SERIES: Colossians Message # 2

Nearly 25 years ago my family moved to Simi Valley and began at ministry in this congregation. My first sermon as the pastor was the beginning of a series through the book of Colossians. We return to this book today. It is the most significant book written by the Apostle Paul. The reason I say that as opposed to the book of Romans is because the purpose of Colossians is to exalt Jesus Christ. There is no other letter Paul wrote which exalts Jesus more than does this letter. Paul does this in very few words. There are only 95 verses in this short letter.

This tells you what the purpose of the church should be. There are many purposes a church can major in. Some are known for their great worship, some have great Bible teachers, others have great facilities, and some have friendly people and a few major in social issues. The reason there are different types of congregations is because there are so many types of people. When people begin to look for a church, each one has a different list of qualifications. What excites one family might turn another family away. Regardless of what the emphasis of the congregation might be, all of them need to have as a primary focus the exaltation of Jesus Christ. Why do you sing, feed the poor, teach the Bible or act nice to others? The only reason is because it exalts Jesus Christ. If we feed the poor and they say "Faith Christian Church is fabulous". If we teach the Bible and people say "Pastor Jackson is phenomenal". If we are nice to people and they say "Faith Christian is great". If all these come to pass, we have failed as a church. We read, MATTHEW 5:16 If we do anything and are the focus of attention, we need to change that. The sole purpose of our ministry is to exalt Jesus Christ. As we look at these two verses, we will see the correspondent, the city, and the customary greetings.

FIRST, WE SEE THE CORRESPONDANT. He addresses himself simply as "PAUL, AN APOSTLE OF JESUS CHRIST…" Paul was one of the great men of the first century. Even among those who are not believers, Paul is a giant. Especially among those who do not believe that Jesus was the Messiah, Paul is believed to be the originator of Christianity. However, Paul was not the Master of Jesus the Messiah he was the servant of Jesus the Messiah. There are two men who really guided the early church. Peter was the heart of the church in the first half of the first century. He is the focal point in the church in the first twelve chapters of Acts. Beginning in chapter thirteen, the emphasis switches from Jerusalem to Antioch and from Peter to Paul. This begins the missionary work of the church and Paul was the heart of the outreach of the gospel to Gentiles.

Paul was a Jew. We read, PHILIIPPIANS 3:1-7 Had Paul stayed in the Jewish world, he would have become one of the most significant theologians in history. He was a brilliant man and he loved God. He was a lover of God’s word and a true believer in Jehovah. This is why he opposed Christians so violently. He believed they were leading people away from Jehovah. By claiming that Jesus was equal to Jehovah, he believed they were practicing blasphemy. However, something happened to Paul. We read, ACTS 26:1-18 This is the third time Paul shared his testimony in the book of Acts. This is the longest and most complete telling of his conversion. So much is left out, but this we do know. Paul had become a part of a Jewish hit squad. They would travel all over Israel and find those who had claimed Christ as their Messiah. Arresting them and bringing them to Jerusalem, he would be a part of the group that convicted them of blasphemy.

We do not know all of the details about Paul’s life. We do know he was totally devoted to his Jewish life. That meant he attended all of the festivals and Jewish holidays. He went to the Temple and the synagogues. He studied the Torah and listened to the various Rabbis as they spoke around the Holy Land. Can you think of anyone else who had this same passion? Jesus comes to mind. Paul was killed in his old age just before Rome invaded in 68 AD. That means that Jesus and Paul were about the same age. If you can put two and two together you understand that they must have crossed paths on many occasions. There is no historical record of them meeting, but it is just like God to extend His grace in that way.

Maybe that is why Paul was so angry about Christ. This is just speculation, but what if they did meet during the last week of the life of Paul. The Jewish leaders were constantly trying to trap Christ and he was constantly turning the tables on them. Paul was a brilliant scholar and would have been one of those itching to go at it with the Messianic wanna-be. What if Paul was one of those scholars that Jesus humiliated in debate? That would explain why he hated Christians so. However, in God’s grace, God did not hold Paul’s hatred against him. He revealed Himself to Paul and then brought others into his life to teach him a proper understanding of God’s word. Paul’s passion for God did not change, it was just redirected. He became an apostle to the Gentiles.

Paul addresses himself as an Apostle of Jesus Christ. This is important. In some letters Paul identified himself as a servant of Jesus Christ. Here he claims to be an Apostle. There is a reason for this. Apostles were the authorities in the early church. As the church grew and began to expand, the Apostles began to establish churches and appoint elders to oversee the work. The authority moved from the broad work of the Apostles to the specific work of the local church. This is why in 1 Timothy and Titus Paul talks about the role of elders and not apostles. When Paul wrote Colossians, there was still that transition and Apostles still had the authority. This is important because Paul is going to have to confront some serious issues. This is an important issue today. We live in a culture that resents authority. You have probably seen the bumper sticker that says, "Question Authority". This is so even in the church. Certainly there are oppressive movements in the church, but the solution in not to deny authority. Many want to be free to decide for themselves what to believe and how to behave. We have seen this play out in this years election as Catholic politicians who support abortion have been told by some bishops that they cannot take Communion. The church claims the authority to decide what it means to be a good Catholic. The politicians claim the right to decide for themselves what they will believe and how they will behave. In essence, the battle is over who has the authority to decide what it means to be a good Catholic.

Paul was letting these people know that when he addressed these various issues, he was not sharing his opinion, he was speaking as God’s spokesman. When the Bible speaks, it is authoritarian. Moses did not bring down the Ten Suggestions. This is one of the reasons why our culture has such opposition with the Bible. The county supervisors recently decided to change the seal of the county because it had a small cross as one of its symbols and the ACLU was threatening a law suit. The largest symbol on the seal is a portrait of the Greek goddess Pomona who was the goddess of fruits and vegetables. A large Greek god is not a threat, but a tiny cross is. That tells you every thing you need to know about the battle. Greek gods don’t demand anything, the cross does.

SECOND, WE SEE THE CITY. This is an interesting study. Hundreds of years earlier Colossae was an important community. It is located in the Lycus Valley which is a part of modern Turkey. Over the years, Colossae had lost its significance and Hierapolis and Laodicea had become more important. There are still ruins remaining of those two communities, but nothing remains of Colossae. The area was prone to earthquakes and in 60 AD the city was devastated by a massive tremor. It was quickly rebuilt and remained until the eighth century when it was totally destroyed.

We read, COLOSSIANS 2:1 This was a congregation which Paul did not begin. We are not told how the church was formed, but we can take an educated guess. On Paul’s second missionary trip we read, ACTS 19:1; 8-10 Paul spent two years establishing and maturing the church in Ephesus. Ephesus is located on the Aegean Sea and Colossae is about fifty miles inland. It seems clear that since "ALL WHO LIVED IN ASIA HEARD THE WORD OF THE LORD…" Colossae would have been one of those places to receive the word. It is most likely that people would travel from Colossae to Ephesus because it was a port city. They would hear the gospel, respond to the claims of Christ and take that new found belief back home. A church then sprang up. Soon Paul sent a young man by the name of Epaphras to be the pastor of this new church. God did many wonderful works through this ministry and a great impact was being made in the community.

However, there were problems brewing. A theological debate over the nature of Jesus Christ, what it meant to be a Christian and the nature of true spirituality was beginning to take place. Epaphras was unclear as to how to address these issues so he traveled the thousand miles from Colossae to Rome was Paul was under house arrest to ask for advice. Paul’s response was to write this letter and send it back to the Colossian church with Pastor Epaphras.

Let me just add this thought. Paul wrote his most important letter to the most insignificant city. That tells you a great deal about how God acts. He does not need significant cities or significant individuals to accomplish His work. All He needs is willing people who will give Him the credit for what takes place. You may be here today and think that you are not very important, what can God do through you? The reality is you are not very important. The second reality is that this fact makes you a prime candidate to do something very significant for Him.

THIRD, WE SEE THE CUSTOMARY GREETINGS. When we write a letter, we generally place the person’s name at the top and our name at the end. The Greeks and Jews placed their name at the front so you knew who it was that was writing. In these two verses, Paul shares three distinct aspects of the greetings.

First, we see their character. Paul calls them "SAINTS". There are few words that are more misunderstood than this word. When we think about the saints, we usually consider someone who has been set apart by the church as an example of great service. That is not the meaning of the word as it is used in the New Testament. The word for saint is "Hagios" and it means something that is set apart for a holy purpose. The Temple was "hagios" because it was set apart for the worship of God. The Sabbath was "hagios" because it was set apart as a day of rest. The believer is "hagios" because we are set apart to live our lives for Jesus Christ. Every person who is a follower of Jesus Christ is a saint. That is, we have been saved to serve our Lord.

Another word for this would be different. The Temple was a different building than the rest of the buildings in Jerusalem. The Sabbath had a different purpose than the other six days. The word holy comes from the same word and the Holy Bible is a different book than other books because it was inspired by God. For God to say that as a Christian you are hagios means that you are to be different than those around you. Some have taken that to mean we have to dress weird. That is not the meaning, although the Bible does tell us to dress in modest attire. We are to be different in our goals in life, in our attitudes towards problems, in our lifestyle, and in our world view. If everyone else does it, that may be a good reason for you not to. God saved you, not so you could blend into the crowd, but so that you could stand out in the crowd.

Second we see their conduct. Paul praises this congregation because it was "FAITHFUL". Notice, where Paul says they were being faithful. Paul stated that they were faithful, "IN COLOSSAE". In other words, they were practicing their faith where they lived. I hear people all the time say they will be more faithful, when they get out of school, when they don’t have to work so much, when the children are out of diapers, when they get married, or when they retire. There is only one time you have to be faithful and there is only one place you have in which to be faithful and that is here and now. You cannot be faithful tomorrow. You cannot be faithful next week. You can’t be faithful when you move out of your small house and into the new place. You cannot be faithful when that bonus comes in and you don’t have so much pressure on you. You can only be faithful today and where you live.

God has called you to be faithful with the gifts He has given you. God has called you to be faithful with the money He has entrusted you. He expects you to pay your bills, take care of your taxes, and enjoy life. He also expects you to first of all give generously to support His work. This is a big deal with God. We read PROVERBS 3:9,10 If you do not support His work, how can He bless you in other areas? This is not fund raising, it is faith raising.

Third, we see the confidence of God. Paul reminds these believers that they are recipients of God’s GRACE…AND PEACE FROM GOD OUR FATHER". Grace is the power to accomplish God’s will. Grace is to the believer what high octane is to a car engine. God wants us to obey Him in a certain issue. We struggle and God gives us grace. It is the desire to want to do His will and it is the power to follow through. We often say "I can’t" on obeying God’s command, when in reality we simply don’t want to. Living a moral life, overcoming addictions, finances, dealing with conflicts are all issues we have to face and which we often turn our backs on. God gives us His grace to do His will. What area in the Christian life are you struggling the most? God’s grace is sufficient.

God also gives us His peace. Peace is not the absence of conflict. It is the understanding that God is in control over every issue of life and has His glory as the highest priority and my welfare as His aim. A trial comes along and we don’t know what to do. We seek Him and even in difficulties, He gives us peace. He doesn’t always give us our way, but He gives us a contentment that what happens will be from Him.

Did you notice where this grace and peace come from? It can’t be manufactured. It can’t be manipulated. It can only be accepted. What we like to do is trust God and then figure out how He is going to work. We may pray for His financial blessings and He may say, "get a job". He usually isn’t going to e-mail a job application or have someone just call out of the blue. There are expectations associated with praying for God’s will to be done. However, the grace and peace are gifts of a loving Heavenly Father.

Being a saint begins with our turning our life over to Him and trusting Him with our eternal destiny. Grace and peace are results of our trusting Him with our day to day problems.