Colossians 1:1-12

The situation facing the Colossians is similar to ours today. They faced opponents who challenged and belittled the sufficiency of Christ and their hope. We live in a society which regularly scoffs at Christian faith. Many Christians, with new or immature faith have become increasingly uncertain of their faith as a result. Maturity is needed, so that we are not tossed to and fro by the waves of culture and the unfounded criticisms of Christianity, the Colossians, as do we, desperately needed to sink their anchor more deeply into the Rock.

When Christians do not understand their faith, they are likely to water down the gospel and accommodate it to cultural expectations. They will cut out anything that gives offense, or at least never mention it, and it will never be enough for the culture. Paul wrote to the Colossians to help them grasp ever more firmly who Christ is and the rich glories of all that God has done in him. Paul hoped to fortify the Colossians in their assurance of the hope they had in Christ.

God intends for this letter to help the Colossians, and us, stand firm in cultures that are against us and Him.

I want to look at the opening introductory section this morning, and see a couple of things that are crucial. Paul begins, as he does most of his letters, with thanksgiving and prayer, and I want to see a couple of things this morning that are branches off of the main argument of the letter, but crucial nonetheless.

Grace à Grace 1:1-8

1:1-2

It is always those who recognize that they have been shown grace that are most willing to show others grace.

Paul, in most of his letters, opens the greeting of the letter by referring to them as something like “saints and faithful brothers.” Why is this significant? Because Paul, from the outset, wants to make it clear that he sees them as faithful, despite his upcoming criticisms, he knows them as redeemed, despite their failings and misunderstandings, he sees them as Christ’s and is confident in their redemption.. Paul does not require individuals to understand everything the way that he understands things in order to call them saved and brothers. There were some in this church that didn’t realize or weren’t sure that Christ was preeminent, that he was chief, potentially even that he was God, there were some that thought you had to be circumcised to be saved, there were some that were succumbing to legalism, there were some that were practicing asceticism, thinking the body was evil and refusing good things like marriage, there were some that worshipped angels, there were some struggling with sexual immorality, covetousness, anger, slander, obscene talk, lying, holding grudges, and yet he still opens the letter calling them SAINTS, BROTHERS. And if that isn’t wild enough for you, go read 1 Corinthians, and all of the issues they had, a letter he also starts by calling them holy saints.

One of the very main goals of this letter, and all of Paul’s letters: 1:28-29

Desire is to present everyone as mature in Christ, to help people grow in knowledge and obedience, but everyone there is NOT mature in Christ, just like everyone here and around here and around the world is NOT mature in Christ, but that does not mean they are not Christs. Just because they are immature in their knowledge, or even immature in their obedience, doesn’t necessarily mean they are lost: Immature saved believers exist.

Matthew 28:18-19 – the mission of the church – Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. How long does that lesson take? That isn’t a 1 lesson command, that isn’t a 1 sermon deal, that isn’t accomplished by 1 prayer time, that isn’t accomplished when they walk the aisle, or when they are baptized, or when they become a church member. . . WHOLE LIFE! there are Christians all along the spectrum of learning to observe what he has commanded, of discipleship, and many may die before they get even to the place where you are on that spectrum – and they will die as just as fully saved as you will.

Far too often we draw sharp lines of fellowship where Paul never would have.

You understand better than them? Thank God, it is by his grace you do, and show great grace to them, because there is someone out there that understands and obeys much more than you, who is much more mature than you, and yet they will not be saved any more than you will, because they need God’s grace just as desperately as you, and just as desperately as them.

Paul starts this letter, as he does most of his letters, rejoicing in them and their being Christ’s. 1:3-6

What does he mean that they have faith and love? It can’t be that they understand everything they should understand, THEY AREN’T EVEN CLOSE! And yet, he rejoices in them, in their faith, in their love for each other, as a result of their belief in the gospel, and he treats them as his brothers and sisters, no less so than Timothy. There are people out there whose faith we should be rejoicing in.

Now, this message would be incomplete and non-Pauline if I left it there and didn’t say this: this is not license for you not to mature in Christ, or just to stay where you are. Many of the most dominant images for what it is to be a Christian in the Bible are agricultural ones, like the Christian as a tree, which in large part tell the story of something that is always growing. There is but one kind of tree that is not currently growing – a Dead one. If the Holy Spirit is in you, you will be sanctified, you will grow, you will mature, so if you haven’t been growing in Christ-likeness, there is a serious issue at hand.

Paul writes this letter because of how crucial it is for Christians to grow and mature, especially in a culture that is so against them, and how desperately he wants the Colossians to know the freedom that they have in Christ and the magnitude of what Christ did for them.

The grace that God has shown you MUST result in you showing grace to others. It doesn’t mean you don’t try to help people understand better, but it does mean that you are willing to call them brother or sister even before the lessons have begun.

Grace produces Grace.

Paul’s Prayers 1:9-12

It’s important to remember, when Paul writes a letter, the letter is brought to the church and read aloud to the entire congregation likely more than once. So when Paul prays, he is not simply praying, he is also instructing, teaching doctrine, and importantly, exampling how to pray and what to pray for.

I talked about this a couple of years ago, but there is an epidemic in the modern church of prayer requests and probably personal prayers focusing on physical things as opposed to spiritual things. It isn’t wrong to pray for physical things, to pray for physical healings, for circumstances to change, etc, however, it should be instructive to us that those aren’t the things that we see Paul focusing on.

What is most worrisome is that we pray for the things that matter most to us, that we see as most important, so if our prayers are primarily about physical health, physical wealth, physical circumstances, as opposed to spiritual health and strength amidst physical difficulties, then we may have a heart issue.

It is good to pray for your friend to be healed of their sickness, it is even better to pray for this sickness to be a pathway for your friend further into Christ.

This is the way we see Paul praying, in a culture by the way where Christians often faced MISERABLE circumstances, filled with dangers and sickness and poverty and loss, we see Paul pray mainly for their spiritual health amidst the circumstances, as opposed to praying primarily for the circumstances to change.

Paul doesn’t even mainly pray for them to DO things, but he prays earnestly for them to KNOW things more fully, to KNOW the gospel more fully, and the doing will result from the knowing.

There are generally considered 4 major prayers of Paul in his letters (on your outline), all of which are profoundly similar, one of which is here in verses 9-12. You may a remember a study we did of all of these prayers, in effort to see the things Paul prays for most, and we came up with the acronym KNOWN, which I use constantly in my own prayer life.

Know God More

The word KNOW, that Paul uses repeatedly in prayers, is an inherently Relational – it is knowing, not just knowing about. The key difference in the Christian and the non-Christian is that the Christian KNOWS God, loves God.

Matt 7:23 – Never KNEW you

Phil 3:8 – I count everything as loss compared to the SURPASSING WORTH of . . .

New Strength in Christ

What if, as the Bible says explicitly, difficult circumstances are what you need to grow spiritually, become more like Christ, know Him more, which is the pathway to your greatest joy? It seems like Paul believes that. He prays for them to be strengthened amidst the struggle, and for the struggle to lead to their strength.

Onward into the Gospel

Deeper understanding of the Gospel – Eph 1 – Height Depth . . .

Never graduate from the Gospel – lost person needs it, you need it – what Gospel?

C.S. Lewis – Chronicles of Narnia – “Onward and Upward”

Deeper understanding of your sin, deeper understanding of his grace – the pathway to maturity isn’t onward from the Gospel, but deeper into it.

Will of God Discernment

Confidence in the will of God and discern

Nearer Christ-likeness

Sanctified

Do you pray? Do you live a life of prayer? I pray that God presses your heart into realizing how important it is that you find your knees.

In Genesis we see every one of the patriarchs praying.

In Exodus prayer was how Moses secured the liberation of Israel from Egypt.

Daniel thrown in a lions den because of his insistence to pray

“Jesus Christ taught his disciples to pray, healed people with prayers, denounced the corruption of the temple worship which he called a house of prayer, and insisted that some demons could be cast out only through prayer. He prayed often and regularly with fervent cries and tears, and sometimes all night. The Holy Spirit came upon him and anointed him as he was praying, and he was transfigured with the divine glory as he prayed. When he faced his greatest crisis, he did so with prayer. We hear him praying for his disciples and the church on the night before he died and then petitioning God in agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. Finally, he died praying.”

What did the disciples do after Christ’s death?

Acts 1:14, Acts 2:42

“All Christians are expected to have a regular, faithful, devoted, fervent prayer life. Prayer is one of the main signs that the Spirit has come into the heart through faith in Christ.”

“A minister may fill his pews, his communion roll, the mouths of the public, but what that minister is on his knees in secret before God Almighty, that he is and no more.” John Owen

Practical Advice for Prayer

1. You must go through Duty to get to Delight

Commit to praying. Set an alarm on your phone. Put it on your to do list. There is nothing wrong with that. You’ll feel like you’re doing it wrong, just do it. If you’re doing it in the beginning, you’re doing it right.

2. Believe it Works, its more powerful than you give it credit for

Often we don’t pray because we aren’t convinced it really works . . . the Bible is clear

3. Pray Largely in Response to the Word, Pray KNOWN for yourself and Others

The rhythm throughout this section is Paul’s desire for them to look to God and realize all he has done for them, it starts and finishes with giving thanks. Verses.

Who is Paul thanking for their faith, their love, their church, their salvation? God! God gets the glory.

Foundational for Paul and for this letter is to get the people’s eyes off of themselves and onto God and Christ, when it comes to salvation and when it comes to daily life.

He closes with the most fundamental reason for our thanksgiving, the greatest thing that God has done for us - 13-14