In this sermon, Pastor Joe Babij examines and preaches through Colossians 2:4-7.
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well I do appreciate all the work people put in to make Sunday happen not only the all the praise teams but uh people doing the nursery the sound booth the greeters and uh everyone else the food uh are it’s a really blessing uh that people help out to do that and uh so I just want to thankful all the workers that just serve the Lord it’s a great uh honor to me to see that all work out so this morning let’s turn to Colossians chapter two we’re still looking at laboring for the supremacy of Christ looking at the conflict and as you turn there let me have a word of prayer Lord this morning I thank you for the word of God and I thank you Lord that once we understand what you have done and what we have the only thing we could do is thank you that’s it not complain not grumble but just be thankful when I pray this passage of scripture will help us to understand that this morning and that your honor and glory and the name of Christ will be exalted to his Supreme place where he belongs because that’s where scripture puts him and Lord I pray that we would humble ourselves under his mighty hand that you may use us when you see fit to do your will and work and I pray this in Christ’s name amen it has been said that all religions are the same and only seemingly different in truth Christianity is profoundly different from every other religion because every other religion basically says you can save yourself however else they go about it that’s really much what they all conclude do enough Good Deeds please a God or gods or a force or yourself and you can earn salvation the Bible though emphatically teaches the opposite no one can earn salvation because God’s standard is perfection even our good works are saturated with our sin our motives in our thoughts are not perfectly pure and exalt God exalting in fact Isaiah says they’re filthy rags before a holy God every person has fallen short of God’s standard of perfection also we cannot fathom the holiness Justice and infinite nature of God we have sinned against so we really can’t comprehend the seriousness of our sin for example if you lied to a child there are little consequences if you lie to your spouse the consequences increase if you lie to the government jail awaits same sin different consequences because of whom the sin is sinned against like Adam and Eve just one sin justifies our separation from a perfect God who won’t tolerate sin at all in his holy presence all other religions are man trying to grasp that truth and salvation however Jesus says I am the way and I am the truth and I am the life no one goes to the father but through me Jesus the last Adam lived a perfect life died on the cross to pay a perfect infinite sacrifice that we could have never paid and in doing so he defeated Satan and death and he rose from the grave defeating Satan and death no other religion has an empty tomb none no Christianity is isn’t like other religions man’s word and religion say do God’s word says done in Christ there’s really only two religions in the world if you want to categorize it like that right there’s the religion of works I do this to earn my salvation and then there’s religion of free Grace what God has done to save me and I believe that by faith trusting repenting of my sin and trusting in Jesus Christ Alone for salvation so then we will experience conflict as Christians because we are Christians and this conflict we entered will be in the area of Doctrine and practice Doctrine and practice go together you can’t have one without the other in real salvation we will learn what is true and we will learn what is not true and the Lord wants you to have assurance that Christ is God and he is sufficient to completely save he wants you to have Assurance of your salvation in Christ he wants you to be assured that Jesus will completely and totally take care of you now and forever he wants you to know the road map to a stable healthy and thankful Christian Life now so far in our text in chapter 2 we have looked at the Warfare and if you notice in verse number one it says for I want you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf and for those for those who are at laodicea and for all those who have not personally seen my face the Apostle Paul is sharing with us the struggle that he had within his own heart for people he never met but these Jews and Gentiles converts are now in Christ so he struggled for them in prayer so that they would be firm in their faith what was he wrestling with he was wrestling with things that will hinder reaching the goal to be firmly established in the faith and re to remain steadfast the whole of one’s Christian Life and already we know that the most effective antidote to any heresy is pro the proclamation of Christ himself the cogent proof of Christ’s absolute Supremacy and exclusivity there’s no other way truth is worth fighting for no matter what cost or how much it would make us unpopular so the Apostle Paul first of all is deeply concerned with these people that he is writing to and so secondly we saw the welfare that Paul had for them it says in verse number two that their hearts may be encouraged having been knit together in love this encouragement will not come naturally from within them but must come outside of themselves of course here the encouragement is coming from the Apostle Paul along with his writing Ministry that will encourage them and the Holy Spirit of God now that indwells them will encourage them further in the faith and this fear of this this knitting together is the sphere of love it says further in verse number two that their hearts may be encouraged having been knit together in love that the church body interlocked like a knitted blanket and how how does that happen because God brings together the most divided people groups from the most diverse backgrounds and World Views and bring the brings them into the church and makes them one United body why because all ethnic groups from all tribes and Nations become one person when they come to Christ in Repentance and faith and so the Colossians and the laodicean congregations comprised of Jews and Gentiles had already been demonstrating Christian love which is very unusual for people so completely different and that’s why a Papyrus writes back or tells Paul in his report listen these people right there that got saved and believed the gospel he informed then that that there had they had love in the spirit there was love abounding in that those congregations love is always an overwhelming adoration adoration for the Lord Jesus Christ and it always always produces a genuine well-being of others and gives really evidence a real conversion so it is it is worth fighting for the unity of Believers which is knit together in love because love is a weapon for victory that we may be strong together in Warfare also this love and this the goals of being rooted and grounded in the faith is also keeping what we have not giving it away and verse number two it says and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full Assurance of understanding and of course scripture is not referring to uh physical material wealth it is referring to the wealth and riches we have as Believers in Christ which consists of conviction of the assured understanding and knowledge of God’s mystery and what what was that what is that mystery that was Captain mystery in the past but now unveiled well we already saw it it is Christ in you the hope of glory Christ Alone is the source of every conceivable bit of spiritual knowledge worth keeping and living for and having that all the barriers are down so whether you come from a Jewish background or a gentile Saints alike are fellow heirs now in Christ and because the spirit of God is in them and then it further says in verse number two and three in whom are hidden All The Treasure of wisdom and knowledge it is in Christ that all the Treasure of divine wisdom and knowledge have been stored up in hiding formally but now display to those who have come to know Christ Jesus that Christ Alone is the source of scriptural knowledge worth having and fighting to keep that this knowledge is the greatest wealth that we’ll ever obtain or have on this side of Eternity so I said last time that’s a christological high point no one could take that away from us but in some way we can walk away from it or give it away Christ is our treasure and anyone who comes to know Jesus Christ by faith can draw from his store of wisdom and knowledge that has been given to us so it is worth fighting for The Treasure of Truth because the truth about Christ is a sharp weapon for victory holding to it will make us Mighty in Warfare so what do we have we have Unity unifying love as a weapon for victory in Warfare we have keeping The Treasure of truth about Christ is also a weapon for victory and they also give us discernment which gives us protection protection from what from false teaching so now we are armed for battle and once we are confident we have this treasure in Christ once we have this high christology the benefits of wisdom and knowledge have a direct practical purpose for us and what is that that’s where we’re looking at today in verse number four to verse 7 verse number four the warning the unity of Doctrine the unity of love The Treasure of Christ as our possessions will keep you and me from being deceived so here’s an exit or exit exhortative warning notice in verse 4 I say this so that no one will delude you with persuasive argument so all that went before so you and I can stand strong we’re ready for Warfare now bring it on because I know the truth I know who my savior is I know the wealth I have and I’m not giving that away for No One see the word here delude in this context has the meaning of twisting the truth or enticing into error to deceive by false reasoning or drawing erroneous conclusions arguments that sound reasonable or even popular rhetoric that get people to accept conclusions about religion and spiritual truth that are absolutely wrong because they have nothing to test it with they have to test it with the word of God see there are many places today where falsehood and disinformation are being disseminated you have all kinds of media Outlets YouTube and Twitter and podcasts and Facebook and multimedia presentations and news networks and yes even churches see Satan’s arguments sound plausible just what he presented to Eve see they they convince someone against what has already been said and revealed by God and what Satan old method has God really said that that’s it that’s his twist of Truth matter of fact that’s what it says in Genesis chapter 1 chapter 3 verse one listen what it says now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made and he said to the woman indeed has God said you shall not eat from any tree of the garden now what’s amazing about that is the woman said to the serpent from the fruit of the Trees of the garden we may eat but from the truth uh fruit of the the tree of in the middle of the garden God says you shall not eat from it or touch it or you will die now she had it right but then it says this in verse 4 and the servant said to the woman you’ll surely not die what is he doing he’s casting that doubt on what truth that’s all it takes just a little twist a little bit truth with some deception and lies and that’s it that’s all it takes in fact if you mix deception with truth it’s no longer truth it just takes a small Twist of the truth in order to distort what God had said and deceived someone so false teachers main flaw was their failure to rightly exalt Christ and submit him as the only Savior and Lord and the false teacher here in the colossian church and the laodicean church he he was eloquent and persuasive without with an outward form of humility and an overdose of confused Doctrine as summarized in Colossians already what was that doctrine that Christ is just one of a long line of angelic mediators that Christ that all matter is evil that human wisdom is exalted Judaism is carried over with its regulations and its rules Angelic powers are revered above or equal to Christ and there is a contempt for the physical body and then Liberty to do what you want with your body anytime you want to do it however there can be no compromise with error indoctrine or in practice which is which scripture opposes this kind of hypnotic persuasive rhetoric is used to talk someone into something has you have you ever had somebody talk you into something that you really didn’t want I think we all have right those those those people who can really put sentences together and just get you in and then boomo close the deal so this oratory is used by Skeptics and false teachers to deceive and to divide this Unity division discouragement are always fertile ground for deception Paul was concerned that the gospel seed sown would not be smothered by weeds of doubt in the congregation or quarreling or people’s philosophies it becomes necessary for Christians to pull out the weeds of human intellectualism in order to protect the faith the faith of the Saints it was Paul telling young Timothy where he warns him in first Timothy chapter one as I urge you upon my departure to Macedonia remain at Ephesus so that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies what which give rise to Mere speculation rather than furthering the administration of God which is by faith so magnetic personalities excellent logic fluent oratory hypnotic persuasion fine speech my might be all good in in and of themselves but they become the devil’s tools when they are used by the ignorant and the skeptic and the false teacher but I know this when you’re growing strong in your heart about truth settled in Christ confident about Christ and your salvation firm in Christ then what are you going to do next you know what you do you keep walking you keep walking in Christ so that brings me to the fourth thing after warning which is going to take some time to develop in our passage as we go on and that is this walking in other words take what you now know and live it every day in your life that’s what we’re to do so you can never separate Doctrine and what you know now from what you do what you say what you think it all goes together because these things are going to change you and make you different make you more like the Lord so what does he do he gives an exit or exitative rejoicing because of their walking notice what it says in verse number five for even though I am absent in body nevertheless I am with you in spirit he says this for this reason he was with them in the struggle of their Christian experiencing experience and that through the Holy Spirit the Apostle Paul is so bound to these Believers that coloss colossian laodicea in these congregations that he gives them a warning as though he was with them his concern was that he was with them but it would what was what does he say say now to them after all he has said nobody does he says this there’s a ground for rejoicing why is there ground for rejoicing look what it says in the in verse number five rejoicing to see your good discipline and the stability of your faith in Christ why did he say that because the Believers had not succumbed to the onslaught of error they did not listen to the false teacher these Saints did not exchange Christ for a false teacher’s worthless error that’s grounds for rejoicing when somebody is walking in the faith they’re faithful in the faith they’re growing in their knowledge of their conversion to Christ and the faith that these Believers here were fortified in advance against the Persistence of the errorists the victory in a fight worth fighting is displayed how notice what it says in their good discipline in other words they’re orderly faith the picture here is a line of soldiers who have not broken rank that means their strength and unity there is a front of Believers that are not moving throw anything at at us as a group of Believers and we’re not moving why we know the truth that’s why and then he rejoices also in their firm Faith he says by their stability and steadfastness and firmness it says in the truth that produce faith in other words they understood the wealth and riches they had in in Jesus Christ and were unwilling to exchange a real diamond Christ for a substitute fake cubic zirconium and a Cuban zirconium appears like a diamond but it is very different in its mineral structure and a vast amount of jewelry is actually man-made in a lab in other words a fake diamond we can’t let anybody persuade us to believe that Jesus is anything less than the totally and comprehensively perfect God man there is only one image of the invisible God Jesus Christ the lord and only unique one so then knowing that we have to keep believing in him keep growing in your knowledge and understanding of him keep on holding unto Christ keep obeying him in the good works also that he has ordained for you so it is worth fighting for keeping firm and stable in our faith in Christ because our firmness will be another weapon for strength and victory unifying love is a weapon in Victory in Warfare keeping The Treasure of truth about Christ as a sharp weapon for victory in Warfare and firmness in our faith is in Christ as a weapon for victory all right so we have our weapons to fight now what are we to do we’re to continually walk Faithfully in Christ and that’s what he says in verse number six look what it says Chapter 2 Verse 6 therefore as you have received Christ Jesus what so walk in him you got that so walk in him and the therefore signals a logical connection on what was just said and builds on it and moves it forward that is in view of their good discipline and stability he is rejoicing in that they did not get duped by the false teachers they’re standing strong in truth they have are standing in Doctrine and when did that start it says just says you received Jesus Through the transmission of Truth it has to start in real conversion you have to know that you’re really saved that you really receive this that it’s yours but you also have to know something else that because you receive Jesus Christ and the spirits in you you are changing you are changing God is changing you and if you notice something else in our passage it says therefore as you have received Jesus Christ Jesus the Lord It’s really one of the only times it’s mentioned like that in scripture because it mentions Jesus or Christ being the Messiah Jesus is his personal name which means Savior and Lord is his station and Supremacy as Lord all of those are a reality to real believers and this unique expression really is never fashioned again in in this way in the New Testament it stresses the uniqueness and supremacy of Christ and also if you notice in verse number six it says so walk in him that is the first imperative in our text that’s a command meaning how one can conducts one’s daily life in behavior and lifestyle the Believers are to conduct their lives in accord with Apostolic Doctrine not in accord with the enticing words of false teachers there’s no new teaching so if you go look for something you’ll find something but it’s not new and God has not added or taken away from the word of God we have the full revelation of God in our hands special revelation we can’t add to it we can’t take away from it in fact three times in the Bible it warns people don’t add anything to it don’t take anything away from it it is dangerous to do that so Christians are to continue in the truth as it is in Jesus and not to be turned aside by by Novelties new things popping up new theories popping up and by falsehoods or by even false teachers with a slick tongue and notice also the sphere in which the Christian life is to be carried out it says that we are to walk in him now that is a a term phrase that is used often already in Colossians it includes obedient cooperation with the truth of God’s word and a constant dependence upon God just let me just mention to you that this phrase in him is so significant in the book of Colossians it says in Colossians 1 16 in him all things were created verse 17 in him all things hold together verse 19 in him all Divine fullness dwell in chapter 2 verse 10 it then says this in him you have been made complete in verse number 12 or 11 in him you were circumcised and we’re going to deal with that next time verse 12 you were buried and raised with him You Were Made Alive together with him and then in verse number 15 of chapter 2 all demonic Powers have been defeated in him so that’s where we’ll live we’re to live in Christ in the sphere of Christ this christo-centric orientation of life is now available to all Christians and the Christian is now able and now responsible to live it so we are not only called to live a faithful Christian walk we are also called to have a healthy and thankful Christian walk and if you notice in verse number seven verse number 7 this is where he gives us four pictures he uses to modify the imperative walk it’s it’s a picture of a developing Christian Life and here’s the first picture in verse number seven of chapter 2 it says having been firmly rooted that’s a horror uh Horticultural metaphor it’s it’s talking about a spiritual plant that the rooting of faith meant an organic Union with Christ because Christ is the life of the plant that these roots of your salvation have gone down deep and now is receiving from the soil all the spiritual nutrients vital for spiritual life and health and what is so interesting in verse number seven is that these roots have been sent down deep and used in the passive voice that means god is the active agent he’s the one causing this to happen in our life so in other words if you’re really a Believer it will happen if you are a professed believer but yeah you’re not concerned about anything else past that and nothing happens in your life there’s no change in your life then God’s not causing you to grow like a plant that has deep roots in the ground you know when a plant has Deep Roots and it’s getting nourishment from that ground what’s going to happen to that plant it’s going to be healthy it’s going to be giving whatever that plan is it’s going to be giving fruit it’s going to be having nice leaves it’s going to be giving everything that is needed that’s the same thing with you and I that if our roots go down deep in our salvation with Christ and we are walking in him we will become like Christ Ephesians uses this word rooted in a different way but a similar metaphor he says so that Christ May dwell in your hearts through faith and that you being rooted and grounded in love there it comes up again and that you may comprehend with all the saints what is the breath and the length and the height and the depth and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God there it is this whole view of being filled up having all you need to grow so we have a rooted plant that is growing that’s the first metaphor picture of the Christian developing life and the second one is in verse 7 2 it says having been firmly rooted and here is and now being built up in him there it is in him again that this building pictured with a firm and solid foundation and remember this a building of which the most important part of the structure is the foundation indicating that the Christian Life is durable and it has stability and can withstand the stresses and strains of life itself so here is this picture again of the believer that they’re a growing building but what is the foundation that has been laid to give our building durability well Ephesians tells us this that Paul writes there in Ephesians 2 verse 19 so then you are no longer strangers and Aliens but you are fellow citizens with the Saints and are God’s household having been built on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets Jesus Christ being the Cornerstone that’s what we are building upon that Christ is The Binding force of the building and Paul uses a present tense meaning the picture is an ongoing construction project isn’t your life that it’s an ongoing construction progress progress right or a project that’s what a Believer is you’re growing you’re growing you’re growing you’re deep you’re you’re your roots are going deep your buildings become stable and strong I always I often think about this this building we’re sitting in right now 168 years ago this building was built this Victorian structure was built it’s a good example of a sound structure it was not only founded when they found the church when the Dutch Reformed Church were actually preaching the gospel they built this church upon a spiritual Foundation and thank the Lord at 168 years later we’re still preaching the gospel I don’t know if that was happening all the time but we are doing it today so the Lord must be answering prayers from Saints who prayed in this place many years ago so spiritually because it was founded upon the gospel of Christ and the authority of the word of God we are still here but structurally when those who built this building not only laid the best foundation they knew about at that time but it also sits on a vein of shale that’s why our water table is so high it just rains a few days and the water’s coming out everywhere because it got nowhere to go and just to think about the canal that is out there that was dug by immigrants by hand and it was nothing but shale I don’t think they lived very long so they’re virtually very few cracks after many years in the original structure and it’s it’s it is because the foundation was carefully laid and has been found to have endured the stresses and strains of its environment and proved to be durable and reliable it’s strong and firm so our faith is not only to be rooted and growing it is to be strong and firm but the third metaphor in verse number seven is this it says and establish in your faith just as you were instructed established in your faith this is a legal metaphor the last one was a architectural motto um metaphor a picture actually it’s something that confirms or validates something that Christians are validated in the in their faith in the faith that is the doctrines of the Christian faith how by their transformational change in character in obedience in love in maturity instability so God actually confirms to the believer themselves and to others around them that they were truly in the faith why how do you know someone’s truly in the faith they’re stable and mature they’re strong and firm they’re growing deep roots that’s how you know you can’t just push them over they’re too strong they know too much that’s what we ought to that’s what we want to be and notice the little phrase in verse number seven just as you were instructed meaning that they were not only taught doctrines they were also taught how it looks to walk in those doctrines they were taught both things and so are we when we come to scripture now just think of that for a minute all these things that have been said so far in the text of scripture from verse 1 to verse number seven where would all that lead to where would all that lead to if we’re really tracking with it correctly how would that change us what would it do in our life well I want you to see what it does in verse number seven notice I’m going to read the whole passage verse 7 having been firmly rooted and being now built up in him established in your faith just as you were instructed and what overflowing in what gratitude so here’s the result this is the result of you and I having deep roots in Christ being strong and firm in our faith stable and maturing in our faith and here this is what it leads to it does not lead to grumbling or complaining or doubting it leads to an overflowing Fountain of thankfulness do you find that happening in your life do you find when you get up in the morning that you are overflowing with that and overflowing is a picture of conditions that is always developing and always advancing it is overflowing the cup when one understands what one has in Christ how much God has done on their behalf along with the validation of the transformational results of Life carried out in Christ there’s only one thing you could do you can only be thankful thankfulness is another weapon against error because I know why I’m thankful I don’t think I don’t think the word the thought thankful can be not connected to something you’re thankful for there’s got to be a substitute or substance to your thankfulness so overflowing thankfulness is a validation that you are walking in spiritual health and being faithful to what you have been taught have you ever thought of that but I tell you what if you’re not thankful there’s a real spiritual problem how important is thankful in the thought of being thankful in Colossians well let me just give you for a few passages Colossians chapter 1 verse 3 we give thanks to God the father of our Lord Jesus Christ praying always for you Colossians chapter 1 verse 12 giving thanks to the father who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the Saints in life Colossians chapter 3 verse 15-17 Let the Peace of Christ rule in your hearts in which indeed you were called in one body and be thankful that the word of Christ richly dwell within you with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God and then it doesn’t stop there verse 17 whatever you do in word indeed do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ giving thanks through him to God the father and then Colossians 4 verse number two devote yourself to prayer keep Alert in it with an attitude of Thanksgiving so our growth is derived from God whom true thankfulness are is ours alone to give him and do you think that God is not pleased when his children thank him but not just thank him where everybody knows you’re thanking him thanking him when you’re driving in your car thanking him when you’re faced with a huge difficulty and problem thanking him when you get a bad report in your health for your health thanking him at night thanking him in the morning thanking him in the afternoon that you’re just a container of overflowing thankfulness now do you think that would affect people when you go into work you think that’s going to affect people how come you’re so bubbly what do you do here to be thankful for you know people are going to say that to you but you know what if they see that in you you think it’s not going to open up an opportunity let me tell you why I’m thankful note you tell them you tell them everything Colossians just told you that have a saver who went to the cross for me who died in my place who rose again for me to give me eternal life I believed in him and he’s given me his spirit and he’s made me new that’s why I’m thankful you want to know any more about that see we should never forget that in any case theology is for doxology the truest expression of trust in a great God will always be worship it will always be proper worship to praise God for being far greater than we could know and far more loving toward his children than we often realize in the Church of Jesus Christ there should always be an atmosphere of Thanksgiving so when we sing praises and sings hymns we should blow this roof off but if you’re not ready to do that sometimes you need to get yourself ready because we need to walk in here and sometimes we’re down in the dumps sometimes life is weighing down on us beating us down and we come to the church and we see other believers and all of a sudden I get lifted back up I need to be around you I really do I’m I’m gonna I’m gone a few days not being around Believers and I’m starting to my shoulders are start sagging started walking around like like ho-hum all the problems seem bigger than ever and I come into the church I go home and I’m I’m I’m I’m on cloud nine whatever that means don’t forget this discontent discontentment and ingratitude are often results of false teaching and a fleshly worldly understanding of spiritual reality so if you find yourself grumbling and moaning and groaning too often you need to drop to your knees and you need to be reminded of what God has done for you and then be thankful amen maybe we sing that song again Joe so anyway Let’s uh have a word prayer Lord thank you this morning thank you Lord for your kindness to us your patience your patience towards up your your long-suffering with us Lord and I I pray that these truths would not only bring rejoicing to us because we are standing firm in the faith but also Lord because the result of Doctrine and practice is thankfulness and thankfulness Lord is a vote it’s a validation that we’re growing healthy in truth and practice living in the sphere of Christ giving you praise and glory and Lord when when you catch us and we or we catch ourselves grumbling and moaning and complaining Lord convict us quickly that we repent of that sin and then start being thankful again so I pray Lord that our list of thankfulness would just keep getting longer and longer and I pray this in Christ’s name amen let’s Stand Together