Colossians 2:1-5 - Struggling for the Church

Summation and Diagnosis

Let us pray.

I invite you to open your Bibles to Colossians 2:1-5 this morning.

Colossians 2:1–5 ESV

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, 2 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, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. 5 For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.

Colossians 2:1-3 - Struggling for Their Encouragement

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,

For I want you to know

What follows is significant!

How great a struggle I have

I have struggled greatly - imprisoned because of his faithfulness to his call and mission to proclaim the Gospel

For you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face

Hierapolis, Colossae, and Laodicea were important cities in the Lycus Valley

This addresses all the residents in this area

Potential another letter written to the Laodiceans

Colossians 4:16 ESV

16 And when this letter has been read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea.

Paul’s ministry is extended far beyond him - revealing the supernatural power of the growth of the Gospel

Matthew 13:31–32 ESV

31 He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. 32 It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”

2 That their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love,

That their hearts may be encouraged

Heart is the center of one’s will, desires, emotions, thoughts - inner self

Paul’s goal is that they are encouraged/comforted/strengthened

Paul’s suffering is meant for them to be strengthened that only comes from the Lord

Being knit together in love

Unity comes only as a result of being in Christ - Colossians, Laodiceans, Hierapolis Lycus Valley Christians

This does not speak to a superficial loving feeling towards one another - being committed to true fellowship

Ephesians 4:11–16 ESV

11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

Acts 2:42–47 ESV

42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Why is this necessary?

Individual heretics

Spiritual elitist practices

To reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery,

To reach all the riches of full assurance

Riches speak to them flourishing, but what are they to flourish in? The knowledge of the Gentiles being included in the redemptive plan of God

Full assurance = complete confidence

Of understanding

And the knowledge of God’s mystery

Which is Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Which is Christ

The Gospel = good news is centered on CHRIST!

To understand how to live a life fully pleasing to God, look no further than Christ

In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge

Christ alone embodies wisdom

It is only through Christ that one can know the redemptive plan of God

Christ is the final, great treasure and those treasures are in Him where the Gentiles are included in the redemptive plan of God

Uses

Knit Together

1 John 1:5–7 ESV

5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

Salvation Apart from Christ is a False Gospel

Acts 4:8–12 ESV

8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, 9 if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, 10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. 11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

1 Timothy 2:5–6 ESV

5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

The Gentile inclusion was always a part of the Redemptive plan of God

Galatians 3:7–9 ESV

7 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” 9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

Colossians 2:4-5 - The Stability of the Colossians

4 I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments.

I say this in order that

Paul presents a conclusion from the beginning of Chapter 1

No one may delude you with plausible arguments

Why does Paul write about the grandness of Christ? Why does Paul struggle/labor for the Gospel and the Church?

These delusions come through subtle reasoning with language intended to persuade

5 For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit,

For though I am absent in body

Paul is imprisoned

Paul has never met this church

Writing an epistle in response to Epaphras’ report

Though absent there are real threats to the Gospel

Yet I am with you in Spirit

Beyond “my thoughts are with you”

Paul is united with them as the church because of the unifying power/presence of the Holy Spirit

Rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.

Rejoicing

Paul ends this section where he started it - rejoicing

Your good order

Unified without divisions stable in their faith

Firmness of your faith

Faith that is steadfast/secure/immovable/fixed in place

In Christ

The focus on their good order/faith is not rooted in themselves, but in Christ’s work in them!

Uses

Be aware of plausible arguments that may deceive us away from Christ

Paul is writing to warn them of false teachings that would undermine the Gospel

Jude 10–13 ESV

10 But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively. 11 Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam’s error and perished in Korah’s rebellion. 12 These are hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; 13 wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.

There are over 4,000 world religions so who can we be aware of threats?

1 Timothy 3:15 ESV

15 if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.

Dive into the Word of God so you can know when false teaching comes in

Read theological writings by our church fathers

Calvin

Knox

Owen

Edwards

Berkhoff

J.I. Packer

Beeke

Have good order and firmness of faith IN CHRIST

Reviving of the soul

A work of God by His Spirit through His Word brining the spiritually dead to living faith in Christ and renewing the inner life of Christians who have grown slack and sleepy. In revival God makes old things new, giving new power to law and gospel and new spiritual awareness to those whose hearts and consciences have been blind, hard, and cold.

J.I. Packer - A Quest for Godliness: The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life

Daily time with God is paramount

Matthew 4:3–4 ESV

3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”

Pray for one another daily

Engage in true fellowship with one another

Acts 2:42 ESV

42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

What is fellowship?

Close association with others where all of life is shared with one another

Luke 12:51–53 ESV

51 Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. 52 For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. 53 They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

Finally, everything IN CHRIST!

Solus Christus

1 Timothy 2:5 ESV

5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

Colossians 1:18 ESV

18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.