunday morning some while back called Always Only Jesus based on. This book. During the Era known as the Jesus movement back in the 60s and the 70s, and I was involved in the 70s, early 70s. When this revival on the West Coast broke out, And there were all these people falling in love with Jesus.
They were not falling in love with churches or religion. They were saying no to religion. They were saying Wholeheartedly yes to Jesus Christ. And I was one of them. And it was all about Jesus.
And they called us Jesus freaks and Jesus people. And a lot of my friends had really long hair. A lot of us had long hair. I had long hair, but they had long hair and beards and sandals. They kind of looked like Jesus, at least.
In the movie Jesus. And it was just, we were following Jesus Christ, and he was enough. But not everybody thought he was enough. And I remember as All of us young people were filling this tent. In Costa Mesa, California.
tacking it out every Sunday and Sunday night and Thursday night Bible study. That Some of the local pastors in Orange County were quite upset that this Calvary chapel. We're seeing such monumental growth. With so many young people. And so one clergyman was quoted in the Orange County Register, the news local newspaper.
About The church I was attending, and about the Jesus movement and the Jesus freaks that were all along the beach. And this clergyman, you know, kind of disparaged the whole movement by saying, well, All they have is Jesus. I remember reading that. And I thought, what a statement. All they have is Jesus.
What he should have said is, all they have is Jesus because all they need is Jesus. And that's what Paul is basically saying. Dot spots. in the book of Colossians, the book letter to the Colossians. All You need is him.
You are complete, he will say, You are complete in him when we get around to it. Click. Story when I moved. to New Mexico. From Southern California and I got to meet a couple of pastors in town, and I told them who I was and that I was here to start a church, a Bible study, and hopefully a church.
And they were sympathetic toward me because they were pastors. They knew the effort that it would take. And they would ask me, well, where did you go to seminary? And at that time, I had to say nowhere. I have a medical background, not a seminary background.
But I went to church a lot and I read the Bible a lot. I'm going to just kind of go with that. And so. Yeah. One of the pastors in town.
Sweet man. But he felt He he knew that Um I didn't know anything. And he was right. I didn't know anything. And so he was asking me questions: what are you going to do about this?
What are you going to do about that? How are you going to, now you got to stage the offering? How are you going to receive an offering? And I said, well, I haven't even thought about that, but we have a Bible study. We have a coffee can that we set out in the opening to the little room where we meet in.
That's worked so far in this little Bible study on Thursday night at the apartment complex. I'll probably. Double it and put One coffee can on one side of the theater on Sunday morning, another coffee can on the other side. I'll get the big Folgers can and just put one on either side. He looked at me in disbelief.
And I remember saying, it's never going to work. Another pastor in town, not a Baptist pastor, this was a Presbyterian pastor. I grew to love him a lot, but he also. Was taking me under his consideration and knew that I needed help. Heard that I was starting a church, wanted to help me, and he asked me if I had a robe.
And I said no. He said, are you going to get a rope? I said, no, I'm not. And he goes, well. Tell you what.
I'm going to buy you one. And it's just going to add a little bit of legitimacy. It's a little more formal, but it's something we practice in the Presbyterian church. And if I got you a robe, would that be okay? And I said, with all due respect, thank you very much, but I am not going to wear a robe as a pastor.
And I remember him just shaking his head thinking, it's never going to work. But all I came here with is What I started with. Jesus. And if that wasn't enough. Then I didn't want to be part of anything that didn't include just that.
So Paul writes a letter. Because The leader of the church, the pastor of the church at Colossi, a man by the name of Epaphras. has traveled to where Paul is. Paul is in Rome. Paul is in prison in Rome.
He's under house arrest for two years. And Epaphras presents the problem that he sees in the church with Paul and asks Paul's advice.
Now, I'll tell you a little bit more about Epaphras as we get into this. Letter, if we get into this letter tonight, but um. The city, the town of Colossi, and you can see it in the image behind me. Modern-day area, we have other pictures that show the ruins of the ancient city.
Sort of hard to find the ruins of the ancient city because it was destroyed by an earthquake. right around the time Paul wrote the letter. Probably shortly afterwards. That whole Lycas Valley was shaken up by this earthquake and destroyed a good chunk of Colossi. But It was a town, a city.
At the foot of the mountains, It um Was in an area called Phrygia. And I don't expect you to know where that is necessarily, but the New Testament, the book of Acts, mentions it: that Paul went through Galatia. And Phrygia, and it's next to Galatia. It's in that area. It's modern-day Asia Minor or modern-day Turkey.
It was in the Lycus Valley. In Phrygia, which was a Which was the Roman Province. Of Asia.
So when the New Testament speaks about Asia, it's not talking about China and Vietnam and India like we know modern Asia. But in ancient times, there was a Roman province of Asia, which we know as Asia Minor. But most of us really know it as modern-day Turkey.
So that's where Colosse was. It was a hundred miles. From where Paul spent three years of his ministry. which was the city of Ephesus. Ephesus is on the coast, was on the coast.
Is still on the coast, sort of, but that's a whole nother explanation I won't even get to. But um Go 100 miles, 80 to 100 miles inland, and you would have come to the ancient town of Colosseum. I'm going to show up a little map on the screen. That just shows you, can you see where it says Colossi? And you see that it is on the main Route.
East and west, north and south, but mostly east and west.
So it's on the trade route. It's on the main road. And because it was on the main road of a trade route, It's a city sprung up there.
Now, whenever you have main roads with towns on them. They become not only receptacles for goods and services, but they become receptacles for ideologies and philosophies. Because people's belief systems in different places get transmitted with them as they travel, and they get dumped off and discussed at the gates of various towns. And that was happening in Colossi. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig.
Everyday friends like you help connect people around the world to the life-changing truth of God's Word through clear, verse-by-verse Bible teaching. Our world constantly tells us we need something more. But the book of Colossians reminds us that everything we truly need is found in Jesus Christ. That's the heart of Pastor Skip's resource, Expound Colossians. As he walks verse by verse through this powerful New Testament book, you'll discover why Christ is supreme over all things.
How to recognize truth in a world full of competing voices, and what it means to live each day firmly rooted in him. We'll send Expound Colossians as our thanks when you give $50 or more to support Connect with Skip Heitzig. Call 800-922-1888 or visit connectwithskift.com slash offer.
Now, let's return to today's teaching. And some of those ideologies and philosophies were seeping into. The church. And Epaphras had the presence of mind to know some of this stuff is just weird.
Now it was weird. It was It was known as the Colossian heresy, which I'm going to talk about as we get through this book. But It basically was a mixture. Jewish legalism. Greek.
Mysticism And asceticism.
Now let me explain that. There was some legalism.
So there were rituals that this group of people were saying you need to go through certain regulations, certain holy days, and feast days you needed to keep. But it wasn't Judaism per se. It was Greek mysticism as well. You had to go through certain kinds of. A progressive pattern.
to get to know God more intimately. And Not only was it Jewish legalism and mysticism, but it was asceticism.
So you had to keep things from yourself. You had to deny yourself certain things in order to get to know God in a mysterious kind of a way more deeply. This is happening in Colossi. It will become known as. Gnosticism.
Gnosticism. And most people just look at Colossians, go through and they say, Gnostic, this is all Gnosticism. Really, it wasn't. It will become Gnosticism, it's in its primary stage, though. It's in its nascent stage.
It's forming, and one of the areas it's forming is. here in Colossi.
So Enough said. As an introduction, listen. Get into it. Paul Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. And Timothy, our brother, to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ.
Who are in Colossi, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a typical Introduction. Of an ancient letter, not just in the Bible, you're familiar with this kind of format, but if you were to examine ancient Greco-Roman correspondence, they all begin the same way. They begin by announcing who the author of the letter is. Very different from a Western letter where we say, Dear so-and-so.
I write my letter, and then at the end, you find out who wrote it. In ancient times, they would begin with hay. This is a letter from me. Skip. Writing to y'all.
At Colossi And so this is very, very typical pattern. Where you have the author, the audience, and a greeting or a salutation, which we have in verse one and two. Notice that it says he is an apostle. By the will of God.
Now, later on, he's going to say, in this chapter, he's going to say, I pray that you might be filled with the knowledge of his will. In all wisdom and spiritual understanding. That's his prayer for the church. Paul was certain that he was an apostle. By the will of God, he was sent by God.
He knew. After the Damascus road experience, what God called him to do because. He asked Jesus, we've gone through this many times, two questions on that Damascus Road experience. Who are you, Lord? Second question, what do you want me to do?
And he pursued that until he found out. He went down to Arabia for a while and just spent time in solitude and with scripture and sat before the Lord and got that clarified.
So he knew what he was called to do. And you should be able to say, Your name and your profession by the will of God. It it's such A relief when you come to understand what God's general purpose is for your life.
So, Paul, an apostle. of Jesus Christ That is sent out. Bearing that name by the will of God. And notice, and Timothy, our brother.
Now Timothy he calls our brother, but in other places he calls Timothy my true son in the faith. Because Timothy was led to Christ by Paul. Paul led Timothy to Christ. He's from Lystra, you may remember. And he brought Timothy with him on his missionary journeys later on.
He even said of Timothy, I have no one else. Who thinks like I think? Or, as Paul put it, I have no one like-minded. who will naturally care for your state like Timothy.
So he's our brother, but he's also my son in the faith.
Now, why is he mentioned here?
Well, no doubt he is with Paul in Rome. As an associate for a period of time, Paul would send him out to various places. But for the time being, he's with Paul.
Now, It could be That Paul including Timothy in the introduction indicates That Timothy was the ammanuensis of Paul. Emanuensis is somebody who actually writes the letter. Paul would often dictate the letter to somebody. Maybe he would sign a few sentences at the end and then his name. but he would dictate a letter.
And to dictate a letter, you need somebody to take dictation, called an amanuensis, a scribe.
So it could have been that Timothy was the scribe, the Emmanuensis, the guy who took down the thoughts of Paul as he dictated them. Uh, in this slide, you should also know that. And I've told you this before, but just for. Repetition so you because you may have forgotten. Paul wrote four letters.
at this imprisonment in Rome. Ephesians Philippians Colossians Philemon, all four letters were penned by Paul when he was in that two-year house arrest. in Rome. It is believed since Ephesus is only 80 to 100 miles away. That the letters to the Ephesians and the Colossians were carried by the same.
Group of people At the same time. And that's probably true. Around 60 to 62 AD, when the letter was written and then sent.
So, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, and Timothy, our brother. To the saints Now If you have a Catholic background like I have, When you read that, you go to the saints. Is he writing to people who are dead? And in heaven? and who have been officially canonized by the Roman Church.
Because that is how I believed. Saints to be. I was taught that nobody can attain to sainthood unless they've done special miracles or they have had special blessing conferred upon them over a period of time. Their history has been examined, their life has been examined, and after that examination, the church officially canonizes them as a saint.
So to me, a saint was a dead holy person. But Paul is writing to saints. He's obviously not writing to dead people, is he? He's writing to people who are alive. Hagios.
Is the word for holy or saint? or set apart ones. A saint is simply a believer in Christ set apart by God for his purpose. You are a saint. We are his saints.
So Um Tell your wife that. Honey, I'd like you to just call me by my, just call me Saint Skip. I don't know if it'll go over well. She probably won't fall for it, but it would be true for that to happen. Y'all are saints.
To the saints. And faithful brethren.
Now, notice this, notice that he does this a lot. There are two addresses. The Colossians have two addresses. Spiritual address. In Christ.
Physical address. In Colossi. You have two addresses. You are in Christ. You are in Albuquerque.
Or if you're watching online, you are wherever you are in. But you have Two addresses.
Now, I would even say you have three addresses. You have a physical address, a spiritual address, and an eventual address. Because Paul said to the Philippians, our citizenship. is in heaven. Our citizenship is in heaven.
Your name's already there. Place is already there. It's been prepared for you already. You're going to check it out one day.
So you have a physical, a spiritual, and an eventual address. Here he mentions these two. You are In Colossi? You are in Christ. Now this This is very Pauline.
This is very, this is very much the personality of Paul. Paul, Uses the term in Christ like he uses here. Eighty Seven. Times in the New Testament. It's one of his favorite descriptions.
of a Christian. You are in Christ. What does he mean when he says you are in Christ? It means that you are. Sharing, you are united with Christ, sharing relationship, sonship.
Adoption. Resources. God sees you as his own special people.
Now this is unique to Christianity. Paul refers 87 times to Christians being as saints in Christ. Other religions never use this term. You never Ever read of Buddhists saying I'm in Buddha? I have never met a Muslim who says, I am in Muhammad or in Allah.
Or, I've never met a Mormon who would say, I'm in Joseph Smith. But if you're a Christian, you are in Christ. You are in the world. But you are in Christ. Thanks for joining us today on Connect with Skiff Heitzig.
Now, here's how to pre-order an exciting resource from Pastor Skip that's coming next month. What if you could understand the big picture of the Bible in just a few minutes each day?
Well, this brand new book from Pastor Skip is just what you need. In soaring above it all, Pastor Skip Heitig shares a one-year devotional journey through scripture that's clear, practical, and spiritually encouraging. Pre-order your copy today, wherever you buy books. Before we go, remember, your generosity helps share God's word with people around the world through clear, verse-by-verse Bible teaching. And this month, when you give $50 or more, we'll send you Expound Colossians as our thanks.
In this five-message study, Pastor Skip explores one of the Bible's clearest pictures of the supremacy of Jesus Christ and shows how being rooted in Him changes the way you live every day. Give today at connectwisgift.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888. See you next time on Connect with Skip Heitzigson. Make a connection! Make a connection at the foot.
Of the crisis. Castle burst. Connect with Gif Heitzig is a presentation of connection communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.
