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Now here's today's message from Pastor Skip Heitzig. Two thousand years ago, In the Roman Empire, in the area of the Roman Empire known as Phrygia. What is today modern day Turkey In a little area known as the Lycas. Valley Along The banks of the Lycus River, a tributary of the Meander River. was a little town called Colossi.
Some of the ruins are in the slide. Just behind me. It was a little town that Really wasn't much of a town, though at one time it had been. It was a much larger and more vibrant town. Much earlier on, but two other towns that were neighbor.
Villages or metropolises Sort of took the prominence and Their names are Laodicea. and Hierapolis. But this town, Colossi, was A town that was on the main Trade route From east to west. And there in that town a church started. A church started in Colossi and Another one in.
Hierapolis and another one in Laodicea. None of them Paul had ever been to. Paul didn't start them. They were started by, or at least one of them was started by Epaphras. Mentioned in this letter.
But because it was on the main trade routes and you had different Goods. Being brought from different parts of the world, being sold there and purchased there. You had a number of people going from different parts of the world, going through that area, bringing those. goods to be sold, Mm-hmm. But along with them Came ideologies, philosophies, different religions, different ways of thinking.
And somehow in that area, Into the church, into the gathering place of the saints. Mm-hmm. Came a weird Mixture of beliefs. Hard to define, though it will become known later on. as Gnosticism by the second century At this point it was just beginning.
And it was a mixture of Greek mysticism. Roman polytheism. Jewish legalism, sort of all mushed together. And It assaulted The character and nature of Jesus Christ, denying him deity. in some cases denying him humanity.
Saying Jesus wasn't God, but rather an emanation, a stepping stone. On the way to God. And this bothered the pastor so much. And you know what? I'm glad it bothered the pastor.
As a pastor, I'm so glad there was a faithful shepherd who was so bugged. By the heresy spreading through the congregation, he thought. I gotta talk to Paul. The only problem is Paul was thirteen hundred miles away, incarcerated in a Roman prison. But Epaphras thought I'm going to sail to Rome.
I'll make it to Rome, find Paul in prison, tell him what's going on. And so A letter was generated by Paul because of Epaphras. to go back to the church at Colossi. And the essence of the letter, the essence of Paul's heart is how. Can I protect?
This flock From the weird Ideas going around about Jesus. And so the answer to that whole concern is found here in the book of. Colossians. The theme, as we have been telling you, is The supremacy of Jesus Christ, the preeminence, if you want to take the New King James word, the preeminence of Christ, that in all things, Christ may have the preeminence. What you believe about Jesus.
is the most important thing about you. The most important thing about you is what you think about Jesus. What you do with Jesus. What will you do with Jesus? Who is called the Christ.
And so it's important that we get A clear vision of that.
So we looked last week in chapter one, sort of the nuts and bolts of it, the real heart of Colossians, at the second part of chapter one, and now we make it into chapter two. But Before we do, let me read something to you. It happens to be one of my favorite quotes by one of my favorite authors named James Montgomery Boyce. He took over a church in Philadelphia. He's in heaven now, but he took over a church in.
Philadelphia. That was once pastored by Donald Gray Barnhouse, who is one of my favorite authors, but both of them are in heaven. James Montgomery Boyce wrote this We do not have a strong church today Nor do we have many strong Christians. We can trace the cause to an acute lack. of sound Spiritual Knowledge.
They have forgotten what God is like. and what he promises to do for those who trust him. Yeah. Ask an average Christian to talk about God. After getting past the expected answers, You will find That his God is a little god.
A little god of vacillating. Sentiments Well, I thank God that you are not an average Christian. You're here on a Wednesday night, faithful. Eager. To spend an hour.
Sometimes a little longer, but about an hour. going through a text of scripture verse by verse. chapter by chapter, book by book. What we believe about Jesus Christ is absolutely essential. Eternity depends on.
Getting that answer right. Is that your final answer? What was that show? Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? It is that answer that is all important.
Every one of you is a theologian. You all have a theology about God, about Jesus Christ. You're all theologians. The question is, you're either, are you a good one or a bad one? But the answer of who Jesus is is Is all important.
Now, this is why. I do what I do. This is why I insist when we gather together that the study of the Word of God. is paramount. Because the only way we're going to know what Jesus is like, what God is like, and how we relate to him is from how he has revealed himself to us in his word.
If you were to ask the average pastor, who's the head of your church, he would probably give you the correct answer: oh, Jesus is the head of. Our church. But the follow-up question must be. In what way does Jesus exercise his authority over? Your church.
And there can only be one right answer. And that answer is by the teaching. of the Word of God. I talk about this often because This is really a rarity. Expositional through the Bible, verse by verse Bible teaching, is very rare.
And it's even more rare to have people interested in it. If the average church Cut out of its Service curriculum. Preaching. And just let's make the sermon shorter, but let's add more music. People wouldn't Squawk about that.
If you were to take out Bible study and add exhortation, people wouldn't squawk about that. But That's symptomatic of what James Montgomery Boyce just said. We do not have many strong. Christians, because There's just an acute lack of knowledge. of the Word of God.
So with that in mind, I know we're in chapter two, but I Last week told you that we needed to finish a verse in chapter one because we had to quit. Not early, but I didn't give it enough attention. But look at verse 28. He's been talking about Jesus and his preeminence.
So then he says, as him we preach. We preach Christ. Him we preach. Warning, every man. And teaching every man in all wisdom.
Notice those three elements. Him we preach. Warning And teaching. to preach his proclamation. I think largely preaching is done to the unbeliever.
Proclaiming Christ. Getting a person in touch with the claims of Christ, letting that person make a decision about Christ. Yeah. But once a person has received Jesus Christ as Lord because of the preaching. They enter into the next two phases.
Warning. And teaching. Warning people to stay away from the bad stuff and get into the good stuff. That's what Paul is doing with the Church of Colossa. But then Teaching them, instructing them.
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Now here's more from Pastor Skip.
So many churches are filled with exhortation. Things like, you ought to witness more for Jesus Christ, you ought to love more. You ought to do this more and do that more. And people hear that, and they're thinking, yes, I know I should do all of those things more. But Pastor, teach me how to do those things.
Instruct me.
So him we preach. Warning and Teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present. Here it is, every man. Complete, mature would be another translation, or as it says here, perfect. In Christ.
To this end, I also labor. Striving. I love the balance of this verse, and I didn't finish it for a very important reason. Paul. did work hard.
He had a work ethic. Not a Protestant work ethic, an apostolic work ethic. And he put his nose to the grindstone and he s spoke to everybody he could. Whether they were in prison or out of prison, wherever he was, he preached or he warned or he taught. And he worked, he labored.
And he says, To this end, I labor, striving, I put energy into it. But I love this balance here, according. to his working which works in me mightily. The reason I work and labor is because God gives me the energy to be able to work and to labor. I am cooperating with his Supernatural working.
I'm putting in my human effort, but God is supernaturally enabling me.
So you combine those two, and here's what it's like. One time I was late for an airplane. I went to the Phoenix airport. I said, there's no way I'm going to make it. But the reason I did make it is those escalators in between the terminals.
that are moving escalators. And you can have a choice. You can just walk on the carpet in the middle, or you can go on the side and take that little moving sidewalk.
So I was walking as fast as I could. really energetically. But I was being sped along. by another force.
So God enables me. And then I put the effort into it, and he carries me through and carries me along. and I make my plane on time. To this end, I labor, striving according to his working, which works in me mightily. 4.
I want you to know chapter 2 verse 1. I want you to know what a great conflict I have for you and for those in Laodicea. And for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh. Paul had never met them. He'd never met the people in Colossi never met the church in Laodicea or Hierapolis And yet He had the same concern.
For them, as for the churches that he did start, like in Ephesus, Thessalonica, et cetera. And he uses a word in verse 1. He says, I have a great conflict. The word is agona. I agonize over you.
There's something that keeps me up at night as an apostle. I toss and turn on my apostolic pillow, For you guys. And that's all the stuff that is going on in that Colossian church with that heretical group. And for as many as have not seen, my face in the flesh. Do you remember in Second Corinthians chapter 11?
Paul talks about the things he has gone through, the hardships, the heartaches that he has gone through. He says, Um Several times I was five times I have I was Beaten with 40 stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night in the deep, I have the perils of countrymen, perils in the water, et cetera, et cetera. And he says, and Besides these things, The stuff that comes upon me daily. And that is my great concern.
For the churches.
So the things that were on Paul weren't just the physical. Trials that he went through, but the spiritual agonizing over those people that were new in their faith, and he knew that Satan was after them and they could get ripped off. I have a great agony. I struggle over that. And here's his desire that their hearts.
That's your heart and their heart, those in Laodicea, that their hearts may be encouraged. Being knit together in love and attaining to all the riches of the full assurance of understanding to the knowledge. Of the mystery of God, both of the Father. End of Christ. First of all, he wants their hearts knit together.
There's nothing better than a church that is unified. Nothing worse than a church that is divided. But there's nothing better when Christians get together, love one another sincerely, authentically. helping one another out. And the reports I hear from so many people in the community, including Love Day.
And the things that we do throughout the year is the love that is apparent. Through this flock. Nothing better.
So he says that their hearts would be knit together in love. But attaining to all the riches of the full assurance of understanding to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both the Father and of Christ.
Now, we've already told you what a mystery is. A mystery is something that was. Hidden In the Old Testament, But revealed in the New Testament. And we've already covered what that is: it is Christ in you. The hope of glory, and it is the fact that Jew and Gentile would be in the same family.
No walls, no divisions. That's the mystery. This was the word that group, that mystical legalistic. Pre-gnostic group. used to use a lot, you know, we'll teach you the mysteries of God.
Will initiate you into certain practices and give you a certain knowledge you couldn't get anywhere else. Paul basically is saying Bologna. Because he says in Christ Verse 3, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and Knowledge. The Gnostics were saying, You need wisdom, you need knowledge, we can give you those things. Jesus was a good start.
He's a good stepping stone to maturity, but you need more, and we will give you more. Paul said, actually, if you have Jesus, you have all that you need. Because in Jesus Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. If you were to look at Jesus. In the flesh.
You'd think he's just another Jewish man. He didn't look any different than anybody else. He didn't have a halo, he didn't glow. Mm-hmm. He didn't like hover over the ground.
He was God, but he was veiled. By human flesh.
So The treasures of wisdom and knowledge were in him. But it was hidden. He has no form or comeliness that when we look at him, we should desire him, Isaiah the prophet said. But Hang around him a little bit. Get close to him, listen to him.
And then you'll figure it out. Like the time Or the times He knew exactly what people were thinking. It says, and Jesus knowing their thoughts. He had all knowledge, he was omniscient. He had all wisdom.
He knew exactly what to say. They marveled at his answers because he spoke so much with incredible wisdom. Never a man spoke like he spoke, they said. In him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Now this I say verse four. Lest anyone should deceive you. With persuasive words, Gee, who would that be? These Gnostics, these false teachers that have come into their congregation. Lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words, for though I am absent in the flesh, Yet I am with you in the spirit.
Rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness. of your faith in Christ. As you have therefore received Christ Jesus. The Lord So walk in him, Rooted. And built up in him and established in the faith as you have been taught, abounding in it with.
Thanksgiving.
Now let's unravel that just a little bit. As you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, verse 6, so Walk in him. When Paul uses the word walk like this, he's referring to living your life. Living a lifestyle. A walk is a lifestyle.
The Christian walk. Is a lifestyle. It's not just coming forward, raising a hand, acknowledging you were raised in a certain kind of church with a certain kind of belief system. A walk is a daily manner of life. That's how Paul uses the word.
So go back to chapter one. And look at verse 10 of chapter 1. part of his prayer for the Colossians. In verse 10, that you may have a walk. worthy of the Lord.
Fully pleasing him and being fruitful in every good work, increasing in the knowledge of God. That's a lifestyle. Then he mentions it again here in chapter two. As you have received Christ. Chapter 2, verse 4.
Jesus the Lord, so walk in him. Then look over at chapter 3. Verse 6: Because of these things, the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you also once. What? When you lived in them, you see, a walk is a lifestyle.
And then in chapter four, we'll close with this last little verse. Not close the Bible study, close the thought. Verse five of chapter four, walk. In wisdom. That is, let your life be filled with wisdom and live a wise life.
Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside. Redeeming the time.
So The Christian Walk A lot of people start. really well. But then Something happens. They stop. They stopped coming to church.
They stop reading their Bible. They stop hanging out with Christian friends. They had a good start. But then they stop. We're so glad you joined us today on Connect with Skiff Heitzig.
Before you go, remember that when you give $50 or more this month, we'll send you Expound Colossians as our thanks. This encouraging verse-by-verse study will help you discover why Christ is enough, how to stand firm in God's truth, and how to live each day with confidence in Him. Your support helps keep this Bible teaching ministry reaching people around the world with the life-changing truth of God's Word. Give today at connectwithskiff.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888. See you next time.
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