"Letters from Prison" Praying for You
Letters from Prison • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Today we are beginning a new series that will take us through the rest of the summer. The series is called “letters from prison,” and we will be looking at the 4 letters that are attributed to the apostle Paul that were written during his house arrest in Rome. You’ll recall that at the end of the book of Acts, we have been following Paul’s journey to Rome, where he as appealed to Ceaser, and is therefore heading that way. At the closing of Acts, we leave Paul under house and never see everything that transpires.
But what we do have are letters. Letters written from Paul to these new churches. We will be looking at the letters in the order that some scholars believe they were written in, although there is some debate. So, for your future reference so you can be reading it ahead of time, we have these 4 epistles.
Colossians - Christ’s Supremacy
Philemon - Reconciliation
Ephesians - Church Unity
Philippians - Joy in Suffering
This is the order we will be reading them in. Feel free to take a picture or make a note.
Before we dive in, let’s take a brief overview and look at the context of this important letter. The letter was written to the Christians in Colossae, which is a city that Paul most likely had never been to. Colossae was a small city in modern day Turkey that was influenced by both Jewish and pagan ideas.
There was a man named Epaphras, who is mentioned a few times in Colossians. He was the leader of the church in Colossae. Epaphras was a man who had converted to Christianity under Paul’s ministry. Epaphras went to Rome in part to serve Paul during his imprisonment, but also to confide in him regarding some dangerous teachings this new church was hearing, specifically teaching that was undermining the supremacy and deity of Jesus Christ, teaching that He was not actually God.
So Paul writes them to guide them back to what the truth is. Jesus Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. One with God the father. This truth is foundational for how we are to go forward as Christ followers. So this letter was written in response to, quite literally, heresy. To teach anything other than the deity of Jesus is heresy. There were also some other false teachings, that we will get to as Paul covers them. With all that in mind, how does Paul begin?
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2 To God’s holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ: Grace and peace to you from God our Father.
He is writing them in response to false teaching. And right off the bat, what do we see? Love. Hope. We see a man striving for unity and truth. He then moves into a portion of both thanksgiving, as well as prayer. Let’s notice what it is he mentions.
3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people—
5 the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel 6 that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace.
7 You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, 8 and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.
There’s Epaphras, the one who taught them these things to begin with.
There’s things that need to be addressed, but Paul is building them up first. That’s a common, known thing, right? Sandwich the hard thing between two good things. But he’s not being dis-ingenuine here. He really means it. He is praying for these people and thanking God for them. When I lead a meeting, the agenda often goes “what’s going well, and then, what could go better.” What this group of Colossians are doing right is...
Faith in Jesus Christ & Love for God’s People
There are some bad teachings, but they are trying. They love Jesus. They know He is the messiah. There are bad teachings in a lot of churches. Some would say there’s bad teaching here because we have differences in theology. But we are united through our faith in Jesus Christ. I am deeply suspicious of those who have a hatred for the church in general, particularly when they have a leadership role in the church. Because the Church is the bride of Christ. We are learning. We are growing. We are flawed. But the Church is Jesus the messiah’s beloved.
Paul also acknowledges here the fruit. As the gospel spreads, it is bearing fruit all over the world. The Church is global, as well as local. This group of people, though there are flaws and kinks that need to be worked out, are bearing fruit. Not because they are special, but because, as Paul says, they “heard the gospel and TRULY understood God’s grace.”
In order to truly understand God’s grace, we first need to understand our condition. We need to understand that we have sinned and that we need forgiveness. God’s grace is unearned forgiveness. It is the promise of eternity with Him. It is joy and hope in the midst of sorrow and tragedy. It is being made whole. And we should rejoice, as Paul is here, when others begin to grasp that.
Paul goes on.
9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, 10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,
11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.
13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Remember, this is just the beginning of this letter. Lots of encouragement, and also instruction for us in prayer. Let’s break it down and bring up the beginning of that passage again
9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, 10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,
He is praying for knowledge of God’s will. When we ask for God’s will, we often want the specific step to take, but I would argue it’s more simple than that. God’s will is to “live a life worthy of the lord, bearing good fruit, growing in knowledge of God.” We want God to tell us specifics “take this job, do this program, marry this person”.. Sometimes He does. But God’s will is truly “bear fruit wherever you are.” Live as a disciple of Jesus all the time. Grow in knowledge through scripture, prayer, and gathering with other believers. Even when it is hard. Even when you live in a place where persecution is real and ever present. Which is why Paul prays not only for knowledge but
11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.
but also endurance and patience. There are many who fall away from faith because they are impatient, because the fact is that our understanding is incomplete. It took me years for my faith in Jesus to go as deep as it is now. I was a Christian for years before I was really hit with questions and doubt. And yet now I look back and see God’s incredible grace and mercy right in the midst of it. And I know now it was this. It was God’s glorious might. He gave me endurance and patience in times of doubt. In times of brokeness. In times where I could have gone down the path of cynicism and bitterness toward the church, toward the world.
But I have people praying for me. As Paul prayed for these churches. And because I know God’s grace, I pray for others to know and understand God’s grace the way I now do.
Not only to understand God’s grace, but to get to a point of giving joyful thanks to God the father.
What a beautiful way to say it. The father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of His holy people in the kingdom of light. Add that to your testimony. Why are you a Christian? Because God the father has qualified me to share in the inheritance of His holy people in the kingdom of light.
Paul then leads to the next section, which we will look at next week. Let’s end with this transitional sentence, that begins to reinforce who Jesus is.
13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
The dominion of darkness. The dominion of lies, of hatred, of addiction, hopelessness, selfishness, and demonic oppression. This kingdom of light has Jesus as the head. That is who we’re talking about. A kingdom of truth, compassion, and freedom. And this king offers us redemption and the forgiveness of our sins. That’s who we are talking about.
It’s all about Him. Sometimes we lose that. We make it about what we get out of it. We make it about what each church does wrong. We take our eyes off of Him.
Whether you’ve been a follower for a long time, you’re a new believer, or you’re not sure yet. Here is the truth. It’s not about me. It’s not about you. It’s not about every little thing we have gotten wrong or about holding grudges or making people pay. It’s about forgiveness. It’s about new life. It’s about the kingdom of light. It’s about Jesus, the messiah, the son of God, the one who forgives our sins and raises the dead to life. Watch what happens when you keep your eyes on Him and Him alone.
PRAY
