Northside Church - Sydney
About Colossians in About 20 Minutes
You're listening to another great message from Northside Community Church. Now, either Paul had a great sense of humour, which he may have, or he was the world's greatest optimist, which he may have been, because I've chosen one little verse out of Colossians to begin with today. It's verse 8 of chapter 4, and he tells his readers that he's sending this letter, because all the letters of course were in a scroll form, he's sending this letter with a guy called Tichicus. Now, let me just say to the parents, there will be no name ideas for you in the book of Colossians. Tichicus, don't leave that one for good to say. So he's sending Tichicus with this letter, and he says, in verse 8, he will tell you how we're all getting on. It's a fairly chatty kind of letter. And then he says, this will cheer you up. See? So he's going to tell you how we're getting on, and it'll cheer you up. Now, here's the reality. I mean, that might have been the case if Paul's ministry was going off, if he was preaching the crowds every night, if people were coming forward to become Christians, that might cheer them up. But in actual fact, Paul was in prison. And the guy he refers to, one of the guys he refers to is saying, "Oh, hi to you Colossians, the guy called Demas." He says, "Oh, Demas says hi." That guy, well, the time Paul writes 2 Timothy, which is not long after Colossians, that guy has deserted. He's left. He's gone. What do we say? He's bamused. He's great disappointment to Paul. The Demas has left me, he says, in 2 Timothy. So, I mean, what sort of condition are these Colossian Christians in? If news of Paul's imprisonment and possible tension within his inner circle, if that's meant to cheer them up, then what sort of condition were they in? And I would have to say they were in desperate need of a major overhaul, spiritually speaking. That's where the Colossians were. They've seen better days. There were more than a few problems for this lot, and that's largely what this book is about. Let's have a closer look. Who were the Colossians? There's the first question. Well, based on the evidence available, it's likely these Christians, like so many in the early church, met in a home somewhere in the city of Colossi, which was 160 kilometers from Ephesus, which was located in what we now know as Turkey. I'm sure some of you have been to the ancient ruins of Ephesus. I haven't. I'm very envious, if you have, because I hope to get there one day I see that hand, David. I know numbers of you have, and it must be fascinating to go there. Well, that's the setting. Now, there's the hint of an orthodox Jewish influence in this church, but overwhelmingly the members of this church were from Greek or Roman background. In other words, people who'd converted from paganism to Christianity. Now, you think about that in the first century, as a big step, a really big step to convert from Christianity to paganism, and many of these were struggling. They were really struggling as they transitioned into the new lifestyle that was expected of them as Christians. You see, they'd seen both sides. They'd seen what paganism had to offer. Now they were seeing what Jesus Christ had to offer. And some of the practices and rituals they would have been involved with would have been fairly bizarre. I mean, if you've been to Pompeii or some of these ancient cities, you know what I'm talking about. They would have been in some very bizarre stuff as pagan. So Paul acknowledges their struggles. So here we have a comparatively new church in a city known for its pagan worship. And not surprisingly, there are a few issues to be addressed. There are a few problems to be tackled. Well, what were the problems in the Colossian church? What were these problems? Well, number one, the true gospel was being distorted. Now I can, it's just amazing to even have to say that because only about three decades since Jesus was walking the face of the earth. And already, the true gospel is starting to be distorted. Let me pick up a couple of references. Paul says in chapter 2 verse 8, "Seat to it, no one enslaves you by means of the worthless deceit of human wisdom which comes from the teachings handed down by men and not from Christ." Here's a phrase for you. "The worthless deceit of human wisdom." We might refer to that as wobbly teaching at best or downright heresy at worst. Here's the second thing. "These converts from paganism were clinging to some of the old aspects of their lifestyle, their former lifestyle." And that's where Paul comes on pretty strongly in chapter 3 verses 5 to 8, "You must put to death the earthly desires at work in you such as sexual immorality, indecency, lust, evil passions and greed." At one time he says, "You yourselves lived according to such desires." But now you must get rid of all these things. Now, of course, Paul is talking, he's rather he's touching on struggles that were not just part of the Colossian Church. These are struggles that could be part of any church depending on what your background is and what your former life may have been. I'm sure I shared with some of you some time ago about a trip I made to Las Vegas a number of years ago with the ministers, the ministers we take over every couple of years and we're going again in October of this year. We go to Las Vegas sometimes because one of the largest churches of our denomination is in Las Vegas. It's the central Christian Church and it has, on a Sunday, a number of attenders similar to what we have here in Hillsong and it's one of our churches. I mean, it's this massive right there in the heart of Las Vegas. So we're there on this particular occasion and one of the guys said, "Wouldn't mind seeing Caesar's palace, Graham, you've been here stacks of times, you'd take it down to Caesar's palace." I said, "Yeah, well, we go down to Caesar's palace, it's not very far away." So we go down to Caesar's palace and you know, like, that place does not affect me in any way shape or form. I just see it as a massive opulent edifice in which people lose a lot of money. That's that's it, you know, and it's a bit of a giggle, it's a bit of fun. And partway through this visit, a guy came up to me and said one of the ministers from Western Australia came up to me and said, " Graham, I'm feeling a little bit uncomfortable here." He said, "There are too many memories here for me. This is what nearly cost me my marriage. This is what nearly cost me my kids. This is what nearly knocked me right out of the face. I'm just, you know, this is not a good scene to me. Do you mind if we lose?" I said, "No, let's go." So we left. I mean, depending on your point of vulnerability, that was his point of vulnerability. And these people with the background that they had had, this whole area of this sort of immorality was a real tension point for them. Here's something else. The uniqueness of Jesus was being questioned. 68e, the uniqueness of Jesus. And there are many statements from Paul to counter this disturbing trend. One of the most powerful of these is found in chapter 2, verse 10, where he comes straight out and he says, "He Jesus is supreme over every spiritual ruler and authority." End of story. Get that India. That's what he's saying. You know, like none of this fussing around or who's Jesus is. How does he rank in terms of all the gods? No, he's supreme. He's number one. Paul says, "Let's get that straight." And then earlier in chapter 2, verse 15, he says, "Christ is the visible likeness of the invisible God. He is the firstborn, superior to all created things." So Paul is trying to dispel any doubts about the identity of Jesus Christ. He's the Son of God. He's God's revelation, one and only to the world. But while the supremacy of Christ was being questioned, some within the church were thinking that they were spiritually superior to others. And chapter 2, verse 18, Paul addresses this. He says, "Do not allow yourselves to be condemned by anyone who claims to be superior because of special visions." Now, he's referring to Gnosticism. And some of you have done a bit of church history. You know what I'm talking about here? Gnosticism was one of the heresies that was rampant in the early church. And it was based on the belief that certain people had special knowledge of certain things, spiritual knowledge, not necessarily Christian knowledge, but special knowledge. And the adherence of this heresy were very judgmental in how they viewed those who didn't have this knowledge. And so there was this sort of superiority that was set up. And some of these former, well, rather that was a cause of some real tension within the Colossian church. And as if all these former problems weren't enough, salvation by grace was being exchanged for salvation by works. You see, some of these former devotees of pagan gods and cults were finding it difficult to believe that in Jesus Christ, salvation was not about what they did. It was rather about what Jesus had already done. Now, finding it difficult to understand it wasn't about their worthiness in doing certain things. It was about God's acceptance of them despite their failures and their inadequacies. And they were really fine. They'd all been used to bringing offerings and doing certain things and charting certain mantras. And now it's all just grace. Look, you can't do anything to add to your salvation. It's all been done through Jesus. Just believe it. Just accept it. Now, this is an area. I'm sure you'll agree where many Christians have struggled over the years, depending on your background. If you've got a Roman Catholic background or a background in fundamentalism, this is a real point of tension. You were forced to abide by rules that weren't in the Bible, which were added on to try and keep you on the straight and narrow. When I was growing up in the church here in Sydney as a young boy, you couldn't go swimming on Sunday. You couldn't go to the bars. That was a big no-no. And you couldn't watch television on a Sunday. It wasn't in my family, but it was many of my friends. You couldn't watch television. You certainly couldn't dance or wear heavy makeup, which fortunately wasn't too much of a problem for me. It was if you were a young girl. And you couldn't read from any version of the Bible, but the King James Version. Absolutely. Now, we were led to believe that all of these requirements were somewhere in the Bible somewhere. You just have to kind of look hard enough. They're all there. I guess ministers and leaders, they meant well. They're trying to keep everybody grouped together. But they inadvertently turned a lot of people off the faith, particularly in latter years. Because there's just a whole bunch of rules and regulations that just didn't make sense. Obviously, some of the specifics were different for these Colossian Christians. But in chapter 2, verse 16, look at this. Paul says, "Let no one make rules about what you eat or drink or about holy days or the new moon festival or the Sabbath." You know, people are sort of dropping all these rules onto you. In other words, stop believing you can enhance your salvation by being overtly religious. It doesn't work and it's not even necessary. Just accept God's love and rejoice in His goodness. Let His love and grace just shine through you in a natural way as you live for Him. Well, it was a timely word then. It was a timely word for us today as we seek to be real for Jesus. So here's Paul. He's locked away in a Roman prison in the early 60s, AD. He's keen to connect with a church he's never been to. We know that for the cumulative evidence. He's never been to this church. He's only known there by name. A friend of Paul from Ephesus, a guy called Epaphras, I said, get your names out of this. Epaphras, don't ever want. Epaphras is attributed with having started the church, chapter 1, verse 7. You learn of God's grace from Epaphras. In other words, you became Christians from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is God's faithful worker on our behalf. So the next big question, guys, is this. How does Paul tackle the issues in his letter? Now, the short answer is in a very encouraging and a very supportive way. That's the short answer. He's not harshly critical. He doesn't berate them or beat them around the head. He simply sets out to address his concerns in a very logical and a very systematic way. Each of the four chapters, it's a fairly short book. You can read it in one sitting if you want to. Each of the four chapters is devoted to a specific topic. Now, at a time when we don't have to look too far to find strange teachings about Christianity, you go on the web, you go on cable television, you check the print media. There's some pretty strange teaching out there. At such a time as this, we do well to have a listen to the assertions that Paul makes to these Colossians way back there in the first century. Chapter one, he reaffirms the supremacy of Christ. Some of the most vivid and powerful of Paul's Christology is found in this book. For example, chapter one versus 15 to 18, read to us earlier, Christ is the visible likeness of the invisible God. He's the firstborn son. Superior to all created things for through him God created everything in heaven and on earth, the scene and the unseen things, including spiritual powers, Lord's rulers, authorities. It's a very lofty Christology, very lofty teaching. Chapter two, he warns against false teachers and they were in abundance. Chapter two, verse four, I tell you, do not let anyone deceive you with false arguments. No matter how good they seem to be. You see, I'm going temptation for the church down through the centuries has been to kind of adapt the message to accommodate a wider diversity of thinking. But of course, when this happens and we've seen it over the years, the uniqueness of Jesus is watered down. His demands on our lives are explained away or he didn't really mean that. The reality of salvation is described in terms of some sort of psychological, motivational self-awareness sort of exercise. And whilst these things can make Christianity more appealing, they can also drop way short of what the good news of Jesus is really all about. It just dropped way short. Chapter three, he reminds his readers, they are under new management. Yes, some were struggling, really struggling with letting go of the old life. But he said, here's the reality. Chapter three, verse nine, you've discarded the old nature with its habits and have put on the new nature. This is the new being which God, its creator, is constantly renewing in his own image in order to bring you to a full knowledge of himself and to emphasize this point, this point of a new nature. Paul uses the analogy of clothing. The ancients placed a lot of emphasis on garments, you know, certain garments for certain occasions. We know from the historical records that sometimes when people got baptized, they went to the river or the stream in their oldest, dirtiest clothes and they shed them, were baptized and on the other side, they get a brand new set of clothes. This does reinforce the before and after effective baptism. So they understood about the significance of clothing. Paul uses this analogy in chapter three, verse 12, he says, you must clothe yourselves with, and then he lists a whole list of qualities that should characterize a Christian, compassion, blindness, humility, gentleness, patience, tolerance, forgiveness. It's kind of reminiscent of Galatians, chapter five, you know, the fruit of the spirits, all their sort of points of difference as they're meant to be with a Christian. It's all very practical. It's all designed to drive home. The point that being a Christian is far more than having the right theology. It's having a right relationship with God, the Father, through Jesus, the Son. In the fourth and final chapter, Paul assures them of his love, his support, his encouragement. It's a very warm and a chatty kind of chapter. Check it out. It's a fitting way to close a book that has of necessity had to touch on some very sensitive issues like morality, like heresy, like beliefs, like commitment. You don't touch on these topics without treading on a few toes. And Paul would have treaded, trodden on a few toes in his right into the Colossians. But as a great leader, he chooses to build them up rather than put them down. Hello? Too much pastor and Adelaide, something. He chooses to highlight their strengths rather than focus on their weaknesses. He chooses to affirm their progress in the faith rather than lament their falling away. Now Paul had a relational style of leadership and it's reflected in this letter. And it's a great model for all of us involved in Christian leadership, involved in a form of leadership. Celebrate what you want to see more of. Don't just highlight all the things that are going wrong. We've all worked for people like that. It's always highlighting that's wrong. Celebrate what you want to see more of as well as taking care of the others. But mainly focus on the celebrations. That's what Paul does. Finally, a very brief look at its relevance, the relevance of Colossians. And very, very quickly, look, the main messages for us in 2011, there are three of them. Look at these. Number one, be vigilant. That's Paul's word to us. Be watchful. Be alert. Chapter one, verse 23. You must continue faithfully on a firm and sure foundation. I must not allow yourselves to be shaken from the hope you gained when you heard the gospel. It's a call to stand firm and to constantly revisit the basics to reinforce the foundational truths of the gospel. And friends, that's something we have to do here at Northside. I hope you realize that. Like through our preaching, our teaching, our connection group studies, we're trying to reinforce the basics of the gospel. Because at a time when there's so much pluralism around and so many different ways of thinking and so many pressures on this sort of belief and that, we need to keep revisiting the basics. We need to keep reinforcing among ourselves that which is the essential nature of the gospel. We are unashamedly an evangelical church, pretty conservative in doctrine, very contemporary in the way we try to package the message. But we try to get back to basics and that's Paul's call. Be vigilant, he says. He also says be visible. Make an impact on your world. What's he saying in chapter three, verse 12. You have a people of God. He loves you. He chose you for his own. You're under new management, Paul is saying. Live and act accordingly. You've got a new identity. Stand out. Be a little bit conspicuous. Yes, it's a struggle. And sometimes there'll be gaps between how we're meant to live and how we actually live. But as we increasingly put on the garments of the spirit filled life, we'll increasingly reflect the love and the grace and the light of Jesus Christ. That's the journey toward Christian maturity. None of us make it this side of heaven. But it is an ongoing journey. There's a church we're trying to support everybody in that journey. Finally, he says be victorious. Chapter three, verse 21. You have been raised to life with Christ. So set your hearts on the things that are in heaven. You're on the winning side. He's not saying be so heavenly minded that you're of no earthly use. Nothing like that. No, it's more a case of focusing on the things that are eternal. The things that really matter like the faith, like family, like friends, like service without strings, like Kingdom values, those kinds of things. It's getting your priorities right. People with an eternal perspective on life believe that courage is stronger than fear. They believe that hope is stronger than defeat. They believe that love is stronger than hate. Faith is stronger than doubt. And life is stronger than death. That's what it means to have an eternal perspective, to see the big picture. I'm so thankful for the book of Colossians because a careful read of this book can reinforce your desire and your ability to be a Christian who's vigilant, who's visible, and who's victorious. And I don't know about you, but that's the kind of Christian I want to be. Get into Colossians. It'll give you a great encouragement this week. Let's pray and pray, shall we? Father God, we thank you. As we look at the people in Colossi all those years ago, although our background might be very, very different to theirs and certainly the cultural and social setting in which they found themselves was very different to us. Nevertheless, as we probe a little deeper, we see that things weren't all that much different. They're under pressures of various kinds to conform with their world. We're under pressures to conform with our world. They needed to be more visible. They needed to be vigilant. Ultimately, they needed to be victorious for your work to flourish and we can identify with all of those things. Thank you, Lord, for the way in which your book, the Bible, becomes not just the written word but the living word as we look into its themes and its message and apply to our daily lives. Please speak to those who need to have prayer ministry this morning. May these next few moments be a very special time of encouragement and new hope and new beginnings for a lot of your people in this church. So Jesus Christ our Lord be pray. Amen.