Principles Specified

Introduction

(Previous Messages in the Colossians Series)

‘For the Faithfulness of Epaphras’ - Col. 1:1-8

In that message, we looked at how because Epaphras was Faithful to serve the LORD, the gentiles there at Colosse gained:

Faith in Christ

Fellowship with each other

A Future home in Heaven

Fruit for their Labor

And Friends - that would be there & pray for them

‘Paul’s Prayer for the Colossians’ - Col. 1:9-12

Our next message dealt with v9-12 and it focused on Paul’s Prayer for the Colossians.

Paul Prayed for a Filling - of His Will, Godly Wisdom & Biblical Watchfulness

Paul then Prayed for Faithfulness - in their Manner of Life & the Mark to Strive for

Paul then prayed for Fruitfulness - Testifying of who they were in Christ

Then Paul Prayed for Favor - For God to give them Strength & Satisfaction

Lastly Paul Prayed for Focus - Upon God and His Grace

‘The Incredible Christ’ - Col. 1:12-22

Then as Paul began to get into the meat of the letter, we preached a message titled ‘The Incredible Christ’ focused on v13-22 and in it Paul is just bragging about Jesus!

He spoke of the Performance of Christ

The Pardon of Christ

The Picture of Christ

The Power of Christ

The Preeminence of Christ

The Peace of Christ

The Presentation of Christ

‘A Presentation Without Regret’ - Col. 1:20-29

Paul Spoke of:

The Peace through His Cross (v20-22)

The Presentation Desired (v22; 28; 23)

Paul spoke of the fact that everyone was going to stand before God and give account.

The Person God Utilized

Then Paul made clear that God was using him to communicate truth

Now that Paul has laid this ground work, he speaks of himself for the purpose that they would take heed unto what he had to say.

‘A Call to Stand’ - Col. 2:1-10

Paul spoke of:

A Knowledge Imparted

A Course Implored

A Fulfillment Identified

‘Understanding Our Position in Christ’ - Col. 2:11-15

Paul spoke of:

The Circumcision of the Believer (v11)

The Comparison in Baptism (v12)

The Culmination of the Work of Christ (v13)

The Canceling of Our Debt (v14)

The Conquering of Christ (v15)

Given Complete Victory - and He is a Commander to Follow

‘Beware, Lest Ye Be Spoiled!’ - Col. 2:16-23

Beware the Philosophy of the Jews

Beware the False Doctrines of the Gentiles

Be Mindful of What You Are

‘Live Different!’ - Col. 3:1-11

Seek Out Heavenly Things (v1)

Set Affection on Spiritual Things (v2)

Surrender your Life (v3-4)

Subdue your Flesh (v5-11)

‘Additional Things’ - Col. 3:12-17

Things for Adorning (v12-14)

A Spirit of Humility (Bowels of Mercy; Kindness; Humbleness of Mind; Meekness; Longsuffering)

A Sense of Forgiveness

Being Steadfast in Lovingkindness

Things to Allow (v15-16)

The Peace of God to Dominate

The Word of Christ to Dwell

The Songs of God be Delivered

Things to Do Alway (v17)

Represent God in Word and Deed

Recognize His Grace (v17b)

Today’s message

Principles for the Home

Principles for the Help

I. Principles for the Home (v18-21)

One thing that we want to notice as we look at this topic, is that every aspect that Paul speaks of concerning the church is attributes that Christians ought to employ in their Christian walk in some form or fashion. These are just specific to the roles that are presented.

For the Wives

(Submission) - to willingly submit (to put or place under). So the instruction is for the wife to willingly place themselves under the authority of their husband.

Paul begins this portion of Scripture with giving instruction for the wives. And the instruction that he gives unto the wife is to submit.

This instruction is not an indication of superiority vs. inferiority. This unfortunately is the way so many interpret it. Let me say first that the woman is not inferior unto the man, and the man is not unto the woman. It’s not a matter of respect of sex / gender - it’s a matter of role in the home. It’s not the woman’s job to lead the home. TBH, I don’t know why one would want the responsibility.

The Role of the wife is not inferior, but it is different. That’s because God created men & women differently for different purposes. The husband has been tasked with a job to labor and provide for his family, and God created the wife as a help-meet for him. To help him accomplish the goals that God has placed before them.

Christians in general should learn submission as well. The Bible tells us Heb. 13:17 “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.”

Just as the wives are to willingly place themselves under the authority of the husband, church members are to willingly place themselves under the authority of the undershepherd.

Concerning submission in general - so many recoil at the notion of submission because it carries with it a sense of demeaning. But I say to you, it’s not demeaning, it simply requires humility - and too many are all too prideful to do so.

Lastly notice the words ‘as is fit in the LORD’. In other words, it’s the right thing to do by God.

For the Husbands

(Love) - God’s instructions for the husband is to love his wife.

Just a reminder as what that means. It does not mean to simply have affection for, or a feeling towards: Love is an action word.

To love your wife is to Provide for your wife

Provide for her physical needs, emotional needs, Spiritual needs

Provide Godly leadership that’s easy to submit to

(Ill.) If you were driving a car off a cliff, how willing do you think your wife is going to be jumping in the passenger seat? So many husbands are driving their families off the Spiritual cliff, it’s no wonder why so many wives have trouble submitting unto that!

Provide an example that they can look to

(Ill.) Last Sunday night we canceled church because of the incoming storm. When I sent out the robocall, I challenged the men to use this time to hold a Devotion with their family. I wonder, how many did that? WE are to LEAD our families! We’re supposed to provide that guidance unto them.

If you love - truly love your wife, you’ll Provide for her

To love your wife is to Protect your wife

Protect her from worldly dangers

We should be willing die for them

We should be willing to shield them from ungodly influence. (Drinking / drugs)

Protect her from Spiritual / Satanic dangers

The Husbands should love their wives enough to surround her and supply her with the Spiritual care that they need.

To love your wife is to Promote your wife

We should encourage them, let them know that they are appreciated. Try to give recognition of the good that they do for their family.

The latter part of v19 says ‘and be not bitter against them’ which literally means ‘don’t be bitter to them’, or ‘don’t be the subject of their bitterness’.

It’s not ‘don’t be bitter AT them, but ‘against’ them.

You know, there’s things that we can do to make our wives bitter against us?

(Christian application) We as Christians are called to Love as well. Mat. 22:37-39 “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”

If we love God - we’ll serve God, and if we love our neighbor, we’ll seek to see them saved!

For the Children

(Obedience) He then turns his attention to children. In children, we see that the instruction is on obedience.

Notice the totality of obedience required - in all things...

The obvious reason is that while parents don’t know everything - they typically know everything better than the child. (That doesn’t include video games & such)

Here we see that obedience of the children pleases the LORD

Elsewhere, we see that Honoring your parents brings long life. Ex. 20:12 “Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.”

(Christian application) We as Christians need to learn and practice obedience.

I often think it ironic how a many Christians parents demand obedience from their children, but live Spiritually disobedient lives.

But God places great importance on Obedience. I Sam. 15:22 “And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to hearken than the fat of rams.”

Read Luk. 5:1-6; - ‘What would have happened had Simon Peter been disobedient?

For the Fathers

(Grace) Paul now instructs the fathers to not provoke their children to wrath. How is this accomplished?

To Refrain from:

Mistreating them

Psa. 127:3 “Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: And the fruit of the womb is his reward.”

Children are one of the most tremendous blessings that we can possibly receive. We should treat them as such.

Neglecting them

There’s been many children who have been abandoned - physically & / or emotionally by their fathers, resulting in a bitterness that plays a part in every relationship they experience as an adult.

Misgoverning them

(Ill.) How many parents have disciplined their child and really upset them? This is not speaking of upsetting them because of proper, deserved discipline. Pro. 13:24 “He that spareth his rod hateth his son: But he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.” But oftentimes, we discipline our children without explanation as to why. Also, it’s hard for us to base our raising of our children by saying ‘thus saith the LORD’, if we’re ignoring what our Heavenly Father is saying unto us.

We see Principles for the Home

We have seen Principles for the Home. Secondly, Paul speaks of Principles for the Help

II. Principles for the Help (v22-25)

One thing to understand is that Slavery was very prevelent in 1st century Rome (and Rome’s dominion)

Wiki says: Slavery in ancient Rome played an important role in society and the economy. Besides manual labour, slaves performed many domestic services and might be employed at highly skilled jobs and professions. Accountants and physicians were often slaves. Slaves of Greek origin in particular might be highly educated. Unskilled slaves, or those sentenced to slavery as punishment, worked on farms, in mines, and at mills.

Estimates are said that there was actually more slaves than there were freemen. This is why God addresses those in servitude on multiple occasions. So what does God require of those servants?

Perfect Obedience (v22a)

I find this interesting - that God doesn’t tell the slaves. ‘Revolt’ You are not another’s property! But God told them to be obedient to them. IN ALL THINGS!

Once you come to grips with God’s instruction - in light of what it could be - you then need to ask yourselves ‘why’? Why did God tell the slaves to obey their earthly masters?

Consider if you will three options for the slaves and how their actions woud reflect on Christ:

They could be rebellious.

They could be lukewarm / only doing the bare minimum

They could obey in all things

Had they been rebellious, how would their masters view the religion of Christ? They would view it as a plague to be avoided - hence, it would push the masters away from Christ. But yet, doesn’t Jesus love the master’s too? Didn’t Jesus die for them too?

Had they been lukewarm, they would most likely be behaving exactly like they were before. Hence, the masters would have seen no change in them. (This is the problem with slave labor - there’s no incentive to thrive in your labor, so the slave typically did only what was necessary to get by.

Man, but if they showed a different dedication to them. What an impact it would have on them! Jesus did instruct us: Mat. 5:43-45 “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.”

So God required Perfect Obedience

Pretense Discouraged (v22b)

Here God is stressing that they weren’t simply to ACT like they were serving them wholeheartedly - but that they were to serve them in truth.

In other words, it wasn’t just the actions of the hands, but the intent of the heart that God was concerned with.

Purported Reasoning (v23)

Look at now why God is telling them: You serve them AS you would serve me!

(Ill.) Let me ask you something: If I were coming to your house for supper - how concerned would you be with the food? How concerned would you be with the cleanliness of your house? Now, how does that compare to if it was Jesus who was coming over?

This is the way the servants were to serve… just as if it were Jesus.

And we see why next

Purpose Observed (v24)

The reason they were to serve like they were serving Christ, is because it’s Christ who will reward them!

Earthly masters will not always compensate you as you should be compensated. (Ill. My experience with SFS) But God always will!

Rom. 2:6 “Who will render to every man according to his deeds:”

2Cor. 5:10 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.”

1Pet. 1:17 “And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:”

Make no mistake - God will Pay - but lastly, God will repay as well.

Promised Recompense (v25)

Rom. 12:19 “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.”

God will Repay as well.

Conclusion