Power in the Pulpit | Colossians 1:24–2:5

Introduction: We continue our walk through Paul’s letter of the Colossians this week. Does anybody know where Paul is writing this letter from? (Prison) That’s right, prison. Paul is in prison, probably in Rome. In the passage we looked at last week, Paul explains to his audience how Christ is the eternal God and was present at creation. And that this God came to earth, died and rose again for our sake. That all won truly commit their lives to him will experience the promise of salvation. This week Paul explains a little bit about his ministry.

As you all know, Morgan and I had our first kid a little bit more than a year and a half ago. And being a parent is not always an easy task. Right now, Amelia is teething which is really painful for her. Typically when she wakes up, she’s a happy baby. But right now she wakes up screaming until you can get her some medicine to help her teeth to keep from hurting. She’s also getting into everything and constantly making a mess we have to clean up. When she is awake it is nonstop. But we wouldn’t change that. That’s part of being a parent and we love being parents. Being a parent is so great that we will take those hectic moments. Paul will tell us something similar today. In today’s passage we will see that temporary suffering is worth bringing eternal knowledge. As we always do at Maynard, please stand as we honor the reading of God’s Word.

Colossians 1:24-29.

Paul starts off the passage by saying in verse 24 by saying he is rejoicing in the sufferings for “your sake” referring to the Colossian church. Paul knows that it is a result of his faithfulness in taking the gospel to the nations. He is a minister to the gentiles and as a result he is suffering for that. And Paul had really suffered. When writing to the church in Corinth Paul described some of what he had been through. He writes in 2 Corinthians 11:24-28 “Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.” His life ha been difficult because of what he had chosen to do. But he says that he is filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of the body, that is the church.” Paul is not saying he is finishing the work of Christ. Paul speaks consistently, including in this text about what Christ accomplished on the cross. But what he is referring to is the suffering that would come to those who were faithful to Christ as he had been.

Application: In 2 Timothy 3:12 Paul writes 2 Timothy 3 :12 “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,” Obedience will not always lead to comfort. There will be consequences for doing the things of God. But Paul pressed on because he knew the benefit that his work was bringing.

Exposition: He writes in verse 25 Col 1:25 “of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known,” Paul knew that what he was enduring was a part of the life he was living. But he knew that God had called him to fulfill a certain role. God had chosen Paul to take the gospel to the gentile world. He saw himself as doing his duty.

Application: God has not called us to a life of comfort. But is he worth it? What is Christ worth? The question is not can we do what Christ has called us to. The question is can we live knowing we have not been obedient to what he has called us to. God does not need us, but has allowed us to play a role in his plan of reaching the nations. He has called you to play a role in reaching people in your classes or on your sports teams or in your club at school. Will we be obedient to that? Can we live knowing that we were not obedient to the creator of the world because of the resistance we faced here on earth?

Exposition: Paul then goes on to describe this plan God has had for all time. He says in Col 1:26-27 “the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” When Paul refers to the mystery, he is referring to God’s plan to save his people. For thousands of years the Jewish people knew that God was going to send them a savior of some kind. What he didn’t know is that God was not just sending them a savior, but that he would also reveal it to the gentiles that would come to know him. Salvation is not something we achieve on our own. It is also something that does not happen on accident. God has always been in control of salvation and always had a plan of salvation. We son’t understand why God functions the way he does. We will never truly understand his ways. But God is not a God of chance or randomness. He is a good of sovereign control over us and He is a God with a plan. And we were a part of that plan. You were a part of that plan and will always be a part of that plan.

Exposition: But what are the riches of God’s glory? What is the hope of God’s glory? It is Christ Himself. The riches of God’s glory are the relationship we have with Christ. It is the chance to be joined with the Creator God who loves us such that he came to earth and died on a cross for our sins. The hope of God’s glory is that through this Christ we have the hope of eternity. We do not have to fear what is to come. You know what makes us right with God. Christ. You know what will make heaven so great, Christ.

Exposition: Paul then writes in verse 28 Col 1:28 “Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.” Paul makes it very clear, it is Christ that he and his team proclaim. Paul makes it clear that when he speaks of the suffering he has endured, he is not proclaiming himself. It is Christ he proclaims. That goes for him and the six people Paul mentions at the end of the book.

Application: That also goes for all who know Christ. We do not offer a path that people can make themselves right. We do not claim there are other ways to heaven. If we are going to make the name of Jesus known, it is Christ we proclaim. We cannot proclaim anything else because there is not hope in anything else.

Exposition: Paul says that part of this proclamation is warning. This word means to counsel someone in terms of their behavior. This term is important.

Application: In order for somebody to understand that there is salvation, they must understand what it is they are being saved from. While heaven is real, so is the opposite. Hell is a real place and it is the destination for all those who spend eternity apart from God. Those who do not repent from their sins are destined for an eternity apart from God. They are destined for hell. But there’s good news, there is hope. This is why the speaking about hell is a part of the proclamation of Christ. While hell does exist. It does not have to be our destination. Christ has made a way for us to avoid it and that is through his death and resurrection. I will never tell you not to tell people about hell. Jesus talked about it, we read about it in other parts of scripture. But don’t just tell people about hell. Use it as an opportunity to proclaim what lengths Christ went so we could avoid it.

Exposition: Paul also mentions teaching as part of his ministry. We were designed to live a certain way. When there was no sin in the Garden of Eden there were no problems. Sin has corrupted the world. Though we are often told otherwise, God’s way is better. A part of proclaiming Christ is teaching those we proclaim him to to live how he has called us to live. It is also teaching them what scripture says about God and who He is. That is how we come to a better understanding of who God is. Paul proclaims Christ in this way so that all may be presents as mature in Christ. This word can also be translated perfect or complete. Paul wants to see those he is ministering to reach their salvation. He wants to see them know Christ, live a life honoring him and have the assurance of heaven. He is not doing this for the money and fame, obviously. He is living obediently so that people come to know Christ. he says in verse 29 Col 1:29 “For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.” In the Greek, struggling is used to describe how he is toiling. It is probably an athletic metaphor.

Illustration: Those of you that play sports, have you ever been at a practice or workout that was so hard you felt like you couldn’t keep going. You had no idea how you were going to start running, lifting or swimming again, and then it came time and you just did it. This is what Paul is referring to. He’s describing probably a distance runner getting towards the end of the race. The runner would feel so tired he wouldn’t know how he was going to put one foot in front of the other. But somehow the thought of the finish line keeps them going. Paul is saying that he toils in that same way. But it is through not his own energy, but God’s that he is able to keep going.

Application: If you are obedient to Christ there will be times where you feel like you can’t keep going. There will be times where you are exhausted both mentally and physically and you have know idea how to push forward. But it is God’s Mission we press towards, and he will not let us run out of gas. If we are walking in obedient to Him he will give us the energy to keep going. He will sustain us. If we try to do it on our own, we will fail. But if we walk with Him, he will sustain us.

Transition: We see Paul talking about his ministry to the gentiles in a general sense. But what specifically is his ministry to the Colossian Church. He reveals that a little bit in chapter 2 verses 1-5.

Exposition: Paul writes in verse 1 Col 2:1 “For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face,” Colossi and Laodicea were both in the same region. Paul had not been to either place and he says here he want them to understand that he still struggles greatly for them though he has never met them face to face. Paul had a desire to see people know Christ and he had a desire for God’s church to be strong. Not just one local Church, but God’s Church meaning all those everywhere that were believers in Jesus Christ. He wanted every local body of believers to be strong so that God’s Church was strong.

Exposition: I think Maynard Baptist Church is a really special place. Morgan and I feel so blessed that God called us here. This time last year we were preparing to move back to Georgia and had no idea why what was happening was happening. But now we see why and feel blessed. But as special of a place as Maynard is, we cannot only be focused on what God is doing at Maynard. We are not rivals with other churches. Every church that clings to the beliefs we hold about Christ and the authority of scripture is participating in the Mission of God just as we are. We need to hope the best for these churches. There are a lot of people in Monroe County, we can’t reach them all. We should celebrate what God does in those churches. We should appreciate the role we all have to play.

Exposition: Paul says in verses 2-3, Col 2:2-3 “that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Paul wants encouragement and he wants unity within the churches, but

2:1-5

Verse 1

Paul is enduring these things for people he has not even met

Paul has a desire to see people know Christ and he has a desire for God’s church to be strong

We are not rivals with other churches.

Our focus cannot only be Maynard Baptist Church. It has to be God’s Mission

Verses 2-3

Paul wants encouragement and he wants love, but he wants these things so that the churches can be pointed to Christ

Application: Unity and love are not the goals. They take us to the goal, which is Christ.

Verse 4

The word delude means to deceive or defraud. Plausible arguments means using language to persuade. A proper translation may be talk into error.

Application: If we are not confident in who Christ is, we can easily be led astray by people who say things that sound like they may be right.

Verse 5

Military reference.

Application: We must take seriously threats to sound doctrine.

Conclusion: David Platt in his book Radical writes, “Radical obedience to Christ is not easy... It's not comfort, not health, not wealth, and not prosperity in this world. Radical obedience to Christ risks losing all these things. But in the end, such risk finds its reward in Christ. And he is more than enough for us.” Following Christ is not easy, but he is worth it. Are you willing to endure losing friends or feeling different from others. Are you willing to have some people mock you for choosing a different ethic regarding sex, drugs and alcohol. Is Christ worth holding to a strict belief in scripture’s authority. Or let me as this question, are the things of this world worth not having Christ number 1? Maybe tonight for the first time you are willing to say Christ is worth it. I’ll be over here during the final song. Come find me. Or find me before we leave tonight and let us talk about what God is doing in your heart.