Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / A Letter for Now and Then

Transcript

A Letter for Now and Then · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

0:01
Speaker 1: This book is one phenomenal book. One remarkable book like
0:10
Speaker 1: none other. Paul writes in Romans 15, verse 4, Whatever
0:16
Speaker 1: was written in earlier times was written for our learning,
0:24
Speaker 1: that we through patience and comfort from the Scriptures might
0:29
Speaker 1: have hope. that statement has to do with the eternal
0:39
Speaker 1: relevance of the Word of God. And we're going to see,
0:47
Speaker 1: as we get into this letter written to the Colossians,
0:52
Speaker 1: could just as well have been written to Texans living
0:55
Speaker 1: right here in our state, or to Americans right here
1:00
Speaker 1: in our country, or Canadians north of us, Wherever God's
1:07
Speaker 1: word is declared, it is relevant. And as we see it,
1:16
Speaker 1: we become aware that it's possible to enter into such
1:22
Speaker 1: things as his rest that we just heard about. That
1:27
Speaker 1: isn't just a choir piece. That isn't just beautiful music.
1:32
Speaker 1: That's a message from this book Directly out of Psalm 42,
1:40
Speaker 1: be still. Verse 8 says, and know that I am God.
1:46
Speaker 1: Be still. And you will find as time passes, you
1:54
Speaker 1: are learning how to be still. Not panic. Not run ahead.
2:00
Speaker 1: But wait. And trust. All of this will be driven
2:07
Speaker 1: home as we spend time in the Word of God.
2:12
Speaker 1: That's why the Bible will forever be the watershed issue
2:17
Speaker 1: of every generation. Every generation will have to come to
2:24
Speaker 1: terms with the role of the Word of God in
2:30
Speaker 1: everyday life. Because I can assure you, every generation It
2:36
Speaker 1: will be shot at and attacked with greater intensity. When
2:42
Speaker 1: I was a kid, we read the Bible in our
2:46
Speaker 1: public elementary school before we had class. Today, you can't
2:50
Speaker 1: even pray before you have class. Little by little, erosion
2:57
Speaker 1: is happening. You need to know the Word of God
3:03
Speaker 1: in order to know how to live. Now, in preparation
3:09
Speaker 1: for my second message today, I'd like you to open
3:14
Speaker 1: your New Testament. Always bring your Bible when you come
3:19
Speaker 1: for worship. You may have it on your iPad. You
3:24
Speaker 1: may have it on your phone. You may have it,
3:27
Speaker 1: you know, electronically, or you may have it in a
3:30
Speaker 1: full Bible, whatever version. I use the New Living Translation Bible.
3:36
Speaker 1: Because it is the most readable and easy to understand
3:42
Speaker 1: for folks who are not familiar with it. You may
3:47
Speaker 1: use another version and that's fine. But that's why what
3:50
Speaker 1: I read may not link exactly with the words that
3:53
Speaker 1: appear in your Bible. Colossians is one of the letters
4:01
Speaker 1: Paul wrote while he was under arrest. chained to a
4:06
Speaker 1: Roman soldier in Rome awaiting trial. That's why it's called
4:13
Speaker 1: a prison letter. Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon are all prison letters.
4:23
Speaker 1: That's why he says at the end, remember my chains.
4:27
Speaker 1: As you pray for me, remember I'm chained. Now, Colossians
4:32
Speaker 1: verses 1 through 8 of chapter 1. I'll read it.
4:38
Speaker 1: And out of respect for the eternal word of God,
4:43
Speaker 1: may we stand together for the reading. Colossians 1, 1
4:47
Speaker 1: through 8. This letter is from Paul, chosen by the
4:51
Speaker 1: will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus
4:55
Speaker 1: and from our brother Timothy. We are writing to God's
4:59
Speaker 1: holy people in the city of Colossae, who are faithful
5:04
Speaker 1: brothers and sisters in Christ. May God our Father give
5:10
Speaker 1: you grace and peace. We always pray for you and
5:18
Speaker 1: we give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord
5:21
Speaker 1: Jesus Christ, for we have heard of your faith in
5:25
Speaker 1: Christ Jesus. and your love for all of God's people,
5:30
Speaker 1: which come from your confident hope of what God has
5:34
Speaker 1: reserved for you in heaven. You have had this expectation
5:41
Speaker 1: ever since you first heard the truth of the good news.
5:46
Speaker 1: The same good news that came to you is going
5:50
Speaker 1: out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere,
5:57
Speaker 1: by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from
6:04
Speaker 1: the day you first heard and understood the truth about
6:07
Speaker 1: God's wonderful grace. You learned about the good news from Epaphras,
6:14
Speaker 1: our beloved coworker. He is Christ's faithful servant and is
6:19
Speaker 1: helping us on your behalf. He has told us about
6:24
Speaker 1: the love for others that the Holy Spirit has given you.
6:32
Speaker 1: Our hope is that God would open our eyes to
6:34
Speaker 1: begin to see the relevance of this ancient letter written
6:40
Speaker 1: in the first century for us who live in the
6:44
Speaker 1: 21st century. Please be seated. Thank you, Father, for the
6:51
Speaker 1: privilege of serving you and for naming you as our God.
6:56
Speaker 1: We live in a world that's lost its way and
6:59
Speaker 1: there are many this day, though they don't look like it,
7:02
Speaker 1: who are awash. They go to bed at night struggling
7:08
Speaker 1: with guilt and shame and disappointment in their lives, not
7:12
Speaker 1: knowing why life isn't unfolding as it should. So many
7:16
Speaker 1: are fearful as they're getting older of dying and not
7:19
Speaker 1: knowing much about where they'll be going and therefore we're
7:24
Speaker 1: in a world of hurt, and we who know Christ
7:29
Speaker 1: are so blessed to have answers that relate to peace
7:34
Speaker 1: of heart, freedom from fear, an absence of panic, a
7:39
Speaker 1: knowledge of the future, and the joy of obedience. Thank
7:45
Speaker 1: you for these who comprise this magnificent place of worship.
7:52
Speaker 1: Thank you for each one With an eternal soul. I
7:57
Speaker 1: pray that you will speak to all of us. Regarding this.
8:00
Speaker 1: This area of responsibility. Where we have been negligent. May
8:06
Speaker 1: change come. And may the result be praise to you.
8:11
Speaker 1: On behalf of those. Who took you at your word.
8:17
Speaker 1: As you have said. Each one of us must do
8:21
Speaker 1: just as. we have purposed in our heart, not grudgingly
8:25
Speaker 1: or of necessity, for you love a cheerful giver. Thank
8:31
Speaker 1: you for accepting us just as we are, and I
8:35
Speaker 1: pray for those who have never met the Savior, that
8:39
Speaker 1: before they leave, they will have begun a relationship that
8:44
Speaker 1: will carry them through the rest of their lives. Thank you,
8:48
Speaker 1: our Father, for this opportunity. to call you our Father,
8:53
Speaker 1: to pray and to give as your children. In the
8:58
Speaker 1: name of Jesus, we ask this. Everybody sit. Amen. I'm
9:06
Speaker 1: constantly impressed with the relevance of the Bible. Isn't it
9:11
Speaker 1: amazing that something written in the first century would speak
9:15
Speaker 1: volumes and specifically to the needs of the 21st century.
9:23
Speaker 1: There's a writer that calls this operating between two worlds,
9:27
Speaker 1: and that's where we are. We look at the truth
9:31
Speaker 1: recorded in this first century, and we realize it may
9:37
Speaker 1: have been written then, but it has everything to do
9:41
Speaker 1: with how we live now. In fact, let me tell
9:46
Speaker 1: you this. I've learned over the years of ministry that
9:49
Speaker 1: it's never my task to make the Bible relevant. My
9:54
Speaker 1: job is not to convince you of the relevance of
9:59
Speaker 1: the scriptures. It's to deliver the message and get out
10:02
Speaker 1: of the way and you realize how it is spoken
10:07
Speaker 1: directly to some need you may live with. As a
10:13
Speaker 1: matter of fact, you can be sure of at least
10:17
Speaker 1: three benefits from your time spent in the Bible. Number one,
10:23
Speaker 1: you will encounter the truth. You won't have to wonder
10:28
Speaker 1: because the Bible never lies. It will never lead you astray.
10:33
Speaker 1: It will never give you false information. You will get
10:37
Speaker 1: the truth and only the truth from the scriptures. Now
10:42
Speaker 1: that means secondly, you will also be made aware of
10:46
Speaker 1: what is not the truth. You will come across sections
10:51
Speaker 1: as we will in this letter to the Colossians that
10:55
Speaker 1: would represent heresy. Even though there were people in that
11:00
Speaker 1: first century who taught with persuasive abilities and with a
11:05
Speaker 1: great appeal to the intellect saying, go here, don't go there.
11:11
Speaker 1: Believe this, don't believe that. And so Paul writes to
11:16
Speaker 1: say that that's not the truth. You need to be
11:20
Speaker 1: aware that that's camouflaging the lies. The better you get
11:28
Speaker 1: to know your Bible, the more you will understand truth,
11:32
Speaker 1: and I might add, the quicker you will be able
11:36
Speaker 1: to decipher heresy, which isn't the truth, which brings up
11:41
Speaker 1: the third benefit. You will gain discernment to know the difference.
11:47
Speaker 1: As you grow up, you discern right from wrong, truth
11:54
Speaker 1: from error. The better you get to know your way
11:59
Speaker 1: through the scriptures, the more discerning you will become. And
12:06
Speaker 1: when you hear that knock on your front door, and
12:12
Speaker 1: you open the door and someone is there to tell
12:15
Speaker 1: you about their religion and their having faith, a class
12:19
Speaker 1: over here where people are coming and they would like
12:22
Speaker 1: to invite you and of course they're going to be
12:24
Speaker 1: quoting verses from the Bible. More heresies are promoted from
12:29
Speaker 1: verses out of the Bible than any other method. You
12:33
Speaker 1: will discern as you talk further with them and have
12:37
Speaker 1: the intelligence to address things that deal with their religion,
12:42
Speaker 1: you will realize this is not the truth. You will
12:44
Speaker 1: have the discernment. Now, Let's stay with all that for
12:48
Speaker 1: the next few minutes. Let me do a brief analogy
12:52
Speaker 1: between then and now. I've left room on your outline
12:57
Speaker 1: for you to write these things down if you want to,
12:59
Speaker 1: and only that. But this might come to your mind later,
13:04
Speaker 1: and you may want to use it. Let's start with
13:06
Speaker 1: embracing truth. Embracing truth written back then equips us to
13:14
Speaker 1: defend the faith now. Show me someone who really knows
13:22
Speaker 1: his or her way around the Bible, and I will
13:26
Speaker 1: introduce you to the same person who is able to
13:29
Speaker 1: defend the faith. Not in an argumentative way, not in
13:35
Speaker 1: an ugly manner, but in a calm, intelligent, and deliberate fashion,
13:41
Speaker 1: just simply reveal the truth and expose the error. When
13:47
Speaker 1: you embrace the truth written then, you will be better
13:51
Speaker 1: equipped to defend the faith now. Here's the second. Acknowledging
13:58
Speaker 1: heresies back then reminds us of similar heresies going on today.
14:09
Speaker 1: As you see those things emerge and you find your
14:14
Speaker 1: friends falling captive to them, or under the sway of them,
14:20
Speaker 1: or beginning to support that false ministry, you will be
14:25
Speaker 1: concerned because you realize that's just like the heresy we
14:29
Speaker 1: saw right here in the letter to the Colossians. See,
14:32
Speaker 1: that's on Paul's heart and part of the reason he
14:35
Speaker 1: wrote the people of Colossae. And now that brings us
14:38
Speaker 1: to the third, maintaining discernment. Maintaining discernment from truth written
14:47
Speaker 1: back then keeps us alert to false teaching now. Maintaining
14:57
Speaker 1: discernment from truth written back then, in this case, first
15:02
Speaker 1: century Colossians, keeps us alert to false teaching now. Let
15:11
Speaker 1: me put it this way, the better your discernment, the
15:15
Speaker 1: quicker you can spot a phony. The better you know
15:27
Speaker 1: the pattern of a $ 5 bill, the quicker you were
15:32
Speaker 1: able to spot a counterfeit $ 5 bill. I came across
15:41
Speaker 1: a humorous story. It's a true story, but it's funny,
15:44
Speaker 1: and and it illustrates how false religions do not conduct themselves.
15:55
Speaker 1: Let me read this to you. It's about the Italian
15:59
Speaker 1: sailing team that were racing in the America's Cup. The
16:04
Speaker 1: race that particular year was held in Australia, okay? On
16:10
Speaker 1: one of the days off, the Italian racing team decided
16:14
Speaker 1: to rent a Jeep and go into the outback in
16:18
Speaker 1: Australia to enjoy the scenery and to see if they
16:22
Speaker 1: could get a glimpse for the first time of a
16:25
Speaker 1: kangaroo or two. They had never seen a kangaroo. The
16:29
Speaker 1: team had been completely outfitted by the Italian designer Gucci. Okay,
16:36
Speaker 1: stay with this. They wore Gucci jackets. They carried Gucci bags.
16:44
Speaker 1: And they all had been given Gucci watches. So here
16:48
Speaker 1: they are in the Jeep, in the Outback, trucking along.
16:52
Speaker 1: As they're driving there, all of a sudden, a kangaroo, poof,
16:57
Speaker 1: hops up in front of them, and they run into it,
17:00
Speaker 1: knock it flat, is apparently dead. They think, oh, no, no.
17:05
Speaker 1: So the team members all jump out to take a look.
17:08
Speaker 1: Somebody said in the group, you know, at least we
17:11
Speaker 1: could take a picture. The driver suggested, well, before we
17:16
Speaker 1: take a picture, let me put my jacket on the kangaroo.
17:21
Speaker 1: And I also put my bag over his shoulder and
17:25
Speaker 1: put my watch on him. So he'd look like he's
17:29
Speaker 1: a Gucci guy. Okay. So they do this. Unfortunately, just
17:35
Speaker 1: as They got all of that on, the kangaroo hopped
17:39
Speaker 1: up and ran into the woods, wearing the jacket, carrying
17:44
Speaker 1: the bag, having to watch. Unfortunately, the driver's keys and
17:50
Speaker 1: wallet with his American Express card were in the jacket.
17:55
Speaker 1: Kids are just here, fellow kangaroos, as they look at
18:00
Speaker 1: him and they say, hey, Ralph, where'd you get that
18:03
Speaker 1: Gucci jacket and that bag? And what time is it? Ha, ha, ha.
18:07
Speaker 1: And by the way, you got keys to a Land
18:10
Speaker 1: Rover and an American Express card. Who are you trying
18:15
Speaker 1: to kid? It's a kangaroo, okay? A five-year-old would know
18:19
Speaker 1: it's a kangaroo. It's not a Gucci salesman. He's not
18:23
Speaker 1: a member of the Italian racing team. It's obvious. There's
18:27
Speaker 1: no business wearing all that nonsense as he runs back
18:30
Speaker 1: in the woods. If you think false religions are going
18:34
Speaker 1: to be that obvious, you're going to be taken in
18:36
Speaker 1: by them overnight. They don't operate like that. In fact,
18:42
Speaker 1: let me show you something. No extra charge. 2 Corinthians,
18:46
Speaker 1: look at 2 Corinthians chapter 11. Now these verses will
18:51
Speaker 1: grab your attention. 2 Corinthians 11, back a few letters, okay?
18:56
Speaker 1: Verse 13 says, Look at what Paul writes. These people
19:03
Speaker 1: are false apostles. They are deceitful workers who disguise themselves
19:11
Speaker 1: as kangaroos wearing Gucci clothes. No, they disguise themselves as
19:18
Speaker 1: apostles of Christ. Look at that. They wear robes like apostles,
19:25
Speaker 1: like bishops wear robes. They wear the collar. They got
19:31
Speaker 1: a pulpit. They got people listening. Look at what he
19:39
Speaker 1: says further. I'm not surprised even Satan disguises himself as
19:46
Speaker 1: a kangaroo in Gucci outfit. No! As an angel of light.
19:52
Speaker 1: Look at that. So it is no wonder that his
19:58
Speaker 1: servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Pay attention
20:03
Speaker 1: to verses like that or you'll be taken in. by
20:09
Speaker 1: the persuasive charisma of those representing that which is false.
20:15
Speaker 1: Don't be afraid of calling the false, false. Don't be
20:21
Speaker 1: afraid of identifying heresy as heresy. Paul certainly isn't. Back
20:28
Speaker 1: to the letter to the Colossians. Let's look at this.
20:35
Speaker 1: Paul's letter is addressed to people who live in the
20:38
Speaker 1: little community known as Colossae, near Laodicea, not far from Hierapolis,
20:47
Speaker 1: in the center, south central section of what we know
20:50
Speaker 1: today as Turkey, known then as Asia or Asia Minor.
20:56
Speaker 1: Little village. Paul had never been to Colossae. It's not
21:00
Speaker 1: even mentioned in the book of Acts in the travels
21:02
Speaker 1: of Paul. It's a letter that goes to a little church,
21:08
Speaker 1: but Paul is concerned about them because they're getting invaded
21:13
Speaker 1: by the Gnostics. We'll learn about them later. Those who said,
21:17
Speaker 1: you want to believe that low-level intelligence stuff? Let me
21:22
Speaker 1: take you to a level that'll make you think. You'll
21:27
Speaker 1: see a whole new vista of truth. The people of
21:32
Speaker 1: Colossae are surrounded by that kind of heresy, and Paul
21:38
Speaker 1: writes them to address this kind of thing. There's not
21:42
Speaker 1: only massive religious confusion in Colossae. Does that sound like today?
21:49
Speaker 1: There is not only empty philosophy represented by those of
21:53
Speaker 1: false teaching. Is that true today? You better believe it.
21:57
Speaker 1: There was mysticism just like today. There was legalism just
22:01
Speaker 1: like today. And the truth was being ignored just like today.
22:06
Speaker 1: That's this letter we're getting ready to study. You talk
22:09
Speaker 1: about relevant. In fact, I prepared you a chart. Look
22:16
Speaker 1: on the other side of your outline, will you? This
22:21
Speaker 1: is called a horizontal chart. You read from left to right.
22:26
Speaker 1: The details of it as it relates to the particulars
22:29
Speaker 1: are on the left in the shaded area. The writer
22:32
Speaker 1: is Paul. The date is around AD 60, 62. The
22:39
Speaker 1: theme is the supremacy and the sufficiency of Christ. Why
22:43
Speaker 1: would that be the theme? Because if Christ is supreme
22:47
Speaker 1: and sufficient, you don't need anything else. And don't be
22:51
Speaker 1: afraid to think that. For you have Christ, you have
22:56
Speaker 1: God's all in all. Now his concerns have to do
23:01
Speaker 1: with empty philosophies and Judaistic legalism and Eastern mysticism and
23:06
Speaker 1: pious asceticism. And he says to them, don't be taken
23:09
Speaker 1: in by it. Look at the second chapter right here
23:14
Speaker 1: on the second section. See it there. Under Jesus Christ
23:18
Speaker 1: our Lord, since Christ is our Lord, don't let anyone,
23:21
Speaker 1: don't let anyone, don't let anyone, don't let anyone. What
23:24
Speaker 1: am I doing there? I'm taking it right out of
23:27
Speaker 1: the letter. Look at chapter 2, verse 4. Don't let
23:33
Speaker 1: anyone deceive you. Chapter 2, verse 4. Verse 8, don't
23:38
Speaker 1: let anyone capture you with empty philosophies. Verse 16, don't
23:44
Speaker 1: let anyone condemn you. And it sounds like the same thing,
23:49
Speaker 1: but it's different in the Greek. The next verse, verse 18,
23:52
Speaker 1: don't let anyone condemn you by insisting on pious self-denial
23:57
Speaker 1: and the worship of angels. And while I'm at it,
24:00
Speaker 1: says the apostle, verse 20, you have died with Christ
24:04
Speaker 1: who has set you free from the spiritual powers of
24:06
Speaker 1: this world. So why do you keep on following the
24:10
Speaker 1: rules of the world? You will always have people who
24:14
Speaker 1: tell you you need to give up this or stop
24:16
Speaker 1: doing that. Or in order to be spiritual, you must
24:19
Speaker 1: start doing this. You must always do that. And the
24:22
Speaker 1: list will go on. And it's called legalism. That's nothing new.
24:26
Speaker 1: It's been going on since the first century and even
24:28
Speaker 1: before then. And asceticism. You'll be told to look pious.
24:38
Speaker 1: To conduct yourself in a way that has that hound
24:41
Speaker 1: dog look. If you're really spiritual. Slump your shoulders. You know,
24:46
Speaker 1: that's the way pastors look. You kind of learn to
24:50
Speaker 1: walk like that. Got your head down like this. It's
24:54
Speaker 1: called asceticism. And you give up all the nice things
24:58
Speaker 1: because you are really spiritual. That's nonsense. It's nonsense. You'll
25:06
Speaker 1: get the backbone to say that when you study the
25:09
Speaker 1: letter to the Colossians. It'll free you Because the truth
25:15
Speaker 1: is designed to set you free. There's your chart. Hang
25:18
Speaker 1: on to it. We'll return to it from time to time. Now,
25:20
Speaker 1: let's get at it. Back to chapter 1. We're going
25:24
Speaker 1: to go right through this letter. He begins with a
25:27
Speaker 1: warm greeting. And I love it. I love it that
25:31
Speaker 1: he doesn't yell at him at the very start. He's
25:33
Speaker 1: concerned about him, but he greets him in a gracious way.
25:37
Speaker 1: The letter is from Paul. By the way, don't you
25:39
Speaker 1: like it in the first century how they wrote letters?
25:42
Speaker 1: They told you right away who's writing it. Ever gotten
25:46
Speaker 1: a letter from somebody and they like to write, so
25:48
Speaker 1: there's eight or ten pages, you've got to go all
25:49
Speaker 1: the way to the end. Who in the world wrote
25:51
Speaker 1: this thing? Yeah, I figured it's Frank. But you didn't
25:57
Speaker 1: know it until you got the end. In the New Testament,
26:00
Speaker 1: in the first century, it tells you right on the
26:01
Speaker 1: front end, I'm Paul. The letter is from Paul. It
26:06
Speaker 1: even tells us the recipients. I'm writing, verse 2, to
26:09
Speaker 1: the city of The Christians in the city of Colossae,
26:12
Speaker 1: you're not left with guesswork. When you read your Bible,
26:16
Speaker 1: don't try to make it mystical. Don't make it difficult.
26:20
Speaker 1: Just like you'd read a novel, just like you'd read
26:23
Speaker 1: a history book, a biography, just read your Bible that
26:27
Speaker 1: same manner. The letter is from Paul. Who is Paul? Well,
26:33
Speaker 1: he is chosen by the will of God to be
26:36
Speaker 1: an apostolos, one sent forth with a message. God called
26:42
Speaker 1: him to be his own when he was on the
26:44
Speaker 1: road to Damascus. God set him apart to be one
26:47
Speaker 1: of those special messengers called an apostle. So he introduces
26:53
Speaker 1: himself and he defines his role as an apostle, an
26:58
Speaker 1: apostle of Christ Jesus. And also Timothy's there with him.
27:02
Speaker 1: So I would imagine Timothy has come to visit Paul
27:05
Speaker 1: while he's under arrest in Rome. So he includes Timothy.
27:08
Speaker 1: Probably Timothy knew some people from Colossae. So he names him.
27:13
Speaker 1: Look at verse 2. We are writing to God's holy
27:17
Speaker 1: people in the city of Colossae. Hagios. H-A-G-I-O-S. Hagios means
27:26
Speaker 1: set apart to God's glory. Translated, holy. Isn't that great?
27:34
Speaker 1: You may live in Plano, Texas, but you're Hagios. You're
27:40
Speaker 1: set apart to God's glory right there where you live.
27:44
Speaker 1: You may live in Frisco. You're Hagios, citizen of Frisco.
27:52
Speaker 1: Name it, Dallas, Allen, one of the Tri-Cities. Wherever you're from,
27:57
Speaker 1: they happen to be from Colossae, you're among God's holy people.
28:02
Speaker 1: You're set apart for God's glory. That'll do something when
28:06
Speaker 1: you think about your role there. In your neighborhood. You
28:11
Speaker 1: know what? It doesn't mean you look holy. Don't start that.
28:24
Speaker 1: You know, all that nonsense. That isn't holy. That's nonsense.
28:28
Speaker 1: That calls attention to you. In fact, Jesus says when
28:31
Speaker 1: you pray or when you fast, don't look like you're
28:35
Speaker 1: doing without. Clean yourself up. Fast, but don't brag about it.
28:41
Speaker 1: You're holy because that's who you are, not what you
28:46
Speaker 1: look like. There are holy people in the city of Colossae.
28:51
Speaker 1: Look at what else. You are faithful brothers and sisters
28:57
Speaker 1: in Christ. Isn't that gracious of him to start like that?
29:03
Speaker 1: I'm Paul the Apostle. I'm sitting along here with Timothy.
29:06
Speaker 1: And I'm writing to you who are set apart to
29:09
Speaker 1: God's glory. You happen to live in Colossae. You're faithful.
29:15
Speaker 1: We have the same paternity, same daddy. He's called God
29:19
Speaker 1: the Father, which means we're brothers and sisters. And best
29:24
Speaker 1: of all, we're in Christ. We are in Christ. Things
29:30
Speaker 1: equal to the same thing are equal to each other.
29:35
Speaker 1: When you tune a whole row of pianos, you have
29:37
Speaker 1: one tuning fork. You don't tune a piano. and then
29:40
Speaker 1: tune the next one on the basis of the first piano.
29:43
Speaker 1: You go back to the fork. And each one tuned
29:46
Speaker 1: to the same fork is in perfect tune with one another.
29:53
Speaker 1: We're in Christ. That's the one thing we have in common.
29:56
Speaker 1: And then he levels them with this wonderful blessing. May
29:59
Speaker 1: God our Father give you grace, charis, and peace. Shalom.
30:09
Speaker 1: The word grace has Greek roots. The word peace has
30:12
Speaker 1: Hebrew roots. The Greek word is Irenae, but it really
30:16
Speaker 1: goes all the way back to the ancient days of
30:18
Speaker 1: the Hebrews. And it means personal well-being. May God our
30:24
Speaker 1: Father give you grace. Great grace, this spontaneous, unmerited favor,
30:34
Speaker 1: this sovereignly bestowed loving kindness. May you know that and
30:42
Speaker 1: may you operate in a realm of personal well-being. I
30:49
Speaker 1: love the way he starts the letter. You know why?
30:52
Speaker 1: Because it is so warm and gracious. Isn't it good
30:56
Speaker 1: he doesn't put his hands on his hips and say,
30:59
Speaker 1: now that I have your attention, Colossians, what's this nonsense
31:01
Speaker 1: you're involved in? I just heard about it from Epaphras,
31:04
Speaker 1: and I'm up to here with it. That helps nobody.
31:08
Speaker 1: He starts by saying, you faithful friends in Colossae, set
31:13
Speaker 1: apart to God's glory. May you know his grace and
31:18
Speaker 1: his peace. And since we are brothers and sisters in
31:22
Speaker 1: the same family, We have Christ in common with each other.
31:28
Speaker 1: By the way, in our fast-paced world, it's easy to
31:32
Speaker 1: miss a gracious opening. We got an agenda and we
31:36
Speaker 1: want to get to the point. And so our emails
31:40
Speaker 1: start with, Joe, I've been concerned about so-and-so. How about, hey, Joe,
31:48
Speaker 1: how are you? I've been thinking about you lately, man.
31:53
Speaker 1: I've heard times are tough, and I'm praying for you.
31:57
Speaker 1: I care about you. In fact, do you realize, Joe,
32:02
Speaker 1: God's preparing you for something great? How gracious. We can
32:07
Speaker 1: learn a lesson from the way Paul begins a letter.
32:11
Speaker 1: We could all do better with a little warmth. How
32:15
Speaker 1: great to have as your opening line. Let me encourage
32:18
Speaker 1: you with something, and then tell them, as you've been
32:22
Speaker 1: thinking of them You've been praying for them. In fact,
32:25
Speaker 1: that's exactly what Paul does. Look at his commitment to
32:28
Speaker 1: prayer in verse 3. We always pray for you. Isn't
32:38
Speaker 1: that amazing? He didn't even know them. You can pray
32:42
Speaker 1: for people you don't know. You see them on the television.
32:49
Speaker 1: You see them in the workplace. You see them in
32:52
Speaker 1: the church. Paul's praying for the Colossians, and I'm not
32:58
Speaker 1: sure he could name any of them, unless Epaphras had
33:01
Speaker 1: introduced them secondhand. He says, we always are praying for you.
33:08
Speaker 1: And we give thanks to God the Father of our
33:10
Speaker 1: Lord Jesus Christ. Let me encourage you to open your
33:16
Speaker 1: conversation with something like that. I really give thanks for you.
33:26
Speaker 1: I'm really grateful. I'm really grateful for you. It's just
33:32
Speaker 1: so disarming. Now, you got your pen ready? I'm going
33:35
Speaker 1: to have you mark three words. Here we go. For
33:38
Speaker 1: what did he pray? Verse 4. We have heard of
33:42
Speaker 1: your faith. Mark your faith. We have heard of your
33:47
Speaker 1: faith in Christ Jesus. And now, mark this, your love
33:54
Speaker 1: For all God's people, which come from, here it is,
34:00
Speaker 1: your confident hope, your faith, your love, your hope. Now,
34:13
Speaker 1: you might think as you are hearing this, Chuck, how
34:18
Speaker 1: did you see that? Well, I read And this is
34:24
Speaker 1: one of the benefits of reading several times. I didn't
34:27
Speaker 1: see it the first time through. I marked it in
34:30
Speaker 1: yellow so I wouldn't miss it the next time. But
34:33
Speaker 1: when I read it the second, third, fourth time, I
34:36
Speaker 1: began to see, oh, faith, that's the foundation of their salvation.
34:44
Speaker 1: For by grace you have been saved through faith, not
34:47
Speaker 1: of yourselves. It's the gift of God, lest anyone should boast.
34:50
Speaker 1: It's not of works. And as a result of having
34:54
Speaker 1: faith in the Lord Jesus, your heart is warmed and
34:58
Speaker 1: massaged to love God's people. One of the great benefits
35:05
Speaker 1: of coming to know Christ is what it does to
35:08
Speaker 1: your response to others. You're not as critical. You're not
35:12
Speaker 1: as negative. You don't answer out loud, but haven't you
35:15
Speaker 1: been in settings where every time a name is mentioned,
35:19
Speaker 1: somebody says something bad about them? What up? What an
35:23
Speaker 1: unhappy setting. When faith is at work in your life,
35:29
Speaker 1: it affects your love for those folks. Can you really
35:33
Speaker 1: use the word love? I have a good friend named Steve.
35:39
Speaker 1: And periodically we will email as we are dealing with
35:42
Speaker 1: something or addressing something of mutual interest. And I was
35:48
Speaker 1: doing that last night as I was writing Steve. I
35:51
Speaker 1: decided at the very end of my email to write,
35:57
Speaker 1: I love you, Steve. Chuck. Texans don't do that. Okay.
36:07
Speaker 1: Guys don't say that. Really? You're reading the wrong book.
36:14
Speaker 1: I'm sorry you've been raised to think that. I have
36:18
Speaker 1: the feeling, and I wrote that in all sincerity, had
36:21
Speaker 1: no idea I'd mentioned it today, but I do because
36:24
Speaker 1: it seems appropriate. I have the feeling when Steve reads that,
36:29
Speaker 1: he'll feel closer because he will hear me say what
36:34
Speaker 1: I really feel. I love you, man. And use the
36:39
Speaker 1: pronoun I, okay? We say love you to dogs. Love you, Spott.
36:49
Speaker 1: Sit down, spot. Love you. Steve didn't spot. Steve's a man.
36:58
Speaker 1: I love you. Paul, I love you, Epaphras. I really
37:06
Speaker 1: love you. And then as he's praying for them, he says,
37:11
Speaker 1: I'm praying for your confident hope or about your confident hope.
37:16
Speaker 1: of what God has reserved for you in heaven. These
37:21
Speaker 1: were people who anticipated the great future. That, by the way,
37:25
Speaker 1: is another wonderful benefit of knowing Christ. You have a future.
37:32
Speaker 1: You have a future. Not long ago, Cynthia was not
37:39
Speaker 1: feeling well at all, and the result was we took
37:41
Speaker 1: her to the hospital. And we admitted her, and thankfully
37:45
Speaker 1: there was nothing really that seriously wrong. We were relieved
37:48
Speaker 1: to know that. But we were there for three days.
37:52
Speaker 1: And it gave me a chance to walk along the
37:54
Speaker 1: hallway of a hospital. Could have been any hospital, but
38:00
Speaker 1: happened to be this one. And I decided I would
38:03
Speaker 1: just every once in a while glance. And I saw
38:08
Speaker 1: the hollow eyes of heartbroken people And I wondered how
38:16
Speaker 1: many of them feared the end of the road. They're hopeless.
38:25
Speaker 1: They're hopeless. When you know Christ, you don't fear the end.
38:33
Speaker 1: The end reveals what it's all been about. That's where
38:41
Speaker 1: there will be rewards. That's where there will be a home.
38:44
Speaker 1: That's where there will be Eternal blessings. No more tears.
38:49
Speaker 1: No more sadness. No more sorrow. No more death. No
38:53
Speaker 1: more disease. No more disability. That's our future. Paul, when
39:02
Speaker 1: he prays for these people of Colossae, remembers that they
39:06
Speaker 1: are people confident in their hope. In fact, he says
39:09
Speaker 1: in the last part of the sentence, or the last sentence,
39:12
Speaker 1: you have had this expectation ever since you first heard
39:16
Speaker 1: the truth of the good news. Isn't that great? Part
39:19
Speaker 1: of the package deal, if you'll let me use those words,
39:22
Speaker 1: part of the package you get when you trust in
39:24
Speaker 1: Christ is that you get a hope, which you've never
39:28
Speaker 1: had before. You have the assurance. That's why when you
39:33
Speaker 1: attend the memorial service of a believer, surrounded by a
39:38
Speaker 1: family of believers, you won't hear wailing. You'll hear tears.
39:43
Speaker 1: You'll feel the grief of the lost. But all of
39:47
Speaker 1: us there at that memorial service know this isn't the end.
39:52
Speaker 1: This is the beginning of what life is all about
39:57
Speaker 1: in Christ. And it gives you confidence to live this life. Now,
40:04
Speaker 1: he wants to address the good news before he finishes
40:07
Speaker 1: his opening, so let's do that. The same good news
40:11
Speaker 1: came to you that came to you is going out
40:15
Speaker 1: all over the world. Let me point something out you
40:18
Speaker 1: may have missed. We're not born knowing the good news.
40:24
Speaker 1: We're ignorant of the good news. Getting older doesn't mean
40:29
Speaker 1: we get it. Someone has to tell it. That's why
40:35
Speaker 1: Paul said to the Romans in chapter 10, how will
40:37
Speaker 1: they know without someone to tell them? Someone told you
40:42
Speaker 1: the good news. My mother and dad told me, mainly
40:46
Speaker 1: my mother, told me the good news from the earliest
40:50
Speaker 1: years growing up. We had faithful preachers who declared the
40:54
Speaker 1: good news and I didn't have it. Even though I
40:57
Speaker 1: was raised in a family that loved God, I wasn't
41:01
Speaker 1: born with it. Your children are not automatically equipped. They
41:07
Speaker 1: don't get it by osmosis because you believe they're part
41:11
Speaker 1: of the belief system. No, no, no. Each one of
41:15
Speaker 1: us must have the good news brought to us by someone.
41:19
Speaker 1: Stop and think who brought the good news to you.
41:23
Speaker 1: And can I throw in a little extra here? It's
41:26
Speaker 1: kind of nice if you just write him a note
41:28
Speaker 1: and say, thank you. Thank you for introducing me to
41:32
Speaker 1: the most significant person I've ever known in my life.
41:35
Speaker 1: Thank you for telling me. Thank you for the good news.
41:40
Speaker 1: The same good news that came to you is going out. Now,
41:43
Speaker 1: how did the Colossians know about the good news? They
41:45
Speaker 1: weren't born knowing about it. They're in a little village
41:48
Speaker 1: of Colossae in the middle of Turkey. How would they know?
41:51
Speaker 1: Look at verse 7. Look at it. You learned about
41:55
Speaker 1: the good news from Epaphras, our brother, our beloved co-worker. Now,
42:02
Speaker 1: how did I know that? I read. I'm not sitting
42:08
Speaker 1: in my study and God goes... It was from Epaphras.
42:12
Speaker 1: It doesn't happen like that. My desk is just like
42:15
Speaker 1: your desk, a little messier than yours is, quite likely.
42:19
Speaker 1: And I have a selectory typewriter. Love it. And it's
42:23
Speaker 1: all part of the system of my study, but I
42:26
Speaker 1: have to read it. I read it out loud. I
42:30
Speaker 1: read it over and over and over, and I come across,
42:33
Speaker 1: they learned about the good news from Epaphras. How great.
42:39
Speaker 1: Now you know when he says the good news, verse 6,
42:42
Speaker 1: that came to you, it came from Epaphras. I think
42:44
Speaker 1: Epaphras is their pastor. Probably began being an evangelist in
42:49
Speaker 1: the city of Colossae. And they heard the good news
42:53
Speaker 1: that Christ died for their sins and was raised from
42:57
Speaker 1: the dead and they believed. And Paul said, good for you.
43:02
Speaker 1: I applaud that you have believed that you have had
43:05
Speaker 1: the faith to trust in Christ. Epaphras is the one
43:09
Speaker 1: who brought it to you. Now please notice, we don't
43:16
Speaker 1: get it to keep it. We get it to share it.
43:20
Speaker 1: See verse 6? The good news that came to you
43:24
Speaker 1: is going out all over the world. I love that.
43:29
Speaker 1: You heard it from this man. You're now growing in it.
43:32
Speaker 1: But you know what's wonderful? You don't keep it. You
43:36
Speaker 1: don't keep it. If you're in the desert and you
43:39
Speaker 1: happen to find an oasis of water, and you've got
43:45
Speaker 1: other people in the group that are all spread out,
43:47
Speaker 1: they're starving for a drink, you don't say, hey, Bill,
43:51
Speaker 1: let's don't say anything about the water. It's just between
43:55
Speaker 1: you and me. Okay, this is for us. You go, hey,
44:00
Speaker 1: you guys, come over here. There's an oasis. There's water here.
44:04
Speaker 1: They all come over there and you tell them about
44:06
Speaker 1: it because you're going to share the good news. That's
44:10
Speaker 1: the way it is with Christ. It's a wonderful thing
44:17
Speaker 1: to be able in a daily, easy flowing conversation to
44:23
Speaker 1: talk to someone about faith in Christ. Some of you
44:27
Speaker 1: haven't done that in years. Maybe never. I don't say
44:31
Speaker 1: it to shame you, I say it to exhort you.
44:36
Speaker 1: You got the good news thanks to somebody. Release it.
44:41
Speaker 1: Talk to the guy that works on your lawn about it.
44:46
Speaker 1: Discuss it with somebody that's putting gas in their tank
44:48
Speaker 1: at the same station. You see them regularly. Doors open,
44:54
Speaker 1: maybe sitting on an airplane. Now, now be careful, okay?
44:59
Speaker 1: Nobody wants to get blasted by the local self-appointed evangelist. Oh,
45:05
Speaker 1: I'm glad you're sitting there. I've got a Bible I
45:07
Speaker 1: want to read to you, and you will sit and
45:10
Speaker 1: listen to the message of the gospel. Please, be gracious.
45:17
Speaker 1: There are a number of ways to open the door
45:19
Speaker 1: for this, and you know what I'm talking about. Obviously,
45:23
Speaker 1: Epaphras' method was very effective. In fact, please observe not
45:28
Speaker 1: only is the gospel bearing fruit everywhere. Look at the
45:32
Speaker 1: rest of the verse. It's changing lives just as it
45:37
Speaker 1: changed your lives from the day you first heard and
45:42
Speaker 1: understood the truth about God's wonderful grace. It's one of
45:46
Speaker 1: the greatest things about Christianity. Your life is changed. It
45:53
Speaker 1: changes you. You clean up your talk. You clean up
45:58
Speaker 1: your thoughts. You get more unselfish. You really feel compassion
46:07
Speaker 1: for people in need. You're not as suspicious or negative
46:11
Speaker 1: or pessimistic. It's wonderful grace that's come to you. Verse 7,
46:19
Speaker 1: you learned about it from Epaphras. He's Christ's faithful servant.
46:23
Speaker 1: He's helping us on your behalf. So he's telling Paul
46:26
Speaker 1: about them. He has told us about the love for
46:29
Speaker 1: others at the Holy Spirit. has given you. How magnificent.
46:36
Speaker 1: Let me tell you, when you embrace the good news,
46:41
Speaker 1: you embrace the truth. And if there's something this world
46:45
Speaker 1: is short on, it's truth. In fact, we're so politically
46:49
Speaker 1: correct nowadays that you don't dare put a definite article
46:52
Speaker 1: in front of the word truth, lest you look like
46:54
Speaker 1: you're dogmatic or arrogant. Jesus said, I am the way,
46:59
Speaker 1: the truth. the life. Right? Sure he did. Don't be
47:06
Speaker 1: afraid of that. Don't be afraid of calling him the
47:10
Speaker 1: way and the truth and the life. And when you
47:14
Speaker 1: get a hold of your airline, you want to make
47:15
Speaker 1: a flight, the gal on the other end of the
47:17
Speaker 1: line doesn't say, actually, you can do several things. You
47:22
Speaker 1: may want to come to the airport around 4.15, 4.30,
47:27
Speaker 1: The plane's going to leave somewhere between 5.15 and 7.15.
47:33
Speaker 1: We hope it's at gate four. Might be 14. You'd
47:38
Speaker 1: hang up on her. You'd think it's a crank call.
47:42
Speaker 1: You want to know exactly when is it going to arrive,
47:45
Speaker 1: exactly what gate, exactly what time, because that is the schedule.
47:50
Speaker 1: We're not afraid of that, are we? Don't be afraid
47:53
Speaker 1: of this. You Colossians have had your life turned around
47:57
Speaker 1: because you've gotten a hold of the truth. James Russell
48:01
Speaker 1: Lowell put it this way in his piece titled The
48:05
Speaker 1: Present Crisis, dated 1844. Though the cause of evil prosper,
48:11
Speaker 1: yet his truth alone is strong. Truth forever on the scaffold,
48:16
Speaker 1: wrong forever on the throne. I love that line. Yet
48:20
Speaker 1: that scaffold sways the future and beyond the dim unknown
48:24
Speaker 1: standeth God within the shadows keeping watch above his own.
48:29
Speaker 1: Isn't that great? Truth forever on the scaffold. Wrong forever
48:34
Speaker 1: on the throne. So quit fussing about the wrong on
48:36
Speaker 1: the throne. Okay? Do your work on the scaffold. Sharing
48:43
Speaker 1: of Christ. Now let me give you three tips for
48:45
Speaker 1: absorbing and applying this letter. Okay? Write quick. Number one.
48:51
Speaker 1: Read the letter repeatedly. I invite you to read it
48:55
Speaker 1: at least once a week during this 10-week period. Okay?
48:59
Speaker 1: Let's all get on board on this. Get yourself a
49:02
Speaker 1: Bible or a New Testament, find Colossians, put a little
49:07
Speaker 1: ribbon there or marker there, and read it through. Just
49:11
Speaker 1: go right through these 95 verses. You can read it
49:14
Speaker 1: in about 12 minutes. If you read slower, about 20 minutes.
49:18
Speaker 1: If you want to read it aloud, I suggest that
49:20
Speaker 1: as well. But read it through at least once a week.
49:25
Speaker 1: When I was at seminary, one of the men who
49:28
Speaker 1: impacted my life was a guest Bible lecturer named Dr.
49:32
Speaker 1: John Mitchell from Scotland. He had a wonderful way of
49:36
Speaker 1: rolling his arms, and he would say, read your Bible. Men,
49:43
Speaker 1: read your Bible. So I began to read my Bible.
49:50
Speaker 1: And I got alone with him one time and I
49:53
Speaker 1: said to him, Dr. Mitchell, I got to tell you,
49:56
Speaker 1: you know the Bible better than anybody I've ever known. Ah, Chuck,
50:01
Speaker 1: I know it because I read it and I read
50:04
Speaker 1: it repeatedly. Repeatedly. I practiced that repeatedly. Not being Scottish.
50:14
Speaker 1: Read it repeatedly. Say, I've already read this. Yeah, I
50:17
Speaker 1: know it. I don't care. Read it again. Because you
50:23
Speaker 1: missed a whole lot. Like a great movie. You see it,
50:27
Speaker 1: you think, we need to see this again. And you
50:29
Speaker 1: see it again, you go, was that in it the
50:32
Speaker 1: first time I saw it? I didn't even see it.
50:34
Speaker 1: You'll see things you never saw before. So read it repeatedly. Second.
50:38
Speaker 1: Discuss its contents frequently. Okay? That's with people who are
50:45
Speaker 1: doing the project with you. Maybe your mate, married partner.
50:49
Speaker 1: It may be a close friend. Maybe a small group.
50:53
Speaker 1: You may want to do this in a group. That
50:55
Speaker 1: would be wonderful. But discuss the contents repeatedly, frequently. Go
51:01
Speaker 1: back over them. Here's the third, and I think it
51:06
Speaker 1: is the most important of the three. Accept its warnings
51:13
Speaker 1: and exhortations personally. Accept its warnings and exhortations personally. We
51:27
Speaker 1: got time for this? We do. Okay. Paul David Tripp
51:33
Speaker 1: wrote a book called Dangerous Calling. You need to read
51:36
Speaker 1: that book. If you're anywhere near ministry to others, you
51:40
Speaker 1: need to read Dangerous Calling by Paul David Tripp. In it,
51:45
Speaker 1: he says this. When the word of God is faithfully
51:50
Speaker 1: taught and empowered by the spirit of God, people become different.
51:59
Speaker 1: Put your name in place of people. Chuck becomes different.
52:05
Speaker 1: Cynthia becomes different. Dick becomes different. Shirley becomes different. Lusting
52:16
Speaker 1: people become pure. Fearful people become courageous. Thieves become givers.
52:24
Speaker 1: Demanding people become servants. Angry people become peacemakers. Complainers become thankful.
52:31
Speaker 1: And idolaters come to joyfully worship the one true God.
52:37
Speaker 1: The ultimate... Purpose of the word of God is not
52:44
Speaker 1: theological information, but heart and life transformation. Get that down.
52:53
Speaker 1: Get it fixed in your mind. My goal in teaching
52:58
Speaker 1: Colossians is not to make you theologically astute. You may
53:02
Speaker 1: gain a knowledge of theology and that's great. That's not
53:05
Speaker 1: the goal. It is to Have you experienced your heart
53:10
Speaker 1: being transformed? Biblical literacy and theological expertise, he continues, are
53:21
Speaker 1: not therefore the end of the word, but a God-ordained
53:27
Speaker 1: means to an end, and the end is a radically
53:31
Speaker 1: transformed life. Because the worship at the center of that
53:37
Speaker 1: life has been reclaimed. Boy, that's good. I promise you.
53:46
Speaker 1: You get serious about your intake of the scriptures, you
53:50
Speaker 1: will not be the same person ten weeks from now.
53:55
Speaker 1: You won't be. And people will notice. Please don't call
54:01
Speaker 1: attention to any of the change. You will just change.
54:05
Speaker 1: Because you'll learn truth to live by. That will transform
54:13
Speaker 1: your life. Lord, thank you for your word that lives
54:18
Speaker 1: and abides forever. And it never returns empty. May this
54:24
Speaker 1: letter become a love letter to us. May we join
54:28
Speaker 1: the church at Colossae. May we realize that these statements
54:34
Speaker 1: are written to us, that we, through the patient, comforting
54:41
Speaker 1: truth of the Scriptures, glean hope and a reason to
54:46
Speaker 1: go on. May we become stable, confident, assured of the
54:57
Speaker 1: truth as you teach it to us In your letter
55:01
Speaker 1: to us. Set apart the time we've had. In a
55:05
Speaker 1: very special way. In each of our lives. In the
55:10
Speaker 1: name of Jesus. We pray. Everybody sit. Amen.
55:19
Speaker 2: The preceding message. A letter for then and now. Was
55:23
Speaker 2: copyrighted in 2014 and 2022. And the sound recording was
55:25
Speaker 2: copyrighted in 2022. by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights
55:33
Speaker 2: are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use
55:38
Speaker 2: is strictly prohibited.