True Knowledge and wisdom, Colossians 2:1-5

Most Bible scholars agree that there was a dangerous heresy which had begun to surface in the Colossians church which had been reported by Epaphras to Paul, and was thus the reason for Paul writing this epistle.  Though Paul had not ever visited Colossae, yet as the apostle to the Gentiles he was nevertheless concerned about them, and no doubt felt a certain responsibility for them.

Last time, I used the term Gnostic Judaism to describe this heresy, which obviously tries to tie certain elements of Gnosticism with Judaism.  It would seem to include a blend of the worship of angels, a generous measure of philosophy, and a certain measure of asceticism which stemmed from certain Jewish requirements regarding the law.  

There is a term for the blending of such disparate elements together which is called synergism.  Synergism is two or more components blended or working together which produce a total that is greater than their individual parts.  That term seems to sum up the heresy of the Colossians. Simply stated, they thought that Christian doctrine alone was not sufficient.  They believed the gospel needed human philosophy and a measure of spiritualism added to it to make it more effective, and more fulfilling.

So at the root of this heresy was human philosophy. Philosophy refers to knowledge, or human wisdom. And in this sense, philosophy was closely related to the subjects of religion, reality, natural science, and existence.  Philosophia is the Greek term that means a love of wisdom. And the Greeks loved what they perceived to be the pursuit of wisdom.  But Paul warned in vs 8; “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.”  So philosophy was part of the dangerous heresy confronting the church.

As I’m sure you know, Greece is the birthplace for philosophy and it had become popular long before Christ came on the scene in Israel.  Socrates was the father of philosophy and Plato and Aristotle his disciples.  And so Colossae being a Greek city of some standing there was a great appetite for this higher knowledge that they thought helped to complete what was lacking in the gospel.  And so Paul is writing to refute this type of thinking and the dangerous teaching that was finding it’s way into the church.

Now this false teaching was not just a failing of the church at Colossae, but it has become prevalent in the church today.  The church at large doesn’t think that the gospel alone is sufficient and so they add to it a mix of science and human philosophy. Man’s wisdom, knowledge, psychology, and philosophy has so pervaded Christian teaching so that it has become virtually indistinguishable from the gospel.  The modern Christian accepts Christian doctrine as long as it is compatible with their philosophy.  And so he calls himself a Christian.  But in his thinking his philosophy is central and Christ’s gospel is manipulated to being in support of it.

Now if you look carefully at this epistle, you can’t help but notice the emphasis on this philosophy and false knowledge and worldly wisdom in Paul’s writing. In some cases, he is using a play on words, taking terms that were associated with their teaching and applying them to the gospel. Starting in chapter 1, vs 5 and 6, Paul speaks of the word of God as truth, which is the gospel.  And from that foundation of truth, they are to be “be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.”  Now in contrast to Gnosticism, which professed to achieve spiritualness apart from the body, Paul says this knowledge and wisdom from God produces fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.

Gnosticism, this false knowledge and wisdom,  promised that you could reach a spiritual state apart from the physical. It taught that you could attain knowledge and wisdom from spiritual beings apart from the word of God.  It taught that you could spiritually live in a plane above sin, and even though sin was alive in your body it did not affect you spiritually. But Paul is saying that real spirituality comes from true knowledge of God through Christ, and true knowledge produces godliness. 

You hear a lot today about people who claim to be spiritual, but have little regard for the church, and very little regard even for the word of God.  They may claim all sorts of spiritual revelation for some mysterious spiritual connection to God.  In a similar way, Gnosticism considered their false brand of spiritualism as a mystery, some sort of deeper knowledge gained through the intercession of angels, or spirits, and through the wisdom of philosophy. But Paul relates the true wisdom in vs 27 and 28 as being found in Christ through the preaching of the gospel.

Then at the end of chapter one Paul says he is laboring or striving for the purpose of being able to present the church to Christ as complete.  Not just enlightened spiritually, but complete in their salvation from the penalty of sin, the power of sin, and the presence of sin. To be complete in the sense that they were in practice what they claimed by profession.  Paul is saying that is the point of his labor, and he is striving mightily to accomplish that in the church. 

Now as we look at chapter 2, Paul takes this idea further of laboring or striving on their behalf and says he is wrestling, or struggling on the behalf of the Colossians. He uses a word there which can mean a fight or a contest, but it particularly was used in the context of the Greek games, as a contest in front of an arena of spectators.  

I think Paul is speaking of engaging in spiritual warfare, in the arena of the church and witnessed by heaven. I can’t help but think of his statement in Eph 6:12 which says, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places].”

So Paul was spiritually fighting for the faith among the church at Colossae, and also he says for the church at Laodicea.  Laodicea was a neighboring city about 10 miles away.  It would be comparable to the relationship between Bethany and Rehoboth.  And in vs 1, Paul indicates that he had not visited either town, nor probably even that region, and so no one had seen his face. They knew him by reputation, by position as an apostle, but not in person.

So how did Paul contend for the spiritual maturity of the churches there then if he had never visited them?  One way is that he fought for them in prayer.  You go back to Ephesians six which we just quoted from concerning spiritual warfare, and you will see that prayer is a primary means of conducting our warfare.  After listing the armor of God, Paul says in vs18 “With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,  and [pray] on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel.”

You know, we talked recently about the ministry of reconciliation which is assigned to all of us.  We talked about what your ministry should be as a member of Christ’s church.  We often look for ministry opportunities which we think are appropriate to our talents or our skill set.  And of course, we all think we have worthy talents that will really help God out and that he can magnify and use.  Have you seen the latest ministry that churches are advertising on their bulletins lately?  They call it a life coach. This is someone who obviously has it together, who is going to help you get it together.  They focus on heath, and finances, and making goals, and relationships.  All human wisdom and skill with an occasional dash of Christianity sprinkled in. How to have your best life now - take a life coaching class at your local church.

But the ministry of prayer is one that I suggest we have all been given, and yet for the most part we have sorely neglected. Perhaps because it is not a ministry that many people are going to see us do.  And also, because intercessory prayer is hard labor.  I think that is what Paul is referring to here.  Laboring, striving, wrestling, fighting in prayer for the Colossian church.  And it’s something that we should be doing as well. It is our ministry, our responsibility. It doesn’t take a lot of talent, just dedication.  It takes time, time spent on your knees in prayer for someone, laboring in prayer for them.  Wrestling with angelic principalities through prayer on the behalf of the church.

Now look at what Paul was praying for; vs 2, “that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and [attaining] to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, [resulting] in a true knowledge of God's mystery, [that is,] Christ [Himself,]  in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”  

It’s amazing isn’t it, how Paul manages to rebuke their false knowledge in such a positive way. He doesn’t just flat out condemn them for their heresy, but he manages to state it in a positive way, while at the same time addressing what was in error.  Proverbs says, “as a man thinks in his heart, so is he.”  So Paul is concerned that their hearts are encouraged. The heart is the source of our will, our emotions and our intellect.  If the people at Colossae are going to live their lives in obedience to the truth then it’s important that it starts in the heart.  If their heart is right, then their behavior will be right.

Jesus said in Matt. 15:18-19 "But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.”  That’s why David cried out, “Create in me a clean heart O Lord, and renew a right spirit in me.” A clean heart produces a right spirit, which produces right behavior.  

Paul prays that their hearts may be encouraged.  But that word in the Greek means more than what we typically think of when we think of encouraged. It is also used for implore, to comfort, to strengthen, to teach. Perhaps you might say, that their hearts may be exhorted.  Exhortation has to do with the will of man. It’s a call to action.  It’s not just a theoretical or intellectual agreement only, but a call to action.  Exhortation is not just to produce intellectual assent, but to prod into action. 

And what is Paul calling them to action to do?  To love one another.  “Having been knit together in love.” Love is the tie that binds Christians together.  Christian love is the glue of the church. But as we have often discussed, Christian love does not refer to affection, or sentimentality.  But it refers to a sacrificial commitment to put another’s needs and benefit ahead of your own.

As I have said repeatedly, the church is not just a place to have your own needs met, or even just to be “fed”, as we often hear people claim.  But the church assembles to serve one another, to love one another, to encourage one another.  And let me tell you something. It doesn’t take much to encourage one another or to discourage one another.  Just showing up is an important means of encouraging others. When you come together as an assembly you identify with one another. When you see one another at church you recognize that you share in some way with them.  They feel connected with you because you are there.  And that’s an encouragement to them.  

I suppose it could be related to going to a football game.  When you attend something like that you identify with others who share your enthusiasm for your team.  You feel connected with them even if you don’t know the people attending. And the same is true in church.  And if you take it a step further and speak to someone and shake their hand or give them a hug, that can be an incredible encouragement to someone.  And we can do so much more than that. For instance, as I said earlier, we can begin to pray for one another.  To really labor in prayer for someone else can be the source of tremendous blessing not only for them, but also for you. But if we at least show up, assemble together as a church, that alone can be an immense encouragement to someone.

And then the other blessing that comes from assembling together as a church, provided you are being taught the word of God, is, as Paul says in vs 2, “attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”

The false knowledge and wisdom of the Gnostics led to spiritual bankruptcy.  But Paul says that the true knowledge and understanding, or wisdom, is like gaining wealth.  He is talking about spiritual riches.  Being filled, being complete. Wealth in an agrarian culture was correlated to your crops bearing fruit, or your cattle bearing offspring. And in human terms, bearing fruit 30 fold, or 60 fold, or 100 fold comes from understanding the true knowledge of God’s mystery.  Paul loves to use that word mystery.  It simply means something that was hidden that is now been revealed.  And he says the mystery of God is Christ himself.  The mystery of God was manifested in Christ.

The Gnostic Judaiser false teachers at Colossae were all about mysteries.  They professed to have secret knowledge of spiritual matters which they could teach you to understand if you conformed to their doctrines. Paul uses similar language in 1 Corinthians 13 and 14 to talk about speaking in tongues (secret languages) or word of knowledge which were gained through some spiritual experience.  That same emphasis is happening a  lot of charismatic churches today.  Having some sort of mysterious spiritual experience which supersedes knowing God through the truth of His word. Notice how Paul repeatedly takes this pet word of the Gnostics, mysteries, and uses it to describe the truth of God which is revealed in Christ.  Back in chapter one vs 27 Paul talked about the mystery, which he said is Christ in you, the hope of glory.  That salvation provides the indwelling of the Spirit of Christ in us now, who is the deposit of our future hope of glory, where we will one day see Him face to face in our glorification.

Now Paul elaborates on that mystery, saying it is Christ, “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”  In other words, knowledge and wisdom are not to be sought from philosophy or some spiritual experience, but it is understood as we come to know Christ.  I think that knowledge is different from wisdom in the sense that wisdom is knowledge applied.  Knowledge is the accumulation of facts, but wisdom is the application of those facts. And that again addresses the problem with Gnosticism.  They claimed heavenly knowledge, but it did them no earthly good. Because they did not apply it to godly living, but only cerebrally. 

But when we are conformed to the image of Christ, then we become complete in body, soul and spirit.  In 1Thess. 5:23 Paul ties sanctification to completeness.  Not just our spirit, but all three; spirit, soul and body.  He says, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  Sanctification is a progressive state for the Christian.  It is daily dying to sin, growing in knowledge, growing in wisdom, growing in the word, growing in likeness to Christ.  It’s an essential part of our salvation. but a part that is sadly overlooked and under taught in most churches today.  

The grace of God in justification never fails to be taught in most churches, be they conservative or liberal.  And the hope of glorification in heaven never fails to be taught.  But sanctification is what we do and how we live in the middle stage between justification and glorification.  It’s how we live in the here and now.  And that is to be growing in conformity to Jesus Christ.  Growing in the likeness of Jesus Christ.  Letting Him live in me and through me, and dying to self.  And to do that, I must grow in knowledge of Him, and in wisdom apply that knowledge in practical living.

So on this subject of the so called spiritual quality of knowledge and mysteries that the Colossians were starting to pay attention to, Paul figuratively dumps a bucket of the water.  He says in vs 4 “I say this so that no one will delude you with persuasive argument.”  There is a reason that such arguments may be persuasive.  And that’s because we find them appealing to begin with.  They appeal to our baser instincts.  These false doctrines appeal to our flesh, to the lusts of the flesh.  All of us like things that appeal to our baser natures.  We like what makes us feel good, what makes us look good. 

And philosophy and deceptive spiritual doctrines play to those desires. They appeal to our baser nature.  It’s appealing because we want to believe we can have our cake and eat it too.  We want spirituality, we want some heavenly knowledge or spiritual experience to assure us of our eternal security, but we don’t want to have to sacrifice anything enjoyable on earth in order to have it. And any false teacher who can claim that you can have both will certainly be a popular teacher.

Paul reminds them of the truth of the gospel so that they would not be deceived.  So they would not be deluded by persuasive arguments. Paul said in 1Cor. 2:2 “For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.”  Our protection against such false teaching is to focus on Christ alone, and His crucifixion.  In that, we have all the wisdom that we need.

Then in vs 5, Paul alludes to the fact that even though he is not with them in person, yet he is able to contend for them in spirit, to protect them from false teaching which threatens to undermine the church.  He says “For even though I am absent in body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good discipline and the stability of your faith in Christ.” Once again, Paul manages to couch correction in a positive tone.  He is confident His prayers will prevail for their benefit.  And of course, he adds to his prayers the writing of this epistle, which will be read as a sermon to the church, and which is the inspired word of God which is the only reliable source of wisdom and knowledge.

Paul says he rejoices to see their good discipline and stability of their faith in Christ.  One has to wonder if Paul isn’t using flattery as a means of inducing them to do what he wants them to do.  But he also just said that he was warning them so they wouldn’t be deluded by persuasive arguments.  And so we can assume that they had not swallowed the hook yet, but perhaps had just been tasting the lure.  

What is important from Paul’s perspective is that they have a firm foundation in their faith. That they are not tossed here and there by every wind of doctrine.  As he said to the Ephesian church in Eph 4:14-16 “As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming;  but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all [aspects] into Him who is the head, [even] Christ,  from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.”

Growing up, that’s where the discipline part comes in. As part of our growing up, after our new birth, our heavenly Father disciplines us.  And we also discipline ourselves in holiness lest we become a castaway or become shipwrecked in our faith.  A great passage on discipline is found in Heb 12:6-14 FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES."  It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom [his] father does not discipline?  But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.  Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live?  For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He [disciplines us] for [our] good, so that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.  Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble,  and make straight paths for your feet, so that [the limb] which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.  Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.”

If we are children of God, then He will raise us to be like Christ, which is the process of sanctification.  And He will discipline us to correct us, and conform us.  But the goal is not to punish us, but to complete us.  So we can rejoice in discipline, because it assures us of our sonship and that God loves us, and it will complete in us what He has begun.  And we also need self discipline so that we don’t fall under the judgment of God.  As Paul said in 1Co 11:31 “But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged.”

I pray that you may be found complete in Christ, that all may see your good discipline and the stability of your faith as you apply the knowledge of God in all wisdom and understanding.

Paul’s ministry to the church, Colossians 1:24-29

Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the famous English preacher of the late 1800’s, said, and I quote; “It is the duty of Christian preachers to expose error even when it was held by saintly believers.” I agree with that statement. Error comes in many forms, but the most deceitful means is when it comes from the lips of people who you think you can trust.  Spurgeon went on to say that he wouldn't preach error if the whole world should be converted by it. 

That may be a shocking statement, but what he was trying to say was that he would never preach error, no matter what appeared to be the consequences of doctrine that individuals might apparently be pleased with. One of the signs of the end times, the age of apostasy, is that as Paul told Timothy in 2Tim. 4:3-4 “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but [wanting] to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,  and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.”

Unfortunately, that has become evident in the church at large today.  We have tasted a little error here, and swallowed a little half truth there, and we haven’t realized that we have drifted far away from the truth of the gospel.  I believe it is a problem in American society as well.  We are like the proverbial frog in a pot of warm water, which at the beginning he is able to jump out of the pot, but he finds the temperature is actually to his liking.  The stove though gradually heats up the pot, the frog goes from complacency to comatose until the water begins to boil, and before the poor frog realizes what is happening he is cooked.

That kind of complacency is what Paul is writing to the Colossians about.  They have found the waters of false doctrine to be quite comfortable.  They liked the false teachers that have found their way into the church.  Some commentators have said the false teachers were proposing a new doctrine which we might call Gnostic Judaism.  I’m not going to take the time to try to explain it.  But suffice it to say that it sounded very spiritual.  It sounded like it was based on the scriptures, at least the Old Testament scriptures.  They didn’t really have a New Testament yet and so they studied the Old Testament and whatever few epistles from the apostles that might have found their way to them.  But more importantly the false teaching appealed to their tastes.  It tickled their ears, so to speak. 

And we have a lot of churches today in America that are offering something similar. They are offering a gospel that appeals to our materialistic culture.  They are offering a social gospel.  They are offering a prosperity gospel. They are teaching a gospel that promises you don’t need to be sick, or suffer, or do without anything you want. God wants you to be healthy and wealthy.  It sounds so good.  The temperature of the water is quite comfortable, and they don’t care that they are becoming comatose. 

But Paul’s gospel is not like that.  Paul wouldn’t have passed muster by the typical pastor search committee.  He didn’t look very much like the polished and preening prosperity and word of faith type of preacher that we see in the local mega church or on television.  

Let me share something  with you just so you get an inside picture of what’s going on in many churches today. When my son was in college studying to be a graphic designer, he took an internship with a local mega church in San Diego.  They had a corporate office in some office park that he worked in, but they had several satellite churches throughout the city.  And one day I showed up there to see him at work, and they ended up giving me a tour of the corporate office.  

We saw the graphic design studio, the film studio with green screen which could be outfitted with the background of the appropriate church, and all kinds of things that went into producing the services for all these campus’s. But then they showed me a room which they called the sermon writing room.  I was naturally interested in that, so I asked how it worked.  And I was told that the sermon writing team, made up of a half a dozen or so young men and women,  met there and came up with the sermons that they presented to the  pastors who then practiced speaking them and then performed in front of the green screen and then presented in their church on Sunday.  I was stunned, to say the least, to discover that the pastor did not write his own sermon, nor was he even a part of the sermon writing team.  And then when I left the building, I happened to meet one of the pastors who was coming in to perform one of their sermons.  He was tanned, trim and fit, bleached white teeth, and had a great smile.  I felt like I had just met a movie star or something.

All across this country today, in pulpits in so called evangelical churches, pastors are preaching a canned, packaged, committee written message complete with power point graphics and Bible verses and touching illustrations that they purchased from one of those type of sermon mills. And like all false doctrines, there is just enough good stuff in there to make what’s not true seem like it’s not all that important. Someone who was defending one of those churches told me the other day that God can use canned sermons too. Well, that may be true, but my response to that is that God used an ass to rebuke the prophet Balaam, but that shouldn’t mean we want one in the pulpit.  

But this is not just a 21st century phenomenon. By the first dozen years since Christ ascended into heaven, this false gospel was already making dangerous inroads in the church.  Paul warned the Galatian church, Gal 1:6-8 “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel;  which is [really] not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.  But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!”

This false, feel good gospel was not what Paul was preaching, however. The gospel that Paul was preaching is not something designed to make you feel special, or to make all your problems go away, or to help you become your best self now. Notice what Paul says concerning the gospel so far. He says we were enemies of God, and the only way to be reconciled to God is through the death of Jesus Christ. It took the death of Christ to reconcile you to God, to make things right between you and God, Jesus had to die on the cross, a terrible, torturous, violent death, to atone for your sin.

Because we were by nature enemies of God, engaged in evil deeds, but He rescued us from the dominion of Satan, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.  And regarding His Son Paul has much to say, not the least of which is that “He Himself will come to have first place in everything.”  Christ must have first place in our lives.  That’s what it means in Romans 10:9 which said, “If you confess Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.” To confess Jesus is Lord means that He has first place in our lives. He is on the throne of our hearts. We no longer live for ourselves, but we live for God.

2Cor. 5:15 says, “and [Christ] died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.”  I wonder if we were examined on that point as proof that we were indeed born again, would there be enough evidence to convict us?  Do we no longer live for ourselves, but live for Christ?

Paul goes on to say concerning the gospel of salvation that it produces a new life. 2Cor. 5:17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, [he is] a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”  We are a new creature, a new creation, no longer are our goals aligned with the ways of this world, or with acquiring the material possessions of this world, but fixing our eyes on Jesus as we walk in newness of life in Christ. 

Back in Colossians, Paul speaks further of this transformation in us, in vs 21: “And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, [engaged] in evil deeds,  yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach-- if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.”

The goal of our reconciliation is that we walk in holiness, that we live in a way that is blameless, beyond reproach. Now what does he mean, if we continue in the faith? Notice it says continuing in THE faith, not continuing in faith.  There was a popular teacher of an earlier generation who was a prosperity and word of faith preacher before it became quite as mainstream as it is today.  His name was Norman Vincent Peale.  You may have heard of his book which was a best seller;  “The Power of Positive Thinking.”  Mr. Peale made the common mistake of confusing positive thinking with faith.  I suppose you can have faith in carnal things.  I practice faith every time I get in an airplane.  

But that is not Biblical faith. I might convince myself to have faith that God will protect me if I put a blindfold over my eyes  and walk across Route 1.  But no matter how much I believe it, or want to believe it, that doesn’t mean that I won’t get run over by a truck.

Biblical faith is believing in the promises of God which are written down in the word of God, so that as Peter said, we have a faith more sure.  2Peter 1:19-21 “[So] we have the prophetic word [made] more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.  But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is [a matter] of one's own interpretation,  for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”

Ok, then, so the gospel is the word of God, and faith is trust in the promises of God which are given to us by the Holy Spirit in the scriptures.  This is the faith that Paul is preaching in Colossians, which he delineates in vs 5 saying, “the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel.” And since the day which they believed by faith this gospel, Paul in the beginning of this epistle said he prayed that they would bear fruit, being filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that they will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might,]for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience.”  That’s the evidence of their faith, the fruit of their faith, their walk in the faith.

Now why would they need all this strength, and power, and steadfastness and patience to walk in the faith? Well, the answer is revealed in vs 24, because of the sufferings which they would experience because of their faith.  Vs.24, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions.”  What is he talking about here?  Is Paul saying that part of the Christian experience is suffering, and afflictions?  Yes, that’s exactly what he is saying.  I thought everything was supposed to be better when you become a Christian.  I thought we get to live our best life now, and also get heaven when we die. I thought God promised to make everything in my life work out for good.

What Paul is talking about is his identification with the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ.  

"Filling up that which is lacking of the sufferings of Christ," he means that his sufferings, on behalf of the church of Jesus Christ, represents an identification with the risen Lord who has suffered for the church.  Paul’s suffering though is not for their atonement but as a minister for their spiritual edification. 

Contrary to the teachings of Norman Vincent Peale and others of his ilk, suffering is a necessary part of the Christian experience. If the church is the body of Christ, then we should expect suffering as we are a part of that body. In fact, Romans tells us that suffering leads to the glory which is the inheritance of our salvation.   Rom 8:17 “and if [we are] the children of God,  [then] heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with [Him] so that we may also be glorified with [Him.]” 

There are a lot of ways which we can suffer for our faith.  Because of our faith we can suffer rejection from family, we can suffer the loss of friendships, we can suffer by losing a job, or by losing some sort of favor at work which results in less pay or the loss of a promotion.  The list of ways we can suffer as Christians could go on and on.  But I will tell you something I believe very strongly.  We have not yet suffered like we are soon going to suffer, and I believe it will be at the hands of our government. I believe that the ways in which government restricted churches during the pandemic was just a trial run of things to come.  I believe the day is coming when we will no longer be able to proclaim the truth of God’s word without fear of reprisal.  The truth will be branded as hate speech.  We will be forced to either publicly approve of what the Bible tells us is sin, or we will find ourselves being censored and even shut down. 

But I think that many churches are trying to prove to the world that they are actually inclusive, loving people and so they avoid talking about sin, they avoid talking about damnation, they avoid saying anything that might not be perceived as politically correct.  But the Bible says you cannot love the world and be Christ’s disciple.  1John 2:15 says,  “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” And so if you call out the world and tell them the truth of the gospel, that they are sinners, and without God, and as such will be eternally separated from God in hell unless they repent, then you can expect to suffer affliction.  So perhaps another evidence of our salvation is to examine the degree to which you are suffering.  Now don’t misunderstand me, you can suffer because you’re a jerk too. I’m not advocating that.  But I am saying that it is likely that you will suffer for the sake of the gospel if in fact you are actually living in service to the Lord. In 2Tim. 2:3 Paul says, “Suffer hardship with [me,] as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.”

Now Paul goes on to explain how this service works in vs 25-27 “Of [this church] I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the [preaching of] the word of God,  [that is,] the mystery which has been hidden from the [past] ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints,  to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

Now in verse 23, it says that Paul is a minister of the gospel. In verse 25, he says that he is a minister of the church. Both of these are true.  A minister is a servant. That's what the term diakonos, the term used here means- the same word from which we get the term deacon. 

Paul is a servant of the word, and he's a servant of the church because you can never really be a good servant of the church of Jesus Christ if you're not a servant of the word. The blessing of the Holy Spirit can only come through the word of God. The things that God blesses are the things that are in obedience to the word of God. If a person is unable to verify his Christian experience by the teaching of the word of God, you can say it is a dubious Christian experience. Christian experience must be founded in the word of God. The word of God is our standard, and Paul is a servant of the word, and by that he is able to minister to the church.

Notice what Paul says the preaching of the word does - it it reveals the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but now has been manifested to His saints (that is the true believers, the church).   What is this mystery?  A mystery is something that can not be known unless it is revealed.  So the Holy Spirit has revealed through the word of God something that is now clear.  

 I have read a lot of speculations of possible meanings of  what Paul refers to the mystery, but I think that I will stick with what Paul is saying the mystery is.  He says, “what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, WHICH is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”  The mystery is simply this; Christ in you, the hope of glory.  He is referring to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit who is given to us at the moment of salvation.  Jesus said in the upper room that it was expedient that He should leave His disciples, so that He could send them a Helper, the Spirit of Truth.  

In Romans 8:9 notice how Paul uses Spirit of God and Spirit of Christ interchangeably. He says, “However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.”  So the Spirit of Christ is in us as the result of our salvation.  But at the same time the Spirit is also a foretaste, or a deposit of the good things to come.  Paul says “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

The hope of glory speaks to the future. Christ in us now as the Spirit will be made complete and glorious when we see Him face to face at the consummation. Our future inheritance is the hope of glory.  And so as we said earlier, we suffer with Him now but we are promised glory later.  Remember Romans 8:17 which we quoted earlier?  “and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with [Him] so that we may also be glorified with [Him.]”  We are now saved, we now have the Spirit as a pledge, as a deposit of what will be fully realized when we are raised to glory at the resurrection.

The hope of glory is speaking of something in the future.  Now is not glory.  Now we suffer with Him.  Now we live as aliens in a foreign land.  Now we sometimes suffer hardships.  Now we don’t have everything that we might want to have.  In this world we serve the Lord, not ourselves.  We no longer just live for ourselves, but for Him.  And we look forward to that day when all things will be made new, and we shall be glorified.

You know, I worry about the world that my kids and my grandkids will have to live in.  I am afraid that the America of our father’s generation is long gone and not coming back. Some Christians  offer consolation by saying that God is still on the throne.  And yes He is.  God is on the throne of heaven and earth is His footstool.  But America has rejected God’s rule.  America said a long time ago that God will not rule over us.  God was on the throne in heaven when He allowed Hitler to take control of Germany.  God was on the throne when Russia and China became communist and killed and imprisoned millions of Christians. 

Listen, Romans 1 tells us that there comes a day in the course of human events when God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do the things which were not proper. God gives a people over to their desires, even if that desire is the means of their destruction. God gave Israel a king because they asked for a king.  And their kings led them to depravity, to the destruction of the temple, to become exiled in Babylon.  And yet, God is still on His throne and He will still accomplish His purpose on earth.  But God’s promise  is to one day destroy the heavens and the earth and remake all things new.  God’s purpose is not to make this world a better place, but to ransom a people from this world and take them out of this world.  One day His judgement will rightly fall upon this world and this earth will be destroyed by fire. 2Peter 3:13 “But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.” 

Now that’s God’s purpose and that is the hope of glory. That we that are saved, though we may suffer in this life, we will at the end of the age be raised to glory with Christ.  All things will become new.  Where righteousness dwells eternally.  A day with no night, no death, no sin, no sorrow.  That is the hope that Paul is preaching. That’s the hope of the gospel.

Well, Paul concludes this section concerning his ministry to the church by saying in vs28 “We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.  For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.”  

The purpose of Paul’s preaching is not just to lead someone to Christ, but to make them complete in Christ.  He is talking about the spiritual maturity of the believer.  And, guess what? spiritual maturity is tied to suffering.  James 1:2-4 says, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,  knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.  And let endurance have [its] perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”  

Listen, God teaches us more by walking with us in the fiery furnace than He does by walking with us on the mountaintop. The testing of our faith produces maturity and steadfastness through the word of God.  As we endure suffering, as we endure afflictions, as we live as aliens and sojourners in this world, we do so by faith in the word of God, trusting in His promises, trusting in His presence with us.  And we come out of those trials as if tested by fire, refined as gold, complete in Christ.

Paul knows that the secret of his success is not in the power of positive thinking, but it’s in the inner presence of the Holy Spirit who works mightily in him.  And that same power is available to us.  We walk by the Spirit and not by the flesh.  We walk in the wisdom of the word and not according to the wisdom of this world.  And through His word, and growing in the knowledge of Christ, we are being conformed to His image, and being made complete in Christ.  That is the goal of the gospel.  To make us like Christ, so that we might have Christ in us, that we might live like Christ in the world, and that we might one day be glorified with Christ.  I pray that is your goal as well.