The
point of this passage is, we are now freed from the kingdom of
darkness and to participate and support it's work against the Kingdom
of light is counterproductive and possibly dangerous.
WEEK 3
JANUARY 25
COLOSSIANS
1:15-20
Last
week, we looked at the kingdom of darkness. We currently live in the
kingdom of darkness, yet we have been delivered from this kingdom of
Satan by the blood of Christ.
Tonight
we will look at Christology 101, the person, nature and work of
Christ and even His relationship to the denizens of the kingdom of
darkness
V.
15 – Image of the invisible God
A.
– throughout history, there have been what is called THEOPHANIES.
A theophany is an appearance of God. Here we are told that Jesus is
the IMAGE of the invisible God, therefore we can call these
theophanies more accurately a Christophany. When God appeared to man
in the Old Testament, these men were interacting with the
pre-incarnate Christ.
1.
Genesis
3:8-9 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden
in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from
the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, "Where are
you?"
Here
is the first recorded appearance of God with man, after man fell.
2.
Genesis
18:1&22 And the LORD appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he
sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. So the men
turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood
before the LORD.
Abraham
spoke face to face with God and even bargained for the people of
Sodom – 3 men showed up, two angels and one God – Jesus, the
image of the invisible God
3.
Joshua
5:13 When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked,
and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his
hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, "Are you for us,
or for our adversaries?" And he said, "No; but I am the
commander of the army of the LORD. Now I have come." And Joshua
fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, "What
does my lord say to his servant?" And the commander of the
LORD's army said to Joshua, "Take off your sandals from your
feet, for the place where you are standing is holy." And Joshua
did so.
Joshua
meets Jesus in the role of the commander of Yehova's army
4.
Judges
13:18-22 And the angel of the LORD said to him, "Why do you ask
my name, seeing it is wonderful?" So Manoah took the young goat
with the grain offering, and offered it on the rock to the LORD, to
the one who works wonders, and Manoah and his wife were watching. And
when the flame went up toward heaven from the altar, the angel of the
LORD went up in the flame of the altar. Now Manoah and his wife were
watching, and they fell on their faces to the ground The angel of
the LORD appeared no more to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew
that he was the angel of the LORD.
And Manoah said to his wife, "We shall surely die, for we have
seen God."
Manoah
and his wife are visited by the Malach Yehova, the Angel of the LORD,
who tells them of the upcoming birth of Samson. When Manoah saw the
offering burned up and the “man” they were speaking to rise up to
heaven, he realized he was actually speaking to God.
5.
Finally, the strangest of all Christophanies, we find in Ezekiel:
Ezekiel
1:25-28
And there came a voice from above the expanse over their heads. When
they stood still, they let down their wings. And above the expanse
over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance
like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was a
likeness with a human appearance. And upward from what had the
appearance of his waist I saw as it were gleaming metal, like the
appearance of fire enclosed all around. And downward from what had
the appearance of his waist I saw as it were the appearance of fire,
and there was brightness around him. Like the appearance of the bow
that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the
brightness all around. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the
glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard
the voice of one speaking.
Ezekiel
10:20 These were the living creatures that I saw underneath the God
of Israel by the Chebar canal; and I knew that they were cherubim.
Ezekiel
saw a sight so foreign to even our frame of reference that I have yet
to see an artistic rendition that captures what Ezekiel attempts to
describe. The best I can deduce is that Ezekiel sees some sort of
craft powered by cherubim and sitting on top of the cherubim we see a
being who speaks to Ezekiel and it is not until chapter 10 that the
being sitting atop the cherubim is identified as God
So
we know, according to this verse in Colossians, when God appeared
unto man, it was Jesus, who was and is the image of the invisible God
B. Firstborn of
all creation: this is positional, meaning Jesus is preeminent over
all of us who are adopted as sons and daughters of God, through the
Gospel.
Jewish
firstborn sons had birthright – They received a double portion of
the inheritance but also took on the responsibility for caring for
his mother and any unwed sisters, basically replacing the father and
having ultimate say over family matters. Positionally, Jesus has
rule over us, His spiritual brothers and sisters because of His
designation of Firstborn over all creation
V.16
– All things were created by Christ: John
1:1-3
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made
through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
We
do not dispute this idea, but the ramifications of the second part of
this verse, few of us ponder. Jesus not only created ALL of the
visible and invisible, thrones, dominions, and authorities but all
these things were made for Him to serve Him. This is not just
referring to human government, but spiritual powers as well:
Deuteronomy
32:8 When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when
he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to
the number of the sons of God.
Now,
remember, when Ezekiel pronounced against the king of Tyre, in
Ezekiel 28, we quickly realize that the king of Tyre is not a man,
but an “anointed guardian cherub”, which most scholars believe is
Satan himself.
So,
even though many of these invisible powers and authorities are
actively working against God's plan, God will used their efforts to
bring about His desired purpose, the same way God used the evil
intent of the sons of Jacob, concerning their brother Joseph: Genesis
50:20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for
good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as
they are today.
We
see in this the true omnipotence and sovereignty of Christ in that
the forces of the kingdom of darkness are arrayed against Him and yet
these forces will only serve to bring about His desired results.
V.17
– Christ being before all things brings us back to John 1:1-3, but
the second part of this verse is science on the quantum level.
Within
the nucleus of an atom, there are positively charged particles.
These particles should repel one another in the same way two
positively charged magnets repel, yet, they atom is held together by,
what scientists call, “strong force”. The Apostle Paul has
identified for us what this strong force is – it is Jesus Christ.
2Peter
3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in
the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the
elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works
that are therein shall be burned up.
The
word elements stoicheion can
be translated as base or order, the very building blocks... the word
melt is luo literally
meaning unloosed, so when Jesus no longer holds all things together,
the very building blocks of our world will be unloosed and we see
this very thing happening in Revelation:
Rev
20:11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it.
From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for
them.
The
entire creation will literally vaporize into nothing once Jesus
ceases to hold the atomic structure in place!
V.18-20
– Once again, Paul brings us back to the headship of Christ as it
pertains to the church now and one day over all those called the
children of God in the 1000 year reign and in the world to come.
So
from these passages, we see that Christ is head over all creation,
even the parts of creation that are actively working against Him,
whether they be men, or spiritual beings of darkness or even the very
atomic structure of all things.
Jesus
is the image of God in whom all the fullness of God dwells. We serve
an awesome creator who has not only given us of His righteousness,
but will also share with us His glory.
WEEK 4
FEBRUARY 1
Colossians
1:21-23 -
Last
week, we looked at Jesus being the image of the invisible God and how
He showed up in different places throughout the Old Testament in what
we call Christophanies. This week will look at the work of Jesus in
the life of the believer and the mystery of the church revealed to
the world.
V.21-23
– As we look at this passage, the first thing we notice is our
transition from being alienated from God to being reconciled to God.
Jesus, in His flesh, acquired for us that which we could not acquire
for ourselves. Paul is very specific in his declaration of Jesus
accomplishing in the flesh because a heresy had cropped up within
the early church called Gnosticism. Gnosticism is teaches the flesh
is completely corrupt and therefore cannot be saved. The spirit of
man is whole but corrupted by the flesh and can only be set free by
secret spiritual knowledge. 1 John deals extensively with this
topic. Paul briefly touches on it here in order to show that Jesus
came in the flesh, died in the flesh and AROSE in the flesh.
Gnosticism taught Jesus did not physically rise, but rose
spiritually to free our spirits from the corruption of the material
world.
This
false teaching raises doubts about God's inherent goodness and the
goodness of creation.
The
work of Christ gives us not only reconciliation with God, but
transfers righteousness to us presenting us holy and blameless before
God
At
salvation, we are declared righteous, in the forthcoming process of
sanctification, we are made holy, by the power of the Spirit.
This
leads us to verse 23 – a verse used by those who believe we can
lose our salvation. We can establish our salvation is secure in the
hands of God. We can show clearly a believer cannot be lost.
Jude
1:24-5 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to
present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great
joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be
glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and
forever. Amen.
John
6:37 -39 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever
comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven,
not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is
the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that
he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.
So,
if God Himself is responsible for maintaining the security of the
believer, nothing we do can cause us to lose our salvation, so, this
verse must mean something different.
I,
and many others, believe this passage deals with those who claim
faith but are not truly regenerated. The test of true salvation is
abiding in Christ. When someone claims to have had a conversion
experience and then falls away, this is evidence that they were not
truly saved.
John
makes this very point in his first epistle: John
2:18-19 Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that
antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we
know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were
not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with
us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are
not of us
Jesus
also addresses this in the parable of the sower: Luke
8:10-15 he said, "To you it has been given to know the secrets
of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that
'seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.'
Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. The ones
along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and
takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe
and be saved. And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear
the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe
for a while, and in time of testing fall away. And as for what fell
among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their
way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life,
and their fruit does not mature. As for that in the good soil, they
are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good
heart, and bear fruit with patience
Back
to verse 23, notice that Paul is tackling a third issue in this one
sentence. The Gospel has been proclaimed in all creation under
heaven. Rom
1:18-20 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all
ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness
suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to
them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes,
namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly
perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that
have been made. So they are without excuse.
The
evidence of a creator is revealed in creation. Only a depraved mind
that refuses to acknowledge the authority of God can accept the
intricacy of the universe is a cosmic accident. Psalm
19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above
proclaims his handiwork.
The
constellations of the night sky tell the story of the Gospel:
Job 38:31-33 "Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades or loose
the cords of Orion? Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their
season, or can you guide the Bear with its children? Do you know the
ordinances of the heavens? Can you establish their rule on the earth?
Mazzaroth
only appears in this passage of Job but is associated with what we
call the Zodiak. In fact, this work morphed into Mazalot, meaning
astrology and the Hebrew expression Mazel Tov is derived from this,
meaning, loosely, good luck.
The
bottom line in all this is, if one is truly saved, he will abide in
Christ and not turn away from the hope of the Gospel and all men will
be without excuse because God revealed the Gospel to all men through
the revelation of creation and by the proclamation of the Gospel in
the very stars.
WEEK 5
FEBRUARY 8
Colossians 1:24-26
Last week, we spent a good deal of time discussing eternal security in light of verse 23, which seems too indicate one could lose salvation if one does not continue in the faith. The truth of that passage, in light of many other passages listed in last week's lesson, is leaving the faith is an indication that one was never saved and one falls into the first three categories of the 4 types of soil Jesus spoke of in His parable of the sower.
This week, we will look at three verses and discuss the fact that we all have a specific purpose in Christ. We are all called to some type of ministry and we are all equipped by God to function as an integral part of the body of Christ. There is none who is expendable and none who is non-essential
Just think of what part of your body you would gladly live without, and you will quickly realize that no part of our body is expendable and there is no part we would gladly amputate or excise.
V.
24 – Paul is not saying that Christ's work was insufficient or
that somehow he is making up for what Christ could not do. What he
is referring to is Christ could not continue on earth and provide
salvation. Jesus went to the cross, rose and then arose to heaven.
So, in that sense, Jesus could not continue His earthly preaching
ministry, so we are left to pick up where He left off. We are to
fill the role of testifying to the truth of God, just as Jesus did
while He walked the earth.
V.25
– Paul establishes here that he was called and commissioned by
God to carry the message of the Gospel. All of us are called by God
to fulfill a specific role and purpose in the body of Christ. Paul
recognized his calling was from God and was designed to serve others
with the truth of the Gospel.
Likewise,
we are called by God for a specific task and service designed to meet
the needs of others. Ephesians
4:11-12 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the
shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry,
for building up the body of Christ,
V.
26 – the mystery that was not revealed prior to the resurrection
of Christ is the church. No where in the Old Testament do we find
the church and Jesus did not even reveal His plan of establishing
the church until Peter proclaimed Him Messiah in the upper room, and
even then, it was not emphatic until the day of Pentecost when the
Spirit empowered the disciples and 3000 were saved.
WEEK 6 -
FEBRUARY 15
V.
27 – Because the Jews rejected their Messiah, and then drove His
followers out of Israel, the Gospel came to the Gentile world. This
was always God's plan from the beginning: Gen
12:1-3 Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go from your country and
your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show
you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and
make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless
those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in
you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
V.
28-29 – This is the goal we all should be working toward in one
way or another, presenting everyone
mature
in Christ. Each of us has a role to play, some directly to the
unbelievers, some directly to believers, some to both. Some have a
wide swath of influence and same are called to a smaller area of
influence. None is more important or necessary than another and all
are vital members of the Body of Christ. We work in unison, we work
in harmony, we compliment one another and we each support the whole.
Christ is our head and if we follow His lead, we will not step on
each other, we will, not be jealous or resentful of one another and
we will view each member as vital. This is the goal of the servant
of Christ and this must be the goal we strive toward on a daily
basis!
WEEK 7
FEBRUARY 22
Chapter
2
V.
1-2 – Paul shows that even though he has never been to these
churches, nor has he met these people, he is connected and concerned
about them. We also, are connected to every believer.
This
means we should be concerned about our brothers and sisters –
especially the one we see all the time. We should be praying for our
persecuted brothers and sisters in other countries.
Also
worth noting, we do not know who we may be influencing. The
Colossian church and the Laodiciean churches sprang up as a result of
the work Paul was doing in Ephesus.
V.
3-4 – As believers, we have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, giving
us access to wisdom and understanding to know the truth. 1
John 2:27 But the anointing that you received from him abides in
you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his
anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no
lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.
When
someone teaches you something, even though what they say man sound
plausible, if it does not match up with scripture, they are a fraud.
Johnathan Cahn has written 2 bestselling books and is hawking a
third. You may remember the book the Harbinger. This book compared
modern day America to ancient Israel and compared 9-11 to God's
judgment on Israel. Cahn presented a very convincing argument, he
spoke at the president's inaugural prayer breakfast and presented a
very plausible explanation for 9-11 being a harbinger of further
judgment to come. In his second book, The Mystery of the
Shemitah, Cahn predicted an
economic collapse on Wall Street for September 2015. Oddly enough,
the market skyrocketed in September 2015. Everything Cahn wrote
pointed to the stock marked collapsing, the market never fell.
As
plausible and scripture filled as his writing was, Cahn was wrong.
Cahn made millions of dollars selling his books and will probably
continue writing garbage as long as people are willing to pay for it.
V.
5 – Again, this is a reference to the connectedness of all
believers.
V.
6-7 – Walk in Christ – be rooted, be built up
Paul
is referring to sanctification, first we receive Christ, then we have
to walk in Him. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? (DISCUSSION)
Walking
in Christ means we must learn what pleases Him. Where do we go to
learn what pleases God? The Law.
Psalm
1:1-2 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he
meditates day and night.
Psalm
119:69-72 The insolent smear me with lies, but with my whole heart I
keep your precepts; their heart is unfeeling like fat, but I
delight in your law. It is good for
me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes. The law
of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver
pieces.
Ok,
so this is Old Testament, what does the New Testament have to say on
this subject?
Romans
7:22
For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being,
Paul
prefaces this with how the Law brought death and condemnation, yet he
delights in the Law. What are we missing as a church when it comes
to the Law?
As
we learn what pleases God, we walk in Him, becoming fully rooted in
the Word, and being rooted we are able to be built up into the image
of God.
Romans
8:29
For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to
the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among
many brothers.
Part
of the work of sanctification is that we are transformed into the
image of Christ. - This means we are to be in a constant state of
change and growth. We are to diminish and Christ must become more
evident in our lives. John the Baptist understood this at the height
of his ministry: John
3:30
He must increase, but I must decrease."
Growth
must be on going, there is never a time when we “arrive”
V.
8 – The world has a way of reasoning that is contrary to spiritual
truth. In verse 4 we are warned against plausible arguments from
false teachers, here we are warned to not be drawn in by worldly
philosophies or world order(stoichion). Human reasoning draws us to
think with out heart and to be motivated by emotion or erroneous
arguments: “Is God really going to send 1 billion Muslims and 1
billion Chinese to hell because they believe differently than you?”
See how this question not only draws you into an emotional
response, but reduces the truth of scripture to personal belief.
There
is a natural order to how the world operates and facts will not be
allowed to get in the way. Science touts an unsupportable theory
of evolution, meteorology knowingly presents false information to
support a man made climate change. In 2006, Al Gore said we only had
10 years left before the world became a frying pan. Gore could not
have been more wrong, yet he is still flying around the world lying
about man made global warming.
One
of the biggest lies we are told is to “go with your heart”.
Think with your emotions, ignore facts, especially if they are
Biblical truth. The world system elevates what we feel over what we
know. This is the way that seems right to a man but leads to
destruction.
WEEK 8
MARCH 1
Colossians
2:9-17
Last
week, we talked about being rooted in our faith and being built up in
the Spirit. We discussed sanctification and how we are being
transformed into the image of Christ. Also we talked about the need
to know truth so we do not get tricked by false teachers and
philosophies that sound reasonable and persuasive.
Tonight,
we will look at the person of Christ and our relationship to Him
I.
V. 9-10 – The deity of Christ is a non-negotiable when it comes to
the Christian faith. To deny this is to deny salvation itself. If
Jesus is anything less than God, then the prophecies of scripture are
false and God is a liar and therefore not good. Isaiah
9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the
government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
So,
the messiah has been prophesied to be God, he has to be God, or else
God is a liar.
As
the fullness of deity dwells in Christ, His Spirit is in us as well.
By our indwelling, we have access to knowing God's direction and
leading. We need to do more than simply acknowledge His headship, we
must follow it as well.
James
1:23-24 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is
like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For
he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was
like.
A
good gauge of our spiritual life is our willingness to submit to the
Lordship of Christ.
V.
11-12 – circumcision has to do with removing of the flesh. In the
sense of our hearts, we must allow God to cut away our fleshly
desires and attitudes. Our negative traits and annoying or abrasive
mannerisms also fall into this category. Anything that hinders our
growth or ability to reach others.
Where,
in the old covenant, the cutting of the flesh was an event, today, we
use baptism as an outward sign of our relationship with Christ. In
baptism we identify with Christ's death burial and resurrection.
Death signified by relinquishing our control to the baptizer, burial
signified by our being placed under the water and resurrection
signified by our being raised up out of the water.
When
we identify with someone, we tend to want to be like them. By
identifying with Christ, He becomes more to us than some abstract
idea or far away God. It is imperative to our spiritual lives that
we see Jesus as real and not mythological.
Many
families spend as much or even more effort convincing children that
Santa is real. Countless Christmas specials deal with believing in
Santa. A central theme of the movie Elf is Santa loses his power
because people do not believe in him.
Eventually,
children find out the truth about Santa and no longer believe. Sadly,
10 to 15 years later, these same kids see Jesus the same way they see
Santa. Christ becomes an abstract idea that is intangible. That is
why it is so important that we understand that baptism is so much
more than symbolically washing our sins, it is identifying with a
real historical person and savior.
WEEK 9
MARCH 8
Colossians
2:13-17
Last
week, we looked at the deity of Christ and why it is so fundamentally
important to our faith that we have this truth settled and understand
it from scripture.
We
also talked about identifying with Christ in baptism and how
important it is that we identify with Christ that He does not become
sOme abstract idea or mythical creature.
I.
V. 13-14 – It is so important that we remember our spiritual state
prior to our salvation. If we forget what we were saved from, our
spiritual life can become stale and we can take our relationship
with God for granted. If I forget my sense of lostness before
Christ, I will not appreciate what He has given me. This opens us
up to the danger of thinking God somehow owes us something for our
obedience or faithfulness.
Who
among us has not at one time or another gotten frustrated with God
or at least with life and thought, “hey I deserve better than
this...”? When we begin to forget what we owe, we begin to think
we are owed something.
This
is all a matter of keeping things in perspective and not giving into
emotion or bad philosophy, as we discussed before
II.
V. 15 – Prior to Christ, the gentile world was owned wholly by
Satan and his evil forces. In the resurrection, Jesus not only
conquered death, but stripped Satan of his claim to humanity. For
the first time in since Mt. Sinai, God is accessible to man outside
the Law.
All
of Gentile culture was designed to acknowledge authority other than
God's. Religion was polytheistic and elemental, meaning man
worshiped creation rather than the creator. Now, the Gentile world
is brought into fellowship with God through the cross.
Moreover,
our faith is not one of rules but of faith.
III.
V. 16-17 – The law was designed to reveal our need for Christ. In
our faith, we have acknowledged our need for Christ and are no
longer bound to observe dietary laws or observe feast days. These
were all things that foreshadowed the reality of Christ. Even this
world we live in is but a shadow of the true reality we will
discover in our glorified state.
What
we consider reality is no more reality than a stick man drawn on a
piece of paper. There are dimensions of time and space that we can
only imagine, there are beings and creatures that we catch tiny
glimpses of in scripture but cannot comprehend. This will all fade
away and one day we will stand in the presence of God, in His
fullness, also something about which we can only speculate and
imagine.
WEEK 10
MARCH 22
Colossians
2:18-23
Last
meeting, we talked about the importance of recognizing our current
reality is not reality at all, but a mere shadow of what is to come
when we pass over to the other side
I.
V. 18-19 – Within the faith community, we find those who would
like to set the “rules” for what a believer looks like. It gets
very easy pursuing the “rules” to lose sight of what is
important, devotion to God. We are to bring glory to God, not live
by a set of self imposed rules or put on an air of super spiritualiy
by focusing on things that make us seem enlightened.
Cookie
cutter Christianity is very dangerous, as it creates a facade that
can mimick faith but really masks the death within with a false
piety.
Ascetcism
is the avoidance of all indulgences for religious purposes. Yes, we
are absolutely commanded to deny the flesh when it interferes with
our spiritual growth and service. There are many who have wasted
their lives by shutting out the world in order to pursue God.
Hermetic monks live life in silent obscurity thinking they are
somehow honoring God. Denying all pleasure for the sake of piety is
at best deceptive and at worse self deceptive. Imagine a life
completely wasted denying all enjoyment for the sake of being acepted
by God only to find out it was all for naught.
Worship
of angels – we do not see this very much today, but back a couple
of decades ago, angelism booming. As the New Age movement came into
it's own, spirit guides and contacting angels was very popular.
Equally dangerous is the veneration of saints practiced by the Roman
church. Praying before icons or to the dead for help and guidance is
a direct violation of God's law.
Revelation
19:10
And
I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said to me, See you do it
not: I am your fellow servant, and of your brothers that have the
testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the
spirit of prophecy
1:13
And to which of the angels has he ever said, "Sit at my right
hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet"? Are
they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of
those who are to inherit salvation?
Angels
are sent out for the sake of believers, not to be worshipped. Even
more, we will judge angels, how could we judge someone worthy of
worship? 1 Corinthisns 6:3 Do you not know
that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining
to this life!
Going
on about visions – I believe God gives visions. I believe God is
currently using dreams and visions in the Muslim community in order
to bring many of them to Christ. Acts
2:17 - “‘And
in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my
Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream
dreams;
Where
the danger comes in is when we begin to chase after visions in lieu
of scripture or when someone creates a following for themselves by
claiming visions. Many have been deceived by claims of visions. The
Koran was written according to the so called visions of Mohammed.
Mormonism was begun due to the so called visions of Joseph Smith.
If
a vision conflicts with scripture it must be discarded. When a
vision supercedes scripture by speaking where scripture is silent,
great care must be taken in giving credence. A vision should be
verified by scripture in some way. Jeremiah preached against those
who would speak of visions that did not come from God: Jeremiah
23:16 - Thus
says the LORD of hosts, "Do not listen to the words of the
prophets who are prophesying to you. They are leading you into
futility; They speak a vision of their own imagination, Not from the
mouth of the LORD.
The
key is balance – we need to tame the flesh and deny indulgences
when they interfere with our faith. To not eat a food because it
tastes good or to deny the use of shoes or the comfort of a pillow
for spirtual reasons is foolishness. We must acknowledge the
existence and ministry of angels, we cannot worhsip or even invoke
them. Hebrews
And
balance when it comes to visions. We should not discard visions out
of hand, but we have to at least be very skeptical.
V.
20-23 – Rules do not save, rules do not change hearts, rules lead
to deception and self righteousness. We cannot reduce our faith to
a set of rules. Faith is relationship not guidelines or lists of
dos and don'ts. Submission to the Spirit of God leads to changed
hearts. We cannot legislate morality.
Simply
stating a rule is never enough, we have to know something is wrong
because God says it is wrong. An authority greater than ourselves
must come into play when we deal with behavior. Scripture gives us
some pretty clear commands about what is and what is not acceptable
behavior. The danger comes in when we expound on and add to the
scripture. The Bible tells us not to be drunk, we cannot make that a
prohibition against alcohol. The Bible commands the priest to
abstain from sexual contact before ministering before the Lord, we
cannot make that a call to celebacy for ministers.
God
wants our devotion to be born of love and gratitude, not fear of
punishment.
The
pharisees were perfect examples of what happens when we live by rules
rather than faith and Jesus had no good words for them.
Mar
7:6-13 And he said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you
hypocrites, as it is written, "'This people honors me with their
lips, but their heart is far from me;
in
vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of
men.' You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of
men." And he said to them, "You have a fine way of
rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your
tradition!For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother'; and,
'Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die. But you say, 'If
a man tells his father or his mother, "Whatever you would have
gained from me is Corban"' (that is, given to God)— then you
no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother,
thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have
handed down. And many such things you do."
Mat
23:1-4 Then Jesus said to the
crowds and to his disciples, "The scribes and the Pharisees sit
on Moses' seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not
the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up
heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but
they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.
We
are prohibited from adding to scripture and should not declare things
that scripture is silent on. If we do all things from a motive of
honoring God and loving others, we will discover that we have a good
deal of liberty as followers of Christ.
WEEK 11
MARCH 28
While chapter 2 warns against pursuing righteousness, by living by rules, or by attempting asceticism, one might get the idea that we are at liberty to indulge the flesh. Chapter 3 clears up any misconceptions. In chapter 3 we will see that the righteous are called to live in righteousness by the power of God. Rule observance can affect the behavior but it cannot offer inward change. Inward change comes through God and should affect outward obedience. Rules are religion and religion fails where relationship overcomes.
I. V. 1-3 - If we are believers, we have been raised with Christ. This means our attention and focus needs to be on things above. this does not contradict the previous verses in chapter 2 because those verses were speaking of attempting to live righteously with human effort.
Having died with Christ, we are now dead to the things of this world - we are now heavenly citizens and should have our focus and planning with that in mind.
How much thought do we really give to our heavenly planning as far as storing up treasure. Paul seems pretty engaged with the idea. What if we were more upward focused? Would we be more eager to submit to the transforming power of the Spirit, more eager to surrender to stupid attitudes and habits that seem to define us?
Verse 3 is pretty emphatic - we have died, so when we willingly and willfully live in sin, we are living in death. We acknowledge we are unable to change of our own accord, but we cannot be unwilling to allow God to make the change.
Being hid in Christ denotes a protection and covering. We must utilize the protection and covering
II. V. 4 - Always keep in mind what we will be when Christ returns - we will share in His glory
III. V. 5-6 - Now, in contrast to chap 2, where we are told not to get trapped in obeying rules, we get what seems to be a list of rules. But, notice the inward direction.
"put to death what is earthly in you" We are not talking about looking good on the outside, we are talking about submitting to the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. this is all about inward change affecting an outward result, so we are no longer following the rules but changing our desire to break the rules. We need to get away from "I can't do that" to "I don't want to do that."
WEEK 12
APRIL 5
Last week., we contrasted chapter 2's call to avoid self righteous rule observance with chapter 3's call to inward change affecting outward obedience.
This week, we will look at the things of the world we are to be transformed from. One of the biggest problems is many in the church do not know what is wrong because we either spend all our time on the Gospel message or we spend too much time speaking about how to be fulfilled in our Christian walk.
I. V. 7-8 - Paul Acknowledges that this is the normal for unbelievers. This is one of the biggest obstacles we face in the church, society's normalization of sin. For some reason, we just accept co-habitation as the new normal, we never bother to address issues of pre-marital sex, nor do we seem to put expectations of celibacy on adult dating couples. Purity is discussed in youth group, but how much time do we spend on discussing purity in grown up church? We seem to spend an inordinate amount of time speaking against the gays, who are, for the most part, unbelievers, but we ignore a tom of sin within our congregations.
Sinners sin, that is their job, it is not the business of the church what sinners do. It needs to become the business of the church what believers do. If we are not teaching transformation and freedom from the sins of society within the church, we have no moral authority to address the sins of the lost. From what are we calling people to repent?
We seem content to sit and criticize society while we fund sin with our entertainment dollars. We are content to sit and judge the sinners outside the church as long as the sin outside is greater than the sin inside. We must never fall into an "at least I don't ...." attitude. Lost sinners need our love, not our judgment, the church needs to police itself, not allowing love to be an excuse for ignoring sin in the camp.
Notice verse 8, these are things that spring from within. Luke 6:45 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
Even obscene talk is an outward manifestation of an inward problem.
The bottom line is this - are we willing to allow God to transform us or are we comfortable in our sin, or are we just afraid of change?
WEEK 13
APRIL 12
COLOSSIANS
3:9-15
Last
week, we continued to look at the inward changes made by the Holy
Spirit affecting outward changes in behavior. We focused on the
negative behaviors that we should see change in sanctification, this
week, we will look at the positive attributes we should begin to
exhibit in Christ.
9-10
– this passage is saying that we need to be real with one another.
The word for lie pseudomai
means to utter a falsehood. It is from this word we get the term
psuedo as in pseudo-christian, meaning a fake believer. One of the
biggest tragedies in the church is people faking faith.
Because
we feel compelled to appear perfect and problem free in the church,
we put on an act. We must be real with each other because the Word
tells us we are to pray for one another and we are to carry each
other's burdens: Galatians
6:2 Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
How
can we carry burdens for one another if we are all perfect? Being
real means sharing struggles, doubts, fears, and weakness. My
dishonesty about my spiritual state may cause others to feel inferior
or even hopeless. Have you ever felt that everyone gets life but
you? That's because so many feel that they have to appear perfect
for appearances sake.
Be
honest with yourself and be honest with others. Don't feel you have
to know all the answers have the perfect life.
V.
11 – prejudice has no place in the body of Christ. This means we
do not discriminate nor segregate. Sadly, Sunday is the most
segregate day of the week, as multitudes of people intentionally
separate themselves from one another based on color and national
origin.
This
verse is not saying all cultures
are valid, however. We must be careful to avoid the trap of
multiculturalism. In multiculturalism, all forms of worship and all
distinctions are held as equal. All men are created equal, not all
cultural behaviors are. Now, there may be some cultural practices
that I personally disdain, but they are not necessarily sin, for
this, I must practice tolerance. I do not like rap music, there is
christian rap music. Because I do not like rap, does not mean
Christian rap is evil, it means I have to tolerate it because someone
else does like it and probably no one in this room would enjoy much
of my personal music collection.
Where
a cultural practice is clearly sin, we can and should take a stand
against it in the church. If a person who comes from a culture in
which they drink fresh blood from a cow, as is practiced in places in
Africa, we would have to say, “not in the church” because
scripture speaks against that.
Personal
preference is not a valid reason to ban something, Biblical
prohibition demands that we do not tolerate something.
V.
12-13 – We have seen the lists of all the don'ts, here is the list
of dos. These are the attributes the world may view as weaknesses.
These are the things, when practiced, we may feel as if we are
punching bags or door mats. This is not speaking of extreme cases
where we or someone in our charge is in physical danger. This is
speaking of life as it is lived among other people who have a predilection, like ourselves, to serve self.
We
all have a self centered nature. We all blow it with one another and
we all let each other down from time to time. This passage tells us
that we are to have a higher response than our natural bent towards
revenge and self elevation. 1
Peter 4:8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love
covers a multitude of sins.
This
is what we need to be pursuing in our own hearts, love toward one
another. If you are in the grocery store, and someone you do not
know bumps you with a cart, you may get angry, even if they apologize
right away. You may think, or, hopefully not, say, “watch it jerk!”
but if your best friend accidentally hit you with a shopping cart,
you might laugh it off. Why? Because you love for your friend is
bigger than your desire to not be accidentally hit with a cart. Your
less than desirable response to the stranger is based on your lack of
love for that person.
Learning
to love one another in the church will spill out to unbelievers who
need to see our love in action in order to draw them into salvation
and discipleship.
WEEK 14
APRIL 19
I. V.
14 – this is the conclusion Paul comes to, love binds all these
things together. Love is the one thing that allows us to move on
from slights. Do you love me more than I annoy you?
We
have discussed toxic relationships in the past, where someone is
intentionally harming you or attacking you in some way, that is
different. This is about loving each other in our natural state of
self, with the ultimate goal of helping one another overcome out
natural desire to serve self.
In
love we become God centered and others centric.
II. V.
15 – by practicing these things, we naturally produce peace, which
is a fruit of the Spirit. Worry, anxiety, fear, these are all
natural go tos for most people. The pharmaceutical industry is
making billions of dollars per year marketing drugs aimed at
producing what we can get naturally from God, peace. Is it always
wrong to take medication, no, but it may not necessarily always be
right in every circumstance, either. That is a matter for personal
prayer and decision.
God
wants us to live in peace, God provides for us a method in which we
can live in peace, by putting these principles into practice.
III. V. 15 - Notice how loving one another means teaching and admonishing? We are sometimes polite to the point of detriment. We never want to hurt someone's feelings so we never correct anyone or address difficult situations unless we absolutely have to.
Dealing with issues when they are small can often avoid big hurts later.
We are also called to worship with one another -
Hebrew_13:15
Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise
to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.
Matthew
5:23-24
So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember
that your brother has something against you,
leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to
your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
So,
if you are at odds with a brother or sister, you really should not be
worshiping together until you attempt to reconcile.
IV. V. 17 - If you are unsure if you should do something, ask yourself, "can I do this in the name of the Lord?" or "will doing this bring glory to God or make me feel better?" or "will this put someone in their place or bring them closer to God?" We have to weigh our motive before acting.
V. V.18-19 - when the marriage relationship is functioning properly, the husband is loving his wife as Christ loves the church, making it easy for the wife to submit to the husband's authority.
Ephesians 5:22-25 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,
Balance is the husband loving the wife submitting - the husband keeping the wife's best interests in ALL decisions, and the wife trusting the husband to follow God and to protect the family
WEEK 14
APRIL 25
Colossians
3:20-4:4
As
we finish up chapter 3, we continue to look at relational
Christianity. Relational Christianity is what demonstrates our faith
in every day life as we interact with others. Last week we looked at
how we are to deal with those in the body and with spouses. This
week, we will look at the relationship between parents and children
and employees and employers. We will also look at the importance of
prayer in the church and the life of the believer.
V.
20-21 – God uses the parent child relationship in order to pass
along the knowledge of Himself. Deuteronomy
11:18-19 "You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in
your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on
your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are
sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when
you lie down, and when you rise.
The
parent's role is to instruct and train. Children are commanded by
God to obey their parents. This is not something God takes lightly as
He instructed us to honor our parents in the 10 commandments.
The
responsibility of the parent is to raise up a child in such a way as
to not frustrate or hinder them. This means being an example in word
and deed.
V.
22-4:1 – A believer in the work force has a responsibility and
opportunity to share his faith by his work ethic. I have been
incredibly disappointed by people who serve in their church and come
to work and do a terrible job. In my experience as an employer, the
more outspoken a person is about their faith, the less quality work
they do. If you are going to proclaim your faith at work, you had
better back it up by your life and work performance.
If
you are a boss, you are to represent your faith in the way you treat
your employees. They will be looking for hypocrisy, favoritism
toward others and inappropriate behavior.
WEEK 15
MAY 3
Colossians
4:2-18
Last
week, we looked at personal relationships, between husband and wife,
parent child and employee and employer
Tonight,
we will look at how we ought to pray for one another and how we ought
to interact with unbelievers.
V.
2-4 – this is an important call to prayer. Not only does Paul
tell his readers to pray with thanksgiving, but also to pray for his
ministry. We need to be praying for each other's ministries. None of
us has it all together and we all need guidance from God and power
from above. It is important we are constantly lifted up to the
Father that we do not get discouraged or off track.
Notice
that Paul, the writer of scripture, is asking for prayer that he
might speak his meassage in a clear and understandable manner. None
of us has it all together. Confidence should not come from our own
ability but in the knowledge that God empowers us to do His work.
This is why we need each other's prayers.
V.
5-6 – this is instructions on how we ought to live towards
outsiders. When we are with unbelievers, we need to make the best
of our time WITH THEM in order to have the salvation of their souls
in focus.
If
we participate in foolishness and profane talk we cannot possibly
draw them to truth. Be friendly, have a sense of humor, but keep
your witness in sight.
Let
the words you speak be words that cause a thirst for truth.
Judgmental harsh speech will not create a thirst for truth but
defensiveness and resentment. You may be the representive of the
church for someone and how you represent your faith is key.
Brian
Welch is the guitarist for the band Korn, and he is a believer.
Brian shared that at one of his shows some transgendered fans came
and asked him to pray for them as they had been terribly mistreated,
including by Christians. Brian prayed for them, chooosing to
demonstrate love rather than condemnation, recogizing that these guys
were not going to hell because they were transgendered, they were
trangendered because they were going to hell. The Christian
community attacked him heavily for not condeming their lifestyle.
Welch built a bridge in which to share the Gospel and lead these guys
to Christ, who loves them.
When
Jonah was sent to Ninevah to preach, God loved those people even
though they were very bad and persecuting Israel. God knew faith
properly exercised would bring about a change in behavior, a cange in
behavior will not bring anyone to faith.
V.
7-9 – We do not know much about Tychius, but we do know a little
bit about Onesimus. Onesimus was a run away slave who met Paul and
became a believer. As it so happens, Onesimus' owner was a man
named Philemon, a man apparently led to the Lord by Paul. The book
of Philemon is the letter Paul wrote to Philemon on Onesimus' behalf
asking Philemon to forgive Onesimus and in essence, grant him his
freedom.
v.
10-11 – Paul completes the list of Jewish ministry partners and
notice Mark the cousin of Barnabus. Paul and Barnabus had a falling
out over Mark who left the first missionary journey for less than
honorable reasons. Barnabus reconciled with Mark and wanted to
bring him along on the second journey, Paul said no way and this
cause Paul and Barnabus to split. The work was now doubled as Paul
went with Silas and Barnabus went with Mark.
Apparently,
by the time Paul ended up in prison, he and Mark had found
restoration so Paul vouches for him in Colossae. It is ok to make a
decision concerning someone's prior behavior in ministry.
When
someone makes a bad choice, that can be a warning about that person.
But notice, Mark was given the opportunity to prove himself and that
led to restoration between him and Paul. It is ok for us to be wary
of someone who fails in a big way, but we also need to recognize true
repentance and allow for restoration.
V.
12-18 – Paul's last instruction that has real application to us is
in verse 17 – be sure to fufill the ministry received from the
Lord. - God has entrusted each of us with a specific purpose and
function in the body of Christ. It is up to us to put the effort
into our spiritual lives in order to be effective in the work God
has called us to.
Colossians
is a book of practical Christian living. If you are reading this
through blogspot, please feel free to comment or ask questions. I
hope this study is a blessing!
